USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The annals of Albany, Vol. VIII > Part 13
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School No. 6, Uranian Hall, instituted April, 1820 .- This school has 1 principal, 1 superintendent, 1 secre- tary, 10 teachers, of whom five are professors of reli- gion. 70 scholars on the register, of whom about 40 are regular attendants. Verses recited 8,225.
School No. 7, an independent school, located in Wash- ington street, instituted in 1820 .- This school has 1 principal, 1 secretary, 6 male and 6 female teachers; 137 scholars are on the register. Verses recited 3,040. A class consisting of 5 scholars and residing 2 miles from the city, have attended the school for the term of three months.
School No. 8, attached to the North Dutch Church .- This school has 1 principal, 1 superintendent, 1 secre- tary, 7 teachers, and an average attendance of 45 scholars. Verses recited for 6 months, 5,919.
School No. 9, the Adult African School-for the first 6 months of this year was located in Mr. Cook's school room, in Chapel street. Since that time this school has been discontinued, and replaced by school No. 15, hereafter mentioned. In the first 6 months of this year this school had 11 teachers, and an average attendance of 44 scholars. Verses recited 5,379.
School No. 10, attached to the Methodist Episcopal church, instituted Aug. 1823 .- This school has 1 princi-
167
¢
Sunday Schools.
pal, 1 superintendent, 1 secretary and 14 teachers, of whom 11 are professors of religion. 82 scholars on the register, average attendance 62. Verses recited 13,525.
School No. 11, attached to the 3d Presbyterian Church, instituted Oct. 1825 .- Has 1 superintendent, 3 male and 6 female teachers; 95 scholars on register, of whom there is an average attendance of about 45. Verses re- cited, 7,872.
School No. 12, an independent school in the Colonie, insti- tuted in 1823 .- This school has 1 principal, 1 superin- tendent, 8 teachers, of whom five are professors of reli- gion. The scholars on the register 60, the attendance irregular. This school, like that in Washington street, being situated on the outskirts of the city, has been formed and conducted under many discouragements.
School No.13,attached tothe United Presbyterian Church, instituted Nov. 1825 .- This school has 1 principal, 15 teachers, 72 scholars on the register, average attendance 40. Verses of scripture recited 26,449; questions from catechism, 9,747.
The Greenbush School has 1 superintendent and about 60 scholars. The number of teachers is not reported to us. This school was admitted into the Union in March, 1826. The scholars have recited about 17,400 verses of scripture.
No. 15, the Adult African School, attached to the church of the Rev. Mr. Paul. It has about 40 scholars.
The society of the Greenville Sabbath Sabbath was ad- mitted into this Union in July, 1826. It has 3 schools, 31 teachers, of whom 22 are professors of religion. The number of scholars is 180.
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WILLIAM ALEXANDER,
Better known as Lord Sterling, died at Albany, Jan. 15, 1783, aged 57 years. He was a major general in the service of the United States during the Revolu- tionary war; was born in the city of New York, but passed a portion of his life in New Jersey. Through courtesy he was styled Lord Sterling, in consequence of being considered by many as the rightful heir to the title and estates of an earldom in Scotland, from which country his father came, though the government refused to acknowledge the son's claim, when he repaired to Great Britain in pursuit of this inheritance. He was early remarkable for his fondness for mathematics and astronomy, in which sciences he made considerable progress.
Throughout the Revolution he acted an important part, and distinguished himself particularly in the battles of Long Island, Germantown and Monmouth. In the first he was taken prisoner, after having, by a bold at- tack upon a corps commanded by Cornwallis, effected the escape of a large part of his detachment. In the second, his division, with the brigades of generals Nash and Maxwell, formed the corps de reserve; and, in the last, he commanded the left wing of the American army. He was always warmly attached to Washington, and the cause which he had espoused, and left behind him the reputation of a brave, discerning and intrepid officer, and an honest and learned man.
(169 )
CASE OF WILLIAM TELLER.
ROBERT LIVINGSTON'S STATEMENT.
Upon the 16th day of May 1678
There is a certain Katskills Indian woman shott dead at ye house of Mr Wm Teller Burger in this town, where- upon the sherriffe secretary & constable by order of ye court went to the house to take information which way it came to passe So it is yt ye sd Wm Teller Senr con- fessed to have shott ye sd Indian Squaa Innocently as followeth viz
Whereas his sonne Johannes came in, and did report yt ye Sergeants & Corporalls were goeing about to visit ye armes, whereupon Mr Teller steps to ye Room, where his armes were and said are not ye Gunns fixed, & took a gunne from ye wall, which was the Gunn his sonne Paulus had had abroad that morning Shooting Pigeons, wch was loaden wt Pigeon Shott, which he did think to be his own gunn, which having well knew was unloaden, and pulling back the cock, it slipd out of his hand, as he was standing in ye Inner Room, of his littell house at which time yº Indian Squaa came in at ye Utter door & when she was near the door of ye Inner Room, ye gunn went off, he not knowing that there were any living soule there & looking about him did see that an Indian Squaa was there, who said, I am dead, I am dead, where- upon an other Indian squaa took her by ye hand, but she fell down to ye Ground, & to his great sorrow died im- mediately in his house, all wch he confesseth to have come to Passe, declaring yt it was Very Innocently done, & humbly submitteth himself to ye judgmt of ye court. Act. um in Albany at ye house of ye said Wm Teller, datum ut supra.
In presence of me ROBERT LIVINGSTON Secr.
[ Annals viii.]
16
170
Case of William Teller.
INQUEST AND VERDICT.
Whereas we underwritten jurie men are sent to ye house of Wm Teller to take information how it came to passe yt this day a certain Catskills Indian Squaa is soe wounded wt shott, out of a gunn, that she immediately dyed upon it, in his house & while there were none pre- sent but ye Negerin & his sonne Johannes Teller. The negerin thereof declares as followeth vizt.
That she was gone up the Stares in ye fore Room wt a bagg to ye garritt, & as she was coming down heard a gunn goe off, but not knowing from whence it came & heard immediately an Indian Squa Cry out.
Johannes Teller declareth yt hee came in & told his father yt ye burger officers were goeing about to Visit ye armes, whereupon his father immediately went to ye gunns to see yt they were clear, & taking a gunn in his hand, went off Immediatly, but did not see there about any Indian Squa, nor any body else.
Wm Teller Confirms what his sonne hath said only that in looking to ye gunn, did think he had his own gunn in his hand, which he knew was not Loaden.
His wiff and daughter Mrs Susanna, declareth yt they were in ye fore Room of ye great house, & did hear ye shott & further knoweth not.
Alb ye 16 may 1678.
We underwritten Jury men doe declare to have Ripely Considered & Perrused the Papers delivered to us & doe Judge in Conschiense & can finde nothing else but that ye case betwixt Mr Teller & ye Indian Squaa is done in all Innocence.
Sic Subscribitur
GERRIT VAN SLICHTENHORST F
GERRITT SWART JAN VERBEEK
ADRIAEN GERRITSE HANS HENDRIX
JAN VINNAGEN PR BOGARDUS
SIMO: COOPER BARENT RYNDERSE
171
Case of William Teller.
HEND CUYLER JOHN BECKER AERNOUT CORN: VIELE
Concordatt cum sue Principali quod attestor. ROB LIVINGSTON Secr.
PROCEEDING OF THE COURT OF INQUIRY IN THE MATTER.
Att a Special Court held in Albany the 16th of May 1678
Whereas there is this day a certain Indian woman shott dead at ye house of Mr Wm Teller burger in this towne whereupon the sherriffe secr & constaple were forthwith sent there to take information what way it came to passe who doe Report that it is done Verrie In- nocently, by the sd Wm Teller according to his own Con- fession, seeing he did not know that the Gunn was Loaden wch went off Unawares, neither did he see any bodie when it went of, as can be seen by said informacon.
Whereupon the court forthwith ordered a Jury of In- quest to be calld, who were sworn, to Search, Inquire, & try, what way it came to Passe & give in there Verdict to ye Court yt ye Law may be fulfilld & doe consist of yes 12 men.
GERRIT VAN SLICHTENHORST Foreman
GERRIT SWART JAN VERBEEK
ADRIAEN GERRITSE HANS HEYNDRIX
JOHAN: VINNAGEN PR BOGARDUS
SIM COOPER BARENT RYNDERSE
HENDRIC CUYLER
JAN BECKER
AERNOUT CORNELISE
And whereas ye Court are informa yt there were 3 Indians Present, they thought good to Examine ym in ye Presence of Mahickanders Sachems, & Jury.
Cassorachkenit a north Indian being examined doth say yt he was in ye Entrie of ye small house, when ye gunn was fired Whereupon he forthwith went to see ye
172
Case of William Teller.
Wound hearing ye Indian Squae cry out, I am dead, I am dead, who was held up by my Squae, and soe fell to ye ground, but says that there was never any difference or quarreling word betwix ye sd Teller and ye Squaa.
Wampieroask a Mahikander Squae being examin'd doth say yt shee came by Mr Tellers door, in Companie wt ye Indian Squae yt was shott, who was called in by his daughter because shee had Indian corn, who went in at ye Utter door of ye litle house & soo Passed through to ye middle door, & ye Indian Squa which was shott followed her, & being just oppositt to ye Inner door, re- ceived ye shott, but never did hear yt there was any quarrell or difference betwix Teller and ye Squaa.
The above said Examinacon being done in Presence of ye Sakamakers, & propounded to ym how innocintly the Indian Squaa was shott. Therefore Required ym forth- with to bury her, & doe give f 50: Zewt.
The Indians doe answer & say yt they are well Con- tented & have good Satisfaction, because yey know well yt it was not done wilfully.
The Jury men coming to court, doe declare yt they have taken full Informacon of ye matter & have Exam- in'd every one in ye house, as is to be seen, by there Ex- aminacon at Large, & haveing Ripely Considerd all ye bussinesse doe Judge in Conschience that ye matter be- twixt Mr Teller and ye Indian Woman is done most Innocently.
The Worshipfull Court, haveing taking ye matter con- cerning Mr Tellers shooting of an Indian Squa into their serious consideracon doe confirm & approve ye Verdict of ye Jury yt it was Innocently being it can be Deem'd nothing else but chance medling & have therefore sent for the Indians, & Propounded the case to ym, who are Very well Satisfyed, Notwithstanding ye court doe think Good to Referr ye whole matter to ye Govrs Councill in N: York, & to have your Judgment in ye case. In the mean time Wm Teller is ordered to be confined in his house till such time as the court shall have Received an- swer & orders from N: Yorke, how & what way they
173
Case of William Teller.
shall act in s1 bussinesse which is expected by ye very first.
By order of the court ROBERT LIVINGSTON Secr.
THE COMMISSARIES OF ALBANY TO CAPT. BROCKHOLLO.
May it Please your Honrs :
The occasion of our troubling your honrs is because a certain Accident fell out here in town the 16th Instant, by one Wm Teller who by chance killed an Indian Squaa, and after due Inquisition (as is usual in those affares) can finde it nothing else but chance medling, but we have thought good to send down all ye Papers, to your hons. Expecting first an Answer & order what way to act in sd bussinesse & have confined sd Teller in his house, till further order, as can be seen by our Proceedings at a speciall court calld to yt Intent, herein Inclosed Your honrs Most humble & obedient Servants Ye Commissaries of Albany & Ca. T GIL: SCHUYLER, RICHD PRETTY.
Albany 20 May 1678.
ACTION OF THE COUNCIL AT NEW YORK, SUSTAINING THE JUDG- MENT OF THE COURT AT ALBANY.
[Among some brief memoranda of proceedings of the council at New York, is the following item: The pro- ceedings at Albany of the Commissaryes upon the un- happy accident of William Tellers Killing an Indian Squaw, upon the which the said Teller stood confined, he was ordered to bee releast the Corns Enquest & cort having judged him guilty onely of Chance Medley.]
.
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THE CITY'S ANCIENT RAVINES.
-
Three considerable streams of water, which anciently traversed the city, have within the memory of many in- habitants, been converted into sewers, namely, the Foxen kill, the Rutten kill, and the Bever kill.
The Foxen kill, when the city was first settled, and for a long time after, afforded abundance of fish. It ran outside of the stockades, which for a great many years formed the northern boundary of the city. It is but little more than a quarter of a century since it was crossed by a bridge in North Pearl street, near Orange.
: The Rutten kill was a lesser stream, having its source above Lark street, but which sent down a formidable volume of water in times of freshet. The inhabitants of the upper end of -Beaver street, have an inkling of what it may have been when they are refreshed by a heavy rain storm. This also was a never-failing brook, stored with fish, and was the only one that came within the old city walls. Passing down the Hudson street ravine, it crossed Pearl street where the Congregational church stands, and entered the river a few feet below State street. In the oldest map of the city, 1676 (see Annals Albany, vol. iv., p. 200), a brug marks the spot where it crossed the street now called Broadway. The city records frequently allude to these bridges. In January, 1701, we find the following entry :
"It is further concluded since ye Bridge by Coll. Schuy- ler's doth decay, that Mr. Roseboom, Hendrick Octhout and Harpert Jacobse vizite ye same, and make returne ye next court what is required to be repaired."
A meeting was held on the next day, when the follow- ing report was made:
"Relating ye Bridge at Coll. Schuyler's. ye gentlemen yesterday appointed to vizite ye same, doe return that it requires to be repaired with one oak log, of 17 foot, 12
175
The City's Ancient Ravines.
inches square; four posts, 10 foot, 10 inches square; two pine loggs of ten foot, 1 foot square; three ditto, 17 foot apiece; three ditto of 20 foot; and one of 37 foot."
In 1706 the following entry was made in the common council minutes, relating to another of these bridges:
" The petition of William Hogan relating ye bridge by ye Lutheran Church being much out of repair desyreing that ye Common Council will take ye same into their wise consideration yt ye Bridge be repaired. It is
" Resolved that in convenient time ye same shall be made sufficient to passe and repasse without danger."
The Lutheran church alluded to occupied the ground of the Market house in South Pearl street, and its burial ground was the site of the vegetable market adjoining. Pearl street, for a century after this, was but a lane, many persons now living remembering when a gate swung across it at State street.
On the 13th April, 1706, the following record was made in the common council minutes :
"As to ye Bridge towards ye Lutheriaen church, Mr. Hansen is agreed to make a sufficient and strong new bridge, laid with good plank two inches thick, wherefore he is to receive ye £5: 10 due from Evert Janse."
Two years later we find the following entry:
" The Commonalty being informed yt ye Bridge over ye Rutten kill in ye street lately known by ye name of ye ffuddamart * is very much out of repair & decade, doe therefore order yt ye sd Bridge shall be made anew and yt Mr. Robt Livingston & Coenradt Ten Eyk are ap- pointed to see ye sd Bridge made upon ye Citty charges." "September 28. This day Mr. Robert, Livingston Jun & Conraet ten Eyk brought in their acct of makeing of ye Bridge over ye Rutten kill in ye street calld ye fodde mart, amounting in all after £2 :9: is deducted, wh is payd to them £7: 14: 42 wh is approved of by ye Commonalty & orderd yt those persons are to have credt in ye Citty book for what there is due to them."
Whether the name of this creek is derived from rats, *Vodden markt, a rag market, or junk shop.
176
Price of Wheat.
as some suppose, it is infested with myriads of the lusti- est specimens of that vermin to this day. . The creek is now a sewer throughout its entire length. The grading of the ravine which it traversed was nearly complete in 1847, from Hawk to Lark street, and from Lydius to State. So late as 1827 it was an unbroken waste. Eagle street then extended no farther than the Lancaster School, now the Medical College. There was not a dozen build- ings even on Lydius street, from Pearl to Lark. When the unfortunate Strang was executed in its grassy valley in the above mentioned year, its green hills on either side were darkened by a multitude numbering full thirty thousand. The clay banks on Lydius street furnished the city with bricks for a great number of years. During a period of about three years two hundred and fifty men and sixty teams were employed upon the work of grading and filling this large area. The ravine, three hundred feet broad and fifty feet deep, received the lofty banks upon its borders, and was raised to a convenient grade, whereby a large tract was reclaimed for habitation, that had been useless except for brick kilns, or basins where water gathered, furnishing reservoirs for bathing and fishing to truant boys. Not less than six hundred thousand yards excavation was made in blue clay, and an equal amount of filling was done by one contractor. By this improvement Hudson street has become the most inviting avenue to the city, and comely blocks of dwell- ings already adorn most of the streets which intersect the area of the ancient Rutten kill.
PRICES OF PRODUCE AT THE MANOR HOUSE.
The rents paid by the tenants of the Van Rensselaer estate are payable not only in money, but in wheat and fowls and in day labor. The market value of each of
177
Price of Wheat.
these is fixed on the 1st of January every year, and con- tinues throughout the year. The following table of these rates, showing the annual changes of prices in the Albany market for the past sixty-four years, is an interesting retrospect :
Value
of 1 bu. wheat.
Value
fowls.
Value of 1
day's
serv'e.
Value
wheat.
Value of 4
fowls.
Value of 1
day's
serv'e.
1794,
8
4
10
1826,
7
4 16
1795, 11
4
10
1827,
8
4 16
1796, 10
4
10
1828,
8
4
16
1797, 12
4
10
1829, 14
4
16
1798, 10
4
10
1830,
8
4
16
1799,
9
6
4
10
1831, 10
4
16
1800, 12
6
4
14
1832, 10
4
16
1801, 14
6
4
14
1833, 10
4
16
1802,
8
4
14
1834,
8
4
16
1803,
9
4
14
1835, 8
4
16
1804, 10
4
14
1836, 12
4
16
1805, 16
4
14
1837, 18
6
16
1806, 11
6
4
14
1838, 13
6
16
1807, 11
4
14
1839, 14
6
16
1808,
9
4
14
1840,
9
6
16
1809,
8
4
14
1841,
8
4
16
1810, 12
6 4
14
1842, 10
4
16
1811, 14
4
14
1843,
7
4
16
1812, 15
4
14
1844,
8
4
16
1813, 18
4
16
1845,
7
6
4
16
1814, 15
6
16
1846,
9
6
4
16
1815, 13
6
16
1847,
9
4
16
1816, 14
6
16
1848, 10
6
4
16
1817, 18
6
16
1849,
9
6
4
16
1818, 15
6
16
1850,
9
6
4
16
1819, 14
6
16
1851,
9
4
16
1820,
8
6
16
1852,
8
4
16
1821,
6
4
16
1853,
9
6
4
16
1822,
9
4
16
1854, 14
4
16
1823, 10
4
16
1855, 18
4
16
1824, 10
4
16
1856, 16
4
16
10s.
1825,
of 1 bu.
8s. Od.
4s.
16s
1793, 6s. Od. 4s.
of 4
178
Thirty Years' Difference.
Wheat, it will be observed, has reached the high rate of 18 shillings ($2.25) only three times, once during the commercial stagnation that followed our last war with ' England;" again during the monetary crash and "hard times" of 1836, '37; and again after the ruin of the crops by the drought of 1854.
Fowls appear by this table to have decreased in value since 1840, which is not the case. It was found when 6s. were allowed for them, that some of the tenants made a considerable profit on this item by bringing lean, tough, scraggy "birds." So the price was put down to 4s., giving them the option of paying the money, which most of them prefer to do.
Labor, it is gratifying to observe, instead of being " brought down to the European standard," as croakers have predicted it would be, by the inventions and ma- chines of the present day, has steadily commanded better and better wages. At no time in half a century has it been impossible for a well man, however ignorant or poor, to earn a comfortable subsistence in Albany .- Albany Evening Journal.
THIRTY YEARS DIFFERENCE.
In 1823, a traveler from Portland, Me., overwhelmed in admiration of the facilities afforded for locomotion at that time, gave the following table of time and distances between Albany and Portland by steam boats and stages :
miles.
hours.
From Albany to New York,
150
18
66 New York to Providence, .
200
20
Providence to Boston,
40
6
Boston to Portland,.
110
12
500
56
This gave 500 miles in 2} entire days. It should be some consolation to modern travelers detained on their way to New York that they still accomplish their journey within 18 hours in spite of the worst obstructions.
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ACCIDENTS BY TRAVEL.
A recent accident on the Hudson River rail road, and the excitement which followed it, heightened by the newspaper accounts, brings to mind the excitements which attended accidents to the stages on the same route only about thirty years ago. The difference in the magnitude of the travel, and consequently of the destruction of life and limb, serves to mark our progress in that direction in so short a space of time.
In January, 1823, the traveling public was accommo- dated by two lines of stages between Albany and New York, the proprietors driving a sharp competition for the small amount of passage then offering. The engineers of these vehicles could not resist the temptation to show the capacity for speed of their respective teams, and when they came near each other, they could not be pre- vented from racing any more than our modern steam boat captains. Such an exhibition of speed came off at this time, which resulted disastrously, and the news- papers were made the safety valve of public indignation. The account of it contrasts so ludicrously with the awful catastrophe of a rail road accident, that we hesitate in contemplating the horror of the one to smile at the trifling amount of the other. The account of the accident was thus :
" To the Public .- The stage from New York to Albany was overset on the Highlands, on Friday last, with six passengers on board ; one of whom, a gentleman from Ver- mont, had his collar bone broken, and the others were more or less injured, and all placed in the utmost jeo- pardy of their lives and limbs, by the outrageous conduct of the driver. In descending a hill half a mile in length, an opposition stage being ahead, the driver put his horses in full speed to pass the forward stage, and in this situ-
180
Accidents by Travel.
ation the stage overset with a heavy crash, which nearly destroyed it, and placed the wounded passengers in a dreadful dilemma, especially as the driver could not assist them, as it required all his efforts to restrain the frighted horses from dashing down the hill, which must have destroyed them all. It was therefore with the great- est difficulty, and by repeated efforts, the wounded pass- engers extricated themselves from the wreck of the stage. Such repeated, wanton, and willful acts of drivers, to gratify their caprice, ambition, or passions, generally, under the stimulus of ardent spirits, calls aloud on the community to expose and punish these shameful aggres- sions. As the legislature is now sitting, it is earnestly hoped that a law will be immediately enacted, to make it penal in a driver to attempt to run by another stage traveling in the same direction, and to make the proprie- tors responsible for all the injuries passengers may sustain, with severe damages for putting in jeopardy the lives and limbs of peaceable citizens committed to their care."
It will be seen that this was called a crash, as was also the rail road accident. There was a wide difference between the two, but it should be borne in mind that one was the crash of 1823, and the other the crash of 1856.
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ALBANY AS SEEN BY DR. DWIGHT.
[In the year 1798, the Rev. Timothy Dwight, president of Yale College, passed through this city, and has given the following ac- count of what he saw in the second volume of his Travels, p. 491. ]
Tuesday, October 4, we left Schenectady in the morning ; and rode to Albany: sixteen miles. The road passed over a pitch pine plain, nearly a perfect flat chiefly covered with a forest; the soil miserably lean; the houses few, and poor; and the scenery remarkably dull, and discou- raging. The road also is encumbered with sand; and, unless immediately after a rain, covered with an atmo- sphere of dust.
Albany is the second town in this State. From New York it is distant one hundred and sixty miles ; from Bos- ton one hundred and sixty-five; from New Haven one hundred and seven; and from Quebec South by West, three hundred and forty.
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