Jacob Aaron Westervelt (January 20, 1800 – February 21, 1879) was a renowned and prolific shipbuilder who constructed 247 vessels''Ships and Shipping of Old New York (1915)'' by the Bank of the Manhattan Company, page 48. of all descriptions during his career of over 50 years. From 1853 until 1855 he was

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

."Mayors of New York City"
. Official website of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services — The Green Book. Retrieved on March 14, 2009. Together with his partners (Westervelt & MacKay and Westervelt & Sons) he designed some of the fastest and most successful

sailing packets Generally, packet trade is any regularly scheduled cargo, passenger and mail trade conducted by ship. The ships are called "packet boats" as their original function was to carry mail. A "packet ship" was originally a vessel employed to carry post ...

, clippers and steamships ever built, among these the screw sloop and the clipper , as well as many vessels for foreign governments and Royal Houses. Westervelt was awarded the Order of Isabella the Catholic by the Queen of Spain for the preparation of models and plans for three Spanish frigates. For many years he was the President of the Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Marine Society, the Port Society and the St. Nicholas Society. He was also President of the Board of Dock Commissioners for several years. After Westervelt's death, the flags at City Hall were lowered to half-mast.

Early life (1800–1817)

Westervelt was the eldest son of Ari and Vrowti Westervelt. Ari Westervelt was a builder by occupation. He built several houses in Franklin Street, New York, and constructed the South Church in Schraalenburgh in today's

Bergenfield Bergenfield is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 28,321, an increase of 1,557 from the 2010 censuscount of 26,764, Westervelt was born in Tenafly, New Jersey, on January 20, 1800, and was baptized at Schraalenburgh on February 16, being the first child to receive that

sacrament A sacrament is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments ...

after the completion of the new church. The Westervelts then resided at the old family homestead on Tenafly Road midway between Englewood and Tenafly. When Ari Westervelt was working on improving the riverfront, he moved, together with his infant son, to New York in 1804, to be nearer his work. It was to his father that Jacob Aaron owed his good education. His father died when Westervelt was only 14. The sources differ as to Westervelt's further education and early career. He received additional education under the tutelage of James P. Forrester, then headmaster of the school connected with the Collegiate (Dutch) Church in New York, and was afforded greater educational opportunities under Barron & Brown, in a special course on

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

and navigation. Afterwards he went to sea, serving on ships for more than two years. He left the sea in 1817 and became an apprentice under Christian Bergh, a prosperous shipbuilder on the East River. A differing source reports that he went to sea directly after his father's death,''Steamboat Days (1925)'', by Dayton, Fred Erving, chapter 19. while another states that he was already apprenticed to Christian Bergh in 1814.Death of an ex-Mayor — career of Jacob A. Westervelt
in ''The New York Times'' from February 22, 1879, page 2. Retrieved on March 16, 2009.

Christian Bergh's shipyard (1817–1836)

Westervelt learned the "art, trade and mystery" of his profession in a most independent way—as a teenage sailor and as an apprentice to Christian Bergh, for whom he worked at the very latest from the year 1817. Such was his talent that he was in Bergh's absolute confidence. Before even graduating from his apprenticeship, Westervelt accepted an offer to start business in

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

, where he undertook the construction of two

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

s, with the help of African American slaves from planters in and around Charleston (with his employer's consent). He was so successful during those few months that he continued in business there, but he found the environment too confining for his ambitions and in 1822 he returned to New York, where he formed a partnership with

Robert Carnley The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, ho ...

and his old master under the name of C. Bergh & Co. Some of the ships built by Bergh and Westervelt were ''Hope'' (1825), ''Henry IV'' (1826), ''Charlemagne'' (1828), ''Albany'' (1831), ''Philadelphia'' (1832), ''Utica'' (1833), ''Westminster'' (1835), and ''Toronto'' (1835). Christian Bergh retired a wealthy man in 1837, and was succeeded by his sons Henry and Edwin Bergh, who continued the business until just after their father's death in 1843.''History of New York ship yards (1909)'' by John Harrison Morrison, page 44, reprint by University of Michigan Library 2006, .''Heritage of Care (2007)'' by Marion S. Lane, Stephen Zawistowski, Marty (FRW) Beck, page 3, .

Westervelt & Co. shipyard (1836–1864)

In 1836 Westervelt built at least two ships under his own name, the ''Baltimore'' and ''Mediator'', in partnership with the 22-year-old ship chandler Marshall Owen Roberts as Westervelt & Roberts."Palmer List of Merchant Vessels"
Retrieved on March 28, 2009. (Archived by WebCite at ). Soon after Christian Bergh's retirement, Westervelt and Robert Carnley made an extensive tour of Europe, visiting the principal shipbuilding points, where Westervelt gathered information that he subsequently put to good use. Westervelt found an inactive life disagreeable and, after a year of travel, returned to the dry docks in 1838 and resumed shipbuilding. There are differing reports as to the start of this new chapter of Westervelt's life. On one side it is stated that Westervelt bought out his former partners Carnley and the Bergh brothers and took control of the Bergh shipyard, at the foot of Gouverneur Street and extending to Water Street and up to Scammel. Other sources state that Westervelt and William MacKay (not to be confused with Canadian shipbuilder Donald McKay) established one of a few new yards at Corlear's Hook (the block bounded by Third, Goerck and Houston Streets) in 1841 and moved to Lewis and Seventh Street in 1844.''History of New York ship yards (1909)'' by John Harrison Morrison, pages 95–97, reprint by University of Michigan Library 2006, . Westervelt may also have designed and built ships in connection with Edward Mills. The shipyard Westervelt & MacKay, later Westervelt & Sons (which Westervelt formed with his sons Aaron J. and Daniel),''The clipper ship era: an epitome of famous American and British clipper ships, their owners, builders, commanders, and crews, 1843–1869 (1910)'' by Arthur Hamilton Clark, page 48, . became prominent and prospered. Together with MacKay and his sons he built 50 steamships, 93 traditional sailing vessels and clippers, 5 barques, 14

s, one sloop, two lightships, and 11 pilot boats—a total of 181 vessels of 150,624 tons. Some of his noteworthy pilot boats are: * Mary and Catherine (1848) * Christian Bergh (1851) * Enchantress (1851) * ''George W. Blunt'' (1856) * Edwin Forrest (1855) *

Abraham Leggett The ''Abraham Leggett'' was a 19th-century New York pilot boat built by Daniel Westervelt at the Westervelt & Co. shipyard. She helped transport New York City maritime pilots between inbound or outbound ships coming into the New York Harbor. In ...

(1870) Westervelt built more vessels of medium tonnage than any builder of his time. Some of his noteworthy

are: *The ''Constellation'' (1849), built for the Robert Kermit Red Star Line—1,534 tons; 201 feet 10 inches x 41 feet x 28 feet (length x beam x depth of hold); 3 decks; draft 23 feet. This was the largest sailing vessel in the New York–Liverpool packet service at that time. The ''Constellation'' carried between 800 and 900 steerage passengers per passage on the lower deck (the 912 steerage passengers she discharged on 29 May 1851 was a record at the time). *The and the ''Waterloo'' were among the fastest on the North Atlantic route. (Under the pressure of competition, packet schedules were tightened and sailings reorganized due to disasters, new launchings, etc. In 1844–1848, several ships made three-month round trips instead of the traditional four months, calculated from one Liverpool departure to the following one.) *The , a packet sailing between New York and London on a regular schedule. She was built in 1846 in New York by Westervelt & MacKay and owned by E. E. Morgan. The ship is renowned because of the

sea shanty A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ''shanty ...

"Clear the track", also called "Clear the track, let the bullgine run" or simply "Margaret Evans".

Clipper ships

Westervelt also built

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...

s, for example ''Contest'' (1852), '' Hornet'' (1851), N.B. Palmer (1851), ''Kathay'' (1853), and . Clipper bows were distinctively narrow and heavily raked forward, allowing them to rapidly clip through the waves. The first archetypal clipper, with sharply raked

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

, counter stern and square rig, was '' Ann McKim'', built in Baltimore in 1833 by Kennard & Williamson. For some historians, the '' Rainbow'' was the first true "Yankee clipper". She was built in 1845 to a new design by the American naval architect John Willis Griffiths who is said to have based his design on the owner's previous ship ''Ann McKim''. This type of vessel had been in demand for the China trade, but they were rather small. From the experience gained in the service of these first clippers, the builder soon found the changes that were necessary in the design for the building of larger and faster ships demanded in 1850 for the California, China and Australia clipper routes.

Westervelt's clippers

The greatest New York clippers took shape in the yards of Westervelt and his friend William H. Webb. The ''N.B. Palmer'' was perhaps the most famous clipper built in the Westervelt yard, besides the ''Sweepstakes''. In China she was known as "the Yacht", and with her nettings in the tops, brass guns, gold stripe, and her lavish entertainment on the Fourth of July and Washington's Birthday, she well deserved the title. A full-rigged model of the ''N.B. Palmer'' was exhibited at The Crystal Palace, London, in 1851, and attracted much attention as a fine example of the American clipper ship. In 1858–1859 the ''N.B. Palmer'' with her 28-year-old Captain Hingham had tied the record of 82 days for the Shanghai to New York run. The ''Sweepstakes'', though black-hulled like other clippers, bore a stripe of gold, found on only a few others like the ''N.B. Palmer'', and was praised for her sleek lines and speed. ''Sweepstakes'' (which was the last clipper to be built by the Westervelt shipyard) gained celebrity for her record-breaking seventy-four-day run from New York to Bombay in 1857, and for making the trip between New York City and San Francisco in only 106 days.

The end of the clipper ship era

The economic boom spurred on by the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

that had brought on the era of the clipper ships had turned to bust. All the secrets of building lofty clippers had been discovered and there were too many of them in existence. The dropping freight rates now gave no incentive to build any more. The San Francisco market was so saturated that many a disgusted ship captain dumped unwanted cargo overboard in the bay before sailing on to other ports. The diary of Robert Underhill, which recorded his 1856 travels on the ''Sweepstakes'', revealed that Westervelt was also traveling on this voyage to San Francisco and the

Orient The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...

. Underhill's entries made clear that Westervelt recognized the economic situation facing the port of New York and was seeking other possible venues for the family business. By 1859 most of the extreme clippers had been dismasted more than once after half a decade or more of relentless hard driving. All were in a leaky condition, and most of their owners were by then in dire financial straits and could not afford expensive repairs to clippers that could not find a paying cargo to justify such expenses. Their masts were cut down, their yards shortened and their sails reduced as they were refitted and re-rigged with the new Howes rig to make them easier to handle by smaller crews. Other less fortunate clippers were discarded outright and sold for a pittance.

Steamboats and steamships

Some historians take the view that Westervelt built the first true American steamship that crossed the Atlantic to Europe. The

Marquis A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

Claude de Jouffroy d'Abbans from France invented and constructed the first

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

, the so-called ''Palmipède'', in 1774, and a second one, the steamboat , in 1783. Robert Fulton built the first commercially successful steam paddleship in the US, the (also known as ''Clermont'') in 1807, using a Boulton and Watt engine. The is usually said to be the first steamship to cross the Atlantic (in 1819). She was originally planned as a sailing ship but was changed into a steamer. Because she did not make the entire passage under steam, some dispute the ''Savannah''s claim as the pioneering ocean steamer of the Atlantic. The British steamer ''City of Kingston'' and the , a Quebec-built craft, have been suggested as the first true steamers to make the crossing. Steamship Washington - 1847

Three side-wheel steamers were also built in New York: the ''Lion'' and the ''Eagle'' (subsequently ''Regent'' and ''Congress''), built in 1841 by Jacob Bell for the Spanish navy, and at about the same time the ''Kamschatka'' built by William H. Brown for the Russian navy. After the ''Savannah'', there was no steamship owned or run by an American company that navigated the Atlantic Ocean to a port in Europe until 1847. In 1846 began inquiries regarding the building of steamships for regularly scheduled transatlantic service. Edward Mills, a novice in the shipping business, led a syndicate that received the contract for mail delivery to Le Havre and

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

for five years. With his associates C. H. Sand, Mortimer Livingston and John L. Stephens, he founded the Ocean Steam Navigation Company in May 1846.Morrison 1903, p. 408. The company was unable to attract sufficient capital to carry out its original business plan to build four ships and instead ordered two ships from Westervelt & MacKay, ''Washington'' and ''Hermann'' (1848). The Westervelt shipyard built the

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

, and the engines were made by Stillman, Allen & Co. This was one of the less successful chapters in the history of the Westervelt shipyard. Both paddle steamers were said to be slow and had insufficient cargo space, and the government soon revoked the Le Havre portion of the mail contract because of the line's poor performance. Arago (steamship 1855) 01

Westervelt and his associates later built very successful steamships. Through 1850 they built 8 of the 38 steamships constructed in New York until that year, including the ''Franklin'' and ''Havre'' (the first steam vessels for the Havre Line), followed by and ''Rhode Island'' (for the government) and ''Eagle'' and ''Morro Castle'' (for Spofford, Tileston & Company). Westervelt & Sons also built ''Foong Shuey'', afterwards named ''Plymouth Rock'', of 287 feet in length, with an engine from the Lake Erie steamer ''Plymouth Rock''. This vessel made the voyage from New York to Singapore in 51 days. (The all-time record for a sailing vessel on that route is 78 days.) The

SS Winfield Scott SS ''Winfield Scott'' was a sidewheel steamer that transported passengers and cargo between San Francisco, California and Panama in the early 1850s, during the California Gold Rush. After entering a heavy fog off the coast of Southern Califor ...

built in 1850 by Westervelt & MacKay, wrecked on Middle Anacapa Island in 1853, and has been the object of numerous

salvage Salvage may refer to: * Marine salvage, the process of rescuing a ship, its cargo and sometimes the crew from peril * Water salvage, rescuing people from floods. * Salvage tug, a type of tugboat used to rescue or salvage ships which are in dis ...

operations since; she currently rests underwater as part of the Channel Islands National Park and Marine Sanctuary. The wreck site of the ''Winfield Scott'' is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Warships and ships for governments

By 1855, the gold rush was over and Westervelt, like other shipbuilders, began looking for new markets to keep his yard busy, as the shipping lines that had carried almost 2.7 million emigrants across the Atlantic by sailing vessels between 1846 and 1855,were ordering fewer ships than before. The declining trend continued because of the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. Between 1855 and the end of the war in 1865, only 1.4 million emigrants were conveyed from Europe to the United States. On March 3, 1857 the U.S. Congress authorized five screw sloops of war, one of them the (the first ship so named by the U.S. Navy). It was laid down later that year by Westervelt and his sons, launched in 1858, and commissioned on January 26, 1859 with Captain (later Admiral) David G. Farragut in command. USS ''Brooklyn'' was active in

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

operations until the start of the American Civil War. In 1861 she was an active participant in the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America. She received orders for many different missions: she was one of the ships that attacked the Forts St. Philip and Jackson, and under the command of Captain

James Alden, Jr. James Alden Jr. (March 31, 1810 – February 6, 1877) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy. In the Mexican–American War he participated in the captures of Veracruz, Tuxpan, and Tabasco. Fighting on the Union side in the Civil War, he took ...

she was part of the fleet that helped to blockade Mobile Bay. During the battle of Mobile Bay, which lasted a little more than three hours, 54 of ''Brooklyn''s crew were killed and 43 wounded while firing 183 projectiles. After spending the next few weeks helping reduce the Confederate land works guarding the entrance, ''Brooklyn'' departed Mobile Bay on September 6, 1864 and headed for Hampton Roads for service in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Soon thereafter, ''Brooklyn'' was in the task force that arrived off Fort Fisher on January 13, 1865, and her guns supported the attack until the fort surrendered on January 15. Since this victory completed the last major task of the Union Navy during the Civil War, ''Brooklyn'' sailed north and was decommissioned at the

New York Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a ...

on January 31, 1865. Admiral Farragut declared ''Brooklyn'' to have been the most efficient

man-of-war The man-of-war (also man-o'-war, or simply man) was a Royal Navy expression for a powerful warship or frigate from the 16th to the 19th century. Although the term never acquired a specific meaning, it was usually reserved for a ship armed wi ...

in the American navy. Besides the ''Brooklyn'', also built at the Westervelt shipyard were the gunboats , and the revenue cutter , all of which performed efficient blockading services during the war. Westervelt also built many vessels for foreign governments, among these the frigate ''Hope'' in 1825 for the Greek government, ''Guadalquiver'' for Spain, and ''Eusiyama'' for Japan. Westervelt was awarded the Order of Isabella the Catholic by the Queen of Spain for the preparation of models and plans for three Spanish frigates.

Postwar slump and closure (1861–1868)

The most successful year for Westervelts's yard was 1858 when 12 ships were built (aggregating 14,081 tons). At the outbreak of the Civil War, Westervelt was one of the richest shipowners in the country. He was a supporter of the Union cause. President Abraham Lincoln esteemed his judgment highly, and entrusted him with the purchase of many of the river craft which were altered to suit the demands of

blockading A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are l ...

and transport service. Westervelt accepted nothing for such service, but contented himself with the profits accruing from his shipyard. It was during this period that his fortune shrank very much faster than it had been accumulated. Steamer after steamer was wrecked, burned or captured by Confederate cruisers, until at the close of the war he was almost bankrupt. During one year alone his losses from marine casualties amounted to $500,000. After the end of the Civil War in 1865, the U.S. government auctioned off the hundreds of ships it had requisitioned during the war at firesale prices, depressing the market and leaving American shipyards with no work. The result was that most American shipyards, along with

marine engine An inboard motor is a marine propulsion system for boats. As opposed to an outboard motor where an engine is mounted outside the hull of the craft, an ''inboard motor'' is an engine enclosed within the hull Hull may refer to: Structures * C ...

specialists, failed. Not only the Westervelt shipyard, but the whole shipbuilding industry in New York was badly affected by the slump, being practically wiped out in the ensuing years. As the demise of shipbuilding after the war afforded him little opportunity to recover from his losses, the firm was dissolved in 1868, with no large surplus of assets. By this time Westervelt had constructed 247 ships with his partners, more than any other American shipbuilder in his day.

Dock Commissioner (1870–1879)

When the Dock Department was created in 1870,

Wilson G. Hunt ''Wilson G. Hunt'' was a steamboat that ran in the early days of steam navigation on Puget Sound and Sacramento, Fraser, and Columbia Rivers. She was generally known as the ''Hunt'' during her years of operation. She had a long career on the we ...

prevailed upon Westervelt to accept the duties of Superintendent of the Department. His management was characterized by prudence, sagacity and honesty. When William Frederick Havemeyer became Mayor in 1873, Westervelt was appointed a Commissioner of Docks and at the same time elected President of the Board of Dock Commissioners (which position he also held at the time of his death), and as such made tremendous improvements in piers and docks. His chief engineer, whom he selected in July 1870, was General George B. McClellan, and his secretary General was Louis Fitzgerald. In 1875

George S. Greene Jr. George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

became the new chief engineer. As Dock Commissioner, Westervelt followed in the footsteps of his father by continuing to improve the riverfront. In 1873 the draughtsmen and engineers in the office of the Engineer-in-Chief were engaged in the preparation of maps and drawings to show the

grants of land A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

under water, around, and adjoining the island of Manhattan which had been made by either the state or Municipal governments from 1696 till 1873. They were also been engaged in the preparation of plans for a proposed exterior bulkhead wall which was planned to be built all around the city. A new dock system was also proposed of which the main feature was a wide river street encircling the waterfront to afford ample accommodation for the movement of freight and its transportation by rail. The new river and sea wall was to be constructed of granite and a Beton concrete, composed of Portland cement and broken stone. From this wall projecting into the river were a series of piers constructed of wood, iron, and stone. The large concrete blocks used in the construction of the new river wall were manufactured at the yards of the Dock Commission in Gansevoort Street, Manhattan. Two to three blocks, of forty to fifty tons each, were made daily. Westervelt was closely involved in these improvements.

Political career

Start in politics (1840–1852)

Westervelt was politically an ardent but not very active Democrat. In 1840 he was elected to the Common Council, in which he served for two years as an Alderman from the thirteenth ward.''Eighteenth Annual Report (1920)'' from the Bergen County Historical Society, Hackensack, New Jersey (number 13, pages 61–62). Westervelt stepped back from active political involvement for a couple of years, but remained a shrewd observer of current affairs and recognized nuisances and the needs of the people of "his" town. He witnessed sharply increasing taxes between 1850 and 1852 and the establishment of a reform movement that began to decry excessive government spending. Grand jury revelations of widespread corruption on the common council heightened such concerns. Reformers mobilized and ran the Democratic incumbents out of office, electing in their place a combination of Whigs and reform Democrats committed to "economy" in government. In November 1852 Westervelt was nominated for Mayor of the city by reformist representatives of the Democratic party. The mayoralty election was held at the same time as the presidential election, and the Democrats were successful in both.

Election as Mayor (1853–1855) and political goals

Westervelt was elected by a majority of 10,000, the largest ever received by a candidate up to that time (being nearly as much indebted to Whigs as to Democrats for his seat), against the most popular member of the Whig party, Alderman Morgan Morgans, carrying his own ward by a majority of nearly 1,000, and only a few votes behind the electoral ticket for President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...

. The new mayor inherited the bad financial situation of the city, corrupt politicians, and an ailing police system. In his first message to the Community Council he declared the subjects he planned to deal with first, and that according to him, needed the attention of the council:

Mayor Westervelt and the police

Westervelt's term was marked by many reforms of the city's police. One of the most controversial was his attempt to enforce a police uniform. In 1844, New York City's population of 320,000 was served by an archaic police force, consisting of one

night watch Night Watch or Nightwatch may refer to: Books * ''The Night Watch'', a 1977 memoir by Central Intelligence Agency officer David Atlee Phillips Novels * ''Night Watch'', a 1972 novel by American screenwriter Lucille Fletcher * ''Night Watch'', a 1 ...

, one hundred

city marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...

s, thirty-one

constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

s, and fifty-one municipal police officers.''American Metropolis: A History of New York City (1998)'' by George L. Lankevich, pages 84–85, . On 7 May 1844, the state legislature approved a proposal that authorized creation of a city police force, along with abolition of the nightwatch system. Under Mayor William Havemeyer, the NYPD was reorganized on May 13, 1845, with the city divided into three districts, with courts, magistrates, and clerks, and station houses. Within eight years this system showed weaknesses. '' The New York Times'' wrote in 1853, "Our police are inefficient. Worse has been said of them." Another publication delineated the situation much more precisely: It was Mayor Westervelt's stated aim to sort out the bad seed.Examples of such occurrences in the article
Meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners
in ''The New York Times'' from September 27, 1853, page 3. Retrieved on March 24, 2009. In 1853 an administrative body was created, called the Board of Police Commissioners, consisting of Mayor Westervelt, the recorder and the city judge. Apart from the fact that the chief of police was selected by the Mayor with the Board's approval, the Board had full powers of appointment and dismissal of all members of the force and was charged with general administrative duties.''American Police Systems (1920)'' by Raymond B. Fosdick (Raymond Blaine), pages 67–69, . In nothing was the undisciplined attitude of the police more clearly shown than in their refusal to wear uniforms. "Un-American", "undemocratic", "militarism", "King's livery", "a badge of degradation and servitude"—ideas of this kind formed the basis of opposition against Westervelt's wish to put policemen in uniform, mainly from the force itself and an influential number of citizens who deemed it "unrepublican" to put the servants of the city in livery. On June 24, 1854 there was a large, angry meeting of 1,000–1,500 policemen. The objects of the meeting were stated in a notice posted prominently in the streets and published in the morning papers: Westervelt's position was clear: that a uniform incites a high degree of chivalrous sentiment, that it involves a "pride of cloth", and that the wearer knows that if he disgraces it he disgraces himself and the profession in which he serves. Westervelt earned many party enemies by his determined policy to keep appointments to the police force, which were then a large part of the patronage appertaining to the mayoralty, free from political influence.

Mayor Westervelt's influence on tourism

By the early 1850s New York had grown to sufficient size and prominence that the city decided to host a major exhibition of the type that London had pioneered in 1851. Such early exhibitions were forerunners of the later world's fairs. The Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations opened during the term of Mayor Westervelt on July 14, 1853, in a sparsely developed part of the city. Fortieth and Forty-second streets bounded the fair's four-acre site to the immediate west of the Croton Distributing Reservoir—today's Bryant Park. Within New York's Crystal Palace, designed by

Karl Gildemeister Karl Gildemeister (11 October 1820 – 8 February 1869) was a German architect. Life Gildemeister was born in Bremen, where he was first apprenticed to his relative, the Bremen J. E. Polzin. In 1843 he enrolled at the Karlsruhe Polytechnic Scho ...

, four thousand exhibitors displayed the industrial wares, consumer goods, and artworks of the nation.''History of the city of New York: its origin, rise and progress'' by Martha J. Lamb & Burton Harrison, pages 358–359. Westervelt was President of the Exhibition, which set off one of the first major tourism booms in New York; many hotels were built to handle the influx of visitors. Over one million people visited the Crystal Palace Exhibition, which closed on November 1, 1854 (in spite of its popularity, the exhibition's sponsors lost $300,000 on the venture). The structure remained standing after the fair, and was leased for a variety of purposes before being destroyed by fire on October 5, 1858.

Controversial opinions

Proposed reduction of Central Park

Mayor Westervelt did not shy away from unpopular decisions if he considered them to serve the general good. In 1853 the New York legislature designated a area from 59th to 106th Streets for the creation of the planned Central Park, though the land alone cost over $5 million. At the time, the city's finances were declining, and Westervelt was concerned about overspending and the state's regulatory overreach in its decision to designate such a large area. There were several competing proposals to curtail the park, but no decision was made until March 1855, when the city's board of councilmen voted 14-to-3 to trim both the lower thirteen blocks (from 59th to 72nd Streets) and four hundred feet from each side of Central Park. However, on March 23, 1855, the new Democratic Mayor, Fernando Wood, vetoed the measure.

Riots

The New York Draft Riots, the worst riots in United States history with respect to lives lost, took place during the Civil War in 1863, when immigrant factory workers forcibly resisted the federal government's military draft. In the United States, the period from 1820 to 1870 was generally characterized by conflicts on the domestic front, such as the police riots and the riots of the Know-Nothing movement. It was during Westervelt's term as mayor that some of the first Know-Nothing riots occurred. This nativist American political movement was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by Irish Catholic immigrants, who were often regarded as hostile to American values and controlled by the Pope in Rome. This body of thought was often propagated by street preachers. One of the most ambivalent characters was Reverend Mr. Parsons, who had been in the habit of regularly preaching on the wharves, in shipyards and other "obscure" places along the East and North Rivers. On December 11, 1853 he planted himself upon a pile of timber in the Westervelt & MacKay shipyard. His voice traveled far, and in the course of half an hour there was an assemblage of some ten thousand people. As a result of his speech a serious riot occurred and on the orders of Mayor Westervelt the preacher was taken into custody. Some Know-Nothinger hastened to the station house with the intention of liberating him. Finding no redress there, five thousand excited men marched to 308 East Broadway and surrounded the residence of Mayor Westervelt. Finding that he was absent from home, they contented themselves with daubing a large cross on the door. The feelings of the members of this movement against the participation of foreign-born citizens in municipal affairs had grown very bitter, and Westervelt set himself so sternly against them that his house was mobbed again. Probably due to the paucity of support for his reformist efforts during his term, but also because he applied himself more and more to the business of shipbuilding again, Westervelt declined a renomination, which for him was equivalent to an election, and was succeeded as Mayor by Fernando Wood. In 1857 Westervelt became a member of the New York State Assembly for Rockland County.

Genealogy of the Westervelt family

Ancestors

Westervelt, as his name indicates, came from old Dutch stock. The name was known in the Netherlands at a very early period, and although the family members were not of nobility, they had been extensive property owners for many generations. The earliest mention of the Westervelts that has been recorded is of a Dirk van Westervelt and his family who resided in and around the town of Harderwijk for many years. Some individuals sharing that name appear to have been early inhabitants of Zwolle, and their descendants are still to be found there, known by the name Westerveld.''Genealogy of the Westervelt family'', by Walter Tallman Westervelt, pages 1–2. In the middle of the 17th century a few Westervelts lived in

Meppel Meppel (; Drents: ''Möppelt'') is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It constitutes the southwestern part of the province of Drenthe. Meppel is the smallest municipality in Drenthe, with a total area of about 57 km² (22 sq ...

, situated a few miles from the eastern shore of the Zuiderzee, in the province of

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nov ...

and three miles east of Zwolle. Amongst them were two brothers, Willem and Lubbert Lubbertsen van Westervelt, both farmers and cattle raisers, who with their wives and children decided to move to the New World. They left Amsterdam on board ("Hope") on April 8, 1662. On their arrival on May 24, 1662,

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...

(which later became New York City) was suffering from a prolonged drought as no rain had fallen for eighty consecutive days. Lubbert settled near

Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is a city in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.New Jers ...

and was one of the promoters of the Dutch Church organized there in 1686. Willem was a member of the

Reformed Protestant Dutch Church Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang *Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

in New Amsterdam (1667), whilst his son lived at New Utrecht on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. This son sold his lands in 1706 and is supposed to have moved to New Jersey, where the family has been numerous and prominent for the past 300 years. William Lubbertsen van Westervelt with his wife and six children, and Lubbert Lubbertsen van Westervelt, with his wife and four children, became the progenitors of the ''van Westervelt/Westervelt'' family in America, and were at one time the second largest family in

Bergen County, New Jersey Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Jacob Aaron Westervelt was a seventh-generation descendant of Lubbert Lubbertsen van Westervelt.

Descendants

Westervelt married Eliza M. Thompson in New York City on April 25, 1825. They had eight children: *John Albert, b. September 15, 1826 *Daniel Demarest, b. November 5, 1827; d. June 4, 1896 *Aaron Jacob, b. March 14, 1829; d. March 9, 1879 *James Thompson, b. October 5, 1830; d. in infancy *Annie Halstead, b. May 12, 1832 *Sophronia, b. December 19, 1834 *Robert Carnley, b. November 25, 1837 *Eliza Mariette, b. July 16, 1841; d. April 21, 1891

External links

Website of the Bergen County Historical Society
Retrieved on March 20, 2009. *

. ''The New York Times'' (February 25, 1879). Retrieved on March 19, 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westervelt, Jacob Aaron 1800 births 1879 deaths American shipbuilders American people of Dutch descent Commissioners of Docks and Ferries of the City of New York Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States Mayors of New York City Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery People from Tenafly, New Jersey New York (state) Democrats 19th-century American politicians