Author: Kacie Cotter-Harrigan

The last week of the year 1843 was a difficult time for Ballston farmer Uriah Gregory. On December 29, Uriah lost his beloved wife, Tamer, his partner of more than sixty-five years, with whom he shared a life in the earliest days of the new nation.

Uriah Gregory was not a man who would be remembered as one of the leading figures in Saratoga County but his story is noteworthy because he was no doubt typical of thousands of other men who lived in this remarkable period in American history. Thanks to the story told to one of his granddaughters on a cold, gloomy January day near the end of his life, along with pension records and other source material, we are able to preserve a view into life in the earliest years of the settling of Ballston.

Uriah Gregory had moved with his father and other family members from Wilton, Connecticut in the spring of 1776, most likely to Dunning Street (Malta) where his uncle, Michael Dunning, Sr. was an early founder. In July, 1777, just as General Burgoyne’s invasion was nearing its climax, he took a mortgage on his first farm, probably somewhere near where the Ballston Center church now stands. 

Along with many others in the path of the British, Uriah left the area and returned to Connecticut. Previously Uriah had seen militia service, first in New York City with Connecticut forces in the spring of 1776, and the following year in the 13th Albany Militia searching for Tories. Now back in Connecticut, he volunteered to serve as a sergeant with the Connecticut militia of Latimer’s Regiment being sent north to reinforce the American forces under General Gates seeking to block Burgoyne from reaching Albany.

Arriving on the first day of the battle at Saratoga (Sept. 19, 1777), “I went right into the hottest of the battle, where the bullets were flying all around me …the troops being dreadfully cut to pieces.”

Although it is unclear whether he participated in the second day at Saratoga (Oct 7), Uriah did witness the surrender of Burgoyne’s army later that month.

Tamer was a daughter of Hannah Rowland, who had recently married Michael Dunning, Sr., and she and Uriah wed in early 1778. Notwithstanding the ongoing dangers of the war, the pair set about the arduous work of building a life on the frontier. Uriah remembered an incident from those early years that no doubt caused a great strain on their relationship:

My wife had a beautiful set of China, which she had placed upon a shelf against the wall of our frail house. I was dragging one day when the drag hit a stump, and it fell against the house, knocking them all to pieces. This was a great blow to us as well as grief to my wife, as there was not another piece of earthen ware in the whole country.

Still there at the time of the British raid on Ballston in October, 1780, once again the couple, along with a new baby, removed themselves from harm’s way. By 1783 they were back in Ballston again, where they raised eight children and spent the remainder of their days. In 1792 they took a mortgage on land near the Mourningkill Creek and over the years built their new home which still stands on the corner of Charlton Rd. and Goode St. 

After the war, Uriah served his community throughout much of his life rising in the state militia to the rank of Lt. Colonel of the 32nd Regiment in 1803 and serving as a justice of the peace in Ballston for many of the years between 1800 and 1820. He most likely was one of the veterans who attended the fiftieth anniversary of the Fourth of July in 1826 in Ballston Spa and In 1832 he applied for and was granted a pension for his Revolutionary War service.

According to his granddaughter, Uriah was vigorous until his very last days and just a few weeks prior to his death he is said to have driven a horse six miles to break it.  Uriah bore his final illness “with Christian and soldier-like fortitude,” and on October 2, 1844, at the age of 90, the old Patriot left this earth and was buried next to Tamer and two of their children in Briggs Cemetery on Brookline Road in the Town of Ballston.

Matt Grumo is an amateur historian who is retired from GE. For the past twenty-five years he has lived in the home originally built by Uriah Gregory in Ballston and has enjoyed researching the family of this early Ballston settler and Revolutionary War pensioner. He is currently finalizing a book to preserve this history for future generations. Matt can be reached via email at mattg47@verizon.net

As we approach Christmas 2020 we sometimes forget that the holiday traditions we celebrate today in Saratoga Springs have not always been in practice, especially during the 1800’s. A walk around Saratoga Springs in the 19th century would have not offered glimpses of decorated-lighted houses, lawn inflatables and the names of Rudolph, Grinch and Frosty. It was a different time and a different village.

Christmas in the 1800’s in Saratoga Springs would have been enjoyed by a smaller year-round population. Much of the historic stories that we enjoy about early Saratoga are rooted in the wealthy visiting during the summer months. December would have been a very different environment. The population of the village was only between 2,000-6,000 residents in the winter, and that represented a more working-class population, with a few wealthy residents.

Most working-class families would not have started to put up Christmas trees in their homes until after the Civil War.  Queen Victoria of England helped to make the Christmas tree a main decoration starting in 1841. Victoria had married Prince Albert from Germany and he insisted on the tradition he was used to in his native country. London newspapers covered the decorating of their tree in 1848 and word of this event didn’t get notoriety in American until 1849. Even then it was considered to be a tradition that the wealthy would enjoy. It took about 15 years until the common man would embrace this tradition in America.

The Christmas trees of today are usually illuminated by many white or colored electric lights. We must remember that Edison did not apply for a patent for this invention of the incandescent light bulb until January of 1880, so the early illumination was by small candles placed on the branches. Even the tradition of a White House Christmas tree wasn’t started until 1889, when President Benjamin Harrison put up a tree. The New York Times covered the event and described not only the ornaments but the presents under the tree.

A main figure of Christmas today is of course Santa Claus. Santa is also a late comer to the Christmas party. The word Santa Claus is English coming from a Dutch word “Sinterklaas” for the patron saint of the Dutch, St. Nicholas. Stockings were hung on the eve of St. Nicholas Day, December 5th. A poem published in 1821 suggests that St. Nick had a sled pulled by a reindeer. When Clement Clark Moore wrote the famous poem “The Night Before Christmas” in 1823 he had changed the sleigh to be pulled by 8 reindeer and named each one. A drawing of St. Nick did not appear until noted cartoonist Thomas Nast showed Santa Claus in a sleigh visiting a Union Army Camp in January of 1863. Nast’s drawings were so popular that he continued them for many years and over time added a red suit and a North Pole workshop with elves. 

So, Christmas in early 19th century Saratoga was different compared to our traditions of today. By the beginning of the 20th century the trees, lights and names were starting to change until we have a closer resemblance to our view today. Even during this terrible pandemic, Saratoga residents have found ways to continue to innovate and celebrate the holiday. Enjoy the holiday season and as Clement Moore wrote,” Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night.”

Charlie Kuenzel taught at Saratoga High School for 36 years and was co-owner of Saratoga Tours LLC for 19 years. Author, lecturer and currently President of Saratoga Springs History Museum, Charlie loves Saratoga History and can be reached at charleskuenzel@hotmail.com

Today the crossing of Middle Line Road and Geyser Road contains a few houses and a small parking lot to access the Kayaderosseras Creek. But in the mid-1800s, it was the site of a thriving hamlet of several hundred inhabitants called Milton Center. Locally renowned Revolutionary War Lt. Colonel James Gordon became an early entrepreneur after the war. He built one of Milton’s earliest gristmills on the creek by 1800 as well as other small mills to the south in the Town of Ballston.

Attracted by the water privileges of the Kayaderosseras at that point, Milton Center grew to a sizable settlement. Within a few decades it even had its own post office, sawmill, stores, a hotel, and a Mission Chapel of Christ Church. Seth Rugg established the Rugg Spinning Wheel Factory around 1830. It reportedly supplied all of the spinning wheels for the northeastern part of the country. Rugg’s nephew David Stenner established a small tannery nearby.

A man named Samuel Haight arrived on the scene and would go on to have a dramatic impact on local area history. Haight was born in Troy, NY on October 22, 1832. After receiving a good education, he joined his father’s tannery business in Troy. In 1858 he married Helen Vassar (“a young lady of brilliant attainments”) of the famous family of Poughkeepsie which founded Vassar College.

Approaching the age of 40, he decided to strike out on his own and relocated to Saratoga County in 1870, assuming ownership of the former Rugg tannery from John Jacobs in Milton Center. Before long, Haight had greatly expanded operations by adding new buildings and using modern processing techniques. The main building was 50 feet long and 100 feet wide, consisting of a multitude of subsections and additions. The bark mill, boilers, engine, etc. were in the center, the tannery vats were to the west, the currying shops were in the rear, and the finishing department was in the east end and on the second floor.

The well-kept property was described by the Ballston Journal as containing large buildings “two stories in height with basement, and are in good repair throughout, their exterior neatly painted, thereby giving the appearance of a first-class situation, as indeed it is. It is the largest manufactory of the kind in the country.” At its peak, the factory employed 150 men.

In December 1881 a large fire destroyed most of the business. It was discovered by night watchman Charles McCarty on the second story near the elevator. The only other person in the building was engineer James Fitzpatrick, who was just getting up steam for Monday’s shift. Within a few minutes the entire main building was engulfed in flames which could be seen in Ballston Spa five miles away. The stables and office were also burned, but the nearby residences, store, dry-houses, and Literary Society’s hall were all saved.

The total monetary amount of the loss was estimated at a whopping $125,000, but Milton Center would soon lose much more. Rather than rebuild the tannery as it was, Haight decided to move the plant to Ballston Spa to take advantage of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad that operated through town. Within just a few years of the tannery’s removal, the hamlet had almost become a ghost town, as most of the workers moved closer to Ballston Spa to continue their employment.

Haight lost no time in rebuilding his enterprise since his products were in high demand, and insurance covered 90 percent of his losses. By the end of 1882, the tannery was in full operation.

The events of Haight’s death in October 1891 were somewhat mysterious. After his son Theodore made a recovery from a long illness, Haight and his wife sought to refresh themselves with a long drive in the country. While riding, he was attacked by a pain which stayed with him for the rest of the day. He fell asleep that night and never woke up, remaining unconscious until 6 p.m. the following day, when he expired.

Within 15 years of the move to Ballston Spa, the tannery was one of the largest in the nation thanks to the efforts of Haight’s two sons, H. Vasser and Theodore. The firm was reorganized in 1899 when it was purchased by American Hide and Leather. In that year it employed 350 people and had sales of about $750,000. It was an immense complex, comprising over 25 buildings and covering several acres of land on both sides of Gordon Creek. After a century of operations in the town of Milton, the tannery finally closed its doors in 1960.

Timothy Starr is an independent historian and author. One of Timothy Starr’s 16 local history books is entitled “Lost Industries of the Kaydeross Valley,” which details the Milton tannery and many other industries throughout the town of Milton and Ballston Spa. Tim can be reached at Tstarr71@gmail.com