New York, Population and Religion (Hayward)

Population. — The population of New York, especially of the metropolis, and of the cities generally, exhibits more diversity of character, probably arising from their great variety of origin, than that of any other state of the Union, or, possibly, that of any other country on the earth. The ancient Dutch and English characteristics, so distinctly marked and preserved through many successive ages, are no longer discernible, except in sundry secluded localities, or within the circle of certain exclusive neighborhoods. The present generation is composed of new and multiform materials. People who can trace their ancestry to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, on the face of the globe, are now among the moving masses of this most populous state in the western hemisphere…. Among these, the most impoverished districts of Ireland present, perhaps, the largest number of representatives. Every other European country has furnished also a sufficient quota. Asia and Africa, even, are not without their delegates; nor are the two Indies, nor the foreign provinces both north and south of the boundaries of the republic. The ease with which emigrants may attain to all the privileges of citizenship, the facilities afforded for trade of every description, and the rewards procurable by the exercise of every species of active industry, are the chief causes and provocatives of this vast influx from abroad. Within the ten years ending with the census of 1850, the population of New York [City] has increased from 2,428,921 to 3,097,394.

Religion. — Every variety of religious doctrine prevalent in other parts of the United States has its disciples in this state. The different Christian denominations may be classed, according to numbers, as follows: Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Dutch Reformed, Episcopalians, Associate Reformed, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Universalists, and Unitarians. There are also sundry congregations of Jews, Quakers, Shakers, &c.