Prev | Current Page 121 | Next

Hemstreet, Charles

"The Story of Manhattan"


[Illustration: The John Street Theatre, 1781.]
The life of the First President was a simple and a busy one. He rose at
four o'clock each morning and went to bed at nine in the evening. Many
hours a day he worked at matters of state, receiving all who called, so
that there was quite a stream of people going to and from the Franklin
House at all times. Sometimes during the day he took a long drive with
Mrs. Washington, which he called the "Fourteen Miles 'round," going up
one side of the island above the city and coming down the other.
Sometimes of an evening he attended a performance at the little John
Street Theatre. Always on Sunday he and all his family went to St.
Paul's Chapel. And the pew in which they sat you can sit in if you go
to that old chapel, for it has been preserved all these years.
By this time the fort by the Bowling Green, which had stood since the
days of the Dutch, was torn down to make room for a mansion that was
to be called the Government House and be occupied by the President.
The mansion was built, but you shall see presently why no President ever
occupied it.


CHAPTER XXXIII
CONCERNING the TAMMANY SOCIETY and BURR'S BANK

There was formed just about this time, in fact the very month after
Washington's inauguration, an organization which was called the Tammany
Society.


Pages:
109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133