"Do any of you children know why Wall Street has its name?" asked Mrs. Davis.
"I suppose because it does a wall of money business every day," ventured Jack, trying to be wise.
"No, it was Wall Street long before any stock market was founded in New York. It had a high, long wall crossing here from the East River to West Street, and back of this wall stood an old Dutch Colonial house, with fine orchards about it. So solid was this wall that the conflicting armies of the British and American sides found it very convenient for a refuge and protection. Then, too, when some old Dutchman or alien of New Amsterdam—for it was so called by the discoverer of the island, Hendrik Hudson, in 1609—wanted to designate a certain district of the town, he would say 'in front of the wall', or 'so-and-so distant from the wall,' until it began to be known as 'The Wall.' Then the lane that ran in front of it was becoming quite a thoroughfare, as so many people had to go about the area of land enclosed by the wall, that it gradually became known as 'Wall Street.'"
This information was very interesting to the children, and Mrs. Parke said: "Tell them about the purchase of this island."
"The land on which New York stands to-day was secured from the Indians for $24.00 worth of beads and trinkets in 1626, although the island was found by Hudson in 1609 on his voyage of discovery along the bay and up the Hudson River.
"In 1664 the English took it from the Dutch and changed the name to New York after the English nobleman. When Howe took it from Washington's army, his men were so reckless in their merry-making that fire broke out in a tavern down here and soon the wooden houses, with their dried-shingle roofs, were blazing. In that fire more than a thousand buildings were destroyed, and the fine old mansions of lower New York, then the fashionable section of Dutch and English wealth, were razed to the ground. The few places escaping the conflagration were those below this fire-line, or the homes better protected by owners, who kept a bucket-brigade at work to thoroughly soak the outside of the buildings."
"Now that we have seen the sights on Wall Street, what else can we see downtown?" asked Jack.
"Well, we can visit the old church here at the head of Wall Street, and then we can also visit the graveyard of the old church standing on the corner of Fulton and Broadway. Here we will find old flat stones marking graves made before the days of the Revolution; and some of the famous men we read about are buried in this busy section of lower New York. That will fill in our time until we start back uptown to the hotel," said Mr. Parke.
So the children wandered about the grass-covered burial spot, where centuries ago funerals of great men were held, and now old stones still showed the spots where they had been laid to rest.
So completely worn out were they from that well-filled day of sight-seeing, that all were ready for bed soon after dinner that evening. When Mr. Davis came in from a late business conference, no one felt like talking of the day's exploits.