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Battle of Queenstown Heights

Simeon Ford: Deserter & War of 1812 Hero

November 13, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Plattsburgh Republican, August 27, 1814In August 1814, Capt. Opie of the 5th Regiment of U.S. Infantry placed a bounty in the Plattsburgh Republican offering a $200 reward for the return of four deserters, including Simeon Ford, who was accused of deserting for the third time.

Ford was described as 24 years of age, 5-feet-7 and a half inches tall, with dark hair and eyes and a fair complexion. His occupation: brick layer. He was also described as a cunning, artful, imposing fellow possessing a “superior degree of loquacity” which he used “in a most imposing manner.” [Read more…] about Simeon Ford: Deserter & War of 1812 Hero

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Ballston Spa, Battle of Queenstown Heights, East Greenbush, Fort Columbus, Governors Island, Military History, New York Harbor, Niagara River, Old Fort Niagara, Rensselaer, Rensselaer County, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, War of 1812

The War of 1812 in the Capital District

August 8, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

USS Constitution vs Guerriere in the War of 1812 by Michel Felice Corne (1752-1845)The War of 1812 began on June 18, 1812, when President James Madison signed a declaration of war which began: “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That war be and is hereby declared to exist between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the dependencies thereof, and the United States of America and their territories.”

The causes of the war are quite clear. [Read more…] about The War of 1812 in the Capital District

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Albany County, Battle of Queenstown Heights, East Greenbush, James Madison, John E. Wool, Maritime History, Military History, Naval History, Rensselaer County, Samuel Wilson, Schenectady, Schenectady County, Schenectady County Historical Society, Utica, War of 1812, Whitehall

Stephen Van Rensselaer III: The Last Patroon

May 4, 2022 by Peter Hess 5 Comments

Stephen Van Rensselaer III (Natural Portrait Gallery)Stephen Van Rensselaer III (1764-1839), was orphaned at the age of ten. His father had died when he was five and his mother remarried Reverend Eilardus Westerlo, minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in Albany. She died five years later and Stephen was raised by Abraham Ten Broeck (later Brigadier General) and his wife (Stephen’s aunt) Elizabeth Van Rensselaer.

Stephen attended the John Water’s School in Albany, grammar school in Elizabeth Town, New Jersey and Classical School in Kingston. He then attended college at Princeton, but withdrew to Harvard because of the dangers in Northern New Jersey during the Revolutionary War. In 1776, Stephen’s grandfather Philip Livingston (who had married Ten Broeck’s sister Christina) had signed the Declaration of Independence. [Read more…] about Stephen Van Rensselaer III: The Last Patroon

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Abraham Ten Broeck, Albany County, Albany Institute For History and Art, Anti-Rent War, Battle of Queenstown Heights, Canada, Erie Canal, Legal History, Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, Rensselaer County, Rensselaerswijck, RPI, Schenectady County, Stephen Van Rensselaer III, Van Rensselaers, War of 1812, Williams College

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