New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

William McKinley

The Panic of 1893: Among The Most Severe Financial Crises U.S. History

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Drawing in Frank Leslie's of panicked stockbrokers on May 9, 1893 during the Panic of 1893New York Gov. Roswell Flower used his keynote speech to a national audience on “New York Day” at the Chicago World’s Fair to downplay the threat of the Panic of 1893, which started the nation’s worst depression up to that time.

“This business men of this country deserve the greatest praise for the manner in which they have held their heads above water during these frightful days,” he said, speaking on September 5, 1893. [Read more…] about The Panic of 1893: Among The Most Severe Financial Crises U.S. History

Teddy Roosevelt’s Wild Ride to the Presidency

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On September 9th through 11th Newcomb, in Essex County at the heart of the Adirondacks, once again celebrates 26th President Theodore Roosevelt, who was vacationing at the Tahawus Club there in 1901 when the wheels leading to his presidency were set in motion.

Roosevelt had come to the Tahawus Club, a hunting and fishing retreat created in the 1870s on the site of early mining efforts on the uppermost reaches of the Hudson River, as a guest of one of its members. His arrival had been delayed by the assassination attempt on William McKinley, but after a trip to Buffalo where the stricken President was recovering, Roosevelt felt assured that he could join his family at Tahawus. [Read more…] about Teddy Roosevelt’s Wild Ride to the Presidency

Trust Busting: William Jennings Bryan & Theodore Roosevelt

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Corner of Wall Street and Broad Street in New York City, ca 1900 (Library of Congress)As control of the American economy became increasingly centralized in trusts located on Wall Street after the Civil War, and the wealth of men like J.P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller grew exponentially, there developed an increasing backlash against such concentrations of wealth. In the 1880s, through an investigation by a committee of the New York State Legislature, Americans became aware that Standard Oil secretly controlled a number of supposedly competing oil companies. By 1910 almost 90% of the world’s oil supply was controlled from the company’s headquarters at 26 Broadway in Manhattan. [Read more…] about Trust Busting: William Jennings Bryan & Theodore Roosevelt