Anti-Rent War

Murder Trials Of Note In 19th Century Saratoga County

December 31, 2020 by Editorial Staff 4 Comments

The following record of nineteenth century murder trials in Saratoga County was provided by a Mechanicville correspondent to the Troy Daily Times in 1891:

There have been many noted murder trials in Saratoga county since the first court was held in the town of Stillwater May 10, 1791 – 100 years ago. The court now in session at Ballston Spa meets about five miles from where the first court was held, at the residence of Samuel Clark, near East Line, Judge John Thompson of Stillwater [then] presiding, he having received the appointment as the first judge of Saratoga county from Governor Clinton. [Read more…] about Murder Trials Of Note In 19th Century Saratoga County

Which NYS Battle Was Most Significant For The State?

April 11, 2019 by Editorial Staff 17 Comments

Over at the New York History Blog Facebook Page we recently asked the following question:

Which battle in New York State’s history had the most significant impact on the state?

The answers were surprisingly varied and included answers from the 1643-45 Kieft’s War (the war between New Netherland settlers and the Native inhabitants of Hudson River Valley also known as the Wappinger War) to the Anti-Rent War of 1839–1845.

We’ve reviewed the suggestions, and came up with a short list of five battles* which stand out as the most important to us (with short descriptions from Wikipedia) – what do you think? [Read more…] about Which NYS Battle Was Most Significant For The State?

Freemen Awake! Anti-Rent Movement Songs and Poems

July 10, 2018 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

SUNY Oneonta English Professor Roger W. Hecht’s new book, Freemen Awake! Rally Songs & Poems from New Yorks’s Anti-Rent Movement (Delaware Co. Hist. Assoc., 2018) is an edited collection of nearly three dozen songs and poems written by anti-renters and their supporters.

The Anti-Rent War (1839 to 1852) was a movement of tenants against the state’s most powerful landholding families, including the Van Rennselaers, to end the lease-holding system. [Read more…] about Freemen Awake! Anti-Rent Movement Songs and Poems

Columbia County: A Lecture On Copake History

May 15, 2014 by Editorial Staff 4 Comments

Local historian and author Howard Blue will present talk on the history of Copake, Columbia County, at the Roe Jan Historical Society in Copake Falls on Sunday, May 18 at 2:00 pm. Blue’s program is based in part on interviews of local residents from whose family albums he was allowed to copy old photos.

The presentation will focus primarily on the town’s and county’s first settlers, the Mohican Indians, and the 90-year-long, sometimes violent conflict between the Livingston family which at one time owned almost all of Copake and the family’s tenant farmers. Blue will also discuss Martin Van Buren’s role in Copake’s anti-rent movement, Copake in the Revolutionary war years, the existence of slavery in Copake, and Copake’s Civil War era bond issue that helped buy out from the draft some of Copake’s young men. [Read more…] about Columbia County: A Lecture On Copake History