In the value of products[52] the sugar industry stands first, the foundry and machine-shop interests coming second, and slaughtering and meat-packing third. Fourth and fifth positions are to be given respectively to chemical industries and the grinding of coffee and spices. Cordage and twine making has for a long time occupied a prominent place in Brooklyn. Other prominent industries are in boots and shoes, furnishing goods, and paper hangings. The National Meter Company plant in South Brooklyn is the largest in the world.
One of the most striking illustrations of Brooklyn's advancement in commercial affairs has been the increase in the number and importance of its financial institutions. The city's first banks were the Long Island Bank,[53] incorporated in 1824; the Brooklyn Savings Bank, incorporated in 1827; the Atlantic Bank, incorporated in 1836; the Bank of Williamsburgh, incorporated in 1839; the South Brooklyn Savings Bank, incorporated in 1850; and the Williamsburgh Savings Bank, incorporated in 1851. The first fire insurance company (the Brooklyn) was contemporaneous with the first bank. The Long Island Insurance Company was organized in 1833. In 1893 four insurance companies had their home offices in Brooklyn; there were twenty-three banks of deposit, fourteen savings banks, four safe deposit companies, seven trust companies, four title guarantee companies, and four savings institutions. In the same year there were about one hundred and ten strictly local securities.
[APPENDIX]
I
FRANCIS LEWIS[54]
One of the names ever to be remembered in the history of Brooklyn, and of the State and country, is that of Francis Lewis, who was an ardent patriot, and sacrificed his all to secure the independence of the colonies. As he resided for more than twenty years on Long Island, he can justly be claimed as one of her sons, and as such richly deserves a place in her history. Few men displayed so much zeal in the cause of liberty, or evinced such readiness to endure the hardships which the struggle necessarily entailed.
His career covered a period of fourscore years and ten. He spent sixty-eight of these years in the New Netherlands,—forty-one of them under the rule of England; seven years in the cause of the Revolution; and twenty years as a citizen of the Republic of the United States, upon whose banner he ever looked with pleasure and delight.
Born amidst the wilds of rocky Wales, in the town of Llandaff, in 1713, he possessed the sturdy endurance and perseverance for which the ancient Britons, from whom he was descended, were proverbial. In such a clime, and under such circumstances, he early learned to bear patiently the privations of life, and thus was fitted and prepared for the great work which characterized his eventful career.
His father, the Rev. William Lewis, was a worthy minister of the Established Church of England, and his mother was the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Pettingill, a clergyman of the same faith, whose parish was in the north of Wales. Young Lewis did not long enjoy a parent's care, being left an orphan at the early age of four or five. His education and training were now committed to a maternal aunt, who ever manifested a deep interest in his welfare. This relative and adopted mother took particular pains to have him thoroughly instructed in his native language, and instilled into him those deep religious principles, which formed a marked and striking phase of his character. Not satisfied with the means of education to be obtained in his mountain home, she sent her ward to Scotland to visit some relatives in the Highlands, amongst whom he soon acquired a perfect familiarity with the Gaelic tongue. Remaining in Scotland a short time, he was transferred to the care of an uncle, who held the position of Dean of St. Paul's in London. The Dean at once gave him the advantages of the celebrated school at Westminster. The opportunities thus afforded were embraced and appreciated. By his assiduity and proficiency he soon won a distinguished place as a scholar. His progress was rapid, and when he left the school he had obtained a complete classical education.