"Where now in New York is the unalluring and crowded neighborhood of Second avenue and Thirty-fifth street, stood, in 1780, the ancient Bowerie or country seat of Jacobus Kip. Built in 1655, of bricks brought from Holland, encompassed by pleasant trees and in easy view of the sparkling waters of Kip's Bay, on the East river, the mansion remained, even to our own times, in the possession of one of its founder's line.
"When Washington was in the neighborhood, Kip's house had
been his quarters. When Howe crossed from Long Island on
Sunday, September 15th, 1776, he debarked at the rocky point
hard by, and his skirmishers drove our people from their
position behind the dwelling. Since then it had known many
guests. Howe, Clinton, Kniphausen, Percy were sheltered by
its roof. The aged owner, with his wife and daughter,
remained. But they had always an officer of distinction
quartered with them. And if a part of the family were in
arms for Congress, as is alleged, it is certain that others
were active for the Crown.
"Samuel Kip, of Kipsburg, led a cavalry troop of his own
tenantry, with great gallantry, in De Lancey's regiment. And
despite severe wounds, survived long after the war, a heavy
pecuniary sufferer by the cause which, with most of the
landed gentry of New York, he had espoused.
"In 1780, it was held by Colonel Williams, of the 80th royal
regiment. And here, on the evening of the 19th of September,
he gave a dinner to Sir Henry Clinton and his staff, as a
parting compliment to Andre. The aged owner of the house was
present; and when the Revolution was over he described the
scene and the incidents of that dinner. At the table Sir
Henry Clinton announced the departure of Andre next morning,
on a secret and most important expedition, and added, 'Plain
John Andre will come back Sir John Andre.'
"How brilliant soever the company," Mr. Sargent adds,
"how cheerful the repast, its memory must ever have been
fraught with sadness to both host and guests. It was the
last occasion of Andre's meeting his comrades in life. Four
short days gone, the hands, then clasped by friendship, were
fettered by hostile bonds. Yet nine days more and the
darling of the army, the youthful hero of the hour, had
dangled from a gibbet."
For two hundred and twelve years this mansion of venerable memories remained. Then it was swept away by the resistless tide of an advancing population. The thronged pavements of Thirty-fifth street now pass over the spot, where two centuries ago the most illustrious men crowded the banqueting hall, and where youth and beauty met in the dance and song. In view of these ravages of time, well may we exclaim in the impressive words of Burke, "What shadows we are and what shadows we pursue."
In the year 1774, John Adams rode from Boston to Philadelphia on horseback, to attend the first meeting of Congress. His journal contains an interesting account of this long and fatiguing tour. Coming from the puritanic simplicity of Boston, he was evidently deeply impressed with the style and splendor which met his eye in New York. In glowing terms he alludes to the elegance of their mode of living, to the architectural grandeur of their country seats; to the splendor of Broadway, and to the magnificent new church they were building, which was to cost one hundred thousand dollars.
The aristocratic families of New York were generally in favor of the Crown. They were not disposed to pay any special attention to a delegate to the democratic Congress. He had therefore no opportunity of witnessing the splendor of these ancient families. Two lawyers who had become wealthy by their professional labors, received him with honor. At their breakfast tables he beheld display, common enough in almost every genteel household at the present day, but to which he was quite unaccustomed in his frugal home at Quincy. One cannot but be amused in reading the following description of one of his entertainments:
"A more elegant breakfast I never saw; rich plate; a very
large silver coffee pot; a very large silver tea pot;
napkins of the very finest materials; toast and bread and
butter in great perfection. After breakfast a plate of
beautiful peaches, another of pears and a muskmelon were
placed on the table."
The Revolution proved the utter ruin of these great landed proprietors, who naturally espoused the cause of the British court. The habits of life to which they and their fathers had been accustomed necessarily rendered all the levelling doctrines of the Revolution offensive to them. They rallied around the royal banners and went down with them.
Some few of the landed proprietors espoused the cause of the people. Among others may be mentioned the Livingstons and the Schuylers, the Jays, the Laurences, and a portion of the Van Courtlands, and of the Morris family. Fortunately for the Patroon Van Rensselaer, he was a minor, and thus escaped the peril of attaching himself to either party.