Old Taverns of New York

by W. Harrison Bayles

Dinner to the French Ambassador

At Cape’s Tavern on Friday, November 28th, an elegant entertainment was given by the citizens lately returned from exile to the Governor and Council for governing the city, to which Washington and the officers of the army were invited. On the following Tuesday, December 2d, at the same place, another such entertainment was given by Governor Clinton to the French Ambassador, Luzerne, to which invitations were also extended to Washington and his officers. For this Cape rendered a bill to the State, in which he made charge for 120 dinners, 135 bottles of Madeira, 36 bottles of Port, 60 bottles of English Beer and 30 Bowls of Punch. In putting away this liberal supply of drink, they must have had a jolly time, and that some of them became very unsteady is indicated by a significant charge made by Cape for 60 broken wine glasses and 8 cut glass decanters. In the evening there was a grand display of fire works in celebration of the Definite Treaty of Peace between Great Britain and the United States of North America, at the Bowling Green, in Broadway. These, it is said, infinitely exceeded every former exhibition of the kind in the United States. On the next day, December 3d, Washington wrote to Major General Knox, expressing his satisfaction and requesting him to present to Captain Price, under whose direction they were prepared, and to the officers who assisted him, his thanks for the great skill and attention shown on this occasion.

Washington had issued, under date of November 2d, from Rocky Hill, near Princeton, New Jersey, his farewell address to the army of the United States, and he was now about to bid farewell to his officers. The place appointed for this formality was the Long Room of Fraunces’ Tavern. It has given a celebrity to this house which can never be effaced. The Long Room of Fraunces’ Tavern had recently been used for the dinner given by Governor Clinton on the day the American army entered the city. It was thirty-eight feet long and nineteen feet wide, its length extending along Broad Street, probably just as it exists to-day in the restored house. On the morning of December 4, 1783, Washington and his officers met here for the last time as soldiers of the Revolutionary Army. No exact record exists as to who were present on this memorable occasion, but it has been stated, that there were forty-four. Among these were Generals Greene, Knox, Wayne, Steuben, Carroll, Lincoln, Kosciusko, Moultrie, Gates, Lee, Putnam, Stark, Hamilton, Governor Clinton, and Colonels Tallmadge, Humphreys and Fish.

Washington’s Farewell to his Officers

They had been assembled but a few minutes, when Washington entered the room. His emotion was too strong to be concealed, and was evidently reciprocated by all present. Alter partaking of a slight refreshment, and after a few moments of silence, the General filled his glass with wine, and turning to his officers said: “With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable.” After the officers had responded in a glass of wine, he requested that each one of them should come and take him by the hand. General Knox, who was nearest him, turned and grasped his hand and they embraced each other in silence. In the same affectionate manner every officer parted from the Commander-in-Chief, who then left the room without a word, and passing through lines of infantry drawn up to receive him, walked silently to Whitehall, where a barge was waiting to carry him to Paulus Hook. He was on his way to Annapolis, to surrender his commission to the Continental Congress, and then to his beloved Mount Vernon.

These were the closing scenes of the war. The first act in the drama of A Nation’s Growth was ended. After a seven years’ struggle of blood and suffering a new nation had been born. The curtain drops. Vivat Republica.

IN THE COFFEE HOUSE

Cornelius Bradford, who had abandoned the Merchants’ Coffee House, when the British entered the city, and had since been living at Rhinebeck, came back in October, and again took possession of it. In his announcement he calls it the New York Coffee House, but the name of the Merchants’ Coffee House clung to it, and it is so spoken of in the public prints. He prepared a book in which he proposed to enter the names of vessels on their arrival, the ports from which they came and any particular occurrences of their voyages, so that merchants and travelers might obtain the earliest intelligence. Bradford’s Marine List appears in the newspapers of that period. He also opened a register of merchants and others on which they were requested to enter their names and residences, the nearest approach to a city directory that had yet been made. Bradford, by his energy and intelligence, revived the good name of the house, and it became again the rendezvous of merchants and traders, and the daily scene of sales of merchandise of all kinds. The neighborhood again became a place of great importance and trade. Near the Coffee House, both sides of Wall Street were occupied by auction stores, and received the name of the Merchants’ Promenade or the Auctioneers’ Row.

A Bank Organized