USA > New York > A geographical history of the state of New York: embracing its history, government, physical features, climate, geology, mineralogy, botany, zoology, education, internal improvements, &c., with a separate map of each county > Part 16
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CLIMATE. The climate is quite variable, being subject to great extremes of heat and cold. Though unfavorable to those affected with pulmonary diseases, it is considered as generally healthy.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. The geological formation of the county is transition; graywacke and slate are the prominent characteristics of the banks of the Hudson and Mohawk. In the Helderbergs, are fond lime and sandstone, both abounding in organic remains.
In the elevated table lands, lying between the Helderbergs and the Hudson river, are thick beds of blue and yellow marl, of clayey consistence, and destitute of fossils. They are cov- ered with yellow sand.
Bog iron ore is found, in numerous localities, in the county. Marl, and water limestone, also abound. There are several mineral springs, some of which con- tain sulphuretted hydrogen, others carbonic acid gas, iron, and magnesia.
Epsom salts are found at Coeymans Landing, and petroleum in Guilderland. In the limestone cliffs of the Helderbergs, are several extensive caverns, contain- ing quartz and other crystals, stalactites and stalagmites of great beauty ; calcare- ous spar, bitumen and alum also occur in the county.
SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. A portion of the soil is
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fertile and productive, and most of that, which was naturally sterile, has, by the skill of the husbandman, been made to yield abundant returns. Considerable tracts, however, are not sus- ceptible of cultivation.
The timber of the county is principally pine, hemlock, oak, hickory, elm, chest- nut, and birch.
PURSUITS. Agriculture is the pursuit of a majority of the in- habitants. This may be reckoned as one of the grain growing counties, although not one of the most productive.
Oats, corn, rye, buckwheat, and barley, are the principal grains ; potatoes are raised in considerable quantities. The western part is favorable to grazing, and butter is there largely produced. The number of sheep in the county is large, and increasing annually.
Manufactures also occupy the attention of a large number of the citizens of the county. In 1845, these considerably exceeded two and a half millions of dollars, of which about two millions were produced in the city of Albany.
The principal articles manufactured were, iron ware, flour, malt liquors, coaches and sleighs, machinery, cotton and woollen goods, brick, cordage, oil and oil cloths.
Commerce. The navigation of the Hudson river, and the Erie and Champlain canals, furnishes employment to large numbers, and this commerce is increasing, in a rapid annual ratio.
Tolls were received, in 1845, in the county, upon produce valued at about twenty-seven millions of dollars. About thirty-five steamers, seventy tow boats, and 630 sloops and schooners, beside scows, &c., are employed in the Albany trade, on the Hudson. The total amount of shipping, belonging to the county, is about 60,000 tons.
STAPLE PRODUCTIONS. Oats, corn, rye, barley, buckwheat, butter and wool.
SCHOOLS. There are, in the county of Albany, 160 district school houses. In 1845, schools were taught, on an average, ten months. During that year, 14,600 children were instructed, at an expense of about $25,000, for tuition. The district libra- ries contained about 29,000 volumes.
There were also, in the county, the same year, 111 unincorporated private schools, with 3,856 pupils ; three academies, and two female seminaries, with 637 pupils ; one state normal school, with 294 pupils ; and one medical college, with 114 students.
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Methodists, Dutch Reformed, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, Friends, Unitarians, Lutherans, Congregationalists, Universal- ists, and Jews .*
HISTORY. When Henry Hudson ascended the North river, in 1609, he despatched Hendrick Corstiaensen, with a small
* The religious denominations are given, throughout this work, in the order of their numbers, beginning with the most numerous.
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crew, in a boat, to ascertain the highest point to which that river was navigable. Corstiaensen penetrated as far as Troy, or Lansingburgh, but landed at the present site of the city of Albany.
In 1611, or 12, he returned and erected a trading house, on Boyd's island, a short distance below the Albany ferry. In the ensuing spring, this was so much injured by the ice and the freshet, that he was compelled to abandon it. He then erected a fort, on a hill, about two miles south of Albany.
In 1623 a fort was erected near the present Fort Orange Hotel, in the city of Albany, mounting eight large cannon .* It was named Fort Orange, in honor of the Prince of Orange, who, at that time, presided over the Netherlands.
This fort was intended to subserve the double purpose, of affording convenient accommodations for the traffic with the Indians, and also of serving as a protec- tion against sudden attacks from them. It was only occupied during the autumn, and winter, by the traders, whose object was trade, not colonization.
In 1630, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, a wealthy pearl merchant, of Amsterdam, purchased, through his agents, a large tract of land, including most of this, as well as several of the adjacent, counties.
Over this extensive tract, he possessed all the authority of a sovereign, and, anxious to improve it to the best advantage, he sent a colony here, in 1631, well provided with whatever was necessary, to commence a new settlement. To his estate he gave the name of Rensselaerwyck.
It is believed that he never visited his colony. The administration of justice, and the management of its financial affairs, he committed to a commissary gene- ral. Fortunate in the selection of these, his colony prospered much more than that at New Amsterdam, and it was to the good offices of Van Curler, or Corlaer, the first commissary, that the colonists at New Amsterdam were indebted, more than once, for their preservation from destruction, at the hands of the savages. This excellent man cultivated the most friendly relations with the Indians, and so strong was their affection for him, that, ever after, they applied the name of Cor- laer to the governors of New York, as the highest title of respect.
In 1642, Mr. Van Rensselaer sent over the Rev. Johannes Megapolensis, as minister of Rensselaerwyck, supporting him at his own expense. The first church was erected the suc- ceeding year, and furnished with a bell and pulpit, by the Dutch West India Company. In 1646, the venerable patroon died, at Amsterdam. His son Johannes, then a minor, succeeded him.
During the administration of Governor Stuyvesant, serious difficulties occurred between him and the agent of the patroon, which were finally referred to the states general of Holland, for decision. After New York came into the possession of the Eng-
* Stone pieces, they are called in the original Dutch records ; meaning, ac- cording to Judge Vanderkemp, that they were loaded with stone, instead of iron balls. They were of very large caliber.
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lish, the name of Beaverwyck, which had been bestowed upon the settlement, was changed to Albany, that being one of the titles of the Duke of York. The right of soil was confirmed to the patroon, by a new patent, but the government was retained in the hands of the governor of the colony.
In 1686, Governor Dongan granted a charter to the city of Albany, and Peter Schuyler, the friend of the Indians, was elected the first mayor.
In 1689-90, the citizens of this county refused to submit to the administration of Leisler and Milborne, but were at length compelled, by the fears of an Indian invasion, to yield allegi- ance. No sooner, however, did Colonel Sloughter arrive, than he was welcomed by the people of this county, whose at- tachment to Leisler had never been ardent, or sincere.
In all the treaties with the Indian tribes, the citizens of Albany bore a con- spicuous part, and so entirely had they won the confidence of the savages, that from the date of its settlement, the county was never invaded, by these sons of the forest. The Schuyler family, for several generations, exerted a powerful in- fluence over the Indians.
During the revolution, the Albany committee nobly sustained their countrymen, in their opposition to British sway, and af- forded aid, in troops and money, to the suffering inhabitants of Tryon county, to assist them in repelling the frequent attacks of the merciless horde of tories and Indians, who ravaged their settlements.
Burgoyne had boasted, at the commencement of his campaign, that his army should revel upon the spoils of Albany. but he only visited the city as a captive. Sir Henry Clinton twice attempted to invade it, but met with sufficient obstacles to prevent his success.
It became the capital of the state in 1807. Since the intro- duction of steamboats, and the completion of the canals, the growth of the city and county have been rapid, and the lines of railroads, which connect it with Boston and Buffalo, are giving it a still greater impulse.
The extensive manor of Rensselaerwyck, occupying a territory twenty-four by forty-eight miles in extent, descended, by entailment, to the eldest male descendant of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer. The last proprietor was the late patroon, Stephen Van Rensselaer, a man, whose munificent patronage of every object which could benefit his fellow citizens, or aid in diffusing happiness among men, has embalmed his memory.
At his death, the manor was divided between his two sons, Stephen and William P. Van Rensselaer, the former receiving the portion west of the Hudson, and the latter, that lying east of the river.
The lands had usually been granted on permanent leases, the rental being pay- able in produce. Some personal services were usually required, by the terms of the lease, but seldom exacted by the patroon. The effort, on the part of the present proprietors, to enforce the collection of the rents, was met by strenuous opposition, on the part of the tenants, who formed themselves into armed organiza- tions, and in their conflict with the officers of the law, several individuals were killed.
These organizations have, of late, assumed a political character. Both the
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proprietors and the tenants have sought redress from the legislature, but as yet no decisive action has been taken, by that body. The inconsistency of the feudal tenure, with the spirit of our institutions, will be admitted by all; but there Is great difficulty in legislating justly upon the subject.
CITIES AND VILLAGES. ALBANY CITY is situated on the west bank of the Hudson, 145 miles above New York. It appears to great advantage, from the river, rising rapidly from the bank, and exhibiting its public buildings in bold relief. The alluvial valley of the Hudson extends about a quarter of a mile from the river bank. From this valley, a bluff rises abruptly, 140 feet, and, in the distance of a mile, about eighty feet more. Upon this bluff, are situated most of the public buildings.
In 1845, the city had 116 streets and lanes. It is divided into ten wards, each of which elect annually, an alderman and as- sistant alderman, who together form the common council of the city.
The public buildings are, many of them, elegant and costly. The Capitol, erected at an expense of $120,000, is a fine free- stone edifice. The State Hall, built of white marble, and fire- proof, is an elegant building, of the Ionic order, surmounted by a dome. It cost $350,000. The City Hall stands near it, and is also a fine Grecian structure, of white marble, surmounted by a gilded dome. The Albany Academy, an elegant building of Nyack freestone, opposite the state hall, cost, including the grounds, more than $100,000.
This building, and the capitol have large parks, in front, surrounded by sub- stantial iron fences, and planted with ornamental trees and shrubbery.
The Albany Female Academy is a chaste, marble building, erected at a cost of about $30,000. The Albany Exchange, of massive granite ; the Museum, of marble ; the Medical College, of brick, and well adapted to the purposes, to which it is applied ; the State Normal School; and the State Geological rooms, oc- cupying the old state hall, are the other principal buildings.
Several of the churches, also, are deserving of notice for their architectural beauty. Among these, we may mention the Mid- dle Dutch church, on Beaver street; the Pearl street Baptist church, a finely proportioned structure, in the Ionic style, and surmounted by a splendid dome ; the Hudson street Methodist church, one of the most chaste and beautiful models for a church in the United States; the Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic churches, in Chapel street, &c., &c.
Among the hotels the Delavan House, stands preeminent for simple grandeur and chasteness of architecture. It was comple- ted in 1845, and cost about $200,000. The Eagle, Congress Hall, Mansion, Townsend, American, Carlton, Stanwix Hall, and the Franklin House, are also well conducted hotels.
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The State Library, founded by the munificence of the state, has an excellent collection of works on history, geography, and general literature. An extensive law library is connected with it. The entire collection numbers over 15,000 volumes, and is accessible to all, without charge.
The Albany Library, founded in 1792, and now numbering about 9,000 volumes, occupies apartments in the Albany fe- male academy. The Albany Institute is a scientific institution, designed to encourage attention to history, and general science, in the city and state. It has a valuable library, of nearly 2000 volumes, in the building of the Albany academy.
The Young Men's Association occupies a fine suite of rooms in the exchange. It has a well conducted reading room, a library of 3200 volumes, and sustains a course of lectures each winter. The number of its members is over 1500. It was the first institution of the kind in the state.
The Alms House has connected with it, a fine farm of 150 acres, cultivated by the inmates. There are in the city, two Orphan Asylums, supported by private charity, which provide for the support and education of about 150 children ; and a num- ber of other benevolent societies.
The Albany Academy, founded in 1813, has eight teachers, and about 200 pupils. The Albany Female Academy, founded in 1814, has twelve teachers, and about 275 pupils. The Albany Female Seminary has six teachers. There are nu- merous other schools, of considerable reputation. The public schools have nine school houses, costing between $30,000 and $40,000.
The Albany Medical College is a flourishing medical school, having an able faculty, and one of the best anatomical museums in the United States. It has seven professors.
The State Geological Rooms, in the old state hall, contain the splendid collection of the state geologists, arranged, in the lower rooms, in the order of the successive strata, and in the upper, in the order of the counties. Here, too, are specimens of the mineral and vegetable treasures of the state, appropri- ately arranged, and a large collection of the quadrupeds, birds, fishes and reptiles of the state. They are open, free of expense, to all.
At the junction of the Erie canal with the Hudson, the citi- zens have constructed an extensive basin, to protect the .boats from the winds, and give them greater facilities for discharging their cargoes.
The city is largely engaged in manufactures. Its iron found- ries are among the largest in the country. More stoves are manufactured here, than in any other city, or town, in the union.
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Coaches, sleighs, hats, caps, and bonnets, are also largely man- ufactured ; the three latter articles, to the amount of nearly one million of dollars, annually. It has extensive manufactories of pianofortes. Leather is produced to the amount of more than $400,000 per annum. Population in 1845, 41,139.
West Troy, in the town of Watervliet, is a thriving village, possessing excellent hydraulic privileges, which it derives from the surplus waters of the Erie canal. It is a convenient depot for merchandise, from its facilities for transportation, and is largely engaged in manufactures, having twenty-five or thirty manufacturing establishments. The United States arsenal, es- tablished here in 1813, is the largest arsenal of construction, in the United States.
Attached to the establishment, are about 100 acres of land, containing thirty- eight buildings, for workshops and storehouses. It constantly employs about 200 officers, soldiers, and workmen, and manufactures annually, munitions of war, to the amount of about $100,000. The grounds are enclosed by an iron fence in front, and a wall of stone on the sides and rear.
The Erie and Champlain canals form a junction, a short dis- tance above the village, and a bridge and two ferries connect it with Troy. Population in 1845, about 6000.
At Neskayuna in the same township, is a community of Shaking Quakers, established in 1776, by Ann Lee, the founder of the sect. This was the first Shaker establishment in the United States.
Cohoes village, also in this town, possesses one of the finest water privileges in the state, and its advantages for manufac- turing, are hardly surpassed. It is estimated, that at the lowest stage of the water, there is sufficient to run 1,000,000 spindles. Population in 1845, over 2000.
Rensselaerville, in the town of the same name, is situated on Foxes creek. It has some manufactures, and about 1000 in- habitants .*
Coeymans is a small manufacturing village, having a good landing, and some trade with New York. It has also some manufactures. Population 1000.
'From this town, in 1779, Captain Deitz, and two lads named John and Robert Brice, were taken as captives by the Indians, and suffered all the barbarities which the malice of the savages could inflict. Captain Deitz died at Montreal, from the effect of their cruelties ; but the boys were exchanged at the close of the war, and returned home. This is believed to have been the nearest ap- proach made to Albany, by the Indians during the Revolution.
II. NEW YORK COUNTY.
Square Miles, 22. Organized, 1683. Population, 391,223. Valuation, 1845, $239,995,517.
The city and county are of equal extent .* Rivers. B. East River. C. Hudson River. a. Harlaem River. q. Spuyten Duy- vel Creek. n. Hellgate.
Bays. A. New York Bay.
Islands. d. Randall's. p. Barn. s. Blackwell's. v. Governor's. e. Bed- low's. j. Ellis'.
Forts. Castle Garden, or Castle Clin- ton. Fort Columbus, on Governor's island. Fort Wood, on Bedlow's island.
Battle Fields. Kip's and Turtle Bay. Harlaem Heights. Fort Washington. Universities. Columbia College. Uni- versity of New York.
Cities. New York City.
BOUNDARIES. North by Westches- ter county ; East by Westchester county and Long Island; South by Long Island and the waters of New York bay ; and West by New Jersey.
Its territory extends to low water mark on the Jersey side of the Hudson, as well as to the same point on the Long Island side of the East river, and the Westchester side of the Harlaem.
SURFACE. The lower part of the county, though originally rough and broken, has been graded and levelled, and now rises gradually, from the shores of the Hudson and East riv- ers, towards the centre of the city. The upper part is still hilly, and has extensive marshes.
RIVERS. The East river, or strait, and the Hudson, or North river, wash its eastern and western shores, af- fording fine anchorage, and sufficient depth of water, to permit the largest
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ships to come up to the wharves. The Harlaem river is a nar- row strait, connecting by means of Spuyten Duyvel creek, East river with the Hudson. Several small streams water the up- per portions of the county, but none of them are of sufficient size to be worthy of notice. The original name of the island was Manhattan, a word of doubtful etymology, but of late years, it has been known by the name of New York Island.
BAYS. The upper, or New York bay, proper, is one of the finest harbors in the world, affording anchorage ground suffi- cient for the navies of the world. The lower bay, or harbor, is also spacious, but not so completely land locked as the upper.
It furnishes, however, convenient and secure anchorage ground.
Kip's and Turtle bays, on the east, and Striker's bay, on the west side of the island, are small inlets, only worthy ofnotice, for their historic interest.
ISLANDS. Randall's, Barn, and Blackwell's islands, in the East river, and Governor's, Bedlow's, and Ellis', in the harbor, with some smaller islands, belong to the county.
On Governor's island are Fort Columbus, and Castle William ; on Bedlow's, Fort Wood. There are also other fortifications, on Long Island and Staten Island, intended, like these, for the defence of the harbor.
CLIMATE. The climate of New York county is, from its situ- ation, more equable than that of the inland counties, generally. The sea breezes waft a refreshing coolness, over the heated streets in summer, and temper the intense cold of the wintry blasts. In healthfulness, it occupies a very high rank, among the great cities of the world. Its ratio of deaths, to the popula- tion, is less than that of any of the large cities of Europe.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. The rocks of this county, with the exception of a small section at the extreme north, are primitive. Granite characterizes the river banks, and huge boulders of it lie scattered over the surface. Dolomite, (a species of marble), bog iron ore, and oxide of manganese, are the principal mine- rals, applicable to use in the arts.
Among those interesting to the mineralogist, may be enumerated fine specimens of tremolite. pyroxene, mica, tourmaline, serpentine and amianthus. Some speci- mens of pyrites, epidote, lainellar feldspar, stilbite, garnet, staurotide, graphite, &c., have also been met with. Marble is abundant, and extensively quarried, in the northern part of the island.
SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The soil is generally fer- tile, but too costly to be devoted to agricultural purposes. Gar- dens, of considerable extent, are cultivated, in the upper part of the island.
The island was originally well wooded, but most of the timber is now cut off. Oak, pine, hemlock and chestnut, were the principal forest trees.
PURSUITS. Manufacturing is the pursuit of a majority of the inhabitants of the county. The articles manufactured are nu-
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merous, and amounted, in 1845, as nearly as can be ascertained, to between eighteen and twenty millions of dollars, giving employment to more than sixty thousand persons.
Commerce. In commerce, this county surpasses every other city or county on the continent, and is the second city in the world, in commercial importance.
In 1845, the registered, licensed and enrolled shipping of the county, amounted to 550,359 tons. The shipping, entered the same year, amounted to over one million tons, and the clearan- ces, to about the same amount.
This commerce is extended to every part of the globe. Not only do the ships of this port visit the various ports of our own country, and Europe, but their sails flutter in the breezes of China, and Japan ; their flag is known on the coasts of Arabia, Persia and India, and their trade sought by the swarthy sons of Africa and New Holland, and by the natives of the unnumbered isles, that gein the wide expanse of the Pacific. Wherever there is an opportunity for traffic, there the American flag is the first unfurled.
Directly, or indirectly, this commerce furnishes the means of support, to many thousands of her own citizens, and also to millions in other counties and states.
The great system of internal navigation, so nobly begun and carried on by the state, has also brought immense wealth into the city.
The amount of produce brought to the Hudson, from all the canals, in 1845, the greater part of which came to New York, was over forty-five millions of dollars, and the amount, which was cleared from the Hudson river, the same year, (most of which was from New York), was over fifty-five millions, making a total inter- nal trade, of about one hundred millions of dollars per annum.
Agriculture is not an object of great attention. Horticulture furnishes employment to a considerable number of persons, in the upper part of the island.
EDUCATION. The common school system of the city of New York has been already described. (See page 124.)
It only remains to say, that more liberal and ample provision, for furnishing a thorough education, even to the most indigent, is nowhere made. The child of the poorest emigrant may obtain, free of expense, if he chooses, as full instruction in the sciences, as the son of the wealthiest citizen in the city.
In addition to the common schools, there are twenty-eight incorporated schools and academies in the county, seventeen of which are female seminaries. These are well conducted, and attended by large numbers. There are also several hun- dred private and select schools, attended, it is estimated, by more than 20,000 pupils.
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