Manhattan 1799-1800
Three years after marrying Jane Mathias in Baltimore, Joseph Miniere appears on the 1799 Manhattan city directory as a hardware merchant with his partner “Valtange”. His place of business is listed at 295 Greenwich. The 1800 Census doesn’t give an address, but Miniere is living directly next door (or with) the widow Lady Catherine Alexander Duer. Lady Kitty relocated to 14 Chambers following her husband’s death in 1799. To make ends meet, she took in tenants. Perhaps Joseph Miniere was a tenant? At any rate, they were in close quarters.
Interestingly, William Rickard appears on the 1799 directory as well. He’s listed as a “mariner” living on 14 Cherry. Recall that when Rickard wrote Alexander Hamilton requesting furlough in November of 1799, Rickard mentioned he needed to settle accounts in Philadelphia. One can only speculate what Miniere and Rickard were doing in Manhattan, but the likely explanation was they were keeping tabs on Lady Kitty’s residence. Her husband, William Duer, was responsible for the nation’s first financial panic in 1792. Duer was, among other things, a land speculator. Unfortunately for Duer, he was outmaneuvered by larger forces and ended up in debtor’s prison as a result.
Interesting facts:
The addresses of Miniere, Duer, and Rickard are all within several blocks of each other. Other offices in close proximity were the law offices of Edward Livingston and Aaron Burr.
Miniere removes from Manhattan to Charleston around the same time as Aaron Burr’s daughter Theodosia. Burr’s daughter married Charleston resident and future South Carolina governor Joseph Alston.
Neither Rickard nor Miniere lived in Manhattan very long. Miniere appears in Charleston as early as 1800, with Rickard not showing up until around 1804.