USA > New York > Columbia County > Gazetteer and business directory of Columbia County, N.Y. for 1871-2 > Part 17
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The Hudson Academy building is a plain, three story brick olitice, located on Prospect Hill, near the Cemetery. It is donated by the Trustees to the present Principals, Revs. H. R. Schermerhorn and A. Mattice, for the purpose of maintaining a school. The present number of pupils in attendance is 95, though 150 can be accommodated. The faculty consists of six teachers. Both sexes are admitted; and its object is to prepare pupils for College, a purpose which its curriculum is well
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calculated to accomplish. The school was commenced under its present management in September, 1869, with 70 pupil. The increase in its number of pupils in less than a year is i: dicative of the thoroughness of the work done here. At .... early day this school acquired a favorable notoriety, and ma! ; men who afterwards became eminent, owe much of the . success to the instruction received there. Among th. prominent men who acknowledge it as their Alma Mater he may name Elias Leavenworth, Amasa J. Parker, Judge Ment: Hogeboom, Rev. Dr. J. Edson Rockwell, Judge Claudius 1. Monell, Judge Josiah Sutherland, Judge John W. Edmond-, Theo. Miller, Joseph D. Monell, Gen. W. H. Halleck, Rev. Dr. Benj. F. Stone, Rev. Dr. Ferdinand Rogers and Robert H. Mor- ris. Up to within a few years, however, it has degenerate! somewhat. It is the purpose of the present occupants to bring it up to that high reputation it formerly merited.
The deed for the land on which this school stands was ex- ecuted in 1806. A charter was obtained in 1807, but the school commenced Dec. 3, 1805, under the direction of Andrew M. Carshore, as we learn from the Balance of that date. The fol- lowing extracts from the trustee records may prove of inter .? in this connection and serve to show that the residents ! Hudson were early impressed with the importance of educa- tional matters. On the 24th of February, 1805, sixty-four persons being " duly impressed with the importance and necessity of diffusing useful knowledge by the establishment .i suitable Seminaries, for the instruction of youth," formed then !. selves "into an association for the promotion of such desirable objects ; " and for that purpose entered into the following com- pact :
" We do mutually covenant, consent and agree for ourselves, our heir. and assigns that John Swift, Samuel Tenbroeck, Wm. Ashley, Ebeneat Rand, Wm. Shaw, Noah Gridley, Benj. Miller, Luther Dunning and .I . Frary, shall be a committee to do and perform the several duties hereal? : mentioned,-That is to say - We whose names are hereunto subscribed u for ourselves and our legal representatives promise to pay [here follow. the names above quoted], or the survivor or survivors, & commit! appointed by the association for erecting an Academy or Seminar which is to be known and called by the name of the Hudson Acadet the sum of ten dollars for every share of stock in the said association. ~ opposite our respective names, In such manner and proportion and at str .. times and places as shall be determined by them, or a major part of the !! or the survivor or survivors of them and the said book or books shall I~ opened by the said you Had to, or the major part of them for subscript. until there is as many other . summenbed as will complete said Academy. " the number of eighty shafts."
This land, consisting of about two acres, was granted in part by the City of Hudson, and conveyed in part by Seth G. M.Ay
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to John Swift and others; and the building erected was 50 feet front, 30 feet deep, three stories high and constructed of brick. Five trustees were elected by the building committee from the stock-holders, who were entitled to one vote for each share held to the number of ten, and one vote for every three shares above that number; and it was provided that the trustees should " be elected forever each anniversary day, and elections always [held] at the Academy." These trustees were elected at a meet- ing held Oct. 12, 1805, and were named as follows: Wm W. Van Ness, Peter Van Rensselaer, Henry Croswell, John Swift and Wm. Ashley ; and at a meeting held by the trustees two days subsequent John Swift was elected President and Wm. Ashley, Secretary, for one year. At a meeting held Nov. 11, 1805, Henry Croswell was appointed a Committee to write to Mr. Ashbel Strong rejecting his proposition to become teacher in the Academy, also to write to Mr. Catlin requesting him to accept that position. At a meeting held March 25, 1806, Wm. Ashley was authorized to petition the Regents at Albany for a charter of incorporation ; and at a meeting held Dec. 26, 1806, Wm. W. Van Ness was authorized to petition them for the same purpose, and three others appointed to confer with him and make necessary arrangements. Jan'y 23, 1807, they were again petitioned, and at the same time the number of Trustees was increased to 24. June 13, 1807, nine stock holders transferred to the Trustees twenty-two shares of stock for the purpose of endowing the Academy with sufficient real estate to obtain a charter of incorporation, and July 4, 1808, Mr. Strong was re- quested to prepare and present a petition to the Regents for the same purpose. At a meeting held Oct. 11, 1806, it was
" Resolved, That we declare a Dividend of fifty cents on a share of the capital stock of the Hudson Academy, payable when the arrearages due the Academy are collected or there is money in the hands of the Treas- urer."
The Hudson Young Ladies' Seminary was established in 1848. It is centrally located on Warren Street and is connected with the residence of the Misses Peake, Elizabeth and Sophia C., who are the Principals, and who have conducted it seventeen years. The course of instruction is well adapted to impart a thorough and finished education which shall grace the after life of its graduates with substantial accomplishments, dis- played not only in the mental, but also the moral and physical natures. Particular attention is paid to the French language by a native French teacher residing in the family. No better evidence of the high reputation this school enjoys can, per- haps, be adduced than by citing the fact that it is full to the capacity of its accommodations, there being fifty pupils in attendance. It gives employment to five teachers.
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The Misses Skinner's School for Girls, located on Union Street, near the center of the City, and established in April 1867, by the present Principals, Misses Sarah R. and Cornelia Skinner, exhibits indications of great care and thoroughness in its educational department. It is conducted as a primary school, and was kept for three years at their residence, where the num- ber of pupils was limited to twenty-five. Encouraged by the evidences of appreciation which their efforts elicited, they erected a new building at a cost, including the lot on which it stands, of $8,500, and into which the school was moved in April, 1870. The present number of pupils in attendance is 37. The new building will accommodate SO pupils. On the removal of the school the classics were added to its curriculum. Four teachers are employed and one not permanently connected with the school, is 'employed to impart instruction in vocal music.
The Hudson Lancaster Society was incorporated April 15, 1817, for the purpose of establishing a Lancasterian School, for the gratuitous education of the children of the poor. A lot was donated by the Common Council, and the erection of a building commenced the same year, the expenses of which were defraved by donations. Josiah Underhill was its first teacher. No scholar was admitted without submitting to the inspection of a physician, if the teacher required it, and none were retained unless kept clean and decently clothed. It received for its support from the Common Council the school money, the money realized from the excise fund and from lottery licenses, the deficiency being provided for by individual contributions. An effort was subsequently made to withdraw from it a part of the fund donated by the City, but without avail. "It seems, how- ever," says Miller, " at one time to have seriously interfered with its successful operation, for we find Henry Dibblee and Cornelius Miller offering to become personally responsible for the education of fifty children, until the Council should abandon the effort to take from the school the fund apportioned to it." By an act of May 11, 1835, the Society was allowed to raise $400 annually. But it languished, and notwithstanding the fact that the ladies very generously contributed to its assist- ance the proceeds realized from a fair, it suspended in 1841. In 1828 an " African School" was established and its support contributed to by the religious societies in the following amounts: Universalists, Presbyterians and Friends, each $25 : Episcopalians 820; and Baptists and Methodists, each 812. " The Lancaster Society," says Miller, " appropriated $25, and petitioned the Common Council for and received an annual donation of 850."
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The Hudson Select Academy was built in 1813, by an associa- tion of which Seth Jenkins was President. It acquired the name of " Shad Academy" through the efforts of Jenkins to procure the passage of an act by the Legislature granting to it the fishing grounds in the vicinity of Hudson, with the right to impose a tax upon all persons fishing thereon, the income to go to the support of the school. It ceased many years ago.
The Hudson Female Academy was organized in 1851 and occupied the. building formerly used as a private lunatic asylum. It is discontinued.
James Burns opened the first school in Hudson, in 1783, "in a small building then standing upon the County road, near the river, built by the inhabitants at Claverack Landing for a school house." During the blasting of rocks in opening Front Street Mr. Burns always dismissed his school until the firing was over. The building was demolished at this time.
When it is considered that the act making the common schools of the State entirely free, and providing for their sup- port by district taxation, was not passed until 1849, it will be seen that much merit attaches to the efforts of the Lancasterian Society to anticipate this measure in 1817.
The City contains four public schools, two for boys, one for girls and one for colored children, where the sexes are com- bined.
The Hudson Orphan and Relief Asylum was established in Oct. 1843, owing its existence mainly to the efforts of Mrs. Robert Mckinstry. Abner Hammond paid the rent of the building which it originally occupied for the first year ; he also contributed the lot on which the present building stands. It was incorporated in 1846, and its management entrusted to five · trustees. The present building was erected in 1847, its cost, 86,000, being paid by individual contributions. Mrs. McKin- stry's devotion to the interests of the Asylum and the comfort of its inmates, ceased only with her death, which occurred June 22, 1862.
The Franklin Library Association was organized and chartered in 1837 and was an outgrowth from the Franklin Debating Society, which was started in 1834. It is located in the City Hall Building and contains about 1,000 volumes. It is sup- ported by membership dues, of 84 a year, from 200, the present number of members, and is in a flourishing condition. Lec- tures are given under its auspices during the winter, more to afford amusement and recreation to the citizens than to aug- ment its funds. It is kept supplied with new publications
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whose selection is entrusted to a committee of three. It is opened Saturday afternoon and evening.
The School District Library, 129 Warren Street, contains about 1,300 volumes and is supported by the school money. No accessions have been made to its list of books within at least ten years. It is open Friday afternoons from 3 to 5 P. M. only.
The Y. M. C. Association was organized in May 1866. Its rooms, which are very fine ones, are located on Warren Street. James Gifford was its first President and Its success is largely due to his efficient effort. The Library belonging to the Asso- ciation contains a choice selection of books to the number of about 700 volumes, which were donated mainly by the citizens. The Reading Room, open evenings, is free to all, and contains a good selection of religious and secular reading matter.
A Lunatic Asylum was established here in 1832 by Dr. Samuel White. It was continued six and a half years, during which time 297 patients were admitted, and discontinued upon the opening of the State Asylum at Utica.
The first mention, perhaps, that we have of the site of Hudson. is contained in a monograph of Hudson's voyage up the river which bears his name. According to that journal "the night of Sept. 17, 1609, was spent at anchor near the marshes or flats which lie opposite the city, and on his return he ran aground on the same spot, where he remained for two days, receiving visits from the friendly Indians, who came out to him in canoes, and 'gave him stopes of beads,' and showed him the whole country, as though it were at his command." It was the flag of Ilolland (Hudson being in the service of the Dutch East India Co.,) that first floated amid these scenes and led the way to the settlement of this region. The earliest settlement of which we have record, was made in 1783, by Peter Hogeboom, Peter Van Hoesen, Casper Huyck, John Van Allen, and John, Jacob. Jonathan and Leonard Hardick. At this time Hudson was known as " Claverack Landing." Two stores were opened, one of which was kept by John Van Allen, the other by Peter Hogeboom. Each store had a sloop landing connected with it. Conrad Flock kept a canoe ferry which started from the site of the present ferry dock and run to Loonenburg, now known as the "upper purchase" of Athens. "A single canoe was used for passengers, and two were lashed together when teams were to cross, the wagons being fastened upon the canoes, while the horses were tied to them and compelled to swim." The most considerable settlement, however, and that which laid the found- ation for the future prosperity of the City was made in 1783, by
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Seth and Thomas Jenkins and their associates .* The two pamed, with 28 others, mostly from Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, who, in consequence of the breaking up of the whale fisheries of Nantucket by the British Marine at an early period of the Revolution, that year formed themselves into an associa- tion for commercial purposes, and selected this as the seat of their operations. It was resolved that the association should not con- sist of more than thirty members, all of whom should be mer- chants, or " concerned in navigating the deep." A city plot was at once surveyed, docks were built and ship building com- menced. The following year the Hudson, a ship of 300 tons, was launched by Jenkins & Gelston. In 1784, Gen. Edmonds, father of Judge John W. Edmonds, having served in various capacities during the war for Independence, at the age of twen- ty-three "started to seek his fortune" with nothing but a horse, saddle, bridle, two blankets and a little Continental money. During his wanderings he arrived here, became one of the few early settlers, and opened a store, in which business he con- tinued until the war of 1812, when he again entered the army. Cotton Gelston opened a store the same year, and in 1185 Thomas Jenkins and Josiah Alcott built a ropewalk 600 feet long. Josiah Barnard built a wind grist mill on Prospect Hill in 1784; and Thomas and Seth Jenkins and Stephen Pad- dock, a hemp ducking factory, in 1789. The first child born after the purchase made by the association was Elizabeth Bun- ker, who died while young. The "proprietors," as the members of the association were called, brought with them several vessels, and in some instances the frames of houses. "It is said," says Miller in his Sketches of Hudson, that "at first the proprietors encountered opposition from individuals in Claverack and Kin- derhook, [both of which places were settled prior to Hudson,] who endeavored in various ways to hinder their progress, probably foreseeing that one result of the new settlement would be to take from Claverack its position as the seat of the County buildings. Not understanding the Dutch language, the pro- prietors employed in the double capacity of book-keeper and spy, an individual who did, that they might be able to counter- act all efforts made to injure them." From the last named authority we learn that the proprietors held their first meeting to elect officers and devise measures for the regulation of their
*The names of those who accompanied the two Jenkins, who appear to have been mainly instrumental in the formation of the colony, were, so far as we have been able to apertou Com, Harid Lawrence, Herekinh Dayton, Nathaniel Greene, Samuel Man-Held, Wann. Wall, Jelin Thurston, dolal Aloop, Cotton Benton, Stephen Padlock, Joseph Barnard. Charles Jenkins, Deborah Jenkins, Gideon Gardner, Reuben Folger, Alex. Collin, Benjamin and Paul Huerey, Shubaut Worth, Benjamin and Walter Folger and Reuben Macy. These were soon joined by Benj. Starbuck, Jonn Cartwright, Mar- shal and Lemuel Jenkins, Peleg Clark, John Allen, Win. Minturn, Ezra Reed and Titas Morgan.
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affairs at the house of Seth Jenkins, May 14, 1784. At that meeting it was voted, " that no person should fix his house without such direction from a majority of the committee as they might think proper ;" and that " no person should extend his steps more than four feet from his door or seller ways." Itis to be presumed that these worthy settlers did not literally in- terpret the last clause in this provision and confine their steps to the limits indicated. It is interesting to note the precise date at which the proprietors resolved to change the name of the City to the one by which it is now known. At a meeting held Nov. 14, 1784, the records show it was unanimously agreed that "infuter it should be called by the name of Hudson." This action displeased Gov. Clinton, who was desirous that it should take his name. June 19, 1785, land was granted to the City for the erection of a jail. The jail " was constructed of logs, with grates at the windows," and it is said "that almost the first prisoner confined in it concealed an auger upon his person, bored through the logs and escaped." In 1805 the Common Council appropriated 82,000 and a lot of land for the erection of a new jail, which was ready for the reception of prisoners in October of that year. The building is now occupied as the office of the Hudson Gazette. Promenade Hill was granted to the Common Council March 9, 1795, and near its southern end is planted a circular grove of trees called " lovers retreat." These are said
to have been planted to mark a rock known in the early days of the City as " Love rock," and the spot where a large propor- tion of the marriage contracts were made by the early Quakers. The City grew with great rapidity by the accessions made to its members from various localities .. Many enterprising persons were attracted by the flattering prospects it presented and it soon became the center of a very extensive commercial business. It became a port of entry in 1790* and at an early period its commerce extended to the West Indies and Europe. Shad and herring from the river and coast fisheries, ship timber and country produce were exported, and the whale fisheries formed an important element in its maritime interests. About 1:85 to 'SS more ships were owned at Hudson than at New York. At an early day in the settlement of this place whale fishing was prosecuted very successfully and was continued for several years, but declined with the opening of the French Revolution and the protracted war in Europe, which created so great a demand for neutral vessels and afforded a much better market for freights as to induce ship owners to abandon whale fishing to engage in what promised to be the more profitable carrying trade. But this trade was not long enjoyed, for many whose
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*See Miller's " Sketches of Hudson," p. 34.
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ships were thus employed were soon dispossessed of them under the rigid enforcement of " British orders and French decrees." Other losses by sea, the war, the embargo and non-intercourse, put an end to the commerce and ship building of Hudson. It remained a port of entry until 1815. Its maritime losses pro- duced much embarrassment and many failures, which had a depressing influence for a considerable period. The revival of the whale fisheries tended to re-animate its business men.
The first ship which engaged in the whale fisheries from Hudson, after its revival, was the Alexander Mansfield, which was purchased in 1829, by a company from this City. The number of ships were increased as the success of the business warranted, until at its greatest prosperity, twelve, owned by persons in Hudson, were engaged in this business. It was carried on with varied success until 1843 or '44. Its final dis- continuance was mainly owing to the decline of the business ; the expense of outfit constantly increased, while the avails as fast became meager. The whales, having become scattered, much additional outlay was necessitated. The manufacture of sperm oil was carried on to a considerable extent about the time the whale fishing subsided, and was discontinued in 1851.
In 1797 there were 126 persons in the City who were assessed £100 and upwards, and in 1800 the population, including 88 slaves, was 4,048. At the latter date it ranked third in the State in commerce, and fourth in manufactures; and when the question of the removal of the Capital from New York came up in the General Assembly, Hudson needed but one vote to secure its location there. Some idea of the vast commercial importance of this City at an early day may be formed from the fact, as stated in the Columbia Balance, March 1, 1802, that twenty-eight hundred loaded sleighs entered the City on that day.
The following extract from The Balance and Columbian Re- pository of March 3, 1807, would seem to indicate that the City Fathers were not at that carly day averse to speculation :
" An animal has lately been exhibited in several towns in the U. S., and called by its possessor, an East Indian nondescript. Thousands have flocked to see it, and the unfortunate discovery that it is a shuren bear ! has alone prevented its producing a fortune to its ingenious transmogrifier. A few days since, it arrived in this place, and as if to give dignity to the imposture, our common council actually entered into partnership with the possessor of the beast, and received half the avails of the cheat !
" CORRECTION.
" We were mistaken in supposing that our corporation made a hand- some xpiec out of the sbaven bear, which was exhibited a few days since. After receiving half the avails of the cheat, and paying the stipulated wages to the man who was appointed to keep the door, the corporation actually fell in debt twenty-five cents !"
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Fulton's steamboat, the Clermont, passed here, through the Western Channel, August 17, 1807. On her return she passed * through the Hudson channel, and "every spot which afforded a view of the river, was crowded with people eager to get a view of the 'great curiosity.'"
The following extract from an article contributed to the Columbia Republican by Rev. Dr. Rockwell, will serve to show the simplicity of the domestic and social life of the primitive settlers in this locality, which was, he says, "characterized by simple habits, untiring industry, indomitable energy and enter- prise, economy and thrift. The comfortable homes of the early Dutch farmers, with their well swept and sanded floors, high mantles-ornamented with branches of asparagus or branches of lilac-growing out of the heads of quaint old images of China or Plaster of Paris-with the old family clock gravely ticking out its seconds in the corner, and its face covered with figures of the moon's changes and the days of the month-with those fam- ons triangular buffets filled with rows of china, and glass and silver-with those capacious kitchens which served also for the dining hall, (showing the huge oaken beams of the ceiling,) neat and tidy, redolent with the savory meal which busy house wives were preparing, or the fragrant pipe which the farmer was smoking as he sat before the broad fire place in his high- backed chair, while his frau and rosy-cheeked daughters made music with the bum of the spinning wheel or the play of the shuttle and the Joom-with those great roomy garrets, portioned off by unpainted boards into bed-rooms, and leaving ample space for old family iron bound chests and long strings of dried pumpkins pendant from the roof, and heaps of apples and nuts awaiting their union with the krullers from the pantry and the cider from the cellar-when the beau and belles of the day should meet for the evening frolics of the winter, while the great fires in their huge chimneys crackled and roared and sent off their showers of sparks and bade defiance to the storms that were howling without." Cheery as is the picture presented, what a contrast does it not exhibit with such an one as might be drawn of the elegant, comfortable, but not, perhaps, more happy homes which have replaced them. A volume might be written with interest and profit on this and kindred subjects, especially the good old stage coach times, with its varied scenes of thril- ling interest, but the space to which we are limited compels us to defer it with but a mere allusion here.
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