Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York
The New York Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1768 by twenty New York City merchants. As the first such commercial organization in the
History
18th century
On April 5, 1768, a group of twenty New York merchants met at Bolton and Sigel's Tavern, in the building leased from
At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, the membership was divided into loyalist and patriot factions. Patriot members, including John Cruger, the first President of the Chamber, and William Malcolm left New York City after the British invasion of 1776 while their loyalist counterparts continued to hold meetings and transact business in the city.[2]
After the British evacuation from New York in 1783, the Chamber's returning patriot members quickly established control over the Chamber and relocated to the Merchants’ Coffee House on Wall and Water Streets.
In 1784, the Chamber was issued a new charter reincorporating it as “the Corporation of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York,”[3] and over the next few years the Chamber put numerous bills before Congress concerning mercantile issues and the fortification of the New York Harbor. It is during this period that the first mention of the Erie Canal is found.[4] In 1793, the Chamber again relocated; this time to the Tontine Association across the street from the Merchants’ Coffee House. The Chamber was an advocate of the Jay Treaty in 1795 and encouraged other mercantile bodies throughout the country to support it as well.[5] After the turn of the century member participation dropped steadily and by 1806 meetings were suspended due to lack of attendance.[6]
19th century
In 1817, the President, Cornelius Ray, called for resumption of Chamber business. New officers were elected and the membership base was increased by 36 during the first meeting. Over the following years interest in the proposed Erie Canal increased and in response to concerns, the Chamber published an informational pamphlet on the Erie Canal's merits.[7]
From 1827 to 1835, the Chamber was housed in the
Throughout this period the Chamber was consumed by administrative concerns and the elected officers authorized the hire of an official clerk and librarian to assist the elected Secretary in overseeing the day-to-day functions of the Chamber. The Chamber's membership reached two hundred and five in 1849,[10] and the Chamber became increasingly involved in trade and commerce concerns at the national and international levels, including completion of the first Atlantic cable. In 1858, the Chamber released its first annual report which outlined the condition of mercantile affairs and important changes in business markets connected to the general trade of the country.[11] By this time the Chamber had outgrown its current location and decided that the Underwriters' building on William and Cedar Streets would provide more space for the growing library and membership.[12]
Throughout the
The Chamber estimated the losses suffered from the
20th and 21st centuries
The Chamber merged into the
Presidents
Note: All names and dates were taken from the New York Chamber of Commerce Collection, Monthly Bulletin, vol. 40 (1948–49), Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University.
- John Cruger (1768–1770)
- Hugh Wallace (1770–1771)
- Elias Desbrosses (1771–1772)
- Henry White (1772–1773)
- Theophylact Bache (1773–1774)
- William Walton (1774–1775)
- Isaac Low (1775–1784)
- John Alsop (1784–1785)
- John Broome (1785–1794)
- Comfort Sands (1794–1798)
- John Murray (1798–1806)
- Cornelius Ray (1806–1819)
- William Bayard (1819–1827)
- Robert Lenox (1827–1840)
- Isaac Carow (1840–1842)
- James De Peyster Ogden(1842–1845)
- James G. King (1845–1847)
- Moses H. Grinnell (1847–1848)
- James G. King (1848–1849)
- Moses H. Grinnell (1849–1852)
- Elias Hicks (1852–1853)
- Pelatiah Perit (1853–1863)
- Abiel Abbot Low (1863–1867)
- William E. Dodge (1867–1875)
- Samuel D. Babcock (1875–1882)
- George W. Lane (1882–1883)[17]
- James M. Brown (1884–1887)
- Charles S. Smith (1887–1894)
- Alexander E. Orr (1894–1899)
- Morris K. Jesup(1899–1907)
- J. Edward Simmons (1907–1910)
- A. Barton Hepburn (1910–1912)
- John Claflin (1912–1914)
- Seth Low (1914–1916)
- Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge (1916–1918)
- Alfred Erskine Marling (1918–1920)
- Darwin P. Kingsley (1920–22)
- Irving T. Bush (1922–1924)
- Frederick H. Ecker (1924–1926)
- William L. De Bost (1926–1928)
- Leonor F. Loree (1928–1930)
- J. Barstow Smull (1930–1932)
- James Brown (1932–1934)
- Thomas I. Parkinson (1934–1936)
- Winthrop W. Aldrich (1936–1938)
- Richard W. Lawrence (1938–1940)
- Percy H. Johnston (1940–1942)
- Frederick E. Hasler (1942–1944)
- Leroy A. Lincoln (1944–1946)
- Peter Grimm (1946–1948)
- James G. Blaine (1948–)
Archival materials
Acquired by the
Footnotes
- ^ Joseph Bucklin Bishop, A Chronicle of One Hundred and Fifty Years: The Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, 1768-1918. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1918; p. 12.
- ^ Bishop, A Chronicle of One Hundred and Fifty Years, pp. 28–33.
- ^ Bishop, A Chronicle of One Hundred and Fifty Years, p. 40.
- ^ Bishop, A Chronicle of One Hundred and Fifty Years, p. 42. Reference to the Erie Canal can be found in the New York Chamber of Commerce Collection, Meeting Minutes, 1786.
- ^ Bishop, A Chronicle of One Hundred and Fifty Years, p. 47.
- ^ Bishop, A Chronicle of One Hundred and Fifty Years, p. 51.
- ^ Bishop, A Chronicle of One Hundred and Fifty Years, p. 59.
- ^ Bishop, A Chronicle of One Hundred and Fifty Years, pp. 15–16.
- ^ Bishop, A Chronicle of One Hundred and Fifty Years, p. 60.
- ^ Bishop, A Chronicle of One Hundred and Fifty Years, p. 64.
- ^ Bishop, A Chronicle of One Hundred and Fifty Years, pp. 68–69.
- ^ Bishop, A Chronicle of One Hundred and Fifty Years, p. 67.
- ^ Bishop, A Chronicle of One Hundred and Fifty Years, p. 85.
- ^ In 1872, the Geneva Tribunal awarded the United States $15.5 million for claims against the CSS Alabama. Bishop, 85.
- ^ Bishop, A Chronicle of One Hundred and Fifty Years, pp. 81–83.
- ^ "New York Chamber of Commerce and Industry - Social Networks and Archival Context". snaccooperative.org. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
- ^ After George W. Lane died in December 1883, the presidency remained empty until the annual meeting in May 1884. Information taken from the New York Chamber of Commerce Collection, Meeting Minutes, 1880–1886, currently being processed at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University.
Further reading
- Karl Kusserow, Picturing Power: Portraiture and Its Uses in the New York Chamber of Commerce. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013.