TWO: WHERE PATROONS AND KNICKERBOCKERS FLOURISHED

XVII

THE MORRIS-JUMEL MANSION, NEW YORK CITY

WHERE WASHINGTON ESCAPED FROM THE BRITISH BY A
FIFTEEN MINUTE MARGIN

"A Pleasant situated Farm, on the Road leading to King's Bridge, in the Township of Harlem, on York-Island, containing about 100 acres, near 30 acres of which is Wood-land, a fine piece of Meadow Ground, and more easily be made: and commands the finest Prospect in the whole Country: the Land runs from River to River: there is Fishing, Oystering, and Claming at either end...."

When, in 1765, Roger Morris, whose city house was at the corner of Whitehall and Stone streets, saw this advertisement in the New York Mercury, he hungered for the country. So he bought the offered land, and by the summer of 1766 he had completed the sturdy Georgian house that, after a century and a half, looks down on the city that has grown to it and beyond it.

In an advertisement published in 1792, in the New York Daily Advertiser, a pleasing description of the mansion of Roger Morris was given:

"On the premises is a large dwelling-house, built in modern style and taste and elegance. It has ... a large hall through the centre; a spacious dining room on the right.... On the left is a handsome parlor and a large back room.... On the second floor are seven bedchambers ... On the upper floor are five lodging rooms ... and at the top of the house is affixed an electric conducter. Underneath the building are a large, commodious kitchen and laundry and wine cellar, storeroom, kitchen pantry, sleeping apartments for servants, and a most complete dairy room...."

For nine years Roger Morris and his family lived in the mansion on the Heights. As a member of the Legislative Council much of his time was given to the interests of his fellow-citizens. But as time passed he found himself out of sympathy with his neighbors. They demanded war with Great Britain, and he felt that he could not join the revolt. Accordingly, in 1775, he sailed for England, leaving his large property in the care of Mrs. Morris.

Mrs. Morris kept the house open for a time, but finally, taking her children with her, she went to her sister-in-law at the Philipse Manor House at Yonkers.

On September 14, 1776, General Washington decided to abandon the city to the British. He planned to go to Harlem, to the fortification prepared in anticipation of just such an emergency. On September 15 he took possession of the Roger Morris house as headquarters. Two days later his Orderly Book shows the following message, referring to the battle of Harlem Heights:

"The General most heartily thanks the troops commanded yesterday by Major Leitch, who first advanced upon the enemy, and the others who so resolutely supported them. The behavior of yesterday was such a contrast to that of some troops the day before [at Kip's Bay] as must show what may be done when Officers and Soldiers exert themselves."

During the weeks when the mansion remained Washington's headquarters the curious early flag of the colonists waved above it. In the space now given to the stars was the British Union Jack, while the thirteen red and white stripes that were to become so familiar completed the design. This flag the English called "the Rebellious Stripes."

On November 16, 1776, Washington was at Fort Lee, on the New Jersey shore, opposite the present 160th Street. Desiring to view from the Heights the British operations in their attack on Fort Washington, he crossed over to the Morris house. Fifteen minutes after he left the Heights to return to New Jersey, fourteen thousand British and Hessian troops took possession of the Heights, the Morris Mansion, and Fort Washington.

The period of British occupation continued, at intervals, until near the close of the war. Since the owner was a Loyalist, the British Government paid rent for it.

After the Revolution the property was confiscated, as appears from an entry in Washington's diary, dated July 10, 1790:

"Having formed a Party consisting of the Vice-President, his lady, Son & Miss Smith; the Secretaries of State, Treasury, & War, and the ladies of the two latter; with all the Gentlemen of my family, Mrs. Lear & the two Children, we visited the old position of Fort Washington, and afterwards dined on a dinner provided by a Mr. Mariner at the House lately Colo. Roger Morris, but confiscated and in the occupation of a common Farmer."

For nearly thirty years after the Revolution the stately old house was occupied as a farmhouse or as a tavern. In 1810 it became the home of Stephen Jumel, a wealthy New York merchant, whose widow, Madam Jumel, later gave such wonderful entertainments in the house that the whole city talked about her. After many years of life alone in the mansion, in July, 1833, she married Aaron Burr. He was then seventy-two years old, while she was fifty-nine.

Madam Jumel-Burr lived until July 16, 1865. During her last years she was demented and did many strange things. For a time she maintained an armed garrison in the house, and she rode daily about the grounds at the head of fifteen or twenty men.

The mansion passed through a number of hands until, in 1903, title to it was taken by the City of New York, on payment of $235,000.

For three years the vacant house was at the mercy of souvenir hunters, but when, in 1906, it was turned over to the Daughters of the American Revolution, to be used as a Revolutionary Museum, twelve thousand dollars were appropriated for repairs and restoration. This amount was woefully inadequate, but it is hoped that further appropriation will make complete restoration possible.

The spacious grounds that once belonged to the mansion have been sold for building lots, but the house looks down proudly as ever from its lofty site almost opposite the intersection of Tenth Avenue and One Hundred and Sixty-first Street with St. Nicholas Avenue. The corner of its original dooryard is now Roger Morris Park.

XVIII

THE PHILIPSE MANOR HOUSE, YONKERS,
NEW YORK

THE HOME OF MARY PHILIPSE, IN WHOM GEORGE
WASHINGTON WAS INTERESTED

At first glance one would not think that the name Yonkers was derived very directly from the name of the first settlers of the region, de Jonkheer Adriaen Van der Donck. When, in 1646, he secured a large tract of land bounded by the Hudson, the Bronx, and Spuyten Duyvil Creek, this was called "Colen Donck" (Donck's Colony) or "De Jonkheer's" (the Young Lord's). As the Dutch "j" is pronounced "y," the transition from Jonkheers to Yonkers was easy.

On September 29, 1672, after the death of the original owner, 7,708 acres of the princely estate were sold to three men, of whom Frederick Philipse (originally Ffreric Vlypse) was one. A few years later Philipse bought out the heirs of the other two purchasers, and added to his holdings by further purchases from his countrymen and from the Indians. On June 12, 1693, he was permitted to call himself lord of the Manor of Philipsburgh. From that day the carpenter from Friesland, who had grown so rich that he was called "the Dutch millionaire," lived in state in the house he had begun in 1682.

This lord of the manor became still more important in consequence of the acceptance of his offer to build a bridge over Spuyt-den-duyvil, or "Spiting Devil" Creek, when the city declined to do so for lack of funds. The deed given to him stated that he had "power and authority to erect a bridge over the water or river commonly called Spiten devil ferry or Paparimeno, and to receive toll from all passengers and drovers of cattle that shall pass thereon, according to rates hereinafter mentioned." This bridge, which was called Kingsbridge, was a great source of revenue until 1713, when it was removed to the present site. Then tolls were charged until 1759, or, nominally, until 1779.

Part of the Manor House was used as a trading post. Everything Philipse handled seemed to turn into gold. All his ventures prospered. It was whispered that some of these ventures were more than a little shady, that he had dealings with pirates and shared in their ill-gotten gains, and that he even went into partnership with Captain Kidd when that once honest man became the prince of the very pirates whom the Government had commissioned him to apprehend. And Philipse, as a member of the Governor's Council, had recommended this Kidd as the best man for the job! It is not strange that the lord of the manor felt constrained to resign his seat in the council because of the popular belief in the statement made by the Governor, that "Kidd's missing treasures could be readily found if the coffers of Frederick Philipse were searched."

Colonel Frederick Philipse, the great-grandson of Captain Kidd's partner, enlarged the Manor House to its present proportions and appearance. He also was prominent in the affairs of the Colony. He was a member of the Provincial Assembly, and was chairman of a meeting called on August 20, 1774, to select delegates to the county convention which was to select a representative to the First Continental Congress. Thus, ostensibly, he was taking his place with those who were crying out for the redress of grievances suffered at the hands of Great Britain. Yet it was not long until it was evident that he was openly arrayed with those who declined to turn from their allegiance to the king.

The most famous event that took place in the Philipse Manor was the marriage, on January 28, 1758, of the celebrated beauty, Mary Philipse, to Colonel Roger Morris. A letter from Joseph Chew to George Washington, dated July 13, 1757, shows that—in the opinion of the writer, at least—the young Virginian soldier was especially interested in Mary Philipse. In this letter, which he wrote after his return from a visit to Mrs. Beverly Robinson in New York, the sister of Mary Philipse, he said:

"I often had the Pleasure of Breakfasting with the Charming Polly, Roger Morris was there (Don't be startled) but not always, you know him he is a Lady's man, always something to say, the Town talk't of it as a sure & settled Affair. I can't say I think so and that I much doubt it, but assure you had Little Acquaintance with Mr. Morris and only slightly hinted it to Miss Polly, but how can you be Excused to Continue so long in Phila. I think I should have made a kind of Flying March of it if it had been only to have seen whether the Works were sufficient to withstand a Vigorous Attack, you a soldier and a Lover, mind I have been arguing for my own Interest now for had you taken this method then I should have had the Pleasure of seeing you—my Paper is almost full and I am Convinced you will be heartily tyred in Reading it—however will just add that I intend to set out to-morrow for New York where I will not be wanting to let Miss Polly know the Sincere Regard a Friend of mine has for her—and I am sure if she had my Eyes to see thro would Prefer him to all others."

While it is true that George Washington went to New York to see the charming Polly, there is no evidence that he was especially interested in her.

Colonel Morris later built for his bride the Morris-Jumel Mansion, which is still standing near 160th Street. Mrs. Morris frequently visited at the home of her girlhood. The last visit was paid there during Christmas week of 1776. Her father, who had been taken to Middletown, Connecticut, because of his activities on the side of the king, was allowed to go to his home on parole.

In 1779 the Manor House and lands were declared forfeited because the owner refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Colonies, and Frederick Philipse, III, went to England.

The property was sold in 1785. Until 1868 it was in the hands of various purchasers. To-day the Manor House is preserved as a relic of the days when Washington visited the house, when loyalists were driven from the doors, and when it was the centre of some of the important movements against the British troops.

XIX

ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL, NEW YORK CITY

WHERE WASHINGTON ATTENDED SERVICE ON HIS FIRST
INAUGURATION DAY

In the New York Gazette of May 14, 1764, appeared this notice concerning St. Paul's Chapel:

"We are told that the Foundation Stone of the third English Church which is about erecting in this City, is to be laid this day. The church is to be 112 by 72 feet."

For two years those who passed the corner of Broadway and Partition (Fulton) Street watched the progress of the building. On October 30, 1766, it was ready for the first service.

On the opening day there was no steeple, no organ, and no stove. But those who entered the doors were abundantly satisfied with the work of the architect, who is said to have been a Scotchman named McBean, a pupil of Gibbs, the designer of St. Martins-in-the-Fields, London, to which church the interior of St. Paul's Chapel bears a marked resemblance. In the account of the opening the New York Journal and General Advertiser said that the new church was "one of the most elegant edifices on the Continent."

Between April 13, 1776, when Washington arrived in New York, and September 15, 1776, when Lord Howe occupied the city, the church was closed, since the rector did not see his way to omit from the service the prayers for the king. But when the British took possession of New York the doors were opened once more. Until the city was evacuated, November 25, 1783, Lord Howe and many of his officers were regular attendants at St. Paul's.

Six days after the beginning of the British occupation the church had a narrow escape from destruction. A fire, which Howe declared was of incendiary origin, burned four hundred of the four thousand homes in New York. St. Paul's Chapel was in the centre of the burnt district. Trinity Church was destroyed, and St. Paul's was saved by the efforts of its rector, Dr. Inglis. This was the first of five such narrow escapes. The steeple was actually aflame during the conflagration of 1797, but the building was saved. Three times during the nineteenth century, in 1820, 1848, and 1865, fire approached or passed by the chapel.

Immediately after the first inauguration of Washington, at the City Hall, he walked to St. Paul's to ask God's blessing on the country and his administration. During his residence in New York, until Trinity Church was rebuilt, he was a regular attendant at the services. From 1789 to 1791 his diary records the fact many times, "Went to St. Paul's Chappel in the forenoon." At first he used the pew built for the Governor of New York, but later, when a President's pew was built, he moved to this. Canopies covered both pews, while they were further marked by the arms of the United States and of New York.

Dr. Morgan Dix, in his address at the Centennial anniversary of the completion of the building, told of an old man who had said to him that when he was a boy he used to sit with other school-boys in the north gallery, and from there he would watch the arrival of the General and "Lady Washington" as they came up Fair Street to the church, in a coach and four.

In the same address Dr. Dix said: "The church remains, substantially, such as it was in the first days; alterations have been made in it, but they have not changed its general appearance. For justness of proportion and elegance of style, it still holds a leading place among our city churches, and must be regarded as a fine specimen of its particular school of architecture. When it was built, the western end commanded an uninterrupted view of the river and the Jersey shore, for the waters of the Hudson then flowed up to the line of Greenwich Street, all beyond is made land."

In the portico of the old church is a monument to General Montgomery, a member of St. Paul's parish, who fell at Quebec, and is buried in the chapel. This monument, which was sent from France by Benjamin Franklin, had an adventurous career. The vessel in which it was shipped was captured by the British, and some time elapsed before it reached its destined place.

XX

FRAUNCES' TAVERN, NEW YORK CITY

WHERE WASHINGTON TOOK LEAVE OF HIS SOLDIERS

The subscribers of the Pennsylvania Packet, on the morning of December 2, 1783, read the following pleasing despatch from New York City, which was dated November 26, 1783:

The building which Washington made famous that day was erected by Etienne de Lancey, probably in 1700. Samuel Fraunces purchased the place in 1762. Soon it became one of the most popular taverns in New York. Among its patrons were some of the leaders in the Revolution, as well as many who were loyal to King George. But Fraunces himself never wavered in his allegiance to the Colonies.

One of the clubs that met regularly at Fraunces' was the Social Club, of which John Jay, Gouverneur Morris, and Robert R. Livingston were members.

During the occupation of New York by the British the tavern did not have an opportunity to play a part in the history of the country, though the daughter of the proprietor, who was a tavern keeper at Washington's Richmond Hill headquarters, made ineffective a plot to poison the Commander-in-Chief.

Ten days after Washington's triumphal entry into the city, and the dinner at the tavern, one of the rooms was the scene of a historic event of which Rivington's New York Gazette told in these words:

Two years later Fraunces sold the tavern, but it retains his name to this day. It is still at the corner of Broad and Pearl streets. Many changes have been made in the building, under the direction of the Sons of the Revolution, and it will continue to attract visitors as long as it stands.

XXI

THE GRANGE, NEW YORK CITY

WHERE ALEXANDER HAMILTON SPENT HIS LAST YEARS

After nineteen years of moving from house to house and from city to city, Alexander Hamilton made up his mind to have a home of his own. In 1780 he had taken Elizabeth Schuyler from a mansion in Albany that was, in its day, almost a palace; and in 1799 he felt that the time had come to give her a home of corresponding comfort.

At this time he was commander-in-chief of the army of the United States, a service that was made notable, among other things, by his suggestion and preparation of plans for the West Point Military Academy.

The chosen site for the house, nine miles from Bowling Green, was bounded by the present St. Nicholas and Tenth Avenues and 141st and 145th streets. The coach from New York to Albany afforded regular transportation to the spot, though, of course, Hamilton had his own equipage. When he planned the house he thought his income of $12,000 would be ample to care for the property. Accordingly he felt justified in offering £800 for sixteen acres, one-half of which was to be paid in cash, the balance within a year.

The architect chosen was John McComb, the designer of New York's old City Hall. Hamilton and his father-in-law, General Schuyler, had a hand in the development of the plans. In a letter to Hamilton, written August 25, 1800, General Schuyler said:

"If the house is boarded on the outside, and the clapboards put on, and filled on the inside with brick, I am persuaded no water will pass to the brick. If the clapboards are well painted, and filling in with brick will be little if any more expensive than lath and plaister, the former will prevent the nuisance occasioned by rats and mice, to which you will be eternally exposed if lath and plaister is made use of instead of brick."

The mason's specifications, quoted by Allan MacLane Hamilton, were as follows:

One of the workmen on the house was paid $424.50 for three and one-half years' work. Another laborer was given $152.18 for sixteen months and twenty-seven days, or ninepence per day. The cost of the house, complete, was £1,550.

The country place was a joy, both indoors and out. The garden was especially attractive to Hamilton. In a letter written from The Grange to a friend in South Carolina, he said:

"A garden, you know, is a very usual refuge of a disappointed politician. The melons in your country are very fine. Will you have the goodness to send me some seed, both of the water and musk melons?"

Guests were numerous. Gouverneur Morris and General Schuyler were often at The Grange. Chancellor Kent, after a visit paid in April, 1804, wrote to his wife:

"I went with General Hamilton on Saturday, the 21st, and stayed till Sunday evening. There was a furious and dreadful storm on Saturday night. It blew almost a hurricane. His house stands high, and was much exposed, and I am certain that in the second story, where I slept, it rocked like a cradle. He never appeared before so friendly and amiable. I was alone, and he treated me with a minute attention that I did not suppose he knew how to bestow. His manners were also very delicate and chaste. His daughter, who is nineteen years old, has a very uncommon simplicity and modesty of deportment, and he appeared in his domestic state the plain, modest, and affectionate father and husband."

The ideal life at The Grange continued only until July 13, 1804. That morning Hamilton set out as if for the office in the city as usual, without informing Mrs. Hamilton of the impending duel with Aaron Burr. At noon the wife was at the side of her husband, who died next day.

After his death there were put in her hands two letters. In these he told of his purpose to permit his antagonist to shoot him:

Mrs. Hamilton remained at The Grange as long as possible, directing the men in the care of the estate and caring for her children. But she could not afford to keep a carriage, and the inaccessibleness of the estate and the drain it made on her limited purse soon made it necessary for her to rent a house in the city.

Though friends proposed the raising of a fund that would care for Mrs. Hamilton and the children, it does not seem that there was any relief until 1816, when Congress gave to Mrs. Hamilton back pay amounting to ten thousand dollars.

After The Grange was sold to pay debts, its career was checkered. Some years ago it was moved to the east side of Convent Avenue, and it then became the schoolhouse of St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

XXII

THE VAN CORTLANDT HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY

AT THE EDGE OF THE MANHATTAN "NEUTRAL GROUND"

In 1699 Jacobus Van Cortlandt bought the first fifty acres of the ground now included in Van Cortlandt Park, New York City, and for one hundred and ninety years the property remained in the Van Cortlandt family. Until fifty-three years before the first of the Van Cortlandts acquired it, the Indians were the undisputed possessors of the plot.

AdriÆn Van der Donck, the first settler to acquire title, lived until his death in the bouwerie or farmhouse, which he built on the shore of a brook. When Jacobus Van Cortlandt built his bouwerie by the side of the same brook, he dammed the water to make a mill-pond, which is to-day the beautiful Van Cortlandt lake. There he built a grist mill which remained in use until 1889. Early visitors to the lake delighted to study the ancient structure to which, during the Revolution, both British and patriot soldiers resorted with their grain. The mill was struck by lightning and destroyed in 1901.

The third house on the estate was built in 1748 by Frederick the son of Jacobus, who acquired by the will of his father the "farm, situate, lying, and being in a place commonly called and known by the name of Little or Lower Yonkers." This house, which was modelled after the Philipse Manor House at Yonkers, is still in a fine state of preservation. Since 1897, it has been used as a public museum, in charge of the Colonial Dames of the State of New York.

The room fitted up as a museum was occupied by General Washington on the occasion of his visit to the house in 1783. This room is also pointed out as the scene of the death of Captain Rowe of the Hessian jaegers, who was severely wounded near the house. When he realised that he could not recover, he sent in haste for the young woman who had promised to marry him, and he died in her arms.

Other famous visitors were Rochambeau, Admiral Digby, and William Henry, Duke of Clarence, who became King William IV of England. Admiral Digby, after his departure, sent to Augustus Van Cortlandt, the owner of the house, two wooden vultures, which he had captured from a Spanish privateer. These vultures are now in the museum.

The old house was the centre of important military operations during the Revolution. Washington fortified eight strategic spots in the vicinity of Kingsbridge, and when he withdrew before the British occupied the fortification, a number of Hessian jaegers were quartered in the Van Cortlandt House. To the north of the house was the neutral ground for which the two armies continually struggled for possession. In 1781, when Washington was about to withdraw his army to Yorktown, he directed that camp-fires be lit on Vault Hill, the site of the Van Cortlandt family vault. By this stratagem he succeeded for a time in deceiving the enemy as to his movements.

Since the building of the Broadway subway Van Cortlandt Park has been so easy of access that the number of visitors to the historic spot has rapidly increased.

XXIII

THE HASBROUCK HOUSE, NEWBURGH,
NEW YORK

WHERE THE CLOSING DRAMA OF THE REVOLUTION
WAS STAGED

During the entire period of the Revolution the country about Newburgh was an important centre of military operations. West Point was fortified in 1776, that the British might not be able to carry out their design of separating New England from the middle colonies. Many officers had their headquarters within a few miles of these fortifications. Lafayette was at the Williams House, three miles north of Newburgh, while Generals Green, Gates, and Knox were at Vail's Gate, four miles south of the town. General George Clinton was at Little Britain, and General Anthony Wayne was in Newburgh.

Washington's first stay in the vicinity was at Vail's Gate, New Windsor, in the winter of 1779-80. His longest sojourn, however, was in the house which Jonathan Hasbrouck built in 1750 and enlarged in 1770. The best description of this substantial one-story stone house at the time of Washington's residence there is contained in the "Memoirs" of Marquis de Chastellux, who was the guest of the Commander-in-chief on December 6, 1872:

"The largest room in it, (which was the proprietor's parlor for his family, and which General Washington has converted into his dining-room) is in truth tolerably spacious, but it has seven doors and only one window. The chimney, or rather the chimney back, is against the wall; so that there is in fact but one vent for the smoke, and the fire is in the room itself. I found the company assembled in a small room, which served by way of parlor. At nine supper was served, and when the hour of bed-time came, I found that the chamber, to which the General conducted me, was the very parlor I speak of, wherein he had made them place a camp bed...."

The records of the months when Washington was an occupant of the old Dutch house are among the most interesting of the war. For instance, on May 10, 1782, there came tidings of the arrival in New York of Sir Guy Carleton, the new British commander, who wrote that he desired to tell of the king's idea of a possible peace, and of the attitude of the House of Commons. He closed his letter by saying, "If war must prevail, I shall endeavor to render its miseries as light to the people of this continent as the circumstances of such a condition will possibly permit."

Two days earlier Washington wrote a letter to Meschech Weare in which he seems to have anticipated and discredited Carleton's word of appeal:

"They are meant to amuse this country with a false idea of peace, to draw us off from our connection with France, and to lull us into a state of security and inactivity, which having taken place, the ministry will be left to prosecute the war in other parts of the world with greater vigor and effect."

In less than two weeks a tempter of an entirely different sort approached Washington. Lewis Nicola, colonel of the corps of invalids, wrote to tell of the fact that the officers and soldiers were discontented because they had not received their pay. Then he intimated that he had no hope of the success of republican institutions, but thought this country needed a ruler like a king, though he might not be called king, owing to the objection to that word. Yet he added, "I believe strong arguments might be produced for admitting the title of King, which I conceive would be attended with some material advantages."

To this letter Washington sent prompt reply, on May 22, 1782:

"Sir: With a mixture of great surprise and astonishment, I have read with attention the sentiments you have submitted to my perusal. Be assured, Sir, no occurrence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations, than your information of there being such ideas existing in the army, as you have expressed, and I must view with abhorrence and reprehend with severity. For the present the Communication of this will rest in my own bosom, unless some further agitation of the matter shall make a disclosure necessary.

"I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my conduct could have given encouragement to an address, which to me seems big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall my country. If I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself, you could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable. At the same time, in justice to my own feelings, I must add that no man possesses a more sincere wish to see ample justice done to the Army than I do, and so far as my power and influence, in a constitutional way, extend, they shall be employed to the utmost of my abilities to effect it, should there be any occasion. Let me conjure you then, if you have any regard for your country, concern for yourself or respect for me, to banish these thoughts from your mind, and never communicate, as from yourself or any one else, a sentiment of the like nature.

"With esteem I am, sir, Your most obedient servant,

"George Washington."