Bank of the Manhattan Company | Page 2

AARON BURR, and RICHARD HARRISON,
Recorder of the City of New York, Ex. Officio,
the only absentee being William Edgar.
Daniel Ludlow was chosen President, and the following minute was
made:
The principal object of this incorporation being to obtain a supply of
pure and wholesome water for the City of New York.
RESOLVED that Samuel Osgood, John B. Coles and John Stevens be a
committee to report with all convenient speed the best means to be

pursued to obtain such supply.
[Illustration: OLD WOODEN WATER MAINS]
On May 6th, 1799, the water committee was empowered "to contract
for as many pine logs as they may think necessary for pipes and also
for boring the same."
[Illustration: Contemporary Cartoon]
A number of wells were sunk, reservoirs and tanks built, and the
distributing system extended generally through the city south of City
Hall.
About 1836 the system was extended north along Broadway as far as
Bleecker Street, and at that time the company had about twenty-five
miles of mains and supplied 2,000 houses.
[Illustration: MANHATTAN COMPANY RESERVOIR ON
CHAMBERS STREET]
While the water was said to be "wholesome," its quality did not give
entire satisfaction, as may be seen from the muddiness of the water in
the glass held by "Pure Manhattan" in the contemporary cartoon
reproduced on the opposite page.
Over one of the earliest wells, at the corner of Reade and Center Streets,
a tank of iron plates was erected. This tank is now inclosed in an
old-fashioned building which is still owned by the Manhattan
Company.
The Company continued to operate its water service until about the
time the Croton system was completed in 1842.
[Illustration: OLD WATER GATE DUG UP IN PARK ROW IN 1900]

FOUNDING AND EARLY HISTORY OF THE BANK

On April 17, 1799, a committee of the Directors was appointed
"to consider the most proper means of employing the capital of the
Company."
The committee reported on June 3, 1799, in favor of opening an office
of discount and deposit, and a house was bought on the site of the
present No. 40 Wall Street, in which, on September 1, 1799, the "Bank"
of the Manhattan Company began business.
The following is one of the earliest advertisements, reproduced from
the Mercantile Advertiser, October 9, 1799:
MANHATTAN COMPANY.
The Office of Discount and Deposit will open for the transaction of
business, for the present, at 10 o'clock in the forenoon, and continue
open until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when the business of the day will
be closed.
HENRY REMSEN, Cashier.
September 24.
[Illustration: WALL STREET IN 1803 Present No. 40 Wall Street]
The first action of the Directors after the opening of the Bank was:
RESOLVED, That this Board will hereafter meet twice a week, to wit,
on Mondays and Thursdays of each week, at 11 o'clock.
The policy of semi-weekly meetings still prevails in the Manhattan
Company, and its Board of twelve Directors keeps in close touch with
all its affairs.
[Illustration: MANHATTAN COMPANY CURRENCY]
Two months after the Bank was opened the Directors

RESOLVED, That a committee be appointed to visit the vaults and
examine the cash and look over the effects of the Manhattan Company
deposited therein.
Thus, at the outset, the Manhattan Company required its Directors
periodically to examine its cash and securities, a safeguard which, 106
years later, the State of New York made compulsory for all State
banking institutions.
The Bank of the Manhattan Company was profitable from the start and
commenced paying dividends in July 1800. The total dividends to and
including January, 1913, have aggregated $19,726,000.
[Illustration: FRACTIONAL CURRENCY USED IN UTICA]
Although the main office of the Bank has always been at the present No.
40 Wall Street, in the autumn of 1805 all the banks moved temporarily
to the Village of Greenwich to escape the usual autumn fever epidemic.
The Directors then determined to provide a country office for use
during the "sickly season." Many persons offered sites; among them
"Mr. Astor proposed verbally to cede eight lots of ground near
Greenwich, being part of his purchase from Gov. Clinton." Finally land
was acquired between the "Bowery Road" and the East River. From
1809 to 1819 branches of the Bank were maintained in Utica and
Poughkeepsie.
In 1805 negotiations were consummated for a "union of the capitals
and interests" of the New York State Bank of Albany and the
Manhattan Company. A bill authorizing the consolidation was offered
in the Legislature, but it failed to pass, and the plan was abandoned.
In 1808 the Legislature, in enacting certain amendments to the Charter
of the Manhattan Company, reserved for the State the right to take
1,000 shares of its capital stock. This right was exercised and the
capital stock was increased for the purpose from $2,000,000 to