USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The annals of Albany, Vol. VII > Part 23
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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
PHILIP LIVINGSTON,
Second proprietor of the Manor of Livingston, was the son of Robert L. and Alida Schuyler, widow of the Rev. N. Van Rensselaer. He was born at Albany in the year 1686. In 1705 he accompanied his uncle, Col. Vetch, to Quebec, that gentleman having been sent with Mr. W. Dudley by the government of Massachusetts bay, to Ca- nada, to procure an exchange of prisoners, and if possible to conclude a treaty of neutrality. He served in the expedition against Port Royal in 1710, and after the re- duction of that place, was ordered to proceed with the Baron de St. Castine to Quebec, to communicate the articles of capitulation to M. de Vaudreuil. He set out accordingly in the middle of October, and went up the Penobscot river as far as Indian Old Town, where, had it not been for his companion, his brains would have been knocked out by an enraged Indian, because some English prisoners had run away with his canoe. After some time the party again started but had not proceeded far when the ice so shattered their cances that they were obliged to continue their journey by land and to travel by compass through a dense and almost impassible forest, the greatest part of the way over broken and mountain- ous land. Six days before reaching the French settle- ments their provisions gave out and they were obliged to live on moss, leaves and berries. At length, after a most fatiguing march, they arrived at Quebec on 16th Decem- ber, 1710. Mr. L. returned to New York and was ad- mitted to the bar on 31 Decr., 1719; in 1720 he was ap- pointed one of the commissioners for the management of Indian affairs, and in 1721 succeeded his father as secre- tary of that board and as clerk of the county of Albany, &c. He was called to the council in May, 1725, and
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took his seat in October following. In July of the next year he, for a third time visited Canada, as bearer of Gov. Burnet's despatch, complaining of the erection of a French fort at Niagara. In 1737 he acted as president of the commission appointed to run the boundary between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and in 1740 was named . one of the board to determine the line between Massa- chusetts and Rhode Island; on which occasion Hutchin- son says he had great influence. In 1746 and 1747 he was one of the commissioners on the part of New York to meet and cooperate with commissioners from the other American colonies in measures for carrying on the war and securing the interests of the Indians. He continued in public life until his death, which occured in New York, in February, 1749. Mr. Livingston mar- ried Catharine, daughter of Philip Van Brugh, mayor of Albany, and had two sons and three daughters. Sarah, one of the latter, was the wife of General Lord Stirling, who served in the American Revolution .- E. B. O'Cal- laghan, N. Y. Col. Hist., vi. p. 60, note.
JOHN DE PEYSTER,
Was grandson of Abraham. He was born at New York on the 14th of January 1692, and moved to Albany, where he married Anne Schuyler, by whom he had two daugh- ters; Anne, the wife of Volkert P. Douw, and Rachel the wife of Tobias Ten Eyck. He was recorder of the city of Albany from 1726 to 1728, and mayor from 1729 to 1731, and again in 1732. In 1734 he became one of the commissioners of Indian affairs; was subsequently a con- tractor with the government to supply Oswego and other outposts with stores, and in 1755 one of the commission. ers for paying the forces in the expedition in which Gen- eral Johnson defeated Dieskau. His name appears as a patentee of lands in Schoharie; also in Herkimer county and near Schaghticoke .- Ibid, p. 132, note.
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ANNALS OF THE YEAR 1855.
JANUARY, 1855.
1. The new year day was mild and beautiful, although the cold of the preceding day had closed the ferries, and made the ice sufficiently strong for crossing. . .... Myron H. Clark inaugurated Governor of the state, and Henry J. Raymond Lieutenant Governor, at the Capitol, when the customary speeches were made by the outgoing and incoming functionaries ..... Sherman Croswell and Gid- eon J. Tucker announced that they had transferred their interest in the Albany Argus to James I. Johnson, who associated Calvert Comstock with him as editor .. The Bank of Albany declared an extraordinary dividend of 50 per cent on its capital, in stock to its stockholders, who unanimously accepted the dividend in that form, by which the capital of the bank was raised from $240,000 to $360,000, and to each possessor of ten shares five more were added.
2. The legislature met at the Capitol, which had been enlarged and improved during the summer for their con- venience ...... Bernard McIntyre died, aged 68. Cata- lina Ten Eyck died, aged 76.
3. County Agricultural Society elected its officers : A. Osborn president, L. Tucker vice-pres., G. I. Van Allen secretary, L. G. Ten Eyck treasurer.
4. Joseph Parker died, aged 37. He had been connect- ed with the fire department about fourteen years and was an efficient and popular officer. Elizabeth Brown died, aged 65. Julia C., wife of Gilbert C. Angus, died, aged 23 years. Thomas J. Boyd, a native of Albany, died in New York, where he had been engaged in mercantile business for several years.
5. While the senate was in session, a number of Onei-
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da and Onondaga Indians, painted and costumed, enter- ed the chamber and remained half an hour witnessing the routine of business.
6. A drove of sheep fell through the ice while crossing the river, and 69 were drowned, valued at $292.50 .. A meeting of the people of Bethlehem opposed to a division of the county ...... Mrs. Jane Rawson died, aged 68. Mrs. Hannah Murdock died, aged 64. Orrin Leeman died, aged 38.
7. Burial of Joseph Parker, attended by the fire compa- nies in uniform, and delegations from other cities ...... Rev. Ezra A. Huntington, pastor of the third Presbyte- rian church, preached his farewell sermon to his congre- gation, having accepted a professorship in a college ...... The railroad ferry boats resumed their trips, a week of mild weather having reduced the ice in strength and thickness .. . . Abraham A. Lansingh died, aged 33.
8. A fire destroyed a house in Washington street, about two miles from the City Hall. It had been vacated that morning.
9. It was found necessary to run the ferry boats again, the ice being unsafe ....... Mrs. Catherine C., wife of Theodore V. Van Heusen, died, aged 32.
10. An alarm of fire in the evening caused by the burning of shavings in a cooper's shop ... . Mrs. Ann Van Cortlandt, relict of Philip S. Van Rensselaer, died, aged 89. She was the youngest daughter of Pierre Van Cortlandt, the first lieutenant-governor of this state under the constitution, and who continued to fill that office for eighteen years, and sister of Col. Phillip Van Cortlandt, who, with the late Col. Van Schaick, of Albany, commanded the two New York continental regi- ments which rendered gallant service at Saratoga, York- town, and throughout the whole revolutionary struggle. Mrs. Van Rensselaer was born at the Manor House, Croton, in 1766, and at an early age came to Albany, where she has resided more than sixty years. During this period her home was distinguished as the seat of a generous and extended hospitality, and an unfailing
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and ever ready charity. After a long and tranquil life, marked by its active benevolence, and the graces and vir- tues that most adorn the female character, she died at her residence, corner of State and Chapel streets .- Eve- ning Journal. William Norton died, aged 35.
11. An alarm of fire proceeding from the burning of a curtain corner of Green and Division streets .. . ... Ma- ry Bookhout died, aged 21. Died at Greenbush, Peter S. Hogeboom, aged 64.
12. A foot race took place between an Albanian and a Brooklynite, to West Troy and back. They started from State street at half past 9 at night, and returned at 5 o'clock the next morning. The roads were very bad, and the parties were completely fagged out. But Albany won and Brooklyn paid the forfeit.
13. An alarm of fire in the evening, caused by the burning of a chimney.
14. John Ableman, aged 70, was found frozen to death on the Western turnpike, returning home from the city. A frame building at the head of Orange street caught fire in the evening, and was partly burned. .
17. Elizabeth Waltz died, aged 87.
18. Rev. Theodore F. Wyckoff died at the island of St. Thomas, whither he had gone to take charge of a Dutch Reformed Church. He was the son of Rev. Dr. Isaac N. Wyckoff, of the 2d Dutch Church, Albany, and was 35 years of age. Nancy McDonald died, aged 70.
19. An alarm of fire in the evening proceeded from a dwelling which was burnt in the western part of the city ...... A sleigh load of people crossing the river broke through the ice; the horses were drowned, but the passengers escaped.
21. Hannah wife of Patrick Henry Shaw died, aged 22.
22. A rain storm commenced at an early hour in the morning, which became violent about eight o'clock, flood- ing the streets and doing much damage to buildings, and filling the basements of a great many houses with mud and water. One house in Howard street presented the novel spectacle of a torrent pouring out of the front
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basement windows into the street. There were many rueful countenances at the small chances of a break- fast.
23. Ann Boyd died, aged 69.
24. Joseph Lord, Jr. died, aged 25.
25. Eliza Easterly, wife of Isaac Morris, died, aged 27.
26. A festival was held for the benefit of the Orphan Asylum, the profits of which were $1648,87.
27. The body of a man aged about 45 was found float- ing in the basin .. . A sale of 115 shares Commercial Bank stock was made at a premium of 153 per cent. . The dead body of a man named Bergen was found in the slip of the Boston railroad ferry, with marks of violence about him ..... Edward A. Staats died, aged 20.
28. A fire was discovered in a barn in the Foxen Creek hollow, supposed to have been set by an incen- diary . . . .. . Bridget, wife of Michael Donnelly, died, aged 28.
29. An inquest was held in the case of Phelps, con- demned to be hung for murder, who had been respited on the plea of insanity. It was the first case of the kind in this city ...... The snow which had fallen dur- ing the last two or three days was nearly all dissipated by a severe rain storm which began at an early hour in the morning ... .. Barney W. Lord died, aged 32.
30, Herman Knickerbocker died at Schaghticoke, aged 75. He read law in Albany with John V. Henry, and is remembered rather as a companionable man, than as a scholar or a statesman. Judge Knickerbocker's ances- tors emigrated from the province of Brabant, during the political changes consequent upon the death of Wil- liam the Second, Prince of Orange, in the middle of the seventeenth century. Herman was born July 27th, 1779, being the second son of John Knickerbocker, of Schagti- coke, and grandson of Col. John Knickerbocker, of the French and Revolutionary wars. Having been educated for the bar, as a pupil of John V. Henry, and afterwards of John Bird, he commenced the practice of his profes- sion at an early age, taking immediately a prominent
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place in it, as well as in political life, for which he was well suited. Being a decided Federalist and possessed of wealth and great personal influence, he was soon chosen to fill important offices, and when less than thirty years of age, was elected to the United States Congress during the administration of President Madison. He was afterwards a member of the New York Legislature, then Judge of the county of Rensselaer, until the infir- mities of age forced him to retire from public life. In the office of Supervisor, which he held for many years, his influence was often useful to the city of Troy, par- ticularly in having it established as the shire town, an advantage which, except for his exertions, would have been given to the village of Lansingburgh.
In social life Judge Knickerbocker always filled a bril- liant place. Bred from his childhood to association with some of the most distinguished men of an age remarka- ble for its high-toned courtesy, and to the control of a large family of slaves, his manners acquired that blend- ing of suavity with dignity peculiar to those accustomed to early intercourse with the world, and the early habit of command. This with his generous hospitality and jo- vial humor won for him the popular sobriquet of " Prince of Schaghticoke," and surrounded him with numerous friends, whom, says the historian, "he received with open arms, and treated them with wonderful loving kind- ness." These, to their credit, did not desert him in his age and misfortune, but ever with a kindness he well de- served gathered about him to console his grief and con- ceal his faults. With him has passed away nearly the last representative of his class-the old Dutch gentle- men, whose memory, long after their places shall have been filled, and their language forgotten, will live green among the lovers of hospitality and humor. A charac- teristic anecdote is told of him while he was a member of Congress. Being asked the difference between the Dutch Reformed tenets and those of the Presbyterians : and not willing to acknowledge his ignorance of the sub-
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ject, he replied. naively, that he believed one sang short metre and the other long !
31. John W. St. John died, aged 66.
FEBRUARY.
1. Hezekiah Dickerman died, aged 39.
2. David W. Boyd died, aged 20. Uretta V. Moore died, aged 69. Hugh White died.
3. Hugh Feeney died, aged 68. Joseph Carnehon died, aged 24.
5. A fire early in the morning burnt the satinet facto- ry at Tivoli ...... Mrs. Martha Collins died, aged 71.
6. The thermometer 10° below zero. . State Med- ical Society met at the City Hall ...... Grand Royal Arch chapter of Masons of the State of New York met. . Election of United States Senator by the legisla- ture; William H. Seward chosen for six years : 300 guns fired on the occasion ..... Emeline L. Van Rensselaer, widow of the late Walter H. Livingston, died, aged 35.
7. Very cold day; thermometer 20 below zero .. Three criminals arrived from Poughkeepsie to the Alba- ny Penitentiary, arrangements having been made with Dutchess county to employ a part of her felons, and these were the first sent up ...... The gas company re- solved to reduce their prices for gas from 4 to 3 cents per foot.
8. An election of officers of the Young Men's Associa- tion resulted in the choice of Ralph P. Lathrop for Pres- ident ...... Several of the friends of Capt. Amos Pils- bury, of the Penitentiary, it being his fiftieth birth- day, presented him with a gold headed cane ...... Eliza- beth A. Goodrich, aged about 50, committed suicide by hanging, in a fit of derangement ...... Rebecca, wife of Wm. M. Diamond, died, aged 80. Caroline, wife of H. P. Cook, died.
9. Esther Christian died, aged 75.
10. Mrs. Catherine, wife of Washington Castle, aged
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27, died of injuries caused by a camphene explosion. Henry Mindebrook, a German, died of want and misery. A quantity of money and valuables was found among his effects.
11. An alarm of fire in the evening, caused by the burning of a boarding and lodging house in Dean street, which had been fired several times before.
12. Seth Richards died, aged 62; formerly printer of the Albany Morning Chronicle, which advocated the elec- tion of John Quincy Adams, for President.
13. J. N. M. Hurd died, aged 77. During the war of 1812 he commanded a brigade at Sackett's Harbor. He was buried at Cazenovia. Margaret, widow of William Dumary, died, aged 58. Urbane Hart died, aged 57.
14. A convention of women was held in the Univer- salist Church, to discuss the just and equal rights of wo- men to make laws for themselves, and to remonstrate against the tyranny of taxation without representation.
The State Agricultural Society held its annual meeting in the Capitol, and elected its officers for the en- suing year. . The State Homopathic Medical Society held its annual meeting at the City Hall, and elected its officers ...... Francis Horth, formerly of this city, died in New York, aged 27. Mrs. Sophia Combs died, aged 63. Orpah, wife of Hiram Holden, died.
15. The Albany County Agricultural Society offered premiums to the amount of $2000 to be dispensed at their annual fair, to be held in the September following.
16. Henry Gibson died, aged 28. Laban W. Keith died, aged 85. Emily Knight died, aged 20.
17. A fire took place in the kitchen of Remond's Res- taurant, in State street, which was got under before much damage was done .. .. Adaline Duncan died, aged 18.
18. John A. Johnson died at Newark, aged 34.
19. William L. Crandal died, aged 40. Samuel Haw- ley, formerly of Albany, died at Millford, Wisconsin, aged 75.
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20. Mary, wife of Wm. Millett, died, aged 36. Jane Ann, wife of Wm. J. Snyder, died, aged 31. John Wall, formerly of Albany, died at Milwaukie, aged 33.
22. The anniversary of Washington's birth day was celebrated by the military. There was a procession of Col. Frisby's 25th regiment in the morning, which lis- tened to an oration by Samuel G. Courtney, Esq., at the Capitol; and in the afternoon another procession consis- ting of the police in their new costume, three companies of Continentals, a company of citivens on horseback, a company of youth in ancient costume, and several fire companies, who marched to the Capitol, and were ad- dressed by Hon. Wm. H. Goodwin .... ... Mrs. Mary De Witt, wife of Jacob V. L. De Witt, died at Pittstown, Pa., aged 44, formerly of Albany.
23. Richard Cunningham died, aged 46.
24. Hiram Halliday died, aged 53.
25. Mrs. Eliza Young died, aged 73. Mary Lane, wife of John Hogan, died, aged 25.
26. General Sam Houstan lectured before the Young Men's Association, on the subject of the Indian race.
27. Susan, wife of William Cashman, died, aged 33.
28. The number of arrests by the police during the month was 261.
MARCH.
1. Mrs. Elizabeth, wife of Augustus James, died.
3. A fire in Alderman Bleecker's garret was quenched with little damage ..... Gerrit L. Winne died, aged 64.
4. Persons broke through the ice, and were rescued with difficulty ...... Died at Red Bank, N. Y., George C. Heron, aged 53, a large property holder in Albany.
5. Teams and cattle broke through the ice to-day at different points in attempting to cross the river ...... Thomas Jordan, formerly of Albany, died at Troy, aged 34.
6. A fire about two o'clock in the morning, destroyed
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two ancient buildings in the upper part of the city. The loss was about $6000. .. .. Theodore Bicknell died, aged 30. Thomas Downey died, aged 23.
7. Mrs. Mercy Matthews committed suicide by hang- ing herself with a skein of yarn; age 48. Harriet Big- elow died, aged 52. Mary Campbell died, aged 75.
8. Phelps, the murderer, under sentence of death, es- caped from the jail at an early hour in the morning, but was arrested on the tow path, and brought back to this city ...... Edward Artcher died, aged 49.
9. Harriet N. Benjamin, wife of C. Cornwell, died, aged 24.
10. Lydia J. Chollar died, aged 30.
11. Ephraim Ketchum died, aged 5.7.'
13. A fire at two o'clock in the morning destroyed a grocery corner of Hudson and Hawk streets.
14. Anna, widow of James Vanderpool, died, aged 73. Elizabeth Taylor died, aged 62. John J. Roggen died at Pittsburgh; formerly of this city.
17. The anniversary of St. Patrick observed by the Hi- bernian Provident Society, who had a banquet at the Mer- chants' Hotel, in Broadway; also, by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, at Van Vechten Hall, in State street ..... Rev. F. W. Schmidt, pastor of the German Lutheran Church, died.
19. The ice moved away from that portion of the riv- er running between the pier and East Albany, but return- ed with the returning tide, and presented the phenom- enon of flowing up stream ...... Augustus Waterman died, aged 28.
20. The steamboat Oregon reached the dock at 7 o'- clock this morning, having encountered very little oppo- sition from ice till within a few miles of the city. The ice had nearly all left the river before it disappeared in front of the city, a thing almost unprecedented. The ice had just wasted away without the usual flood and the customary breaking up. The water was unusually low, the rain and snow of the last two months scarcely sufficing at any time to cause a rise in the river
[ Annals, vii.] 28
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Richard Yates, late of Albany, committed suicide in California by shooting himself through the head. Susan, wife of John Hastings, died, aged 63. Cornelius H. Clin- ton died, aged 56. Alexander McKensie died, aged 85.
21. The steamer Austin with two barges arrived, be- ing the first tow from New York this season. McFarland died, aged 54.
... Mary
22. Neil McCotter died, aged 67. Susan, wife of Jo- seph .C. Henderson, died, aged 25.
23. Patrick Mulcahy died, aged 56.
24. Franz Wachter leaped from the Isaac Newton steamboat and was drowned, aged 20. Alexander Sickles died, aged 18. Thomas Home died.
25. S. W. Furman died, aged 24. Richard Fazackerly died, aged 20. John D. Doughty, formerly of Albany, died at Cincinnati, aged 44.
27. The Governor commuted the sentence of Phelps the murderer, from death to imprisonment at hard labor for life, in the Clinton prison ...... Lewis Clark died, aged 73. He had been engaged in the auction business a great many years, and was the senior partner of the firm of Clark & Blake at the time of his death. He was an officer in the war of 1812, and being tall and athletic had a martial bearing. Wm. H. Bradstreet died, aged 44. John Lean died, aged 60.
28. The New York steamboats, and the ferry boats grounded in the river, the water being lower than at any time during the remarkably dry season last year.
29. Lewis Clark buried with military honors. Sophia Muir died, aged 33. Lydia A. Hough died, aged 21. Martin Stead died, aged 57.
30. A fire at one o'clock in the morning destroyed a stable corner of Orange and Hawk streets, and burnt two horses and a cow. Loss $1400. .. .... Thomas J. Gibbons died, aged 35.
APRIL.
1. The church of St. Joseph was found to have been robbed of its sacramental vessels, valued at $300. ....
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The farm house of Teunis Van Vechten, on the plank- road, beyond the almshouse, was destroyed by fire .... The wind blew a hurricane, unroofing houses and blow- ing down chimneys. The vane of St. Peter's Church was bent forty-five degrees out of line, and the cross on St. Mary's Church was carried away. The Peniten- tiary also sustained considerable injury.
2. The gale continued with unabated fury during the whole day, doing much damage ...... Two alarms of fire, but no damage done ...... A woman named Doni- gan died 'of wounds said to have been inflicted by her husband. Rudolph Ziegenhorn, aged 28, committed sui- cide by shooting himself in the head.
3. Mrs. Margaret Sloan died, aged 63. Roxana R., wife of John Cook, died, aged 53.
4. Alarm of fire caused by the burning of goods in a milliner's window in Broadway ...... The body of a man apparently long drowned, was washed ashore below the city. Hannah, wife of Charles A. Baker, died, aged 42. Fidelia Bowen died, aged 88. Margaret, wife of John McLachlan, died, aged 42. . Bradford Crane died, aged 45. Cretia Jackson died, aged 57. "An humble colored woman, who will long be remembered with respect and affection by all who knew her. For more than fifty years she lived a domestic of Mr. Robert Boyd, and by her faithfulness had won the strong attachment of every member of his family, who treated her as a friend rather than a servant. Above all, she was a truly Christian woman, remarkably consistent in her conversation, and most ready to do what she could for the cause of her great Master. Her end was peace, and her memory blessed .- Argus.
5. Catherine Gaffit died, aged 80. Roswell Churchill died in New York, aged 78; formerly of Albany.
7. Mrs. Elizabeth Robinson died, aged 64. Ellen Robbins died, aged 69. Almeda Van Dusen died, aged 21. Joseph Wincher, a prisoner in the jail was found dead in his cell.
10. The Delavan House was splendidly illuminated on
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the occasion of the passage of the temperance bill, and · a supper was given to the friends of the measure ...... City Bank stock sold for $1.41 ...... the house occupied by the late John Boardman, on State street, was sold for $3,325.
11. Mary, wife of Robert W. Litle, died.
12. Mary H., wife of Joseph Burbanks, died.
13. William McQueen, a noted machinist, died at Schenectady, aged 28.
14. The legislature adjourned after a session of 103 days ...... Patrick McGee died, aged 65.
16. Lucy Gilbert Van Deusen, wife of David W. Groesbeeck, died, aged 70.
17. The Albany Dime Savings Bank organized, John Winne, President . Margaret, wife of James McClure died, aged 46.
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