Old Taverns of New York

Third Vauxhall

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.

The Old Coffee House

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.

Dinner to Robert R. Livingston

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.

The Embargo

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.

Mechanics’ Hall

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 England Society

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.

Washington Hall

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.”

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.

Tammany Hall

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.

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.

The Battery

Between State Street and the hay was the Battery, a beautifully situated open space of ground, where military parades were frequently held. On the Fourth of July and other anniversary days, there were brilliant exhibitions here of the artillery and other uniform troops. It was a public ground, where the citizens could enjoy the fresh breezes from the bay and the cool shade of the trees on hot summer days. The prospect afforded of the Jersey Shore, Staten Island, Long Island and the other small islands, of the ships at anchor and of others passing and repassing, made a scene at once variegated and delightful. For those who desired it, music, ice cream and other delicacies could be had at Corré’s public garden on State Street, not far away.

The Second Ranelagh

We have described Vauxhall Garden, but there was also a Ranelagh, a suburban resort, situated about at the junction of Grand and Division Streets, near Corlear’s Hook. It had been formerly known by the name of Mount Pitt. The adjoining grounds were shady and agreeable and from in front of the house was an extensive view of the city and of the eastern and southern parts of the harbor. At a short distance were the ruins of a battery erected during the Revolutionary War, behind Belvedere, and on these mouldering ramparts was a pleasant walk and prospect. Behind Ranelagh were considerable remains of the line of entrenchments, made by the British in 1781, across the island from Corlear’s Hook to Lispenard’s Brewery, to defend the city against the American army.

The Ugly Club

On the 4th of July, 1807, the Society of the Cincinnati partook of their annual dinner at the house of Joseph Baker, No. 4 Wall Street, corner of New, which for many years after this was a well known and popular house. About 1815, a select little circle, composed of the handsomest and most companionable young men of that day to be found in New York City, made this little tavern their rendezvous, where they held frequent convivial meetings. This was the Ugly Club and Baker’s Tavern, or porter house, was styled Ugly Hall. Fitz-Greene Halleck was a member of this club and was honored by the appointment of “Poet Laureate to the Ugly Club.”

Baker’s Tavern was for a time the starting place, or terminus of the route, of the stages which ran to Greenwich village. On the road to Greenwich a little beyond Canal Street was Tyler’s, a popular suburban resort, some years before known as Brannon’s Tea Garden. Many of the old graduates of Columbia College, who were living not so many years ago, cherished pleasant memories of Commencement suppers indulged in at this place.

The sportsman could find not far from the city, on Manhattan Island, abundance of game; and it was no unusual thing in the gaming season to see well known men with guns on their shoulders and followed by their dogs, making their way up Broadway or Greenwich Street to the open country. In the Bowery Lane, at the second mile stone, was the Dog and Duck Tavern, which was frequented by those who chose to visit the salt meadows which were covered in the autumn with water-fowl. Further up the island, near the five mile stone, was the Dove Tavern, where those had their quarters who sought the woodcock and quail in the fields and glades, or the wild pigeon in the woods which covered a large part of the land.

XIII

The Shakespeare Tavern

War

On June 19, 1812, President Madison issued his formal proclamation of war with Great Britain. The news reached New York at nine o’clock on the morning of Saturday, June 20th. On the same day orders came to Commodore Rodgers to sail on a cruise against the enemy. He was in entire readiness and put to sea within an hour after receiving his instructions. He passed Sandy Hook on the afternoon of June 21st, with his squadron consisting of the President, 44; the United States, 44; the Congress, 38; the Hornet, 18; and the Argus, 16 – in all, five vessels, carrying 160 guns. The British force cruising off the coast consisted of eight men-of-war, carrying 312 guns, with a number of corvettes and sloops. In a few months the victories of the American ships thrilled the country with satisfaction and delight and fairly stunned the English who had regarded the American navy as beneath contempt.

Dinner to Naval Heroes

On Tuesday, December 29, 1812, a magnificent banquet was given by the corporation and citizens of New York at the City Hotel, then kept by Gibson, in honor of Captain Decatur, Captain Hull and Captain Jones, to celebrate their recent victories. The dinner was served at five o’clock in the afternoon and five hundred gentlemen sat down to table. It was a naval dinner and marine decorations prevailed. The large dining-room “was colonaded round with the masts of ships entwined with laurels and bearing the flags of all the world.” Each table had on it a ship in miniature flying the American flag. At the head of the room, at a long table raised about three feet above the others, sat the mayor of the city, DeWitt Clinton, the president of the feast, with Decatur upon his right and Hull upon his left. In front of this, in a space covered with green grass was a lake of real water, on which floated a miniature frigate. Across the end of the room, back of all, hung on the wall the large main sail of a ship. At the toast, “To our Navy,” the main-sail was furled, exposing to view two large transparent paintings, one representing the battles between the Constitution and the Guerriere, the United States and the Macedonian and the Wasp and the Frolic, and the other representing the American Eagle holding in his beak three civic crowns, on which were the following inscriptions: “Hull and the Guerriere” – “Jones and the Frolic” – “Decatur and the Macedonian,” which produced great enthusiasm among the guests. The dinner was a great success. At the very time it was being served, Commodore Bainbridge, in the Constitution, was engaged with the British frigate, Java, in a hot action, lasting nearly two hours, in which he silenced all her guns and made of her a riddled and dismantled hulk, not worth bringing to port. In this same banquet room, the decorations having been retained, the crew of the United States were entertained on Thursday, January 7, 1813, by the corporation. Alderman Vanderbilt delivered the address of welcome to the sailors, of whom there were about four hundred present. After dinner, by invitation, they attended the Park Theatre, where the drop-curtain had on it a painting representing the fight of the United States and the Macedonian.

Dinner to Captain Lawrence

On the 13th of May, 1813, by a vote of the common council, a dinner was given to Captain Lawrence, of the Hornet, and his gallant crew at Washington Hall. The seamen landed at Whitehall Slip about half-past two o’clock in the afternoon, attended by the band of the Eleventh Regiment and marched through Pearl Street, Wall Street and Broadway to Washington Hall. At half-past three o’clock the petty officers, seamen and marines sat down to a bountiful repast. Paintings representing the victories of Hull, Decatur, Jones and Bainbridge decorated the walls of the room, and over the chair of the boatswain of the Hornet, who was the presiding officer, was an elegant view by Holland of the action of the Hornet with the Peacock. The table was decorated with a great variety of flags and with emblems appropriate to the occasion. After the meats were removed a visit to the room was made by the common council, accompanied by Captain Lawrence. At the sight of their commander the sailors rose from their seats and heartily cheered him with three times three. Perfect order and decorum were preserved and the bottle, the toast and the song went round with hilarity and glee.

In another room a dinner was served to the corporation and its guests, among whom were Captain Lawrence and all his officers, the commanders of all the ships of war on the New York Station, many of the judges of the courts and Colonel Joseph G. Swift, the commander of the corps of engineers. This room was decorated by many emblematic paintings by Mr. Holland, descriptive of our naval victories; some of them had been used at the great naval dinner given to Decatur, Hull and Jones at the City Hotel in the previous December.

The crew were invited to attend the performance at the theater that evening, the front of the theater being illuminated and the pit set apart for their accommodation. They marched in a body from the dinner table to the theater at six o’clock.

Dinner to General Harrison

A dinner was given to General Harrison in the afternoon of December 1, 1813, at Tammany Hall under the direction of the State Republican (Democratic) general committee of New York. Besides the distinguished guest, there were Governor Tompkins, Major-Generals Dearborn and Hampton, Judge Brockholst Livingston, of the United States Supreme Court, and a great number of officers of the army and navy and of the volunteer corps of the city. The dining hall was handsomely decorated under the direction of Mr. Holland. There were five tables, containing sixty covers each, ornamented by representations of castles, pyramids, etc., provided by Martling and Cozzens, the proprietors, in their usual elegant and liberal manner.

Dinner to Commodore Bainbridge

The Federalists, in their turn, on the 8th of the same month, in the afternoon, gave a splendid dinner to Commodore Bainbridge at Washington Hall, at which John B. Coles presided. Notwithstanding the unpleasant weather there were nearly three hundred persons present. Among the number were Governor Tompkins, Mayor Clinton, Major-Generals Dearborn and Stevens, Judges Brockholst Livingston, Van Ness and Benson and the officers of the navy on the New York Station. The room was handsomely decorated and the dinner was provided by Captain Crocker and served up in a very correct and elegant style.

Dinner to Commodore Perry

The next public dinner during the winter season was given to Commodore Perry on the afternoon of the 11th of January, 1814, at Tammany Hall, at which about three hundred and fifty persons were present. Major James Fairlie presided. There were seven tables; one of these, on an elevated platform, at which the honored guests were seated, crossed the eastern end of the room, the others led from it to the lower end, and all were beautifully embellished with numerous ornaments. The pillars of the hall were surrounded with clusters of American flags, and the decorations of the hall were arranged under the gratuitous direction of Mr. Holland. Five transparent paintings from his pencil adorned the walls. One of these, covering about one hundred and fifty square feet, represented a large eagle bearing in his beak and talons a scroll inscribed in large capitals: “We have Met the Enemy and they are Ours.” In the evening Commodore Perry attended a ball at Washington Hall which followed a concert given at that place.

Patriotic Demonstrations by the Two Parties

As before the war, the people were divided into two great parties, one for war, the other for peace, but both claiming to be acting for the good of the general government and the welfare of the people, while the fear of disunion of the states hung heavily over the country. At the anniversary dinner at Washington Hall on the 4th of July, 1813, one of the volunteer toasts was: “Our Country – Disgraced by the folly of democracy, may its character soon be retrieved by the virtue and talents of federalism.” The war made the celebration of the Fourth of July particularly important, and the two parties vied with each other in patriotic demonstrations. The celebration of Independence Day, 1814, was made by two grand processions; one was led by the Tammany Society, which was joined and followed by several other societies; the other was led by the Washington Benevolent Society, joined by the Hamilton Society. The military parade, headed by the governor, was made entirely independent of any procession. After the procession the members of the Tammany Society sat down to a repast prepared by Martling and Cozzens, proprietors of Tammany Hall Hotel, and the members of the Washington Benevolent Society and of the Hamilton Society dined in the afternoon at Washington Hall, but in separate rooms. The State Society of the Cincinnati held their annual meeting at the City Hall, after which they retired to the Tontine Coffee House where a dinner was served to them at four o’clock. Commodore Decatur, lately elected an honorary member, dined with the Society. After dinner, eighteen toasts were drunk, each followed by an appropriate piece of music by Moffit’s military band. At Vauxhall the celebration in the evening surpassed in display and grandeur any previous exhibitions of the kind.