USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The annals of Albany, Vol. X > Part 29
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June 26. Mary E., wife of J. K. Wing, died, aged 28. June 29. James Chestney died, aged 95.
July 1. George Forbey, Jr. died, aged 22.
July 3. Sarah, wife of Laban W. Keith, died, aged 55. Anna L., wife of R. L. Joice, died, aged 25.
July 5. John W. Van Buren died, aged 34.
Caroline C., wife of Ezra B. Bennett, died, aged 37.
July 9. Ann widow of Christopher Oley died, aged 70.
July 14. Cynthia, widow of Timothy Gladding, died.
July 16. Daniel Bradt died, aged 68.
July 17. John Worcester died, aged 48.
July 20. John Russell died, aged 37. Abram Rosekrans died, aged 67.
July 22. Catalina Boyd died, aged 32. Charles Boardman died, aged 52.
. July 23. Mrs. Elizabeth Powers died, aged 95.
July 24. Richard Roser, jr. died, aged 46.
July 28. Lois P., wife of Benj. C. Raymond, died.
Aug. 2. Elizabeth wife of W. F. Slawson died, aged 25. Garret L. Dox died at Waterloo, aged 62.
Aug. 3. Caroline C., wife of Dr. R. B. Briggs, died, aged 32.
John E. Lovett resigned the office of Secretary of the Albany Insurance company on account of ill-health, and was succeeded by Stephen Groesbeeck.
381
Notes from the Newspapers.
1847.
Aug. 4. Laura widow of Charles Dillon died, aged 43.
Capt. Elihu S. Bunker died, for nearly half a century identified with steam boat navigation. He commanded the first steam boat that ran upon the sound.
Aug. 6. Johanna, wife of Simon Relyea, died, aged 49. Adeline, wife of Schuyler Bradwell, died, aged 27.
Aug. 9. The firemen received and entertained a com- pany from Charlestown, Mass., giving a torch-light pro- cession in the evening.
Aug. 10. John Stockton died, aged 47.
Aug. 11. Fanny, wife of David Deyo, died, aged 53.
Aug. 16. William Thorp died at Oakhill, aged 56. Alexander McElroy died, aged 88.
Aug. 17. Mrs. Elizabeth Baker died, aged 71.
Aug. 19. John Erskine Lovett died, aged 52. Mr. Lovett was for a long time city attorney; afterwards an active member of the common council; and was for the last fourteen years of his life secretary of the Albany insurance company. He was a man of amiable and re- fined manners, accurate learning, strict integrity, and possessing a high sense of honor.
Sept. 2. Thomas Bulger died, aged 67.
Sept. 4. Jane, widow of Horace Allen, died, aged 72. Sept. 6. Michael I. Johnston died, aged 45. David Deyo, jr. died, aged 56.
This closes the Notes from the Newspapers, and brings the events of the city down to the time when the Annals were begun in 1847. See vol. 1, p. 159, and 341, and each succeeding volume, in which the events of the year are published to the close of 1858, forming a continuous chronicle of nearly ninety years, since the first newspaper was printed here.
[ Annals, x.] 33
( 382 )
ABRAHAM VAN VECHTEN.
This distinguished lawyer and statesman, was the youngest son of Teunis Van Vechten and Judith Ten Broeck, and was born at Cats- kill, December 5, 1762; was married May 24, 1784, to Catharine Schuyler, daughter of Philip P. Schuyler and Anna Wendell; and died at Albany, on the 6th January, 1837.
Few men have been called to so extensive a sphere of usefulness and filled it so long and so well as ABRAHAM VAN VECHTEN. He entered upon the scenes of active life shortly after the Revolutionary war. He received his elementary education at a public school in Esopus, which has been the nursery of many of our distinguished men. He pursued his professional studies under the direction of the late Chancellor Lansing, and began the practice of law in the county of Montgomery, but was soon invited to occupy a more extensive field in the city of Albany. The high places at the bar were then filled by a gifted race of advocates, among whom were Hamilton, Harrison, Jones, Burr and Livingston. But the brilliancy of the bar could not cast young Van Vechten in the shade. He soon ranked among his illustrious seniors as an equal and a competitor for the high- est professional eminence. Untiring in his efforts, the powers of his highly gifted mind were continually developed and expanded. His intellect was formed to grapple with the most abstruse and difficult subjects of judicial investigation; and he early inured himself to the most intense application of mental industry .. In acuteness and the ready comprehension of any subject presented for his investigation, he had few equals. And nature seemed to have furnished him with powers eminently adapted to the illustration of legal principles. He made no display of legal lore, his learning seemed to be incorporated with his thoughts. What he had once read was well digested and remained ever ready for application. A large portion of his life was spent in the discussion of legal questions in our highest tribunals of Jaw and equity; there he was always listened to with profound at- tention by our most eminent judges. His arguments were calculated to elucidate and instruct, and greatly to aid the tribunals to which they were addressed in forming correct conclusions. His style was re- markable for purity, perspicuity and strength. His train of thought was always logical and correct. In his manner he was usually calm and unimpassioned, yet earnest and forcible. His talents were too conspicuous to allow him to confine his efforts to the bar. He was repeatedly chosen to represent his fellow citizens in both branches of the legislature. The senate chamber was the theatre of some of his highest intellectual efforts. As a member of the court for the cor-
ABRAHAM VAN VECHTEN.
-
383
Abraham Van Vechten.
rection of errors he has left behind him enduring monuments of his legal wisdom. For a number of years he filled the office of attorney general with distinguished ability. At an early period of his life a seat on the bench of the supreme court was offered to him by Gov. Jay; a similar offer was made to him at a later period. He declined these proffered honors, preferring the labors of the bar as more con- genial to his habits and his feelings. The causes in our books of re- ports in which he took a part as counsel, numerous as they are, give but a faint idea of the amount of professional labor performed by him. For more than half a century his brilliant mind was constantly shedding its light over the jurisprudence of the state. The bar had long delighted to accord to him the highest honors they could bestow. To the younger members of the profession he had greatly endeared himself by his kindness and courteous manners; and by all he was venerated as an illustrious model of professional excellence. In his daily consultations with his clients he was emphatically a peace maker. It was his constant habit to advise to the settlement of dis- putes whenever it was practicable. He allowed no sordid motives to influence nis advice, or to bias his mind in giving his opinions.
He was recorder of the city of Albany from 1797 to 1808; state senator from 1798 to 1805, and from 1816 to 1820; member of assem- bly from 1805 to 1815; attorney-general of the state for the year 1810, and was again appointed in 1813, and served two years; and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1821.
His character as a citizen in the private walks of life afforded a model of excellence. He constantly displayed in his intercourse with his neighbors and acquaintances the most amiable social qualities which adorn the human heart. To his other traits of character was added one which is justly deemed of far the most importance; he was a sincere believer in the Savior of the world and a venerated member of the Dutch Reformed Church. In her judicatories his paternal counsels were listened to with reverence, as eminently calculated to promote the peace and prosperity of the Church. His disinterestedness was a prominent feature in his character and was the foundation of that unbounded confidence which was reposed in him by all who knew him. In his domestic circle he was remarkable for kindness and affectionate attention to the feelings and wants of those who were dependent upon him.
( 384 )
ALBANY.
The following communication, exhibiting the actual condition of our city, its prospects and advantages, is from a source, it will be perceived, that entitles its state- ments to entire credit. We lay it before our readers with the more pleasure, as the present indications point not only to the continued prosperity of the city, but to the prevalence of a spirit among us that must lead to a far higher appreciation of the advantages of this most favor- able location for all the purposes of extensive business and profitable adventure. The growth of Albany has been steady, and in all respects substantial. At the head of one of the most noble rivers in America-at the conflu- ence of the river and a chain of internal communication stretching west from the Hudson to the Mississippi and north to the St. Lawrence-the recipient of the products, not only of our own west, with its abundance and fertil- ity, but of all the extended and rapidly improving country bordering upon and lying between the two great points referred to-its destiny can not be mistaken. It must become one of the largest cities of the Union. This re- sult will be facilitated by the measures now in progress for opening a direct communication, via Stockbridge and Worcester, to Boston ; and particularly by the fresh spirit and energy with which our citizens have entered into that and other improvements.
This communication has been issued in the form of a circular, and addressed to such persons in the adjacent states, as will be likely, from their character, standing and relative situation, to view the matter with interest, and give it circulation among those for whose information it is designed .- Albany Daily Advertiser, 1835.
Albany, the capital of the state of New York, is near the head of navigation on the Hudson river, where the
385
Albany, its Prospects and Advantages.
great western and northern canals terminate. Its happy position, at a point where a river navigable to the ocean, and one of the finest in the world, meets the great inland communications with the northern and western lakes, ensures its advancement, and that at no distant period, to the very first rank among the inland cities of this country. Since the completion of the Erie and Cham- plain canals, its progress in population and business has been almost unexampled.
In 1820, the number of inhabitants was 12,630. In 1830, 24,209, being an increase of 92 per cent, in ten years. No census has been taken since 1830, but one is now in progress, and will shortly be completed. No doubt is entertained, from the increase of business in the city, that it will show a very great increase of population over that of 1830.
The following table shows the increase in the amount of produce and merchandise arriving at Albany by way of the canal in two years, from 1832 to 1834:
COMPARATIVE TABLE FOR THE YEARS
1832.
1834.
Domestic spirits,
brls.
21,285
20,839
66
hhds.
1,274
.
Boards and scantling,
feet 36,020,594
62,103,000
Shingles,
M.
22,643
Timber,
feet
55,569
104,145
Flour,
brls.
422,695
795,182
Provisions.
21,274
20,864
Salt,
bush.
23,117
19,070
Ashes,
brls.
19,091
16,944
Wood,
cords
15,224
17,685
Wheat,
bush. .
145,960
233,574
Coarse grain,
208,943
490,880
No. of boats arrived and cleared, 14,300
18,550
No. of tons,
109,300
156,804
It appears from the above table that the increase in favor of 1834 over 1832 on the three greatest articles of merchandise, viz : lumber in its various shapes, flour and
386
Albany, its Prospects and Advantages.
grain, is from 70 to 100 per cent, and a continued in- crease will no doubt go on. The lumber trade alone at this city, is already immense, it being one of the best lumber markets in the Union, and promises to continue so for a long time to come.
The following is a complete return of the different articles arriving at Albany by way of the Canal during the year 1834.
1834.
Complete returns of articles, under the new order.
Domestic spirits, brls.
20,839
Boards and scantling, feet
62,103,000
Shingles, M.
22,643
Timber, feet
104,145
Staves,
56,438,000
Flour,
brls.
795,182
Provisions,
20,864
Salt,
10,070
Ashes,
16,944
Lime,
455,810
Beer,
293
Cider,
43
Dried fruit, Ibs.
45,934
Apples, brls.
241
Wood, cords
17,685
Wheat,
bush.
233,574
Coarse grain,
66
490,880
Bran and ship-stuff
273,191
Peas and beans,
13,137
Potatoes,
19,758
Clover and grass seed, lbs.
790,434
Flax seed,
613,046
Wool,
66
591,760
Cotton,
22.412
Cheese,
66
1,553,304
Butter and lard,
1,826,341
Hops,
247,165
Hemp,
57,581
387
Albany, its Prospects and Advantages.
Tobacco,
lbs.
447,349
Fur and peltry,
361,283
Stone,
4,111,323
Merchandise,
181,218
Furniture,
199,747
Clay,
4 250
Pig lead,
1,000
Pig Iron,
66
49,213
Iron ware,
377,922
Sundries,
8,129,695
There is no doubt that the business of this year will very greatly exceed that of the last. By returns from the collector's office at Albany, up to the 1st of August (after which it will be recollected the great business season of the year is yet to come), it appeared that the amount of many of the articles mentioned in the fore- going report which had then arrived, exceeded the entire quantity that arrived during the whole of last year.
The following is a statement of the canal tolls received by the collector at Albany, down to the 1st of September in 1834 and 1835:
To the 1st of September, 1834, $124,263.49
66 1835, 192,883.10
Being an increase of business by the way of the canal of 56 per cent, since last year. Besides this, a consider- able quantity of produce is brought to Albany on the Mohawk and Hudson rail road, which strikes the Erie canal at Schenectady-the amount being about 420 tons per week.
For the future the prospects of Albany are still more encouraging. The rail road from Schenectady to Utica is now constructing, and will be completed by next July or August; thus extending the rail road communication 100 miles west. Rail road's are also constructing be- tween Syracuse and Auburn, and between Rochester and Batavia, which will so far complete the line of rail roads to Buffalo, that it is easy to foresee that but a short time can elapse before a continuous line will be established to Lake Erie, thus making the spring and winter facilities
388
Albany, its Prospects and Advantages.
of transportation nearly equal to those of the summer. A company is now engaged in making surveys for a rail road from Albany to Stockbridge in Massachusetts, which with the contemplated rail road from Stockbridge to connect with the Boston and Worcester rail road, will form a chain of rail road communication between Albany and Boston, which will be of great advantage to this city, especially in the winter, when the intercourse by water with New York is suspended. When all these roads are completed, and there is no doubt they soon will be, and the links west of Utica above referred to, filled up, there will be a line of rail road communication from Boston to Buffalo; from the Atlantic to the western lakes, of which Albany will be the business centre.
While private enterprise is doing so much to improve the communication with the west, the state government by a late law has authorized an enlargement of the Erie canal and the construction of double locks, which it is supposed will have the effect to reduce the price of transportation 30 to 40 per cent, and greatly to augment it in quantity.
The present rate of toll on 1000 pounds of flour from Buffalo to Albany is $1.62}. The reduction will bring it to less than one half the cost, for the same distance by any other route, and the valley of the Mohawk must continue to be as it always has been the natural and easiest channel of commerce with the west, and Albany the depot where the exchange takes place between the productions of the interior for those of the sea coast and of foreign countries. This exchange will be much faci- litated by the improvement now making in the navigation of the Hudson by the United States government. The removal of the bar, which is the object of this improve- ment, will, when completed, deepen the channel to about twelve feet, and will give to this place a West India trade, in which the productions of the islands, consumed in the west, will be exchanged for the produce brought down the canal, without being burdened by landing, storage and reshipment at New York.
389
Albany, its Prospects and Advantages.
No doubt is entertained that the coasting and West India trade will be carried on to a very great extent in Albany, and with very great profit and success, so soon as the improvement of the river navigation is completed ; and for the reason above given, no place in the country can, in many respects, be more advantageously situated for- it. Indeed, the coasting trade carried on between this city and the seaport towns of New England, is already very extensive. There are about twenty-five regular trading vessels between Albany and Boston only, which it is estimated by one of our most intelligent forwarding merchants bring to this place about 25,000 quintals codfish during the season, and about 25,000 barrels of mackerel, besides large quantities of merchandise which passes up the canal, or stops for a market here, not less probably than 5,000 tons. These vessels take from Albany to Boston, in return, about 75,000 barrels of flour per season, together with large quantities of timo- thy seed, peas, wool, &c. The indirect trade between Boston and Albany, which is transhipped at New York, is also very extensive.
Besides the routes above mentioned, others are making to the north, all directly communicating with this city, and increasing its advantages. A rail road communica- tion already exists between this place and Saratoga Springs, by way of the Mohawk and Hudson and Sara- toga and Schenectady rail roads. The rail road now about making from Saratoga Springs to Whitehall, will complete the route to Lake Champlain, and afford the same advantages for a trade with Canada in the fall and spring as are now given by means of the northern canal in the summer.
It necessarily results from the situation of Albany and its easy means of communication with the surrounding country, that an immense travel centres at this city. Some idea may be formed of its extent when we state that it is estimated, and no doubt truly, that from 600,000 to 800,000 persons arrive at and depart from this city in the course of the year, by the several stage
390
Albany, its Prospects and Advantages.
routes, rail roads, steam boats and other vessels-and this number is yearly increasing, and no doubt six years will see it doubled.
In consequence of this city being a great depot for the produce of the north and west, raw materials for manu- facture are obtained here at the cheapest rates, and pro- visions are lower than in any of the Atlantic cities. The market is abundant at all seasons of the year, and is well supplied with all the necessaries and luxuries of life, at moderate prices.
Industrious mechanics, and all men of enterprise and character, can not fail to prosper in Albany, as the means of living are cheap, and the market extensive-commu- nicating with almost every section of the country, in the readiest manner. All will here find an almost certain reward for their exertions ; almost every branch of mechanical labor is or may be carried on at this city, to very great advantage, and no doubt with great success. Good water power exists in its vicinity for mills and manufactories, and a ready market can easily be found for all products of labor and skill. With the strong conviction that the interest of those who may come to take up their residence in our city will be promoted, as well as the prosperity of the city thereby increased, we hope that you will give circulation to this statement, among such as you may suppose wish to seek in this state additional encouragement for their enterprise and industry. Respectfully, yours,
ERASTUS CORNING, TEUNIS VAN VECHTEN,
JOHN TOWNSEND,
FR. BLOODGOOD,
JOHN WOODWORTH,
S. VAN RENSSELAER, Jr.
AUGUSTUS JAMES,
THOS. W. OLCOTT,
GIDEON HAWLEY,
H. BLEECKER.
B. KNOWER, LEWIS BENEDICT,
JAS. STEVENSON,
JESSE BUEL,
JAS. VANDERPOEL.
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( 391)
TYRONE POWER'S IMPRESSIONS OF ALBANY.
[Mr. Power, the popular Irish actor, on his return home, published a book of his Impressions of America, which was a readable and liberal work. The following account of the excitement he created at the Theatre is a tolerably correct statement of the affair. Theatrical audiences were extremely jealous of foreign actors, and resented the smallest expressions of disrespect, when they were so imprudent as to let anything of the kind pass their lips. Several theatres exhibited the most decided marks of the vengeance of an offended people. ]
This is the capital of the powerful state of New York, and promises at no very distant period to wear an aspect worthy its rank. No situation was ever chosen better adapted to display ; for the town is built over the face of a lofty and steep hill, which only affords space for one or two streets about its foot, and this is chiefly occupied by docks and the several canal basins connected with the Hudson.
The principal avenue, a regularly built, grandly pro- portioned street, with a railway running through its centre, climbs directly up the hill, and is terminated by a well-kept public square, or Grande Place, as the French would call it, about which the State House, City Hall, and other public buildings are ranged. These striking objects, from the nature of the ground, stand boldly out, and have all an appearance sufficiently imposing; whilst here are some buildings that possess strong claims to architectural beauty.
Nearly all the more important public offices have lofty and well-proportioned domes; and these being uniformly covered with tin or other bright metal, impart a gay and picturesque effect to the general mass; and indeed, the city, viewed from a little distance, with all these cupolar
392
Tyrone Power's Impressions of Albany.
and towering domes reflected in the setting sun, assumes quite an oriental appearance; one is immediately re- minded of the mosque and minaret of some Turkish capital; the fine marble too used in the construction of all public buildings, and indeed of many private ones, increases the effect which they derive from their style and from the bold eminence they occupy.
Albany was long almost exclusively Dutch, and may be said up to this time to have hardly kept pace with the rapid advance of the country generally; it must have marveled at the spread of the numerous flourishing towns which have grown up around within a few years, and which threatened to eclipse, if not extinguish it wholly. A movement, however, has of late taken place; the inhabitants have awoke, new colonists have super- seded the family from Sleepy-hollow, or imparted to them a share of their energy; and Albany begins to assert her claims on the productive country by which she is backed, and to turn into her own channel a portion of its commerce. Building is everywhere going forward; land has doubled and trebled in value; improvements are in steady progress ; and should the present prosperous course of things meet with no untoward check to paralyze the industry of the people, Albany will in a few years assume an importance more profitable to its citizens than the empty honor it derives from being styled the capital of the state.
There are several excellent inns; one kept by an Englishman, a Mr. Thomas, in which I dined once or twice with friends, and which bears a high reputation; another, wherein I always resided on my several visits here, kept by Mr. Cruttenden; and if henceforward any stranger who relishes good fare, loves Shakespere, and would choose to make the acquaintance of a Transat- lantic Falstaff, passes through Albany without calling at the Eagle, and cracking a bottle with " mine host," he will have missed one of those days he would not have failed to mark with a white' stone. Soberly, I do not remember ever to have met with a face and figure
393
Tyrone Power's Impressions of Albany.
which, were I a painter, I would so readily adopt for a beau-ideal of the profligate son of mirth and mischief as those of mine host o' th' Eagle. He has a fellow feeling too with " lean Jack," is as well read in Shake- spere as most good men, quotes him fluently and happily, honors and loves him as he should be loved and honored, and in himself possesses much of the humor, much of the native wit, but not a single trait of the less admirable portions of the fat knight's character.
Indebted to Mr. Cruttenden for many pleasant hours, I will not offer an excuse for making this indifferent sketch of him here, since it in no way trenches upon the rule I hold sacred of eschewing comment on private persons, or details of social intercourse, where indeed, men speak oftener from the heart than from the head. Mr. C. I look upon as a public character, and thus I am enabled to say how much I esteem him. Should he be wroth, I vow, if I ever should visit Albany again, never to make one at the " Feast of Shells." On the contrary, I'll fly to the Eagle; forswear " the villanous company" of mine host; I'll disclaim him, renounce him, " and d-n me if ever I call him Jack again."
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