Michael Little’s Tavern, or Porter House, as it was called, was at 56 Pine Street, a little below William Street, and it speaks well for the house that it should have been selected by Brillât-Savarin and his friends as a place for their suppers. Brillât-Savarin spent two years in New York, 1794-96, supporting himself by giving lessons in the French language and playing in the orchestra of the theater. He gives a very amusing account of a dinner party at Little’s place, of which he and his two friends formed a part. He had met there Mr. Wilkinson, an Englishman from Jamaica and his friend, whose name he never knew, whom he described as a very taciturn man, with a square face, keen eyes, and features as expressionless as those of a blind man, who appeared to notice everything but never spoke; only, when he heard a witty remark or merry joke, his face would expand, his eyes close, and opening a mouth as large as the bell of a trumpet, he would send forth a sound between a laugh and a howl called by the English, horse laugh; after which he would relapse into his habitual taciturnity. Mr. Wilkinson appeared to be about fifty years of age, with the manners and all the bearing of a gentleman (un homme comme il faut).

These two Englishmen, pleased with the society of Brillât-Savarin and his friends, had many times partaken of the frugal collation which was offered them, when, one evening, Wilkinson took Brillât-Savarin to one side and declared his intention of engaging all three of them to dine with him. The invitation was accepted and fixed for three o’clock in the afternoon of the third day after. As they were about to leave the waiter quietly told Brillât-Savarin that the Jamaicans had ordered a good dinner and had given directions that the wine and liquor be carefully prepared, because they regarded the invitation as a challenge or test of drinking powers, and that the man with the big mouth had said that he hoped to put the Frenchmen under the table.

For such a drinking bout Brillât-Savarin had no relish, but the Frenchmen could not now very well avoid it without being accused of being frightened by the Englishmen. Although aware of the danger, following the maxim of Marshal de Saxe, “As the wine was drawn they prepared to drink it.” (“Le vin etait tiré, nous nous preparâmes à le boire.”)

Brillât-Savarin had no fear for himself, but he did not wish to see his two friends go down with the others; he wished to make it a national victory, and not an individual one. He, therefore, sent for his friends and gave them a lecture. He instructed them to restrain their appetites at the beginning so as to eat moderately with the wine throughout the whole dinner, to drink small draughts and even contrive to get rid of the wine sometimes without drinking it. They divided among them a quantity of bitter almonds, recommended for such an occasion.

At the appointed time they all met at Little’s Tavern, and soon after the dinner was served. It consisted of an enormous piece of roast beef, a turkey (dindon cuit dans son jus), vegetables, a salad and a tart (tarte aux comfitures). They drank after the French fashion, that is to say, the wine was served from the commencement. It was very good claret. Mr. Wilkinson did the honors of the table admirably. His friend appeared absorbed in his plate and said nothing.

Brillât-Savarin was charmed with his two friends. La Massue, although endowed with a sufficiently good appetite, was mincing his food like a delicate young lady, and Fehr was adroitly succeeding in passing glasses of wine into a beer pot at the end of the table. He himself was holding up well against the two Englishmen, and the more the dinner advanced the more confident he felt.

After the claret came Port, after Port, Madeira, at which they stuck for a long time. On the arrival of the dessert, composed of butter, cheese and nuts, was the time for toasts. They drank to the power of kings, the liberty of the people and the beauty of women; particularly to the health of Mr. Wilkinson’s daughter, Mariah, who, he assured his guests, was the most beautiful person in all the island of Jamaica.

After the wine came spirits—rum, brandy and whiskey—and with the spirits, songs. Brillât-Savarin avoided the spirits and called for punch. Little himself brought in a bowl of it, without doubt prepared in advance, sufficient for forty persons. No such vessel for drink was ever seen in France.

Brillât-Savarin says that he ate five or six slices of buttered toast (roties d’un beurre extremement frais) and felt his forces revived. He then took a survey of the situation, for he was becoming much concerned as to how it would all end. His two friends appeared quite fresh and drank as they picked the nuts. Wilkinson’s face was scarlet, his eyes were troubled and he appeared to be giving way. His friend said nothing, but his head smoked like a boiling caldron. The catastrophe was approaching.

Suddenly Mr. Wilkinson started to his feet and began to sing Rule Britannia, but he could get no farther than these words; his strength failed him; he felt himself drop into his chair and from there rolled under the table (coula sous le table). His friend seeing him in this state, emitted one of his noisiest laughs, and stooping to assist him fell by his side.

Brillât-Savarin, viewing the scene with considerable satisfaction and relief, rang the bell, and when Little came up, after addressing him the conventional phrase, “See to it that these gentlemen are properly cared for,” with his friends drank with him their health in a parting glass of punch. The waiter, with his assistants, soon came in and bore away the vanquished, whom they carried out, according to the rule, feet foremost, which expression is used in English to designate those dead or drunk, Mr. Wilkinson still trying to sing Rule Britannia, his friend remaining absolutely motionless.

Next day seeing in the newspapers an account of what had happened, with the remark that the Englishmen were ill, Brillât-Savarin went to see them. He found the friend suffering from a severe attack of indigestion. Mr. Wilkinson was confined to his chair by the gout, brought on probably by his late dissipation. He seemed sensible to the attention and said to Brillât-Savarin, among other things: “Oh! dear sir, you are very good company, indeed, but too hard a drinker for us.”

ANTHELME BRILLAT-SAVARIN

Brillât-Savarin was a convivial soul, a lover of good cheer and openhanded hospitality. The time passed so pleasantly and he was so comfortable while in New York City, that on taking his departure for France, in 1796, he declared that all he asked of Heaven was, never to know greater sorrow in the Old World that he had known in the New. He settled in Paris, and after holding several offices under the Directory, became a judge in the Cour de Cassation, the French court of last resort, where he remained until his death, in 1826. While without special reputation as a jurist, as a judge and expounder of gastronomic excellence, his name has become immortalized.

On the 16th of December, 1796, “the young men of the city who were willing to contribute to the preservation of the Public Safety, at that critical juncture,” were invited to attend a meeting “at Mr. Little’s Porter House in Pine Street that evening at seven o’clock in order to form an association for that laudable purpose.” Soon after this Little moved to No. 42 Broad Street, the old Fraunces’ Tavern. At this place, on Wednesday, July 28, 1802, the two friends of De Witt Clinton and Colonel John Swartwout met to make arrangements for the duel which took place at Hoboken on Saturday, July 31st. A meeting of the gentlemen of the bar of the City of New York was held here February 11, 1802.

XII

The social ties that had existed before the Revolution were all broken up, and new connections had to be formed. Societies, like the St. Andrew and St. George, were revived, and patriotic societies, such as the Cincinnati and the Tammany were formed. The first purely social club after the war, of which we have any knowledge, was the Black Friars, founded November 10, 1784, the officers of which were a Father, Chancellor, Cardinals and Priors. On May 9, 1789, the society held a festival at the Friary, dinner being served at half-past four, and on November 10th of the same year celebrated its anniversary, an oration being delivered by Dr. Tillery. After dinner, eleven toasts were drunk, only eleven states having then come into the union. One of these toasts was: “The Fair Daughters of Columbia, may they ever find a friend in a Friar.” The society was charitable as well as social, and met twice a month at the Friary, No. 56 Pine Street. Among its members at this time were Josiah Ogden Hoffman, Benjamin Graves, John Stagg, Dr. James Tillery, Bernard Hart, Dr. Benjamin Kissam, Richard Harwood, John Fisher and Oliver Glean. In 1802 the Friary was at the hotel of John Adams, Jr., 68 William Street. Its meetings were also held at the Merchants’ Coffee House; by order of the Father.

The Friendly Club, under the presidency of General Laight, existed for some years about this period, and included among its members many prominent men of the city. It met at the houses of its members in rotation every Tuesday evening. It was the duty of the host to direct the conversation and at the close of the discussion light refreshments were served. The Drone Club, a select and literary circle, was instituted about the year 1792. Its aim was intellectual advancement and the cultivation of letters rather than social or festive enjoyment. Its members were recognized by proofs of authorship, and in its ranks was the best talent of the city. It seems to be a fact that social clubs that met at taverns had more vitality than those that held their meeting at the houses of members.

The Belvedere House was built in the year 1792 by thirty-three gentlemen composing the Belvedere Club. It was situated near the East River, about a quarter of a mile beyond the paved streets of the east side of the city, its site being now about the center of the block bounded by Montgomery, Cherry, Clinton and Monroe Streets. The original intention was to build merely a couple of rooms for the use of the club, but the beauty of the situation induced them to extend their plan and they erected a building to answer the purposes of a public hotel or tavern as well as for their own accommodation. The ball-room, which included the whole of the second story of the east front of the house was octagon, forty-five feet long, twenty-four feet wide and seventeen feet high, with a music gallery. This room, finished and decorated in admirable style, was retained by the Club for their Saturday evening meetings, during the summer season, the only exclusive privilege which the proprietors held. Its windows opened to the floor, communicating with a balcony twelve feet wide which surrounded the eastern part of the house and afforded a most agreeable promenade. The room under this on the ground floor, of the same shape and size in length and breadth as the ball-room, was used as a dinner and supper room for large companies and public entertainments. On the west side of the house were two dining parlors, a bar-room, two card-rooms and a number of bed chambers. To the west of the house was a small courtyard with stables, coach house and other offices; to the east, although the grounds were small, was a bowling green, and there were graveled walks and some shrubbery. From the balcony of the house could be seen a great part of the city, the bay of New York, Long Island, the East River as far as Hell Gate, and the bold and magnificent Pallisades bordering the North River on the Jersey side.

BELVEDERE CLUB HOUSE

The house when completed, was taken by John Avery, who in December, 1793, was prepared to supply ladies and gentlemen with dinners and suppers, and made it known that the use of the ball-room could be obtained on seasonable notice, for public or private parties, balls or concerts. In 1798, the Society of the Cincinnati, after transacting at Federal Hall, the usual business of their anniversary meeting, on July 4th, adjourned to the Belvedere for the dinner which was served up to them in the usual style. The Belvedere was an hilarious association, the main object of which was social enjoyment. Its members were doubtless much interested in the pleasures of riding and driving and probably supported to some extent the races which are said to have been regularly held on the Bowery Lane, about the opening of the nineteenth century.

John Lovett was landlord of the City Hotel until 1807, when he was succeeded by Chenelette Dusseaussoir, who had been a confectioner, with a store at No. 102, on the opposite side of Broadway, below the hotel. He continued as landlord for two years, when in 1809, Solomon D. Gibson took charge of the house, and two years later, after making some alterations, informs the public that, “The Ordinary of the Hotel is always supplied with every variety and delicacy which the season will permit, while the Bar can boast an ample stock of superior wines calculated to tempt the taste of the epicure. A new and elegant Bar-Room and Coffee-Room, fronting on Broadway, have lately been added; which, unrivalled in point of pure air and salubrity, and commanding a delightful view of a street embellished with all the facinations of beauty and by all the graces of fashion, present irresistable attractions to gentlemen of taste.”

The City Hotel afforded better accommodations for balls and concerts than any other place in the city, and the most important affairs of such a nature were held here. What was called the Old Assembly Room in William Street was also used for such purposes. In February, 1802, announcement was made that the second Juvenile Assembly would be held on the 18th at this place. This was probably a rival of the City Assembly. In the announcement their rules are given out, which appear to have been very strict.

An English traveler who visited New York in 1807 states that the City Hotel nearly resembles in size and architecture the London Tavern in Bishopgate Street. He also says: “Dancing is an amusement that the New York ladies are passionately fond of, and they are said to excel those of every other city in the Union. I visited the City Assembly, which is held at the City Hotel in the Broadway, and considered as the best in New York. It was the first night of the season, and there was not more than one hundred and fifty persons present. I did not perceive anything different from an English assembly, except the cotillions, which were danced in an admirable manner, alternately with the country dances. Several French gentlemen were present, and figured away in the cotillions with considerable taste and agility. The subscription is two dollars and a half for each night, and includes tea, coffee, and cold collation. None but the first class of society can become subscribers to this assembly. Another has, however, been recently established, in which the genteel part of the second class are admitted, who were shut out from the City Assembly. A spirit of jealousy and pride has caused the subscribers of the new assembly to make their subscriptions three dollars, and to have their balls also at the City Hotel. It was so well conducted, that many of the subscribers of the City Assembly seceded, and joined the opposition one, or subscribed to both.”

About the opening of the nineteenth century there were several musical societies in New York. Some of these were short-lived, but others arose to take their places. The Euterpean was of this period. It lasted until the middle of the century and exercised a considerable influence on the musical taste of the time. There was also a Philharmonic Society. On the 16th of February, 1802, the Columbian Anacreontic Society gave their annual Ladies’ Concert at the Tontine Assembly Rooms, in the City Hotel, Broadway. It must have been considered a very fine affair, for the account of it in the Evening Post next day fills more than a column of the paper. The article states that the concert was “given in a style of superior elegance. The whole suite of apartments occupied by the City Assemblies were thrown open on this occasion. No pains or expense had been spared to provide suitable entertainment. * * * The company assembled at an early hour and were numerous beyond any former occasion.” Between the acts refreshments were served from the tea-room, which part of the entertainment was received by the company with marks of appreciation. The newspaper article concludes: “We beg permission to express our hope that an institution so honorable to the taste and manners of our city, may continue to receive the electric applause of Beauty and Fashion.”

New York celebrated the second centennial anniversary of the discovery of the Hudson River on Monday, the 4th of September, 1809, under the auspices of the New York Historical Society. It was not so grand and elaborate an affair as that of the third centennial celebration, gotten up by the city two years ago, yet, nevertheless, it was an appropriate celebration. At the request of the society the Rev. Dr. Samuel Miller delivered a learned and interesting address concerning this event, before a large and respectable audience of ladies and gentlemen at the City Hall, among whom were the governor, the mayor and the corporation of the city. At four o’clock the members of the society with the invited guests sat down to an elegant dinner prepared for them by Messrs. Fay and Gibson at the City Hotel. Shell fish and other fish, with which our waters abound, were served, with wild pigeon and corn and beans or succotash, the old Dutch or Indian dish, the favorite dish of the season, and the different meats introduced into the country by the early settlers. Such dishes were served as were common in the early history of the city. One of the toasts, which was offered by Simeon DeWitt, was: “May our successors a century hence celebrate the same event which we this day commemorate.” The spirit of Simeon DeWitt may have been the guardian angel of our recent celebration.

The dinners of the St. Andrew’s Society seem to have surpassed all others. The St. Andrew’s Society of the State of New York celebrated its anniversary on Monday, November 30, 1801, at the Tontine Coffee House. Here, after disposing of the usual business of the society, they sat down to a dinner prepared by James Rathwell, the landlord of the house, which, it is said “was never exceeded in this city for elegance and variety, and spent the evening to a pretty late hour with much conviviality and friendship.” They were honored with the company of the mayor, his predecessor in that office, and that of the British consul. One account of the dinner states: “We have never heard so many original and appropriate songs as were sung on this occasion, and never witnessed more genuine satisfaction beam in every eye.” In 1802, and in 1803, the society celebrated their anniversary at the same place and the dinner each year was prepared by Mr. Rathwell in the same superior style as in 1801.

In 1804 the society celebrated their anniversary at the Tontine Coffee House, and at four o’clock sat down to a dinner prepared in the best style by Mr. Hyde, who was again the landlord of the house, “and spent their convivial hour with the dignified festivity of men attached to each other by personal respect, by love to their native and adopted country, and by a generous concurrance in extending a generous proportion of their own comforts to their suffering brethren.” The mayor of the city, the British consul general, Captain Beresford, of the navy, and other gentlemen of distinction honored the society with their company. On the wall of the room hung a full length portrait of General Hamilton, the property of the Chamber of Commerce. Pointing to this, a member of the society gave the toast: “Our Silent Monitor—May we ever emulate his virtues.”

When the society celebrated their anniversary, November 30, 1805, the landlord of the Tontine Coffee House was Thomas Vaughan, who prepared for them a dinner “unusually sumptuous and elegant.” The guests were the mayor of the city, the British consul general, the Hon. Robert R. Livingston and Captain Porteous. At this meeting the society passed a resolution, offered by Dr. Tillery “to erect a plain, neat Monument in memory of that great and good man, Major General Hamilton, on the spot where he received the wound which terminated in his death and which deprived America of her greatest pride and ornament.” The next year Mr. Vaughan again prepared the anniversary dinner for the society at the Tontine Coffee House, when “they allowed themselves to indulge in that degree of innocent mirth and decent conviviality, which comports with the character of those whose flow of soul must not extend beyond the feast of reason.” After dinner toasts were drunk interspersed with Scottish songs and “tales of other times.”

In 1810, honored by the company of several distinguished guests, the St. Andrew’s Society celebrated their anniversary at the City Hotel, then kept by Solomon D. Gibson. A newspaper states: “It would be a want of justice in us towards Mr. Gibson not to state that the style in which the dinner was gotten up and the quality of his wines were such as gave entire satisfaction to the company and did himself much credit.” “After the cloth was removed a number of appropriate toasts were given and the social glass, the cheerful song and ‘Weel timed Daffin,’ kept a considerable party together till ‘Some wee short hour ayont the T’wai’ hinted to each to ‘Tak the way that pleased himsel,’ highly gratified with the agreeable manner in which the day had been spent.”

For more than ten years the Long Room of Martling’s Tavern was the wigwam of the Tammany Society. Immediately after the election of Jefferson, when the Tammany Society had become thoroughly Republican, a division arose between the friends of De Witt Clinton, Chancellor Livingston and Colonel Burr. Each accused the other of faithlessness, dishonesty and duplicity. Clinton became involved with Colonel John Swartwout, a friend of Burr, which led to a duel between them at Hoboken, in which Swartwout was wounded. Bitterness between these factions was intense until 1806, when a coalition was entered into between the Clintonians and Burrites, which was kept secret until the 20th of February, 1806, when they assembled at Dyde’s Hotel to celebrate the union by a supper. The coalition was a surprise to all and was denounced in the strongest terms as an unnatural union, a public outrage, etc. One paper states that “verily a supper was very appropriate; for such deeds of dark and terrible infamy ought to be enacted in the night only,” and calls it a political rascality. The factions had accused each other of all sorts of political crimes and now they had joined forces.

Dyde’s house was next door to the Park Theatre, facing the Park. He called it the London Hotel and proposed to keep it “in the true Old English Style, the principles of which are cleanliness, civility, comfort and good cheer.” In March, 1806, the Park Theatre announced the play of Macbeth, to be followed by the comedy of the Farm House, the curtain to rise at half-past six o’clock. The announcement was followed by a card stating that there could be obtained “an excellent supper at Dyde’s Hotel between the play and farce at 50 cents each; the same every other night at half-past 9 o’clock.” Verily our ancestors took their pleasures in large and heavy doses. For a time Dyde’s Hotel was quite popular. On Sunday, January 11, 1807, Mr. Foster preached a sermon here, and a meeting of the Philharmonic Society was held at Dyde’s Hotel, next to the Theater, on Thursday, January 29, 1807. The Philharmonic Society met here again in December of the same year for the election of officers of the society when it was called the Washington Hotel. When a public ball was given here in February, 1808, by Mr. Armour, a teacher of dancing, it was still known as the Washington Hotel. In the early part of the year 1809, it appears to have been called the Mercantile Coffee House, and also the Commercial Coffee House, but neither of these names clung to it very long.

WHITE CONDUIT HOUSE

The so-called gardens, where ice cream, tea and other beverages were served to the sound of music, were, about the beginning of the century, and had been for some time, popular with the people of New York. During the war, while the city was occupied by the British, near the present corner of Broadway and Leonard Street, there was a public house called the White Conduit House, so called from a popular tavern of that name in London. On the 24th of June, 1779, the Freemasons, in remembrance of St. John, their patron saint, went in procession to St. Paul’s Church, where an excellent sermon was preached by Dr. Seabury; “from thence they proceeded, accompanied by the clergy and band of music to the White Conduit House, where there was an elegant dinner prepared, and the day was celebrated with great harmony and brotherly love.” At the close of the war the place became a public garden and pleasure resort. In 1796 it was under the control of William Byram. Soon after, when the street was cut through, it came into the possession of Joseph Corré, who some years before, had been the landlord of the City Tavern, and was at the time keeper of an ice cream and tea garden on State Street, called the Columbian Garden. Under his management it was known as the Mt. Vernon Garden. The cutting through of the street left the house high above the level, and it was reached by a flight of steps. Flying horses and other like amusements were the attractions of the place. Corré opened here a Summer Theater, in which members of the Park Theater company played during the time their own theater was closed.

Bayard’s Mount, or Bunker Hill, as it was sometimes called, at the present junction of Grand and Mulberry Streets, the highest point on the island near the city, was a well known landmark in its time, overlooking the city and a wide extent of country including the North and East Rivers. There is no sign to-day that such an elevation ever existed at that place. Nearby was the Bayard homestead which had been the residence of the Bayard family for fifty years. In 1798, this, with the surrounding premises, was converted by Joseph Delacroix, a Frenchman, into a popular resort, known as Vauxhall Garden. It was the second of the name, the first, at the corner of Warren and Greenwich Streets, which, before the war, flourished under the management of Sam Francis, having been converted, some years previous, into a pottery.

On Independence Day, 1802, particular exertions were made by the summer gardens to attract visitors. It was announced that the open air theatre at the Mount Vernon Garden, under the management of John Hodgkinson, of the Park Theatre, would open the season on Monday, July 5th, in celebration of Independence Day, with the play of “All the World’s a Stage,” after which would be recitations and songs, followed by “The Sailor’s Landlady or Jack in Distress”; concluding with a grand display of fireworks. Tickets to Box, six shillings, Pit and Gallery, four shillings. Refreshments as usual. Joseph Delacroix informed his friends and the public in general that on Monday, July 5th, the anniversary of American Independence would be celebrated at Vauxhall with great splendor, surpassing everything ever yet exhibited in America. A beautiful drawing of the Triumphal Car which was to take part in the spectacular scene could be seen at the Tontine Coffee House. Doors open at four o’clock. Tickets, four shillings. Grand illuminations and transparencies were promised at the Columbian Garden, in State Street, opposite the Battery. Open from six o’clock in the morning until ten o’clock at night. Tickets, two shillings.

Another place of great notoriety for many years was situated south of the present Astor Place, between the Bowery and Broadway, the narrower end of the property on Broadway, the entrance being on the Bowery. Jacob Sperry, a native of Switzerland, although he had studied physic, purchased the property and for many years devoted himself to the raising of fruits and flowers. In 1803 he sold the garden to John Jacob Astor for nine thousand pounds (£9,000), then considered a good sale. Astor leased it to Joseph Delacroix, who was then conducting the Vauxhall Garden on the Bayard estate, at Grand and Mulberry Streets, and who, when he moved to it, carried with him the name. Under his management it became a noted resort. Vauxhall Garden was an inclosure said to contain three acres of ground, handsomely laid out with gravel walks and grass plots, and adorned with shrubs, trees, flowers, busts, statues, and arbors. In the center was a large equestrian statue of General Washington. There were summer houses, and tables and seats under the trees on the grounds, and boxes or rather stalls around the inside, close up to the high board fence which inclosed the garden, where visitors were served with light refreshments. In the front of the grounds was a building where a theatrical company performed during the summer season. The price of admission was fifty cents to Box, Pit or Gallery, for they were all one and the same thing, the spectators sitting in the open air. The orchestra was among the trees. A resident of Philadelphia relates how on a visit to New York, in 1806, he was carried out to the garden in a hackney coach with three other passengers for twenty-five cents each, and there, for fifty cents, saw performed “The Agreeable Surprise,” in which Twaits played the principal part. Delacroix succeeded in making the garden a very popular resort. All the town flocked to it. It was to the New York of that day something like what Coney Island is to the New York of to-day. With its numerous lamps among the trees and shrubbery and arbors, its artistic adornments, its fireworks and balloons, its music and its theatrical performances and singing, the people of New York considered it about as gay a place of recreation as could be found anywhere. Lafayette Place was cut through the property in 1826, but the garden continued to flourish for more than twenty years after. During the later years of its existence it became a favorite place for public meetings.

About the time that the Tontine Coffee House was built, in 1793, Mrs. Bradford, who had kept the Merchants’ Coffee House since the death of her husband, in 1786, retired. She lived in Cortlandt until her death, in May, 1822. She was succeeded in the old house by John Byrne, who opened it as the New York Hotel, but it was generally called “The Old Coffee House.” Byrne remained there until 1798, when he crossed over to the Tontine and was succeeded by Edward Bardin, who had been a well known tavern-keeper in New York since 1764. Many of the old societies continued to patronize the house. The Free Masons clung to it. The Sons of St. Patrick celebrated here their anniversaries, and the Black Friars—a social club—met here by order of the “Fathers.” The Marine Society continued here their regular meetings. Bardin was in possession of it when it was burned down in the fire of 1804. The building, which was of brick, was valued at $7,500. When the house was rebuilt, Bardin returned to it and opened it as the Phoenix Coffee House, and continued in it until he, too, like his predecessor, went over to the Tontine, in 1812.

A grand dinner was given to the Honorable Robert R. Livingston at the Tontine Coffee House, December 7, 1805. Although circumstances prevented many from attending, yet the room was crowded, and it is said that on no similar occasion was there ever witnessed a more elegant entertainment or a more respectable company. John Watts presided. Among those who attended were: The Reverend Doctor Rodgers, the Lieutenant Governor, the Mayor, the Foreign Consuls, Mr. Morris, Mr. King and Mr. Van Rensselear. After dinner, Mr. Livingston being called on by the president, gave the toast, “New York—Its ports fortified—its commerce prosperous—its mechanics encouraged and its citizens united and happy.” Mr. Livingston having retired amidst the applause of the company the president gave: “Robert B. Livingston—the successful negociator—the friend of agriculture and the patron of fine arts,” which was received with cheers.

Robert R. Livingston

The embargo of 1807 prostrated the business of the city. In the spring of 1808, the streets, wharfs and quays along the East River appeared almost deserted; the bustle and activity of former days no longer prevailed. There were many ships at the wharfs, but they were dismantled and laid up; their decks were cleared, their hatches were fastened down and hardly a sailor was to be seen. Not a box, barrel, bale or package was on the wharfs and many of the counting houses were closed. A few merchants, clerks, porters and laborers could be seen aimlessly strolling about with their hands in their pockets. Where there used to be sixty to a hundred carts standing in the street for hire there were scarcely a dozen, and they were unemployed. A few coasting sloops and schooners, clearing out for the ports of the United States, were all that remained of that immense business which was carried on only a few months before. The Tontine Coffee House was almost empty, the few to be seen, appearing to be there merely to pass away the time, which hung heavy on their hands. There appeared to be little or no business doing there except perhaps a few transactions in securities or stocks. Grass had begun to grow upon the wharfs, and the people seemed to have taken leave of all their former gaiety and cheerfulness. The embargo did not accomplish the results desired. It was lifted in the early part of the year 1809, and the activities of business were again resumed.

The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, founded November 17, 1785, incorporated March 14, 1792, erected a hall of their own on the corner of Broadway and Robinson Street (now Park Place), in 1802. They held their annual celebration in it for the first time on the 6th of January, 1803. After the election of officers and other business before the society, the two hundred and fifteen members in attendance sat down to a dinner prepared for them by Mr. Borowsen, who was then in charge of the house. The day was spent with the utmost hilarity and good humor, enlivened by appropriate toasts and songs. The mayor of the city was a guest of the society. Mechanics’ Hall is described as a building eighty by twenty-seven and a half feet. In the basement was a spacious kitchen, etc.; on the first floor a large coffee room, bar, dining room and landlady’s room; on the second floor, ceiling sixteen feel high, a large hall fifty-two by twenty-five feet, with a handsome orchestra and a drawing room twenty feet square. On the third floor were five spacious rooms for the use of clubs and meetings of any kind and on the fourth twelve bedrooms. In the spring of 1803, the house was taken by Michael Little, and soon became a popular place for balls and concerts. It was for some years one of the prominent hotels of the city. The twelfth anniversary of the society was celebrated here in 1804, when Mr. Little was the landlord of the house.

New York, as headquarters of the British forces in the Revolutionary war, had attracted much attention to her advantageous situation, and when peace returned men of energy flocked to it, as offering a good field for enterprise. Among these were many from New England, and it is claimed that the city owes much to this element, endowed with intelligence, vitality and perseverance. Soon after the opening of the nineteenth century the New England Society was formed. Their first dinner was given December 21, 1805. For some years their meetings were held at the Tontine Coffee House and at other prominent public houses, but about 1812 the society settled on Niblo’s Bank Coffee House as the regular place for their annual dinners. On December 22, 1807, the society held a grand celebration of their anniversary at the City Hotel, where at three o’clock in the afternoon, four hundred gentlemen sat down to an elegant dinner prepared by Mr. Dusseaussoir. The Reverend Doctor Rodgers and several of the venerable clergy from New England sat at the head of the table on the right of the president. It seems to have been a very merry dinner. An account of it, with the songs and toasts, fills over a column of the Evening Post. To honor the day, the proprietors and masters of all vessels in the port of New York, belonging to New England, were requested to hoist their colors on the 22d.

The Washington Benevolent Society was organized on the 12th of July, 1808. On Washington’s birthday, February 22, 1809, after electing officers of the society, they repaired to Zion Church, where an oration was delivered. In the evening, about one thousand members of the society sat down to suppers provided for them at five different houses. On the next Fourth of July the society celebrated the day with more than usual enthusiasm, taking a leading part. They had a grand parade and laid the corner stone of Washington Hall on the corner of Broadway and Reade Streets. The president of the society, Isaac Sebring, after going through the formalities of the occasion, turned to the society and thus impressively addressed them: “While I congratulate the society on this occasion, I cannot but express the hope that the Hall, to be erected on this spot, may be sacredly devoted to the cultivation of Friendship, of Charity, of correct principles and of ardent Patriotism. Built by the friends of Washington, may it never be polluted by the enemies of that illustrious and revered statesman. * * * Designed as the seat of rational republican sentiments, may it be forever preserved from the infuriated footsteps of Monarchy, Aristocracy, Anarchy and Jacobinism. And may our descendants in the latest generation, meet at this spot to commemorate the virtues of their revolutionary ancestors.”

WASHINGTON HALL

Although the Washington Benevolent Society was not organized as a political association there is no doubt that its members were mostly of the Federal party. The Hamilton Society, whose headquarters were at the Hamilton Hotel in Cherry Street, was very friendly. This, too, no doubt, was strongly Federal, and Washington Hall, where the two societies joined in celebrating Washington’s birthday, became, soon after its completion, the headquarters of the Federal party, in opposition to Tammany Hall, completed about the same time, as that of the Republicans or Democrats. Washington Hall, at the time of its erection, was considered one of the handsomest structures in the city. Although intended to be used as a public hall for meetings, assemblies, etc., it was also kept as a hotel. Its first landlord was Daniel W. Crocker.

The corner-stone of Tammany Hall, corner of the present Park Place and Frankfort Street, was laid on Monday, May 13, 1811, the twenty-second anniversary of Tammany Society. Abraham M. Valentine was the grand marshal of the day. The members of the society appeared in aboriginal costume, wore the buck-tail as usual and marched in Indian file. Clarkson Crolius, grand sachem, laid the corner-stone and made a short and spirited address. Alpheus Sherman delivered the oration. Joseph Delacroix, proprietor of Vauxhall Garden and a good Tammanyite, celebrated the twenty-second anniversary of the Tammany Society and the laying of the corner-stone of the Great Wigwam by an unusual exhibition and a grand feu-de-joie at the garden at half-past eight o’clock in the evening. When the hall was completed, besides being used as the Great Wigwam of the Tammany Society, it was taken by Abraham B. Martling, and with his nephew, William B. Cozzens, conducted as a hotel.

TAMMANY HALL

The Fraunces Tavern in Broad Street during the first decade of the nineteenth century continued to be one of the prominent taverns or hotels of the city. The Society of the Cincinnati had their annual dinner here on the Fourth of July, 1804, after a meeting at Federal Hall. It was then kept by David Ross, who had succeeded Michael Little as its landlord when he went to Mechanics’ Hall. Shortly after this, and for some years, it was known as Washington Hotel. In 1813, on the celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the Evacuation, the Independent Veteran Corps of Artillery, after performing the duties of the day, partook of a dinner at this old historic tavern, which seems to have been their headquarters. It was then kept by Rudolphus Kent. This was repeated the next year on Evacuation Day.

FRAUNCES’ TAVERN ABOUT 1830