No. 19 Bond Street

No. 19 Bond Street was the residence of Lewis Baker, usually referred to as Looe Baker, an importer of 124 Pearl street, who took the house in 1833 and occupied it as late as 1854.

No. 20 Bond Street

The first occupant of No. 20 Bond street was Knowles Taylor, who took the house in 1824, as we have already related. In 1830 he went to No. 8, and a few years later No. 20 became the home of Judge John Duer, one of the most eminent of New York jurists. His father was the famous William Duer, patriot, statesman, and financier. When General Hamilton was succeeded as Secretary of the Treasury by Oliver Wolcott a clerk in the department found a large sum charged to William Duer and forthwith announced that William Duer was a defaulter.

Hamilton at once came forward with the facts: that the money had been entrusted to Duer, with the consent of President Washington, for the purpose of buying up government debts, and that the enterprise was kept secret to enable the best terms to be obtained for the government. The explanation came too late, however, and William Duer, who had large personal obligations, was ruined. His failure caused a panic in which many were impoverished, and he himself was imprisoned for debt. His wife was Catherine Alexander, daughter of Lord Stirling. She was known as "Lady Kitty" Duer. John Duer, their son, was a member of the State constitutional convention in 1821, and after having been a Judge of the Superior Court for a number of years became its Chief Justice in 1857. He was the author of several legal treatises, and was the editor of "Duer's Reports." His distinguished brother, William A. Duer, was a judge of the Supreme Court but is remembered chiefly as president of Columbia College. before coming to Bond Street Judge John Duer lived at 106 Grand street. In 1838 he moved to 97 St. Mark's place, and No. 20 Bond street was taken by Mrs. Maria Banyer, widow of Goldsborough Banyer, and one of the daughters of Chief Justice John Jay. She was living at No. 20 as late as 1856. Previously she had resided for several years at 396 Broadway. Her husband's father, the first Goldsborough Banyer, was one of the organizers of the Society Library in 1754. Mrs. Maria Banyer was the founder of the "Colored Home," which for so many years occupied a building in Sixty-fifth street east of First avenue. This charitable work was started at a meeting attended by ten ladies at Mrs. Banyer's Bond street residence in the fall of 1839.

No. 21 Bond Street

The first occupant of No. 21 Bond Street was Captain Thomas Barclay of the British Navy, who came there about 1830 from 131 (now 155) Hudson street, facing St. John's park. He was a descendant of the Rev. Dr. Henry Barclay, second rector of Trinity Church, for whom Barclay street was named. The first Thomas Barclay, son of the Rev. Dr. Barclay, was a major in the British Army during the Revolution and was later a colonel. Captain Barclay died about 1837 but his house in Bond street was occupied by his widow for several years afterward. In 1843 it was taken by John Gibson and Agnes Gibson, who had followed Beverly Robinson at No. 18 Bond street.

No. 22 Bond Street

If we except the humble dwelling of Samuel Hallett, No. 22 was the first house erected in Bond street. It was built by Jonas Minturn, who moved there as early as 1821, having lived at 592 Broadway, near Bleecker street in 1820. He was a merchant, and belonged to the firm of Minturn and Champlin, as did also his three brothers, Nathaniel, William and Edward. The latter was the father of Robert B. Minturn, a partner of Henry and Moses H. Grinnell in the firm of Grinnell, Minturn and Company. After the failure of Minturn and Champlin about 1815, Jonas Minturn and Samuel Franklin, an old Quaker merchant, formed the firm of Franklin and Minturn. From 1825 to 1829 No. 22 Bond street was the residence of Thomas R. Smith, a merchant of some prominence who in 1824 lived at 106 Greenwich street. For many years he was a director of the Fulton Insurance Company. In 1830 his residence was 14 State street, and a year or two later the Bond street house was taken by Dr. John C. Jay, M.D., whose aunt, Mrs. Banyer, soon after came to live across the street at No. 20. He was the son of Peter Augustus Jay and grandson of Chief Justice John Jay. His wife was Laura Prime, a daughter of Nathaniel Prime, founder of Prime, Ward and King, and his sister Mary Jay married Frederick Prime, Mrs. Jay's brother. Dr. Jay was deeply interested in conchology, and formed the finest collection of shells in America. This collection is now owned by the American Museum of Natural History and can be seen in the Museum building in West Seventy-seventh street. He was an active member of the New York Academy of Sciences, of which he was treasurer for seven years.

But for his generous financial support at critical periods the Academy could scarcely have survived. Dr. Jay was also an enthusiastic yachtsman, and was one of the founders and organizers of the New York Yacht Club in 1845. His yacht La Coquille ("the little shell") was one of the contestants in the Club's first regatta, held July 17, 1845, which was won by William Edgar's Cygnet. Dr. Jay was secretary of the Club for some time and was for more than twenty years a trustee of Columbia College. He left New York in 1843 and went to Rye, where he died in 1891, at the age of eighty-three.

The next occupant of No. 22 Bond street was James F. De Peyster, who moved there from Ninth street, near University place, in 1843. He was at that time a merchant, of the firm of De Peyster and Whitmarsh, whose place of business was at 51 South street, but he had been a captain in the regular army and had served with distinction in the war of 1812. He was one of New York's foremost citizens, and was one of the governors of the Hospital, and a member of the committee in charge of the Asylum at Bloomingdale; trustee of the New York Infant Asylum; president of the New York Dispensary; treasurer of St. Michael's Church, at Bloomingdale; treasurer of the Protestant Episcopal Diocesan Society for the Promotion of Religion and learning; and a trustee of the Public Schools. He was a brother of Frederic De Peyster. About 1848 Captain De Peyster moved to 917 Broadway, between Twentieth and Twenty-first streets, and a year or two later his house in Bond street was taken by Frederick W. Coolidge.

No. 23 Bond Street

No. 23 Bond street has a romantic history. About 1830 it came into the possession of Henry Ward, who came to No. 18 Bond street from 43 Franklin street in 1827. Henry Ward was a brother of Samuel Ward II., the banker, and John Ward the Broker, and was one of the founders of the New York Stock Exchange in 1817. Upon his death in the late '30's the house was inherited by his son Henry Hall Ward. "Between this young man and his cousin Miss Eliza Ann Partridge," says Pelletreau, in his Early New York House, published in 1900, "there existed the strongest love and affection, but for some reason they never married, some say on account of their close relationship. When Henry Hall Ward died in Saratoga in 1872, leaving his property to executors in trust for Miss Partridge, there were many surmises as to what she would do with the house which was valuable, and the property could be made to yield a large income, but Miss Partridge acted with promptness. There were two old servants in the house, and to them she gave strict orders that nothing above the basement should be disturbed in the slightest manner, but that everything should remain just as her lover left it. Since then years have passed, but the house in Bond street remains as it was. The windows are never opened and no mortal enters the long closed doors, everything has a deserted and decaying look, and even the large door plate has grown so tarnished that it is with difficulty that one can read the name of its old time owner, Henry Ward. Doubtless while she lives it will remain the same and only at her death will the gloomy portals be opened."

For thirty years the old house stood empty, becoming more and more dilapidated as the seasons passed, but in the end its solitude was invaded by the click of type-writers and the whir of sewing machines. It still stands, dingy and unkempt, tenanted now by makers and sellers of cheap millinery.

No. 24 Bond Street

No. 24 Bond street was built about 1827. In that year it became the residence of Jonathan Prescott Hall, a wealthy lawyer and one of the ablest in the city. He was one of the founders and for many years a trustee of the University of the City of New York, now New York University. In 1842 he was one of the counsel for the notorious Colonel Edwards, alias Caldwell, charged with (and convicted of) forgery. In the administrations of Tyler and Fillmore he was United States district attorney for the southern district of New York, in which office his assistant was William M. Evarts. He was succeeded by Charles O'Conor about 1853. The Hall and the Ward families were very intimate, and the old Spanish masters in the art collection of Samuel Ward the banker were procured for him by Jonathan Prescott Hall while traveling in Spain. He lived at No. 24 Bond street for twenty-five years and died at Newport in 1862.

No. 25 Bond Street

No. 25 Bond street was the home of Mrs. Martha Hicks, who went there in 1833 from 64 Broadway. Her father had lived in that house, and her mother retained it after his death in November, 1815. Her husband, who died in July, 1815, was the son of Whitehead Hicks, the last Mayor of New York before the Revolution. He held office from 1766 to 1776, and in 1754 was one of the organizers of the Society Library. Mrs. Hicks was the daughter of "old Thomas Buchanan," one of the richest and most influential of New York merchants before and after the Revolution. He was one of the founders of the Chamber of Commerce and one of the committee that waited upon Lieutenant-Governor Colden to solicit the grant of a charter for the organization. To him was consigned the tea ship that the citizens of New York sent back to London with its cargo in 1774.

In 1775 he was one of the Committee of One Hundred appointed to take control of the city. He was a governor of the Hospital in 1792, and was one of the first directors of the United States Bank in New York. His country estate was on the East River near Fifty-sixth street. During the Revolution it was owned by the Hurst family and was the headquarters of Earl Percy when Lord Howe was occupying the nearby Beekman mansion at the time Nathan Hale was executed. Mrs. Hicks' sister Almy married Peter P. Goelet and her sister Margaret married Robert R. Goelet. Another sister, Eliza, was the wife of Samuel Gilford, who, as we have seen, came to Bond street in the late '40's. Mrs. Hicks' name disappears from the directory in 1845, but her son-in-law, Henry R. Winthrop, who had made his home with her since 1839, retained the house until 1856, when he went to Fifth avenue. In 1851 her son Albert Hicks also was living in the Bond street house.

No. 26 Bond Street

No. 26 Bond street was the residence of Benjamin De Forest and his nephew Alfred De Forest, merchants, in business at 185 South street under the firm name of Benjamin De Forest and company. Benjamin De Forest was of Connecticut birth and a shoemaker by trade, but coming to New York he opened a store at 31 Peck slip about 1803 or 1804. A few years later he formed a partnership with Gershom Smith, under the firm name of De Forest and Smith. In 1811 he brought his nephew Alfred down from Connecticut and took him into partnership. At that time they lived together at 20 Beekman street, opposite old St. George's Church. In 1826 they went to No. 27 Bond street, but about 1831 they moved across the street to No. 26. Benjamin De Forest married Mary Burlock, "the beautiful daughter of Thomas Burlock." Her brother Henry was a man of large wealth, which, upon his death went to Mrs. De Forest. Alfred De Forest married the only daughter of Augustus Wright, who left her a considerable fortune. Upon her death the fortune went to her husband, and when he died, about 1847, it came into the possession of Benjamin De Forest. Having no sons, and desiring to perpetuate his business under the family name, he took George B. De Forest into the firm of B. De Forest and Company in 1842 or 1843. Benjamin De Forest had two daughters, one of whom married the new partner. The old gentleman died about 1855, worth, it is said, a million and a half, and after his death the business was carried on for a few years by George B. De Forest. The latter had been in the dry goods business at 86 Cedar street before entering the firm of his future wife's father, and prior to 1848 lived at 30 Great Jones street, but about the year mentioned he made his home at 26 Bond street where he remained for a few years, moving then to 66 East Twenty-first street, the fifth house east of Fourth Avenue.