Estate / Collection: Collection of a New York Surveyor

[MAPS - NEW YORK CITY]

Map of Property Belonging to Clement C. Moore at Greenwich N.Y. New York: C. Currier's Lith., circa 1850's. Lithographed map, laid down on modern linen. Sheet measures 20 x 12 3/4 inches. Lightly soiled, a few chips and a loss along the right edge, closed edge tears and flattened creases, later manuscript annotations; together with, Three manuscript survey maps of of "The Property Belonging to Clement C. Moore," all copied after the same survey. New York: the first map dates the original survey to May 1828 and is signed J. F. Bridges, December 1829; the second map identifies the original surveyor as Wm. Smith and is signed by Dr. Heindrich Windwart in May 1877, but is possibly later; the third map is not signed or dated but circa mid-nineteenth century. Ink with hand color, laid down on linen. General wear, dust soiling, and toning, some losses, closed tears, and flattened creases, with some later manuscript annotations, the first map is on two sheets of paper joined and is lifting and splitting at the join, the lot sold as is.

While Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863) is best known today as the author of "T'was the Night Before Christmas," he was also a major New York City landowner who developed his family's private estate, Chelsea, into today's neighborhood of the same name. Moore, a bible and ancient language scholar who taught at Columbia College, inherited his mother's family's large country estate, which stretched from 19th to 24th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River. After the commissioner's plan of 1811 determined the expanding city's grid, the government began plans to carve up his property by creatings roads. Ninth Avenue was laid down through the middle of his land in 1815, forcing Moore to relinquish three acres, pay an assessment of $111, and tear down fences and trees standing in the way. Moore was incensed, and published an anonymous tract in 1818 where he complained bitterly about the plan, arguing that making landowners cover the costs of the streets laid through their property was "a tyranny no monarch in Europe would dare to exercise." He also criticized the grid and the leveling of the city's topography as ill-advised, stating that the commissioners "would have cut down the seven hills of Rome." By 1816, Moore had decided to develop his estate with the help of carpenter-builder James N. Wells, and in doing so, became exceedingly wealthy. He divided the neighborhood into lots and marketed them to well-heeled New Yorkers with the requirement they did not build any commercial buildings, a rule that determined the neighborhood's character through today. In 1825, he donated a large swath of land, previously his orchard, to the General Theological Seminary, which is still located there.

The lithographed map is an early print by Charles Currier of Currier and Ives, and shows the Moore property from 10th Avenue to The Hudson River. This map is unrecorded. The three manuscript survey maps show the property from 8th to 10th Avenue. The location and outline of the Moore family home, Chelsea House, just off 23rd and Ninth Avenue, is shown on two survey maps.

For another map showing the Clement C. Moore estate, see lot 58.