The Washington herald., 1909-11-07

Judge tho term amiss. In the matter OF
dinners, however, we have surely I'M
proved.
The dinner OF the SOS was OF interim
nable duration Perhaps the most elabo-
rate In the city were those given by Mr..
Aston. In his house on Lafayette place.
where q vast variety OF courses follow
ing the mode OF the time. succeeded each
other 10 the grandeur OF the famous gid
service. and where. also according 70
mode. the ceremony was heightened by
the practice Of carving the game, &c, on
the table. But whoever gave the feast, II
extra jellies and sweetmeats were wanted
beyond the power of the domestic star
to supply It was always Katy Ferguson,
on Hudson street. who provided them,
just as It was Mrs. Isaac Sayres who
made the wedding cake OF every bride
within the charmed pale.
Part Played by the Church.
The church IN those times was more
markedly connected with social life than
now 1t is recalled that in the '20s Broad
way. before Trinity Church. was won't 20
be chained across during service hours
that no trihc might disturb the sacred
functions. And If, by another thirty
years. this custom had vanished, Trinity,
! st. Pauls. and St Marks, with some OF
the old Dutch churches, still conspicu-
| ously affected social affiliations.
Localities Of residence offer another
meter Of change Trinity. ST. PauTs,
and St Johns" says Felix Oldboy, speak
! ing Of the period OF the SOS. had large
/ and fashionable congregations who lived
I within walking distance Of the churches.
People Of wealth still clustered
/ about the Battery and Bowling Green or
/ built solid. uptown homes OF brick on
| Bond. Blocker. and Great Jones streets
I or facing Washington Square. The rector
/ OF Trinity kept open house, with his wife
and three handsome daughters, at so Var
/ lex street, opposite St. Johns Park
which was the most aristocratIc quarter
Of the city"
! The Rutherfords. the Winthrops, and
| the Stuyvesants, however, owned great
| properties along Second avenue, and John
Jay. besides his city home, had inherited
as cadet brother, the Van Cortlandt es-
tate and mansion at Bedford, just as his
elder had come into the paternal Jay es-
| tate at Rye.
| 1t was in this beautiful old house at
! Bedford. as well as IN New York. that
| Mrs. Jay dispensed her hospitality "She
was always a dignifed and accessible
| hostess" TO quote the words of one who
was often her guest In those I'D days
''and she was tout ce quill a de plus
| grande dame-rather that than beautiful
One falls naturally into the language OF
courtesy in talking OF the Jays" went on
this speaker; thus, OF Mr.. John Jay, ii
seems most descriptive TO liken him TO a
French marquis Of the old regime In
their dlgnihed country mansion, Bedford
House, as the property is called, sur
rounded by fine old portraits Of the dis
tinguished men and stately women from
whom the family was sprung. themselves
a slngularly comedy. stately pair, they
seemed the very flower OF the race"
Mrs. Jays own girlhood portrait shows
a fine. high-bred head, large-eyed. clear
cut Of feature, poised spiritedly upon q
long and rounded throat, and crowned
with heavy mass Of hair arranged IN
the rigid, architectural fashion Of tn,
period. II is a head whose salient quality
is distinction.
At the time OF her death Mrs Jay had
reached the venerable age Of ninety-one
preserving her faculties 10 the end. Hei
maiden name was Eleanor Hickson Field
She was daughter Of Hickson w. Field
a leading New York merchant At theil
marriage. in 1885, Mrs. jay was ninetee1
years old, while her husband was only
twenty-one But John Jays generous
championship OK the unpopular causes o
the day soon led him. young as he was
into arduous and thOrn-set paths anC
here he found in his girl-wife the bes
kind Of a helpmate, brave and unflinch
ing In those stormy times at home, al
later in life she was charming and help
full at the court OF the Emperor Of Aus
tria.
When Abolition Was Unpopular.
Her husband, John Jay. who died MAY
8. 1894, was the son Of Judge William Jay
and the grandson of John Jay. the grea