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Edwin Nellegar, Upholsterer
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For someone who was in business for decades, Edwin Nellegar didn’t leave a lot of information behind. He was born about 1849, and married wife Alida at age 21. We know he advertised for his upholstery business, irregularly. We know that he took a hunting trip in the Catskills in 1898 (from a time…
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Hotel Borthwick
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This charming edifice (a combination of two buildings, if you look closely) is the Hotel Borthwick. Known in a previous life as the Avenue House, it was located just a bit west of the Capitol at 74 Washington Ave. We’re not quite sure when it was built, but as early as 1868 Avenue House…
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The Blue Factory
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One of our favorite road names in the Capital District (and a favorite road for cycling) is Blue Factory Road. It is named not for a factory that was blue, but for a factory that made blue. Before the age of synthetic colors (in which a Rensselaer factory played a significant role), colorants primarily…
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Sibbie’s Grave
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While Hoxsie clips pictures out of Google books for his own entertainment, Paula Lemire is doing actual research, and has done a tremendous service by identifying the grave of the last documented slave at Schuyler Flatts, a woman named Sibbie. Read all about it here.
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The Fabulous (and Preserved) Hats of John Mayell
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After our brief entry on Latham “The” Hatter, an alert reader hepped us to the continued existence of a number of absolutely splendid hats by another Albany hatter by the name of John Mayell. Howell’s “Bi-centennial History of Albany,” which is famously derivative and occasionally unreliable, counts among the pioneers of the Albany hat…
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Latham “The” Hatter
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From a guide book to the State of New York, we have this description of Latham “The” Hatter (emphasis always his), who was located at 558 Broadway in the latter part of the 19th century. Prominent among the business enterprises of North Broadway is the hat emporium of Mr. George Latham, who is largely…
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The Ark of Albany
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Munsell’s Annals of Albany could keep an amateur historian busy until the end of time, running down all the interesting tidbits. For example, without Munsell, we would never have known that Albany once had an ark. Apparently around 1830 or so, the companies that owned tow boats (probably steam boats by this time –…
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Samuel Penny and Rebecca Rhino
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Buried in Munsell’s “Annals of Albany,” in the “Notes from the Newspapers” section, is this tidbit from 1833 on the death of one Samuel T. Penny. “He was a native of England, had resided in this city about thirty years, and was noted for his biblical knowledge and eccentricities, the latter the effect of…
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Unclaimed Baggage and Storage
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From the Times-Union, December 11, 1914, a reminder that the idea of people leaving behind things they’ve put into storage is nothing new, although a century ago they hadn’t figured out how to make it into entertainment. This announces a public auction sale of unclaimed storage and baggage, “and many other articles which have…
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Edward Boom, Homeopathic Vet
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For this ad from the 1893 Albany Directory, Hoxsie has no answers, only questions. Such as: Dr. Boom? Homeopathic Veterinary Surgeon? Does “and Dentist” refer to veterinary dentistry, or was he a people dentist as a sideline? His reference was a brewery? (This one actually makes sense, as the breweries had large teams of…