USA > New York > Schenectady County > History of the County of Schenectady, N. Y., from 1662 to 1886... > Part 2
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Mabee, 9, 143, 206, 215, 216; Macauley, 201; Mackay, 142; Mackley, 182; Mac Master, 178; Macomber, 164, 166, 184, 186; Magistrates, Board of, 67; Magoffin, 117, 140, 141, 142; Mair, 135; Mairs, 157, 202; Malcom, 122; Man- ning, 170; Mansfield, 177; Manufactories and Industries, 147; Map of Schenectady, 29; Marcellis, 13, 15, 18, 19, 27; March, 193; Marcken, 4; Mariaville, 182, 185; Marinus, 13, 34: Markle, 164; Marlette, 114, 116, 125, 139, 140, 145,
204, 205, 206, 211, 213, 217, 218; Marselis, 19, 94, 140; Marsh, 124, 164, 170, 179, 185; Marshall, 169, 182; Martin, 9, 100, 144, 154, 204; Mascraft, 13, 37; Mason, 103, 117, 164; Masonic Organizations, 115-117; Massacre, 33, 34; Mast- kraft, 7; Mathews, 113, 115; Matthias, 104; Maurits, 14; Maxey, 96; Maxon, 115, 138, 144, 146, 151, 198; Maxwell, 178, 202; Maybee, 148; McAtyre, 101; McAuley, 102; Mc- Bean, 178; McCallum, 178; McCally, 164; McCannis, 19, 113, 115, 145; McCann, 199, 200; McClelland, 132; McClew, 178; McCloskey, 112; McClyman, 153, 154; McComber, 182; McCue, 13, 217; McDermid, 141; McDermott, 160, 185; McDonald, 101, 116, 142, 182, 184, 186, 202; McDou- gall, 140, 141, 164, 178, 186; McEncroe, 146, 160; McFarland, 99, 164; McGaugh, 179; McGee, 215; McGeogh, 112; Mc- Graw, 166, 182; McIntosh, 166; Mckean, 104, 105; McKee, 202; Mckelvey, 197; McKenney, 203; Mckenry, 126; Mc- Kerlee, 205; Mckinney, 178; McLachlin, 153; McLeod, 178; McManus & Co., 156; McMaster, 168, 205; McMichael, 116; McMillan, 164, 178, 184, 203, 204; McMillen, 168, 186, 203; McMillin, 204; McMullen, 113, 145, 159; McNee, 126, 203; McNeirny, 110; McQueen, 117, 149, 150, 151; McQueen Locomotive Works, 209; McQueen & Stage, 151; McShea, 86, 198: Mead, 143, 166, 178, 182, 186, 212; Mebee, 19; Mebie, 13, 14, 18; Megapolensis, 86; Meier, 96; Meneely, 110; Mercelis, 124; Merchant, 128; Meredith, 106; Merser, 99; Merwin, 104; Mesick, 198; Metcalf, 177; Meyers, 109; Michel, 99, 112; Mickel, 110; Mickle, 180; Milbanks, 198; Military Organizations, 39, 45; Millard & Crane, 156. Mills-
Hosiery 153
Knitting 153
Schenectady Knitting. 153
Watervliet 153
Miller, 101, 198, 202; Milmine, 145, 156, 157, 205; Miln, 98; Miscellaneous Cabinet, 138; Mitchel, 113, 211; Moffatt, 154; Mohawk Advertiser, 138; Mohawk Mercury, 137; Mohawk Sentinel, 138; Mohawkville, 208, 209; Monk, 126; Monroe, 99; Mantanye, 164; Monteith, 102, 103; Montgomery, 170; Moon, 165, 182; Moore, 100, 115, 123, 125, 151, 164, 169, 178, 217; Moorhouse, 153; Morey, 164; Morning Gazette, 139; Morning Star, 139; Morrie, 126; Morris, 126; Morri- son, 117; Morse, 115; Mott, 164; Mudge, 180, 200; Muir, 51; Mull, 125; Muller, 111; Mulroy, 205; Mumford, 144; Mun- sell, 111, 210; Murdock, 17; Murry, 113, 133, 169, 179, 185; Myers, 11, 113, 114, 125, 148, 154, 215; Mynderse, 8, 30, 113, 141, 142; Myndertse, 7, 8, 19.
Navigation, Railway, 49, 50; Navigation, River, 45, 48; Navigation, Stage, 48, 49; Nellis, 179, 185; Nethaway, 168; Nettleton, 102; Newcomb, 203; Newenhuysen, 87; New- kirk, 205; New Lights, 103; Newman, 114; Nicholson, 31; Niskayuna, 192, 199; Niskayuna District School, 197; Niskayuna, Early Settlers, 192, 193; Niskayuna Patent, 195; Niskayuna, Wars and Fortifications, 195; Noethen, 109; North, 162, 163, 176, 177, 178; Northrop, 108, 111; North- rup, 204; Norton, 165; Nott, 102, 107, 113, 114, 117, 122, 123, 126, 127, 128, 133, 134, 201, 203, 210, 212; Noxon, 140, 141; Neucella, 88.
Occinn, 197; Oderic, 109; Officers, City, 1798-1885, 68, 69; Officers, County and State, 64, 65; Ogilvie, 98; Old Fort, 37; Olin, 155; Olmstead, 106, 126; O'Neill, 185; Outhout, 8, 126; Orlop, 141; Osborne, 217; Ostrander, 164, 204, 206; Otten, 20; Ouderkirk, 198; Ouger, 143.
.,
INDEX.
V
Paige, 85, 86, 108, 115, 116, 126, 133, 144, 164; Paine, 126, 136; Palmer, 86, 114, 116, 126, 128, 138, 144, 166, 213; Parker, 213, 218; Parks, 109; Parsons, 126; Parthenon and Academian, 139; Passage, 182, 201, 204; Patent, Braines, 161; Patent, Cambefort, 14; Patent, Dongan, 8; Patent of 1684, 5; Patterson, 164, 170, 205, 218; Patterson's Corners, 182; Pattersonville, 208; Paul, 106; Paxton, 111; Payne, 100, 109; Pazuater, 107 ;: Peake, 180; Pearse, 198; Pearson, 137, 142; . Peck, 105; Peckham, 117; Peek, 7, 13, 144, 180, 205, 211, 212; Peissner, 133, 135; Pendleton, 100; Publica- tions of Union College, 139; Perkins, 114, 131, 133, 142; Perry, 16, 195, 211; Phelps, 34; Philips, 20, 201, 217, 218; Philipse, 13, 19, 34; Phraner, 108; Physicians, City, 67; Physicians, Pioneer, 143; Pickett, 126; Piek, 128; Pierson, 125; Pieterse, 27; Pioneer, The, 147; Piper, 126; Pitkin, 149; Pins, 109; Planck, 142; Plank Road, 213; Platt, 9, 128; Poentie's Kil, 11, 12; Polders, 11; Polhemus, 185; Pomeroy, IO1; Pond, 161; Post, 185; Potman, 19, 23, 27; Potter, 13, 82, 84, 86, 99, 100, 115, 117, 133, 138, 145, 155; Poverson, 12; Powers, 160, 180; Prime, 140, 141; Princetown, 200, 206; Princetown Hamlet, 200; Princetown District Schools, 201; Princetown Town Officers, 201; Printers and News- papers, 137, 140; Proal, 100; Proctor, 126; Protestant Sentinel, 138; Proudfit, 135, 203; Provost, 176; Pulver, 164, 179, 180; Putman, 200, 210, 217, 218.
Quackenbos, 34. 97, 195; Quackenbush, 179, 185, 201, 212; Quaker Street, 182; Quattlander, 110; Queen's New Fort, 37; Quick, 164, 217, 218; Quimby, 164, 165.
Radcliffe, 218; Radley, 164, 167, 170; Railsplitter, The, 139; Railways, 49, 50; Rainy, 213; Ramsey, 117, 120, 160, 178; Ramssaur, 109; Randell, 109; Rankins, 149, 159; Rawson, 105; Ray, 110; Raymond, 197, 201; Reaber, 117; Reagles, 142, 156; Rector, 13, 148, 164; Reese & Hartley, 158; Reese, 133, 147, 148, 158; Reeves, 156, 158; Reflector and Schenectady Democrat, 138; Reichs Posaune, 112; Remington, 105, 140; Reynolds, 180, 198; Rhinehart, 186, 201, 206; Rhodes, 133; Rich, 182; Rick- ett, 201; Riggs, 122, 138; Righter, 177; Rinckhout, 18, 19; Ritchie, 124, 138; Roach, 142; Roberts, 12, 13, 15; Robin- son, 133, 165, 203, 211; Robison, 160, 204, 206; Rockwell, 164; Rodgers, 128; Rogers, 109, 204; Romeyn, 96, 102, 127, 128, 197, 212; Root, 164; Rosa, 154, 159; Rose, 169; Rosekrans, 201; Rosekranz, 116; Ross, 180; Rotterdam, 13, 206, 208; Rotterdam District Schools, 215; Rotterdam Flats, 207; Rotterdam Town Officers, 215; "Rowe, 115, 142; Roy, James & Co., 153; Rushmore, 182; Rynex, 116, 201, 204, 217, 218; Rynex Corners, 200; Ryswick, Peace of, 30.
Sacia, 125; Sackett, 138; Sager, 211; Sanders, 8, 18, 85, 86, 147, 159; Sands, 126, 213; Sassian, 15; Sauter, 110, 115, 217, 218; Savage, 136; Sawyer, 106, 107; Schaats, 143, 27; Schaets, 20, 86, 87; Schenck, 101, 202.
Schenectady, Burning of . 24, 28
Cabinet and Freedom's Sentinel ..
138
Cabnet. 138
.. Car Company. 209, 211
.6 County Whig
138
.6
Daily Evening Star and Times.
139
.. Gazette
139
.. News
139
.. Times.
139
Union. 139
Schenectady Democrat. 138
Evening Star 139
First Settlement. 2, 10
Reflector and Democrat 139
= Republican. 139
Saratoga Standard
138
Star
138
Township
1, 2
=
Water-works
145, 146
Weekly Union. 139
Schermerhorn, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 23, 27, 86, 115, 116, 122, 138, 141, 145, 148, 151, 153, 154, 171, 182, 206, 210, 211, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219; Scherwin, 113; Schneider, 112; School Bill, oldest, 120, 121; School, Illustre, 127; School, Lancaster, 122, 125; Schoolcraft, 86, 116, 125, 142; Schoonmaker, 210; Schultze, 112; Schuyler, 6, 7, 26, 213; Schwartz, 110; Schwenker, 110; Schwilk, 112, 113; Schwin, 113; Schyler, 193; Scroll, The, 140; Scotia, 18; Scott, 160; Scrafford, 201, 204, 218; Scully, 112; Searl, 201, 210, 212; Searle, 211; Seaver, 114; Seeley, 148, 157; Seelye, 97; Seesar, 94; Selyns, 86; Selzinger, 109; Senators of State, 65; Sexton, 123; Seymour, 105, 139; Shaker Island, 196; Sheldon, 178, 182; Sherburn, 166; Sheriffs, 65; Shipley, 205; Short, 213; Shoudy, 170, 182; Shumway, 121: Shurtliff, 9; Shute, 164, 165, 170, 186; Shuter, 99, 128; Shutt, 164 Sickles, 96; Sigsbee, 217; Simpson, 107; Sisson, 164; Sitterly, 160; Sixbury, 13; Skeels, 177; Slaaghboom, 19; Slater, 123, 124; Slawson, 164; Sleicher, 139; Slinger- land, 7, 19; Sloughters, 21; Slover, 211; Smart, I11; Smeallie, 204, 205, 206; Smedes, 100; Smith, 7, 20, 30, 31, 37, 86, 96, 101, 104, 105, 111, 112, 113, 115, 126, 128, 138, 143, 145, 146, 158, 159, 164, 165, 168, 177, 180, 186, 201, 217; Snell, 186; Sniffers, 164; Societies, Ecclesias- tical, 86; Society, Ladies' Benevolent, 113; Society, Medi- cal, 140, 142; Soegemakelyk, 12; Soley, 113; South Schenectady, 208; Spalding, 210; Spencer, 119, 169; Spitzer, 143, 212; Sprague, 126, 140; Springer, 204, 210; Squire, 140, 141; Staats, 23; Stackpole, 140; Stage, 48, 151; Staley, 126, 133, 185, 204, 217, 218; Stanford, 139, 145, 146, 153, 160, 193, 198; Stanton, 116, 144; Starks, 115; Starkweather, 180; Stead, 114; Stebbins, 100, 105, 113, 122, 177, 195; Steel, 105; Steeling, 213; Steers, 199; Steinfurhuer, 142; Sterling, 205; Sternberg, 169; Sterns, III; Steuben, 162; Stever, 109; Stevens, 7, 13, 86, 126, 138, 164, 165, 168, 178; Stevenson, 137, 179; Stewart, 170; Stiles, 123, 124; Stillwell, 164; Stockwell, 126; Stone, 138; Stoppelkamp, 110; Stoves, Nott, 134; Stringer, 143; Strong, 82, 86, 169; Struene, 110; Stryker, 201; Stuart, 178; Sturges, 202; Summerbell, 180; Superintendents of Hose, 74; Superintendents of Poor, 63, 64; Superintendents of Streets, 67; Supervisors, 54, 62; Surrogates, County, 65; Susholz, 111, 154; Sutherland, 138; Swan, 117; Swancker, 217; Swart, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 19, 115, 117, 148, 149, 154, 156, 217; Sweet, 156; Swits, 7, 8, 9, 12, 17, 19, 29, 90, 109, 116, 144, 159; Symonse, 31, 193; Symonse's Meadow, 11; Synagogue, Jewish, 111.
Taggert, Richmond, 106; Tallman, Jedediah, 178; Tal- mage, 23, 25, 108, 198; Tanner, Agnes, 170; Taylor, 51, 97, 101, 108, 109, 111, 122, 127, 128, 201, 208, 213; Taws, 205, 206; Tele, 109; Teller, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 19, 115, 158; Temperance, 117; Templar, 204; Templer, 201; Ten Broeck, 26, 128; Teneyck, 15 ; Terworth, 126; Tennisse, 4, 15; Thatcher, 151; Thayer, 138, 139; Thesschenmaecker, 27,
vi
INDEX.
--
87, 88, 120; Thomas, 164, 177; Thompson, 101, 138, 144, 151, 154, 158, 176, 177, 198; Thomson, 86; Thornton, 177; Thurston, 124; Tichenor, 114; Timeson, 158; Tinning, 204; 205, 206; Titball, 166; Titus, 186; Todd, 102; Toll, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 33, 140, 141, 147; Tomlinson, 9, 100; Tomp- kins, 116; Tonelier, 140, 141; Tower, 213; Townsend, 133; Toy, 109, 116; Treadway, 156; Treasurers, County, 65; Treis, 109; Trepp, 165; Tripp, 164, 165, 186; Troup, 177; Truax, 20, 113, 114, 115, 133, 140, 141, 142, 145, 158, 211; True, 198; Tullock, 164, 178, 211; Tully, 200; Tupper, 123; Turnbull, 164, 166, 178, 185, 186, 200, 208, 217, 218; Tyms, 8.
Underhill, 164; Union College, 128, 137; Union College Magazine, 139; Unonian, The, 140; Union University, 133.
Van Allen, 143; Van Alstyne, 21; Van Antwerp, 33, 34, 122, 198; Van Antwerpen, 13, 18, 19, 34, 37; Van Auken, 180; Van Benechoten, 180; Van Benschoten, 197; Van Benthuysen, 19; Van Brakel, 7, 12, 15, 27; Van Brakelen, 12, 19, 37; Van Brough, 194; Van Cise, 94; Van Copper- nol, 13, 14; Van Curler, 11, 12, 19, 196, 207; Van De Bogart, 7, 19, 20, 27, 34, 86, 125; Vandenbergh, 91; Van der Baast, 15; Vanderbogue, 201; Van der Heuvel, 143; Vandermoor, 160; Vanderveer, 211; Van der Volgen, 8, 12, 90, 93, 116; Van der Volgers, 20, 89; Van Desolow, 212; Van Deusen, 157; Van Ditmars, 12, 27; Van Driesen, 89, 91 ; Van Dyck, 20, 115, 156, 160, 211, 218; Van Epps, 8, 19, 86, 142, 148, 161, 211, 217, 218; Van Eps, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 15, 17, 20, 23, 27, 207; Van Guysling, 207; Van Hern, 180; Van Horne, 145; Van Ingen, 124, 127, 143; Van Isselseyn, 12; Van Lice, 31; Van Ness, 12; Van Olinda, 13, 14, 30, 143, 195; Van Orden, 121; Van Otto, 206; Van Patten, 12, 103, 115, 142, 148, 215, 217; Van Petten, 8, 9, 12, 20, 31; Van Potten, 8, 217; Van Purmerend, 12; Van Rensselaer, 2, 26, 128, 163, 194; Van Sanford, 197, 201, 215; Van Santford, 95, 96; Van Schaaick, 18; Van Schaick, 34; Van Slichtenhorst, 163; Van Slyck, 11, 13, 14, 15, 30, 31, 33, 34, 37, 145, 149, 211, 217, 218; Van Slyke, 148, 153; Van Soligen, 118; Van Valkenburgh, 204, 217; Van Vech- ten, 9, 96, 122, 177; Van Velsen, 6, 23, 27, 38; Van Vorhis 126; Van Vorst, 17, 19, 33, 34, 86, 103, 125, 133, 142, 144, 145, 156; Van Vranken, 29, 114, 122, 123, 125, 145, 146, 159, 160, 198, 200; Van Wagnen, 197; Van Woert, 140, 141; Van Woggelum, 11, 12; Van Wormer, 217, 218; Van Zandt, 109, 110, 142, 212; Vasborough, 34; Vedder, 7, 8, 12, 19, 20, 25, 31, 34, 40, 86, 89, 95, 113, 114, 125, 126, 139,
141, 142, 148, 156, 159, 182, 192, 198, 200, 207, 211, 212, 214, 215, 216; Vedder & Van Voast, 156; Veeder, 8, 11, 12, 13, 20, 21, 34, 37, 90, 93, 114, 124, 128, 141, 142, 144, 145, 148, 149, 154, 156, 158, 160, 215, 216, 217; Veeder's Mills, 11; Velie, 147; Vermyle, 98, 210; Vetch, 31; Victory, -169; Viele, 7, 13, 15, 17, 20, 27, 34, 95; Vine, 123; Vining, 19; Virgin, 111; Vischer, 32, 210; Visscher, 19; Voigl, 109; Vonda, 7; Voorman, 116; Vought, 141, 201; Vrooman, 6, 7, 8, 9, 15, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 31, 34, 91, 96, 98, 114, 123, 128, 140, 143, 148, 154, 159, 193, 214.
Waddell, 164, 179, 217; Wade, 141; Wainwright, 109; Walker, 113, 157, 204; Wallace, 144; Wallard, 215; Walms- ley, 101, 140, 141; Walpole, 116, 168, 185, 186; Walters, 113; Walton, 13, 128, 144; War, Civil, 41, 45; War, Old French, 32; War of 1812, 41; Ward, 117; Warden 164, 198; Warner, 160; Wart, 166; Washington, 53, 54; Wasson, 177, 217; Water- works, 145, 146; Watson, 117; Weast, 201, 203, 204, 218; Weaver, 164, 185; Webb, 103, 210; Webber, 107; Webster, 132; Weeks, 140, 141; Weide, 178; Weincke, 154; Weller, 117, 154; Wells, 14, 133, 198; Wemp, 6, 7, 8, 11, 14, 15, 21, 23, 27, 31, 34, 37, 90, 193; Wemple, 8, 13, 51, 201, 211; Wendell, 9, 21, 23 100, 116, 160, 193, 194, 195; Wesley, 164; Westerlo, 197; Western Advertiser, 137; Western Budget, 138; Western Spectator and Schenectady Weekly, 137; Westervelt, 119; Westinghouse, 151; Weston, 160, 163; Wetmore, 177, 199; Wheeler, 115, 140, 141; Whitbeck, 198; White, 99, 116, 117, 218; Whitehorn, 133, 142; Whitfield, 103; Whitmyre, 149; Whitney, 106, 127; Whyting, 201; Wibbe, 110; Widner, 105; Wiederhold, 154; Wiggins, 121, 164; Wilber, 164, 166, 178, 181, 182, 186; Wilds, 126; Wiley, 170, 216; Wilie, 28; Wilkie, 114; Wilkinson, 164; Willies, 107; Williams, 217; Williamson, 108, 116, 117; Wilson, 99, 185; Wiltsie, 164, 167, 168, 185, 186, 206, 213; Wing, 164, 182; Wingate, 164, 204; Winne, 198, 200; Winterwyck, 89, 191; Wiseman, 139; Witbeck, 159; Witherspoon, 105; Witheral, 213; Wolf, 112, 132; Wood, 140, 141, 164, 170, 171, 186, 204; Woodward, 141; Wooley, 141; Wortman, 98, 133; Wreath, The, 138; Wright, 7, 160, 167, 169; Wyatt, 148; Wyckoff, 137, 180; Wylie, 178.
Yances, 21; Yates, 9, 19, 21, 33, 85, 86, 90, 93, 113, 114, 115, 116, 122, 123, 126, 128, 138, 140, 144, 156, 158, 160, 201, 212; Yelverton, 65, 86; Yonse, 21; Yost, 170; Youlen, 109, 213; Young, 101, 104, 115, 142, 165, 178, 201, 202, 203.
Zeiser, 109; Zeller, 178; Zoeller, 109.
.
HISTORY
OF THE
COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY,
1662-1885, EDITED AND COMPILED BY REV. J. H. MUNSELL.
INTRODUCTION.
FARLY in the seventeenth century, North America, east of the Mississippi, was claimed by right of discovery by four European nations: France, England, Spain and Holland. Although for fifty years there were but few colonists sent over, the whole continent was too small to hold them in peace. Jealousies and bickerings were rife; the French crowded the English, and the English crowded the Dutch, until finally the latter disappeared altogether, and the rivalry between the former continued one hundred years longer. It was as plain then as it is now that rival nations could not exist in the Mississippi Valley.
The French commenced the settlement of Canada in 1603. Their object was two-fold: the conver- sion of the natives to the Christian faith, and trade. The missionary and the trader, therefore, went forth together visiting every tribe in the valleys of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi, and render- ing to each other mutual aid and assistance.
No nation was ever more successful in winning the esteem and respect of the natives. The flexi- bility of the French character and the indomitable patience of their missionaries were the secrets of their success. The Iroquois, or Five Nations, alone resisted their influence. Their friendship was the salvation of the Province of New York. They claimed all the territory lying between the Hudson and the Maumee rivers, so that the French of Canada could never aim a blow at Albany or Schenectady without striking over the heads of the Five Nations. This celebrated confederacy, the terror of all surrounding tribes, was made up of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas, five allied tribes, who acted as one nation; herein lay their influence.
During the long contest for dominion on this continent between the French and English, they held the balance of power, and were assidu- ously courted by both parties.
But after 1760, when the French influence ceased, their importance declined; rum and gun- powder had diminished their numbers, and the once powerful Mohawks had almost ceased to exist as a separate tribe.
During the Revolutionary war, large portions of the Oneidas and Tuscaroras favored the colonies, and for safety were transferred to Schenectady; while most of the Onondagas, Cayugas and the Senecas, the more numerous and westerly tribes, adhered to Great Britain and became an awful scourge to the frontier settlements in the Schoharie and Mohawk valleys.
SCHENECTADY.
The ancient township of Schenectady embraced a territory of 128 square miles, a portion of the Mohawk valley sixteen miles long and eight miles wide. The western half is an irregular plateau, elevated 400 or 500 feet above the Mohawk, a spur of the Helderberg, passing north into Sara- toga County; the eastern half is a sandy plain, whose general level is 300 or 400 feet lower. The river, running through the middle of this tract in a southeasterly direction, forms the most beautiful and striking natural object in its landscape. At the western boundary, where it enters the town, it flows through a narrow valley, whose sides, though covered with foliage, are too steep for cultivation. From the hill Towereune, the valley widens grad- ually to Poversen and Maahwyck, where the hills sink down into a great sand plain. Until the river reaches the City of Schenectady, it is a constant succession of rapids, and its general
2
HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.
course is southeast; here it makes a great bend, and flows with a deep, sluggish current northeastward to the Aal Plaats, the eastern boundary of the town. The tributaries of the Mohawk within the town are small and unimportant streams; those at the west end, flowing from the slates, are nearly or quite dry in summer, while those at the opposite end, fed from the sand, are constant spring brooks. But of these streams, few are of sufficient size and constancy now to serve as motive power.
With the exception of a little limestone in the extreme western limits of the town, all the rocks found in place belong to Hudson shales, and con- sist of alternate layers of blue slate and sandstone, some of which are used for building purposes.
In the west half this geological formation is most abundant, and the soil there is a clayey loam, underlaid with clay or hard pan. The immediate valley of the river, where it breaks through the range of hills, is narrow and composed chiefly of drift of at least two elevations. The highest, called the "stone flats," raised twenty to thirty feet above the water, consists of coarse gravel and bowlders, and is chiefly found on the north side of the river. The opposite bank is a lower plain of sand and gravel.
The eastern half of the town has no hills worthy of the name; its general level is perhaps 100 feet above the Mohawk, and the prevailing soil is a fine sand, underlaid with clay, except in the ex- treme eastern limits, where the clay loam again pre- vails.
Besides this there is found in the bends and eddies of the river, and upon the low islands, an alluvial deposit which is enriched by the annual floods. This constitutes the widely known " Mo- hawk Flats," which, though cultivated by the white man for more than 200 years, have lost little of their unsurpassed fertility.
In the early period of the settlement no other land was tilled, hence they were called the land, arable land, or bouwlandt, all else being denomi- nated woodland, and little valued. In addition to their fertility, these flats presented another advan- tage to the first settler; they were mainly free from wood and ready for the plough and seed. For ages they had been the native's corn land, whilst the adjacent forests and river furnished him with flesh and fish.
The great sand belt which passes across the town from south to north was once covered with a heavy growth of pine, while the high lands lying north and west of it produced the usual varieties of hard woods. Nothing could have been more
charming to the eye of the first white man traveling up the Mohawk to Ticonderoga (Fort Hunter) than the flats skirting the river banks, clothed in bright green of the Indian corn and other summer crops of the red man. In 1642 the kind hearted Arent Van Curler visited the Indian castles on an errand of mercy, to rescue some captive French- men from the hands of the cruel Mohawks. On his return he wrote to the Patroon (Kilian Van Rensselaer) in Amsterdam, that a " half day's jour- ney from the Colonie, on the Mohawk river, there lies the most beautiful land that the eye of man ever beheld." Who that has stood upon Niskayunaberg or Schuylenberg and looked west and north over the bouwlandt and the adjacent islands can wonder at the rapture of the enthusi- astic Dutchman, or can fail to discern in his ad- miration the budding of that idea which twenty years after blossomed into the settlement of which he was the leader.
The site of the village of Schenectady was ad- mirably chosen. No other spot in the neighbor- hood of the bouwland offered such facilities for a village. From the eastern end of the "Great Flat" there makes out from the sandy bluff which sur- rounds it a low, narrow spit, having upon the east, north and west sides the Mohawk River and Sand Kil. The extreme point, only about 1, 200 feet wide, was chosen for the site of the future city, a warm, dry spot, easily fortified against an enemy, and sufficiently elevated to be safe from the annual overflow of the Mohawk River. This little flat contains but 175 acres, and it was the site of an earlier Indian village, which tradition says was a former seat or capital of the Mohawks.
FIRST SETTLEMENT OF SCHENECTADY.
If we may believe tradition, Schenectady had already been occupied by the white man many years when Van Curler first visited it in 1642; in fact, it has been claimed to be little, if any, junior to Albany.
That a few fur traders and bosloopers early roved among the Mohawks, married and raised families of half-breeds, cannot be denied; indeed, there are respectable families in the valley to this day, whose pedigree may be traced back to these marriages. But that the white man made any permanent settle- ment on the Mohawk west of Albany, before 1662, there is no good reason for believing, and in view of the opposition of Albany and the Colonie, im- probable.
June 18, 1661, Arent Van Curler, the leader of the first settlement, made formal application to
.
INTRODUCTION.
Gov. Stuyvesant for permission to settle upon the "Great Flat " lying west of Schenectady. The reply was as follows :
JUNE 23, 1661.
"The letter of Arent Van Curler being presented and read on the 18th June, containing in sub- stance a request by him and a few other persons for the large plain situated to the back of Fort Orange, toward the interior, for the purpose of cul- tivation, and consent to purchase the same from the original proprietors and make a settlement there, etc., which, being maturely considered, the Director-General and Council resolved to consent to it; provided that the said lands, on being pur- chased from the native proprietors, be, as usual, transferred to the Director-General and Council aforesaid, as representatives of the Lords Directory of the Privileged West India Company; and that whatever the petitioners shall pay for the aforesaid lands to the original proprietors shall in due time be returned to them, or be discounted to them against the tenths."
Before the Governor's authority was received at Beverwyck a freshet laid the country for miles around under water. This was followed, a few days after (June 26), by an inundation much greater than the first, which forced the inhabitants to quit their dwellings and fly with their cattle for safety to the woods on the adjoining hills. Incal- culable damage was caused by these irruptions. The wheat and other grain were all prostrated, and had to be cut mostly for fodder, affording scarcely seed sufficient for the next spring.
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