Read Online Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City by Carla L. Peterson - Free Book Online
Authors: Carla L. Peterson
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hundreds of blacks leaving the denomination. Or perhaps they saw a way out of their dilemma when George Lorillard offered the black parishioners “three lots of ground with a sixty year lease” on Collect Street, after which it was “to be held in fee simple, as a gift.” 14
Lorillards, Knickerbockers, and the Making of Gotham
So who was this George Lorillard whose business activities affected so many black New Yorkers in the early nineteenth century? He and his two brothers, Peter and Jacob, were members of what was then called Knickerbocker society. We owe this unwieldy name to WashingtonIrving, the prolific fiction writer and essayist whose literary imagination was fueled by New York City and its environs. His fictional Diedrich Knickerbocker was the reputed author of a lengthy history of New York (1809), a satire of early Dutch settlers that mocked them for their foolish behavior caused by their addiction to strong drink and strong tobacco. The name came to apply to the actual descendants of these Dutch families; as their numbers shrank, the designation was extended to include English and also French Huguenot families like the Lorillards. A midcentury observer referred to the Knickerbockers as an “old aristocracy” and noted that “there is no strata of society so difficult to approach and apprehend.” Indeed, these families constituted a closed circle, marrying and socializing among themselves. They belonged to the same organizations. Many worshiped at Trinity Church, where they filled the ranks of the vestry. 15
The Knickerbockers were citizens of Gotham, another one of Irving’s inventions. Some two years earlier, Irving had published an essay introducing his readers to the city he named Gotham. The name first appeared in early English folklore, referring to a town in rural England named Goat’s Town. It was said that its inhabitants were wise men who deliberately acted like fools during the reign of King John (1199–1216). According to one account, they did so to avoid paying taxes; in another version, they hoped their crazy behavior would dissuade the king from a visit that would prove costly to them. From this came the observation that “more fools pass through Gotham than remain in it.” Like their medieval forerunners, Irving suggested, modern-day Gothamites might be fools in appearance only. 16
Some hundred years later, Gotham was reincarnated in a new form. In 1941, DC Comics adopted the term Gotham City for the home of Batman and his heroic exploits. It quickly came to be associated in the popular imagination with New York City. In contrast to Irving’s Gotham, Batman’s Gotham City is a dark and forbidding place. Its gigantic Gothic architecture dwarfs its human inhabitants. Its streets are grimy. It is vulnerable to epidemics and earthquakes, rife with crime and gang violence left unchecked by police corruption. Yet, despite this, it is a hub of commercial, financial, and cultural activity, containing a port and shipyards, banks, museums, and a variety of industries.
This Gotham, just like Irving’s, is pure fantasy, yet it describes with uncanny accuracy the city that men like the Lorillards were building. Manhattan was fast becoming a thriving commercial center, controlled by a powerful elite whose entrepreneurial zeal enabled them to make great fortunes.
The Lorillard brothers, George, Peter, and Jacob, were the sons of Pierre Lorillard, a French Huguenot who settled in New York in the mid-eighteenth century and quickly made a name and fortune for himself as an importer, manufacturer, and seller of tobacco and related products. A fervent patriot, Pierre was executed by Hessian soldiers during the revolutionary war. His wife carried on the business until their first two sons, George and Peter, were old enough to take over its management, which they did with considerable success. The third son, Jacob, entered the leather tanning industry. The family quickly became part of New
Lorillards, Knickerbockers, and the Making of Gotham
So who was this George Lorillard whose business activities affected so many black New Yorkers in the early nineteenth century? He and his two brothers, Peter and Jacob, were members of what was then called Knickerbocker society. We owe this unwieldy name to WashingtonIrving, the prolific fiction writer and essayist whose literary imagination was fueled by New York City and its environs. His fictional Diedrich Knickerbocker was the reputed author of a lengthy history of New York (1809), a satire of early Dutch settlers that mocked them for their foolish behavior caused by their addiction to strong drink and strong tobacco. The name came to apply to the actual descendants of these Dutch families; as their numbers shrank, the designation was extended to include English and also French Huguenot families like the Lorillards. A midcentury observer referred to the Knickerbockers as an “old aristocracy” and noted that “there is no strata of society so difficult to approach and apprehend.” Indeed, these families constituted a closed circle, marrying and socializing among themselves. They belonged to the same organizations. Many worshiped at Trinity Church, where they filled the ranks of the vestry. 15
The Knickerbockers were citizens of Gotham, another one of Irving’s inventions. Some two years earlier, Irving had published an essay introducing his readers to the city he named Gotham. The name first appeared in early English folklore, referring to a town in rural England named Goat’s Town. It was said that its inhabitants were wise men who deliberately acted like fools during the reign of King John (1199–1216). According to one account, they did so to avoid paying taxes; in another version, they hoped their crazy behavior would dissuade the king from a visit that would prove costly to them. From this came the observation that “more fools pass through Gotham than remain in it.” Like their medieval forerunners, Irving suggested, modern-day Gothamites might be fools in appearance only. 16
Some hundred years later, Gotham was reincarnated in a new form. In 1941, DC Comics adopted the term Gotham City for the home of Batman and his heroic exploits. It quickly came to be associated in the popular imagination with New York City. In contrast to Irving’s Gotham, Batman’s Gotham City is a dark and forbidding place. Its gigantic Gothic architecture dwarfs its human inhabitants. Its streets are grimy. It is vulnerable to epidemics and earthquakes, rife with crime and gang violence left unchecked by police corruption. Yet, despite this, it is a hub of commercial, financial, and cultural activity, containing a port and shipyards, banks, museums, and a variety of industries.
This Gotham, just like Irving’s, is pure fantasy, yet it describes with uncanny accuracy the city that men like the Lorillards were building. Manhattan was fast becoming a thriving commercial center, controlled by a powerful elite whose entrepreneurial zeal enabled them to make great fortunes.
The Lorillard brothers, George, Peter, and Jacob, were the sons of Pierre Lorillard, a French Huguenot who settled in New York in the mid-eighteenth century and quickly made a name and fortune for himself as an importer, manufacturer, and seller of tobacco and related products. A fervent patriot, Pierre was executed by Hessian soldiers during the revolutionary war. His wife carried on the business until their first two sons, George and Peter, were old enough to take over its management, which they did with considerable success. The third son, Jacob, entered the leather tanning industry. The family quickly became part of New
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