The old merchants of New York City / by Walter Barrett.

OFP J.TE W YORK CITY.

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and Greenwich street, and Warren and Chambers streets,
with Black Sam to show the wax figures.
Black Sam had his garden--the West Ward of
which Mr. Curtinius was Assistant Alderman, and I
think he found in him a banker, or at least a protector.
He was very swarthy, and well known as a public caterer. He afterwards became chief cook and bottlewasher
to General Washington.
When Black Sam gave up the Vauxhall Building,
after the war closed, it was used as the first place of
meeting for public worship by the Roman Catholics in
this city-the first appearance of St. Peter's Church, now
in Barclay street.
His old partner, P. Goelet, was in Hanover square
and kept the store of " The Golden Key," when he
was an extensive dealer in hardware, brushes, music,
ironmongery, and cutlery. Mr. Curtinius was not only
a merchant, but he was an active citizen, and felt that
his destiny was to do more than wait behind the counter. He was one of the first to enroll his name as an
asserter of rights in this city. As soon as the news of
the battle of Lexington reached here on Sunday, he
was among the few that called a meeting of the citizens,
at the Merchants' Coffee-House, where it was they decided
to place the affairs of the city in the hands of a committee of 100. Mr. Curtinius was among the first names
enrolled; so, too, was old Peter Goelet. Mr. Curtinius took an active part in public affairs, and was one of
the most active members of the committee.
He was made Commissary-General of the line in
1776. In June of that year he wrote the following
letter to Col. Richard Varick, about a plot to carry off
General Washington. It failed, and one of the conspirators, Thomas Hickory, who was a private in the
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