History, Natural History & the Arts
On April Fool’s Day, April 1st, 1782, Joe Bettys was hanged. It was, as was the custom, a public spectacle in Albany where the notorious traitor had been taken for his trial and sentencing.
On the scaffold, just after a noose was tied around his neck, he jumped to his death, thereby depriving his executioners from carrying out his sentence. [Read more…] about Patriot Then Traitor: Saratoga County’s Joe Bettys
Throughout the nineteenth century, prostitution was rife in American cities. In 1820 there were an estimated two hundred brothels in New York, growing to more than six hundred after the Civil War. By the early 1840s the city was the nation’s whoring capital, its own Gomorrah.
Most houses of assignation before the Civil War were owned and controlled by women. Some madams made spectacular careers, nobody more so than Fanny White whose Mercer Street brothel was, from 1851 onward, a meeting place for Congressmen, dignitaries and diplomats – a Manhattan whoreocracy. [Read more…] about Manhattan ‘Flash’ Culture: Madams and Sporting Men
Born enslaved in Mississippi in 1862, Ida Bell Wells-Barnett dedicated her life to fighting for racial and gender equality. She was a journalist, suffragist, advocate of racial justice, and anti-lynching activist. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Ida Bell Wells-Barnett
Beginning in the early 1860s, break-ins began taking place at businesses across Saratoga County, New York. The method was always the same, an office was entered and the safe was emptied and then re-locked. The only outward evidence of the theft was the owners’ inability to open the safe. [Read more…] about The Secret Criminal Life of Nelson Knickerbacker
According to a press release issued by DEC, on February 28th, a 15-year-old girl in the town of Lisbon was home alone when she noticed two trucks pull into her driveway. Unknown men exited the truck wearing camouflage and knocked on the door. At the same time, the teen heard sounds of dogs fighting in her backyard. [Read more…] about Tire Tracks Lead to Coyote Poachers
Lake George lost a champion a half-century ago when the 91-year-old Charles H. Tuttle, the man who The Lake George Association honored as “Mr. Lake George,” died January 26th, 1971.
“His love for Lake George was an inspiration to all, including strangers as well as close friends,” the Ticonderoga Sentinel reported on February 4th. [Read more…] about Charles Tuttle: FDR Opponent, Lake George Advocate
DEC’s Division of Law Enforcement released the results of “Operation Back Road,” a recent statewide detail targeting illegal hunting from roads. [Read more…] about ‘Operation Back Road’ Snares Road Hunters
On the Morning of St. Patrick’s Day, 1837, Troy’s Irish immigrants woke to an annual indignation – mocking effigies hung around the city. Boys spent the morning parading one along River Street. A lone brave Irishman attempted to pull it down but was turned away by its defenders. He left the scene, returned with members of the Hibernian Society, and together they moved a second time toward the offending stuffed figure.
“Stones were thrown and the wildest disorder prevailed” at the intersection of Ferry and River streets in the heart of the city. The Irish were outnumbered, and during this short melee several men were injured, John Foster seriously. As word of the fight spread, rumors an Irishman had made an unprovoked attack on an American brought hundreds to the corner. “The crowd began to assume a fearful aspect,” one observer reported, “stones were flying in every direction.” [Read more…] about Troy’s Anti-Irish St Patrick’s Day Riot of 1837
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
Francis “Two Gun” Crowley earned his nickname during a mad spree in 1931 that included murder on a Long Island country lane and a chaotic battle with police on 90th St. in Manhattan. It ended in Crowley’s death in the electric chair less than a year later. [Read more…] about Francis ‘Two Gun’ Crowley’s 1931 Killing Spree