New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Saratoga County

Old Saratoga: Black History Month, Genealogy, More

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A number of interesting events are planned for the Old Saratoga region (Schuylerville, Saratoga, Victory and nearby) for the month of February.

Events kick off with a photo Scanning Session on Tuesday, February 8 starting at 9:30 am in the Saratoga Town Hall in Schuylerville. Get your old photos of the Schuylerville area scanned, archived with the town, and receive a photo CD.

Black History Month will be celebrated on Sunday, February 13 at 1:30 in the Saratoga National Historic Park Battlefield Visitors Center in Stillwater. Did you know that between 400 and 500 black soldiers fought at the Battles of Saratoga? Park Ranger Eric Schnitzer unveils new information about these freed and enslaved soldiers, while dispelling common myths about their service.

The local genealogy group meets on Tuesday, February 15 at 10 am in the Schuylerville Public Library.

The Heritage Hunters of Saratoga County has their meeting on Saratoga County Genealogy: Adventures in Serendipity Genealogy on Saturday, February 19 starts at 1 pm. at the Saratoga Town Hall. The program features Al Clarke explaining how his research in the Doc Lincoln House in Wilton lead to authoring two books and travels to Hawaii.

It is Junior Ranger Day on Sunday, February 20 at 1pm , 2pm, and 3pm at the Saratoga NHP Battlefield. For kids age 5-12! Enjoy one, two, or all three Junior Ranger programs, get your free badge, talk with a National Park Ranger, and see episodes of Liberty’s Kids on the big screen! Reservations required, either by e-mailing
megan_stevens@nps.gov or calling 518-664-9821 ext. 219.

Videotaping Your Reflections of Old Saratoga on Tuesday, February 2 at 9:30 am in the Victory Village Hall on Pine Street. The Village Historian will videotape your memories and stories of local people, places and events for posterity.

Archive Scanning Working Session is planned for Thursday, February 24 at 4:30 pm at Saratoga Town Hall. Volunteers are needed to help the Historian’s Office to continue scanning documents and photos in the historical archive.

Researching Old Saratoga is the topic of the Old Saratoga Historical Association meeting on Thursday, February 24 at 7:30 pm at the Saratoga Town Hall. Saratoga National Historical Park will share an on-going historical research on Old Saratoga.

For more information about these events contact oldsaratogahappenings@gmail.com or on the web.

Saratoga Battlefield’s 16th Annual Frost Faire

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The 16th annual Frost Faire will be held from 10:30am to 3pm on Saturday, January 22 at Saratoga National Historical Park, located on Routes 4 and 32 in Stillwater. Bring your snow tube for rides on the “Big Hill” (only snow tubes allowed; no sleds or toboggans) and enjoy horse-drawn carriage rides, winter nature treks, Contra Dancing, special exhibits, games (including Giant Soldier Puzzle, Ice Bowling and Bottle Fishing), plus cocoa and cookies by the bonfire. The event is free.

Popular in the 1700s, a “Frost Faire” eased the effects of “cabin fever” with opportunities to visit friends and enjoy winter activities, refreshments and entertainment.

Ongoing activities in the Visitor Center include contradancing, colonial
handwriting demonstration, children’s craft room including decorative tin piercing
and copper embossing, Stillwater town historian’s exhibit.

Cannon firing demonstrations are scheduled for 10 AM, 11 AM, 12
noon, 1 PM, 2 PM, and 3 PM; musket firing demonstrations at 10:30 AM, 11:30
AM, 12:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 2:30 PM.

This event is sponsored by the Town of Stillwater and Saratoga National Historical Park. For more information on this or other events at Saratoga National Historical Park, please call the Visitor Center at 518-664-9821 ext. 224 or check their website at www.nps.gov/sara.

Illustration: Frost Fair on the frozen Thames River, engraving from Old and New London: The City Ancient and Modern by Walter Thornbury, 1897.

Event Volunteers Needed at Saratoga Battlefield

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Saratoga National Historical Park, located on Route 32 and 4 in Stillwater is looking for Frost Faire volunteers on Saturday January 22. Hot lunch and warm-up gear supplied to all. If you like being outdoors and meeting people you will enjoy your time! Call Gina Johnson by January 12 at 664.9821 ext. 227 or email, gina_johnson@nps.gov

Saratoga National Historical Park presents special interpretive events and programs throughout the year. For further information please call (518) 664-9821 ext. 224 or visit our web site at www.nps.gov/sara.

Tories: American Revolution and Civil War

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In 1777, as General John Burgoyne’s army marched south, having taken Fort Ticonderoga, a temporary loyalist enclave was created in Rutland County, Vermont. While many rebel Americans fled before the British Army, a few stayed on. In Rutland Nathan Tuttle, a rebel known locally for hating and taunting loyalists, was one of them.

Tuttle’s decision to stay behind was not a very good one at a time and place when the American Revolution was a full-scale Civil War. As Burgoyne’s army passed through Rutland, Tuttle disappeared. Ten years later it was revealed by a local Tory that Tuttle had been bayoneted, his body weighted with stones and thrown into a creek. Nathan Tuttle was an American, and so were his murderers, likely men associated with the notorious Loyalist and close confidant of John Burgoyne, Philip Skene of Whitehall. [Read more…] about Tories: American Revolution and Civil War

Schenectady Digital History Archive Expands

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Bob Sullivan of the Schenectady Digital History Archive is reporting that the online archive’s obituary index now includes over 65,000 citations.

In addition to the [Schenectady] Daily Gazette and assorted historical Schenectady
newspapers, for the last several years the index has covered current issues of papers from the greater Capital District area, such as the Glens Falls Post-Star, the Gloversville Leader-Herald and the Saratogian.

Saratoga Battlefield Holiday Open House

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Visitors to the Saratoga Battlefield will ring in the holiday season with live guitar music, book-signings, free refreshments and unique holiday gift ideas in the bookstore at Saratoga National Historical Park’s Holiday Open House on Sunday, December 5th from 1pm – 4pm.

Local authors Dr. Warren Roberts, who recently released, A Place in History, Albany in the Age of Revolution 1775 – 1825 and co-authors Tom Barker, PhD and Paul Huey, who just wrote The 1776-1777 Northern Campaigns of the American War for Independence will be available to sign copies of their books and talk to visitors about their findings. Musician Linda Russell will also perform and copies of her CD will be available.

Except for inclement weather, Sunday December 5 will also be the last day that the scenic 10-mile tour road will remain open for vehicle traffic. During the winter, the tour road and park trails remain open daily dawn to dusk for pedestrian use, such as walking, bicycling, and winter activities, but it will close to vehicular traffic on Monday, December 6.

The park Visitor Center – open daily throughout the year from 9am to 5pm, except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and News Year’s holidays – offers a 20-minute orientation film, photography exhibit, fiber optic map, bookstore and National Park Service rangers to tell stories about the events here, that changed world history.

Saratoga Battlefield is located on Route 32 and 4 in Stillwater, NY. For more information about program and events at Saratoga National Historical Park, please call (518) 664-9821 ext. 224 or visit our website at www.nps.gov/sara.

Saratoga: 233rd Anniversary of Surrender Week

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The week of Sunday October 10 to Sunday October 17, 2010 is Surrender Week in the Town of Saratoga marking the 233rd Anniversary of the American Victory at Saratoga. There are a series of events planned to call attention to the siege period of the Battles of Saratoga (October 10 – 16) and the Surrender of British General Burgoyne’s complete army on October 17, 1777.

On Friday, October 15 at 10 AM, the anniversary commemoration of the Sword Surrender of British General Burgoyne to American General Gates will take place at the bandstand at Fort Hardy Park, The ceremony location overlooking the Hudson River is where the British troops surrendered their weapons to the Americans. The ceremony includes patriotic songs from the Schuylerville Elementary School 4th grade students.

On Saturday, October 16 from 6 to 9 pm, visitors can feel the welcome of the warm, soft glow of candlelight as Old Saratoga Historical Association members in period costume, park staff, and park volunteers guide visitors through General Philip Schuyler`s 1777 country house. Light refreshments and period music follow the tours.

“We plan a whole week of events to commemorate the seven days the British Troops under General Burgoyne were under siege by the Americans in Old Saratoga (now the Schuylerville area),” according to Saratoga Historian Sean Kelleher. “We have a great partnership made up of the various levels of government including the Saratoga National Historical Park, Schuylerville Public Library, Town of Saratoga, Village of Victory, and non-governmental partners including the Fort Hardy Committee, Heritage Hunters of Saratoga County, and Old Saratoga Historical Association.”

The American Victory at Saratoga was considered the “turning point in the American Revolution”. France and other European countries entering the war as a result of the American Victory at Saratoga.

The schedule includes:

Sunday, October 10
Saratoga Monument and the Schuyler House Open – 9:30 am – 4:30. pm

Monday, October 11
Walking tour of Siege Lines (through along the Champlain Canal) at 3 pm meet at the Old Saratoga Town Hall on Ferry Street.

Tuesday, October 12
Researching your American Revolution Ancestor with Deputy Historian Pat Peck at the Schuylerville Public Library 10 am

Wednesday and Thursday, October. 13 and 14
Voices of the American Revolution – a program for pre-schoolers at the Schuylerville Public Library 10 am

Thursday, October 14
Stories from the Saratoga Battlefield with storyteller Joe Doolittle at the Saratoga Town Hall 12 Spring Street, 7:30 pm

Friday October 15
233rd Anniversary of the American Victory at Saratoga Ceremony Commemoration at the Fort Hardy bandstand 10 am The ceremony includes the 4th grade students from the Schuylerville elementary school singing songs and commemorations by the Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution.

Saturday, October 16
Heritage Hunters Fall Genealogy Conference at the Saratoga Town Hall 12 Spring Street, from 8:45 am until 3:15 pm. Lisa Alzo is the featured speaker in a series of programs on researching family history. Registration is $30 for members and $35 for all others and includes the workshops, exhibits, coffee breaks and hot lunch. For information, contact Joan Cady at 518-587-2978 or email: melfrejo@aol.com.

Saturday and Sunday, October 16 & 17
Saratoga Monument and the Schuyler House Open 9:30 am – 4:30. pm

Saturday, October 16
Candlelight Tour of Schuyler House 6 – 9 pm

Sunday, October 17
Walking tour of Surrender Field at 10 am meet at the Old Saratoga Town Hall on Ferry Street.

For more information search Old Saratoga Historical Association on Facebook or twitter: oldsaratogahist or call (518) 698-3210 or e-mail skellehe@nycap.rr.com

Illustration: Surrender of General Burgoyne by John Trumbull, 1822; The original painting hangs in the United States Capitol Rotunda.

Genealogy Database: Participants at the Battles of Saratoga

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Do you have an ancestor who served in the 1777 Battles of Saratoga? Saratoga National Historical Park, in partnership with Heritage Hunters of Saratoga County, announces that starting on Thursday, October 14th, a free, computer-based, accessible research tool, ‘Participants at the Battles of Saratoga’, will be available in the park’s visitor center, open daily from 9am to 5pm.

The easy-to-use, touch screen database program was created by members of Heritage Hunters of Saratoga County, New York, a society dedicated to the study of historical and genealogical records in the area. The information is also on their website, but now will be readily available for any of the 150,000 visitors who annually visit Saratoga National Historical Park and wish to investigate their ancestor’s service here. [Read more…] about Genealogy Database: Participants at the Battles of Saratoga

Saratoga Battlefield Announces Autumn Hours

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Saratoga National Historical Park’s visitor center, located on Route 32 and 4 in Stillwater, remains open year-around from 9am to 5pm, but as day-light gets shorter the park’s scenic 10-mile tour road will close earlier as follows:

Through Sunday September 19, the road is open from 9am to 7pm

Monday September 20, the road will be open from 9am to 6pm

Monday October 4, the road will be open from 9am to 5pm.

The road remains open 9am to 5pm thru mid-to late November, depending on the weather.

With over 25 miles of tranquil roads, paths and trails, Saratoga Battlefield provides a great many opportunities to enjoy history, nature, recreation and special programs. Upcoming autumn events include:

233rd Anniversary Encampment on September 18 and 19

24th Regiment Encampment on October 9 and 10

Plein-Air Painting on October 9 (rain date October 10)

Candlelight Tour of Schuyler House on October 16

From May 1 to October 31 a seven-day entrance pass for the Battlefield is $5 for a vehicle, $3 for hiking or bicycling. An annual pass, good for the whole family, is only $10. Senior and access passes, plus passes to any of the nation’s 390 national parks are also available.

Come explore the National Park in your backyard! For more information, contact the Visitor Center by calling 518-664-9821 ext. 224, or check the Park website at www.nps.gov/sara

Encampment Marks Battles of Saratoga

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On Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm, September 18-19, 2010, Saratoga National Historical Park, located on Routes 32 and 4 in Stillwater, will present an 18th century living history encampment marking the 233rd anniversary of the “most important battle of the last 1000 years.”

On Saturday evening at 6:30pm, come to the American camp (tour road stop 2) to see British actor Howard Burnham give a hilarious and insightful portrayal of British General John Burgoyne. An encore performance of his program will be given at the park Visitor Center at 2pm on Sunday.

This 2-day long encampment will surround visitors with the sights, smells, and sounds of military camp life from the American Revolution. Dozens of re-enactors portray American and British soldiers, officers, and camp followers, as well as American Loyalists and Oneida Indian allies of American independence. Events will include a court-martial and that decides a soldier’s fate, musket drill, stories of the revolutionary war experience. Visitors will experience the roar of cannons, smell the acrid smoke of musket fire as well as the welcoming wisps of camp cooking fires.

The event is free, but the normal entrance fee to the park of $5 per car (good for one week entry) is charged. For more information about this or other events, please call the Visitor Center at 518-664-9821 or check the park website at www.nps.gov/sara.