^

s.
 


 

PREFACE
 

"Chaihx Days ok Xkw York" is. in its amended form^ the series of
articles which appeared in The New York Tribmie under vhc title "Liltk-
Old New York," After its publication in The Tribune many requests
caiiie for it in book form, arid the author has barkened to the appeals of
those who wmitcd it in such form.

li is a compilation of data regarding the liitir village of 1609, the
town of 1725 and the cit_\- of 1825. The faas have been gathered from
many sources—historical societies, city an<l >tatc libraries, Trinit)
Church record?, descendants of some of N"ew York's old families, and
from  manuscripts loaned to the author by officials of  Holland  and

[-England.

The origin of present day comliiions, of present day laws, of present
dav events has been traced and is explained to the reader. Every effort
has bt'cn made by the author to keep away from the beaten paths of the
historians, which necessarily must be heavy al times, and to present in
as light a way as possible the, to us, peculiar ways in which our fore-
tathL'rs laid the foundation of this glorious c:ity of New ^'ork-

The book is compiled with the years in sequence, so that it is a
handv reference book as well as^ continued story of the growth of the

city.

In 1825 the dty had stretched east and west to its limits, and north
to the present Eighth street, and had become a strong, lusty youngster.
It liad left its cradle, had forsaken the apron strings and its sturdy legs
were carrying it farther north, when the author bade it good-by and
food luck.   Little New York had almost become a memory.