USA > New York > Forts and firesides of the Mohawk country, New York : the stories and pictures of landmarks of the pre-Revolutionary War period throughout the Mohawk valley and the surrounding country side, including some historic and genealogical mention during the post-war period > Part 7
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Page 68
FORTS AND FIRESIDES OF THE MOHAWK COUNTRY
In 1804 a Methodist minister, Reverend Cyrus Stebbins was preaching in Albany and came under the eye of the congregation. Being but two in the family he was offered the charge, accepted it and ultimately was ordained as rector in 1806.
Duanesburg, then without a minister, was a cause of considerable concern to Trinity Church. They offered to grant St. George's $500. per annum toward the support of the rector with the proviso that he hold services in Duanesburg at least four times during the year. This offer was accepted but it was subsequently shown to Trinity Church by the local vestry that the sum was not sufficient to pay the costs involved in transporting the rector back and forth, holding the services, etc. Trinity finally released them from their obligations and left them free to use the money as suited them best. Rector Stebbins' family increased, but the Church income did not. Trinity came to their assistance again with but temporary relief and Mr. Stebbins left in 1819.
Then came a short period during which the Rev. Alonzo Potter was connected with the church, and in 1821 the Rev. Alexis Proal was called from Johnstown.
By this time the financial structure was decidedly better, and the church went steadily ahead. Its tall and slender steeple, reaching high above the mossy graves of those who gave it birth and nourished it through its infant years, is their mighty tombstone which needs no epitaph.
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John J. Vrooman-19$1
Governor Yates Home Schenectady
Entrance. Governor Yates Home
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John J. Vrooman-19$1
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وتوجيه البوي
Page 69
THE GOVERNOR YATES HOUSE
The Governor Yates House
HIS is an interesting and beyond doubt a most important and dignified example of one of Schenectady's pre-Revolutionary homes.
The first house to be built on this site was by William Hall, a soldier in the old French and Indian War. It was a gable-roofed structure.
Hall was carried a captive to Canada and some say, even to France. In any event, the records agree that he was exchanged and died before he reached home.
William Hall had at least two children; a son, William and a daughter named Anne. William inherited the property but moved to Canajoharie, selling the home to Tobias Ten Eyck, who built the present house in 1760.
Tobias was born in Albany about 1717 and came to Schenectady prior to 1750, the date of his marriage to Rachael DePeyster of Albany. He was one of Schenectady's successful merchants and a prominent citizen. When the members of the first local "Committee of Safety" were chosen, he was named to serve. This he refused to do, though he does not seem to have been a Tory sympathizer as his name appears later on the Albany Militia rolls.
He spent the later years of his life in Albany where he died on February 9, 1785. He was buried there under the Dutch Church.
Following the Ten Eyck ownership the property passed to James Ellice, a prominent and wealthy trader. There were several Ellice brothers, all of them engaged in this same business reaching up the Valley and as far as Montreal where one of the brothers was always in residence. Their trading flourished, through the aid and friendship of Sir William Johnson. These men were for the most part Loyalists, and all save James, who died here, had left Schenectady before the close of the Revolution.
Mary Eliza Adams, widow of James Ellice, married Joseph C. Yates the future Governor, whose lineage is best understood by naming the original settler first. This was Joseph Yates, an Englishman, who came to Albany just following the taking over of the Colony by the English in 1664. He died in 1730 leaving four sons and two daughters. Christoffel, the son, born in 1684, was the eldest child.
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FORTS AND FIRESIDES OF THE MOHAWK COUNTRY
Christoffel remained in Albany, but his son, Joseph, who married Eva, the daughter of Jellis Fonda of Schenectady, settled on Alplaus Creek just east of Schenectady in 1734. Here, Joseph's eldest son Christopher was born in 1737. He was commonly known as Colonel Christopher. His title came through his military service begun with Colonel William Johnson, at which time he had a Captain's commission. He was engaged at Ticonderoga where he was wounded in 1758. In 1759 he was in the campaign against Fort Niagara and present at its capture. He left "a diary of my proceedings from my father's house in Schenectady which I left on June 1st with the last party of our regiment, commanded by Col. Johnson, consisting of about 300 men with whale boats." During the Revolution he was a Colonel in command of a fatigue regiment. At this time he built the house which still stands on Front Street, just east of the house pictured. Here he died in 1785. In this house his son, Joseph C., one of a family of ten children, whose mother was Jannetje Bratt, was born on Nov. 9th, 1768.
Joseph C. became a prominent lawyer and married first, in 1791, the widow of James Ellice and took up residence in the Ten Eyck mansion. His second wife was Marie Kane, and his third Elizabeth De Lancy of Westchester County. He was the first Mayor of Schenectady in 1798 following the granting of the city charter in that year. He next became State Senator for two years (1806-08), when he resigned to accept the Judgeship of the State Supreme Court. This led to his election as Governor in 1823. In 1825 he returned to this house and to his private life and practice. He died in 1837.
The house, as originally erected, was from the plans of the famous architect, Samuel Fuller, and was two stories high with gable roof. It also lacked the small addition at the left, which was added by the Governor for his office. Many important conferences and affairs of the State were settled in this wing. The third story was added many years later. The spacious gardens at the rear still reach down to the river. Under them, extending from the basement of the mansion to the River, was an underground passage such as is so often found in the important houses of this date. Its basement entrance is still to be seen though the tunnel has long since been filled up.
محما د
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John J. Vrooman-1939
Glen -Sanders House Scotia
Page 71
GLEN . SANDERS HOUSE
Glen-Sanders House
LEXANDER LINDSEY GLEN, born near Inverness, Scotland about 1610, was of noble birth, his family having intermarried with that of Robert III, the family name at that time being "Lindsey." The religious unrest in Scotland caused him to flee to Protestant Holland where he married a Dutch maiden named Catalijn Donckesz. Some- time subsequent to his departure from Scotland he added "Glen" to his name, it being a common custom with religious refugees to alter their name.
In 1639 the couple sailed from Holland for New Amsterdam and established a residence since Glen had signed a contract with the Patroon of Rensselaerwyck.
In 1646 he took title to land in New Amsterdam (New York) and later owned considerable other property, both real and personal, near the town and on Long Island. During a part of the time he was in the employ of the Patroon, "sailing yachts" but the agreement specified "not when they tapped liquor." . The sailing evidently was between the two countries as in 1646 Glen with other skippers was notified by the Director of the Colony not to transport colonists to the Manhattans without his approval. In a letter from the Patroon in Holland, to Van Curler in 1643, the writer says:
"I am pleased to hear that Sanders Leendersen is an upright man; such people I am inclined to advance."
In 1654 his bond was accepted by the Director of the Colony, when offered to guarantee the rental of some mills near Albany, showing that by this time he was possessed of considerable property.
By 1658 he was at Schenectady on his grant of land which he had received from the Indians. Later (1665) this was ratified by a Crown Patent. His first house, the first white man's dwelling along the Mohawk, was built in 1659, its site being about one hundred feet south of the present dwelling, on land subject to erosion by the River. By 1713 this erosion had endangered the foundations, so the house was dismantled and as much as possible of the material was utilized in the present building, constructed that year by his son, John A. Glen.
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FORTS AND FIRESIDES OF THE MOHAWK COUNTRY
Glen joined Van Curler as one of the original proprietors of Schenectady in 1662, and received his proportional share of the land grant. His town lot fronted 200 feet on the west side of Washington Avenue, just north of State Street, and his substantial home there was occupied by his descendants until its destruction in the great fire of 1819. His estate across the River he called "Scotia," in memory of his native Scotland, which later gave the permanent name to the settlement on that side of the River.
As Schenectady grew and prospered, Alexander Lindsey Glen, with personal funds, erected the first Dutch Reformed Church at the junction of State and Church Streets in 1682. Prior to this, those wishing to attend Sunday worship journeyed to Albany where Do. Gideon Schaets preached. But the trip occupied an entire week-end! Upon the completion of the building, Rev. Petrus Taschemaker was given the charge. Two years later, in 1684, Mrs. Glen died, and the next year the old settler, Alexander Lindsey Glen, joined her. Both were buried under the Church he had so generously provided.
Major John A. Glen, born in 1648, the youngest son of Alexander Lindsey Glen, the original proprietor, built the present house in 1713, as stated. This house is of great architectural interest. The story runs that only the biggest and soundest trees to be found were felled, cut into log lengths, and squared by hand, for they were too massive to move conveniently. After squaring they were somewhat easier to handle but still of too great weight and size to be used, so they were sawed in half on each lineal dimension, thus making four timbers from each log, these remaining timbers still being two feet square. There are other examples of lumber cut from enormous logs; some of the wide door panels are a single pine board. Much of the hardware of the house is "original" as is the panelling and other woodwork, all of which proves the excellent quality of workmanship possible at this early day when workmen were hired "by the month" rather than "by the hour."
Within the house are many almost priceless relics of the early days of the Glens and of the Sanders who later married into the Glen family. Among these is a round mahogany table, said to be the very one at which the French officers in charge of the expeditionary force which destroyed Schenectady, ate their breakfast following the burning of the village in 1690.
Van Curler, the leading citizen of his time, was now dead and Alexander Glen had taken his place at the head of the settlement. This accounts for the officers calling at his house, which they had spared out of respect for kindness he bad shown a fugitive French priest as is related in the following story. Major Glen, it will be seen, was careful not to offend the Mohawks with whom the settlers
الصدرية
Scotia Abraham Glen House
John J. Vrooman-1951
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GLEN · SANDERS HOUSE
must necessarily live on friendly terms, while the Indians on their part, were just as anxious to maintain the friendship of the Dutch from whom they obtained firearms, rum, clothing, etc.
One day the Mohawks brought a prisoner to the Glen mansion which stood adjacent to a knoll where it was the Indian custom to torture their captives. They asked the Major to lock the prisoner in the basement until the following morning at which time the torture rites would take place. Major Glen saw the prisoner was a French priest whom they had brought from one of their Castles up the Mohawk. He realized that somehow he must contrive to save the man's life, yet at the same time it would have to be accomplished without offending the Indians.
He told the Indians that it would be very difficult to imprison a priest as priests were gifted with magical powers; but he directed the Indians to take the prisoner to the basement and lock him up themselves and keep the key as he feared the evil consequences of having anything to do with it; furthermore, that he himself must be up and away early in the morning to Albany for a load of salt, and that he might not be at home when the tortures began. . The Indians, following instructions, locked the priest in the basement and then in anticipation of the happy ceremony to come in the morning, proceeded to celebrate the coming event by getting drunk.
In the very early morning the Major's team and wagon departed for Albany carrying a huge cask, in which to bring back the salt. Soon after, the Indians began to bestir themselves, and coming to the basement, were furious upon finding their captive had escaped. The Major, who had sent his team and wagon on without him, explained that due to the Priest's magical powers, his Reverence had undoubtedly escaped through the large keyhole from which they had removed the key.
The story does not relate whether or not the salt came back safely, but certainly the priest, hidden in the cask, got safely away.
The Sanders (Saunders) family who are connected with the property revert to an ancestor whose memory is perpetuated in Allhallows Church London. where a tablet on its wall reads as follows:
"In Memory Of
The Rev. Mr. Lawrence Saunders, M.A., Rector of Allhallows, Bread Street. Who for Sermons here Preached, in defense of the Doctrines of the Reformation of the Church of England from ye curruptions of the Church of Rome. Suffered Martyrdom ye third year of Queen Mary, being burnt at Coventry, Feb'y ye 8, 1555."
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FORTS AND FIRESIDES OF THE MOHAWK COUNTRY
The widow of this martyr, together with her two sons, escaped to Holland and later Elsie Saunders, another widow, presumably of one of the sons just referred to, came to New York with her two sons about the year 1646. These persons scem to have been the first settlers of this name in America. The brothers soon located at Albany where they became Indian traders. John Saunders, who was of this family, married in 1739, Deborah, the daughter of Colonel Jacob Glen, then owner by inheritance, of the old Glen homestead. As there were many heirs to the Jacob Glen estate, John Saunders purchased their individual interests for a total of $10,000, a princely sum in those days.
During the ownership of Jacob Glen, the mansion was used as a place of safe keeping for the military records of the time, as well as land patents, treaties and other State papers. At one period the public papers of Sir William Johnson, Indian Commissioner for the Crown, were kept here. Later, those of quite another complexion, the minutes of the meetings of the Sons of Liberty, found a home here.
The house of Abraham Glen, built by him in 1730, diagonally opposite the old Mansion, now serves as the Public Library of the Village of Scotia. The house is a composite of many additions but the front view displays the typical, steeply pitched Dutch roof of the original structure. Abraham Glen was born April 11th, 1694, the ninth child of John Alexander Glen. He inherited this part of his father's estate and his son John Sanders Glen, subsequently sold it to his cousin, Deborah Glen Sanders. The walls of the original building, though seemingly of wood, are of brick-filled construction, the outside being covered with wide weather-boarding. Doubtless the inside walls were a combination of panelling and plaster, the brick being roughly daubed between the studding.
At a meeting of the Freeholders of the Township of Schenectady, May 6th, 1775, the following persons were unanimously chosen to act as a Committee of Correspondence, for the safety and protection of the Township, viz:
Rinier Minderse
John Sanders
James Wilson Abraham Outhout
Hugh Mitchell Tobyus Ten Eyck
Henry Glen John Rosebom
Harmanus Wendle Christopher Yates
At the meeting of the above members the 8th of May, at the tavern of Robert Clench, John Sanders and Tobyus Ten Eyck refused to serve. At the Albany Committee meeting on May 10th, in the Albany City Hall the above
Page 75. 16.
GLEN · SANDERS HOUSE
members were present except that Corn's Cuyler and Jacobus Teller had taken the place of John Sanders and Tobyus Ten Eyck. Henry Glen was then chosen one of the eleven members to go to New York "to meet in General Congress on the 22nd instant." At another meeting on Nov. 11th, 1775, he was elected one of five to represent "this City and County in Provincial Congress." Albany County at that time included Schenectady County.
On July 23rd, 1775, Henry Glen was chosen, with one other, to go to Johnstown to inquire into the cause of the disturbance in that (Tryon) County, the Board being informed that Sheriff White and others had escaped jail and were supposed to be on their way to Canada. The Sheriff, because of his rabid Toryism, had been thrown into his own gaol.
On July 19th, 1777 the following entry was made in the minutes of the Schenectady Committee :---
"Henry Glen, Esq'r, D.Q.M.G'l. Informed this board that he wanted a Number of Waggon to Ride provision from Albany and to bring it to Johnstown and Cherry Valley Where the Garrison are quite out of provision and if not supplyed must Consequently leave it And that he has applied to Major Swits for leave to take out of the Militia as many of them (that had waggons) as he wanted . "
The following quotation, taken from the minutes of the Committee Meeting of July 31st, 1779 leads one to believe the cares and responsibilities of the members were sometimes mitigated by the payment of the self imposed penalty. It reads :---
"On Motion made, Resolved that every member belonging to this board who does not attend fifteen minutes after the hour appointed for the Committee to meet, or on receiving notice, shall (unless they can give a reasonable excuse to the satisfaction of the board) pay the price of one bowl of Toddy for every such neglect."
The Federal Census of 1790 shows seven families of the name of "Glen"; two, Alexander and John S. are of Ballston, the former having eight in family with no slaves and the latter five in family and six slaves. . Two more, Cornelius and Henry, are shown as living in the third ward in Albany, the former having two in family and six slaves and the latter seven in family and seven slaves. John and Isaac are listed under Schenectady, the former having two in family and five slaves and the latter two in family and two slaves. Jacob is shown under the Saratoga Town heading and is credited with five in family and one slave.
This same census shows but one "Sanders" and he is "John" located north of the River at Schenectady with seven in family and four slaves.
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(Rotterdam) Schenectady
Arent Bradt House
الصف.
المعهنا
ويج
من سياسة التقانة .١١ نظره
الضائعة حصـ
John J. Vrooman -- 1911
فته مشـ
Page 77
BRADT HOUSE
Bradt House
"Log of the ship Rensselaerwyck on its voyage from Amsterdam to New Netherlands- and return, September 25, 1636 . November 7, 1637. . . . November, Sunday 2,
Drifted 16 leagues N. E. by E; the wind about West, the latitude by dead reckoning 41 degrees, 50 minutes, with very high seas. This day the overhang above our rudder was knocked in by the severe storm. This day a child was born on the ship, and named and baptized in England (English) 'Stoerm.' The Mother is annetie barents. The day is gone."
ND so Storm van der Zee (Bradt) was born, the son of Albert Andriesz Bratt, who with his wife, Annetie Barents were sailing to a new home in a new land. There were two brothers of this name, who came early to the Colony from their home in the south eastern part of Norway. They were Albert Andriesz and Arent Andriesz; the former remained in Albany and is the ancestor of most of the families of this name in the Hudson Valley. He is charged on the Rensselaer Manor account books with 250 fl. annual rent for two mills and land on the Normans Kill. His brother Arent became one of the original proprietors of Schenectady in its settlement in 1662, about which time he died leaving a widow, 3 sons and 3 daughters.
The widow received the grants of land at Schenectady which had been allotted to her husband. She was married twice after Arent's death and survived her third husband. She was born Catalina, the daughter of Andries De Vos, a magistrate and Deputy Director of Rensselaerwyck, and reputed to be a lady of intelligence and education beyond the average of her day. Her pre-nuptial arrangements, providing justly for her children, bear witness to this.
The home lot was on the north-east corner of Washington Avenue and State Street, diagonally opposite the present Van Curler Hotel. In 1725 Catalina's grandson sold this property to Hendrick Vrooman but it came back into the Bratt family at a later date to be again disposed of in 1769 to James Shuter and thereafter was called by the Dutch "Shuter's Hookie" (corner). The old Bratt house, typically Dutch with steep roof and a fine brick front was for almost a century and a half a landmark of old Schenectady for it definitely survived the massacre of 1690 owing to the fact that some of the French wounded were taken here for shelter. It was torn down about 1895.
Captain Arent (1684-1765), grandson of the original settler inherited the property and lived and died here. From him the property passed to his three sons all of whom lived on parts of it. The property at this time included
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FORTS AND FIRESIDES OF THE MOHAWK COUNTRY
practically the entire frontage of the block. Harmanies, the third son, lived in the old homestead. The Bratts were engaged in the brewing business and their brew house was also located on the property. Harmanies was also an Indian trader. He died in 1796, one of the wealthiest men in the town. The year before he died he subscribed £15. to the charter founding Union College.
Harmanies' widow was Aeffie Brouwer and it appears that the house passed, after her death in 1802, to Jannetie, her daughter who had in 1787, married Simon DeGraff. Simon inherited it and deeded it to his brother Isaac, who lived here for a long period of years.
The farm lands of this family were widely scattered. Some of it was just east of the village along the Mohawk; some as far away as Niskayuna and of course they received their interest, as representatives of one of the original settlers, in the "Great Flat." Their part of this land was in what was later known as Rotterdam and this is the land on which the house pictured is located, though the original holdings have been much reduced through the years.
Samuel, the second son of Arent Andriesz and Catalina De Vos (the original settlers) was born in 1659 and married Susanna, a daughter of Jacques Cornelisze Van Slyke, the trader and tapster. He died about 1741, leaving five sons. His village lot was on Front Street and included the land through which Governor's Lane now passes. Samuel also inherited what was known as "hindmost Lot No. 1." This farm passed to Samuel's son, Arent, who was born in 1684. He married Catherina, a daughter of Jan Pieterse Mebie of Rotterdam (the Woestine), and built the brick house which still stands, as pictured. In the front wall is imbedded a brick upon which has been scratched "A. Bratt, 1736."
The house, after going through a period of gross neglect: has again come into kindly hands and is maintained in excellent condition. It has a large central hall, and large lower rooms, in keeping with the huge fireplaces they harbor. There was also a bed alcove at one side of one of these chimneys, the opposite corresponding space being occupied by a cupboard. A winding staircase leads to the upper floor and the attic.
On the roster of the Schenectady Regiment at the time of the Revolution the following Bradts are listed: - Aaron A., Anthony A., Aphriaem, Arent A., Arent S., Aron B., Charles, Cornelius, Elias, Ephriam, Gerret, Jacobus A., Jacobus B., Jacobus S., John, John S., Mindert, Samuel, and Samuel S. Bradt. There were also Bradts in the service at Albany, one of whom served for a time as "keeper of the Tory gaol."
The heads of families of this name as listed in the Federal census of 1790 at Schenectady, "south of the Mohawk" are Aaron S., Abraham, Anthony, Frederick, Hermanus, Jacobus, John, Nicholas, Samuel, Samuel A., Samuel B., and Winetia Bradt.
John J. Vrooman-1931
Van Slyck House (Rotterdam) Schenectady
Page 79
THE VAN SLYCK HOUSE
The Van Slyck House
ORNELIS ANTHONISZ VAN SCHLICK (Slyke) was the original settler of this name in the Mohawk Valley. He came to Rensselaer- wyck from Breuckelen near Utrecht in the ship "Eendracht" in 1634 under contract to the Patroon. By trade he was a carpenter and mason, and his account runs through the records of the Manor up to the time of his departure for the settlement of Schenectady, where he was one of the "original proprietors." In addition to his work at these trades, he leased a farm which he seems to have maintained throughout as his residence in the Manor. The farm was located near the Great Flats (north of Albany), for in one of the Patroon's letters he mentions:
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