USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The annals of Albany, Vol. VIII > Part 24
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
Of the inmates seventy-three are lunatics, thirty-two males and forty-one females, seventy are paupers, the remaining, three cases pay from $3.00 to $4.50 per week. There is provided an insane asylum in connection with the alms house, built of brick forty by ninety feet, two stories in height, containing thirty-eight rooms above and eight in the basement, with convenient halls and yards. Thirty-nine lunatics have been admitted during the past year. They are under the care of the house physician, who is required to devote to them particular attention, and four attendants, two male and two female. Two are confined in cells or small rooms, which is the only kind of restraint used. When out of the building they are confined in commodious yards. Seven during the year have been dismissed as cured, and two improved. It is judged that two thirds of the whole number of insane may be safely pronounced improved. One lunatic escaped on the 5th of January last and froze to death. Fre- quent application has been made for admission to the state institution, and refused.
Four of the paupers are idiots, three males and one female, two are under sixteen years of age. There is one deaf and dumb, fourteen years old, and three blind.
No corporal punishment is administered in the house. One half, at least, of the paupers are reduced to their present position by reason of intemperate habits.
The poor houses throughout the state may be generally described as badly constructed, ill-arranged, ill-warmed,
319
Charitable and Criminal Institutions.
and ill-ventilated. The rooms are crowded with inmates; and the air, particularly in the sleeping apartments, is very noxious, and to casual visitors, almost insufferable. In some cases, as many as forty-five inmates occupy a single dormitory, with low ceilings, and sleeping boxes arranged in three tiers one above another. Good health is incompatible with such arrangements. They make it an impossibility.
Inmates in August, 1856
319
Native born.
79
Foreign born. 240
Children under 16 years. 80
Average number of inmates 350
12
Births the past year.
32
Deaths the past year.
71
Extent in acres of poor house farm
216
Annual income of farm ..
$6,000 40
House inspected by supervisors the past year.
1
Weekly cost of inmates' support ..
$0.90
Intemperance the cause of pauperism. (Per cent.) .
50
Number of lunatics
73
Males.
32
Females
41
Lunatics in cells.
2
Lunatics under mechanical restraint.
,0
Lunatics improved past year.
2
Lunatics recovered.
7
Lunatics not paupers.
3
Lunatics received past year.
39
Number of idiots in house ..
4
Number of deaf and dumb in house.
1
Number of blind in house.
3
ALBANY ORPHAN ASYLUM.
This asylum was established and incorporated in 1830, and has since been supported by private donations, by interest on a small vested fund, by appropriations from the state, and sums received for support of alms house chil- dren. The present number of inmates is one hundred ; they are received between the ages of three and twelve years, and disposed of by indenture at such ages as good oppor-
Months school taught.
Number of inmates in sleeping room.
320
Charitable and Criminal Institutions.
tunities present. While in the asylum the children are in- structed in those English branches taught in common schools. The school is not inspected by school officers, neither do they share in the Common School Fund. The children enjoy the privileges of a Sabbath school, and oc- casionally other religious teaching. The institution can accommodate one hundred and fifty inmates. The house is very well built and commodious, and surrounded by fine gardens and yards.
ST. JOHN'S BOYS' ORPHAN ASYLUM.
This asylum was founded two years since and has now in charge sixty orphans. It is supported mainly by charity. What sums were received from the state, the managers were unable to state. There is no rule re- garding the age at which children are received, and they are discharged whenever places may be obtained.
ST. VINCENT'S FEMALE ORPHAN ASYLUM.
This institution has been established for twelve years, and is supported by private charity and by appropria- tions from the state, which in 1855 was $1,179. The present number of inmates is ninety-seven, and they are admitted at ages ranging from one to seven or eight. They are dismissed at the age of fourteen or fifteen years, when they are usually put out at wages. They are not bound as apprentices. While at the asylum the orphans are taught in the common branches of an English educa- tion, and in domestic duties. Their success after dismis- sal from the asylum has been usually satisfactory. Two- thirds of the children are of foreign parentage.
ALBANY INDUSTRIAL HOME FOR THE FRIENDLESS.
This institution is located in the city of Albany, and was established eleven years since; it is supported en- tirely by private charity. The managers state its objects to be to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and to serve as an intelligence office, furnishing good places of em- ployment to the needy and destitute. Twenty-five aged females from sixty-five to one hundred years of age, are
ALBANY HOSPITAL.
HUFFMAN -KNICKERBOCKER ALBANYS N.V.S.
EEEE
-
321
Charitable and Criminal Institutions.
here supported during the short remainder of their lives .- Six of these are of foreign and nineteen of native birth.
ALBANY CITY HOSPITAL.
This hospital is pleasantly and healthfully located on the corner of Howard and Eagle streets.
It is supported by donations from individuals, by ap- propriations from the state, by interest from a vested fund of about $20,000, and from pay patients. It has received from the state in all, to 1855, $10,817.
The institution has been established for five years, and in that time has treated 705 patients; of these 412 were paupers. To pay patients there is a charge, in general ward, of $3.50; in private rooms $5. Of patients treated 545 were foreigners, and 160 Americans. Of the foreigners 425 were from Ireland.
Of the whole number 474 were males, and 231 females. Sixty-four deaths have occurred. No persons laboring under contagious diseases are admitted. In 1855 were 222 patients. The average weekly expense for patients is $5.14. Average time patients remained in hospital during the year 1855 was five weeks and nineteen hours.
The present number of patients is twelve, of which number ten are foreigners.
The average number in the hospital is twenty-five.
In connection or attached to the hospital is the Albany dispensary, to support which the state has appropriated $500 per year for the past three years. Here medicines and advice are administered gratuitous to the poor on application. The dispensary fronts on Howard street.
The hospital building is well and substantially built with modern improvements. It is well warmed and ventilated, and appears to be well provided with all the usual appliances and conveniences calculated to secure the ends contemplated by the founders of the institution. It has a board of governors, four attending physicians and four attending surgeons, a resident physi- cian and surgeon.
The labor of the attending physicians and surgeons is gratuitous, and would amount annually, if performed in
322
Charitable and Criminal Institutions.
private practice, at the usual rate of charges in Albany, to at least $8,000.
It owes its existence to untiring energy, active be- nevolence and labors of a few prominent citizens of Albany, among whom are several who are an honor to the medical profession, and to the human race.
It is a noble charity, well deserving the confidence and liberal contributions of the public, and the bounty of the state.
ALBANY COUNTY JAIL IN THE CITY OF ALBANY.
This though a comparatively new structure does no credit to the capital city of the state, and by a grand jury of the county has been more than once indicted. Surrounded by other buildings, there is little chance for the circulation of fresh air, and that within the jail was found to be offensive and unhealthy ; without ventilation, and crowded with prisoners, it is rendered dangerous to the health of the inmates, and should attract the atten- tion of the courts and grand juries. It is impossible to ยท classify the prisoners as the law requires, and yet there are found in the jail thirty-seven men and eight women; and it was represented to the committee that prisoners waiting trial are frequently allowed to remain in this place for months. The character of the prisoners and the effect of such an association can be judged by the commitments; which are: one for murder, two for rape, six for grand larceny, four for burglary, one for robbery of the post office, six for petit larceny, four for misde- meanor, three for assault and battery, two for vagrancy, one for damages, one for rescuing prisoners, seven for drunkenness, five for disorderly conduct and two witnes- ses, and all these it was admitted had free intercourse during most of the day. It would seem that those long resident in such a place and in such company, if not lost to all hope of reformation upon going in, must be ruined in morals and in health on coming out. In the female department were eight, all confined in one room, and in which the air was found to be more offensive than in the maledepartment.
323
Charitable and Criminal Institutions.
There was said to be preaching in the jail every week, and the house was supplied with Bibles as required by statute.
Nearly all the jails in the state are insufficient to ful- fill the purposes contemplated by law. No adequate provisions are usually made by the counties to enable the jailer, however well disposed, so discharge the duty which is clearly enough imposed on him by the statutes. Number in confinement.
Native born.
13
Foreign born.
32
Average weekly expense of support.
$1.25
Commitments consequent on inebriation. (Per cent.)
Average number in confinement.
50
Supplied with Bibles.
Yes,
Number usually confined in single cell or ward.
2
Number confined constantly in cell.
0
Can classify as law requires.
No.
-
ALBANY PENITENTIARY.
This institution was opened in 1846. The building furnishes cells for two hundred males and one hundred females. The average number of inmates is two hun- dred; the present number is two hundred and fifty, seventy females and one hundred and eighty males. Three-fourth of these are of foreign birth. The convicts work at dif- ferent trades under contract, and the average earning per day of each is thirty cents.
The great class of commitments is for misdemeanors incident to and caused by intemperate habits. In eight hundred and one committments for the year 1855, seven hundred and seventy-one admitted themselves to to be intemperate. The same proportion will hold good for the present year. During the day the convicts are in the work shops and at night confined in separate cells. The prison is a very healthy one, there being but one death during the past year and that from delirium tremens. The patient came to the prison intoxicated. There was but one in hospital, and the average number so confined was one half of one per cent. There is chapel service every Sunday morning and religious conversation by the chaplain with the prisoners the residue of the
45
324
Charitable and Criminal Institutions.
day. A library is being established by private donations of individuals through the agency of the keeper, and already numbers some five hundred volumes. The hospital and chapel are not sufficiently ventilated; otherwise the in- stitution appears well constructed, and its arrangements quite faultless.
The income of the prison for the year 1855 was $18,- 174.25, and the expenses $15,587.72, leaving a profit for the year of $2,586, there is no indebtness of any kind; and this is believed to be the best additional comment the committee can make upon its management.
The keeper is the son of the former superintendent Amos Pilsbury, who after bringing the penitentiary to its present perfect condition, has taken charge of a more extensive establishment at Wards Island at the solicita- tion of the commissioners of emigration, who are now profiting by his superior qualifications, and where the state and all interested in that important commission are receiving the benefit of his skill and experience.
( 325 )
itario
FIRES IN 1856.
While all the larger cities in the Union have suffered severely from conflagrations during the year just closed, it is gratifying to know that our city has been singularly exempt from those disasters which have laid waste up- wards of twenty-five million dollars worth of property within twelve months. By reference to the record we ascertain that from January 1, 1856, but eighteen fires occurred in the city, East Albany, and Kenwood, and the total value of the property destroyed did not exceed $217,630. Included in this amount was $70,000 by the burning of Claassen & Barclay's oil cloth factory; $50,- 000 by Smith & Co's. Argentina works at Kenwood, and $50,000 by the Hudson river rail road depots at East Al- bany. Deducting this amount from the sum total and we find the value of the property destroyed by fire within the period named, was but $47,630, and this too a very liberal allowance.
The following is the record of fires with the date of their occurence, &c:
Jan. 20, Saturday, 82 P. M., rear of Ames's Buildings, corner South Pearl and Plain streets.
Feb. 2, Saturday, 72 P. M., slight fire on De Witt street; loss $30.
Feb. 8, Friday, 2 A. M., McGinty's, South Broadway; loss $100.
Feb. 13, Wednesday, 7 A. M., Wiles's house, south side Lydius street, near Cathedral; loss $25.
March 20, Friday, 10 A. M., Anable's morocco factory, South Broadway; loss $16,000.
June 24, Tuesday, 3} P. M., Pruyn's rope walk, Lumber strect; loss $3,000.
[ Annals, viii.] 29
326
Fires in 1856.
July 8, Tuesday, 2 A. M., Lloyd & Jones's carriage factory, and Taylor's malt house, Hamilton street; loss $15,000.
July 10, Thursday, 2 A. M., Corning's building, State street, occupied by Miss Shaw; loss $6,000.
July 30, Wednesday, 11 P. M., woodshed, Philip street, opposite hay market; loss $.0.
Aug. 30, Saturday, 5 A. M., Claassen & Barclay's oil cloth factory, Lydius street; loss $50,000.
Oct. 2, Thursday, 7 A. M., Smith & Co's Argentina works, Kenwood; loss $50,000.
Oct. 4, Saturday, 3& A. M., Ten Eyck's Building, Green street, occupied by Gilkerson ; loss $600.
Oct. 22, Wednesday, 9 P. M., Conly's building, Van Woert street; loss $2,000.
Oct. 27, Monday, 0: 15 A. M., Mrs. McCluskey's build- ing, Quay street ; loss $1,000.
Oct. 28, Tuesday, 8:20 A. M., Holmes's building, Mont- gomery street; loss $400.
Nov. 2. Sunday 0:30 A. M., Dr. Mc. Naughton's build- ing, corner Lydius and Church streets.
Nov. 19. Wednesday 0:30 P. M., wood sheds in rear of Nos. 43 and 45 Second st.
Dec. 14, Sunday, 4 A. M., Hudson river rail road depots, East Albany ; loss $50,000.
Dec. 25, Thursday, 6:45 A. M., E. Gates's house, Hudson street; loss $125.
No city in the Union can claim such exemption from the ravages of the devouring element, indicating great caution and diligence on the part of our citizens.
Since the introduction of the new supply of water the diminution in fires has been great, and the loss of pro- perty very small. There are various reasons for this. One is that there is no encouragement for incendiaries, as their hopes for plunder are disappointed by the secu- rity our citizens feel, they not removing their goods from their houses even though the fire is in close proximity. Another reason is the efficiency of the fire department, and the perfect mastery its members have over the ele- ment, in conjunction with the inexhaustible supply
327
Fires in 1856.
of water. With such a safe guard, and with ordinary care, we need have no fear of destructive conflagration unless extraordinary circumstances should interpose to thwart the efforts of the firemen.
The following is the record of fires during the years 1850 to 1855 inclusive:
1850, 26; 1851, 36; 1852, 23;
1853, 17; 1854, 38; 1855, 19.
Previous to the introduction of the present supply of water, our city was dreadfully scourged. No one can forget the year1848, when so much of our fair city was laid waste. Our citizens stood in constant fear, and the alarm bell was the signal for general consternation. After the great fire the insurance companies paid for losses $612,700, probably one third of the entire loss. During the years 1847 and 1848 the old Albany Insurance Company, promptly paid $367,000 losses in Albany and elsewhere. Since that time they have been recuperating, and once again are in the full tide of success. They were incorpor- ated in 1811; and have transacted business for 46 years with a reputation which has never been dishonored.
( 328 ).
ANNALS OF THE YEAR 1856.
-
JANUARY.
1. The New Year's day mild and beautiful, the sleigh- ing good, and every thing conducive to enjoyment, .... The legislature convened at the Capitol.
2. Mrs. Rebecca, widow of the late Matthew Van Al- styne, died, aged 61 ...... Oliver Gates died, aged 50.
3. Mrs. Elizabeth McCrea died, aged 73.
4. A countryman crossed the river on the ice with a span of horses and a lumber sleigh, in which were three women and a ton of iron. The weight of the load broke the ice, and the iron slid into the river, but the rest of the load was saved by fast driving ...... Joseph Ward died, aged 19. . Mary Eliza, wife of James Bowen, died, aged 30.
5. Thermometer 5 deg. below 0, and the crossing of the river on the ice now first became safe for teams. . .... A woman in Orange street found dead in her chair, sup- posed to have perished with cold.
6. The ferry boats went into winter quarters, the road- ways having been strengthened on the river by throwing water upon the ice, and thereby increasing its thickness. . The Hudson river rail road train due 103 o'clock on Saturday night, arrived at 8} Sunday morning, the road being obstructed with snow ...... Job Bendall died, aged 46 ...... Benj. Potter died, aged 71.
8. Ann Eliza, wife of Chas. King, died, aged 28. . Mrs. Abigail Sickles died, aged 51, wife of Alexander Sickles .. . ... Hester Neeley dicd, aged 22. ... Mrs. Susan Stewart died, aged 65.
9. Thermometer 8 deg. below 0 in the morning, and 9 deg. below at noon ...... The Hudson river express train was run into by the Poughkeepsie train, and three persons killed, among whom was Mrs. Henry Hurlburt,
329
Annals of the Year 1856.
of Albany; and a great number wounded, among whom was Mr. Thomas Schuyler and Mr. W. H. De Witt, of Albany ...... John Hendrickson died, aged 80. He was a native of Long Island, and came to Albany at an early age, a poor and unfriended youth. At first he was a merchant, but after a short time became a money and ex- change broker, in which business he continued until he retired with a competency. He was universally known and respected for his sound judgment, unblemished in- tegrity, and a sympathy towards the poor and unfortu- nate which was often manifested by liberal deeds. . . . John Carter died, aged 30 ...... Samuel Davidson, cartman, aged 50, left home in a deranged state of mind, and was found dead in the vicinity of the city.
10. Thermometer 10 deg. below 0 ..... A lunatic es- caped from the asylum at the Alms house, and was frozen to death in a graveyard in the vicinity.
11. Matilda, widow of James Gibbons, died, aged 56.
Charles A. Fassett died, aged 43 ...... Margaret, wife of Gilbert V. Van Zandt, died, aged 34.
12. G. V. S. Bleecker died, aged 65. He had been a member of the common council nearly twenty years. In all the relations of public and private life he was highly respected ...... Grace J. S. Hagaman died, aged 21.
13. Rev. Mr. Mayo commenced the pastorate of the Unitarian church in Division street ...... The German Lutheran church in State street was dedicated.
15. Harriet M., wife of Jas. Sutherland, died, aged 44.
16. Continental Co. B went to Newburgh to attend the funeral of Usual Knapp, the last of Washington's life guards, where it was assigned the post of honor.
17. James Fitzsimmons, Jr., died, aged 22.
20. A fire broke out in South Pearl street, near Plain, which damaged a millinery store. ... Thermometer ranged from 4 to 7 deg. below 0.
21. Erasmus D. Smith, a policeman, died suddenly.
27. Mrs. Harriet Eames died, aged 71. . Georgo Morrow died, aged 34.
29. Dorcas Maria, wife of Geo. Randall, died, aged 48.
330
Annals of the Year 1856.
30. Margaret P., wife of J C. Dowling, died, aged 56. 31. Jane, wife of James Webster, died, aged 27.
FEBRUARY.
2. The bedding in rear of house No. 43 De Witt street, took fire, causing a general alarm. A child was badly burnt; otherwise little damage was done ...... Bonfires were burnt on the arrival of the news of the election of Mr. Banks as speaker of congress ...... A remonstrance signed by 4000 Albanians, against a bridge at Albany, was presented to the legislature. Jane Matilda, wife of Langham Jupp, died, aged 38 .. . John C. Bullions, formerly of Albany, died at Honolulu, aged 28.
3. The formal institution of the Rev. Thos. C. Pitkin, as rector of St. Peter's church, took place, Bishop Potter officiating. According to the Episcopal usage, the new rector was presented by the bishop with the Letter of Institution, the Bible, and the Book of Common Prayer; and by the senior warden, with the keys of the church. The bishop preached an appropriate discourse on the duties of the Christian pastor, from the text, " The good pastor layeth down his life for the sheep," in which were many feeling allusions to his own recent and long con- tinued connection with the parish in that relation. The church was densely filled.
4. Mrs. William Boyd died, aged 73.
5. Charles L. Schoolcraft died at Marseilles, in France, whither he had gone for his health.
6. The governors of the Hospital entertained several hundred citizens, legislators and physicians from abroad; a supper was served, and several speeches made.
7. The house of the late David Newland, on Broad- way, was sold to the Bank of Albany for $14,000. .... Richard Merrifield elected president of the Young men's association.
8. A train from Buffalo over the Central rail road ar- rived, the first one since Sunday the 3d, the detention having arisen from snow storms and high winds, which obstructed the road in the western part of the state. A fire at 3 o'clock in the morning damaged a gro- .
.
331
Annals of the Year 1856.
cery in South Broadway ...... William Trainor died, aged 52. ..... Mrs. Freelove S. Ferris died, aged 75.
9. Thomas Martin died, aged 73.
10. Mrs. Lyons died, aged 67. ..... Hugh Duffy died, aged 26 ...... Mary Louisa Goewey, formerly of Albany, died at Auburn, aged 19.
11. Thomas Hill died, aged 41 ...... Mrs. Sarah Van Benthuysen, wife of William C. Cafferty, died, aged 63. Mrs. Sarah Springsteed died, aged 45.
12. Alanson Bennett, of Rome, while descending the Capitol steps, fell dead in a fit of apoplexy . William C. Cafferty died, aged 69.
13. An alarm of fire caused by the burning of bedding in the house adjoining Cathedral, in Lydius street. Thermometer from 5 to 8 deg. below 0.
14. Catharine, wife of Jacob Messenger, died, aged 30.
15. Michael McCafferty died, aged 61; long known as the cake baker in the old Dutch house in North Pearl street, adjoining the Female academy ...... Nancy, wife of Abraham V. McDowel, died, aged 30. ... John Henry Hallenbeck died.
18. The Daily Albany Argus and the Albany Evening Atlas were united, under the title of Atlas and Argus, by Comstock & Cassidy.
20. Eunice Low, wife of Wm. H. Frame, died, aged 22.
24. George Warren died, aged 67 .. . . Dr. John Van Buren died, aged 48.
25. Elisha N. Pratt died at his residence in Green bush, aged 42.
26. Mrs. Margaret, widow of Philip Gaylor, died, aged 73 ...... Edward B. Carroll died, aged 24 ...... Mary, wife of Martin Cunningham, died. .. .Alfred Hanson died, aged 30.
27. An alarm of fire in the evening, occasioned by the careless use of camphene ...... Frances M., daughter of Stephen Clark, died, aged 19.
29. The whole number of persons arrested, charged with criminal offences, and brought before the police jus- tices during the month of February, was 210. .. Eli- zabeth Curran died, aged 24.
332
Annals of the Year 1856.
MARCH.
2. Abby, widow of the late George W. Cady, died, aged 56.
4. A special meeting of the board of commissioners of foreign missions, opened its sessions at the Congrega- tional church ...... John J. Jarvis died, aged 38 ...... Mrs. Gertrude, widow of Willard Lloyd, died, aged 49.
. . . Mary, wife of James Hamilton, died, aged 27.
5. A law was reported to the common council for en- larging the bounds of the city of Albany, by annexing parts of the towns of Bethlehem and Watervliet . . Michael Arts died, aged 81.
10. Cold, thermometer 7 deg. below 0 in the morning. . Capt. George Monteath died, aged 78. He was born in the town of Dumblane, Scotland, in 1778, and came with his parents to Albany, at the age of seven, and resided here more than seventy years. He com- menced the profession of a schipper on the Hudson river at the age of ten, and for more than thirty years was occupied in sailing sloops, much of the time as master and owner. He was one of the founders of the Albany and Canal line of tow boats, with which he was actively connected until age and its infirmities compelled his re- tirement. Unlike some of his fellow craft, he took ad- vantage of the introduction of steam, instead of treating it with contempt, and acquired a fortune by it.
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.