Bleecker's office; and not infrequently in the street under the wide-spreading branches of a famous buttonwood tree near the old Courier and Enquirer building. In 1820 it numbered thirty-nine members, among whom were Nathaniel Prime, Leonard Bleecker, John G. Warren, and Philip Kearny. In 1827 it took possession of an upper room in the Merchants' Exchange. Its sessions were invariably secret, and its members regarded it as a point of honor not to reveal the names of buyers and sellers, the transactions not being recognized by law. In the great fire of 1835 many of its valuable papers were lost; one brave fellow, however, rushed into the blazing Exchange and rescued a large iron box containing records of exceptional moment concerning some recently inaugurated speculative movements, for which noble act he was handsomely rewarded by the Board. The meetings were held henceforward at a hall in Jauncey Court until the Merchants' Exchange was rebuilt, about 1842. Its retiring presidents were in almost every instance presented with a service of plate. Many notable men were concerned in its early operations, as the Wards—Samuel, John, and Henry—James W. Bleecker, Jacob Barker, and Nicholas Biddle. Jacob Little was the most famous as well as fearless of them all—the Jay Gould of his time—first appearing upon the stage of action in 1825. He married a pretty wife, and lost more than a dozen fortunes. The simple history of his influence, achievements, and misfortunes would eclipse the most gifted inventions of the romance writer.
The first Assistant Treasurer of the United States for New York, in accordance with the act of Congress bearing date August 6, 1846, was Ex-Governor William C. Bouck, duly nominated by the President "with the advice and consent of the Senate." He was succeeded in 1849 by another ex-governor, John Young, who died in office, in 1852. Luther Bradish, ex-lieutenant-governor, and one of the most elegant and accomplished of men, was chosen to the vacant office, which he filled with great satisfaction to all parties during the remainder of President Fillmore's administration. He was subsequently President of the Bible Society and of the New York Historical Society. When President Pierce came into office, in the early part of 1853, he was in great embarrassment about the Sub-treasury in New York, which was without a head, and requested Gen. John A. Dix, as a personal favor, to hold it for a few weeks until the time should come for him to sail (as then expected) on a mission to France. He consented, and performed its duties until midsummer, at which time the eminent banker, John J. Cisco, received the permanent appointment. This administration, it will be remembered, was signalized by the acquisition from Mexico of Arizona, and the organization of the Territories of Kansas
