Old roads from the heart of New York; journeys today by ways of yesterday, within thirty miles around the Battery

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I. — How the New Yorker of Yesterday

Set Forth on his Journey . 3

Chapter I How The New Yorker Of Yesterday Set Forth On His Journey

WHEN the early New Yorker, with a hogshead of molasses for fellow-passenger, entrusted himself to the mercies of a dugout canoe and let the old ferryman transport him all the way to Flushing, he was proving a universal law; namely, that humanity won't stay at home. The dugout was both uncomfortable and dangerous, and the hogshead of molasses could hardly be called companionable; nevertheless the Manhattanite accepted the conditions of travel, for travel he would

Smug in the thought of our Twentieth Century tubes and ferries, our trolleys and subways and express trains and automobiles, we hardly realize how much traveling he did. Manhattan then, as now, was the hub from which darted forth innumerable paths, roads, and waterways.

The small size and unique situation of the island have always led to exploration beyond. Water on all sides — and just beyond the water, piquing the curiosity at every turn, lies enticing land. The first impulse was to investigate.

The Indian trail has been, throughout our country, the beginning of the road. In his turn the Indian often followed the trail of the beast. Such beginnings are indiscernible for the most part, in the dusk of history; but we still trace many an old path that once knew the tread of moccasined feet.

The Indian dweller upon Manhattan Island set forth upon his journey in his simple canoe, dug out from a tree- trunk. Arrived upon the farther shore, he followed a winding path through the wilderness. It yielded to the law of least resistance, and added many miles unto itself by its zigzag course. The white people gradually straightened these paths, so that the present highways form a finished product of which the trail was a rough sketch.

At first the trails around Manhattan were widened to little more than bridle paths, as the New Yorker rarely traveled except on horseback. As travel increased, both for pleasure and commerce, the paths were widened to wagon roads. These, for many years, adhered to the original windings, and showed a submissive habit of turning out to permit a tree to stay where it wished, and of ducking here and there into a gully which was only occasionally filled in with a pile of branches upon which loose earth was

A. Ferry to BrovincKsland 5

thrown. These conditions hardly made for comfortable traveling; nevertheless the New Yorker traveled, even though his vehicle had to be pulled out as often as it became stuck in the mud.

At last, in the early eight een-hundreds, entered the era of the turnpike, and one such road followed fast upon another, until New York was the center of many roads, leading off from the ferry landings in all directions, themselves intersected by other roads, a mesh of highways all about Manhattan Island. Stages as well as private vehicles carried the traveler in many directions; bridges were built; public ferries grew in number and capacity; the merry journeying went on apace.

Toward the north, means of exit developed as early as the middle of the Seventeenth Century. In The Story of the Bronx Stephen Jenkins states that in 1658 the director-general of New Netherland "authorized the maintenance of a ferry with a suitable scow between Harlem and Brouncksland. Nothing was done, however, until 1666, when Governor Nicolls granted a charter to the Harlemites, in which, among other things, he allowed them 'a ferry to and from the main which may redound to their particular benefit, ' and to construct one or more suitable boats or scows for the transportation of men, horses and cattle at reasonable charges. In January of the following year (1667) the authorities of Harlem, in carrying out the provisions of the charter, determined to establish a good ferry, and that a suitable ordinary, or tavern, should be built for the accommodation of those who used the ferry. Mayor Delaval promised to furnish the nails for the making of a scow, provided their value should be paid to him by the ferryman."

And so a ferry, under the charge of Johannes Verveelen, was established. Previous to this the communication had been by means of canoes and dugouts. The new ferry was a little west of First Avenue as we know it, at East 123d Street. Here Verveelen entered into competition with Nature, who had already made what was called the "wading place" — a natural ford through Spuyten Duyvil Creek. Those of an economical turn of mind still preferred the free ford, and Verveelen was much annoyed at the loss of their fees.

The earliest ferries in the vicinity of New York were maintained in a large dugout called a periauger. These plied the Hudson River as well as the waters toward the northeast. Next came the large scow, that established at the Harlem ferry being an example, capable of transporting wagons and animals.

As travel increased, it was deemed expedient to build a bridge to assist communication with the mainland toward the north. In January,

A. Bridge at Broadway 7

1693, Frederick Philipse offered to build one at his own expense, since the city authorities had been deterred by the cost. It was built the same year, about where the Broadway bridge of to-day crosses, and was constructed with a draw that boats might pass. Other bridges followed as the years advanced, one at last replacing the old ferry at the eastern end of the river. Roads grew, leading from these bridges into Westchester County, from the Albany Post Road along the Hudson, to the Boston Post Road near the Sound. Indian trails were broadened and new ways were laid out. The Westchester Path was famous among them.

In the other directions the history of exit from Manhattan is much the same story. First the dugout or canoe, followed by a larger ferryboat ; at its landing, the trail, developing into the road. Across the East and North rivers, the ferryboat still plies in paths not far from the original. The first public ferry to Long Island, established about the middle of the Seventeenth Century, was a natboat summoned by the blowing of a horn. The crossing of the rivers was difficult, even dangerous, before the day of the large ferryboat. In his History of New York City William M. Stone quotes a letter from Isaac Rushmore of Long Island, an early-day traveler:

"When a boy of fifteen I first visited New

York City, in 1801. Then we crossed from Brooklyn in small sail-boats — two cents ferriage. With ice in the river, it was sometimes extremely perilous. To get a gig across, of course, the wheels must be taken off, and the horse jumped."

The "horse-boats" were an innovation and solved many problems of crossing the East and North rivers, clumsy as they appear to us today. The paddle-wheels which propelled them were turned by four horses, which walked around a shaft on board the boat. The fare charged was four cents. Up to 18 12, when Fulton revolutionized the water travel, these were "modern" ferryboats. It was in this year that Fulton bridged the North River with his twin steamboats, and soon after the East River was crossed in the same manner. These first boats are described by Cadwallader D. Colden as being two complete hulls united by a deck or bridge, sharp at both ends and so moving either backward or forward with equal ease, and able to retrace their course without turning. The floating or movable dock was instituted, and the method by which boats were brought to them without shock. As James Grant Wilson comments, except in the increased power of its engine the modern ferryboat shows little improvement.

Early in the Eighteenth Century developed the system of "working the roads." According to Jenkins, "The Act of October 30, 1708, estab-

THe TurnpiKe Era 9

lishes not more than six days' work on the roads by the inhabitants each year, or a payment of three shillings for each day neglected." The Provincial Assembly of New York was endeavoring to bind the parts of the Province together and, in turn, bind it close to the other colonies.

But still the roads remained dim cult, and it is no wonder that the turnpike era caused a new impetus such as travel had never known hereabouts. The first turnpike road in the United States was laid out in Virginia in 1785. The Lancaster Turnpike followed, and by the early years of the Nineteenth Century, these toll-gate roads were appearing everywhere. Previously, the New Yorker had much preferred travel by water, but now the roads offered comfort for both man and beast. It was to the interest of the private companies who collected the toll to keep them in good condition; no longer did the wagon wait, stuck in a mud-hole, until the mud should dry up and free it.

Everywhere this road system at first met with opposition. Americans claimed that the toll system was un-American. Farmers protested against paying for what had been free to them. Congressman Beeson is said to have made a speech in which he defended the National Pike, ordered laid out in 1806 by Congress, saying that the smithies of the country would ring with the horseshoes it would wear out, and no io Introductory

man need be out of employment, by virtue of the increased demand for horseshoe nails. It did not take the citizens of New York and the surrounding country long to discover that the well-kept road with its toll was economy in the end.

As has been stated, the first road-travel which was not afoot was ahorseback. A pack slung upon his shoulder carried the first pedestrian's merchandise or luggage; the pack-horse soon entered, followed by the cart for heavy freight. The Indian trail broadened to make room for its lumbering and clumsy figure. Post-riders carried the mails. They served as guide to other travelers, who followed them on horseback through devious ways. The famous journal of Madame Sarah Knight describes a trip of this sort, between Boston and New York. She says :

"About four in the morning we set out . . . with a french Doctor in our company. Hee and y e Post put on very furiously, so that I could not keep up with them, only as now and then they'd stop till they see mee."

Madame Knight's trip . indicated great "advancement" on her part. Travelers of the gentler sex usually rode seated on a cushion behind the gentleman. Chairs, gigs, and chaises, light vehicles of two wheels, were used on the crude roads in colonial days.

In the Eighteenth Century the stagecoach

Early Type of Stage Wagon II

developed, and it ruled travel at a later period. In The Old Boston Post Road, Jenkins thus describes the early type:

"The stage wagons were boxes mounted on springs, usually containing four seats, which accommodated eleven passengers and the driver. Protection from the weather was furnished by a canvas or leather-covered top with side curtains which were let down in inclement and cold weather. There were no backs to the seats, and the rear seat of all was the one usually preferred on account of the passengers being able to lean against the back of the wagon. If there were women passengers, they were usually allowed to occupy this seat. There were no side entrances to the vehicle, so that any one getting in late had to climb over the passengers who had pre-empted the front seats. Fourteen pounds of baggage were all that were allowed to the passenger to be carried free ; all over that had to pay the same price per mile as a traveller. The baggage was placed under the seats, and was generally left unguarded when the stage stopped at taverns for meals or for change of horses. The roads were poor, the stage uncomfortable, and the whole journey was tiring and distressing; but we must remember that the people of those days were accustomed to inconveniences that we would not submit to now, though we have our own troubles in the way of strap-hanging in street cars and crowded conditions in subway and elevated trains."

Private vehicles of many new types appeared upon the better roads of the early Nineteenth Century, in the years of happy reaction after the close of the Revolution. And so, with the great improvement in ferries and other boats, in roads and in vehicles ; with the rapid growth and firm prosperity of New York; travel developed, far beyond the bounds of mere necessity, and became a common form of pleasure. To be sure, jaunts that are a mere half-hour's run by train in our day were trips to be planned for then, and to go thirty miles was to make a journey. Nevertheless the New Yorker traveled, and the visitor to New York was a sightseer then as now, not only within the island but over the surrounding country. In The Picture of New- York; or the Traveller's Guide through the Commercial Metropolis of the United States, by a Gentleman Residing in this City, a complete guide-book issued in 1807, we find not only directions for tours all over the city itself, but an appendix devoted to ' ' Tours in the Neighborhood of New-York." These are six in number, and extracts from the descriptions are as follows :

" 1. To New Utrecht. This is the nearest place for sea-bathing and air. The best road to it is from the village of Brooklyn, through Flatbush. On the road thither, the traveller may

Tovirs a Century .Ago 1 3

note several things connected with the Revolution. [Here the guide describes many relics of Putnam's defense of Brooklyn Heights, most of which have since disappeared.]

"2. Tour to Rockaway. The route is from Brooklyn through Jamaica. You may travel thither along the old road, through Bedford, and by the half-way house. But a more agreeable and instructive route is by the new road, over the Wallabogt bridge, through Bushwick and Newtown to Jamaica. The millpond over which this bridge passes, belongs to the national navy-yard. The road from Newtown and Flushing is shortened 2 or 2 x /i miles by it. . . . Newtown is famous for its pippins. . . . Hempstead-plain is a noted resort of plover, and great numbers of these savoury birds are shot every year.

"3. Tour to Islip. Instead of visiting Rockaway, you may travel strait onward to Hempstead village . . . and eastward ... to Islip.

"4. Tour to Passaick Falls. You are to cross the Hudson from Courtlandt street ferry, and pass over to Powles-hook. You may carry horses and carriages over with you, or you may take seats in one of the ordinary lines of stages as far as Newark. Then you may make such further arrangement as you please, in a village where there is no difficulty in procuring the means of conveyance. But a better method than either, if several are going together, is, to make an agreement with one of the stage-offices in New- York, a day or two before-hand, for a carriage to meet you from Newark, with a single or double team as you may wish it, and to be on the ground at Powles-hook, at the precise day and hour you may name; and for the stipulated price you may agree upon. . . . Some persons who are fond of active exercise, go to Newark on foot, a distance of only eight miles. . . . Formerly the passage from Powles-hook to Bergen was through a slough; but it is now a fine smooth Road. The rivers Hackinsack and Passaick were, until about fifteen years ago, passed in flats at ferries; but since that time, travellers cross them on bridges, for the payment of a toll prescribed by law. . . . Not far above the village [Paterson] is the highly picturesque cataract which the Passaick forms in descending from the top to the bottom of the precipice formed by a chasm between the rocks. There is a great deal of rare and sublime scenery hereabout. On an album at the inn you may write your name and your reflections.

"5. To King's Bridge. This may be performed by proceeding from one of the livery stables or genteel boarding houses in the lower parts of the city.

"6. Trip to Sandy-Hook and the Sea-Bass

Old-Time Excursion to Sandy KooR 15

Banks. There are several modes of being conveyed thither. One is, to engage a passage on board the public revenue cutter. Another is, to procure accommodation in one of the pilot boats. But a third, and more easy course is, for a convenient number of gentlemen to charter a suitable coasting vessel or packet, to carry them a short trip to sea, and bring them back again."

It is apparent from this that feminism in 1807 had not advanced to a point which included ladies in pleasure excursions to the "Sea-Bass Banks."

A similar volume, published in 1828 and entitled The Picture of New-York and Stranger's Guide to the Commercial Metropolis of the United States, adds to the above tours similar jaunts to Long Branch and Staten Island. It also gives directions for the "Tour around Manhattan Island," by boat, which "may be conveniently made in a few hours," and calls attention to the many reminders of Revolutionary history to be seen on the trip — Fort Washington, Harlem Heights, and so on.

So, as did the traveler of a century ago, let us set out to-day from the heart of New York and read the history written all around us. We shall follow, one by one, those ferries and roads which most nearly correspond to the ferries and roads of other days. Starting toward the east, we can trace the old ways to and upon Long Island; south toward the Highlands, over Staten Island, into New Jersey — moving northward until the Palisades are reached, and Rockland County in New York State — crossing the Hudson, we enter Westchester County, move across it to the shore of the Sound and East River, and find ourselves back on Long Island once more. Thus the circle is complete.

EASTWARD INTO LONG ISLAND

Chapter II The Jamaica And Jericho Turnpike

TURNING toward the east, the early New Yorker began his jaunt by means of a ferry to Brooklyn, or Breuckland — broken land. When John Areson was the lessee, the charge of ferriage for a single person was eight stivers in wampum, or a silver two-pence; for each person in company, half that amount; after sunset, double the price; and for each horse or beast, one shilling if alone, and nine pence in company.

Rip Van Dam took a lease of the ferry in 1698, for a period of seven years, to pay 165 pounds a year. During the period of the Revolution, the old ferry was run by Van Winkle and Bukett, who charged for ferriage six pence.

At present let us pass through Brooklyn, for the greatest event in her history calls for a chapter alone — the Battle of Long Island. We will follow the great artery which led directly east into the island.

CO East-ward

One hundred and twenty-nine years ago it was declared in a town meeting of Jamaica that "no hogs shall be permitted to roam about the streets." By this act the people of that Long Island village were declaring themselves for civic improvement quite as forcibly as any present-day municipality when it demands improved traffic control and underground trolley wires. The restraint of willful hogs was an advanced thought in that day.

Jamaica was progressive. Along with Brooklyn, it had deplored the conditions of travel on the island, and when, in the early eighteen-hundreds, the turnpike became popular in the United States, the Brooklyn and Jamaica Turnpike Company was formed, and it was only a short time before these toll-gate roads were running out from Jamaica like fingers from a hand. Most famous of all was the Jamaica and Jericho Turnpike, which still leads to the old Quaker settlements.

Jamaica is a town of much historic interest. Its most distinguished building is the former home of Rufus King, or King's Mansion. It faces the highway. Its large grounds are now city property and form a fine shaded park open to the public. Far back from the street the house stands, carefully preserved, and treasuring within its walls many relics— carved furniture of ancient pattern, a quaint marriage chest, and so

King in tKe Senate 21

on. On Mondays between ten and four o'clock this museum is open.

This dignified building was erected in 1750, although it was not until 1805 that it won the distinction of being King's country seat. It was then that he had finished his arduous duties as Minister to the Court of St. James, the appointment made by Washington and endorsed by Adams and Jefferson. As Harvard student, as lawyer, as aide-de-camp to Glover in the Revolution, as delegate to the Continental Congress, and as Minister to England, he had won a series of distinctions, and whoever visits this peaceful home in Jamaica can realize what a rest it must have meant to settle down here after the strenuous career which he had followed.

Thompson says of him: "Mr. King's manner in the Senate was highly dignified, and in private life, that of a polished gentleman. His speeches, in manner and weight, gave him an exalted rank. Among his superior advantages, was an accurate knowledge of dates and facts, of most essential service in the Senate. His two finest speeches are said to have been, on the burning of Washington by the British, and on the exclusion of Mr. Gallatin from the Senate, for the reason that he had not been a citizen of the United States long enough to entitle him to a seat there."

Continuing along Fulton Street, the introduction to the old turnpike, you come to several interesting buildings reminiscent of early-day Long Island. Grace Episcopal Church, east of Church Street, is the descendant of the early Episcopal Church which the English settlers established, and it still possesses the communion service sent from England in 1702 by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Lands.

On Fulton Street, too, is the Presbyterian Church, standing close to the original site. As that happened to be exactly in the middle of the street, it was found convenient to set the later building a trifle farther back. A small warfare took place here in the early Eighteenth Century : the Episcopal rector, Mr. Bartow, under the endorsement of Lord Cornbury, seized the Presbyterians' building and held services there, claiming the right of the Church of England. It was many years before a happy settlement of the difficulty was made. Even the old Burying Ground, over in the South Quarter of the town, was drawn into the unfortunate wrangle.

On the west side of Union Hall Street is the old Union Hall Academy, whose charter was signed in 1792 by Governor Clinton at the request of fifty individuals, including Eliphalet Wickes. It was the third academic building on Long Island, or rather, the original was, for the

Cannon at Hollis, near the Spot where Woodhull was Captured.

A Tablet on the School Building at Hollis, Placed by Sons of the American Revolution in Honor of Woodhull.

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Beginnings of Jamaica 23

building standing now was erected in 1820, to give scope for the growth of the school. The schools which preceded it were those of East Hampton and Flatbush.

The Jameco Indians, a group living near the site of the town, gave rise to the name which was finally adopted as permanent — or so it is supposed, although the origin of the word has been questioned. The Dutch settlers had previously called the place "Rusdorp." A clause in the confirmatory deed, which was afterwards obtained from the Rockaway tribe of Indians, read :

"One thing to be remembered, that noe person is to cut downe any tall trees wherein Eagles doe build theire nests."

Jamaica came to be the seat of justice for the north riding of Yorkshire, at its organization in 1665. This headquarters was not changed until 1788, when the courthouse was erected on Hempstead Plains.

Interesting town records, dating back almost to the middle of the Seventeenth Century, are preserved in Jamaica. Thompson gives an account of the arrangement made at a town meeting in the summer of 1660, that the inhabitants should mow the common meadows by squadrons, an agreement being made that lots be cast for the south meadows, "for which purpose the meadows were divided into four parts, the inhabitants into four squadrons."

Items which he quotes from other records are as follows:

April 30, 1 66 1. "Voted to hire a person to keep the towne's cowes and calves for the year, and also to pay Mr. Coe £11.175. in good passable wampum out of money lent to the towne by Nicholas Tanner."

May 12, 1 66 1. "Whereas the towne are informed off one y* milkt other ffolke cowes, being catcht by some off the town, they have chosen William ffoster to prosecute y e cause to y e uttermost, either here or at the Manhattans, and the towne will satisfie him ffor what charge he shall be at about y e business."

January 30, 1662. "The town doe promis to give Abraham Smith 30 5. ffor beating y e drum a year."

Hollis is about a mile east of Jamaica. Here the Woodhull tradition centers. You will find, still standing, the tavern erected in 1710 and practically unchanged to-day, where General Nathaniel Woodhull was captured by the British. "Goetz's" is the name by which you may know it; Increase Carpenter owned it during the Revolution.

In August, 1776, Woodhull, having sent his men on to a point four miles east of Jamaica, set out to follow them. A storm overtook him; he sought refuge in this inn, and here the enemy surprised him and his capture ensued.

Capture of WoodHxill 25

A detachment of the 17th Regiment of British dragoons and the 71st Regiment of infantrycomposed the party, under the guidance of certain inhabitants who had become disaffected.

Woodhull, realizing that he was discovered, immediately gave up his sword in token of surrender, but this was not enough to satisfy the officer who approached him. This is said to have been Major Baird, of the 71st Regiment. "Say, 'God save the King!' " he commanded. 11 God save us all," replied the American general. The British officer, enraged, fell upon Woodhull with his broadsword, and nothing saved his life at the time but the charitable interference of another officer, said to have been Major De Lancey. As it was, Woodhull sustained severe wounds in the head, and the mangling of one arm caused, finally, his death.

The British, resigning the purpose of compelling him to say "God save the King!", now carried him to Jamaica where they had his wounds dressed. The next day he was taken, along with some eighty other prisoners, to Gravesend, where he was confined on board a vessel. This vessel was not adapted for passengers; it had been used merely for the purpose of transporting live stock for the army, and the unsanitary conditions aboard it were of the worst. The suffering of the wounded general grew so serious that an officer, observing his condition, remonstrated with those in charge of the affair, and the upshot was that Woodhull was released, taken to a house in New Utrecht, and there attended by a physician.

But the case had advanced too far, and it was found necessary to amputate the injured arm. The General sent for his wife and requested that she bring with her all the money in her possession. When she arrived with it, he ordered that it be distributed among the American prisoners. The operation was then performed, but death followed, on the twentieth of September. His wife took the body seventy miles, to the Long Island farm which had been the family home.

Thompson quotes a remarkable ballad on this theme, for a copy of which he acknowledges indebtedness to Philip J. Forbes of the New York City Library. Some of its score or more of stanzas run in this wise :

Stay ! Traveller, stay ! And hear me tell

A gallant soldier's fate!. 'Twas on this spot brave Woodhull fell!

Sad story to relate!

Full twenty foes about his head

Their glittering sabres flung, And down, on his uplifted blade,

Swift blows descending rung!

" Fvill Twenty Foes '* 27

"Who will not say 'God save the King,'

No mercy here shall find; These are the terms from George we bring;

Art thou to these inclin'd?"

"I freely say 'God save us all,'

Those words include your King; If more ye ask, then must I fall,

Yet still he held his trusty sword

Uprais'd above his head, And feebly strove his life to guard

While he profusely bled!

A more heroic, gallant end,

No age nor clime can boast; Yet history ne'er the tale hath penn'd,

And but for me 'twere lost!

It is not probable that "full twenty foes" did thus fall upon the General, but his "heroic, gallant end" is to be remembered. It is commemorated on the grounds of a public school near the tavern, where stands a cannon, a monument to Woodhull. On the school building is a tablet "in memory of General Nathaniel Woodhull, President of the Provincial Congress of New York in 1775 . . . citizen, soldier, patriot of the Revolution."

Before setting out on the long road to Jericho, a side-trip, leading into the old Hempstead