History of New York, (Bronx County) New York United States of America

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Local History Notes:

NEW YORK, the metropolis of the above state, the most populous city, and the greatest emporium in the New World, and (with its suburbs, Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Jersey City, and Hoboken) the third in point of wealth and population of the cities of Christendom, is situated on the southern extremity of Manhattan island, at the junction of the Hudson and East rivers, about 18 miles from the Atlantic ocean; 87 N. E. of Philadelphia; 187 N. E. of Baltimore; 225 N. E. of Washington; 1428 N. E. of New Orleans; 1046 E. of St. Louis; 722 E. of Cincinnati; 340 S. of Montreal; 145 S. of Albany, and 207 S. W. of Boston. The city and county have the same limits, composing the whole of Manhattan island, 13 1/2 miles in length, and about 2 in its greatest breadth. The densely inhabited parts of the city occupy about 3 1/2 or 4 miles of the southern portion of the island. The City Hall is in lat. 40° 42' 40" N., and 74° 1' 8" W. lon. Though the site of New York is nearly level, there is sufficient descent in the ground from Broadway towards each river to furnish good drainage.

Population: Perhaps no city in the world numbers so great a variety of foreigners among its resident population as New York, including among them active and enterprising men of all Christian nations, and of every portion of the United States. A large majority of the foreign residents are from Ireland, Germany, England, France, and Scotland, who fill every station, from the laborer to the merchant and professional man. The population numbered 4302 in 1697; 8628 in 1731; 10,381 in 1756; 21,876 in 1771; 33,131 in 1790; 60,489 in 1800; 96,373 in 1810:123,706 in 1820, (at which period it became the largest city in the Union;) 202,589 in 1830; 312,710 in 1840, and 515,507 in 1850. If, however, we include the suburbs named above, it will make a grand total of 652,649 inhabitants, showing an increase (unexampled except in our Western towns) of nearly 1500 per cent. in the last 60 years. The same ratio of increase as that between 1840 and '50 (and it has undoubtedly been greater) would give, in July, 1853, a population of about 850,000 to New York and its suburbs.

General Aspect: In the old or southern quarter of the city, the streets are for the most part narrow and irregular, but crowded with immense hotels, warehouses, stores, and the public buildings necessary in a great mart of trade. Many of these are costly structures of marble, granite, or sandstone, and from three to eight stories in height; or, if public buildings, displaying various orders of architectural style, adorned with columns, porticos, &c. The northern or newer part of the city is regularly laid out with wide and spacious streets and avenues, which in the fashionable quarter, west of Broadway, are lined with palatial-like residences and sumptuous churches of brick, sandstone, and marble, giving a display of wealth nowhere to be found but in the imperial cities of Europe, and unequalled even there, except in the abodes of royalty and nobility. Broadway, the principal street, and one of the finest to be seen in any city, is 80 feet wide, and about 8 miles long. Commencing at the Battery (an open space planted with trees at the southern extremity of the island,) it extends N. N. E. for about 2 1/4 miles to Grace church, where it bends slightly to the N. W., and, with a short interruption, (from Union park,) continues on in this direction beyond the densely built portions of the city. Broadway may be compared to a great river; the streets which terminate in it, and those which it intersects, being tributaries that supply a constantly increasing throng of people and vehicles of every description, as we approach its southern extremity. Perhaps the most important of these affluents is Chatham street, which forms the outlet of the Bowery, East Broadway, and several other considerable streets, and terminates at the lower end of the Park. From the cupola of the City Hall, three-fourths of a mile from the Battery, a bird's-eye view may be had of New York, its harbor and environs. Looking to .the S., we have beneath us the warehouses, banking establishments, insurance offices, custom house, exchange, and other buildings, wherein are transacted the commercial operations of this great centre of trade. Terminating this scene on the S. is the Battery, and beyond it stretches out New York bay for six miles, till the view is shut in by the picturesque heights of Staten Island on the S. W., while on the S. the Narrows open a vista to the Atlantic ocean. Turning to the S. E. and E., we look over a strait of from one-third to three-fourths of a mile in breadth, literally crowded (on the New York shore) with a dense forest of masts, bearing aloft the flags of every civilized maritime nation on the earth. Beyond this strait (commonly called the East river, and connecting New York bay with Long Island sound) is Brooklyn, itself a large city, presenting in one part a bold bluff crowned with stately dwellings, and overlooking the city of New York, its harbor and bay, and Staten Island--taking in a panorama unrivalled in the world, except at Naples, (if indeed we must make that exception,) and, perhaps, Rio Janeiro. Farther N., on the same shore with Brooklyn, we have Williamsburg, a suburb larger than New York at the Revolution, and between them the United States navy-yard and the United States naval asylum. On the W. is the noble Hudson, expanding itself to 1 1/2 miles in width ere it is lost in the bay, and separating New York from the flourishing suburbs of Jersey City and Hoboken. At the wharves on this side we may see a scarcely less crowded forest of masts than on the E. shore; and peering up amid this leafless forest, may be observed the black pipes of the greatest steamers on the globe, whether we regard those that navigate the river and sound, or those that traverse the ocean. Turning to the N., we have a sea of houses, churches, and public buildings of various kinds, extending for full three miles, terminated (1853) by the swelling dome of the Crystal Palace, and, on the Jersey shore, by the heights of Weehawken. This bird's-eye view, while it shuts out many defects, such as filthy and irregular streets, mean houses, and squalid poverty and wretchedness, (that alloy the pleasure in visiting every great capital) conceals also many beauties, such as the individual excellences of particular buildings and particular streets. Descending from our airy height, we will aim to lay aside mere fanciful description, and to deal, as becomes a work of this character, with facts--and, in the case of New York, they are sufficiently flattering to gratify any reasonable amount of local pride. As has been before intimated, the great seat of business is south of the City Hall, and its centre Broadway and the streets in its vicinity crossing it, which are almost wholly occupied by immense stores and warehouses of costly structure and imposing architecture. Among these cross streets, the most noted is a narrow one, named Wall street, running east from Broadway, about one-fourth of a mile above the Battery. This is the Rialto and Lombard street of New York--the grand heart whence pulsate the financial movements of North America. This street is lined with banking houses, insurance and brokers' offices; and here, too, are the exchange and custom house--all commanding, and some magnificent edifices. Broadway, above the City Hall, is occupied for two miles with vast hotels, (such as are seen nowhere but in America,) fashionable retail stores of every variety, (whose shelves groan with the most costly fabrics,) and with theatres, concert halls, lecture rooms, and other places of amusement and instruction. The newer or northern portion is traversed in a north and south direction by 19 spacious avenues of 100 feet in breadth, 10 of which (commencing at distances of from 2 to 2 1/2 miles from the Battery) extend the whole length of the island. Four of the shorter avenues, on the East river, are named A, B, C, and D. The rest, except Lexington avenue, are named numerically, commencing at the east side, and numbering to 14th avenue. These are crossed at right angles by streets from 80 to 100 feet in width, and at distances of about 200 feet from each other, also named numerically up to 229th street, though dense population does not (1853) extend much above 40th street. Fifth avenue, the very centre of fashion, is a street of sumptuous and costly dwellings of large size, a great portion of which are constructed of brownstone, and some of white marble; exhibiting architectural varieties sufficient to gratify the most diverse tastes. On this street, too, is a number of costly churches, with towering spires and turrets, and, with one or two exceptions, constructed of stone. There are striking contrasts, however, to this display of wealth and magnificence, and the most striking is to be found in the very heart of the city, in sight of its city hall, its courts of justice, and boards of education and benevolence. We allude, of course, to the Five Points, (so called from the intersection of several streets,) the abode of misery, crime, filth, and wretchedness of the most disgusting and degrading kind; though even here a ray of light has recently broken in, and steps have been taken to improve the dwellings, the morals, and comfort of their inmates. The S. E. and E. portions of New York are inhabited by substantial and useful citizens, many of whose residences are large and commodious, though they are generally moderate in dimensions, plain in appearance, and often absolutely mean. But the great defect of New York, out of the fashionable quarter, is a want of cleanliness in the streets, and more particularly in the great thoroughfares of business--the portion always seen by strangers, and often the only portion.

Defence: New York is strongly defended both by nature and art. The entrance to the upper bay is through a strait called the Narrows, about one mile in width, and is commanded on the Long island side by two forts, one in the water, 200 yards from shore. On the Staten island side are also two other forts, one on the heights. Should these be passed, there are other defences within less than a mile of the city. These are by Fort Columbus, on Governor's island, on the east side, and by batteries on Bedloe and Ellis islands, on the west. The public walk called the Battery, at the extremity of the city, has also a fort. The entrance from Long Island sound is protected by fortifications on Throg's Neck.

Public Squares, Fountains, &c: New York has a number of small parks or enclosed grounds. The Battery, one of the most delightful promenades offered by any city of a hot summer's evening, occupies an area of about 11 acres, at the extreme S. W. point of the city, which is planted with trees, laid out in walks, and furnished with plain seats. The Battery has recently been greatly enlarged. Castle Garden, an old fort, formerly connected with it by a bridge, is now continuous with the mainland. The interior of Castle Garden is now used as a place for public exhibitions, fairs, concerts, &c., and is capable of containing 10,000 persons. The view from the Battery and Garden commands the entire bay, Narrows, and Staten island. Bowling Green in Broadway, near the Battery, is a small circular space, enclosed by a railing and having a fountain. About three-fourths of a mile from the Battery is the Park, a triangular piece of ground, of about 11 acres, bounded by Broadway, Chatham, and Chambers streets, and containing the City Hall, Rotunda or Hall of Records, and New City Hall, occupied by courts, city offices, &c. Near the S. W. entrance is a basin with several jets, the centre one of which can throw a compact body of water a foot in diameter to the height of 60 feet. St. John's Park is a private square (belonging to the property holders around it) between Hudson and Varick, and Laight and Beach streets. Washington Square, a parallelogram of 12 acres, Tompkins Square, Stuyvesant Square, Union Park, an oval piece of ground with fine jets d'eau, interrupting Broadway at Fourteenth street; Gramercy Park, and Madison Square, in the N. part of the city, are all within the densely peopled portions of New York. They are not large, but are less needed in this long and comparatively narrow city, surrounded by its harbor, and refreshed by sea-breezes, than in most other towns of its size.

Croton Aqueduct: Of all her public works, New York has most reason to be proud of, and to be satisfied with the Croton Aqueduct, whether we regard it as a proof of energy merely, or in its utilitarian aspects. This work is superior to any thing of the kind in modern times, and is only surpassed by those of ancient Rome. The water is brought to the city from Croton river, 40 1/2 miles above the distributing reservoir, and 43 1/2 miles from the City Hall. The dam on Croton river is 40 feet high, and 166 above tide. The water is conveyed in a covered canal of brick and stone, through 16 tunnels of an aggregate length of 6841 feet to Harlem river, which it crosses on a bridge 1450 feet long, elevated 114 feet above tide. About 5 miles above the City Hall is the receiving reservoir, covering 35 acres, and with a capacity for 150,000,000 gallons. Between 2 and 3 miles below this, on Fifth avenue, between Forty and Forty-second streets, is the distributing reservoir, a solid piece of masonry, covering 420 feet square, including four acres, in two divisions, with massive walls, 44 1/2 feet high above the street, and 37 feet deep. Capacity, 20,000,000 gallons. In June, 1852, 220 miles of pipe had been laid. Total original cost of construction, $9,000,000. The aqueduct can supply 60,000,000 gallons daily.

Cemeteries--About 3 miles S. E. from Fulton ferry, Brooklyn, is Greenwood Cemetery, occupying an area of 400 acres, forming the most extensive place of sepulture in modern times. It is an hour's ride simply to make the circuit of the grounds, without threading its alleys or examining its great variety of monuments and other testimonials to the dead. The grounds are as varied as extensive, composed of constant alternations of hill and dale, and wood and indeed, water: it would be difficult to conceive of any place combining so many attractions. It is covered with mounds that swell so gracefully as to bear the appearance of being artificial. In some parts the visitor is shut in by thick woods, hills, and foliage that enclose a contracted glen and embosom a secluded lake or pond. In others, he is on eminences such as Ocean hill, that command extensive views of the sea and the Rockaway beach, while from Battle hill he overlooks New York city and bay, Brooklyn, Staten island, Jersey City, and the Hudson river to the heights of Weehawken. The cemetery is traversed by winding paths and avenues, amid every variety of memorial, from the simplest tombstone to the gorgeous mausoleum.

Public Building: New York is fast approaching the capitals of Europe in the stateliness of its private mansions, and the solidity and grandeur of its public buildings; though in many cases they fall in producing their proper effect from the badness of their location. Beginning at the Battery, and proceeding up Broadway, (omitting any mention of the immense warehouses and stores which line every step of the way, and extend for some distance along the cross-streets, in the vicinity of Broadway,) we come first to Wall street, running E. from Broadway, turning down which, a white marble building of the Doric order, after the model of the Parthenon, situated at the corner of Nassau and Broad streets, first attracts the eye. This is the Custom House, one of the most solid structures in the United States. It stands on sloping ground, fronting Broad street, and occupies the site of the old Federal Hall, from the balcony in front of which, Washington delivered his first inaugural address. It is ascended from Wall street by eighteen marble steps, while the Pine street front has but four. The length of the building is 200 feet on Nassau street, width on Pine and Wall streets 90 feet, and height 80 feet, with a portico at each end supported by eight massive columns. The best view of the Custom House is to be had coming up Broad street, which it faces. The great hall for the transaction of business is circular, surmounted by a dome (through which the hall is lighted) supported by sixteen Corinthian columns 30 feet high. Entire cost of the building, including the grounds, $1,175,000. From the steps of the Custom House, looking E. in a slight bend on the opposite side of Wall street, a few hundred feet distant, stands the Merchants' Exchange, one of the most imposing buildings in the country. It occupies an entire block, 200 feet long by 144 to 177 feet wide, 77 feet high to the top of the cornice, and 124 to the summit of the dome, which is a prominent object in the view coming up the bay. This structure is of Quincy granite, no wood being used except in the doors and windows. The front has a recessed portico, with eighteen Ionic columns, twelve in the first row, four in the second, and two in the third; the latter forming the approach to the principal entrance. Each column is composed of a solid block of granite 38 feet high, 4 feet 4 inches in diameter, and weighing upwards of 40 tons. The great hall "where merchants most do congregate," is a rotunda 80 feet in diameter, in the centre of the building, with four recesses of 10 feet each. This chamber is 80 feet high, surmounted by a dome, with a skylight 25 feet in diameter, and supported by eight Corinthian columns of Italian marble, 41 feet high. The rotunda is surrounded by offices let out for various purposes. Entire cost of building and grounds about $1,800,000. This building occupies part of the site of the old Exchange destroyed by the great fire in 1835. Leaving Wall street, with its compact mass of banking-houses, insurance and brokers' offices, mostly of marble, granite, or sandstone, we will return to Broadway. As we do so, we have the steeple of Trinity Church, the highest in the United States, if not in America, immediately in front of us, and obtaining the best view of the church anywhere to be had, though even here a part of the N. E. façade is concealed from view. This church, which is built of light red sandstone to the top stone of the steeple, is 189 feet long by 84 wide, and 64 high, and believed to be the purest specimen of Gothic architecture in this country. The tower, (which is furnished with a fine chime of bells and a clock,) including the spire, is 264 feet in height, and furnishes a splendid panoramic view of the city, bay, harbor, suburbs, and surrounding country. The cost of the building is stated at $400,000--it is presumed independently of the grounds, which was previously owned by the church. Proceeding up Broadway, on the right, in the centre of the Park, stands the City Hall, an edifice of mixed Corinthian and Ionic orders, 216 feet long by 105 wide, and 65 feet high, including the attic. The S. front and the ends are of white marble, but the N. front is of red sandstone, (causing a want of harmony which considerably impairs the effect of the building.) It covers an area of 22,896 square feet, is two stories high above the basement, with an attic story in the centre of the building surmounted by a cupola, Which contains a clock, and is crowned by a statue of Justice. This cupola is occupied by a person whose business it is to give alarm in case of fires, which he does by sounding a bell in a smaller cupola near by, which by the number of strokes indicates the ward in which the fire rages. There are 28 rooms in the City Hall, the most important of which is the governor's room, 52 feet by 20, which, as its names implies, is set apart for the use of the governor when he visits the city. It is also occasionally used by distinguished functionaries of the United States or State Governments, and foreign guests, as a reception room. Its walls are decorated with the portraits of men of eminence. The other rooms in this building are occupied as council chambers, mayor's office, superior and other court rooms, and city and county offices. Opposite the lower end of the Park is the Astor House, (see HOTELS,) the American and Irving houses, and, at the N. end, Stewart's store. Passing up Broadway, we have on the left the City Hospital, Prescot House, St. Nicholas and Lafarge houses, and New York Hotel, on the right the Masonic Hall Broadway Theatre, Society Library, Carlton House, Church of the Divine Unity, the Metropolitan Hotel, and Church of the Messiah. At the angle made by the declination of Broadway to the N. W., and 2 1/4 miles from the Battery, stands Grace Church, an imposing structure of white marble, with a tower and spire surmounted by a cross of the same material, and producing a more marked effect than Trinity itself, by its peculiar position, visible from almost every part of Broadway. The Odd Fellows' Hall, a large building of brownstone, corner of Clinton and Grand streets, is an imposing structure, and the principal edifice belonging to the order of that name. The Bible House, occupying the space bounded by Third and Fourth avenues, and Eighth and Ninth streets, is more noted for its vast extent and the purposes to which it is devoted, than for any claims it has to architectural effect. This immense brick pile extends 232 feet on Ninth street, and 77 on Third avenue, being 6 stories high, and having a street frontage of 700 feet. In the colossal rooms of this vast structure are conducted all the operations of printing, stitching, gilding, binding, &c., necessary in book-making. Scattered over the city in various directions are different buildings of a public nature, which will be alluded to under the head of benevolent societies, churches, &c. The New Armory, built of bluestone, in the Gothic style, extending 131 feet on White, and 84 feet on Elm street, is intended for a receptacle of the artillery of the First Division of New York State Militia. It is constructed so as to be particularly available as a defence against mobs.

Hotels: A peculiar feature of New York is its hotels, which, perhaps, surpass in number, extent, and in the expensiveness of their equipments, those of any city in the world. In our utilitarian age and country, the moneys expended on castles, fortresses, palaces, and such freaks of royalty in other countries, and in other ages, is expended on buildings more suited to the wants of our times, and the character of our people, such as hotels, great stores, warehouses, banks, &c. Among its threescore hotels of a high class, the most important are the Howard House, Astor House, American, Irving House, Carlton House, Taylor's Restaurant, Collamore House, St. Nicholas, Prescott House, the Metropolitan, Bond-street Hotel, New-York Hotel, Lafarge House, Astor-Place Hotel, St. Denis, Union-place Hotel, and Gramercy Hotel, all on Broadway. The Metropolitan occupies a new edifice of red sandstone, built in the Roman style, 300 feet on Broadway, and 200 feet on Prince street, at a cost, including the ground, of over $1,000,000. It has, besides 350 rooms, supplied with water, gas, &c., more than 100 suites of family apartments, with baths, water-closets, &c. attached. Altogether there are accommodations for more than 600 guests. The dining room is 150 feet by 40. There are 250 servants in the hotel, and, it is said, 12 miles of water and gas pipes. The St. Nicholas, when completed, (which it probably will be ere the close of 1853,) will present a front on Broadway of 300 feet, (200 of which will be of fine white marble, and 100 of red sandstone,) in a good style of architecture, and 200 feet on Spring street, containing 600 rooms supplied with cold water and baths, and 150 suites of family rooms, with baths, water-closets, &c.; total cost, according to contracts already made, including ground, $1,030,000. The Astor House. opposite the Park, is a massive structure, of Quincey granite, whose solidity will probably give it a duration beyond several successions of its more flaring rivals. It is 201 feet on Broadway, 185 and 186 on Vezey and Barclay streets, is six stories high, and has 326 chambers. The other hotels named, though less imposing in appearance, are many of them nearly equal in size, and not inferior in real comfort and accommodations. Besides these hotels in Broadway, there are many other superior hotels scattered along the cross streets, near it.

Stores and Warehouses: It has not been usual in a work of this kind to take any particular notice of such buildings, but in our country, where the leading object of pursuit is commerce and trade, money is expended and taste displayed in such structures as in other countries is devoted to the erection of works of a different character. Great injustice would therefore be done to the appearance of our great cities to omit mention of these temples dedicated to trade by the wealthiest portion of our community, who are no longer content to transact their business in dark and narrow alleys and in mean warehouses. Prominent among the class of buildings referred to, is Stewart's store, a white marble building, 5 stories (83 feet) high, occupying an entire block, 152 feet on Broadway, and 100 feet on Reade and Chamber streets, (Park Place.) There is a great hall, 100 feet by 40, and 80 feet high; 2000 panes of plate glass are distributed over the building; those in the windows on each side the principal entrance are 134 by 84 inches. The store is lighted up by 400 gas-burners. Putnam's Magazine states their sales at about $7,000,000 annually, employing 300 salesmen and clerks. Another large store, second only to Stewart's, is now being erected by Lord & Taylor, in Grand street by Christie street, with an iron front to the first basement, surmounted by an immense story faced with red sandstone, and with windows apparently 40 feet high, reaching from near the floor almost to the cornice: judging by the eye, it has a front of from 80 to 100 feet. Broadway is such a mass of commercial palaces that it might seem invidious to particularize, which, however, we must do to give some definite idea of their vastness. Among the most extensive are an immense sandstone building, 50 feet on Broadway and 220 on Rector street, 6 stories high; and Trinity Buildings, N. of the church of that name, on the same street, built of Milwaukee yellow brick, 44 feet on Broadway and 262 on Thames street, has 365 windows, 350 doors, 1 1/2 miles of gas-pipe, 2 miles of steam-pipe, and cost $460,000 and upwards. Though the largest at present, these are not the most striking for architectural effect, as there are scores of stores on Broadway and in the streets adjacent to it, with fronts of white marble, sandstone, and brick, that are inferior in size, but many superior in appearance.

Churches: According to the Metropolitan Almanac of 1853, there were in New York 32 Baptist, 6 Congregational, 19 Dutch Reformed, 4 Friends', 13 Jews' synagogues, 6 Lutheran, 37 Methodist, 2 New Jerusalem, 37 Presbyterian, 4 Associate do., 2 Associate Reformed do., 4 Reformed do., 4 Primitive Christians, 44 Protestant Episcopal, 22 Roman Catholic, 2 Second Advent, 2 Unitarian, 5 Universalist, and 9 miscellaneous, making a total of 254 churches. The most conspicuous of these, for architectural effect, are (besides Trinity arid Grace churches, already referred to) the Baptist, corner of Elizabeth and Broome; Trinity chapel, between Broadway and 6th avenue, fronting on 25th street, and extending through to 26th street, built of light-colored freestone, in the old English style. The following Episcopal churches are mostly of stone, either marble or brownstone, viz. Ascension, in 5th avenue by 10th street, with two towers and parsonage; Calvary, 4th avenue and East 21st street, with two towers and spires, and a parsonage adjoining; Holy Communion and parsonage, 6th avenue and West 20th street; Du Saint Esprit, corner of Franklin and Church streets, with a colonnade of white marble; St. George's, Rutherford place, near East 16th street, with two towers. The most noted Presbyterian churches are, one on 5th avenue and 12th street, University place and 10th street, and 5th avenue and 16th street; Congregational, Church of the Puritans, Union Square; Dutch Reformed, 5th avenue and West 29th street, 5th avenue and 21st street, and Washington square. The finest Roman Catholic church is St. Patrick's, corner of Mott and Prince streets; Unitarian, Church of Messiah, 728 Broadway; Universalist, Church of the Divine Unity, 548 Broadway, and a new church erecting corner of 3d street and 5th avenue. All these churches are of decided architectural pretensions, all but two of stone, mostly red or light sandstone, and, with one or two exceptions, with towers or spires, and often with both.

Hospitals, Public Charities, Prisons, &c: While there is much of wretchedness and depravity in New York to depress the mind of the philanthropist, its numerous and richly endowed charitable institutions restore his equanimity, and present the redeeming side of human nature. First to be enumerated in this list is the New York Hospital, occupying a lot on Broadway opposite Pearl street, with an extensive yard in front. It is of graystone, 124 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 3 stories high, with accommodations for 200 patients, who receive here the most judicious nursing and the most skilful medical treatment. South of this is the Marine Department, recently demolished to give place for a new building now (1853) erecting, which is to be of graystone, 126 feet long by 88 wide, and 5 stories high. In 1852, there were admitted into New York Hospital 3877 patients, of whom 2862 were cured, 116 relieved, and 353 died, (110 from accidents and street affrays,) leaving in the institution, December 31st, 1852, 291 patients. Of the entire number, 1127 were paupers, and 1285 seamen. The expenses for the year were $51,997.73, and receipts, $42,459.63, of which $12,500 were contributed by the state, $19,104.14 by board of seamen, $10,467.97 by pay patients, $387.52 miscellaneous, and the balance from the funds of the Bloomingdale branch. Of those treated at this hospital, 2861 were foreigners, of whom 1875 were Irish. Total admitted in 28 years, 54,204, of whom 40,355 were cured, and 5228 died. The Bloomingdale Lunatic Asylum, a branch of the above, is located near the Hudson river, on 118th street, about 7 miles N. W. of the City Hall, on an area of 55 acres, laid out into walks, pleasure-grounds, &c. The building is of hewn stone, composed of a centre and two wings, 211 feet long. There are two detached buildings of brick, one-third the size of the main building. The situation is healthful, and commanding a fine prospect. calculated to cheer and soothe the mind so far as scenery and air are concerned. This asylum had 226 patients during the year 1852, of whom 49 recovered, 25 improved, 15 unimproved, 18 died, and 119 remained in the institution, December 31st, 1852. Receipts, $41,137.47, viz. from state annuity, $10,000; board of patients, $30,942.67, and articles sold, $194.80. Expenses, $31,633.97. St. Luke's Hospital and St. Vincent's Hospital, in East 18th street, between 102d and 104th streets, are under the care of the Sisters of Charity. New York Institution for the Blind occupies the entire block between 8th and 9th avenues, and between 33d and 34th streets. The building is composed of a centre, 117 feet long by 60 wide, and two wings, each 130 feet long by 29 wide. The entire length is 175 feet, and height 3 stories. It is constructed of blue limestone, in the castellated Gothic style, at a cost, including grounds, of $88,832.29, of which the state contributed $42,000. A workshop of brick, 88 2/3 feet long and 60 feet deep, has recently been erected on 8th avenue. At the close of 1852, there were 103 pupils in the institution, 95 from the State of New York, 4 from New Jersey, and one each from Alabama, Connecticut, Tennessee, and Michigan, of whom 86 were supported by the state, and 9 by the commissioners of emigration. The expenses of the year 1852 amounted to $51,186.30, of which the state contributed by appropriation, $10,000; the city of New York, $1000, and the state of New Jersey, $897.53, and $13,043.66 were received for fabrics made by the pupils of the asylum. Besides the 103 pupils, there are 42 blind operatives. The Deaf and Dumb Asylum, located on 50th street, near 4th avenue, is 210 feet long by 90, with wings 90 feet deep, 5 stories high, surmounted by an observatory, and surrounded by extensive grounds. There were in the institution, December 31st, 1852, 260 pupils, 117 of whom were females, and 143 males; 182 were supported by the State of New York, 16 by the city, 13 by the State of New Jersey, 32 by their friends, 16 by the institution, and 1 by the commissioners of emigration. The expenses for 1852 were $47,552.65, and receipts, 42,309.75. New York abounds in institutions for the relief of suffering poverty, decrepitude, and misfortune of every kind: among them may be mentioned the American Female Guardian Society and Home for the Friendless, where females out of employment or a home may find shelter, and have their children taken care of, till suitable places can be found for them. Since its opening in 1847, 2936 persons have been received, of whom 1146 were children; cost of the building, $18,000. The New York Orphan Asylum, at Bloomingdale, is a fine building, 120 feet by 60, with eight acres of ground. This institution received 184 children in 1852, and during the same period legacies amounting to $15,199 were received. The Leake and Watts Orphan House stands on a lot of 26 acres, and has an income sufficient to support 250 children. It had 194 inmates in 1852. The Colored Orphan Asylum had 258 inmates, and the Protestant Half Orphan Asylum 246 in 1852. Where the surviving parents are able, they pay 50 cents a week for each child. The Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, under the presidentship of Archbishop Hughes, is in Prince street. The Asylum for Friendless Boys provides a home for the education and instruction in some employment of street-boys. Of 127 boys received the first year of its establishment, (1851,) 100 were foreigners. This institution is about being merged in a Juvenile Asylum, to be located on the N. E. side of the island, beyond the city. The Jews' Widows' and Orphans' Asylum, located in West 27th street; the Lying-in Asylum, in Marion street; Montefiore Widows' and Orphans' Asylum, in Beaver street; the Working Girls' Home, in Broome street, are the other principal asylums in New York. Closely allied to the asylums are the dispensaries, of which there are five, viz. the New York, with two branches, (the Northern and Eastern;) the Demilt, corner of 2d avenue and 23d street, and the Homoeopathic Dispensary, in Broome street. The first relieved 48,547 patients in 1852; the Northern, 240,976 in the 26 years it has existed, and 17,831 in 1852, of whom 11,914 were foreigners. The Demilt treated 2197 patients, of whom 1376 were foreigners, in the year ending March 27th, 1853. The New York Eye Infirmary administered to 3007 patients, of whom 2003 were foreigners. 275 of the patients were treated for diseases of the ear. The New York Ophthalmic Hospital treated 444 patients in 1852. The People's Bathing and Washing Establishment, 141 Mott street, is furnished with all the materials for washing, drying, and ironing clothes, which are let out at three cents an hour to each individual. There are accommodations for 68 persons to wash at one time. In the first three months the bathing department was open, 38,600 baths were taken, at an expense to the bathers of about five cents for each bath. There are several institutions for the relief of disabled seamen, for providing comfortable and suitable boarding for them while in port, and for the education of their children; among these are the "Sailor's Home," which boarded 3027 mariners in 1852, and 83,527 since its establishment in 1842. "The Colored Sailor's Home" had 247 boarders in 1852. The Seaman's Savings' Bank has over $3,000,000 on deposit, all under the care of the American Seamen's Friend Society, which also sends out missionaries, opens reading rooms, and publishes the Sailor's Magazine, with a monthly circulation of 6000 copies. The Marine Society, founded in 1770, gave relief in 1853 to 56 widows, at an expense of from $40 to $60 each annually. The Seaman's Retreat, on Staten island, near the Quarantine Ground, gave relief in 1852 to 2956 patients, of whom 167 died. The trustees may levy $1.50 upon every master, $1 upon every mate, 50 cents upon each sailor arriving from a foreign port, and 25 cents from each of the crew of coasting vessels. "The Marine Hospital," also on Staten island, is devoted to invalid passengers and seamen from ships just arrived: it is supported by a fund arising from a tax of $2 on every foreign cabin, and 50 cents on every steerage passenger. "The Sailor's Snug Harbor," on the N. side of Staten island, founded in 1801, by a bequest of Robert Richard Randall, of an open field (then) near New York, now a valuable property yielding a rental of $100,000. The building has a front of white marble, and, including its wings, a length of 225 feet. There belong to the institution 160 acres of ground. In 1852 there were supported here 295 disabled and aged seamen. "The Home for Sailors' Children" is in the same neighborhood. The Mariner's Family Industrial Society furnishes work to the female relatives of seamen. The "Prison Association of New York," has for its object the improvement of prison discipline, and the encouragement of released convicts, by enabling them to procure employment. Since its organization in 1845, it has relieved 977 prisoners, of whom 225 are doing well, 470 hopeful, 126 doubtful, 19 returned to prison, and 137 whose condition is unknown. The "Home," founded by the female members of the same society, provides a temporary shelter for released female convicts from Blackwell's Island prison, till they can be supplied with places: 166 were received in 1852. The Magdalene Female Asylum had 70 inmates during 1852. Pease's Institution, at the Five Points, (the St. Giles of New York, a sink of all iniquity,) employs [p.820] about 100 persons constantly in tailoring, straw-binding, &c., and since its establishment in 1848, has found places for 800 women in the country. Of the $15,000 expended in 1852, $12,000 were defrayed by the products of the women's labor. Altogether there are in New York, 22 asylums, 90 benevolent societies, 75 secret and beneficent societies, 8 hospitals, and 7 dispensaries.

Almshouse, &c: The board of ten governors of the almshouse have under their charge, to some extent, the following institutions:--The Almshouse, Bellevue Hospital, City Prison, Colored Home, Colored Orphan Asylum, Nursery Hospital, the City Penitentiary, Penitentiary Hospital, one branch of Almshouse, Lunatic Asylum, and Workhouse, all on Blackwell's island; House of Refuge, and Nursery, on Randall's island; office of chief of police, outdoor poor, prisons of 2d and 3d districts, Small-pox Hospital, &c. They report expended on all these institutions, for the year 1852, $465,109.20, and relief given to 80,357 persons; of which number 15,869 were relieved at the department in the Park. The almshouse proper admitted 2624 persons in 1852, of whom only 618 were natives; and of the foreign paupers, 1654 were Irish. Deaths, 181. The hospital department (at Bellevue, on the East river, foot of 26th, 27th, and 28th streets) treated 5629 patients during the year, of whom 633 died; 3686 were foreigners, of whom 3482 were Irish. The Hospital on Blackwell's island (this island lies in the East river, about 3 1/2 to 5 miles from the City Hall, having the Penitentiary on the S. end, the Almshouse in the middle, and the Asylum on the N. end,) treated 3034 patients in 1852, of whom 1919 were foreigners, and 111 died. In the Smallpox Hospital, 159 were treated, of whom 25 died. In the Colored Home, 902 persons were under care, of whom 110 died. In the Colored Orphan Asylum, 258 had been admitted during 1852; 201 remained at the close of the year, and 15 died. There were treated in the Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's island, 1012 patients. Of 495 admitted in 1852, 393 were foreigners, and 130 died. The Nursery Hospital on Randall's island admitted 2184 children during the year, of whom 163 died, and 206 remained at its close. The Nursery on the same island admitted during the year, 1794 persons, which, added to those remaining December 31, 1851, made 3213. Of the admissions, 69 were men, 489 women, 733 boys, and 503 girls: 164 died. Average attendance at schools, 690. The commitments to the Penitentiary on Blackwell's island amounted to 4444, of whom 1042 were from the courts, and the rest police commitments. The workhouse department, on the same island, received during 1852, 515 persons. There were committed to the three city prisons in the same year, 25,365 offenders. The most important of these, (the First District Prison, Hall of Justice, or Tombs, as it is popularly called) occupies a low site near the City Hall, but is a building of considerable pretensions, being in the Egyptian style, 253 feet by 200, and constructed of light-colored granite. This prison only received 19,064 of the commitments. A very extensive building is now (1853) being erected on Randall's island, as a House of Refuge. The length of the boys' department is 590 feet, composed of a centre and two wings--the centre 86, and the wings 63 feet high; and a girls' department, 250 feet long, of like breadth and height. When completed, there will be two centre wings to the boys' department, besides end buildings to each wing, 56 by 50 feet, and a number of out-buildings, such as shops and kitchens, &c. The present House of Refuge is on First Avenue, between 23d and 24th streets. The Refuge had 345 boys and 76 girls, December 31st, 1852. Of 266 white children received, only 45 were American. Places were found for 225 children--97 on farms, and the rest at trades. Expenses for 1852, $31,121.34; to which the state contributed $8000, and the city $4000; theatre licenses $4698, and boys' labor $9581: 277 boys and 76 girls attended schools.

Education: The free schools of New York have consisted of two departments, one under the direction of the Public School Society, having 111 schools under their care; and 89 ward schools, under the direction of the Board of Education. This year (1853) the Public School Society was dissolved. The number of pupils on register attending the ward schools, January 1st, 1853, was 66,831, and average attendance 22,959; number on register in the schools of the Public School Society, 56,151; average attendance, 19,314. Number of night schools, 23; number of pupils on register, 8074; average attendance, 2736. Total number of pupils attending the public schools, 131,056, or more than one-fifth the population. The schools named below, and connected with the following institutions, draw more or less of their support from the public fund:--The New York Orphan Asylum, the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, the Roman Catholic Half-Orphan Asylum, the Protestant Half-Orphan Asylum, the Mechanics' Society, House of Refuge, Leake and Watts' Orphan House, Almshouse; also, the Hamilton free school, Colored Orphans', American Female Guardian, and colored schools. Crowning the system of public school education is, the Free Academy, established in 1848, and combining the characteristics of academy, high-school, Polytechnic school, and college; and, in the opinion of some, will give a more practical and useful education than any college. This institution is situated on the corner of Lexington avenue and 23d street. The ground was purchased, the building erected, furnished with the necessary apparatus, books, &c., at a cost of about $90.,000. The edifice, though of brick, is large and imposing, being in the Gothic style, with turrets, &c. In the four years the Free Academy has been in operation, the entire expenses have varied between $10,782 and $19,898, per annum--so far keeping within the $20,000 allowed by law. On the 1st of January, 1853, there were 11,164 volumes in the library, and 571 students in the academy. The full course requires 5 years, but it is at the option of the student whether he will pursue a full or partial course; he may also Choose between the ancient and modern languages. The faculty consists of 13 professors, aided by 8 tutors. The president, who is also one of the professors, receives $2500, the other professors receive from $700 to $1500 per annum, and the tutors from $500 to $700. There are in this city 2 colleges, 2 theological and 3 medical schools. Columbia College, the oldest of these literary institutions, occupies a pile of buildings, the main one of which is 200 feet by 50, with extensive wings, situated in beautiful open grounds, shaded by venerable trees, between Barclay and Church streets, and between Murray street and West Broadway. This ancient seat of learning was founded in 1754, and was called King's College till the Revolution. Alexander Hamilton was a graduate of this college. Number of alumni up to 1852, 1450; students in 1853, 157; and 6000 volumes in its library. The faculty consists of a president and 12 professors.

The University of the City of New York occupies a beautiful white-marble structure, on the E. side of Washington square, between Washington and Waverley Places, It is 180 feet long by 100 in width, of the English-College-Gothic style. It has a chapel, with oak carvings, which is lighted by a stained-glass window, 50 feet by 24. This college was founded in 1831, and the building occupied in 1836. The number of alumni in 1853 was 320; of professors and tutors, 11; students, 151, and volumes in the library, 4000. Connected with the university is a medical school, located in 14th street, between Irving place and Third avenue. This department was founded in 1837, had 6 professors and 421 students in 1852, and had sent forth 597 graduates. It has a fine library and physiological collection. The New York College of Physicians and Surgeons was founded in 1807, and is located at No. 57 Crosby street. It had 6 professors and 219 students in 1852, and had conferred 852 degrees of M.D. It has also a good library and anatomical museum. The New York Medical College, a new and flourishing institution, was founded in 1851, and is located on 13th street, between Third and Fourth avenues. It admits 5 students from the Free Academy gratuitously. The College of Pharmacy, for the graduation of apothecaries, closes the list of medical schools. The General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States is situated on 20th street, between Ninth and Tenth avenues, and occupies two stone buildings, each 110 feet by 50. It was founded in 1817, had 5 professors, 64 students, and 11,000 volumes in its library, in 1852; and had educated a total of 417 students: number in 1853, 57. The Union Theological Seminary, No. 9 University Place, is under the direction of Presbyterians, though it receives students from all evangelical denominations. It was founded in 1836, and had 5 professors, 106 students, and 18,000 volumes in 1852, and had educated 211 young men. The Rutgers Female Institute occupies a fine building, with granite front, in Madison street, near Clinton. This institution was incorporated in 1838, and gives a thorough education to young ladles in history, general philosophy, astronomy, chemistry, mathematics, and belles-lettres. It has generally about 500 pupils. St. George's Parish School admits about 100 pupils of a lower grade than usually attend the public schools.

Libraries: New York has a number of extensive libraries. The largest collection of books will be in the Astor Library, a new institution, founded by the late John Jacob Astor, who left a fund of $400,000 for that purpose. This library is about to be opened (1853) in a fine building (65 feet by 120) erected for the purpose, in the Moorish style, in Lafayette place. The building cost about $70,000, and will open with about 100,000 volumes, to be increased from time to time from the interest of the fund remaining after the library goes into operation. This library is to be free to all persons resorting thereto. The New York Society Library is one of the oldest in the United States, has about 42,000 volumes, and occupies a fine building with a sandstone front with Ionic columns, 50 feet on Broadway, and 100 upon Leonard street. It is, however, about to be removed, as the building is sold. It was founded in 1700. The New York Mercantile Library, founded in 1820, one of the most vigorously conducted and flourishing libraries in the United States, is at present located at Clinton Hall, corner of Beckman and Nassau streets, but it is soon to be removed to the Opera House, Astor Place. January 1, 1853, it had 37,486 volumes on its shelves, and 21 daily, 42 weekly, 80 monthly, and 45 quarterly journals on its reading-room tables. The number of members at the same time was 4194. This institution, though founded for merchants and their clerks, is open to any citizen complying with the terms of membership. Its income is $10,000 per annum. The Apprentices' Library, located at No. 32 Crosby street, in Mechanics' Hall, has about 17,000 volumes. The New York Historical Society has its rooms at present in the buildings of the New York University; but the society are about erecting a fireproof building for themselves. This institution was founded in 1804, when a grant was made it by the state of $12,000. The society has a valuable library of 12,000 volumes, including some rare books, pamphlets, maps, charts, and files of papers from 1730 to the present time, and a collection of antiquities, coins, medals, &c. The American Bible Society has recently erected an immense pile of buildings. Mr. Peter Cooper is about erecting a building for the purpose of public lectures, reading, and exhibition rooms, &c., which he intends to be free, and for which he appropriates about $300,000. The edifice is to be situated opposite the Bible House, to be 195 feet on Third Avenue, 155 on Fourth Avenue, 143 on Eighth and 86 on Seventh street, and five stories high. The basement and two lower stories are to be rented, the income of which is to support the "People's Union," as the establishment is to be called. The Lyceum of Natural History, in a part of the building occupied by the medical department of the New York University, Fourteenth street, near Fourth Avenue, has a valuable library and an extensive cabinet of beasts, birds, fishes, shells, minerals, and fossils. The American Institute of the City of New York was incorporated in 1829, for the encouragement of commerce, agriculture, and manufactures, and hold annual fairs or exhibitions in Castle Garden. It distributed $4000 in 1852, in the shape of medals and other rewards. The institute is located at 351 Broadway, where they have a meeting-room, library, repository for models, reading room, &c. The Mechanics' Institute, in the basement of the City Hall, has a fine library and reading room, and a valuable collection of philosophical and chemical apparatus, and a male and female school attached.

Banks: New York had in September, 1853, 53 banks, with $45,117,900 capital, $9,566,723 circulation, and $11,860,235 in coin. The most conspicuous banking houses are the Bank of the Republic, corner of Broadway and Wall street, Metropolitan, Chemical, and Pacific, all in Broadway, and all of brownstone, and the Ocean Bank, in Greenwich street, of the same material. The banking hall of the latter is beautifully frescoed. There are in Wall street a number of solid structures of Quincy granite and marble, occupied by the America, State of New York, Commercial, Union, Merchants', Exchange, and City Banks. There are 12 savings banks in New York: among these are the Emigrant, Industrial, and Seaman's Savings Banks. In January, 1853, there were in New York 43 insurance and trust companies, with an aggregate capital of $11,714,010.

Manufactures: We have no regular statistics as yet of the particulars of the manufactures of New York; but if the census report is to be relied on, this city is not only the commercial, but the manufacturing centre of the United States. The census of 1850 gives to New York $34,232,822 capital, and 53,703 male and 29,917 female hands employed in manufactures, producing machinery, stuffs, &c. to the value of $105,218,308. Among these, the iron foundries and machine shops are conspicuous. From the Novelty and other works are certainly turned out the finest specimens of steam machinery for steamboats and steamships produced in the United States, if not in the world. Sugar-refining is another extensive business. According to an article in the New York Tribune, there are refined 1000 hogsheads of raw sugar a day; and one house alone consumed 40,000,000 pounds of raw sugar in 1852. In the different refineries there are employed 1250 hands, and about $3,000,000 capital. Ship-building is carried to a degree of perfection unsurpassed in the world, both for beauty of model and speed, particularly in the steamers, acknowledged to be the largest and fleetest in the world, though the contest is very close between the American and British vessels in this respect.

Commerce and Trade: It is as the great centre of commerce for half a continent that New York derives its highest claim to pre-eminence. Surrounded by one of the most capacious harbors in the world, within two hours sail of the Atlantic ocean, communicating with the New England States by Long Island sound, and with the interior of New York State by the Hudson river, which is in turn connected with the great lakes by the Erie canal, it presents facilities for internal and foreign navigation unrivalled by any commercial emporium of this or any former period. Nor have her merchants been satisfied to repose on her natural advantages, but they have connected her, by iron arms, with every great point, north, south, east, or west, which deposite on her docks and in her depôts the cotton and rice of the South, the grain, lead, tobacco, and pork of the West, and the wool, wheat, lumber, and flour of the North and East. New York is now only surpassed by London and Liverpool as a seat of trade, and in another century will probably be the commercial centre of the world. Along its wharves, in every direction, may be seen forests of masts, where countless vessels of every description, and from every quarter of the globe, pour their rich tribute into the lap of this queen of commercial cities. Steamers of such size, splendor, and speed as the world has never before seen, forming regular lines of packets to Liverpool, Southampton, Havre, Glasgow, Bremen, San Francisco, New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah, Charleston, and all other important points along the coast, arrive at and depart from its docks almost daily, freighted with merchandise and crowded with passengers. But we will let figures tell the facts of the case. There arrived, in 1852, in New York, from foreign ports, 3847 vessels, (aggregate tonnage, 1,709,988,) bearing merchandise to the value of $127,441,394, (including something more than $2,000,000 in specie,) and 310,335 passengers. The exports to foreign countries, during the same period, amounted to $71,523,609, including $25,096,255 in specie. The leading articles imported are various species of dry goods, silk, woollen, linen, and cotton; earthen and hardware; iron in various stages of manufacture, figs, raisins, brandies, wines, &c. The imports of dry goods alone, for the first quarter of 1853, amounted to $25,862,092, independent of $1,500,000 warehoused. The imports for the year 1852, included 601,170 bags and packages of coffee; 1,443,949 hides; 41,986 tons of bar, 70,061 of pig, and 656,657 bundles of sheet and rod iron; 514,514 bales of cotton; 393,766 pigs of lead; 125,311 hogsheads, tierces, and barrels of molasses; 177,732 hogsheads, 1655 tierces, 48,209 barrels, 194,748 boxes, and 111,834 bags of sugar; 2,058,396 bushels of salt; 1456 butts and pipes, 21,282 hogsheads, 49,994 quarter casks, 12,172 barrels, 73,033 boxes of wine; 16,618 hogsheads, and 38,098 quarter casks and barrels of brandy; 6840 casks, 323,161 boxes, and 1098 drums of raisins; 106,652 drums of figs; 14,602 hogsheads, 43 bales and ceroons of tobacco, besides large quantities of cocoa, duck, queensware, hemp, olive oil, pepper, pimento, rags, rice, salt-petre, spelter, tin, wool, coal, and considerable cochineal, gin, and rum. Among the articles exported from January 1 to December 20, 1852, were 1,365,597 barrels of wheat flour; 44,819 of Indian meal; 3,012,718 bushels of wheat; 753,928 of Indian corn; 331,574 bales of cotton; 511,926 barrels of naval stores; 791,829 barrels of sperm, and 58,185 of whale oil; 38,747 barrels of pork, and 47,031 of beef; 1,497,599 pounds of cut beef, besides large quantities of pot and pearl ashes, beeswax, rye, candles, coal, butter, cheese, lard, rice, tallow, tobacco, whalebone, and some rye flour, oats, barley, hay, hops, lard, linseed oil, and 54,692 packages of domestic cottons. The tonnage in 1852 was 571,905 60/95 registered, and 444,643 22/95 enrolled and licensed; total, 1,016,599 17/95, being about one-fourth the whole tonnage of the United States. Losses covered by marine insurance, paid in New York, $3,250,161, in 1851. The export and import trade of 1852 employed upwards of 106,000 seamen. There are 18 steamships, rating from 1700 to 3000 tons, engaged in the transatlantic trade; of which 10 are British, and 8 American. Of these, 18 run to Liverpool, one to Glasgow, two to Havre and two to Bremen--the last four touching also at Southampton. A new line of steam propellers to Liverpool is also about being established. The lines to San Francisco employed recently 37 steamers, rating from 900 to 3000 tons, and about equally divided in number on the Atlantic and Pacific waters. these are crowded with passengers beyond all precedent in the history of ocean travel, and beyond all possibility of comfort for voyagers. The West Indies and Southern lines employ 17 steamers--making a total steam marine of 72 vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 113,310. Of the steam tonnage of the United States, in 1852, (ocean, lake, and river,) more than one-fourth, viz. 64,447, belonged to New York city. In 1852, 124 vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 56,179, were either on the stocks or launched. Of these, 16 were steamships, 64 steamboats. and 44 sailing vessels. The cash duties during the same period, amounted to $31,332,737.81.

Miscellaneous Statistics: In 1850 there were in New York, 37,730 houses, with an average of 13 2/3 persons to each dwelling. In the same year, 212,996 foreign emigrants arrived; 289,601 in 1851, and 298,604 in 1852; of whom 117,537 were Irish; 118,126, Germans; 31,275, English; 8778, French; 7640, Scotch, and 6455, Swiss: total number of passengers arriving from foreign ports, 310,335, and from California, 12,153. It may readily be seen what life and activity the landing of a daily average of nearly 1000 persons must give to New York, and what an amount of money must be left by this floating mass of population. The total number of deaths for 1852 was 21,553; of which number, 6712 were of foreign birth; 2462, by consumption; 1052, inflammation of the lungs; 1400, stillborn; 1676, by convulsions; 609, by scarlet fever; 659, by typhus fever; 19 were murdered; 35 committed suicide, and 169 died from accidents. There was expended on city prisons, almshouses, &c., exclusive of a host of private charities, $492,564.26. The commitments to prison were 25,365; of whom 19,764 were foreigners. The police department employs 900 men, at an annual expense of $500,000. There are 15 principal markets in different parts of the city, besides numberless licensed stalls and green groceries. The entire number of periodical publications issued in New York is between 140 and 150. Of these, about 20 are dailies, with an aggregate circulation of above 200,000, besides a great number of weekly prints--almost every sect and clique having its hebdomadal organ. There were in 1851, 6 theatres, besides the American Museum, where dramatic entertainments were offered to the public: Castle Garden and several halls are used for concerts and operas. The East river is constantly crossed from New York to Brooklyn and Williamsburg by the finest ferry-boats perhaps in the world, with comfortable seats, and in winter with well-warmed cabins. The ferriage is one cent to Brooklyn, and two and three cents to Williamsburg. There are 6 ferries to Brooklyn, and 3 to Williamsburg; 3 ferries to Hoboken; one to Jersey City, (boats running every 10 minutes;) 3 ferries to different points on Staten island, and to Greenwood Cemetery, besides boats innumerable running to all points on Long island, on the Hudson river, and in New Jersey. From May, 1852, to February, 1853, there were licenses issued to 41 pawnbrokers; 52 second-hand dealers; 115 junk shops; 26 intelligence offices; 47 carts and boats of junk shops; 673 omnibuses; 560 hackney coaches; 5980 taverns, (granted from January 1 to July 22, 1853,) 4550 public carts; 295 public porters; 4000 drivers of carts and trucks; 80 charcoal peddlers; 1500 dirt carts; 55 emigrant boarding houses; 67 runners, and 15 brokers. In 1852 there were 49 engine, 54 hose, (with 68,300 feet of hose,) and 13 hook and ladder companies, with 51 ladders and 136 hooks. Previous to January 1, 1853, there had been laid 229 miles of waterpipes. There were laid in the same year 229 miles of (main) gaspipes, lighting 7539 street-lamps. There are nearly 40 miles of sewers.

Government, &c: New York is divided into twenty wards, and is governed by a mayor and common council. The mayor is elected by popular vote, and holds office for two years. The common council is composed of two boards, one called the board of aldermen, and the other the board of assistant aldermen, one member for each board being elected from every ward annually. Besides the state and United States courts, there are courts of oyer and terminer, of general sessions, and special sessions, the two latter held by the recorder, or city judge, and two aldermen. The city is divided into three police districts, each with a police court. There are also eight ward courts. There are twenty patrol districts, each with a station house, a captain, and two lieutenants, and with from about thirty to sixty policemen. The whole presided over by a chief of police. New York is also divided into eight fire districts, and in case of fire the number of strokes of the bell indicate the ward in which the fire is. A board of twelve firewardens receives complaints of all violations of law relative to fires, powder, construction, &c. The fire department in action is managed by a chief engineer and ten assistants. Total expenditures of the city government, including interest on debt for 1852, $8,294,241.45; for cleansing streets, $288,924.63; alms-house, $390,000; fire department, $105,-635.47; lamps and gas, $269,068.91; police, $614,906.10; street expenses, $264,-966.43, street paving, $663,176.45; street opening, $359,165.37; waterpipes, $150,-651.25; salaries, $242,000; common schools for the city, $468,293; for the state, $185,641. The mayor, recorder, comptroller, county clerk, register, and surrogate, each receive $3000 per annum; the street commissioner, chief of police, assistant district attorney, and clerk of the superior court, each $2500. The clerk of the board of assistants, tax commissioners, receiver of taxes, the commissioner of repairs, chief of the fire department, assistant commissioner, engineer, and assistant engineer of Croton aqueduct department, and justices of police and ward courts, each $2000; judges of the superior and common pleas courts, $4000; marine court, $2000.

History: The first knowledge we have of New York bay and Manhattan island, the site of the present city of New York, is from Henry Hudson, an English navigator in the employ of the East India Company of Holland, who visited them in 1609, and proceeded up the river which now bears his name. No settlement was however made till three years afterwards, when a fort was built on the southern extremity of Manhattan island by the Dutch, and thus commenced the settlement of New Amsterdam, which, in 1656, contained 120 houses and about 1000 inhabitants, In 1664 it was surrendered to the British, and came into the hands of the Duke of York, taking the name of New York; but it was retaken by the Dutch nine years afterwards, w

Biographies:

Hamilton Fish, statesman, was born in New York city, Aug. 3, 1808; son of Col. Nicholas and Elizabeth (Stuyvesant) Fish. He was graduated at Columbia in 1827, and was admitted to the bar. In 1834 He was defeated with the Whig ticket as member of the state assembly, and in 1842 was elected a representative to the 28tH congress from the sixth New York district, defeating John McKeon, Democrat. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re election in 1844. In 1846 he was the unsuccessful Whig candidate for lieutenant-governor but was elected to that office in 1847, to fill the unexpired term of Lieut.-Gov. Addison Gardiner, resigned. He was elected governor of New York in 1848 and in 1851 U.S. senator as successor to Daniel S. Dickinson, Democrat. In the senate he opposed the repeal of the Missouri compromise and after 1856 was a Republican. On retiring from the senate, March 4, 1857, he resumed the practice of law in New York city. He visited Europe with his family, 1859-60. He advocated the nomination of William H. Seward in 1860; supported Abraham Lincoln in the presidential canvass and in 1861 upheld the Union cause with voice and purse. He was a commissioner with Bishop Ames, appointed by Secretary Stunton in January, 1862, "to relieve the necessities and provide for the comfort of Federal soldiers in Confederate prisons," and the refusal of the Confederate government to receive the commissioners except for the purpose of arranging for a general exchange, resulted in the system of exchange soon after adopted. On March 11, 1869, Mr. Fish became secretary of state of the United States in President Grant's cabinet to succeed Elihu B. Washburn, appointed U.S. minister to France, and he held the position up to the close of President Grant's second term, March 3, 1877, and in President Hayes's cabinet up to the 12th of March when William M. Evarts assumed the office. He originally suggested and was a member of the joint high commission to arrange the differences with Great Britain. 1871, and a plenipotentiary to sign the treaty settling the Alabama claims, and the Northwestern boundary question with Great Britain the same year. In November, 1873, he negotiated the settlement of the Virginius question with the Spanish minister at Washington. Governor Fish was a trustee of Columbia college, 1840-93; chairman of the board, 1859-93; president of the general society of the Cincinnati, 1854-93; chairman of the Union defence committee, 1861-65; president of the New York historical society, 1867-69; trustee of the Astor library and one of the original trustees of the Peabody education fund appointed by the founder. He was married in 1836 to Julia, daughter of the Hon. John Kean of New Jersey. She died in 1887. They had three sons, Hamilton, Nicholas, Stuyvesant, and four daughters, who married respectively, William E. Rogers, Col. Samuel N. Benjamin, the Hon. Hugh Otiver Northcote of England, and Sidney Webster. He bequeathed $50,000 to Columbia college: $5000 to St. Luke hospital, and $2000 to the Bellevue training school for nurses. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Columbia in 1850, from Union in 1869, and from Harvard in 1871. He died at GlenClyffe, near Garrison-on-Hudson, N.Y., Sept. 7, 1893.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Charles Frederick Hoffman, clergyman, was born in New York city, Nov. 18, 1830; son of Samuel Verplanck and Glovina Rossell (Storm) Hoffman, grandson of Harmanus Hoffman and a descendant of Martin Hoffman. He was graduated at Trinity college, Conn., A.B., 1851; A.M. 1854, and was a student under Bisbop George W. Deane, of New Jersey, and at the General Theological seminary in the class of 1854. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Deane, July 14, 1854, and priest in 1855 and served as missionary and as assistant in St. Mary's, Burlington, N.J., 1854-59, and as rector of St. Philip's-in-Highlands at Garrisons, N.Y., until 1873. He was rector of All Angels' church, New York city, 1873-97. In 1888 he built at his own expense a new church edifice for his parish at a cost of over $150,000, and it was consecrated in 1890. In 1894 he erected a large parish house. In 1896-97 he enlarged the church building at a cost of $200,000. He was a trustee of the General Theological seminary, founder and president of the Association for Prohinting the Interests of Church Schools, Colleges and Seminaries; trustee of St. Stephen's college, Annandale, N.Y. benefactor of the college library and college to the extent of $200,000, founder of the Hoffman library lectures, and chief pastor of the institution. He presented a library building to the A. T. Porter institute, Charleston, S.C., and in 1896 sent his check for $50,000 to Sewanee, a present to the University of the South. He was a trustee of Hobart college, 1893-97: honorary chancellor, 1894-97, and presented to the college a liberal endowment. He received the honorary degrees D.D., from Rutgers, 1881; D.C.L., from St. Stephen's, 1894, and from the University of the South, 1896, and LL.D. from Hobart, 1893. He was married, Sept. 12, 1854, to Eleanor Louisa, daughter of David M. Vail of New Brunswick, N.J., and left two sons, Charles Frederick, Jr., and William Mitchell Vail Hoffman, and two daughters. By his will he bequeathed to St. Stephen's college $50,000, the principal part of his large library and his private communion service, and to All Angels' church a remission of all debts due him from it, which made it free from debt. He is the author of: Christ the Patron of True Education (1893), and The Library a Divine Child (1893). He died in Jekyl Island, Ga., March 4, 1897.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Alexis Anastay Julien, geologist, was born in New York city, Feb. 13, 1840; son of Denis and Magdalene (Cantine) Julien; grandson of Joseph Julien, of Lourmarin, Vancluse, France, and a descendant of Comte Jean Anastay, of the same town, and also, on the maternal side, from Moses Cantine, a Huguenot from Royan, France, who settled in Ulster county, N.Y., in 1688. He was graduated at Union college in 1859, and was a student in the chemical laboratory until 1860, when he received the appointment of resident chemist on the guano island of Sombrero, in the British West Indies. While there he made a study of geology and natural history; collected specimens of birds, shells, etc., and made meteorological observations for the Smithsonian Institution, 1860-64. He was employed by the Swedish government to make a special geological survey of St. Bartholomew's island and received a gold medal from the king in recognition of his services in 1862. He was connected with the geological survey of Michigan in 1872, and made a study of the petrography of North Carolina in 1875 for the state geological survey. He visited the islands of Bonaire, Cura?oa and Aruba, West Indies, during 1881-82, for the purpose of studying their guano deposits and geology. Upon the establishment of the Columbia College School of Mines in 1865, he was made assistant in analytical chemistry, serving until 1885, when he became instructor in microscopy and microbiology, and in 1897 was made instructor in geology. He was elected a fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; fellow and member of the council of the American Geographical society; fellow of the Geological Society of America; of the American Society of Naturalists; of the Royal Microscopical society, and of the New York Microscopical society. He was also vice-president of the New York Academy of Sciences in 1884. The University of the City of New York conferred upon him the degree of Ph.D. in 1881. He contributed to the leading scientific journals and reported on the durability of building stone in New York city to the U.S. census of 1890.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Morgan Lewis, statesman, was born in New York city, Oct. 16, 1754; son of Francis and Elizabeth (Annesley) Lewis. He attended the public school at Elizabethtown, N.J., and was graduated from the College of New Jersey, A.B., 1773, A.M., 1776. His intention was to devote himself to the ministry, but yielding to his father's wishes he studied law. In 1774 he joined the Continental army as a volunteer; was subsequently chosen captain of a regiment of New York militia; but upon the organization of the 2d New York militia regiment he was commissioned major. He was appointed chief-of-staff to Gen. Horatio Gates, with the rank of colonel, and accompanied him into Canada, and soon after congress appointed him quartermaster-general of the Northern army. He was prominent throughout the campaign that ended with the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, and in 1775 he planned and executed the night attack on Stone Arabia, and was in command at the battle of Crown Point, where he was accompanied by Governor Clinton. At the close of the war Colonel Lewis returned to New York, where he was admitted to the bar and practised in New York city. He married Gertrude, daughter of Robert R. Livingston. He was elected a member of the assembly; became one of the judges of the court of common pleas; was appointed attorney-general of the state in 1791; judge of the supreme court in 1792; chief justice in 1793; and was governor of the state, 1804-07. In 1806 he was defeated for re-election by Daniel D. Tompkins and retired to his estate at Staatsburg, Duchess county, N.Y., where he devoted much of his time to agriculture. Having given up the practice of law, Lewis established a cloth factory and for several years devoted himself to manufacturing. The failure of a mercantile house to which his goods were assigned caused him to discontinue the business. In 1810 he was elected to the state senate, and he declined the position of secretary of war in President Madison's cabinet in 1812, but accepted the appointment of quartermaster-general of the armies of the United States. He was promoted major-general in March, 1813, and in April repaired to the Niagara frontier. He commanded at the capture of Fort George, and aisc at Sacket Harbor and French Creek. In the summer of 1814 he was in command at New York. He procured the release of the American prisoners in Canada, advancing from his private fortune the money for its accomplishment, and also rewarding his own tenants who had served in or sent sons to the war, by allowing them free rent for the time they served in the army. He was a Free-mason and was elected grand master in 1831. He was president of the New York Historical society, vice-president-general of the Society of the Cincinnati, 1829-39, and president-general, 1839-44; president of the council of the University of the City of New York, 1831-34, and a trustee of Columbia college, 1784-1804. He died in New York city, April 7, 1844.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of New York, (Bronx County) New York

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