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Thomas H. Sands Pennington, Black Pharmacist
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I started out to write a little bit about Dr. Thomas Elkins, one of the most remarkable and accomplished African American residents of Albany. I was challenged by two things: there is so much to say about Dr. Elkins, and much has already been written elsewhere. I may well come back to him, but…
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Scotia Plans Insane Fourth
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From 1912, we ran across this article impugning the sanity of our original hometown and have just been waiting for it to be seasonal and/or timely again. So here we are. The article from the Schenectady Gazette is headed, “Scotia Plans Insane Fourth.” Schenectady is to have a safe and sane Fourth – in…
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William H. Johnson Talks Emancipation
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In honor of the sudden interest in Juneteenth, commemorating the day the belated word of emancipation reached slaves in Texas, I went off in search of whether there had been any sort of acknowledgements of that day or similar milestones in the Albany, Schenectady and Troy area. Not too surprisingly, that particular celebration, which…
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The Guests of Edwin Forrest
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Branching out a little bit, because it’s our understanding that Philadelphia has a little bit of history, too, and we’ve wondered about this one for a while now. Taking a bike ride through Philadelphia’s other great cemetery, West Laurel Hill, just about a year ago, we ran across this cryptic headstone. On one side,…
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The Life of William Kimbol Johnson
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Updating my genealogy software for the first time in several years made me look at the state of some of my research. For starters, I’ve posted an updated version of my family tree cards which may be of use to anyone in my family. I also found that I had done a lot of…
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G.W. Van Slyke & Horton – Peter Schuyler Cigars
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Scrolling through some old newspapers, this ad caught our eye — not only for its odd syntax (I mean, I guess I wouldn’t want to get in front of a cigar), but for its note that Peter Schuyler cigars had been made for 40 years right in Albany by G.W. Van Slyke & Horton.…
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O’Neill, the Schenectady Swindler
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For a while now we’ve been interested in the story of Emmett O’Neill, the Schenectady Swindler. We hadn’t heard of him before he popped up along with some other research we were doing, but he was quite well-known and his crimes were widely reported across the state. (Various sources spelled his name O’Neill and…
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From canal to boulevard
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Imagine giving a weeklong exposition, with parade and fireworks, to celebrate the opening and lighting of a new street.
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“All Who Attended Were Well Pleased.”
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More for amusement than for historical edification, we present this clipping from an 1867 edition of the Schenectady Evening Star. We haven’t dug in to exactly who Prof. Shepard was or why he was giving demonstrations in the use of laughing gas. Nor do we know which very interesting experiments the second night’s audience…
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Crossing State (And Building a New Union Station)
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When Schenectady was a sleepy backwater, having numerous trains go across the main business street, just feet from the Erie Canal, was probably not much more than a nuisance. But with the growth of the American Locomotive Works, and the opening of the Edison Works in 1886, a serious boom began. Schenectady’s population went…