14 Vesey Street: Genealogy of an Address - Part II the Meeks, Astor and Cromwell-NYCLA Years by K

June 2007 / New York County Lawyer 11 14 Vesey Street: Genealogy of an Address - Part II The Meeks, Astor and Cromwell-NYCLA Years by K. Jacob Ruppert, J.D. Steuben, Kosciusko, Polaski and Rochambeau at his parents’ home. On The Meeks Years, 1836-1908 November 25, 1783, when the British The rental income from Dr. David forever sailed out of New York harbor, Hosack’s Vesey Street home did not last Meeks, at the age of 12, was at the long as it perished in the Great Fire of Battery amidst the mob toppling the 1835 along with Hosack’s three other Statue of St. George and sawing off the downtown properties. In a sense, Royalist finials atop the fencing sur- Hosack perished too as he died of a rounding it. As one of the founders of stroke five days later. The scorched and Tammany Hall, he was deeply political. snow-covered lot was sold in January of Aged 90 at the beginning of the Civil 1836 for $35,000. Recorded occupancy War, Meeks announced he would volun- of the later building picks up in 1836 teer if necessary to defeat “the descen- when laureate furniture master- dants of the Tories of the Revolution.” craftsman, Joseph Meeks (1771-1868) Meeks prospered as Vesey Street was moves in at 14-16 Vesey Street, becoming the epicenter for such house- replacing his factory at 43 Broad Street, hold staples as furniture, dry goods and which had burned. Meeks, a first-gener- groceries. As one walked west along ation American born to Welsh and Vesey Street, there were docks and the French Huguenot parents, unwittingly Washington Market, the latter of which, witnessed American history as a child. by 1900, was the largest food market in His New York Herald obituary records North America. This access to foot that his mother was the interpreter for traffic and shipping played an indispens- General George Washington and the able role in Meeks’s success. Dating Moving clockwise from the left: 12 Vesey Street in 1853, William Waldorf Astor, French generals under Rochambeau. As back to its rustic beginnings in the 1770s, Astor House (on the corner of Broadway and Vesey Street), the Washington a boy, he often saw Washington, Washington Market, originally called Market in 1853 and the engraving that appeared on the furniture made by Lafayette, Wayne, Schuyler, von Bear Market, started on farmland cabinet-maker J. & J.W. Meeks. donated by Trinity Church. The market However, his firm provides an excellent grew substantially and after the opening case study in the 19th century move from Honoring NYCLA’s past, of the Erie Canal in the 1820s, its growth master craftsman to manufacturer. expanded to encompass the area of Likely apprenticing with his father, Washington, West, Partition (now Joseph Meeks established his cabinet- Fulton) and Vesey Streets. Hundreds of making shop on Broad Street in 1797. celebrating its future independent vendors sold fruits, vegeta- Economic troubles began for his small bles, specialty foods, wild game and live- business soon after the passage of the Hon., Caroline Klein Simon, death in 1993. She served on the stock, unofficially extending the market Non-Importation Act in 1806 and the NYCLA Board in the early 1960s, in as far north as the current meatpacking Embargo Act a year later. By 1819, busi- a pioneer in fighting district, which can trace its roots to ness had picked up and he began to discrimination addition to serving on several NYCLA committees – Practical Washington Market. In 1915, annual develop markets for his work in the trade for the market was estimated at $5 South. The South found itself cut off Hon. Caroline K. Simon, a native Legal Education (1973-1979), million (over $100 million in current dol- from European imports due to protec- Professional Ethics (1974-1985), New Yorker, was born on November lars) and the trade to hotels and restau- tionist policies passed by Congress, as 12, 1900 and graduated from New Judiciary (1981-1985) and Surrogate rants alone fed an estimated one million well as the fallout of the War of 1812. York University School of Law in Court (1985) Committees. people per day. The Vesey Street Ferry, Meeting this demand for northern 1925. Unable to find a law firm that In 1958, Ms. Simon served as legal connecting Manhattan with Hoboken, goods, Meeks established connections in would hire her after she graduated, advisor to the U.S. delegation to the was an additional commercial artery Savannah and New Orleans, eventually Ms. Simon found her true calling – U.N. Human Rights Commission on (and provided access to cheaper residen- expanding his product line by selling advocating for a wide range of issues. Civil Rights. And in January 1959, tial rents for shop owners and dealers) to “sideboards and bureaus, elegant She promoted the placing of women Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller support the trade of not only armoires, ladies’ dressing tables, writing on juries, as well as reform of the ‘New appointed her Secretary of the State Washington Market, but also the busi- desks and tables…mahogany bedsteads, York City Women’s Court,’ a special- of New York. Four years later, she was nesses of Vesey Street. Washington clocks and cases…first quality Windsor ized criminal court established in 1910 appointed to the New York Court of Market closed on December 31, 1956 chairs… .” By 1833, Joseph Meeks & at the behest of vocal anti-prostitution Claims and remained on the bench and was demolished the following year. Sons had become one of the largest fur- crusaders. Plagued by decades of con- until 1971. Thereafter, Judge Simon My family mourned its end because for niture firms in New York City with a troversy, in 1967 the New York City continued her public interest activities decades, we had purchased Westphalian specialty in rococo revival. Women’s Court closed its doors. and published articles on a variety of ham and German cheeses from Henry It is uncertain as to when Joseph Ms. Simon was also an advocate for issues, among them, discrimination, W. Rieger, a stall owner since 1896. The Meeks retired from the firm, but upon its education and birth control. Active in jury service, youthful offenders and Washington Market area was con- move to 14 Vesey Street, the name local and state government, she the problems of women in society. demned in the 1960s, ultimately paving changed to J. & J.W. Meeks, named after served in various New York state gov- Judge Simon was also associated with the way for the erection of the World two of his eight children. It is by this ernment posts during World War II. the firm of Decker, Hubbard and Trade Center. name (always in large black stenciling on In these environs, the Meeks firm the underbelly of its furniture) that col- Ahead of her time, Ms. Simon worked Welden (a predecessor of Decker, flourished. Not only was the bustling lectors, museums and auction houses Hubbard, Welden & Sweeney). to end racial, religious and sex dis- Vesey Street providing him customers, place and date a piece as being made at crimination early in her career. In the Judge Simon remained active into suppliers and transportation, but the Vesey Street factory. Joseph Meeks 1940s, she helped draft the nation’s her 90s, outliving her husband, Leopard throughout the first half of the 19th cen- died on July 21, 1868 at his estate in Islip, first state law banning bias based on King Simon, who was also an attorney. tury, New York City was the center for Long Island at the age of 97. The New religion, race or nationality in Dedicated, steadfast and determined, the manufacture of high-end furniture in York Times reported that “[h]e was the employment, and was a founding Judge Simon led the nation in imposing the U.S. The firm, run by three genera- oldest resident of New York who was member of the New York State regulations against racial ‘blockbusting’ tions of Meeks - from 1797 until 1869 - born in the City.” Meeks, his sons and Commission Against Discrimination. by real estate brokers and championed was one of the city’s principal furniture their families are all buried in Green- She was also a member of the laws against discrimination in jobs and establishments. Although Meeks pro- Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn. American Jewish Committee. housing. She was a true pioneer in duced a quality and style that was com- Ms. Simon was a longtime fighting discrimination and overcame petitive with his distinguished The Astor Years, 1908-1926 NYCLA member. She joined in 1940 the obstacles that women faced in the contemporaries (Duncan Phyfe, Honore Although the J. & J.W. Meeks firm and remained a member until her legal profession. Lannuier and Alexander Roux), he did prospered throughout its 33 years at 14 not achieve commensurate fame. See 14 VESEY STREET, Page 13 June 2007 / New York County Lawyer 13 NYCLA EXTENDS ITS CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING LAW STUDENT MEMBERS ON THEIR GRADUATION Albany Law School, Union University Maris Jade Katz Myles Phillip McKenna Kelly L. Wines Kimberly Christine Petillo Helen Lok Ryan C. Micallet Fei-Lu Qian Jocelyn Debra Ram Siddhya Mishra Catholic University of America, Columbus Scott Roe Cassandra M. Porter School of Law American University - Washington College Kimberly J. Seluga Nicholas S. Ratush Andrew N. Stein of Law Angela C. Tordesillas Erica Razook Miki Kamijyo Davida Michelle Walsh Kate Rohrer College of William & Mary School of Law Robert Peter Sheridan Sandhya Ganapathy Boston College Law School Brooklyn Law School David J. Cohen Keith Billotti Cardozo School of Law, Columbia University School of Law Peter D.

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