LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - MAY 14, 2023 by Lynne Belluscio It’s always great to learn more about the LeRoy family and sometimes new information comes in obscure places. When I worked at Genesee Country Museum I needed information about early hand and horse-drawn equipment for the Firemen’s Muster. I bought a book by Kenneth Holcomb Dunshee, “As You Pass By.”* It had great information about fires and firefighting equipment. When I came to the LeRoy Historical Society, it was one of the books that was helpful when I was doing research about all the early fires in LeRoy. But I never guessed that there would be information about the LeRoy family in the book. In the chapter about the “Lords of Hanover Square,” there are a couple of maps and a great sketch. The chapter is about the great 1835 fire in New York City. One map shows the extent of the fire and shows where Hanover Square was located in comparison to the rest of lower Manhattan. The other map requires keen eyes to spot the location of LeRoy, Bayard & C. MCHTS 1790 in the Coffee Exchange and the Cotton Exchange. This map also shows the point of view that the artist created when looking up Hanover Square. The sketch shows what the area might have looked like in the early 1800s. Looking at the sketch, the building of LeRoy and Bayard is on the right, up a few buildings. An interesting note in the story of the Lords of Hanover Square is the story of Molly, a Black slave. She is credited with being the first woman firefighter and she was owned by John Aymar. He was “one of the last of the old Knickerbockers of New York” and probably was a contemporary of Herman LeRoy. John Aymar was among the wealthier old aristocrats in NewYork and wore a long-tailed coat, knee britches, silver shoe-buckles and his hair in a queue. As for Molly, the men of Company 11 called Molly, “Volunteer Number 11.” She considered herself a very important member and often “was seen running at the sound of an alarm in her calico dress and checkered apron, a clean bandanna handkerchief neatly folded across her breast, and another wound about her head”. The story goes on... “Once during a blinding snowstorm there was a fire in William Street, and it was hard work to draw the engine; but the first to take hold of the drag rope that day was Molly, pulling away for dear life. “When asked what engine she belonged to, she always replied that she belonged to “old 'leven.” The men of the engine house wrote, “You could not look at Molly without being impressed by her really honest face. It was a beaming lighthouse of good-nature.” More than likely, by 1835 when the fire broke out, the LeRoy family was not in business anymore. They had reached their pinnacle of prosperity during the War of 1812. Herman had served as President of the Bank of New York and LeRoy, Bayard and MacEvers was doing business around the world. Their lawyer was Alexander Hamilton.They loaned money to Thomas Jefferson as well as other prominent people of that day. Herman had secured an important political tie with the Federalist Party by marrying his daughter, Caroline, to Daniel Webster. Herman had also invested heavily in land inWestern NewYork, Ohio and Pennsylvania and sent his son Jacob to LeRoy to serve as land agent. Herman was ready to retire. His business partner, Egbert Benson had died and his nephew had taken his share of the business. He had agreed to finance the building of three ships for the revolutionists of Greece. Only one ship had been built, and it was not seaworthy. The representatives from Greece wanted justice and took their case to court and although they did not win the case, the negative publicity virtually put LeRoy and Bayard out of business. The land in Western New York was mostly sold, and Jacob and his family returned to New York. The rest of his story is still well known. His wife Charlotte died, and Jacob remarried her cousin shortly after. Herman died in 1841, and the LeRoy family, once one of the wealthiest families in New York City, disappears. A beautiful piece of their silver is in the collection of the New York Historical Society, as well as a family portrait. Herman’s portrait hangs in LeRoy House, purchased at auction in Ohio many years ago and on a map, in an obscure book, is the location of LeRoy, & Bayard Merchants, one of the Lords of Hanover Square. A phenomenal book about the Fire of 1835, was recently published and received great reviews. “Manhattan Phoenix: The Great Fire of 1835 and the Emergence of Modern New York” by Daniel Levy. It’s a great book, and although it refers to “As You Pass By,” it makes no mention of the LeRoys. *“As You Pass By” has been republished and is considered to be significant and culturally relevant to the history of today. The Lords of Hanover Square
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