USA > New York > Columbia County > History of Columbia County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 43
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IIISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
date. This extraordinary activity, however, was probably confined to the term of " good sleighing" ; farmers and others improving that opportunity to transport their products to the great warehouses, from which the ships received their cargoes. As many as fifteen vessels were known to depart from Hudson in a single day, all fully laden with these va- rious products. The interior region, of which Hudson was the mart, embraced not only Columbia county, but a large portion of Berkshire county, Mass., and something of the northwestern part of Conneetient.
The following mention of the city of Hudson was made by John Lambert, an English tourist, in a narrative of his travels through this section, in November, 1807. Having given an account of the incidents of his journey by stage from Albany, he said, " In the evening we arrived at Hud- son. This town is of modern construction, and, like Troy, consists of one very long street. The houses are of wood or brick, many of them built with taste, and all spacions and commodious. Shops and warehouses are numerous, and there are several large inns, from which I conceived that a considerable trade was carried on between this town and the interior.
" It has the appearance of a thriving settlement, and its situation is elevated and advantageous for commerce. There are several large brick warehouses near the wharves for the reception of goods, and a great many small vessels sail con- tinnally between this town and New York.
" Ship-building is carried on here, and a vessel of three or four hundred tons was just ready for launching. Sev- eral other vessels of that size were also in the harbor.
" The next morning, November 22, we embarked on board the ' Experiment,' a fine new sloop of one hundred and thirty tons, built expressly for carrying passengers be- tween Hudson and New York. The passage-money was five dollars, for which the passengers were provided during the voyage with three meals a day, including spirits ; all other liquors were to be separately paid for.
" Mr. Elihu Bunker, who commanded the vessel,* was part owner as well as captain, and seemed to be a plain, religious sort of man. He had more the look of parson than sailor, and had posted a list of regulations at the
cabin-door, which, if properly enforced, were well calculated to keep his passengers in good order. In truth, something of the kind was necessary, for we had upwards of fifty passengers on board, nearly all men. Among the forbidden artieles were the playing of cards and smoking in the cabin."
The great European wars which succeeded the French revolution created an almost unlimited demand for neutral vessels; and this, with the lure of extravagant rates of freight, had the effect to induce many of the ship-owners of Hudson to abandon the legitimate trade, and to place their vessels on the far more remunerative trans-Atlantic service. For a few years the result of this was most satis- factory, and brought great gain to the Jenkinses, the Fol- gers, and others who had embarked in it, but in the end it wrought disaster and ruin.
The first of the events which brought this disaster in their train was the British "Order in Council," issued May 16, 1806, declaring all the ports and rivers from the Elbe, in Germany, to Brest, in France, in a state of blockade. This was followed, in November of the same year, by the " Berlin Decree" of the Emperor Napoleon, declaring all the British islands in blockade; and for this the English gov- ernment retaliated, in January, 1807, by another order, blockading the entire coast of France. These orders and decree made all ships attempting the trade to any of the places declared blockaded subject to capture and condem- nation. Under them a number of Hudson vessels were so taken and condemned, and those which escaped capture found their hitherto profitable employment at once and completely extinguished.
This was a heavy blow to the shipping interests of IInd- son, but one more severe, and which may be termed the finishing stroke, was given by the embargo laid during the administration of Mr. Jefferson (Dec. 22, 1807) on all vessels within the jurisdiction of the United States. Mr. Reuben Folger, himself a nautical man, and one of the wealthy merchants and ship-owners of Hudson, said of this act, that it was a signal to the nation to heave to under bare poles ; that the ship of state had been turned out of her course and yawed about by a lubberly helmsman, until the voyage was ruined and the owners half broken. Be- fore the new system of gnnboats and embargoes, he said, he had always been able to find a keg of dollars under his counter, but never afterwards.
Certain it is, that from that time the commerce of the city experienced a decline more rapid than had been its wonderful advance; and with it declined the business of ship-building and the industries dependent thereon. The War of 1812 increased the losses, and in 1815 the prestige of Hudson was so far diminished that it was discontinued as a port of entry. The Bank of LIudson (chartered in 1808) failed in 1819, filling the measure of disaster, and, during the lustrum which ended in the year 1825, the population of the city decreased from five thousand three hundred and ten to five thousand and four.
SIGNS OF RECOVERY-REVIVAL OF WHALING.
About this time the first steamboat owned here (the " Bolivar") commeneed running between Hudson and New York, but did not continue very long in the trade. In
# A twin vessel, a sloop of the same size, and also bearing the name of " Experiment," was commanded hy Captain Laban Paddock, and the two together formed what was known as the " Experiment line" between Hudson and New York. The application of the name Experiment lay in the fact that they were trying the experiment of a line of packet sloops running for passengers alone, and under no cireumstances receiving freight, even of the lightest description and in the smallest quantity. They made semi-weekly trips between the two cities, and became exceedingly popular. The enterprise was highly commended and praised by the newspapers, which predicted for it great success; and this would doubtless have been realized but for the appearance of Fulton's steamboat, the " Clermont," which at once revolutionized the methods of river travel, and made success impossible for packets depending on wind and sail.
The two Experiment captains, Bunker and Paddock, were veteran ship-masters, who had retired from the more arduous duties of ocean navigation, and adopted this moro pleasant business upon the river. Another of the same class of men was Captain Robert Folger, who had commanded the ship " Hudson," the first vessel launched at this port. He too abandoned the seas and catered the river trade. Among the river craft commanded by him was the fast-sailing sloop "Sally," running between New York and Hudson.
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
1830 the steamer " Legislator" was running from Hudson in the service of the Hudson Tow-boat Company; and the other shipping of the city consisted of nine sloops and three scows, of from forty to one hundred tons burden, trading hence to New York and Albany. The population was then five thousand three hundred and ninety-two,-an increase of three hundred and eighty-eight in five years. This result, when contrasted with the loss of population between 1820 and 1825, was quite gratifying, as indicative of a revival of confidence in the future of the city.
In the year 1829 an association* was formed of citizens of Hudson, having for its object the revival and prosecution of the whale-fishery. They were full of hope, and believed that the former prosperity of Hudson might be again real- ized. Said one of the journals of that day, " Why may we not hope to rival those eastern eities which the whale- fishery has built up ? We possess equal advantages, equal enterprise. . . . Under present circumstances the hope is entertained that Hudson will again flourish as in its infant days."
Their first ship sailed in June, 1830. It was the " Alex- ander Mansfield," Captain Bennett. The result of her first voyage was waited with much solicitude, and when, at the end of nine months (March 27, 1831), she again dropped her anchor in front of the city, she was received " under the discharge of eannon, and amidst the acclamations of the citizens and sailors," although the day was the holy Sabbath; and when her cargo was announced the enthu- siasm ran higher still, for she brought two thousand and twenty barrels of right whale oil, one hundred and eighty barrels of sperm, and fourteen thousand pounds of whale- bone ; this being the largest amount that had been brought in by any vessel in the United States during that year. In less than two months she was again ready for sea, and on the 20th of June she set sail for the South Atlantic (her former voyage had been to the Brazilian whaling-ground), under command of Captain Francis Neil, promoted from first mate, Captain Bennett having been placed in command of the " Meteor," a new and somewhat larger ship, which sailed for the same destination a few days later. Each ship carried four boats and thirty men. Most of the erew of the " Mansfield" were young men of Hudson. She returned in about eight months, reaching New York Feb. 26, 1832, with two thousand two hundred barrels of oil, and nineteen thousand pounds of whalebone. The " Meteor," on her return, dropped anchor at Hudson April 23, 1832, with almost exactly the same cargo, viz., two thousand two hun- dred barrels of oil and twenty thousand pounds of bone. About this time one of the ships (the " America") returned with a cargo of sperm oil amounting to eighty thousand dollars,-the most valuable cargo ever brought to Hudson by a whaler.
The success of the company induced other men of means in Hudsont to embark in the business, and the number of
square-rigged vessels owned here reached fourteen, being, as nearly as can be ascertained, as follows :
Ship " Alexander Mansfield". Captain Neil.
" Meteor"
Bennett.
" Martha"
Riddle.
" America"
66 Folger.
" Beaver"
Gardner.
" James Monroe"
46 Coffin.
¥ " Helvetia"
Cottle.
" Edward"
16 Daggett.
" George Clinton"
Barrett.
" Henry Astor"
Rawson.
" Splendid"
Johu Drury.
« " Aurora".
Coleman.
Bark " Washington"
Clarke.
" " Huron"
Lawrence.
The names of captains here given are of those who were in command during the period from 1834 to 1838, except- ing Captain Drury, who commanded the " Splendid" in 1845. We believe that only eleven of these vessels were engaged exclusively in whaling; it is certain that the " Martha" § made one or more trips between New York and Holland in 1833. Hudson also owned a brig and a schooner, which were engaged in foreign commerce from 1835 to 1838, and probably later.
The revived whale fishery of Hudson continued for about fifteen years, and then eeased entirely. It was not termi- nated by decrees, embargoes, or war, but by the decay of the business, brought about by causes which no foresight or energy could avert or resist. The last voyages were made in 1845; the remaining ships were then sold to run in different trade from other ports. From that time Hudson knew no more of harpoons and lances and boat-steerers, and has seldom seen a square-rigger at her wharves.
And then arose the old cry which had assailed her in the days of her earlier misfortunes. It came from those who had envied her in the time of her supremacy, and were now anxious to kiek the lion which they believed (or hoped) to be dead. The author of " Random Recollections of Hud- son" wrote of the city, in 1847, that " the days of its prosperity have long since passed away. Its wealth has diminished, its business sources have dried up, and almost every vestige of its former glory has disappeared. There are now no shipping at its doeks and no ships building. There is no song of the anvil to be heard, no sound of axe or hammer. There is no bustle of seamen along its wharves, no song of the rope-maker upon its hills, no throng of wagons from the interior, no crowds of men in its streets. The ship-yards are overgrown with grass, the wharves have mouldered away, the rope-walk is deserted, the warehouses are empty, and the once busy crowds have disappeared." And the cause of all this decay and desolation was, as he said, the lack of liberality and enterprise in the citizens, who, although possessed of sufficient pecuniary means, were afraid or unwilling "to risk one farthing for the general good, having neither the publie spirit nor energy of charac- ter to employ those means to advantage."
Those who are familiar with the story of Hudson's vary-
* This was incorporated April 30, 1833, as the " Iludson Whaling Company," Lahan Paddock, president; capital, three hundred thou- sand dollars.
t Poughkeepsie and Newburgh also fitted out vessels, io imitation of Iludson, and for a time they were quite successful in the whale- fishery.
¿ Captain Gardner sailed from Hudson in the whale-fishery from the year 1785, and he was still in the trade as late as 1837, and perhaps later, making at least fifty-two years of service. On the 19th of March, 1836, his vessel-the " Beaver"-brought in nineteen hundred barrels of sperm oil.
¿ The " Martha" was sold at auction in September, 1837, at Bout- well's City Hotel.
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
ing fortunes, cannot be otherwise than amazed at the asser- tion made in the last sentence above quoted. Did those men lack enterprise who, in two years after their settle- ment, had collected twenty-five ships, and sent them hence to the Pacific and Antarctic Oceans? And was it not rather an excess of enterprise than a lack of it which im- pelled them to transfer those ships from their legitimate trade to the more enticing one which afterwards proved ruinous ? When in a single day the farmers of the interior came with nearly three thousand teams to deliver their loads to the merchants of Hudson, did they believe those merchants to be unenterprising? The Bank of Columbia, at Hudson, was the third bank established in the State. Were such institutions started in those early days by people who feared " to risk ove farthing for the general good" ? At a time of great financial depression, caused by the failure of that bank, and when the prophets of evil were announcing that " the summer-like days of her (Hudson's) commercial prosperity have passed, and public spirit and public pride are buried, with no prospect of resurrection," the Hudson Whaling Company resolved to disprove those gloomy prog- nostications, and, with the phantom of previous failure before their eyes, they put their ships upon the ocean. This surely did not betoken a lack of "energy of charac- ter !" Then came the project to construct a railroad* hence to the proposed line from Boston. There were none in those days who fully realized its importance, and many regarded the scheme as visionary. Yet, as we have seen, the people of Hudson subscribed promptly, liberally, extrav- agantly, to its stock, thus making their city the terminus of the first railroad line from the seaboard to the Hudson river, and again proving that they lacked neither enter- prise nor energy. Their large investments in this proved a total loss, and bore heavily upon individuals, but were productive of lasting benefit to the city.
The abandonment of ocean navigation was the end of the old order of things in Hudson, and the opening of the railroad marked the commencement of a new era.
MILLS AND MANUFACTORIES.
The first of Hudson's manufacturing industries-if it was of sufficient importance to warrant the application of the term-was the little mill of Peter Hogeboom, Jr., which has been before mentioned as furnishing flour to the people of the neighborhood before a Nantucket man ever set foot on Claverack Landing.
Another flour-mill-known as the " Carroll mill"-was built in later years on the same stream, and not far from the same location, by James Nixon. It was run by a water-wheel of extraordinary size, but it lacked a sufficiency of the clement which was wanting in Hogeboom's mill,- water,-and for this reason was never very successful.
A wind-mill for the grinding of grain was erected on Prospect Hill,; by Joseph Barnard, in 1789. It was an
octagonal structure, two stories high, and very heavily and substantially built, as, indeed, it was indispensable that it should be, to withstand the strain of the mighty wings, which rose seventy-five feet above the ground. It was a very prominent object, and could be seen over half the county ; but it was not successful in the purpose for which it was intended. It was afterwards made a refreshment- house, and was finally removed. The old foundation is still to be seen.
The last of the flour- and grist-mills of Hudson was the steam-mill of Henry P. Heermance, a six-story brick build- ing, which stood on the site now occupied by the pumping- house of the JIudson water-works, to give place for which it was demolished in 1874. It was used also for the grind- ing of plaster.
Tanning was extensively carried on in Hudson in the early times, and was the first manufacturing industry es- tablished by the proprietors upon their arrival. As early as the 15th of May, 1784, the proprietors appointed Alex- ander Coffin, David Lawrence, Charles Jenkins, and Heze- kiah Dayton a committee " to lay out, sell, or lease to David Bunker and Redwood Easton a convenient lot for a tan- yard." And they reported that they had sold a quarter of an acre near the Hogeboom mill, with the benefit of the stream, for forty dollars, payable ten dollars per year. This was the establishment of Hudson's first tannery, and others were started by Marshall Jenkins, Giles Frary, Robert Taylor, - Gordon (afterwards Henry Anable, Sr.), James Nixon, Henry Ostrander, Solomon Bunker, Nathan Sears, and others.
Several of these establishments were located along the South bay. The hemlock-bark was procured from the slopes of the Catskills and the Helderbergs, being shipped to Hudson on flat-boats from Catskill and Coxsackie. It came also from the Taghkanic hills ; and, besides hemlock, the tanneries used considerable quantities of oak-bark, which was obtained from the neighboring forests. The hides were purchased from the great slaughter-houses which were then located here. Besides these, the tanneries worked considerable quantities of Spanish hides, sent up from New York, as well as the great number of scal-skins brought in by the vessels engaged in that fishery. The working of these hides, however, ceased about 1800, the last sealing voyage being made in 1799.
The only one of these leather manufactories now in ex- istence is the tannery of Henry Anable, on Front street, and that is no longer in operation. The date of its estab- lishment is not known, but is said to have been before the year 1800. In 1808 or 1809 it was purchased by Peter Taylor, and was carried on by him for about half a century. At his death it was sold by his heirs to Robert A. Barnard, and he in turn sold it to the present proprietor, Mr. Anable. The number of vats in this tannery was about sixty, and it has done an excellent business in the manufacture of both
* The different railroad lines will be found mentioned in the gen- eral history of the county.
t The hill, however, was not at that time known by its present name. After the erection of Mr. Barnard's mill upon it, it received the name of Windmill Hill, and continued to be so known for a num-
ber of years. The exceedingly appropriate name of Prospect Ilill was given to it by Captain William Ashley, who erected the first dwelling upon its beautiful slope,-the house now occupied by Augus- tus Mckinstry, Esq. The settlement which soon after clustered around Captain Ashley's residence was at that time known as Uuionville.
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
sole and upper-leather. It continued in operation until the spring of 1877.
The manufacture of cordage was commenced here by Jo- siah Olcott and Thomas Jenkins, in the year 1785. Their factory or " rope-walk" was six hundred feet in length, located between Third and Second streets, north of State. This business was carried on successfully for more than half a century. The active partner was Mr. Olcott, who con- tinued it for many years after the death of Mr. Jenkins. Later proprietors of the works were Messrs. Durfee, May & Co., and Folger & Coleman ; the last named being the proprietors in 1836, at which time the business was men- tioned by Freeman Hunt, in a communication to the Amer- ican Traveler, as follows : " Railroad ropes are manufactured in this place by Messrs. Folger & Coleman. It is the only establishment of the kind in the country. More than one hundred and fifty tons are turned out annually. These ropes are often one and a half miles in length ; more than two hundred men would be able to carry. Ten miles of these ropes are used on the Portage railroad, in Pennsyl- vavia, per annum." At this time the works were seven hundred and fifty feet in length, having been enlarged either by Mr. Oleott or by Durfee, May & Co.
Oil and candle works were also established in the same year (1785), both by Thomas Jenkins and by Cotton Gel- ston. The works of Mr. Jenkins were on Diamond street, below Second, and those of Mr. Gelstou were on the north- east corner of Second and State streets. These works were not of large capacity, but there is no doubt that in the hands of such practical men they proved reasonably profit- able during Hudson's first whaling period. It is said that they received the honor of a personal inspection by the great French statesman, M. de Talleyrand, during his tour in the United States.
Upon the revival of the whale-fishery from Hudson, similar works, but on a much larger seale, were erected and put in operation by Messrs. Barnard, Curtiss & Co. Their location was nearly where now stand the works of the Columbia Iron Company. They were twice destroyed by fire. Upon the final decay of whaling here the business was removed to Brooklyn.
Works for the manufacture of sail-duck were put in operation by Seth Jenkins and Stephen Paddock, in 1787. The establishment was probably not an extensive one. Most of its product was taken by the sail-lofts here, and it did not outlive the ship-building business of Hudson.
In 1792 a nail-factory was advertised as having been started in the city by Higgins & Conklin, but this bare fact is all that is now known of it. There is no reason to believe that its business was extensive.
The manufacture of woolens (chiefly satinets) was com- menced soon after the close of the War of 1812-15. This business was carried on by various persons at different times and in different locations in Hudson for a number of years, but these attempts never met with any great degree of suc- cess. It was first put in operation in a building which stood nearly in the rear of the present site of the Waldron House, and had been carried on at that place for some years, when the establishment was destroyed by the fire of Nov. 16, 1825. We are somewhat in doubt as to the proprietor-
ship of this factory at the time of its destruction. A Hudson paper of that time, in recounting the particulars of the disaster, mentions among the buildings consumed " the satinet-factory owned by William Van Hoesen, and occupied by Robert Patterson." It is difficult to under- stand why this statement, if erroneous, should have appeared in a newspaper published at the time, and in the immediate neighborhood ; yet citizens of Hudson whose memory reaches back to and beyond that time, are positive that Mr. Patterson never occupied or operated that factory, but that it was first started by Jonathan Stott, and was occupied by him at the time of the fire.
But whatever may have been the fact concerning the first proprietorship, it is certain that after the fire, and the laying out of First street, Mr. Stott erected the building which is now the Waldron House, and nearly in the rear of it, rebuilt the factory. This as well as its predecessor used only hand-looms; and after a time Mr. Stott aban- doned the manufacture in the city, and re-established it on the water-power of Claverack creek ; this being the com- mencement of the large and very prosperous business which is now owned by his descendants, at Stottsville.
Another hand-loom manufactory of satinets was c .. rried on by Patterson & Rainey, on Prison alley, above Third street. This was burned in or before the year 1828, and was not rebuilt.
A small woolen-factory was at one time operated by John Knight, and a fulling-mill and flannel-factory by Josiah I. Underhill; both these establishments being located on the stream below Underhill's pond. Very little of success was ever realized by any of the above-named enterprises except that of Mr. Stott, at the place which now bears his name.
THE COLUMBIA FURNACE,
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