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Presented to the
UBRAKYofthe
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
by
TJTA?.IO LEGISLATIVE LI3?JQY
SECOND DUTCH CHURCH,
Beaver Street. Erected 1806.
THE
I
ANNALS OF ALBANY.
BY JOEL MUNSBLL.
VOL. X.
,
ALBANY:
MUNSELL & ROWLAND, PRINTERS.
1859.
CONCLUDING AND GENERAL ADDRESS
TO THE KEADEK.
Agreeably to the announcement made in the last volume, this
work is now brought to a close. Although ten volumes have been
published, they are very far from containing all that has been writ-
ten, not to mention what remains unwritten, on the opkomst, aan-
was en geschiedenis the origin, progress, and history, of Albany.
A peculiar and unique interest attaches to Albany, as the eldest
born of existing settlements in the original United States: and,
during the entire two and a half centuries that have elapsed since
her origin, she has not ceased to be regarded as a place of public
consideration and importance. In the Colonial times, Albany was
the great entrepot of the Indian trade. Here the lordly Iroquois
met their white brethren in council ; and treaties were entered into,
and leagues were formed. And here, under the leadership of Frank-
lin, the assembled delegates of the different colonies first learned
to exercise the confederated power that, some thirty years later,
achieved their independence of all foreign rule. And, on the sur-
rounding hills, or covering the lowlands by the river side, here were
gathered and marshaled those brilliant hosts, that marched forth to
contest, with various fortune but final success, the French supremacy
in America. And, as the patriotic statesmen of the Colonies had
* v Concluding and General Address.
here essayed their nascent powers, so here did the youthful Provin-
cial chivalry first learn to emulate the strict discipline and trained
courage of their veteran companions in arms, the gallant soldiers of
England. And years after, when marching to the national air they
here first appropriated as their own, they met their former allies on
the battle field, they showed that the lessons thus commenced had
not been learned in vain. In truth, the history of Colonial Albany
is filled with brilliant scenes and soul-stirring memories. Nor is
the Albany of the Revolution deficient in similar, and, for us,
prouder pictures. When to Albany the army of Burgoyne was
led captive, from the glorious field of Saratoga, the first great suc-
cess of the war was achieved ; and the happy event of the struggle,
though distant, became assured. The writer regrets that he has
only been able to indicate scenes, that would afford the fullest scope
to the life-giving pencil of the historian. And, warned by his
limited space, he must turn to a homelier theme yet one that is
not wanting in deep interest to many of his readers.
Earlier travelers have presented the inhabitants of Albany in a
light far from flattering ; and Irving's gracefully humorous pen has
scattered far and wide, ridiculous pictures of the race that long
constituted the great bulk of the population. The Dutch require
no defense at our hands. If Irving's amusing sallies have some-
what lowered the popular appreciation of the Dutch character,
another American of English blood has more than atoned for the
wrong. The brightest chaplet woven in honor of Holland and her
people, has, in our day, been laid upon the altar of Fame by the
New Englander, MOTLEY.
As regards the faults of the early inhabitants of Albany, we may
well pause, when we witness the vices that, even in this enlightened
day, seem inseparable from the prosecution of the Indian trade;
and, learning humility from the sight, we can not fail to extend the
broad mantle of charity over the misdeeds of the rude burgers of
another age. But, if need be, there are other arguments to be urged
in extenuation of the unpolished manners and other short-comings
of our predecessors. Lying on the very verge of civilization, for a
Concluding and General Address. v
long time in her history, trade and self-defence were the paramount
objects of solicitude with the people of Albany. It could hardly be
expected that such an outpost would become eminent for luxury and
refinement, while surrounded by innumerable perils. The town
that was " really the frontier of all North America" (p. 107), could
not neglect the trade to which it owed its origin, or the vigilance
necessary to its existence, in order to indulge in the sophisticated
pursuits of a community surrounded by all the blandishments of
peace, and ease, and plenty. And finally, when the danger, to
which they had become roughly inured, was removed, it could not
reasonably be anticipated that these sturdy men would, at once,
become shining examples of refinement that wealth in beaver
skins would at once give place to wealth in letters.
But years have passed since those " troublous times ;" and it is
believed that during the interval the progress of Albany, in every
thing that elevates and adorns civilized life, has been commensurate
with that of her neighbors. Literature, science, and the arts have
many votaries in our midst ; and recent travelers, as well as the
assembled scientific magnates of the Union, have not failed to bear
testimony to the elegant, refined, and generous hospitality, of the
citizens of Albany.
It gives the editor much pleasure that he is able to close
this sketch by an extract from the Illustrated London News of
Jan. 15, 1859, fully sustaining the opinion above expressed. The
extract is from the " Transatlantic Sketches," addressed to the
News by its editor, the distinguished poet and cultivated gentleman,
Dr. CHARLES MACKAT, during a recent tour through the United
States.
" Travelling thus on the left bank of the river for upwards
of one hundred miles, I arrived at Albany, and betook myself to
Congress Hall, in the upper part of the city. This hotel was
recommended to me as an establishment much frequented by mem-
bers of the two houses of the legislature, who here in the capital of
the " Empire State," undertake the local government of a common-
wealth almost as large as England, and nearly doubly as populous
vi Concluding and General Address.
as Scotland. I had no reason to repent my choice, and during a
residence of ten days was enabled to see the Senators in deshabille,
and to learn something of the mode and the agencies by which
public and private bills are brought into and carried through par-
liament in an ultra democracy. ****** Albany
beautifully situated on ground rising steeply from the banks of
the Hudson contains about fifty thousand inhabitants, and is one
of the most attractive, cleanly, well-ordered, and elegant cities of
America. Though overshadowed by the commercial greatness of
New York, which in this respect it can never hope to rival, it is,
next to Washington, the greatest focus of political life within the
limits of the confederacy. Between the commercial and the political
capital of this great state (which it has recently been proposed to
call Ontario instead of New York), there is a great contrast. New
York city is busy, unscrupulous, energetic, ill-governed, full of
rowdyism, and the most violent manifestations of mob-law and
mob-caprice ; but Albany is staid, decent, and orderly. The tone
of society is quiet and aristocratic ; and the whole appearance of the
place gives the traveller an idea of wealth and refinement. Further
acquaintance only tends to confirm the impression. State street at
the top of which, in the Park, a beautiful open space, adorned with
noble elms and maples, stand the Capitol and other principal public
buildings rises steeply from the water's edge to the crown of the
hill. It is a broad and handsome thoroughfare, and at various
points commands a picturesque view over the Hudson to the lofty
green hills beyond. Albany is a place of considerable trade and
manufacture. It produces very excellent cabinet-work of all kinds,
and is particularly celebrated for its stoves, grates, and ornamental
iron- work. It has two, if not three daily newspapers, and a flourish-
ing literary and scientific institution. The Roman Catholic Cathe-
dral is internally one of the largest and most magnificent ecclesi-
astical edifices in America. Here high mass is sometimes performed
with a splendor and completeness, orchestral and vocal, not to be
excelled even in Paris or Vienna, and to which London, as far as I
know, can make no pretentious. Albany is the proposed site of
Concluding and General Address. vii
what promises to be the noblest observatory in America, to the
foundation of which the public spirit of a private citizen (if the
term be applicable to a lady) has contributed the sum of 80,000
dollars."
The editor will not apologize for the length of this extract, for
he feels that it can not but prove both interesting and agreeable to
his readers. He must, however, beg that they will bear him com-
pany a little longer, while he turns aside to speak of the work
completed with the present volume.
He has been told by friends, who sympathize with the feelings
that prompted the undertaking, that it is due, as well to his readers
as to himself, that he should give a sketch of the origin and pro-
gress of the work, and of tlie difficulties that have made it incum-
bent on him to bring it to a close, while so rich a store of materials
for the history of Albany yet remains unpublished to the world.
Guided by the judgment of these perhaps too partial friends, he
will conclude this notice by giving a concise bibliographical account
of the Jlnnals of Albany. The very nature of the subject requiring
that he should speak of himself of his trials, troubles and disap-
pointments he trusts that his readers, with a generous indulgence,
will pardon the seeming egotism with which he confides to them
the story of his personal connection with the work.
This work was begun as an annual almanac in the year 1849. It
was soon evident that its more costly bulk, and the limited circle
of patrons to whom its purely local character commended it, would
forbid the hope of its competing with the various general almanacs,
scattered cheaply over the laud. But the editor still believed that
a work of more permanent character, addressed to the restrospective
curiosity the historic instincts of his fellow-citizens, would meet
with, at least, an adequate support. New material was therefore
added to that already collected, and, in 1850, the first volume of
the dnnals appeared. The anticipations of the editor and publisher
were not realized ; but being somewhat deeply imbued with the
antiquarian spirit, and still hopeful that a responsive feeling might
be awakened by his very efforts, he continued his labors; and
viii Concluding and General Address.
volume after volume was produced. At length it "became but too
evident that such hopes were illusory and vain. It will surprise
many of his readers to learn that the whole body of his patrons, at
home and abroad, numbered but little more than one hundred. And
a very limited acquaintance with the book trade will be sufficient to
assure them that one hundred dollars will fall far short of the simple
cost of the engravings, paper, printing, and binding even of a
book so little pretentious to typographical luxuriousness as is the
one they are now perusing. His not too plethoric purse admonished
the editor that he must bring his labors to a close. And it only
became a question with him how to round off the series in a manner
that would not disappoint the kind friends who, at the outset, bid-
ding him God speed, had ever since welcomed his annual offerings .
He would not wish to leave a fragmentary and altogether incom -
plete work upon their hands : and he has continued the series
until now that he can close it without dishonor. This tenth volume
completes the Notes from the Newspapers, to the year 1847, when the
annual chronicle of the work commenced. And having thus pre-
sented a continuous chronology of the principal events, as found in
the newspapers, for the past eighty-eight years (from 1771 to 1859),
the editor trusts that he may be permitted to retire from his labors,
with the friendly sympathy and kind adieus of those who have
accompanied him on his way.
He regrets that the transcripts from the City Records must re-
main incomplete, terminating as they do, with the year 1753. They
were begun in the second volume with the year 1686, when the
charter was received from Gov. Dongan, and have been published
nearly entire, embracing a period of almost seventy years. These
records are preserved in the Chamberlain's office, but are not
wholly safe from the danger of loss, and having no indexes, they
are as a sealed book to those who wish to consult them. The
portions yet unpublished comprise the periods of the old French
war, and of the Revolution ; and they abound with valuable and
most interesting historical matter. Let us hope that some future
board of the Common Council will undertake the task which proved
Concluding and General Address. ix
too great for the unaided means of the writer of presenting to the
world a complete edition of the City Records of Albany.
Should these volumes at any future time, fall into the hands of a
stranger, the editor and publisher trusts that the statement here
given will account for and excuse such imperfections as may exist.
Had his enterprise received a more liberal support, it would have
delighted him to secure to the work a higher grade of literary labor,
to embellish it with more expensive illustrations, and to issue it to
his patrons, a specimen of sumptuous typography. But it was not
to be. As strict economy required, the literary labor devolved
almost wholly upon himself.
But he will not dwell upon the hours stolen from that repose
rendered necessary by the toilsome avocations of the day, and de-
voted to turning over the dusty files of old newspapers, or to the
deciphering of the crabbed writings of a past generation. He will
not speak of days of rest passed among the tombs, and employed
in copying the brief mementos of those sleeping their last sleep
beneath. Nor will he complain of these tasks, for they have, in-
deed, been labors of love.
Perhaps, in after years, when his own form has long lain mould-
ering in the dust, some kindred spirits will pleasantly recall his
memory, and thank him for these memorials of the past he has
helped to rescue from oblivion. In dreams like these the antiquary
finds his cherished, though unsubstantial recompense.
ALBANY, April 12, 1859.
ILLUSTKATIONS.
Second Ref. Prot. Dutch Church, Front.
Public Stocks, 106
Fac-simile of the Signature of Thomas Seger, ... 160
Dutch Church in State Street, 218
Ancient Costume, 218
Exchange Building, 263
Portrait of Charles E. Dudley, 310
Portrait of Thomas Hastings Cushman, 322
Agave Americana, 332, 335
Stanwix Hall, 354
Portrait of Abraham Van Vechten, 382
Vegetable Market, 416
St. Peter's Church, 427
Church of Holy Innocents, 432
Third Ref. Prot. Dutch Church,. 440
CONTENTS.
The City Records, '. 9
Freedoms Purchased in 1781, 153
Ancient Burial Ground, 154
Agreement with the Wharf Association, 155
Warranty Deed of a Negro Sweep, 156
Bill of Sale of Pompey, a Slave, to the Corporation, 151
Opening of Ferry Street, , 158
Proposals for Keeping the Watch, 1787, 159
Common Council Address to the Public on the Great
Fire of 1793, , 160
Fast Day Recommended by the Clergy on account
of the Fire of 1797, 161
A Corporation Bill for Punch, 161
Geology of Albany County, 162
The City's Ancient Ravines, 167
Scraps from the Dutch Records, 170
Macauley's Account of Albany, 172
Random Recollections, 189
Reminiscences of Albany by Elkanah Watson, .'. . . 219
Petition of Rev. G. Dellius for payment of Services, 223
Notes from the Newspapers, 225
xii Contents.
Abraham Van Vechten, 382
Albany, its Prospects and Advantages, 384
Census of Albany County in 1840, 398
Notices of the Winters, It89 to 1831, 401
Annals of the Year 1858, 406
Church of the Holy Innocents, 432
Third Eeformed Protestant Dutch Church, 440
Memoir of John Lovett, 450
Index, 451
ANNALS OF ALBANY.
THE CITY RECORDS.
Continued from vol. ix, p. 80.
Alt a Common Council held in the City hall of Albany,
this 10th Day of July, 1731 Present, John De Pey-
ster.Esq. Mayor, Dirck Ten Broeck, Esq. Recorder,
Ryer Gerritse, Tobyas Ryckman, Cornelius Cuyler,
Johannis Roseboom, Jun'r, Samuel Pruyn, Esqrs.,
aldermen, Johannis Van Ostrander, Johannis Vischer,
Jun'r, Nicholas Bleecker, Jun'r, Isaac Lansingh, as-
sistants. '
A Petition of Jan Oothout is delivered in this Common
Council and the same is taken into consideration.
An account of several measures received from New-
York for this city, amounting to the sum of one pound
seventeen shillings and ten pence, being as follows:
a Gill - 026
a Pint - ,- - 4
a Quart - - 066
a i gallon - - - - 12
a Stamping the same - - 10
a Beam 12
1 17 10
Ordered that Barent Bratt pay the same to the mayor
to send the same down to New York.
1731, July 20. Whereas an Express came down out
of the name of Shaims of the Indian Castell of jenon-
derogo desired the Commonality to meet the Shaims at
the Castell in the time of five or six days, for that the
[Annals, x.] 2
10 The City Records.
Shaims and the rest of the Indians of said Castell where
willing and desireus as to make a gift to the said Com-
monality of the wood Land joyning behynd the Low or
Meddoland of Jenonderogo which they heretefore have
given in trost to the s d Commonality.
Whereupon it is Resolved that John De Peyster, Esq.,
mayor,. Johannis Roseboom, Jun'r, Esqr., Alderman, Jo-
hannis Vischer, Jun'r, Gerrit Lansingh, Jun'r and Nich-
olas Bleecker, Jun'r, Ass'ts, being apointed a comitte
to goo to the said Moquas country and have full power
to act with said Indians for the most beneficial for this
city. And that each person of the above named comitte
shall have for their service six shillings per day so long
as they are upon that service, besides all reasonable
charges and six shillings more each on the whole for the
horse, and that they take up along with them (viz.) four
gallons Rum, two gallons Wine, four pounds Sugger and
six pounds Tobaco.
It is agreed with Mr. Johannis E. Wendell to goo along
with the said comitte to the Moquas country as an inter-
preter and is to have as much as the above appointed
comitte, that is (viz.) six shillings a Day so long as they
are upon that service and six shillings .more upon the
whole for the horse.
1731, August 2. An account of severall waights re-
ceived from New York for this city, amounting to the
sum of one pound three shillings and nine fence, being
as follows (viz.)
one ps. of 4 Ib.
one do. of - 2
one do. of 1
one do. of - - J
one do. of an ounce.
In all 7J Ib. & one ounce a 3s. per Ib. - - 129
for staming the same 010
139
Ordered that Barent Bratt pay the same to the mayor
to send the same down to New York.
The City Records. 11
1731, September 2. It is Resolved that a Letter be
sent down to New York to the Representatives of this
city and county, desireing them to Jntest for an act of
general assembly for to make some stoon pints and Block-
houses round this city in such convenient places as this
Commonality shall think fitt.
It is ordered that Barent Bratt, city Treasurer, do pay
unto Gerret Van Benthuyse the sum of eleven shillings
and six pence, it being for wood delivered for y e Watch.
A Petition of Harmanus Ryckman is delivered for this
Common Council and the same is referred till next meet-
ing.
1731, Sept. 18. That* whereas Mr. John Cuyler and
Evert Wendell have taken ground into their possession
properly belonging to this city, therefore this board have
promised Mr. Edw d Collins thirty shillings for a retain-
ing fee ags 1 all persons as also 30s. ag l Mr. Cuyler and
the like sum ag l Mr. Wendell.
That whereas Mr. Hend Bries has preferred a Petition
to this board, praying to have the first offer to purchase
apiece of vacant ground lying on the north side of s' 1
Bries's dwelling house and lott, running along the same,
it is therefore resolved to take the same into considera-
tion at our next meeting.
Whereas James Stenhouse has wrote some particular
writeings for the service of this city, ordered therefore
that at our next meeting we grant an order to Barent
Bratt, our Treasurer, to pay s d James Stenhouse four-
teen shillings.
1731, Sept. 22. A Petition of Joseph Yates, Jun'r,
Jeremiah Mendivel and Petrus Ryckman is delivered in
this Common Council and the same is referred till next
meeting.
It is ordered that Barent Bratt, city Treasurer, do pay
unto James Stenhouse the sum of fourteen shillings, it
being for some service done for this Commonality.
It is likewise ordered that Barent Bratt, city Treasurer,
12 The City Records.
do pay unto Gysbert Van Sante, Dirck Marten and Ja-
cobus Hilton, each of them the sum of one pounds ten
shillings, it being for service done by them for goeing
down to New York and back again, for service as afores d
for this Commonality.
Whereas Evert Wendell has taken in with a fence
some of the city ground lying on the north side of the
Beavers kill and to the west of the fence of the wedow
Casperse, without leafe or leysence of the Commonality,
and he being required to take up the said fence between
this and to morrow at twelf a clock, and if he neglect so
to do, it is ordered that two fitt persons (to wit) Jacobus
Hilton and Richart Martin shall be appointed to cutt and
take down the said fence and we do promise to indemnify
the said persons.
Whereas Johannis Cuyler has taken in with a fence
some of the city ground lying on the north side of the
lott where the said Cuyler now lives and fronting the
street which leads up the hill to the Pearle street, oppo-
site to the House of David Groesbeeck, it is therefore
ordered that two fitt persons (to witt) Jacobus Hilton
and Richart Martin be appointed to cut and take down
the said fence, and the same persons shall be indemnified
by us.
1731, Sept. 23. Whereas Mr. Johannis Cuyler has
desired some further time upon the above resolution of
yesterday, and it is considered by this Common Council
to give further time to take up his fence between this and
next Thursday the 30th instant, otherwise that the above
Resolution shall be put' in execution by the above named
persons or some others which shall be appointed.
1731, Sept. 29. In persuance of the directions of the
Charter of the city of Albany, two aldermen, two ass'ts
and one constable being chosen this day in each respect-
ive ward of the s d city by pluralitys of votes by the in-
habitants of each respective wards who have rite to chuse
and return being made who are as follows:
The City Records. 1 3
First Ward.
Aldermen. Assistants.
Ryer Gerritse, Isaac Lansing,
Tobyas Ryckman. Joha's Van Ostrander.
John Olver, Jim., Constable.
Second Ward.
Cornelius Cuyler, Joba's I. Beeckmart,
Joha's Roseboom, Jun. Nicholas Bleecker, JuB.
Jacob C. Ten Eyck, Constable.
Third Ward.
Samuel Pruyn, Gerrit Lansingh, Jun.,
Jacob Lansingh. Johannis Visger, Jun.
Hendrick Gerritse, Constable.
Barent Bratt chosen and appointed City Chamberlain
or Treasurer for this insueing year.
Petrus Ryckman appointed high Constable for the in-
sueing year.
1731, October 7. It is Resolved that the Resolution
of the 22d & 23d of September last past shall be put in
execution forthwitt by such persons as shall be appointed
which are appointed accordingly (viz/), Gysbert Van
Sante and Jeremiah Pemberton, to cutt and take down
the fences mentioned in the aforesaid Resolutions and
the Commonality do promise to indemnify the above said
persons.
Resolved that an ordinance be made and published
consearning the Regulations for the Market-house and
places in this city, and which s d ordinance is to be entered
in the book of ordinances kept to that porpose.
1731, Oct. 9. The Ordinance for the regulating and
the markets and appointing the places where publish* 1
this day and ordered to be entred in the Book ordinances
kept for that porpose.
The severall accounts as Debts due from the Corpora-
tion to the severall persons hereunder named where ex-
amined and allowed amounting in the whole to the sum
of one hundred and twenty-three pounds one shilling and
three pence.
14
The City Records.
Ordered lhat a warraut be issued out to the Treasurer
for the payment of the same (viz).
To Jeremiah Van Rensselaer for firewood and one fat
sheep - 10: 0:
To Philip Livingston for his service as Clerk
of the Commonality for y e year past 12: 0:
To Johannis Segeras Marchel and other ser-
vice - ... 8:16:
To Jacob Eggemont as Belleman - 15: 0:
To Jeremiah Pemberton as do 15:0:0
To Ragel Radliff wed' w of Johannis Radliff,
dec'd ...... 5
To John De Peyster, per account - 1 1
To Johannis Roseboom Jun. per do
To Gerrit Lansingh Jun. per do
To Cornelius Cuyler, per do
To Myndert Schuyler, per do
To Wynant Van Den Bergh, per do - -
To Johannis Visger Jun. per do
To Nicholas Bleecker Jun. per do
To Samuel Pruyn, per do
To Tobyas Ryckman, per do
To Jan Rosie, per do - 1:
To Johannis E. Wendell, per do . 2:
To Anna Kitchnaers, per do . , 2:
To Isaac Lansingh, per do 0:
To Hendrick Oothout, per do - 0:
To William Hogan, per do
To Johannis Seger, per do .6:5: 1}
To Edward Collins for fees - 4:10:0
To Joseph Yates Jun. for warning people to
watch - 1:10:
To Jeremiah Mandivel for service do 1:10:
To Petrus Ryckman for do 1:10:
To Peter Goewey for do 0:10:
To Jeremiah Pemberton for striking down
fences in y e Beavers kill behind Joannis
Beeckman Jun. - - - - 2:5:0
0:
6:10
16: 9
10:
13-.10J
10: 6
4: 9
10:
10:
13:
8
6
3
6
16
7:
13:
1:
5-
12
Carried over,
120:10: 3
The City Records. 15
Brought over 120:10: 3
To Gysbert Van Saute for same and charges 1:16:
To Richart Hilton for striking down y e fence
in the Beavers kill - 0:15:0
123: 1: 3
1731, Oct. 13. Whereas there was an agrem' made
in Common Council the 3th Augs 1 1728, with Mr.
Rutger Bleecker, then mayor, for a certain ps of ground
lying in foxes kill for the sum of five pounds and five
shillings, and that the convinence of the same should be
granted to Nicholas Bleecker according to the Tennor of
the said Resolution which said Resolution is hereby con-
firmed. And Resolved that the mayor do execute a deed
for the same in behalf of the Commonality.
Anthony Van Scfhaick appeared here in Common
Council desiring in behalf of himself and De wd w Cattriena
Van Schaick to purchase a small ps. of ground adjoyning
to the rest of there lotts to the west of the street and to
the south Ryer Gerritse and to the north the street, being
broad from the south to the north seven rod and six foot
and in length on the north side 2-J- foot and on the south
side six foot all Rynland measure, and as the same is
now in there possession and fence, which the Common-
ality sold this day to the said Anthony and Cattriena
Van Schaick for the sum of two pounds.
Resolved y l the mayor in behalf of this Commonality do
execute a Deed for the same.
Whereas Jan Winne hath heretofore bought a lott of
ground situate, lying and being at the foot of y e Gallows
hill on the north side of y e lott of Jonathan Broecks,
containing in length one hundred and twenty foot wood
measure and in breath on the front to the east side of s d
lott thirty foot, and on the rear twenty-five foot Rynland
measure? all which time the s d Commonality promised
to the said Winne y l in case the five foot on the rear
whould not be in the way, in case a block house should
be erected on the hill that then they would lett him have
it for a reasonable price to make his lott square, and
16 The City Records.
now they have fued the same and find it of no hinderence
wherefore they have now sold it to the s d Winne the five
foot Ryuland measure on the rear of his lott and so along
on a streight line to y e norteast corner of his said lott,
which makes a Tryangle, for which he is to pay ten
shillings and the writeings. Resolved that the mayor in
behalf of the Commonality do execute a Deed for the
same.
Whereas Johannis Ostrander made application to this
Commonality to be made a freeman of this city, where-
upon it is resolved that the mayor do grant the said
Ostrander a Laycence for the same and that he pay six
shillings for the use of the city and fees.
Whereas a Petition is presented of some of the inhabit-
ants of the first ward for to make and erect a market
house upon their own charges at the water side opposite
the street which runs up between Johan's Lansing and
Luykas Wyngaert, which is granted accordingly.
The severall acc'ts as debts due from the Corporation
to the severall persons hereunder named where examined
and allowed (viz).
To Nicholas Schuyler - * - 10:2:0
To Matthew Flansburgh - - 0:6:0
To Anthony Bogardus - - - 3:16:6
To Gysbert Van Sante - - - 0:13:6
14:18:9
Ordered y 4 Barent Bratt, city Treasurer, do pay the
same to y e above named persons.
1731, Oct. 15. Whereas Mr. Abraham Cuyler appeared
here in Common Council and made application to us for
four morgans of low land lying and being in the Moquas
country on the west end of a large Flatt over Tinnonde-
rogo creek between two small creeks which waters into
the Moquas river,
It is Resolved that the said Cuyler shall have the same
for the sum of two pounds current money to be paid upon
perfecting a Deed for the same and an acknowledgement
to this city yearly and every year two skipple for every
The City Records. 17
morgan which is to commence a year after the improve-
ment of the same or any part thereof.
And it is further Resolved that in case the s d Cuyler
or his assigns be hindred in their improvement by a warr
with the French, that then for such time no acknowledge-
ment is to be paid.
It is Resolved that the mayor for the time being do
execute an Indenture for the same in behalf of y e Com-
monality.
Resolved that the clerk do give to Ryer Gerritse a copy
of the minutes of Common Council of y e year 1671 and
y e year 1697 consearning the lott of ground which Jan
Verbeek had of this city and the oath of the said Jan
Verbeek consearning the same.
1731, Oct. 14. Hans Hansen, Esq. mayor, produced
a Commission under the broad Seal of this Province for
mayor of the city of Albany, coroner and clark of the
market for the insueing year and toke the oaths appointed
by law and the oaths for the due performance of the s d
offices.
James Stevenson produced a Commission under the
broad Seal of this Province for high sheriff of the city
and county of Albany for the ensueing year and toke the
oath appointed by law and the oath for the due perform-
ance of his office.
The following aldermen and assistants are sworn for
the ensueing year, (viz.)
First Ward Ryer Gerritse, Tobyas Ryckman, alder-
men; Isaac Lansing, Johannis Ostrander, assistants.
Second Ward Cornelius Cuyler, Johannis Roseboom,
Jun'r, aldermen; Joh's J. Beeckman, Nicholas Bleecker,
Jun'r, assistants.
Third Ward Samuel Pruyn, Jacob Lansingh, alder-
men; Gerrit Lansing, Jun'r, Johannis Visser, Jun'r,
assistants.
1731, Oct. 16. Petrus Ryckman sworn as high con-
stable for the ensueing year.
Hendrick Gerritse sworn for y e ensueing year as con-
stable for the third ward of this city.
This day appeared here in Common Council Johannis
18 The City Records.
Seger, Andries Bratt, Johannis Radliff and Jacobus Rad-
liff and desired to be Bellemans for the insueing year,
commencing the 16th instant and ending the 16th of April
next ensueing, to go round every night two and two to-
gether and to call every hour of the night from ten a
clock to four in the morning, and to call at all the useall
places of the city what a clock and what wheather it is,
for which service they are to have each of them the sum
of five pounds and ten shillings curr 1 money and each of
them five pounds of Candles, and they are to enter into
bonds for the performance of s d service.
It is also ordered that Ragel Radliff shall ring the bell
at the hour of eight a clock at night.
1731, Nov. 6. By an Ordinance this day published,
the following persons are appointed firemasters in each
respective ward as follows (viz.)
First Ward Isaac Fryer, Eghbert Eghbertse.
Second Ward Matheys Vander Heyden, Frans Pruyn,
Jun'r.
Third Ward Wilhelmus Van Den Bergh, Matheys
De Garmo.
1731, December 22. An Ordinance published this
day, as may be seen in folio 6 and 7 in a Book of ordi-
nances kept for y e purpose,
It is Resolved by this Common Council that an En-
guin or Water Spuyt be sent for to England per the first
appertunity in the Spring.
173J, February 22. Whereas there was a Resolution
made in Common Council the 1st day of Feb. 172 g- that
the mayor should execute & indenture to Abraham and
Isaac Fortt for ten morgan of upland lying at Schaahkook
which is as yet not executed,
Therefore it is now Resolved that the mayor shall
execute an indenture for ten morgan of upland to the
above named Abraham & Isaac Fort, and the considera-
tion to be mentioned in the said Indentures.
A Petition of Philip Hansen being this day presented
in .Common Council, it is ordered that y e same petition
be taken into consideration at the next meeting.
The City Records. 19
This day an ordinance was published which is entered
in y e book of ordinance keept to that purpose & y' 1 oath
of Joh's Hansen likewise.
173^, Feb. 29. Conformable to a resolution entered
into at our late board of Councill held the 22d day of
December last, it being then agreed to write for and en-
gage a water Engine and for the better extinguishment
lire which accidentally might happen as has hitherto
been to the great damage of the inhabitants of this city,
Now it is the full Resolution of this board that a Letter
be wrote to Mr. Stephen D. Lancey, merchant at New
York, to request him to engage us one of the water En-
gines of Richard New%ham, engineer, of the fifth sort,
with suction and six foot sucking Pipe with a leathern
Pipe of 40 foot including brass Screws, for which said
water Engine when delivered at New York to us or our
order in good condition, we do by our Letter to said
D. Lancey premise to pay him or his order at the same
rate that the Corporation of the city of New York have
paid for their Engines, (that is to say) at the rate of 12
per cent on the foot of the Invoice including the prime
cost.
173,-j, March 11. Whereas there was a Resolution made
in Common Council the 8th day of April in the year
1730, that the then mayor should execute and Indenture
to Volkert Douw for a piece of ground in the Verfbergh,
which is as yet not executed,
Therefore it is now Resolved that this present mayor
shall execute the said Indenture for that piece of ground
above named to the aforesaid Volkert Douw and the con-
siderations to be mentioned in the said Indenture.
1732, April 8. A Petion of Abraham Lansingh, Jun.
being this day presented unto the Common Council,
It is Resolved that the same sail be taken into concid-
eration at a more convenient oppertunity.
This day sold to Jacobus Hilton the lott No. 4, on the
Plain, bounded on the west by a lott now beloning to
Richard Hilton^ on the east by the lott No. 5, now be-
loning to Isaac Fryer, on the south by the high way or
20 The City Records.
street, being broad before and behind 28 feet, and in
length on the east and west sides 98J feet, all English
measure, for. the sum of 48; one third of which sum is
to be ready money, one third to be paid on the eight day-
of April next, which will be in the year 1733, and the
other third on the eight day of October, which will also
be in the year 1733, and the mayor is ordered to perfect
a Deed to the said Jacobus Hilton and execute the same
in behalf of the Corporation.
Joh's Seger desires of this Corporation that if in case
there should be any ground belonging to this city adjoyn-
ing in the rear of his lott on the east hereafter to be
sould, that he may have the refusal of it with payment,
whic hthe Coporation grants accordingly.
1732, April 18. This Board ordered the city Treasurer
to pay unto James Stenhouse the sum of nine shillings
for entring minutes relating a water Engine and writing a
Letter to Mr. St: Delancey on that head. Also to Klass '
Fonda the sum of five shillings for making two buckets
to the well in the first ward.
This day published an ordinance to the same purport
with an ordinance dated the 19th day of May, 1730, re-
corded in the 1 & 2 folioes of the book of ordinances,
kep" for that porpose.
1732, April 28. This day Evert Wendell appeared
before this Corporation and agreed with them about a
certain tract of Land lying to the south of the city and
on the north of the beaver creek in the following manner
viz:
That the mayor for the time being, in behalf of the
Corporation, is to release to the said Wendell, his heirs
and assigns, all that tract of Land on the north side of
the beaver creek afores' 1 , begining at the beaver creek
and running northerly till it takes in one third of that
tract of land formerly granted to Samuel Babenton, now
beloning to Evert Wendell, at the same distance from the
fence of the pasture now beloning to Hendrick Hallen-
beeck as the place where Samuel Babenton's house used
to stand is distance from said fence, and so running up
The City Records. 21
westerly with a stratc line till it comes opposite to the
foot of the great fall of the beaver's creek, and then
southerly till it comes to the foot 'of the fall afores d ,
keeping the same brdth on the west as on the east.
In concideration of which the said Wendell is to pay
3 in current money of this province and also to release
to the mayor, aldermen and commonality, their success-
ors and assigns the remaining two thirds of that tract of
Land formerly beloning to Samuel Babenton now be-
loning the said Evert Wendell as afores (1 , all at the said
Wendell's charges.
1732, May 18. The Commonality have this day sold
the wheat which Bareut Brat, their chamberlain, has re-
ceived in their behalf for the Rents of the Lands at
Schaakhook being by computation four hundred and fifty
Skeples, unto Mr. Tobyas Rykman, at two shillings and
four pence half penny per Skeple, payable in September
next.
1732, June 1. This day sold unto William Waldron a
spott of ground situate lying and being on the Plain,
partly bounded on the east side of the lott of the said
William Waldron, and on the north the Dutch burying
Place, and on the west side of the lott of Gerrit Van
Sante, on the south by the.Commons, containing in length
from the south to the north of the burying place about
forty foot, and bredth about sixteen foot along the s (I
burying place, be the same more or less, and on the south
end thereof about ten foot.
For which the said Wm. Waldron is to pay eight
Pounds our currency on or before the first day of June
one thousand seven hundred thirty and three and to give
a bond for the same, and that the mayor execute a con-
veyance to the said Waldron in behalf of the Corporation
for which he must pay the charges of the writeings and
the measuring of the same.
Sold likewise to Gerrit I. Lansingh a lott of Ground
situate lying and being on the Plain, bounded on the
west by a lott now in the possession of Wm. Waldron,
on the east and southe by the highway, on the north by
[Annals, x.] 3
22 The City Records.
a part of the lott of Gerrit Van Sante and partly by a
spott of ground this day granted to Wm. WaJdron, con-
taining about sixty foot square, be the same more or
less, for which the s d Gerrit I. Lansingh is to pay the
sum of fifty-five Pounds current money of New York, at
the following payments, (viz 1 ): One third part at the
executing of a Release, which is to be done by the mayor
in behalf of the Corporation, and one third more twelve
months after this date, and the last third part in six
months from that date, so that the whole must be paid
within the space of eighteen months from the date hereof,
and he to pay the charges of the writeings and measureing
and to give bonds for the two severall sums of money
last above mentioned.
Att a Privet meeting held this third day of June, 1732.
Whereas the worshippfull Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen
and Assistants of the city of Albany, convened in Common
Councill, did on the 18th day of April last ordained,
ordered & directed by their said Ordinance that all and
every the Citizens, Freeholders and Inhabitants that live
in the respective streets, lanes and alleys of this city
should from and after the publication of said Ordinance,
or at such time and times and in such maner and form
and according to such demensions, quantitys and pro-
portions as should from time to time be unto them re-
spectively directed and appointed by the mayor, recorder
or the aldermen of each respective ward (at the charge
of the Landlord) well and sufficiently pave or cause to
be paved their and each of their Tenements as by the
said ordinance was more at large sett forth. And whereas
severall of the Inhabitants of this city have neglected to
perform and comply with the clauses therein sett forth
for the paveing and repairing the said streets, lanes and
alleys to the great detriment of this city and contrary to
the tenure and purport of the same. Now it is conclud-
ed, ordered and directed by the worshipfull Mayor, Re-
corder, Cornelius Cuyler and Johannis Roseboom Jun'r,
Esqrs., aldermen, that the severall Inhabitants whose
names are hereunder mentioned neglecting as aforesaid.
The City Records. 23
shall be served with a copy of the following order. For
the hetter paveing and repairing the said streets, lanes
and alleys unto them respectively belonging (which fol-
lows) in hoc verba.
You are hereby ordered & directed that you and each
of you do forthwith agreeable to the purport and true
meaning of our ordinance heretofore published on this
head, pave or cause to be paved with good and sufficient
stones, suitable thereto, the street or streets fronting
your severall dwelling houses and lotts or present houses
of residence, that is to say : That you, Abraham Wittbeck,
Harpert Jacobse, Bastiaan Visger, and Elbert Gerritse,
You and each of you ,do on or before the first day of
August next pave or cause to be paved before your re-
spective houses and lotts the bredth thereof to the mid-
dle of the street with good and sufficient stones with a
convenient desent for the water to empty itself towards
the River. And that you Abraham Lansingh, Jun'r, do
pave in like manner from the east to the west corner of
your lott to the middle of the street and also to the rear
of the said lott to the middle of the street opposite to the
lott of TeunisSlingerlant: And that you Teunis Slinger-
lant do pave from the south corner of your lott so farr
as the same extends adjoyning David De Foreest round
to the west corner in both streets to the middle of the
same. And you Daniell Huson to pave from the west
corner of said Teunis Slingerlant's lott till you come oppo-
site the west corner of Elbert Gerritses lott to the middle
of the street. And you Geertruy Van Scherluynse, widow,
to pave from the lott of Elbert Gerritses, westward along
your lott and houses so farr as the west corner of the
house where Johannis Wyngaert now lives not less than
eight foot, all which pavements you and each of you, the
Persons aforesaid are to compleat and finish as before
described on or before the afore limitted time, as you
will answer your contempt to the contrary. Dated in
Albany the third June, Ao: Do: 1732.
1732, June 20. This day Abraham Vosburgh brought
in a Petition to this Corporation in order to purchase a
24 The City Records.
lott of Ground belonging to the city within the city limits.
It is Resolved that it shall be taken into consideration
at a more convenient opportunity.
On the eight day of April last Abraham Lansingh Jun.
presented a Petition to the Comonality, setting forth
that the Petitioner desired to purchase a small triangle
very commodious for him adjoining to the north side of
his lott, in the third ward, upon which Petition it is Re-
solved to grant unto the Petitioner the small triangle
afores 1 , adjoining to his lott. The perpendicular of
which as it fall upon the base about forty-two feet from
the front of s d lott beginning at the north east corner is
in length one foot and eight inches, and so running from
the top or north end of the perpendicular to the north
west corner of his lott to a Punct. For which he is to
pay into the Commonality for the use of the city the sum
of one Pound ten shillings current money of the Colony
of New York. Ordered that the mayor for the time be-
ing do execute a Deed in behalf of the Corporation, the
Petitioner paying charges of writing.
On the 22d day of February last past, Philip Hansen
presented a Petition to the Comonality setting forth
that the Petitioner humbly prayed to purchase a lott of
ground belonging to the city, lying in the Foxes creek.
Upon which Petition it is Resolved that the said Hansen
should have live Rodds in length North and South and
five Rod in bredth East and West, all Ryland measure,
Bounded on the East by a lott of Rutgert Bleecker, on
the north along the foxes Creek, on the south by the
Commons and on the west by the Commons for the sum
of seven pounds current money of New York, payable
pmo May next: he paying charges of writing. Resolved
that the mayor for the time being shall (and who is im-
powered hereby to) execute a Deed in behalf of the Cor-
poration.
1732, August 12. The following letter was sent to his
Excellency:
We the Mayor, Recorder and Commonality of the city
of Albany haveing heard of your Excellencyes safe arri-
The City Records. 25
veil do with the greatest alacrity congratulate the same,
and hope that your Ex'ly may be received in the Publick
Station in which his sacred Majestie has been pleased to
place you as Chief of this Government with tranquility
and unanimity, which we hope may be attended with
health and happiness is the sincere wishes of who are
with a perfect Difference due Regard and Esteem,
Your Ex'ly most Obedient humble
Servants. Was signed as above.
1732, August 16. Sould untoPetrus Douw the use of
half of the Creek by which his lott in the first ward is
bound nigh the Dutch church, for him, his heirs and
assigns for ever, that isto say not lower than six foot
above low water mark to build upon, but to leave a free
passage for the course of the water and nor to stop up
the same, in consideration of which he is to pay the sum
of two pounds current money of the Colony of New York.
Albany, the 25th Aug' 1732.
May it please your Ex'ly,
We think it our duty to acquaint your Ex'ly of a
Surprizeing accident that happend in his Majesty's Fort
here on Tuesday the 22d Instant, between the hours of
Eight and nine of the Clock at night. That by a Train
of Powder or some other Villainous means some of the
Bumbs and a great many of the Granados in the Store,
were sett fire to which went off in such a Sudden and
Surprizeing manner that put this city in a great Con-
sternation for that Time; but upon Immediate Enquiry
into this affair by us, the Mayor, Recorder and Alder-
men of this city; It appeared that a Negro man belonging
to Captin Henry Holland was found Lying close to the
Powder house (when this accident happened) Very much
burnt in his face and other Parts of his body, and who is
strongly supposed to have committed the aforesaid Vil-
lainy, we have strictly Examined into this affair but
there is as yet no Positive proof against the Negro; the
little Hutt called the Magazine was consumed with what
Powder there was in it by this Villainous Action.
26 The City Records.
Sir: We Live here in a Country where we are Daily
in Dread of our Neighbouring Enemies the French at
Canada and what is worse are in no posture of Defence
either in city or county to receive them in case they at-
tacked us, and while his Majesty ever since the first
Establishment of his Subjects here has been Gratiously
pleased to give us such a number of Soldiers under pay
as he in his great wisdom thought sufficient for the better
Preservation of our lives and Fortunes, and it is too ap-
parently known that upon Inspection into the Garrison
it will seldom be found that there is above twenty or five
and twenty men and sometimes not so many and those
Invalid old men fitt rather to be put in an Hospitall then
to Mount a Guard while the lusty young men are tolerated
to work abroad in the Country, which we think is not only
an abuse done to his Majesties most Gracious Intentions
but a hardship on us and the rest of his Subjects here.
We must allow that Captain Holland has been an
officer sufficiently qualified to Command this Garrison
till within these few last years he (by the Providence of
Almighty God), is renderd incapable to Command the
same, and it is with much concern for the Publick Good
as well as for him that we are obliged to express it.
Who are, may it Please your Ex'ly,
with much Esteem and respect
Your Ex'ly most ob't & most humble Serv'ts.
Was signed by the Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen
alone.
1732, Sept. 2. This day the Comonalityhaveing agreed
with Johannis Seger for the sum of fifteen shillings per
month to attend the Constable's watch, y l is to say, to
make fire every night in the Evening before the said
watch begins and to cutt through all the wood and keep
clean the places appointed to watch and also to warn
the People to come and watch.
1732, Sept. 12. Whereas by a Resolution of Common
Councill made the 14th October 1731, it was then upon
request of Mr. Abraham Cuyler granted and agreed that
the said Abraham Cuyler should have four morgan of
The City Records. 27
low land lying and being in the Mohawks country agree-
able to said Cuyler's application, for which he was to
pay the sum of two Pounds current money of the Colony
of New York as likewise an acknowledgement to this
city of two Skeple of merchantable good winter Wheat
yearly and every year for ever, to commence a year after
the improvement of the same, for which land aforesaid
the then mayor of this city should execute in behalf of
the city a release of the same to the said Abraham Cuy-
ler upon executing of which the said Cuyler was to pay
the aforesaid consideration of two Pounds. Now it is
further Resolved by this board that the afores d Resolu-
tion shall remain arid abide in such force and value to all
intents and purposes whatsoever as the same was then
enterd on the records, and that Hans Hansen, Esqr.,
present mayor of this city, shall execute a Deed of re-
lease of the afores d land to the said Abraham Cuyler in
behalf of the Commonality, the said Cuyler upon receipt
thereof paying the afores d sum of two Pounds current
money aforesaid and the charges accruing on said writ-
ings, all ways to be understood that in case the said Cuy-
ler or his assigns be at any time hereafter hinderd in
their improvement of the aforesaid land by any warr
which may interpose between us and the French, then
for such time no acknowledgem 1 to be paid for the same.
1732, Sept. 26. This day a Petition of John Burton
was offered to the worshipfull Mayor, Recorder, Alder-
men and Commonality, which Petition it is Resolved
shall be taken into further consideration at their next
meeting.
Isaac Fryer, Jan Van Alstyne. Gerrit Bratt and Jacobus
Radliff this day petitioned in behalf of themselves and
their neighbours to have liberty to digg a well neer their
dwelling places and that the Commonality would contri-
bute some money towards the same, which priviledge
was allowed them as also ten pounds in money if they
finished said well this fall.
This day an advertizement was sett up desiring all
persons that have any just demands from the Common-
28 The City Records.
ality to bring in their accounts to Barent Bratt, their
chamberlain, between this and the 7th of October next,
which after being examined and found right shall be sat-
isfied accordingly.
1732, Sept. 29. In persuance of the directions of the
Charter of the city of Albany two aldermen, two assist-
ants and one constable being chosen this day in each
respective ward of s d city by plurality of voths by the
inhabitants of each respective ward who have rite to
chuse, and return being made who are as follows:
Aldermen. Assistants.
First Ward.
Ryer Gerritse, Joh's Ostrande,
Edward Holland. Matt's Flensburgh.
Robert Lansingh, Constable.
Second Ward.
Cornelius Cuyler, David Groesbeek,
Joh's E, Wendell. Gulyn Verplanck.
Dirrick De Garmoy, Constable.
Third Ward.
Isaac Fonda, Ahasueros Roseboom,
Gose Van Schayck. Joh's Van Den Bergh.
Dowe Isa: Fonda, Constable.
Barent Bratt chosen and appointed Citty Chamberlain
or Treasurer for the year ensueing.
Jacob C. Ten Eyck appointed high Constable for the
iusueing year.
173?, Oct. 14. This day Ryer Gerritse, Edward Hol-
land, Isaac Fonda and Johannis E. Wendell did take the
oaths appointed by law to be taken instead of the oaths
of suppremacy and allegiance and did sign the test, then
were sworn as aldermen for the year ensueing. Johannis
Ostrande, Matthews Flansburgh, Ahasuerus Roseboom
and Johannis Van Denbergh did take the oaths appointed
by law, and were sworn as assistants for the ensueing
year. Robert Lansingh did take the oaths appointed by
law and was sworn as constable for the year ensueing.
Gose Van Schayck did take the oaths appointed by
The City Records. 29
law to be taken in stead of the oaths of supremacy and
allegiance and did sign the Test as also the oath as
alderman for the ensueing year on the 16th of October,
1732.
1732, Oct. 23. The Commission of William Cosby,
Esq. &c. appointing John De Peyster, Esq. mayor, clerk
of the market and coroner in and for this city and county
was produced and read at this meeting and said John De
Peyster took and subscribed the oaths of allegiance &c.
as'likewise the oath qualifying him in his office of mayor
&c. aforesaid.
John Lindsey Esq. produced his Ex'ly Wm. Cosby, Esq.
etc. his Commission appointing him thereby High Sheriff
of this city and county, which said Commission was read,
but while said Lindsey produced a certificate from his
said Ex'ly in Councill that he took and subscribed the
oaths of allegiance &c. at New York the 19th instant, as
likewise the oath qualifying him for said office, yet the
Charter of this city requiring that the sheriff appointed
shall take the oath of his office here, the said John Lind-
sey took and swore the same at this meeting.
1732, December 2. This board do appoint Gerrit
Van Benthuysen and Isaac States to execute the office of
Fire masters for the first ward of this city, Hendrick van
Deusen and Gerrit Marcelis for the second ward, Johan-
nis A. Cuyler and Harme van Veghten for the third
ward. It is ordered that warrents shall be issued out for
the Fire masters of each particular ward. Dowe J.
Fonda was sworn as constable for this city for the year
ensueing. The following ordinances were published: An
ordinance for the observation of the Lord's Day, as the
same is recorded verbatim in the Book of ordinances
pages 11 and 12. An ordinance for establishing and
better ordering the night watches in the city of Albany.
An ordinance for tavern keepers. An ordinance for the
better preventing of fire. An ordinance for the .regulat-
ing of the officers. An ordinance about rideing.
Gullyn Ver Planck was sworn as assistant for the
second ward.
30 The City Records.
1732, Dec. 4. This day a list was made according to
an ordinance published on the 2d instant, entitled an
ordinance for establishing and better ordering the night
watches in the city of Albany.
1732, Dec. 26. Whereas Jacob C l Ten Eyck was on
the 29th of September last appointed high constable of
this city, since which his Excellency has been gratiously
pleased to appoint him one of his majesties Justices of
the Peace by which commission he is not obliged to serve
as high constable, this board doth therefore appoint
Dirck De Garmoy one of the .petty constables in the 2d
ward of this city to be high constable in the place of the
said Jabob C l Ten Eyck, and the inhabitants of s ! ward
are hereby ordered and required to chuse a petty con-
stable in the room of the s d Dirck De Garmoy on the
27th of this instant, December, and that return thereof
be made accordingly. Mr. Richard Williams was voted
by this board to be a freeman of this city and the mayor
required to give his license accordingly. Johannis Wyn-
gaert delivered in his account for wood for the watch
amounting to thirty-four shillings and ten pence half
penny. Gerrit Van Benthuysen delivered in his account
for ditto amounting to ten shillings, which were allowed
and ordered that the Treasurer pay the same. The
Treasurer is likewise ordered to pay unto Johannis Se-
ger thirty shillings in part of his Salery.
173J, January 4. Johannis Knickerbacker desired of
this board that he might have the priveledge of the land
that belongs to this city which is bounded by the west of
his land of the same breadth as his land is, and so run-
ning westerly to the bridge or top of the hill for himself,
his heirs and assigns, which was granted him on condi-
tion that he or they do pay yearly or every year for ever
one skiple of good merchantable winter wheat to this
city which is to begin in January or February 1735.
Resolved that the mayor for the time being shall execute
a Lease for the time being in behalf of the Corporation.
173J, March 10. Ordered by this board that an order
be issued to Barent Bratt, chamberlain, that he pay unto
The City Records. 31
Johannis Seger, Andries Bratt and Jacobus Redliff, late
bellmen of this city, appointed by Common Councill for
one year to commence the 16th October 1731 and end
the 16th October 1732, to each and every of them the
sum of eleven pounds seven shillings and six pence for
said service, including candles furnished by them and
their receipts shall be said Barent Bratt's sufficient dis-
charge. Ordered likewise that said Barent Bratt pay
unto Matthew Flensburgh the sum of one pound sixteen
shillings for work done on the Goal and one of the Block
houses of this city &c. as per his account.
Ordered that the mayor sign the aforesaid order in
behalf of the Commonality.
Jonathan Brooks and Lambert Redliff preferred a Pe-
tition to this baard praying to purchase some vacant
ground belonging to this city lying on the west side of the
brick yard now in the tenure of Luycas Hooghkirck.
Resolved therefore that the same be taken in considera-
tion at our next meeting.
This day published an ordinance prohibiting the range-
ing of hoggs. Ordered that the same be recorded in the
book of ordinances.
173^, March 13. This day Johannis Ouderkerck
made application to this board to have free liberty to
build a saw mill on a fall of a creek that divides Saragh-
togue from Schachook, comonly called by the name of
Lewises creek about a mile from Hudson's river and four
morgan of land near said mill for the use of the same, as
also liberty to cutt loggs and timber in the bounds of
Schachook and the lands belonging to this city for the
use of the said mill, which was granted him for the term
and upon the conditions hereafter mentioned, that is to
say, that the said Ouderkerck is to use, occupy and en-
joy the said creek and premises above mentioned as long
as he, his heirs or assigns encline to make use of the
same or deliver the possession of the mill and premises
(except the iron work belonging to the said mill) to this
Corporation for the time being, he, his heirs or assigns
paying yearly and every year dureiug the said time that
32 The City Records.
he uses the same or delivers up the possession as afore-
said, the first payment beginning on the first day of
May which will be in the year of our Lord 1735, the
sum of live pounds current money of the Colony of New-
York to the treasurer of this city for the use of the same,
provided he does not cutt nor saw more than 300 loggs
yearly and every in said bounds, that is one year with
another. Likewise if at any time hereafter there should
happen a war to break out with our neighbors the Frence
or Indians so that said Ouderkerck should be molested
in his possession of the premises, then dureingsuch war
and molestation the said Ouderkerck shall pay no ac-
knowledgement for the same.
Likewise sold to the said Johannis Ouderkerck two
morgan of land lying and being at Schachook on the north
side of Schachook creek on both sides of a small creek
that comes from Hudson's river and runs in said Schac-
hook creek about one thousand yards south of his house, he
paying thirty shillings for the same, and yearly and every
year for ever two skiple good merchantable winter wheat
to this city for the quit of the same, commencing in the
months of January or February in the year of our Lord
one thousand seven hundred thirty four and five. Re-
solved that the mayor for the time being shall execute a
deed for the same in behalf of the Corporation.
1733, March 17. Ordered by this board that Barent
Bratt who was appointed chamberlain or treasurer of
this city on the 29th September last shall enter into
bonds with good security for the due performance of said
office (and take the oaths to qualify him for the same).
The condition of which bond shall be as follows:
Whereas the above bounden Barent Bratt was ap-
pointed and elected into the office and place of chamberlain
or Treasurer of the city of Albany lor the year ensuing,
Now the condition of this obligation is such, that if the
said Barent Bratt shall and do well, faithfully and truly
perform and execute and do all things whatsoever which
any ways touch or concern his said office, and well and
faithfully in all things behave himself in the execution of
The City Records. 33
said office of chamberlain or treasurer of the said city of
Albany, and shall in due order and method in proper
books for that purpose, keep a true, exact and just ac-
count of the several branches of the revenue, rents and
incomes of the said Corporation, and in the like orderly
manner discharge the same by due and orderly payments,
and also shall and do every three months, or oftner (if it
shall be thereunto requested) render to the said mayor,
aldermen and commonality, their successors and assigns,
a true and just account of all his receipts and payments,
regularly stated in such proper books for that purpose,
and shall and do observe all such orders, rules and direc-
tions in the making of his payments as he from time to
time shall receive from the Common Council of the said
city. And also if the said Barent Bratt, his executors
and administrators shall and do within the space and
time of fourteen days next after the determination or end
of his said office as Chamberlain or Treasurer as afore-
said be it by death of the said Barent Bratt or otherwise,
well and truly render a true and just account, fairly
entered in books for that purpose as aforesaid, of all his
receipts and payments, unto the said mayor, aldermen
and commonality of the said city, their successors and
assigns, and well and truly pay or cause to be paid unto
the said mayor, aldermen and commonality of the said
city their successors and assigns, all such sum and sums
of money as shall be then in his or their hands, or which
he or they shall, upon such accompt be found to be in
arrear, and also shall and do, upon a sufficient discharge
in law, to him to be given by the said mayor, aldermen
and commonality, and their successors, within the time
aforesaid, well and truly surrender and deliver up to the
said mayor, aldermen and commonality, their successors
and assigns, all and singular the books of accompts be-
longing to the said office, with all warrants, vouchers
and memorandums belonging to the same, and also all
and singular bills, bonds, specialties, leases, grants,
deeds, charters, letters pattent, and all other papers and
[Annals, x.] 4
34 The City Records.
writings whatsoever in anywise belonging to the said
Corporation, without any concealment, imbezelment or
fraud, that then this obligation to be void, otherwise to
be and remain in full force and virtue.
This day was published a law, entitled a law for regu-
lating and establishing fees for the inviters to funerals,
which was ordered to be entered in the book of ordi-
nances.
This day granted unto Lambert Radley and Jonathan
Broecks one acre of ground upon the gallows hill lying
near a small run of water to the north of the road for
the term of twenty years, provided they or either of them
pay or cause to be paid to this Corporation the sum of
twenty shillings yearly, the first payment to be made the
first day of May, 1734, together with the previledge of
the creek or run afores* 3 , with the clay in or near the
same fitt to make brick to the west of Luykas Hoghkerks
brick kill; and if in case there should a war happen to
break out dureing said term of years so that they should
be molested in the possession of the same, then dureing
such time of hinderance or molestation they shall pay
no acknowledgement for the same. Resolved that the
mayor for the time being shall execute a lease for the
same in behalf of the Corporation.
1733, May 5. This day published an ordinance enti-
tled a law for marking of bread and one entitled a law
for paving the streets, lanes and alleys within ihe city of
Albany, both recorded in the book of ordinances folios
24 and 25, The Treasurer was ordered to deliver unto
Jacobus Hilton his Bond, he paying the Principle.
1733, May 26. This day granted and sould.unto Jo-
hannis Groesbeek one acre of ground scituate, lying and
being at Schaahkook in the county of Albany, of the land
belonging to this city, over the road opposite to the house
of the s d Joh's Groesbeek where now his barn stands,
bounded on the north by the ridge of the hill, on the west
by the s d road, on the south by the land now belonging
to Joh's and Adriaan Quackenbos Junr. sons of Adriaan
Quackenbos, and easterly so far 'till it takes in one acre
The City Records. 35
of ground, for which he is to pay the sum of fifty shil-
lings, and one shilling yearly and every year forever to
the Treasurer of this city for the use of this corporation,
and he is to pay for the writings according to agreement.
Resolved that the mayor for the time being shall execute
an Indenture for the same in behalf of the Corporation.
1733, June 4. It is Resolved in Common Council that
if any of the members of the said Council being legally
warned to appear in council, and do not come within half
an hour after ringing of the bell to conveen without a
reasonable excuse that he or they so omitting or delay-
ing to come within half an hour as afores d , shall forfiet
for each omission or delay the sum of one shilling for the
use of the s d Board to be recovered before the major part
of the than Board when such omission or delay is made.
Whereas on the day of last past an ordinance
was made for a Watch to be kept for the safety of this
city, w l a List of the persons who were to watch, and a
Power reserved to make such alterations from time to
time in said List as the Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen and
Comon Council should think fitt, which abovementioned
List the said Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen and Comon
Council have now altered, by which alteration now made
the Watch shall be kept till this Board think fitt to alter
it again.
1733, June 11. Whereas the Mayor, Recorder and
Aldermen, or the major part of them, did on the 16th
day of October 1732 agree with Harpert Jacobse Van
Deusen of this city for a certain lott of ground within
the limitts of the s d city on the west side of the highway
that leads from the said city to Water ffleet, is bounded
on the north by a lott of ground now in the occupation
of the widow of Jan Gerritse, deceased, on the west by
the woods, on the south by the lott of Wilhelmus Vanden
Bergh, is broad on the front or east end by the said high
way that leads to Water ffleet, one and a half rodd, arid
behind to the west by the woods three rodds two foot and
three inches, and in the midst of said lott two rodd nine
foot and nine inches, and in length on the south side
36 The City Records.
and north side forty-four rodd all Rynland measure,
Which said lott of ground pursuant to the agreement
afores d the said Harpert Jacobse Vandeusen did on the
ninth day of the instant month of June convey by deed
under his hand and seal to the mayor, aldermen and
commonality their successors and assigns for ever lor
the consideration of the sum of thirty-four pounds.
Whereupon this Board issued out their warrant to
Barent Bratt, treasurer, for the payment of said sum of
34. And at the same time ordered their s (I Treasurer
to deliver to Tobias Ryckman one hund (l skipple of wheat
and take his note for the same payable 15 Sept'r next,
at 3s. per skipple, 15.
Gysbert Roseboom d 1 unfo this Board per Petition
setting forth that he was iriclineable to purchase a lott
of ground behind the city fence of about thirty foot in
breadth, and in length to run to the edge of the hill lying
on the north side of Schcnectady highway, and to the
west of the said fence.
Resolved to take this Petition into consideration.
1733, Sept. 6. Resolved by this Board to make an
Address to his Ex'cy William Cosby, Esqr. &c. which is
as follows:
To his Excellency William Cosby Esqr. Cap f General
and Gov'r in Chief of the provinces of New York,
Newjersey and Territories thereon depending, in
America and Vice Admiral of the same, and Collo.
in his Majesties Army, &c., The humble Address of
the Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen and Commonalty of
the city of Albany:
May it please your Excellency,
We his Majesties duteful Subjects, the Mayor, Recorder,
Aldermen and Comonalty of the city of Albany, do with
great Joy humbly take leave to congratulate your Excel-
lency on your safe arrival in this part of your Govern-
ment and heartily wish your Excellency may meet with
success and satisfaction in the ensuing Treaty with the
Six Nations of Indians, Subjects to the King of Great
Britain
The City Records. 37
As we are seated on the frontiers of this Province and
have very dangerous neighbors to the northward (the
french of Canada) who have made encroachments on us
by posting a Garrison at the Crown point on the south
end of Corlaers Lake which we conceive will be of very
dangerous consequence, in case of a Rupture between the
Crown of Great Britain and that of france. Wherefore
we humbly beg leave to mention to your Excellency the
present ruinous and defenceless condition of his Maje'es
ffort here, tho' shall desist to enlarge on the particulars
since your Ex'cy has been pleased to view the same, and
thereby can better judge than we are able to inform.
We therefore humbly flesire your Ex'cy will be pleased
to lay the deplorable and defenceless condition of these
fronteers before the Gen'll Assembly of this province at
their next meeting to recomend it to their care and con-
sideration that provision may be made for building a new
ffort here in such manner as your Excellency, the Coun-
cil and Gen'll Assembly shall judge most convenient for
the defence of his Majesties frontier.
We are may it please your Ex'cy, with much esteem
and respect, your Ex'cys most ob't humble ser'ts.
The following order was directed to Bar 1 Bratt, treas-
urer, by order of this Board:
Sir: please pay to Mr. Jacob Stenhouse or order ten
shillings and this shall be your warrant.
1733, Sept. 13. This day Johannis Knickerbacker
appeared before this board and acquainted the Corpora-
tion that he intended to lett ten morgans of the land he
has on lease from this city for the space of years and
pursuant to the Covenant contained in his Lease gave
the first refusal to this board which they are not inclined
to accept of.
1733, Sept. 29. In pursuance to the directions of the
Charter of the city of Albany, two aldermen, two
assistants, and one constable were this dav chosen for
each ward by plurality of Voices of the inhabitants of
the respective wards who had right to vote and are re-
turned as follows, viz:
38 The City Records.
Aldermen. Assistants.
First Ward.
Ryer Gerritse, Johan's V. Ostrande.
Hendrick Roster. Matthews Flensburgh.
William Hilton, Jun., Constable.
Second Ward.
Cornells Cuyler, David Groesbeeck,
Johan's E. Wendell. Guilleyn Verplank.
Peter Marshall, Constable.
Third Ward.
Goose V. Schaick, Ahasveris Roseboom,
Isaac ffonda. Johan's v den Bergh.
Johan's Hansen, Jun., Constable.
Barent Bratt was chosen and appointed city chamber-
lain or treasurer for the ensuing year.
Ordered by this Board that the said Barent Bratt enter
into bond of two thousand pound with sufficient security
to this Corporation for the due performance of his office.
Douwe Isaacse ffonda was appointed high Constable
for the ensuing year.
1733, Oct. 6. The humble Petition of the Minister,
Elders and Deacons of the Reformed Dutch Church of
the city of Albany was presented to this Board and is as
follows, viz:
To the worshipful the Mayor, Aldermen and Comon-
alty of the city of Albany.
The humble Petition of the Minister, Elders and Dea-
cons of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in Albany
sheweth, That the predecessors of your worships Peti-
tioners continually for many years now last past have
been as your Petitioners now are quietly seized and pos-
sessed of their church and ground thereto belonging in
the s d city of Albany, and also of all that certain parcel
of land comonly called and known by the name of the
Pasture, sckuate, lying and being to the southward of
the city of Albany, within the limitts thereof, being lim-
itted, butted and bounded as in the church charter or
Letters patent thereof, dated the tenth day of August
Annoq. Domini one thousand seven hundred and twenty
The City Records. 39
is and are particularly mentioned, expressed and de-
scribed, and also of the old high way from the end of the
pasture called Schermerhoorn's pasture, and of the Bea-
rers Kill, together with the land thereunto belonging
and appertaining, scituate, lying and being to the south-
ward of the s d city of Albany, being limitted, butted and
bounded as by certain deed from your worships prede-
cessors, dated the twelfth day of December Anno Domini
one thousand six hundred ninety and nine is particularly
mentioned, expressed and described, and your Petitioners
being by the above mentioned charter or letters patent
made and created one body corporate and politick in fact
and name, do therefore 'humbly pray that your worships
will be pleased for the more assurance in the law of the
premises to conform unto your Petitioners and their
successors and assigns for ever the before mentioned and
rented lands and premises according to the tenor, pur-
port and true intent of the s d charter and also to grant
unto your Petitioners all that certain parcel of ground
or burying place which for many years past and now is
in the possession of your Petitioners, lying and being on
the south east part of the city, containing length on the
east side twelve rod, on the west side twelve rod nine
and a half foot, and in breadth on the north by the street
nine rod and nine and a half foot, and on the south ten
rod and two foot all Rynland measure, and your Wor-
ships Pet'rs as in duty bound shall ever pray, &c.
Albany, the 6th day of Oct. 1733.
Signed PETR: VAN DRIESSEN.
No : Sine deu.
In behalf of the Petitioners.
This Board having read and considered of said Peti-
tion think it reasonable for divers good causes and con-
siderations as also for the sum of five shillings to grant
the Petitioners' prayer.
Resolved that the mayor for the time being in behalf of
the mayor, aldermen and comonalty do execute such
deeds or writings as may be sufficient to grant and con-
firm unto the Petitioners, their successors and assigns
40 The City Records.
forever, what in the above petition is prayed for and
to cause the seal of the city to be thereunto affixed.
Ordered that Barent Bratt, the treasurer, shall deduct
from Joh's Seger's two bonds, each conditioned for the
payment of 10, what is this day allowed him and take
his note for the remainder.
1733, Oct. 12. Mr. Anthony S. Van Schaick appeared
before this board and desired he might have released
unto him a small piece of ground upon the north east
corner of his lott containing four foot by s d north east
corner and so running along the lane till it comes to no-
thing by the north west corner of s d lott.
Which this board having taken into consideration, Re-
solved to release the same unto him for the consideration
of thirty shillings to be p d to the Corporation and like-
wise to pay for the writing, and that the mayor in behalf
of the comonalty may execute s d deed and cause the city
seal to be thereunto affixed.
Resolved that Peter and Johannis Quackenboss shall
have the use of the fifteen foot of ground which they sold
to the city, they keeping it in fence before and behind,
during the will and pleasure of the mayor, aldermen and
comonalty.
Whereas Abraham Vosburgh had made application to
the Comonalty on the seventh day of October, 1732 for a
piece of ground lying on the Gallows hill as in the minute
of that day described, but is now desirous to have it en-
larged to the breadth of forty foot Rynland measure.
Resolved by this board to release unto s d Abraham
Vosburgh a piece of ground lying upon the same course
as Mr. Babington's house formerly stood, to the west-
ward of where Hendrick Hallenbeeck flow lives, con-
taining in length east and west twelve rodd, and in
breadth south and north forty foot Rynland measure.
In consideration whereof s d Vosburgh is to give bond
payable to the mayor, aldermen and commonalty or their
successors on the first day of September next ensuing for
three pounds. And that the mayor in behalf of the com-
onalty shall indent w l said Abraham Vosburgh for s d
The City Records. 41
piece of ground and cause the city seal to be thereunto
affixed, in which indenture s d Vosburgh is to covenant
and agree to pay to s d mayor, aldermen and comonalty,
or their successors twenty shillings yearly, the first pay-
ment to begin on the said first day of September 1734.
The said Vosburgh to pay for writing.
Resolved that the street running from the east side of
Leendert Gansevoort's lott and stretching to the east
side of the ground belonging to the City Hall, shall be
from henceforth three rodd and a half Rynland measure
in breadth.
1733, Oct. 24. Edward Holland, Esq. produced a
comission under the broad seal of the Province of New
York for mayor of this city, clerk of the market and
coroner of the city and county for the year ensuing, dated
the 15th day of October, and was sworn to the execution
of said offices.
1733, Nov. 5. Resolved by this board to publish the
following ordinances, vide Book of Ordinances, fol. 11,
18 and 19, to witt:
For preventing noise and disturbance on the Lord's
Day in time of divine service and preaching.
To prevent negroes going armed w l guns, swords,
clubs, &c.
To oblige the constables of this city to go round the
streets, lanes, &c. of this city, by turns on the Lord's
Day to see the laws in this ordinance be duly observed.
To prevent Negroes or Ind'n slaves to appear in the
streets after eight at night w'out a Lanthorn and lighted
candle in it.
For establishing and better ordering the night watches.
For tavern keeper to take lycences.
For better preventing of fire.
The following persons were appointed fire masters or
viewers of chimneys, viz:
First Ward Teunis Vischer and Jelles D. Garmoy.
Second Ward Gerrit Roseboom, Jun. and Jacob Ten
Eyck.
Third Ward Robert Roseboom and Gerrit C. Van
denbergh.
42 The City Records.
1733, November 10. Resolved by this Board that the
Mayor shall supply John Sullivan, a prisoner in this gaol
with a coarse Shirt, Jacket, Breeches, Stockens, Shoes
and Cap.
This day published an ordinance for regulating the
watch. The fire masters got their warrants.
A new list of the watches was made, making thirty-
three in all, nine persons on each watch, the officer in-
cluded.
1733, Nov. 15. John Lindsay, Esq. was sworn into
office of high sheriff.
It is Resolved in Comon Council that if any of the
members of the said Comon Council being legally warned
to appear in council, and do not come within an hour
after ringing of the Bell to conveen \v l out a reasonable
excuse to the contrary, that he or they so omitting or
delay to come within an hour as aforesaid, shall forfiet
for each omission or delay the sum of one shilling for the
use of the said board, to be recovered before the major
part of the then board when such omission or delay is
made.
Ordered by this board that the treasurer of this city
call in the money due from the following persons or give
them notice that they will be sued for the same, viz:
Jochim Bratt, - - - ,23:0:0
Ryckart Hansen, - - - 25:6:9
Arent V. Dyck, - - 40:0:0
Evert Wendell, - - - 3:0:0
Luykas Hooghkerk, ... 1:2:6
William Waldron, - - - 8:0:0
Johannis G. Lansingh, - 15:7:4
115:16:7
1733, Nov. 24. Ordered by this board that Jeremy
Van Rensselaer, Esq. and Capt. William Deck be pre-
sented with their Freedoms of this city, and that the
Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen wait upon them with the
same to desire their acceptance thereof.
1733, December 18. Ordered by this board that a
The City Records. 43
warrant be drawn on Bar 1 Bratt, Treasurer, to pay to
Ryckart Hilton an Jan Van Alstyneach the sum of forty
pounds, out of which is to be deducted what said Ryckart
Hilton owes to the city and his bond given up. And
that the treasurer take an obligation of Jan Van Alstyn
for ten pounds conditioned to put a good and sufficient
roof on the block house by Sarties Killetienear the river
side by first of May next or forfiet said sum of ten pounds.
Also to pay to Johannis & Jacobus Radliff each the sum
of six pounds ten shillings for removing a Block house
to the Gallows Hill and take all their receipts in full.
This day published an ordinance relating to the riding
with Sledges, Carts or Waggons through the streets of
this city.
173J, February 9. Ordered by this Board that the
Boundaries of Schaahtakook be laid out with all conven-
ient speed. Pursuant to said order and by the directions
of'Comon Council a Letter was writt and sent to Nicholas
Schuvler to come in and agree with the Corporation to
run the Lines of said Boundaries.
The City Treasurer was this day order'd to prosecute
Gysbert Brakell Jun'r, upon his bond if he do not pay the
same w in eight days.
It is likewise ordered by this Board that the great Guns
be carried to the several Blockhouses in this city as the
same shall be directed by the field officers of the militia.
173J, Feb. 15. This Board have agreed with Richard
Williams to run the lines of the boundaries of the lands
belonging to this city lying at Schaahkook for which they
are to pay him eight pounds, he being to deliver to the
Comon Council a draught of the same.
Resolved by this Board .that the Mayor, Mr. Van
Schaick, alderman and Johannis van Ostrande, assistant,
go along with the surveyor, each to have six shillings
per diem and reasonable charges paid them.
Johannis Evertse Wendell Esq., alderman, Guilleyn
Verplanck and David Groesbeeck, assistants, undertake
to carry the seven great Guns to the Block houses for
which this board allow them fourteen shillings to be paid
them by the Treasurer.
44 The City Records.
Order'd that a warrant be drawn on the Treasurer in
favour of Nicholas Schnyler Esq. for twenty shillings.
173f, March 9. Resolved by this board to sue the
following persons if they do not pay what they are in-
debted to the Corporation in eight days time, viz: John
Eaton, Jacobus Hilton, Jonathan Brooks, Andries Bratt,
Teunis Egbertse. These five were all sent for and told
of the above resolution. Volkert Douwe, Jochim Bratt.
These two were acquainted of the above resolution by
letter.
This board taking into their charitable consideration
the poor circumstances of the widow arid children of Jan
Winne, deceased, have given up a bond executed by said
Winne to the Mayor, Sec. conditioned for the payment of
eleven pounds in consideration whereof Guilleyn Ver-
planck has pass'd his Note payable in three Months for
five pound ten shillings which is accepted off in full of
s d Bond and Interest due thereon. This Corporation
taking into their charitable consideration the poor cir-
cumstances of John Stewart, allow him four shillings and
sixpence a week for six weeks, and order their treasurer
to pay the same.
Put up by order an Advertisem 1 acquainting all per-
sons that the Key of the house where the Water Engine
stands is lodged with Mr. Henry Cuyler.
Advertised all persons who have any claim upon the
Ground lying along the water side from behind the lott
of Mr. Henry Holland to behind the lott of Isaac Grave-
raat, to show their Titles to the Mayor. The Corporation
intending to give out the vacant ground to be docked.
173|, March 23. Resolved by this board to employ
Mr. Rich d Williams, attorney at law, to sue Gysbert Van
Brakel Jun'r, Volkert Douw and Jochim Bradt, in name
of this Corporation upon their bonds. This board orders
the Treasurer to pay Wm. Shaw nine shillings for an
acco 1 due to them. This day published three ordinances,
viz: 1, Regulating the fees of inviters to funerals. I,
Ditto of the Carmen. 1 for cleaning the streets.
The City Records. 45
1734, March 30. Sold this day to Petrus Douwe a
certain piece or slipp of ground, beginning two foot
and four inches from the north-east corner of his lott
lying next to the lott of Johannis van Alen and running
with a streight line to the south-east corner of the s d lott,
which said two foot and four inches makes it range on
the north side with the house of the said Johannis v Alen.
In consideration whereof the said Petrus Douwe is to
pay thirty shillings.
1734, April 12. Mattys Flensburgh d d into this board
an acc u amounting to 5. which is allowed off and or-
ders drawn on the Treasurer to pay the same and like-
wise thirty shillings to the mayor for the use of Abraham
Governour for services done for the Corporation.
1734, May 3. It is ordered by this Board that Barent
Bratt, treasurer, sell three hundred skipples of the wheat
which he has now in store for three shillings per skipple
ready money.
1734, May 14. Uldrick Van Vranke agreed with this
Board to set up 300 Stockadoes for seven pence half
penny each stockadoe, that is to say, he is to square
them on two sides take off all the Bark, put them three
foot in the ground and make one ribb about three foot
from the top, and to put a large pin in every stockadoe
thro' the ribb. He is to make them square under and
sharp above, and to make loop holes for small arms at
convenient distances, as the mayor and aldermen shall
direct.
1734, May 13 [sic]. Resolved to send the following Peti-
tion to the General Assembly:
To the Honourable the Representatives of the Province
of New York, in General Assembly convened. The
humble Petition of the Mayor, Aldermen and Com-
onalty of the city of Albany most humbly sheweth:
That whereas the Wall now begun to be built around
the city will be a work of some years and great expence,
and that in the mean time we may be provided against
any sudden surprize that may happen in case of a rup-
[ Annals, x.] 5
46 The City Records.
ttire betwixt the Crowns of Great Britain and ffrance,
the inhabitants of this city are generally very much en-
clined to have the same fortified with Stockadoes, and in
case that by the stubbornness of some ill designing people
it may not be carried on so regularly and speedily as it
ought to be, your Petitioners humbly pray that an act of
General Assembly may be passed to enable the Mayor,
Recorder, Aldermen and Comonalty of the said city to
oblige the assessors to meet at such time and place as
they the s d mayor, recorder, aldermen and comonalty,
or the major part of them shall think meet to assess and
rate all the inhabitants, ffneholders, residents and so-
journers of the s d city to furnish and sett up Stockadoes
in an equal and due proportion according to their abili-
ties, and that a fine may be imposed upon those who
shall be remiss or negligent in complying with the direc-
tions of said act; and that the mayor, recorder and alder-
men, or the major part of them may be impowered by
said act to order and give directions how, where and in
what manner the same Stockadoes shall be set up.
And whereas besides the Stockadoes there will be
wanted other materials for building batteries, making
gates in their proper places and carriages for the great
Guns which are all out of order, your Petitioners hum-
bly pray that the sum of one hundred and fifty pound
may be taxed on the county to help to enable the defray-
ing of the charges of the same.
And whereas the scituation of this city along the water
side is very irregular and inconvenient for building, and
as it is said pretensions are made on some lotts lying
there, tho by our most diligent enquiry can find no body
to show any title to the same, your Petitioners therefore
humbly pray that an act may be passed to oblige those
persons to make their claim wMn three months after the
publication of s d act and dock out the same w'in three
years, or that your Pefrs may be the better enabled to
fortifie the same, further humbly pray that the right may
be confirmed to this corporation who will oblige them-
selves to do it in that time.
The City Records.
(0*
Hoping your Honours will be pleased to take the pre-
mises into your consideration and to pass an act or acts
for the same, your Petitioners as in duty bound shall
ever pray, &c.
This board allows John Van Alstyn and Ryckart Hil-
ton each forty shillings for work done to the two new
block houses by Jesse Dffreests, Van Alstyne not to re-
ceive his forty shillings till he puts a good and sufficient
Roof on the new block house by the water side. An
order was drawn on the treasurer to pay Jan Van Alstyn '
forty pounds pursuant to an order of the 18th December
last which he had not received because he had not given
bond according to the directions of the said order.
1734, June 24. Resolved to sell at publick Vendue
this day 400 Skipple of wheat to the highest bidder, no-
tice being given by publick advertisement of said sale
three days agoe, to be paid in ready on the delivery,
which is to be this week:
Edward Holland, 50 Sk: at 2:9 - - - 6-17:6
Ditto - 50 Do 2:9 - - - 6:17:6
Ditto - - 100 Do 2:9 - - - 13:15:0
BarentBratt, 200 Do 2:9 - - - 27:10:0
Amount is fifty-five pounds, 55: 0:0
This board this day agreed with Gerrit Lansii'gh
and Anthony Bratt to sett up 400 Stockadoes at 9d. a
piece, beginning at the Block House on the Reuse Bergh
and so on as they shall be directed, with Tennons of
good dry oak wood of one and a half inch thick, to be
drove in five inches, the Stockadoes to be 13 foot long,
three foot in the ground, to have loop holes at proper
distances.
To allow them six shillings for furnishing timber for
the Tenons. No Stockadoes to be put up but what will
work one foot at least of good fresh wood.
Mattys fflensburgh has undertake to sett up 300 Stock-
adoes in the same manner and on the same conditions as
the above 400 to begin by the Blockhouse on the Gallows
Hill, to be allowed 4:6 for Tenons.
48 The City Records.
1734, July 20. The following Letter was writt and
sent to Mr. Johannis Cuyler:
Sir: The Mayor, Aldermen and Comonalty being in-
tended to have a friendly conversation w l you concern-
ing the ground in dispute betwixt the city and you, de-
sire to meet w l you at the City hall on twesday next at
three o'clock in the afternoon, and if your conveniency
will not then allow, desire you may appoint another
day.
This Board this day agreed w l Hattys Flensburgh to
sett up 300 Stockadoes more in the same manner and on
the same conditions as those agreed for the 24th June last.
1734, August 17. Symon Danielse presented a peti-
tion to this Board praying that they would dispose of a
certain tract or piece of wood land lying contiguous to
him and belonging to this city, for which he would pay
a reasonable consideration. The petition was in the
words following, viz:
To the worshipful Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen and
Comonalty of the city of Albany in Comon Council
convened, the humble Petition of Symon Danielse
sheweth,
That whereas there is a certain tract or piece of pine
wood land belonging to the city of Albany, lying at
Schaahkook having to the north Schaahkooks Road, to
the east part of your Petitioners land and part the hills,
which hills adjoins to the afores d land and stretches
southward to where your Petitioners Mill stands and ten
yards over the creek on which said mill stands and which
said land lyes very contiguous to your Petitioner.
Therefore prays that your worships will be pleased to
dispose of the same to your Petitioner who is willing to
pay a reasonable consideration for the same, which if
your worships be pleased to grant, your worships Peti-
tioner as in duty bound shall ever pray, &c.
This Board having taken the above Petition into con-
sideration Resolve that the Petitioner shall have the
s d certain tract or piece of pine wood land as hereinafter
bounded, viz: To the north and west Schaahkooks Road
The City Records. 49
as it now runs, to the east 'part by his land and part by
the hills, which hills joins to the s d land and stretches
southward along said hills to the creek where his Griss
Mill now stands and so along the north side of the creek
westerly till it comes to Hudson's River, for the sum of
sixty pounds, of which thirty pound to be paid the first
day of October now next ensuing by the delivery of the
deed, and the other thirty pound on or before the first
day of January 173f, for which he is to give Bond.
Resolved that the mayor in behalf of the comonalty
execute said deed and cause the city seal to be thereunto
affixed.
Jeremiah Pamerton this* day paid his bond of fifteen
pound due to the city, which was cancelled by order of
this Board.
1734, August 24. Resolved by this Board to write a
Letter to David Verplank which was in the following
words, viz:
Sir: The Mayor, Aldermen and Comonalty desire that
you will be pleased to come up and indeavour to agree
w l them to give libertye to sett the Stockadoes for forti-
fving the city over your lott where the fence now stands.
If you cannot conveniently come up, please to signifie
your consent thereto by a letter under your hand, else the
mayor, c. will be obliged to issue out a sumons to ap-
praise the value of s d ground according to the directions
of the act of Assembly made for that purpose. By orcler
of the Mayor, Aldermen and Comonalty.
To Mr. David Verplank. JA. STEVENSON, D Clerk.
Resolved by this Board that the Mayor in the name of
the Comonalty shall execute to Benjamin Bratt at the
desire of Albert Ryckman, a deed for a lott of ground
lying on the Plain, and sold by the mayor, aldermen and
comonalty the first day of December, 1686, as by the
minutes of that day may appear. It is lott No. '21,
having to the west the lott late of Philip Dffreest, to the
east the lane, to the north the lott of Jacob Bogaert dec d ,
and to the south the lott belonging to the heirs of Jan
Janse Bleecker, as the same is in fence.
50 The City Records.
An order was drawn on Bar ent Bratt, treasurer, to pay
to John Groesbeeck 17:13 :9|, being for four great guns
and carriages for the use of the city.
1734, Sept. 29. In pursuance of the directions of the
Charter of the city of Albany, two Aldermen, two Assist-
ants and one constable were chosen for each ward by
plurality of voices of the several inhabitants of the said
city who had a right to vote, and are returned as follows,
viz:
Aldermen. Assistants.
First Ward.
Reyer Gerritse, Job's v Oostrande,
Hendrick Roster. Mattys fflensburgh.
Peter van Alen, Constable.
Second Ward.
Cornelis Cuyler, Jacob Ten Eyck,
Joh's E. Wendell, Jacob Glen.
Rob 1 Rumney, Constable.
Third Ward.
Leend 1 Gaansevoort, Jesse Dffreest,
Joban's Vischer, Gerrit G. Lansingh.
Johan's Pruyn, Jun'r, Constable.
Barent Bratt was chosen City Chamberlain.
William Hilton, Jr., high Constable.
1734, Oct. 29. This day appeared Johan's Wyngaert
and Zechariah Zieckelsy and agreed with the Comon
Council to go round every night and to call every hour
from ten a clock to four in the morning at all the following
places of the city what a clock and what weather it is,
viz: At Frederick Myndertse's corner, Obadiah Cooper's
corner, the Mayor's corner, Philip Livingston's, the Eng-
lish Church, Johan's Lansingh's Jun'r, the Well of Gys-
bert Marcellis's, Hendrick Ten Eyck's corner, the Re-
corder's, John Waters's, Jacob Lansingh's, Leendert
Gaansevoort's and Henry Holland's for which services
they a;e to have each eight pounds and each six shillings
for candles. To begin this next night and to end the
last night of April next ensuing, and in case any com-
plaints are sufficiently made out ag l them of the neglect
The City Records. 51
of their duty, they or either of them neglecting are to
be discharged without payment for the time they have
served.
1734, Nov. 9. Abraham Defreest appeared before this
Board and desired to buy a ps of pine wood land lying
at Schaahtekook adjoining to Simon Danielse's land on
the north side of Schaahtekook's Road. Johannis Vischer,
one of the aldermen, is appointed by this board to go
and view s d land and bring a report of the same.
The following fire masters were appointed by this
board for the year ensuing, viz:
First Ward Jacob Maase and Dirck Winne.
Second Ward Jacob Verplank and Symon Veeder.
Third Ward Johannis Goewy and Abram Witbeck.
1734, Nov. 20. This board sold this day unto Abram
Defreest twenty-one morgans of the pine wood land
which he desired to buy last Comon Council, lying and
being upon the hill at the back of Symon Danielse's land,
beginning about one hundred yards from the ridge of the
hill and so along the north side of the road that leads to
Schaahtekook at about fifty yards distance from the road,
containing two hundred yard in breadth along the road
keeping said distance from said road with a streight line
till giving the same distance of two hundred yards in the
rear another streight line to run to the place where first
begun, will make up the s d quantity of twenty-one mor-
gans, he being to pay therefore the sum of twenty-five
pounds; that is to say, twelve pound ten shillings the
first day of July next and twelve pound ten shillings, the
remainder, on the first day of July 1736, for which sums
he is to give bond and also the yearly rent of two fatt
hens for ever. The first payment to begin on the first
day of February 173. Resolved by this board that in-
dentures shall be drawn accordingly, and that the mayor
in behalf of the comonalty shall cause the city seal to
be thereto affixed and the same to be entered on the
publick records.
John Lindesay, Esq. produced a commission for sheriff
of the city and county of Albany for the year ensuing,
and took his oath of office before this board.
52 The City Records.
1734, Nov. 26. This board agreed w' Johan's Seger
to furnish fire wood and to make fire for the Comon
Council and Mayors Court for the sum of thirty shillings
for one year.
This Board agreed w l Evert Wendell and Richard
Williams, Esqr's, Atty's at Law, to give their opinions
in writing under their hand signed by them, whether or
not the Corporation can legally grant a deed to Peter
Brower for the land he purchased of the Indians lying at
Tienenderogue, which is part of the land contained in
the Indian deed which John Depeyster, Esq'r, late mayor
of this city, had in his custody w l other writings and
which he says is destroyed for which their advice so given
under hand as af, this Board is to pay each of them
twenty shillings.
1734, Nov. 29. Evert Wendell and Richard Williams
Esqrs.. Attorneys at Law, gave in their opinion in writ-
ing under their hands and seals concerning Peter Brower's
deed, according to their agreement last Comon Council
which was in the words following, viz:
The Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the city of
Albany having desired our opinion concerning a Tract
of land comprehended within the lirnitts and boundaries
of one thousand acres of land scituate at Tiennenoroge
granted by his city charter to the mayor, aldermen and
comonalty of the city of Albany of which tract of land
one Peter Brower having made a purchase from the In-
dian owners and now petition the s d mayor, aldermen and
comonalFy that they will confirm his said purchase there
if the s d mayor, aldermen, &c., can comply with said pe-
tition.
Upon perusal of the s d Charter we find a Lycence to
purchase and a Grant in fee simple for one thousand
acres of low or meadow land at Tiennonderoge to the
mayor, aldermen, &c. af 11 for part of which said Peter
Brower hath obtained an Indian purchase for the term of
nine hundred and ninety-nine years.
We are therefore humbly of opinion and do advise the
said mayor, aldermen and comonalty upon the said Peter
The City Records. 53
Brewer's assigning over the Indian deed they may grant
and confirm to said Peter the said tract of land for the
term specified in his said Indian deed.
We remain with great Respect,
Your very humble Servants.
EVERT WENDELL,
Albany, November 27th, 1734. RICH'D WILLIAMS.
This day Peter Brower appeared in Comon Council
and produced an Indian Lease for a certain tract or
parcel of land, scituate, lying and being about one Eng-
lish mile above Fort Hunter on the south side of the
Mohawk River, begining by a certain creek called Och-
rachqua or Aries creek, from thence down along the said
river to the said small creek or run of water, being about
900 yards, from thence with a southerly line into the
woods about an English mile, from thence with a westerly
line to the before mentioned Aries creek and from thence
along the s d creek to the place where it first begun, where
the s d Aries creek runs into the river, being about ten or
eleven morgan low or meadow land, be it more or less,
together \v* all and singular the appurtenances thereunto
belonging or in any ways appertaining, for the term of
999 years, which said lease he the said Peter Brower had
obtained on the 7th day of July 1730, from David, Gideon,
Jacob, Canastadie, Jacomyn and Josina, Sachems of the
Mohawk Castle, duly executed under their hands and
seals, which said Lease he hath this present day assigned
and sett over to this Corporation for the consideration
of five shillings; that is to say, such part of the s d lease
as is hereafter mentioned, viz: All that certain tract or
parcel of low or meadow land, scituate, lying or being
about an English mile above the ffort Hunter at the
south side of the Mohawks River, beginning by a certain
creek comonly called Ochrachqua or Aries creek, from
thence down along the Mohawk River to the second small
creek or run of water, being ab l 900 yards, from thence
w l a southerly line to the foot of the hill, from thence
along the foot of said hill w l a westerly line to the af 1
Aries creek, and from thence along s d creek to the place
54 The City Records.
where first begun. Which said tract of low or meadow
land is part of the lands granted to the mayor, aldermen
and comonalty of the city of Albany by their Charter.
This Board agreed w Richard Williams Esq., Att: at
Law, to give them his opinion in writing under his hand
whether or not they can have an action ag l John De
Peyster, late mayor of this city, for giving over the In-
dian deed for the land at Tienenderogue to the Gov'r,
which deed is destroyed.
1734. Dec. 6. Peter Brower having made application
to this Board to have a lease from the mayor, aldermen,
and comonalty for the lowland contained in the Indian
lease which he made over to them at their last Comon
Council as by the minutes of that day may appear, it is
therefore Resolved by this Board to give a lease unto the
said Peter Brower for the terra of 999 years for the land
hereafter mentioned, viz: To begin at a certain creek
comonly called Ochrachaqua or Aries creek, from thence
down along Mohawks River to the second small creek or
run of water, being ab l 900 yards, from thence with a
southerly line to the foot of the hill, from thence along
the foot of the hill, till with a north line 36 degrees east,
you come to the mouth of the said Aries creek where
first begun, containing about six morgans be it more or
less. In consideration whereof the said Peter Brower
is to pay to this Corporation the sum of six pounds and
two skipple of good merchantable Winter wheat yearly,
First payment to begin the first day of February 173|,
and ever after on the first day of February in course, for
each morgan contained w'in s d boundaries, and that the
mayor in behalf of the Comonalty shall execute a deed
for the same and cause the seal of the city to be there-
unto affixed.
It being put to a vote whether the lott of ground in
dispute between this Corporation and Johannis Cuyler,
should be agreed for or not carried by a majority to be
agreed.
Being again put to the vote for how much they should
agree, carr d by a majority that the said Johan's Cuyler
The City Records. 55
should pay to the corporation ten pounds for their claim,
which Cornells Cuyler agreed to for his father.
Then it was Resolved by this Board to release to the
said Johan's Cuyler tor the sum of ten pounds to be paid
on delivery of the deed, the said lott of ground which
lyes in the 2d ward of the said city, bounded on the east
by the highway or lane, on the south by the now dwell-
ing lott of the s d Johan's Cuyler, on the west to the lotts
of the said Johannis Cuyler and Johan's Beeckmari, and
on the north the street that runs by the fronts of the
houses of Schieboleth Bogardus, Joh's De Garmoy and
others containing in breadth on the east side live rodd
and seven foot, en the wast side five rodd, in length on
the south side nine rodd and two foot and on the north
side eight rodd and six foot, all Rynland measure. And
that the mayor in behalf of the comonalty execute a deed
for the same and cause the seal of the city to be there-
unto affixed.
173i, February 18. This board orders Barent Bratt,
treasurer, to sell 300 skipple of the wheat now in store,
for ready money, at least 3s. per skipple, and as much
more as he can gett; but if any of the city creditors buys
to discount for so much as is owing to them.
The following Letter was writt to Lewis and Peter
Fiele, sign'd by the present members.
Gentlemen: According to your request have laid be-
fore the Coinon Council your grievance threatened by the
Indians, and it is resolved by this board, that whenever
those Indians who make pretensions on Lewis's creek
return from their hunting, you would desire them to come
here, and if their pretensions are good we shall make
them satisfaction. We are Gentlemen.
Order'd Barent Bratt to pay to Jacob Ten Eyck, 7s.
To give Johan's Seger 6 sk. wheat and make him debtor
on acc tl his salary for same.
Ordered by this board that Barent Bratt, city treasurer,
make Dirck Ten Broeck, Peter Fiele and Hugo Fiele,
Dr. for 5 pr annum for the rent of the saw mill on
Lewis's creek in room of Johannis Ouderkerk.
56 The City Records.
Whereas the well in the Joncker street is out of re-
pair, it is ordered by this board that the mayor lay out a
sum not exceeding thirty shillings towards the repair of
said well.
173i, March 4. This day Leendert v Veghten ap-
peared before this board and purchased a certain piece
or parcel of ground, scituate, lying and being on the south
side of Schaahkook creek, beginning at a certain creek
or hill called the fountain Creek or killetie where it
empties itself into the said Schaahkook creek and so
down along the said Schaahkooks creek as it runs
about an English mile to a small hill to the southward
of said land, from said small hill to the place where
first begun, containing in the whole with low and upland
fifteen morgan, to him the said Leendert v Veghten and
the heirs of his body, and failing of the heirs of his body
to his brother Dirck v Veghten, his heirs and assigns for
ever, for which he is to pay fourteen pounds current mo-
ney of the province of New York, on the delivery of the
deed, which is to be perfected on Thursday next, and
also the yearly rent of eight skipple good merchantable
winter wheat yearly in the month of February, the first
payment to begin in the month of February 163f [sic].
Resolved by this board that indentures be drawn ac-
cordingly, and that the mayor in behalf of the mayor,
aldermen and comonalty execute the same and cause the
city seal to be thereunto affixed and the same to be en-
tered upon the publick records.
Harme Van Veghten on behalf of his father, Dirck v
Veghten laid the following Petition before this Board:
To the worshipful mayor, recorder, aldermen and
comonalty of the city of Albany. The Petition of Dirck
v Veghten humbly sheweth,
That whereas there is a certain piece of unimproved
lands belonging to the corporation of the city of Albany
at Schaahkook, and lyes contiguous and adjoining to the
westward of your petitioner's lands, containing about
two or three morgans, and whereas the same is very
conv 1 for your worships petitioner, and would be of great
The City Records. 57
prejudice to him that any other should purchase it, your
worships petitioner humbly prays that you will be pleased
to dispose of the same to him for a reasonable price and
under such conditions as your worships think meet, and
your worships petitioner as in duty bound shall ever pray.
1735, April 10. Resolved that Johannis Seger shall
have the use of two inorgans of land for twenty-five
years, lying on the north side of the Road that goes up
the Gallows hill and leads into the woods, and on the
south side of the Rutten kill, for which he is to pay
yearly two good fowls in the month of February.
Sold to Johannis Dewandelaer three morgans of Land
lying at Schaahkook, being on the west of Tamheneck's
creek under the hill where the comon road runs over,
for which he is to pay 10 upon the delivery of the deed
and the yearly rent of three skipple good Winter wheat
in the months of January or February yearly, the first
payment of the afores d yearly Rent to begin in the months
of January or February 173. Resolved that Indentures
be drawn accordingly, and that the mayor in behalf of
the mayor, aldermen and comonalty execute the same
and cause the city seal to be thereunto affixed and these
presents to be entered in the publick Records.
1735, April 12. Resolved by this Board to draw a
Warrant on the Treasurer to pay Jan van Alstyn forty
shillings which is in full for finishing the block house.
Resolved by this Board to imploy Rich d Williams, Esq.
attorney at law forthwith to sue Daniel & Jochim Ket-
telhuyn on breach of coven 1 for what they are in arrear
to the city.
Resolved likewise to sue Marritie Winne in the same
action for what she is in arrear if she does not come and
agree by this day fortnight.
1735, April 19. This day Marritie Winne appeared
before this Board and it is found by inspecting the treas-
urer's book that she is in arrear 154 Sk: wheat to this
corporation, and we taking her circumstances into con-
sideration abate her 50 Sk, and that she enter into bond
[Annals, x.] 6
58 The City Records.
for 50 Sk. more in the time of one month to be paid in
the months of January or February next, but the other
54 Sk. she must pay on or before the first day of Novem-
ber next. But if she neglect to give bond w4n the time
limitted that then she shall be lyable for the whole 154
Sk:
1735, June 28. Daniel Hewson presented a Petition
to this Board praying liberty to purchase a lott of ground
on the south side of Abraham Vosburgh on the Gallows
hill, for which he was willing to pay a reasonable price.
Resolved by this Board to sell said Hewson a lott of
ground according to the Petitioner's prayer, to contain
in length from east to west twelve rodd, and in breadth
from north to south forty foot, on the same course w* s d
Vosburgh, and bounded by him on the north and on the
south by a lott this day sold to Robert Flint, for which
he agrees to pay 15 at two equal payments and three
shillings per annum ; first paym 1 to be paid the first day
of May next, and the other half the first day of May 1737.
Writings to be executed at the first paym 1 . Resolved
that the mayor shall then in behalf of the mayor, alder-
men and comonalty execute a deed for the same and cause
the city seal to be thereunto affixed.
Robert Flint presented a Petition to this Board pray-
ing liberty to purchase a lott of ground to the southward
of the lott ground above sold to Daniel Hewson, on the
same course and to contain the same length of twelve
rodd from east to west, and in breadth from north to south
forty foot, for which he agrees to pay 15: at the same
payments as Hewson and the same yearly rent of three
shillings per annum. Resolved that the mayor shall ex-
ecute a deed for the same and cause the city seal to be
thereunto affixed.
Resolved by this Board to pay Peter Quackenboss
thirty shillings in satisfaction of the loss he sustained by
reason of the stones for building the city Wall were laid
on his ground, for which a Warr tl is order d to be drawn
on the city Treasurer.
This day a Warrant was drawn on the Treasurer to
The City Records. 59
pay Johan's Ostrande thirty shillings for laying up the
ground along the foot of the city Wall.
Drawn also a Warr* on the Treasurer to pay to Rich' 1
Williams three pounds for fees, viz: In the action, The
Corporation v. John Depeyster. Ditto v. Jochim Bradt
and Ditto on acco u of Peter Brower.
Drawn a Warr 1 to pay Evert Wendell 1: on acco u of
said Peter Brower.
Drawn a Warr u to pay Dirck Tenbroeck nine shillings
for cleaning his lott of ground where the stones lay for
building the city Wall.
Drawn a Warr lt to pay James Stevenson five shillings
for clerk's fees, The CorpoVation v. Jochim Bratt.
1735, June 28. This day Mary Bratt, widow, gave
the refusal of her farm at Schaahkook for 337: accord-
ing to the Coven 1 in her Indenture, which this Board
doth not accept off but give her Liberty to dispose of the
same.
A Warr lt was drawn on the Treasurer to pay to Jo-
hannis Seger three Skipple of wheat.
Advertisements were put up to lett out the Water
lotts along Hudsons River and likewise the last notice
for the owners to shew their titles.
1735, July 2. Johannis Christianse app d before this
Board and gave the Refusal of ten morgan of his land
lying on the fflatts at Schaahkook to this Corporation,
for that he intended to dispose of the same which this
board did not think fitt to accept off, and therefore gave
him Liberty to sell the same to Joh's Knickerbacker.
This board taking the poor circumstances of the said
Jan Christianse into their consideration abate him 50 Sk:
of the rent he is in arrear to the city.
Johan's Knickerbacker app d before this Board and gave
the refusal of 18 morgan of his land lying on the River
side at Schaahkook opposite to Anthonys kill to this
Corporation, being y e south part of that tract of Land
this Corporation formerly sold to David Schuyler. This
Board not enclining to accept of the same gives him
liberty to dispose thereof to Jan Christianse.
60 The City Records.
1735, July 4. This day the following persons pro-
duced the following Titles for lotts of ground lying along
Hudsons River, pursuant to the directions of an Act of
Assembly for that purpose made and enacted.
Sybrant Van Schaick produced copy of a Transp 1 from
Peter Peterse Lansingh to Sybrant Goose Van Schaick
for a half Brewery, Lott & Garden. The lott containing
in breadth on the east side or Kings highway six rodd
nine foot and six inches, in length on the south by the
gang way of Abraham Staats five rodd and eleven foot,
on the west by Abraham Staats six rodd and five foot,
and on the north side the street seven rodd and one foot.
The Garden contains on the west side by the way six
rodd and nine foot, on the north side by the way four
rodd and seven foot, on the east by the river seven rodd
and five foot and on the south side again to Abraham
Staats five rodd and five foot.
David A. Schuyler produced a Patent or Confirmation
from Richard Nichols, Esq., Governour Gen'l under his
Royal Highness James, Duke of York, abutting to the
north on Barent Andriese, to the south on the ground
formerly belonging to Frans Barentsen on the east side
of the river and the west side of the highway, contain-
ing in breadth on the east side four rodd and eight foot,
and on the west six rodd and a half. In length on the
south side nineteen rodd, and on the north sixteen rodd
and ten foot.
1735, July 7. Whereas David A. Schuyler shew'd
title last Comon Council for the ground lying behind his
lott, which is broad on the east side four rodd and eight
foot, and on the west six rodd and a half, and whereas the
Comonality intend to lay out a street of thirty foot broad
over said ground; they have agreed w l the said David A.
Schuyler that in consideration of his allowing the said
street to be laid over his ground they will enlarge the
same on the east side and give him the same breadth of
six rodd and a half on the east as it now is on the west.
This Board agreed this day with Dirck I. Tenbroeck
The City Records. 61
to lay out the Water lotts along Hudson's River, for
which they are to pay him twenty-eight shillings.
1735, August 12. This day the following ordinances
were published, viz:
A law to prevent strangers from being a charge to this
Corporation.
A law for cleaning the streets, lanes and alleys of the
said city.
A law for paving the streets, lanes and alleys within
the city of Albany.
A law comanding the Constables to be diligent in put-
ting the several laws made and publish'd by the Comon
Council in execution.
1735, Sept. 29. In pursuance to the directions of the
Charter of the city of Albany being the day appointed
for the electing of aldermen, assistants and constables
for said city, the following were chosen, viz:
Aldermen. Assistants.
First Ward.
Henry Koster, Syb 1 v. Schaick,
Tobias Ryckman. Gerrit Bratt.
Volkert Douwe, Jun'r, Constable.
Second Ward.
Cornells Cuyler, Jacob Glen,
Joh's E. Wendell. Jacob Ten Eyck.
James Stenhouse, Constable.
Third Ward.
Leend 1 Gaansevoort, Jesse Dfreest,
Joh's Vischer. Anthony Bratt.
Johannis Spoor, Constable.
Barent Bratt was chosen City Chamberlain for the year
ensuing and order'd to enter into bond with security as
usual.
1735, October 29. This day Johannis Wyngaert and
Zechariah Zieckelsie appeared before this board and
agreed anew to go round the city at Nights at the usual
Hours and to call at the usual Places on the same terms
and conditions as was agreed last year, and that for six
months from this day.
62 The City Records.
1735, Nov. 1. The following persons were appointed
fire masters for the year ensuing, viz :
First Ward Uldrick van Vranke and Jacobus Hilton.
Second Ward Abraham Vandeusen and Hendrick M.
Roseboom.
Third Ward Johannis Cloet and Johannis Quacken-
boss.
This day was published three ordinances, viz: 1 for
Tavern keepers to take lycence ; 1 for preventing fire ;
1 for preventing accidents by hard or unruly riding thro'
the streets.
173, Feb. 5. An ordinance was published to lay a
fine upon the officers therein named, elected and refusing
to serve , ag l Hogs running at large, and to choose 3
more constables for this city.
173|, Feb. 13. This day pursuant to the ordinance
published the 5th instant, the following persons were
returned constables and took their oaths for the due ex-
ecution of their offices, viz: For first ward, Johan's E.
Wendell, Jun'r ; for second ward, Will em van Schelluyne ;
for third ward, William Rogers, Jun'r.
173f , March 24. The Comon Council upon the ap-
plication of the aldermen of the second ward in behalf
of the inhabitants of said ward, grant liberty to build a
Market house in the Brewers street over the creek or
run of water that comes from the hill and emptys itself
into the river, running through the ground of John or
Johannis Evertse. Towards y e building whereof the
Comon Council allow seven pounds ten shillings.
Whereas Johannis Dewandelaer never came to gett
Title for the three morgan of land lying at Schaahkook,
on the west of Tamheneck creek under the hill where
the comon road now runs over, according to his agree-
ment w l the Comon Council the 10th day of April last,
and Levinus Winne (by Jesse Deforeest who acted for
him) desiring to buy the same three morgans of land,
This board thought fitt to sell the same unto the said
Levinus Winne for the sum often pounds and the yearly
rent of three skypple good merchantable winter wheat,
The City Records. 63
to be p (l yearly, the first three skipple to be p d in the
month of Jan'ry or February 173f , and so on for ever
after in the same months. Five pound, half of the con-
sideration money to be paid by the delivery of the deed,
and the last five pound on or before the first day of May
1737, Jesse Deforeest to be security for the payment
thereof. Resolved that indentures be drawn accordingly
and that the mayor in behalf of the mayor, aldermen and
comonalty execute a deed for the same.
This board taking into charitable consideration the poor
circumstances of Rachel Winne, wedow, and that her bro-
ther, Guilleyn Verplanck, executed a note of hand to this
corporation for the payment of five pounds on acco" of
said Rachel Winne, on which note there is yet due 2:16
or thereabout. It is hereby ordered that the Treasurer
give up said note cancell'd without further payment.
John Armstrong laid before this board an acco 1 for
riding sand, &c. amounting to 2:9, which is allowed
and the treasurer ordered to pay the same.
A Petition was laid before this board in the words fol-
lowing, viz:
To the worshipful the mayor, recorder, aldermen and
comonalty of the city of Albany, The humble Peti-
tion of several inhabitants of this city of Albany,
Most humbly sheweth:
Whereas the Road now laid out on the west side of
the Gallows hill leads through the lands of Mr. Evert
Wendell is very comodious and conven 1 for the inhabit-
ants of this city (that is to say) in the dry of the Sum-
mer and Winter, but in the Spring and Fall it is not fitt
for any use either for men or horse, &c., and your Peti-
tioners w l humble submission to your worships better
opinion do conceive that a more conven 1 Road may be
laid out, to witt, just on the south and east side of the
block house that stands near the widow Winne.
Wherefore your Petitioners most humbly pray your
worships that you will be pleased to lay out a Road in that
place for the ease of us your petitioners and the rest of
his Majesties subjects, or that you will be humbly pleased
64 The City Records.
to give leave to your petitioners to lay out the same, and
that they may take up so many Stockadoes as the breadth
of a gate requires, which Road to be laid out at your
petitioners proper cost and charges, and that the same
may be recorded in your book of records for a King's
highway, and so remain a great ease to his subjects.
And your Petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray.
The Comon Council made the following Resolves con-
cerning the regulating of the streets:
Whereas an ordinance was published the twelfth day
of August last for paving the streets, &c. within this
city, and that the time lirnitted by s d ordinance is now
expired, the Comon Council think proper for the more
conven* and sufficient paving of the same that it is highly
necessary that all and every the inhabitants of the second
ward whose drains or gutters empty themselves into that
street or lane which leads down from betwixt Johan's
Beeckman and Anthony van Schaick lott, between Jacob
Vischer and Jacob Lansings, be taken up and laid so as
to convey their water into the foxes creek by that way
where the old block house stood, and that whoever of
said inhabitants doth not comply herewith before the
first day of May next shall forfiet thirty shillings to be
recovered before the mayor, recorder or any one of the
aldermen of the said city.
It is ordain'd by the Comon Council that the drains
or gutters leading from the yards or houses of Philip
Livingston, Esq. and the Widow Beekman, be so laid by
the owners as to empty themselves towards the market
house by the first day of May next under the forfieture
as af 3 to be recover'd as afores d .
Complaint being made to this board of the inconven-
iency of the stoop rais'd before the house of Reyer Ger-
ritse, Esq. that fronts the river, it is ordered that the s d
Reyer Gerritse, Esq. take the same away and carry out the
drain from his house so farr that it may empty itself into
the river. The same to be done on or before the first
day of June next on pain of thirty shillings, to be re-
covered as af d .
The City Records. 65
Order'd that Philip Livingston, Esq., Reyer Gerritse,
Esq. be serv'd w l a copy of this Resolution relating their
drains.
1736, March 31. John Schuyler, Jun'r, gave in an
account to this board for 12 leather Buckets at 8s., 4:16,
which is allowed and an order drawn on the treasurer to
pay the same.
Whereas Capt. Henry Holland hath caused to be laid
before this board a certain Release for a lott of ground
lying and being at the south side of this city adjoining to
the burial place, from the north-west corner thereof and
so towards the plain, containing in breadth nine rodd,
and in length along the 'street that goes by the burial
place eighteen rodd, and in breadth at the end next the
creek from north to south seven rodd, executed to him by
Richard Willson and bearing date the fourth day of No-
vember, 1708, and whereas the said Henry Holland is
enclined to dispose of the said lott or part thereof, and
being informed that this corporation pretend to some
right in the abovementioned p'mes, is enclined to come
to an amicable agreement with the mayor, aldermen and
comonalty about the same. It is therefore agreed by
and between the said Henry Holland and the said mayor,
aldermen and comonalty that the said mayor for the time
being execute to the said Capt. Henry Holland a release
which is to be executed in Comon Council any time after
this day for all their right and title of part of the said
lott, to witt: Beginning at the north-west corner of the
burying place, and so westerly towards the hill nine
rodd and four foot, from thence southward towards the
stable of Andries Bratt eight rodd and ten foot, from
thence eastward to the burying place nine rodd and four
foot, from thence northward along the s d burying place
eight rodd and ten foot to the place where first begun.
In consideration of which the said Captain Henry Holland
is to pay to the Treasurer of this city the sum of twenty
pounds on or before the first day of October next for the
use of this city. For which sum the Edward Holland,
Esq., the present mayor, is to give his own bond on ex-
ecuting of said deed.
66 The City Records.
1736, April 2. The mayor executed a deed to Capt.
Henry Holland for the lott of ground mentioned in the
Minutes of Comon Council the 31st day of March last,
according to the Resolution of that day.
Edward Holland, Esq. gave his bond for the twenty
pound mentioned to be paid for the consideration money
of the above lott, payable the first day of October next.
This board orders the Treasurer to pay twelve shil-
lings to Tobias Ryckman.
1736, May 18. The following Letter was wrote to
George Clarke, Esq., President of the Council at New
York :
The mayor comunicated to this board y e Letter of the
llth instant, directed to Capt. Collins, whereby we per-
ceived that you would have our opinion of a certain
tract of land in the Mohawks country, petitioned for by
Messrs. Sam'l Storke and Peter Brugh Livingston to his
Maj'ie. We therefore shall endeavour to give you our
opinion of it and its consequences according to the best
of our capacity and understanding. In the first place
we join your Honour in opinion that there is a course
left out. However we can partly guess where the lands
petitioned for ly's, and are well assured that great part
of the 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 the said tract.
We are also assured that some of the Mohawk Indians
are seated on part of it, but cannot conceive that any of
the Mohawk fflatts are included in those imperfect boun-
daries. We are confident that the method made use of
by those Gentlemen, first to obtain a patent for lands be-
fore a purchase made from the Natives will prove of ill
consequence and alienate the Indians from his Maj'es
interest and create great animosities and strife between
them and us, and in the end drive them from us to the
french, so that we most earnestly entreat your Honour
that you would in the strongest manner you can to sett
forth the ill consequences of such proceedings to the
Lords of Trade and desire them to discountenance such
practices.
The City Records. 67
1736, June 26. This day sold unto Johannis De Gar-
moy, Harmanus Wendell, David Groesbeck and Jelles De
Garmoy, a lott of ground scituate, lying and being on
the north side of the city of Albany, on the south side
of the foxes kill or creek, beginning near the s d creek,
six rods west from where the Stockadoes now stands,
running westerly along said Foxes creek, as the creek
runs nine rodd, from thence southerly w l a streight line
ten rodd towards the hill, from thence easterly nine rodd,
from thence northerly to the place where first begun ten
rodd with the use of the said creek for their tan pitts,
for which they are to pay fifteen pounds on the mayors
executing a deed for the s&me. Resolved that the mayor
for the time being shall execute to them a deed for s d lott
of ground and cause the city seal to be thereunto affixed.
This day sold unto Abraham Harpertse Van Deusen
and Hendrick Gerritse Van Ness a lott of ground scituate,
lying and being on the north side of the foxes creek,
within the limitts of the city of Albany, beginning on
the north side of said foxes creek at a stake drove into
the ground about four and a half rodd westerly from the
south-west corner of the ground belonging to Wynant
Vandeu Bergh where he makes his bricks, just on the
west side of the ground where s d Wynant Vandenbergh
hath digg'd the clay for making his bricks, running west-
erly along s d creek as the s d creek runs seven rodd,
from thence northerly with a streight line four rodd,
from thence easterly seven rodd, from thence southerly
to the place where first begun four rodd, with the use of
said creek for their tan pitts, for which they agree to pay
ten pound on executing the deed to them for the same.
Resolved that the mayor in behalf of this corporation
shall execute said deed and cause the city seal to be
thereunto affixed.
This day sold unto Thomas Wilkinson a lott of ground
scituate, lying and being on the south side of the city of
Albany on the old Gallows hill, bounded on the north by
a lott of ground sold to Robert Flint the twenty-eighth
day of June last, containing in breadth from north to
68 The City Records.
south (ranging on the same course with Robert Flint's
lott) forty foot, in length from east to west twelve rodd,
all Rynland measure, for which said Thomas Wilkinson
agrees to pay fifteen pounds in manner following, that is
to say, seven pound ten shillings on executing the deed,
and the remaining seven pounds ten shillings on or be-
fore the first day of July 1738, for which he is to execute
a bond payable to the mayor, aldermen and comonalty
or their successors, and three shillings yearly rent for
ever; the first payment to begin the first day of July
1738. Resolved that the mayor in behalf of the corpo-
ration execute a deed for the same and cause the city
seal to be thereunto affixed.
This board agreed with Jesse Deforeest and Anthony
Bratt to keep in repair the roads which the city is
obliged to repair by virtue of an act of Assembly of this
Province, as they shall from time to time be directed by
y e mayor or any one of the aldermen. The bridges within
the city excepted, for which they are to have three pounds
twelve shillings per annum, paid yearly for the term of
six years.
1736, June 30. This day was published the following
ordinances:
An ordinance relating to the markets; an ordinance
relating to the observation of the Lord's day and the be-
haviour of the Negroes; an ordinance regulating the fees
of the inviters to funerals.
1736, July 21. This board drew an order on Barent
Bratt, city treasurer, to send them twelve shillings,
which they gave to the poor Prisoners.
1736, July 31. This day the mayor, aldermen and
comonalty sold the following lotts of ground unto the
following persons for the consideration money after ex-
pressed, viz:
To Jacob Lansingh a lott of ground lying to the west-
ward of the city of Albany on the south side of the foxes
creek, bounded on the east by a lott of ground sold to
Johannis D. Garmoy, Harmanus Wendell, David Groes-
beeck and Jellis De Garmoy, on the north by the foxes
The City Records. 69
creek, on the west by a lott of ground belonging to Abra-
ham Lansingh, and on the south by the hills; containing
in breadth from east to west eight rodd, in length from
north to south ten rodd, all Rynland measure, for which
he agrees to pay thirteen pounds.
To Adam Yetts, Jun'r and Johannis Pruyn, Jun'r, a
piece or lott of ground lying to the southward of a lott
of ground formerly sold to aid Yetts and said Pruyn,
where they have now a tan yard, containing to the south-
ward along a small creek called Fountain creek which
runns to the foxes creek three rodd and nine feet, from
thence westerly to a stake drove in the ground six rodd,
from thence northerly to the rear line of the abovemen-
tioned lott where the tan yard stands three rodd and nine
feet, all Rynland measure, for which they agree to pay
six pounds.
To Jacob Teji Eyck a lott of ground lying to the west-
ward of the city of Albany on the south side of the foxes
creek, being part of the flatt or plain where Jan Maase
made bricks, beginning on the east side by an old burnt
stump of a tree, running westerly along the foxes creek
as said creek runns six rodd, from thence southerly
towards the hill to a stake drove in the ground, from
thence easterly to another stake drove in the ground six
rodd, from thence northerly to the place where first be-
gun ten rodd, all Rynland measure, for which he is to
pay fifteen pounds.
To Gerrit Lansingh and Hendrick Vandeusen a water
lott lying behind the lott belonging to the Dutch church,
now in the possession of Dr. Petrus Van Driesen, con-
taining in breadth before and behind seventy-five foot, in
length to low water mark, to leave a street betwixt the
af* 1 lott in the possession of Dr. Van Driesen and s d water
lott of three rodd Rynland.
1736, July 31. The lott of ground sold to Johannis
Wyngaert the 18th day of May last not measuring so
much as there expressed, this board have this day agreed
with said Wyngaert for said lott, containing along the
street from the north bounds of a lott formerly sold tc
[Annals, x.] 7
70 The City Records.
Jan Winne, dec d , ranging on the same course twenty-five
foot, from thence up the hill seven rodd, from thence
southerly to the line of the afores d lott sold to said Jan
Winne, dec d , twenty-nine foot, from thence along said
lott to the place where first begun at the street eight
rodd, all Rynland measure, for which s d Wyngaert agrees
to pay seventeen pounds by the delivery of the deed.
Resolved that the mayor in behalf of the mayor, alder-
men and comonalty execute a deed for the same and affix
the city seal thereto.
1736, August 30. This board ordered a caveat to be
enter'd in the Secretary's office that no Patent might pass
for any low land at^Tienenderoge till the mayor, alder-
men and comonality be heard thereupon and give their
reasons.
This board ordered another caveat to be entered in the
Surveyor General's office to hinder the return of a war-
rant of survey till the mayor, aldermen and comonalty
be heard thereupon, which was in the words following :
The mayor, aldermen and comonalty of the city of
Albany desire that Jan Wemp or any other person or
persons may not have any warrant of survey returned
by the Surveyor General for any part of the low land
lying at Tienenderoge in the Mohawks country in the
county of Albany, untill the mayor, aldermen and com-
monalty be heard thereupon and give their reasons.
This board agreed w l Benjamin Egbertse to enter the
one caveat at Dr. Colden's office and to put up the other
in the Secretary's office at New York for which he is to
have twenty shillings.
Whereas the Inhabitants of the second ward are en-
clined to build a Market house where the old Blockhouse
stood, between Abraham Lansinghs and Jan Maase's,
which this board permitts them to do and allow six pound
for promoting of the same, and orders the Treasurer to
pay said sum to Cornelis Cuylerand Johan's E. Wendell,
Esqs., as soon as the roof is put on the same.
This day a warrant was drawn on the Treasurer to
give to Johan's Seger six skipple of wheat.
The City Records. 71
1736, Sept. 20. This day sold to Abraham Fort a
piece or parcel of wood land scituate, lying and being at
Schaahkook in the county of Albany, beginning at a large
white oak tree standing about one hundred yds. from the
Indian burying place; running easterly to the foot of the
hill, thence southerly along the foot of the hill three
hundred and fifty yards, thence westerly to the Indian
fence two hund d yards, thence northerly along s d Indian
fence to the place where first begun, to make up the
quantity of six morgans and no more, for which he is to
pay four pounds in the month of January 173J.
This day sold to Philip Winne a certain piece or parcel
of wood land lying at Schaankook in the county of Albany,
not to exceed forty morgans, beginning where the Road
comonly called Planke Patt comes in to Hudsons river
right over Sam'l Doxy's house, running easterly along
said Planke Patt to the foot of the hill, thence southerly
along the foot of the hill till it comes opposite to the
northernmost point of an Island lying in Hudsons river,
called Stoney Island, thence westward to said Hudson's
river, and so along said Hudson's river northerly to
said Planke Patt where first begun; together with a
certain fflatt or piece of low land on the north side
of Planke Patt till it comes to a small Kill or Creek,
which is the southernmost bounds of Jan Christianse's
land along s d River, for which s d Philip Winne agrees to
pay thirty pound in manner following, to with Ten pound
in May 1737, ten pound in May 1738, and ten pounds in
May 1739, and six Sk: of wheat of yearly rent in the
months of January or February forever. The first pay-
ment to begin in January or February 174 J.
Resolved that the mayor on behalf of the mayor, alder-
men and comonalty execute deeds for the above men-
tioned pieces or parcels of land and affix the city seal
thereto.
1736, Sept. 29. This day sold to Johannis Knicker-
backer a certain piece or parcel of wood land, scituate,
lying and being at Schaahkook in the county of Albany,
containing twelve morgans, beginning where the old In-
72 The City Records.
dian foot road that leads from Schaahkook to Twight-
kook meets a small run of water at the foot of the hill,
thence northward along the foot of the hill six hundred
yards, thence westward two hundred yards, thence south-
ward to the af ti run of water six hundred yards, thence
eastward along s d creek to the place where first begun
two hundred yards, to make in the whole twelve morgans
and no more. For which said Johan's Knickerbacker
agrees to pay eighteen pounds, that is to say, nine pounds
the first day of May next, and nine pounds the first day
of May 1738.
Resolved that the mayor on behalf of the mayor, alder-
men and comonalty execute a deed for the same and affix
the city seal thereto.
Pursuant to the directions of the Charter of the city
of Albany being the day appointed for the electing of
aldermen, assistants and constables for s d city, the fol-
lowing persons were chosen, viz:
First Ward Johannis Tenbroeck and Gerr. v Bent-
huysen, for aldermen; Isaac Boghaert and Hend'k Bries,
assistants; Johan's J. Lansingh and Wessel V. Schaick,
constables.
Second Ward Hans Hansen and Johan's Roseboom,
Jun'r, aldermen; Johannis Glen and Douwe Fonda, as-
sistants; Gerrit Wyngaert and Peter S. Bogardus, con-
stables.
Third Ward Leendert Gaansevoort and Ryckart Han-
sen, aldermen; Anthony Bratt and Peter P. Schuyler,
assistants; Harme Gaansevoort and Johannis Jacobse
Lansing, constables.
Johannis Spoor was appointed high constable for the
year ensuing.
Barent Bratt was chosen city chamberlain for the year
ensuing and ordered to enter into bond w l surety as usual.
1736, Oct. 4. Edward Holland, Esq., mayor, desired
of the Comon Council that they would forbear requiring
the paym' of his bond of twenty pound, payable the
first day of this instant, till the first day of next ensuing
October, and that he pay no interest for the same, which
The City Records. 73
the Comon Council agree to and desire the same may be
entered in their minutes.
The Comon Council agreed to give Jacob Ten Eyck
time to the fourth day of next October for the payment
of the two lotts he bought the 31st day of July last, be-
ing twenty-seven pounds, for which he has this day given
bond accordingly.
1736, Oct. 5. The mayor laid before this board copy
of a Petition and Order of Council for this Corporation
to be heard before the Council at New York on Thursday
the 14th instant, on the Caveat entered by this Corpora-
tion against Jan Wemp's obtaining a Patent for the land
at Tienenderoge.
Whereupon it is Resolved that this board think it ab-
solutely necessary and for the advantage of this city that
the mayor repair to New York as soon as possible in or-
der to act, transact and forward all matters and things
for the advantage of this city, and to defend the Corpo-^
ration's right to the lands at Tienenderoge, with full
power and authority to imploy Council learned in the
Law, for their advice and assistance, and to give to such
Council such reasonable fee or reward as he shall think
proper and necessary, not to exceed twelve pounds.
Resolved that the mayor shall have eight pounds for
his trouble and that he shall be further allowed ten shil-
lings per day for the time he is necessitated to stay at
New York on the city affairs after the 17th instant, and
in case the mayor shall expend any money upon neces-
sary occasions in this affair, that the s d charges shall be
paid clear and exclusive of his allowance for his trouble.
Ordered that Barerit Bratt advance twenty pound to
the mayor for which he is to be accountable at his return.
Johannis Seger and Zechariah Zieckelsie agreed with
this board to be watchmen for six months, to commeuce
the 14th instant, upon the same conditions as before.
Ordered that Mr. Henry Roster give to Johannis Seger
a Lanthorn for the use of the Watch, for which the
Treasurer is to pay six shillings. ,0:6:0
Ordered that the Treasurer pay to Johan's Seger for
74 The City Records.
his trouble in cleaning the water Engine, - - 0:6:0
Resolved by this board that a eomon road be left on
the west side of the lott sold to Johannis Tenbroeck and
Peter Dewandelaer the 31st day of July last past, of one
and a half rodd Rynland measure, for a free passage over
the foxes creek.
Resolved that the mayor take w l him to New York the
original Charter of the city of Albany in case he should
have occasion for it, in defending the city's right to the
land at Tienenderoge.
Johannis Dewandelaer delivered to this board a Peti-
tion to purchase twenty morgans of land at Schaahkook
on the south side of Tamhenicks creek.
Resolved that the same be taken into consideration.
1736, Nov. 12. This Board ordered Ryckart Hansen
and Anthony Bratt to go to Schaahkook and view the
parcels of land that Johan's Dewandelaer, Lewis Viele
and Nicholas and Wouter Groesbeeck have severally pe-
titioned for, and to bring Report of the quality, quantity
and boundaries of said three parcels of land, and to order
the Petitioners to be here on fryday next to treat about
the same.
The following persons were chosen fire masters:
First Ward Jacob Claes van Woert and John Eaton.
Second Ward Luykas J'se Wyngaert and Guilleyn
Verplanck.
Third Ward Jacob Wendell and Abram Boghaert.
An order was drawn on Bar 1 Bratt to pay to Joh's Seger
eight pound and to take his bond payable the 14th Octo-
ber next, w l interest.
1736, Nov. 20. This day was sold to Nicholas Groes-
beeck and Wouter Groesbeeck a certain piece or parcel
of land lying at Schaahkook in the county of Albany, on
the south side of Tamhenick creek, beginning at a bitter
nutt tree which is about one hundred yards to the west-
ward of the west end of the pasture ground now in the
possession of the said Nicholas and Wouter Groesbeeck,
and which said pasture ground lyes on the north side of
said Tamhenicks creek, running from said bitter nutt
The City Records. 75
tree south-westerly along the foot of the hill till a point
of said hill meets s ' creek and so along s d creek as the creek
runs to the place where first begun, containing in the whole
about five or six morgaus, more or less, together with the
priviledge of running their fence from the opposite part of
the west end of the Pasture now in their possession over
the ridge of a hill (that lyes between) to the said bitter
nutt tree, for which they agree to pay eighteen pounds,
that is to say, nine pounds in the month of May now next
ensuing, and nine pounds in the month of May seventeen
hundred and thirty-eight, as also the yearly rent of two
fatt hens in the month of January or February, the first
payment to begin in January or February seventeen
hundred thirty-seven and eight.
This day sold to Lewis Viele a certain piece or parcel
of land lying at Schaakook in the county of Albany on the
south side of Tamhenecks creek, beginning almost opposite
to a place comonly called the Kleyne Clay Hill which lyes
on the north side of said creek, running along the foot of
the hill circularly till said hill meets the said creek,
which is between two or three hundred yards from a fall
in said creek, and so along said creek to the place where
first begun, containing about six or seven morgans, for
which he agrees to pay eighteen pounds, that is to say,
nine pounds in the month of May next, and the other
nine pounds in the month of May seventeen hundred and
thirty-eight; as also the yearly rent of two fatt hens in
the month of January or February, first payment to begin
in January or February seventeen hundred thirty-seven
and eight.
This day sold to Johannis Dewandelaer a certain piece
or parcel of wood land lying at Schaahkook in the county
of Albany, on the south side of Tamhenicks creek,
beginning about fifty yards lower down the creek than
where Louis Viele's bounds of the land this day sold him
begins, so running south-westerly along the foot of the
high hills, which high hills are about six hundred yards
from the creek, and so along the foot of the hills till it
comes over against where John Burton used to live, and
76 The City Records.
so along said creek as the creek runs to the place where
first begun, reserving a road of fifty yards broad near
where Joh's Quackenboss has his tan pitts, for which he
is to pay forty pounds, viz: twenty pounds in the month
of May next and twenty pounds in the month of May
seventeen hundred and thirty-eight, as also the yearly
rent of two fatt hens in the months of Jan'ry or Feb'ry,
the first payment to begin in Jan'ry or Feb'ry seventeen
hundred thirty-seven and eight. The quantity of land
contained w l in s d bounds is supposed to be twenty-five or
thirty morgans, more or less. Resolved that the mayor
in^behalf of the mayor, aldermen and comonalty execute
de'eds for the three parcels of land above mentioned and
cause the city seal to be affixed to the same.
Drawn an order on Barent Bratt to pay to John Heaton
six shillings.
The clerk wrote a letter to Barnardus Bratt, by order
of Comon Council, forbidding him or his brother to
threaten or molest Simon Danielse in his possession.
They further acquainted him that he could not but know
that the land whereon he lived belong'd to them and
that if he did not come down and agree w l them, they
would eject him.
173f , Feb. 18th. This day Jan Wemp appeared be-
fore this board and desired to agree with the mayor,
aldermen and comonalty for a certain piece or parcel of
low land lying at Tiennenderoge in the Mofiawks coun-
try, now in the possession of the said Wemp, beginning
at a certain Rock called Ostagrago, on the south side of
the Mohawks river, and so running up along said river
till it comes to the stump of a white pine Tree, from
thence with a streight line towards the Hills over the
Indian burying place, as the fence now runs to a small
kill or creek, thence along the said creek as it runns
to the said rock where first begun; for which he agreed
to pay the yearly rent of one skipple of good and mer-
chantable winter wheat in the month of January or Feb-
ruary yearly, first payment to begin the January or
February after the said mayor, aldermen and comonalty
The City Records. 77
execute a lease for said land. For performance of which
agreement the said mayor, aldermen and comonalty are
to enter into articles of agreement w l him interchangea-
bly to be executed.
This day the mayor, aldermen and comonalty sold to
Hugo Viele a certain piece or parcel of land lying at
Schaahkook on the west side of Tamhenicks creek under
the hill where the comon road runs over, running along
under the foot of the hills over the ridge of a hill that
stretches into said Tamhenicks creek, and so along the
foot of the hills to the westermost bounds of Nicholas and
Wouter Groesbeeck's land, containing all the land betwixt
the said creek and the bourfds above described, which is
by computation about five morgans of low land besides
the upland or ridge of the hill abovementioned, for which
said Hugo Viele is to pay twenty-two pounds, to witt,
eleven pounds by the delivery of the deed and eleven
pounds on or before the first day of May 1738, and also
the yearly rent of one couple of fatt hens in the month
of Jan'ry or Feb'ry yearly. Resolved that the mayor on
behalf of the mayor, aldermen and comonalty execute a
deed for the same and affix the city seal thereto.
1737, April 30. This day the following ordinances
were renewed and published, viz:
1 For regulating Carmen and Porters.
2 For regulating the Markets.
3 For the Masters of Vessels.
4 For cleaning the streets.
5 For paving the streets.
6 For preventing disturbances on the Lord's day and
regulating Negroes.
The mayor, aldermen and comonalty agreed with John
Bell to be common whipper for this city for one year, to
commence on Munday next, being the second day of May
for the sum of twelve pounds for one year, to be p d by
the Corporation at two payments, and three shillings
for every person, white or black, he shall whip. The
master, mistress or owner to pay for the slaves. For
due performance of his office he has given a note under
his hand for twenty pound.
78 The City Records.
1737, May 2. The Comon Council order a Letter to
be writt and sent to the Representatives of the city and
county of Albany, which was in the words following :
Gentlemen: Whereas some years past a Petition from
the Justices of the city and county of Albany, in their
sessions was laid before the Assembly, praying leave to
bring in a bill to the house for building a Gaol for said
city and county, which hitherto has had no effect, we
pray you may present s d Petition again, being a Court
House and Gaol is absolutely necessary, insomuch that
Justice cannot be duly executed for want thereof, your
care and diligence herein will much oblige, Gentlemen*
1737, June 27. This day the mayor, aldermen and
commonalty resolved to make an entertainment for the
Governour and some company at Mrs. Kitcheners on
thursday the thirtieth instant, and accordingly sent for
Mrs. Kitchener and agreed with her to pay two shillings
and sixpence for every man that eats there.
1737, July 16. This day sold to Douwe Fonda a lott
of ground scituate, lying and being in the second ward of
the city of Albany, ranging on the same course with the
lower row of houses on the east side of the pearle street,
beginning three rodd and three feet from the corner lott
belonging to Jan Maase, and so keeping the same dis-
tance of three rodd and three feet for the street as far as
the above sold lott runns, which is to the length of one
hundred foot Rynland measure, containing in breadth on
the front fifty feet, in length on both sides one hundred
feet Rynland measure, and in breadth on the rear fifteen
foot wood measure, for which lott of ground as above
described the said Douwe Fonda agrees to pay ninety
pounds New York money in manner and form following,
that is to say, thirty pounds the first day of May next en-
suing, thirty pounds more the first day of May then next
ensuing, and thirty pounds, the last payment to compleat
the said sum of ninety pounds the first day of May seven-
teen hundred and forty, for which he is to give his bond.
Resolved that the mayor in name of the mayor, alder-
men and comonalty execute a deed for said lott of ground
and affix the city seal thereunto.
The City Records. 79
1737, August 29. Resolved and order'd by this board
that the street between Hendrick Ten Eyck's Guilleyn
Verplanck's and Johannis Bleecker's be so that both
sides meet with a drain in the middle; also the street
between Anthony van Schaick's and Johan's Beekman
to the east corner of the house of Schieboleth Bogardus
and the lott belonging to Cor's Cuyler, be paved in the
same manner by the inhabitants, freeholders and citizens
whose houses or lotts front said street, on or before the
first day of October now next ensuing, under penalty of
forty shillings for every week after the s d first day of Octo-
ber that the same streets shall remain unpaved. Ordered
that the marshall of this city serve a copy of this resolu-
tion on every citizen, inhabitant and {freeholder whose
buildings or lotts of ground front s* d streets.
Resolved that Johannis Tenbroeck be allowed twenty
shillinge to make a bridge in the Yoncker street on the
east side of the well opposite to the widow Livingston's.
Allowed to Anthony Bratt for making a bridge near to
the Dutch church, five pounds and two shillings.
Allowed to Anthony Bratt and Jesse Deforeest three
pounds twelve shillings, for one year's salary for keeping
the roads in repair to the 26 June last.
1737, Sept. 12. Whereas on the eighteenth day of
February last past, Jan Wemp agreed with this board
for a certain piece or parcel of low land lying at Tien-
nenderoge in the Mohawks country, now in the posses-
sion of the s d Wemp (as in and by the minutes of that
day may appear), for the yearly rent there mentioned,
and the said land being now surveyed by Major Jacob
Glen, who swore y l to the best of his skill and capacity
s d survey was exactly made, and that the same is bounded
and contains as followeth, viz: Beginning at the north-
west corner by the River, running from thence south
eighty-two degrees east, twenty-six rodd, thence south
sixty-seven- degrees east twenty-one rodd, twenty-seven
degrees west thirty-two rodd, thence south forty-five
degrees east fifty rodd, thence north sixty-five degrees
east twenty-eight rodd and one half rodd, thence north
80 The City Records.
seventeen degrees thirty minutes east sixty rodd, thence
south seventy-nine degrees east twenty-eight rodd,
thence north thirty degrees east thirteen rodd and one
half rodd, thence north sixty-nine degrees east sixty-
seven rodd, to Drills Cripple Bush, thence north fifty-five
degrees west ninety-nine rodd to the River, and so along
the river to the place where first begun, containing in the
whole twenty-two morgans Rynland measure and no more,
for which the s d Jan Wemp agreed to pay twenty-two
skipple of good and merchantable winter wheat in the
month of January or February yearly, and also covenanted
to pay one skipple of wheat as afores d for every morgan
of land which may hereafter happen to be found to be
contained in the above mentioned piece or parcel of low
land.
Sold to Abraham Lansingh a small piece or triangle
of ground, beginning at the north-west corner of his
house and so running westerly on the same course with
his house twenty-seven feet in length, at the end of which
twenty-seven feet it is two feet and one half foot broad,
from thence with a streigbt line to the north-west corner
post of his fence, for which he agreed to pay forty shil-
lings.
Sold to Dirck Tenbroeck a certain small piece of
ground, beginning near the north-east corner of his now
dwelling house, and so running to where his gate now
stands, containing in breadth two feet and in length
thirty-one feet, for which he agreed to pay forty shillings.
Resolved that the mayor or the mayor, aldermen and
comonalty, execute deeds for the abovementioned ground
to the abovementioned persons arid affix the city seal to
the same, and that Jan Wemp give bond under penalty
of five hundred pounds for performance of his part of his
agreement.
1737, Sept. 28. This day the Comon Council made
an ordinance concerning the electing of two constables
in each ward, and laying a fine on any inhabitant who
may be chosen for constable or any other office, and that
shall deny, neglect or refuse to serve as a constable or
The City Records. 81
other officer after being duly chosen or appointed thereto
and was as follows, viz:
Be it ordained by the mayor, aldermen and comonalty,
and it is hereby ordained by the authority of the same,
that the inhabitants of each ward within this city do meet
in the most publick and usual place of meeting in their re-
spective wards, and there by majority of voices elect and
choose two able and sufficient inhabitants of their re-
spective wards to serve as constables for the year ensu-
ing and till others be appointed and sworn in their place.
Be it further ordained by the authority af d that if any
person or persons whatsoever being an inhabitant wUn
this city shall deny, neglect or refuse to serve as a con-
stable or other officer w l in this city, being duly chosen
or appointed thereto, shall for every such denial, neglect
or refusal forfiet and pay the sum of six pounds to be re-
covered in any court of record to be held within this city
for the use of the corporation.
1737, Sept. 29. Pursuant to the directions of the
Charter this being the day appointed for electing of
aldermen, assistants and constables to serve for the year
ensuing, the following persons were chosen, viz:
First Ward Johannis Tenbroeck and Johannis Van-
derheyden, aldermen ; Hendrick Bries and Isaac Boghaert,
assistants; Roeliff Kidney and Harme Bogardus, consta-
bles.
Second Ward Hans Hansen and Johannis Roseboom,
Jun'r, aldermen; Douwe Fonda and John Glen, assist-
ants; Jacob Bogardus and Isaac Verplanck, constables.
Third Ward Leendert Gaansevoort and Ryckert
Hansen, aldermen; Anthony Bratt and Peter Schuyler,
assistants; Jacob Pruyn and Peter Dewaudelaer, con-
stables.
The Comon Council appointed Johannis Js : Lansingh,
high constable. Barent Bratt, city chamberlain, and
order 'd him to enter into bond with security as usual.
1737, Nov. 8. The Comon Council appointed the fol-
lowing persons fire masters for the year ensuing, viz:
[Annals, x.] 8
82 The City Records.
First Ward Peter v. Alen, Luykas Wyngaert, Jun'r.
Second Ward Barnardus Harsen, Abraham A. Lan-
singh.
Third Ward Jacobus Schuyler and Gerrit J'se Lan-
singh.
1737, Nov. 12. This day sold to Jurie Scherp a small
Vley or meadow lying at Schaahkook in the county of
Albany, scituated easterly from the now dwelling house
of the s d Jurie Scherp, beginning under the foot of a hill
by a black oak tree standing at the south-west end of
said hill, running westerly about one hundred yards to a
pitch pine tree, from thence northerly about four hundred
yards to another pitch pine tree, thence easterly about
one hundred and fifty yards to a white oak tree under the
foot of said hills to the place where first begun, contain-
ing about six morgans or twelve acres, more or less, for
which he agrees to pay twelve pounds the first day of
November next, for payment whereof he is to give bond.
Resolved that the mayor on behalf of the mayor, alder-
men and comonalty, execute a deed for the same and
affix the city seal thereunto.
173J, January 14. Reyer Gerritse and Barent Bratt,
exe'rs of the last will and testament of John Rosie, late
of the city of Albany, dec d , appeared before this board
and acquainted them that the s d John Rosie, by his said
last will and testament, bequeathed to Roeliff Kidney
twenty-five pounds to pay for the lott of ground whereon
his dwelling house now stands, on condition the mayor,
aldermen and comonalty convey said lott of ground to
him the s d Roeliff Kidney and his heirs. The lott con-
tains in length one hundred and twenty foot, in breadth
thirty-seven foot and a half; bounded on the south by the
house and lott of Gerrit Bratt and Barnardus Bratt, on
the east the street on the north the house and lott of
Jacobus Radliff, charges and writing to be paid out of s d
twenty-five pounds. Resolved that the mayor on behalf
of the mayor, aldermen and comonalty execute a deed for
the same and cause the seal of the s d city to be thereunto
affixed.
The City Records. 83
The following Petition was delivered into the Comon
Council :
To the worshipful mayor, aldermen and comonalty of
the city of Albany in comon council convened. The
humble Petition of Jacob Boghaert most humbly
sheweth:
That whereas there is a piece of unimproved ground
belonging to the city of Albany, lying on both sides of
foxes creek on the south side of the Middle Bergh, be-
ginning where a small creek called the Snider creek runns
into s d foxes creek, and so running along both sides of
s d foxes creek till another small creek from the Middle
Bergh runns into s d foxes creek.
Your worships Petitioner humbly prays that if said
piece of unimproved ground be to be disposed off, your
petitioner humbly prays that he may be permitted to
treat w l your worships for the same, being willing to
purchase the same at a reasonable price. And your
worships Petioner shall ever pray. JACOB BOGHAERT.
1738, March 28. Resolved by this board that Barent
Bratt, the city treasurer, sell to the inhabitants of this
city, who shall require it, one hundred skipple of wheat,
whereof each family shall have but three skipple, and
that he keep an exact account of every person's name
that he sells the same to, and that he take no more than
three shillings per skipple, but it must be ready money.
1738, June 3. Resolved by this board that Barent
Bratt, city treasurer, sell to the inhabitants of this city
one hundred and fifty skipple of the wheat belonging to
this corporation at 3s. 3d. per skipple ready money, and
that he keep an exact acco lt of the names of the persons
to whom he sells it, and that no family have more than
one bag.
1738. July 8. The following Petition was deliver'd
unto the Common Councill:
The humble Petition of Nicolas Groesbeeckof Schaah-
kook in the county of Albany, Humbly sheweth, that
whereas there is a fall of water upon Tamheneck creek
at Schaakook, commonly called the fourth fall, fit to
84 The City Records.
erect a saw mill on, your Petitioner prays that your
worships would grant unto him the reversion of the
said fall together with one morgan of land on each side
of the said creek and a right to cutt saw logs on the lands
belonging to the said city at Schaahkook aforesaid near
the said fall, on such reasonable terms as your worships
and he shall best agree. And your Petitioner as in duty
bound shall ever pray. NICOLAS GROESBEECK.
Resolved by this board that Leendert Gansevoort and
Dowe Fonda go and view the fall petition'd for by Nico-
la es Grosbeek and the land near it, that they may be
able to report to the comonality what land and quantity
logs there is near said fall.
Resolved by this board that Barent Bratt, city treas-
urer, sell to the inhabitants of this city one hundred
skeple wheat belonging to this corporation at 3s. 3d. per
sk: ready money, and that he keeps an exact ace 1 of the
names of the persons to whom he sells it, and that no
family have more than one bag.
Peter Viele haveing made application to this board to
make a dam a little above the mill on Lewis's creek,
which is granted him accordingly.
Maria Bratt, widow, pursuant to the tenor of her In-
denture w l the mayor, aldermen and comonalty ofFer'd to
them the refusal of her farm for three hundred and ten
pounds, payable in three years. Resolved by this board
that the s d Maria Bratt may sell her farm to any other
person under the same restriction as she bought it, this
board not being inclined to purchase the same.
1738, Sept. 1. The following Letter was wrote to
Collo. Ph. Schuyler, Collo. Jer. Renselaer, Capt. Peter
Winne, Capt. Rob 1 Livingston, Jun'r, and Arent Bratt,
Esq., members for the city and county of Albany, viz:
Gentlemen: We are now to desire the favour of you to
lay before the assembly the Petition of the Justices of the
city and county of Albany sent to you some years ago,
setting forth the necessity we ly under of having a new
City Hall built for s d city and county, which has lain
dormant ever since.
The City Record*. 85
As you well know the absolute want tbere is of a City
Hall, we earnestly hope you'll lay it before the house and
use your endeavour to promote the same and gett a bill
past for that end.
Ordered Barent Bratt, the treasurer to sell the remain-
der of the wheat belonging to the Corporation at three
shillings per skipple, and that he keep an acco" of the
names of y e persons to whom he sells, and- that no person
have more than one skipple at a time.
The following Petition was sent to the General Assem-
bly, viz:
To the Honourable General Assembly of the province
of New York. The humble Petition of the mayor,
aldermen and comonalty of the city of Albany hum-
bly sheweth,
That your Honours Petitioners humbly conceive that
it would greatly contribute to the ease and benefit of the
inhabitants of the city and county of Albany, if the Excise
of said city and county was lett to farm to y e corporation
of the city of Albany, and whereas your worships Peti-
tioners are willing to farm the same for the year ensuing
at the same rate that it was lett for this present year,
Your Honours Petitioners humbly pray they may be ad-
mitted to farm the same as afores d .
1738, Sept. 29. Pursuant to the directions of the
Charter of the city of Albany, this being the day ap-
pointed for the electing of aldermen, assistants and con-
stables for s d city, and also for appointing a chamberlain,
the following persons were chosen, viz:
First Ward Johannis Tenbroeck and John Schuyler,
Jun'r, aldermen; Isaac Boghaert and William Waldron,
assistants; John Bratt and Andries van Woert, consta-
bles.
Second Ward Hans Hansen and Johan's Cuyler, Jun'r,
aldermen; Douwe Fonda and John Glen, assistants; Jo-
han's Joh'se Beeckman and Egbert Egbertse, constables.
Third Ward Leendert Gansevoort and Ryckart Han-
sen, aldermen; Anthony Bratt and Gerrit C. Vauden-
bergh, assistants; Anthony Ten Eyck and Hend'k Han-
sen, constables.
86 The City Records.
Barent Bratt was appointed chamberlain for the year
ensuing and order'd to enter into bond w security as
usual.
Adriaen Bratt was appointed high constable.
1738, October 28. John Lyn.desay, Esq. produced a
comission under the broad seal of the province of New
York constituting him high sheriff of the city and county
of Albany, and took the oaths appointed by law and also
the oath for the due execution of his office.
The following persons were appointed fire masters,
viz:
First Ward William Hogan, Jun'r and Jacobus v.
Valkenburgh.
Second Ward Johan's Beeckman, Jun'r and Johan's
G. Roseboom.
Third Ward Abraham Douwe and Cornelis Ten
Broeck.
1739, April 21. The following Petition was delivered
into Comon Council:
The humble Petition of Evert Saxby humbly sheweth,
That your Pet'r is inclinable to purchase from your
Wors'ps a small piece of ground lying on a northerly
Branch of the Beavers creek, provided your Wor'ps shall
think fitt to sell the same to your Pet'r.
Therefore your Pet'r most humbly prays your Worships
to take the premises into your consideration and to ad-
mitt your Pet'nr to treat with you at your next meeting
relating the same, and your Pet'r will pray, &c.
EVERT SAXBY.
Resolved to take the above Petition into consideration.
1739, April 30. The following Petition was delivered
into Comon Council:
The humble Petition of Johannis Quackenboss most
humbly sheweth, That your Worships Pet'nr is inclina-
ble to purchase a small piece of pasture ground lying at
Schaahkook, containing about two morgans, lying on the
south side of his dwelling Jjouse and the north side of
the road that leads to Stone Arabia, provided your W'ps
think fitt to sell the same.
The City Records. 87
Your W'ps Pet'nr most humbly prays that you will be
pleased to take the same into consideration and admitt
your Pet'nr to treat ab l the prem's, and y'r W'ps Pet'r as
in duty bound shall ever pray.
Resolved by this board that whereas the Comon Coun-
cil at their last meetting laid a mulct of six pence for
every horse, cow, &c. that should be impounded in the
new pound made by the Min'r, Elders and Deacons of
the Dutch church, considering that the said mulct is too
little, inlarge said mulct or fine to eighteen pence for
each offence.
Resolved by this board that Cap 1 Edward Clarke be
presented with his freedom* of this city and that the mayor
set the city seal thereto and sign it on the one hand and
the clerk on the other.
Evert Saxby appeared before this board and pursuant
to his Petition delivered in at last meeting agreed for the
piece of ground then petitioned for, for the yearly rent
of six shillings, to be paid on the first day of May yearly,
first paym 1 to begin the first day of May 1745. Not to
be sold by him, his heirs or assigns, unless refusal at the
lowest price be first given to the mayor, aldermen and
comonalty, and if his peaceable possession be interrupted
by war no rent is to be paid for the time he is hindered
or disturbed.
1739, May 12. This day the Common Council sold to
Abraham Fort a piece of wood land lying at Schaahkook
for the consideration of three pounds, to be paid the first
of February next, containing about four morgan.
Sold to Isaac ffort a piece of wood land lying at Schaah-
kook, for the consideration of three pounds twelve shil-
lings, payable the first day of February next, containing
in the whole about six morgans.
Sold to Johannis Ouderkerk, for the consideration of
fifteen pounds, a piece of wood land lying at Still Water
on the east side of Hudson's river, containing in the
whole about ten morgan.
Sold to Johannis Quackenboss, for the consideration
of seven pounds, a small Vley or Meadow lying at Schaah-
88 The City Records.
kook, about one thousand paces to the southward of the
house where he now lives, on the east side of the road
that leads to Stone Arabia, containing about two morgans
and one eight part of a morgan, to be paid the first day
of May 1741.
1739, Sept. 1. This day John Courtney laid before
this board a Petition praying that he might be admitted
the benefit of the agreement that Peter De Garmoy made
with the mayor, aldermen and comonalty the 14th day
of July 1719, for a lott of ground scituate, lying and be-
ing at the bottom of the Gallows hill on the south of the
lott of Jeronimus Van Vlieren, containing in breadth
thirty-five foot and in length one hundred and twenty
foot wood measure, and that for the sum of forty pound.
The Petitioner having satisfied the said De Garmoy for
his right.
This board sent for Peter De Garmoy and asked him
if John Courtney had satisfied him for the improvements
he had made on said lott of ground, and if he was willing
that his right should be transferr'd to said Courtney, if
he paid the consideration money, to which De Garmoy
answered that Courtney had satisfied him and that he
desired the said lott of ground might be conveyed to the
said John Courtney. Then the mayor, aldermen and
comonalty sold to the said John Courtney the said lott
of ground scituate, lying and being as af d , bounded now
the north by the house and lott of ground now in the
possession of Manus Carlan, on the south by the house
now in the possession of containing in breadth
thirty-five foot, and in length one hundred and twenty
foot wood measure as afores (I , for which the said John
Courtney agreed to pay the sum of twenty pounds in
manner following, to witt, six pounds part thereof forth-
with, seven pounds part thereof the first day of Septem-
ber 1740, and seven pounds the remainder thereof the
first day of September 1741, writings to be given him
when he makes the last paym 1 .
Sold this day to Johannis Seger, for the sum of twelve
pounds to be paid six pounds the first day of May now
The City Records. 89
next ensuing and the other six pounds the first day of
May 1741, a certain Jott of wood land scituate, lying and
being to the westward of the city of Albany on the south
side of the Ruyten kill.
1739, Sept. 6. The mayor, aldermen and comonalty
this day bought from Thomas Williams for and in con-
sideration of thirteen pounds ten shillings, a certain lott
of ground on the east side of the city of Albany over
against the lotts of Albert Ryckman, dec'd and Jacob
Boghaert, containing in length and breadth five rodd eight
foot and a half.
Drawn an order on Barent Bratt, the treasurer, to pay
to the said Thomas Williams thirteen pounds ten shill-
ings the consideration mentioned above.
1739, Sept. 28. Memorandum, That whereas Abra-
ham Fort of Schaahkook, yeoman, made his complaint to
this board that part of his land for which he pays an
yearly rent to this corporation was washed away some
years ago, yet he has punctually paid the full rent for
the same hitherto, but prays he may be eased for the
future according to the quantity lost.
This board Resolved that as soon as the said Abraham
Fort makes appear what quantity is lost he shall be
eased for a proportionable share of the rent.
1739, Sept. 29. Pursuant to the directions of the
Charter of this city this being the day appointed for
electing aldermen, assistants and constables, for s d city
and also for appointing a chamberlain, the following per-
sons were chosen and appointed:
First Ward John Schuyler, Jun'r and Gerrit v. Bent-
huysen, Esq's, aldermen; William Waldron and Robert
Lansing, assistants; Richard Martin and Jacobus Van
Benthuysen, assistants [sic].
Second Ward Johannis Cuyler, Jun'r, and Johan's
Roseboom, Jun'r, Esq's, aldermen; Jolm Glen and Jacob
H. Ten Eyck, assistants; Johannis Joh's e Lansingh and
Jacob Ab: Lansingh, constables.
Third Ward Leendert Gansevoort and Ryckart Han-
sen, Esq's, aldermen, Anthony Bratt and Johan's Quack-
90 The City Records.
enboss, assistants; Jacob Boghaert, Jun'r and Hendrick
Van Ness, constables.
Barent Bratt was appointed city chamberlain for the
year ensuing and ordered to enter into bond w l security
as usual.
Hendrick Hansen was appointed high constable.
1739, Oct. 27. Henry Holland, Esqr. produced a
comission under the broad seal of the Province of New
York constituting him high sheriff of the city and county
of Albany and took the oaths appointed by law and for
the due execution of said office.
The following order was made, viz:
Whereas complaint has been made to this board that
there lyes a great many stones and rubbish in the narrow
lane between Jacob Vischer and Jacob Lansingh's, this
board doth hereby order the said Jacob Vischer and
Jacob Lansingh to said stones and rubbish to be carried
away on or before the tenth day of November next under
the penalty of twenty shillings for every week said stones
and rubbish shall be in s d lane after the s d tenth day of
November next. Ordered that Jacob Vischer and Jacob
Lansingh be each served with a copy of this rule.
Johannis Lansingh and Jacobus Kidney appointed fire
masters for the first ward. Michael Bassett and Hen-
drick Gerritse appointed fire masters for the second ward.
Cornelis Van Ness and Adam Yates appointed fire mas-
ters for the third ward.
1740, April 8. The mayor haveing acquainted this
board that Collo. Henry Van Rensselaer haveing an ac-
tion depending in the Supreme Court of the Province of
New York has desired the said mayor to attend at New
York with the originall Charter of this city to give evi-
dence. To which this board agreed.
1740, May 13. Resolved by this board that a fire en-
gine be sent for of the same size with that the city now
hath, and that the mayor with any two of this board
agree with some proper person to send for one from Eng-
land as cheap as they can and by the first opportunity.
Ordered that Barent Bratt sell to the inhabitants of
The City Records. 91
this city one hundred sk: wheat at 2s. 3d. per sk: ready
money, not above 3 sk : to one family, and that he keep
a particular ace 1 of the same.
Ordered that seven pounds ten shillings be paid towards
the repair of the market house in the joncker street, and
that the mayor order the same to be put in repair.
Ordered that three pounds be paid for the market in
the Lower street, and that Leendert Gansevoort and
Rykaert Hansen order the same to be shingled and keep
an ace 1 thereof.
Order'd that five shillings be paid for repairing the
well in the second ward.
Order'd that a new house be made for the fire Engine
by the directions of the mayor.
Order'd that advertisements be putt up, for any per-
sons who inclined to make the fence or any part thereof
round the pasture laid out behind the fort.
1740, July 16. Resolved by this board that the land
behind the fort be laid out in acre lotts and that Philip
Livingston, Jun'r do the same, for which he is to have
two pistoles, and that Anthony Bratt and Johannis Seger
carry the chain and drive the stakes att the corner of
each lott.
Joh's W. Quackenboss delivered an ace 1 for work done
to a bridge and well, amounting to two pounds six shil-
lings and I pence, which was allowed and an order drawn
on the treasurer to pay the same.
William Hogan, Jun'r desired this board to give him
liberty to build a small shed opposite to his house; this
board grants him leave to build the same and remain
there during the pleasure of this corporation.
This day sold to Philip Livingston, Jun'r all the va-
cant ground lying in the first ward of the city of Albany
on the plain between the lott of ground formerly sold to
the Rev. Thomas Barclay and the house and lott of ground
now in possession of Andries Bratt, as far as s d Bratt's
lott extends eastwards, and that the mayor execute a
deed for the same, for eighteen pounds to be paid in two
payments, the first on the first day of July 1741, and the
92 The City Records.
other on the first day of July 1742, for which s d Living-
ston is to give notes.
1740, Sept. 29. Pursuant to the directions of the
Charter of this city, this being the day for electing alder-
men, assistants arid constables, and also for appointing
a chamberlain, the following persons were chosen and
appointed :
First Ward Gerrit Van Benthuysen, Esq. and Joha's
Marselis, aldermen; Robert Lansing and Johan's Van
Veghte, assistants; Benjamin Hilton and Isaac Verplank,
constables.
Second Ward John Cuylerand JohnRoseboom, Jun'r,
Esq., aldermen; John Glen and Jacob H. Ten Eyck,
assistants; Robert Sanders and Philip Hansen, constables.
Third Ward Rykaert Hansen, Esq. and Gerret C.
Vanden Bergh, aldermen ; Anthony Bratt and Simon
Veeder, assistants; Johannis Ja. Lansing and Abraham
Js. Fonda, constables.
Johannis Ten Broeck was appointed city chamberlain
for the year ensuing.
Richard Martin was appointed high constable.
1740, Oct. 14. This day sold to Barent Bratt a piece
of ground lying in the foxes creek on the east side of a
lott of ground formerly sold by this corporation to Jillis
De Garmoy, Harmanus Wendell, David Groesbeek and
Johannis De Garmoy, and stretches from the said lott
along the creek twenty-five feet, thence southerly with a
streight line ten rodd, thence westerly twenty-five feet
to the lott of ground abovementioned, thence northerly
along said lott to the place where first begun, for which
he is to pay three pounds five shillings on the mayor's
executing a deed for the same. Resolved that the mayor
for the time being shall execute to s d Bratt a deed for the
said lot of ground and cause the city seal to be thereunto
affixed.
It appeared to this board that Philip Hansen lives in
the manor of Renselaerswyck, it is ordered that the per-
son who was next in the number of votes be sworn con-
stable.
The City Records. 93
It also appeared that Richard Martin is Sub-sheriff,
wherefore Jacobus Van Benthuysen was appointed High
constable.
1740, Oct. 31 . John Schuyler Jun'r, Esq. produced to
this board a comission under the broad seal of the Pro-
vince of New York, constituting him mayor and clerk of
the market for the city of Albany, and coroner for the
city and county of Albany for the year ensuing, and took
the oaths appointed by law and for the due execution of
said offices.
1740, pmo. Nov. Resolved by this board that the seal
of this corporation shall not be affixed to any deed or
any other instrument whatsoever except in comon coun-
cill.
Johannis Kidney and William Hilton, Jun'r were ap-
pointed fire masters for the first ward; Dowe Ja. Fonda
and William Guy Vanden Bergh were appointed fire
masters for the second ward; Teunis Vischerand Johan-
nis Yeates were appointed fire masters for the third ward.
This board agreed with Joh's Seger and Zacharias
Ziekelse to be Bellmen for the year ensueing, to cry the
hour at the usual places every night from ten o'the clock
at night till four in the morning, for which they are to
have the same sum as last year, but if they perform not
their parts as above, then it is agreed they shall have
nothing.
1740, Nov. 18. Whereas disputes have often arisen
concerning the votes of severall persons who lodge in one
ward of this city and exercise their trade, called or occu-
pation in another ward, it is Resolved by this board that
all such persons as aforesaid shall for the future chuse
and be chosen for city officers in the ward wherein they
use their calling, trade or occupation only, and not where
they lodge as aforesaid.
1740, Dec. 27. Upon application made by the Rev d
Henry Barclay to this Board for a parcell land lying in
the Mohawks country, given by the Indians to said Mr.
Barclay, containing about 9 or 10 morgans, this board
[Annals, x.] 9
94 The City Records.
resolves that a deed be executed to the said Mr. Barclay,
his heirs and assigns for s d land under the reserved yearly
rent of one skiple good winter wheat per morgan after
the same is surveyed, which is to be done the next Spring.
Ordered that a warr 1 be drawn on the chamberlain to
pay Anthony Bratt fifteen shillings.
174-f , January 12. A Petition of Abra. Lansingh, Jun'r
for a small spot of ground near his Father's was read,
which this board refers to farther consideration.
Ordered that the block house near Maritje Gerritse's
be put in repair to keep the watch in, and that Isaac
Bogaert do the same.
Resolved that this corporation find wood and candles
for the watch.
1741, April 7. Resolved that the treasurer of this
city send down money to pay the Quit Rent due from
the city for their Charter and the Schaahkook patent,
and that a rec' be taken for the same to 25th March last.
1741, April 24. Ordered that the clerk write to Mr.
Nicolaes Schuyler to come down to survey lands for this
city at Schaahkook.
Ordered that the clerk put two advertisements that
this corporation design to put out the new Pasture on
the hill in small parcels for a term of years, and that all
persons inclined to take any of the same may come and
agree with the Comon Council this day week.
1741, April 27. Resolved and agreed with Mr. Nico-
laes Schuyler to run round the bounds of Schaahkook
patent and the release from the patentees of Saraghtoge
to the city, and that he makes a draught of the same, for
which he is to have twelve pounds.
Resolved that Rich d Hansen, Esq. and Mr. Anthony
Bratt go with Mr. Schuyler.
1741, May 8. Resolved that this corporation make a
present of eight pounds to the church at Schaahkook, and
that the clerk draw an order on the chamberlain to pay
the same to Mr. Lewis Viele, - - - 8:0:0
That Johan's Seger be allowed for his ser-
vices for Bellman for 6 months, - - - 8:6:
The City Records. 95
Zacharias Ziekelse for do. service, 8:6:
That Anthony Bratt be allowed for his ser-
vices on the survey to Schaahkook, for 7 days
at 6s. per day, 2:2:
To his Son at 3s. 1:1:
That Richard Hansen, Esq. be allowed for
his attendance on the survey 7 days at 6s. 2:2:
for his Negro man at 3s. - 1:1:
for Butter bought at Schaahkook, - - 0:2:11
31:0:11
Resolved that the clerk draw an order to pay the same.
This day sold to Everf Sixbury the lott of ground
lately belonging to Abraham Vosburgh, for 26: 6
ready money and the remaining 20 in 4 years, with an
annual reserve of 3s. per annum.
1741, August 25. An ordinance was published, viz 1 :
Be it ordained by the worshipfull mayor, aldermen and
commonality of the city of Albany, in Comon Council
conveen'd, and it is hereby ordained by the authority of
the same, That whereas disputes have arisen in this city
concerning the electing of constables within the same,
and it appears to us that it is necessary that two con-
stables be yearly chosen in each ward within the same,
it is hereby ordained by the authority aforesaid, that on
the twenty-ninth day of September next shall be chosen
in each respective ward within this city two petty con-
stables, of which the aldermen present shall make their
return with the rest of the officers. Dated in Albany,
y e 25th August, 1741.
1741, Sept. 25. This day a Corporation Law was
made to prevent masters of vessells from bringing stran-
gers into this city without giveing due notice. Vide Book
of ordinances.
1741, Sept. 29. Pursuant to the directions of the
Charter of this city, this being the day for electing alder-
men, assistants and constables, and also for appointing
a chamberlain, the following persons were chosen and
appointed:
96 The City Records.
First Ward Johannis Marselis and Hendrick Cuyler,
aldermen ; Robert Lansingh and John Van Veghte, assist-
ants ; John Williams and Henry Ten Broeck, constables.
Second Ward John Roseboom, Jun'r and Jacob Ten
Eyck, aldermen; John Glen and Jacob H. Ten Eyck,
assistants ; Philip Hansen and Abraham Lansingh, Jun'r,
constables.
Third WardGerret C. Van den Bergh and Gerret
Lansingh, aldermen, Anthony Brat and Simon Veeder,
assistants; Gerret G. Lansing, Jun'r and Cornelis Guys.
Van den Bergh, constables.
Joh's Ten Broeck was chosen and appointed city cham-
berlain for the year ensueing and ordered to enter into
security as usual.
Joh's Seger was appointed marshal for the ensueing
year.
1741, Nov. 12. The following persons were appointed
fire masters for the year ensueing:
First Ward Robert Barret, Joh's M. Flensburgh.
Second Ward Nicolaes Bleeker, Jun'r, Jacob Glen.
Third Ward Jan Winne, Harme Huri.
1741, Nov. 23. John Depeyster, Esq. produced to this
board a cornission under the great Seal of the Province
of New York constituting him mayor and clerk of the
market of the city of Albany, and coroner for the city
and county of Albany for this ensueing year, and took
the oaths by law appointed and for the due execution of
his respective offices.
Mr. Depeyster being sworn, the Comon Councill re-
solves that the city seal shall not be affixed to any in-
strument except in Comon Councill, lycences to tavern
keepers only excepted.
1741, Nov. 28. Resolved that the chamberlain sell
the remainder of the city's wheat in his custody to the
poorer sort of people at 4s. per sk. ready money and not
above 3 sk. to one family, and when they are supplyed
to sell the remainder at 4s. 9d. to other persons and not
above 3 sk. to one person, and that he do not sell the
same till Tuesday in the afternoon.
The City Records. 97
The corporation agreed with Johannis Seger for his
service in cutting firewood, making fire and warming the
six watches of volunteers from the 15th January last, till
the 15th January next, for 9 and 1 pr. shoes and at the
same rate for shorter or longer time.
1741, Dec. 15. Ordered that the clerk draw a war-
rant to Joh's Ten Broeck, city chamberlain, to pay Job's
Seger the sum of one pound ten shillings.
Ordered that the clerk make out a writt ag l John Bor-
ghaert and Ryck 1 Hanseii, and sign the same in behalf of
the Comon Council!.
This board make a calculation of what Stockadoes
were wanting, and desired each inhabitant, by their
marshal, to ride a certain number in case of need.
174J, Jan'y 16. Agreed that Johannis Wyngaert sup-
ply the watch kept in the first ward of this city with fire
wood at 2s. 6d. per load, to be delivered at the block
house. That Guilleyn Verplank supply the watch kept
in the second ward at the same rate, and Anthony Bratt
the w.atch kept in the third ward.
The following clause was added to the ordinance for
the due observation of the Lord's day and the regulating
of negro slaves: Be it further ordained, by the authority
af*, that no person or persons, whether free or slave, of
age or not of age, shall presume to fetch water out of the
river or any of the wells or fountains within this city in
time of divine service or preaching on the Lord's day,
upon penalty of one shilling, to be paid by the master,
mistress or parents of such slaves, bondmen or children
as shall presume to transgress this law, or else to be put
in the stocks not exceeding six hours; to be recovered or
punished before the mayor, recorder or any one of the
aldermen of this city for the use of the constable or any
other person complaining of the same.
1742, March 29. The mayor laid before this board a
Letter from his Hon'r the Lieu 1 Gov'r, desiring him to
request the corporation to pay the cartidge of some canon
and other warlike stores sent from New York to this
place for the use of the fort, not doubting but the Assem-
98 The City Records.
bly at their next meeting will allow and repay the same.
Resolved that the above cartidge be paid out of the
money belonging to this corporation, and that the charge
thereof be laid before the Assembly at their next meeting.
Resolved that Alderman Roseboom and Aldermen Van
den Bergh take an acc d of the stores abovementioned.
Resolved that the block house in the first ward, near
the house of Joh's Wyngaert, be put in repair.
1742, April 26. This board agreed with John Bell to
be public whipper for this city. To whip all offenders
when and as often as he shall be thereunto required by
the authority of this city, for the sum of twelve pounds
per annum, to be paid each half year; he is also to whip
the slaves of any person, when desired, for the customary
fees, his time to commence pmo. May, and if he does not
execute said office to the satisfaction of this corporation,
then to be paid off by the time pro rato.
1742, May 8. Ordered that the treasurer pay Jacob
Ten Eyck, Esq. two pounds for 60 boards which he
bought for the use of a block house and 2s. 6d. for J a
gall. Rum, and that the clerk draw an order on the
treasurer to pay the same.
Ordered that the treasurer pay John Roseboom, Jun'r,
Esq. one pound two shillings and eight pence for an ace 1
of sundries, and that the clerk draw an order on the
treasurer to pay it.
Ordered that the treasurer sell 50 sk. wheat belonging
to this corporation, at 3s. 6d. per sk. to poor people, 3 sk.
to a family, and only to such as have a note from the
mayor, recorder or any of the aldermen.
This board agreed with Johannis Flensburgh to sett up
300 Stockadoes, to dig and put them in the ground as
usual, to fix them to laths and sqare them as they ought
to be, and not to leave on any of the bark.
1742, May 13. Whereas the Bakers of this city have
made complaint to this board that they can not afford
their bread according to the ordinance published on the
26 ultimo, therefore this board have taken it into consid-
eration and agree that the Bakers make their bread of
The City Records. 99
the weight and for the price hereunder-raentioned: A loaf
of the finest flour to weigh 1 Ib. for 2d. A loaf of do. 2
Ib. for 4d. A wheaten loaf, the coursest bran only taken
out, to weigh 3 Ib for 4d. Do. 6 Ib. for 8d.
1742, Aug. 21. This board sold to Isaac Fryer apiece
of ground lying upon the plain behind his lott, for which
he is to pay five pounds when the deed is executed for
the same and five pounds a year after, for which last five
pounds he is to give his note, and he is to pay for the
deed. The deed is to be executed the next fall and the
mayor is to execute the same in behalf of the corporation
and to fix the seal thereto.
1742, August 28. This board agreed with William
Bromley, that he should have the house upon the Gallows
hill in which Samuel Drury now lives, for one year, for
which he is to pay ten shillings and to keep the house,
stable and fence in good repair.
This board appointed Gerret C. Vanden Bergh and
Johannis Van Veghten to go with the Jury who are to
view the premises in the action of the corporation ag 1
Barnardus Bratt, and that they hire a Battoe and hands
to carry up some evidences and necessarys for the Jury,
and they are to gett provisions at Simon Daniels's, for
which they are to be paid and likewise for their trouble,
what is reasonable.
A petition of Luykas Job's Wyngaert was read, pray-
ing to purchase from this corporation a piece of ground
lying to the westward of a lott formerly sold by this cor-
poration to Barent Sanders, in the first ward of the city
near Evert Wendell's house, which this board takes into
consideration and think it inconvenient to sell the same,
as being too near the Fort.
1742, Sept. 21. This board allowed Johannis Flens-
burgh the sum of sixteen pounds two shillings in full for
an account of 16:6:10, and five shillings for another
account to said Flensburgh and ordered that the clerk
draw an order on the treasurer to pay the same.
This board agreed with Jacobus Kidney for a piece of
ground lying and being in the first ward of this city, on
100 The City Records.
the plain behind or to the northward of the lott of ground
on which he now lives, for which he is to pay ten pounds
eleaven shillings and the mayor is to execute a deed for
the same in behalf of this corporation, for which said
Jacobus Kidney is to pay and for writing the same.
1742, Sept. 29. Pursuant to the directions of the
Charter of this city, this being the day appointed for
electing aldermen and assistants and constables, and also
for appointing a chamberlain and marshal, the following
persons were chosen and appointed:
First Ward Hendrick Cuyler and John Marselis,
aldermen; John Van Veghten and Robert Lansingh, as-
sistants; Peter Jones and Joseph Yates, constables.
Second Ward John Roseboora, Jun'r arid Jacob Ten
Eyck, aldermen ; John H. Ten Eyck and John R. Bleeker,
assistants.
Third Ward Gerret C. Van den Bergh and Gerret
Lansingh, aldermen; Anthony Bratt and Gerardus Groes-
beek, assistants; John Wittbeek and John Gansevoort,
constables.
Johannis Ten Broeck was appointed chamberlain.
John Witbeek was appointed high constable and Jo-
hannis Seger was appointed marshal for the year ensue-
ing.
1742, Sept. 30. The following ordinance was pub-
lished :
Whereas the ordinance formerly made by the mayor,
aldermen and comonality of this city for the electing two
constables in each ward of the city is expired by its own
limitation, it is hereby ordained by the mayor, aldermen
and comonalty of this city that on the 29th day of Sep-
tember next shall be chosen in each of the wards of this
city two petty constables, of which the aldermen of each
ward or any of them shall make their return with the
rest of the city officers.
And whereas the inhabitants of the second ward of
this city have neglected to chuse constables on the 29th
instant, it is hereby ordained by the authority aforesaid,
that the aldermen of the said ward shall to-morrow, be-
The City Records. 101
ing the first day of October, hold an election for two
petty constables for said ward, and the persons that shall
then be chosen and elected, shall be obliged to serve the
said office as well as if they had been chosen on the 29th
September aforesaid.
And l>e it further ordained that for the future, upon
the death, removal out of the city, refusall to serve, or
other disability hapning to any constable or constables,
who are already or shall hereafter be elected for the city
of Albany, that the mayor, aldermen and comonality in
Comon Council convened, shall order and appoint such
convenient time as they shall think proper throughout
the year for the inhabitants of said city in such respective
ward or wards where such vacancy shall happen, to meet
together and make another election untill the usuall
time for electing, which inhabitants are hereby author-
ized to make such election in manner and form as is used
in the anneversary election, and which constable or con-
stables so chosen and elected shall be chosen and have
power to execute their respective offices as fully and in
like manner as if they had been elected and sworn at the
anneversary election.
And be it further ordained by the authority aforesaid,
that if any person or persons that are or hereafter shall
be elected to serve as constable, and shall neglect or re-
fuse to serve in the same office shall pay a sum not ex-
ceeding five pounds fine, and if any person that is or
hereafter shall be appointed high constable by this cor-
poratitfn and shall neglect or refuse to serve in said office,
he shall also pay a sum not exceeding five pounds, and
upon refusall to pay the said money that then it shall be
levied by distress on the goods and chatties of the person
so neglecting or refusing to serve, by warrant of the
mayor under the seal of this city, directed to any or all
the constables of this city; which fine shall be paid to the
treasurer of this city for the publick use of the same.
Dated in Albany the 30th September, in the sixteenth
year of his Maj's reign, 1742.
1742, Oct. 4. This board sold Jacobus Hilton a piece
102 The City Records.
of ground lying in the first ward of this city on the plains
behind the lott on which he now lives, for which he is to
pay at the same rate that Isaac Fryer agreed for his, and
the mayor is to execute a deed for the same and affix the
city seal thereto in behalf of this corporation.
This board agreed with Robert Lansingh to keep the
fire Engine in order and repair at 26s. per annum.
This board appointed the mayor, recorder, Gerret
Vanden Bergh and Jacob Ten Eyck a committee to ad-
vise with the attorneys about the law suit with Barnar-
dus Bratt.
1742, Oct. 6. This board allowed a sum to shingle
every market house in this city, such a sum as will be
requisite to do the same, provided it does not exceed
eight pounds to each market house.
The Comon Councill ordered that Hendrick Van Ness
be reimbursed for what he advanced at New York for an
examplification of a patent granted by Collo. Ingoldby to
Eghbert Teunisse, &c.
This board Resolved that a street shall remain for the
publick use of this city to the north of the house and lott
of Abraham Lansingh in the second ward of this city,
the whole length of his lott, the street to be 45 broad.
1742, Oct. 14. Cornelius Cuyler, Esq. produced to
this board a comission under the great Seal of the Pro-
vince of New York, constituting him mayor and clerk of
the market for the city of Albany and coroner for the
city and county of Albany for the year ensueing year, and
took the oaths by law appointed and for the due execu-
tion of his respective offices.
1742, Oct. 28. John Depeyster, Esq. delivered to the
present mayor the city papers and seal, except three pa-
pers which he says are in the hands of Mr. Benj. Nicoll,
and a copy of an Indian Purchase of Saraghtoge ; the
deeds Mr. Nicolls are viz :
From Mr. Henry V. Renselaer to the corporation for
lands at Schaahkook, dated 18th AugS 1699.
A Patent from Gov'r Fletcher to s d Renselaer, dated
29th March, 1698.
The City Records. 103
A Deed from Simon Danielse for rent of a Water Run,
dated 28 feb. 171;;.
Resolved by this board that the city Seal shall not be
affixed to any instrument relating to the Comon Council
of this city or to which they are parties, except in Comon
Councill.
Agreed with Leendert Gansevoort for the fore part of
his house in the third ward of this city with the appur-
tenances thereunto belonging, from this time to the first
day of May next, for 40s. and he to pay the tax.
This board resolves to drink the King's health on Sat-
urday next at the house of John Waters.
1742, Nov. 16. Ordered that the clerk draw a war-
rant on the treasurer to pay John Depeyster, Esq. two
pounds for so much money Hendrick Van Ness paid at
New York for the use of the corporation for an exampli-
fication of a patent granted to Eghbert Teunise, &c.
Ordered likewise that the clerk draw a warrant on the
treasurer to pay Peter Winne, Esq. five shillings for so
much he paid for the copy of an Act of Assembly.
The following persons were appointed fire masters for
theensueing year:
First Ward Sybrant A. Van Schaick and Gerret Joh's
Lansing.
Second Ward Robert Sanders and Barent Ten Eyck.
Third Ward Jacob Jo. Groesbeek and Eghbert B.
Eghbertse.
1742, Nov. 27. Mr. Nicolls delivered to the mayor
the four written instruments mentioned in the minutes
y e 28 October last.
The following Letter was wrote to his Honour the
Lieut. Governour:
May it please your Hon'r,
Sir Pursuant to the directions of an Act of Generall
Assembly of this Province, we transmitt to your Honour a
draft of the city of Albany for your Honour's approbation
which was delivered to us according to the directions of
said act by the gentlemen by whose direction the same
was made, we desire if your Honour approve of the same
104 The City Records.
that you would be pleased to signify your approbation
as soon as conveniently may be, that we proceed therein
as the s d Act directs. We are.
This board allowed Johannis Seger 10s. for his and his
two sons' trouble in chain bearing, and order the clerk
to draw an order on the treasurer to pay the same.
.1742, Dec. 24. This board rec'd a Letter from his
Honour the Lieut. Governour in answer to theirs of the
27th of last month, wherein he approves of the draft of
the city of Albany then sent down to him.
1742, Dec. 28. This board doth compute that four
thousand Stockadoes are wanting and necessary to be
gotten in order for the finishing and completing the forti-
fications of this city.
Guyleyn Verplank petitioned for a pice of ground in
the foxes creek; this board resolved that said petition
be taken into consideration at a future meeting.
This board allowed Johannis Flensburgh an account of
3 new chairs and mending some old, the sum of 11s. 7Jd.
and order the clerk to draw an order on the chamberlain
to pay the same.
Johannis Wittbeek, who was chosen one of the consta-
bles for the third ward of this city being dead, this board
order that the aldermen of said ward do keep an election
for another constable for said ward on Friday next at the
usual place.
This board allowed Is. 6d. to Hester Beekman for J
days work of her Negro man and order the clerk to draw
an order on the treasurer to pay the same.
174, January 6. This board Resolved that the cham-
berlain write to the persons hereunder named to come
and pay what they owe to the corporation by the first of
February next, which if they neglect to do, then the
mayor order them to be prosecuted for the same: Jochim
Ketelhuyn, Philip Winne, Arent Vandyck, Dowe Fonda,
Maria Winne, Marte Dellemont, Jochem Ketelhuyn, Pe-
ter Benneway, Peter Doxy, Leend 1 Van Veghten, Hugo
Viele, Peter Viele, Volkert Douwe.
174f , March 9. Anthony Bratt designing in a few
The City Records. 105
days to go to Schaahkook, this board agreed with him
to view some loggs that Abraham Fort has cutt there on
the lands belonging to this corporation with order, and
the loggs that Harme Van Veghten has cutt without
order, and that he tell the said Veghten that unless he
pays Is. 3d. for each logg, he must expect to be putt to
trouble.
Prdered that s d Bratt have 3 sk. wheat for his trouble
herein.
174, March 16. Simon Danielse presented a petition
to this board for a piece of land at Schaahkook and a
run of water, he being inolined to purchase the same,
which this board refers for farther consideration.
Mr. Bratt being returned from Schaahkook, says that
Harme and Teunis Van Veghten have cutt 62 saw loggs
in the city's right and Abraham Fort about 80. This
board resolves that the mayor take from them one shil-
ling for each logg.
Teunis Van Veghten informed this board that Abra-
ham Fort has cutt 97 saw loggs in the city's right.
174J, March 18. Harme Van Veghten, Teunis Van
Veghten and Marte Winne petitioned this board for pri-
viledge to build a mill on the second fall on Tamhenick
creek at Schaakook and to cutt saw loggs in the city's
Fight, which priviledges they incline to hire from s d city.
This board agreed with Harme Van Veghten, Teunis
Van Veghten and Marte Winne for priviledge to build a
saw mill on Tamhenick creek at the second fall on said
creek, with priviledge of the water Run on said creek as
is necessary for said mill, also priviledge to ly their saw
loggs and boards convenient near the mill and priviledge
to cutt 400 saw loggs yearly on the lands belonging to
the said city, which priviledge they and their heirs andJ
assigns to have from this day for twenty years to come,
they or their heirs, executors, adm'rs paying for the same-
yearly to this corporation ten pounds, the first payment
to bo made the 18th day of March, 174 J. They are not
to saw more than the said 400 loggs yearly on the said-
[Annals, x.] 10
106
The City Records.
mill, and at the expiration of the 20 years the mill with
all the appurtenances are to belong to this corporation
in the same order it is in before they saw the last loggs
upon it; and in case the said saw mill should happen to
come down, they or their heirs or assigns shall have leave
to build a new one under the same restrictions and rent
that is abovementioned, and that as often as any such
accident shall happen, that they are to pay the tax for
said mill during the said 20 years. That in case of
a French or Indian war, so that they can't saw loggs
upon said mill, they are not to pay any rent during such
time.
Teunis Van Veghten petitioned for a piece of land at
Schaahkook, which was referred to farther consideration.
1743, April 11. Mr. Roseboom and Mr. Bratt having
been at Schaahkook to view a parcell land petitioned for
by Simon Danielse and another by Teunis Van Veghten,
bring their returns of the same upon paper.
The clerk was ordered to
draw on the Treas'r to pay the
foll'g sums:
To Mr. Ed. Collins for a fee
ag l Ja. Glen ab l the Court
house, - - ,1:10
To Job's Myndertse for
iron work to the stocks, 7
To Mr. Roseboom and
Mr. Bratt for going to
Schaachkook to view
lands, each 20s. - 2:
3:17
1743, April 20. This board sold Simon Danielse a
piece of ground lying at Schaahkook, containing about
25 morgans, for which he is to pay ten pounds upon ex-
ecuting of the deed, and twelve skiple of good merchant-
able Winter wheat yearly for ever, on the 20th April,
the first payment to be made the 20th April 1746; he is
also to pay for the deeds. He is not to make any other
The City Records. 107
mill on the crek q 1 . within the bounds of this land than a
Griss mill and not to boalt any flour ground on said mill
for sale.
This board drew up a Petition to the members of the
Assemby in General Assembly convened, viz 1 :
The Humble petition, &c., Humbly sheweth,
That whereas your Petitioners by an Act of the
General Assembly passed in the present sixteenth year
of his majesties reign, were impowered to assess a suffi-
cient number of Stockadoes on the inhabitants of this
city and to put the same in a posture of defence, your
petitioners have accordingly in every article proceeded
according to the directions of the said Act, as far as their
ability reaches, but your Petitioners beg leave to repre-
sent to the Honourable House the great hardships they
labour under, being oblidged by the said Act to make all
the necessary fortifications directed by the same at the
charge of the city only, which we declare we are not able
to do, and therefore pray the the Hon'ble House to con-
sider how very reasonable it is that the county of Albany
at least should assist this city, which is really the fron-
tier of all North America, and it is very plain and evi-
dent that this is the only place if fortifyed as it ought to
be, that must and can protect the people of the county
with their wives and children in case of a french war,
and prevent the enemy from overrunning the whole
country, which must evidently be the case if the city is
left defenceless.
Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray the Honourable
House to take into consideration and to pass an Act,
that the sum of three hundred pounds be raised as speedy
as may be, upon the inhabitants of the city and county
of Albany (except Schinechtady and the Mohawks river)
in the same proportion as the quota was last year divided,
to enable your petitioners to proceed in the fortifying the
said city, which said sum of three hundred pounds will
however come very far short of what will be wanted.
1743, April 21. This board compounded with Maria
Winne for 160 sk. wheat she ows this corporation, for
108 The City Records.
which they have agreed to take 18, for which sum her
son Marte Winne has passed his bond payable in two
years.
1743, May 3. This board ordered the clerk to draw
an order on the treasurer to pay to Kiliaen Van Kense-
laer 1 3: 12:3, for a p. of ground he sold to this corpora-
tion, lying near the Dutch church:
Ordered that the clerk draw an order on the treasurer
to pay John Bell 6, for the last half year service as
publick whipper, to the first instant.
This board agreed with John Bell for the year ensue-
ing to be publick whipper upon the same terms he agreed
last year for twelve pounds, and said Bell agreed with
this board that they pay 3:10 of his salary for the year
to come to Mr. Depeyster, and 1:10 to Jacob Ten Eyck,
and to Elizabeth Van Olinda 3 for house hire for the
year to come for said Bell, and that their respective rec'ts
shall be a discharge to the corporation for so much of
his salary as those sums amount to.
1743, June 18. This board allowed an ace 1 of Leendert
Gansevoort for a barrel beer, 18s. and for house hire 40s.
and ordered the clerk to draw an order on the treasurer
to pay the same.
1743, June 20. This board ordered the clerk to draw
an order on the treasurer to pay Schiboleth Bogardus 6s.
Johannis Knickerbacker for his trouble to come down
from Schaachkook, 12s., and to Anthony Bratt 9s. for
his trouble to fetch down said Knickerbacker.
The following Letter was wrote to Collo. Philip
Schuler:
Collo. Schuyler: Sir Although severall complaints
have been made to you as Colonel, that most of the
watches in this city are very negligently kept, and some
do not watch at all, and it was hoped you would have
given the necessary orders herein, yet no orders have
been given, we are of opinion that if stricter orders are
not given to the Captains, that you had better order
them to give over watching entirely, that we might know
what we have to depend on, and take the necessary reso-
The City Records. 109
lutions accordingly. We desire you will signify your
intentions herein. We are.
1743, June 30. The mayor executed a deed to Symon
Danielse for a piece of ground at Schaahkook, sold him
20th April last.
1743, July 12. This board ordered the mayor to ex-
ecute a deed to Jacobus Hilton for a piece of ground sold
him by this corporation on the 4th of October last, being
broad twelve feet ten inches and an half English measure,
and the same length as expressed in the minutes of that
day and bounded in the same manner, wherefore he is to
pay four pounds twelve shillings.
Resolved that the clerk draw an order on the chamber-
lain to pay Cornelia Schuyler 1:19:2, for the ballance
of an ace 1 of her husband, deceased, and 2s. to Cornelius
Bogaert.
1743, July 13. Resolved that this board allow 6
towards repairing a well near the English church in the
first ward and laying a drain from the spring near the
fort, which is to be paid to Hend'k Cuyler when the work
is done. The work is to be finished before the first of
October next.
This board Resolved that the aldermen of the second
ward order a drain to be made in the street from oppo-
site to the house of Jacob Ten Eyck to the street at Ger-
rit Marselius house, at the charge of the corporation.
Resolved that a bridge near the house of Mrs. Kitchiner
be repaired at the charge of the corporation.
1743, July 30. Robert Lansing was appointed the
sealer or stamper of weights and measures in this city,
and was sworn to seal or stamp all weights and measures
pursuant to the ordinance this day published relating
thereto, according to the best of his knowledge.
The city weights and liquid measures were accordingly
delivered to the said Robert Lansingh.
1743, Aug. 13. Gerret Lansingh and Anthony Bratt
agreed to sett up the Stockadoes from the gate as you
go to Schinechtady to the top of the hill in the pasture
of Elbert Gerritsae along the line of the city as it was
110 The City Records.
last laid out to be fortified, for ten pence half penny each
Stockadoe, that is to say: To square them on two sides,
take of all the bark, put them three feet in the ground,
and work a ribb into them three feet from the topp, and
to putt a large pinn in every Stockadoe thro' the ribb;
to make them square under and sharp above, and to make
loop holes at such convenient distances as the mayor,
recorder, and aldermen shall direct, for small arms.
Guysbert Vanden Bergh agreed to sett up 600 Stocka-
does for 12d. each in the manner abovesaid, to begin at
the south side of the fort and so towards the Rutten Kill.
This board agreed with William Bromley that he keep
the house he now lives in another year, and that the rent
of last year and the year to come be given him for the
repair of said house, for which he is to repair the roof.
1743, Aug. 18. Barnardus Bratt agreed with this
board to sett up 500 Stockadoes, beginning from the
Blockhouse that stands behind the lime kiln of Luykas
Hooghkerk and so along the line of the city so far until
it takes up 500 Stockadoes to putt them in the same
manner as agreed with Ger 1 Lansing the 13th instant,
for 100 whereof he is to have 12d. and for the remaining
400, each lO^d.
Lambert Redliff, Evert Sixbury and Peter Jones and
William Hilton, Jun'r agreed to sett 500 Stockadoes for
lO.^d. each, in the manner abovesaid, to begin upon the
plain as they shall be directed by the mayor, recorder
and aldermen.
This board agreed with Kiliaen Winne to remove the
block house that stands in the pasture of Elbert Gerritse,
lower down as he shall be ordered and to make a new
roof and to find all the materials that shall be wanting
to said block house, for the sum of thirteen pounds four
shillings.
1743, Sept. 26. The mayor and aldermen directed two
warants to the sheriff under their hands and seals to
summon two Jurys, the one to appraise the ground of
Elbert Gerritse and the other the ground of Wilhellmua
Vanden Bergh, on which the fortifications of this city
The City Records. Ill
are directed to be built, they not being willing to sell the
same at a reasonable price. As also a warrant for a jury
to apprize the ground of the heirs of Cornelius Van
Schelluyne.
1743. Sept. 27. Pursuant to the warrants directed
by the mayor and aldermen to the high sheriff on the
26th instant, the Jurys viewed and appraised the ground
of Elbert Gerritse at thirty pounds.
The ground of Wilhellmus Vanden Bergh at eleven
pounds ten shillings.
The ground of the heirs of Cornelius Van Schelluyne
at four pounds.
1743, Sept. 29. Pursuant to the directions of the
Charter of this city, this being the day appointed for
electing aldermen, assistants and constables and for ap-
pointing a chamberlain and marshal, the following per-
sons were chosen and appointed:
First Ward Johannis Marselis and Jacob C. Ten
Eyck, aldermen; John Van Veghten and Philip Living-
ston, Jun'r, assistants; John Jo. Wendell and John Fryer,
constables.
Second Ward Jacob Ten Eyck and Nicolaes Bleeker,
Jun'r, aldermen ; John H. Ten Eyck and John R. Bleeker,
asisstants; John M. Roseboom and Philip Hansen, con-
stables.
Gerret C. Vanden Bergh was chosen and appointed
chamberlain for the ensueing year.
John Jo. Wendell was appointed high constable.
Johannis Seger was apointed marshal. .
1743, Oct. 4. This board agreed with John Visher
for twenty English feet front of the west part of his lott
in the foxes creek for the sum of thirty-two pounds ; one
half to be paid him at the delivery of the deed and the
other half thereof pmo. May next.
1743, Oct. 12. This board agreed with Johan's Lan-
singh, Jun'r for a part of his pasture in the first ward of
this city, being the south part thereof, which said Lan-
singh promises to release to this corporation for the sum
of sixteen pounds, to be paid in six months.
112 The City Records.
The mayor and aldermen directed warrants to the
sheriff to summon Jurys to appraise the ground of the
heirs of Abraham Kip and Philip de forest, of Margret
Livingston and of David Verplanck, necessary to erect
fortifications on.
1743, Oct. 15. The jury sworn to appraize the pos-
sessions of Margret Livingston appraize the damages
to fourteen pounds ten shillings.
The possessions of David Verplanck and damages to
fourteen pounds ten shillings.
The possessions of the heirs of Abraham Kip and Philip
deforest to five pounds.
Margret Livingston's is fourteen feet and a half in
front and twenty-six feet and an half rear.
That of David Verplank 16 feet on the west side of
his pasture and twelv feet five inches on the east.
That of the heirs of Abraham Kip and Philip deforest
one foot and two inches on the west side of the pasture,
and seven feet and seven inches on the east side.
1743, Oct. 25. This board ordered the clerk to draw
an order on the chamberlain to pay Anthony Bratt and
Gerret Lansingh the sum of 28:7: 10 J, being in full for
the one half of an account of 56:15:9, the other half is
to be paid next spring.
A warrant was directed to the sheriff to summon a
jury to appraise the ground of Evert Wendell, as also
another to appraise the ground of Rutger Bleeker, Nico-
laes Bleeker and Hendrick Bleeker.
This board addressed His Excell'cy Governour Clinton,
a copy of which address is as follows:
To his Excellency George Clinton, Esq., Captain Generall
and Commander in Chief of the province of New York
and the Territories thereon depending in America, and
Vice Admirall of the same, &c., The Humble Address
of the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonality of the city
of Albany in the Colony of New York in America:
May it please your Excellency!
We the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonality of his
Majesties Loyal City of Albany take this opportunity to
The City Records. 113
congratulate your Excellency upon your and your fami-
lies safe arrivall at New York, the Metropolis of your
Government, where we sincerely wish your Excellency
and family may long enjoy health and happiness.
We can not sufficiently acknowledge the goodness and
fatherly care of our most gracious Sovereign Lord, King
George the Second towards us, in that it hath pleased him
to send your Excellency to govern us, who have so early
and earnestly expressed your good intentions to make
the welfare and happiness of this Colony your chief care
and study, for which kind and tender expressions we
make your Excellency our gratefull and sincere acknow-
ledgements.
We as the frontier city of this Colony, in case of a
french war will stand in need of great share of your Ex-
cellencies care and vigilance, which we assure ourselves
your Excellency will with pleasure bestow upon us.
We beg leave to assure your Excellency that we will
allways make it our business, as we know it is our duty,
to do what in us lies to make your Excell'cys administra-
tion easy and happy. Voc Aro.
May it please your Excellency.
1743, Oct. 26. The Jury appraised the ground of
Evert Wendell at thirty pounds, and the ground of Rut-
ger Bleeker, &c. at thirty-six pounds.
A warrant was drawn on the treasurer to pay Lamb 1
Redliff and Evert Sixbury each four pounds.
The following ordinance was published:
Whereas severall evil minded persons have presumed
to cutt, pull down and carried away of the old Stocka-
does of this city without authority so to do, for the pre-
venting whereof for the future, Be it ordained by the
mayor, aldermen and commonality in Common Council
convened, and it is hereby ordained by the authority of
the same, that if any person or persons shall presume to
cutt, pull down or carry away any of the old Stockadoes
of this city, lying and standing or being in and about the
same, without order from the Common Councill of this
city, such person or persons shall forfeit for every such
114 The City Records.
offence the sum of forty shillings for the use of this cor-
poration, to be recovered before the mayor, recorder or
any of the aldermen of this city. Dated in Albany, y e
26th October, 1743.
This board agreed with Anthony Bratt to remove the
block house near the City Hall to the place where the
powder house stands upon the plain, and to putt it up
there, to find all the materials necessary, to mason the
stone of the foundation above the ground with lime, to
put a new roof of squared white pine boards thereon, to
mason the pipe of the chimney above the house with
lime and to make it of hard bricks, and to make draws
before the port holes below, and to finish all compleat,
for which he is to have thirteen pounds four shillings.
1748, Nov. 12. The following persons were appointed
fire masters for the currant year:
First Ward Andries Van Woort, Johannis F. Myn-
dertse.
Second Ward John Glen, Niclaes Cuyler.
Third Ward Peter D'Wandelaer, Gerret Ja. Lansingh.
1743, December 7. Whereas John Cortney desires by
writeing, under his hand and seal, that Jacob C. Ten
Eyck may have title for the lott of ground he the said
John Cortney bought of this corporation pmo. September
1739. This board resolves that title be given to the said
Jacob C. Ten Eyck, his heirs and assigns for said lott of
ground upon his payment of 1, yet unpait upon said
lott of ground, and that the mayor execute a deed in be-
half of this corporation for the same.
Peter Vielen petitioned this corporation for ten mor-
gans of land lying on both sides of Lewis's creek and for
the stream of the said creek for a mill. Resolved that
his petition be taken into consideration.
This board agreed with Robert Lansingh, Barnardus
Harts en and Michael Basset, that they shall manage the
fire engine in case of fire, and always be ready upon any
occasion that it may be wanted. They are each to make
a key to open the lock of the shed that the engine stands
in and to place the keys in some parts of their houses
The City Records. 115
where it may be found when they are absent, for which
they are to have each 6 sk. wheat per annum.
1743, Dec. 20. This board agreed with Jacob Wen-
dell for four pounds for the ground on which the block
house stands, being four feet and an half in front and
twenty-six feet and an half rear.
This board agreed with Jacob Glen for 45, to be paid
the first of May next, for a lott of ground he bought of
Abraham Lansingh, Jun'r, lying on the Rense bergh.
174 1, Feb. 7. This board agreed with Abraham Lan-
sing for pr-iviledge to cutt 20 or 25 gutters at Schaach-
kook, for which he is to pay Is. each.
Ordered that the clerk draw an order on the chamber-
lain to deliver Joh's Seger 6 sk. wheat.
174J, feb'y 21. Resolved that the land of the heirs of
Dirk Van Veghte and the Forts at Schaahkook be sur-
veyed; as also ten morgans land Peter Viele petitioned
for, lying at Schaahkook on hot sides of Lewis's Killetie.
1744, May 21. Resolved that Eva Vandriese have 12
acres of land of this corporation upon Tienondoroge flatts
for 6 sk. wheat per annum, and that after John Bleeker
shall have surveyed it and a draft thereof made, a deed
be executed for the same by this corporation.
N. B. This piece of land lyes between the land granted
by this corporation to Abraham Cuyler and that granted
to Peter Brower.
1744, June 9. This day the mayor executed in Com-
mon Council to Jacob C. Ten Eyck a deed pursuant to
the minutes of the 7th December, 1743.
1744, June 9. Resolved that his Excellency and the
gentlemen that attended him from New York, be asked
to dine at the house of Will. Peters on Saturday next.
1744. Johannis Pruyn, Johannis W. Quackenboss
and Anthony Bratt being sent for according to the direc-
tions of an Act of Assembly entitled an Act for the more
effectual fortifying the city of Albany, to agree for so
much of their ground as the fortifications of this city are
directed to be built upon, who all appeared at this board
and as the price can not be agreed upon, it is Resolved
116 The City Records.
that warrants issue directed to the sheriff to summon
jurors to appraize the same according to the said Act of
Assembly.
Resolved that an order be drawn on the treasurer to
sell 185 sk. of the cities wheat at 3s. and not above 6 sk.
to a family for ready money.
1744, June 28. John Waters, Thomas Floyde, Peter
Bogaert and Ahasuerus roseboom being sent for accord-
ing to the direction of an Act of Assembly, entitled an
Act for the more effectual fortifying the city of Albany, to
agree for so much of their ground as the fortifications of
this city are directed to be built upon, who all appeared
at this board, and as the price can not be agreed upon,
it is Resolved that warrants issue to the sheriff to sum-
mon jurors to appraise the same according to the said
Act of Assembly.
Resolved that an order be drawn on the treasurer to
pay Barnardus Bratt 10, in part of Stockadoes.
1744, July 4. Coenradt Ten Eyck, Gerrit Lansing
and Christopher Yates being sent for according to the
directions of an Act of Assembly, entitled an Act for the
more effectual fortifying the city of Albany to agree for
so much of their ground as the fortifications of this city
are directed to be built upon, who all appeared at
this board, and as the price can not be agreed upon, it
is Resolved that warrants issue to the sheriff to summon
jurors to appraise the same according to the said Act of
Assembly.
Resolved that the clerk draw an order on the treasurer
to pay Volkert van Hoesen for 19 days' work at 6s.,
JE5-.14. and to Johannis Seger 1 bag wheat.
Harme Van Veghte having been asked to sell his ground,
as above, and refusein the same, the resolution was taken
as in the above cases.
1744, July 20. Resolved that if the persons of whom
this corporation want ground for fortifications along the
water side, refuse to give liberty to the corporation to
erect 'fortifications and for round passage of twenty feet
next the line dureing in the war, that then we will cause
it to be appraized.
The City Records. 1 17
1744, July 31, This board agreed with Anthony Bratt
to bring to this city at high water mark, 320 Stockadoes
at Is. each, if squared then 13 d; to be 13 English feet
long and 11 inches thick at the thin end, and also 40
Stockadoes of 26J feet long at 2s. each.
This board agreed with Guyleyn Verplank to bring the
like quantity at the same rate.
1744, August 17. To the Honourable Representa-
tives of the Colony of New York in Generall Assembly
convened: The Humble Petition of the Mayor, Aldermen
and Commonality of the city of Albany, humbly sheweth,
Whereas your Petitioners did last year petition your
Honourable House to raise* the sum of 300 upon this
city and county in order to putt this city in a posture of
defence, which petition was accordingly granted; and
whereas that sum has been expended by your petitioners
and considerably exceeded in fortifying the said city, so
that your petitioners are now in arrear upon said account,
and the fortifications of this ci(y not being yet completed
for want of more money, your petitioners do therefore
humbly pray the Honourable to pass an Act to enable
the supervisors to raise upon this city and county as soon^
as may be (in the same manner as the other county
charges are raised) the sum of 300, to enable your pe-
titioners to go on and finish the fortification of this city,,
which is necessary should be done with the utmost ex-
pedition, and your petitioners shall ever pray.
The following Letter was this day wrote to the repre-
sentatives sent out of this county, with the petition on
the other side inclosed:
Gentlemen: We enclose you a Petition to the Honour-
able Generall Assembly to raise the sum of 300 upon
this city and county for the fortifying this city, which we
shall actually want for that purpose, and as we are con-
vinced that you well know how very necessary this is,
we desire you to deliver this petition to the House, and.
we doubt not but you will do your endeavour to gett an
Act passed according to the same.
We hope you will remember to gett as much of the
[Annals, x.] 11
118 The City Records.
powder your House bought at the provincial expence to
be sent up to us as you can.
1744, Sept. 13. This board agreed with Anthony
Bratt to build a block house at the water side on the
south end of the town where the foundation is now laid,
$nd to finish it compleatly with a good heerth and chim-
ney, of hard bricks above the roof, and the roof to be of
good boards, and port holes for cannon and small arms,
and every thing that belongs to a block house to be made
in the best manner and to be compleatly finished, for
which he is to have 36 and two gallons rum.
Johannis Seger agreed with this board to lock the
gates of the city, from the south side of the fort to the
little gate neer Ryer Gerritse's including said gate, at
eight of the clock every evening and to carry the keys to
the mayor of the city or where he shall be ordered by
the Common Council! for the time being, and to open the
gates again every morning directly after Reveille, for
which service he is to have 6 per annum, to commence
the 25th instant.
Michael Basset agreed to do the same service, from
the north side of the fort, round to the gate at the river
side near Leend 1 Gansevoort, including said gate, for
which he is to be paid at the same rate, and the time to
commence the 25th instant.
1744, Sept. 29. Pursuant to the directions of the
Charter of this city this being the day appointed for elect-
ing aldermen, assistants and constables and for appoint-
ing a chamberlain and marshal, the following persons
were chosen and appointed.
First Ward Jacob C. Ten Eyck, aldermen, JohnMar-
selis and Sybrant G. Van Schaick having an equal num-
ber of voices; John Van Veghte and Phil. Livingston,
Jun'r, assistants; Cornelius C. Vanden Bergh and John
Price, constables.
Second Ward Nicolaes Bleeker, Jun'r and David V.
D. Heyden, aldermen; John H. Ten Eyck and Hcnd'k
M. Roseboom, assistants; Marte Hogan and Schiboleth
bogard's, Jun'r, constables.
The City Records. 119
Third Ward Jacob Visher and Jacob Wendell, alder-
men; Gerrit Ja. Lansing and Kiliaen Winne, assistants;
Benj. Van Veghte and Will. V. D. Bergh, Jun'r, consta-
bles.
Mr. Gerret C. Van den Bergh was appointed treasurer.
Johannis Seger, marshal, and Marte Hogan, high con-
stable.
1744, Oct. 2. Whereas on the 29th September last,
Johannis Marselius and Sybrant G. Van Schaick had an
equality of votes for aldermen of the first ward of this
city, wherefore this board ordered that a new election be
held on Saturday the seventh jnstant, at two of the clock
in the afternoon of that day, for an alderman for the said
ward, and that the aldermen of the said ward do give
notice accordingly.
1744, Oct. 13. Pursuant to the order of this board of
the 2d instant, last Saturday an election was held for
an alderman for the first ward of this city, and by a ma-
jority of voices John Livingston was elected, who was
this day returned accordingly by the aldermen of the said
ward.
1744, Nov. 16. The following persons were appointed
fire masters:
First Ward Evert Wendell, Jun'r, Jacob van Schaick.
Second Ward Jacob Lansing, Hendrick Ja. Beekman.
Third Ward John Dow, Isaac Hansen.
1744, Dec. 11. This board agreed with Peter Brower
that he should pay the first day of february next 84 skiple
good merchantable winter wheat for the use of his land
at Tienonderoge in full to that day.
1745, July 9. This corporation ordered that three
pounds be given out of the treasury to the man who
brought the Express giving an acco" of the taking of
Cape Breton.
1745, August 24. This board agreed with John Bell
to be comon hangman for this city and county and whip-
per for this city, for which he is to have 14 per annum,
the time to commence the first day of May last. The
Comon Council ordered him a Hanger and Bell.
120 The City Records.
An order was drawn on Gerrit V. Denbergh for six
pound in full for John Bell's salary as Whipper to the
first of May last.
1745, Sept. 29. Pursuant to the directions of the
Charter of this city, this being the day appointed to chuse
city officers, the following persons were chosen:
First Ward Jacob C. Ten Eyck, John Livingston,
aldermen; Philip Livingston, Jun'r, Johannis Van Vegh-
ten, assistants, and William Thayer and Joseph Van
Sante, constables.
Second Ward Nicholas Bleecker, Jun'r, David Van-
derheyden, aldermen; Hendrick M. Roseboom, Frans.
Pruyn, Jun'r, assistants, and Abraham Yates and Bastiaen
D. Garmoy, constables.
Third Ward Jacob Vischer, Gerrit Van Ness, alder-
men; Gerrit Ja. Lansingh, Killiaen Winne, assistants,
and Ant. A. Bratt, constables.
Gerrit C. Vandenbergh was unanimously chosen cham-
berlain, and Johannis Seger, marshal for said city.
Anthony A. Bratt was chosen high constable.
1745, Nov. 19. This board agreed with Thomas
Floyd for the House of Tobias Ryckman, on the dock
near Gansevoort's Point, for the rent Zecharia Haas
agreed for with Ryckman. The corporation to pay the
rent from first of May and the cartidge of his things, and
to keep the house in repair.
1745, Dec. 6. James Stevenson, Esq. produced a de-
putation of Philip Livingston, Esq. appointing him his
Deputy to exercise and execute the office of town clerk,
and clerk of the peace and clerk of the common pleas for
the city and county of Albany, and also to exercise the
office of secretary and agent to the Indians, his majesties
subjects at the city of Albany, and after taking the oaths
by law appointed, he took an oath for the well and truly
executing s d offices.
1745, Dec. 9. Resolved by this board that the three
market houses of this city be made up with all speed for
the lodging of the King's Troops expected from New
York, each with double chimneys in the middle.
The City Records. 121
174 [J-, Feb. 1. An ordinance was publish'd directing
the inhabitants of this city to quarter the forces sent
here to keep watch.
1746, Sept. 29. This being the day appointed by the
Charter for electing and chusing corporation officers, the
following persons were elected to serve for the year en-
suing according to the directions of the Charter:
First Ward Jacob C. Ten Eyck and Sybrant Van
Schaick, aldermen; Egbert Bratt and Barnardus Bratt,
assistants; William Fryar and Joseph Jos. Van Sante,
constables.
Second Ward Johan's G^ Roseboom and Jacob H.
Ten Eyck, aldermen; Jacob Jas. Lansingh and Barent
Ten Eyck, assistants; Abraham Yates and Reynier v.
Alstyn, constables.
Third Ward Gerrit Van Ness and Ahasueris Rose-
boom, aldermen; Cornells Maase and Johannis V. Douwe,
assistants; Jacob Evertse, Jun'r and Ab'm Boghaert,
Jun'r, constables.
The Common Council appointed Gerrit C. Vanden-
bergh for city treasurer, Johannes Seger for city marshal,
William Fryar for high constable.
1746, Oct. 14. John R. Bleecker produced a commis-
sion for sheriff of this city and county and took the oaths
appointed by law and also the oath for the due execution
of his office.
1741', March 24. Order'd a petition to be drawn in
order to be laid before the Assembly, praying a sum of
money may be raised to pay the debts contracted by the
corporation since the commencement of the war.
Resolved that three great guns be placed on the Bat-
tery behind the Court House, and that the Recorder,
Barnardus Bratt and Egbert Bratt be managers to see
the same well done. The corporation to pay the charge
of doing it.
1747, April 7. This board on the request of the min-
ister, elders and deacons of the Dutch church, Resolve to
release a piece of ground to them lying behind the lott
they already bought of Edward Holland. Ordered that
122 The City Records.
the mayor execute a deed for the same and cause the city
seal to be thereunto affixed.
A petition was signed and ordered to be laid before
the General Assembly as mentioned in the minutes of
Common Council the 24th day of March last.
Resolved that John Depeyster and James Stevenson go
down to New York and lay the same before the General
Assembly.
1747, May 4. An order was drawn on Gerrit C. Van-
denbergh, city treasurer, to pay John Depeyster and
James Stevenson four pounds and four shillings. Also
an order was drawn to pay to Jacob S. Bogardus four
pounds to buy fire wood for the service of the corporation.
1747, May 12. The Comon Council order that ten
loads of fire wood be carr d from Jacob Bogardus's sloop
to each of the Market Houses where the King's Soldiers
are quartered; to each of the Block Houses, N. 3 and 4,
each 3 load to be carr d to Johannes Seger's yard.
To Johannes Seger himself 3 load; to the block house
N. 8, 4 load; to the block house N. 7, 3 load.
1747, June 16. An order was drawn on Gerrit C.
Vandenbergh, city treasurer, to pay John R. Bleecker,
Esq. 1 for wine to entertain the Judge when he came
here to hold Court of Oyer and Terminer.
1747, June 20. A warrant was drawn on the treasurer
to pay Thomas Powel ten shillings.
Ordered that in case of any alarm in the night, all and
every the inhabitant of this city sett candles in their
windows to give light to every man to repair to their
posts.
Ordered that a great gun be placed at the corner oppo-
site to Gerrit Isaac Lansingh, one in the Rutten Kill,
and another to be taken from the Grand Battery and
placed in the foxes creek.
Ordered that the ordinance relating the Round Gangs
be put in execution.
Ordered that the Recorder, Barnardus Bratt, Egbert
Egbertse and Gerrit Van Ness be managers to see the
above three great guns duly ordered and placed. "
The City Records. 123
1747, July 27. The following Petition was drawn and
sign'd in order to be sent to the Representatives of our
city and county to be gi*en in to the Assembly:
To the Honourable the Representatives of the Colony
of New York convened in General Assembly, The Peti-
tion of the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city
of Albany humbly sheweth :
That the inhabitants of the corporation of the city of
Albany are in cireims of great misery and distress by
reason of the present war with Frence and with the In-
dians in their alliance. That the inhabitants of the said
city ever since the commencement of the war by their
frequent watching have been very much taken off from
themselves and families. That every man of our corpo-
ration hive been oblidged to attend in person or pay a
hired man in their stead upon watch and ward every
third or fourth night during the whole time, excepting a
small interval of time in the spring the duty was demanded
only every fourth night, but now and for sometime past
for the safety of this frontier and the poor inhabitants we
are oblidged again to come upon a fourth night. That
our corporation by occasion of the present war are in-
debted the sum of eight hundred and fifty pounds and
upwards, for repairing our fortifications about this city,
supplying fire wood and candles for the night watches,
and for powder and ball for the poorest of the inhabitants
without any fund provided for the payment thereof, be-
sides what the inhabitants have done by a voluntary tax-
ing themselves, for providing and setting up new Stocka-
does where the old ones were gone to decay. And whereas
this city is now the northern frontier of this Province,
your petitioners humbly conceive that whatever charge
or expence our corporation have been already at or here-
after may be put to by reason of the present war ought
in reason to be a general charge for the whole Province,
and not to fall on the inhabitants of this corporation only,
who are in no circumstance to support the growing ex-
pence or have one penny rent to come in to discharge the
debts already contracted, or can we expect any during
124 The City Records.
the war, nor probably for many years after the war is
over, Your Hon's Petitioners have never heard that the
corporation of the city of New York have been at the
charge of building or repairing the fortifications made for
the defence of their city, but that the same hath been a
general charge to the whole Province, altho' they have
had the happiness to injoy the blessings of peace during
the whole war without any alarm, disturbance or molest-
ation from the enemy.
Your petitioners therefore do most humbly beseech
your Honourable House in tender consideration of the
premises to raise by a general tax on the whole Province
the said sum of eight hundred and fifty pounds to dis-
charge the debts contracted by our corporation since the
commencement of the war, which the deplorable circum-
stances of this city is reduced to render us incapable to
pay. And your petitioners as in duty bound shall ever
pray, &c.
ALBANY, July 27th, 1747.
Gentlemen: We inclose a Petition which we beg the
favour of you to deliver in to the General Assembly, and
beg also the favour of 3 r ou to use your interest to gettour
prayer granted, for unless some method be fallen upon to
discharge the debts already contracted it is impossible
the publick charge can be longer supported.
You will see by the inclosed what the articles of
fire wood and candles for the block houses only amount
to, and if you judge necessary we shall send you down a
list of the several persons to whom, and the respective
sums we are indebted. By order of Comon Council.
JAS. STEVENSON, D. Cl'k.
1747, August 11. The following petition was signed
by the present members, who order'd the Recorder and
Alderman Van Schaick to go to New York and deliver
the same to his Excellency the Governour, and that the
corporation would pay their reasonable charges and ex-
pences :
To his Excellency the Hon'ble George Clinton, Captain
General and Governour in Chief in and over the province
The City Records. 125
of New York and the Territories thereon depending in
America, Vice Admirall of the same and Admirall of the
Red Squadron of his Majesties Fleet, The petition ot the
mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of Albany,
Humbly sheweth:
That whereas the time allowed by Act of Assembly
for the Wood Rangers to scout through the woods on the
west side of Hudson's river near the city of Albany, is
expired, and for want of Wood Rangers both the city and
inhabitants that yet remain in the county are liable to be
suddenly surprized, the inhabitants both of city and
county are much decreased since the war begun, many
barbarously murdered and schalped, and numbers taken
prisoners by the enemy, and others removed from city
and county to places of greater security, so that the few
that are left, of whom the most part are oblidged to
labour and expose themselves to great danger to earn a
subsistance for themselves and families, are not sufficient
to keep the night watches, much less to make a defence
in case of a suden attack.
Your petitioners most humbly beseech your Excellency
to lay our distressed condition before the General As-
sembly and to use your Excellency's interest to prevail
on their Honourable House to prolong the time allowed
for the Wood Rangers or to raise a sum of money to pay
a sufficient number of white men and Indians to go on the
outschout; and your petitioners also farther pray that a
number of men be raised out of the lower counties to be
placed in the city of Albany to ease the inhabitants of
the hard duty of watching, which now is to every man in
town a fourth night, notwiths:anding three block houses
and one guard house remain still empty for want of men.
And your Excellency's petiti i ers as in duty bound
shall ever pray, &c.
Resolved that Major Collins, the Recorder and Alder-
man Van Schaick go down to New York with the above
petition and deliver it to his Excellency and to endeavour
to gett what the petition setts forth, or any other thing
may be for the good of the city, and that this corporation
126 The City Records.
bear their expenses and allow them at their return what
the corporation think reasonable for their trouble, and
that the clerk give them a copy of this resolve.
1747, Sept. 14. Resolved to send an Express to the
representatives of the city and county of Albany, with a
Letter and inclose to them the affidavits of Johannis
Wendell, Benjamin Bratt, Johannis V. Douwe and Ger-
rit C. Vandenbergh, and acquaint them that our corpo-
ration petitioned his Excellency, our Governour, to re-
commend to the General Assembly to make provision for
a sufficient number of men to be posted in the city of
Albany to ease the inhabitants of the hard duty of watch-
ing. But as we are informed Collo. Roberts intends to
send three companies of the new levies to be quartered
in the block houses, which considering how ill they have
all along behaved themselves and threatened often to
burn the town before they went away, an Collo. Roberts'
own behaviour, make the inhabitants unwilling to have
them in town, wherefore we beg you will use your en-
deavour to gett a sufficient number of men from the lower
counties to be posted in the city according to the prayer
of our petition, presented to his Excellency by Major
Collins and Mr. Van Schaick.
1747, Sept. 28. Ordered that a Letter be writt to Collo..
Schuyler, one of the members of Assembly for the city
and county of Albany, desiring him to gett an Act of
Assembly passed to lay a tax on the Province for pur-
chasing and setting up new Stockadoes round the city of
Albany where the old ones are daily going to decay, and
if the Assembly will not pass an Act for the whole Pro-
vince to contribute toward the charge thereof, that an
Act be pass'd to oblige the inhabitants of the city and
county (Schenectady excepted) to do y l .
Major Collins and Sybrant Van Schaick laid their
acco' r - before this board amounting to the sum of 1:18:4,
which the board allowed, and gave an order on the treas-
urer to pay the same out of the first money that comes
to his hands.
1747, Sept. 29. This being the day appointed by the
The City Records. 127
Charter for choosing and electing corporation officers,
the following persons were chosen to serve for the year
ensuing according to the directions of the charter :
First Ward Jacob C. Ten Eyck and Sybrant G, Van
Schaick, aldermen; Barnardus Bratt and Egbert Bratt,
assistants; Luykas Yates and Johannis Vander Heyden,
Jun'r, constables.
Second Ward Jacob H. Ten Eyck and John Rose-
boom, Jun'r, aldermen; Jacob I. Lansingh and Barent
Ten Eyck, assistants; Isaac Verplanck and William
Groesbeeck, constables.
Third Ward Gerrit Van Ness and CoenraetTen Eyck,
aldermen; Cornelis Maase and John V. Douwe, assist-
ants; Rutger Lansingh and Peter Boghaert, Jun'r, con-
stables.
The Common Council appointed Gerrit Vandenbergh
for city treasurer or chamberlain; Johannis Seger for
marshall; Isaac Verplanck for high constable.
1747, Oct. 2. Collo. Roberts sent yesterday to the
mayor a Letter from his Excell'y the Gov'r, dated the
26th day of September, 1747, acquainting the corporation
he had directed Collo. Roberts to order three companies
of the new levies to be quartered in the block houses in
the city of Albany, or in such other places therein as they
should provide. The Letter sett forth that his Excel-
lency expected the corporation would provide for them
fire wood and candles and assured them he would re-
commend to the General Assembly to make sufficient
provision to defray the expense they might be put to.
Resolved to try to gett fire wood and candles for said
three companies as soon as possible, and then to acquaint
Collo. Roberts therewith, and that Alderman Ten Eyck
and Cornelis Maase, one of the assistants, acquaint him
with this resolution.
1747, Nov. 14. This board appointed the following
persons to look after the chimneys and other places where
the inhabitants kept their fire, &c.
Peter Jones and Johannes Wendell, son of Johannes
Wendell, for the first ward.
128 The City Records.
Gysbert Fonda and Obadiah Cooper, for the second
ward.
Jan Maase, Jun'r, and Abraham Fonda, son of Isaac
Fonda, for the third ward.
1747, Dec. 4. An order was drawn to payDirckTen
Broeck, Esq., mayor of the city of Albany, one pound
nine shillings and five pence out of the money now in the
treasurer's hands, he having paid so much to George
Burnes.
Evert Sixberry agreed to supply the block house N. 1
to pmo. May next, from twesday next, at 3s. per load, to
bring one load every day, and on Saturday two loads.
Isaac De Voe agreed for N. 6 at 3s. 6d. per double load.
Peter Benneway agreed for N. 7 at 3s. 6d. per double
load.
Evert H. Wendell agreed for N. 5 at 3s. 6d. per double
load.
1747, Dec. 7. Hendrick Van Buren agreed to supply
the Market house in the third ward to pmo. May next at
3s. 6d. for a double load, two loads every day and four
on Saturdays, to begin this week.
Rutger Vandenbergh agreed to supply the Market house
in the first ward to pmo. May next, as above.
Volkert and Cornelis Vandenbergh agreed to supply
the Block house No. 8 at 3s. 6d. for the double load, and
3s. for the double load till pmo. May next as the others
agreed before.
1747, Dec. 12. This board agreed with Vander-
heyden to supply Block house N. 4 on same terms and
for same time as the others. He begun last Thursday,
being the 10th instant.
Resolved that if anything happen to be wanting to the
Sentry boxes or Batteries round the walls of this city,
that the mayor or recorder or the aldermen of the ward
where such defect happens to be, or any of them, take
care that the same be made, mended or repair'd at the
charge of the corporation.
Resolved that Johannis Hunn and Cornelis Boghaert
make up the deficiencies in the city wall at the several
The City Records. 129
places as mentioned in a memorandum given to Johan's
Hunn for that purpose.
Benjamin Bratt undertook to open and shutt the Gates
and sweep the snow from off the Batteries in the north-
ern division of this city at seven pound per annum from
the first day of February next. N. B. He begun to open
and shutt the Gates afores d the 28th day of January last.
Johannes Seger undertook as above for the southern
division at the same price.
Bastiaen Teymesse undertook to supply Block house
No. 3 on the same terms and for the same time as the
others agreed the 4th and 7th of this month.
174, Feb. 10. This bo'ard agreed with John Fryer
to supply the Block houses with candles at the rate of
one shilling per pound, from the eleventh day of this
month to the fifteenth day of October next, and to deliver
every evening as many as will be sufficient for the night
then ensuing to Job's Seger; said Fryer agrees to have
his first payment the first of September for the candles
he supplies to that time.
174|, March 24. Resolved that Christiaen Lagransie
be permitted to set up a Blacksmith's shop near to the
shop of William Hogan, Jun'r, on the north side thereof,
but to ready to take it down at any time when the cor-
poration may have reason for it.
1748, April 6. Collo. Johnson's Letter to the mayor
was read in Common Council desiring he might have the
Barrack wherein the Governour's men were lodg'd to
keep for a main guard in.
1748, May 26. Ordered that Jacob C. Ten Eyck and
Sybrant G. Van Schaick, aldermen, together with the
Treasurer, overlook the accounts which are intended to
be laid before the treasurer, and make report thereof to
the Common Council.
17 IS, July 18. Ordered by this board that Gerrit Van
Ness, Luykas Wyngaart, and Anthony Van Der Zee,
make a new bridge behind Johannis Lansingh's on Rut-
tenkill, in the first ward at the water side; that they like-
[Annals, x.] 12
1 30 The City Records.
wise repair all the Batteries which are fallen down and all
the bridges which want repairing in the round gang.
1748, Sept. 17. Jacob C. Ten Eyck and Sybrant Van
Schaicke, together with the Treasurer are by this board
allowed further time till next munday to overlook the
accounts which are to be laid before the treasury and
make report thereof to the Common Council.
Resolved by this board that Barent Ten Eyck and Jo-
hannis Vol: Dow go and desire Langaserie and the other
french Gen 1 that came with the flag Truces from Canada,
to come to Ackerman's to let the mayor and corporation
know the meaning of their coming to this town.
The french Gen 1 accordingly appeared, and being askd
their business, said their Pass was with Colio. Johnson,
but if the mayor pleased they would wait on him to-
morrow in the afternoon with their Pass, which was re-
solved to be sufficient.
1748, Sept. 20. The mayor reports to this board that
Messrs. Lingrey and Langaserie had been to his house
last Sunday in the afternoon, the time appointed by the
Common Council last Saturday convened, but did not
produce their Pass as they engaged to do, but promised
to do it on Munday, which they have not done, and that
Major Collins asked them what reason they could give
why they did not show their Pass to the mayor, who had
an undoubted right to demand it, they replyed that they
were given to understand by Collo. William Johnson that
they were not oblidged to do it, as they were directed to
him.
1748, Sept. 29. This day being appointed by the
Charter for choosing and electing corporation officers the
following persons were chosen to serve for the year en-
suing according to the directions of the Charter:
First Ward John De Peyster and Jacob C. Ten Eyck,
aldermen; Folkert P. Dow and Joseph Yates, assistants;
Jacobus Sharpe and Jacob Cooper, constables.
Second Ward Hans Hansen and John Glen, aldermen;
John R, Bleecker and John Beekman, Jun'r, assistants;
David Becker and Marta Freest, constables.
The City Records. -i$l
Third Ward Coenraet Ten Eyck and Abra: Do\v,
aldermen; Harmanis Wendell, Jun'r, and Harme Gans'e-
voort, assistants; William W. Van Den Bergh and David
Abeel, constables.
The Common Council appoints Gerret C. Van Den
Bergh for city treasurer or chamberlain; Johannis Seeger
for marshal; William W. Van Den Bergh, high constable.
1748, Oct. 12. An order was drawn on the treasurer
to pay unto Dirck Ten Broeck and Jacob C. Ten Eyck
for an account which was due unto John Bell as whipper
for the city from pmo. May 1745 to pmo. Nov'r follow-
ing, being 6 months, each JE3.
1748, Oct. 14. Jacob C! Ten Eyck produced a com-
mission for mayor of the city of Albany, &c. for the en-
suing year and took the oaths appointed by law, sign'd
the Test and was sworn into the office of mayor and
coroner for the city and justice of the peace for the city
and county of Albany.
Thomas Williams, Jun'r, produced in Comon Council
a commission wherein he was appointed high sheriff for
the city and county of Albany, he took the oaths ap-
pointed by law, sign'd the Test, and took an oath for
the due execution of his office.
1748, Oct. 27. Ordered the clerk to draw a Petition,
and send Joh's Seger to the mayor to have it signed, to
be laid before the General Assembly of this Province of
New York. The Petition is as follows:
To the Honourable the Representatives of the General
Assembly of the Colony of New York, humbly sheweth:
That the corporation of the said city of Albany have
been put to the Expence of severall hundred pounds in
repairing their fortifications about the city and in sup-
plying fire wood and candles for the night watches over
and above what the Generall Assembly have already
allowed for fire wood and candles and for providing
powder and ball for the poorest of the inhabitants, with-
out any fund provided for the repayment of that expence
besides what the inhabitants did by voluntary taxing
themselves for providing and setting up new Stockadoes
132 The City Records.
where the old ones were gone to decay, and whereas the
corporation have received no rent from their tenants
since the year 1744, or are like to receive any for some
years to come, tho' a peace should be actually concluded,
the settlements of their tenants being destroyed by the
enemy during the war, and will require some time before
they can settle again*.
Your W'ps Petitioners have directed the Representa-
tives of the city and county of Albany to lay before your
Hon'ble House sundry accounts, all attested except a few
persons who are dead, removed or absent, amounting to
the sum of 1082:9:2J, which were actually laid out for
the defence of the city against the enemy. Severall other
sums of money are due from the corporation which your
petitioners think not proper to trouble your Hon'ble
house with, tho' they have no fund at present to pay the
same.
Your petitioners therefore do most humbly beseech your
Hon'ble House to take the premises into your wise and
serious consideration and grant to your petitioners such
relief as the distressed circumstances of their corporation
do call for and as to your wisdom shall seem meet, and
your petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray.
The following Letter with accounts were sent to the
Representatives of the city and county of Albany :
ALBANY, 27 Oct. 1748.
Gentlemen: We give you the trouble of a petition to be
laid before your Hon'ble House, praying relief to enable
us to pay the debts we have contracted by occasion of the
war, we have likewise sent a list with the accounts them-
selves, all attested, except a few persons, some of whom
are dead, some removed and others absent from home ; our
corporation debts are some hundred pounds more, but as
they are not for the imediate expence of the war, we
have not troubled you with them.
Mr. Philip Livingston, Jr. can well inform you, if you
make any doubt of any of the accounts. We begg you will
use your endeavours with your Hon'ble House to lay a
Provincial tax to extricate us out of this debt or the cor-
The City Records. 133
poration must fall, for you know the city has not at pre-
sent one penny of income or like to have for some time
should a peace be concluded.
1748, Nov. 12. The Common Councill appoints fire
masters for the ensuing year, viz 1 :
First Ward Do we Van Veghte and Job's son of Jo-
hannis Jan Lansingh.
Second WardGerret Staats and Luykas T. Wittbeck.
Third Ward Johannis Jacobus Lansingh* and Johan-
nisPruyn, Jun'r.
Whereas on the 29th Sep 1 last Jacob C. Ten Eyck
was elected alderman forthe first ward of the city of
Albany, and whereas since that time (to wit) on the 14
Oct. following, he produced a comission for mayor, &c.
of this city, took the oaths appointed by law, sign'd the
Test, and the same day was sworn into his office,
Wherefore it is ordered and resolved by this board that
a new election be held on the 17th of this instant for
chusing another alderman for the first ward of this city,
and that John De Peyster, Esq., al'n for first ward do
give notice accordingly.
Ordered the clerk to give warrents to the fire masters
to go round every mayor's court and from thence once
every fortnight and make report every mayor's court to
the mayor and aldermen of their proceedings, and that the
clerk sign said warrants by order of the Common Coun-
cill.
1748, Nov. 22. Pursuant to a resolve .made the 12th
instant for electing an alderman in the room of the pre-
sent mayor on the 17th instant, Tobias Rykeman is re-
turned for alderman by plurality of votes.
The mayor this day laid the city before the Comon
Councill and said that Dirck Ten Broeck, Esq. late
mayor had delivered the same to him as was formerly
usual for the mayor going of to do to the new mayor,
but that as the present mayor's opinion always was that
the city seal should be delivered to the keeping of the
clerk of the Comon Councill, he desired the consent of
this board that the same may be delivered to Mr. Philip
134 The City Records.
G. Livingston, the present clerk, and that he may be
prohibited by the Comon Councill to affix the same to
any instrument before the mayor certifyed the same and
gave an order to affix the same to his certificate. That
he be prohibited to affix the same to a lease or release
without order of Comon Councill and in Comon Councill,
but in the mayor's absence the clerk may affix the same
to any instrument by the order of three aldermen, which
they are impowered to do by the charter, and that in
case the clerk should go out of town that he leave the
seal in time of his absence with the mayor or any one of
the aldermen, who are not to make use of the same, but
pursuant to the above directions, and deliver it back
again on his return. Resolved, that the above regula-
tions concerning the city be a standing resolution of the
Comon Councill, and that no mayor for the future have
the keeping of the city seal unless in the absence of the
clerk as aforesaid.
Resolved also that no freedom of this city be given
privately to any stranger, but that all persons, natural
born subjects or naturally desiring to be admitted free-
man of this corporation may have their freedoms pub-
lickly given in Comon Councill and an entry made
thereof in their minutes ; likewise no honorary freedom
be given to any person of distinction but by consent of
Comon Councill.
The mayor pursuant to the above resolve delivered
the city seal unto Mr. Philip G. Livingston in Comon
Councill.
Madam Van Renselaer agreed this day with this board
at her house to let the corporation have the same liberty
in the woods of the manor of Renselaerswick as was
granted by Collo. Kiliaen Van Renselaear, Esq., late lord
of said manor, on the 18th feb. 17 If, in consideration
they pay her eleven pounds per annum. Agreed during
her adm'n.
1748, Dec. 21. Ordered the clerk to sign a receipt in
behalf of the corporation for a half barrel powder rec d
from Sybrant G. Van Schaick, in lieu of powder he bor-
The City Records. 135
rowed from the corporation when the Gov'r was here
last.
Resolved that it is the opinion of this board that a
night watch of fifteen or sixteen men be kept in this city,
and hope the inhabitants will not screen themselves from
that duty while they think it is absolutely necessary for
the welfare of this city.
Robert Lansing agreed with this board to keep the
stores belonging to the Gun whereof he is Gunner, and
give an inventory thereof to the clerk, and keep the pow-
der, shot and other materials belonging to the same at his
own risque till demanded by Comon Councill.
Christiaen Legransey agrees as above for Blockhouse
No. 4.
Nicholas Van Schake agrees as above for Blockhouse
No. 7.
Jellis De Garmow agrees as above for Blockhouse No. 3.
Johannis Hunn agrees as above for Blockhouse No. 1.
Dirck Hunn agrees as above for Blockhouse No. 2.
Tobias Ten Eyck, for Ten Eyck's Battery, agrees as
above.
Michael Bassit agrees as above for the Grand Battery.
Geluyn Verplank agrees as above for the Blockhouse
No. 5.
John Dow agrees as above for Blockhouse No. 9.
William Fry, single Gun, whereof he is Gunner, agrees
as above.
174;;, March 13. Resolved that the freedom of this
city be presented to Mr. Philip G. Livingston, and that
the mayor sign, seal and deliver the same unto him as a
free gift in behalf of this corporation.
As likewise its Resolved that the freedom of this cor-
poration be given unto Cap 1 Volkert P. Dow.
Resolved that the request of Peter Brower, that after
he resign his deed for a tract of land lying on the Mo-
hawks river, containing six morgan more or less, from
this corporation for two sk: of wheat for each morgan
per annum, a new one be executed for the annual rent of
one sk: of wheat per morgan, and that the deed be exe-
136 The City Records.
cuted for the land surveyed by Mr. Jno. R. Bleecker in
the year 1740, containing eleven morgan.
1749, April 3. This board agrees with Dan'l Mac
Michael, to let him have the house and land formerly in
the possession of Isaac Van Valkenbergh, to have it five
years for repairing the said house in such a manner as
shall afterwards be agreed on, and to have it fifteen
years after the expiration of five years, for the rent of
four pounds per annum, to be paid annually.
The constables of this city were ordered to notify the
following persons to appear before this board, and the
following appeared and were ordered to appear next
mayor's court with sufficient sureties for their appear-
ance at the next Generall sessions to answer what they
know of breaking down the market houses in this city
of which they are suspected to be concerned in breaking
down part of that one which stands in the second ward,
viz 1 : Wouter De Foreest, Jno. Knoet, Dirck M. Van
Der Heyden, Daniel R. Winne, Bastiaen Fisher, Jacob Van
Der Heyden, Jacob De Garmo, Dirck Ahu: Roseboom.
The following were likewise suspected, viz : William
G. Van Den Bergh, David D. Groesbeek, Lewis Van
Antwerpe, Volkert G. Van Den Bergh, Harmanis Jacobse
Wendell.
Gerret Roseboom, and Tobias Ten Eyck is suspected to
have been assistant in breaking down that markett house
in the third ward.
1749, May 6. The following ordinances were pub-
lished, viz 1 : An ordinance for cleaning the streets. Do.
for preventing cuting down the Stockadoes of this city or
breaking down or carrying away the boards affixed to the
top of the same, or the boards and other timber belonging
to the Blockhouses and Batteries.
This board agrees with Johannis Seger that he shall
have about seven or eight morgan of land lying upon
the Beaver kill, beginning a litle above the place called
the five Steene, running up from thence along both
sides of the Kill till it contains about 7 or 8 morgan,
upon condition that he has it ten years for clearing it
The City Records. 137
and ten years after for the annual rent of 3s. for each
morgan; to commence from the first day of this inst., May.
1749, May 27. Kesolved by this board that the
boards fixed on top of the Stockadoes be sold at publick
vandue on the third day of June next, and that an adver-
tisement be put up to give publick notice hereof.
1749, Sept. 12. Whereas the powder belonging to this
corporation may be spoil'd by keeping, this board judge-
ing it most for the publick good that the same be sold,
have resolved that the said powder be sold at publick
vandue on fryday the 15th inst.
1749, Sept. 18. Johannes J. Lansing made applica-
tion to this board for a small streek of land lying in the
third of this city between the lots of Abraham Dow and
Hester Switts, containing in length two feet on the north
side and three feet on the south side, and twenty feet in
breadth along the street, all Dutch measure, which was
granted, and ordered that the mayor execute a deed for
the same on behalf of the corporation for the considera-
tion of thirty shillings.
Samuel Cuyman made application for the creek behind
his lot in the first ward of this city as far as the breadth
of his lot, which was granted. Order'd that the mayor
execute a deed for the same on behalf of the corporation
for the consideration of twenty shillings.
1749, Sept. 29. This day being appointed by the Char-
ter for choosing and electing corporation officers the fol-
lowing persons were chosen to serve for the year ensuing
according to the directions of the Charter, viz:
First Ward John De Peyster and Isaac Staats, alder-
men ; Volkert P. Don w and Evert H. Wendell, assistants ;
Gysbert Marselis and John 5 Lansing, constables.
Second Ward Hans Hansen and John Glen, Esqs.,
aldermen; John R. Bleeker and John Beekman, Jun'r,
assistants; Sam. Pruyn, Jun'r and William Verplank,
constables.
Third Ward Abm. Douw and Harme Gansevoort,
aldermen; Harm's H. Wendell and Jerse De Foreest,
assistants; John M. Beekman, constable.
138 The City Records.
The Common Council chose for the ensueing year
Cornelius Santvoort, treasurer or chamberlain. He to
find sufficient sureties to be bound in 500 for the due
execution of his office. Joh's Seger, marshall. Job's 5
Lansing, high constable.
1749, Oct. 14. Richard Miller, Esq. produced acom-
ission appointing him high sheriff of the city and county
of Albany, and took the oaths appointed by law, sign'd
the Test and was sworn to the due execution of the s d
office.
1749, Oct. 21. This board appoint the following per-
sons Fire masters for this city for the ensueing year, viz:
Peter Waldron, for the first ward; Gerret Js. Lan-
singh and Egbert Benj'n Egbertson for the second ward;
William Winne and Joh's S. Pruyn for the third ward.
Order'd that warrants be given to the Fire masters of
each ward accordingly, and that the clerk sign the same
by order of Comon Council, which warrants are in the
following words, viz:
Whereas the mayor, aldermen and comonality of the
city of Albany have this day in Comon Council appointed
and nominated you to be Fire masters of the . . . ward
of this city for the year ensueing, you are therefore
hereby required and commanded to go round the said
. . . ward on Monday the fourth day of December next,
and thence once every fortnight, viz: on the Monday
next before every mayor's court, and view the chimneys,
hearths, fire places and places where people do gather
their ashes, and where you find any chimneys, hearths
or fire places extraordinary foul or dangerous, or ashes
gather'd in any dangerous place the first time you go
round your ward, you are to give warning to the owner
or owners to sweep, mend or remove the same within
five hours after warning given, and if they do not com-
ply with your directions within the time limitted, you
are hereby impower'd and authorised to fine the owner
or owners in the sum of three shillings to your own use
and behoof and to sue for the same before the mayor,
recorder or any one of the aldermen of this city. And
The City Records., 139
every time afterwards when you go round your ward and
find any defect as af 3 , you are hereby impower'd imrne-
diatly to fine the owner or owners in the sum of three
shillings for the use and to be recover'd as afores d , and
you are then to warn such person or persons where such
defect shall be, to clean, mend or remove the same
within five hours, which if they shall neglect or refuse to
do you are to fine them in one other sum of three shil-
lings for your use and to be recover'd as af*. You are
likewise to take notice that no hay, straw or other com-
bustible matter be laid in any dangerous place to the
owner or his neighbour unc^r penalty of six shillings for
each day such combustible matter shall lye in such dan-
gerous place after warning given, for your use and to be
recovered as af. And you are to make report to each
mayor's court how you find the chimneys, hearths, fire
places, &c. in your ward. And for your so doing this
shall be your sufficient warrant. Dated in Albany the
2 1st day of Nov. in the twenty-third year of his Majesties
Reign, 1749. Sign'd, By order of Comon Council.
JOHN GOLDEN, Clerk.
1750, May 19. Mr. Gerrit C. Van Den Bergh, late
treasurer, laid on the board the book of the city accounts
whereby it appears -that there is a ballance due to him
of 15:11:2. Resolv'd by the board that a note of hand
be given him for the same payable out of the first money
that comes into the treasury, and that the inayor sign
the same on the behalf of the corporation.
1750, Sept. 29. This day being appointed by the
Charter for choosing and electing corporation officers the
following persons where choosen to serve for the year
ensuing according to the directions of the Charter, viz:
First Ward John De Peyster and Joh's van Sante,
aldermen; Evert Wendell, Jr. and John E. Wendell, as-
sistants; Roelof Segor and Daniel Huson, Jr., constables.
Second Ward John Glen and Jacob TenEyck, alder-
men ; John Rutse Bleecker and John Beekman, Jr., as-
sistants; Evert Joh's Wendell and John H. Roseboom,
constables.
140 The City Records.
Third Ward Abraham Douw and Harme Gansevoort,
aldermen; Isaak Swits and Harmanis H. Wendell, as-
sistants; Wouter de Foreest and Tueniss Bratt, consta-
bles.
The Common Counsel appointed for the ensuing year
Cornelis van Santford to be their chamberlain, and it is
further agreed by the board to agree with him on new
for his commissions for his trouble, and did likewise
nominate and appoint Job's Seger to be marchel for the
ensuing year.
1750, Oct. 8. Whereas disorderly persons have cut
some of the cows in this town to the great detriment of
the citizens, and the offender being as yet unknown and
difficult to be found out: It is therefore Resolved by the
Common Counsell that a reward of three pound be given
to any person or persons who shall find out or discover
the offender or offenders in order that they may be pro-
secuted according to law, and we do hereby order the
clerk to publish this our Resolve, by putting up adver-
tisements in the most publick places in this town, and
that the cryer do give notice of this our Resolve by cry-
ing it about the town.
Johannis Seger made application to this board for two
small slips of wood land on the Gallis hill, that is to say,
a small tryangle to y e southward of his land, containing
about one acre, and lyes between his land and the old
Schonectady road, the other slip lyes at the west side of
his land and is also bounded by the said road, and con-
tains about one acre, which was granted and order'd that
the mayor execute a deed for the same on behalf of the
corporation for the consideration of fieftien shilling.
1750, Oct. 15. Sybrant G. van Schaick produced a
commission for Recorder of the city of Albany and took
oath appointed by law, sign'd the Test and sworn to the
office of recorder and justice of the peace.
Robert Sanders produced a commission for Mayor of
the city of Albany for the insueing year and took the
oaths appointed by law, sign'd the Test and was sworn
unto the office of mayor and coroner and clerk of the
The City Records. 141
market for this city and justice of the peace for the city
and county of Albany.
Richard Miller produced a commission in Common
Council whein he was appointed high sheriff for the city
and county of Albany, he took the oaths appointed by
law, sign'd the Test and took an oath for the due execu-
tion of his office.
1750, Oct. 23. Jacobus Reatliff made application to
this board that his son John should have the ringing of
the Bell at twelf a clock at noon and at eight of the clock
at night, which is granted according for his son.
This board appoints the following persons Fire mas-
ters for this city for the insuing year, viz:
William Fryer, Joseph Jo's Yaets, for the first ward.
Abraham Yaets, Pieter Williams, for the second ward.
Dirck Bratt van Schoonhove, Sander J'se Lansing, for
the third ward.
1750, Oct. 24. An ordinance published for the due
observance of the Lord's day and the regulating Negro
slaves.
Resolved by this board that the city bounderies shall
be forthwith surveyed by John Rutse Bleccker, who
has undertaken to do the same for the sum of three
pounds for his trouble, and to pay when the city is in
capacity.
1750, Dec. 8. Jacob Ten Eyck and Evert Wendell
offered their service gratis, to go and assist John R.
Bleecker in surveying this city boundaris, and the said
Ten Eyck and Wendell has undertaken togitt three men
to bear the chain.
175'/, Feb. 26. Resolved by this board that an order be
drawn upon the Treasurer of New York for 250, which
is allowed by the Generall Assembly for the use of the cor-
poration of the city of Albany, and that Abraham Douw,
Esq. is appointed to receive the same and his receipt
shall be sufficient voucher and discharge for the same.
Ordered by this board that advertisement shall be pub-
lished that on Saturday next the city ferry to Greenbush
[Annals, x.] 13
142 The City Records.
shall be lett to farm to the highest bieder, on each of the
said ferry one person for the ensueing year. For every
person if single, 3d.; if more 2d. a p. For every head
of cattle 9d. For every hundred weight of skins or
beaver, 3d. and so in proportion in a greater or lesser
quantity.
175? , March 2. A petion presented to this board from
severall inhabitants of this city for to make a well in
third ward near the house of Mr. Dirck Ten broeck, de-
ceased, which is granted accordingly, and the place ap-
pointed opposite the middle of the street that leeds
towards the mill about ten foot distance to the north
of the lott ground of Dirckje van Vranke.
Ordered by this board that the aldermen and assist-
ants of each ward are to view the city Laders each in
their own ward and bring report thereof to the Common
Councell.
According to the last Resolve, this day sold at publick
vandue the ferry on the east of the river to Cornelis van
Vechten for the sum of three pounds nineteen shillings
currant money of the province of New York.
As also the west side of the river of the said ferry to
Jeremiah pemerton for the sum of three pounds four
shillings currant money as aforesaid, and to give suerity
for the money to the corporation, as also to observe the
Resolve made by this board.
1751, March 26. Resolved by this board that notice
shall be given to Cornells van Vegte and Jeremiah Pe-
merton that they are to come to the clerk between this
day and next Saturday before one of the clock in y e after-
noon of that day in order to pay or give surety to the
Resolve made on the 2 day of this instant, march, for the
sum they have bought the ferry or else it will be sold to
any other person.
Whereas application is made to this board by the Car-
men of this city that their is no mention made in the
last ordinance about riding bricks and hay, therefore
it is resolved by this board that they shall have for every
load of bricks sixpence, and for every load of hay two
The City Records. 143
shillings, and for every load of grain or salt, if they must
carry it from or up a garret, out or in a seller, for e.very
such frait sixpence and no more.
1751, April 4. Persuant to a Resolve made on the
26th day of March the said Cornelis van Vegte and Jere-
miah Pemerton were sarved with a copy and sumons
thereof, and no notice is taken of the same by them or
either of them, therefore this board is of opinion that
y e said Cornelis and Jeremiah are from henceforth dis-
charged.
Whereas Mr. Job's Ten Broeck and Mr. Barnardus Bratt
have this day farmed the city ferry from this board for
five pounds New York currancy and to give surety within
fourteen days, and to take no more ferriage than is Re-
solved by this board on the 26 day of February last, and
an ordinance be published that no person or persons
shall presume to ferry than the above named persons on
forfiteing three shillings for every default.
1751, Aug. 15. John Carindus appeared here in Com-
mon Councill and produced a kind of ore which he says
he has found within the limits of this city, and agreed
with this board to show to two persons of this board the
place, and if it appears to be a mine then he is to have
one thousand pounds and fifty pounds yearly during his
naturall life out of the said mine, after all charges paid
and not otherwise.
1751, Sept. 29. This being the day appointed by the
Charter for choosing and electing corporation officers,
the following persons where choosen to serve for the
year ensueing according to the directions of the Charter:
First Ward John De Peyster, Johannis van Sante,
aldermen; Jellis de Garmo, John Wendell, assistants;
Marta Mynderse and John Danels, constables.
Second Ward Jacob Ten Eyck, John Glen, aldermen;
John Rutse Bleecker, John Beekman, Jr., assistants;
Hendrick Bleecker, Jr. and Phelip Lansing, constables.
Third Ward Abraham Douw, Harme Gansevoort,
aldermen; Isaak Swits, Harmanus Wendell, assistants;
John Cluet, Jr. and Volkert G. van den Bergh, constables.
144 The City Records.
The Common Councill choose John Roseboom treasurer
or chamberlain, he to find sufficient sueretyes to be
bound for the due execution of his office. Johannis Se-
ger, marchell, John Cluet, Jr., high constable.
1751, Oct. 8. Resolved by this board that the Block-
houses be repaired and that the aldermen and assistants
of each ward shall view the same, each in their respec-
tive wards, and order to be done what is necessary and
that the cost thereof shall be paid out of the wheat now
in the treasurer's custody.
It is further Resolved to send a Letter to the members
of the city and county of Albany with the accounts for
the matirals and work done, &c. occasioned by the late
warr to the following persons, chiefly iraployed by order
of the corporation, as judging at that time necessary for
the security of this city and county, which runs thus:
Gentlemen: We inclose you once more a list and the
accounts of the debts contracted the past warr in the
defence of this city and county, which we have carefully
examined, and what we adjudged did particularly belong
to this city we have deducted thereout, as you will find
per the inclosed accounts, which are all attested except
a few persons, some of whome are absent, some removed
and some dead. The debts of this corporation are very
considerable and the income hetherto very inconsider-
able, so that we are at present in a very deplorable con-
dition. We therefore beg you use your endeavour with
the Honourable House to give this corporation such re-
lief as the distressed circumstances of this corporation
require, as they in their wisdom shall seem meet. We
wish you all helth and are with due respect, Gentlemen,
Your most obliged Humble Servants.
To Mr. Hans Hansen:
Sir We have this day wrote the members of this city
and county, and as you are one of them, we think it
needless to give you here the contents thereof, shall
therefore only refer you to it, and beg the favour of you
that you will use your utmost endeavour to put things
forward for a Collony charge, and if that can't be done
The City Records. 145
then desire you to use your endeavour to gitt the same to
be paid by this city and county ; and as you have lately
been a member of this corporation it needs not to intbrme
you of our deplorable condition. We are with due respect.
P. S. This please to keep to yourself, and if you judge
proper we desire you to speak to the chief justice whom,
we doubt not but will assist you to make it a Colony
charge.
1751, Oct. 25. This board appointed the following
persons fire masters for the ensueing year:
John Williams, Cornelis Clase van den Berg, first
ward; Anthony Bleecker, Gerardus Lansingh, second
ward; Johannis Jacobse Lansing, Johannis Gansevoort,
third ward.
1752, April 28. Resolved and ordered by this board
that the old Seal of this corporation now in the hands
and possession of the present mayor be changed and
altered, and that there be a new Seal in its place, which
new Seal being now produced to this board and approved
of by them, the same is ordered to be lodged in the
hands of our present clerk in his office for the use and
behoof of this corporation, and that the present now
new Seal be henceforth our Seal and called, deemed and
esteemed the Common Seal of this corporation untill it
be altered and changed, and the aforesaid former Seal be
null and void and dead in law, to all intents and pur-
poses whatsoever, and that the same be hereafter no
more called the Common Seal of this corporation, nor to
be made use of as such to any act, instrument, deed or
other writeing hereafter at the perill of the possessor
thereof. And it is further Resolved and ordered that
our present new Seal shall not be made use of to any
writeing or instrument whatsoever, except it be in our
Common Councill, and that a majority of our Common
Councill shall have the direction to what instruments
and purposes i( shall be made use of and not otherwise.
1752, June 8. The mayor acquainted this board that
Peter Wraxell, Esq. had produced his majesty's Signet
and Royal sign manuel to be town clerk of this city in
146 The City Record*.
the last mayor's court held for this city, did then and
there require of the mayor and aldermen then present to
qualify him there in said office; whereupon this board
Resolved to send the mayor to said Wraxell. Esq. with
the following answer, viz 1 : That they desired some time
to consult with men of more judgment in such matters
as they could pretend, and that this board should then
give him their answer; whereon it is further Resolved
by this board to write to his Excellency the Honourable
George Clinton, Esq. the following Letter, and that the
mayor sign the same in behalf of this. corporation of this
city.
ALBANY, y e 8 June, 1752.
To his Excellency the Hon'ble George Clinton, Esq. &c.
May it please your Excellency After our Respects to
your Excellency in the most Humblest manner presented,
we beg leave and think it our duty to acquaint your
Excellency that Peter Wraxell, Esq. appeared on the
second instant in the mayor's court then held for this
city before the mayor, recorder and some of the alder-
men of this city then present, and did then and there
produce to us in court his majesty's Signet and Royal
sign manuel, unpresidented unto us, whereby the said
Wraxell was constituted and appointed town clerk, clerk
of the peace and clerk of the common pleas in the city
and county of Albany, and to be the secretary or agent
for the Government of New York to the Indians ; the said
commission appeared to us to be recorded in the Secre-
tary's office of New York, in Lib: Comissions C 1, page
4, and also appeared thereon a certificate under Gold-
brew Banjard, Esq's hand and seal, that said Wraxwell
had taken the oaths appointed by law, and that he the
said Banjard had administered unto him an oath for the
full execution of the severall offices mentioned in said
comission (except the office of town clerk of the city of
Albany), further added in said certificate that the office
was to be sworn by the Charter of the said city before
the mayor and aldermen of the said city, and demanded
in said mayor's court of the mayor, recorder and alder-
The City Records. 147
men then and there present, to quallifye him in the office
of town clerk, did the same in the court of sessions and
common pleas. Whereupon the Common Council of this
city met, and it was Resolved as it was a cause of great
consiquence and unpresidented to them, and a town clerk
already qualifyed in obediance to a former commission
under the great Seal of our province of New York, to
reserve our answer untill we had considered and con-
sulted those of more experience and judgment in such
matters as we can pretend to, for which reasons we
hereby humbly apply to your Excellency to write us a
few lines signifying to us therein how and in what man-
ner your Excellency thinks best and safest for us and our
Charter to act in this dubious and important affair, as
we trust your Excellency and believe will give us better
advise as we can expect of any other we can apply to.
We conclude wishing your Excellency and all yours,
health and prosperity, and are with profound respect,
Your Excellency obedient and most humble servants.
1752, June 16. Resolved by this board to give Mr.
Smith three pound for his advise relating the swearing
Mr. Wraxel in the office of town [clerk] for this city.
Mr. Jacob Ten Eyck disbursed the said three pounds as
also eighteen shillings to Job's Seger, which is allowed
to him by this board.
Resolved that an order be drawn upon the Treasurer
for so much wheat to be paid to Jacob Ten Eyck for the
3:: 8, at the rate of 3s. 9d. per skiple, and to charge
Job's Seger account for 18s.
1752, June 25. The mayor produced a Letter from
his Excellency the Governour, dated y e 18 June, 1752,
which is an answer to our Letter entered on record the
8 of this instant, June.
The mayor also produced Mr. Smith's advice under his
hand what regular steps to be takein relateing the swear-
ing of Mr. Wraxell in the office of town clerk, and ac-
cording to a Resolve made the 16 of this instant, Mr.
Jacob Ten Eyck has paid him three pound.
1752, June 29. Whereas Peter Wraxell, Esq. pro-
148 The City Records.
duced a commission to us, from his majesty, under his
Royall Signet and sign manuel, dated at St. James on the
15th November, 1750, and delivered to us a copy thereof
certifyed thereon it to be a true copy of his majesty's
signet and sign manual, and the certificates thereon of
the deputy secretary of the province of New York to be
also true, the same is recorded in the Secretary's office
of this province appointing him town clerk, clerk of the
peace and clerk of the common pleas in this county and
city during his majesty's pleasure, and also hath produced
a certificate of Golbrew Bangar, deputy secretary of this
province, that by virtue of his majesty's writ of didimus
Potestatem to him directed, dated 23 day of October, 1746,
to swear all officers then and thereafter to be appointed
within the said province, he did on the 27th day of May
last administer to the said Peter Wraxell, Esq. the usual
State oaths and also the declaration as by law appointed
and received his subscription to the said oaths and declara-
tion, and that he did then also administer unto him an
oath for the full execution of the several offices men-
tioned in his majesty's Signet and Royal sign manual,
except the office of town clerk of the city of Albany,
which officers is by the Charter of the said city to be
sworn before the mayor and aldermen of the said city, as
by the said certificate dated in the city of New York the
twenty-seventh day of May, 1752, doth appear, and the
said Peter Wraxell thereupon hath desired us to admin-
ister to him the oath required by law for the faithful ex-
ecution of the said office of town clerk.
And whereas Harme Gansevoort, Esq. hath produced
to us a commision in his majesty's name under the Seal
of this province, bearing date the twenty-fifth day of
September, 1850, appointing him town clerk, clerk of
the peace and clerk of the common pleas in this city and
county of Albany, to hold the said offices for so long a
time as he shall behave himself well, and it appears to us
that on or about the second day of October, 1750, he
produced the said commission and was duly sworn faith-
fully to execute the said offices, and thereupon entred
The City Records. 149
upon execution of the said office and took possession of the
public records belonging to the offices and now hath pos-
session of the same, and the said Harme Gansevoort still
claimeth right by vertue of the said commission to hold
the offices and the appurtenances pursuant to the said
comission.
We therefore being willing to pay all due obedience to
his majesty and the law, and by no means to prejudice
the right of the contending parties, but to have them
dispute each others title in due course of law, do there-
fore at the desire of the said Peter Wraxell, Esq., in con-
formity to what, hath been already done by vertue of the
didimus potestatem aforesaid, consent to administer to
him the oath for the faithfull execution of the office of
town clerk, at the same time by no means intending to
convey or transfer any right thereby other than what is
consistant with law or to prejudice the right of the said
Harme Gansevoort.
June 29th, 1752, Peter Wraxell, Esq. was sworn in
the said office of town clerk accordingly.
1752, June 30. Whereas Peter Wraxell, Esq. made
application yesterday in Common Councill and demanded
an order from them on Mr. Harme Gansevoort for the
records, whereupon it is Resolved by this board to in-
form themselves further, and that they can not as yet
give any such order untill they have further advise, and
that the said Gansevoort lays claim thereto by vertue of
his comission.
Be it ordained by the mayor, recorder, aldermen and
assistants of the city of Albany in Common Councill
convened, and it is hereby ordained by the authority of
the same, that our new Seal which is called the common
seal, now in the possession of the present clerk, shall
and may be forthwith used to all instruments, writeings
whatsoever (excepting to such grants, leases, bonds, bills)
relateing to this corporation, which are to be executed
and sealed in Common Council. And be it ordained by
the authority aforesaid, that there shall be paid to the
mayor or aldermen three shillings for their fees and to
150 The City Records.
the clerk for puling the seal to any instrument six shil-
lings for the use of the corporation and one shilling for
the clerk's own use. If used to a freedom, of every mer-
chantt, trader, shopkeeper, the sum of thirty shillings
current money of the colony of New York, and every
handicraft tradesman the sum of twelve shillings and not
under, to be remitted into the office for which the dark
is accountable to the corporation.
1752, August 31. The mayor produced to this board
a true copy of the minutes of the Governour and Councill
wherein they desire the mayor, aldermen and comonalty
of this city to have such repair done at present as is
necessary for this winter season for y e Sweg Garrison,
and that the Governour and Councill will strongly re-
commend to the Generall Assembly for the payment
thereof. And be it Resolved by this board that a Letter
be wrote to Mr. Holland, now commanding officer of the
said Garrison, to procure so much bark to make the roof
tyth, and that two glass windows be made and sent by
the first opportunity.
1752, Oct. 12. Resolved by this board that the order
was given to Mr. Abraham Douw on the treasurer of
New York, by a resolution made on the 26 day of Feb-
ruary, I75y, is hereby countermanded, and that notice
be given thereof to the said Abraham Douw.
And it is further Resolved by this board that a new
order be given to Mr. James Stevenson on the treasurer
of New York for 250, which is allowed by the Generall
Assembly to this corporation, and his receipt shall be a
sufficient discharge, and that the clerk shall sign the
said order by vertue of this resolution.
1752, Sept. 29. This day being appointed by the
Charter for electing and choosing corporation officers,
the following were choosen to serve for the ensueing
year according to the directions af the Charter:
First Ward John de Peyster and Johannis Van Sante,
aldermen; Volkert P. Douw and Barent H. Ten Eyck,
assistants ; Harmanus Schuyler and Gerrit Van Sante, Jr.,
constables.
The City Records. 151
Second Ward Jacob Ten Eyck and John Glen, alder-
men; John R. Bleecker and John Beekman, assistants;
David Groesbeck, Jr. and Jacob Bleeker constables.
Third Ward Abraham Douw, Harme Gansevoort,
aldermen; Peter de Wandelaer, Joh's Ja. Lansingh, as-
sistants; Hendrick Everse, William G l van den Bergh,
constables.
The Common Councill appointed John Roseboom for
city treasurer or chamberlain ; Johannis Seger for mar-
chall.
1752, Nov. 3. This board appointed the following
persons fire masters for this city for the ensueing year:
John Van Deusen, Peter Lansing, for the first ward;
Anthony Bleecker, Samuel Pruyn for y e second ward;
Johannis Becker, Jun'r, Anthony van der See, for y e third
ward.
Ordered that warrents be given to the fire masters of
each ward accordingly, and that the clerk sign the same
by order of the Common Councill.
Whereas Mr. James Stevenson, by an order of the
mayor, aldermen and assistants of this city received from
y e treasurer of New York the sum of ,250, New York
money, which said sum of money was allowed by the
Generall Assembly to this corporation. Resolved by this
board that Mr. James Stevenson's bond be discharged out
of the said 250, which bond with the interest amount to
139:13; done accordingly. That the overplus remain
in his hands till further orders.
It is further Resolved that on the King's birthday,
which will be the tenth of this instant month, shall be
spent the sum of three pound ten shillings.
1752, Dec. 6. Resolved by this board that y e dark
write a Letter, directed to Harme Kuickerbaker, Johan-
nis de Wandelaer and Wouter Groesbeek. to consult with
the rest of their neighbours to send a proper person to
give an answer wether they will consent to leave the
disputes for the rent and arrearages due to us to three
indifferent persons, and make their answer on or before
the 25 day of this instant, December, otherwise they
152 The City Records.
may expect to be prosecuted, and that the clerk sign the
same in behalf of the Common Councill.
1753, Jan. 9. Resolved that an order be drawn upon
the treasurer to deliver unto Joh's Seger all the paper
money now in his custody belonging to this city to pay
Jacob Ten Eyck part of a bond, and that y e clerk sign y e
same in behalf of the Common Councill.
By vertue of the above order, Joh's Seger delivered
here in Common Councill the sum of thirty pounds in
paper bills.
Mr. James Stevenson has this day delivered in Com-
mon Councill the sum of one hundred and ten pounds
seven shillings, which being the remainder of the two
hundred and fifty pounds which he has received by vertue
of an order from the Common Councill from y e treasurer
in York.
This board has this day in Common Councill paid to
Jacob Ten Eyck the sum of one hundred and twenty
pounds, and also one pound ten shillings interest for y e
same, in part of a bond of two hundred pounds and have
taken receipts upon the back of the said bond for the
same.
This board sends by Joh's Seger one Bag with eighteen
pounds twelve shillings in pennys and one five shilling
bill, as also a note of hand from Marta Mynderse for
twelve pounds, to deliver y e treasurer and take a receipt
for the same, which receipt is to be delivered to y e
mayor.
1753, April 6. Resolved that an order be drawn on
the treasurer to pay Joh's Seger 3:2 in pennis and 3
skipple wheat, and charge his account for y e same. To
John Flansburgh 6s. for mending y e Stocks.
1743, May 8. This board ordered the clerk to draw
an order on the city treasurer to pay Elisabeth van Olinde
the sum of three pounds ten shillings out of the seven
pounds allowed to John Bell y 6 7th day of December,
1745, for being hangman and whipper and charge the
same to his account ; the clerk to sign in behalf of the
Common Council!.
( 153)
CITY DOCUMENTS.
FREEDOMS PURCHASED, 1781.
Gerrit G. Lansingb, Merchant j
S3 12
Hugh Orr do
3 12
John Shepherd do
3 12
John Waters do
3 12
Henry Hart do
3 12
*Edmund Buttler do
3 12
John Easton, Cordwainer
1 16
Gerrit Hyer, Peruke Maker
1 16
Henry Cook, Blacksmith
1 16
Charles Newman, Merchant ..
3 12
John Folson, Silver Smith
1 16
John Malev, Merchant
3 12
Robert Wright, do
3 12
I vie Chambers do
3 12
John Fontfreyde, French Merchant a Permitt.
3 12
Colin Gibson, Taylor
1 16
Joseph Hall, Silver Smith
1 16
Benjamin Wallace .
3
Edward Cumpston, Merchant
3 12
Andrew Abel, Cordwainer
1 16
John Ram, Baker
1 16
Hugh Me Adam , Merchant
3 12
Melancton Smith do
3 12
Maus R. Van Vranken do
3 12
Nathaniel Stephens do
3 12
Francis Carbines do
3 12
Thomas Sickles do
3 12
Henry Finn do
3 12
Coenradt Scherp do
3 12
James Campbell, Feltmaker.. ......... ..
1 16
John Robison, Merchant
3 12
[Annals, x.] 14
154 City Documents.
ANCIENT BURIAL GROUND.
[It appears by the following document found among
the common council papers, that the plot of ground used
for sepulture on the west of Eagle street, between State
and Lancaster streets, was appropriated to that purpose
in 1789. The property owned by the Lutheran church
on Park street was the site of their allotment as a burial
place. Before this time each church had its grave yard
adjacent to or near the church to which it belonged. The
Dutch Reformed Church was at the foot of State street,
and its grave yard was where the Middle Dutch Church
now stands. The Lutheran Church was where the
Centre Market stands and its grave yard adjoined on the
south. The Episcopal was in State street opposite to
Chapel stree t,and its grave yard near the present site of
St. Peter's. The Presbyterian .Church was near the
corner of Grand and Hudson streets, and its grave yard
adjoined on the east. The High Dutch Church, as it is
here called, was between Patroon and Orange streets,
west of Ten Broeck, with its grave yard adjoining. It
was now proposed to have a common burial place, and
the site recommended by the Committee was adopted by
the common council.]
The committee appointed to locate a place for a com-
mon burying ground for the city report that on the east
adjoining the lot on which the barracks were burned
lately conveyed by the board to BarentBleeker on which
a vault has lately been made is five acres of ground very
proper to be appropriated for that purpose being of excel-
lent soil and a very gradual descent and on the Southern
declivity of the hill, will never prove pernicious to the
springs which supply the city with water and which is a
very important objection to the present burying in the
ground of the Episcopal and Lutheran churches the
boundaries of which common burying ground we would
locate as follows: bounded on the North by Prince street,
on the East by Duke street, on the South by Predeau
City Documents. 155
street, on the West by the lot of Barent Bleeker in which
the vault is made which ground contains five acres.
THOS. HUN,
Sept. 19, 1789. T. V. W. GRAHAM.
The committee further report that the most eastern
acre of the above burying ground be granted to the cor-
poration of the Presbyterian church, and the next acre to
the Episcopal church, and the next acre to the Lutherian
church, and the east half of the third acre be for the
reformed iiigh Dutch church, and the most western acre
and remaining half acre to the Dutch church.
AGREEMENT WITH THE WHARF
ASSOCIATION.
We the Trustees of the Associated Company of Pro-
prietors of the Wharves and Quays in the City of Albany
being fully impowered by the Articles of our Association
to receive any additional Associates do hereby covenant
and agree to and with the Mayor, Aldermen and Com-
monalty of the City of Albany, to receive into our Asso-
ciation, the Public Wharves belonging to the said City,
for and during the term of our Association. Provided,
that the rates of Wharfage shall be continued during the
said term at one shilling and sixpence per Ton, and in
the same proportion by the day ; and we do in behalf of
ourselves and Associates further covenant and agree to
and with the said Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of
the said City of Albany, that we will pay to the said
Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty, or their order, the
full proportion of all monies which shall be collected for
Wharfage and other Duties arising from or upon the said
Wharves and Quays aforesaid, estimated according to the
number offset of Wharf owned by each of the said Asso-
ciated Proprietors, deducting only the Expense of Col-
lection and the rents of the Wharves leased by the said
Proprietors from other persons. And we do further
covenant and agree to and with the said Mayor, Alder-
156 City Documents.
men and Commonalty that the Books and Accounts of
our Wharfinger shall be produced for Examination to the
Mayor or Recorder at any time and as often as they shall
think proper, or to the Chamberlain by their order. In
witness whereof, we the Trustees of the Associated
Company of Proprietors of Wharves and Quays in the
City of Albany, liave hereunto set our hands this twenty
second day of April, in the year of our Lord one thou-
sand eight hundred.
G. W. V. SCHAICK,
JOHN ROBISON,
FRANCIS BLOODGOOD,
Trustees of certain Proprietors of Wharfs.
Witness,
ABRAHAM GROESBEECK.
WARRANTY DEED OF A NEGRO SWEEP.
This Indenture made the fifth day of December, in the
year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-
four, between the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of
the City of Albany, of the first part, and Abraham Blood-
good, of the City of Albany, Merchant, of the second
part,
Witnesseth, that the said parties of the first part in
consideration of the sum of eighty-five pounds of lawful
money of the State of New York, to them in hand paid
by the said party of the second part, at or before the en-
sealing and delivery of these presents the receipt \vhereof
is hereby acknowledged, have bargained and sold, and by
these presents do bargain and sell unto the said party of
the second part, his executors, administrators and assigns,
a certain Negro Man Slave being a Chimney Sweep, called
Csesar, which Negro, the said parties of the first, shall
and will at all times hereafter warrant and defend to the
said party of the second part, his Executors, Administrat-
ors and Assigns against the lawful claim of all persons
whomsoever. And the said party of the second part, for
City Documents. 157
himself, his Heirs, Executors and Administrators, doth
covenant with the said parties of the first and their suc-
cessors in manner following, that is to say, that the said
party of the second part, his Executors and Administrat-
ors, shall and will during the life of the said Negro or so
long as he remains, his or their slave cause him to work
in the City of Albany as a chimney sweep, subject to the
ordinances and resolutions of the parties of the first part
and their successors in common council convened, and
that the said party of the second part, his executors or
administrators shall not at any time hereafter sell the
said Negro, before he or they shall by writing directed
and delivered to the said parties of the first or their
successors in common council convened, have given them
the refusal of the said Negro at the sum of eighty-five
pounds or such less sum as he shall bona fide be offered
for sale at. In witness whereof, I Abraham Yates,
Junior, Mayor of the said City, have hereto set my hand
and caused the seal of the said city, to be affixed the day
and year first above written. And the said party of the
second part hath hereto also set his hand and seal the
same day and year.
ABRAHAM YATES, Jun.,
Mayor.
Sealed and delivered in the
presence of
ELBERT WILLETT, ABR. BLOODGOOD.
JOHN CAMPBELL.
BILL OF SALE OF POMPEY, A SLAVE, TO
THE CORPORATION.
Know all men by these presents, that I, Davis Hunt,
of the town of Watervliet, in the County of Albany, for
and in consideration of the sum of sixty-five pounds of
lawful money of New York, to me in hand paid by the
Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of Albany
at the sealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt
158 City Documents.
whereof, I the said Davis Hunt, do hereby acknowledge,
have granted, bargained and sold, and by these presents
do grant, bargain and sell unto the Mayor, Aldermen and
Commonalty of the City of Albany, and their successors,
a negro man slave named Pompey, of the age of forty-
two years. To have and to hold the said negro man
slave above bargained and sold or mentioned or intended
so to be to the said Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty
of the City of Albany and their successors forever, and I
the said Davis Hunt, for myself, my Heirs, Executors and
Administrators, the said negro man slave, unto the
Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of Albany,
and their successors against me the said Davis Hunt, my
Executors and Administrators, and against all and every
other person or persons whatsoever shall and will warrant
and forever defend by these presents. In witness whereof
I have hereunto set my hand and seal at the City of
Albany this twenty-second day of June, in the year one
thousand seven hundred and ninety-five. '
Sealed and delivered in the > DAVIS HUNT.
presence of $
JOHN J. OSTRANDER.
The word Aldermen wrote on erasure in the eleventh
line of this instrument before execution hereof.
Sealed and delivered in the
presence of us
PETER BEEKMAN,
ISAAC SLINGERLANDT, Jun.
OPENING OF FERRY STREET.
The Committee appointed to confer with a Committee
of the Consistory of the Dutch Church, report that the
Committee of the Dutch Church propose as follows :
1st. To lay out a Street of sixty feet wide in the Pas-
ture from the house of Jacob Truax to the Ferry Lot on
a straight line.
2d. To give up their ground as present occupie d as a
street, leading from the Ferry House to Washington street,
City Documents. 159
and to relinguish their right to a compensation therefore,
this Corporation consenting that the consistory stop up
the road as it formerly run through their Pasture to the
South Ward and of the Ferry House.
3d. The Corporation of the Church to give as much
ground in the rear of the lot on which the Ferry House
stands, as to replace the quantity of ground of the said
lot, appropriated to the use of the said street, leading
from the East corner of the Ferry House to Washington
street.
The Corporation of the Church to be permitted to
remove the Bridge across 4;he Treols Kill so far West as
to bring it in the aforesaid sixty feet street, they to be
at the expense of removing it.
21 Sept,, 1789. LEONARD GANSEVOORT, Jun.
JOHN PRICE,
HENRY TEN EYCK.
Resolved that the said Committee be authorised to
accede to the above proposals on behalf of this Board,
21st Sept., 1789.
PROPOSALS FOR KEEPING THE WATCH, 1787.
Proposals from the Subscribers on which they will
undertake and engage to perform in a Rotation their part
of the Duty of Watchmen for the City of Albany.
That the said Watchmen be allowed and paid the sura
of two shillings and six pence in cash for every night they
may do duty as watchmen, which money or wages to be
duly paid quarterly at the expiration of every three
months.
That the Corporation make an allowance of six pence
per night during the winter season for wood and candles,
that is from the first of November to the last of April,
and three pence a week during the rest of the year.
That the Corporation find a convenient room for a
watch house in some convenient part of the City.
160 City Documents.
That the Corporation allow three shillings per night to
be paid as aforesaid, the watchmen finding every thing
but a room to watch in on the above conditions, we are
willing to undertake and perform our part as watchmen.
ROBERT HEUSON, JACOB BLOOMENDALL,
HENRY RADLIFF, JAMES RADLIFF,
JAMES THOMPSON, MARTIN REISE.
COMMON COUNCIL ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC
ON THE GREAT FIRE OF 1793.
The Corporation of the City of Albany viewing the
conduct of those who were present at the calamitous
disaster occasioned by the late destructive fire in this
city, while with pain and regret they recollect the inac-
tivity and seeming unconcern of some few, can not pass
by expressing their hearty and unfeighed thanks to all
those who in that time of general anxiety and distress,
generously and freely steped forward and gave their
aid to the relief of our fellow citizens, in subdueing the
destructive flames then surrounding us, while we express
the gratitude of the citizens whom we represent to the
one class, a contemplation of the other fills us with feel-
ings too painful and disagreeable to be uttered, would
the exertions of individuals be noticed with propriety,
the tribute would gratefully be paid, the thanks of the
corporation, however, are hereby publicly given to all
those and particularly to our neighbours from the country
and adjacent towns who so generously and opportunely
give their needed aid, exertions and assistance. The
conduct of the citizens and country people at the last fire
in the stable of General Gansevoort in Maidens Lane,
and their strenuous efforts, particularly demand and have
the warmest thanks and hearty approbations of this Board.
We must at the same time remark, that if a strict silence
was observed by all except those who are intrusted with
the command, and who will be at such times distinguished
by a white sash, it would be the means of preventing the
confusion which is too frequent on those melancholy
occasions.
City Documents. 161
FAST DAY RECOMMENDED TO THE COMMON
COUNCIL BY THE CLERGY, ON ACCOUNT OF
THE FIRE OF 1797.
Gentlemen: Albany, August 9th, 1797.
Having taken into consideration the late dreadful ca-
lamity which has befallen our city, and convinced that
the judgment of God and their procuring cause the sins
of the community, call for deep humiliation and repent-
ance, we have determined to observe next Wednesday as
a day of fasting and humiliation and prayer. This pur-
pose we thought fit to communicate to your worshipful
body, in order that ytm might if it seemed good,
recommend it to the citizens at large.
We remain, Gentlemen,
with good consideration,
Your very humble servants,
ALEX. MILLER, DAVID S. BOGART,
JOHN B. JOHNSON, JOHN BASSETT,
ANTHONY T. BRAUN,
A CORPORATION BILL FOR PUNCH.
On the 3d of Sept. 1782, Hugh Denniston, who kept
a noted tavern in Green street, furnished certain persons
for the benefit of the city, with the following articles :
9 Boals of Punch 1 16
1 Mug of Beer 009
1 Boal of Grog for Sager 020
The Mayor was requested to pay the bill out of the
corporation money. The following is a facsimile of
the signature of the person who drank the two shilling
boal of grog.
( 162 )
GEOLOGY OF ALBANY COUNTY.
Some Remarks respecting a point in the Geology of Alba-
ny County, submitted to the American Association for
the Advancement of Science.
BY HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAPT.
The attention of the writer was invited, at an early
day, in the area of his nativity, to the mineralogical
interest, revealed by the heavy dust deposits of the
county. These led him to visit the deep cutting of its
streams, which revealed agencies of a prominent kind,
which must have had general power of action on the
structure of plains and valleys; but which action had
long ceased, and exercised but little present influence.
Such action came to be regarded, as soon as we got books,
as geological.
In offering a few remarks on a feature in the strati-
fication of a part of the country familiar to him from
early days, embarrassment is felt in not having recently
revisited the localities referred to. What is said therefore,
is, to some extent, the reminiscence of past years. Some
apology may, indeed, be due for calling attention to the
facts at all, under the circumstances; nor should he do so,
at a time when there are so many eminent and zealous
observers in the field, whose studies are directed to geo-
logical phenomena, were the facts I am about to name of
such a character, on the scenic surface of the country,
as to be likely to attract general notice.
The most prominent feature of the county is the range
of the Helderbergs, an off-shoot of the Catskill moun-
tains. This highest range divides the county into two
general levels of unequal width, characterized as being
above or below that elevation. The lower level is distin-
guished for nothing, on the surface, of so striking a char-
acter as its diluvial and drift deposits of arable layers,
clays, sands, analogic pebbles and boulders. The rock
strata, as generally denoted by geologists, and more
Geology of Albany County. 163
particularly described by Mr. Hall, are, beginning at the
apex of the Helderberg, chertz limestone, neutral colored
sandstones, fossilliferous limestone, graywacke, sedimen-
tary, horizontal slate, or graywacke slate, and argillite.
This stratification, first noticed, it is believed, by the
late Dr. T. Romeyn Beck, is exposed to view wherever
the streams of the county have worked their beds imme-
diately into it.
The city of Albany rests on the edges and top of the
terraceous blue clays and their associated sand strata. I
do not know the height of the foundation of the Capitol,
above the Hudson river. It can not be less than 140 feet,
and the stiff escarpment of the clay beds cut down, at
this point, preparatory to the building of the Capitol, were
probably 18 or 20 feet. This terraceous clay is covered
with a mantel or plateau of diluvial sand, which at the
assumed elevation, extends northwestwardly from the
Hudson to the valley of the Mohawk. It is sixteen miles
from river to river, by about half the distance in breadth,
where it is merged in the arable uplands. The area of
this sand plain, sometimes called the Honicroisa tract,
can not be less than one hundred and twenty square
miles. It is not all equally arid, equally barren and
unfit for every species of agriculture ; but it is, perhaps,
to the impeachment of our agricultural acumen, a tract
of remarkable dimensions, and that lying in the heart of
the state, abstracted from the area of husbandry. Origi-
nally covered with a magnificent forest of the pinus resi-
nosa and shrubbery peculiar to arenaceous plains, the
surface is now well nigh denuded: the winds have insinu-
ated into the sides of hills, creating a species of dunes.
Across this plain, in their journeys from the West, laid
the ancient path of the Iroquois, who, impressed by its
peculiarities of soil and growth, whichever way they
crossed it, called it, in their expressive language, the
Skenektadea * , a term which has been applied, with
* The elements of this compound term are the word she, meaning
through or among; Nek, a pine tree ; ta or dah, a formation of rock
or hard soil, and dea, a plain or valley. The latter termination is
heard in Tahopatatea, the Iroquois name of the Hudson in Canada, &c.
164 Geology oj Albany County.
modifications, at successive periods, to each of the cities
situated on its eastern and western verge.
This mantle of sand rests, throughout its entire extent,
upon the terraceous blue capitoline clay. Rains and
atmospheric moisture speedily sink through it, till
arrested by its impervious aluminous basis. The effect
of this arrangement has been to convert the strata into a
vast filtering apparatus, by which the surface waters are
at the same time, purified and cooled, and find their
outlet, on the surface of the clay beds, into the nearest
streams. But this filtering process has had another strik-
ing effect on the mineral physiognomy of the central
and southeastern parts of the county. The trickling of
springs on the line of the aluminous strata, has carried
along the quartzose grains of sand, causing the superin-
cumbent beds to cave in. The result of this action has
been to cut up the surface of the plains into gulfs, gorges
and minor valleys. By throwing the arenaceous on the
clay beds, a new soil is produced very favorable to the
growth of deciduojis trees. These gorges and sub-valleys
are therefore filled with hard wood species, while the arid
and dry plains bear only pines. They furnish cool re-
treats for every species of animated nature, during the
heats of the day, and it is from the close and vigorous
growth of the foliage, in these numerous gorges, that the
wolf still maintains his position, and defies the farmer
and his sheep-folds from these inaccessible positions.
It is by the union of several of the outlets of these
spring gorges of the pine plains, that the Honger kill is
formed. Small in its volume, it is of unsurpassed purity
and unfailing supply and flows with a force sufficient to
sink its channel through the deep clay stratum, and enter
its recipient, the Tawasentha, or Norman's kill, through
the boulder and pebble drift. Like' other streams of pri-
mary or secondary importance, the banks of this stream
the ample space left for its outflow, and the elevation of its
bordering hills, force the mind, on one of two conclusions,
either that fluviatile action was, at former periods of
comparatively immense force, or, that the time consumed
Geology of Albany County. 165
by the present feeble action on the earth's surface must
have been very great. Feeble as the action of the stream
is, it has been sufficient to reveal a formation of red sand-
stone, which, apparently, underlies the under Helderberg
series of graywacke and slates, and the upper series of
fossiliferous limestone, and its superimposed porous and
marly horizontal new sandstones.
This disclosure was made in a depressed part of the
Honger kill valley, in the course of excavations made in
the heavy embankment constructed by the Western turn-
pike company, in crossing that valley. The rock, in
colors and grain, resembles* the Piermont or Haverstraw
sandstones of the lower Hudson. It is perhaps, charac-
teristically less quartzose and compact. It is also less
apyrous, as was tested by placing a massive block, in the
high heat of a glass burner. Another locality of the
same rock, penetrates through the soil, in the same valley,
at a higher point. * These localities are at the now
decayed manufacturing village at Hamilton, within
about a mile from the entrance of the stream into the
Norman's kill, or Tawasentha. Geologically, but not
topographically, the Honger kill sandstone underlies the
state.
The deepest cutting into the geological column of the
county, is made by the Tawasentha. This stream in its
western fork, the Roga or Mad creek, originates on the
Helderberg range. In passing through the series of
newer sandstones and limestones and graywackes it lays
bare the succession of rocks, and hurries with a rapid
channel to its junction, with the Swarte, or Black, and
the Tiergaea, or north-east branch. Reinforced by these
tributaries, it sweeps its way through the alluvial cover-
ings, for the Hudson. In its progress it sinks its level
quite through the graywacke, and deeply into the Tawa-
sentha slate, which is a sedimentary or graywacke slate.
* This latter locality was pointed out to me, as an anomaly, by
the late John Schoolcraft, Jr., Esq., of Hamilton Village, or Guil-
derland.
[Annals, x.] 15
J66 Geology of Albany County.
At the rapids of the Globe mills, or French's and other
parts of Guilderland, this rock stands in perpendicular
facades, from eighty to, perhaps, a hundred and twenty
feet high. They are least prominent opposite the Boulder
banks at Mulberry hill, near the entrance of the Honger
kill. At lower points of its course, the valley assumes
a greater expansion ; and its precipices have suffered
more from the degradations of elemental action. The river
finally enters the Hudson, two miles south of the city,
between the ancient Iroquois cemetery of Tawasentha *
and Kiddenhoogliten.
* This curious natural mound, or hillock, is connected with the
diluvial formation, by a narrow rock, or peninsula. It was a spot
sacred to sepulture, from the earliest time ; and furnished them a
natural cognomen for the stream. There is no object of higher anti-
quarian interest in the vicinity, and it is worthy of municipal care.
( 167)
THE CITY'S ANCIENT RATINES.
Three considerable streams of water, which anciently
traversed the city, have within the memory of many in-
habitants, been converted into sewers, namely, the Foxen
kill, the Rutten kill and the Bever kill. The Foxen kill,
when the city was first settled, and for a long time after,
afforded abundance of fish. It ran outside of the stock-
ades, which for a great maify years formed the northern
boundary of the city. It is but little more than a quarter
of a century since it was crossed by a bridge in North
Pearl street, near Orange.
The Rutten kill was a lesser stream, having its source
above Lark street, but which sent down a formidable
volume of water in times of freshet. The inhabitants of
the upper end of Beaver street, have an inkling of what
it may have been when they are refreshed by a heavy
rain storm. This also was a never-failing brook, stored
with fish, and was the only one that came within the old
city walls. Passing down the Hudson street ravine, it
crossed Pearl street where the Congregational church
stands, and entered the river a few feet below State
street. In the oldest map of the city 1676, (see Annals
vol. iv, p. 200), a brug marks the spot where it crossed
the street now called Broadway. The city records fre-
quently allude to these bridges. In January, 1701, we
find the following entry:
"It is further concluded since ye Bridges by Coll.
Schuyler's doth decay, that Mr. Roseboom, Hendrik
Oothout and Harpert Jacobse vizite ye same, and make
returne ye next court what is required to be repaired."
A meeting was held on the next day, when the follow-
ing report was made:
"Relating the bridge at Coll. Schuyler's, ye gentlemen
yesterday appointed to vizite ye same do return that it
requires to be repaired with one oak logg, of 17 foot, 12
168 The C%'s Ancient Ravines.
inches square; four posts, 10 foot, 10 inches square; two
pine loggs of 10 foot, 1 foot square; three ditto 17 foot
apiece ; three ditto of 20 foot; and one of 37 foot."
In 1706 the following entry was made in the common
council minutes relating to another of these bridges:
"The petition of William Hogen relating ye bridge by
ye Lutheran church being much out of repair desyreing
that ye Common Couricill will take ye same into there
wise consideration yt ye Bridge be repaired. It is
"Resolved that in convenient time ye same shall be
made sufficient to passe and repasse without danger."
The Lutheran church alluded to occupied the ground
of the Market house in South Pearl street, and its bur-
ial ground was the site of the vegetable market adjoin-
ing. Pearl Street, for a century after this, was but a
lane, many persons now living remembering when a gate
swung across it at State street.
On the 13th April, 1706. the following record was made
in the common council minutes:
"As to ye Bridge towards ye Lutheriaen church, Mr.
Hansen is agreed to make a sufficient and strong new
bridge, laid with good plank two inches thick, wherefore
he is to receive ye 5: 10 due from Evert Janse."
Two years later we find the following entry:
"The Commonalty being informed yt ye Bridge over
ye Rutten kill in ye street lately known by ye name of
ye ffuddamart is very much out of repair & decade, doe
therefore order yt ye sd Bridge shall be made anew and
yt Mr. Robt. Livingston & Coenraet Ten Eyk are ap-
pointed to see ye sd bridge made upon ye Citty charges."
"September 28. This day Mr. Robt. Livingston, Jun. &
Conraet ten Eyk brought in their acct of makeing of ye
Bridge over ye Rutten kill in ye street calld ye fodde
mart, amounting in all after 2: 9: is deducted, wh is
payd to them 7: 14: 4J wh is approved of by ye Com-
monalty & ordered yt those persons are to have credt in
ye Citty book for what there is due to them."
Whether the name of this creek is derived from rats,
as some suppose, it is infested with myriads of the lusti-
The City's Ancient Ravines. 169
est specimens of that vermin to this day. The creek is
now a sewer throughout its entire length. The grading
of the ravine which it traversed was nearly completed in
1847, from Hawk to Lark street, and from Lydius to
State. So late as 1827 it was an unbroken waste. Ea-
gle street then extended no farther than the Lancaster
School, now the Medical College. There were not a
dozen buildings even on Lydius street from Pearl to
Lark. When the unfortunate Strang was executed in
its grassy valley in the above mentioned year, its green
hills on either side were darkened by a multitude num-
bering full thirty thousand. The clay banks on Lydius
street furnished the city with bricks for a great number
of years. During a period of about three years, two
hundred and fifty men and sixty teams were employed
upon the work of grading and filling this large area.
The ravine, three hundred feet broad and fifty feet deep
received the lofty banks upon its borders, and was raised
to a convenient grade, whereby a large tract was reclaim-
ed for habitation, that had been useless except for brick
kilns, or basins where water gathered, furnishing reser-
voirs for bathing and fishing to truant boys. Not less
than six hundred thousand yards excavation was made
in blue clay, and an equal amount of filling was done by
one contractor. By this improvement Hudson street has
become the most inviting avenue to the city, and comely
blocks of dwellings already adorn most of the streets
which intersect the area of the ancient Rutten kill.
(170)
SCEAPS FKOM THE DUTCH EECOEDS,
The fort at Albany, the first Fort Orange, was built in
1614 by Hendrik Christianse. There is a dispute where
it was situated, although it is usually located on the Is-
land at the lower end of the city.
Barent Van Slechtenhorst, agent for the patroon, hav-
ing quarreled with Gov. Stuyvessant about a question of
jurisdiction, was arrested in 1652 and confined at New
Amsterdam several months.
There was a great mortality of cattle here in 1661.
Also very high water Oct. 1 1 of the same year.
Brick imported from Holland sold in 1661 for $4.16 a
thousand, payable in beaver skins.
The small pox produced great mortality at this place
in 1663.
In the oath of allegiance taken by the officers of gov-
ernment, they swore to "maintain the reformed religion
in conformity to the word of God and the decrees of the
synod of Dordrecht."
As early as 1628 frequent mention is made of blacks
owned as slaves in the colony.
The custom of sons adopting the Christian names of
their fathers for their own surnames, came into use as
early as 1638, and leads to a good deal of confusion.
Thus Gerrit, the son of Wolfert Gerritsen, was known
as Gerrit Wolfertsen that is, Gerrit the son of Wolfert.
Seven morgens of land were equal to fifteen acres.
When two fought with knives, a custom of frequent
occurrence at this time, the survivor was held guilty of
murder if he stabbed his antagonist and death ensued;
but only of manslaughter if he cut or slashed him. In
1642 fighting with knives was wholy prohibited.
A beaver skin was worth 2s 6d in 1641.
Scraps from the Dutch Records. 171
An ordinance was passed in 1645 forbidding the sale
of powder and ball to the Indians on pain of death.
The trial of an appeal from the court in Rensselaer-
wyk was held before the governor and council in 1645.
The salary of the Rev. Gideon Schaats, minister at
Fort Orange, was 1200 guilders, about $480.
Beaver skins were not to be sold at Boston, 1663.
Claverack received its name in 1664.
About the same time a sloop was permitted to sail
every Monday from New Amsterdam to Fort Orange,
provided that not more than six passengers at a time be
allowed to go in her.
Although the name Ten Broek occurs so frequently in
the very entertaining history of New York by Knicker-
bocker, yet no mention is made of such a family in the
Dutch records. It is probable, therefore, that they emi-
grated to this country after 1664. The name Harden-
broek is found in the records.
(1T2)
MACAULEY'S ACCOUNT OF ALBANY.
In the year 1610 the Dutch East India company sent
hither one ship for the purpose of trading with the na-
tives. Ships belonging to the same company visited New-
York bay and Hudson's river successively, in the years
1611, 1612, and 1613, but no attempt was made at settle-
ment.
The States General of the Netherlands, in the early
part of the year 1614, granted a patent to sundry mer-
chants for an exclusive trade on Hudson's river. In the
grant the country was styled New Netherlands. The
company the same year built a fort and trading house on
an island in the river, about half a mile below where the
city of Albany now stands. Henry Christiaens was en-
trusted with the command. This seems to have been
the first establishment formed by the Dutch in the New
Netherlands. It was judiciously selected for defence a-
gainst savages. The island at present is called Dunn's
island, and contains about seventy acres of land. It is
near the west side of the river. It is alluvial and very
fertile, being mostly subject to annual inundations. The
land was cleared and under cultivation. The Mohawks
every year planted it with corn. On this island they
had a small village. Dunn's island now contains one
house.
Towards the latter part of the same year the company
erected another small fort and a trading house at the
southerly end of Manhattan island. The fort occupied
a part of the battery, and some of the grounds adjoining
it on the north. To this establishment they gave the
name of New Amsterdam. Both were enclosed with
stockadoes and mounted with some small pieces of
cannon. The Mohawks, Mohiccons, &c. gave to the
Dutch a very friendly reception. They sold them furs
and provisions, and treated them like brethren. They
Macauley's Account of Albany. 173
imagined that the residence of these strangers would be
only temporary.
In 1615 the company constructed a small fort at the
mouth of Norman's kill, about a mile and a half south-
erly of the fort on Dunn's island. The place where the
city of Albany stands and the adjoining parts, the Mo-
hawks called Schaunaughtada, that is, a place beyond,
on the other side, or over the plains. The designation
was, in respect to Ohnowalagantle, on the river Mohawk
or Canneogahakalononitade. At the time the Dutch ar-
rived several small bands of Mohawks resided on the
west bank of the Hudson* and on the islands in that
stream. The eastern bank of that river was occupied
by bands of the Moheakanneews. The river was the
boundary between those hostile tribes. Violent disputes
then existed between the members living on its banks in
relation to the islands. The Hudson was called by the
Mohawks Cahohatatea, and by the Lenni Lenape, Ma-
hackaneghtuck. To Schaunaughtada the Dutch first be-
stowed the appellation of Aurania, and then Beverwyck.
The company in 1618 built a redoubt at the Kingston
landing, and established a post at Esopus, now Kingston,
in the county of Ulster. This place is on the south side
of Esopus creek, and two miles west of the landing.
The banks of the Hudson below Catskill, and those of
Walkill and Rondout rivers, and of Esopus creek, were
inhabited by bands of the Mahiccons and Mohickanders,
or Wabingas. The Mahiccons and Wabingas belonged
to the confederacy of the Lenni Lenape, and were kin-
dred tribes.
Between the years 1616 and 1620, about twenty per-
sons belonging to the company went from the fort on
Dunn's island, below Albany, to Ohnowalagantle, now
Schenectady, where they entered into a compact with the
Mohawks, from whom they bought some land on which
they erected a trading house. This they surrounded
with pickets and fortified. Then Ohnowalagantle was a
considerable town, and contained several villages and
hamlets. The principal village stood within the bounds
174 Macauley's Account of Albany.
of the present city. The rich and beautiful intervale
lands on the Mohawk, around the city, were mostly clear-
ed and cultivated. On these the Mohawks grew corn,
beans, and squashes, which in part afforded them sub-
sistence. According to tradition, the village of Ohno-
walagantle occupied the site of Connughariegugharie,
the ancient capital of the Mohawks. The same tradi-
tion informs us that it was abandoned some ages ante-
rior to the colonization, and that Icanderago, at the
mouth of Schoharie creek, was selected for the new cap-
ital. We have no certain information in respect to the
number of the Mohawks residing at Ohnowalagantle
when the Dutch came to it. According to some ac-
counts there were eight hundred fighting men, and ac-
cording to others less. The same accounts inform us
that three hundred warriors lived upon the lands which
have since been included in one farm. Without at-
tempting to reconcile these jarring accounts, we may
reasonably infer that the numbers were considerable.
The States General of the Netherlands, in the year
1621, made a grant of the whole country to the Dutch
West India company. In 1623 this company built fort
Orange on the west side of the Hudson, about half a
mile above Dunn's island. A village soon rose in its
vicinity. Fort Orange stood in the southeasterly quar-
ter of the city of Albany.
When the Dutch arrived at Albany, violent controver-
sies existed between the Moheakanneews and Mohawks,
about the alluvial lands on the east side of the Hudson,
and some of the islands in the river. To end these con-
troversies, the commander of fort Orange invited the
hostile chiefs into the fort, and persuaded them to bury
the hatchet.
In the beginning of August, 1678, Colonel Dongan
met the Agoneasean chiefs at Albany, and made a speech
to them. He advised them not to treat with the French,
without consulting him; not to kill their prisoners, but
to exchange them for their own people ; to dispatch mes-
sengers to the Indians, with whom they were then at
Macauley's Account of Albany. 175
war, and propose peace, and bury the tomahawk ; tell-
ing them at the same time, that whatever things they
wanted hereafter, the English would let them have, upon
cheaper terms than the French.
Colonel Dongan, in his interview with the Aganuschi-
onian chiefs at Albany, seems to have acted with an
overheated zeal in rousing the passions of this ferocious
people against the French. Probably not being much
acquainted with the savage character, he did not foresee
the consequences. The innocent inhabitants of Canada
and New York soon became the sufferers.
De Callieres, who went to France in 1688, projected a
scheme for the reduction of the province of New York,
but the plan miscarried.
The force demanded for this enterprise was one thous-
and three hundred regulars, and three hundred Cana-
dians. Albany was said to contain only three hundred
inhabitants, and to be fortified by an inclosure of stock-
adoes, and a little fort with four bastions, and that it con-
tained but one hundred and fifty soldiers. New York
was represented to contain about four thousand persons.
In 1689, the count de Frontenac, the governor of Can-
ada, proposed peace to the Aganuschioni who called a
grand council at Onondaga. The chiefs, from the sev-
eral tribes, convened to the number of eighty, about the
22d of January, 1690. The people of Albany were
notified but did not attend. Sadekanaghtie an Onondaga
chief, opened the conference. According to the French
accounts, the whole was managed with great art and
formality, and concluded in showing a disposition to
make peace without perfecting it.
Among other measures to detach the Agoneaseah
from the British interest, and to raise the depressed spirit
of the Canadians, count de Frontenac thought proper
to send out several parties against the English colonies.
D'Aillebout, de Mantel and Le Moyne, commanded one
against Schenectady, consisting of about two hundred
French, and fifty Mohawks belonging to the Caughnawa-
ga clan.
176 Macauhy's Account of Albany.
The people at Schenectady, though they had been in-
formed of the designs of the enemy, were in the greatest
security; imagining it impossible for any men to march
several hundred miles in the midst of winter, through
the snow, bearing their provisions on their backs.
After a march of twenty-two days, the enemy reached
the vicinity of Schenectady, on the 8th of February,
1690, and were reduced to such straits that they thought
of surrendering themselves prisoners of war. But their
scouts, who were a day or two in the village, returned
with such favorable accounts of the absolute security of
the people, that they determined on the attack. They
entered on Saturday night, about eleven o'clock, at the
gates , which were found unshut; and that every house
might be invested at the same time, divided themselves
into small parties of six or seven men. The inhabitants
were in a profound sleep, and unalarmed till their doors
were broke open. Before they were risen from their
beds the enemy entered and began the work of death.
The whole village was instantly in a blaze. Sixty per-
sons were killed, and twenty-seven carried into captiv-
ity. The rest fled, naked, towards Albany, through a
deep snow, which fell that night in a terrible storm ; and
twenty-five of these fugitives lost their limbs in the
flight through the severity of the cold.
The news of this dreadful tragedy reached Albany a-
bout break of day. A universal dread seized the in-
habitants. A party of horse was immediately dispatched
to Schenectady. The enemy, in the mean time, pillaged
the town till noon the next day; and then went off with
their plunder, and about forty of the best horses. The
rest, with all the cattle they could find, lay slaughtered
in the streets. Several women and children were releas-
ed, at the instance of Capt. Glen, on the score of his
wife's civilities to certain French captives, in the time
of Col. Dongan.
A party of Albanians and Mohawks pursued the ene-
my in his retreat and either killed or captivated five and
twenty.
Macauley's Account of Albany. 177
The taking and burning of Schenectady had such an
effect upon the people of Albany, that they were almost
on the point of abandoning it.
In this state, bordering upon despair, several of the
Mohawk chiefs arrived, and urged them to stay. They
addressed them affectionately, recommended a union of
the colonies, and a perseverance in the war. In their
native simplicity they say, *' The French have broken
open our house at both ends; formerly in the Seneca
country, and now here.-' This expression had reference
to entering both ends of their country.
The French, in this expedition, set out from Cham-
bly, on Sorel, and proceeded up lake Champlain to
Wood creek, or the head of South bay, from whence
they crossed over to the Hudson, at Sandy Hill, and then
went down that river on the ice to Saratoga. Here they
left it, and marched through the woods to Schenectady.
Most of the way was on the ice. The advance went for-
ward on snow shoes. The main followed their trail.
Incredible were the hardships suffered by this veteran
band.
This summer, 1691, Major Schuyler with some volun-
teers, and a party of Mohawks, passed through lake;
Champlain, and made an irruption into Canada, and de-
vastated some of the French settlements on the Sorel.
M. de Callieres, the governor of Montreal, to oppose-
him, collected a small army, and encamped at La Prai-
rie. Several skirmishes took place between the hostile
parties, and in these, it is said, that Schuyler slew about
three hundred of the enemy, a number which exceeded
that of his own force, a thing not at all likely. Major
Schuyler's design in this incursion, was to reanimate the
Mohawks, and preserve their enmity against the French.
They accordingly, with the other members of the nation,,
continued their hostilities, making numerous inroads into
Canada, and keeping the country in constant alarm.
Col. Benjamin Fletcher arrived with the commission ol
Governor, on the 29th of August, 1692.
[Annals, x.] 16
178 Macauley-s Account of Albany.
Fletcher was brave, active, passionate, bigoted, and
avaricious, and withal of inconsiderable talents. In the
autumn after his arrival he repaired to Albany, where
he had an interview with the Agoneasean chiefs, and
confirmed the old league.
While at Albany he became acquainted with Major
Schuyler, a man of talents, enterprise and courage. No
person then in the province, understood the state of our
affairs with the Agoneaseah better than him. He had so
great an influence over them that whatever he recom-
mended or disapproved had the force of a law. This
influence over them was supported, as it had been 0)3-
tained, by repeated offices of kindness, and his singular
bravery and activity in the defence of his country.
These qualifications, so rarely to be found in a single in-
dividual, rendered him singularly necessary, both to the
province and the governor. Fletcher, who possessed
some sagacity, perceived that such a man would be high-
ly useful, not only for himself, as an adviser, but for the
country, took him into confidence, and made him one of
the council. Under the tutelage of Major Schuyler, the
governor became daily more and more conversant with
the Agoneasean concerns: his constant application to
which procured and preserved him a reputation and in-
fluence in the colony.
The indefatigable and gallant count de Frontenac, find-
ing that all his measures for accomplishing a peace with the
Agoneaseah had proved abortive, was now meditating a
blow upon the Mohawks. He accordingly collected six
or seven hundred French, Adirondacks, and Caughnawa-
gas, and supplied them with every thing necessary for a
winter's campaign. They set out from Montreal, on the
15th day of January, 1693, and proceeded by the way of
lake Champlain ; and after a march attended with incred-
ible hardships, they passed by Schenectady on the 6th of
February, and that night took five men, and some women
and children, at the first castle of the Mohawks. They
met with the same success at the second castle, the Mo-
hawks being in perfect security, and many of them at
Macauley's Account of Albany. 179
Schenectady. At the third they found about forty men
engaged in a war dance, preparatory to going out on
some enterprise the next day. Upon their entering the
castle a conflict ensued in which the French lost some
men. Three hundred of the Mohawks were made cap-
tives in this expedition.
The Mohawks were greatly enraged at the people of
Schenectady, because, they had not given them notice of
the enemy's approach, nor any assistance. But this was
atoned for by the succors from Albany. Colonel Schuy-
ler upon hearing of their misfortunes, immediately put
himself at the head of two hundred volunteers, and went
out against the enemy. On the fifteenth of February, he
was joined by three hundred Mohawks badly armed.
With these forces, he went in pursuit of the enemy,
whom he fell in with, on the seventeenth, when some
skirmishes ensued. The French being apprehensive that
colonel Schuyler would receive a reinforcement from
Albany, continued their retreat on the eighteenth. In-
deed this apprehension was well founded ; for captain
Syms arrived the next day with eighty men. Colonel
Schuyler then resumed the pursuit ; but did not think it
advisable to provoke an attack. When the French had
reached the north branch of Hudson's river, it is said,
that a cake of ice served them to cross over, being open
on both sides, and also above and below.
The frost was now extremely severe, and the Mohawks
being fearful of an engagement, dissuaded Colonel Schuy-
ler from pursuing them, and he returned.
On the tenth of April, 1693, six thousand pounds were
voted for the payment of three hundred men, to be em-
ployed in reinforcing the frontier posts, in the then coun-
ty of Albany.
In 1701, the British crown gave two thousand pounds
for the defence of Albany and Schenectady.
Great were the struggles, at the ensuing election, be-
hveen the Leislerians and the Anti-Leislerians, but the
former prevailed.
Among the opposers of Leisler there was a Mr. Liv-
180 Macauley's Account of Albany.
ingston. The measures of the convention, at Albany,
had been very much directed by his advice, and he was
now obnoxious to his adversaries, not only on these ac-
counts but because he was a man of sense and resolution,
two qualifications rarely to be found united in one per-
son at that day. His intimacy with the late earl had
till that time been his defence against the rage of the
party which he had formerly opposed. They were,
therefore, now bent upon his destruction. Several charges
were made against him which were false; and it was
proposed to pass a law to confiscate his estate. One of
the charges was his refusing to account for moneys re-
ceived as commissioner of excise. He could not account
because his opponents had, previous to making the charge,
drawn out of his hands the books and vouchers, which
they declined allowing him access to.
In 1709, a road was opened by the colonial troops
from fort Anne to White Hall, near the head of lake
Champlain.
The forces under general Winthrop, in 1690, had made
a road from the uper part of Saratoga, to the place where
fort Anne was built.
Colonel Schuyler was dispatched with five of the Ago-
neasean chiefs to England, with an address. No man at t
this time was bettor calculated for this design, than col-
onel Schuyler. He had been born and brought up at Al-
>bany, then the seat of the Indian trade, and influence.
He was perfectly acquainted with the manners, customs,
-and character of the Indians. His influence with the
Agoneaseah was greater than that of any other man.
Whenever their chiefs came to Albany, he invited them
to entertainments at his house. It was in this way, that
he had acquired an ascendancy over them.
Colonel Schuyler's arrival in England with the Ago-
neasean chiefs excited considerable notice. Wherever
he went the people collected in crowds.
The peers, lords, and commons, desired to see them.
The queen and her court were no less solicitous.
The court of St. James was then in mourning. The
Macauley's Account of Albany. 181
chiefs were therefore dressed in mourning, and had an
audience with her majesty. Sir Charles Cotterel, master
of the ceremonies, conducted them from their quarters
to the court, where they were introduced by the lord
Chamberlain, into the royal presence. Their speech on.
the 19th of April, 1710, is preserved by Oldmixon.
The legislature, on the twenty-fourth of June, 1719,
voted a sum of money to construct a bridge over Kinder-
hook creek, in the county of Albany. The place located
for this bridge, was close by the village of Kinderhook
in Columbia county.
In the same law, provision was made for altering some
roads in the province. Claverack was settled about the
same time that Kinderhook was. The first settlers at
the latter place were a few Swedish families. The Dutch
and English came afterwards.
William Burnet, Esq. superseded colonel Schuyler, the
president, as governor of the province, on the 17th of
September, 1720.
The year 1722 was remarkable for a congress of several
governors and commissioners at Albany. The ancient
friendship with the Agoneaseah was renewed at the same
time. Mr. Burnet prevailed upon them to send a mes-
sage to the Eastern Indians, threatening them with a
war, unless they concluded a peace with the colonies of
Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which were greatly
harrassed by their frequent irruptions.
Albany was at this time a great mart for fur. In July,
1723, the house appropriated a sum to defray the expense
of two sheds, which had been erected for the accommo-
dation of the Agoneaseah and other Indians, who came
there to vend their skins.
In 1724, provision was made for fortifying Albany.
In an act passed by the assembly, July 24th, Claverack
is described as a precinct in the manor of Rensselaerwick.
The Dutch then occupied the flats along Claverack creek.
From an act of the same date, it appears that Scho-
harie was then called a precinct. The act provided for
laying out, and opening a road therein. Schoharie was
182 Macauley's Account of Albany.
settled in 1713, by the Germans. Some Dutch families
seated themselves there soon afterwards.
In March, 1744, war broke out between England and
France. Three thousand two hundred pounds were voted
for placing the frontier posts in attitudes of defence; be-
sides an additional sum for the works at Albany.
The English ministry, in the early part of the year
1745, instructed the governor of New York, to carry the
war into Canada.
Military sentinels were established in the city and
county of Albany, in order to sound the alarm, in case
the enemy should send marauding parties into the pro-
vince. England and France were now preparing to
prosecute the war with vigor. The colonies of both
countries were also making preparations.
Intelligence had found its way into the province, that
the French intended to invade it from Canada, with
fifteen hundred veterans, and one hundred Indians. This
occasioned considerable alarm. Colonel Schuyler, and
Major Collins, who commanded a body of provincials
then at Saratoga, were obliged to suspend the construc-
tion of six block-houses, which they had begun to make,
in consequence of the assaults of the Indians in the em-
ployment of France, on their men. These parties in a
measure intercepted the supplies of men and provisions,
going to Saratoga.
Murders were often committed by the enemy, within a
few miles of Albany. Two hundred men were drafted
to increase and strengthen the garrisons at the latter
place and Schenectady. These were drafted from the
militia of Suffolk, Queens, Westchester, Dutchess, Ulster,
and Orange. The settlements of Saratoga and Hoosack,
were broken up, and the inhabitants retired either to
Albany, or those parts near it. Most of the houses were
burnt by the Indians, and the districts entirely devas-
tated ; and no inconsiderable number of the people were
killed, or carried away into captivity.
The assembly, in the month of February, 1746, passed
a law giving rewards for such scalps, and prisoners of
Macauley's Account of Albany. 183
the enemy, as should be taken. In palliation for the
enactment of such a law, the framers alleged it was
retaliatory, and made to induce the enemy to conduct
the war with more humanity on their part.
In the early part of this year, the enemy and their In-
dians had become so emboldened with success, that small
marauding parties came frequently in the very vicinity
of Albany, and there were not instances wanting of their
entering the suburbs at night, and carrying off persons.
Thirteen thousand pounds were voted for the defence
of the province.
The borders of the province, notwithstanding the mea-
sures adopted by government for their defence, continued
to be exposed to all the horrors of savage warfare. In
May, several persons were murdered hard by Schenecta-
dy, and some buildings burnt.
The border inhabitants were filled with consternation.
In general, the settlements were deserted, the people
having retired to the block-houses, and other places of
security. To guard against the inroads and attacks of
the enemy, was impracticable, on account of the extent
and insular positions of the settlements. All the men
in the province would have been inadequate to have
completely protected the county of Albany.
Those of Schenectady, Caughnawaga, Esopus, and
Minisink, were nearly in a like condition. Even Kinder-
hook, Claverack, and Poughkeepsie, although on the east
side of the Hudson, were not exempt from danger. A
thick forest extended all the way from Kinderhook to
the St. Lawrence. The forsaken settlement at Hoosack,
scarcely formed a highway across it.
An idea may be formed of the feebleness of the settle-
ments of Claverack and Kinderhook, from the considera-
tion that there was only one block-house at each place.
Under these alarming circumstances, when destruction
menaced the interior and remote parts of the province;
several spirited individuals came forward and volunteered
their services. Among these was a Mr. Abraham Glen
of Schenectady, who headed one hundred volunteers.
184 Macauley's Account of Albany.
The assembly, among the laws which it enacted, passed
one whereby ship carpenters, house carpenters, joiners,
sawyers, and all artificers, and laborers, were arbitrarily
pressed into the public service; and also horses, wagons,
and all other things which could tend to the invasion,
were placed at the discretion of the officers entrusted
with the management of the enterprise. The county of
Albany alone had to furnish three hundred men.
The city of Albany in the summer of this year, was
visited by a contagious disease, which swept away no
inconsiderable number of its inhabitants. The Agonea-
seah then encamped in its environs, were not exempt
from the same disease, which proved fatal to many, and
occasioned the governor to send the survivors home.
In 1747, some differences occurred between the assem-
bly and the governor in respect to the provincial troops.
From it, we learn that there were four companies of
men stationed at Halfmoon; two at Schaghtikoke; three
at Saratoga; three at Connestigune; two at Schenectady;
one at fort Hunter; and one between that place and
Schenectady. In addition to these, there were men sta-
tioned at Kinderhook, Schoharie, Caughnawaga, Stone
Arabia, Canojoharie, and Germanflats; Ulster and Or-
ange had also some small garrisons. The main body of
the provincial forces was stationed at Albany.
The Indians of the enemy, this year, waylaid a party
of men belonging to Schenectady, who went out for tim-
ber, and killed thirty-nine. The place where these men
fell, is about four miles north-north-west of the city, in
the town of Glenville.
On the eighth of April, 1748, the assembly passed a
law, which authorized the inhabitants of Schenectady, to
construct two block-houses for its defence.
The treaty of peace concluded between Great Britain
and France, on the seventh of October, 1747, put an
end to the war; but the Indians did not cease their hos-
tilities till some time in the year 1749.
Albany was settled in the year 1614, by some Holland-
ers, and very soon after New York, but it was not erect-
Macauley's Account of Albany. 185
ed into a county till the first of November, 1683. It is
bounded eastwardly by the Hudson, southwardly by
Greene, westwardly by Schoharie, and northwardly by
Schenectady and Saratoga; the outlines of this county
have enough of uniformity. Its greatest length from east
to west is about twenty-four miles, and its greatest
breadth from north to south is twenty-two. After mak-
ing some small deductions from its length and breadth,
as given, it will be found to contain about three hundred
and nine thousand seven hundred and sixty acres of land,
or four hundred and eighty-four square miles. The
number of acres under Improvement, in 1825, was one
hundred and ninety thousand five hundred, very nearly
two-thirds of the whole. The county, exclusive of the
city of Albany, is subdivided into eight towns. Its popu-
lation is forty-two thousand eight hundred and twenty-
one, which gives rather over eighty-eight to every square
mile
Albany displays almost every variety of aspect and
soil. On the east are extensive sandy plains, interspersed
with tolerably productive spots; in the middle are cham-
paigns, beautified with gentle swells, while in the west
and south-west there are hills, and the precipitous and
craggy Helderberg. The lands along the bank of the
Hudson are rich. Those of the champaigns and hills
are middling, and very improvable. Most of the plains,
which were formerly considered mere barrens, are suscep-
tible of cultivation, and under good husbandry may be
made to yield abundant crops. The plains are from five
to eleven miles broad, and stretch from north to south
nearly through the county.
Exclusive of the Hudson and Mohawk, which wash
the county on the east and north as far as the county of
Schenectady, there are the Norman's kill, Cat's kill. Fox
creek, and some other smaller streams. Norman's kill en-
ters from Duanesburg, and flows south-easterly eighteen
miles, and mingles with the waters of the Hudson. Cat's-
kill crosses the south-westerly corner of the county from
Schoharie into Greene. Several branches of this creek
186 Macauley's Account of Albany.
rise in the county of Albany. Fox creek descends west-
wardly into the Schoharie.
Albany,* the second city in the state in population,
commerce, and wealth, is situated on the west side of
the Hudson, about one hundred and forty-five miles north-
wardly of the city of New York, in north latitude forty-
two degrees and thirty-nine minutes. It is built partly
on a flat, and partly on the side of a hill. The streets
are generally crooked and narrow. The hill rises with
a pretty steep acclivity, and has an elevation of about
one hundred and fifty feet at the distance of half a mile
from the river, and two hundred and ten at the distance
of one mile; here the plain, spreading west wardly, begins.
From the border of this plain there is an extensive view
eastwardly, and south-eastwardly.|
Albany in 1825 contained about sixteen thousand in-
habitants, and three thousand dwelling houses and stores,
twelve houses for public worship, a state-house, three
banks, the capitol, a court-house and jail, an academy,
theatre, museum, and an arsenal. Its population at pre-
sent (1829) is about twenty thousand.
The academy is constructed of red sandstone. It is
ninety feet square, and three stories high, apart from its
basement. The Albany Lyceum is kept in it. It is the
handsomest edifice in the city.
* The spot where this city now stands was at first called by the
Dutch Aurania; then Beverwyck, till 1625 ; then Fort Orange, till
1647, and Williamstadt, till 1664. All this time it had also the name
of the Fuyck. Fort Orange was built in 1623, and Williamstadt, in
1647. At first a hamlet, then a village, and afterwards a town, and
lastly a city. For a long time after its foundation it was enclosed
with pickets (palisadoes.)
f By a late survey the distance between New York and Albany, by
the road on the west side of the river, has been found only 145 miles.
According to the latitudes the distance is still less, being only one
hundred and thirty-five miles and a half, and eight rods. The re-
ceived distances of all the intermediate towns and villages on and near
the river from these two cities are incorrect. Hudson, for instance, is
about one hundred and eight miles by its latitude from the city of
New York. By the river the distance does not exceed one hundred
and sixteen miles. The latitudinal discance from Hudson to Albany
is about twenty-five miles.
Macauley's Account of Albany. 187
The Capitol, or State-House, stands at the head of
State street; its base is about one hundred and thirty feet
above the Hudson; the structure is brick faced with red
sandstone. It is one hundred and fifteen feet long, nine-
ty broad, and fifty high, exclusive of the basement story
and the roof. The legislature of the state, the supreme
and county courts sit in it. In the structure of this edi-
fice the rules of architecture, whether Egyptian, Hindoo,
Chinese, Grecian, Roman, Saracenic, Gothic, or compos-
ite, have been violated.
The Erie and Champlain canals terminate at the city
in a spacious basin. Sloops carrying from ninety to one
hundred and fifty tons come up to the city. The bars
below are serious impediments to the navigation of the
river; these might be obviated by a canal ten or twelve
miles long, and then vessels of two or three hundred
tons might make their way up.
Albany was incorporated in the year 1686, by Colonel
Dongan, governor of the colony. In 1750 it contained
three hundred and fifty houses. From its foundation till
the close of the revolution it was palisadoed and fortified.
Here all the treaties with the Agoneaseah, and other
Indians, were ccncluded. It used to be a great mart
for fur.
The exact time when Albany was founded is not
known. In 1614 the Dutch erected a small fort and a
trading house, on an island half a mile below the site of
the present city. In 1623 they built fort Orange on the
west side of the river, within the bounds of the present
city. Some have alleged that they made the latter fort
in 1614. If this be true, Albany is the oldest town
in the United States, but if the preceding, then New
York, Esopus, and Schenectady take precedence. Not-
withstanding the allegation, we have no doubt New
York is the oldest of the two. A village sprung up
near the fort, which was afterwards enlarged and be-
came a city.
Mr. Stuyvesant, the governor of the New Netherlands,
in a letter to Col. Nicolls, September 2d, 1664, says, that
188 Macauley's Account of Albany.
the Dutch came up the North River, in the years 1614,
1615, and 1616, near fort Orange, where to hinder the
invasions and massacres commonly committed by the
savages, they built a small fort. A little before in the
same letter he says, we have enjoyed fort Orange about
forty-eight or fifty years, and the Manhattans about forty-
one or forty-two years. See Smith's Hist. p. 28. Alba-
ny was called Schau-naugh-ta-da, by the Agoneaseah.
The definition of which is, over the pine plains, or across
the pine plains, on the Cahohatatea (Hudson's River).
The Dutch in after times applied it to the place where
Schenectady now stands, as being over the plains from
Albany. Hence the radical of Schenectady.
Greenbush is on the east side of the Hudson, over
against the lower part of the city of Albany. It is built
on the river bottom, and has about one hundred houses.
The present village was founded in 1812.
Troy was also situated on the east side of the Hudson,
at the head of sloop navigation. It is six miles north
of Albany, and one hundred and fifty-one north of New
York. The Erie and Champlain canals are joined to the
Hudson by side cuts, and locks, so as to benefit this place.
Troy is built on a handsome plain, of several miles ex-
tent, lying between the river and hill, and contains about
eleven thousand inhabitants. There are here two banks,
and six or seven houses for public worship; also a court
house and jail. After Albany, Troy is the most wealthy,
commercial and populous city on the Hudson. It was
founded between 1787, and 1790; incorporated as a vil-
lage in 1801, and as a city in 1816. In point of location,
it nearly equals Albany. It is the shire town of the
county of Rensselaer. The tide ascends to this place.
Gibbonsville in the county of Albany, west of Troy,
contains about eighty houses. There are two large basins
here appended to the Erie canal. The one is connected
with the Hudson by a side cut, and two locks. There is
an arsenal at this place.
( 189 )
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS.
[The following reminiscences were written by GORHAM A. WORTH,
Esq., who was sometime Cashier of the Mechanics and Farmers'
Bank in this city, and afterwards president of the City Bank in New
York. He died in that city in 1856, aged 73. Like all other Recol-
lections they are occasionally discrepant. An octogenarian, on the
publication of Mr. Worth's pamphlet, wrote some strictures upon it
for the newspapers, whifch are appended as notes with his
initials. The last one is by another hand.]
In commencing these reminiscences, I prefer to say
that my first visit to Albany was just before the election
of Mr. Jefferson, or the Great Apostle as he is sometimes
called. Not that the visit had any thing to do,
either with the election of Mr. Jefferson or the fortunes
of his followers, but because it was an epoch in my own
personal history, as the election of Mr. Jefferson was, in
the history of the country.
I had then just launched my " light untimbered bark"
upon the ocean of life; with no guide but Providence,
and with no hand but my own to direct its course.
Never shall I forget the deep feeling of loneliness that
came over me when the receding headlands of my native
bay disappeared in the distance, and I found myself, for
the first time in my life, alone on the waters.
It was at the age of eighteen, and in the autumn of the
year eighteen hundred, that I first set my foot within the
precincts of the ancient and far-famed city of Albany. It
is true, I had passed through the city some ten or twelve
years before, but 'twas on a rainy day, and in a covered
wagon; and as the only glimpse I had of the town, was
obtained through a hole in the canvas, I set it down as
nothing, since, in reality, it amounted to nothing.
I am, however, well aware that an intelligent, sharp-
sighted English traveler, such for instance, as Fearon,
Hall, or Marryat, would have seen, even through a
[Annals, x.] 17
190 Random Recollections.
smaller aperture, and under less favorable circumstances,
enough to have enabled him to have given you, not only
the exact topography of the town and its localities, but
a full and accurate account of its different religious deno-
minations, the state of its society, the number of its slaves
and the character of its inns ; together with many sage
reflections upon the demoralizing tendency of republican
governments !
But this faculty of taking in all things at a single
glance ; this ability to see more than is to be seen, is one
of the many advantages which the English traveler pos-
sesses over all others, and which in fact distinguishes
him from the traveler of every other country on the face
of the globe the land of Munchausen not except ed ! I
mention these things merely to satisfy the reader that I
might have made something out of the affair of the
covered wagon, had I been so disposed. But 'tis not my
intention, nor was it when I commenced these reminis-
cences, to draw upon my imagination for a single fact.
I have materials in abundance, and can not, therefore, be
tempted to go out of my way to recollect incidents which
never happened, or to describe things which I never saw.
The city of Albany, in 1800, though the capital of the
state, and occupying a commanding position, was, never-
theless, in point of size, commercial importance, and
architectural dignity, but a third or fourth rate town. It
was not, in some respects, what it might have been; but
it was, in all respects, unlike what it now is. Its popu-
lation could not, I think, have exceeded some seven or
eight thousand.
Albany has probably undergone a greater change, not
only in its physical aspect, but in the habits and cha-
racter of its population, than any other city in the United
States. It was, even in 1800, an old town (with one
exception, I believe, the oldest in the country), but the
face of nature in and around it had been but little dis-
turbed. Old as it was, it still retained its primitive
aspect, and still stood in all its original simplicity; main-
taining its quaint and quiescent character, unchanged,
Random Recollections. 191
unmodified, unimproved; still pertinaciously adhering,
in all its walks, to the old track and the old form.
The rude hand of innovation, however, was then just
beginning to be felt; and slight as was the touch, it was
felt as an injury, or resented as an insult.
Nothing could be more unique or picturesque to the
eye, than Albany in its primitive days. Even at the
period above mentioned, it struck me as peculiarly naive
and beautiful. All was antique, clean and quiet. There
was no noise, no hurry, no confusion. There was no
putting up, nor pulling down; no ill- looking excavations,
no leveling of hills, no filling up of valleys: in short,
none of those villainous improvements, which disfigure
the face of nature, and exhibit the restless spirit of the
Anglo-Saxon race. The stinted pines still covered the
hills to the very edge of the city, and the ravines and
valleys were clothed with evergreens, intermixed with
briars, and spangled with the wild rose.
The margin of the river, witli the exception of an
opening at the foot of State street, extending down to the
ferry, was overhung with willows, and shaded by the
wide spreading elm.* The little islands below the town
were feathered with foliage down to the very water's
edge, and bordered with stately trees, whose forms were
mirrored in the stream below. As far as the eye could
* [It is said that there were docks at this time from Maiden lane
to the Watering place, as it was called, now the Steamboat landing.
At the latter place was Hodge's dock, and above it the State dock,
built in the French war.] At the foot of Maiden lane was Fish slip,
where the sturgeon were sold. On Quay street were stores and
dwelling houses, and a tavern. If our author, when he first set his
foot in this "jewel of antiquity," had taken a walk to this world-
renowned sturgeon slip, " a little after sun rise," he would have
witnessed a scene that would have cast the willows and elm trees
into the deep shade of a forgotten past. There was the quiet ancient
burner, elbowed aside by his Old and New England, Scotch and
Irish brethren, more clamorous and eager for Albany beef than him-
self. If he had not beforehand entered into a confederacy with the
Etsbergers and Reckhows, lords of the slip, he must infallibly have
gone home dinnerless and desponding. J. Q. w.
192 Random Recollections.
extend, up and down the river, all remained compara-
tively wild and beautiful, while the city itself was a cu-
riosity; nay, a perfect jewel of antiquity, particularly to
the eye of one who had been accustomed to the ' ' white
house, green door, and brass knocker," of the towns and
villages of New England. Nothing, indeed, could be more
picturesque than the view of North Pearl street, from the
old elm at Webster's corner, up to the new two steepled
church. Pearl street, it must be remembered, was in
those days, the west end of the town; for there the town
ended, and there resided some of the most aristocratic of
the ancient burgers. There, a little after sun rise, in a
mild spring morning, might be seen, sitting by the side
of their doors, the ancient and venerable mynheers; with
their little sharp cocked hats, or red-ringed worsted caps,
(as the case might be), drawn tight over their heads.*
There they sat, like monuments of a former age, still
lingering on the verge of time ; or like milestones upon
a turnpike road, solus in solo ! or, in simple English, un-
like any thing I had ever seen before. But there they
sat, smoking their pipes, in that dignified silence, and
with that phlegmatic gravity, which would have done
honor to Sir Walter Van Twiller, or even to Puffendorf
himself. The whole line of the street, on either side,
was dotted by the little clouds of smoke, that, issuing
from their pipes, and, curling round their noddles, rose
slowly up the antique gables, and mingled with the morn-
ing air; giving beauty to the scene, and adding an air of
* If the seer had looked a second time, he would have seen the
simple side hill street, the grass covering the east half of it. He
would have seen the quiet citizens returning from their business or
their morning walk but he would not have seen a single cocked hat,
nor red ringed worsted cap, upon the head of one of them, except
may be that of the venerable Dr. Stringer on his professional morning
tour. He would have seen the upper half of each front door open,
and here and there a neat and thrifty house-wife, bending forward
over the closed lower half, watching for her husband or her sons, as
they came home to breakfast. He might have seen that brass knocker,
in the form of a dog, on the door of Lafayette^s head-quarters, unlike
any u knocker" on any "green door" in New England. J. Q. w.
Random Recollections. 193
life to the picture. But the great charm was in the no-
velty of the thing. I had seen a Dutch house before, but
never till then had I seen a row of Dutchmen, smoking
in a Dutch city.*
Albany was indeed Dutch, in all its moods and tenses;
thoroughly and inveterately Dutch. The buildings were
Dutch Dutch in style, in position, attitude and aspect.
The people were Dutch, the horses were Dutch, and even
the dogs were Dutch. If any confirmation were wanting,
as to the origin and character of the place, it might be
found in the old Dutch church, which was itself always to
be found in the middle of State street, looking as if it had
been wheeled out of line by the giants of old, and there
left; or had dropped down from the clouds in a dark
night, and had stuck fast where it fell.f
* Shade of the immortal Diederick! and shall he not smoke? When
one of these u ancient and venerable Mynheers," who was coeval
with those willows and elms, looked back to the many times when,
in his canoe, he breasted the downward and devious current of the
Mohawk, with its rifts, falls, and portages, descended into Oneida
lake; followed its outlet to Oswego; coursed along the winding shores
of Ontario and Erie to Detroit, up that river to the St. Clair, and
along the shores of Huron, crossing Saganaw bay to Macinac, where
he traded with the Indian for his furs, and of his returns thence to
his family in Pearl street, laden with the riches so hardly earned, the
labor of which has reduced him to early decrepitude, shall he be
jeered at for his apathy? Shall he not smoke, and rejoice to see his
quiet and contemplative neighbor, who has been in another way
equally prosperous, do so likewise without being ridiculed for his
grave dullness? J. Q. W.
t It is now more than forty years since this old edifice was removed,
and the only thing left to mark the place where it stood, is a long
flag-stone a few feet from the cross-walk between Douw's building
and the Exchange, on the north side [since removed by some
modern Vandal]. There are very few of the present generation left
who remember the position and appearance of this antique but vene-
rable building, and fewer still who can realize the interesting recol-
lections which from tradition cluster around it The first church
was built at a very early day, and of much smaller dimensions. It
was placed in the position where it stood, at the intersection of what
is now State street and Broadway, as a security against Indian at-
194 Random Recollections.
All the old buildings in the city and they constituted
a large majority were but one story high, with sharp
peaked roofs, surmounted by a rooster, vulgarly called a
weathercock. Every house, having any pretensions to
dignity, was placed with its gable end to the street, and
was ornamented with huge iron numericals, announcing
the date of its erection ; while from its eaves long wooden
tacks, commanding: Broadway north and south, and State street, east
and west. The windows were high from the ground, to guard against
an escalade, as it was too far north to be protected by the guns of
Fort Orange. It was a little fortress within itself. In those days
all the men went armed to church. The young men were seated in
the galleries, that they might be ready in case of an attack to sweep
the street either way by their fire from the windows. The old men
were seated on a raised platform along the walls, and the women were
in the slips in the centre and out of the way of any danger.
Those therefore who have been unwise enough to ridicule the
position of the church, have done so in their ignorance of the reasons
for its location. The condition of these Dutchmen and the Pilgrims
of New England were alike; both worshiped their Maker with arms
in their hands. The tradition goes that when this old church was to
be replaced by a new one, the same spot was selected for it, and the
new church was built round the old one, and that during the time
the new one was building, public service was regularly carried on in
the old one, which was interrupted but one sabbath. The new
church was like the old one, and did not differ from it, except in size.
The same high windows, the same arrangement of seats, and the
same separation of the sexes. There was one striking difference,
however. The congregation had become more numerous and wealthy,
and each window bore the escutcheon of the several families who
were dispose to pay for it, in colored glass. Each window had an
outside shutter, which was fastened by a latch. These shutters were
never opened, except on Sunday. Such was this church, with its
steep roof, uniting in the centre, and surmounted with a belfry and
a weathercock. Here in this church', and perhaps also in the old one,
the dead of distinguished families were buried. Here Lord Howe,
who was killed near Ticonderoga, in the French war, found a resting
place, till his remains were removed to England. Here preached
" Our Westerlo," by which endearing appellation the old members of
the flock used to designate their minister, which in the Dutch lan-
guage, and from the lips of an aged matron (Elsie Fonda), had an
affectionate softness about it which the English translation can not
convey. Is it strange that a church from its commencement so an-
cient, and from its position so interesting, should^be dear to the hearts
Random Recollections. 195
gutters, or spouts, projected in front some six or seven
feet, so as to discharge the water from the roof, when it
rained, directly over the centre of the sidewalks. This
was probably contrived for the benefit of those who were
compelled to be out in wet weather, as it furnished them
with an extra shower bath free of expense.
But the destined hour was drawing near. The Yan-
of those whose fathers and grandsires had worshiped and been
buried there ?
But this old church might; to the informed sons of the Pilgiims,
have called up a train of thought in which it would have been profit-
able for them to have indulged. Here, in this church, as late as
the year 1800, the Dutchmen assembled on the sabbath, coming out
of the mixed population which even then existed in the city. Here
were to be found the descendants of the generous Hollanders, who in
days long passed, had given shelter and protection both to the perse-
cuted Pilgrim and to the Huguenot and for aught we know, knelt on
the shore of Delftshaven, prayed with, and bade God speed to the
company on the May-flower or who had shielded the Huguenots of
Rochelle from the hot pursuit of their red assassins. It was on a
sabbath in July, of the year above mentioned, when the writer, for
the first time, entered this church, fully aware of the kind of people
he was to meet there. But the narrow aisles and slips; the separa-
tion of the sexes-, the raised wall seats filled with old men, and the
members of the corporation in their allotted seats; the young men in
the gallery; the clerk's desk under the pulpit, and the old Holland
made pulpit itself, with its hour-glass and iron movable frame to
support it; the high windows with their bright stained glass coats of
arms-, the stoves stand ng on platforms raised outside of the gallery
and nearly on a level with its floor; the figures in large German text
hanging on each side-wall, denoting the chapter of the Bible to be
read, and the first psalm to be sung; the reading of that chapter a -id
decalogue by the clerk; the giving out of that psalm by the clerk, the
singing, the salutation, and the exordium remotum by the minister
all so new and all combined, had less effect upon the writer than the
people themselves every drop of his Pilgrim and Huguenot blood,
and it was all he had, warmed to those whose forefathers had been
kind to his and he felt the full force of the injunction,
11 Thy fathers' friends forget thou not."
He never has, and he never will.
Nearly all those in that church on that day, of full age, have de-
parted from among us. The fires that warmed the ashes of some of
them are hardly yet extinguished. Let no unhallowed heel tread
upon them. j. Q. w.
196 Random Recollections.
kees were creeping in. Every day added to their num-
ber ; and the unhallowed hand of innovation was seen
pointing its impertinent finger at the cherished habits
and venerated customs of the ancient burgers. These
meddling eastern Saxons at length obtained a majority in
the city councils; and then came an order, with a hand-
saw, to " cut off those spouts." Nothing could exceed
the consternation -of the aforesaid burgers, upon the
announcement of this order. Had it been a decree
abolishing their mother tongue, it could hardly
have excited greater astonishment, or greater indignation.
" What !" said they, " are our own spouts then to be
measured and graduated by a corporation standard ! Are
they to be cut off or fore-shortened without our knowledge
or consent !" But the Dutch still retained the obstinacy,
if not the valor of their ancestors. They rallied their
forces, and at the next election, the principal author of
the obnoxious order (my old friend, Elkanah Watson)
was elected a constable of the ward in which he lived !
This done, they went to sleep again ; and before they
awoke, new swarms had arrived, and a complete and
thorough revolution had taken place, The Yankees were
in possession of the city ! and the fate of the Dutch was
sealed.
The old families, however, still claimed the lead in all
matters relating to good society. The city assemblies
were still under their control, as well in regard to time
and place, as in the power of admission and exclusion.
In the exercise of this prerogative, a little jealousy of
the Yankees was occasionally manifested. The diffi-
culty was, to know who was who ; to distinguish between
those that were entitled to admission, and those that
were not. Mere respectability was not of itself sufficient;
nor was wealth to be considered as a certain passport. It
was necessary that there should be something of rank, of
family, or of fashion, to entitle a new comer to a seat
among the notables. These matters, however, were, as
a matter of course, left to the younger branches of the
ancient aristocracy, to regulate as they saw fit.
Random Recollections. 197
Now it happened, that into this ancient and somewhat
exclusive circle of good society, had slid many families,
with their twigs and branches, who had in reality none
of the rights and claims of the genuine Knickerbackers ;
and who were, as far as antiquity was concerned, mere
squatters ; yet they were found to be greater sticklers for
exclusion and probation, than the veritable mynheers
themselves. Still, up to 1803 or 4, things went on tole-
rably well: at all events, there was no complaint. The
assemblies were sufficiently select as to quality, and
perhaps sufficiently liberal in their range as to number.
But, somewhere about the period referred to, the
self-constituted managers held a meeting, at which it
was determined that the city assemblies should in future
be " more select ;" and that "a line of distinction," as
they termed it, should be drawn. Accordingly a new
list was made out, by which it was soon ascertained that
several, heretofore admitted, had been left off, and many
others excluded, that were thought to be better entitled
to admission than many that were retained. The mea-
sure, therefore, was taken in high dudgeon by the friends
of the excluded parties, and was considered as a piece of
arrogance, even by those who had no personal cause of
complaint.
A paper war was immediately commenced, and the
character and pretension of the managers were ridiculed
and satirized in a style as new as it was amusing. A
series of poetical epistles, odes, satires, &c., &c., appear-
ed in rapid succession; some of them displaying a good
deal of taste and cleverness. One piece in particular,
entitled The Conspiracy of the Nobles written in
mock heroic verse, contained some capital hits. It gave
a highly poetic description of the first meeting of the
managers, and an amusing sketch of their persons, pre-
tensions, characters and debates. The most ridiculous
speeches were of course put into their mouths, and they
were thus made to exhibit themselves in a light that was
as laughable as it was absurd. These squibs were an-
swered by the conspirators, but without the wit or the
198 Random Recollections.
humor that characterized the pieces of their opponents.
The fire, however, was kept up on both sides for several
weeks, to the great amusement of the town. The result
was a mortifying defeat on the part of the exclusionists.
The assemblies, as a matter of course, fell into the hands
of the victorious party, and to their credit, be it said,
were conducted with more taste and propriety, and were
indeed more brilliantly attended than they had ever been
before.
This was considered as a victory of wit over impudence,
or rather of sense over nonsense. It is but just, how-
ever, to add, that the real old Knickerbacker families
took but very little interest in the contest, and were pro-
bably not much displeased at the discomfiture of their
quondam allies.
Let us now turn to revolutions of a graver import.
A restless, leveling, innovating spirit, now prevailed
throughout the city. The detested word improvement
was in every mouth, and resistance was unavailing. The
stinted pines became alarmed, and gradually receded.
The hills themselves gave way. New streets opened their
extended lines, and the old ones grew wider. The roost-
ers on the gable heads, that for more than a century
had braved the Indians and the breeze ; that had even
flapped their wings and crowed in the face of Burgoyne
himself, now gave it up, and came quietly down. The
gables in despair soon followed, and more imposing fronts
soon reared their corniced heads. The old Dutch church
itself, though thought to be immortal, submitted to its
fate, and fell! not at the foot of Pompey's statue, exact-
ly, but at the foot of State street, which, freed from that
obstruction, thenceforward became the Rialto of the city,
where pedlers of stale sea-cod, and country hucksters,
now do congregate.
Even the dogs now began to bark in broken English:
many of them, indeed had already caught the Yankee
twang, so rapid was the progress of refinement. In the
process of a few brief years, all that was venerable in the
eyes of the ancient burgers disappeared. Then came the
'Random Recollections.
great eclipse of 1806, which clearly announced the fall
and final end of the Dutch dynasty. It is hardly neces-
sary to say, that not an iron rooster has crowed upon
the gable heads, nor a civil cocked hat been seen in the
ancient city of Albany, from that day to this!
But let it be remembered, that if the growth of Albany
was slow, its position rendered it sure. The great west,
in 1800, was comparatively a wilderness. With the
growth of this vast interior, Albany has grown: it has
increased with its increase, and strengthened with its
strength. No hand, however strong, no enterprise, how-
ever active, could have carried it forward one hour faster
than it went. Its trade was necessarily dependent upon
the population and products of the west, and with these
it has fairly kept pace.
It is, however, true that the ancient Dutch families,
though among the most wealthy and respectable, were
not the most enterprising, nor the most active. Many of
them possessed large landed estates, lived upon their
incomes, and left to others the toils and profits of trade.
At the head of this class, and distinguished for his many
excellent and amiable qualities, stood the late patroon,
Stephen Van Rensselaer: a man widely and honorably
known ; rich without pride, and liberal without ostenta-
tion. I may also mention the name of Jeremiah Van
Rensselaer, a whig of the revolution, and for several
years lieutenant-governor of the state: a frank, stout-
hearted old gentleman, universally respected.
General Ten Broek, also of the revolutionary school,
distinguished for his activity, intelligence and public
spirit.
Cornelius Van Schelluyne, the then best living type ot
the ancient race; rich, honest, independent, unlettered,
and unpretending.
In alluding to these ancient and wealthy families, that
of the Gansevoorts should not be omitted: for it is con-
nected with the patriotism and the triumphs of the revo-
lution. ' The hero of Fort Stanwix" has left to his
descendants a time-honored name a name that belongs
200 Random Recollections.
to the history of the country, and to one of its most in-
teresting and important periods.
But those of a more active and business-like character
among the Dutch, were the Bleeckers, the Lansings, the
Douws, the Van Schaicks, the Ten Eycks, the Ten
Broecks, the Pruyns, the Hochstrassers, the Van Loons,
and the Staatses. The principal merchants of the city,
however those who gave life and character to its
business interests were citizens of a more recent date,
coming from different parts of the Union, but mostly from
New England. Among these, were James Kane,* Dudley
Walsh, William James, Isaiah Townsend, Gilbert Stew-
art, Thomas Gould, Thomas Mather, William, John, and
Alexander Marvin, Peter and John I. Boyd, John Spencer
& Co., John and Spencer Stafford, Isaac and George
Hutton, the Messrs. Webbs and many others.
There was still another class, not less active, nor less
important, in a business point of view. I allude to a
* James Kane died on the 2d April, 1851, aged 80. The following
tribute to his memory was paid by Bishop Alonzo Potter.
" He had been for years the merchant prince of the city in which
he lived. His ventures all seemed successful; his mansion was the
home of a delightful hospitality; his grounds the delighted resort of
all ages and ranks. There was no public charity, no plan of local or
general improvement, which he did not gladly help forward. All at
once he was arrested by one of those sudden and wide-spread revul-
sions that sweep like a tornado across our commercial world. The
storm left him a complete wreck; everything he had on earth was sur-
rendered to his creditors, and he stood forth rich in character and self-
approbation, but penniless in purse. It was too late in life, as he
thought, to retrieve his fallen fortunes. He loved books: he had neither
wife nor child. He was surrounded by the friends of his youth, at
whose houses he was always a welcome guest.
A few creditors remitted their claims, and insisted upon his apply-
ing the proceeds to his personal wants. He reluctantly consented.
For more than twenty years he lived amidst the scenes of his former
prosperity a poor but contented and happy man. Books were friends
that rarely parted company with him. They turned on him no cold
looks; they gave him no half- welcome; and I verily believe that never,
even in the most brilliant days of a career that made him the observed
of all observers, did he enjoy himself so well as while his whole sti-
pend was two hundred dollars a year."
Random Recollections. 201
then comparatively new, or recently established body of
mechanics, of which Benjamin Knower was confessedly
at the head. Mr. Knower was indeed a man of strong
mind and persevering energy of character. Through his
influence, the charter of the Mechanics' and Farmers'
Bank was obtained; and the mechanics of the city of
Albany rose in consideration and respect, personal and
political, to a height which they had never before reached.
Among the merchants (I speak of the period from 1800
to 1808), Mr. Kane was perhaps the most prominent.
He was, indeed, in many respects, the most prominent
man in the city: prominent from his extensive operations,
and business connections; prominent from his wealths,
his liberality, his marked attention to strangers, his
gentlemanly style of dress, and bachelor mode of living.
He was distinguished, too, by an address and manner so
singularly polite and courteous as seemingly to border
upon excess. But let it be remembered, to his honor,
that as no man in the city was more generally known,
so there was no one more generally or more highly re-
spected. The courtesy or politeness of Mr. Kane did not,
however, consist in mere words or modes of expression.
It had its foundation in good feeling I may say in hu-
manity, which speaks to the heart, and is understood
where words are not; which, rising superior to forms
and fashions, borrows nothing from art, nothing from
eloquence.
I shall venture, by way of illustration, to give an in-
stance of this sort of politeness. There appeared at the
dinner table of the Tontine Coffee House, where Mr.
Kane then boarded, and at a time when the house was
crowded to excess, an old gentleman and his wife. They
were very plainly dressed, but still respectable in their
appearance. They were, evidently, country people,
" from down east;" and were probably bound on a visit
to their relations in the west. The servants, always too
few in number, were now altogether insufficient to attend
to the wants of the company at table. The old people,
[ Annals, x.] 18
202 Random Recollections.
therefore, being strangers, and unknown to any one,
were totally neglected. It was shameful! I made one or
two efforts to get a servant to attend to them, but all in
vain : there were too many louder and more authorita-
tive calls. At length, however, they were noticed by
Mr. Kane, who looked round for his own servant, but
finding him engaged, immediately left his seat and walked
down to the lower end of the table where the old couple
sat, and politely asked them what they would be helped
to; took their plates to a side table, carved for them
himself, helped them to vegetables, bread, &c., and then
returned quietly to his seat. He was doubtless taken by
the old people, and perhaps by other strangers, for the
master of the house, or the head waiter! There was
certainly no gentleman present who dared to run the risk
of being so mistaken. But Mr. Kane could aiford it. The
politeness, or, more properly speaking, the humanity of
the act, did him honor, and far outweighed the moment-
ary, or rather the imaginary loss of dignity.
As a people, we can not be sufficiently grateful to Provi-
dence for the character of our ancestors. From the Pu-
ritans of England, the Huguenots of France, and the
Protestants of the Netherlands, did this country derive
the seeds and elements of its greatness: its purity of
faith, its principles, and its power. To them, under
Providence, are we indebted for our civil and religious
liberties, the character of our institutions, and the hardy,
resolute and enterprising spirit of the nation. Talents
and virtues are alike hereditary, though the stream is not
always unbroken by shallows, nor the measure of its
greatness always full. There must, I think, have been
a strong fund of good sense and native talent in the early
Dutch settlers. We have seen it break out occasionally,
even in the fourth and fifth generations; and sometimes,
too, quite unexpectedly, as in the case of Ex-President
Van Buren, whose immediate antecedents gave no pro-
mise of such an eruption, or even foreshadowed the pro-
bability of such an event. Still, in all such cases, there
Random Recollection*. 203
must have been a living spring (no matter how remote)
from whence the waters flowed.
Among the Dutch families of Albany, in which a
strong vein of original talent, occasionally manifested it-
self, were those of the Schuylers, the Van Vechtens, the
Lansings, and the Yateses. General Schuyler, of the
Revolution, was a man of great vigor of mind, strong
sense, and sound judgment; which was happily associat-
ed with liberal feelings, and principles of honor and pa-
triotism. He should by right have commanded that
army in the revolutionary war, which, in the day of
battle, he joined as a volunteer a man greatly his infe-
rior having been placed over his head. But no neglect
or injury could alienate his feelings, or weaken his at-
tachment to the cause of his country.
The talents and character of Abraham Van Vechten,
are still fresh in the memory of the living. He was one
of the ablest members of the Albany bar, when that bar
was studded with eminent names.
Chancellor Lansing, though not possessed of shining
talents, was nevertheless a man of good abilities and of
strict integrity. His brother, Abraham G., was a man
of sound sense and vigorous tone of mind; rough, and
somewhat abrupt in his manner, but upright, frank and
fearless, in conduct and in character.
Old Judge Yates, one of the members of the convention
that framed the Constitution, was a clear-headed, strong-
minded man ; straight forward, honest and patriotic.
His son, John Van Ness Yates, was a man of talents,
both natural and acquired. He was equal to the duties
of any station, and to the difficulties of any task. He
was a wit, a poet, a belles-lettres scholar, and a boon
companion, whose joke was ever ready, and whose laugh
was contagious. He wanted nothing but industry and
self-respect, to have made him eminent as a lawyer. His
associations were beneath him, not only in point of ta-
lent, but in character; yet they affected his interests
rather than his principles. He possessed the readiest
apprehension, and the most retentive memory, of any
204 Random Recollections.
man I ever knew. All that he had ever read, and he
read a vast deal, was at his fingers ends. He was often
consulted by the younger members of the bar, while
walking in the streets; and, without a moment's hesita-
tion, would take out his pencil and writedown what was
the law in the case, and where it was to be found vol-
ume, chapter and verse ! From these frequent street con-
sultations, he was called " the walking library."
But the cleverest man of the name or family, was JOHN
W. YATES. He was a man of education, of talents, of
natural eloquence, and of extensive reading. He was
the best classical scholar in the city Judge Kent not ex-
cepted. He was familiar with the Greek, Latin and
French languages and literature; a mathematician, and a
passionate lover of belles-lettres. He was bred to the
law, but never attempted to practice; yet, I repeat, he
was naturally eloquent, and, in his buoyant moments,
one of the most lively and agreeable men in conversation
that I ever met with.
Such a man, it is natural to suppose, made a figure in
his day: no such thing; he made no figure at all. He
was not appreciated by the public, because the public
knew nothing of him. He was not known even to his
friends, for the very good and sufficient reason that his
friends knew nothing of Greek or Latin, of mathematics
or of poetry. It was curious to find him reading Homer
with a pipe in his mouth; and to see him turn from the
page of Thucydides, to talk Dutch. Yet this alternation
between the languages of Athens and Amsterdam, was in
some measure unavoidable; for many of his old friends,
and indeed most of the old families, continued to speak,
in their domestic circles, the language of their ancestors
long after the period to which these sketches refer.
Though no man set a higher value upon literary ac-
quirements than himself, yet he took no pains to exhibit,
much less to profit by those he possessed. Political distinc-
tion he never sought, and never desired. He had no
taste for popular parade, no love for public display. He
was, in fact, better acquainted with Pericles and Xeno-
Random Recollections. 205
phon than he was with the aldermen of the ward in
which he lived. His knowledge of ancient history was
more perfect than that of any other man I ever knew,
nor was that of modern Europe less familiar. History,
poetry and philosophy ; Egypt and Asia, Athens and
Rome, with all their classic superstitions and diviner
arts, were the subjects of many an evening conversation,
to which I listen with deJight.
To this faint sketch of his literary character, I may
add, that no man possessed a higher sense of honor, or
was governed in his conduct by purer principles. His
talents and his tastes were, indeed, altogether above the
position in which he was placed; and hence, instead of
giving him celebrity, they served but to render him, in
some measure, unsuited to the station he held. But
never will that station, or that official rank, be again
honored with so much learning, combined with so much
talent.
Let it not be supposed that this is a mere fancy sketch,
" writ for the sake of writing it." It is a tribute justly
due to the memory of a man whose merits were unappre-
ciated, and comparatively unknown. It is a tribute
which I owe to the recollection of his partiality and
kindness; to the memory of many a friendly lecture
many a social many a pleasant hour.
Of the public men of Albany, office holders, politicians
and jurists, it may be expected that I should say some-
thing. Among the most prominent were Geo. Clinton,
John Tayler, Ambrose Spencer, James Kent, Chancellor
Lansing, Abraham Van Vechten, John V. Henry, John
Woodworth, Thos. Tillotson, Abraham G. Lansing,
Elisha Jenkins, Edmond Charles Genet, and last, though
not least, the editor of the Albany Register, SOLOMON
SOUTHWICK ! These are names too well known to require
any comment. Many of them are identified with the
history of the state, and will be chronicled in its pages.
I can not, in courtesy, however, pass over my old
friend Southwick, without some other notice than that of
a mere casual glance of recognition. Southwick was a
206 Random Recollections.
man of genius, with all the peculiarities that belong to
that temperament its strength and its weakness, its ex-
cellencies and its errors; its delusive dreams and visions,
its improvidence and its instability. He had great ferti-
lity of mind, united with great enthusiasm. This was
the source of his eloquence and his power. His writings
were rather outpourings than compositions. Yet he im-
bued them with so much life and animation, that he sel-
dom failed to carry his readers with them. His style,
though well adapted to the popular ear, was redundant
in epithet, inflated and declamatory, and his language,
though often strong and impressive, was yet in the main,
loose and inelegant. He read but little, and only from
necessity. He referred to books for particular facts,
rather than for general information.
He was, by nature, honest, warm-hearted, and gene-
rous to a fault, but seemed to have no fixed or settled
principles. In ethics, as well as in politics, he traveled
from pole to pole. Yet, the kindness of his nature went
with him and never forsook him. His heart and his
hand were always open; and as he was credulous to
excess, and even superstitious, he was as a matter of
course, swindled by every knave, and duped by every
impostor, he met with upon the road.
He was extremely fluent and event eloquent in conver-
sation. But he had little knowledge of the world, and
the predominance of interest or of passion, left his judg-
ment too often at fault. He had the finest eye and fore-
head that ever belonged to mortal man, but every other
feature of his face was either indifferent or defective.
His countenance, therefore, was a correct index to the
character of his mind incongruous, mixed, and full of
contradictions.
The Albany Register, which he so long and ably edited,
was pronounced, by Judge Spencer, to be the " Political
Bible of the Western District." A greater compliment
was certainly never paid to the conductor of a political
journal.
Mr. Southwick held, at different periods, the office of
Random Recollections. 207
state printer, clerk of the house of assembly, sheriff of
the county of Albany, president of the Mechanics' and
Farmers' Bank, and postmaster of the city. Even in the
cloudy days of his latter years, when friends, fame and
fortune, had forsaken him, when every objectionable act
of his life was spread upon the record, and all his faults
and weakeness blazoned to the public eye; even then
he received over thirty thousand votes for governor of the
state.
Of the clergy of those days, if I am wise, I shall say
but little: first, because I recollect but little; and se-
condly, because, with me, the subject is not a debatable
one. One's opinions, unless moulded early, are often
formed by accident, or spring up as the result of circum-
stances. It has often occurred to me as not a little sin-
gular, that my attention should have been turned to the
unkindred subjects of politics and religion, at about the
same period of time. The noise and triumph of Mr.
Jefferson's election to the presidency, led me to look a
little into the mysterious philosophy of party politics;
and the preaching of Dr. Nott, carried me, nolens volens,
into the Presbyterian brick church of South Pearl street.
Thus I acquired, at nearly one and the same time, a de-
cided inclination to church and state', or, in other words,
a marked taste for politics and preaching. No one, cer-
tainly, could have studied under abler masters: and for
many of the opinions I entertain to this day, I hold those
masters responsible.
But the only names belonging to the church, of which
my memory took cognizance, at the period referred to,
or of which I have any distinct recollection, are those of
Nott, Romaine and Bradford.
Mr. Bradford was a well educated, well read, and
gentlemanly man. He was, moreover, one of the hand-
somest men in the city, which in the minds or fancies of
the fairer part of his congregation, added no doubt to his
eloquence, and of course to his usefulness in the church.
Mr. Romaine was an able man, of a denunciatory and vehe-
ment style of oratory altogether too Calvinistic to suit
208 Random Recollections.
the taste of his hearers. But it must be remembered
" That no rogue e'er felt the halter draw
With good opinion of the law."
Doctor Nott, I should say, was neither a Calvinist nor
a Lutheran. In other words, he was no bigoted secta-
rian; and in this respect, he bore, and still bears, I
think, but little resemblance to many of his clerical
brethren. In mind, as well as in manner ', he stood alone.
The narrow dogmas, and common place oratory of the
church, were beneath him. His ambition was to make
men wiser and better, rather than to promote the secta-
rian interests and speculative tenets of the church. The
eloquent enforcement of that single injunction ' ! to do
unto others as you would have others do unto you,"
would to an unsophisticated mind be of more efficacy
than a dozen dry discourses upon evidence, which no no-
vice requires, or upon those knotty points in theology,
which no intellect can comprehend. But it is not my
business to preach, nor am I disposed to criticise the
preaching of others. All I mean to say is, that Doctor
Nott was by far the most eloquent and effective preacher
of the period to which I refer; that he drew together the
largest congregation made the deepest impression, and
commanded the profoundest respect.
His church was filled to overflowing. His appearance
in the pulpit, his style of eloquence, his very look,
" Drew audience and attention still as night,
Or summer's noontide air "
His elocution was admirable, and his manner altogether
better, because more impressive, than that of any other
preacher of the day: yet he could not, I think, have been
over twenty-eight or thirty years of age when I first
heard him, which was in 1803. Shortly afterwards, I
had the pleasure of becoming personally acquainted with
him, and soon found he possessed powers and qualities of
which his congregation little dreamed. His talents were
by no means confined to pulpit eloquence, nor even to
the wider range of clerical duties. His information ex-
tended to almost every department of life ; and with the
Random Recollections. 209
whole fabric of human society, he was perfectly familiar.
He understood the animal man, not only in the abstract,
but in all the detail of action, passion and propensity.
He was, moreover, a mechanist, a political economist, a
philosopher, and what is of more consequence in any
walk of life, a man of keen observation and sound sense.
But he is still living, and too widely known, to require
any portraiture from my pen.
BATTLE IN STATE STREET.
Among other incidents and events, falling within the
range of these reminiscences, was the famous passage of
arms, that took place between an eminent citizen and a
distinguished general, in one of the principal streets of
the city in open day. It was a perilous, hand to hand
encounter, that brought together, at least, one half of the
male population of the town not as spectators merely,
but as combatants, who, like the knights of old, entered
the lists with an alacrity and a spirit, that would have
done honor to the heroes of chivalry, when chivalry was
in its prime, and knighthood in its glory. The full
breadth of State street, from Pearl down to the intersec-
tion of Court and Market, was literally filled with the
combatants; while the doors, porches, windows, and
even the house tops on both sides, were crowded with
astonished and terrified spectators. The street, viewed
from any elevated position, resembled a tumultuous sea
of heads, over which clattered a forest of canes; the vast
body now surging this way, now that, as the tide of com-
bat ebbed or flowed. It was certainly, one of the most
classic or Greek-like battles that had been fought since
the wars of Ilium, and the heroic days of Hector and
Achilles. But as it respects the origin of the war, the
names of the combatants, and the details of the fight, are
they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and
Israel ! If not, they may perhaps, be found in the chro-
nicles of the lives of the illustrious fathers of the city.
210 Random Recollections.
Certain it is that the battle has already been described;
and the record, like the Iliad, will be found imperishable!
It is a little curious, when we consider what Albany
now is, to look back and recollect, that so late as 1803,
there was but one public house in the city; or at least,
but one in any respect better than a common signpost
tavern, such as no gentleman of the present day would
put his foot in: but that one was an excellent one. I
allude to the Tontine Coffee House in State street, kept
by Mr. Gregory: a house distinguished from all other
public houses of that day, by the quiet order that reigned
through all its departments ; by its perfect neatness, and
the total absence of a bar. The higher rates of fare
charged at the Tontine, and the fact that no liquors were
sold except to its own boarders, nor ever seen except at
table, excluded the low and thirsty, and left it, as it were
by a law of its nature, open to good company alone. I
need not say that it was well filled: it was, at least half
the year, redundantly full. All travelers of any note or
consequence; all foreigners of distinction; in one word,
all gentlemen put up at the Tontine. For a period of
some ten or twelve years, Mr. Gregory had no competi-
tion, no rival house to contend with; and was therefore
compelled, I do not say reluctantly, to make a fortune!
Manners, 'tis said, change with customs; and customs,
we all know, change sometimes for the worse. I have
seen something of public houses and hotels since Mr.
Gregory's day, and am forced to acknowledge, that on
the score of gentlemanly habits, politeness, and courtesy
among their guests, and in reference also to the civility
of their keepers and waiters, the present bears no com-
parison with the past. The inmates of the best hotels of
the present day, are as varied in their aspects, habits
and character, as were the motley herd that took lodg-
ings in the ark ; while of their keepers and waiters the
best that can be said, is, that they are in keeping with
the character of their company. An occasional excep-
tion does but strengthen the rule.
It was at the Tontine that I became acquainted with
Random Recollections. 211
many of the leading politicians and distinguished men of
the state. It was there I first saw De Witt Clinton,
Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Doctor Mason. Morgan
Lewis, Daniel D. Tompkins, John Armstrong, Chancel-
lor Livingston, and many others. It was while there, I
had the opportunity and the pleasure of examining lei-
surely, and with a critical eye, that lightest twig oi' the
great Corsican tree, Mr. Jerome Bonaparte; and of ob-
serving the fine form, the careless, abandoned air, and
soldierly aspect of the celebrated Moreau, the rival at once
of Xenophon and Napoleon. The Tontine was, indeed,
for several years, my local observatory, from which I
watched the transit of the political planets, and noted
the restless movements of the wandering stars. It was, in
fact, the best school house I ever entered, and the only
one, I am sorry to say, 'in which I ever took much de-
light.
I can not resist the temptation (though I know I shall
make nothing of it) to relate a ludicrous circumstance
which took place at the Tontine, in the summer of 1804.
I am well aware that many a good joke has been spoiled,
and many a laughable incident rendered grave, by an
attempt to put them on paper. 'Tis useless, said Doctor
Johnson, to print Quin's jokes, unless you print his face
with them. Nevertheless, I shall venture to relate the
circumstance to which I have referred. I shall call it.
THE STORY OF MONSIEUR GARROT.
Among the many foreigners at the Tontine in the
traveling season of 1804, was a French gentleman by the
name of Garrot, apparently about twenty-five or thirty
years of age; remarkable for the simplicity of his man-
ners, for his taste in music, and for his inability to speak
a word of English. His personal appearance was greatly
in his favor; being stout, well made, and of a most
agreeable countenance. Sitting near him at table, and
speaking a little French, I soon became acquainted with
him. He was, I found, a German by birth, born in
212 Random Recollections.
Frankfort, but a resident of Nantes. He remained seve-
ral months in the city, was flush of money, arid liberal,
not to say profuse, in his expenditures.
His object, if indeed he had any, was to obtain infor-
mation as to the form and character of our government ;
the institutions and condition of the country; its extent,
population, trade, commerce, agricultural products, arts,
manufactures, &c., &c. Of all the travelers I had ever
met with, he was the most inquisitive. He asked ten
thousand questions about things of which I knew nothing,
or next to nothing questions, some of which, it would
have puzzled Chief Justice Marshall, Mr. Madison, Mr.
Clay, or Mr. Anybody Else, save John Quincy Adams,
to have answered off-hand. But as I perceived he enter-
tained a high opinion of my abilities, I had not the heart,
nor was it indeed my business, to undeceive him. I was
ashamed to confess ignorance upon any point, and there-
fore gave him prompt and specific answers to each and
every question, let it relate to what it might: but the
mischief of it was, they were all taken for gospel, and
immediately noted down in his tablets.
I could not but laugh at the idea. It was, perhaps,
unfair on my part, but the fault was his. To suppose a
young man of twenty-two or three, of sufficient authority
for the history and statistics of an empire, was absurd.
He should have known better. Many a book, however,
has been written upon information of an inferior quality
to that with which I furnished Monsieur Garrot, and
from a less rational, not to say reliable source. It was
through the priests and poets of Egypt and Assyria,
that Herodotus obtained the materials for his famous
history; and who thinks the less of his history on that
account? The credulity and child-like simplicity of the
author, together with the traditional and poetical charac-
ter of its testimony constitute, in fact, its greatest attrac-
tions.
But Monsieur Garrot, no doubt, congratulated himself
upon his good fortune in finding a person so full of infor-
mation, and so ready to impart it. On the other side, I
Random Recollections. 213
did the best I could, under the circumstances. I studied
day and night to prepare myself for Mr. Garrot's ques-
tions; and if monsieur published his book, I flattered
myself that it would be found in the truth of its state-
ments and the accuracy of its details, at least equal to
the history of Herodotus, or the travels of Basil Hall!
But this has nothing to do with the circumstance
which it was my intention to narrate. It may serve,
however, as a preface to the story, which runs thus :
Monsieur Garrot and myself after a long walk one
Sunday afternoon, returned to the Tontine about six
o'clock. The weather was extremely hot; and as the
private parlors below were filled with strangers, I ac-
companied Mr. Garrot to his own chamber, where, com-
plaining of the heat, he threw off his coat, and, some-
what to my surprise, continued the operation of stripping,
until he came to the last article, over which, however,
he threw a light silk morning gown light, indeed, as
gossamer : this he tied loosely at the neck, and then
sticking his toes into a pair of yellow slippers, began
walking backward and forward between the window and
door, both of which were thrown open to admit the air.
The window looked into the street ; the door opened into
a wide hall, with dormitories on either side. While
thus cooling himself in the breeze, which swept his loose
drapery from side to side, he suddenly turned to me and
inquired whether I was fond of music. I answered, of
course, in the affirmative. When, without further cere-
mony, he opened a long case filled with musical instru-
ments of various kinds, and asked me which I preferred.
I could hardly believe it possible that he really meant to
exercise his musical talents on that day of the week; but
being a little curious, and, I must confess, a little mis-
chievous at the same time, I pointed to the violin, which
he immediately took out, and began to twang and tune.
The discharge of a 12 pounder in the hall, would not
have set the house in greater commotion. The first
scrape of the bow brought half a dozen chambermaids to
[Annals, x.] 19
214 Random Recollections.
the door; who, catching sight of monsieur's bare legs,
&c., ran down stairs, and reported that there was a
Frenchman fiddling in the chambers, stark naked ! By this
time, my friend Garrot had got fairly a going; and, with
his head inclined to one shoulder, and his eye turned
upwards, stalked up and down the room, fiddling as if the
devil, together with Apollo and the whole nine were in
him. The figure he cut was so ridiculous, that I thought
I should have died in the effort to suppress my laughter.
In less than five minutes from the time he began, it ap-
peared to me that not Jess than five hundred heads had
passed the door, each one catching something more than
a glimpse of monsieur's fine form. The wind seemed to
increase with the music, and the stride of the performer
became more lofty and majestic. At every turn the
morning gown filled and swelled with the breeze now
waving and flapping in the cross current, and now ex-
tending out, as it were, upon a taught bowline. The
hall was literally crowded with spectators, and the seve-
ral questions Who is lie? Where did he come from? Is
he mad? were whispered in rapid succession. But Mon-
sieur Garrot saw nothing but the ceiling of his room
heard nothing but the clarion voice of his own fiddle.
I was amazed at his abstraction at his enthusiasm;
and yet found it difficult to prevent myself from laughing
aloud. He fiddled with such force and energy, that his
elbow seemed to move like a whipsaw driven by steam.
I had no idea that 'twas in the power of a single instru-
ment to produce such a tumult of sounds.
The Battle of Prague, roared from ten " forty piaz-
zas" (as Johnny Robison used to called them) would be
a mere tinkling, compared with this uproar of Mr. Gar-
rot's fiddle. I could not but confess, that in variety,
force and compass, he surpassed even my old friend Mr.
Giles. This is no light compliment. A greater, indeed,
could not in sincerity be paid to the most celebrated per-
former.
But Mr. Gregory, at length, made his appearance, and
as he worked his way through the crowd at the door, I
Random Recollections. 215
could perceive that he was not only angry, but a little
frightened. He was about to speak to Mr. Garrot, but
Mr. Garrot was too much engaged to take the least no-
tice of him ; he therefore addressed himself to me, and
said " For God's sake, Mr. Jones, what is the meaning
of all this?" I was so full of laughter that I could not
speak, and of course said nothing. He then turned to
Mr. Garrot, and raised his hand as a sign for him to
stop. Now, Mr. Gregory had no more the appearance of
an innkeeper than he had of an emperor. It was natural,
therefore, that the Frenchman should consider him as an
intruder, and order him out of the room ; which he did.
But 'twas in French, which he perceived Mr. Gregory
did not understand. He therefore collected all the
English he was master of, and exclaimed, in an offended
tone, " Vat you vont?" Mr. Gregory was about to reply,
when monsieur, waving his hand, cried " Go vay ! go
vay !" and thereupon commenced fiddling fiercer than
ever. This produced a universal burst of laughter; and
so loud and long was the peal (in which I was compelled
to join), that monsieur paused, and seemed now, for the
first time, to be sensible that there was an unusual col-
lection in the hall, and that something was wrong some-
where.
The scene at this moment was picturesque in the
highest degree. There stood Mons. Garrot, in the middle
of the room, with his fiddle in his hand; his pantaloons
hanging upon a chair, and his morning gown floating be-
hind him; looking first at Mr. Gregory, then at me, then
at the cluster of heads at the door, utterly at a loss to
know what it all meant. There stood Mr. Gregory, too,
in his neat drab colored coat and Sunday inexpressibles,
the very impersonation of order, decency and decorum,
looking at the brawny, half naked Frenchman, with
wonder and surprise. There, too, was the crowd of cu-
rious faces, male and female, peering in at the hall door;
exhibiting every variety of expression, from the most
serious to the most comic; all staring in profound silence,
at the Frenchman and his fiddle. It was ridiculous
216 Random Recollections.
enough ; and had it continued a moment longer, it would
have been discreditable too. At my suggestion, Mr.
Gregory left the room. I then closed the door, and en-
deavored to explain to Mr. Garrot the cause of the col-
lection in the hall, and the motives of the individual who
had interrupted him. But I found it difficult to make
him comprehend it ; for I was not a little puzzled myself
to shape the matter in such a way as to render the ex-
planation satisfactory, as well as plausible. At length
he seemed to understand it; and taking out his tablets,
wrote down what I suppose he considered the substance
of my explanation, and then handed it to me and read.
It ran thus: "Americans have very little taste for
music, and never listen with pleasure to the violin on
Sundays, except in church!' 9
'Tis very well, said I, monsieur; 'tis very well.
Half an hour afterwards, we walked deliberately down
stairs, and took our seats at the tea table, as carelessly
and as composedly, as if nothing had happened. But I
observed, what Monsieur Garrot probably did not, that
every eye in the room was occasionally turned upon him.
Though in one sense the author of the mischief, and
certainly the most censurable of the two, yet I received
the thanks of Mr. Gregory, for having put an end to the
confusion occasioned by the musical taste of Monsieur
Garrot.
It is near the breakfast hour and the city' boarders, I
perceive, are already dropping in. That well dressed,
handsome faced gentleman standing upon the stoop, with
his hat under his arm and a rattan in his hand, is Mr.
James Kane, of whom you have heard me speak so fre-
quently. The tall, spare man, with whom he is con-
versing, is Mr. Walter Clark, a merchant, of the city,
plain and simple in his character and manner, but polite
and gentlemanly. The person that has just joined them,
is an exceedingly clever man in his way a little self-
complacent, perhaps, but a gentleman and a wit: the
latter he inherited, among other goods and chattels, from
his father, who had a great deal more, by the by, than he
Random Recollections. 217
bequeathed to any one. He is, as you perceive, extremely
civil and polite; but it is rather because he deems it due
to himself, than to others. His wit, though perfectly
good natured, is not scattered at random. It has its
mark, and is always intended to tell. But notwith-
standing his piquancy, and self appreciation, he is a cle-
ver companion, particularly over a bottle of good Ma-
deira. His fine rosy face shows this. In short, among
the gentlemen of the Tontine, Mr. Caldwell holds no
second rank.
That young man standing in the centre of the group on
the left, is a Mr. , somewhat remarkable for his flow
of spirits and fluency of speech. He has acquired some
reputation in the city, as a business man, and is quite a
favorite with Mr. Kane. He is said to be something of
a reader too, and, by the aid of a retentive memory, sus-
tains himself in the midst of a class of young men, much
better educated than himself. He has a disposition to
satire, which he frequently indulges at the expense of
others, but without any taint of malignity. In his open
and somewhat random mode of talking, he certainly says
some things, and tells some truths, which it would be
difficult for any other person to utter without giving
offence. He has the advantage, too, of being older, if
not abler, than he looks; and, under the guise of a frank
and heedless manner, is keenly observant of the conduct
and character of those around him. I have no doubt that
he has, at this moment, in his portfolio, a full length
portrait, not only of many of his personal friends and
acquaintances, but of most of the distinguished men of
the state. But he is no scholar, and can not give to his
sketches an abiding interest.
That plain but gentlemanly looking man, now talking
with Mr. Kane, is Mr. Sedgwick, a member of the bar,
and one of the most promising young men in the city.
His character may be read in his countenance: in which,
I think, you may also read that he is from Massachusetts.
He brings with him the advantages of family reputation,
character, and talents; and sustains these antecedents by
218
Random Recollections*
personal merit, purity of mind, and cleverness of manner.
He is the professional partner of Mr. Harmanus Bleecker,
a gentleman of sterling merit, and withal the best Dutch
scholar in the city.
Dutch Church.
Ancient Costume.
(219)
KEMINISCENCES OF ALBANY.
From Memoirs of Elkanah Watson, p. 267.
1788.
Curiosity conducted him to the " old Dutch city of Al-
bany," that he might compare their habits and manners
with those of the cities 01 Holland, from whence their an-
cestors had emigrated more than one hundred and fifty
years before ; the one surrounded by the progress and re-
finement of Europe, and the other in contact with savage
barbarism. At that period Albany was the second city in
the state, containing about six hundred dwellings, general-
ly constructed on the old Dutch model, but was rapidly
modernizing, as well in its architecture as customs. The
city he regarded as awkwardly situated upon the declivity
of a hill. The houses were principally of brick , and many
were elegant. Vessels of eight feet draught plied con-
stantly and in great numbers between the city and New
York. The trade was immense, and rapidly increasing.
A branch of this trade, formerly of great value, had
then become nearly extinct the traffic in furs, which the
British had found means toavett from this avenue, chiefly
by the ascendency they derived from their forts, within
our own territory.
The inhabitants were mostly Dutch, attached to their
own customs, and cherishing their national prejudices.
As foreigners intermixed with them, these peculiarities
were relaxing, and insensibly softening. They had gene-
rally adopted in the instruction of their children the Eng-
lish tongue, by the establishment of English schools.
Mr. Watson expressed in his journal, the prediction that
the Dutch language, in half a century, would be unknown
in that city as a spoken language.
He proceeded eight miles from Albany to the new
glasshouse, erected by John De Neufville, a former cor-
220 Reminiscences of Albany.
respondent of Mr. Watson, and an inhabitant of Am-
sterdam. Mr. De Neufville was the negotiator of the
treaty made by Holland with the American congress,
which essentially produced the war between the former
and England in 1781. He commenced business with an
hereditary capital of half a million sterling, and lived
in Amsterdam and at his country seat in the highest
affluence and splendor. He sacrificed his fortune by his
attachment to the cause of American independence, and
in his efforts to sustain it. The fragments of his es-
tate he had invested in the hopeless enterprise of estab-
lishing this glass factory. Mr. Watson found this gentle-
man, born to affluence, in a solitary seclusion, occupying
a miserable log cabin furnished with a single deal table
and two common chairs destitute of the ordinary com-
forts of life.
Ibid, p. 275.
My curiosity satisfied, I sent my horse towards Albany,
and embarked on board a returning bateaux, and pro-
ceeded down the Mohawk to Little Falls, anxious to
examine that place, with an eye to canals. We aban-
doned ourselves to the current of the river, which, with
the aid of our oars, impelled us at a rapid rate. We met
numerous bateaux coming up the river, freighted with
whole families, emigrating to the "land of promise." I
was surprised to observe the dexterity with which they
manage their boats, and the progress they make in poll-
ing up the river, against a current of at least three miles
an hour. The first night we encamped at a log-hut on
the banks of the river, and the next morning I disem-
barked at German Flats.
The meander-ings of the river, by my estimate, about
doubles the distance of a direct line. We passed a valu-
able tract of 16,000 acres of land, situated on the north
side of the river, which has been granted by the state to
Baron Steuben. From Schenectady I pursued the road
across a thickly settled country, embracing many fine
farms, to Ashley's Ferry, six miles above Albany. On
the east side of the river, at this point, a new town has
>
Reminiscences of Albany. 221
been recently laid out, named Vanderheyden.* This
place is situated precisely at the head of navigation on
the Hudson. Several bold and enterprising adventurers
have already settled here; a number of capacious ware-
houses, and several dwellings, are already erected. It
is favorably situated in reference to the important and
growing trade of Vermont and Massachusetts; and I
believe it not only bids fair to be a serious thorn in the
side of New City,J but in the issue a fatal rival.
I spent a day in examining this locality, and then
walked on the banks of tHe Hudson, a distance of three
miles, to New City, where I continued several days.
This place is thronged by mercantile emigrants, princi-
pally from New England, who have enjoyed a very ex-
tensive and lucrative trade, supplying Vermont and the
region on both banks of the Hudson, as far as Lake
George, with merchandise ; and receiving in payment
wheat, pot and pearl ashes, and lumber. But, as I
remarked, I think Vanderheyden must, from its more
eligible position, attain the ultimate ascendency.
I crossed the river at Half- Moon, a small hamlet con-
taining about twenty dwellings; and about a mile from
this place I visited the Cohoes falls, upon the Mohawk
river. Nothing so much charms and elevates my mind
as the contemplation of nature in her bold and majestic
works. Fixing my position on the margin of the bank,
which descends in a vertical precipice of about seventy
feet, I beheld the volume of the Mohawk, plunging over
a fall of about the same height, and nearly perpendicular.
The barrier of rocks the lofty banks the roaring and
dashing of the waters and the cloud of mist, presented
a spectacle of surprising sublimity. The river divides
immediately below the falls into three branches, and
empties into the Hudson, nearly opposite New City.
The bed of the stream is filled with rocks, among which
it rushes and surges in terrific impetuosity.
* The original name of the present beautiful city of Troy,
t The city of Lansingburgh was then known by that name.
222 Reminiscences of Albany.
In the view of ascending by locks from the Hudson
into the Mohawk river, it appears to me that the obsta-
cles at this place will be much greater than to cut a canal
across the pine plains, into a grand basin, back of Albany.
I took passage in a bateau at New City, to Albany, for
the purpose of sounding the river. The result of my
examination satisfied me, that in ordinary tides five or
six feet may be carried to within a mile of New City,
and from thence to that town fifteen to eighteen inches.
The tides sensibly rise and fall as far up as Vanderhey-
den.
Upon careful investigation and mature reflection, it
appears to my mind that Albany is one of the most favor-
able positions in America for the future enjoyment of a
vast internal commerce. It is favorably situated in refe-
rence to the trade of Vermont, and the extensive eastern
country. It may control the fur trade of the lakes; it
must occupy the avenues which penetrates into the valley
of the Mohawk; and will be the depot of the produce
from the luxuriant territory of the Genesee.
From Albany, Mr. Watson proceeded to New York by
a packet, and occupied three days in the passage. He
speaks of the Overslaugh three miles below Albany, as
sounding only eight feet of water, while immediately be-
low it deepens to twelve or fourteen feet, and suggests
that the impediment might be removed by closing two
channels, and throwing the whole current of the river
into the third. This obstacle being removed he expresses
the opinion that Albany would become a mart of foreign
commerce.
(223)
PETITION OF REV. G. DELLIUS
FOR PAYMENT OF SERVICES.
1714.
To the Honnerable the Generale Assembly for the collony
of New York.
The Humble petition of Godefrius Dellius, by his At-
tourney Adolph Philipse.
Sheweth : That during the time your Honnor's Petition-
er was minister to the Dutch Congregation of Albany, he
undertook, at his great cost and Labour to Convert the
5 Nations & River Indians to Christianity. And have-
ing Layd the first Foundation of that Pious work, and
made a Progress therein beyond expectation, It was
Esteemed of that utility, not onely in Propagating the
Gospel among those Heathens, but Likewise to steddy
them in their Interest and Obedience of the Crown of
England, That the Then Governor and council allowed
to your Petitioner a Sallary of sixty pounds pr. Annum
for that service, which was accordingly payd from time
to time (as he believes) Except for one year and some
odd months, which still Remains unpayd.
That upon the conclusion of the Former Peace with
France, the Right Honnorable the Earl of Bellmont, then
Governor of this Province, sent Coll. Peter Schuyler and
your Petitioner on an Ambassy to the Governor of Can-
nada, For which they were to have^ a Reward of one
hundered pounds. And your Petitioner is informed that
Coll. Schuyler has Received 50 for his moyety thereof;
the other 50 due to your Petitioner for that service
Remaines unpayd.
That your petitioner having some Reasons to Remove
with his family back to Europe, could not Personally
224 Petition of Rev. Godfriedus Dellius,
sollissit the obtaining warrants or Payment of the Re-
spective Sumes above mentioned; and the severall At-
tourneys your Petitioner had here from time to time,
have been the more Remiss in procuring Either the one
or the other, because they found the Revenue so much
Anticipated before. So that the onely Relief Left your
Petitioner is from this Honorable House, who having now
under their Prudent consideration the Payment of all the
Just Debts and Claims of this Collony, and your Petitioner
Conceiving the said two sumes to be such,
Doth therefore humbly Pray your Honnors in your
great Justice will please to order and enact that the two
Respective Sumes of 60 and 50 for the services above-
mentioned, maybe payd for his use to his said Attourny,
In the Like manner as other the Debts and Claims of
this Government are to be payd, or in such other manner
as to your great Wisdom shall seem meet. And your
Petioner as in Duty bound shall Ever Pray &c.
A. D. PHILIPSE,
For GODFRIEDUS DELLIUS.
New York, 19th May 1714.
[" Considered by y e Councill and allow'd for Instruct-
ing y e Indians halfe, the other Disallowed."]
(225)
NOTES FROM THE NEWSPAPERS.
Continued from vol. ix, p. 283.
1834.
May 1. It appears by the semi-annual report of the
Chamberlain that the debt of the city was $118,000; that
$46,166 had been paid during the previous six months.
Among the expenditures were the following:
City Watch, $4,159'60
Ciry Lamps, 2,668-72
Paving and draining, 48,865-47
Ferry, including purchase of lots, &c.,. . 11,562*26
Schools, .' 3,788-31
County Poor, 11,025*27
Contingencies, 12,309'38
May 21. Dr. C. Humphrey, eldest son of Chauncy
Humphrey, died in Calcutta, aged 33.
June 23. The common council elected Harmanus Van
Ingen chief engineer of the fire department. William
McElroy and -Charles Pohlman were elected assistant
engineers.
The canal basin having been constructed without any
outlet, became a nuisance, and the corporation was in-
dicted for it. The recorder, James McKown, was in-
structed to defend the action, on the ground that the bulk
head at the lower part of the basin had been placed there
jby the pier company under the sanction of an act of the
legislature, and being private property, the corporation
could not be bound to abate the nuisance. The Albany
court of sessions decided against the corporation, but the
supreme court reversed the decision.
A law was passed to construct a stone arch over Beaver
creek in Johnson street. The creek was still an open
stream throughout its entire length, to the river.
[Annak, x.] 20
Notes from the Newspapers. 1834.
July 4. The Albany Burgesses Corps made its first
public parade, with about fifty rank and file, making a
new military feature in the city both as to uniform and
tactics.
July 4. The new bell of the Second R. P. Dutch church
was rung for the first time on this morning. It was the
third bell that had been suspended in the tower of that
church. The first was imported from Holland in 1818,
and weighed 28421bs, at a cost of nearly $2000. It was
broken the same year. The second was recast from the
materials of the first in December of the same year by
Julius Hanks, of Gibbonsville, and weighed 24301bs.
It was cracked in May of the present year, and recast by
Lewis Aspinwall of this city, on the evening of the 27th
June, and suspended in time to announce the day of in-
dependence. Its weight was 27371bs, the largest bell in
the city.
July 4. \\illiam Cook, an Albany merchant, died at
Saratoga Springs.
July 5. Sally Ann, wife of Lemuel L. Steele, died,
aged 28.
July 7. The steam boat Helen, built on a new prin-
ciple by Mr. Burden, arrived on her first trip from New
York. She broke some part of her machinery twice
during the passage, and made the trip in 9h. 58m.
July 9. Erastus Corning, chairman of the commis-
sioners, gave notice that an election for thirteen directors
of the Albany City Bank, and for three inspectors of the
first annual election thereafter, would be held at the City
Hotel on the 24th July. Subsequently Erastus Corning
was elected president, and Watts Sherman, cashier of
the bank at Little Falls, was appointed cashier.
July 10. Mrs. Pheby Taylor died aged 80, and was
buried from the house of her son John Taylor, in Lydius
street.
July 11. Isaac 0. Davis advertised a mercantile gen-
eral agency and collecting office, No. 67 State street.
July 14. Edmund Charles Genet died at his residence,
Prospect Hill, Greenbush, aged 71. He took an active
part for many years in the vain endeavor to procure a
1834. Notes from the Newspapers. 227 .^
permanent improvement in the channel of the river near
this city.
July 15. James Hunter died, aged 38. He was one
of the editors of the Albany Daily Advertiser, from 1823
until October, 1832, and in the course of that period he la-
bored assiduously in maintenance of the principles of the
Clintonian party until the death of the governor left it
without a head. He had recently been engaged in edit-
ing the Albany Daily NBWS, which he relinquished only
four days before his death.
July 16. James Parker died, aged 24.
July 17. George Greer died, aged 74.
Ruth, widow of Stephen Lobdel, died, aged 61 .
July 18. Charles R. Webster, founder of the Albany
Gazette, died at Saratoga Springs, aged 72. He had
been ill several weeks of a glandular affection, but was
not supposed to be in imminent danger. Only a few
minutes before his death he was walking about his room.
He was a native of Connecticut, served his apprentice-
ship with the ancient house of Hudson & Goodwin at
Hartford, and in 1782 he established a weekly paper
here in connection with S. Ballentine, and two years
later commenced the Albany Gazette, at the head of
which he remained about forty years, and was also ex-
tensively engaged in bookselling. During half a century
he was conspicuous for a liberal philanthropy, and an
unvarying readiness to give aid and impulse to every
enterprise calculated to advance the interests of the city,
or secure the beneficial results of a discriminating charity.
As a natural consequence he had become identified with
the interests and growing prosperity of the city. For a
biographical sketch of him see Annals, vol. 5, p. 230. His
funeral was attended by a large concourse of citizens,
including several societies of which he had been a con-
spicuous and valuable member.
July 25. The funeral ceremonies in honor of Lafayette
were performed in this city with great splendor and effect.
The military, firemen, the societies and trades swelled
the pageant. Major-General Stephen Van Rensselaer, Jr.
228 Notes from the Newspapers. 1834.
headed the procession as marshal. The pall bearers
were nine revolutionary companions of Lafayette, Messrs.
Gregory, Winne, Hilton, Van Rensselaer, Ryckman, Kid-
ney, Van Alstyne, Shields and Russell. The Yorktown
ordnance, a twelve-pounder, captured by Lafayette at
Yorktown, was borne in the procession. The eulogy
was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Sprague. A torch light
procession by the Burgesses Corps under Capt. Cole and
the firemen, at 11 o'clock at night, bore the urn and
eagle from the church to the Capitol, and closed the im-
posing ceremonies of the occasion.
July 28. George G. Simpson died, aged 33.
July 28. At a meeting of the common council G. W.
Carpenter, city surveyor, reported a level for that part
of the city lying south of Ferry .street and west of Pearl
street. At the same meeting it was resolved to alter the
level of Patroon street from the pavement west.
The directors of the Hudson River Steam Boat com-
pany reduced the fare between New York and Albany on
all their boats to $2.
July 28. The annual examination of the Albany
Academy took place, when the honors were awarded to
the following boys: Aurelian Conkling (took the Cald-
well Medal), John Newland, Isaac Vanderpoel (1st in
Daboll), Maunsell Van* Rensselaer, James B. Weed,
Frederick Townsend, Aaron Hill, Wm. A. Miller, Wm.
Davis, George H. Monteath, Robert Townsend, George
B. Hoyt, A. A. Dunlop. Robert Waterman, Duncan
Campbell, Henry Q. Lansing. These lads are now fill-
ing creditable positions in divinity, law and trade.
Aug. 6. Samuel Harbeck died in New York, aged 50.
Aug. 9. Francis W., son of Lemuel Pierce, died,
aged 23.
Aug. 11. Jane Ann, wife of John Manning, died,
aged 28.
Aug. 11. At a meeting of the common council, John
Preston, *' a sojourner in this city," presented a petition
urging the planting of elm trees on each side of the streets.
A communication was received from John Forsyth,
1834. Notes from the Newspapers. 229
acting secretary of war, in relation to the appropriation
recently granted by congress for the improvement of the
Hudson river. There was a difference between the com-
mon councils of Troy and Albany about this work, the
former wished to have it commence at the upper end, the
latter at the southern and extend north as far as the ap-
propriation would carry it.
Aug. 11. Cases of cholera occurred. On the 15th
the board of health reported that there had been 15 cases-
and 3 deaths since the 12th.
Aug. 15. Julia Ann* wife of Orison Filkins, died,
aged 21.
Aug. 18. Fourteen new cases of cholera and nine
deaths occurred since the 15th.
Aug. 19. Five new cases and one death.
Aug. 20. Seven new cases, six deaths. John I.
Evertsen died, aged 45.
Aug. 21. The new Uuiversalist meeting house in
Green street was dedicated.
Aug. 25. Lewis Grinnell died, aged 41.
Aug. 26. Mrs. Jane Lamphire died, aged 67.
Mrs. Jane Ann Mancius died.
Sept. 1. Margaret, widow of Harmanus Ten Eyck,
died, aged 79.
Sept. 3. Matilda, widow of John B. Van Steenbergh,
died.
Sept. 7. John L. Burrows died at Caughnawaga.
Mary C., wife of Dr. Richard Dusenbury,
died in Westchester county.
Sept. 8. The Theatre which had been some time
closed, was opened by William Duffy, remodeled, and
decorated by the skill of John Leslie.
A new line of steam boats was now running on the
river in competition with the old line, having two boats,
the Nimrod and Champion, under the title of the Peo-
ple's Line.
Sept. 8. Frances, wife of Daniel Powers, died, aged 47.
Sept. 9. The common council, on the application of
Lemuel Jenkins directed Jay street to be provided with
lamps.
230 Notes from the Newspapers. 1834.
Sept. 9. Mary, widow of Duncan McLachlan, died,
aged 44.
Sept. 16. The board of health congratulated the citi-
zens on the continued good health of the city since the
month came in; the reports of the physicians were no
longer required, and the hospital opened for the reception
of cholera patients had been closed.
Sept. 17. A general convention of the Universalists
of the United States was held at the new meeting house
in Green street; the occasional sermon being preached
by the Rev. Hosea Ballon.
Sept. 17. Phoebe, wife of Capt. Eliakim Ford, died,
aged 47.
Rebecca, wife of Schuyler Van Rensselaer, died at
Huron, Ohio, aged 39.
Sept. 22. Fergus McLachlan died, aged 63.
John Hallenbeck, formerly of Albany, died at Havana,
aged 28.
A wandering religious imposter, Mathias, was appre-
hended upon suspicion of many crimes committed against
individuals in New York, whose confidence in his divine
mission he had unaccountably succeeded in obtaining.
Sept. 22. At a meeting of the common council a peti-
tion was presented for opening Quay street from Lydius
to Ferry street.
The committee on schools reported a resolution to
raise $1262-77 for the support of the common school
east of Perry street.
The three infant schools that were now maintained
by charitable contributions, had about 1200 pupils, and
cost $1,000 per annum. A part of the money was raised
by collections in the churches.
Sept. 30. Henry Carpenter died.
Oct. 1. John W. Cushman died, aged 30.
Oct. 6. At a meeting of the common council P. Nor-
ton and two or three hundred others of all parties
petitioned for a law to prevent the burning of tar barrels,
throwing of fire balls composed of tow, turpentine and
other inflammable articles, about the periods of elections,
and other times of public excitement.
1834. Notes from the Newspapers. 231
The legislature had passed a law on the first of May,
that the time of holding the annual election for aldermen,
prescribed in the charter the last Tuesday in September,
should be changed to the first Tuesday of May, and au-
thorizing the aldermen to hold over the intervening seven
months. A controversy arose in the board about the
constitutionality of such a law, Israel Williams in a long
speech maintained that it was unconstitutional, and the
recorder, James McKown and Mr. Lovett defending the
law. On motion of alderman Wasson the subject was
laid on the table, 12 to Q,
Mary, widow of Joseph Ives, died, aged 71.
Nancy, wife of Loammi Carter, died.
Mary A., wife of George M. Sayles, died.
Oct. 8. The Albany Burgesses Corps celebrated their'
first anniversary by an excursion to Troy and Gibbons-
ville.
Oct. 11. Gilbert Ackerman died.
The sale of the pews in the new Pearl street Baptist
church produced nearly $19,000, leaving 70 unsold.
Oct. 12. Paul Hochstrasser died of apoplexy at his
residence in Perry, Genesee county, aged 71.
John Southmayd died at New Bedford aged 30.
Rev. Mr. Ide preached his first sermon in the Green
street Baptist church.
Oct. 15. Wm. Henry Shaw died, aged 24.
Wm. A. Tweed Dale gave notice that having finished
a term of twenty-three years in this city, and relinquished
the business of school teaching, he proposed to instruct
young men in a course of reading in connection with the
Apprentices' Library.
Oct. 16. The committee (consisting of S. S. Fowler,
B. P. Staats, and S. Schuyler) appointed by the board of
supervisors to erect an additional prison on the peniten-
tiary system, gave notice that they had discharged the
duty assigned to them, and requested all citizens who
felt an interest in the punishment and reformation of
offenders to call and examine said prison, which would
be open for the purpose.
232 Notes from the Newspapers. 1834.
Oct. 20. James King petitioned the common council
to have Ten Broeck street excavated; Henry Newman
and others in behalf of the Lutheran church and John
Meads in behalf of the water works company remon-
strated against the opening of a square adjacent to the
contemplated State House; John Vosburgh and others
petitioned for the change of the name of Orchard street
to Pearl; James McNaughton and others applied for the
$1500 appropriated by the board for the improvement of
Clinton square.
Oct. 21. An anniversary of all the sabbath schools took
place by a procession from the Park to the Second Pres-
byterian church, where the exercises were conducted by
the Revs. Dr. Sprague, J. N. Campbell, Meeker, Kirk and
Ferris.
Elizabeth, daughter of the late Chancellor Lansing,
died.
Oct. 23. The steam boat Novelty with a load of Nott's
stoves struck a hommock on the overslaugh and sunk.
Oct. 24. William Teeling died, aged 63.
Oft. 25. Mary, widow of Wm. Brown, died, aged 79.
Oct. 26. The Pearl street Baptist church was opened
for public worship, the sermon by the Rev. Mr. Ide, pas-
tor of the Green street church.
The Rev. Dr. Ludlow of the North Dutch church was
appointed provost of the University of Pennsylvania,
and professor of moral philosophy.
Oct. 27. Killian H. Van Rensselaer died, aged 23.
Daniel Sickles died.
Nov. 5. Sarah, wife of Jellis Winne, Jr., died.
Nov. 5. At the annual election the following vote
was cast in the city, except in the three first lines the
first ward is not included.
Governor, Seward 1523, Marcy 1434.
Lt. Gov. Stillwell 1525, Tracy 1427.
Senator, Miller 1529, Lawyer 1425.
Congress, Barnard 2137, Lansing 1930.
Assembly, Wheaton 2135, Waldron 2125, Frisbee 2117.
(Dem.) Livingston 1943, Conner 1922, Seger 1927.
1834. Notes from the Newspapers. 233
Clerk, Haswell 2051, Ten Eyck 2004.
'Sheriff, McDuffie 2169, Niles 1980.
Mr. Marcy's majority in the county was 29.
Gerrit Y. Lansing was elected to congress by a major-
ity of 123 votes over Daniel D. Barnard, having received
4944.
Edward Livingston was elected to the assembly by a
majority of 5 over Henry G. Wheaton.
Angus McDuffie was elected sheriff, the only candidate
of the whig party that was elected.
Conrad A. Ten Eyck Deceived 5028 votes for county
clerk, the largest vote received by any candidate,
Nov. 12. Richard Rhodes died, aged 34.
Nov. 15. Elizabeth, wife of John Hamilton, late of
the Albany Theatre, died, aged 30.
Nov. 16. Isaac Hamilton, an eminent lawyer, died at
St. Mary's, Georgia, aged 55. He had practiced his pro-
fession in Albany more than thirty years, and was noted
for strict integrity and unwearied industry. He was re-
peatedly elected to the offices of supervisor and alderman
in his ward, and member of assembly once. In every
public station in which he was placed, he evinced a noble
disinterestedness of character and elevated views of pub-
lic duty and public virtue.
Nov. 19. At an election for officers of the St. Nich-
olas Benevolent Society, the following were chosen for
the year ensuing.
Abraham Van Vechten, president.
Harmanus Bleecker, )
Solomon Van Rensselaer, V vice presidents.
John B. Van Schaick, )
John V. L. Pruyn, secretary.
Volkert P. Douw, treasurer.
Rev. Robert Bronk and Rev. Cortland Van Rensselaer,
chaplains.
Drs. Jonathan Eights and John W. Bay, physicians.
Richard Varick De Witt, Egbert Egberts, Conrad A.
Ten Eyck, William Lush, G. V. S. Bleecker, Peter
Lansing, Jr., Herman Wendell, William Smith, George
M. Bleecker, Rensselaer Van Rensselaer, managers.
234 Notes Jrom the Newspapers. 1834.
Nov. 19. Mrs. Sarah Douglass died, aged 74.
Nor. 22. John Lightbody died, aged 88.
Mrs. Bridget Courtney died, aged 75.
Israel Tuffs died, aged 61.
Nov. 23. Rev. Joseph H. Price was instituted rector
of St. Paul's church.
Nov. 24. The following bill of fare was proposed to
the common council by alderman Wasson for the Alms-
house: Breakfast, bohea tea sweetened with molasses
and bread thinly spread with butter before put on the
table. Dinner, beef soup and bread every day except
Tuesday and Friday, on which days codfish and potatoes
with bread. Supper, mush sweetened with molasses, of
which two spoonsfull allowed each person.
Sarah, wife of Azor Taber, died.
Nov. 25. Walter Easton died, aged 65.
The magnates at the Albany Theatre at this time were
J. Sheridan Knowles, and Miss Watson, the pupil of
Paganini.
Dec. 3. Simeon De Witt, surveyor of the state, died
at Ithaca, aged 79.
While a student in Queens college he joined a volun-
teer company formed of students, which was broken up
by the capture of New Brunswick by the British army;
he then removed into this state, and was present and
serving as a volunteer from Ulster county, in the line of
the Continental army at the capture of Gen. Burgoyne
on the 17th October, 1777, and was shortly after ap-
pointed assistant geographer to the army. The next
year, on the resignation of Col. Erskine he was appointed
geographer-general, which office he held until the close
of the war, and was always distinguished for zeal and
efficiency. After the peace of 1783 he was appointed
surveyor-general of the state, and held the office until
the day of his death, having served his country in war
and in peace for upwards of half a century; and by the
courtesy and kindness of his manner, and the strict in-
tegrity of his conduct, acquired in an eminent degree the
respect and confidence of his fellow citizens.
1834. Notes from the Newspapers. 235
Dec. 4. Elisha Kane died at Philadelphia, aged 64.
Dec. 6. William Carpenter died.
Dec. 7. The new church erected in Hallenbake street
by the Methodist Protestant Society, afterwards known
as the House of Prayer, was dedicated. It was situated
between Beaver and Hudson streets, and the first preacher
was Rev. C. W. Denison, a baptist. It was claimed that
this "forcibly illustrated the liberal character of the
congregation."
Cornelius Thayer died.
Dec. 8. At a meeting of the Fire Department, Elias
A. Brown was elected president, Dennison Worthington
vice president, John Cuyler secretary, Elisha N. Pratt
treasurer.
Dec. 13. Jacob I. Evertsen died, aged 31.
Dec. 14. A fire broke out in Van Schaick street which
destroyed Josiah Wynant's soap and candle factory and
several other buildings.
The Half Way House of Peleg Noyes on the Water-
vliet turnpike having been burned, by which he was
reduced to poverty, the citizens held a meeting to raise
money for his benefit, and the Theatre set apart an even-
ing's performances for the same purpose.
Dec. 15. Thermometer 7 deg. below zero.
Charles Dillingham died, aged 35.
Edwin M. Bosworth died, aged 27.
Henry Truax died, aged 74.
Dec. 16. Leonard Gansevoort died, aged 81. He
was for thirty years a member of the common council,
and many years a judge of the court of common pleas.
At the time of his death he was the oldest attorney and
counselor on the roll of the Supreme court.
Dec. 17. Peter Bain, of the firm of Gregory & Bain,
died at Galway.
Dec. 22. Henry A. Wilson died, aged 22.
A secession took place in the Reformed Presbyterian
church, effected by the pastor, Rev. J. S. R. Willson,
who left the city and resumed his former charge in Or-
ange county.
236 Notes from the Newspapers. 1834,
The following is a list of the clergymen of the city at
this time, as their names appear with an engagement to
deliver a lecture each on temperance.
Wm. B. Sprague, 2d Presbyterian church.
Horatio Potter, St. Peter's.
J. N. Campbell, 1st Presbyterian.
B. T. Welch, Pearl Street Baptist.
H. Meeker, Wesleyan Methodist.
Charles Smyth, Catholic.
Isaac Ferris, South Dutch.
Wm. James, 3d Presbyterian.
J. H. Price, St. Paul's.
F. G. Mayer, Lutheran.
S. Stebbins, North Pearl Street Methodist.
E. N. Kirk, Fourth Presbyterian.
J. D. Williamson, Universalist.
C. Sherman, Division Street Methodist.
George Ide, Green Street Baptist.
James Martin, Reformed Presbyterian.
S. Center.
North Dutch, no pastor.
The Third Dutch church had just been organized.
Rev. Edwin Holmes preached his first sermon, Jan. 25,
1835, in a church in Westerlo street belonging to the
Ref. Presbyterians ; the first service was held there Dec.
7, 1834, by Rev. Dr. Ferris.
Dec. 23. A fire took place in Apothecaries Hall
which damaged goods to the amount of $300; supposed
to have been the work of an incendiary.
Dec. 26. Hezekiah Scovel,long a resident of Albany,
died at Warren, Herkimer county.
Dec. 29. Mrs. Belinda Bus well died, aged 45.
The following were elected managers of the city as-
semblies for the ensuing year. The city assemblies
were dancing parties.
John Keyes Paige. James Stevenson.
John A. Dix. James Dexter.
Benj. Tibbits. George Brinkerhoof.
Augustus James. John Van Buren.
1834. Notes from the Newspapers. 237
Dec. 30. Snow fell to the depth of 18 inches.
An election was held in the first ward to fill the
vacancy in the board of aldermen occasioned by the
resignation of Angus McDuffie, elected sheriff. The
whole number of votes cast was 622, of which Gerrit
Hogan received 357, and Aaron V. Fryer 246.
At a meeting of the board on the same evening Mr.
Hogan was sworn in. An old controversy was renewed
between Recorder McKown and Alderman Wasson on
the subject of impounding swine, which is reported in
the Evening Journal. Erastus Corning was unanimously
reelected mayor, and Rufas H. Peckham was unani-
mously elected clerk.
1835.
Jan. 1. Elizabeth, wife of Richard Van Rensselaer,
died, aged 35.
Jan. 13. John Fitzsimmons died, aged 26.
Jan. 15. D wight Storrs, late of Albany, died at An-
cram, aged 30.
Jan. 31. The ice in the river gave way and moved
off in a body, leaving the channel unobstructed.
The mean temperature of the month was 22 deg. The
mean temperature of the month of January in the pre-
vious year was 23 deg.
At a meeting of the board of common council, the
superintendent of the Almshouse reported 435 paupers in
the institution; there had been 47 deaths and 7 births
in 5 months. The chief engineer of the fire department
reported 4 fires and 7 alarms in 6 months; losses $4,000.
Feb. 2. At a meeting of the common council, the
superintendent of the Almshouse reported the inmates
as follows: of citizens 45 men, 39 women, 61 children;
transient persons, 91 men, 95 women, 104 children;
total 375.
Feb. 4. A meeting was held at the Eagle Tavern to
consider the project of a bridge across the river at this
[Annals, x.] 21
238 Notes from the Newspapers. 1835.
city. A committee of thirty was appointed to draw up
a petition.
Feb. 8. Rev. E. N. Kirk preached a sermon in the
evening for the benefit of the Apprentices' Library, and
a collection was taken up amounting to $57-64. The
institution had now been in existence fourteen years,
had on its shelves 2,200 books, 900 of which were drawn
out every month.
Feb. 9. A meeting was held at the Capitol for the
purpose of making an application to the legislature for the
removal of the nuisance occasioned by the canal basin.
Feb. 10 4 John C. Donnelyxiied, aged 43. His fune-
ral was attended by the members of the fire department.
Alvah M. Lockwood died, aged 24.
Feb. 12. Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Strong, died,
aged 44.
Feb. 14. Theophilus Carter died.
Feb. 17. Peter Lansing, Jr. died, aged 46. His fune-
ral was attended by the St. Nicholas society, of which
he was one of the founders.
Feb. 20. A fire broke out in the attic of Washington
Hall, in South Pearl street, adjoining the Theatre, which
was subdued after considerable damage had been done.
Feb. 22. John D. P. Douw died.
The paternal ancestor of Mr. Douw was a native of
Holland, and was one of that chosen band of patriots
who with many others of our respected progenitors, esti-
mating the value of civil and religious liberty superior
to all other blessings, in the early period of our colonial
history left their homes and native land, and relinquish-
ing the superior comforts of civilized life, sought for quiet
and repose in the wilds of America. He settled on the
eastern bank of the Hudson, in the present town of
Greenbush. and it is worthy of remark, when we consider
the vicissitudes of human life, and the uncertain changes
of human destiny, that the original paternal estate has
been retained in the family, descending from father to
son, through the line of successive generations, for the
period of one hundred and forty years. The father of
1835. Notes from the Newspapers. 239
Mr. Douw was a native and resident of this city, at the
commencement of the American revolution, of strong
mind, great energy of character, and a whig of unshaken
perseverance. He early took an active and decided part
with his countrymen against the usurpations of the Brit-
ish ministry, and the various important offices to which
he was elected and appointed, are full of evidences of the
estimation in which his services were held by his coun-
trymen. After the close of the war, when through the
blessings of Providence our cause had triumphed, and
our country under the cae of Washington, was moving
onward in the course of national prosperity, he retired
from public life, and died at an advanced age, leaving
to his children the most invaluable of all inheritances,
the inheritance of an honest name.
Mr. Douw was just entering into active life at the
commencement of the revolution, and served as an officer
in the commissary department of the American army in
the campaign of 1777, which terminated in the surrender
of Burgoyne. On the return of peace he embarked in
mercantile business in this city, and for a period of more
than forty years was known as one of the most prom-
inent, active and enterprising men in the line of his
profession : and after acquiring a sufficient competency,
retired from the pursuits of active life. Few men have
passed through life more respected, and few will die
more regretted. His manners, conversation and deport-
ment, were those of a gentleman of the old school. In-
structed in early life in the principles of the Christian
faith, his soul was exalted by its exercise, and its hopes,
exhibiting in the unvaried tenor of a long life how a
Christian should live, and in its last solemn hour, how a
Christian can die.
Feb. 23. Peter Douw Beekman died, aged 73.
Feb. 24. Mrs. Mary Arrol died, aged 44.
Feb. 26. Sarah, wife of Joseph Wilson, died, aged 62.
March. There was a project before the common
council for macadamizing North Pearl street. There
240 Notes from the Newspapers. 1835.
was also a good deal of excitement about the grade of
the great area below Ferry street, between Pearl street
and the river, which was an unbroken waste.
March 10. John P. Jermain died, aged 23.
March 15. Hallenbake Stafford died, aged 42.
March 20. Eliza Bayard, wife of Wm. P. Van Rens-
selaer, died at Matanzas.
March 21. At a meeting of the master bakers at the
Rising Sun tavern, Wm. G. Pruyn president, Stephen
Paddock secretary, it was resolved to sell bread to re-
tailers at $9 per hundred loaves, and to families at 9
pence per loaf.
March 22. Joseph L. Townsend, of the late firm of
Wm. Rice & Co., died at Charleston, S. C.
March 23. The committee entrusted with funds for
the relief of sufferers by the cholera, reported that the
amount received and disbursed during the years 1832 to
1835 was $3,507-30.
Rebecca, wife of Rev. James Martin, died, aged 30.
Joseph P. Holmes died.
March 24. Mary, widow of Philip Conine, died at
Coxsackie, sister of the late Gen. Van Schaick of Albany.
John T, Norton resigned the presidency of the Canal
Bank on removing from the city, and Joseph Russell was
elected in his stead.
March 25. A fire destroyed several buildings in Plane
street.
The steam boat John Jay succeeded in reaching the
city, being the first arrival on the opening of the river.
March 26. Eleanor, wife of Isaac Denniston, died,
aged 72.
Louisa, wife of Jacob Hochstrasser, died, aged 29.
Margaret Fraser died, aged 26.
Nathaniel Rossiter died, aged 73.
March 28. Wm. S. Cobb died, aged 25.
March 29. The several Methodist Episcopal churches
having procured the building in State street continued,
known as the Primitive Methodist church, opened the
same for public worship.
1835. Notes from the Newspapers. 241
April 1. Mary, widow of the late James Scott of this
city, died in New York, aged 80.
April 2. A fire destroyed a stable in Church street
and two horses were burnt.
April 4. The following were elected trustees of the
Albany Library: Jacob H. Ten Eyck, Volkert P. Douw,
M. H. Webster, S. De Witt Bloodgood, P. S. Van Rens-
selaer and J. B. Van Schaick.
April 4. Mrs. Ann Henry die4, aged 75.
April 6. Charles Augustus Little died at sea, aged 25.
April 7. Wm. G. Wasson died, aged 30.
April 8. Susan B., wife of James Edwards, died at
Ballston, aged 28.
April 10. Polly, wife of Joseph Gates, died, aged 46.
April 13. Mrs. Jane Vredenburgh died, aged 69.
April 15. A fire destroyed a stable in Dallius street
corner of Bass, in which four horses and a cow were
consumed.
April 19. Wrn. Thompson, Jr. died, aged 28.
April 20. Charles Goodrich died, aged 62.
April 24. A fire broke out in a stable in the rear of
the Rising Sun tavern, corner of South Pearl and Beaver
streets, which destroyed all the buildings between Bea-
ver street and the Theatre, owned by Isaac Denniston.
The Theatre building was saved, but the scenery and
properties were either burnt or destroyed.
April 24. William Boardman died, aged 64.
Mrs. Mary Dunlavy died, aged 84.
April 26. Eliza, wife of Peter E. Elmendorf, died of
apoplexy, aged 58.
Jane, wife of Alexander McElroy of Trenton, Oneida
county, died at the house of her son Thomas McElroy
of this city, aged 75.
The Daily Advertiser announced that capitalists were
turning their attention to investments in this city; that
James Stevenson made sale of his property on the corner
of State and South Pearl streets for $42,000; and that
E. C. Delavan had sold his estate for $243,000. It is
242
Notes from the Newspapers.
1835.
DEMOCRAT.
Ward.
492
468
Levi Cornell, 392
George Monteith, 368
480 Garret Hogan, 387
464 B. S. Van Rensselaer, . . 384
460 Barent P. Staats, 379
473 Ebenezer Wright, 380
Ward.
335 William Seymour,.... 336
320
333
mentioned in the same paper that a person crossing
State street bridge counted 96 persons on foot and 18
teams passing over at the same time.
The Kane property on Pearl street below Lydius, was
at this time valued at $100,000.
May 3. Mrs. Achsa Fanning died, aged 63.
May 5. The ward and charter election took place,
and resulted in a majorty of whig members being
elected.
WHIG.
First
Aldermen, G. V. S. Bleecker, .
JohnS. Walsh,....
Assistants, Chas. S. Olmstead,
Michael Artcher, ..
Supervisor, Stephen Paddock,.
Assessor, Green Hal 1 ,
Second
Aldermen, I. L. Judson,
Richard D. Betts,.. ..
Assistants, William Davis,
Jotham Hancock, ....
Supervisor, Amos Adams,
Assessor, John Boardman,
Third
Aldermen, Israel Williams,
Arnold Nelson,
Assistants, John W. Bay,
S. D. W. Bloodgood,.
Supervisor, Egbert Egberts,
Assessor, Elisha Russell,
Fourth
Aldermen, James Robinson,....
Erastus Chapin,
Assistants, H. A. Williams,....
Seth Jarvis,
Supervisor, Daniel Wilcox,
Assessor, Philip Hooker,
Fiflh
Aldermen, John Van Ness, Jr. . .
John L. Winne,
Assistants, Frederick Porter,
Parker Sargent,
Supervisor, Robert Shepherd, ....
Assessor, Benjamin Wilson,. . . .
323
326
James D. Wasson, 335
Hiram Perry, 340
327 Jacob Downing, 309
John I. Burton, 341
Daniel S. Kittle, 337
Ward.
309 G. W. Ryckman, 202
310 J. S. Schoonmaker, 196
P. H. Ostrander, 193
G. Brinckerhoff, 211
E. R. Satterlee, 198
N. N. Quackenbush,... 196
307
297
312
313
Ward.
359
339
356
353
360
351
Lemuel Steele, 469
James Maher, 452
James G. Mather, 460
Eben Mnrdock, 456
S. S. Fowler, 455
Lewis Farnham, 470
Ward.
288 J. N. Quackenbush,.... 281
228 James Gibbons, 270
263 William Gillespie, 290
238 S. V. R. Ableman,.... 296
514 (No opposition).
258 Josiah Patterson, 29
1835. Notes from the Newspapers. 243
May 6. In the house of assembly the bill chartering
the Troy and Schenectady rail road was passed; the bill
for the Greenbush and West Stockbridge rail road was
lost, 75 to 19.
May 7. John McDole died, aged 38.
May 8. John Stone died, aged 42.
Amos Gay died, aged 56.
May 10. James P. Van Benthuysen died, aged 62.
May 11. The legislature adjourned, having passed
311 laws, among which were the following relating to
the city :
An act to incorporate the Young Men's Association
for mutual improvement.
An act to amend the charter of the Second Reformed
Protestant Dutch Church, giving it a right to invest a
portion of the control of its affairs in pew holders, not
members of the consistory.
An act known as the Albany Ward Bill.
An act allowing the Albany and Schenectady turn-
pike company to improve their road by laying down
blocks of stone to form a track for the passage of vehicles.
An act authorizing the removal of the bulkhead in the
Albany basin.
An act incorporating the Orphan Asylum.
May 12. Isaac Jenkins, engineer of the steam boat
Ohio, died in New York, aged 59. He assisted in build-
ing the engine of the North River, the first steam boat
engine made.
May 15. Peter Edmund Elmendorf died, aged 70.
May 16. Hannah R. Morgan died, aged 27.
May 25. The steam boat Robert L. Stephens, thought
at the time to be the perfection of a steam boat model,
began to ply on the river.
The infant schools were suspended, and the managers
of the society gave notice that if sufficient funds were not
provided within one month, they would be permanently
discontinued.
Edward Artcher contracted to furnish the city with
oil at 80 cts. a gallon.
244 Notes from the Newspapers. 1835.
May 27. The Graham Garden on Arbor Hill was
sold by Davis & Gill, in lots, for $9,975, by auction.
May 31. Wm. Snell died, aged 34.
June 1. The Siamese twins, Chang and Eng, made
their first appearance in Albany at the Museum. They
were at this time 18 years of age.
June 2. Mademoiselle Celeste made her appearance
at the Theatre.
June 8. At a meeting of the common council, the
inspectors of the special election held for the choice of
an alderman in the Second ward (Aldermen Wasson
and Judson haying received 335 votes each), reported
that there were 725 votes given, of which James D.
Wasson had 370 and Ichabod L. Judson, 355.
The attorney made a report of the litigation had with
the Water works company for the several dividends due
to the board, which the company withheld; a verdict had
been rendered in favor of the board.
Also in relation to the square to be opened between
Pine and Steuben streets, he reported that the Water
works company owned a lot in the contemplated square,
which they held the board had no power to take from
them. The estimated cost of this improvement was
$18,000. The wooden buildings on the premises were
ordered to be removed within thirty days.
Tne plot of ground, corner of Hudson and Liberty
streets, was ordered to be enclosed, and $250 appropriated
for the improvement.
The sum of $250 was appropriated to the celebration
of the fourth of July.
It was also decided to ring the Middle Dutch Church
bell at 8 o'clock in the morning.
June 11. William N. Capron died, aged 47.
June 13. A fire broke out in the Clinton furnace,
belonging to T. Towers, corner of Beaver and Hallen-
bake streets, which was burnt down, as well as the bell
foundery of Lewis Aspinwall, and several other buildings.
June 18. Mrs. Mary Cameron died, aged 53.
June 22. The name of Store lane was changed to
Norton street.
1835. Notes from the Newspapers. 245
June 25. William Groesbeeck died, aged 53.
July 2. "William Morgan of Albany died at Buffalo,
aged 58.
July 6. Lloyd Howard died, aged 40.
July 16. Samuel Townsend died, of the firm of Town-
send & Shields.
July 17. Mrs. Catharine Fitzsimmons died, aged 67.
July 20. Daniel Quidley died, aged 40.
July 22. Patrick Cassidy died, aged 48.
July 25. The Zodiac, a literary periodical, was pub-
lished by Erastus Perry. Jts principal contributors were
S. D. W. Bloodgood, James Eights, H. V. Du Coudray
Holstein, &c.
July 29. Andrew A. De Witt, formerly of Ulster
county, died, aged 74.
July 30. Solomon W. Southwick died, aged 32.
Aug. 3. The common council appointed a committee
to inquire into the expediency and expense of translating
the city records from the Dutch.
Aug. 8. Abigail, wife of Calvert Chad wick, died,
aged 34.
Aug. 13. William Weston died, aged 72.
Mathew Kugler died, aged 78.
Aug. 14. Jacob J. Miller died, aged 53.
Aug. 21. Jeremiah Waterman died, aged 45.
Aug. 24. Almira, wife of Thomas P. Crook, died,
aged 18.
Aug. 4. A meeting of ministers and laymen was
held in the Pearl street Baptist church for the purpose
of organizing a City Tract Society. The Rev. Dr. Welch
was called to the chairj the Rev. Mr. Kirk chosen secre-
tary, and the Rev. Mr. Campbell opened the meeting
with prayer. A constitution was adopted, and the follow-
ing officers elected:
Stephen Van Rensselaer, president.
Friend Humphrey, Israel Smith and John Woodworth,
vice presidents.
E. H. Pease, secretary.
Ezekiel C. Mclntosh, treasurer.
246 Notes from the Newspapers. 1835.
Rev. Mr. Vermilye, Teunis Van Vechten, Rev. Isaac
Ferris, Wm. McElroy, Rev. Mr. Holmes, E. S. Herrick,
Rev. Dr. Welch, Ira Harris, Rev. G. B. Ide, J. G. Was-
son, Rev. Dr. Sprague, James Brown, Rev. Mr. Camp-
bell, Israel Williams, Isaac Hand, Rev. Mr. Kirk,
Lambert Norton, managers.
Aug. 26. Mrs. Mary Cummings died, aged 63.
Sept. 4. Guy Arms died, aged 47. He came to this
city from Greenfield, Mass.
Sept. 8. The annual sabbath school celebration took
place, when between three and four thousand children
gathered in the Capitol park. The schools from that
part of the city south of State street, marched in proces-
sion under Philip Phelps, through several of the streets
to the First Presbyterian church, where an address was
delivered by the Rev, Dr. Ferris. Those on the north
of State street were under the direction of Thomas Mc-
Elroy, and were addressed by the Rev. Mr. Vermilye in
the North Methodist church.
Sept. 10. Michael Leyne died, aged 45.
Sept. 16. Eliza, wife of George C. Watson, died,
aged 38.
Sept. 19. Ann Eliza, wife of Simeon M. Tenant,
died, aged 25.
Sept. 20. Daniel Shields, a soldier of the revolution,
died, aged 70.
Sept. 22. Barent Van Loon died, aged 42.
Sept. 23. The North America, Capt. Lathrop, arrived
from New York in 10 hours, 7 minutes, and made the
usual mail and passenger landings.
The steam boat North America made the passage up
from New York in 8 h. 41 m., running time.
The Robert L. Stephens made the passage in 10 hours
also, including twelve landings.
The number of landings made by the North America
was 15, which occupied 1 h. 16 m.jtime of running,
8 h. 44 m.
Sept. 26. The Rev. Nicholas Lansing died at Tappan,
1835. Notes from the Newspapers. 247
aged 87. He was a native of Albany, and studied under
the Rev. Dr. Westerlo.
Sept. 28. The common council appropriated half the
expense of enclosing a plot of ground on Lydius street,
between Eagle and Philip, provided the amount did not
exceed $1,000, and the remainder was raised by subscrip-
tion.
The chamberlain was directed to pay on the warrant
of the mayor, $10,000 for the improvement of the naviga-
tion of the river below the city.
Peter V. Shankland was, unanimously reelected cham-
berlain for the ensuing year.
Sept. 30. Benjamin Gilbert died, aged 42.
October. There had been for some time an unusual
mortality at the Almshouse. Dr. John W. Hinkley, the
physician, stated that in 1832, Peter P. Staats physician,
the number of admissions was 583; deaths 100. In 1833
the number of admissions was 605; deaths 136, Samuel
Shaw physician. In 1834, John W. Hinkley physician,
number of admissions 677 ; deaths 90. In 1835, to Octo-
ber 1, admissions 391, deaths 66.
Oct. 12. The first penny paper was published in this
city by C. F. Powell & Co., called The Albany Transcript.
Oct. 13. The president and directors of the Commer-
cial Bank stated that the defalcations of Henry Bartow,
the absconded cashier, were less than $130,000; that an
unimpaired capital of $249,263, including earnings, re-
mained, and assured the public that loss could fall only
upon the stockholders, as by the charter of the bank,
they were liable to the public in the sum of $600,000.
Oct. 17. Mary Welden died, aged 45.
Chester Judd died, aged 45.
Oct. 19. William McDougall, formerly of Albany,
died in New York, aged 44.
Oct. 21. The steam boat, Champlain, Capt. Gorham,
arrived from New York at 4 h. 21 m. p. m. having made
the passage in 8 h. 45J m., running time. On the 23d
the Champlain made the trip in 9 h. 31 m. including 16
landings.
248 Notes from the Newspapers. 18
Oct. 23. James Walsh died.
William M. Soulden died, aged 20.
Oct. 26. Judge Sutherland resigned his office as judge
of the Supreme court, for that of clerk of the same court,
which was better paid.
Oct. 27. Arrived at the Museum the famous Joice
Heth, said to have been the nurse of Gen. Washington,
and at tnis time 161 years of age.
The county clerk reported the population of the city,
according to the returns of the canvassers, as follows :
Males, 13,712
Females, 14,373
28,085
Number of voters, 4,489. Population in 1830, 24,209.
Gain in five years, 3,386. Population of the county,
59,762.
Oct. 29. A house owned by Charles Chapman, at the
rail road junction, nearly two miles west of the Capitol,
was burnt, together with a barn, in which 500 bushels
of onions were roasted.
The copartnership of Lewis C. Beck and Mathew
Henry Webster, in the business of enameling hollow
ware, was dissolved.
Nov. 2. James Martin died, aged 75.
Nov. 4. The election for members of assembly was
as follows:
DEMOCRATIC. WHIG.
First Ward, Wm. Seymour, 379 Friend Humphrey, 465
Second Ward, do 318 do 287
Third Ward, do 227 do 352
Fourth Ward, do 444 do 371
Fifth Ward, do 241 do 252
1609 1727
The majorities from the county elected Mr. Seymour*
whose vote was 3,888 against 3 ,620 for Mr. Humphrey.
Mr. Seymour, who had been twelve years in the board of
common council, was now transferred to the legislature.
1835. Notes from the Newspapers. 249
Nov. 9. At a meeting of the common council a com-
mittee was appointed to inquire into the expediency of
ordering a new census. There was universal dissatisfac-
tion with the returns of the canvassers.
The superintendent of the Almshouse reported the
expenses of the last quarter, $2,595'25; receipts for
labor, &c., $425; number of inmates, 250.
Nov. 11. The Chinese girl, Afong Moy, attracted the
attention of the curious at the Museum, by the exhibition
of her foot, and the mode of bandaging and crushing by
which small feet are produced in China.
Nov. 12. Maria, wife of Dr. Charles D. Townsend,
died, aged 48.
Nov. 13. The hat factory of Edward S. Willett,
corner of Green and Bassett streets, was burnt. He
was the first to commence the manufacture of silk hats
in this city. To show that Mr, Willett was not alone a
man of fur merely, but also a poet, his advertisement is
introduced. As a man of law he can speak for himself.
If e'er a man in earnest sought
To make a hat as workmen ought,
Substantial, and with beauty fraught,
'Tis Willett.
And well may he take pains to please,
When hosts of Fashion's devotees
Are daily swarming in like bees,
At Willett's.
Hundreds and hundreds who've surveyed
The hats in other stores displayed,
Have left them all and come to trade
At Willett's.
Ask the genteel where'er you go,
Who made that elegant chapeau?
And ten to one he'll say, I trow,
'Twas Willett.
Who showed those hats, so rich and rare,
That took the prize twice at the fair,
Causing the craft to wince and stare?
'Twas Willett.
The Eagle with the hat that won
The prize that dimm'd a certain St*n,
Displays a taste that's touch'd by none
But Willett.
[Annals, x.] 22
250 Notes from the Newspapers. 1835.
Nov. 15. First fall of snow.
Nov. 19. Asahel Clark, of the firm of Rawdon,
Clark & Co., engravers, died suddenly near Columbus,
Ohio, while apparently in good health, and riding on a
stage coach.
Nov. 23. The finance committee proposed to raise
$38,000 by tax for the city expenses for the ensuing
year, which were estimated as follows:
For the lamps, $6,000
watch, 7,000
city debt, 5,000
contingent fund, 20,000
On motion of Alderman Seymour the salaries of the
night watch were increased to $1 a night.
Nov. 29. The river closed, leaving a great number
of vessels laden with produce for New York, winter
bound. An unusual number of boats were frozen in
along the whole extent of the canal.
Nov. 30. Margaretta, widow of John Hooghkirk, died,
aged 82.
The whole number of boats that arrived at and depart-
ed from Albany by canal, was 10,960; amount of tolls
collected, $357,565*26.
Dec. 6. John De Witt died, aged 31.
Dec. 7. Captain Stephen Stilwell, of the ship Rosalie,
died off Cape Horn, aged 35; son of the late William
Stilwell of this city.
Dec. 11. Cornelia, wife of Samuel H. Stewart, died,
aged 24.
Dec. 13. Lucy, wife of Sylvester Wilcox, died, aged 55.
Dec. 14. Lucy Jacobs died, aged 67.
Sleighs loaded with merchandise left this city for Buf-
falo; a thing of rare occurrence since the completion of
the canal.
Dec. 16 Cold day; thermometer 12 deg. below zero.
Dec. 17. John Van Zandt died, aged 32.
Dec. 18. A fire broke out in the hat store of Winne
& Nelson, and destroyed the building corner of South
Market and Hamilton streets, known as the Connecticut
1835. Notes from the Newspapers. 251
Coffee House, owned by Smith Weed. The stores of A.
G. Hindman, Levi Phillips and E. S. Willett, were also
burnt.
At the same time a sloop was burnt in the basin.
Dec. 21. At a meeting of the common council Erastus
Corning was reelected mayor by 10 votes; Francis Blood-
good received 8.
Dec. 22. A meeting of citizens was held at the Capi-
tol to take into consideration the recent calamitous fire
in New York. Erastus Corning was appointed chairman.
Among other things it was resolved to send an expression
of sympathy to the sufferers, and to assure them of the
cordiality with which Albany would contribute her ef-
forts toward the accomplishment of measures of relief,
and the adoption of such other steps as the occasion
might demand.
The mean temperature in 1834 was 49 deg.
1835 " 46 deg.
1836.
Jan. 1. The common council assembled at the City
Hall and the oath of office was administered to Hon.
Erastus Corning by the recorder, James McKown. Mr.
Corning made an address on the occasion, alluding to the
transactions of the board during the past year; the con-
solidation of the elections by which the members of the
board were now chosen with the town officers annually
in the spring; the equalization of the wards: the reduc-
tion of the rates of ferriage at the Greenbush ferry from
33 to 50 per cent; the improvements in the basin; the
improvements being made by the government in the
river; the improvement in the city finances, by which
the city debt had been reduced $65,000 in two years, and
of nearly $269,000 due in 1817, but $95,000 remained to
be liquidated. He called attention to the importance of
supplying the city with pure water; of establishing
grades between Eagle and Lark streets; to the near com-
pletion of the Utica and Schenectady rail road as a
252 Notes from the Newspapers. 1836.
source of increased business to the city, and the prospect
of an uninterrupted rail road track to Buffalo; and to
the great importance of a rail road to connect with the
Boston road at Stockbridge.
Jan. 8. A fire destroyed Parson's carpenter shop in
Montgomery street.
Jan. 9. Lucy, wife of Aaron Brown, died, aged 59.
Jan. 15. Ann, wife of Adam Kittle, died, aged 20.
Jan. 18. Daniel Wilcox died, aged 41.
Jan. 20. Nancy Eliza, wife of Stephen Wilson, died,
aged 41.
Jan. 21. Barney E. Evertsen died, aged 37.
Jan. 25. Francis G. Roberts died, aged 36.
Jan. 26. John A. Van Allen died, aged 43.
Peter Hilton died in Guilderland, aged 92.
He was born in Albany in 1744, and resided here 84
years.
Jan. 27. George Artcher died, aged 43.
Margaret Ann, wife of Jotham Hancock,
died, aged 40.
Jan. 28. A tallow chandlery was burnt in Orange
street; loss about $1,400. It was owned by Patrick
Murphy.
Jan. 31. Philip Hooker died, aged 69.
An organ was procured for St. Peter's church about
this time, and the interior of the church much beautified
and improved.
Hon. Myndert Van Schaick, at this time state senator
from New York, made a donation of $500 to the Third
Dutch church of this city. Mr. Van Schaick was a son
of Col. Gosen Van Schaick, and born in this city.
A large number of sleighs were employed by the cor-
poration in taking the snow out of the narrow streets,
in which it lay from 4 to 6 feet in depth.
Feb. 1. The clerk of the common council, R. W.
Peckham, resigned the office, and Peter Carmichael was
elected.
The number of paupers in the Almshouse was 340,
being 100 less than the year before.
1836. Notes from the Newspapers. 253
Estimates and surveys were being made with a view
to the construction of a bridge over the Hudson. Also
for a canal from Schenectady direct to Albany.
Feb. 2. Mrs. Lyntie Douw died, aged 66.
Feb. 3. A convention met to nominate Gen. Harrison
for the presidency.
Feb. 4. Isaac D. Verplanck died at Coeymans, aged
77. He was formerly one of the judges of the common
pleas of Albany county. Although a youth at the com-
mencement of the revolutionary war, he was on duty,
and entitled to a pension, but declined applying for it,
saying that the services he had rendered had been amply
rewarded by the enjoyment of a free government for
more than fifty years. Major Verplanck and six of his
townsmen, built the Reformed Dutch church at Coej-
mans at their own expense, of which he was a member,
and elder until age induced him to resign his place. He
was the last survivor of the original proprietors of Coey-
man's patent.
Feb. 8. Prudence, wife of Seth Crapo, died, aged 40.
James Puddy died.
Feb. 9. A fire broke out in the rear of Stark's New
England Tavern, opposite the steam boat landing; which
was extinguished with little damage.
William Thomas died, aged 38; late of Philadelphia.
Feb. 10. William Duffy, manager of the Albany The-
atre, was fatally stabbed by one of his actors, John
Hamilton, who was arrested and held to bail in $2,000.
Feb. 11. A fire broke out in the dwelling of James
Maher, which was consumed, with most of the furniture
and a trunk containing ^350.
A meeting of citizens was held at the City Hall, Eras-
tus Corning in the chair, to consider the project of a
bridge at Albany. They resolved that fehe ferries were
inadequate to the wants of the public, and that the- com-
mon council be requested to memorialize the legislature
in favor of this great city measure.
Feb. 16. The firm of Benedict & Roby was changed
so as to admit Spencer S. Benedict.
254 Notes from the Newspapers. 1836.
Feb. 18. The leather store of Jared Holt took fire,
and communicating with the adjoining buildings, caused
a great deal of damage. The thermometer was 18 deg.
below zero, and it was with the utmost difficulty that
the hose could be prevented from freezing. The loss
was about $15,000.
Feb. 19. Rev. William Linn Keese, formerly rector
of St. Paul's church in this city, died at Cuba, whither
he had gone for his health, aged 33.
Feb. 22. Mrs. Catharine Darling died, aged 46, and
was buried from the house of William Gould in State
street.
Feb. 23. Ezra Ames died, aged 68.
Feb. 26. John Van Schoonhoven died, aged 42.
Feb. 28. Sarah, daughter of Wm. Risk, died, aged 22.
March 1. Caroline E., daughter of Amiel Barnard,
died, aged 25.
Hon. Alfred Conkling published an educational work,
called The Young Citizen's Manual.
March 2. Mrs. Maria Gaffers died, aged 79.
March 3. John Brower, formerly of Albany, died in
New York, aged 48.
March 5. The firm of Wilder, Hastings & Co. was
dissolved, consisting of Ephraim Wilder, Seth Hastings,
Jason Paige and John P. Cassidy.
John N. Wilder and William E. Bleecker formed a
partnership in business as wholesale dry goods mer-
chants at the old stand of Wilder & Hastings, corner of
State and Green streets.
March 6. Maria, widow of the late William Morgan,
died.
March 8. Joseph R. Van Zandt died, aged 64.
March 11. The assembly committee reported against
a bridge across the Hudson at this city. A writer in the
Journal attributed the result principally to the joint
efforts of the recorder, James McKown, and John N.
Quackenbush, and stated further, that Mr. Quackenbush
was the vehement opposer of the Erie canal, its termina-
tion at Albany, the building of the pier, and other similar
innovations.
1836. Notes from the Newspapers. 255
March 1 1. Willard H. Walker died, aged 29.
March 12. William Puffy, manager of the Albany
Theatre, who had been stabbed by tfohn Hamilton, died
of the wound, aged 33. Mr. Duffy was a native of Al-
bany, and had been an early companion of Edwin Forrest,
whose friendship he always retained and reciprocated.
In the capacity of manager he displayed an activity and
enterprise which gave a high character to the Albany
Theatre. His perseverance under discouragements, suf-
ficient to have overcome most men, and a judicious hus-
bandry of the means which favorable seasons gave him,
enabled him to manage successfully, and with profit to
himself and the public, an establishment in which we
believe every one of his predecessors had failed. As an
actor he was entitled to a high rank, though his business
engagements necessarily prevented the closet preparation
which has been pronounced necessary to histrionic excel-
lence. Many of his efforts, notwithstanding, evinced a
vigorous and a polished genius, and in some characters
in the highest walks of the drama, he was acknowledged
to be unsurpassed. As a citizen he was public spirited
and upright: as a man, high minded, social and benevo-
lent. Although young, his professional reputation stood
high in other cities, and he was for a number of years
a manager jointly with William Forest, of a theatre in
Philadelphia. Argus.
The Albany Bethel Union society was formed, with
the view of furnishing the means of moral and religious
improvement to boatmen and sailors, in providing for
them a house of worship, and the stated ministration of
the gospel. The first officers were the following:
Stephen Van Eensselaer, president.
Erastus Corning, vice president.
Nathaniel Davis, do
W. S. Rossiter, secretary.
William Adams, treasurer.
Thaddeus Joy, Levi Chapman, Horace Meech, Thomas
McElroy, C. A. Keeler, F. J. Barnard, Isaac P. Hand, E.
S. Herrick, and William Stead, directors.
256 Notes from the Newspapers. 1836.
March 13. The Green street Baptist church, which
had been injured by the recent heavy snows, was re-
paired, and open on fhis day for service.
March 17. Hannah, wife of Col. Wm. Leavenworth,
died, aged 79.
The infant schools, which had been closed in May last
for want of funds, were opened again in August, and at
this time had nearly 400 inmates. . The expenses were
a little short of $1,000, towards which there was a per-
manent fund of $200. A call was made upon the benevo-
lent in their behalf.
March 19. There were four fires on this day; Thomas's
American Hotel in State street, damage slight; Many's
furnace in Beaver street; Stephen Rider's carpenter shop
in Dean street; and the house, corner of Lodge street
and Maiden lane.
March 24. Abraham Ehle died in New York, of the
late firm of Young & Ehle, at 58 State street.
March 27. The stages still ran to Poughkeepsie on
the ice.
March 28. The common council closed the doors of
the old Lancaster School. Since the introduction of the
common school system, the number of scholars had
greatly decreased, and it was found that they might be
accommodated in cheaper quarters. In the course of
debate it was stated that education at the Lancaster
school was cheaper than at the district schools, and that
upwards of 10,000 boys, many of whom had grown up
to great respectability, had there been initiated in the
rudiments of learning. The establishment of a medical
college and of a normal school, was contemplated at this
time, and the Lancaster school building was looked upon
as a suitable edifice for one or the other of them.
At the same meeting it was determined to open a space
in the pier between the Columbia and State street bridges.
Also to allow the Mohawk and Hudson rail road to con-
tinue their track from Gansevoort street north to Ferry
street. There was a strong opposition by the property
holders in the south part of the city to have the rail road
brought through their streets.
1836. Notes from the Newspapers. 257
The Rev. Isaac Ferris, having resigned his pastoral
relation over the Middle Dutch church, also resigned the
trusteeship of the Female Academy.
Mr. Bloodgood reported to the common council in
favor of translating the Dutch records.
April 1. Mrs. Anne Lewis died, aged 73.
Homer Preston, formerly one of the firm of A. & H.
Preston, of the Albany City Coffee House, died at Brook-
lyn, N. Y., aged 43.
April 6. Joel B. Nott, James Vanderpoel, Stephen
Van Rensselaer, Jr., James Stephenson and John Town-
send, president and directors of the Albany Tunnel com-
pany, gave notice that books .would be opened on the
10th May for subscriptions to the stock of the company.
Susan, daughter of the late Robert Cameron, died in
New York, aged 26.
April 9. Zipporah, widow of Ezra Ames, died, aged 61.
April 10. The Emerald steam boat arrived from New
York, the first boat of the season.
Hannah, wife of George Hepinstall, died.
An application was made before the legislature for the
incorporation of a medical college.
April 13. Daniel Wood died, aged 71.
April 17. Mrs. Ann Christie died, aged 67.
Martha, widow of George Gill, died, aged 59.
April 25. William Mascraft resigned the office of
city superintendent.
April 26. Malcom Jamieson died, aged 21.
Hannah D., wife of Lyman T. Doty, died,
aged 28.
April 27. John Waddell died, aged 37.
April 30. A fire broke out in the old City Hall, corner
of South Market and Hudson streets, which so completely
damaged it that it was soon after pulled down.
May 3. James Harris died.
May 5. Schuyler Van Rensselaer died at Marietta,
Ohio.
May 10. Amos F. Van Buskirk died, aged 28.
The subscription books were opened for the tunnel.
258 Notes from the Newspapers. 1836.
It was proposed to make an experiment of 100 feet,
which would cost by estimate $30,000. Half the capital
stock was taken in small sums, and the remainder by
capitalists.
The Albany Mutual Insurance company was formed,
Dr. Barent B. Staats president.
May 11. Benjamin V. Clench died, aged 74.
May 17. Mrs. Mary Carter died, aged 56.
Ammon Rasey, keeper of the Rising Sun
tavern, in South Pearl street, died.
May 19. A fire in North Market street destroyed
three buildings adjoining the Mechanics and Farmers
Bank, namely: the fur stores of Packer, Prentice & Co.
and George C. Tread well, and the looking glass store of
Mr. Belknap.
In digging to make improvements in the north area of
the Second Dutch church on Beaver street, a number
of grave stones were thrown out, among which were the
two following, the first being that of the second mayor of
the city. (See Annals, vol. 1, p. 152.)
Here lies the body of John Abeel who departed this life ye 28 day
of Jan'y, 1711, and in the 44 year of his age.
Dient begin van wel te leven
Uyt den Hemel was gegeven
Gingh der weer den Hemel waert
Storf maer verliet de aert.
Here lies the body of Jeremiah Field, deceased Oct. 16, 1762, aged
32 years.
May 20. James Lloyd died, aged 31.
May 21. John Williamson died, aged 86.
May 23. James McLaughlin died, aged 31.
Bethiah, wife of Joshua Welden, died, aged
79.
May 26. The legislature adjourned, having been in
session 143 days.
Subscriptions were open for building the Albany Ex-
change.
May 29. Hugh McGrath died.
Timothy Hays died, aged 50.
June 2. Elizabeth, widow of Benjamin Gilbert,died.
1836. Notes from the Newspapers. 259
June 1 1 . Eliza Ann, wife of J. F. Shaw, died, aged 36.
June 13. A fire broke out in the old Pye tavern on
the Watervliet turnpike, which nearly destroyed that
famous edifice.
June 14. Caroline M. Phelps died, aged 21.
Sarah, wife of J. Mortimer, died, aged 26.
Michael Cagger died in Liverpool, England, aged 27.
June, 17. The Rev. Charles Smith having taken leave
of St. Mary's church, a meeting of the congregation was
called, over which Peter C. Doyle presided, at which
complimentary resolutions were passed.
Christiana, wife of J. Bogart, died, aged 62.
June 18. A fire destroyed two houses in Swan street.
June 20. Petitions were presented to the common
council for widenir-g Exchange street ; for a temporary
bridge at the foot of Hamilton street; for increased pay
of the tell ringer of the Presbyterian church; of E. H.
Pease and D. Campbell, teachers of the African school,
complaining of being turned out of their room by the
military companies occupying the Lancasterian school
house.
Resolutions were passed to remove buildings for the
widening of Church street; appropriating $250 for the
celebration of the 4th of July; offered by James Maher
authorizing the police justice to employ four constables
at $1*50 a day, to keep the peace on Sundays he attrib-
uted all the disorders on the Sabbath to the retailing of
liquors in the groceries; about the city's authorizing the
enclosure of the Pottersfield; inquiring into the expediency
of widening Maiden lane on the nort 
