USA > New York > Rensselaer County > Landmarks of Rensselaer county, New York, pt 1 > Part 31
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TROY AS A CITY. 281
nell. The plan was then presented to the government for considera- tion, but the authorities at the navy department ridiculed the idea that the unique vessel whose designs they had seen could be utilized to ad- vantage in war. Not disappointed Mr. Bushnell consulted Mr. Gris- wold and Mr. Winslow by telegraph, with the result that the Troy gentlemen left for Washington September 3, 1861, with the determina- tion to use all the influence at their command to further the plans of Captain Eriesson and Mr. Bushnell. After a study of the plans both the Troy gentlemen were convinced of the practicability of the pro- posed vessel and agreed to go before the naval board and endeavor to persuade that body to recommend making a contraet for the construe- tion of at least one. Commodore Smith, after an interview, discour- aged the project, but they immediately visited President Lincoln. The latter agreed to look into the matter and the next day he attended a meeting of the board at the office of Commodore Smith, in conjunction with Mr. Griswold, Mr. Winslow and several officers of the Navy De- partment. At this meeting Mr. Winslow deseribed the novel manner in which the proposed vessel would operate, but even then few of those present appeared to look upon the project as practicable. Mr. Lincoln thought differently, however, and the next day Commodore Smith, much to the delight of Mr. Winslow, informed the latter that the naval board would recommend the construction of a battery according to Captain Ericsson's plans, provided the contractors should assume all the risk of the experiment. This was all that the Troy men desired, and both agreed to shoulder the responsibility, Mr. Griswold individ- ually agreeing to see that the inventor should lose nothing. In the contract with the government the three men who had thus befriended Captain Ericsson guaranteed that the vessel should be ready for sea in one hundred days from the date-October 4, 1861- and further, that should she fail as to speed or in the security or successful working of the turret and guns "with safety to the vessel and the men in the tur- ret," or in her buoyancy to float .her battery properly, they would re- fund to the government the amount of money advaneed to carry on the work of construction.
Contracts were at once made with Corning, Winslow & Co., of Troy, and the Rensselaer Iron Works, of which Mr. Griswold was one of the principal proprietors, for all the armor, bars and rivets to be used in the construction of the strange eraft, and the work was begun at onee and pushed with all possible speed. The result was that the Monitor
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was launched at Greenpoint, Long Island, January 30, 1862, just 101 working days after the date of the contract. Then came the trial trip, the mounting of her guns, the journey to Hampton Roads, and finally, March 9, 1862, the famous engagement with the rebel iron-clad Merri- mac, in which the confidence of her inventor and his backers was vin- dicated beyond all question. When the news of the great victory was received in Troy there was great rejoicing, for every patriotic citizen had awaited with intense interest to hear the result of the first battle of the little vessel in the production of which so many Trojans had assisted. On the evening of Saturday, March 22, about 400 of the employés of the Albany Iron Works and the Rensselaer Iron Works, every one of whom doubtless had helped work out the metal with which the Monitor had been so well protected, celebrated the event by a torchlight procession which was witnessed by all the inhabitants of Troy. In the parade was a large transparency, on one side of which was painted a picture representing the battle between the two iron- clads, and on the other pictures of Captain Ericsson, Mr. Griswold and Mr. Winslow, with the inscription, " Honor to whom honor is due, "and the words contained in the dispatch of General John E. Wool, then in command of Fortress Monroe, to Mr. Griswold, telegraphed on the day of the engagement-"The Monitor has saved everything inside and outside the fort."
'The great fire of 1862, as it became known in later years, was one of the most disastrous blows which ever fell upon the city. During a gale of wind from the northwest, Saturday, May 10, at noon, sparks from a lo- comotive set fire to the roof of the eastern part of the old Rensselaer & Saratoga railroad bridge, and almost before an alarm could be sounded the flaming brands were flying before the wind and falling upon hun- dreds of business houses and residences in the most thickly populated portion of the city. The firemen were powerless to quench the fire on the bridge, the heat being so intense that even the boldest and hardiest fighters among them could not get near enough to do effective service. Before the bridge was destroyed the flying pieces of blazing shingles had set fire to hundreds of houses, causing the occupants to flee panic stricken, leaving everything behind. The smoke was very dense and many persons fell in the streets while trying to escape, overcome by the parched air. The scene throughout the central portion of the city was awful beyond description. After the first brief and desperate attempt to stay the fire all hope was abandoned and men and women
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fled through the streets in the wildest disorder. The path of the holo- caust widened as the flames swept on, and scores of buildings which at first were supposed to be out of danger went up like tinder. In less than an hour and a halt from the time the first blaze was discovered the element had eut a clean swath from the bridge to the corner of Seventh and Congress streets, a distance of about half a mile, the ruined district being in some places more than a quarter of a mile in width. The total area burned over exceeded seventy-five acres, and the buildings burned numbered five hundred and seven, exclusive of barns and out-houses. Several lives were lost, the fatalities including Dr. Zenas Cary, an aged physician residing at No. 29 Grand Division street; Ransom S. Haight, who was burned almost beyond recognition on Seventh street; Thomas O'Donnell, an aged blind man, burned to death in his home on Green street; and Mary Dunlop and her child, whose bodies were discovered after the fire. The fire was under control six hours from the time it started.
Among the prominent buildings burned were the Second Presbyte- rian church, on the southeast corner of Grand Division and Sixth streets; the North Baptist church, on the southeast corner of Fulton and Fifth streets; the Associate Presbyterian church, on the east side of Seventh street between State street and Broadway, and the Home Mission elose by ; the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, on the north- east corner of Sixth and State streets; the Troy Orphan Asylum, on the north side of Grand Division street west of Eighth; the Church Asylum, on the south side of Federal street between Sixth and Eighth streets; the Troy City bank, on the southeast corner of Grand Division and Fourth streets; and the depot of the Troy Union Railroad company, on the site of the present structure. The city fire department was as- sisted by engines and firemen from Albany, Lansingburgh, West Troy, Cohoes and Waterford. The actual loss to the city of Troy was in reality much greater than the figures established by the adjusters of the various insurance companies, which were as low as they could be made. According to their appraisal the total value of the property burned was $2,677,892, on which there was an aggregate insurance of $1,321, 874. The total loss on real estate was estimated to be $1,386,080, on which there was an insurance of $766, 691; and the loss on the personal prop- erty was reckoned at $1,291,812, on which there was an insurance of $555, 183. Before the end of the month the people of Troy and other places raised about $50,000 for the relief of the sufferers, which amount
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was still further increased by later donations. Two months after the fire nearly 200 new buildings had been erected or partially so, and within six months handsome new buildings stood upon every lot except two that had been visited by the conflagration.
On account of the scarcity of practical currency which was so com- mon during the years of the war, the common Council of Troy, follow- ing the example of other cities, September 18, 1862, authorized the issue of notes of small denominational value to the amount of $25,000. Upon their face was an engraving of the Rensselaer county court- house. The notes were dated October 1, 1862, and were made payable at the office of the city chamberlain when presented in sums of five dollars. They were accepted in all quarters as cash. April 1, 1864, there was another issue of the notes of the same class, to the value of $104,071.20.
July 25, 1862, the city was practically at the merey of a mob who op- posed the drafting of men for the army, which had been ordered a few days before. The Troy Times had been outspoken in its advocacy of the measure, and this paper was made the especial target for the attack of the small army of disgruntled citizens, the majority of whom were rep- resentatives of the least respectable class in the population. of the city. On the evening of July 14 a meeting of these men was held in the southern part of the city. Fearing that they might make a demonstra- tion that would prove dangerous to the peace of the community, some of the citizens induced Sheriff Joseph F. Battershall to call out the local companies of the National Guard. This was done at once, several com- panies remaining under arms at the armory all that night and the next day. On the morning of the 15th a mob of 400 men formed in the south- ern part of the city and marched northward as far as Mount Olympus, gaining a small number of recruits on its way. At first its numbers appeared to be peaceable, but this aspect soon wore off and later in the day rioting began on a scale that caused considerable apprehension. On their return from Monnt Olympus the rioters, despite the most earnest efforts of, prominent and influential citizens to persuade them to disperse, entered the office of the Troy Times at No. 211 River street and threw from the building all the movable appurtenances upon which they could lay their hands. The presses and engines were wrecked and several volumes of the Times published in early years were thrown into the river at the rear of the building. After leaving the building the demonstration was continued, the rioters breaking into the county jail
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OTIS G. CLARK.
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during the absence of the sheriff and liberating eighty-eight prisoners. Many colored people were also grossly maltreated by the mob, some of them sustaining painful injuries. All through the day Rev. Father Peter Havermans, John A. Griswold and other influential citizens fol- lowed the mob from place to place and on several occasions dissuaded the lawless men from doing damage to property. Late in the afternoon Reeorder John Moran, in the absence from the city of Mayor William L. Van Alstyne, issued a proclamation announcing the suspension of the draft in the city, but the rioters were too excited to pay much at- tention to the decree, and continued their depredations The crowning act of their lawlessness, however, occurred at ten o'clock in the evening, when they made an attack upon the residenee of Martin I. Townsend, No. 165 Second street, broke in the doors and windows, wrecked a large amount of house furnishings and carried away many valuable articles. Mayor Van Alstyne having returned to the eity he ordered the military to the scene. When the rioters saw that the authorities had finally deter- mined to make a show of preserving order they agreed to disperse, pro. vided the mayor would direct the military to return to the armory. This was agreed to and soon afterward the mob dispersed, after having driven scores of colored men, women and children from the city and having ruined thousands of dollars worth of property.
The first class was graduated from the Troy University in July, 1862. This institution was the only one of its kind ever founded in Troy. In 1854 a number of persons interested in the cause of higher education proposed to establish a college in the city and accordingly a meeting of citizens was held at the court house January 5 of that year to consider the proposition. June 10 another meeting was held, at which a com- mittee was appointed to solicit funds for the purchase of a site and the erection of a building. The deep interest which the public-spirited citizens of Troy took in the project is attested by the fact that thesum of $200,000 was readily raised by subscription to buy a site and erect a building. October 1, 1856, the corner stone was laid on the splendid site on the east side of Eighth street, afterward occupied by St. Joseph's Provincial seminary, and two years later, September 8, 1858, the first term of the university began with the Rev. Dr. John McClintock as pres- ident. The first class numbered about sixty students. The subscribers to the fund for the institution, it appears, were either unable or un- willing to fulfill their contracts, and before the university was fairly under way it was found that it would be impossible to maintain it.
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Accordingly it was sold under foreclosure of a mortgage for $11,000 to the real estate firm of Peck & Hillman for $7,000, the liabilities of the institution amounting to over $55,000. The purchasers offered to allow the buildings to be continued for the purposes for which they were in- tended if money enough were raised to pay the indebtedness; but this could not be done and December 6 the property was sold to the Rev. Father Peter Havermans, agent for Archbishop John Hughes of New York, for $60,000. This was a great sacrifice, as the property originally cost $197,000. Two years later, in October, 1864, it was opened as a Roman Catholic provincial seminary for the education of priests De. cember 1 it was named St. Joseph's Provincial seminary and consecrated by Archbishop John MeCloskey.
January 29, 1867, the Troy & Lansingburgh Railroad company re- ceived permission from the Common Council to lay a track on Mill street, extending the road from the Greenbush road to Vandenburgh avenue; also to lay a track from the the intersection of Second and Fourth streets northward on Fourth street to Congress street, and through the latter to Third street, thence to Fulton, there to intersect the track on River street. By this improvement Troy was afforded additional street railway facilities which were greatly appreciated by all classes.
St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum received its name and under- went important changes in 1865, though the history of the institution dates from the year 1848. In that year, through the efforts of the Rev. Peter Havermans, rooms were set apart in the Troy hospital as a tem- porary home for a number of female orphans for whom he was caring. Having secured pledges for enough money to build a permanent home for orphans work was begun in 1858, when the corner stone of St. Maury's Female Orphan Asylum was laid on the west side of Hill street between Adams and Washington streets. It was occupied for the first time in the following year, but four years later, the building being tound unsuited to the purposes of the institution, it was moved to 185 Third street. Its name was changed to St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asy- lum, and in the following year the buildings Nos. 20 and 22 Liberty street were purchased. The Troy hospital buikling, on the corner of Fifth and Washington streets, was seeured in 1872, and here the asy- lum was maintained until September 2, 1886, when the present impos- ing building on the east side of Eighth street, between Federal and Jacob streets, overlooking the entire city, having been ereeted that year, was occupied.
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TROY AS A CITY.
The erection of the present Troy hospital was begun June 28, 1868, when the corner stone was laid by Bishop J. J. Conroy of Albany. The history of the hospital dates back to the year 1845, when the city was compelled to erect temporary buildings for the care of fever- stricken immigrants who came from Ireland during the famine in that country. As the majority of these sufferers were Catholics the Rev. Peter Ilavermans interested himself in their behalf, with the result that money was raised for the erection of a hospital. The site selected for it was on the southwest corner of Washington and Fifth streets, where the corner stone was laid August 15, 1848, by General John E. Wool. Upon the completion of the structure in 1850 it was placed in charge of the Sisters of Charity. When the Troy & Greenbush rail- road was constructed the noise attendant upon the passage of trains made that location an undesirable one and in April, 1866, the hand- some property of Ebenezer Prescott on Eighth street at the head of Fulton was purchased. June 28, 1868, the corner stone of the new hospital was laid by Bishop Conroy, and in the fall of the following year it was occupied for the first time. Ever since its foundation it has been in charge of the Sisters of Charity.
The ceremonies attending the burial in Oakwood cemetery of that gallant soldier, Major-General George Henry Thomas, who died in San Francisco March 28, 1870, occurred April 7 of the same year and were most imposing. The body lay in state in St. Paul's Episcopal church during the early part of the day, and the funeral pageant was one of the most notable ever witnessed in Troy. Many of the nation's great soldiers and statesmen were present, including President Ulysses S. Grant and his cabinet, General William T. Sherman, General Philip 11. Sheridan and General George G. Meade.
On account of the rapid increase in the population of the city the State Legislature, in response to a request of the citizens of Troy, on April 29, 1870, increased the number of wards in the corporation by dividing the eighth, ninth and tenth wards and thus creating three additional wards. That part of the eighth ward lying south of a line running easterly through the middle of Adams street and a line run- ning southeasterly through the middle of Hill street from its junction with Adams street, to a point in the middle of the Poestenkill creek, was constituted as the eleventh ward; that part of the ninth ward lying southerly of a line running easterly through the middle of Jackson and Trenton streets became the twelfth ward; and that part of the tenth
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ward lying northerly of a line running through the middle of Middle- burgh street became the thirteenth ward. May 3 of the same year the name of the corporation, which since the granting of the old charter of April 12, 1816, had been " The Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen, and Com monalty of the City of Troy," was changed, by act of the Legislature, to ""The City of Troy."
The evolution of the theatre in Troy would make a long and inter- esting chapter in itself, but in a work of this character all that can be done is to touch upon a few of the prominent points in the history of publie amusements in the city. One of Troy's well known historical writers gives the following sketch of the development of this feature of life up to the construction of the two leading theatres of the city : 1
The first dramatic exhibition given in Troy was that of the "Muse in Good Humor," at Ashley's Inn. on Monday evening, May 20th, 1793, by " Mr. Moore," who had as a member of a theatrical company played in Albany, in December, 1785, The tickets for the admission of adults were sold at two shillings and sixpence, and those admitting children at one shilling and sixpence. The evening's entertainment be- gan at half-past seven o'clock precisely. An African lion, " ten years old, three feet four inches high," and "eight feet from his nostrils to the end of his tail," was ex- hibited for a number of days, in October, 1800, at Ashley's Tavern. Grown per- sons were charged two shillings, and children one shilling for the gratification of seeing " the King of Beasts." In August, 1803, "a new and elegant collection of wax figures " was placed on exhibition in " Platt Titus' Long Room," by " Messrs. Bishop & Dawson." In October, 1805, " a live elephant," on exhibition at Moulton's Coffee House," was seen for twenty-five cents by the curious inhabitants of the vil- lage. In December, 1822, " a novel exhibition of natural curiosities" was " viewed at Mr. Babcock's hotel," on River street. The advertised attractions of the show embraced a dwarf cow from Spain, two feet nine inches high, "allowed by butchers of New York to be a complete model of beauty in the animal creation;" a living cheater, an animal of the ape family, having a " great use of his tail;" and a learned bear which could "read, spell, subtract, multiply and divide," and "make out any mumber with figures." The ears of the people visiting this aggregation of wonders were to be charmed with " music on King David's cymbal ;" an instrument as adver- tised, "of the kinds used so much by the ancients, and calculated to excite anima- tion, it being plaintive, lively and melodious." Also by " music on the Leaf," accom- panied by the violin and organ. The sounds produced by the "Leaf," they were further informed, were "admired by the lovers of music, and considered a great curiosity." In April, 1823, Mr. Keene was heard as a vocalist in a concert at Bab- cock's City Hotel, who played accompaniments on the piano-forte. A card of admis- sion could " be had at the bar" for one dollar. In May, 1827, Mr., Mrs., and Miss Russell were seen in a theatrical entertainment at Mr. Churchill's store-room, on the corner of Fifth and Ferry streets. The pieces werc " selected from moral au- thors." The front seats were reserved for ladies.
I Troy's One Hundred Years, by A. J. Weise.
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The opening of the Troy Theatre, in the Assembly Room of the Rensselaer House, on Tuesday evening, September 9th, 1828, by " Mr. Parker," with his " theat- rical corps," was a local event of considerable interest to those who could " consci- entiously enjoy" a play when publie sentiment was so adverse to dramatical exhibi- tions. " Douglass, or the Noble Shepard," and a farce, " Raising the Wind," were performed the first night. "The Young Widow," "Family Jars," "Fortune's Frolic," "Venice Preserved," " The Village Lawyer," and " Miss in her Teens," were billed for Friday, Saturday, Tuesday, and Friday nights of that and the follow- ing week. The Assembly Room, having been fitted for a summer theatre, with boxes for ladies, "The Mountaineers" was played there by a traveling company on Tuesday night, July, 21st 1829; Joseph Jefferson, the grandfather of Joseph Jeffer- son, the distinguished actor, making his first appearance as " Sadi," and Mrs. Joseph Jefferson, his daughter-in-law (Miss Burke, before marriage), "celebrated no less as an actress than a songstress," taking the part of "Agnes." On the following evening, July 22d, "Mons. & Mad. Canderbeeck, from Brussels, the capital of Belgia," attracted an audience to a vocal and instrumental concert, at the court- house in State street.
In 1829 the hall on the second floor of the North market was opened as the Troy theatre. February 22, 1847, the hall on the second floor of Fulton market was also opened as a theatre, and abont the same time the hall on the second floor of Washington market was fitted up for similar purposes. For several years theatrical entertainments were held in the hall in the Cannon Place building. August 23, 1847, Peale's Troy museum, on the northeast corner of River and Fulton streets, was opened. In 1855 the Troy Adelphi, having a seating capacity of 1, 400, was erected on the site of the Griswold opera house, on the east side of Third street between Fulton and Albany | State], by the Troy Dramatic Building association. On the night of October 2 of the same year it was opened to the public, The building was destroyed by fire early in the morning of October 10, 1862, and Griswold hall, named in honor of Ilon. John A. Griswold, was erected the next year on its site. Griswold hall was opened January 11, 1864, but this building too was burned April 1, 1871. Soon after the construction of the Griswold opera house was begun on the site of the two burned buildings, the formal opening occurring October 30, 1871. The play that evening was "Lady of Lyons," the role of " Panline " being taken by Mrs. Emma Waller, the lessee. Soon after the opening of the Griswold opera house, Rand's hall, located on the northwest corner of Congress and Third streets, was enlarged for use as a theatre and opera house. For years it had been used as a lecture room and hall for general purposes. After the changes in it had been made it was formally opened November 11, 1842,
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