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

212

THE OLD.41ER C ILJ"X'S

children; beirerets and castor hats. IHe turns and
dresses old hats."
After the war, I think S.amuel Broomwe moved out
of the city, to a place called Greenfield Hill.
He was, however, a partner in the liouse of Bi ome,
Platt & Co. The partner in the house was his
brother-in-law, Jeremiah Platt, a merchant of the city.
The company was Colonel Joseph Fay - at least he
signed by power of attorney for the partners, Sam.
Broome and Jeremiah Platt. Mr. Fay lived at No. 6
Stone street.
In after years, 14th Ja:nuary, 1804, his daughter
Caroline married Joseph D. Fay, a son of the Colonel.
Young Fay became an eminent lawyer, and lived in
Murray street about fifty years ago. Samuel Broome
had twin sons, born during the war, 4th June, 1779.
He baptized one George Washington Broome, and the
other Horatio Gates Broome.
Samuel and John Broome were both honorary members of the old Marine Society, having joined it before
1770.
The house of Broome, Platt & Co., was among the
first to go into the Indian trade after the Revolutionary
war had closed.
Canton was an open market, accessible to all nations.
So soon as we became a nation, American ships were
dispatched thither from New York and Philadelphia.
We had gensing in abundance, and then it became an export. Broome & Co. were early in the field. In 1791
we imported from China direct 2,601,852 pounds of
tea.
This altered the tea trade very much. That year
old English houses imported 416,625 pounds of tea
from London. But a comparison of prices in New