IMAGE GALLERY
Photo 1: The Great Equipoise at Saratoga
Photo 2: John Hay “Jock” Whitney and his wife Liz.
Photo 3: William Collins Whitney
Photo 4: Cornelius Vanderbilt “Sonny” Whitney in classic riding attire.
Photos provided.

This week we will take a look at two members of the fabulous Whitney family who made Saratoga their August playground.

Their names were John Hay Whitney, known to his friends as Jock, and Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney who was called Sonny. They were scions of the Whitney line in an era when the two cousins were among the wealthiest individuals in the entire country.

Jock and Sonny were entrepreneurs, political figures, collectors of art, and philanthropists of the highest order. The two cousins were sportsman, superb polo players and stewards of their favorite past time, The Sport of Kings.

THE LINEAGE
The Patriarch of the Whitney family was John Whitney. He came to America from England in 1635. His descendant William Collins Whitney was the first Whitney to leave his mark on Saratoga. A mega successful businessman and political figure of the late Nineteenth Century, his true passion was horse racing. He owned and operated Westbury Stable, taking the name from Old Westbury, New York, a town known for its Who’s Who of American aristocracy. He resided there along with the Phippses, DuPonts, and Vanderbilts. With Whitney’s guidance, Westbury  became one of the leading racing stables in the country.

At the turn of the Twentieth Century Saratoga Racetrack was in a downhill spiral. Whitney saw an opportunity to purchase the track. He and a contingent of investors set on a path to modernize the stands, lengthen the oval and beautify the grounds. It can be said that without the intervention of William Whitney, enthusiasts of the sport would be relegated to read about horse racing at the Spa as a casualty of a bygone era.

Among William Whitney’s offspring were two sons whose love of the sport were on a par with their esteemed father. Harry Payne answered to his given name Harry. William Payne was known by his middle name Payne.

In 1904, Harry inherited his father’s racing stable taking it to greater fame. His stock won an astounding ten Triple Crown events. Of note, in 1915 his filly Regret became the first of the fairer sex to win the Kentucky Derby. His brother Payne established Greentree Stables in 1914. The name was derived from the family estate in Old Westbury. The Greentree brand would become synonymous with horse racing on a grand scale.

ENTER SONNY AND JOCK
The name Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney is as regal as it sounds. His breeding was as impeccable as that of the racehorses he would own. He was born in 1899 to Harry Payne Whitney and his wife Gertrude Vanderbilt. The melding of the families gave Sonny claim to two of the most highly regarded dynasty’s on the hemisphere. 

Five years later Payne Whitney and his wife Helen Hay gave birth to a son, John Hay Whitney. Not to be overshadowed by his cousin, Jock, Whitney’s lineage on the maternal side included his grandfather, a great American Statesman, John Hay. Hay counted among his successes the privilege of being Abraham Lincoln’s Private Secretary, as well  as serving as Secretary of State under both William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.

The Union of the two families created the ideal marriage of the business and political worlds.

The Whitney cousins took the same educational journey. They both completed their pre college studies at Groton, one of America’s foremost private prep schools. Fellow alumni included Franklin Roosevelt, Henry DuPont, Averill Harriman and Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Then it was on to a family tradition of graduating from Yale University, an Ivy League Institution dating back to 1701.

FORTUNES AND THE SPORT OF KINGS
Payne Whitney passed away In 1927. He was only 51 years old. With that, his wealth passed into the hands of Jock and his sister Joan. The estate valued at nearly 200 million dollars was at the time the largest fortune entered into probate in the history of the United States.

Upon their mother Helen’s death Greentree Stable became a joint venture of the siblings that would last until Jocks  death four decades later. The property that housed the Greentree stock during the Saratoga racing season sits adjacent to Claire Court on Nelson Avenue. The sprawling grounds also served as Jock’s summer residence.

Joan Whitney Payson later became well known in the baseball world as the original owner of the New York Mets. Under her direction The Amazing’s went from the worst team in the history of the sport to a World Championship seven years later.

Mrs. Payson, as she was fondly known, made Saratoga her August home for much of her adult life. The residence at the end of Phila St. intersecting Nelson Ave. is a marvel of Queen Anne Victorian architecture. 

1927 was also an important year for Sonny Whitney. Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic Ocean, landing his aircraft at Le Bourget Airport outside of Paris. Aviation was entering a new phase, Sonny always ahead of the curve, envisioned the future of it. Later that year along with Juan Trippe, an aviation pioneer and fellow Yale alumni, he formed Pan American Airlines. The investment proved to be a grand slam home run. Pan Am led the way in almost every aspect of air travel for the next half century.

Harry Payne Whitney’s life came to an end in 1930. With that Sonny took ownership of his late fathers stable. Sonny would race the horses under his own name, C. V. Whitney.

Sonny was an immediate success as a race horse owner. His colt Equipoise became one of the all time greats. He was considered the best horse in training for both 1932 and 1933. 

The Whitney Stakes was inaugurated in 1928 to memorialize the Whitney families contributions to the sport. The 1932 version, here at the Spa was a special event for Sonny. His great champion Equipoise took the race wire to wire. With it came the first of his four coveted Whitney Stakes trophies.

Jock and his sister Joan were also off to the races. Although at the time Greentree was still owned by their mother, the two were heavily involved with the operation.

The Greentree response to Equipose was a colt named Twenty Grand. He had a remarkable career. Separated from the 1931 Triple Crown by just a length and half loss in the Preakness Stakes, he went on to take the coveted Travers here at Saratoga. The year 1931 belonged to Twenty Grand. In 1957 both Equipoise and Twenty Grand were inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame here on Union Avenue.

The cousins were riding high in the horse racing world. Next, they moved in on Hollywood.

GONE WITH THE WIND
The movie industry was in its infancy. Both Jock and Sonny were quick to grab a piece of the action. Motion pictures in the early 1930s were filmed in black and white. The cousins bought into a new technology  known as technicolor. They invested what amounted to a fifteen percent stake in an invention that would change the face of the movie industry.

Then they set their eyes on the production of motion pictures. Gone With The Wind, to this day considered the greatest movie of all time, had the Whitney name written all over it. The cousins financed the making of the masterpiece. Jock, in fact held the title of Chairman of the Board of Selznick International when the movie was filmed in 1939.

The decade also saw the first of two marriages for Jock. In 1930 he wed one of the notable socialites of the era, Elizabeth Altemus. She was tough, brassy and beautiful. Although they divorced after ten years, Liz branched out and raced quality horses of her own until her death in 1988. She owned the champion Porterhouse, along with many major stakes winners. Liz also kept a residence here. Her horse farm located on Fitch Road, is now the site of McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds.

The thirties were over. A new decade was about to begin. A World War was on the horizon.

Next week we will take a look at the cousins’ contributions to the war effort and their leap into government service. Then we will see how they brought their brand of horse racing to a higher level. We will follow Sonny and his bride Mary Lou as they lead the way in the Renaissance of Saratoga, “The August Place To Be.” Stay tuned. 

In winter, it stands silently like a lonely sentinel, set back from Ballard Road. Day and night the traffic whizzes by the Town of Wilton’s Veteran’s Honor Roll, yet its presence is overlooked by most.   

There is a stone bench for the rare visitor to rest upon and perhaps contemplate the meaning of the honor roll and the lives that were once lived. An American Flag flies proudly at the top of a pole.Just below it flies a POW flag to further remind us of what many endured in service to their country. 

This is not the first monument to honor our veterans.   In July of 1919, a bronze tablet was erected by the citizens of Wilton, in tribute to the 57 soldiers, sailors, and marines from Wilton that served in WorldWar I. That bronze tablet now resides within the Wilton Heritage Society Museum, located on Parkhurst Rd., at the base of Mt. McGregor.   

The original WWII Honor Roll was constructed in 1942 and stood in front of the old Wilton Town Hall on Ballard Road. The monument was destroyed by a snowplow in 1970, and subsequently the Town Hall itself burned down in 1973. According to the Glens Falls Times the monument was dedicated on December 6, 1942 – one day before the one-year anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The dedication ceremony was witnessed by a large crowd, including parents of men in service, Boy and Girl Scouts, members of defense organizations, and local dignitaries. Music was provided by the South Glens Falls High School Band.

At the close of the service, a procession was led by William Petingill, the only young man home on leave at this time. Mrs. Foster Huntley, the mother of the first Wilton casualty John Huntley Jr., read the dedication and unveiled the Honor Roll. The Wilton families were proud of the sons, fathers and daughters ready to fight in the World War in Europe and  Asia.

The original Honor Roll contained the names of 86 service members. In 2005 the honor roll was relocated and replaced by an updated version which honors more than 200 veterans of World War II and the Korean War. A Mount McGregor corrections officer, Joseph Maniaci had read about the former monument and contacted town historian Jeannine Woutersz. Together the idea arose to recreate the monument. The town supplied the wood, paint and other supplies, and under the supervision of the prison vocational instructor Stephen Pentlen, prison inmates participated in this unique community service project. Prison superintendent Harold McKinney stated “The inmates are proud of their work” and “The guys who worked on this were skilled.” Over 400 hours were spent hand painting the many names. 

While the monument was a welcome gift to the town of Wilton, the materials used have not withstood the test of time. After being exposed to the elements for 15 years, the Honor Roll has become faded and is quickly deteriorating. The front side, with a hand-carved, gold-colored eagle atop still puts on a good face, honoring those who have served, but the backside of this Honor Roll is far less dignified – the wooden framing is beginning to rot, the board that the names are stenciled upon itself is starting to separate. 

As we enter 2021, a committee is forming, composed of people in Wilton and the surrounding area who will work toward getting the Honor Roll replaced and updated with the names of veterans from subsequent conflicts, most notably the VietNam War, and the two Gulf Wars. The committee was envisioned by our former town historian Jeannine Woutersz and retired educator Harriet Finch, who refers to this civic monument as “Sacred Space.” Our goal is to create a comprehensive, inclusive list of all Wilton Veterans and the time they served, and to honor their service with a new memorial. 

The biggest challenge will be to raise the funds necessary to construct the monument. For over 200 years our town has shown generous community spirit, so we are optimistic that we can raise the funds needed to complete this project that is so important to the heart and history of our community. For more information, contact Town of Wilton Historian Karen James.

Karen James is a life-long civil servant, retired after a 36-year career in Information Technology for New York State. She first became interested in Wilton History when she authored “First Town Meeting, Wilton NY”, a reenactment of that 1818 meeting, for the Wilton Bicentennial. Karen is currently the Wilton Town Historian and can be reached at Historian@townofwilton.com

Spencer Trask awoke on the morning of December 31, 1909 in the last compartment of the last sleeper car on the Montreal Express as it neared New York City on the D&H Railroad line. Getting dressed, his thoughts may have turned to the three passions that dominated his life of 65 years. He did not know then that it would the final day of his eventful life.

Trask was born in 1844 in Brooklyn, the son of Alanson Trask and Sarah Marquand Trask. His early years were immersed in his first passion, to become a successful businessman like his father. Alanson Trask was a New Englander of Puritan stock, descended from a family that arrived in Massachusetts in 1628. Two centuries later, Alanson became the first of the family to move away, settling in New York City. The Trasks were a prominent family of some means, but Alanson took their fortunes to a new level. Investing in a shoe manufacturing business during the Civil War, he became an overnight multi-millionaire by today’s standards, selling shoes and other goods to the Union Army.

Son Spencer entered Princeton in 1862, and upon graduating 4 years later entered the investment banking field. Focusing first on providing venture capital funds to the idea men of the post-Civil War era, he had an uncanny ability to pick winners, most famously backing unknown inventers, such as Thomas Edison. Later he and his firm, Spencer Trask & Co., took on the challenge of rescuing struggling businesses. About to go under, he was among the financiers that saved the New York Times from bankruptcy, becoming President of the newspaper from 1897 to 1906.

By that time, his fortune made, he could indulge his other passions. In 1874 he had married Kate Nichols, daughter of another elite New York family, whose own passions centered around the cultural and literary world. That partnership was to bear fruit in later years. The Yaddo Corporation, first conceived by the Trasks in 1900, opens its doors to members of the artistic community after his death. Authors, painters, sculptors and musicians availed themselves of that restful retreat located in the woodlands near the Saratoga racecourse.

For Spencer and Kate Trask, the decade of the 1880’s was filled with both joy and sorrow. In 1880 their first child, Alanson, named after his grandfather, died at the age of five at their Brooklyn home. Distraught, they made a life changing decision to seek a peaceful place in the country to help them deal with their loss. They were already familiar with the resort town of Saratoga Springs, having visited there during the summer social season. Spencer’s father had retired there and taken up residence in an estate he named ”Ooweekin,” Home of Rest, in the native Iroquois language. In 1881 they leased the former Barhydt estate for the summer. Kate was so enchanted they purchased the 155-acre property for $16,500 the next year. Father and son now owned adjacent retirement estates. Ooweekin was on Nelson Avenue, (later the estate and horse training facility owned by John Hay Whitney), and the soon-to-be named Yaddo on Union Avenue, connected by a road now enveloped by private property south of the NYRA backstretch.

Tragedy struck again in 1888 when daughter Christina and son Spencer, Jr. died of diphtheria they had contracted from their mother Kate, who survived. One year later their fourth child, Katrina died three days after birth. Saddened, but still resilient, they plunged themselves into expanding their estate. When their renovated Queen Anne style home was destroyed by fire in 1891, they immediately set to work to construct the large Gothic style mansion, still the centerpiece of Yaddo today.

During this time, Spencer indulged his third passion – using his resources and influence to address what he saw as the dark side of the Gilded Age. In a town whose life blood was gambling, he railed against it, spending $50,000 and creating his own newspaper, the Saratoga Union to promote his views. When several companies were formed in the 1890’s to extract carbonic gas from the springs – thereby threatening the springs and their park-like surroundings – he swung into action. Trask worked with Governor Hughes to secure passage of the Anti-Pumping  Act of 1908, followed by the establishment of the State Reservation in 1909, which was given the authority to purchase the land that was to become the Saratoga Spa State Park.

Trask was appointed to head the three-member commission and it was on Reservation business  that he traveled to New York on the last day of 1909. While dressing in his compartment, the train was halted by a signal. A freight train following behind failed to stop and plowed into the passenger train, crushing the last car, and ending the life of this man of many virtues. His legacy lives on in his adopted hometown. Katrina commissioned family friend Daniel Chester French to sculpt the  Spirit of Life in Congress Park in his honor, and Yaddo continues to welcome artists to its peaceful grounds.

Jim Richmond is a local independent historian, and the author of two books, “War on the Middleline” and “Milton, New York, A New Town in a New Nation” with co-author Kim McCartney. He is currently researching the early history of today’s Saratoga Spa State Park. Jim is also a founding member of the Saratoga County History Roundtable and can be reached at SaratogaCoHistoryRoundtable@gmail.com

On Christmas morning, December 25, 1945, the residents of Malta were startled by a loud noise coming from the heart of Luther Forest. It was not the clatter of Santa’s reindeer on the roof but instead America’s race to the Moon had begun.

Toward the end of World War II the American Army became concerned about the V-2 missiles Germany was raining on London so they asked that engineers from the Schenectady General Electric plant go to Europe and interview the captured Germen scientists and select the papers, drawings and actual rocket parts to be shipped back to America. A team, under the direction of Dr. Richard Porter, went to Peenemunde and Nordhausen where the rockets had been developed. They interviewed Werhner von Braun and his team, confiscated “tons” of papers and drawings, as well as actual rocket parts. The team identified which scientists and engineers should be brought back to the States. The campaign was code named “Operation Paperclip.”

Simultaneously another G.E. team was tasked with finding a convenient but secluded spot to build a test facility. They found it tucked among the towering pines of the Luther Forest Preserve, a 7,000 acre forest sanctuary in the towns of Malta and Stillwater that had been developed by the Luther family.  The Army took 165 acres of the vast forest by eminent domain and later added a “security zone” – a one mile easement in all directions from the main facility in which “No one can inhabit, stay overnight or carry guns.”  Here, the Malta Rocket Test Station was constructed and from 1945 until the mid-1960s, rocket engines were assembled and put through “stationary” ground tests, i.e. the engine were harnessed to a large gantry.  No flight tests were ever conducted at the facility. The results were heard as far away as Clifton Park and Ballston Spa while nearby residents still describe how plates rattled on the kitchen table.

The operation was named Project Hermes, after the messenger of the Greek gods. At first the rockets were exact copies of the German V-2 rockets but soon the program truly became American.  Among the missile and satellite programs that were tested here were the Bumper, Vanguard (first to lift a satellite in orbit), Vega, Discoverer, Centaur, Polaris and Skybolt.  In addition to the rocket motors, work was done on various liquid fuels and heat resistant materials for nose cones.    

In 1964, the site was sold to the New York State Energy Research Authority which still occupies a building on the grounds.  In 1972, a portion of the complex was sold to the Wright-Malta Co.,

composed of former G.E. employees who continued with ordinance testing and energy-related research throughout the 1980s.

The Empire State Aeroscience Museum, located on the grounds of the Schenectady Airport in Glenville, has a wonderful interactive display that gives the feel of what it must have been like to witness a 50,000 horsepower motor being tested nearby. 

Paul Perreault has been the Malta Town Historian since 2009. He served as principal in the Ballston Spa School District from 1978 until 1998 and as a history teacher at Shenendehowa High School from 1967 until 1975. He is a member of the Association of Public Historians of New York State, the Saratoga County History Roundtable and the Ballston Spa Rotary Club. Paul can be reached at historian@malta-town.org

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

December 1, 1812 was the date on which the founding father of Saratoga Springs, Gideon Putnam, died.

Gideon and his wife Doanda Putnam were probably the most influential couple in the formation of our great city. Gideon was originally from Sutton, Massachusetts, while Doanda was from Connecticut. Shortly after their marriage in 1787, the two began to strike out for a new beginning in Vermont and then on to the Saratoga Lake area. None of those locations worked for them until they moved to Saratoga Springs in 1789 and it all seemed to fit.

Gideon and Doanda came to the Saratoga Springs area and found a region with vast pine forests. Gideon realized that those trees could be turned into lumber to feed the need for building materials in this new developing village. Gideon began to also realize that the naturally occurring mineral springs would be a draw for large numbers of summer visitors, but the area lacked the required accommodations to support these tourists.

In 1802 the Putnams are credited with building the first hotel in the village, called Putnam’s Tavern and Boarding House. Located on Broadway, a few steps away from the Congress Spring, the hotel was an immediate success with visitors coming to the springs. The Putnams offered comfortable accommodations, good food and drink for their guests. Putnam made improvements to the Congress Spring and then later to the Columbia Spring, for easier use by those looking for a cure for their ailments by taking the waters. Gideon’s success in business was shared with the young village as he donated land for a cemetery, church and school to help plan for a great future community.

Gideon felt so strongly about the efficacy of the waters that he published a set of guidelines for the “Proper use of the springs.” He set forth clear rules that were intended to not pollute the springs as well as making the water forever free at the spring. This simple rule of free water at the spring set the tone for this rapidly developing resort destination. Owners of the mineral springs could not charge to drink at the spring and therefore could only make money by offering baths and bottling the waters for widespread distribution. In time Saratoga Springs would become the number one tourist destination in the United States during the 1800’s.

Putnam’s Tavern and Boarding House was such a success that Gideon and Doanda bought more land and began laying out many of our streets including our beautiful Broadway and adding to the size of their boarding house. By 1811 the Putnams realized that it would be a logical plan to build another hotel across the street, also on Broadway. As construction started, they decided to name the new hotel Congress Hall, after the Congress Spring. By this time the spring, a short walk away, was so famous with visitors that he thought this would help in future promotions for the hotel.

During construction of the Congress Hall, Gideon fell from the north end of the piazza and was severely injured. Gideon lingered for many months and eventually succumbed to those injuries on December 1, 1812. Even though Gideon had passed, his wife and family continued to run their businesses as well as their hotels for many years until 1864. Gideon may have died in 1812 but his idea to allow for free mineral water at the springs and plan for a successful resort city still continues today as Saratoga Springs attracts thousands of visitors a year and our mineral springs continue to be free every day. 

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

On the sunny morning of October 21, 1861 – to cheers from tens of thousands of citizens, with bands playing and the roar of cannons – Calvin W. Preston, Galway farmboy boarded a towboat-drawn barge at the Albany, NY docks with other soldiers of the Ellsworth Avengers regiment for the beginning of a dangerous and arduous journey that would lead to perhaps the most important battle of the Civil War: Gettysburg. 

Born on February 28, 1845, he was the fifth son of Dr. and Mrs. Calvin Preston.  The Prestons, originally from Antwerp, NY were attracted to Galway by family connections and the potential for a thriving medical practice. They settled on East St. in the 1830s where they built a six bedroom home and raised a large family.

Caught up in the furor over the death of Elmer Ellsworth, Mechanicville native, Abraham Lincoln confidant and the first Union soldier to be killed in the Civil war – at age 16 Calvin enlisted in the 44th New York State Volunteer Infantry Regiment, aka Ellsworth Avengers on September 2, 1861 as a drummer.  He was active in General George McCellan’s ill-fated Peninsula Campaign, a failed attempt to occupy Richmond, Va. – capital of the Confederacy.  At the campaign’s end he contracted dysentery, was sent home for the “Northern Cure” returning to his regiment in time to participate in the Battle of Gettysburg. In the aftermath he assisted in the care of the wounded and the seemingly endless task of burial of the dead.

Mustered out on October 11, 1864, he trained as a druggist and in 1866 joined his brother James, who had served in the Confederate Army, in Galveston, Texas.  Four years later James passed away under mysterious circumstances and shortly afterward Calvin married his widow. Calvin became a prominent citizen of Galveston operating a drug store at a location in the business district referred to as Preston Corner, was a high ranking member of the Free Masons and Texas Society- Sons of the American Revolution, and a member of the Texas Volunteer Guard with the position of Major and Inspector General.

On September 8, 1900 with no advance warning a hurricane passed through Galveston.  Looked upon initially as routine flooding in a city whose maximum elevation was 8 feet above normal high tide 8000 lives were lost; it remains the worst natural disaster in US history. 

Calvin responded heroically in the rescue of his family, wading home from his office as conditions worsened, managing to borrow a rowboat along the way.  Upon arrival he found them standing on the dining room table.  Crowding them into the boat he pushed it through shoulder deep water to the nearby Rosenberg School, a 3 story, massive stone and concrete structure, with wind gusting to over 100 MPH.

The night spent there was not a comfortable one as the level 4 hurricane buffeted the structure with wind gusts of up to 180 MPH and a storm tide of 15-20 feet.  To make matters worse a lightning strike caused the internal collapse of a chimney flue, resulting in deaths of people huddled below.

Disposal of bodies was an overwhelming task, a description better left to other historical accounts. The effort to rebuild Galveston after the storm took several years and included the construction of a 17 foot high seawall to prevent future storm related disasters. 

For Calvin the aftermath was too much to bear, the memory of similar carnage and loss of life at Gettysburg still clear in his mind.  Two of his brothers – William and Platt – wealthy mill owners in Waitsburg, Washington invited him and his family to move there, providing him with a job in one of their businesses.  He again prospered and was elected mayor of the city.  His untimely death came 5 years later due to pleurisy.

Well liked and respected, the homage to him at the funeral service concluded with the words of William Shakespeare:

His life was gentle and the elements so mixed in him that nature might stand up and say to all the world, “this was a man.”

W.D. Boyce, a wealthy Chicago publisher, encountered a Boy Scout while lost in London.   Impressed by the Scout’s “Good Turn,” Mr. Boyce returned to the U.S.A. chartering the name “Boy Scouts of America” (BSA) in February 1910.  Mr. Boyce never formed a unit nor enlisted a youth in his movement. 

Edgar M. Robinson, Boys Work Secretary of the International Committee of the YMCA, oversaw all YMCA youth programs and summer camps in the U.S. and Canada.  Mr. Robinson travelled to Chicago to meet with Mr. Boyce in May 1910.  Mr. Robinson, a quiet, charming man, not particularly charismatic, but a man of vision and substantial organizational skills, convinced Mr. Boyce to allow the YMCA to serve as the organizational arm of the BSA. 

 Mr. Robinson contacted the heads of all youth (boys) organizations and convinced most to reorganize under the auspices of the BSA.  The national office of the Boy Scouts of America opened in New York City on June 1, 1910.  The first Boy Scout summer camp was held at the YMCA’s Silver Bay on Lake George that summer. 

In September 1910, J.C. Smith, Boys Work Secretary in charge of youth programs at the Saratoga Spa YMCA, travelled to New York City to attend a meeting at the Waldorf Astoria. There, Smith heard presentations by General Baden Powell, Dan Beard and others, and received his appointment as a Scoutmaster. Upon his return, Smith organized a “Patrol” of Scouts at the Saratoga YMCA. 

Smith announced the first nine youth members of the Patrol on Oct. 12, 1910. Because the YMCA was a Protestant organization, many early Patrols were formed at local YMCA’s or Protestant churches across the country. 

Patrols also began in Mechanicville (sponsored by First Presbyterian Church), on Dec. 17, 1910; in Schuylerville, on July 13, 1911; in Corinth, on Oct. 18, 1911; and in Saratoga Springs (First Baptist Church) on Oct. 24, 1911. 

Initially, each city or village operated as its own Council. The “Saratoga County Council” was founded in 1924.  Troop 1 Ballston Spa, chartered to the Ballston Spa United Methodist Church in 1913, is the longest continuously operating Troop in Saratoga County. 

Author Gene Phillips joined the Boy Scouts as a Charter youth member of Pack 24 Wilton in 1955.  During more than 40 years in scouting, Phillips has served as Cub Scout Committee Chair, Scoutmaster, Sea Scout Skipper, Training Chair and Advancement Chair for the Saratoga District of Twin Rivers Council. 

He is currently completing a book on the History of Scouting in Saratoga County, which includes a pictorial of all known memorabilia (patches, neckerchiefs, etc.) issued by Saratoga County Council (District).  Gene is an Eagle Scout (Troop 24 Wilton), as is his son Keith (Troop 24), and grandson Ethan (Troop 2 Ballston Spa).  Gene Phillips can be reached at phillassoc@aol.com. Gene’s article on the history of the BSA was recently featured by the Saratoga County History Roundtable. For more information, email SaratogaCoHistoryRoundtable@gmail.com.