THE MODERN CITY
1877-1890
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."
Brooklyn had now fairly entered upon what may be called its modern
period. The first wires had been stretched for the great Bridge, and
soon afterward the six years' labor at Hell Gate culminated in the
long-anticipated blast. Ground had been broken for the new Municipal
Building, the Ocean Parkway had been opened for travel, work had begun
on the Brooklyn elevated road, rapid transit trains had begun running
on Atlantic Avenue, the Manhattan Beach and Sea Beach railroads
were opened to Coney Island, which had started upon its career as a
great popular watering-place and pleasure resort, and a line of Annex
ferryboats was opened between Jewell's Wharf and Jersey City.
In the mayoralty contest of 1877 James Howell, Jr., was elected on the
Democratic ticket. The bill which had passed the Legislature at the
previous session reduced the Mayor's salary from $10,000 to $6000.
Mayor Howell took a strong interest in the progress of the Bridge, and
succeeded Henry C. Murphy as a trustee.
Work on the Bridge advanced steadily during the years 1877 and 1878.
The breaking of a strand of the cable at the New York anchorage in
June, 1878, resulted in the death of several workmen. In April, 1880,
farewell services were held in St. Ann's Church, at Washington and
Prospect streets, preparatory to the removal of the building, to make
way for the Bridge approach. The prospective area of the approach
necessitated the removal of much property, and the slow work of
demolition and advance still continues, after fifteen years, to present
unsightly pictures at the threshold of the city.
Mayor Howell's message in January, 1880, revealed the fact that the
taxable value of property in the city had reached $232,925,699, which
was an increase of nearly $3,000,000 over the figures for the previous
year.
An important event for the city was the passage in May, by the
Legislature, of the "Single Head" bill, by the provisions of which
the system of triple heads of departments was abolished, and complete
appointive power and responsibility vested in the Mayor. This radical
step toward municipal reform and good government was one which could
not fail to attract the attention of the country, since Brooklyn was
the first great city to take it, and the experiment was watched with
the liveliest interest by all students of municipal government.
John Fiske, in his admirable work on "Civil Government," thus
succinctly describes the new system of city government: "Besides the
council of [nineteen] Aldermen, the people elect only three city
officers,--the Mayor, comptroller, and auditor. The comptroller is
the principal finance officer and book-keeper of the city; and the
auditor must approve bills against the city, whether great or small,
before they can be paid. The Mayor appoints, without confirmation by
the council, all executive heads of departments; and these executive
heads are individuals, not boards. Thus there is a single police
commissioner, a single fire commissioner, a single health commissioner,
and so on; and each of these heads appoints his own subordinates;
'so that the principle of defined responsibility permeates the city
government from top to bottom.'[40] In a few cases where the work to
be done is rather discretionary than executive in character, it is
intrusted to a board; thus, there is a board of assessors, a board of
education, and a board of elections. These are all appointed by the
Mayor, but for terms not coincident with his own; 'so that, in most
cases, no Mayor would appoint the whole of any such board unless he
were to be twice elected by the people.' But the executive officers are
appointed by the Mayor for terms coincident with his own, that is, for
two years. 'The Mayor is elected at the general election in November;
he takes office on the first of January following, and for one month
the great departments of the city are carried on for him by the
appointees of his predecessor. On the first of January it becomes his
duty to appoint his own heads of departments,' and thus 'each incoming
Mayor has the opportunity to make an administration in all its parts in
sympathy with himself.'
"With all these immense executive powers intrusted to the Mayor,
however, he does not hold the purse-strings. He is a member of a board
of estimates, of which the other four members are the comptroller
and auditor, with the county treasurer and supervisor. This board
recommends the amount to be raised by taxation for the ensuing year.
These estimates are then laid before the council of Aldermen, who
may cut down single items as they see fit, but have not the power to
increase any item. The Mayor must see to it that the administrative
work of the year does not use up more money than is thus allowed to
him."[41]
The first Mayor to act under this charter amendment was Seth Low, who
was elected, in 1881, over Howell by a vote of 45,434 to 40,937.[42]
Low, who was born in Brooklyn, where his family had occupied a
distinguished position, and had graduated from Columbia College in
1870, afterward entering the business house of his father, was in his
thirty-second year when elected to office, a circumstance which, added
to the novelty of the conditions under which his administration must
work, did not fail to attract special attention throughout the country.
In his first message (January, 1882) Low touched upon the important
question of the appointing power:--
"The manifest purpose of the act is to make the Mayor the
responsible head of the city government, and to secure a
homogeneous government by laying upon each Mayor the necessity
of making his appointments at the beginning of his term. To
accomplish this purpose the act does some things by direct
provision and some things by implication. It provides, in
section I, that the terms of office of certain specified
officers shall expire on the first of February, 1882. It then
provides, in section 6, that 'after the first day of January,
1882, the Mayor of the city of Brooklyn shall have sole and
exclusive power to appoint the successor of any commissioner
or other head of department (except the department of finance
and the department of audit), or of any assessor or member of
the board of education of said city, when the terms of such
officers shall respectively expire, or as by law may then or
thereafter be required to be appointed.'
"There are certain officers in the city whose terms of office
expired some time in the year 1881, to wit: The corporation
counsel, the city treasurer, the collector of taxes, and
the registrar of arrears, and to these officers the charter
amendment makes no distinct reference. The reason that the
present incumbents hold over is that, by section 5 of that
amendment, all power to appoint during 1881 was taken away
from the Mayor and Common Council, where it formerly resided,
without being lodged anywhere else, except that the sole power
of filling vacancies during 1881 was lodged with the Mayor. The
evident purpose of this provision was to place the appointment
of the successors to the present incumbents of these offices in
the hands of the Mayor to be elected by the people in 1881. So
much is clear; but it leaves two points uncertain: First, when
are the successors to the present incumbents to be appointed?
Second, when appointed, is it for the balance of an unexpired
term, or for two years?
"I shall be governed by what I believe to be the clear and
intelligent purpose of the law. I shall appoint the four
officers alluded to so that their terms shall begin practically
on the first of February, or at the same time with the officers
distinctly mentioned in the act, and I shall appoint them for
two years."
Speaking further of appointments and removals, Low said:--
"It is a matter of grave public concern for the people to
know in what spirit an officer intrusted for the first time
in the history of our city with such powers purposes to use
them. The whole theory of the law is that the Mayor shall be
responsible for the administration of the city's affairs,
and for the policy which animates the different departments.
It makes the relation of the different commissioners and
heads of departments to the Mayor practically that of the
cabinet officer to his chief. I feel it to be a matter
of no less importance to my successors than to myself to
emphasize this thought. It is no reproach to Mr. Evarts that
President Garfield placed Mr. Blaine at the head of the State
Department. It is no reproach to Mr. Blaine that President
Arthur has called Senator Frelinghuysen to succeed him; and
what is true of the State Department is equally true of a
purely administrative department like the post-office. It
will, therefore, be a great injustice to any official who may
be retired through my action to interpret it into reproach
upon him, just as it would be equal injustice to me to assume
that I meant it as such; or to my successor, to hamper him
with any obligations toward my appointees. The Mayor being
responsible to the people must be left free from such personal
embarrassments. I claim this right, as I believe, in the
interest of good government, for my successors and for myself.
"The law does not give the Mayor the absolute power of removal.
I presume it was not thought to be necessary. But the whole
purpose of the law will be defeated unless the Mayor knows at
all times and under all circumstances that he is responsible
because his appointees represent him. If any of them get out of
harmony with him he must ask for their resignations, and he is
entitled to receive them on demand. I hazard nothing in saying
that the people of Brooklyn elected me Mayor with the full
purpose of placing precisely this responsibility upon me. As
there is no precedent to govern in this case, I wish to state
distinctly that the acceptance of an appointment at my hands
will be evidence to the community that the gentleman accepting
it has personally given me his assurance that he will without
delay give me his resignation whenever I ask for it."
The remainder of the message was in the same spirit, and left the
people of Brooklyn in no doubt that the new Mayor meant to interpret
the movement represented by the charter amendments in its most radical
and reformatory light.
Low was renominated in 1883. The Democrats nominated Joseph C.
Hendrix,[43] who led a brilliant campaign. In a hotly contested
election that drew out an extraordinary vote, Low was elected by a vote
of 49,554 against Hendrix's 48,006.
The two administrations of Low demonstrated beyond question the
availability of the "Brooklyn system." In his message for 1884 the
Mayor offered a strong plea in behalf of the public schools, in which
free books had just been introduced.
The president of the board of education made the following urgent
presentation of the case:--
"Notwithstanding the number of new buildings erected and
occupied during the year, I am unable to report any relief
from the general crowded condition that existed at the time
of my last report. The children come faster than we can make
room for them, and in some localities for nearly every seat
provided there are two applicants. As evidence of the demand
made upon our new schools, at their opening, by primary pupils,
I cite the following: The new primary building to relieve No.
24 was opened on the 4th inst., this being the last of the new
buildings. The crowd of children with their parents seeking
admission was so great and the excitement so intense that for
two days two policemen were required to preserve order at the
doors. In a building seating 676 pupils 899 were registered,
the average age being 8 years. Only the fifth and sixth primary
grades are admitted to this building. It is not pleasant for me
to state that many of these children, 9 and 10 years old, have
never before had a day's schooling, because there was no public
school into which they could gain admittance. From the first
day the class-rooms have been devoted to half-day classes.
"The registry of attendance in October of this year numbered
67,314 pupils. Our regular seating capacity is but 64,200, or
3,114 less than the actual attendance. We have 76 classes,
numbering over 90 pupils each, and of this number 16 classes
have over 140 each, the largest class having 218 pupils. A
large proportion of these crowded classes are from necessity
divided into half-day sessions.
"This is our condition after redistricting the city and
reorganizing several schools, thereby decreasing the number of
grammar classes, and increasing the number of primary classes
by eighteen, and after building eight new school buildings,--we
have been compelled to crowd and pack our school rooms
without due regard to the convenience, comfort, and health of
the pupils and to the proper facilities and conditions for
imparting instruction....
"We have exhausted every means at our disposal to utilize space
save one. It is now the purpose of the Committee on Studies to
so revise the course of study that all grammar class-rooms will
be full. When this has been done we shall have no resource left
by which to gain space but to build new buildings."
Possibly the most important achievement in Low's administration was the
framing and passage of the Arrears Bill, which had an immediate and
salutary effect in the management of the city's finances.
An historic event during the period of Low's mayoralty was the opening
of the Bridge on Thursday, May 24, 1883. The two cities were greatly
aroused by the event, and much enthusiasm prevailed.
The ceremonies were held at the Brooklyn Approach, and the formal
programme of ceremonies was as follows:--
MUSIC:
23d Regiment Band.
PRAYER:
Rt. Rev. Bishop Littlejohn.
PRESENTATION ADDRESS:
On behalf of Trustees,
William C. Kingsley, Vice-President.
ACCEPTANCE ADDRESS:
On behalf of the City of Brooklyn,
Hon. Seth Low, Mayor.
ACCEPTANCE ADDRESS:
On behalf of the City of New York,
Hon. Franklin Edson, Mayor.
ORATION:
Hon. Abram S. Hewitt.
ORATION:
Rev. Richard S. Storrs, D. D.
MUSIC:
7th Regiment Band.
The ceremonies over which James S. T. Stranahan, who had won the
distinction of being called "Brooklyn's first citizen," presided, drew
a large and memorable company. The military marshal of the day was
Maj.-Gen. James Jourdan, commanding the Second Division of the National
Guard, and the arrangements were as follows:--
"The President of the United States and Cabinet, the Governor
of the State of New York and Staff, with other distinguished
Guests, will be escorted from the Fifth Avenue Hotel to the New
York Anchorage by the 7th Regiment of the 1st Division, N. G.,
S. N. Y., Emmons Clark, Colonel Commanding, and there received
by the Trustees and escorted to the Brooklyn Anchorage, from
which point the 23d Regiment, 2d Division, N. G., S. N. Y.,
Rodney C. Ward, Colonel Commanding, will act as escort to the
Brooklyn Approach.
"To avoid confusion, it is requested that holders of BLUE
TICKETS will enter Gates marked A at the Roadways on either
side of the Bridge. Holders of WHITE TICKETS will enter at
either Gates A or B.
"Officers of the Army and Navy and the National Guard are
requested to appear in Uniform. Officials of New York and
Brooklyn are requested to display their badges of office."
[Illustration: STATUE OF J. S. T. STRANAHAN AT THE ENTRANCE TO PROSPECT
PARK]
In the course of his address Mayor Low said:--
"As the water of the lakes found the salt sea when the Erie
Canal was opened, so surely will quick communication seek and
find this noble bridge; and as the ships have carried hither
and thither the products of the mighty West, so shall diverging
railroads transport the people swiftly to their homes in the
hospitable city of Brooklyn. The Erie Canal is a waterway
through the land connecting the great West with the older East.
This bridge is a landway over the water, connecting two cities
bearing to each other relations in some respects similar. It is
the function of such works to bless 'both him that gives and
him that takes.' The development of the West has not belittled,
but has enlarged New York, and Brooklyn will grow by reason of
this bridge, not at New York's expense, but to her permanent
advantage. The Brooklyn of 1900 can hardly be guessed at from
the city of to-day. The hand of Time is a mighty hand. To those
who are privileged to live in sight of this noble structure
every line of it should be eloquent with inspiration. Courage,
enterprise, skill, faith, endurance,--these are the qualities
which have made the great bridge, and these are the qualities
which will make our city great and our people great. God grant
they never may be lacking in our midst. Gentlemen of the
Trustees, in accepting the bridge at your hands, I thank you
warmly in Brooklyn's name for your manifold and arduous labors."
Speaking of a glance forward for twenty-five years, Mayor Edson said:--
"No one dares accept the possibilities that are forced upon the
mind in the course of its contemplation. Will these two cities,
ere then, have been consolidated into one great municipality,
numbering within its limits more than five millions of
people? Will the right of self-government have been accorded
to the great city, thus united, and will her people have
learned how best to exercise that right? Will the progress of
improvement and the preparation for commerce, manufactures,
and trade, and for the comforts of home for poor and rich,
have kept pace with the demand in the great and growing city?
Will the establishment of life-giving parks, embellished with
appropriate fountains and statues and with the numberless
graces of art, which at once gladden the eye, and raise the
standard of civilization, have kept abreast with its growth
in wealth and numbers? These are but few of the pertinent
questions which must be answered by the zealous and honest
acts of the generation of men already in active life. Here are
the possibilities; all the elements and conditions are here;
but the results must depend upon the wisdom and patriotism and
energy of those who shall lead in public affairs. May they be
clothed in a spirit of wisdom and knowledge akin to that which
inspired those who conceived and executed the great work which
we receive at your hands and dedicate to-day."
The address of Abram S. Hewitt contained these significant words:--
"I am here by your favor to speak for the city of New York, and
I should be the last person to throw any discredit on its fair
fame; but I think I only give voice to the general feeling,
when I say that the citizens of New York are satisfied neither
with the structure of its government, nor with its actual
administration, even when it is in the hands of intelligent
and honest officials. Dissatisfied as we are, no man has been
able to devise a system which commends itself to the general
approval, and it may be asserted that the remedy is not to
be found in devices for any special machinery of government.
Experiments without number have been tried, and suggestions
in infinite variety have been offered, but to-day no man can
say that we have approached any nearer to the idea of good
government which is demanded by the intelligence and the wants
of the community.
"If, therefore, New York has not yet learned to govern itself,
how can it be expected to be better governed by adding half a
million to its population, and a great territory to its area,
unless it be with the idea that a 'little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump'? Is Brooklyn that leaven? And if not, and if
possibly 'the salt has lost its savor, wherewith shall it be
salted?' Brooklyn is now struggling with this problem, it
remains to be seen with what success; but meanwhile it is
idle to consider the idea of getting rid of our common evils
by adding them together. Beside, it is a fundamental axiom in
politics, approved by the experience of older countries as
well as our own, that the sources of power should never be
far removed from those who are to feel its exercise. It is the
violation of this principle which produces chronic revolution
in France, and makes the British rule so obnoxious to the Irish
people. This evil is happily avoided when a natural boundary
circumscribes administration within narrow limits. While,
therefore, we rejoice together at the new bond between New York
and Brooklyn, we ought to rejoice the more that it destroys
none of the conditions which permit each city to govern itself,
but rather urges them to a generous rivalry in perfecting each
its own government, recognizing the truth that there is no
true liberty without law, and that eternal vigilance, which is
the only safeguard of liberty, can best be exercised within
limited areas. It would be a most fortunate conclusion if the
completion of this bridge should arouse public attention to the
absolute necessity of good municipal government, and recall the
only principle upon which it can ever be successfully founded.
There is reason to hope that this result will follow, because
the erection of this structure shows how a problem, analogous
to that which confronts us in regard to the city government,
has been met and solved in the domain of physical science."
The brilliant oration of Dr. Storrs closed with the following glowing
passage:--
"Local and particular as is the work, therefore, it represents
that fellowship of the nations which is more and more
prominently a fact of our times, and which gives to these
cities incessant augmentation. When by and by on yonder
island the majestic French statue of 'Liberty' shall stand,
holding in its hand the radiant crown of electric flames, and
answering by them to those as brilliant along this causeway,
our beautiful bay will have taken what specially illuminates
and adorns it from Central and from Western Europe. The
distant lands from which oceans divide us, though we touch
them each moment with the fingers of the telegraph, will have
set their conspicuous double crown on the head of our harbor.
The alliances of nations, the peace of the world, will seem to
find illustrious prediction in such superb and novel regalia.
Friends and fellow-citizens, let us not forget that in the
growth of these cities, henceforth united and destined ere
long to be formally one, lies either a threat or one of the
most conspicuous promises of the time. Cities have always been
powers in history. Athens educated Greece as well as adorned
it, while Corinth filled the throbbing and thirsty Hellenic
veins with poisoned blood. The weight of Constantinople broke
the Roman Empire asunder. The capture of the same magnificent
city gave to the Turks their establishment in Europe for the
following centuries. Even where they have not had such a
commanding preëminence of location, the social, political,
moral force proceeding from cities has been vigorous, in
impression, immense in extent. The passion in Paris, for a
hundred years, has created or directed the sentiment of France.
Berlin is more than the legislative or administrative centre
of the German Empire, and even a government as autocratic as
that of the Czar, in a country as undeveloped as Russia, has
to consult the popular feeling of St. Petersburg or of Moscow.
In our nation, political power is widely distributed, and
the largest or wealthiest commercial centre can have but its
share. Great as is the weight of the aggregate vote in these
henceforth compacted cities, the vote of the State will always
overbear it. Amid the suffrages of the nation at large it can
only be reckoned as one of many consenting or conflicting
factors. But the influence which constantly proceeds from
these cities--on their journalism not only, or on the issues
of their book presses, or on the multitudes going forth from
them--but on the example presented in them, of educational,
social, religious life--this, for shadow and check, or for fine
inspiration, is already of unlimited extent, of incalculable
force. It must increase as they expand, and are lifted before
the country to a new elevation. A larger and a smaller sun
are sometimes associated, astronomers tell us, to form a
binary centre in the heavens, for what is doubtless an unseen
system receiving from them impulse and light. On a scale not
utterly insignificant a parallel may be hereafter suggested
in the relation of these combined cities to a part, at least,
of our national system. Their attitude and action during the
war--successfully closed under the gallant military leadership
of men whom we gladly welcome and honor--were of vast advantage
to the national cause. The moral, political, intellectual
temper which dominates in them as years go on, will touch
with beauty or scar with scorching and baleful heats extended
regions. Their religious life, as it glows in intensity, or
with a faint and failing lustre, will be repeated in answering
image from the widening frontier. The beneficence which gives
them grace and consecration, and which, as lately, they follow
to the grave with universal benediction; or, on the other
hand, the selfish ambitions which crowd and crush along their
streets, intent only on accumulated wealth and its sumptuous
display, or the glittering vices which they accept and set on
high--these will make impressions on those who never cross the
continent to our homes, to whom our journals are but names.
Surely we should not go from this hour, which marks a new era
in the history of these cities, and which points to their
future indefinite expansion, without the purpose in each of
us that so far forth as in us lies, with their increase in
numbers, wealth, equipment, shall also proceed, with equal
step, their progress in whatever is noblest and best in private
and in public life; that all which sets humanity forward shall
come in them to ampler endowment, more renowned exhibition; so
that, linked together, as hereafter they must be, and seeing
'the purple deepening in their robes of power,' they may be
always increasingly conscious of fulfilled obligation to the
nation and to God; may make the land, at whose magnificent
gateway they stand, their constant debtor, and may contribute
their mighty part toward that ultimate perfect human society
for which the seer could find no image so meet or majestic as
that of a city, coming down from above, its stones laid with
fair colors, its foundations with sapphires, its windows of
agate, its gates of carbuncles, and all its borders of pleasant
stones, with the sovereign promise resplendent above it--
'And great shall be the peace of thy children.'"
The newspapers tendered homage to the leaders of the Bridge movement,
and to the guiding minds of the vast mechanical triumph--to John
A. Roebling, Washington A. Roebling, Henry C. Murphy, William C.
Kingsley, J. S. T. Stranahan, and others who had been prominent in the
labors of organization and of execution.
The original cost of construction amounted to $15,000,000. The total
number of passengers on promenade, roadway, and railroad during 1883
was 5,332,500. The total number in 1892, the year after the promenade
toll was removed, was 41,772,808. The statistics for 1893 show that the
traffic was highest in December and lowest in August. The earnings of
the Bridge are thus shown:--
From May 23, 1883, to Dec. 1, 1884 $682,755.42
" Dec. 1, 1884, " Dec. 1, 1885 622,680.31
" " 1885, " " 1886 870,207.43
" " 1886, " " 1887 938,281.21
" " 1887, " " 1888 1,012,254.82
" " 1888, " " 1889 1,120,024.16
" " 1889, " " 1890 1,239,493.90
" " 1890, " " 1891 1,176,447.95
" " 1891, " " 1892 1,801,661.48
" " 1892, " " 1893 1,590,140.03
--------------
Total $11,053,946.71
The receipts from all sources for the year ending December 1, 1893,
were as follows: City of Brooklyn construction account, $150,000;
city of New York construction account, $75,000; receipts from tolls,
$1,252,908.04; material sold, labor, etc., $559.91; interest,
$2,426.03; rent, real estate, and telegraph wires, $109,246.05. Total,
$1,590,140.03.
The management of the Bridge was formed under control of a board of
twenty trustees, eight being appointed by the Mayor, comptroller,
and auditor of Brooklyn, and eight by the Mayor, comptroller, and
president of the Board of Aldermen of New York city. Under an act of
the Legislature, passed April 4, 1893, on April 12 following, this
board was replaced by the present board of trustees, consisting of two
persons appointed by the Mayor of the city of Brooklyn, two persons
appointed by the Mayor of the city of New York, at a salary of $3000
each, and the mayors and comptrollers of the two cities, members _ex
officio_, the appointed trustees to hold office for five years.
Supplementing the work of the Bridge are the elevated railroads and the
electric or "trolley" system. Six steam railroads run into the city,
four running to Coney Island, one to Rockaway Beach, and one, the Long
Island Railroad, connecting with the railroad system of Long Island.
Sixteen ferries connect the bay and river front with New York. The New
York and Brooklyn Ferry Company carried about 16,000,000 passengers in
1893.
The boundaries of the city, measuring about thirty-two miles, include
an extended water front that is one of the most picturesque in the
country. The Erie basin and Atlantic docks on the southern extremity
of the line represent an immense industry in grain shipments.
Grain-elevators, coaling-stations, store-houses, the chief naval
station in the United States, and the big establishments of the
greatest sugar-refining district in the world, combine to give the
river front an unusual interest.
The great docks on the southwestern water front represent important
industries in which Brooklyn occupies a foremost place. The Atlantic
basin covers forty acres, and is surrounded by brick and granite
warehouses on three sides. These are 100 feet in depth, and three to
five stories high. The basin contains four piers, three of which are
covered, and are 700, 800, and 900 feet in length, by 80 feet in width.
South central pier, 900 feet long, is the largest in the port. In the
basin are seven elevators, six of which are controlled by the New York
Grain Warehousing Company, the seventh being owned by Pinto Brothers.
Atlantic basin is the largest grain-depot in the world. Its frontage
line of basin and piers measures three miles. South central pier is
leased by the Union Hamburg and the Nicaragua and Central American
lines of steamships. Barber & Co. and T. Hogan & Sons control the east
central pier; Funch & Edye's steamships dock at the south central pier,
as do the lines to Bordeaux and Oporto. At the west central pier many
goods from the Indies are unloaded, especially plumbago and cocoa-nut
oil. The entrance to the basin is 200 feet in width. The north pier is
much used by Italian barks. The basin has a uniformed police force of
its own.
In this region also are finely appointed shipyards and dry docks, the
Anglo-American docks, opened in 1866, being the largest in the United
States. The chamber of Dock No. 1 is 510 feet in length, and that of
Dock No. 2,610 feet. Most of the large iron ships that are docked at
the port of New York are hauled up here. On the old Williamsburgh water
front are the vast sugar-refineries, the greatest group of the kind in
the world, and representing Brooklyn's greatest manufacturing interest.
The output of most of these great hives of industry is now controlled
by the American Sugar Refining Company. The largest of the refineries
melts 2000 tons of raw sugar per day, producing over 12,000 barrels of
refined sugar. Vessels from the West Indies and other points as remote
as Java line the piers at this part of the water front, loading with
barreled sugar.
Large cooperages and extensive oil refineries occupy the water front
to the north, the great Standard Oil Company having its plant in this
region.
The United States reservation, known as the Navy Yard, occupies about
112 acres in the bend of the river to which the Dutch gave the name
that still clings, the Wallabout. This is the chief naval station of
the United States. It contains trophies of the three great wars, and
the 6000 feet of water front is always made interesting by the presence
of one or more ships of war.
In 1884 Brooklyn obtained from the United States Government a lease
of the 422,525 square feet of land on the east of the Navy Yard, and
adjoining the Wallabout canal. On this plot a large market has grown up
and supplied the city with a marketing centre of which it long stood
in need. In July, 1890, an act of Congress authorized the sale of the
fee-simple of the land to Brooklyn; the city authorities completing
the purchase in November, 1891, at the valuation of $700,000. Later,
an additional purchase of adjoining land from the federal government
extended the market property to the Wallabout canal, and enabled the
increase of the number of lots for stands to 120. The present area of
the market lands is bounded as follows: On the north by the Wallabout
canal; on the east by the lands of the United States Naval Hospital; on
the south by Flushing Avenue, and on the west by Washington Avenue.
In December, 1892, the national government authorized the sale to
Brooklyn of additional lands of the Navy Yard reservation, abutting
upon the west side of Washington Avenue, and embraced between that
avenue and a line on a continuation of Clinton Avenue, Flushing Avenue,
and the East River,--a tract which would more than double in extent the
area of the market possessions.
Brooklyn's boundaries on the east and south touch a number of large
cemeteries, most noted of which is Greenwood, which holds many
distinguished dead, and many notable monuments. In 1893 there were 5519
interments at the cemetery of the Evergeens, and during the same year
3000 at Cypress Hills, and 18,000 at Calvary Cemetery. There are not
less than thirty cemeteries within the county, a fact that presents a
serious problem in the extension of the city's lines.
The development of Prospect Park has been a matter of great pride and
gratification to the city. In recent years the park has been adorned
by a number of statues. J. S. T. Stranahan has received the unique
honor of a public statue in his lifetime. In the plaza is the statue of
Lincoln already mentioned. Within the park are busts of Thomas Moore,
Washington Irving, and of John Howard Payne, one of Long Island's sons.
The Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch in the Park Plaza was
proposed by Seth Low in a speech at Greenwood, on Decoration Day. The
Legislature voted $250,000, subscriptions were raised, the competition
for a suitable design was won by John H. Duncan, the corner-stone was
laid in 1889, and the monument was finished in 1892.
The Municipal Building was finished in 1878, at a cost of $200,000,
and the Hall of Records adjoining the county Court House in 1886, at
a cost of $275,000. The most imposing public building in the city
is the Federal Building, bounded by Washington, Johnson, and Adams
streets. This massive structure of Maine granite contains the central
post-office quarters, and the federal courts and offices. The site cost
$413,594.12, and the building $1,258,057.06.
Some of the most important building operations in recent years have
expressed the enterprises of the great bazaars, gathered most thickly
on Fulton Street, but appearing also on other leading thoroughfares.
A glance at the buildings of the city quickly suggests the remarkable
increase in the number of theatres.
According to Gabriel Harrison's "History of the Drama in Brooklyn" the
first dramatic performance in the city took place in a stone building
on the north side of "the old road" (Fulton Street), near the corner
of Front Street. This building had been known for thirty years or
more as Corporation House, belonging to the corporation of the city
of New York. It contained a tavern and a ferry room on its ground
floor and a hall on the second. When the British gained possession of
Brooklyn the house changed hands, and was known while they remained as
the King's Head. It was fitted as a resort for officers and men, and
all sorts of amusements were offered, from bull-baiting to games of
chance. George III.'s birthday was celebrated by illuminations and
fish dinners, to which the Tories of New York came over in rowboats. At
the first dramatic performances here an original farce was acted, of
which General John Burgoyne was the alleged author. It was called "The
Battle of Brooklyn." The title-page reads: "The Battle of Brooklyn; a
farce in two acts, as it was performed in Long Island on Tuesday, 27th
day of August, 1776, by the representatives of the Tyrants of America,
assembled in Philadelphia."
There were also dramatic performances in Greene's Military Garden in
1810, and later. An amphitheatre was built on Fulton Street in 1828.
The assembly rooms of Military Garden were converted into a theatre
in 1848. Chanfrau and Burke opened the Brooklyn Museum in 1850. The
Odeon was built on the site of the present Novelty or Proctor's Theatre
on Driggs Street, in 1852. It was afterward known as Apollo Hall.
Washington Hall, afterward called the Comique, was built at the corner
of Broadway and Fourth Street (now Bedford Avenue); Hooley's Opera
House, at Court and Remsen streets, in 1862, and the Park Theatre was
built a year later. The Brooklyn Theatre was opened in 1871, and
rebuilt after the fire.[44] Hyde & Behman's Theatre was built in 1877,
the Grand Opera House in 1881, the Criterion in 1885, the Amphion in
1888. The completion of the fine Columbia Theatre on Washington Street
was due to the enterprise of Edwin Knowles, who had been a successful
manager of the Grand Opera House, and subsequently of the Amphion.
The newer city armories are further important additions to the city
architecture.
On the first day of January, 1894, the military organizations of
Brooklyn, comprising, with the Seventeenth Separate Company of
Flushing, the entire Second Brigade of the New York National Guard,
numbered about 3000 men. The strength of the brigade in 1892, as shown
at inspection, was 3084. In this number were included the 403 officers
and men of the Thirty-second Regiment, shortly afterward disbanded.
Very few members of that organization are now in the service. In 1893,
inspections of the several commands were held, as follows: Seventeenth
Separate Company, April 3; Signal Corps, October 10; Third Battery,
October 11; Forty-seventh Regiment, October 18; Fourteenth Regiment,
October 19; Thirteenth Regiment, October 21; Twenty-third Regiment,
October 26. The Thirteenth and Fourteenth regiments, which did not
go to the state camp last year, were inspected in the afternoon at
Prospect Park. Below is shown the attendance of each organization:--
MUSTER ROLL FOR 1893.
----------------------+----------+---------+--------+-----------
Organization. | Present. | Absent. | Total. | Percentage
| | | | Present.
----------------------+----------+---------+--------+-----------
Brigade Commander and | | | |
Staff | 11 | -- | 11 | --
Thirteenth Regt | 529 | 118 | 647 | 81.61
Fourteenth Regt | 532 | 149 | 681 | 78.11
Twenty-third Regt | 770 | 35 | 805 | 95.65
Forty-seventh Regt | 521 | 48 | 569 | 91.56
Third Battery. | 68 | 8 | 76 | 89.47
Seventeenth Sep. Co. | 51 | 9 | 60 | 85.00
Signal Corps | 40 | 1 | 41 | 97.56
+----------+---------+--------+-----------
Total | 2,522 | 368 | 2,890 |
----------------------+----------+---------+--------+-----------
The difficulties arising from inadequate school accommodations, to meet
which Mayor Low and other mayors had urged broad and sufficient action,
continued to hamper the action of the department of public instruction.
The development of the department under the superintendency of William
H. Maxwell has been along thoroughly modern lines. Recent reforms have
had a tendency to improve the quality of teachers by placing obstacles
in the path of the incompetent. To a considerable extent these reforms
have diminished the chances of political interference in the working of
the school system.
The successful establishment, in 1878, of a Central Grammar School,
admitting graduates from the public schools, was followed by the
organization of separate high schools for boys and girls, and afterward
by a manual training school, and a movement for the establishment of
kindergarten classes and definite means of physical culture. On October
31, 1893, there were on register in the public schools of the city
102,468 pupils,--more than 2000 in excess of the sittings. For many
years preceding this date a large number of classes had provided a half
day's schooling only for the registered pupils, forcing the teachers
of these classes to assume responsibility for two large classes of
children on each school day.
[Illustration: STATUE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON IN FRONT OF THE HAMILTON
CLUB HOUSE]
In his report for the year ending December 31, 1892, Superintendent
Maxwell said:--
"The child that begins the school course at six ought to
complete it easily, and be ready to enter the high school,
at the age of fourteen. In every grade, however, the average
age is about one year higher than it ought to be. There is
now a well ascertained consensus of opinion among educational
authorities that this delay in reaching the high school--in
getting at such disciplinary studies as languages, geometry,
and natural science--is detrimental not only to the individual
child but to the public welfare. In some cases this delay is
doubtless caused by protracted illness or general physical
weakness; in some, by the mania--I can call it by no other
name--which some principals and teachers have for holding
back pupils from promotion; in some, by positive dullness or
slowness of wit; but in the majority of cases it arises from
the crowded condition of the lower primary classes. Instead
of accommodating more children by swelling the registers of
these classes, we are accommodating fewer. The teachers in
these classes, work as hard as they may, are able to prepare
but a small proportion of their classes for promotion; while
by reason of lack of proper teaching in the introductory
classes--a lack which is not chargeable to the teachers--the
pupils are less able than they otherwise would be to do the
work of the higher grades as they advance. The consequence
is that pupils are put through our schools more slowly and
in smaller numbers than they ought to be. If in a piece of
machinery or in a living organism a greater strain is put
on any one part than it is able to bear, the strength and
efficiency of the whole are proportionately diminished. Just so
it is with our school system. The strain put upon the seventh
primary teachers by choking up their classes impairs the
efficiency of the entire system. The only rational conclusion
is that _the number of pupils to a class must be limited_."
The movement toward centralizing responsibility in the school
principals began at this time to gather force. It was warmly supported
by the superintendent.
In the Girls' High School, in 1893, the number of registered pupils
was 1626; in the Boys' High School, 692. The annual appropriation for
schools in 1893 was $2,449,735.33; from the city, $1,996,500.00; from
the State, $394,414.82; other sources, $58,820.51.
A training school for teachers was established in 1885. From this
admirable institution the graduates increased in number from 48 in 1886
to 70 in 1892.
With the educational interests of Brooklyn the Brooklyn Institute of
Arts and Sciences is closely associated. In the summer of 1823 several
gentlemen, among whom was Augustus Graham, met at Stevenson's Tavern
for the purpose of establishing for the apprentices of Brooklyn a free
library.[45] They adopted a constitution, and issued to the citizens
of Brooklyn a circular, in which they solicited donations of books
and money with which to effect their purpose. On November 20, 1824,
they were incorporated by the Legislature of the State under the name
of "The Brooklyn Apprentices' Library Association," and on July 4,
1825, the corner-stone of the first building owned by the association
was laid by General Lafayette, at the junction of Henry and Cranberry
streets. As early as 1835 the association had outgrown its original
quarters, and the property having been sold to the city the institution
was removed to a new building in Washington Street, then the centre of
the wealth and culture of our young city. The first lecture delivered
in the newly completed structure was by Prof. James D. Dana.
In order to broaden the scope of the association, an amended charter
was granted by the Legislature in 1843, and the name therein changed
to "The Brooklyn Institute." For many years thereafter the Institute
was a most important factor in the social, literary, scientific, and
educational life of Brooklyn. Its library had a large circulation; in
its public hall took place many social and historic gatherings, and
from its platform were heard such eminent scientific men as Agassiz,
Dana, Gray, Henry, Morse, Mitchell, Torrey, Guyot, and Cooke; such
learned divines as Drs. McCosh, Hitchcock, Storrs, and Buddington, and
such defenders of the liberties of the people as Phillips, Sumner,
Garrison, Emerson, Everett, Curtis, King, Bellows, Chapin, and Beecher.
During this brilliant period of its history (1843-1867), the Institute
received from Mr. Graham two very important donations. On July 4, 1848,
the building, which had been heavily mortgaged, he presented to the
trustees free from all incumbrance, and through his will, made known to
the board of directors on November 28, 1851, shortly after his decease,
he bequeathed to the Institute the sum of $27,000, as a permanent
endowment fund. The will directs that the interest of $10,000 of this
sum shall be used in the support of lectures on scientific subjects
and in the purchase of apparatus and collections illustrating the
sciences; that the interest of $12,000 shall be used in the support of
Sunday evening lectures on "The Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God as
manifested in His Works," and that the balance of $5,000 shall be used
in the support of a school of design and in forming a gallery of fine
arts.
For several years, however, prior to 1867, owing to the erection of the
Academy of Music and other public buildings, the Institute building was
regarded as behind the times. The income from rental of portions of
the building was dwindling to a low figure, and the financial support
of the free library was becoming inadequate. Under these circumstances
the directors remodeled the building in 1867, at an expense of about
$3,000, a part of which was raised by life-membership subscriptions of
$50 and $100, and the balance by a mortgage on the building. For twenty
years (1867-87) this indebtedness necessitated the application of a
portion of the income from the rent of the building and from the Graham
endowment fund to the payment of the interest and the principal of the
debt. Final payment on the mortgage was made early in 1887.
The causes of the partial inactivity of the Institute during the twenty
years (1867-87) are therefore apparent. The most that it was able to
do was to circulate its library, keep up its classes in drawing, and
provide for the annual addresses on the 22d of February. Freed from
debt in 1887, the Institute was enabled once more to use the whole
income from its funds and building for educational purposes, and again
to become an important agent in the work of education in the city.
The property of the Institute in 1887 consisted of the Institute
building and land, valued at $90,000, a library of 12,000 volumes,
a collection of paintings valued at $10,000, and endowment funds of
$46,000. These last comprise the $27,000 bequeathed by Mr. Graham, the
William H. Cary fund of $10,000 for the support of the library, and an
increment of $9,000 realized through premiums on the sale of bonds.
During the year 1887-88 a new era in the history of the Institute was
inaugurated. The board of trustees determined to make the property of
the Institute the nucleus of a broad and comprehensive institution
for the advancement of science and art, and its membership a large
and active association, laboring not only for the advancement of
knowledge, but also for the education of the people, through lectures
and collections, in art and science. It was observed that while Boston
had the Lowell Institute, a society of natural history, and an art
museum; while Philadelphia had the Franklin Institute, an academy
of sciences, and a gallery of fine arts; and while New York had the
Metropolitan Museum and the American Museum, yet that Brooklyn had
nothing corresponding to these institutions. It was felt that Brooklyn
should have an institute of arts and sciences worthy of her wealth, her
position, her culture, and her people; that it was her duty to do more
than she was then doing for the education and enjoyment of her people,
and that some step should be taken looking towards the future growth
and needs of the city in matters of art and science.
Accordingly, a form of organization was adopted which contemplated the
formation of a large association of members, and a continual increase
of the endowment funds and the collections of the Institute. Provision
was made for a subdivision of the membership into departments,
representing various branches of art and science, each department
forming a society by itself and yet enjoying all the privileges of the
general association. A general invitation was extended to citizens
specially interested in science and art to become members of the
Institute. Courses of lectures on science and art were provided.
The directors' room of the Institute was enlarged to accommodate
the meetings of some of the departments contemplated, and a large
lecture-room on the third floor of the Institute building was fitted
up at an expense of $2600 for the occupancy of those departments that
would make use of apparatus and collections at their meetings.
During the first fifteen months after the reorganization of the
Institute a membership of three hundred and fifty persons was recorded.
The Brooklyn Microscopical Society joined the Institute in a body,
with sixty-four members, and became the Department of Microscopy. The
American Astronomical Society, whose members resided mostly in New
York and Brooklyn, became the Department of Astronomy, with thirty-two
members. The Brooklyn Entomological Society united with the Institute,
and became the Entomological Department, with forty-one members. The
Linden Camera Club of Brooklyn became the Department of Photography,
with twenty-six members. Departments of physics, chemistry, botany,
mineralogy, geology, zoölogy, and archæology were successively formed.
Each of the above twelve departments began to hold monthly meetings.
The permanent funds and property of the Institute were increased
$3000. Additions were made to the library, and its circulation
increased from 12,000 to 36,000 volumes per year. The lecture courses
were fully attended. The classes in drawing were enlarged, and a
general citizens' movement to secure a museum of arts and sciences for
Brooklyn was inaugurated.
The subsequent growth of the Institute has been remarkable. The old
building on Washington Street was burned in 1890, and the work was
continued in temporary quarters, chiefly in the building of the Young
Men's Christian Association on Fulton Street. During the fourth year
of active work after the reorganization 632 new members were recorded.
The real estate belonging to the old Brooklyn Institute on Washington
Street was sold to the trustees of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge,
and the old Institute was formally consolidated with the new Brooklyn
Institute of Arts and Sciences. By an act of the Legislature the
city was authorized to expend $300,000 in the erection of a Museum
of Arts and Sciences on Prospect Hill, on a favorable site bounded
by the Eastern Parkway, Washington Avenue, old President Street, and
the Prospect Hill reservoir. In the year 1892, 940 new members were
added, bringing the total up to 2622; the number of lectures and class
exercises open to members and others, by the payment of a moderate fee,
was 1397, as against 1134 the previous year; the number of concerts was
increased from eight to fifteen; the average daily attendance on all
the exercises of the Institute for the eight months of active work was
936, and the total attendance for the year, 190,900; the annual income
was increased from $18,934.20 in the previous year to $31,641.58;
special courses of lectures were delivered on American history from the
time of Columbus to the beginning of this century, and a special course
of addresses was given by college presidents on educational problems;
Institute extension courses of lectures were given in the eastern
section of the city; the school of political science was established,
with four classes and ninety-six pupils; the Brooklyn art school was
transferred to new and larger quarters in the Ovington Studio Building,
and the number of pupils was increased from ninety-four to one hundred
and twenty-eight; the department of architecture, acting through its
advisory board, devised a scheme of competition for the best plan
and design for the proposed Museum of Arts and Sciences, which was
accepted by the board of trustees, and adopted by the Mayor and park
commissioner, and the competition so arranged resulted in the award to
the distinguished New York architects, McKim, Mead & White.
Foremost among those who have brought the Institute to its present
influential position in the city have been Gen. John B. Woodward and
Prof. Franklin W. Hooper. Professor Hooper, who had been elected
curator of the Institute in 1889, became director of the new Institute
of Arts and Sciences in 1891.
Mention has already been made of the establishment of Packer Institute
and the Polytechnic Institute. The handsome gift of Mrs. Wm. S. Packer
resulted in the opening of an academy for the education of young
women. Since the time of the opening in 1854, under the presidency of
Dr. Alonzo Crittenden, the Packer Collegiate Institute has enjoyed a
peculiar prominence in the educational work of the city, and has won
a high, if not a foremost, place among academies of the kind in the
United States. Dr. Crittenden was succeeded in 1883 by Dr. Truman
G. Backus, who had filled the professorship of English language and
literature at Vassar, and whose brilliant attainments as a scholar and
director have given new distinction to the institute.
A commanding position likewise has been gained by the Polytechnic
Institute, whose establishment as an academy for young men resulted
from the successful movement, aided by the gift of Mrs. Packer, for
the establishment of a young women's school. A building on Livingston
Street was completed and opened in 1855, Dr. John H. Raymond then being
president of the faculty. Dr. Raymond was succeeded by Dr. David Henry
Cochran, who had for ten years been principal of the State Normal
School at Albany. Under a new charter, secured in 1890, the Brooklyn
Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute received "all the rights, powers,
and dignities given by the law and the ordinances of the regents[46]
to a college, including membership in the University of the State of
New York." Dr. Henry Sanger Snow, an alumnus and a trustee of the
institute, took a leading part in the negotiations which resulted in
the significant change. The new building adjoining the old was first
occupied in September, 1891.
The Adelphi Academy began its life in 1869 as a private school for
both sexes. In 1886 Charles Pratt, then president of the board of
trustees, made gifts to the Institute, by means of which it secured
a new building that was opened in 1888. The since extended buildings
now occupy a large part of the block bounded by Lafayette Avenue,
St. James Place, Clifton Place, and Grand Avenue. The preparatory,
academic, and collegiate departments are supplemented by a kindergarten
and a physical-training school. Art education has always occupied an
important place in the Adelphi Academy. Many well-known artists have
graduated from the art school superintended by Prof. J. B. Whittaker.
The principals of the Adelphi since its establishment have been John
Lockwood, Homer B. Sprague, Stephen G. Taylor, Albert C. Perkins, John
S. Crombie, and Charles H. Levermore.
It is to Charles Pratt, who took so important a part in bringing
Adelphi Academy to its present position, that Brooklyn is indebted for
the school which, more than any other educational institution within
its borders, is distinctively original and of a national fame. Pratt
Institute is frequently compared with Cooper Institute in New York. The
comparison between the wise beneficence of Cooper and that of Pratt
is, indeed, interestingly close; but the likeness between the two great
schools is less perfect. Pratt Institute's remarkable characteristics
are the result of a wise idea logically worked out. The buildings
on Ryerson Street and Grand Avenue contain a unique combination of
departments under a form of management that has proved to be eminently
practical and progressive. Its educational plan illustrates manual and
industrial training, as well as education in high-school and artistic
branches. The methods of teaching domestic art, as well as political,
economic, and natural science, have excited the admiration of students
of education throughout the country. The large free library is one of
many features of the institution.
The kindergarten idea in Brooklyn has had its leading exponent in
Froebel Academy on Tompkins Square. Among other private educational
institutions are St. John's College, the most prominent of the Roman
Catholic schools, situated on Lewis Avenue, between Willoughby Avenue
and Hart Street; St. Francis College, Bedford Academy, St. Joseph's
Institute, Brooklyn Heights Seminary, Long Island Business College,
Brooklyn Latin School, Bryant & Stratton's Business College, Miss
Rounds's School for Girls, Kissick's Business College, and Browne's
Business College.
In special education the Long Island College Hospital and the Brooklyn
College of Pharmacy occupy an important place. The Long Island College
Hospital and Training School for Nurses was chartered in 1858. Its
history as a hospital and as a college has been notable. The graduates
in 1893 numbered 60, bringing the total list of graduates nearly to
1500.
It frequently has been lamented that Brooklyn has no great free
library, and the deficiency is one for which the city deserves a mark
of discredit. But it is due to Brooklyn to observe that she is by no
means without excellent opportunities for those who wish to read.
The Brooklyn Library, which succeeded the old Mercantile Library,
is not free to the public, but the subscription rate is so low in
comparison with the privileges that the institution is in many respects
to be regarded as a great public library. The building on Montague
Street was finished in 1868 at a cost of $227,000, and its beautiful
Gothic front forms one of the genuine ornaments of the city.
The library contains nearly 200,000 volumes, admirably selected. The
catalogue compiled by Stephen B. Noyes was of a character to bring
honor alike to library and librarian. Upon the death of Mr. Noyes
the management of the library came into the competent hands of W. A.
Bardwell, who became librarian in 1888. The reading-rooms are furnished
with 300 periodicals and newspapers. In the reference departments there
were 75,000 readers in 1893, and in the reading-rooms 100,000 readers.
The Brooklyn Library has, indeed, performed an immensely important
service in the development of the city.
The Brooklyn Institute Free Library, formerly in the old Institute
Building on Washington Street, and now at 502 Fulton Street, contains
16,000 well-selected volumes, and is efficiently managed. Pratt
Institute Free Library is a notable instance of a great public service
through a private agency. The library of 42,000 volumes includes 2000
German and 2000 French books. There are an Astral Branch at Franklin
Avenue and Java Street, and delivery stations at Froebel Academy and
754 Driggs Avenue. Reading-room and library are free to the use of all
residents of Brooklyn. The Long Island Free Library, at 571 Atlantic
Avenue, is the result of a well-directed movement. There are but
15,000 volumes, but method of selection and distribution have assured
the usefulness of the work. To this must be added the free public
school libraries, and the substantial free library of the Union for
Christian Work on Schermerhorn Street.
The free library of the Long Island Historical Society naturally
occupies an important place. The reference department of 48,000 volumes
includes the noteworthy publications of the society itself. The Law
Library in the Court House contains 15,000 volumes, and there are 7000
volumes in the library of the Kings County Medical Society.
In addition to the libraries of the Young Men's and the Young Women's
Christian associations,[47] there are over twenty-five special free
reading-rooms throughout the city, most of them connected with
churches.
The large number of churches, and the emphasis laid upon church
interests, once gave to Brooklyn the title of the City of Churches.
The proportion between the number of churches and the population no
longer is so exceptional as to justify such a title, but church life
in Brooklyn is, in many respects, of unique prominence. The greatest
preacher the United States has produced, Henry Ward Beecher,[48]
occupied the pulpit of Plymouth Church during a great formative period
in the city's history. The Rev. Richard S. Storrs, D. D., pastor of the
Congregational Church of the Pilgrims since 1846, the descendant of a
distinguished family of preachers and orators, who has been called the
"Chrysostom of Brooklyn," occupies a place among the most scholarly
of American orators. The popularity of the Rev. T. De Witt Talmage,
pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle since 1869, has been unexampled in
the church history of the country. The thirty years' pastorate of the
Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler, at the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church,
constituted a notable force in the advancement of the community. The
enlightened leadership of the Catholic Church by the Right Reverend
John Loughlin, first bishop of Brooklyn, who was succeeded in 1892
by the Right Reverend Charles E. McDonnell, has been a matter for
congratulation in the Catholic Church; and the Episcopal Church has
been under no less obligation to the first bishop of the Protestant
Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, the Right Reverend A. N. Littlejohn,
D. D. When Dr. Littlejohn was elected bishop in 1869, he was succeeded
as rector of Holy Trinity Church by the Rev. Charles Henry Hall, D. D.,
who has been one of Brooklyn's strongest preachers.
St. James' Church, at Jay and Chapel streets, has been the cathedral
church of the Catholic diocese for nearly half a century. The
corner-stone of a great cathedral, to occupy the block bounded by
Lafayette, Clermont, Greene, and Vanderbilt avenues, was laid in 1868,
but only a part of the structure has been completed.
In 1893 the following were the numbers of churches of different
denominations in Brooklyn: Baptist, 40; Congregational, 26; German
Evangelical Association, 5; Jewish, 10; Lutheran, 27; Methodist
Episcopal, 53; Primitive Methodist, 4; Methodist Free, 1; Methodist
Protestant, 1; Presbyterian, 33; Roman Catholic, 63; Reformed
Presbyterian, 1; United Presbyterian, 3; Protestant Episcopal, 45;
Reformed Episcopal, 2; Dutch Reformed, 19; Unitarian, 4; Universalist,
5; miscellaneous, 23.
In the county towns the churches are numbered as follows: Baptist, 1;
Hebrew, 1; Lutheran, 5; Methodist Episcopal, 9; Protestant Episcopal,
8; Methodist Protestant, 1; Reformed, 8; Roman Catholic, 12. In 1893
there were ten so-called Chinese Sunday-schools in Brooklyn, most
of them connected with Protestant churches, and said to enroll 200
members.[49]
Religious societies in Brooklyn include a large list of prosperous and
efficient bodies. Among these may be mentioned the Catholic Historical
Society, the Union Missionary Training Institute, the Baptist Church
Extension Society, Baptist Social Union, City Bible Society, Church
Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, City Mission and Tract
Society, Brooklyn Sunday School Union, Eastern District Sabbath School
Association, Brooklyn Theosophical Society, Brotherhood of Christian
Unity, Church Charity Foundation, Congregational Church Extension
Society, Congregational Club, Foreign Sunday School Association,
German Young Men's Christian Association, Greenpoint Sunday School
Association, Greenpoint Young Men's Christian Association, Kings County
Sunday School Association, Long Island Baptist Association, Order of
Deaconesses of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Women's Auxiliary,
Unitarian Club, Universalist Club, and the Young People's Baptist Union.
Brooklyn's churches occupy a particularly intimate relation with the
intellectual and social life of the city. The circumstances under
which the Rev. John W. Chadwick, D. D., became a leader in that highly
significant intellectual movement, the Brooklyn Ethical Association,
which has held meetings during a number of seasons at the Second
Unitarian Church, and under which the Rev. John Coleman Adams, D. D.,
instituted the free historical lectures to public school children at
All Souls Universalist Church, have been typical of a wholesome and
progressive tendency in the community.
The work of the churches is supplemented by many and admirable
organizations devoted to the relief of the weak, destitute, and
incompetent. An important position is occupied by the Association for
Improving the Condition of the Poor. The Brooklyn Bureau of Charities,
with central offices on Schermerhorn Street, has "the general purpose
of promoting the welfare of the poor, the suffering, and the friendless
in the city of Brooklyn. The specific objects and methods include:
The promotion of cordial coöperation between benevolent societies,
churches, and individuals; the maintenance of a body of friendly
visitors to the poor; the encouragement of thrift, self-dependence,
and industry; the provision of temporary employment and industrial
instruction."
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul undertakes the general relief of
the poor, without regard to color or creed, the work being done by a
conference in each church (Catholic). The society is governed by a
council composed of the president and vice-president of each conference.
A number of industrial agencies have been devised for the purpose of
supplying temporary work for men and women. A bureau of relief for
needy veterans of the Rebellion was established in Grand Army quarters
at the City Hall. In recent years the number of free dispensaries
throughout the city has greatly increased.
The Brooklyn Hospital, incorporated in 1845, received valuable aid from
Augustus Graham, the founder of the Brooklyn Institute. The present
hospital at Raymond Street and De Kalb Avenue has been in operation
since 1852. St. Catherine's Hospital was established in 1869. The
Memorial Hospital for women and children was founded in 1881; the
Methodist Episcopal Hospital in the same year; St. Mary's Hospital
in 1878; St. John's Hospital in 1871; the German Hospital in 1889;
the Lutheran Hospital in 1881; the Brooklyn Hospital for Contagious
Diseases in 1891; St. Peter's Hospital in 1864; the Brooklyn Home for
Consumptives in 1864; the Eastern District Dispensary and Hospital in
1851; the Long Island Throat and Lung Hospital in 1889; the Brooklyn
Throat Hospital in 1889; the Brooklyn Homoeopathic Hospital in 1852;
the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital in 1868; the Kings County Hospital (a
county institution) in 1837; the Brooklyn Maternity in 1870; the Faith
Home for Incurables in 1878; the Inebriates' Home for Kings County in
1867.
For the protection and relief of children, the city has the Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the Children's Aid Society,
the Industrial School Association, with six branches, the Nursery and
Infants' Hospital, the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum, the Hebrew Orphan
Asylum, the Orphan Asylum Society, the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum
Society, with three branches; the Eastern District Industrial School,
the Sheltering Arms Nursery, St. Giles's Home, St. Vincent's Home for
Boys, St. Christopher's Day Nursery, and St. Malachi's Home.
Brooklyn's right to the title of the City of Homes, rather than to
that of the City of Churches, is excellently supported by a study of
its social life; and in no phase is this peculiarity more apparent
than in the club life of the city, which is distinctly in harmony with
the general social life of the city. Several of the city clubs have
"ladies' nights," or special receptions to which ladies are invited,
and to some of the clubs ladies are admitted at certain hours of the
day. "The Union League, with its Romanesque front of cinnamon brick
and brownstone on a semi-square, is near the south end of Bedford
Avenue. Its location is fine, and during the political campaigns it is
an important centre. Medallions of Grant and Lincoln adorn the front,
an eagle with outstretched wings holds up a 'bay,' and a carved bear
stands on the roof, a symbol of the 'grip' that clubdom has on the
modern man. The great hall in this house is one of the finest in the
country. Across the city, a square below the Park plaza, stands the
Montauk, a fine structure, ornate, in light tones of brick, and with a
Greek frieze above the third story, which is unique in architectural
decoration and is a replica of old bas-reliefs. Near by is the mammoth
building of the Riding and Driving Club, the largest and best arranged
structure of the kind in this country. The Hamilton, one of the older
clubs, has a tall building on the corner of Clinton and Remsen streets,
showing an expanse of red brick and brownstone. It has no distinctive
architectural style. Architecturally, a most elaborate club-house is
the Germania on Schermerhorn Street. Its style is a rich but modified
Florentine. The material is pale brown brick. A feature of it is the
great arched doorway. The Bush wick Democratic club-house on Bushwick
Avenue is, architecturally, on the same lines, a reduced version in
stone and terra cotta. The club has but recently taken possession of
this new house. Out in Flatbush, on the avenue, is the Midwood, an old
colonial manse, unaltered, with wide-spreading grounds, its façade
marked by great white columns, such as are almost unknown elsewhere in
the county of Kings to-day. The Hanover, on Bedford Avenue, is a fine
modern double house, with extensions and remodelings. The Brooklyn and
the Oxford clubs have recently enlarged their rather unpretentious
buildings without special reference to architectural beauty. The
Excelsior is a plain city house. The Lincoln has the appearance of
several buildings joined together, but is ornate and striking. Out of
town the Crescent and the Field and Marine clubs have charming country
homes, turreted and porticoed, and surrounded with trees and lawns."[50]
In literary, artistic, musical, dramatic, and social clubs, the city
has become populous. The Academy of Music had its origin in the success
of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society, the leading organization for
the patronage of music, which was incorporated in 1857. It had been
remarked that the audiences which patronized the concerts of the New
York Philharmonic Society were, in a great part, made up of Brooklyn
people. In 1856 or 1857 it occurred to the heads of several families,
who were the best and most appreciative patrons of the New York
society, that Brooklyn might and ought to have a Philharmonic Society
of its own. The project was inaugurated, and was attended with success.
The subscription list doubled the second season. There were, the second
year, over seven hundred subscribers, and numerous patrons besides. The
Athenæum was entirely inadequate for the purposes of the society. In
1858, the leading members of the Philharmonic Society, by circulars,
called the attention of several leading citizens to the relative change
that was going on between the two cities, and pointed to the success of
their society as the best evidence that the time had come when a large
lyric hall was demanded by the necessities of our city. About fifty
gentlemen responded to this call, and a preliminary meeting was held
at the Polytechnic Institute, in October, 1858.[51] A public meeting
followed, a popular stock company was formed, and the Academy was
incorporated in 1859. Land in Montague Street was bought for $41,000.
The total expenditure reached $200,000. The Academy became and has
remained the city's leading opera house, and largest place of public
meeting. Most of the greatest musical artists, actors, and orators in
the country have been heard under its roof.
Among the leading musical associations of the city are the Apollo Club,
the Seidl Society, the Brooklyn Choral Society, the Arion Society, the
Brooklyn Maennerchor, the Zoellner Maennerchor, the Amphion Musical
Society, the Cæcilia Ladies' Vocal Society, the Concordia Maennerchor,
the Euterpe Chorus and Orchestra, the Deutscher Liederkranz, the
Saengerbund, and the Prospect Heights Choral Society. In recent years
there has appeared a disposition to regard Brooklyn as a musical city.
The increase in the number of musical societies and the patronage of
opera and concert have unquestionably been great. Among the musical
composers, resident in the city, who have made national reputations,
Dudley Buck has been of first prominence.
The Brooklyn Art Association, a development of the Sketch Club, formed
by Brooklyn artists in 1857, erected a handsome building adjoining
the Academy of Music in 1872. The exhibitions held in the association
galleries have been the chief displays of pictures seen within the
city. In recent years the Brooklyn Art Club, a society composed of
artists solely, has attained a large membership, and has exhibited
annually in the Art Association galleries. The Art Association
maintains a free art school. The leading society of art connoisseurs is
the Rembrandt Club.
The Society of Old Brooklynites, the Franklin Literary Society, and
the Bryant Literary Society have won prominence, and a position of
influence has been assumed by the Brooklyn Woman's Club.
In private libraries and art collections Brooklyn has grown rich
within the past twenty-five years. The development of certain valuable
picture collections has induced the wish that the city had a great
museum similar to the Metropolitan in New York, which might receive
contributions by bequest. The advancement of the Brooklyn Institute
promises to supply this need.
The newspapers of Brooklyn have acquired an increasingly influential
position in the life of the city. We have seen how the "Eagle," the
"Times," and the "Freie Presse" attained their established positions.
The "Standard-Union" represents some interesting newspaper history. The
"Union" was started in the midst of the war period, its first editor
being Edward Cary. The paper was purchased in 1870 by Henry C. Bowen,
and Gen. Stewart L. Woodford became editor-in-chief, and H. E. Bowen
(son of Henry C.), the publisher. When General Woodford retired a few
months later, he was succeeded by Theodore Tilton, whose skillful pen
was in the service of the paper until January, 1872, when Henry C.
Bowen assumed the editorship. In the following year the control of the
paper passed to Benjamin F. Tracy, F. A. Schroeder, John F. Henry, and
others associated with them, and Robert Burch, who afterward became
managing editor of the "Eagle," took the post of editor-in-chief. Later
the property came into the hands of Lorin Palmer, and in 1877 the
purchase of the name and good-will of the Brooklyn "Argus," which had
been established as a weekly in 1866 and as a daily in 1873, resulted
in the change of title to "Union-Argus." When the Union Publishing
Company was formed, the name "Argus" was dropped, and the paper was
again known as the "Union" during the aggressive editorship of John
Foord, formerly of the New York "Times," and afterward editor of
"Harper's Weekly." In 1887 the "Standard," which had been established
in 1884, was consolidated with the "Union," and John A. Hatton assumed
the editorship of the "Standard-Union." Soon afterward William Berri
became principal owner of the paper, and in 1890 Murat Halstead,
long the master spirit of Ohio journalism, was called to the chair
of editor-in-chief. The qualities which gave Halstead a national
reputation while editor of the Cincinnati "Commercial Gazette" have not
failed to make his pen a power in Brooklyn and throughout the State.
The "Citizen," established in 1886 by leading Democrats of the city,
since has been a forceful and consistent organ of the local Democracy.
The editorship of Andrew McLean has been one of eloquence and energy,
uniting a consummate knowledge of Brooklyn with a rare sagacity in
estimating men and affairs.
The establishment of "Brooklyn Life" by Frederick Mitchell Munroe and
John Angus McKay was a felicitous stroke in Brooklyn journalism. "Life"
has enjoyed a unique popularity as a weekly review of Brooklyn social,
artistic, and literary affairs.
Brooklyn journalism has been quick to reflect the life and sentiment
of the city. It has been energetic, original, and clean. The fact that
only two of the newspapers, the "Eagle" and the "Citizen," publish
Sunday editions, is one which of itself indicates the presence of a
conservative element in the city. The establishment of Travelers'
Bureaus by the "Eagle," under the direction of the assistant business
manager, Herbert F. Gunnison, was a piece of characteristic enterprise.
The political complexion of Brooklyn and Kings County during the
past two or three decades has become increasingly Democratic, with
periodical Republican relapses. In the incumbency of the sheriff's
office, for example, there has been an interesting alternation in
parties since 1875. During the same period the two parties have been
represented with approximate evenness in the Mayor's office. In
leadership of the Democratic party Henry C. Murphy was succeeded by his
energetic lieutenant, Hugh McLaughlin, who has retained the position
at the head of the party since before the Rebellion. The period and
completeness of this local leadership probably finds no parallel in
American political history. No analogous situation has ever existed
in the Republican party, which has never had a generally recognized
leader, and whose successes at the polls have been those of a party
or a public feeling in opposition to the dominant organized party.
Both independent Democratic and independent Republican movements and
leaderships have played an important part in the later activities of
political life.
Of the commercial development of Brooklyn since 1876, it is to be said
that it has advanced more remarkably on the water front than elsewhere.
The traffic in grain, sugar, and oil, with the extensive cooperage
and ship-building and repairing operations, constitutes an important
element in any estimate of the city's prominence in manufactures.
In the value of products[52] the sugar industry stands first, the
foundry and machine-shop interests coming second, and slaughtering
and meat-packing third. Fourth and fifth positions are to be given
respectively to chemical industries and the grinding of coffee and
spices. Cordage and twine making has for a long time occupied a
prominent place in Brooklyn. Other prominent industries are in boots
and shoes, furnishing goods, and paper hangings. The National Meter
Company plant in South Brooklyn is the largest in the world.
One of the most striking illustrations of Brooklyn's advancement in
commercial affairs has been the increase in the number and importance
of its financial institutions. The city's first banks were the Long
Island Bank,[53] incorporated in 1824; the Brooklyn Savings Bank,
incorporated in 1827; the Atlantic Bank, incorporated in 1836; the Bank
of Williamsburgh, incorporated in 1839; the South Brooklyn Savings
Bank, incorporated in 1850; and the Williamsburgh Savings Bank,
incorporated in 1851. The first fire insurance company (the Brooklyn)
was contemporaneous with the first bank. The Long Island Insurance
Company was organized in 1833. In 1893 four insurance companies had
their home offices in Brooklyn; there were twenty-three banks of
deposit, fourteen savings banks, four safe deposit companies, seven
trust companies, four title guarantee companies, and four savings
institutions. In the same year there were about one hundred and ten
strictly local securities.
APPENDIX
I
FRANCIS LEWIS[54]
One of the names ever to be remembered in the history of Brooklyn, and
of the State and country, is that of Francis Lewis, who was an ardent
patriot, and sacrificed his all to secure the independence of the
colonies. As he resided for more than twenty years on Long Island, he
can justly be claimed as one of her sons, and as such richly deserves
a place in her history. Few men displayed so much zeal in the cause of
liberty, or evinced such readiness to endure the hardships which the
struggle necessarily entailed.
His career covered a period of fourscore years and ten. He spent
sixty-eight of these years in the New Netherlands,--forty-one of them
under the rule of England; seven years in the cause of the Revolution;
and twenty years as a citizen of the Republic of the United States,
upon whose banner he ever looked with pleasure and delight.
Born amidst the wilds of rocky Wales, in the town of Llandaff, in
1713, he possessed the sturdy endurance and perseverance for which the
ancient Britons, from whom he was descended, were proverbial. In such a
clime, and under such circumstances, he early learned to bear patiently
the privations of life, and thus was fitted and prepared for the great
work which characterized his eventful career.
His father, the Rev. William Lewis, was a worthy minister of the
Established Church of England, and his mother was the daughter of the
Rev. Dr. Pettingill, a clergyman of the same faith, whose parish was
in the north of Wales. Young Lewis did not long enjoy a parent's care,
being left an orphan at the early age of four or five. His education
and training were now committed to a maternal aunt, who ever manifested
a deep interest in his welfare. This relative and adopted mother took
particular pains to have him thoroughly instructed in his native
language, and instilled into him those deep religious principles, which
formed a marked and striking phase of his character. Not satisfied
with the means of education to be obtained in his mountain home, she
sent her ward to Scotland to visit some relatives in the Highlands,
amongst whom he soon acquired a perfect familiarity with the Gaelic
tongue. Remaining in Scotland a short time, he was transferred to
the care of an uncle, who held the position of Dean of St. Paul's in
London. The Dean at once gave him the advantages of the celebrated
school at Westminster. The opportunities thus afforded were embraced
and appreciated. By his assiduity and proficiency he soon won a
distinguished place as a scholar. His progress was rapid, and when he
left the school he had obtained a complete classical education.
On leaving school the natural bent of his mind appeared to be for
commercial pursuits. In order to prepare him for the path he had
chosen, he was apprenticed to a merchant in London.
When Lewis reached manhood he came into possession of the little
fortune left by his father, and thereupon resolved to engage in
ventures on his own account. Perceiving that the old world did not
present a suitable field of operation for a young man with a small
capital, he anticipated the advice of the Sage of Chappaqua, and
determined to seek his fortune in the new and promising western world.
Collecting his effects together, he converted them into money, which
he invested in such articles of merchandise as he thought marketable,
and, with his stock in trade, sailed for New York, where he arrived in
the spring of 1735. He was disappointed in finding that his stock of
goods could not be sold in New York, by reason of the limited demand.
A man of his energy was ready to overcome all difficulties. In the
emergency he entered into a partnership with Edward Annesly, with whom
he left a portion of his goods for sale, shipping the remainder to
Philadelphia, whither he himself went to superintend their disposal.
In the latter city he remained two years, and then returned to New
York. Once more in New Amsterdam, he entered into business, becoming
extensively engaged in foreign trade. While thus employed, and on June
15, 1745, realizing the truth of Scripture "that it is not good for
man to be alone," he entered the holy and sacred relation of marriage
with Miss Elizabeth Annesly, his partner's sister. The issue of this
marriage was seven children, three only of whom survived infancy. One
of his sons, Morgan Lewis, greatly distinguished himself, subsequently
becoming governor of the State of New York.
During the remarkably severe winter of 1741 Lewis drove his horse and
sleigh from New York to Barnstable, the entire length of Long Island
Sound, on the ice. This must have been an interesting episode in his
life. Referring to the intensity of the cold season, the "Boston
Post" of January 12, 1741, says: "For these three weeks we have had
a continued series of extreme cold weather, so that our harbors and
rivers are continually frozen up. On Charles River a tent is erected
for the entertainment of travellers. From Point Alderton, along the
South Shore, the ice is continued for the space of above 20 miles."
The Boston "News Letter" of March 5, 1741, contains the statement that
"people ride every day from Stratford, Conn., to Long Island, which is
three leagues across, which was never known before."
It appears that the temperature did not moderate with the appearance of
spring, as the same paper, on April 2, again alludes to the subject,
saying, "that people from Thompson Island, Squantum, and the adjacent
neighborhood have come fifteen Sabbaths successively upon the ice to
our meeting."
Francis Lewis being an active and industrious man, his business often
required his presence abroad, and led him to travel extensively in
Europe. At various times he visited Russia, the Orkney and Shetland
Islands, and on two occasions endured the terror and discomfort of
shipwreck on the coast of Ireland.
On his return from the old world he found the affairs of the colony in
a very unsettled condition. The French war was engaging the attention
of the people. During a short period he was employed as agent to supply
the wants of the British troops. The romance of his life was now about
to commence. In the performance of his duties, he was present in
August, 1756, when Fort Oswego was reduced, and compelled to surrender
to the French General de Montcalm. The fort at this time was commanded
by Colonel Mersey, one of his warm personal friends. In the emergency
attending the bombardment, Lewis, to serve his friend, acted as his
aid. Montcalm on the 10th of August approached the fort at the head
of a mixed array of 5000 men, consisting of Europeans, Canadians, and
Indians. The garrison having used up all their ammunition, Mersey
spiked the cannon, and crossed the river to Little Oswego, without the
loss of a single man. Montcalm at once took possession of the deserted
fort, and immediately began a heavy fire, which was kept up without
intermission. The next day Mersey was killed by a shot while standing
by the side of Lewis. The commander having fallen, the garrison at once
capitulated, surrendering themselves prisoners of war. It consisted
of 1400 men, composing three regiments, one of which was the Jersey
Blues, under Col. Peter Schuyler. By the terms of the surrender they
were to be exempted from plunder, taken to Montreal, and treated with
humanity. The French, however, did not regard the promise which they
had made. When the surrender was effected, Montcalm soon forgot his
pledge, and shamefully allowed one of the Indian warriors to select
thirty of the prisoners to treat as he pleased. Lewis was one of the
number chosen, and naturally expected a speedy and cruel death. He was,
however, saved in a most unexpected manner. The family tradition on
the subject, handed down by his son, and communicated to the writer by
a gentleman of this city, who received it from Governor Morgan Lewis
himself, is that Francis Lewis soon ascertained that he understood
their dialect, and could freely converse with them, so that they
comprehended what he said. His ability to communicate with the Indians
in their own tongue pleased the chieftain, who extended to him the
utmost kindness, and on his arrival at Montreal sought by every means
within his power to induce the French commander to allow him to return
to his family, without being compelled to pay any ransom. The request
so urgently made was refused. Lewis was sent as a prisoner of war to
France, and upon being exchanged was permitted to return to America.
The British government, in consideration of the services he had
rendered, gave him a grant of 5000 acres of land, but as the fees
amounted to more than the land was worth he never took out the
necessary patent, the warrant for which was left in the Secretary of
State's office.
Many have looked upon this tradition concerning Francis Lewis as
mythical. Had it been false, a man of his sterling qualities would have
contradicted the statements published during his lifetime. Some have
supposed that he gathered more or less knowledge of the Indian dialect
through business intercourse. It presents a very interesting feature
in American history, opening up as it does a wide field for research.
As it deserves more than a passing notice, it will not be out of place
to turn aside for a moment, and consider how it was that Francis Lewis
understood the Indian warrior.
It frequently has been claimed that Madoc, a Welshman, made voyages to
America, long before Columbus was born. It has been conceded by many
authorities that Prince Madoc, a Welsh navigator, upon the death of
his father resolved to seek a new home, and thereby avoid contention
with his brothers and relatives as to the succession. This was about
the year 1170. He prepared his ships and munitions of war, and sailing
westward came to a country theretofore unknown. Upon his return to his
native land he gave a glowing account of the richness and beauty of
the land he had visited. Restless in spirit, he could not long remain
satisfied with the crags of Cambria, and prepared a fleet of ten sails,
once more bent his course westward, and was never heard of again.
There are many curious evidences that in early times Welsh tribes of
Indians, or Indians speaking the Welsh language, were to be found on
the continent of America.
Dr. John Williams published in London, in 1791, a very interesting
inquiry into the truth concerning the discovery of America by Prince
Madoc. In his treatise much valuable information is to be found, and
many strong arguments in favor of the claim that the Welsh settled
America more than 300 years anterior to the discovery by Columbus. Dr.
Williams refers to the Lewis incident, and published his book twelve
years before the death of Francis Lewis.
To return from our digression, Francis Lewis could not be idle. On his
return from his enforced trip to France, we find him once again engaged
in business. He was a man in advance of his time, and well knew the
value of newspaper advertisements. The following is a copy of one of
his announcements, published in the "New York Gazette and Weekly Post
Boy," the leading journal of the day:--
"Just imported and to be sold by Francis Lewis in the Fly,
Alamodes, Lutestrings, Ducapes, Damasks, Mantua Silks,
Grazettes, Padajoy's Velvets, India Taffities, Groganes, Sewing
Silks, etc."
The commercial trips taken by Lewis gave him an enlarged view of men
and things. In Europe he had witnessed the aggressions of the rich
landed proprietors upon the poorer classes, and the untold wrongs
perpetrated upon the white slaves of the mines and manufacturing towns.
His natural, inherent sense of right led him to endorse and freely
proclaim the doctrine, "that all men are born free and equal." Wherever
he went he beheld the outrages which the assumed leaders imposed upon
the common people. He saw how utterly powerless they were to remove the
burdens and restrictions which stood in the way of their advancement.
Everywhere he found power trampling upon human rights. In him the
downtrodden and oppressed ever found a faithful friend and helper. As
he always kept his eyes and ears open, he was prepared with force and
vigor to oppose the encroachments of the British Crown upon the rights
of the people. Looking upon America as the home of the oppressed, with
whom he always sympathized, he at once became greatly attached to his
adopted country.
Watching with close scrutiny every act of the mother country, he early
foresaw that the demands of Great Britain would eventually result in a
rupture.
George II. died October 25, 1760, and was succeeded by his grandson,
George III., a young man of twenty-two years of age. Shortly after
his accession, and on the 18th of November, 1761, Lieutenant-Governor
Cadwallader Colden assumed control of affairs in the colony of New
York, during the temporary absence of Governor Monckton. Governor
Monckton returned after capturing the island of Martinique in June,
1762, and remained in office until June, 1763, when he returned to his
native land, again leaving the management of affairs in the hands of
Lieutenant-Governor Colden.
During Monckton's career, it may be said that the principles of liberty
were first invaded by an assault upon the independence of the judiciary
by the board of trade. Justice Pratt was appointed chief justice in the
place of De Lancey. The board of trade declared that he should hold
office during the pleasure of the King, and not during good behavior,
as had always been the rule. Such a declaration and assumption gave
the King power to remove for political reasons any judge in the land,
thus making the judge but a tool of the King, and depriving him of
that independence which could alone render his decisions entitled to
respect. The people naturally looked upon this action as an invasion
of their civil rights, and calculated to destroy the confidence of the
community in the expounders of the law. To their credit be it said that
both Monckton and Colden boldly opposed the measure.
The Provincial Assembly looked upon the conditions imposed relative to
the appointment of the chief justice with detestation. They opposed
it bitterly, manifesting their opposition by absolutely refusing to
make any provision for the payment of his salary until he received
a commission, which would place him above and beyond legislative
political control. The board of trade refused to surrender, or in any
wise alter the conditions they had adopted. As the Assembly would make
no provision for his salary, it was suggested that the royal quit-rents
should be applied to the object. The plan was adopted, and thus the
judiciary passed under the control of the sovereign, and the death
knell of its independence was sounded.
Colden was destined to wield the reins of government during an
important and trying time. The storm cloud could be seen gradually
rising. At first appearing no larger than a man's hand, it slowly
increased until at last the black and heavy clouds seemed ready to
break forth at any moment with devastating fury. Everything looked
dark and gloomy, and betokened the approaching storm. The mutterings
of the people grew louder and more threatening. The government did
not heed them, but made their demands more arrogant, seeming to take
the Egyptian taskmasters as their guide. Parliament acted as if they
considered the colonies fit subjects for plunder.
In 1763 the subject of taxing the colonies was brought up in
Parliament, and a measure introduced for its imposition. This was
antagonized by the Provincial Assembly of New York, and denounced as
arrogant and illegal.
Lord Grenville was the chancellor of the English exchequer. To him
belongs the credit of suggesting the proposition of raising a revenue
by a direct tax upon the colonies. He, then, was the initiator of the
abuses which led to the independence of the people.
Lord Grenville understood human nature, and therefore resolved to
accomplish his purpose by degrees. He sought to gradually obtain entire
control over the finances and resources of the colonies, take from the
people their liberties, and render them merely subservient vassals
of the Crown. He proposed as an entering wedge that a tax should be
imposed upon foreign productions, and that stamp duties should be
created. As such measures were always unpopular, he saw at once that
men and means would have to be provided for the collection of the
duties. He well knew that the people would not tamely submit to the
enforcement of such burdens. In order to carry the law into effect, he
proposed the creation of an army of 10,000 men, believing that such
a force would act upon the fears of the subjects, and compel them to
submit quietly to the great wrong.
The thunderings of discontent grew louder and louder; and the murmurs
resounded on every side. Grenville became prime minister in 1764, and
by reason of his elevation exerted a great and controlling influence
over Parliament. He was now in a position to successfully carry out
the schemes he had proposed the year before. Upon assuming his new
position, next to the Crown itself, he forcibly urged upon Parliament
his peculiar methods to raise revenue. He contended that the home
government had the right to impose such duties and taxes as they
thought proper, without consulting the wishes of the colonists. An act
was passed in accordance with his views, providing a tax upon various
articles, which formerly had been admitted free of duty.
The Provincial Assembly of the colony of New York protested against
these tyrannical acts, and forwarded a strong and forcible memorial
to the ministry. The manliness manifested by the Assembly in thus
declaring its rights brought down upon them the animosity of the Crown;
led to the suspension of their legislative prerogatives, thereby
depriving the people of representation in the affairs of the colony.
New York was not the only province that sent protests. While the
Assembly of New York spoke boldly and fearlessly, the sister colonies
were more suppliant. If the other colonies had displayed the same
determination to oppose the inroads upon their rights as New York
evinced, it would have resulted at the outset in a repeal of the odious
measures.
The Stamp Act was passed on the 22d of March, 1765, to take effect on
the 1st of November ensuing. The colonial Governor Colden declared that
he would enforce the law. This enunciation did not terrify the people,
as a fixed resolve permeated the masses to oppose its enforcement
at all hazards. Citizens obtained copies of the act, and in broad
daylight hawked them about the street with a death's head bearing the
inscription, "The Folly of England and the Ruin of America." Meetings,
public and private, were held throughout the city, and in the outlying
sections of the colony. The subject was earnestly discussed on the
streets and in all places of public resort. Lewis was amongst the first
to refuse submission to or acquiescence in the royal demands. Love of
liberty and justice induced him to enlist in the cause of the patriots
against the enactments of Parliament. This was the grand principle
which induced him to unite with the devoted band which sprang into
existence, and was known as the "Sons of Liberty." The avowed object
of this noble company was to concert and adopt measures whereby the
exercise of an undue power by the mother country might be defeated.
When the Provincial Assembly of New York, apprehending danger, and
realizing the necessity of united action on the part of all the
colonies, deemed it wise and prudent to recommend a congress of
delegates to assemble in New York on the 7th of October, 1765, to
consider what action should be taken to oppose the repulsive Stamp Act,
Mr. Lewis was elected to represent New York as a delegate, and when
they met took his seat in the convention. His head, heart, and soul
were enlisted in the cause, and he earnestly advocated the adoption of
the Bill of Rights.
He was one of the men selected to circulate the principles of the Sons
of Liberty, and seek the formation of similar societies throughout
the colonies. In this grand work he was associated with Isaac Sears,
Marrinus Willett, Gershom Mott, Hugh Hughes, William Wiley, Thomas
Robinson, Flores Bancker, and Edward Laight, all of whom were tried
patriots, whose deeds of daring and earnest labors will live in the
memory of a grateful people while time shall last. Truly have they
"left behind them footprints on the sands of time," and "their actions
smell sweet and blossom in their dust."
At this time Francis Lewis resided at Whitestone, L. I., having removed
with his family to his country home early in 1765. His residence in
Queens County did not prevent his acting with the Sons of Liberty. In
those days many of the prominent officials lived in Brooklyn and on the
Island.
The appointment of this committee resulted in the selection of a
correspondent in London, who kept the patriots informed as to the
projected movements of the British authorities, by which means they
were enabled to adopt measures to thwart the purposes of the Crown. The
information received from time to time led to a desire for a closer
union of the colonies. The old Dutch maxim, which has been preserved
and adopted as part of the seal of our good city of Brooklyn, "In union
is strength," was uppermost in their minds, and induced them to invite
the respective colonies to send delegates to a congress to assemble in
New York on the 7th of October, 1765.
Some New England writers have given the credit of the formation of this
congress to Massachusetts. This is an unhistorical assumption. Whilst
New England men did yeoman service in the cause, they did not enlist in
it until they had been spurred on by the "Sons of Liberty" of New York.
This congress of delegates owed its existence to the persistency of New
Yorkers, and was by them first called together.
The congress was organized by the election of Timothy Ruggles, of
Massachusetts, as president. The session lasted for three weeks. The
measures introduced and the work accomplished were mainly initiated
by the delegates from New York. A declaration of rights, prepared
and submitted by John Cruger, Mayor of New York, was adopted; and a
memorial and statement of grievances for presentation to Parliament
was prepared and introduced by Robert R. Livingston, also of New York.
Livingston subsequently was a member of the Continental Congress, and
associated with Jefferson on the committee appointed to draft the
Declaration of Independence. Livingston's address to Parliament was
signed by nearly all the members. The declaration of rights was a
vigorous and forcible document. It announced the grand principle that
"taxation without representation is tyranny," and declared that as the
colonies were so remote as to preclude representation in Parliament,
the right of taxation only vested in the legislative authorities. It
boldly denounced the Stamp Act as tyrannical, and demanded its repeal.
Prior to the assembling of this congress a committee waited upon
Governor Colden to solicit his aid and encouragement. As Colden had
in former times advocated the rights of the people, it was but natural
to expect encouragement and support from him in this trying hour. The
committee was disappointed. To their infinite surprise and disgust
he declared the congress to be "unconstitutional, unprecedented, and
unlawful," and announced that he should give it no countenance.
It is within the bounds of reason to say that Jefferson, in the
production of his inimitable paper, caught his inspiration from these
noble documents emanating from the Dutchmen of New York, and so readily
endorsed by their associates in this congress. The doctrine brought
over in the Mayflower led for a time to proscription, whilst the
lesson taught by the Dutch settlers was freedom and toleration. The
forefathers of New England who sought the New World to enjoy religious
liberty refused to grant the same privilege to others. The Dutch, on
the other hand, extended a welcome to the Pilgrims, gave them a home
at Delft Haven for eleven years, afforded an asylum to the persecuted
Quakers who fled from New England, and always exercised the precept
enunciated at a later day by the martyr Lincoln, "with malice toward
none, with charity for all."
The acts and enunciations of the congress were approved by the people,
and adopted by the Colonial Assembly which met in November. Shortly
after the ratification of the petitions by the Colonial Assembly,
Governor Colden wrote to the home government that "whatever happens in
this place has the greatest influence on the other colonies. They have
their eyes perpetually on it, and they govern themselves accordingly."
The Stamp Act was to take effect on the 1st of November, 1765. The
merchants on the eve of the 1st were greatly excited. With one accord,
they congregated at Burns's Coffee House, near the Battery, and with
united voice passed the following resolution: "To import no goods
from England until the Stamp Act be repealed; to countermand all
orders already sent for spring goods; to sell no goods from England
on commission; to abide by these resolutions until they should be
rescinded by a general meeting called for that purpose."
The Sons of Liberty, in order to carry on their work so well
commenced, appointed from their number a committee of five, which
was termed the non-importation committee, whose duty it was to enter
into correspondence with the other colonies, and, by enlisting their
sympathy, induce them to coöperate in the work, and adopt a similar
policy.
The stamps reached New York October 29, 1765. In order to protect them
from the rage of the people, they were placed on board of a British
man-of-war, in the harbor. Governor Colden declared that he could not
be intimidated; that the stamps should be delivered in due time. The
Governor was in a dilemma, as neither threats nor persuasion could
induce the people to aid or assist in the removal.
The 1st of November came. Business was entirely suspended. Every
heart was burdened with anxiety. The flags on the shipping were
placed at half-mast, and the church bells tolled mournfully. Many
private residences displayed the insignia of mourning. On every side
it appeared as if a great and dire calamity had visited the colony.
Handbills denouncing the administration appeared in public places as
if by magic, and the people were warned not to give in their adhesion
to the Crown by purchasing the condemned stamps. Activity marked the
rank and file of the Sons of Liberty. During the day they bent their
energies in making preparations for an evening display. Shortly after
dark they assembled and proceeded to the Commons, in the neighborhood
of the present City Hall, where a gallows was quickly erected, and an
effigy of Governor Colden suspended therefrom. A piece of stamped paper
was placed in his hand, a drum at his back, and a placard on his breast
with the inscription, "To the Rebel Drummer of 1745." Another company
carried a life-sized figure of Colden, seated in a chair, through the
streets to the Fort. When they reached Colden's residence they broke
open his stable, took therefrom his coach of state, placed the image
in the coach, and with it returned and joined their companions in the
park. With them they formed into line, and once again proceeded to
the Fort and demanded admission. At this time the Fort was under the
command of General Gage, who wisely withheld his fire, well knowing
that the first shot would madden and infuriate the populace. As
admission to the Fort was refused, the citizens repaired to the Bowling
Green, kindled a fire, and placed thereon the Governor's coach, image,
and the effigy which had been suspended on the gallows. The Sons of
Liberty could not hold the people in check. The residence of James, one
of the Crown officers, was visited, and because he had advocated the
Stamp Act his house was reduced to ashes.
The excitement did not abate. Colden well knew that his successor was
expected daily, and he was anxious to lift the responsibility from his
own shoulders, and place it on those of his successor. This proffer on
the part of Colden did not satisfy the people; they wanted the entire
control of the stamps themselves. Again the Sons of Liberty assembled,
fully equipped, resolved to obtain the stamps at all hazards, and,
if needs be, storm the Fort itself. The Governor became alarmed, and
agreed to deliver them to the Mayor and Corporation. The stamps were
thereupon transferred to John Cruger, the Mayor, who gave a receipt on
behalf of the city, "to take charge, and care of, and be accountable
in case they shall be destroyed or carried out of the province." The
Sons of Liberty, satisfied with the results of their labors, quietly
dispersed. This was the 5th of November. Peace and quietude once again
reigned.
Sir Henry Moore, the new Governor, arrived November 13, 1765, and
wisely declared at the outset that he would have nothing to do with the
detested stamps, and directed that those he had brought with him should
be deposited with the others in the City Hall.
The spirit of hatred to the Stamp Act, manifested in the province
of New York, proved contagious. The colony of Maryland caught the
infection, and drove from her midst a stamp agent, who sought a refuge
on Long Island. Hither the Sons of Liberty followed him, and compelled
him to resign his office, under the solemnity of an oath. This act
on the part of the Sons of Liberty was greatly appreciated by the
inhabitants of Maryland.
The spirit displayed by the inhabitants of New York continued to
spread, until at last the different colonies became one in spirit.
Parliament saw it would be useless to attempt the enforcement of the
Stamp Act, and repealed it February 20, 1766. The news reached New York
March 20, 1766, filling the community with untold joy. A dinner was
given, and a liberty pole erected, bearing the inscription, "The King,
Pitt, and Liberty." This pole was destined to become the rallying-spot
of the Sons of Liberty.
Peace did not last long. In 1767, the chancellor of the exchequer
introduced and secured the passage of a bill, imposing duties on all
tea, glass, paper, painters' colors, and lead, imported into the
colony. This measure was looked upon as a fresh invasion of their
rights by the inhabitants, and a new burst of feeling appeared.
In 1768 a new Assembly was convened. Kings County was represented by
Simon Boerum, John Rapalje, and Abraham Schenck. At the opening of the
session in October, a correspondence was entered into with the colony
of Massachusetts, responsive to a circular sent by that colony, asking
their aid, sympathy, and coöperation in securing a removal of common
grievances. In unmistakable terms the Assembly denounced the outrages.
The public prints were equally emphatic. The boldness of the Assembly
led to its dissolution, and a new one in the interest of the Crown
was convened in 1769. The new body catered to the Royalists, passing
resolutions in the interest of the Crown, thereby exciting the Sons
of Liberty to renewed efforts. In December, 1769, the patriots again
circulated handbills, denouncing the Assembly as base betrayers of the
sacred trust reposed in them. The Assembly received no consideration at
the hands of the malcontents.
In January, 1770, the Royalist soldiers, to show contempt for the
citizens of the city, attempted to destroy the liberty pole. They
even, in their fury at the failure of the effort, broke into the
building occupied by the Sons of Liberty, and destroyed its windows
and furniture. During several nights in succession the soldiers
renewed their endeavors to destroy the emblem of liberty. At last they
succeeded, manifesting their spite by cutting it in small pieces, which
they placed in front of the headquarters of the patriots. The insult
was understood, and fresh conflicts arose, the soldiers and the people
finally coming into violent collision in the so-called battle of Golden
Hill.
Early in 1770 Parliament repealed all the duties except that on tea.
In 1771 Francis Lewis removed his family to New York, and entered into
business with his son. This connection did not last long. The political
atmosphere was surcharged with dissatisfaction. The storm cloud of
dissension still hung threateningly, and the future looked black and
dismal. In such a state of affairs his course was not doubtful.
The English authorities resolved to enforce the duty on tea. The
vessels containing it sailed from England October 26, 1773. The events
that followed are familiar in American history.
The New York "tea party" was a greater success than the one in
Boston, as the New Yorkers not only threw the tea overboard, but also
confiscated one of the vessels, and sent the captains of both back in
the other craft, disheartened and crestfallen.
On the 22d of April, 1775, Lewis, having relinquished business, was
elected by a convention of delegates from Kings, Queens, New York,
and the other counties, to represent the province in the Continental
Congress to assemble in Philadelphia. At this time Lewis lived on Long
Island. The colony had two governors. Tryon represented the Crown and
the Royalists, and General Nathaniel Woodhull, of Suffolk County, was
president pro tem. of the Provincial Council, possessing the functions
of a governor. Antagonism existed between the two. The Provincial
Council directed the guns to be removed from the Battery. This was
opposed by Tryon. On the 23d of August, 1775, the committee proceeded
to discharge the duty assigned them. The British ship Asia was in the
harbor, having just arrived from Boston, and by direction of Tryon at
once opened her broadside. Morgan Lewis, son of Francis Lewis, during
his lifetime stated that at this time the first ball shot from an
English ship, during the war, struck his father's house on the Long
Island shore, shattering the beam under his mother's foot. The family
were greatly terrified, and hastily sought a refuge in the neighboring
hills.
The Provincial Congress met in New York in December, 1775. Francis
Lewis was continued a delegate to the Continental Congress for 1776.
His appears as one of the immortal fifty-six names appended to the
Declaration of Independence. On that occasion, in the impetuosity of
his enthusiasm, he exclaimed: "Now we must hang together or we shall
hang separately."
The convention of representatives of the State of New York, which met
at White Plains, July 9, 1776, unanimously ratified the acts of their
delegates. Two of the signers of the Declaration from New York, to wit,
Francis Lewis and William Floyd, were residents of Long Island. It will
thus be seen that our island sent one half of the State delegation.
Lewis was now kept busy in political matters. During several subsequent
years he was appointed to represent the State in national affairs.
Whilst in Congress his advice was often sought, and his prudence
and business tact made him a valuable member. Always maintaining a
spotless reputation, he secured and retained the confidence of his
associates. Matters which required caution and discretion were referred
to him. Valuable service was rendered by him in purchasing clothing for
the army, and in importing arms and ammunition. Besides all this he
was frequently employed on committees and in the secret service of the
government.
At the time the Tories occupied New York, and terror and consternation
filled the hearts of all, he, with Messrs. Sherman and Gerry, was
appointed a committee by Congress to repair to New York, ascertain the
condition of the army, and devise means to supply its wants.
In 1775 Lewis removed his family to his country residence at
Whitestone, L. I. It did not prove wise on his part, as it was stepping
into the hornet's nest. Shortly after the occupation of the island by
General Howe, and on August 23, 1776, a party of British light horse,
under Colonel Burch, plundered his home, destroyed his library and
valuable papers, and removed such articles as they could conveniently
carry away, leaving him barely sufficient means with which to pay his
debts. At this time he was sixty-three years old, and by this wanton
act was placed in a truly pitiable condition. They were not satisfied
with the destruction of his property, but thirsted for vengeance on the
man who dared to proclaim himself a friend of liberty by signing the
Declaration of Independence, which was an indictment by the grand jury
of the people against the tyranny of Great Britain. The vandal invaders
took Mrs. Lewis a prisoner, and retained her in close confinement
several months, without allowing her either a bed to rest upon or a
change of clothing.
The attention of Congress was directed to her situation in November,
1776. A resolution was passed to exchange Mrs. Grace Kempe, wife of
John Tabor Kempe, the Tory attorney-general of New York, whom the
Americans held as a prisoner, for Mrs. Lewis. In the effort they were
unsuccessful. Washington became greatly interested in her behalf, and
through his instrumentality she was at last released. She had endured
intense suffering, which impaired her constitution, and resulted in her
death within two years thereafter. She was buried in the graveyard of
Christ Church, Philadelphia.
About this time Lewis's son Francis was married to a Miss Ludlow. The
Ludlow family strenuously opposed the match, saying that his father was
a notorious rebel and would certainly be hanged, and they did not want
to be allied to a family whose head was destined to meet such a fate.
By the terms of the resolution passed by Congress, October 14, 1777,
each State was entitled to a representation of seven members, and
unless two members were in attendance, the State would have no vote.
The cabal took advantage of the fact that New York had but two members
in town, and, as one of them was sick and unable to attend, the State
would thereby have no vote in the deliberations of Congress. They
determined to raise the issue in Congress by appointing a committee to
arrest Washington at Valley Forge. Francis Lewis was the only member
from New York capable of taking his seat. The other member, Col. Wm.
Duer, was very sick; but, loving his country more than his life,
immediately upon learning the necessity of his presence sent for his
physician, and demanded to know whether he could be removed and taken
to the halls of Congress. The doctor replied, "Yes; but at the expense
of your life!" "Do you mean that I would expire before reaching the
place?" "No; but I would not answer for your life twenty-four hours
afterwards." "Very well, sir," the noble Roman replied; "you have
done your duty, prepare a litter for me; if you refuse, some one else
shall do it; but I prefer your care in this case." The litter was
prepared, and the patient made ready to sacrifice his life, to defeat
the machinations of the misguided men who sought to degrade Washington.
Fortunately the sacrifice was prevented by the opportune arrival of
Gouverneur Morris, another delegate, who, on reaching the headquarters
of the New York delegation, found Colonel Duer on the litter, covered
with blankets, attended by his physician and carriers, ready to go to
the Court House, where Congress was to meet. Lewis and Morris being
present gave New York a vote, and forced the evil-minded members to see
that their scheme could not be safely advocated, and the effort was
abandoned.
When Lewis retired from Congress, that body, in consideration of
his services, and remembering his many sacrifices, appointed him
commissioner of the board of admiralty, which position he accepted. In
April, 1784, Lewis was an earnest worker in the reorganization of the
Chamber of Commerce, which he had been instrumental in founding, and
assisted in procuring its charter, which passed the Legislature April
13, 1784.
Lewis lived to see the accomplishment of his heart's desire, and was
permitted to live in the infant republic for which he had spent his
time and fortune for a period of twenty-seven years.
His children followed in his footsteps. One of them, Francis Lewis,
Jr., represented Queens County in the Assembly of 1788. The other son,
Morgan, was born October 16, 1754, graduated at Princeton College in
1773, studied law with John Jay, and joined the army under Washington
in 1775. At first he was captain of a rifle company, but rose rapidly,
becoming, in 1776, colonel and chief-of-staff under General Gates. He
was at the battle of Saratoga, and distinguished himself under General
Clinton in the Mohawk Valley. After the war, he continued his legal
studies, and was admitted to the bar. Soon after he was appointed judge
of the court of common pleas. In 1791 he was elected attorney-general,
as the successor of Aaron Burr, holding the position until December 24,
1792, when he became a justice of the Supreme Court. On the 28th of
October, 1801, he took his seat as chief justice of the Supreme Court
of the State of New York. Other honors awaited him. He was Governor
of the State from 1804 to 1807, succeeding Governor Clinton as the
third Governor of the Commonwealth. At the election, party spirit and
feeling were manifested to a great degree. Aaron Burr was his opponent,
and displayed great anxiety to secure the election. Although Lewis was
a Jeffersonian, he received the warm support of Alexander Hamilton.
It was mainly through the efforts of Hamilton that his success in the
contest was secured. Hamilton's labors in behalf of Lewis embittered
Burr, and formed one of the main causes which a few months later led to
his untimely end at the hands of the miscreant intriguer Burr. Burr was
a student with Lewis at Princeton, and graduated in 1772, one year in
advance of the Governor.
On several subsequent occasions, Morgan Lewis was elected state
senator, and also chancellor of the University. In 1812 he was
appointed quartermaster, and became a major-general in 1813. During
that year he was engaged in operations on the Niagara River, and
commanded the defenses in New York city in 1814. In 1828, when
seventy-four years of age, he was elected a presidential elector for
the fifth district of New York.
Lewis Avenue, Brooklyn, was named in his honor.
Morgan Lewis was a man of great scholastic attainments. The New York
Historical Society elected him their president in 1835. In 1839 he
was chosen president of the Society of the Cincinnati, holding the
office until his death, April 7, 1844. He was the last but one of the
Revolutionary soldiers who filled that position. He was grand master of
the Free Masons at the time of his death, and was buried by the craft
with their impressive ceremonies. He was married at Clermont on the
Hudson in May, 1779, to Gertrude, the sister of Chancellor Livingston.
On the 6th of August, 1784, Morgan Lewis purchased eighty acres of land
in Brooklyn, bounded by the Gowanus Road, and the road leading from
Brooklyn to Flatbush. It was a portion of the estate belonging to John
Rapelje, which became forfeited by his allegiance to the Tories, and
was sold by the commissioners appointed to sell the property of all who
adhered to the Crown.
Francis Lewis, the hero and patriot, spent his last days in comparative
poverty; but his heart was cheered by the fact that he had given his
fortune to his country, and spent his life in her service.
On the 30th of December, 1803, at the ripe age of ninety years, having
witnessed the inauguration of three Presidents, all of whom were his
warm and personal friends, his life-work closed.
II
DUTCH NOMENCLATURE
In a letter written from Holland to the Brooklyn "Eagle," Henry C.
Murphy gave an interesting explanation of the chief characteristics of
Dutch nomenclature. In the course of this letter Mr. Murphy said:--
"In order to show what difficulties the peculiar system adopted in this
country (Holland), and continued by the settlers in our own home, throw
in the way of tracing genealogies, it is to be observed that the first
of these, in point of time, was the patronymic, as it is called, by
which a child took, besides his own baptismal name, that of his father,
with the addition of _zoon_, or _sen_, meaning son. To illustrate
this: if a child were baptized Hendrick, and the baptismal name of his
father were Jan, the child would be called Hendrick Jansen. His son,
if baptized Tunis, would be called Tunis Hendricksen; and the son of
the latter might be Willem, and would have the name Willem Tunisen.
And so we might have the succeeding generations called successively
Garret Willemsen, Marten Garretsen, Adrien Martensen, and so on,
through the whole of the calendar of Christian names; or, as more
frequently happened, there would be repetition, in the second, third,
or fourth generation, of the name of the first; and thus, as these
names were common to the whole people, there were in every community
different lineages of identically the same name. This custom, which
had prevailed in Holland for centuries, was in full vogue at the time
of the settlement of New Netherland. In writing the termination _sen_,
it was frequently contracted into _se_, or _z_, or _s_. Thus the name
of William Barretsen, who commanded in the first three Arctic voyages
of exploration, in 1594, 1595, and 1596, is given in the old accounts
of those voyages, Barretsen, Barentse, Barentz, Barents; sometimes in
one way, sometimes in another, indifferently. Or, to give an example
nearer home, both of the patronymic custom and of the contraction of
the name, the father of Garret Martense, the founder of a family of
that name in Flatbush, was Martin Adriense, and his father was Adriæ
Ryerse, who came from Amsterdam. The inconveniences of this practice,
the confusion to which it gave rise, and the difficulty of tracing
families, led ultimately to its abandonment, both in Holland and in our
own country. In doing so, the patronymic, which the person originating
the name bore, was adopted as the surname. Most of the family names
thus formed and originating amongst us may be said to be of American
origin, as they were first fixed in America, though the same names were
adopted by others in Holland. Hence we have the names of such families
of Dutch descent amongst us as Jansen (_anglice_, Johnson), Garretsen,
Cornelisen, Williamsen or Williamson, Hendricksen or Hendrickson,
Clasen, Simonsen or Simonson, Tysen (son of Mathias), Arendsen (son
of Arend), Hansen, Lambertsen or Lambertson, Paulisen, Remsen,[55]
Ryersen, Martense, Adrience, Rutgers, Everts, Phillips, Lefferts, and
others. To trace connection between these families and persons in this
country, it is evident, would be impossible, for the reason stated,
without a regular record.
"Another mode of nomenclature, intended to obviate the difficulty
of an identity of names for the time being, but which rendered
the confusion worse confounded for the future genealogist, was to
add to the patronymic name the occupation or some other personal
characteristic of the individual. Thus, Laurens Jansen, the inventor
of the art of printing, as the Dutch claim, had affixed to his name
that of Coster--that is to say, _sexton_--an office of which he was
in the possession of the emoluments. But the same addition was not
transmitted to his son; and thus the son of Hendrick Jansen Coster
might be called Tunis Hendrickson Brouwer (brewer), and his grandson
might be William Tunissen Bleecker (bleacher)....
"A third practice, evidently designed, like that referred to, to
obviate the confusions of the first, was to append the name of the
place where the person resided, not often of a large city, but of a
particular, limited locality, and frequently of a particular form or
natural object. This custom is denoted in all the family names which
have the prefix of _Van_, _Vander_, _Ver_ (which is a contraction of
_Vander_), and _Ten_, meaning, respectively, _of_, _of the_ and _at
the_.... The prefixes _Vander_ or _Ver_ and _Ten_ were adopted where
the name was derived from a particular spot, thus: Vanderveer (of the
ferry); Vanderburg, of the hill; Vanderbilt (of the bildt, that is,
certain elevations of ground in Guederhoff and New Utrecht); Vanderbeck
(of the brook); Vanderhoff (of the court); Verplanck (of the plank);
Verhultz (of the holly); Verkerk (of the church); Ten Eyck (at the
oak); Tenbroeck (at the marsh)."
III
NEW YORK AND BROOKLYN FERRY RIGHTS
New York City's exclusive claims to the ferry rights are almost as old
as Brooklyn itself. Brooklyn was settled in 1636, and in less than
twenty years, and while there was but a handful of people on this
side of the river, the ferry from Peck Slip to Nassau Island, at a
point corresponding to the present foot of Fulton Street, had become a
public question. In the natural course of things, New York had first
started the ferry. When the English conquered New Netherland, and Peter
Stuyvesant stepped down (with his wooden leg) from the governorship of
New Amsterdam, the conquered province was patented by Charles II. of
England to the Duke of York, who afterwards became James II., and in
whose honor New Amsterdam was re-named New York. The Dutch Governor was
succeeded by an English Governor, the Duke's representative, Nicolls;
and Dutch traditions and codes were succeeded by the famous "Duke's
Laws." The new Governor granted to the little hamlet of Brooklyn a
patent confirmatory of that received from the Dutch Governor, a measure
that was in conformity with the general policy of the conquerors.
This patent, after naming the patentees, and describing the bounds of
the town, and bounding by the river, and not by high or low water mark,
proceeded to say: "Together with all havens, harbors, creeks, marshes,
waters, rivers, lakes, and fisheries." The charter adds: "Moreover, I
do hereby give, ratify, and confirm unto the said patentees and their
associates, and their heirs, successors, and assigns, all the rights
and privileges belonging to a town within their government." Under
this patent the town of Brooklyn first claimed the ownership of land
between high and low water mark on the Brooklyn side, and an equal
right with New York to erect and maintain ferries.
We find no adverse claim on the part of New York until nineteen years
afterward, in 1686, when the Corporation of New York obtained from
Governor Dongan a charter by which the ferries were granted to New
York. But this charter says nothing about water rights, and expressly
reserves the rights of all other persons and bodies corporate or
politic. Moreover, Brooklyn in the same year secured from Dongan a
patent fully confirming that of Nicolls. A similar confirmation was
secured in 1691. But New York was still running the ferry, and to
fortify its claims bought land on the Brooklyn side in 1694.
[Illustration: CHART SHOWING EAST RIVER SOUNDINGS AND PIER LINES]
In the reign of Queen Anne the Corporation of New York induced that
infamous trickster and reprobate, Governor Cornbury, to give New
York a charter, by which it was to be entitled to all "vacant and
unappropriated land" below high water mark from the Wallabout to Red
Hook. The charter was really void, for there was no unappropriated
land in the region named, previous patents and charters having given
them to Brooklyn as a town. In 1721 the colonial legislature confirmed
Brooklyn's rights, but New York's politicians bought for a specific
sum ($5000) a new charter from Governor Montgomerie confirming the
pretended right of New York to ownership in land to high-water mark on
the Brooklyn shore. New York secured a charter ownership in 400 feet
of land under water around the whole lower part of the city, and step
by step, with money and unfaltering political trickery, the city set
itself against the development and independence of Brooklyn. By Section
37 of the Montgomerie charter, the ferry franchise was confirmed
"forever," with a provision that no other person or persons whomsoever
should have the right to establish a ferry or ferries in the premises.
Legislative acts and legal decisions have been piled up around a
pretense, the fallacy and injustice of which appear upon examination of
the early records.
New York was not satisfied with the crafty legislation by which it
sought to overawe the village across the river. It began to question
the right of Brooklyn people to cross to New York in their own boats.
The result was that a Brooklyn man, Hendrick Remsen, sued the New York
Corporation. He won his case; the Corporation appealed to the King,
and the matter remained undecided in consequence of the Revolution.
Although the Constitution of the State confirms all grants of land
within the State made by authority of the King of Great Britain or his
predecessors, prior to August 14, 1775, New York afterward adhered to
its false claims to the river rights. However, by State rulings within
the present century, Brooklyn was permitted to exercise jurisdiction
to low-water mark. A Supreme Court decision in 1821 declares that
the City and County of New York includes the whole of the rivers and
harbor adjoining to actual low-water mark on the opposite shores. It
was only in 1824 that Brooklyn was able to secure from the Legislature
concurrent jurisdiction with New York in the service of process, in
actions civil and criminal, on board of vessels attached to its own
wharves.
When Brooklyn sought to erect itself into a city, New York met the
proposition with the same spirit of unwillingness to recognize in the
sister town any right to individual existence. Every step that Brooklyn
took toward securing municipal rights was hampered by the opposition of
New York politicians. Brooklyn became a city in 1834, in spite of New
York's opposition. New York retired from the fight with its fraudulent
ownership of the river and the "ferry rights," by which it was and
still is able to levy a continuous tax upon Brooklyn.
IV
_STATISTICS FROM THE FEDERAL CENSUS OF 1890_
BROOKLYN MANUFACTURES[56]
FEDERAL CENSUS OF 1890
The tabulated statements presented herewith include only establishments
which reported a product of $500 or more in value during the census
year, and, so far as practicable, only those establishments operating
works located within the corporate limits of the city.
COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF TOTALS
================================================================
Industries | Industries | Establishments | Capital[57]
| Reported | Reporting |
---------------------+------------+----------------+------------
All Industries {1880 | 180 | 5,201 | $61,646,749
{1890 | 229 | 10,561 | 125,849,052
---------------------+------------+----------------+------------
============================================================
Industries | Hands | Wages Paid | Cost of
| Employed | | Materials
| | | Used
---------------------+----------+-------------+-------------
All Industries {1880 | 47,587 | $22,487,457 | $129,085,091
{1890 | 103,683 | 61,975,702 | 137,325,749
---------------------+----------+-------------+-------------
====================================================================
Industries | Miscellaneous | Value of Product | Population
| Expenses[58] | |
---------------------+---------------+------------------+-----------
All Industries {1880 | | $177,223,142 | 566,663
{1890 | $14,824,466 | 248,750,184 | 806,343
---------------------+---------------+------------------+-----------
=========================================================
Industries | City Assessed | Municipal Debt[59]
| Valuation |
---------------------+---------------+-------------------
All Industries {1880 | $232,925,699 | $38,040,000
{1890 | 445,038,201 | 34,639,542
---------------------+---------------+-------------------
DETAILED STATEMENT FOR 1890 BY IMPORTANT INDUSTRIES IN BROOKLYN
ELEVENTH CENSUS
=================================================================
CLASSIFICATION OF | Boots and | | Coffee and
INQUIRIES[60] | shoes-- | Chemicals | spice--
| factory | | roasting and
| products | | grinding
_Establishments_:-- | (65) | (36) | (13)
------------------------+------------+-------------+-------------
CAPITAL EMPLOYED-- | | |
Aggregate | $1,327,119 | $8,483,835 | $2,963,392
|============|=============|=============
HIRED PROPERTY-- | | |
Total | 366,230 | 275,000 | 306,300
+------------+-------------+-------------
PLANT--Total | 385,934 | 4,888,250 | 546,696
+------------+-------------+-------------
Land | 56,700 | 1,196,800 | 198,400
Buildings | 113,400 | 1,532,821 | 194,350
Machinery, tools, | | |
and implements | 215,834 | 2,158,629 | 153,946
LIVE ASSETS--Total | 574,955 | 3,320,585 | 2,110,396
+------------+-------------+-------------
Raw materials | 137,612 | 1,365,535 | 721,678
Stock in process and | | |
finished product | 154,802 | 878,468 | 930,671
Cash, bills, and | | |
accounts | | |
receivable, and | | |
all sundries not | | |
elsewhere reported | 282,541 | 1,076,582 | 458,047
| | |
WAGES PAID--Aggregate | $1,032,547 | $1,140,475 | $479,036
|============|=============|=============
Average number of | | |
hands employed | 2,050 | 1,848 | 794
+------------+-------------+-------------
Males above 16 years | 840 | 1,295 | 477
Females above 15 years | 326 | 289 | 10
Children | 24 | 31 |
Pieceworkers | 860 | 233 | 307
MATERIALS USED-- | | |
Aggregate cost | $1,432,934 | $7,329,134 | $11,047,538
+============+=============+=============
Principal materials | 1,381,752 | 7,050,313 | 10,711,647
Fuel | 3,888 | 195,545 | 14,752
Mill supplies | | 9,206 | 20,656
All other materials | 47,294 | 74,070 | 300,483
EXPENSES, MISCELLANEOUS | | |
--Ag'gate | $73,249 | $612,809 | $84,334
+============+=============+=============
Paid for contract work | 1,450 | |
Rent | 25,636 | 22,110 | 21,445
Power and heat | 3,720 | 900 | 3,800
Taxes | 4,494 | 48,950 | 11,439
Insurance | 4,420 | 29,190 | 11,382
Repairs, ordinary, of | | |
b'ld'gs and mach'y | 5,842 | 149,644 | 6,635
Interest on cash used | | |
in the business | 1,549 | 43,651 |
All sundries not | | |
elsewhere reported | 26,138 | 318,364 | 29,633
GOODS MANUFACTURED | | |
--Aggregate | $2,813,209 | $10,467,109 | $12,247,162
+============+=============+=============
Principal product | 2,770,689 | 10,425,949 | 12,044,967
All other products, | | |
including custom | | |
work and repairing | 42,520 | 41,160 | 202,195
------------------------+------------+-------------+-------------
===============================================================
CLASSIFICATION OF | | | Foundry and
INQUIRIES[60] | Confec- | Cordage | machine
| tionery | and twine | shop
| | | products
_Establishments_:-- | (197) | (3) | (169)
------------------------+------------+------------+------------
CAPITAL EMPLOYED-- | | |
Aggregate | $2,923,509 | $2,256,400 | $13,725,518
|============|============|============
HIRED PROPERTY-- | | |
Total | 1,047,500 | | 1,473,750
+------------+------------+------------
PLANT--Total | 1,028,053 | 1,854,300 | 6,046,228
+------------+------------+------------
Land | 251,085 | 303,000 | 1,617,500
Buildings | 311,225 | 701,000 | 1,362,670
Machinery, tools, | | |
and implements | 465,743 | 850,300 | 3,066,058
LIVE ASSETS--Total | 847,956 | 402,100 | 6,205,540
+------------+------------+------------
Raw materials | 207,660 | 175,600 | 1,182,099
Stock in process and | | |
finished product | 269,041 | 60,500 | 1,525,807
Cash, bills, and | | |
accounts | | |
receivable, and | | |
all sundries not | | |
elsewhere reported | 371,255 | 166,000 | 3,497,634
| | |
WAGES PAID--Aggregate | $1,096,252 | $650,256 | $5,641,132
|============|============|============
Average number of | | |
hands employed | 2,237 | 1,612 | 7,753
+------------+------------+------------
Males above 16 years | 1,387 | 1,012 | 6,868
Females above 15 years | 552 | 600 | 42
Children | 22 | | 2
Pieceworkers | 276 | | 841
MATERIALS USED-- | | |
Aggregate cost | $1,833,791 | $4,352,63 | $5,125,183
+============+============+============
Principal materials | 1,738,998 | 4,206,13 | 4,626,489
Fuel | 25,621 | 105,00 | 210,767
Mill supplies | 3,835 | 6,00 | 47,386
All other materials | 65,337 | 35,50 | 240,541
EXPENSES, MISCELLANEOUS | | |
--Ag'gate | $194,993 | $63,18 | $799,912
+============+============+============
Paid for contract work | | | 12,000
Rent | 73,320 | | 117,888
Power and heat | 120 | | 14,664
Taxes | 9,981 | 10,14 | 60,267
Insurance | 5,050 | 7,54 | 36,223
Repairs, ordinary, of | | |
b'ld'gs and mach'y | 5,730 | 25,00 | 74,565
Interest on cash used | | |
in the business | 13,462 | | 22,009
All sundries not | | |
elsewhere reported | 87,330 | 20,50 | 462,296
GOODS MANUFACTURED | | |
--Aggregate | $3,731,202 | $5,625,79 | $15,350,776
+============+============+============
Principal product | 3,721,071 | 5,622,91 | 14,222,090
All other products, | | |
including custom | | |
work and repairing | 10,131 | 2,88 | 1,128,686
------------------------+------------+------------+------------
================================================================
CLASSIFICATION OF | | | Slaughtering
INQUIRIES[60] | Furnishing | Paper | and meat
| goods | hangings | packing
| | |
_Establishments_:-- | (67) | (5) | (63)
------------------------+------------+------------+-------------
CAPITAL EMPLOYED-- | | |
Aggregate | $1,507,853 | $1,790,121 | $2,120,822
|============|============|=============
HIRED PROPERTY-- | | |
Total | 377,650 | 303,482 | 380,560
+------------+------------+-------------
PLANT--Total | 427,420 | 401,946 | 918,400
+------------+------------+-------------
Land | 110,100 | 31,500 | 317,550
Buildings | 142,550 | 121,584 | 346,752
Machinery, tools, | | |
and implements | 174,770 | 248,862 | 254,098
LIVE ASSETS--Total | 702,783 | 1,084,693 | 821,862
+------------+------------+-------------
Raw materials | 312,438 | 61,890 | 114,907
Stock in process and | | |
finished product | 142,902 | 186,974 | 197,490
Cash, bills, and | | |
accounts | | |
receivable, and | | |
all sundries not | | |
elsewhere reported | 247,443 | 835,829 | 509,465
| | |
WAGES PAID--Aggregate | $1,203,461 | $445,510 | $532,120
|============|============|=============
Average number of | | |
hands employed | 2,218 | 852 | 623
+------------+------------+-------------
Males above 16 years | 868 | 660 | 607
Females above 15 years | 485 | 146 | 3
Children | 10 | 20 |
Pieceworkers | 855 | 26 | 13
MATERIALS USED-- | | |
Aggregate cost | $1,443,218 | $1,067,697 | $11,769,741
+============+============+=============
Principal materials | 1,389,325 | 1,042,362 | 11,637,737
Fuel | 27,893 | 18,045 | 32,256
Mill supplies | 10,308 | 290 |
All other materials | 15,692 | 7,000 | 99,748
EXPENSES, MISCELLANEOUS | | |
--Ag'gate | $84,811 | $300,754 | $130,096
+============+============+=============
Paid for contract work | | |
Rent | 26,441 | 22,000 | 34,252
Power and heat | 600 | |
Taxes | 4,429 | 15,863 | 13,902
Insurance | 10,573 | 7,343 | 9,490
Repairs, ordinary, of | | |
b'ld'gs and mach'y | 9,502 | 1,700 | 8,387
Interest on cash used | | |
in the business | 1,895 | 61,833 | 3,691
All sundries not | | |
elsewhere reported | 31,371 | 192,015 | 60,374
GOODS MANUFACTURED | | |
--Aggregate | $3,315,691 | $2,143,023 | $13,317,789
+============+============+=============
Principal product | 3,268,994 | 2,143,023 | 13,118,381
All other products, | | |
including custom | | |
work and repairing | 46,697 | | 199,408
------------------------+------------+------------+-------------
======================================
CLASSIFICATION OF | Sugar and
INQUIRIES[60] | molasses
| refining
|
_Establishments_:-- | (8)
------------------------+-------------
CAPITAL EMPLOYED-- |
Aggregate | $3,999,510
|=============
HIRED PROPERTY-- |
Total | 255,622
+-------------
PLANT--Total | 1,821,000
+-------------
Land | 399,000
Buildings | 527,500
Machinery, tools, |
and implements | 894,500
LIVE ASSETS--Total | 1,922,888
+-------------
Raw materials | 186,214
Stock in process and |
finished product | 335,016
Cash, bills, and |
accounts |
receivable, and |
all sundries not |
elsewhere reported | 1,401,658
|
WAGES PAID--Aggregate | $330,558
|=============
Average number of |
hands employed | 596
+-------------
Males above 16 years | 583
Females above 15 years | 2
Children |
Pieceworkers | 11
MATERIALS USED-- |
Aggregate cost | $14,816,112
+==============
Principal materials | 14,412,045
Fuel | 100,342
Mill supplies | 15,986
All other materials | 287,739
EXPENSES, MISCELLANEOUS |
--Ag'gate | $227,760
+==============
Paid for contract work |
Rent | 20,450
Power and heat | 900
Taxes | 21,877
Insurance | 21,397
Repairs, ordinary, of |
b'ld'gs and mach'y | 29,171
Interest on cash used |
in the business | 65,449
All sundries not |
elsewhere reported | 68,516
GOODS MANUFACTURED |
--Aggregate | $16,629,982
+==============
Principal product | 16,623,134
All other products, |
including custom |
work and repairing | 6,848
------------------------+--------------
STATEMENT OF CITY DEBT, DECEMBER 31, 1893