New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Albany

The 1817 Hudson River Kidnapping Case: Details & Outcome

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The recent New York Almanack post, “Kidnapped Into Slavery On The Hudson River” reprinted an early report of the crime by the New York Evening Post. The accused kidnappers were put on trial (and convicted).

This incident is one of the approximately 50 case studies included in my book Solomon Northup’s Kindred: The Kidnapping of Free Citizens before the Civil War (Praeger, 2016). The following is adapted from the account of the incident which appears there. [Read more…] about The 1817 Hudson River Kidnapping Case: Details & Outcome

Dan Rice & Spalding’s North American Circus Steamboats

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Spaldings North American Circus advert 1847Dr. Gilbert R. Spalding was a pharmacist who operated a drug store in Albany, NY.  Gilbert’s father, Guy Spalding, had operated the drug store starting about 1810. The Spaldings sold different varieties of chemicals, oils and alcohol that they would blend into medicinal drugs, paint, stains, varnish, cleaning fluids, and popular drinks.

They could make up a cure for almost anything from a headache to piles, consumption to lumbago. Their ability to blend medicines led their Albany neighbors to nickname both Guy Spalding and, later his son Gilbert, “Doc” Spalding. Gilbert Spalding operated the drug store from about 1840 to 1845. [Read more…] about Dan Rice & Spalding’s North American Circus Steamboats

Schenectady’s Relationship to Native America

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Mohawk “squaw,” watercolorFor many people, “American” history begins with European exploration of the continent. From there, the narrative invariably centers on the colonial perspective and, after 1776, the perspective of the United States.

Consequently, the general public is generally uninformed about the history of Indigenous People that both predates New Netherland and the Pilgrims and persists to the present. And this article is by no means capable of addressing this broad historical issue. So let’s turn from this historical macrocosm to the microcosm of one city, Schenectady. [Read more…] about Schenectady’s Relationship to Native America

The Albany Museum: Curiosities, Circus & Performing Arts

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1848 painting of State Street in Albany by John Wilson, the Albany Museum is on the right in the building with the colonnade (courtesy Albany Institute of History and Art)Albany’s first museum was started in 1798 in a building on the corner of Green and Beaver streets. In the summer of 1808, two royal tigers were housed at the Thespian Hotel, a circus pitched its tent, and Ralph Letton started the Albany Museum.

The Albany Museum was located in the Old City Hall (Stadt Huys) on the northeastern corner of South Market Street and Hudson Avenue (today’s Broadway and Hudson Avenue). The Old City Hall was built in 1741 and was the site of the 1754 Albany Congress meeting where Benjamin Franklin first proposed the Albany Plan, a plan of union of the colonies that later was a basis for the U.S. Constitution. On its steps, the Declaration of Independence was first read to Albany on July 19, 1776 by the order of the Provincial Congress. With the construction of the new building on Eagle Street in 1808, the Old City Hall was converted into the Albany Museum. [Read more…] about The Albany Museum: Curiosities, Circus & Performing Arts

Albany Artist Ezra Ames: A Biography

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self portrait of Ezra AmesEzra Ames was born on May 5th, 1768 in Framingham, Massachusetts. He was the fourth child of Jesse Emes and Betty Bent.

Prior to the 1800s, printed documents were scarce and there was usually no generally accepted spelling for many words. Most words were written phonetically; whatever combination of letters caused a person to say the intended word was accepted. [Read more…] about Albany Artist Ezra Ames: A Biography

Georgia O’Keefe At Wiawaka On Lake George

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a new york minute in history podcastOn this episode of A New York Minute in History, Devin Lander and Lauren Roberts discuss how the poor conditions of female textile workers in Capital Region cities led to the creation of a retreat on Lake George where women could “escape” the cities. [Read more…] about Georgia O’Keefe At Wiawaka On Lake George

Schenectady Black History & Barber John Wendell

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black barber shaves the face of a lounging white man in a barber shopIn the early 19th century, Schenectady played host to a distinctly American process through which hundreds of Black people gained their freedom. Although Schenectady County had a small enclave of free African Americans into the late colonial period, the overwhelming majority of Black Schenectadians were enslaved.

As New York State legislation gradually abolished the institution of slavery by 1827, many Black Schenectadians had to confront a new reality in which they were legally independent, but by no means legally equal.

One of these people was John Wendell [Jr.] whose birth remains shrouded in mystery. [Read more…] about Schenectady Black History & Barber John Wendell

Albany Rural Cemetery’s Dellwood Avenue Trail Restoration

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Dellwood Avenue trail restorationThe Friends’ Trail Restoration Committee, members of the Adirondack Mountain Club, and some dedicated volunteers spent a weekend rebuilding sections of Dellwood Avenue at the Albany Rural Cemetery to turn the old carriage road into a safer walking trail. [Read more…] about Albany Rural Cemetery’s Dellwood Avenue Trail Restoration

James Eights: An Albany Artist-Scientist Who Explored Antarctica in 1830

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portrait of James EightsIn the late 1700s and early 1800s, there were a growing number of adventurers anxious to explore the sea, find new lands, chart new islands, and if they made their fortune while doing it, all the better.

There were also those just trying to get away from home and signing on to a whaling ship seemed the adventure of a lifetime. [Read more…] about James Eights: An Albany Artist-Scientist Who Explored Antarctica in 1830

Leland Stanford, The Bull’s Head & Albany’s 19th Century Cattle Market

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Leland Stanford portrait by Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier, 1881, courtesy Stanford MuseumCalifornia’s 8th Governor and long-time Senator Leland Stanford, namesake of Stanford University and one-time president of the Central Pacific Railroad, has a unique connection to New York State’s Capital District.

Leland was born in Watervliet in 1824, the son of Josiah Stanford and Elizabeth Phillips. Among his seven siblings were New York Senator Charles Stanford (1819-1885) and Australian spiritualist Thomas Welton Stanford (1832-1918). The elder Stanford was a wealthy farmer in the eastern Mohawk Valley before moving to the Lisha Kill in Albany County where Leland was born. [Read more…] about Leland Stanford, The Bull’s Head & Albany’s 19th Century Cattle Market