USA > New York > Albany County > Cohoes > The history of Cohoes, New York, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 7
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HISTORY OF COHOES.
1840.
for a variety of purposes, is still standing, one door east of the corner, and is now used as a second-hand store.
In 1840, also, the Baptist church, was built on Remsen street opposite the Presbyterian church, on the site now occupied by J. H. Parsons & Co.'s mill. The building, the cost of which was 8521, was afterwards moved to Canvass street opposite the Catholic church, and is now used as a dwelling.
In January 1839 the Cohoes Company's dam had been severely damaged by a freshet, which washed away about three hundred feet of the structure. The work of rebuild- ing it was completed during this year at a cost of $40,000, Oliver C. Hubbard being one of the contractors. The new dam was of timber, filled in with stone and concrete masonry, 1500 feet long and nine feet high.
The commercial depression from which the whole country suffered about this time was severely felt in Cohoes and between 1840 and 1842 the place made slight progress. Business of every kind was very dull, and many of the man- ufacturing establishments suspended operations. During this period the enlarged Erie Canal and the Troy and Schenectady Rail Road were in process of construction, and these alone kept the village from utter stagnation. The presence of numbers of men who were engaged upon them gave the neighborhood at times some little air of activity, and made brisk a few branches of business.
By this time quite a number of buildings had been erected on Reisen street ; most of them were dwellings, however, and there was yet no indication that it would ever become a favorite location for business, the universal supposition being that as the village increased, Mohawk street, to which business was then confined, would continue to be the prin- cipal thoroughfare.
In 1841 the first Methodist church, which stood on the west side of the street near the site of the present Clifton mill, was completed and was dedicated by Bishop Peck.
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HISTORY OF COHOES.
1842.
The building was of wood, cost $550, and had a seating capacity of two hundred. The principal buildings on the street at this time, aside from the three churches, and the fae- tories which were near its intersection with Mohawk street, may be briefly mentioned. Between Factory and Oneida streets was the dwelling of Mr. Mudge, before mentioned ; between Seneca and Ontario streets, on the west side, that of Thos. Hitchens, 1 a contractor on the enlarged canal ; on the site of Adams's block was a row of tenements which had been erected a few years before by Oliver C. Hubbard ; at the northeast corner of Remsen and White streets was the block of tenements owned by Egberts & Bailey ; on the southeast corner the residence of Jno. P. Steenberg, and on the southwest corner that of Jacob I. Lansing, south of which was a small house owned by Samuel Cook ; between White and Howard streets, on the east side were the residences of John Judge(now Mrs. FitzPatrick's) Henry Rockfellow, Mrs. Doyle and Jas. Shannon, and on the northwest corner of Howard and Remsen streets was that of Chas. O'Brien. Below Howard street, in the region long known as Cork Hill, the buildings were unimportant, most of them being shanties built and occupied by the laborers on the canal. On the corner of Remsen and Columbia streets, however, was a building of some size, owned by Patrick Judge.
The Troy and Schenectady Rail Road, built by the city of Troy, was completed in 1842. It was the first rail road which at all affected the interests of Cohoes people, though not the first in the vicinity, for the one from Saratoga to Troy, passing over Adams's Island, had been constructed in 1835. Judging from the opposition which was after- wards manifested when a second road (the Albany and Cohoes ) was proposed, we may conclude that this enter- prise met with little approval, especially from those older
1 The building is now owned by Jno. Orelup. It was enlarged and converted into a store in 1870.
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HISTORY OF COHOES.
1843.
inhabitants whose land was called into requisition. At all events there is no record that the completion of the road was hailed with particular satisfaction, or celebrated by any unusual demonstration on the part of the citizens gene- rally, though they at once proceeded to avail themselves of its advantages.
During this year the manufacture of bedsteads, which has since always been an important branch of Cohoes in- dustry, was commenced by Orson Parkhurst.1 His factory was located in a small building which had been used by Egberts and Bailey as a dye house, and was situated be- tween their mill and that of Hawes and Baker. The power was obtained from a waste weir. All the work of the es- tablishment was done by two men, and the quarters were so restricted that there was no room for the planing machine, which Mr. Parkhurst was compelled to place in the Wil- kinson machine shop.
Another new enterprise was a flouring mill established by Messrs. Slocum & Granger in the carpet factory building, which they enlarged and remodelled for the purpose .?
The winter of 1842-43 was one of great severity. An unusual depth of snow covered the ground for many months and remarkably cold weather continued until the spring was well advanced - the date at which the Hudson River was opened, April 13, being the latest on record. An ac- curate account of the weather in Cohoes was kept by Post- master Howe, from which, as containing several interesting local allusions, extracts are given below :
" March 17th. Snow fell this day about ten inches and is two feet six inches deep on the level at least in the vicinity of Cohoes. The mercury has several times during this month thus far fallen down to zero.
" 18th. Road impassible for sleighs from Cohoes to Troy
1 The firm afterwards became O. & D. Parkhurst, and later, Parkhursts & Fullers. 2 The building burned a few years later and the lot remained vacant until the building of Smith, Gregory & Co.'s mill.
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HISTORY OF COHOES.
1843.
on account of snow drifts. The mail was brought from Troy on horseback in the forenoon of this day - was forwarded in sleigh in the afternoon to Albany. Snow three feet deep on the level.
" 23d. Snow continued falling all day, high winds and cold. Roads impassible in many places. The mail stage worked its way down to West Troy and Albany in the afternoon. On the return left stage at West Troy and the driver and passengers returned thence on horseback.
"24th. Col. F. Lansing and others from his neighborhood made out to reach Cohoes this day by shovelling their way. Snow on the level between three and four feet deep, and continued cold as in February.
" April 4th. Many of the roads near Cohoes yet impassible.
11th. Snow is nearly melted away in Mohawk street. Town meeting this day at Yearsley's. Some went with sleighs, some with wagons and many on foot. The road is blocked with snow for two and three and some places four feet deep.
" 14th. This is the most extraordinary season on record: the long continuance of winter weather (from the middle of November to the middle of April) and the depths of snow still lying not only in the country but in our streets, are unprecedented."
The enlarged Erie Canal, which under the direction of different contractors had occupied five years in construction, was finally completed in 1843, and it then became possible to increase the manufacturing facilities of the place. Deeds were duly executed, conveying the Cohoes Company's land to the state and the abandoned canal to the company, and the latter at once commenced operations. That part of the canal which ran east of the Harmony Mill, between the Two Locks and the Three Locks, became the second level, in the system of the Cohoes Company, and may now be described as extending from just below the pump-house to the jute mill. The level of the Erie Canal between the Three Locks and the One Lock (White street) became the third of the present system, having been united with the old Basin A, at a point near Factory street, and the level now extends from above the Strong Mill to the
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HISTORY OF COHOES.
1843.
rear of the Clifton Mill. The remainder of the canal bed, from the latter point to the junction, became by degrees filled up, and some years later became a highway under the name of Canal street.
An important addition this year to the business of the place was a second axe and edge tool factory, established in February by Messrs. White, Olmstead & Co. The firm erected a small building at the head of Remsen street, on the site of Griffins' sash factory, and also rented a portion of the Wilkinson machine shop. At first but six or eight men were employed, but the business increased rapidly, and in later years the concern was one of the foremost in the place. The senior partner, Miles White, had been for some time in the employ of Daniel Simmons as traveling agent, and besides a knowledge of the business had gained an extensive acquaintance among dealers.
One of the first firms to take advantage of the improve- ments of the Cohoes Company was Egberts & Bailey, who commenced the erection of the mill on Ontario street (since greatly enlarged) which is now occupied by the Troy Manufacturing Company. For the first eight or nine years the operations of this firm had been limited ; the machinery was not entirely perfected, and it was some time before sufficient could be constructed to enable the production of goods to any amount. A carefully detailed history of their business during this time, showing the discouragements which attended the establishment and growth of what is now so important a branch of our manufactures, would be invaluable. . At this date, however, the preparation of such a sketch is almost impossible, and of the accounts which have been published at different times many have been found to be so incorrect that they are not worthy of quota- tion. An outline of the history is all that can be satisfac- torily obtained. The following published in the Bennington Banner in Nov. 1870, though inaccurate in some particulars, may be of interest:
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HISTORY OF COHOES.
1843.
" Twenty-five years ago, the writer, after going through as much circumlocution and full as many assurances as are required to work one's way into a Masonic Lodge, visited the knitting room of Messrs. Egberts & Bailey at Cohoes, N. Y., who were then the most extensive and successful and almost the exclusive machinery knitters in this country. Their machinery was an improvement on any then in use and was not patented. They preferred keeping it so secret that the monopoly which they enjoyed, would be, as it proved to be, more profitable and surer to bring them a fortune than to run the risks of improvements, infringements and impositions which then, as now, were sure to follow the public exposure of specifications and explanations neces- sary to be made in procuring letters patent. They em- ployed only the most reliable workmen, kept their doors constantly fastened with spring locks, and allowed no man in their knitting room without first putting him under the most sacred obligations to divulge nothing which they might learn or find within those mystic walls. One Gen. Geo. S. Bradford ran the Cohoes mill by contract for two years, it being a stipulation in the contract that he should not enter the knitting room, and he did not until a defection on the part of the foreman made it necessary that some man should take charge in there. Timothy Bailey who was the inventor of the machinery then used, and the foreman Van Dwyer who had always run it, were the only persons who knew anything about it, and although they had come to have much confidence in Gen. Bradford's knowledge and management of machinery, the company could hardly sup- pose that he could run a set of knitters which he had never seen, and which were of an entirely different style, and far more complicated than the frames since in use, and turn out the usual and necessary quantity of goods. The sequel proved, as all who have since known the general would ex- pect, that he did run it most successfully, and turned out, not only an excess over the usual amount of goods, but a much improved article. For many years this Cohoes mill was the only knitting mill of importance in the country, and was claimed to be the only one in the world where all the knitting of shirts and drawers was done by machinery."
The following is from an address delivered in 1866 before the National Association of kuit goods manufacturers by Hon. C. II. Adams, then president of that body :
ourall
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HISTORY OF COHOES.
1843.
" I can remember, among the recollections of my boyish days, when the principle of knitting by power was first suc- cessfully applied in this country. It was first attained in 1832, although nothing of importance was accomplished until 1841. In those days the inventor and manufacturer, now one of our honorary members, was wont to wander through the streets of New York, urging the merchants to permit him to leave a sample of goods for sale. The whole production of that time did not exceed $40,000, now we estimate our production at half as many millions."
For some years, although the production of the mill was so slight, it could not all be disposed of in the New York market, so part of it was sold in small lots to Troy and Albany merchants and among the country stores in the vicinity. In Troy, it is said, Mr. Bailey would go from one dry-goods dealer to another, carrying packages of shirts and drawers and taking in return for their sale orders pay- able in goods, and with these the female operatives in the mill were paid.
In time, however, as Egberts & Bailey's goods grew into favor, the increased demand made such efforts as these unnecessary, and their business became established on a sound basis. When the building of the mill was com- menced it was in a prosperous condition ; the dullness of 1840 and 1844, had on the passage of the protective tariff act been succeeded by great activity, and during the pre- vious year the firm had cleared $22,000. The mill was the first in the village, and it is said, in this country, erected especially for knitting purposes. The building, which was of brick, was originally one hundred and twenty-four by forty-five feet, and three stories high. Four sets of ma- chinery were put in operation at first, and two more after- ward added when the seaming room was completed - a brick building twenty-five by seventy feet and two and a half stories high, extending to the corner of Ontario and Reisen streets.' The builder of the mill was
I This was converted into a store by F. E. Pennock in 1859.
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HISTORY OF COHOES.
1844.
Joshua R. Clarke, and the wheelwright Jacob I. Lansing. Soon after it was finished the partnership was dissolved, Timothy Bailey remaining in the Miller building, while Mr. Egberts and Joshua Bailey took possession of the new mill. When this factory was erected, the Cohoes Company made use of the ravine at Ontario street, before mentioned, as a water-course; and the first bridge over it on Remsen street, a slight wooden structure, was built. The only means of crossing it before had been by two planks stretched side by side from one bank to the other.
In 1844 was built the sawing and veneering mill of Wm. Burton & Co., who for many years were among the most prominent firms of Cohoes. For some time previous Mr. Burton had been in business with John M. Tremain, their establishment being located in an upper story of the Wilkin- son machine shop.' In this year he bought Mr. Tremain's interest, and also the machinery and fixtures of Levi Silli- man, who had succeeded Hawes & Baker, thus securing a monopoly in Cohoes of that branch of manufacture. The building (now occupied as a knitting mill by Thompson & Horrocks), was of brick and stone, thirty by sixty feet, and had three stories including the basement. An upper story was occupied by Parkhurst's bedstead factory.
From this time there is nothing of importance to be re- corded until the year 1846, which was one of marked growth in the business interests of the place. Among the most important accessions were two establishments for the manu- facture of cotton cloth, the largest one being the Ogden Mills. The Ogden Mill, No. 1, the foundations of which had been laid in 1844, was completed in the following year. It was of brick, two hundred and six by fifty-one feet, and had three stories and a basement. Directly north of this was the No. 2 mill built in 1846, which was two hundred
1 Tremain's predecessor in that building was an Englishman named Mills who bad commenced the sawing business about 1835.
1846.
HISTORY OF COHOES. 81
and fourteen by fifty-two feet and three stories high. These buildings have since been united. The two brick blocks across the canal west of the mills, were built at the same time for the accommodation of the operatives. The pro- prietors were Messrs. Tenney & Cowles, of Boston, whose agent in Cohoes was Luke Bemis.'
The Strong Mill, situated near Mohawk street at the head of the Cohoes Company's third level, was built in the latter part of the year, by Wm. N. Chadwick. The machinery was not put in until the following season. The build- ing was of brick, eighty-three by forty-three feet, and had three stories and a basement. South of the mill, on Mohawk street, were erected three wooden tenements. Both of these mills were built by John B. Colgrove, then one of the principal carpenters of the place. With their completion, cotton manufacture took the foremost rank among the industries of Cohoes. The capacity of the Harmony Manufacturing Company's mills had been in- creased in 1844. The president's report for 1846, contained the following account of their transactions :
" The amount of goods made during the past year are 53,045 cuts of print cloths, averaging thirty-two yards each, containing 1,692,125 yards, showing an increase over the products of the preceding year of 5, 400 cuts or 172, 400 yards of cloth. 723 bales, containing 338, 786 lbs. of cotton have been used during the past year."
In the spring of the year the Cohoes Worsted Company was incorporated, with a capital of $50,000, and commenced the manufacture of carpet and lace yarns in the building (on the site of the Star Mill) which had been erected by Hawes and Baker. Since this mill was vacated by Levi Silliman it had been occupied by Mr. Roy of West Troy as a butt factory, and by Alex. Rogers as a woolen mill,
1 In February, 1847, a joint stock company was formed of which the trustees were Amos Tenney, John Tenney, Luke Bemis, Robert Curtis and Chas. A. Olinsted. Capital $100,000, which was increased February, 1848, to $200,000 and in April, 1550, to $275,000. C. A. Olmsted was agent.
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HISTORY OF COHOES.
1846.
the latter having possession of it in 1845. The Worstel Company built for its operatives the wooden structure on the upper end of Remsen street known as the Mouslin d. Laine Block, which was destroyed in 1873. The agent of the company was Win. Cockroft, who continued in business after its failure, which occurred a short time later. '
Two new concerns were located in the Wilkinson machine shop. On the third floor was the sash and blind factory of James Salisbury & Co.," the first establishment of the kind in the place ; in the fourth story or attic was the sofa and cabinet ware manufactory of Jacob Dodge, who employed as his superintendent R. T. Briggs. The two lower stories of the building, were then occupied by White, Olmsted & Co., the Wilkinson machinery having been moved by Mr. Olmsted, part to his foundery, and the balance to a machine shop which he started in the basement of Ogden Mill No. 1. In these two establishments, and in the shop of Baldwin and Baker, much of the ma- chinery for the Ogden Mill was constructed.
A new building was erected by Samuel N. Baldwin on the corner of Ontario and Remsen streets (now Chadwick's Mill), and occupied by him as a machine shop. It was completed in the latter part of the year, and the first work of importance was the manufacture of machinery for the Ogden Mills. The wood work for the looms was made by John Baker, who was established in an upper story of the building.
The improvements of the past few years, and the conse- quent increase of population had fairly entitled Cohoes to
1 He subsequently entered into partnership with Richard Hurst and Ephraim French. The partnership was dissolved in March, 1854, and the business succeeded to Mr. Hurst, who continued it until the premises came into possession of the Star Knitting Company. Mr. Cockroft was engaged for some time in the grocery business in the store at the junction of Mohawk and Remsen streets, but disposed of his interest in 1833, to Geo. Wood.
2 Afterward Loveland and Palmer.
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HISTORY OF COHOES.
1847.
rank as a growing town, and as such one of her first requi- sites was a newspaper. This want was supplied by the establishment of The Cohoes Advertiser, a weekly journal, the first number of which was issued February 9th, 1847, by Ayres & Co.' The firm was composed of Alexis Ayres and Wm. H. S. Winans, two young printers from Troy, the editorial department being under control of the former. The paper was twenty by twenty-eight inches, and contained twenty-four columns, about half of which were occupied by advertisements. The first and fourth pages contained miscellaneous literary matter ; the second page was devoted to general news, editorial articles and local items - the latter being sadly in the minority. This arrange- ment was continued for a number of years, and until com- munication with Troy and Albany became easier, and the newspapers of those places acquired a large circulation here, general news occupied a great part of the local paper. The supposition was, doubtless, that as the place was small, everybody would know of home matters without being told, and would prefer a paper which gave them information of the outside world. This deficiency in the local columns, though probably satisfactory to the subscribers, is not en- tirely so to one who is searching for facts in the early his- tory of the place.
After the establishment of this newspaper, however, the growth and history of Cohoes can be much more easily followed - valuable information being often found in a mere paragraph, or an advertisement ; and as the materials for this sketch for ensuing years have been taken almost entirely from its files, it would be ungrateful to make any com-
1 The office of the paper was first established in a building in the south part of the Ogden mill yard, which has since been removed, and now stands near the rail road bridge. In April it was removed to Factory street. "first door below the old canal." In July it was again moved to the southwest corner of Factory and Remsen streets, over the store now occupied by Geo. E. Thompson, and at that time by E. G. Mussey. From there it was taken to the Wilkinson building occu- pied by White. Olmsted & Co.
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HISTORY OF COHOES. 1847.
plaints, especially since it is fair to presume that however meager the local columns may have occasionally been, all matters of particular importance were recorded.
The leading article of the first Advertiser was a salutatory, over a column in length, in which were stated the politics of the proprietors (whig), their motives for establishing the paper and their expectations in regard to it. Another column was devoted to a comparison of the tariff of 1846 with that of 1842, with coments on an article which had appeared in the Troy Budget in regard to the establishment of the Ogden mills. There were only two local items, both in reference to a fire on Mohawk street, which was thus described :
" On Thursday night last our village was visited by a fire which for a time threatened great destruction, but through the indomitable exertions of our citizens its onward progress was arrested. It originated in a two story building, the lower part of which was occupied by Messrs. Howe & Ross as a drug store, the upper part by S. II. Foster, Esq., and Messrs. Miller & Van Santvoord, attorneys, and Dr. Goss, as dentist. The building was owned by the Cohoes Company, and not insured. Howe & Ross were insured for about $900. S. H. Foster, Esq., loss about $200, no insurance. Messrs. Miller & Van Santvoord's loss about $1000, no insurance. Dr. Goss's loss $100, no insurance. The fire soon communicated with the post office building owned by D. W. Leland, Esq. The contents of the office were saved - building insured in the Saratoga Co. Mutual for $300. Here the progress of the flames, which for a time threatened destruction to a row of wooden build- ings south, was arrested by the persevering exertions of our citizens, who with ropes and axes succeeded in razing it to the ground, preventing its further extension." The Cohoes advertisers in this number were as follows :
Lawyers : S. H. Foster, Miller & Van Santvoord.
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