" He paints us a quaint sketch
of "a little, round old gentleman, returning heel taps into
decanters," at a soiree, adding: "His heart smote him at beholding the
waste & riot of his dear adopted." We read of tea drinkings and
coaches and his father's famous blunderbuss or "long gun" which he is
presenting to Irving. And there are other chroniclers of the times.
Lossing, the historian, quotes an anonymous friend as follows:
"We thought there was a goodly display of wealth and
diamonds in those days, but, God bless my soul, when I hear
of the millions amassed by the Vanderbilts, Goulds, Millses,
Villards and others of that sort, I realise what a poor
little doughnut of a place New York was at that early
period!"
He goes on to speak of dinner at three--a formal dinner party at four.
The first private carriage was almost mobbed on Broadway. Mrs. Jacob
Little had "a very showy carriage lined with rose colour and a darky
coachman in blue livery."
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Brevoort's house stood on the corner of Fifth
Avenue and Ninth Street--it is now occupied by the Charles de Rhams.
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