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George Washington

Simeon DeWitt: America’s Surveyor General

April 25, 2022 by Peter Hess 2 Comments

The Roemer map of Albany 1698 showing fort orange and BeverwyckTjerck Claeszen DeWitt immigrated to New Amsterdam (now New York City) from Grootholt in Zunterlant in 1656. Grootholt means Great Wood and Zunterland was probably located on the southern border of East Friesland, a German territory on the North Sea only ten miles from the most northerly province of the Netherlands.

By 1657, Tjerck DeWitt married Barber (Barbara) Andrieszen (also Andriessen) in the New Amsterdam Dutch Church and moved to Beverwyck (now Albany). While in Beverwyck, he purchased a house. At this time Albany contained 342 houses and about 1,000 residents, about 600 of whom were members of the Dutch Church. [Read more…] about Simeon DeWitt: America’s Surveyor General

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Albany Rural Cemetery, American Revolution, Aurelius, Brutus, Camillus, Cato, Cayuga County, Cicero, Cincinnatus, Dryden, Fabius, Galen, Geography, George Washington, Greece, Hannibal, Hector, Homer, Ithaca, Junius, Kingston, Locke, Lysander, Manlius, Maps, Marcellus, Military History, Milton, New Amsterdam, New Netherland, New York City, Onondaga County, Ovid, Pompey, Rome, Romulus, Schenectady County, Scipio, Sempronius, Seneca County, Simeon DeWitt, Solon, Stirling, surveying, Syracuse, Thompkins County, Tully, Ulster County, Ulysses, Virgil, West Point, Yorktown

Revolutionary Albany: Setbacks As The War Presses Toward Albany

March 7, 2022 by Peter Hess Leave a Comment

Brigadier-General Richard Montgomery's troops prepare to embark for the invasion of Canada from Crown Point, New York in 1775After a late-summer of preparations, too late in the fall of 1775, the Colonial Army mounted a two-pronged invasion of Canada. General Schuyler invaded Montreal from Fort Ticonderoga and General Benedict Arnold attacked Quebec.

Schuyler fell ill and was replaced by General Richard Montgomery. Montgomery took Montreal and then marched to assist Arnold at Quebec. [Read more…] about Revolutionary Albany: Setbacks As The War Presses Toward Albany

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, American Revolution, Battle of Fort Anne, Battle of Oriskany, Battle of Saratoga, Crime and Justice, Essex County, Fort Ann, Fort Edward, Fort Miller, Fort Ticonderoga, George Washington, Haudenosaunee, Hudson River, Indigenous History, Iroquois, John Johnson, Lake Champlain, Lake George, Military History, Mohawk River, New York City, New York Harbor, Philip Schuyler, Political History, Rensselaer County, Saratoga County, Schuylerville, Vermont, Washington County

Washington at the Plow: Agriculture and Slavery (Virtual Event)

February 14, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

washington at the plowThe Fraunces Tavern Museum will host Bruce Ragsdale for a conversation on his book Washington at the Plow: Agriculture and Slavery in the New Nation (Belknap Press, 2021) on Thursday, February 17th. [Read more…] about Washington at the Plow: Agriculture and Slavery (Virtual Event)

Filed Under: Books, Capital-Saratoga, Events, History Tagged With: Fraunces Tavern Museum, George Washington, Slavery

Wall Street History: The Politics of New York’s First Banks

January 10, 2022 by James S. Kaplan 1 Comment

Colonial currency from the Province of New York (1775)Prior to the American Revolution, there were virtually no banks in the United States. However, Alexander Hamilton, who was George Washington’s key advisor on financial matters, was familiar with the central banks of England and the Netherlands which had been key factors in the growth of the economy of those countries.

Unlike some agrarian Virginian politicians such as Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton believed that banking and credit was the key to the nation’s future. In 1781 he encouraged Robert Morris, the recently appointed Superintendent of Finance for the Continental government, to form the Bank of North America in Philadelphia. For a time up, until the British surrender of New York, this was the only Bank in the colonies. [Read more…] about Wall Street History: The Politics of New York’s First Banks

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, American Revolution, Economic History, Financial History, George Washington, New York City, Political History, Tammany Hall, Wall Street, Wall Street History Series

Barber-Surgeons, Bloodletting & The Leeches of Manhattan

January 9, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp 6 Comments

Washington on his DeathbedDecember 12th, 1799, was a freezing cold day in Virginia, but the weather conditions did not stop President George Washington riding out on horseback for the daily inspection of his Mount Vernon plantation. On return, he developed a fever and respiratory distress.

As there were no means to diagnose or treat a bacterial infection, doctors believed that bloodletting would improve a patient’s condition. In addition to the application of crude purgatives and emetics, over half of Washington’s blood was drained in just a few hours. Today, it is widely held that the President died from aggressive bloodletting which resulted in severely low blood pressure and shock.

Recurrent yellow fever epidemics in Philadelphia and George Washington’s medical treatment contributed to a fierce politico-medical fall out in which the issue of bloodletting took center stage.

[Read more…] about Barber-Surgeons, Bloodletting & The Leeches of Manhattan

Filed Under: History, Nature, New York City Tagged With: French History, George Washington, Manhattan, Medical History, Science History, Wildlife

Marinus Willet, Tammany Hall & The Treaty of New York

November 28, 2021 by James S. Kaplan 5 Comments

Marinus Willett painted by Ralph Earl, oil on canvas, ca 1791 Metropolitan Museum of ArtEvery year in October the Lower Manhattan Historical Society holds its Saratoga/Yorktown celebration in Trinity Churchyard to celebrate the American victories at the Battles of Saratoga and Yorktown.

At that ceremony wreaths are lain on the graves of Revolutionary War figures associated with those battles — Horatio Gates, Alexander Hamilton and Marinus Willett. [Read more…] about Marinus Willet, Tammany Hall & The Treaty of New York

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: American Revolution, Battle of Johnstown, Battle of Monmouth, Fort Ontario, Fort Plain, Fort Stanwix, George Washington, Indigenous History, Johnstown, Marinus Willett, Military History, New York City, Political History, Sharon Springs, Siege of Fort Stanwix, Sullivan_Clinton Expedition, Tammany Hall

List of America’s Public Monuments Reveals One-Sided History Obsessions

October 11, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Top Ten Subjects of Monuments in the United StatesWho are the 50 individuals most frequently represented by a public monument in the US? What percentage of those 50 are white and male? How many are women? And what are the dynamics that helped shape who is — and who is not — on that list?

Answers to those questions are among the findings of the National Monument Audit, a first-of-its-kind report issued by Monument Lab, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit art and history studio. [Read more…] about List of America’s Public Monuments Reveals One-Sided History Obsessions

Filed Under: Arts, History Tagged With: Abe Lincoln, Abolition, American Revolution, Civil War, George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr, Military History, Monuments, Religious History, sculpture, womens history

Washington’s Army: Surviving the Winters

June 5, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

surviving the wintersBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

George Washington and his Continental Army braving the frigid winter at Valley Forge form an iconic image in the popular history of the American Revolution. Such winter camps were also a critical factor in the waging and winning of the War of Independence.

[Read more…] about Washington’s Army: Surviving the Winters

Filed Under: Books, Events, History, Mohawk Valley Tagged With: American Revolution, Books, Fort Plain Museum, George Washington, Military History

Patriots and Spies in Revolutionary New York

May 21, 2021 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

The Historians LogoThis week on The Historians Podcast, Hudson Valley historian and contributor to New York Almanack A.J. Schenkman has stories from his upcoming book Patriots and Spies in Revolutionary New York (Globe Pequot, 2021) – including a plot to kidnap General George Washington. [Read more…] about Patriots and Spies in Revolutionary New York

Filed Under: History Tagged With: American Revolution, Books, George Washington, Military History, Podcasts

Did George Washington Turn Down the Crown at Newburgh?

May 19, 2021 by Kieran O’Keefe 2 Comments

copy of Nicolas Newburgh LetterMany Americans believe that at the end of the Revolutionary War, while headquartered in Newburgh, George Washington received an offer to become king of the United States.

According to this legend, Washington rejected the overture and said that “I did not defeat King George III to become King George I.”

But did this really happen? Did George Washington turn down the crown? Although there is a grain of truth to the story, it has largely been exaggerated. [Read more…] about Did George Washington Turn Down the Crown at Newburgh?

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: American Revolution, George Washington, Military History, Newburgh, Political History, Washington's Headquarters

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