Boat Museum Artifacts on Display in Geneva Storefront

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Thanks to the generosity of Geneva retailer Joe Fragnoli, the Finger Lakes Boating Museum now has a museum display in place in downtown Geneva. Several artifacts along with some materials representative of the Boating Museum’s collection are now on display in the storefront windows at 430 Exchange St.

The Boating Museum and the City of Geneva reached agreement last fall on locating the Boating Museum and Visitor Center on the Geneva waterfront where the Chamber of Commerce building now stands.

Bill Oben, president of the Boating Museum, said the southern window is set up with a display of antique fishing gear of the type used in the Finger Lakes region during the first part of the last century. Central to this display is an elegant rowboat built in 1940 by noted Dresden boat builder Seymour Smith.

Smith is believed to have built more than 30 boats between 1920 and 1940. In later years he subordinated boatbuilding to his lifelong hobby of carving duck decoys, which are highly prized by collectors today. The display also includes several vintage photos related to trout fishing during that era.

The display in the northern window illustrates this year’s Boating Museum theme of “Sailing in the Finger Lakes.” In addition to a Penn Yan “Captain Kid” sailboat marketed for children in the1930s, the display contains scale models of some of the most popular one-design sailboats competitively sailed in the Finger Lakes during the past century. These include replicas of the Star, Comet, Lightning and Snipe, all built to 1/12th scale. Full-size examples of these famous sailing craft reside in the Boating Museum’s collection, and will be on display on the Seneca Lake waterfront at the annual Boat Show July 24-25 during Geneva’s Cruisin’ Weekend.

“We are grateful to Joe for lending the use of this space,” said Oben. “We plan to use it to display other artifacts and ephemera from the Boating Museum’s collection on a rotational basis while it is available to us, or until our permanent home on the lakefront is ready.”

Books: The Rescue of Fugitive Slave Charles Nalle

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On April 27, 1860, a few months after John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, a group of blacks and whites, including Harriet Tubman, came together to free fugitive slave Charles Nalle from slave catchers bent on returning him to his owner in Culpepper, Virginia. A new book Freeing Charles: The Struggle to Free a Slave on the Eve of the Civil War by Scott Christianson tells the tale of Nalle, a man whose skin was so fair he could have passed for white but didn’t, and relates the of racial inequality, rule of law, civil disobedience and and violent resistance to slavery that circulated in the abolitionist movement during the antebellum period in Troy.

Christianson follows Nalle from his enslavement by the Hansborough family through his escape via the Underground Railroad after fearing that his heavily indebted master planned to sell him. Nalle’s wife and children, emancipated on their master’s death, had already moved to nearby Washington, DC and Nalle had hoped to be reunited with them in Canada.

The Nalle rescue was one of the fiercest anti-slavery riots to take place after Harper’s Ferry and it tested the convictions of the black and white citizens of Troy in challenging the Fugitive Slave Law.

The incident that forms the basis of the book began when Charles Nalle was betrayed to his southern master by Horace Averill (for whom my home village of Averill Park was later named) while trying to seek Averill’s help to write letters in an effort to free his family.

Nalle then moved to Troy and found work with Uri Gilbert, of the Gilbert Car manufacturing Company in West Troy, and began living with the family of William Henry, a black grocer, and also a member of local Vigilance Committee.

Nalle was arrested at a Troy bakery and taken to the District Circuit Court at State and First Streets. Hundreds of people rushed to the court house and Nalle’s jailers took him to a judge’s office in Albany County, with the crowd in hot pursuit.

The crowd stormed the office, and were fired on by police who wounded several people, but Nalle was put in a wagon and escaped to Schenectady County, spending a month on the run. Only Lincoln’s election and the rise of local Republicans kept members of the Vigilance Committee from being convicted.

Local people raised $650 to buy Nalle’s freedom from his master, a man who was also his younger half-brother, and he and his family were reunited three months after his escape. They lived in Troy for another seven years. After the war, the Nalles moved to Washington DC to be closer to relatives and Charles Nalle died there in 1875. He was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery.

Note: Books noticed on this site have been provided by the publishers. Purchases made through this Amazon link help support this site.

Faces of Schenectady 1715-1750 Exhibit Opens

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The recent acquisition by the Schenectady County Historical Society (SCHS) of the portrait of Laurens Van Der Volgen attributed to Nehemiah Partridge lead to the exhibit “Faces of Schenectady 1715-1750” running now through November 1st at the SCHS. Portraits of Schenectadians who were neighbors of Van DerVolgen in “Old Dorp” (now the Schenectady Stockade historic district) are included in the exhibit.

These twenty portraits have never been shown as a group before. Three are in the SCHS collection. Most of the portraits are in other museum collections and four in unknown locations. The portraits are attributed to Nehemiah Partridge, Pieter Vanderlyn and John Heaton. The sitters in addition to Laurens Claese Van Der Volgen include Gerrit Symonse Veeder and his wife Tryntje Otten Veeder, Caleb Beck and his wife Anna Mol Fairly Beck, Jacob Glen and his wife Sarah Wendell Glen, Deborah Glen, John Sanders, Catherine Van Patten and Adam Swarth, Helena Van Eps and Tobias Ten Eyck

Laurens Claese Van Der Volgen was an important figure in colonial New York history. He was captured by the Mohawks as a young lad during the infamous attack on Schenectady in 1690 and taken to Canada where he became immersed in native American customs and ways and learned the Mohawk language. He returned to Schenectady about ten years later. His
knowledge of the customs and language of the native Americans made him a valuable asset to the New York Provincial government. He was appointed by the governor of the province as interpreter and liaison between the natives and the New York provincial government a post he held until his death in 1742.

Laurens translated part of the Dutch Reformed Prayer book into the Mohawk language. The prayer book was printed by William Bradford an early printer in NYC in 1715. The
portrait of Laurens, another portrait of a young child and other family memorabilia were donated to the SCHS by a descendant of Laurens Claese Van Der Volgen.

There are several Schenectady portraits from this period that are known to exist but their location is unknown e.g. Barent Vrooman, John Dunbar and his wife Jeanette Von Egmont Schermerhorn and Cornelius Van Dyke. The Vrooman portrait is attributed to Pieter Vanderlyn, the other three are attributed to Nehemiah Partridge. The Society would appreciate hearing from you if you know of their whereabouts.

Ona Curran is guest curator of the exhibit and author of the catalog. Kate Weller is curator. A seminar scheduled for mid October is in the planning stages. Topics will include the portraits, the artists and the sitters, the use of mezzotints in early portraits, the use of engravings from the early Dutch bibles in paintings, early printing and the Mohawk prayer book and the role of the interpreter in colonial New York relations with the native Americans. If you have questions contact Ona Curran [email protected] or Kate Weller [email protected]

The Schenectady County Historical Society is located at 32 Washington Avenue, Schenectady NY 12305. Hours are M-F 10a.m. &#8211 5 p.m., Sat. 10a.m. &#8211 2 p.m.

This Weeks New York History Web Highlights

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Saratoga National Historical Park Opens New Area

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Tomorrow, Saturday, June 5 at 11am, at Saratoga Monument on Burgoyne Street in the Village of Victory, Saratoga National Historical Park will host a grand-opening of “Victory Woods”, a new park site featuring a fully accessible boardwalk trail just south of Saratoga Monument. After opening remarks, there will be a guided hike, a reception with dozens of community organizations and light refreshments.

The 22-acre parcel now called Victory Woods, was donated to the park from Victory Mills Packaging in the 1970s, but could not be developed until 2005 when the park secured a management plan and necessary funding. Since then, the park moved ahead with archeological and landscape assessments, research, public workshops, design and construction plans. The park worked closely with the Prospect Hill Cemetery Association and the Village of Victory &#8211 two vital partners that provided access to link the site with the Saratoga Monument.

One of the most attention-grabbing findings during archeology work were artifacts found from indigenous peoples between 5,000 and 8,000 years ago, yet remains from the 1777 British occupation were lost to archeological looting over the years. The loss of this archeological record is significant, although archival documents from the period were extensively researched resulting in a series of exhibit panels that paint a vivid picture of the final days of the British Army in Victory Woods.

The event will kick off with comments by local officials, a ranger talk about the site’s dramatic history and ribbon cutting. Then participants will join park rangers for a walk along the 1-mile round-trip trail. A bus will be available to bring visitors with special mobility needs to the accessible boardwalk section of the trail. Both groups will meet there for a ribbon cutting of the accessible boardwalk trail section.

After June 5, the trail will be open daily from dawn to dusk and occasional ranger-guided walks will be scheduled throughout the summer. Soon, the trail will also link with the Champlain Canal Trail and other developing trails in the area. For more information, please contact the Visitor Center by calling 518-664-9821 ext. 224, or check the Park website at www.nps.gov/sara

Albany Institute to Host Free Exibition Preview

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Tomorrow, Friday, June 4, 2010, the Albany Institute of History & Art will host a free reception and preview of the Tomorrow’s Masters Today exhibition, and will name a Master Class of 10 artists. Recently, the Art Auction Committee of the Albany Institute selected 50 original works of art from Capital Region artists to be included in Tomorrow’s Masters Today, an art exhibit and silent auction which will be a feature of the Institute’s 2010 Museum Gala on Friday, June 11, 2010. Tomorrow’s Master Today is part of an effort to promote up-and-coming artists of the Capital Region and highlight the growing artistic wealth of this area. Proceeds from the June 11 auction and gala will support the ongoing programming of the Albany Institute.

The June 4 reception and preview will be held at the Institute, 125 Washington Ave., Albany, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Additionally, on Friday, June 4, the Institute will remain open until 8:00 p.m., and admission to the galleries will be free as part of 1st Fridays, the downtown arts walk that showcases the thriving and lively art scene in downtown Albany. Live music by The Next Station will also be featured.

The Tomorrow’s Masters Today exhibition will be on display at the Albany Institute from June 4 through June 27. To view any of the 50 selected works online, visit www.albanyinstitute.org/tmt.htm. For more information about, or to purchase tickets online for the 2010 Museum Gala on June 11—honoring philanthropists John D. Picotte Family/Equinox Foundation and renowned artist, Stephen Hannock, visit www.albanyinstitute.org/gala.htm.

Communipaw Story Marathon in Jersey City

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A Communipaw Story Marathon will be presented tomorrow, Friday, June 4, as part of Jersey City’s quarterly arts and culture festival, JC Fridays. There will be dramatic readings by professional actors of several short stories by Washington Irving, including three set in Communipaw, from his 1855 collection, Wolfert’s Roost And Miscellanies.

Also included will be an excerpt from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Trish Szmanski will be reading A Tale of Communipaw / Guests from Gibbet Island, the story on which she is adapting a script for theater. According to Trish &#8220The play is coming along well, not done, but close to final in form. Lots of new characters, dialogue, drama, four acts &#8211 exciting!&#8221

Communipaw is the historic European place of origin for Jersey City begun in 1634 when one of the first &#8220bouweries&#8221, or farnmsteads, in New Netherland was built there. The homestead was part of Pavonia, a patroonship of Amsterdam businessman Micheal Pauw. Plantations, worked by enslaved Africans, were located there. The Tappan and Wecquaesgeek took refuge there in 1643 before being attacked by the Dutch in the Pavonia Massacre, which led in part to Kieft’s War.

The village of Communipaw was originally part of the Dutch West India Company holdings. After the British takeover it became part of the Province of New Jersey although it retained its Dutch character for hundreds of years. Washington Irving visited the area often and referred to Communipaw as the stronghold of traditional Dutch culture.

Illustration: Joan Vinckeboons (Johannes Vingboon), &#8220Manatvs gelegen op de Noot [sic] Riuier&#8221, 1639. &#8220Manhattan situated on the North Rivier&#8221 with numbered key showing settlements at Communipaw.

Washingtons Headquarters Open for the Season

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Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site in Newburgh, Orange County, has opened its doors to a new season of guided tours, entertaining programs and special events. The site will be open each Wednesday through Saturday, 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM and Sunday, 1:00 PM until 5:00 PM, and closed every Monday and Tuesday, until October 31st. There is a small admission fee for tours and programs.

Throughout the season, guest speakers will periodically offer presentations dealing with the Hudson Valley’s historic importance, not only during the Revolutionary War, but prior to it and after, in the period of national expansion. The 2010 schedule follows.

August 7th: Badge of Military Merit Day

August 28: Kites Over The Hudson

September 13: Cornelia Tappan Clinton: A First Person Experience (as part of the Dutch Ramble)

September 19: Tryntje Hasbrouck: First Person Experience (as part of the Revolutionary War Ramble)

October 15 and 16: A Night At The Headquarters

December 12: Warm up at the Washington’s (as part of the Newburgh Historical House Tours)

December 27 through the 30: Winter Welcome Week

For more information about visiting Washington’s Headquarters, contact the Museum office at 845-562-1195.

Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site is part of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, which administers 28 parks, parkways, and historic sites for the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in New York as well as the Palisades Interstate Park and parkway in New Jersey. For more information about New York State parks and historic sites, visit www.nysparks.com and for more information about the Palisades Interstate Park parks and historic sites, visit www.palisadesparksconservancy.org

Tracing Your Ancestors to the Dutch Settlers

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Theodore P. Wright, Jr., Ph.D., Vice President of the Dutch Settlers Society of Albany and a trustee of the New Netherland Institute, will discuss resources to aid in tracing your ancestors to the Dutch Settlers, specifically in an area under the jurisdiction of the Court of Rensselaerswijck prior to the year 1665 or in Esopus (Kingston, NY) prior to the year 1661. The program will be held in Librarians Room, New York State Library, Cultural Education Center, 7th floor 310 Madison Avenue, Albany 12230 on Thursday, June 17th, 12:15 &#8211 1:15 PM Online registration is available.

The Dutch Settlers Society of Albany was founded in 1924, in connection with the celebration of the tercentenary of the settlement of the City, and was instituted to: perpetuate the memory and virtues of the individuals who resided here during the time it was a Dutch colony- and to collect and preserve records and information concerning the history and settlement of Albany and its vicinity, including genealogical records of the settlers and their descendants without regard to race, creed, or country of origin.

For more information about this program, contact Sheldon Wein or Mary Beth Bobish at [email protected], or call at 518-474-2274.