Joseph-François Mangin
Joseph-François Mangin | |
---|---|
Born | June 10, 1758 Dompaire, France |
Nationality | French-American |
Occupation | Architect |
Buildings | St. Patrick's Old Cathedral |
Projects | 1803 Plan for New York (with Casimir Goerck), rejected |
Design | New York City Hall (1801-1802, with John McComb Jr.) |
Joseph-François Mangin was born on June 10, 1758, in Dompaire,[1] in the Vosges region of France. He was a French-American architect who is noted for designing New York City Hall and St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in New York City.
He died in 1818 in Madrid, St Lawrence County, New York.[citation needed]
Early life
Joseph-François Mangin was born in 1758 in the Vosges region of France, the son of Jean-Baptiste François Mangin (1724-1772), the king's surgeon, and Marie Anne Milot (1731-1804), both from Dompaire. He left Dompaire around 1773 to study at a high school in Nancy, where he graduated in 1777.[2] He then studied law at the University of Nancy, graduating in 1781.[3]
After working for a few years as a lawyer near Nancy, Mangin decided to move to Saint-Domingue (today known as Haiti), hoping to make a fortune. He left France from Nantes on October 25, 1784, and arrived in Saint-Domingue on December 7, 1784.[4] Mangin and his brother Charles had to flee Saint-Domingue in 1793 as a consequence of the slave revolt which started in 1792.
They arrived in New York City in December 1793,[5] where Mangin became a surveyor for the city, and where he naturalized in 1796. [6]
Career
In New York, Mangin became a protégé of
Mangin was appointed to be one of the handful of official recognized "city surveyors", he was a Military Engineer during the war of 1812 the United States. Mangin was at pains to point out to Hamilton his love for and allegiance to his adopted country: "I am an American, and the last drop of my blood will be shed in the service of my country."[8]
Prior to New York City's
The Council accepted the Mangin–Goerck Plan as "the new Map of the City" for four years, and even published it by subscription, until political machinations perhaps organized by Aaron Burr, the political enemy of Mangin's mentor Alexander Hamilton, brought the plan into disrepute, and the Council ordered that copies which had already been sold be bought back, and that a label warning of "inaccuracies" be placed on any additional copies sold.[9][10][11] Nevertheless, as the city grew, the Mangin–Goerck Plan became the de facto reference for where new streets would be built, and when the Commissioners' Plan was revealed in 1811, the area of the plan which the public had been warned was inaccurate and speculative, had been accepted wholesale by the commission, their plan being almost identical to Mangin's in that area.[12]
In 1802, Mangin and John McComb Jr. entered a competition to design New York's City Hall, which they won. Among the twenty-five entries passed over was one submitted by architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe (who would go on to be known as the "Father of American Architecture," but would never design a building in New York City).[13] Latrobe was a protegé of Hamilton's political enemy, Aaron Burr, and historian Gerard Koeppel speculates that this snubbing of an architect from Burr's circle was the cause of the downfall of the Mangin–Goerck Plan.[14]
In 1803, the Common Council ordered some changes in the design. McComb supervised the construction of the building and the alternations made to the original design. The original cornerstone only listed McComb's name. Then in the 1890s, a descendant of McComb erased Mangin's name from the drawing they had submitted for the competition, so as to increase their value. In 2003, Mangin's name was added to the cornerstone of City Hall.[15]
In Spring 1807, Mangin sold his property in New York City and purchased a tract of land 1 mile (1.6 km)-square in upstate New York, in Madrid in St. Lawrence County. He went to live there, intending it to be his lifelong residence, but returned to the city before the winter was out, getting back his old position as a city surveyor. He sought out military contracts, but did not get any.[16]
After his return to New York City, Mangin designed the
Mangin's work as a surveyor encompassed locations not only in New York City, but in New Jersey and in upstate New York.[20]
Legacy
Mangin Street, as laid out in the Commissioner's Plans, ran from Grand Street north to Houston Street to the East River at
Mangin Avenue in St. Albans, Queens may also have been named after Mangin.[citation needed]
Controversy
For many years, incorrect information circulated about Mangin's life. He was mistaken for another Joseph-François Mangin born in France around the same period, or was a slave, followed by becoming a student of one of the most prominent French architects, Ange-Jacques Gabriel.
Mangin being an extremely common last name in the East of France, the "other" Joseph-François Mangin was mistakenly found by late Pr. Robert L. Alexander from university of Iowa during his research in France. The one he found was born in 1764 in Châlons.[21] His parents were Joseph Mangin and Jeanne Marie Anne Morin, and got married in Paris on 27 August 1806 to Marie Eleonore Antoinette Diodet.[22]
References
Notes
- ^ "Edpt153/GG_10-25607 - 1757-1758 - Archives départementales des Vosges". www.archives-recherche.vosges.fr. Archived from the original on 2016-06-05. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
- ^ Archives Départmentales de Meuthe-et-Moselle, sous-série D
- ^ Archives Départmentales de Meuthe-et-Moselle, Cote 3 B XXI art. 7
- ^ Archives Départementales de Loire-Atlantique, Rôles d’armement de navires C 1387 - Tout type de navigations confondues (navires armés et désarmés à Nantes) - 61 à 80 - 1785 - Vue 38
- ^ Archives Nationales, site de Pierrefitte, cote DXXV84
- ^ Koeppel (2015), p.31
- ^ Koeppel (2015), pp.29-30
- ^ Koeppel (2015), pp.31-32
- ^ Koeppel (2015), pp.37-41;51-56
- ^ Koeppel, Gerard (August 01–07, 2007) "Talking Point: Manhattan traffic congestion is a historic mistake" Archived 2011-01-16 at the Wayback Machine, The Villager. Accessed: 19 May 2011
- ^ Gray, Christopher (October 23, 2005). "Streetscapes - The Commissioners' Plan of 1811: Are Manhattan's Right Angles Wrong?". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- ^ Koeppel (2015), p.60
- ^ Koeppel (2015), pp.41-42
- ^ Koeppel (2015), pp.51-52
- ^ Koeppel (2015), p.62
- ^ Koeppel (2015), pp.90-91
- ^ Koeppel (2015), p.30
- ISBN 0-231-12543-7., pp.76-77
- ^ McFadden, Robert D. (December 5, 2010) "Cathedral With a Past; Basilica With a Future" The New York Times
- ^ Koeppel (2015), p.63
- ^ Archives Départementales de la Marne, 2 E 119/2, BMS (1755-1770), vue 197/343
- ^ Archives de Paris, série V6E
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-306-82284-1.
- Leroy, Thibaud (2020). Joseph François Mangin, l'homme qui imagina Manhattan. (ISBN 978-2-8399-2714-7), (ASIN B081K5C76X).