In 1800, the Charter of the City of Albany and the Laws and Ordinances, Ordained and Established the bye Mayor, Aldermen and Commonality of said City were published. First in the section of laws was “A Law to Prevent Accidents by Fire,” which was an elaborate set of rules aimed at preventing one of…

From British Pathé, another historic view of Albany’s riverfront, this time from 1931. The title is “Albany to New York — 117 outboards race 136 miles,” but this brief bit of newsreel only shows the first couple of minutes, giving us some fabulous views of both the Albany and Rensselaer riverfronts. On the Albany…

Well, that’s the title of this brief film from British Pathé in 1925. The description is “Motorboat beats express train. Over 142 mile run from Albany to New York. Harmon N.Y. the Express changes from steam to electric power, but boat still leads. USA (U.S.A.).” Here we see only 39 seconds, 10 of which…

More biographical sketches of Albany notables from 1910’s “New York State Men: Biographic Studies and Character Portraits.” These are names that fans of Albany history run across from time to time, but may not really recognize. Andrew Sloan Draper – Commissioner of Education, was born at Westford, N.Y., in 1848. he was graduated from…

In 1910, editor Frederick Hills put out a tome through the Argus Press titled “New York State Men: Biographic Studies and Character Portraits.” It opens with a slightly pompous foreword by Bishop Doane (“One reads the life story, often, in a face….”) and goes on to list any number of men of accomplishment, those…

The first Rufus Wheeler Peckham was a noted Albany lawyer, congressman and judge who perished in the sinking of the Ville du Havre. His sons also became pretty notable. Wheeler Hazard Peckham was born in Albany on New Year’s Day, 1833. He went to Albany Academy and Union College, and was one of the…

Rufus Wheeler Peckham (the first) was born in Rensselaerville (to Peleg “One G Short of a Pirate” Peckham and his wife, Desire) in 1809, and raised in Cooperstown. He graduated from Union College and then studied law, was admitted to the bar at 21, and eventually became district attorney of Albany County. Following that,…

In 1854, Lippincott, Grambo & Company of Philadelphia published “A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States.” It being 1854, the title wound on: “Giving a Full and Comprehensive Review of the Present Condition, Industry, and Resources of the American Confederacy: Embracing, Also, Important Topographical, Statistical, and Historical Information from Recent and Original…