Charlotte Melmoth
Encyclopedia
Mrs Charlotte Melmoth was an 18th-century English actress, the estranged 'wife' of British actor/writer Samuel Jackson Pratt
("Courtney Melmoth"), and known as "The Grande Dame of Tragedy on the Early American Stage" After a mildly-successful stage career in Britain and Ireland she emigrated to America in 1793 and became one of the best-known American actresses of the late 18th/early 19th century.
who used the stage name
"Courtney Melmoth". It is not known whether she adopted her husband's stage-surname 'Melmoth' or, as has been speculated, 'Melmoth' was her real surname and Pratt adopted it for his own stage-name.
Most biographers give her year of birth as 1749, the same as Pratt's. However this would put her in her 20's in the early 1770's, when she first met Pratt, in contradiction of another biographer's claim that she was still at school when this meeting occurred.
, who, as a result of the scandal, left the church to pursue an ultimately unsuccessful acting career and who eventually became a well-known writer. According to A History of The City of Brooklyn, Charlotte "had been duped into a sham marriage, while at boarding school, by a Mr. Pratt (known in the literary and theatrical circles of that day as Courtney Melmoth ), and with him went upon the stage, playing in several companies both in England and Ireland." Pratt's parents strongly disapproved of the relationship and it is not known whether or not the marriage was ever legally formalised. The couple toured together in theatrical productions, not always successfully, and sometimes had to resort to telling fortunes
to make their living.
In 1773 the couple opened a theatre in Drogheda
, Ireland, . The venture was not a success and the theatre failed within three months, whereupon the couple moved to London, where Charlotte began to achieve success as an actress, both at Covent Garden and Drury Lane
. From 1776 to 1779 the couple played seasons in Edinburgh, London and Birmimgham.
. The couple were present in January 1778 when Franklin gave a copy of his portrait to a certain Mrs Izard, but neglected to give a similar copy to Charlotte. The incident inspired Charlotte to write a poem, "Impromptu, To Doctor Franklin For the Author who was present when he gave his Portrait to a Lady", which Pratt sent to Franklin. Franklin replied,apologising for not realising that Charlotte also wanted a copy of the portrait.
The couple were by now experiencing serious financial problems, (Pratt had already borrowed money from a friend, Mrs Montagu and arrempted to borrow money from Samuel Johnson
) and, on 29 January 1778, the day after receiving Franklin's response to Charlotte's poem, Pratt wrote to Franklin asking to borrow money from him, which Franklin agreed to. He then asked for a further loan four days later and, on 3 March begged Franklin for a "a small allowance by week or month, in order to assist my slender Circumstances". A further request for money was made on 12 May, shortly before the "Melmoths" returned to England, to which Franklin replied that he found the requests for money "a greater inconvenience to myself than you perhaps imagined", but agreeing to the further loan, relying "on your Honour and Punctuality for the speedy Repayment". On 22 June 1778 Pratt wrote to Franklin from London regretting that he and Charlotte were unable to repay the money, whereupon the friendship with Franklin appears to have abruptly ended.
By 1781 Pratt and Charlotte had separated, and Charlotte, retaining her 'married' surname, continued her acting career in Ireland. In 1793 she emigrated to America, where she would achieve great success as one of the leading actresses of her day.
". In late 1773 Charlotte and Pratt opened their own theatre in Drogheda, with a production of "The Merchant of Venice
", in which Charlotte played Portia to Pratt's Shylock, but the theatre failed and, after three months, the couple moved to London.
In February 1774 she debuted at Covent Garden as Calista in "The Fair Penitent
". The "Westminster Magazine" reviewed her performance with the words, "Her figure is pleasing and also she is young and handsome..she possesses the internal as well as external requisites of a good actress; for she discovers great feeling and sensibility; and indeed promises to be a great ornament to the theatre".
Later that year, also at Covent Garden, she played Roxana
in Nathaniel Lee
's "The Rival Queens or The Death of Alexander The Great", a role she would reprise at other times in her career. Amongst other roles she played at Covent Garden that season are Eleanor in "Henry II", Hermione in "A Winter's Tale" and Queen Elizabeth in Henry Jones
' tragedy, "The Earl of Essex".
In 1776 she played Edinburgh with her husband, where, amongst many other leading roles, she played Alicia in "The Tragedy of Jane Shore", Viola in "Twelfth Night" and Mrs Belville in "School for Wives
". In Edinburgh she also played Lady Macbeth
for the first time - a role for which she would eventually become famous.
In November 1776 she made her debut at Drury Lane with the role of Lady Macbeth and the following February, reprised her role as Roxanne in "The Rival Queens", alongside Mary Robinson
. This would be her last appearance in London; the following year she and her husband were in Paris , then in 1778 and 1779 they played two seasons in Edinburgh, where Charlotte began to add Comic parts (including Lady Sneerwell in "The School for Scandal
") to her previously Tragic repertoire. In late 1779, after a season in Birmingham, Charlotte's success seems to have faded for a while, and the couple travelled Britain seeking work, occasionally telling fortunes for a living.
By 1780 the couple had returned to where Charlotte's acting career had started - the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. They made their final appearance there as a couple in 1781, after which they separated and never met again. Charlotte toured the major cities of Ireland, playing in Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Derry and Belfast, eventually settling in Dublin. She played Smock Alley from 1782-83, was the 'prima donna' of Leoni's Capel Street Opera House from 1783-84, Owensons Fishamble Street
Theatre from 1784-85, returned to Smock Alley from 1785-88, finally ending her Irish stage career at the Crow Steet Theatre from 1788-89.
According to "The Thespian Dictionary", Charlotte converted to Roman Catholicism in 1786, shortly prior to her Benefit Performance in Dublin; the Dictionary suggests her motives were purely mercenary - increased ticket sales in a Catholic city - but most biographers believe her conversion to be sincere.
In July 1789 Charlotte announced her retirement from the theatre in order to open a school teaching filigree
work to ladies, but the school was not a success and in 1793 Charlotte emigrated to America to resume her interrupted stage career.
Later that year she joined Hodgkinson's 'American Company' at the John Street Theatre, New York, making her debut on 20 November 1793 as Euphrasia in Arthur Murphy
's "The Grecian Daughter". . Over the next five years she was to play many leading tragic roles for that company, including her most famous role as Lady Macbeth, becoming a 'universal favourite' for the excellence of her acting. She was acclaimed by leading American impressario, William Dunlap
, as "the best tragic actress the inhabitants of New York, then living, had ever seen," and William Wood
wrote of her "To a fine face and powerful voice she added an exquisite feeling of the pathetic which...left an impression which years fail to efface."
In 1794 she refused to speak the Epilogue of a new opera, "Tammanay
" by Ann Hatton
, apparently disapproving of its patriotic sentiments. The New York Journal demanded a boycott of Charlotte's performances and called for her not to be "suffered to go on the New York stage again." Nevertheless her popularity was undiminished and when the Park Theatre, New York
, opened in 1798 Charlotte became one of its leading actresses.
Unfortunately, Charlotte, still playing youthful parts in her late-40's was no longer in the prime of life, and her figure had grown bulky - "far beyond the sphere of embonpoint" as Dunlap commented. She had grown so large that, playing Euphrasia one night she invited another character to stab her, crying, as per the script, "Strike here! Here's blood enough!" at which the audience burst out laughing - she cut the line from all further performances.
Finally becoming aware of the limitations of her size, she took to playing older "matron" parts instead, at which she apparently excelled. She stayed with the Park Theatre until 1805, when she moved to the Chestnut Street Theatre
in Philadelphia.
In 1811 she was travelling to fulfil an engagement at the Olympic Theatre, New York, when she was involved in a carriage accident, resulting in a severe fracture to her arm (although rumours that she had been killed were circulating in the press). The fracture failed to heal properly and Charlotte reluctantly had to give up her acting career.
On 12 August 1812, after announcing her retirement from the stage, Charlotte gave her last performance - a 'benefit performance' to raise funds for her retirement - playing Fiammetta
in "The Tale of Mystery" at the Olympic Theatre, New York.
, New York. Later she purchased a cottage in Red Hook Lane, Brooklyn
(on present-day Carroll Street) where she established a boarding house and a school which she ran until her death. Her pupils included children from some of the wealthiest and best-known Brooklyn famies, including the Cornell, Pierpoint, Cutting, Jackson and Luquer families.
She died, aged 74, on 28 September 1823 and was buried in the Catholic graveyard on the site of what is now St Patrick's Cathedral, New York. The Washington Quarterly
obituary said of her "her talent, particularly in the higher walks of tragedy, was very generally acknowledged. She was much esteemed for her excellent private character."
Samuel Jackson Pratt
Samuel Jackson Pratt was a prolific English poet, dramatist and novelist, writing under the pseudonym of "Courtney Melmoth" as well as under his own name...
("Courtney Melmoth"), and known as "The Grande Dame of Tragedy on the Early American Stage" After a mildly-successful stage career in Britain and Ireland she emigrated to America in 1793 and became one of the best-known American actresses of the late 18th/early 19th century.
Early life
Little is known of Charlotte's early years - she may have been an English farmer's daughter. Her real name is uncertain. She first came to the attention of the British public in the late 18th century, as "Mrs Courtney Melmoth," part of an acting duo with her supposed husband, Samuel Jackson PrattSamuel Jackson Pratt
Samuel Jackson Pratt was a prolific English poet, dramatist and novelist, writing under the pseudonym of "Courtney Melmoth" as well as under his own name...
who used the stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
"Courtney Melmoth". It is not known whether she adopted her husband's stage-surname 'Melmoth' or, as has been speculated, 'Melmoth' was her real surname and Pratt adopted it for his own stage-name.
Most biographers give her year of birth as 1749, the same as Pratt's. However this would put her in her 20's in the early 1770's, when she first met Pratt, in contradiction of another biographer's claim that she was still at school when this meeting occurred.
"Sham Marriage" and relationship with Samuel Jackson Pratt
Some time in the early 1770s, Charlotte entered into a marital-like relationship with a clergyman, Samuel Jackson PrattSamuel Jackson Pratt
Samuel Jackson Pratt was a prolific English poet, dramatist and novelist, writing under the pseudonym of "Courtney Melmoth" as well as under his own name...
, who, as a result of the scandal, left the church to pursue an ultimately unsuccessful acting career and who eventually became a well-known writer. According to A History of The City of Brooklyn, Charlotte "had been duped into a sham marriage, while at boarding school, by a Mr. Pratt (known in the literary and theatrical circles of that day as Courtney Melmoth ), and with him went upon the stage, playing in several companies both in England and Ireland." Pratt's parents strongly disapproved of the relationship and it is not known whether or not the marriage was ever legally formalised. The couple toured together in theatrical productions, not always successfully, and sometimes had to resort to telling fortunes
Fortune-telling
Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination...
to make their living.
In 1773 the couple opened a theatre in Drogheda
Drogheda
Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....
, Ireland, . The venture was not a success and the theatre failed within three months, whereupon the couple moved to London, where Charlotte began to achieve success as an actress, both at Covent Garden and Drury Lane
Drury Lane Theatre
Drury Lane Theatre can refer to:* Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, a theatre in the West End area of London, England* Drury Lane Theatre , a theater near Chicago, United States...
. From 1776 to 1779 the couple played seasons in Edinburgh, London and Birmimgham.
Friendship with Benjamin Franklin
From 1777 to 1778, the couple were in Paris, where they made the acquaintance of the American statesman, Benjamin FranklinBenjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
. The couple were present in January 1778 when Franklin gave a copy of his portrait to a certain Mrs Izard, but neglected to give a similar copy to Charlotte. The incident inspired Charlotte to write a poem, "Impromptu, To Doctor Franklin For the Author who was present when he gave his Portrait to a Lady", which Pratt sent to Franklin. Franklin replied,apologising for not realising that Charlotte also wanted a copy of the portrait.
The couple were by now experiencing serious financial problems, (Pratt had already borrowed money from a friend, Mrs Montagu and arrempted to borrow money from Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
) and, on 29 January 1778, the day after receiving Franklin's response to Charlotte's poem, Pratt wrote to Franklin asking to borrow money from him, which Franklin agreed to. He then asked for a further loan four days later and, on 3 March begged Franklin for a "a small allowance by week or month, in order to assist my slender Circumstances". A further request for money was made on 12 May, shortly before the "Melmoths" returned to England, to which Franklin replied that he found the requests for money "a greater inconvenience to myself than you perhaps imagined", but agreeing to the further loan, relying "on your Honour and Punctuality for the speedy Repayment". On 22 June 1778 Pratt wrote to Franklin from London regretting that he and Charlotte were unable to repay the money, whereupon the friendship with Franklin appears to have abruptly ended.
By 1781 Pratt and Charlotte had separated, and Charlotte, retaining her 'married' surname, continued her acting career in Ireland. In 1793 she emigrated to America, where she would achieve great success as one of the leading actresses of her day.
In Britain and Ireland
Charlotte made her stage debut in May 1773 at The Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin, playing Monimia in "The OrphanThe Orphan
This article is about the play. For the 2009 horror film, see Orphan .The Orphan, or The Unhappy Marriage is a domestic tragedy, written by Thomas Otway in 1680. It was first produced at the Dorset Garden Theatre, and starred Mrs. Barry as Monimia, Thomas Betterton as Castalio and Mr. Jo. Williams...
". In late 1773 Charlotte and Pratt opened their own theatre in Drogheda, with a production of "The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
", in which Charlotte played Portia to Pratt's Shylock, but the theatre failed and, after three months, the couple moved to London.
In February 1774 she debuted at Covent Garden as Calista in "The Fair Penitent
The Fair Penitent
The Fair Penitent is Nicholas Rowe's stage adaptation of the tragedy The Fatal Dowry, the Philip Massinger and Nathan Field collaboration first published in 1632...
". The "Westminster Magazine" reviewed her performance with the words, "Her figure is pleasing and also she is young and handsome..she possesses the internal as well as external requisites of a good actress; for she discovers great feeling and sensibility; and indeed promises to be a great ornament to the theatre".
Later that year, also at Covent Garden, she played Roxana
Roxana
Roxana sometimes Roxane, was a Bactrian noble and a wife of Alexander the Great. She was born earlier than the year 343 BC, though the precise date remains uncertain....
in Nathaniel Lee
Nathaniel Lee
Nathaniel Lee was an English dramatist.He was the son of Dr Richard Lee, a Presbyterian clergyman who was rector of Hatfield and held many preferments under the Commonwealth...
's "The Rival Queens or The Death of Alexander The Great", a role she would reprise at other times in her career. Amongst other roles she played at Covent Garden that season are Eleanor in "Henry II", Hermione in "A Winter's Tale" and Queen Elizabeth in Henry Jones
Henry Jones (poet)
-Life:Jones was born at Beaulieu, near Drogheda, co. Louth, in 1721. He was apprenticed to a bricklayer, but contrived to study privately. Some complimentary verses which he addressed to the corporation of Drogheda and some lines 'On Mr. Pope's Death,' attracted the attention of Lord-chief-justice...
' tragedy, "The Earl of Essex".
In 1776 she played Edinburgh with her husband, where, amongst many other leading roles, she played Alicia in "The Tragedy of Jane Shore", Viola in "Twelfth Night" and Mrs Belville in "School for Wives
The School for Wives
The School for Wives is a theatrical comedy written by the seventeenth century French playwright Molière and considered by some critics to be one of his finest achievements. It was first staged at the Palais Royal theatre on 26 December 1662 for the brother of the King...
". In Edinburgh she also played Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth may refer to:*Lady Macbeth, from William Shakespeare's play Macbeth**Queen Gruoch of Scotland, the real-life Queen on whom Shakespeare based the character...
for the first time - a role for which she would eventually become famous.
In November 1776 she made her debut at Drury Lane with the role of Lady Macbeth and the following February, reprised her role as Roxanne in "The Rival Queens", alongside Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson (poet)
Mary Robinson was an English poet and novelist. During her lifetime she is known as 'the English Sappho'...
. This would be her last appearance in London; the following year she and her husband were in Paris , then in 1778 and 1779 they played two seasons in Edinburgh, where Charlotte began to add Comic parts (including Lady Sneerwell in "The School for Scandal
The School for Scandal
The School for Scandal is a play written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on May 8, 1777.The prologue, written by David Garrick, commends the play, its subject, and its author to the audience...
") to her previously Tragic repertoire. In late 1779, after a season in Birmingham, Charlotte's success seems to have faded for a while, and the couple travelled Britain seeking work, occasionally telling fortunes for a living.
By 1780 the couple had returned to where Charlotte's acting career had started - the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. They made their final appearance there as a couple in 1781, after which they separated and never met again. Charlotte toured the major cities of Ireland, playing in Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Derry and Belfast, eventually settling in Dublin. She played Smock Alley from 1782-83, was the 'prima donna' of Leoni's Capel Street Opera House from 1783-84, Owensons Fishamble Street
Fishamble Street
Fishamble Street is a street in Dublin, Ireland within the old city walls.The street joins Wood Quay at the Fish Slip near Fyan's Castle. It is mentioned in the 14th century as Vicus Piscariorum and as Fish Street. In 1577, Stanihurst named it as St John's Street...
Theatre from 1784-85, returned to Smock Alley from 1785-88, finally ending her Irish stage career at the Crow Steet Theatre from 1788-89.
According to "The Thespian Dictionary", Charlotte converted to Roman Catholicism in 1786, shortly prior to her Benefit Performance in Dublin; the Dictionary suggests her motives were purely mercenary - increased ticket sales in a Catholic city - but most biographers believe her conversion to be sincere.
In July 1789 Charlotte announced her retirement from the theatre in order to open a school teaching filigree
Filigree
Filigree is a delicate kind of jewellery metalwork made with twisted threads usually of gold and silver or stitching of the same curving motifs. It often suggests lace, and in recent centuries remains popular in Indian and other Asian metalwork, and French from 1660 to the late 19th century...
work to ladies, but the school was not a success and in 1793 Charlotte emigrated to America to resume her interrupted stage career.
In America
Arriving in New York in March 1793, Charlotte (advertised as 'From the Theatres Royal of London and Dublin') gave a series of recitations and Shakespearian monologues, held at Corre's Hotel throughout that April. The London Register reported that the event "afforded infinite delight to every rational mind". .Later that year she joined Hodgkinson's 'American Company' at the John Street Theatre, New York, making her debut on 20 November 1793 as Euphrasia in Arthur Murphy
Arthur Murphy
Arthur Murphy , also known by the pseudonym Charles Ranger, was an Irish writer.-Biography:He was born at Cloonyquin, County Roscommon, Ireland, the son of Richard Murphy and Jane French....
's "The Grecian Daughter". . Over the next five years she was to play many leading tragic roles for that company, including her most famous role as Lady Macbeth, becoming a 'universal favourite' for the excellence of her acting. She was acclaimed by leading American impressario, William Dunlap
William Dunlap
William Dunlap was a pioneer of the American theater. He was a producer, playwright, and actor, as well as a historian. He managed two of New York's earliest and most prominent theaters, the John Street Theatre and the Park Theatre...
, as "the best tragic actress the inhabitants of New York, then living, had ever seen," and William Wood
William B. Wood (actor)
William B. Wood was an theatre manager and actor. He was brought in childhood to New York City, where he began life as a clerk...
wrote of her "To a fine face and powerful voice she added an exquisite feeling of the pathetic which...left an impression which years fail to efface."
In 1794 she refused to speak the Epilogue of a new opera, "Tammanay
Tamanend
Tamanend or Tammany or Tammamend, the "affable", was a chief of one of the clans that made up the Lenni-Lenape nation in the Delaware Valley at the time Philadelphia was established...
" by Ann Hatton
Ann Hatton
Ann Julia Hatton , was a popular novelist in Britain in the early 19th century.-Biography:...
, apparently disapproving of its patriotic sentiments. The New York Journal demanded a boycott of Charlotte's performances and called for her not to be "suffered to go on the New York stage again." Nevertheless her popularity was undiminished and when the Park Theatre, New York
Park Theatre (Manhattan)
The Park Theatre, originally known as the New Theatre, was a playhouse in New York City, located at 21, 23, and 25 Park Row, about east of Ann Street and backing Theatre Alley. The location, at the north end of the city, overlooked the park that would soon house City Hall...
, opened in 1798 Charlotte became one of its leading actresses.
Unfortunately, Charlotte, still playing youthful parts in her late-40's was no longer in the prime of life, and her figure had grown bulky - "far beyond the sphere of embonpoint" as Dunlap commented. She had grown so large that, playing Euphrasia one night she invited another character to stab her, crying, as per the script, "Strike here! Here's blood enough!" at which the audience burst out laughing - she cut the line from all further performances.
Finally becoming aware of the limitations of her size, she took to playing older "matron" parts instead, at which she apparently excelled. She stayed with the Park Theatre until 1805, when she moved to the Chestnut Street Theatre
Chestnut Street Theatre
The Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was the first theater in the United States built by entrepreneurs solely as a venue for paying audiences.-The New Theatre :...
in Philadelphia.
In 1811 she was travelling to fulfil an engagement at the Olympic Theatre, New York, when she was involved in a carriage accident, resulting in a severe fracture to her arm (although rumours that she had been killed were circulating in the press). The fracture failed to heal properly and Charlotte reluctantly had to give up her acting career.
On 12 August 1812, after announcing her retirement from the stage, Charlotte gave her last performance - a 'benefit performance' to raise funds for her retirement - playing Fiammetta
Fiammetta
Fiammetta, Fiametta — pseudonym of Giovanni Boccaccio's beloved and muse, her real name may have been Maria d’Aquino.-Boccaccio's works with her name:* The Filocolo* Teseida* Il Filostrato* Ninfale d'Ameto...
in "The Tale of Mystery" at the Olympic Theatre, New York.
Later Life
Following her 1812 retirement, Charlotte supported herself on the proceeds of a 'respectable tavern' which she had already purchased while still acting, and opened a school for elocution in Washington StreetWashington Street
Washington Street may refer to the following streets:United States*Washington Street , Virginia*Washington Street in Atlanta, a fashionable residential boulevard around 1890-1910, see Washington-Rawson and Peoplestown...
, New York. Later she purchased a cottage in Red Hook Lane, Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
(on present-day Carroll Street) where she established a boarding house and a school which she ran until her death. Her pupils included children from some of the wealthiest and best-known Brooklyn famies, including the Cornell, Pierpoint, Cutting, Jackson and Luquer families.
She died, aged 74, on 28 September 1823 and was buried in the Catholic graveyard on the site of what is now St Patrick's Cathedral, New York. The Washington Quarterly
Washington Quarterly
The Washington Quarterly, often abbreviated TWQ, is a journal of international affairs, analyzing global strategic changes and their public policy implications, published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Taylor & Francis. It addresses topics such as: the U.S...
obituary said of her "her talent, particularly in the higher walks of tragedy, was very generally acknowledged. She was much esteemed for her excellent private character."
External links
- The Cambridge Guide to the American Theatre
- A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians (Vol 10) on Google Books
- John Green: "Theatre in Belfast 1736-1800"
- A History of the City of Brooklyn. Including The Old Town And Village Of Brooklyn, The Town Of Bushwick, And The Village And City Of Williamsburgh. Vol.II. Chapter II on Google Books