USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The annals of Albany, Vol. IV > Part 18
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The Three Rivers Point, which is the name of this place, is a very interesting spot. The navigation, by which the provision from the district of Genesee is con- veyed across the lakes, and the salt from the brine-spring, near the borders of Onondago, here joins that by which the provision is procured on the Mohawk River from Albany and all the eastern provinces. The navigation between Albany and the Lakes of Genesee has hitherto been far more frequent than from any of these points to Lake Ontario. But the time can not be distant, when this
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spot, where at present stands no building but an inn, will become the site of an important town. As yet, it is one of the most unhealthy spots in a country by no means re- markable for salubrity. Our 'Squire, who had purchased in Kingston flour for six dollars a barrel, and pork for sixpence a pound, and from the connivance or extraordi- nary blindness of the English officers, conveyed it to the River Oswego, thought now of selling it here with con- siderable profit. He had already disposed of some bar- rels of flour for eight dollars a barrel at the Oswego Falls, and intended to transmit his whole cargo to Salt Springs, where he hopedt o sell it for ten dollars a barrel. But he learned here, that the meeting, relative to the treaty with the Indians, was not to take place; that the country was full of provision; that it was sold at a much lower price than he demanded; and that specie was very scarce. He was, therefore, necessitated to give up his fond hopes, and embrace the resolution of proceeding somewhat farther in quest of purchasers.
I entertained some hope that, on account of this dis- appointment, we should this afternoon proceed some miles farther, when a vessel arrived, on board of which were Messrs. RENSSELAER, HENRY, and STOUTS, all inhabitants of Albany, of great respectability. The first was not yet perfectly recovered from a fever, which had left him in some measure, but still carried all the symptoms of an intermittent. These gentlemen intended not to proceed farther. Mr. Vanallen proposed to delay his departure. until the next morning, to travel in their company; he introduced us to them, and a glass of good wine, which they carried with them (they travelled all much at their ease), consoled Dupetitthouars as well as myself for this new delay.
The passage to Lake Oneida was attended with less diffi- culties, than that of the preceding days; we found it ex- cellent travelling in the company of the gentlemen of Albany, one of whom was brother to the deputy-gover- nor of New York, the second one of the richest mer- chants of Albany, and the third a very respectable law- yer; their behavior was frank and polite.
At Rotterdam Mr. Vanallen found an opportunity
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of selling his whole cargo, as well as one of his vessels, but at lower price than he hoped to obtain. His flour he sold for eight dollars a barrel, and at the Oswego Falls for eight dollars and a quarter.
We counted on advancing a few miles on the Wood Creek, before we should stop, when we fell in with our company from Albany, who had halted at the mouth of the lake. A fit of the ague had obliged Mr. Van Rensse- laer to put a period to this day's journey at two o'clock in the afternoon. The gentlemen proposed to us, to stop likewise; our conductor accepted the proposal, and our consent was a matter of course.
Although our party had formed the bold resolution of pushing on to the head of Mohawk River, we halted at Canada Creek, resolved to let the vessel proceed onwards in moonshine, and to pursue, ourselves, the voyage on the next morning at break of day.
In the whole course of our navigation on the Wood Creek, twenty-four miles in length, we saw not one build- ing, and found but one spring, called Oakorchard, which was four minutes filling a small glass, and the water of which was but of a middling quality. Messrs. Van Rens- selaer and Vanallen, the two sick members of our party, made the tour on horseback; Mr. Henry, Mr. Stouts, and myself, travelled on foot; and Dupetitthouars, pas- sionately fond of vessels and navigation, followed the boats to help them along.
Having, at length, reached the place on the River Mo- hawk, where we were to embark, we found Mr. Rensse- laer in a fit of the ague. An hour after, arrived the mate of Mr. Vanallen's vessel, seized with the same illness, and last of all came Dupetitthouars, the Hercules of our party, complaining of pains in his limbs, head-ache, and cold shiverings. Independently of my apprehension for my companion, I most devoutly wished to see the end of this passage, and yet our arrival in Albany was continually delayed by new obstructions. The navigation of the Mohawk River is fortunately not like that of the rivers we have passed lately. We descend gently with the
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stream; and although its channel is in some places ob- structed with trees, yet they may be easily cleared.
[The travelers reached Schenectady, after much fatigue, the Duke observing a great deal by the way to make note of, which being foreign to this work, is necessarily omitted.]
Skenectady is a small town, as old as Albany, and con- taining mostly old houses, built in the Dutch style, which give it altogether the appearance of an ancient European city. The Mohawk River, which is here closely hemmed in, takes a large sweep in the vicinity of this town; and a cataract renders the navigation impossible. You here quit the vessel, and proceed by land to Albany. The possibility of constructing a canal, by which the falls as well as other impediments of the navigation of the Mo- hawk River may be avoided, is acknowledged on all hands; and plans, it is asserted, are in contemplation, to facilitate the painful passage we have just made,. and to supercede the necessity of occasional land-carriage. This would be a great and useful undertaking, equally hon- orable and advantageous for the State of New York. Vessels of fifteen or twenty tons burthen, it is said, might be employed in this navigation, which would thus become an outlet far preferable to that of the River St. Law- rence, which admits of only boats of three or four tons burthen. We have heard it reported in Upper Canada, it is true, that with an expense of one million two hun- dred thousand pounds sterling an uninterrupted naviga- tion might be opened from London to Niagara. But in- dependently of one million two hundred thousand pounds sterling being a pretty large sum, the whole project is the work of an adventurer, whose wishes are easily converted into hopes, and whose hopes speedily mature to opinions, the erroneousness of which frequently time only developes.
The information, which I was able to collect respect- ing Skenectady, is as follows. The settlement was originally formed by Brabanters, in the year 1662; but in latter times most of the colonists arrived from New Eng- land, and so they do at present. Two thirds of the territory of Skenectady, which comprises one hundred
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and twenty-eight square miles, are already cleared; the good soil is five feet, and on eminences two feet in depth ; good land yields from twenty-five to thirty bushels of wheat an acre; land of inferior quality from twelve to fifteen; agriculture, as well as the price of provision, is much the same as in the more advanced parts; winter lasts, in regard to agricultural operations, from Novem- ber till April; the grain suffers but very seldom, and in a trifling degree, from the Hessian fly, and from blights; the climate is healthy; the usual mart for the production of the country is Albany. The Episcopal is the preva- lent religion; although the town contains also a church for German Lutherans, and one for Presbyterians. The Germans were also the most liberal benefactors to the institution of a college, which was incorporated last year (1794), and the property of which, raised by subscrip- tions and other means, amounts already to forty-two thousand two hundred and twenty-two dollars, and- one thousand six hundred acres of land, given by the states .*
Skenectady is the emporium as well for the provision, which comes down the Mohawk River, designed for Al- bany, as for the merchandise, which from the stores at Albany is transmitted to the countries, intersected by the Mohawk River and other streams, flowing into the former as far as the district of Genesee. The township of Skenectady contains about three thousand five hundred souls.f It is the frontier-town of the county of Albany towards Montgomery. The capital of this county is Albany; the county of Albany contains about thirty thousand inhabitants, of whom two thousand five hun- dred are slaves.
* The College alluded to by the author, is Union College, which took its name from the union of various denominations of Christians in its establishment. The faculty of this college consisted, in 1797, of the president and one tutor, and the number of students was thirty-seven .- Translator.
1 By the State Census of 1796, the township of Skenectady con- tains three thousand four hundred and seventy-two inhabitants, of whom six hundred and eighty-three are electors, and three hundred and eighty-one slaves .- Translator.
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In Skenectady we took our leave of Mr. Vanallen, who, in addition to the civilities shewn us in the whole course of our voyage, declined also to accept any money for our passage, on the ingenious pretence, that, as we carried our provisions with us, we had not in the least encreased his expense. We remain, therefore, in many respects, under great obligations to this gentleman.
Mr. Vanallen had business to transact in Skenectady, and we wished to reach Albany as soon as possible. A stable-keeper engaged to carry us the same night to Albany, though it was already late; we took accordingly our seats in his waggon, bolstered with straw. About four miles from Skenectady, the driver informed us, that he could not proceed farther. Grumbling, we submitted, therefore, to the necessity of taking up our night's lodg- ing in a bad inn, where, as soon as Dupetitthouars had occupied the only bed which was in the house, I entered into a conversation with the landlord and our driver, which turned upon politics, the universal topic in this country. Since we have set foot in the territory of the United States, we find newspapers in every village. My new acquaintances were people of uncouth manners, and without the least education; but their opinions were just and sensible, and their judgments extremely correct. They manifested a strong attachment to France, and most earnestly wished her success. They hate England, confide in their President, and speak of DE LA FAYETTE with tears in their eyes. This universal attachment of the Americans to De la Fayette, and the grateful senti- ments of him expressed by all without exception, though in the course of the French Revolution he acted a part not approved by all, refute in a forcible manner the charge of levity and ingratitude frequently preferred against the Americans. " May he come," said a man to us this morning who was riding on horseback by the side of our carriage, "May the Marquis come, we will make him rich. It is through him that France made us free ; never shall we be able to do so much for him, as he has done for us."
After a three hours' journey through a country, which
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is much like the woods of Anjou, sandy, covered with fern, and bearing none but sickly trees, we at length ar- rived at Albany.
Albany is one of the most ancient settlements in North America; it was formed in the year 1660; and the town incorporated in 1686. The history of this city, which occurs in all descriptions of the United States, I shall pass over in silence. It is seated one hundred and sixty- five miles from New York, has a harbour, and a very extensive trade. Ships of eighty. tons burthen sail up to. the town ; and the trade is carried on in vessels of this size. A sort of sand-bank, three miles below Albany, renders the navigation rather difficult ; yet it is easily cleared with the assistance of pilots acquainted with it, and no ship arrives without one of them on board. This impediment, it is asserted, might easily be removed at a trifling expense ; and ships of a much larger size might then anchor near the city. The navigation of the river from the north country is open from the middle of April until the middle of November. The trade of Albany is chiefly carried on with the produce of the Mohawk country, and extends eastward as far as agriculture and cultivated lands expand. The State of Vermont, and a part of New Hampshire furnish also many articles of trade; and the exports chiefly consist in timber and lum- ber of every sort and description, potatoes, potash and pearlashes, all species of grain, and lastly in manufac- tured goods. These articles are, most of them, trans- ported to Albany in winter on sledges, housed by the merchants, and by them successively transmitted to New York, where they are either sold for bills on England, or exchanged for English goods, which are in return sent from Albany to the provinces, whence the articles for ex- portation were drawn. Business is, therefore, carried on entirely with ready money, and especially in regard to. pot-ash; not even the most substantial bills are accepted in payment. The trade of Albany is carried on in ninety vessels, forty-five of which belong to inhabitants of the town, and the rest to New York or other places. They are in general of seventy tons burthen, and make upon
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the average ten voyages a year, which, on computing the freights outwards and homewards, produces a total of one hundred and twenty-six thousand tons of shipping for the trade of Albany. Every ship is navigated by four men; the master is paid twenty dollars a month, if he have no share in the ship, the mate fifteen, and a sea- man nine. There is also generally a cabin-boy on board, or more frequently a cook, as few ships have less than eight passengers on board, either coming up or going down. The freight of goods is usually one shilling a hun- dred weight; but this varies, according to their value, or the room they occupy.
The trade of Albany is very safe, but seems not to be very profitable. The neat proceeds of a voyage amount upon an average to about one hundred dollars, which makes for the whole year one thousand dollars for a ship, a profit by no means considerable. If you add to this the money paid by passengers for their passage, which amounts to ten shillings a head, making from seventeen to twenty dollars a voyage, and from one hundred and seventy to two hundred dollars for the ten voyages, which are made in the course of the year, the whole yields but a very moderate profit, which is however encreased by the sale of the goods. This is as yet the usual way in which trade is carried on by this city; it deprives the merchants of Albany of a considerable profit, and throws it into the hands of those of New York. Some of the . former undertake indeed voyages to England, Holland, and other countries ; but, for this purpose, they charter New York vessels. These are the bolder people ; and are called men of the new notions, but their number is small.
The ancient customs and confined views of the timid, yet covetous Dutchmen, have e trefully been preserved in this city. No ship sails from Albany directly to Europe; and yet provision is sent thither from this place. It is evident that, if the inhabitants would take themselves the trouble of exporting their produce, they would save useless interest, the return-freight, and double commission, and would obtain employment for their ships during the time when the navigation to the north is shut up by ice.
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Rochefoucault-Liancourt in Albany,. 1795.
Ideas of this complexion begin to dawn upon the minds of some merchants, and will no doubt, produce advan- tageous changes. From the same habitual apathy the merchants of Albany relinquish the trade in horses and mules, great numbers of which are reared in the neigh- bourhood, to the Connecticut merchants, who purchase and export them with considerable profit, to the Antilles.
The building of ships costs in Albany about twenty- seven dollars and half per ton. The ships are all fir- built, and last about ten years. Experiments have been made, which prove, that ships built of dry and well sea- soned timber, last thirty years and upwards. The trade of Albany grows daily more extensive; and the number of shops and ships is increasing fast. Two new towns, built five or six years ago, a few miles above Albany, on the northern bank of the river, share in this trade. These two towns, which have rapidly raised themselves to a considerable degree of importance, and are but three. or four miles distant from each other, carry on the same trade as Albany with about twenty-five or thirty vessels, which belong to them, draw from the back country the productions of these fruitful provinces, transmit them to New York, take in return European goods, and supply with them those parts, which were formerly supplied from Albany. The greater distance, however, and less depth of water, are circumstances unfavorable to these new towns. The freight thence to Albany is two-pence per barrel; their largest ships are only of sixty tons burthen, and generally can not take on board more than half their cargo, the remainder of which they receive from lighters, which attend them for that purpose in the vicinity of Albany. Yet, they continue their trade, encrease daily, and will probably animate Albany to greater boldness and activity. New City contains about sixty or seventy stores or shops, and Troy fifty or sixty. These new-set- tled merchants all prosper, and their number is daily encreasing. The merchants of Albany, it is reported, view this growing prosperity of their neighbors with an evil eye, and consider it as an encroachment upon their native rights. If this be true, the jealousy of the mer-
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chants of Albany must be the result of their ignorance and confined views. The provinces, which contribute their produce to support this trade, are yet far from having attained to the highest degree of cultivation ; many parts, equally proper for that purpose, but are little cultivated; and others yet uncleared. Towns will be built still farther northwards than Troy and New City; others will be erected even on the western side of the river, while, at the same time, the greater number of settlements and encreased population, will augment the produce and wants, and every town, whether ancient or new, experience an increase of business beyond what it will be able to do.
Albany contains six thousand inhabitants, two thou- sand of whom are slaves, as the laws of the State of New York permit slavery. The old houses are built in the Dutch style, with the gable-end to the street; the pyramidal part rising in steps, and terminating in a chimney decorated with figures, or in some iron puppets. All the buildings, which have been erected within these last ten years, are constructed of bricks in the English style, wide and large.
The revenue of the city amounts to about thirty-five thousand dollars a year. It possesses a great quantity of land in the neighbouring country, and also sells the quays on the river at two dollars and half per foot, and a ground-rent of one shilling, which is irredeemable. This revenue is partly owing to the economy of the ad- ministrators, who have hitherto endeavored rather to enrich the city than to embellish it, and render it more convenient. The senate is, at present, composed of young men, who promise to take care of these articles. But, from the ignorance, apathy, and antiquated ideas, which prevail in this city, it is much to be apprehended, lest the results of their exertions should prove but very trifling for a long time to come. I almost incline to think, that young people here are old born.
A bank, which was instituted here four years ago, pro- motes the trade of Albany; it consists of six hundred shares of four hundred dollars each, only half of which
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have hitherto been paid. The yearly dividend is nine per cent, besides what is deducted for the expence of the building in which the bank is kept.
There is in Albany a Dutch Lutheran church of a Gothic and very peculiar construction; the Episcopa- lians, Presbyterians, German Protestants, and Methodists, possess also churches in this town.
The price of land, in the vicinity of Albany, is from sixty-three to seventy-five dollars per acre. Some lands near the river are still dearer. These are remarkably good ; but those which are situated more backwards are but of a middling quality. Agriculture is not attended to with peculiar care; the farms lie half in grass and half in corn. No country had ever stronger incitements to perfect its agriculture and industry ; for none was ever furnished with outlets more safe and less expensive.
Some manufactories have been established at a small distance from the town, among which is a glass house, in which both window glass and bottles are made. The former is pretty smooth, and the manufactory is carried on with much activity, Mr. CALDHOWELL possesses also . near the town extensive works, where tobacco, mustard, starch, and cocoa mills, are turned by water, and even every accessory labour is performed by the aid of water machinery .* The tobacco-mill is the most import- ant part of these works; about one hundred and fifty thousand pounds are yearly manufactured. Last sum- mer (July 1794) a complete set of similar works having been consumed by fire, Mr. Caldwell's friends immediately opened a loan of twenty thousand pounds at the bank, and the legislative body of New York resolved also last session to assist him with a sum of the same amount. I am to add in honour of Mr. Caldwell, with whom I am not acquainted, that nearly all the labouring people in the city, in consequence of this unfortunate accident,
* These valuable works, which are decidedly superior to any of the kind in America, are situated one mile north of the city, in the suburbs. The ingenious proprietor, whose true name is JAMES CALDWELL, has obtained a patent for the invention of the water ma- chinery, which is truly admirable .- Translator.
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subscribed several days' labour, as a voluntary contribu- tion to the reconstruction of these works, which are truly grand and beautiful. They give employment and subsistence to fifty persons, some of whom receive one hundred dollars a year; children, nine years old, can earn from six shillings to one dollar a week. Tan-yards, corn, oil, paper, and fulling-mills, have also been erected in the surrounding country; and labourers are found in abundance. The wages of common day-labourers amount to four shillings and six-pence a day, and to seven shil- lings in harvest.
Hospitality to strangers seems not to be a prominent feature in the character of the inhabitants of Albany; the few, with whom we got acquainted, looked extremely dull and melancholy. They live retired in their houses with their wives, who sometimes are pretty, but rather aukward in their manners; and with whom their hus- bands scarcely exchange thirty words a day, although they never address them but with the introductory ap- pellation of " my love." Exceptions, undoubtedly, exist in regard to the charms of the ladies, as well as to the conduct and conversation of the husbands; but, it is as- serted, they are very few.
The Schuylers and Rensselaers are the most respect- able families in point of wealth and interest; having in- termarried with each other, their influence is altogether irresistible in the county. The Schuylers are endowed with more talents and knowledge; but the Rensselaers possess more riches; and money is a powerful spring in the management of a state. General Schuyler bears the character of a man of much acuteness, and uncommon abilities. He is frequently employed in state affairs ; and it is his earnest wish, to promote and raise the navigation, industry, and prosperity of his country. He is father-in- law to the celebrated Mr. Hamilton. General Schuyler, who generally accommodates his daughters with rich husbands, gave one of them in marriage, five years ago, to that famous orator, from respect for his talents, though he was poor. I should not omit observing, that I speak of General Schyuler without having ever seen him.
Copied from the Frifin ] Sketched Lein " Hownal & Paid To Win Bulut
VIEW OF THE GREAT COMOES FALLS OF THE MOEAUK HIVER
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Rochefoucault-Liancourt in Albany, 1795.
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