USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York : with historical notes on its various towns > Part 20
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At about II o'clock the order to march was given. The procession was very imposing. It moved over historic ground and by noted landmarks. Flags and bunting were dis- played from every building in the hamlet of Bemus Heights. After the addresses were delivered the sham battle took place. The battle was one of the best of the sort ever seen. The movements and the general plan on which it was fought brought to the minds of many the real battles in which they had participated.
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF BURGOYNE'S SURRENDER.
The celebration of the surrender of Bur- goyne at Old Saratoga, now Schuylerville, called forth equal enthusiasm with that of Bemus Heights.
As the two great historic events were coun- terparts of each other, so were the centennial anniversaries of those events.
The Schuylerville people entered with all their might into the project. Every house in the village was decorated, and arches were raised across the principal streets. The dec- oration most conspicuous was an excellent representation of the surrender stretched across the main street.
The old Burgoyne cannon, which General DePeyster has presented to the Monument association, arrived on the ground and spoke
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within a short distance of the field where a century before it carried death to the Ameri- cans. Battery B's four guns were brought up by the members of the battery, and fired a sunrise salute.
An old tree on the main street of the village had this inscription : "Near this spot, Octo- ber 16, 1777, American and British officers met and consummated the articles of capitu- lation of General Burgoyne to General Gates; and on this ground the British army laid down their arms, thus securing American Indepen- dence."
The enthusiasm of the people was bound- less. The organizations which participated in the procession began to arrive at early morning. Everybody from the surrounding country flocked in. At noon fully fifteen thousand strangers were in the village and vicinity. Governor Seymour and George Wil- liam Curtis came over from Saratoga early in the morning and waited patiently, as did the great multitude, for the moving of the proces- sion. It was half-past twelve when the pro- cession formed and moved onward.
General W. B. French was again chief marshal of the day, and the first division con- sisted mainly of the State National guard, which served as escort to the visiting com- panies, as follows : First Comany, Governor's Foot Guards of Hartford, Connecticut, in old English uniform, worn in George the Third's reign, W. A. Talcott, major commanding bat- talion; Park Guards of Bennington, Vermont, Captain O. N. Wilcox commanding; Hugh's Light Guards, of Glens Falls, Captain Glee- settle commanding; Burleigh Corps, White- hall, Captain Thos. Neall commanding.
The second division consisted of the Ma- sonic fraternity, Sir Townsend Fonda, R. E. Grand Commander Knights Templar, with Commanderies from different towns and cities in the vicinity in line. Grand Master of Master Masons, J. J. Couch, with Master Masons inarching in line.
The third division, Captain W. W. Wordan,
assistant marshal, commanding, consisted of New York State officials, President of the day, Hon. C. S. Lester, of Saratoga, orators, poets, speakers, clergy, and chaplain in carriages ; Bemus Heights committee, Saratoga Monu- ment association and invited guests in car- riages, followed by veterans of the late war, Grand Army of the Republic association, Vet- erans of the war of Mexico and of the war of 1812, and descendants of Revolutionary sold- iers; 77th Regiment band of Saratoga Springs; cavalry in Continental uniform, Major Fas- sett commanding, Saratoga Springs; Fort Ann martial band, civic associations and munici- pal authorities of Schuylerville.
The procession marched through the prin- cipal streets to the Monument grounds, where a hollow square was formed by the military outside the Knights Templar, and the corner stone of the monument was laid, after which the procession marched to Schuyler's square.
One-quarter of the base of the monument had then been laid. The corner stone is a finely cut piece of granite, about three feet square.
The ceremony of laying the stone was per- formed by J. J. Couch, Grand Master of Ma- sons of the State, assisted by several officers of the Grand Lodge.
The list of the articles deposited in the cor- ner stone was as follows :
I. "History of the Saratoga Monument Association," by the society.
2. The "Campaign of General Burgoyne," by William L. Stone.
3. "The Battles of Saratoga," by Ellen Hardin Walworth.
4. The Centennial addresses of George G. Scott, J. S. L'Amareaux, General E. F. Bul- lard, and Nathaniel B. Sylvester.
5. " Major General Philip Schuyler," by DePeyster.
6. J. Austin Stevens' historical address at the celebration at Bemus Heights.
7. Copies of the Troy Daily Press, Troy Daily Times, Troy Sunday Whig, Troy Northern
.
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.
Budget, Troy Observer, Sunday Trojan, Schuyler- ville Standard (daily), Daily Saratogian, Sara- toga Sun, Albany Argus, Press, Express, Jour- nal, Times and Post, New York Herald, Times, Tribune, Sun, World and Express.
8. Relics of Burgoyne's campaign.
After the ceremony had been concluded, the procession marched into the field, where the final exercises were held.
FIRST STAND.
Music, Doring's band.
Prayer-Rev. Rufus Clark, D. D., of Al- bany.
Music.
Introductory address by the president of the day, Hon. C. S. Lester.
Music.
Oration by ex-Gov. Horatio Seymour.
Oration by Hon. George William Curtis. Music.
Reading of poems.
Address by Hon. L. S. Foster, of Connec- ticut.
SECOND STAND.
Colt's Armory band, Hartford, Connecticut. Prayer by the chaplain of the day.
Music.
Address by Hon. B. W. Throckmorton ; subject : "Arnold."
Fitz Greene Halleck's "Field of the Grounded Arms," read by Gen. James Grant Wilson.
Music.
Historical address by Wm. L. Stone, of New York city.
Short addresses by Hon. A. A. Yates and H. L. Gladding.
The addresses upon this memorable occa- sion are given at length in the memorial vol- ume, which has been issued. They are re- plete with historic value and patriotic elo- quence.
III .- THE SARATOGA MONUMENT ASSOCIATION.
Actuated by patriotic pride in the his- tory of our country which was enacted on the
battle grounds of Saratoga, John A. Corey, George Stover and other patriotic gentlemen, met on the 17th day of October, the anniver- sary of Burgoyne's surrender, in the year 1856, at the old Schuyler mansion in Schuy- lerville, and discussed the preliminary steps to be taken in the matter of erecting a monu- ment worthy of commemorating that glorious history.
On this occasion Alfred B. Street delivered a poem, a banquet was given, and a celebra- tion on a small scale was held.
The result of this meeting was the organi- zation of the Saratoga Monument association, in 1859, by Hamilton Fish, Horatio Seymour, John A. Corey and Peter Gansevoort, under a perpetual charter from the State, the object of which was the erection of a fitting memo- rial on the site of Burgoyne's surrender at Old Saratoga, now Schuylerville.
A history of this organization in detail is given in Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth's ad- mirable book entitled " Battles of Saratoga," pages 46 to 116, to which the reader is referred, and from which we have gleaned the facts set forth in this somewhat mea- gre sketch-yet all our space would ad- mit of. The history above referred to was written by Mr. William L. Stone and Mrs. Walworth, to both of whom the association is much indebted for their indefatigable labor in its behalf.
The original board consisted of fourteen permanent trustees, as follows: George Stover, William Wilcox and Henry Holmes, of Old Saratoga ; James M. Marvin, John A. Corey and James M. Cook, of Saratoga Springs; LeRoy Mowry and Asa Tefft, of Washington county; Peter Gansevoort, of Albany ; Hamilton Fish, of New York ; Philip Schuyler, of Westchester; George W. Blecker, of Brooklyn, and Horatio Sey- mour, of Utica. In 1860 Mr. Blecker died, and Benson J. Lossing, of Poughkeepsie, was chosen to fill the vacancy. The first officers were : Hamilton Fish, president; Philip
INTERIOR OF SARATOGA MONUMENT
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
Schuyler, vice-president ; James M. Marvin, treasurer ; John Romeyn Brodhead, corre- spondent secretary ; John A. Corey, secre- tary.
The trustees held several meetings, and se- lected the spot upon which to erect the mon- ument.
But the breaking out of the civil war in 1861 taxed the energies of the people to such an extent that the movement to build a monu- ment was suspended up to 1872, during which time not one of the original trustees had died. In the early autumn of that year, Judge Corey, one of the most efficient of the trustees, took the matter up earnestly. In 1873 the legisla- ture passed an act of re-incorporation, naming a board of trustees, in which the names of William L. Stone and Charles H. Payn first appear.
Dr. Payn and others, Judge Corey having died, now went vigorously to work, and in the spring of 1874 the legislature, owing in a large measure to the exertions of Horatio Seymour and George Batchellor, seconded by Smith Weed and Bradford L. Prince, voted an appropriation toward the erection of the monument in the following form: [see laws of 1874, chapter 323, page 387].
" Whenever it shall be made satisfactorily to appear to the comptroller of the State that the Saratoga Monu- ment association has fixed and determined upon a plan for a monument to be erected at Schuylerville, Saratoga county, in commemoration of the battles of Saratoga, and that it will not cost to exceed five hundred thousand nor less than two hundred thousand dollars to erect and complete such monument on such plan, and that the as- sociation has received and paid over to the treasurer from private subscriptions and donations made by the United States or State governments of States, at least a sufficient sum, with the amount hereby specified, to complete said monument upon such plans, then the State of New York will pay and contribute by appropriation of public moneys the sum of fifty thousand dollars to aid in the construction of such monument, and the faith of the State is hereby pledged to such purpose upon such conditions. The plans and estimates of the cost of said monument afore- said shall be submitted to and be approved by the gover- nor and comptroller of the State, and the comptroller of this State is hereby made treasurer of said monument
association. The plans so fixed and adopted as afore- said shall not hereafter be changed without the consent of the governor and comptroller, nor so as to increase the cost of said monument."
At the same time the secretary of the asso- ciation forwarded petitions to the legislatures of the original thirteen States, asking for $5,000 from each. No one responded but Rhode Island, which promised that sum con- ditionally. In 1877, the appropriation of $50,000 having lapsed-by law -more than two years having passed since it was given, a petition to the legislature was circulated and signed, asking for further aid. This finally resulted in the legislature voting ten thousand for the purpose of laying the corner stone. This bill Governor Robinson vetoed, and an appeal was then made to the patriotic people of the State for private subscriptions. This appeal met with a comparatively ready re- sponse in money and material, by which the association was enabled to lay the foundation of the monument and the corner stone, to- gether with one-fourth of the plinth, or base. At the annual meeting of the association, held at the United States hotel, Saratoga Springs, on August 1, 1877, it was resolved to invite the Grand Lodge of Master Masons of the State of New York to lay the corner stone of the monument at the approaching centennial cel- ebration. This invitation was accepted by the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, and the corner stone was laid by him with appropriate ceremonies in the presence of a vast con- course of people on the 17th of October, 1877, some account of which is given above.
Early in the year 1880, Hon. John H. Starin, member of Congress from this district, introduced a bill in the house of representa- tives to aid in building the Saratoga monu- ment. In April it was reported favorably by the military committee, to which it had been assigned at the meeting of the association of this year. On motion of Colonel Ritchie and General Bullard, Mr. C. F. Bliss, Hon. D. S. Potter and Mrs. E. H. Walworth, who had
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been invited to be present, were added to the number of trustees.
TABLETS ERECTED ON THE BATTLE-FIELD.
Mrs. Walworth was then introduced, and at the earnest request of Governor Seymour made a statement in relation to marking the points of interest on the battle-field of Bemus Heights, and asked that something of this kind should be done.
On motion of Mr. P. T. Ford, the follow- ing resolution was then adopted :
Resolved, That a committee be appointed by the Chair of members of the association and others to procure memorial stones, or other marks, to designate the points of interest on the Saratoga battle grounds at Bemus Heights, Freeman's Farm, Wilbur's Basin and other places connected with the Burgoyne campaign, to carry out the suggestion of Mrs. Walworth.
The committee so appointed were Mrs. Walworth, George W. Neilson, James W. Marvin, N. B. Sylvester, D. F. Ritchie, Wil- liam L. Stone and George Ensign.
A discussion was then had in regard to the immediate prosecution of the building of the monument, during which, on motion of Gen- eral Bullard, the following resolution was adopted :
" Resolved, That the design now submitted by J. C Markham (the original architect of the association) be adopted, subject to such modification as the association shall hereafter make."
The design thus adopted at this meeting is one after which the monument has been built.
Governor Seymour then said that "he was greatly pleased with the plan of marking the different places of the battle-field with memo- rial tablets, and he thought that individuals would be found who would esteem it a privi- lege to mark separate spots. He, for exam- ple, would undertake to place a tablet at Bemus Heights at the point where the breast- works in front of Gates' fortifications, erected by Kosciusko, ran around the foot of the hill to the river" (Mr. Bullard and Mr. Marvin
would also erect tablets to commemorate two other points on the battle-field); "and," con- tinued Governor Seymour, "the marking of the particular spots would give additional in- terest to the drives around Saratoga, thus en- hancing the already numerous attractions of the place."
The secretary then announced that through the efforts of Mr. D. F. Potter and Hon. Webster Wagner, an appropriation of ten thousand dollars had been secured.
A communication was received from Gov- ernor Seymour dated March 30, 1881, resign- ing his place as trustee under the acts to in- corporate the association.
As it was understood by the trustees pres- ent that this action of Governor Seymour was dictated solely by the advice of his physician, his resignation was accepted. Y
The secretary formally announced that con- gress, mainly through the exertions of Mr. Starin, had appropriated thirty thousand dol- lars toward the monument.
At the meeting in 1880 it was resolved that the building committee advertise until the 3d of the coming May in three New York, two county and one Albany paper, or in as many of the above as in their judgment they may deem necessary. Mrs. Walworth then sub- mitted the report of the memorial committee.
The committee then took into consideration the question of raising a fund for the erection of tablets. The committee then resolved to adopt the method of erecting tablets sug- gested by Ex-Governor Seymour. The com- mittee then resolved to visit the battle-field in a body to locate the points where the tablets should be erected, and adjourned to meet on the battle ground October 3, 1880. At the date agreed on a heavy rain compelled a postponement.
The committee did not meet again that year, but the chairman visited the battle grounds several times in the autumn and ident- ified the places most important to be marked. She also obtained the consent of several of the
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
property owners to the erection of tablets on their grounds. She also accepted the offer of Mr. Markham, the architect, to draw sample designs for the tablets.
Hon. John H. Starin was then unanimously elected president of the association, in place Governor Seymour.
At the annual meeting at Saratoga Springs, August 9, 1881, the building committee re- ported that the contract for building the stone work of the monument had been given to Messrs. Booth Brothers, as the lowest bidders. Resolutions were also passed requiring the contractors to give bonds, and instructing the treasurer to make payments only upon certifi- cates approved by the executive committee.
At the annual meeting held 8th of August, 1882, the committee on tablets reported that they had visited the battle ground at Bemus Heights, and with great care had located nine- teen points on and near the field. Stakes had been driven on many of the spots on which tablets will be erected. It was proposed that these tablets should be principally of granite, corresponding in size to amounts sub- scribed by the individual donors.
No. 1, stake marked "Freeman's Farm."
No. 2, " Balcarra's Redoubt."
No. 3, "Frasier's Camp."
No. 4, "Arnold Wounded-Breyman's Re- doubt."
No. 5, "Spot where Frasier Fell."
No. 6, " British Line of Battle, October 7." No. 7, " Morgan's Hill."
No. 8, "Northwest Angle of American Breast Works at Bemus Heights and Site of Fort Neilson."
No. 9, "General Gates' Headquarters."
No. 10, "Site of Bemus' Tavern, 1777."
No. 11, "Dirck Swarts' House, General Schuyler's headquarters at Stillwater village."
No. 12, "American Intrenchment near Mill Creek."
No. 13, " Place of Lady Ackland's Embark- ation."
No. 14, "Site of Sword's House."
No. 15, "Taylor's House."
No. 16, "Frasier's Burial Place."
No. 17, "Position of American Artillery, October 8."
No. 18, " Burgoyne's Headquarters."
No. 19, "British Redoubt."
No. 20, ."Old Battle Well - Freeman's Farm."
" The autumn of 1882 showed the exterior walls of the monument completed. When the cap-stone had been laid in its place, on No- vember 3d, Mr. Henry Langtry, under whose immediate direction the work had been done," writes Mrs. Walworth, in her " Battles of Sar- atoga," page 72, "seated himself upon it and unfurled the Stars and Stripes. Thus the patriotic work, conceived nearly six years be- fore by a few persons brought together at the old Schuyler mansion near the foot of this grand structure, had reached its culmination."
CHAPTER XXV.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS- CANALS RAILROADS.
I .- THE ERIE AND THE CHAMPLAIN CANALS.
That part of the State of New York which is known as northern New York, including within its boundaries the Adirondack wilder- ness, as well as the county of Saratoga, is a region surrounded by natural water courses. On the north of it flows the river St. Law- rence, draining the great lakes. To the east of it, in the great northern valley, is the Hud- son river, running southerly to the Atlantic ocean, and the waters of Lake George and Lake Champlain flowing northerly into the St. Lawrence. On the south the Mohawk runs easterly into the Hudson, while the waters of the Oneida lake, the Oswego river and Lake Ontario form its western boundary. This makes an encircling chain of almost one thousand miles of living navigable waters.
The Indian could paddle his canoe, and
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BIOGRAPHIY AND HISTORY
the white man in the colonial period could row his batteau quite around this region, find- ing few obstructions.
But these obstructions to navigation were long since overcome by artificial means. These artificial means are the Erie canal, running through and skirting the southern border of Saratoga county, and the Cham- plain canal, which runs through almost the whole extent of the eastern border.
The ERIE CANAL, connecting the Hudson river with Lake Erie, was authorized April 15th, 1817, commenced at Rome July 4th, 1817, and was completed October 26th, 1825. As first constructed it was three hundred and sixty-three miles long, twenty-eight feet wide at bottom, forty feet wide at top, and four feet deep. The estimated cost was $4,926,638 ; the actual cost of the whole was $7, 143, 789.86. The enlargement of this canal was ordered May IIth, 1835, begun in August, 1836, and completed in September, 1862. The esti- mated cost of the enlargement was $23,402, - 863 ; the actual cost, $36,495, 535. The length as enlarged is three hundred and forty and three-quarter miles; its breadth is seventy feet at the surface of the water, fifty-two and one-half feet at the bottom, and seven feet deep.
The CHAMPLAIN CANAL, extending from the Erie canal, near Waterford, to the head of Lake Champlain, at Whitehall, was author- ized April 15th, 1817, begun June 10th, 1818, and completed September 10th, 1823. The original cost was $875,000, exclusive of the feeder at Glens Falls. It is sixty-four miles long, and has a navigable feeder seven miles long to Glens Falls, with a slack water navi- gation five miles further upon the Hudson. It was forty feet wide at the surface of the water, and four feet deep. In 1860 it was authorized to be fifty feet at top, thirty-five feet at bottom, and five feet deep.
To these great artificial water courses, thus supplementing her natural water courses and overcoming her obstacles, the State and city
of New York are mainly indebted for their wonderful material and industrial prosperity.
If to their distinguished governor, De Witt Clinton, much gratitude is due from the peo- ple of the State for the building and comple- tion of these important works, some slight acknowledgment they also owe to their last colonial governor, William Tryon, for the conception of the scheme and its first official recommendation to their favorable notice.
In his report on the state of the province, bearing date June 11th, 1774, Governor Tryon, in speaking of the navigation of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, recommended that the obstacles to their navigation be over- come by a system of locks and canals.
II. - EARLY INLAND NAVIGATION.
The first projector of inland navigation in America was Christopher Cobles, born in Ire- land in 1738. It is said he was the first in this country to undertake the building of a steam engine for a distillery in Philadelphia, but failed for want of means, although liis plans secured the approval of David Ritten- house and the Philosophical society. In 1773 he lectured at the Exchange in New York on the advantages of lock navigation. The ben- efits of this mode of transportation had re- cently been demonstrated by the opening by the Duke of Bridewater, in 1761, of the first navigable canal constructed in Great Britain.
On the 6th of November, 1784, he addressed a memorial to the two houses of the New York legislature, proposing a plan of inland navigation on the Mohawk river. It was re- ferred to a committee, of which Mr. Adgate, of Albany, was chairman, who, on the same day, reported that while these laudable pro- posals merited encouragement, "it would be inexpedient for the legislature to cause that business to be undertaken at the public ex- pense," and added that if Mr. Cobles, with a number of adventurers, would undertake it, they ought to be encouraged in the enterprise.
The next time the canal policy was sug-
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
gested to the legislature was in a speech made in that body by Gov. George Clinton, in 1791.
Again, on the 5th day of January, 1795, Governor Clinton, in his speech to the legis- lature, warmly recommended inland naviga- tion, saying "that he trusted a measure so interesting to the community would con- tinue to command the attention due to its im- portance."
On the 7th of February, 1792, General Wil- liams, of Salem, Washington county, brought a bill into the legislature entitled, "An act for constructing and opening a canal and lock navigation in northern and western parts of the State."
These efforts resulted in the formation of two companies -in the year 1795, one for the northern and one for the western improve- ment. The northern company was incorpo- rated by the name of the "Northern Inland Lock Navigation Company." The object of the company was to build a canal and locks from the sprouts of the Mohawk at Water- ford, along the west bank of the Hudson, around the rapids. For this purpose surveys were commenced in the summer of 1795, and a considerable part of the work was begun and completed before the year 1800. One of the surveyors employed on this northern canal in 1795 was Mark Isambert Brunel, who after- ward filled the world with his fame as the en- gineer of the Thames tunnel.
General Schuyler was at the head of this company, and the remains of this undertaking were long called, locally, "Schuyler's Ditch." The enterprise failed because private means were inadequate to its completion. But these efforts finally resulted in the building of the Erie and Champlain canals, as described above, those stupendous improvements to which our State and the vast and teeming west owe so much of their prosperity.
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