5°
 

THE ICONOGRAPHY OF MANHATTAN ISLAND
 

In the lower right-hand corner Is a table of post-offices, entitied
"Progress of the Mail on the Main Line," from Brewers, Maine, to
Charleston, South Carolina, showing the distances between towns
and a complete time schedule. An "Explanation" states that "The
mail leaves Brewer's every Monday at loo'dock forenoon arrives at
Castine [on Penobscot Bay, a distance of ii3.miles] thenext Sunday
6 o'clock afternoon, and tracingits arrivals and departures along the
double line It arrives at Philaddphia on Wednesday 7a, & at S?
Mary's in Georgia on Thursday aC 10 f. the 46'^ day from Its de-
parture from Brewer's. From New York Southward the Summer
Establishment is from May ]!* to Novemf i?* and the Winter
Establishment from Nov. i¥t to May i5t." Below Pelersburg,Va.,
the summer and winter "establishments" were the same. This part
ot the map, consisting of the list ot post-offices and the time sched¬
ules, is separately engraved, by W. Barker, Phila. Bdng mounted
as a separate sheet. It may possibly have been subject to reprinting
after changes In the schedule.

1797

In the Check-List of Early Newspapers, p. 444, Vol. II, the 4th
line In the 3d column, reading "N. Y, Journal (Holt)," should be
stricken out.  It appears, correctly placed, on p. 440.

This date Is erroneously given in the L. M. R. K., Ill: 1010,
as the year when Stuyvesant St. was laid out, instead of 1787, which
is the correct date (q. v., N 30). The correct citation, likewise. Is
M.C. 0.(1784-1831), IVi 398.

The trustees of the First Presbyterian Church accept James
Robinson's offer Co build che church, on the ground given by Col.
Rutgers, for £474, before May 1.—Proc. of the Trustees, First
Presbyterian Church, Vol. II. See Je 23, 1795, Vol, V. On March
27, the trustees appointed a committee "to purchase the Four lotts
of Ground adjoining the lotts given by Col. Rutgers;" but, on April
10, they accepted a proposal which Col. Rutgers made "to exchange
the five lotts of Ground given to the Church, that he will receive
the said four lotts and give five lotts in lieu thereof." They resolve
"that the deeds of sale therefor be given up, and the Committee for
superintending the building the Church be directed to obtain a
Deed for the five lotts."—Ibid.  See Je 13, 1797, VoL V.

The commission under which Richard Varick was reappointed
mayor of New York and sworn In on this day (see Vol, V, p. 1339)
is dated March 4. It Is preserved, with the great seal ot Che scare
attached, among the Varick papers in the Tomfinson ColL, N. Y.
P.L.

Sir John Temple, consul-general of Gt. Britain to the U. S.,
arranged with Col. Aaron Burr for the occupation of "Richmond
HiU." When he took possession, an inventory of the contents of the
house was drawn up, the furnishings of each room being separatdy
detailed. The original Inventory (MS.) is owned by the N. Y. Hist.
Soc, and was published in the Society's Bulletin for April, 1927,

1798

A "Friend to Mankind" (John Murray, Jr.) writes to Mayor
Richard Varick: "With all due respect 10 the Important and
dignified station thou fills, and from a regard to Che wdlfare and
happiness of my feUow Creatures, I am induced to believe It is my
religious duty to address thee on a subject, which hath often Im¬
pressed my mind with painful apprehensions,

"The corrupting Infiuence of Theatrical exhibitions on the mor¬
als & manners of the People, hath long been contemplated with the
clearest convictions of wrong, by many pious and excellent Charac¬
ters of different denominations, some of whome hath described, in a
very affecting point of view, the dangerous tendency thereof, and of
their utter repugnancy to the benign principles of the Christian
Religion—Under this prospect of the subject, and in consequence of
the impressions, arising from some suggestions, that the Theatre will
likely soon be open'd, I conceive it may be conslstant with the duty I
owe to others, and the respect I entertain for thee, to submit to thy
serious consideration, the influence of thy Example, & otherwise,
in discouraging a practice, so pernicious to Society, and In many
instances very prejudicial to Individuals—

"I am the more deeply affected with the subject, when I recur
to the recent calamity which hath attended this City, and what an
awful dispensation it hath beenf—that the Inhabitants should be
so regardless of the divine displeasure, as to resume their former
Scenes of dissipation & licentiousness, is sorrowful Indeedl . . ,"—
From original In Tomlinson Coll., N. Y, P. L.
 

The Franklin Typographical Sociecy owes its origin to a meeting
of journeymen printers this day "aC the house of A. B. Martling,
corner of George and Nassau streets."—N. Y. Dally Adv., N 24,

1798.   In 1799, Che society hadjo members,George Bruce being
secretary.—Weeks, Book of Bruce, 322; Stevens, iV. Y. Typograph¬
ical Union No, 6, 37. In the period prior lo 1800, employing
printers were not numbered among the wealthy men of New York.
They were "In financial straits so frequently that the ownership
ot an office was hard to determine. A journeyman one month was
an employer the next, and frequentiy two or three journeymen
would pool their cash and publish a book, divide the profits on its
publication, and then dissolve partnership."—Official Annual
of Typographical Union No, 6, Match, 1892. Vide Infra, 1800.
The Franklin Typographical Society ceased to exist In 1804. A
similar organization the New York Typographical Society, was
cre^ted,Ju]j i,iZog (vide lnfra).—Tr3cy,Hist. of the Typographical
Union (.813), 20, 28.

1799
In this year the first organized strike was conducted in Philadd¬
phia by the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers. "Prior to

1799,  the only recorded strikes of any workmen were 'unorganized'
and, indeed, such were the majority of the strikes that occurred
prior to the decade of the thirties in the nineteenth century."—
Perlman,H;jr. of Trade Unionism In the U. S. (1922), 4.

From this date until Jan., 1806, Elizabeth De Hart Bleccker,
daughter of Anthony L. Bleecker, kept a diary, which is now pre¬
served In the MSS. DIv. of the N. Y. P. L. It is a valuable contem¬
porary record of the life of a New York society girl, and contains
references to important happenings In the city, the recurrent epi¬
demics of yellow fever, the births, deaths, and marriages in the
prominent families, etc. On April 8, 1800, she married Alexander
L, McDonald.

Pres. Adams arrives in town. He left on March 16 for Boston.—
Diary of Elizabeth DeHart Bleecker (MS.) In N. Y. P. L.

"A Duel was fought between young Mr Cadwallader Colden,
and yoimg Master Provoost, son of the Bishop—they exchanged
fire but unfortunately, neither of the children had the pleasure of
receiving an honorable wound."—Diary of Elizabeth De Hart
Bleecker (MS.).

"Mr John Shaw was flogg'd In Wall Street by Col. Mansfield—
the occasion of it was this—a few days after the news of General
Washington's death arriv'd, Mr Shaw said, in the presence of a
number of Gentlemen in the Coffee House, that 'it was a pity
General Washington had not died five and twenty years ago'—he
repeated the expression in the evening in the Insurance Room in the
presence of Colonel Mansfield, who, having serv'd under Washing¬
ton, could scarce rdrain from drubbing him at the time, but con¬
sidering himself as only a visitor in the room, & unwilling to make
any disturbance, he took no notice of it—Mr Shaw's speech was
soon spread about, and he was universally censur'd for It—Chis
evening in coming down Wall Street, he met Col. ^L, & stopping
him, said he had understood he had been teUing tales of him—Col
M. reply'd he only mention'd what he beard him say—M' S. said it

was a d------d lie, the words were scarcdy utter'd, ere Col. M. had

his Ann up, and the great the mighty Mr John Shaw fell—some
persons coming up, interpos'd, & Col. Mansfield left him, after
having severiy bruls'd him, & given him a pretty black eye." On
Dec 30, "Mr John Shaw made a public apology in the Coffe House,
tor the Speech he had made—his excuse was, that he was In liquor
—a very good come off to be sure—drunk at twdve o'clock at
noon."—Diary of Elisabeth DeHart Bleecker (MS.).

1800

The Franklin Typographical Soc. (vide supra N 24, 1798) pre-   ■
pares  a  wage scale—the first complete  scale ever  adopted  by
N. Y. C. printers; it "went on strike for Its enforcement."-Buf/eliH
of the Bureau of Labor, No. 61, Nov. 1905, 863.   Vide infra, O 30,
1S09.

About this time, Alexander Anderson made a sketch of Lis- ■
penard's Meadows (see Pl. 90-b, Vol. VI). The original, now In
the author's collection, is endorsed "The original drawing by Ander¬
son from which the opp. wood cut was made," The "opp. wood
cut" is probably still in the book belonging to the late Wm.Loring
Andrews, from which the drawing was removed at the time of Che
sale by auction of Mr, Andrews' books.