As I Remember
subsequently studied law in the office of Judge Henry Hilton, and for
many years practiced at the New York bar. Upon a certain occasion he and
Samuel F. Kneeland were opposing counsel in an important suit during
which Mr. Kneeland kept quoting from his own work upon "Mechanics'
Liens." My brother endured this as long as his patience permitted and
then, slowly rising to his feet, said: "I have cited decisions on the
point in controversy, but my learned opponent cites nothing except his
own opinions printed in his own book. With such persistency has he done
this that I have been tempted to write these lines:
"Oh, Kneeland! dear Kneeland, pray what do you mean
By such a fat book on the subject of Lien?
Was it for glory or was it for pelf,
Or just for the pleasure of quoting yourself?"
It seems almost needless to add that this doggerel was followed by a
round of applause, and that Chief Justice Charles P. Daly and Judge
Joseph F. Daly, as well as Judge George M. Van Hoesen, who were on the
bench at this time, joined in the merriment.
The commencement exercises of Columbia College, as I remember them, took
place every summer in St. John's Church opposite St. John's Park, and I
often attended them in my early days. Columbia College at this period
was in the lower part of the city between College and Park Places, and
was the original King's College of colonial days. All of the professors
lived in the college buildings in a most unostentatious manner, and I
readily recall frequent instances during my early childhood when, in
company with my father, I walked to the college and took a simple six
o'clock supper with Professor Anthon and his sisters.
My mother met my father while visiting in New York, and the acquaintance
eventually resulted in a runaway marriage. They were married on the 10th
of June, 1818, and nine days later the following notice appeared in _The
National Advocate_:
_Married._
At Flushing, L.I., by the Rev. Mr. [Barzilla] Buckley, James
Campbell esq. of this city, to Miss Mary Ann Hazard,
daughter of John Hazard, esq. of Jamaica, Long Island.
The objection of my Grandfather Hazard to my mother's marriage was not
unnatural, as she was his only child, and being at this time well
advanced in years he dreaded the separation. But the happy bride
immediately brought her husband to live in the old home where she had
been born, where the young couple began their married life under
pleasing auspices, and my father continued his practice of law in New
York. I had the misfortune of being a second daughter. Traditionally, I
know that my grandfather most earnestly desired a grandson at that time,
and when the nurse announced my birth, she was not sufficiently
courageous to tell the truth, and said: "A boy, sir!" Her faltering
manner possibly betrayed her, as the sarcastic retort was: "I dare say,
an Irish boy."
My ambitious parents sent me with my oldest sister, Fanny, at the early
age of four, to a school in the village of Jamaica conducted by Miss
Delia Bacon. My recollection of events occurring at this early period is
not very vivid, but I still recall the vision of three beautiful women,
Delia, Alice and Julia Bacon, who presided over our school. This
interesting trio were nieces of the distinguished author and divine, the
Rev. Dr. Leonard Bacon, who for fifty-seven years was pastor of the
First Congregational Church of New Haven. Many years subsequent to my
school days, Delia Bacon became, as is well known, an enthusiastic
advocate of the Baconian authorship of Shakespeare's plays. I have
understood that she made a pilgrimage to Stratford-on-Avon hoping to
secure the proper authority to reopen Shakespeare's grave, a desire,
however, that remained ungratified. She was a woman of remarkable
ability, and I have in my possession the book, written by her nephew,
which tells the story of her life. I was Miss Bacon's youngest pupil,
and attended school regularly in company with my sister, whither we were
driven each morning in the family carriage. My studies were not
difficult, and my principal recollection is my playing out of doors with
a dog named Sancho, while the older children were busy inside with their
studies.
During my Long Island life, as a very young child, I was visiting my
aunts in Jay Street, New York, when I was taken to Grant Thorburn's seed
shop in Maiden Lane, which I think was called "The Arcade." There was
much there to delight the childish fancy--canaries, parrots, and other
birds of varied plumage. Thorburn's career was decidedly unusual. He
was born in Scotland, where he worked in his father's shop as a
nailmaker. He came to New York in 1794 and for a time continued at his
old trade. He then kept a seed store and, after making quite a fortune,
launched into a literary career and wrote under the _nom de plume_ of
"Laurie Todd."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Now Rutgers College.
CHAPTER II
NEW YORK AND SOME NEW YORKERS
About 1828 my parents moved to New York, and immediately occupied the
house, No. 6 Hubert Street, purchased by my father, and pleasantly
located a short distance from St. John's Park, then the fashionable
section of the city. This park was always kept locked, but it was the
common play-ground of the children of the neighborhood, whose families
were furnished with keys, as is the case with Gramercy Park to-day. St.
John's Church overlooked this park, and the houses on the other three
sides of the square were among the finest residences in the city. Many
of them were occupied by families of prominence, among which were those
of Watts, Gibbes, Kemble, Hamilton and Smedberg. Next door to us on
Hubert Street lived Commander, subsequently Rear Admiral, Charles
Wilkes, U.S.N., and his young family. His first wife was Miss Jane
Jeffrey Renwick, who was a sister of Professor James Renwick of Columbia
College, and after her death he married Mary Lynch, a daughter of Henry
Lynch of New York and the widow of Captain William Compton Bolton of the
Navy. This, of course, was previous to his naval achievements, which are
such well known events in American history. In after life Admiral and
Mrs. Wilkes moved to Washington, D.C., where I renewed my friendship of
early days and where members of his family still reside, beloved and
respected by the whole community.
Mr. Thomas S. Gibbes of South Carolina, whose wife was Miss Susan
Annette Vanden Heuvel, daughter of John C. Vanden Heuvel, a wealthy
land owner, lived on Hudson Street, facing St. John's Park. Their elder
daughter Charlotte Augusta, who married John Jacob Astor, son of William
B. Astor, was an early playmate of mine, and many pleasant memories of
her as a little girl cluster around St. John's Park, where we romped
together. When I first knew the Gibbes family it had recently returned
from a long residence in Paris, an unusual experience in these days, and
both Charlotte Augusta and her younger sister, Annette Gibbes, sang in a
very pleasing manner French songs, which were a decided novelty to our
juvenile ears. Mrs. Gibbes's sisters were Mrs. Gouverneur S. Bibby and
Mrs. John C. Hamilton.
Directly opposite St. John's Park, on the corner of Varick and Beach
streets, was Miss Maria Forbes's school for young girls, which was the
fashionable school of the day. I attended it in company with my sister
Fanny and my brother James who was my junior. Miss Forbes occasionally
admitted boys to her school when accompanied by older sisters. Our life
there was regulated in accordance with the strictest principles of
learning and etiquette, and a child would have been deficient indeed who
failed to acquire knowledge under the tuition of such an able teacher.
School commenced promptly at eight o'clock and continued without
intermission until three.
The principal of the school was the daughter of John Forbes, who for
thirty years was the librarian of the New York Society Library. He was a
native of Aberdeen in Scotland, and was brought to this country in
extreme youth by a widowed mother of marked determination and piety,
with the intention of launching him successfully in life. He early
displayed a fondness for books, and must have shown an uncommon maturity
of mind and much executive ability, as he was only nineteen when he was
appointed to the position just named. It is an interesting fact that he
accepted the librarianship in 1798 with a salary of two hundred and
fifty dollars a year in addition to the fines and two and a half per
cent. upon all moneys collected, besides the use or rental of the lower
front room of the library building. After many years of labor his salary
was raised to five hundred dollars. Upon his death in October, 1824, the
trustees, out of respect to his memory, voted to attend his funeral in a
body and ordered the library closed for the remaining four days of the
week. He married Miss Martha Skidmore, daughter of Lemuel Skidmore, a
prominent iron and steel merchant of New York, and I have no doubt that
Maria Forbes, their daughter and my early teacher, inherited her
scholarly tastes from her father, of whom Dr. John W. Francis in his
"Old New York" justly speaks as a "learned man."
Miss Forbes was a pronounced disciplinarian, and administered one form
of punishment which left a lasting impression upon my memory. For
certain trivial offenses a child was placed in a darkened room and
clothed in a tow apron. One day I was subjected to this punishment for
many hours, an incident which naturally I have never yet been able to
forget. On the occasion referred to Miss Forbes was obliged to leave the
schoolroom for a few minutes and, unfortunately for my happiness,
appointed my young brother James to act as monitor during her absence.
His first experience in the exercise of a little authority evidently
turned his head, for upon the return of our teacher I was reported for
misbehavior. The charge against me was that I had smiled. It is too long
ago to remember whether or not it was a smile of derision, but upon
mature reflection I think it must have been. I knew, however, in my
childish heart that I had committed no serious offense and, as can
readily be imagined, my indignation was boundless. It was the first act
of injustice I had ever experienced. Feeling that the punishment was
undeserved, and smarting under it, with abundance of leisure upon my
hands, I bit the tough tow apron into many pieces. When Miss Forbes
after a few hours, which seemed to me an eternity, came to relieve me
from my irksome position and noticed the condition of the apron, she
regaled me with a homily upon the evils of bad temper, and gave as
practical illustrations the lives of some of our most noted criminals,
all of whom had expiated their crimes upon the gallows.
In recalling these early school days it seems to me that the rudiments
of education received far more attention then than now. Spelling was
regarded as of chief importance and due consideration was given to
grammar. There were no "frills" then, such as physical culture, manual
training and the like, and vacation lasted but thirty days, usually
during the month of August. Some of my earliest friendships were formed
at Miss Forbes's school, many of which I have retained through a long
life. Among my companions and classmates were the Tillotsons, Lynches,
Astors, Kembles, Hamiltons, Duers, and Livingstons.
But in spite of the severe discipline of Miss Forbes's school, her
pupils occasionally engaged in current gossip. It was in her schoolroom
I first made the discovery that this earth boasted of such valuable
adjuncts to the human family as title-bearing gentlemen, and in this
particular case it was a live Count that was brought to my notice. Count
Louis Fitzgerald Tasistro had recently arrived in New York, and his