Within the limits of the town5 the spirit of real estate enterprise appeared in various quarters, but perhaps the most ambitious undertaking was that of the holders of the Sands and Jackson tract, surveyed in 1787, and lying on the East River between the Wallabout and the Brooklyn ferry. To the prospective village planned for this region was given the name of Olympia, after the habit of bestowing classical names which began to appear in post-Revolutionary days. In 1801 John Jackson sold forty acres of Wallabout lands to the United States for $40,000.
The columns of the "Long Island Weekly Intelligencer," published by Roberson & Little, booksellers and stationers, at the corner of Old Ferry and Front streets, give interesting glimpses of this period. In 1806 Henry Hewlet dealt in "general merchandise" near the Old Ferry; John Cole was coach-maker; Dr. Lowe's office was "at the Rev. Mr. Lowe's, corner of Red Hook Road." There was demand for five apprentices at Amos Cheney's shipyard. Benjamin Hilton sold china, glass, and earthenware, "at New York prices," in Old Ferry Street. Postmaster Bunce had fifty-three letters that had not been called for.
In a later issue of the "Intelligencer" the editor remarks that he has been "requested to suggest the propriety of each family placing lights in front of their houses, not having the advantage of lamps, as great inconvenience and loss of time arises from the neglect, particularly on dark nights."
In 1808 the town appropriated $1500 for the erection of a new "poor house." The county court house of this period was at Flatbush, then the county seat. The old court house had been burned in 1758. The money required to build the new court house was raised by an assessment upon the inhabitants of the county. This building continued in use thirty-four years, when, by reason of its dilapidated condition, a new court house and jail were built in 1792. The court house cost $2944.71. The contractor was Thomas Fardon, and the plans for the building were furnished by Messrs. Stanton, Newton, and James Robertson. In referring to the court house, Furman says that "in 1800 the court house was let to James Simson for one year at £3 in money." In this agreement "the justices reserved for themselves the chamber in the said house called the court chamber, at the time of their publique sessions, courts of common pleas, and private meetings; as also the room called the prison, for the use of the sheriff if he had occasion for it." The building stood for forty years, when it was destroyed by fire.
Meanwhile the hamlet of Brooklyn took on many of the characteristics of a maturing village. Joseph B. Pierson removed from New York to Brooklyn in 1809, and opened a circulating library on Main Street, two doors from Sands Street. In the "Long Island Star" of June, 1809, George Hamilton advertised a select school where "students were taught to make their own pens." Hamilton was succeeded by John Gibbons, who in September announced the opening of an academy for both sexes, where the various educational branches are "taught on unerring principles." Mrs. Gibbons was to "instruct little girls in Spelling, Reading, Sewing, and Marking." To the notice of an evening school for young men is appended: "N. B. Good pronunciation."
Two years later there was a private school opposite the post office; John Mabon taught the Brooklyn Select Academy; and at the inn of Benjamin Smith, on Christmas-eve, an exhibition was given by the pupils of Platt Kennedy. At this time the town had a floor-cloth factory, eight or ten looms were at work in Crichton's cotton goods manufactory, and over one hundred people worked in rope-walks. Abraham Remsen kept the one dry goods store at Fulton and Front streets.
Over the Black Horse tavern lived for a time the "Rain-water Doctor," who was consulted by people coming great distances. This strange man dealt mostly in herbs and simples, but his specialty was rain water, which he praised as containing power to cure all manner of ills. He often signed himself, "Sylvan, Enemy of Human Diseases." Sylvan was evidently the first of a long list of "rain-water" quacks, against whom the regular practitioners of this and later periods had occasion to contend.6
At the time when the census of Long Island (in 1811) estimated the population of Brooklyn at 4402, rapid progress had also been made by other towns in the county. Flatlands, which does not seem to have been particularly disturbed by the British occupation,—the church and schools continuing their regular sessions throughout the period,—built a new church in 1794, which was painted red and sanded, and had Lombardy poplars in front and rear. Church-going was a cold experience in those days, the new church, like its predecessors, being without means of heating, save the foot-stoves carried by women. It was not until 1825 that a large wood-stove was introduced. The schoolhouse stood within the original lines of the graveyard.
Gravesend, which had passed through an active early period, had in 1810 a population of 520. The hamlet was conservative in its habits of life and slow in numerical growth. To reach Coney Island from Gravesend at this time, it was necessary to ford the creek at low tide. The Coney Island Bridge and Road Company was organized in 1823. To get their letters the Gravesend people were obliged to go to Flatbush.7 The old schoolhouse, after being in service for sixty years, was in 1788 succeeded by a larger building, which was in service for half a century. The Reformed Church records were still kept in the Dutch language. The church was a long low building with a gallery, under which, on the west side, were the negro quarters.
Flatbush had had a taste of the Revolutionary fighting, and suffered considerably during the British occupation.8
The mill finished in 1804, on John C. Vanderveer's farm, is described as the first mill on the island. The mills became a prominent feature of Flatbush scenery. Clustered near them were some of the quaintest examples of Dutch and colonial architecture that were to be found in this country. The examples surviving to-day give a distinctive charm to this village. In due time the stocks which had stood in front of the court house, the near-by whipping-post,9 and the public brew-house all disappeared.
On the 2d of July, 1791, public notice was given of the plan for building a county court house and jail at Flatbush. The notice stated that the conditions would be made known by application to Charles Doughty, Brooklyn Ferry, and that propositions in writing would be received until July 15 by him and Johannes E. Lott, of Flatbush, and Rutgert Van Brunt of Gravesend.
Cruger, while mayor of New York city, had his residence within the village. Generals Howe, Clinton, and other leading Tories had their headquarters within its limits subsequent to the battle of Brooklyn.
Erasmus Hall, at Flatbush, was erected in 1786, its charter bearing the same date as that of the Easthampton Academy. The first public exhibition of Erasmus Hall was held September 27, 1787, "and the scene," says Stiles, "was graced by the presence of the Governor of the State, several members of the Assembly, and a large concourse of prominent gentlemen of the vicinity." The subject of public instruction continued to be agitated in the public prints and the pulpit, and the attention of the Legislature was repeatedly called by the Governor's messages to the paramount need of having a regular school system throughout the State. Finally, in 1795, that body passed "an act for the encouragement of schools," and made an appropriation of $50,000 per annum for five years "for the purpose of encouraging and maintaining schools in the several cities and towns in this State in which children of the inhabitants residing in the State shall be instructed in the English language or be taught English grammar, arithmetic, mathematics, and such other branches of knowledge as are most useful and necessary to complete a good English education."
The Rev. Dr. John H. Livingston, who, with Senator John Vanderbilt, brought about, the establishment of the academy, was succeeded as principal by Dr. Wilson, who also held a professorship at Columbia College. The records of the academy reveal an interesting list of names, and the institution has held an important relation to the educational interests of Flatbush.
New Utrecht, where the first resistance to the British forces had been offered, and whose church had been used as a hospital and also as a riding-school by the British officers, was quick to assume its wonted ways after the departure of the troops when peace with England had been declared. During the period between 1787 and 1818 the Rev. Petrus Lowe was the pastor.10
The progress of Bushwick after the Revolution was noteworthy. The old Dutch church had been built early in the last century. The dominies from Brooklyn and Flatbush had previously ministered to the people when occasion called. The old octagonal church received a new roof in 1790, a front gallery five years later, and so it remained until 1840. Stiles11 mentions Messrs. Freeman and Antonides as the earliest pastors, and Peter Lowe as serving here until 1808. A regiment of Hessians had their winter quarters here in 1776, barracks being put up on the land of Abraham Luqueer, and free use being made of wood from the Wallabout swamp. The case of Hendrick Suydam was typical. Suydam had to give quarters in his house,12 and the filthy habits of these unsavory mercenaries were shockingly characteristic of this unhappy period. Stiles mentions, among the "patriots of Bushwick," John Provost, John A. Meserole, John I. Meserole, Jacob Van Cott, David Miller, William Conselyea, Nicholas Wyckoff, and Alexander Whaley, but no such list gives due honor to the service of all the Bushwick patriots.
After the Revolution Bushwick had "three distinct settlements or centres of population." These were "Het Dorp," the original town plot at the junction of North Second Street and Bushwick Avenue; "Het Kivis Padt," on the cross-roads at the junction of Bushwick Avenue and the Flushing Road; and "Het Strand," along the East River shore. The first mentioned was the centre of village activity, with the old church for chief landmark.
Of the town house with its tall liberty pole, Field13 writes: "Long after the Revolution the old town house continued to be the high seat of justice, and to resound with the republican roar of vociferous electors on town meeting days. The first Tuesday in April and the fourth of July, in each succeeding year, found Het Dorp suddenly metamorphosed from a sleepy Dutch hamlet into a brawling, swaggering country town, with very debauched habits. Our Dutch youth had a most enthusiastic tendency, and ready facility in adopting the convivial customs and uproarious festivity of the loud-voiced and arrogant Anglo-American youngers.14 One day the close-fisted electors of Bushwick devised a plan for easing the public burdens by making the town house pay part of the annual taxes, and accordingly it was rented to a Dutch publican, who afforded shelter to the justices and constables, and by his potent liquors contributed to furnish them with employment.
"In this mild partnership, so quietly aiding to fill each others' pockets, our old friend Chas. Zimmerman had a share, until he was ousted, because he was a better customer than landlord. The services of the church were conducted in the Dutch language until about the year 1830. The clergyman had the care of five churches, each of which received his spiritual services in turn. The homely but pious men who performed these duties were sometimes learned and dignified gentlemen, always a little aristocratic in their ways, for the dominie of a Dutch colony was an important functionary, whom the Governor-General himself could not snub with impunity. One of their self-indulgent customs would strike a modern community with horror. On arriving at the church, just before the time for Sunday service, the good dominie was wont to refresh himself from the fatigue of his long ride with a glass of some of the potent liquors of the time at the bar of the town house.
"At last the electors of Bushwick got tired of keeping a hotel, and unanimously quit-claimed their title to the church. Some time after the venerable structure [the town house] was sold to an infidel Yankee, at whose bar the good dominie could no longer feel free to take an inspiriting cup before entering the pulpit, and the glory of the town house of Bushwick departed."
The graveyard of the original Dutch settlement lay in sight of the church, and the last remains within its borders were not disturbed until 1879, when the bones were removed in boxes and placed under the Bushwick Church. Not far distant were the De Voe, De Bevoise, and Wyckoff houses, the last named built by Theodorus Polhemus, of Flatbush.15
On the river front was the famous tavern of "Charlum" Titus. Toward Bushwick Creek was the Wartman homestead. On Division Avenue was the Boerum house; the Remsen house was on Clymer Street. Peter Miller, Frederic De Voe, and William Van Cott were prominent residents.
On Newtown Creek stood Luqueer's mill, built in 1664, by Abraham Jansen, and the second to be erected within the limits of the present city of Brooklyn. Freekes' mill at Gowanus was the oldest, a pond being formed by damming the head of Gowanus Kill. Remsen's mill was at the Wallabout. It was built in 1710, and it was from the vantage ground of his residence here that Rem Remsen witnessed so many of the prison-ship horrors. Remsen performed many humane acts toward the unfortunates of the floating dungeons.
The boundary dispute between Newtown and Bushwick—a wrangle beginning in Stuyvesant's day and lasting until 1769—forms one of the most picturesque features of political life in the history of the two towns. "Arbitration Rock," as a famous landmark in the survey was called, having been destroyed, a new rock was placed in position by Nicholas Wyckoff, with the permission of the Commissioners appointed to resurvey the line in 1880, and still remains.
We have seen that one section of the town of Bushwick, or rather an outlying group of farms and houses, lay on the river front. Traffic to and from New York naturally passed through this river section of the settlement. At the beginning of the century Richard M. Woodhull, a New York merchant, established a horse-ferry from Corlaer's Hook, close to the foot of the present Grand Street, New York, to the foot of the Long Island road, now bearing the name of North Second Street.
The New York landing-place of the ferry was then considerably above the settled part of the town. In New York at this period the tendency of development still was along the eastern side of the island. "The seat of the foreign trade," says Mr. Janvier, "was the East River front; of the wholesale domestic trade, in Pearl and Broad streets, and about Hanover Square; of the retail trade, in William, between Fulton and Wall. Nassau Street and upper Pearl Street were places of fashionable residence; as were also lower Broadway and the Battery. Upper Broadway, paved as far as Warren Street, no longer was looked upon as remote and inaccessible; and people with exceptionally long heads were beginning, even, to talk of it as a street with a future; being thereto moved, no doubt, by consideration of its magnificent appearance as the great central thoroughfare of the city upon Mangin's prophetic map."
Notwithstanding the development of New York on the East River side, there were two miles of travel between Woodhull's ferry and the business part of the city. Woodhull bought and "boomed" property in the vicinity of the ferry road on the Long Island side, then known as Bushwick Street, and to the settlement in this region he gave the name of Williamsburgh, "in compliment to his friend, Colonel Williams, U. S. engineer, by whom it was surveyed." A ferry-house, a tavern, a hay-press, appeared on the scene.
"An auction was held," writes John M. Stearns,16 "at which a few building lots were disposed of. But the amount realized came far short of restoring to Woodhull the money he had thus prematurely invested. His project was fully a quarter of a century too soon. It required half a million of people in the city of New York, before settlers could be induced to move across the East River away from the attractions of a commercial city. Woodhull found that notes matured long before he could realize from the property; and barely six years had passed before he was a bankrupt, and the site of his new city became subject to sale by the sheriff. By divers shifts the calamity was deferred until September 11, 1811, when the right, title, and interest of Richard M. Woodhull in the original purchase, and in five acres of the Francis J. Titus estate, purchased by him in 1805, near Fifth Street, was sold by the sheriff in favor of one Roosevelt. James H. Maxwell, the son-in-law of Woodhull, became the purchaser of Williamsburgh; but not having the means to continue his title thereto, it again passed under the sheriff's hammer, although a sufficient number of lots had by this time been sold to prevent its re-appropriation to farm and garden purposes."
Then came Thomas Morrell, of Newtown, who bought the Titus homestead farm of twenty-eight acres, prepared a map, and set down Grand Street as a dividing line. In 1812, Morrell obtained from New York city a grant for a ferry from Grand Street, Bushwick, to Grand Street, New York.
This new town site, extending between North Second Street as far over as the present South First Street, received the name of Yorkton. The rivalry between the Morrell and the Woodhull ferry became very heated. "While Morrell succeeded as to the ferry," writes Mr. Stearns, "Woodhull managed to preserve the name Williamsburgh; which applied at first to the thirteen acres originally purchased, and had extended itself to adjoining lands so as to embrace about thirty acres, as seen in Poppleton's map in 1814, and another in 1815, of property of J. Homer Maxwell. But the first ferry had landed at Williamsburgh, and the turnpike went through Williamsburgh out into the island. Hence, both the country people and the people coming from the city, when coming to the ferry, spoke of coming to Williamsburgh. Thus Yorkton was soon unknown save on Loss's map, and in the transactions of certain land-jobbers. Similarly the designations of old farm locations, being obsolete to the idea of a city or a village, grew into disuse; and the whole territory between Wallabout Bay and Bushwick Creek became known as Williamsburgh."
At this time the owners of shore property refused to have a road opened through their property or along the shore. The two ferries were not connected by shore road, nor with the Wallabout region, and neither ferry prospered during the lifetime of either Woodhull or Morrell. General Johnson, in going from his Wallabout farm to Williamsburgh, "had to open and shut no less than seventeen barred gates within a distance of a mile and a half along the shore." The owners opposed Johnson's movement for a road, but with the aid of the Legislature the road was opened, business at the ferries immediately improved, and Williamsburgh began to grow. A Methodist congregation built a church in 1808; a hotel appeared at about the same time, and in 1814 there were 759 persons in the town. Noah Waterbury, by the building of a distillery at the foot of North Second Street and other enterprises, earned the title of "The Father of Williamsburgh."
Brooklyn during the "Critical Period" in American History. The Embargo and the War of 1812. Military Preparations. Fortifications. Fort Greene and Cobble Hill. Peace. Robert Fulton. The "Nassau's" First Trip. Progress of Fulton Ferry. The Village Incorporated. First Trustees. The Sunday-School Union. Long Island Bank. Board of Health. The Sale of Liquor. Care of the Poor. Real Estate. Village Expenses. Guy's Picture of Brooklyn in 1820. The Village of that Period. Characters of the Period. Old Families and Estates. The County Courts removed to Brooklyn. Apprentices' Library. Prisoners at the Almshouse. Growth of the Village. The Brooklyn "Evening Star." Movement for Incorporation as a City. Opposition of New York. Passage of the Incorporation Act.
As the hamlet of Brooklyn waxed in size and took on the characteristics of an organized community, with a formulated political plan, a fire department, a commercial nucleus that justified a petition17 to the Legislature for the establishment of a local bank, and a population of nearly 5000 people, it began to feel more directly and inevitably than it ever had theretofore the effect of political and commercial movements in the State, and in the nation as a whole.
The early years of the present century, during which Napoleon was terrorizing Europe, were years of formative uncertainties to the young United States. John Fiske has called this time "the critical period" of American history. Speaking of the extraordinary commercial manifestations of the post-Revolutionary period, Mr. Fiske says: "Meanwhile, the different States, with their different tariff and tonnage acts, began to make commercial war upon one another. No sooner had the other three New England States virtually closed their ports to British shipping than Connecticut threw hers wide open, an act which she followed up by laying duties upon imports from Massachusetts. Pennsylvania discriminated against Delaware, and New Jersey, pillaged at once by both her greater neighbors, was compared to a cask tapped at both ends.
"The conduct of New York became especially selfish and blameworthy. That rapid growth, which was so soon to carry the city and the State to a position of primacy in the Union, had already begun. After the departure of the British the revival of business went on with leaps and bounds. The feeling of local patriotism waxed strong, and in no one was it more completely manifested than in George Clinton, the Revolutionary general, whom the people elected Governor for nine successive terms. From a humble origin, by dint of shrewdness and untiring push, Clinton had come to be for the moment the most powerful man in the State of New York. He had come to look upon the State almost as if it were his own private manor, and his life was devoted to furthering its interests as he understood them. It was his first article of faith that New York must be the greatest State in the Union. But his conceptions of statesmanship were extremely narrow. In his mind, the welfare of New York meant the pulling down and thrusting aside of all her neighbors and rivals. He was the vigorous and steadfast advocate of every illiberal and exclusive measure, and the most uncompromising enemy to a closer union of the States. His great popular strength and the commercial importance of the community in which he held sway made him at this time the most dangerous man in America."
The relations of the States became more amicable in the early years of the century, the rival commonwealths being drawn together by a general obligation of self-defense as against England. In 1808 had come Jefferson's Embargo Act, of whose influence in New York John Lambert writes: "Everything wore a dismal aspect at New York. The embargo had now continued upwards of three months, and the salutary check which Congress imagined it would have upon the conduct of the belligerent powers was extremely doubtful, while the ruination of the commerce of the United States appeared certain if such destructive measures were persisted in. Already had 120 failures taken place among the merchants and traders, to the amount of more than 5,000,000 dollars; and there were above 500 vessels in the harbor which were lying up useless, and rotting for want of employment. Thousands of sailors were either destitute of bread, wandering about the country, or had entered the British service. The merchants had shut up their counting-houses and discharged their clerks; and the farmers refrained from cultivating their land; for if they brought their produce to market they could not sell it at all, or were obliged to dispose of it for only a fourth of its value."
Elsewhere in his journal, Lambert writes: "The amount of tonnage belonging to the port of New York in 1806 was 183,671 tons, and the number of vessels in the harbor on the 25th of December, 1807, when the embargo took place, was 537. The moneys collected in New York for the national treasury, on the imports and tonnage, have for several years amounted to one fourth of the public revenue. In 1806 the sum collected was 6,500,000 dollars, which, after deducting the drawbacks, left a net revenue of 4,500,000 dollars, which was paid into the treasury of the United States as the proceeds of one year. In the year 1808 the whole of this immense sum had vanished!"
In June, 1812, came the declaration of war with Great Britain. The news occasioned considerable excitement in Brooklyn, whose middle-aged men retained a lively recollection of the British occupation. In the "Star" of July 8 appeared this announcement: "A new company of Horse or Flying Artillery is lately raised in this vicinity, under the command of Captain John Wilson. This company promises, under the able management of Captain Wilson, to equal, if not excel, any company in the State. The Artillerists of Captain Barbarin are fast progressing in a system of discipline and improvement, which can alone in the hour of trial render courage effectual. We understand this company have volunteered their services to Government, and are accepted. The Riflemen of Captain Stryker and the Fusileers of Captain Herbert are respectable in number and discipline. The county of Kings is in no respect behind her neighbors in military patriotism."
The Fusileers wore green "coatees" and Roman leather caps. The green frocks of the Rifles were trimmed with yellow fringe, a feature of the costume which is reputed to have originated the appellation "Katydids." In August the Artillery practiced at a target, and John S. King won a medal.
Two years elapsed before Brooklyn was actually threatened with war. In 1814 the fear that the British fleet might, as in the Revolutionary descent, land at Gravesend, was naturally entertained. The committee of defense decided to build two fortified camps on Brooklyn Heights and on the heights of Harlem. Volunteers for labor on local and suburban defenses were called for, and there was a patriotic response. A company of students from Columbia Academy, Bergen, N. J., performed work on the Brooklyn Heights fortifications.18 The Long Island defenses extended from the Wallabout to Fort Greene, to Bergen's Heights (on Jacob Bergen's property), and to Fort Lawrence.
On the 9th of August, 1814, General Mapes, of New York, with a body of volunteers, broke ground for the intrenchments at Fort Greene. The work was carried on day by day by a different corps of volunteers. One day the labor would be performed by the tanners and curriers and the veteran corps of artillery; on another day, in happy unison, would be seen working, side by side, a brigade of infantry, a military association of young men, the Hamilton Society, and students of medicine; on another, a delegation from Flatbush would be seen engaged earnestly on the work; on another, the people of Flatlands would be armed with pick and shovel; then Gravesend dug in the trenches. Irishmen were not to be outdone; they proved their patriotism and love of liberty by volunteering, 1200 strong, to labor in the cause. Then the burghers from New Utrecht gave a helping hand. The free colored people gladly gave their aid. Jamaica came, headed by Dominie Schoonmaker, and with them came the principal of the academy, with his pupils. Workmen came from New York, Newark, Paulus Hook, and Morris County, N. J. A company came from Hanover Township, headed by their pastor, Rev. Dr. Phelps, and labored for a day upon these fortifications. So, too, the members of the Baptist Church in New York came, with their pastor, Rev. Dr. Archibald Macloy, and did a day's work. Rev. Dr. Macloy was the father of Congressman Macloy, who ably represented the seventh ward of New York and a part of Kings County before the late civil war.
The erection of the defenses of Brooklyn was thus not a local affair. It was one in which the neighboring cities, towns, and States took part. The people were enthusiastic. The Grand Lodge of Masons enlisted in the service, and the watchword of the day was: "The Master expects every Mason to do his duty." Old Fortitude Lodge, which still exists, rendered a day's service. A company of ladies came from New York, forming a procession, with music, marched to Fort Greene, and used the shovel and the spade for several hours. The people had one mind and were actuated by one purpose. The work advanced rapidly, for, as in the days of Nehemiah, the "people had a mind to work," and their efforts were crowned with success. These were the times when the people willingly gave their money for the good of the country, without expecting to receive it again with compound interest.
Early in September the works were completed. The Twenty-second Brigade of Infantry, composed of 1750 men, was stationed within the lines. Heavy artillery was mounted. Brigadier General Jeremiah Johnson was in command. He was a natural soldier, and possessed every element of character necessary to lead a brigade. Stern and unflinching in the performance of duty, he yet had a warm and generous heart, which led him to take an active interest in the welfare of the men in his command. The soldiers loved him, and rendered willing obedience to his orders. Being a resident of Brooklyn, he knew or was known by most of his men personally.
At the fort on Cobble Hill worked military companies under command of Captains Stryker, Cowenhoven, and Herbert, the "exempts" of Bedford and the Wallabout, Fire Company No. 2 of Brooklyn, and a company of Bushwick people headed by Pastor Bassett. "Next to the duties which we owe to Heaven," said the Bushwick people at their meeting, "those which belong to our country demand our chief attention."
The volunteers worked with the utmost zeal, laboring by moonlight when sunset still left work to do. The Sixty-fourth Regiment, of Kings County, was commanded by Francis Titus, with Albert C. Van Brunt as second major, and Daniel Barre as adjutant. New Utrecht's company was headed by Captain William Dewyre; Brooklyn's company was headed by Captain Joseph Dean; the Wallabout and Bushwick company, by Captain Francis Stillman; the Gowanus company, by Captain Peter Cowenhoven, and later by Captain John T. Bergen; the Gravesend and Flatbush companies, by Captain Jeremiah Lott.
Brooklyn was, indeed, ready, but fortunately the crisis for which it prepared did not appear. On the evening of February 11, 1815, came the news of peace with Great Britain. On the evening of the 21st Brooklyn was illuminated in a spirit of rejoicing, and the band of the Forty-first Regiment, then stationed in the village, voiced the delight of the people.
Meanwhile, various important advances had been made by Brooklyn and her neighbors. In 1812, Robert Fulton having made a successful experiment with his first steamboat, the Clermont, a steam ferry was opened between New York City and Paulus Hook, Jersey City. In that year Fulton and his "backer," Robert R. Livingston, offered to the corporation of the city of New York a proposition to establish a steam ferry from Fly Market Slip to Brooklyn.19 The proposition was accepted, and it was decided to run the boats from Burling Slip. "As, however, the slip was not then filled in, and the cost of filling was estimated at $30,000, it was finally concluded to establish the ferry at Beekman Slip (present Fulton Street, New York), which was accordingly purchased for that purpose by the corporation from Mr. Peter Schermerhorn. Beekman Slip at that time extended only to Pearl Street. Fair Street, which then ran from Broadway to Cliff Street, was extended through the block between Cliff and Pearl streets to join Beekman Slip. To this newly extended Fair Street, from the East River to Broadway, and to Partition Street, which then extended from Broadway to the Hudson River, was given the name of Fulton Street, in honor of the distinguished inventor, in consequence of the establishing of whose steam ferry this street was about to become a great highroad of travel and traffic. The ferry from Fly Market Slip was discontinued.
"The lease of the ferry was granted to Robert Fulton and William Cutting (his brother-in-law), for twenty-five years,—from the 1st of May, 1814, to May, 1839,—at an annual rental of $4000 for the first eighteen years, and $4500 for the last seven years. The lessees were to put on the ferry one steamboat similar to the Paulus Hook ferry-boat; to run once an hour from each side of the ferry, from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset; to furnish in addition such barges, etc., as were required by previous acts of the Legislature; and on or before the 1st of May, 1819, they were to provide another steamboat in all respects equal to the first, and when that was done a boat should start from each side of the river every half hour. As a compensation to the lessees for the increase of expense which would be incurred in conducting the ferry upon such an enlarged scale, the corporation covenanted to apply to the Legislature for a modification and increase in the rates of ferriage; and in case the bill passed before May 1, 1819, Messrs. Fulton and Cutting agreed to put on their second boat at the earliest possible date thereafter. In case of its failing to pass, they were to be permitted to receive four cents for each and every passenger who might choose to cross the river in the steamboat, but the fare in barges was to remain as it had been, viz., two cents."20
The proposed bill successfully passed the Legislature, and Fulton and Cutting formed a stock company, called the New York and Brooklyn Steamboat Ferry Association, with a capital of $68,000. The first steam ferry-boat, called the Nassau, began running on Sunday, May 10, 1814. "This noble boat," said the Long Island "Star," "surpassed the expectations of the public in the rapidity of her movements. Her trips varied from five to twelve minutes, according to tide and weather.... Carriages and wagons, however crowded, pass on and off the boat with the same facility as in passing a bridge. There is a spacious room below the deck where the passengers may be secure from the weather, etc." On one of the first day's trips an engineer was fatally hurt.
The Nassau made forty trips on the following Sunday, and became a useful and popular institution. She was used after business hours for pleasure excursions on the river. The plan of construction was that of a double boat, with the wheel in the centre, the engine-house on deck and the passenger cabin in one of the hulls. Peter Coffee, the first pilot, died in 1876, aged ninety-nine years. One end of the deckhouse of the Nassau was occupied by a pensioner of Fulton's, who sold candies and cakes.
While the Nassau was in operation the horse ferry-boats were also used on the Fulton Ferry. These horse ferry-boats were peculiar craft. The first horse-boats were single-enders, and were compelled to turn around in crossing the river. Subsequently double-enders were used. All these boats had two hulls, about twenty feet apart and covered over by a single deck. Between these hulls were placed the paddle-wheels, working upon the shafting propelled by horses.
"By an invention of Mr. John G. Murphy, father of ex-Senator Henry C. Murphy, the managers of these boats were enabled to reverse their machinery without changing the position of the horses. The steamboat was very popular with the public. Owing to its success there was soon a very marked desire in both cities for the addition of the second steamboat, in accordance with the terms of the contract made by the lessees with the city of New York. Objection was made by the lessees on the ground of additional expense, and boats run by horse power were substituted. In 1815 Robert Fulton died. Mr. Cutting, who had lived in New York, removed to Brooklyn, and died at his residence on the Heights in 1821. The winter of 1821–22 was one of the most severe in the history of the country. The ferries were obstructed by enormous quantities of floating ice. Great cakes became jammed between the double hulls, and travel was practically suspended. Brooklyn had grown rapidly, and an uproar arose in which the ferry management was roundly assailed. Who can tell but it was here that the original idea of the East River Bridge was first born? In 1827 a steamboat similar to the Nassau, and called the William Cutting, was put on the ferry, but even this did not satisfy the public, who were eagerly seeking more extended accommodations. In 1833 Messrs. David Leavitt and Silas Butler secured a controlling interest in the stock of the company, and sought to meet the anticipations of the people by adding two new steamboats, the Relief and the Olive Branch. Unlike their predecessors, these boats had single hulls and side wheels. Subsequently agitation in the southern part of Brooklyn led to the establishment of the South Ferry."
In 1817, the Loisian Academy, which had been started four years before, received a salaried teacher, and was removed to the small frame house on Concord and Adams streets, where Public School No. 1 was afterward built.
Brooklyn began soon after the Revolution to think seriously of the matter of incorporation as a village. On January 8, 1816, a public meeting was held at the public house of Lawrence Brown, "to take into consideration the proposed application for an incorporation of Brooklyn. A committee, consisting of Thomas Everit, Alden Spooner, Joshua Sands, the Reverend John Ireland, and John Doughty, met the following day at the house of H. B. Pierrepont. On April 12th the act incorporating the village passed the Legislature."
Built in 1827
The section of the town of Brooklyn, commonly known by the name of the Fire District, and contained within the following bounds, namely: "Beginning at the public landing, south of Pierrepont's distillery, formerly the property of Philip Livingston, deceased, on the East River, thence running along the public road leading from said landing to its intersection with Red Hook Lane, thence along said Red Hook Lane to where it intersects the Jamaica Turnpike Road, thence a northeast course to the head of the Walleboght mill pond, thence through the centre of said mill pond to the East River, and thence down the East River to the place of beginning,"—was incorporated as a village, by the name of the Village of Brooklyn; and by the act the village was constituted a road district, and declared exempt from the superintendence of the commissioners of highways of the town of Brooklyn, and the Trustees of the village were invested with all the powers over the road district, and subjected to all the duties in relation thereto which by law were given to or enjoined upon the said commissioners, etc.21
The Trustees were required to make a survey and map of the village, to be kept by the clerk, subject to the inspection of the people, "in order that no resident might plead ignorance of the permanent plan to be adopted for opening, laying out, leveling, and regulating the streets of said village." In pursuance of the requirements of this law, the Trustees caused to be made a survey and map of the village, which was adopted by them on the 8th of April, 1819. By a law passed in 1824, the Trustees were authorized to "widen and alter all public roads, streets, and highways, already laid out ... to such convenient breadth, not exceeding sixty feet, as they should judge fit;" also to lay out new roads and streets. In 1827 the village was divided into five districts.
The first Trustees of the village were Andrew Mercein, John Garrison, John Doughty, John Seaman, and John Dean.
The first named of these Trustees appears as one of the principal founders of a Sunday School which was "in operation in the village of Brooklyn" in 1816. This school seems to have been designed and operated on broad grounds. While combining "moral and religious instruction with ordinary school learning," parents or guardians were privileged to say "what catechism" they wished the children to study. As a result of this school movement the Brooklyn Sunday School Union Society was afterward organized. The school met for a time in Thomas Kirk's printing-office on Adams Street, but found the schoolhouse quarters on the same street to be more desirable.
Previous to 1814 there were two markets in Brooklyn: one at the foot of the old Ferry Street (which began to acquire the name Fulton Street, after the steamboats began running and Fulton Street had been named on the New York side); the other at the foot of Main Street. Both were taken down in 1814.
The Long Island Bank was incorporated in 1824, with a capital of $300,000, divided into 6000 shares. In the same year the Brooklyn Fire Insurance Company came into existence.
On the village map adopted April 8, 1819, sixty-seven streets appear, besides a number of alleys. Several of the streets were sixty feet wide. Doughty Street was the narrowest, being only twenty feet wide.
In 1820 the population of the town had increased to 7175. The village population was 5210.
In 1822 there were four distilleries in the town, which at that time contained but little over 7000 inhabitants. This was a distillery to every 1750 inhabitants. All the grocers appear to have sold liquors.
In 1826 the population of the village was about 9000. The sum of the excise fees paid over to the overseers of the poor in that year was $3627, the significance of which large amount need not be pointed out.
In 1824 a bill was introduced into the Senate, by John Lefferts, to organize a board of health in the village of Brooklyn. The act constituted the Trustees a board of health. By its provisions the president and clerk of the village became the officers of the board. The president's salary was fixed at $150 per annum, and the physician appointed by the board received $200 yearly.
The introduction of swill milk into the city appears to belong to a later period. It became the practice for milk-dealers to send to the various distilleries and purchase swill, which they fed to their cows. The stables were generally long, low buildings divided into narrow stalls, and afforded accommodation for forty or fifty cows. The swill cost one shilling a hogshead, and was fed hot to the cows. The principal distilleries were Cunningham's on Front and Washington streets; Manley's, corner of Tillary and Gold streets; Birdsall's, John A. Cross's, and Wilson's. The two latter were at the Wallabout.
In 1824 the real estate of Brooklyn was assessed at $2,111,390, and the personal property at $438,690; making a total of $2,550,080.
On the 14th of January, 1830, the Supervisors of the county purchased the poor-house farm at Flatbush. On the 9th of July, 1831, the corner-stone of the building was laid, on which occasion an address was delivered by General Jeremiah Johnson, who afterwards became Mayor. He served as Supervisor continuously from 1800 to 1822, and distinguished himself in the War of 1812, a part of the time being in command of the fortifications on Fort Greene.
The expense of supporting the poor of the town of Brooklyn during the year 1830 was $7233.13. The taxes for all expenses amounted to only sixty cents on every hundred dollars of valuation of real and personal property.
The items of village expense as estimated August 18, 1830, were as follows:—