The Albany County Historical Association and 11 other museums, historic, and cultural sites throughout Albany County are presenting a Path Through History Day on Saturday October 7 from 11 am until 4 pm. [Read more…] about Albany County-Wide History Driving, Walking, and Bike Tours
Albany Rural Cemetery
Finding the Adirondacks in Albany: A History Tour & Special Museum Event
Looking to the Adirondacks from Albany, we can learn much about members of the Pruyn family and many other notable figures who influenced the Adirondack region as well.
In the mid-19th-century, garden cemeteries like the Albany Rural Cemetery borrowed designs that took a picturesque form, with tree-lined, meandering paths, stonework, and curated plantings. [Read more…] about Finding the Adirondacks in Albany: A History Tour & Special Museum Event
Albany’s Peter Gansevoort, “The Hero of Stanwix”
Peter Gansevoort Jr. was born into the Dutch aristocracy of Albany to Harman Gansevoort (1712–1801) and Magdalena Douw (1718–1796). His younger brother Leonard Gansevoort, was politically active, serving in the state assembly and senate, as well as the Continental Congress. [Read more…] about Albany’s Peter Gansevoort, “The Hero of Stanwix”
Albany’s Seth Wheeler: Inventor of Modern Toilet Paper
Seth Wheeler was born in Chatham, Columbia County, NY on May 18th, 1838 to a successful and affluent family. His father, Alonzo Wheeler, owned Wheeler, Melick & Co. one of the foremost manufacturers of agricultural equipment; his mother was Harriet Hatch Wheeler. At the time, agriculture was the foremost industry supporting the Upstate New York economy and demand for agricultural equipment was strong. Begun in 1830, Wheeler, Melick & Co. moved to Albany in 1849. [Read more…] about Albany’s Seth Wheeler: Inventor of Modern Toilet Paper
Philip Schuyler Program in Lake George on April 22nd
Philip Schuyler was a major player in the region throughout the second half of the 18th Century, first as a provincial officer serving the British during the French and Indian War, then as a Major General in Continental Army during the American Revolution. Schuyler spent time during both conflicts at Lake George, and played a leadership role in preparing Fort George for British assaults after patriots captured the site in 1775. [Read more…] about Philip Schuyler Program in Lake George on April 22nd
William O. Stillman: Leader of Humane Societies, Friend of Animals & Children
William O. Stillman was born on September 9th, 1856 in Normansville, now known as Elsmere in the town of the Bethlehem, Albany County, NY. His parents were Rev. Stephen Lewis Stillman and Lucretia (Miller) Stillman.
Rev. Stephen Lewis Stillman was a Methodist minister at the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Adamsville (now Delmar) and a descendant of a family that had emigrated from London, England. Lucretia (Miller) Stillman was of Dutch descent. Rev. Stephen suddenly died in 1869, when William was 12 years old. After his father’s death, William and his mother moved to Albany. [Read more…] about William O. Stillman: Leader of Humane Societies, Friend of Animals & Children
Hudson River Towing: Austin’s Albany & Canal Line
Jeremiah J. Austin, Jr. was born in 1819, just 12 years after the first commercial steamboat trip on the Hudson River and two years after construction of the Erie Canal began at Rome, New York. His father Jeremiah J. Austin Sr. was a prominent Albany businessman involved in Hudson River commerce.
After the Erie Canal opened, freight could be transported all the way across the Great Lakes to the entrance to the canal at Buffalo and then along the canal to Albany where it was shipped down the Hudson River to New York Harbor. From there freight could be fairly easily transported to any port on the East Coast, Europe or the Caribbean. [Read more…] about Hudson River Towing: Austin’s Albany & Canal Line
Theophilus Roessle: From Celery King To Hotelier
Theophilus Gottlieb Roessle was born in Stuttgart in the Kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, on March 19th, 1811. His father was a successful market farmer and builder in the community. Like many of the children in his homeland, Theophilus received a good quality education that his father supplemented with a solid training in agriculture.
While still a young boy, Theophilus learned the peculiarities inherent in the cultivation of plants. [Read more…] about Theophilus Roessle: From Celery King To Hotelier
Black History: Capt. Samuel Schuyler & His Steam Towboat Company
According to his monument at Albany Rural Cemetery, Samuel Schuyler was born in 1781. Although part African-American, he may have also been a descendant of Philip Schuyler, one of Albany’s most prominent families.
In 1805 he received a manumission from Dirck Schuyler (who is thought to be his white father). [Read more…] about Black History: Capt. Samuel Schuyler & His Steam Towboat Company
Archibald McIntyre’s Life In Lotteries, Politics & Adirondack Mines
Archibald McIntyre was born in Kenmore, Perthshire, Scotland on the June 1, 1772. His parents were Daniel and Anne Walker McIntyre. Daniel McIntyre taught school in Scotland.
In 1774, Daniel and his family immigrated to the colony of New York and settled with four or five other Scottish families in what is now Broadalbin in Fulton County, NY. [Read more…] about Archibald McIntyre’s Life In Lotteries, Politics & Adirondack Mines