Bowery Hill

a geographical and genealogical portrait of a section of the Island of Manhattan in its transition years from farm land to city streets

The Hill had some height to it before it was leveled See this 1833 advertisement The seller must have known though that changes were on the way. The "opening" of this part of town, as directed by the Common Council, City of NY, began in 1830. This was agreed upon on Nov. 30 of that year (The Evening Post (New York, New York) 30 Nov 1830, Tue., Page 2).

Intention of this project

So far: a catch-all place for maps, documents, & people who lived or owned land on the Bowery Hill, a rise once in the Out Ward on Manhattan.

• Please do not add names of anyone born much later than the first decade of the 19th century.

This project remains actively under construction as of Feb 2022

I focus on relationship between those in the list below to my 5th great grandfather Henry Spingler (1747-1814)

see also : https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/8164149d-cf46-30ca-e040-e...

see also John Mills Map of 1785 (near top)

• a blogger has multiple pieces on Union Square: http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/search/label/union%20square
  • Civil War era: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyal_Publication_Society
• New York Historical Museum Library
• Valentines' Manual (1919)
• 5 color map of farms shows just how large land holders were in that era
• 82. Plan of the City of New York and its Environs Surveyed in 1782 and Drawn 1785
  • map 82
  • additional version
• New York I(sland) Thomas Kitchin, Sr. (Rev. War, for the British Fleet) https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/xlarge/32193.jpg
  • "Barracks built for American winter quarters"
• not a Bowery Hill map but a view of the heart of town 1735
• East River from Col. Rutgers House 1768
• Ratzer of 1767

Composite Randell Map Glossary of Surnames for Bowery Hill

~• is a guide and jumping-off place for this list but, naturally, not all people listed are owners when this map was made
click
I check-off those on the Map with a ( √ )

• "Antonio"
  • Anthony Portugis
• Astor √
  • John J. Astor was just about everywhere on the Island, as far as real estate speculation went. His brother Henry invested in Bowery Hill real estate as well'. Henry is related to Henry Spingler's first wife Jane Spingler .
• Appley
  • formerly Eppley German origin Captain Jacob Appley buried at St Marks Church-in-the-Bowery w/two wives née van Winkle and Ford
• Bancker : Gerard Bancker, Jr. surveyor & de Peyster family member
• Banks : James Banks (c. 1816-1825) and a dau. who married a Reynolds
• Bostwick
  • Charles Bostwick had an office w/ Adrain Hegeman (1820)
• Brantingham
  • T.H. Brantingham 1813
• Brevoort √
  • Brevoort Estate is No. 56
• Brooks
  • the same Brooks family as that of Brooks Brothers... which provided uniforms for the Civil War
    • Catherina A. Brooks who was a child of the owner of N. Reynolds and Co. (see Reynolds, below)
• Burling √
  • Thomas Burling his dau. married <Cowman> ; read about the Burling farm in I.N. Stokes' Iconography
• Congo
  • Simon Congo and descendants; see work of van Beuren, M,M.; (1952- )
• Coutant
  • Gilbert Coutant √ whose wife is sister to Isaac Varian; 67b. "Gilbert Coutant" on Valentine's Map representing circa 1790
• Cowman
  • John Cowman
• De Peyster
  • Gerard de Peyster
• Dickenson
  • Charles Dickenson, both Senior & Junior. Charles Junior died at age 31 in 1818. See: The Evening Post (New York, New York) 24 Oct 1818, Sat., Page 2
• Dunham
  • David Dunham
• Elliott
  • Andrew Elliot, Esq. left NYC in the 1780s as the British gave up their colonial position of power
• Goelet Peter Goelet
• Hamilton
  • William Hamilton at part of the old Brevoort farm
• Hegeman
  • Adrian Hegeman (office near the Bank of Manhattan) Judge Adrian Hegeman
    • trustee and Vice President of the Kings Mutual Insurance Company of NYC and Brooklyn 1850
  • Peter Hegeman is indexed . Use Key at https://thegreatestgrid.mcny.org/randel-composite-map West side of Murray Hill
• Homer
  • Joseph Homer of Bowery Hill see: The Evening Post (New York, New York)25 Sep 1819, Sat., Page 4
• Hull, John on Bowery Rd & 10th st
• Lawrence John L. Lawrence died at home on 14th st.
  • ~• Distinguished career in Politics and Public Service: Appointed Secretary of Legation to Sweden, became United States Charge at Stockholm, elected member of Assembly for NYC, elected State Senator, first president of the Croton Aqueduct Commission , Treasurer of Columbia College and Controller of the City of New York.
• Low
  • Rachel Low on map
• Mann
  • Mary Mann √ 1868 retrospective; John Mann, Jr. √ (part of old Brevoort farm)
  • David Mann(e), Jr. ~• who, in 1804, held pew No. 38 at St Mark's in-the-Bowery
    • I'm wondering about a surname change because of the Mann reference here Did <Grabenstein > become <Mann> Look At this as well. See also: Mary Mann who later married a widower, the Episcopal minister Rev. Samuel Haskell.
• Morse
  • John Morse (upslope) √ 12th st. & Bowery Rd
• Mott
  • Joseph Mott whose grandparents were Mott + Burling
• Murray family of Murray Hill fame
  • Hannah Murray √ , John "Presbyterian John" Murray see the inscription for Hannah at future 17th st
    • ~• note: Murray Hill is north of Bowery Hill. The family is included here as Henry Spingler's dau. Eliza's middle name is <Murray>
  • a James R. Murray had land near future 17th St. on Bowery Hill. aka ? John Robert Murray ; see list of descendants of John Murray, ll, of Swatara
    • John R. Murray does not seem to have ever lived there.
• Peters
  • Solomon Peters Santomee
• Reynolds
  • Nathaniel Reynolds, III and his wife who was a Banks (see above)
    • many years later, a Reynolds married a Spingler descendent and the couple would live on W. 14th between 5th and 6th Avenues. See: Dr. James Banks Reynolds
    • and a dau. married into the Davis family that later married into the Spingler family and lived next door to Dr. James Banks Reynolds
• Robertson, Alexander Alexander Robertson
  • to the West of Spingler: covering part of Greenwich Village as well: 11th thru 15th sts. between 6th & 7th Avenues
    • In 1789 the Alexander Robertson School first opened to educate the sons and daughters of “farmers and common folks.” Now based on the Upper West Side, the school was founded by the Second Presbyterian Church (also known as “The Scot’s Church) and its generous namesake, Alexander Robertson. ARS stands today as one of the earliest schools in the country, and one of the oldest co-educational institutions in New York City.
• 'Roosevelt
  • Cornelius C. Roosevelt and his (2nd) wife Catherine née Tryntje Van Alstyne; Catherine died in 1807
• Ruggles
  • Samuel B. Ruggles
    • "The "Outline of the Title of Samuel B. Ruggles to his lands between 15th Street on the South, 28th Street on the North, the Bloomingdale Road and Old Post Road on the West, and the First Avenue on the East," of which a printed copy is preserved in the New York Historical Society, refers to a map made by Edwin Smith, Surveyor, comprising five parcels, oiie of which is "The Gramercy † Farm, lying between 19th Street on the South, 23rd Street on the North, the Bloomingdale Road on the West and the Second Avenue on the East, containing about 22 acres." This document also quotes the tradition as to the "transport" by Judith Stuyvesant and mentions' "another conveyance dated in the ninth year of his Sacred' Majesty, King William the Third, Anno Domino, 1697," in which certain lands are described as being "in the Bowery ward near unto a certain place or rising hillock called Crommessie" and as being bounded "south by the lands of Antonio, the free negro."
  • † Krom Moerasje" brook (its name, in Dutch, which meant "crooked little swamp," was anglicized to "Gramercy")
• Ryckman, James; age 50 in 1816; a cartman on Bowery Rd.
• Spingler √
  • Henry Spingler † was so impressed with the Murrays (probably the "Presbyterian"John Murray line, in particular)that he gave his daughter Eliza the middle name Murray. That middle name has carried forth in his descendants into the 21st century. Henry's sister Mary Triglar (Spingler) married into the Meeks family. A Meeks, Charles Molyneaux Meeks (b. 1802) is said to have had the Murrays of Murray Hill as great grandparents (see findagrave ).
• Smith (father, mother, sons) only one listed here for brevity's sake
  • Thomas Smith, Esq. of Hanover Square
    • read about the Smith farm in I.N. Stokes' Iconography; this became the Spingler farm
• Stuyvesant √
  • P.G. Stuyvesant
• Taylor
  • Thomas C. Taylor, adjacent to Spingler, > by c. 1833 was also of Throgg's Neck; selling soil 1833; he planned to leave town as early as 1824
• Teibout ~• had property north end of Union Place and and was a 1768 voters
• Tompkins √
  • Daniel D. Tomkins, U.S. Vice President fro whom Tompkins Square is named
• Triglar also spelled Trigleth
  • John Triglar and his sister Mary
• Tucker Gideon Tucker
  • Gideon Tucker on Bowery Rd and future 11th St.
• Varian √
  • Isaac Varian keyed to 67A circe 1790; Isaac Varian's sister is Mrs. Gilbert Coutant, his neighbor on Bowery Hill; east branch of the Manetta Water
• Williams
  • Cornelius T. Williams ; leaves Bowery Hill 1833
• Woofendale
  • Miss Woofendale's Academy on Bowery Hill circa 1820

Maps and Views in chronological order

• 1671 : View from the South of Novum Amsterodamum
• 1735 : https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-7a83-a3d9-e040-e...
• 1763 : https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-7ac7-a3d9-e040-e...
• 1767 surveyor: Montrésor, John (1736-1799 )
• circa 1790 http://sites.rootsweb.com/~nynewyo2/history/OldMaps1.htm
• various surveys/multiple dates by Gerard(us) Bancker: see I.N. Stokes Iconography
• 1797 : A New & Accurate Plan of the City of New York in the State of New York in North America.: Published in 1797 Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/1b995900-0f58-0132-e645-5...
• 1801 : Mangin-Goreck Plan
  • most in the north was only a plan. It was not built put as such. Polplar,; Paint; Randall: Robert seen in another 1803 facsimile never existed.
    • the other version w/ legible street name suggestions
• 1811 : John Randel (surveyor)
• c. 1813 comparison map
• 1817 : Bowery Hill still not within city limits
• 1821 : Randel's The City of New York as laid out by the Commissioners with the surrounding country
• 1831 "an 1831 real estate map," (snip) notably the blocks of Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Streets betweenSecond and Third Avenues that were controlled by developer Thomas E. Davis. Historically, the East Village comprised the Eleventh Ward (Rivington to Fourteenth Streets and Avenue B to the East River), created by the Common Council in 1825, and the Seventeenth Ward (Rivington to Fourteenth Streets, Fourth Avenue to Avenue B), created in 1837 out of the original Eleventh Ward. To the immediate west of the Seventeenth was the Fifteenth Ward (Houston to Fourteenth Streets, Sixth to Fourth Avenues), created in 1832.(Unfortunately, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission Designation Reports have erroneously claimed that the Fifteenth Ward once extended east to the East River.) In the 1830s and 1840s a lateral swath through these three wards — Washington Square, the Bond Street and Lafayette Place neighborhoods, and St. Mark's Place and lower Second Avenue — formed the wealthiest and most fashionable residential section of New York City. (see history of the East Village
• 1832 : calculations for movement of earth required to fill low areas mentions "Bowery Hill" The Evening Post (New York, New York)14 Jan 1832, Sat., Page 2
• 1833 : plan of New York 1833
  • platted streets east and west of Union Place undeveloped. Read newspaper article of that year; rocks needed to blown apart
• 1834 : Bowery Hill is largely in the 12th Ward
• 1836 : Map shows developed land around Union Place
  • see also: http://images.statemaster.com/images/motw/historical/new_york_1836.jpg
• 1850 : note Union Place with ward numbers
• 1852 : The Dripps Map Title: City of New York Extending Northward to Fiftieth St.
• 1868 : 14th St. & surrounding area
  • this 1868 map is retrospective to before the Square was built

other sources

† Many of the land owners in the "Outward" actually lived and worked within the City limits where they owned property. These references are provided to help with references to such other properties.

• Plan of NY 1807: https://www.geographicguide.com/united-states/nyc/antique/19th-cent...
• A plan of the city of New York from an actual survey, anno Domini, MDCC,LV by Maerschalck, Francis W., & Duyckinck, G
• A Copy of the poll list of the election for representatives for the city and county of New York, 1768
• Free Blacks on Bowery Hill are discussed in The Freedmen of New Amsterdam ; page 164
• The Murray's of Murray Hill; Charles Monaghan (1998) Urban History Press, Brooklyn, NY
• Inhabitants of New York, 1774-1776 Thomas B. Wilson (1993) Genealogical Press ~• some but not all, yet a thorough work
• https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/641176/saint-marks-church-in-th...
• The Iconography by I.N. Stokes

commentary on linked projects

1. The Tappan Patent and Ramapo projects contain profiles of many who left the Bowery Hill area in the late 17th century. The marks (π and ®) are placed to indicate those who lived on Bowery Hill who had descendants in those two locales.

antique place/road names on Bowery Hill

• Love Lane (2). (L18-E19) An alternate name for Abingdon Road. (resource: http://www.oldstreets.com/)
• generally int he same database: the Stuyvesant Farm Grid" (see General Notes <discussion>)