New York and its institutions, 1609-1871. A library of information, pertaining to the great metropolis, past and present

Front matter

Reynolds

QSNEALOGY

HISTORICAL

Preface

“ It is too late in the history of the world,” one has said, “ for an author to apologize for publishing a book hence few are now guilty of such affectation. Nevertheless, the causes that led to a production, the manner of its preparation, and the object sought in its publication, are often matters of interest and profit to a thoughtful reader. The volume now offered to the public is not the result of an empty desire to make a book, but to furnish in a concise yet sufficiently extended form for ordinary use a history of the American metropolis, with the origin, objects, growth, and present condition of its numerous institutions. Many excellent works bearing on this subject have been issued during the last twenty years by various publishers and authors, and by the separate corporations, varying in size from the large quarto to the thirty-cent guide-book. Some of these have traced minutely the early history of the island, others have sought to exhibit New York as it is, some have traced the history of the churches or of a single institution, and one has traced the career of most of the societies devoted to private charities. As no one of them has, however, attempted to cover the whole subject, a small library of these books has been indispensable to one wishing to be tolerably conversant with the history of New York and its institutions.

The author has often felt the need of a comprehensive volume, giving information in relation to the prisons, dispensaries, the municipal institutions, the cemeteries, hospitals, schools, the parks, markets, quarantine, etc., etc. While informing himself on these

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PREFACE.

subjects, he was induced to write a series of articles, describing the islands in New York harbor and many of the institutions, which were published in one of the monthlies of the city. The brief histories of a few of the institutions given proved highly satisfactory to some of the managers, and at their suggestion he at length decided to undertake the preparation of this work.

In examining the several institutions, the author has endeavored to dismiss all denominational prejudice, and present honestly the history and merits of each. He has in every place looked for something commendable, and almost invariably found it. The two hundred institutions of New York, many of which are colossal enterprises, are highly creditable to the humanity and benevolence of our people. The author does not endorse the idea so often advanced, that u we have too many charitable institutions ,” nor does he believe that they could or should be greatly consolidated. Institutions, like armies, may be too large for successful management. Many of ours are already as large as they ever should be, and the younger and smaller ones, if well conducted, are certain to rapidly increase in magnitude. We believe every denomination should provide its homes for the aged, and found asylums for its orphans. We have contemplated with high satisfaction the march of events in this direction.

It has not been our purpose to present any new theory for the establishment or management of an institution. An imperfect system has often proved eminently successful under judicious administration, while the most perfect has repeatedly failed through mismanagement. Hence, abstract discussions of theories or systems are of uncertain value. No one can wade through many hundred published reports of the institutions, as we have done, without being impressed with the fact that in the minds of all these managers there is a manifest desire for progress and great efficiency. While the history of our institutions discloses the fact that provision is made for every class of unfortunates, and that the benevolence of the people

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PREFACE.

IX is rapidly increasing, it exhibits, also, most noticeably the recognized power of mind and of moral instrumentalities. Brute force no longer reigns. Public justice is no longer a revenge, but an expedient for the safety of community, and the reformation of the criminal. Sixty years ago truant youth were hurled into a prison, where, under the tuition of mature criminals, they soon became hopelessly corrupted. Now, in a Befuge or an Asylum — a school with a sanctuary — they are impressed with ideas and moral motives, and soon rise to usefulness. The blind and the deaf-mute are educated, asylums rise for the reformation of fallen women and the inebriate, while the halls of the hospital and the prison resound with the ministrations of religion. The most advanced in evil are still considered within the reach, and susceptible of, moral influence, and for whose recovery scores are willing to toil.

For much valuable information in the preparation of this work, the author cheerfully acknowledges his obligation to “ A Picture of New York in 1848,” “ Valentine’s History of New York,” Appletons’ “ American Cyclopedia,” the “ Gazetteer of the State of New York,” the <c Manuals of the Common Council,” the “ Charities of New York,” “ Half-Century with Juvenile Delinquents,” u Public Education in the City of New York,” (( Watson’s Annals of New York,” Miss Booth’s “ History of the City of New York,” and to the printed reports of the several institutions whose histories are briefly presented. Also to the managers, superintendents, chaplains, and physicians of the institutions, who, with a few exceptions, have manifested an interest in his undertaking, and promptly furnished such information as was within their reach. The author has gathered his statistics from the most reliable sources, and trusts they will be found very generally correct. Of the labor and difficulty in preparing a work of this kind in a great city of strangers, where things are changing with kaleidoscopic rapidity, few have any conception who have not undertaken it.

Of the style, he has only to say that he has labored to present

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PREFACE.

the largest amount of matter in the smallest space; and has sought to minister to the understanding, rather than the imagination. In tracing the early history of the island, and the colonial history, he has sought to select, and so group the principal events, as to make them readily found, and easily remembered. He has not sought to unduly encumber the volume with the names of officers, or with unimportant statistics. It has been his aim to present a portable book, richly illustrated, within the reach of all ; containing all the information that the masses care to read, of the development of the city, the origin and work of its institutions ; in fine, a comprehensive work and guide, acceptable alike to the citizen and the stranger. How far he has succeeded he leaves for others to judge.

The volume has been prepared amid the duties of a laborious pastorate. During the last five years he has visited, as occasion has offered, each of the institutions described, and to many of them he has been called to offer consolation to the suffering. The reports, statistics, and other items, have been thus collected, and any missing facts supplied, when possible, through correspondence. The chapters have mostly been written nights, after conducting an evening service. The labor of its preparation, notwithstanding the numberless perplexities such an undertaking involves, has been a pleasant and profitable one- — and he can only wish the reader a similar experience in its perusal. Hoping the fruits of these snatches of time and toil may be made to minister in some degree to the intelligence and good of the people, we send this volume forth on its mission to the world.

J. F. RICHMOND.

New Yobk, August, 1871.

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Contents

CIIAPTER I.

PASS

Early History of Manhattan 17

CHAPTER II. English Colonial History 36

Successful Administration of Colonel Nicols 36

Recapture of Manhattan by the Dutch 37

The Career and Tragic End of Leisler, the People’s Choice. 39

Captain Kidd, the New York Pirate 46

Rip Van Dam 52

The Negro Plot of 1741 60

Triumph of the Anglo-Saxon 65

Troublous Times Approaching 68

Chapter III

Important Incidents of the Revolution, and later History of New York 72

Xii CONTENTS.

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PAGF

New York Government at Sea 72

Plot to Assassinate Washington 73

Shocking Barbarity of English Officers 74

Hale and Andre, the Two Spies 80

Arnold in New York 84

British Evacuation . 89

The Burr and Hamilton Tragedy of 1804 90

Robert Fulton, and the “ Clermont ” 96

Public Improvements of 1825 98

CHAPTER IY.

New York As It Is 101

1. Description of the Island 101

2. Population at Different Periods. 103

3. Streets and Avenues of New York 105

The Plan, the Pavements, and the Modes of Travel.

Wall Street.

Broad Street.

Broadway.

Fifth Avenue.

The Boulevard.

4. The Architecture 114

Hotels. Astor House, Fifth Avenue, Sb. Nicholas, Grand Central.

Cooper Institute.

Academy of Design.

Theaters.

The Astor Library.

American Bible House.

Publishing 'Houses.

The Park Bank.

Life Insurance Buildings.

The City Hall.

I The New York Court House.

The New York Post Office.

Stores. Stewart’s, Clallin’s, Lord & Taylor’s, Tiffany’s, etc.

5. Business in New York 131

Causes of Business Failure,

Business in Beal Estate.

Classes of Rich Men.

Politicians.

CONTENTS.

xiii

fin

Speculators and Stock Gamblers.

Success of Great Men.

6. The Churches of New York 142

Reformed D.utch^

Protestant Episcopal.

Lutheran.

Presbyterian.

Baptist

Methodist.

Jews.

Roman Catholics.

Other Denominations and Missionary Societies.

7. Parks and Squares 158

8. How New York is supplied with Water 166

10. Public Security 180

Metropolitan Police Department.

Metropolitan Eire Department.

The Health Department.

Quarantine Department.

Maritime Defences.

United States Navy Yard.

* 11. New York in Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. 198

12. The Libraries, Monuments, and Markets of New York. 206

13. The Cemeteries of New York. . 214

The Early Cemeteries.

New York Bay.

Greenwood.

Cypress Hills.

Evergreen.

Calvary.

Wood Lawn.

CHAPTER Y.

Institutions of Manhattan Island and Westchester Co. 281

Asylums 2S1

1. New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb 281

2. Institution for the Improved Instruction of the Deaf

and Dumb. 287

3. The New York Institution for the Blind 289

4. Bloomingdale Asylum for the Insane 294

5. The New York Orphan Asylum. 299

Xiv CONTENTS.

PAGE

6. The Colored Orphan Asylum 302

7. Orphan Home and Asylum of the Protestant Episcopal

Church in New York 305

8. The Sheltering Arms . . 308

9. The Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum 312

10. New York Asylum for Lying-in Women 315

11. New York Magdalen Benevolent Asylum 317

12. Society for Half:Orphan and Destitute Children 321

13. The Leake and Watts Orphan House 325

14. #The New York Juvenile Asylum 328

15. The House of Mercy (Protestant Episcopal) 333

16. Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum Society.... 336

17. House of the Good Shepherd .• 339

18. St. Barnabas House. 341

19. The Institution of Mercy (Roman Catholic) 344

20. Orphan Asylum of St. Vincent De Paul 347

21. Society for Destitute Roman Catholic Children 349

22. New York Foundling Asylum (Roman Catholic) 354

23. The Shepherd’s Fold 356

24. Woman’s Aid Society and Presbyterian Home for

Training Young Gii'ls 357

25. St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum 359

HOSPITALS AND INFIRMARIES 360

1. The Roosevelt Hospital 360

2. The Presbyterian Hospital 364

3. St. Luke’s Hospital 367

4. New York Hospital 371

5. The Hospital of St. Francis 374

6. St. Vincent Hospital 375

7. German Hospital and Dispensary . 379

8. Mount Sinai Hospital 382

9. Bellevue Hospital 386

10. The Nursery and Child’s Hospital ... 389

11. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary 394

12. The Woman’s Hospital of the State of New York. . . 399

13. Institution for the Ruptured and Crippled 403

14. House of Rest for Consumptives 408

15. New York Infirmary for Women and Children 410

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CONTENTS. XV

TAG«

16. New York Medical College and Hospital for Women. . 413

17. The Hahnemann Hospital 415

18. The Stranger’s Hospital 417

19. The New York Ophthalmic Hospital 419

20. The New York Aural Institute 419

21. Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital . 421

Homes 423

1. Association for the Belief of Bespectable Aged Indi-

gent Females 423

2. Laches’ Union Aid Society of the M. E. Church 426

3. American Female Guardian Society and Home for the

Friendless 430

4. The Home for Incurables , 434

5. Samaritan Home for the Aged 436

6. The Colored Honm 439

7. The St. Luke’s Home 442

8. The Presbyterian Home 446

9. Union Home and School for Children of our Volunteer

Soldiers and Sailors 449

10. The Female Christian Home 452

11. The Home for Friendless Women. 453

12. Women’s Prison Association of New York (The I. T.

Hopper Home) 457

13. Homan Catholic Home for the Aged 461

14. Chapin Home for the Aged and Infirm 462

15. Baptist Home for the Aged 463

16. Home for Aged Hebrews 464

17. Ladies’ Christian Union, or Young Woman’s Home.. 467

18. Hotel for Working Women (A. T. Stewart’s) 470

19. The Water Street Home for Women.. 471

Missions, Industrial Schools, and Miscellaneous Societies 477

1. The Five Points Mission 477

2. The Five Points House of Industry. 483

3. Womans Boarding House 486

4. The Howard Mission and Home for Little Wanderers. 4> S

5. The Midnight Mission 492

6. Wilson’3 Industrial School. 494

7. The New York House and School of Industry 497

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XVI

CONTENTS.

PAGE

8. The Children’s Aid Society 499

9. Society for the Employment and Relief of Poor Women. 504

10. New York Association for Improving the Condition of

the Poor 505

11. Young Men’s Christian Association 508

12. New York Prison Association 511

Prisons and Dispensaries 514

1. The City Prisons . . 514

2. The New York Medical Dispensaries 519

CHAPTER Yl.

Institutions of Blackwell’s Island 523

1. The Islands and the Authorities. .. 523

2. The Hospitals of Blackwell’s Island 527

3. The New York Penitentiary. k . 531

4. The New York Almshouse 536

5. The New York Workhouse 541

6. The New' York Lunatic Asylum 545

CHxYPTER VII.

Institutions of Ward’s Island 551

1. The Buildings of the Commissioners of Emigration. .. 551

2. The New York Inebriate Asylum 557

CHAPTER VIII.

Institutions of Randall’s Island ... 562

1. The New York Nurseries. .... 562

( Buildings for the Healthy Children.

Infant Hospital.

( Idiot School and Asylum.

2. Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents 568

CHAPTER IX.

Institutions on Hart Island. . . 572

The Industrial School, and the School-Ship “ Mercury”.. 572

CHAPTER X.

New York Institutions on Staten Island 578

1. Sailors’ Snug Harbor 578

2. Seamen’s Fund and Retreat. 582

New York (Manhattan) in 1666;

NEW YORK AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.

Chapter I. Early History Of Manhattan

THE GREAT METROPOLIS — ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF MANHATTAN — THE ADVENT OF THE WHITE MAN — THE FIRST GRAVE — HUDSON

EXPLORES THE RIVER — FOUNDING OF THE DUTCH DYNASTY PETER

MINUITS, THE FIRST GOVERNOR — WOUTER VAN TWILLER — WILLIAM KEIFT PETER STUYVESANT, THE LAST OF THE DUTCH GOVER- NORS THE SURRENDER OF THE DUTCH DYNASTY — MANNERS AND

CUSTOMS.

THE GREAT METROPOLIS.

bm-orh Greene Point, Jersey City, Iloboken, Yon-

HEW YORK is the most populous, wealthy, and splendid city on the American continent. Its location, climate, surroundings, and connections have all been favorable to its growth and greatness. It stands on the little island called by the Indians Manhattan, but Brooklyn, Williamskers,and Tarry town, are but its suburbs, containing the residences of its laborers, clerks, and merchant princes. Among the earliest localities to feel the tread of the European stranger, it has through all its history been deservedly popular as a landing depot, and now receives fully five-sevenths of all entering the country. About five thousand vessels annually enter its bay, which is sul-

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ficiently broad and deep to anchor the collected navies of the world. Its imports and exports are more than fifty per cent of the whole United States, and amount to five hundred million dollars per annum ; while the aggregate trade of the city reaches nearly four thousand millions. Nearly three hundred railroad trains make daily communication with its suburbs. The taxable property of the island reported at less than half its value reaches nearly a thousand millions, and the annual tax about twenty-five millions. New York is the great storehouse of the nation’s wealth, the centre of its financial operations, and of its political, industrial, economic, scientific, educational, benevolent, and religious enterprises. New York furnishes most of the newspapers, periodicals, books, pictures, models of statuary, architecture, machinery, and handicraft, for the numerous great States clustered around it, and for the broad Canadas. There is poverty in New York, deep and squalid; but it is offset by wealth, countless and dazzling. There is ignorance here, profound and astonishing; but there is learning also, brilliant and extensive as can be found on the globe. There are sinners in New York, black and guilty, as ever disgraced the world ; but there are saints also, spotless and benevolent, as ever adorned the Church of God. All extremes meet in this great metropolis. Here are the denizens of every land, the babblings of every tongue, the productions of every clime, the inventions of every craft, and the ripened fruit of every desire. At a single glance can be seen, as in a vast mirror, pictures of age and infancy, beauty and deformity, industry and indolence, wealth and beggary, vice and sanctity.

New York, with its immense libraries, art galleries, daily press, literary associations and lectures, its benevolent institutions, and architectural wonders, is one of the richest fields of human culture in the known world. There is on every hand something to interest, please, and profit everybody, of whatever country, talent, or temperament. It is a luxury to tarry in New York, though it be but for a month, a week, or a day,

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ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF MANHATTAN.

to listen to the rumble of its wheels, the whistle of its engines, the clicking of its telegraphs, the voice of its orators, the chime of its bells, the strains of its music, and the roar of its artillery. Whose mind is not enlarged as he contemplates the progress of its growth, the rush of its improvements, and the majestic sweep of its commerce ? Who can stand upon its elevated observatories and closely contemplate its leagues of solid masonry, everywhere thronged with immortals as important and hopeful as himself, without such emotions as he never experienced before? Who can press through the whirl of its daily activities, without thinking of eternity ; through its neglected sinks, without thinking of pandemonium; or its cultivated parks, without thinking of paradise ? All do not live in New York, nor can they ; yet every thoughtful American should . visit it, snuff its ocean breezes, contemplate its massive piles, peep into its institutions, and gather inspiration from the rush of its activities. For any who wish to visit it, or who do not, this book has been written. To obtain a correct and adequate knowledge of New York, let us begin at the foundation.

ORIGINAL Iii HABITANTS OF MANHATTAN.

t-

_ P|7 OR many ages Manhattan lay buried

in these western solitudes, separated ■ feS by a wide and stormy ocean from all ^ the bustling activities of the civilized

world. During a long period it is now known to have been the favorite resort of the Indians of the Hudson river country who gathered here in vast numbers, built their rustic villages, and spent the summer months in fishing, baking clams, and hunting. Centuries before civilization found its wav to these shores, the broad bay now whitened with the sails of a hundred nations was dotted with the canoes of an ingenious race, whose history is now too nearly obliterated. Their lands they owned in common, the only divisions being between the different tribes. Their habitations were constructed of saplings and bark, with no windows, floors, or chimneys. Their villages were located on spots of ground naturally clear of wood, and contained from twenty to several hundred families, which in time of war they surrounded with a fence or stockade. To agriculture they gave no attention, save the planting of Indian corn, beans, peas, and pumpkins. Both sexes were exceedingly fond of display in dress, illustrating the old saying, that “ man in robes or in rags is a proud little animal.” The Indian women wore long, black hair, plaited and rolled up behind, where it was fastened with a band. Their petticoats were ornamented with exquisite taste and skill, and would bring a fine sum in our day. This garment hung from a belt or waist-girdle made of dressed deer-skin, highly ornamented with Indian money called sewant. Pendants hung upon their foreheads, necks, and arms, and handsomely trimmed moccasins adorned their feet.

The men were no less attentive to dress. Upon their shoulders they hung a mantle of deer-skin, with the fur next their bodies, while the outside of the garment displayed a variety of designs in paint. The edges of the mantle were trimmed with swinging points of fine workmanship. Their heads were variously ornamented ; some wearing feathers, and others different articles of a showy character. Their necks and arms displayed ornaments of elaborate workmanship. They painted themselves in a variety of colors according to their peculiar tastes, rendering their appearance grotesque and frightful. They were tall and slender, had black or brown eyes, snow-white teeth, a cinnamon complexion, and were fleet and sprightly. They had no care but to provide for present subsistence and secure pleasure. They were very superstitious, believing in dreams, signs, and various omens.

TUE ADVENT OF THE WHITE MAN.

They had crude notions of the Great Spirit and the Spirit Land. When one died they placed his body in a grave in a sitting posture, shielding it from contact with the earth by a covering of boughs, and from the wild beasts by a burden of stone and earth. By his side in the grave was also placed his implements of war and pleasure, some money and food to serve him on his journey to the Sjyii'it Land. The science of war was his greatest accomplishment, and to die without any display of weakness or fear, his highest virtue. Oratory was considerably cultivated among them. When first discovered their manners and habits contrasted so strangely with everything in Europe, that they were supposed to possess few, if indeed any, of the affections and higher emotions of humanity, but to be more closely allied to the lower orders of creation. Time has, however, shown their native regard for integrity and honor, and under the appliances of mental and moral culture, the Indian head and heart have proved capable of high attainments.

THE ADVENT OF THE WHITE MAN.

JjrjflHE wants of the race had fairly out- ’3| grown the capacities of the East. An §j accession of new ideas was demanded; humafi liberty could not be realized amid the crushing despotisms of the Old World, and benevolence, the divinest grace of the soul, languished for want of a broader theatre on which to work out and exhibit its sublime developments. Divine Providence opened the gates to this western world. Varrazzani, a Florentine in the employ of the French Government in the sixteenth century (1525), is believed to have been the first white man who sailed through the Narrows, and looked upon the placid waters of the New York bay and its green islands. In 1609 Henry Hudson, an intrepid English

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NEW YORK AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.

navigator in the employ of the Dutch East India Company, sailed from Europe in search of a northwest passage to the East Indies. The vessel in which he sailed was a yacht, called the “ Half Moon,” of about eighty tons burthen, and would be considered a very diminutive thing for an explorer in our day, when canal boats carry three hundred and fifty tons. Ilis crew consisted of fifteen or twenty sailors, partly of Dutch and partly of English birth. He traversed the American coast from Newfoundland to the Chesapeake bay, and then turned again northward to explore more carefully the country thus passed. On the 2d of September he rounded Sandy Hook, and on the 4th he anchored near the Jersey shore in the south bay. As the waters swarmed with fish, a boat was lowered to catch some, and the crew is believed to have landed on the foam-fringed beach of Coney Island, and to have been the first white men who ever set foot on the soil of the Empire State.

It is not wonderful that Hudson forgot his mission, and became enchanted with the gorgeous scenery everywhere spread out before him. Majestic forests, that had slumbered on through the solitudes of the ages, waved on the shores ; the little hills were crowned with grass and a variety of fragrant flowers; the waters swarmed with finny tribes, while birds of strange plumage and song flitted through the air. A hitherto unknown race, with strange manners and showy trappings, came to his ship in their canoes with corn and other vegetables, for which they received from the generous commodore axes and shoes, which they hung about their necks for ornaments.

THE FIRST GRAVE.

Hudson continued at his anchorage about a week, and on the 6th of the month dispatched a boat to explore the harbor. The little crew passed through the Narrows and took a view of the green hills of Manhattan, after which it sailed out toward Newark bav. On their return an unfortunate collision

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HUDSON EXPLORES TIIE RIVER.

occurred between the party and the natives, and an English sailor named John Coleman was struck in the neck by an arrow and killed. Two others were wounded. Coleman had long been associated with Hudson on the seas, and his death was greatly regretted. It is probable that the sailors were the iirst aggressors. A grave was dug 011 Sandy Hook, and on the 9th of September he was mournfully interred, and the spot has since been known as Coleman’s Point.

HUDSON EXPLORES THE RIVER.

On the 11th of September Hudson sailed through the Narrows, and after anchoring one day in tlie New' York bay proceeded up the river to the present site of Albany, hoping to find the long-sought passage to the East Indies. Unwilling to believe he had reached the head of navigation, he despatched a party to sound the river higher up. They proceeded eight or nine leagues, and finding but. seven feet of water they returned with the unwelcome intelligence. The voyage up the river, though a disappointment, was a pleasant excursion. The rocky Palisades, lofty Highlands, and the majestic curves of the sweeping silver current, appear to have lingered long in the minds of these bold adventurers. The natives gave them a friendly reception, spreading before them the best the country afforded.

The country was indeed rich. Hudson declared that in one Indian village he saw a quantity of corn and beans sufficient to fill three ships, and that the neighboring fields w'ere burdened with luxuriant crops.

Two unfortunate occurrences in this voyage tarnish the character of Hudson and his crew. They communicated to the red man the fatal, intoxicating bowl. Sailors must always have a revel while on shore, and one occurred during their stay at Albany — the first on the banks of that beautiful river. Secondly, he had rudely captured while at Sandy II»M>k two natives, whom he designed to carry with him to Holland. I'oth escaped on his passage up the river, or at

V

NEW YORK AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.

their drunken carousal, and with manly courage collected their. forces to resent this breach of faith on his return. A fleet of well-tilled canoes at Spuyten Duyvil attacked and attempted to board the vessel. A musket shot from the ship killed one native and scattered the rest. Opposite Washington Heights the attack was renewed as the vessel floated down

THE “HALF MOON” ASCENDING HUDSON KIVER.

the stream. Another volley of musketry stretched nine more in the cold embrace of death, after which they desisted. The thunder of the white man’s weapon, and the deadly plunge of his missile, was more than they could und .rstand. A little caution and moderation would have saved these stains from that otherwise brilliant record of this peerless navigator. On the 4th of October Hudson set sail for Holland, to make known the facts of his wonderful discovery.

FOUNDING OF THE DUTCH DYNASTY.

FOUNDING OF THE DUTCH DYNASTY.

?7UDSON had scarcely made known the ^ results of his voyage in Ilollaud, ere trading vessels were fitted out by the enterprising merchants, and despatched to these shores to reap the golden harvest held out in the valuable fur trade. These experiments were highly successful, and agents were stationed here to continue the business during the absence of the ships. These agents established their headcpiarters on the southern point of Manhattan Island. The “ United New Netherland Company,” composed of a number of merchants, was chartered in 1614, for a brief period, and in 1621 the “West India Company,” larger and richer than the former, was permanently incorporated. This great company was invested with nearly all the prerogatives of a general government. They were allowed to appoint their own governors, settle the ends and forms of administrative justice, make treaties, enact laws, and were granted the exclusive control of trade on the whole American coast. In 1623 a standi vessel (the “New Netherland,” which continued her trips regularly for more than thirty years) brought over thirty families to begin a colony These were landed at Albany, and a settlement began. Two years later (1625) another company came over in two ships, bringing horses, cattle, sheep, swine, agricultural implements, and seed grain, and began a settlement on Manhattan. The first fort was erected in 1615 by the traders, and stood in the rear of- the present Trinity church, on the bank of the river, the tides then reaching where the western wall of the churchyard now stands. In 1751 some workmen digging in the bank in the rear of the church, discovered a stone wall which was afterwards ascertained to be the remains of the long-forgotten fort. In 1623 a new fort, a block-house, was constructed a little south of