The annals of Albany, Vol. V, Part 16

Author: Munsell, Joel, 1808-1880
Publication date: 1850-1859
Publisher: Albany : J. Munsell
Number of Pages: 374


USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The annals of Albany, Vol. V > Part 16


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


218


Rev. Henry Barclay.


tions of the French led them to disaffection towards their rulers, and in some measure alienated their minds from the pastor himself. In this melancholy situation he received the news of his being elected rector of Trinity church. He remained nearly three months in suspense, out of a sincere regard for the interests of religion among the native Indians, when, seeing no prospect of being further serviceable to them at present, and being no long- er able to abide with safety among them, he accepted of that church, and was inducted into it, October 22, 1746." (Dr. Berrian's History Trinity Church, N. Y., pp. 65-67.) The degree of doctor of divinity was conferred upon him by the University of Oxford, in January, 1761.


The following letter, written by the Rev. Thomas Barclay, the father of the above, is valuable as giving an interesting picture of the religious condition of Albany and Schenectady, at that early period. It is directed to the secretary, and dated Albany, September 26th, 1710.


Honoured Sir: As I did begin from my first coming to Albany, so I go on to catechise the youth; and it hath pleased God to bless my weak endeavours that way, for a great many Dutch children, who at my first arrival were altogether ignorant of the English tongue, can dis- tinctly say our catechism, and make the responses at prayers. Every Sunday, after the second lesson at eve- ning prayer, I explain some part of the catechism in as plain and familiar a manner as I can, shunning all con- troversies, teaching them such fundamental doctrines as are necessary and tend most to promote piety and a good life. I have taught the scholars the prayers appointed for charity schools, and I have used all possible methods to engage the children to their duty, both by the giving of small presents to the most forward and diligent, and by frequently visiting their schools; and for encouraging the school masters I give them what charity is collected in our church, obliging them to bring their scholars to public prayers.


At Schenectady I preach once a month, where there is a garrison of forty soldiers, besides about sixteen English and about one hundred Dutch families; they are all of


219


Rev. Henry Barclay.


them my constant hearers. I have this summer got an English school erected amongst them, and in a short time, I hope, their children will be fit for catechising. Schenectady is a village situated upon a pleasant river, twenty English miles above Albany and the first castle of the Indians is twenty-four miles above Schenectady. In this village there has been no Dutch minister these five years, and there is no probability of any being settled among them. There is a convenient and well built church which they freely gave me the use of. I have taken pains to show them the agreement of the articles of our church with theirs. I hope in some time to bring them, not only to be constant hearers, but communicants.


Mr. Lydius, the minister of the Dutch congregation at Albany, died the first day of March last. He was a good pious man, and lived in entire friendship with me; sent his own children to be catechised. At present there is no Dutch minister at Albany, neither is any expected till next summer; and from New York to the utmost bounds of my parish, there is no minister but myself; most of the inhabitants are Dutch, the garrison excepted, which consists of three companies, each company one hundred men. In the city and county of Albany there are about three thousand souls, besides the garrison : in the mean time some of the Dutch children I have baptized, and married several, and other parts of the service I have performed in the Dutch tongue, and more of them would accept my ministry, but that Mr. De Bois, minister of the Dutch congregation of New York, comes sometimes to Albany; he is a hot man, and an enemy to our church, but a friend to his purse, for he has large contributions from this place. As for myself I take no money, and have no kind of perquisite. I have used all moderation towards dissenters in this country. There is none but those of the Dutch church, and I found two only not bap- tized, the one born in West Jersey and bred a Quaker; him I have brought over to our church, and christened him the first day of this year; the other is an Old Eng- land man, but of a loose life; so soon as I can bring him off his wicked courses, I design to baptize him.


220


Rev. Henry Barclay.


Since the death of Mr. Lydius, the Indians have no ministers; there are about thirty communicants, and of the Dutch church, but so ignorant and scandalous, that they can scarce be reputed Christians. The sachems of the five nations, viz: of the Masque, Oneydas, Onnon- dages, Cayougas, and Senekas, at a meeting with our governor, Col. Hunter, at Albany the 10th August last, when his excellency in his speech to them asked them if they were of the same mind with those four Indians that had been over with Col. Schuyler in desiring missionaries to be sent, and they answered they were, and desired to have forts among them and a church, and that Mr. Free- man, present minister of the Dutch congregation at Flatbush, near New York, be one of those two missiona- ries which the queen promised to send them. This Mr. Freeman, five years ago was minister of Schenectady, and converted several of the Indians; he has acquired more skill in their language than any Dutch minister that has been in this country, and Mr. Dellias is not so well skilled in that tongue; a great part of our liturgy he has translated into the Indian tongue, in particular morning and evening prayer, the litany, the creed of St. Athanasius, &c., besides several places of the Old and New Testament. He told me when he read to them the litany, they were mightily affected with it. He is a gen- tleman of good temper, and well affected to our church, and if there were a bishop in this part of the world, would be persuaded to take Episcopal ordination, I often entreat him to go over to England, but he is afraid of the danger of the voyage, and his wife will not consent to live among the Indians; he has promised to give me his manuscripts, and what he has done into the Indian tongue.


I am sorry to tell you, Sir, that I am afraid the mis- sionaries that are coming over, will find hard work of it, and if the commander of that fort be not a person of sin- gular piety and virtue, all their endeavours will be inef- fectual; these, here, that trade with them, are loath that any religion get any footing among them; besides, these savages are so given to drinking of that nasty liquor,


221


Rev. Henry Barclay.


rum, that they are lost to all that is good. I must tell you that the Masque, of whom one of the four that were lately in England was a sachem, have not above fifty men. All the five nations can not make two thousand, and of these, in number, the Senekas, are near one thousand, and most of them are in the French interest. Hendrick, the great prince that was so honored in England, can not command ten men; the other three were not sachems. How far her majesty and the society have been imposed upon, I leave it to you to judge. I beg leave also to tell you, that the missionaries that are sent over, must have an honorable allowance and large presents to give, other- wise they will have but few proselytes; and great care must be taken that they be well used, otherwise their mis- sion will prove ineffectual as Mr. Moor's, and how he de- feated the design of his mission, Col. Schuyler best knows.


I have now worried you with a long letter, and shall only add, that I shall be always ready to follow the direc- tions of the society, and to endeavor all that in me lieth to propogate religion where it is not, and cultivate it where it is established.


( 222 )


CAPT. ANTHONY VAN SANTVOORD.


[From the Albany Daily State Register, April 5, 1852.]


An aged citizen died a few days ago [March 17, 1852], who was one of the last remaining relics of a class of men who were once of no little importance and usefulness in Albany. We allude to Capt. ANTHONY VAN SANT- VOORD, who died at his late residence on North Broadway, at the patriarchal age of 91 years. He was a grandson of Rev. Cornelius Van Santvoord, who was sent out from Holland to take charge of a Dutch Church, and settled in Schenectady. The family still preserve the sermons of their ancestor, written more than a century ago, in the Dutch language, the penmanship of which is beau- tiful. In the prime of his life, Capt. Van Santvoord was master of a sloop, trading between this city and New York, and at all the intermediate points. With the exception of Capt. JOHN BOGART (who is still alive, though in very feeble health) [since dead], and Capts. GEORGE MONTEATH and BARNUM WHIPPLE, Capt. VAN SANTVOORD was the last of the able skippers, who, before steamboats, railroads or electric telegraphs had been ever dreamed of by the fastest progress man in the world, did all the freighting business of the Hudson, and during the season of navigation, carried to and fro all the trav- elers whose business or pleasure called them from their quiet homes, to journey up or down that noble river. In those days-within the comparatively brief compass of two-thirds of a century-the whole number of passen- gers reached but a few hundreds in a year. Now, with the facilities which are offered by the most splendid inland steamers the world can boast of, and a rail road, over which the impetuous, irresistible iron horse thun- ders every day, at a rate of speed that would have made our good old Dutch skippers wild to have even dreamed


223


Capt. Anthony Van Santvoord.


of, the multitude of travelers is numbered by millions. Such is one of the changes which the lapse of but a few years has worked.


At the time of the death of Capt. Van Santvoord, Capt. Bogart was but eight days his senior. When his friend, Dr. WYNKOOP, called to invite him to attend the funeral of his old companion, he burst into tears, and while regretting the infirmities which prevented him from paying that last tribute to the memory of his departed friend, remarked that he had long thought he should be the first to take that returnless voyage.


Capt. Van Santvoord was born in September, 1761. His birth place was in what is now called Broadway, not far from the present site of the Delavan House. What remarkable changes he lived to witness! When he was a boy of four or five years of age, Mrs. Grant, the celebrated authoress of Memoirs of an American Lady, was a girl, residing with Madame Schuyler, the American lady whom she eulogizes.


Compare her primitive and rural picture of Albany, with what it is now, and as the honest old skipper saw it in his last years-a large and beautiful city, compactly built up over nearly the whole space spoken of by Mrs. Grant, and teeming with a population of more than 50,- 000 souls. At that time the city contained about 440 houses, and in 1786, when Van Santvoord was over 20 years of age and working at his trade as a journeyman ship carpenter, the whole number of houses was but 550, and the entire population of the city was something under 4000 souls. It was then, immediately after the Revolution, the sixth city in the Union in point of popu- lation. Albany became a city in 1686, and the capital of the state in 1807.


We do not know at what period of his life Mr. Van Santvoord became master of a sloop. He retired from that business about 30 years ago, having, by his industry and perseverance, acquired a fair competence.


The sturdy and honest zeevaarderen who navigated the Hudson in the last and at the opening of the present century, were highly prized in their day. Their vessels,


224


Capt. Anthony Van Santvoord.


though small, were models of neatness and compactness, built for service rather than for speed, and scarcely ever failed to carry paying cargoes of freight and passengers. There was no feverish hurry in those good old times, and we read of voyages between Albany and New York which occupied from 4 to 14 days each way. The skip- per put on board all the freight he could procure, either at New York or Albany, and as they floated along, com- municated with the shore at every point where a signal was displayed, indicating that either freight or passen- gers might be had for the trouble of sending in a boat. These stops were frequent, and independent of the regu- lar landing places; and they were not unfrequently long ones, if it chaneed to suit the convenience of the skip- per to go on shore himself, to chat with a friend, or take a luncheon and a drink of buttermilk, or mayhap of schnaps. If a storm arose with a baffling wind dead ahead, there was no beating or tacking to be thought of. Down went the anchor, and all hands waited patiently for a change in their favor. The world jogged along easily then. There was no hurry, no hurrying; for whatever was done, good and ample time was taken.


The old Dutch skippers by no means confined them- selves always to the Hudson river. They made voyages to points on the Atlantic coast, and even to the West Indies. The sloop Olive Branch, Capt. Abraham Blood- good,* made a trip to the West Indies in 1770, with a curiously assorted cargo of Albany merchandise, consist-


* Messrs. EDITORS: In your interesting notice of the Albany navi- gators, the other day, you mentioned the name of ABRAHAM BLOOD- GOOD, as the captain of the Olive Branch, which made a successful trip to the West Indies in 1770. In the course of some examinations I had occasion recently to make in relation to descents, I learned some things from the Dutch records in regard to that enterprising mer- chant's family, which is new even to his descendants. He was the grandson of Francis Bloetgoet, of Long Island, the name being after- wards Anglicized. This personage was known in the time of An- thony Colve, as "Chief of the Dutch Nation," residing in Flushing, Newtown, Hempsted, &c., and there is a record of this fact in the Secretary of State's office, as well as a part of the instructions given him by the Governor, in relation to the duties he had to perform


225


Capt. Anthony Van Santvoord.


ing of flour, herrings, horses, staves, turkeys, geese, peas, onions, lumber, apples, water casks, and "one Negroe man, the property of Mr. Staats," all of which he sold at Antigua for about $3000, and in exchange for which he brought back 81 pounds of cotton, then a rare article here, 24 hhds. of rum, 12 bbls. of limes, &c., which he sold for upwards of $2000. But the most remarkable of all the sloop expeditions from this port, was the voyage of the sloop Experiment to China and back. (See Annals, vol. i, p. 258, et. seq.) In 1771 the number of sloops running between Albany and New York was about 125. Half were owned in either city. They each made about twenty trips a year, or ten voyages. They were of about 70 tons burden, with ample cabins, manned by a captain, pilot, one sailor and a cook. For freight, from 12} to 15 cents was paid per cwt., and the price of passage was from $1.25 to $2.00. Each vessel received about $1000 per annum, for freight, and about $250 for fare. John Maude, an Englishman, who visited Albany in 1800, describes his voyage from New York in the sloop Sally, with 24 passengers, and not berths for that number- " passage $2 each; board and liquors as may happen!" They left on Saturday, and reached Albany on Wednes- day, making the trip in about 4 days. That was ordi- nary speed on the Hudson, half a century ago. Now the distance between the two cities is made by steam boat in less than 8 hours, and by rail road in 4 hours !


Maude relates, however, that this same " sloop Sally" made the quickest passage that had then ever been made


towards those under his authority, on the threatened invasion of the Province of New York. He was also one of Colve's official counsel- ors, and on one occasion was sent on an important diplomatic expe- dition to the Swedish settlements on the Delaware. His descendants in the direct line have for many generations retained the name of Francis, exclusively.


Abraham Bloodgood was one of about a dozen persons, who, with George Clinton, met at the Vander Heyden house in North Pearl street, and there established the local party known as The Albany Anti- Federalists, and during a life engaged in an active and successful business, enjoyed the esteem and intimacy of all the distinguished Democrats of the times


[ Annals v.] 18


226


Cahoos Falls.


on the river between New York and Albany-16 hours! This was much greater speed than the first steamboats attained to, and for a long time a sloop with a good wind found it no difficult matter to outsail them. But that was a good while ago.


Capt. Bogart* is now the oldest survivor of the Dutch skippers of the last and the first of the present century. Capt. Monteath is about eighty, and Capt. Whipple about seventy-five years of age. Among those who have died within a few years, are the father of the late Dr. Peter Wendell, the fathers of Mr. Samuel Pruyn, and Mr. John Van Schoonhoven, and others whose names do not occur to us. All the relics of the olden times of Albany are gradually disappearing, and will soon be swept away by the irresistible and ever onward march of time and change.


Capt. Van Santvoord was a steady and consistent member of the Dutch Reformed Church in this city for over seventy years. In his youth, and down till 1805, when it was demolished, he worshiped in the old edifice that stood at the junction of State street and Broadway, which was erected in 1656, and which was more than a century old when Mr. Van Santvoord was born. He afterwards attended the Dutch Church in Beaver street (now Dr. Wyckoff's), but in the last years of his life he wasa member and regular attendant of the North Dutch Church (Dr. Kennedy's).


CAHOOS FALLS.


From the Sentimental American Traveler.


The Cahoos Falls, though deservedly reckoned among the natural curiosities of this country, are only worthy the attention of a Sentimental Traveler from the following circumstance :


Many years since, an Indian and a squaw, having made too free with the bottle, were carelessly paddling along the Mohawk in their canoe. On a sudden, perceiving


* Capt. Bogart died in 1853.


227


Cahoos Falls.


themselves irresistibly drawn by the current and hurried down the stream to the dreadful cataract, looking upon their fate as inevitable, they composed themselves to die with resolution, in a manner worthy of their ancestors. They drank the last dregs of the intoxicating cup, and began the melancholy Death Song.


Occuna was dashed into pieces against the rocks; his faithful consort escaped, but by what miracle has never been known. The Indians of their tribe have preserved. this incident by faithful tradition, and as often as any of them pass the fatal spot, they make a solemn halt, and commemorate the death of Occuna.


They have even remembered the song that the lovers alternately chanted while hurrying into the jaws of dis- solution. The following is a literal translation, though I am sensible much of the force and beauty of the original is wanting :


" Daughter of a mighty warrior! the great MANITOW calls me hence; he bids me hasten into his presence: I hear his voice in the stream; I perceive his spirit in the moving of the waters."


" Art thou not thyself a mighty warrior, O Occuna! Hath not thy hatchet been repeatedly bathed in the blood of thine enemies! Hath the fleet deer ever escaped thy arrows, or the beaver eluded thy pursuit? Why, then, shouldst thou fear to go into the presence of MANITOW?"


" MANITOW regardeth the brave-he respecteth the prayer of the mighty! When I selected thee from the daughters of thy mother, I promised to live and die with thee. The Thunderer has called us together."


" Welcome, O shade of Oriska, great chief of the in- vincible Senecas! Lo a warrior, and the daughter of a warrior, come to join you in the feast of the blessed."


At this song, say the Indians, even fate relented and MANITOW had spared the chief, but that the decree of Heaven was irrevocable. Yet his magnanimity was well rewarded. Raised high above the regions of the Moon, he views with joy the prosperous huntings of the warriors; he gives pleasant dreams to his friends, and terrifies their enemies with disastrous omens.


1


228


REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY


IN THE CITY OF ALBANY AND THE ASSESSED VALUE OF EACH.


-


The steady progress and growth of our city, is plainly indicated by the immense increase of taxable property, or the fact that the valuation, although augmented, is by no means too large or overrated. In 1849 the total amount of real and personal property assessed, was $11,- 971,274.38 ; in 1850 it was $12,602,284.85, or an increase of $630,415.47.


From the assessment rolls for 1851 we gather the fol- lowing statistics. The total amount of real and personal property, returned for 1851, is $19,428,097, or an increase over 1849 of $7,456,822.62! The increase, when dis- tributed among the different wards, is as follows:


First ward, 1851,


Real. $719,175


Personal. $29,500


Increase.


Second "


1851,.


873,360


48,000


Third


1851,


1,503,151


138,300


1849,


874,015


38,500


646,065


Fourth


1851,


3,023,267


919,537


1849


1,879,448


713,666


1,250,807


Fifth


1851,


2,967,311


2,270.676


Sixth


1851,


1,638,315


245,950


1849, .


930,150


123,450


328,955


Seventh "


1851,.


1,052,9:0


86,700


1849,


514,935


17,000


522,461


Eighth


66


1851,


751,575


9,500


Ninth


1851,


1,328,605


172,700


543,901


Tenth


66


1851,


1,571,025


68,500


1849,


781,365


29,500


765,950


1849,.


400,880


4,455


$342,240


1849,


591,440


27,300


287,050


1849,


1,912,306


1,876,240


1,393,174


1849, .


351,410


6.800


366,940


1849,


815,413


63,000


Value of Property in Albany in 1853.


The total amount of money to be raised by tax for support of city and county, by the city, is $191,769.02. The rates of assessment average about one per cent.


229


Value of Property in Albany in 1853.


There are in the county 307,496 acres of land, the lowest valuation being $8.77 in the town of Bern, and the greatest, $52.79, in the town of Bethlehem. The total valuation of real and personal property in the county towns, amounts to $11,149,880, or a total in city and county, of $30,578,077.


ASSESSED VALUE IN 1853.


First ward,


Real. $935,570


Personal. $17,000


Total. $952,570


Second "


964,410


40,000


1,004,410


Third


1,523,788


144,200


1,667,988


Fourth 66


3,063,832


911,840


3,975,172


Fifth


2,936,767


2,828,343


5,765,110


Sixth


1,736,640


265,350


2,001,590


Seventh


1,157,675


79,700


1,237,375


Eighth


862,600


23,500


886,100


Ninth


1,436,065


178,000


1,614,065


Tenth


66


1,691,219


81,956


1,773,175


Amount of city,


$16,307,666


$4,569,889


$20,877,555


County towns, .


10,544,580


1,573 562


12,128,142


Total city and county, .. $36,862,246


$6,143,451


$33,005,697


Total acres of land assessed, 306,133.


EQUALED ASSESSMENT.


City,


$14,676,900


$4,569,889


$19,246,789


County towns,


12,185,429


1,573,562


18,758,991


Total,


$26,862,329


$6,143,451


$33,005,780


CITY TAX.


County tax paid by city,


$82,805.00


City tax, ..


157,600.00


Ward and town audit,.


907.51


Total city tax, .


$240,712.51


COUNTY TOWN TAX.


County tax paid by towns, .


$59,195.00


Ward and town audits, .. 20,626.88


Total town tax, .


$79,821.88


Total city and county taxes,


$320,534.39


According to the preceding assessment, &c., the tax to be levied on the city, is one hundred and fifteen per cent-quite an increase over the tax of 1852.


(230)


MEMOIR OF CHARLES R. WEBSTER,


THE FATHER OF PRINTING IN ALBANY.


Charles R. Webster was the son of Matthew Webster, and was a twin child; he and his brother George, the youngest of the family who survived infancy, having been born Sept. 30, 1762. His mother was Mabel Pratt, a daughter of William Pratt of Hartford. In the decline of life his father became surety for a stranger, an Englishman, who proved unworthy of his confidence, and being unable to pay the debt, all that he had was sold, even to the cow; and the youngest of his children, Charles, at the age of seven, was placed with Hudson & Goodwin, printers of the Connecticut Courant, to remain till twenty-one.


The opportunities of schooling which he enjoyed were very small; scarcely more than one or two quarters: but the constant contact with books in the printing office, furnished him with a competent acquaintance with the ordinary branches of knowledge. His earliest efforts with the types, was to set up his father's name, to print it and paste it in his books; and while of his father's bones, when disinterred in 1832, scarce a fragment of one remained, the old long-used pence-table with the name printed in large letters, looks as though it might serve another generation.


When the militia of Connecticut were called out in 1781, he at the age of 19 was one of the company who under Capt. Hezekiah Wyllys, marched to New-Haven ; they remained under arms fifteen days, and were then disbanded.


At the close of the war, he went to Albany, there being then no printing office on the Hudson higher than Fish- kill. The large proportion of the inhabitants of the city were Dutch in language and customs as well as in descent ; there was also a body of Germans, constituting the Lutheran and the German Reformed congregations and having service in High Dutch; while those who were




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.