Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 10

Author: Parker, Amasa Junius, 1843-1938, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1374

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During the year 1813 the march of military events was rapid and as a whole the result was favorable to the American arms. Sackett's Harbor was made the chief depot of military supplies on Lake Ontario and presented a tempting prize to the enemy. Sir James L Yeo's ignominious attempt to capture it in May, and a similar failure by a small force to capture Oswego, with the brilliant and important victory of Perry on Lake Erie September 10, were conspicuous events of the year, but their history possesses little local interest. Meanwhile Albany was made a rendezvous for numerous bodies of volunteer and drafted soldiery, with all the accompanying excitement, petty disturb- ances, military display and trade activity in such lines as could thrive

upon the floating population thus brought into the city. The records are filled with information about these bodies of troops assembling at Albany and either remaining temporarily before their assignment, or marching on westward towards the frontiers.

Early in 1814 it was evident that the British intended a more vigor- ous prosecution of the war. The victory of the allies over Napoleon had relieved from European service thousands of English soldiers and early in the summer 15,000 of Wellington's bronzed veterans were sent over to Canada. The inhabitants of this State received this news with deep concern. During the winter and spring the military com- manders on both sides of the St. Lawrence and the lakes made prepara- tions for a determined struggle, with Lake Ontario as the prize, while on the Niagara frontier measures were in active progress which led to the bloody conflicts in that region. The principal events of the year were the capture of Oswego by the British May 6; the battle at Fort Erie, opposite Buffalo August 13-15; the fight at Lundy's Lane July 25, where young Gen. Winfield Scott won his first renown; the engage- ments on Lake Champlain and at Plattsburg in September; at Chip- pewa on October 15, and the victories of Decatur and others at sea. This series of military events, in most of which the Americans demon- strated their ability to successfully defend their country against foreign foes, concluded with the final victory of General Jackson at New Orleans on January 8, 1815, a battle which was in reality fought after peace was declared, but before the news reached that far away locality. A treaty of peace was agreed to between the commissioners of the United States and those of Great Britain, at Ghent, on December 24, 1814, and ratifications were exchanged at Washington February 17, 1815. The reception of the news in this country spread joy throughout the land, the tidings being greeted with banquets and illuminations in many cities and villages.

Among the local incidents of this conflict was the appointment of Stephen Van Rensselaer, "the old Patroon," as major-general of the volunteer militia, by Governor Tompkins. He was stationed on the Niagara frontier, and there took part in the battle of Queenston, in which Col. Solomon Van Rensselaer, also, shared and made the first attack with 225 men. Colonel Van Rensselaer was severely wounded at the outset. Disgusted with the refusal of many of the troops to cross the river under the pretense that it was not a war of invasion, General Van Rensselaer resigned in October, 1812, and returned to

Albany, where he was honorably received by a large concourse of citi- zens.

The dashing young naval commander, Commodore Perry, paid Al- bany a visit on November 8, 1813, after his great victory, and was escorted to the Capitol by a large procession. There he was presented with the freedom of the city in a gold box, and a handsome sword. He held a reception at the Eagle Tavern, and attended a grand ball in the evening.

Captain Bulkley raised a company of volunteer infantry here and Captain Walker a company of artillery. They were stationed early in the war on Staten Island, whence they returned to the city on Novem- ber 28, 1812. About the same time Capt. C. R. Skinner had a recruit- ing office in Ladd's Coffee House, corner of Green and Beaver streets, where he was endeavoring to complete five companies of infantry, two of riflemen, and one of artillery. In his public announcements he states that the city had raised a fund of several thousand dollars for the benefit of the volunteers.

Col. John Mills, of Albany, in command of artillery at Sackett's Harbor, fell in battle there May 29, 1813, his bravery on that field being commended by Gen. Jacob Brown. His remains were brought to the city and interred in Capitol Park May 29, 1844, and later were re- moved to Rural Cemetery.

Among the honored names of men who performed active service in that war and at some period lived in Albany county, are those of Stephen and Solomon Van Rensselaer, John Lovett, John E. Wool, John Mills, Colonel Forsyth, William L. Marcy, William J. Worth, John O. Cole, Thurlow Weed, Lieutenant Gansevoort, Lieutenant Rathbone, and Ambrose Spencer, jr.

The following list of names is copied from the "Index of Awards on Claims of Soldiers of the War of 1812, as audited and allowed," pursuant to State law of 1859, Chapter 176, and is believed to contain the names of most of the militia who enlisted in that war from this county :

ALBANY.

Orrin Abbott, Michael Artcher,

John J. Fulton, Thomas S. Gillet,

Jonathan Goldwaite, Isaac T. Groesbeck, Abraham Hagaman,

Aaron Palmer,

Robert Patten,

Chester Atherton,

Jacob Place,

Ammiel Barnard,

Jonas D. Platt,

Asabel S. Beens,

John Pruyn,

Harmanus Bleecker, jr., Nicholas Bleecker, jr.,

George Hawley, John D. Houghtaling,

Moses Jay,

John Johnson,

Cornelius Bounds,

Adrian Bradt,

John Lamoreux,

William Seymour,

John C. Bradt,

Salvo Brintnall,

Daniel D. Lawyer,

John Bussy,

Jacob Lewis,

John Shinkle,

Abraham Balson,

Aaron Livingston,

William J. Smith,

Calvin Butler,

Jacob Loatwall,

Peter H. Snyder,

Daniel P. Clark,

Charles Low,

John Spoor,

Jeremiah Clute,

Jeremiah Luther,

John Stenkle,

Peter Colburn,

Daniel McIntosh,

John Stone,

Philip De Forest,

John McMicken,

Peter Ten Eyck,

Martin Easterly,

Abraham Martin,

Francis E. Thompson,

Ebenezer S. Edgerton,

Henry T. Mesick,

Henry Turner,

C. Ertzberger,

Thomas Mitchel,

John Van Antwerp,

Ralph Farnham,

William Muir,

Garret I. Vandenberg,

Thomas Fish,

John Myers,

Peter Van Olinda,

William Forby,

Benjamin Northrop,

Cornelius W. Vedder,

Luther Frisbie,

Peter Osterhout,

Ebenezer C. Warren, Jacob White.

BERNE.

Orange Beeman.

Reuben Hungerford,

John Pier, 2d.

Michael Belle,

Elisha Ingraham,

William Rhinehart,

Joseph Bradley,

Daniel Joslin,

John I. Schermerhorn,

Richard Brownell, Henry Carroll,

Nicholas Osterhout,

William Truax,

Richard Filkins, Jesse Helligus,

John Wilda, Christian Willmon.

BETHLEHEM.

Joseph Arkles, Aaron Hawley, Anthony Pangburn,

John Parker, Henry I. Schoonmaker, William Scrafford,

Lewis Stiman, Garret Vanderpool, Hezekiah Wilks.

COEYMANS.

Stewart Bull, Henry Cacknard, Daniel Carhart,

John Carr, Daniel Green, Elias Holmes,

John F. Shafer, John Turk.

COHOES.

James Cole,

Garritt H. Bloomingdale,

Matthew Boom, .

Sylvanus Kelley,

Nicholas I. Lampman,

Simon Relyea, James Robinson, Courtland Schuyler, Jacob Scott, Abraham Severson,

William Fuhr,

Henry Paddock,

Derrick Martin,

James Sloan,

David D. Palmer,

Stephenson Palmer,

Jacob Sharp, John Shouts,

GUILDERLAND.

Adam Blessing, Elisha Cheesebro, Frederick J. Crounse,

Christopher Frederick, Henry Ostrander, jr., Adam Relyea,

John N. Severson, Peter Shafer, Cornelius Van Derzee.

JERUSALEM.

Daniel J. Beyea, Asa Brown,

Charles Hazelton, Moses Mowers,

Conrad Turner.

KNOX.

Henry Bunzer,

William Bunzey,

Edward P. Crary, Joseph Gallup,

Benjamin Williams, Henry Williams.

NEW SCOTLAND.

Henry P. Bradt, Peter V. B. Elmendorf,

William Latta,

Robert McGill,

Jacob Martin, Samuel Warner.

RENSSELAERVILLE.

Henry Benn, George Benn,

William Crandall,

William Holdridge,

Thomas Tibits, Cornelius Van Aiken.

SOUTH JERUSALEM.

Peter Cole.

WATERVLIET.

William Campbell, Henry Chadwick,

Oliver Hastings,

Ezra Haynes,

James Johnson,

Henry Lasee,

Jesse E. Roberts,

John Scovell, Stephen Simpson, David Turner, Joseph Werden.

WESTERLO.

John Fraligh, Abiel Gardner,

Josiah Hinckley, jr., Walter Huyck, John Newbury,

Cyrus Stone, George W. Swartwout.

WEST TROY.

James W. Dubois,

Israel Shadbolt,

Nathan B. Gleason,

Isaac Hitchcock,

James Sloan, Jacob Turner,

John Uran, George Wilson.

Following the war of 1812 a long period of peace settled down upon Albany county and the country at large, growth and progress in all

David Cole, Peter M. Conger,

Ethel Enos,

directions being rapid. The population increased from 34,669 in 1810 to 38,156 in 1820, and to 53,520 in 1830. Travel to and from Albany began to assume large proportions early in the century and with the close of the war and the establishment of industries and opening new settlements, it greatly increased. Various turnpike companies were or- ganized in addition to those already mentioned, among them the Leba- non and Albany Turnpike in 1798; the first company of the Great Western Turnpike in 1799; in 1804 the Bethlehem Turnpike, and in 1805 the Albany and Delaware Turnpike. A charter for a turnpike on the west side of the river to Catskill was granted about this time, and the Troy and Schenectady Turnpike was incorporated in 1806. All of these roads were to facilitate the concentration of trade in Albany.

Among the most prominent of the early stage proprietors was Jason Parker, whose place of residence was Utica. He obtained concessions from the Legislature about the beginning of the century to run stages west from Utica to Canandaigua for ten years. The fare at that time was four cents a mile, and the proprietors were prohibited from carry- ing more than seven passengers in any one stage. Mr. Parker had been instrumental in running the first stages from Albany to Lansing- burgh in the latter years of the preceding century, and also had a line in operation between Albany and Whitestown before 1797. In part or all of these early enterprises he was associated with Moses Beal. It is on record, in 1810, that a greater degree of expedition was attained on the route from Albany westward, when a daily line was established to Utica. On the 20th of September, 1810, Joshua Ostrom and his asso- ciates, who were in opposition to Parker & Co., announced a new " steamboat line of stages " which left Albany on Mondays and Fri- days. On the 21st of January, 1811, appeared the following announce- ment from Parker & Powell:

Eight changes of horses. The mail stage now leaves Bagg's, Utica, every morning at 4 o'clock. Passengers will breakfast at Maynard's, Herkimer, dine at Josiah Shep- ard's Palatine and sup (on oysters) at Thomas Powell's Tontine Coffee House, Sche- nectady. Those ladies and gentlemen who will favor this line with their patronage may be assured of having good horses, attentive drivers, warm carriages, and that there shall not be any running or racing of horses on the line.

This line was within a few months extended through to Niagara Falls.

The year 1807 saw a marked change in travel northward and south- ward, when the first steamboat was launched on the great river. The

first of Fulton's boats, the Clermont, left New York September 5 of that year, with twenty-seven passengers, which number was increased to one hundred on the trip of October 7. From twenty-four to thirty- six hours were required for the trip. In 1811 there were two steam- boats carrying passengers to New York; they were named the Hope and the North River. This number was increased by 1836 to twelve steamboats and seven towing boats. The fare on the first steamers to New York was $7. In 1820 the Chancellor Livingston was launched; she was 175 feet long, had beds for 160 passengers and settees for forty ; fare $8. The reader can draw his own comparison between this pioneer boat and the Adirondack of to-day. In 1823 the Constitution, the Con- stellation, the Swiftsure, and the Saratoga began running. In 1828 the North America was put on the river, a boat which was character- ized by Dr. Charles Stuart as "the most beautiful and swift of the floating palaces on the Hudson; or, as I believe, I may add with truth, in the world. " 1

In the early projects for improving transportation facilities to the westward Albany men showed an active interest. They clearly saw that from that direction would soon pour down towards tidewater a flood of produce and manufactured articles, while the rapidly in- creasing population of that region would demand the return of an im- mense volume of merchandise. In the first directorate of the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company, which was noticed in the preceding chapter, were a number of prominent Albany county men, as follows: Philip Schuyler, Leonard Gansevoort, Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, El- kanah Watson, John Tayler, Jelles A. Fonda, William North, and Golds- boro Banyar. The Albany commissioners to receive subscriptions to stock were Abraham Ten Broeck, John Tayler, Philip S. Van Rensse- laer, Cornelius Glen and John Ten Broeck.

It was not long before it became apparent that still further improve- ments in this direction were an imperative necessity. The subject of

I The . Clermont was a small thing compared with the great river steamers of the present time. Fulton did not comprehend the majesty and capacity of his invention. He regarded the Richmond (the finest steamboat at the time of his death) as the perfection of that class of archi- tecture. She was a little more than one hundred feet in length, with a low, dingy cabin, partly below the water line, dimly lighted by tallow candles, in which passengers ate and slept in stifling air, and her highest rate of speed was nine miles an hour. Could Fulton revisit the earth and be placed on one of the great river steamboats of our time, he would imagine himself to be in some magical structure of fairyland, or of forming a part of a strange romance; for it is a magnificent floating hotel over four hundred feet in length, and capable of carrying a thousand guests by night or day at the rate of twenty miles an hour .- LOSSING.

canal navigation directly from the Hudson River to the great lakes was discussed very early in the century, but the name of the originator of the project is lost in the past. The honor has been claimed by several, each of whom has found his advocates. The journals and other writ- ings of Elkanah Watson, who was a man of great enterprise and pro- gressiveness, contain ample proof that he had conceived the plan about ten years before the opening of the present century. He made a tour across the State in 1791, during which he kept a voluminous journal, which is still in existence and contains at least inferential proof that he was then giving much thought to the subject. However this feature of the matter may be viewed, it is certain that he was a strong advo- cate of the canal long before it was actually begun, and by his argu- ments awakened a lively interest in the enterprise in Albany. Among those who looked upon the project with favor were the Van Rensse- laers, the Schuylers, and John and Isaiah Townsend. A call for a meeting to be held at the Tontine Coffee House on February 7, 1816, was signed by Archibald McIntyre, James Kane, John Woodworth, William James, Charles E. Dudley, Dudley Walsh, Barent Bleecker, John Van Schaick, Rensselaer Westerlo, and Harmanus Bleecker. At this meeting a committee was named for each ward to secure signa- tures to a memorial to the Legislature, asking for legislation to forward the scheme. Similar action was taken in other parts of the State. In April following an act was passed to " provide for the improvement of of the internal navigation of this State." Under this act, Stephen Van Rensselaer, De Witt Clinton, Samuel Young, Joseph Ellicott, and Myron Holley were appointed commissioners to "consider, devise and adopt such measures as might be requisite to facilitate and effect the communication, by means of canals and locks, between the naviga- able waters of the Hudson River and Lake Erie, and the said navigable waters and Lake Champlain." This commission made their report, and then the struggle began. The canal question divided parties and shaped the politics of the State. The question of the course to be fol- lowed was prolific in argument, while a large part of the inhabitants of the State looked upon the whole project as visionary and foolhardy. But nothing could permanently stop the progress of the canal and on April 15, 1817, the last day of the session, the act authorizing the great water-way was passed.

Considering the times and the means available in those days for heavy engineering work, the canal was constructed rapidly and on the

8th of October, 1823, the first boat passed through the completed por- tion east of the Genesee River into the Hudson. This event was cele- brated in Albany with enthusiastic public demonstration. The Com- mon Council appointed a committee consisting of Aldermen Gibbons, Baldwin, Humphrey, Cassidy, Ten Eyck, and the chamberlain, while Solomon Van Rensselaer acted as marshal of the day. A salute was fired at sunrise, bells were rung, there was a civic and military parade and business was suspended generally. The first boat that entered the lock was the De Witt Clinton, having on board Governor Yates, the mayor and other corporation officers of the city, the canal commission- ers, engineers and citizens. The cap stone of the lock was laid with Masonic ceremonies and the waters of the lakes and those of the ocean were then mingled by Dr. Mitchell. After this impressive ceremony the lock gates were opened and the boat settled down upon the waters of the Hudson.

The whole canal was not completed until October 26, 1825, but Al- bany had begun to feel its benefits previous to that date. The final opening of the canal was also celebrated along its entire line. On Octo- ber 17 the Common Council appointed a committee to make proper arrangements for the Albany celebration, who held a public meeting in the Capitol, and another at a little later date, which contributed to the perfection of arrangements for the celebration. The passage of the first boat from Buffalo into the Albany basin was announced from point to point along the entire distance by the firing of cannon. The Seneca Chief was fitted up at Buffalo to carry the dignitaries of the State, and left that city on October 26, arriving in Albany November 2. At 11 o'clock the procession was formed and marched through the principal streets of the city under direction of Welcome Esleeck, John Tayler, James Gibbons, and Francis I. Bradt. When the procession reached the Capitol, impressive services were held, consisting in part of the singing of an ode written by John Augustus Stone, of the Al- bany Theatre, addresses by Philip Howe, of New York, William James, of Albany, and Lieut .- Governor Tallmadge, a splendid collation at the Columbia street bridge, and a ball in the evening.

The completion of the Erie Canal changed the whole aspect of com- mercial affairs in the lake region. Coincident with that event the first steam vessel, the Ontario, was launched on Lake Ontario at Oswego, giving birth to the immense traffic that soon covered those waters with busy fleets. With the construction of packet boats on the canal, travel

eastward and westward became immense, and very much of it passed through Albany. Tolls collected in this city increased from $126, 652 in 1825, to $212,045 in 1830, while more than a hundred thousand dol- lars was added to this amount in the succeeding five years. Rivalry between the canal packet boats and the stages on the main lines was very active; but the new mode of travel attracted the greater number of passengers for a considerable period. Meanwhile the Champlain Canal had been finished and opened its entire length on September 10, 1823, extending from near Cohoes to Lake Champlain, and further contributed to the growth of Albany.

As an evidence of the rapidity with which the Erie Canal was brought into use, and of the very great change which it made in the mode of transportation, particularly as regards freight, it may be stated that the number of canal boats which arrived in Albany during the season of 1823 was 1,329; during that of 1824 it was 2,687; during that of 1825 it was 3,336; and in 1826, the year after the canal was in full operation, it was about 7,000. The rate for transportation on the turnpike in 1826 was one and a half cents a mile; the rate by the canal was five mills. But it should not, therefore, be inferred that all the passengers deserted the stages for the packet boats. The canal passage was still tedious compared to land travel, and was chosen chiefly by those who desired to lessen the fatigue of the journey, but was avoided where time was of account.

The construction of what is known as the Albany Basin was inti- mately connected with the two canals that terminate here. The sub- ject of this basin was discussed about 1820, when river navigation had become active and the docks in front of the city were constantly lined with hundreds of sloops and schooners. After a few years of agitation the matter was referred to the Canal Commissioners, who reported on February 11, 1823, as follows:

In obedience to the resolution of the Assembly passed the 14th ult., instructing the Commissioners to report a place for the construction of a basin at the termination of the Erie and Champlain canal at the city of Albany, reported that Benjamin Wright, one of their engineers, who was instructed to examine the matter, had proposed a plan and made a communication on the subject, together with a map of the contem- plated basin. The Commissioners believe that a basin may be constructed on the said plan for about $100,000, and that such a basin would be extremely beneficial to the trade of Albany. They have declined to make basins along the line of canals, believing that mercantile capital and enterprise would find sufficient inducements and interests to furnish these local accommodations to trade, and that to expend the

public moneys would not be just. They think, however, that it would be proper to construct a sloop lock at the southern termination of the basın, as the connection of boat and sloop navigation at the arsenal dock will cost nearly as much as the said lock; and, in case of the construction of said lock, it would be reasonable for the State to receive tolls on the length of the basin as part of the canal.

In accordance with this report the Legislature passed an act April 5, 1823, authorizing the construction of the basin and naming the fol- lowing persons commissioners: William James, John R. Bleecker, John Townsend, Elisha Jenkins, Benjamin Knower, Allen Brown, Israel Smith, Teunis Van Vechten, John Trotter, John Spencer, Asa H. Spencer, William Durant, Peter Boyd, Joseph Alexander, Charles R. Webster, John H. Webb, John Shotwell, Joseph Russell, William Caldwell, Ralph Pratt, Russell Forsythe, William Marvin, William McHarg, Jellis Winne, jr., Abraham Van Vechten, and Gideon Haw- ley. These men were authorized to receive subscriptions for the work which was, briefly, to construct a pier opposite the docks fronting the harbor, so as to comprise a basin extending from the arsenal dock to a point opposite Hodges's dock, in the line of Hamilton street, with a sloop lock at the Hamilton street end; the work was to be completed within two years. The act authorized the building of bridges from the dock to the pier, and the Pier Company were to receive title to the necessary land under water. The act also regulated wharfage to be paid by vessels, authorized the canal commissioners to charge toll on all canal boats entering the basin, and directed that the pier be divided into lots and thus sold at auction. Under this act the pier was finished May 27, 1825, inclosing a basin capable of harboring one thousand canal boats and about fifty vessels of larger dimensions. The pier was di- vided into 123 lots which, excepting lots 1 and 2, reserved for an open- ing into the river, were sold on July 17, 1825. The aggregate sum realized was $188,510. The pier was made 4,323 feet long and eighty- five feet broad. The area of the basin is thirty-two acres. Bridges with draws were erected across the basin at the foot of State and Co- lumbia streets, and the sloop lock alluded to was built by the State. The passage of the first canal boat through the lock and into the basin took place October 26, 1825.

The basin having no free outlet to the current of the river, soon be- came encumbered with silt, creating a nuisance, and in June, 1834, the city corporation was indicted by the grand jury for not abating the nuisance. The case was fought on the ground that the bulkhead at the lower end

of the basin was built under authority of an act of the Legislature. The Court of Sessions decided against the city, but the decision was re- versed by the Supreme Court. In response to an application made by citizens in February, 1835, the Legislature passed an act on the 27th of April directing the partial removal of the bulkhead, the removal of the sloop lock, and the erection of a bridge from the abutment at Ham- ilton street to the pier. The Common Council was also authorized to clean out the offensive accumulation and assess the cost on all prop- erty benefited. Since that time and under various acts and council proceedings, the basin has been vastly improved by openings in the pier, dredging, etc.

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Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 10

Author: Parker, Amasa Junius, 1843-1938, ed Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1374

Author: Parker, Amasa Junius, 1843-1938, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1374