Heritage Weekend at New Windsor Cantonment

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Over 7,000 Continental Army soldiers and 500 of their family members encamped at New Windsor, New York, during the winter of 1782-83. From various walks of life, these patriots looked to the future with some hope and a good deal of trepidation. Sunday May 15, from 2:00 to 3:00 PM learn about a few of the camp residents, including, Oliver Cromwell, an African-American soldier in the New Jersey Line and Henry Kneeland, a Hessian deserter with the Massachusetts troops. A military musket and cannon firing follows the presentation.

Following the capture of British forces by the allied armies of France and America, at Yorktown, Virginia, in the fall of 1781, the northern Continental Army returned to the Hudson Highlands. The destruction of the principal British field army in the south broke England’s will to continue the struggle. In the fall of 1782, near New Windsor, over 7,000 Continental Army soldiers built a city of 600 log huts near New Windsor. Along with some of their family members, they braved the winter and kept a wary eye on the 12,000 British troops in New York City, just 60 miles away and waited to see if the spring brought continued fighting or the announcement of peace.

Everyone is familiar with George Washington, the larger than life father of our country, but what about the individual soldiers who suffered unspeakable hardships and the intrepid band of family members who by choice or necessity followed the Continental Army. Despite years of research by eminent scholars, the common people of the Revolutionary War era still remain elusive- phantoms who appear in the historical record for a brief instant and then disappear just as quickly..

New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site is co-located with the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor on Route 300, 374 Temple Hill Road, in New Windsor, NY, just three miles south of the intersection of I-87 and I-84. For more information call (845) 561-1765 ext. 22.

Chapman Opens Harnessing the Hudson Exhibit

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The Chapman Historical Museum in Glens Falls has opened a new major exhibition, Harnessing the Hudson, which explores the history of how people in the region have harnessed the renewable energy of the Hudson River from early sawmills to hydroelectric generators.

In 1903, the Spier Falls hydroelectric dam, located on the Hudson eight miles upstream from Glens Falls, began to produce electricity. Touted at the time as the largest dam of its type in the United States, the dam supplied electricity not only to surrounding communities but also to the large General Electric plant in Schenectady 50 miles away. The dam quickly became part of a network of power plants and transmission lines that supplied power for factories, transportation and lighting in the Capital region.

The brainchild of Glens Falls attorney, Eugene Ashley, Spier Falls was a project that captivated the interest of people far and wide. They were familiar with water power, but electricity was a very new phenomenon at the beginning of the 20th century, and many people were not convinced of its potential. Little did they suspect how much it would change their lives.

The exhibit features archival materials and artifacts principally from the Chapman’s Spier Falls collection but also from other regional archives. Of particular note are photographs provided by the Schenectady Museum and Science Center, which houses thousands of images that document the history of GE and the development of electricity. For those unfamiliar with the physics of water power, a hand-cranked generator and other interactive elements provide greater understanding of the science involved.

In conjunction with the exhibit, which will run through September, the museum plans to hold a series of public programs relating to the theme of Harnessing the Hudson. These will include talks about the history of hydropower on the upper Hudson, the development of the electric grid, a driving tour of mill sites, and kayak tours that explore the river ecology around Spier Falls.

This project is supported by: Brookfield, The Leo Cox Beach Philanthropic Foundation, the Waldo T. Ross & Ruth S. Ross Charitable Trust Foundation, National Grid, the New York Council for the Humanities and general operating support from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

The exhibit will be on display at the Chapman Historical Museum through September 25, 2011. The museum is located at 348 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY. Public Hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday, noon to 4 pm. For more information call (518) 793-2826

Photo: Construction workers installing a 12’ diameter penstock at Spier Falls Hydroelectric Dam, 1901.

Historic Mohawk Valleys 21 on the 21st

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The Mohawk Valley and participating museums nearby in Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer or Saratoga Counties have come up with a list of 21 things to do in the Mohawk Valley for Saturday, May 21st.

The plan was hatched at a meeting of the Mohawk Valley Museums Consortium when it was noticed that there were already a lot of museum opportunities planned for that day. The list of 21 is below, but for a complete list of participating Mohawk Valley Museums and a calendar of events, visit the website at www.mohawkvalleymuseums.com. You can also find them on Facebook.

21 on the 21st

21 Things To Do in the Mohawk Valley on May 21, 2011

(in no particular order)

1. Check out Archaeology Day at Johnson Hall State Historic Site- Walking Tour, artifact exhibit, presentation of a recent dig.

2. Visit Fort Johnson on Opening Day.

3. Watch the Culloden Living History Weekend at Fort Plain Museum &#8211 Scottish Battle Reenactment and Encampment, museum is open.

4. See the “Drawn to the Same Place: Rufus Grider and Fritz Vogt” Exhibit at the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie

5. Take a tour in Amsterdam during the Heart of the City Day &#8211 Tours of the Sanford Mansion, Greenhill Cemetery, St. Stanislaus Church, Lower Chuctanunda Creek, and the Noteworthy Iroquois Museum

6. At 2 PM swing by the Schenectady County Historical Society for a presentation by Neil Yetwin entitled “The Two Worlds of Major Mordecai Myers: A Jewish-American Hero”

7. Drive around and check out some historic churches- Indian Castle Church, Palatine Church, Stone Arabia Church, Episcopal Christ Church or First Reformed Church of Schenectady

8. See the “Canals During the Civil War” temporary exhibit at Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site’s Visitor Center

9. Bike the Erie Canalway Trail from Amsterdam to Fort Hunter

10. Launch your kayak or canoe into the Schoharie Creek at the Schoharie Aqueduct Boat Launch at Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site

11. Be inspired by the view and the history at the Shrine of North American Martyrs in Auriesville

12. Stroll through the Stockade District of Schenectady

13. Purchase some Native American jewelry or other craft item at the Keepers of the Circle Visitor Center in Rotterdam Junction

14. Take a house tour at the Mabee Farm, Rotterdam Junction, one of the oldest homes in the Mohawk Valley or join Beverly Cornelius’ bicycle basket making workshop.

15. Make plans to see the Vintage Ballston Spa Photographs at the National Bottle Museum.

16. Discover the carriage house and the one room schoolhouse at the Old Stone Fort in Schoharie.

17. Enjoy the historic village of Sharon Springs: have lunch at the American Hotel or the Black Cat Cafe and purchase some goat soap made at the Beekman Farm

18. Drive up one side of the Mohawk River and then down the other side. Take photographs of as many blue and yellow historic markers you can find. Pack a picnic lunch.

19. Call your favorite Mohawk Valley Museum and see if they need volunteers.

20. Make a donation to your favorite Mohawk Valley Museum.

21. Visit www.mohawkvalleymuseums.com

Family Search Adds Free New York Records

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The latest additions to FamilySearch’s online collection bring the number of free historic record collections to 600, including the 1865, 1892, and 1905 New York State censuses.

You can search all of the record collections now for free at FamilySearch.org. Family Search is a non-profit community effort sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The site has been adding a steady stream of new record collections each week thanks to Family Search volunteers. You can start and stop volunteering at any time. Find out more online.

Free New York databases now available include:

Births and Christenings, 1640-1962
Deaths and Burials, 1795-1952
Marriages, 1686-1980
Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924
Passenger Lists, 1820-1891
State Census, 1865
State Census, 1892
State Census, 1905
County Marriages, 1908-1935
Eastern District Naturalization Petitions, 1865-1957
Kings County Estate Files, 1866-1923
Northern Arrival Manifests, 1902-1956
Southern District Index to Petitions for Naturalization, 1824-1941
Southern District Naturalization Index, 1917-1950
Western District, Naturalization Index, 1907-1966

This Weeks Top New York History News

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Each Friday morning New York History compiles for our readers the previous week’s top stories about New York’s state and local history. You can find all our weekly news round-ups here.

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Museum Seeks Adirondack Quilts

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Do you have an exceptional bed quilt or pieced wall hanging that was made in, inspired by, or depicts the Adirondack region?

The Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York is seeking quilts for &#8220The Third Annual Great Adirondack Quilt Show&#8221 to be held from September 17 to October 9, 2011. The show open the day of the museum’s Fabric and Fiber Arts Festival and will complement the final season of the exhibit &#8220Common Threads: 150 Years of Adirondack Quilts and Comforters.&#8221

There will be two divisions in the show. Historic quilts (those made before 1970) can be of any theme or technique, but must have been made in the Adirondacks. Modern quilts (those made after 1970) should have a visible connection to the Adirondack region. A &#8220People’s Choice&#8221 award will be presented to one quilt in each division.

An eligible quilt might depict an Adirondack scene in applique or be composed of pieced blocks chosen because the pattern is reminiscent of the region &#8211 &#8220Pine Tree,&#8221 Wild Goose Chase,&#8221 or &#8220North Star,&#8221 for example.

Although the show will not be juried, applicants must complete a registration form prior to September 1, 2011. A statement by the maker is required to complete the application process. For additional information or to receive an application, please contact Hallie Bond via email at [email protected] , by telephone at (518) 352-7311, ext. 105, or through the postal service at P.O. Box 99, Blue Mountain Lake, N.Y., 12812.

Photo: &#8220Late Summer&#8221 by Joanna Monroe was one of the entries in the 2010 Great Adirondack Quilt Show.

@adkmuseum.org>

This Weeks New York History Web Highlights

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Each Friday afternoon New York History compiles for our readers a collection of the week’s top weblinks about New York’s state and local history. You can find all our weekly round-ups here.

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Civil War: Remembering the Seventh Regiment

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It was a military movement, but it was also a party, on April 19, 1861 as the men of the Seventh Regiment of the New York State Militia (the name change to National Guard came in 1862) set out for the Civil War.

&#8220New Yorkers cheered and applauded as the Silk Stocking Regiment marched through the city. The line of march was a perfect ovation. Thousands upon thousands lined the sidewalks. It will be remembered as long as any of those who witnessed it live to talk of it, and beyond that it will pass into the recorded history of this fearful struggle,&#8221 the author of the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Military Statistics of the State of New York remembered in 1866. Read more →

Climate Justice The Focus of John Brown Day

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Climate Justice will be the focus of this year’s annual John Brown Day on Saturday, May 7, 2011. A tradition dating back to the 1930s, John Brown Day is held each year at the John Brown Farm State Historic Site in Lake Placid, to honor one of the nation’s most influential abolitionists on the anniversary of his birth in 1800.

Dedicating his life to eradicating slavery, Brown eventually risked all attacking the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, in 1859. Captured by troops led by Robert E. Lee and J.E.B. Stuart, Brown’s trial and execution are considered by many historians as a spark that help ignite the Civil War 150 years ago.

Climate Justice is a growing global movement that recognizes that poor and disenfranchised peoples around the world bear the least responsibility for climate change but face a disproportionate burden from its attendant effects, such as compromised health, economic hardship from rising energy costs, and displacement, destruction of property, and death due to extreme natural disasters. Here in the United States, the global campaign for Climate Justice is deeply linked to the Environmental Justice Movement, which is entering its third decade of militant opposition to environmental racism.

John Brown Day keynote speaker and Environmental Justice leader Cecil Corbin-Mark will describe the evolution of the Climate Justice Movement and give voice to the rights and concerns of the people who are usually the first and often the hardest hit by the impacts of global warming.

Corbin-Mark is Deputy Director of the Harlem-based organization, WE-ACT for Environmental Justice. In addition to his work in New York, Corbin-Mark has been active in United Nations and alternative global climate conversations from Copenhagen to Cochabamba to Cancun.
“Like slavery in antebellum America, climate change is one of the most important moral issues of our time,” said Martha Swan, director of the freedom education project John Brown Lives! which organizes the yearly event.

“Brown surely would have recognized that it is the world’s poor who disproportionately bear the brunt of climate change, so it is fitting that Climate Justice will be the focus of John Brown Day 2011. In this Sesquicentennial Year marking the start of the Civil War, we are honored that Cecil will be with us at this critical time.”

Other speakers at the annual event include David Goodman, brother of civil rights activist Andrew Goodman, murdered by the Ku Klux Klan during Mississippi Freedom Summer in
1964, Alice Kesey Mecoy, great-great-great granddaughter of John and Mary Brown, and Brother Yusef Burges. A trustee of the Children & Nature Network and an outdoor educator, Burgess will speak about the power of nature to transform youth. A frequent paddler on Adirondack waterways and former outreach and diversity coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Burgess works to connect Albany-area youth with the natural beauty and environmental issues of the Adirondacks.

John Brown Day 2011 is possible with the cooperation of the John Brown Farm State Historic Site. The event is free and open to the public, and will be held outdoors under a tent.
For more information, contact Martha Swan, Director of John Brown Lives!, at 518-962-4758 or [email protected].

Erie Canal Celebrates 200 Years of History

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April 2011 marked the 200th anniversary of the key decisions for the construction of the Erie Canal, a monumental public works project that transformed the economy of New York State.

Two centuries ago, on April 8, 1811, the state Legislature approved a measure that set into motion the construction of the Erie Canal. This followed the delivery of a report on March 2, 2011 of a report by the original Commission.

The 363-mile-long Erie Canal corridor offers numerous opportunities for shippers, boaters, bicyclists and walkers. The canal-side venues are the scenes of dozens of festivals, fairs and community events throughout the year.

In addition to its traditional role as a transportation corridor, the Canal system serves critical Upstate needs for hydropower, drinking water, irrigation and flood control.

The inter-agency Mohawk-Erie Corridor Study is examining how sustainable transportation assets can promote economic growth in Upstate New York.

The original Canal Commission was comprised of some of the most distinguished citizens of New York: Stephen Van Rensselaer, Gouverneur Morris, DeWitt Clinton, Simeon DeWitt, William North, Thomas Eddy and Peter R. Porter.

It had been directed by the Legislature in 1810 to conduct a survey across New York to examine possible routes for the canal. The Canal Commission suggested that such a canal not only could, but should, be built by New Yorkers to link the Great Lakes with the Atlantic seaboard.

The suggestion that a canal be constructed &#8220350 miles through the wilderness&#8221 of upstate New York had been described by President Thomas Jefferson as &#8220a little short of madness.&#8221 Still, the Canal Commissioners had concluded that it was not only possible, but that the benefits to New York, and the nation, would be enormous.

However audacious the plan, the Commissioners’ report accurately predicted that the benefits would far outweigh the costs, whatever the price: &#8220Thus, were it (by giving a loose to fancy) extended to fifty millions of dollars, even that enormous sum does not exceed half the value of what, in all human probability, and at no distant period, will annually be carried along the Canal.&#8221

When the Legislature adopted the Commission report, it appropriated $15,000 for the Commission to continue its work and added two more distinguished members Robert L. Livingston and Robert Fulton.

The New York State Canal System is comprised of four historic waterways, the Erie, the Champlain, the Oswego and the Cayuga-Seneca Canals. Spanning 524 miles across New York State, the waterway links the Hudson River, Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes and the Niagara River with communities rich in history and culture. For more information regarding events, recreational and vacation opportunities along the Canal System, please visit www.canals.ny.gov or call 1-800-4CANAL4.

The New York State Canal Corporation is a subsidiary of the New York State Thruway Authority. State legislation in 1992 transferred the Canal System from the New York State Department of Transportation to the Thruway Authority. Canal operating and maintenance activities are supported by Thruway toll revenues.

The New York State Thruway Authority/Canal Corporation offers a free email service called TRANSalert to its customers via email or text messaging to inform them of major incidents and emergencies that may affect travel on the Thruway or navigation on the Canal System. To sign up for the Canal TRANSalert service, visit the website.