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Haunted Mansion of Hunts Point

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Haunted Mansion of Hunts Point

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The ever growing evidence of link between the Civil War eras plot to burn New York City and the business activities of Copperhead politicians and merchants. Linked to the construction of a mansion called The Chateau in Hunts Point.

The ever growing evidence of link between the Civil War eras plot to burn New York City and the business activities of Copperhead politicians and merchants. Linked to the construction of a mansion called The Chateau in Hunts Point.

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Haunted Mansion of Hunts Point

  1. 1. 1859 “Whitlock’s Folly” near Southern Boulevard 
 “Cradle of Cuban Liberty.” Hommock Manor, the country seat of B. M. Whitlock, Esq., is situated in West Farms Township, on the East river, or Sound, about 3 miles from Harlem. The estate contains several hundred acres; but that part on which the dwelling is situated, is, as its name implies, a complete Hommock of about 20 acres - which at high tides is nearly surrounded by water - and is approached from the main part of the estate by a causeway. --"The Horticulturist, And Journal Of Rural Art And Rural Taste", by P. Barry, A. J. Downing, J. Jay Smith, Peter B. Mead, F. W. Woodward, Henry T. Williams. Local Kids Said the House Was Haunted “Haunted” Mansion of Hunts
  2. 2. Artifacts from present day Soundview, Bronx The land is purchased from Indians This may certify whom it may concerne that we Shonearoekite, Wapomoe, Tuckorre, Whawhapenucke, Capahase, Quannaco, Shaquiski, Passachahenne, Harrawooke, have aleined and sold unto Edward Jessup and John Richardson, both of the place above said, a certain Tract of land bounded on the east by the River Aquehung or Bronxkx... -from original deed with native signers 1664 Similar deed signed by native sachem’s for Rye 1661
  3. 3. Arent van Curler, later van Corlaer, (1619, Nijkerk, Gelderland - 1667) He was born in Nijkerk, Netherlands. In 1643, Van Curler married the widow of Jonas Bronck, Teuntie Joriaens, aka Antonia Slaaghboom Joanas Broncx Signs Treaty with the Indians in 1642. Joanas Broncx Established a Farm along the Harlem River William Kieft governor of New Amsterdam 1638-1647
  4. 4. Capt. Richard Panton, who acted so conspicuous a part in the late commotions, had for years cherished feelings of hostility to the government, having, in 1656, suffered a brief imprisonment at New Amsterdam for an attempt to throw off the Dutch yoke at Westchester. After the conquest of the country by the English, he continued an influential man at Westchester, both in civil and church affairs, till his decease, in the beginning of the next century, at an advanced age. ANNALS OF NEWTOWN. Director [Peter] Stuyvesant had just departed to chastise the Swedes for their encroachments on the Delaware, when a horde of armed Indians, estimated at nineteen hundred, landed at New Amsterdam, early on the morning of Sept. 15th, 1655, and began to break into houses for plunder. Edward Jessup, together with Henry Newton, a resident at Mespat, and Thomas Newton, afterward, if not then, a landholder in Middelburg, were all present at New Amsterdam on the night of the battle, and assisted in repulsing the savages “Edward Jessup hath been a traitor a long time ; he went to New Haven to see to put the town under them.” -letter to Stuyvesant Among these first comers were Edward Jessup from Stamford. When Cornelis van Tienhoven shot a Native woman for stealing a peach, the situation was ripe for an unleashed fury
  5. 5. Ferris Grove Farm Hunt Leggett Hunts Point The fi rst landholders on Hunts Point were Edward Jessup and John Richardson. They bought the land from Native Americans. The land was inherited by both Gabriel Leggett (1637-1700) who married Elizabeth Richardson daughter of John Richardson, and Thomas Hunt of Grove Farm, who married Jessup’s daughter also named Elizabeth. 1666 land grant for Hunts Point from King Charles II of England John Throckmorton arrives from Rhode Island about 1642 1 6 6 4 Morris 1671 Broncx 1644 Hutchinson Massacre 1643
  6. 6. Capt. Thomas Hunt the father of Josiah Hunt purchased from Jessup an area including Hunts Point His son Josiah inherited the Grove Farm in Throggs Neck, Westchester, now the Bronx. He married Rebecca, eldest daughter of Katherine Harrison before the summer of 1671.
  7. 7. A striking example of an early modern accused witch whose circumstances coincided with many of the culpable aspects of the witch stereotype – female, widowed, fi nancially ambiguous, socially arbitrary, and self-assured to the point of combative. John Harrison died in August 1667, leaving his widow and daughters a large estate of over nine hundred pounds. Hostility between Katherine and her neighbors grew at a startling rate following the death of her husband. The focal points of her legal battles were her trials as a witch in 1668 and 1669, but there were also three separate suits brought against Katherine during the autumn of 1668. References to Katherine Harrison’s healing abilities, and to her reputation for it, emerge repeatedly in her witchcraft trial. William Warren testi
  8. 8. ff and served it. In turn, Gabriel took out a writ against against Thomas Stathem for an assault and false imprisonment. Governor Sloughter signing Leisler’s death warrant.
  9. 9. “Debatable Lands.” debatable land Richardson & Jessup Lewis Morris by marriage land passed to Hunt and Leggett
  10. 10. Lewis Morris builds on the site of Jonas Bronck’s original settlement Lewis Morris
 First lord of the manor of Morrisania (15 October 1671 – 21 May 1746) Grandfather of the signer of the Declaration of Independence On November 3, 1691, Morris was married to Isabella Graham (1673– 1752), the eldest daughter of James Graham, who served as Speaker of the New York General Assembly and Recorder of New York City.
  11. 11. Historic Places and Features Overlaid on a 1921 map Leggett claim Morris claim Hunt Cemetery Debatable Land
  12. 12. First Lord of the Manor of Morrisania Lewis Morris gives “part of the Manor of Morrissania,” land “by the sound that divides Long Island and the Islands of Nassau from the Continent.” to his father-in-law James Graham who is also an in fl uential politician.The deed claims the land known as the “debatable land” for Morris who then transfers it to Graham. “Wigwam Brook. But by some falsely called Sakrahunck...” “by the House of Gabriel Legget...” “Including the same Jeafards neck with the Hammock Meadows and Marshes thereunto...” Deed circa 1738-1746 1671-1746
  13. 13. pr; mes·suage messuage: (noun) a dwelling house with outbuildings and land assigned to its use.
  14. 14. “The destruction of the old house took place under the following circumstances Col Fowler of the British army who had dispossessed the Graham family and made it his own quarters invited all the of fi cers and gentry in the neighborhood to dine with him preparatory to his change of quarters The company were assembled and all seemed gay and happy The more youthful of both sexes were wandering about the lawn enjoying the beauty of the prospect when a servant one of Mr Graham's slaves announced the important fact Dinner is on the table All turned their faces to the banqueting room but before any one entered the door there was a cry of fi re heard Col Fowler seemed to think the dinner was more important than the building he ordered everything removed from the table the gentlemen assisting and in a few minutes the table and contents were removed to the shade of a large willow where all seated themselves and appeared to enjoy the meal and the burning The house was utterly consumed with the contents before the company separated No effort was made to save an article not required for the better enjoyment of their meal The same evening Colonel Fowler conducted a marauding party into the vicinity of Eastchester where he was attacked and fell mortally wounded Being brought back to the house of Cornelius van Ranc overseer of Mr Graham's farm he expired that night.” --A history of the county of Westchester, from its fi rst settlement, Robert BoltonVol.2 1848 Leggett’s house occupied the former site of the Graham house. The property between Bound (Bungay) Creek and Wigwam Brook (Leggett Creek) was granted by Judge Morris to his son-in-law James Graham (grandson of Graham), on April 2, 1740; Mr. Graham died here in his house on Jeafferd’s Neck (Graham Point and then Leggett Point), in 1767... It was later sold and divided up among several owners including Joshua Waddington and in 1830 to William H. Leggett where it was named Rose Bank. -Stephen Jenkins House of Jonathan Graham descendant of James Graham Burned during Revolution
  15. 15. 293 Lenox Ave. New York, N.Y. June 25, 1892 My dear Grandson, One dark night, when all the family was asleep, a party of British soldiers under the command of Colonel DeLancey surrounded the Leggett mansion and took possession of it, with all its contents and other farm property, saying they were accused of being spies and giving information to the American forces at White Plains. The family without notice were driven out in the dead of night to seek shelter wherever they could fi nd it. My grandfather, [Thomas Leggett (1755-1843)] who was at the time some nineteen years old, was seized with his two brothers, and made prisoners of war, and conveyed, under the charge of a band of Indians to General Burgoyne’s camp, then at Saratoga.’’ After a long while of con fi nement, my grandfather with another prisoner of war, effected their escape, and immediately made for the woods, hiding in hay stacks, under barns and other places by day, traveling only at night, begging food and perhaps shelter as best they could, suffering much from cold, hunger and fatigue; liable at any moment to be picked up by British spies and scouts, or tomahawked by brutal savages… He immediately started for his father’s place, but what a sight he was to see. His father’s comfortable house with all its contents, burnt to the ground by the British marauding troops... About all that was left of the house were the foundation walls… On these same foundation walls, on which stood his father’s [Thomas Leggett (1721-after 1781)] house, my grandfather erected his house and lived in it all his days… Grandfather, Thomas B. Leggett Thomas Leggett Jr. 1755-1843 Thomas B. Leggett 1823-1895 Thomas B. Leggett’s (1823-1895) letter to his grandson telling the story of how the Leggett family was forced out of their home during the American revolution and how his own grandfather Thomas Leggett Jr (1755-1843) was taken prisoner by the British. He also recounts how his grandfather returned to fi nd the mansion burned, which he rebuilt and lived in it all his days.
  16. 16. After the revolution, his home in Westchester burned Thomas Leggett moved to this home on Cherry St. in Manhattan. His son Samuel started the fi rst gas light company in NY and his home was the fi rst lit by gas.
  17. 17. Westchester Road (Avenue) is cut through Morris land 1808-1814 Thomas Leggett 1755-1843 Gouverneur Morris 1752-1816 Bronx Accent: A Literary and Pictorial History of the Borough edited by Lloyd Ultan, Barbara Unge Gouverneur Morris Battles Thomas Leggett The Leggett and Morris families battle over access to Morrissania for 150 years. Map showing Leggett’s Creek as Wigwam Brook
  18. 18. History of Westchester County: New York, Including, Volume 1, Part 2 edited by John Thomas Scharf Morris was one of the major entrepreneurs of the 19th century Bronx. As Vice President of the New York and Harlem River Railroad, he built the railroad now running along Park Avenue in New York City. Gouverneur Morris Jr. (February 9, 1813 – August 20, 1888) Gouverneur Morris Mansion Cypress Ave. & 130th St. Thomas Leggett amasses property in the fi rst decades of the 19th century Thomas Leggett Jr. 1755-1843
  19. 19. “Also I give to her during her natural life, my original homestead at West Farms in Westchester County, comprising the house and about fi fty acres of land originally belonging to it, or the yearly annuity of fi ve hundred dollars per annum in lieu thereof whenever she shall choose to leave the said homestead and release the same from her life interest, such annuity to commence at her making such choice, and release to be paid quarterly and rateably up to her decease.” -Thomas Leggett’s Will 1834 Mary Underhill 1770-1849 Thomas Leggett Jr. 1755-1843 Died in the home he rebuilt after being burned by the British during the revolution. St. Bartholomew Church where wedding took place in 1845 Lafayette Place & Great Jones Thomas B. Leggett 1823-1895 Sarah Huggins 1826-1902 1830-1854 Thomas B. Legget Purchases Debatable Land from Austin Graham Estate William Mortimer Allen 1814-1879 Catherine Maria (Leggett) Allen and her mother Margaret Peck (Wright) Leggett William Haight Leggett “Hummock” Cornelius Poillon shipbuilder related to Leggetts Thomas Leggett Jr leaves his home to his second wife, Mary Underhill. She moves to a Quaker community near Saratoga, NY where she’s buried. Thomas B. Leggett shares the land with his father, mother and in-laws. He begins construction of Hummock manor in 1850.
  20. 20. Rose Bank "And so my father, then only twenty-two himself took his sweet young bride to his father and mother, living in the family homestead, "Rose Bank," situated on the East River, Leggett’s Point, Westchester. Here she received a warm welcome and became indeed a daughter of the house.” -Florence Huggins Leggett Possibly the Leggett family relaxing in the garden of their home. Edward Howard Leggett (1845-1927) in a hat on left of picture outside 301 Pear St., where he carried on his business Leggett & Brother, He was born in the Rose Bank house on the Hunts Point estate.
  21. 21. Mystery of Rose Bank How did the Leggett family lose its patrimony - an estate that survived the Revolutionary War and sprawled across much of today's South Bronx for 200 years, only to be dismantled under mysterious circumstances? Florence Huggins Leggett, writing in 1902, says her father was forced to move from the estate, due to " fi nancial dif fi culties," around 1862.] -FAMILY HISTORY SHOWS BRONX AS RURAL PARADISE, Gersh Kuntzman; The New York Post, Monday, August 28, 2000 “That would follow a pattern,” said Bronx historian Lloyd Ultan. When the city expanded -- and annexed the Bronx in 1874 -- large landowners sold their farms to reinvest in the booming manufacturing, railroad or steel industries. "Some invested it badly, though," Ultan said. "It's like I always say, `the fi rst generation makes the money, the second generation preserves it and the third generation squanders it." IBID Gersh Kuntzman
  22. 22. Samuel Leggett Jr. disappears after being implicated in the failure of the Empire City Bank to which is was a director. He is reported to owe the bank $100,000 ($3 million today). 1854 1855 On May 1, 1854 Benjamin M. Whitlock purchases 200 acres from Thomas B. Leggett for $25,000 ($700,000 today) in Hunts Point.
  23. 23. Anatomy of a scam Barker vs Wood for mayor of NYC Elijah F. Purdy director Empire City Bank Isaac O. Barker director Empire City Bank
  24. 24. Both Samuel Leggett Jr. and his wife Ann met violent ends. She was murdered by a in-law and he was found shot to death. His death was ruled a suicide but questions remained and few believed the coroners conclusion at the time. Both were shot coincidentally in the left eye. MARCH 15, 1878
  25. 25. East River East River Thomas B. Leggett 
 1823-1895 After a time [1854] fi nancial dif fi culties caused my father to give up this large place and move to West Morrisania. -Florence Huggins Leggett THOMAS B. LEGGETT
  26. 26. Hunts Tavern established 1730s Dickey estate 
 Last estate in Hunts Point Paul Spofford estate Dennison mansion 1850 Faile mansion Francis Barretto Julia Coster Bath House 1910 P.S. 48 Leggett estate 1890 Thomas Leggett Jr. 1755-1843 
 Direct descendant of Gabriel Leggett Corpus Christy Monastery Rose Bank is seat of the Leggett estate by the 19th century Waddington Mansion 1808-1828 sold to Francis Barretto Fox Estate Hoe Estate 1856 Whitlock/Casanova mansion 1859 The land becomes the site of country estates for NYC’s rich Benjamin G.Arnold 
 Coffee Merchant 
 1869-1880
  27. 27. view of the East River from Hunts Point on a 1864 real estate map south views north views
  28. 28. Benjamin Morris Whitlock was born on January 31, 1815. On May 5, 1851 he married Amelia Mott Wilson. Whitlock’s sister Josephine married William L. McDonald who would figure in the 1864 Confederate plot to burn 13 hotels in NYC retaliating for Southern setbacks during the Civil War. 1857 Whitlock built an ornate manor costing $350,000 or $10 million today
  29. 29. 1857 Wealth of the World net worth of $2,000,000 in 1857 = $60,000,000 today Benjamin Morris Whitlock
  30. 30. Thaddeus Whitlock is Benjamin Whitlock’s father Josephine is Benjamin’s sister Franklin Market, foot of William St., New York City, 1820.
  31. 31. WHITE, BENJAMIN (1755-1841), merchant. Benjamin and Mary (Morris) White of Shrewsbury, NJ are the maternal grandparents of Benjamin M. Whitlock. Benjamin White, a Quaker served in the American Revolution under General Daniel Morgan. Benjamin White was postmaster of the village of Shrewsbury, for fi fty-three years, receiving his appointment from Washington. His daughter Mary, 18 weds Thaddeus Whitlock, 22 June 3, 1803 Daniel Morgan Shrewsbury Monmouth County
  32. 32. tea water pump in Chatham Square Chatham Square near Bayard and Bowery ThaddeusWhitlock was a school teacher. “There is no good water to be met with in the town itself; but at a little distance there is a large spring of good water, which the inhabitants take for their tea and for the uses of the kitchen.” Professor Kalm 1782 1812 1748 Thaddeus Whitlock is living in the 10th Ward in the 1820 census 1767 Bulls Head Tavern
  33. 33. Thaddeus Whitlock teacher
  34. 34. Thaddeus Whitlock was a Mason Holy Royal Arch are a branch of Freemasons Royal Arch Masons meet as a Chapter; in the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch. Early 19th century masonic meeting places are shown at right. Including a connection to Tammany Hall a powerful democratic club that ruled NYC for more than a century Tammany Hall, now the "Sun" Building, early meeting place of Grand Lodge and of many subordinate Lodges. St. John', Hall, a still earlier scene of the labors of the Fraternity, is the tall fl at- roofed building on side street. City Hall (after 1813) Tammany Hall original St. John’s Hall
  35. 35. St. John’s Hall Frankfort St. Thaddeus Whitlock was treasurer of the Masonic Lodge at the time of this bitter rivalry between the Albany and New York City factions. He is credited with playing a moderating role that helped the Lodge survive a long and bitter struggle. Scandalously bore them off to St. John’s Hall
  36. 36. A rare look into the personality and character of Thaddeus Whitlock History of the Jerusalem Chapter
  37. 37. Roosevelt St. is a fashionable area in the early 19th century 1825 1827 1816 Thaddeus Teaches Near Home 16-18 Oliver are properties are owned by Thaddeus who is listed from 1825 as using them as a school. In this 1867 sanitary map, made thirty years after the properties were sold upon Thaddeus’ death in 1831 the buildings are three stories tall. 16 Oliver has a store and a liquor store is in 18 Oliver. This corner location would later become site of one of the fi rst public schools in New York. Thaddeus is listed in 1816 using this address on long ago de-mapped Roosevelt St. as a school Fletcher Harper of Harper Brothers publishing house Isaac F. Bragg principal City Commercial School 3 Roosevelt St.
  38. 38. Thaddeus Whitlock owned land used for the fi rst public school in New York City. The current PS 1 was built in 1897. It’a also known as the Alfred E. Smith elementary school after the 4 time governor of New York Alfred E. Smith residence Thaddeus Whitlock properties 1832 Alfred E. Smith school at Oliver and Henry St. 1873-1944 Mariner’s Temple Baptist Church illustration 1808. Public Schools were built on corner lots in the early days of public education. Considered optimal for light and air circulation. But by the 20th century these locations were too valuable for purchase by the city.
  39. 39. Greek Revival style on Henry St. built 1820s-30s Federal style Henry St. 1820s-30s
  40. 40. In 1820s this area was being developed from a cattle pen near tanneries to a fashionable area. 59-61 Bowery were demolished for the Manhattan Bridge approach in the early 20th century. Across was the Bowery Theater and Bulls-Head Tavern used in1783 by Geo.Washington as an HQ 1826-1929 1750-1858 Thaddeus Whitlock lived here Corner of Canal and Bowery
  41. 41. Thaddeus Whitlock, 51 dies Sunday evening December 18, 1831 “The two 3 story brick houses No. 18 Oliver and No. 16 Oliver street, corner Henry, with privilege of two renewals of 21 years each. The whole is now rented to good tenants, will be disposed of at auction on 6th December.” The Evening Post Tuesday, December 4, 1832.
  42. 42. Mary Whitlock, mother of Benjamin, Edward and Josephine is listed in city directories as living on Cherry Street after the death of her husband Thaddeus. Their mother is living on Cherry Street near the waterfront in 1834 She is living nearby two years later in 1836 The East Side of the early and mid-19th century was different than today. There were fi ne residential streets built up with homes of old and well-to-do families. East Broadway was lined with old aristocratic residences, some can still be seen behind the signs and grime of everyday activity on this now bustling Chinatown main drag. Henry Street was lined with trees and two and three story brick buildings. Most of the surrounding streets were similar. The homes were occupied by these well-off people, prosperous merchants and professional men with a shopping district for women at Grand and Canal Streets. But in time this section of the city deteriorated and the old families moved uptown. In 1832 shortly after her husbands death Taken from newspaper advertisement December 30, 1832 for neighboring house at 144 Cherry Street: The house and lot No. 144 Cherry St. being 27 feet front and rear, 149 feet 4 inches deep on the westerly side, and 149 feet 11 inches deep on the easterly side. The house is of brick with slate roof, 3 stories high, covering the entire front of the lot, and 54 feet deep with a two story back tea room in the rear; the whole interior is of modern fi nish, parlors very spacious and elegant, with marble chimney pieces — the sleeping rooms numerous and unusually large and airy — extensive vaults front and rear —capacious rain water cistern and a well of excellent water in the yard. The house is fi tted up with grates in all the principal stories, and gas fi xtures introduced throughout with burners and chandeliers… noting that test or convenience could suggest, has been omitted.
  43. 43. Fashionable Cherry and Cathrine Street Samuel Osgood House, better known as the fi rst White House, and of fi cial residence of President George Washington. Demolished 1856 At 116 Cherry Street, the venerable men’s clothier, Brooks Brothers, has been a fi xture of New York for two- hundred years Lord Taylor opened their fi rst store on 47 Catherine Street in 1826, occupying the building until 1866.
  44. 44. December 16, 1835 The Great Fire destroyed more than 500 buildings along the East River Testimony of Anthony W. Winans during the investigation saw 20-year old Benjamin Whitlock’s as buildings exploded. No. 86 and 88 Front St. are are said to be used to store saltpeter, an explosive component of gunpowder. Whitlock of No. 84 Front St. Reportedly area where the fi re began at Comstock Adams, N0. 86, 88 Front where saltpeter was stored Abolitionist Arthur Tappan’s store No. 122 Pearl Britton S. Woolley commission merchant
  45. 45. The fi re broke out at 9 o'clock last evening. I was writing in the library when the alarm was given, and went immediately down. The night was intensely cold, which was one cause of the unprecedented progress of the fl ames, for the water froze in the hydrants and the engines and their hose could not be worked without great dif fi culty. The fi remen, too, had been on duty all last night, and were almost incapable of performing their usual services. The fi re originated in the store of Comstock Adams, in Merchant Street — a narrow, crooked street, fi lled with high stores lately erected and occupied by dry goods and hardware merchants, which led from Hanover to Pearl street. The buildings covered an area of a quarter of a mile square closely built up with fi ne stores of four and fi ve stories in height, fi lled with merchandise, all of which lie in a mass of burning, smoking ruins, rendering the streets indistinguishable. Philip Hone Mayor of NYC describes the fi re in his diary
  46. 46. Benjamin M. Whitlock is running for election in January 1836, as a director of the American Mercantile Library Association located at Clinton Hall, corner of Beekman and Nassau St. A position for ambitious young clerks out to make a name. He’s associated with A.V. Winans Co.
  47. 47. During excavations in the 20th Century the goods stored in the store owned by Anthony V. Winans (uncle of Anthony W.) were discovered partially preserved, but burned in the 1835 Great Fire. Showing the actual merchandise kept in the warehouse and counting house of A.V. Winans Co. The archeologists discovered a variety of imported fruits, vegetables, nuts, and spices from all over the world. Most common were coffee, grapes, and black pepper. The peppercorns were found in cloth sacks from Sumatra. The excavators found that Winans was dealing in wine, beer, porter and ale imported from England. Wine bottled with seals embossed with LEOVILLE, home of the St. Julien estate of the Marquis de las Cases in Bordeaux. Winans was also importing tobacco pipes. Despite the losses Winans was not wiped out and continued business in the same area by the next year.
  48. 48. •A.V. Winans Co. vs McCullough Stringfellow, 1836 Case No. 1779 Box 46 2 female slaves, named Matilda and Sarah, who were the property of David McCullough, were surrendered in lieu of debt. The African Slave Trade A selection of cases from the Records of the U.S. District Courts in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina Congress would pass legislation in 1819 which considered intercontinental slave trading as piracy, punishable by death. Alabama: Apparently slaves were also on the bill…
  49. 49. 1837 Bread Riots and Panic A depression sets in 1837 and lasts until 1844 Some merchants go under, but others thrive. Money is available through banks that have access to markets in Cuba where slave labor makes sugar king.
  50. 50. James Polk's stance on slavery-related issues illustrates the pivotal role of moderate southern Democrats during the antebellum period. By 1839 Polk had moved beyond a state-rights position (i.e., the Tenth Amendment) to demand further guarantees for the security of slavery in the states. Polk persuaded himself that slavery's security required the establishment of a general principle: Congress had no constitutional power to infringe slaveholders' rights anywhere (except perhaps north of 36o30'). Polk and his southern Democratic associates misrepresented the strength of abolitionism in the North, grossly exaggerated the likelihood of slaves' massacring white families, and seemed to condone secession as an understandable response if 'abolitionists' should gain a controlling in fl uence in Washington. Through this unnecessary stand Polk contributed as much as any other southern Democratic leader to creating the mind-set which led, during the crisis of 1860-61, to the self-defeating policies pursued by southern Democrats of both the Deep and Middle South. James Polk
  51. 51. In 1841 Mary Whitlock is living in a boarding house at 42 Cliff Street 28 Cliff Street, the fi rst house on the street still stands. Its design was typical. Boarding houses were common for single NewYorkers. 42 Cliff was also home to the extended Whitlock family. John W.Whitlock is listed as living here with Mary in 1841. In 1843 they are joined by 28-year old Benjamin. In 1846 Brother Edward is also living at the 42 Cliff boardinghouse. Benjamin runs his grocery business at 84 Front, John and Edward are merchants and agents at 89 Wall St. and John later at 122 Front St.The Whitlock family seems on the road to upward mobility.
  52. 52. In 1842 a decade after his father’s death Benjamin Whitlock establishes a partnership with David Nichols
  53. 53. George M. Nichols was a resident of Louisiana and did extensive business with the independent Republic of Texas government before Texas became a state. George M. Nichols represented the fi rm in Texas until 1856. Records in the Texas archives show that agents of Benjamin M. Whitlock’s fi rm travelled widely in the south. Apparently Whitlock’s business connections reached down into Texas when the the Lone Star state was an independent country. This Nichols is apparently different than Whitlock’s Partner David Nichols. No merchants named either David or George are listed in NYC directories in the 1840s. A letter written by George M. Nichols to the Republic of Texas asking for funds to be sent to him in care of Whitlock, Nichols Co. 84 Front St. Texas Library and Archives Commission
  54. 54. EMIGRATION TO THE TRINITY AND RED RIVER COLONY, TEXAS The parties to the contract made with the Government of the Republic of Texas, under the special acts and authority of the Congress, passed the 4th of February, 1841, and January 16th, 1843, with Peters and others, for the purpose of colonizing the vacant and unappropriated lands of the Republic, having formed themselves into an association called ‘The Texas Emigration and Land Company,.. Mr. George M. Nichols, a Merchant of Shreveport, will give Emigrants all necessary information as to the cheapest and best route to our Grant from that place at the time of arrival there. Founded by W. S. Peters and a group of Kentucky businessmen, the Peters Colony provided for the settlement of vast tracts of land in northeastern Texas during the years 1842 to 1848. Is “Mr. George M. Nichols, a Merchant of Shreveport” La. the same Nichols who was an agent of Whitlock Nichols in Texas in 1841? From the 1846 fl yer advertising the Peter’s Colony
  55. 55. real estate map of 84 Front St. in 1860s 81-83 Front street 1927 MCNY 1848 Whitlock’s wholesale grocery trading in “tobacco, sugar cotton plants” at 84 Front Street near the waterfront
  56. 56. The Whitlock brothers and mother lived in a boardinghouse at 42 Cliff Street in 1845-46. Doggett's New-York City Directory Benjamin M. Whitlock marries his fi rst wife Maria Louisa Hawley in 1846. They have one child, Sarah Louisa born in 1847 according to The Hawley family of fi cial genealogy. The monument in Green-Wood cemetery however says the child was buried in 1854 at age — 11 years 8 months 21 days — putting the birth October 13, 1842. The child’s mother Maria Louisa Hawley Whitlock dies August 20, 1849 Joy and tragedy strike within a few years Death Record for Maria Louisa with cause of death erased
  57. 57. William B. Crosby is son- in-law of Henry Rutgers Home of Irad Hawley, father of Maria Louisa at 21 Rutgers Pl. before he moved to 47 Fifth Ave. in 1855 Rutgers Bath House 1909 until recent 1835 Real Estate auction brochure for Rutgers Pl In 1849 Maria L., Benjamin mother Mary Whitlock is living at 9 Rutgers Place 9 21
  58. 58. Irad Hawley 1793-1865 Benjamin M. Whitlock’s fi rst wife Maria Louisa Hawley Whitlock dies August 20, 1849 Sarah Lavinia Hawley Born June 15, 1845, Died March 12, 1932. Sarah Louisa Hawley’s sister at the family home 47 Fifth Ave. Sarah Holmes 1801-1891 INSCRIPTION, Maria's stone: Left side: To the memory of Maria Louisa Hawley Whitlock Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Front: Died August 20, 1849 Right: Erected as a tribute of affection by her husband. INSCRIPTION, Sarah's stone: Front: Sarah Louisa Hawley Whitlock Died July 2, 1854 Aged 11 years 8 months and 21 days Right: Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven— Mathew XIX.14. Mother of Maria Louisa and Sarah Louisa 47 Fifth Ave. Father of Maria Louisa and Sarah Louisa They have one child, Sarah Louisa born 1847. Maria Louisa dies during a cholera epidemic in NYC in the summer of 1849 at the age of 25. Sarah Louisa dies in 1854.
  59. 59. Executive Committee probably of early New York Female Reform Society, ca. 1850 “Moral reform was the fi rst social movement in the United States to consist primarily of women. Like abolitionism and the temperance movement in these years, moral reform attracted the support of thousands of men and women from New England to the Old Northwest. Most people who af fi liated with these reform movements were part of The Second Great Awakening--a religious movement that emphasized the power of human agency when released from the bondage of sin.” Benjamin M. Whitlock Philanthropist In the new Victorian era sexual abstinence had its place within marriage as well as in courtship. INSCRIPTION, Maria's stone: Left side: To the memory of Maria Louisa Hawley Whitlock Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Front: Died August 20, 1849 Right: Erected as a tribute of affection by her husband. March, 1852
  60. 60. NYC EPIDEMICS Yellow Fever 1805, 1822, 1870 Small Pox 1804, 1824, 1834, 1851, 1855, 1872, 1875, 1892, 1901 Cholera 1832, 1837, 1849, 1854, 1866 Scarlet Fever 1836, 1837 Typhus Fever 1892 Diphtheria 1897 Meningitis 1904 In fl uenza 1918 Cholera epidemics in NYC 1866 1849 1832 Maria Louisa dies August 20 1849, 233 die from cholera, 30% of all deaths that week. 1849 cholera deaths = 5,070 In 1850, the average age of death in New York was 20 years and 8 months. Child mortality was about 40% by the age of fi ve so families tended to be large, about 6 children per woman.
  61. 61. Moses Taylor 1806-1882 James Barr Wilson Birthdate: 1801 (86) Death: Died 1887 Catherine Ann Taylor (Wilson) Birthdate: February 8, 1810 (82) Death Died December 31, 1892 Siblings Amelia Mott Whitlock (Wilson) Birthdate:1831 (79) Death: Died 1910 Immediate Family: Daughter of James Barr Wilson and Sarah Elizabeth Wilson Wife of Benjamin Morris Whitlock married married May 1851 daughter Benjamin Morris Whitlock Birthdate:1815 (48) Death: Died 1863 Immediate Family: Husband of Amelia Mott Whitlock Moses Taylor, a little-known but representative fi gure in the history of the mercantile and industrial development of the United States and Cuba in the nineteenth century. Taylor was a New York City merchant in the West Indies trade (chie fl y Cuba), a long-time president of City Bank of New York (Citibank), an entrepreneur and manager in the railroad and mining industries, a life-long Tammany supporter, an ambivalent War Democrat with personal and business ties to the South, and an important member of August Belmont's clique of Democratic businessmen. He focused on the Cuban trade, which, in the fi rst four decades of the 19th century, was surpassed only by Great Britain and France in the volume and value of exports to the United States. He began exploiting the connections in Cuba and within four years had established a regular shipping run to the West Indies. The powerful Drake family of Havana made him their New York agent. This was an extraordinary indication of con fi dence which enhanced his position as a trader, and led to similar arrangements with other Spanish and Anglo-Cuban planters. NYPL Moses Taylor papers WHITLOCK’S CUBAN CONNECTION Moses Taylor was his new wife’s uncle Domino Sugar on the East River with Williamsburg Bridge 1936. Company was founded by sugar magnate H.O. Havermeyer a business associate of banker merchant Moses Taylor with large land holdings in Cuba where slavery existed until 1886 MARRIED 1855: On Thursday 15th inst., at St. George's Church by the Rev. Dr. Tyng, Percy R. Pyne, to Miss Albertna Shelton, eldest daughter of Moses Taylor Esq. Percy R. Pyne, a founder of City Bank (Citibank.) Joined Moses Taylor Co. in 1835, becoming a partner in 1842. Managed sugar business as agent to Santiago Drake Co., Havana, Cuba,
  62. 62. In the nineteenth century City Bank, a predecessor of today’s Citibank, primarily issued short term credits to locally based merchants to facilitate the import-export trade. Moses Taylor supervised the investment of pro fi ts by the sugar planters in United States banks, gas companies, railroads, and real estate, purchased and shipped supplies and machinery to Cuba, operated six of his own boats and numerous chartered vessels in the Cuban trade, repaired and equipped other boats with goods and provisions, provided sugar planters with fi nancing to arrange for land purchases and the acquisition of a labor force The labor force that Taylor and City Bank were helping the Cuban planters acquire was slave labor, often smuggled illegally from Africa on boats out fi tted in the port of New York, in violation of the international ban on the Atlantic slave trade. Taylor and City Bank’s fi nancing of the Cuban sugar trade between 1830 to 1860 aided and abetted illegal slave trading Percy R. Pyne, a founder of City Bank (Citibank.) Joined Moses Taylor Co. in 1835, becoming a partner in 1842. Managed sugar business as agent to Santiago Drake Co., Havana, Cuba, Tomás Terry y Adán Terry initially became involved in the slave trade in Cuba. He was connected to the New York City banking world through Percy Pyne National City Bank (Citibank) 38 Wall St. (renumbered 52) Moses Taylor’s personal resources and role as business agent for the leading exporter of Cuban sugar to the United States proved invaluable to the bank, helping it survive fi nancial panics in 1837 and 1857 that bankrupted many of its competitors. Fulton Ave, The Bronx, NY
  63. 63. Claude Le Maitre/Delamater was born in France. Because of religious persecution he moved to Canterbury, ENG, a few years later to Holland, and then in 1652 to Midwout/Flatbush, Long Island. Ten years later they were among the early settlers at Harlem on Manhattan Island. James Barr Wilson's a descendant of a line of New Yorkers originating at Huguenots in France who fl ed religious persecution via Holland to New Amsterdam The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York New Amsterdam
  64. 64. Whitlock moves to upscale East Sixteenth Street near the recently opened upscale Union Square Park Approximate location of 9 E.16St Last of the 1830s built mansions at 16th St and 5th Ave. shortly before demolition No. 9 East 16th Street. [Parcel No. 1.] High Stoop, Four- Story Brick Dwelling, with Basement, Cellar and two-story Extension. Present rental, $2,300 with water tax and repairs. 25-foot frontage on north side of 16th Street, between 5th Avenue to the west and Broadway to the east, beginning 191.10 feet east of 5th Avenue; depth 92 feet. (Just half a block west of Broadway at Union Square. This is where William H. Leggett died suddenly on 23 December 1863.) William Haight Leggett b. 15 April 1789, d. 23 December 1863 at this address Last Will of William H. Leggett
  65. 65. Edward A. Whitlock resides at 33 Union Place (Union Square West today) B.M. Whitlock Edward A. Whitlock Trow’s NYC Directory 1860
  66. 66. Benjamin M Whitlock, United States Census, 1850 He resides in the 18th Ward with a household of family members and servants Name: Benjamin M Whitlock Event Type: Census Event Date: 1850 Event Place: New York City, 
 ward 18, 
 New York, 
 NY, 
 United States Gender: Male Age: 29 Marital Status: Race (Original): Race: Birthplace: New York Birth Year (Estimated): 1821 Household Gender Age Birthplace Benjamin M Whitlock M 29 New York Sarah L Whitlock F 2 New York Mary Whitlock F 64 New Jersey Caroline Whitlock F 21 New York Edward Whitlock M 28 New York Josephine Whitlock F 19 New York Susan Wright F 32 New Jersey Bridget Heslen F 17 Ireland Mary Ann Heslen F 18 Ireland Mary Murray F 16 Ireland Mary Mcguire F 19 Ireland Margaret Mcgown F 13 New York S Arthur Ferris M 28 Connecticut 26th 14th Servants?
  67. 67. A $3,000 ($90,000*) investment on East 55th St. in 1851 worth $12,000 ($400,000*) in 1860. *current value Investigation by the state superintendent -Insurance Department, Albany, 
 September 12, 1860 Whitlock Real Estate Speculation: Park Avenue Jones Woods on the upper east side of Manhattan was a forested area in this 1851 image These houses at 55th and Lexington became Babies’ Hospital where the fi rst incubator for premature babies was demonstrated in 1891.
  68. 68. Whitlock builds an of fi ce made of brick in the back lot of this building
  69. 69. Edward A. Whitlock, Benjamin’s brother, is employed by James Barr Wilson, prominent NYC merchant whose daughter Amelia (age 20) marries Benjamin M. Whitlock (age 36) in May 1851. Edward A. Whitlock was in New York City to witness this lease signing in March 1850 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. THE OLD MERCHANTS OF NEW YORK CITY 1863
  70. 70. 1850 Compromise Henry Clay
  71. 71. Of fi cial catalogue of the New-York exhibition of the industry of all nations. 1853 Crystal Palace at 42nd Street and 6th Avenue 1853 Floor Plan of the Crystal Palace Fire Destroys the Crystal Palace in 1858
  72. 72. Whitlock’s daughter Adeline was born January 22, 1854 and baptized May 14 at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church at 19th Street 1852 map Benjamin M., Amelia M. Whitlock “admitted on profession” to Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church on March 10, 1853 9 E16th Street approx. location Pastor James Waddel Alexander (March 13, 1804 – July 31, 1859)
  73. 73. “The neighborhood is one of the most desirable of suburban residences in the divinity of the City of New York.” -United States Insurance Gazette On May 1, 1854 Benjamin M. Whitlock purchases 200 acres from Thomas B. Leggett for $25,000 ($700,000 today) in Hunts Point. Thomas B. Leggett 1823-1895 Sold land to BM Whitlock May 1, 1854 1849 Map of Hommock Park fi ve years before purchase by Whitlock. The farm of Thomas B. Leggett was called Rose Bank. Part of the “Debatable Land” between the early settlers it had been owned by Lewis Morris in the 17th century and passed to his son-in-law and fi rst New York Attorney General James Graham, passing back to the Leggett family after the American Revolution
  74. 74. MURRAY HILL LOTS To “GENTLEMEN OF TASTE” 36th St. Park Avenue in 1944 with JP Morgan Library in the background The property at the corner of 37th St. and Park Ave.was purchased from J.P. Morgan II to build the Union League Club of New York c. 1931 Showing the property from Madison Ave. looking southeast in c. 1855 much of the property being sold by Whitlock is vacant with a few small buildings. The three homes are the heart of today’s Morgan Library At Murray Hill, horses pulled street cars through an open cut in Fourth Avenue. This was long before Grand Central went up at 42nd Street. In 1846 the Common Council decided that the cut, running from 32nd to 40th, created too great a crosstown detour and ordered the railroad to build cross-bridges at 34th and 38th Streets. By that time the railroad was running steam engines. In 1850 the Council ordered that the tunnel be roofed over to cover the “great chasm” of the open cut. Parklike malls were then ordered for the area over the cut, and they in turn brought town house and even mansion construction to what was renamed Park Avenue no later than 1860. A tunnel turns an unsightly RR cut into valuable park frontage 219 Madison Ave. built in 1853 by John Jay Phelps and sold in 1882 to JP Morgan
  75. 75. 1856 Mary Mullen was a child street sweeper at Beekman St. near city hall. She lived on tips from passers-by. The Whitlock brothers would have known and seen her, maybe even have tossed her a penny or two. Mullen was well known in the neighborhood which led to this photograph made around 1859.
  76. 76. Whitlock’s fi ne wines and cigars
  77. 77. William L. McDonald living in Orange, New Jersey and Benjamin M. Whitlock announce a limited “copartnership” beginning on January 1, 1856 Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer February 7, 1856 Whitlock as “special partner” contributes $10,000 ($300,000 today) to the Limited partnership with McDonald
  78. 78. 1859 “Whitlock’s Folly” Hommock Manor, the country seat of B. M. Whitlock, Esq., is situated in West Farms Township, on the East river, or Sound, about 3 miles from Harlem. The estate contains several hundred acres; but that part on which the dwelling is situated, is, as its name implies, a complete Hommock of about 20 acres - which at high tides is nearly surrounded by water - and is approached from the main part of the estate by a causeway. It is said that the house was almost rebuilt of stone imported from Caen, France. In the days before the Civil War, the mansion was the scene of a lavish hospitality; and the generation of bon vivants just passed away were frequent guests at its generous board. Stephen Jenkins
  79. 79. A major force in New York society and politics Whitlock cautioned his southern clients against secession, but when the Civil War broke out he was soon bankrupted, dying before the end of the con fl ict. In the years leading up to the war Whitlock participated in schemes to annex Cuba as a slave state, he supported a pro-slavery constitution for Kansas and angrily opposed John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry. Whitlock was well connected by marriage and business to the most prominent merchant families in New York. He was admired by many, apparently including his political enemies for his success and wealth. B.M. E.A.Whitlock Co... SOUTHERN HEADQUARTERS ON THE CUSP OF CIVIL WAR
  80. 80. MAJOR B. F. JONES representative of B.M. Whitlock is a Confederate advisor and soldier Major Jones was born in Gwinett county, Georgia, on the 20th of June, 1831, and in the common schools acquired his education, after which he entered upon his business career as clerk in a country store near his home.With a young man's desire to see something of the world and seek a wider sphere of usefulness and activity, he left home at the age of 20 years and went to NewYork City.With most commendatory letters he carried with him he found no dif fi culty in obtaining employment, securing a situation in a dry-goods and carpet house on Cortlandt street. A year later he entered the service of Whitlock, Nichols Company, a noted grocery fi rm, which was afterward succeeded by B. M. E.A.Whitlock Company. In the service of this house he traveled all over the south and was its representative at the time of the breaking out of the civil war.
  81. 81. BF. Jones advises at a meeting of the Confederate Congress He utilized the information and experience that he had acquired through travel and business knowledge to the advantage of the newly organized Confederate government... He was a southern man by birth and training, and, true to the principles and teaching in which he had always been trained, when the war was inaugurated he hastened to Rome, Georgia, and in April, 1862, joined the Cherokee artillery... he was made quartermaster Confederate States Capitol Richmond,Va
  82. 82. In 1874 Jones became the superintendent of the National Water-works Company. He was born in the State of Georgia, his ancestors on his father's side coming originally from Scotland. His mother was a descendant of an old Dutch family, and Scottish sagacity and thrift, together with Dutch tenacity, thoroughness and equable disposition combined, are leading characteristics of this gentle- man. His fi rst business experience was gained at his birthplace, among his friends and neighbors ; but, fi nding this fi eld too small for his ambitious efforts, he sought and found a wider one in New York, where he remained until the commencement of the late unpleasantness, when he enlisted as a private in the Cherokee Artillery, at Rome, Ga. He remained in the army during the continuance of the strife, and at the close of the war, by the sheer force of inherent merit, he had risen from the ranks to the important post of Inspector General of the War Department, at Richmond, Va. Cherokee Artillery
  83. 83. The state fair was located here thanks to the efforts of James Jay Mapes, a highly inventive farmer who owned land in what is now the western division of Weequahic Park. In 1847, Mapes, a professor at New York City establishment called the American Institute, bought a run-down farm here. Through the use of superphosphate fertilizers and the sub-soil plow, Mapes was able to unproductive land into a fl ourishing farm. Mapes publicized his successes in a magazine called The Working Farmer. Weequahic Park Newark, NJ The Working Farmer 1852 James J. Mapes father of Charles V. Mapes
  84. 84. A FATEFUL PARTNERSHIP: CHARLESV. MAPES AND B.M.WHITLOCK The Union Sketch Book Harvard Alumni 1913 “The war wiped out their Southern accounts and obliged them to succumb.”
  85. 85. Benjamin Whitlock’s headquarters at Beekman and Nassau St., near City Hall in New York in the 1850s. A scene from the Mapes’ Agricultural Implement Catalogue showing a cotton gin, machine invented by Ely Whitney infamous for making slavery pro fi table n the south by streamlining production of cotton. Providing the machinery for exploiting slave labor
  86. 86. Mapes’ Factory in Newark where Benjamin M. Whitlock had a fi nancial interest
  87. 87. American Slavocracy Targets Cuba
  88. 88. Manhattan's Rhinelander Sugar House was used to store sugar and molasses in the 18th century. Some 80 percent of Cuba's annual sugar product passed through New York between 1825 and 1898. New-York Historical Society W.W. Woolsey Sugar Re fi nery was among the largest in NYC during the mid-19th century Cuban Sugar In New York, where nearly all the great families were active in commerce or industry, the sugar bakers and re fi ners of the eighteenth century included the Bayards, the Can Cortlandts, Roosevelts, Livingstons and Cuylers, while the house of Havemeyer was founded in 1805. Re fi ned sugar became the most important product manufactured in New York City.
  89. 89. Cuba did not end its participation in the slave trade until 1867 Slavery in Cuba was associated with the sugar cane plantations and existed on the territory of the island of Cuba from the 16th century until it was abolished by royal decree on October 7, 1886. More than a million African slaves were brought to Cuba as part of the Atlantic slave trade; Cuba did not end its participation in the slave trade until 1867
  90. 90. Pierre Soulé James Buchanan Southern politicians increasingly looked to Cuba as the next slave state.
  91. 91. The Sun fanned the fl ames of intervention
  92. 92. One of the original Cuban fl ags waved in Cardenas by fi libuster led by Gen. Narciso Lopez in 1850, Later became the national fl ag. Filibusters make war on countries at peace with their home country. Newspaper editors saw Cuba as ripe for annexation to the USA Filibuster NY Herald February 10, 1858
  93. 93. Manifest Destiny Ambrosio José Gonzales John C. Breckinridge John L. O’Sullivan editor United States Democratic Review Narciso Lopez The United States Democratic ReviewVolume 0041 Issue 2 (February 1858) Called popularly “ fi libusterism,” and understood, at this time, by the entire civilized world, to be a system of private war, without the sanction of an organized government.
  94. 94. Some were racists…. John Mitchel an advocate of Irish independence, In the 1850s, he became a pro-slavery editorial voice. Mitchel supported the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War, and two of his sons died fi ghting for the Confederate cause. He was arrested in NYC in June 1865 after the war, while writing for the Daily News. He was suspected of involvement in the Lincoln assassination, but was released from Ft. Monroe in October 1865. “…if freedom be a reward for negroes – that is, if freedom be a good thing for negroes – why, then it is, and always was, a grievous wrong and crime to hold them in slavery at all. If it be true that the state of slavery keeps these people depressed below the condition to which they could develop their nature, their intelligence, and their capacity for enjoyment, and what we call “progress” then every hour of their bondage for generations is a black stain upon the white race”
  95. 95. Some Were Con Men Parker H. French
  96. 96. Cecilia Valdes is arguably the most important novel of 19th century Cuba. Originally published in New York City in 1882, Cirilo Villaverde's novel has fascinated readers inside and outside Cuba. CiriloVillaverde secretary to Lopez escaped to NYC publishing a pro-independence newspaper married Emilia Casanova who founded Las Hijas de Cuba (Daughters of Cuba) living in the Whitlock Mansion after 1868 CiriloVillaverde
  97. 97. 1854: Emilia Casanova 22 years old disembarks at Philadelphia, She will marry CirilioVillaverde and become a leader of the “Daughters of Cuba” a movement to free Cuba from Spanish colonialism Passenger manifest
  98. 98. Whitlock sat on many political committees including this one to annex Cuba as a slave state “The Truth” NYC based pro-independence newspaper with a map of Cuba “The New-York Democracy” means the pro- slavery Democratic party. “The Area of Freedom” means areas where slave holding is still allowed within the United States. “Acquisition of Cuba” means adding Cuba to the United States as a slave state. These men are well known New York City politicians and merchants with business in southern states.
  99. 99. 1856- Bleeding Kansas
  100. 100. Whitlock moves to Hunts Point in 1857 rebuilding Hummock Park as a larger more luxurious mansion Meanwhile, William H. Leggett is living at 9 East 16th street, a roomy townhouse in one of the city’s tonier neighborhoods. In December 1863 at the address on 16th street he dies suddenly. His death was not only a great loss to my grandmother, [Margaret Peck Wright Leggett, (1794-1878)] but to all the family. She gave up the large house [Was this Rose Bank, which was not mentioned in William H.’s will, or No. 9 East 16th Street, which was left to her therein?] and some years later, [1867] when my father moved to [450 North Broad Street] Elizabeth, New Jersey, she decided to make her home with us. -Florence Huggins Leggett A Patriarch Lost
  101. 101. The Bronx River in History Folklore By Stephen Paul DeVillo Rockland Foxhurst Woodside Sunnyslope Mansions of Hunts Point The Chateau — Whitlock’s mansion Estates of the Merchant Princes
  102. 102. BASE OF OPERATIONS NY TIMES OCTOBER 5, 1905
  103. 103. “...[Whitlock] commenced operations by removing to his grounds, from a distance of two or three miles, forest trees of large size... where they are now fl ourishing... for the most part Elms and Maples A country-seat “3 miles from Harlem on several hundred acres, the dwelling sits a complete Hommock of about 20 acres - which at high tides is nearly surrounded by water - and is approached... by a causeway” “...the Hommock is devoted to an ornamental pleasure ground.” “... stables accommodate 40 horses, and the carriage house about half that number of carriages.” “... rises a bell tower of three stories, the lower one is fi tted as a lecture and a school room” “... fi tted up with numerous gas burners. The gas for lighting... is supplied from a highly architectural and ornamental gas-house... fi lled from the retorts in a building adjoining.” “A beautiful... curved drive skirts the base of the Hommock, on the north is... the bathing-rooms, boat-house... while statuary, and seats of various kinds embellish the grounds.” The Horticulturist of Rural Art and Rural Taste, Volume 13, Plan for a Rose-House, William Webster 1858
  104. 104. B.M. E.A. Whitlock’s store at 13 Beekman St. near Nassau and Broadway. Nearby the old Brick Church was used as a hospital during the American revolution. In 1857 the Church was ripped down and replaced by the fi rst New York Times building.* *B.M. Whitlock was an early investor in Murray Hill Real Estate along Park Ave. where the Brick Church relocated Whitlock building old Brick Church City Hall Park 1870 1856 Astor House Hotel
  105. 105. 1856 B. M. WHITLOCK's ROSE-HOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 
 One great object in publishing this plan, is to show how advantageously old materials may be worked into a house of this kind; for all the circular-headed windows, with a corresponding number of square ones, belonged to the old Brick Church in Beekman Street, which was pulled down to make room for stores; so that the plan had to be got up to meet the material, and not, as is usually the case, the materials to suit the plan. - Horticulturist And Journal of Rural Art and Rural Taste The Brick Church, demolished in 1857, across from Whitlock’s business on Beekman Street.The ruins are used by Whitlock to build a rose house. Ny Times 1853 Demolition of Old Brick Church 1857 Beekman St. Whitlock Bldg.
  106. 106. Built with Windows from the old Brick Church “All the circular-headed windows, with a corresponding number of square ones, belonged to the old Brick Church in Beekman Street, which was pulled down to make room for stores; so that the plan had to be got up to meet the material, and not, as is usually the case, the materials to suit the plan. ” -- NY Times
  107. 107. “Decorations were intended to depict Louis's grandeur and understandably omit any mention of French losses and defeats.” Wikipedia entry on Louis XIV King of France Louis XIV, by the Grace of God, King of France and of Navarre 1643-1715 (Wikipedia entry) Bedroom of Louis XIV -Versailles 
 Soyez le Bienvenue A room fi t for a New York merchant prince Louis XIV roomVersailles Louis XIV “Sun King”
  108. 108. P. 178 Waldo Jewett 1845 Address: 1 Cortlandt Street 82. Portrait of a Gentleman B.M.WHITLOCK l New York Historical Society - Vo I. 77 American Academy of Fine Arts and American Art Union ...Exhibition Record National Academy home on Broadway from 1859 to 1865 Records of the National Academy of Fine Arts show Whitlock purchased this painting. Purchaser
  109. 109. Arthur H. Edey gets good references from B.M. E.A. Whitlock Texas Wool
  110. 110. Whitlock spoke at this angry pro-slavery meeting “[against]The treasonable raid of John Brown and his followers...” December 19, 1859 John Brown raid on the Federal Arsenal at Harper’s FerryVa. October 16, 1859 helped start the Civil War Harper’s Ferry I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land can never be purged away but with blood. I had as I now think, vainly fl attered myself that without very much bloodshed, it might be done. - November 12, 1859
  111. 111. Great Union Meeting A reaction to John Brown’s raid ...chie fl y to promote southern trade, and to express sympathy for the slave owners of the south, for the men who buy, or are to be coaxed to buy A.T. Stewart's silks and Ben Whitlock's brandy. -A sometime friend and fellow-laborer in the old Whig cause to James W. Beekman in Tribune Dec. 9, 1859 Academy of Music corner of Irving Place and 14th St.
  112. 112. Benjamin Whitlock’s words were reported The Daily Constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.), December 13, 1859 as part of a longer article about Whitlock’s purchase of fi ne horses from Col. Sam Hill a wealthy merchant in Cahaba, then the capitol of Alabama. By the way, speaking of our friends, we fi nd in the New York Day Book, the proceedings of an “ anti- Sectionalism meeting,” held recently in that city.
  113. 113. Yesterday noon, through the courtesy of Mr ; Hicks, we had the pleasure of enjoying a pleasant ride through and around our city, in a fi ne buggy drawn by a match of fast black mares—the offspring of Morgan and Black Hawk , who traverse in an agreeable manner, a mile in two minutes r and forty-two seconds. These beautiful animals . are the property of one of the fi rm of B. M. E. A. Whitlock, wholesale grocers at 13 Beekman street, New York—a fi rm, by the way, well known to Southern merchants, and liberally patronized by them. Southerners by birth, as well as in feel ing, honorable in business transactions, and “always at home” to their friends, their reputation in our midst is enviable and well deserved. One of the fi rm has a penchant for “ fi ne stock,” and is now in town, homeward bound, from the recent great Fair in Alabama, where his exhibition of stock created universal admiration, and where also valuable acquisitions were made to his stable. We saw at Archer’s stable, two valuable mares of his, obtained from Col. Hill, of Cahaba, which are being shipped to New York, and which, we think, will, on Bloomingdale road, throw Bonner’s Lantern and Mate fairly in the shade. So, too, with the trotters that bore us along, “With fl owing tail and fl ying mane, With nostrils never streaked by pain,— the wild and free, Like waves that follow oe’r the sea. Let the Ledger man look to his laurels, for these noble courser will create a sensation in Gotham. The Daily Constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.), December 13, 1859 One of the fi rm has a penchant for “ fi ne stock,” and is now in town, homeward bound, from the recent great Fair in Alabama A Whitlock in Alabama passes through Augusta, GA In 1859 or 1860 Col. Sam Hill, of Cahaba, Ala. a wealthy merchant and planter, owned this property,
  114. 114. Benjamin M.Whitlock 1860 His long interest in the abolition of slavery led Dr. Houghton to found the first black Sunday school in New York City and to harbor runaway slaves as part of the Underground Railway, one stop on which was the basement of the church's rectory. During the Civil War Blacks were burned, hanged, and mutilated during the Draft Riots of July 1863... Angry mobs trying to get at those who had found sanctuary within the church twice thronged the gates of the churchyard... George Houghton lifted the processional cross from its place in the church, walked out to face the rioters, held it before them, and said, Stand back, you white devils; in the name of Christ, stand back! With such courageous words, George Houghton held off the unruly mob, and those in the church remained safe for several more days, until the mob had been quelled and dispersed. George Hendric Houghton Henry Ward Beecher held mock “auctions” at which the congregation purchased the freedom of real slaves. The most famous of these former slaves was a young girl named Pinky, auctioned during a regular Sunday worship service at Plymouth on February 5, 1860 William Lloyd Garrison Lewis Tappan Harriet Tubman
  115. 115. Simeon Draper Thurlow Weed On the night of April 14, 1865, a former Confederate soldier named Lewis Powell attacked Seward Whigs and Bankers: New York “moderates” on slavery back a New Merchant Bank
  116. 116. Lowry was United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Tennessee between1853 and 1857. Greenville is located on the northeastern part of the state where few people own slaves. Lincoln’s vice-president Andrew Johnson is a close friend and political associate of William M. Lowry who also she a close friendship with Benjamin M. Whitlock. List of U.S. Marshals in the Eastern District of Tennessee William M. Lowry
  117. 117. Andrew Johnson, Governor and Senator from Tennessee, vice-president under Abraham Lincoln, 17th President of the United States Valentine Sevier home in Greeneville, Tennessee built by an early settler named Sevier, founder of the state of Tennessee. The house was later owned by William M. Lowry and Andrew Johnson. William M. Lowry born inVirginia and moved to Tennessee.Was a merchant and banker and close friend and political associate of Andrew Johnson.Although actively opposing secession from he Union when the war broke out he became a Col. in the Confederate States of America Army.After the war Lowry and his son moved to Atlanta and started a savings bank. Mr. Wm. M. Lowry Andrew Johnson
  118. 118. Wm. L. McDonald and Benjamin M. Whitlock are partners in May 1860 renting a “handsome cottage overlooking the Sound” in Hunts Point then the town of West Farms that is “adjoining the residence of the subscribers” Long Island Sound
  119. 119. About 4 o'clock the visitors again embarked, and proceeded up the River through Hurl (Hells) Gate, about twelve miles, to the suburban villa of B.M. WHITLOCK, Esq., in Westchester County, on the banks of the river... After being photographed in line on the lawn in front of Mr. WHITLOCK's fine new brown-stone mansion, taking a look at his sixty blood horses, and extensive repository of carriages, imbibing a timely drink, and viewing the grounds, the company was invited to a collation spread for three hundred in a shady grove near one of the residences. -- NY Times July 23, 1860 “.Mr. B.M. WHITLOCK, although suffering from indisposition, was prevailed upon to speak. Among other good things, he said that if North, South, East and West, and even New-York City, should fail, the Blues would fi nd his place always open and welcome to them, and he had a boy who would think just like his daddy. [Laughter and applause.] He deprecated sectional animosities, and the misrepresentation of partisan Presses. Mrs. WHITLOCK having presented each of the commanders with a boquet, and cheers illimitable having been given, the guests left, de fi led through a shrubbery Pass of Thermopylae, got on board the boat, cheered, waved handkerchiefs and shouted adieus, until Whitlock Mansion was lost in the dim distance. In passing down the river salutes were exchanged with Mr. ASPINWALLs house at Astoria. A landing was effected at T enth-street, East River, and after a weary march the guests got home -- their dusty trip rendering them literally, if not politically, Black Republican Blues. —New York Tmes, July 23, 1860 Southern Militiamen known as Savannah Republican Blues Visit Whitlock promoting reconciliation on the eve of Civil War It is said that the Blues are accompanied by three musicians -- slaves -- who are too much attached to the company and their masters to be in any danger of yielding to the temptations to desertion which will undoubtedly be held out to them. -NY Times July 21, 1860
  120. 120. A Southern Woman's War Time Reminiscences: The Seventh Regiment entertained the Savannah Republican-Blues and the brothers B. and B. M. Whitlock gave a grand entertainment to them up the Hudson, where my lovely Nell and I were in attendance. In a letter home I used this language: It seems to me as if our people were military-mad, and had rushed together for a last fraternal embrace, to separate and fight like maddened devils; so violent do altercations and argument come when the questions of slavery, free soil, etc., are discussed. And when I went South some of my friends dubbed me the bloody prophet. -Mrs. Elizabeth Lyle Saxon N.Y. 7th Regiment (scene in what is today Washington Square Park) took on the Savannah Republican Blues in a “friendly” drill competition in 1860. A Bloody prophecy Mrs. Elizabeth Lyle Saxon Involved in woman's suffrage and social reform issues in Memphis and New Orleans. 1832-1915
  121. 121. Benjamin M. Whitlock’s“Hommock Park” in West Farms is heavily mortgaged $220,000 $550,000 $110,000 The Chateau Leggetts Creek
  122. 122. In 1859 directors of the Homestead Fire Insurance Company include William L. McDonald, who became a known as a confederate spy. Also Benj. M. Whitlock, his father-in-law James B. Wilson, and in fl uential banker-merchants Moses Taylor, Edward Haight and Paul Spofford. Paul Spofford Edward Haight Moses Taylor Whitlock Building corner Nassau and Beekman St.
  123. 123. Whitlock’s Empire Crumbles Homestead Fire Insurance Company. Published: September 21, 1860 From the Journal of Commerce The New-York Supreme Court has appointed PHILO HURD, Esq., (late President of the Company,) the Receiver, , to close up and settle the affairs of the Homestead Fire Insurance Company, the Company's outstanding obligations having been already provided for and assumed by other responsible Companies… The Company was doing a sound and prosperous business, and was abundantly safe, notwithstanding the enmity of those interested in the rejected securities and its previous control, and the jealousy of other Associations, either from political bias or envy at its success. It certainly appears desirable that the prosperous and increasing business of the Company, and its reliable connections, should be preserved for the organization of a new Company, and that the facilities for insurance in the South and West, so long overlooked, should be continued. Investigation by the state superintendent -Insurance Department, Albany, September 12, 1860 Benjamin M.Whitlock invested his mortgaged estate into 
 The Homestead Insurance Company — which never sold a policy — until shuttered by state regulators in 1861. Operating fromWhitlock’s of fi ce building Homestead was actually worth $50,000 ($1.3 million) not the advertised $150,000. ($4.1 million)
  124. 124. A DAUGHTER’S DEATH WHITLOCK -- In Hommock Park, on Sunday, Oct. 21, after a brief illness, ADELINE WILSON, daughter of Benjamin M. and Amelia Whitlock, aged 6 years and 9 months. The friends of the family are respectfully invited to attend her funeral, from the residence of her parents, Hommock Park, Westchester County, this (Tuesday) afternoon, at 3 1/2 o'clock, without further notice. Carriages will meet at Mott-Haven, the Harlem train leaving 26th-st. at 2:30 P.M. NYTimes October 1860 Whitlock Family Plot Green Wood Brooklyn
  125. 125. SERIOUS ACCIDENT TO MR. WHITLOCK — On Saturday evening Mr. B. M. Whitlock, while standing in the depot corner of White and Centre streets, was accidentally jammed between two cars, and badly crushed. Three of hie ribs were broken, and he sustained other Injuries; He was removed to the New-York Hospital. NEW YORK DAILY TRIBUNE, MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1860 mid-19th century Same site modern times 1874
  126. 126. 1885
  127. 127. “He was removed to the New-York Hospital”
  128. 128. LINCOLN ELECTED Lincoln speaks at Cooper Union before his election
  129. 129. Mayor Fernando Wood NYC’s Copperhead Mayor “Then it may be said, why should not New York city, instead of supporting by her contributions in revenue two—thirds of the expenses of the United States, become also equally independent? As a free city, with but nominal duty on imports, her local Government could be supported without taxation upon her people. Thus we could live free from taxes, and have cheap goods nearly duty free. In this she would have the whole and united support of the Southern States, as well as all the other States to whose interests and rights under the Constitution she has always been true.” Time for compromise between North South was running out Mayor Wood January 06, 1861 Copperheads or “Peace Democrats” wanted to end the war retain slavery and return to “constitutional” rule
  130. 130. Fort Sumter Civil War Begins
 Friday, April 12, 1861, at 4:30 a.m.
  131. 131. A YEAR LATERTOTHE DAY AFTER HIS DAUGHTER’S DEATH WHITLOCK’S MOTHER DIES -ON WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HER HUSBANDS 81ST BIRTHDAY. NYTimes October 1861 Mary Morris White Whitlock 1785-1861 Photo courtesy of Find A Grave
  132. 132. Mourners Arrive on the Harlem River Rail Road Before the Civil War (1861–1864), Mott Haven was the site of two stations on the Underground Railroad — the villa of Charles Van Doren, which stood at East 145th Street and Third Avenue, and the Mott Haven Dutch Reformed Church, which still stands on East 146th Street. 1861 They cross the Harlem River Bridge
  133. 133. *The note was held by the Eastern Bank of Alabama in Eufaula. * Apalachicola steam boat ran cotton to the Gulf of Mexico ALABAMA CONNECTION to B.M. E. A. Whitlock Co.
  134. 134. A Slave Cabin in Barbour County, Near Eufaula, Alabama. Eufaula, Alabama.
  135. 135. ...A good many merchants, in order to avoid catastrophe were, the correspondents added, already abandoning their Establishments in New York and were preparing to set up business in some city of the Confederate States Charleston Mercury March 21,1861 ...the extensive grocery house of B.A. E.A. WHITLOCK... had already completed negotiations for “going to Savannah.” Philip Foner 1941 The Civil War brought profound changes to the New York region. At the beginning of the war, the loss of trade with the South and disruptions caused by military activity and Southern privateering forced a number of banks and mercantile houses into bankruptcy. Most New York banks were forced to suspend payments and the building trades shut down operations. In 2004 Whitlock’s creditor bank merges into JP Morgan Chase B.M. E.A. Whitlock goes out of business March 1862.
  136. 136. RG 21 - U.S. District Courts, Sequestration Case Files - Alabama Confederate Court Confederate States District Court for the Southern Division of the District of Alabama. 4/4/1861-3/20/1865 This series consists of case fi les resulting from the Confederate judiciary system concerning property. They typically included the petition for sequestration fi led by the receiver showing the name of the alien enemy, his place of residence, and the property which he allegedly owned; any liens and claims against the sequestered property; and briefs, demurrers, subpoenas, orders, opinions, and judgments of the court. 4 308 Confederate States Whitlock, B.M. E. A. Co. 1862 Box Number Case Number Plaintiff Defendant Year 4 298 Confederate States McDonald, William, L. 1862
  137. 137. The 5th Texas Regiment of Hood’s Division had been incorporated into the Army of Northern VA and detailed Arthur H. Edey to carry mail from the regiment to its families back in Texas. A typeset label was attached to some of these letters. Honors the 1st, 4th, 5th Texas and the 18th Georgia, Hampton Legion for their bravery in battle. The broadside prints a portion of a letter by Texas Governor Gustavus W. Smith and Lee's letter of 21 September 1862, praising the brigade. Lists battle honors for West Point, Seven Pines, Gaine's Mill, Malvern Hill, Manassas, Rappahannock, Thoroughfare Gap, Boonsboro and Sharpsburg. Also included is a song entitled Hood's Texas Brigade, a list of the Delegates to the Confederate Congress, and a list of important Texans in the Civil War. The words Alamo, Mier, Sam. Houston and A. S. Johnson appear in the corners of the document. Printed by Arthur H. Edey, Agent Fifth Texas Volunteers. Texas Brigade of John Bell Hood Confederate General John Bell Hood Began his career in the house of B.M. E.A. Whitlock before the Civil War. He later fought under Hood and was captured Arthur H. Edey
  138. 138. WILLIAM LARRY MCDONALD SUTLER: a person who followed an army and sold provisions to the soldiers. Having become heavily indebted to Mr. GREEN, carriage-maker in this city, Larry, as he is familiarly called, tendered his services to him to pay his obligations, and on the former gentleman being appointed sutler to the Twenty- sixth Regiment, he accompanied him to Virginia. After the first stock of goods had been sold, LARRY came North and purchased $2,000 worth of goods for Mr. GREEN, and, on his return to Virginia, deliberately drove them into the rebel lines, where they were, of course, confiscated. “A most bitter and consistent partisan of the rebels.” McDonald fakes his capture by the rebels inVirginia The sutler's tent in camp Falmouth, Virginia 26th Regiment, New Jersey Volunteer Infantry Organized at Camp Frelinghuysen, Newark, N.J., mustered in September 18, 1862. Left State for Washington, D.C., September 26. Camp on Capital Hill till October 1. Moved to Frederick, Md., October 1, thence to Hagerstown, Md., October 11. Attached to 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 6th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac. Fredericksburg, December 12-15, 1862; Mud March January 20-24, 1863; Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6…
  139. 139. Young Ireland imprisoned after the 1848 Battle of the Widow’s Cabbage Patch came to New York from Can Damien’s Land 1855. In 1857 he edited a pro-slavery newspaper in Tennessee. Returned to New York and then on to Richmond in 1862 publishing pro-Jefferson Davis newspaper. Eventually criticized Davis for not fi ghting hard enough. Arrested by orders of Grant in 1865, suspected of involvement in Lincoln assassination. Released from Fort Monroe on October 30, 1866. Advocated return to slave catching and other extreme positions. Lost two sons dead in Confederate army.
  140. 140. Battle of Fredericksburg December 11–15, 1862 “a butchery”
  141. 141. Emancipation Proclamation Jan. 1, 1863 Abraham Lincoln Emancipation Proclamation Original Document
  142. 142. 1860 United States census shows Wm. L. McDonald age 33, born in Canada, living in West Farms. McDonald is a carriage manufacturer worth $25,000, about $750,000 in 2017. Wm. L. McDonald lives with his wife Josephine, sister of Benjamin Whitlock, an infant daughter Mary, two servants born in Ireland and John Holt a “mulatto” coachman born in Alabama. From a biography of William McDonald’s son
  143. 143. LARRY MCDONALD ESCAPES While in Richmond, as is since ascertained, he lived in luxury, affiliating with all the rebel leaders, giving them information as to the number and position of our forces, and other valuable facts. He was then released on a pretended parole, and came to this city, and while visiting his wife at Westchester, New-York, learned that his exploits had been divulged to the War Department, and detectives were after him. He immediately shipped as a sailor on a schooner for New-Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and succeeded in eluding the vigilance of the authorities. -A Nawark Rebel, New York Times 
 January 8, 1865 McDonald, now a POW is “paroled” to New York and then “released” in February 1863
  144. 144. After the death of his first wife in 1849, Benjamin M. Whitlock (1815-1863) married Amelia Mott Wilson (1831-1910) in 1851, and they had at least five children. In June 1863, shortly before his death, Benjamin M. Whitlock, as agent of his wife, borrowed $3,000 from merchant Robert L. Maitland (1818-1870) and deposited it in the bank to her credit. She allegedly knew nothing about it, and none of the money went to her or her separate estate. Prominent attorney and co-founder of the New York Bar Association Ashbel Green (1825-1898) represented the Maitland estate, while future Superior Court judge Gilbert M. Speir Sr. (1810-1894) represented Amelia M. Whitlock. After hearing the arguments summarized in this document, the justices agreed on June 20 to affirm the judgment of the lower court but offered no written opinion. Women could receive property after marriage that wasn’t at her husband’s disposal or liable for his debts. Although a step toward equality for women, the motivation for the new law was less a desire to do justice to women and more to provide a way for men to protect their assets in times of economic uncertainty by placing them in their wives’ names. In June 1863,shortly before his death Benjamin M. Whitlock, as agent of his wife, borrowed $3,000 (63,000 today) from merchant Robert L. Maitland (1818-1870) and deposited it in the bank to her credit. She allegedly knew nothing about it, and none of the money went to her or her separate estate. Executors of Maitland v. Amelia M. Whitlock, June 1872, Court of Appeals of the State of New York. Robert L. Maitland
  145. 145. Bloody street fi ghting in NewYork City Draft Riots July 1863 NewYork erupts into rioting against military conscription. Burning the Abolitionist homes Lynchings
  146. 146. -- Benjamin M. Whitlock, Esq., formerly one of the prominent wholesale grocers of this City, died on Wednesday last at his residence in Westchester County, after a very brief illness. Mr. Whitlock, in consequence of the present troubles, lost overwhelmingly, because of the failure of his Southern customers to meet their engagements, and was compelled to relinquish his business, which had before been one of the most profitable in the City. He was a man of finest business capacity, and of noble, generous impulses. His hospitality was lavish, and he was noted especially for keeping one of the finest studs in the country, his stock and stables being the centre of admiration and interest. These and the remainder of his property he sacrificed when misfortune overtook him, in order honorably to meet his sudden embarrassments. Benjamin Whitlock’s Obituary death on August 15, 1863 Descended of a horse owned by Whitlock
  147. 147. Benjamin M.Whitlock’s Grave The Green-Wood Cemetery Brooklyn
  148. 148. “For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is agree to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” EPITAPH Biblical lines on B.M. Whitlock’s tomb. 2nd Timothy a verse describing the prophet as having suffered for a cause
  149. 149. Whitlock Family Plot
  150. 150. A 19th century sculptor who fl ed Italy during the 1848 revolution and settled in New York. Piatti sculpted several monuments at Green-Wood: the Sea Captain’s monument, the Grif fi th Memorial, the monument to Col. Vosburg and that of Maria Whitlock. Piatti died of apparent accidental asphyxiation from carbon monoxide in his Manhattan apartment in July 21, 1888. He was 64 years old and had taken a volume of Plutarch’s Lives, borrowed from journalist Joseph H. Tooker, with him to bed the night he died. Patrizio Piatti sculpted Daniel Webster for the New York Exposition known as the Crystal Palace in this guide from 1854. Patti was credited as Superintendent of Sculptures in the Exhibition. Maria Whitlock Sarah Louisa Whitlock Patrizio Piatti
  151. 151. A Bank with Benjamin M. Whitlock as a director, including James B. Wilson, his father-in-law, his business associates and Hunts Point neighbors Edward Haight and Paul Spofford. A federal “Greenback” note backed by loans from banks supporting the Union $50 million loan to the Union cause two weeks after Whitlock’s death.
  152. 152. Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid February 28 to March 1, 1864 H. Judson Kilpatrick was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865). He lends his name to the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid, an incident in the spring of 1864 in which Kilpatrick, along with Union colonel Ulric Dahlgren, led a raid on Confederate defenses in Richmond, hoping to liberate prisoners of war. The raid was both a military and political fi asco, and cost Dahlgren his life. Colonel Ulric Dahlgren H. Judson Kilpatrick Assassination Nation Secret orders from A. Lincoln or a forgery?
  153. 153. Elmira Prison was a prison camp operated by the United States government during the American Civil War. July 15, 1864. 51 Confederate prisoners of war killed 17 guards, and 4 railway staff, in collusion with local train. The POWs were being taken to Elmira Prison Camp in New York. Most had been captured at the Battle of Cold Harbor in Virginia. Arthur H. Edey (Company A, 5th Texas)who began his career in the house of B.M. E.A. Whitlock before the Civil War. He later fought under Hood and was captured. He organized prisoners to petition for warm clothes during the long upstate New York winter. The Great Shohola train wreck Gen. John Bell Hood
  154. 154. Daniel Morgan Sir Henry Morgan Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan is a direct descendant Gen. Daniel Morgan of the Revolutionary War. B.M. Whitlock’s maternal grandfather served under Morgan who was also known for daring guerrilla tactics using deception. John Hunt Morgan was known for his use of daring attacks such as his 2500 man raid behind the lines in July 1863. Morgan was a master of “false fl ag” tactics where he and his men would pose as civilians and Union soldiers to gather intelligence for behind the lines forays into union territory. Route of Morgan’s 1863 raid Morgan and his top of fi cers planning an escape from a northern prison on November 27, 1863. John Hunt Morgan Morgan was shot in the back by a Union soldier in Greenville, TN. on September 4th, 1864. Greenville is the home of President Andrew Johnson and US Marshall William M. Lowry, Johnson’s mentor and good friend of B.M. Whitlock Pirates Revolutionaries
  155. 155. COPPERHEADS CONSPIRATORS Jacob Thompson apparently leader of Confederate Secret Service operations in Canada. Robert Cobb Kennedy Confederate Agent- Hanged March 25, 1865 For Setting New York Fires (picture taken two days before execution) Clement Vallandigham The Northwestern Confederacy While in Canada, Vallandigham met with Jacob Thompson, who was a representative of the Confederate government. He talked to Thompson about plans for forming a Northwestern Confederacy, consisting of the states of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, by overthrowing their governments. leader of the Copperhead faction of anti-war Democrats during the American Civil War. Abraham Lincoln speaking about Vallandigham
  156. 156. St. Albans Raid October 19, 1864 Confederate Secret Service Operations During the Civil War Privateer, Lake Michigan September 18, 1864 John Yates Beall Confederate Army of Manhattan November 25, 1864 Forcing towns people to take an oath in support of the confederacy
  157. 157. Greek Fire as depicted in The Raid a 1954 fi lm about the Oct. 19, 1864 St. Albans raid. Greek Fire in bottles Fenian Flag of Irish Rebels who attempted and invasion of Canada in 1867. Fenian Fire was an explosive called Greek Fire during the U.S. Civil War Charles V. Mapes Phosphate factory, would have expertise on phosphorus and would have all the chemicals necessary to manufacture Greek (Fenian) Fire. Mapes, business partner with B.M. Whitlock owns this business. Modern version The body was fi lled with a mixture of WP, petrol and rubber.
  158. 158. Whitlock’s Hommock Auctioned Leggets bring suit against Whitlock estate April 1868 October 1864 December 3, 1864
  159. 159. “a vast and fi endish plot” P.T. Barnum’s Museum St. James Hotel Metropolitan Hotel United States Hotel Lafarge Hotel Astor Hotel St. Nicholas Hotel Tammany Hall November 25, 1864 Conspirators set fi res in New York Hotels
  160. 160. February 8, 1865 A NAWARK REBEL. WILLIAM LAWRENCE MCDONALD, who figures in the papers as the rebel agent in Canada, and the leading spirit in the Chesapeake, St. Albans, and New-York hotel- burning affairs... In 1860, he associated with Mr. B.M. WHITLOCK, (his brother-in-law,) in the carriage business... GUS MCDONALD, a brother of the above, who also lived in Orange, but recently a resident of New- York, is in custody on a charge of harboring the incendiaries while they were in that city. -- Newark Advertiser. The man who tried to burn New York November 25, 1864 Southern Gentleman (about to Fire the Hotel), Harper's Weekly.
  161. 161. Hyams was then sworn on a copy of the Bible, and, being examined by Mr. Patterson, said: I live in York-street in this city, and know the prisoner, McDonald; I have known him for upward of twelve months; he resided, when I fi rst knew him, with his sister on Adelaide-street; his occupation within the past Winter and Fall has been making and preparing munitions of war as agent, under Col. Thompson, of the Confederate States of America; have seen him, during that time, making torpedoes, hand-shells, Greek fi re, and other explosive missiles: in the process he used powder, shot, fi ne coal, and pitch; he had a small furnace and iron boiler in a house on Agnes-street, where those things were made and into which he moved in October last; there were several young men frequented his place; McDonald told me that these munitions and preparations were made to be used upon the steamer Georgian, which was to proceed from Collingwood upon raiding expeditions against the United States of America From the Toronto Globe, April 27, 1865. Wm. L. “Larry” McDonald Explosives Expert for Confederate Plotters Operating from a Toronto safe house in this neighborhood they experiment with batches of “Greek Fire” an explosive that catches fi re when exposed to air for use as an incendiary grenade. Greek Fire is used in the raid on St. Albans, Vermont. Later used against New York City.
  162. 162. Married to Benjamin Whitlock’s sister Josephine Whitlock, McDonald does extensive business with the south 15 Beekman is directly adjacent to B.M. E.A.Whitlock William “Larry” McDonald 1821-1895 Merchant, Sutler, Spy, Conspirator
  163. 163. “Gus” McDonald is part of the conspiracy with daughter Katie McDonald Katie’s uncle William L McDonald, brother to Gus was Whitlock’s brother-in-law. He rented a hideout Confederate Operations in Canada and New York -Headley New York Times, November 26, 1864
  164. 164. Queen’s Hotel in Toronto where the conspirators hid after the attempt to burn New York “Gus” McDonald (brother of “Larry”) is arrested when detectives raid his piano store on Franklin St. The plotters had been meeting there. Martin was a Confederate agent.
  165. 165. McDonald, his brother “Gus” and niece Katie named in an investigation into the plot but never charged in the crime despite Larry’s confession to the New York City police commissioner.. WILLIAM L. MCDONALD, the rebel agent in Canada, was in 1860 proprietor of the Southern Carriage Repository, in this city, at No. 514 Broadway. His trade, which had been almost exclusively with the South, having been shut off by the war, he became one of the most bitter and consistent partisans of the South anywhere to be found in the North. NYTimes Feb. 6, 1865
  166. 166. 1856 Wm. L. McDonald originally located at 26 Beekman St. thru to 18 Spruce St. directly across the street of B.M. and E.A. Whitlock Building 20th Century Photo of 26 Beekman (edge visible at far left of photo) with 28 and 30 to the right.
  167. 167. 1860 McDonald opens a Southern Carriage Repository at 514 Broadway. The building is subsequently the location of a Wood’s Minstrel Hall owned by Henry Wood, the brother of NYC’s pro-confederate mayor Fernando Wood. WM.L.MCDONALD January 1860 WM.L.MCDONALD January 1860 Wood’s Theater 1862 Moved by September 1860 Crosby Street Synagogue
  168. 168. Benjamin Wood purchased the New York Daily News (not to be confused with the current New York Daily News, which was founded in 1919), a Loco Foco whose paper was known for intense racism and pro- Confederacy sentiment. Fernando Wood 1812-1881 Benjamin Wood 1820–1900 Mitchel was arrested in NYC in June 1865 after the war, while writing for the Daily News. He was suspected of involvement in the Lincoln assassination, but was released from Ft. Monroe in October 1865. John Mitchel wrote for Benjamin Wood After the failure of his fi rst minstrel house, Henry Wood (the mayor's brother) converted an abandoned Jewish synagogue at 514 Broadway that he acquired in July 1862. Later, Harrigan Hart took over and renamed it Theatre Comique. Henry Wood 1816-1887 Copperhead Brothers, A Broadway Playhouse Two Rebels Henry Wood also the mayor’s brother and was a minstrel impresario taking over the same building as Wm. McDonald’s Southern Carriage Repository Performance Dates and time of Wood’s Minstrels at 561 and 563 Broadway April 9, 1862 Performers: Wood’s Minstrels: Cool White (minstrel) C.J. Lockwood (minstrel) W. Patterson Charles Henry James W. Glenn John T. Boyce Frank Brower Performances: Uncle Sam's a Coon Historical Reminiscences Happy Uncle Tom The Victim of Secession Cotton Field Sports Review: New York Clipper, 16 April 1864, “The crowds constantly going to the Fair didn’t affect the business of this house, extra seats having to be placed in the aisles several nights during the week.  Charley Fox is in Fair form again, Frank Brower looms up as serene as ever, and Boyce, the other comedian, keeps his end up with commendable precision. Mayor of New York for two non-sequential terms between 1855 and 1861. In January 1861, Wood suggested New York secede becoming a “free city” continuing its profitable cotton trade with the Confederacy. Fernando Wood’s brother During the war he was in Richmond the rebel capitol Publisher of an intensely pro-confederate newspaper Wood’s Minstrel Hall 517 Broadway Built 1862
  169. 169. William L. McDonald: Confederate Conspiracies Biological warfare plot by selling Yellow Fever exposed clothing to soldiers The following is the evidence of Edwin J. Hall I had not the slightest idea of what his mission was, or what enterprise he was engaged in, until I heard it mentioned by Wm.L. McDonald, a few weeks since; when I got the telegram from the Clifton House, I knew that Hyams had been away from the city for some time previous, and had but recently returned; McDonald, in speaking of Hyams' enterprise, said it was taking clothing infected with yellow fever into the United States, to be introduced among the soldiers; McDonald told me this in reply to my having asked him if he know anything about it. New York Times, May 26, 1865 Luke Pryor Blackburn (June 16, 1816 – September 14, 1887) was an American physician, philanthropist, and politician from Kentucky. He was the alleged ringleader of the plot. He was never charged. “too preposterous for intelligent gentlemen to believe.” Yellow Fever decimated troops during the Civil War Unknown during the civil war is that yellow fever is spread by mosquitos and not through physical contact with the victims or their clothing.
  170. 170. Did Larry McDonald meet with John Wilkes Booth, assassin of Abraham Lincoln? St. Lawrence Hall, Toronto, 1860, where the meeting occurred. John Wilkes Booth
  171. 171. Statement by George Atzerodt one of the conspirators executed for being part of the plot to kill Abraham Lincoln. Atzerodt claims that John Wilkes Booth said, “He met a party in N. York who would get the Prest. certain.” Booth’s trip to New York occurred sometime around March 21, 1865 George Atzerodt
  172. 172. Edward A.Whitlock Son of Thaddeus and Mary Whitlock was born Jan. 7th 1819 in the City of NewYork died May 27th 1865 aged 46 years Abraham Lincoln assassinated April 14, 1865 The Green-Wood cemetery Brooklyn, NY
  173. 173. Death of John Wilkes Booth April 26, 1865
  174. 174. On May 27, 1865, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the capture of Jefferson Davis at the end of the Civil War. Jefferson Davis, the former president of the Confederacy, was captured by Union troops on May 10, 1865. This unsigned Harper's Weekly cartoon re fl ects the widespread rumor that Davis had tried to escape by dressing as a woman. The artist pictures him in a hoop skirt and bonnet, carrying a hatbox labeled C. S. for Confederate States. The image is intended to contradict the stoic description of Davis conveyed by the quotation from the New York Daily News, a major voice of the Peace Democrats (Copperheads).
  175. 175. On Saturday, May 27, EDWARD A. WHITLOCK, of the late fi rm of B.M. E.A. Whitlock Co., in the 46th year of his age The relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend the funeral services, at the Dutch Reformed Church in Mott Haven, on Wednesday morning, at 10 1/2 o'clock. Carriages will be in waiting at the Mott Haven depot to meet the Harlem cars, which leave 26th-st. depot at 10 o'clock A.M. Accidental death of Edward A. Whitlock 1865 Depot at 26th Street and 4th Avenue in 1860 NY Times obituary May 30, 1865
  176. 176. Papers of Lt. Gen. U.S. Grant Benjamin Wood purchased the New York Daily News (not to be confused with the current New York Daily News, which was founded in 1919), of which he was the editor and publisher until he died in 1900. Wood was brother of Copperhead Mayor Fernando Wood, a Loco Foco whose paper was known for intense racism and pro-Confederacy sentiment. John Mitchel an advocate of Irish independence, In the 1850s, he became a pro-slavery editorial voice. Mitchel supported the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War, and two of his sons died fi ghting for the Confederate cause. He was arrested in NYC in June 1865 after the war, while writing for the Daily News. He was suspected of involvement in the Lincoln assassination, but was released from Ft. Monroe in October 1865.
  177. 177. Execution of the Lincoln conspirators, July 7th, 1865 The four condemned conspirators: David Herold, Lewis Powell, Mary Surratt and George Atzerodt (from left to right).
  178. 178. 1860 1870 WM.L.MCDONALD January 1860 WM.L.MCDONALD January 1860 Wood’s Theater 1862

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