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The Seminary grows
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The original Troy Female Seminary was leased from the City of Troy for 50 years, during which time it had grown from the original three-story “coffee house” building to “a substantial brick pile, four stories high, and some two hundred feet long.” But the lease was to run out in 1872, when “many new…
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Not a fan
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Despite all the superlatives garnered by Emma Willard in her lifelong dedication to the education of women and the training of teachers, it must be said, there were those who were not fans of hers. The unnamed author of a “Review of New Books” in The Gentleman’s Magazine was definitely not a fan. Invoking…
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The Willard Farm
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In 1854, John Hart Willard was selling off the family farm on the Wynantskill in Troy. In 1838, John (with wife Sarah Lucretia Hudson) had taken over the Troy Female Seminary founded by his mother, Emma Willard in 1821. I’m not sure of the precise location, but it can’t have been far from the…
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Emma Willard and the Troy Female Seminary
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It’s rather extraordinary that the 16th child (out of 17) of a Connecticut farmer, a female born in 1787, would become one of the leaders in women’s education. But at 17, Emma Hart became a teacher, soon distinguishing herself and receiving offers from various schools, and becoming the head of the Female Academy at…
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Get yer iron here!
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By 1872, when this advertisement ran in the Troy Daily Whig, Henry Burden had long been famous for his advances in iron work. He began in the nail business and later invented an automated horseshoe-making machine. He powered his factory with a gigantic water wheel on the Wynantskill. He built his iron works into…
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Collar City Oysters
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Once was a time (and that time was 1873) when you couldn’t throw a celluloid collar in Troy without hitting an oyster merchant. J.H. Goodsell, Lewis Thayer, H. Wait, Bailey & Hair and probably several more all offered large, sweet, fat solid meat oysters. The laws of Troy governed where boats carrying fish, oysters,…
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O.C. Buck Shows
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In the mid-twentieth century, when traveling carnivals and fairs were much bigger business than they are today, O.C. Buck Shows of Troy was one of the big players in the region. Oscar Buck was a big player in the showmen’s associations of the day, was on the board of the Altamont Fair, and ran…
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Ale for families and invalids
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From The Troy Daily Whig, February 5, 1873, an ad for the Star Brewery, 146 North Fourth Street in Troy. “A superior article of Ale now on hand, in barrels, half barrels and quarter barrels, put up expressly for the use of Families and Invalids …” The brewery of Theophilus W. Sands was reckoned at…
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One way to promote home delivery
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Okay, here’s a newspaper promotion you don’t see much anymore: in 1921, with a six-month subscription to the Troy Record, you could get a discounted house lot in Colonie Estates. It was “situated near Latham’s Corners within a short ride of Schenectady, Stop 36½. It is an ideal country for homes of people employed…
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Pleasing the most critical woman in Troy
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Couldn’t let Almon Millard (“the man who sells low shoes now”) go without another ad from 1909, this time for his $3.00 “Derby” low shoes, which Mr. Millard was sure could please the most critical woman in Troy. Lest you think Millard only catered to women, consider this copy from another Millard advertisement: “Bless…