USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The annals of Albany, Vol. I > Part 16
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Bethel for Watermen.
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BETHEL SEATSFR
BETHEL FOR WATERMEN.
The above institution commenced its operations in May, 1843, in the following manner. A few pious persons, who were convinced that boat- men had been too long neglected, resolved to try the experiment of es- tablishing meetings in the city for their benefit. They procured a suit- able room in Stanwix Hall, fitted it up for service, and invited Rev. John Miles, a Wesleyan Methodist minister, to labor for and with them. Mr. Miles accepted the invitation, and entered upon the duties of his office by preaching his first bethel sermon on State Street Bridge, Sabbath morning, May 14, 1843, from Proverbs, xi., 30. " He that winneth souls is wise." A board of managers was early formed, consisting of twelve, from different sections of the Christian church. At their first meeting, held to adopt measures to sustain the cause, the following preamble and resolution were offered, and unanimously adopted : " From a conviction that it is our imperative duty to do good unto all men, even 10 the neg- lected boatmen, sailors and strangers, (as many such persons are con- stantly arriving in our city,) we the undersigned think it necessary that something should be done in their behalf; and we agree to form ourselves into a board of managers for the Albany Bethel; to enact laws by which it shall be governed, and to do all we can to have it permanently sus- tained." The room in Stanwix Hall was kept but one year, as at the
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Jewish Synagogues.
close of the same, Clark Durant, Esq., who had shown himself a very warm friend of the undertaking, by contributing liberally towards its support, came forward and purchased the neat and commodious house lately occupied by the Third Presbyterian Church, for which he paid $5000, and has tendered its use gratuitously, so long as it can be sus- tained as a free bethel. The building, of which the above is a repre- sentation, is situated in Montgomery street, between Orange and Colum- bia streets; its dimensions are 50 by 60 feet. Mr. Miles is still the chap- lain, faithful and devoted in the discharge of his duties. The meetings are all public, and the seats all free. The Bethel is entirely free from any sectarian influence, having no organized church, but standing en- tirely on neutral ground. It is supported by the voluntary subscriptions of those who take an interest in the spiritual and temporal welfare of watermen and the stranger within our gates. There is also a sabbath school connected with it, which was commenced in June, 1844.
JEWISH SYNAGOGUES.
There are two Hebrew congregations in this city. The Bethel Con- gregation consisted originally of sixteen members, all of them Germans, who came over in 1837, from Europe, and after having been for a short time in New York, they settled in this city in the fall of 1837. Before that time there were very few Israelites residing in Albany. There are now more than 100 members in the congregation. Their place of wor- ship is called synagogue, where they perform their service in the Hebrew language. Their meeting days are every sabbath or Saturday, and be- sides on thirteen holidays and twenty-seven half-holidays. Their first place of worship was in Bassett street, but on the 2d of September, 1842, they dedicated a new synagogue at No. 76 Herkimer street, formerly a church belonging to the Hibernian Benevolent Society ; which cost, after having been altered and repaired, about $3500. There is one minister or rabbi to the congregation, who is elected annually, for the term of one year. Mr. Henry Seehling was the second minister, and held the place about five years, when he was succeeded by the present incum- bent, Rabbi Vise Traub, about four years since.
In the spring of the year 1841, three members and eight seat holders quitted the Bethel Congregation and commenced a new society under the title of Beth Jacob, which counts at present about forty members. Their service is the same as the Bethel Congregation. They met at No. 8 Rose street, until some time during 1848 they erected a synagogue in Fulton street, at an expense of $4,500. The officiating minister is Rabbi Jacob Newborgh.
Each congregation has a separate burial ground. There is also a Mutual Benefit Society of Israelites in this city, to which nearly all the members of the Bethel Congregation belong. The object of this society is to support the poor sick, as well as their own members, and to give relief to the families of the poor and the sick, and to see that in case of death the corpse is properly buried.
The Congregation, as well as the Mutual Benefit Society, are sup- ported by monthly contributions and free offerings.
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Society of Friends-Universalist Church.
SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.
The Society of Friends in the city of Albany first met for religious worship in different places, where they could obtain suitable rooms, from 1827 to 1833, a considerable part of the time in the Lancasterian School House, in Eagle street, by permission of the common council. In 1835 they became an organized society, and built a meeting house on the south side of Plain street, below Grand. The dimensions of the building are 36 by 42 feet, and 22 feet walls above the basement, and seated so as to accommodate about four hundred persons. It has a large and commodious basement, which is occupied as a school room. The school is under the charge of a member of the society, and numbers about 50 pupils. This edifice was erected by the Society here, with the assistance of the Yearly Meeting of New York, at an expense of $5000. The congregation numbers about 150 persons.
UNIVERSALIST CHURCH.
There was preaching occasionally by Universalist clergymen in this city, for a few years previous to 1829. In the fall of that year the first Universalist meeting house in Albany was erected on Herkimer street, being a temporary wooden building 50 by 27 feet. Subsequently it was elevated for the purpose of forming a basement and 104 feet added to its depth; it then had cost about $1500. On the 1st of March, 1830, a meeting was held to take into consideration the formation of a Univer- salist Society, when it was resolved to form one. On the 23d of March, 1830, the first Universalist Society in the city of Albany was organized, when about thirty persons signed the constitution, which contains a confession of Christian faith; the society therefore comprises the church. The Rev. Wm. S. Balch commenced his labors in the latter part of Feb- ruary, 1830, who, in consequence of poor health, removed at the ex- piration of three months. The Rev. Isaac D. Williamson commenced his labors on the 17th of June, 1830, and resigned the 1st of May, 1837. The brick meeting house in Green street, now occupied by the society, was commenced the 25th of July, 1833, and completed in August, 1834. It is a substantial, neat, and convenient edifice, 80 by 48 feet, construct- ed in accordance with the Grecian Doric order, and with the lot, cost about $14,000. The Rev. Stephen R. Smith commenced his labors the 18th of September, 1837, and left the society on the 1st of May, 1842; was succeeded by Rev. S. B. Britton, who left the society in April, 1843, after which the Rev. L. B. Mason supplied the desk until the fall of 1845, when he left in consequence of ill health. The society was then without stated preaching until the spring of 1846, when Rev. S. B. Britton returned and remained for one year, after which Rev. R. P. Ambler preached for about eight months; since which there has been no settled pastor until November 1st, 1848, when Rev. W. H. Waggoner was engaged as pastor, and installed on the 20th of December, There is a sunday school attached to the society, consisting of more than one hundred scholars. The library consists of 200 volumes, of very care- fully selected books. The congregation numbers about four hundred, and has sixty communicants,
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Plan of Albany, 1695.
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4. Its burying place.
5. Dutch Calvinist burying place.
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11. City Gates, six in all.
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Ancient Albany.
ANCIENT ALBANY.
The denizens of this ancient city know by tradition that it was for- merly protected against the incursions of the French and Indians, by pa- lisades, a kind of fortification, consisting of upright posts planted firmly in the ground, and peculiar in the manner of its use to the settlements of this country. Occasionally in making excavations, the relics of these ancient wooden walls are met with, but from the difficulty we have had in gathering authentic oral information about the limits which they de- scribed, we are inclined to believe that few if any at this day can give a satisfactory account of them. The accompanying diagram shows the line of these old defences. It is not known whether it was drawn after any accurate survey, but could hardly have been otherwise, from its corres- pondence with the same portion of the city at the present day. We can see how the curvatures and diagonal lines presented by our streets had their rise in the course of the protecting enclosure, which latter was run to correspond with the declivities on either side of the high ground upon which this part of the city stands, and terminating in a regular fort at Lodge street. It was drawn in 1695, by the Rev. John Miller, a chap- lain in the British army, and is unquestionably a true picture of the form and boundaries of the city a century and a half ago-reaching from Hudson to Steuben street on Broadway, and from the river west to Lodge street. A more extended line of palisades was afterwards con- structed, bounded by Hamilton street on the south, and crossing Broad- way on the north at the house occupied by the late venerable Abraham Van Vechten, a little north of Orange and Van Tromp streets. The north gate was placed there, and was a local name as late as the be- ginning of the present century, dividing the city of Albany from the Colonie, which was a separate town, until the year 1815, when a por- tion of it was annexed, and called the fifth ward. It was a century after this draft of the city was made before it began to increase very rapidly in population, since which it has expanded around this nucleus, " as from a stroke of the enchanter's wand."
The following is the description given of Albany in 1695, by the author alluded to :
" As the city of New York is the chief place of strength belonging to this province for its defence against those enemies who come by sea, so Albany is of principal consideration against those who come by land, the French and Indians of Canada. It is distant from New York 150 miles, and lies up Hudson's river on the west side, on the descent of a hill from the west to the eastward. It is in circumference about six furlongs, and hath therein about 200 houses, a fourth part of what there is reckoned to be in New York. The form of it is septangular, and the longest line that which buts upon the river, running from the north to the south. On the west angle is the fort, quadrangular, strongly stockaded and ditched round, having in it twenty one pieces of ordnance mounted. On the north-west side are two blockhouses, and on the south west as many : on the south-east angle stands one blockhouse ; in the middle of the line from thence northward is a horned work, and on the north-east angle a mount. The whole city is well stockaded round, and in the several fortifications named are about thirty guns."
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City of Albany.
ASSIDUITY
Arms of the city of Albany.
CITY OF ALBANY.
Albany enjoys an eligible situation on the west bank of the Hudson river, near the head of tide water. Its latitude is 42º 39' 3" north; its longitude 73º 32' west of Greenwich, and 3º 13' east of Washington. The city of New York is distant meridionally 1354 miles; by the road on the west side of the river 145 miles ; by the river a little less. The distance of Boston is 164 miles; of Montreal, 230; of Washington, 370- The city appears to great advantage from the river, having a southeast- ern aspect ; rising rapidly from the bank, and presenting its public build- ings in bold relief. Its habitations occupy the alluvial valley of the Hudson, about a quarter of a mile in width, and ascend three hills of about 140 feet elevation, separated by deep valleys, through which con- siderable streams of water formerly ran, known as the Foxen kill, the Rutten kill, and the Beaver kill. The view from either of the heights is picturesque; to the north may be seen the city of Troy and adjacent villages, and in the distance the hills of Vermont. To the east the beau- tiful extent of country lying beyond the Hudson river ; and to the south the Helderbergs, and the Catskill mountains with the river flowing at their base ....... Before the arrival of white men, it was known to the Indians in the valley of the Mohawk, by the name of Schaughnaughtada, or Scho-negh-ta-da, which signified over the plains ; a name which the Dutch applied to an Indian settlement where the city of Schenectady now stands, as being over the plains from Albany .. . The first Eu- ropean vessel which is known to have penetrated this region, was the Half Moon, Captain Hendrick Hudson, in Sept., 1609. A boat from that vessel is said to have moored at some point on what is now Broad- way. Several Dutch navigators followed during the next three or four years, and erected trading houses at Albany and New York, for the purpose of collecting furs of the Indians. Our city, therefore, is, next to Jamestown, Va., the oldest colony in the Union. One of the early pioneers in this traffic, was Hendrick Chrystance (or Corstiaensen), by
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City of Albany.
whom a fort was erected in 1614, on the island below the city, known as Marten Gerritsen's or Castle Island, Boyd's island, etc. This island, which contains about 70 acres, will soon be difficult to identify, having been several years ago connected with the main land at the north end by an embankment, and the narrow inlet behind it, is rapidly filling up. That fort appears on the Figurative Map made in 1616, found by Mr. Broadhead in Holland. It was a stockade, 50 feet square, encircled by a ditch 18 feet wide, and was defended by 2 pieces of cannon, and 11 stone guns, and garrisoned by 12 men under Jacob Jacobs Elkens. The trading house within the fort was 36 by 26 feet. When it was carried away by the spring freshet in 1617, a spot was chosen near the outlet of the Nor- man's kill and a fort erected there. That place was abandoned in 1623, and a new fort built in what is now Broadway, at the new steam boat landing, near the site of the Fort Orange Hotel. The fort mounted eight large cannon, called by the Dutch stone geslucken, by which it is understood that they were loaded with stones instead of iron balls. It was named Fort Orange, in honor of the Prince of Orange, who then presided over the Netherlands. This fort was intended to afford con- venient accommodations for traffic with the Indians, and to serve as a protection against sudden attacks from them. It was only occupied during the autumn and winter by the traders, who as yet made no at- tempts at colonization. ..... In 1630, the commissary of the Dutch West India Company, purchased of the Indians two tracts on the west side of the river, for Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, a wealthy pearl merchant of Am- sterdam. The territory thus acquired included the fort, and the same year a number of colonists sailed from the Texel with their families, provided with farming implements, stock, and all other necessaries, and arrived at the mouth of the river on the 24th of May, after a passage of sixty-four days. On their arrival at Fort Orange, they were provided with humble accommodations in the vicinity. The names of the settlers that arrived this year, are given by Dr. O'Callaghan, in his History of New Netherland, vol. 1, p. 433, as follows : Wolfert Gerritsen, super- intendent of farms. Rutger Hendricksen van Soest, superintendent of the brewery. Seger Hendricksen van Soest, shepherd and plowman. Brandt Peelen van Nieukerke, schepen; he died in 1644; his descendants take the name of Brandt. Simon Dircksen Pos. Jan Tyssen, trumpeter, Andries Carstenssen, millwright. Laurens Laurenssen and Barent To- massen, sawyers. Arendt van Curler, commissary. Jacob Jansen Stol; succeeded Hendrick Albertsen as ferrymaster. Martin Gerrittsen van Bergen ; he had a lease of Castle Island, in 1668, which afterwards took his name. Claes Arissen. Roeloff Jansen van Maesterlandt, wife and family; came out as farmer to the patroon at $72 a year. Claes Claessen, his servant. Jacques Spierinck, Jacob Govertsen, Raynert Harmensen, and Bastiaen Jansen Krol. Albert Andriessen Bradt, de Noorman. It was from him that the Norman's kill takes its name, the water privilege of which he leased; as well as a large farm situated on that stream, which fell into the hands of Teunis Slingerland, who married his daughter, Engeltje ....... Seven years later (1637) Mr. Van Rensselaer purchased the tract on the opposite side of the river, "for certain quantities of duffels, axes, knives and wampum," and thus became the proprietor of a tract of country 24 miles along the river, and 48 in extent, east and west. Over this extensive tract he possessed all the authority
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City of Albany.
of a sovereign, and made a large outlay for its settlement, giving it the name of Rensselaerswyck. The administration of justice and the man- agement of its financial affairs he committed to the care of a commissary general. Fortunate in the selection of these, his colony prospered much more than that at New Amsterdam, and it was to the good offices of Van Curler, or Corlear, the first commissary, that the colonists at New Amsterdam were indebted more than once, for their preservation from the hands of the Indians ....... In 1642 Mr. Van Rensselaer sent over the Rev. Johannes Megapolensis as minister of Rensselaerswyck, at his private expense. It is not certain that he visited the colony him- self. He died in 1646, and the estate descended to his son Johannes, then a minor; between whose agent and Gov. Stuyvesant serious diffi- culties occurred, which it was necessary to refer to the states general of Holland for arbitration ....... In 1664 the province came into the pos- session of the English, when the name of Beverwyck, by which it had been known, was changed to Albany, that being one of the titles of the Duke of York. It had also been equally well known as Williamstadt, Fort Orange, and the Fuyck, which latter signifies the bend in the river. Fort Orange was built in 1623, an I Williamstadt in 1647 at the head of State street. The right of soil was confirmed to the patroon by a new patent, but the government was retained in the hands of the colony . . . . In 1686, Gov. Dongan granted a charter to the citizens of Albany. At first a trading station, then a hamlet, next a village, it was now dignified with the title of city. It has finally become the capital of the state-the EMPIRE STATE! The charter gave the city an area of one mile in width on the river, and extending in a north-west direction, at the same width, thirteen and a half miles, to the north line of the manor of Rens- selaerswyck; containing 7,160 acres. Peter Schuyler, the friend of the Indians, was named the first mayor, and the first common council con- sisted of the following persons: Peter Schuyler, mayor; Isaac Swinton, recorder; Robert Livingston, town clerk; Dirk Wessels, Jan Jans Bleecker, David Schuyler, Johannes Wendell, Lavinus Van Schaick, Adrian Gerritsen aldermen; Joachim Staats, John Lansingh, Isaac Ver- planck, Lawrence Van Ale, Albert Ryckman, Melgert Wynantse, assist- ant aldermen ; Jan Bleecker, chamberlain; Richard Pretty, sheriff ; James Parker, marshall .. ..... The Schuyler family, for several genera- tions, exerted a powerful influence over the Indians. In all the treaties with them the city of Albany bore a conspicuous part; and so entirely had they won the confidence of the savages, that from the date of its settlement, it was never invaded by a hostile tribe; although, in 1689, when the citizens refused to submit to the administration of Leisler and Milborne, they yielded allegiance through fear of an Indian invasion. .... During the revolution, the Albany committee nobly sustained their countrymen in the struggle. Burgoyne had boasted, at the commence- ment of the campaign, that his army should revel upon the spoils of Albany ; but he only visited the city as a captive. Sir Henry Clinton twice attempted to invade it, but met with sufficient obstacles to prevent his success .... . In 1795 the town of Colonie was annexed, forming the fifth ward. It became the capital of the state in 1807. Since the introduction of steam boats and the completion of the canals, the growth of the city has been rapid, and the lines of rail roads, which connect it with Boston and Buffalo, are giving it a still greater impulse. From its
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central position, Albany forms a kind of natural entrepot between New York and a vast interior country, comprising the Canadas, part of Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and even Wisconsin and Iowa, on the one side, and parts of the New England states on the other. Flour and other agri- cultural products form the principal articles of export. The city has about 120 streets, and is divided into ten wards. Its population, by the last census, was 41,139. Each ward elects two aldermen who, together with the mayor and recorder, form the Common Council .. ..... The architecture of the city has undergone a very great change in the last 30 years. Many of the public and private buildings of Albany are now of an elegant and costly character. The Capitol, occupied for legis- lative purposes, the state courts and the state library; the State Hall, erected for the accommodation of the public officers; the City Hall, oc- cupied for city and county business, and the Albany Academy, all face the public square at the head of State street, and the foot of Washington street. A few rods south of these is the County Jail, and the Medical College, in Eagle street. The Female Academy is a handsome edifice, situated in North Pearl street. The Albany Exchange is situated at the foot of State street. The Orphan Asylum is located one mile west of the City Hall ; and the Penitentiary near Lydius street on the Delaware turnpike. These will be more fully described in another place, as well as the churches, and other important buildings ....... The trade, com- merce and manufactures of Albany are important, and rapidly increas- ing. Its iron foundries are among the largest in the country. More stoves are manufactured here, than in any other city or town in the Union. It has extensive manufactories of piano fortes, leather, coaches, sleighs, hats, caps and bonnets, the three latter to the amount of nearly a million of dollars a year. In addition to the above, the Albany Nail Works, near Troy, the most extensive establishment of the kind in America, are principally owned in Albany, as also an extensive satinet factory, and flouring mills on the Patroon's creek. The Erie and Champlain canals, which form a junction eight miles above, enter the Hudson at the north end of the city, where a capacious basin has been formed, of more than a mile in length, by means of a pier inclosing a part of what was anciently termed the Fuyck, or bend in the river, of 32 acres area, affording a winter harbor for boats, as well as safe pro- tection to vessels navigating the river or canals, and commodious wharf- age. The Mohawk and Hudson rail road, among the first roads built in the country, and connected with the Utica and Schenectady, and Saratoga and Schenectady rail roads, terminates at Albany. The Albany and West Stockbridge rail road connects with the Western rail road at the state line, between Massachusetts and New York, forming a continuous line of rail roads from Albany to Boston. The termination of these rail roads and canals at Albany, renders it the centre of trade and transhipment, and has opened to the enterprise of her merchants and artisans an extent of country unsurpassed in its wealth and resources. In 1832 a company was incorporated with a capital of three millions, to connect Albany with New York by a rail road on the margin of the river, but it was not until 1847 that efficient measures were taken to carry out that great project, when a new charter was granted by the legislature, the stock subscribed, and a portion of the road is already constructed, and will be in operation over a considerable length of it in 1849.
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