THE OLD MERCHANTS OF NEW YORK CITY
        Second  Series

By  Walter Barrett, Clerk
     1863

     MERCHANT  DESCRIPTIONS

       CHAPTER  26



      In one of the previous chapters when speaking of the celebrated house
No. 57 Wall street, occupied by Daniel McCormick, I said:

      "What talking times these old jokers (young ones) used to have on
stoop No. 57 Wall street. The house stood below the present Merchant's
Exchange, on the south side, three doors this side of Pearl street until the
great fire. It was forty feet wide. It was built of brick____plastered over
to represent stone, and was painted blue. Daniel McCormick bought the
property about 1790, built that house, and moved into it about 1792.

WILLIAM  BACKHOUSE

      I was in error when I said he built that house. It was an old house
before the Revolution broke out, in 1776. In 1779,  William Backhouse lived
there, and kept boarders of a high class. He charged rather high, viz.,
eight dollars a week, and a dollar extra for washing. John J. Glover boarded
there, and so did dozens of our first merchants. Wm. Backhouse himself was a
very successful merchant in after years. In 1790 he was a partner with
William Laight, and they did business at No. 200 Queen street. I think
William Backhouse died in 1792. About that time there was another William
Backhouse in this city. He was Captain Backhouse, a celebrated sea captain
in his day.

DANIEL  McCORMICK  (continue)

      That grand old fellow, Daniel McCormick, had so many good points, that
I forget some of them. He was a Mason, and as early as 1786 was Grand
Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of Free and accepted Masons of New York. I wish
those who have read this, and who have read the former chapters, and who are
in possession of facts about Mr. McCormick, would send them to me, I will
make good use of them.

THE  SUYDAMS

      Some of the firms in which the Suydams were members, were great
mercantile houses in their day, and three existed previous to the
commencement of this century.

      There was a house of R. & J. Suydam as early as 1791. They kept at No.
10 Albany pier (where Coenties slip now is.) Rynier Suydam, of that firm,
lived at No. 4 State street. In 1794, two new firms were started. One was
Suydam & Wyckoff, at Nos. 11 and 13 Coenties slip, the same John Suydam that
was with Rynier. John lived over the store, at No. 11, in the slip. Henry J.
Wyckoff was of this firm, and lived at No. 42 Stone street.

      The house of Suydam & Wyckoff did a very heavy business for thirty
years. Mr. John H. Bailey was a clerk for them in 1797. He was afterwards of
the firm of Bailey & Voorhees. The house of Suydam & Wyckoff dealt largely
in teas, wines, and groceries generally. John Suydam, who was of this firm,
was called "Boss John". He was son of Hendrick Sudyam, of Long Island , who
died in 1818, aged eighty-one. John, of the firm of Suydam & Wyckoff, was
born in 1763. He had a brother Samuel, who was of the firm of Suydam &
Heyer. Isaac Heyer was of that firm. He married Jane Suydam, the sister of
his partner. Suydam & Heyer commenced business in 1794 at 67 Front street.
The firm lasted until Samuel Suydam died, in 1797. Isaac Heyer continued the
business for many years, and was one of our most respected merchants. He was
brother-in-law to Stephen Whitney, who married Harriet Suydam, his wife's
sister.

      Another brother, Henry, went into business in 1800, under the firm of
H. Suydam & Co. They did business at No. 45 Front street. He lived at No. 23
Whitehall. In 1804 he formed a partnership with John Wilson, a Scotchman,
who came to this country about 1790.

      Henry Suydam, of the firm of Suydam & Wyckoff, is still alive___a
hale, hearty specimen of the old school merchant and gentleman. He was also
brother-in-law of Isaac Lawrence. He married a half-sister of Mr. Lawrence,
president  of the United States Bank, of whom I recently wrote a lengthy
sketch.

      The continuation of the Suydam merchants and their firms, as well as
that of the Heyers,____Isaac, Walter and Cornelius,____will be in the next
chapter.


HENRY  J.  WYCKOFF

      Mr. Wyckoff was one of those men who ought not soon to be forgotten in
New York. He died in 1839. He was one of those good old-fashioned Aldermen,
such as New York used to have in the olden time. He was Alderman of the
First Ward from 1821 to 1825. Early in life he married Phebe Suydam, a
cousin of his partner. They had but one daughter; she married Francis
Olmstead, a partner in the house of Peter Remsen & Co. The only daughter of
Mr. Olmstead married Henry W. Sargent. Henry J. Wyckoff was one of the
Directors of the Merchant's Bank, when it applied for a charter in 1805, and
he was one of its leading men for many years.

      Mr. Wyckoff was elected a Governor of the New York Hospital in 1802,
and he held the same position until he died in 1839. Just before Alderman
Wyckoff died, his son Henry failed, and the old gentleman altered his will,
and made Henry W. Sargent, his grandson-in-law trustee for the portion of
his son Henry, and Mr. Sargent paid off all young Wyckoff's debts.

THE  EAGLE  FIRE  INSURANCE  COMPANY

        The Eagle Fire Insurance Company was started in 1807; W.W. Woolsey
was its first President, and John Meyer, Secretary, No. 59 Wall Street. I
have before me now one of its handbills, dated March 11, 1807, printed in
the clear type of those days. Mr. Wyckoff was a Director at the start; in
1809 he was chosen President of it, and held it until 1815. I believe the
company (Eagle and Albion) is still in existence, at No. 44 Wall Street.

JOHN  WILSON

       He was a clerk with Isaac Heyer for some years. In 1801 he was an
accountant, and lived in Beaver lane No. 1. He was then Junior. I think he
was son of an old banker, John Wilson, who had a bakery at No. 93 Fair
street, from 1795 to 1808. Whether he was a son or connection I do not know.
In 1803 this one, while yet an accountant, embarked all his capital to aid
his brother Alexander, under the firm of J.& A. Wilson, at 60 John Street.
That baking establishment continued for years and years at that locality. In
1815 it was changed to No. 34 Fulton and No. 45 Front, where the firm of
Suydam & Wilson was kept. That last firm continued in business in the same
street, at No. 45 Front, until 1834, when the firm was dissolved, old Mr.
John Wilson retiring from business. His son, James B. Wilson, who was a
junior partner in the house, united with Sanford Cobb, Jr. (of Herriman,
Nash & Co.) and formed the house of Wilson & Cobb. That was dissolved in
1854, young Mr. Wilson then retiring from active mercantile business. Mr.
Cobb still continues on the business in the same place, under the firm of
Cobb, March & Gross.

      A half century ago business was not done "with a rush," or on the
railroad plan, as in the present "fast times." Business men in those days
had more leisure to converse on business matters and the topics of the day.
On entering a merchant's office you were not admonished, by the peremptory
and positive command, in flaming letters on a large placard, warning the
visitor not to open his mouth on any subject but that of business, and that
too, with the limits of certain hours; and when through to "go about his
business." This is one of the improvements of the age and the two-forty
system. They had time to "drop in" and see their neighbors, and the store of
Suydam & Wilson was the favorite meeting place of the merchants in the
vicinity, among whom were Samuel Gilford, Edward H. Nicoll, Peter Remsen,
Henry J. Wyckoff, Gabriel Wisner, James Bailey, Francis Saltus, Stephen
Whitney, and others, all now deceased. Robert Lenox, Samuel Craig, and John
Laurie, among other prominent rich Scotch merchants, were frequent visitors.

      Mr. Wilson was widely known among the business men of that day, and
highly esteemed for his high-toned purity of character as a merchant and a
citizen. He lived and died an humble Christian: peculiarly domestic in his
habits, he found his greatest enjoyments in the society of his immediate
family. He often told the following incident on his arrival in this country,
on landing from the vessel at one of the wharves in the City of
Philadelphia. He was accosted by a fine looking, elderly Quaker gentleman,
with "Well, my lad, in which part of the States do you intend to settle?" He
replied "I have not yet made up my mind, sir, whether to go to the North or
to the South." "Well," said the Quaker gentleman, "if thee wants to retain
thy morals and thy health, thee must go to the North; if thee wants to lose
them both, thee must go to the South."

      Edward A. Whitlock, of the house of B.M. & E.A. Whitlock & Co., was a
clerk with the firm of Suydam & Wilson for some time, and left it to go
West. Mr. Wilson left his family (besides his estate) the rich legacy of a
pure and unsullied name.

      I mentioned in a previous chapter that Moses Taylor married a daughter
of Mr. Wilson, the ship-bread baker. He is the one I have been writing about
as of the firm of Suydam & Wilson. The ship bakery is still carried on by
John T. Wilson, a grandson of the old one, at 73 Fulton street, same
locality.

EDWARD  HOLLAND  NICOLL

      Edward Holland Nicoll, of Smith & Nicoll, married Miss Mary Townsend,
a daughter of Captain Solomon Townsend.

OLD  THOMAS  BUCHANAN

      I have already mentioned old Thomas Buchanan, who died in November,
1815, aged 71 ___a royalist merchant of the city. During the war, he resided
at Oyster Bay. He married Almy, a daughter of Jacob Townsend.

      He left her a widow. They had issue eight children. 1. Jane Buchanan,
died unmarried.  2. Almy, married Peter P. Goelet.  3. Martha, married
Thomas Hicks.  4. Margaret, married Robert R. Goelet.  5.  Eliza, who
married Samuel Gilford.  6. George Buchanan, born September 7th, 1775.  7.
Frances, who married Thomas C. Pearsall.  8. Fanny Buchanan, who died
unmarried. The only survivor is Mrs. Frances Pearsall. She was born the 4th
of June, 1799, and is one of the few survivors of the nominees for the
Tontine stock. Her father took up two shares, and nominated two lives. Her
own, and her brother George.

      Mr. Buchanan owned the ship "Glasgow."  Solomon Townsend above was the
master. The vessel traded to and from London about the time of the
Revolution. She was in London when the war broke out, and her owner, Mr.
Buchanan, ordered her not to come home.

CAPTAIN  SOLOMON  TOWNSEND

      Captain Townsend went to Paris, took the oath of allegiance to the
United States before Ben. Franklin, who commissioned him a midshipman in the
American navy. He got home in 1778. He married his cousin, Ann Townsend.

THE  NICOLLS

      Captain Townsend's daughter Mary married Edward H. Nicoll, as I have
above stated.  Henry Nicoll, formerly an M.C., and Solomon Townsend Nicoll,
are sons of this marriage. These last were great grandsons of Benjamin
Nicoll, who settled in New York about 1745, where he married Mary Magdalen,
the daughter of Edward Holland, an eminent merchant.  One of Benjamin's sons
named Henry, married Elizabeth Woodhull, the only daughter of General
Nathaniel Woodhull, who was president of the first Continental Congress.
Their eldest son was Edward Holland Nicoll, who married Captain Townsend's
daughter Mary.

HON.  JOHN  SMITH

      Just before the declaration of war in 1812, the Hon. John Smith, of
the United States Senate (by the way; a very extraordinary man; he was
elected to Congress as a representative from Suffolk in 1799, kept in until
1804, when he was made a Senator to fill a vacancy, and re-appointed, and
was senator until 1813,) wrote to his step-son, Edward H. Nicoll (Smith &
Nicoll that I have wrote much about) that war was inevitable, and suggested
the purchase of such goods as would be affected in value by the war. This
letter was submitted to Suydam & Wilson, and joint purchase was proposed;
but the conservative, patriotic character of the house forbade the idea of
speculating under such circumstances. Neither of these great houses availed
themselves of the information of the senator, and missed a glorious
opportunity of making an immense fortune.

      Mrs. Henry Nicoll, after her husband's death, married the above John
Smith, who was "General." He was a member of our State Legislature from 1784
to 1800. In 1788 he was a member of the Convention that adopted the
constitution of the United States; in 1800 he was in Congress, as above
stated; In 1814, James Madison appointed him U.S. Marshall for this
district, and he held the office when he died in 1816.




Source:  The Old Merchants of New York City
Author:  Walter Barrett, Clerk           Second series
Publisher:  Carleton, Publisher, 413 Broadway
Entered according to the Act of Congress 1863
             _____________________________________

    Researched, Prepared and Contributed by Miriam Medina
                  For the Brooklyn Information Page

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