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The
Quarterly Journal
of the
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New York State Historical
Association
Volume III
January 1922
Number 1
Entered as second class mail matter October 22, 1919, at the Post Office at Albany, New York
under the Act of August 24, 1912.
■ NSG6
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Quarterly Journal
Editorial Committee
JAMES SULLIVAN, Managing Editor
DIXON R. FOX FREDERICK B. RICHARDS
CONTENTS
MEETING OF THE NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIA-
TION 1
HISTORIC SPOTS NEAR LAKE GEORGE Frederick B. Richards 21
PRESENTATION OF AN INDIAN STATUE
----- George D. Pratt, Dixon Ryan Fox 30
THE BATTLE OF DIAMOND ISLAND - - - Peter Nelson 3^
REVIEWS OF BOOKS 54
Folwell, History of Minnesota; Burnett, Letters of the Continental
Congress; , History of the 306th Field Artillery; ,
The Story of Battery B, 306th Field Artillery; Patmore, Monroe in
the World War.
NOTES AND QUERIES 58
Snbscription Price $1.50 Single Numbers 40 cents
Address all contributions and communications to
New York State Historical Association, Albany.
o
X 3
VOL. III. JANUARY 1922 NO. 1.
1 he \/uarterly J ournal
of the New York State Historical Association
MEETING OF THE NEW YORK STATE HISTOR-
ICAL ASSOCIATION AT LAKE GEORGE
The twenty-second annual meeting of the New York State
Historical Association was opened Monday evening, October 3,
1921, at the Fort William Henry Hotel and closed on October 5.
About two hundred delegates from all parts of the State were
present. Vice-President Gilbert D. B. Hasbrouck presided in the
absence of President George A. Blauvelt, who had not sufficiently
recovered from a long illness to enable him to be at the meeting.
The Rev. Dr. William M. Beauchamp of S3^racuse opened the
sessions with prayer and Mr. Elmer J. West of Glens Falls wel-
comed the delegates to Lake George and vicinity. Dr. Frank
H. Severance made the response and Judge Hasbrouck then
introduced the first speaker of the evening. The program which
follows was carried out in all details with the exception of the
paper by Dr. Beauchamp, which he chose not to deliver, and the
paper on conservation which was delivered by Mr. William G.
Howard in the absence of Mr. Pettis.
Like many previous meetings, this was reported to be "the
best ever." The automobile trip on Tuesday afternoon, a de-
tailed itinerary of which is published herewith, was one of great
profit to all members interested in history. The same may be
said of the trip by boat and automobile to Fort Ticonderoga on
Wednesday morning. At the fort itself Mr. Pell entertained the
members after a style which reminded one of the welcomes which
were given to guests in the period to the history of which the
meeting was largely devoted.
Miss Pitcher's paper of the first evening had given a splendid
word picture of the entire region, beginning w4th Champlain's
discovery in 1609, and closing with Burgoyne's surrender in 1777,
so that the m.embers were well prepared to enjoy the historic and
literary associations of the locality.
2 NEW YORK ST A TE HISTORICAL ASSOCIA TION
For the whole stay at the Fort William Henry Hotel, the Dela-
ware and Hudson Company did everything for the comfort of the
guests. The Chepontuc Chapter of the D. A. R. at Glens Falls
and the Ticonderoga Chapter of the same society at Ticonderoga ,
exerted themselves to make the meeting a success. Proper and
appropriate mention of all of these efforts by the local societies
and organizations is given in the minutes of the association which
follow.
To no one in the association is greater debt due for the great
success of the meeting than to Mr. F. B. Richards, its enthusiastic
and devoted secretary. The program of papers at the sessions
was largely arranged for by the program committee, consisting of
President Blauvelt, Dr. Fox, Dr. Sullivan and Mr. Richards.
Program
First Session
Monday evening, October 3, 8:30 to 10:30
Invocation, Rev. William Martin Beauchamp, S. T. D., Syracuse.
Address of Welcome, Mr. Elmer J. West, Glens Falls.
Response, Frank H. Severance, L. H. D., second vice-president,
Buffalo.
Address, "Our Canadian-American Relations," R. Bruce
Taylor, D. D., president of Queens University, Kingston, Ontario.
Address, "An Historical Pilgrimage in the Champlain Valley,"
Mrs. Charlotte A. Pitcher, Utica.
Address, "Conservation in New York State," Mr. C. R. Pettis,
State Superintendent of Forests, Albany.
Second Session
Business Meeting
Tuesday morning, October 4, 8:30 to 10
Third Session
Tuesday morning, October 4, 10 to 12:30.
Address, "Women of New York State in the Revolution,"
Miss Amelia Day Campbell, New York City.
Address, "The Battle of Diamond Island," Peter Nelson, A. B.,
Albany.
Address, "Japan," Poultney Bigelow, A. M., Malden-on-
Hudson.
LAKE GEORGE MEETING 3
Fourth Session
Lake George Battleground Park.
Tuesday afternoon, October 4, 2:15.
Address, Presentation of an Indian Statue, the gift to the
Association by Hon. George D. Pratt, Frederic B. Pratt, L.L.D.,
Brooklyn.
Address, Acceptance on behalf of the Association, Dixon Ryan
Fox, Ph. D., New York.
NOTE: After these exercises an automobile trip will be taken
to the historic spots in the neighborhood. See special circular.
Fifth Session
Tuesday evening, October 4, 8:30 to 10:30.
Address, "Great Founders of the Iroquois League," Rev.
William Martin Beauchamp. S. T. D.
Address, "Regulation of Public Service Corporations in New
York," Hon. Martin S. Decker, Albany.
Address, "The Administration of Land Companies with Special
Reference to the Pulteney Estate," Paul D. Evans, Ph. D.,
Syracuse.
Discussion, Frank H. Severance, L. H. D., Buffalo.
Address, "What State Historical Associations Can Do," Augus-
tus H. Shearer, Ph. D., Buffalo.
Discussion, James Sullivan, Ph. D., Albany.
Sixth Session
Fort Ticonderoga
Wednesday afternoon, October 5, 1:00.
Note: Fort Ticonderoga is to be reached on Wednesday
forenoon, either by auto or by boat. See the printed letter sent
out by Secretary Richards, September 15.
Address of Welcome, Mr. Stephen H. P. Pell, Ticonderoga.
Address, "Fort Ticonderoga," Miss Helen Ives Gilchrist,
M. A., New York City.
Business Meeting
Minutes
The business meeting of the New York State Historical Associa-
tion was held in the Grill Room of the Fort William Henry Hotel,
Tuesday morning, October 4, 1921.
4 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
In the unavoidable absence of our President, George A. Blauvelt,
the meeting was called to order by Gilbert D. B. Hasbrouck,
First Vice-President.
Upon motion, it was Resolved that the reading of the minutes
of the previous meeting be dispensed with.
The Treasurer read the following report: — (See Report).
Upon motion, it was Resolved that the Treasurer's report be
accepted and placed on file.
The Secretary presented the names of the new members who
had joined the Association since the last annual meeting :^ — (See
List).
Upon motion, it was Resolved that the election of these members
received by action of the Executive Committee, be confirmed.
Stewart MacFarland presented the following report for Lake
George Battleground Park: — (See Report).
The Secretary made a verbal report for the Crown Point Reser-
vation, stating in brief that it was in its usual state of well-being,
that it was being well taken care of by its committee and its very
efficient caretaker, and was visited by thousands of people every
season.
James A. Beckett made the following report for the Ben-
nington Battlefield:- — (See Report).
Dr. Sullivan made the following report as Chairman of the
Committee on printing of the Proceedings: — (See Report).
Upon motion, it was Resolved that a committee be appointed
by the President to consider the question of increasing the annual
dues of the Association.
Dr. Sullivan presented the following resolution on the death of
our late First Vice-President, Charles Mason Dow, LL.D.: —
(See Resolution).
Under the head of the election of Trustees, the following were
elected for a term of three 3'ears: DeAlva S. Alexander, Buffalo;
George A. Blauvelt, Monsey; William A. E. Cimimings, Glens
LAKE GEORGE MEETING 5
Falls; Stuwesant Fish, Garrison; Charles Henry Hull, Ithaca;
George D. Pratt, Brooklyn; vStewart MacFarland, Glens Falls;
and Martin S. Decker, Albany.
Miss M. R. Smith of Newburgh offered the following resolution;
Whereas, The Historical Society of Newburgh and the High-
lands has been informed that the State intends in a very short
time to destroy the house which was the scene of negotiations
between Benedict Arnold and Major Andre, for the purpose of
beautifying the landscape and lawn of a State Institution for
Feeble Minded Children, and
Whereas, So important a landmark of our Revolutionary history
should be preserved as a memento of our vigilance and courage
in preventing the consummation of such a deed, by which the
successful ending of the war was accomplished, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the New York State Historical Association
appoint a committee to confer with the Governor of the State of
New York or whoever is in authority in the matter, and request
that the State postpone the destruction of the Smith House.
Upon motion, it was adopted and referred to the Committee on
Marking Historic Spots.
Joseph Beal of Albany then called the attention of the meeting
to the neglect of Saratoga Battlefield and presented the following
Resolution :
Whereas, Senator Wm. M. Calder has introduced in the
United States Senate, Senate Bill No. 2,351 with a view to the
acquisition of the Saratoga battlefield for its preservation for
historical and other purposes; and
Whereas, Representative James S. Parker has introduced an
identical bill in the House of Representatives; now therefore
Resolved, That this Association thanks Senator Calder and
Congressman Parker for introducing this measure and requests
them to use every honorable means for its passage;
Resolved further, That this Association hereby petitions Congress
for the speedy enactment of the bill into law;
Resolved further. That this Association asks the Daughters of the
American Revolution, the Sons of the America:! Revolution,
6 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
also all historical associations and all other patriotic organizations
in America and the American people generally to cooperate in
tirging favorable action on the Bill.
This resolution was seconded by Mr. Brown and carried.
Upon motion, the following resolution was adopted:
Whereas, The officials of the Delaware and Hudson Company,
from the President to Mr. KJnuckey, the chief clerk at the Fort
William Henry Hotel, the Chepontuc Chapter of the Daughters
of the American Revolution at Glens Falls, the Ticonderoga
Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution at Ticon-
deroga, and Mr. and Mrs. Stephen H. P. Pell, have by their efforts
so largely contributed to the pleasure and success of this 22d
meeting of the New York State Historical Association, be it
Resolved, That this association express to them through its secre-
tary' its heartiest thanks for their hospitality.
Stewart MacFarland and Mr. Walbridge then called the at-
tention of the meeting to efforts which were already being put
forth to acquire the Saratoga Battlefield by a holding company
or society so as to preserve the same intact until it could be ac-
quired by the State or Nation.
Upon motion it was Resolved that we approve the forming a of
local body or society to acquire and hold the Saratoga Battlefield
until proper legislation could be secured.
Upon motion, the meeting adjourned.
Frederick B. Richards,
Secretary.
Trustees Meeting
Minutes
At the conclusion of the literary exercises Tuesday morning,
October 4, the meeting of the Trustees of the [New York State
Historical Association was called to order.
Present — Messrs. Hasbrouck, Sullivan, Vrooman, Dann, Wil-
liams, Fox, Riggs, Richards, and Mrs. Pitcher and Miss Haldane.
Upon motion, it was Resolved that the following officers for the
coming year be duly elected :
LAKE GEORGE MEETING 7
Hon. Gilbert D. B. Hasbrouck, president; Frank H. Severance,
L. H. D., first vice-president; James G. Riggs, Ph. D., second
vice-president; James Sullivan, Ph. D., corresponding secretary;
Frederick B. Richards, recording secretary and treasurer.
Upon motion, the meeting adjourned.
Frederick B. Richards,
Secretary
Financial Statement
October 4, 1920 to October 1, 1921
Receipts
Cash on hand, October 4, 1920 $2,571.89
Received from Annual Dues 1,968.85
" " Interest on Investments.. . . 105.12
$4,645.86
Disbursements
Proceedings $1,671.61
Magazines 694.91
Expense 616.78
$2,983.30
Cash on hand, October 1, 1921 $1,662.56
Liabilities
None
LIFE membership FUND
Receipts
Cash on hand, October 4, 1920 $229.96
New Members 682.44
Interest 87.15
$999.55
8 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Disbursements
War Savings Stamps 50.00
5 Liberty Loan Bonds par $1,000 885.85
935.85
Balance on hand, October 1, 1921 $63.70
INVESTMENT ACCOUNT
Huntington Land & Imp. Co. Bonds $200.00
United Kingdon of Great Britain & Ireland 1,000.00
1st Liberty Loan Converted 100.00
2nd " " " 150.00
4th " " " 1,100.00
5th " " " 150.00
War Savings Stamps 205.00
Total $2,905.00
STATE PARKS
Receipts
From New York State Comptroller, since Oct. 4, 1920 $4,937.15
Disbursements
Crown Point Reservation $2,219.50
Lake George Battleground Park 2,717.65
$4,937.15
LAKE GEORGE MEETING
New Members
October 8, 1920 to October 1, 1921
Life Members — New
Campbell, Miss Amelia Day
Jewett, Rutger Bleecker
Liddle, Mrs. Harriet E.
Fox, Hon. Noel Bleecker
Kendrick, Ashley W.
Knox, Mrs. Charles B.
Manning, Hon. James H.
Pratt, Hon. George D., A. M.
Riley, Major John L. A. M.
170 West 74th St., New York
789 Madison Ave., New York
210 Union St., Schenectady
150 Nassau St., New York
19 Marion Place., Saratoga Springs
104 Second Ave., Johnstown
409 State St., Albany
c/o Pratt Institute, Brooklyn
Education Building, Albany
Life Members — Transferred from Annual
de Laporte, Mrs. Theo.
Derby, Hon. John H.
Dunn, Dr. Joseph H.
Famham, Mrs. George A.
Fordham, Herbert L.
Foulds, Dr. Thos. H.
Gilbert, Mrs. J. J.
Gray, Niel, Jr.
Hull, Philip M.
Keller, Mrs. Delight E. R.
Knapp, George O.
Liddle, Henry S., M. D.
Mills, Miss Phebe
Moulthrop, Samuel P.
Tuttle, Mrs. George F.
Wait, John C.
Webber, Richard
Witherbee, Hon. Walter C.
Rhinebeck
Hudson Falls
Glens Falls
Hotel American, Saratoga Springs
111 Broadway, New York
Glens Falls, N. Y.
Little Falls
Oswego
Clinton
Little Falls
Shelving Rock
212 Union St., Schenectady
Glens Falls
40 Phelps, Ave., Rochester
Plattsburgh
233 Broadway, New York
109 Hamilton Ave., New Rochelle
Port Henry
Active Members
Armstrong, Henry Charles
Ashley, Mrs. Calvin L.
Adriance Memorial Library
Summer Hill, Sydney, Australia.
St. Johnsville
Poughkeepsie
10 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Baker, Mrs. D. B.
Bartholomew, Hon. H. A.
Bates, Mrs. C. L.
Betts, O. D.
Bonesteele, Mrs. Sarah H.
Boshart, Mrs. C. Frederick
Briggs, Roscoe C.
Brown, Wilham Grant
Beal, Joseph
Clark, Mrs. Abby R.
Comly, Mrs. Walter S.
Compton, Mrs, Helen R.
Couch, Mrs. Natalia F.
Davenport, Hon. Frederick M
Davies, William W.
Dayton, J. Judd
DeAnglis, Hon. Pascal C. J.
Devereaux, Charles A.
Ditmars, Chaimcey L. C.
Doig, Mrs. Frank Collins
Dorr, Carl E. Onondaga
Dugan, W^illiam J.
Dunlap, Charles J.
Dunlop, Beveridge Colin
Dunlop, Mrs. Beveridge C.
Eggleston, Miss Frances J.
Fish, John D.
Franchot, Hon. N. V. V., 2d.
Gow, Edward C, M. D.
Harrington, Hon. Charles M.
Horn, Miss Helen E.
Jackson, Mrs. W. H.
Jeffery, Hon. David E.
Keman, Mrs. Francis K.
Knapp, Hon. Charles L.
46 West Court St., Cortland
R. F. D. 1, Whitehall
522 N. James St., Rome
713 N. A'ladison St., Rome
Victor
Lowville
376 Main St., Oneonta
2350 Broadway, N. Y.
122 State St., Albany
9 Locust St., Glens Falls
Comly Ave., Port Chester
34 Elm St., Hudson Falls
Nyack
LL. D. Clinton
51 Chamber St., New York
Corinth
11 Cottage Place, Utica
448 Genesee St., Utica
Amityville
Lowville
Co. Savings Bank Bldg., Syracuse
Pierce Ave., Hamburgh
46 Lawton St., New Rochelle
Spring Valley
Spring Valley
42 W. 5th St., Oswego
36 Greenwich St., Hempstead
42 W. 5th St., Oswego
21 Notre Dame St., Glens Falls
Plattsburgh
St. Johnsville
Boonville
Lockport
324 Genesee St., Utica
Lowville
LAKE GEORGE MEETING
11
Larkin, Mrs. Francis Ossining
LeFevre, Ralph New Paltz
Long Island Historical Society Pierpont & Clinton Sts., Brooklyn
Manion, Mrs. John 5 Cottage Place, Utica
Martin, Hon. Louis M. Clinton
Meiklejohn, Miss Marjorie Whitehall
Merritt, Jesse Farmingdale
Milbank, Mrs. J. Hungerford 252 Merrick Road West, Freeport
Miller, Alfred J.
Minnick, Mrs. Rose
Morris, Mrs. A. V
Moulton, Mrs. Roy K,
Paine, Mrs. Silas H.
Peters, Charles V.
Pierson, Miss Mae A.,
Pitcher, Dwight Copley
Proctor, Mrs. Thomas Redfield
Ramapo
1 Davis St., Glens Falls
Morris House, Amsterdam
875 W. ISlst. St., New York
Silver Bay
Glens Falls
Sec'y Town of Arcadia Historical Society,
24 W. Miller St., Newark
15 Faxton St., Utica
312 Genesee St., Utica
Reeder, Mrs. Charles J.
Rifenburgh, George L., Ph. B.
Rockwell, Mrs. George
Roosevelt, Hon. Theodore
Schmidt, Mrs. W. A.
Schoonmaker, Mrs. John D.
Seelye, Mrs. Elwyn
Sharpe, Miss Elizabeth J.
Smith, Hon. Clarence C.
Smith, Miss M. R.
Stedman, George W.
Stilson, Mrs. A. F.
Suiter, Mrs. J. A., jr.
Thompson, Hobart W.
Tompkins, Hon. Arthur S.
Titus, Edmund D.
Trumbull, Miss Mary
Van Cortlandt, Miss Anne S.
Van Gaasbeek,
410 State St., Carthage
84 Willett St., Albany
Luzerne
"Council Rock," Oyster Bay,L.L
21 Bellevue Ave., Ilion
124 W. Chestnut St., Kingston
R. F. D. No. 1, Lake George
323 Genesee St., Utica
Saratoga Springs
50 DuBois St., Newburgh
51 State St., Albany
64 Tompkins St., Cortland
408 No. Washington St., Herkianer
149 Second St., Troy
Nyack
377 E. 8th St., Brooklyn
R. F. D. 2, Hudson Falls
Manor House, Croton-on-Hudson
Louis Wheat c/o Metropolitan Trust Co.,
60 Wall St., New York
12 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Ward, A. Walter 8 Co veil Ave., Saratoga Springs
Welch, Major William Addams 44 First St., Haverstraw
Whitfield, Erie W. 220 Broadway, New York
Williams, Hon. C. J. Remsen
Wilmarth, Mrs. C. M. 299 Glen St., Glens Falls
Wolcott, Miss Mary Hubbard 512 Plant St., Utica
Woodbury, Mrs. Eri D. Cheshire, Conn.
Youker, Miss Mary L. St. Johnsville
Battlefield Parks
Lake George
The year has been most fortunate for the park, due to the
interest and generosity of Mr. George D. Pratt, who early in
the year became a life member of our association. He has given
the association the honor of accepting the beautiful bronze statue
of an Indian which has been placed in the Park. It is a most
appropriate gift and adds much to the natural beauty and historic
interest of the surroundings. He has made possible the repairing
of the east wall of the Fort, installation of the large stone electric
lighted pillars at the north entrance and the stone and concrete
approach to the old French Dock. Interest in this work has been
very marked, resulting in a great increase in the number of visitors,
thousands going there on holidays and Sundays.
With the $1,180 appropriated by the State, we have been able
to make part of the much needed repairs to the Bowling House.
These repairs include enlarging the cellar, making outside entrance
to same, building large cement platform in rear, painting roofs and
installing electric lights throughout the house. (21 lights in all)
$180 was paid for water rent and the balance was used in repairs
to roads, walks and fences, in cutting and carting away under-
brush and clearing up refuse.
It is hoped the 1922 Legislature will appropriate enough money
to finish the repairs to the Dowling House, to erect pillars at the
south entrance to the park, to repair the dock and to build a tool
house. The work of repairing the Fort should be carried on,
and more roads should be built through the grounds. The road
BATTLEFIELD PARKS 13
north of the Colonial War Moniiment should be shifted farther
north to make room for the placing of evergreens as a background
and setting for the monument. It is also hoped that one of the
buildings used as officers quarters may in time be rebuilt and used
as a museum. There are a great many private collections of
relics found in the locality which no doubt would be donated for
this purpose.
Stewart MacFarland
Bennington
In the beautiful Valley of the Walloomsac River, in a locality
noted for the beauty of its pastoral scenery, situated within easy
access to the main highways of the country, with an electric
railway running through it, and the Walloomsac station of the
Bennington & Rutland Railway only a mile distant, the State of
New York has created a reservation known as the Bennington
Battleground, of which this Association is the custodian.
Burgoyne's Invasion in 1777 is acknowledged to have been one
of the most important events in the War of the American Revolu-
tion. Its purpose was, to divide the colonies by invading them
from the north, by way of Lake Champlain, and by advancing up
the Hudson River from New York City.
To the American Colonies the year 1777 was one of the most
discouraging in the whole course of the war. The British were
everjrwhere m_ore or less successful against the untrained forces
of the colonies, foreign governments turned a deaf ear to requests
for recognition of the American Colonies, and as the culmination
of their misfortunes, the news of Burgoyne's invasion from Canada
spread dismay among the colonists. The fall of Fort Ticonderoga,
the disastrous defeat of the Americans under General St. Clair,
at Hubbardton, Vermont, and the steady march of Burgoyne's
invaders down the Hudson Valley, spread consternation throughout
the entire eastern countr}'.
Until the shortage of food compelled him to plan the expedition
into New England, which ended in the Battle of Bennington,
Burgoyne's joume}^ had been a triumphal march. His victorious
batallions swept everything before them. In a bombastic proc-
lamation to his troops he declared, "This army must never retreat,"
14 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
and they never did, until after the defeat on the banks of the
Walloomsac River, when they retreated twelve miles up the
Hudson River.
Perhaps no battle in the War of the American Revolution has
been the subject of so much fallacious historical comment as the
Battle of Bennington. From 1749 until the beginning of the war,
there had existed a state of border warfare, along the eastern
boundary of New York, and the western boundary of New Hamp-
shire, which involved the settlers in Vermont and the eastern
towns of the present Washington and Rensselaer counties of this
State.
It is referred to at this time, because of its influence upon the
situation at the time of Burgoyne's invasion. That movement
was planned because it was believed that a considerable number
of the men of the borderland, would welcome the opportunity
which the invasion would give them, to fight against their enemies
at home.
Burgoyne was encouraged in this belief by the readiness with
which the settlers along the shore of Lake Champlain sold their
cattle and other supplies to his army. It Hterally lived off
the country, while marching south. But after it passed Lake
Champlain all was changed, and Burgoyne complains that "those
whom he expected to be most friendly, hung like a cloud on his
left," and were his most active enemies.
It was the enmity engendered by this state of border warfare
which influenced the Vermont people to insist that all the New
York farmers who fought in the Battle of Bennington were Tories.
It is the remnant of that century old enmity which breaks out to
this day in an occasional sneer, when the New York people show
any interest in the history of this battle, which was fought on
present New York soil, as a part of a campaign in which New
York was the principal sufferer, as she was also the principal
defender of American homes and firesides.
The Battle of Saratoga is recognized by Creasy as one of the
Fifteen Decisive Battles. The Battle of Bennington contributed
very largely to that American victory by destroying an indis-
pensable part of Burgoyne's army. The destruction of the forces
under Baimi and Breyman, and the consequent demoralization
of the active Tory element among the colonists, was a large factor
BATTLEFIELD PARKS 15
in making the victory at Saratoga decisive and complete. The
battles of Oriskan}^ and Bennington, and the final victory at
Saratoga, brought the recognition of the American Colonies by
foreign nations, and was the beginning of a long series of American
successes which culminated in the final surrender of the British
to General Washington at Yorktown in 1781.
The stately monument which adorns the Village of Bennington,
erected under the auspices of the Federal Government as a me-
morial to the victors in the Battle of Bennington, bears upon it no
reference to the fact that the battle which it commemorates was
fought on the soil of the State of New York, or to its remoteness
from the actual scene of conflict. Many tourists who visit the
monument, express surprise at this omission, and wonder that
there is no explanatory tablet, whereby the history of the battle
may be made plain. Many others go away with the impression
that the monimient is located on the battlefield, and to that
extent, history is falsified. The omission is the more noticeable
because so many other movements of the American forces have
been carefully and permanently marked.
For many years after the Revolution the people of the Walloom-
sac and Hoosick valleys assembled on the battleground on the
16th of August, to celebrate the anniversary of Stark's victory.
These celebrations were well attended, and the programme in-
cluded patriotic addresses by the most popular ministers in the
surrounding country. So long as there remained in the vicinity,
any survivors of the battle, they were the honored guests of the
day.
These celebrations were continued until about the time of the
Mexican War, after which, the people seemed to lose interest in
them, and finally they ceased altogether. Events leading up to
the laying of the comer stone of the monument at Bennington,
August 16, 1877, revived interest in the fact that the battle was
fought on New York soil, but the monimient having been erected
at Bennington, there seemed no reason to hope that the battle-
field itself would ever be suitably commemorated.
Since that time, several attempts have been made to organize
some sort of local historical society, which would promote public
recognition of the historic value of the battlefield, but after a
brief existence they have gradually died out. On March 24,
16 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
1911, a public meeting was called in Hoosick Falls, at which time
a committee was appointed to endeavor to interest the Legislature
of the State in the purchase of the battleground for a public park,
as the first step toward securing a proper recognition of the his-
torical value of the Battle of Bennington b}^ the people of the
State of New York.
The committee worked diligently for the next two years but
without any encouragement, until the session of 1913, when a
bill appropriating twenty-five thousand dollars, ($25,000) for the
purchase of the battleground, was passed by the Legislature, and
signed by Governor William Sulzer, May 24, 1913. After the
passage of the bill, the committee met with many difficulties which
delayed the final purchase until May 5, 1915.
The committee did not expect that the full amount appropriated
would be used for the purchase of the land. It was expected
that about ten thousand dollars would be available for the pre-
liminary work of preparing the park for public use, and the original
bill was drawn with that purpose in view. Owing to an error in
drafting the bill, however, the balance of the appropriation, some
$10,500, can not be used for that purpose, and a new appropriation
will be necessary to carry out the work.
As the matter now stands, we have about 163 acres of rough
farm land, which, in its present condition, is practically useless to
the public. It needs a comparatively small outlay to make it a
source of pleasure to all who visit it to study its historical associa-
tions.
The first requisite of the park is to have a suitable entrance from
the highway, and a road built to the top of the hill which was the
site of Colonel Baum 's camp. The contour of the land is such that
it is possible to build such a road, with a grade that will make it
easy of ascent for automobiles and pedestrians. When the road
is built, there will be no lack of visitors to the battleground, be-
cause of the beauty of the scenery which surrounds it, and when it
becomes a visiting place for the tourist, there will be no lack of
interest in the battleground.
There should be a marker built on the top of the hill, with a
tablet which will tell the story of the conflict Vv^hich took place
there. It can be replaced at some time in the future b\^ a more
substantial monument. Our next effort should be directed toward
s
BRONZE FIGURES OF JOHXSOX AND "kING" HENDRICK SURMOUNT THE
LAKE GEORGE HATTLE MONUMENT
BATTLEFIELD PARKS 17
having the various points of historic interest properiy marked.
Vermont has very carefully marked the progress of the American
forces within her borders, but there are no markers which show
their advance in New York State. They seem to have vanished
into thin air because of our seeming lack of interest in that im-
portant battle.
Eventually permanent markers should be provided for all
points of historic interest on the Battleground, and outside of the
reservation, at such places as: the Tories stockade; and the St.
Croix Mill and Bridge, where the Am.ericans held back Colonel
Breyman's forces imtil General Stark was able to collect his
scattered forces for the second battle. The desperate nature of
the second battle should be commemorated by a suitable marker
at Walloomsac Village, where the battle raged with varying
success until darkness and the timely arrival of re-enforcements
decided the conflict in favor of the Americans.
The dwelling house and buildings on the lower level should be
kept in good condition. There should be a room kept as a rest
room and ofhce, which is needed as a bureau of information for
visitors to the park. This groimd was included in the purchase
because tradition says that all of the British and most of the
Americans killed in the battle were buried in the field beyond the
house.
In carrying out this work, we should emulate the example of the
Vermont Historical Association, which has marked every move-
ment of the Amerion forces engaged in the battle, so far as they
occurred in the State of Vermont. There can be no doubt that
had the battle occurred on Vermont soil, substantial monuments
woiild have been erected to commemorate the scenes of conflict,
long ago.
We are living in a period of world-wide unrest. The signs of
the times, and the growing disregard of all lawful restraints by
increasing numbers of our people indicate that the most pressing
duty of the State today is that of impressing upon the minds of the
youth of our land and the millions who seek an asylum on our
shores, a respect for the laws of our coimtry and a proper reverence
for the fundamental principles laid down in our Constitution.
It is m.ost gratifying that the State of New York is becoming
more interested in the historic places within its borders. The
18 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
importance of preserving the Bennington Battleground as in-
spiration and education in patriotism was fully appreciated by
Governor Sulzer, who filed with his approval of the purchase of the
ground, a patriotic memorandum in which he said in part: —
"Nature has adorned the site in question with wondrous beauty.
The Revolutionary heroes consecrated this ground with sacrifice
and privation, and with the lives of many patriots in the cause of
liberty. In this ground are buried all those who were killed in this
great battle. To Americans, this is a spot hallowed by sacred
memories. To the historian, it is the scene of the important
part of one of the Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World.* ******
Too much importance cannot be given to the effect upon the
Revolutionary War which the valor of the American patriots at
this place produced. It was one of the turning points in the
struggle for American independence.
Many lesser events in our early history have been suitably
commemorated for their historical value. This is not only com-
mendable sentiment, but it is as wise as it is practical. The great
struggle upon our soil, which the purposes of this bill will com-
memorate, was so important, so far reaching in its influence upon
the Revolutionary War, that its scenes should be preserved as an
education in our history and an incentive to patriotic endeavor."
Having accepted the custody of the Bennington Battleground,
this Association is morally bound to share in the responsibility
for its future development. Many places of lesser value in New
York history have been cared for, and it needs but the effort on
our part to secure for this long neglected battlefield, the develop-
ment which its historical importance deserves.
Let us then bend our energies toward the work of making this
spot which is hallowed by the blood and sacrifices of our fore-
fathers, one of the shrines of American liberty, a place where
patriotism may be visualized, a place which will serve as an in-
spiration to popularize the study of the history of the American
Revolution, in which the State of New York had such an important
and glorious part.
James A. Beckett
QUARTERLY JOURNAL 19
Quarterly Journal
The Board of Editors of the Quarterly Journal of the New
York State Historical Association regrets very much that the
April, 1921, number has not as yet appeared. It went to press
just before the beginning of the great strike in the printing trades
and although Mr. Humphrey, who does this work for us, has
strained every nerve to catch up with the accumulation of material
on hand, he has not succeeded in getting the April number out
in time for this meeting. We hope to have it within a week or so
and distribute it to those members who have expressed their
desire to receive the proceedings in quarterly form.
The July and October nimibers we hope to have out before the
close of the year, though of course this depends largely upon
Mr. Humphrey's abiHty to handle the material.
As you well know the present plan is to distribute the Quarterly
Journal only to those who have expressed a desire to receive the
proceedings in quarterly installments. For the others the pro-
ceedings are held and are to be bound at the close of the year and
sent to the members as usual. For those who receive their in-
stallments quarterly regular covers, uniform with the volumes
of the proceedings already published, are to be furnished free of
charge. For the proceedings which appeared for the year 1920,
covers likewise uniform with the bindings of the previous volumes
of the association are to be furnished. The orders for these have
been placed with Mr. Himiphrey, but these, like everything else,
have been held up. We hope, however, to have this cleared up
and to send these covers to all who have requested them.
The editors and the board of trustees would have preferred to
receive from the members their four quarterly installments for the
year 1920 and to have had these bound and returned free of cost
to them, but when consideration was given to the enormous in-
crease in the cost of printing it was decided that the finances of the
association would not permit of this. When we consider that there
has practically been no other learned association of the kind
which has not increased its dues, or called upon its members
for additional contributions, we are to congratulate ourselves
that this association has done so well. We have been very much
averse to taking any steps which would call upon our members
20 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
to sanction or to vote for an increase in the annual dues, but they
will easily appreciate that the increase in the cost of printing and
binding has been so great that the same elaborate reports that
used to appear for $3.00 cannot continue to be issued in such a
form unless the dues are increased. The alternative is to diminish
the size of the volume by cutting down the amount of printing
and thereby also decreasing the cost of binding. The latter can
also be done by binding the annual volume in paper, but the mem-
bers cannot both expect to have the dues remain as they are and
still receive a volume which costs twice as much to produce now
as it did five years ago.
By pursuing our present method of distributing the quarterly
installments in the form of a journal to only such as ask for them,
and of distributing to the others the proceedings bound, we feel
that we are satisfying both classes of members in the association.
At the same time we must realize that at present we are barely
keeping within our financial resources without increasing the dues.
James Sullivan
Whereas, in the death of its First Vice-President Charles M.
Dow, at Jamestown on December 20, 1920, the association has
suffered an irreparable loss of an honored official and valuable
coimselor, be it,
Resolved, That the association spread upon its minutes and
convey to his family this record of the sense of its loss.
HISTORIC SPOTS NEAR LAKE GEORGE
AUTOMOBILE TRIP
Tuesday Afternoon, October 4, iq2T.
The Chepontuc Chapter of the D. A. R. of Glens Falls, gave the
members of the New York State Historical Association a com-
plimentary automobile trip to places of historic interest in the
vicinity of Lake George. The party left Fort William Henry
Hotel on the afternoon of October 4, at 2:00 o'clock.
The automobiles proceeded from the hotel along the shore of
Lake George to the Lake George Battleground Park, where the
dedication of the bronze statue of an Indian of heroic size, the
gift to the Association by George D. Pratt, took place at 2:15
o'clock. On account of the absence of Mr. George D. Pratt in
Alaska, the presentation was made by his brother, Mr. Frederick B.
Pratt.
At the conclusion of the exercises, the automobile trip was
resumed. As each automobile left the road leading south from
the Lake George reservation and crossed the trolley track on to the
state road, it was found to be a convenience to have the trip section
of the speedometer turned back to zero. The mileage given in the
itinerary after leaving the Park enabled those in each car to locate
the points of interest, even if no one of its occupants was familiar
with the section of the country traveled through. It was sug-
gested that no stops be made until the end of the run, which was
the site of old Fort Edward. Practically all of the points of
historic interest given were visited on the way back to Lake
George.
Fort William Henry. The start was made from historic
ground. The hotel is on the site of Fort William Henry, which
was built by Sir William Johnson in 1755. The outlines of the
old fort may still be plainly seen just to the east of the hotel.
Looking to the north, on the shore of Lake George is the scene of
the embarkation of the great army of Abercronby as it set out
22 FREDERICK B. RICHARDS
on Jvily 5th, 1758, on its ill-fated move against the French at
Ticonderoga. Never before nor since has so magnificent a spec-
tacle been seen on the waters of Lake George. (See Parkman's
"Montcalm and Wolfe" 2:298-99.)
Lake George Battle-ground Park. To the south is the
scene of the battle of Lake George, on September 8, 1755. This
is now the Lake George Battle-ground Park, a reservation of the
State of New York in the custody of the New York State Historical
Association. The statue of Sir William Johnson and King Hen-
drick on the north edge of the Reservation was presented by the
Society of Colonial Wars.
Fort George. On the reservation, a little farther to the south,
is old Fort George, built in 1759 by Colonel James Montresor,
who was the chief engineer of General Amherst. The fort was
never completed and was so little needed that it was commonly
called "Montresor's folly."
Trip
Miles.
00.0 Jimction of the Fort George road with the State Highway.
01.6 Bloody Pond on the left. This is the first point of
interest after leaving Lake George. At sunset after the
battle at Lake George a party of the retreating French
encamped here. They were surprised and routed by a
detachment from Fort Edward. It is said that two hundred
bodies were thrown into the small shallow pond and that its
waters were tinged with blood for days, hence the name.
The fight near Bloody Pond in the morning of the same day
that resulted in the death of King Hendrick and Colonel
Ephraim Williams, the foimder of Williams College, is
known as "The Bloody Morning Scout."
01.8 Entrance to Military Road, on right. Soon after
leaving Bloody Pond, the party left the state road and
passed over the old military road built by Sir William
Johnson in 1755 from Fort Edward to Fort William Henry.
The road was built through virgin forest and Fort William
Henry was built where there was no clearing and where
never a tree had been felled.
01.9 Rifle Pit, on the left.
02. Breast Works, on the right.
HISTORIC SPOTS NEAR LAKE GEORGE 23
02.5 Ephraim Williams's Monument, on left. It is on this
old military road that a monument was erected to Col-
onel Williams on the boulder on which he is reported to
have been standing directing the battle.
02.6 Ephraim Williams's Grave, on the right. A little
farther to the south on the opposite side of the road is where
he was buried. What were said to be his remains were
taken to Williamstown, Massachusetts, and their burial in
the Chapel there was made the occasion of a grand military
spectacle at the Commencement of 1920.
03. Enter state road at Halfway House.
05.7 Miller Hill. As we reach Miller Hill, if the day is clear,
we have one of the finest views of that part of the coimtry.
As one looks out on the plain below, seeing Glens Falls,
South Glens Falls, Hudson Falls and Fort Edward, all
nearly lost amid the trees, one is reminded of Goldsmith's
Deserted Village, "Sweet Auburn! Loveliest village of the
plain."
05.8 Blind Rock, on the left. Only a few rods from the road
and about midway between the highway and a large oak
tree is a large boulder, now covered except a small part of its
crown known as Blind Rock. The tradition is that this was
a favorite place of meeting for the Indians for the purpose of
torturing their prisoners and that on one occasion the eyes
of the prisoner were torn out and cast in a fire built upon the
rock. On another occasion a blind prisoner is said to have
been burned at the stake there.
06.8 Halfway Brook. So called because it was half way
betvs^een Fort Edward and Fort William Henry. Because
of its location and because of the purity and excellence of its
water, it was a favorite resting and camping place for parties,
passing from one fort to the other. After the defeat of
Abercromby the country roimd about was overrun by
rangers of both parties. During this period a large train
carrying supplies from Fort Edward to Fort William Henry
was sent out convoyed by a considerable nimiber of soldiers.
The train consisted of 60 ox-carts, each of which was drawn
by two or three yoke of oxen. The party rested over night
at Halfway Brook. The next morning, of July 27, 1758,
24 FREDERICK B. RICHARDS
they were attacked by French and Indians between Halfway
Brook and Miller Hill. One hundred soldiers, all the team-
sters, and some women were killed. Two hundred and
fifty oxen were slaughtered and the enemy escaped before a
party of American rangers who had heard the firing could
reach the place. This was one of many similar occurrences
that took place in the territory mentioned.
When Amherst succeeded Abercromby he was as cautious
as Abercromxby had been reckless, and he erected many
forts in the territory he occupied. A fort was built on the
south side of Halfway Brook a few rods east of the old
military road in 1759. No remains are now visible. This
was known as Fort Amherst.
06.9 Halfway Brook Tablet, on the left.
08.3 Bank Square, Glens Falls, in front of the Rockwell
House. Proceed straight ahead down the Glen street hill to
the viaduct crossing the Hudson River.
08.6 Cooper's Cave. "The Last of the Mohicans" treats
largely of the section of the country you are now visiting.
The cave mentioned in the book can be reached from the
bridge that now spans the river at Glens Falls. It is an
opening under the plateau of limestone rock on the down-
stream side farthest from the falls. (Read "The Last of the
Mohicans" before coming to the meeting.)
09.1 South Glens Falls Four Comers. Straight ahead up the
hill through South Glens Falls to the four comers at the top
of the hill and take the turn to the left on to a dirt road.
09.3 Turn to the right past new school.
09.5 Railroad crossing.
09.8 Straight ahead. Don't turn to right.
10. View Cement Works, across Hudson River, to the left.
11.3 View Hudson Falls, formerly Sandy Hill, across Hudson
River, to the left.
11.4 Fenimore Mills, of the Union Bag and Paper Company,
11.5 Tum at right angles to the left, go through the mill yard,
down a little steep pitch across two railroad tracks and on to
11.7 Bridge across the Hudson.
(Baker's Falls, the local name of the water power on the
Hudson at Hudson Falls, is, next to Niagara Falls, the
HISTORIC SPOTS NEAR LAKE GEORGE 25
largest water power in the State of New York. The water
development is at the right and the mills of the Union Bag
and Paper Company, the Standard Wall Paper Company
and the Sandy Hill Iron & Brass Works are on the left
bank of the river).
11.9 Turn to the right.
12.2 Turn to the left, on brick pavement, cross railroad track
and proceed up John Street.
12.4 Turn to the right on Main Street and follow brick pave-
ment to the end of the village of Hudson Falls on to the
macadam road leading to Fort Edward.
12.9 Union Cemetery, between Hudson Falls and Fort
Edward.
In an enclosure surrounded by a high iron fence, about
fifty feet inside the main gate of the cemetery to the left,
are the graves of Jane McCrea and Major Duncan Campbell.
Perhaps no other act of the savages during the Revolution
was more pitiful or productive of greater results than the
murder of Jane McCrea, on July 27, 1777. The Jane
McCrea Chapter of the D. A. R. has erected a marker at the
place where she is said to have been killed. She was buried
first in the cemetery at Fort Edward and later removed to
the Union Cemetery. Some 3^ears ago the children of the
schools in all this section of the country raised by their own
personal contributions a sirni to erect an iron fence to
protect her monument from relic -seeking vandals, several
headstones having been chipped away.
While the story of Jane McCrea is well known to every
student of history, the legend of Duncan Campbell appeals
more to the Scot and is one of the best known of Scottish
legends. Briefly, the story is that Duncan Campbell was
warned by a ghost of his death at Ticonderoga. The
warning took place at old Inverawe in the Highlands of
Scotland and at the time Ticonderoga was only an Indian
name for the place, then called Carillon by the French who
controlled it. Stevenson tells in his poem, "Ticonderoga,"
how Duncan inquires vainly for information about the place
of his death. Years later, when Campbell is Major in the
old Black Watch, the ghost appears again the night before
26 FREDERICK B. RICHARDS
the battle of July 8, 1758, and Duncan of Inverawe knows
that his end is near. (Read Appendix G. Parkman's
"Montcalm and Wolfe," or "The Black Watch at Ticon-
deroga," Vol. X, Proceedings of the New York State His-
torical Association.
13.8 Monument to the Massacre of Jane McCrea, on
right.
Erected by the Jane McCrea Chapter of D. A. R.
13.9 To right, cross dry bridge over railroad track, next turn
to the left, crossing trolley track and canal, down to the
village of Fort Edward. Proceed straight ahead.
14.4 Cross railroad track.
14.6 Stop at bottom of street and those who wished to see the
site of old Fort Edward left the automobiles at this point and
proceeded on foot for a few hundred feet by a short street ta
the right to the bank of the Hudson River.
This place has borne several names. The first was a
stockaded house that was known as Fort Lydius. In 1709
Colonel Francis Nicholson led an expedition against Canada
and erected at this place a fort that bore his name. The
later fort was erected by Sir William Johnson in 1755 and
named in honor of a brother of King George HI.
The ramparts of the fort were sixteen feet high and
twenty-two feet thick. It was surrounded on three sides
by a deep moat and was protected by the river on the other
side. The fort was irregular in form and it was about
1,600 feet around it. It mounted six cannon. The site of
the fort is indicated by a marker erected by the Jane Mc-
Crea Chapter of the D. A. R.
Few places have been officially visited b v more men of note
than has this old fort. Here Sir William Johnson gathered
the force that was to operate against the French at Ticon-
deroga. Here Abercromby gathered the largest force that
ever moved against the French and Indians. Here Am-
herst gathered a lesser force, but one that succeeded where
Abercromby failed. Here Burgo\Tie, who essayed to com-
plete the subjugation of the colonies spent some time.
Other famous men who were here at different times were
Joseph Brant, the famous Indian Chieftain, also King
HISTORIC SPOTS NEAR LAKE GEORGE 27
Hendrick; Colonel Bradstreet, who captured Frontenac from
the French; Lieutenant John Butler, the father of the in-
famous Walter Butler; Major Duncan Campbell, of In-
verawe, Scotland; Lord Howe and Lord Loudoun; Colonel
George Monroe; General Daniel Webb, whose personal
cowardice led to the defeat of Colonel Monroe at Fort
William Henry and the shameful massacre there; General
Fitz John Winthrop, Colonel Ephraim Williams and many
others.
Fort Edward was known as the Great Carrying Place,
possibly because of the amount of traffic between there and
Lake Champlain, but more likely because of the length of
the carry.
This was the end of the run. Each party proceeded back
to Fort William Henry as it pleased. An easy way to
make the turn was to go around the block, proceeding as
follows :
14.8 First turn to the left.
In the center of this block to the right is the old cemetery
of Fort Edward, where Jane McCrea and Duncan Campbell
were originally buried.
The next turn to the left will come out on the brick pave-
ment, then turn to the right.
14.9 Cross D. & H. Raih-oad track.
15.3 Dry Bridge.
16.4 Union Cemetery.
Turn in here and see the Jane McCrea and Duncan
Campbell graves and headstones.
16.9 Old Sandy Hill Cemetery on right.
In this cemetery are buried some of the distinguished men
of the early days of Sandy Hill.
17.3 Pass to the left of the Soldiers' Montmient at Hudson
Falls and the village park.
Boulder in park commemorates an episode of July, 1758,
when sixteen soldiers, bound and seated on a log, were
massacred and one, John Quackenbos, a teamster, escaped
death at the intercession of a squaw, who claimed him as
her slave and took him to Canada.
17.4 Top of "Big Hill."
28 FREDERICK B. RICHARDS
Until about thirty years ago at the top of this hill on the
side toward the river, was the blacksmith shop where
Burgoyne's horses were shod at the time of the Revolution.
It is said that this hill, which in early days was very
sandy, gave the name Sandy Hill. The village bore this
name until 1910, when it was changed to Hudson Falls.
18.6 Bridge crossing the canal.
At the left are the mills of the Imperial Wall Paper
Company and Color Works.
19.3 Pavement at entrance of Glens Falls.
19.9 At the right is the Glens Falls Home for Aged and In-
firm Women.
20.4 Bank Square.
Proceed up Glen Street to the state highway and straight
ahead to Fort William Henry.
The Delaware and Hudson Company very kindly presented to
the members who attended the meeting one hundred and fifty
copies of their "Summer Paradise in History," which the Secretary
distributed so that each person or group received a copy. This
was useful in looking up matters of historic interest in the locality.
Attention was called to the following:
Title Page
Introduction
Abercromby's Embarkation 19
Battle of Diamond Island 29
Battle of Lake George 31
Black Watch Memorial 36
Bloody Morning Scout 36
Boulder to the Heroes of the Four Nations 38
Major Duncan Campbell 40
Fort Edward 56
Fort George 57
Fort Ticonderoga 61
Fort WilHam Henry 63
Great Carrying Place 68
Halfway Brook 70
Lord Howe 73
Father Jogues ; 58
HISTORIC SPOTS NEAR LAKE GEORGE 29
Title Page
Lake George 91
Jane McCrea 92
Lake George Battleground Park 92
Rogers Rock 105
Williams's Moniiment 120
See also your file of Proceedings of the New York State Historic-
al Association. Vols. L, IL, and X are almost entirely filled with
articles of this locality and in the other volumes scattering articles
of interest may be found. For example — Father Jogues in Vol.
IV.; Halfway Brook in History in Vol. VI. The most complete
list of Green Motmtain Boys who were at the Capture of Fort
Ticonderoga under Ethan Allen that is published anywhere is in
Vol. IX.; Jane McCrea in Vol. XII.; Cooper's Cave in Vol.
XVI., etc.
Frederick B. Richards
ADDRESSES AT THE PRESENTATION OF AN
INDIAN STATUE TO THE NEW YORK
STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION^
As we stand here upon this eminence and look upon the one
hand toward Lake George, happy recreation ground of vaca-
tionists from far and near, and on the other hand toward the quiet
meadows of peaceful farms, it is hard for us to realize that we are
in the midst of a territory which for years was the scene of battle
and bloodshed. Indeed these crucial events of bygone years-
events which directed the whole course of American history —
would be doubtless a completely closed book to the vast ma-
joritv of travelers through this historic region, were it not for the
existence today of old landmarks, like Fort George, to preserve
through the centiuies the memories of the past. And the preser-
vation of many of these historic landmarks has been no mere
lucky or haphazard occurrence; it has been directly due to the
patriotism of the members of the New York State Historical
Association, bv whose efforts the history and tradition of this
territory have been recorded and cherished.
So in the first place it is as a tribute of appreciation of the loyal
and important work which it has accomplished and is accomplish-
ing that I have the pleasure of presenting today this statue to the
New York State Historical Association.
Of the many sites which might have been selected, that of the
Lake George Battleground Park was chosen for a number of
reasons. One of these was my regard for the Honorable Stewart
MacFarland, representative of this district in the Assembly,
whose public-spirited devotion to the best interests of the State
and particularly to the proper development of this beautiful
section of the Adirondacks was impressed upon me many times
during my residence in Albany as Conservation Commissioner.
Then I must confess that as a graduate of Amherst College, I
feel a particular interest in this park by reason of the fact that
yonder ruin is what remains of a fort erected in 1759 by Lord
'Delivered at'the Lake George meeting of the New York State Historical
Association, October 4, 192 1.
30
PRESENTATION OF AN INDIAN STATUE 31
JeflFery Amherst, wise and victorious British general and patron
•saint of mv Alma Mater. As most of you know, he used it as a
base in his successful advance against the French at Fort Ticon-
deroga.
In addition, from a merely aesthetic standpoint, I could ask
for no more appropriate site for the statue than this — at the head
of mountain-framed Lake George, called by the Iroquois An-di-
a-to-roc-te, "The Lake That Shuts Itself In," and well vaunted as
"the most beautiful lake in America." While beyond Lake
George, stretching far to the north and west, is the whole, wonder-
ful, lake-dotted region of the Adirondack Mountains, of which
that section visible from here is merely a characteristic and in-
tegral part.
The statue which is today formally dedicated is symbolic of the
red men who used to roam the Adirondacks. Mr. A. Phimister
Proctor, of New York, the sculptor, selected as his model the
finest type of full-blooded Indian that he could find. But you
will note that it is not the fighting Indian, with weapon of war
held in readiness and lust in his eye for the scalp of his enemy,
that the statue commemorates. — It is the Indian of peace that we
see, the Indian the hunter, halting for a moment in his quest for
game to stoop for a drink at one of the springs or clear mountain
rivulets with which these forested slopes abound.
Although history and tradition hold no record of permanent
Indian settlements in the Adirondacks, it is well known that these
woods and lakes were favorite hunting and fishing grounds of the
Iroquois, and many evidences of their ancient camp sites have
been discovered. The old Indian trails, too, spread like a net-
work over the wilderness, some main routes of travel worn deep
by constant use, others twisting and turning and following the
lines of least resistance.
Today, the white vacationists who annually enjoy the recreation
which this vast playground affords far outnumber the red men who
used to make it their hunting ground. Aboriginal camps are
now the sites of villages, moccasin trails have become modem
highways and State roads. Yet we can be everlastinglv thankful
that much of the glorious Adirondack landscape is still virtually
unchanged since Indian days; that we can still enjoy the thrill of
<:arrying our canoe where the Indian carried his, and setting it
32 GEORGE D. PRATT
upon the I ke that still appears to our eyes as it appeared to his;
that we cai. still seek and find many of the birds and animals that
the Indian stalked with bow and arrow. And may it long be so!
The Indian is gone forever but these lakes and mountains
are in our hands, to preserve or to destroy. May we be worthy
of the heritage that has been left us, and equal to the task that is
before us!
George D. Pratt ^
speech of acceptance on behalf of the association
We stand today on hallowed groimd. Throughout the cen-
turies to come there will be pilgrims here to gaze upon these
storied hills, so lovelv in themselves and clothed forever with a
mantle of richly human interest by America's incomparable
romancer and her great historian of the woodland wars. Like
the Scottish border and the Rhineland, this lake of history and
legend is cherished almost as a personal possession by unnum-
bered thousands. To the eye of memory the scene is thronged
with lingering ghosts of Canadian woodsmen and French priests
and captains of English grenadiers in dazzling scarlet, of High-
land chieftains in ancestral plaids, of stolid German peasants
who marched bewildered to their death, and of hickory -hearted
Yankees who outmatched them all in shrewdness and in fortitude.
But alwa\-s in the picture, terrifically prominent or half -concealed,
t^ ere is the savage warrior desperately involved in a struggle that
I :- could not understand. Suitable it is, then, that we set up a
n.onument to him who or ce claimed this ground as home, and
now is gone. As French's "Minute Man" at Concord and St.
Gauden's "Puritan" at Springfield belong with close propriety
to the places where they stand, so Proctor's "Indian" is now
welcomed to his ancient haunts, brought back by the public
spirit of the citizen and the skill and vision of the artist.
The Indian is a fascinating figure. Once hated by the pioneer,
then patronized and pitied by the poet, and finally studied as a
man by the ethnologist, he has his place in history and art and
science. His sonorous words enrich the nomenclature of our
country — Adirondack, Sagamore, Ticonderoga — and indeed our
•In the absence of Mr. Pratt the address was read by his brother, Frederic
B. Pratt.
PRESENTATION OF AN INDIAN STATUE 33
common speech, for when we speak of hammocks or of hurricanes,
of canoes, potatoes, or full three hundred other things, we speak the
language of the red man. Now as our scouts and camp-fire
girls emulate him in his woodcraft, he is recalled in wholesome
play. We eat his squash and maize, smoke his tobacco, and wear
his moccasins; we imitate his art in beads and rugs and baskets.
He discovered and his feet wore deep the trails upon which we
have built our railroads; he was the true "forerunner" of our
pathways. His memory should not pass away.
Was it right to take his land ? The story of his slow retreat is
full of pathos. No one can now behold that figure poised in its
grace and power, and dignified bv self-respect, without a sad
reflection. His death-song has wrung the hearts of moralists and
poets, and his treatment has been called the darkest blot upon our
history. The frontiersman who had to cope with his ferocity and
cunning doubtless paid him back with ruthless vengeance; the
government seemed always impotent or faithless in the matter of
his rights. But still I cannot think that any other issue could
have served the world as well. It must be remembered that
according to the best conjecture the Indian was himself a squatter
on these acres. The Iroquois, for one example, a thousand years
ago roamed through the Colimibia River valley to which they had
com.e some time before from Asia. Between the Mississippi and
the Atlantic it is estimated that there were some hundred and
fiftv thousand men five centuries ago, where now there are more
than sixty millions, four hundred times as manv, each with cer-
tainty of life and comfort beyond the most fortunate Indian
brave. In the hunting stage of culture it takes fourteen square
miles of territory, on the average, to supply the food of a single
htmian being. To have resigned the rich potentialities of this
country to such unable hands would have been a crime against
posterity. Between the mind and manners of these slow-learning
aborigines upon the one hand and the white man's civilization on
the other, there was such disparity, that the two could not exist
together. Anthropologists assure us that real amalgamation
would have been difficult indeed and eugenists maintain that if it
had been possible it would have fatally debased the higher stock.
The Indian could not persist before the white man's bullets,
fire-water and small-pox, nor could he learn his customs; the
34 DIXON RYAN FOX
immigrant from Asia retreated before the immigrant from Europe.
Our inability to conceive some better alternative that was possible
reconciles us to the fact that was.
But despite all this the Iroquois commands our admiration.
We are impressed with his sagacity in choosing for his home these
smiling valleys with their noble forests filled with game, their
unfailing waters and their teeming soil. It was a land, as he
astutely noticed, which gave him a strategic place in warfare,
for by swift but practicable rivers he could rush down upon his
enemies on every side with fatal suddenness, while they must
slowly push up stream to him. A century and a half before the
Dutch began their settlement he had perfected a confederate
government which ranks him onh^ with the Aztec in the political
achievements of his race. He was, as Clinton called him, the
Roman of the Western World ; he was the most formidable savage
warrior that the history of man can show. In honoring him with
this heroic statue, we m.ark the fact that he had qualities that we
respect.
It is the function of a monument to decorate and to instruct.
This splendid bronze now takes its place in the gallery of American
art. It refines our taste and adds new beauty to our landscape,
not for a passing moment but for all time. The inspiration of the
artist has become visible and immortal. So, too, it will bring
to our children's children a clearer understanding of a by-gone
age. It illustrates the civic spirit which has led a man of com-
fortable fortune to give freely of his time in public service and of
his wealth in such works as this. Centuries of history are in-
dicated here. It is the figure of a primitive man; but bodied
forth by the best art and skill of our own civiHzation. The
Indian gets water as from a woodland spring, but we loiow the
stream is pumped here by machines. The htmter knew the quiet
of the wilderness, but now the tourists, passing almost in pro-
cession, may leave their cars to quench their thirst at this beneficent
fountain. To the savage, fire and the moon alone could drive
away the darkness, but now at night this fine mem.orial is suffused
in radiance from the incandescent filaments into which the modem
man has poured the lightning. It is the witness of philosophy as
well as history.
Mr. Pratt, on behalf of the New York State Historical Associa-
tion, I have the honor to accept from your hands as the gift
PRESENTATION OF AN INDIAN STATUE 35
of your distinguished brother this monument. It is a valued gift;
it will be cared for and transmitted untarnished and unharmed
to the succeeding generations. Our thanks, sir, and the world's
thanks, go to him who adds an element of beauty to the world.
Dixon Ryan Fox
THE BATTLE OF DIAMOND ISLAND^
My paper refers to a little known event of the Burgoyne cam-
paign concerned with Diamond Island, situated in Lake George
about three miles from the place where we are at this moment.
But the significance of this event can not be understood without
realizing something of its place in the larger plans of which it was
a minor and rather unexpected feature. This requires a brief
review of its geographical setting and its place in the strategy
of military operations. My subject is therefore somewhat broader
than the title assigned and deals with Lake George as a military
highway with special reference to the Burgoyne expedition.
The long narrow valley connecting the St. Lawrence region
with the lower Hudson has doubtless been a natural route of
travel from the earliest times, and especially so when waterways
were the only means of communication that did not involve the
carrying of heavy packs on the backs of the travellers themselves.
This region therefore became also an important military highway
in the various struggles between the French and the English, and
later between the English and the Americans during the Revolution.
For a short distance only were alternative routes offered, namely,
between Ft. Edward and Ticonderoga. One of these routes was
b}^ way of Lake George and involved transportation by land to the
lake, easy water carriage to the northern end of the lake, and
then another portage to Lake Champlain; the other, by way of
Ft. Anne and Whitehall, though with a much lower summit
level, involved portages to Wood Creek and no really satisfactory
water carriage till Whitehall (Skenesborough) was reached^.
During the contests with the French, we find a disposition to
use the Lake George route for large military movements. For
this purpose a m.ilitary road was built by Sir William Johnson
'An Address delivered at the Lake George meeting of the New York State
Historical Association, October 4, 1921.
30
THE BATTLE OF DIAMOND ISLAND 37
from Ft. Edward to the lake in 1755 and in this locaUty was
fought the battle of that year in which the French general Dieskau
was captured, though his army was allowed to make its escape
to the north.- In 1756, 6,000 men were assembled at the head of
the lake for an attack on the French fort at Crown Point; in
1757, the French under Montcalm successfully attacked Ft.
William Henry by way of the lake and destroyed it; in 1758,
Abercrombie made his ill-fated attempt at Ft. Ticonderoga by
this same route; and the following year Amherst again followed
the lake route in his victorious campaign against Ft. Ticonderoga
and Crown Point.
From this time to the Revolution the region attracted a small
number of settlers, especially around the northern end of the lake,
though the English permitted the forts to fall into decay. That
Lake George rather than Whitehall was still thought of as the main
highway appears from various statements and in particular from
a report of Governor Tr\"on which shows that men were kept at the
south end of the lake to facilitate the transportation of supplies to
Ticonderoga and Crown Points Mills were built and lands
improved around Ticonderoga and as early as 1768 a small vessel
was placed on the lake for the purpose of carrying freight.* That
year Ft. George was practically abandoned and a few yeaxs later,
in 1773, the fort at Crown Point was burned and the works there
destroyed, while Ft. Ticonderoga was in so ruinous condition that
there was accommodation for no more than about fifty men.^
This was the situation at the outbreak of the war in 1775 when
exciting events at once happened. Within a month of the Battle
of Lexington, Ft. Ticonderoga was captured by New England
troops under Allen who approached it by way of Vermont. At
this time Capt. John Nordberg, who held the titular position of
"Governor of Lake George," was taken captive and sent into New
England. In June, Connecticut troops were stationed at both
ends of the lake ; and in July, Schuyler, who had been appointed
to the command of the Northern Department, went down Lake
George and took command of Ft. Ticonderoga. A portion of
Van Schaick's regiment of the New York Line reached the lake
that month and were stationed at or near Ft. George where thev
suffered severely for want of clothing and supplies. During that
summer Lake George must have been a busy place as the supplies
38 PETER NELSON
for the Canada expedition under Schuyler and Montgomery
were transported northwards. The events of chief importance
during this year however took place north of Lake Champlain
and are not so directly connected with our story. You will recall
that Montgomery's army advanced to the gates of Quebec but
failed in its attack at the very close of the year, an attack in
which its distinguished commander was killed. The following
year, efforts were again made to conquer Canada but without
success. The journal of one of the commissioners sent by Congress
to negotiate with the Canadians gives us a description of the
boats used on the lake which is of interest in connection with later
events. "The longest of the boats, made for transportation of
troops over Lakes George and Champlain, are thirty-sLx feet in
length and eight feet wide; they draw about a foot of water when
loaded, and carry between thirty and forty men, and are rowed by
the soldiers. They have a mast fixed in them, to which a square
sail or blanket is fastened, but these sails are of no use, unless
with the wind abaft, or nearly so."^ While the American forces
were driven out of Canada and headquarters established no farther
away than Ft. Ticonderoga, there was no serious attack on the
American lines of communication during the year in spite of
several scares to that effect. About Ft. George were established
great hospitals for the wounded and sick, chiefly the latter, who
were so numerous that in July 3,000 sick, many suffering from
smallpox and typhus, were in these poorh- equipped shelters
which had not even the poor facilities generalh' available in that
age.^
This summary account of events showing the importaace of
Lake George as one section of the principaj highway to Canada
brings us to the fateful summer of 1777.
General Schuyler was in command in the North and General
St. Clair in immediate charge of Ft. Ticonderoga and its surround-
ing military works. The forces at their command were entirely
inadequate to meet a serious attack as St. Clair had only about
2,500 Continentals and 900 Militia, and the forces at vSkenes-
borough. Ft. Anne, Ft. Edward and Albany were composed of
small miHtia detachments only. The works at Ft. Ticonderoga
had been strengthened and new works built on Motmt Inde-
pendence on the eastern side of the narrows and connected with
THE BATTLE OF DIAMOND ISLAND 39
Ft. Ticonderoga by a bridge of boats supposedly protected by a
boom constructed with great labor. Mount Defiance was thought
to be out of gunshot and despite warnings was not fortified, partly
because of lack of troops as the lines would have called for 10,000
men as laid out.
To attack these fortifications and force his way to Albany,
there to unite with Howe's force from the South and St. Leger's
from the west by way of Oswego and the Mohawk valley, and so
divide New England from the central and southern colonies,
Burgoyne brought a force of 4,000 British regulars, 3,000 German
troops, besides Canadians and Indians, a total force of over 8,000
men, well equipped and with an abundance of artillery. Of the
events at the northern end of the lake, it is sufficient to give the
barest outlines. The failure to fortify Mount Defiance proved
disastrous and it was quickly seized by the British so that St.
Clair was obliged to evacuate his positions without any real
attack and to abandon all his heavy artillery. Some of the
lighter artillery, stores and provisions were loaded on boats and
sent up the lake to Skenesborough under escort but the absence of
any road along Lake Champlain at this point made it necessary
for the main army to retreat to the east and to seek the same point
by way of Hubbardton and Castleton in Vermont. Unfortunately
the defences across the narrows of Lake Champlain proved no
serious hindrance and the forces retreating up the lake were
quickly followed and attacked at Skenesborough that same day
so that Colonel Long^ was forced to destroy his stores and continue
his retreat up Wood Creek to Ft. Anne where an engagement took
place next day. On the arrival of British reinforcements, the
fort was burned and the retreat continued to Ft. Edward. Mean-
while the loss of Skenesborough had obliged St. Clair to make a
ftirther detour to the south and east^ and he did not reach the
front of the enemy till a week later when he arrived at Ft. Edward,
having suffered severe losses in the rearguard action known as the
Battle of Hubbardton.
Burgoyne had intended to proceed by way of Lake George,
though mindful of the alternative route and also of its difficulties,
as is clearly shown in his "Thoughts for conducting the war from
the side of Canada." In one place he says:
40 PETER NELSON
"I will suppose him also to occupy Lake George with a consider-
able naval strength, in order to secuie his retreat, and afterwards
to retard the campaign; and it is natural to expect that he will
take measuies to block up the roads from Ticonderoga to Albany
by the way of Skenesborough, by fortifying the stiong groimd at
different places, and thereby obliging the King's army to carry a
weight of artillery with it; and, b}^ felling trees, breaking bridges,
and other obvious impediments, to delay, though he should not
have power or spirit finally to resist, its progress."^"
Recumng again to this point some pages further on he says:
"The next measure must depend upon those taken by the enemy,
and upon the general plan of the campaign as concerted at home.
If it be determined that General Howe's whole forces should act
upon Hudson's-River, and to the southward of it, and that the
only object of the Canada army be to eft'ect a junction with that
force, the immediate possession of Lake George would be of great
consequence, as the most expeditious and most commodious route
to Albany; and, should the enemy be in force upon that lake,
which is veiy probable, every effort should be tried, by throwing
savages and light troops round it, to oblige them to quit it without
waiting for naval preparations. Should those efforts fail, the
loute by South-Bay and Skenesborough might be attempted;
but considerable difficulties m.ay be expected, as the narrow parts
of the river miay be easily choked up and rendered impassible;
and, at best, there will be necessity for a gieat deal of land -carriage
for the artillery, provision, &c. which can only be supplied from
Canada. In case of success also b}^ that route, and the enemy
not removed from Lake Geoige, it will be necessaiy to leave a
chain of posts, as the army proceeds, for the securities of your
communication, which m.ay too m.uch M^eaken so sm.all an army.
"Lest all these attempts should unavoidably fail, and it become
indispensably necessary to attack tlie enemy by water upon Lake
George, the army, at the out-set, should be provided with cariiages,
implem.ents, and artificers, for conveying aimed vessels from
Ticonderoga to the lake.""
Later in a Journal despatched from Skenesborough on July
11th, after he had decided to take the main army over that route
he again refers to the two routes in these terms:
"Roads are opening for the army to march to them [the enemy
at Ft. Edward] by Fort Anne, and the Wood Creek is clearing of
fallen trees, sunken stones, and other obstacles, to give passage to
bateaux foi carrying artillery, stores, provisions, and camp equip-
age. These are laboiious works, but the spirit and zeal of the
troops are sufficient to surmount them.. Some little time must
THE BATTLE OF DIAMOND ISLAND 41
also be allowed for the supplies of provisions to overtake us. In
the mean time all possible diligence is using at Ticonderoga to
get the gun-boats, provision-vessels, and a proper quantity of
bateaux, into Lake George. A corps of the army will be ordered
to penetiate by that route, which will after^-ards be the route for
the magazines; and a junction of the whole is intended at Fort
Edward."^-
The direction of the American retreat had forced an initial
change in Burgoyne's plans since the main part of his army under
his personal direction had followed Long's force to Skenesborough.
His defence of his continuance on this route m.ay be given in his
own words as found in his Narrative.
"Question has been made by those who began at this period to
arraign my military conduct, whether it would not have been
more expedient for the purpose of rapidity, to have fallen back to
Ticonderoga, in order to take the convenient route by Lake
George, than to have persevered in the laboiious and difificult
course by land to Fort Edward? My m.otives for preferiing the
latter were these: I considered not only the general iir.pressions
which a retrograde motion is apt to make upon the minds of both
enemies and friends, but also, that the natural conduct of the
enemy in that case would be to remain at Fort George, as their
retreat could not then be cut off, in order to oblige m.e to open
trenches, and consequently to delay me, and in the mean time
they would have destroyed the road from Fort George to Fort
Edward. On the other hand, by persisting to penetrate by the
short cut from. Fort Anne, of which I was then master, to Fort
Edward, though it was attended with great labour, and many
alert situations, the troops were improved in the very essential
point of wood service; I effectually dislodged the enemy from
Fort George without a blow: and seeing me master of one com-
m.unication, they did not think it worth while to destroy the other.
"The great num.ber of boats also, which must necessarily have
been em.ployed for the transport of the tioops ovei Lake George,
were by this course spared for the transport of the provision,
artilleiy, and ammunition.
"The success answered this reasoning in every point; for by
the vigilance of General Phillips, to whom I had com.mitted the
important part of forwarding all the necessaries from Ticonderoga,
a great embarkation aiTived at Fort George on July 29th. I
took possession of the country near Fort Edwaid on the sam.e day,
and independently of other advantages, I found myself much more
forward in point of time than I could possibly have been by the
other route.
42 PETER NELSON
"Another material motive, which could not be known by stran-
gers who have reasoned upon this movement, was, that during
the time m\' army was employed in clearing Wood-Creek and
cutting roads, and the corps under Major-general Phillips was
working to pass the transports over Lake George, I was enabled
to detach a large corps to my left, under Major-general Riedesel,
and therebv assist my purpose of giving jealousy to Connecticut,
and keeping in check the whole country called the Hampshire
Grants. . .
"On the airival of the army at Foit Edward, the great object
of attention was the transports fiom. Fort George. The distance
was about sixteen miles, the roads wanting great repair, the
weather unfavourable, the cattle and carriages scarce; part of the
latter inconvenience was occasioned b}^ the number of both that
were necessaiily detained at Ticonderoga, for the purpose of
dragging the boats and the provisions over the carrying-places,
between Lake Champlain and Lake George: . . ."'^
With the vahdity of these arguments we are not deeply con-
cerned, though it is perfectly evident that unnecessary baggage,
not necessary for military purposes, was caniedall the way to
Saratoga.^^ After the artillery boats, bridge material, etc., had
with great difficulty been transported to Ft. Edward and sufficient
supply of provisions accimiulated at that point so that he coiild
move without immediate dependence for daily supply by the long
line from Canada, Burgoyne advanced and soon met a force which
nov/ outmmibered him.
To place the following events in their proper relation to those
taking place to the south, let us recall that on the 13th and 14th
of September'^ Burgoyne crossed from the east to the west side of
the Hudson and encam-ped on the heights and in the plain of
Saratoga (Schu^-lerville) and that on the 19th was fought the first
Battle of Saratoga, the second following on the 7th of October.
The British lines of communication though lightly held had not
been abandoned and an opportunity presented itself to destroy
them-, capture his supplies, and make difficult his retreat to Canada.
At this time General Lincoln was in New England engaged in
gathering militia for the ensuing campaign. The origin of the plan
for an attack to the north of Burgoyne's main anny seems to have
arisen with General Lincoln and General Stark on the receipt of a
letter from. General Gates on the 19th of August. In a later
account to Colonel John Laurens of the events of this campaign,
General Lincoln wrote as follows :
THE BATTLE OF DIAMOND ISLAND 43
"We were fully of opinion, that a body of militia should be
collected in the Grants, and move in the rear of General Burgoyne,
as this m.easure would oblige him to make heavy detachments to
secure the seveial posts necessary to cover his rear, on the doing of
which the salvation of his aimy might depend. He would also
be obliged to escort his provision-wagons, which would serve to
weaken his main body, as General Gates would have little to
fear in fiont. Besides, this movement would cover a large and
valuable country, filled with provisions, and restrain the un-
friendly."^^
This plan was agreed to and the troops which had been collected
were moved northward to Manchester on the 7th and to Pawlet
on the Sth, where a halt was made.^'' General Lincoln's letter
continues as follows:
"On the 13th, our little army being collected, which consisted
of two thousand five hundred men, and the stores being arrived, —
to execute our general plan, which was to annoy, divide, and
distiact the enemy. Colonel Brown was sent with five hundred
men across the Narrows (part of Lake Champlain, or, as it is
sometimes called, South Bay), to the north end of Lake George,
with instiuctions to destroy all the boats and stores there belong-
ing to the enem.y, and, if possible, to relieve our prisoners at that
post.^^ Colonel Johnson^^ was ordered, with a like number of
men, to Mount Independence, with instructions to attempt that
post, to favor the designs of Colonel Brown. Colonel Wood-
bridge-" was ordered with five hundied men to Skenesborough,
wdth instructions to proceed to Fort Anne, and from thence to
attempt the enemy's post at the Mills, if it could be done without
risking too much. Hereby he became a cover to Colonel Brown,
and secured his retreat, if nothing more could be effected, In
order to give despatch to these enterprises, and ease to the troops,
the hoise, w^hich I wrote for from Beikshire to come on with sacks,
having arrived, they were divided among the three commands, and
took on the flour. The beeves were kept on foot. A number
of militia light-horse were ordered on, with their saddlebags
filled with spare cartridges. Thus the men moved very light,
and with great despatch.
"On the 17th, after leaving four hundred men to cover the stores
at Pawlet, I moved with six hundied towards Skenesborough, in
order to join Colonel Woodbridge, the more effectually to cover
Colonel Brown; at which post I intended Colonels Brown and
Johnson should join me, in order to move in force into the rear of
General Burgo\Tie.
"Colonel Johnson arrived in time before Mount Independence,
and remained there a number of days; but, finding the enemy
44 PETER NELSON
too well covered to attempt an assault with a probability of success,
he returned when ordered. The enemy having evacuated their
posts in their rear, it became unnecessary for Colonel Woodbridge
to proceed farther than Skenesborough. Colonel Brown's success
you have fully represented in the following extracts from his
report to me."^"
On the 19th, -^ General Burgoyne having entirely neglected his
rear, the troops under General Lincoln, who were on their way to
Skenesborough (where the general had already arrived), were
ordered to return to Pawlet and shortly thereafter were marched to
Stillwater.
This brings us to Colonel Brown's expedition with which we are
more particularly concerned. Here we properly pause for a sketch
of the chief figure of the expedition. According to his most recent
biographer, Archibald M. Howe, (in an address at Palatine Bridge,
29 September 1908), =2 John Brown, of Pittsfield, was bom 19
October 1744 and was therefore about 33 years old at the date of
these events; he was a graduate of Yale, practised law for a few
months in Tryon county, New York, but shortly returned to
Pittsfield, served in several prominent civil capacities during the
Revolution, was at the capture of Ft. Ticonderoga in 1775, par-
ticipated in the invasion of Canada as m.ajor, was lieutenant
colonel of a Connecticut regiment of the line in 1776-77 while
it was stationed at Albany and later at Ft. Stanwix, resigning
about 18 May 1777. In September of that year we find him in
command of a regiment of Massachusetts militia and shall hear
further of his exploits. Nothing seems to be written of his life
from October of that year till 1780 when he went to the defense of
the Mohawk valley with Massachusetts troops and was killed in
the Battle of Stone Arabia, on his 36th birthday.
Leaving Pawlet on the 13th we find him writing from Poultney
on the same day and reporting that he expects to be in Castleton
on the morrow by 10 o'clock P. M.^^ The following morning he
again writes from Poultney to General Lincoln and expresses
apprehension because of the delay to a detachment under Colonel
Warner. The next report which we have of his proceedings is
contained in his letter to Colonel Johnson dated Lake George
Landing, IS September 1777. From this report, as well as from
the later report which he wrote on the 4th of October to some
unnamed general, it is clear that he proceeded by way of the
THE BATTLE OF DIAMOND ISLAND 45
vicinity of Skenesborough and at that point crossed over the
southern extension of Lake Champlain so as to reach the point of
attack from the southwest near Mount Defiance. The outHnes of
his attack are hkewise given in his report of the same day to General
Lincoln which being somewhat fuller in its details I quote as
follows :
"North end of lake George landing
Thursday Sep ISth 1777
"Sii,
"With great fatigue after marching all last night I ai rived at this
place at the break of day, and after the best disposition of the men,
I could make, immediately began the attack, and in a few minutes,
carried the place. I then without any loss of time detached a
considerable part of my men to the mills, w^here a greater number
of the enemy were posted, who also were soon made prisoners, a
small number of whom having taken possession of a block house in
that Vicinity were with more difficulty bro't to submission; but
at the sight of a Cannon they sui rendered. During this season of
success. Mount Defiance also fell into our hands. I have taken
possession of the old french lines at Ticonderoga, and have sent a
flag dem.anding surrender of Ty: and mount independence
in stiong and perem.ptory terms. I have had as yet no infor-
mation of the event of Colo. Johnsons attack on the mount.
My loss of men in these several actions are not more than 3 or 4
killed and 5 wounded. The enemy's loss: is less. I find m^^self
in possession of 293 prisoners. Vizt 2 captains, 9 subs. 2 Com-
missaries, non Commissioned officers and piivates 143. British,
119 Canadians, 18 artificers and retook more than 100 of our m.en.
total 293, exclusive of the prisoners retaken. — The watercraft I
have taken, is 150 batteaus below the falls on Lake Champlain 50
above the falls including 17 gun boats and one armed sloop.
Arms equal to the number of prisoners. Some am.munition and
many other things which I cannot now ascertain. I m.ust not
forget to mention a few Cannon which m.ay be of great service
to us. Tho : my success has hitherto answered m_y most sanguine
expectations, I cannot promise m\^self great things, the events of
war being so dubious in their nature, but shall do my best to distress
the enemy all in my powei, having regard to my retreat, — There
is but a small quantity of provisions at this place which I think
will necessitate my retreat in case we do not carry Ty and in-
dependence— I hope you will use your utmost endeavor to give me
assistance should I need in crossing the lake &c. — The enemy but
a very small force at fort George. Their boats aie on an island
about 14 miles from this guarded by six companies, having artil-
lgj.y24 — J have m_uch fear with respect to the prisoners, being
46 PETER NELSON
obliged to send them under a small guard. — I am well informed
that considerable reinforcements is hourly expected at the lake
under command of Sir John Johnson. — This minute received Genl.
Powals answer to my demand in these woids, "The garrison in-
trusted to my charge I shall defend to the last." Indeed I have
little hopes of putting him to the necessity of giving it up unless
by the force under Colonel Johnson.
I am &
Genl. Lincoln. John Brown."
On the 19th he reported again to General Lincoln and stated his
intention of crossing to Mount Independence and in conjunction
with General Warner-^ (who had come to the support of Colonel
Johnson) attacking that post. He also states in this letter, what
is of particular interest, that before the attack of the previous day
he had promised all the plunder to the men for an encouragement
to them in their attack. On this date he also wrote to General
Warner giving him a general statement of his situation.
On the evening of the 20th we find him once more reporting to
General Lincoln from Lake George landing, in which he reported
the addition of about 20 prisoners taken in 3 boats which came
from Ft. George and the sending off of 160 prisoners to General
Warner. On further consideration he had decided not to attack
Ft. Ticonderoga, since the capture would be without much im-
portance so long as Mount Independence was held by the enemy,
and that Mount seemed to be so strongly fortified as to make it
impracticable to seize it. This letter also shows the origin of the
plan for the Lake George expedition, which he at once proceeded
to put into effect. On this point he writes :
"By intelligence from up the Lake I am suie that I shall have
it in my Power to command this Lake. The Enemy have a Post
at Dimond Islelandt consisting of 3 Companies of German
Troops, and almost all the Boats in the lake exclusive of those I
have taken. They have but little Provision and cannot be rein-
forced or supplyed from this Ouaiter. vShall indeavour to set out
tomorrow morning with a small Sloop Mounting 3 Carriage Guns
7 pounds, one Gun Boat with one Brass IS Do. in hei Bow and one
other Boat Mounting one 7 Do. and about 400 Men in Boats. I
can Retreat much easier fiom 20 Miles up the Lake then from this
Place. Do not mean however to abandon this Place unless
necessitated to do it untill the Event of this Expedition is known — "
In various letters both Lincoln and Brown refer to the fact that
advices were interfered with, expresses cut oft", so that they were
THE BATTLE OF DIAMOND ISLAND 47
not in close touch with each other; and from a letter of Lincoln
to Brown of the 21st dated at Pawlet it is plain that he had been at
Skenesborough and was then, under express orders of Gates,
proceeding southward leaving Colonel Brown and General Warner
to act on their own judgments with reference to the northern
attack. 26
The next letter from Colonel Brown is dated from Skenesbor-
ough, September 26th, and is a straightforward account of the
attack, which is perhaps too much dignified by calHng it a battle
but which was certainly more than a mere skirmish. As this
attack is the topic of my paper it may be well to quote the report
in full:
"Skeensboro Friday 11 o'clock, a. va. Sept. 26th 1777
"Dear Sir:
"I this minute arrived at this place by the way of Foit Ann,
was induced to take this rout on act of my Ignorance of the situa-
tion of eveiy part of the continental Army. —
"On the 22 inst at 4 o'clk P. M. I set sail from, the north end
Lake George with 20 sail of Boats three of which were armed, Viz
one sm.all sloop mounting 3 guns, and 2 British Gun Boats having
on Board the whole about 420 Men officeis included with a De-
termined resolution to attack Diamond Island which lies w'thin 5
miles Fort George at the break of Day the next Morning, but a
very heavy storm com.ing on prevented. — I arrived Sabbath Day
point abt midnight where I tarried all night, during which time I
[lost a] small Boat in the fleet taken the Day before coming from
Foit George, conducted by one -Ferry [this name is elsewhere
given as Terry] lately a sutler in our arm_y, I put Ferry on his
Parole, but in the night he fotmd Means to escape with his Boat,
and informed the Enemy of our approach, on the 23d I advanced as
far as 12 Mile Island, the Wind continuing too high for an attack
I suspended it untill the Morning of the 24th at 9 oclock at w^hich
Time I advanced w4th the 3 armed Boats in front and the othei
Boats, I ordeied to wing to the Right and left of Island to attempt a
landing if practicable, and to support the Gun Boats in case they
should need assistance, I was induced to make this experiment to
find the strength of the Island as also to cany it if practicable. —
The enemy gave m.e the first fire which I returned in good earnest,
and advanced as nigh as I thought prudent, I soon found that the
enemy had been advertised of our approach and well prepared for
our reception having a great number of cannon well mounted with
good Breast Works, I however approached within a smiall Distance
giving the Enemy as hot a fiie as in my Power, untill the sloop was
hulled between wind and Water and obliged to toe her ofif and one
48 PETER NELSON
of the boats so damaged as I was obliged to quit her in the action.
I had two men killed two Moi tally wounded and several others
wounded in such Manner as I was obliged to leave them undei the
Care of the Inhabitants, who I had taken Prisoneis giving them
a sufRcient reward for theii services.
"I Run my Boats up a Bay^' a considerable distance and burnt
them with all the Baggage that was not portable — The Enemy
have on Diamond Island as near as could be collected are about
three hundred, and about 40 at Fort George with orders if they are
attacked to retreat to the Island— Genl Borgoine has about 4
Weeks Provision with his army and no more, he is determined to
cut his Road through to Alban}^ at all events, for this I have the
last authoiit}-, still I think him under a small mistake — Most of the
Horses and Cattle taken at Ty and thereabouts weie left in the
Woods. Genl Warner has put out a party in quest of them.
"I am Dear vSr wishing you and the Alain Army great Success
your most obt Ymml Sert
Genl Lincoln Jno Brown"
His later report to an unnamed general, ^^ who may well have
been Gates, dated at Pawlet, October 4th, again refers to this
matter and as corroborative evidence written a week later may al-
so be quoted on this point:
"By the Boats that come in dayly from Fort George and
Diamond Island, I found that the Island were not apprized of us
and therefore determined that it was my Object rather than Ty I
therefore after Canonading the old Fort a Considerable Time,
from within the old French Lines and from m.ount defiance, from
which with one Ball two Men within the Parade were killed, and
after having destroyed all the Carriges and Boats except 20 in
lake Geoige and after having burnt most of the Stores about
Ticonderoga and killed and sent off all the Cattle and Horses, on
the 24th I imbarked for the Island, having 5 Cannon mounted on
the small sloop and gun Boats, but an unluky Circum.stance
happened; One Teriy lately a sutler in our Army being a Prisoner,
I suffered him to go at large on Parole but on my sailing from the
landing I ordered Terry & his Associates on board the Gun Boats,
unhappily an Officer coming on in the rear ordeied Teny out of
the Gun Boats into his own Boat and fall under his stern, altho
this Officer had no bad intent in this Order yet it Pioved oui
overthrow at the Island, for Night coming on with a great Storm
Terry m^ade his Escape to the Enem.y which gave them sufficient
Oppertunity to mount their Cannon and Prepare foi our reception[.]
I however Proceeded and made the Attempt, but finding the
Enemy too well Prepared was obliged to quit after two hours
Engagement, in which the Enemy huld the sloop between wind
Col. John Browns
expedition 177 J
aqai77.st
Ft "Ttconderoga &
Diamond IsUtJZ^
Rout€5
Roads
Col Brown
Col Johnson (
Col Woodbridgc)
10 MILES
DIAMOND
ISLAND
THE BATTLE OF DIAMOND ISLAND 49
and water in such Manner I was obliged to toe her off, one of the
Gun Boats also being Wounded and many other Boats shattered
to Pieces, I thought Pioper to retreat and aftei having burned all
the boats on the East shore quit the Lake and got safely into
Skeensboio', I left behind me in the whole killed and wounded ten
Men — ^the Numbei of Piisoneis on Parole shall transmit your
honor very soon."
From British sources we get various statements which enable us
to form a more complete conception of the events connected with
this attack. Three of these are perhaps of special importance.
The general in command of the German troops Major general
Riedesel, has the following statement in his Journal :
"All the heavy baggage of the different regiments was sent back
to Ticonderoga on the 1st of Septembei. Those articles, however,
which might be more needed, were only sent back as far as Dia-
mond Island in Lake George — seven [should be three] miles from
Fort Geoige — that they might be close at hand in case of need.
At the same time two companies of the 47th Regiment were sent
with them as a garrison; only thirty men and one officer being
left at Fort George, as the communication with that lake was to
be given up for the present. "^^
The battle itself was reported by Burgoyne in his letter of 20
October 1777 which contained the following paragraphs:
"On the 24th instant [should be September], the enemy, enabled,
by the capture of the gunboats and bateaux, which they had made
after the surprise of the sloop, to embark upon Lake George,
attacked Diamond Island in two divisions.
"Captain Aubrey, and two companies of the 47th regiment,
had been posted at that island from the time the army passed the
Hudson's River, as a better situation, for the security of the stores
at the south end of Lake George, than Fort George, which is on
the continent, and not tenable against artillery and numbers.
The enemy weie repulsed by Captain Aubrey with gieat loss, and
puisued by the gun-boats under his command, to the east shoie,
where two of their principal vessels were retaken, together with all
the cannon. They had just time to set fire to the other bateaux,
and retreated over the mountains." ^^
The statem-ent of Burgoyne was probably based in part on the
report of Lieutenant Irwine who was in com-mand at Ft. George
with 30 men and whose report found in the Gates Papers was as
follows (the date is apparently a mistake for 25th) :
50 PETER NELSON
"Fort George 24^^ ggp^.r 1777.
"Sir
"I think it necessary to acquaint you for the information of
General BurgO}Tie, that the enemy, to the amount of two or three
hundred men came fiom Skenesborough to the carrying place neai
Tyconderoea and there took seventeen or eighteen Batteaus
with Gunboats — Their design was first to attack the fort but
considering they could not well accomplish it without cannon they
desisted from that scheme, they were then resolved to attack
Diamond Island (which Island Capt. Aubrey commands) and if
they succeeded, to take this place, they began to attack the Island
with cannon about 9 o'clock yesterday morning, I have the satis-
faction to inform you that after a cannonading for near an hour
and a half on both sides the enemy took to their retreat. Then
was Gun boats sent in pursuit of them which occasioned the enemy
to burn their Gun boats and Batteaus and made their escape
towards Skenesborough in great confusion — we took one Gun
boat from them with a twelve pounder in her and a good quantity
of ammunition — w^e have heard there was a few kill'd and many
wounded of them. There was not a man killed or hurt during the
whole action of his Majesty's Troops. I have the honor to be
Sir your most obedient and most humb'^ Ser*^
Geo' Irwine Com at Fort George L* 47'''."3i
It appears strange that no account of this fight at Diamond
Island was published by the Americans and that, except for the
British account, which does not mention Colonel Brown, it re-
mained practically unknown till the publication of an article by
Rev. B. F. De Costa in 1S72, an article which has not been used in
our general histories of the Revolution.
Other letters of Colonel Brown in the possession of a descendant,
Capt. William Butler Clarke, of Belmont, Massachusetts (some of
which were evidently used by Mr. Howe in his sketch of Brown
already referred to), were printed last year in the New England
Historical and Genealogical Register, but without any comments
other than a very brief introduction stating the source of the
papers. This article has probably not come to the attention of
many students of New York history, but it has funiished the
occasion of this effort properly to understand the events narrated.
The managem.ent of the expedition by Colonel Brown was
commended in General Lincoln's letter to him dated at Bemis
Heights, September 28th, in which he regrets that it could not have
been crowned with greater success. On Septem.ber 30th he
THE BATTLE OF DIAMOND ISLAND 51
despatched Colonel Brown to Pawlet, directing him on his
arrival there to send two or three hundred men with 10 or 12 days
provision between Ft. Edward and Ft. George in order to cut oflE
all communication between the posts. Of the results we know
nothing; but the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga soon after
brought about the early retreat of the British from Ft. George and
Diamond Island and a little later from Ft. Ticonderoga. With
the later events on Lake George there is not time to deal. What
the results of the capture of this little island might have been is
difficult to judge. Burgoyne's surrender came so soon that its
result would perhaps have been slight in any case. But though a
failure in its immediate purpose, this study has shown, I hope,
that it was part of a well-conceived scheme of operation, carried
out with energy and judgment and by a commander whose work
has not hitherto received its due credit.
Peter Nelson
Authorities Cited
iThe elevations above sea-level are: Lake Champlain, 101 feet; Lake
George, 322 feet; Hudson River at Ft. Edward, about 120 feet; highest
point between Ft. Anne and Ft. Edward, about 150 feet; highest point be-
tween Lake George and Ft. Edward, about 570 feet.
^General Dieskau had approached Ft. William Henry by way of South
Bay and the southern end of French Mountain.
^Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, 8:451.
This work will hereafter be cited as Col. Doc.
^Skene settled a few families at Skenesborough in 1761. Thomas Jones,
History of New York during the Revolutionary War, (New York, 1879), 1:693.
^B. F. DeCosta, A Narrative of Events at Lake George (N. Y., 1868), p. 44-
46, 73. This work will be cited hereafter as DeCosta, Narrative; it is prac-
tically identical as to text with chapters 6-8 and appendices I and II of his
Lake George (N. Y., 1868) ; his Lake George (N. Y., 1869) omits the appendices.
B. F. DeCosta, Notes on the History of Fort George (N. Y., 1871), is an inde-
pendent work and will be cited as DeCosta, Fort George. See also Cat. Doc,
8:371, and Documentary History of the State of New York, 4:517 (quarto edition).
^DeCosta, Narrative, p. 54.
'DeCosta, Narrative, p. 47-62.
*Col. Pierse Long, of New Hampshire.
'It has been said that he retreated to Rutland but this is an error which
probably arose from his order to Warner to retire to that point if hard pressed.
See letter of St. Clair to Schu\ier, Dorset, 8 July 1777, in Jared Sparks, Corre-
spondence of the American Revolution (Boston, 1853), 2:513.
lojohn Burgoyne, A State of the Expedition (Ed. 2, London, 1780), p. iv.
"Burgoyne, p. viii-ix.
i^Burgoyne, p. xxxv-xxxvi.
"Burgoyne, p. 17-19.
"Gen. John Watts DePeyster is quoted in Justin Winsor, Narrative and
Critical History of America (Boston, 1889), 6:313, as follows: "Burgoyne
52 PETER NELSON
could have been re-assembled at 'Old Ty' by the 10th July; could have been
transported to Fort George by the l2th; and, having left his heavy guns and
all but his light artillery and indispensable materials there or at Ty, in depot,
■with a sufficient guard, could have reached Fort Edward on the evening of the
13th July. From this point to Albany is about fifty miles. With six or ten
days' rations and an extra supply of ammunition sufficient for a battle of that
period, Burgoyne could have swept Schuyler out of his path with ease, and,
allowing one day's delay for a fight, could have occupied Albany on the 16th
July."
I'Burgoyne, p. Ixxxiv.
i^Sparks, 2:533-36. The date of Gates' letter is incorrectly given as Sep-
tember. The plan had previously been discussed by ;Schuyler and Lincoln;
see letter of former, 31 July 1777, in Sparks, 2:516.
'"Lincoln to the Council of Massachusetts, 23 Sept. 1777, in Sparks, 2:
528-30.
'^Lincoln's orders to Brown are printed in Sparks, 2:525-26, and are there
dated the I2th; in his letter to Gates, 14 Sept. 1777, De Costa, Fort George,
p. 42, Lincoln gives the date as yesterday (that is, the ijth); and in his letter
to the Council of Massachusetts he wrote that his orders had been issued on
the 14th. In spite of these discrepancies, there seems very little reason to
doubt Brown's statement in his letter of 4 Oct. 1777 that he received his
orders on the ijth ; his report from Poultney on the same day shows that he set
out at once.
"Col. Thomas Johnson, of the Vermont militia.
^^Col. Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, of the Massachusetts militia.
-'The 19th, according to letter of Lincoln to Laurens, Sparks, 2:535; but
the i8th, according to his letter to the Council of Massachusetts, Sparks, 2;
529.
"Archibald M. Howe, Colonel John Brown oj Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the
brave accuser of Benedict A mold, an address delivered before the Fort Rensse-
laer chapter of the D. A. R. and others, at the village of Palatine Bridge,
New York, September 29, 1908 (Boston, 1908).
"^This letter and others which follow are quoted from a communication by
Capt. William Butler Clarke, of Belmont, Mass., to the New England Historical
and Genealogical Register, October 1920, 74:284-93. The letters there printed
are:
1 Brown to Lincoln, Poultney, 13 Sept. 1777
2 u u .. j4 .. ..
3 " Johnson, Lake George Landing, 18 Sept. 1777
4 " Lincoln, " " " " " "
5 " " 19 ;'
6 " Warner, " " " " " "
7 " Lincoln, " " " 20 " "
8 Lincoln to Brown, Pawlet, 21 Sept. 1777
9 Brown to Lincoln, Skenesborough, 26 Sept. 1777
10 Lincoln to Brown, Bemis Heights, 28 " "
11 " " " " 30 "
12 Brown to Lincoln, Falls Mills, 1 Oct. 1777
13 Lincoln to Brown, (no place), 2 " "
14 Brown to , Pawlet, 4 " "
Of these nos. 4 and 9 had previously appeared in B. F. DeCosta, The Fight
at Diamond Island (N. Y., 1872), reprinted with additions from the New
England Historical and Genealogical Register, April 1872, 26:147-52; the
date of No. 4, is there erroneously given as the 10th. Both were copied from
the Gates Papers in the New York Hi.storical Society. DeCosta's article was
reprinted, practically in full, except the introductory pages, in William L.
Stone, The Campaign of Lieut. Gen. Burgoyne (1877), p. 347-52. No. 4 was
also printed in Sparks, 2:529-30, presumably from "the newspapers of the
THE BATTLE OF DIAMOND ISLAND 53
time" and said to be addressed to Gates, and No. 8 appears in Sparks, 2:527-
28, from a different original. From Howe's address on Colonel Brown, it
would seem that he had also seen Nos. 5, 7, and 14.
^^From the absence of any later reference to such an island, this statement
seems to be distorted information about Diamond Island, as is the later refer-
ence to three companies of German troops at the island.
''^In his letter of 13 September, Colonel Brown mentions "Col, Warner's
party" and next day again speaks of "Colo. Warner's Detachmt." This was
doubtless Col. Seth Warner of Vermont. The General Warner to whom his
letter of the 19th was addressed, and who is mentioned in his letter to Lincoln
of the 19th and 20th, and in Lincoln's letter to Brown of the 2lst, 30th and
2d October, was Jonathan Warner, of Hard wick, Mass., who was brigadier
general of Massachusetts militia. He was appointed to the command of all
Massachusetts militia detached for the reinforcement of the Northern army,
9 Aug. 1777 (L. R. Paige, History of Hardwick (Boston, 1883), p. 273).
In the same letter Lincoln says that General Bayley, who is referred to in
Lincoln's letter to Brown of the 21st, "is left at Castleton, in the neighborhood
of the enemy, and will forward supplies, and join the troops, if necessary."
This was Gen. Jacob Bayley who was commissioned brigadier-general of
Gloucester and Cumberland county militia by the New York Provincial
Congress in 1776. A letter of his dated at Castleton, 22 Sept. 1777, is printed
in the New Hampshire State Papers, 17:136, in which he reports 500 prisoners
taken and the division reduced to 1,500 by General Lincoln's withdrawal of
most of the troops to the south.
26See letters referred to in note 23.
^'Dunham Bay.
*8Howe, p. 12, assumes that this report was to Lincoln, but Captain Clarke
says: "There is nothing in or on this letter to indicate to what general it was
written. Apparently it was not written to General Lincoln."
29Max von Eelking, Memoirs, and Letters and Journals, of Major General
Riedesel (Albany 1868), 1:134.
'"Burgoyne, p. xcv; quoted by DeCosta, Diamond Island, p. 8, with date
of 27th; also in his Fort George, p. 43, and his Narrative, p. 66.
^^DeCosta, Diamond Island, p. 9; from Gates Papers.
REVIEWS OF BOOKS
A History oj Minnesota. By William Watts Folwell. In
four volumes. Vol. I. (Saint Paul: Minnesota Historical Soci-
ety. 1921. Pp. xvii, 533. Illustrations and Maps.)
This promises to be a monumental history of Minnesota. It
is of peculiar interest to New Yorkers because of the fact that
te a uthor was bom on a farm in the town of Romulus, was
gad uated from Hobart College at Geneva, and was for many
years a professor there. In 1869 he was made president of the
University of Minnesota and continued as such until 1884.
Fur traders from New York and fur trading companies organ-
ized in New York played an important part in the early explora-
tions and development of Minnesota. Such a trader was John
Jacob Astor and such a company was the American Fur Company,
which he organized. The story of these is told in the first volume.
New York's additional interest is drawn from the fact that when
the territory was peopled it was from New York State that the
larger number of the settlers came during the years 1855 and 1856.
Just as New Yorkers had been most active in settling Wisconsin
between 1830 and 1850, so now they showed a similar activity in
Minnesota.
The reason for this migration from New York State has never
been fully explained and Mr. Folwell does not even broach it in
this volume. Joseph Schafer of Wisconsin has recently ventured
the supposition that it was due to the tendency early observable
in Western New York, for large owners to buy out small farmers
for the purpose of cattle raising, and dairying. Probably there
was just as much in the temptation to sell acreage at high prices
in New York when they could go out to Wisconsin and Minnesota
and buy lands at figures as low as $1.25 an acre.
In a brief notice such as this it is impossible to select for mention
the many items of interest to the New Yorker in this volume.
The book is written in a delightfully entertaining style.
REVIEWS OF BOOKS 55
Letters of Members of the Cotitinental Congress. Edited by
Edmund C. Burnett. Vol. I. August 29, 1774 to July 4, 1776.
(Washington D. C. Carnegie Institution. 1921. Pp. Ixvi,
572.)
The interest of New Yorkers in this collection is more particular-
ly directed to its own members who are listed on pages Hi — Ivii.
They were John Alsop, Simon Boerum, George Clinton, James
Duane, William Flo>d, John Haring, John Jay, Francis Lewis,
Philip Livingston, Robert R. Livingston, Isaac Low, Lewis
Morris, Philip Schuyler, Henry Wisner. A study of the index of
which there is a very good one shows that James Duane, John
Jay and Philip Schuyler were the most active if we were to judge
by the number of references which are made to them.
These letters will supply in a measure, the accounts of pro-
ceedings which were never kept or if kept for the time being,
were destroyed. Just as John Jay is said to have remarked to
young William Livingston that the true history of the Revolution
would never be written, so Dr. Jameson calls attention to the
statements of John Adams that so many of the meetings were in
secret and so much of the material purposely destroyed, that the
history could not be written.
As a piece of good editing this work of Mr. Burnett's leaves
nothing to be desired. Not only are letters given, but also
extracts from diaries where they have been found. The collection
is thoroughly annotated at the bottom of each page so that every
letter or docimient used is placed in its proper setting — a very
necessary thing in a collection drawn from so many different
sources. Force's American Archives, the Journals of the Con-
tinental Congress, and the Journals of Provincial Congresses are
most drawn from. In addition, numerous collections of private
letters, some of which have not as yet been printed, have been
used.
The work will be complete in six volumes.
The History of the 306th Field Artillery. Compiled by the men
who participated in the events described. (New York: Knicker-
bocker Press. 1920. Pp. vi, 169. Illustrations and maps.)
In a measure this volume tells the same story for the whole
306th Field Artillery as the volume below tells for Battery B
56 REVIEWS OF BOOKS
alone. The history of "Soldier making at Camp Upton" and of
other events is told in chapters similar in title and content.
This work, however, takes on a more serious aspect in Part II,
which is devoted to "Operations and Statistics," but even in
this portion there are several chapters under such titles as "Regi-
m.ental Fun and Frolic," "The Howitzer" a short lived journal-
istic enterprise, "Prisoners in Germany," "Paris," and "Tales
They Tell." Try as he will the American soldier cannot get
away from the comic side of even serious life. It is a tribute to
his mental make up that he was able to go rollicking through war
as he goes through peace. It seems at times as if he got more
fun out of war than he gets out of the business of life.
One of the m.ost valuable parts of the volume is the portion
which is devoted to the "Military Biographies of every Man in
the 306th Field Artillery."
The drawings and illustrations are a credit to the authors.
J. S.
The Story of Battery B, jo6th F. A. — 7/th Division. By Edi-
torial Staff. (Printed by the Premier Printing Company,
New York. No date. Pp. 102. Illustrations.)
In ten chapters entitled Cam.p Upton, the Leviathan and
Brest, Training Days at Camp De Souge, The Vosges Front,
Vesle-Aisne Campaign, The Eight Day Hike to the Argonne,
The Argonne-Meuse Campaign, Marcq and the Armistice, "Home
was Never Like This" — Dancevoir and Noyen, and Homeward
Bound, the story of the 306th is told. It is accompanied by
numerous photographic illustrations and snap-shots, an honor
roll, casualti humorous stories, poems and an alphabetical
roster with addi esses.
It is in no sense a technical or military account of the activities
of the unit. It is told in a popular vein calculated to appeal to
the lelatives and fi lends of the members and to serve as a sort of
reviver of memories foi the boys themselves. It is books of this
kind, however, which do more to show the psychology of o ur men
in the World War than any technical treatise could possibly do.
"Home Was Never Like This," is a delightful chapter showing
the impressions which the French male and female made on our
men. The question of getting a bath was always a problem, but
even this hardship the men seemed to take good naturedly.
J. S.
REVIEWS OF BOOKS 57
Monroe in the World War. By Arthur Coventry Patmore.
(Monroe. New York. Monroe Gazette. 1921. Pp. 65. Illus-
trations).
The little booklet gives a sketch of the activities of the in-
corporated village of Monroe during the World War. It con-
tains a list of men who entered the service, the contributions to
the Red Cross, Liberty Loans and Y. M. C. A., a diary of Private
John Dawson, letters from some soldiers, the participation of the
high school and other items. It is to be regretted that more
details were not obtained from the men who entered the service
such as the units to which they belonged, and other items usually
obtained by questionnaires.
NOTES AND QUERIES
PERSONAL
Roswell Randall Hoes, the noted authority on Ulster County
and Kingston history, died in Washington, D. C, on October 26,
1921.
Dr. J. A. Campbell of Toronto and Colonel Roland B. Camp-
bell of Great Britain who are descended from the famous Duncan
Campbell, who lost his hfe at Ticonderoga under Abercromby,
visited Duncan's grave in Union Cemetery at Fort Edward on
November 24, 1921.
On September 15, 1921, James A. Beckett, Delmer Runkle
and William C. Jones, accompanied by James Sullivan, State
Historian, and A. W. Abrams, Chief of the Visual Instruction
Division of the State Education Department visited Bennington
Battlefield Park, in order to make a survey of what was needed
to put the park in shape for visitors so that the Legislature at itg
coming session could be asked to appropriate the necessary funds
Mr. Abrams took photographs.
Mrs. Theodore Douglas Robinson, sister of Theodore Roose-
velt, unveiled a bust of her brother at the Roosevelt School, at
New Rochelle, December 19, 1921.
It is proposed that the seven English speaking nations of the
world, Great Britain and Ireland, Canada, Newfoundland,
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States join
in a celebration of Magna Charta Day — which comes on June
15th.
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES AND CLUBS
The Chautauqua County Historical Society held its thirty-
eighth annual meeting at Ma^-ville, September 10, 1921. The
meeting was mainly devoted to obituary notes on Charles M . Dow
of Jamestown, Gilbert W. Strong of Sherman and Herman Sixbey
of Mayville. The former officers were re-eleeted.
58
NOTES AND QUERIES 59
At the September 21, 1921 meeting of the Madison County His-
torical Society in its room in the city hall at Oneida, Prof. Harry W.
Langworthy gave an address on "Points of Historical Interest
Along the Hudson River."
The Daughters of Columbia County Historical Society, at its
meeting in Albany on October 30, 1921, approved of the erection
of a "House of History," in memor}^ of Theodore Roosevelt.
Sketches of his life were read. Mrs. James Gillette read a paper
on "The Livingston Family."
On September 13, 1921, the Daughters of Columbia County
Historical Society, held a meeting at Lebanon Springs. Dr.
Hattie Peckham solicited facts of the unwritten history of
Lebanon Springs.
On September 21, 1921, the Dutchess County Historical
Society made a historical pilgrimage to the towns of Washington,
Amenia and Northeast. Many historic spots were visited and
several lecturers explained their significance.
The Daughters of Columbia County Historical Society met at
Hudson on September 29, 1921. Dr. George Rossman of An-
cram, spoke on "Indian Remains in Columbia County," and Dr.
James Sullivan, the State Historian spoke on "New York Men
on the Battlefields of France."
At the September 27, 1921, meeting of the American University
Club at Sidney in Delaware County, Mrs. E. Clark read a paper
on the "Early History^ of Delaware County," Mrs. Doty read one
on the "Historic Places of Delaware County" and Miss Miller
one on "Noted Men and Women of Delaw^are County."
The Lockport Historical Society was organized in October,
1921. Cuthbert W. Pound, judge of the State Court of Appeals
was chosen president; Hiram D. McNeil, vice-president; Austin
C. Dwyer, secretary-; C. A. Ward, treasurer; George S. Gooding,
corresponding secretary.
At the regular meeting of the Rochester Historical Society on
October 1, 1921, president Remington resigned and Charles
H. Wiltsie was elected to take his place. An address was de-
livered by Dr. A. H. Strong, on the "Life and Services of Pro-
fessor Henry A. Ward."
The State Convention of the D. A. R. met in Rochester,
October 19, 1921.
60 NOTES AND QUERIES
The Verona Historical Society met at Bameveld on October 4,
1921, and elected W. A. Devott, president; Miss Jennie H.
Mcintosh, secretary; and Frank L. Worden, treasurer. George
F. Wallace of Herkimer read a paper on "The Conspiracy of
Aaron Burr."
The Arcadia Historical Society of Newark held its annual
meeting on November 5, 1921. Miss Minnie F. Snyder read a
most entertaining accoimt of the meeting of the New York State
Historical Association at Lake George.
Poultney Bigelow has sent a vigorous letter to the Kingston
Freeman, urging the formation of a county historical society for
Ulster.
During the summer, Mr. Milton Thomas of Chatham, addressed
the Daughters of Columbia County Historical Society on the
subject of "Historical Research."
On December 10, 1921, Joseph B. Gilder addressed the Century
Association of New York City on "Captain Kidd: The Man and
The Myth."
PUBLICATIONS, BOOKS, ARTICLES, MANUSCRIPTS
The Year Book of the Dutchess County Historical Society for
1921, contains an account of the Dutchess County Historical
Society Third Historical Pilgrimage, and the historical papers
read in connection with two places, Dover and Quaker Hill.
In addition there is published a considerable quantity of letters of
the Livingston family under the title of A Packet of Old Letters,
1739-1753.
The American Hebrew for September 30, 1921, has an article
entitled In Early New York, The American Background of the
Jew at the Beginning of American History by Samuel Oppenheim.
Another article by Elias Lieberman is entitled The First American
Jewish Citizen, and is also about New Amsterdam.
In State Service, for August-September, 1921, are articles on
Walt Whitman's Birthplace and Boyhood Haunts; How Napoleon
III was Locked in Sing Sing Prison; and New York State's
University and what It Means.
The Bulletin of the New York Public Library for August, 1921,
has a continuation of A History of the New York Public Library.
NOTES AND QUERIES 61
From New York to Iowa, is the title of an article by Lydia
Arnold Titus in the October, 1921, number of The Palimpsest.
It tells the story of life in the 40's in Machias Comers thirty
miles from Buffalo and of a migration to the west.
Where Philip Embury Lived, Labored and Died (in Washing-
ton County, N. Y.) is the title of an article by Charles A. Ingraham
in the September 29, 1921, issue of the Christian Advocate.
The New York Historical Society Quarterly Bulletin, for October,
1921, has an excellent frontispiece of the City Hall, New York,
1826, and an article on Pieter Vanderlyn, Portrait Painter, whose
work was done in New York from 1719-1732. There is an illus-
tration of the keg used by Dewitt Clinton, at the opening of the
Erie Canal in 1825, and another of a Hessian regimental breast-
plate which is accompanied by a descriptive article.
Scribner's Magazine has been running articles by Corinne R.
Robinson on My Brother Theodore Roosevelt. In the World's
Work for April, 1921, is an article by R. H. Post entitled. How
Theodore Roosevelt Made the Government Efficient.
In the April 1921, number of the Journal of Negro History is an
article by A. G. Lindsay on The Economic Condition of the Negroes
of New York prior to i86i.
The Mohawk Trail, its History and Course, is the title of a book
by William B. Browne of North Adams, Mass. who also has it
on sale.
In the Bulletin of the New York Public Library, for September,
1921, is to be found the concluding installment of A History of the
New York Public Library.
In the September, 1921, issue of the Daughters of the American
Revolution Magazine, is an article by T. T. Belote on War Medals
of the American Revolution, many of which were given for victories
won on New York soil. In the same number is an interesting
report from the Mahwenawasigh Chapter (Poughkeepsie) of the
D. A.R., on the tablets erected on the George Clinton house and
on the site of the former cotu-t house where the Federal Consti-
tution was ratified. Similar interesting reports are to be found
of the Onwentsia Chapter (Addison, N. Y.), Au-ly-ou-let Chapter
(Franklin, N. Y.), and of the Tuscarora Chapter of Binghampton.
The Daughters of the Am&i-ican Revolution Magazine for October,
1921, contains the first installment of an article by T. T. Belote
62 NOTES AND QUERIES
on Military and Naval Medals of the War of 1812-ij and another by-
Amelia Day Campbell entitled The Last Washington Inaugural
Flag. Accompanying the latter is an illustration of the flag of
the Second Regiment, First Brigade, New York State artillery,
which was carried at the first inauguration of Washington. There
is also a report of the activities of the Chief Taughannock Chapter
(Trumansburg, N. Y.)
The Huntington Historical Society, IQ21-IQ22, is the title of a
handbook giving a list of members and activities of this very
active society.
The life of Daniel H. Burnham, Architect and Planner of Cities
by Charles Moore which has just appeared recalls the fact that
Burnham was bom in Henderson, New York.
The General John E. Wool Chapter of the National Society
United States Daughters of 1812, has in its possession a map of
Old Fort Putnam drawn in 1808.
In the Rhinebeck Gazette for July 9, 1921, Mrs. Theodore de
Laporte has an article on the History of the RJtinebeck Baptist
Church.
In the Political Science Quarterly for December, 1921, Dixon R.
Fox has an article on State History. The same author has pub-
lished separately through the Department of History of Columbia
University a pamphlet entitled: The Historical Essay and The
Critical Review.
The Louisiana Historical Quarterly for October, 1920, has an
article on Edward Livingston, who codified the conflicting laws of
Louisiana, and a letter entitled; A New York Yankee in New
Orleans.
The Indiana Magazine of History contains an article on New
Albany and the Scribner Family, a settlement made in that State
by a family coming from Connecticut and New York.
In the December, 1921, number of the Indiana Magazine of
History is a very interesting contribution entitled A Journal of
Travel from New York to Vincennes and Return in 1827 by Samuel
Bernard Judah. The first five pages are occupied with the
journey from New York City to Albany and then through New
York State to the Pennsylvania line.
The General Society of Colonial Wars, has in preparation an
Index of Ancestors.
NOTES AND QUERIES 63
In The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, for
October, appear articles on the Wright, Templeton. Joslin families
by Edith Becker. The Westchester County, N. Y., Miscellanea
and the Tompkins County Gravestone Inscriptions are continued
from earlier numbers.
In The Palimpsest, for September, 1921, is an article by Ruth A.
Gallaher on The Cardiff Giant, that famous hoax which originated
on a New York farm.
New York State has published a report entitled: New York,
New Jersey port and harbor development commission.
The World's Work for August and September 1921, has selec-
tions from Henry Morgenthau's autobiography one of which is
entitled What I learned from Sulzer and Tammany.
Local Government in the United States, is the title of a book
written by Herman G. James and published by Appleton.
In the Forum for September 1921, Hiram W. Johnson has an
article on New York City's Problem.
American Police Systems, by Raymond B. Fosdick and Ameri-
can Police Administration, by Elmer D. Graper both devote con-
■siderable attention to New York.
Herman Hagedom, jr., has written a pamphlet entitled: Theo-
dore Roosevelt, A Biographical Sketch and Excerpts from his
Writings and Addresses for the use of those who would in their own
addresses or writings spread true Americanism. Address Roose-
velt Mem^orial Association, 1 Madison Avenue, New York City,
for copies.
In the State Service magazine for October — November, 1921,
is an article by Joseph Beal entitled Uncle Sam May Soon Acquire
Saratoga Battlefield. A history of the battle is given with numer-
ous illustrations.
In the September 1921, of the Grosvenor Library Bulletin,
Buffalo, is a historical sketch accompanied by illustrations of
Main Street, Buffalo, under the title of Our Chief Thorotighfare.
Quentin Roosevelt, a Sketch with Letters, has been published by
Scribner's Sons.
Roosevelt, the Happy Warrior, by Bradley Oilman has been
published by Little, Brown and Company.
64 NOTES AND QUERIES
Davfd Hummell Greer, Eighth Bishop of New York, by Rev.
Charles L. Slattery, has been published by Longmans, Green and
Company.
The Story of Chautauqua by Jesse Lyman Hurlbiirt published
by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1921, is the history of the Chautauqua
m.ovement.
In the second series, volume VI, of the Papers of the American
Society of Church History edited by F. W. Loetscher and pub-
lished by G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1921, is a paper by E. P. Johnson
on missionary work among the Indians during the eighteenth
century.
In The American Historical Review for October 1921, appears
the second installment of the Journal of a French Traveller in the
Colonies, 1765. Pages 81-85 and 89 are devoted to New York.
The article on Architecture in the History of the Colonies and
of the Republic by Fiske Kimball in The American Historical
Review for October 1921, is conspicuously weak in its omission of
New York from consideration.
A History of Hauppauge, Long Island, N. Y., by Simeon Wood
has been published by Charles J. Werner of New York.
Among the Columbia University Studies recently issued is one
entitled The Ratification of the Federal Constitution by the State of
New York by Clarence E. Miner. (Longmans, Green and Com-
pany, New York.)
The latter portion of The Journal of Madam Knight which re-
counts the story of a journey from Boston to New York in 1704,
(newly edited by Sarah Knight and published by Small, Maynard
and Company), is of particular interest to New Yorkers.
The Life of Whitelaw Reid in two volumes by Royal Cortissoz
is published by Charles Scribner's Sons.
Of interest to New Yorkers are Michael J. O'Brien's, Hidden
Phase of American History: Ireland's Part in America's Struggle
for Liberty, (N. Y., Dodd Mead and Company) and H. E. Eger-
ton's edition of Coke's notes of The Royal Commission on the
Losses and Services of American Loyalists, (Oxford: Printed for
the Roxburghe Club).
In Appendix IV of the Report of the Librarian of Congress for
IQ2I, Waldo G. Leland gives a Report on the Transcription of
Documents from French Archives which is of considerable interest
to students of the history of New York State.
NOTES AND QUERIES 65
The Library of Congress has received letters of Martin Van-
Buren to N. S. Benton (1828) and to Robert J. Walker, (1843);
four letters of Millard Fillmore to S. G. Haven (1839-40) and
letters to Frank Taylor (1853) and Ira Harris (1859). This
Library has the largest collection of Grover Cleveland's papers.
The Library of Congress has been presented by Mr. J. Pierpont
Morgan with some photostat letters of George Washington to the
Clintons, his correspondence with Colonel Willett in reference to
the abortive attempt to capture Oswego in 1783, his military
map of Eastern New York and the Jerseys.
In the Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society for June,
IQ2I, is the final installment of the articles on The Records of the
Middle Association of Congregational Churches of the State of
New York, 1806-1810 by John Quincy Adams.
In the Iowa Journal of History and Politics for October, 1921,
is a sketch of Wilson Secley Lewis, Bishop of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church in China. He was born in Russell in St. Lawrence
County, New York, July 17, 1857, and died in Sioux City, Iowa,
August 21, 1921.
In the Proceedings of the Second Annual State History Conference,
Bulletin No. 13 published by the Indiana Historical Commission
is an article entitled : The Relation of Community History to State
History by Nora C. Fretageot, and another: What the D. A. R.,
and Similar Organizations can do to Promote the State's History
by Mindell Crampton Wilson.
In the Missouri Historical Review for April, 1921, is an article
entitled : A Guide to the Study of Local History and tJie Collection
of Historical Material, by Jonas Viles and Jesse E. Wrench;
and in the July, 1921, issue there is an article entitled: Populariz-
ing State History, by Floyd C. Shoemaker.
In the Tennessee Historical Magazine for October, 1920, is a
paper on The Autobiography of Martin Van Buren, by W. E.
Beard.
In The American Review of Reviews for August, 1921, is an
article entitled: From New York to Idaho: A Farm Colony of
City Folk, and Their Modern Caravan.
The American Legion, Department of Massachusetts, has pub-
lished a volimie of its Annual Proceedings for 1920. It contains a
Partial List of Publications Relating to the World War and a
66 NOTES AND QUERIES
catalogue of Lists of Massachusetts Men in the United States
Service, by Towns.
Two Colored Women with the American Expeditionary Forces,
is the title of a volume by Addie W. Hunton and Kathryn M.
Johnson of New York, published by the Brooklyn Eagle Press.
The Negro in American History, is the title of a volume by John
W. Cromwell and published by the American Negro Academy,
Washington, D. C. Men from New York State are included in
the treatment.
Theodore Roosevelt, the Man as I knew Him, is the title of a
volume by Frederick C. Inglehart, published by Burt, New
York.
In the publication entitled Contributions of the Lowell (Mass.)
Historical Society, Vol. II No. 1, there is an article by Rev.
Wilson Waters on The Writing of Local History, and another by
Mrs. Sara S. Griffin on The Acadian Exiles. Some of these
unfortunates were sent to our New York towns, but only a
long, a patient research in town records will reveal their history.
The Wisconsin Magazine of History for December, 1921, has
an interesting article by Joseph Schafer entitled Documenting
Local History, which can well be used as a model for other places
than those in Wisconsin.
In the Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine for No-
vember, 1921, is an article by J. C. Fitzpatrick on The Com-
mittees of Correspondence and Safety of the Revolutionary War,
and another by T. T. Belote on Military and Naval Medals of
the war of 1812-15, both of which have material on New York
State.
In the issue of Decem.ber 1921, is a Hst of books on New York
State history which have been donated to the library of the
D. A. R., in Washington. In the September, 1921, is an article
by T. T. Belote on The War Medals of the American Revolution.
In the Proceedings of the Fifty-Sixth Convocation of the Univer-
sity of the State of New York, held in 1920 is printed an address
by George A. Plimpton on Education in New York State During
the Dutch Period.
In the Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine for October,
1921, is an article by Clarence R. Thayer on George Croghan and
the Struggle for the Ohio Valley. Croghan was the deputy of
NOTES AND QUERIES 67
Sir William Johnson of New York. In the same number is con-
tinued the Account Book of Casper Reel who furnished Croghan
with some of his supplies and did work for him.
Captain John Deserontyou and the Mohawk Settlement at Deser-
onto, by M. Eleanor Herrington is the title of an interesting
pamphlet published by the Department of History of Queen's
University, Kingston, Ontario. It contains much information
about Colonel Guy Johnson and Sir John Johnson, drawn from
the Canadian Archives at Ottawa.
The Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society, for the years
1919-1920, contains the account of "A Journey Through Vermont
and New York," in 1800, probably written by John Russell
Davis.
In the January, February, March 1921 number of the Journal
of American History, are illustrations of the Landing of the First
Dutch Minister; Governor Bellomont Reviewing Troops; Early
Broad Street; Statue of Lincoln in Union Square. The article
on the history of banks in New York by Bayles and Allaben is
continued from earlier numbers. Mrs. Mary L. D. Ferris, has a
poem entitled, "A True Colonial Dame."
In April, May, June, 1921 number of the Journal of American
History, are various illustrations on the early history of New
York State: Crown Point Monument; Infant School in New
York City, 1825; Hudson's Arrival: Old prints of New Amster-
dam, and New York City, 1650, 1706; Purchase of Manhattan
Island; New Amsterdam Dock; Vander Donck map of New
Netherlands; Early Dutch Dwellings in New York; Plan of
New York in 1707; Bill of Credit of 1771; Merchant's Exchange;
Sky Line of New York 200 years ago; Broad Street Below Wall,
in Colonial Days. The article on the history of banking in New
York City, by Bayles and Allaben is continued.
In the July, August, September, 1921 number of The Journal
of American History, are a series of interesting illustrations of
early New York history: A map of Yonkers, 1847; Interior of a
school in New York City; Broadside of George III proclaiming
the colonies to be in a state of rebellion; Old swords and cannon
balls of the war of 1812; Entry of the American troops in
New York City in 1783; New York City in 1776; First capitol
of the United States in New York City; Tablet on the Bank
68 NOTES AND QUERIES
of New York; Coffee House Slip; First page of the
first issue of the Commercial Advertiser; Plan of New York
when the first bank was established; Promissory note of 1790.
There is also an article on the First Bank of New York.
In the Pitkin Papers, I/'66-i76q, published as volimie XIX of
the Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society, there is much
material relating to New York such as a letter from Phineas
Lyman written shortly after the battle of Lake George, from James
Montresor and others. See the index under various personal
names of New Yorkers, names of places and subjects.
In the Annals of Iowa, for July 1921, is a picture of a bronze
tablet erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution to
mark the Mormon trails through Iowa. In the necrology are
to be noted among the Iowa pioneers several who were born in
New York State; Charles Leach Watrous, Wihiam Fiske Cleve-
land, Ezra Willard, Herbert K. Skinner.
Schoharie County in the Revolution, is the title of a pamphlet
containing an address delivered by Judge Dow Beekman at the
meeting of the Captain Christian Brown Chapter of the Daughters
of the American Revolution, on September 10, 1920, at Cobleskill,
New York.
Stuyvesant Fish has published privately a pamphlet con-
taining the addresses delivered at Continental Village, Putnam
County, New York, under the title of the Unveiling of the Memorial
to the Mothers of the Revolution, October, p, iq2I.
In the International Molders Union of North America, by
Frank T. Stockton, (Johns Hopkins University Studies, 1921)
considerable space is given to the part played by members from
New York State.
In the Public Record Office (London), C. O. 1142, is the fifth
known manuscript copy of the Duke's Laws. There are other
copies in the town clerks' offices of the towns of Easthampton,
Huntington, and North Hempstead on Long Island, and one in
the State Library at Albany.
Volimie 5 of the Nieuw Nederlandsch Bio grafts ch Woordenboek,
the new Dutch Biographical dictionary edited by P. C. Molhuysen,
P. J. Blok and L. Knappert, which was issued at Leiden in 1921,
contains a sketch by Dr. A. Eekhof of Isaack de Rasiere, secre-
tary of New Netherland under Peter Minuit, which among other
NOTES AND QUERIES 69
information brings out the new facts that de Rasi^re was baptized
at Middelburg on October 15, 1595; that he had a son Lourens
baptized in Brazil in 1636; that he owned three sugar mills in
Brazil, named "Den Amstel," "Middelburgh," and "La Rasi^re;"
and that on September 3, 1654, he acknowledged at Rotterdam,
before Notary Vitus Mustehus, that he had received one-seventh
part of the estate of his wife's parents.
On September 24, 1921, the Herkimer Historical Society held
its meeting and voted to ask for bids for the publication of another
volume of its proceedings. Charles L. Fellows read a paper on
"The History of the Yale Lock."
In the October 8, 1921, issue of the Utica Press is an article on
Newport the Home of the First Yale Locks.
Before the November meeting of the D. A. R., at Schoharie,
Lyman Hoknes read a paper on the "Captors of Andr6," which
was published in the Middlehurgh News.
In the F airport Mail for October 13, 1921, is an article on The
Fairport Historical Club's Activities of Thirty-seven years.
The Lewis H. Morgan Chapter of the New York State Archae-
ological Association has just pubHshed a booklet by Dr. William
M. Beauchamp entitled: The Founders of the New York Iroquois
League and Its Probable Date.
The Hendrick Hudson Chapter of the D. A. R. announces the
accession to its collection of the Diary of John Dayton, 1802; a
copy of the Columbia Republican for 1829; and many other
early documents of historic value.
The Rochester Historical Society at its meeting on December
12, 1921, appointed a committee on publications to the end that
more work should be done along such lines.
The Cattaraugus Times for September 20, 1921, reproduces a
thesis written in the summer session of the Buffalo Normal
School, 1921, by Mrs. C. B. Ford, entitled: History of the Develop-
ment of Public Schools in New York State.
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle ior September 4, 1921, has
an article on Great Sodus Bay entitled: History and Romance.
The De Ruyter Gleaner under the title of Some Local History
in its issue of September 22, 1921, narrates the story of Washing-
ton's visit to the Mohawk forts in 1783.
In the Syracuse Post-Standard for September 30, 1921, Dr.
W. M. Beauchamp has a communication on Historical Societies.
70 NOTES AND QUERIES
The Rensselaer County Standard for October 7, 1921. carries the
address of James A. Beckett on the Bennington Battleground
which is also to appear in the Quarterly Journal.
The Corfu Enterprise for October 13, 1921, carries an article
entitled: D. Clinton Original Canal Booster.
The Citizen Sentinel of Ossining in its issue of October 19, 1921,
has an article by Charles B. Palmer the local historian on the
Old Albany Post Road. The subject is to be continued in subse-
quent issues.
The Herkimer Citizen of October 26, 1921, carries Miss Amelia
Day Campbell's article on Women of the Revolution which is also
to appear in the Quarterly Journal.
The Mohawk Turnpike Book is in preparation by the Mohawk
Valley Historic Association. It will contain 110 views of the
entire valley from Schenectady to Rome.
The Bulletin to Schools of the University of the State of New
York and the State Education Department beginning with its
issue of November 1, 1921, is carrying a series of articles under
the title of Governors of New York prepared by Dr. James Sullivan,
the State Historian.
In the Uiica Observer for September 20, 1921, is an article on
the History of St. Pauls Church at Holland Patent.
The Genealogy of the Whittemore Family by D. S. Zimmer
traces the history of a family of Endicott which became promi-
nently identified with the town of Union in New York State.
In the Catskill Enterprise for October 13, 1921, is an article on
the Old Slaughter Houses at Catskill Point as depicted by Thomas
Cole, the early American artist of Hudson river scenery.
The Troy Record for November 23, 1921, has an article on
Historic Shrines in Rensselaer County.
museums, historic monuments and remains
There has been presented to the New York Historical Society,
a large collection of Dutch household utensils gathered by Dr.
George W. Nash of Ulster County.
The famous Glen Island Museum (on Glen Island in Long
Island Sound) of historical relics collected by John H. Starin
was sold at auction diuing the week of October 17, 1921. The
sale was conducted by Elliot A. Haaseman at 254 West 47th Street,
NOTES AND QUERIES 71
New York. Among interesting items relating to New York
State was an old fence rail from Montgomery County; a plough
made in 1769 in the town of Palatine for Henry Klock by Matthew
Thumb, who fell in the battle of Oriskany; two carved wood
capitals of pilasters removed from the house of Louis Philippe who
was an exile in Muller Hill, Madison County, N. Y. ; a piece cut
from the baronial mansion of Sir William Johnson; a pair of
hand shackles found at Fort Ticonderoga; a brick from the Old
Fraunces Tavern ; a brick from the Old Washington Hotel located
at Broadway and the Battery, New York City (explanatory-
letter attached); many lots of New York newspapers; a map of
Starin on Glen Island.
The De Lancy Cole Camp of the Sons of Veterans has re-
cently purchased the Fuller property in Peekskill which is to be
converted into a Public Historical Building and Museum.
At the annual meeting of the Historical Society of Saratoga
held on September 19, 1921, the former officers were reelected.
It was reported that over 8,000 visited the Society's collection in
the Casino. An admission fee of 5 cents is now charged and
brings in enough revenue to pay the attendant.
The Flushing Historical Society at its meeting on October 31,
1921, decided to place its fine collection of museum material on
exhibition during Saturdays in the month of December.
The Tioga Historical Society announces many new gifts to its
collection. Among others may be mentioned the annual cata-
logues of the old Owego Academy from 1849 to 1852 and a news-
paper entitled "The Students' Of ering'' published by the students
of the academy in 1853.
On November 17, 1921, the Fort Stanwix Chapter of the D. A. R.,
visited the site of Fort Bull near which at the side of the New
London road they have caused a marker to be erected. It bears
the inscription: "Two hundred and fifty paces from here is the
site of Fort Bull, the scene of fierce struggles during the early
Indian Wars, 20 years before the Revolution." There is a fine
boulder monument on the site of the Fort itself. Dr. W. M.
Stryker and W. Pierpont White spoke on the history of Fort
Bull.
The Madison County Historical Society announces the acces-
sion of many new gifts.
72 NOTES AND QUERIES
At the monthly meeting of the Oneida Historical Society on
December 12, 1921, the Committee on Monttments announced
the repairs it was having made to the Steuben and Oriskany
monuments.
While examining the early records of the St. Regis Indians,
Michael Solomon recently found a lease 126 years old. The
document is in a good state of preservation, is in the handwriting
of William Geray and conveys the use of certain lands near the
present business center of the village to Antoine Andre. Andre
erected, according to local tradition, a dwelling and blacksmith
shop. The discovery of this lease establishes the fact that the
first settlement in Franklin County was at Hogansburg, and not
in Fort Covington as erroneously stated in several local histories.
A Hessian soldier's belt buckle has been found by historical
workers excavating the site of the Revolutionary war prison
camp on the old Dyckman farm, near 203d Street, New York
City. The buckle, of bronze, is in a perfect state of preservation
and officials of the field exploration committee of the New York
Historical Society, say it is one of the few Revolutionary relics of
undoubted Hessian origin. The buckle has been identified as
part of the equipment of the Fuerst Frederick or Erb Prinz Reg-
iment of Hesse, mercenaries brought over by the British to fight
Washington's continentals. On the front of the buckle is en-
graved the monogram "F. F.", surmounted by a crown. The
original hook or belt holder is on the back.
The Fuerst Frederick regiment, originally 688 strong, took
part in many engagements in the Revolution. It participated in
the battle of Long Island, and was assigned to the left wing of
Earl Percy's force at the battle of Fort Washington. Later the
regiment was sent south and eventually was captured at York-
town. Upon the declaration of peace the survivors were return-
ed to New York to await transportation home and during this
period they were quartered in the hut cantonment on the
Dyckman farm.
In the Hudson Register for September 15, 1921, is a statement
with reference to the accuracy of the bronze tablet recently
placed on the old court house at Claverack. There seems to be
some question as to whether the implication that Hamilton was
actually present at the Crosswell trial is correct.
NOTES AND QUERIES 73
Preston's Mill, a landmark at Maxwell a village near Sodus,
erected before the War of 1812, is being torn down.
Nine cannon balls weighing eight pounds each were unearthed
last week on the Glens Falls-Lake George highway by workmen
engaged in digging a post hole to erect a sign board. The relics
were found at a depth of about 20 inches. The workmen found
five balls and then refilled the hole, deciding to make their ex-
cavation in another spot. Melvin J. Ball, a Glens Falls collector
who possesses a large number of relics hearing of the discovery,
went to the scene and disinterred four more cannon balls from the
same hole. These cannon balls may have been left by Baron
Dieskau on his expedition to meet Sir William Johnson at Lake
George in 1755. This expedition resulted in the battle of Bloody
Morning Scout in which Colonel Ephraim_ Williams, founder of
Williams College, fell.
A tablet in memory of the Mothers of the Revolution, erected
by Stuyvesant Fish on his farm, at Continental Village, was
unveiled October 9, 1921. The dedicatory address was
by the State Historian, James Sullivan. The Sixth Artillery
Band of Peekskill furnished music for patriotic singing. The
tablet is of bronze, cast by the Gorham Company of New York.
It was affixed to a piece of native granite, standing over nine
feet high and weighing more than fifteen tons. The inscription
reads :
"Continental Village 1776-1783.
A Mihtary Post and Depot of Supplies. Burned by the British
October 9, 1777.
In Memory of The Mothers of the Revolution who watched
and prayed while our fathers fought that we might be free.
They also serve who only stand and wait."
The monument, a fifteen-ton granite boulder, was presented by
Stuyvesant Fish. Mr. Fish's grandsons, Peter Stuyvesant Fish
and Nicholas Fish, clad in buff and blue imitations of the Con-
tinental Army uniforms, unveiled the monimient in the presence
of a large assemblage, made up of townspeople and representatives
of patriotic societies. Continental Village lies in Canopus Hol-
low, Putnam County, four miles north of Peekskill, at the fifty-
second milestone on the Old Albany Post Road. Inquiry has
74 NOTES AND QUERIES
failed to discover an3rwhere in the United States a memorial to
the wom^en of the Revolution collectively, although there are
monuments to individual women of that period.
The Huntington Historical Society in October 1921, began the
nineteenth year of its existence. Several new gifts to the Society's
Museum have been announced.
The New York Historical Society in October gave an exhibition
of the drawings by Charles M. Lefferts which show the uniforms
in use during the Revolution by Am.erican, British, French and
Hessian troops.
On October 16, 1921, was held the celebration of the 200th
anniversary of the founding of the Reformed Church at Schoharie.
The second edifice which was erected, now known as the Old
Stone Fort was built in 1772.
Maple Hill, centiiry-old Geneva residence, was recently sold.
When, in June, 1825, Gen. Lafayette, of Revolutionary renown,
visited Geneva it was in Maple Hill that the great French bene-
factor was entertained. What is believed to be the largest tree
in the state, measuring twenty -four feet in circumference, was
named after Lafayette to memorialize his visit. The old residence
typifies the stately mansions of the early nineteenth century and
ranks in history with the Schuyler mansion of Albany, and other
historic residences of that period.
The bill introduced in Congress by Senator William M. Calder,
for a survey of the Saratoga Battlefield looking to its eventual
acquisition by the Federal Government has met with very favor-
able comment by the press.
The discovery in Broome County in the town of Vestal of an
inscription in stone which seemingly records the death of one
"William Plat Died November 4th, 1721," has raised the question
as to whether it is a hoax perpetrated by some joker or an authen-
tic record. On a superficial examination it would seem to be the
fonner, but a chance explorer may have got to that region as
early as 1721.
State Archaeologist Arthur C. Parker, has been investigating a
great Indian flint mine in the neighborhood of Coxsackie.
During the autumn of 1921, the low water in Lake Champlain
made it possible for visitors to Fort Ticonderoga to see the sunken
hulls of the warships Enterprise and Trumbull, which were sunk
NOTES AND QUERIES 75
at the time of Colonel Brown's attempt to capture the fort from
the British in 1777.
The historic stone house on West Broadway at Cape Vincent,
on the river front, is being remodeled in its interior.
The stone house was built in 1815 by Vincent Le Ray, who
occupied it several years. In 1837 it was purchased by the
Peugnet brothers, who were distinguished officers in Napoleon's
army, who left France after the downfall of the emperor. For
many years it was the stimmer home of Mrs. Fort, of New York
City, a daughter of Hyacinth Peugnet.
It is probably the oldest and certainly one of the m.ost interesting
houses of stone in Jefferson County. It has a beautiful river
front and stately trees surround the mansion. It was the first
house in the village built of stone, boated from Carleton Island,
and the name "stone house" has clung to it ever since.
While cleaning up and removing furnishings from the old Bowne
residence in Gouvemeur recently, which was recently sold, among
a pile of old papers sent to the rubbish was a copy of the Franklin
Telegraph, the first newspaper ever published in Malone, of date
April 2nd, 1829. Colonial money dated as far back as 1775 was
also found in $2, $3, $5, $8, $10 and $30 denominations. The
bills were of heavy paper printed in black ink and were payable
in gold or silver Spanish dollars. There was a $10 bill issued
by the Colony of New York of that date and a ten-pound note of
date 1758; also a two pence note issued by the city of New York
in 1790. The Bowne family settled in Gouverneur in 1814 and
brought m.any of the relics found there with them.
The collections of battle flags in the capitol at Albany are in
many cases in such a poor state of preservation, that the Legis-
lature is to be asked for an appropriation to restore them.
The Rochester Historical Society announces that it has re-
ceived a photograph of the house of Colonel Rochester (founder
of the city), which used to stand on Spring Street. It is the
intention of the Society to put up a marker at the site.
WORLD WAR MEMORIALS AND COLLECTIONS
Mr. Robert B. Lockhart of 32 South Washington Street,
Rochester, New York, is seeking information about all New
76 NOTES AND QUERIES
York men who entered the service of the armies and navies of the
alHes of the United States, during the World War.
The plans and elevation of the National Victory Memorial
Building to be erected in Washington in honor of the World War
Veterans, have been published in the newspapers.
The Oneonta Post of the American Legion has appointed a
committee to assist in compiling the story of Oneonta's part in
the World War.
The City of New Rochelle has projected a most beautiful
memorial to the men from that city that took part in the World
War.
The village of Clifton Park in Saratoga County, has erected a
memorial to its men who served in the World War.
The State of Massachusetts has had models made of a me-
morial which it purposes to erect at St. Mihiel, France, in honor of
its men who fell in the taking of that salient. In this as in past
records of wars this state shows itself more progressive than the
others. That is why she gets the credit.
The Oneida Historical Society (Utica), had its regular meeting
on October 10, 1921. Several gifts were announced among them
being the records of the memorial Com.mittee of the World War,
and a scrap book of the same committee, November 13, 1918 to
August 6, 1920.
The History of the A. E. F. By Shipley Thomas. (New
York 1920), covers the part played by the New York divisions in
the World War.
The Monroe County Board of Supervisors granted permission
to the Bar Association to erect a tablet in the Court House in
honor of the lawyers and law clerks who served in the World
War. It was unveiled November 11, 1920.
How America Went to War, by Benedict Crowell and Robert
F. Wilson, is being published by the Yale University Press in
six volumes.
The Biu-eau of Labor Statistics at Washington has published a
History oj the Shipbuilding Labor Adjustment Board by W. E.
Hotchkiss and H. R. Seager. It appears as Bulletin No. 283.
The Plattsburg Movement: A Chapter of America's Participation
in the World War, by Ralph B. Perry has been published by
Button.
^.
<<*
The
Quarterly Journal
of the
New York State Historical
Association
-t;
Volume III April 1922 Number 2
Entered as second class maU matter October 22. 1919. at the Post Office at Albany New York
under the Act of August 24. 1912.
4^
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Quarterly Journal
Editorial Coitunittee
JAMES SULLIVAN, Managing Editor
DIXON R. FOX FREDERICK B. RICHARDS
CONTENTS
CONSERVATION IN NEW YORK STATE - C. R. Pettis 77
THE PULTENEY PURCHASE - - - - Paul D. Evans 83
SURROGATES' COURTS AND RECORDS IN THE COLONY
AND STATE OF NEW YORK 1664-1847
- - _____ Royden Woodward Vosburgh 105
REVIEWS OF BOOKS 117
Hurlbut, The Story of Chautauqua; Miner, The Ratification of
the Federal Constitution by the State of New York; Naber,
Henry Hudson's Reize, etc. 1609; Brown, Base Hospital No. g
A. E. F.; Sutliffe, The Seventy-first New York in the World
War; Harrington, Yonkers in the World War.
NOTES AND QUERIES 123
*3ubBcription Price $1.50 Single Numbers 40 cenis
Address all contributions and communications to
New York State Historical Association, Albany.
THE BRONZE INDIAN AT LAKE GEORGE
BATTLEGROUND
(Donated to the Association bv George D.
Pratt)
VOL. III. APRIL 1922 NO. 2,
1 he (Quarterly J ournal
of the New York State Historical Association
CONSERVATION IN NEW YORK STATE^
Conservation has for its purpose keeping the resources of the
world in sufficient abundance, so that man may have a happy,
fruitful life, free from suffering— a relatively easy physical ex-
istence. It is the aim of conservation to reduce the intensity of
struggle for existence, to make the situation more favorable, to
reduce mere subsistence to a subordinate place and thus give an
opportunity for development to a higher intellectual and spiritual
level. The conservation movement in general took form through
the efforts which have been made for more conservative use of our
natural resources, and today has a far broader meaning and is
applied to a vast number of our activities.
The conservation movement in New York cannot be appreciated
without a realization of the history of what has happened in the
past. In the brief time which is allotted, it is impossible to dis-
cuss all of the numerous phases of conservation in this State;
therefore, I have taken the liberty of confining my talk to the
forests, because we can observe typical conditions and one from
which the same lessons can be drawn. Conservation has passed
through periods similar to that which we have in the history of the
State. There is the period of discovery, exploitation, settlement,
industry, and finally the beginning of true conservation.
John Verrazzano, Hendrick Hudson and Samuel Champlain
made their famous discoveries and sailed away without leaving
any new occupancy in this newly foimd territory. The first
record of settlement by white men was the building of houses on
Manhattan Island in 1614. These houses were built of wood from
the surroimding forest, and only nine years later, in 1623, there
were three sawmills in operation, which had been built by the
lAn address delivered at the Lake George meeting of the New York State
Historical Association, October 3, 1921.
78 C. R. PETTIS
Dutch West India Company at New Amsterdam. Their erection
marks the beginning of the exploitation of the forests of the
Empire State. The habits of the old world were brought by the
settlers to the new. Sawmills were common in Holland, but
they were unused in England, because the laboring class opposed
labor-saving machinery and had destroyed many mills. England
had no sawmills imtil after 1768, while the early Dutch Colony at
New Amsterdam had a mill nearly 150 years previous. The
Earl of Bellomont, writing to the Lords of Trade of England on
January 2, 1701, said: "They have got about forty sawmills in the
Province of New York, which I hear rids more wood or destroys
more timber than all of the mills in New Hampshire. Four saws
are the most in New Hampshire that work in one mill. Here is a
Dutchman lately come over who is an extraordinary artist at these
mills. He has made a mill that has twelve saws." As early as
1700 Governor Bellomont recommended that each person who
removed a tree should pay for planting five or six young trees, and
that no trees should be cut which were marked for the use of the
navy. Sir William Johnson, as early as 1770, spoke of the de-
struction of the forest, and said that in one case nearly 4,000 logs
were cut in the woods near Saratoga, which were lying rotting in
the woods because they were unable to remove them. The first
steps in conservation were taken in order to insure for the future the
sizes and kinds of timbey required by the King for his navy. In
1770 Adolphus Benzel of Sweden was appointed inspector of his
Majesty's Woods and forest in the vicinity of Lake Champlain at
a salary of £300 per annum. He resided at Crown Point.
As settlements increased, there was a recurrence of events the
same as at New Amsterdam. Andries Corstiaensen with two
sawyers came to Fort Orange from Holland in 1630. The same
year two sawyers settled at Rensselaenv^'^ck. In 1636 Barent
Koeymans joined the colony and in the fall of 1645 took charge
of the Patroon's miUs. Within two years this mill cut over 4,000
boards. In 1673 Koejnnans built a mill about twelve miles below
Albany, probably at the site of the present Village of Coeymans.
An analysis of the settlement of New York State shows that saw-
mills were erected within four to fifteen years of the time of the
first settlements in each locality. It is difficult to find exact
records showing when the first steam sawmill was built in this
CONSERVA TION IN NEW YORK ST A TE 79
State. A sawmill driven by steam power was built as early as
1830 in the town of Newark Valley, Tioga county, by Chester
Patterson and Jonathan Day, which employed 30 men.
New York was not only a forest State, but it was essentially a
white pine State. This valuable species predominated through-
out the entire area. The history of the State is replete with
various facts in this connection. The forests of the Adirondack
and Catskill plateau abound in spruce, while hardwood, or broad
leafed trees, are present generally mixed more or less abundantly
with evergreens throughout the State. This vast forest wealth
made colonization and settlement possible. Next to the fur
trade, limiber was the great article of export of the colonies. As
early as 1626, the colonies had shipped lumber to Holland. The
white pine, which was cut in the Champlain Valley, except that
from the southern part of the lake, was transported to Quebec
and exported to England, while that from the south end came to
Skenesborough (Whitehall) and was transported seventy miles in
winter on sledges to Albany and then down the Hudson River
through the port of New York to Europe, West Indies and the
Southern colonies. Naturally these became centers of industry.
Albany was such eighty years ago, and at one time surpassed all
other points in the amount of lumber handled and volimie of
business. In 1872 there were forty-three wholesale firms, whose
yards were grouped in the Albany lumber district and these
handled a product then valued at $15,000,000 per year. Over
1,500 men were employed. Today the lumber yard has passed
into history and the area has been largely given over to other in-
dustries.
Tonawanda later became a center and its business rapidly in-
creased from 1865 tmtil 1890. Oswego has also been an im-
portant distributing point. The upper Hudson has been a source
of supply for nearly a century. Log driving there began about
1813. Glens Falls has been the center of a district where the logs
from this part of the Adirondacks were manufactured. The logs
were floated from near the place of cutting to the mill. In 1849
the Hudson River Boom Association was organized to handle the
holding and sorting of logs belonging to various operators. - The
books of this company give an indication of the volimie of ma-
terial which this area has supplied. In 1851 there was "boomed"
80 C. R. PETTIS
26^ million feet; the following year 69 million feet; and this
increased to its peak in 1872 when there were 214 million feet;
but it has since declined until in 1900 only 56^ million feet were
received. Even the City of New York, owing to its export trade,
is still the center of an immense limiber trade. In 1900, the total
receipts of lumber aggregated nearly one-half billion feet.
As we travel through the State we notice only the remains of the
mills, which have played their part in marketing this great forest
crop. Centers of industry have been changed to the Great
Lakes States and to the South, and a very short time ago to the
Pacific coast. The great mass of hemlock forest was cut off in
our State and usually only the bark was utilized while all the logs
were left in the woods to decay. In 1865, according to the census,
there were 820 tanneries in the State and today there are com-
paratively few. It is estimated that six million feet of hemlock
were cut each year and that all of these logs being peeled were
left in the woods to decay. A new use of wood, which is paper,
came into being and this has greatly increased the demand upon
the forest.
Some of our far-seeing statesmen have appreciated this situa-
tion, and as long ago as 1822 Governor DeWitt Clinton in his
message called attention to the need of preserving timber supplies.
In 1872 a law was passed creating a State Park Commission and
this was instructed to make inquiries with reference to preserving
and appropriating wild land lying north of the Mohawk with a
view to creating a State Park. This Commission foimd the State
then owned only 40,000 acres in that section. There was a ten-
dency on the part of the owners to form a combination for the
enhancement of value. For these reasons no purchases were
made. They recommended, however, that a law forbidding the
further sale of State owned lands be passed and that lands which
the State acquired through non-payment of taxes be retained by
the State. It was eleven years later, in 1883, that this recommen-
dation became a law, and the State then became possessed of
substantially 600,000 acres of land in the Adirondack and Catskill
sections.
The next question arose as to its management, and in 1884 the
Comptroller was authorized to employ experts to make a report
on a system of forest preservation. The result of their efforts
CONSERVA TION IN NEW YORK ST A TE 81
was the establishment of a Forest Commission in 1885. This was
given the care and control of this property and was authority in
the matter of forest fire protection. The new Commission found
itself technically charged with the protection of a vast area of land
of which little was known even as to its location. These men
worked diligently, endeavoring to locate the land and protect it
from trespass and fire, but they were physically imable to meet the
situation. The result was continued trespass upon the State
property. The Constitutional Convention in 1894 adopted a
very drastic provision in regard to the control of the State forest
lands. In brief, it provided that the lands constituting the
Forest Preserve should not be leased, sold, exchanged or taken by
any person or corporation, nor should the timber thereon be cut,
sold or destroyed.
The State Forest Preserve has been increased through pur-
chases. Prior to 1909, $4,075,000 were appropriated for this
piupose. By these fimds 478,000 acres of land were bought in
the Adirondacks and nearly 52,000 acres in the Catskills. Since
that time $5,000,000 additional have been made available for the
acquisition of forest land, and today the State Forest Preserve
contains 1,936,492 acres. The central portions of the Adirondack
and Catskill regions have been by law designated as "Adirondack
and Catskill Park," respectively, and in these areas the State is
actively engaged in acquiring additional forest land.
A system of forest fire protection was begun in 1885, but in
1909 it was elaborated, extended and improved, and by means of
a paid force of rangers the forest section is now patrolled and
policed. The setting of fires is regulated and certain provisions of
the law in regard to disposal of slash are enforced. Camp sites
are provided where fires can be set in safe places and telephone
lines have been extended to the top of fifty-two mountains where,
in most cases, steel towers have been erected, and observers are
employed and kept in these observation lookouts during the entire
fire season. From these the watchers can, by turning on their
heel, scan the horizon and observe any smokes from fires, which
are within their vision, by means of field glasses. By the use of
the telephone they can quickly notify the rangers or other mem-
bers of the forest fire organization and these dispatch a force to the
fire and make it possible to extinguish these fires while they are
82 C. R. PETTIS
still in their incipient stage and before they have caused the usual
destruction and damage.
In 1902, the first State Forest Nursery was established at
Saranac Inn. This nursery has been increased in size, and other
nurseries at Saratoga, Salamanca and Central Islip established.
Here millions of trees are being grown from seed. These trees
are sold to private owners for reforesting purposes at cost of pro-
duction and are used to plant unproductive land owned by the
state.
The forest fire protective system two years ago was extended to
cover the forests on Long Island, and during the past season has
been further increased to cover the remaining forest sections of the
State in eastern, southeastern and southwestern New York.
As we scan the history of the State we pass from a period of
primeval forest, the playground of various Indian tribes, and in
less than four centuries we come down to the period of our own
civilization. The intensity of industry is causing us to feel the
pinch caused by the scarcity of our forest supplies. The time has
come when we must halt and take an inventory of our resources,
and this will show us that we are today in this state using about
fifteen times as much timber as we are producing. We have
millions of acres of land in this State which are lying idle
and are best adapted to forest production. If given proper fire
protection and planted with suitable trees, it will produce our
necessary wood materials.
We cannot longer go blindly ahead and expect Nature to supply
the need without help. Every one must do his part in helping to
obtain the wise use of the remaining natural resources and plan
for future production of such resources as are renewable.
C. R. Pettis
THE PULTENEY PURCHASE^
One of the ntimerous disputes over state boundaries which
troubled the relations of the newly independent colonies broke
out between Massachusetts and New York soon after the Revolu-
tion. Though conviction was firm enough on both sides, feeling
happily did not run high in the matter. It was agreed that a
settlement of the difficulty should be sought in a meeting of repre-
sentatives of both states. Thus at the end of the year 1786 a
compromise was arrived at. To New York was assigned the
jurisdiction over the disputed territory and to Massachusetts was
given the ownership of the land. The restdt was the transference
to the latter state of the title to practically all of the land in the
present State of New York west of a line running due north and
south through Seneca Lake.
Grieved as were some of the proud citizens of Massachusetts to
lose the political control over such a large body of rich land, the
great majority of the leaders in the State were highly pleased by
the award. The finances of the commonwealth were badly out of
joint; an immediate cash sale of the New York lands would
considerably relieve those financial difficulties. Willing buyers
were almost at once found in an association headed by Oliver
Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham. These associates, though quite
unable to pay cash for the vast tract of six million acres which
already was known as the Genesee Country, were confident that
before the successive installments should become due and payable
to the state treasury they would be able to sell enough of their
holdings to make the payment possible. In the spring of 1788
the sale was consummated. By it the State transferred to Phelps
and Gorham and their associates its right of preemption to the
entire Genesee Country. The associates set out at once to secure
from the Indians their title to the Genesee and before the end of the
lAn address delivered at the Lake George meeting of the New York State
Historical Association, October 4, 1921.
83
84 PA UL D. EVANS
year had managed to obtain from them the cession of somewhat
over two million acres, this being the eastern third of the tract. ^
Sales in the lands thus freed from the Indian title were begun at
once and continued with much success until the simimer of 1790
when the residue with the exception of two tracts reserved was
sold to Robert Morris. This residue comprised about 1,300,000
acres, of which the larger part was located in the southern portion
of the original purchase in what is now Steuben County. Morris's
agents were already in Europe looking for wealthy investors in
some of his innumerable enterprises. One of them, WiUiam
Temple Franklin, now succeeded in interesting a group of English
capitalists in land speculation on the Genesee. The resvilt was the
sale of the whole tract just acquired by Morris to Sir William
Pulteney, John Hornby and Patrick Colquhoun. This group
was variously known as the English Company, the Pulteney
Association and the London Assodates. Indeed at a later period
after the death of Sir William Pulteney the lands which they had
purchased were often though eironeously referred to as the Pul-
teney Estate, this term being properly appHed only to the lands
apportioned to Pulteney in 1801.
We do not know just what were the plans of these English
capitalists when they determined to invest part of their fortunes
in the wilds of America. Like other land speculators of the day,
whether rich or poor, beginning their business on a shoestring or
backed by thousands of pounds of capital, they may have ex-
pected to hold their lands but a short time until the rise of prices
should have made the speculation a profitable one, and then to
sell out at wholesale as they had purchased. They may on the
other hand have counted on reselling rapidly at retail. At most
their vision of such sales could hardly have contemplated a system
which woiild work more slowly than that of Phelps and Gorham.
Those gentlemen had been able to dispose of most of their lands
before Morris's large purchase by sales in blocks of half or whole
townships. Such a system obviated the necessity of the burden-
some detail inseparable from sales in smaller lots and freed the
proprietor, if he wished, from much of the expense involved in
development schemes. It is probable that the English proprietors
THE PULTENEY PURCHASE 85
considered theirs a short term investtnent which could in case of
need be realized upon at almost any date.
It should be noted however that there was a fundamental differ-
ence between these proprietors and a large proportion of the men
in America who at the time were speculating in lands. Many of
the Americans were buying lands with barely sufficient money to
make even initial cash payments for them. Their purchases
contemplated as small an amount as possible for the first payment
and the rest in installments as far distant as could be arranged.
The speculator counted upon sufficiently good fortune to permit
him to find a purchaser at a profit before any of the later install-
ments should fall due. Such speculators, far from having the
means for the development of their purchases, could with difficulty
hold them long enough to make advantageous resales. The
English Company on the other hand not only paid cash for its
lands but expected to invest further sums in them in order to
facihtate their resale to responsible and solid purchasers. Quite
unconscious of the extent to which such expenditures would
involve them the English proprietois were about to embark on a
project which would have bankrupted any other land company
in America except that group of Dutch capitalists who were just
then buying up the lands in the extreme western part of the State.
An agent of course was necessary on the lands and as their
representative they selected Charles Williamson, an energetic,
optimistic gentleman who was possessed of unbounded confidence
in the future prosperity of the country to which he was being sent.
He was a man whose hopes and dreams shaped his actions as
often as did his reason. His judgment was not over sound nor
his understanding of his situation altogether clear. Too often he
was prone to forget that he was coming to America to make
profits on a business investment rather than to develop the Genesee
into the fairyland of the western world. When he stopped to
consider the strictly business side of his operations, he found it not
at all difficult to convince himself of the identity of his principals'
interests and the development schemes in which he was so fertile.
Williamson reached America in the latter part of the year 1791.
Every influence which touched him thereafter gave an added
impetus to the glowing enthusiasm which possessed him; every
86 PAUL D.EVANS
bit of counsel which reached him gave new support to the wisdom
of the schemes he was contemplating. Never had the fever of
land speculation run higher in America than in the winter of
1791-92. Never had the public been more convinced of the rich
profits awaiting the man who had courage and money enough to
play the land game as they thought it should be played, as William-
son wanted to play it. No one in America had greater confidence
in these rosy prospects than that same Morris who had sold the
lands to Williamson's principals. To him the agent went for
advice and, according to Morris himself, it was he who shaped
Williamson's early plans.^ Added to this was the stimiilation of
the example offered to all landholders by Judge Cooper of Coopers-
town. His development schemes were being talked of far and
wide at the time and undoubtedly they gave encouragement to the
newly arrived agent.
A detailed account of Williamson's activities during his decade
of management in the Genesee is not possible here. Long and
interesting accounts can be found in the local histories. The
general lines of his policy alone can be taken up in this paper.
Williamson was firmly convinced that the financial interests
of his principals as well as the material advantages of his settlement
required a large amount of direct and positive encouragement on
the part of the agent to the early settlers. This might cost a
great deal but it was the only way by which the country could be
opened rapidly to cultivation and be quickly filled up, the only
way therefore by which the proprietors could quickly gain that
great increase in the value of unsold lands which was the direct
result of surrounding settlements and which Williamson counted
upon to enrich them. The proprietors must build roads and
improve the navigation of streams in order to facilitate the coming
of settlers and make easy the carrying of their products to market.
"Want of communications is the great draw back on back settle-
ments distant from the rivers which run into the Atlantic,"
Williamson wrote to one of his principals soon after his arrival in
America.^ "Remove this difficulty and there can be no doubt
that the gentlemen of the Association will reap an advantage
fifty times their outlay; and come to their purpose many years
sooner." Towns must be established both to serve as markets to
the country roundabout and to stimulate society among the
THE PULTENEY PURCHASE 87
settlers. Stores must be provided so that the newcomers might
not want for suppHes and provisions. Hotels and inns must be
erected for the accommodation of the land lookers. Saw mills
must be set up to make possible the erection of substantial and
handsome houses and bams, and grist mills for the convenience of
the farmers. Aid must be given here and there to attract de-
sirable artisans and needed professional men. Model farms must
be established to serve as examples to the settlers of the possibilities
of their own holdings. The settlers must be assisted in the pay-
ment of their debts to the Company by the acceptance of pay-
ment in kind, by the loan of expensive appliances such as potash
and maple sugar kettles, and by the erection of distilleries and
potasheries where the settlers's products might be taken. All
this and more Williamson believed should be done by the pro-
prietors in order to give life and activity to their lands. After
a few years of experience he became convinced that as a general
policy for land holders all such improvements should be carried
out during the surveys and before a single settler should be ad-
mitted to the lands. Thus high prices could be charged from the
outset and only the best class of settlers brought on.^ Williamson
realized that if the proprietors should not make these improve-
ments private capital would eventually do so but not soon enough
to serve his ends. The settlement, he reasoned, would be unduly
protracted, a poor type of settlers would alone come on at first,
and the proprietors would have to wait for years to realize their
investment. Better, he believed, by far to invest some thousands
of dollars additional and so reap large and immediate profits.
Williamson's expenditures for the development of communication
were largely determined by his vision of the future trade routes
through the Genesee. He had been in America hardly six months
before he became convinced that the logical outlet for the products
raised upon his agency was by way of the Susquehanna system
southward to Baltimore. From that direction also he expected to
obtain a large share of his settlers. This route appeared to him
much superior to the long and tedious trail which led around the
ends of the lakes to the waters of the Mohawk and thence to the
Hudson and New Yoik. A road would be necessary to open this
line of communication for, though counted upon to be of great use
in the transportation of heavy and bulky produce, the Susque-
88 PAUL D.EVANS
hanna system was not expected to take care of the business which
required rapid movement nor to serve at all seasons of the year.
Williamson therefore, before he had sold an acre of his land, pro-
ceeded to lay out the course of a road which would connect the
outposts of settlement in Pennsylvania, then at the present city
of Williamsport, with his lands on the Genesee. This road ran
northward through Blossburg to Painted Post and then westward
through Hornellsville and Dansville to its terminus at Williams-
burg on the Genesee River.^ The construction work on this road
was done during the fall and winter of 1792.
This was the earliest as well as the largest of Williamson's
road enterprises but it was for him only the beginning of such work.
Not a year went by thereafter without some fresh construction
which would assist new settlers to reach the lands and the old to
get their products to market. The local histories give an im-
pressive list of such enterprises.^ Among the others there were
two famous routes which the agent built in part, one the Niagara
or Ridge Road connecting the Genesee with the Niagara River
in which Williamson joined with Ellicott, the agent of the Holland
Land Company; the other the state road from Fort Schuyler to
Geneva. Williamson was largely responsible for the legislative
act which authorized this latter road. He also made some attempts
to improve the water communication between his lands and the
outside world, especially to the southward. On the whole the
money which he expended to develop communications appears to
have been better laid out than almost any other sums spent for the
improvement of his agency.
Other development enterprises were more costly. Bath, at the
head of navigation to the south, Williamson expected to be the
great metropolis of his section. He laid out the town accordingly
and expended large sums to assist its early growth. If it were to
become the handsome progressive city which he hoped, its be-
ginnings must not be too lowly; it must from the start be an
attractive place for settlers; there must be no waiting for the
comforts and pleasures of old, established communities. He
had erected at once two saw mills in order to assure an abundant
supply of lumber for frame houses and other structures; he
brought with him a force of thirty or forty laborers to hasten the
work of city building. These and others he put to work clearing
THE PULTENEY PURCHASE 89
the site of the town and erecting a large number of buildings
which he considered indispensable to its progress. A theatre was
erected and at the edge of town a clearing of one hundred acres
made to provide space for a race track. Several dwelling houses
were put up by the agent and other frame buildings that might
serve various purposes. Not far from the town extensive farms
were cleared, large numbers of frame houses and bams erected
on them, and the farms were plentifully stocked with cattle, sheep
and hogs. At Williamsburg on the Genesee a similar project was
worked out on a somewhat smaller scale. At Geneva, already an
established village, a pretentious hotel was erected which compared
favorably in size and equipment with the better hotels of the old
cities on the seaboard. Here too he put up a house and office for a
printer whom he induced to come upon his agency. Northward
at Sodus, which Williamson dreamed of transforming into a great
commercial city through which would flow all the great trade be-
tween the Genesee and Canada, he laid out the plan of a large
town, set up extensive mills, erected a large tavern, built a store-
house and a wharf and, having placed a pleasure boat on the lake,
he connected the whole by a new road with the settled communities
to the southward. This Sodus enterprise, says Turner, cost over
$20,000 during the first two years.'^ At Lyons a series of frame
buildings were erected for the accommodation of the local agent,
for whom also a large farm was cleared, a store house and distillery
were set up, and not far away were established large and finely
equipped mills which, it is said, cost Williamson more than $12,-
000. Dotting the whole of his agency were other mill sites im-
proved at the expense of the proprietors, farms cleared and stocked
and provided with frame houses and bams, and taverns with small
farms attached to them. All this and much more was the product
of Williamson's development schemes during the decade of his
agency. He had been given a free hand and almost unlimited
resources. Now let us see how much his activities had cost the
proprietors.
Unhappily no detailed accounts of the expenditures are now
available. It is necessary to rely upon certain general figures
which have survived through the care of that antiquarian Turner
who embodied such an amount of information in his books for the
reader who has the patience to hunt it out. He was given access
90 PAUL D.EVANS
to most of the agency records in existence in 1850 and, though he
did not make extensive use of them, none the less he did incorporate
something from them in his work on the Phelps and Gorham
Purchase. He tells us that in 1800 the books of the agency showed
a total expenditure, including the original cost of the lands, of
$1,374,470.10.8 There had been received for lands sold but $147,-
974.83. The lands purchased from Morris had cost the EngHsh
Associates £75,000, or at the exchange of that date about $350,000.
Other purchases had been made thereafter but these, or most of
them, had not been paid for in 1800, as Turner adds that in ad-
dition to the expenditure mentioned above the agency owed for
principal and interest on lands purchased over $300,000. It
would appear therefore that the principal invested by Williamson
in his development schemes plus the interest which had accrued
upon it to the year 1800 fell not much short of a million dollars.
This figiu-e is confirmed by a statement of his successor, Troup,
"that the brilliant schemes of Williamson had cost Pulteney more
than £200,000 sterling. "^
Part of this money was excellently laid out no doubt and was
quite essential to the wellbeing of the agency. This is particularly
true of the money spent on roads and most of that put into mills.
Moreover a very large item of expense is not to be laid to the
account of Williamson. That was the great sum which resulted
from the attempt to colonize on the Genesee, German immigrants
fresh from Europe.^" That scheme apparently originated with
Mr. Colquhoun, the managing director in London; Williamson
was in no way to blame for its failiire. The agent of the Holland
Company learned at the time that the expense of bringing these
immigrants from Germany to the Genesee, 210 in all, had amounted
to very nearly $30, 000. ^^ Before he was rid of them they must
have cost Williamson half as much more.
Whatever blame attaches to the other expenditures, however,
Williamson must bear. Most of them were ill timed, many of
them were altogether ill judged, and it seems certain that a large
part of them might better have been left to private initiative.
The taverns were too costly for the condition of the country and
like the model farms they proved very difficult of management
through tenants. The race courses, the theatre, the improve-
ments at Sodus, and most of the private farms proved very ex-
THE PULTENEY PURCHASE 91
pensive without giving any proper return; they seem to have had
no effect at all in stimulating desirable immigration. The taverns,
many of the mills, the potasheries and distilleries would all have
come of themselves as soon as the prospect of their success would
have warranted the investment of private funds. Nor does it
appear that the settlement of the lands would in that case have
been materially retarded. WilHamson's attempt to "hurry
civilization" Was not a success either from the point of view of the
settlement or its proprietors; "hothouse settlements" in the back
woods were very unlikely to succeed. He did win the love of his
settlers but he could not make profits for his principals nor in the
end give any real advantage to his settlement. Eventually indeed,
his policy, generous and well intended as it was, brought real
difficulties upon the settlers of the Pulteney lands. His ex-
penditures had been so great and such a large part of them had
been of such character as give back no returns that actually the
agency was less able when he left it than when he came to pay a
fair return on the money invested. As a result the agents who
followed Williamson were not in a position to offer to the over-
burdened settlers the same measiu^e of relief which they might
have given had they not been engaged in an attempt to get out of
the agency the money which Williamson had sunk in it.
We do not know how much the English proprietors when they
made their piu-chase expected to advance for its development.
Probably however not as much as the piu-chase price of the lands.
They very soon found that amount exceeded and shortly, as the
drafts upon them continued to pour in from America, they be-
came more than a little uneasy. First they remonstrated with
Williamson, then warned him and at last, when no sign appeared
of a cessation of such drafts and their patience was exhausted,
they refused any longer to honor his drafts. This was in the fall
of 1798. Sir William Pulteney, who had invested three-fourths of
the capital of the association, was becoming old and under the
constant drain of funds to America had begun to fear the loss of his
whole fortune. He preferred rather to lose the whole of his outlay
on the Genesee lands, — hence the severity of his action. William-
son might have been very greatly embarrassed thereafter had not
one of his friends come to his aid at this point. Cazenove, there-
tofore the Holland Company's agent in America, returned at the
92 PAUL D.EVANS
time to Amsterdam and on his way through London interced-
ed with Pulteney in Williamson's behalf. The baronet, having
recently come into more funds, was persuaded to advance further
credit to his agent.^^ Williamson as a result was enabled to com-
plete some of the enterprises which had been abandoned when his
funds had been cut off.
Regarding the whole affair as simply an untimely interruption
to his work, Williamson appears to have gone ahead thereafter as
before. At any rate about a year later his principals decided
that a change of policy was essential to their solvency and that no
such change was possible under Williamson's management. It
was necessary to seek for another agent. Moreover the interests
of the proprietors in London made it desirable at the same time
that their association be dissolved and a partition made of the lands
and debts. The division was made in 1801 on the basis of nine
twelfths to Pulteney, two twelfths to Hornby and one twelfth to
Colquhoun. It seems that in the division Hornby and Colquhoun
received more than this proportion of bonds and mortgages while
Pulteney received more of the unsold lands. A settlement was
amicably arranged with Williamson. Hornby and Colquhoun
united in the selection of Johnstone, a companion of Williamson,
for the management of their estates; Pulteney selected Robert
Troup, a New York lawyer, who had played a large part in the
settlement with Williamson. Our story hereafter loses from view
the lands of the two minor partners not because they were im-
important but because there is no information available con-
cerning them. It will rather follow Troup and the new era in the
history of the Pulteney lands.
Even here the task is not an easy one. The sources for the
history of the Pulteney administration during the next twenty
years are meagre enough. Only here and there do we get brief
glimpses of the activity of the agent and some idea of the policy he
was pm-sviing. From 1820 onward for the next decade the corre-
spondence between Troup and the agents of the Holland Company
adds considerably to our knowledge of events on the Pulteney
lands, giving us backu'ard views now and then of Troup's activities
during the preceding twenty years.
Troup's principles in the management of his agency were
radically different from those of his predecessor. He believed
flttST EXGAGEMKXT
/ 77ie Hoad . -? Frftirh S Iiuliiin.t
JOendricK on Borsrl < rk i Itoii'i uti
i \fo/niM I i
s
THE BLOODY MOKMNO bCOLT IN THE BATTLE OF LAKE
GEORGE
(From an old print)
THE PULTENEY PURCHASE 93
that enough and more had been done by the owner for the develop-
ment of the lands and that the time had come for the strictest
economy. All further expenditures for improvements might
safely be left to the initiative of the settlers; his duty was to
collect for his principaP^ every cent that was possible in an en-
deavor to get back at least the money invested with, if possible,
some small rettim upon it. To accomplish this not only was it
important to continue steadily the sale of lands still in his hands
but much more to collect upon the contracts made by his prede-
cessor. Collections indeed made up Troup's chief problem during
his thirty years of control.
Desirable as were cash sales they were almost impossible in the
land business, this whether at wholesale or retail. Most land
owners recognized this from the beginning; those who did not
soon learned it from experience. There was relatively little free
wealth available in America at the time for such ptu-chases and
fortune brought but rarely such rich buyers as the Pulteney group
and the Dutch merchants who went under the name of the Holland
Land Company. The men who came to settle on the lands not
infrequently had spent every cent they possessed in moving their
families into the back country and in purchasing the rude equip-
ment necessary to begin life there. Others somewhat better
situated financially were unable to obtain cash for their farms in
the east at the time of moving. Often, when at last they had
received what was owing them, their debts for supplies, pro-
visions, etc., in the new settlement had accumulated to such an
extent as to eat up the whole amount received, leaving nothing to
be applied upon the land debt. The great majority of those coming
to the new country had to rely upon the produce of their new
farms for most of their payment to the land agent. This of course
meant that a credit basis was the only one ordinarily practicable
in the retail sale of wild lands. Another cause not to be over-
looked for the establishment of the credit system in the land
business was the presence of millions of acres on the market seeking
for settlers. There were few proprietors indeed who under the
circumstances could hold their lands until cash paying purchasers
should take them off their hands. This was especially true after
the federal government in 1800 had adopted the credit system for
the disposal of its vast tracts.
94 PAUL D.EVANS
That sales then should be made to settlers on credit was taken
for granted; the point to be determined was the amount which
should be required as a preliminary deposit at the time of sale and
the length of credit thereafter to be allowed. Williamson's
policy had been to give all small purchasers a six year credit with
6% interest, one half the debt due at the end of three years and the
rest at the expiration of the credit. Of these men he required no
payment at the time of the sale. Men who bought lots larger
than 160 acres were at first required to make a cash payment of
one third and to pay the balance at the end of three years. These
stricter terms seem later however to have been relaxed, particular-
ly for those who purchased quarter, half or whole townships.
Such sales were counted quite too valuable to be lost by insisting
upon the terms originally announced.
Important as it seemed in the early days the matter of the
length of credit offered did not however continue to interest the
agents greatly. They were concerned rather with the problem
of getting the payments at all from the settlers. Very few of
these were able to meet their contracts within the stipulated time.
Many of them at the end of the sixth year had made no payments
whatever upon the principal of their land debts; they had done
fairly well if they had kept up the interest and had accumulated no
outside debts. Most of them had worked extremely hard in an
endeavor to get on, intending always to pay the land agent but
not able to produce sufficient wealth to enable them to do so.
True some were simply lazy and from them nothing ever coiild be
hoped save that they wotild be fortunate enough to sell out even-
tually to an abler farmer from the East who might soon begin to
make payments. Others overwhelmed by the difficulties of their
tasks had despaired of success and were solacing themselves in
liquor. The great majority however were a hardworking, well
intentioned lot whose names remained on the agency's books of
debtors only from plain inability to get them off.
Troup knew rather well the character of his settlers and he
endeavored to Conform his policy to it. He required his sub-
agents to seize every occasion to spur the settlers to payment,
encouraging them at all times to pay even the smallest sums
when larger ones were not possible. He soon learned that more
than mere urging was necessary to secure payments from most of
THE PULTENEY PURCHASE 95
his farmers; some sort of assistance must be given them to aid
them in reducing their debts. Accordingly he introduced a
system of payment in kind which permitted the farmer to make
his payments in wheat, pork, or pot and pearl ashes. This system
seems to have met a certain measure of success. That it did not
work out more brilliantly was due to the fact that the agent paid
no more than the market price for the produce taken. The
settler who had raised relatively little preferred to sell for cash and
so be free to lay out his money for needs more immediate than the
reduction of his land debt. There were in fact a certain number
of the settlers who always let their immediate needs push their
land debt into the background. Sometimes they were simply the
ne'er do wells; sometimes the refractory. Against them Troup,
after his patience was exahusted, took the action which the law
permitted, i. e., ejection without compensation for their improve-
ments. This was possible where no title had passed and the settler
was holding simply on contract; when a bond and mortgage had
been given, the debt was foreclosed and the premises sold ac-
cordingly. From the scanty records available it does not appear
that Troup ptusued a stern policy in such ejectments and fore-
closures. All of the victims had been warned over and over
again and repeated extensions of time had been granted them for
payment. The advertisements for sale under foreclosures be-
tween 1811 and 1815 were mostly for lands sold by Williamson in
1795 and 1796 on contracts due in 1800 and 1801.^'* Upon many
of these no payments whatever had been made. Greater leniency
than this could not justly have been asked. Troup's leniency
was the result both of inclination and of policy. A stern course
pursued toward delinquent debtors would have served simply to
drive them from the lands. Conditions made it impossible to
find better men to take their places and clearings which remained
unworked for a few years were shortly so overrun with second
growth saplings and underbrush that they were worth less than the
virgin soil.
Troup's efforts at collection were not without effect. Within
four years after he had taken charge of the agency he had secured
from his settlers nearly $150,000.*^ The years following were
almost as fruitful. At the end of two decades of service he was
able to report that clear of all taxes, agency charges and other
96 PAUL D. EVANS
expenses he had sent to his principals in England neariy $850,000.^®
Three years later this sum had mounted to well over a million,
almost as much as Pulteney's original investment. Discouraging
as had been the outlook at the end of Williamson's administration,
the results of persistent effort in the collection of sums due,
combined with the most careful economy had brightened the
appearance of the enterprise considerably. None the less Troup's
most difficult days lay ahead of him. There was trouble on foot
of a sort that he had not yet encountered.
After the passing of the first fright to which the border war
gave rise, the second conflict with England proved a great boon to
the settlers of the Genesee country. The presence of large bodies
of troops in western New York created an unwonted market for
the settlers' produce, and at the same time offered excellent
opportunity to the farmers in their slack months to add to their
income by hauling supplies of all sorts. The government paid
liberally and in cash. Although many of the fortunate settlers
promptly paid up their land debts, some of the others, believing
in the continued patience of the agent, preferred to use their
profits in other ways. The agent however determined that
stronger measures were necessary to get payments from such men
and conceived the idea of charging compound interest upon the
debts. This seemed all the more necessary as the amount of
accumulated interest was mounting rapidly.
At the time no particular protest appears to have been called
forth by this new charge upon the debtor. When later however
the hard times of 1819 and the early '20s hit the Pulteney lands,
many of the settlers began to complain. By the end of that
decade the complaints had become very loud and bitter, especially
in Steuben County where the expected benefits of the Erie Canal
had failed to materialize and where on the contrary it was generally
felt that the settlers were relatively worse off than before the canal
had gone through.
Isolated complaints soon grew into united protest and by 1830
Troup found that a large share of his land debtors had combined
to force upon him a modification of his terms and a general re-
duction in their debts. Interesting as is the story of the conflict
which was then joined between agent and settler, there is room
THE PULTENEY PURCHASE 97
here for none of the detail. ^^ A word however must be said for
the cause of the settlers.
In 1827 and 1828 the Holland Land Company, which had
originally owned over three million acres to the west of the Pulteney
lands, had arrived at the conclusion that most of its settlers would
be unable to pay off their contract debts. So little progress had
been made in this direction during the preceding decade that the
Company resolved voluntarily to reduce the debts to such a level
that the settlers could feel certain of eventually paying them.
Accordingly a revaluation was made which cut down the amount
owing to the Company by nearly a million dollars. Moreover to
prevent the debts again falling in arrears a liberal system of pay-
ment in kind was introduced which gave the settler considerably
higher prices for his produce when apphed to the payments of
interest on the land debt than when sold elsewhere. The results
had been altogether satisfactory to the Holland Company. A
new spirit of enterprise had been breathed into their settlements
which promised much for the futtire.
The news of these concessions spread at once of course to the
Pulteney lands and brought forth immediate demands for similar
assistance. Like the men on the Holland Purchase a large pro-
portion of the Pulteney settlers had become discouraged by the
difficulties of raising their land debts. Many of them had given
up hope of ever completing their payments. Meantime the
opening at low prices of enormous tracts of low priced federal
lands in the west had increased their difficulty of finding purchasers
who would buy their contracts or their mortgaged premises.
Their natural conclusion was that the Pulteney lands had been
sold to them originally at quite too high a price and that justice
required the agent to make a reduction in their debts. The
assembled debtors of Steuben County proposed that such re-
duction should be made to the level of wild land prices at the time
without regard to any improvements on the farms. The mere
presence of the settlers, they argued, had raised the price of wild
lands far above their value when the Pulteney Purchase had been
made. It was but just therefore that the settler should receive
back some of the wealth which his labor had created. While the
settlers of Steuben County were demanding a reduction of their
debts, those on the Pulteney lands near the lake were protesting
98 PAUL D. EVANS
against the practice of compounding interest and of ejecting
without compensation those settlers who had failed to pay.
Troup's reply came promptly. He had for some time be-
lieved that debts in Steuben County were generally too large for
the ability of the settlers to pay and he had therefore determined
to reduce them to a reasonable amount. He would have made a
fair appraisal of the buildings and improvements on every lot
togethei with the current value of both cleared and wild land.
The real value of each lot being thus ascertained, he proposed to
make an abatement on just and equitable principles to reduce the
contract debt to a stim below the appraised value whenever the
settler was ready to make a moderate pa3anent on the balance.
In addition a liberal extension of time was to be granted for the
payment of future installments.
Troup's plan met with little favor among the debtors of Steuben
County. They assembled in a second convention and resolved to
withhold all further payments until the agent should accede to
their terms. Troup however had already made all the concessions
which he felt were just. Defiance !from his settlers aroused in
him determined opposition at once. He pointed out to them that
their scheme would lead to quite unfair discrimination among the
settlers themselves. It could not operate equally upon them.
It would often place the settlers who had "profitably enjoyed
their farms" for ten, twenty or thirty years and had paid little or
nothing upon them on a footing of equality with those who had
purchased their farms but recently, and on a more favorable
footing than those who had made frequent payments or had quite
extinguished their contract debts. Troup proposed rather to be
guided in his reductions by the amount of the original price, the
accumvilation of interest, the actual value of the property, the
enterprise, industry and general good conduct of the settler,
his ability to pay, his hardships, losses and misfortunes since he
settled on his lands and by other circumstances furnishing just and
equitable claims to liberality. He closed his manifesto by re-
affirming his former instructions to his subagents and infoiming his
settlers that they could be assured that the terms offered were
final. If they persisted in withholding pa>TTients, he would,
though with reluctance, have recourse to the remedies which the
law allowed him.
THE PULTENEY PURCHASE 99
Troup's idtimatum called forth bitter denunciation from many
of his settlers. They assembled anew in public meetings where
they drew up long resolutions censuring the cupidity of the English
proprietors and calling upon the legislature to support their
interests against the foreigners. The newspapers of the district
were filled with acrid arraignments of the Pulteney policy and
there were not lacking bold counsels of violence for the protection
of the settlers rights. The more timid of the debtors however
joined with the cooler heads in the course of the summer of 1830
to make inquiries at the land office regarding reductions in their
individual cases. Many of them found the terms offered more
generous than they had expected. They made what payments
they could and took home new contracts for their land. Their
example proved contagious. As the autumn wore on and crops
began to be marketed more and more came with small payments
and went away with modified contracts. The more stubborn
still held out and endeavored by new meetings again to rouse
public sentiment against the proprietors. This time however the
public did not respond. The meetings were so thinly attended
that either no action was taken or no account given out to the
press. The leaders retired to their homes and shortly, concluding
that their cause was lost, most of them followed their neighbors to
the land office to obtain the proffered reductions. By the end of
the year the movement was definitely ended. Troup's triumph
made it certain that financially at any rate success would crown the
last years of his agency.
Troup remained in control until his death in 1832. Though he
had not managed to inspire much affection among his settlers, he
had at least gained the respect of most of them. He had retained
for thirty years the confidence of his principals in spite of the fact
that their ideas of wild land management were shaped by ac-
quaintance exclusively with the ancient estates of England. If
we consider the figures already given, it seems probable that
Troup's policy of rigid economy had enabled him to forward to
England an amount exceeding considerably that originally ex-
pended by Sir William Pulteney. He had succeeded in his pur-
pose: he had retrieved the principal and made some retimi of
interest upon it. The collections which his successors might
make could all be counted as profits.
100 PAUL D. EVANS
Unhappily our sources for the history of the enterprise after
Troup's death are ahnost entirely lacking. Our story has prac-
tically to stop at that date. We only know that the opening of
the Erie railroad did for the lands in Steuben County very much
what the Erie canal had done for the region further north. The
New York City market was made available for the produce of the
back country and this meant prosperity. It was not long there-
after before a large share of the debts owing the Pulteney heirs
were paid. Many years after the Civil War however there still
remained som.e lands unsold and some ancient debts unsettled.
Indeed it was only with the end of the century that at last the
aflairs of the enterprise were wound up.
When the final accounts were cast up, it is probable that they
showed but a slight profit. In an attempt to estimate its amount
we must consider the principal as remaining in the business and all
of Troup's early returns simply as interest upon it. Interest at
5% on Pulteney's share of the original investment would have
required a clear revenue each year of about $56,000. This would
have totaled by 1840 two million and a quarter dollars. We
know that at the end of his first twenty years of service Troup's
remittances had not yet wiped out the arrears of interest and it
does not seem probable that at any time before 1840 the revenues
had overtaken the total of interest charges. If they did so at that
time there still remained the principal to be paid with interest as
long as it was outstanding. There are no figures whatever avail-
able to enlighten us on the later course of the agents's collections.
We know however that the lands remaining unsold were in general
the poorest on the purchase and that fiom the nature of things
diminishing returns were to be expected. Perhaps not even
interest charges were earned; possibly much more was forth-
coming. Some of the later records of the agency will have to be
brought to light before this point can be determined.
There remains for us the task of passing judgment upon the
policy of the Pulteney administration during the period covered.
McMaster, the most capable of the early historians of Steuben
County, closes his consideration of the Pulteney Estate with a
keen criticism of the mean narrow and ungenerous spirit which
pervaded the policy of its administration dining the first half of
the nineteenth century.^^ The alien proprietorship, he tells us,
THE PULTENEY PURCHASE 101
with its one piirpose of getting as much money as possible from
the settlers and its apparent utter unconcern for their interests
had been a dead, disheartening weight upon the county. That
a miiltitude of hard-working men, having mired in a slough of
interest and installment, had miserably failed in their endeavors
to gain themselves homes in the county was a sufficient indictment
of the proprietors' policy. The progress which the county had
made was due to the vigor of its settlers, their hard woik and
courage and was in spite of the incubus which rested upon it.
Certainly there is a measure of truth in this arraignment of the
Pulteney policy, but it seems to me that the blame must rest for
the most part upon conditions beyond the control of the Pulteney
heirs and upon Williamson, that man of all their representatives
in America whose constant purpose was most directly opposed to
such a policy. The settler had real reason to complain that all the
money which he paid into the land office flowed out of the country
at once, that of the wealth which he and his neighbors created in
their endeavor to pay off their land debts none went back again
to their district to make it more prosperous and happy. Had
the Pulteney heirs lived in Bath or Sodus and had they reinvested
there the returns from their land ventures, adding thus to the
wealth of their community, there would have been much less
complaint of the narrow, mean and ungenerous policy they pur-
sued. Considering their experience with investments in America
we cannot wonder that they preferred to reinvest their funds in
business enterprises over which they could maintain closer control.^®
Nor must Troup be burdened with any large share of whatever
criticism is due; rather it must be shifted to the shoulders of
Williamson, for it was Williamson's ill judged expenditures which
entailed for Troup the most careful of policies. He entered upon
a business whose assets fell far short of the capital invested in it
and he was required not only to keep it afloat but if possible to
pay dividends on money which was already lost. Had William-
son's extensive expenditures been better laid out, there would
have been little need for development enterprises under Troup.
Or had half the sums uselessly expended by Williamson been
available for Troup in the development of his lands, there would
have been little complaint of his mean and narrow policy. Troup
indeed was hampered at every turn by the heritage of his prede-
102 PAUL D. EVANS
cesser; the whole future of Pulteney policy was limited in a
manner that none would have regretted more than Williamson
himself. He had been actuated by the friendliest of motives
toward his settlers, had believed their wellbeing the basis of all
prosperity his principals might enjoy, and had taken his measures
with the aim of promoting the interests of both. In the failure of
those measures both suffered.
What has just been said will explain if it does not excuse the
Pulteney policy. The same criticisms which have been advanced
against it exist in the case of every other large holder of wild land
who attempted to apply ordinary business methods to his enter-
prise. The hardships of the frontier and the difficulties which the
settlers had to overcome were so great that the vast majority of
them could not meet promptly the obligations they assumed.
Very few proprietors attempted to enforce strictly those obligations;
those who did, even for a short time, gained at once a nam.e for
inhtimanity and severity not easily lived down. Even those who
like the Pulteney proprietors granted great indiilgence to their
settlers received back but little love unless at the same time they
pursued a policy of extensive development of their possessions.
In general, when the proprietorship was absentee and this was
usually the case, such a policy was incompatible with profits.
Indeed here is the crux of the matter: in the great majority of
cases the land business could be made a success only at the ex-
pense of a disgruntled body of settlers; if the settlers were to be
satisfied, it was fairly certain that no profits could be had in the
business.
The fault lay ordinarily neither with the settlers nor the pro-
prietors, but rather with the system. Perhaps, as has been some-
times said, wild lands possessed no real value whatever aside from
that given them by settlement and development and, in as much as
the proprietor sold the settler only the opportunity to make wealth
by his own efforts, friendly relations could never exist between the
two after the payment of the debt was demanded. Or perhaps we
get nearer the truth if we regard the wild lands as means for the
production of wealth which the proprietor in his eagerness for
profits sold ordinarily at too high a rate to settlers who under-
estimated the difficulties of production and exaggerated the
profits to be had. Whether we regard the lands merely as oppor-
THE PULTENEY PURCHASE 103
tunities or as means of production, we cannot avoid the conclusion
that the State, as guardian of the people's rights, should never
have made them the object of speculation for the more wealthy;
it should never have opened the way for the making of profits
at the expense of the settlers. Under no circumstances was the
existence of the middleman or wholesaler justified save perhaps in
the case that it could be gxiaranteed that he would add sub-
stantially to the value of the lands by a reasoned course of de-
velopment, by supplying capital for the needs of his settlement.
No such requirement was ever made ; it probably could never have
been worked out in practice. We have just seen how ineffective
were such efforts even in a case where the advances of capital were
most liberally and voluntarily made. The State in practice sold
at the highest price it could obtain to a man whose interest it was
to make all the profit he could from his enterprise. He would
naturally thereafter put not a penny more into his business than
seemed necessary to get the maximum returns. The State had
given him carte blanche to resell at the highest price he could get
from settlers whose limited means had prevented their competing
with him in the original purchase, and the State threw around him
the full protection of its laws in the enforcement of his rights as
against the settlers. The limited monopoly which he possessed
led the wholesaler thereafter to sell in almost every case at higher
rates than could be justified by the results to the settlers. Better
far if the State must sell its lands to have sold them directly to the
settlers. How much better still had the state and federal govern-
ments pursued from the beginning the policy eventually adopted
in the Homestead Acts of giving the lands free, save for the cost
of survey, to the men who settled upon them. The public treasu-
ries would to be sure have been less immediate gainers, but the
wellbeing of the country would have been greatly enhanced.
There would have been no Pulteney Purchase and perhaps the
proprietors would have regretted this no more than the settlers.
Paul D. Evans
Bibliographical Note — Aside from the manuscript collections to which refer-
ence has been made the author has found two books of special value in the
preparation of this paper:
Turner, Orsamus: History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham's
Purchase, and Morris' Reserve. Rochester, 1851. McMaster, Guy H.;
History of the Settlement of Steuben County, N. Y., Bath, 1853. Reprinted 1893.
104 PAUL D. EVANS
NOTES
'The Phelps and Gorham associates never secured any more of the Genesee.
The rise in value of the Massachusetts paper in which it had been agreed
payments should be made, together with other causes, rendered it impossible
for the associates to fulfill their engagements. In consequence an arrange-
ment was made by which they secured the title to the eastern tract for which
the Indian title had already been quieted. The remaining two thirds re-
verted to the State. It was soon after sold to Robert Morris, who retaining
temporarily the eastern third of his new purchase, sold the remainder to a
group of Dutch capitalists who came to be known as the Holland Land Com-
pany. The lands retained by Morris were either sold soon after by him or
were distributed among his creditors when he became bankrupt.
-Robert Morris to W. and J. Willink, March 16, 1795. Private Letter
Book I, p. 82, Library of Congress. "Captn Williamson came here a perfect
stranger recommended to me, I chalked out his Plan & the line of march, he
has!' succeeded far beyond his expectations and I glory in it, — notwithstanding
I sold the property so cheap & knew at the time of sale the sacrifice I was
making."
'Williamson to Colquhoun from Baltimore soon after his landing in 1791,
quoted by Turner: History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham' s
Purchase, p. 252.
^Van Eeghen Collection of Holland Land Company Papers (cited hereafter
as HCoP.) Box M No. 8. This proposal is found in a lengthy plan for the
management of the lands of the Holland Purchase. Williamson was a candi-
date for the agency.
*See Turner: Phelps and Gorham' s Purchase, pp. 252 ff., and McMaster:
History of the Settlement of Steuben County, N. F. p. 60 ff.
*See especially Turner, p. 271.
^Turner, p. 263 and 394.
^Turner, p. 274.
^HCoP. Troup to Paul Busti quoted in Busti to P. and C. Van Eeghen,
December 19, 1806.
"For full accounts of this episode see Turner and McMaster.
"HCoP. Box P. No. 3. William Morris's report to Cazenove, 1793.
i2HCoP. Box E. Cazenove to P. and C. Van Eeghen, London, August 23,
1799.
'•'Pulteney died in 1805 leaving his entire estate to his daughter. At her
death in 1808 the American estate was divided, the unsold lands going to
Sir John L. Johnstone and the debts due on sales to Mrs. Mar kham and her
children. Troup continued as agent for the whole.
'■•See files of the Ontario Messetiger, 1811-15, in the library of the American
Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass.
i^HCoP. Busti to P. and C. Van Eeghen, December 19, 1806.
i«HCoP. Box G. Troup to Busti, January 14, 1823.
"These details can be found in the newspapers published at the time on the
Pulteney lands.
isMcMaster, p. 157 ff.
i*This much at any rate can be said of most of the Pulteney heirs. It
true however that Sir John Johnstone, during the brief years during which he
had control over the larger share of the estate, used up the revenues at the
English court as fast as they came in.
SURROGATES' COURTS AND RECORDS IN THE
COLONY AND STATE OF NEW YORK,
1664-1847
After the English occupation of New Netherland in 1664, the
court of burgomasters and schepens of New Amsterdam was
changed into the mayor's court. The court of orphanmasters
was discontinued and the mayor's court exercised the same juris-
diction in respect to testamentary matters and estates of persons
dying intestate within the city of New York as the court of orphan-
masters had previously exercised, with some modifications.
By the Duke's laws,^ the proper officials were required to search
for a will and to make an inventory of the effects of the deceased,
returnable to the next court of sessions.^ The probate of wills,
the granting of administrations, etc., took place before the coiuts
of sessions, except in the city of New York, where the same jtuis-
diction was exercised by the mayor's court. If the estate ex-
ceeded £100 in value, the proceedings had to be transmitted to
the office of the secretary of the province in the city of New York,
where they were recorded and the final discharge of executors or
adm.inistrators was granted by the governor under the seal of the
province. In October, 1665, an amendment to the Duke's laws
provided :
^"That all Oiiginall Wills after haveing beene prooved att the
Court of Assizes or Sessions and returned into the Office of Records
att New-Yorke shall remaine there, and the Executors Adminis-
trators shall leceive a Coppie theieof, with a Certificate of it
being allowed and attested under the Seal of the Office."
The Duke's laws distinctly specify the court of sessions as the
court of probate; nevertheless, on more than one occasion probate
matters appear in the minutes of the court of assizes, the highest
court in the province. This procedure continued until 1686
and was changed by royal instructions to governor Dongan.
These instructions placed the ecclesiastical affairs of the province
under the jusridiction of the archbishop of Canterbury, but ex-
cepted certain of the bishop's prerogatives, among them^ "grant-
ing Probat of Wills, which wee have reserved to you our Gov''."
105
106 ROY DEN WOODWARD VOSBURGH
In England probate jurisdiction was vested in the ecclesiastical
court of the archbishop of Canterbury. The same exception as to
the probate of wills was retained in the instructions to governor
Sloughter (1691), governor Fletcher (1692) and subsequent
colonial governors.
After the instructions to Dongan were received a change took
place. The courts of sessions and the mayor's court continued to
exercise their functions, but the governor or the secretary of the
province also took proof of wills. In 1691, under the adminis-
tration of lieutenant-governor Ingoldsby, a clause was inserted in
all letters testamentary and like proceedings, that the judicial
powers belonged to the governor and not to any inferior judge.
If a will was proved before the secretary, he annexed a certificate
"that being thereunto delegated" in the name of the governor,
etc., that the will had been "proved, approved and allowed" under
the prerogative seaP. Governor Sloughter died on July 23, 1691
and on August 15, 1691, letters of administration were issued to his
widow in the name of major Richard Ingoldsby, commander-in-
chief, sealed with the seal of the prerogative office^ and signed by
Matthew Clarkson, secretary. The office of records was in charge
of the secretary of the province, or the governor's secretary as he
was sometimes designated. A distinct department, as has been
shown, grew up in the secretary's office which took the name of the
prerogative office and the records connected with it the name of the
registry of the prerogative and the whole became distinguished
by the judicial appellation of the prerogative court'.
The court of common pleas^ was established in each city and
county in the province, on May 6, 1691; and on May 15, 1691
colonel William Smith of Brookhaven was appointed judge of the
prerogative court within Suffolk county.^ The book^" containing
the records of letters of administration, wills, inventories, etc.,
for Albany county was commenced on October 6, 1691. Under
date April 20, 1693, Matthew Clarkson, secretary of the province,
described the prerogative court as follows:" "The Governour
discharges the place of Ordinary (bishop) in granting adminis-
tracons and proveing Wills & The Secretary is Register." By a
law^2 passed November 11, 1692, the right to admit wills to probate
and to grant letters of administration was vested in the governor
"or Such Person as he shall Delegate under the seal of the Pre-
SURROGATES' COURTS AND RECORDS 107
rogative Office." The estates of persons deceased within (New
York), Orange, Richmond, Westchester and Kings counties were
to be settled at New York, before the governor or his delegate.
And those in the more remote counties were heard before the
county cotirt of common pleas and the papers were forwarded to the
secretary's office at New York where the probate was granted.^'
However, if the estate was not over £50 in value, the judges in the
"more remote counties" were authorized to grant probates or
letters of administration; within three months after granting
thereof, an appeal could be taken to the prerogative office. In
1750, the probate law was amended^* by granting to the Orange
coimty cotut the same powers exercised by the courts in the
"more remote counties;" in 1772, this privilege was extended to
certain newly formed and very distant counties. ^^
During the colonial period, the secretary of the province or his
deputy was almost always appointed principal surrogate or deputy
judge of the prerogative court. ^^ Besides, siirrogates were fre-
quently appointed to act in the "more remote counties. ""^^ Under
the constitution of 1777, the power of appointing sturogates lay
in the coimcil of appointment, although the governor of the state
exercised the right of originating the nomination. ^^ In 1778, the
legislature abolished the prerogative court^^ and established the
court of probates,^" with a single judge, who was vested with the
powers formerly held by the provincial governor in testamentary
matters, except the power of appointing surrogates. Between
1777 and 1787, at least a part of the time, there were surrogates in
office in the counties of Albany, Columbia, Cumberland, Dutchess,
Montgomery (Tryon), Orange, Queens, Suffolk, Ulster, Washing-
ton (Charlotte) and Westchester. ^^ They were appointed for an
unlimited period and could be removed for cause.
From September 15, 1776 to November 25, 1783, southern
Westchester county. New York and Richmond counties and Long
Island were occupied by English troops and were under
British jurisdiction. The colonial prerogative court con-
tinued to exercise its powers in this southern district, Cary
Ludlow being the surrogate. ^^ The records for this period may
be classed in three groups:
(1) The records of the prerogative court for the revolutionary
period^^ kept in the secretary's office in New York City.
108 ROYDEN WOODWARD VOSBURGH
(2) The ante-revolutionary records of the prerogative court in
the possession of the Americans after February 1776 and moved
from place to place in the Hudson river valley^* until 1782, when
the secretary of the state was authorized by law^^ to deliver them
to the judge of the court of probates.
(3) The records of the court of probates^^ kept in various places
in Dutchess county wherever the court was in session.
All these records were united when the court of probates con-
vened in New York city, in December, 1783, after the British
evacuation. In 1784, a law^'' was passed to legalize the proceedings
taken in the southern district of the state, while the British were in
control. In 1786, a law^^ was passed amplifying the procedure to
be followed in proving wills, which specifically provided that
notice should be given to the heirs before offering a will for probate.
On May 1, 1787, a law^^ took effect which is the foundation of the
present jurisdiction of surrogates courts and records in this State.
It established siirrogates courts in each county and directed the
surrogates to keep records "as the like records in the office of the
judge of the court of probates." The surrogate held jurisdiction
only over estates of persons who had owned property and died
within their counties; other estates were adjudicated before the
court of probates, which had appellative jurisdiction over the
surrogates courts. Under this law surrogates were appointed and
commenced surrogates records in the several counties of the State
then organized; the first judge of the county acted as surrogate
unless another person was appointed.
In 1797, a law^° was passed to provide for the erection of a public
building at Albany, to contain the records of the secretary of state,
the supreme court and the court of probates. It directed that
after June 1, 1798, the office and records of the court of probates
were to be in Albany and that the judge and clerk of the court
should reside there. But the building was not completed in time
and the removal of the various offices from New York city, which
were to occupy it, was accordingly delayed until the spring of
1799.3^ There seems little doubt but that the records of the
court of probates were kept with the records in the custody of the
secretary of state; in fact the bound volumes of Wills & Probates
Nos. 1 and 2 are still labeled on the back at the bottom "SECRE-
TARY'S OFFICE," in style similar to the books inthe secretary 's
SURROGATES' COURTS AND RECORDS 109
office which were rebound about 1820. The date of the first
session of the court of probates in Albany, June 13, 1799, corre-
sponds very closely with the date of the bill rendered for the re-
moval of the secretary's office from New York, June 27, 1799.
While the records in the secretary's office were still in New York,
a law^2 -y^as passed March 30, 1799, which directed that all the
records of the court of probates prior to May 1, 1787 (including
those of the prerogative court) should be delivered to the surrogate
of New York county; as well as all the original wills of persons
who had been residents of the southern district of the state.^'
The preponderance of evidence seems to indicate that the law
was not complied with, but that the records of the court of pro-
bates were moved to Albany with the secretary's office. On
March 31, 1802, a law^^ was enacted to defray the expense of
moving back to New York city such records as had been designated
by the law of March 30, 1799. Pursuant to the later law, Peter
Beeckman clerk of the court of probates and Silvanus Miller
surrogate of New York county, rendered bills,^^ dated respectively
July 3d and August 27th 1802, to cover the expense of the return
of the records and documents to New York. But when the
documents and papers were sorted, the original wills, inventories
and miscellaneous papers were not carefully collated and there are
to this day in Albany, many papers belonging to the southern
district; and in New York city, some papers belonging to the
other districts.
The revised acts^^ of 1801 re-enacted with practically no
change, the surrogates law which took effect May 1, 1787. The
revised laws*^ of 1813 made no particular changes in the procedure
affecting surrogates records. By a law^^ passed in 1823, juris-
diction in all estates was transferred to the surrogates, the court of
probates was abolished and its records were deposited in the office
of the secretary of state; the appellative jurisdiction of the court
was vested in the court of chancery. Surrogates were appointed
as prescribed by the constitution of 1821. In 1829, the records
of the court of probates were transferred ^^ to the office of the
register in chancery. The judiciary acf*° of 1847 passed to comply
with the new constitution, abolished the court of chancery and
directed that the records in the said court be deposited with the
clerk of the court of appeals. The new supreme court held the
1 10 ROYDEN WOODWARD VOSB URGH
appellative jurisdiction over the surrogates formerly vested in the
court of chancery.
Certain sections^^ of the revised statutes of 1829, which took
effect January 1, 1830, specified more fully the nature of the records
to be kept in the offices of the surrogates; and provided that all
"affidavits, petitions," etc., should be kept on file. This act made
it comptilsory for petitions for granting letters testamentary and
of administration to be permanently kept on file. The consti-
tution of 1846 materially changed the judicial system in the State;
it abolished certain courts and created new ones; it made the
judiciary offices of the State elective by the people, instead of
appointable by the governor. It provided that in counties having
a population of over forty thousand, the legislature may pass laws
for the election of surrogates.'*- Otherwise, the county judge
performs the duties of the surrogate. In 1847, the judiciary act
and other laws'*^ were passed to comply with the provisions of the
new constitution. The new laws went into effect on the first
Monday in July, 1847.
It should be noted that this article covers only practice and
records relating to the English system of jurisprudence. The
Dutch practice (a survival from Roman law) followed the notarial
system where the original wills were entered by notaries in their
notarial records and signed by the testators. During the Dutch
administration of New Netherland, records^ were kept by the
notaries Salomon La Chair and Walewyn van der Veen, in New
York city. In Albany the notarial records continued and the
Dutch system prevailed for a nimiber of years after the English
government of the colony had been established.^^ Three notarial
records^® have been preserved in Albany :— those of Dirck van
Schelluyne (1660-1664), Adriaen van Ilpendam (1667-1686),
and Jan Becker (1685-1690). Testamentary dispositions of
property made before the schout or the secretary (after the manner
of the notarial system) appear in the Dutch records at Kingston,*''
from 1663 to 1684; besides which, there are recorded in the Ulster
county clerk's office from 1685 to 1789, many wills which were
proved before the court of sessions or the court of common pleas.
RoYDEN Woodward Vosburgh
SURROGATES' COURTS AND RECORDS 111
References and Annotations
'The Duke's laws, published March 1, 1665, at a general meeting at Hemp-
stead. Collections of N. Y. Hist. Society, Vol. I (1809); 310, 404, 412, 415.
Also, Colonial Laws of N. Y. (1894), I: 62. Calendar of Wills (Fernow,1896),
vi, vii.
^When the Duke's laws were promulgated they appear to have applied to
Yorkshire (Long Island) only. But after the second occupation by the
English, in 1674, the jurisdiction of the Duke's laws extended over the entire
province; Docs. Col. Hist, of N. F.,III: 226. There were six courts of sessions,
one in each precinct, division or riding, viz: — the North, East and West
Ridings of Long Island, and the towns of New York, Albany and Esopus;
Docs. Col. Hist, oj N. Y., Ill: 260-1, § § 1, 4, 10 and 12.
^Colonial Laws of N. Y., I: 75. Amendments confirmed at general assizes,
Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, 1665, Administration, last clause.
^Docs. Col. Hist, of N. Y., Ill: 372, §35.
Tor engraving of the seal of the prerogative court, see Civil List and Con-
stitutional History of Colony and State of Nezu York, opposite p. 282.
«iV. Y. county wills, liber 4: 105. Also, Coll. of N. Y. Hist. Society (1892)
XXV: 189.
'The opening paragraphs of this article were taken principally from The
Nature, Extent and History of the Jurisdiction of the Surrogates Courts of the
State of New-York. Opinion of Judge Charles P. Daly, in the matter of the
Estate of Joseph W. Brick, delivered in the Surrogates Court, N. Y. County, on
November 26, 1862. Published in 1863; see ihid., p. 13.
^Colonial Laws of N.Y., I: 226. Chap. IV, Laws of the first Assembly, enti-
tled "An Act for the Establishing Courts of Judicature for the Ease and bene-
fitt of each respective Citty Town and County within this Province," passed
May 6, 1691.
^Calendar of Council Minutes, page 65. On the same day colonel Smith was
also appointed a justice of the supreme court : Council Minutes, 6: 26. The
record of wills admitted to probate before the prerogative court of Suffolk
county, 1691-1703, was published in 1897, under the title Early Long Island
Wills of Suffolk County.
"Albany county clerk's office, Wills, Part i & 2, i6gi-i8js. See New
York State Library, History Bulletin 11, pp. 4, 117.
^Wocs. Col. Hist, of N. Y., IV: 28. "An Account of all Establishmts of
Jurisdictions within this Province."
^Colonial Laws of N. Y., I: 300-302. Chap. 27.
"A wiU was proved when the testimony of the witnesses was heard in the
court of proper jurisdiction, as to its execution by the deceased. The validity
and sufficiency of the will was determined by the prerogative court, after which
it was probated and recorded.
^^Colonial Laws of N. Y., Ill: 780. Chap. 894, passed Nov. 24, 1750.
^^Colonial Laws of N. Y., V: 414. Chap. 1563, passed Mar. 24, 1772, ex-
tended the privilege granted to the more remote counties, to Tryon, Char-
lotte, Cumberland and Gloucester counties, which were formed shortly be-
fore.
'^Docs. Col. Hist, of N. Y., VII: 830; VIII: 187, 188, 283, 322-27, 413-
415, 445.
"Civil List Colony and State of N. Y., 450-457.
i^Art. XXVII, of the first constitution of the State, adopted Apr. 20, 1777,
recognized the court of probates to the extent of providing that the clerk of the
court should be appointed by the judge of the said court.
i^Abolishing the prerogative court made legislation necessary to legalize
proceedings taken during the British occupation of the southern district of
New York; see note 27.
^°Session Laws, I: 22. First Session, Chap. 12, passed Mar. 16, 1778.
112 ROY DEN WOODWARD VOSBURGH
^^Civil List Colony and State of N. Y., 450-457.
22Cary Ludlow first appears as deputy surrogate on Apr. 19, 1774; N, Y.
county wills, 29: 82. Sometimes he placed the initials "D. S. P." after his
name when certifying that a will was probated. He used the title "Surrogate"
for the first time on Aug. 3, 1774; ibid., 29: 126. Gary Ludlow continued to
hold office during the period of British occupancy of New York city. When
the seal of the prerogative court was affixed at the time the will was registered,
he was at first styled "Surrogate of the Province of New York;" after Jan.
30, 1778, his title was more often given "Surrogate for the City and County
of New York;" and during the fall of 1783, sometimes "Surrogate
of the City and Province of New York." After the deputy secretary, Samuel
Bayard, Jr., was captured by the Provincials with the public records, on Feb.,
11, 1776, John Moore was appointed to his office; Cal. of N. Y. Hist. MSS
Rev. Papers, I: 555. Moore's commission was dated Nov. 23, 1776; a mem-
orandum concerning it appears in N. Y. county wills, 31: 1. John Moore
held the ofiice of deputy secretary and register of the prerogative court until
about June 3, 1779. On June 15, 1779, Samuel Bayard, jr., resumed the
ofifices; N. Y. county ivills, 32: 102.
23iV. Y. comity wills, fibers 31, 32, 34 and 35; see note 26.
^^Conceming the records of the court, judge Daly says:
"The records belonging to it, and everything appertaining to wills and
the administration of estates, were carried to Albany during the Revolu-
tion, before the evacuation of the city [of New York] by the American
troops. An Act was passed in 1799 (2 Greenleaf, Laws of N. Y., 420)
directing the Judge of the Court of Probate to deliver to the Svu-rogate
of the City and County of New-York all books, records, minutes, docu-
ments and papers belonging to the Court of Probate before 1st of May,
1787, in pursuance of which the late Sylvanus Miller who was then Surro-
gate, went to Albany in 1800, and brought away every thing that could be
found. *****
The Nature, Extent and History oj the Jurisdiction of the Surrogates
Courts of the State of New York, etc., footnote, p. 19.
Judge Daly's remarks will not stand comparison with the documentary
evidence, which is cited at length, herewith. To begin with, there were two
governments in New York State during the revolution: — the State govern-
ment and the Colonial government. New York City was in the hands of the
British from Sept. 15, 1776 to Nov. 25, 1783, during which time the registry
of deeds and the prerogative court in New York City were functioning as
parts of the colonial government. On December 9, 1775, when the pubhc
records in the secretary's office were in danger of being seized by some Con-
necticut raiders, the more important records such as related to the immediate
interests of the Crown were removed on board the British ship Dutchess of
Gordon; they remained afloat in the harbor for six years, being transferred
from ship to ship. See Docs. Col. Hist. N. Y., VIII: 760-1 and Cal. of
Council Minutes, p. 506. On about November 1, 1781, they were returned to
Samuel Bayard, jr., and remained in the secretary's office until they were
turned over to the state authorities. The records of the prerogative court for
the revolutionary period (while under British control) occupy libers 31, 32,
34 and 35 of New York county wills. They commence with a notice of the
appointment of John Moore as deputy secretary, under date November 23,
1776. He was appointed because Samuel Bayard was a state prisoner at
Kingston, with the public records then in the possession of the Provincials,
which will be discussed later. In August 1778, Mr. Bayard appears to have
been granted permission to return to New York City. See Clinton Papers,
III: 611, 657. On June 15, 1779, he resumed his office in New York City as
deputy secretary and register of the prerogative court; N. Y. county wills,
32: 102.
SURROGATES' COURTS AND RECORDS 113
At a meeting of the council held on April 10, 1783, the deputy secretary,
Sam'l Bayard, Jr., rendered an account of the public records now in his cus-
tody. He reported to governor Robertson that "on or about the first day
of November, 1781," he had received three cases containing all the books
which had been put on board the Dutchess of Gordon, except the records of
Indian cessions; and further that these records were mildewed and in bad
condition. At a meeting of the council held on May 26, 1783, Andrew Elliot,
the lieutenant-governor, reported that under date May 15th, John Morin
Scott had made a demand for the "records of this state." The council at
large refused to surrender the records. See Calendar of Council Minutes,
pp. 507-8. These proceedings were entered in Council Minutes, 26: 469-
473. For extracts from these pages see Report oj the Secretary of State relative
to the Records, &fc in his office. Appendix, Note D, pp. 36-37. Printed as
Senate Document No. 2, January 5, 1820. Also, see Annalium Thesaurus, a
boimd MSS folio volume in the office of the secretary of state, by J. V. N.
Yates, then the secretary. On November 21, 1783, Samuel Bayard, jr.,
delivered to the deputy secretar\^ of state all the pubHc records that had been
in possession of the British in New York City. A copy of the receipt given
is among the papers of the New York Historical Society, it having been ob-
tained from London, in 1903. Extracts from the receipt follow:
Transcript of a paper preserved amongst the American MSS. in the
Royal Institution, London, Vol. 46, No. 29. A duplicate is preserved
in the Public Record Office.
I Book containing Records of Commissions, Deeds and Wills com-
mencing 23d November 1776.
3 Books in folio of Records of Wills from 15th August, 1778 to 19th
November, 1783.
7 Unbound Books containing Records of Administration on intestate
Estates commencing 24 November, 1776 and ending 7th November, 1783.
3 Files of Fiats for Administration, Administration Bonds, Citations
and other Papers relative to the Prerogative Court.
II Files containing 709 Original Wills as follows: —
[Names of testators given in full]
City of New York, 2lst. November, 1783.
I do hereby Certify that the preceding list Contained upon 20 Pages
hereunto annexed, is a Just and true Account of All Public Records and
Original WiUs in my Possession as Secretary of the Colony of New York.
Sam Bayard Junr.
By Virtue of a Deputation from John Morin Scott, Esquire, Secretary
of the State of New York, I do hereby Acknowledge to have Received of
Mr. Samuel Bayard, Secr'y of the late Colony of New York, the Records
and Original Wills as mentioned and particularly specified in the pre-
ceding Certificate and list. In Witness whereof I have Signed and
Sealed four Seperate receipts for the same, at Newyork, this Twenty
first day of Nov'r in the year of Our Lord one thousand Seven hundred
and eighty three.
Sealed and Delivered Lewis A. Scott, Dep'y Secr'y
in the presence of of the State of New York
Wm. Kirby
James Roosevelt
The other public records of the colony were under the jurisdiction of the
Provincial Congress of New York, after February 11, 1776. The pubHc
records (including the prerogative records) were at the house of Mr. Nicholas
Bayard, alderman, from Feb. 11, 1776, until the last of June, 1776. See
Correspondence oj Prov. Cong, of N. Y., II: 322. For other references to the
114 ROYDEN WOODWARD VOSBURGH
records, see Journal of the Prov. Cong, of N. Y., I: 135, 138, 140, 285, 291,
296, 339, 396, 402, 675, 692. Also, Docs. Col. Hist, of N. Y., XV: 55, 78, 80,
92, 93; and Clinton Papers, I: 10.
June 14, 1776. Order issued directing removal of the records, by water, to
Kingston; Samuel Bayard, the deputy secretary, to accompany them; Journal
of the Prov. Cong, of N. Y., I: 494.
Apr. 28, 1777. Resolved that 200 men be raised to guard the public records
and treasury of this State; ibid., I: 904.
Oct. 10, 1777. All public records to be put in chests and conveyed [from
Kingston] to Rochester; Samuel Bayard to accompany the records; ibid.
I: 1066.
Nov. 7, 1777. Records at Wawarsing. Letter to John Barclay, chairman
of the Albany committee of correspondence, suggesting that to avoid the
expense of the guard, the records be removed to Albany ; Mr. Bayard to
accompanj'^ the records and to have lodgings in the building where they are
housed; ibid., I: 1077.
Nov. 12, 1777. Answer from Albany committee, that Mr. Abraham Dow
is willing to spare a room in the lower story in his house for the records ; and
at the same time to furnish boarding for Mr. Bayard. The committee at
Albany also request the council to remove to Albany the records of the city
and county of Albany; ibid., I: 1083.
There seems little doubt but that the records of the prerogative court
(prior to 1776) were among the public records just mentioned, because a law
was passed in 1782, which authorized the secretary of state to deliver them
to the judge of the cotirt of probates; see note 25.
Thomas Tredwell was appointed judge of the court of probates on Mar. 13,
1778. The data which follow concerning the sessions of the court of probates
have been abstracted directly from the original records of wills in the surrogate's
office in New York City and in the office of the clerk of the court of appeals in
Albany and from judge Tredwell's memorandum book 1782-4 now in the Long
Island Historical Society Library. The dates of the sessions of the covu-t liave
been determined by the dates the wills were probated and recorded and the ex-
ecutors qualified, which dates are nearly always in chronological order. The first
recorded session of the court was on May 20, 1778, when the will of Abraham
Purdy was proved at Poughkeepsie. The executors qualified and the will
was probated and registered under the seal of the court of probates, on May
29, 1778; N. Y. county wills, 33: 1-2. The court continued to sit at Pough-
keepsie until March 2, 1779; ibid., 33: 84, 85. On May 13, 1779, sessions
began at Amenia, ibid., 33: 87, which continued until Oct. 4, 1781, ibid., 33:
249, with a few sessions at Poughkeepsie during that time. Court was held
at Poughkeepsie, Oct. 9 to 23, 1781; ibid., 33: 252, 253, 269. Then it re-
moved to Rumbout precinct, a few miles south of Poughkeepsie, where it
remained nearly all of the time, from Dec. 3, 1781, ihid., 33: 270, 255, 256,
to Nov. 22, 1783. During this period sessions were held at Poughkeepsie,
Feb. 12 to Apr. 13, 1782; and at Kingston, Jan. 29 to Feb. 7, 1783 and Mar.
24 to 28, 1783. Besides, judge Tredwell went over to Charlotte (now Clinton)
and held court to prove, probate and register two wills, on the morning of
June 28, 1782. The name of Joseph Hazard, clerk of the court, first appears
on Oct. 5, 1779. Most of the wills registered prior to that date bear the no-
tation: "A true copy examined in the absence of the Clerk, by me, Thomas
Tredwell, Judge." Hazard continued to serve as clerk until Dec. 13, 1782.
David Judson succeeded him Dec. 21, 1782.
The first recorded session of the court of probates in New York City, after
the British evacuation, began on Dec. 2, 1783; N. Y. cotinty wills, 36: 147.
The last proceedings of the coiu-t, which are recorded in the sturogate's office
of New York county were on Jan. 25, 1787; ibid., 39: 437. The proceedings
from Jan. 26, 1787 to Apr. 30,1787 are in the records of the court of probates
now in Albany, notwithstanding the law passed Mar. 30, 1799; Wills &
SURROGATES' COURTS AND RECORDS 115
Probates, I: 1-140. The last proceedings before judge Thomas Tredwell with
David Judson, clerk were on Apr. 30, 1787. The next page, {W. & P., I:
141), is occupied by a certificate of appointment of William Ogilvie as clerk of
the court of probates by Peter Ogilvie, judge of the court, dated May 1, 1787.
The last recorded session of the court in the city of New York was on May 22
1799, with Peter Ogilvie, judge; W. &■ P., 2: 194. The first proceeding taken
in Albany by the court was on June 13, 1799, before Leonard Gansevoort,
judge, with Peter Beeckman, clerk; W. & P., 2: 199. Peter Beeckman
continued to act as clerk until Feb. 17, 1804; W. & P., 2: 284.
^^Session Laws, I: 439. Fifth Session, Chap. 24, passed Mar. 26, 1782.
"The secretary of this State ****** to deliver up all such records and papers
now in his possession and custody as belong to the said court [of probates]
to the judge of the said court ***** together with the chests, trunks or boxes
in which they are contained."
Assembly Journal., 1777-8, p. 80. By resolution introduced in the senate
Mar. 23, 1778, the secretary of state and the county clerks were authorized to
put their records and papers "into strong and light Inclosures, sufficient to
exclude Rain," to be ready for instant removal in case of danger; a military
guard to be furnished if demanded. The Assembly concurred in this resolu-
tion, on March 24th.
^^N. Y. county wills, libers 33 and 36.
^''Session Laws, I: 719. Seventh Session, Chap. 50, passed May 10, 1784.
^^Session Laws, II: 233. Ninth Session, Chap. 27, passed Apr. 4, 1786.
^^Session Laws, II: 419. Tenth Session, Chap. 38, passed Feb. 20, 1787,
to take effect May 1, 1787. The law provided that surrogates should be
appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the council of
appointment. It specified the nature of the records to be kept; that original
wills may be returned. "And further that upon the death or removal from
office of any such surrogate the said seal and all original wills with all records,
books and papers belonging to the said office shall be delivered over to the
successor in office."
^^Session Laws, IV: 38. Twentieth Session, Chap. 31, passed Mar. 10,
1797.
^'The bill rendered for the removal of the treasurer's office was dated Apr.
2, 1799 and paid Apr. 30, 1799. The bill for the removal of the secretary's
office was dated June 27, 1799 and paid July 6, 1799. Dates obtained from
the original vouchers on file in the comptroller's office. Also see Assembly
Journal, 23rd Session, p. 27.
^^Session Laws, IV: 390. Twenty-second Session, Chap. 64.
^^The first constitution, adopted Apr. 20, 1777, Art. XII, divided the counties
of the State into four great districts, viz:
Southern. City and county of New York, Suffolk, Westchester, Kings,
Queens and Richmond.
Middle. Dutchess, Ulster, Orange.
Western. City and county of Albany, Tryon.
Eastern. Charlotte, Cumberland, Gloucester.
Cf. also Session Laws, 1791, Chap. IV.
'^Session Laws, 1802, p. 159. Chap. LXXXIII.
3»State of New York, Comptroller's Office. No. 363.
Pay to Peter Beekman, Clerk of the Court of Probates * * * * in full for
his account audited by me this day, for the expence of assorting and
removing of certain papers, books, minutes, records and documents from
the Office of the Court of Probates to the Surrogates Office of the City
and County of New York.
Dated, Albany, July 3, 1802. Elisha Jenkins, Compt'r
S199 25
Received Albany, July 3, 1802, $199.25
Peter Beeckman 1
116 ROYDEN WOODWARD VOSBURGH
State of New York, Comptroller's Office. No. 389.
Pay to Silvanus Miller ********** for his expences of assorting
and removing of certain papers, books, minutes, records and documents
from the Office of the Court of Probates to the Surrogates Office of the City
and County of New York. Dated, Albany, Aug. 27, 1802.
$105.00. Elisha Jenkins, Compt'r
Received Albany 27th. Aug. 1802, $105.
Silvanus Miller
Also see Assembly Journal, 26th Session, p. 23.
^^Session Laws, V: 147. Twenty-fourth Session, Chap. 77, passed Mar.
27, 1801.
^'Session Laws of 1813. Chap. LXXIX (R. L.), passed Apr. 8, 1813;
§VIII.
^^Session Laws oj 1823. Chap. LXX, passed Mar. 21, 1823. Constitution
of 1821, adopted Jan. 15-17, 1822, Art. IV, Sec. VII. "The governor shall
nominate, by message, in writing and with the consent of the senate, shall
appoint, all judicial officers, except justices of the peace."
^^Session Laws of 1829. Chap. 180, passed Apr. 18, 1829.
'^"Session Laws 0} 184J. Chap. 280, an act in relation to the judiciary,
passed May 12, 1847; see § §63 and 66.
^^Revised StattUes of State of N. Y., 1829. Vol. 2, pp. 222-3, to take eflEect
Jan. 1, 1830. Part III, Chap. II, Title I, §8.
^Session Laws oj 1847, II: 399. Constitution of 1846, adopted Nov. 3,
1846, Art. VI, §14.
^Session Laws of 1847. Chap. 276, passed May 12, 1847, §§ 2, 12, 13, 14.
"See calendar in Holland Society of N. Y. Year Book, 1900: 129-58.
^^The will of Pieter Jacobze Boorsbome was proved at a court of sessions
held for the city and county of Albany, on Mar. 4, 1686-7. From the original
draft for recording, indorsed "Peter Jacobse Boorsbome wiU 1687;" N. Y.
Surrogate's files of original wills, 1687. The will was probated Apr. 13,
1687. The will of Carsten Fredricksen was proved at the mayor's court,
Albany, Dec. 11, 1688; and probated before the prerogative court of New
England, at Boston, Feb. 28, 1688-9; Suffolk cotmty, Mass. probate registry,
liber 10: 523.
^^Albany county clerk's office. Notarial Papers I and //. Translated in
New York State Library, History Bulletin 10.
^''Ulster county, N. Y. probate records, Vol. I, edited by Gustave Anjou.
REVIEWS OF BOOKS
The Story of Chautauqua. By Jesse L. Hurlbut. (New-
York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1921. Pp. xxv, 429. Illustra-
tions and index.)
This is not the history of Chautauqua county, or of the town
of Chautauqua, or even of the village. It is the story of the
beginning and development of a great movement which originated
in the idea of starting a normal class for training Sunday school
teachers. It was from this at first somewhat limited conception
that Chautauqua became "a place, an idea, and a force."
Its ideal now is education for everybody, ever5Avhere and in
every department of knowledge.
In this volvime is unfolded in a most interesting way the story
of how the founders of Chautauqua, John Heyl Vincent and Lewis
Miller, joined forces, and adopted the idea of holding meetings,
like those of earlier "camp meetings," in the open air and far
from a great city. How this meeting place at Fair Point on Chau-
tauqua Lake in western New York virtually grew into a great
community for recreation and education is Mr. Hurlbut's nar-
rative.
The story of the addition of other activties such as the Chau-
tauqua Literary and Scientific Circle and of the School of Lan-
guages, of the establishment of the Chautauqua Institution and
even, for a time, of the University, of the creation of the Chau-
tauqua circuit of lecturers and of many minor educational in-
stitutions makes the reader realize why the name Chautauqua
has become the common word "chautauqua" in the EngHsh
language and is understood the world over as standing for an
idea.
Mr Hurlbut has not burdened his readers with documentary
details, but has aimed to tell his story in an entertaining fashion.
In this he has so far succeeded that one is loth to lay down the
volimie once he has taken it up. Any one who has ever been
117
118 REVIEWS OF BOOKS
to Chautauqua or benefited by the work of that great institu-
tion will read this book with pleasure, and others, who know
only the name, will be truly amazed at the almost miraculous
power for growth that the first idea had.
The Ratification oj the Federal Constitution by the State of New
York. By Clarence E. Miner, Ph.D. Volume xciv, number
3 of the Studies in History, Economics and Public Law of Co-
lumbia University. (New York : Longmans, Green and Company.
1921. Pp. 135.)
This study is one that has been long needed by students of
the history of New York State. It does for New York what
Samuel B. Harding did for Massachusetts in his Contest over the
Ratification of the Federal Constitution in the State of Massachu-
setts, published a quarter of a century ago. The author offers
an apology because he has given so little space to the actual rat-
ification and so much to several chapters which make clear the
struggle which took place in the convention at Poughkeepsie.
A criticism of the reader will probably be that the author has not
given enough to the debates over ratification in the convention,
but there is also too little given to making clear the reasons why
two-thirds of the members of the Convention (there were in all
sixty-five) were at the beginning hostile to ratification. For some
of the members there is considerable detail on the motives which
prompted their opposition, but for many others almost nothing
is given.
It is true that local material for a study of this kind is very
sparse, but researches in town records and local genealogies
frequently reveal reasons why family, industrial and commercial
antagonisms were carried into politics.
These, however, are sins of omission rather than commis-
sion, and as an accotmt of the line-up of political parties in
New York from 1783-1787, of the campaign of education con-
ducted by the parties in favor and against the adoption of the
Federal Constitution, of the struggle to control the Convention,
of the victory of the anti-FederaHsts led by Clinton, and of the
final conversion of Melancton Smith by Hamilton, it is excel-
lent. Had the author been so minded he might have drawn
a striking parallel between the debates in this convention and
REVIEWS OF BOOKS 119
those which took place a few years ago over the League of Na-
tions. The anti-Federalists used the same tactics as the oppo-
nents of the League. "Events merely possible," said Hamilton,
"have been magnified by distempered imagination into inevitable
realities; and the most distant and doubtful conjectures have
been formed into a serious and infallible prediction. In the
same spirit, the most fallacious calculations have been made,"
and much else in the same vein.
Melancton Smith in debating that clause of the constitution
which provided for submitting the accounts of the federal gov-
ernment to public inspection from "time to time" said that "from
time to time might mean from century to centiuy, or — in any
period of twenty or thirty years." He showed a type of mind
like that of many members of our recent Senate, but in one
respect he was their superior: he was broad minded enough to
be convinced of his error.
Henry Hudson s Reize onder Nederlandsche Vlag van Amster-
dam naar Nova Zembla, Amerika en terug naar Dartmouth in
Engeland, 1609, volgens het Journaal van Robert Juet. Uitge-
geven door S. P. L'Honore Naber. Met 4 kaarten en 3 platen.
Werken uitgegeven door de Linschoten-Vereeniging, xix. ('s-Gra-
venhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1921. Pp. xxii, xxix, 137.)
Hudson's third voyage, by which the Hudson river was first
fully made known to the civilized world, was orginally under-
taken in the interest of the Dutch East India Company with
a view of seeking a north-east passage through the polar region.
As such it forms part of the history of Dutch arctic exploration
and, apart from its main interest, deserves to be treated from
this peculiarly Dutch point of view in the publications of the
Linschoten Society.
As is well known, the only journal of Hudson's third voyage
that is known to exist is that kept by the English mate, Robert
Juet. This journal was first published in 1625, in Ptu-chas'
Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas His Pilgrimes; reprinted in 1809,
in the first volume of the Collections of the New York Historical
Society; then included in G. M. Asher's critical edition of Hudson's
four voyages printed in 1860 for the Hakluyt Society; and finally
reprinted in the new edition of Ptuchas' collection published at
120 REVIEWS OF BOOKS
Glasgow in 1905-7. Mr. L'Honore Naber has followed the slight-
ly modernized text of the Glasgow edition and added an excel-
lent Dutch translation, for the preparation of which his train-
ing as a naval officer and a thorough familiarity with Dutch
and English nautical terms gave him special qualifications.
In the introduction, the editor treats at length on the results
of Dutch arctic exploration between 1597 and 1608 and of the
views which Hudson and Plancius held in regard to the possibil-
ity of finding a north-west passage and which must have deter-
mined Hudson to turn about when he foimd the north-east pas-
sage blocked. In connection with this study the editor points
out the various bits of information which have come to light
since the publication by the Linschoten Society, in 1909, of the
voyage of Jan Comelisz May to the arctic ocean and the coast
of America in 1611-12, and, more particularly, some important
maps which were discovered by Dr. F. C. Wieder in connection
with his researches for I. N. P. Stokes' Iconography of Manhat-
tan Island. The appendix contains extracts from resolutions of
the Zeeland chamber of the Dutch East India Company, from
the correspondence of Ambassador Jeannin, from de Laet's and
van Meteren's histories, the Hessel Gerritsz tracts, and other
sources. Most of these extracts have heretofore appeared in
H. C. Murphy's Henry Hudson in Holland, published in 1859,
and reprinted at The Hague in 1909, but a few new items have
been added and other extracts have been given at greater length.
V. L.
Base Hospital No. q A. E. F. A History of the Work of the New
York Hospital Unit During Two Years of Active Service. By
the Padre [Raymond S.Brown.] (New York. Privately, printed.
1920, Pp. 221. Illustrations.)
This is the kind of work we should have more of. To many
it will come as a surprise to learn that long before the World
War, and certainly, before we entered it, provision had been
made by an act of Congress (1912) by which base hospital units
could be organized. This plan consisted in having each one of
our large civil hospitals organize their forces into a nucleus
round which a larger organization could be formed. "By June
REVIEWS OF BOOKS 121
15th, 1916, the organization [of this New York Hospital] was
effected and became subject to call by the War Department."
The story of the war work of the hospital is then told from
the time of leaving New York on the Finland, August 7, 1917,
to the return to Newport News April 27, 1919, and the discharge
of the organization from service at Camp Upton, May 5, 1919.
The narrative is followed by several tables of statistics on cases
admitted and treated, laboratory equipment, et cetera.
Chaplain Brown has told his story in an interesting fashion.
Perhaps the best chapters, if any are to be termed such more
than any others, are those devoted to the orthopedic work,
to reconstruction activities and to the simple and brief tribute
to the American soldier.
All told New York State had nine base hospitals in the war
(Nos. 1, 3, 8, 9, 15, 19, 23, 33, 48). Number 19, from Rochester
has also had its story told by Dr. John M. Swan. A review of
his book will appear in the next issue of this Journal. We
ought, however to have accoimts from each of the nine.
J. S.
/^ The Seventy -Fir St New York in the World War. Compiled by
Robert Stewart Sutliffe, Regimental Historian. (No place:
Privately published. 1922. Pp.. xi, 522. Illustrations and
maps.)
The 69th Regiment of the New York National Guard was
kept as a unit and entered the World War as the 165th Infantry
of the 42d Division, but in the case of the 71st Regiment of the
New York National Guard it was different. This was disinte-
grated and its members served by transfer, enlistment or com-
mission in over 300 different organizations of the army, navy and
marine corps. These are listed in the beginning of the volimie.
Scattered through so many units the history of the 71st would
be a history of virtually the whole of the American army in the
World War. The compiler evidently realized this and as a sub-
stitute he has had certain members of the 71st write chapters on
the imits with which they were connected. This volume there-
fore represents a sort of composite — a series of pictures without
close correlation. Among these separate stories one of the most
interesting is that by Captain Maslin and entitled "To the
122 REVIEWS OF BOOKS
Hindenburg Line and Through the Hospitals." Two chapters,
"Training the 27th Division for War" and "Battles of the 27th
Division" are taken by permission from General O 'Ryan's book
"The Story of the 27th Division."
In addition to these chapters there are some on "Commen-
dations," "Killed and Died of Wounds, Accident and Disease,"
"Wounded," "Decorations and Citations," "Individual Records
of Officers and Enlisted Men."
The volume is thus made of up a series of entertaining chapters
and is at the same time a useful work of reference. If our other
National Guard units in New York State were to follow this
example in publishing their histories we should have a set of vol-
umes of interest and utility.
J. S.
Yonkers in the World War, Compiled by a Committee, P. F.
Harrington, Chairman (Norwood, Mass : Plimpton Press. 1922.
Pp. ix, 139. Illustrations.)
Up to the present time this volume is probably the best bal-
anced history of the participation of any of our cities in the World
War. In this review it is impossible to enumerate all of the
activities of Yonkers in the War. The list is very imposing.
It is difficult to discover any one side of war activities which is
not represented. Here we find an accoimt of the part played by
the 27th and 77th Divisions, by Company G of the 10th Infantry
of the New York State National Guard, Yonkers men in the Navy,
the activities of various organizations of veterans, of the schools,
of auxiliary and patriotic organizations, the church, the indus-
trial establishments et cetera. To supplement all this there are
provided a chronology of events in Yonkers during the War,
honor rolls of soldiers and various war workers. One of the
pages is devoted to an illustration of the beautiful permanent
War Memorial which the City of Yonkers has erected.
No one can lay down this volume without a sense of its com-
pleteness and a feeling of gratification that the city has done
herself proud not only in what she did but in the steps she has
taken to preserve her history.
J. S.
NOTES AND QUERIES
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES AND CLUBS
At the annual meeting of the Oneida Historical Society on
January 9, 1922, Frederick T. Proctor was chosen president
and William N. Storr corresponding secretary.
The Rochester Historical Society held a meeting on January
9, 1922, at which H. Emerson Babcock read a paper on "Tryon
City and Vicinity," a story of a lost city.
The New York City Chapter of the Daughters of the American
Revolution held their annual reception at the Hotel Plaza, New
York City on the anniversary of the wedding day of George
Washington and Martha Custis. Dr. James Sullivan, the New
York State Historian spoke on "George Washington and His
Times."
At a meeting of the local chapter of the D. A. R. at Schoharie
in January, 1922, Lyman Holmes read a paper on the "Captors
of Andre," in refutation of an article by George S. Bryan in the
September, 1921, number of The Mentor.
The Onondaga Historical Society observed its sixtieth anni-
versary on January 13, 1922. An exhibition of old views of
S37racuse was given.
The National Historical Association met in New York City
on January 29, 1922, to celebrate the 185th anniversary of the
birth of Thomas Paine. It has purchased the old Paine home
in Bleecker street and intends to convert it into a school and
club house. It has petitioned the Board of Aldermen to change
the name of Barrow street to Reason Street.
On February 7, 1922, Dr. A. H. Shearer addressed the Oneida
Historical Society on "Folk Lore of History."
At the meeting of the Irondequoit Chapter of the D. A. R.
in Rochester on February 1, 1922, Miss Bertha Coleman spoke
of the neglect of New York State history.
The Rochester Historical Society at its February, 1922, meet-
ing had an address by Judge Lockwood R. Doty on the "Gene-
see Country Historical Federation."
123
124 NOTES AND QUERIES
The Onondaga Historical Society is urging the newspapers
and city officials of Syracuse to take measures to have a suitable
celebration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the incorporation
of the city on December 14, 1922.
Before the New Century Club of Utica in February, 1922,
Mrs. Charlotte A. Pitcher gave an address on George Washing-
ton's visit to that vicinity.
The Schenectady County Historical Society during the year
1920, received from the Board of Supervisors the sum of $300
for the proper care and maintenance of the old coimty building
which it now occupies.
The Patterson Chapter (Westfield, New York) of the D. A. R.
has been in the practice of giving prizes to high school
students for the best essay on a historical subject. This year
it gave an additional prize. The chapter also presented a dark
blue silk banner lettered in gold to the John W. Rogers Post of
the American Legion.
Willard's Mountain Chapter (Greenwich, New York) of the
D. A. R. has had meetings this year on county history by towns.
The chapter has collected 256 World War records for the Town
Historian and intends to give four prizes to pupils of the eighth
grade who pass the best examination in United States History.
This list for twenty-foiu- years now contains 42 names. Truly
a wonderful record.
At the annual meeting of the Minnesota Historical Society
for 1921, papers were read on "The Historical Work of Heredi-
tary and Patriotic Societies" by Willoughby M. Babcock, jr.;
"The Field for Local and Special Historical Societies," by
R. W. G. Vail.
PUBLICATIONS, BOOKS, ARTICLES, MANUSCRIPTS.
The Greatest American, Alexander Hamilton is the title of a
book by A. H. Vandenberg published by G. P. Putnam's Sons.
The Rochester Post Express in its issue of January 11, 1922,
began a series of articles on the pioneer settlers of Western
New York.
The Watertown Standard in its Saturday issues has been carry-
ing articles on local history.
M s
NOTES AND QUERIES 125
The Albany Knickerbocker Press in its issue of January 22,
1922, has an article on Robert Flint and the Five Fighting Flints
of the Colonial and Revolutionary Wars.
In the Proceedings of the Third Annual Conference on Indiana
History for 1922, published by the Indiana Historical Com-
mission are articles on The Local Library-A Center for Historical
Material; Kinds of Material to be Preserved for Historical Pur-
poses; The Value and Importance of Historical Markers; The
Writing of Family Histories; The Local Pioneer as seen through
Local Pioneer Laws; The Possibilities of Historical Pilgrimages.
The Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress has
received typewritten copies of the correspondence of Colonel
Nicholas Fish (of New York State) 1785-1786.
Theodore Roosevelt and his Times: a Chronicle of the Progressive
Movement is the title of a voliune by Harold Howland which
appears as volumne xlvii, of the Chronicles of America series
published by the Yale University Press.
The January, 1922, number of The Yale Review contains many
letters of James Fenimore Cooper, edited by his grandson James
Femimore Cooper of Albany.
Rural New York by E. 0. Fippin (Macmillan Company, New
York, 1921) contains an interesting survey of this field.
In the Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine for
January, 1922, there is an article by Major Edwin N. McClellan
U. S. M. C. entitled: Continental Marine Officers of the American
Revolution. There are also accoimts of the proceedings of Quas-
saick Chapter (Newburg, New York) and of the Patterson
Chapter (Westfield, New York).
The Hero of the Longhouse is the title of a book by Mary E.
Laing giving the story of Hiawatha and the Iroquois in New
York. (Pubhshed by the World Book Company, Yonkers.)
The Edison Monthly for March 1922, has a most effective illus-
tration of the Poe cottage in upper New York City.
In Museum Work for December 1920, Frank H. Severance has
an article entitled: The Small Historical Museum.
Guide to the County Archives of California is the title of a book
written by Owen C. Coy and published by the California His-
torical Survey Commission.
126 NOTES AND QUERIES
In the February — May 1921, number of the Minnesota His-
tory Bulletin is an article on The Microscopic Method Applied to
History by Joseph Schafer which is a description of the so-called
"Wisconsin Domesday Book." which he is making.
In the Publications of IdeAmerican Jewish Historical Society,
niimber 28, published in h22, there are several items connected
with New York State history : Receipt Book of Judah and Moses
M. Hays, 1763-1776; An Early New York Legal Document,
(1711 in the Mayor's Court); A New York Jewish Silversmith of
the Eighteenth Century; Three Early Letters, 1769-1782, (all address-
ed to Moses M. Hays).
The Indiana Magazine of History for March 1922, has an
article on Jesse Kimball — Pioneer, who in early life lived in
New York State and owned property in Montgomery County
before he migrated to the West.
The Magazine of American History for October, 1921, pays a
tribute to William L. Stone for the love of historical accuracy
which he showed when getting together the models for the bas-
reliefs placed in the Saratoga Battle Monument at Schuyler-
ville, and contrasts it with the carelessness displayed by sculptors
and artists generally.
The Year Book of the Holland Society of New York, igzo-igzi,
contains an address by Josephus Daniels on the early Ameri-
can and Dutch relations and the part the latter played in the
struggle for liberty; an address by Edgar F. Romig on the part
played by the Dutch in the Pilgrim migration; an address by
Samuel P. Orth on the "American Pioneer."
In Famous Colonial Houses by Paul M. Hollister (McKay
Company, Philadelphia) are described two houses in New York
State: the Jtimel Mansion in New York City and the Kendall
House at Dobbs Ferry.
A pamphlet entitled History of the Reformed Protestant Dutch
Church at Wawarsing, Ulster County N. Y., by R. W. Vosburgh
has been issued by the New York Genealogical and Biographical
Society.
In The New York Historical Society Quarterly Bulletin for Jan-
uary, 1922, appear engravings sho^Aring Broadway in 1816, looking
ncirth from VeSey street, and Broadway in 1841, ffom Grand
NOTES AND QUERIES 127
to Howard streets. The latter is taken from a model in the pos-
session of the Society. There are also articles on The American
Army Button of the War of the Am rican Revolution by W. L.
Calver; on the DePeyster Family Papers, containing some 1754
manuscripts ranging in date from 1682-1827; Trinity Church
Records; a Benedict Arnold Relic; and the concluding installment
of William Kelby's Notes on American Artists. This latter series
of articles is to be printed separately in book form.
In State Service for January-February, 1922, is an article on
Henry J. Coggeshall, Oldtime Senate Leader by G. G. and J. S.
Casey. In the March-April number an article is entitled De-
stroying the Graves of Pioneers by Helen G. M. Boomhower and
two by James Sullivan, entitled To Improve the Bennington Battle-
field Site and History of New York State's Part in the World War.
The Mississippi Valley Historical Review for March, 1922, has
an article by A. H. Buffington on The Policy of Albany and Eng-
lish Westward Expansion.
In the Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society for Jan-
uary, 1922, is an article on The Stirling Baronetcy Patents and
General William Alexander' s Claim. There are some interesting
notes on "No. 1 Broadway and Its History;" "The Origin of Rip
Van Winkle." In a diary written by William Johnson and entitled
A Young Mans Journal of i8oo-i8ij, there are numerous refer-
ences to people in New York City.
Another book on Theodore Roosevelt has appeared by Herman
Hagedorn entitled Roosevelt in the Bad Lands, published by
Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
The Indiana Historical Commission has published Bulletin
14 entitled Historical Markers in Indiana, Indianapolis, 1922.
The Political Science Quarterly for December, 1921, has an article
by George W. Edwards entitled New York City Politics Before
the American Revolution.
The Port of New York, by Thomas E' Rush (Doubleday, Page
and Company, 1920) gives much space to the history of the port
as well as to its present day condition.
In the Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine for
February, 1922, J. C. Fitzpatrick, in an article entitled The Story
of the Purple Heart, gives an account of the destruction of Fort
128 NOTES AND QUERIES
George and fFort Slongo on Long Island by American raiders
from the Connecticut shore. T. T. Belote's articles on Naval
War Medals are continued. Interesting accounts of the activities
of the New Rochelle, Deborah Champion (Adams, N. Y.), Wom-
en of "76" (Brooklyn, N. Y.), and Ondawa-Cambridge (N. Y.)
chapters are given. The latter on August 25, 1921, unveiled a
bronze tablet bearing the following inscription: "Site of the
Checkered House built by Major James Cowden 1765, Baum's
Headquarters Aug, 13, 1777, Continental Hospital August 18,
1777. Erected by Ondawa-Cambridge Chapter, D. A. R., 1921."
An illustration of it is given.
History of Rafting on the Delaware is the title of a paper read
before the Minisiiik Valley Historical Society by William Heidt,
jr., February 22, 1921, and now published as a separate pamphlet
by that Society.
In the Iowa Journal of History and Politics for January, 1922,
is the third installment of L. B. Schmidt's articles entitled The
Internal Grain Trade of the United States. i86o-i8go. The part
played by the Erie Canal is covered in this work.
MUSEUMS, HISTORIC MONUMENTS AND REMAINS
The old Putnam cemetery at Saratoga Springs has been re-
claimed from the state of neglect in which it has fallen and has
been rededicated with appropriate exercises. Many graves of
Revolutionary soldiers are to be found there. In 1876 Cornelius
E. Durkee deciphered the inscriptions and filed a list with the
State Library at Albany.
At the last session of the New York State Legislature $4000
was appropriated to build roads and make repairs to the house in
the State Park at Bennington Battlefield.
In the March 1922, number of the Daughters of the American
Revolution Magazine is a report from the Saratoga Chapter
(Saratoga Springs) which tells of the bill in Congress for the
survey of the battlefield of Saratoga and which also gives an
account of the location of twenty Revolutionary graves.
At its meeting on February 13, 1922, the Rochester Historical
Society endorsed the proposal of the Buffalo Chapter of the
NOTES AND QUERIES 129
D. A. R. to have the State Legislature take steps to have Fort
Niagara resto red .
WORLD WAR MEMORIALS AND COLLECTIONS
The Committee on Memorial Building of the American Legion
of Oneida Coiuity in 1920, petitioned the Board of Supervisors
to erect a building as the most suitable memorial to those who
served from the county in the World War.
The total number of hero dead from New York State in the
World War as compiled by the Adjutant General's office at Albany
reaches 12,276. Of these 9,196 were killed overseas and 3,080
died of other causes. By counties they are as follows: Al-
bany, 192; Alleghany, 47; Broome, 128; Cattaraugus, 77;
Cayuga, 72; Chautauqua, 136; Chemung, 83; Chenango, 39;
Clinton, 57; Columbia, 50; Cortland, 28; Delaware, 54; Dutch-
ess, 100; Erie, 711; Essex, 44; Franklin, 61; Fulton, 36; Gene-
see, 43; Greene, 42; Hamilton, 6; Herkimer, 90; Jefferson, 110;
Lewis, 24; Livingston, 37; Madison, 45; Monroe, 374; Mont-
gomery, 70; Nassau, 168; New York City, 6,644; Niagara, 181;
Oneida, 204; Onondaga, 282; Ontario, 75; Orange, 156; Orleans,
35; Oswego, 82; Otsego, 68; Putnam, 13; Rensselaer, 169; Rock-
land, 58; St Lawrence, 100; Saratoga, 60; Schenectady, 113;
Schoharie, 11; Schuyler, 11; Seneca, 32; Steuben, 80; Suffolk,
121; Sullivan, 44; Tioga, 22; Tompkins, 32; Ulster, 112; Warren,
42; Washington, 50; Wayne, 48; Westchester, 400; Wyoming, 29;
Yates, 24; residence in state not known, 54. Of the total nimi-
ber mentioned above 1400 were in the navy and marine corps.
By counties they are as follows: Albany coimty,21; Alleghany,
2; Broome, 15; Cattaraugus, 11; Cayuga, 12; Chautauqua,
10; Chemung, 11; Chenango, 5; Clinton, 1; Columbia, 3; Cort-
land, 3; Delaware, 4; Dutchess, 6; Erie, 104; Essex, 2; Frank-
lin, 4; Fulton, 7; Genesee, 7; Greene, 3; Herkimer, 7; Jefferson,
6; Lewis, 3; Livingston, 10; Monroe, 63; Madison, 6; Mont-
gomery, 6; Nassau, 12; New York City, 720; Niagara, 22; Oneida,
31; Onondaga, 28; Ontario, 6; Orange, 14; Orleans, 5; Oswego, 6;
Otsego, 6; Putnam, 2; Rensselaer, 26; Rockland, 4; St Lawrence,
6; Saratoga, 8; Schenectady, 13; Schoharie, 4; Seneca, 6 ; Steuben,
130 NOTES AND QUERIES
17; Suffolk, 25; Sullivan, 4; Tioga, 2; Tompkins, 3; Ulster, 8;
Warren, 6; Washington, 8; Wayne, 7; Westchester, 58; Wyoming,
3; residence in state not shown ,8.
America in the World War is the title of a book by Colonel P. S.
Bond and Colonel CO. Sherrill, published by the George Banta
Publishing Company of Menasha, Wisconsin,
Memoirs of the Harvard Dead in the War Against Germany by
M. A. De Wolfe Howe has been published by the Harvard Univer-
sity Press at Cambridge, Massachusetts. Many of these men
were from New York State.
Mr. E. R. Foreman, City Historian of Rochester called a meet-
ing of all the local historians of Monroe County on February
17, 1922. They met in the rooms of the Rochester Historical
Society in Exposition Park and organized the Monroe County
Historical Commission. Edward C. Hanna, supervisor of the
sixth ward of Rochester was chosen chairman and H. C. Brainard,
local historian of Ogden and Spencerport, secretary.
The Jefferson County Board of Supervisors have erected a
tablet in the County Building as a memorial to those from
the county who gave their lives for their country in the World
War. A picture of the tablet and the address delivered on the
occasion of its dedication appear in the 1921 Proceedings of the
Board of Supervisors.
In The Missouri Historical Review for January 1922, is an
illustration of the montmient which is to be erected in France to
the memory of the soldiers of Missouri that perished in the World
War.
The pamphlet entitled Reports of the President and Secretary
of the Buffalo Historical Society for the year 1921, is a compen-
dium of the history of Buffalo for that period under such titles
as "Military Honors to Buffalo's Heroes;" "Anniversaries Cele-
brated;" "Transactions and Events in the Year 1921;" "Buffalo-
nians Honored by the French Government;" "Distinguished
Visitors;" "Biiffalonians who Died in 1921;" and many others.
History of the 3 2 2d Field Artillery. (Yale University Press,
New Haven) is the title of an interesting story of this unit. Though
composed almost entirely of Ohio men it was commanded by
NOTES AND QUERIES 131
Colonel A. B. Warfield who was born in Prattsburg, Steuben
County, New York.
Battlefields of the World War: A Study in Military Geography,
is the title of a book by Douglas Wilson Johnson published by
the American Geographical Society in 1921. (New York City.)
In volume xv of a publication entitled The Medical Depart-
ment of the United States Army in the World War appear some
very interesting statistics about New York State troops.
STATEMENT
Statement of Ownership, Management, Circulation, etc., required by the
Act of Congress of August 24, 1912, of the Quarterly Journal of the New
York State Historical Association, published quarterly at Albany, N, Y.,
for April 1, 1922. State of New York, County of Albany. Before me, a
Notary Public, in and for the State and County aforesaid, personally appear-
ed James Sullivan, who, having been duly sworn according to law, deposes and
says that he is the Editor of the Quarterly Journal of the New York State
Historical Association, and that the following is, to the best of his knowledge
and belief, a true statement of the ownership, management, etc., of the
aforesaid publication for the date shown in the above caption, required by
the Act of August 24, 1912. 1. PubHsher, New York State Historical Associ-
ation, Editor and Managing Editor, James Sullivan, Albany, N. Y. Business
Manager, none. 2. That the owners are: The New York State Historical
Association and issues no stock; officers are Gilbert D. B. Hasbrouck, Kings-
ton, President; F. H. Severance, Buffalo, First Vice-President; James G.
Riggs, Oswego, Second Vice-President; James Sullivan, Albany, Corre-
sponding Secretary; Frederick Richards, Glens Falls, Recording Secretary
and Treasurer. 3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees and other secur-
ity holders owning or holding 1 per cent, or more of total amount of bonds,
mortgages, or other securities are: None. Signed, James Sullivan, Editor.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 24th day of March, 1922. (Seal)
Herbert J. Hamilton, Notary Public. (My commission expires Match 30,
1924.)
The
Quarterly Journal
of the
New York State Historieal
Association
Volume in July 1922 Number 3
Entered as second class mail imatter October 22, 1919, at the Post Office at Albany, New York
under the Act o£ August 24, 1912.
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Quarterly Journal
Editorial Committee
JAMES SULLIVAN, Managing Editor
DIXON R. FOX FREDERICK B. RICHARDS
CONTENTS
HISTORY OF THE REGULATION OF PUBLIC SERVICE
CORPORATIONS IN NEW YORK
Martin S. Decker 133
THE HISTORY OF FORT TICONDEROGA
----- Helen Ives Gilchrist 147
WOMEN OF NEW YORK STATE IN THE REVOLUTION
------ Amelia Day Campbell 155
ANXIOUS MOMENTS IN FRONTIER HISTORY
R. Bruce Taylor 169
REVIEWS OF BOOKS 179
Perry, The Plattsburg Movement; Slattery, David Hum-
mel Greer; Ingraham, Washington Irving and Other
Essays; , The World War, Selective Service in
the County oj Albany in the State of Nevu York.
NOTES AND QUERIES 183
Subscription Price SI .50 Single Nombers 40 centa
Address all contributions and communications to
New York State Historical Association, Albany
VOL. III. JULY 1922 NO. 3.
1 he (Quarterly J ournal
of the New York State Historical Association
HISTORY OF THE REGULATION OF PUBLIC
SERVICE CORPORATIONS IN
NEW YORKi
We are living in a time of detailed and minute, even meticulous
regulation of railroad, gas, electric, telephone and telegraph
corporations in the State of New York. The present regulating
statutes also include auto-bus coaches. From an ineffective
Railroad Commission Law passed in 1882, conferring generally
only powers of recommendation, and a commission of gas and
electricity law passed in 1905, vesting only a few actual powers in
that Corn-mission, we proceed in 1907 to a comprehensive State
schem-e of regulation known as the Hughes Public Service Com-
missions Law, which at once became recognized as an effective
statutory plan for the regulation of railroads, gas and electricity.
Later this plan was enlarged to take in the telephone and tele-
graph in 1910, and steam corporations were brought under the law
in 1913.
During the Hughes administration from 1907 to 1910, political
considerations had no weight and had no part in the appointment
of the commissioners. In all of the succeeding administrations
political considerations have swayed and often controlled the
selection of the commissioners. With few exceptions however,
the appointees since 1910 to both the New York City or First
Commission and the up-State or Second District Commission
have been able men. The great mistake m.ade in the system of
appointm.ent of the members of these Comjrdssions, who had
thoroughly demonstrated their efficiency, and who by previous
service in the position had become through their experience in
administration of the laws of ver\' great service to the State and the
lAn Address delivered at the Lake George meeting of the New York State
Historical Association, October 4, 1921. Mr. Martin Decker the author of
this paper died July 1, 1922.
134 MARTIN 5. DECKER
people at large, and in fact had become public officer assets in a
very real sense, is that they were discarded and their service
qualifications disregarded, in order to satisfy the forceful demand
for political patronage in each of the existing administrations.
No new incumbent of the office can reach full efficiency without
an experience of two or three years.
This mistake was committed after 1910 both by Democratic
and Republican administrations. These appointments upon
political grounds have been deplored by all men having real in-
terest in the ftdlest efficiency of Public Service regulation. It is
a course directly opposed to the appointment policy which was
established by Governor Hughes. It has justified the fears of
those who opposed the enactment of the Hughes Public Service
Commissions Law in 1907 and who asserted that politics sooner
or later would govern or dictate the appointments to these Com-
missions. Those fears were expressed because the old Board of
Railroad Commissioners had become notoriously, as to its mem-
bership, the football of politics. For that reason doubtless, in
the make up of his appointments to the Commissions, Governor
Hughes rejected the name of any member of that Board for
designation upon either of the two new Commissions.
In 1921 amiendments were made to the Public Service Commis-
sions Law which consolidated the two Commissions into a single
Public Service Commission, and greatly expanded the powers
theretofore conferred by law. In making his appointments to the
Commission, the Governor passed over the evident qualifications
of members of the former Second District Commission who had
fully demonstrated their fitness and efficiency. This change
took place no longer ago than last April. The appointees to the
new Commission were all men without experience as commissioners,
although one of them had had some experience upon the legal staff
of a fonner First District Commission. The present members
of the Commission are all of the same political party. For a
short time in the administration of a Democratic Governor, the
members of the Second District Commisssion all belonged to the
Democratic party. All this is said, of course, with no intention to
detract from any effective work that has been or may be mani-
fested by the Commission, but no statement of Public Service
regulation in this State should omit reference to the manner of
REGULATION OF PUBLIC SERVICE 135
selecting the commissioners charged with administration of the
Public Service laws. It should be evident that the methods of
appointment of these various commissioners during all of the past
eleven years have not been such as to command complete con-
fidence on the part of the public or the affected corporations.
Whatever good results have been achieved have been in spite of
those methods. It is impossible to view the change made in the
First District Commission during the last Democratic adminis-
tration, so far as the membership of the Commission was con-
cerned, without coming to the conclusion that one of the prime
motives of the change was to effect what is commonly termed
"ripper legislation" — in other words to take over the offices with a
view to filling them with members of a particular political party.
The effect of the membership changes in 1921, in a sense, was the
same. Plainly the law coiild have been amended without abolish-
ing the First District Commission in 1919 and without completely
abolishing the Second District Commission in 1921. Under the
precedents so set, in the event of a change of administration from
one political party to another, no member of the new Public
Service Commission can confidently rely upon being permitted to
serve out his term of office, for the temptation to take possession of
these high salaried offices for the purposes of political patronage
will be irresistible in the future as it has been in the past. In-
stead of the present statutory ten year term, the term of office is
likely to be confined to the duration of the present political party
in power. The conditions do not engender optimism in the dis-
passionate observer as to the early creation of ideal situations in the
regulation of public utiHties in this State.
If these commissioners coiild be made constitutional officers, as
are judges of the Supreme Court, and if by amendment the Consti-
tution could be made to provide that not more than a majority of
the commissioners may be of the same political party, as is the rule
for appointments to the Interstate Commerce Commission, most
of the incentive to make political appointments to the State com-
mission would disappear. A separate amendment to the con-
stitution of this character should be proposed by the legislature.
The new Commission of course is on trial; they are men of
real ability; they are doing their best to complete an effective
office reorganization; they are conducting their hearings with a
136 MARTIN S. DECKER
view to a complete record of all essential facts. The few im-
portant decisions which they have rendered thus far have not
ignored the public conception of fair determination. It is to be
hoped that the tenor of their future determinations will continue
the record m.ade by the former Second District Commission of
fearless fair treatment of the public service corporations and the
people they serve.
The powers of the new Commission relate to authorization to
companies to do business as a public necessity; to construction of
plants, roads and lines ; to capitalization, rates, service accounts,
annual and periodic reports, improvements and extensions, re-
organizations, transfer of corporate property used in public service,
suspension of increased rates, issuance of temporary rate orders,
accident investigations, and numerous other matters. In all
these proceedings the burden of proof is upon the corporations.
The amendments of 1921, though condemned strongly by various
daily newspapers as in favor of the corporations, really increased
the burdens of regulation upon the corporations. It has been
said that the power to grant temporary rate increases favors the
corporation, but the exercise of that power is limited to the purpose
of necessity in the public interest by providing safe, adequate and
efficient service, or for preservation of the property. The only
concession to the corporations contained in the new law, as com-
pared with the former law, is found in the amendment giving the
Corn-mission the power to fix a rate notwithstanding a lower rate
has been fixed by statute or as a condition in a local franchise.
This change in the regulating statute has been found necessary to
enable the Commission to take into account and give effect to
conditions that have arisen long after the statutory maximum
rate may have been prescribed by the legislature and long after
the local franchise containing a rate restriction may have been
granted.
The new law of 1921 also establishes a Transit Commission for
New York City, having charge of transportation within the city
of New York, including subways and subway construction. It
has large and complete powers. The Transit Commission feature
of the law is being bitterly opposed by factions representing both
political parties in New York City, particularly with reference to
the desired continuance of the present five cent faie in the subways
REGULATION OF PUBLIC SERVICE 137
and over the surface and elevated lines. Both parties appear to
be demanding "home rule" as against State regulation. There is
no room for doubt of the supreme authority of the State to es-
tablish regulations embracing the powers and duties conferred
upon the Transit Commission. The State authority has been
frequently upheld by the coiirts. The objections to the vested
jurisdiction of the Transit Commission appear to arise largely
from the New York City political situation and the mayoralty
campaign which is now pending. The Transit Commission has
just published a proposed plan of Municipal ownership of all
local railroad transportation utilities in New York City.
In 1920, after restoration by the Federal Government of the
railroads to their owners, numerous amendments were added by
Congress to the Interstate Commerce Act, among them full and
exclusive powers over railroad capitalization by the Interstate
Coinmerce ComJmssion, and also provisions imder which the
Interstate Commerce Commission, in August 1920 asserted juris-
diction over railroad rates on traffic carried wholly within the
State. That jurisdiction has been upheld by some of the Federal
Circuit Courts and also to some extent by our own State courts.
If this assertion of Federal jurisdiction over purely state traffic
shaU be finally upheld by the United States Supreme Court,
centralization of regulating powers in the Federal Government
will become practically complete. This centralization of regu-
lating powers has been earnestly advocated by nearly all railroad
managers. Nevertheless, in view of the present minute regulation
imposed upon the railroads under the Interstste Commerce Act,
and with considerable discontent on the part of railway executives
even now being manifested, it is possible that the pendulum of
railroad opinion and much of public opinion will soon swing back
to an advocacy of modified State regulation of state traffic and
state rates. It is also possible that the situation will be clarified
legislatively by Congress through modification of the Federal
regulating statute so that state supervision overstate railroad rates
will become definitely restored. Under present conditions, the
states may be said to retain only incidental powers of regulation
over railroad service within the states and so far as rates and cap-
italization are concerned the powers of the State Commission have
no practical force. The authority of our State Commission is
138 MARTIN S. DECKER
therefore largely limited in respect to railroads, to the electric,
street and interurban systems which operate wholly within the
borders of the State.
A detailed account of the provisions of law authorizing con-
struction of railroads and other public utilities in the State of
New York and the statutory provisions governing the formation
of the corporations, as enacted from time to time, while possibly
valuable and interesting as a record of formal action reqmred by
statute, would hardly constitute a desirable division under the
title of this paper, and it would also unduly prolong its length to an
extent likely to prove wearisome.
Legislation for the specific regulation of water companies has
been several times proposed and urged, but those companies are
still free from state commission control of their rates or capitali-
zation.
Railroads were first made the subject of regulation in the State
of New York by enactment of a law constituting a Board of Rail-
road Conr-inissioners in 1855, but this was found in that early
time to be an inconvenient interference with railroad plans, and
so the roads paid the commissioners the full amount of their
salaries for the term for which they were appointed, ($25,000) to
silence their opposition, and then procured the repeal in 1857
of the law creating the Commission. Another Board of Railroad
Commissioners was estabHshed in 1882. A Commission of Gas
and Electricity was established by law effective June 30, 1905
commonly known as the Gas and Electricity Act. As before
stated these two commissions were abolished and the acts creating
them repealed by the Public Service Commissions Law of 1907
effective July 1 of that year. In 1910, the jurisdiction of the
Second ccmjnonly known as the "up-State," Commission, was
extended to include the regulation for the whole State of tele-
phone and telegraph companies.
It is now necessary to give some account of the conditions
adversely affecting the public interest which impelled the State,
in the exercise of its sovereign power, to establish regulation by
com^mission of these various public utilities. To do this, we must
first attempt to describe the railroad operating conditions and
practices prior to the act of 1882 establishing the Board of Rail-
road Commissioners. These railroad operating conditions and
REGULATION OF PUBLIC SERVICE 139
practices are well stated in what is known as the "Hepburn Rail-
road Committee Report of 1879." This report bears the title,
"Report of the Special Committee on Railroads, Appointed Under
a Resolution of the Assembly, February 28, 1879, to Investigate
Alleged Abuses in the Management of Railroads Chartered by the
State of New York. ' ' That report, consisting of five large volumes,
was submitted by the Committee, January 22, 1880. The direc-
tion to the Committee in the resolution of February 28, 1879 was
"to report to the legislature, either at the present or the next
session, by bill or otherwise, what, if any, legislation is .necessary
to protect and extend the commercial and industrial interests of
the State."
This was the first legislative investigation to develop an ex-
haustive record of the numerous railroad abuses which had grown
up from an utterly reckless general disregard by railroad managers
of the obligations imposed by railroad charters and the simplest
concepts of duty arising from common public carriage, most of
which had been reasserted in judicial decisions applying the
common law. The Hepburn Committee report, attracting as it
did the widest public attention, became at once the basis of agitated
discussions in commercial circles, and it has ever since been re-
garded as a legislative classic. It really paved the way for and
constituted chiefly the basis of the almost immediate subsequent
investigations held by committees of Congress, both Senate and
House, from which developed finally the report of the United
States Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce of 1886,
covering railroad operations and practices throughout the whole
country, and containing the tremendous final indictment of rail-
road companies and managers which resulted in the passage in
February 1887 of the Federal act to regulate commerce and the
establishment of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
In these days of super-regulation of railroads by the Federal
Government, extending to prescription of rates, fares and charges
and almost every railroad practice, railroad service of all descrip-
tions, the supply of freight cars, safety appliances, wages of rail-
road employees, stock and bond issues, government credit to
refund railroad debts to the government arising out of Federal
railroad operation during the World War, and also loans to the
railroad companies from the United States Treastu-y — in these
140 MARTIN S. DECKER
days when railroad executives must bend supinely to dictation
from the Federal authorities, including even the suggestions of
action or non-action emanating from bureau chiefs — it is of pe-
culiar historical interest to note from the Hepburn committee
report of 1879 the reference to "Raihoad Kings" and the long
recital of special rates and other favors dispensed to particular
industries or great commercial enterprises by railroad traffic
managers who freely exercised the power to bestow prosperity or,
through favors withheld, inflict ruin upon shippers over their
railroads.
The following statements are taken from or based upon the
Hepburn Railroad Committee Report of 1879. One of the
paramount duties of the State is to provide means for the inter-
communication of its people and the exchange of commerce.
This was originally the turnpike; which continued as the only
means of inland communication until the ease and facility of
water communication suggested and brought forth the Erie
Canal, which did so much to promote the growth of the city of
New York. Another and grander advance was in store. The
railroad burst upon the scene. Crude and experimental, at first
distrusted by capitalists, it turned in its infancy to the State to
ask material support. The railroad was given every concession
by the legislature. It grew up under the fostering policy of the
State. Strengthened by bounty and armed with the power of
eminent domain, it extended its tracks until in 1878 the State
was grid-ironed by railroads, comprising within its limits, 5,550
miles and within the United States 81,841 miles. (The present
railroad mileage is about 8,300 miles in this State, and the total
United States railroad mileage is about 270,000.) Along these
iron rivers flow the currents of commerce that formerly sought an
outlet through the rivers of nature — these iron rivers that span
the country, toying with nature's obstacles as with a myth.
By 1879 the State had contributed in aid of the railroads
$8,000,000 in roimd numbers, and various localities in the State by
donation and investment in stocks and bonds, $31,000,000, for
which unwise action so many localities were suffering in 1879
and continued to suffer dining subsequent years.
REGULATION OF PUBLIC SERVICE 141
The great mistake was in not providing proper safeguards to
protect the pubHc interest and hold the roads to a strict accounta-
bihty for their transactions. Abuses crept in that were so glaring
in their proportions as to savor of fiction rather than actual history.
It was originally supposed that only passengers and not freight,
except in the most limited degree, coiild be carried by rail. Statu-
tory restrictions were accordingly thrown around the passenger
traffic. At first, the roads were forbidden to carry frieght in
opposition to the canal and later, when the railroads now forming
the New York Central were found to be carrying freight, they
were required to pay to the canal fund a simi equal to the tolls
exacted for a similar carriage by canal. This restriction how-
ever, was soon removed and the railroads were left to their own
management, practically unrestricted and imcontrolled as to
freight carriage.
The fast freight lines operating in the seventies and eighties
were very profitable. These were cooperative freight lines operat-
ing over railroads constituting through lines from the west. The
object of those organizations was to enable the through shipment
of goods to any point, however remote, without breaking bulk.
The Merchants' Dispatch, however, was a non-cooperative line.
It was partnership or an association with a capital of about
$3, 000, 000. It was owned chiefly by the New York Central and its
affiliated railroads, but about one tenth of the stock was owned
by individuals. It received mileage on its cars and commissions
on the freight which it handled ranging from five to fifteen per
cent of the freight charge. It paid dividends of about forty per
cent on the paid up capital. There was nothing to prevent all of
this stock finding its way into individual hands. The organiza-
tion was the subject of criticism by the committee and also of some
good railroad men as well.
Excessive mileage rates paid by the railroads for sleeping and
drawing room cars were also the subject of strong criticism. The
stock yard terminal facilities of the railroads were leased and con-
trolled by outside interests; and the whole cattle business of the
port of New York was pooled. The charges for yardage and
weighing and for feed were declared excessive and some of them
were admitted to be so. The grain elevator charges at Buffalo
were found to be unreasonable and excessive. The elevating at
142 MARTIN S. DECKER
port of Buffalo was pooled, and in this pool the railroads held the
controlling interest. The outrageous stock and bond watering
manipiilations of the Erie during the Fisk and Gould control and
the stock dividend m.ethods of increasing the capitalization of the
New York Central were brought out in the legislative record
shown to have been undefended, and were made the subject of
strong condemnation.
The railroads from time to time had established and revised
freight pools, but, also from time to time, discontented railroads
disregarded the pooling agreements. It was a period when rate
competition was still believed to be the only effective weapon of
success and was employed, often secretly, to secure tonnage in
excess of the road's pooling allotment in order to constitute the
basis of an increased allotment tmder a demanded revision. When
this dem-and would fail the open rate war usually followed. One
rate war forced Chicago-New York freight rates down frcm one
dollar to ten cents per hundred pounds. There was, as there still
is, great rivalr}^ between the ports of New York, Boston, Phila-
delphia, Baltimore and Norfolk, centering chiefly upon the export
trade. Agreements were made from time to time fixing differ-
ential rates for these ports, with New York rates taken as the
standard upon which to base the differentials. These differentials
have been several times revised and fixed by order of the Inter-
state Ccmmierce Comjnission, but they were then in 1879 and for
years afterwards only the result of temporary agreement be-
tween the railroads and they were actually departed from and
varied at the will of any railroad m.anager. The managers of the
railroad associations were always intensely anxious to preserve
the integrity and actual observance of these pooling agreements,
but they were always failing more less in their undertaking to
keep these wild railroad teams upon the straight road of contract
observance.
It required many years after the Hepburn Committee reported
in 1879, and many years of continuing, but generally futile, effort
on the part of the Interstate Commerce Commission, which
organized in 1887, to bring about actual stability in rates; and
this really did not result until rigid prohibition of departures from
published rates was enacted into Federal law in 1906. This all
embraced a period of about thirty years, during which many other
REGULATION OF PUBLIC SERVICE 143
changes were made in Federal regulating laws and were preparing
the way for the 1907 changes in our State law. At the beginning
of that thirty year period, that is to say, in the decades beginning
1870, the large shipping interests were able to secure or dictate
extremely low rates or extremely large rebates from open rates,
and have these favors confined to their shipments as against those
of smaller competitors. The petroleum oil interests received
special rates or rebates ranging from 40 cents to over $3 per barrel
of oil under agreements made with trunk line railroads, and they
not only received rebates upon their own shipments but upon those
of competing shippers.
The real business of the railroads was evidenced by memoranda
of freight rates carried in the pockets of division freight agents or
trafl5c managers, and the shipper who could offer the most tonnage
over a given period usually obtained the lowest rate. These
larger shippers were usually able to secure a plentiful supply of
freight cars, and even to arrange for the furnishing of only a small
number of cars, sometimes practically no cars, to their small
competitors. It was also a time when the railroad agents or
managers could and did discriminate in rates and facilities as
between the larger shippers. Generally speaking, the railroad
manager was a business dictator, dispensing prosperity with
royal favor, yet denying equality and even the right of equal
treatment to the great mass of shipments, in point of number,
throughout the land. These intolerable conditions were well
adapted to serve as the incubator of the great industrial trusts.
It was the time also when the railroads as corporations en-
gaged freely in politics. One prominent railroad man testified,
"In a Republican district I was a RepubHcan, in a Democratic
district I was a Democrat, in a doubtful district I was doubtful;
but I was always Erie." Free passes to passengers were freely
issued. On many trains out of Albany the use of tickets or cash
fares was exceptional. To such an extent was the legislative and
executive favor cultivated that conductors would sometimes say
to a ticket holder: "I am glad to find one man on this train who is
helping to pay my salary."
Notwithstanding the great ability displayed in the proceedings
and report of the Hepburn Railroad Committee of 1879 the recom-
mendations at the end of that report fell far short of the con-
144 MARTIN S. DECKER
ception of necessary regulation which we all had in 1906, after the
twenty years work of the Interstate Commerce Commission and
when the Public Service Commissions Law was first proposed.
The Hepburn Committee was frankly afraid that rigid supervision
and regulation might operate to drive industries from this State
into other states, where no such regulation had been established,
and that fear was assiduously cultivated by the railroad repre-
sentatives. The bill proposed by the Committee was so ineffec-
tive that the Commission's powers were to be only those of recom-
mendation, and even that bill was fought by the opposing interests
throughout the years 1880 and 1881, and it did not reach final
passage until 1882.
The various public service corporations, railroad, gas and elec-
tric, have passed through three periods: The first, during which
they were free from any regulation; the second, during which they
were subject only to ineffective and rarely applied regulation;
the third, during which they have been actually regulated under
effective Commission supervision, administration, and orders in
particular cases.
The railroads and the gas and electric corporations of today are
in no sense prosperous and many are upon the financial rocks.
The question has been frequently asked in recent years: "Is
public service regulation responsible for the poverty of public
service corporations?" One answer is that probably, though
no public service company executive would vote for the
complete repeal of all regulation, yet all public service company
executives would unanimously favor extensive modification of the
rigors of present regulation and regulation practices. There would
be a real measure of protection to the company in a modified
scheme of regulation. The answer so given is not satisfactory or
complete and the form of the question itself is probably too broad.
The railroads were prosperous up to 1914 but they were even
then preparing to ask approval of the Interstate Commerce Com-
mission to large freight rate advances, on account of actual and
threatened wage increases to their men. The resiilt of that
application was only a five per cent advance in rates. Later,
with increased wage payments to their men aggregating a large
sum, a 15% advance of freight rates was allowed. Then, with the
REGULATION OF PUBLIC SERVICE 145
war time operation by the government, there were numerous in-
creases in freight rates and passenger fares. Finally after the
damage from government operation was complete, and almost
to the point of financial wreckage, the roads were returned to the
companies with a heritage of enormous payroll increases. There
resulted then in 1920 the great 40% further advance in freight
rates, and to some extent an advance in passenger fares, under a
belated order of the Interstate Commerce Commission. The
large rate advance could have been much less if sufficient increases
had been permitted at the time of the first application.
The same conditions have been true of the electric railroads in
this State. With great increases in the cost of their labor and
material, due to the war, and with the continually increasing
competition of private and public automobiles, a general advance
should have been immediately permitted upon presentation of
complaints by the electric roads, and legislation to permit increases
of fare by the Commission over so-called local franchise rates
should have been passed.
What is said of the steam and electric railways applies also to
the gas and electric companies. The high cost of coal and oil
and labor during and after the war transformed the net incomes of
many of these companies into actual operating deficits, or only
small profits. At the same time the cost of borrowed capital
became greatly inflated, so that often ten or more per cent repre-
sented the net cost. It was never less than eight per cent during
that period, and that is about the present rate now for long time
loans. The market prices for first lien railroad and other utility
five per cent bonds often ranged below seventy per cent of par, at
times much lower.
The real fair answer to the question above stated appears to be
that the present poverty of regulated public service corporations
is due not so much to regulating laws as it is to the failure of the
Commissions to take full and timely account of all of the economic
exigencies pressing upon those utilities. It is fair to observe also
that the regulating bodies have been continually btirdened neces-
sarily with a strong sense of their responsibility to the general
public, and that this has doubtless been a potent restraining
influence in the formation of policies and resulting determinations
146 MARTIN S. DECKER
during the period of mounting costs from 1916 up to near the
middle of the present year.
As stated in the beginning, the present is the high tide period of
complete regulation applied through the agency of administrative
commissions to these public utilities. If it shall become manifest
that such complete regulating methods will result in more normal
cost periods in the denial of continuous fair returns upon the
capital invested in properties devoted to public service by such
corporations, the sense of justice ever present in true public
opinion will undoubtedly sanction and even demand the re-
vision and modification of those methods of regulation. The
force of real pubUc opinion rarely stops halfway. Unprofitable
public utilities, with their tremendous total property investment,
are a menace to the prosperity of the future. In the end, the
people must pay the bill in a service so faulty that all classes will
combine in protest and revolt.
Martin S. Decker
■'■'?^-,. .;' /
THE HISTORY OF FORT TICONDEROGA^
The history of Fort Ticonderoga is French, English, and, most
of all, American history. Indeed, this promontory has been the
scene of so many epoch-making events that I can only touch on
each in passing, to give you a picture of the whole. Until 1609,
Ticonderoga, as the Iroquois called it, was free of white adven-
turers. Then a fight between the Montagnais and Huron Indians,
and their old foe, the Iroquois, took place here, with Samuel
Champlain and his arquebus as the deciding factors. There was
no fort here then, and so the affair does not come within the scope
of this paper. It is enough to say that though it was a victory
for the Montagnais, it was a great loss for the French, since it
cost them forever, the friendship of the Iroquois.
After this, there was no history of Ticonderoga for almost one
hundred fifty years. Then, with the stirrings of war between
France and England, friction naturally developed in America
along the overlapping lines of the holdings of both countries.
The Peace of Utrecht, the English considered, gave them control
over the Iroquois country, and this included the shores of Lake
Cham-plain for some distance north of Crown Point. Notwith-
standing this claim, the French erected a fort across from Crown
Point, then another at the point itself, and finally in 1755, they
made the beginning of a fort on the heights of Ticonderoga. That
beginning is still standing. It is called the Grenadiers' Battery
now — then it was Fort Vaudreuil, in honor of the French governor
of Canada.
During that year and the next, Robert Rogers, leader of the
famous band of rangers, watched from Mount Independence and
from nearer vantage points, the growth of a larger fort on the
heights, back from the shore of the lake. Carillon the French
called the promontory, "a chime of bells," a name suggested by
the sound of the rapids below.
The fort too, built on foundations that lasted for all the building
that came afterwards, was called Fort Carillon. Lotbini^re, an
^Address delivered at the Ticonderoga session of the Lake George meet-
ing of the New York State Historical Association October 5, 1921.
147
148 HELEN IVES GILCHRIST
engineer of the province of Quebec, designed it, and the building,
under many hands was in process of construction for the next
two years. It was not finished when Dieskau came down past it
to be defeated at the hands of Sir Wilham Johnson and his Iro-
quois, and Dieskau's men, falHng back upon Carillon, in 1757,
strengthened the works there.
In the summer of 1758, the British were ready to attack. They
sent against Carillon, the largest army which had ever, up to that
time, been gathered together in America. It was under the
leadership of General James Abercrombie, with George Augustus,
Lord Howe, to offset his very obvious lack of abilit3^ The great
French soldier, the Marquis de Montcalm was the commandant
at Carillon, and though his garrison was small, he decided to
remain and meet the attack of the British. A skirmishing party
imder Langy was sent out to hinder the progress of the English in
the woods between their landing place at the head of Lake George,
and the heights of Carillon. With their first shot, Langy 's men
dealt such a blow as insured French victory. They killed Lord
Howe, "the brains of the army," and left the management of the
great British force, to Abercrombie alone.
Then, while Abercrombie sat disconsolate, at the old French
sawmill two miles below the fort, Montcalm's men spent two days
in digging great zigzag lines of intrenchments through the woods.
Trees were felled, and some of them were dragged into position
with their branches facing out from the trenches, so that while
only the occasional top of a silver-edged black tri comer hat, re-
vealed the French, their foes, should they attack through the
woods, would be held almost as fixed targets in the tree branches.
An infantry attack against such a defense, was by foregone con-
clusion, destined to failure, but on the morning of the eighth of
July, Abercrombie gave his order for just such an attack. The
British infantry, unaided by any artillery either in the woods or
from Mount Independence where Sir William Johnson held his
Iroquois in reserve, were sent in good marching order, left, center,
and right, straight upon destruction.
When word was brought to Abercrombie, down at the sawmill,
that the attack had failed, he only said, "Let them attack again."
There were six such attacks made against the French in their tree
defenses, that afternoon, and then, finally, Abercrombie realized
HISTORY OF FORT TICONDEROGA 149
that his idea had failed, and he gave an order for retreat. He
had lost some of his best troops. The Black Watch had left so
many of their men on the field that the old chronicler, Stewart of
Garth, reports that the regiment could not be used again that
year. A panic seized the retreating British, despite the bravery
of their fight against impossible odds, and they fled so hurriedly
that the French reported the finding of thousands of British shoes
in the mud about the embarking place, next day.
In the summer of 1759, the English attacked again, this time
imder Sir Jeffery Amherst, a cautious soldier who took elaborate
pains not to repeat Abercrombie's blunders. The French were
in wretched condition that year. Montcalm himself was needed
at Quebec to defend the city against General James Wolfe. Louis
and the Pompadour had grown a little indifferent to the game of
war, and Governor Vaudreuil, following their example, had let
graft and petty enmities undermine the conduct of the campaign.
General Bourlamarque, the commandant at Carillon, withdrew,
under orders from Canada, at the approach of Amherst, but he
left Hebecourt with four hundred men to retard Amherst as long as
possible, in his progress north toward Wolfe and Quebec. The
four hundred seem to have been ample for the purpose. Amherst
brought up his artillery, moved into the old French lines of the
year before, and proceeded to erect batteries as though he knew
nothing of the French withdrawal. For two days, the British
worked at their fortification of the heights, and then, on the third
morning, as they were about to attack, there was a tremendous
explosion, and the powder magazine went into the air. The
little garrison was found to be making its way to the lake and
boarding ships to make good its escape. Amherst's men followed
and captured some of the ships, but the greater part of the four
hundred reached Isle aux Noix safely, where they joined Bour-
lamarque and remained a hindrance to the further advance of the
British towards Quebec.
During the next few months, the fort at Ticonderoga, as well as
the one at Crown Point, was put into the best condition it has
ever been in. Sir Jeffery Amherst, in his letter to Pitt and the
king, stated that the fort was Httle damaged by the explosion, and
that he intended to repair the place quite on its original lines, in
order to be ready for the French if they should come up the lake
150 HELEN IVES GILCHRIST
again. But the French never came. The fall of Quebec practically
ended the long drawn out wars. Carillon had become Ticon-
deroga forever.
Then there was an uneasy peace upon the land for the next
fifteen years. The Biitish kept but a small garrison at Ticon-
deroga. It had become a place to live, but there is little record of
its life. We know that Major Gavin Cochrane held command
here for four years, and that the garrison was simimoned hastily
to New York City once to aid in suppressing the Stamp Act riots.
We know that Captain Delaplace, the last commandant before the
Revolution, was famous for his dinners of rattlesnake soup, but
no fighting occured to make historical the name of any command-
ant of the fort in that inter-war period. It is typical of the quiet
that had fallen on the place, that when Ethan Allen came in May
of 1775, he roused the garrison from a sleep which, so far as history
is concerned, might have been going on for the past fifteen years.
Allen's attack is too well known for us to linger over it here.
It was through the wicket gate in the great south wall that he led
his eighty-three Green Mountain boys. With Benedict Arnold
at his side, he entered this barrack square and then, Nathan
Beman leading, he came to Captain Delaplace's door in the south
barrack and demanded surrender "In the name of Jehovah and the
Continental Congress." Private Rice of the Continental army
says that Allen backed his demand with something stronger than
that. To anyone who is familiar with the easy, unheated pro-
fanity of the Vermont countryside to-day, the story is not in-
credible.
Allen remained at the fort as commandant only a very short
time. He was succeeded by Benedict Arnold who, in turn, was
removed after a few weeks. The Albany Committee of Safety
sent in guns from the Albany arsenal to replace those taken by
Knox down to Boston, and a New York regiment came in as
garrison. The British made no attempt to retake Ticonderoga
that year, and no active garrisoning of the fort was required
In the summer of 1776, however, matters had changed. There
were constant rumors of invasion from Canada, and the garrison
was increased to 3100 men. These were divided into four brigades
under General Benedict Arnold, Colonel Reed, Colonel John
Stark, and Colonel Arthur St. Clair. The nucleus of the garrison
HISTORY OF FORT TICONDEROGA 151
was Cornelius Wynkoop's New York regiment. Then there were
1,600 Pennsylvania troops, and the rest were chiefly New England-
ers.
The life of the garrison was most interesting, that summer.
Sectional feeling ran high, Mad Anthony Wayne's Pennsylvania
regiment fought Colonel Whitcomb's New Englanders to a bloody
finish over the location of a shoemaker's bench. Benedict Arnold's
broken little army drifted down from Quebec and stopped long
enough at Crown Point for four himdred of them to die there.
The rest came on presently to Ticonderoga and fitted languidly
into the life of the garrison. Colonel Thaddeus Kosciuscko and
his construction gangs were busy erecting a star fort and other
works on Mount Independence across the lake. Colonel John-
athan Trumbull advised the fortifjang of Mount Defiance, a mile
to the south-west of Ticonderoga, at the same time, but unfortun-
ately, his advice was not heeded. One New England regiment had
brought a few brass and reed musical instruments with them, but
their music came to a sudden end when the Continental Congress
requisitioned the instruments and ordered them sent to Phila-
delphia. The independent company of Stockbridge Indians
brought here for scouting purposes became so very independent
that they had to be dismissed and sent home. General Benedict
Arnold quarreled with Colonel Moses Hazen and ordered him
courtmartialed. Then he took on the entire court in a quarrel for
acquitting the colonel. From this noisy business, he was suddenly
catapulted by General Gates into command of the little fleet of
ships which had been built to meet Sir Guy Carleton on the lake.
For the British really were coming at last. Their fleet under
Captain Pringle was manned by seven hundred men, and against
them, Arnold took a motley fleet whose crews consisted of three
hundred-odd sea-going landsmen. They met off Valcour Island,
and the fight lasted through an afternoon. Arnold was defeated,
but the British postponed seizing his ships until the next day.
That night they stationed a line of ships across the lake, and
even set afire one of their own dismantled ships, in order to keep
watch of Arnold's battered little ships. Yet, in the morning,
they were gone. The British have left on record their mystification
over that retreat, but General Wilkinson in his Memoirs has ex-
plained Arnold's manoeuvre, a feat carried through with that
152 HELEN IVES GILCHRIST
futile bravery which was so characteristic of all his Revolutionary
record. He stationed his ships in line two to three hundred
yards apart, each with a lantern under the stem, so masked as to
be invisible except to the ship directly behind. Then, in the fog,
the Trumbull leading, and Arnold himself bringing up the rear,
the whole fleet slipped noiselessly through that watching and un-
seeing line stretched out across the lake.
In the morning, the British puisued and, overtaking Arnold's
fleet at noon, continued the battle. Most of the American fleet
was lost in the fight, but Arnold succeeded in bringing off his
crews safely, to Ticonderoga, and the three ships which were
left to him, were docked at the foot of the hill below the fort —
the Trumbull, the Enterprise and the Revenge.
This was the only military and naval action of the year at Ticon-
deroga. Carleton, whose troops had followed his transports
down, came no nearer than Crown Point. The fight had taken
place in October and had given the British a fair idea of the op-
position to be met. Carleton felt that his force was unequal to
that opposing him, and that the lateness of the season was a
disadvantage to an invading army. Consequently, he withdrew
to Canada, and soon after. Gates dismissed the militia from
Ticonderoga, and left to join Washington's army.
In 1777, Arthtir St. Clair, now a general, was the fort com-
mandant. This time, there was no continual cry of "Wolf!
Wolf!" The British came, Burgoyne and Powell leading them.
Their first move was to seize Moimt Defiance, and Powell, eyeing
it, made a famous remark:
"Where a goat can go, a man can go," he said, "and where a
man can go, he can pull a gun up after him."
St. Clair's garrison was not in good condition, but they were
ready to meet an attack if it should come by way of the woods to
the north, and there was also a garrison on Mount Independence.
However, when he found that British batteries had been placed on
Mount Defiance, he called a coimcil and gave the order for im-
mediate withdrawal from the fort. The British pursued and
fought a sharp battle with the rear guard under Seth Warner, but
the main body of Americans reached Castleton safely. St. Clair
was courtmartialed for thus giving up the position. He was
acquitted, but General Schyuler, his superior officer, innocent as
HISTORY OF FORT TICONDEROGA 153
he was of any connection with the order to withdraw, lost his
command chiefly because of St. Clair's action.
Later that siimmer, Colonel Brown of Massachusetts aided by
Colonel Seth Warner, Colonel Woodbridge and Colonel Ebenezer
Allen, made a desperate attempt to recapture Ticonderoga.
They did succeed in getting possession of Mount Independence,
of the woods to the north, and of Mount Defiance, but when
Powell was called upon to surrender, he replied, "The garrison
entrusted to my charge, I shall defend to the last." And presently,
the Americans, unprepared for a long siege, withdrew after sinking
Arnold's ships moored at the dock below.
Powell did retreat later, after Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga
had made his position at Ticonderoga untenable, and once more
the fort fell into American hands. This time, no garrison was
sent in. The Continental army was small and in a desperate
condition that year, and though frequent appeals were made by
Vermonters to Congress, no troops were supplied.
It was at this juncture that several Vermonters felt that some-
thing must be done independent of Congress to protect Vermont's
frontier. The action they took was always a matter kept secret
from the Vermont people as a whole. A commission was formed,
with Ethan and Ira Allen, and Governor Chittenden as its leaders.
Vermont was not at that time one of the United States. Her
land was claimed by New York and New Hampshire, and her
requests to be admitted to the Union had been refused, except
on the condition that the give up her identity and enter as part of
the two states which claimed her territory. In 1780, Ira Allen
met with the British to consider their proposal of erecting Vermont
into an independent province or of defending her as a British
province. Major-general Haldimand of the British army brought
a force of men into Ticonderoga, and here secret meetings were
held with the Vermont Commission. Then Carleton came to
Ticonderoga; and the meetings went on, but never at any time,
did the Commission agree to terms, except that they did demand
from Carleton a truce which should keep Veimont and northern
New York free from invasion. Carleton withdrew to Canada
shortly after Benedict Arnold's attempt to betray West Point
had failed, and General Barry St. Leger came down from Canada
in 1781, took up his position at Ticonderoga and continued the
154 HELEN IVES GILCHRIST
efforts to come to a definite understanding with the Vennont
Commission. Finally, Washington's victory over Comwallis at
Yorktown put an end to all negotiations except those leading to
the recognition of the United States of America.
With the withdrawal of St. Leger, the military life of the old
fort came to an end. Only a few years later, it had fallen into
ruin. The stone of the great wall was being used by settlers
with houses to raise. The land of the promontory, the very fort
itself, were made a state grant to Union and Colirmbia Colleges,
and from them, WilHam F. Pell obtained it in 1806. Mr. Pell
was the grandson of the last lord of Pelham Manor. His father's
brother had come into the fort in 1777 with Buigoyne's army.
This first private owner of the fort stopped the depredations
which were destro3dng it, and fenced in the old redoubts so that
even to-day, they may be readily traced along, the shore and
through the woods. The property had fallen into good hands,
and by inheritance, it has remained in them. The grandson of
Mr. William F. Pell, Mr. S. H. P. Pell, has carried preservation
into the more active work of restoration. He and his wife have
made their home in the old house of William F. Pell and have
busied themselves with the rebtiilding of the great wall, restoring
the west barracks and in gathering into a museum, relics of the
great soldiers who made history here. The old flagship of Bene-
dict Arnold has been raised, guns of the period have been mounted
in their old positions, so that the fort once more possesses some-
thing of the life and stir it knew in the days of its glory as the
frontier of an empire and the symbol of the independence of a
nation.
Helen Ives Gilchrist
WOMEN OF NEW YORK STATE IN
THE REVOLUTION^
When I was asked to write a paper for this occasion on the
participation of Women in the Revolution — principally those of
our own state— I had no idea of the interest, the pride, the sym-
pathy, and finally the thankfulness that were to be my com-
panions as I delved into the pages of history. A celebrated
writer has well said :
"The poet may say or sing, not as things are, but as they ought
to have been; but the historian must pen them, not as they
ought to have been, but as they really are, without adding to or
diminishing anything from the Truth. History is a sacred kind
of writing because Truth is essential to it."
It is to be regretted that the eighteenth, nineteenth, and even
twentieth century histories written by men up to the present
time, contain little information regarding the part played by
women in the War for Independence. It has remained for women
historians to perform this loving tribute. While the Revolution
was in progress, Mercy Warren of Massachusetts wrote its history,
but said very little of what women as individuals were accom-
plishing in their limited home sphere — although she voiced the
spirit of the times when she wiote — "Be it known unto Britain
even American daughters are poHticians and patriots, and will aid
the good work with their feeble efforts."
Nearly seventy-five years elapsed before the remarkable as-
sembling of facts and anecdotes by Elizabeth F. EUet in her
history of the "Women of the Revolution" was presented to an
appreciative public. Fortunately, the events were not so far in
the distant past but that material cotild be gathered from at least
the second generation of relatives and friends whose narratives
were deemed authentic; also from the few letters that were in
existence. It must be remembered that in those days postal
facilities were very meager, and the art of writing was known
only to the better educated women. News was carried by stage
*An address delivered at the Lake George meeting of the New York
State Historical Association, October 4, 1921.
156
156 AMELIA DAY CAMPBELL
coach, messenger, and the favorite and popular method — the
spoken word. During the past seventy and more years many
other women have written valuable histories of those women, one
of especial interest being by the Greens.
To the Daughters of the American Revolution we owe a debt of
gratitude for their noble work in bringing to light many data
concerning the lives and deeds of those unrecorded women, by
giving their names to their various chapters, memorializing them
on tablets and stones, and by thus writing their names permanently
on history's page.
Wom.en were more than "silent partners" of their hero hus-
bands, sons and fathers, for in most households they were, as
now, the "power behind the throne," and in their great desire for
freedom they urged their men to espouse the cause of the Revolu-
tion. The faith with which the men left their large families to the
already over-burdened care of wives and mothers was a tribute to
the efficiency of those women, and their unfailing cotuage.
It m.ust not be forgotten that New York had been in the posses-
sion of the British since 1664. For one hundred years its people
had been British subjects, and in taking sides with the Revolu-
tionary cause they became rebels to their king. The women
were divided in their allegiance to the two causes as well as the
men, and it som.etimes happened that they were against the men
of their own household who were not on the side of Liberty.
New York State women were as actively identified with hazar-
dous war work as were the women of some of the other colonies,
and their faith was stiong in the righteousness of the cause, and
they believed it must succeed. They encouraged and expected
their men to enlist, and were inspired by the knowledge that if
their loved ones fell, as many must, it would be for their country's
freedom.
American women have recently known the sorrows and despairs
attendant upon parting with their loved ones who went overseas
to fight for world freedom, but imlike those Revolutionary mothers,
we did not know the terrors of invasion, which are therefore be-
yond our most vivid imaginations. In that Revolutionary
struggle "the Hessians — a hired army — ^instituted a reign of terror,
debauchery and cruelty," and in the light of recent war tragedies
we can pretty accurately judge just what that means.
WOMEN IN THE REVOLUTION 157
The four wars that preceded the Revolution — King William's,
Queen Anne's, King George's, and the seven-year French and
Indian War with its bloody battlefields of Ticonderoga, Lake
George, Fort Edward and Fort Niagara, had bred the necessity
of fighting for protection and self-preservation in the breasts of the
colonists, and had raised up leaders such as George Washington,
Philip Schuyler and others. When the Stamp Act was declared
by the British to help pay for this last war and the upkeep of
their soldiers on our soil, and a tax was put on tea, the colonists
rebelled and determined to fight for their own rights.
The women were the first to asseit themselves by refusing to
drink tea or peimit any article of British importation in their
homes. Mrs. John Adams voiced their sentiment when she
wrote to Mrs. Warren — "The Tea, that baneful weed, is arrived;
great, and I hope effectual opposition has been made to the land-
ing." This opposition was indeed effectual when the tea was
dumped into Boston harbor and the colonists were committed to war.
If the British had been more zealous in carrying on their war-
fare, the outcome might have been far different. The battle of
Long Island, in which they were victorious, might have been the
turning point of the war in their favor, had they prevented the
American army's successful retreat across the river in the night.
But these hired soldiers under a German-British King, were not
fighting for liberty of country, freedom of speech, and sanctity
of their homes as were the colonists. They had not their de-
termination of purpose, as was shown in John Hancock's letter to
his wife in which he voiced also true appreciation of American
womanhood, when he said — "I do not believe the Howes have
very great wives; if they had we should have suffered more from
their exertions than we do. A smart wife would have put Howe
in possession of Philadelphia long ago."
One of the humane heritages to mankind from that war is the
Red Cross organization of today. Its work was unwittingly be-
gun by Martha Washington when she arrived at her husband's
camp after each campaign and proceeded to aid the sick and
wounded. Her proud boast was that she had "heard the first
cannon at the beginning and the last at the ending of every cam-
paign diiring the Revolution." Mercy Warren correctly de-
scribed her when she wrote: "The Complaicancy of her manners
158 AMELIA DAY CAMPBELL
speaks at once the benevolence of her heart; and her affability,
candor and gentleness, qualify her to soften the hours of private
life, or to sweeten the cares of the Hero, and smooth the rugged
paths of war," — for this was what Martha Washington did at
Newburgh, Peekskill and New York. During the terrible winter
at Valley Forge when the aimy was freezing, starving and clothed
in tatters, in desperation she enlisted the wives of Washington's
generals— Lucy Knox, Catherine Gieene and Sarah Livingston
Stirling — and they gave from their own private funds unsparingly,
and appealed to the women of the State who generously responded.
From this fund they made with their own hands thousands of
shirts for the soldiers, many of whom owed much bodily comfort
and even life itself to their untiring devotions. This was the be-
ginning of war relief which was carried to the very battlefields
dimng the Civil War by Clara Barton, and is now the world-wide
Red Cross.
In direct contrast to Martha Washington and her helpfulness,
is the story of Mary Philipse, who had been the object of Wash-
ington's admiration and court before he met Martha Custis;
but Miss Philipse married Roger Morris, a royalist who fought
with the British, and eventually she and her husband became
outlaws. She was heiress to her father's magnificent estate on
the Hudson, and it was there that she and her husband entertained
the traitor Benedict Arnold and assisted him to escape after be-
traying his country. This estate and also the home that Roger
Morris built for her on Haarlem. Heights, afterwards Washington
Heights, and used by Washington as headquarters, were even-
tually confiscated. This historic house became the Jumel Man-
sion when purchased by Stephen Jiunel, a French wine merchant,
and presented to his wife.
Madam Jumel had a brilHant career both at home and in
Europe. She was present at the first session of Congress in 1774,
and at Washington's inauguration. Because of her wit and
chann she numbered am.ong her friends and admirers such well-
known historic personages as Benjamin Franklin, General Knox,
Lafayette, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. At a dinner
party in this famous m.ansion during her widowhood, Aaron
Bvirr, who was one of the guests said, in taking her to dinner:
"I give you my hand, madam. My heart has long been yours."
WOMEN IN THE REVOLUTION 159
They were married after his persistent wooing, but separated
after a few months of unhappiness. This Jumel mansion in
which she died at the age of 96, now belongs to New York City,
but is cared for by the Daughters of the American Revolution
and contains interesting reHcs of the Revolutionary period.
You are familiar with the early history of New York and its
settlement by the Dutch — those industrious, substantial people
who came from Holland and established two colonies soon after
Hudson came in 1609. They bought large tracts of land from
New York to Albany and brought over their countrymen to
colonize them, over whom they had entire jurisdiction. These
feudal lords or "patroons," became very wealthy and powerful,
and their names are interwoven with the very character itself of
our State. Counties, towns and streets bear their names of
Van Rensselaer, Van Cortlandt, Stuyvesant, Ten Broeck, and
many others. Their descendants have ever been loyal to our
country, foremost in civic aflaiis, charitable in deeds, and patri-
otic in all wars. As ofhcers and patriots they fought in the
Revolution, and the women as well were patriots — and heroines.
A descendant of one of the "patroons" was Cornelia Van Cort-
landt, who after her marriage to Gerard Beekman resided on the
street now bearing their name in New York City. The country
place of her father, Pierre Van Cortlandt, was near Peekskill
where they returned during the war. Many interesting stories
are told of Mrs. Beekman's bravery when threatened by the
enemy, and her courage usually shamed them into leaving her
home and possessions unmolested. Her hospitality was bound-
less, for their wealth was great, and General Washington and his
cflficers were frequently entertained by them when his troops
were encam.ped near Peekskill. To Mrs. Beekman was due the
credit of thwarting Major Andres attempt to escape through the
American lines, by refusing to give up a valise which had been left
for safe-keeping by one of Washington's aides, and which con-
tained an American uniform and considerable gold. Several
weeks elapsed when a neighbor, suspected of being a royalist
syrr-pathizer, rode up and asked for the valise. Mrs. Beekman
dem.anded his written order, as she had been requested not to
give it up without one. Of course he had none, and much to his
anger she refused to let him have the valise. Andrd was at the
160 AMELIA DAY CAMPBELL
time in the neighbor's home waiting for means to escape, and in
an American imiform would undoubtedly have succeeded.
Probably no incident of the war showed greater patriotism and
determination than the setting fire to her husband's broad acres
of grain on their estate near Saratoga by Catherine Van Rens-
selaer Schuyler — (descended from the patroon of Greenbush) —
for food was scarce, supplies hard to get, and continental money
was not desired by those who had supplies to sell. She was the
wife of General Philip Schuyler who commanded the Northern
Army. It was expected that the British army under Burgoyne
was about to take Saratoga, and rather than permit his army to
be fed with their grain, Mrs. Schuyler set fire to it with her own
hands. Their winter home was in Albany, and the mansion had
been built when her husband was in Europe on diplomatic busi-
ness, in order to give employment to the men of the town who
needed it. It was here that the Schuylers entertained Burgoyne
and his staff on their march south after their defeat at Saratoga,
when as prisoners of war they stopped over night. This and
other equally generous treatment of their enemies "proved that
at sight of the misfortunes of others, they quickly forgot their
own."
On General Burgoyne's staff was Baron de Riedesel who com-
manded the Brunswick forces. His young wife, daughter of the
Prussian prime minister, with her three children, had embraced
the fortunes and misfortunes of war when she followed her husband
to be with him in his campaigns. She was in camp with him at
Fort Edward, and when he was made prisoner at the Battle of
Saratoga, he sent for her to join him. Of that experience she
related in letters to her family across the water — "As we passed
through the American camp nobody treated us with disrespect,
but on the contrary seemed touched at the sight of a captive mother
with three children."
It was on this occasion that she was befriended by General
Schuyler, who invited her and her children to visit his family in
Albany, which then was two days journey from Saratoga. Mrs.
Schuyler's hospitality was given unstintingly to this German
baroness and her husband, and they remained in luxury imtil their
trip was resiimed.
Perhaps at this distant day we should be as lenient in our
WOMEN IN THE REVOLUTION 161
judgment of Margaret Moncrieffe, the spy, as were the officers of
the American forces that she sought to betray. Their attitude
may have been due to her youth, or her beauty, or because she
would be expected to espouse the cause of her parent who was a
prominent officer with the British forces. At any rate, this latter
consideration was not thought of when she was visiting in the
home of an American officer near Peekskill where she met other
officers constantly. Because of the prominence of her host and
hostess, she attracted the court and homage of these young men,
who supposing her as patriotic to the Revolutionary cause as
themselves, discussed with her and in her presence, important
army affairs, which should have been kept secret. No doubt
they blamed themselves for their indiscretion when sitting in
judgment on her case later on. On her daily horseback rides
which she always preferred to take alone, she was in the habit of
dropping a note at a secluded place, which was immediately
picked up by a British soldier secreted beside the road for that
purpose, and conveyed to British headquarters. This went on
for some time, till one day Miss Moncrieffe was thrown from her
horse and picked up insensible. When she regained consciousness
at the house of a neighbor and found her vest had been open to
give her air, she became alarmed on discovering that her letter was
no longer in its hiding place, and impulsively exclaimed "all is
lost." The neighbor became suspicious, opened the letter which
was lying on the table, and found it contained information re-
garding the plans of the Continental troops. She was arrested,
but only imprisoned by being kept closely guarded h/ friendly
people with whom she resided. The British interceded for her,
and finally General Putnam aided in securing permission for her
to join her father on Staten Island. Her admirers and suitors
were many, but she accepted none, until persuaded by her brother
and coerced by her father into marrying an Irishman, John Cogh-
lan, with whom she eventually returned to his country. An un-
loving wife is seldom a loved wife, and after years of unhappiness
with a cruel husband she left him. She sank to the lowest level of
degradation through destitution and despair, and died at an
advanced age neglected and forgotten.
The British during the war took advantage of the weakness of
the Indians for rum, and with it purchased their help, or gave it as
162 AMELIA DAY CAMPBELL
a bounty for scalps. The worse sufferers were of course the un-
protected women and children, particularly in the Mohawk
Valley.
In the Battle of Oriskany great numbers of Indians lost their
lives, and in revenge, and also for the scalp bounty, they mas-
sacred the settlers of Wyoming, Cherry Valley, Geiman Flatts,
Cobleskill and Schoharie, and the whole valley became a shambles.
During the destiuction of the Cherry Valley settlement, Jane
Campbell, wife of Colonel Samuel Campbell, and hei children
were carried away as prisoners, together with about forty others.
All were released a few days later except Mrs. Campbell and her
children. On account of her husband's prominence and activity
in the American Army, and her own influence as well, she was
sent to the land of the Senecas, near the present city of Geneva.
Her children, one an infant eighteen months old, were all taken
from her and given to different Indian tribes. She lived with an
Indian fam.ily, and worked for many other Indians for a year,
when she was exchanged by the British, sent to Fort Niagara, and
kept prisoner there for another year. Here her children were
gradually restored to her. Finally, after two years of captivity
and suffering she was reunited with her husband.
Another brave woman of that period was Nancy Van Alstyne
of Canajoharie, daughter of old Peter Quackenbush the Indian
trader, whom the Indians feared and respected, believing him to
be "under the special protection of the Great Spirit." Mrs.
Van Alstyne, learning of the approach of the Indians, succeeded
in getting her fifteen children and seven neighboring families to an
island, from which they watched the destruction of their homes.
The Van Alstyne house, however, was left untouched, for they
agreed to "Let the old Wolf keep his den," and Mrs. Van Alstyne
sheltered the entire seven families until they could rebuild their
houses. She was not so fortimate when a few months later the
Indians appeared again without warning, and in every household
left killed and wounded, carrying others away captive. The
Van Alstjme house was again left standing, but its contents de-
stroyed or carried away. Mrs. Van Alstyne fearlessly followed
them, and during their absence hunting, succeeded in reclaiming
several horses belonging to her husband, much clothing and many
of her kitchen utensils. The Indians came in piirsuit of the horses
WOMEN IN THE REVOLUTION 163
and threatened to kill her as she stood with her back to the stable
door and dared them to shoot. Her bravery saved her and they
departed.
There is a settlement called Shell's Bush between Herkimer
and Little Falls which takes its name from John Christian Shell
and his wife Elizabeth Petrie Shell, who defended their fort-like
house against an Indian and Tory attack. Mrs. Shell loaded the
old flint-lock guns for her husband and sons, and when the enemy
thrust their gun barrels through loopholes in the building, she
smashed them with an axe. The enemy was repulsed, but her
twin boys were canied away captive.
Even though you all know the history of the beautiful, nineteen
year old Jane McCrea, yet I must speak of it, for it is interwoven
with sympathy and romance, and her grave has become a place of
historical pilgrimage. She was betrothed to a British soldier who,
in order to secure her safety, sent a band of Indians to escort her
to the British camp. But they met another Indian tribe, a quarrel
took place, one of the chiefs fired and killed Miss McCrea. Her
body, disfigured with tomahawk wounds, was left behind, but
her Indian escort carried her scalp to her lover. She was buried
about three miles from Fort Edward, near the spot where she was
killed, but several years ago Fort Edward people had the remains
removed to their burying ground.
The fate of Mary Jamison was quite different but likewise
horrible. When about twelve years old her parents were killed
by the Indians and she was carried away and given to two Seneca
squaws, who adopted and brought her up as a sister. She was
married twice to Indians, both of whom treated her kindly. At
the close of the French and Indian war when the British tried to
redeem all white people held captive by the Indians, she was
offered her freedom, but refused it. At the close of the Revolu-
tion she was again offered freedom, but again refused, her reason
being that she had a large family of half-breed children, that she
felt at home with the Indians, and would be despised for her
ignorance by her own people. She died near Geneseo where she
had lived many years. In her own narrative of her life she has
explained the reason for, and the result of, the Indian participation
with the British in the Revolutionary struggle, from the Indians'
point of view.
164 AMELIA DAY CAMPBELL
Only a few years ago a favorite argiiment against women
obtaining the franchise was that they could not perform military
duty. Our recent world war has shown what women can do in
times of war; and while women did not "shoulder the musket,"
as they sometimes did in the Revolution, yet as nurses they in-
vaded the battlefields and brought comfort and cheer to wounded
and dying men. They worked in ammiunition factories to provide
the means for carrying on warfare to its successful conclusion, and
in every branch of industry released men for service, thus in a
way doing a real military service.
In the Revolution of nearly one hundred and fifty years ago,
however, women actually did fight for us. We have the records of
Molly Pitcher, Margaret Corbin and Dorothy Sampson to bear
witness to that fact, and while they were not New York women,
yet two of them were in New York battles, and no chronicle of
the women of those times is complete without mention of them.
"Moll o' the Pitcher," affectionately so called by the soldiers
because of the broken pitcher in which she carried water to them
on the battlefield, but whose real name was Mary Hays, had for
two years been on march, in camp and on the battlefield with her
husband. At the battle of Monmouth he was wounded while in
charge of a gun. She begged the commanding officer to let her
take charge of it, and for almost an entire day she loaded and
fired the cannon. The battle was won and Molly was thanked
personally by General Washington himself for her service and
bravery. Congress voted her a sergeant's commission and half
pay for life.
Margaret Corbin was a direct contrast to Molly, being small,
sensitive and retiring, whereas Moll was big and strong and
helpful. They were alike however, in bravery and war experi-
ence, and strangely enough Pennsylvania was the home state of
both. At the Battle of Fort Washington Mrs. Corbin's husband
was killed. She begged the officer to let her fire the gun, saying
Jack had taught her. She was given, permission, and was severely
wounded while at her self-imposed heroic task. This battle was
lost and the Fort taken, but the enemy admired her courage and
permitted her to leave the Fort as a non-combatant and not as a
prisoner of war. Congress voted that "she receive during her
natural life or continuance of disability, one-half pay of a soldier in
WOMEN IN THE REVOLUTION 165
service." Her state also rewarded her, and a tablet has been
placed to her memory on the site of the battle in New York City.
A girl who actually fought as a soldier was Deborah Sampson of
Massachusetts, who enlisted for three years under the name -of
Robert Shtulliff. She was with Washington's Army at West
Point, and was twice wounded at the battle of Tanytown. She
saw active service for a year before it was known that she was a
woman. She was then honorably discharged from the army and
received a pension.
Unfortunately disease always follows an army, and an epidemic
of smallpox broke out in several camps. Two women became as
great heroines in fighting it as though facing the fire of battle, for
they took these contagious cases to their homes and nursed them.
Catherine Greene, wife of General Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island
was one, and Molly Stark (really Elizabeth), of New Hampshire
the other. When smallpox broke out in General Stark's camp
at Fort Ticonderoga, Mrs. Stark ntirsed the sick back to health
in her home, among them her own children, and she herself was
disfigured for life from its ravages.
A woman who undoubtedly saved a complete division of troops
was Mary Lindley Murray, whose heart was secretly with the
Revolutionary cause, though her husband Robert Murray was an
avowed royalist. General Putnam in order to join the main
army was hastening his retreat from New York along the river
road. Gen. Tryon with his British and Hessian forces twice as
large as Putnam's, would have met him before he reached a fork
in the road, but they halted in front of "The Grange" on Mtirray
Hill, and Mrs. Murray went out and invited General Tryon and
his officers to breakfast, and entertained them with her brilliant
conversation for a couple of hours — and Putnam, who needed
only a half hour's start, reached the main army and reinforce-
ments.
Janet Livingston Montgomery, daughter of Robert Livingston,
who was for many years Judge of the Supreme Court and owner
of much property along the Hudson, is remembered in history as
the widow of the patriot Richard Montgomery who rose to the
rank of General and was killed at the siege of Quebec. After
his death she went to Dublin to visit his family, from which
place she wrote to a friend at home — "I hope when I return to
166 AMELIA DAY CAMPBELL
find my dear country, for which I have bled, the envy of her
enemies and the glory of her patriots." She never ceased to
mourn her husband's death, though she survived him 52 years.
Many women unhesitatingly accepted the risk of the martyr-
dom which would have been theirs if the war had been lost, for all
the wives of the brave signers of the Declaration of Independence
thought no more of self than did their husbands. Both were
willing to share the persecution and imprisonment by the British
then in power, and knew full well that their imprisonment would
follow if the enemy won. Some of these women were martyrs.
Elizabeth Annsley Lewis, wife of the signer Francis Lewis, was
seized after the Battle of Long Island (which was the first battle
after the signing) and thrown into prison in New York, where she
was detained three months. Her health was so broken when re-
leased, that she died soon after.
Hannah Jones Floyd, wife of Wilham Floyd, a signer, was
obliged to escape to Connecticut from her Long Island home with
her children, and remained there seven years. Their property
was so destroyed by the British when they took Long Island that
the family never returned there, and Mrs. Floyd died in her exile
home.
Mary Walton Morris, wife of Lewis Morris, signer, escaped
with her family after her property near New York was destroyed
during this same period.
Mrs. Christina Ten Broeck Livingston, wife of Philip Livingston,
signer, lived on Brooklyn Heights, and Washington's successful
retreat fiom Long Island was planned at a conference in her
home.
Mary Gates, the wife of General Horatio Gates, was English
by birth, but a New Yorker by adoption, and lived on their estate
near New York during the war. Here she nursed many sick and
wounded, among them the Polish patriot Kosciusko, who was re-
stored to health after her six months' care of him.
Several New York women have been memorialized as patron
saints by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Lucy
Dougherty Tucker, who providentially escaped death at the
hands of the Indians during their uprising in the Mohawk Valley,
was a pioneer in clearing the forest and establishing her home in
the wilderness. Although the mother of eighteen children, she
WOMEN IN THE REVOLUTION 167
foiind time to nurse her sick neighbors, and her ministrations
many times made a doctor's visits unnecessary, for a doctor was
hard to get in the primitive settlement, and equally hard to pay.
Her granddaughter, who lived in Utica, became a New York
State Regent.
Charity Mersereau, wife of Colonel Jacob Mersereau, both of
whom were patriotic residents of Staten Island, even though the
Island had the reputation of being "a nest of Tories," has been
made a patron saint of the Charity Mersereau Chapter, the
charter members of which are all Mersereau descendants.
Margaret Todd Whetton was the wife of a New York merchant,
who, on accoimt of ill health, was a non-combatant, but secretly
an American sympathizer. Their home at New Rochelle was
right in the path of the army, and was frequently visited by the
American, British and Hessian officers. After her husband's
death Mrs. Whetton and her children returned to New York,
but in very straitened circumstances, for she had converted her
property into continental currency which depreciated very much.
Against all advice Mrs. Whetton would not exchange it, saying
"I will never undervalue the ciurency established by Congress."
She daily took food to American prisoners in camp and on the
prison ships. She had the honor of being the first one told of the
news of peace, and by General Washington himself, when he asked
to take breakfast with her that morning, and thanked her for all
she had done for the army. A Washington, D.C., Chapter is
named foi Mrs. Whetton.
There was no class distinction in patriotism. It sprang up,
flourished and reached inspiring, heroic and sacrificial heights in
every locality and in all walks of life. Every state had her heroine
of the home and the battlefield, and one could go on and on, re-
counting their deeds. These I have mentioned are but a few of
the noble women of that emancipation period, to whom a British
officer correctly referred when he told Comwallis: "We may
destroy all the men in America and we shall still have all we can
do to defeat the women." It has been truly said that "Always
in history woman has been at her best when felt to be most neces-
sary."
These Revolutionary women were descendants of those loyal
mothers from European countries who in the beginning of our
168 AMELIA DAY CAMPBELL
history followed their husbands, fathers and sweethearts across
the perilous ocean. They uncomplainingly bore the privations of
pioneering and braved its dangers — not for wealth or position or
honor, but for love of their men — that they might establish their
homes with their loved ones in a new land and there rear their
families. Those staunch women, without whom the men would
indeed have been helpless, were pioneers in founding our country,
and the women of the Revolution were pioneers in preserving that
land and those homes, that they and their posterity might richly
enjoy the blessings of Liberty Triumphant.
Amelia Day Campbell
Authorities
The Goede Vrouw of Mana-ha-ta. By Mrs. John Van Rensselaer King.
Women of the Revolution. By Elizabeth F. Ellet.
Pioneer Women of America. By Harry Clinton Green and Mary Wolcott
Green.
ANXIOUS MOMENTS IN FRONTIER HISTORY^
OUR CANADIAN-AMERICAN RELATIONS
I have gladly accepted the invitation of the New York State
Historical Society to take part in its proceedings. Any Canadian
in a public position to-day, who should refuse an invitation to
say something regarding the co-operative spirit between Canada
and the United States, as promoted by historical study, would fail
in a duty. The story of the relationship for a century past be-
tween the United States and Canada is one of which both countries
may well be proud. These three thousand miles of frontier, un-
guarded by soldier or war vessel, are themselves the best of all
witnesses to the determination on each side that international com-
plications shall be avoided. The association between Canada and
the United States has, however, been even more intimate since the
outbreak of the Great War than it was before. Canada now stands
more or less in the position of being the interpreter of the Old
World to the New. It would be foolish to deny that the possibili-
ties of trouble between Great Britain and the United States are
always present. We know that these two great Powers hold the
peace of the world in their hands. But, for international purposes
it is no advantage that we talk the same language. We under-
stand too quickly each what the other is saying. When there is
such swiftness of apprehension the interpreter, who may likewise
be the diplomat, has no time in which to work. There are jour-
nalists on either side who are only too anxious to fish in troubled
waters. Not for many days has anything more significant with
regard to the difference between the two peoples been written
than the letters of the late Mr. Page to President Wilson.
Mr. Page may be ranked high in that great succession which has
occupied the American Embassy in London. He was "one hun-
dred per cent American," but he understood the Englishman, and
he knew the situation well enough to appreciate elements in it
which, without sympathy, might only have been the objects of
criticism.
^An address delivered at the Lake George meeting of the New York State
Historical Association, October, 3, 1921.
169
170 R. BRUCE TAYLOR
In Canada we stand, so to speak, midway between the United
States and Great Britain. We are passionately loyal to our flag,
but that does not mean that we refrain occasionally from having
our laugh at the standard-bearer. And on the other hand, while
our business and our educational interests may be increasingly
influenced by your republican influence, we claim the right of
being dispassionate critics of your institutions, a position which
is not unfitting to those upon whom there blow the chilling winds
from Hudson Bay. To us in Canada the Englishman is often al-
most as great a problem as he is to you. We wonder at his self-
possession and we are sometimes estranged by the relationship
which he takes for granted must exist between the Canadian citizen
and the manners and customs of the Red Indian. But we knew
him in war to be a very gallant gentleman, "buxom, blythe, and
debonair." We loved his quietness and lack of self-assertiveness.
As Canadians, we were embarrassed by the amount of attention
that our military affairs received, while we thought of English
cotmty battalions, which never found their name in a newspaper
report. At the same time, we, as your neighbors, are able to
appreciate you in a way that can hardly be expected of an older
civilization. Our manufacturing enterprises are in method closely
related to your own. On a great continent, such as this, education
must always be more or less of a unity. We are striving as you
are to form a native art, a thing that shall not be merely French
and derivative. We hope eventually to develop a native music.
You are no more foreigners to us than we are to the citizens of
Great Britain. For these reasons then a Canadian may be allowed
to speak to the New York vState Historical Association of relation-
ships existing between the Dominion and the Republic with a di-
rectness that you might be prepared to resent in one but lately
come across the seas.
To-day, therefore, I should like to address myself to certain as-
pects of the frontier problem. The commonplace that a frontier
always is a potential danger is illustrated afresh by the different
attitudes taken up by France and Great Britain in relation to Ger-
many. You can see, in British diplomacy, willingness to allow Ger-
many again to get upon her feet. Great Britain is convinced that the
world can never again recover itself so long as the Central
Powers of Europe are bound in insolvency. But France, with her
ANXIOUS MOMENTS IN FRONTIER HISTORY 171
long frontier bordering upon Germany, has a different accent in her
speech. She has the memory of 1870. She has the ruined North-
East. She has her stationary population over against the prolific
Teuton. Above all things she has the fear that the next generation
may suffer another leap on the part of the Germanic peoples. The
strip of water that we call the English Channel makes all the differ-
ence to the national attitude. Mark Pattison's cynical view is
that a man's worse vexations come from his own relations, but
even relations are tolerable if they live far enough away. And so
it is with countries, however deep be the essential goodwill that they
bear one to another. Near neighborhood is the parent of strife.
The most creditable thing in the relationship of the United States
and Canada has been the century of unbroken peace, but the les-
sons to be drawn from that long period may be useful when we
think of the prospects of to-morrow.
In the final delimitation of boundaries one great source of trouble
has been removed, but that delimitation has not been reached
without the gravest anxiety on both sides. In the debates regard-
ing the Maine boundary and the Territory of Oregon the result was
distinctly to the benefit of the United States. I do not say that in
these discussions we were out-generaled. I do say, however, that
the Old Country view of its colonies eighty years ago was not one
likely to put Canada in a favorable position when a bargain had to
be made. In the thirties and the forties of last century it had come
to be accepted almost as an axiom that the Canadas would even-
tually be absorbed in the United States. What had happened in
1776 was likely again to happen some decades later, only it was
felt that the change would come about without any armed struggle.
Canada, too, in these boundary discussions, suffered from igno-
rance, without boundary, on the part of English administrators of
colonial afiairs. Even now the Ashburton Treaty is a sore subject
in Canada. And yet Canadians ought to remind themselves that
in 1835 Palmerston was offered and refused a settlement by Pres-
ident Jackson, a settlement infinitely more favorable than that which
was arrived at only a few years later during the Ashburton Treaty.
The issue, as an historical issue, is now dead and buried. The
question that will keep that dispute alive with those who are inter-
ested in the philosophy and ethics of history is as to whether Daniel
Webster should have acted as an advocate or as an arbiter. He
172 R. BRUCE TAYLOR
was at all events much too powerful a personality for the genial
statesman who was appointed by the British Government.
In the Oregon dispute, too, there was no realization on the part
of Old Country statesmen of the vastness of the issues involved.
The story may be apocryphal, but if not true it might very well be
true, that the settlement which was reached was made all the
easier for the Government of Lord Aberdeen by the knowledge that
the salmon of the Coltunbia River would not rise to the fly. These
are, however, matters now of ancient history, which we might as
well lose our temper over, as over the fact of the Battle of Bunker's
Hill. Whatever difficulties may emerge in the future, they are not
difficulties which will relate to boundaries. Much more likely are
they to be difficulties relatively slight in themselves, but accent-
uated by the actions and utterances of irresponsible groups, bent
on making trouble. We all know how the Irish situation has cre-
ated difficulty during the last few years. Whatever your sympa-
thies may be in that issue, you will admit that loyal subjects of the
British Empire have oftentimes been placed in difficulty. An in-
cident in a Boston theatre during the summer of 1920 is typical of
such. During the intermission, an officer of your army, a very
gallant and soldierly figure in full uniform came on the stage and
made an impassioned appeal for the Irish Republic. After his
speech, girls, dressed in green, went through the audience, which
obviously was in sympathy with the Irish cause, and gathered large
quantities of money. Had a similar demonstration been made in
a London theatre on behalf of the legal rights and liberties of the
negroes of Georgia it would possibly have given rise to a diplomatic
incident. And yet in the early sixties, when you had your backs
to the wall, equally irritating demonstrations were made on behalf
of the Secessionists. The fact that we have come through times
of trouble without natural feelings of anger finding such an expres-
sion that might have led to the tragedy of war is the best of all
guarantees of future peace.
Let me dwell for a minute upon a crucial incident that took
place more than eighty years ago at a time when the possibilities of
trouble were far more acute than now, to show the temper in which
disputes can be dealt with, and the attitude which makes men on
either side realize that they are the citizens of no mean people.
ANXIOUS MOMENTS IN FRONTIER HISTORY 173
The story of the struggle of Upper and Lower Canada for Re-
sponsible Government is full of interest and it produced one doc-
ument of first rate historical value — the Report of Lord Durham.
The relationship of the British Government to its various domin-
ions and dependencies is to-day strong only as it is undefined. Our
loyalty increases in proportion as we are left alone. We rule our-
selves: we will not be ruled from Westminster. But up till 1840
a very different view held the field. The position then accepted in
England was that the Crown ruled in Canada through the Crown's
representative, and that policy was shaped in London. In effect
this came to mean in Upper Canada that all power got into the
hands of a closely related group of definitely conservative tendency.
All patronage was held by this group and the popular Assemblies
were not able to dissociate the Family Compact from the represent-
ative of the Crown. The Old Country was afraid of giving the
colonies self-government. It thought that to grant any such
liberty would mean the immediate severance of Canada from the
Empire. The theory, however, of the paternal Crown relation-
ship could not hold in the conditions that were arising in Canada.
Eventually, of course, complete self-government was given to the
Dominion, but before this liberty, which has been chiefest
parent of loyalty, was reached, the country was in a condition of
actual revolution. Among the French, Papineau led a rebellion
which was crushed with ease, but in Upper Canada William Lyon
Mackenzie brought about a situation that all but threw Great
Britain and the Republic into war.
The cry that liberty is in danger is, of coiu-se, one that appeals
to every generous spirit, and in Canada as in the northern parts of
the United States there was a great deal of sympathy with the
liberal views of Mackenzie. There is, however, a great gulf be-
tween the holding of liberal sentiments and the willingness to rush
into revolution. Mackenzie, a hot-headed Scotchman, assembled
in December, 1837, on Navy Island, just above the Falls of Niagara
a nondescript group of Canadians and Americans, bound together
as much by lawlessness of temperament as by any special political
view. Navy Island was in Canadian territory, but Grand Island,
lying just above it belonged to the United States, and the neighbor-
hood of both places to so large a city as Buffalo assured that many
discontented spirits would find their way to the scene of trouble.
174 R. BRUCE TAYLOR
There is no question but that the sympathy with Mackenzie was
widespread. Even if the thing had been possible there was no
consuming desire on the part of the authorities of New York State
to enforce neutrahty. A gun, for instance, was allowed to get out
of the charge of the State Artillery on the ground that it was being
taken to Navy Island to shoot wild ducks! It was, however, the
actions of those in charge of the Steamer "Caroline" which pre-
cipitated trouble. This little steamer in the middle of December
was held in the ice at Buffalo, but she was cut out of her winter
quarters and taken down the river to Fort Schlosser opposite
Navy Island. The owner, William Wells of Buffalo, was indem-
nified against loss by the bonds of a nvimber of his fellow citizens,
and the ship was given a clearance from the port of Buffalo by the
collector of the port. Meanwhile the forces that had been assem-
bled on Navy Island began to bombard the mainland with little
other damage than the killing of a horse on which a Canadian sol-
dier was riding. It was, however, noticed that on the afternoon
of the 28th of December, in broad daylight, the "Caroline" was
running between Schlosser and Navy Island carrying men and
stores. Colonel Allan MacNab determined that he would stop
the career of this piratical little vessel. Instructions were given to
Captain Drew to take and destroy the "Caroline", 'Wherever he
should find her,' five words which as has been said "nearly fired
the Continent as well as the Caroline." On the night of the 29th
of December accordingly five boats, each manned by nine men,
set out to deal with the "Caroline. ' ' On rounding the southern end
of Navy Island they found that the vessel was moored to the wharf
at Fort Schlosser. The boats were unseen until they were almost
alongside of the "Caroline," which was practically unguarded and
was giving shelter for the night to some twenty-three men of the
nondescript forces being gathered under Mackenzie and Van
Rensselaer. The attack on the "Caroline" lasted only a few min-
utes. The ship was towed out from the wharf, set on fire, and
allowed to drift with the current. Mackenzie declares that she
went over the Falls, but as a matter of fact the steamer sank on the
American side where the remains of her engines were for many
years afterwards visible. One man, Amos Durfee, was found
lying dead upon the wharf with his brains blown out. It was
asserted that several of the men who had been asleep on board the
ANXIOUS MOMENTS IN FRONTIER HISTORY 175
steamer were drowned in the scuffle, but this point was never prov-
ed, and it would have been in any case an extremely difficult thing
to trace the identity of men recruited for such lawless purposes.
In Canada the news of the destruction of the "Caroline" was
hailed with rapture. Colonel MacNab received a knighthood;
Captain Drew, who had led the cutting-out party was given a
sword of honor, and it was only when heads had time to cool that
it was seen how serious a situation had been created. Unquestion-
ably there had been on the part of individual citizens of the United
States breaches of neutrality. Van Rensselaer, who was Mac-
kenzie's military adviser, was himself a citizen of the United States.
But it is one thing when individuals engage in lawless acts and
quite another when a State makes a descent upon the shores
of a friendly power. One has to make allowances in considering
the action of the Canadians for the intense irritation caused by
seeing this little steamer in broad day-light run back and forward
with supplies for the rebels. The situation, however, was one
which should have been dealt with, not in this headstrong way,
but by the regular channels of political action. Mackenzie's
movement had up to this time met with no real sympathy among
responsible Americans but the violation of neutrality created a com-
plete change of view.
The "Caroline" incident, however, had a sequel which created
another critical situation. Three years after the Navy Island
incident, Alexander McLeod, a deputy sheriff of the Niagara dis-
trict, was arrested at Lewiston and charged with murder and arson,
the murder being alleged to be the death of Amos Durfee. McLeod
who had been in Buffalo on the 24th of December, 1837, had heard
there, as a matter of common talk, of the purposes to which the
"Caroline" was to be devoted. Returning to the Canadian side
he reconnoitred the river on the 28th of December with Captain
Drew, and saw the "Caroline" engaged in her nefarious work. He
was a man of boastful temper and there was some evidence which
went to show that he had declared himself to be one of the at-
tacking party on the 29th of December. It is perfectly certain
that he was not one of the members of the cutting-out expedition.
The forty-five men who did that deed were all of them known
from the hour of the attack. The case, however, speedily assumed
176 R. BRUCE TAYLOR
a grave international character. The grand jury of Niagara Coun-
ty found a true bill against the prisoner who was committed to
stand his trial and confined in Lockport jail.
When the British minister in Washington, Mr. H. S. Fox,
heard the details of the story, he demanded the immediate release
of the prisoner on the ground that, as the destruction of the "Car-
oline" was the public act of certain known individuals in the Brit-
ish forces, it could not be alleged as a ground of indictment against
an individual, even if he were concerned in it. It is precisely the
argument which was raised by the defense of the German prisoners
recently tried in Leipzig for actions contrary to the laws of war.
The Federal Government refused the claim of Mr. Fox on the
ground that each State of the Union had control of its own ju-
dicial affairs, and that, therefore, the offense committed within the
State of New York must be answered for before the Courts of the
State. In March, 1841, Mr. Fox again renewed his demand upon
Washington in these terms, "I am instructed to demand formally
and in the name of the British Government the immediate release
of Alexander McLeod for the reason that the transgression was one
of a public character, planned and executed by persons duly author-
ized by the Colonial Government to take such measures as might be
necessary for protecting the property and lives of her Majesty's
subjects, and being, therefore, an act of public duty, they cannot
be held responsible to the laws and tribunal of any foreign coun-
try." It is not necessary here to go further into the details of the
case. A writ of Habeas Corpus was applied for and discharged.
McLeod was brought to trial and acquitted after he had been in
prison for nearly a year.
Obviously there was here a situation which bristled with all
kinds of international danger. In the case of the destruction of
the "Caroline," a deed was done under great provocation by con-
stituted authority in defiance of international law. In the case of
Alexander McLeod, a position was taken up by the State of New
York which might have put the Federal Government at any time
into a position of the utmost difficulty. The Federal authority
could not interfere with the judicial powers of the State of New
York : the British Government could not make any representations
to the State of New York but could only approach the Federal
authority. What is pertinent to this discussion to-day is to note
ANXIOUS MOMENTS IN FRONTIER HISTORY 177
the way in which this critical situation was met. The British
Parliament in 1842 expressed through Sir Robert Peel its regret
that some explanation and apology had not been previously made
(for the "Caroline" incident) it was the opinion of candid
and honourable men that the British officers who executed this
action, and their government who approved, had intended no in-
sult or disrespect to the sovereign authority of the United States.
The United States, on its side, dealt with the plea advanced re-
garding McLeod that, if he had acted as had been alleged, he had
done so, not as an individual, but as one of an organized force oper-
ating with official sanction. To meet a case such as his, an Act
was passed by the United States directing that in the case of sub-
jects of foreign powers taken into custody for acts done under the
authority of their own government "the validity or effect whereof
depends upon the law of nations," there should be a discharge.
Time had been able to operate and feeling had been allowed to
subside. One cannot help wondering, however, what the result
would have been if McLeod had been declared guilty of murder
and had been hanged as a malefactor. The issue, however, was
worthily met, and the source of danger to the peace of nations was,
let it be hoped, forever removed.
It does not require much imagination to see that in the enforce-
ment of prohibition legislation there are potentialities of trouble.
A three mile limit beyond which State control does not run is but
a small obstacle to a swift motor boat, and a situation, under
which vessels from the West Indies laden with liquor are hanging
about off the three mile boundary ready to transfer their cargoes
to boats manned by smugglers, suggests that there is some need of
international agreement if issues are not to arise which might very
soon raise serious trouble. Liquor is a legitimate cargo for a West
India schooner, nor is it the business of Great Britain to enforce
the prohibition measures of the United States. Can the destination
of that liquor be controlled by the government of the country
which ships it ?
This, however, is a minor matter compared with the great issue
which faces the two countries alike through the development of
Japan. When the then Premier of Canada, Mr. Meighen, went
to the Dominion Conference in London last summer it was believed
that he intended to represent to the British government in the
178 R. BRUCE TAYLOR
strongest manner the Canadian belief that the renewal of the
Anglo- Japanese agreement would be altogether unpleasing to the
people of the Dominion. In this Canadians were at one with the
United States in feeling that such a treaty would be one more
barrier to any general policy of disarmament. If the United
States with its population of 110,000,000 looked with anxiety
upon the unrestricted admission of Orientals, Canada with its
vast area containing only 9,000,000 people had a far greater
apprehension. It was evident that the United States regarded
the Pacific Question as the most urgent of its international prob-
lems. For the British Government to renew the Anglo- Japanese
Alliance would not only create feeling in the States by
appearing to throw British influence into the Japanese side of that
issue, but it would certainly create powerful opposition in Canada
which was determined that it would not add to its difficulties as a
young country by the creation of a new colour problem.
This generation is not likely to know what happened at the
Imperial Conference, but, after Mr. Meighen's arrival on the
scene, the Lord Chancellor discovered that the Anglo-Japanese
treaty had still another year to run and that the question of its
renewal had not to be decided on the spot. In the meantime Mr.
Harding invited representatives of the powers to meet him in
Washington to discuss the disarmament question, and the general
outcome of that Conference was all for the establishment of peace,
even if each power concerned thought that its own sacrifices had
been disproportionate.
There always will be, between peoples sharing a frontier, minor
sources of irritation, and there always will be hasty people who
will try to make of mere incidents sources of international trouble.
There are always some fools who will smoke in a garage. But in
the big things we must co-operate. We can remain loyal to our
own flags while striving to see issues from varying standpoints.
The future is unquestionably with this northern continent. We
are responsible, between us, not only for the standards of political
ethics over this vast geographical area, but freed as we are from
so many of the complications of Old World history, we can be and
ought to be the most powerful agency in the maintenance of world
peace . That unguarded frontier should be a parable as well as a fact .
R. Bruce Taylor
REVIEWS OF BOOKS
The Plattshurg Movement. By Ralph Barton Perry. (New
York: E. P. Button & Company. 1921. Pp. x, 275.)
There is a prevailing impression, which this book will correct,
that Plattshurg was the original summer training camp for stu-
dents of educational institutions, designed for increasing the
inadequate personnel of the trained military reserve from which
commissioned officers might be drawn in time of national emer-
gency. As a matter of fact in May, 1913, Major General Leonard
Wood, then Chief of Staff, proposed the plan to the university and
college presidents of the country. As result two camps were held
in the summer of 1913, one at Monterey, California, and the other
at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
The Lusitania outrage, May 8, 1915, led to the assemblage of a
committee of citizens at the Harvard Club in New York City
late in the same month, at which General Wood was the principal
speaker. Provisional arrangements were made for recruiting for
a camp to be established at Plattshurg barracks in August 1915
and the Plattsbtu*g movement was started.
From this point Professor Perry carries on his story, describing
the first Plattshurg citizens' camp, the organization of the Mili-
tary Training Camp Association, the military legislation of 1915-
16, the camps of 1916, the plans for 1917, the military policy on
the eve of war and the draft, the first officers' training camps,
the procurement of officers during the war, the wonderful work
of the M.T.C.A., dining the war.
The most important chapter in the book is the last, which is
entitled "Future Policy." The author makes a forceful plea to
the end that the Plattshurg idea and its influence may not be
lost to future generations. He shows that at Plattshurg was
worked out a plan by which a large number of reserve officers
might be regularly trained with the greatest economy of time and
economy of expenditure. The young men of education in business
and in the professions not only acquire great personal physical
benefit for themselves by attending such a camp, but are put in
the way of rendering the greatest service to their coimtry in times
179
180 REVIEWS OF BOOKS
of danger. Some people who are prejudiced against militaty
training may be brought to reaHze the value of the discipline and
physical uplift that a summer camp gives. It is to the glory of
New York State that the Plattsburg movement had its greatest
growth within her boundaries, and she owes it to the future to
see that the idea does not die.
In speaking of the growth of the present system, by which
the army is to be made a school of learning in general as well as
one for military training, Professor Perry does not seem to be
aware of the fact that the Educational Commission for the Army
overseas, established and financed originally by the Y.M.C.A.,
and then finally taken over by the government, was more re-
sponsible for it than any other agency. The plan by which edu-
cational work should be done with men back of the lines in France
and during the period of demobilization was first broached in
September, 1917, at a meeting at the University Club in New
York attended by Anson Phelps Stokes, John H. Finley, Captain
Ferdinand Baldensperger and James Sullivan. The first of these
went to France early in the following year. It was through his
tmtiring efforts that John R. Mott of the Y.M.C.A., was brought
to see the possibilities of the plan and that the army officials
reluctantly gave their consent to the experiment. Eminently
successful in some places and a failure in others, it was neverthe-
less so much of a success that in April 1919, the work was turned
over to the War Department, and Secretary Baker, under date
of Aprils, 1919, wrote a letter to William Sloane of the Y.M.C.A.
expressing thanks to Mr. Stokes for initiating the movement and
to the others for helping him in its execution.
From that time to the present the army authorities have been
carrying out the ideas of the Educational Commission, but un-
fortunately no word outside of Secretary Baker's letter mentioned
above has ever been given to indicate who was responsible for
the initiation of the plans. Knowing the army as we do, we
may be certain that no regular army officer would ever have
originated the idea or the plan.
David Hummell Greer. By Charles Lewis Slattery. (New
York: Longmans, Green and Co. 1921. Pp. xiii, 328. Table
of contents and index. Illustrations).
REVIEWS OF BOOKS 181
Dr. Greer, the eighth bishop of New York, was bom in Wheehng,
Virginia (now West Virginia), in 1844. He became identified
with New York City when he began his rectorship at St. Bar-
tholomew's in November, 1888, and from that time imtil his
death in 1919, he was closely connected with the religious and
civic work of the metropolis. He it was who inspired the won-
derful neighborhood work done by St. Bartholomew's Parish
House and who was responsible for the erection of the Bronx
Church House.
Mr. Slattery writes this biography in a sympathetic manner
and pleasing style. The pages are frequently taken up with
letters and opinions of friends of Bishop Greer which give an
intimate view of his life.
Washington Irving and Other Essays. By Charles Anson
Ingraham. (Cambridge, New York. Privately printed. 1922.
Pp. 281).
Besides the essay on Irving there are several in this voltune of
special interest to New Yorkers, namely those on James Feni-
more Cooper, the Prime Family and the Ultimate Aim of History.
Mr. Ingraham shows warm sympathy in treating of the per-
sonal characteristics of the two men mentioned above. Even
for the irascible Cooper and his nimierous lawsuits, he has a
good word when he says that he "was free from those ill-favored
manners and expressions which are so common in court proceed-
ings."
The essay on the Prime family is somewhat in the natiire of a
biographical genealogy of this important Long Island family,
which also played an important part in the history of Cambridge,
New York, Mr. Ingraham's home town.
The World War. Selective Service in the County of Albany in
the State of New York. April 6, 1917— November 11, 1918.
[By the Home Defense Committee of the County of Albany].
(Albany: J. B. Lyon Company: 1922. Pp. 142. Illustrations).
The first words of the title of this work are rather misleading
unless read in connection with the supplementary title. The
first forty-four pages of this volume are taken up with the various
proclamations of President Wilson announcing the existence of a
182 REVIEWS OF BOOKS
state of war with Germany and the inauguration of the draft.
The next forty-eight pages are occupied with an account of the
beginning of the draft in Albany County and the statistical re-
ports of the various local boards in the County and in the City of
Albany. The ages and color of the drafters, the rejections, the
ailments revealed as a result of medical examinations, and nu-
merous statistics are given.
The remaining pages are somewhat unnecessarily taken up
with the armistice agreements and their continuance, the joint
resolution of Congress terminating a state of war between Ger-
many and Austria and the United States and the final terms of
the treaty of peace with Germany. The last fifty pages might
have been taken up with more profit with some narrative ac-
count of incidents happening in the actual working of the draft.
NOTES AND QUERIES
PERSONAL
William Abbatt of Tarrytown, editor and publisher of the
Magazine of History and author of The Crisis of the Revolution,
and The Battle of Pell's Point, has put into illustrated lecture form
his "Story of Arnold and Andr^" and "Arnold's Expedition to
Quebec."
Professor A. Eekhof of Leyden University, Holland, makes an
appeal to American historical societies and individuals to notify
him if they have any original letters of Hugo Grotius, whose
writings he is editing.
Frank W. Thomas, an attorney of Troy, who died April 3,
1922, was an expert in land titles and rents and as such was
thoroughly familiar with the histories of the Vanderheyden and
van Rensselaer families.
On June 14, 1922, there was celebrated at Stone Arabia the
two-hundredth anniversary of the founding of the first Palatine
settlement in the Mohawk Valley. Miss Edith Laning had
charge of the details. Dr. W. N. P. Dailey presided. Dr. James
Sullivan, the State Historian, and W. Pierrepont White, Presi-
dent of the Mohawk Valley Historical Association, gave addresses.
These were published in the Amsterdam Recorder in its issue of
June 15, 1922.
The 150th anniversary of the establishment of Tryon County
was celebrated at Johnstown on September 8 and 9, 1922, by the
presentation of a very fine series of pageants.
At Homell on July 4th in the Maple City fairgrotmds is to be
given an elaborate historical pageant which will show the history
of the Canisteo Valley. Two thousand school students and their
elders will take part. It is under the general direction of Henry F.
Burt.
The centennial of General Grant's birthday, April 27, 1922,
was celebrated in the schools throughout the state.
183
184 NOTES AND QUERIES
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES AND CLUBS
The Board of Supervisors of Schenectady County has leased
the former county clerk's building to the Schenectady Historical
Society for fifteen years at the nominal rent of a dollar a year.
The same Board has erected a monument to the Spanish War
veterans and has voted $750 towards the support of the Schenec-
tady Historical Society.
On June 23-24, 1922, the William Floyd Chapter (Troy, New
York) Sons of the Revolution made an excursion to Fort Ticon-
deroga. Mr. F. B. Richards of Glens Falls acted as guide.
Mr. H. N. W. Magill, formerly so well known in the Dutchess
County Historical Society, has been instrumental in organizing
the Suwasset Historical Society at Port Jefferson, Long Island.
Mr. Magill is president and Mrs. Cornelia A. Moger, secretary.
At the Hendrick Hudson Chapter of the D.A.R., at Hudson
on February 23, 1922, Dr. James Sullivan, State Historian, spoke
on: "The Return of George Washington."
The Huntington Historical Society held its regular monthly
meeting on February 20, 1922. Mrs. Frank W. Rogers read a
paper.
At the meeting of the William Floyd Chapter, Sons of the
Revolution, of Troy, on February 22, 1922, Dr. James SulUvan,
State Historian, spoke on: "What Would George Washington
Think of Our Spiritual Life?"
The Kings Cotmty Historical Society held its eleventh annual
banquet on April 5, 1922. Colonel Sidney Grant, formerly of the
Fifty-ninth Coast Artillery Corps, exhibited a collection of war
material from the A. E. F.
At the meeting of the Rochester Historical Society on March 13,
1922, Dr. Rossiter Johnson spoke on "Rochester in Literature."
Part of the address was published in the Rochester Post Express
of March 14. At the April 24th meeting views by Edward S.
Siebert were exhibited under the caption of "Picturesque Roches-
ter."
The Amsterdam chapter of the D. A. R., held its meeting on
March 18, 1922, at Guy Park house. Dr. James Sullivan, the
State Historian, gave a biographical sketch of Guy Johnson.
NOTES AND QUERIES 185
At the May 23d meeting of the Glens Falls Colony of New
England Women, Dr. James Sullivan spoke on the topic: "Shall
Our History Texts be Rewritten to Suit Our Immigrant Nation-
alities?"
The Albion Historical Club celebrated its semicentennial on
April 4, 1922.
The Suffolk County Historical Society at its meeting in May
elected Eversley Child as president.
The Livingston County Historical Association met at Letch-
worth Park May 26, 1922. The enlargement of the log cabin
museum, which is over crowded, and the resumption of the issue
of the publications of the association were taken up.
The Genesee County Federation held a field day at Letchworth
Park on May 26th.
PUBLICATIONS, BOOKS, ARTICLES, MANUSCRIPTS.
The Evening Gazette of Port Jervis in its issue of July 26, 1922,
carries the Story of John Wood in the Battle oj Minisink by William
H. Nearpass.
In the April 1922 nvmiber of the Ohio Archaeological and His-
torical Quarterly are two articles of interest to New Yorkers:
Seneca John, Indian Chief, by Basil Meek, and Othniel Looker,
who was bom in New York State in 1757 and fought in the Revo-
lutionary War. In the same number there is a Character Sketch
of General Ulysses S. Grant by Judge H. S. Nichols.
The Historical Section of the Staten Island Institute has
appointed a committee consisting of Mr. Charles W. Leng, Mr.
Edward C. Delevan, Jr., and Mr. R. W. Vosburgh to compile a
history and survey of the records of the churches of Staten Island.
In making this survey the committee has discovered in private
hands: Northfield town records, vol. 1, 1784-1823; Westfield
town records, 1757-1819, 1800-1816, 1818-1844; and records of
the Westfield School District No. 1, 1822-1890.
The Rochester Historical Society and the New York Historical
Society are both making appeals for historical relics and manu-
scripts which are so frequently cast away from old garrets and
have much value.
186 NOTES AND QUERIES
The Book of the Museum, the title of volume XXV of the Pub-
lications of the Buffalo Historical Society, 1921, which has re-
cently appeared, is such a compendium of information that it is
difficult to say anything about it without listing its contents.
Some 285 pages are devoted to a trip through the Museimi,
during which various articles on exhibition are described through
the medium of short essays. Among the most important of these
are: "The Old Niagara Car;" "The Original Typewriter;" "The
Tablet of the City of Ararat" [a refuge for the Jews on Grand
Island]; "The Great West Point Chain;" "Old King Hendrick;"
"The John Johnston;" "The Buffalo Theater Cup;" "Historic
Wampum;" "A Relic of Our First School;" "Red Jacket Relics;"
"The Trial of Andre;" "The Fenian Raid of '66." Several pages
are devoted to the Allegheny [Allegany] State Park. Niunerous
illustrations accompany the volimie.
In the Proceedings iq20-iQ2I of the Massachusetts Historical
Society, volume 54, page 331, is an interesting article on "Ward
Chipman, Loyalist, who spent much of his time in New York City
during the Revolution. Some of the letters he wrote from there
are given. There is also (p. 50) an article on "The King's Woods"
which is interesting as dealing with early attempts at controlling
the forests in the interests of the navy.
Paul Livingston Keil of 4282 Park Avenue, New York City,
has published an interesting little booklet entitled: Arrowheads
and Such.
The Evening Standard of New Rochelle, under date of March
24, 1922, carries an article by Mrs. R. A. Niehaus on Colonial
Days and Figures in New Rochelle.
In The Daily Star of New Rochelle, March 24, 1922, is an ac-
count of a pageant which that city is to hold on June 24.
Miss Clara Pierce of Manchester, New York, has in her posses-
sion the muster roll of Captain Nathan Pierce's Company of
Green Mountain Boys in the regiment commanded by Colonel
Seth Warner at the siege of Quebec in 1776. This is printed in
the April 1922, number of The New England Historical and Gen-
ealogical Record.
The D. A. R. Magazine for April 1922 contains an account of
the activities of the Gan-e-o-di-ya Chapter (Caledonia, N. Y.).
NOTES AND QUERIES 187
The locations of several graves of revolutionary soldiers are given.
In The New York Historical Society Quarterly Bulletin, for April,
1922, Dr. W. S. Thomas begins his catalogue of "American
Revolutionary Diaries." Those by Andros, Angell, Atlee,
Baldwin (Jeduthan), Barlow, Barton, Beatty, (Erkuries; William),
Beekman (Mrs. C; Tyerck), and Berry, relate to New York.
In the same issue is an illustration said to be of Sir William John-
son's chair which he is said to have brought from England and
gave to Colonel James Livingston. There is considerable doubt
about these statements. Johnson, a poor youth who came to
this country from Ireland for his uncle in 1737 or thereabouts,
scarcely brought any such handsome impedimenttun with him,
and he certainly never subsequently returned to Ireland or Eng-
land after coming over here to be able to "bring" any such fur-
niture. He may have had it sent over. His relations with the
Livingston family were anything but friendly and there is nothing
in all his correspondence to show that James Livingston was his
friend. The Society announces the giving of a lectin"e on "Early
New York Theatres," the acquisition of a series of views of New
York City published by Hoff in 1850 and of a miniature of Evert
Bancker (1721-1803).
The Fort Plain Standard of March 30, 1922, has an article by
Nelson Greene on Fort Rensselaer, which he shows was the official
military title of Fort Plain from 1780 until 1786. He proves
conclusively that it is an error to say that Fort Rensselaer was at
the site of the present village of Canajoharie. In the issue of the
same paper for April 13, 1922, there is an article on The First [Mo-
hawk] Valley Settler, Cornelius Antonsen Van Slyck. There is
also much material about Mohawk Castles from 1634-1666.
The History of the Seventy-Eighth Division in the World War,
iQi7-iQig, edited by Thomas F. Meehan, has been published by
Dodd, Mead, and Company, New York.
The Township System: A Documentary History of the Endeavor
to establish a Township School System in the State of New York
and Free Schools: A Documentary History of the Free School
Movement in New York State, both edited by Thomas E. Finegan,
have been published by the New York State Department of
Education.
188 NOTES AND QUERIES
The Archaeological History of New York by Arthur C. Parker,
Archeologist, Part I, has just been issued by the University of the
State of New York, Albany, 1922.
In the Journal of American Genealogy for April, May, June,
1921, is an account of the Montgomery family, of which General
Richard Montgomery of New York was a member, and of the
Dubois family, members of which were prominent in Ulster County.
In the issue for January, February, and March of the same year
appears an article on l^ital Records from Old New York News-
papers.
The Union Presbyterian Church, Endicott, N. Y., is the title of a
local history pamphlet which traces the history of the church
from 1822-1922. Numerous illustrations are given.
In the Bulletin of the New York Public Library for April 1922, is
given (pp. 260 ff.), an extensive list of the acquisitions by gift or
purchase made by the manuscript division during the year. Some
of the most important are letters of Robert R. Livingston (1755-
1794), the Journals of John Lincklaen (1791-1792) and letters
addressed to Fernando Wood by various prominent men (1859-
1861 and 1870-1871).
Chauncey M. Depew in the current issues of Scribner's Magazine
is writing Leaves from My Autobiography. He has also published
in book form My Memories of Eighty Years, Scribner, New York
City.
Lawrence F. Abbott has published Impressions of Theodore
Roosevelt, Doubleday, Page and Co., Garden City, New York.
In the pamphlet entitled Accessions of Manuscripts, Broadsides
and British Transcripts, July 1, 1920 — December 31, 1921,
published by the Library of Congress, is to be found much material
relating to New York.
In the Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society for April,
1922, is an article on Travel Across New Jersey in the Eighteenth
Century and Later by W. H. Benedict which gives a great deal of
information as to routes between New York City and Philadel-
phia.
Charles Cummins Horton and George A. Miller are noted in the
October, 1921, Annals of Iowa as two New Yorkers who went out
NOTES AND QUERIES 189
to Iowa in the middle of the nineteenth century and became
prominent in that state's affairs.
The Rochester Historical Society has published a book entitled:
Henry A. Ward, Reminiscence and Appreciation, by Rev. A. H.
Strong including an Appreciation of Doctor Strong.
In the 1920 issue of the Annual Publications of the Historical
Society of Southern California there is an article on The Henry E.
Huntington Library by George Watson Cole. There is in it much
material relating to New York both in book and manuscript
form.
The Wisconsin Magazine of History for June, 1922, has an article
on Marshall Mason Strong, Racine Pioneer, who originally came
from New York. Another article is Charles Minton Baker's
Journal, which describes his journey across New York State in
1838. Reference is made by the editor to a similar journal by
A. A. Parker, Trip to the West and Texas, 1834-5 published at
Concord, N. H., 1835. In the same issue there is a communica-
tion about the Stockbridge Indians and information about the
diary of Eli Stilson who came from New York.
In the January-June, 1922, issue of The Quarterly Publication
of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, appear the
Memoirs of Benjamin Van Cleve, edited by Beverley W. Bond, Jr.,
which contain some material about New York City in 1792.
The usual route from Philadelphia to New York City at that time
seems to have been via Bristol, Trenton, Princeton, New Bruns-
wick, Woodbridge, Elizabethtown, Newark and Paulushook
Ferry.
From the News Letter of the National Society of the United
States Daughters of 1812 for June 1922, it is found that that
society is having copied from the government library at Ottawa
material relating to the American prisoners of war of some 2,000
to 3,000 folios.
In the Rochester Times Union for February 25, 1922 appears an
article on the history of the Female Charitable Society founded in
1922 in Rochester.
The Linlithgo Reformed Church of Livingston, Columbia County,
is the title of a little pamphlet tracing the history of this important
church and congregation from 1722-1922.
190 NOTES AND QUERIES
The Mystery of Muller Hill is the title of an interesting pam-
phlet published by Warren W. Ames of De Ruyter, New York, in
1902, and purporting to show that Louis Anathe Muller, who
bought some twenty-seven hundred acres of land in Georgetown,
Madison County, in 1808, was none other than the Count of
Artois, subsequently Charles X, King of France.
History of Masonry in Cazenovia is the title of a pamphlet
published by the Republican Press at Cazenovia in 1906, to give
an account of the centennial celebration of the establishment of
the Cazenovia Lodge, 1799-1899.
The Part Brooklyn Played in Helping Slaves is the title of an
illustrated article in the Brooklyn Standard Union of May 7, 1922.
In the Brooklyn Eagle for February 26, 1922, there is an article
on the Bull Rider Smith Legend in connection with the founding of
Smithtown, Long Island, by Richard Smythe or Smith.
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle in its issue of April 2,
1922, carries an article on an old house built over a century ago.
It is soon to be razed.
In the Utica Observer for May 5, 1922, appears a history of
the Dicksville school district which was organized in 1834.
The Kings County Historical Society has acquired the Teunis
G, Bergm collection of maps, surveys, documents, letters and
memorabilia which largely relate to the county.
In a little folder entitled Historically What Occurred at Fort
Ticonderoga, which is given with the compliments of the Fort
Ticonderoga Musetmi, it is stated that the first American flag
ever used in actual engagement was flung to the breeze at Fort
Ticonderoga. The best proofs available do not warrant this
statement at all, as those presented for Ft. Stanwix at Rome rest
on a more secure foundation.
MUSEUMS, HISTORIC MONUMENTS AND REMAINS
The New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse is offering
ten prizes for the best photographs of the trees of greatest his-
torical significance within New York State. The photographs
must be accompanied by exact data and proofs.
NOTES AND QUERIES 191
White Plains now has a tree recorded in the American Forest-
ry Association Hall of Fame for trees, with a history, at Washing-
ton, D. C.
The nomination was made by Mrs. Jeremiah T. Lockwood and
the tree is the magnificent sycamore at Washington's Headquar-
ters. This tree is of unusual spread and height, is in perfect
state of preservation and is estimated by experts to be at least
300 years old. Its measurements are as follows: height, 100
feet; spread, 96 feet, circumference at 4^ feet from the ground,
13 feet 6 inches, and diameter, 4 feet 5 inches. The tree stands
close to the house that was General Washington's headquarters
when the Battle of White Plains was fought on October 28, 1776,
and again his headquarters from July 16th to September 2, 1778.
This tree shaded from the western sun the windows of the room
occupied by General Washington. Under its branches many
distinguished men have passed, among them being General
Alexander Hamilton, Governor George Clinton, the Count de
Rochambeau, General Lafayette, the Duke de Lauzun, General
Israel Putnam, Aaron Burr, General Charles Lee and James
Monroe. At this headquarters many important military con-
ferences were held by General Washington.
At Chimney Point in Vermont William R. Barnes is said to have
in his yard the remains of the Congress, to which Arnold made his
escape after the battle of Valcour Island.
Some 2,100 people visited Washington's Headquarters at White
Plains during the 1921 season. The desk chair used by Wash-
ington in this house has recently been acquired through the gift
from the late R. Guy McLean of New York City.
The Montgomery County Historical Society held a meeting on
June 10, 1922. A photographic copy of a newly discovered oil
painting of Sir William Johnson was presented by Dr. John M.
Clarke, Director of the State Museum, who also made an address.
The Legislature at its last session appropriated $4,000 for
roads and repairs on the Bennington Battlefield Park.
192 NOTES AND QUERIES
In Elmira at the comer of West Water Street and Guinnip
Avenue is said to be a frame house which served as a morgue
during the Civil War, when so many southern soldiers were im-
prisoned at Elmira.
In the Knickerbocker Press of Albany for March 12, 1922, there
is an account of a ballot box said to have been used by Gates at
Saratoga when a vote of the officers was taken as to whether the
army would attack the British or besiege them.
The Board of Trustees of the village of Fort Edward are plan-
ning to improve and purchase the old burying ground made famous
by the graves of Major Duncan Campbell, Jane McCrea and
Sarah McNeil.
The Oneida Historical Society has recently received many
additions to its museimi collections, the most important being a
map of Whitestown in 1806.
The Old Brook School road at Maspeth, Long Island is to be
closed. It first appears on a map of New York and Staten Island
made at the order of Sir Henry Clinton in 1781. An article on it
appears in the Elmhurst Register for April 22, 1922.
The Times Union of Albany is advocating the erection of a
State Memorial to Theodore Roosevelt which will house the State
Museimi and other collections.
The Rochester Historical Society has under way a plan to mark
the site of Try on, the "lost city of Irondequoit," on June 10, 1922.
An article about it appears in the Rochester Post Express of May
31, 1922.
A noteworthy commemoration took place in the old Falley
Seminary building at Fulton on Jime 1st. The building was
dedicated on December 5, 1850 imder the name Falley Seminary,
although the school had been in existence as an incorporated insti-
tution, under other names, since May 25, 1836. The school
closed finally in 1883. As it is intended to take down the building
and erect upon its site a high school structtu-e, the happy idea of a
reimion of teachers and students was conceived. The invitations
drew responses from more than four hundred persons, once con-
nected with the seminary, now living in different parts of the
NOTES AND QUERIES 193
United States, and about two hundred and fifty met in the semi-
nary chapel in the morning, and attended the banquet in the even-
ing. The address of welcome was given by Mr. Edwin R. Red-
head, of Fulton; and the principal address at the banquet was
delivered by Rev. Curtis E. Mogg, of Syracuse. At one period
Falley Seminary held rank among the leading academies in this
country.
In Waterloo there was recently discovered an old poster dated
May 10, 1830, which gives considerable information about the
fulling, dyeing, carding and dressing establishment of Annanias
Jenks. It was printed by the Seneca Farmer, a newspaper started
in Waterloo in 1826. An article about this appears in the Roches-
ter Democrat and Chronicle for May 3, 1922.
A revolutionary cannon ball was recently dug up on the estate
of S. A. McClimg of Cherry Valley.
The old Ross mansion at Elizabethtown is to be torn down to
make room for a hotel. The New York Herald of May 7, 1922,
and the Troy Record of May 8th printed accounts of it.
The Society of Old Brooklynites appointed a committee re-
cently to urge the purchase and preservation of the land bounded
by Fourth and Fifth avenues and Third and Fifth Streets on which
a part of the battle of Long Island was fought in 1776.
WORLD WAR MEMORIALS AND COLLECTIONS
The City of Yonkers on May 30, 1922, tmveiled a memorial to
the citizens who died in the military service diuing the World War.
The Montgomery County Historical Society, on May 30, 1922,
held exercises at Fort Johnson to dedicate a tablet in memory of
members who served in the World War.
On Sunday, April 2, 1922, there were held in Brooklyn, very
impressive "Memorial Services for the War Dead from Over-
seas." The occasion was the arrival of the transports carrying
over one thousand of the bodies.
The Chemimg Board of Supervisors has permitted the Ameri-
can Legion the use of the Scott Baldwin property as a clubhouse.
The Board of Supervisors in each county is by statute to provide
for the burial of an honorably discharged soldier or his wife or
194 NOTES AND QUERIES
widow, when sufficient funds are not left for the burial, and also
provide for a suitable marker.
A movement is on foot in Brooklyn to enlarge the historic park
at Flatbush Avenue and Kings Highway and use it for a World
War memorial clubhouse and public library.
The Patchogue Advance began to publish in its February 17,
1922 issue, the history of "Patchogue's Part in the World War"
as prepared by the local historian, Dr. W. E. Gordon.
The Riverhead Review, in its issue of April 7, 1922, publishes a
simunary of Colonel David E. Gaddis's history of the part played
by Riverhead in the World War.
The Suffolk Times is publishing the "History of the Village of
Greenport's Part in the World War" which has been prepared by
Mrs. Joseph L. Townsend, local historian.
At a meeting of the Monroe County Historical Commission on
March 17, 1922, the American Legion of that county gave sanction
to the work which the commission had in hand of compiling
Monroe County's Part in the World War.
Members of Base Hospital 19 in the World War who came from
Rochester were tendered a reception at the city Historian's
office in Exposition Park on March 28, 1922. Each member was
presented with a history of the unit and a New York State mili-
tary medal.
The
Quarterly Journal
of the
New York State Historical
Association
Volume III October 1922 Number 4
Entered as second class mail matter October 22, 1919, at the Post Office at Albany, New York
under the Act of August 24, 1912.
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Quarterly Journal
Editorial Committee
JAMES SULLIVAN, Managing Editor
DIXON R. FOX FREDERICK B. RICHARDS
CONTENTS
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES - A. H. Shearer 195
CALEDONIA IN THE NATION'S WARS
- - - - - - - - Harriet B. Dow 205
SOME EARLY DUTCH MANUSCRIPTS
A. J. F. van Laer 221
AN OGDENSBURG LETTER OF 1811
- - - - - - - - Comfoii; Williams 234
OBITUARIES ------ George A. Ingalls 238
REVIEWS OF BOOKS -------- 267
van Laer, Minutes of the Court of Fort Orange and
Beverwyck, 1652-16 56; Byington, The Record of a
Private.
NOTES AND QUERIES --------269
STATEMENT -------- . - - - 2S0
Subscription Price $1.50 Single Numbers 40 cents
Address all contributions and communications to
New York State Historical Association, Albany
VOL. Ill OCTOBER 1922 NO. 4
1 he (Quarterly J ournal
of the New York State Historical Association
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES^
Some years ago it became necessary for me in connection with
bibliographical work at the Newberry Library in Chicago to at-
tempt to list the historical societies of the United States with their
publications, and it was surprising to note about 545 of them.
This list was nearly complete but included some societies which
had been in existence but either were definitely dead or had ceased
to function. The work continued for about five years in connec-
tion not only with the library but with the national conference of
historical societies. In the course of it not only the names and the
publications of the societies became known to me but the charac-
teristics of many of them, and you who have known many local
and general societies doubtless have noted the same characteristics.
Professor Jameson recorded some of his impressions on the subject
at the conference of 1908.
In thinking of the local societies of the United States, I think
almost every observer has felt that there has been a great waste
of effort, which, properly directed, would have put us much further
ahead in the accumulation of historical material both tangible and
intellectual, and would have prepared broader foundations in each
generation for succeeding generations to build upon. I once had
the idea that local history societies were made up of small groups
of scientific historians working out monographs of local nature.
But how rarely is that the case. How often is the local historical
society a social organization, sometimes exclusive in its member-
ship and often failing to touch the subject of history at all. Music
sometimes occupies the program, and talks on current events or
'Read by Mr. A. W. Skinner in the absence of Mr. Shearer at the Lake
George meeting of The New York State Historical Association, October, 1921.
196 A. H. SHEARER
descriptive addresses on foreign countries are considered to come
under the designation of history. Sometimes these societies have
good collections of historical material, but Mr. Leland tells of
cases where they are not shown to any except members, or some-
times the keepers are the only ones to see them. Their publi-
cations are sometimes of the weirdest character historically, as for
instance in one of the state publications a few years ago in each
issue there appeared a poem by the editor and the subjects were
not historical. I am not judging the poems but the conception of
the function of the historical society. Fortunately these remarks
do not apply in general and a great amount of good work has been
done by the local historical societies of the United States, however
much more is possible of accomplishment in the future.
Besides the purely local societies of which many of you are mem-
bers, there are some general societies each covering a different sub-
ject, and hence drawing their membership from widely scattered
parts of the coimtry. Such are the societies devoted to religious
history and we can note such among the Catholics, Presbyterians,
Baptists, Episcopalians, Congregationalists, Methodists, Reformed
and Unitarians. Such also are the racial societies, as the Hugue-
not, Jewish, Irish, German and Negro. There are also military and
naval historical societies, genealogical, numismatic, geographical,
agricultural, memorial, pioneer, and the frankly antiquarian and
patriotic societies, each working in its own field and in some cases
most excellently.
But it is not particularly to the local or specialized societies that
I wish to refer but to the state societies of the country, some of them
state only in name, others in actuality.
The earliest of all the historical societies in the United States was
the Massachusetts, founded in 1791. Leisure and freedom from
poverty had come to men of cultural instincts so that the desire
to form a library, to discuss the events of their nearly two hundred
years of history, and to publish their discussions, was possible of
accomphshment. The Massachusetts Society has become repre-
sentative of one type, exclusive, well endowed, doing real historical
work in its collections and publications.
Next came the New York Historical Society in 1804, and this
developed with some of the characteristics of the earlier society,
that is, exclusiveness in membership, a large endowment and
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES 197
collections, and excellent publications. Of late years the society
has been considered by some of its own members as moribund,
and they have tried to rouse it, but their best efforts came just as
the war opened, and the society remains in the same condition as
before. In no sense can it be considered a state society.
The Pennsylvania society was formed in 1825 with similar
characteristics. It will be noted that these societies started in
the centers of population as soon as pioneer conditions had passed
and a certain degree of wealth and leisure had appeared. They
were not the first of the "learned" societies by any means, as Frank-
lin's Junto and the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia
were examples of earlier ones, but altho the former included his-
torical discussions and collections, the new class were specifically
historical. The Pennsylvania society developed dift'erently from
the earlier two. Despite the supposed exclusiveness of Philadel-
phia, the historical society did not hold restrictions on membership
and it has become a large and popular institution. Moreover it
has demanded and received gifts from the state, altho entirely
under private control.
Throughout the eastern states societies have existed, all of them
of reputation so that not only the person really interested in the
history of his state, but the person who wanted to be thought
learned or civicly minded could seek membership. There was
always a solid working membership of historically minded people,
and a fringe of others of several different classes, those newly rich
who wanted to improve their standing in various ways, those
naturally "joiners" who assumed some interest in history, those
of standing in the community who could not be omitted from such
an organization, altho they had not the time to give to intensive
work. So we find societies in Maine where very vigorous publica-
tion activity went on from 1831 to recent years; in New Hamp-
shire from 1823, with publications but moribund or rather throt-
tled until Edward Tuck gave a new building a few years ago and
still not tremendously active ; in Vermont where it is really a state
society, but as such lacks cohesion and depends on central execu-
tives to be really alive, and such it was not for some years; in
Rhode Island, from 1822 ; in New Jersey, where though nominally
open, it is really somewhat exclusive and practically represents
the northern part of the state, the old East Jersey; in Delaware,
198 A. H. SHEARER
where the history recording spirit was strong in the part of a few,
and where gaps in activity have occurred ; in Maryland, where the
roll of names of members is almost like a social register, but where
the members have supported earnestly the historically inclined
portion of their numbers in real contributions to history; in Vir-
ginia, where conditions similar to Pennsylvania have existed, with
real contributions to history; in South Carolina, from 1857; and
in Georgia, where the exclusiveness in recent years so throttled
historical interests among those really interested, that despite
earlier noteworthy contributions, a rival organization had to be
formed, modem forms of activity, and a final result was the uniting
of the two so that conditions approach more nearly the ideal.
Now these comments are not to be gathered from the printed
annual reports where such still appear, nor in the excellent pub-
lications of some of them, but they nevertheless apply. There
may be no objection to stating that a restricted membership of 100
acting in the nature of trustees is the best possible form in one place
or that 2500 members supporting capable officers is the best in
another, but concerning other societies self-satisfied members may
be resentful at hearing their society spoken of as moribund, or
antiquated, or inefficiently exclusive.
In the early west, societies grew up on the eastern models, a
group in Ohio, the Pioneer and Historical Society in Michigan, and
societies in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. Some
are still active in their former way, but some of the southern socie-
ties passed through the post-bellimi period with usual difficulties
and have revived in dift'erent form.
Then came the new kind of society, the product of the central
states. It has been a development and to those who think that
nothing new or progressive can come anywhere except from the
w^est, it will seem a very natural thing. What I refer to is the
state-supported and state-directed society, in some cases supplant-
ing the individual^ organized society of earlier days, especially in
the states of New England origin or influence. In these societies
the effort or trend is towards securing expert service. History
becomes a function of the state. So far as politics or personal
consideration does not interfere, a historian must be secured who
will comb the state's records, secure books, papers, and illustrative
relics for the collections, publish handsome and authoritative vol-
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES 199
umes, all at the state's expense. In most cases there is nominally
a historical society, but in one case it consists of only nine members,
all nominated by the governor, in another there used to be just one
man interested, and he was paid for so being. State pride enters in
so that each state's historian demands appropriations, and the
chief object of comparison is the publications or perhaps of salaries
of neighboring states.
Wisconsin had a historical society from 1849 (reorganized in
1859). It was made up of individuals interested in the history of
their state and of the places back east where they came from.
Hence the society's collections include many genealogies and local
histories. This applies to Minnesota (1849) also. Wisconsin be-
came interested in the society and as in many things later the
Wisconsin State Historical Society became a leader in the new
kind of organization. Money was appropriated for a building,
for acquisitions, for publications, for salaries. There are now a
number of members, (nominally 750), but the main concern of the
curators is to secure a librarian, an editor, a superintendent, who
will take the affair out of their hands and keep the society in the
forefront. The example has been irresistible. Minnesota came
to the same point in 1913. The reflex was felt in Michigan where
a state commission of history with a secretary was established in
1913 and took over the practical direction of the Pioneer and
Historical Society. In Iowa the process was different. The State
Historical Society backed by the University left the field of museum
and library to the Department of History and has secured control
of collecting and relating the history of the state. Kansas and
Nebraska have fallen into line, and South Dakota has established
a state department. Wyoming copied, and its skeleton society
of nine members includes the paid state historian. In the South
central states, two men, Thomas M. Owen and Dunbar Rowland,
secured in Alabama and Mississippi the state support which en-
abled them to do the same work as the North central states had
done, and which the voluntary state societies would not have been
able to support. Illinois remains to be mentioned. Since 1899
there has been a state historical societ)^ developing in part out of
the State Historical Library. On the other hand, a group of men
at the state university has edited the Collections and persuaded
the state to appropriate for a historical survey in 1909 preparatory
200 A. H. SHEARER
to the State's Centennial of 1918. The result has been that there
is a popular society with its Journal, and a scientific department
which has produced by aid of graduate students, research men,
clerks and stenographers, an excellent series of histories and docu-
mentary publications.
Now the chief characteristics of these central states and their
historical societies have come to be these, — historical publications
most excellently prepared, and of great value ; on the other hand,
either a dwindling membership or one fairly large but less and less
responsible and consequently less and less responsive. The latter
fact worries some of the superintendents, especially as in the last
analysis, it is not so much state pride which will bring forth ap-
propriations for salaries and publications as the demand from a
group of interested people within the state.
Let us add one more statement about the far west. Outside
perhaps of the Pioneer Association Society of Oregon the historical
society per se has never flourished. The publications about Cali-
fornia for instance have been the work of an individual like H. H.
Bancroft, or in recent years, of the State University. In Wash-
ington the success of a State Historical Society has been due to
the fostering care of the University through its history faculty,
though city rivalry has caused increased interest in the Washington
State Historical Society at Tacoma.
Now in all these societies, east and west, the individual initiative
and the state supported society, what functions do we find?
First perhaps we might mention the interesting of people in the
history of their state or locality; or conversely, giving the op-
portunity to people interested in history to express that interest.
In the east there is a spontaneous gathering locally and in state
organizations for the sake of talking history, of exchanging ideas
gathered in research, of visiting historical places, of marking sites.
This takes place in different forms, from the very localized group
to the state group, some interested in one phase, some in another.
Does the fact that as many as 75 societies died, and that another
75 can be said to have only a normal existence so far as this func-
tion goes, mean that the historical spirit is decadent? Have the
material interests crowded it out, has prosperity been too much
in some cases (as when there is a magnificent building or a swollen
endowment), or has indeed the cold cruel attitude of the scientific
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES 201
historian, trained to a nicety in everything except human sympathy
and regard for enthusiasm, laughed it to scorn so successfully that
it can not hold up its head? I could give examples of each of
these. I know of one state where the Ph. D's. said they were
watching the state society to see when the time was ripe to join
and swing ib into the proper line. They watched in scorn for a
dozen years and then necessity drove them to membership in time
to be in at the obsequies. In the central states mention has already
been made of the feeling akin to despair on the part of some of the
superintendents as to interesting the people of the state in their
state society. Which is best, a society growing up as the result
of a natural desire or a society gathered together by a state super-
intendent working downward into all parts of the state?
Let me say right here that I think our own association is in
a rather fortunate position. It was wholly spontaneous, both in
its inception, and in its growth to include the whole state, yet it
has always been in close touch with the state historian, who now
as a civil service officer selected because of training in history as a
head of a department of archives and history corresponds to simi-
lar officials under different names in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michi-
gan and othere states. He has the opportunity of suggesting
membership to different people as he goes over the state, of speak-
ing of the association as well as of his department, of carrying ideas
from one to another in the intervals between state meetings. The
voluntary side can be emphasized but the central directing figure
can observe and care for it. A decent sized membership, with
regular meetings, interesting discussions, and an opportunity to
learn history by visiting places where it was made, is a stimulating
beginning. Incidentally the necessity in some states of meeting
always in the same place may have advantages but also has its
disadvantages.
Secondly, the function of a state historical society is to correlate
the work of local historical societies. In some states the state
society has to a certain extent destroyed interest in some local
societies. In Wisconsin there are a dozen local societies, most of
them not spontaneous but organized by the state society. I know
of one society which never meets. It used to get enough mem-
bers together to reelect officers but latterly the officers have held
over. All these local societies are affiliated with the state societ,.
202 A. H. SHEARER
whatever that may mean. In other states, even where the govern-
ment supports a historian, there have never been local societies at
all. In Michigan the secretary of the commission federated the
local societies and was accomplishing something when the war
broke out. In Massachusetts there is no real state society and
the Bay State Federation attempted to fill the gap. In Pennsyl-
vania the Society in Philadelphia is not really a state society and
the Federation of Historical Societies, due mainly to two or three
ofllcers and some others of vision, has performed a real office in
bringing together those interested, and conversely in stimulating
interest in the local societies.
Again, to speak of ourselves, we find ourselves the state associ-
ation of New York, originally perhaps organized only as another
local organization, but now really a state organization. It was
never intended, I suppose, that this association should have re-
lations with the local organizations, of which there are some 90
or 100 in the state, but it seems to me as I look over the member-
ship and make a substantial guess, that at least 90% of the As-
sociation's members belong to local societies, and in many cases
to more than one. Without consciously intending to be so, it is
becoming a uniting bond of the other societies, and this without
superseding them. Perhaps this fact might be taken into con-
sideration in the programs, in the meeting places, possibly even in
the officers chosen, certainly in suggestions for membership. If
we could reach the point where we could first suggest, then urge
upon local societies the desirability, then the necessity of being
represented at the state meeting, and then have something that
each would carry back to his local society, or to the sectional
federation as our state historian suggested in 1917, we would have
a unity of action and feeling such as west of us they do have be-
cause they have not the local societies to build upon, and such as
most of the east does not have because they have not found a suc-
cessful bond. We will be as much better off than Pennsylvania
and Massachusetts where they have only federations as the people
of the United States imder the Constitution were when under
the Confederation, because we act directly on the individual with-
out destroying his local allegiance.
A third function is that of preservation of records. To a certain
extent it means a permanent official and staft' to attend to this
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES 203
properly, but the local society or person interested can help vastly
by discovering and informing and where possible by depositing
material at the central headquarters. This applies also to museum
objects. Legislation is sometimes necessary to properly carry out
this function, as in the case of allowing or even compelling the
deposit of local records in a central place. The state officials of
the Middle West have progressed very far in this respect; they
have blazed the way and are approaching the ideal. In New York
State we are making progress, and the state association can assist
by reporting information, by advice, by supporting the state
department, by telling the legislature the real facts.
And fourthly, a very important function is that of publication.
When we are all long buried, posterity will search our publications
and our reputation will depend on them. There has been a vast
amount of good material published by the historical societies.
Before ever a State Historian was heard of, the Massachusetts
Historical Society was putting out its fine publications. Individ-
uals gave funds for publications such as the Peabody fund of the
Maryland Historical Society and the J. D. Jones fund of the New
York Historical Society. The Pennsylvania Society published
Memoirs and then established its valuable magazine. But the
West was not behind, even in the days when the voluntarily band-
ed together groups were operating, before the state took a hand.
The Wisconsin Historical Collections date from 1855, the Minne-
sota Historical Collections from 1856, and the Pioneer and His-
torical Society of Michigan publications from 1877. In later years
under Draper, Thwaites, and Quaife in Wisconsin, Buck in Minne-
sota, Shambaugh in Iowa, Alvord in Illinois, Owen in Alabama,
Rowland in Mississippi, and others, the publications have been
remarkable for wisdom in selection, for exhaustiveness of research,
for care in editing, and in general for their form.
What are the general characteristics of these publications? I
think there are three in particular. First are the Collections, in
which docimients are printed from manuscripts or from scarce
examples. These are always of value to people interested in
history, not only in one state but throughout the country, indeed
the world, and upon them can be built up the authoritative his-
tories of the future. Secondly, we have the Proceedings of meetings,
sometimes merely annual reports. These have unfortunately been
204 A. H. SHEARER
the veriest trash insomecases and have borne down the reputation
of what otherwise might have been a respectable society. Third,
periodical publications, in which documents, monograph material,
addresses, news notes, editorials, and book reviews appear. These
vary greatly, but for excellent publications the Pennsylvania
Magazine and the Minnesota History Bulletin are two different
types.
If I might refer to our own association again, in reference to
these different publications, I suppose it never will be as it has
not been, our function to publish doctunents as collections. Our
situation rather is that we have a state department. Excellent
collections have already been published. Perhaps the thing for
us to do is to demand of the legislature that more be published
and then advise the department what is wanted first. The state
historian is always open to suggestions but perhaps he would not
want anything so definite as an advisory committee on publications
of this association. We might try it and see.
As to proceedings, here I am afraid the association does not
stand as high as it should. There are occasionally valuable con-
tributions but then again there are those which are not. As to
the periodical, — the New York State Historical Association's
Quarterly takes high rank with such publications of the country
and if we but new how well it was received, we would demand full
support of it from the association.
In writing thus about state historical societies, I could not help
thinking of otu* own association with its possibilities in comparison
with others over the country and have ventiired to mention them.
And might I add that in trying to restrain the limits of my paper
I have omitted much anecdotal material which clings to historical
societies as to individuals, and which I might have mentioned en
passant. Doubtless however any one of you know enough of these
societies to supply the illustrations appropriate to the subject and
so have worked with me in developing the matter as it has been
presented.
A. H. Shearer
CALEDONIA IN THE NATION'S WARS
In the year 1805, the Rev. Joseph Avery^ preached to Caledonia's
infant church and administered the sacraments to its people. He
made a number of missionary tours through the new settlements
of Northern Massachusetts and Middle and Western New York.
Fearsome and lonesome joiuneys they must have been for the
sohtary horseman, grand old man that he was, through miles of
unbroken forests with the scattered households few and far be-
tween.
In 1799 he assisted at the organization of the first Congregational
Church at West Bloomfield; he preached the first sermon ever
delivered in Vernon, Oneida County, and he was the first to carry
the gospel to the white settlers in the Niagara Frontier. Mr.
Avery labored under the auspices of the Berkshire Missionary
Society. Its proclamation has mingled pathos and singleness of
purpose worthy a coimty which is credited with sending out the
greatest number of pioneers of any New England community;
pioneers of unequalled worthiness, many of whom found homes
in the Valley of the Genesee. It reads in part:
"To the inhabitants of the new settlements who are Destitute
of a preached gospel and the stated administration of its ordi-
nances. Brethren and Friends, animiber of your fellow candi-
dates for eternity consisting of ministers and others in the Coun-
ties of Berkshire and Columbia and their vicinities have been
excited from a view of your destitute situation to think, on ways
and means, to have you enjoy with them the inestimable bles-
sings of the gospel ; as the only means of accomplishing this de-
sirable end they have been led to form themselves into a mis-
sionary society to give a more extensive and universal spread
to the gospel of the Divine Redeemer. Brethren, we solemnly dis-
claim any other end in the exertions we are making than the propa-
gation of the gospel and the spreading of the knowledge of the
true God among you and the salvation of otir fellow sinners."
I have the diary Reverend Mr. Avery kept on this journey of
1805 from which I quote:
'See the Quarterly Journal for October, 1921.
205
206 HARRIET B. DOW
"Friday, Oct. 18, 1805" (He was on his homeward way) —
After leaving Ganson's he speaks of AlHn's River:
"Its falls, its misterious disappearance and reappearance in greater
volume further on. " And he also visits an old fort in the woods ;
he continues: "I here rode 6J^2 miles to keep my appointment
at the Deep Springs called Caledonia. Met with the elders of
the church and the members in their way of preparation, in the
Scotch way for the Communion. Many of the members could
not speak and some could not understand English."
"Sat. Oct. 19— Preached a Sacramental sermon to a good
audience and baptized 6 children."
"Lord's Day, Oct. 20th — Preached twice and administered
communion or sacrament. There was a greater collection of
people than I had seen on the Purchase; there were more than
50 communicants and many came 6>2 miles North and South.
The people have been here only two years and many are but
one from Scotland."
"Monday, 21 — Preached a sermon at 11 according to their
custom after communion. The donation was $4.25. These
Springs are good water and the most of the time carry a grist
and saw mill. I put up at Alexander MacDune's, Esq. Two
families came here today direct from Scotland in 9 weeks to
this place. I left in the afternoon."
He visited Rev. Ezekiel Jedediah Chapman at Geneva both
going and coming. On the 16th of September he attended a
Presb}d;ery meeting there. He also described the tumulous in
this vicinity out of which a tree 18 inches in diameter had grown
and in which human bones of mammoth proportions had been
found. This had been noted by other early writers, some of whom
affirmed the bones to be larger than any ever before found of our
race. Mr. Avery called it "A strange monument."
This beautiful valley was a wilderness inhabited only by scattered
aborigines when the great decisive war which made us a nation
was fought and won. Yet the echoes of that momentous conflict
pierced even these wooded hills which it opened up to the world.
The soldiers of Sullivan's ruthless raid saw a land of wondrous
promise whose fertility they heralded far and wide and at the dawn
of peace many men who before had come here for rapine returned
CALENDONIA IN THE NATION'S WARS 207
to make their homes where once the smoking camp fires of the
original Americans had ascended. Later new settlers from the
land of the heather brought here their household goods and the
descendants of the men who had fought for the Solemn League
and Covenant joined hands with the men of Lexington and York-
town in a common pact for civil and religious freedom and for
brotherly love in the strange new Land of Promise. Scotsman and
Yankee found much to learn from each other, were it only to drive
an ox team and plow a straight furrow, and Cupid did not forget
to play his part.
Many men of the Revolution await the last reveille within the
confines of the Caledonia of that day: Rev. Solomon Brown,
William Bingham, Israel Merriman, Samuel Stanhope, John Joslin,
Rufus Hebbard, Comfort Smith, Rawson Harmon: in Scottsville,
Reuben Heath; in the village of Caledonia: Isaac Butterfield,
David Fuller, Enoch Place, John Gibson, John Irons.
The blood of many of these patriots is alive in Caledonia today ;
noting a few among these, Theron Brown, one of its members,
hails back to Solomon Brown and Rufus Hebbard; the Doctor,
Peter McPherson to the Yankee, Isaac Butterfield. Mrs. Stella
Place Brown has left a most enduring monimient here. What is
now Caledonia, Wheatland and LeRoy was at one time in the
one town of Caledonia, though for some inexplicable reason Cale-
donia was for a time called Elon, and the township was called
Southampton. In 1806 all Southampton was by vote changed
to Caledonia. In 1821 Wheatland was set off.
So it was a wide territory when the long threatened conflict
of 1812 broke out. It opened with a cruel menace; the British
Colonel Proctor offered the Indians a premium for every American
scalp, and these premiums were actually paid. War was declared
June 18th, 1812. On August 15th following, the British General,
Sir Isaac Brock, sent General Hull, the spineless commander of
Detroit, a demand for surrender in these dastardly words:
"It is far from my intention to join in a war of extermination
but you must be aware that the numerous bodies of Indians
who have attached themselves to my troops will be beyond my
control the moment the contest commences."
A thinly veiled threat of awful consequences which were not with-
out their intended effect upon the senile commanding general as
208 HARRIET B. DOW
subsequent events proved. Brock, you remember, was himself
killed at the Battle of Queenstown in the following October. The
British have raised a commanding monimient to his memory on
the heights above Queenstown, while a boulder dedicated by
Edward VII, as Prince of Wales, marks the spot where he fell.
Small wonder terror spread thro' the scattered settlements along
our unprotected border. Even these stories of fresh horror were
scarcely needed to intimidate the helpless people to many of whom
the awful atrocities of England's cruel allies in '76 were still
fresh in memory.
A letter in my possession writen by Rev. Solomon Brown on
one of his frequent missionary journeys brings to us the condition
of these poor frightened pioneers. Writing from Malone, New
York, under date, September 19, 1812, he says:
"I arrived at this place about half past twelve this afternoon
at the house of Brother Chipman's expecting to have a meeting
but the Exemps have a training at the French Mills this day
and the men were mostly from home and the women are interested
and taken up in conversation about the war and Indian affairs
and whether it is best to move off or not ; they have no time to
waste for meetings for religious occasions. Sister Chipman
sent around to her neighbors (as Brother Chipman was away
from home) to attend at their home but there was only one woman
who came on the call, one woman who came on a visit and one man
accidental who had not heard of the meeting. We took up the
time in conference. I waited till Sunday 12 o'clock for Brother
Hascall who then came up ; we set out immediately after dinner
from Judge Newcomb's. We rode to Kinner Newcomb's in Chaz-
ey . Brother Hascall preached in the evening. Thursday, set out
to ride thro' the woods Chattingay but this was one of the most
melancholy and affecting scenes I have passed since the late
war. We met people constantly- in the after part of the day
moving chiefly from the Missena, most on horse back with their
families and what they could load on; others who had but one
horse on which were the women and children ; the man on foot
with a child in his arms, fleeing for life leaving all with settled
dejection on their countenances as we passed by them. When
we came to Mr. Pumroy's which was about sundown, there was
a large number of persons consisting of about 60 families small
CALENDONIA IN THE NATION'S WARS 209
and great. Some women and children crying, and men en-
quiring 'What news?' with sad dejected countenances. Mr.
Pimiroy very pohtely invited us to tarry all night with them and
would be glad to have preaching but there would be constantly
coming in, as they expected fifty more people that night that
were on their way in the woods and we found their conjecture
true for we passed on till 8 o'clock at night, we met some; some
with carts loaded with goods, some with two yoke of oxen, some
three, some one, some wagons, some sleds, men, women and
children wading thro' the mud at night. Some men had chil-
dren in their arms, and even some women, and some groaning
under their burden. We asked if they were tired; 'Yes', some
would say, 'Most tired to death. How far is it to the next
tavern?' This question became so frequent that Major Skinner
would tell as soon as they came up: 'I know your question;
how far is it to Pumroy's?' So he kept on answering them till we
met them three miles distant at 8 o'clock at night in a howling
wilderness and as muddy a road as you ever passed and probably
more so, passed by them all and directly after; back from the
road in a thick cedar swamp we heard the most doleful crying
as of a person in the most excrutiating agonies of death. We
stopped our horses to be sure we were not mistaken; we heard it
a number of times; we were about three miles from any house.
We rode on till we came to Roberts' ; his house was full of people
moving. I cannot fully explain all this to you till I get more
time and paper. We rode on however, to Chattengay Comers,
a distance of about 15 miles after sundown."
Although written to his wife this letter is addressed to Elder
Solomon Brown, Brookfield, Essex Co., N. Y. As I often hear
people from the happy Adirondack Camps speak of Malone, Chat-
tengay and Chazy, I think of the heartbreaking scenes of that
lonely ride a century and more ago.
The hardy Scots of this vicinity early heard the call to arms.
Nine days after the declaration of war Capt. Robert McKay en-
listed his company of 31 men, practically every one from the land
of the heather. As was to be expected these men under their
handsome young captain (who must have been a man of "parts")
gave a good account of themselves. Their officers were: Robert
210 . HARRIET B. DOW
McKay, Capt. ; Thomas Deever, Lieut. ; Simon Armstrong, John
McKenzie, Jonathan D. Faulkner, Sergeants; Donald Frazier,
Zachariah Bedford, John Turner, James Anderson, Corporals.
The following year Captain McKay was promoted to the Colonelcy,
William Duer succeeding him. McKay was taken prisoner at
Lundy's Lane; carried to Montreal and afterwards exchanged.
Captain McKay's Company belonged to Colonel Daniel Davis's
Regiment, New York State Militia. Colonel Davis rose rapidly
to the rank of Brigadier General. He was killed at the sortie at
Fort Erie. General Porter in his official report says:
"Brigadier General Davis although a militia officer of little
experience conducted on this occasion with all the coolness and
bravery of a veteran and fell while advancing on the enemy's
entrenchment. His loss as a citizen as well as a soldier will be
severely felt in the patriotic County of Genesee." P. B. Porter,
Brigadier General commanding volunteers and militia, Sept.
22nd. 1814.
General Davis's grave is in the little wayside cemetery on the
State road a mile or so east of LeRoy village ; a cemetery generally
so unkempt as to reflect little credit on the patriotic County of
Genesee, whose people should be very proud of that lonely grave
where sleeps the brave officer who gave up his life to make perma-
nent our freedom.
Fourteen veterans of 1812 await the last muster in your cemetery.
So far as I can learn only one of these was on the roster of
Captain McKay's valiant young minute men of June 29, 1812:
Caledonia — 18 12-14
Alexander Anderson Duncan Cameron
Orange Dean Daniel Gustion
Malcolm McArthur John Malloch
John McNaughton Peter McNaughton
Isaac Self ridge Alexander McVean
Peter McVean John Blue
Malcolm McMartin Jacob Purkey
which shows how widely scattered are your graves and how contin-
uous was your patriotism.
CALEDONIA IN THE NATION'S WARS 211
The story goes that in those perilous days three young Scotsmen
of York, Alexander Stewart, Duncan Mclntyre and Donald G.
Frazer although aliens decided it was their duty to leave their
chopping and logging and enlist at the recruiting station at Batavia.
Accordingly one morning bright and early they sallied forth (after
a hearty breakfast of fried pork and boiled potatoes) coats on arm
and staffs in hand. They halted at Duncan Grant's whom they
belabored well for lack of patriotism in refusing to join them.
Grant was obdurate, believing their zeal wouldn't take them be-
yond the big Springs, and it didn't. After nightfall Grant hid
himself near where he thought they would take their homeward
way and he did not have long to wait before he heard Mclntyre
and Frazer trying to persuade Stewart to modulate his voice, the
natural strength of which the day at the Springs hadn't modified,
lest Grant hear him, but in vain. They were surprised on their
hasty homeward march and never to their dying day were they
allowed to forget their valiant services in the War of 1812. All of
them became honored and successful citizens and founded influ-
ential families. One of those young blades, alas, when a helpless
old man was tortured to death by robbers in his own home.
One day in the latter part of August, 1814, Elder Solomon
Brown was preaching to his flock in a log school house on the site
of the present school building in that part of Caledonia which is
now Belcoda. A messenger came to say that Fort Erie and the
Niagara Frontier were in danger. The minister, a veteran of the
Revolution and a man of action, closed his sermon, made a fervent
prayer and said that further services would be held that afternoon
in the green at Garbuttsville with everyone present who was willing
to go to the defense of his country. Forty young men responded
to the call. It was a worthy crowd of embattled farmers whose
only accoutrement was patriotic fervor and the ability to handle a
gun. They gathered such clothing, shoes, food and arms as they
could muster. Mr. Levi Lacy went surety for their necessities
at the Garbutt Store, the same store over which a Garbutt now,
as then, presides. Without being formed into a company they
started early the next morning on foot for Buffalo. Their number
was by this time augmented to seventy -five. Nearly the entire male
adult population of that part embraced in the present town of
Wheatland. Arriving at Buffalo on September 1st, they were
212 HARRIET B. DOW
enrolled and accepted in the service of the United States and put
on active duty. Their officers were:
Captain — Levi Lacy.
Lieutenant — ^Ward Smith
Ensign — Timothy Doty
Sergeants — ^John Garbutt, Ephraim Blackmer, P. W. Cady, Wil-
liam Grey.
Corporals — Reuben Budd, Thomas Armstrong, Ephraim Lacy,
Hull Case, Jonathan Harris.
Musicians — John Harmon, fifer; Nathaniel Cobb, drummer.
Guards — ^William Cox, Jirah Blackmer, Martin Sage, Theron
Brown, Reuben Jaquitt.
Privates — Nathan Bassett, Ambrose Killan, Alpha Wheeler,
Isaac Grant, Amasa Johnson, Hezekiah Higby, Abram B. T.
Grant, Reuben Hiu-lbtirt, John Kelsa, Stephen Peabody, Daniel
North, William Cox, Daniel Van Antwerp, Henry Gilman,
Joshua Howell, James Lewis, John M. Goodhue, Robert
Hurlburtson, Wm. P. Pentland, Bela Armstrong, Ezra Car-
penter, Timothy Jackson, Jonathan Webb, Asa Jacquitt,
Philander Higby, Caleb Calkins, Andrew G. Cone, Joseph
Shadock, Aaron Usher, Ranson Harmon, Jr., Thomas Shad-
bolt, Andrew Gray, Hugh Leeds, Ezra Brinster, John Johnson
Harvey Guthrie, Martin Sage, Phillip Garbutt, William
Johnson, William Darling, James Jones, Ezra T. Cone,
Jonathan Babcock, William Stedman, Thubal Lamb, Thomas
E. Fletcher, Abram Smith, William Garbutt, Daniel Grant,
Benjamin Warren Hetzler, James Peires, Charles Killam,
George Hetzler, Harley Hugh Sage, Stephen G. Peabody,
George F. Hetzler.
Something over three weeks later came the Sergeant's laconic
report :
"Fort Erie, Sept. 21, 1814
Left the Fort having conquered the British.
John Garbutt,
Sergeant Commander."
It was this same sergeant, John Garbutt, who walked to Canan-
daigua in 1805 and carried home on his back the books forming
the nucleus of the Wheatland library. This was not only the
CALEDONIA IN THE NATION'S WARS 213
first library in Caledonia, but the first library in all Western
New York.
In the Fort Erie engagement William Garbutt and Stephen
Guy Peabody were wounded. The latter and one other were
taken prisoners and carried to Montreal and released after six
months. The following letter written to Theron Brown during
this campaign is an interesting mixture of personal interest and
inspiring patriotism :
"Caledonia, Sept. 10, 1814.
Dear Theron: —
We send you by Esquire Blackmur our best wishes, a pair of
pantaloons, ^ bu. of onions.
The family well and wish you to conduct yourself like a good
soldier, quit yourself like a man and if you die, die valiantly,
trusting in the mercy of God; the cause is good.
You have our prayers for our afflicted coimtry and the shield
of Jehovah for you and our Western Army in the present im-
mergency.
Mrs. Grant has sent Mr. D. Grant a pair of pantaloons, and
Mrs. Grant is well and family.
Encourage the soldiers to do something worthy the cause they are
contending for, and retrieve the character of the Buffalo Militia.
In the greatest haste,
Your affectionate father,
Solomon Brown.
Mr. Jackqueth's people are all well and in good spirits."
This letter is addressed :
"Mr. Theron Brown, Soldier,
Capt. Lacy's Com.,
Col. Crosby's R.,
Brigadier G. Davisis Brig."
Sixteen of these men are in the cemetery at Belcoda along with
eight Revolutionary and two Civil War Soldiers.
War of 1776
Solomon Brown John Josyln
William Bingham Rufus Hebbard
Israel Merriman Comfort Smith
Samuel Stanhope John Toms
214 HARRIET B. DOW
1812
Calvin Armstrong Ranson Harmon
Ira Armstrong Jonathan Harris
Jirah Blaclcmer Hezakiah Hebbard
Ephraim Blaclcmer Wm. Palmer
Theron Brown Shepard Palmer
Andrew Cone William Shirts
Abijah Collins Martin Sage
Henry Oilman John Welch
Ashbel A. Hosmer, Buried at Clifton
1861
George Cate John Hays
The Big Springs seems long a halting place, but the Indian seldom
made his home there. To its haunted woods he carried criminals
and captives for torture. So frequent were his journey ings
through, that scarcely was one camp fire black before another was
lighted. Here the great Brant and many other Senecas, as well
as Butler's ruthless Rangers, halted when fleeing before the re-
lentless Sullivan. The little town often suffered from the lawless-
ness of returning soldiers who did not hesitate even to walk into
Mr. Cameron's store and help themselves to anything they liked
without the formality of recompense.
One day some five hundred sailors drafted for Perry's fleet passed
through here. They made an imposing military caravan in their
great wagons. They stopped here for their midday meal. Build-
ing a fire they happened to espy Mr. Robert McKay's inviting
potato field near by and they started in to help themselves against
the owner's vigorous protest. Some of the latter's armed friends
coming to his assistance a fight was imminent which would have
proved an unequal contest against the 500 husky sailor lads when
their officers who were enjoying themselves at Mr, Cameron's
hostelry were hastily stimmoned and they soon quelled the dis-
turbance. Spending that night at Batavia the sailors reached
Buffalo the next day and put aboard the fleet. The day following
they took prizes near Ft. Erie valued at $200,000. They could
haul down the Union Jack but they couldn't have Mr. McKay's
potatoes.
CALEDONIA IN THE NATION'S WARS 215
Wounded and dead Americans were carried through here. One
man describes, or tries to, the impression made upon him when
looking into a sleigh he saw the frozen body of Major Barton of
Bloomfield and another soldier just as they were picked up from
the battle field. British prisoners were taken through here and
sometimes the Scotchmen escaped, notably Thomas Faulkner,
who, when about three miles east of the village, slipped from his
convoy and hid in the bushes. He was kept hidden and cared for
by the people till the close of the war when he cast in his lot with
America and became one of our most respected citizens.
One day during these times three soldiers stopped for a time in
Caledonia. Before passing on eastward and probably homeward;
they seemed somewhat under the influence of liquor. A short
time afterward some three miles distant to the east the dead body
of one of them was found, shot through the head. No effort was
made to find the murderers. A hole was dug where he lay and
without the benefit of clergy or winding sheet the poor broken
body was consigned to the earth. There seemed no care that he
was a htiman being and no thought that a man enlisted for the
defense of his country deserved at least a Christian biuial, if not a
soldier's obsequies. Afterwards, a strange plant grew from this
lonely wayside grave; a perennial unknown to this region. It
grew and blossomed year after year; flower and soldier alike
strangers in a strange land. Then a vandal hand uprooted the
mysterious plant, which came no one knows whence, uprooted it
root and branch and today no one knows where lay the "soldier
of his country mustered out."
This story touched the heart of the poet McNaughton who
frequently in his youth passed this nameless grave, and he has
made it the theme for one of his sweetest and most pathetic poems.
THE FADED COAT OF BLUE
My brave lad he sleeps in his faded coat of blue,
In a lonely grave unknown by the heart that beats so true.
He sank faint, and hungry among the famished brave,
And they laid him sad and lonely, within his nameless grave.
He cried: "Give me water and just a little crumb,
And my mother she will bless you through all the years to come.
216 HARRIET B. DOW
And tell my sweet sister, so gentle, good and true.
That I'll meet her up in Heaven, in my faded coat of blue."
He said — "My dear comrades, you cannot take me home,
But you'll mark my grave for mother, she'll find me if she'll come;
I fear she'll not know me, among the good and true.
When I meet her up in Heaven, in my faded coat of blue."
Long, long years have vanished, and though he comes no more,
Yet my heart will startling beat with each footfall at my door;
I gaze o'er the hill where he waved a last adieu.
But no gallant lad I see, in his faded coat of blue.
No sweet voice was there, breathing soft a mother's prayer,
But there's One who takes the brave and the true in tender care-
No stone marks the sod o'er my lad so brave and true.
In his lonely grave he sleeps, in his faded coat of blue.
Chorus
No more the bugle calls the weary one;
Rest; noble spirit! in thy grave unknown;
I'll find you, and know you, among the good and true.
When a robe of white is given for the faded coat of blue.
These words "The faded coat of blue" have been enshrined in
our language.
Our militia dates back to the train bands of England whose
origin is so remote as to be almost legendary. Milton said of
them, "They are the truest and most proper strength of a free
nation." It came naturally to our shores with our English found-
ers as a part of the Church Militant. It protected the early settlers
against organized Indian forays of such chiefs as King Philip.
In 1774 was found the formation of regular miHtia companies
in all the colonies, and it was the miHtia whether organized as
Continentals or volunteers, or acting on its own organization that
brought the Revolutionary War and largely the War of 1812 to a
successful finish. On attaining ovu- independence our forefathers
recognized it as the People's Army, delegating Congress to provide
for the arming and developing of the militia and governing such
part of it as may be employed in the service of the United States.
To the respective states was left the appointment of the officers
CALEDONIA IN THE NATION'S WARS 217
and the authority for training the militia according to the discipline
prescribed by Congress. The President was to act as Commander-
in-Chief of the same when called into actual service of the United
States.
In 1776 the State of New York passed a law providing a very
good organization for its militia based upon the theory that every
ablebodied male citizen between the ages of 18 and 45 was loyally
bound to be prepared at all times to defend the public weal and it
required him to be enrolled by the Captain of his respective com-
pany district. Within three months after such enrollment he was
to provide himself with a musket and bayonet, and a pouch and
25 cartridges, blanket, knapsack, etc. Brigades, regiments,
companies of artillery and infantry were provided for as well*~as
common uniform for officers and men which was to be provided
at individual expense.
Each took his military duty as the solemn matter it was. One
week at least each year was given to general training which, with
its drill, its lesson of obedience and team work and spirit of pre-
paredness, was a splendid education, not in militarism but in
genuine self protection.
The 77th Regiment New York Militia and the Grenadiers of a
later day were Caledonia's own, among the officers of which were
49 of her best known citizens:
Grenadiers
Colon Orr Ensign
James Hill, Jr. Capt.
Daniel McNaughton Lieut.
James 0. Gibbons Capt.
Harley Glass Lieut.
John Storm Ensign
Alex. Gordon Major Lieut. Col.
John Miller Quartermaster
John Savage Graham vSurgeon
Henry L. Weatherwax Ensign
Daniel C. McNaughton Capt.
Joseph Campbell Lieut.
John McKay, Jr. Lieut. Capt.
Peter Forbes Adjutant Paymaster
Wm. McKay Lieut. Col.
218
HARRIET B. DOW
Archibald H. McLean
Lieut. Col. Adjutant
Graham N. Fitch
Surgeon
77th Regiment
Daniel A. Peck
Lieut.
Hugh D. McColl
Lieut.
James Hawley
Ensign
Nelson Arrowsmith
Ensign
Archibald Ferguson
Ensign
Jonathan Johnson
Ensign
Wm. Forbes, Jr.
Ensign
Wm. A. Burlingame
Ensign
Elijah Humphrey
Quartermaster
A. McClenen
Adjt.
Chester Rice
Ensign
Angus Cameron
Paymaster. Major
Alex Cameron
Capt.
Daniel Campbell
Lieut.
John W. Walker
Ensign
James Shaw
Capt.
James Hill, Jr.
Lieut. Capt.
Archibald Mclntyre
Ensign
Wm. McKay
Lieut. Col.
Angus Cameron
Major. Lieut-Col.
Alex Cameron
Quartermaster. Capt
Alex Gordon
Ensign. Capt.
John Simpson
Ensign
Thompson L. Daniels
Ensign. Lieut.
James Shaw
Major
Cingus McKenzie
Ensign
Abial Robertson
Ensign. Capt.
James 0. Bibbins
Capt.
James Van Fleet
Capt.
Peter Ryan
Capt.
Alex. McFarlan
Capt.
Wm. Monteith
Lieut.
Practically every name betokened the Gaul. We find the re-
doubtable Robert McKay as Lieut. Colonel of the 74th Regiment;
while Theron Brown was at one time Lieut. Colonel of the 77th.
CALEDONIA IN THE NATION'S WARS 219
Later Colonel Brown became Brigadier General of the 46th
Brigade New York Infantry, which consisted chiefly of Rochester
and Monroe County men, their general training being largely
in Rochester, Chili and Wheatland. Later Robert McKay
was Colonel of the 77th., though when it marched and had a sham
battle in Caledonia, Hugh McMillan was in command. The first
training west of the Genesee River was near the village of LeRoy.
In Caledonia, Elder Uriah Griswold and Timothy Colton's farms
afforded the finest parade groimd for the 77th Regiment. That
was near the Tuscarora line, the present boundary between Lei-
cester and Caledonia. For fifteen or twenty years at least these
drills and grand reviews continued. In the Militia as in the secret
training in their ancestral heath the men of Caledonia were never
found wanting. The call of the Republic was to them the blast
of Roderick Dhu's bugle horn.
What need now to speak of '61 ? The names of those who paid
the supreme sacrifice in that fratricidal strife are graven on your
hearts as well as on the enduring marble. Nine gold stars are
there in your cemetery, everyone marking a Scotman's grave;
soldiers of the Union mustered out. Of the twenty-five members
of your honored McNaughton Post, taps have sounded for all save
three. In your village one of Roosevelt's Rough Riders bearing a
Highland name answered his last Assembly call, Carroll McVean.
1 86 1-6 j, Died
Donald Armstrong William Moore
John D. McNaughton James Walker
Frederick Gibson John M. Campbell
William McNaughton Daniel Donahue
Archibald Walker
McNaughton Post Org. i888
Robert M. Place Philip Krautwaurst
Geo. W. Moore Peter Campbell
P. W. McNaughton William Ball
Robt. W. Scott Sylvester P. Clark
Duncan D. Cameron Thos. Sheehan
John Weigart William Tygart
Peter Gallagher Edward Mclnroe
Peter Goodrich Chas. Spring
220 HARRIET B. DOW
John Monroe Geo. Woodruff
Wilson Carruthers — ■
Samuel Carruthers John Monroe
Frank Banks Thos. Sheehan and
John McEwen William Ball
are still living.
What need indeed to speak of 3^our Roll of Honor in Khaki. God
bless it with its precious Star of Gold. While every man of Scottish
birth lives as he should in the land of crags and heather, such a
thing as a hyphenated Scotchman has never been known.
Well indeed have the men of the heather fought America's
battles here and over seas. From the Black Watch at Ticonderoga
all along the line to the great Chieftan who gathered the remnants
of rebellion in his hand and with a Scotch grip spelled Antietam,
every American from Scotland has been true blue, a fair foe but
a terrific fighter as the Hun learned on Flanders Field when with
more truth than refinement he dubbed the soldiers of kilt and tar-
tan as "Ladies from Hell." Of everyone who fell in all these years
of our history^ it may truly be said that he died "With his back to
the field and his feet to the foe."
Harriet B. Dow
SOME EARLY DUTCH MANUSCRIPTS
LETTERS TO ADRIAEN GERRITSEN PAPENDORP
Among the Dutch papers in the Albany Institute and Historical
and Art Society there are several letters addressed to Adriaen
Gerritsen Papendorp and his widow, which throw an interesting
light on the business relations between the Dutch inhabitants of
Albany and their relatives and friends in Holland, shortly after
the second occupation by the British of the province of New
Netherland.
Adriaen Gerritsen Papendorp, or van Papendorp, as he is some-
times called, was an early trader at Beverwyck. He succeeded
his brother-in-law, Dirck Jansen Croon, as extraordinary magistrate
of the court of Fort Orange and the village of Beverwyck on May
1, 1657, and from that date tintil his death, in 1688, repeatedly
served as magistrate, being also one of the first aldermen of the
city of Albany that are named in the Dongan charter of July 22,
1686. His will, dated October 7, 1688, which was proved in court
by the witnesses on November 27 of the same year, is recorded
under the latter date in the city records and is printed in full in
the Annals of Albany, 3:193-95. In this will, he makes his wife,
Jannetie Croon, his heir and the executrix of his estate, but does
not mention any children. A power of attorney which is among
these papers shows that he had a brother, Jan Gerritsen Papendorp,
who died at Rotterdam before July 22, 1687.
Two of the letters, dated at Amsterdam, May 12, 1679, and
July 18, 1680, are signed by J. H. Sybingh, who may have been
either Jacob Hendricksen Sybingh, or Sybinck, a former resident
of Beverwyck, or else perhaps his brother Jan Hendricksen Sybinck
a merchant at Amsterdam to whom Adriaen Jansen van Ilpendam,
notary public at Albany, wrote letters in 1676 and 1679. The
first of these letters mentions the death, in the earlier part of 1679,
of Papendorp's brother-in-law, Dirck Jansen Croon, a carpenter,
who became a magistrate of Beverwj^ck on August 24, 1655, and
returned to Holland in 1663, when Papendorp acted as administra-
tor of his property. Croon was a well-to-do resident of Beverwyck.
His house on Jonker, now State, street, which was sold by Papen-
221
222 EARLY DUTCH MANUSCRIPTS
dorp to Jan Cloet on November 12, 1664, was nicknamed "de
Spaerpot" (the Savingsbank), and his household effects, which
were sold at auction in May 1664, brought a total of 427.05 guilders,
an unusually large amount for that period. The second letter of
J. H. Sybingh refers to the settlement of an estate, in which Pa-
pendorp was interested. This was probably the estate of Dirck
Jansen Croon. The letter of 1679 also refers to Adryan Jansen
Croon, a brother of Dirck, who was likewise a former resident of
Beverwyck, and who returned to Holland in August 1660. Accor-
ding to the letter of Willem Bancker and Hendrik Sybingh, he
died before April 24, 1688.
The third letter is signed by Gertruy Rynders, the widow of
Barent Rynders, deceased. The latter was a smith by trade.
He was a resident of Beverwyck in 1657 and owned two houses on
Rom street, now Maiden Lane, which he sold on September 9,
1678, to Jan Nack and Gerrit Lansing. He probably returned to
Holland shortly after the last mentioned date and died before
June 3, 1682, the date of the letter. October 4, 1682, Adriaen
Gerritsen Papendorp, as special attorney for Barent Rynderse,
deceased, sold a house and lot on Jonker street to Jochim Staets,
Barent Rynderse's son-in-law. The letter refers to Willem Teller,
junior, a surgeon, who married at New York, on November 19,
1686, Rachel Kiersted, and who died there shortly before May 4,
1711. The letter also mentions Gerardus Beekman, to whose
little son, called Adriaen, Adriaen Gerritsen Papendorp by will
left his "ring with y® stone, y^ gold buttons which he wore in his
shirt, y^ silver tooth-picker, and greatest silver tommeler," and
who, therefore, evidently was his godchild.
Joannes van de Grift, the writer of the fourth letter, was prob-
ably the same person as Joannes Leendertsen van de Grift, or
van der Grist, who in 1658 was a measurer of grain and lime
at New Amsterdam.
The last three letters deal with the settlement of the estate of
Adriaen Jansen Croon, mentioned above.
An interesting item in the letter of 1679 is the reference to gim
barrels and locks, which had been ordered by Papendorp. This
shows that guns were imported without the stocks and explains
EARLY DUTCH MANUSCRIPTS 223
the reason for the existence of several lademaeckers, or gunstock
makers among the inhabitants of Beverwyck.
A. J. F. VAN Laer
Translations
J. H. Sybingh to Adriaen Gerritsen Papendorp
Actum, Amsterdam, 12 May 1679
Mr Adryan Gerretsz
After greetings and best wishes, I hope that you and your wife
are well. As to us, we thank God for his mercy. As it has pleased
God to take your brother-in-law, to wit, Dirck Kroon, out of this
world, Adryan Jansz has asked me to take to my house and sell
the goods which you had sent to him [Dirck Kroon], which I did
and of the proceeds I have given to the sister's daughter of Mr
Gerret van Sleghtenhorst, in the presence of Mr van Ruyven, 2
beavers. I sold 72 skins at 6^ guilders apiece. They were the
first which I have sold. Among them there were 24 which are
entered as half skins on the list. Of these Adryan Jansz is to have
7, of which I shall give him the money. But in the letter it was
not stated whether they were whole skins and they were not marked
so that I do not know whether I shall pay him 7 whole beavers or
not. The gun barrels and locks which you ordered I have not
dared to buy, as no one wants to take them with him, saying that
they are contraband. I wish I could have carried out your orders.
Adryan Jansz will give you all information in regard to Dirck
Jansz. Commending you with your wife to the keeping of the
Most High, I remain.
Your friend and servant,
J. H. Sybingh
J. H. Sybingh to Adriaen Gerritsen Papendorp
Actum, Amsterdam, 18 July 1680
Mr Adrian Gerretsz
After greetings and best wishes, I hope that j^ou and your wife
are well. As to us, we thank God for his mercy. My last letter
was sent by the ship St Pitter, to which I refer for particulars.
This is to let you know that by order of the secretary we received
for you fi. 3897-6-, cotmting in the costs of the judgment and fees
224 EARLY DUTCH MANUSCRIPTS
paid last year for your share, as well as the interest since the
judgment was obtained, being from June 1679 to November 1679.
But the current interest, according to the copy of the letter about
it, the heirs do not allow, so that we shall have to sue them for it
before the court if they not willingly resolve to pay it. We have
already bought a Holland and Westvriesland bond of fl. 2500 for
you at 2)4 guilders above par, so that this sum is already earning
interest at 4%. We are now considering whether we shall invest
the remainder also in a bond; we wish we could. At any rate,
we shall do our best and shall not let it lie idle. What will be
coming to you for your part of the lot, is as yet unknown, for we
have not yet got so far. As soon as everything is received, we
shall see how we can best invest it. As to what is further in my
hands, proceeding from the box of peltries, I shall await orders
what to do with it. The 21 beavers are still unsold, so that you
can regulate yourself accordingly.
I commend you with your wife to the keeping of the Most High
and remain,
Your friend and servant,
J. H. Sybingh
Addressed :
The Worthy, Discreet Mr Adryaen Gerretsz
van Papendorp
at Fort Albany
Geertruy Rynders to Adriaen Gerritsen Papendorp
Aderyaen Gertsen Papendorp
Very kind and beloved friend:
I hope that you and your wife are well. As for myself, I am,
thank God, reasonably well, but I have four children very sick
with smallpox. But I am quite used to having sickness in July,
which, as long as I have been living in Amsterdam, has never
failed. But what shall we do? It is God's will and we must rest
content with that.
Pursuant to your order, I am sending you by the ship "Beaver,"
Jacob Mauris, master, the goods listed in the accompanying invoice.
Of the peltries, I still have in hand 37 guilders, 13 stivers, out of
which I must pay the customs and expenses in England. Of all
I have in my hands that belongs to you I have heretofore given a
EARLY DUTCH MANUSCRIPTS 225
perfect account by skipper Jan Gorter. You may order what you
like to have done with it. The lace which is mentioned in this
invoice you will please demand from Willem Teller, the younger,
who went over as surgeon on Jan Gorter's ship. I hope that you
will not take it ill that I sent the lace without having received
definite order; kindly let me know whether you received it.
Among the peltries sent over by you there was one badger skin
which is not worth anything here. And the little case is shipped
to Gerardes Beeckman, according to your orders.
Your brother-in-law Aderyaen Kroon is still in good health.
Kindly give my greetings to Teunes Komeles van de Poel and
his wife and tell him that I wrote all particulars by skipper Jan
Gorter. I should have written to him now, but can not bring it
about with all these sick children which I have in the house. As
to the trade here, this is, thank God, again fairly good. Com-
mending you herewith to the Lord,
Your willing servant and friend,
Gertruy Rynders, widow of
Barent Rynders, deceased
Actum, in Amsterdam
June 3 Anno 1682
Addressed :
Mr Adriaen Gerritse Papendorp
Merchant at Albany
per the ship Beaver
Capt. Jacob Mauritz
Joannes van de Grift to Adriaen Gerritsen Papendorp
Mr Adriaen Gerretse Papendorp
Monsieur and worthy friend, salute!
Your letter of the 20th of August was duly received, from which
I learned that you are well, of which we are very glad. As to us,
I have been sick a long time, but am a little better now. My wife
and son, thank God, are well. I received from the hands of
Juffrouw Siebingh 70 beavers for the relatives of Tuenis Willemse.
Also, from Jacob Teller, a small leather purse, containing 3 pairs
of gold buttons and 53 stivers in Holland money. The same
evening that Teller brought me the piu-se, it was lost or stolen
from my house, with the buttons, money and all, at least, I do not
226 EARLY DUTCH MANUSCRIPTS
know what has become of it. I have a suspicion, however, who
may have it, as three of my good acquaintances were here to have
a Httle talk and I showed it to them. I then put them [the buttons]
back into the purse and laid it down beside me and have not seen
them since. I would ask you therefore to write me some time
what in your opinion they are worth, as you will probably know
that, in order that the relatives of Tuenis Willemsen may also
hear what they were worth. I shall then satisfy them, rather than
have words about it. I also understand from your letter that you
have had a great deal of trouble with them. I am sorry that you lost
the other two helpers, and I thank you heartily in the name of the
relatives for your trouble. If there is anything here in which I
can be of service to you, please command me; I shall take care
that it is well done. For the present I know of nothing else but to
greet you and your wife most heartily and to commend you to the
mercy of the Lord, that He may give us all what will redound to
our salvation. I remain.
Your willing servant,
Joannes van de Grift
In Amsterdam, the 28th of March 1687
If you have received the remaining 15 beavers, please send them
at the first opportunity as the relatives need the money.
Addressed :
Mr Adriaen Gerretsen Papendorp
Merchant at Albany
Power of attorney from Adriaen Gerritsen Papendorp to Herman
van Winterswyk and Willem Bancker
Be it know^n to all whom it may concern that in the year 1687,
the 22d day of the month of July, being in the third year of the
reign of James the Second of the name, by the grace of God, King
of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith,
lord and proprietor of the colony and province of New York in
America, before me, Jan Becker, residing at N. Albany, notary
public admitted by his Excellency the Right Honorable Thomas
Dongan, captain general under his Royal Highness aforesaid over
the colony and province of New York and residing there, appeared
the worth)^ JMr Adriaen Gertze Papendorp, residing here in the
EARLY DUTCH MANUSCRIPTS 227
city of N. Albany in America, who declared that he constituted,
as he does hereby, Mr Herman van Winterswyk, merchant, re-
siding at Uytrecht, and Mr Willem Bancker, merchant, residing
at Amsterdam in Holland, his attorneys and empowered them,
jointly or severally, to receive, demand and collect all that the
principal's brother, named Jan Gertze Papendorp, who died at
Rotterdam, left the principal by will, bonds of which, concerning
the estate, are in the hands of Mr H. Stalpaert van der Wiele, re-
siding at Uytrecht; to settle the estate, give a discharge for the
receipt of the property, and out of it to pay the burial expenses;
but in case of refusal, or any concealment by those who are
required to give information or make payment, to constrain them to
do so by means of legal proceedings either by the attorneys or those
whom they shall choose to employ thereto, to and inclusive of the
final execution ; to ask for revision, to appeal, to agree, compromise,
and further to do all that in their wisdom they may judge necessary,
yes, even if the matter required further and more specific power
than is expressed herein, which the principal considers to be in-
serted and included herein ; with power to substitute one or more
others in their places. All that shall be done herein by the attorneys
or their substitutes, the principal promises to hold and to cause
to be held of the same effect as if it had been performed by himself,
binding himself thereto according to law, provided that the at-
torneys shall likewise be bound, when required, to render a proper
accounting, proof and statement of their administration. In
witness of the truth, the principal has signed and sealed this,
without deceit, on the date above written.
Adriaen Gerretse Papendorp [seal]
( Johannes Wendel, Alderman
Signed and sealed -s L. V. Schayk, Alderman
in the presence of (. Hendrick Coyler, Alderman
In my presence: J. Becker, Notary Public
Willem Bancker and Hendrick Sybingh to Adriaen Gerritsen
Papendorp
Amsterdam, April 30, 1688
Mons^ Adriaen Gerretz Papendorp:
In our last letter to you of April 24th, we advised you that on
account of van der Karre we received from the estate of Adriaen
228 EARLY DUTCH MANUSCRIPTS
Croon the sirni of fl. 58:2:2 and according to agreement for the
clothes 50 guilders. Since that time we have received the money
which for the behoof of the said van der Karre had been deposited
by Croon in the Orphan Chamber of this city, the principal amount-
ing to fl. 240, and the accrued interest to 21 guilders, with which
we shall credit your account. As soon as the interest at Gouda
shall have been received, we shall render an account of everything.
Wherewith we commend you with yours to the protection of God
and remain,
Your willing servants and friends,
WiLLEM BaNCKER
Hendrick Sybingh
Addressed :
Monsieur Adrien Gerretz Papendorp
Merchant
At Albany
Willem Bancker to the widow of Adriaen Gerritsen Papendorp
Amsterdam, the 25th of April 1690
Juffrouw Jannetie van Papendorp, widow
Dear Friend:
Since my last letter to you, the people who claim to be relatives
of 3^our late husband have dared to attach the rent of the house
and the moneys which are in the custody of myself and Ziebing.
They threaten to bring an action against us, so that it is necessary
to send by the first opportunity a copy of the will. I shall then,
I think, easily be able to get rid of them. They seem to be very
hungry wolves and very rude people. They have already once
or twice treated me very impolitely, because I would not tell them
how many securities belonging to you there are here. They have
engaged a rascal of a lawyer, who, I notice is to serve them for a
portion of the inheritance and it seems that they have made him
believe a great deal. Of news there is not much, except that we
are involved in a big war^ and that last year not much progress
was made. It is to be hoped that the Lord will this year bless the
arms more. We hope that skipper Jacob arrived there safely.
^War with France, which ended with the peace treaty of Ryswick, concluded
in 1697.
EARLY DUTCH MANUSCRIPTS 229
With hearty greetings to yourself, cousin Abeel and the friends,
Your wilHng servant,
WiLLEM BaNCKER
Addressed:
To Juffrouw Jannetie Croon
Widow of Adriaen Gerretz Papendorp
At Albany
Willem Bancker to the widow of Adriaen Gerritsen Papendorp
In Amsterdam, the 27th of Julyl690
Juffrouw Jannetie Croon
Dear Friend:
Since my last letters to you by way of Baston and by de Bever
by way of England, in case these should not reach their destination,
these are to let you know that people who claim to be relatives of
your late husband have attached the goods which are in my custody
as well as the rent of the house, claiming that they are the heirs.
It is necessary therefore to send a copy of the will to some one who
can be trusted. Otherwise, I shall have much trouble with it.
Furthermore, I send hearty greetings to yourself and your cousin
Johannis Abeel. The news, my honorable father will communicate
to you.
Your willing servant,
Willem Bancker
This goes by way of England.
Addressed :
To Juffrouw Jannetie Croon
Widow of Adriaen Gerretz Papendorp
At Albany
From City Archives, Amsterdam, Holland
deposition of cornelis maesen van buren
On the 25th of February anno 1636, appeared Com. Martsa
van Buren, aged 30 years, and declared and testified for the truth,
at the request of Ybel Hendricx, widow of Hans Jorisz Hontum,
that he, the deponent, had been for more than three and a half
230 EARLY DUTCH MANUSCRIPTS
years as a farm hand in the service of Mr Rensselaer in New
Netherland and came home in November last past. He also de-
clared that at the time that he, the deponent, resided there, a placard
was posted by the aforesaid Hontimi by order of the lords directors,
providing that no one should venture to trade or barter with the
savages (and that he, the deponent, understood that Com, van der
Vorst on that account conceived a hatred or animosity against the
said Hontvmi and swore to kill him, even if it were a year from
that date).^ He also declared that in April anno 1634, eight or
ten days after Easter, the exact date having escaped him, the
aforesaid Comelis van der Vorst came to visit the said Hontimi at
Fort Orange and that they were merry together and crossed the
river to inspect the dwelling and the farm of Rensselaer where he,
the deponent, resided. Being there also merry together, the afore-
said [Hontum and van der Vorst] had some words together in
French or Italian, at any rate in a language which the deponent
did not understand, van der Vorst saying among other things that
some of the members of the council were rascals. Whereupon
Hontum asked him three times whether he said that the members
of the council were rascals ? To which the aforesaid Com. van der
Vorst replied: "Yes, some of the councilors have done by me like
rascals." The aforesaid Hontum thereupon struck the said van
der Vorst in the face, so that his nose began to bleed, whereupon
van der Vorst drew his sword and attacked Hontum and stabbed
him in the breast in such a way that he died thereof immediately.
But he, the deponent, neither heard what was said, nor saw the
blow or the stabbing, having stepped for a moment outside the door,
but learned all the circumstances from the other people who were
present as soon as the deed had occurred ; the deponent being ready
further to confirm the above declaration, if necessary. Done in
the presence of Claes Pietersz and Jan Bitter, datum ut supra.
The mark of Cornelis Maesen
Claes x Pietersz
made by himself
Jan Bitter
Protocol of Notary Jan Comelisz
Hogheboom, No. 843. City Archives
Amsterdam, Holland
^The words in parentheses are canceled in the original record.
EARLY DUTCH MANUSCRIPTS 231
Note
Hans Jorissen Hontum, or Hunthum, the commisssary of Fort
Orange, who according to the above deposition was stabbed to
death in April 1634, belonged to a well known family of fur traders
at Amsterdam, whose founder, Johan Hunthum, had early in the
17th century fled to that city from Cologne on account of religious
persecution. He was a man of bad reputation, of whom Kiliaen
van Rensselaer, in a memorial presented by him on November 25,
1633, to the Assembly of the XIX of the Dutch West India Com-
pany, wrote as follows: "And what is worst of all and most to be
regretted, instead of the servants of the Company being on good
terms with the patroons and their servants, they [meaning the di-
rectors of the Amsterdam Chamber of the Company] on the con-
trary have appointed as commis at Fort Orange, situated in his
colony, against the wishes of the remonstrant, a person who has
publicly slandered the Company, has helped those sailing into
that region from other kingdoms to buy the smuggled furs
and is disliked by the savages, who complain that years ago he
treated them cruelly, so that they will not deal with him but on the
contrary try to affront him, to the Company's injury, as by way
of revenge they have already burned the yacht de Bever which was
anchored there, and according to rumor (as the remonstrant is
informed by letter) they seem to have killed all the remonstrant's
animals, horses, cows, sheep and hogs, apparently also on account
of the hatred they bear towards him." The details of this cruelty
toward the savages are set forth in an examination of Bastiaen
Jansen Krol, conducted at Amsterdam before Notary Justus van
de Ven on June 30, 1634, of which a translation is printed on pages
302-4 of the Van Rensselaer Bowier Manuscripts. It must have
been committed in 1622, when Hunthum traded with the savages
under a permit issued by the States General on September 15,
1621. The news of Hunthum 's death does not seem to have reached
Holland until the return of the ship Eendracht in November 1635.
This ship had sailed from Holland for New Netherland in the be-
ginning of May 1634. It reached New Netherland shortly before
August of that year and seems to have left the country the same
year, but to have been held up on its return voyage, for on May
24, 1635, Van Rensselaer wrote to Wouter van Twiller: "If de
232 A. J. F. VAN LAER
Eendracht has been wrecked in coming hither, many returning
people must have gone down with her. We must trust to the Lord
for the outcome. The directors are very much alarmed. They
do not know what may be the state of affairs over there, since
they have received no letters from you by way of Virginia or New
England." As soon as the Eendracht arrived at Amsterdam, steps
seem to have been taken by the widow and the relatives of Hun-
thum to prosecute Comelis van Vorst for the manslaughter (see
minutes of the Amsterdam Chamber of Nov. 12 and Dec. 3, 1635,
printed in A^. Y. Gen. and Biog. Record, July 1918, p.222, 223).
Of these proceedings, the present deposition evidently formed a part.
The deponent, Comelis Maesen van Buren, the ancestor of the
Van Buren family in this country, had been engaged by Kiliaen
van Rensselaer as a farm hand on May 27, 1631, for a term of three
years, commencing from the date of his arrival in the colony. He
sailed on the ship Eendracht after July 7, 1631, and apparently
left the colony shortly after August 2, 1634, when his account was
closed. He returned to Holland, as stated, in November 1635,
married, and again entered into a contract with the patroon on
August 15, 1636. He sailed with his wife, Catel3mtje Martens, and
a farm servant named Comelis Teunissen van Westbroeck on the
ship Rensselaerswyck on October 8, 1636, and arrived in the colony
for the second time about April 17, 1637. On the voyage, a son
was bom, named Hendrick Comelissen. His farm, to which
allusion is made in the deposition, was located on Papscanee Island,
opposite Fort Orange.
Comelis van Vorst, the man who came to blows with Hans
Jorissen Hunthum, was director of Michiel Pauw's colony of Pa-
vonia. He was to sail in 1630 with his wife and children, but was
unexpectedly delayed by his superiors, so that his wife and children
sailed ahead and he followed later. He was apparently related to
Amoldus Buchelius, a director of the Dutch East India Company,
whose memoranda concerning the East and West India Companies
for 1619-1638, are among the Koloniale Aanwinsten in the General
State Archives at The Hague. In these memoranda, Buchelius
makes the statement that "Johan van Voorst, a clever boy of 14
years," whom he refers to as neefken, or little cousin, sailed in 1631
to New Netherland to visit his father, and returned in 1632 with
the director, secretary and minister, in other words, Peter Minuit,
EARLY DUTCH MANUSCRIPTS 233
Johan van Remunde and the Rev. Jonas Michaelius. He also
states that whereas Pauw had appointed "ComeHs van Voorst, with
order to obey no one's commands but his, the said van Voorst has
more than once come into conflict about it with the commander
general, yes, has gone so far as to refuse to post the placards issued
in the name of the Company, or to obey them, so that he was
arrested and a dispute arose, with the result that at last he stabbed
the vice director."
The above deposition is referred to in a footnote to Mr de Roev-
er's articles on "Kiliaen van Rensselaer and his Colony of Rens-
selaerswyck," printed in English translation in the Van Rensselaer
Boivier Manuscripts, but has heretofore not been published in full.
Incidentally, it furnishes an illustration of the importance of the
notarial records in the Netherlands as a source for the early history
of the State of New York.
A. J. F. VAN Laer
AN OGDENSBURG LETTER OF i8ii
Note
The following letter was found in November 1921, by Mr.
Clarence R. Williams of Rutgers College while examining a box
of old papers which his father had brought from his home in
Terryville, Conn. In sending it to us he says:
"Most of the papers were of family interest, except a letter
written to my great grandfather, Washington Williams of Rocky
Hill by his brother Rev. Comfort Williams, a graduate of Yale in
the class of 1908 and a student but not a graduate of Andover
Theological Seminary, (his health failed and he had to leave).
He was, I believe, the first pastor at Rochester, New York."
Ogdensburgh, County of St. Lawrence, State of New York,
July 22nd, 1811.
Dear Brother: —
I have for some time contemplated writing to you and giving
you a brief sketch of this part of our country; stating the ad-
vantages & disadvantages attending the farmer. I am induced
to write, knowing that you have, for some years back, had a
desire to leave Rockyhill, & move where you could find better
land, & have your farm lie together. Experience, I trust, has
taught you the disadvantages of laboring upon poor, worn-out
land; & that scattered in piecemeals all over town. Experience
has also taught you the disadvantage of cultivating land at the
halves. Many are the embarrisments under which you lie. It
may be needless for me to attempt an enumeration, since you are
better acquainted v/ith your situation than I can possibly be.
Now if you wish to better your situation in some degree, I
think that I can tell you how it can be done. I may venture to
submit a few things to your consideration, not doubting but that
they will receive due attention, as coming from one deeply in-
terested in your welfare. What I would wish, is this, that you
would visit this part of the country. I hesitate not, to say that
you would be pleased with the country, & with the advantages
to be derived by a farm here. The country is pleasant tho'
new. The land on the river St. Lawrence is remarkable for
pleasantness. When we stand on one bank of the river & look
234
^A^ OGDENSBURG LETTER 235
across, the farms on the opposite side appear really beautiful.
The river is one of the finest in the world ; it is about a mile & an
half or three quarters wide.
The face of the country is generally level, forming most ex-
cellent flats or meadows; which are not so low but that they are
good for pasturing, for wheat, com, hemp &c. The soil is generally
good. The highest land is rather inclined to be sandy : the lowest
is a black, rich soil, easily subdued, & very productive; the land
which lies between these two kinds is rather clayey. None of the
land lies very high. In some places the soil is thin; this is the
case in this village, but up the river, a quarter or half mile it is
much better — by digging 1>^ or 2 feet we come to a bed of lime-
stone which is very serviceable in this country.
I will give you some of the advantages to be derived by a farmer
who will settle down near this village.
The first enquiry with most persons would be; Is it healthy?
It is so considered. The fever ague does not prevail here; so I
am told. There is now and then an instance of the billious fever :
principally among laboring men. It is attributed to their im-
prudence. It is a common practice for hired men, after their
day's work is finished, to herd together. I have often seen a
number of them lying on the banks of the river without any coat
on, as late as 9 o'clock in the evening; than which nothing could
be more injurious to the health; considering that the dews are
heavy, the evening air very damp. 2. Fertility of the soil.
The soil is very good, producing in abundance all kinds of grain,
grasses & vegitables that can be raised with you. I have seen
some fine fields of wheat yielding from 25 to 40 bushels the acre,
which may be sold for $1.50 per bushel ready market. Oats
flourish remarkably well. Hemp may be raised to any extent, and
will command a good price. Up the river they raise vast quantities
of this article which is sent down to Montreal or Quebeck. Some
I have been told raise 100 acres, calculating to make 50 Dol's
clear profit on each acre. It is now selHng for 200 to 250 Dol. per
ton. Com is not so sure a crop owing to frosts — but some seasons
it does remarkably well — it will fetch .75. cts or 1. Dol per bushel.
Potatoes grow very well — are sold for 40 or 50 cts — have been sold
for $1. the bushel. White beans are an important article — will
bring 1. Dol or 1.40 per bushel. Grass grows very stout — will
236 COMFORT WILLIAMS
fetch $8 or 10 per ton. I shall not have room to entinierate every
article of produce which will be useful for the farmer to raise.
Apple trees flourish very well [omission in the manuscript] be
important, here as there are none of any size. If a person thinks
that he cannot do without cider, he may get as much as he pleases
by going up to the genesee country : which may be done in a few
days: vessels passing up and down the river St. Lawrence con-
tinually. Cider may be got very cheap up there. — A person may
make his own sugar and molases if he please, & that which is good ;
by means of the sugar maple. Salt may be obtained very cheap
up at the salt works. — Wood in abundance. Timber an important
article. Vast quantities sent down to Montreal — price, from 20
to 40 cts, per foot. Plenty of time here. The farmer is not
obliged to labor all winter in getting wood. He may spend it in
threshing out his wheat; or dressing his hemp; or in preparing
his timber for rafting, or in enjoying his ease before his fire. The
farmer may in this town keep 100 head of cattle thro' the summer
without having it cost him a cent. Fat cattle an important
article — beef from o to 6 or 6>^ Dol — hundred. Pork from 16 to
24 Dol. bar. — Poultry would command a great price. Butter 18
cts per lb. Cheese 12 cts. Milk 6 cts. per. Quart. I will not en-
large. The statement I have made will enable you to form some
estimate of the advantages to be derived from a farm in this town.
Let a good farmer come here, & he would without doubt in a few
years make a handsome property. There are some farmers here
but they dont understand the business. There are some good
farms for sale; some entirely new and others partly subdued.
I wish \-ou would come on here & look for yourself. I will
assure you the assistance of some of the first men here. The
country is [ ? ] and it is the desire of the principal characters
to encourage men of principle to come on here. The price of land
is various — from 7 to ** & even to 1200 per acres (This in village
plot). Be so good as to write, & tell me yom- mind about this
subject. If you will give any encouragement about coming, I
will look around and get the refusal of a good tract of land.
I am much pleased with this country. I cannot say but that I
shall alter my mind. One thing I ought to have mentioned;
there is considerable good society here. There are also some
very enterprising men, who will do much toward building up
AN OGDENSBURG LETTER 237
society. It is in contemplation to build an academy soon. And
in process of time, if the town & country continue to settle as they
have for a few years past, they will establish a college in this
village. This village has grown surprisingly. 15 years ago there
was but one inhabitant in this town, 7 years ago there were but 3
families ; & now there are, only in this village, between 40 and 50
houses — crowded full of inhabitants — some houses having three
families — & those large. I shall, most probably, return to Con-
necticut towards the last of October ; I should be glad if you could
make it in your way to visit me before that time & return with me.
I am not employed as a Missionary, but am preaching statedly in
this village, on probation for settlement — salary to be 600 Dol —
if I accept of an invitation to stay.
From your affectionate brother —
Comfort Williams.
Give my respects to our friends.
I have not yet received any intelligence from home since my
arrival at this place — I am at a loss to accoimt for it — Can you
tell me the reason — I fear —
Addressed :
Mr. Washington Williams
Wethersfield
Rockyhill
Connecticut
OBITUARIES
By George A. Ingalls
MiLO M. Acker of Homell died at the Highland Hospital
in Rochester August 11, 1922, after many years of ill health. He
was bom of Dutch-American parentage at Hartsville Oct. 3, 1853.
Until he became of age he worked on his father's farm and in
the lumber woods. The little spare time he had was given to
study. He was a student for a time at Alfred University, where
he maintained himself on the money he had saved.
In 1879 and 1880 Mr. Acker was supervisor of Hartsville.
In 1881 he began the study of law in the office of Judge Hakes at
Homellsville ; in 1883 he was admitted to the bar; in 1885 he
became a partner in the firm of Judge Hakes. He enjoyed marked
success in the practice of the law.
He was recorder of Homellsville in 1886; city attorney for two
terms under Mayor Nelson; city attorney again under Mayor
Charles. He served also as a member of the board of education,
as tmstee of the public library and as vice-president of the Hornell
fair. He held membership in the masonic fraternity and other
social organizations.
Mr. Acker served four terms in the state assembly and was a
prominent member of many important committees. In 1890 he
was chairman of the judiciary committee. The following year he
was the Republican candidate for the speakership and Republican
leader of the assembly. He was one of the ablest debaters in the
assembly.
Mr. Acker was a member of the State Constitutional Con-
vention of 1894 and of its committee on rules. In 1904 he became
a member of the State Water Supply Commission and remained a
member for five years.
Mrs. Willard Shurtleff Augsbury died suddenly at the
Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, June 17, 1920, after an
operation for appendicitis.
She was the daughter of John Davis Ellis and Mary Jane Buell
Ellis, and was bom April 25, 1863, at Antwerp, New York, where
she spent her entire life. Her early education was received at
238
OBITUARIES 239
Antwerp and she was afterwards a special student of Vassar Col-
lege. She was married to Willard S. Augsbury September 12,
1893. Her mother, her husband and one sister, Mrs. Ira M. Bea-
man of Westboro, Mass., survive her.
Mrs. Augsbury was a member of LeRay de Chaumont Chapter
of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was a regent
of her chapter from 1906 to 1908, state regent from 1912 to 1914,
a member of the national board of the D. A. R. for several years
and historian general for two years of the national organization
under the administration of Mrs. William Story. She was a mem-
ber of the Colonial Dames, the Massachusetts Society of May-
flower Descendants, the Daughters of Founders and Patriots of
America and the Northern Federation of Women's Clubs. She
was a member and for years the president of the Antwerp Satur-
day Club. With Miss Miriam Conklin she selected every book of
the Antwerp library and was active in other ways in its manage-
ment. She was a member of the Congregational Church of Ant-
werp and was interested in all its work. At the centennial of the
church in 1919 she was the historian and the account of the church
which she read in the coiu"se of the celebration was of great interest.
Mrs. Augsbury was a capable and energetic woman. What-
ever she undertook she did wholeheartedly. She was cheerful
and companionable — an essential part of every worthwhile activity
for the benefit of Antwerp.
Isabel Wolfe Baruch died November 24, 1921, at the home of
her son. Sailing W. Baruch, 312 West Seventy-third Street, New
York City. She was seventy-two years old.
vShe was the daughter of Sailing Wolfe, a cotton planter of
Winnsboro, South Carolina, and married Dr. Simon Baruch
November 27, 1867. They removed to New York City in 1881.
Dr. Baruch had been surgeon in the field in the army of General
Robert E. Lee from 1862 to 1865. After his removal to New
York he specialized as a consulting physician in chronic diseases.
He diagnosed the first recorded case of perforating appendicitis
successfully operated on. He died in June 1921 and from that
time Mrs. Baruch gradually lost strength. Four sons survived
her. Dr. Herman B. Baruch, Hartwig R. Baruch, Bernard M.
Baruch, the financier, and the son already named.
240 OBITUARIES
Mrs. Baruch was active in women's clubs. She took a prominent
part in the restoration of the Jumel Mansion. She was a former
regent of the Knickerbocker Chapter of the Daughters of the
American Revolution and honorary president of the New York
Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
James Gage Beemer was bom in Hamilton, Ontario, January
16, 1849, and was the son of Levi and Eliza Gage Beemer. He
died at his home, 170 Shonnard Terrace, Yonkers, May 6, 1921,
and was buried in Greenwood cemetery.
Mr. Beemer moved to the United States in early manhood.
He was one of the first settlers on Shonnard Terrace, a residen-
tial district then undeveloped. He was president of the Chestnut
Ridge Corporation of New York City, and of the Phenix Mineral
Products Corporation and was a stockholder in other corpora-
tions.
For many years he gave a large part of his time to philanthropy.
He organized the Hand-in-Hand Restaurants on the Bowery,
where meals were sold for five cents, and was president of the
Hand-in-Hand Supply Company. For fifteen years he was
president of the Industrial Christian Alliance of New York City.
He was one of the founders of the Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion of Yonkers, at one time president of its board of trustees, and
chairman of the board of trustees of the Young Women's Christian
Association of Yonkers at his death ; a life member of the Charity
Organization Society and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Children of Yonkers; a life director of the American Bible Society;
a trustee for many years of the First Presbyterian Church of
Yonkers ; a former member of the board of education of the city ;
a Son of the American Revolution and a member of Jonkheer
Lodge F. & A. M.
He married Margaret L. Barclay. His sons. Miles W. Beemer
and James G. Beemer, jr., and his daughters, Mrs. Edward B.
Church and Mrs. Wilfred E. Smith survived him.
John Henry Brandow, a trustee of the New York State
Historical Association since 1908, died at his home in Schoharie,
N. Y., October 14, 1921. The survivors of his immediate family
were his wife, who was Miss Selinda Bronson of Mohawk, N. Y.,
a son, William H. Brandow of Middleburg, N. Y., and two daugh-
OBITUARIES 241
ters, Mrs. H.N. Trumbull of Cleveland, and Mrs. J. U. Koree of
New York.
Mr. Brandow was a descendant of an emigrant from the Pala-
tinate in 1710. His father was William Henry Brandow, a farmer
and fruit-grower, and his early life was spent in Windham, N. Y.,
where he was bcirn September 20, 1853, and in Esopus and Coxsackie.
His mother was Moycah Houghtaling Brandow.
Mr. Brandow attended school at Hudson Institute in Claverack,
N. Y., and Coxsackie Academy. He decided to study for the
ministry at an age when most candidates for the ministry have
completed their courses of preparatory study in college and semi-
nary. He did not on that account seek for any dispensation or
"short cut." He entered Rutgers College in 1879 and was gradu-
ated in 1883 as valedictorian, then a rhetorical honor, and a
member of Phi Beta Kappa. His younger classmates found him
a congenial associate; he was the main-stay of the college choir,
prominent in Philo, Targtun editor, president of the Bible Society,
preacher at the cremation of Freeman's Outlines, and holder of
several class offices. After graduation from Rutgers he took a
full course at New Brunswick Seminary, supplemented by vaca-
tion work in various fields, and was graduated therefrom in 1886.
In June 1886 he was licensed by the classis of Greene and in the
following month ordained by the classis of Montgomery. His
pastorates were: Reformed Church, Mohawk, N. Y., 1886-1888;
Presbyterian Church, Oneonta, N. Y., 1888-1895; Reformed
Church, Schuylerville, N. Y., 1895-1905; Reformed Church,
Schoharie, N. Y., 1905-1908.
In 1908 he was elected synodical superintendent or missionary
by the Particular Synod of Albany. This position he held until
two weeks before his death. The estimate which his church put
upon his work as synodical missionary is in part in the following
words : "He was not satisfied with perfunctory service but made an
earnest effort to improve the condition of the vacant congrega-
tions which were his particular care "
During most of the time he was synodical missionary he lived
in Albany. The study of history was his recreation and historic
research a veritable passion. He availed himself of the State
Library for the prosecution of his study and research. He wrote
monographs on General Horatio Gates, on Washington's retreat
242 OBITUARIES
through Westchester County, and on General Daniel Morgan,
which appear in Vols. III., IX., and XII. of the Proceedings of the
New York State Historical Association. His most notable
historic work is "The Story of Old Saratoga, to which is added
New York's Share in the Revolution." The New York Evening
Post said of this book: "The Story of Old Saratoga is a marvel of
painstaking research, careful scholarship and patient labor.
In compiling his facts the author has read thousands of letters,
reports, records and unpublished docimients. This finished work
will be a joy to the historian and antiquary."
Thomas Carmody, son of Thomas and Mary Connors Carmody,
bom at Milo, Yates County, N. Y., October 9, 1859, died at his
home in New Rochelle, N. Y., January 22, 1922.
He attended school at Penn Yan Academy, taught school for
two years, and was a student at Cornell University from 1878 to
1881. He studied law in the office of A. A. Hungerford of Ithaca.
In 1886 he was admitted to the bar and practiced law in Penn Yan
until 1911.
Governor David B. Hill appointed him district attorney of
Yates County in 1889. He was chief examiner of the state civil
service commission from 1893 to 1896. In 1910 he was elected
attorney general of the State of New York and in 1912 he was
reelected. During his second term he resigned and went to New
York City to practice law, where he was in partnership with
George J. Blauvelt and Joseph A. Kellogg.
Mr. Carmody was a Democrat of state-wide influence. He was
chairman of the state convention of his party held at Carnegie
Hall in 1908.
He was a member of the Beta Theta Pi and Phi Alpha Delta
fraternities and the New York State Bar Association. Among his
clubs were the Catholic of New York, the National Democratic,
and the Fort Orange of Albany.
His wife, who was Miss Agnes Flinn of Albany, four daughters
and three sons survived him.
Emory Albert Chase on the afternoon of June 25, 1921, re-
tired to his room for a little sleep. When Mrs. Chase went to his
bedside late in the afternoon she found that he was dead. In the
morning he had received a thorough examination by his physician
and it was thought that years of further usefulness awaited him.
OBITUARIES 243
He was bom August 31, 1854. He was a descendant of Thomas
Chase of Chesham, England, who came to America about 1639,
and a great-grandson of Zephaniah Chase, a soldier of the Revolu-
tion, who moved to Lexington, N. Y., in 1787. His parents were
Albert and Laura Orinda Woodworth Chase. On his mother's
side he was of Scottish ancestry. Albert Chase was a contractor,
builder, lumberman, and finally a farmer, and it was on a farm
that he reared his three children, Lydia (afterwards Mrs. Cyrus
E. Bloodgood), Demont and Emory. In 1885 Emory Chase
married Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Addison Jesse
Churchill of Prattsville, who with their two children, Albert Wood-
worth Chase, and Jessie Churchill Chase (now Mrs. James Lew^is
Malcolm), survived him.
Emory Chase attended the Hensonville school and Fort Edward
Collegiate Institute. In 1880 he began to study law in the office
of Rufus H. King and Joseph Hallock in Catskill. After his ad-
mission to the bar and the retirement of Mr. King he entered the
firm of Hallock, Jennings and Chase in 1882. Mr. Hallock retired
in 1890 and the succeeding firm of Jennings and Chase was dis-
solved in 1896 after the election of Mr. Chase as justice of the
supreme court for the third judicial district of the State of New
York.
In January 1901 Justice Chase was designated by Governor
Odell as one of the justices of the appellate division of the supreme
court in the third department. In January 1906 he was designated
by Governor Higgins with Justices Willard Bartlett and Frank H.
Hiscock to serve as associate judge of the court of appeals. He
was redesignated by Governor Dix in January 1911 and served
continuously as a designated associate judge until after his election
as associate judge of the court in 1920. He had served a few days
less than six months of his term of office as elected judge at his
death. In 1910 he was renominated by both Republicans and
Democrats as a justice of the supreme court for the third judicial
district and reelected. His opinions are to be found in fifty-foiu-
volumes of reports of the appellate division and forty-eight vol-
umes of reports of the court of appeals.
Judge Chase was identified with the interests of Catskill from
the beginning of his residence there. In 1882 he was elected a
member of the board of education and he continued a member for
244 OBITUARIES
fourteen years, during five of which he was its president. He was
supervisor of the town in 1890, corporate counsel for many years,
retiring in 1895; first vice-president of the Catskill Savings Bank,
director of the Tanners' National Bank, director of the Cooperative
and Commercial Mutual Fire Insurance Companies; trustee of
the Presbyterian Church. At the formation of the Catskill Citi-
zens Corps he was enrolled as a corporal. Later he was elected
second lieutenant and first lieutenant, holding the latter office
when he resigned in 1884.
The Troy Times in its issue of June 27, 1921, said of Judge
Chase :
"He had the fundamentals of a magistrate — the sense of righteous-
ness, the modest democracy which kept his mind open to all the
phases of an issue; the diligence, the courtesy, the friendliness,
which, while retaining the mastery which belongs to the courts,
prevent their decrees from carrying the oppressive atmosphere
of merely arbitrary authority. Judge Chase was a wise judge,
and, first of all, because he was a good man."
William Brown Cogswell died at his residence, 320 Park
Avenue, New York, June 7, 1921. His parents were David and
Mary Barnes Cogswell. He was boni at Oswego, N. Y., Sept.
22, 1834.
After attending school in Syracuse and Seneca Falls, N. Y.,
he was a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 1850 to
1852. In 1884 he received from the Institute the honorary degree
of civil engineer.
Mr. Cogswell was an apprentice in the Lawrence (Mass.)
Machine Shop from 1852 to 1855; was assistant superintendent of
the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad from 1856 to 1859; was in
the U. S. Navy from 1861 to 1865; erected and operated blast
furnaces at Franklin Iron Works, Oneida County, N. Y., from
1869 to 1873; was in charge of mines of the LaMotte Estate,
Mo., from 1874 to 1879; established the Solvay Process Company
in 1881, of which he was vice-president and manging director.
At a meeting of the American Institute of Mining Engineers in
Baltimore in 1879 Mr. Cogswell heard Oswald J. Heinrich, a
mining engineer of Drifton, Penn., read a paper on the manu-
facture of ammonia soda. He realized the possibilities of such an
OBITUARIES 245
industry at Syracuse and went to Europe to advance his project
At first he met with no encourgement but finally succeeded in.
interesting the Solvay brothers of Brussels. With the develop-
ment of the Solvay Process Mr. Cogswell became a leader among
miners and engineers.
Andrew Colvin died suddenly on April 1, 1921, while dis-
cussing a real estate title in the office of Aaron H. Schwartz at
87 Nassau Street, New York. He was bom at New Baltimore,
Greene County, N. Y., April 21, 1869. His parents were John
and Margaret A. Miller Colvin. After attending the district
school he was graduated from the Albany Academy and in 1891
from the Union University Law School with the degree of LL.B.
He was admitted to the bar of New York the same year.
Mr. Colvin was an authority on the law of libel and was for
many years connected with the legal department of the New York
American. Some five years before his death he left the employ of
the American and resumed the practice of law for himself. He
was an expert on the laws of real property and was one of the
most highly valued lawyers connected with the New York Title
and Mortgage Company.
Mr. Colvin was a resident of Flatbush, Brooklyn, for many
years and was prominent as a civic worker in that district. He
was a former president of the Flatbush Taxpayers Association,
member of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, the 21st A. D.
Republican Club, the New York Press Club, and Social Friend-
ship Lodge F. & A. M. of New Baltimore, N. Y. ; a member and
former president of the Greene County Society of New York
City. His clubs were the New York Press and the Union League
of Brooklyn. His recreations were boating and fishing.
His wife, Mary Backus Colvin, his mother, of New Baltimore,
N. Y., and two sisters, Mrs. John S. Beach of Washington, D. C,
and Mrs. B. C. Perry of Schenectady, N. Y., survived him.
John Barkley Conway, son of John Conway and Agnes Bark-
ley Conway, was born at Argyle, Washington County, New York,
August 25, 1858, and died at the Samaritan Hospital in Troy,
January 28, 1921.
Graduated from Union College in 1879 and from Albany Law
School with the degree of LL. B. in 1881, he was from his admission
246 OBITUARIES
to the bar in 1881 until his death engaged in the practice of law in
the town of his nativity. His family tree was deeply rooted in the
soil of his home town, he knew the personal and family history of
every one for miles around, his general education and professional
training were in advance of the average of his profession, his charac-
ter commanded respect and good will. It followed that he was
the trusted advisor of the community and a leader in community
enterprises. He was one of the founders of the First National
Bank of Argyle and its president from its organization until his
death; president of the Argyle Cooperative Fire Insurance Compa-
ny; president of the Argyle Garage Company; treasurer of the
Argyle Elgin Butter and Cheese factory; treasurer of the United
Presbyterian Church of Argyle from 1884 until his death; super-
visor of the town of Argyle for one term ; treasiu"er of Washington
Cotmty for one term. He was a member of the New York State
Bar Association.
June 21, 1889 he married Cora Bell Williams, who stu-vives.
They had no children.
Another old fashioned "family lawyer" has passed away; a
position of usefulness and honor is left vacant which because of
changing conditions is unlikely to be filled.
Georgianna Hemingway Cook, widow of Joseph Cook, died
August 3, 1921, at Cliff Seat, her summer home in South Ticon-
deroga. She was eighty-one 3^ears old. Two brothers, Charles S.
Hemingway of Holyoke, Mass., and Frederick H. Hemingway of
New Haven, Conn., survived her.
Those who knew her characterize her as a woman of brilliant in-
tellect and deep culture. It was a matter of course that in behalf
of the Ticonderoga Historical Society Mrs. Cook welcomed the
New York State Historical Association to Ticonderoga at the
annual meeting of 1910. Her winters were spent at her home in
Aubumdale, Mass., but during the many summers she lived in
Ticonderoga she interested herself actively in everything affecting
the welfare of the town, the Congregational Church, of which she
was a member, and her many friends.
Thomas S. Coolidge (he disliked the use of his middle name
Smead) son of Jonathan and Mary CooHdge, was bom February
8, 1839, in Bolton, Warren county, N. Y., and died in Glens
OBITUARIES 247
Falls, September 24, 1921. For nearly seventy years he was an
outstanding personality in the affairs of Warren county generally
and of Glens Falls more particularly.
At the age of fourteen he entered the general store of George W.
Lee at Horicon, where he remained until the autiunn of 1859,
when he became a student at Fort Edward Collegiate Institute.
The following spring he left the Institute to work in the general
store of Charles Fowler at Chestertown, N. Y. Not long after-
wards he formed a copartnership with Joseph Fowler which
bought the business of Charles Fowler and conducted a thriving
general store until the end of the War between the States. The
copartnership then dissolved and Mr. Coolidge was again em-
ployed by George W. Lee in a general store, but this time in
Glens Falls at the comer of Glen and Canal Streets. Mr. Coo-
lidge and Mr. Lee as copartners afterwards had a general store at
the comer of Glen and Exchange Streets. After the dissolution
of this copartnership Mr. Coolidge became sales agent for the
lime companies then active in Glens Falls and vicinity.
A few years later Thomas S. Coolidge, his brother Jonathan M.
Coolidge, George W. Lee and W. W. Jeffers organized the Lake
George Paper Company, whose mills at the upper falls in Ticon-
deroga are now owned by the International Paper Company.
After the sale to the latter company Thomas S. Coolidge was a
director and its general manager of transportation with head-
quarters in New York City. He resigned the managership in
1903 and returned to Glens Falls.
Mr. Coolidge was one of the oldest stockholders of the Glens
Falls Insurance Company, a member of its executive committee
for several years and the director with longest term of service
at his death. He was a director of the National Bank of Glens
Falls and president of the Jointa Lime Company, both for many
years. He had extensive holdings of real estate at Dunham's
Bay, Basin Bay and Tongue Mountain, Lake George, and in
West Fort Ann. He formerly owned Alice Falls, near Ausable
Chasm, later sold to the Rogers Pulp and Paper Company.
He was averse to holding public office, but after the incorpora-
tion of Glens Falls as a city he was municipal civil service com-
missioner from 1908 to 1915.
248 OBITUARIES
For many years he was a trustee and elder of the First Presby-
terian Church of Glens Falls and one of the strongest supporters of
its many activities. It was his custom to stand with his friend
Col. Cunningham at the doors of the church auditorium before the
Sunday services and welcome the incoming congregation.
He married Georgiana Palmer October 1, 1867. Surviving him
were his wife and one daughter, Gertrude, wife of Arthur William
Sherman.
Mary Louise Culver died in August 1922. In response to a
letter of inquiry regarding Mary Louise Culver, late of Utica,
N. Y., addressed to Mrs. Charles A. Spaulding of Saugerties,
N. Y., the undersigned was referred to a newspaper clipping which
is quoted below:
"The death of Miss Mary Louise Culver, a lifelong resident of
Utica, well known in literary and art circles of the city, occurred
Saturday night at her home 1025 Park Avenue.
Miss Culver was bom in Utica, a daughter of the late Abraham
E. and Emelyn Eliza Culver. She attended Grace Episcopal
Church. Miss Culver was a member of the New Century Club,
the B Sharp Club, the Leisure Hour Club, and the Daughters of
the Empire State, and was active in all of these organizations.
She was an artist of recognized talent and was long a member of
the Utica Sketch Club.
Miss Culver is survived by a sister, Mrs. Charles A. Spaulding
of Saugerties, and two brothers, Edward Culver of Albany and
William Culver of Newport."
Henry Martyn Denniston was the fourth son of Robert and
Mary Scott Denniston and was bom in Washingtonville, Orange
county, N. Y., June 13, 1840. He died May 23, 1922. His
father was comptroller of the state of New York during the War
between the States.
He was a member of the class of 1862 in Yale. At the begin-
ning of his senior year he left college and was appointed an assist-
ant paymaster in the navy September 9, 186L He had thirteen
^rears of sea service in the course of which he made cruises in the
West Indies, the South Atlantic and the Pacific. He was stationed
in the Portsmouth, New York, Philadelphia and California navy
yards. He was United States purchasing pay officer in New
OBITUARIES 249
York City the last three years of his service. At the age of sixty-
two he retired with the rank of rear admiral.
Admiral Denniston was married to Emma J. Dusenbtiry of
Jersey City, January 21, 18G9. She died five weeks before her
husband. Their son, Dr. Robert Denniston, had died in Novem-
ber 1921. A week after the death of his wife Admiral Denniston
was stricken with paralysis and never afterwards regained speech.
Yale conferred upon him the degree of A. B. in 1862 and that
of A. M. in 1892. He was a member of the Loyal Legion.
Rev. James Thomas Dougherty died February 7, 1921, at
Phoenix, Arizona, where he had gone in search of health. His
father and mother, Patrick and Mary Bannon Dougherty, were
both bom in West Meath, Ireland. His mother came to this
country in 1845; his father, a year later. They were married in
this country and engaged in farming.
Their son James Thomas was bom in Fayette, Seneca county,
April 23, 1863. He received his early education in the Miller
district school of the town of Romulus and the Ovid union school.
He then taught a year in the town of Varick. After that he was a
student at St. Andrew's Seminary in Rochester and then at St.
Joseph's Seminary in Troy. He was ordained priest October 28,
1887. He had temporary charge of Honeoye Falls and East Rush
parish in the summer of 1888. He became assistant at St. Mary's,
Auburn, in October 1888; pastor at Stanley and Rushville in
September 1890; pastor of St. Patrick's, Dansville, in May 1893;
pastor of St. Agnes, Avon, in June 1901; pastor of St. Mary's,
Canandaigua, In September 1901.
When Father Dougherty came to Canandaigua his congregation
was worshipping in an old and dilapidated building. The parochial
school was inadequately housed and there was a considerable in-
debtedness secured by mortgage on a site which had been bought
for a new church. He first brought about the payment of the ex-
isting indebtedness and the renovation of the cemetery in Parrish
Street. In 1903 a brown stone church was erected; in 1908, a
brick and stone rectory; soon afterwards the parochial school
building was enlarged. The completed plant of St. Mary's church
cost more than $160,000, of which amount some $15,000 only was
unpaid when he died.
250 OBITUARIES
Father Dougherty fought persistently in Canandaigua and
neighboring towns for no-license and was one of the executive
committee that led the temperance forces of Canandaigua to vic-
tory in 1918. He was president of the city health association, an
active member of the board of managers of the coimty tuberculosis
hospital from the time of its first organization, and a member of
the board of visitors to the State Hospital for the Insane at Willard.
He w^as a member of the Ontario Historical Society. He had
made a close study of the early Jesuit missions in western New
York. The results of this study were embodied in addresses
which he delivered in Canandaigua and elsewhere and through
his efforts monimients commemorating these missions were erected.
He was a member and former president of the Canandaigua Scien-
tific Association, before which he made addresses on various sub-
jects and to whose debates he made contributions characterized by
humor and good sense. He was a charter member of the local
council of the Knights of Columbus and of the Rotary Club.
Father Dougherty was a speaker of simplicity and force both in
the pulpit and on the platform, but however much he had at heart
the cause he was advocating his speech was marked by freedom
from bitterness and kindliness of judgment. He was "interested
in the well being of every person within the wide circle of his ac-
quaintance." The notable comity and cooperation existing be-
tween the Catholic and Protestant churches of Canandaigua is
credited to him.
John Haldane Flagler died at his country home in Green-
wich, Conn., September 9, 1922, in his eighty-fifth year. He was
the son of Harvey K., and Sarah J. Haldane Flagler. His wife,
Beatrice Frances Weneker, a daughter, and a sister, Mrs. Herman
Stumpf of Bel Air, Md., survived him.
Upon the completion of his studies at the Academy in Paterson,
N. J., Mr. Flagler refused to go to college and entered the employ
of Haldane & Company, iron dealers of New York. He was
manager of their Boston branch for several years. He left them to
organize the firm of John H. Flagler & Co., of Boston, manufactur-
ers of iron and steel. He organized the National Tube Works of
East Boston. The growing demand for tubing due to the ex-
tension of the Pennsylvania oil fields led Mr. Flagler to organize
OBITUARIES 251
a branch at McKeesport, Penn., which became the center of the
industry, while the Boston house was discontinued. The McKees-
port company was reorganized as the National Tube Company
and Mr. Flagler was its president until its merger with the United
States Steel Corporation. At the time of the merger there were
4,500 men on its payroll.
Mr. Flagler was an inventor of scientific processes of value to
the industry.
He was a director of the Home Insurance Co., the Bank of
Washington Heights, The Consolidated Arizona Smelting Co.,
the Irving Trust Co.
Lewis Francis, D.D., a minister for more than sixty years,
died at his summer home, Pinecroft, Port Henry, N. Y., Novem-
ber 2, 1921. He was bom at Royalton, Vermont, September 14,
1836 of New England stock. He was graduated from the Uni-
versity of Vermont in 1856 and from Andover Theological Semi-
nary in 1860.
Dr. Francis was ordained to the Congregational ministry in
1863 and was pastor of two Congregational churches in Vermont
before he was called to the Kent Street Reformed Church in
Brooklyn in 1873. After thirty-one years of service in this church
he retired as pastor emeritus and became closely associated with
the civic and religious interests of Port Henry.
His wife, who was Elizabeth V. Witherbee, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Silas H. Witherbee of Port Henry, died in 1911. Two
sons, Lewis W. Francis of Brooklyn, and Arthur W. Francis of
New York, one daughter, Mrs. Ralph Rogers of Pelham Manor,
and seven grandchildren survived Dr. Francis.
William A. Granger was bom at Cottenham, Cambridge-
shire, England, and came to this coimtry when he was four years
old.
He was a student at Colgate University and was afterwards
graduated from Union Theological Seminary. He was pastor of
Baptist churches in Long Island City, Brewster and Owego, N. Y.
He went from the last named church to the First Baptist Church
of Mount Vernon, N. Y., where he remained fifteen years. He
was then president of the Baptist State Convention of New York,
from which position he retired in October, 1921, after fourteen
252 OBITUARIES
years of service. During his presidency he visited every Baptist
church in the state. He was the only president who completed
this visitation.
Dr. Granger was present at a meeting of the parishioners of the
First Baptist Church of Moimt Vernon on Sunday, September 10,
1922, which had assembled to welcome the new pastor. Dr.
Granger, who was to make an address of welcome, had walked to
the communion table when he was fatally stricken with apoplexy.
He was seventy-two years old.
He was a member of Hiawatha Lodge F. and A. M., jMount
Vernon Chapter R. A. M., Bethlehem Commandery Knights
Templar; a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and a trustee
of Colgate University.
Surviving him were his wife, four children, Arthur L., Leonard
R., Edith A. Granger and Mrs. F. E. Vaughan and seven grand-
children.
Ida M. Hayes, daughter of the late Almon and Rebecca A.
Thomas and widow of L. W. Hayes, died at her home No. 59
Brinkerhoff Street, Plattsburgh, N. Y., October 14, 1920. She
was bom at Plattsburgh January 16, 1857 and had always been a
resident of that city. The only survivors of her immediate family
were two sisters, Mrs. W. E. Corey of Los Angeles, California,
and Mrs. John Harding of Burlington, Vermont.
Mrs. Hayes was one of the most active members of the Red
Cross in Plattsburgh throughout the World War. She was also a
member of the Clinton County Humane Society, the Garden Club
of Plattsburgh and the Saranac Chapter of the Daughters of the
American Revolution. She had for years been prominent in the
welfare work of her home city.
Aaron Augustus Healy, bom in Brooklyn June 26, 1850,
son of Aaron and Elizabeth Weston Healy, died at his summer
home in Cold Spring-on-the-Hudson September 28, 1921. His
first wife was Elizabeth Bradley, of Washington ; his second wife
was Mary Theodosia Currier, of Oberlin, Ohio. The latter and
his son, Henry Vv^. Healy, of Maplewood, Nev/ Jersey, survived
him.
He was educated at the Brooldyn Polytechnic Institute. In 1919
he received the degree of doctor of laws from Oberlin College.
OBITUARIES 253
He was at one time a manufacturer and dealer in leather under
the firm name of A. Healy & Sons, New York. He was first
vice-president of the Central Leather Company until 1910 and
thereafter continued as one of its directors. He was also a director
of the Nassau National Bank of Brooklyn. For some years
before his death he had not been actively engaged in business.
Mr. Healy was an Independent Democrat and from 1893 to
1897 was collector of internal revenue for the eastern district of
New York.
He was president of the board of trustees of the Brooklyn
Institute of Arts and Sciences ; a director of the Brooklyn Academy
of Music; a member of the Art Commission of the City of New
York. His clubs were the Rembrandt, Century, Hamilton,
Reform, City, National Arts.
By the will of Mr. Healy $120,000 was left to the Brooklyn
Academy of Arts and Sciences, of which he had been president for
twenty-five years. Of this bequest $100,000 was to be invested
and the income expended in the purchase of works of art; $20,000
was to be used in the fiurtherance of work in the botanical and
educational departments of the Institute. The Institute re-
ceived an additional bequest of twenty paintings to be selected
by it from Mr. Healy's private collection. Packer Institute re-
ceived a bequest of $5,000 for its endowment fund.
Robert E. Healey after several years of failing health died
September 20, 1920. He was bom in Dannemora in 1870; was
graduated from Plattsburgh High School in 1884 and from Albany'-
Law School two years later.
After admission to the bar he practiced law in Plattsburgh in
partnership with the late John B. Riley. He was recorder of the
village of Plattsburgh and as such held a position corresponding
to that of city judge in the present city of Plattsburgh. He was
afterwards city attorney. In 1903 he was appointed county
judge of Clinton county to serve for the unexpired term of Henry
T. Kellogg and in 1908 was elected to the same position. When
he left the bench he became attorney and counsel of the county
board of supervisors and continued in that position until his death.
Judge Healey was a charter member of Plattsburgh Council,
Knights of Colimibus, a fourth degree knight, and for two years
254 OBITUARIES
grand knight of Plattsburgh Council. He was also a member of
the Plattsburgh Lodge of Elks and the Plattsburgh Tent, Knights
of Maccabees. He was a member of the Plattsburgh Club and
Chamber of Commerce and at one time a member of the city
board of education.
In 1897 he married Elizabeth Burns. She and their two chil-
dren, Robert Burns and Margaret Elizabeth Healy, survived him.
Three brothers and two sisters, Samuel D., Albert A. and John H.
Healey; Mrs. Louis Ryan and Mrs. Anna McNeal, also stuvived
him.
Judge Healey was a lawyer of unusual ability. He had an en-
viable reputation as a friend of the poor and oppressed. The
Plattsburgh Daily Republican said in its obituary: "No client
was ever turned from his door because he lacked a fee for the con-
duct of his legal affairs."
Fred W. Hewitt died at Mary McClellan Hospital in Cam-
bridge, Washington County, N. Y., October 10, 1921, at the age of
fifty-two.
He had been connected with the banks of Granville, Washington
County, for thirty-four years. He began his banking career in the
Granville National Bank, where through steady promotions he
became cashier. He resigned from this position on becoming
president of the Washington County Bank. He was a member
also of E. C. Hewitt & Co., grocers in Granville.
Mr. Hewitt had been president of the village of Granville for
two terms. During the World War he was a member of the draft
board for the northern district of Washington County and his
unremitting work as a member of this board is believed to have
caused the final breakdown of his health.
He was a past master of the Granville Lodge F. & A. M., and
belonged to several higher masonic bodies. He was an active
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Granville.
Surviving him were his wife, who was Miss Jennie Powell of
Granville, two daughters, Helen and Marion Hewitt, his parents,
Mr. and Mrs. William Hewitt, and one brother, E. Clifford
Hewitt.
Gardner C. Leonard, junior member of the firm of Cotrell
and Leonard, fell from the roof of the firm's building at 472
OBITUARIES 255
Broadway, Albany, April 15, 1921, and was instantly killed.
He was bom in West Springfield, Mass., Oct. 16, 1865. He was
married to Grace Watson Sutherland, Feb. 18, 1903. His wife,
two children, Gardner C. jr., and Margaret S., and three sisters
were the survivors of his immediate family.
Mr. Leonard attended the Albany Academy from 1872 to 1882
and was graduated from Williams College with the degree of
A. B. in 1887. On leaving college he entered the employ of
Cotrell and Leonard and was admitted to the firm in 1890. The
following year he established a department for the manufacture of
caps, gowns and hoods for colleges and imiversities under the name
of the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costtimes, which was
chartered by the University of the State of New York in 1902.
He was the author of several works on academic costumes and
editor of "Songs of Williams," now in its second edition.
Mr. Leonard was a member of the Delta Psi and Phi Beta
Kappa fraternities; of Williams College Alumni Association of
Eastern New York, the Sons of the Revolution, the Society of
Colonial Wars; the Albany Institute; Masters Lodge F. 8c A. M.,
the Fort Orange, Albany, Country, University clubs of Albany;
the Albany Chamber of Commerce, of which last he was a former
vice-president. He was one of the seven charter members of the
Albany Rotary Club, which had planned to celebrate the eighth
anniversary of its foimdation on the day of Mr. Leonard's death.
Among the directorates on which he served werethoseof the Albany
Safe Deposit Company and the Mutual Fire Insurance Company.
He was a leading member of the State Street Presbyterian Church
of Albany.
Theodore Garwood Lewis died at Buffalo, N. Y., November
28, 1920. Bom at Burlington, Vt., December 14, 1836, he was a
son of John and Mary Josselyn Lewis. The family moved to
Buffalo in 1844. Theodore had dim recollections of the trip to
Buffalo on board a canal boat over the old Erie Canal. His
father, who had practiced dentistry in Burlington, continued the
practice in Biiffalo, maintaining his office in the latter city after the
family had moved to Bowonansville, Erie county, N. Y.
After attending the common schools of Buffalo Theodore Lewis
went to the Pennsylvania College of Dental Siirgery, from which
256 OBITUARIES
he was graduated with the degree of doctor of dental surgery in
1862. He then practiced in Bxiflalo with his father until his father
retired, and thereafter with his brother Angelo.
He had a bent towards mechanics inherited from his father.
In 1873 he was general manager of the International Industrial
Exhibition given in Buffalo under the direction of the old Mechanics
Institute. In 1865 at meetings of the Biiffalo City Dental Associa-
tion and the Western New York Dental Society he exhibited the
original automatic plugger. Subsequently Snow and Lewis
began its manufacture. Since 1867 its manufacture together with
that of the other Lewis inventions has been carried on by the
Buffalo Dental Mfg. Co., of which he was president since 1891.
He was the inventor or designer of many dental appliances. The
present plant and equipment of the Buffalo Dental Mfg. Co. are
due to his planning.
While living at Bowmansville he engaged in printing. After
he had begun the practice of dentistry at Buffalo he edited num-
erous pamphlets under the pen name of L. Theo. Garwood and
was a regular contributor to the Buffalo newspapers. For twenty-
two years he edited the Dental Advertiser, afterwards renamed
the Dental Praciiioner and Advertiser.
At Bowmansville he also taught music. After he had estab-
lished himself in Buffalo he maintained an amateur orchestra
which he conducted in his home. Once or twice every year this
orchestra gave a concert at the Buffalo State Hospital.
He had collections of vases, etchings and paintings, war medals
and decorations of honor, oriental rugs. His library contained
books of reference relating to music and his collections. When he
retired from practice to assume the presidency of the Buffalo
Dental Mfg. Co. he gave his entire professional library to the
Buffalo Grosvenor Reference Library and every year afterwards
gave valuable additions to it.
Dr. Lewis was survived by his widow, Catherine M. Lewis, a
son, John H. Lewis, a daughter, Mrs. Alfred V. Ednie, two grand-
children, and a brother, James V. Lewis.
William Nottingham, the fourth son of VanVleck and Abigail
Maria Williams Nottingham, was bom on a farm some three miles
from the city of Syracuse, N. Y., November 2, 1853. He died
OBITUARIES 257
in that city January 23, 1921. His wife, Eloise Holden, whom
he married October 26, 1881, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Erastus F.
Holden, survived him. Mr. Holden had large business interests
in Syracuse and was one of the principal benefactors of Syracuse
University.
Mr. Nottingham attended the district school of his neighbor-
hood, the senior grade of the Syracuse grammar schools and the
Syracuse High School, from which he was graduated in 1872.
In 1876 he was graduated from Syracuse University with the degree
of B. A. His attendance upon the Syracuse grammar and high
schools was limited to the fall and winter terms. During the
summer terms he worked on the home farm and remained there
until graduation from college. In college he was regarded as one
of the best classical and all-round students.
In the fall of 1876 Mr. Nottingham began the study of law in
the office of William P. Goodelle, a prominent lawyer of Syracuse.
At the same time Mr. Nottingham pursued post-graduate studies
in Syracuse University, from which on examination in chemistry
he received his M. A. degree in 1877, and on examination in
political economy, his Ph. D. degree in 1878. He was a trustee of
Syracuse University by election of the alimmi association from
1892 to 1902. His election in the latter year to the Board of
Regents of the University of the State of New York, of which he
was a member until 1915, compelled his retirement as trustee of
the University. From 1895 to 1903 he lectured on corporations
in the Law School of Syracuse University, and in 1903 the Uni-
versity gave him the degree of LL. D.
From his admission to the bar as attorney and counselor in
1879 until his death Mr. Nottingham practiced law in Syracuse.
He was successively a member of the firms of Goodelle and Notting-
ham ; Goodelle, Nottingham Brothers and Andrews ; Nottingham
and Nottingham; Nottingham, Nottingham and Edgcomb. He
was a gifted speaker as well as a studious lawyer, equally success-
ful before judges and juries, and one of the leading law^'-ers of the
state in general practice. He was president of the Onondaga
County Bar Association in 1911, and of the New York State
Bar Association in 1912-1913.
He organized the Syracuse Trust Co. and was its attorney;
258 OBITUARIES
was director and attorney of Empire State Railroad Corpora-
tion, New York Telephone Co., and Dyneto Electric Co.
He was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon and Phi Beta
Kappa fraternities. His clubs were the Pilgrims' of London, the
Citizens' and University of Syracuse, the Recess of New York.
From boyhood he was a member of the First Methodist Episcopal
Church of Syracuse and was one of the most active and liberal
of its membership. He attended two quadrennial general con-
ferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church as a delegate from
his local annual conference.
Silas H. Paine died at Silver Bay, Lake George, April 11,
1921. He would have been seventy-nine years old had he lived
until the 29th of the month. His wife was the only survivor.
Their only son, Harrington S. Paine, died three years before his
father.
Mr. Paine was bom at Holbrook, Mass., and at the age of
twelve left school and went to work. He engaged in business in
Pittsbtu-g, Pa., where he accimiulated a small amoimt of capital
and became interested in the oil business, which was then in its
infancy. He established several oil wells and then took up re-
fining at Oil City. His business was one of those taken over by
the Standard Oil Company when the latter was founded. In
1879 he went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he was associated with
John D. Rockefeller until 1884, when he went to New York and
became head of the company's lubricating oil and candle de-
partment.
Eighteen years before his death Mr. Paine aided in founding
the Silver Bay Association, to which he sold its property for
about one-half its value, and of which he was a trustee. In
memory of his son he gave the association $100,000 to found the
Silver Bay School for Boys. He gave much money to educational
and religious work.
When he left home at the age of twelve his mother gave him a
small piece of paper on which she had written "Thou, God, seest
me." This paper remained in his possession up to the time of his
death. He always kept it before him on his desk while in his
office or in pocket while traveling. During a flood in the oil
countr>^ in which he lost $50,000, the paper disappeared, but it
OBITUARIES 259
was found by workmen while cleaning mud from his office floor
and restored to him.
John Jay Ryan, who died February 18, 1921, was a man to
whom the conquest of adversity was a habit. He was bom Nov.
14, 1857, at Medina, New York, and was a son of Patrick and
Mary Lahey Ryan. Shortly thereafter his family moved to a farm
in Ridgeway, New York. Both of his parents died before John
had reached his ninth birthday.
For five years he lived with a priest at Medina, Lockport and
Buffalo as errand boy and acolyte ; then again on a farm in Ridge-
way. Befriended and encouraged by Mr. and Mrs. John Ludlum
he attended Yates Academy from 1873 to 1876. He then went
to the Ionia (Michigan) High School, where he finished his prep-
aration for college in 1877. After a year at Rochester Univer-
sity he entered the law department of Michigan University and
was graduated in 1883.
Having been admitted to the bar of Michigan in 1882, he began
his practice in Muskegon, Michigan. He returned to Medina in
the autumn of 1883, was admitted to the bar of New York, taught
school for another year at Shelby Center, opened an office in Me-
dina in 1884, and there continued the practice of law until his death.
He was admitted to practice in the federal courts and argued cases
in the Supreme Court of the United States. He was a member
of the Orleans County Bar Association, the New York State Bar
Association and the American Bar Association.
Mr. Ryan served as member of the board of education and board
of trustees of the village of Medina and as village attorney. He
was a prime mover in securing the municipal water system of
Medina, the electric lighting of its streets and the purchase of ade-
quate street making machiner\\ He organized the Medina Quarry
Co., an amalgamation of all the quarries of Orleans County, and
the Medina Athletic Association. He had an exceptional ac-
quaintance with the water and mill rights of all the surrounding
region. No one was better informed on the histor}^ of Medina.
In politics he was a Democrat. He was a delegate to the national
convention of his party in 1904. He supported prohibition and
women's suffrage. He was an Odd Fellow and a member of the
Alert Club of Medina. During the World War Mr. Ryan organ-
260 OBITUARIES
ized a bureau of four minute men and delivered many addresses
in western New York.
Mr. Ryan was married to Alberta Davis in 1887. They had
four children, all of whom and his wife survive him.
Harriot Hyde Sexton died at her home in Palmyra, N. Y.,
November 22, 1921, at the age of eighty-two. Her paternal
grandfather, Rev. Alvan Hyde, D. D., was a noted Presbyterian
divine and educator. He had a part in the upbuilding and manage-
ment of Williams College and maintained a private family school
for boys. Her parents were Stephen and Laura Eliza Leonard
Hyde, who shortly after their marriage went from Massachusetts
to the then far western village of Palmyra. She was one of seven
children. One of the seven, Stephen Hyde of Kansas, survived
her.
In 1860 she married Pliny Titus Sexton, the lawyer, banker,
Regent, Vice-Chancellor and Chancellor of the University of the
State of New York. They were playmates in childhood and
were inseparable companions during the sixty years of their
married life. Throughout the great feebleness of her last years
her husband devoted himself unreservedly to her care and com-
fort.
Mrs. Sexton was buried in the 5^ard of her home, there to re-
main until after her husband's death, when both are to be buried
in their cemetery lot in one grave.
William G. Schermerhorn, son of Nicholas I. and Susan
Chism Schermerhorn and a descendent of one of the original Dutch
families of Schenectady, died March 25, 1921. He was born in
185L
He was educated in the public schools and afterwards was as-
sociated with his father in conducting a coal, hay and straw store
on Dock Street in Schenectady. He then entered the employ of
the old Schenectady bank where he was teller and cashier. In
1885 he resigned and from that time until his last illness he was
one of the most influential banlcers and business men of Schenectady.
He was connected with the Schenectady Trust Co., from
which he resigned in 1905 to take part in organizing the Citizens'
Trust Company. He was one of those instnmiental in bringing
OBITUARIES 261
the General Electric Company to Schenectady and in enabling it
to obtain a suitable site.
Mr. Schermerhom was a member of the Mohawk Club and the
Mohawk Golf Club; president of the Vale Cemetery Association;
trustee of the Children's Home, the Young Woman's Christian
Association, and the Old Ladies' Home.
In 1870 he married Sarah L. Swart. She died some eight years
before him. A son, Nicholas Irving, survived him.
Caroline Elizabeth Shepherd was the daughter of James
Hill Shepherd and Frances Robinson Shepherd. She was bom in
Fort Miller, Washington county. New York, and lived there nearly
all her life. She died at the Samaritan Hospital, Troy, May 29,
1920, after an illness of several months. Her mother, two sisters,
Mrs. D. J. DeGarmo of Stillwater, Miss Bell M. Shepherd of Fort
Miller, and one brother, Samuel J. Shepherd of Fort Miller were
the survivors of her immediate family.
Miss Shepherd was a graduate of the Schuylerville High School
and the Albany Normal School (now the State College for Teach-
ers) and was an honor student at graduation from the latter
institution. Her associates and teachers in the normal school
regarded her as a teacher of remarkable promise. In order to
be with her mother Miss Shepherd disregarded opportunities for
teaching commensurate with her abilities and accepted such
employment as was available in schools near her home.
The following appreciation was written by Mrs. Earl Hayner
of Stillwater and is here included in accordance with the wishes of
Miss Shepherd's niece. Miss Catherine N. Pettit:
"She was possessed of an unusually brilliant mind, a marked ex-
ecutive ability, no inconsiderable musical ability and a sense of
humor keen but kindly ; she had an especially happy manner with
young people to which the respect and affection of a host of former
pupils attest.
"As a lifelong member of the Reformed Church of Fort Miller,
Miss Shepherd served faithfully as organist and choir leader, and
as a constant helper and advisor in all the church activities, es-
pecially in the training of children in the Sunday school.
"In the passing of Miss Shepherd the community has suffered
an irreparable loss, but the memon^ of a devoted Christian life re-
262 OBITUARIES
plete with good works, hands and mind swift and beautiful for
duty as long as strength held, in home, church, school and wherever
there was a task to be done — this memory will be an especial
influence in the lives of all who knew her."
Ida Remington Squire died on February 28, 1921. Mrs.
Squire was a daughter of Philo and Caroline Remington. She
was bom Novenber 20, 1842, in the old Remington house in Ilion.
On December 23, 1868, she was married to Watson Carvosso
Squire. Her husband was manager of the Remington Arms
Company from 1866 to 1879, when they moved to Seattle. He
was governor of Washington Territory 1884-1887, and afterwards
United States senator from Washington for two terms. The last
years of her life she lived in Ilion in the mansion built by her
father on Armory Hill, in which she died and from which she was
borne to her grave in Armory Hill Cemetery. Her husband, two
daughters, and two sons, survive her.
She was one of the Daughters of the American Revolution and
the Daughters of 1812; a member of the Women's Foreign and
Home Missionary Societies of the Methodist Church and the
Women's Christian Temperance Union. Her beneficent activities
were not confined to the societies and church in which she held
membership. It was in keeping with the practice of a lifetime
that she was preparing to attend a social gathering to aid the
fatherless children of France when she received the paralytic stroke
from which she died.
Irving Goodwin Vann died at his home in S3Tacuse, March 22,
1921. He was a son of Samuel R. and Catherine Goodwin Vann
and was bom Jan. 3, 1842, in Ulysses, Tompkins county. New
York. In 1870 he was married to Florence, daughter of Henry A.
Dillaye of Syracuse, N. Y. His wife, a son, and a daughter,
survive him.
He was graduated from Yale College with the degree of A. B.
in 1863, and from Albany Law School with the degree of LL. B.
in 1865. The degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by Yale in
1870; that of LL.D. by Hamilton in 1882; Syracuse in 1897,
Yale in 1898.
He began the practice of law in Syracuse in 1865. He was
active in several political campaigns as a Republican. In 1872
OBITUARIES 263
as a Liberal Republican he supported Horace Greeley. In 1879
he was elected mayor of Syracuse by a plurality of more than a
thousand. Under his administration S5^acuse had lower taxes
than it had had for many years. Mr. Vann at the end of his term
declined renomination and again devoted himself to the practice
of law.
From 1882 to 1896 he was one of the justices of the Supreme
Court of the State of New York. Governor Morton appointed
him judge of the Court of Appeals in 1896 and in November of
that year he was elected to that office for the full term of fourteen
years. In 1910 he was reelected and served until Jan. 1, 1913,
when he was retired because of the constitutional age limit.
He was a lecturer in the Albany, Cornell and Syracuse law schools.
He was one of the founders of the Onondaga Bar Association and
the New York State Bar Association.
The Woodlawn cemetery was opened through the efforts of
Judge Vann and he was its president for years. He was presi-
dent of the Onondaga Red Cross from its organization. He was a
founder and trustee of the Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts; a
founder and president of the Century Club of Syracuse, the Yale
Club of Syracuse, the Alimmi Association of Albany Law School ;
a member of the Citizens Club of Syracuse, the Fort Orange
Club of Albany, the University Club of Central New York, the
Onondaga Historical Society, the Albany Historical Society and
nearly all the charitable organizations of Syracuse.
Judge Vann had a library of more than 10,000 volimies and a
collection of nearly 200 firearms selected to mark the progress of
invention. His active recreations were riding, hunting and
fishing.
Charles Spencer Williams died at his home in Hudson, N. Y.,
January 20, 1922, where he was superintendent of the schools of
the city. He had formerly been principal of schools at Hilton,
Livonia, Groton and Chatham, all in the state of New York.
Mr. Williams received his education at Brockport State Normal
School and Cornell University and held the degree of bachelor of
arts.
His parents were William B. and Ella I. Coleman Williams.
He was bom in Greene, Monroe County, N. Y., March 30, 1870.
264 OBITUARIES
In 1893 he married Ella E. Hoj^t. They had two daughters,
Jessie and Alice. His wife and daughters survived him.
Mr. Williams was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and of several
Masonic and other fraternal organizations.
The Hudson Evening Register of January 21, 1922, said in
part:
"The general gloom, the cloud of witnesses, attest the apprecia-
tion of a man who, in passing leaves an imprint on the city and on
the minds and hearts of its entire population that will be in-
effaceable.
We might recite a thousand instances of his service, generally,
in and for the community, for individuals, homes, clubs, lodges,
organizations, in need of the touch that himianizes and uplifts;
and never were any of these disappointed, and all were the better
for the service ungrudgingly given."
Abbe Ann Wright
and
Elizabeth Baker Wright Denton
Abbe Ann Wright died October 2, 1921, at the age of eighty-
two.
She was a daughter of Major James Wright and Charity Tillman
Baker Wright. Her maternal great grandfather, Albert Baker,
came from Westchester County, New York, in 1765, was the second
settler in Sandy Hill and built the first house in the settlement.
Sandy Hill, renamed Hudson Falls in 1910, lies in the south west
comer of Kingsbury, a town erected by patent royal granted in
1762 to James Bradshaw of Connecticut, the first settler in Sandy
Hill, and twenty-two associates. Albert Baker took a tract of
six hundred acres near the falls in the Hudson River at Sandy
Hill which have since been known as Baker's Falls, where he
built the first saw mill and grist mill in the town. Miss Wright's
great uncle Caleb Baker was the first white child bom in the town
of Kingsbury.
In October of 1780 Major Carleton of the British army swept
Kingsbury with fire and sword. There were seventeen families
living in the town at the time of this raid; all were forced to flee
and every house except two was burned. -\ Ibert Baker was then
absent from home. His sons Albert and Charles, warned by a
OBITUARIES 265
neighbor and seeing smoke in the direction of Kingsbury Street,
some four miles to the north, yoked their two pairs of oxen and
hurriedly placing the rest of the family with whatever household
belongings were most convenient into carts hastened to Fort
Edward. Next year Albert Baker and most of the other refugees
returned and with them were many new settlers.
In 1821 Miss Wright's father established the Sandy Hill Herald
a weekly newspaper still published, and edited it for twenty
years. Silas Wright, formerly governor of New York, was a
cousin of Miss Wright.
For twenty-five years Miss Wright was a teacher and later
assistant principal in one of the grammar schools of New York
City. Among the prominent men v/ho were her pupils are Dr.
William L. Ettinger, superintendent of the public schools of New
York City, and Major General Thomas Henry Barry, superintend-
ent of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point from 1910 to
1912, whom she tutored while he was preparing for admission to
the Academy in 1873.
Elizabeth Baker Wright Denton died February 11, 1922, at
the age of eighty-four. She was a sister of Abbe Ann Wright.
Less than a year before the War between the States she married
Benjamin F. Denton. He enlisted as a Union soldier at the out-
break of the war. Mrs. Denton went south with him as a nurse
and remained throughout the war. He was killed at the assault on
Port Hudson and his wife brought his body to Sandy Hill for
burial.
For thirty-five years Mrs. Denton taught in the public schools
of New York City, during twenty-five of w^hich she was principal
of a grammar school.
Miss Wright and Mrs. Denton retired from teaching some
twenty years ago, the retirement of Mrs. Denton preceding that of
Miss Wright by a short interval. They then made their home in
the Baker-Wright homestead at 50 Main Street, Sandy Hill
(now Hudson Falls), a roomy brick house built in 1810 and stand-
ing in spacious grounds which are a part of the lands taken by
their great grandfather Albert Baker.
Until advancing years shut them in the two sisters were active
in the civic, patriotic and religious life of the community. They
266 OBITUARIES
were members of the Woman's Relief Corps and Mrs. Denton
was its president for a long time. During her presidency she
caused a handsome flag staif to be erected in the village park near
the soldiers' monument. She was a member of Crown Star
Chapter O. E. S. Miss Wright was a member of Hudson Falls
Chapter O. E. S., a past matron O. E. S. and grand representative
O. E. S. of the State of Arkansas.
REVIEWS OF BOOKS
Minutes of the Court of Fort Orange and Beverwyck, 1652-1656.
Translated and edited by A. J. F. van Laer. (Albany: The
University of the State of New York. 1920. Vol. I., Pp. 326.
Index and illustrations.)
In giving us this translation from the Dutch of these court
minutes Mr. van Laer has rendered a valuable service to historical
scholarship. There are few of our teachers and historians who use
Dutch with facility and there are still fewer who are capable of
deciphering the manuscripts written in difficult seventeenth cen-
tury hands.
These coiirt minutes are far from dry reading. Aside from a
knowledge of the processes of justice and court procedure which
they give, there is to be foiind in them a very good picture of Dutch
culture and civilization in America in the middle of the seventeenth
century.
The investigator will find here material for studies of the oc-
cupations, professions, trades and trade guilds of the people; of
trade with the Indians; of the liquor traffic; of money and ex-
change; of the comparative status of the various members of the
community from the point of view of wealth ; of forts, buildings,
and fire-prevention; of common offences and punishments; of the
care of the poor ; of sports and amusements ; of Sunday observance
and of social conditions generally. In fact it is a veritable Domes-
day Book for the little community which centered aroimd Fort
Orange and the Village of Beverwyck, which subsequently be-
came the City of Albany.
J.S.
The Record of a Private. [By Cassius P. Byington.] East
Aurora, N. Y. : The Roycrofters. [1922 ?J Pp. 113. Illustrations.
This unique volume opens with the story of the author's son,
Russell Perkins Byington, (Co. I, 105th Inf. 27th Div., U. S. Army,
American Expeditionary Forces) who was killed in action in
France on September 29, 1918. It is a remarkable tribute of a
father to a dead son. It traces the latter's career through his
267
268 REVIEWS OF BOOKS
boyhood and youth, takes the reader through the young man's
services on the Mexican Border, and in the World War in which
he won the Distinguished Service Cross.
The most effective portions of the volxmie are the cheerful letters
which Russell sent back home from the front. These, taken with
letters about him from his comrades in arms serve to show Ameri-
can young manhood at its best.
There are, in addition, the World War records of the other
members of the family and its collateral branches, and a history
of the family and its part in the Colonial, Revolutionary, 1812,
Civil and Spanish American Wars.
J. S.
NOTES AND QUERIES
PERSONAL
Mrs. Seaman Miller held a meeting at her home in Linlithgo,
August 29, 1922, to promote the movement for a "House of His-
tory" in Columbia County." Mrs. Pirie MacDonald made a re-
port in which she stated that some thirty counties in New York
State had some buildings, or part of a building for their historical
societies.
Mrs. John G. Wickser of Buffalo wrote the pageant which was
staged at the Buffalo Normal School, June 27, 1922, giving a his-
tory of the school.
A committee of which Philip T. H. Pierson is Chairman has been
organized in Bennington, Vermont, to make arrangements for a
movement to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of
Bennington which comes in 1927.
Jefferson D. Davis of Fort Miller has made and is making an
extensive collection of books, journals and diaries relative to that
vicinity and to Saratoga.
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES AND CLUBS
The Recreational and Improvement Association of Homell gave
a historical pageant there on July 4, 1922. Indians from neighbor-
ing reservations participated.
The Mohawk Valley Historic Association has appointed a Com-
mittee to examine the history text books used in the schools.
At its meeting at the Herkimer Homestead on August 5, 1922,
it also urged the establishment of the Oriskany Battlefield as a
national park.
On August 3, 1922, the Wyoming County Historical Association
held its meeting at Silver Lake. Senator Wadsworth spoke.
The Oriskany Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revo-
lution on August 7, 1922, held commemoration exercises at the
Oriskany Monument in honor of the 145th anniversary of the battle.
Rev. George C. Frost of Oriskany delivered the address.
269
270 NOTES AND QUERIES
At the State Experiment Station in Geneva there was given on
August 26, 1922, a pageant covering the early history of Ontario
County. A prologue and four episodes were staged by seventy-
five persons.
Mrs. Edwin Paddock of Watertown has bequeathed her home
in Watertown to the Jefferson Historical Society to be used as a
historical museum. The society is also to receive about $40,000
as residuary legatee. W. H. Stevens is to name a committee to
consider ways and means.
The Dutchess County Historical Society held its annual his-
torical pilgrimage on September 16, 1922. This time the members
went into Putnam County to visit the site of Continental Village
where American troops had their quarters during the Revolution.
The most elaborate pageant held in New York State in recent
years was staged at Johnstown September 8, 1922, to commemo-
rate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Tryon County.
Many members of the Johnstown Historical Society participated
and the pageant was very successfully handled, particularly in
the matter of the wise provision for the prevention of congestion
at any one place.
On September 22, 1922, there was an exhibition of paintings by
James Long Scudder of Huntington (1836-1881) given in the new
library of the Huntington Historical Society. Other newly ac-
quired material of historic interest was exhibited.
The Owasco Chapter of the D. A. R. at Auburn, on September
16, 1922, had a celebration in honor of the 135th anniversary of
the adoption of the Federal Constitution (September 17, 1778).
PUBLICATIONS, BOOKS, ARTICLES, MANUSCRIPTS
The Geneva Times for June 13, 1922, has an article on the "His-
tory of Hobart College" by Professor M. H. Turk.
In the Elmira Gazette for July 1, 1922 there is an article on the
early history of the schools of Elmira by Mary A. Potter.
The Fort Plain Free Press in its issue July 12, 1922, carries an
article by Ida C. Keller, which contains an article written by her
NOTES AND QUERIES 271
father, John H. Keller, on the "History of Old Ford's Bush Back
to 1830."
The New York Times for July 2, 1922, has an article by John
W. Harrington entitled "Fort Ticonderoga's International Ghost
Story."
The Daily Saratogian for August 15, 1922, carries an article on
the history of the pubic schools of Mechanicville.
The Rome Sentinel for August 26, 1922, has articles on the
Mohawk Highway and on the South James Street Road in Rome.
The Knickerbocker Press for September 17, 1922, carries an
article on the "Old Revolutionary Fort at Middleburg."
The Knickerbocker Press for September 3, 1922, has an article
on "Early Penalties or Punishments for Crime."
The Gloversville Herald for September 8, 1922, carries extensive
articles entitled "Historical Facts Relative to Tryon Coimty."
This issue of the paper is a very large anniversary nimiber published
to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the establishment of
Tryon Cotmty. It is handsomely illustrated and contains an ac-
coimt of the pageant staged for the occasion.
The fiftieth anniversary of the Cohoes High School was cele-
brated June 29, 1922. The history of the school was covered in the
addresses given and these were published in the Cohoes American
for June 30, 1922.
The New York Times for July 2, 1922, carries an article on the
celebrated picture known as "The Spirit of 76," which in a fashion
somewhat similar to the song of "Yankee Doodle" had its origin
in a burlesque or comic sketch.
The Knickerbocker Press of Albany in its issue of August 6, 1922,
carries an article on the "Fort Crailo" house in Rensselaer and the
song of "Yankee Doodle" said to have been written there.
The Schuyler Mansion at Albany has been presented by Miss
Louisa Lee Schuyler and Miss Georgine Schuyler of New York
with several letters among which are some written by Washington,
Franklin, Jay and Hamilton.
The Knickerbocker Press for August 20, 1922, has an illustrated
article on the old "Glen Sanders Mansion at Scotia."
272 NOTES AND QUERIES
The Edison Monthly for July 1922 carries an interesting article
on New York City in the early eighties under the title of "Do
You Remember When."
The Vineland Historical Magazine for July 1922, has an article
on "Jacob James Schoonmaker" of New York.
In the Saturday Evening Post for June 24, 1922, is an article by
George F. Parker entitled "Grover Cleveland as Governor of New
York."
Houghton MifHin Company has published a new edition of
Abbott's "Roosevelt in the Bad Lands."
The New York Historical Society Quarterly Bulletin for July,
1922, has an article by Reginald Pelham Bolton on "The Home
of Mistress Ann Hutchinson at Pelham, 1642-3" and another on
"A Visit to Fort St. George" at Smith's Point, Mastic, Long Island.
The second installment of "American Revolutionary Diaries" by
Dr. W. S. Thomas, is given.
The Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society for July,
1922, continues "A Young Man's Journal of 1800-1813" which has
material about New York especially about the routes to and from
that city. In the same number there is an article by William H.
Benedict on "The Growth of our Postal Facilities" and another
by Cornelius C, Vermeule on "Number of Soldiers in the Revolu-
tion." The latter author would have found some much more ac-
curate material about New York in New York in the Revolution
edited by James A. Roberts. There is a good obituary notice of
Rev. Roswell Randall Hoes and a notice about the purchase of
General Knox's Headquarters near Newburgh, New York.
The New York Times Book Review and Magazine, for March 26,
1922, has an article entitled "Greenwich Village, First of Boom
Towns" which is in reality a review of H. W. Lanier's book A
Century of Banking in New York.
In The Christian Intelligencer and Mission Field for August 30,
1922, Alma R. Van Hoevenberg, has an article entitled "Lest We
Forget" which deals with the first settlement of the Dutch in
New York and the necessity for preserving records.
NOTES AND QUERIES 273
The Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly for July, 1922,
is largely taken up with articles on the anniversary of the birth of
General Grant.
In the volume entitled Presidential Campaign of 1832 by
Samuel Rhea Gammon, Jr., Ph.D., Series XL, No. 1, oiihe Johns
Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science
there is a great deal of material about Martin Van Buren of New-
York, who ran for vice-president on the ticket with Andrew Jack-
son. William L. Marcy and the Livingstons come in for mention
as well as the New York -Virginia political alliance.
The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record iorjanxxary,
1922, has articles on the "Ellwood Genealogy" [Richard Ellwood
originally settled on the Mohawk]; "The Abel Smiths of Hemp-
stead, Long Island;" "William Thome of Flushing, Long Island;"
"Westchester County, N. Y., Miscellanea" [continued]; "A Letter
from Gershom Mott, Written from the Headquarters of the
American Army before Quebec, March 31, 1776;" "The Oblong,"
[an account of this tract and its cession to New York by Con-
necticut]; "'Outen Bogart Bible" of Fordham, N. Y. ; "Jacob Jan-
sen van Etten" [of Kingston]; "Tompkins County Gravestone
Inscriptions" [continued]. There is also announced the receipt
of numerous manuscript copies of church records from various
villages in New York State.
The New York Geneaolgical and Biographical Record for April,
1922, has the "Ellwood Genealogy" [continued]; "Tompkins
County Gravestone Inscriptions" [continued]. The Record an-
nounces receipt of manuscripts containing "Vital Records of the
Town of Lenox, Madison County, N. Y.," by Mrs. Charlotte I.
Luckhurst ; "Marriages of the Reformed Protetsant Dutch Church
of Chatham, N. Y.," by Thomas Milton; "De Witt Family of
Ulster County, N.Y.," "Jay Manuscript Notes;" "Newtown, Long
Island, N. Y., Presbyterian Church Records;" "Records of the
Paris Religious Society of Paris, Cneida County, N. Y. ;" "Records
of the South Reformed Dutch Church in Garden Street, New York
City."
In The Journal of American Genecology for October, November,
December, 1921, are articles on the "Schneider Family of Columbia
274 NOTES AND QUERIES
County, New York," by Frank Allaben; "Vital Records from
Old New York Newspapers" by Wharton Dickinson; "Goelet and
Related Families" by Georgia Cooper Washburn.
In The Journal of American Geneaology for January, February,
March, 1922, are articles on "Vital Records from Old New York
Newspapers" by Wharton Dickinson; "The Ackerly Family of
Long Island" by H. Francis Smith.
The Journal of American History for October, November, De-
cember, 1921, is devoted to articles commemorating the Pilgrim
Tercentenary. In the January, February, March, 1922, nimiber
are articles about Margaret Cochran Corbin the heroine of Fort
Washington who is said to be buried in Congruity Graveyard in
Westmoreland Coimty, Pennsylvania. There also apppears the
' 'Journal of John Cotton, through New York City and Philadelphia' '
on his way from Rhode Island to Ohio in 1815. There is continued
"A History of Banks and Banking in New York City" by Frank
Allaben and W. Harrison Bayles, of which this installment is
chapter VII. Accompanying this article are a portrait of Alexander
Hamilton, a picture of the City Hall in New York, of Manhattan
Bank Water Works and of the Hamilton-Burr Duelling Grounds.
The Bulletin of the New York Public Library for July 1922 has
an illustrated article on the "Beadle Collection." This was the
celebrated series of "Divine Novels" which began to be issued in
New York City in the sixties.
The American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society Report
for igzi carries numerous articles of interest on historic build-
ings, markers and parks in New York City and New York State.
In addition it has much material on a nation wide survey of state
parks, national parks and monuments, statistics and memorials of
the World War, foreign historic affairs, the Pilgrim Tercentenary
and Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Rochefontaine. As is usual
with such reports. Dr. Edward Hagamon Hall, the editor, has
brought together a veritable encyclopedia of facts for many of
which he has numerous illustrations.
In The Southwestern Historical Quarterly for Jul}^ 1922, is an
article by Adele B. Looscan on the "Life and Service of John Bird-
sail," who was prominent in early Chautauqua County, N. Y.,
politics and then became one of the pioneers of Texas.
NOTES AND QUERIES 275
Dr. John M. Clarke has published a voltime entitled James Hall
of Albany, Geologist and Palaeontologist. (Albany: S. C. Bishop,
1921.)
Grover Cleveland: a study in political courage, is the title of a book
by Roland Hugins published by the Anchor-Lee Publishing Co.,
Washington, D. C.
My Memories of Eighty Years by Chauncey M. Depew has been
published in book form by Scribner's.
Professor R. W. Kelsey of Haverford has edited the Cazenove
Journal, 1794. It will be recalled that Theophile Cazenove came
to this country in 1790 in the interests of Dutch bankers. The
formation of the Holland Land Company with Cazenove as its
first general agent was the result.
The American Geographical Society has issued A Description of
Early Maps, Originals and Facsimiles, 1452-1611, by Edward L.
Stevenson. These are such as are found in the Society's collections.
The Society has reprinted A Short Account of the First Settlement
of the Provinces of Virginia, Maryland, Nevu York, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania by the English. (173f .)
Henry W. Lanier has written A Century of Banking in New York,
1822-1922, which is published by the George H. Doran Company.
The Holland Society of New York has printed a little pamphlet
entitled The Dutch of the Netherlands in the Making of America,
by William EUiot Griffis. (1921.)
The Riverhead Savings Bank, 1872-1922, is the title of a very
attractive book published by the bank about the history of this
Long Island village and its bank. It is handsomely illustrated
and bound. Otis G. Pike is the author.
The Mohegan Chapter of the D. A. R. of Ossining has published
a pamphlet on the history of the town of Ossining, New York,
under the title of Reminiscences of Ossining, compiled by Florence
L. Reynolds, the historian of the Chapter. (1922.)
The Policy of Albany and English Westward Expansion, by Arthur
H. Buffinton is the title of a pamphlet reprinted from The Missis-
sippi Valley Historical Review, for March, 1922.
Dodd, Mead and Company have issued Leagues of the Ho-de-no-
sau-nae of Iroquois by Lewis H. Morgan in one volume.
276 NOTES AND QUERIES
Pioneer Days and Later Times in Corning and Vicinity; ijSg-
J920, is the title of a book written by the author, Uri Mulford.
Theodore Roosevelt and His Times; a Chronicle of The Progressive
Movement, by Howard J. Rowland has been issued by the Yale
University Press.
Something about the influence of the embargo on New York's
commerce is to be found in the work by Walter W. Jennings en-
titled The American Embargo, iSoy-iSog, published by the Univer-
sity of Iowa, at Iowa City, Iowa.
History of the Wanzer Family in America is the title of a book
issued by Wilham David Wanzer of No. 782 Massachusetts
Avenue, Arlington, Mass.
The 150th Anniversary of the Oragnization of Saint John's Re-
formed Church of Saint Johnsville, N. Y. is the title of a little
pamphlet by Lou D. MacWethy of that village. The same author
also publishes another pamphlet entitled Following the Old Mohawk
Turnpike.
Stories of the Raftsmen is the title of a pamphlet by Charles T.
Curtis which has been reprinted from articles which appeared in
the Sullivan County Democrat of Callicoon, N. Y., 1922.
Was Molly Brant Married? is the title of a pamphlet by Hon.
Wm. Renwick Riddell, LL.D., from the Ontario Historical Society's
Papers and Records, volume 19, which covers and disposes of the
legends which have' grown up about her ecclesiastical or legal
marriage to Sir William Johnson.
The Gramercy Park Association publishes The Story of Gramercy
Park [N. Y. City] by John B. Pine.
Correspondence of James Fenimore Cooper, edited by his grand-
son, James Fenimore Cooper, is published by the Yale University
Press of New Haven.
The Autobiography of John Francis Hylan, is issued by the Ro-
tary Press, New York.
The Macmillan Company publishes The McKinley and Roosevelt
Administrations by James Ford Rhodes.
Governors Island: Its Military History under Three Flags, by
Edmund B. Smith, is published by the Valentine's Manual Com-
pany of New York.
NOTES AND QUERIES 277
Bibliographical Survey of Contemporary Sources for the Economic
and Social History of the War, by M. E. Bulkley, has been issued
by the Oxford University Press, New York.
My Years on the Stage, by John Drew, is published by E. P.
Button & Co., New York.
Roosevelt's Religion, by Christian F. Reisner is pubhshed by the
Abingdon Press, New York.
History of Freemasonry in the State of Nevu York, by Ossian Lang,
is published by the Grand Lodge of New York.
The Works of Samuel de Champlain, edited by H. P. Biggar, to
be completed in six volumes, of which one has been issued, are
published by the Champlain Society of Toronto.
My Boyhood, by John Burroughs, is published by Doubleday
Page & Co., Garden City, New York.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, edited by Theodore Stanton and Harriot
Stanton Blatch, is published by Harper & Brothers, New York.
The American Jewish Committee of New York has issued a
biography of Jacob Henry Schiff by Cyrus Adler.
In the Memoirs of the Harvard Dead in the War Against Germany,
compiled by M. A. De Wolfe Howe and published by the Harvard
University Press at Cambridge there are accounts of several men
from New York.
William Dean Howells, by Delmar Gross Cooke, has been pub-
lished by E. P. Button & Co., New York.
MUSEUMS, HISTORIC MONUMENTS AND REMAINS
Mrs. Joan E. Secor, Local Historian of Pelham has started a
movement to erect suitable markers to show the "Old Boston
Road" and the site of the "Battle of Pelham."
The high school at Mount Morris has been presented with what
is said to be a War of 1812 cannon, but nothing is definitely known
of its history.
An attempt is being made by Dr. F. H. Severance to have the
City preserve the old Seneca Mission House in South Buffalo.
The Kings County Historical Society is still working to have a
public park made of the site at Third Street and Fifth avenue
278 NOTES AND QUERIES
Brooklyn, where the severest fighting in the battle of Long Island
took place. Near here was the Old Gowanus House.
In the Washington Headquarters at White Plains is a table
round which Washington and his generals are said to have sat in
council. There are also a Revolutionary bayonet and grape shot.
The Herkimer County Historical Society has been given a five
dollar bill issued by the Agricultural Bank of Herkimer in 1844.
The historic road from Fort Plain to Cooperstown was opened
as a state highway September 7, 1922. It is said that this is the
route Washington followed on his visit to the Mohawk country.
The Pipe Stave Hollow Road at Mt. Sinai, Long Island, in the
town of Brookhaven, along which Major Tallmadge led his raiders
in 1780, was being closed by a real estate company and protests
are being filed by the old residents.
Cn Saturday, September 16, 1922, exercises were held at the
]\lonroe County Coiu-t House at Rochester, New York, in honor of
the pioneers of Rochester. The occasion was the unveiling of a
bronze tablet to the memory of John Mastick, 1780-1827, the
pioneer lawyer of Rochester, given by the Rochester Bar As-
sociation and the Rochester Historical Society.
WORLD WAR MEMORIALS AND COLLECTIONS
Middletown has dedicated one of its new grammer schools as a
memorial to its soldiers and sailors in the World War. A bronze
tablet bearing the names of those who died will be placed in the
main corridor.
The Albany Academy for Boys has a bronze tablet on which
are inscribed the names of 281 former students who ser\^ed in the
World War.
At Syracuse there has been erected a bronze tablet on a boulder
in Lincoln Park on which are inscribed the names of the former
students of the Lincoln and Cleveland schools who died in the
World War.
On Thursday, November 11, 1921, there was unveiled at Dele-
van, Cattaraugus County, a granite and bronze monument as a
memorial to the soldiers and sailors from the town of Yorkshire
and the village of Delevan in the World War. It was made the
NOTES AND QUERIES 279
occasion of the gathering of the ex-service men. The program
arranged by Mrs. J. 0. Walldorff, the local historian.
Brigadier General J. Leslie Kincaid, Adjutant-General of New
York State has issued the Roll of Honor which contains the names
of those citizens of the State of New York who died while in the
service of the United States dining the World War. It is published
for the State by the J. B. Lyon Company, Albany, 1922. The
names are arranged according to counties except for New York
City, which stands by itself. Within the counties the names are
listed under the United States Army, United States Navy and
United States Marine Corps. The men's names are given, their
addresses, the units to which they belonged and the manner and
date of death. Unfortunately, the place where they were killed
or died is not given. This is, however, no fault of General Kincaid,
as the Adjutant-General at Washington said that such information
could not be furnished. Why not, has not been made clear as
such items were furnished for the Civil War. For the Navy no
other information is given than that the man died and this is fol-
lowed by the date of death.
An examination of the list shows that they are not very ac-
curate due to the fact that the work in the Adjutant-General's
office in Washington was done in a very hasty and inexpert manner.
Approximate accuracy for New York State will only be obtained
through the checking up by our local historians, who are in a
better position to know which of the soldiers, sailors and marines
died in the World War than are the authorities at Washington.
STATEMENT
Statement of Ownership, Management, Circulation, etc., required by the
Act of Congress of August 24, 1912, of the Quarterly Journal of the New
York State Historical Association, published quarterly at Albany, N. Y., for
October 1, 1922, State of New York, County of Albany. Before me, a Notary
Public, in and for the State and County aforesaid, personally appeared James
Sullivan, who, having been duly sworn according to law, deposes and saj^s
that he is the Editor of the Quarterly Journal of the New York State His-
torical Association, and that the following is, to the best of his knowledge and
belief, a true statement of the ownership, management, etc., of the aforesaid
publication for the date shown in the above caption, required by the Act of
August 24, 1912. Publisher, New York State Historical Association. Editor
and Managing Editor, James Sullivan, Albany, New York. Business Manager,
none. 2. That the owners are: The New York State Historical Association
and issues no stock; officers are Gilbert D. B. Hasbrouck, Kingston, President;
Frank H. Severance, Buffalo, First Vice-President; James Riggs, Oswego,
Second Vice-President; James Sullivan, Albany, Corresponding Secretary,
and Frederick B. Richards, Glens Falls, Recording Secretary and Treasurer.
3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees and other security holders own-
ing or holding 1 per cent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other
securities are: None. Signed, James Sullivan, Editor. Sworn to and sub-
scribed before me this 25th day of September, 1922. (Seal.) Rose M. Ahem,
Notary Public. (My commission expires April 30, 1923.)
PUBLICATIONS OF THE NEW YORK STATE
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Proceedings, volume 1. Constitution and By-laws; with Proceedings of
the second annual meeting at Lake George, N. Y., July 31, 1900. Miscel-
laneous papers, mostly on the Battle of Lake George. 1901. 79 p.
Proceedings, volume 2. Third annual meeting at Lake George, N. Y., July
30, 1901. Miscellaneous papers, mostly on Ticonderoga. 1902. 74 p.
Proceedings, volume 3. Fourth annual meeting at Lake George, N. Y.,
Tulv 29, 1902. Miscellaneous papers, mostly on Burgoyne's Campaign,
1903. 88 p.
Proceedings, volume 4. Fifth annual meeting at Lake George, N. Y.,
August 25, 1903. Miscellaneous papers. 1904. 106 p.
Proceedings, volume 5. Sixth annual meeting at Lake George, N. Y.,
August 16, 1904. Miscellaneous papers, largely on the Battle of Benning-
ton. 1905. 199 p.
Proceedings, volume 6. Seventh annual meeting at Lake George, N. Y.,
August 22, 1905. Miscellaneous papers, mostly on Sullivan's Expedition;
with E. M. Ruttenber's Indian Geographical Names. 1906. 241 p.
Proceedings, volume 7. Eighth annual meeting at Lake George, N. Y.,
August 21-22, 1906. Miscellaneous papers, mostly on the Revolution;
1907. 147 p.
Proceedings, volume 8. Ninth annual meeting at Buffalo, N. Y., September
17, 1907. Miscellaneous papers, mostly on the Niagara frontier; and tenth
annual meeting at Albany, N. Y., October 12-14, 1908. Miscellaneous
papers, mostly on Albany. 1909. 316 p.
Proceedings, volume 9. Eleventh annual meeting at Mount Vernon, N. Y.,
October 19-20, 1909. Miscellaneous papers, largely on Westchester county.
1910. 445 p.
Proceedings, volume 10. Twelfth annual meeting on Lake Champlain,
October 4-7, 1910. Miscellaneous papers, mostly on Lake Champlain.
1911. 552 p.
Proceedings, volume 11. Thirteenth annual meeting at Kingston, N. Y.,
September 12-14, 1911. Miscellaneous papers, mostly on Ulster county.
381 pages; with Dutch Records of Kingston, 171+xvii pages. 1912.
Proceedings, volume 12. Fourteenth annual meeting at Saratoga vSprings,
N. Y., Bennington Vt., and Schuylerville, N. Y., September 17-20, 1912.
Miscellaneous papers, mostly on the Battle of Saratoga. 1913. 423 p.
Proceedings, volume 13. Fifteenth annual meeting at Oswego, N. Y.,
September 29-October 2, 1913. Miscellaneous papers, mostly on Lake
Ontario. 1914. 480 p.
Proceedings, volume 14. Sixteenth annual meeting at Utica, N. Y., October
5-8, 1914. Miscellaneous papers, mostly on the Mohawk valley. 1915.
504 p.
Proceedings, volume 15. Seventeenth annual meeting at West Point, N. Y.,
October 5-7, 1915. Miscellaneous papers, mostly on West Point. 1916.
360 p.
Proceedings, volume 16. Eighteenth annual meeting at Cooperstown, N. Y.,
October 3-5, 1916. Miscellaneous papers. 1917. 356 p.
Proceedings, volume 17. Nineteenth annual meeting at New York City,
October 2-4, 1917. Papers largely on New York City. 1919. 480 p.
Proceedings, volume 18. Twentieth annual meeting at Rochester, N. Y.,
October 8-10, 1919. Biographies and Rochester sketches. 1920. 314 p.
Proceedings, volume 19. Twenty-first annual meeting at Bear Mountain,
N. Y., October 6-8, 1920. Miscellaneous papers, mostly on the lower
Hudson valley. 1921. 281 p.
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