George F. Tallman, from 1837 to 1839. Peter A. Cowdrey, from 1839 to 1842, and 1843 to 1844. David Graham, Jr., appointed May 31, 1842, to May 9, 1843. John Leveridge, from 1844 to 1845. James T. Brady, from 1845 to 1847. Willis Hall, from May 12, 1847, to 1849. Henry E. Davies, appointed May 13, 1849; elected, Fall of 1849, for three years, to 1852. Robert J. Dillon, from January 1, 1853, to January 1, 1856. Lorenzo B. Shepard, from January 1, 1856, to September, 1856. Richard Busteed, appointed September, 1856, until January 1, 1857; elected, Fall of 1856, to serve for three years, until 1860. Greene C. Bronson, from January 1, 1860, to January 1, 1863. CITY JUDGES. Welcome R. Beebe, from January 1, 1851, to January 1, 1855. RECORDERS OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. James Graham, from 1683 to 1688. Vacant in 1689 to 1690. William Pinhorn, from 1691 to 1693. James Graham, from 1693 to 1701. Abraham Gouverneur, from 1701 to 1703. Samson Shelton Boughton, from 1703 to 1705. John Tudor, from 1705 to 1709. May Bickley, from 1709 to 1712. David Jamieson, from 1712 to 1725. Francis Harrison, from 1725 to 1735. Daniel Horsemanden, from 1735 to 1737. Simeon Johnson, from 1737 to 1769. Thomas Jones, from 1769 to 1773. Robert R. Livingston, from 1773 to 1774. No records during the Revolutionary War. Richard Varick, from 1783 to 1789. James Kent, from 1796 to 1798. Richard Harrison, from 1798 to 1800. John P. Provost, from 1800 to 1804. Frederick A. Tallmadge, from 1841 to 1846. Frekerick A. Tallmadge, from 1849 to 1852. HISTORICAL. Public Improvements previous to the Revolution. BY D. T. V. THE BATTERY. THE south point of the island, in its natural condition, extended to about the present line of State street; and its condition, after the town had been settled by families about thirty years, is shown by the following sketch, taken from a drawing made in 1656. VIEW OF THE SITE OF THE PRESENT BATTERY, IN 1656. The present inclosure is all beyond the original water-line, and the early condition of the adjacent lands is not strictly within the limits of a description of the improvements in that section; but it may be mentioned that the most notable improvement adjacent to the present Battery was the erection of a private mansion by Governor Stuyvesant in the year 1658. This was designed for his private residence, and was considered in its time as the principal effort made by private enterprise towards beautifying the city. GOV. STUYVESANT'S HOUSE, ERECTED 1658, AFTERWARDS CALLED "THE WHITEHALL." In the Dutch records the following mention is made of this building: Thursday, 14th February, 1658. "The Heer Nicasius De Sille and the Heer Peter Tonneman handed the Heeren Burgomasters a certain petition from the Heer Director-General, reading as follows: "To the Right Honorable Lords Councillors of N. Netherland, and the W. Burgomasters of the City Amsterdam therein: "Petrus Stuyvesant, your Honors' petitioner, represents in due form to the Lords Councillors, to whom it appertains to grant the patent, also to the Burgomasters, to whom the conveyance of lots is surrendered, that he, as your Honors are aware, fenced, dammed, and raised up, at great cost and labor, out of the water and swamp, certain abandoned lots, granted in the year 1647, by the Heer Kieft, your petitioner's predecessor in quality as Director-General, to one Jan Pietersen, and conveyed by him or his attorney to one Thomas Baxter, a bankrupt and fugitive from this province, in consequence of great indebtedness, and who, during the troubles with the English, likewise plundered divers of the inhabitants of this province; on which lot, now that about eight or nine thousand loads of sand are ridden (and even then it is not high enough), the petitioner has erected an expensive and handsome building." Petitioner requests a confirmation of his title. To this the Burgomasters replied as follows : "Whereas, the Director-General and Council have been pleased to grant to the city all vacant and ungranted lots, and the Heer General has ornamented the place described with a handsome building, and requests due conveyance, we cannot refuse it, but approve it and laud it." 66 In October, 1693 (war then existing with France), the Common Council were called upon, by Governor Fletcher, to furnish eighty-six cords of stockadoes, twelve feet in length, for the purpose of building a battery on the point of rocks under the fort;" in pursuance of which, the Mayor issued his proclamation, requiring the Aldermen of the country wards "to call together all and every the respective inhabitants of the Out Ward, and of Manning's and Barn's Islands," with a view to agree upon the terms of furnishing the stockadoes. A bargain was made with several of those inhabitants, and their " companies," to supply them. The question of paying for these articles, however trifling the amount may seem at the present day, produced a very considerable discussion, which is to be ascribed, no doubt, to the state of political excitement arising out of the "Leislerian troubles," which then raged rampant in the whole body politic. Probably there were many, both in and out of authority, who would willingly have cooperated to subject the country to French or any other rule, if it had not been for the perils of treasonable acts. Upon the report of the Aldermen having in charge the matter of furnishing stockadoes, stating the price at which they could be furnished (something over fifty pounds), a majority of the Common Council objected that it would be necessary to raise a tax for the expense, and that the charter did not give the city authority for that purpose. Upon this the Common Council were summoned to attend the Governor, in Council, and there the same objection was made. Insinua |