USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The annals of Albany, Vol. VIII > Part 3
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Until the 11th November no special change occurred;
23
Obituary of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.
he slept more than usual, and at night comfortably, awaking at his accustomed hour in the morning; he sat nearly every day for a short time, and often devoted a part of this to business; his books and his papers were around him, and he still devoted himself to them with untiring industry ; although he was sick, he did not know how to be idle. I visited him at all hours, and I always found him with a book in his hand; when he retired at night, it was with lights arranged by his bedside that he might read until he fell asleep.
With the first loss of sleep (Nov. 11) came total pros- tration, he was unable longer to take nourishment, and soon began what appeared to be the process of dying; of this he was fully aware, yet no murmur escaped his lips, nor the wish that the termination might be averted. Nov. 14, his breathing became gradually more difficult, and his extremities cold; he was extremely restless, but uniformly answered " No," when asked if he was suffer- ing. Each hour appeared for two or three days to be his last, but he rallied again however, and remarked of the wonderful tenacity of his constitution, and expressed surprise that he lived so long. "It is hard breaking the chain ;" and then he asked: " Is not this a long struggle ? How long have I been in it?" To my reply "More than twenty-four hours," he asked : "Do you think it will last much longer ?" Addressing his daughters, who were by his bedside, he said : "I had a coldness, a sort of spasm in my side last night, that was near my idea of the coming on of death; I have thought my case over, it is a remarkable complaint, don't all you think so ?" And at the same time he expressed his conviction that he must have organic disease,
At another time, when he thought his daughters greatly fatigued by prolonged attention to him, gazing upon them with paternal tenderness, he said: "I am sorry to tire you so ; I wish it was over." Thus, in his last hours, he did not fail to regard the comfort of others before himself. His hearing continued acute, and his mind clear and calm through those hours of protracted
24
Obituary of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.
dissolution, although he was so weak that he could not
· converse. Thus he lingered until the morning of the 19th. A few hours preceding his death, Mrs. Parmelee was sitting by his side, when he asked : " Where is Catherine ?" (Mrs. Van Cortlandt); immediately she was with him. He pressed her hand in token of recognition, gazed upon them for a moment, and then closed his eyes for ever. His breathing became quiet, fainter, and still more faint, until at length, gently as sleeps a child, the slumber of death came upon him. And thus passed away this great man, on the 19th of November, 1855, at the age of sixty four years and three months. Mr. and Mrs. Parmelee, Mrs. Van Cortlandt and myself, were with him when he died.
During the whole period of his illness, his daughters watched him with the utmost filial devotion and tender- ness. They were almost constantly with him, anticipat- ing every want, and administering every comfort. His last hours were not only soothed by their presence, their words of kindness and love, but by their earnest prayers that he might be sustained by his Heavenly Father in the eventful hour that still awaited him.
Dr. Beck had no sons. His two daughters, Catharine, wife of Pierre Van Cortlandt, Esq., of Westchester, and Helen, wife of Hon. William Parmelee, of Albany, still live to attest his inestimable worth and to exemplify his virtues.
In the presence of strangers, Dr. Beck was somewhat reserved, and not unfrequently seemed unsocial; but with his more intimate acquaintances he was remarkably free, affable, and unrestrained; and through all his familiar social conversations there was a rich vein of humor mingling with the profounder currents of thought and discussion.
His knowledge of books was not confined to scientific treatises. He read most of the standard works in history, romance, poetry, and in all departments of light literature. He read rapidly, and soon possessed himself of the meaning or value of any author; which faculty,
25
Obituary of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.
united to a retentive memory, made him almost the final umpire wherever questions of text or of authority arose. In the language of one who knew him intimately, and who had been a colaborer with him in the establishment of the State Library, " His knowledge of what I would call the science of literature, I have never seen equaled."
He was liberal to the poor, and kind to all. Not even the brutes escaped his sympathy. Cruelty to animals excited in him always the most intense disapprobation.
His belief in the divine revelation, and in its doctrines, as held by the great body of protestant Christians, was firm, decided and often expressed; and he could never tolerate any attempts on the part of any person to impugn or to throw discredit upon them.
In conclusion, I beg to repeat the language and judg- ment of a well known gentleman who had spent several summers in his society at Lake George, Mr. George Ticknor, of Boston. In a letter written during the illness of Dr. Beck, he says: "I have known few men of so faithful a nature as he was, and still fewer in whom, on a more continuous acquaintance, I have been so much interested. The amount of his knowledge, and the eagerness with which he pursues it, are remarkable; but not more so than the excellent use to which he puts it all."
Also of an intimate personal friend, the Rev. Dr. J. N. Campbell of Albany, who was his pastor for some years, and his associate as a member of the board of regents : " I think that the secret of that respect and regard which Dr. Beck had acquired in the community, and which he enjoyed in a measure rarely attained by any man, is to be found in his industry and disinterestedness, and these were prominent features in his character. He was the most laborious man I ever knew. He never lost a min- ute, and we all know how much he accomplished; yet he never appeared in anything he did to be seeking to acquire position or honor for himself; and I have repeat- edly remarked that, in speaking of the results of his labors, he was always careful to give all the credit to his [ Annals viii.] 4
26
Obituary of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.
associates and to claim nothing for himself. * * * He was a remarkably pure-minded man; of true honor, above all meanness, and of the strictest integrity."
The annexed is a list of offices which he filled, and societies to which he was elected, etc.
Alms House Physician, Albany,. 1811
Fellow of the College of Phys. and Surg., N. Y., .. 1811
Medical Society, State of New York,. 1813
New York Historical Society, New York,. 1813 Member of Physico-Medical Society, New York, .. 1815
Trustee of the Albany Academy, ... 1815
Professor of the Institutes of Medicine, Fairfield, 1815 Hon. Mem. of Academy of Nat. Sciences, Phila., .. 1816 Receiving Officer of Antiquarian Society, Mass., .. 1816.
- Hon. Mem. Lyceum of Natural History, N. Y., .... 1817
Hon. Mem. Amer. Geolog. Soc., New Haven,
1819
Hon. Mem. Medical Society, London,
1824
Hon. Mem. Medical Society, Quebec,.
1824
Corresponding Member Linnean Society, Paris,. 1826
Hon. Mem. Medical Society, Connecticut, 1826
Hon. Mem. Nat. Hist. Society, Montreal,.
1827
Senior Hon. Mem. Med. Soc. of Emulation of Charlestown, . 1827
Hon. Mem. Med. Soc. of New Hampshire,. 1828
Associate of the College of Physicians, Phila. 1829
Hon. Mem. of the Ithaca Lyceum,.
Hon. Mem. of the West Point Lyceum, . 1830
1830
Mem. Albany Connty Agricultural Society, .
1830
Hon. Mem. Royal Medical Society, Edinburgh,. 1832
Philosophical Society, Rutgers College, . 1833
Prof. Materia Medica and Med. Juris., Fairfield,. . 1836
Hon. Mem. Meteorological Society, London, ..
1838
Hon. Mem. Amer. Philosophical Society, Phil., ... 1839
Hon. Mem. Medical Society, Rhode Island,.
1839
Hon. Mem. Nat. Institution for Promotion Science, Washington,. 1840
Hon. Mem. Historical Society of Pennsylvania, ... 1841
27
Obituary of Dr. T. Romeyn Beck.
Secretary of the Board of Regents,. 1841 Hon. Mem. Amer. Ethnological Society, N. Y., ... 1842 Hon. Mem. North. Acad. Arts and Sciences, Dart- mouth, 1843
Corresponding Fellow of N. Y. Acad. of Med. 1847
Degree of LL. D., Mercersburgh, Pa.
1849
Degree of LL. D., of Rutgers Col., New Brunswick. . President of Albany Institute.
Royal Soc. of North. Antiquarians, Copenhagen, .. 1843
Hon. Mem. Historical Society, Vermont, 1850 Hon. Mem. American Statistical Society, Boston, 1851 Hon. Mem. State Historical Society, Wisconsin, .. 1854 Trustee State Lunatic Asylum, and President Board of Trustees.
Pres. of the Board of Trustees Albany Academy, 1852 Mem. Executive Com. of the Normal School.
Emeritus Professor Albany Medical College,. ..... 1854
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ABSTRACT
OF
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS
Taken at the Albany Academy, from April, 1855, to April, 1856, by Prof. D. Murray.
-
The natural and rational epoch from which to com- mence our reckoning of the year, is the time when the sun crosses the equinoctial from south to north. That is a point in absolute time, capable of being determined with facility and precision. It is, besides, the real beginning of that gradual awakening into activity of those systems of animal and vegetable life, whose growth, maturity and decay forin the land-marks in the existence of mankind. As far as any physical phenomena are concerned, there is no more reason why the first of January should be the first day of a new year, than the first of October, or the first of June, or the 20th of August. No event either astronomical or terrestrial occurs at that time to make it deserving of any such distinction. On the contrary, the period of the sun's crossing the line from the south to the north, is an event well marked, and of great im- portance to the whole of the civilized world. And at a time when scientific investigation is adjusting with so much delicacy the practical details of life, when systems of weights and measures for the very unromantic purpose of meting out our bread and our drink are being con- structed, having for their basis the length of a terrestrial meridian,-when the precise hour of the day, even to the tenth of a second, is of so much importance to a great
29
Meteorological Observations.
commercial metropolis, that an astronomical clock one hundred and sixty miles distant is to be employed for its indication, -- when such accuracy is being called for and attained, it is not visionary to suppose that the time will come when an inconvenient and irrational epoch for the commencement of a new year will be changed into one more convenient and rational.
To the Cæsar or the Gregory whose duty it may be to readjust the calendar, we submit, that the day on which the sun crosses the line, should in every case be called New Year's day; that the first day of April should be moved back on the calendar, so as to coincide with this; that the number of days in. March should be given to February, making it a constant quantity, and the neces- sary intercalations should be thrown upon March, which would now be the last month in the year.
This subject has this much to do with meteorology. If a series of observations are intended to set before us a representation of the phenomena of the year, it is in- judicious to commence when such phenomena are at their maxima or minima. For in so doing, we separate those observations which show the manner of approach to that maximum or minimum from those which show the man- ner of departure. If for instance a set of observations for the year upon the thermometer be commenced in Jan- uary, we have not before us a complete view of the win- ter, but only of that part of it, where it begins to change into spring. We thus break up our view of this well marked and unique season of the year, and set at the beginning of our outline a delineation of the last half of one winter and at the end of it the first half of another, obtaining a full outline of neither. But commencing in the spring when the thermometer is at a mean, we ob- tain, when we have completed the year, an entire repre- sentation of both the summer and the winter and of the manner in which they are related to each other.
For these reasons I have taken the first of April as the starting point; that being the month which approach-
·
30
Meteorological Observations.
es most nearly to occupying the place of the first month in our theoretical year.
We present first, then, a meteorological table giving a summary of the observations on the thermometer and barometer, the rain-guage, and wind-vane, between the 1st of April 1855, and the 1st of April 1856. The in- struments used are those furnished by the Smithsonian Institution, and the mode of notation is theirs.
REMARKS.
Temperature .- The warmest day within the period designated was July Ist, when the thermometer stood at 2 o'clock 93.6 deg.,. the coldest was Jan. 6, when the thermometer stood at 7 A. M. at -- 7.7 deg. the range of the thermometer therefore, for the year has been 101.3 deg. The mean temperature of the year, has been 48.2 deg., which differs only 0.1 deg. from the mean annual temperature for Albany between the years 1826 and 1853 inclusive, that being 48.1 deg. But although the temperature for the year cor- responds so exactly with the average temperature, there have been some peculiarities worthy of notice. Taking the aggregate of the mean monthly temperature for June, July, and August, from 1826 to 1853 inclusive, it is 208.49 deg., while the same aggregate for the summer of 1855 gives 211.3 deg., -- about 3 degrees warmer. Again we find but 3 times during those 28 years when the temperature of July rose to what it reached in 1855, viz : 75.1 deg. whilst the average is but 71.37 deg. This indicates then that the summer, especially the month of July, was considerably warmer than usual.
When we turn from the summer to the winter, we find the reverse. If we take the aggregate of the mean monthly temperature's of December, January, February and March, during the 28 years above referred to, we shall find it 115.5 deg., whereas the same aggregate for the winter of 1855 and 1856 is but 98.6 deg., differing from it by the unusual amount of 17 deg. Omitting the month
31
Meteorological Table, for the Year ending April 1st, 1856.
ALBANY ACADEMY. Lat., 42 deg. 39 min. 13 sec. Long., 73 deg. 44 min. 49 sec.
Meteorological Observations.
THERMOMETER.
BAROMETER.
RAIN.
PREVAILING WINDS.
MONTHS.
Highest
Lowest
Mean
Highest
Lowest
Mean
No. days
of fall.
Amount
in inches.
Av. am't
for 29 y'rs
Direction ..
April, .
73.5
17.9
47.2
30.08
29.00
29.69
8
2.65
3.25
S
3
May,.
84.3
41.8
60.9
29.93
29.27
29.64
2
1.83
3.82 S,NE & N
3
June,
93.3
46.2
66.7
29.83
29.04
29.53
13
6.84
4.47
S
4
July,.
93.6
61.4
75.1
29.88
29.34
29.63
9
3.96
4.30 S & SW
2
August, .
83.2
53.2
69.5
30.12
29.18
29.74
6
3.75
3.41 |NW & SW
3
September,.
89.3
41.3
63.7
30.12
29.33
29.73
4
1.52
3.44
S
3
October,.
73.2
36.8
52.1
29.94
29.16
29.59
11
8.93
3.77
S
2
November,
58.9
21.2
43.0
30.12
29.04|
29.73
9
3.27
3.24
W
3
December, ..
48.9
9.6
31 4
30.23
28.45
29.71
7
3.82
2.88
W
3
January, ..
37.3
-7.7
17.7
30.21
28.99
29.58
4
1.10
2.76
NW
4
40.9
-7.4
21.9
30.03
28.64
29.37
4
0.39
2.60
S & W
3
March, ..
45.4
-2.1
27.5
29.82
28.71
29.36
7
1.83
2.72
W
3
Mean,.
48.2
Mean,.
29.61 84
39.89|
40.66|S 51 2º W.
3
February, .
32
Meteorological Observations.
of December, which was much warmer last winter than it usually is, the aggregate of January, February and March for 28 years is 87.55 deg., while for 1856 it is but 67.1 deg., showing the astonishing difference of over 20 deg. Three times within the 28 years have we had a colder January, six times a colder February, once a colder March; but never have these months succeeded each other as cold as last winter. The nearest approach to it was in the winter of 1843, when the aggregate tem- perature for January, February and March was 72.4 deg.
Beginning with the 26th of December, the temperature continued below the freezing point, almost without ces- sation to the end of March, and during all that time scarce a drop of rain fell. The thermometer has often reached a lower point than it did at any time last winter; and indeed did so during the January of 1855, but no record exists at Albany of its having averaged so low for so long a time. It is well known that the unusual inten- sity of the cold has been more apparent in other places than here. Ice has formed in localities where no recol- lection or tradition affirms it to have ever formed before.
An observer near Chicago, Illinois, gives the mean temperature of January at 9.34 deg., and during the first eleven days of it, the mean temperature was but -- 2.15 deg. He says: " the ground in many places cracked open with a sound resembling that of a gun, heard sometimes by day, but oftener by night." The usual temperature of that part of Illinois does not differ materially from that of this place.
Barometer .- The peculiarities in the observations on the barometer are not such as to demand any particular notice. In general it may be said, that the altitude of the column has averaged a little less during the year than usual. At this place the mean height of the barometer for a month, seldom rises to thirty inches; it has occur- ed but four times within the last six years. On the contrary it is seldom less than twenty-nine and a half
-
Meteorological Observations.
inches; only once has it happened within the same period. Beginning from the month of April, the altitude of the column usually falls a little during the rains of May, then gradually ascends during the month of June, July and August, attaining its maximum in September; then falling during the rainy month of October, then gradual- ly rising, as the temperature falls, through the months of November and December, and attains a second maxi- mum in the month of January, from which point it falls to its minimum in March. The present year it has · followed the usual course, with two exceptions, viz : a very decided fall during the rainy month of June, and a still more decided fall during the rainiest month ever recorded here, October.
Rain and Snow .- The total amount of water which has fallen during the year is 39.89 inches, about & inch less than the average fall for 29 years. But while the total agrees so nearly, the distribution throughout the year differs very materially.
In the month of April, and more especially the month of May, a much less amount of rain fell than usual, and it will be remembered how much anxiety was felt by the agricultural portion of the community, lest another summer was to follow like that of 1854. But the month of June brought with it an abundance of rain, 6.84 inches having fallen, an amount greater by 50 per cent than usually falls during that month. July and August had their usual supply; but during the first half of Sep- tember scarcely a drop of rain fell, and during the last half a quantity little more than one third of what usually belongs to September. The rains, which began in September, continued into October, and during the whole of the month rains fell almost every other day, until the astonishing amount of 8.93 inches was recorded. This is the greatest amount which is ever recorded to have fallen in a single month at Albany, during the years that the rain guage has been kept. The nearest ap- proach to it took place May, 1833, when 8.47 inches fell.
34
Meteorological Observations.
I have already referred to the fact that during the rainy months of June and October the records of the barome- ter showed a very great depression.
During the winter months the amount of water which fell either in the form of snow or rain, was much less than the average, although popular belief places it much high- er. The amount which fell, from December 26th, when our snows began, to the end of March, was 4.81 inches of water; or taking the usual average of 10 inches of snow to one of water, it would make 48.1 inches of snow, or about four feet. Or including the month of December, we have for:
December, January, February, March, 1855, 1856, 7.14 inches water = 6 feet snow.
December, January, February, March, (average for 29 years,) 10.96 inches water = 9 feet snow.
Perhaps a greater amount of snow has fallen in other places, but here certainly, it has not been the amount of snow which has made the winter remarkable. What has given rise to the popular opinion, I suppose, has been the fact that the uninterrupted cold, preserved the snow without melting, almost from the first day that it fell ; so that there was upon the ground in March the entire accumulated snows of three months.
Winds .- Smithsonian observers are required to ob- serve the direction and force of the winds; the former to be expressed to 8 points of the compass, the latter in numbers running from 1 to 10.
1, indicating a very light breeze, 2 miles per hour,
2, a gentle breeze, 4
3, 66
a fresh 12 4 66 4, a strong wind, 25 “ and lastly,
10, indicating the most violent hurricane, 100 miles per hour.
Of course, in the absence of any instrument for measur- ing the force of the winds, the observer can make but imperfect approximations to accuracy. The best indica- tion, perhaps, is the motion of the wind-vane. The vane in a strong wind never remains stationary, but continual- ly oscillates with greater or less velocity, according to
35
Meteorological Observations.
the violence of the winds, through an arc of 10 deg. to 60 deg.
I have constructed a diagram which reveals the facts
APRIL.
MAY!
JUNE
JULY
RESULTANT S. 51'2 ° W.
AUC
SEPT.
FEB.
.MAR.
JAN.
OCT.
DEC.
NOV.
in regard to the winds of the year better than any description can do. From the monthly records of the winds, I have abstracted the prevailing winds for each month and their mean force. With these I have con- structed the resultant for each month, and then com- bined these twelve resultants into one diagram to obtain the resultant for the year. Thus obtained, the resultant is a wind blowing from S. 512 deg. W., at an average rate of about 12 miles per hour. The direction differs from that obtained by Dr. Hough as the resultant for twenty-four years, by 233 degrees, that being S. 75 deg. W.
Freezing of the Hudson .- The last trip to New York from Albany on the Hudson was made by the steam boat Hero, on the 24th of December. The river continued firmly frozen until the ferries broke through on 3d of April. On the 4th, the ice moved away from that part of the river immediately opposite the city. On the 10th the river was entirely clear, no flooding of the docks having
36
Meteorological Observations.
taken place during the whole breaking up of the ice. South America was the first boat up. The whole num- ber of days during which the river was closed was 108, a period much longer than usual. The longest period on record is from Nov. 28, 1842, to April 13th, 1843, 135 days; the shortest from Dec. 14, 1841, to Feb. 4, 1842, . 47 days. The average is about 90 days.
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-
NEW YORK COLONIAL MANUSCRIPTS.
[Continued from vol. vi, p. 302.]
-
[The following papers are copied from the sixth vol- ume of the Documents relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York." The references are to the Man- uscripts in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany.]
COMMON COUNCIL OF ALBANY TO PRESIDENT CLARKE.
[New York Papers. Ff., No. 30.]
Albany 18th May 1736.
May it please your Honor ; The Mayor communicated to this Board your letter of the 11th instant directed to Captain Collins, whereby we perceive that you would have our opinion of a certain Tract of Land in the Mohawks Country, petitioned for Messrs Storke and Van Brugh Livingston to his Majesty. We therefore shall endeavor to give you our opinion of it and its consequenses accord- ing to the best of our Capacity and understanding. In the mean while we join with your Honor in Opinion that there is a course left out. However we can partly guess where the Land petitioned for lyes, and are well assured that great part of said Tract is already Patented and we are credibly informed that there are several purchases made from the Mohawks in the regular method for part. of said Tract We are also assured that some of the Mohawks Indians are seated on part of it. But can not conceive that any of the Mohawks Flatts are included in those imperfect Boundaries We are confident that the method made use of by those Gentlemen first to obtain a [ Annals vii.] 5
38
New York Colonial Manuscripts.
Patent for Lands before a purchase made from the Natives will prove of ill consequence and alienate the Indians from His Majestys Interest and create great animosities and strife between them and us and in the end drive them* to the French So we most earnestly entreat your honor that you would in the strongest manner you can sett forth the ill consequenses of such proceedings to the Lords of Trade and desire them to discountenance any such prac- tices We are
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