Chapter XI

The Mediterranean trade is ever a large one to this city. Davis & Brooks, years ago, had a large share of it, but not all. The principal part of it was divided between Davis & Brooks, and the house of G. W. & H. Bruen.

I have already mentioned that G. W. Bruen married a daughter of Thomas H. Smith, the great tea merchant in this city. Both G. W. and his brother Herman were sons of old Matthias Bruen, of Perth Amboy; he, who in after years was the famous assignee of old Thomas H. Smith.

The firm of G. W. & H. Bruen commenced business in 1822, the year famous for the yellow fever, and would have done an immense business for years had not the young firm been allied with the old one. The way and method of this entanglement happened after this fashion:

There were three great tea houses in America at the period of which we write—Thompson, of Philadelphia; Perkins, of Boston; and Thomas H. Smith, of New York. In 1826, the market became overstocked; the tea cargoes had come in so fast that the government got scared about the duties. At that time the credit given to tea importers was twelve, eighteen and twenty-four months—one third at each period before they were made to pay the heavy duties. Thomas H. Smith had imported immensely. He owed the United States a large sum, probably two millions, and old Jonathan Thompson, (who was then Collector of the port of New York, under John Quincy Adams' Presidency) refused to take his bonds for a larger amount, even with his bondsmen Matthias Bruen, and his two sons, George and Herman. Collector Thompson regarded the Bruens as mere men of straw.

The Collector of Philadelphia also got frightened in respect to Thompson, and refused to take his bonds any longer. He had overstocked the market. Finally, it was agreed that Thompson should place his tea importation under the Custom House lock, as security, and when he wanted teas he should enter only the quantity needed, pay the duty, and take it out of the government charge. This was all very well so far as it went. But Thompson had a plan to carry out—a game to play, and for a time it succeeded. He would enter and pay duty on (say) one hundred chests, and then forge a permit for one thousand chests, or five thousand packages and at once ship them on to his New York agents, Smith & Nicoll. There was no sale in Philadelphia for such a quantity of teas, and there was great danger of Mr. Thompson being detected, if he had sold it in that city.

These teas as fast as they arrived here were offered at auction by John Hone & Sons, the great auctioneers of their day. Thompson sent on seven cargoes.

John Jacob Astor at that time held a large quantity of teas. So did Thomas H. Smith. To keep the market from being entirely broken down by the terrific quantity of tea Philadelphia Thompson was forcing upon it, both Astor and Smith became buyers, and bought nearly all that was offered, with the intention of re-exporting the tea so purchased to the Mediterranean, thus relieving the New York tea market, and enhancing greatly the value of their own tea cargoes. The teas so sold by Thompson were bought by Astor & Smith, for the duty, without debenture, when it was discovered that Thompson was a defaulter. The duty was more than the cost of the tea in China. When the Government seized in Philadelphia and New York all the teas imported by Thompson, they sold them entitled to debenture, and Astor & Smith purchased teas at such a low price that when they were exported, and they received from Government the face of the dedenture, the teas had really cost nothing shipped.

Strange as it may seem, even under these favorable circumstances, the teas shipped to Europe were a loss, for they did not sell in the Mediterranean ports for a sum sufficient to pay freight, duties and other charges.

The only way the purchasers were benefitted was by the relief of the New York tea market. The tea business now became so stagnant that the Perkins withdrew from it. They could not compete with the Philadelphia and New York houses.

Thompson, of Philadelphia, when his enormous fraud was discovered, was locked up in prison, where he died about the time of the forced sale of his tea in New York by the Government.

The book-keeper of Thomas H. Smith & Son was Charles Henry Hall, for a long period. He had a certain share in the business, and it was his duty to make out the statement at the close of the year. It was said that by valuing the stock of teas very high, Hall made his profits about 1150,000 higher than in justice they should have been. At any rate he retired at that time, and has been rich ever since.

Charles Henry Hall was succeeded as book-keeper by William Roberts. After the house of Thomas II. Smith & Son failed, Mr. Roberts kept a wine and liquor cellar on the corner of Wall street and Broadway for many years.

He died not long ago. An adopted daughter of his, married the late Doctor Alexander F. Vaché. I shall have more to say about Mr. Roberts before I finish this volume.

When Jonathan Thompson, the upright Collector of the port of New York, refused to take the bonds of Smith for tea duties, Smith went at once to New Jersey, and was told by the collector of the trifling port of Perth Amboy that he would take Smith's bonds for any amount. Assured of this, Mr. Smith went to work at once and etected those large warehouses alluded to in a former article, and then sent out pilot boats with orders to his captains, when they reached the Narrows, to go to Perth Amboy with his ships and their valuable cargoes. It was as broad as it was long. It mattered very little to Uncle Sam whether he was cheated at Perth Amboy, New Jersey, or at New York city. At last Mr. Smith failed, owing the Government the sum of three millions of dollars. This failure carried down his son-in-law, of the firm of G. W. & H. Bruen, who were bondsmen of his to the United States.

This failure upset the tea business for five years, and ruined nearly every person engaged in it.

It did not affect John Jacob Astor, for his tea business was a sort of secondary affair to his great Northwest fur business. His ships traded on the Pacific coast for furs and skins, and then went to China, were the fur cargoes were exchanged for teas, and these were brought to New York. Astor probably made by the voyages of his ships four times as much as the regular tea merchants even in the most prosperous days of the tea trade.

At that time there were not so many kinds of fancy teas as now. The black tea was called souchong, and the green, hyson skin. Now and then a ship would have a few packages of young hyson, or hyson.

Thomas H. Smith assigned to Matthias Bruen, of Perth Amboy. He at once went to work to compromise with the Government for the three million dollars worth of bonds due by Smith. The world never knew precisely how the matter was settled, but the people of this city were probably well satisfied that the assignee made about two millions of dollars by the compromise. It never did old Thomas Smith any good. He died. The three children he left behind; his son Thomas, and his son-in-law, George W. Bruen, and Frank Waddell, about once in three years, would make a joint, and sometimes an individual descent upon old Matt. Bruen, and scare him into making a forced payment of $100,000 to each. When this was done, a hollow peace would be patched up between the belligerents, until Waddell or his relatives needed more money. Evidently old Mr. Bruen felt that he was in their power, or he would not have disgorged so easily. Smith assigned in 1828, and died not long after.

The business office of John Jacob Astor at that time was in Vesey street, where the Astor House rear is now located. Mr. Astor owned an immense tea warehouse on the east side of Greenwich, between Liberty and Courtlandt. His son owns it still, or rather the ground upon which it was built, and where now stands a new building.

The great grocers and heavy wholesale tea purchasers resided mainly in Front street. Among them all, I do not know of more than three houses, or any members of grocery houses, who are still in business.

The largest grocers thirty years ago, in Front street or in the city, were Reed & Sturgis, and Lee, Dater & Miller. The first firm changed to Reed, Hempstead & Sturgis, and is to-day Sturgis, Berinet & Co.

Luman Reed was a game old grocer; he built a palace (for his day) in Greenwich street, No. 13, close to the Atlantic Garden. The large pavement stones in front of his door, were the wonder of his age. His great house was filled with paintings, and he never dreamed that the lower part of Greenwich street would be desecrated by Dutch emigrant houses and ruin shops!

Of the great grocers Lee, Dater & Miller, that kept in a (then) mammoth store in Front street, between Maiden Lane and Burling Slip, on the corner of Fletcher street, only one, Philip Dater, is alive or in business. Next door to Lee, Dater & Miller, was the firm of Jackson & McJimsey. They failed. Jackson lived in Liberty street, and had a large family of daughters. One of them married George W. Tyson. Another daughter married Henry H. Leeds, formerly of the house of Amory Leeds & Co., but now Henry H. Leeds & Co., the auctioneers of note on Nassau street.

To return to grocers. Harper & Sons are still left, and doing as large a business now as in 1838.

The three partners are the only ones in business now, that were doing business in Front street thirty years ago, when that street was lined with such firms as Pomeroy & Bull, Wisner & Gale, S. Whitney, Smith, Mills & Co., Isaac Van Cleef, A. V. Winans and others.