Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 45

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

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A newspaper called the Green Island Review was started in January, 1879, by Henry L. Gilbert, and continued to September, 1884, when he sold out to W. A. Cole and L. H Weeks; they changed the name of the paper to the Albany County Herald and continued it for a time, but finally discontinued publication.

In early years the village depended on the Troy Fire Department to extinguish its fires, the village paying a stipulated annual sum therefor. After the establishment of the West Troy Water Works, that company extended its system into this village and supplied water until the spring of 1884. In the spring of 1878 the village fire department was organ- ized, comprising the William E. Gilbert Hose Company (organized in 1873) and the John McGowan Hose Company. When the village ceased using the West Troy water, as stated, a steam fire engine was purchased and a company organized under the name of Gilbert Steamer Company No. I. For the use of this engine several cisterns were con- structed at convenient points, and docks and piers were built on the river bank upon which the engine could be placed and take its supply from the stream.

The Troy and Cohoes Horse Railroad Company was organized in

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February, 1862, its line extending through George street in this village. Cars began running from the eastern approach to the railroad bridge to the Champlain Canal, on October 10, 1863. Like almost all other street railways this road is now equipped with electric cars and the island is thus connected with Troy, West Troy, Cohoes, and Albany.

After the opening of the first railroad and the gathering on the island of a considerable population, it became a manufacturing point of ini- portance. The great car shops of Eaton & Gilbert, citizens of Troy, were built here in 1853, for many years, and until recently, employing a large number of hands. The works have been in the hands of a receiver for some time past.

The Torrance Iron Company, George L. French, president ; C. A. McLeod, vice-president, and N. H. Squires, secretary and treasurer, is successor to the Green Island Malleable Iron Works, founded in 1852 by William Torrance. In the company later were associated John O. Merriam, J. W. Lawrence, and William M. Torrance. Malleable and grey iron castings of all kinds are made.

The Franklin Iron Works were established in 1865 by Thomas S. Sutherland, who successfully carried on the business and later took his son into partnership. About 120 hands are employed in the manufacture of almost everything in which boiler plate and sheet iron is used.

The Pinkerton Iron Works were established by Robert Pinkerton in 1879, for the manufacture of steam boilers, bleachers, tanks, etc. The company is now composed of Robert Pinkerton and Abram Mull.

The manufacture of blinds and doors was established on a large scale by Crampton & Belden in 1867, and still continues, employing upwards of 200 hands.

The Trojan Car Coupler Company was organized in 1891, with a capital of $300,000. Howard H. Burden, president ; Palmer C. Rick- etts, vice-president ; Alfred H. Renshaw, treasurer and general man- ager ; Eugene Seitz, secretary. The company is successfully engaged in the manufacture of a patent car coupler.

The Methodist Episcopal church of Green Island was organized in 1853, meetings being held for some time in the school house. The

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present church edifice was completed in the spring of 1854. The first pastor was Rev. J. L. Cook, and the first class leaders were Hinkley Davis and Joshua Coleburn. The parsonage was built in 1863. In 1875 the church was enlarged by increasing its length at the front. The society still leads a prosperous existence.

The First Presbyterian church was organized April 18, 1853, follow- ing the adoption of resolutions by the session of the Troy Presbyterian church recommending such action. The site on the west side of Hud- son avenue was purchased and a small wooden church erected, which was dedicated February 28, 1854. The society was organized on the same day with seventeen members, and James Remington, George Beach and Stephen Viele were elected elders. On March 16 following James Torrance, William F. Adams, William H. Lansing, Fred Kean, and Joseph D. Hardin were chosen trustees. The old church was used until 1866, when it was removed and the present church edifice erected.

St. Joseph's Catholic church was organized in 1869, and a house of worship was erected at a cost of $5,000. A little later the parsonage and grounds were provided at a further cost of $9,000. The first priest in charge was Rev. J. McManemy, who was succeeded by Rev. Thomas Connelly. Within the past five years a new church has been erected at a cost of about $40,000.

St. Mark's Episcopal church was formed in November, 1865, chiefly through the efforts of Rev. Edgar T. Chapman, then assistant rector of St. Paul's church, Troy, who became rector of St. Mark's as soon as organization was perfected. The erection of a church was at once be- yun on the east side of Hudson avenue, the cost of the church and chapel being $17,000. In 1880 the chapel was enlarged and in 1884 a rectory was built for the society by Uri Gilbert at a cost of $6,000.

When the town of Colonie was erected June 7, 1895, as before de- cribed, Green Island and West Troy were left in existence as the town of Watervliet. This was a condition of affairs that could not long con- inue. The inhabitants of Green Island, with their own village govern- nent to support, and with a limited area, felt that they were unjustly ourdened with taxation for the benefit of those living in West Troy. 55

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This led to the passage of an act of the Legislature, under date of May 21, 1896, creating the town of Green Island, embracing in its limits the whole island, and leaving the former village corporation in existence An election was held on June 9, 1895, and the following town officers chosen :

Supervisor, Carroll Coon ; clerk, William F. Miller; assessors, William J. Morris: John Rouhow, Edward Heffern ; overseer of the poor, E. J. Gilbert ; collector, Georg, W. Wilcox; justices of the peace, John Conway, four years, Luther G. Philo, the years, John P. Hayner, two years, William C. Harter, one year.

COHOES. 1

Many years before the turbulent waters of the Cohoes falls turned a wheel, the locality finds historical mention. Rev. Johannes Megapo- lensis, who settled in Albany in 1642, wrote as follows to his friends in Holland :

Through this land runs an excellent river, about five hundred or six hundred paces wide. This river comes out of the Mahakas country about four miles north of us. There it flows between two high rocky banks, and falls, from a height equal to that of a church, with such a noise that we can sometimes hear it with us.

A little later, in 1656, Adrian Van Der Donck was here, and the account of his visit thus alludes to these falls :

The other arm of the North river runs by four sprouts, as we have related, to tie great falls of the Magnas Kill (Mohawk river), which the Indians name the Chahoos, and our nation the Great Falls, above which the river is again several hundred yards wide, and the falls we estimate to be one hundred and fifty or two hundred fee: high. The precipice of firm blue rock. The Indians, when they travel by water and come to trade, usually come in canoes made of the bark of trees, which they know how to construct. When they come near the falls, they land, and carry their boats and lading some distance below the falls, and proceed on their voyage. otherwise they would proceed over the falls and be destroyed.

The Irish poet, Thomas Moore, visited this spot in 1804, and followed his usual course by celebrating the event in a poem. It closes as follows :

Oh, may my falls be bright as thine ! May heaven's forgiving rainbow shine Upon the mist that circles me, As soft as now it hangs o'er thee!

1 This name has been spelled in various ways, such as Chahoos, Cahoos, Cahhoos, Kahoos, Chohos, Cohoez, and Cohos. It is an Indian name of unknown significance, and speculation upon its real meaning is useless.

JAMES B. MCKEE.

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The territory now covered by the city of Cohoes formed part of the Van Rensselaer Manor and part of the lands belonging to Mrs. Illetie Van Slyck Van Olinde, a half-breed, and wife of Pieter Danielse Van Olinde. Her land was given to her by the Mohawks in 1667, the southern line of her possession being the Manor avenue road of the pres- ent time, which extends west from the falls to the Boght.1 To the south of this road were the lands of the Patroon. It will be seen that most of the original village was on the Van Rensselaer land. On the north side of the Mohawk was the Halve Maan (Half Moon) patent. The islands at the mouth of the Mohawk came early into possession of Capt. Goosen Gerritse Van Schaick, who died in 1676. Subsequent occupants of that part of the present city were Guert Hendrickse Van Schoonhoven, Harmon Lieverse, and Roeloff Gerritse Van Der Werken. Beginning at the north line of the Van Rensselaer Manor (Manor avenue), the colonists under the Patroon were the Heamstreet, Onder- kirk, Lansing, Fonda, and Clute families, some of whom have already been alluded to. The Patroon prudently reserved from settlement a strip of land below the falls on the west side of the river, which subse- quently became of great value as a site for factories.

A part of the Van Olinde estate, north of Manor avenue, has been sold in city lots, a considerable part passed into the possession of James Morrison in recent years, and part went into the estate of the late Isaac D. F. Lansing. In the deed of the lands next north of Manor avenue from Daniel Van Olinde, who was next in succession to the original owner, to Walran Clute, there was granted a privilege to build one or more saw mills and " a grind mill." This was the inception of the great manufacturing interests of Cohoes.

As a village Cohoes was of little importance until after 1830. In that year it contained only about twenty houses. In 1740 the Lansing family owned a saw mill near the site of the Cohoes Company's dam. A grist mill was built just south of the saw mill at a later date and the two were operated for some years by Gerret Clute and Rutger Lansing as partners. A grist mill was at an early period erected on the Clute farm, a short distance above the falls. Another grist mill, subsequently trans- formed into a carding mill, was situated on the Heamstreet farm, opposite

1 Boght is the Dutch for " bend," referring here to the bend in the Mohawk River.

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Simmons Island. In 1811 the Cohoes Manufacturing Company pu chased sixty acres of land extending from the bridge south to a poi below the site of the Episcopal church and between Mohawk stre and the river. A wing dam was built to supply water power and screw factory was established. Most of the employees came from Ne York, and several tenements were built for them. Regarding the early operations Spafford's Gazetteer of this State has the following :

About three miles north of Gibbonsville [West Troy] there is a bridge across : Mohawk, a short distance below the Cohoes falls. Since the above was written. manufactory of screws of iron for wood work, erected on the lower sprout of t Mohawk near the Cohoes bridge, has got into successful operation. Works : about to be added for drawing the wire from which the screws are formed, when : iron will be taken in the bar and manufactured into screws, now made of forei wire. The machinery is all driven by water, and is said to be very ingenious, t invention of a self-taught artist, Mr. William C. Penniman. Some samples of : screws which I have seen appear to be well formed, and they are cut with great patch. These works are owned by an incorporated company with a sufficient Ca tal, and are situated directly opposite Lansingburgh, and about ten miles bei Waterford.

This screw factory was burned in 1827, the corporation failed in 182 and the property passed to the Cohoes Company by sale. While tl screw factory was in operation the manufacture of writing paper w begun here in Gerret Clute's mill. That building had previously be used as a grist mill and afterwards for the manufacture of flannel. T proprietor of the paper mill was Elisha Sheldon. A small cotton fa tory was also established previous to the organization of the Cohc. Company, by the De Milt Brothers, of New York; they also ma shovels and other implements, the establishment being managed Collins & Jones.

The real prosperity of Cohoes began with the existence of the Coho Company, described a little further on, and was greatly enhanced the organization of the Harmony Manufacturing Company in 18 .. So rapid was the growth of the place between that year and 1848. tlt in the latter year measures were adopted for incorporation. At a pu. lic meeting a resolution was adopted favoring such action, and a co · mittee of five was appointed to carry out the plans. The commit ? was composed of Egbert Egberts, William N. Chadwick, John Vì Santvoord, Jeremiah Clute, and Henry D. Fuller. Charles A. Olmst 1

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was afterwards added to the committee. The vote of the electors for and against the measure resulted in 346 in favor of incorporation and 26 against. The first election was held June 12, 1848, and the follow- ing officers elected :

Trustees, Alfred Phelps Joshua R. Clarke, George Abbott, Henry D. Fuller, William Burton, 1 Joshua R. Clarke being chosen president of the board; asses- sors, Henry En Earl, John P. Steenberg, William H. Hollister; treasurer, Charles A. Olmsted; collector, John B. Harrison ; clerk, John Van Santvoord ; pound- master, Isaac F. Fletcher; fire wardens, Jacob Upham, Henry Van Auken, John McGill, William Osterhout, and Abram Ostrom.

The successive presidents of the village were Henry D. Fuller, William F. Carter. N. W. En Earl, William N. Chadwick, Henry L. Landon, Sidney Alden, George H. Wager, Murray Hubbard, Augustus Ellmaker.

At this time the population of the village was about 4,000 and there were evidences of future growth on every hand. The post office was established in 1832. Schools were in successful operation, the first one in this locality having been opened at the Boght in 1813; while the first in the city limits was opened later on the corner of Oneida and Mohawk streets and taught by one O'Neil. A second was soon built on the site of the school afterwards known as the slate-yard school house. In 1828 a new school was located in a building in which a boarding house had been kept, on Oneida street, near the site of the old freight house. The next one was a brick building built in 1847 on the corner of Canvass and Oneida streets.

A fire department had been established through the purchase of a hand engine by subscription in 1835, which was named Excelsior No. I. A larger hand engine was bought of the Albany department in 1847, and in 1848, the year of incorporation, the village purchased a good hand engine, hose cart and hose at a cost of $675. Two fire companies were formed named respectively Parmelee Engine Company and Cat- aract Engine Company, and Luke Bemis was made chief engineer. The first engine house was also built in 1848, and has been occupied in recent years by the Campbell Hose Company. Mohawk Engine Com-

1 William Burton was born in Schenectady March 29, 1809, learned the carpenter's trade, and after various occupations, settled in Cohoes in 1840, when its population was only about 1,800. He became conspicuous in public affairs as well as in business circles and did much for the develop- ment of the village and city. He joined John M. Tremain in the manufacture of veneers and afterwards carried on the business alone. He held various local offices and was prominently con- nected with the banks and other institutions.

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pany was formed in 1851, and occupied an engine house just south of the Miller house.

Other public improvements followed rapidly, while business enter- prise especially in the direction of manufactures, here found a remark- ably profitable field. By 1860 the population had reached a little more than 6,000, and city incorporation began to be discussed. Finally or the 15th of April, 1869, an act of incorporation passed the Assembly and on May 19 became a law. The first election under the city charter was held April 12, 1870, resulting in the election of Charles H Adams, mayor, and the following aldermen : David J. Johnston, Egber: Lansing, George Campbell, Moses S. Younglove, Bartholomew Mulcahy Walter Witbeck, Charles F. North, and Charles Hay. School commis sioners chosen were Frank Reavey, Daniel Simpson, William Burton E. N. Page, A. M. Harmon, Jonathan Hiller, William Travis, Willian S. Crane. The new administration appointed the following officials :

Superintendent of streets, Norris North; Chamberlain, Leonard Cary; exci- commissioners, Henry D. Fuller, Edwin Hitchcock, George H. Wager; water com missioners, Henry Brockway, John Clute, Abial M. Harmon; city physician, C. E Witbeck, M. D .; superintendent of cemetery, D. F. Manning; pound master, Alex ander Brown; sealer of weights and measures, Charles Egan ; fire wardens, Willian Clough, William Doty, E. S. Gregory, Richard Shannon.

The following have held the office of mayor: Charles H. Adams, 1870; David J Johnston, 1872; Henry S. Bogue, 1874; David J. Johnston, 1876; William E. Thorn 1878, 1880; Alfred Le Roy, 1882, 1884; Mr. Le Roy died while in office and Charle F. Doyle filled the unexpired term; John Garside, 1886-92; Henry A. Strong. t. 1896, and James H. Mitchell, elected and present incumbent.

With the inauguration of the city government and the founding o many great industries, progress was rapid. Educational advantage were increased through the election under the act of 1850 of the follow ing school trustees : S. H. Foster, Jacob Travis, William Burton George W. Miller, Abram Lansing, and William Binns. Besides th early schools already mentioned, there was one kept for a time in th basement of the Reformed church, and in 1855 there was a school o the East Harmony, one on the West Harmony, and one on Columbi street ; large school buildings have since been erected in these locali ties. The White school house was built in 1870, and in 1873 the Pleas ure Ground school house, corner of Bowery and Elm streets wa erected. The Lincoln avenue school house was built in 1875 and th

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one on Van Schaick's Island was built in 1882; this building was enlarged in 1893-94, and in 1895 a new building was erected on the island. In this year also a new school house was erected on Gainer street.

The Egberts High School was founded through the munificence of Egbert Egberts, by a trust placed in control of the Protestant pastors of the city. He presented them a large building on White street which had been used for a boarding house and also gave them the first and second tenement houses on Remsen street north of Egberts Hall, the rent from which was to be devoted to supporting the school. The in- stitution was named the Egberts Institute. The income proving in- sufficient, the trustees rented the Institute to the Board of Education in August, 1868, the board agreeing to maintain a school of the same grade as the Institute, and being given the privilege of using the lower stories of the building for young scholars. Thus was established what became the Egberts High School and which has ever since been conducted upon a high plane. In 1893-4 the school was remodeled and enlarged, physical and chemical laboratories were added and the courses of study improved. The teachers of the former Institute were Rev. Alexander B. Bullions, 1864-5 ; Charles P. Evans, 1865-6; Rev. A. J. Bingham, 1866-8. The principals of the High School have been W. H Nellis, Robert Hardie, E. H. Torrey, Oliver P. Steves, A. J. Robb, George E. Dixon, and George M. Strout. The chairmen of the Board of Education have been Truman G. Younglove, elected in 1856 and re-elected in 1858; George H. Wager, James H. Masten, Samuel H. Foster, Murray Hubbard, Isaac Hiller, Murray Hubbard again, William Stanton, Henry Aird, and Harry G Calkins.

Night schools are maintained by the Board of Education and are largely attended by those scholars who must labor through the day. A kindergarten was established a few years since and the attendance has been most encouraging.

In extending the fire department to meet the wants of the growing city, the first steam fire engine was purchased in 1867 and presented to the authorities by Charles H. Adams. A company was formed to take charge of it and an engine house was built on Oneida street east of Canvass. In the same year the Harmony Company purchased a

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steamer which is now known as Johnston Steamer Co. No. 2. John McCreary Steamer No. 3 was the latest organized. Since the final completion of the water works and the placing of numerous hydrants throughout the city, the necessity for fire engines has greatly diminished. What was formerly the George H. Wager Hook and Ladder Company is now the J. H. Mitchell Company ; it was originally formed in 1865. The Edwin Hitchcock Hose Company, formed in 1869, is now the J. D. Leversee Company No. 1 ; the former Eagle Hose Company No. 3 is still in existence as No. 2, while the Cascade Hose Company No. 3.

is located on the island. There have been many minor changes in the different companies, which cannot be followed here. Since 1879 the fire department has been controlled by a board of fire commis- sioners.

The Cohoes Water Works Company was incorporated in 1855, with the following commissioners: Charles M. Jenkins, Hugh White, Alfred Wild, Egbert Egberts, James Brown, Joshua Bailey, William N. Chadwick, William Burton, Henry D. Fuller, Andrew D. Lansing, Jenks Brown, and Truman G. Younglove. The capital stock was $50.000. Nothing was accomplished under this incorporation, and in the follow- ing year an act was passed, "to provide for a supply of water in the village of Cohoes." The commissioners named were Alfred Wild, Charles H. Adams, Henry D. Fuller, William F. Carter, Joshua Bailey. and Truman G. Younglove. The village was empowered to issue bonds to the amount of $60,000. A reservoir was constructed on Prospect Hill with capacity of 3,000,000 gallons, into which water was pumped from the Cohoes Company's Canal No. I. Five miles of sheet iron and cement pipe were laid in the streets. This supply sufficed until 1869, when an enlargement of the system was made by building a new reser- voir with a capacity of 8,000,000 gallons. This reservoir is 190 feet above the central part of the city, giving ample pressure. New pumps were provided and the pipe system extended. In 1883, 8,000 feet of iron pipe was laid in Mohawk, Remsen, and Main streets, and new and more powerful pumps were placed in the pump house, the cost of these and the other improvements then made being $60,000. The works are under control of a board of water commissioners.

In July, 1865, the Capital Police Law, before referred to, went into

FRANK BROWN.

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effect, creating two police districts called the Albany and the Troy dis- tricts. Cohoes was included in the latter district. Previous to that time the peace of the village had been maintained by constables. Under the new arrangement a station house was established in Hayward's building and William Buchanan and John McDermott were chosen the first sergeants. On the 6th of May, 1870, a law was passed providing for a separate police force for the city. A larger force was appointed and has since been controlled by a chief and a board of police commis- sioners.

On February 21, 1894, an act passed the Legislature providing for the erection of a new city hall in Cohoes. Under this act the mayor was authorized to appoint six persons as a board of commissioners, with power to purchase a site and build and furnish a city hall, in which should be located all the public offices, a station house and jail. The bonds of the city were to be issued to the amount of $100,000, payable within forty years, beginning fifteen years from date of issue ; not less than $4,000 to be paid annually on the principal after 1909. The commissioners appointed were B. F. Clarke, George Campbell, James H. Mitchell, H. C. Fruchting, Murray Hubbard, and Hugh Graham. The board organized May 1, 1894, H. C. Fruchting being elected chairman. A site was purchased in September of the Suarez estate, for which $24,700 was paid. Contracts were let to different persons for parts of the structure, aggregating $63,744.54, and the work was promptly begun. The building was finished in 1896, and is an honor to the city.

The extensive manufacturing establishments of Cohoes are due largely to the splendid water power and to the Cohoes Company for their great work in making the power available. This association was incorporated as a hydraulic manufacturing company March 28, 1826. The original capital was $250,000, and the trustees were Peter Remsen, Charles E. Dudley, Stephen Van Rensselaer, jr., Francis Olm- stead, Canvass White, Henry J. Wyckoff, and David Wilkinson. It is probable that Mr. White was the originator of the idea of forming this company ; he had served as engineer in the construction of the Erie Canal and must have appreciated the value of the falls for manufactur- ing purposes. He was chosen the first president of the company ; Mr. 56

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Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 45

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