II. ――CITIES AND TOWNS
Albany is the seat of government for the state of New York, and is situated on the west side of Hudson’s river, one hundred and forty-four miles from the city of New York, to which it is next in rank. This city is unrivalled for situation, being nearly at the head of sloop navigation, on one of the noblest rivers in the world. It enjoys a pure air, and is the natural emporium of the increasing trade of a large extent of country west and north. In the old part of the town, the streets are very narrow, and the houses mean, being all built in the Dutch taste, with the gable end towards the street, and ornamented, or rather disfigured, on the top with large iron weathercocks; but in that part which has been more recently erected, the streets are commodious, and many of the houses are handsome.
Illustration: Albany.
The Capitol stands on an elevation at the end of the main street, and presents a fine appearance. It is a fine stone edifice, with an Ionic portico in front, supported by columns thirty-three feet in height. The public square adjacent is adorned with beautiful walks and avenues.
The Farmers’ and Mechanics’ bank and the Albany bank, both at the foot of State street, are both of white marble, and are handsome buildings. There are about sixteen churches in this city. Albany has received more permanent and evident advantages from the canals than any other place in the state. Since 1825, the population has increased from fifteen thousand nine hundred and seventy-one to 33,627. The first settlement at Albany was made about 1614, when a stockade was built on a spot just below the steam-boat dock. The charter of the city was granted in 1686, a few months before that of New York. The city and township are a mile in breadth, and extend thirteen miles along the river. The neighborhood of Albany abounds in pleasant villages.
Alexandria is a city and port of entry in the district of Columbia, on the west bank of the Potomac, six miles below Washington. It is a place of some business and resort during the session of Congress, and contains some fine buildings. Of late, Alexandria has not much increased, notwithstanding it enjoys good commercial advantages. This city is regularly built, and has good streets, well paved and clean. The trade is chiefly in flour. Population about eight thousand four hundred and sixty-two.
Amherst is a town of Hampshire county, Massachusetts, ninety-one miles west of Boston. It is the seat of a college which was incorporated in 1821, with the title of Amherst College. This seminary has professors and tutors. Amherst is the seat also of an academy, and a school called the Mount Pleasant Institution. Population, two thousand four hundred and fifteen.
Illustration: Amherst College.
Annapolis, the capital of Anne Arundel county, and the seat of the government of Maryland, is situated at the mouth of the Severn river, about two miles from its entrance into Chesapeak bay, thirty miles south of Baltimore, and forty north-east of the city of Washington. It is a place of little note in the commercial world; but being in a pleasant situation, and commanding a beautiful prospect of the Chesapeak, and the shore on the other side of the bay, it is a very pleasant residence. The houses are built of brick, and for the most part large and elegant, denoting great wealth. The state house is one of the most superb structures in the United States. Here is the seat of the University of Maryland. Population two thousand six hundred and twenty-three.
Augusta, capital of Maine, stands on the west branch of the Kennebec river, two miles above Hallowell. It is a pleasant town, and contains some neat public buildings. The new state house is built of granite, and is a very handsome edifice. It contains a spacious hall for the house of representatives, and two smaller ones for the senate and the council. On the side of the river opposite to the state house is the United States Arsenal, consisting of about a dozen buildings of stone, some of which are large and handsome. This place has considerable trade, and the river below is navigable for vessels of one hundred tons. Population 5,314.
Augusta, capital of the state of Georgia, stands on the south-west bank of the river Savannah, about one hundred and forty miles from the sea. It is regularly built of brick upon a level spot, and surrounded by a fertile country. It has a good trade in cotton, and other productions of the interior. Population, six thousand three hundred and forty-one.
Baltimore is a large city, standing on the north side of the river Patapsco, in Maryland. The basin on which it stands has only five or six feet water at high tide, so that the city can be approached only by small vessels. For large ships, the harbor is at some distance, at a place called Fell’s point, where wharves have been built, along side which vessels of six hundred tons burden can lie with perfect safety. Numbers of persons have been induced to settle on this point on account of the shipping; and regular streets have been laid out, with a large market-place. But though these buildings, generally speaking, are considered as part of Baltimore, yet they are a mile distant from the other part of the town.
The city is the chief commercial mart for the country upon Chesapeak bay and its waters. It is finely situated, and regularly built, in great part of brick; the public buildings and monuments indicate great enterprise and opulence.
Baltimore was laid out in 1729, on an area of sixty acres, purchased at forty shillings per acre, and partly paid for in tobacco at a penny a pound. Its progress was slow and unpromising; and in 1752 it contained but twenty-five houses. With its population of more than eighty thousand, it may now be considered the third or fourth city in the union. According to its re-charter in 1816, Baltimore now includes ten thousand acres, and contains a lunatic asylum, three theatres, an exchange, a public library, and forty-five churches.
The Cathedral is built after the Ionic order, on a plan drawn by the celebrated architect Latrobe. Its width is one hundred and seventy-seven, its length one hundred and ninety, and its height to the summit of the cross surmounting the dome, is one hundred and twenty-seven feet. It contains several fine paintings, and the largest organ in the United States. The Merchants’ Exchange, built by private subscription for the accommodation of the citizens, is a spacious and splendid edifice.
The Battle Monument is an elegant marble structure, fifty-five feet high, erected in memory of those who fell in defence of the city on the twelfth and thirteenth of September, 1814. The Washington Monument is built of white marble, on an elevation in the north part of the city; it is one hundred and sixty-three feet high, and on its summit is placed a colossal statue of Washington. This monument is embellished with bas-reliefs, and other decorations.
Illustration: Battle Monument, Baltimore.
Baltimore is the greatest flour market in the United States. In its immediate neighborhood, are above sixty flour mills, a single one of which has produced thirty-two thousand barrels in a year. Within the same compass are numerous manufactories of cotton, cloth, powder, paper, iron, glass, steam engines, and other articles. The Baltimore and Ohio rail-road extends a distance of three hundred miles, from this city to the Ohio river at Pittsburgh. The Baltimore and Susquehanna rail-road is to extend seventy-six miles to York in Pennsylvania. The Chesapeak and Ohio canal, of the proposed length of three hundred and forty-one miles was commenced in 1828. The population of Baltimore is one hundred and two thousand three hundred and thirteen.[60]
Bangor is a flourishing town of Penobscot county, Maine, situated thirty-five miles above Castine. It is built upon the banks of the rivers Kenduskeag and Penobscot. The increase of this town within a few years has been very surprising. Building-lots near the centre of the town, that in 1832 were held at three hundred dollars, are now valued at eight hundred or a thousand. Woodlands at three, four, or five miles distance, that were then sold at five, seven, or ten dollars the acre, are now selling from twenty to fifty. Rents and all marketable commodities are proportionably high.
‘Bangor,’ says a correspondent of the Portland Advertiser, ‘has much the appearance of a hundred villages springing up on the non-slave-holding side of the Ohio, with this difference, that the buildings there are chiefly of wood, cheaply built, and hastily thrown up; and here they are fine blocks of brick with granite fronts, or handsome white houses that would do credit to any estate in Virginia or Carolina. I do not remember seeing what can be called a miserable house in Bangor. The Exchange is a building that would do credit to many of our large cities. The churches are numerous, and often elegantly built. Already they are numerous enough for a city; and it is such a spectacle that distinguishes New England; for no where, not even in the middle states, are such churches, and so numerous to be seen, as any village in New England of any size can exhibit.’
The water power in this vicinity is said to be superior to that of any town in the United States. Its present great source of wealth is the lumber business, which has been carried on to a very great extent. Thirty years ago, Bangor was a wilderness; according to the last census, its population was eight thousand six hundred and twenty-seven.
Bath, a town of Maine, on the west side of the Kennebec, twelve miles from the sea, is at the head of the winter navigation; is pleasantly situated, and has great advantages for commerce. Ship-building is carried on here to a large extent; and in 1827 the value of the shipping of Bath was a million of dollars. This town is almost isolated by some of the numerous arms of the sea which penetrate that part of the coast. Population, five thousand one hundred and forty-one.
Baton Rouge, a beautiful village on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, one hundred and fifty miles above New Orleans, is the capital of a parish of the same name in the eastern district of Louisiana. It is a small town, situated on the last bluff that is seen on descending the river, and about thirty or forty feet above its highest overflow. The village is tolerably compact, and the United States’ barracks are built in a very handsome style. ‘The town itself,’ says Mr. Flint, ‘especially in the months when the greatest verdure prevails, when seen from a steam-boat in the river, rising with such a fine swell from the banks, and with its singularly shaped French and Spanish houses, and its green square, looks like a finely painted landscape.’ Population, two thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Beaufort, principal town of Beaufort district, South Carolina, situated on the western bank of Port Royal river, is a pleasant and healthy place, containing a college, three churches, and seven thousand six hundred and eighty-seven inhabitants. Its harbour is spacious.
Belfast, the capital of Waldo county, Maine, has a fine situation and good harbor, and is a flourishing town. It is twelve miles north-west of Castine, from which it is separated by Penobscot river. Its coasting trade is very considerable. Population, four thousand one hundred and ninety four.
Bennington is the chief town of the county of the same name in Vermont. It is situated at the foot of the Green mountains, near the south-west corner of the state. It has several manufactories, and a marble quarry, and is celebrated for two victories of General Stark, over the British, in 1777. It is the largest and oldest town in the state, having been chartered by Governor Wentworth in 1749, and first settled by the Separatists under Robinson in 1761. Population, two thousand six hundred and seventy-one.
Bethlehem, in Albany county, New York, includes much rich alluvial land near Hudson river, inhabited by descendants of early Dutch settlers. It contains several caverns. Population, 3209.
Bethlehem, in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, is situated on a fine acclivity rising from the Lehigh river. It was founded in 1741 by the United Brethren, or Moravians, under Count Zinzendorf. The same order still retain the ownership, and have established here a seminary of considerable note for female education. The houses are neat and substantial. There is but one place of public worship, in which service is performed in English and German. The situation of this village is remarkably picturesque and romantic. There are ten other towns of this name in the United States. Population, two thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine.
Beverly, town in Essex county, Massachusetts, is a seaport, and connected with Salem by a bridge. It was formerly a part of Salem. It is pleasantly situated, and is largely engaged in the fisheries and in commerce. Population, four thousand six hundred and eighty-six.
Blakely is a seaport of Baldwin county, Alabama, on the Tensa, a branch of the Mobile. It was founded in 1816, and is a flourishing place. Its situation is healthy, and it has a commodious harbor.
Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, and the chief city of New England, is situated at the head of Massachusetts bay, on a peninsula of an uneven surface, about a mile in width, and nearly three miles long. Its original Indian name was Shawmut, and it was afterwards called Trimountain; its present name was given in honor of the Rev. John Cotton, one of its earliest pastors, who emigrated from Boston in Lincolnshire, England. In the older parts of the city, the streets are crooked, narrow, and intricate; laid out with no reference to beauty or order. The more recent streets are wider, straight, and regular; with edifices of great elegance and large dimensions. The avenues leading into the adjacent country are the natural isthmus which connects the city with Roxbury, the mill dam, six bridges and three rail-roads. There is also a ferry between Boston and Chelsea, with steamboats for the conveyance of foot passengers and carriages. Of the bridges, four are thrown over Charles river, connecting the capital with Cambridge and Charlestown, and two unite it with South Boston.
The harbor has been before described. It is dotted with numerous islands, and affords ample accommodation for a fleet of five hundred sail. The approach to the city from the sea is highly picturesque and beautiful. The wharves and piers are ample, covered with spacious stores of brick and granite, and presenting as great conveniences for the transaction of business as are to be found in the world.
The local divisions of Boston are into North Boston, West Boston, South End, and South Boston. To these we may now add East Boston, comprehending what was formerly called Noddle’s Island, a tract of about six hundred acres, purchased by a company in 1832 for the purpose of extending the city in that direction. The Common is a beautiful promenade at the west end of the city, containing an extent of nearly fifty acres, agreeably varied by small eminences, the most prominent of which still exhibits the vestiges of a fortification thrown up by the British soldiers during the revolution. A little north of this mound is a small sheet of fresh water. This spacious green is surrounded by malls, lined with magnificent elms. On three sides are rows of fine private dwelling-houses, including some of the most elegant mansions in the city.
On an eminence overlooking the common stands the State House; a conspicuous and striking edifice, the view from whose dome is most interesting and extensive. The broad harbor with its green and picturesque islands, the adjacent country covered by pleasant villages, and with a pleasing alternation of hill and valley, interspersed with orchards and woodland――and at its base, the avenues of a crowded and busy city, form a combination of beauty that cannot fail to delight every beholder. Beyond the islands of the bay, the eye stretches eastward to the waters of the ocean; and to the north lies Charlestown with the navy-yard, and the monument erecting and soon to be completed on Bunker hill. To the west is a view of Cambridge, with the various edifices attached to the university. The state house was erected about thirty-eight years since. It is of an oblong form, one hundred and seventy-three feet front, and sixty-one deep; a dome thirty-five feet in height and fifty-two feet diameter, surmounts the edifice, and the whole terminates with a circular lantern twenty-five feet high. The basement story is ornamented with rows of Doric pillars; in an open chamber projected from the north centre of this story is placed Chantry’s noble statue of Washington. This building contains the usual accommodation for the various offices of state, besides the senate chamber, council chamber and representatives’ hall.
Faneuil Hall is famous in American annals. It is a building of good proportions, and convenient size, though of no great architectural pretensions; its history is sacred to the spirit of eloquence, courage and patriotism. The building has a cupola which presents a good view of the harbor; the great hall is nearly eighty feet square, and about twenty-eight feet high. It is decorated with an original full length painting of Washington, by Stuart, and another of the same size by Colonel Sargent, representing Mr. Faneuil, the noble donor of the edifice. Faneuil Hall Market is situated to the east of Faneuil hall. It is a splendid building of granite, five hundred and thirty-five feet and nine inches in length. The basement story is occupied by market stalls; on the second floor is a spacious hall, used for public assemblies and caucuses, called Quincy Hall, in honor of the distinguished gentleman in whose mayoralty the edifice was projected and built.
The City Hall, formerly known as the old state house, was built in nearly its present form in the year 1747. It stands at the head of State street, and on the line of Washington street, the principal avenue of the city. In this building are the post office, the marine news room, and the merchants’ exchange; from this there is a winding stair-case leading to the hall of the common council, and that of the mayor and aldermen together with various public offices connected with the city administration. Other public buildings, of great beauty to the city, are the old U. S. Branch Bank, and the Masonic Temple. The latter building fronts on the common; it is of the Gothic order.
Illustration: City Hall.
Illustration: King’s Chapel.
One of the most interesting of the churches of the city is that known as the King’s Chapel. Its exterior is plain, and in appearance it is unfinished being built entirely of unhammered stone. It was first opened for divine service in 1754. The tower is ornamented by a colonnade of large wooden pillars, and the whole presents the appearance of massy grandeur suited to distinguish in former days the place of worship for the public functionaries. In the interior, the governor’s pew was formerly distinguished above the rest, but was taken down a few years since. The style of architecture is of the Corinthian order. There are several monumental marbles, which add to the interest with which the church is visited. It is now the only house in which the old fashion of square pews is retained. Brattle street church is interesting from historical associations. Governors Hancock and Bowdoin were liberal benefactors of this society. The name of the former was inscribed on one of the rustic quoins at the south-west corner of the building. The British soldiery defaced it, and the stone remains in the condition in which they left it. A similar inscription, unmutilated, appears on one of the rustic quoins at the south-west corner of the tower; and on one in the north-west corner, the name of Dr. John Greenleaf appears, who, with Gov. Bowdoin, advanced the money for refitting the church, it having been improved as a barrack, during the siege. A shot, which was sent from the American army at Cambridge, struck the tower on the night preceding the evacuation of the town. It was picked up and preserved, and is now fastened in the spot where it struck. General Gage’s head quarters were in the house opposite. Trinity church in Summer street is a beautiful granite edifice, built in 1829. It is one of the chief architectural ornaments of the city; and for beauty of proportion, strength and solidity, is perhaps unsurpassed in this country. The number of worshipping assemblies in this city is between fifty and sixty.
Illustration: Trinity Church.
The places of public amusement in Boston are not numerous, nor remarkably well patronized. The Tremont theatre affords the only dramatic entertainment that is much resorted to by strangers and people of fashion. It is a handsome building, with a front of Quincy and Hallowell granite. This front is in imitation of the Ionic order, with four pilasters and two antœs, one on each angle, supporting an entablature and pediment, and elevated on a basement seventeen feet. The Warren theatre is a minor establishment, and is much frequented. The New England Museum attracts numerous visitors.
Of the hotels of Boston, we can only particularly mention the Tremont House, a splendid building, in the pleasantest quarter of the city, and esteemed the best house in the country. ‘Most gratifying is it to a traveller in the United States,’ says a recent tourist, ‘when, sick to death of the discomforts of the road, he finds himself fairly housed in the Tremont hotel. The establishment is on a large scale, and admirably conducted.’ This stinted approbation is one of the few tokens of satisfaction that Mr. Hamilton gives in his unsparing though witty and entertaining volumes; it is not the less acceptable, because it is extorted.
Illustration: Tremont House.
In the year 1841, there were thirty-one banks in the city, which employed a capital of twenty millions one hundred thousand dollars. The increase, of course, has been in proportion to the increasing enterprise and prosperity of the city. The oldest is the Massachusetts’ bank, which was incorporated in 1785. There are twenty-four insurance companies, with an aggregate capital of seven millions and a quarter. The charitable institutions of the city are numerous. Of these, one of the most important is the Institution for the Education of the Blind, recently established under very favorable circumstances. Besides this are the Asylum for Indigent Boys, the Female Asylum, Charitable Mechanic Association, Prison Discipline Society, and many others. The Massachusetts General Hospital is situated in the west part of the town; it has been pronounced the finest building in the state. The Quarantine Hospital is situated on Rainsford island, in the harbor, and about six miles from the city.
The number of periodicals issued in this city is above seventy, inclusive of dailies and annuals. The first paper published in the country was the Boston News Letter, commenced in 1704, and continued for nearly seventy-two years. The oldest surviving journal established since the revolution is the Columbian Centinel, which was commenced in 1784.
Boston is celebrated for her public schools, and the great efforts which have been made by her citizens in the cause of education. The expenditures for these institutions, during the year ending August, 1833, amounted to over seventy thousand dollars. Social libraries are numerous. The Boston Athenæum was established in 1806, and contains above twenty-eight thousand volumes. Though accessible only to men of fortune, as the price of a share is three hundred dollars, it is still a useful institution. Annual subscribers are admitted at ten dollars. This noble establishment is situated in Pearl street, in a fine building, for the half of which the proprietors were indebted to the munificence of the late James Perkins, Esq. Attached to the Athenæum is a gallery of the fine arts, in which is held an annual exhibition that has hitherto been the source of a considerable income. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Massachusetts Historical Society, are highly respectable institutions which have issued numerous volumes of great value, and possess considerable libraries. On the whole, the libraries of Boston are neither so large nor so generally accessible as might be expected from the wealth and liberality of her citizens.
Middlesex canal unites the water communication between Boston and the Merrimack river, at the bend in Chelmsford; the company for its construction was incorporated in 1793. The toll has amounted some years to about twenty-five thousand dollars. Rail-roads are now complete, connecting this city with Providence, Worcester, Lowell, Springfield and Salem. The marine rail-way, which affords facilities for the repair of large vessels, has been in successful operation since 1826. One of the greatest improvements of late years has been the building of Mercantile wharf, which ranges in front of the harbor, between City wharf and Lewis’s wharf. It has made access to the northern extremity of the city very convenient from the central parts, and has led to great improvements.
Since 1822, when the city was incorporated, Boston has been governed by a mayor, eight aldermen, and a common council of forty-eight members, chosen annually. With the town of Chelsea, it constitutes the county of Suffolk, and sends one representative to Congress. As a commercial city, it holds a second rank among the seaports of the United States. There are many manufactures in the city, and much wealth of the citizens is invested in the manufactories of Waltham, Lowell, and other towns. Population, ninety-three thousand three hundred and eighty-three.[61]
Bordentown, a town of New Jersey, in Burlington county, standing on a steep sand bank on the west side of the Delaware, is chiefly remarkable for the villa of Joseph Bonaparte, ex-king of Spain. This is a long white building, with two low square towers at the ends, and a shot-tower near it by the river. Pop. three thousand four hundred and thirty-four.
Brattleboro is a pleasant village, in Windham county, Vermont, on the Connecticut. It is situated on an elevated plain above the river; at the bridge over the stream are several manufactories, the chief of which are of paper and machinery, which are made here in large quantities. The situation of the village is quite romantic and picturesque. Population, two thousand and six hundred and twenty-four.
Bridgeport, in Fairfield county on Long Island sound, maintains an active intercourse with New York by means of sloops and steamboats, and furnishes that city with a great amount of produce. The harbor is shoal, but with a good channel; the town is pleasant and thriving. Population four thousand five hundred and seventy.
Brighton, a town of Middlesex county, Massachusetts, is celebrated for its annual cattle show and fair which has been held here ever since the revolution. Vast numbers of cattle for the Boston market are brought here from all quarters of the country. The soil is good, and well cultivated. Population, one thousand four hundred and five.
Bristol, a thriving town, situated on Narragansett bay, about half way between Providence and Newport, is distinguished for its pleasant situation, healthful climate, rich soil, and a commodious, safe harbor. This town suffered greatly during the revolutionary war, a great part of it having been destroyed by the British; but it is now in a very flourishing state, and has a good shipping trade: onions in great quantities, and a variety of provisions and garden roots, are raised here for exportation. Mount Hope, celebrated in the early history of New England as the residence of king Philip, is within the limits of Bristol; it is a cone-shaped hill, with a pointed summit, and exhibits a charming prospect. Population, three thousand four hundred and ninety.
Brooklyn, a large town on Long Island, separated from the city of New York by the narrow channel of East river. It is properly a suburb of that city, and is a place of great business. It is regularly built, and contains many fine houses, the residence of merchants from the city. The United States navy yard is in the east quarter, upon a bay called the Wallabout. Near this town a bloody and disastrous battle was fought with the British in 1776. The town stands on an eminence, and commands fine views of the city and bay. A constant intercourse is kept up with New York by steamboats. It is the third town in the state in regard to its population, which amounts to 36,221.
Brookville is pleasantly situated in the forks of Whitewater, and is the seat of justice of Franklin county, Illinois. It was laid out in the year 1811; but no improvements were made until the succeeding year, and then but partially, owing to the unsettled state of the frontiers; its vicinity to the Indian boundary being about fifteen miles. The late war completely checked the emigration to this country, and consequently the town ceased to improve; since that period, it has improved and been noted for the enterprise of its citizens. It is now, however, decaying. It contains about a hundred houses.
Brunswick is a town of Cumberland county, Maine, situated on the south side of Androscoggin river, twenty-six miles north-east of Portland. The river has many falls at this place, on which are situated numerous mills, and manufactories of cotton and woollen. It is chiefly distinguished as the seat of Bowdoin college, which was established here in 1794. This institution is partly supported by funds bequeathed by governor Bowdoin, of Massachusetts, from whom the college takes its name. Population of Brunswick, four thousand two hundred and fifty-nine.
Buffalo, delightfully situated near the margin of lake Erie, three hundred and twenty-seven miles from Albany, and twenty-two from the falls of Niagara, is a place of considerable importance, and the emporium of the lake commerce. The principal streets are from sixty-six to one hundred feet wide; these are intersected by others of equal width, and as many of the houses are of brick, two and three stories high, they make a neat and handsome appearance. Buffalo, standing on the great road leading from Albany to Ohio, possesses natural advantages for trade, equal to any internal place in the United States.
Its harbor is singularly fitted for the two kinds of navigation that are here brought together, the entrance from the lake being sheltered by the point on which the light-house is erected, and the two small rivers which here unite their waters affording every convenience for landing and re-shipping goods; a number of basins and lateral canals communicate with the great canal. This harbor is thronged with steamboats and every kind of water craft; it is one of the most busy and bustling places in the country.
‘In Buffalo,’ says a recent writer, ‘the miserable descendants of the Iroquois or Six Nations may constantly be seen in the streets. The Senecas have three villages within nine miles. If any man wishes to observe the effect of an intercourse between whites and Indians, let him go to Buffalo. There he may see red men, reeling drunk in the streets, begging in the most abject manner for liquor, and the women in the lowest stage of moral and physical degradation. They are in some measure civilized, some of them having adopted the costume of the whites, and living by the cultivation of the soil. Should they continue to reside in their present dwelling-place, it is to be hoped that the change will be complete. When the chase will no longer afford them a subsistence; when they are completely hemmed in by the whites, they must of necessity have recourse to agriculture for the means of living, and knowledge must be the attendant of industry――but as long as they are able to live, no matter how wretchedly, in idleness, they will not work, and will continue to retrograde.’ Population, eighteen thousand three hundred and fifty-six.
Burlington, in Chittenden county, Vermont, on lake Champlain, is a flourishing and commercial town. It is situated on the declivity of a hill, commanding an extensive view of the lake, and a beautiful prospect of the town. It is the seat of the university of Vermont, and of several manufactories. Its commerce is considerable. Population, four thousand two hundred and seventy-one.
Burlington City stands on the banks of the Delaware, eighteen miles north-east from Philadelphia. The main streets are conveniently spacious, and mostly ornamented with rows of trees in the fronts of the houses, which are regularly arranged. The river opposite the town is about a mile wide, and under shelter of two islands, affords a safe and convenient harbor; but, though well situated for trade, Burlington is too near the opulent city of Philadelphia to admit of any considerable increase of foreign commerce. Population, two thousand six hundred and seventy.
Cahokia, in St. Clair county, Illinois, is situated on a small stream, about one mile east of the Mississippi, and five miles below St. Louis. It is pleasantly situated, and is inhabited chiefly by French people. This town contains a post-office and a Roman catholic chapel, and is the seat of justice for the county.
Cambridge, a town of Middlesex county, Massachusetts, lies west of Boston, was settled in 1631. It is a fine village, containing many very pleasant residences, and is divided into three distinct portions. East Cambridge is a suburb of Boston, with which it is connected by Cragie’s bridge; it is flourishing, and has some glass and iron manufactories. Old Cambridge is about three miles from the city, and is the seat of Harvard college, the oldest and richest university in the United States; this institution is fully described in another portion of the volume. In the western part lies Fresh Pond, a fine sheet of water, much resorted to in summer by citizens of the neighboring towns. In the south-westerly part is a beautiful hilly grove called Mount Auburn, recently devoted to the purposes of a cemetery, and forming one of the most beautiful burial places in the world.[62] The first printing-press in America was set up here, and was used by Stephen Day, who printed the Freeman’s Oath. During the siege of Boston, in 1776, the American army encamped here, and vestiges of some of their intrenchments still remain in the neighborhood. Population, eight thousand one hundred and twenty-seven.
Illustration: Harvard University.
Camden, in Kershaw district, South Carolina, on the Wateree, is the seat of justice for the district. It is chiefly celebrated for the battles fought in its vicinity during the revolutionary war. Population, one thousand. A flourishing town of the same name in Oneida county, New York, has a population of about two thousand.
Canandaigua, capital of Ontario county, New York, on the outlet of the lake of the same name, is one of the pleasantest towns in the country. The principal street runs along the ridge of a hill, which rises from the north end of the lake, for the distance of a mile; it is handsomely planted with trees, and the houses, which are generally painted white with green blinds, present a very neat appearance. In the centre of the town is a large square; the neighborhood abounds with pleasant gardens. Population, five thousand six hundred and fifty-two.
Castine, a town of Maine, built on a promontory at the head of Penobscot bay, is placed in a commanding situation, and has an excellent harbor. It was taken by the British during the last war, but was restored in 1815. Population one thousand one hundred and eighty-eight.
Catskill, principal town of Greene county, New York, is situated on the west bank of the Hudson river, nearly opposite the city of Hudson, and thirty-one miles south of Albany. It exhibits gentle elevations in the neighborhood, and the soil is generally good; it is well watered, has fine meadows, and good mill sites. Population, 5,339.
Charleston, the chief city of South Carolina, stands upon a piece of land projecting into the bay, at the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper rivers, and has a deep and safe harbor. Ships drawing twenty feet of water pass the bar. The city is regularly built; the fine houses are very large, many of them inclosed like the great hotels in Paris, and all of them covered with verandas, and situated in gardens neatly dressed, and in summer and fall, not only adorned with the finest evergreen shrubs, but with a great variety of beautiful roses, jonquils, and other flowers. On the other hand, many of the streets are dirty and unpaved, and the houses in some parts of the town have a filthy appearance. The churches and public buildings are handsome, especially St. Michael’s church, with its steeple one hundred and sixty-eight feet high. The post office is a large, handsome building. Most of the finest buildings here were erected previously to the revolution. There are many charitable institutions, among which the Orphan Asylum stands in the first rank.
The society of Charleston is refined, intelligent and hospitable. The commerce of the place consists chiefly in the export of rice and cotton. On account of its level character, the city is liable to occasional inundation; but it is, nevertheless, a fine commercial mart, and highly prosperous, exhibiting most of the institutions which mark a liberal and opulent community. This city is celebrated in the history of the revolution. Population, twenty-nine thousand two hundred and sixty-one.
Charlestown, in Middlesex county, Massachusetts, is an irregular town, containing some fine situations. Here are the United States navy yard, and the finest dry-dock in the country; the Massachusetts state prison, an insane hospital, and the Ursuline convent. This town was burnt in 1775, by the British troops. On the eminence of Bunker Hill, a splendid monument of granite has been for some time in an unfinished state; but there is every hope of its immediate completion. Population ten thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Chilicothe, in Ross county, Ohio, formerly the seat of the state government, is situated on the west bank of the Scioto, on a beautiful and extensive plain. It is laid out on a large scale, with a great number of out-lots attached to it. The plan is regular; the streets cross each other at right angles, and every square is divided into four parts. In the vicinity are several mills and manufactories, and the Grand canal is cut through the town. The town was laid out in 1796, on the site of an old Indian village. Population, three thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven.
Cincinnati, the largest town in Ohio, is handsomely built, and surrounded by a range of fine wooded hills, which command a beautiful prospect. The plain on which it is situated occupies about four square miles; the height of the rising ground above the alluvial plain is about fifty feet. The population is much mixed, being composed of emigrants from all parts of the union, and most of the countries of Europe. Its progressive increase has been most wonderful. In 1813, Cincinnati numbered about four thousand inhabitants; in 1820, ten thousand; in 1840, forty-six thousand three hundred and eighty-two.
It has extensive flour and sawmills, worked by steam, and various manufactures. The public buildings are twenty-four churches, the College Athenæum, Medical College, Mechanics’ Institute, four market houses, a theatre, two museums, a famous and tasteless bazaar, a bank for the United States branch, court house, and other edifices. The charitable and religious associations are numerous. There are sixteen periodical publications. There are three city insurance companies, and two branches of companies at Hartford, Connecticut. Water is furnished for the inhabitants from the Ohio river, and is distributed over town at an average expense of eight dollars for a family.
Vast remains of ancient fortifications, embankments, stone walls, earthen mounds, the latter containing rude stone coffins filled with human bones, have been discovered within the precincts of this town; and many curious articles dug up, composed of jasper, rock crystal, cannel-coal, copper, sculptural representations on different substances, altogether tending to prove that this country was formerly inhabited by a race of men very different from the present American Indians.
Circleville, the seat of justice of Pickaway county, Ohio, is situated on the Pickaway bottom, about half a mile east of the Scioto. Its site is two mounds of earth, one circular, and the other square, containing about twenty acres. In the centre of the town is a small vacant circle. From this focus the streets diverge in regular radii. The growth of this town has been owing to the wealth of the surrounding plantations. Population, two thousand three hundred and twenty-nine.
Columbia, the capital city of South Carolina, is situated on the Congaree, one hundred and ten miles north-north-west of Charleston. It is the seat of the college of the state. The town is regularly built, and occupies an elevated plain gently sloping on every side. Population, four thousand two hundred ninety-five. There are eleven other towns called Columbia in the United States.
Columbus, the metropolis of the state of Ohio, is situated on the east bank of the Scioto, on an elevated plain of several hundred acres. It is situated near the middle of Franklin county, and within twenty miles of the centre of the state, in a fine fertile country. It was founded in 1812, in the midst of a thick forest. It contains a state house, court house, penitentiary, a classical seminary, three churches, and an asylum for the deaf and dumb. Population, six thousand and forty-eight.
Concord, a town of Merrimack county, New Hampshire, is the capital of the state. It is pleasantly situated on both sides of the Merrimack, along which spread some rich intervals. The chief village is on the west side, and forms a street two miles in length. It contains a state house and a state prison, both of granite. It was first settled in 1724, and twenty years afterwards suffered severely from the Indians. By the river and Middlesex canal, Concord has a boat navigation to Boston; and it is a place of considerable trade. Population, four thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight.
Concord, a village of Middlesex county, Massachusetts, is celebrated as the place of meeting of the first provincial congress in 1774, and the first opposition to the British arms. Population, one thousand eight hundred.[63]
Covington, a town of Genesee county, New York, has a soil of ordinary quality, well watered. Population, two thousand four hundred and thirty-eight.
Dayton, chief town of Montgomery county, Ohio, is situated on the left bank of Great Miami river, near the point where it is met by the canal. It is a flourishing place, with many mills and factories. Population six thousand and sixty-seven.
Detroit, the capital of Michigan territory, is situated on the bank of the river of the same name. During the French jurisdiction, it was the farthest post on the lakes except Macinac. Since 1815, this town has rapidly improved; before, it was small and of no importance except in a military view. It is famous for the siege here sustained by Major Gladwyn against the united tribes of Indians under Pontiac, and for its surrender to the British forces in the year 1812, by General Hull. The ground plan of the city of Detroit is laid out like that of Washington, and the buildings are very much scattered. The jail, state house, and two churches, constitute the chief public buildings. The Erie canal has done much to increase the prosperity of this town, and the Ohio canal will give it an additional impulse. Population nine thousand one hundred and two.
The streets of Detroit are generally crowded with Indians of one tribe or other, who collect here to sell their skins; at night, all those who are not admitted into private houses, and remain there quietly, are turned out of the town, and the gates shut upon them. The French inhabitants employed upon the lakes and rivers are very dexterous watermen, and will navigate a small bark in a rough sea with incredible skill. They have nothing like enterprise in business, and are very fond of music, dancing, and smoking tobacco; the women have generally lively and expressive countenances.
The fort stands on a low ridge, in the rear of the town, at the distance of about two hundred yards. From the summit of this ridge, the country gradually subsides to a low swampy plain, from five to nine miles across, covered with thick groves of young timber. Beyond this plain commences a surface moderately hilly.
Dover, a town of Kent county, Delaware, and capital of the state. It is handsomely laid out and built on a small stream that runs into the Delaware. The houses are mostly of brick, and in the centre of the town is a spacious square surrounded by the public buildings. Population, 3790.
Dover, a town of Strafford county, New Hampshire, is situated on the falls of the Cocheco, a stream running into the Piscataqua. The falls have several pitches, one of which is forty feet perpendicular, affording a vast water power, which has been applied to manufacturing purposes. This town was settled in 1623, and is the oldest in the state. The greater part of the timber exported from New Hampshire is brought to Dover. Population, five thousand four hundred and fifty-eight.
Easton, a town of Northampton county, Pennsylvania, situated on the Delaware, at the mouth of the Lehigh, is a handsome town, regularly laid out with a large square in the centre. The union of three canals at this point, gives it vast facilities for trade. The scenery of the neighborhood is remarkably picturesque. The town is laid out at right angles. Population, five thousand five hundred and ten.
Eastport, a town of Washington county, Maine, and the most eastern point of the United States. It is situated on Moose island in Passamaquoddy bay, and is favorably situated for an extensive traffic up the Passamaquoddy and the other rivers falling into the bay of Fundy. The principal business is afforded by the fisheries and the lumber trade. Population, two thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
Economy, a beautiful village of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, on the Ohio, a few miles below Pittsburg. It is inhabited solely by the sect of Harmonists, under the celebrated Rapp. The village is regularly built, and the streets are laid out at right angles. Industry is the characteristic of the inhabitants, who are of German origin. The property purports to be held in common, though it has been stated that the legal tenure of it is in the hands of the principal. The grape is extensively cultivated here; a thriving trade is carried on with the neighboring country, and the establishment is in a thriving condition. Population, 1283.
Illustration: Economy.
Elizabethtown, a town of Essex county, New Jersey, situated on a creek of Newark bay, was originally settled by emigrants from Connecticut. It has some good gardens, and supplies many agricultural products for the New York market. Population, four thousand one hundred and eighty-four.
Exeter, a town of Rockingham county, New Hampshire, fourteen miles south-west from Portsmouth, is situated at the head of the navigation on Swamscot river, a branch of the Piscataqua. Formerly, ship-building was carried on here to a great extent, and the vessels were employed in the West Indian trade; at present, this business is much decreased, but several manufactories have been established. Here is a celebrated academy, incorporated in 1781. Population, two thousand nine hundred and eighty-five.
Fayetteville, a village of Cumberland county, North Carolina, is situated at the head of uninterrupted boat navigation on Cape Fear river. In 1831, it was desolated by a destructive fire; but it is rapidly regaining its former flourishing condition. Population, four thousand two hundred and eighty-five.
Frankfort, the metropolis of Kentucky, and chief town of Franklin county, stands on the east bank of Kentucky river, sixty miles above its entrance into the Ohio. The river, which is here about one hundred yards wide, with bold limestone banks, forms a handsome curve, and waters the southern and western parts of the town. The bottoms on both sides of the river are very broad, but subject to inundation. Frankfort is about sixty-two miles from Louisville. Population, 1,917.
Fredericksburg, a port of entry, and chief town of Spottsylvania county, Virginia, situated on the right bank of the Rappahanoc river, is a flourishing place. It stands at the head of tide water. Population, three thousand nine hundred and seventy-four.
Fredericktown, in Frederick county, Maryland, is situated forty-seven miles from Baltimore, on the Pittsburg road, and is a flourishing place, carrying on considerable manufactures, and a brisk inland trade through a fertile and well-cultivated country. It is the second town in the state, and increases with rapidity. Population, five thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Galena, a village in Illinois, the centre of a celebrated lead-mining district, from which it takes its name. It is situated on Fever river, five miles before it empties into the Mississippi.
Gardiner, a flourishing town in Kennebec county, Maine, on the west bank of the Kennebec river. It has a considerable trade in lumber, and in manufactures of cotton and iron, and many very valuable mills. In this town is a Gothic church, built of granite, and considered the finest specimen of architecture in the state. Population, five thousand six hundred and forty-four.
Illustration: Church in Gardiner.
Georgetown, city of the district of Columbia, and separated from Washington only by a small creek, is finely situated on a series of heights at a bend of the Potomac. It is well laid out, and contains some good private residences. The Catholic college is an ancient pile of building, with a large library, and some good paintings. The Chesapeak and Ohio canal passes through this town. Tobacco and flour are exported in considerable quantities. Population, seven thousand three hundred and thirteen.
Gloucester, a seaport of Massachusetts, in Essex county, and on the peninsula of cape Ann, is one of the most considerable fishing towns in the country. The harbor, which is defended by a battery and forts, is accessible for large ships. This town suffered severely from fire a few years ago; but the damage has been nearly repaired. Population, six thousand three hundred and ninety-four.
Hagerstown, in Washington county, Maryland, is a well-built and flourishing place, surrounded by a fertile country. It is a handsome town, and the houses are generally of stone or brick. Population, three thousand four hundred.
Hallowell, in Kennebec county, Maine, is one of the most flourishing and wealthy towns in the state. The river is navigable to this place for vessels of one hundred and fifty tons. Hallowell granite is extensively quarried and wrought, and is much esteemed. The commerce of the place is considerable, confined chiefly to the lumber trade. Population, four thousand six hundred and fifty-five.
Hanover, in Grafton county, New Hampshire, situated on the Connecticut, is a pleasant village, and the seat of Dartmouth college, which was established in 1771. It received its name from one of its principal benefactors, the earl of Dartmouth. This town is crossed from north to south by Moose mountain. Population, two thousand six hundred and thirteen.
Illustration: Dartmouth College.
Harrisburg, the seat of government of the state of Pennsylvania, is in Dauphin county, and situated on the eastern bank of the Susquehanna, ninety-six miles from Philadelphia. It is regularly built, and has a handsome state house, and other public edifices. A bridge here crosses the Susquehanna. Population, six thousand and twenty.
Hartford, city, the capital of Hartford county, and, jointly with New-Haven, the seat of government of Connecticut. It stands on the western bank of the Connecticut, at the head of sloop navigation. It is handsomely built, and contains many fine public edifices, among which are a Gothic church, much admired for its architecture; a state house, a deaf and dumb asylum, a retreat for the insane, and a seminary called Washington college. This institution was founded in 1826. Hartford enjoys a considerable commerce with Boston, New York, and the southern cities. The bookselling trade is carried on here extensively, and there is much inland traffic with the towns on the Connecticut, and in the neighborhood. On the opposite bank of the river is East Hartford, which is connected with the city by a bridge. The inhabitants point out to the stranger an ancient oak tree in the southern part of the city, which bears the name of the Charter Oak, and is interesting on account of its connection with our early history. Pop. twelve thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.
Illustration: Hartford, Conn.
Haverhill, in Essex county, Massachusetts, on the Merrimack, twelve miles above Newburyport. Pop. four thousand three hundred and seventy-three. This is a pleasantly situated town, and has considerable ship-building and trade by the river. It was settled in 1640, and suffered much in the early Indian wars. In 1698, the Indians attacked and set fire to the town.
Hudson, a city of New York, in Columbia county, with considerable manufacturing business. The streets are spacious, and cross each other at right angles, and the houses are supplied with water brought in pipes from a spring two miles distant. The trade is considerable, and vessels of the largest size can unload here. It is seated on an eminence, on the east side of Hudson river. It is twenty-eight miles south of Albany. Population, five thousand six hundred and seventy.
Indianapolis, capital of Indiana, situated in Marion county, on the west bank of White river, in the centre of one of the most extensive and fertile bodies of land in the world, though recently settled, promises to be one of the largest towns between Cincinnati and the Mississippi. The country about it is said by Mr. Flint to be settling with unexampled rapidity. Population, two thousand six hundred and ninety-two.
Jameston, an ancient town in James City county, Virginia, the first English settlement in the states, was established in 1608. It stands on an island in James river, thirty-two miles above its mouth. It is now in ruins, and almost desolate. Two or three old houses, the ruins of an old steeple, a church-yard, and faint traces of rude fortifications, are the only memorials of its former importance.
Jefferson City, seat of justice for Cole county, Missouri, and capital of the state, is situated on the right bank of Missouri river, about nine miles above the mouth of the Osage. It is a new town, containing two hundred houses and twelve hundred inhabitants, and, after Little Rock in Arkansas, is the most western state capital of the United States.
Kaskaskia, an ancient village of Illinois, and seat of justice for Randolph county, is situated on Kaskaskia river, eleven miles from its mouth. It was one of the earliest French settlements in the Mississippi, and once contained seven thousand inhabitants; it is now very much reduced, numbering only one thousand. The situation of this town is represented as very beautiful.
Kennebunk, a town of York county, Maine, at the mouth of a river of the same name, has considerable lumber trade. The principal harbor is obstructed by a sandbar, and in 1820 an appropriation was made by Congress to build a pier at the mouth of the river. Population, two thousand three hundred and twenty-three.
Knoxville, the chief town of East Tennessee, is situated one hundred and eighty miles from Nashville, on the north side of Holston river, where it is three hundred yards wide; on a beautiful spot of ground, twenty-two miles above the junction of the Holston with the Tennessee. The college of this town is one of the oldest seminaries in the state. Population, three thousand.
Lancaster, a handsome town of Pennsylvania, and capital of a county of the same name. It is a pleasant and flourishing place, situate in a fertile and well-cultivated country, and contains a court house, a jail, two banks, and nine places of worship. A college was founded here in 1787; but the buildings are now appropriated to schools. Here are manufactures of guns and other hardware; and about a mile distant is a large cotton manufactory. The town has considerable trade, which increases with the surrounding country. It is seated near Conestoga creek, which runs into the Susquehanna, sixty-one miles west by north of Philadelphia. Population, eight thousand four hundred and nineteen.
Lancaster, oldest town in Worcester county, Massachusetts, finely situated on both sides of the Nashua, has manufactories of combs and cotton, and an extensive engraving and stereotyping establishment. In beauty of scenery the neighborhood is surpassed by that of few towns in New England. Population, two thousand and thirteen.
Lansinburg, a town of Rensselaer county, New York, is principally built on a single street parallel with the river. A high hill rises abruptly behind the town, on which is seen the celebrated diamond rock, emitting a brilliant lustre in the rays of the sun. Population, three thousand three hundred and thirty.
Lexington, a town of Middlesex county, Massachusetts, will ever be memorable in American history, for the early revolutionary struggles. The first battle was fought here between the British troops and the Americans on the nineteenth of April, 1775. A monument has been erected on the green at Lexington in commemoration of this event. Pop. 1559.
Lexington, capital of Fayette county, Kentucky, is the oldest town in the state, and was for many years the seat of government. It stands in a beautiful spot, on a branch of the Elkhorn river, in the centre of the richest tract in the state. The principal street is a mile and a quarter in length, spacious and well paved. The buildings are much superior in size and elegance to those of the other towns in the state, and may be compared to those of the Atlantic country. The Transylvania university is established here. The public inns are large and convenient. The town has manufactories of woolen, cotton, and paper. The general appearance of the town is neat, and the neighborhood is adorned with many handsome villas, and finely ornamented rural mansions. Population, six thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven.
Litchfield, capital of Litchfield county, Connecticut, is situated on an elevated plain, in the midst of a fertile and hilly country. It contains numerous mills and manufactories. A law school was established here in 1782, by Judge Reeve, which has been for many years highly celebrated. Population, four thousand and thirty-eight.
Little Rock, the seat of government of Arkansas territory, is situated on a high bluff on the south bank of the river Arkansas, and derives its name from the high masses of rock above it. It was laid out in 1820.
Lockport, a town of Niagara county, New York, on the Erie canal. Here are the most remarkable works on the canal, consisting of ten locks, overcoming an ascent of sixty feet. Besides these, there is an excavation through the mountain ridge, for three miles, cut in the rock. The town is a place of considerable trade. Population, five thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Louisville, a city of Jefferson county, Kentucky, on a plain elevated about seventy feet above the level of the Ohio, opposite to the rapids or falls, is a handsome town, and the largest in the state. Eight broad and straight streets run parallel with the river, and command a pleasant view of the opposite shore. They are paved with blocks of limestone; the houses are built chiefly of brick. This is the most commercial city of the west, commanding the trade of a great extent of country. Manufactures are yet in their infancy. The Louisville and Portland canal passes through this town, round the falls; it is about two miles in length, and cut through a limestone rock. It admits the passage of the largest steamboats, and thus opens a line of free navigation from Pittsburg to the sea. This canal was finished in 1831. It has been estimated that seventy-five thousand travellers pass through Louisville annually. The resident population is twenty-one thousand two hundred and ten.
Lowell, a town of Middlesex county, Massachusetts, situated at the junction of the Concord and Merrimack rivers, is celebrated for its extensive manufacturing establishments, and for its rapid increase. It was incorporated in 1826. In 1831, the quantity of cotton manufactured here was estimated at five million one hundred thousand pounds. The water power is held and managed by a company possessing a great amount of real estate, and a capital of six hundred thousand dollars. A rail-road from Boston to Lowell is in rapid progress. The two largest companies are the Merrimack, with a capital of a million and a half; and the Lawrence, with a capital of one million two hundred thousand dollars. Population twenty thousand nine hundred and eighty-one.
Lynchburg, a town of Columbia county, Virginia, is one of the most flourishing and commercial towns in the state. It has several tobacco warehouses and factories, cotton and woolen manufactories, and in the vicinity are extensive flour mills. The surrounding country is rugged and mountainous. Lynchburg was established in 1786. Population, four thousand six hundred and twenty-six.
Lynn, a town of Essex county, Massachusetts, is noted for its extensive manufacture of shoes. About a million and a half pair of women’s shoes are made here every year. There is a mineral spring in this town, with a hotel in its neighborhood. Population, nine thousand and seventy five.
Machias, on the bay of that name, in Washington county, Maine, consists of two villages, one at the falls at the east branch of Machias river, and the other at the falls of the west branch, six and a half miles apart, each containing a post office. The village at the east falls is at the head of the tide, two miles above the junction of the branches, and contains various mills. The village at the west falls, contains the court house, jail, and various mills; there are many saw mills in this town, which cut upwards of ten million feet of boards in a year. The tonnage of the shipping in 1827 amounted to five thousand two hundred and thirty-six; much of this is employed in the transportation of plaster from the British territory adjacent to Passamaquoddy bay. Population, one thousand three hundred and fifty-one.
Marblehead, a town of Essex county, Massachusetts, situated on a peninsula projecting into Massachusetts bay. It is compactly, though irregularly built; it was settled soon after Salem, and has been very flourishing and opulent. It suffered severely during the revolution and the last war. In the fishing business it has greatly excelled all other towns in the United States. Population in 1810, five thousand eight hundred; in 1840, five thousand five hundred and thirty-nine.
Marietta, in Washington county, Ohio, is finely situated near the mouth of Muskingum river, in the centre of a fertile neighborhood. It was one of the earliest settlements of the state; but it has suffered severely from sickness and inundations of the river. Ship-building was formerly carried on here, but has been discontinued. The inhabitants are noted for industry and sobriety. Population, one thousand eight hundred and fourteen.
Maysville, in Mason county, Kentucky, on the Ohio, stands on a narrow bottom below the mouth of Limestone creek, and has considerable trade and manufactures. It is the principal commercial depot for the north-east portions of the state. It is a very busy and flourishing town. Population, two thousand seven hundred and forty.
Middlebury, in Addison county, Vermont, situated on Otter creek, has a college, two academies, several churches, and manufactures of cotton, iron, and marble. A quarry of fine marble was discovered here in 1804, and is now wrought for a variety of purposes. Population, three thousand one hundred and sixty-two.
Middletown, a city of Middlesex county, Connecticut, on the west bank of the Connecticut river, and thirty-four miles from its mouth, is a pleasant place, and has considerable trade and manufactures. In 1816, it owned a larger shipping than any other town in the state. In the neighborhood is a lead mine, which was wrought during the war. A college, under the name of the Wesleyan University, was opened in this city in 1831. Population, seven thousand two hundred and ten.
Milledgeville, capital of Baldwin county, Georgia, and metropolis of the state, is situated on the west bank of the Oconee, eighty-seven miles south-west of Augusta. It is a depot of cotton for the Savannah and Darien markets. It contains several public buildings, and has four weekly papers. Population two thousand and ninety-five.
Mobile, a city of Mobile county, Alabama, on the west side of Mobile river, at its entrance into the bay. When this town came into the possession of the United States, in 1813, it contained about three hundred inhabitants; it now numbers twelve thousand seven hundred. It is pleasantly situated on a spot elevated above the overflow of the river; but the adjacent country is a marsh or a forest. Fire and the yellow fever have committed great ravages here; but trade has increased rapidly, and in the cotton business Mobile is inferior only to Charleston and New Orleans.
Montpelier, shire town of Washington county, Vermont, and seat of government, is situated on the north bank of Onion river, about ten miles north-east of the centre of the state, and is a great thoroughfare for travellers. It was incorporated in 1818, contains a number of public buildings and good seats for manufactories. Population, 3,725.
Nantucket, a town of Massachusetts, of the same extent with the island and county of that name, contains seven houses of public worship, two banks, and two insurance offices. It was formerly called Sherburne. The trade suffered greatly during the late war and the revolution, but has since been more flourishing. There are extensive spermaceti works here. Education is well attended to, and the people, who are chiefly Friends or Quakers, are generally moral and industrious. Population, nine thousand five hundred and twelve.
Nashville, capital of Davidson county, and seat of government of Tennessee, is regularly built, pleasantly situated on the south side of Cumberland river, and is much the largest town in the state. It is a rich and flourishing place. Steamboats from New Orleans ascend the river to this point. The state penitentiary, a fine stone building, is here erected. The University of Nashville was incorporated in 1806, and is now in a very prosperous condition. Pop. eight thousand one hundred and thirty-three.
Natchez, a city of Mississippi, and much the largest town of the state, stands on a bluff, upwards of one hundred and fifty feet above the surface of the river. The houses have an air of neatness, though few are distinguished for elegance or size. To enable the inhabitants to enjoy the evening air, almost every house has a piazza and balcony. The soil of the adjoining country is rich, and vegetation of most kinds attains to uncommon luxuriance; the gardens are ornamented with orange trees, figs plums, peaches, and grape-vines. Natchez is the principal town in this region for the shipment of cotton to New Orleans, and at the business seasons the streets are almost barricadoed with bales. In this place is the Planters’ bank, with a capital of three millions.
The reputation of Natchez in regard to morals seems to be rather at a discount. The lower town is said to have a worse character than any place on the river; and, particularly in the spring, to present a congregation of the most abandoned and desperate. The following picture by a recent traveller is probably overcharged: ‘In the evening, a steamer stops at Natchez to land or take in goods, the passengers observe several houses lighted up, and hear the sounds of fiddles and merriment, and they run up to see what is going on; they find men and women dancing, gambling and drinking; the bell of the steamboat rings to announce that she is about to continue her voyage, the lights in the houses of entertainment are immediately extinguished, and the passengers run out, afraid of being too late for the boat, and run down toward the landing; ropes are drawn across the road, the passengers fall heels over head, a number of stout ruffians throw themselves upon them, and strip them of their money and watches, and they get on board in doleful plight, and of course never see or hear more of their plunderers!’ Population, 4,826.
Natchitoches, commonly pronounced Nackitosh, a town of Louisiana, is beautifully situated on the south-west bank of Red river, at the head of steamboat navigation. The trade between Louisiana and the Mexican states centres here, and it must eventually become a place of great size and importance. This town was established more than a hundred years ago, and its population is a mixture of Americans, French, Spaniards, and Indians.
New Albany, in Floyd county, Indiana, is an industrious and flourishing village, with a ship-yard for building steamboats. During the summer, many steamboats are laid up here to be repaired. Population, four thousand two hundred and twenty-six.
Newark, capital of Essex county, New Jersey, is handsomely built, and finely situated on the west side of Passaic river. It is one of the most beautiful towns in the country. It has extensive manufactures of shoes, leather, coaches, and cabinet work. Morris canal passes through this town. Population, seventeen thousand two hundred and ninety-two.
New Bedford, port of entry in Bristol county, Massachusetts, stands on an arm of Buzzard’s bay, about fifty-two miles south of Boston. ‘We entered New Bedford,’ says a recent tourist, ‘through Fairhaven, by way of the ferry. From Fairhaven the town shows to better effect than from any other point. A stranger, perhaps, might be surprised at the great apparent extent of New Bedford as seen from this place. Passing through the villa of Fairhaven (a place of no inconsiderable size by the by,) it opens before him, with its spires, its shipping and buildings, like a beautiful panoramic painting of some great city. It appears much larger, however, than it is. Its population is 12,585. Its commerce is principally in the whale fishery, employing one hundred and fifty whale ships. The “county road” displays many elegant mansions, the dwellings of some of the more wealthy inhabitants. New Bedford is considered a very wealthy place, and the inhabitants active and enterprising. A large proportion of them are Quakers.’
Newbern, in Craven county, North Carolina, was once the capital, and is still the largest town of the state. It is situated on the Neuse, thirty miles above its entrance into Pamlico sound. The river is navigable to this place, and its commerce is considerable. Population, three thousand six hundred and ninety.
New Brunswick, a city of New Jersey, partly in Middlesex and partly in Somerset county, on the south-west side of Raritan river, is built on a low but healthy situation, and has considerable trade. Besides the other public institutions usually found in towns of similar size, this has a theological seminary, and a college; both established by the Dutch Reformed Church. Population, eight thousand seven hundred and eight.
Newburgh, a port of entry in Orange county, New York, is a well-built village, pleasantly situated on the west bank of the Hudson, commanding a delightful view of the river and the highlands. The principal streets are paved. A considerable amount of shipping is owned in this village; agriculture and manufactures are also extremely flourishing. Population, five thousand six hundred and sixty-two.
Illustration: Newburgh.
Newburyport, in Essex county, Massachusetts, at the mouth of the Merrimack, is remarkable for the beauty of its situation, and the regularity of its streets. It stands upon a gentle declivity sloping down to the river, the streets are generally straight and at right angles, and the town lies along the bank of the river for about a mile. The principal streets pass through the whole width of the town, from the summit of the declivity to the river. The buildings are generally handsome, and the streets clean. Few towns in the United States surpass Newburyport in beauty. It was desolated by a fire, which broke out on the night of May 31, 1811, and destroyed nearly three hundred buildings. The place has never recovered from the effects of this calamity; at the present day, the traveller is struck with the view of a wide heap of grass-grown ruins, in the heart of a populous town.
The harbor of this place is good, but obstructed at the entrance by a dangerous bar; attempts are now making to improve it by a break-water on the south side of the channel. The mercantile enterprise of the place has latterly been diverted from commerce to the fisheries. Ship-building is carried on to a considerable extent, and a manufactory of hosiery has been established in the place. This town has seven churches, two banks, two insurance offices, and two newspapers. A handsome chain bridge crosses the river from the centre of the town. The celebrated preacher, George Whitefield, died in this town in 1760, and is now entombed in the Presbyterian church in Federal street, where an elegant monument has been erected recently to his memory. Population, seven thousand one hundred and twenty-four.
New Castle, seat of justice of the county of the same name, in Delaware, and formerly capital of the state. The village extends lengthwise along the Delaware river, on a rising plain, and is tolerably compact and well built. It once enjoyed considerable trade. Population two thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven.
New Harmony, or Harmony, a town in Posey county, in the south-western part of Indiana, on the Wabash, formerly the seat of the Harmonists, under the German, Rapp, and more recently of the followers of Owen, of Lanark. The former establishment was removed to Economy, and the latter abandoned.
New Haven, a city and seaport of Connecticut, in New Haven county, lies at the head of a bay that runs out of Long Island Sound, and is situated on a beautiful plain, bordered on the north by bold and perpendicular eminences. It is regularly laid out and consists of two parts, the old and new town. The old town is divided into squares of different extents. The public buildings of the city are handsome and well situated. The state house is a fine edifice, on the model of the Parthenon. Several of the churches have a commanding appearance; two of them are of Gothic architecture, and built of stone. Private dwelling-houses are mostly of wood, handsome and convenient. The public square and principal streets are finely ornamented with trees; and beautiful gardens attached to many of the residences, give the town a rural and delightful appearance.
Illustration: New Haven.
The harbor of New Haven is shallow, and gradually filling with mud, but it is well defended from winds, and the maritime commerce of the port is greater than that of any other town in Connecticut. Its interior trade is assisted by the Farmington canal. Packets and steamboats ply regularly and frequently between this port and New York. The Indian name of this town was Quinipiack. It was first settled by the English in 1638, and was the capital of the colony of New Haven, which remained distinct from that of Connecticut till 1665. The state legislature meets here and at Hartford alternately. Yale College, one of the most distinguished literary institutions in America, is established in this city; connected with this are a theological, a medical, and a law school. Many academies and smaller seminaries are also established here. Population, fourteen thousand three hundred and ninety.
New London, a city of New London county, Connecticut, in the south-eastern part of the state, has a fine harbor near the mouth of the Thames. It is irregularly built, principally at the foot of a hill facing the east. There are many pleasant sites in the higher parts of the town, and several of the buildings are handsome; but the general appearance of the place is not flourishing. The neighboring region is rocky and sterile, and there are no great channels of communication with the interior. The recent attention of the merchants to the whale fisheries has given a considerable impulse to the place, and promises to restore it to its former importance as a commercial city. Fort Trumbull is situated at the south of the town, and to the east, on the opposite side of the river, are the remains of Fort Griswold, which, during the revolution, was the scene of a well-remembered and fearful tragedy. Population, five thousand five hundred and twenty-eight.
New Madrid, now an insignificant village, though historically interesting, is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi, eighty-one miles below the mouth of the Ohio. This town was founded in 1787, and was intended to become a great commercial city, and the emporium of the vast tract of fertile country watered by the Mississippi, the Missouri, and their branches. It was indeed happily situated for the purpose; but the river has swept away the ground on which it was originally placed, and the earthquakes of 1812 have sunk the remainder of the bluff below high-water mark. It is impossible to visit this spot, knowing any thing of its history, and not be struck with the air of desolation it now breathes. There was a fine lake in the rear of the town, on the banks of which public walks and plantations of trees were planned for the accommodation of its inhabitants; this is now a heap of sand. As the earthquakes are occasionally recurring in this neighborhood, even to the present time, people have been cautious in respect to settling here; but as they are becoming more assured, New Madrid is gradually emerging from her prostration.
New Orleans, the capital of the state of Louisiana, is situated directly on the east bank of the Mississippi, one hundred and five miles from the mouth of the river. In the year 1717, this city was founded; and at that period, there were not, perhaps, five hundred white inhabitants in the whole valley of the Mississippi. In the beginning of 1788, the town contained one thousand one hundred houses, built of wood; in March of that year, by a fire, the number of houses was reduced in five hours to two hundred. It has been rebuilt principally of brick, which is of so soft a nature, that the buildings are plastered on the outside with a thick coat of mortar, and then painted or whitewashed. Several warehouses with stone fronts have been recently erected. The city is regularly laid out, and the streets are generally forty feet wide, crossing each other at right angles. The public buildings are generally elegant, commodious and expensive. There are few churches. The Catholic cathedral is a noble edifice, ninety feet by one hundred and twenty, with four towers. The Place des armes is a beautiful green, which serves as a parade. Most of the houses in the suburbs have fine gardens, ornamented with orange groves. The general style of living is luxurious, and the private dwellings are elegantly furnished. The markets are plentifully supplied with the necessaries of life, and the luxuries of every country; but provisions are dear.
New Orleans will become to the United States the great emporium of commerce and wealth, if, by the draining of the marshy country in the neighborhood, it ever becomes a healthy city. The more we contemplate the present and prospective resourses of New Orleans, the more must we be convinced of its future greatness. Being built in the form of a crescent, the curve of the river constitutes a safe and commodious harbor. Defended on one side by the river, and on the other by a swamp that no effort can penetrate, the city can only be approached through a defile three quarters of a mile wide.
New Orleans is gradually becoming more purely American in all its characteristics; but many of its inhabitants are of French and Spanish descent, and the French language is more commonly spoken than the English. The charitable institutions of the city are highly creditable. Education is not so much attended to as in other parts of the country; but great improvements have been made in this respect within a few years. The police is efficient, and scenes of disorder rarely occur.
This city is the grand commercial metropolis of the Mississippi valley. The tributaries of the great river on which it stands afford an extent of more than twenty thousand miles, already navigated by steamboats, and passing through the richest soil and the pleasantest climates. Steamboats are departing and arriving every hour, and fifty or sixty are often seen in the harbor at one time; while many hundreds of flat boats are seen at the levee, laden with the various productions of the great valley. Measures have been adopted by the state legislature to have the neighboring country well explored, for the purpose of draining, raising, and improving it.[64] The streets of the city have been paved, and gutters are washed by water from the river. Pop. one hundred and two thousand one hundred and ninety three. New Orleans will probably become the largest city of America.
Newport, a seaport and semi-metropolis of Rhode Island, is pleasantly situated on the south-west end of the island of Rhode Island, thirty miles south of Providence. During the summer months it is a place of fashionable resort, being celebrated for the salubrity of its climate. It formerly possessed considerable commerce, and contained more than nine thousand inhabitants; but during the revolution, it was a long time occupied by the enemy, and suffered severely. The principal street is a mile in length; the houses have an antique appearance. The harbor is very safe, sufficiently spacious for a whole fleet, and defended by three forts. Newport was first settled in 1638. A large stone mill is still standing here, which was erected before the date of the earliest records. Population, eight thousand three hundred and thirty-three.
Illustration: Asylum at Newport.
Illustration: New York.
New York, the largest and most populous city in the United States, lies in the state of that name, at the head of New York bay, about sixteen miles from the Atlantic ocean. Manhattan island, on which the city stands, and which is formed by the Hudson, the Hærlem, and East rivers, with the bay on the south, is fifteen miles in length, and from two to three in breadth. On the south-west point of the island, overlooking the bay, is a fine public promenade, of from five to six hundred yards in length, and one hundred and fifty in breadth, prettily laid out in walks, and planted with trees. In the evenings it is generally crowded with citizens, who assemble to derive the benefit from a pleasant breeze off the water, or listen to a band that frequently plays in the Castle garden, which is connected with the walk by a wooden bridge. The former promenade is called the Battery, from having, in the olden times of the Dutch settlers, or during the revolutionary war, mounted a few guns; and the Castle garden, in a similar manner, possessed no garden, nor could it ever have possessed one, being a modern stone fort, with twenty-eight embrasures, built upon a solid rock, which appeared but a short distance above the water. This being an unprofitable kind of investment of funds, has been let by the corporation to a publican, who has converted it to a much more profitable use charging sixpence for admission, and giving a ticket, so that the visitor may enjoy a stroll upon the upper platform of the fort, admire the view, and then call for a glass of liquor at the bar. The battery, nevertheless, is the most pleasant promenade in New York, and excels any thing else of the kind in America. Governor’s island, about three quarters of a mile distant in the bay, has a large stone circular fort, with three tiers of embrasures, and is calculated for more than one hundred guns at its western extremity.
Illustration: Castle Garden and Battery.
Of the public buildings of New York, the City Hall, containing the supreme court, mayor’s court, and various public offices, situated in the park, a fine and handsome square, is the most remarkable; and being fronted with white marble, has a beautiful effect when seen through the trees in the park. The building is upwards of two hundred feet in length, with a dome and tower surmounted by a statue of justice. The Merchants’ Exchange, in Wall street, is a fine edifice, of the same material as the front of the City Hall. The basement story is occupied by the post-office, and above it the Exchange, eighty-five feet in length, fifty-five in width, and forty-five in height to the dome, from which it is lighted. The greater proportion of the other buildings in the street, are insurance offices, banks, and exchange offices.
‘The churches in New York,’ says Lieutenant Coke, ‘are handsomer edifices than those in the southern cities I visited, and contain some interesting monuments. St. Paul’s, in the park, is one of the finest in the states. In the interior, there is a tablet in the chancel to Sir Robert Temple, baronet, the first consul general to the United States from England, who died in the city; and one to the wife of the British governor of New Jersey, who died during the revolution, from distress of mind; being separated from her husband by the events of the time. In the yard, also, there is a large Egyptian obelisk of a single block of white marble, thirty-two feet in height, erected to Thomas A. Emmett, an eminent counsellor at law and brother of the Irish orator who suffered during the rebellion. When I visited New York again, some months afterwards, one front of it was embellished with an emblematical representation of his fortunes. Though it was in an unfinished state, and the canvass had not been removed from before the scaffolding, I could catch a glimpse of the representation of a hand, with a wreath or bracelet of shamrock round the wrist, clasping one with a similar ornament of stars, and the eagle of America sheltering the unstrung harp of Ireland. Mr. Emmett had emigrated to the states, and settled in New York, where he had acquired considerable reputation many years previous to his death. There is also another monument near it, under the portico of the church, to General Montgomery, who fell in the unsuccessful attack upon Quebec in 1775. This monument was erected previously to the declaration of independence by the congress; and in 1818, when his remains were removed from Quebec to New York, and interred at St. Paul’s, another tablet was added, recording the event; though at the time, great doubts were entertained whether they actually were the general’s remains which were exhumed. The matter was, however, subsequently set at rest beyond a doubt, by the publication of a certificate drawn up by the person who had actually buried the general in the first instance, and who was then living in Quebec, at a very advanced age, being the only survivor of the army which served under Wolfe.
Illustration: Merchants’ Exchange.
‘There is a very handsome monument, near the centre of the church-yard, erected by Kean, of Drury Lane theatre, to Cooke, the actor. Trinity church, which is also in Broadway, was the oldest in the city, having been originally built in 1696, but destroyed by fire eighty years afterwards, although from the circumstance of a monument in the church-yard, of 1691, it appears it was used as a burial-ground some time previously. Though not containing much above an acre of ground, by a moderate calculation, not fewer than two hundred thousand bodies have been buried in it. Of late years there have been no burials, and weeping willows with various trees have been planted, which in time will make it ornamental to the city. In one corner are the ruins of a monument, erected but sixteen years since to Captain Lawrence, of the American navy, who fell defending his ship, the Chesapeak, against Sir P. Broke, in the Shannon. His body was taken to Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and buried there with all the honors of war, the pall being the American ensign supported by six of the senior captains in the royal navy, then in the harbor. But the Americans immediately after sent a vessel with a flag of truce to apply for the removal of the body, which being granted, it was re-buried in Trinity church-yard, and the present monument, no lasting memorial of his country’s grief, erected upon the spot. It is a most shabby economical structure, built of brick, and faced with white marble. The column, of the Corinthian order, is broken short, with part of the capital lying at the base of the pedestal, emblematic of his premature death. Owing to the summit being exposed to the weather, the rain has gained admittance into the interior of the brick work, and has given the column a considerable inclination to one side. Some of the marble front also, with two sides of that of the pedestal, have fallen down and exposed the shabby interior. Surely, such a man deserved a monument of more durable materials.’[65]
Among the most splendid public buildings is the Masonic hall, a Gothic edifice, in Broadway, fifty feet wide, and seventy feet high; it is composed of the eastern gray granite. Of collegiate institutions, Columbia college is the oldest in New York. It is finely situated on a square ornamented with majestic trees; and the standard of classical education here is very high. This institution possesses an estate valued at four hundred thousand dollars. In 1831, the University of New York was chartered; it is projected on the broad and liberal plan of the continental universities, and promises to be of great utility. Schools of all kinds are numerous; bible and missionary societies are numerous and well endowed. Literary and scientific institutions flourish. The most ancient of these is the Society Library, founded in 1754, and containing upwards of twenty-three thousand volumes. The Historical society was incorporated in 1809, and has collected a vast number of important documents in relation to the country in general, and particularly to New York. The Lyceum for Natural History, the Clinton Hall association, and the Mercantile Library association, are flourishing and useful institutions.
Illustration: Masonic Hall.
The Academy of Arts was chartered in 1808. It has two exhibitions annually. The library consists of books of views, designs and drawings, relating chiefly to antique subjects. Among the presidents of this institution have been Edward Livingston, De Witt Clinton, and John Trumbull. The National Academy was founded in 1826, and, with a few exceptions, is altogether composed of artists. Of the dramatic entertainments of the city, we can say but little. The Park theatre is the place of most fashionable resort; it is a spacious edifice, adjoining the park. It is eighty feet long, and one hundred and sixty-five feet deep. The Bowery theatre is well attended. An opera house has been recently built.
The number of insurance offices in this city is upwards of forty. In 1827, the total of banking capital amounted to about sixteen millions of dollars. Several new banks have been since chartered, and this amount has been much increased. For its advantage of inland and external commerce, no city in the United States can be compared with New York. The number of vessels that arrived here from foreign parts during the first eight months of the year 1833, was thirteen hundred and forty-five, and the number of passengers was over thirty-two thousand. In 1832, the number of arrivals from foreign parts during the whole year, was one thousand eight hundred and ten; in 1829, it was thirteen hundred and four, being forty-one less in the whole year than during the first eight months of 1833.
The population of New York in 1697, was four thousand three hundred and two; in 1756, thirteen thousand and forty; in 1790, thirty-three thousand and thirty-one; in 1800, sixty thousand four hundred and eighty-nine; in 1810, ninety-six thousand three hundred and seventy-three; in 1820, one hundred and twenty-three thousand seven hundred and six; in 1825, one hundred and sixty-six thousand and eighty-six; and in 1830, two hundred and seven thousand and twenty-one. Its present population is three hundred and thirteen thousand six hundred and twenty-nine.
Norfolk, the commercial capital of Virginia, is situated on the east side of Elizabeth river, immediately below the junction of its two main branches, and eight miles above Hampton roads. The town lies low, and is in some places marshy, though the principal streets are well paved. Among the public buildings are a theatre, three banks, an academy, marine hospital, athenæum, and six churches. The harbor, which is capacious and safe, is defended by several forts. One is on Craney island, near the mouth of Elizabeth river. There are also fortifications at Hampton roads; the principal of which, Fort Calhoun, is not yet completed. Population, ten thousand five hundred and seventy-three.
Northampton is a post and shire town of Hampshire county, Massachusetts, on the west bank of Connecticut river, and ninety-five miles from Boston. Its population in 1840 was three thousand six hundred and seventy-two. It is built chiefly on two broad streets, in which are situated the churches and county buildings. This town is very beautiful, consisting of a number of villas of various sizes, and of pleasing, though irregular architecture, seeming to vie with each other in the taste and elegance of their external decorations. There is primitive white limestone in the vicinity, and much of the pavement and steps are of white marble. The trees in the neighborhood of the town are single spreading trees, principally elms, and of considerable age; the roads are wide, and the footpaths are excellent everywhere. Northampton is surrounded by rising grounds; but mount Holyoke, situated on the opposite side of the Connecticut river, is the hill which all strangers ascend, for the sake of the extensive and beautiful prospect from its summit. The valley that lies at its base, contains the most extensive and beautiful plain in New England, well cultivated and populous. The spires of thirty churches are seen from the top of mount Holyoke, and in a clear day the hills of New Haven are distinctly visible. Round Hill school, in this town, is an institution of some note, somewhat on the plan of a German gymnasium. There are two banks here, woolen manufactories, an insurance office, and a printing office; the public houses are good, and the town is somewhat a place of summer resort.
Norwich, a city of New London county, Connecticut, situated at the head of navigation on Thames river, contains three compact settlements; of which Chelsea Landing, situate at the point of land between the Shetucket and Yantic rivers, is the principal. Its location is peculiarly romantic; and it is a place of much enterprise and business. What is called the town is two miles north-west of Chelsea, containing the court house, and some other public buildings; and the third settlement is Bean Hill, in the western part of Norwich. The city contains a bank, four or five churches, and several manufacturing establishments. The Yantic falls, one mile from Chelsea, are beautiful, and afford facilities for mills and manufactories. From a rock seventy or eighty feet in height, which overhangs the stream, tradition says a number of Narragansetts once precipitated themselves when pursued by the Mohegans.
On an elevated bank, north of what is called the cove, and near the Yantic falls, is the burying-ground of the royal family of the Mohegans, commonly called ‘the burying-ground of the Uncasses.’ Many of their graves are still designated by coarse stones; on some of which are English inscriptions. Uncas was buried here, and many of his descendants; but his family is now nearly extinct. There are one or two living who claim a kindred, but who have very little of the magnanimity or valor for which he was so conspicuous. Population of Norwich, seven thousand two hundred and thirty-nine.
Pawtucket, a town of Bristol county, Massachusetts, four miles north-east of Providence, Rhode Island. It is finely situated on the falls of Pawtucket river, near the Blackstone canal, and is one of the most extensive manufacturing places in the union. It contains numerous cotton factories, and shops for machinery, and other purposes. Population, two thousand one hundred and eighty-four.
Pensacola, the capital of West Florida, and naval station of the United States, is situated on the north-west shore of the bay of the same name. It was founded by a Spanish officer in 1699, and is built in the form of a parallelogram, nearly a mile in length. The harbor is safe and commodious, and the anchorage is good, though toward shore the water is generally shallow. It is regarded as a comparatively healthy place. Population, about two thousand.
Petersburg, a borough and port of entry, in Dinwiddie county, Virginia, on the south bank of the Appomatox. The river is navigable to this point for vessels of one hundred tons. In 1815, three hundred buildings were destroyed by fire. It has since been rebuilt of brick, and the new houses are generally three stories in height; it is of the first class of towns in Virginia, and presents an appearance of enterprise and wealth. Population, eleven thousand one hundred and thirty-six.
Philadelphia, the second city in size and population in the United States, is situated in a county of the same name, five miles above the junction of the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers, and, by the course of the river, about one hundred and twenty miles distant from the Atlantic ocean. It was founded by William Penn, in 1682, and was originally laid out in the shape of a parallelogram, two miles in length by one in breadth. The city now extends from the lower part of Southwark to the upper part of Kensington, about four miles, and from one river to the other. For municipal purposes, the legislature has, from time to time, established corporate governments in different parts of the suburbs, so that Philadelphia is divided into the following districts: the corporations of the city of Philadelphia, of the Northern Liberties, Kensington, Spring Garden, Southwark, and Moyamensing. The municipal government of the city proper is vested in a mayor, a recorder, fifteen aldermen, and a select and common council, besides subordinate executive officers.
‘Philadelphia, the reverse of Lisbon,’ says a recent English traveller, ‘at first presents no beauties; no domes or turrets rise in the air to break the uniform stiff roof-line of the private dwellings; and, if I remember right, the only buildings which show their lofty heads above the rest, are the state house, Christ church, (both built prior to the revolution,) a presbyterian meeting-house, and a shot tower. The city, therefore, when viewed from the water, and at a distance, presents any thing but a picturesque appearance. It is somewhat singular, too, that there should be such a scarcity of spires, and conspicuous buildings, there being no fewer than ninety places of worship, besides hospitals, and charitable institutions in great numbers. In place, too, of noble piers and quays of solid masonry, which we might reasonably expect to find in a city containing near one hundred and forty-thousand inhabitants, and holding the second rank in commercial importance in North America, there are but some shabby wharves and piers of rough piles of timber, jutting out in unequal lengths and shapes, from one end to the other of the river front; and these, again, are backed by large piles of wooden warehouses, and mean-looking stores. On the narrow space between them and the water, are hundreds of negro porters, working at vast heaps of iron bars, barrels of flour, cotton bags, and all the various merchandise imported or exported, singing, in their strange broken English tone of voice, some absurd chorus.
‘Fifty paces hence, the stranger enters the city, which possesses an interior almost unrivalled in the world. On walking through the fine broad streets, with rows of locust or other trees, which, planted on the edge of the causeway, form a most delightful shade, and take away the glare of the brick buildings, he is struck immediately with the air of simplicity, yet strength and durability which all the public edifices possess, while the private dwellings, with their neat white marble steps and window sills, bespeak wealth and respectability. The neatness too, of the dress of every individual, with the total absence of those lazy and dirty vagabonds who ever infest our towns, and loiter about the corners of all the public streets, passing insolent remarks upon every well-dressed man, or even unattended female, impress a foreigner with a most pleasing and favorable idea of an American city.
‘The river in front of the town is about a mile wide, but the channel is considerably contracted by an island, which extends nearly the full length of the town, and, consequently renders the navigation more intricate. It is prettily planted with trees, and a ship has been run ashore at one end and converted into a tavern, a house being raised upon the upper deck. It was quite a gala day, numerous steam vessels and rowing boats proceeding up the stream to Kensington (part of the suburbs,) and we arrived just in time to see a large ship, of six hundred tons burthen, glide gracefully from the stocks.
‘I now commenced visiting all the public institutions. Of charitable societies the number is amazing; probably no city in the world, of the same population, possesses an equal number. It may be truly said, that it deserves its name of “Philadelphia;” there are upwards of thirty humane institutions and societies for the relief of the poor and orphans, besides above one hundred and fifty mutual benefit societies, on the principle of the English clubs; being associations of tradesmen and artisans for the support of each other in sickness, each member contributing monthly or weekly a small sum to the general fund. Of the public institutions, the “Pennsylvania Hospital” is on the most extensive scale. It is situated in a central part of the city, near Washington square, and was founded eighty-two years since, Benjamin Franklin being its greatest promoter. It contains an excellent library of about seven thousand volumes; and it is calculated that about fourteen hundred patients are annually admitted into it, of which number three fifths are paupers; the remainder paying for the advantages they derive from the institution. The building occupies an immense extent of ground, and on three sides of it an open space is left for a free circulation of air; the west end of the building is a ward for insane patients, of whom there are generally more than one hundred. The necessary funds for the support of the hospital are derived from the interest of its capital stock, and from the exhibition of West’s splendid painting of Christ healing the sick, which produces about five hundred dollars per annum and is exhibited in a building on the northern side of the hospital square.’
The United States bank is a splendid edifice, built on the plan of the Parthenon at Athens. Its length is one hundred and sixty-one, and its breadth eighty-seven feet. The main entrance is from Chesnut street, by a flight of six marble steps, extending along the whole front of the portico, which is supported by fluted columns four and a half feet in diameter. In the centre of the building is the banking room, which is eighty-one feet long, and forty-eight feet wide. The whole body of the edifice is arched in a bomb-proof manner, from the cellar to the roof, which is covered with copper. The New Bank of Pennsylvania is an extensive and elegant edifice of marble of the Ionic order, and constructed after the model of the ancient temple of the Muses, on the Ilyssus. There are at present seventeen banking houses within the city and the incorporated districts, with an aggregate capital of more than twenty millions of dollars.
The Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb is one of the most conspicuous edifices in the city. The association was established in April, 1820, and was incorporated in the following year. Philadelphia now contains about one hundred churches, few of which are distinguished for size, extent, or architectural beauty.
Illustration: Deaf and Dumb Asylum.
The state house, in which the continental congress sat, and from whence the Declaration of Independence issued, is still standing. It is located in Chesnut street, is built of brick, comprising a centre and two wings, and has undergone no material alteration since its first erection. It has a venerable appearance, and is surmounted by a cupola, having a clock, the dial of which is glass, and is illuminated at night until ten or eleven o’clock, showing the hour and minutes until that time. The front is a considerable distance back from the street, the walk being paved to the curb-stone with brick, and two elegant rows of trees extending its whole length. East of the main entrance, in the front room, the sessions of congress were held, and the question of independence decided.
The arcade contains Peale’s museum, one of the best in the United States, comprising the most complete skeleton of the mammoth perhaps in the world. It is perfect, with the exception of a few bones, which have been supplied by imitating the others. This skeleton was found in Ulster county, New York.
The Academy of Arts, in Chesnut street, contains a large number of paintings, several of which are the property of Joseph Bonaparte. Among these is one executed by David, representing Napoleon crossing the Alps. Another is a full-length portrait of Joseph himself, as king of Spain.
Illustration: Academy of Arts.
It is to Franklin that the city is indebted for its great library, which now numbers about thirty-five thousand volumes. It was incorporated in 1742, and in 1790, the present neat edifice was erected on the east side of Fifth street, opposite the state house square. The Athenæum is a valuable institution, established in 1814; it has a collection of about five thousand five hundred volumes, and more than seventy newspapers and periodical journals are regularly received in its reading room. The Philosophical society has a collection of six thousand, and the Academy of Natural Sciences a collection of five thousand volumes. The University of Pennsylvania is distinguished for its medical school, which is attended by a class of from four to five hundred. The United States Mint was established in 1791, and by successive acts of congress has been continued at Philadelphia. In 1829, a new building for the mint was commenced in Chesnut street; it has but recently been completed. It is of the Ionic order, and modelled after a celebrated Grecian temple.[66]
Illustration: Franklin Institute.
Of the public works of Philadelphia, there is none of which its inhabitants are most justly proud than those at Fair Mount, by which the city is supplied with water of the best quality, in the greatest plenty. Fair Mount is in the rear of the city upon the bank of the Schuylkill. The reservoirs are situated on the top of a hill rising from the river, a part of it perpendicular rock, upwards of one hundred feet. They contain upwards of twelve millions of gallons, supplying the city through between fifteen and twenty miles of pipes. The water was formerly forced to the reservoirs by steam, which is no longer used; it is now raised by machinery propelled by the Schuylkill. The machinery is simple, and is turned by large water wheels, whose speed may be graduated to any required number of revolutions per minute; if all are in motion, they will raise seven millions of gallons in twenty-four hours. To turn them, the Schuylkill has been dammed its whole breadth, by which the water is thrown back into a reservoir lock, whence it is admitted as required to operate upon the wheels, and is discharged into the river below the dam. The whole expense of these works, including estimated cost of works abandoned, was one million seven hundred and eighty-three thousand. The quantity of water which they disseminate through the city, is not only sufficient for every family, but is used to wash the streets. It is of immense service in case of fire, as it is only necessary to screw the hose to hydrants, which are placed at convenient distances, to secure a constant stream of sufficient force to reach an ordinary height.
Illustration: Fair Mount Water-Works.
There are three prisons in Philadelphia, one in Walnut street, a second in Arch street, and the Eastern Penitentiary. The latter is situated on high ground near the city, and is designed to carry the principle of solitary confinement into effect. The system pursued here will be fully explained in a different portion of the volume. Ten acres are occupied by the establishment, inclosed by massive walls of granite, thirty-five feet high, with towers and battlements.
Illustration: Eastern Penitentiary.
There are two bridges across the Schuylkill, both of which are substantial and elegant structures. The Fair Mount bridge consists of a single arch, of three hundred and forty feet in length. The whole length of that on Market street, is one thousand three hundred feet, including abutments and wing walls.
Illustration: Upper Ferry Bridge.
The public markets form a very striking feature of the city. One is nearly two thirds of a mile in extent. The harbor of Philadelphia possesses many natural advantages, though it is more liable to be impeded by ice than either that of New York or Baltimore. The Delaware is not navigable for the first class of ships of the line. For the amount of its commerce, Philadelphia is the fourth city in the United States.
By the will of the late Stephen Girard, Philadelphia received large bequests of land and money, to be appropriated to purposes of public improvement. To the Pennsylvania Hospital he gave thirty thousand dollars; to the city, for city improvements, five hundred thousand dollars; for a college for poor white male children, and its endowments, two millions. He made further donations to the city of unimproved lands in the western territories, and stock in the Schuylkill navigation company, valued at the sum of six hundred thousand dollars.
By the census of 1810, the population of Philadelphia was ninety-six thousand six hundred and sixty-four; in 1840 it was two hundred and thirty-five thousand.
Pittsburg, a city and capital of Alleghany county, Pennsylvania, two hundred and ninety-seven miles west by north of Philadelphia, is situated on a beautiful plain at the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers. It is built on the old site of the famous fort Du Quesne, whose ruins are still seen in the neighborhood. The situation of Pittsburg is as advantageous as can well be imagined; it is the key to the western country, and, excepting New Orleans and Cincinnati, is the first town of the whole valley of the Mississippi. It was created a city by the legislature of Pennsylvania, at the session of 1816. The principal cause which has contributed, after its fine position, to ensure the prosperity of, Pittsburg, is the exhaustless mass of mineral coal that exists in its neighborhood. The beds are 340 feet above low water level, and about two hundred and ninety above the level of the town. The great abundance of this valuable material has converted Pittsburg into a vast workshop, and a warehouse for the immense country below, upon the Ohio and the other large rivers of the valley. According to a list recently published in one of the Pittsburg papers, there are in operation in that city, and in its immediate vicinity, eighty-nine steam engines, on which there are two thousand one hundred and eleven hands employed, and coal consumed to the amount of one hundred and fifty-four thousand two hundred and fifty bushels per month. The great use of this coal has given a general dinginess of appearance to the town, arising from the smoke. The inhabitants of Pittsburg present specimens of almost every nation; they are distinguished for economy and industry. The Western university was established here in 1820. Among the buildings are three or four banks, a small theatre, a public library, and houses of worship for various sects. Population, twenty-one thousand two hundred and ninety-six.
Pittsfield, a town of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, situated on a hill at the junction of the principal branches of the Housatonic river. It contains a bank, an academy, a medical institution, and several extensive manufactories, among which is one of muskets, where arms have been frequently made for the United States. Population, four thousand and sixty.
Plattsburg, capital of Clinton county, New York, situated on a fine bay on the west side of lake Champlain, is handsomely laid out and contains a bank and several manufactories. It is celebrated in the history of the late war with Great Britain. Population, 6,416.
Plymouth, a port of entry and shire town of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, is the oldest town in New England, having been settled by the pilgrims who landed from the Mayflower, December 22d, 1620. It stands on a fine harbor of the same name, thirty-six miles south-east of Boston. Though often divided, the township is still sixteen miles long, and five broad. The Indian name was Accomack. It is a place of considerable commerce, and contains some manufacturing establishments. The harbor is large, but shallow, and in 1832 an appropriation was made by government to repair it. One of the principal buildings is Pilgrim’s hall, which was erected by the Pilgrim society. A part of the rock on which the pilgrims landed, has been conveyed to the centre of the town. Population, five thousand one hundred and eighty.
Portland, a port of entry, and commercial metropolis of Maine, in Cumberland county, is situated on an elevated peninsula in Casco bay. It has an excellent and spacious harbor, dotted with numerous islands, and defended by two forts. The town is well laid out, and neatly built. Among the public buildings are, that formerly occupied as the state house, a court house, town hall, a theatre, alms-house, six banks, fifteen churches, a custom-house, academy, and an athenæum, in which is a library of about three thousand volumes. Much attention is here paid to education, and there are many good schools. Portland has considerable commerce, the chief articles of export being fish and lumber. Its shipping amounts to about forty-five thousand tons. In 1775, this town, then called Falmouth, was set on fire by the British, and about two thirds of the houses were destroyed. It was incorporated under its present name in 1786. Population, fifteen thousand two hundred and eighteen.
Illustration: Mariners’ Church, Portland.
Portsmouth, in Rockingham county, New Hampshire, is the largest town in the state, and the only seaport. It is situated on a beautiful peninsula on the south side of Piscataqua river, three miles from the sea. Its harbor is one of the best on the continent, having a sufficient depth of water for vessels of any burden. It is well protected by fort Constitution and fort M‘Clary; there are also, three other forts, built for the defence of the harbor, but not garrisoned. There is a light-house on Great island. This town has a number of churches and other public buildings, but none of any great pretensions. It has suffered severely from fires at different periods. The first settlement was made here in 1623, and, ten years afterwards, the town was incorporated by charter. The first ship of the line built in the United States, was built here during the revolution; it was called the North America. On Navy island, on the side of the Piscataqua, opposite to the town, is a navy yard of the United States. The amount of shipping owned in New Hampshire in 1828, amounted to above twenty-six thousand tons; and of this nearly all must have belonged to Portsmouth. Population, seven thousand eight hundred and eighty-four.
Poughkeepsie, in Dutchess county, New York, seventy-five miles south of Albany, is situated one mile on the Hudson river, and was incorporated in 1801. The village is handsomely situated, and a place of considerable trade. It is laid out in the form of a cross, the two principal streets cutting each other at right angles. The trade at the landings employs a number of packets. This town contains the county buildings, five churches, an academy, a bank, and several factories. Population, ten thousand and six.
Providence, city and seaport in the county of the same name, in Rhode Island, is situated at the head of tide water of Narragansett bay, about thirty miles from the Atlantic ocean, and forty miles south-south-west of Boston. In point of population it is the second town in New England. The town is built on both sides of what is commonly called Providence river; and vessels of nine hundred tons burden can come to the wharves. Many of the private residences in this town are finely situated, and of beautiful appearance. The chief public buildings are the state house, the arcade, fourteen houses of public worship, the halls of Brown university, an asylum, five public school-houses, and several large manufacturing establishments. The arcade is a splendid edifice of granite, with two fronts presenting colonnades of the pure Doric order. The building is two hundred and twenty-two feet in length, extending from street to street. Brown university was incorporated in 1769, and, under its present government, promises to take a high stand as a literary institution. The college buildings stand on a lofty elevation, and the approach to them is through a street decorated with fine mansions and elegant gardens.
Illustration: Providence Arcade.
Providence became early distinguished as a place of commercial promise. During the first six months of the year 1791, the duties paid on imports and tonnage amounted to nearly sixty thousand dollars; in 1831, the whole amount collected was about two hundred and twenty-seven thousand. There are four insurance companies. The aggregate capital of the banks, which are fifteen in number, is four and a half millions; to this we may add eight hundred thousand dollars, which form the capital of the Branch bank of the United States, and one hundred thousand belonging to the Savings bank. The Blackstone canal, which extends to Worcester, in Massachusetts, was completed in 1828; its whole cost was seven hundred thousand dollars. Providence is most distinguished for its manufactures, which are very numerous, and embrace many varieties of articles. Capitalists of the city have also about two million of dollars invested in manufactures of other towns. The settlement of this place was commenced as early as 1636, by Roger Williams, a puritan clergyman who had been settled at Salem, but who had been banished beyond the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, on account of his contending for entire and unrestricted freedom in matters of religion. The population of Providence is twenty-three thousand and forty-two.
Quincy, in Norfolk county, Massachusetts, was settled in 1625, under the name of Mount Wollaston. Extensive quarries of fine granite are wrought here; the first rail-road constructed in America was built for the purpose of conveying the granite from the quarry to the landing. This town is very pleasant, and contains many handsome country seats; among which is that of ex-president Adams. Population, three thousand three hundred and nine.
Raleigh, city and capital of North Carolina, in Wake county, near the west bank of the river Neuse, is pleasantly situated in an elevated tract of country. Besides the government buildings, it contains other convenient and elegant public edifices. In the centre of the town is a large square, from which extend four wide streets, dividing the town into quarters. In the centre of this square stood the state house, with the splendid statue of Washington, by Canova; the edifice was burnt down in 1831, and the statue almost destroyed. In the neighborhood of the town is an excellent quarry of granite. Population, one thousand seven hundred.
Reading, the capital of Berks county, Pennsylvania, is a beautiful town, situated on Schuylkill river, fifty-four miles north-west of Philadelphia, on the road to lake Erie. It is a flourishing place, regularly laid out and inhabited chiefly by Germans; it contains the usual county buildings, an elegant church for German Lutherans, another for Calvinists, one for Roman Catholics, a meeting-house for Friends, and other public edifices. In the neighborhood of this town are a number of fulling mills, and several iron works. Population, eight thousand seven hundred and fourteen.
Richmond, the metropolis of Virginia, and seat of justice for Henrico county, is situated at the falls of James river, on the north side, one hundred and fifty miles above its mouth, and contains twelve thousand inhabitants. The site is very uneven, and the situation is healthy, beautiful and picturesque. On the opposite side of the river is Manchester, connected with Richmond by two bridges. The falls and rapids extend nearly six miles, in which distance the river descends eighty feet. A canal with three locks is cut on the north side of the river, terminating at the town in a basin of about two acres. Few cities situated so far from the sea, possess better commercial advantages than Richmond, being at the head of tide water, on a river navigable for batteaux, two hundred and twenty miles above the city. The back country is fertile, and abundant in the production of tobacco, wheat, corn, hemp, and coal. Some of the principal buildings are the capitol, penitentiary, armory, court house, and eight houses of public worship. The capitol stands on a commanding situation, and is a conspicuous object to the surrounding country. In 1811, the theatre at Richmond took fire during an exhibition, and in the conflagration, seventy-two persons lost their lives, among whom was the governor of the state. An elegant Episcopal church of brick, styled the Monumental Church, has been erected on the spot, with a monument in front, commemorative of the melancholy event. Population, 20,152.
Rochester, in Monroe county, in the western part of New York, is the most populous and important village in the state. Its growth has been wonderfully rapid. Thirty years ago there was a wild uninhabited tract, where now is a flourishing population of more than twenty thousand people. This growth has been owing to the passage of the Erie canal through the town, thus furnishing a conveyance to the numerous manufactures which the great water power of the Gennessee enabled them to carry on. The canal crosses the river three hundred yards above the falls. For the distance of three quarters of a mile in the village, the river is walled with hammer-dressed stone, to the height of from ten to twenty feet. The power which is furnished by this river, in the course of two miles at this place, at low water, is equal to that of six hundred and forty steam engines of twenty horse-power each. The manufactories are very numerous; they consist of sixteen flour mills, four woolen factories, two of cotton, three marble, and others of almost every description. There are twelve religious and seventeen benevolent societies; the literary institutions are numerous, and there are many well-conducted schools. The receipts of the canal toll office of this town are larger than those of any town in the state, except Albany. Population in 1815, three hundred and thirty-one; in 1840, twenty thousand one hundred and ninety-one.[67]
Rutland, seat of justice of Rutland county, Vermont, is a village of irregular form, and was first settled in 1770. During the revolution, two picket forts were built here. There are quarries of blue and white marble, in a range extending from Berkshire county, Massachusetts. Population, two thousand seven hundred and eight.
Saco, port of entry in York county, Maine, is situated at the head of tide water on Saco river. The falls at this place afford a great water power, and carry many saw mills; numerous factories might be erected on the shore. The lumber trade of this town is extensive and profitable. Population, four thousand four hundred and eight.
St. Augustine, city of Florida, situated on the Atlantic shore of that territory, is the oldest settlement in North America, having been founded by the Spaniards forty years before the landing of the English at Jameston, in Virginia. The breakers at the entrance of the harbor have formed two channels, whose bars have eight feet of water each. A fort, mounting thirty-six guns, defends the town. When Florida was ceded to the United States, in 1821, the number of inhabitants was about two thousand five hundred, and it has not increased.
St. Genevieve, a town of Missouri in the county of the same name, is situated on the second bank of the Mississippi, about one mile from the river, and twenty-one miles below Herculaneum. It was commenced about the year 1774, and is a depot for most of the mines in the neighborhood, and the store-house from whence are drawn the supplies of the miners. Its site is a handsome plain; the little river Gabourie, whose two branches form a junction between the town and the river, waters it on its upper and lower margins. The common field, inclosed and cultivated by the citizens, contains about six thousand acres. A road runs from this town to the lead mines, and the greater part of the inhabitants have an interest in, or are employed in some way in, the lead trade. Population about one thousand five hundred.
St. Louis, the principal town of Missouri stands nearly in the centre of the Great Valley on the right bank of the Mississippi, seventeen miles below the mouth of the Missouri, one hundred and seventy-five above the mouth of the Ohio, one thousand three hundred and fifty miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and eight hundred and fifty from Washington. It was founded in 1774, but remained a mere village while under the French and Spanish colonial governments. It has easy water communication with the country at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, two thousand six hundred miles distant, by the course of the river, on one side, and with Quebec and New-York, between one thousand eight hundred, and two thousand miles, on the other; and with New-Orleans, one thousand two hundred and fifty, to the south, and Fort Snelling, eight hundred and sixty miles to the north. The site of the town rises gently from the water, and is bounded on the west by an extensive plain. The buildings mostly occupy several parallel streets beside the river. Here are a Catholic College, and several other seminaries of learning. The Catholic Cathedral is a magnificent structure. The hospital, and orphan asylum, under the care of the sisters of Charity, the convent of the Sacred Heart, the City Hall, &c., are among the public buildings. The population is twenty-one thousand, five hundred and eighty five, including many Germans and French.
The fur-trade, the lead mines, the supplies for the Indians, create a good deal of business here, and St. Louis is the emporium of the vast regions on the upper Mississippi and the Missouri.
The manufactures are also extensive and increasing, and the abundance of coal in the neighborhood, and the mineral wealth of the State, must make this an important branch of industry.――There is a United States arsenal just below the city, and five miles distant are Jefferson Barracks, an important military station.
Salem, a seaport, and capital of Essex county, Massachusetts, in proportion to its size, is one of the wealthiest towns in the United States. The pop. fifteen thousand and fifty-one. It is chiefly built on a tongue of land formed by two inlets from the sea, called North and South rivers; over the former of which is a bridge one thousand five hundred feet long, connecting Salem with Beverly, and the latter forms the harbor. The situation is low, but pleasant and healthy. The appearance of the town is irregular, the streets having been laid out with little regard to symmetry or beauty. The public buildings, among which are fifteen houses of public worship, are neat, but not splendid. The private houses have generally the appearance of neatness, comfort, and convenience, and many of them indicate taste and opulence. The town was formerly built almost wholly of wood, but a large proportion of the houses, erected within the last twenty years, are of brick.
The Marine museum is a valuable collection of rare curiosities, collected from all quarters of the globe, and presented by the members of the East India society. The number of banks in this town is eight; there are six insurance companies. Three semi-weekly and two weekly papers are published. There are sixteen tanneries, eleven rope and twine factories, two white lead factories, and a chemical laboratory. Much attention is here paid to education, the schools being very numerous and well supported. With the exception of Plymouth, Salem is the oldest settlement in New England. It was founded in 1628. Its Indian name was Naumkeag, and this name it long retained.
Salina, a post township, and seat of justice of Onondaga county, New York, includes Onondaga lake, and the principal salt springs in the state. Very extensive works have been established for several years; the number of manufactories of salt by artificial heat is one hundred and thirty-five. In 1831, the amount of salt manufactured was nearly a million and a half of bushels. These waters are owned by the state of New York, and a duty of twelve and a half cents per bushel is exacted on all the salt manufactured from them. From sixteen to twenty-five ounces of salt are obtained from a gallon of water. Most of the salt hitherto made has been very fine. The price is about twenty-five cents a bushel. This township includes four considerable villages, which contain eleven thousand and thirteen inhabitants.
Saratoga, in a county of the same name in New York, is a pleasant town, and presents a surface agreeably diversified with ranges of hills. It is memorable for the surrender of Burgoyne to General Gates, on the seventeenth of October, 1777. Population, two thousand six hundred and twenty-four.
Saratoga Springs, an incorporated village in Saratoga county, New York, and the great fashionable resort during summer, on account of its mineral waters. The springs are numerous, and the accommodations for visitors extensive; but the surrounding country has few attractions. The village is built on a low sandy plain. Population, three thousand three hundred and eighty-four.
Saugerties, a town of Ulster county, New York, crossed by Esopus creek. One mile west of it is the village, and at its mouth are extensive manufacturing establishments, supplied with water by a canal cut deep through a rock round the head of the falls, and leading into an artificial basin. The creek is navigable for sloops to these mills. The inhabitants are generally of Dutch descent. Population, six thousand two hundred and sixteen.
Illustration: Barclay’s Iron Works, Saugerties.
Savannah, in Chatham county, a port of entry, and the principal emporium of Georgia, is situated on the river of the same name, seventeen miles from its mouth. It is built on a sandy cliff, elevated forty feet above low tide. Vessels drawing fourteen feet of water come up to the city; larger vessels stop three miles below. The city is regularly laid out, and contains ten squares, that, with the public walks, are planted with the Pride of China trees, which contribute much to the salubrity, comfort and ornament of the place. The streets are unpaved, and very sandy. The principal public buildings are a court house, exchange, academy, and ten houses of public worship. The exchange is a brick building of five stories. The new Presbyterian church is a very elegant and, spacious edifice of stone The city, a few years ago, was built almost wholly of wood, with very few elegant houses; but a large proportion of the houses recently erected are handsomely built of brick. Population, eleven thousand two hundred and fourteen.
Illustration: Interior of Presbyterian Church.
Saybrook, in Middlesex county, Connecticut, and the spot of the first settlement in the state, was founded in 1635. The ground was early laid out for a city, and it was supposed that it would become a place of commercial importance. Granite quarries near to navigable waters are found in the vicinity. Population, three thousand four hundred and seventeen.
Schenectady, a city in Schenectady county, New York, about sixteen miles north-west of Albany, is regularly built, and a pleasant and flourishing place. The Erie canal passes through it, and communication with the Hudson is facilitated by the rail-road to Albany; the rail-road to Saratoga is much travelled during the warm season. Many lines of stage coaches pass through this city. Union college was incorporated in 1794, and is a highly respectable institution. This town was one of the earliest settlements in New York; it was built on the site of a Mohawk village. Population, six thousand seven hundred and eighty-four.
Springfield, seat of justice in Hampden county, Massachusetts, is a flourishing town, standing at the foot of a high hill, the side of which is ornamented with fine buildings, the residences of some of the wealthier inhabitants, and the top occupied by the United States armory. This establishment occupies a large space of ground, and commands a fine view. In 1786, during the rebellion of Shays, he attacked the armory, at the head of a strong party of undisciplined men. General Shepard, who had command at the place, attempted to dissuade them from their attempt, and finally drove them off by firing twice. The first shot, over their heads, dispersed the raw troops, and the second drove off the remainder, who, being about two hundred revolutionary soldiers, did not desist until they had lost a few of their men. This was the first check the insurrection received, which was put down without much subsequent trouble.
Besides the usual county buildings, Springfield contains four churches, and two insurance offices. It is a thriving seat of manufactures, and in the division of the town called Chickapee village, there are four large cotton factories, and a bleaching establishment. Three of the factories give employment to six hundred persons. In this village there are also iron works. Population of Springfield, eleven thousand and thirteen.
Springfield, the capital of Illinois, near the centre of the State, and on the border of a beautiful prairie, is the most important town in the interior. Its principal growth has been within ten years past. It contains a State house, for the erection of which $50,000 has been appropriated; a court house; market house, on a fine public square; a jail, a U. S. land office, 6 churches, 3 academies, and 3 printing offices. Population 2579.
Steubenville, seat of justice of Jefferson county, Ohio, situated on the first and second banks of the Ohio river, was regularly laid out in 1798. It is a flourishing and pleasant place. Population, 5,203.
Tallahassee, seat of government of Florida territory, is situated in Middle Florida, about twenty-five miles north of Apalachee bay. It was incorporated as a city in 1825. It is pleasantly situated in a fertile neighborhood, and on a site considerably elevated. Population, about one thousand two hundred.
Taunton, shire town of Bristol county, Massachusetts, is pleasantly situated on Taunton river, which is navigable to this place for sloops. The first settlement was made here in 1637; the Indian name was Cohannet. It is a handsome and flourishing town, with excellent water power and numerous manufactories; the nail factories make from eight to ten tons daily. The first important iron works in America were erected here. Population, seven thousand five hundred and twenty-four.
Ticonderoga, a town of Essex county, New York, ninety-six miles north of Albany. There is a valuable iron mine in this township. Ticonderoga fort, famous in the American wars, stands on an elevation on the west side of lake Champlain, north of the entrance of the outlet from lake George. Considerable vestiges of the fortress still remain, of which a description is given in another part of the volume. About a mile south of the fort, stands mount Defiance, and mount Independence is half a mile distant on the opposite side of the lake. Population, 2,169.
Trenton, city of Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and capital of the state, is situated on the east bank of the river Delaware, opposite the falls, thirty-one miles from Philadelphia, and sixty from New York. It is a handsome town, standing nearly in the centre of the state, from north to south, and at the head of sloop navigation; the river not being navigable above the falls, except for boats carrying from five to seven hundred bushels of wheat. The streets are very commodious, and the houses neatly built. The public buildings are, the state house, two banks, and six churches. In the neighborhood are a number of gentlemen’s seats, finely situated on the banks of the river, and ornamented with taste and elegance. Trenton bridge, over the Delaware, is a beautiful structure. It consists of five arches of one hundred and ninety-four feet span each; the whole length is nine hundred and seventy feet, the breadth thirty-six. The Delaware and Raritan canal, extending from Trenton to New Brunswick, crosses the city, and is joined by the feeder, which enters the river above the falls. There are several mills and manufactories in the neighborhood. Trenton is connected with memorable events in our revolutionary history. Population, four thousand and seven.
Troy, a city and capital of Rensselaer county, New York, stands on the east bank of the Hudson, six miles north of Albany. It is built on a handsome elevation, is regularly laid out, and contains some beautiful private residences. Many of the streets are shaded by fine trees, and the general aspect of the city is attractive and elegant. The taxable property in 1831 amounted to nearly four millions of dollars. The situation of the town for trade and manufactures is very commanding. It enjoys excellent communication with the interior; large sloops and steamboats ascend the river to this place; and a dam across the Hudson, with a branch canal, locks, and a basin, opens a communication with the Erie and Champlain canals. Hourly stages run to Albany. The water power of the streams which rise in the neighboring eminences is well employed, and by means of it several manufactories are carried on. About twenty-five thousand barrels of beer, ninety-five thousand rolls of paper, seven hundred thousand pounds of tallow and soap, one hundred thousand pair of boots and shoes, two thousand tons of nails and spikes, and twenty-five thousand bells, are made here annually. Large quantities of lumber, flour, grain, beef, pork, wool, and other articles, besides manufactured goods, are shipped to the river towns, and to New York, New Jersey, and Boston. There are nine churches in this town, three banks, two insurance companies, a court house of Sing-Sing marble, a female seminary of considerable reputation, and a literary institution for the practical education of young men. Population, nineteen thousand three hundred and seventy-three.
Troy, in Bristol county. Massachusetts, lies on the west side of Taunton river, and includes Fall River village, an extensive manufacturing place. In this place are thirteen cotton factories, a satinet factory, a print factory, large iron works, and machine shops. This place has been of recent and rapid growth. Population, six thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight.
Tuscaloosa, seat of justice of Tuscaloosa county, and capital of the state of Alabama, is situated on the left bank of Black Warrior river, three hundred and twenty miles above Mobile. The name of this town is the Choctaw word for Black Warrior. The first settlement was made in 1816–17, and, by the last census, it contained one thousand nine hundred and forty-nine inhabitants.
Utica, city of Oneida county, New York, is pleasantly situated on the south side of the river Mohawk, and is one of the largest and most important of the western towns of this state. The river, the great road, and the Erie canal, all meet, and roads from a variety of directions concentrate at this point. The canal level is four hundred and twenty-five feet above the tide water at Albany. The streets are broad, straight, and commodious; the principal ones are well built, with rows of brick stores, or elegant dwelling-houses. The chartered institutions are fifteen, including three banks, two insurance companies, an aqueduct company, and associations for literary and benevolent purposes. There are also thirty-three charitable societies not chartered, and thirty-six private schools. Numerous manufactories are in operation in the neighborhood. The situation of Utica gives it superior advantages for trade, and has led to a flourishing business and considerable wealth. The canal commerce in 1831, yielded tolls to the amount of nine hundred and thirty-eight thousand dollars. In 1794, Utica contained nineteen families; its present population is estimated at 12 thousand 674. It was incorporated as a city in 1830; and it is worthy of mention that its charter expressly prohibits the licensing of shops for the retail of ardent spirits.
Vandalia, in Fayette county, Illinois, late the seat of government, is situated on a high bank of the river Kaskaskia, eighty miles north-east by east, from St. Louis. Though founded but a few years since, it is a place of respectable appearance, and will soon command an extensive business. Population, about five hundred.
Vergennes, a city of Addison county, Vermont, is situated at the head of navigation on Otter creek. It was incorporated in 1788. In 1814, Commodore M‘Donough’s flotilla was equipped here; and the large lake steamboats have laid up here for the winter. Some ship-building is carried on, and the trade of the place is considerable. Population, one thousand.
Vevay, the seat of justice of Switzerland county, Indiana, is situated on the Ohio river, about forty-five miles below Cincinnati. The settlement was commenced by a few emigrants from Switzerland, in the spring of 1805. There has been a gradual accession of numbers to this interesting colony. As early as 1810, they had eight acres of vineyard, from which they made two thousand four hundred gallons of wine. A part of this wine was made out of the Madeira grape. They have now greatly augmented the number of their vineyards, which, when bearing, present to the eye of the observer, the most interesting agricultural prospect, perhaps ever witnessed in the United States. They also cultivate Indian corn, wheat, potatoes, hemp, flax, and other articles necessary to farmers, but in quantities barely sufficient for domestic use. Some of their women manufacture straw hats, made quite differently from the common straw bonnets, by tying the straws together, instead of plaiting and sewing the plaits. They are sold in great numbers in the neighboring settlements, and in the states of Mississippi and Indiana. Population, about fifteen hundred.
Vincennes, the seat of justice for Knox county, Indiana, stands on the east bank of the Wabash, one hundred and fifty miles from its junction with the Ohio. The plan of the town is handsomely designed; the streets are wide, and cross each other at right angles. Almost every house has a garden in its rear, with high substantial picket fences. The common field near the town contains nearly five thousand acres, of excellent prairie soil, which has been cultivated for more than half a century, and yet retains its pristine fertility. Population about eighteen hundred. This town was settled in 1735, by French emigrants from Canada, and, next to Kaskaskia, is the oldest town in the western world. Of late years, it has rapidly improved, and now contains three hundred houses, besides churches, and the usual county buildings.
Waltham, in Middlesex county, Massachusetts, on the north side of Charles river, is a pleasant town, and contains three cotton factories, among the most extensive and best conducted in the country. These establishments were commenced in 1814. The proprietors of the factories support two schools at this place, where gratuitous instruction is regularly provided. Population, two thousand five hundred and ninety-three.
Warwick, seat of justice of Kent county, Rhode Island, is one of the most important manufacturing towns in the country. The fisheries are also extensive. The branches of the Pawtucket river unite here, and furnish valuable water power. Population, six thousand seven hundred and twenty-six.
Washington, capital of the District of Columbia, and seat of the general government of the United States, is situated on the left bank of the Potomac, near the head of tide water, and by the river and bay two hundred and ninety miles from the Atlantic. It is divided into three distinct divisions which are built about the navy yard, the capitol, and the Pennsylvania avenue. The principal streets meet from all points of the compass, at the capitol, and bear the names of the older states in the union. Some of the minor streets are distinguished by the letters of the alphabet, and tracts of ground have been reserved for public squares. Except during the sessions of congress, when the city is thronged with strangers from all parts of the country, there is little to interest one but the public buildings and the navy yard.
The president’s house is a large edifice of white marble, with Grecian fronts, situated about a mile west of the capitol, and near the public offices. It is two stories high with a lofty basement, and one hundred and eighty feet long, by eighty-five in width; it is surrounded by a wall. The entrance hall leads into the drawing room, where the company are received at the levees.
Illustration: President’s House.
The capitol is placed in an area of above twenty acres of ground, inclosed by an iron railing, and commands, by the sudden declivity of the ground on one side, a very charming view of the city and adjoining country, and of the river Potomac. The building is three hundred and fifty-two feet in front, and the greatest height to the top is one hundred and forty-five feet.
Illustration: Capitol.
The chamber of representatives is semi-circular, in the form of the ancient Grecian theatre. It is surrounded by twenty-four columns of variegated native marble, from the banks of the Potomac, which stand on a base of free-stone, and support the magnificent dome. The seats for the members are conveniently disposed; each member has his fixed place, a chair, and a small desk. An engraved plan of the house, a copy of which is easily procured at the door, points out the name and place of each member, so that by referring to the plan, every member is at once known.
Illustration: Interior of the House of Representatives.
The hall of the senate is a good deal smaller than that of the representatives, and is very elegantly fitted up. It is also semi-circular, and the president’s chair is in the centre. In another part of the building is the library of congress; the great hall contains four national pictures, painted by Colonel Trumbull, and four relievos in marble, representing scenes connected with various portions of our history.
The treasury, navy, war, and land offices are all in the vicinity of the president’s house; as, also, are the residences of the foreign ministers. The patent office is in the same building with the general post office, and contains numerous models of inventions, in all branches of art. There are more than three thousand dwellings in Washington, and the population is twenty-three thousand two hundred and three.[68]
Illustration: Department of State.
Waterville, a town of Kennebec county, Maine, on the west side of the river Kennebec, eighteen miles north by east of Augusta. The principal village stands at the head of boat navigation, and its trade is flourishing. The Wesleyan seminary is established here; in this institution, the students contribute to their support by manual labor. Population, two thousand nine hundred and thirty-nine.
Watervliet, a town of Albany county, New York, six miles north of Albany, belonging principally, to the manor of Rensselaerwick. At this place the Erie crosses the Mohawk canal, and descends by double locks to the Champlain canal. In the west part is Niskayuna, a settlement of the Shakers. At Gibbonsville, another village of the township, is an arsenal of the United States. Population, ten thousand one hundred and forty-one.
Wethersfield, in Hartford county, Connecticut, is a very pleasant town, having broad streets shaded with elms. It was founded in 1634, and is the oldest settlement on Connecticut river. Rich and extensive meadows border the river, and a broad and high level tract, at about a mile distant, affords a fine soil for onions, which are raised here in large quantities. The state prison at this place has been erected within a few years, and the discipline pursued here is similar to that of Auburn. For details on the subject, refer to the chapter on Prison Discipline. Population, three thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.
Wheeling, seat of justice for Ohio county, Virginia, is situated on a high bank of the river Ohio, ninety-five miles below Pittsburgh. It is surrounded by bold and steep hills abounding in coal. The great national road from Baltimore strikes the river at this place. Its position possesses many advantages, and its growth of late years has been very rapid. Wheeling fort, built at an early period of the revolution, was the origin of the settlement. It is a constant resort for travellers, and promises to be a place of much importance. Pop. eight thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.
Williamsburg, the seat of justice of James City county, Virginia, situated between York and James rivers, sixty miles south-east by east of Richmond, was formerly the metropolis of the state, but has greatly declined. The college of William and Mary was founded here in 1693, but is now in decay, though attempts are making to revive its former prosperous condition.
Williamstown, in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, is situated in the north-west corner of the state, one hundred and thirty-five miles north by west from Boston. It has two congregational churches, and a college. Williams college was incorporated in 1793. Population, two thousand and seventy-six.
Wilmington, city, and port of entry, of New Castle county, Delaware, between the Brandywine and Christiana creeks, one mile above their junction, twenty-eight miles south-west of Philadelphia, is pleasantly situated on moderately elevated ground. It is mostly built of brick, and the streets are regularly laid out. The water power in the vicinity is great, and is employed in saw mills, powder and paper mills, and a variety of manufactories to a very considerable extent. The finest collection of flour mills in the United States is at this place. Population, eight thousand three hundred and sixty-seven.
Wilmington, port of entry, and seat of justice of New Hanover county, North Carolina, is situated on the east side of Cape Fear river, and has an extensive trade. Most of the exports from the state are from this town. The entrance to the harbor is rendered difficult by a shoal, but it admits vessels of three hundred tons. Opposite the town are three islands, which afford excellent rice-fields. Population, 4,268.
Windsor, seat of justice of Windsor county, Vermont, pleasantly situated on the west bank of the Connecticut, is surrounded by romantic and picturesque scenery. It contains a state prison, and several handsome houses, and its manufactures are considerable. Population, two thousand seven hundred and forty-four.
Worcester, seat of justice of Worcester county, Massachusetts, forty miles west by south of Boston, is one of the most flourishing towns in New England, and is a great thoroughfare for travellers. It lies principally on one long and broad street, nearly level, and shaded with fine trees. It contains the usual county buildings, four churches, and the Massachusetts Lunatic hospital, a spacious structure of brick, admirably arranged, and calculated for the accommodation of one hundred and twenty patients. The American Antiquarian society was founded and endowed by the late Isaiah Thomas; it has a handsome building, containing a hall, a valuable cabinet, and a library of eight thousand volumes, including many ancient and rare works on American history. There are three printing offices, which issue four weekly newspapers. The Blackstone canal terminates in this town, and furnishes boat navigation to Providence. The great western rail road passes through the place. This town was first settled in 1674, and at an early period suffered much from the attacks of the Indians. It was called Quinsigamond by the natives. Population, seven thousand and sixty.
York, port of entry, and semi-metropolis of York county, Maine, was laid out originally for a large city, and is a place of considerable trade. York river runs through it, and empties into the ocean, affording a good harbor for vessels of two hundred tons. Population, three thousand one hundred and eleven.
Yorktown, port of entry, and seat of justice, York county, Virginia, is situated on the south side of York river. The river at this place affords the best harbor in the state; but the town has not become populous, nor the trade extensive. Yorktown will always be famous for the surrender of the British army under Cornwallis, at the close of the revolutionary war. The number of prisoners was seven thousand one hundred and seven, and the American contest for independence was thus happily concluded.
Zanesville, a flourishing town, and seat of justice for Muskingum county, Ohio, is situated on the east bank of Muskingum river, seventy-four miles west from Wheeling in Virginia. The river has falls here, which afford water power for a number of factories. The great Cumberland road passes through the town. Population, 4,766.
III. ――AGRICULTURE
OUR sketch of the agriculture of the United States must be brief and general; as the numerous subjects to be treated in the present volume do not allow space for very minute details. The vast extent of the country, and its various soil and climate, afford growth to a great variety of productions. As a science, agriculture was formerly much neglected, and it is only of late years that it has received any thing of the attention it deserves. ‘It is indeed a lamentable truth,’ says Mr. Watson, ‘that, for the most part, our knowledge and practice of agriculture, at the close of the revolutionary war, were in a state of demi-barbarism, with some solitary exceptions. The labors, I may say, of only three agricultural societies in America, at that epoch, conducted by ardent patriots, by philosophers, and gentlemen, in New York state, Philadelphia, and Boston, kept alive a spirit of inquiry, often resulting in useful and practical operations; and yet these measures did not reach the doors of practical farmers, to any visible extent. Nor was their plan of organization calculated to infuse a spirit of emulation, which county, or state, should excel in the honorable strife of competition in discoveries and improvements, in drawing from the soil the greatest quantum of net profits within a given space; at the same time, keeping the land in an improving condition, in reference to its native vigor. These results, and the renovation of lands exhausted by means of a barbarous course of husbandry, for nearly two centuries, are the cardinal points now in progression in our old settled countries, stimulated by the influence of agricultural societies. Nor did their measures produce any essential or extensive effects in the improvement of the breeds of domestic animals; much less in exciting to rival efforts the female portion of the community, in calling forth the active energies of our native resources in relation to household manufactures. The scene is now happily reversed in all directions. Perhaps there is no instance, in any age or country, where a whole nation has emerged, in so short a period, from such general depression, into such a rapid change in the several branches to which I have already alluded; in some instances, it has been like the work of magic.’
The early neglect of agriculture may be traced to very obvious causes. The first settlements in the country were made along the shores of the sea, or on the banks of navigable rivers. Population was thin and scattered, and the ocean with its tributary waters offered by far the easiest means of subsistence. The fisheries and navigation naturally attracted their active attention, and the cultivation of the earth was limited to the supply of the necessaries of life, and a scanty surplus to answer the humble demands of colonial commerce. The circumstances of the country, down to the very era of the revolutionary struggle, were such as tended unavoidably to reduce agriculture below its just consequence in the scale of useful employments, and to elevate all the arts connected with navigation above their proper estimation. Capital was drawn off from the pursuits of agriculture and devoted to the more lucrative pursuits of commerce. When to this is added the unceasing drain upon the agricultural population, by the prospects which the extent of the interior, and the cheapness of lands, opened to their enterprise, and the consequent effect upon the demand for labor, there is more cause of surprise that the actual state of cultivation is so good, than of reproach that it did not receive higher improvement. The increase of population in the United States, and the long-continued peace in Europe, by limiting the sphere and diminishing the profits of commercial speculation, have operated to withdraw capital from the sea, and invest it in agriculture and manufactures.
The farms of the eastern, northern, and middle states consist, generally, of from fifty to two hundred acres, seldom rising to more than three hundred, and generally falling short of two hundred acres. These farms are inclosed, and divided either by stone walls, or rail fences made of timber, hedges not being common. The building first erected on a new lot, or on a tract of land not yet cleared from its native growth of timber, is what is called a log-house. This is a hut or cabin, made of round, straight logs, about a foot in diameter, lying on each other, and notched in at the corners. The intervals between the logs are filled with slips of wood, and the crevices generally stopped with mortar made of clay. The fire-place commonly consists of rough stones, so placed as to form a hearth, on which wood may be burned. Sometimes these stones are made to assume the form of a chimney, and are carried up through the roof; and sometimes a hole in the roof is the only substitute for a chimney. The roof is made of rafters, forming an acute angle at the summit of the erection, and is covered with shingles, commonly split from pine trees, or with bark, peeled from the hemlock.
When the occupant or first settler of this new land finds himself in comfortable circumstances, he builds what is styled a frame house, composed of timber, held together by tenons, mortises and pins, and boarded, shingled and clapboarded on the outside, and often painted white, sometimes red. Houses of this kind generally contain a dining-room and kitchen, and three or four bed-rooms on the same floor. They are rarely destitute of good cellars, which the nature of the climate renders almost indispensable. The farm-buildings consist of a barn, proportioned to the size of the farm, with stalls for horses and cows on each side, and a threshing-floor in the middle, and the more wealthy farmers add a cellar under the barn, a part of which receives the manure from the stalls, and another part serves as a store-room for roots, &c. for feeding stock. What is called a corn-barn is likewise very common, which is built exclusively for storing the ears of Indian corn. The sleepers of this building are generally set up four or five feet from the ground, on smooth stone posts or pillars, which rats, mice, or other vermin cannot ascend.
With regard to the best manner of clearing forest land from its natural growth of timber, the following observations may be of use to a first settler. In those parts of the country where wood is of but little value, the trees are felled in one of the summer months, the earlier in the season the better, as the stumps will be less apt to sprout, and the trees will have a longer time to dry. The trees lie till the following spring, when such limbs as are not very near the ground should be cut off, that they may burn the better. Fire must be put to them in the driest part of the month of May, or, if the whole of that month prove wet, it may be applied in the beginning of June. Only the bodies of the trees will remain after burning, and some of them will be burned into pieces. Those which require to be made shorter, are cut in pieces nearly of a length, drawn together by oxen, piled in close heaps, and burned, such trees and logs being reserved as may be needed for fencing the lot. The heating of the soil so destroys the green roots, and the ashes made by the burning are so beneficial as manure to the land, that it will produce a good crop of wheat or Indian corn, without ploughing, hoeing, or manuring. If new land lie in such a situation that its natural growth may turn to better account, whether for timber or fire-wood, it will be an unpardonable waste to burn the wood on the ground. But if the trees be taken off, the land must be ploughed after clearing, or it will not produce a crop of any kind.
The following remarks on this subject are extracted from some observations by Samuel Preston, of Stockport, Pennsylvania, a very observing cultivator. They were first published in the New England Farmer, issued at Boston, and may prove serviceable to settlers on uncleared lands. Previous to undertaking to clear land, Mr. Preston advises,――‘1st. Take a view of all large trees, and see which way they may be felled for the greatest number of small trees to be felled along-side or on them. After felling the large trees, only lop down their limbs; but all such as are felled near them should be cut in suitable lengths for two men to roll and pile about the large trees, by which means they may be nearly all burned up, without cutting into lengths, or the expense of a strong team, to draw them together. 2d. Fell all the other trees parallel, and cut them into suitable lengths, that they may be readily rolled together without a team, always cutting the largest trees first, that the smallest may be loose on the top, to feed the fires. 3d. On hill-sides, fell the timber in a level direction; then the logs will roll together; but if the trees are felled down hill, all the logs must be turned round before they can be rolled, and there will be stumps in the way. 4th. By following these directions, two men may readily heap and burn most of the timber, without requiring any team; and perhaps the brands and the remains of the log heaps may all be wanted to burn up the old, fallen trees. After proceeding as directed, the ground will be clear for a team and sled to draw the remains of the heaps where they may be wanted round the old logs. Never attempt either to chop or draw a large log, until the size and weight are reduced by fire. The more fire-heaps there are made on the clearing, the better, particularly about the old logs, where there is rotten wood.
‘The best time of the year to fell the timber, in a great measure, depends on the season’s being wet or dry. Most people prefer having it felled in the month of June, when the leaves are of full size. Then, by spreading the leaves and brush over the ground, (for they should not be heaped,) if there should be a very dry time the next May, fire may be turned through it, and will burn the leaves, limbs, and top of the ground, so that a very good crop of Indian corn and pumpkins may be raised among the logs by hoeing. After these crops come off, the land may be cleared and sowed late with rye and timothy grass, or with oats and timothy in the spring. If what is called a good burn cannot be had in May, keep the fire out until some very dry time in July or August; then clear off the land, and sow wheat or rye and timothy, harrowing several times, both before and after sowing; for, after the fire has been over the ground, the sod of timothy should be introduced as soon as the other crops will admit, to prevent briers, alders, fire-cherries, &c. from springing up from such seeds as were not consumed by the fire.
‘The timothy should stand four or five years, either for mowing or pasture, until the small roots of the forest trees are rotten; then it may be ploughed; and the best mode which I have observed, is to plough it very shallow in the autumn; in the spring, cross-plough it deeper, harrow it well, and it will produce a first rate crop of Indian corn and potatoes, and, the next season, the largest and best crop of flax that I have ever seen, and be in order to cultivate with any kinds of grain, or to lay down again with grass. These directions are to be understood as applying to what are generally called beech lands, and the chopping may be done any time in the winter, when the snow is not too deep to cut low stumps, as the leaves are then on the ground. By leaving the brush spread abroad, I have known such winter choppings to burn as well in a dry time in August, as that which had been cut the summer before.’[69]
‘The various crops,’ says Mr. Stuart, ‘raised in that part of the state of New York which I have seen, are very much the same as in Britain, with the addition of maize, for which the climate of Britain is not well adapted. Wheat, however, is the most valuable crop. A considerable quantity of buckwheat and rye is grown. The greater degree of heat is not favorable for oats and barley. Potatoes, turnips, and other green crops, are not at all generally cultivated in large fields. Rotation of crops is far too little attended to. I observe in the magazines and almanacs, that in the rotations, a crop of turnips, ruta-baga, or other green plants, is generally put down as one part of the course; but I have nowhere seen more than the margins or edges of the maize, or other grain, devoted to the green crop, properly so called. The attention of the farmers seems chiefly directed to the raising enough of maize for home consumption, and of wheat for sale; and when you talk to them of the necessity of manuring, with a view to preserve the fertility of the soil, they almost uniformly tell you that the expense of labor, about a dollar a day, for laborers during the summer, renders it far more expedient for them, as soon as their repeated cropping very much diminishes the quantity of the grain, to lay down their land in grass, and make a purchase of new land in the neighborhood, or even to sell their cleared land, and proceed in quest of a new settlement, than to adopt a system of rotation of crops, assisted by manure. There is great inconvenience, according to the notions of the British, in removing from one farm to another; but they make very light work of it here, and consider it to be merely a question of finance, whether they shall remain on their improved land, after they have considerably exhausted its fertilizing power, or acquire and remove to land of virgin soil. In a great part of the northern district of the state of New York, there is still a great deal of land to be cleared; and a farmer may, in many cases, acquire additions to his farm, so near his residence that his houses may suit the purpose of his new acquisition; but he is more frequently tempted to sell at a price from fifteen to thirty dollars an acre, supposing the land not to be contiguous to any village. If he obtains land near his first farm, after he has worn it out, he lays down the first farm in grass, allows it to be pastured for some years, and breaks it up again with oats.
‘Maize, or Indian corn, which, par excellence, is alone in this country called corn, is a most important addition to the crops which we are able to raise in Britain. It is used as food for man in a great variety of ways, as bread, as porridge, in which case it is called mush, and in puddings. When unripe, and in the green pod, it is not unlike green peas, and is in that state sold as a vegetable. One species, in particular, called green corn, is preferable for this purpose. Broom corn is another species, of the stalks of which a most excellent kind of clothes brush, in universal use at New York, is made, as well as brooms for sweeping house floors. Horses, cattle, and poultry, are all fond of this grain, and thrive well on it. The straw is very nutritive, and considerable in quantity. The usual period of sowing is from the fifteenth of May to the first of June, in drills from three and a half to four and a half feet apart, and the seed from four to six inches apart. It is harvested in October, sometimes later. The hoe weeding and cleaning of this crop is expensive, the whole work being performed by males,――females, as already noticed, never being allowed to work out of doors. Pumpkins are very generally sown between the rows of corn, and give the field quite a golden appearance, after the corn itself is harvested.
‘Thirty-five or forty bushels of corn per acre is considered a good average crop, on land suited to it, well prepared, and well managed; but one hundred and fifty bushels have been raised on an acre. Arthur Young remarks, “that a country whose soil and climate admit the course of maize, and then wheat, is under a cultivation that perhaps yields the most food for man and beast that is possible to be drawn from the land!” That course is frequently adopted here, and with success, where the soil, lately cleared, is of the best description, and might, without question, be continued for many years, if a sufficient quantity of manure was allowed; but where such a course is persisted in without manure, after the land has been severely cropped, the crops which follow are inferior in quantity to crops of the same description on similar soils in Britain. As a cleaning crop, maize is most valuable, but, being a culmiferous plant, it is, of course, far more exhausting than the green crops, which, in Britain, in most cases precede wheat.
‘Wheat is sown in the end of September, and some part of it in spring,――if after maize, it should be sown as soon as possible after that crop is harvested. It is reaped in July. It is excellent in quality; if the flour which we have seen in every place where we have been, and the bread we eat, are tests by which to judge of it. Thirty-five and forty bushels of wheat is considered a very abundant crop,――the average produce in that part of the United States in which wheat is grown, is said not to exceed thirteen bushels, while in England it is reckoned at twenty-five bushels.
‘Barley or oats very frequently succeed wheat before the land is laid down in grass, or again bears a crop of maize; but it is not to be understood that barley, and even oats, do not in many cases follow the crop of maize immediately, and precede the wheat crop.
‘Oats are sowed in the end of April and beginning of May, and are reaped in August or the beginning of September. We saw several fields not cut, but no very great crop in the northern part of this state in the beginning of September. The average crop is said to be twenty bushels per acre; but from forty to fifty bushels are often obtained by good management. The grain is not so plump as in Britain. In 1827, the premium of one of the agricultural societies was given for fifty-seven bushels on an acre. Barley is sown at about the same time as oats, and reaped two or three weeks earlier; the produce about one fifth less than oats.
‘Potatoes, turnips, ruta-baga, peas, lucern, &c. are all to be seen here in small quantities, but not so well managed as in well-cultivated districts of Britain. The high price of labor is the great obstacle to the management which those crops require. It is not because the farmer does not understand his business, that such crops are apparently not sufficiently attended to, but because he in all cases calculates whether it will not be more profitable for him to remove his establishment to a new and hitherto unimpoverished soil, than to commence and carry on an extensive system of cultivation, by manuring and fallow, or green crops. Such a system may be adopted in the neighborhood of great towns, where many green crops are easily disposed of, and where manure can be had in large quantity, and at a cheap rate; but it is in vain to look for its adoption at all generally, or to expect to see agricultural operations in their best style, until the land, even in the most distant states and territories, be occupied, so that the farmer may no longer find it more for his interest to begin his operations anew, on land previously uncultivated, than to manage his farm according to the method which will render it most productive.
‘Prices of grain vary much. Wheat is, of course, the grain which the farmer chiefly raises for market, and he considers himself remunerated, if the price is not below a dollar for a bushel. Flour, when wheat is at a dollar per bushel, is expected to bring somewhat more than five dollars per barrel of one hundred and ninety-six pounds. Indian corn, two shillings to two shillings and six pence per bushel; oats, one shilling and two pence to one shilling and four pence; barley, one shilling and six pence to one shilling and eight pence.
‘It is difficult to give any precise information as to the wages of labor. A hired servant gets from ten to twelve dollars a month, besides his board, which he very frequently has at table with his master, consisting of animal food three times a day. Laborers hired by the day for those sorts of farm work in which women are employed in Britain, such as hoeing, assisting in cleaning grain, and even milking of cows, get about three quarters of a dollar per day,――in time of hay-making or harvest work, frequently a dollar besides their board. The workmen work, or are said to work, from daylight to sunset: but I doubt, from any thing I have seen, whether the ordinary plan of keeping workmen employed for ten hours a day be not as profitable to the employer as to the workman. The days are never so long in summer, nor so short in winter, as in Britain. The sun rises on the twenty-first of June about half past four, and sets at half past seven; on the twenty-first of December, it rises at half past seven, and sets at half past four.
‘Manures are far too little attended to, as has been already noticed; but there are instances of individuals keeping their land in good heart with manure, especially where, as in many parts of the state of New York, gypsum and lime are in the neighborhood. Gypsum is more used than any other manure, and with great effect, generally in about the quantity of a ton to ten or fifteen acres. Manure for the villages is often sold at and under a shilling per ton. The question which the American settler always puts to himself is, whether it will be more expedient for him, in point of expense, to remove to a new soil covered with vegetable mould, or to remain on his cleared land, and to support its fertility by regularly manuring, and a systematic rotation of crops.
‘The horses and cattle are of mixed breeds, and are always, in consequence of the abundance of food in this country, and the easy circumstances of the people, in good order. A starved-looking animal of any kind is never seen on the one hand, nor very fat pampered cattle, nor very fine coated, over-groomed horses, on the other. Both horses and cattle are generally of middling size; the horses of that description that answer for all sorts of work, the saddle, the wagon, or the plough. The heaviest are selected for the stages. All carriages are driven at a trot. Horses are broken with great gentleness, and are, I think, better and more thoroughly broken than in England. An American driver of a stage, awkward looking as he appears, manages his team, as he calls his horses, with the most perfect precision. The law of the road is to keep to the right side of the road, not to the left as in Britain. Great exertions are, I observe from the newspapers here, making to improve the breeds of cattle and horses, by importations of the Teeswater cattle, and of stud-horses from England. The British admiral, Sir Isaac Coffin, has displayed great public spirit in sending over fine cattle and superior horses, from Britain to New England. The price of beef varies from two pence to five pence per pound, according to the prices and quality, from which the value of the animal may be computed. I have nowhere seen any beef equal to the best beef of an English market, or to the kyloe of the West Highlands of Scotland well fed; but beef of bad quality is never brought to market, and a great deal of it is good. I have looked into the markets wherever we have been. Oxen are much used in ploughing, and are so well trained, that they are very useful in many operations of carting on farms. The price of ordinary horses is from sixteen to twenty-five pounds.
‘I observe at the agricultural shows of last year, premiums awarded for milch cows yielding ten or eleven pounds of butter per week, one of them yielding thirteen, and twenty-three to twenty-four quarts of milk per day. One of the breeds of cows is called very appropriately the “fill-pail.” A premium was also awarded for a cow that calved on the 7th of January,――calf sold in March,――another calf put to her, and sold in June,――and a third at her side; the price of the three calves forty dollars.
‘Sheep are not so much attended to as they should be in this country, where the dryness of the weather preserves them from diseases to which they are subject in Britain. The merinos, and crosses with the merino, are those generally seen; but little care is paid to their being well fed before being killed and brought to market. The mutton is of course inferior in quality, and the people led to entertain prejudices against it. Even the slaves in the south are said to object to being fed on sheep’s meat. I have again and again seen good mutton, but far more rarely than good beef and pork. Hogs are universal in this country, and are well fed, frequently, first of all in the woods on chesnuts, hickory nuts, sometimes on fallen peaches and apples, but almost always, before being killed, they get a sufficient quantity of meal, either from Indian corn or barley. Steamed food is also supplied in some cases. The steam-boiler for food for cattle is well known here. General La Fayette saw one so well constructed somewhere in this country, that he had one of the same pattern made for himself and carried to France.
‘Poultry are excellent, well fed everywhere, and in great numbers about the farm-yards. Turkeys and guinea-fowls abound more than in Britain, which is not to be wondered at, as their relatively cheap price places them within the reach of all. The price of geese and turkeys, even at New York, is frequently not much above half a dollar; ducks and fowls, about one shilling. Eggs, a dollar for a hundred; cheese very good at four pence and five pence per pound.
‘Implements of husbandry are, on the whole, well suited to the country. The two-horse plough, driven by one man, is universally used, unless in bringing in rough stony land, when four oxen or horses are necessary. The cradle-scythe is in pretty universal use. A good workman can cut down an acre of wheat per day. The harvest work being altogether performed by males, and the crops ripening, and of course reaped, at seasons differing from each other much more than in England, the cheerful appearance of the harvest-field all over Britain, filled with male and female reapers and gleaners, is nowhere seen in this country. The prices of implements are not higher than in England. The lower price of wood makes up for the higher price of labor, especially as carpenters are very expert. Ploughing is well executed, and premiums given by agricultural societies at their yearly meetings. I observed, at a late meeting in Massachusetts, sixteen ploughs, drawn by oxen, started for the competition,――that the ploughs were of the improved kind, with cast-iron mould-boards, the ploughing five inches deep, and the furrows not more than ten inches in width. Premiums were at this meeting awarded for various agricultural implements. Threshing-machines are not yet so general as in Britain.’[70]
The principal products of the southern states are tobacco, cotton, rice, and sugar. The first of these is grown largely in Virginia and other of the middle and southern states, and together with the other staples of that portion of the country, is chiefly the product of slave labor. There are at present but two sorts of tobacco raised in the western states: the one with a long and sharp-pointed leaf,――and the other with a round and hairy leaf, which is evidently the best tobacco. The seed is sown in beds well prepared for the purpose, so that in May it is fit to be transplanted. The plants are then put into another piece of ground, at intervals of from three to four feet; they are carefully freed from weeds, and the earth is drawn up to their stems. When they have obtained a certain growth, the tops are taken off, that the remaining leaves may acquire a proper size; worms are carefully removed, and no sucker is allowed to remain. In August, the plants become spotted, and appear of a brownish color; by these tokens they are discerned to be ripe, and are therefore immediately pulled. They lie one night to sweat; next day, they are hung up to dry; when the tobacco has become sufficiently dry to ensure its preservation, it is stripped from the stalks, and barrelled up for exportation; or manufactured into various shapes, for those whom a species of luxury has taught to look upon it as almost one of the necessaries of life. Along with six thousand plants, yielding generally one thousand pounds of tobacco, one person may manage four acres of Indian corn.
There are four kinds of tobacco reared in Virginia, namely, the sweet-scented, which is the best; the big and little, which follow next; then the Frederick; and lastly, the one and all, the largest of all, and producing most in point of quantity. The Virginian tobacco is reckoned superior to any raised in the southern states; and great care is taken by the regulations of the state, that no frauds be practised upon the merchants, and that no inferior tobacco be palmed upon the purchaser. For this purpose, houses of inspection are established in every district where tobacco is cultivated, whose regulations are rigorously enforced; this contributes, as much as the real superiority of the article itself, to keep up its price in the market. Every person who intends his tobacco for exportation, packs it up in hogsheads, and thus sends it to one of the inspecting houses. Here the tobacco is taken from the cask, which is opened for the purpose; it is examined in every direction, and in every part, in order to ascertain its quality and its purity; if any defect is perceived, it is rejected and declared to be unfit for exportation. If no defect appear, it is pronounced to be exportable. It is then repacked in the hogshead, which is branded with a hot iron, marking the place of inspection, and the quality of the contents; and then lodged in the inspecting storehouses, there to await the disposal of the planter, who receives a certificate of the particulars, serving at the same time as an acknowledgment of the deposit. It is by selling this tobacco note to the merchant that the planter sells his tobacco. The purchaser, on viewing this note, is as well acquainted with the article, as if he had inspected it himself; and he has only to send the note and transfer to the store where the tobacco lies, and it is immediately delivered out, agreeably to his orders. This measure has insured a preference in the foreign market to the Virginian tobacco, and prevents the deterioration of the article.
The soil most proper for the cultivation of cotton is found in the islands lying on the coast. Those belonging to the state of Georgia produce the best, known in France by the name of Georgia cotton, and in Great Britain by the name of Sea Island cotton. This variety of cotton has a deep black seed, and very fine, long wool, which is easily separated from the seed by the roller gins, which do not injure the staple. In the middle and upper country, the green seed or inferior cotton is produced; this kind is less silky, and adheres so tenaciously to the seed, that it cannot be separated without the action of a saw-gin. Though the wool of the green seed, or bowed Georgia cotton, be cheaper than the other, yet its produce is more luxuriant. An acre, which will produce one hundred and fifty pounds of black seed cotton, will generally yield two hundred pounds of the green seed kind. The packing of the cotton is done in large canvass bags, which must be wetted as the cotton is put in, that it may not hang to the cloth, and may slide better down. The bag is suspended between two trees, posts, or beams; and a negro, with his feet, stamps it down. These bags are generally made to contain from three hundred and fifty pounds, to four hundred pounds each.
‘I have been lately favored,’ says Mr. Everett, in his valuable address before the New York Institute, in October, 1831, ‘with a minute statement of the average product of five or six cotton plantations in two of the south-western states, ascertained by putting together the income of a good and bad year. The result of this statement is, that the capital invested in these plantations yields from fifteen to twenty per cent. clear; and the net profit accruing to the proprietor, for the labor of each efficient hand, is two hundred and thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents per annum; being a clear gain of four dollars and fifty cents per week. It further appears that on one of these plantations, (and the same, though not stated, is believed to hold of the others in due proportion,) worth altogether, for land, labor, and stock, ninety-two thousand dollars, the entire amount of articles paying duty annually consumed, is two thousand three hundred dollars. The average crop of this plantation, taking a good and bad year, is fourteen thousand five hundred dollars. Suppose the duties to be thirty-three and one third per cent. and the whole amount of the duty to be actually assessed, in the shape of an enhanced price of the article, (the contrary of which is known to be true, for in several articles the entire price is little more than the duty,) it would amount to less than seven hundred and thirty dollars per annum on a clear profit of fourteen thousand five hundred dollars.’
Rice is extensively cultivated in the southern states. The grains of this plant grow on little fruit stalks springing from the main stalk. It is sown in rows, in the bottom of trenches, made entirely by slave labor. These ridges lie about seventeen inches apart, from centre to centre. The rice is put in by the hand, generally by women, and is cast so as to fall in a line. This is done about the seventeenth of March. By means of floodgates, the water is then permitted to flow over the fields, and to remain on the ground five days, at the depth of several inches. The object of this is to sprout the seeds, as it is technically called. The water is next drawn off, and the ground allowed to dry, till the rice is between three and four inches in height. This requires about a month. The fields are then again overflowed, and are allowed to remain in that state about a fortnight, to destroy the weeds. It is now about the middle of May, and for two months afterwards the ground is permitted to continue dry; during this interval it is repeatedly hoed, and the soil is kept loose and free. The fields are then once more submerged, in order that the crops may be ripened, and they actually do ripen while standing in the water. The harvest commences in August, and extends into October. The plants are then cut by the male slaves, and tied into bundles by the females. The grains are threshed out by means of hand flails. The outer husk is detached by passing the rice between a pair of mill-stones. The film which still envelopes the grain is removed by trituration under heavy pestles, consisting of upright bars, shod with iron, which are raised several feet by machinery, and then allowed to fall upon the rice, the particles of which are thus rubbed against each other, till the film is removed. When thus thoroughly winnowed, it is packed in casks holding about six hundred pounds each, and is ready for exportation.
The sugar cane is cultivated to a great extent in Louisiana, Georgia, and West Florida. In the first of these states, five kinds of the cane have been raised. The first is the Creole cane, which is supposed to have come originally from Africa. The second is the Bourbon cane, from Otaheite. Besides these, are the riband cane, green and red; the riband cane, green and yellow; and the violet cane of Brazil. The latter species was abandoned soon after its introduction, as it proved less productive in our climate than any of the others. The other species are the best suited to the nature of the soil. They are all more or less affected by the variations of the atmosphere, are very sensible to cold, and are killed in part by the frost every year. Experience has demonstrated that the cane may be cultivated in a latitude much colder than was generally supposed; for fine crops are now made in Louisiana, in places where a few years ago the cane froze before it was ripe enough to make sugar.
In the process of cultivation, the ground is ploughed as deep as possible, and harrowed; after it has been thus broken up, parallel drills or furrows are ploughed at the distance of two feet and a half to four feet from one another; in these the cane is laid lengthwise, and covered about an inch with a hoe. Small canals to drain off the water are commonly dug, more or less distant from each other, and these are crossed by smaller drains, so as to form squares like a chess board. These ditches are necessary to drain off the water from rains, as well as that which filters from the rivers, which would otherwise remain upon the plantations. The average quantity of sugar that may be produced upon an acre of land of the proper quality, well cultivated, is from eight hundred to one thousand pounds, provided that the cane has not been damaged, either by storms of wind, inundations, or frost. The strong soil is easiest of cultivation, and most productive, in rainy seasons. The light soils require less labor, and yield more revenue, in dry seasons. To these variations, others are to be added, resulting from the different exposure of the lands, the greater or less facility of draining, and also from the greater or less quantity of a weed known by the name of coco or grass nut. Sixty working hands are necessary to cultivate two hundred and forty acres of cane, planted in well-prepared land, and to do all the work necessary until the sugar is made and delivered. The sugar, up to the moment it is delivered to the merchant, costs the sugar planter about three and a half cents per pound, for expense incurred, without reckoning the interest on his capital.
The cultivation of the mulberry tree, and the raising of silk-worms, have occupied considerable attention in different parts of the United States. Before the revolution, the production of silk was attempted in Georgia, but without ultimate success. In Connecticut, and in some other places, for the last seventy years, an inferior kind of sewing silk has been manufactured; but its use has been chiefly confined to the neighborhood in which it has been produced. Of late years, however, efforts have been made to introduce the important branch of agriculture that affords the necessary materials for the manufacture of silk. Societies have been formed in different states for its promotion, and the national government have thought the subject worthy their particular attention.
During the year 1829, a series of essays were written by M. D’Homergue, the son of an eminent silk manufacturer, at Nismes, who had arrived in Philadelphia at the instance of an association for the promotion of the culture of silk; they have since been published in a separate form, and will repay the perusal of those who may feel peculiarly interested in the subject. The report of the committee of agriculture, who were instructed to inquire into the expediency of adopting measures to extend the cultivation of the mulberry tree, and to promote the cultivation of silk, by introducing the necessary machinery, made to the house of representatives, March 12, 1830, represents these essays and the facts contained in them as entitled to high confidence.
‘It appears from them,’ states the report, ‘that American silk is superior in quality to that produced in any other country;――in France and Italy, twelve pounds of cocoons are required to produce one pound of raw silk, whilst eight pounds of American cocoons will produce one pound of raw silk:――that cocoons cannot be exported to a foreign market, from several causes,――their bulk, their liability to spoil by moulding on ship board, and because they cannot be compressed without rendering them incapable of being afterwards reeled. It is further demonstrated in these essays, and in a memorial lately presented by the manufacturers of silk stuffs of Lyons, in France, to the minister of commerce and manufactures, that the art of filature can only be acquired by practical instruction, by some one intimately acquainted with, and accustomed to, that process: that no human skill or ingenuity, unaided by practical instruction, is capable of acquiring that art to any profitable extent. It is made manifest that, although the culture of silk has been carried on for many years in some parts of the United States, and more particularly in Connecticut, it has been conducted very unprofitably, compared with what the results might have been, if the art of filature had been understood. The sewing silk made in Connecticut is from the best of the silk, and is, after all, quite inferior to that of France and Italy: in these latter countries, sewing silk is manufactured from imperfect cocoons, or from refuse silk.
‘It appears also, that unless the silk is properly reeled from the cocoons, it is never afterwards susceptible of use in the finer fabrics. It is a gratifying consideration that the benefits from the culture of silk and the acquisition of the art of reeling the same, will be common to every part of the United States. The climate of every state in the union is adapted to the culture of silk: hatching the eggs of the silk-worms may be accelerated or retarded, to suit the putting forth the leaves of the mulberry. That tree is easily propagated from the seed of the fruit, and is adapted to almost any soil. The committee regard the general culture of silk as a vast national advantage in many points of view. If seriously undertaken and prosecuted, it will, in a few years, furnish an article of export of great value: and thus the millions paid by the people of the United States for silk stuffs will be compensated for by the sale of our raw silk. The importation of silk, during the year which ended on the 30th of September, 1828, amounted to eight million, four hundred and sixty-three thousand, five hundred and sixty-three dollars, of which, one million, two hundred and seventy-four thousand, four hundred and sixty-one were exported: but in the same year, the exportation of bread stuffs from this country amounted only to five million, four hundred and eleven thousand, six hundred and sixty-five dollars, leaving the balance against us of nearly two millions. The committee anticipate that at a period not remote, when we shall be in possession of the finest material produced in any country, the manufacture of silk stuffs will necessarily be introduced into the United States. The culture of silk promises highly moral benefits, in the employment of poor women and children in a profitable business, while it will detract nothing from agricultural or manufacturing labor. The culture of silk will greatly benefit those states which have abandoned slave labor, the value of whose principal productions, particularly in the article of cotton, has been depressed by overproduction.’
The vine grows in most parts of the United States, and yields a plentiful return for the labor of cultivation. We have already alluded to the vineyards in the vicinity of Vevay. A large grant of land, in the territory of Alabama, was made by the general government to a French association under M. Villar, for the purpose of encouraging the cultivation of the vine and the olive. About two hundred and seventy acres had been occupied with vines in 1827, and nearly four hundred olive trees had been planted. The latter, however, do not thrive, and it is apprehended that they will not attain an available degree of perfection in that climate.
Horticulture has not been entirely overlooked in the United States, though it has not yet received the attention that is paid to it in other countries. Some idea of the varieties of fruits and of flowers which the climate will admit of, may be formed from the following statement of the contents of a garden in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, which may be relied on as authentic, being extracted from the report of the committee, appointed by the Pennsylvania Horticultural society for visiting the nurseries and gardens in the vicinity of that city: ‘Here are to be found,’ say the committee, ‘one hundred and thirteen varieties of apples, seventy-two of pears, twenty-two of cherries, seventeen of apricots, forty-five of plums, thirty-nine of peaches, five of nectarines, three of almonds, six of quinces, five of mulberries, six of raspberries, six of currants, five of filberts, eight of walnuts, six of strawberries, and two of medlars. The stock, considered according to its growth, has in the first class of ornamental trees esteemed for their foliage, flowers, or fruit, seventy-six sorts; of the second class, fifty-six sorts; of the third class, one hundred and twenty sorts; of ornamental evergreens, fifty-two sorts; of vines and creepers for covering walls and arbors, thirty-five sorts; of honey-suckle, thirty-sorts; and of roses, eighty varieties.’
IV. ――MANUFACTURES.[71]
NECESSITY forced upon the first settlers of this country, at a very early period, some attention to manufactures. The colony of Massachusetts was founded in 1630. Between that year and 1640, there was a great and steady influx of settlers; and the first and most profitable object of pursuit was the raising of provisions. We can scarcely conceive of the state of industry in a community, to which there is every year added, by emigration, a number of individuals equal to the existing population. Such, however, for a few years, was the case in New England. So great was the demand, that cattle sold as high as twenty-five pounds sterling a head. In 1640, the republicans got possession of the government in England; persecution for religious non-conformity ceased, and with it the influx of emigrants to this country. Cattle fell immediately to about five pounds a head. The effect was distressing, but it put the sagacious colonists upon new resources. The account of this, contained in the early historian of the colony, is strongly characterized by the simplicity of elder times. After describing the check put to emigration, he goes on as follows:――‘Now the country of New England was to seek, of a way to provide themselves with clothing, which they could not obtain by selling cattle, as before; which now were fallen from that huge price forementioned, first to fourteen pounds sterling and ten pounds sterling a head, and presently after, at best within the year, to five pounds a-piece; nor was there at that rate, a ready vent for them neither. Thus the flood which brought in much wealth to many persons, the contrary ebb carried all away out of their reach. To help them in this their exigent, besides the industry that the present necessity put particular persons upon, for the necessary supply of themselves and their families, the general court made order for the manufacture of woolen and linen cloth, which, with God’s blessing upon man’s endeavor, in a little time stopped this gap in part, and soon after another door was opened by special Providence. For when one hand was shut by way of supply from England, another was opened by way of traffic, first to the West Indies and Wine islands, whereby among other goods, much cotton wool was brought into the country from the Indies, which the inhabitants learning to spin, and breeding of sheep and sowing of hemp and flax, they soon found out a way to supply themselves of [cotton] linen, and woolen cloth.’
In 1645, an iron foundery was established at Lynn, in the state of Massachusetts; but the same historian tells us that ‘instead of drawing out bars of iron for the country’s use, there was hammered out nothing but contentions and lawsuits.’ In the same year, the general court of the colony granted to a company, of which governor Winthrop’s son was the head, as an encouragement to undertake the iron manufacture, three thousand acres of land, a monopoly for twenty-one years, the liberty to use any place containing ore, in the public domain not already granted, a tract of land three miles square in the neighborhood of each establishment, and freedom from taxation. These liberal acts of encouragement show the necessity which was felt in the very infancy of the country, of giving a legislative protection to manufactures.
But to understand the history of the industry of the country, we must bear in mind, that America was a colonial possession, and that the growth and welfare of the mother country was the avowed object of colonial policy. Great Britain, if she wished America to prosper, wished it to be on the principles, not of national, but of colonial prosperity; to furnish her such agricultural products as she did not raise herself, to employ her shipping, and to consume her manufactures. As it soon appeared that the Dutch, at that time the most expert navigators in Europe, were getting possession of no small part of the carrying trade of the world, and pursuing a profitable commerce with a part of the colonial possessions of Great Britain, the navigation law of 1650 was passed, under the auspices of Cromwell. It was among the few laws of the commonwealth, which were re-enacted at the restoration. The object of this law,――in the opinion of Sir William Blackstone, ‘the most beneficial for the trade and commerce of these kingdoms,’――was, in the words of the same accomplished jurist, ‘to mortify our sugar islands, which were disaffected to the parliament, and still held out for Charles II., by stopping the gainful trade, which they then carried on with the Dutch, and at the same time to clip the wings of these our opulent and aspiring neighbors.’ Although aimed particularly at the West Indies, this law, of course, extended its provisions to all the other British colonies, and among them to those established on the American coast. By them, however, it was generally resisted as an encroachment on their rights. Ineffectual attempts were made for a century, to enforce it; and in this struggle were sowed the seeds of the revolution.
Nor did the humble attempts of the colonies in manufactures fail to awaken the jealousy of the mother country. Sir Josiah Child, although a more liberal politician than many of his countrymen, in his discourse on trade, published in 1670, pronounces New England ‘the most prejudicial plantation of Great Britain;’ and gives for this opinion the singular reason, that they are a people ‘whose frugality, industry, and temperance, and the happiness of whose laws and institutions promise to them long life, and a wonderful increase of people, riches, and power.’
After many fruitless attempts, on the part of the executive authority of Great Britain, to keep down the enterprise and industry of the country, in those departments of industry which were disallowed by the laws of trade, recourse was had to parliament. The house of commons took up the subject in 1731, and called upon the board of trade and plantations to make a report ‘with respect to any laws made, manufactures set up, or trade carried on in the colonies, detrimental to the trade, navigation and manufactures of Great Britain.’ In the result of this inquiry it appeared, that among other branches of manufacture for domestic supply, hats were made in the colonies in considerable quantities, and had even been exported to foreign countries. In consequence of this alarming discovery, the law of 5 George II. c. 22. was passed, forbidding hats or felts to be exported from the colonies, or even ‘to be loaded on a horse, cart, or other carriage for transportation, from one plantation to another.’ Nor was this all; in 1750, a law was passed by the parliament of Great Britain, which must be considered a disgrace to the legislation of a civilized country. It prohibited ‘the erection or continuance of any mill or other engine for slitting or rolling iron, or any plaiting forge, to work with a tilt hammer, or any furnace for making steel, in the colonies, under penalty of two hundred pounds.’ Every such mill, engine, forge, or furnace was declared a common nuisance, which the governors of the provinces, on information, were bound to abate, under penalty of five hundred pounds, within thirty days!
It has been, within a few years, stated by Mr. Huskisson, and with truth, that the real causes of the revolution are to be found, not in the irritating measures that followed Mr. Grenville’s plan of taxation, but in the long-cherished discontent of the colonies, at this system of legislative oppression. Accordingly, the first measures of the patriots aimed to establish their independence, on the basis of the productive industry and the laborious arts of the country. They began with a non-importation agreement, nearly two years before the declaration of independence. This agreement, with the exception of the addresses to the people of America and Great Britain, was the only positive act of the first Congress, that met at Philadelphia in 1774, and it is signed by every member of that body. The details, to which it descends, are full of instruction. The seventh article provides that ‘we will use our utmost endeavors to improve the breed of sheep, and increase their numbers to the greatest extent;’ and the eighth, ‘that we will, in our several stations, encourage frugality, economy, and industry, and promote agriculture, arts, and the manufactures of this country, especially those of wool.’
The policy indicated by these resolutions was, of course, favored by a state of war. All regular commercial intercourse with Great Britain was interrupted, and the supply of prize goods, which took its place, was casual and uncertain. We had as yet formed no connections in trade, with other countries; nor if we had, could their manufactures have found their way across the ocean, amidst the cruisers of the enemy, at any other than high prices. Fresh impulse was accordingly given to what few manufactures existed before the revolution, and new ones of various kinds were attempted with success. One of the earliest of these was the manufacture of nails, upon which lord Chatham had placed his memorable prohibition. It is within the memory of man, that the first attempt to manufacture cut nails, in New England, was made in the southern part of Massachusetts in the revolutionary war, with old iron hoops for the material, and a pair of shears for the machine. Since that period, besides supplying the consumption of the United States,――estimated at from eighty to one hundred million pounds, and at a price not much exceeding the duty,――machines of American invention for the manufacture of nails have been introduced into England; and large quantities of nails are exported from the United States to foreign countries.
On the return of peace in 1783, the influx of foreign goods, in many respects prejudicial to the country, proved in the highest degree disastrous to its mechanical and manufacturing industry. The want of one national government, and the division of the powers of government among thirteen sovereignties, made it impossible, by a uniform revenue system, to remedy the evil. The states generally attempted, by their separate navigation laws, to secure their trade to their own vessels; but the rivalry and selfish policy of some states counteracted the efforts of others, and eventually threw almost the whole navigation of the country into foreign hands. So low had it sunk in Boston, that in 1788, it was thought expedient, on grounds of patriotism, to get up a subscription to build three ships; and this incident, proving nothing but the poverty and depression of the town, was hailed as one which would give renewed activity to the industry of the trades’ people and mechanics of Boston! The same class of citizens and the manufacturers in general, in the state of Massachusetts, petitioned the government of that state, by bounties, imposts, and prohibitions, to protect their industry. This prayer was granted, and a tariff of duties laid, which in some points,――that of coarse cottons for instance,――was higher than any duty laid by Congress, before the war of 1812.
But the state of the country rendered these laws of little avail. Binding in Boston, they were of no validity in Rhode Island; and what was subject to duty in New York, might be imported free in Connecticut and New Jersey. The state of the industry of the country was depressed to a point of distress, unknown in the midnight of the revolution. The shipping had dwindled to nothing. The manufacturing establishments were kept up by bounties and by patriotic associations and subscriptions, and even the common trades were threatened with ruin. It was plain, for instance, that, in the comparative condition of the United States and Great Britain, not a hatter, a boot or shoe maker, a saddler, or a brass founder could carry on his business, except in the coarsest and most ordinary productions of their various trades, under the pressure of foreign competition. Thus was presented the extraordinary and calamitous spectacle of a successful revolution, wholly failing of its ultimate object. The people of America had gone to war, not for names, but for things. It was not merely to change a government administered by kings, princes, and ministers, for a government administered by presidents, and secretaries, and members of congress. It was to redress their own grievances, to improve their own condition, to throw off the burden which the colonial system laid on their industry. To attain these objects, they endured incredible hardships, and bore and suffered almost beyond the measure of humanity. And when their independence was attained, they found it was a piece of parchment. The arm which had struck for it in the field, was palsied in the workshop; the industry which had been burdened in the colonies, was crushed in the free states; and, at the close of the revolution, the mechanics and manufacturers of the country found themselves, in the bitterness of their hearts, independent――and ruined.
They looked round them in despair. They cast about for means of relief, and found none, but in a plan of a voluntary association throughout the continent, and an appeal to the patriotism of their fellow-citizens. Such an association was formed in Boston in 1787 or 1788, and a circular letter was addressed by them to their brethren throughout the union. The proposal was favorably received, and in some of the cities zealously acted upon; but, unsupported by a general legislation, its effects must at best have been partial and inadequate.
But before our citizens had discovered this, by sad experience, a new and unhoped-for remedy for their sufferings had been devised. The day-star of the constitution arose; and of all the classes of the people of America, to whose hearts it came as the harbinger of blessings long hoped for and long despaired of, most unquestionably the tradesmen, mechanics, and manufacturers hailed it with the warmest welcome. It had in fact grown out of the all-pervading inefficiency and wretchedness of the revenue system, which had been felt in ruin by them, more than by any other class. The feelings, with which it was regarded by the ‘tradesmen and manufacturers of New York,’ will appear from their letter, in reply to the circular of the association in Boston. This expression of the sentiments which were entertained in New York, while the adoption of the constitution by that state was an event of a few months’ standing, may afford instruction and bear repetition at the present day.
_A Letter from, the Tradesmen and Manufacturers of New York to the Tradesmen and Manufacturers of Boston._
NEW YORK, 17th Nov. 1788.
‘GENTLEMEN:――The mechanics and manufacturers of the city of New York have long contemplated and lamented the evils, which a pernicious system of commerce has introduced into our country, and the obstacles with which it has opposed the extension and improvement of American manufactures; and having taken into consideration your circular letter, wherein those evils and their remedies are pointed out, in a just and striking manner, have authorized us to communicate to you, in answer to your address their sentiments on the interesting subject.
‘It is with the highest pleasure that we embrace this opportunity, to express to you their approbation of the liberal and patriotic attempt of the tradesmen and manufacturers of your respectable town.
‘Every zealous and enlightened friend to the prosperity of this country must view, with peculiar regret, the impediments with which foreign importations have embarrassed the infant arts in America. We are sensible that they are not only highly unfavorable to every mechanical improvement, but that they nourish a spirit of dependence, which tends in some degree to defeat the purposes of our late revolution, and tarnish the lustre of our character. We are sensible that long habit has fixed, in the minds of the people, an unjust predilection for foreign productions, and has rendered them too regardless of the arguments and complaints, with which the patriotic and discerning have addressed them from every quarter. These prejudices have become confirmed and radical; and we are convinced that a strong and united effort is necessary to expel them. We are happy that the tradesmen of Boston have led the way to a general and efficient exertion in this important cause.
‘The impression we feel of the utility and expediency of encouraging our domestic manufactures are in perfect correspondence with your own; and we shall most cheerfully unite our endeavours with those of our brethren throughout the union, and shall be ready to adopt every measure, which will have a tendency to facilitate the great design.
‘The legislature of our state, convinced of the propriety of cherishing our manufactures in their early growth, have made some provisions for that purpose. We have no doubt that more comprehensive and decisive measures will in time be taken by them. But on the confederated exertions of our brethren, and especially on the patronage and protection of the general government, we rest our most flattering hopes of success.
‘In order to support and improve the union and harmony of the American manufacturers, and to render as systematic and uniform as possible their designs for the common benefit, we perfectly concur with you on the propriety of establishing a reciprocal and unreserved communication. When our views, like our interests, are combined and concentered, our petitions to the federal legislature will assume the tone and complexion of the public wishes, and will have a proportionable weight and influence.
‘We request you to favor us with the continuation of your correspondence, and to transmit to us, from time to time, such resolutions and proposals of your association as may be calculated for the promotion of our mutual interests.
‘We are, with the highest respect, &c.’
Such were the feelings and hopes, with which the laboring classes of the country in general, particularly the manufacturers and mechanics looked forward to the adoption of the federal constitution. In the state of Massachusetts, it is admitted, that the question of adoption was decided, under the influence of the association of tradesmen and manufacturers already mentioned. In the convention of that state, the encouragement of manufactures, by protecting laws, was declared in debate to be a leading and avowed object of the constitution. As it was successively adopted in each state, triumphant processions of the tradesmen, mechanics, and manufacturers, with the banners of their industry, and mottos expressive of their reliance on the new constitution for protection, evinced, in the most imposing form, and in the presence of uncounted multitudes, the principles, the expectations, and the hopes of the industrious classes of the community. Processions of this kind were organized in Portsmouth, in Boston, in New York, in Philadelphia, in Baltimore, and in Charleston; and the sentiment which animated and inspired them all, was that which was expressed in the motto inscribed upon the banners of the manufacturers in Philadelphia, ‘May the Union Government protect the Manufactures of America.’
Forty-three years have since passed, and it is now earnestly maintained, and that by intelligent citizens, that the federal constitution thus adopted, under the influence of the mechanics and manufacturers, (who knew that by the new government the power of protecting their pursuits was taken from the governments of the states, who had before held and exercised it), confers no power on congress to protect the labor of the country, and that the exercise of such power is unconstitutional. When we consider the control over public sentiment possessed by the associated mechanics and manufacturers of our large towns, and the slender majorities by which, in some states, the constitution was adopted it is not too much to say, that if such a conception of its powers had then prevailed, it never would have been ratified.
A quorum of the house of representatives under the new constitution was formed, for the first time, on 1st April, 1789. In one week from that day, Mr. Madison brought forward the subject of the revenue system, as the most important, which required the attention of the national legislature. Pending the discussion of this subject, and three days after it commenced, a memorial was presented ‘from the tradesmen, manufacturers, and others of the town of Baltimore, in the state of Maryland, praying an imposition of such duties on all foreign articles, which can be made in America, as will give a just and decided preference to the labors of the petitioners, and that there may be granted to them, in common with the other manufacturers and mechanics of the United States, such relief as to the wisdom of congress may seem proper.’ This was followed up, the next day, by a petition from the shipwrights of Charleston, S. C., stating ‘the distress they were in, from the decline of that branch of the business, and the present situation of the trade of the United States, and praying that the wisdom and policy of the national legislature may be directed to such measures, in a general regulation of trade, and the establishment of a proper navigation act, as will relieve the particular distresses of the petitioners, in common with those of their fellow shipwrights, throughout the union.’
Thus the two first memorials presented to the congress of the United States were for protecting duties on American industry; and of these memorials, one was from Baltimore, and the other from Charleston, South Carolina.
A few days after, a similar memorial came in from New York, ‘setting forth that, in the present deplorable state of commerce and manufactures, they look with confidence to the operations of the new government for a restoration of both, and that relief which they have so long and so ardently desired; that they have subjoined a list of such articles as can be manufactured in New York, and humbly pray the countenance and attention of the national legislature thereto.’
Numerous other petitions of like purport were shortly after presented, and in pursuance of their prayers, as well as from the crying demands of the public service, the first impost law was passed, at an early period of the session. It was, with the exception of the law prescribing the oaths of office, the first law, which was passed under the new government. In the long debate, which arose, at different stages of its progress, the idea was advanced, by members from every part of the country, that congress were bound to lay duties, that would encourage its manufacturing industry; and it does not appear that the suggestion was made in the reported debates, that they did not constitutionally possess the power. Mr. Madison thus expressed himself on the subject:――“The states, that are most advanced in population and ripe for manufactures, ought to have their particular interest attended to, in some degree. While these states retained the power of making regulations of trade, they had the power to protect and cherish such institutions. By adopting the present constitution, they have thrown the exercise of this power into other hands. They must have done this with the expectation, that those interests would not be neglected here.” And again, “duties laid on imported articles may have an effect, which comes within the idea of national prudence. It may happen that materials for manufactures may grow up, without any encouragement for this purpose. It has been the case in some of the states. But in others, regulations have been provided and have succeeded in producing some establishments, which ought not to be allowed to perish, from the alteration which has taken place. It would be cruel to neglect them, and turn their industry to other channels; for it is not possible for the hand of man to shift from one employment to another, without being injured by the change. There maybe some manufactures, which, being once formed, can advance toward perfection, without any adventitious aid; while others, for want of the fostering hand of government, will be unable to go on at all. Legislative attention will be therefore necessary to collect the proper objects for this purpose.” Such were the principles on which this law was supported; and when it finally passed, it was stated, in the preamble, to be ‘for the support of government, the discharge of the debts of the United States, and the encouragement and protection of manufactures.’
The present manufacturing system of the United States may be considered, partly as the result of the revenue laws of 1789, which remained without essential changes till the embargo of 1807, and partly as the effect of that and the other restrictive measures, and of the war which followed them. Those branches of industry, which are commonly called the mechanic arts, received, for the most part, though not without exception, an ample protection under the former laws:――manufactures on a large scale, requiring great capital and skill, owed their existence to the total interruption of commerce. In the combined result, a very large amount of American capital was, at the peace of 1815, found invested in manufactures. It was the prevalent opinion of the statesmen of that day, and those of the south among the foremost, that this capital ought to be protected; and the success which had attended some of the manufactures, on a large scale, had produced some change in the public opinion, as to the capacity of the country to support them.
In other parts of the volume we have mentioned the chief manufacturing establishments in the country, and, for the purpose of avoiding repetition, have reserved statistical details for the tabular views at the end of the work.