On November 3rd 1874, Democratic candidate Samuel J. Tilden was elected governor of the state of New York. To celebrate socialite Jenny Jerome threw a party in her father’s NYC mansion. The mansion eventually became the headquarters for the city’s historic Manhattan Club. The governor eventually ran for President of the United States. He lost.
That is, depending on who you asked. Much of the population believed the election was rigged. They argued it should be disputed because of the overwhelming evidence of intimidation, violence, and voter fraud. They said that the electoral voting system was stupid and unfair because Tilden, although he lost the presidency, actually won the popular vote. Sound familiar?
Anyway, Jenny Jerome was said to be so excited with the governor’s success that she hosted a party in his honour. And Ian Marshall, the Manhattan Club’s bartender, was so excited about the party that he mixed a concoction of whiskey, vermouth, and bitters in her honour. That drink for obvious reasons was called the Manhattan. It’s a nice story. But it’s most likely not true. That is because, at the time of the party, Jenny Jerome was already knocked up by a staunch conservative of English nobility named Lord Randall Churchill. Records indicate that just 27 days after this party, (and seven months after her marriage) Jenny had given birth in Oxfordshire England. She named her baby Winston.
So, when was the world graced with the first Manhattan? Honestly? Nobody really knows. Some say it was invented in New York’s Hoffman House in the 1880s. Others say it was created in the 1860s by a bartender called Black who worked in a bar on Broadway in Manhattan. But I have another idea.
While researching information on the mint julep, I came across an article that told a story involving a bartender named Orasmus Willard. Willard, although also famous for his juleps, was also known for having a photographic memory. Many believed he could recall every single face he ever served. What does this have to do with the Manhattan? Nothing. But on September 17th 1835, the St. Louis Daily Evening Herald printed a story about the bartender. This is what was printed:
A Hoosier (that’s a person from Indiana) walked into a hotel one day and stepping up to the bar, called for a glass of brandy and water. Willard, with his customary suavity, immediately handed him a decanter and a tumbler and the gentleman helped himself. He filled the tumbler nearly full of “strong water” with but a small sprinkle of the Manhattan, and emptied the whole at a draught.
This article left me confused. I could see why maybe they would refer to brandy as “strong water” but, why was water called Manhattan? After tumbling down a rabbit hole of New York City’s waterways, I learned that during this time period the word ‘Manhattan’ was often used to reference drinking water in New York City, and not in a nice way. That is because in 1799 a man named Aaron Burr (mostly famous for shooting Alexander Hamilton) started a business called the Manhattan Company. This was a water company that campaigned heavily to collect government funds to build a piping system that could deliver clean drinking water from lakes and rivers outside the city to the taxpayers of New York. The campaign was a success, the government gifting the company millions of dollars. The company then used these government funds to start a bank. That’s not a typo. The bank eventually came to be known as Chase Manhattan bank and is now one of the largest banks in the world. Did NYC residents end up getting the clean drinking water Manhattan Company promised? The short answer? No.
In fact, in 1832 it’s believed a cholera epidemic that killed thousands of people was spread through the city’s filthy drinking water. The water in New York was so notoriously bad that by the 1830s it was still being described by the populace as undrinkable. The Manhattan Company did build a wooden (yes, wooden) piping system, but instead of piping the fresh lake water to NYC residents, it continued to syphon the water from the same cesspool of sewage and pollution as before. The source was called Collect Pond. Located in the famous Five Points of lower Manhattan, the pond had become a dumping ground for the sewage (yes sewage) and toxic waste produced by nearby tanneries, breweries, and slaughterhouses. The pond was notorious for making resident’s ill, not only due to its polluted composition but also for its abhorrent smell.
This all made me wonder. Originally known a mixture of spirits and water, was Manhattan just a New Yorker’s lingo for the original cocktail? Even if it wasn’t, was the tap water during this time in NYC brown? If it was, that would make a small tumbler of brown liquid a perfect candidate for the name, Manhattan. Wouldn’t you agree?
**What are your thoughts? Do you think Aaron Burr was an asshole for using government funds to start a bank? Do you think New Yorkers might have called the cocktail a Manhattan? I want to know! Please share your thoughts in the comments/chat.