USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The annals of Albany, Vol. VIII > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
3 1761 04220 5336
.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from Microsoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/annalsofalbany08munsuoft
230150
1765
THE
atibe
U.S 81.4.
ANNALS OF ALBANY.
BY J. MUNSELL.
-
VOL. VIII.
atibe
62613
ALBANY :
J. MUNSELL, 78 STATE STREET.
1857.
L. BHAKY
SEP
1 '89 OF TORONTO UNIVERSITY
CONTENTS.
Obituary of T. Romeyn Beck, - - -
1 -
Abstract of Meteorological Observations, -
28
New York Colonial Manuscripts, -
- 37 Notes from the Newspapers, -
75
Sunday Schools, -
- 165
William Alexander, -
168
Case of William Teller, 169
The City's Ancient Ravines, - -
- 174
Prices of Produce at the Manor House, - - 176
- - - 178 Thirty Years Difference, -
Accidents by Travel, -
-
179
Albany, as seen by Dr. Dwight,
181
Albany, by Winterbotham, -
-
191
Schenectady, -
-
192
John Melish in Albany,
- 194
Cascade of the Vly Kill, -
-
198
License in Old Times, - -
- 204
iv
Contents.
Orders Regulating the Indian Trade,
- 205
Rates of Excise in 1686, -
-
- 215
John Lambert in Albany, -
- 217
Mrs. Alexander Hamilton,
- 225
The City Records, -
- 229
Barley Trade in Albany,
- 313
Charitable and Criminal Institutions,
- 316
Fires in 1856, - -
- 325
Annals of the year 1856,
- 328
PREFACE.
It is nine years since the compiler of this work, imbued with the ambition of contributing something in his day and generation for the diffusion of know- ledge among men, resolved himself into an historical and antiquarian society on his own account, and ventured upon the labor of collecting and publishing materials which should serve some future historian to write the history of Albany and its vicinity. Time, industry and money, have produced eight volumes in the interim; and in view of the abun- dance of material, it is proposed to add two more, when he will be happy to find some one who may be willing to continue the work. Many glimmerings of the dark lights and shadows of the ancient time are still unexplored, and a willing hand and ardent mind may find occupation for a life-time.
The compiler is impelled to apologize to those who have continued from year to year to receive the work, for the want of vigor that may be observed in
vi
Preface.
its pages ; which is not attributable wholly to lack of ability and judgment, but also to want of sufficient time and opportunity, and the seeming impossibility of engaging the cooperation of such as have an abundance of those commodities. Hence many arti- cles which were expected to fill prominent places in these volumes, and give them zest, have never been written by those who promised them, and they were closed up with less attractive material. This is not mentioned in the spirit of reproach, but by way of apology to those who may expect to find an attrac- tive miscellany, in what is intended only as a store- house for neglected and forgotten things.
In this volume, the city records are brought down to the year 1725, Johannis Cuyler, mayor. The aldermen were considerably exercised with the diffi- culties of regulating the Indian trade, digging wells and drains, restraining inordinate speed in driving "with horses, wagons, carts and sleds," and restrict- ing unlicensed tapping of liquors. The public granary was replenished bountifully by the revenue from the leases of Schaghticoke, and the city chest grew plethoric from the sale of lots in the outskirts. The town was becoming corpulent, and the pressure was great upon the stockadoes, which operated as
vii
Preface.
stays upon its increasing obesity. It was at this time, that Joseph Pamerton undertook to assist John Brumley, to go round the city as bell man, every other night, from ten to four o'clock, and call the hour and state of the wheather from certain points, for ten pound ten per annum! The notes from the newspapers end with the year 1826, and revive the recollection of events in the minds of middle aged citizens. The corporation expenses will attract the attention of those who have grown so rich that their taxes have become fearful to contemplate. The annals of the year are necessarily brief. They serve merely as an index to the particulars in the news- papers, having the advantage of dates.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
-
- Portrait of Dr. T. R. Beck,
-
1
Diagram of the Winds, -
35
Southwick's Printing Office, -
102
Mechanic Hall, -
-
-
111
Pearl Street Theatre, -
- 118
Albany City Hospital,
-
-
- 321
XKNMMMH
J. Romeyn Beck
Engraved by H.B Hall, from a Daguerrentype". by H.Mc Bride.
ANNALS OF ALBANY.
OBITUARY
OF
THEODRIC ROMEYN BECK.
[Reduced from an Address by Dr. Hamilton, before the N. Y. State Medical Society, Feb., 1856.]
ยท Theodric Romeyn Beck was born in Schenectady, in the state of New York, on the 11th day of August, 1791. The family were of English origin, but so long settled at Schenectady that their descendants, by association and intermarriage, became identified with the Dutch popula- tion.
The first of the family, of whom we have any know- ledge, was Caleb Beck, who sailed as master of a vessel from Boston to England, and who having married at Schenectady, was subsequently lost at sea. His son, the great grandfather of the subject of our memoir, as we learn from the probate of his will before the commis- sioners at Albany, in the year 1733, was "Caleb Beck, gentleman, a freeholder in this colony ; having during his life, and at the time of his death, goods, rights, and credits in divers places in our province."
His grandfather was admitted an attorney at law, to practice in all the courts, at Albany, in the year 1751.
The father of Dr. Beck, who also studied law, but never practiced, married Catherine Theresa Romeyn, only daughter of the Rev. Derick Romeyn, D. D., then pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church, at Schenectady, and well known as a distinguished professor of theology in that church.
[ Annals viii.]
2
2
Obituary of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.
The ancestral name, Caleb, was preserved through five successive generations, having only ceased with the brother of Dr. Beck.
The Romeyn family came from Holland, and settled in New York about the middle of the seventeenth century. Among those who acquired distinction, and whose names have come down to us, in addition to the Rev. Derick Romeyn, of whom we have spoken, we may recognize the brother of Mrs. Beck, the Rev. John B. Romeyn, D. D., who died in New York, in 1825; and a cousin, Nicholas Romaine, M. D., who was president of the State Me- dical Society in 1809, 10, and 11, and who was made an honorary member in 1812.
Dr. Beck's father having died in 1798, at the age of 27 years, left his five sons to the sole care of his young widow, to whose indomitable energy, sound education, piety and good judgment they are probably mainly indebted for the distinction which they all subsequently attained.
Abraham, a lawyer of much promise, died at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1821.
John Brodhead Beck, M. D., was elected professor of materia medica and botany, at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the city of New York, and author of many medical works, besides the chapter contributed by him to Beck's Medical Jurisprudence, died in New York, in 1851.
Nicholas Fairly Beck died while holding the office of adjutant general of the state, under De Witt Clinton, in 1830. And
"Lewis C. Beck, M. D., late professor of chemistry in the Albany Medical College, and in the Rutgers College, New Jersey, author of several scientific works, and who, as a member of the scientific corps which made the New York geological survey, contributed the volume on mine- ralogy, one of the most valuable portions of that excel- lent state report, died in 1853.
The rudiments of Dr. Beck's education were acquired at the grammar school of his native city, under the more
3
Obituary of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.
immediate supervision of his maternal grandfather, the Rev. Derick Romeyn, D. D.
He entered Union College, at Schenectady, in 1803, and graduated in 1807, when only sixteen years old. Union College had then been established but a few years, and, in a great measure, through the exertions of Dr. Romeyn.
Immediately on leaving college, he came to this city, and was admitted to the office of Drs. Low and Mc- Clelland. His' medical education was completed, however, in the city of New York, under the personal instructions of the celebrated Dr. David Hosack. At the same time, also, he attended the lectures at the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons of the Eastern District, then recently established in that city; and in 1811 he received the degree of Doctor in Medicine, on which occasion he presented, as the subject of his inaugural thesis, a paper on Insanity,-the first fruits of the study of that subject which afterwards engaged so large a share of his attention, and upon'which he expended such stores of learning, and exhibited such powers of research. The thesis was published in a pamphlet form, containing thirty-four pages, and received from various quarters highly flattering notices.
On his return from New York, he commenced at once the practice of medicine and surgery in this city, and the same year he was appointed physician to the alms-house. On resigning this office, he presented a memorial to the supervisors on the subject of work-houses, the practical wisdom of which daily experience proves at this time.
Dr. Beck was married in 1814, at Caldwell, Warren county, to Harriet, daughter of James Caldwell, a mer- chant of this city, but whose principal estate and resi- dence was at Caldwell, on Lake George. Mr. Caldwell was a gentleman of Irish birth, and well known for his wit and hospitality. His humor has been especially cele- brated in several of the entertaining tales written by J. K. Paulding.
In the year 1815, at the age of twenty-four, Dr. Beck
Obituary of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck. 4
received the appointment of professor of the institutes of medicine, and of lecturer on medical jurisprudence in the College of Physicians and Surgeons for the Western District, established under the auspices of the Regents, at Fairfield, in Herkimer county, New York; an institu- tion then in the third year of its existence. Notwith- standing this appointment, which required his absence from home only a small portion of the year, he continued in the practice of his profession at Albany.
At the opening of the term of 1824, he delivered an introductory lecture on the Advantages of Country Medical Schools, which was published by request of the class. The subject had been suggested by a remark made in an introductory lecture by one of the professors in New York, disparaging to country schools, and which had found its way into some of the New York prints, to which this discourse was a severe, but dignified and dis- passionate reply.
Already, in 1817, Dr. Beck had withdrawn entirely from the practice of medicine, having in this year accept- ed the place of principal to the Albany Academy. In a letter to his uncle, Dr. Romeyn, then in Europe, dated June 30, 1814, he says : " I have begun to look upon medicine in a very different manner from what I formerly did. Although delighted with the study yet I dislike the practice, and I had not acquired sufficiently comprehen- sive views of its value and great importance as an ob- ject of research. I now find it a subject worthy of my mind, and for some time past I have brought all my energies to its examination." From this remarkable passage, in which we have definitely the plan of his fu- ture life, we learn also what enlarged and intelligent views he entertained of the value of true medical science.
In 1829 Dr. Beck was elected president of the New York State Medical Society, and was re-elected the two succeeding years-in itself a sufficient testimony of the esteem in which be was held by his fellow-members.
In 1826 Dr. Beck was made professor of medical juris- prudence, at Fairfield Medical College, instead of lecturer,
-
5
Obituary of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.
and in 1836, he was transferred from the chair of practice to that of materia medica, in accordance with his own request; and these two chairs he continued to occupy until the abandonment of the college in 1840.
Medical colleges had been established both at Albany and Geneva under new and favorable auspices, each having received liberal endowments from the state, and although the college at Fairfield still retained the confi- dence of the profession to such a degree that in its last catalogue its pupils numbered 114, and its graduates 33; yet as it was apparent that the wants of the community did not require three colleges situated so near each other, and as both Albany and Geneva had the advantage in their relative size and accessibility, it was determined by the several professors to discontinue the lectures at Fair- field.
Immediately on resigning his place at Fairfield, Dr. Beck was elected to the chair of materia medica, in the Albany Medical College, the chair of medical juris- prudence, to which he would most naturally have been chosen, being already occupied by a very able teacher, Amos Dean, Esq. - This professorship Dr. Beck conti- nued to hold until 1854, when his declining health, together with an accumulation of other pressing duties, induced him to resign his place as an active officer, having now taught medicine in some of its departments for thirty- nine years, and the trustees then conferred upon him the honorary distinction of emeritus professor.
It has been mentioned that in 1817, Dr. Beck was made principal of the Albany Academy; and in a letter to his uncle, Dr. Romeyn, dated August 1, 1817, shortly before the appointment, he writes as follows: "This I know, that by zeal and attention on the part of the in- structors, it can be made an eminent and useful institu- tion. * * I pray you to believe that the mention of my name as a candidate, was unsolicited and very unex- pected. It is a spontaneous offer, and as such I shall al- ways look on it as a testimony of no mean value." The citizens of Albany and his numerous pupils, now scat-
6
Obituary of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.
tered throughout the United States, can bear witness, how great has been his zeal in behalf of that institution, and how well he has fulfilled his promise.
The building occupied as the Academy, was erected for this purpose by the city authorities ; it is large, com- modious and distinguished, even among the numerous public edifices which adorn this capital, for its fine architectural proportions. Each department is supplied with able teachers, and with ample means for illustra- tion, and during the more than thirty years of his administration, it has sustained a reputation second to no similar institution in the state.
I find in one of the Albany city papers, dated some years back, pencil sketches of a few of its most promi- nent citizens, among whom is mentioned Dr. Beck. The writer, who is not ignorant of his many other public services, and of his reputation abroad, thus speaks of his connection with the Academy: "The Albany Aca- demy is an institution which has furnished the commu- nity with more mind, than any other academy in this country. A distinction that is doubtless due to the ad- mirable discipline, and well stored brain which Dr. Beck brought with him into the institution, in 1817."
In 1848, Dr. Beck resigned his place as principal of the Academy, and on the death of James Stevenson, Esq., he succeeded him as president of the board of trustees.
The Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, Arts and Manufactures, was incorporated by the legislature on the 12th of March, 1793, with Chancellor Livingston as its president. The existence of the corporation was limited by its charter to the first day of May, 1804. On the 2d day of April, 1804, the legislature virtually re- newed the charter, making it perpetual, changing the name of the corporation to that of the Society for the Promotion of the Useful Arts, and Chancellor Livings- ton was appointed the president of the new corporation. Dr. Beck was admitted a member of this society on the 5th day of February, 1812. Among its officers, in addi- tion to its distinguished president, already named, were
7
Obituary of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.
Simeon De Witt, John Taylor, David Hosack, Stephen Van Rensselaer, De Witt Clinton, Edmund C. Genet, and others prominent in the history of our state. Al- though Dr. Beck was at this time only in his twenty- first year, yet at the second meeting after his election, he was made chairman of a standing committee of five, appointed "for the purpose of collecting and arranging such minerals as our state affords." And on the 1st of April, 1812, less than two months after his admission, he was appointed to deliver the annual address at the following session of the society. This duty he performed on the 3d day of February, 1813. The object of this address, as he remarks in his preface, was to "exhibit at one view the mineral riches of the United States, with their various application to the arts, and to demon- strate the practicability of the increase of different manufactures, whose materials are derived from this source." This was eminently the field for Dr. Beck's peculiar talent; it was new, and everything had to be learned from the beginning; a host of persons and au- thorities had to be consulted, and the whole to be care- fully digested, analyzed and applied. The result could not have disappointed those who were familiar with his habits; but to one who had known him less, or who was at all acquainted with the difficulties which he was compelled to encounter in the little that was then known of the mineral resources of this country, the result seems astonishing; and to that elaborate and timely paper, we think, the American manufacturer is, to-day, in no small degree indebted for his wealth and prosperity. It was the lens which first brought the scattered rays of light upon this subject to a focus, and which now melts the ores in a thousand furnaces. If, as Dr. Beck asserts, American mineralogy was then in its infancy, he was the first to urge upon it a confidence in itself, and to demonstrate to others its unsuspected capacities, and it is through such early guidance and assistance that it has so rapidly grown to complete manhood, no less than to
-
8
Obituary of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.
the "persevering industry, the unconquerable enterprise, and the extraordinary ingenuity of our citizens."
In 1819, Dr. Beck read, before the same society, a Memoir on Alum, the object of which was to present a view of one of the most important of the chemical arts. In preparing it, "I consulted," says Dr. Beck, "every work relating to the subject within my reach. Had the work conducted some years ago by Prof. Cooper, of Phila- delphia, under the title of the Emporium of Arts, been continued, this attempt would doubtless have been use- less, as the subject under consideration was one of those which he proposed to notice. I venture, though with unequal steps, to examine the history, progress and present state of the manufacture of alum, with a hope that my investigations may prove useful to some who are unable to consult systematical works, and above all, that they may direct the attention of our citizens to the means which they possess, within their own reach, of converting useless mineral products into rich sources of individual and national profit." This, together with the paper first mentioned, is published in the transactions of the society before which they were delivered.
The Albany Lyceum of Natural History was incorpo- rated by the legislature on the 23d day of April, 1823. Stephen Van Rensselaer was, by the charter, appointed its first president, and Dr. Beck, its first vice president. A union between this association and the Society for the Promotion of the Useful Arts, was agreed upon and car- ried into effect in 1824, and consummated in form by an act of the legislature of the 27th of February, 1829, in- .corporating the Albany Institute, which was to consist of three departments: the first, that of the physical sciences and the arts, to consist of the Society for the Promotion of the Useful Arts, as then constituted; the second, that of natural history, to consist of the Albany Lyceum of Natural History, as then constituted; the third, for the promotion of history and general litera- ture, to be formed for the purpose. Of the Albany In- stitute so constituted, dating back its foundation to the
9
Obituary of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.
establishment of the Society for the Promotion of Agri- culture, Arts and Manufactures, in 1793, and thus being, I believe, the oldest institution of this character in our state, and one of the oldest in our country, Dr. Beck was not only one of the most active members, but it may be safely said, without doing injustice to many others who have been connected with it, that he did more to keep up its organization, to enlarge its library and col- lections, and generally to advance its interests, than any other person. Its proceedings, as well as its published transactions, bear evidence to the fidelity and zeal with which he labored for its prosperity. At the time of his death, and for many years before, he was its president. In 1835, Dr. Beck, by appointment, delivered before the Institute a Eulogium on the Life and Services of Simeon De Witt, surveyor-general of the state, chancellor of the university, and also, at the time of his death, one of the vice-presidents of the society.
One of the originators of the plan for the geological survey of the state, Dr. Beck became one of its most ardent supporters, and under the successive governors, he was entrusted with much of the supervision of the work. As evidence of the great part which he took in this labor, I subjoin the dedication of the fifth volume, on Agriculture, written by E. Emmons, M. D.
" To T. ROMEYN BECK, M. D., LL. D .: Sir, There is more than one reason why the concluding divisions of the present work, undertaken to explore and illustrate the natural history of the state of New York, and con- ducted under legislative patronage, should be dedicated to you. You were among the first to foster the enterprise and remained its consistent advocate in times when adverse circumstances seemed to jeopardize its continu- ance; much more than this, your whole life has been assiduously engaged in promoting the advance of science and the spread of popular education, and the published results of your scientific and literary labors, may be referred to as reflecting an honor on your native state. Would that the merits of the present volume were such as to render it more worthy its dedication."
10
Obituary of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.
The legislature of 1850 confided to the secretary of state, and to the secretary of the board of regents, the supervision of the publication of the remainder of the Natural History of the state. The geological survey having been protracted much beyond the period originally contemplated, and various claims existing in reference to it, the two officers named were required by law to report to the next legislature what those claims were, and what contracts existed between the state and individuals for such of the work as remained to be completed. They were also required to report a plan for the completion of the survey, and to submit estimates of the cost of such completion. Dr. Beck's acquaintance with the history of this work, and all the matters connected with it, was perhaps more complete than that of any other person in the state; and this fact led to the selection of the secre- tary of the regents (which post he then filled), as one of the commissioners. Whether we look at the interests of the state or those of science, no better choice could have been made.
The reports of the commissioners to the legislature, show the good effects of the investigation made by them ; and, judging from the order and system which the affair soon assumed under their hands, and the comparative economy which attended their expenditures and plans, it is hazarding little to say, that, had a permanent com- mission of this character been charged with the care of the survey from its outset, the work would have been more systematically pursued, and at an expense greatly less than that which the state has incurred.
Since 1841 he has occupied the office of secretary of the board of regents; a position of great honor and trust. The regents have the supervisory charge of the educational interests of the state, and are required to report annually the condition of all the colleges and academies under 'their care. His reports made during the period of his incumbency are not only voluminous, but they are equally models of accuracy and of compact- ness. But the supervision of colleges and academies
11
Obituary of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.
does by no means limit the powers and responsibilities of the regents. To them is entrusted the care of the State Library, and of the State Cabinet of Natural His- tory, with also the management of much of the foreign correspondence, and all of the literary and scientific international exchanges. Most of which various duties devolved officially upon Dr. Beck. To his earnest devo- tion, and eminent qualifications, the state is therefore indebted for its large and judiciously selected library ; and especially for its unrivaled collection of works on. the history of this country and state.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.