Schenectady

Patent Medicine History: Schenectady’s Pink Pills for Pale People

December 5, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Patent medicines, packaged drugs with incompletely disclosed contents, were plentiful and profitable in the United States from the period directly following the Civil War through the early twentieth century.

Before the first Pure Food and Drug Laws were passed, the manufacturers and promoters of patent medicines made millions of dollars from a credulous public eager for cures for a variety of ailments, and from many who were unable to afford the regular care of a doctor. [Read more…] about Patent Medicine History: Schenectady’s Pink Pills for Pale People

The Schenectady Fire of 1861

November 28, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

The City of Schenectady is no stranger to fires. Every school child learns of the destruction of the fledgling village in February 1690 at the hands of the French and their Native American allies. Many know the story of the Great Fire of 1819, which started in a currying shop (where the stretching and finishing of tanned leather was carried out) on Water Street, was spread by strong winds in a northeastern direction, and ultimately destroyed most of the buildings in city west of Church Street from Water Street to the Mohawk River.

The Schenectady Fire of 1861 started innocently enough: boaters on the Mohawk River noticed wisps of smoke emanating from a pile of brush near the southwest corner of a large frame warehouse along the north side of West Front Street (Cucumber Alley) around 4 pm on August 6, 1861. [Read more…] about The Schenectady Fire of 1861

Medical Practice in 19th Century Schenectady

November 7, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Very little is documented about medicine in Schenectady County during the 19th century. There are few hospital records to review; Ellis Hospital was not founded until 1885; and the Schenectady County Medical Society did not meet between 1843 and 1869.

We can however, glean some insight into this period from old newspapers, a wonderful book on the 134th NY Volunteer Infantry, minutes of the Schenectady Common Council, and old stories from the Efner Center and the Schenectady County Historical Society library. [Read more…] about Medical Practice in 19th Century Schenectady

Bobcat Ranney: The Hermit of Dogtown

October 27, 2022 by Dave Waite Leave a Comment

According to “A Who’s Who of Adirondack Hermits,” in the Fiftieth Anniversary edition of Adirondack Life magazine there were only two in Warren County: artist John Henry Hill at Phantom Island on Lake George and Archie “Bobcat” Ranney of Baker’s Mills.

Hill only lasted six years, from 1870 until 1876: the year he was picked up and sent to an asylum, never to return to the county. Archie, on the other hand, made his mark in Adirondack history and lore by “hermiting” for twenty years in Baker’s Mills, a hamlet in the town of Johnsburg. [Read more…] about Bobcat Ranney: The Hermit of Dogtown

Tothmea’s Travels: A Misused Egyptian Mummy in New York

September 18, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Local historians and writers have previously told the story of Tothmea, the 3,600-year-old Egyptian mummy that was presented to a local museum in Round Lake, Saratoga County, in 1888.

Her travels have taken her from Egypt to Round Lake to Brazil and several places in between. After I learned of some recent developments in her story, I was inspired to recount her journey and update it a bit more. [Read more…] about Tothmea’s Travels: A Misused Egyptian Mummy in New York

The 1832 Cholera Epidemic in the Capital District

September 5, 2022 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

Cholera can kill more people more quickly than any other disease. Thousands can die overnight. More people died from cholera in the 100-year period from 1817-1917 than from three centuries of Bubonic Plague (Black Death) during the Middle Ages.

The disease is contracted by the ingestion of water and food with fecal contamination by Vibrio cholerae bacteria, resulting in acute diarrhea, dehydration, and death. Poor sanitation contributes to its spread. [Read more…] about The 1832 Cholera Epidemic in the Capital District

The Schenectady Newsboys’ Association: Some History

August 28, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Around the turn of the twentieth century, many boys sold newspapers on city streets. In Schenectady, as in cities around the country, these boys and young men, known as “newsboys” or “newsies,” were among the main distributors of newspapers to the public.

Newsboys did not work for one particular newspaper; they were independent agents who purchased newspapers from the publishers and sold them around the city. Since they were not allowed to return unsold papers, newsboys worked hard to sell all of their newspapers in order to make a profit. In Schenectady newsies protected their territories and competed vigorously, especially for the potential customers who headed to work at General Electric and the American Locomotive Company each day. [Read more…] about The Schenectady Newsboys’ Association: Some History

Ralph Waldo Emerson in the Capital District in 1852

August 21, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Throughout the 1840s, members of the commercial and professional classes of New York’s Capital Region cities established “Young Men’s Associations,” loosely based upon the Young Men’s Christian Association recently founded in England. In Schenectady, ten prominent men formed their own Young Men’s Association in an attempt to bring culture to their growing city of 10,000.

Although the Association required an annual fee of $2, members and ladies were allowed to attend the lectures for free. The entrance fee for men who were not members was 25 cents. “The association is the only place in our city, aside from the pulpits, where you are able to find any discoursing,” announced its founders in the Schenectady Reflector. “It is the only place where an amusement of a miscellaneous nature is to be found…It is the only place where the clerk, the mechanic, or lawyer, can spend an hour (profitably) out of his store, workshop, or office.” [Read more…] about Ralph Waldo Emerson in the Capital District in 1852

Chester A. Arthur, The Spoils System & Civil Service Reform

August 17, 2022 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

Yates Street in Schenectady runs north and south from Union Street to Liberty Street, from the Friendship Baptist Church on Union Street to the Katbird Shop at the corner of Liberty and Yates.

In the late 1840s it was regularly traversed by the only former resident of Schenectady and the only graduate of Union College ever destined to occupy the office of President of the United States. [Read more…] about Chester A. Arthur, The Spoils System & Civil Service Reform

The War of 1812 in the Capital District

August 8, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

The War of 1812 began on June 18, 1812, when President James Madison signed a declaration of war which began: “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That war be and is hereby declared to exist between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the dependencies thereof, and the United States of America and their territories.”

The causes of the war are quite clear. [Read more…] about The War of 1812 in the Capital District