History of Albany, New York (1664–1784)
Encyclopedia
The history of Albany
, New York
from 1664 to 1784 begins with the English
takeover of New Netherland
and ends with the ratification of the Treaty of Paris
by the Congress of the Confederation
in 1784, ending the Revolutionary War
.
When New Netherland was captured by the English in 1664, the name Beverwijck was changed to Albany, in honor of the Duke of Albany
(later James II of England and James VII of Scotland
). Duke of Albany was a Scottish title
given since 1398, generally to a younger son of the King of Scots. The name is ultimately derived from Alba
, the Gaelic name for Scotland
. The Dutch briefly regained Albany in August 1673 and renamed the city Willemstadt; the English took permanent possession with the Treaty of Westminster (1674)
. On November 1, 1683, the Province of New York
was split into counties, with Albany County
being the largest. At that time the county included all of present New York State north of Dutchess
and Ulster
Counties in addition to present-day Bennington County, Vermont
, theoretically stretching west to the Pacific Ocean
; the city of Albany became the county seat
. Albany was formally chartered as a municipality by provincial Governor
Thomas Dongan
on July 22, 1686. The Dongan Charter was virtually identical in content to the charter awarded to the city of New York three months earlier. Dongan created Albany as a strip of land 1 miles (1.6 km) wide and 16 miles (25.7 km) long. Over the years Albany would lose much of the land to the west and annex land to the north and south. At this point, Albany had a population of about 500 people.
In 1754, representatives of seven British North America
n colonies met in the Stadt Huys, Albany's city hall, for the Albany Congress
; Benjamin Franklin
of Pennsylvania
presented the Albany Plan of Union there, which was the first formal proposal to unite the colonies. Although it was never adopted by Parliament
, it was an important precursor to the United States Constitution
. The same year, the French and Indian War
, the fourth in a series of wars
dating back to 1689, began; it ended in 1763 with French defeat
, resolving a situation that had been a constant threat to Albany and held back its growth. In 1775, with the colonies in the midst of the Revolutionary War
, the Stadt Huys became home to the Albany Committee of Correspondence
(the political arm of the local revolutionary movement), which took over operation of Albany's government and eventually expanded its power to control all of Albany County
. Tories
and prisoners of war were often jailed in the Stadt Huys alongside common criminals. In 1776, Albany native Philip Livingston
signed the Declaration of Independence
at Independence Hall
in Philadelphia.
During and after the Revolutionary War, Albany County saw a great increase in real estate transactions. After Horatio Gates
' win over John Burgoyne
at Saratoga
in 1777, the upper Hudson Valley
was generally at peace as the war raged on elsewhere. Prosperity was soon seen all over Upstate New York
. Migrants from Vermont and Connecticut began flowing in, noting the advantages of living on the Hudson and trading at Albany, while being only a few days' sail from New York City. Albany reported a population of 3,498 in the first national census in 1790, an increase of almost 700% since its chartering. In 1797, the state capital of New York was moved permanently to Albany. From statehood to this date, the Legislature had frequently moved the state capital between Albany, Kingston
, Poughkeepsie, and the city of New York. Albany is the second oldest state capital in the United States.
, King Charles II of England granted the land from Maine to Delaware, which included all of New Netherland, to his brother James, Duke of York. In April 1664 four ships with a combined 450-men fighting force set sail for New Amsterdam. Fort Orange was surrendered to the English 16 days after New Amsterdam (the city of New York). Surrender terms at New Amsterdam were quite generous. Fort Orange was renamed Fort Albany, and the village of Beverswyck was renamed Albany, in honor of the Duke of York and Albany, who later became King James II of England
and James VII of Scotland. Captain John Manning was given command of Fort Albany.
The Dutch briefly regained Albany in 1673, during which time the town was referred to as Willemstadt, but the Dutch again lost control in November 1674. Fort Albany was renamed Fort Nassau during this time. It was called Fort Nassau instead of Fort Orange to avoid confusion with New York City's renaming as New Orange. After the English recapture of Willemstadt, all names were returned to their previous English names, but most Dutch political appointees from that period were retained. In 1676, Governor Edmund Andros
of the Dominion of New England
(of which the Province of New York was a part) had Fort Frederick
built at the top of Yonkers Street, today the corner of State and Lodge streets, to replace Fort Albany, which was located by the Hudson River.
Albany was formally chartered as a municipality by Governor Thomas Dongan on July 22, 1686. At this time Albany had a population of only 500. The "Dongan Charter
" was virtually identical in content to the charter awarded to the city of New York three months earlier. Pieter Schuyler
was appointed first mayor of Albany the day the charter was signed. As part of the Dongan Charter the city's boundaries were fixed with Patroon Street (today Clinton Avenue) as the northern limit and the "northern tip of Martin Gerritsen's Island" as the southern limit, both lines extending 16 miles (25.7 km) to the northwest. Albany was given the right to purchase 500 acres (2 km²) in "Schaahtecogue" (today Schaghticoke), and 1000 acres (4 km²) at "Tionnondoroge" (today Fort Hunter
).
In 1689 Albany became a center of resistance to Jacob Leisler
who, during confusion over the Glorious Revolution
, led Leisler's Rebellion
and took de facto control over the colony. Leisler appointed a new mayor of Albany, but the replacement was not recognized by Schuyler or the other city fathers. Three sloops sailed from the city of New York to Albany under the command of Jacob Milborne. Milborne attempted to enter Fort Albany and arrest Mayor Schuyler but was forced to return to New York after a group of Mohawks threatened to intervene on Schuyler's behalf.
On February 8, 1690 the nearby settlement of Corlear (today Schenectady
) was attacked by the French and their native allies. Over 60 people were killed, with more taken prisoner. Simon Schermerhorn rode all night to Albany to warn of the French incursion. This incident (referred to as the Schenectady Massacre
) is commemorated each year with a horse-ride by the mayor of Schenectady to Albany's city hall in addition to other local celebrations.
In 1694 Johannes Abeel succeeded Schuyler to become the second mayor of Albany. His term lasted only one year and in 1695 Evert Bancker was appointed Albany's third mayor.
Due to increased pirate activity in the Hudson River, one of the City Fathers, Robert Livingston, partnered with New York Governor Bellomont
to destroy the pirate's bases in the West Indies. Captain William Kidd was hired to lead the expedition.
In 1696, after only a year in office, Mayor Evert Bancker
was replaced with Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck who was then replaced two years later with Hendrick Hansen. Hansen also served only one year and was replaced in 1699 by Pieter Van Brugh
. Van Brugh and the succeeding three mayors (Jan Jansen Bleecker, Johannes Bleecker, Jr., Albert Janse Ryckman
) each served only one year. Johannes Schuyler was appointed mayor in 1703 and was succeeded by David Schuyler in 1706. David Schuyler served only one year before he too was replaced. Evert Bancker, Albany's third mayor, was returned to office by the governor of New York in 1707 but then replaced in 1709 by Albany's second mayor Johannes Abeel. Robert Livingston, Jr
was appointed mayor in 1710 and became the first mayor since Pieter Schuyler to serve more than three years. A census taken in 1710 showed the population had more than doubled since Albany became a city in 1686. The city had a population of 1,136; 113 of these were slaves.
Queen Anne
gave the Anglican community in Albany the right to build a church. After many years of conflict in which the city council was dominated by those of the Dutch Reformed faith who attempted to stop construction the church, Saint Peters was eventually built in 1717. It was the first Anglican church in New York west of the Hudson River. It is currently located in the middle of State Street at the intersection of Chapel Street.
Robert Livingston was replaced as mayor by Myndert Schuyler in 1719, but Schuyler was replaced with former mayor Pieter Van Brugh the next year. The first recorded instance of a person from Ireland living in Albany occurred in 1720; 100 years later the Irish would become one of the most important immigrant groups in Albany history. In 1722 Albany was home to negotiations between the Iroquois
and the provinces of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia resulting in the Treaty of Albany which limited the Iroquois to west of the Blue Ridge Mountains
. Myndert Schuyler was returned to the office of mayor in 1723. In 1725 Schuyler was again replaced, this time with Johannes Cuyler, who was replaced a year later with Rutger Bleecker. In 1729 Bleecker was replaced with Johannes De Peyster, the only mayor to serve three non-consecutive terms. Johannes Hansen served for one year during 1731 after which De Peyster was returned to office by the governor. Also in 1731 Albany received from England its first primitive fire engine "to spout water" upon fires from a safer distance than using buckets carried up ladders.
In 1733 De Peyster again was replaced, this time by Edward Holland. Holland, despite his last name, is the first mayor of Albany to be of any religion other than that of Dutch Reformed. He was of Anglican faith. John Schuyler, Jr. was appointed mayor in 1740. He was of Dutch Reformed faith and served for one year before being replaced by De Peyster. De Peyster served his third and final time from 1741-1742. Cornelis Cuyler was appointed mayor in 1742.
assembled representatives from the Iroquois Confederacy in Albany in 1746 and successfully convinced them to declare war against the French. Also in 1746 Dirck Ten Broeck was appointed mayor by the governor. In 1748 peace came between France and Britain (and therefore between Canada and New York) through the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
and Jacob Ten Eyck was appointed mayor.
In 1750 Robert Sanders took the oath of office as mayor of Albany. In 1751 an auction was held to sell the rights to operate two ferries, one from Greenbush (today Rensselaer
) to Albany, and another from Albany to Greenbush. Also in 1751, a conference was held in Albany consisting of representatives from the Iroquois Nation, New York Governor George Clinton
, the Indian commissioners from South Carolina
, Massachusetts
, Connecticut
, and the Catawba
tribe.
Since Massachusetts claimed a boundary extending "from sea to sea", which would include the city and much of the surrounding Albany County
, disputes occurred between the sheriffs from Albany and the sheriffs from Springfield, Massachusetts
. In 1751, after some Massachusetts officers were arrested and brought to Albany, the sherrif of Albany County was arrested and taken to Springfield.
Fear of imminent war with France led the British Lords of Trade in 1753 to send letters to the colonies of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, suggesting they meet in Albany to discuss their common defense. The next year all except Virginia and New Jersey attend, but Rhode Island
and Connecticut attend in their stead. Benjamin Franklin
of Pennsylvania presented what is now known as the Albany Plan of Union. The meeting, which took place at the corner of Broadway and Hudson Avenue, became known as the Albany Congress
. Although it was never adopted by Parliament, it was an important precursor to the United States Constitution
. One month later, fears of a war with France came true and new stockades are erected at Albany. Johannes Hansen is appointed mayor.
During the French and Indian War
, Albany was the target of several French plans to cut the British colonies in half. Albany was also the point in which British and colonial troops were assembled, and where several invasions of French Canada, and specifically Montreal
, were planned. By 1756, 10,000 soldiers were drilling in Albany in preparation of attacks on Canada or for defense of the route to Albany. Sybrant Van Schaick was appointed mayor in 1756 and a small pox epidemic occurred. Refugees and soldiers continued to pour into the city as fighting along the routes to and from Canada escalated. Due to the large population of British soldiers, British tastes are introduced to Albany, and the first theatrical performance in the city occurred in the winter of 1757 by the British officers stationed there.
General James Abercrombie's troops were stationed across the river from Albany in Greenbush, next to Fort Crailo
. Dr. Shackburg of the British army composes "Yankee Doodle Dandy" as a mock of the various colonial militias that came to Albany. In 1758 General Lord George Augustus Howe was killed at the Battle of Ticonderoga
and was subsequently buried in Albany, today under the front vestibule of Saint Peter's Church on State Street. He is the only British Lord buried in the United States. The Schuyler Mansion
was built in 1761 by Colonel John Bradstreet
for General Philip Schuyler
, famous visitors in later years include George Washington
, Benjamin Franklin
, and Aaron Burr
.
Volkert Douw was appointed mayor in 1761. In 1763 a second fire engine was purchased. Prior to 1766 Albany had no permanent docks, so in that year the Common Council had three stone docks built. Each were 80 feet (24.4 m) long and between 30 feet (9.1 m) and 40 feet (12.2 m) wide. In 1770 Abraham Cuyler was appointed mayor, being the last mayor to be appointed under a British Royal Commission. Also in that year, a fourth dock was built along the river and the sloop Olive Branch became the first Albany ship to set sail for the West Indies. Additionally, the city sold its remaining land in Schaghticoke. The Gazette became the first newspaper in Albany, first published in 1771 by Alexander and James Robertson.
. Of them, only Schuyler was selected to represent the colony at Philadelphia. In 1775 the Continental Congress sent a committee to Albany to make a treaty with the Iroquois ensuring either their cooperation or their neutrality. It ended with no decision, but ultimately was a failure.
The last Dutch-born minister of the Dutch Reformed Protestant Church in Albany, Eilardus Westerlo (1738-1790)
, began preaching in English in 1782.
Despite the war, the mayor and several others celebrated the King's birthday in 1776, but were disrupted by a mob. Later that month the sign from the King's Arms Tavern at the corner of Green and Beaver is carried to State Street and burned. Philip Livingston
, born in Albany, signed the Declaration of Independence
in July 1776 and on July 9 the New York Provincial Congress met at White Plains
, officially changing the name from "Province of New York
" to the "State of New York". On July 19, the Declaration of Independence was read out loud in front of City Hall to a mass gathering. Due to the war, this was the first year city elections were not held. City elections were not held in 1777 either.
The British copied French plans from the French and Indian War and sent General Burgoyne to Quebec
in order to march on Albany and meet up with forces coming east from Niagara Falls
and north from New York City, thereby cutting the New England states off from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the Southern states. The attacks from the west and south never actually got close to Albany, and Burgoyne's main thrust from the north was defeated at the Battle of Saratoga
by General Gates. On October 16, 1777 Burgoyne surrendered his army to Gates, ending the immediate threat to Albany for the remainder of the war. Burgoyne was then sent to Albany where he lived at the Schuyler Mansion as a prisoner under house arrest. To help protect Albany from further encroachment by British forces based in Manhattan
, West Point was built along the Hudson between New York and Albany in 1778.
In 1778 the New York Legislature meeting in Poughkeepsie
passed the "Act to remove all doubts concerning the corporation of the city of Albany", allowing the citizens to restructure the government. The legislature took over the job of appointing the mayor and subsequently appointed John Barclay. At that point, city elections resumed. Barclay was Episcopalian and the first non-Dutch Reformed mayor since Edward Holland in 1733. The next year General Abraham Ten Broeck was appointed to take over as mayor; he was of Dutch Reformed religion.
On January 27, 1780 the State Legislature met at Albany for the first time, meeting in City Hall on the corner of Broadway and Hudson Avenue. The Legislature convenes again in Albany the next year.
In December of that year Alexander Hamilton married General Philip Schuyler's daughter Elizabeth at the Schuyler Mansion
,". which was Elizabeth's father's house and at the time called "The Pastures". Hamilton and his wife soon moved into a cottage on her father's land, where he studied law in the library of his father-in-law's house. Aaron Burr
also studied law in that library, often getting into a tug-of-war over books with Hamilton. In 1782 Burr also got married in Albany, at the Dutch Reformed Church the Schuylers went to.
With Albany in relative calm after the Battle of Saratoga, not seriously threatened by native or British attacks, Albany could become more concentrated on commercial business, and in 1782 the first bank chartered in the city was created, the Bank of Albany. The American Revolutionary War
came to an end in 1783 and Johannes Beekman was appointed mayor by the Governor. George Washington visited in this year and was presented with the "freedom of the city".
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
from 1664 to 1784 begins with the English
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
takeover of New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
and ends with the ratification of the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...
by the Congress of the Confederation
Congress of the Confederation
The Congress of the Confederation or the United States in Congress Assembled was the governing body of the United States of America that existed from March 1, 1781, to March 4, 1789. It comprised delegates appointed by the legislatures of the states. It was the immediate successor to the Second...
in 1784, ending the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
.
When New Netherland was captured by the English in 1664, the name Beverwijck was changed to Albany, in honor of the Duke of Albany
Duke of Albany
Duke of Albany is a peerage title that has occasionally been bestowed on the younger sons in the Scottish, and later the British, royal family, particularly in the Houses of Stuart and Hanover....
(later James II of England and James VII of Scotland
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
). Duke of Albany was a Scottish title
Peerage of Scotland
The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was...
given since 1398, generally to a younger son of the King of Scots. The name is ultimately derived from Alba
Alba
Alba is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is cognate to Alba in Irish and Nalbin in Manx, the two other Goidelic Insular Celtic languages, as well as similar words in the Brythonic Insular Celtic languages of Cornish and Welsh also meaning Scotland.- Etymology :The term first appears in...
, the Gaelic name for Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The Dutch briefly regained Albany in August 1673 and renamed the city Willemstadt; the English took permanent possession with the Treaty of Westminster (1674)
Treaty of Westminster (1674)
The Treaty of Westminster of 1674 was the peace treaty that ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Signed by the Netherlands and England, it provided for the return of the colony of New Netherland to England and renewed the Treaty of Breda of 1667...
. On November 1, 1683, the Province of New York
Province of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
was split into counties, with Albany County
Albany County, New York
Albany County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, and is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area. The name is from the title of the Duke of York and Albany, who became James II of England . As of the 2010 census, the population was 304,204...
being the largest. At that time the county included all of present New York State north of Dutchess
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...
and Ulster
Ulster County, New York
Ulster County is a county located in the state of New York, USA. It sits in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 182,493. Recent population estimates completed by the United States Census Bureau for the 12-month period ending July 1 are at...
Counties in addition to present-day Bennington County, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, theoretically stretching west to the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
; the city of Albany became the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
. Albany was formally chartered as a municipality by provincial Governor
Province of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
Thomas Dongan
Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick
Thomas Donegan, 2nd Earl of Limerick was a member of Irish Parliament, Royalist military officer during the English Civil War, and governor of the Province of New York...
on July 22, 1686. The Dongan Charter was virtually identical in content to the charter awarded to the city of New York three months earlier. Dongan created Albany as a strip of land 1 miles (1.6 km) wide and 16 miles (25.7 km) long. Over the years Albany would lose much of the land to the west and annex land to the north and south. At this point, Albany had a population of about 500 people.
In 1754, representatives of seven British North America
British North America
British North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...
n colonies met in the Stadt Huys, Albany's city hall, for the Albany Congress
Albany Congress
The Albany Congress, also known as the Albany Conference and "The Conference of Albany" or "The Conference in Albany", was a meeting of representatives from seven of the thirteen British North American colonies in 1754...
; Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
of Pennsylvania
Province of Pennsylvania
The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as Pennsylvania Colony, was founded in British America by William Penn on March 4, 1681 as dictated in a royal charter granted by King Charles II...
presented the Albany Plan of Union there, which was the first formal proposal to unite the colonies. Although it was never adopted by Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...
, it was an important precursor to the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. The same year, the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
, the fourth in a series of wars
French and Indian Wars
The French and Indian Wars is a name used in the United States for a series of conflicts lasting 74 years in North America that represented colonial events related to the European dynastic wars...
dating back to 1689, began; it ended in 1763 with French defeat
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
, resolving a situation that had been a constant threat to Albany and held back its growth. In 1775, with the colonies in the midst of the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, the Stadt Huys became home to the Albany Committee of Correspondence
Committee of correspondence
The Committees of Correspondence were shadow governments organized by the Patriot leaders of the Thirteen Colonies on the eve of American Revolution. They coordinated responses to Britain and shared their plans; by 1773 they had emerged as shadow governments, superseding the colonial legislature...
(the political arm of the local revolutionary movement), which took over operation of Albany's government and eventually expanded its power to control all of Albany County
Albany County, New York
Albany County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, and is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area. The name is from the title of the Duke of York and Albany, who became James II of England . As of the 2010 census, the population was 304,204...
. Tories
Loyalist (American Revolution)
Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...
and prisoners of war were often jailed in the Stadt Huys alongside common criminals. In 1776, Albany native Philip Livingston
Philip Livingston
Philip Livingston was an American merchant and statesman from New York City. He was a delegate for New York to the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1778, and signed the Declaration of Independence.-Family history:...
signed the Declaration of Independence
United States Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
at Independence Hall
Independence Hall
Independence Hall is the centerpiece of Independence National Historical Park located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, on Chestnut Street between 5th and 6th Streets...
in Philadelphia.
During and after the Revolutionary War, Albany County saw a great increase in real estate transactions. After Horatio Gates
Horatio Gates
Horatio Lloyd Gates was a retired British soldier who served as an American general during the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga – Benedict Arnold, who led the attack, was finally forced from the field when he was shot in the leg – and...
' win over John Burgoyne
John Burgoyne
General John Burgoyne was a British army officer, politician and dramatist. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several battles, mostly notably during the Portugal Campaign of 1762....
at Saratoga
Battle of Saratoga
The Battles of Saratoga conclusively decided the fate of British General John Burgoyne's army in the American War of Independence and are generally regarded as a turning point in the war. The battles were fought eighteen days apart on the same ground, south of Saratoga, New York...
in 1777, the upper Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
was generally at peace as the war raged on elsewhere. Prosperity was soon seen all over Upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
. Migrants from Vermont and Connecticut began flowing in, noting the advantages of living on the Hudson and trading at Albany, while being only a few days' sail from New York City. Albany reported a population of 3,498 in the first national census in 1790, an increase of almost 700% since its chartering. In 1797, the state capital of New York was moved permanently to Albany. From statehood to this date, the Legislature had frequently moved the state capital between Albany, Kingston
Kingston, New York
Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, USA. It is north of New York City and south of Albany. It became New York's first capital in 1777, and was burned by the British Oct. 16, 1777, after the Battles of Saratoga...
, Poughkeepsie, and the city of New York. Albany is the second oldest state capital in the United States.
1664-1744
In the period leading up to the Second Anglo-Dutch WarSecond Anglo-Dutch War
The Second Anglo–Dutch War was part of a series of four Anglo–Dutch Wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes....
, King Charles II of England granted the land from Maine to Delaware, which included all of New Netherland, to his brother James, Duke of York. In April 1664 four ships with a combined 450-men fighting force set sail for New Amsterdam. Fort Orange was surrendered to the English 16 days after New Amsterdam (the city of New York). Surrender terms at New Amsterdam were quite generous. Fort Orange was renamed Fort Albany, and the village of Beverswyck was renamed Albany, in honor of the Duke of York and Albany, who later became King James II of England
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
and James VII of Scotland. Captain John Manning was given command of Fort Albany.
The Dutch briefly regained Albany in 1673, during which time the town was referred to as Willemstadt, but the Dutch again lost control in November 1674. Fort Albany was renamed Fort Nassau during this time. It was called Fort Nassau instead of Fort Orange to avoid confusion with New York City's renaming as New Orange. After the English recapture of Willemstadt, all names were returned to their previous English names, but most Dutch political appointees from that period were retained. In 1676, Governor Edmund Andros
Edmund Andros
Sir Edmund Andros was an English colonial administrator in North America. Andros was known most notably for his governorship of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. He also governed at various times the provinces of New York, East and West Jersey, Virginia, and...
of the Dominion of New England
Dominion of New England
The Dominion of New England in America was an administrative union of English colonies in the New England region of North America. The dominion was ultimately a failure because the area it encompassed was too large for a single governor to manage...
(of which the Province of New York was a part) had Fort Frederick
Fort Frederick (Albany)
Fort Frederick was a fort in Albany, New York from 1676-1789. Sitting atop State Street Hill it replaced the earlier decaying Fort Orange along the Hudson River. The fort was named for Frederick Louis, son of King George II. The fort was referred to as Fort Albany in the 1936 novel Drums Along the...
built at the top of Yonkers Street, today the corner of State and Lodge streets, to replace Fort Albany, which was located by the Hudson River.
Albany was formally chartered as a municipality by Governor Thomas Dongan on July 22, 1686. At this time Albany had a population of only 500. The "Dongan Charter
Dongan Charter
The Dongan Charter is the 1686 document incorporating Albany, New York as a city. Albany's charter was issued by Governor Thomas Dongan of the Province of New York, a few months after Governor Dongan issued a similarly worded, but less detailed charter for the city of New York. The city of Albany...
" was virtually identical in content to the charter awarded to the city of New York three months earlier. Pieter Schuyler
Pieter Schuyler
Pieter Schuyler was the first mayor of Albany, New York and the head of the Albany Commissioners for Indian Affairs...
was appointed first mayor of Albany the day the charter was signed. As part of the Dongan Charter the city's boundaries were fixed with Patroon Street (today Clinton Avenue) as the northern limit and the "northern tip of Martin Gerritsen's Island" as the southern limit, both lines extending 16 miles (25.7 km) to the northwest. Albany was given the right to purchase 500 acres (2 km²) in "Schaahtecogue" (today Schaghticoke), and 1000 acres (4 km²) at "Tionnondoroge" (today Fort Hunter
Fort Hunter, New York
Fort Hunter is a hamlet in the town of Florida in Montgomery County, New York, on the Mohawk River at Schoharie Creek.In the 18th century, Fort Hunter was built as a fort near the location of one of the two primary Mohawk settlements. The Mohawk name for the village was rendered variously in...
).
In 1689 Albany became a center of resistance to Jacob Leisler
Jacob Leisler
Jacob Leisler was a German-born American colonist. He helped create the Huguenot settlement of New Rochelle in 1688 and later served as the acting Lieutenant Governor of New York...
who, during confusion over the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
, led Leisler's Rebellion
Leisler's Rebellion
Leisler's Rebellion was an uprising in late 17th century colonial New York, in which German American merchant and militia captain Jacob Leisler seized control of the colony's south and ruled it from 1689 to 1691. The uprising took place in the aftermath of Britain's Glorious Revolution and the...
and took de facto control over the colony. Leisler appointed a new mayor of Albany, but the replacement was not recognized by Schuyler or the other city fathers. Three sloops sailed from the city of New York to Albany under the command of Jacob Milborne. Milborne attempted to enter Fort Albany and arrest Mayor Schuyler but was forced to return to New York after a group of Mohawks threatened to intervene on Schuyler's behalf.
On February 8, 1690 the nearby settlement of Corlear (today Schenectady
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
) was attacked by the French and their native allies. Over 60 people were killed, with more taken prisoner. Simon Schermerhorn rode all night to Albany to warn of the French incursion. This incident (referred to as the Schenectady Massacre
Schenectady massacre
The Schenectady Massacre was a Canadien attack against the village of Schenectady in the colony of New York on 8 February 1690. A party of more than 200 Canadiens and allied Mohawk nation, Sault and Algonquin warriors attacked the unguarded community, destroying most of the homes, and killing or...
) is commemorated each year with a horse-ride by the mayor of Schenectady to Albany's city hall in addition to other local celebrations.
In 1694 Johannes Abeel succeeded Schuyler to become the second mayor of Albany. His term lasted only one year and in 1695 Evert Bancker was appointed Albany's third mayor.
Due to increased pirate activity in the Hudson River, one of the City Fathers, Robert Livingston, partnered with New York Governor Bellomont
Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont
Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont , known as The Lord Coote between 1683 and 1689, was a member of the English Parliament and a colonial governor...
to destroy the pirate's bases in the West Indies. Captain William Kidd was hired to lead the expedition.
In 1696, after only a year in office, Mayor Evert Bancker
Evert Bancker (mayor)
This article is about the Mayor of Albany. For the Speaker of the NY Assembly see Evert Bancker Evert Bancker was an American trader and politician who was Mayor of Albany from 1695 to 1696 and from 1707 to 1709.-Life:He was the only surviving son of Gerrit Bancker, a pioneer fur trader, and...
was replaced with Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck who was then replaced two years later with Hendrick Hansen. Hansen also served only one year and was replaced in 1699 by Pieter Van Brugh
Pieter Van Brugh
Pieter Van Brugh was the Mayor of Albany, New York from 1699 to 1700 and from 1721 to 1723.Pieter Van Brugh was a member of the Dutch aristocracy of Albany. His sister, Catharina, was the daughter-in-law of Rensselaerswyck patroon, Jeremias van Rensselaer, and Pieter was the great-granduncle of...
. Van Brugh and the succeeding three mayors (Jan Jansen Bleecker, Johannes Bleecker, Jr., Albert Janse Ryckman
Albert Janse Ryckman
Albert Janse Ryckman was an 18th Century American businessman and politician.-Personal life:Ryckman was born in 1642 to Beverwyck pioneers Jan and Tryntie Janse. Married to Cornelia Quackenbush in the mid 1660's, the couple eventually had twelve children...
) each served only one year. Johannes Schuyler was appointed mayor in 1703 and was succeeded by David Schuyler in 1706. David Schuyler served only one year before he too was replaced. Evert Bancker, Albany's third mayor, was returned to office by the governor of New York in 1707 but then replaced in 1709 by Albany's second mayor Johannes Abeel. Robert Livingston, Jr
Robert Livingston the Younger
Robert Livingston the Younger was the mayor of Albany, New York from 1710 to 1719. He was the son of James Livingston and nephew of Robert Livingston the Elder. Born in Scotland, he emigrated to America from Rotterdam in 1687 and in 1697 married Margareta Schuyler, the daughter of Pieter...
was appointed mayor in 1710 and became the first mayor since Pieter Schuyler to serve more than three years. A census taken in 1710 showed the population had more than doubled since Albany became a city in 1686. The city had a population of 1,136; 113 of these were slaves.
Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
gave the Anglican community in Albany the right to build a church. After many years of conflict in which the city council was dominated by those of the Dutch Reformed faith who attempted to stop construction the church, Saint Peters was eventually built in 1717. It was the first Anglican church in New York west of the Hudson River. It is currently located in the middle of State Street at the intersection of Chapel Street.
Robert Livingston was replaced as mayor by Myndert Schuyler in 1719, but Schuyler was replaced with former mayor Pieter Van Brugh the next year. The first recorded instance of a person from Ireland living in Albany occurred in 1720; 100 years later the Irish would become one of the most important immigrant groups in Albany history. In 1722 Albany was home to negotiations between the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
and the provinces of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia resulting in the Treaty of Albany which limited the Iroquois to west of the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
. Myndert Schuyler was returned to the office of mayor in 1723. In 1725 Schuyler was again replaced, this time with Johannes Cuyler, who was replaced a year later with Rutger Bleecker. In 1729 Bleecker was replaced with Johannes De Peyster, the only mayor to serve three non-consecutive terms. Johannes Hansen served for one year during 1731 after which De Peyster was returned to office by the governor. Also in 1731 Albany received from England its first primitive fire engine "to spout water" upon fires from a safer distance than using buckets carried up ladders.
In 1733 De Peyster again was replaced, this time by Edward Holland. Holland, despite his last name, is the first mayor of Albany to be of any religion other than that of Dutch Reformed. He was of Anglican faith. John Schuyler, Jr. was appointed mayor in 1740. He was of Dutch Reformed faith and served for one year before being replaced by De Peyster. De Peyster served his third and final time from 1741-1742. Cornelis Cuyler was appointed mayor in 1742.
1744-American Revolution
France and Britain declared war in 1744 and almost immediately forces were assembled in Albany for an invasion north to French Canada. French Canadian and natives attacked settlements north of Albany in 1745 and forced refugees to flee to Albany. In response, Colonel William JohnsonSir William Johnson, 1st Baronet
Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet was an Anglo-Irish official of the British Empire. As a young man, Johnson came to the Province of New York to manage an estate purchased by his uncle, Admiral Peter Warren, which was located amidst the Mohawk, one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League...
assembled representatives from the Iroquois Confederacy in Albany in 1746 and successfully convinced them to declare war against the French. Also in 1746 Dirck Ten Broeck was appointed mayor by the governor. In 1748 peace came between France and Britain (and therefore between Canada and New York) through the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)
The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 ended the War of the Austrian Succession following a congress assembled at the Imperial Free City of Aachen—Aix-la-Chapelle in French—in the west of the Holy Roman Empire, on 24 April 1748...
and Jacob Ten Eyck was appointed mayor.
In 1750 Robert Sanders took the oath of office as mayor of Albany. In 1751 an auction was held to sell the rights to operate two ferries, one from Greenbush (today Rensselaer
Rensselaer, New York
Rensselaer is a city in Rensselaer County, New York, United States, and is located on the Hudson River directly opposite Albany. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,392; in 1920, it was 10,832. The name is from Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original landowner of the region in New...
) to Albany, and another from Albany to Greenbush. Also in 1751, a conference was held in Albany consisting of representatives from the Iroquois Nation, New York Governor George Clinton
George Clinton (British politician)
Admiral of the Fleet The Hon. George Clinton was a British naval officer and political leader who served as the colonial governor of Newfoundland in 1731 and of New York from 1743 to 1753....
, the Indian commissioners from South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, and the Catawba
Catawba
Catawba may refer to several things:*Catawba , a Native American tribe*Catawban languages-Botany:*Catalpa, a genus of trees, based on the name used by the Catawba and other Native American tribes*Catawba , a variety of grape...
tribe.
Since Massachusetts claimed a boundary extending "from sea to sea", which would include the city and much of the surrounding Albany County
Albany County, New York
Albany County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, and is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area. The name is from the title of the Duke of York and Albany, who became James II of England . As of the 2010 census, the population was 304,204...
, disputes occurred between the sheriffs from Albany and the sheriffs from Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
. In 1751, after some Massachusetts officers were arrested and brought to Albany, the sherrif of Albany County was arrested and taken to Springfield.
Fear of imminent war with France led the British Lords of Trade in 1753 to send letters to the colonies of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, suggesting they meet in Albany to discuss their common defense. The next year all except Virginia and New Jersey attend, but Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
and Connecticut attend in their stead. Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
of Pennsylvania presented what is now known as the Albany Plan of Union. The meeting, which took place at the corner of Broadway and Hudson Avenue, became known as the Albany Congress
Albany Congress
The Albany Congress, also known as the Albany Conference and "The Conference of Albany" or "The Conference in Albany", was a meeting of representatives from seven of the thirteen British North American colonies in 1754...
. Although it was never adopted by Parliament, it was an important precursor to the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. One month later, fears of a war with France came true and new stockades are erected at Albany. Johannes Hansen is appointed mayor.
During the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
, Albany was the target of several French plans to cut the British colonies in half. Albany was also the point in which British and colonial troops were assembled, and where several invasions of French Canada, and specifically Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, were planned. By 1756, 10,000 soldiers were drilling in Albany in preparation of attacks on Canada or for defense of the route to Albany. Sybrant Van Schaick was appointed mayor in 1756 and a small pox epidemic occurred. Refugees and soldiers continued to pour into the city as fighting along the routes to and from Canada escalated. Due to the large population of British soldiers, British tastes are introduced to Albany, and the first theatrical performance in the city occurred in the winter of 1757 by the British officers stationed there.
General James Abercrombie's troops were stationed across the river from Albany in Greenbush, next to Fort Crailo
Fort Crailo
Fort Crailo, also known as Yankee Doodle House or Crailo State Historic Site, is a historic, fortified brick manor house in Rensselaer, New York, United States which was originally part of a large patroonship held by Kiliaen van Rensselaer, c...
. Dr. Shackburg of the British army composes "Yankee Doodle Dandy" as a mock of the various colonial militias that came to Albany. In 1758 General Lord George Augustus Howe was killed at the Battle of Ticonderoga
Battle of Ticonderoga (1759)
The 1759 Battle of Ticonderoga was a minor confrontation at Fort Carillon on July 26 and 27, 1759, during the French and Indian War...
and was subsequently buried in Albany, today under the front vestibule of Saint Peter's Church on State Street. He is the only British Lord buried in the United States. The Schuyler Mansion
Schuyler Mansion
Schuyler Mansion is a historic house at 32 Catherine Street in Albany, New York, United States. The brick mansion is now a museum and an official National Historic Landmark. It was constructed from 1761 to 1762 for Philip Schuyler, later a general in the Continental Army and early U.S. Senator,...
was built in 1761 by Colonel John Bradstreet
John Bradstreet
Major General John Bradstreet was a British Army officer during the French and Indian War, King George's War, and Pontiac's Rebellion...
for General Philip Schuyler
Philip Schuyler
Philip John Schuyler was a general in the American Revolution and a United States Senator from New York. He is usually known as Philip Schuyler, while his son is usually known as Philip J. Schuyler.-Early life:...
, famous visitors in later years include George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
, and Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician...
.
Volkert Douw was appointed mayor in 1761. In 1763 a second fire engine was purchased. Prior to 1766 Albany had no permanent docks, so in that year the Common Council had three stone docks built. Each were 80 feet (24.4 m) long and between 30 feet (9.1 m) and 40 feet (12.2 m) wide. In 1770 Abraham Cuyler was appointed mayor, being the last mayor to be appointed under a British Royal Commission. Also in that year, a fourth dock was built along the river and the sloop Olive Branch became the first Albany ship to set sail for the West Indies. Additionally, the city sold its remaining land in Schaghticoke. The Gazette became the first newspaper in Albany, first published in 1771 by Alexander and James Robertson.
American Revolution
By 1774 events in other colonies regarding disputes with the British Parliament over taxation brought Albany into the wider issue of a colonial union for the first time since the Albany Congress. John Barclay became chairman of the newly formed Committee of Superintendence and Correspondence. The committee selected Colonel Philip Schuyler, Abraham Yates Jr, Colonel Abraham Ten Broeck, Colonel Peter Livingston, and Walter Livingston as delegates from Albany (city and county) to the provincial congress in New York that would select the colony's delegates for the Philadelphia meeting of the Continental CongressContinental Congress
The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
. Of them, only Schuyler was selected to represent the colony at Philadelphia. In 1775 the Continental Congress sent a committee to Albany to make a treaty with the Iroquois ensuring either their cooperation or their neutrality. It ended with no decision, but ultimately was a failure.
The last Dutch-born minister of the Dutch Reformed Protestant Church in Albany, Eilardus Westerlo (1738-1790)
Eilardus Westerlo (1738-1790)
Eilardus Westerlo, born in Groningen, raised in Denekamp, and educated at the grammar school in Oldenzaal and the University of Groningen, only held one full-time job in his entire life, as pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church in Albany, from October 1760 until December 1790...
, began preaching in English in 1782.
Despite the war, the mayor and several others celebrated the King's birthday in 1776, but were disrupted by a mob. Later that month the sign from the King's Arms Tavern at the corner of Green and Beaver is carried to State Street and burned. Philip Livingston
Philip Livingston
Philip Livingston was an American merchant and statesman from New York City. He was a delegate for New York to the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1778, and signed the Declaration of Independence.-Family history:...
, born in Albany, signed the Declaration of Independence
United States Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
in July 1776 and on July 9 the New York Provincial Congress met at White Plains
White Plains, New York
White Plains is a city and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located in south-central Westchester, about east of the Hudson River and northwest of Long Island Sound...
, officially changing the name from "Province of New York
Province of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
" to the "State of New York". On July 19, the Declaration of Independence was read out loud in front of City Hall to a mass gathering. Due to the war, this was the first year city elections were not held. City elections were not held in 1777 either.
The British copied French plans from the French and Indian War and sent General Burgoyne to Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
in order to march on Albany and meet up with forces coming east from Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
and north from New York City, thereby cutting the New England states off from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the Southern states. The attacks from the west and south never actually got close to Albany, and Burgoyne's main thrust from the north was defeated at the Battle of Saratoga
Battle of Saratoga
The Battles of Saratoga conclusively decided the fate of British General John Burgoyne's army in the American War of Independence and are generally regarded as a turning point in the war. The battles were fought eighteen days apart on the same ground, south of Saratoga, New York...
by General Gates. On October 16, 1777 Burgoyne surrendered his army to Gates, ending the immediate threat to Albany for the remainder of the war. Burgoyne was then sent to Albany where he lived at the Schuyler Mansion as a prisoner under house arrest. To help protect Albany from further encroachment by British forces based in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, West Point was built along the Hudson between New York and Albany in 1778.
In 1778 the New York Legislature meeting in Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie (city), New York
Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
passed the "Act to remove all doubts concerning the corporation of the city of Albany", allowing the citizens to restructure the government. The legislature took over the job of appointing the mayor and subsequently appointed John Barclay. At that point, city elections resumed. Barclay was Episcopalian and the first non-Dutch Reformed mayor since Edward Holland in 1733. The next year General Abraham Ten Broeck was appointed to take over as mayor; he was of Dutch Reformed religion.
On January 27, 1780 the State Legislature met at Albany for the first time, meeting in City Hall on the corner of Broadway and Hudson Avenue. The Legislature convenes again in Albany the next year.
In December of that year Alexander Hamilton married General Philip Schuyler's daughter Elizabeth at the Schuyler Mansion
Schuyler Mansion
Schuyler Mansion is a historic house at 32 Catherine Street in Albany, New York, United States. The brick mansion is now a museum and an official National Historic Landmark. It was constructed from 1761 to 1762 for Philip Schuyler, later a general in the Continental Army and early U.S. Senator,...
,". which was Elizabeth's father's house and at the time called "The Pastures". Hamilton and his wife soon moved into a cottage on her father's land, where he studied law in the library of his father-in-law's house. Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician...
also studied law in that library, often getting into a tug-of-war over books with Hamilton. In 1782 Burr also got married in Albany, at the Dutch Reformed Church the Schuylers went to.
With Albany in relative calm after the Battle of Saratoga, not seriously threatened by native or British attacks, Albany could become more concentrated on commercial business, and in 1782 the first bank chartered in the city was created, the Bank of Albany. The American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
came to an end in 1783 and Johannes Beekman was appointed mayor by the Governor. George Washington visited in this year and was presented with the "freedom of the city".