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Jacob Aaron Westervelt
Jacob Aaron Westervelt
Born(1800-01-20)January 20, 1800
Tenafly, New Jersey
DiedFebruary 21, 1879(1879-02-21) (aged 79)
New York
Resting placeGreenwood Cemetery, NY
NationalityDutch American
Occupation(s)Shipbuilder, dock commissioner
Years activeShipbuilding: 1817-1869          Dock commissioner: 1870-1879
Known forMayor of New York (1853-1855)
Notes
 


Jacob Aaron Westervelt (January 20, 1800 - February 21, 1879) was a renowned and prolific shipbuilder, who constructed 247 vessels[2] of all descriptions in his over 50 year long lasting career, and from 1853 till 1855 he furthermore was Mayor of New York[4][5]. Together with his partners (Westervelt & MacKay, Westervelt & Sons) he designed some of the fastest and most successful sailing packets and clippers and steamships ever built, among these the screw sloop USS Brooklyn and the clipper Sweepstakes as well as many vessels for foreign governments and Royal Houses. Jacob A. Westervelt was awarded the Order of Isabella the Catholic by the Queen of Spain for the genius displayed in preparing models and plans for three Spanish frigates[1][2]. For many years he was the President of the Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Marine Society, the Port Society and the St. Nicholas Society[1] and last but not least he was President of the Board of Dock Commissioners for several years. After Jacob Aaron Westervelts death, the flags on the City Hall were at half-mast out of respect to the memory of the so highly esteemed shipbuilder and Ex-Mayor[6].


Early Life (1800-1817)[edit]

Jacob Aaron Westervelt was the eldest son of Ari (Aaron) Westervelt and Vrowti Westervelt. Ari Westervelt was a builder by occupation. For example he built several houses in Franklin Street NY and he constructed the South Church in Schraalenburgh[1][7] (1799), in todays Bergenfield borough. Jacob Aaron was born at Tenafly, New Jersey, January 20, 1800 and was baptised at Schraalenburgh, February 16, being the first child to receive that sacrament after the completion of the new church. The Westervelts then resided at the old family homestead on the Tenafly Road midway between Englewood and Tenafly. Since Ari Westervelt devoted his energies to improving the river front, he removed, together with his infant son, from Tenafly to New York in 1804[8], to be nearer his work. It was to his father, that Jacob Aaron owed his good education. Ari Westervelts upbringing of his son was thorough in all branches of commercial usefulness. But when Jacob Aaron was a lad of only 14 years, his father died[6].

The indications about Jacob Aaron Westervelts further education and his start in working life are varying from source to source. It seems, that Jacob Aaron Westervelt received additional education under the tutelage of James P. Forrester, then head master of the school connected with the Collegiate (Dutch) Church in New York, and that he soon was afforded greater educational opportunities under Barron & Brown, in a special course on surveying and navigation. Afterwards he went to sea, serving actively on shipboard for more than two years, but, learning that the life of a sailor was more of reality than romance, forsook the business, and in 1817 became an apprentice under Christian Bergh, a prosperous ship-builder on the East River[1]. Another source to that effect comments, that he went to sea directly after his fathers death[9] and again another comments, that he was already apprenticed to Christian Bergh in 1814[6].

Christian Berghs shipyard (1817-1836): apprenticeship and collaboration[edit]

Jacob Aaron Westervelt learned the "art, trade and mystery"[2] of his profession in a most independent way - as a teenage sailor and as an apprentice to Christian Bergh (a prosperous shipbuilder on the East River[6]), for whom, which is an evidence, he worked at the very latest since the year 1817. He was such a talented young man, that he was in Berghs absolute confidence. Before even graduating from his apprenticeship, Jacob Aaron was enabled to accept a promising offer to start business in Charleston, where he undertook the construction of two schooners, with the help of African American slaves from planters in and about Charleston (with his employer's consent)[9]. He was so successfull during the few months, that he continued in business there, but he found the place too narrow for his ambition, and in 1822[1] he returned to New York, where he formed a partnership with Robert Carnley and his old master[9], under the firm name of C. Bergh & Co.[6]. Some of the ships built by Bergh and Westervelt: Hope (1825), Henry IV (1826), Charlemagne (1828), Albany (1831), Philadelphia (1832), Utica (1833), Westminster (1835), Toronto (1835). Christian Bergh retired with an ample fortune in 1837[10], and it seems he was succeeded by his sons Henry and Edwin Bergh, who continued the business until just after their father's death in 1843[11][12].


Westervelt & Co. shipyard (1836-1864)[edit]

Engraving that depicts the USS Ottawa on the stocks at the Westervelt shipyard in 1861.

In 1836 Jacob Aaron Westervelt built at least two ships under his own name, together with the 22 year old ship chandler Marshall Owen Roberts as "Westervelt & Roberts" (the Baltimore and Mediator)[13], and soon after Christian Berghs retirement, Jacob Aaron Westervelt, having acquired a handsome competence, and Robert Carnley, made an extended tour of Europe, visiting the principal shipbuilding points, where Westervelt gathered information, subsequently made good use of[1]. But Jacob A. Westervelt found inactive life not at all to his taste, and, after a year of travel, he returned to the dry docks in 1838[6] and he again engaged in shipbuilding.

There are varying indications about the start of this new chapter of Westervelts life. On one side it is stated, that Jacob Aaron Westervelt bought out his former partners Carnley and the Bergh-brothers and took control of the Bergh-shipyard[14] at the foot of Gouverneur Street, extended to Water Street and up to Scammel[15]. On the other side, that Jacob Aaron Westervelt and William MacKay (not to be confused with Donald McKay) established one of a few new yards at Corlear's Hook (the block bounded by Third, Goerck and Houston Streets[9]) in 1841 and moved to Lewis and Seventh Street in 1844[16]. It is said, that Westervelt also designed and built ships in connection with Edward Mills[9]. The shipyard "Westervelt & MacKay" and later "Westervelt & Sons" (which Jacob Aaron formed with his sons Aaron and Daniel[17]) was of much prominence during the later years of prosperity. Together with MacKay and his sons he built 50 steamships, 93 ships (traditional sailing vessels and clippers), 5 barks, 14 schooners, one sloop, two lightships, 11 pilot boats - a total of 181 vessels of 150'624 tons[9]. Jacob Aaron Westervelt finally turned out more vessels of medium tonnage than any builder of his time. Some of the noteworthy sailing packets:

  • The Constellation (1849) that was built for Robert Kermits Red Star Line - 1534 tons; 201 feet 10 inches x 41 feet x 28 feet (length x beam x depth of hold); 3 decks; draft 23 feet - which has been the largest sailing vessel in the New York-Liverpool packet service at that time. The Constellation was carrying between 800 and 900 steerage passengers per passage on the lower deck (the 912 steerage passengers she discharged on 29 May 1851 was a record at the time)[13].
  • In the pressure of hard competition, packet schedules were tightened when reorganizing sailings due to disasters, new launchings, etc. In 1844-1848, several ships made three-month round trips instead of the traditional four months, calculated from one Liverpool departure to the following one. The West Point (1847) and the Waterloo were among the fastest on the North Atlantic route[18].
  • And again another was the Margaret Evans - a London packet ship (sailing between New York and London on a regular schedule). She was built 1846 in New York by Westervelt & MacKay and owned by E.E. Morgan[19]. The ship is renowned because of the chanty Clear the track, also called Clear the track, let the bullgine run or simply Margaret Evans[20].

 


Clipper ships[edit]

Clipper ship N.B. Palmer, built by Westervelt & MacKey in 1851.

Jacob Aaron Westervelt also built a view clipper ships, for example Contest (1852)[21], Hornet (1851)[22], N.B. Palmer (1851), Kathay (1853)[23] and Sweepstakes (1853). Clipper bows were distinctively narrow and heavily raked forward, which allowed them to rapidly clip through the waves. The first archetypal clipper, with sharply raked stem, counter stern and square rig, was Ann McKim[24], built in Baltimore in 1833[25] by Kennard & Williamson[26]. For some historians, the Rainbow was the first true "Yankee clipper". She was built 1845 to a new model at the initiative of the American naval architect John Willis Griffits who is said to have based his design on her owner's previous ship Ann McKim[27]. This type of vessel had been built by the demand for vessels in the China trade, but they were rather small. From the experience gained in the service of these first clippers, the builder soon found the changes that were necessary in the design for the building of larger and faster ships demanded in 1850 for the California, the China and the Australian trade.

Westervelts clippers[edit]

The greatest New York clippers took shape in the yards of Jacob Aaron Westervelt and his intimate friend[20] William H. Webb[28]. The N.B. Palmer was perhaps the most famous clipper built in the Westervelt yard, besides the Sweepstakes. In China she was known as "the Yacht", and with her nettings in the tops, brass guns, gold stripe, and her lavish entertainments on the Fourth of July and Washington's Birthday, she well deserved the title. A full-rigged model of the N.B. Palmer was exhibited at The Crystal Palace, London, in 1851, and attracted much attention as a fine example of the American clipper ship type[29]. In 1858/59 the N.B. Palmer with her 28-year-old Captain Hingham had tied the record of 82 days for the Shanghai to New York run[23]. The Sweepstakes, though black-hulled like other clippers, bored a stripe of gold, found on only a few others like the N.B. Palmer, and was praised for her sleek lines and speed. Sweepstakes (which had been the last clipper to be built by the renowned Westervelt shipyard) gained celebrity for her record-breaking seventy-four-day run from New York to Bombay in 1857[30], and also because of making the trip between New York City and San Francisco in only 106 days[31].

The end of the clipper ship era[edit]

Clipper ship Sweepstakes, built by Westervelt & Sons in 1853.

The economic boom spurred on by the California Gold Rush that had brought on the era of the clipper ships had turned to bust. All the secrets of building lofty clippers had been discovered and there were too many of them already in existence. The dropping freight rates now held no incentive to build any more. The San Francisco market had been saturated, so much so that many a disgusted ship captain even dumped unwanted cargoes overboard in the bay before sailing on to other ports[23]. The diary of Robert Underhill, which recorded his 1856 travels on the Sweepstakes, revealed that Jacob Aaron Westervelt was also traveling on this voyage to San Francisco and the Orient. Underhill's entries made clear that Westervelt recognized the economic situation facing the port of New York and was seeking other possible venues for the family business[30].

So most of the extreme clippers by 1859 had been dismasted more than once and after half a decade or more of relentless hard driving. All were in a leaky condition, and most of their owners by then were in dire financial straits and could not afford expensive repairs for clippers that could'nt find a paying cargo to justify such expenses. Their masts were cut down, their yards shortened and their sails reduced as they were refitted and re-rigged with the new Howes rig to make them easier to handle by smaller crews. Other less fortunate clippers were discarded outright and sold for a pittance[23].



Steamboats and steamships[edit]

Some historians are taking the view, that Jacob Aaron Westervelt built the first true American steamship, that crossed the Atlantic to Europe. It is necessary to give reasons for this assertion: The Marquis Claude de Jouffroy d'Abbans from France invented and constructed the first steamboat, the so called Palmipède, in 1774, and a second one, the steamboat Pyroscaphe, in 1883. Robert Fulton built the first commercially successful steam paddleship in the US, the North River Steamboat (also known as Clermont) in 1807, using a Boulton and Watt engine[32].

Now it has been bred into the mind of every schoolchild that the Savannah was the first steamship to cross the Atlantic (in 1819). She was originally planned as a sailing ship but then she was changed into a steamer. But because she did not make the entire passage under steam[33], there have been a few attempts made to dispute the history of the Savannah as the pioneer ocean steamer of the Atlantic, and call it a fallacy. Two of such endeavors were to bring forward either a British steamer named City of Kingston[34] or the SS Royal William, a Quebec built craft[33].

Then there were three side-wheel steamers built in New York: the Lion and the Eagle, subsequently Regent and Congress, built in 1841 by Jacob Bell[35] for the Spanish navy, and about the same time for the Russian navy the Kamschatka by William H. Brown. But after the Savannah there was, as already mentioned, no steamship owned or run by an American company that navigated the Atlantic Ocean to a port in Europe until 1847[34].

The SS Washington (1847)

In 1846 began inquiries regarding the building of steamships for regularly scheduled transatlantic service. Edward Mills, a novice in the shipping business, led the syndicate that received the contract for mail delivery to Le Havre and Bremen for five years and founded with his associates C.H. Sand, Mortimer Livingston and John L. Stephens the Pacific Steam Navigation Company in May 1846, but was unable to attract sufficient capital to carry out his original business plan to build four ships and instead ordered two ships from Westervelt & MacKay of New York[16], the SS Washington (1847) and SS Hermann (1848). The Westervelt shipyard built the hull, and the engines were made by Stillman, Allen & Co.[36]. So even if one could say, that Jacob Aaron Westervelt built the first american steamship that navigated the Atlantic Ocean, this was one of the less successfull chapters in the history of the Westervelt shipyard, as both paddle steamers were said to be slow and with insufficient cargo space, and the government soon revoked the Le Havre portion of the mail contract because of the line’s poor performance[16].

Jacob Aaron Westervelt and his associates later built very successful steamships. Up to and including 1850 they built 8 of 38 steamships constructed at New York until that year. The notable steamships built by the Westervelt shipyard include the SS Franklin and SS Havre (first steam vessels for the Havre Line), followed by SS Arago and SS Rhode Island for the Government and SS Eagle and SS Morro Castle were built for Spofford, Tileston & Company[37]. Westervelt & Son also built the Foong Shuey, afterwards named Plymouth Rock, of 287 feet in length, with an engine from the Lake Erie steamer Plymouth Rock. This vessel made the voyage from New York to Singapore in 51 days[38]. The all-time record for a sailing vessel on that route is 78 days. The SS Winfield Scott, built in 1850 by Westervelt & MacKay, crashed into Middle Anacapa Island in 1853, and has been the object of numerous salvage operations since the crash, and currently rests underwater as part of the Channel Islands National Park and Marine Sanctuary. The wreck site of the Winfield Scott is listed on the National Register of Historic Places[39].

Warships / ships for governments[edit]

The screw sloop USS Brooklyn.

By 1855, the gold rush was over, Jacob Aaron Westervelt (like all other shipbuilders) began looking for new markets to keep his yard busy, as the shipping lines, that carried almost 2.7 million emigrants across the Atlantic by sailing vessels between 1846-1855, ordered less ships than before. The declining trend continued because of the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. Between 1855 and the end of the act of war in 1865 only 1.4 million emigrants were conveyed from Europe to the United States[40] .

On 3 March 1857 the U.S. Congress authorized five screw sloops of war - one of them was the USS Brooklyn (1858) (the first ship so-named by the U.S. Navy)[41]. It was laid down later that year by Jacob Aaron Westervelt and his sons, launched in 1858 and commissioned on 26 January 1859 (Captain David G. Farragut - the later Admiral - in command)[42]. USS Brooklyn was active in Caribbean operations until the start of the American Civil War. In 1861 she became an active participant in the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America. She received orders for many different missions, for example she was one of the ships that attacked the Forts St. Philip and Jackson and under the command of Captain James Alden, Jr. she was part of the fleet, that helped to blockade Mobile Bay. During the battle of Mobile Bay (that lasted a bit more than three hours) Brooklyn suffered 54 men killed and 43 wounded while firing 183 projectiles. After spending the next few weeks helping reduce the Confederate land works guarding the entrance, Brooklyn departed Mobile Bay on 6 September 1864 and headed for Hampton Roads for service in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Soon thereafter, Brooklyn was in the task force that arrived off Fort Fisher on 13 January 1865, and her guns supported the attack until the fort surrendered on the 15 January. Since this victory completed the last major task of the Union Navy during the Civil War, Brooklyn sailed north and was decommissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 31 January 1865[43]. Admiral Farragut declared Brooklyn to have been the most efficient man-of-war in the American Navy[9].

Besides the Brooklyn, the gun-boats USS Ottawa, USS Otsego and USS Kankakee were also built at the Westervelt shipyard, all of which did efficient blockading service during the war. Westervelt also built many vessels for foreign governments, amongst these the frigate Hope in 1825, for the Greek Government, Guadalquiver for Spain and Eusiyama for Japan. Jacob Aaron Westervelt was awarded the Order of Isabella the Catholic by the Queen of Spain for the genius displayed in preparing models and plans for three Spanish frigates[1][2]

Postwar slump and closure (1861-1868)[edit]

The red letter year of the firm was 1858, when 12 ships were built (aggregating 14.081 tons), and at the outbreak of the rebellion, Jacob Aaron Westervelt was one of the richest shipowner of the country. He was heartily in sympathy with the Union cause, and President Lincoln esteemed his judgment highly, and intrusted him with the purchase of many of the river craft which were altered to suit the demands of blockading and transport service. While similar trusts were turned into opportunities for making colossal fortunes by several "patriots", Westervelt accepted nothing for such service, but contended himself with the profits accuring from his shipyard. It was during that period, that his fortune shrank very much faster than it had been accumulated. Steamer after steamer was wrecked, burned or captured by Confederate cruisers, until at the close of the war he was almost bankrupt. During one year alone his losses from marine casualties amounted to 500.000 Dollar[6].

After the end of the Civil War in 1865, the U.S. government auctioned off the hundreds of ships it had requisitioned during the war at firesale prices, depressing the market and leaving American shipyards with no work. The result was that most American shipyards, along with marine engine specialists, went to the wall. Not only the Westervelt shipyard, but the whole shipbuilding industry in New York was badly affected by the slump, being practically wiped out in the ensuing years[44]. As the prostration of shipbuilding after the war afforded him little opportunity to recover from the mentioned losses, the firm was dissolved in 1868, with no large showing of assets. Until this year Jacob Aaron Westervelt had constructed 247 ships with his partners - more than any other American shipbuilder in his days[6].


Westervelt as Dock Commissioner (1870-1879)[edit]

Variations of George S. Greene Jr's bulkhead walls (of the docks and piers of New York City) depending on bottom conditions

When the Dock Department was created in 1870, Wilson G. Hunt prevailed upon Jacob Aaron Westervelt to accept the responsible duties of Superintendent of the department. It is said, that his share in its management was characterized by prudence, sagacity and honesty[6]. When William Frederick Havemeyer assumed the Mayor's chair in 1873[4], Westervelt was appointed a Commissioner of Docks, at the same time elected President of the Board of Dock Commissioners[45] (which position he also held at the time of his death[6]), and as such made tremendous improvements in piers and docks. His chief engineer, whom he selected in July 1870, was General George B. McClellan[46], and his secretary General Louis Fitzgerald[20] and in 1875 George S. Greene Jr. became the new chief engineer[47].

As a Dock Commissioner, Jacob Aaron Westervelt in some manner followed in the footsteps of his father by continuing to improve the river front[48][49].

In 1873 the draughtsmen and engineers in the office of the Engineer-in-Chief were engaged in the preparation of maps and drawings by which were shown the several grant of land under water, around, and adjoining the Island of Manhattan which have been made by either the State or Municipal Governments, from the year 1696 till 1873. They had also been engaged upon plans and sections of a proposed exterior bulkhead wall which was planned to be built all around the City.[48]

Furthermore a new dock system was proposed, which main feature was a wide river street, environing the water front, to afford ample accommodation for the movement of freight and its transportation by rail. The new river/sea wall was to be constructed of granite and a Beton concrete, which was composed of Portland cement and broken stone. From this wall projecting into the river was a series of piers constructed of wood, iron, and stone. The large concrete blocks that were used in the construction of the new river wall, were manufactured at the yards of the Dock Commission, in Gansevoort Street (Manhattan). From two to three blocks, of forty to fifty tons each, were made daily.[48] Jacob Aaron Westervelt was considerably involved in these improvements of the docks and piers of New York.


Political career[edit]

Start in politics (1840-1852)[edit]

Jacob Aaron Westervelt always was largely engaged in shipbuilding, anyhow he found time to discharge his duties as a citizen. He was politically an ardent, but not very active Democrat, before being elected to the Common Council in 1840[6], in which he served two years, as an Alderman from the Thirteenth Ward[20]. Then Westervelt backtracked from active political engagement for a couple of years. But he stayed a shrewd observer of current affairs and recognized nuisances and the needs of the people of "his" town. He witnessed skyrocketing taxes between 1850 and 1852 and the establishment of a reform movement, that begun to decry excessive government spending. Grand jury revelations of widespread corruption on the common council heightened such concerns. Reformers mobilized and ran the Democratic incumbents out of office, electing in their place a combination of Whigs and reform Democrats committed to "economy" in government[50]. In November 1852 Jacob Aaron Westervelt, who as previously mentioned was member of the Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, and member of the Chamber of Commerce, was nominated for Mayor of the city by reformist representatives of the Democratic party. The mayoralty election was held at the same time as the presidential election, and the Democrats were successful in both[1].

Election as a Mayor (1853-1855) - political goals[edit]

Jacob Aaron Westervelt was elected by a majority of 10'000 - the largest ever received by a candidate up to that time (being nearly as much indebted to Whigs as to Democrats for his seat[6]) - against the most popular member of the Whig party, the late Alderman Morgan Morgans, carrying his own ward by nearly 1'000 majority, and only a few votes behind the electoral ticket for President Franklin Pierce[1]. The new Mayors difficult inheritance: a bad financial situation of the city, corrupt politicians and an ailing police system. In his sincere first message[51] to the Community Council he declared the subjects he planed to deal with first, and that according to him, needed the attention of the council (an excerpt[51]):

"(...) The finances of our City, from their magnitude and importance, demand, and should secure your most earnest attention and careful supervision (…) I find, from the annual statement of the Controller, submitted in December last, that the expenditures, during the past year, have exceeded the appropriations 742'157 dollars, which amount must be added to the sum to be raised by tax during the present year, and I learn from the same document that the total increase of expenditures for 1853 over those of 1852, amounted to 1'543'296.70 dollars (...) Such an excess of expenditures appears to me to be in disregard, not only of the provisions of the charter, but of the authority of the Legislature, as power is granted by that body to levy and collect taxes on specific estimates for the various purposes required, and these estimates should, in my opinion, never be exceeded, except on occasions of unavoidable necessity. A very large amount is required to be raised for school purposes; but the object of the appropriation is so noble and philanthropic, and the benefits resulting from its judicious expenditure are so permanent in their character and so widely diffused, our constituents will doubtless yield an approval of the expenditure for such a purpose, though adding so materially to the amount of tax (...) The Police Department is one of the most important of any connected with the City Government, and its present and future condition, may well demand our serious consideration. The object for which it was organized, was the more effectual security of persons and property (...) This, however can only be attained, and the efficiency of the Department insured, by maintaining the most rigid disciple, and by inculcating implicit obedience to the rules and regulations adopted for the government of all connected with it (...) In this connection I would earnestly commend to your consideration the necessity for lighting the wharves and piers with gas (...) There has been no general revision of the ordinances since 1845, and when it is considered that many new ordinances are enacted in each year, the difficulty of referring to them, scattered as they are through so many volumes of proceedings, must me apparent to all, and this difficulty is much enhanced to those not familiar with our municipal affairs. Several of my predecessors have urgently recommended the compilation of the existing ordinances, and their publication in one volume (...) I would earnestly renew that recommendation, trusting that the importance of the subject will commend itself to your early and serious attention. The proper cleaning of the streets is so intimately connected with the health, comfort and convenience of our citizens, too much attention cannot be given to it, and my own convictions are, that the community will not object to any reasonable expenditure when judiciously devoted to that purpose (...)"


Mayor Westervelt and the Police[edit]

New regulation uniform of the New York Police. Illustration published in the newspaper Gleason's Pictorial Drawing Room[52], January 7, 1854.

A law-abiding and determined Mayor against a frequently undisciplined lot of rather obstinate policemen... conflicts were bound to occur. Jacob Aaron Westervelts term was one marked by many reforms[6], and one of the most controversial ones was his attempt for uniforming the Police of New York[53].

In 1844, New York City's population of 320'000 was served by an archaic force, consisting of one night watch, one hundred city marshals, thirty-one constables, and 51 municipal police officers[54]. On 7 May 1844, the state legislature approved a proposal which authorized creation of a police force, along with abolition of the nightwatch system[54]. Under Mayor William Havemeyer, the NYPD was reorganized on May 13, 1845, with the city divided into three districts, with courts, magistrates, and clerks, and station houses set up[54]. Within eight years, this system unveiled its weak points. The New York Times wrote in 1853: "Our police are inefficient. Worse has been said of them."[53]. Another publication delineated the situation much more precisely: "The most serious difficulty encountered by the police executive is the attempt to apply the regulations of the department to its own members. The departmental reports indicate a condition of utter lawlessness on the part of the police themselves[55][56]: assaulting superior officers, refusing to go on patrol, releasing prisoners from the custody of other policemen, drunkenness, extorting money from prisoners - these are offences of daily occurrence, committed often with impunity"[57]. But it was Mayor Westervelts stated aim to sort out the bad seed[55]. With the knowledge of these miserable conditions its no wonder, that in 1853 an administrative body was created, called the Board of police commissioners, consisting of Mayor Westervelt, the recorder and the city judge. Apart from the fact, that the chief of police was selected by the Mayor with the board's approval, the board had full powers of appointment and dismissal of all members of the force and was charged with general administrative duties[57].

In nothing was the undisciplined attitude of the police more clearly shown than in their refusal to wear uniforms. "Un-American", "undemocratic", "militarism", "King's livery", "a badge of degradation and servitude" - ideas of this kind formed the basis of opposition against Westervelts wish to putting policemen in uniform[57] (mainly from the force itself and an influential party of citizens who deemed it unrepublican to put the servants of the city in livery[6]). On June 24, 1854 there was even a large indignation meeting of 1'000-1'500 policemen. The objects of the meeting were stated in a notice, which was posted prominently in the streets and published in the morning papers: "A meeting of citizens, and all other who feel aggrieved at the ridiculous and oppressive rules, and regulations of the Commissioners of Police and especially that portion of the late order imposing an expensive and fantastical uniform, will be held in the Park."[53]

But when Mayor Jacob Aaron Westervelt determined upon a line of policy, he did not accept defeat until every resource was exhausted. It was not only his opinion, that a uniform incites, in a high degree, a chivalry sentiment - that it involves a "pride of cloth" and that the wearer knows that if he disgraces that, he is himself disgraced, and not he alone but the profession in which he serves (like soldiers or sailors respect the uniform of their professions)[53]. He furthermore earned many party enemies by his determined policy to keep appointments to the Police force, which was then a large part of the patronage appertaining to the Mayoralty, free from political influence[6].

Mayor Westervelts influence on tourism[edit]

New York Crystal Palace: The image is an 'oil-colour' plate by George Baxter (1 September 1853)

By the early 1850s New York had grown to sufficient size and prominence that the city decided to host a major exhibition of the type that London[58] had recently pioneered (in 1851). Such early exhibitions were forerunners of the later world’s fairs. The Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations opened during the term of Mayor Westervelt on July 14, 1853, in a sparsely developed part of the city. Fortieth and Forty-second streets bounded the fair’s four-acre site to the immediate west of the Croton Distributing Reservoir — today’s Bryant Park. Within New York’s Crystal Palace, designed by Karl Gildemeister, four thousand exhibitors displayed the industrial wares, consumer goods, and artworks of the nation[59]. The exhibition of which Mayor Jacob Aaron Westervelt was President[20], set off one of the first major tourism booms in New York, and many hotels were built to handle the influx of visitors. Over one million people visited the Crystal Palace Exhibition, which closed on November 1, 1854 (in spite of its popularity, the exhibition’s sponsors lost $300,000 on the venture). The structure remained standing after the fair, and was leased for a variety of purposes. The New York Crystal Palace was destroyed by fire on 5 October 1858[59].

Unpopular/controversial opinions of Mayor Westervelt[edit]

Central Park and the fiscal retrenchment[edit]

Mayor Westervelt didn't shy away to come to unpopular decisions if he considered that it was of general good. In 1853 the New York legislature designated a 700-acre (280 ha) area from 59th to 106th Streets for the creation of the planned Central Park, to a cost of more than 5 million US$ for the land alone. In the climate of the fiscal retrenchment of these years, Jacob Aaron Westervelt in January 1854 proposed to reduce the size of Central Park. Westervelt, who had supported the Central Park bill, had second thoughts about the dramatic expansion of state power and especially the public spending entailed by the new park. But some predictable voices defended the Central Park boundaries. In part because of differing reduction proposals in the common council, city lawmakers remained stalemated for the rest of the year. In March 1855 the board of councilmen resumed hearings on a cutback, and in the chilly economic climate of the winter of 1855, the board of alderman voted fourteen to three to cut both the lower twelve blocks (from 59th to 72nd streets) and four hundred feet from each side. But on March 23, 1856, the new Democratic Mayor, Fernando Wood, saved Central Park by vetoing the measure.[50]

Riots[edit]

The worst riots in United States history (with respect to lives lost) took place during the Civil War in 1863, when immigrant factory workers forcibly resisted the federal government's military draft, the New York Draft Riots. These riots were not quite accurately depicted in the movie Gangs of New York. In the United States, the period from 1840-1870 was generally characterized by conflicts on the domestic front, f.e. the police riots and the riots of the Know-Nothing movement[60]. It was during the term of Mayor Jacob Aaron Westervelt, that some of the first Know-Nothing riots occurred[6]. This nativist American political movement was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by Irish Catholic immigrants, who were often regarded as hostile to U.S. values and controlled by the Pope in Rome[61]. This body of thought was often propagated by street preachers. One of the most ambivalent characters was Reverend Mr. Parsons, who had been in the habbit of regularly preaching on the wharves, in shipyards and other "obscure" places along the East and North Rivers. And on 11 December 1853 he planted himself upon a pile of timber in the extensive shipyard of Westervelt & MacKay[62]. His loud voice sounded far off, and in the course of half an hour there was an assemblage of some ten thousend people. In consequence of his speech a serious riot occured and under the instructions and orders of Mayor Westervelt the preacher was taken into custody. Some Know-Nothinger hastened to the station house with the intention of liberating him. Finding no redress there, five thousand excited men marched to 308 East Brodway and surrounded the residence of Mayor Westervelt, but finding that he was absent from home[62], they contented themselves with daubing a large cross on the door[6][63].

It is said, that the feeling of the members of this movement against the participation of foreign-born citizens in Municipal affairs had grown very bitter too[61], and Mayor Westervelt set his face so sternly against it that his house was mobbed again[6]. Probably due to the paucity of support for his reformist efforts during his term, but also because he applied himself more and more to the business of ship-building again, Jacob Aaron Westervelt declined a renomination, which for him was equivalent to an election, and was succeeded by Fernando Wood[1]. In 1857 Westervelt became a member of the New York State Assembly (for Rockland County)[64].


Genealogy of the Westervelt-family[edit]

Arms of van Westervelt, as emblazoned on the tomb, in the nave of the church in Harderwyk, Netherlands.

Ancestors[edit]

Jacob Aaron Westervelt, as his name indicates, came of old Dutch stock[6]. The name was known in the Netherlands at a very early period, and although the family-members were not of nobility, they had been extensive property holders for many generations. The earliest mention of the Westervelts that has been recorded begins with a Dirk van Westervelt and his family, who resided in and around the town of Harderwijk for many years. Some individuals sharing that name appear to have been early inhabitants of Zwolle, and their descendants still are to be found there, being known as Westerveld.[65]

In the middle of the seventeenth century a few Westervelts were living in Meppel, situated a few miles from the eastern shore of the Zuiderzee, in the province of Drenthe and three miles east of Zwolle. Amongst them two brothers with their wifes and children: Willem and Lubbert Lubbertsen van Westervelt, both agriculturists and cattle raisers, that decided to move to the New World[65]. They left Amsterdam with the ship De Hoop (Hope) on April 8, 1662. On their arrival on the 24th of May 1662, New Amsterdam (settlement that later became New York City) was suffering from a prolonged drought (no rain was falling for eighty consecutive days)[65]. However the immigrants lived there for a certain time. Lubbert then settled near Hackensack, New Jersey, and was one of the promoters of the Dutch Church organized in that place in 1686. Willem was a member of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in New Amsterdam (1667), whilst his son lived at New Utrecht on Long Island. This son sold his lands in 1706 and is supposed to have removed to New Jersey, where the family has been numerous and prominent for the past 300 years[6]. William Lubbertsen van Westervelt with his wife and six children, and Lubbert Lubbertsen van Westervelt, with his wife and four children, became the progenitors of the van Westervelt/Westervelt family in America, and were at one time the second largest family in Bergen County, New Jersey[65]. Jacob Aaron Westervelt was seventh in descent from Lubbert Lubbertsen van Westervelt[6].

Descendents[edit]

Jacob Aaron Westervelt married Eliza M. Thompson in New York City, April 25, 1825. They had eight children[1]:

  • John Albert, b. September 15, 1826
  • Daniel Demarest, b. November 5, 1827; d. June4, 1896
  • Aaron Jacob, b. March 14, 1829; d. March 9, 1879
  • James Thompson, b. October 5, 1830; d. in infancy
  • Annie Halstead, b. May 12, 1832
  • Sophronia, b. December 19, 1834
  • Robert Carnley, b. November 25, 1837
  • Eliza Mariette, b. July 16, 1841; d. April 21, 1891


Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Genealogy of the Westervelt family, by Walter Tallman Westervelt, page 72/73
  2. ^ a b c d e Ships and Shipping of Old New York (1915) by the Bank of the Manhattan Company, page 48
  3. ^ Informations about ships built by the Todd Houston Shipbuilding Corporation on the website of "shipbuildinghistory.com". Retrieved on 2009-03-23.
  4. ^ a b "Mayors of New York City". Official website of the Departement of Citywide Administrative Services - The Green Book. Retrieved on 2009-03-14.
  5. ^ In several publications (f.e. in History of the city of New York: its origin, rise and progress from Martha J. Lamb and Burton Harrison) it is said, that Mayor Jacob A. Westervelt previously served as Sheriff of New York County. This information is wrong. The men who was elected High Sheriff was a Jacob Westervelt, born July 27, 1794, buried Mai 10, 1881. During the years 1837-38 he was Assistant Alderman of the 9th Ward and after retiring from the Shrievalty, he became president of the Lafayette Bank. Information found in Genealogy of the Westervelt family by Walter Tallman Westervelt, page 86.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Article "Death of an ex-Mayor - career of Jacob A. Westervelt" in the"The New York Times" from February 22, 1879, page 2. Retrieved on 2009-03-16
  7. ^ Locate the church on "archiplanet.org". Retrieved on 2009-03-14.
  8. ^ The author of the article Death of an Ex-Mayor in the "New York Times" wrote, that the family moved to New York in 1804. Walter Tallman Westervelt wrote in his book, that the Westervelts moved in 1805.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Steamboat Days (1925), by Dayton, Fred Erving, chapter 19
  10. ^ According to Fred Irving Dayton (Steamboat Days), Christian Bergh already retired in 1835 (and not 1837), which can not be true, as there must have been a collaboration between Christian Bergh and his son Henry who went into business after 1835 (he matriculated in the class of 1834 at Columbia College, but left before graduating).
  11. ^ History of New York ship yards (1909) by John Harrison Morrison, page 44, reprint by Univ of Michigan Lib 2006, ISBN 1418187380, ISBN 978-1418187385
  12. ^ Heritage of Care (2007) by Marion S. Lane, Stephen Zawistowski, Marty (FRW) Beck, page 3, ISBN 0275990214, ISBN 978-0275990213
  13. ^ a b "Palmer List of Merchant Vessels" Accessed March 28, 2009
  14. ^ "Era of the clipper ships" by Donald Gunn Ross III. Retrieved on 2009-03-28.
  15. ^ Article in >"The New York Times" from March 18, 1888. Retrieved on 2009-03-29.
  16. ^ a b c History of New York ship yards (1909) by John Harrison Morrison, page 95-97, reprint by Univ of Michigan Lib 2006, ISBN 1418187380, ISBN 978-1418187385
  17. ^ The clipper ship era: an epitome of famous American and British clipper ships, their owners, builders, commanders, and crews, 1843-1869 (1910) by Arthur Hamilton Clark, page 48, ISBN 0548095817, ISBN 978-0548095812
  18. ^ Square-riggers on schedule by Robert Greenhalgh Albion, page 276-281, ASIN: B0006AO5QE
  19. ^ Mentionend in the "New York Marine Register (1858), found on the website of "The Mystic Seaport Museum". Retrieved on 2009-03-26.
  20. ^ a b c d e Eighteenth Annual Report (1920) from the Bergen County historical Society, Hackensack N.J. (number 13, page 61/62)
  21. ^ "bruzelius_Contest". Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  22. ^ "bruzelius_Hornet". Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  23. ^ a b c d "eraoftheclipperships". pp. page 68, by Donald Gunn Ross III. Retrieved 2009-04-02. {{cite web}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  24. ^ Lots of information about the Ann McKim can be found on the website "eraoftheclipperships.com". Retrieved on 2009-03-30.
  25. ^ Dear, I.C.B., & Kemp, Peter, eds. Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea (Oxford University Press, 2005)
  26. ^ Baltimore Republican and Commercial Advertiser, June 3, 1833.
  27. ^ "bruzelius.info". Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  28. ^ "MIT museum press release" from September 20, 2004, page 3. Retrieved on 2009-03-30.
  29. ^ The clipper ship era: an epitome of famous American and British clipper ships, their owners, builders, commanders, and crews, 1843-1869 (1910) by Arthur Hamilton Clark, page 162, ISBN 0548095817, ISBN 978-0548095812
  30. ^ a b "Museum of New York City". Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  31. ^ "Springfield Museums". Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  32. ^ "History of science and technology". Retrieved 2009-04-03.
  33. ^ a b "Gjenvik-Gjonvik Archives". Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  34. ^ a b Morrison, John Harrison (1903, reprint 2008). History of American steam navigation. Lewis Press. pp. pages 406-408. ISBN 9781408681442. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  35. ^ History of New York ship yards (1909) by John Harrison Morrison, page 102, reprint by Univ of Michigan Lib 2006, ISBN 1418187380, ISBN 978-1418187385
  36. ^ "E-catalogue of Yale University (art gallery)". Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  37. ^ Steamboat Days by Fred Erving Dayton, chapter 19
  38. ^ Morrison, John Harrison (1903, reprint 2008). History of American steam navigation. Lewis Press. pp. page 511. ISBN 9781408681442. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  39. ^ "Channel Islands". Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  40. ^ Laakso, Seija-Riitta (2006). Across the Oceans. Helsinki/Finland: Finnish Literature Society. pp. pages 116/117. ISBN 9789517469043. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  41. ^ "Mr. Westervelt, of New-York, to Build the New Steam Frigate". The New York Times: page 8. 23 September 1857. Retrieved 7 April 2009. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  42. ^ "americancivilwar.com". Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  43. ^ "americancivilwar.com". Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  44. ^ "Wikipedia - W.H. Webb". Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  45. ^ Article "Department of Docks - The New Board" in the "The New York Times" from May 22, 1873, page 2. Retrieved on 2009-03-24
  46. ^ A "pdf-file" of the publication A brief history of the early years of the department of docks (1989) by Richard M. Casella, page 3 (found on the website of "historicdoc.com"). Retrieved on 2009-03-24.
  47. ^ A "pdf-file" of the publication A brief history of the early years of the department of docks (1989) by Richard M. Casella, page 7 (found on the website of "historicdoc.com"). Retrieved on 2009-03-24.
  48. ^ a b c Article "New docks and piers work" in the "The New York Times" from December 6, 1873, page 4, row 4. Retrieved on 2009-03-24
  49. ^ Article "Construction of the new bulkhead wall" in the "The New York Times" from May 27, 1875, page 8. Retrieved on 2009-03-24
  50. ^ a b The Park and the people - A History of Central Park by Roy Rosenzweig & Elisabeth Blackmar, pages 54-56, ISBN 0-8014-9751-5
  51. ^ a b Article "Message of the New Mayor" in the"The New York Times" from January 3, 1853, page 6. Retrieved on 2009-03-22
  52. ^ Informations about Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room can be found on the website of "baxleystamps.com".
  53. ^ a b c d Article "A uniformed police" in the "The New York Times" from April 6, 1853, page 4. Retrieved on 2009-03-24.
  54. ^ a b c American Metropolis: A History of New York City (1998) by George L. Lankevich, pages 84/85, ISBN 0814751865
  55. ^ a b Examples of such occurrences in the article "Meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners" in the "The New York Times" from September 27, 1853, page 3. Retrieved on 2009-03-24.
  56. ^ Examples of such occurrences in the article "Board of Police commissioners - charges against policemen" in the "The New York Times" from November 21, 1853, page 1. Retrieved on 2009-03-24.
  57. ^ a b c American Police Systems (1920) by Raymond B. Fosdick (Raymond Blaine), page 67-69, ISBN 9780875850535, ISBN 0875850537.
  58. ^ For further information about the Great Exhibition in London please read The Great Exhibition of 1851: A Nation on Display by Jeffrey A. Auerbach, Yale University Press, 1999, ISBN 0300080077, ISBN 978-0300080070
  59. ^ a b History of the city of New York: its origin, rise and progress by Martha J. Lamb & Burton Harrison, page 358/359
  60. ^ List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States found on "Wikipedia". Retrieved on 2009-03-30.
  61. ^ a b "newadvent.org". Retrieved on 2009-03-30.
  62. ^ a b Article in the "The New York Times", from December 12, 1853, page 8. Retrieved on 2009-03-30.
  63. ^ According to Arthur Hamilton Clark (The clipper ship era: an epitome of famous American and British clipper ships) the front door of Jacob Aaron Westervelt's house in East Broadway was ornamented with a carved stone cap representing the stern of a packet ship.
  64. ^ "The political graveyard". Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  65. ^ a b c d Genealogy of the Westervelt family, by Walter Tallman Westervelt, page 1/2


Literature[edit]

  • Westervelt, Walter Tallman (1905): Genealogy of the Westervelt Family, Higginson Genealogical Books (1987), ASIN B00071870S.
  • Morrison, John Harrison (1909): History of New York Ship Yards, ISBN 1418187380, ISBN 978-1418187385
  • Dayton, Fred Erving (1925): Steamboat Days, Frederick A. Stokes, New York, ISBN 9780356047652 (reprint of 1974), ISBN 0356047652 (reprint of 1974)
  • Clayton, W. Woodford; Nelson, William (1882 - from old catalogue): History of Bergen and Passaic counties, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, ASIN B0006QCEF2.
  • Albion, Robert Greenhalgh (1938, reprint 1965): Square-riggers on schedule, ASIN B0006AO5QE


External links[edit]



Category:1800 births Category:1879 deaths Category:People from Bergen County, New Jersey Category:Mayors of New York City Category:American shipbuilders Category:Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States

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