Or did Burr shoot Aaron?

A rather amusing piece from Times Union on August 4, 1936. 

Historic Albany:

'Aaron Shot Burr On Albany Corner”

Touring Reporter Gets Startling Angles on City

By Tourist

Leaving gun and camera at home, the touring reporter stalked through historic old Albany yesterday, armed with pencil and paper to bag a compiled report on how much Albanians actually know about their city.

Help the Albany Rural Cemetery

 

The history of the Albany Rural Cemetery is closely interlaced with Albany's history.  If you'd like to support the Cemetery, please see the link below for a list of ways (including the Annual Fund, membership in the Friends of the Albany Rural Cemetery, and volunteering).

Support Albany Rural Cemetery

"Over the years, many generous donors have made tax-deductible gifts to the cemetery and such support is needed now, more than ever. For the sake of “these exalted acres” and the many people who enjoy the parklike setting, a historic resource in the upper Hudson Valley, we hope to broaden our base of support." 

- from a letter to the Times Union by Frank Slingerland, President of the Board of Trustees.

And, if you enjoy the Cemetery's history, don't forget to like this page on Facebook:

Albany Rural Cemetery - Beyond The Graves

The Friends of Albany History

If you're interested in Albany history on social media, please join the newly launched Friends of Albany History.

The Friends of Albany History on Facebook

(See also the previous post, Everything Old Albany on Flickr)

The Albany History Race

Yesterday was the second Albany History Race courtesy of the Albany Public Library.  Thanks to Christopher and Paul for taking part as Team Assiduity.

Finding Your Past - Albany History Race 2015

Historic African-American Burials In Albany

A essay from gardenalley.net:

A Brief Look At Historic African-American Burials In Albany

The Gravestone of Jeremiah Field - A Mystery Solved

An historic gravestone, long described as discarded, in fact rests in the Church Grounds lot of the Albany Rural Cemetery.

Jeremiah Field and The Headstone Believed To Be Lost.

A Tour of Lost Cemeteries

Just in time for Halloween, All Over Albany (a site you should be reading daily) gave this blog a much appreciated shout-out in a post about Washington Park's previous incarnation as the State Street Burying Grounds.  

Below is a brief tour of sorts of some other former burial grounds in Albany.  It appeared in Charles Mooney's column (always a source of fascinating bits and pieces of local history) in the Knickerbocker News on October 14, 1961.

We ran across John E. Boos this week and, as we customarily do, asked Albany's famed authority on Abraham Lincoln if he had a story to tell. Mr. Boos, who is a man of a few thousand words when occasion demands, took a deep breath and said, to wit:

“Your column has been filled so much with butchers, and bakers, and candlestick makers, old buildings, old people, and Otto de Heus's sheet music, why not change to a more solemn subject and asked if the average citizen remembers or ever heard of the many cemeteries in the city?”

“There was a cemetery on Arbor Hill bounded by Ten Broeck Street, Second Street, Hall Place and Ten Broeck Place – now, and for many years a fenced-in lawn, although it could have been a more useful place as a neighborhood playground.

The Ten Broeck family erected a vault at Livingston Avenue and Swan Street in which was entombed the remains of Generals Philip Schuyler and Abraham Ten Broeck, both heroes of the Battle of Saratoga.

“When the vault began to crumble, the remains were removed to Albany Rural Cemetery, and General Ten Broeck's grave has never been marked, though there is a monument honoring him on the battlefield.

“To honor Col. John Mills and Gen. Solomon Van Rensselaer, they were buried near the Washington Avenue side of Capitol Park, one having been killed at Sackets Harbor in the War of 1812 and the other severely wounded at Queenstown Heights in the same war. Their remains were later removed to Rural Cemetery where they now rest, the state having erected a monument on Mills' resting place.

“At the foot of State Street, under the floor of the Reformed Church, a number of members were buried. The remains were removed in 1818 to a new cemetery on Beaver Street where a new church had been erected. (The National Commercial Bank's Heartland Building now covers the site).

“Peter Schuyler, Albany's first mayor, was buried in the church, and possibly his remains still rest in the Beaver Street plot.

“There was a cemetery on the south side of Central Avenue above Watervliet Avenue, where I believe the members of St. John's Lutheran Church were buried. There was another Lutheran cemetery on the State Street side of Washington Park at Willett Street, the bodies having been removed when the park was laid out.

“On Washington Avenue above Partridge Street was St. Mary's Cemetery, overgrown with weeds and brush when the bodies were removed to a new resting place in St. Agnes Cemetery, while at Hamilton and South Pearl Streets the Hallenbeck family'sburial plot covered a half acres for more than 100 years.”

John Boos, although he didn't say so in so many words, appears to regret some of Albany's old cemeteries were removed to make way for civic and industrial progress, for he added:

“The graves of early citizens are highly revered in Boston, and one who rambles down its crooked streets will still find the old cemeteries in the business section of the city. Kings Chapel, Granary and Old North Church have visitors from all over the nation who delight in reading the quaint inscriptions on the tombstones.”

The Half Moon Sailing Away

Albany has a pretty poor record when it comes to keeping and promoting its history.  Now, there is a good chance that we will lose the Half Moon, the beautiful replica of Henry Hudson's ship which explored this area in 1609.

Replica Half Moon May Move To The Netherlands

It would be a wonderful thing if people could rally around keeping the ship here.  Otherwise, the only Half Moon that we will have left will be the historic weather-vane atop the old D&H Building on Broadway.

For more information on the ship and its activities...or to make a donation...please see their site:

The Half Moon

See also:  Helping History

Finding The Fort

An essay by local historian John Wolcott on the likely location of the 1614 Fort Nassau

Researcher Pinpoints Long Lost 1614 Albany Fort

And more on the subject in a recent post by Don Rittner:

Preserve Fort Nassau and Fort Nassau 2 and Fort Nassau 3 and....

This site is one with tremendous historic significance which should be explored, preserved, and promoted instead of forgotten or destroyed.

Helping History

Albany is one of the oldest and most historic cities in the United States.  Sadly, much of our tangible history has been lost to progress.  Look around the city and you will see only a few traces of Albany's colonial era, its role in the Revolutionary War, its development as a city before the Civil War.  And, certainly, a great swath of the city was consumed with the construction of the Empire State Plaza (a subject still hotly debated decades after the fact.

There is certainly good reason to regret the historic treasures that are lost. But this is the time to not only protect what tangible history we still have, but to PROMOTE it.  It's not just about historic preservation, but also making use of what we have.

Social Media

Many local historic sites and museums have a presence on social networks. Find their web site or blog, their Facebook page or Twitter. Like or follow it and, even more importantly, don't just favorite their posts. SHARE THEM. Post to their walls. Share your related photos with them. Help expand their reach instead of just passively showing support.

Friends of...

Many have a “Friends of” group. You don't have to join every single one. But pick one or two that you have a strong interest in and join at whatever level you can afford. If nothing else, you'll likely get an interesting newsletter several times a year. Take part in their scheduled events and spread the word about them. Share their schedules. Invite people to come along with you. Share photos from the events. And, as above, if the Friends have a social media presence, like it and share it.

Visit

Haven't been to your favorite museum in a while? Go. There's definitely a new exhibit or two and it's always great to revisit the old ones. Maybe there's a picture or object that you casually passed the last time that you will see from a different perspective now. Haven't been to that historic mansion since your middle school field trip? It's still there. It's still open. And it needs visitors. Bring a friend and, once again, share the experience whatever way you can.  Maybe you'll find a chance to volunteer, too.

Read

There are scores of excellent books on Albany's past.  Many are out of print, but still accessible.  Some, like Joel Munsell's multi-volume Annals of Albany are available through Google Books or Archive.org.  Others can easily be obtaining through inter-library loan. 

Local history isn't a dead thing, but it needs a bit of life.  Support it and share it.

Some links to get started at the Albany History Page

Albany - The Way It Was

A History of Historic Destruction

New blog post - Albany's History of Destroying Its History - Don Rittner

Albany's Origins At Risk

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, this article is another must-read piece on the threat to Fort Orange.

Oil Plant Could Destroy 1614 Dutch Fort In Albany NY

Please read, share, and show support for our heritage.

Schuyler Slave Reburial Update

There is some news today that $4,000 has been earmarked in the State Budget for the reburial of the skeletons found near the Schuyler Flatts.  See more at the Church Grounds Project blog.

Bicentennial Plaque No. 29 - The North-East Gate

This bronze tablet is difficult to spot, set flush to the ground and surrounded by greenery in front of SUNY Plaza on Broadway (just north of the marble Independence Day tablet). In warmer weather, the plants almost completely engulf it.   It is, however, close to its original location.  It was first placed in a granite block by the curb in front of the Van Benthuysen Printing & Publishing House which stood at 403 Broadway a few yards to the south.

The inscription on this plaque reads:

On the northeast corner of Broadway, then Court street, and Hudson, then Spanish street, stood the Second City Hall, Erected 1705, in which the Famous Congress of 1754 Met and Prepared a Union of the Several Colonies for Mutual Defense and Security.  The Southeast Gate of the City stood in front, to the south of the City Hall.  To the north of this spot a Bridge crossed, and on this ground was the house where Peter Schuyler, the first and for sixteen successive years Mayor of this City.

The Rutten Kill referenced on this plaque was also known as the Rat Creek and was buried in the 1800s.  It ran through a ravine that was filled in to create parts of Hudson Avenue. 

The Bicentennial Tablets
Bicentennial Plaque No. 1 - Fort Orange
Bicentennial Plaque No. 4 - The Progenitor

Erastus Dow Palmer

Erastus Dow Palmer by Matthew Brady

On March 10, 1904, the New York Times published the obituary of Erastus Dow Palmer, referring to the long-time resident of Albany as "one of the pioneers of American sculpture."

He was born in Pompey, New York on April 2, 1817.  The son of a farmer, he learned to carve wood at an early age.  In addition to helping cut axe handles and other utilitarian tools, he also is said to have carved toy horses, windmills, and even made a little fiddle from a cigar box.

As a young man, he moved to East Aurora (near Buffalo) to work as a carpenter.  While living in East Aurora, he married, but illness claimed both his wife and infant son.  Shortly after this double loss, he relocated to Utica where he continued as a carpenter and woodcarver.  In 1843, he married Mary Jane Seaman.

Having seen illustrations of cameos in the home of a client, Palmer was inspired to cut a cameo of his wife using an oyster shell and the smallest of his carpentry tools.  He showed the finished piece to a local lawyer for whom Palmer had done work.  The lawyer was very impressed by Palmer's work and immediately lent him books with engravings of famous artwork, provided him with letters of recommendation to a number of prominent artists of the era, and strongly encouraged Palmer to pursue a career as a sculptor.

That career began with a series of portrait cameos, mainly of prominent Utica residents.  However, Palmer found that working on such a small scale was straining his eyesight.  He began producing larger reliefs in marble.  One early work is the allegory of Faith which hangs in St. Peter's Episcopal Church in downtown Albany and is shown below.

Faith at St. Peter's Episcopal Church

He would move from reliefs such as the Spirit's Flight (shown below) and a haunting image of the poet Sappho to busts (including likenesses of Washington Irving, Erastus Corning, and Henry Burden) and, eventually full length-statues such as the White Captive and The Indian Girl.  Later in his career, he produced sculptures in bronze such as the bust of Doctor James Armsby in Washington Park and the statue of Robert Livingston in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall (with a copy in New York State Capitol.)

Early his career, Palmer relocated to Albany, a larger city that would provide him with many opportunities for commissions.  His home and studio still stand just north of City Hall on Columbia Place.  He later moved to nearby Lafayette Street (since demolished to make way for the park of the same name) and to a farm in Glenmont which he named Appledale.  He maintained close friendships with a number of contemporary artists including Frederick Church (a pair of reliefs by Palmer hang at Church's Olana) and Asa Twitchell.  Palmer would often spend time with the latter at Lawson Annesley's gallery and art store on North Pearl Street.

Palmer died at the age of eighty-six on March 9, 1904 and was buried in the Albany Rural Cemetery.

A number of Palmer's works are on display in a permanent gallery at the Albany Institute of History & Art.  This exhibit includes the previously mentioned Sappho, Peace In Bondage (an allegory created during the Civil War), First Sorrow (a full length-figure of a little girl holding an empty nest), as well as plaster casts of the Indian Girl and The White Captive (the original pair of marbles is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art).  The centerpiece of the AIHA exhibit is the plaster cast of his masterpiece, the Angel At The Sepulchre.  A vivid portrait of Palmer by Charles Loring Elliott is also on display, as well as a painting of Palmer at work in his studio, surrounded by apprentices (including Charles Caverley) and many recognizable works.

The Angel At The Sepulchre

The Angel is one of ten monuments Palmer created for the Albany Rural Cemetery, including Grief, Remembrance, portrait medallions of Thomas Olcott, Lewis Benedict, and Benjamin Knower, as well as the granite headstone of Governor William Marcy.  A pair of reliefs representing Morning and Evening were incorporated into Palmer's own monument by architect Marcus T. Reynolds.

Grave of Erastus Palmer at the Albany Rural Cemetery

The Albany Trust Company Building

Crowned with a dome, this ornate building at the northwest corner of State Street and Broadway was the work of Marcus T. Reynolds. 

Reynolds, one of Albany's best-known and prolific architects was commissioned to design the building for the Albany Trust Company in 1902 (the bank itself had been founded only two years earlier).

The building, described as being in a Beaux-Arts Northern Renaissance style, is heavily ornamented with graceful female heads above the windows, eagles which encircle the dome, and a golden orb.  It also has a nod to history with a relief of the North River Steamboat over a door on the Broadway side, though this was a later addition.  The main banking room inside was circular in keeping with the curves lines of the exterior design. 

As newer buildings replaced many of Albany's older structures, this handsome building was a fortunate survivor as modern construction was designed to surround it instead of demolishing it.

For a look an another round-cornered building that stood on the same site prior to the Albany Trust Company, click here.

Albany: Then & Now - App Review

This app by Tim Varney of Troy Web Consulting first came to my attention with an article on All Over Albany (a site which you should absolutely check daily).  At the time, I had not yet upgraded to a smartphone capable of downloading apps.  However, with a very recent upgrade to an Android phone, I was extremely eager to try Tim Varney's Albany: Then & Now.

The app, which is a free download for both Android and iPhone/iPad, gives a terrific glimpse into the city's past by matching present-day map locations with century-old photographs of the exact same place.  Each antique photo is accompanied by a brief, but excellent description.

The Battle In Lincoln Park

 Above:  View inside the Beaverkill ravine in Lincoln Park, site of the 1626 ambush

In the late summer of 1626, a party of armed men set out from the Fort Orange.  Led by the Dutch outpost's superintendent, Daniel Van Kriekenbeek (there are numerous spellings of the name) the men (two of whome were not Dutch, but Portuguese) were accompanying a group of Mahicans in a planned attack on the Mohawks.

Van Kriekenbeek's decision to join the Mahicans in their ongoing conflict with the Mohawks was a departure from the previous neutrality the Dutch settlement had maintained with both and it would nearly end the good relations between Fort Orange and the Iroquois Confederacy to the west.

Shoes and Maps

This year's Sculpture In The Streets exhibit in downtown Albany features replicas of Dutch clogs painted by local artists.  This particular shoe - located on South Pearl Street - features a detailed rendering of an 1857 map of the city.

The title of this shoe is "Paths of The Past" by Mitchell Biernacki.

The Old Halenbeek Burial Ground

Downtown Albany was once dotted with public, private, and church graveyards.  The earliest churchyard surrounded the First Dutch Church at what is now Broadway and State Street, a Lutheran graveyard stood on South Pearl Street just below State Street, small burying grounds for soldiers from Fort Frederick and for African-Americans were located just outside the stockade not far from today's City Hall.  Later, municipal burial grounds were established on Eagle Street (just south of modern East Capitol Park) and then at State Street (now the northeastern corner of Washington Park). 

There were also small family burial grounds on farms, estates, and privately owned or leased lots.  One such lot - complete with a private vault - was built by merchant David Vanderheyden around 1766 at what is now the northwest corner of Washington Avenue and Swan Street.