New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

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Niagara’s Manhattan Project Legacy Haunting Homeowners

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Angry local residents at a meeting Monday, July 20 with EPA and DEC officials about Niagara County radiation ocntaminationElevated radiation levels have been detected in the yards of over 120 homes in Niagara County, NY. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has been conducting the first radiological survey of the area since 1984 and at least four families have fled their homes.

Governor Kathy Hochul has called on the EPA to step up testing and accelerate distribution of resources to those affected [Read more…] about Niagara’s Manhattan Project Legacy Haunting Homeowners

The Burning of Buffalo during the War of 1812

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Detail from Edward Walsh, 'A View of Fort George, Navy Hall and New Niagara, taken from the United States Fort of Old Niagara April 20th 1804' (courtesy William Clements Library, University of Michigan)On December 10, 1813, two New Yorkers raged at each other in the entryway of Joseph McCarthy’s store on Queen Street in the Upper Canada village of Newark, known today as Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.

Soldiers held back a crowd as the ranking officer in charge of the American troops occupying nearby Fort George, Brigadier-General George McClure (1771-1851) cursed a Buffalo physician and militia captain, the forty-four-year-old Dr. Cyrenius Chapin (1769-1838). Both were part of the New York State militia assigned by the United States regular army to occupy Canada’s Fort George. [Read more…] about The Burning of Buffalo during the War of 1812

The Old Mohawk Turnpike: New York’s Road West

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Old Mohawk Turnpike mapThe old Mohawk Turnpike between what are now Albany and Rome, NY, was originally an Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) trail used frequently by Mohawk and Oneida people in particular, but many others as well.

For the first two hundred years of European settlement it was the only major link between the Hudson River and the Great Lakes. It became an important national transportation connection. [Read more…] about The Old Mohawk Turnpike: New York’s Road West

Early Upstate New York Roads: Some History

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Great Genesee Road mapWhat is now New York State saw multitudes of American settlers moving inland from the Atlantic seaboard, especially those “locusts of the east” from New England. Traveling long distances overland before the 20th century was however, difficult to say the least.

In the 1600s their movement was constrained by topography, and settlements were limited to areas in the Hudson and Mohawk valleys previously inhabited or improved by Indigenous People.  Some Indigenous portage trails were described by the earliest settlers as wide paths that a capable ox team and wagon could manage. [Read more…] about Early Upstate New York Roads: Some History

June 18, 1812: War of 1812 Begins When US Declares War On Great Britain

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newspaper notice of the declaration of the War of the 1812On June 18, 1812, Congress passed and President James Madison signed a declaration of war against Great Britain, marking the beginning of the War of 1812. Frustrated by Britain’s maritime practices and support of Native American resistance to western expansion, the U.S. entered the war with ambitious plans to conquer Canada, a goal that was never realized. [Read more…] about June 18, 1812: War of 1812 Begins When US Declares War On Great Britain

The French and Indian War: A New York Perspective

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Miniature of Fort Prince George under attack by French troops (diorama in the Fort Pitt Museum, Pittsburgh)In the early 1750s, the French were establishing trading posts and building forts along western the frontiers of the British colonies. In the fall of 1753, in part to protect his own claims on Indigenous lands, Virginia Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie had sent 22-year-old George Washington (then a militia leader and surveyor) to deliver a letter to Fort Le Boeuf at what is today Waterford in northwest Pennsylvania, demanding they stop. [Read more…] about The French and Indian War: A New York Perspective

The 1759 Battle of La belle Famille

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French and Indian War Battle of La belle Famille renenactor at Fort NiagaraThe Battle of La belle Famille was fought on July 24, 1759 in the final days of the siege of Fort Niagara during the French and Indian War. About 800 French soldiers attempted to break through to relieve the siege of Fort Niagara but were defeated by British troops who blocked the road from Niagara Falls to the fort.

The battle took place where the village of Youngstown, in Niagara County, NY stands today. [Read more…] about The 1759 Battle of La belle Famille

Simeon Ford: Deserter & War of 1812 Hero

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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

1813: Fall of Fort Niagara & Burning the Niagara Frontier

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new yorks war of 1812In December 1813, during the War of 1812, there was a human catastrophe as a result of the burning of the Niagara Frontier. Only one home was spared along the 37-mile-long border and upwards of 6,000 refugees fled into the snowy forests heading for the Genesee River and safety.

Richard V. Barbuto’s book New York’s War of 1812: Politics Society and Combat (University of Oklahoma Press, 2021), looks back to the War of 1812, from the beleaguered Fort McHenry to the burning White House to an embattled New Orleans. [Read more…] about 1813: Fall of Fort Niagara & Burning the Niagara Frontier

The Captive Boys of Rensselaerville: John and Robert Brice

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painting of Dietz Massacre by James Dietz The following captivity narrative was related by Robert Brice and includes an account of the September 1781 “Dietz Massacre” that took place a few miles south of the Village of Berne, Albany County, NY.  This story was taken down from Robert Brice when he was still living by Josiah Priest and published in his Stories of the Revolution in 1836 as “The Captive Boys of Rensselaerville – John and Robert Brice.”  This version has been lightly edited for easier reading, but has retained much of the tone and style, including the use of disparaging terms to refer to the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people who took part in these events. Additional details and background about this event can be found here. New York Almanack is presenting this story to illustrate historical attitudes about these events from a victim’s perspective.

The Brices had migrated from their native country of Scotland in the year 1774 and settled in a new place, southwest of the city of Albany. At this place, a few families had chosen a residence, which was then called Van Rensselaer’s Patent, but now Rensselaerville. Here the newcomers erected a few log houses. [Read more…] about The Captive Boys of Rensselaerville: John and Robert Brice

When History Is Wrong: The Albany County ‘Dietz Massacre’

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painting of Dietz Massacre by James DietzDuring the Revolutionary War the little community of Beaver Dam (sometimes spelled Beaverdam) in what is now Berne, Albany County, NY saw little action.

The British and their Indigenous allies repeatedly attacked the communities in the Schoharie Valley to the west however, despite the presence of a large militia and three forts to protect the people of Schoharie. [Read more…] about When History Is Wrong: The Albany County ‘Dietz Massacre’

American Revolution Tory Partisan William Caldwell

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Butlers Rangers in the American RevolutionThe name William Caldwell first caught my attention while researching the August 12, 1781, raid in Wawarsing, in Ulster County, NY. His name was mentioned again in Governor George Clinton’s public papers. It was also in connection to the August raid which, it was believed, was lead by Caldwell (then a Captain).  During this raid he led other Tories and Native American allies.

William Caldwell was born around 1750 in Northern Ireland. Prior to the American Revolution, Caldwell came to England’s North American Colonies first settling in Pennsylvania. [Read more…] about American Revolution Tory Partisan William Caldwell

War of 1812: The New Brunswick Regiment of Foot

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The 104th (New Brunswick) Regiment of Foot in the War of 1812Best known for its perilous Winter March through the wilderness of New Brunswick to the battlegrounds in Upper Canada, the 104th (New Brunswick) Regiment of Foot was a British unit originally raised to defend the Maritimes, with members drawn from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Upper and Lower Canada, and the British Isles.

In 1813, the regiment was sent to raid the American naval base in Sackets Harbor, New York, and then moved to the Niagara Peninsula to continue its fight against the invading Americans. [Read more…] about War of 1812: The New Brunswick Regiment of Foot

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