USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The annals of Albany, Vol IX > Part 21
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
1834.
Jan. 1. A meeting of the common council was held, at which Erastus Corning wa's qualified as mayor.
William S. Shepherd died, aged 26.
Duncan Mc Leod died.
Jan. 7. Hon. D. D. Barnard delivered the introductory lecture before the Young Men's Association, in Knicker- backer Hall.
The legislature met, and the governor, William L. Marcy, transmitted his annual message to the senate, and Azariah C. Flagg, secretary of state, administered the oath of office to the members of assembly.
A fire near the corner of South Market and Church streets destroyed a clothing store.
Jan. 8. A petition was presented to the legislature for the incorporation of the Albany City Bank.
Jan. 9. Sarah, wife of John Cross, died, aged 41.
Jan. 21. Francis Low died, aged 53.
John Charles died, aged 32.
A fire destroyed the morocco factory of Abram Covert in Fox street. Loss estimated at $7000; insured for $5000.
Ratibo
280
Notes from the Newspapers.
Jan. 24. Cornelia, widow of the late Chancellor Lan- sing, died, aged 76.
Jan. 27. At a meeting of the common council Hezekiah Sage, who had a contract for excavating Gallows hill, petitioned the board to release him one eighth of that territory.
A deed of confirmation was granted to the Roman Catholic church of their lot.
George W. Welch was appointed superintendent of the Alms house.
Ann, widow of Dr. Wm. Van Beuren, died.
Jan. 30. An election for alderman and assistant was held in the third ward to fill vacancies occasioned by the death of assistant Mc Pherson, and the resignation of alderman Van Vechten. The following is a report of the votes.
I. W. Staats, 139 Allen Brown, 134
John W. Bay,. 143 W. White, ... 130
Jan. 31. Peter Mc Intosh died, aged 66.
Feb. 5. Mary, wife of Benj. V. Clench, died, aged 67. She was the only daughter of William Shepherd, a well known armorer for the American forces in the revolution- ary war, although a loyalist.
Feb. 8. A fire broke out in the upper story of the old City Hall, corner of South Market and Hudson streets, in a dissecting room, where the unusual phenomena of two bodies were found by the firemen.
Feb. 19. Mrs. Ann Clark died, aged 60.
Feb, 24. The river was open, and the Constellation arrived on the day following.
Eliza, wife of Nicholas Efner, died, aged 24.
Feb. 28. A fire broke out in Washington street, No 55, occupied by James Brown & Sons, tailors; loss $1000.
March 3. A brick house in State street continued was damaged by fire to the amount of $500.
William Forest, sometime associated with William Duffey in the management of the Albany theatre, died at Philadelphia. He was a brother of Edwin Forest, the tragedian.
281
Notes from the Newspapers.
March 5. The paper hanging establishment of Lemuel Steele was partially destroyed by fire; loss nearly $3000.
March 10. At a meeting of the common council Peter Allenson, who represented himself to be in poor circum- stances, and to have been long a resident, petitioned to be employed in making coffins for the poor, and lamp posts when needed.
Alderman Wasson reported a bill to amend the law preventing hogs from running at large, providing a fine of $3 for hogs running at large unless ringed. Great stress was laid upon the hardships imposed upon the poor by shutting up the swine.
March 16. Asenath, wife of Henry Hoyt, died, aged 31.
March 18. A very large meeting of citizens opposed to the measures of the administration of Andrew Jackson, more particularly in respect to the removal of the public deposits from the United States bank, was held at the Capitol at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The names signed to the call embraced a great many who had long sided with the democratic party. To render the occasion more impressive many merchants in the business streets closed their shops during the meeting.
March 22. Frances H., wife of Henry L. Webb, died, aged 20.
March 23. Nathan Allen, late of Albany, died at Hud- son, aged 30.
April 5. Hunter & Hoffman issued a new daily paper, under the title of The Daily News, intended to be issued at 12 m., and to contain the leading items of news, and to be entirely divested of a party character.
April 7. At a meeting of the common council George W. Carpenter was elected city surveyor, and Joseph Fisk city marshal.
The masons at work on the new jail had a strike.
April 18. John Fraser died, aged 22.
April 19. William Johnson died, aged 52.
April 20. Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew Lightbody, died, aged 18.
April 21. William Mesick died, aged 38.
282
Notes from the Newspapers.
April 22. Jane, daught. of Rob. Cameron, died, aged 21.
April 23. The bill to incorporate the Albany City bank passed the senate 23 to 7; it had previously passed the house of assembly.
April 25. Solomon D. Townsend died, formely a merchant in this city.
The national republicans and anti masons having united against the democrats took the name of whigs and denominated their opponents tories.
Solomon Southwick published A Layman's Apology for the Appointment of Clerical Chaplains by the Legis- lature, a series of letters which he had published originally in the newspapers under the signature of Sherlock. It was intended to refute the arguments of Thomas Hertell, who attempted to procure the exclusion of chaplains from the legislature.
May 1. The firm of Webster & Skinners was dissolved, Charles R. Webster retiring from business, and the other partners, E. W. & C. Skinner continuing.
May 6. At an election held on this day, the following officers were chosen : WHIG. DEMOCRATIC.
First Ward.
Supervisor. Angus McDuffie, .. 609 Barent P. Staats,. . 404
Assessor ... Green Hall, . 605 George M. Stevens, . 411
Second Ward.
Supervisor. Ichabod L. Judson, . 459 John I. Burton,
Assessor ... Hazael Kane, ... 467 Daniel S. Kittle,. 365
Third Ward.
Supervisor. Egbert Egberts, ... 202 E. R. Satterlee, 117
Assessor ... Elihu Russell, ... 195 John F. Porter, 123
Fourth Ward.
Supervisor. Daniel Wilcox, .... 479 Samuel S. Fowler,. 420
Assessor ... Philip Hooker, ..... 483 Lewis Farnham, . . 415
Fifth Ward.
Supervisor. John Van Ness, Jr., 298 John N. Quackenbush, .. 256 Assessor ... Benjamin Wilson, on both tickets.
The aggregate number of votes cast was 3,621.
The legislature adjourned, after a session of four months and six days.
William Stilwell died, aged 64 years 8 months.
283
Notes from the Newspapers.
The stable of John Townsend was burnt in the evening, and about midnight a fire broke out in the shop of Mat- thew Kline in Middle lane, which destroyed several. dwellings and stores adjoining on North Market and Co- lumbia streets.
May 7. George Ramsey died, aged 36.
May 11. A sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Sprague and a collection taken up in aid of the Polish exiles which were in this city. In consequence of the inclemency of the weather, the sermon was repeated at the Second Dutch church.
May 12. The Albany Female Academy in North Pearl street was opened.
May 17. Barent Visscher died, aged 22, son of the late John B. Visscher.
May 18. George Scott died, aged 25.
May 19. James Gough died, aged 84.
June 9. The books for subscription to the stock of the Albany City bank, were opened, and $283,300 was sub- scribed, towards its capital of $500,000. The next day the subscriptions ran up to $678,200. On the third day the books were closed, the subscriptions amounting to $1,142,900.
June 16. Sarah Ann, wife of Levi N. Bowlsby, died, aged 22.
June 22. Donald McLeod died, " an old and respecta- ble inhabitant."
June 24. Mrs. Mary Merrifield died, aged 78.
June 25. Elizabeth Hun, wife of Bernard S. Van Rens- selaer, died.
June 30. Capt. Stepen W. Johnson died, aged 86.
( 284 )
J. S. BUCKINGHAM IN ALBANY.
[The British traveler, J. Silk Buckingham, who had visited during thirty years of an active life, a great por- tion of Europe, Asia and Africa, in the year 1837 began a tour of the United States, and on his return to Eng- land published his observations in eight volumes. He ar- rived in Albany in the latter part of June, 1838, and gives the following account of the things he saw, and how they took his fancy.]
From Catskill to Albany the river appeared narrower than below, and the banks become more tame in scenery ; but they everywhere preserve the most exuberant fertility, and are thickly interspersed with towns, villages, ham - lets, and single dwellings.
At five o'clock we came in sight of Albany, having passed several small villages and landing places on the way and rapidly approached the town. The appearance presented by it was interesting, and full of promise. The slope of the western bank, on which it stands, repre- sents a city rising upward from the shore of the river to an elevated ridge of land, and the number of towers and domes scattered among the general mass of dwellings one of them, that of the City Hall, having its surface gilded, and several others of a burnished and dazzling white, being overlaid with plating of zinc and tin, gave to the whole a very brilliant aspect.
At half past five we reached the wharf, the boat having accomplished her voyage from New York, of about 150 miles in a period of ten hours and a half, going therefore nearly fifteen miles an hour the whole way. This tri- umph of steam navigation is felt in its fullest force by a voyage upon the Hudson, and especially on arriving at Albany, as it is the very route on which the first experiment was made, the record of which is at once so affecting and so instructive that it can not be made too widely known.
.
285
Buckingham's Sojourn in Albany.
If Fulton and his then doubting friends could but be raised from the dead, and witness now the triumphs of steam on the Hudson and the Mississippi, the Ganges, the Indus, the Tigris, the Euphrates, and the Nile, and still later, across the broad Atlantic, the sensations of both would be very different to those by which they were animated on the first experimental voyage.
We landed at the outer wharf at Albany, amidst a crowd of competitors for the favor of conducting us to the hotel, the stage, or the rail road; and after crossing the long wooden bridge, which stretches across the basin of the great Erie canal, we drove to an excellent house in Pearl street, No. 59, formerly the residence of the late governor De Witt Clinton, in which, indeed, he ended his useful and honorable life-and having comfortable accommodations provided for us there by Mrs. Lockwood, we took up our abode in one of the most agreeable homes that we had yet found since our landing in the United States.
Albany ranks among the very earliest settlements of the Europeans on the continent of North America, hav- ing been first settled by the Dutch so early as the year 1612. It was but three years before this, 1609, that the celebrated English navigator, Hudson, then in the service of the Dutch East India Company, set sail from the Texel in Holland, in search of a northwest passage to India. He was unable to accomplish this object, and on abandoning it as impracticable, he steered southward; and entering the bay of the Chesapeake, there saw the / first settlement of the English at Jamestown, in Virginia.
He afterwards sailed for the Delaware, off which he anchored, and proceeded from thence to Long Island; entered the bay of New York, and sailed up the North river, as it was first named, or Hudson, as it is now called after its first discoverer.
While we were on our passage up from New York to Albany, I was repeatedly led to consider what must have been the feelings of the intrepid commander and his enterprising crew at the scenes of beauty and fertility. .
[ Annals, ix.]
25
286
Buckingham's Sojourn in Albany.
which were perpetually opening upon their sight during their advance up the stream, which they had every reason to believe that they were the first among Europeans to see and admire. Their delight must have been excessive; and the enthusiasm and triumph of the moment must have been worth a year of peril to purchase.
It is said, that though at the first entrance of Hudson into the bay of New York, some of the tribes then occu- pying Long Island, evinced their hostility to his further progress, by attacks in which some of his men were killed and others wounded, yet that as he advanced up the river, he found the Indians less hostile ; expressing by looks and signs, their disposition to give him welcome ; and testifying their spirit by presents of fruits and flowers. .
The report which Hudson and his companions gave, when they returned to Holland, of the size and character of the river, induced the Dutch merchants to form an association for opening a traffic upon it; and the Dutch government granted to this association a monopoly of this trade for a certain period.
It was by this company, that the first settlement was formed where Albany now stands, on a spot then called by the Indians Schaunaugh-ta-da, or Once the Pine Plains. The Dutch here built a fort which was command- ed by Henry Christiaens. It was first called Aurania, till 1620, then Beverwick till 1625, then Fort Orange till 1647, and then Williamstadt, till 1664. It was at once a fort and a factory of trade, and, like other places of this description, advanced gradually in population, and commerce.
It is worthy of remark, that the English puritans who first settled in Massachusetts, originally intended to have sailed from Leyden where they were in exile in 1620, for the Hudson river, on whose banks they contemplated making their home. But the Dutch, anxious to prevent English settlers intruding upon their own colonists, and at the same time unwilling to make any formal opposition to their voyage, for fear of offending the British, are said to have bribed the Dutch captain, in whose ship they
287
Buckingham's Sojourn in Albany.
embarked from Holland, to carry them so far to the northward that they could not reach the river; and hence their first landing and settlement was made on the coast of the Massachusetts.
It was in 1621 that the foundation of the city of Albany was first laid by the Dutch West India Company, who about the same time, founded the city of New Amsterdam, on the island of Manhattan, where New York now stands.
The Dutch settlers at Albany extended themselves gradually from hence eastward into Connecticut, and coming there into collision with the English, disputes arose among them on subjects sufficiently trivial and ludicrous. A formal record of the alleged grievances was kept by the Dutch, and Mr. Grahame* has preserved, in a note to his interesting and valuable history, an extract from this chronicle, in which, as he truly says, "the insignificance of many of these complaints, and the homeliness of the subject matter of others, contrast some- what ludicrously with the pompousness of the titles, and the bitter gravity of the style." Among them are the following:
" April 25, 1640. Those of Hartford have not only usurped and taken in the lands of Connecticut, but have also beaten the servants of their High Mightinesses and the honored company, with sticks and plough-staves-in hostile manner-laming them ; and among the rest, struck Evert Deukings a hole in his head with a stick; so that the blood ran very strongly down his body."
" June 24, 1641. Some of Hartford have taken a hog out of the common, and shut it up out of mere hate, or other prejudices, causing it to starve for hunger in the stye."
" May 20, 1642 .- The English of Hartford have violently cut loose a horse of the honored company that stood bound upon the common."
" May 23, 1642 .- The said English did again drive the company's hogs from the common into the village and pounded them."
* Grahame's History of the United States, vol. ii. p. 165.
288
Buckingham's Sojourn in Albany.
" September 16, 1642 .- Again they sold a young pig which had pastured on the company's lands."
While these grievances were complained of by the Dutch, the same historian records a curious ground of complaint against the latter, and the Swedes, who had settled parts of the country, with them. It was said that several of the Indians attended the religious assemblies of the Europeans, " but with so little edification, that they expressed their amazement at the ill-breeding of the orator, who could exercise the patience of his tribe with such lengthened harangues, without repaying their civility by a distribution of brandy."
In 1664, Charles the second, most unjustly seeking to provoke the Dutch into a war, asserted a claim to the whole of their settlements on the Hudson, under the title of the New Netherlands, and made a grant, by charter, of the territory then actually occupied by the Dutch, to his brother, the Duke of York. Stuyvesant, the Dutch govenor, when he heard of this, and of the subsequent intention to enforce the claim by arms, put himself in the best posture of defense he could; and when he received the summons of the English commander to surrender, communicated to him by a deputation, aft er remon- strating with them in vain as to their unjust pretensions, he ended by saying, " As touching the threads in your conclusion, we have nothing to answer, only that we fear nothing, but what God (who is as just as merciful) shall layupon us; all things being in his gracious disposal ; and we may be as well preserved by him with small forces, as by a great army: which makes us to wish you all happiness and prosperity, and recommend you to his protection." The issue was, however, the ultimate surrender of New York and Albany, to the British authorities, which took place in October, 1664, and in 1667 the territory was formally ceded by the Dutch to the British, in exchange for the colony of Surinam, which the Dutch had taken from the English.
The increase of population in Albany, from the earliest period at which any census appears to have been
289
Buckingham's Sojourn in Albany-
taken, up to 1830, the last year of the decennial num- bering of the people, may be seen from the following figures. In 1790, it was 3,498-in 1800, 5,349-in 1810, 9,356-in 1820, 12,630-in 1830, 24,238. At present it is thought to exceed 30,000; and by 1840, the next year of the census, will probably be 40,000, more than. ten times its numbers 50 years ago.
The rapid prosperity of Albany is not so much to be attributed to the fact of its being the legislative capital of the state of New York, for which its position is well adapted, as to the advantage it enjoys as the chief port of entrepot for almost all the exports and imports of the great maritime emporium at the mouth of its river, New York. This was the case to a certain extent, before the opening of the internal canals; but since these great channels have opened a highway from the Hudson to the lakes of the West, and by them to the noble rivers, Ohio and Mississippi, down to the gulf of Mexico, and by the Arkansas and Red river to the foot of the Rocky moun- tains, while Lake Champlain extends its water carriage towards the banks of the St. Lawrence, and the Hudson opens a way to the Atlantic; since these united advantages have been enjoyed by Albany, her wealth and population have grown with greatly increased rapidity ; and the name of De Witt Clinton, the first projector of the internal communication, and of Fulton, the originator of steam navigation, are justly held in the highest veneration in the spot so much benefited by their joint labors.
The state of New York, of which Albany is the capital, is called, by all Americans, the Empire State, from its territorial extent, its vast resources, its enlarged com- merce,its population, and consequent legislative influence. Its territory is 316 miles in length, and 304 miles in breadth. It contains 47,000 square miles, or 31,080,000 acres. It is, therefore, larger in area than England, Wales and the Isle of Man united, as these are computed by Arrowsmith, in his Geography,to contain only 43,990 square miles.
The records respecting the early history of Albany are
-
290
Buckingham's Sojourn in Albany.
very scanty, and the field of the antiquary is consequently very limited. In a journal called the Schenectady Re- flector, some extracts are given from the earliest minutes of the Albany corporation, of which the following are examples.
In 1746 the corporation ordered 6l to be paid to John Bell, the city whipper, for six months' services.
In 1747 they direct a receipt to be signed by their clerk " for half a barrel of powder received from Sybrant G. Van Schaick, in lieu of the powder he borrowed from the corporation when the governor was here last."
In 1748 they ordered "Mr. Santvoort to pay Robert Lottridge for two gallons of wine .that Mr. Miller bought upon the corporation account, when the governor came."
These and many similar orders demonstrate that our Dutch burghers were good and faithful subjects to their English governors, besides paying a pretty good salary to their city whipper.
Of the topography of this city, the legislative capital of the Empire State, it may be said, that its site is well chosen, being on the west bank of the river Hudson, with the lower portion of the city on a slightly ascending plain, near the stream, which makes it commodious for the transaction of business; while the gradually ascending angle by which it at length attains a steep ascent, and terminates in a lofty and commanding hill, is also favor- able to the imposing appearance of the city on approaching it, to the display of its public buildings at different degrees of elevation, to the convenience of the more opulent inhabitants who desire spacious and airy situations for their dwellings, and also to the general cleanliness and consequent salubrity of every part of the town.
The plan of arrangement and subdivision is not so regular as many of the American cities, but, like New York and Baltimore, while its older parts are remarkably irregular, all its more modern laying out is as symme- trical as could be desired. The principal street, which ascends from the banks of the river and terminates at the foot of the Capitol on the hill, is a noble avenue of at least
291
Buckingham's Sojourn in Albany.
120 feet in breadth; Market street and Pearl street, by which this is intersected at right angles, as these streets run nearly parallel to the river, are also as fine streets as can be desired, of ample breadth, from 80 to 100 feet, shaded on each side by rows of trees, and containing many spacious and excellent mansions, interspersed with places of worship and public buildings, which produce a most agreeable effect.
Here and there are some striking contrasts, to impress on the spectator the difference which a century has made in the style of building and scale of domestic comfort.
The house we occupied at the southeast corner of Pearl and Steuben streets, was a most commodious and delightful mansion; it had formerly been the residence of the late governor, De Witt Clinton, and was equal in size and accommodation to some of the best houses in Baker street, Harley, or other similar streets in the northwest of London. Next door to us was the resi- dence of governor Marcy, the present governor of the state; and next to him was a new mansion, belonging to the president of the Albany bank, Mr. T. W. Olcott, as well finished and fine a building as could be seen in any part of the world-indeed, a sumptuous abode; while on the opposite, or north side of the street, were, in addition to the noble private dwellings, the two projecting Ionic porticos of the Female Academy and the Baptist church, which, with the graceful dome and turret of the latter, made a most beautiful architectural picture, which even an inhabitant of Rome, or Venice, or Genoa, would admire.
In contrast with all this, however, there stood at the northeast corner of Pearl and Steuben streets, and right opposite the house we dwelt in, a Dutch burgher's resi- dence, bearing the date of 1732; its yellow and ill- cemented bricks, its small windows and doors, its low body, and immensely disproportioned sloping roof, covered with tiles of all shapes and fashions, shewing what descripton of city Albany was likely to have been a century ago, and enabling one to judge of the amazing
292
Buckingham's Sojourn in Albany.
advance in opulence, taste and comfort, which had been made since that humble dwelling had been first reared; in this respect the occasional presence of such relics, as land marks, or indexes of the progress of time, and cor- responding progress of improvement, is useful, and no- where more so than in this country.
In the laying out of the new or upper part of the city, care has been taken to appropriate some portion of the space to public squares, for the recreation and health of the population, and public baths are spoken of as being likely to be undertaken by the city authorities.
The shops, or stores, as they are here universally called, are not equal to those of any of the larger cities we had visited, except Washington, which are decidedly inferior to those of Albany; but there are well furnished warehouses here of almost everything needed, and an air of great activity and bustle prevails in the principal busi- ness streets.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.