William Gracie, the eldest son, married the beautiful Miss Wolcott, daughter of Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of the Treasury under Washington. A great reception was given by Mr. and Mrs. Archibald Gracie to the bride at this house. All the bridesmaids, groomsmen, and a large company were assembled when the bride died suddenly of heart disease. His daughter Hester was married in the parlor of the house to William Beach Lawrence, afterwards Governor of Rhode Island. Another daughter married James Gore King, the eminent banker, and another Charles King, afterwards president of Columbia College, both being sons of Rufus King of Revolutionary fame. On one occasion during the Napoleonic wars, a French vessel was chased by an English frigate into the neutral harbor of New York. The Englishman lay in the lower bay ready to attack the Frenchman when he should return through the Narrows. Being sure of his prize he was off his guard. The French captain, taking a skillful pilot, slipped up the East River, a feat believed impossible for so large a vessel. In rounding Gracie’s Point a sailor on a yardarm was swept from his perch by the overhanging branches of a great elm that was standing on the lawn as late as 1880. With wonderful agility, the sailor seized the limbs and swinging from one to another reached the trunk, down which he slid to the ground. Charles King, calling to the Frenchman, rushed to the other side of the Point, put him in his boat and followed the man-of-war, although it had then swung over to the other side of the river. By skillful management he reached the vessel and the sailor scrambled aboard. Anyone who remembers the waters of Hell Gate before the rocky bottom was blown up by the Government will admit that Mr. King did some vigorous rowing. The man-of-war escaped by way of the Sound, much to the chagrin of the English.
Many distinguished people were entertained in this house. When Louis Philippe was here in exile he was invited to dine with Mrs. Gracie. The carriage and four were sent to town to bring the royal visitor, and when he arrived the family were assembled to receive him. One of the little girls exclaimed aloud, “That is not the king, he has no crown on his head,” at which the guest laughed good-naturedly and said: “In these days, kings are satisfied with wearing their heads without crowns.” An early picture shows an ornamental balustrade on the roof of the house and also on that of the piazza, relieving the present rather bare appearance.
BOROUGH OF THE BRONX
The Gouverneur Morris House[49]
Gouverneur Morris was one of the most interesting characters of the Revolutionary era, interesting because he had an individuality that distinguished him from the other worthies of the time. Though crippled,[50] his versatility and activity of mind and body were very great. An orator of the first rank, when but a few years past his majority he swayed the Continental Congress with his views upon matters of finance, a subject for which he had an especial aptitude throughout his career. Resolving, when a young man, to be the first lawyer in the land, he became so. By reason of his connections, his education and abilities, during his long stay abroad he associated on intimate terms with a vast number of the most influential personages living at the time. The unfortunate King and Queen of France sought his advice and aid in their troubles, as did Lafayette and many others.
His diary published in 1888 (now out of print), written in Paris during the early days of the French Revolution, although evidently for his own use, is comparable with those other letters and memoirs of the eighteenth century when writing of the sort was cultivated as a fine art.
His father’s will states: “It is my desire that my son, Gouverneur Morris, may have the best education that is to be had in England or America.” Great pains were taken that this should be carried out, so that he should be fitted for any career that might open to him.[51] He was a member of the Provincial Congress of New York, in 1775, “serving on the various committees with such well-balanced judgment as to command the respect of men of twice his age and experience.” Twice elected to the Continental Congress, he was a chairman of three committees for carrying on the war,[52] wrote continually on all subjects, especially that of finance, and at the same time practiced law, doing all this before he was twenty-eight years of age. After five years of devotion to public affairs, he became a citizen of Philadelphia and settled down to the practice of his profession.