Edward J. Dorman was born about 1846, just where I am not sure. He appears in the 1855 NY census in Schaghticoke. His step-father, James Webster, was a 57-year-old farmer, son of a family that had come to Schaghticoke just after the Revolution. The matriarch of the family, Eve, was 75 in 1855. Six of Eve’s grown children still lived with her, but James may have been a brother-in-law. They all lived on River Road near the junction with Pinewoods Road. The Webster family cemetery there includes two Revolutionary War veterans: Samuel, died in 1813, and Benjamin, in 1832. The tombstone of their father, Matthew, who died in 1807 at age 86, is carved with a family genealogy leading back to Great Britain five generations earlier.
James Webster’s first wife had died, and he remarried a widow, Catherine Dorman, probably about 1850. She brought her son Edward J., the future soldier, with her. As of that 1855 census, the couple had two children of their own, Mary, age 4, and Robert H., age 1. The large household included a serving girl and several farm laborers. By the 1860 US Census, James and Catherine had added another son, Charles, age 1. James was quite a well-off farmer, with real estate worth $9,120 and a personal estate of $1000.
According to the 1865 NY Census, Edward enlisted to fight in the Civil War in the 7th N.Y. Heavy Artillery on January 1, 1864, aged 18. The 7th had been recruited in 1862, so Edward enlisted to fill the place of a soldier who had died or been discharged. I cannot find a record of his enlistment in all of the usual sources, but I did find an official record of his death, in a Register of Death of Volunteers. Edward died February 19, 1864 of typhoid fever in the regimental hospital in Washington, D.C. What a sudden blow for his mother- gone for just a few weeks and dead. They had his body returned to Schaghticoke for burial in the Webster family cemetery. Perhaps he was a soldier for so little time that his data didn’t get into the New York State record. Also in the little cemetery is the grave of a James Dorman who died in 1846, aged 28. Is that James the father of Edward? Could James Dorman have been a farm laborer working on the Webster farm, and James Webster have married his widow?
I believe James Webster lived until about 1880- he appears in that census as an 85-year old retired farmer, living with his wife Catherine in the family of their son Robert and his family, but his name is crossed out. Catherine applied for a pension as the mother of a deceased veteran in 1890. By the 1900 US Census she was living in Half Moon with her unmarried daughter Mary.
The Tombstone of Edward J. Dorman in the Webster Cemetery, off Pinewoods Road in Melrose. The plinth which was on top of this stone is fallen and just visible on the right.
John Dooley has but a fleeting association with Schaghticoke, but his story is an interesting one. He was born in Queens County, Ireland about 1828. Queens County is now called County Laois, in Northern Ireland. John probably arrived in the U.S. in the early 1850’s. I couldn’t find him in the 1850 US Census, but in the 1860 US Census he was in Fort Edward, Washington County, listed as a 31-year-old butcher, with real estate worth $400 and a personal estate of $50. That is actually a considerable sum for such a newcomer to the U.S. I am assuming that John’s wife had died recently, as his family consisted of Betsey Dooley, age 60, housekeeper, presumably John’s mother, plus four small sons: John, 5; Charles, 4; William, 3; and Thomas, 2.
John registered for the draft in Fort Edward in 1863, listed as a 37-year old laborer in Class 2 because of his relatively advanced age. He certainly didn’t have to enlist due to his classification- and his status as widowed parent of minors, but at the end of the year, he enlisted, at Schaghticoke, in Company I of the 16th N.Y. Artillery. His muster card reported him as 38-years-old, with gray eyes, black hair, and a dark complexion, 5’10 ¼” tall. Another Irishman from Fort Edward, Edward Fennell, enlisted in the same company of the 16th Artillery. Perhaps they inspired each other to enlist.
NYS Muster Card for John Dooley
The 16th N.Y. Heavy Artillery left for the South by companies, and Company I is not listed specifically in the unit history. But in general, it served throughout 1864 and the first half of 1865 in Virginia. Some companies participated in the battle of Fort Fisher, North Carolina in December 1864 and January 1865, which involved both naval and land forces attacking the Confederate fort.
John was mustered out on June 18, 1865 at the U.S. General Hospital at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Though his record card doesn’t state it, this implies that he was either wounded or ill, as the whole regiment was mustered out at Washington, D.C. on August 21.
John returned to his family in Fort Edward. By the 1870 US Census, he was listed as a 42-year-old laborer. He had remarried, to a woman named Mary, also born in Ireland, who was 35 that year. His mother was no longer in the family, but his little sons had all survived: John, 17; Charles, 16; William, 15; and Thomas, 14; now joined by Martin, 6; Frances, 4; Ann, 2; and Patrick, 2/12. The age of Martin implies that John may have remarried as soon as he got home.
The Dooley family had moved to Cohoes by the 1875 NY Census, when John was working again as a butcher. Older sons John, Charles, William, and Thomas were all boatmen. Apparently Patrick had not survived, but there was a new baby, Maggie, 2 ½.
I cannot find John and his family in the public record after 1875. Mary Dooley applied for a widow’s pension for John Dooley, Company I of the 16th NY Heavy Artillery in 1905, confirmed by the record of his death in Cohoes in April 1905.
The previous post told the story of one local murder…here is the story of a second…..
On January 27, 1901 a farmer named Lebbeus Rice was seated near a window in his parlor at 7 p.m., playing dominoes and checkers with five others when he was shot in the head by a gun fired through the window. In the room were his wife Mary, his son Andrew, 19, and daughter Viola, 14, plus guest George Hall of Johnsonville, and the hired man Alfred or Albert Brownell. Dr. Purcell of Mechanicville and Dr. Tarbell of Schaghticoke, the County Coroner, both came to care for him, but he died about 11 a.m. the next morning. The Troy “Times” stated that Lebbeus, 45, was a “quiet, industrious man,” and a “prosperous farmer.” The Rices lived near the hamlet of Reynolds, on the way to Mechanicville at current Route 67 and Howland Road. Several newspaper articles said he lived at Snyder’s Bridge.
From the Scranton “Tribune”, February 2, 1901
The newspaper gave a couple of reasons for the murder. One was that the preceding October an employee who was digging potatoes on his farm “had an altercation with Mr. Rice” and was fired. Rice was “almost poisoned with arsenic a few days later,” the implication being that the farm hand had been the perpetrator, and had now not only tried again to kill Rice, but succeeded.
From the Albany “Argus”, February 2, 1901
On February 1, Frederick Guest, 21, also of Reynolds, was arrested after an investigation by the District Attorney and Deputy Sheriff Scougall of Schaghticoke. Until then Mrs Rice and Alfred Brownell had been detained as suspects, but were now released. Now the motive given was that Frederick had wanted to marry Lebbeus’ daughter Viola, and he said no as she was only 14. He felt if he got Lebbeus out of the way, he could marry her at once. Detained in jail in Troy, Frederick admitted the crime. He had used “an old musket”, which from the description sounds like a Civil War era rifle, with percussion cap, and cartridge with wadding and ball. Frederick Guest had worked as a farm hand for the Rices, and lived next door. The Scranton Pennsylvania “Tribune” of February 2 reported Guest’s arrest, but the headline of the article was “Cigarette Fiend Commits Murder,” and reported that Guest was an “inveterate smoker.”
The inquest into the crime was held at Grand Army Hall in Schaghticoke by Coroner Tarbell on February 7. More than 100 people attended, hoping to learn new developments. But the testimony merely established that Lebbeus had died of a gunshot wound, that he had been playing checkers with his son at the time, and that Frederick Guest had visited and even played checkers with the victim earlier in the day. In October Frederick Guest was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to fifteen years in Dannemora State Prison. He was allowed to plea to a lesser charge than murder because he was not thought capable of understanding what he had done.
According to the Troy “Daily Times”, Frederick’s mother pressed the county to reopen the case. Lebbeus Rice’s son also reported several mysterious intruders on his property in the year following his father’s murder. In March 1902, the case was reopened. There was a further inquiry into Frederick’s sanity at the time of the crime. A commission formed for the purpose met in June. Mrs Guest, his mother, stated that “her son had always been troubled with his head and was unable to go to school, complaining of headache….When a boy he claimed to see strange things and had visions of a sensational character.” His sisters both said he had always had “spells,” and his face twitched…He was four years old before he could walk.” He was examined by Dr. C.H. Travell of Troy, who said he was extremely ignorant- unable to name the New York Governor, and thinking that Chicago was the seat of U.S. Government and located in New York State. He added that Frederick “has a sloping head and is an imbecile…feeble minded,” and that he didn’t understand the seriousness of the charge against him. The newspaper reported that “he laughed and joked with acquaintances and did not seem to appreciate his situation any more than he did when arrested.”
Despite all of this, Frederick was found sane and returned to prison. Indeed, I did find Frederick in the NY 1905 Census at Dannemora, though not in 1910. Frederick and his mother lived on East Street in the village of Schaghticoke as of the NY 1915 Census, and he worked as a teamster. I do not know what happened to him after that.
Also that March 1902, Lebbeus’ widow sold her household goods and farming tools at auction at the farm. She had remarried to a man named John Kirwan, who was a widower with several young children in Hoosick Falls. Daughter Viola had married the farm laborer present at her father’s murder, Bert Brownell. It is hard to know how this crime would have been treated now.
So I have written about 40,000 words about Schaghticoke in 1900, published in these pages over the past year. I could write much more, especially short biographies of the many interesting people who were important to the town at that time. I keep learning more. It is difficult for me to sum up all that I have written. While Schaghticoke was modernizing as the 20th century began, it was still pre-electricity. I will write much more in a later article about the cutting-edge power dam supplying electricity not only to General Electric in Schenectady but also to the businesses and residences of the village of Schaghticoke. For the first time in its history, town population was not growing. There were a few new immigrants, coming from Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Scandinavia to farm here. But the woolen mill closed and the linen mill was in decline, resulting in the loss of many local jobs. Yet the village of Schaghticoke offered anything a consumer could want- from cigars to confections to clothes to groceries to furniture. There were a local newspaper, doctors, hotels, saloons, undertaker, and lawyers. Residents were increasingly consumers of luxury goods, pre-made clothes, and home furnishings.
The town borders changed with the Speigletown and Pleasantdale sections transferring from Lansingburgh back to Schaghticoke. This added territory and responsibility for the whole length of River Road, which was virtually impossible to maintain in good condition, but did not add many new residents. At the north end of River Road, Jennie Hemstreet VanVeghten divided her family farm into building lots and created the new suburb of Hemstreet Park, populated mostly by mill workers from Mechanicville. Town government continued to manage the finances of the schools, took care of public health and the poor. It increasingly spent money on road and bridge maintenance. People riding the new bicycles wanted smoother roads.
People had increased time for recreation. The Melrose section of town attracted vacationers from the city of Troy, who built summer homes on Avenue A. Trojans also constructed summer “camps” along the Hudson River in Pleasantdale and picnicked there in Lansing’s Grove, just north of today’s Hannaford. The village of Schaghticoke boasted a “driving park”, which hosted horse races. Much recreation still revolved around the churches, which sponsored dinners, picnics, speeches, and more. But there were a few new men’s organizations, and now several for women, including a Political Equality Club. While one-room schools were still the rule, the large districts in the village of Schaghticoke consolidated and residents built a multi-room Union Free school, with education offered through 8th grade. Farmers continued to grow all sorts of crops, but were beginning to specialize in milk, forming the Schaghticoke Creamery, a cooperative which turned the milk into butter.
Would we be comfortable living in Schaghticoke of 1900? I think we would enjoy the community spirit and recreational activities, but probably miss TV, movies, and cell phones. Perhaps we could adapt to the slower pace of life, travelling by horse and wagon and bicycle on mostly dirt roads. I know I would enjoy patronizing the small shops of people that I would know, with a conversation accompanying every transaction, but I know we would have a hard time dealing with the lack of electricity and refrigeration. And houses heated by coal and wood, with maintenance of home and yard without gasoline and electric powered equipment, would be fun for some, but difficult for others. Most women would not be working outside the home, while most men would work nearby- again, great for some, but limiting for sure.
Herbert H. Dill was born in Cold Spring, Vermont in 1839. In the 1850 US Census in Plattsburgh, his father, Edward, 46, was an innkeeper. By the 1860 US Census the family was in Pittstown. Edward was a hotel keeper, with his wife Phebe, 44. Their children, Amelia, 24; Herbert, 21; Gertrude, 9; and Justin, 6, lived in the hotel. Herbert was the bartender.
Herbert enlisted on May 4, 1861, almost as soon as the war started, in Company I of the 2nd New York Infantry Regiment in Troy. Herbert gave his age as 22, his height as 5’6”, and said he had grey eyes and light hair.
NYS Muster Card of Herbert H. Dill
The 2nd NY Regiment, commanded by Joseph Carr, competed to be the first regiment recruited in New York State, but, as the number indicated, was number two. It left the state in May 1861 and served in Virginia, taking part in battles at new Market, Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, Bristoe Station- where it had the most casualties-, and Chancellorsville.
It was a two-year regiment, so Herbert and the regiment were mustered out in Troy on May 26, 1863. After reaching New York City, the Regiment traveled by steamship up the Hudson River to Troy, arriving early on the morning of May 18. It was greeted by a rapturous throng and paraded through the streets of Troy, which were lavishly decorated and filled with people for the occasion.
By the 1870 US Census, Herbert was living in the village of Schaghticoke, then called Hart’s Falls. He was 31-years-old and gave his occupation as paper maker. He had married a woman named Amelia Diver, who was 26. Amelia’s mother, Malinda Diver, lived with them. Herbert’s family had moved to Hart’s Falls as well. Father Edward now 65, gave his occupation as gardener. Daughter Amelia, 38, still lived with her parents, as did daughter Gertrude, 18. Son Merrill, 16- formerly called Justin?, worked in the tow mill, making twine from flax. Edward died that same year, and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
In the 1880 US Census, Herbert and his wife Amelia were both working in the linen mill in the village of Schaghticoke. Amelia’s mother still lived with them, as did a 10-year-old niece Loraine G. Dill, who also worked in the mill. Herbert was a charter member of the local G.A.R. post in 1882. He is recorded in the 1890 Veterans Census, and applied for a pension that same year, the first year pensions were available on the basis of age rather than disability.
Herbert was still working as of the 1900 US Census at age 60, now as a janitor and truant officer in the local school. Herbert and Amelia had an adopted son, Frederick, age 21, living with them. He worked in the flax mill. Amelia died in 1903 of acute dysentery, and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery as A.L. Dill. Herbert died in 1905 of pneumonia and is buried beside her. His tombstone records his Civil War service.
In previous writing, I have not really dealt with local crime. Certainly there was crime, it’s just that access to the “Schaghticoke Sun” has given me better access to news of it. The surviving four or five year run of the paper from the late 1890’s records a number of crimes, showing us that the “good old days” really resemble our time in many ways. Different from today, there were local constables, elected by town residents, to arrest the perpetrators. In 1896 there were five: John Askins, A.H. VanVeghten, M.L. VanWert, W.H. Scougall, and John Williamson. John Askins was a full-time law enforcement officer, the others part-time. At the time, William Scougall was a blacksmith, though he became a postman. And John Williamson was a machinist at one of the mills. A. H. VanVeghten may have been Abram VanVeghten, husband of Jennie Hemstreet, who had been a farmer and livestock raiser. I am not sure about the VanWert.
On December 28, 1894, Charles Baker’s store was burglarized by someone with a key to the front door. The next night Charles himself and local police officer John Askins hid in the store after closing time and caught four boys in the act. T. Evon Jones, James Steele, Everett Harrigan, and Eugene Speanburg were arraigned and taken to the Troy Jail. Apparently they had also broken into the blacksmith’s shop of Albert Hurley. I wonder about the accuracy of these names. Of course there is not an 1890 census, but I can’t find that any of these were young boys in the village as of 1894. James Steele was the son of one of the supervisors at the Cable Flax Mill, living in Valley Falls at the time. This was his one step into crime in an otherwise blameless life. He was the final spinning foreman at the Cable Flax Mill himself.
Sample’s Store c. 1910
On January 18, 1895 the general store of Sample and Son was broken into and the safe was blown up with dynamite! The robbers left with nothing as the door of the safe was wedged even tighter with the dynamite. Sample had hired men to cut ice and Saturday was pay day, so perhaps the robber had thought there would be lots of money in the safe. The newspaper pointed out that though many local stores had fire proof safes, they did not have money left overnight in them.
Another frequent problem was tramps- what we would call homeless people- who would break in somewhere and find a place to live. Of course this could also result in robbery, or careless arson. The Cable Flax mill had a couple of major losses from arson in the 1890’s. The “Sun” of 1895 reported a reward of $100 for “presentation” of two tramps “who were ejected from the paper mill of Wiley and Button and the Fitchburg Railroad Station on the night of February 18.”
On April 12, 1895 the “Sun” reported that two young men had been around the village selling jack knives at low prices. Store owner Charles Baker had heard that a store in Fonda was robbed of jack knives the other day. These were the knives! The men disappeared.
There was also concern with fast and reckless driving in the village. In August 1895 Daniel Cronin was arrested for fast driving and fined $5. Of course this was driving a horse. And a woman who was “helplessly drunk” was picked up off the street during the day. The “Sun” lamented that there was no local jail to put her in to dry out. That October “James Butler went crazy at the home of Mrs Michael Butler”. He was crazed with drink and fired a revolver four times. No arrest was made.
The Troy “Daily Times” reported on August 22, 1902 that William Valentine of Melrose had been arrested. He shot Hans Oleson, a Danish or Norwegian immigrant employed by J. Irving Baucus, after a quarrel at Russell’s Hotel (located at the intersection of Route 40 and Valley Falls Road). Hans had only been in the country since March. William was the bartender at the hotel. Hans “attacked” William, crazed with drink, and William shot him in the head twice with a revolver. One shot was superficial, but one newspaper account states the second “struck an inch above his right eye and penetrated the outer table of the skull.” At first it was thought he had hit him with a club. He went back to the farm and worked for two days until he finally went to Dr. Tarbell, the local medic, who realized he had been shot. Hans was finally taken to the hospital in Troy, where the bullet was removed. On September 4 the paper reported that William was arraigned in Schaghticoke before Justice Hayner, charged with first degree assault, taken there by Deputy Sheriff William Scougall. Hans was recovering rapidly at the hospital. The story disappears from the newspaper, perhaps because William Valentine died of tuberculosis on October 2. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
Crime was not confined to the “urban” areas of town. In fall 1895, the “Sun” reported that “parties from Mechanicville have been visiting fruit orchards and poultry houses in Old Schaghticoke and Reynolds and helping themselves.” Old Schaghticoke is around the Knickerbocker Mansion, and Reynolds near the junction of Route 67 and Howland Avenue.
There were at least two murders in town around 1900. October 3, 1897 George Drake of Easton, a farm laborer, died in the village of Schaghticoke. The “Schaghticoke Sun” covered the affair extensively, of course. As with any emotional event involving alcohol, there were several versions of what happened. About 10:30 p.m., George was in Widow Butler’s saloon on lower Main Street when he got in a quarrel with Thomas Hickey and Edward Guare (Guire). The bartender George Denninger kicked George out. George yelled in for Thomas and Edward to come out, which they did. They fought in the street, and George was left on the pavement. James Cronk, a wool weaver, came upon the altercation and tried to interfere. Hickey and Guare threatened him, but as soon as they left, he called for help. He and Patrick Nagle, another bar owner, carried George to the Schaghticoke House. They called for Dr. Lyon, who was not available. Finally Dr. Tarbell arrived about 5 a.m. When he saw George, he “barely had a pulse.” Tarbell gave him a glass of whiskey and he bit a piece out of the glass, (why?). He diagnosed a fractured skull, injected George with nitroglycerine and strychnine as stimulants, and shipped him off to the hospital in Troy, where he died.
An autopsy was conducted Sunday p.m., confirming the fractured skull, and local police justice Nelson Hayner issued a warrant for the arrest of Guare and Hickey, who were arrested at once, arraigned, and taken to the Troy jail by Deputy Sheriff Askins on the train. They told Hayner that they “didn’t think Drake was hurt much.” Hickey said Guare had hit Drake, but that he, Hickey, had not.
George Drake was the brother-in-law of Mrs. Charles Edmonds of Valley Falls, about 50-years- old, “addicted to alcohol,” and known to be argumentative while drinking. James Cronk, who had tried to stop the fight, said “he wasn’t too smart.” Thomas Hickey, 28 (really 25), and Edward Guare, 21, were brothers-in-law, Hickey married to Guare’s sister Margaret. According to the “Schaghticoke Sun”, Thomas “had been arrested before and had an unsavory reputation,” while Edward “has always been looked upon as a likely young man.” He was the son of Irish immigrants John and Bridget Guare, who farmed on Stillwater Bridge Road.
The trial took place at the end of January 1898 in Troy. The “Sun” said that fifty local people were called to Troy as witnesses. It took four days to choose jurors. The men were each charged with first degree manslaughter and abetting each other. George Drake had been buried in Elmwood Cemetery, but his body was exhumed and his skull was presented in court! The testimony tells us a bit about the village of Schaghticoke on a Saturday night. Guare had been playing pool at John O’Hearn’s saloon to start the evening. He and Hickey visited Pat Nagle’s and Ed Dwyer’s saloons before they got to Widow Butler’s. A pub crawl in downtown Schaghticoke!
Apparently the altercation resulted because Hickey told Guare that Drake had been “abusing his sister” – Hickey’s wife. They had just gotten married in August, by the way. It is unclear how the fight went. Drake fell to his knees outside the bar, was punched, and kicked. Each defendant blamed the other for the bulk of the injuries. The result was a hung jury, and the men went back to jail.
There was a re-trial of Hickey in June. The defense lawyer gave a two-hour summation. Despite this, Hickey was convicted of 2nd degree manslaughter after a trial of twelve days and sentenced to eight years hard labor at Dannemora State Prison, with the possibility of release after two years, eight months for good behavior. Guare was released on $600 bail, and would probably not be tried.
Thomas J. Hickey does appear in the 1900 US Census for Dannemora prison, but then returned to Schaghticoke. As of the 1905 NY Census, he and wife Margaret were farming in the northern part of town. He was a stage driver in 1910 and then purchased a home on Oil Mill Hill and was a produce dealer in Lansingburgh until his death in 1939. He is buried in St. John’s Cemetery. Edward Guare is also listed in the 1900 and 1905 Censuses, working as a farm laborer on his family’s farm. After that, I can’t find the family. This was certainly a tragedy, but the man punished in the end definitely lived a long and otherwise crime-free life.
Continuing to write about the town of Schaghticoke around 1900…..
1897 Sears catalog
Folks in Schaghticoke also participated in a couple of recreational opportunities featuring sports. I spoke earlier of the popularity of bicycles. People rode them individually, but also in clubs, organized to travel to popular picnic spots. In 1894 the village government passed a regulation prohibiting riding bicycles on sidewalks “unless the streets are in bad shape,” then no more than 4 miles per hour. That same year “Howard Baker of Rochester visited his uncle Lorenzo {in Schaghticoke}. He rode his bicycle 300 miles in 32 hours.” The publisher of the “Schaghticoke Sun”, John Richards, also sold bicycles.
Schaghticoke Cliftons (Clifton owned the American House), on the porch of the American House c. 1910
Baseball was a popular sport. I mentioned earlier that the tourist colony in Melrose had a baseball team. Thompson’s Mill in Valley Falls had a team. The Schaghticoke Woolen Mill also sponsored a team, “the Woolens.” They won the 1889 Rensselaer County Championship. Apparently the membership of the team was hotly contested, as in April 1895 the “Sun” reported that “C.A. Tebo, 2nd baseman and captain of the Woolens has contracted to play for the Lowell team this year. “ Lowell, Massachusetts was a huge center of textile manufacture. On May 7, 1895, the “Sun” listed the team: “Ed McCormick, pitcher; Richard McGrath, catcher; James McGrath, 1st base; E. Wiley, 2nd base; George Chambers, short stop; John Bracken, 3rd base; J. Kewley, left field and captain; Meagher, right field; Harrigan, center field; J. H. Meehan, manager; Harry Askins, Secretary. The club is now ready to meet any uniformed club in Rensselaer County.” A couple of these young men: E. Wiley, John Bracken, and J.Meehan, have been mentioned before as active in social organizations. Did they all work at the mill? Meehan was a confectioner. There were a number of McGraths and Askins in the community, though I can’t find these. George Chambers and John Kewley were both wool spinners.
In August 1895 the Brownies Baseball club of Lansingburg came to town for a game on grounds “near the powder mill above the Spook Hollow Bridge”. The Spook Hollow Bridge is the bridge across the Tomhannock Creek on Route 40. Just a month later a few players were different. One was Harrison Plant, whom I am quite sure was a young black man in the village. A game in May 1896 was at the driving park, which I am about to discuss. A local team and one from Stillwater scored 65 runs!
The Woolen Mill also arranged social activities for its workers. In 1896 the weavers held their first annual picnic at the race course. Entertainment included a wrestling match and a professional boxing match, plus races: 100-yard dash, potato, wheelbarrow and sack races, a bicycle race. There was free dancing with Lord’s orchestra. The committee in charge, all men, included Morris or Maurice Sullivan, who was boss weaver of the mill by 1905, and other weavers, all young men.
1888
Wait, a race course? Yes, the Schaghticoke Driving Park, a race course located approximately where the Hoosic Valley High School track is now, hosted harness races every summer from at least 1883 to as late as 1913. It was also the location for picnics, baseball games, bicycle races, and evening social events. It hosted Sawtelle and Ewers Circus in July 1895. There were races beginning on Decoration or Memorial Day each year. The “Sun” announced on May 7, 1895 that John O’Hearn had leased the race course for the upcoming season. I don’t know who he was. He announced that “circuit races” would be held there during July with purses adding up to $1500 over a three-day-meet. There was an organized racing circuit and Schaghticoke was a stop. The races during the meet were organized by the speed of the horses. The only local owner mentioned was James Thompson, of Thompson’s Mill in Valley Falls. Admission to the races was 50 cents, with ladies and carriages free. In 1898, H.R. Miller, Jay F. Herrington, and Alex Diver leased the park. I believe that H.R. Miller was the railroad station agent in Pittstown, where Jay F. Herrington ran a grocery store. Of course Alex Diver was the local furniture dealer and undertaker. When the Rensselaer County Fair moved to its current fair grounds in 1921, one of the reasons given for its popularity was that area horsemen were well-acquainted with the site, right across the road from the race course.
1898
Sautelle’s circus
There would seem to have been plenty of social activities locally for all sorts of people around 1900 in town, but the great train service through the town (six trains in each direction daily) allowed people to go far afield for recreation. The “Sun” advertised excursions of all sorts. For example in November 1894, people could pay $1.75 and travel from Schaghticoke by train to Albany, then take a Citizen Line steamer down the Hudson River to New York City to attend the Great National Horse Show or view holiday displays in the city. Departure was November 13, return November 18. On a simpler level, people could take the train to Troy, arriving at 6:55, see a show at the Griswold Opera House, or Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, or Ringling Brothers Circus, leaving to come home at 11:55. The railroad put together special packages for folks to attend the Washington County Fair or the Nassau Fair, the location of the Rensselaer County fair at the time. In September 1895, the “Sun” reported that over 200 people from Melrose and 200 from Schaghticoke had purchased excursion tickets to attend the Cambridge Fair.
Dick Lohnes’ “Schaghticoke Centennial Booklet” states that the village fire department was organized in December of 1867 in a building at the corner of Main Street and Mill Street owned by Elisha Baucus. The village was incorporated at the same time, with the chief engineer of the fire company listed as an officer of the village. The charter goes on to state that the Village Trustees were to organize the department and construct reservoirs for water. None of this happened, as when the beautiful new Opera House and other buildings on Lower Main Street burned in 1880, there were no local firemen, no equipment to fight the fire. An engine was sent by train from Troy, far too late.
Even this disaster didn’t prod the village fathers into action, as in December 1894, the editors of the “Schaghticoke Sun” wrote a rare editorial, calling Schaghticoke “a century behind the times.” Among other items, they called for a fire department- a horrible defect. In February 1895 the new graded school building burned to the ground. Perhaps this added disaster was the final straw. In May 1895 a fire department of 24 men was organized. Its officers were the leading men of the village: Amos B. Ralston, Superintendent of the Flax Mill, was the President; George Stevenson, Superintendent of the Woolen Mill, was the Secretary; and John Richardson, editor of the “Schaghticoke Sun” and local druggist, was the Treasurer. The actual fire fighters were: John Williamson, a machinist at a mill as Chief, H.D. Luther, 1st Assistant, and Charles Ray, housepainter, was 2nd Assistant. Dick Lohnes says they met in J.W. Richards Drug Store. At the same time, as I have described elsewhere the Woolen Mill and Cable Flax Mills hooked their water pipes to those of the village to help in fire fighting.
cover of a book of the rules and regs of the fire department
The new fire department, called the Washington Engine & Hose Company, didn’t have a fire engine until September 1897, as the “Sun” added, “17 years after the great fire” which had burned the Opera House. There had been a special referendum in the village in June to appropriate $500 for the purpose. John Williamson and H.D. Luther continued as officers, along with William Leyfield, W.H. Scougall, and Charles Slocum. William Leyfield was supervisor of finishing at the woolen mill. W.H. Scougall was a rural mail carrier. Charles Slocum was a machinist at the flax mill. They limited their membership to thirty, but grew over time to about 100 members, according to Lohnes.
On August 18, 1899, the department voted to purchase uniforms, giving the contract to local merchant Patrick H. Tierney. At the same time they voted to attend a fireman’s muster in Mechanicville in September. They tried out the engine and “threw a stream 201 feet”.
By 1901, Elmer Wiley, co-owner of Empire Mill and Coal was President. Other officers included Edward Dwyer, hotel owner; John O’Brien, a wool mill laborer; and George Viall, at the time a flax mill laborer. George and his son George were involved in the company until 1949.
Then as now, the fire company was a source of recreation for the members. Some of its members became a drama club. The Mechanicville “Mercury” of October 28, 1899 reported that the Washington Engine and Hose Company had put on a five-act melodrama called “The White Mountain Boys” at a hall in Stillwater. In January 1901 they put on a “rural drama” called “The Rube” at Eagle Hall in Schaghticoke. They put on annual dances, both indoors and outdoors. The Company also did what we think of as more traditional activities for a fire department, adding a fife and drum corps and participating in parades, for example, a huge 4th of July parade in Greenwich in 1901, attended by 15,000 spectators, and in firemen competitions. They participated in the annual Decoration (Memorial) Day exercises of GAR Post Hartshorn.
In 1896 the village of Schaghticoke had an especially elaborate 4th of July celebration. I think it is worth it to write about it in detail as it offers a nice window into life at the time. In June, the “Schaghticoke Sun”, my source of information, announced that William Leyfield, who was Supervisor of finishing at the Woolen Mill, would be the Marshall for the parade. Businesses interested in participating in the parade needed to contact him. “Something will be on for nearly every hour of the day.” The paper jokingly reported, “The Ancient Order of Filibusters will be on hand and will parade the streets of the village beginning in the morning.” This would be the first formal appearance of Schaghticoke’s “kid glove” fire department. In the afternoon there would be races of all kinds. The prizes to be awarded were already on display in the windows of the drug store. Lape’s Cornet Band of Valley Falls had been hired for the whole day.
In the event, the 4th opened with bells ringing and a cannon booming at 4 a.m. The parade floats included Alex Diver (local undertaker and furniture store), with examples of the furniture he sold; a wagon from P.H. Tierney, gentleman’s clothier; the Watermelon Glee Club of Schaghticoke Hill with a genuine plantation “hoe down” (was this in black face???); Grover Cleveland and family in a western overland stage turn-out by Clevelandites from “the hill,” (a group dressed as the current President from the new housing development up Pleasant Avenue); Viall & Wiley, general storekeepers with a huge wagon filled with their wares; the blacksmith shop with two boys in a horse costume; an old-time carriage from the Ackart neighborhood (up Verbeck Avenue); the Schaghticoke National Artillery, Captain J.F. Luther commander (a tongue-in-cheek description- he was the one who had fired the cannon at 4 a.m. James Frank Luther was a printer for the “Sun”); an ammunition wagon labeled “hurrah for Cuba” (Cuba was much in the news leading up to the Spanish-American War in 1898); the Schaghticoke White Water Oil Company and the vehicle which lights the streetlights in the village; the village Superintendent of Streets and several “vicious” bloodhounds (I’m sure just the man and his dogs); P.T. Barnum’s Imperial Menagerie- “wild animals” so numerous in the streets of the village (children dressed in animal costumes? Certainly not the real P.T. Barnum); the Village Board of Trustees holding a board meeting on a “monstrous” float; and at the rear, the “brave and never sleeping” fire department, with hose reel, engine, and hook and ladder trucks. Fascinatingly, Charles Wanton was listed as chief- was this young black man really chief? This amazingly diverse and creative parade disbanded at the race course, about where the Hoosic Valley track is now. I wonder if there was a band, if the G.A.R. Post Civil War veterans marched, and if there was a representation from the school. The “Sun” provided a rather idiosyncratic description, to be sure.
In the afternoon there were the races: foot, three-legged, bicycle, sack, plus a baseball game, climbing a greased pole, catching a greased pig, etc. to be held “in the Main Street.”
After dinner, the Declaration of Independence was read in front of the Cable Flax Mill by Nelson Hayner and the Imperial Glee Club sang. Nelson Hayner was the police justice in the village. There were two hours of fireworks under the direction of John Williamson, assisted by Hugh D. Luther and W. H. Leyfield- all members of the fire department. What a day!!
Earlier I mentioned the new Schaghticoke Union Free School. I have written before about the formation of this new school district from the overcrowded one-room schools in the village and the construction of the new graded school in 1876. It burned in 1895, and was replaced immediately by a school costing about $16,000. There were three graduates that year. The rest of the town continued to be served by one-room schools.
I only discovered this Schaghticoke-born Civil War soldier from his obituary in the Schaghticoke “Sun” in August 1897. B.B. Crapo was a pillar of the town of Prescott, Arizona. He was the son of John Knickerbocker Crapo and Sally Bullard Crapo, born in Schaghticoke in 1841. John was the son of Peter Crapo, who though born in Massachusetts had fought in the Revolution in a New York Regiment. I have found no connection to the Knickerbocker family, so it seems John was named for a man that Peter admired, perhaps Colonel John Knickerbocker, first colonel of our local regiment.
In any event, I did find Beroth, called B.B. in his obituary, in the 1850 US US Census for Schaghticoke with his parents. I think he was in the 1855 N.Y. Census listed as William. I cannot find him in the 1860 US Census, but perhaps he had moved for work. He enlisted in Company E of the 17th Connecticut Infantry Regiment in Weston, Connecticut. He was listed as a machinist. This implies he was working in a mill.
The 17th Connecticut left for Baltimore, Maryland on September 3, 1862. It fought in the battle of Chancellorsville May 1, 1863, when B.B. was both wounded and captured. However he was paroled a couple of weeks later. Did he recover in time to serve with the Regiment at the battle of Gettysburg on July 1-3? We don’t know. Next the regiment served in South Carolina, in actions against Fort Sumter and Charleston. It stayed on the coast, moving on to St. Augustine, Florida by the end of the war in April 1865. In January 1864, B.B. was promoted to Corporal. He was discharged with the rest of the regiment in July 1865 at Hilton Head, South Carolina.
B.B. married Jennie Davidson in Prescott, Arizona in 1867, according to Arizona marriage records. Jennie was born in Scotland in 1849. I don’t know how B.B. and Jennie ended up in Arizona at what was basically its founding. He was certainly a pioneer, probably crossing the country by wagon, as the transcontinental railroad was not completed until 1869. I think that he and Jennie returned to Rensselaer County for a time, before returning to settle and farm in the Skull Valley area, near Prescott, Arizona. Beroth, 29, was working in an axe factory in Pittstown as of the 1870 census, which also listed wife Jennie, 21, and baby son David, 8-months-old.
Skull Valley, Arizona
The 1880 US Census listed the family in Yavapai County, Arizona: B.B., 39, a farmer, plus Jenny, 29, and David, 10; Cora, 6; and Alice, 3. It seems amazing that anyone could farm in Skull Valley, but it does get 19 inches of rain a year- still not much. We would love to know how the farming went. In 1881 B.B. applied for an invalid pension, at the point where they were only awarded for disability. According to his obituary, he was a member of the Masonic Lodge and the G.A.R. in Prescott. He had been a member of the Victor Lodge in Schaghticoke as a young man. The obituary also stated that he had moved to Arizona in 1869, but the public documents, of his marriage in Arizona in 1867, and the 1870 Census in Pittstown, tell a different story.
Tombstone of BB Crapo, thanks to Find-a-Grave
B.B. died in Prescott in 1897. He clearly had maintained a connection to Schaghticoke, as his obituary was published a month later in the “Sun.” The obituary says he was buried in Prescott, but Find-a-grave states that he and his wife Jennie, who died in 1912, are buried in San Bernadino, California. I don’t know why, but the pictures seem clear.
As the 19th century drew to a close, people had more and more leisure time. I have already written about one new development- summer vacationing- with the arrival of a number of well-off Trojans to spend their summers in vacation “cottages”- rented or owned- on Avenue A in Melrose. But this was the beginning of the age of men’s and women’s social organizations, both within and outside of churches. The Schaghticoke “Sun” listed a number of these in issues in 1894-1895.
Presbyterian Church c. 1900
Social life was often organized around one’s church- this had been true since Colonial times. The newspapers of the 1890’s and on are full of notices of church socials, picnics, concerts, lecture series, and Sunday Schools. For example, in spring 1894, the Presbyterian Church in the village of Schaghticoke offered a six-part lecture series with topics from “Americanism” to “Robert Browning” presented by area ministers. The cost was $1 for all six, 25 cents each. The Thanksgiving concert at the Presbyterian Church on November 28, 1895 featured “a full and efficient chorus,” presumably from the church, plus a soprano from Troy, a contralto from Albany, an elocutionist (a lecturer), plus the Mechanicville Male Quartet. The ticket price was 35 cents.
New organizations were formed within the churches about this time, especially for women. For example, the Schaghticoke Presbyterian Church had a Ladies’ Aid Society and a Women’s Missionary Society. The constitution of the Ladies’ Aid Society, from 1893, stated that “all ladies may join upon paying 25 cents annually. Gentlemen may become honorary members by paying 25 cents annually.” The objects of the society were “to promote sociability and increase the revenue of the church for repairs.” There were 55 members to begin with, with Dr. Beale’s wife serving as the first chairperson, Mrs Diver (Arvilla) as the first secretary. The group met at members’ homes and at the church. Early donations were $75 for a memorial window at the church, $157 for organ repairs, and a covering for the center aisle of the church to use in muddy weather. The minutes do not record the fundraising which allowed these donations to be made.
The Women’s Missionary Society had begun about ten years earlier, as a branch of a national Presbyterian organization. The purpose was “the collection of money for missionary purposes and the cultivation of a missionary spirit among its members.” One half of the money raised went for foreign and one half for domestic missions. Dues were 50 cents per year and meetings were held at the parsonage. The first President was Mrs. T.E. Davis, wife of the minister, as was the second, Mrs. James Cromie. Members raised money, often through social activities; made items like socks, dresses, and quilts; and educated themselves on those receiving their philanthropy. Members researched and gave reports on topics like Persia and Latin America. For 1882, a Pueblo Indian school in Albuquerque was chosen for the group’s philanthropy. The women filled a barrel with homemade bedding and knitted socks, handkerchiefs, dresses, plus six Bibles and $6.50.
Each church had its own societies. In 1903 the Schaghticoke Methodist Church listed Temperance, Freeman’s Aid, and Tract committees. The Epworth League was its philanthropic organization.
The Political Equality Club of Valley Falls had its first meeting on May 13, 1903. About 25 women from the towns of Schaghticoke and Pittstown attended the first meeting. There had been a similar club in nearby Easton since 1891, and one of the members there, Julia Blanche Stover Clum of Schaghticoke and Valley Falls, organized a club here. The focus of the club was on attaining suffrage for women. Once that was passed in New York in November 1917, the club became the Woman’s Club of Valley Falls and Vicinity. The focus turned to philanthropy, education of its members through programs, and socializing. The club continues in the same vein today. Its archive is in the Valley Falls Library. I am proud to say that I recently served as its President for four years.
Julia Blanche Stover Clum
Julia Blanche Stover was one of three daughters of Daniel and Anna Bryan Stover. Daniel was a farmer in Pittstown. Blanche, as she was known, grew up as a feminist. A probably apocryphal but defining story about her was that when the new bridge across the Hoosic River at Valley Falls was completed in 1891, she was the first across the bridge, riding her horse, by-passing the assembled dignitaries. She married farmer Frank Clum in 1893. They had two sons, Paul and Daniel, and lived on Master Street and in the village of Valley Falls. She was always an officer of the Political Equality Club, and attended county and state conventions of suffrage organizations. She was also very active in the Valley Falls Methodist Church, founder of its Women’s Home Missionary Society. Susan B. Anthony inscribed four volumes of her “History of Women’s Suffrage” to her in 1905, for use by the club. They are in the Valley Falls Library.
History of Women’s Suffrage, inscribed by Susan B. Anthony
Blanche wrote this poem, still included in the annual program booklet for the Woman’s Club.
Poem: “Our Voyage” by B. Clum
Listen my friends and you shall hear
Of a Suffrage Club we hold so dear.
It was on May 13, 1903
When we organized for Equality.
Many are here who remember that date,
When we sailed off in our ship of state.
Rev. Anna Shaw gave us the lead,
And Rev. R.A. Dearstyne bid us God speed.
Our sailing, my friends, was not all fair.
We met with obstacles everywhere.
The antis tried our ship to wreck,
But we cleverly swept them from the deck.
They followed us in every zone.
To tell us “Woman’s place is home.”
But this is past, I’m glad to relate,
And we’ll all make good in the Empire State.
We soon joined the Federation fleet,
Which made our journey more complete,
To be a part of this great crew,
Gave us courage and life anew.
For 15 years we weathered the blast,
13 charter members held fast.
15 youngsters, we’re proud to say
Came to cheer us on our way.
On November 6, 1917,
Our longed for pact was plainly seen.
We landed our ship “Democracy,”
In the land of the brave and the home of the free.
Our aim accomplished, we now change our name,
But to work for humanity just the same.
Ready to do our bit when duty calls,
Long live the “Woman’s Club”
Of Valley Falls and Vicinity.
Blanche and Frank moved to the village of Valley Falls in 1914, where he owned an auto garage. They began to spend their winters in Florida, pioneers in that regard. Blanche died of heart disease in 1919. Her obituary stated she “was a woman of exceptional ability.”
Of course men also formed social organizations. There had been a Masonic lodge in Schaghticoke since 1799. The original lodge disbanded in 1847, but a new lodge was formed in 1867, the Victor Lodge, No. 680, F. and A.M., and is still very active. In February 1891, the lodge celebrated its 25th anniversary. “300 persons were present…The exercises consisted of singing, instrumental music, and an address by the Rev. H.H. Murdock of Valley Falls.” “The glee club of Valley Falls rendered several excellent choruses. At the close of the exercises a banquet was spread.” The lodge bought the building where they had been meeting in the village of Schaghticoke in 1900. The officers at the time were Thomas H. Jackson, T. Edmund Doremus, Frank S. Ball, and W.W. Westbrooke. The first three were relatively young men. Thomas was a banker, Edmund a clerk at the powder mill, Frank a traveling salesman. W.W. was older, a carpenter.
Masonic Lodge and Sample’s Store c. 1910
Another early men’s organization was the Grand Army of the Republic, Hartshorn Post, made up of the local veterans of the Civil War. It was named for Edwin Hartshorn, not a local man, but the President of the Cable Flax Mill at the time the lodge was formed. At the end of the 19th century, these men were mostly in their 50’s and 60’s. They helped each other in times of trouble, attended funerals of their members, sponsored occasional theatrical performances, and decorated veterans’ graves at Memorial Day. For example, in summer 1894 the G.A.R. sponsored a presentation of the popular stage play “Scout of the Rappahannock” at Eagle Hall, directed by Professor Perry. The “Schaghticoke Sun” reported that they raised $200 towards their monument fund. The next spring the post organized the annual Memorial Day (Decoration Day) celebration, which would feature the Valley Falls Cornet Band, ten male voices, and an orator, the Reverend Helms of Dolgeville.
Schaghticoke also had a lodge of the International Order of Odd Fellows. Another fraternal organization, similar to the Masons, the I.O.O.F. had had a lodge which was active during the hiatus of the Masons in town, so from about 1845-1865, according to Sylvester’s “History of Rensselaer County.” The web site of the I.O.O.F. states that the Civil War almost destroyed the organization, but that it rebounded to be bigger than the Masons by the end of the 19th century. The first mention of the I.O.O.F. I find is in 1886, when they participated in the Memorial Day parade and exercises that May. There was a procession from the G.A.R. hall in the Eagle block on lower Main Street featuring the members of the local Hartshorn Post G.A.R., both the Schaghticoke and Johnsonville posts of the I.O.O.F., the Melrose cornet band, the G.A.R. drum corps, the G.A.R. post members from Stillwater, and citizens on foot and in carriages. They marched to the cemetery, then back to the park in front of the American House- where the World War I statue is now. There was a program featuring the reading of a poem by Edwin Hartshorn, “Our Dead Heroes;” a recitation by Miss May Campbell, and an address by Col. Henry Sanford of Albany. The master of ceremonies was local politician John A. Quackenbush. The President of the village of Schaghticoke, F.E. Phillips was parade marshall, assisted by veteran Edgar Fields.
The Odd Fellows Hall, called Eagle Hall, was on the east side of Lower Main Street, number 202. The building was used as a hall until the 1940’s, when the first two floors were converted into apartments. Part of the brick building collapsed in March 2004, and the rest was demolished shortly after. (Mechanicville Express March 9, 2004) Eagle Hall was used for many, many meetings and events during its life.
From the 1860’s, the I.O.O.F. had had a women’s counterpart, called the Rebekahs. I believe that the Amity Lodge, I.O.O.F. of Schaghticoke was a lodge of Rebekahs. An article in the Troy “Daily Times” in 1898 lists its officers as Mrs. Williamson, Mamie Connally, Mrs. Lohnes, and Maggie Connally, though the financial secretary was Lewis Hunt. Mrs Charles Lohnes was named as the head of the lodge in a listing of local organizations in the Schaghticoke “Sun” in 1894. At the time Jennie Clegg Lohnes was a young mother, wife of a man who was a wool dyer at the mill.
St John the Baptist Catholic Church- note the cemetery to the left
Father Driscoll of St. John’s Roman Catholic Church organized a Young Men’s Temperance Society in 1890. There had been various temperance organizations through the years. The Methodist and Presbyterian Churches also promoted temperance. An article in the March 18, 1891 Troy “Daily Times” reports on an evening of entertainment sponsored by the group in Lyon’s Eagle Hall. 450 people attended. An orchestra played. Three young women from Valley Falls sang. A mixed sextet from the church “elicited hearty applause.” A priest from Philadelphia lectured on “Henry Grattan.” Grattan was an Irish politician and member of the Irish House of Commons, who campaigned for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century. The speech was “one of the best specimens of platform oratory ever heard in the village.” Can we even imagine a crowd of 450 in the village for such a program today?
Reflecting the large Irish Catholic population in the town, and especially the village, there was also a chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (the AOH) listed as one of the organizations in town in the Schaghticoke “Sun” in 1894. That year, Hugh Luther was President; Michael Lynch, Vice-President; Edward Butler, Secretary; James Meehan, and Thomas McGovern, Treasurers. James Meehan had a confectionary store in the village at the time, which burned in winter 1897. I think that they were all young men, most working in the mills. A couple had grown up in town, and all had moved on by 1900. Thomas McGovern was “judged a lunatic” and sent to the Poughkeepsie State Hospital (a lunatic asylum) in December 1895. I’m not sure how long the organization lasted, as the 1902 National Directory of the AOH does not list in chapter here, rather one in Valley Falls.
There were also a couple of purely social men’s clubs in the village of Schaghticoke. I don’t know how long they lasted. One was the Empire Club. I don’t know if the club had purposes beyond socializing. Today the Empire Club in the state is connected with the Republican Party, but the articles I have found on the club- which cease after about 1905- do not mention Republicans. An article in the Schaghticoke “Sun” on January 3, 1896 reported on its sixth annual ball, held December 27. Eighty couples attended the event, held in the rooms of the Grand Army of the Republic at Eagle Hall. Dinner was catered by Charles Ray and his committee. The Grand March was led by President E.E. Nutting and Miss Georgia Viall. The “orchestra” was led by local man Ernest Lord, and included a pianist from Albany, cornetist Clarence Lape of Valley Falls, and trombonist Ira Askins of Schaghticoke. The hall was decorated with greens by Seth Firth, Edward Wiley, and John Bracken.
These men were mostly younger than forty, lived in the village, and did lots of different things for a living. Edward E. Nutting was just about 30-years-old at the time, a local boy who was working as a clerk for the Fitchburg Railroad. Georgia Viall was a 33-year-old “cousin” and “Housekeeper” in the family of postmaster Frederick Askins in the 1905 NY Census for the village. So at the time of the party, she was about 23. I don’t know who her parents were, but she continued as the housekeeper for the Askins until at least 1925, when she was listed as a dressmaker. Clarence Lape was in his 20’s, the son of mill owner Thomas Lape of Valley Falls. Ira Askins was a bit older, about 35, a grocery clerk and son of sheriff John Askins. Seth Firth and Charles Ray, both in their 30’s, were housepainters, and Firth had a second job as a “tonsorial artist”- that is, a barber; John Bracken was just about 20, son of a local mason. I have not been able to find Ernest Lord in the public records. He advertised in the “Sun” as a violin and music teacher. And there were many Wileys in the village at the time…but not an Edward. Perhaps he was an Elmer, or Edward was his middle name.
The next October, the Empire Club put on an entertainment with musical performances and dramatic recitations. On November 3, 1900, the club “put in a wire”- presumably a telegraph wire- to receive the election results, which they “displayed on a canvas on Main Street to a large crowd.” In May 1901, the group imported Doring’s Band from Troy to play for a ball. January 18, 1902, the Troy “Daily Times” reported that R. J. Edwards had been elected President of the group. “The members of the club will enjoy a supper at the rooms this evening.”
The “Schaghticoke Sun” also listed a Caledonian Club and a Young Men’s Lyceum in the village of Schaghticoke during the 1890’s. The former would imply that the members had some Scottish heritage, the latter would imply that the organization sought to educate its members. A lyceum could also sponsor debates.
Another way that people socialized was through singing. The “Sun” mentions a number of choruses- most connected with churches- but not all. The choruses sang not just at church but at various social and civic events. One, the Imperial Quartet of P.J. Nagle consisted of Arthur Jones, 1st Tenor; William Ralston, 2nd Tenor; Frank Snyder, 1st Bass; and Charles Wanton, 2nd Bass. P.J. Nagle was the proprietor of one of the saloons in the village at the time. The singers included three teenagers: Arthur, who became a wool weaver; William, who became a machinist in the flax mill; and Frank, a German immigrant who also became a wool weaver. Charles Wanton, in his early 20’s was listed in the Troy “Daily Times” as the leader of the Imperial Quartet at a performance on September 26, 1900. He was a member of one of two black families in the community and died of TB in 1901.
The Schaghticoke “Sun” of the 1890’s was also full of the doings of the Republican and Democratic parties locally. There were periodic meetings, some contentious. Then as now, Schaghticoke was a predominantly Republican town. The members listed were involved in all sorts of local businesses. It is worth noting in view of the rancor between the parties at times today, that John Richards, the Republican publisher of the “Sun”, reported the doings of the Democrats positively, and was very excited by the upset in which Democrat Job Doty was elected town supervisor in 1898.
Jasper Craft earns a place in biographies of Schaghticoke veterans by virtue of his burial in Elmwood Cemetery. He was born in Albany County, probably in Coeymans, in June of 1841. The 1860 US Census for Coeymans, lists his family: father Leonard, 48, a day laborer; plus mother Hannah, 49; Jasper, 19; brother Allen, 16; and sister Alice, 4.
Though in the 1890 Veterans Census, Jasper stated he was in the 91st NY Infantry and Battery E of the 7th Heavy Artillery Regiment, he is not on the roster of the 91st.
NYS muster card for Jasper Craft
His record card does state that Jasper enlisted in January 1864 in the 7th NY Artillery Regiment. He gave his occupation as farmer, and was 5’8” tall, with gray eyes and light hair. He started in Battery A and transferred to Battery E.
2nd NYS Muster Card recording Jasper’s wound
Jasper was wounded in the right shoulder at Petersburg on June 16, 1864. Petersburg was a vicious battle, with both the Union and Confederate Armies entrenched. According to what I have read, the 7th Heavy Artillery operated as infantry for that battle, which may have exposed Jaspar to greater danger. On the 1890 Veterans Census, Jasper stated he was in the hospital for eleven months. Just surviving that long in a primitive Civil War era hospital is quite an accomplishment. He was mustered out in Washington, D.C. on May 26, 1865, possibly right from the hospital. His third muster card, shown below, records that he was absent “sick. no discharge furnished.” He must have recovered well, as there is no further mention of his wound.
3rd NYS muster card for Jasper Craft
I cannot find Jasper in the 1870 US census, but he is in the 1880 US Census in Coeymans. He was listed as 39-years-old, a paper mill worker, with a wife Annie, 29, and two daughters, Mary, 9, and Myra, 7. His mother-in-law, Lucinda Speanburgh, 68, lived with them. By the 1890 Veterans Census, Jasper was in Valley Falls. Why he moved at that point in his life, I don’t know. He applied for a pension about the same time. In the 1900 US Census he was still there. He gave his age as 58, and stated he had been married for 30 years. He was a fireman- I wonder if that was a job in one of the mills. His wife Annie was now 49. Also in the family were daughters Myra, 27, and Maggie, 14, and son-in-law Philip Gorman and his wife Satie, 19, another daughter. Myra, Philip, and Satie all worked as cloth weavers. Speanburgh is still a common name in our community- and perhaps the family moved to be closer to his wife’s family.
Jasper and his wife are buried in Elmwood Cemetery. He died in 1903 at age 62 of lung congestion. Annie applied for a widow’s pension the same year. Annie, or Elizabeth Ann, as she is called on her tombstone, lived from 1851-1929. She and her daughter Myra, who continued to work as a weaver in the cotton mill, lived together.
History of the Town of Schaghticoke 