SOME PEOMINENT NAMES 259 



Before moving iuto their new Lome the De Lanceys 

 lived for a time in the house which Etieuue had first built 

 for himself at the southeast corner of Broad and Pearl 

 Streets. Afterwards it was used for a time as a store, 

 and then, like the other De Lancey residence, it was con- 

 verted into a tavern. Samuel Fraunces was the first inn- Fraunces' 



Tavern 



keeper, and Fraunces' Tavern it has ever since been 

 called. Here it was, in the long room which had once 

 been Mrs. De Lancey' s drawing-room, that George Wash- 

 ington said farewell to the officers of his army on the 

 4th of December, 1783. Many other hallowed memo- 

 ries cluster about the old building, as well befits the oldest 

 landmark in the city of New York. It is pleasing to 

 know that the De Lancey homestead has recently (1904) 

 passed into the keeping of a patriotic society and will be 

 preserved to future generations : nor is it without signifi- 

 cance, as showing the important part j)layed by Huguenot 

 blood in the founding of the city, to note that the oldest 

 and most historic edifice in the metropolis to-day was 

 once the home of a French refugee. 



But ;6tienne De Lancey did not confine his energies to 

 laying up a fortune and building fine residences. He Alderman 

 took a keen interest in all the affairs of the city and of spirited 

 the province. For several years he was a member of the 

 board of aldermen, and for a long period, covering twenty- 

 four years, he represented the city in the provincial as- 

 sembly. It was through his generosity that the first town 

 clock was set up in the city ; and the first fire-engine to 

 be imported into America was brought over by De Lancey 

 and presented to the people of New York. In these, and 

 in a hundred other ways did he show himself a public- 

 spirited citizen ; and as, when he came to die in 1741, 

 none had amassed a greater fortune than he, so none had Death in 1741 

 won a better title to the love and respect of his fellow- 

 townsmen. 



James, the eldest son of 6tienne De Lancey, was born james 

 in New York on the 27th of November, 1703. As a boy '°'=^*°"y 



