The St. Mary’s Band of Glens Falls played a quickstep the evening of October 26th, 1887 as the musicians paraded from Church Street to Glen Street to escort U.S. Senator Frank Hiscock from the Rockwell House hotel to the Glens Falls Opera House, where the freshman senator from Syracuse was to be keynote speaker at a Republican rally. [Read more…] about Gilded Age Syracuse Senator Frank Hiscock: ‘We Will Bury Free Trade’
Political History
The Third Patroon & The English Take-Over of New York
The third patroon was Kiliaen Van Rensselaer II (1655-1687) son of Johannes, who was the first patroon to live at Rensselaerswyck, the van Rensselaer Patroonship in most of what is now Albany and Rensselaer Counties, along with parts of Columbia and Greene Counties.
Kiliaen II was only seven years old when his father died however, so his uncles continued to manage the colony. Jeremias was director in 1664 when the English seized New Netherland and renamed Beverwyck “Albany.”
Jeremias’ constant conflict with Stuyvesant and his possible establishment of overland fur trade with the English in Massachusetts, avoiding Peter Stuyvesant’s tax collections in New Amsterdam (New York City), may have facilitated the English take-over. [Read more…] about The Third Patroon & The English Take-Over of New York
John Porter: Garfield Assassin Prosecutor from Waterford
The 20th President of the United States, James Garfield, was born in a log cabin in Ohio and was a mule driver on the Ohio & Erie Canal. A graduate of Williams College, he later became an attorney and a skilled orator, and was elected to Congress in 1862.
He then served as a Major General during the Civil War. In the 1880 election Garfield conducted a “Front Porch Campaign” and narrowly defeated another Civil War General, Gettysburg hero Winfield Scott Hancock. [Read more…] about John Porter: Garfield Assassin Prosecutor from Waterford
On December 2, 1859 John Brown Was Hanged
On this day in 1859 John Brown was executed for leading an anti-slavery raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, part of the radical movement of tens of thousands of Americans struggling to undermine the institution of slavery in America before the Civil War. [Read more…] about On December 2, 1859 John Brown Was Hanged
Political Anecdotes From Historical Newspapers
Trivia clue: She was arrested at the St. Louis fair grounds in 1887 for throwing a pancake at First Lady Frances Cleveland.
Correct response: Who is Annie Sax? – who seemingly had good aim, but made a poor choice of targets. [Read more…] about Political Anecdotes From Historical Newspapers
Marinus Willet, Tammany Hall & The Treaty of New York
Every 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
The Two Thanksgivings of 1871
For about a week in 1871, New Yorkers were in a quandary about Thanksgiving. On October 25, New York Governor John T. Hoffman designated Thursday, November 23 as Thanksgiving Day for the state. In his Thanksgiving Day proclamation, the Tammany Hall Democrat urged New Yorkers to spend time on that day to declare “their gratitude to God for all his mercies” and to “remember especially the poor.”
On October 28, President Ulysses S. Grant recommended that the nation observe Thanksgiving a week after the New York Thanksgiving, on Thursday November 30. In his proclamation, the Republican chief executive called for Americans to “make the usual acknowledgments to Almighty God for the blessings he has conferred on them” and ask “His protection and kindness for their less fortunate brethren.”
What was a conscientious, holiday-minded New Yorker supposed to do? Observe the Democratic Thanksgiving on November 23, or the Republican Thanksgiving on November 30, or both? [Read more…] about The Two Thanksgivings of 1871
Abraham Lincoln, Religious Freedom & A New York Farmer
On November 15, 1865 Bernhard Behrend died in Washington, D.C. He was 72.
Although there wasn’t much of a public reaction at the time of his death, Behrend is remembered today as the Narrowsburg, Sullivan County, NY farmer who challenged the President of the United States to uphold the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence. [Read more…] about Abraham Lincoln, Religious Freedom & A New York Farmer
David M. Rubenstein on History and American Democracy
What has enabled the American experiment in democracy to endure for nearly 250 years?
What is it about early American history that captivates peoples’ attention and makes them want to support the creation of historical scholarship and the sharing of historical knowledge?
In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World: A Podcast About Early American History, David M. Rubenstein, the co-founder and co-chairman of The Carlyle Group and a great student and supporter of history and history education, joins us to explore his patriotic philanthropy and the history of American democracy with details from his book, The American Experiment: Dialogues on a Dream (Simon & Schuster, 2021). [Read more…] about David M. Rubenstein on History and American Democracy
Walter Butler: 1st Saratoga Springs Mayor, Defender of Vichy (Springs)
Walter Prentiss Butler was born in Saratoga Springs on April 1, 1863, at 596 Broadway. He was the son of Captain James P. Butler and Naomi Clements Butler. His father was Provost Marshal in Saratoga Springs at the time of the Civil War.
Walter received his preliminary education in Saratoga Springs public schools and later attended North Granville Military Academy, Peekskill Military Academy, and Phillips-Exeter Academy. He completed his legal studies at Columbia University in 1887 and was admitted to the Bar of New York State the same year. [Read more…] about Walter Butler: 1st Saratoga Springs Mayor, Defender of Vichy (Springs)