Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 7

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

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while the former methods of gaining Indian friendship and trade soon came into practice. The Iroquois could not be deterred from encroach- ments upon their old enemies, to which they were doubtless incited to some extent by the English. The French established a trading post at Niagara in 1720, against the protestations of Governor Burnet of New York. In retaliation he established one at Irondequoit Bay in the next year. In the mean time the New York legislature passed a law forbidding colonists from supplying the French with Indian goods. In retaliation the French incited their allies to the northward to drive the English traders from their country. "Since the close of October, 1723," wrote De Vaudreuil in November, 1724, " the Abenakis did not cease harassing the English with a view to force them to quit their country." 1

In 1726 the English took an important step in the building of a for- tified post at Oswego, thus establishing their hold upon a point that was to become of the highest importance during all the succeeding years until the American colonies gained their freedom. On the 9th of May, 1726, Governor Burnet wrote the Board of Trade:

I have this spring sent up workmen to build a stone house of strength at a place called Oswego, at the mouth of the Onondage river where our principal trade with the far Nations is carried on. I have obtained the consent of the Six Nations to build it.

The governor learned that a party of French was going up to Niag- ara, and he feared they might interfere with the work at Oswego. He therefore sent "a detachment of sixty souldiers with a Captain and two Lieutenants, to protect the building."

The French did not love Governor Burnet nor look kindly upon his operations at Oswego. The fact is they were forestalled in what they undoubtedly intended to do themselves. In 1727 the Marquis de Beau- harnois (then governor-general of Canada) wrote Burnet, strongly condemning him for building the works at Oswego: said he, "I look upon that measure as a manifest infraction of the treaty of Utrecht." Louis XV wrote Beauharnois that he "must always have in view the expulsion of the English from their fort on the river Choueguen " (the French name of Oswego).

In spite of all these hostile operations, disregard of treaty obligations, petty encroachments, and antagonistic measures, the two countries re- mained nominally at peace until 1744. A quarrel arose between King

1 Col. Doc., vol. IX, p. 936.

---

George II of England and the French king, respecting the claims of Maria Theresa to the Austrian throne. The foreign entanglement, although not of the slightest interest to the colonists on this side of the water, involved them in the war that followed, which was known as King George's war, the declaration of which was made March 15, 1744, by France. Three months later the news reached Albany and again the inhabitants were excited and filled with anxious fore- bodings. Governor Clinton visited the place and held a successful conference with the chiefs of the Six Nations, cementing their friend- ship for the English and cautioning them against the wiles of the French. He sent to Albany six 18-pounder cannon with a supply of ammunition and other military stores. While the governor was mak- ing preparations for an attack upon Crown Point, the French and In- dians descended upon old Saratoga (now Schuylerville), burning the fort and twenty houses, killing about thirty persons and carrying away eighty prisoners. Excitement ran high in Albany. Refugees came in large numbers and soldiers were quartered in the place. Two com- panies of His Majesty's fusileers were sent to Albany and the Indians were kept in readiness for an expected attack. Through the influ- ence of Sir William Johnson the Mohawks in August, 1746, agreed to take up again the hatchet against the French. Later in that year Gov- ernor Clinton sent five additional companies of soldiers to Albany, while Massachusetts and New York made active war preparations, col- lecting troops and munitions at Albany. The campaign continued in 1747; troops were sent from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other prov- inces, with Albany as a center of operations. The later events of this war are not of paramount interest for these pages. Albany suffered little from the strife; indeed the traders there had made considerable profit during its progress. The war was concluded October 18, 1748, by the treaty of Aix la-Chapelle.

It would seem to have been a part of the plan of the Almighty that this country should not pass under French dominion, but should be preserved for the descendants of the Pilgrims and the English immi- grants who came after them. After a few years of peace the war that was to settle finally this matter was begun under a declaration from England made May 17, 1756, which was followed by a similar one from France on the 9th of the following month. From the date of the cap- ture of Louisburg in 1745 the French had extended and strengthened their domain, and the treaty of 1748 found them with a population of

about 100,000, and with a line of posts from Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico. They soon became aggressive. Trade interests were con- stantly clashing, and the stake as a whole was a magnificent one for the conqueror. Uncertainty as to the fealty and action of the Indians also continued an unceasing cause of anxiety and jealousy. The French determined to hold control of the Ohio River region, and when the English attempted to build a fort at the forks of that stream, the French seized the place and finished the fort -- Fort Duquesne.

The details of this war belong to and are found in general history, rendering it unnecessary, as it is impracticable, to follow them fully in this work; but their relation to Albany county may be briefly de- scribed.

On the 28th of August, 1754, a body of Indian allies of the French invaded this province, burned the buildings of some Hoosick settlers and took back as prisoners to Canada about sixty of the Schaghticoke Indians. Lieutenant Governor De Lancey now ordered the fort at Albany to be fully repaired; he sent a company of soldiery to the fort from New York and ordered that two hundred men from each regi- ment of militia near Albany should be in readiness to march to the city at short notice.

At a meeting of the Common Council held May 29, 1753, the follow- ing petition was sent to Governor De Lancey :

That the City of Albany is a frontier town, and the defense thereof is of great consequence to the safety of the whole province in case of War with the French ; that the city is altogether undefensable, exposed to the incursions of any enemy, and the corporation, by reason of the heavy debt they are under, occasioned by the great expense we were at during the late war, and no wise able to fortify the city unless assisted by a provincial Tax; and whereas, your Excellencies have prepared a petition to be laid before the General Assembly, praying they would be pleased to lay a tax of £6,000 on estates throughout this province to defray the expense of building a wall with bastions or batteries at convenient distances, for the defence of said city and security of the province.

The document closes with a prayer that

His Excellency will recommend to the General Assembly, in the most pressing terms that you think proper, to raise the sum to £6,000 for defraying the expense of said Wall.

Similar application was made by the Common Council for better pro- tection in May, 1756. During all of this war period (about nine years) many troops were quartered in and near Albany. In 1756 an ordinance was adopted by the Common Council forbidding all tavern keepers and

all other persons from selling liquor to any of His Majesty's troops or harboring any of them after 9 o'clock P. M. At that time there was a regiment encamped on the hill about on the site of the old Capitol. When General Abercrombie was here in 1756 it is believed that 10,000 troops were encamped near by on both banks of the river. The dusky Indians mingled with the gaily-uniformed soldiers, martial music re- sounded on all sides, and flags floated over the scene. Business was active, especially in furnishing supplies of every kind to the army.

The principal events of this war were: The abortive effort to capture Fort Niagara and Crown Point in 1755 by Governor Shirley and Sir William Johnson respectively; the attempts made against Fort Du- quesne, a second against Crown Point and Ticonderoga, and a third against Niagara in 1756, all of which were comparative failures; the capture of Oswego by Montcalm in that year; the capture of Fort William Henry on Lake George by Montcalm in 1757; the campaigns of 1758, involving successes by the English at Louisburg, Fort Du- quesne and Fort Frontenac, the reoccupation of Oswego, and the de- feat of the English under Abercrombie at Ticonderoga by Montcalm; the capture of Niagara in 1759 by the English, the fall of Quebec in September of that year, and the final surrender of Montreal and all other French posts in 1760, ending French power in America forever.

During this war Albany was a center of military activity. The ex- peditions of 1755 and 1756 started from there and included Albany soldiers, among whom was the brave Schuyler. During the winter of 1755-6 the preparations for an expedition against Niagara in the fol- lowing spring went forward at Albany. There General Winslow made his rendezvous with 7,000 men, waiting the dilatory steps of Lord Loudon, then commander of the English forces. The delay gave the gallant Montcalm opportunity to capture the forts at Oswego, which he held until 1757. At Albany also were gathered the troops for the ex- pedition against Crown Point under Sir William Johnson in 1755. This expedition abounded in brilliant and stirring events, including the death of Dieskau, the French commander. Johnson was a man of ardent temperament, energetic and active, and when he was delayed by various causes he complained bitterly of the people at Albany. Under date of September 6 he wrote:

Our expedition is likely to be extremely distressed and, I fear, fatally retarded for the want of wagons. The people of Albany county and the adjacent counties hide their wagons and drive away their horses. Most of the wagoners taken into the

service have deserted; some horses are quite jaded and some few killed by the enemy, and several run away. Most of our provisions are at Albany.

And again he wrote: "Those people are so devoted to their own private Profit that every other public Principle has ever been sacrificed to it." 1

On account of the many discouraging circumstances Johnson re- turned to Albany for that winter, after having built Fort William Henry and garrisoned it with six hundred men.

The advance of Montcalm upon Fort William Henry in 1757 caused much alarm and excitement in Albany. Oswego had fallen, an event which Johnson characterized as "a mortal wound." Montcalm had already shown his military genius and his tireless energy, and his ap- proach upon any point justified alarm. The slaughter of the garrison of Fort William Henry after its capture, by the Indians under Mont- calm, which the French general has in vain attempted to justify, added to the anxious forebodings of the inhabitants of Albany and its vicinity. Frontier settlers came to the city in great numbers.

In Col. John Bradstreet's memorable expedition against Fort Fronte- nac in the summer of 1758, soldiers from Albany county participated. Among the officers were Captains Peter Yates and Goosen Van Schaick of Albany, the latter becoming in later years a colonel in the Revolu- tionary army. Bradstreet captured the fort, thus rendering easier the seizure of Fort Duquesne and hastening the end. These events raised a cry for peace throughout Canada, the resources of which coun- try were nearly exhausted. "I am not discouraged," wrote the brave Montcalm, in evident disappointment, "nor my troops. We are re- solved to find our graves under the ruins of the colony." He foresaw the end.

In the early summer of 1758 Abercrombie's army was encamped on the flatlands at the south of Albany, preparing for its expedition to Ticonderoga, where it met a crushing defeat at the hands of Montcalm's troops, who were inspired by the gallantry of their leader. In Aber- crombie's army also were many Albany soldiers, who shared in the general mourning for the death of the brave and genial Lord Howe on that field, and whose body was buried first in Schuyler's family tomb and later under St. Peter's church. In the months of May and June, 1759, Lord Jeffrey Amherst, a brave and efficient English officer, ap.

1 For all of Johnson's papers, see Doc. Hist., vol. II, p. 545-1009.

pointed commander-in chief in September, 1758, was at Albany with the army, preparing for the movements upon Crown Point and Ticon- deroga, and the other important events that closed the long struggle.

CHAPTER VIII.

From the fall of Montreal to the beginning of the Revolution peace reigned in the territory of Albany county. Again the fur trade became an absorbing interest. In the spring of 1766 Sir William Johnson was ap- pointed Trade Commissary, an office which gave him general supervi- sion of barter with the Indians, and from that time forward for nearly ten years he wielded almost autocratic power over the Iroquois and lived in a lordly way in the Mohawk Valley. Johnson's policy was to con- centrate trade at the important points, Albany, Oswego, Niagara, Fort Pitt and Detroit, where he appointed commissioners of trade. He in- troduced regulations prohibiting traders from going out among the Indians, the salutary effects of which were at once apparent. As a means of further continuing peaceful relations between the English and the Indians, a meeting was held September 19, 1768, at Fort Stan- wix (now Rome), whither Sir William, his three duputies (Guy John- son, Daniel Claus and George Croghan) and Governor Franklin of New Jersey proceeded. Twenty bateaux of presents for the Indians were taken along. Arrived at the fort they were met by commissioners from Virginia, by Lieutenant-Governor Penn and Messrs. Wharton and Trent, representing trade interests. By October 1 about eight hun- dred Indians had assembled. The object of this council was to estab- lish a "Property Line " between the white men and the Indians. After six days of the usual ceremonies at such gatherings the line was fixed to begin at the junction of Canada Creek and Wood Creek a little west from Rome, and extend thence southward to the Susquehanna River. The whole matter was concluded November 5, 1768, and was ratified by Johnson in July, 1770.

The project of dividing Albany county was broached in the Assem- bly in the spring of 1769 by Philip Schuyler. While this measure was favored by Johnson, he earnestly objected to the proposed line of divi- sion. Said he:

Albany county is much too large, but the manner in which it is proposed to be di- vided is in many respects extremely inconvenient, and it would prove disagreeable to about all of the inhabitants. The only rational boundary. it has appeared to me, would be at the west bounds of the township of Schenectady.

Again in the spring of 1772 the subject was brought forward, and towards the close of that session a bill was passed under which all that part of Albany county west of the present east line of Montgomery county was erected into Tryon county.

An act of the Legislature passed in 1703, relating to the office and duties of supervisors, remained in force with slight changes until 1772, when, on March 24, it was amended so far as it related to Albany county, authorizing the annual election to take place on the first Tues- day in May. The same act provided for the election in this county of two overseers of the poor, two constables, two fence viewers, and one town clerk. Previous to that date the duties of clerk had been per- formed by the supervisor. After the adoption of the first Constitution the office of supervisor and the time of his election was changed by act of the Legislature (March 7, 1788), providing for holding town meetings in the several towns in the State for choice of town officers. By that act the town of Albany was authorized to elect two assessors, instead of one as in other counties,

The establishment of the Property Line, before described, did not long suffice to preserve inviolate the Indian territory. The influx of new settlers and the avarice of traders led to encroachments which soon provoked complaints.1 These prepared the way for the hostility against the colonists during the war of the Revolution which soon followed. The Indians had adopted a well-settled policy against further encroach- ment on their territory, even to resisting it by war; and the Iroquois, who had hitherto preserved uniform friendship toward the colonists, now, with the exception of the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, opposed them. Eighteen hundred of their warriors allied themselves with the British and only two hundred and twenty with the colonists. The atrocities of the former, under such leaders as Johnson, Butler, and Brant, will long be remembered throughout New York and Pennsylvania.

With the beginning of the war Albany again became a center of

1 Ata congress of the Six Nations at Johnson Hall in June and July, 1774, a Seneca orator com- plained that the white traders encroached upon their territory. followed their people to their hunting grounds with goods and liquor, when they "not only impose on us at pleasure, but by the means of carrying these articles to our scattered people, obstruct our endeavors to collect them."

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military activity. Albany county, as it then existed, organized seven- teen regiments of militia under the laws of 1775. The officers of those which belonged wholly or in part to this county were as follows:

FIRST REGIMENT, CITY OF ALBANY.

Jacob Lansing, jr., colonel; Dirck Ten Broeck, lieutenant-colonel; Henry Wen- dell, first major: Abraham Cuyler, second major; Volckert A. Douw, adjutant; Ephraim Van Veghten, quartermaster.

First Company .- John Barclay, captain; John Price, first lieutenant; Abraham I: Yates, second lieutenant; John Scott, ensign.

Second Company .- Thomas Barrett, captain; Matthew Vischer, first lieutenant ; Abraham Eights, second lieutenant; John Hoagkirk, ensign.

Third Company .- John Williams, captain; Henry Staats, first lieutenant; Barent Van Allen, second lieutenant; Henry Hogan, ensign.

Fourth Company .- John M. Beeckman, captain; Isaac De Freest, first lieutenant; Abraham Ten Eyck, second lieutenant; Teunis T. Van Veghten, ensign.

Fifth Company .- Harmanus Wendell, captain; William Hun, first lieutenant; Jacob G. Lansing, second lieutenant; Cornelius Wendell, ensign.

Sixth Company .- John N. Bleecker, captain; John James Beeckman, first lieu- tenant; Casparus Pruyn, second lieutenant; Nicholas Marselis, ensign.

THIRD REGIMENT, FIRST RENSSELAERWYCK BATTALION.

Abraham Ten Broeck, colonel; Francis Nicoll, lieutenant-colonel; Henry Quack- enbush, first major; Barent Staats, second major ; John P. Quackenbush, adjutant ; Christopher Lansing, quartermaster.

First Company .- Henry Quackenbush, captain ; Jacob J. Lansing, first lieutenant ; Levinus Winne, second lieutenant; John Van Woert, ensign.

Second Company .- Abraham D. Fonda, captain; Henry Oothoudt, jr., first lieu- tenant: Levinus T. Lansing, second lieutenant; Jacob J. Lansing, ensign.

Third Company .- Peter Schuyler, captain; Abraham Witbeck, first lieutenant; Henry Ostrom, second lieutenant; Peter S. Schuyler, ensign.

Fourth Company .- Barent Staats, captain; Dirck Becker, first lieutenant; John Van Wie, second lieutenant; George Hogan, ensign.

Fifth Company .- Gerrit G. Van der Bergh, captain; Peter Van Wie, first lieuten- ant; Wouter Becker, second lieutenant; Abraham Slingerland, ensign.

THIRD REGIMENT-New Organization.

First Company .- (See Third Company, first organization.)

Second Company .- Abraham D. Fonda, captain; Henry Oothoudt, jr., first lieu- tenant; Levinus T. Lansing, second lieutenant; Jacob J. Lansing, ensign.

Third Company (at first Fifth Company, Fourth Regiment). - Jacob Ball, captain ; John Warner, first lieutenant; Peter Dietz, second lieutenant; Joshua Shaw, ensign. Fourth Company .- Jacob J. Lansing, captain ; Levinus Winne, first lieutenant; John Van Woert, second lieutenant; Peter Dox, ensign.

Fifth Company (at first organized as Fourth Company, Fourth Regiment) .- Jacob 9

Van Aernam, captain; John Groot, first lieutenant; George Wagoner, second lieu- tenant; Frederick Crantz (Crounse?), ensign.

Sixth Company .- Abraham Veeder, captain; James Burnside, first lieutenant; John Voorhuyse (Voorhees?), second lieutenant; Andries Ten Eyck, ensign.

FOURTH REGIMENT, SECOND RENSSELAERWYCK BATTALION.

Killian Van Rensselaer. colonel; John H. Beeckman, lieutenant-colonel; Cor- nelius Van Buren, first major; Jacob C. Schermerhorn, second major; Jacobus Van der Pool, adjutant; John A. Lansing, quartermaster.

· First Company (First Company, Fifth Regiment, new organization) .- Conrad Ten Eyck, captain; Peter Witbeck, first lieutenant; Albert H. Van der Zee, second lieutenant; John L. Wilbeck, ensign.

Second Company (Second Company, Fifth Regiment, new organization) .- Will- iam P. Winne, captain; John De Voe, first lieutenant ; Philip C. Look (Luke?), sec- ond lieutenant; Cornelius Van der Zee, ensign.

Third Company .-- Volckert Veeder, captain; Abraham Veeder first lieutenant; Jacob La Grange, second lieutenant; Andrew Truax, ensign.

Fourth Company. (See Fifth Company, Third Regiment, new organization.)- Jacob Van Aernam, captain ; John Groot, first lieutentant; George Wagoner, second lieutenant; Frederick Crantz (Crounse?), ensign ..

Fifth Company,-(See Third Company, Third Regiment.)

FOURTH REGIMENT (As Newly Organized, February, 1776.)

First Company .- Isaac Miller, captain; Hendrick Schaus, first lieutenant; Johan- nes Lodewick, second lieutenant; Johannes Miller, ensign.

Second Company .-- Ichabod Turner, captain; Joel Pease, first lieutenant; Jona- athan Niles, second lieutenant; Joel Curtis, ensign.

Third Company .-- Luke Schermerhorn, captain; James Magee, first lieutenant ; Reuben Knap, second lieutenant; Aaron Hammond, ensign.

Fourth Company .-- James Dennison, captain; Stephen Niles, first lieutenant; Obadiah Vaughan, second lieutenant; Oliver Bentley, ensign.

Fifth Company .- Nicholas Staats, captain; Obadiah Lansing, -first lieutenant; Philip Staats, second lieutenant; Leonard Wilcox, ensign.

Sixth Company .-- Jacobus Cole (Koole?) captain ; Anthony Bries (Brice?) first lieu- tenant; Harpent Witbeck, second lieutenant; John Van Hagen, jr., ensign.

Seventh Company .-- Abraham J. Van Valkenburgh, captain; Daniel Schermer- horn, first lieutenant; John J. Van Valkenburgh, second lieutenant; Martin Van Buren, ensign.

FIFTH REGIMENT, THIRD RENSSELAERWYCK BATTALION.

Stephen Schuyler, colonel; Gerrit G. Van der Bergh, lieutenant; Peter P. Schuyler, first major; Volckert Veeder, second major; Maas Van Vranken, adjutant; Francis Marshall, quartermaster.

First Company .-- Cornelius Van Buren, captain ; Nicholas Staats, first lieutenant ; Obadiah Lansing, second lieutenant; Philip Staats, ensign.

Second Company, John H. Beeckman, captain; Jacob C. Schermerhorn, first lieu-

tenant; Abraham I. Van Valkenburgh, second lieutenant; Jacobus Vanderpoel, ensign.

Third Company .-- Volckert Van Veghten, captain; Gerrit T. Van den Bergh, first lieutenant; John Amory, second lieutenant; Jacob Van Schaick, ensign.

Fourth Company .-- (See First Company, Fourth Regiment.)

First Company .- Philip De Freest, captain ; Ryneer Van Alstyne, first lieutenant ; Peter Sharp, second lieutenant; David De Forest, ensign.

Sixth Company (1st Company of Sixth Regiment, new organization.)- John J. Fonda, captain ; John P. Fonda first lieutenant; George Berger, second lieutenant; George Sharp, ensign.

SIXTH REGIMENT, FOURTH RENSSELAERWYCK BATTALION.

Stephen J. Schuyler, colonel; Henry K. Van Rensselaer, lieutenant-colonel; Philip De Freest, first major; John Fonda, second major; Volckert Oothoudt, adjutant; Jacob Van Alstyne, quartermaster.

First Company .-- Henry H. Gardinier, captain; Jacob Van der Heyden, first lieu- tenant; Adam Beam, second lieutenant; Henry Tinker, ensign.

Second Company .-- Cornelius Lansing, captain; Lodewyck Snider, first lieuten- ant; Andries Stool, second lieutenant; Jacob Weiger, ensign.

Third Company .-- (See Third Company, Fourth Regiment.)

Fourth Company .-- (See Second Company, this Regiment, and Fourth Regiment.) Fifth Company .- Caleb Bentley, captain; Samuel Shaw, first lieutenant; David Huestes, second lieutenant; Thomas Crandall, ensign.

Sixth Company .- (See Fourth Company, Fourth Regiment.)

SIXTH REGIMENT (New organization.)

First Company .- (See Sixth Company, Fifth Regiment.)

Second Company .- (See First Company, Sixth Regiment.)

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Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 7

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