USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The annals of Albany, Vol. I > Part 31
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Account Sales of the Cargo of the Sloop Olive Branch, in a voyage to the West Indies from New York, commencing Nov. 3d, 1770.
Sold at ANTIGUA, Viz:
One ton of Flour, the property of Henry Van Ranslar, weighing Nt. 30C. 1qr. 41b -sold for 21s. pr. C .- sold to Messrs. Paterson & Hartshorn, . £31 16 02 One ton ditto. the property of John Stevenson weighing, Nt. 30C. Oqr. 1011b-sold for 21s. 3d. pr C .-- Mr John Lindsay, 32 05 11 Sold one ton ditto, the property of Richard Van Zant, weigh- ing 27C. Oqr. 191b, for 21s. pr. C .- Paterson and Harts- horn, . 29 02 09
One ton ditto the property of Jane Van Howser, weighing 32C. Oqr. 15lb-sold for 21s pr. C .- Patterson and Harts- horn, 34 04 07 One ton ditto the property of Doctr. Samuel Stringer, weigh- ing 31C. 1qr. 14lb .- sold for 21s. 3d. pr. C-Mr. John Lindsay,. 33 16 02
One ton ditto, the property of Nicholas Cuyler, weighing 27 C. 2qr. 0lb .- sold for on an average, a 21s. 6d pr C .- dif- ferent people, 29 11 03
* He was the grandfather of Simeon De Witt Bloodgood, late of this city, and resided in the vicinity of the Fort Orange Hotel. He superintended the building of that house for Simeon De Witt. the survevor-general, while the latter was absent from the city. The original Fort Orange Hotel, it is well known, occupied the site of the old tort of that name, which stood opposite the Steam Boat Landing. The original Fort Orange Hotel fell a victim to the great fire of August, 1848, and a new one has arisen from the ruins.
259
Ancient Commerce of Albany.
One ton ditto, the property of Peter Silvester, Esqr., 2 barr's, wg 355 Nt. a 24s. 4 05 02
1 barr. ditto, sold wg 1901b. Nt. a 21s. 2 01 02
13 barr. ditto, wg. 243 Nt. a 21s 26 01 05
£223 04 07
Sales of Fish, viz :
,14 barrs. Herring, the property of Col. Philip Schuyler- sold a 12s-sold to Bustie Entwitch, Esqr. 8 08 00
1 barr. do-sold Mr Carr, .... 1 00 00
10 barrs. do , the property of Henry and Robert Lansingh, a 12s .- Entwich, Esq ... 6 00 00
20 barrs. do., the property of ditto, sold Mr. John Rose, a 20%. 20 00 00
32 barrs ditto, the property of do., sold a 20 .- Mr. Carr .... 3 10 00
£38 18 00
Sales of Staves, viz :
7050 Nt. Thd. Staves the property of self and comp'y, a £8 pr. M. . 62 16 00
32 Ducks, sold a 33s. pr. doz'n. 4 08 00
2 Turkeys, a 7s ... .. 0 14 00
3 1.2 Bushels of Pease, a 9s 1 11 06
18 Pine Plank. a 2s. 6d.
2 05 00
15 Ditto Boards, a 1s. 6d. 1 02 06
An Horse Arning .. 1 10 00
11 empty water casks, a 8s. 3d ... 4 10 09
10 Caggs Pease sold for Mrs. Lynot. 3 00 00
10 ditto do., for do. 2 10 00
2 ditto do., for do, 0 05 06
2 ditto do., for do.
0 10 00
3 barrs. of Apples sold for Isaac Van Volkenberg, a 24s .. 3 12 00
2 ditto, do. for do. a 20s.
2 00 00
2 ditto, do. for do. a 7s. 6d
0 15 00
1 ditto sold for do. a 4. 6d.
0 04 06
2 barrs. Apples. sold for William Salsberry,
2 08 00
2 ditto, do. for do. a 12s., 1 04 00
1 04 00
1 ditto do. for do ...
1 00 00
30 bunches of Onions, sold for Mr. Alex. Mac Lean, a 9d ... 2 hhds. ditto, sold for ditto. 4 09 00
0 06 05
1 Hhd. do. for do. 122 Bunches, a 6d. 3 01 00
1 Hhd. do. for do. 113 do. a 7d. 3 06 00
150 strings sold at vandue, for do. loose onions 0 13 00
6 empty Hhds. for do. a 8s ...
2 08 00
1 small horse for self and Doctr. Stringer,. 13 04 00
Sales at ST. CHRISTOPHER'S, ViZ :-
1 Sorrel horse, the property of William Hunn marked P. V. Z. . .. . . 7 00 00
1 small Mare the property of William Pemberton. 14 00 00
2 ditto, do. for do. a 12s.
1 02 06
11 Bunches ditto, sold for ditto. a 7d.
5 00 00
20 Grese sold for ditto, a 5s.
260°
Ancient Commerce of Albany.
1 Bay horse, the property of Francis Vina, marked H. I .... 7 00 00
1 Black horse, the property of John Ross, marked I. L. S .. 8 00 00
1 Bay horse, the property of Doctor Sam Stringer, 13 00 00
1 Sorrel horse the property of Robert Henery ... 17 00 00
1 Dark Bay horse, the property of Henry Glen, marked B. V. B, . . 13 10 00
1 Black horse, the property of Mr. Wemp, marked P. M., .. 14 15 00
1 Black horse, the property of Abraham Bloodgood,. 14 00 00
2 horses, the property of Abraham Tenbrook, marked I D. & A. T. B .. 39 16 00
I Negroe Man, the property of Mr. Staats, 51 00 00
Total, £591 01 09
Returns from the WEST INDIAS, ViZ :
19 Hogsheads Rum for James Bloodgood & Comp'y O. B., containing 2053 gal @ 2s 6d.
256 22 06
Hhd's to contain the above Rum
21 07 06
12 Barr's Limes for do . 6 08 00
Cash received at Antigua for freight,. 15 10 00
9 Hhd's Rum for Sundry Shippers, pr. their several accounts,
145 17 00
81 lb. Cotton, @ 6d. 2 01 00
£447 16 00
These ventures to the West Indies seem to have been more common, after the war of the revolution, to Lansingburgh and Hudson, than to Albany, from the fact that the editor of the Albany Gazette, in 1790, marvelled that the citizens of Albany should remain inactive spectators while their neighbors on the north and the south were " participating in all the blessings of this valuable trade." As an instance in the com- merce of Lansingburgh, it was announced that the sloop Arabia, Capt. Johnson, which sailed for the West Indies in June. had sailed again in October on her second voyage thither, with a valuable cargo.
On the 12th of April 1791, it was mentioned as a congratulatory event that. 40 sail of vessels had arrived at this port in one day, or passed it for Troy and Lansingburgh ; that 18 vessels, of which 16 were of from 40 to 80 tons lay at the port of Lansingburgh, and that the sloop Nancy had performed a trip from thence to New York and back in seven days. In November of the same year it was again announced as an extraordi- nary occurrence, that 42 vessels of from 40 to 100 tons, principally above 70, were at anchor in the port of Albany.
Among other feats of sloop navigation in those days, we are told that Capt. William Van Ingen, of the sloop Cincinnati, sailed from Albany on the 5th December, 1794, and arrived at New York on the 9th ; dis- posed of his cargo, took in a valuable freight, and returned to this port on the 16th. The navigation had then been uninterrupted for nine months, and was still unimpeded by ice.
The examples of speedy voyages which were boasted of in the last century, read a little oddly now, but yet the sloops, under a good wind, were an overmatch for the steamboats for a long time after the latter made their appearance on the river. In the year 1794, one Col. Wm. Colbreath, sheriff of Herkimer, left this city on Sunday morning,
· 261
Voyage of an Albany Sloop to China.
on a sloop for New York, and returned on Thursday afternoon, the 11th, having performed the journey in a little more than four days, including a day and a half he was in New York. The feat was perhaps as much a matter of wonder and admiration, as when the steam boat had been so much improved as to make the passage from New York to Albany in 24 hours
But the most remarkable of all the expeditions from this port, was the
Voyage of an Albany Sloop to China.
In the fall of 1785, the sloop Experiment, 80 tons burden, Capt. Stewart Dean, was fitted out at this port for China. It was very properly con- sidered a hazardous voyage for so small a craft. She was laden with an assorted cargo, for a regular trading expedition, and was the second adventure from the United States to Canton. She left New York on the 18th December, and was absent eighteen months. Her return trip was made in four months and twelve days, with a cargo consisting principal- ly of teas and nankins. Several pieces of costly damask silk were also brought to order, or for family gifts. One of the heir looms in the family of a descendant of the mate of the Experiment, residing in' Schenectady, is a dress, made of the silk referred to, in the fashion of that day. Capt. Dean also brought home thirteen sets of China ware, to order, for such families as could afford and thought proper to indulge in such luxuries. These articles were so much valued that they have passed from mothers to daughters, down to the present time ; and, though much broken and scattered, are objects of curiosity, not only from the associations connected with this singular voyage, but as showing the form and style of China ware sixty years ago. A set which be- longed to Capt. Johnson, a revolutionary veteran, whose house stood with its gable to the street, on the corner of South Pearl and Howard streets, where the Centre Market now stands, was divided among his descendants. One set, however, has been preserved nearly complete, and is in the possession of Mrs. Abraham Ten Eyck, in Broadway. These sets being mostly brought to order, had the initials of the owners' names gilded upon each piece.
It was matter of surprise to the natives and Europeans in those seas, to see so small a vessel arrive from a clime so remote from China, and gave them an exalted conception of the enterprise of the citizens of the United States. At some of the ports where the Experiment touched, it is said that she was an object of alarm to the inhabitants, who mistook her for a tender to a fleet of men-of-war. She returned to New-York on Sunday, April 22, 1787, without the loss of a man during the voyage. On her arrival she was visited by at least two-thirds of the citizens, it is said ; very few of whom had expected her return.
Capt. Dean made several voyages to China subsequently, when the famous merchant Howqua formed so favorable an opinion of him that he was accustomed to send over a chest of black tea occasionally for the captain, long after the latter had discontinued his voyages. Capt. Dean died in New-work, a few years since, aged 85, at the house of Mr. Ro. derick Sedgwick.
1
262
Kalm's Visit to Albany in 1749.
VISIT OF PETER KALM TO ALBANY, 1749.
The project of a scientific expedition to our shores, was suggested to the University of Upsala by Linnæus; who desired that the North American provinces should be explored for the purpose of making such observations and collections of seeds and plants, as would improve the husbandry, horticulture, manufactures, arts and sciences of his country. Accordingly Prof. Kalm, a naturalist of one of the Swedish universities, was selected, who left Upsala on the sixteenth of October, 1747; spent six months in England, and arrived at Philadelphia September 26, 1748. He traversed much of the country from Pennsylvania to Canada, and returned to Sweden in 1751, arriving at the place of his destination on the thirteenth of June. He prosecuted his researches with the industry and perseverance of a true friend of science, spending not only the sa- lary and outfit provided by his friends, but so much of his little fortune, that on his return he found himself' under the necessity of retrenching, so as to live on a very small pittance He afterwards resumed his place of professor at Aobo, where, in a small garden of his own, he cultivated and experimented upon many hundred American plants, there being no garden connected with the University. It was in honor of him that the beautiful Kalmia received its name, which is still cultivated in European gardens as an ornamental shrub.
Our traveler is more than once rather plain and unreserved in his remarks upon the character and manners of the people of Albany, as they were seen by, or represented to, him. The charge, so often reite- rated since his time, of habitual dishonesty in traffic with the Indians, is very bluntly made, although he admits of honorable exceptions to the general rule. We give the old traveler's own version of what he saw and heard, without attempting to smooth any of the asperities of his remarks, which seem to have been made with honesty of purpose, and are much more excusable in him, than in many of the scribblers who have followed in his track. His account is valuable, as representing the condition of the country a century ago.
JUNE the 10th. At noon we left New-York, and sailed up the River Hudson, in a yacht bound for Albany All this afternoon we saw a whole fleet of little boats returning from New- York, whither they had brought provisions and other goods for sale, which, on account of the extensive commerce of this town, and the great number of its inhabitants, go off very well. About twelve miles from New-York we saw sturgeons (Acipenser sturio) , leaping up out of the water, and on the whole pas- sage we met with porpesses in the river. As we proceeded we found the eastern banks of the river very much cultivated ; and a number of pretty farms, surrounded with orchards and corn fields, presented them- - selves to our view. After sailing a little while in the night, we cast our anchor and lay by till the morning, especially as the tide was ebbing with great force.
JUNE the 11th. This morning we continued our voyage up the river, with the tide and a faint breeze. We passed the Highland mountains, which consist of a grey sandstone, and are covered with deciduous trees together with firs and red cedars. The country was unfit for cultiva-
----
263
Kalm's Visit to Albany in 1749.
tion, being so full of rocks, and accordingly we saw no farms. The wind vanished away about ten o'clock in the morning, and forced us to get forward with our oars, the tide being almost spent. In one place on the western shore we saw a wooden house painted red, and we were told that there was a saw mill further up; but besides this, we did not perceive one farm or any cultivated grounds all this forenoon. We now perceived excessive high and steep mountains on both sides of the river, which echoed back each sound we uttered; yet notwithstanding they were so high and steep, they were covered with small trees. The last of the high western mountains is called Butterhill, after which the country between the mountains grows more spacious : the farms became very numerous, and we had a prospect of many corn- fields between the hills. Whilst we waited for the return of tide and the change of wind, we went on shore. The sassafras tree (Laurus sassafras) and the chesnut-tree grow here in great abundance. I found the tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in some parts of the wood, as likewise the Kalmia latifolia, which was now in full blossom, though the flowers were already withering. Some time after noon the wind arose from south- west, which being a fair wind, we weighed anchor and continued our voyage. We passed by a little neck of land, which projected on the western side in the river, and was called Dance. The name of this place is said to derive its origin from a festival which the Dutch cele- brated here in former times, at which they danced and diverted them- selves ; but once there came a number of Indians, who killed them all. We cast anchor late at night, because the wind ceased and the tide was ebbing. The fireflies passed the river in numbers at night, and some- times settled upon the rigging.
JUNE the 12th. This morning we proceeded with the tide, but against the wind. The country here in general is low on both sides of the river, consisting of low rocks and stony fields, which, however, are covered with woods. The land is so rocky, stony and poor, that nobody can settle on it or inhabit it, there being no spot fit for a corn field. and for the space of some miles we never perceived one settlement. At eleven o'clock this morning we came to a small island which lies in the middle of the river, and is said to be half way between New- York and Albany. Towards noon it was quite calm, and we went on very slow. Here the land is well cultivated, and full of great corn fields, especially on the eastern shore. To the west, also, we saw several cultivated places. The Blue mountains are very plainly to be seen here, appearing through the clouds, and towering above all other mountains. The people here make use of a yellow Agaricus, or mushroom. which grows on maple trees, for tinder : that which is found on the red flowering maple ( Acer rubrum) is reckoned the best; and the 'next in goodness is that of the sugar maple (Acer saccharinui), which is sometimes considered cqual to the former At two in the afternoon the wind began to blow from the south, which enabled us to proceed The country on the eastern side is high, and consists of a well cultivated soil. We had fine corn- fields, pretty farms, and good orchards in view. The western shore is likewise somewhat high, but still covered with woods ; and we now and then, though seldom. saw one or two little settlements.
JUNE the 13th. The wind favored our voyage during the whole night, so that I had no opportunity of observing the nature of the country.
264
Kalm's Visit to Albany in 1749.
This morning, at five o'clock, we were but nine English miles from Albany. The country on both sides the river is low, and covered with woods, excepting a few little scattered settlements. Under the high shores of the river are wet meadows covered with sword-grass ( Carex), and they formed several little islands. We saw no mountains, and hastened towards Albany. The land on both sides of the river is chiefly low, and more carefully cultivated as we came nearer to Albany. As to the houses which we saw, some were of wood, others of stone. The river is seldom above a musket-shot broad, and in several parts of it are sands, which require great experience for governing the yachts. At eight o'clock in the morning, we arrived at Albany.
All the yachts which ply between Albany and New York, belong to Albany. They go up and down the River Hudson, as long as it is open and free from ice. They bring from Albany boards or planks, and all sorts of timber, flour, pease, and furs, which they get from the Indians, or which are smuggled from the French. They come home almost empty, and only bring a few merchandises with them, among which rum is the chief. This last is absolutely necessary to the inhabitants of Albany : they cheat the Indians in the fur trade with it; for when the Indians are drunk, they will leave it to the Albanians to fix the price of the furs. The yachts are pretty large, and have a good cabin, in which the passengers can be very commodiously lodged. They are commonly built of red cedar, or of white oak. Frequently the bottom consists of white oak, and the sides of red cedar, because the latter withstands putrefaction much longer than the former. The red cedar is likewise apt to split, when it hits against any thing ; and the River Hudson is in many parts full of sands and rocks, against which the keel of the yacht sometimes hits : therefore they choose white oak for the bottom, as being the harder wood, and not splitting so easily ; and the bottom being con- tinually under water, is not so much exposed to putrefaction, and holds out longer.
The canoes which the yachts have along with them, are made of a single piece of wood, hollowed out : they are sharp on both ends, fre- quently three or four fathoms long, and as broad as the thickness of the wood will allow. The people in it do not row sitting, but commonly a fellow stands at each end, with a short oar in his hand, with which he governs and brings the canoe forwards. Those which are made here at Albany, are commonly of the white pine : they can do service for eight or twelve years, especially if they be tarred and painted. At Albany they make them of the white pine, since there is no other wood fit for them : at New- York they are made of the tnlip- tree, and in other parts they are made of red or white cedars ; but both these trees are so small, in the neighborhood of Albany, that they are unfit for canoes. There are no seats in the canoes; for if they had any, they would be more liable to be overset, as one could not keep the equilibrium so well.
Battoes are another kind of boats, which are much in use at Albany. They are made of boards of white pine. The bottom is flat, that they may row the better in shallow water : they are sharp at both ends, and somewhat higher towards the end than in the middle. They have seats in them, and are rowed as common boats. They are long, yet not all alike ; commonly three, and sometimes four fathoms long. The height from the bottom to the top of the board (for the sides stand almost per-
265
Kalm's Visit to Albany in 1749.
pendicular) is from twenty inches to two feet, and the breadth in the middle about a yard and six inches. They are chiefly made use of for carrying goods, by means of the rivers, to the Indians ; that is, when those rivers are open enough for the battoes to pass through, and when they need not be carried by land a great way. The boats made of the bark of trees break easily by knocking against a stone, and the canoes cannot carry a great cargo, and are easily overset ; the battoes are therefore preferable to them both. I saw no boats here like those of Sweden and other parts of Europe.
The frost does frequently a great deal of damage at Albany. There is hardly a month in summer, during which a frost does not happen. The spring comes very late ; and in April and May are numerous cold nights, which frequently kill the flowers of trees and kitchen-herbs. It was feared that the blossoms of the apple- trees had been so severely damaged by the frost last May, that next autumn there would be but very few apples. The oak. blossoms are very often killed by the frost in the woods. The autumn here is of long continuance, with warm days and nights. However, the cold nights commonly commence towards the end of September, and are frequent in October. The people are forced to keep their cattle in stables from the middle of November till March or April, and must find them hay during that time.
During summer the wind blows commonly from the south, and brings a great drought along with it. Sometimes it rains a little ; and as soon as it has rained, the wind veers to northwest, blowing for several days from that point, and then returning to the south. I have had frequent opportunities of seeing this change of wind happen very exactly, both this year and the following.
JUNE the 15th. The enclosures were made of boards of fir-wood, of which there is abundance in the extensive woods, and many saw. mills to cut into boards.
The several sorts of apple trees grow very well here, and bear as fine fruit as in any other part of North America. Each farm has a large orchard. They have some apples here which are very large and very palatable : they are sent to New York, and other places, as a rarity. They make excellent cider, in autumn. in the country round Albany.
All the kinds of cherry-trees, which have been planted here, succeed very well.
Pear- trees do not succeed here. This was complained of in many other parts of North America. But I fear that they do not take suffi- cient care in the management and planting of them ; for I have seen fine pears in several parts of North America.
Peach-trees have often been planted here, and never would succeed well. This was attributed to a worm which lives in the ground. and eats through the root, so that the tree dies. Perhaps the severity of the winter contributes much to it.
They plant no other fruit-trees at Albany, besides these I have men- tioned.
They sow as much hemp and flax here, as they want for home con. sumption.
They sow maize in great abundance: a loose soil is reckoned the best for this purpose, for it will not grow in clay. From half a bushel they reap a hundred bushels. They reckon maize a very good kind of corn,
266
Kalm's Visit to Albany in 1749.
because the shoot recovers after being hurt by the frost. They have had examples here of the shoots dying twice in spring, to the very ground ; and yet they shot up again afterwards, and afforded an excel- lent crop. Maize has likewise the advantage of standing much longer against a drought, than wheat. The larger sort of maize which is commonly sown here, ripens in September.
They sow wheat in the neighborhood of Albany, with great advantage. From one bushel they get twelve sometimes : if the soil be good, they get twenty bushels. If their crop amounts only to ten bushels from one, they think it very trifling. The inhabitants of the country round Al- bany are Dutch and Germans. The Germans live in several great villages, and sow great quantities of wheat, which is brought to Albany ; an'l from thence they send many yachts laden with flour to New- York. The wheat flour from Albany is reckoned the best in all North America, except that from Sopus or Kingston, a place between Albany and New- York. Al! the bread in Albany is made of wheat. At New York they pay the Albany flour with several shillings more per hundred weight, than that from other places.
Rye is likewise sown here, but not so generally as wheat.
They do not sow much barley here, because they do not reckon the profits very great. Wheat is so plentiful that they make malt of it. In the neighborhood of New- York, I saw great fields sown with barley.
They do not sow more oats than are necessary for their horses.
The Dutch and Germans who live hereabouts, sow pease in great abundance : they succeed very well, and are annually carried to New- York in great quantities. They have been free from insects for a con- siderable time ; but of late years the same beetles which destroy the pease in Pennsylvania, New-Jersey, and the lower parts of the province of New- York, have likewise appeared abundant among the pease here. It is a real loss to this town, and to the other parts of North America, which used to get pease from hence for their own consumption, and that of their sailors. It had been found that if they procured good pease from Albany, and sowed them near Kingston or the lower part of the province of New- York, they succeeded very well the first year. but were so full of worins the second and following years that nobody could or would eat them. Some people put ashes into the pot. among the pease, when they will not boil or soften well; but whether this is wholesome and agreeable to the palate, I do not know.
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