Hand-Book of Saratoga, and Strangers' Guide

Introduction

TO THE SECOND EDITION. The first edition of the Hand Book is ex hausted, and its author has been urged to pub lish a second. He has done so, having added a few facts concerning the Geology of the county, the probable origin of the mineral water, and a brief history of the excavations and tubing of the fountains most recently introduced to public notice. Author. Saratoga Springs, 1866.

Chapter I

Saratoga. — This is an Indian word of the Iroquois language, and the inflections oga and aga are local phrases and mean place* or " inhabitants of."f And in the same sense the inflection aga is used in the words On-ond-aga and Sac-and-aga. But what meaning the Indians attached to the inflections Sar-at or Sar-agh, in the word Sar-at-oga or Sar-agh-oga, we have not been able to learn. We know of the locality to which they applied the word Saraghtoga, that it was a tract of land lying from forty to fifty miles north from Albany, on the west bank of the Hudson river. J There was doubtless a significancy in the name, for the region was held in high estimation by its immediate occupants, and its merits were not unknown to surround ing tribes, as its traditionary history, so far as it has been discovered, fully assures us; and as is also shown by the public proceedings which were had in reference to it, during the early settlements of the country.

This peculiar tract of country, which was of so * Henry R. Schoolcraft's letter to the author. t Stone's Life of Johnson. X Documentary History of N. Y., vol. i„ p. 156. much importance to a people in a primitive state of of society, lost none of its great value by being trans ferred to an enlightened nation. Wild forests spread over a varied landscape, consisting of table-lands, which sloped gently toward the banks of the rivers; while mountain ridges raised their bold fronts in the distant background, and gave origin to the multiplied rivulets, creeks, and streams, which traverse the whole face of the country, often spreading into lakes which as so many eyes in the face of the landscape, imparted life and beauty to its features. Such a country as this could not but be well calculated to supply with food a race of men like the Indians of North America.

The mountain ranges and table-lands were well sup plied with moose, deer, wolves, bears, foxes, rabbits, and birds ; the rivers also furnished a great variety of fish and water fowl ; and the productive soil gave them am ple returns for all the seed committed to its hosom. With little care, therefore, and only pleasurable exertion, were the Indians of this region furnished with food, in an abundance and variety not undesirable to civilized man of the present period. So also the pelts of the deer, the wolf, the fox, and the bear, furnished ample protection for their persons, against the greatest severi ties of this climate. On the introduction of civilized man to these wilds, they were found to be no less adapted to his wants and necessities, than they had been to his savage predeces sors. They furnished him as much food as they had previously done the Indian ; and in addition he made of the Hand-Book or Saratoga. 5 rivers highways, by means of which he penetrated the interior of the country, and gathered up the rich furs and skins which were so abundant throughout this wide domain, which he bore away to the great marts of trade in his little water craft; on his return trip loading his boat with all kinds of implements and food necessary for the white man, but which were not supplied in the interior.

Thus all the appliances necessary for the de velopment of the country soon found their way along the rivers far into the interior of the forest. And the water falls which had so long remained undisturbed, rapidly became active agents in reducing this immense country from its wilderness state to the fit habitation of a civilized'people. When the agriculturist first made his investments in this new country, we find he selected the very sites which had been previously occupied by the aboriginal inhabi tants. And the wild forests which supplied the Indian with objects of the chase, furnished the civilized man with the variety of lumber necessary to construct his houses, enclose his farms, and build his ships. These facts remind us that the real wants of man in the differ ent conditions of society, are to be supplied from the same source, and perhaps, after all, are not so very unlike as some persons may be willing to believe.

Early Settlement. — In the year 1687, the French in Canada had collected six or seven hundred Indian warriors about them for the purpose of religious instruc tions, and to increase their military strength. It was as an inducement for these Indians to leave their new allies on the bank of the St. Lawrence, possess themselves of the rich plains of Saratoga, and thus make themselves allies of England instead of France, that Gov. Dongan obtained and tendered to them this tract of land, at that time owned by a gentleman in Albany, to whom it had been secured by patent ; * a result very desirable to the English interest at that time. Settlements were made by the whites from time to time, along the banks of the rivers, and the shores of the lakes, lying between the bay of New York and the rich bottom-lands in the valley of the St. Lawrence.

The English settlements were made as far up the river as Lydius, now Fort Edward, in Washington county, where they constructed a fort, built saw-mills, and manufactured lumber of various kinds. They had also supplied them selves with goods, provisions, and cattle, which were rarely to be obtained by the early settlers in North America. This prosperity was to be of short duration. In 1742, information was conveyed by one of M. Pic ket's detachments, that the English were pushing their settlements up to Lake St. Sacrament, and at the same time were making warlike preparations at " Sarasto.""j" • The French general, on receiving this information, dispatched a body of troops under the command of M. Marin, accompanied by Father Picquet. This detach ment fell upon the settlement, burnt the fort at Lydius. and several saw-mills, with the timber attached; took the stock of supplies and all the cattle which they found, along fifteen leagues of settlement, and one hundred and » Documentary History of N. Y., vol, i., p. 155. t Saratoga. forty-five prisoners, without having a single French sol dier killed or wounded.* Sir William Johnson writes to the board of trade, that he is building a fort on Lake St. Sacrament, but which he will call Lake George, not only in honor of his ma jesty, but to establish the dominion of the king.f "I received," says Gov.

Clinton, " an account, on the 19th inst., by express from Albany, that a party of French and their Indians had cut off a settlement in this prov ince called Saraghtoge, about fifty miles from Albany, and that about twenty houses with a fort were burnt to ashes, thirty persons were killed and scalped, and about sixty were taken prisoners. "J This campaign prevented farther efforts at settlement until after the conclusion of peace between the French and English, in 1748. Patents were granted at an early day by the sover eign of Great Britain. One of the earliest grants of this kind was the Van Schaick patent, which included the present town of Waterford. The Saratoga patent was the next in order of time, and contained a tract of land six miles square, and lying on the banks of the Hud son river,'north of Van Schaick's patent.

The Apple patent was granted to William Apple, and lay along the Mo hawk river, extending " three miles back into the woods." But the most important grant which was made in this section of country was the Kayaderosseras patent, which was granted to thirteen individuals, and embraced a * Documentary History of N. Y., vol. i., p. 429. + London Documents, xxxi., p. 178, if London Documents, xxvii., pp. 87, 235, 30th Nov., 1715. large proportion of the tract now lying within the limits of Saratoga county. On the 26th of August, 1702, a grant of land was executed by " Te-yon-nin-ho-ge and De-ron-oeh-rak-has, Maquas Indians, owners and native proprietors of the land," to David Schuyler and Robert Livingston, junior, citizens of Albany. Samson Shelton Broughton, Esq., bought for himself and company a license to purchase the tract of vacant and unappropriated land in the county of Albany, called Kayaderosseras, "adjoining to the north bounds of Sche nectady, on the east side thereof, to the west hounds of Saratoga, on the north side thereof, and to Albany river, on the west side thereof, of the native Indians and pro prietors thereof, for their cultivation and improvement.

Ap. 22d, 1703." On the sixth of October, 1704, in pursuance of the above-mentioned license, a purchase was effected by Sam son Shelton Broughton, Esq., Attorney-General of the Province, Peter Fauconnier, Esq., late Commissioner of the Customs, and Nanning Hermanse Visher, of the city of Albany, mariners, for themselves and the company. of the Indians, Joseph Hendrick, Cornelius, Gideon and Ames, native Maquas Indians and Sachems, in behalf of themselves and all their nation, in consideration of the sum of sixty pounds ($150), current money of the Province of New York, and of sundry goods to them paid in hand. In the year 1683, the county of Albany was organized. At this date Albany embraced all the territory of New York, lying north of Ulster on the west, and Dutchess on the east side of the Hudson river.

During the con tinuance of this jurisdiction four townships were organ ized north of the Mohawk, and west of the Hudson river, viz. : Halfmoon, Stillwater, Saratoga, and Ballston. Eighty-five years after the organization of the county of Albany, there were but ten counties in the State of New York, viz: New York, Westchester, Dutchess, Orauge, Ulster, Albany, Richmond, Kings, Queens and Suffolk. In the year 1791, or one hundred and eight years after the organization of the county of Albany, the county of Saratoga was taken from that part of Albany county lying north of the Mohawk and west of the Hudson rivers. Its greatest length from north to south is forty miles, and its greatest width from east to west is twenty-eight miles. It lies between 42° 46', and 43° 23' north latitude, and 3° 21' and 2° 47' east longitude from Washington, and contains eight hundred square miles.

It is bounded on the north by the Hudson river and the county of War ren ; on the west by the counties of Franklin, Mont gomery, and Schenectady ; on the south by Schenectady county, and the Mohawk river, which separates it from the county of Albany, and on the east by the Hudson river, which separates it from the counties of Rensselaer and Washington. This county is now divided into twenty townships ; the names of each, and the date of their respective organi zations, are as follow : Ballston, organized in the year 1788. The first set tlement was made in this town in 1763, by two brothers of the name of McDonald. The town derives its name from the Rev. Eliphalet Ball, who, with a number of his congregation, from Bedford, Westchester county, settled about two and a half miles south of the springs.

Balls ton Centre, East Line, Burnt Hills, and South Ballston' have post-offices. Halfmoon, lying on the Hudson, was organized in 1788. Crescent, Halfmoon, and Mechanicsville, have post-offices. Saratoga and Stillwater were organized also in 1788. Saratoga has a river margin on the east, the beautiful Lake of Saratoga on the west, and the winding stream of Fish Creek coursing its way from the shores of the lake to the banks of the Hudson at Schuylerville ; these, with its undulating surface and productive soil, make it one of the most interesting townships in Saratoga county. Schuylerville was the residence of General Schuyler, whose mansion and surrounding buildings were destroyed under General Burgoyne in 1777. The place where General Burgoyne surrendered his sword to General Gates is said to be a short distance north of the site of the old Schuyler mansion, on which stands the dwelling-house now occupied by George Strover, Esq. Coveville, Dean's Corners, Grangerville, Schuylerville, Quaker Springs, and Victory Mills, have post-offices.

Stillwater is also on the west bank of the Hudson river, and south of Saratoga. The village of Mechanics ville is situated partly in this town and partly in Half moon. About four miles above Mechanicsville, and on the Champlain canal, is Stillwater village. In this town are Bemis Heights, the scene of the eno-ao-ement between Burgoyne and General Gates, in 1777, so famous in Revolutionary annals, and on which hung results so important in their bearing upon the great struggle between Great Britain and her Colonies. Mr. J. Walker's house is two and a half miles from Patter son's tavern, and two miles from the Hudson river. A few rods south of this house is the " meadow " on which General Frazer fell, mortally wounded ; it is a little west of the road which now runs north and south directly past the place.

Near the spot where Frazer fell, is the common grave of forty soldiers, whose bodies were com mitted to their final resting-place after the engagement. But about sixty rods in a southwest direction was the scene of the main action, which occurred on the 7th of October, 1777. The post-offices are Bemis Heights, Ket chum's Corners, and Stillwater. Charlton. — In the year 1792, Charlton, Galway, and Milton, were taken from Ballston and organized as town ships in Saratoga county. Charlton has post-offices at Charlton and West Charlton. Galway has East Galway, Galway, Mosherville, Whiteside's Corners, North Galway, and South Galway, as post-offices. Milton, Rock City Mills, West Milton, and Ballston. The latter is the county-seat of Saratoga county. It was incorporated in 1807. The village is situated thirty miles north from Albany, twenty-four from Troy, fifteen from Schenectady, and seven southwest from Saratoga Springs.

The village of Ballston is situated in a valley, and is built on either side of the small stream which is a branch of the Kayaderosseras creek. Within the limits of the village are the Mineral fountains, some of which at one time had a high reputa tion for their medicinal qualities ; and large numbers of strangers annually resorted to them for their healing virtues. But, from the nature of one of the substrata which underlie the village, and through which its mineral water percolates, it has been found difficult to secure it at all times in its best forms, and consequently the springs of this pleasant village, which, in times past, were so justly celebrated, have ceased to be used either at the fountains or for bottling. It is well supplied with churches and hotels ; and the fact that it contains the public buildings of the county, adds not a little interest to the village.

The mineral fountains in this village were discovered in the year 1767. In 1772, an individual by the name of Douglass built a log house for the accommodation of strangers who resorted hither for the benefit of the mineral water. During the Revolutionary War, the far ther developments of the town were suspended ; but about the year 1790, Mr. Douglass enlarged his former accommodations for the increased number of strangers. In 1804, Nicholas Low erected the present Sans-Souei hotel; it is built of wood, is three stories high; main building one hundred and sixty feet long, and wings one hundred and fifty feet. Greenfield was taken from Saratoga and Milton in 1793. West Greenfield, Greenfield Centre, Porter's Cor ners, North Greenfield, Mount Pleasant, and Middle Grove, have post-offices. Providence was organized in 1796.

It was taken from the town of Galway. Providence, West Provi dence, and Barkersville, have post-offices. Northumberland is situated on the banks of the Hudson river. It was taken from Saratoga in 1798. Gansevoort and Northumberland are the post-offices. Edinburgh and Hadley were organized in 1801. The former was taken from Providence, and has post offices at Edinburgh and at Batchelorville. The latter was taken from Greenfield and Northumberland, and has post-offices at Hadley and West Hadley. In 1802, Malta was taken from Stillwater. Malta ville and Malta have post-offices. Moreau is a pleasant and flourishing township lying on the banks of the Hudson river. This stream bounds the town on the northeast and on the northwest. It was taken from the town of Northumberland in the year 1805. Moreau Station, Fortsville, and South Glens Falls, have post-offices.

Waterford was organized in 1816. It is pleasantly situated at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers. Waterford is a pleasant village, and for many years was the business village of the county ; but canals and railroads have diminished its importance, and its trade is now inconsiderable. In 1818, Corinth and Wilton were organized. The former was taken from Hadley ; Corinth, formerly called Jessup's Landing, is a small village : it and South Cor inth have each a post-office ; the latter was taken from Northumberland. Wilton has' the post-office. Day and Saratoga Springs were organized in 1819. The former was taken from Edinburgh and Hadley, and occupies the northwest part of the county. Dayand West Day are the names of its post-offices. Saratoga Springs, in the centre of the county, is second to no inland village in the state.

Its hotels are spacious and elegant, and its churches are large, commo dious, and elaborate in finish. Many of the private residences are handsome, and the number is annually increasing in and about the village, of such as belong to gentlemen who have retired upon their fortunes; but the mineral fountains are the great attraction of the place. They are numerous, but few of them have been so per fectly curbed as to render the water suitable for bottling and exportation. This village is one hundred and eighty one miles from New York city, and thirty-six and a half from Albany. It is beautifully situated three hundred feet above tide water. The Kayaderosseras mountain, two thousand feet above the level of the sea, raises its summit within ten or twelve miles of the village, on the west and north ; while the Green mountains stretch along the eastern horizon at a distance of about twenty miles; the high ranges ofthe Catskill skirt the extreme south.

The surrounding country is well watered; the atmosphere is dry and ' highly electrified ; the climate entirely unlike that of Boston, New York, and the whole seaboard, as those' well know, who have been exposed to a sixty days' east wind on otir northeastern coasts. The village is very accessible by means of railroads. Its mineral water is sui generis. It is an article of commerce, and the civilized world are cus tomers; and many thousands of persons annually bear testimony to its happy medicinal effects, when drunk at the fountains. Clifton Park was the last town organized in the county. It was taken from Halfmoon in 1828. Rexford's Flats, Clifton Park, Vischer's Ferry, Jonesville, Groom's Corners, and Dry Dock, are post-offices in this town.

Chapter II

Sir W,illiam Johnson was the first white man who visited these springs, and the first civilized person who applied then as a remedial agent. It is true that Michael McDonald, a Scotchman, who had previously settled at Ballston Lake, was one of Johnson's party, and must have been at the High Rock at the same time with the baronet and his Indian guides; but we havelio information of his having previously visited them, although he had settled so near them. And his visit at this time, was at the instance of Johnson, who, with his party, had stayed the previous night at McDonald's house. Johnson's visit was caused by an indisposition, which so far disabled him, that he was unfit to travel over the rude passes which then lay between this and Johnstown. And we are informed that the Indians bore him in a litter from Johnstown, in Montgomery county, along the banks of the Mohawk to Schenectady, and thence, by Ballston lake, to this place, at that time a wilderness.

Here he stayed some time, used the water, and so far recovered his health that he returned to Johnstown, by the way of Schenectady, on foot. His cure was attributed, by him and his friends, to the water which he drank from the High Rock spring. He being a public man, his cure in duced other white people from the adjacent settlements to visit the spring, and for themselves, to try its virtue. And the sick and the curious could be very often seen winding their solitary way toward this health-giving foun tain, along the trails which led from settlements in old Saratoga, in the vicinity of Snake hill, and back into the wild forest of Palmertown, now the town of Wilton. So important had these fountains become, in 1773, that one Dirick Scowton was induced to remove to them, clear away a piece of ground, on the top of the hill in the rear of the High Rock spring, and build a log cabin.

But before he had completed his rude tenement, he is said to have had a misunderstanding with the Indians who were living about the springs, and found it for his interest and personal safety to abandon his enterprise, which he did accordingly. In the year 1774, one John Arnold, from the state of Rhode Island, with his family, arrived on the east shore of Saratoga lake. Here he heard such accounts of the mineral springs, and the land about them, that he was induced to continue his journey thus much farther. After having supplied himself with articles suitable for trading with the Indians, he procured a canoe, put on board his family, his little stock in trade, together with provisions and some furniture, and paddled from Snake hill across the lake, and entered the mouth of tho Kayaderosseras creek.

This stream he followed about two miles, where he landed; and he and his family taking his goods and household furniture on their backs entered upon a trail which they followed to the mineral springs. On arriving here, he took possession of the house previously built by Scowton, and having im proved it, opened it as a tavern, and occupied it two summers, leaving it the intervening winter. After the second summer he abandoned it. Its next occupant was Samuel Norton, who took possession of the house the same season in which Arnold left it, and made farther improvements in it. The following year he cleared and cultivated as well as he could, the land about him. Norton acted under the pa tronage of Isaac Law, who had previously obtained a title to the land, by purchase from Rip Van Dam. In this purchase Law was associated with Anthony Van Dam and Jacob Walton.

The troubles with Great Bri tain having now commenced, Norton became concerned for the safety of himself and family in their exposed situation ; he therefore abandoned the improvements that he had made, united himself with the British army, and soon after died. His death left the springs again without a white inhabitant. Law left the country dur ing the Revolution, and his property was confiscated,. In 1786, Henry Livingston purchased of the commis sioners of forfeiture, for himself and brothers, the land and improvements which had previously belonged to Law. In 1783, a son of Norton removed to the springs, took possession of the property previously occupied by his father, and prosecuted the improvements already begun. until the year 1787, when he sold to Gideon Morgan, who the same year conveyed it to Alexander Bryan, who built a blacksmith's shop, and an additional log house which he operred as a tavern.

Bryan, we are in- > ■ formed, was horn in Connecticut; at an early day he removed to Dutchess county, in this state, thence to Halfmoon, two miles from Waterford, now in this county, and finally to Saratoga Springs. During the revolu tionary struggle he was at Halfmoon, and, strange as it may appear, he is said to have been a favorite with both parties ; and so well did he manage the matters of dif ference, that he became the confidant of both parties, and was employed as a spy by both Gates and Burgoyne. While the latter lay with his forces at Fort Edward, he communicated to General Gates the fact that Burgoyne had crossed the river, and was marching his army toward Stillwater. This information was considered at the time important to the American army. Bryan was the first permanent settler at the springs after the close of the war.

Gideon Putnam, the son of Rufus and -Mary Putnam, was born in the town of Sutton, in the state of Massachusetts, in the year 1764. Before his majority he purchased his time of his father for one hundred dollars, and married Miss Doanda Risley at Hartford, Conn., daughter of Benjamin Risley. He immediately set out " to seek his fortune ; " his only means of support for himself and wife, being a strong arm and a determined will. The route they took led them to Middlebury, Vt. Here, in the midst of the wilderness they halted, and rudely threw together a log cabin. This cabin was built around a white oak stump which was squared upon the top, and served them as a table ; the cabin was without a chimney. Their seats were made with three legs of wood driven into a piece of timber riven from a log.

The site of this cabin is now occupied by the Middle bury college buildings. Their household possessions consisted of three white teacups and saucers, three white plates, " three knives and forks, a dish-kettle, an earthen tea-pot and a spider." They cut out the top of a stump deeply concave, and then mounted a heavy sweep which turned a wooden pestle, fitted to the excavation in the stump. This homely apparatus was the mill in which they ground their grain. There was a "grist-mill" forty miles from them, but a dense forest lay between, and blazed trees pointed out the way. Their oldest child was born at Middlebury. Not finding this situation quite to their minds, they removed to Rutland, Vt. While at Rutland their eldest son Benjamin Putnam was born. From Rutland they removed to the Five Nations, or Bemis Flats'. • Here they were joined by Dr. Clement Blakesly and his wife, who was a sister of Mrs. Putnam.

" The lay of the country, the quality of the soil, and the appearance of the timber " suited him ; and at once he put up a cabin, which was occupied by his brother-in-law and himself, with their families, to gether with a hired man by the name of Elijah Olds. At Bemis Flats the elements warred against them, and proved more than a match for even Putnam's strength and energy. A violent rain-storm falling in the middle ofthe night, flooded the surrounding country, and drove the hardy pioneers with their wives and little ones, on to their beds, furniture, &c, out of the reach of the water, which covered the cabin floor ; without, as far as they could see, was one vast sheet of water. In this condition was this bold, vigorous, and determined man caged, and unable to extricate himself or his household.

Yet in the midst of all this darkness and distress they were thought of and cared for. A good man by the name of Zophar Scidmore, living on the east shore of the lake, knew that some emigrants had commenced a farm on the flats, and being acquainted with the situation of their cabin, he felt sure they must be in suffering, if not dangerous circumstances ; he therefore loosed his sail-boat, andr taking a light canoe in tow, made all possible haste to their rescue. On nearing the cabin he fastened his sail-boat to some float wood which lay piled upon the bank, and rowed his canoe up to the door of the cabin, and conveyed first Mrs. Putnam and her young child to his sail-boat ; after securing them safely, he returned to the cabin for Mr. -Putnam, whom he also rowed to the sail-boat! Here Scidmore joined Mrs. Putnam, and conveyed her to his own house.

After safely disposing of his passengers, he returned to the flood wood, whither during his absence the remainder of the family had been conveyed in the canoe by Put nam. Reloading his little craft with Mrs. Blakesly, and the other child, he returned to his house ; and in the course of the day, he had rescued the whole family, and had them safely lodged under his most hospitable roof. This calamity induced Putnam to abandon his improve ments at Bemis Flats, and after the storm was over, he, with his family, and, in company with Dr. and Mrs. Blakesly, left the house of their benefactor, and entered on an Indian trail, which they followed to the Springs, then scarcely known ; this occurred in the year 1789. On arriving at what is now the village of Saratoga Springs, he selected a piece of land, near a fresh-water spring, and built a cabin.

This land is now owned by Joel Clement, and the site of the cabin is a few rods to the east of Clement's stone house, in the west part of the village. On reviewing his position at Saratoga, Putnam said to his wife, " This is a healthy place, the mineral springs are valuable, and the timber is good and in great abundance, and I can build me a great house" a desire which had haunted him from childhood. He at once leased three hundred acres of land, girdled the trees about him, and put in his crops, and when he could not work upon his farm, he employed himself and his man Olds, who remained with him for years, in making staves and shingles, which he carried to the Hudson river, at the mouth of Fish creek. The ensuing spring he put them into *a raft, and floated them to New York city, where he met with a ready saly, and returned with means to build a saw-mill.