On April 3, 1935, wrecking crews began the demolition of buildings and rides that comprised an amusement park in Rexford.  Few can remember when Clifton Park had its own amusement park.  It was located on the Mohawk River in Rexford near the Alplaus border from 1906 to 1933.  Stanley “Spud” Bartow (1916-2009) of Rexford remembered the “House of Glass” filled with mirrors.  As a kid in the 1920s, he would watch the adults try and find their way out.  He would chuckle when he thought about it. 

The secret he said was to keep your eyes on the floor and not look into the mirrors.  He also remembered the rotating barrel that you would try and walk through from one end to another.  The kids managed this quite successfully, but adults again had difficulty, and were thrown from side to side in their attempt to pass through the barrel as it continued to rotate.

Of course, Spud had the early edge on the amusement park rides.  Before the park was opened to the public in the spring, neighborhood kids were employed by the park to clean, test and prepare the rides.  Spud and some of his friends would ride the bumper cars until the metal ceiling was cleaned off by the long rods on the cars that made electrical contact with the metal ceiling.  They would clean the mirrors in the “House of Glass,” and polish the horses on the carousel.  It was truly a fun time for the youth of Rexford.  They were able to enjoy the rides at no charge.

Edgar Shopmyer (1914-2003) of Vischer Ferry Road recalled the first time he rode the “Blue Streak,” the amusement park’s huge roller coaster.  He told of the long slow ride to the top of the coaster, and then as he rounded the crest and faced the steep incline, his heart was in his throat.  No turning back now! And woosh! Before he knew it the ride was over.  This roller coaster was the second one at the park.  The first one, known as the “Whirlwind,” was removed in about 1925 to make way for the larger, more thrilling “Blue Streak.”

The park, first known as Luna Park, after the famous amusement park in Coney Island, opened in 1906.  It was developed in conjunction with the beginning of the trolley line from Schenectady.  The Grandview Hotel, built in 1901 by New York City brewer Jacob Ruppert was the focal point.  The park had several different names throughout its life.  After Fred Dolle acquired the park in 1911, the name was changed to Dolle’s Park.  In 1916 the park came under new management as Palisades Park, and later as Rexford Park.  It closed after the 1933 season, partially due to the shortage of extra spending money caused by the Great Depression, and the rise of the automobile that took people to other destinations.  The park survived two more years as a picnic area for socials and clambakes.

Amusement parks all over the United States were being established in the early 1900s to give city folks a reason to ride the trolley line.  The electric trolley from Schenectady crossed the Mohawk River just west of the present Route 146 bridge (the stone piers of the trolley bridge are still visible).  The bridge was 1,800 feet long and set on 10 piers.  It was considered to be the longest trolley bridge in the world.  It only cost a nickel to ride from Schenectady.  Special park trolleys, called the “Twilight Trolley” were emblazoned with colored lights, a star on the back and a horseshoe on front.

The airplane ride would swing people out over the Mohawk River.  There was also a Whip, Ferris Wheel, a “Razzle Dazzle” (ocean wave machine), and a ride that plunged down a chute into a pool of water.  Other attractions included a Roller Skating Rink, Casino for dancing, Shooting Gallery, Penny Arcade, Bandstand, Ice Cream Parlor, motor launches on the river, a hotel with a bar, fortune tellers and carnival concessions.  Special events at the park would consist of balloon ascensions, fire works, bands, boxing, wrestling, high divers, acrobats, and vaudeville acts.  One popular feature was “Amazing Oliver” and his dog.  They dove together from a high tower into a tub of water.

On July 4, 1907 the crowds at Luna Park were estimated to total between 10,000 and 12,000 people.  A newspaper advertisement for August 4, 1906 advertised Wheelock’s U. S. Carlisle Indian Band at Luna Park, as well as Prof. Bush’s Perilous Ascension in two mammoth balloons.  It indicated that Luna Park was “Schenectady’s Big Pleasure Resort,” and that “Everybody is Going to Luna Now – Follow the Crowd.”  Admission was ten cents, children were free.

In 1935, after the amusement park closed, the owner of the property, the Cyrus W. Rexford estate, decided to raze the existing buildings to avoid paying heavy state, county, and town taxes on unprofitable property.  The land was to be sold for summer camps.  On April 3, 1935, John Millington’s wrecking crews began demolition of the buildings and roller coaster trusses.  The other rides had been sold earlier to surviving amusement parks. The trolleys continued to use the steel bridge at Rexford until they were pulled off the line on December 7, 1941.  The bridge was dismantled in 1942 when steel was necessary to make weapons for World War II.

Today, all that remains of the Rexford Amusement Park are the concrete footings for the roller coaster and other park buildings hidden in overgrown woods.  Some of the large trees that grew throughout the life of the park are still there. Postcard views, photographs and memories tell us of summers long ago when people flocked to Rexford on the electric trolley to enjoy a day of fun, the “Great Escape” of the 1920s.  If the park had only survived!

John Scherer is the Clifton Park Town Historian and also Senior Historian Emeritus at the New York State Museum. He holds a master’s degree in museum studies and American Folk Life from the Cooperstown Graduate Program. John can be reached at jlscherer@aol.com

April Fool’s Day, April 1, 1782, Joe Bettys was hanged. It was, as was the custom, a public spectacle, not in Ballston but in Albany where the notorious traitor had been taken for his trial and sentencing.  As he got to the top of the scaffolding to meet his maker and a noose was tied around his neck, he jumped—yes, he jumped to his death, ensuring that he would break his neck and ensuring that HE killed himself. No one else killed him. A fitting ending to a sad story.

Today, on Route 50 about a mile north of the Lakehill Road and Route 50 intersection, sits an old stone house, one that dates back into the 1700’s.  It is a striking house today, with its cement walls and a very short upper story.  But it was even more striking back in the 1700’s– and not for its looks.

Living in that house, which also doubled as a local tavern, was the Bettys family.  The father and husband of the household was a Loyalist, supporting the British side in the Great Revolutionary War against England.  Son Joe, however, was on the opposite side: he was a rebel.  One can only imagine the arguments that must have occurred between father and son.

Finally, Joe decided to take some action for his preferred side. He left home and joined the Rebel forces. He traveled into northern New York, joined up with the later-to-be infamous Benedict Arnold in the Lake Champlain area and fought with incredible bravery and skill. In one military engagement, he fought while every one of the rebel commissioned officers had been killed or wounded; then took charge himself and continued to fight on.

Because of all he had done in numerous battles, he felt he should be commended for his service and given an advancement in rank. Angered that he was not, he deserted the rebel forces, went to Canada and joined the British side. He then started carrying spy messages behind the lines from one side to the other.

Yes, for many of the same reasons that Arnold later became a traitor, so did Ballston’s Joe Bettys. And, for many years, he delivered much information to the British side until finally he got caught.  He was sentenced to die but, because of his aged parents and Commander-in-Chief George Washington’s compassion, he was pardoned for his crimes and was told to cease all previous treasonous activities.

After that, he truly seemed to take delight in harassing those who had previously helped him! He continued his treasonous activities all over the area. A few years later, he was seen lurking in the woods in present-day Clifton Park and, when questioned, he quickly threw a paper in a fire—a paper which turned out to be more secret information he was trying to deliver. He was taken to Albany, tried, convicted, and hanged.

One can only imagine the horror of his family and their reaction to what their family member had done. Because of that, the town of Ballston in conjunction with the Pomeroy Foundation, erected a marker in Hillside Cemetery in Burnt Hills to the memory of Joe Betty’s family. The marker is inscribed: “Bettys Family. Joseph died 1804 and Abigail died 1791.  Local innkeepers and unfortunate parents of Joseph, convicted traitor and spy who was hung in 1782.”

Rick Reynolds has been the Ballston Town Historian since 2004. He is a retired social studies teacher at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Middle School and is the author of the book “From Wilderness to Community: The Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central School District. Rick can be reached at rreynolds@townofballstonny.org

In 1791, the newly formed Saratoga County Board of Supervisors met for the first time at Mead’s Tavern in Stillwater. It was common for elected officials or committees to meet at a public house before the building of a dedicated government facility. However, within the next few years it was decided that a courthouse building and jail should be erected, and the Town of Ballston was chosen as a central location. Captain Edward A. Watrous donated a site on his farm for the courthouse on Middleline Road and construction began in 1795. Court was first held there in the spring of 1796. A small hamlet grew up around this area which became known as “Courthouse Hill” complete with taverns, hotels and law offices. The county seat seemed to be firmly cemented at that location, but that all changed in 1816.

Fire broke out in the courthouse in the middle of the night on March 23. Two prisoners, Fones Cole of Northampton (held on a forgery charge) and Peter Drapoo (a horse thief) used a candle they purchased from the jailor (reportedly for playing cards) to set fire to their cell and escape. Two other prisoners also escaped during the fire but a fifth prisoner, George Billings, was chained to the floor and perished in the flames.

Before the smoke cleared several towns clamored to gain control of the county seat including Waterford, Malta and Galway but two front runners quickly emerged.  Saratoga Springs and Ballston Spa pitted themselves against each other to win the prize.

Ballston Spa (sometimes called Ballston Springs) was well known because of its mineral springs which were supposed to contain healing qualities. The powerful, land-rich Nicholas Low established the village, which was located on land he was granted through the Kayaderosseras Patent. Noting the influx of health-seeking travelers, Low built a monstrous hotel, the San Souci, carved out lots and laid streets in his flourishing village.

By the early 1800s Saratoga Springs was also an up-and-coming village built around attracting visitors to their mineral springs and was starting to overtake Ballston Spa in popularity. Since both of these villages were vying to attract visitors as well as expand their political influence they were in a desperate fight to convince the New York State Legislature to choose them as the new seat of government for Saratoga County. Each village put together a group of prominent citizens who tried to show the legislature that they were the best location.

When the Ballston Spa committee heard rumors about what the Saratoga Springs committee was proposing, they retaliated. In a letter written by Thomas Palmer to Nicholas Low on October 31 1816 he advised:

“As the time approaches when the Legislature will fix the site of the courthouse and gaol in this county and every exertion made by our opponents to defeat us. We are desirous that nothing should be left undone that can have a bearing in our favor or counteract the efforts of our enemies to defeat us. It is suggested that one argument intended to be urged by our opponents is that a lot will be given the County at Saratoga Springs for the courthouse and gaol. Should that be the case we must be prepared for them. Will you be pleased to write to …our committee assuring them that a lot will be given the county at the village of Ballston Spa for the courthouse and gaol…”

Nicholas Low heeded the advice of Palmer and did just that, using his influence to tip the committee in favor of Ballston Spa as the County seat. On March 14 1817, after a long debate, the New York State Legislature passed a law stating that the seat of Saratoga County would be located in Ballston Spa.

Following through on his promise, on July 5th, 1817 Low filed a deed with the County Clerk giving the Supervisors of Saratoga County a lot on High Street for the purpose of building a courthouse and jail. Construction commenced later that year and was finally ready to hold court by 1819. The style of the building was essentially the same as the original building on Courthouse Hill, though they built this one out of brick. This two-story building served as the county courthouse until a new one was erected on the same spot in 1889. In 1968, the courthouse moved across the street to its present location.

Ballston Spa has proven itself as a well suited, central location for our county seat over the past two centuries. History leads a winding path and who knows, were it not for a fateful candle and two scheming jailbirds, the county seat may still have been at Courthouse Hill today!

Lauren Roberts is the Saratoga County Historian. She is co-host of the WAMC podcast A New York Minute in History, along with NYS Historian Devin Lander. Roberts co-produced the recently released documentary Harnessing Nature: Building the Great Sacandaga, which chronicles the creation of the Sacandaga Reservoir. You can reach Lauren at lroberts@saratogacountyny.gov

Before the 20th century, the upper Hudson River was used commercially as a conduit to ship timber logs downstream to the paper mills along the river.  Logs were stored in pens until the spring melt in the upper Hudson region significantly increased the flow of the river. When the flow rate was right, the pens were opened and the logs were sent careening downstream to the mills.  The Sacandaga River joins the Hudson River at Hadley, with each river providing approximately equal flows.  The watershed of the Sacandaga River alone is approximately 1000 square miles, so the melt of the winter snowfall could provide a large amount of runoff.

Each spring, the flow of the Hudson would increase significantly, but periodically there would be a combination of warm temperatures, high local rainfall, and a large snow cover to produce extraordinary runoff over a short amount of time, called a freshet.   Flooding was also a major concern to the paper mills and other businesses along the river, causing severe economic dislocation 

For almost 300 years floods had devastated the upper Hudson from Luzerne to Albany and points south, as recounted in Munsell’s Annals of Albany, 1850

April 30-May 3, 1639 “Whilst I was at Fort Orange, the 30th of April, there was such a high flood at the island on which Brand-pylen lived, – who was my host at this time – that we were compelled to leave the island, and go with boats into the house, where there were four feet of water. This flood continued three days, before we could use the dwelling again. The water ran into the fort and we were compelled to repair to the woods, where we erected tents and kindled large fires.” – Description of the Hudson flood of 1639 by a visitor to Albany named DeVrie

March, 1646. “The winter which had just terminated, was remarkably long and severe. The North (Hudson) River closed at Rensselaerswyk, on the 24th November, and remained frozen some four months. A very high freshet, unequalled since 1639, followed, which destroyed a number of horses in their stables; nearly carried away the fort, and inflicted considerable other damage in the colonie.

March,1790. Flooding on the Hudson River, as described by the Albany Register for March 29, 1790, was initiated by a week of heavy rains. “The weather for a week past being uncommonly moderate, and attended with considerable falls of rain and some slight snows, raised the river to such a degree on Saturday last, completely to carry off the ice; and as by accounts from Poughkeepsie, &c. the river has been some time since clear.

March,1818. This flood appears to have been quite sizeable according to Munsell. “The water rose to great height in the river the night of the 3d March, so that several families in Church St. would have perished if they had not been rescued. The water was two feet deep in the bar room of the Eagle Tavern, on the southeast corner of South Market and Hamilton streets. Sloops were thrown upon the dock, and the horse ferry boat was driven about half way up to Pearl Street. A family occupied a house on the island opposite the city, who were rescued by the people of Bath. So great a freshet had not been known in forty years.”

Flooding continued on a regular basis, but 1913 was to prove the turning point. At Fort Edward -the highest recorded flood level – 34 feet – was reached on March 14, 1913 causing general devastation in the area . The floods waters were severe enough that year to wash out the bridge connecting Glens Falls and South Glens Falls.  The bridge fell on March 27, 1913 at 9:55 p.m.  This flow rate caused major flooding to the downstream communities of Glens Falls, Waterford, Green Island, Cohoes, Rensselaer and Albany.

There were enough similar events, loss of property, and damage to infrastructure that the communities and businesses along the Hudson River asked the New York State Legislature to take action to control the water flow.  These organizations and municipalities provided the funds to build the reservoir as a water storage facility. 

As a result of the 1913 flood, the Legislature passed the Burd Amendment allowing the use of 3% of the New York State Forest Preserve for the purpose of creating reservoirs to regulate stream flow. In 1922 the Legislature formed the Hudson River Regulating District. The purpose of the Regulating District was  “to regulate the flow of the Hudson and Sacandaga Rivers as required by the public welfare including health and safety.” In 1927 construction began on the  Conklingville Dam. The dam was completed three years later and the flooding of the reservoir began March 27, 1930. After almost 300 years It took the major flooding of March, 1913 to finally get the Legislature to move forward on authorizing the building of the Sacandaga Reservoir.

Fred Wilhelm is a retired General Electric engineer who lives along Great Sacandaga Lake. He has an interest in not only how the Lake was built and controlled, but WHY it was built-in the first place. 

1898 was a great year to be an American, a New Yorker, and resident of the historic village of Schuylerville in eastern Saratoga County.  That year Schuylerville had “a metropolitan appearance” on St. Patrick’s Day with bands, drum corps and 600 marching men. 

Today, Schuylerville is not particularly known for its Irish community.  The village is like much of upstate New York where the ethnic groups have all assimilated.  But that was not the case 120 years ago. the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) organized a parade under the auspices of the local Schuylerville area division which was embraced by the entire community. 

The AOH is America’s oldest Irish Catholic Fraternal Organization founded concurrently in the coal-mining region of Pennsylvania and New York City in 1836.  The AOH was created to protect the clergy and churches from the violent American Nativists who attacked Irish Catholic immigrants and Church property.  At the same time, the vast influx of Irish Immigrants fleeing Ireland’s Great Hunger in the late 1840’s, prompted a growth in many Irish societies – the largest of which was, and continues to be, the AOH.  Active across the Saratoga county and region, AOH aided the newly arrived Irish, both socially and economically.  The newcomers could meet some of ‘their own’ and are introduced to the social atmosphere of the Irish American community.

The Schuylerville area supported this parade.  The recently elected village President (Mayor) James Mealey arranged for the local scrapper to clean the dirt streets (during mud season).  The residents of Schuylerville, Victory and Smithville decorated their business and residents “in a fine manner” with the green flag of Ireland intermingled with the Stars and Stripes.  These and other decorations “presented a very handsome appearance.” 

The various AOH divisions arrived in Schuylerville in large numbers.  The Saratoga Springs division arrived by special train with 100 members and were headed by the 77th Regimental Band.  This was composed of military personnel from Fulton, Essex and Saratoga Counties who fought in the Civil War. The group banded together in 1872 as part of the Survivors Association of the Seventy-Seventh Regiment, New York State Infantry Volunteers of 1861-65. These musicians kept alive the memories they had experienced together during the war and the band flourished into the early 1900s.

The Corinth division joined their brothers from Saratoga Springs with 80 men and the Palmer Falls band with Glens Falls’ cornet player A. D. Wilson.  To the south, Mechanicville and Stillwater AOH divisions turned out 112 men arriving by a special train and led by the H. D. Safford’s band.  H. D. Safford was the manager of a success Mechanicville based cornet band that performed for about 25 years starting about 1887. 

The Greenwich division in neighboring Washington County with 60 members accompanied by the splendid Wm. Walker drum corps arrived in a convoy of carriages.  This drum corps was originally from East Greenwich and they started in 1896 with 16 musicians and performed for about a decade. 

The final unit in the parade was the 60 members of the Schuylerville area division led by the Victory Cornet band which was the pride of the community and performed all over the area for over 55 years. 

There were 645 train tickets sold from Saratoga Springs to Schuylerville.  The crowd for the parade was over 3,000 from out of town.  The parade formed on lower Broad street at Burgoyne street.  The parade route was just under five miles snaking the parade (long by today’s standards) through the villages of Schuylerville, Victory, hamlet of Smithville, back to Victory, into the Town of Saratoga and back to the start in Schuylerville.  The parade was led by Grand Marshall Frank McDonnell and ended with the village fathers and town officials in carriages. 

This AOH event in Schuylerville completed the day with a banquet and program at the Opera House on Broad Street. The program included nine songs, a recitation and a lecture from a Priest based in Greenwich. Rev. Morrison ended his lecture with “The motto was – and let it be ever yours also – ‘always and everywhere faithful.’ Yes, faithful to your God, faithful to your religion, faithful to your country.  Your duty then is to this country and her interests, patriotism, and humanity.  Aspire to do the work of patriots and of good men, and God will bless the results.”

.I am sure it was not lost on those gathered that they were meeting in Schuylerville where in 1777 for the first time in world history a complete British army surrendered and that they were at the location where the words written in the Declaration of Independence were made a great fact for all mankind. 

The Schuylerville Standard described “a better appearing, better dressed and more intelligent looking lot of men would be hard to find than the organization in line St. Patrick’s Day.  It was a credit to all concerned and Old Schuylerville will always have a warm welcome for the AOH.” 

There is still an A.O.H. Division in Saratoga County – the Commodore John Barry Division #1 in Saratoga Springs which can be found at Saratogaaoh.com.

Sean Kelleher is the historian for the town of Saratoga, New York. He writes a daily blog at https://historianatsaratoga.wordpress.com/. He is a board member of the Saratoga County History Center. Sean was a member of the New York State French and Indian War 250th Anniversary Commemoration Commission. He can be reached by email at historiantosaratoga@gmail.com.

Beginning in the early 1860s, break-ins began taking place at businesses across Saratoga County. The method was always the same, an office was entered and the safe was emptied and then relocked. The only outward evidence of theft being the owners’ inability to open the safe. When expert locksmiths were called, they often could not reopen the safe.

At this point, the business would turn to a local man well-known for solving such problems, Nelson M. Knickerbacker. Inevitably his skill would prevail, though always revealing the loss of any valuables the safe had contained. Knickerbacker was born in December of 1844 in Saratoga Springs. He was one of ten children of Peter & Violetta Knickerbacker of that city. By the age of 22, he had established himself as a jeweler but then sold his business in 1866.

Henry L. West’s store in Ballston Spa was the next to be hit. Knickerbacker, who had been employed by West on occasion over the previous five years, was present when the store closed on the night of the burglary. Knickerbacker quickly became the prime suspect and was arrested on June 6, 1868. As he was not considered a risk of leaving the area he was released on bail.

Eight months after Knickerbacker was released on bail, the safe at the Saratoga Springs jewelry store of E. R. Waterbury was found to be inoperable. After two days of unsuccessful efforts by professional locksmiths, Knickerbacker was called. He quickly opened the safe, revealing that gold watches, diamonds, and jewels worth several thousand dollars had been removed. A short time later another Saratoga Springs jewelry store was robbed in a similar manner, the owner John Frost also reporting a substantial loss.

At his trial, the accused’s comparatively weak defense did little against the prosecution’s overwhelming evidence. Knickerbacker denied being involved in the crime, backed by his mother’s claim that she was “certain that he was home” the night of the robbery. Others who spoke on Knickerbacker’s behalf were boyhood friends whose testimony was summed up with “his character was always good up to the time of this charge.”

The jury quickly returned a verdict of guilty. On June 29, 1869, Nelson M. Knickerbacker was sentenced to five years of hard labor at Clinton Prison in Dannemora for burglary and larceny. Through the efforts of friends, his sentence was commuted to two years and eight months and he was released on February 28, 1872. The prison incorrectly reported his last name as Knickerbocker.

Either immediately before sentencing or while in prison, Nelson married Phebe Sadler, his bride living with her parents in Saratoga Springs while he was in prison. After his release from prison, Nelson and Phebe moved to Milton, Saratoga County. Knickerbacker returned to the jewelry business, opening a store in Ballston Spa. As his business prospered, he moved his family to the village.

In what was later called “alarming frequency,” safes were again found inoperable in Ballston Spa and the surrounding area. As an acknowledged expert, Nelson Knickerbacker would often be called to make the repairs. Charging twenty-five dollars for his work, the safe when opened would be empty.

Throughout his years in Ballston Spa, Nelson Knickerbacker was known as a gentleman of good habits with a family who was highly regarded in the community. Even with his previous criminal background, it was this perception by the town’s citizens that kept quiet the suspicions of his involvement in the crime wave.

The mystery safecracker was finally revealed on a cold winter night in December 1890. That evening, Richard Cunningham entered the ax and scythe factory at the northern edge of Ballston Spa to fill the woodstove. He was surprised to find that his key would not fit in the lock. Finally forcing the door open, he was startled to see Nelson Knickerbacker standing in the office. The intruder explained that he had seen a man leave and had entered to investigate. The police were summoned and Knickerbacker was taken into custody. On his person were found a loaded five-barrel pepper-box revolver, a dark lantern, and a set of hand tools.

In May of 1891, Knickerbacker was found guilty of an attempt to commit a burglary in the third degree. The jury’s recommendation for mercy was denied and he was sentenced to two years and six months of hard labor. His daughters, Gertrude and Maude, cried hysterically while he was sentenced and led away. After his release, he returned to Ballston Spa and his family where he again took up his profession as a jeweler.  Nelson M. Knickerbacker died of pneumonia in 1914 at the age of 69 and was interred in Gansevoort, Saratoga County. 

Dave Waite has had a lifelong interest in New York State and Adirondack history. His research has been published by historical organizations across upstate New York.  His most recent article “With Energy and Success, Thorp & Sprague’s Mohawk Valley Stage Line,” is featured in the Winter 2021 New York Archives Magazine. David’s email is davidwaitefinearts@gmail.com 

The Great Awakening was a wave of increased religious enthusiasm led by evangelical Protestant ministers that first swept through the American Colonies in the 1730s. It made Christianity intensely personal to the average person by fostering a deep sense of spiritual conviction and by encouraging introspection and a commitment to a new standard of personal morality. While the Great Awakening was very effective in reviving religion, the emotion burned out quickly after the first generation and there was much “back sliding.”  So in the 1820s conditions were ripe for what became the Second Great Awakening. They were particularly ripe in Malta. 

A “moral wild” and a “waste place” were among the terms used by churchmen of the time to describe Malta in the early nineteenth century. (If you think that is bad, wait till your hear what they said of Stillwater). Religious life in Malta at the time was described as “a very small Methodist church in one corner of the town, and two or three of God’s children in another corner, there was neither piety nor prayer, no means of grace nor desire of salvation.”

Redemption, however, came to Malta in the person of Rev. Asahel Nettleton, a well-known revivalist from Connecticut. Few have heard of Nettleton today but he was the Billy Graham of the 1820s, his name familiar in every New England household.  It has been estimated that more than 30,000 converts responded to his call.

In the summer of 1819, Nettleton’s ministry shifted from Connecticut to the Saratoga area. Although he came for a rest and to restore his failing health, local ministers pressed him into service.  A “Mr. Hunter” was credited with persuading him of the need to start in Malta. Responding to this call, Nettleton preached to crowds estimated to be as large as 1,400 in Malta.  To put that in perspective, the population of the town in the 1820 Census was 1,518.  People came from Stillwater, Galway, Ballston and Saratoga.  It was estimated that he was responsible for over 600 converts during the seven months he spent in Saratoga County before moving on to Union College in Schenectady where he led another successful revival with the assistance of Dr. Eliphelet Nott, the famous president of the college.

Ministers came to Malta to see what was going on. What they saw so impressed them that they carried the revival spirit back with them to their own towns and villages so the rival flourished in Saratoga, Stillwater, Ballston, Galway and Charlton and many other smaller places.

And it was not a moment too soon for those sinners in Stillwater who were described as “boatmen, tipplers, tavern haunters, gamblers, infidels and atheists”. What was going on in Stillwater?  In 1817, the State had begun digging both the Erie and the Champlain Canals with the latter passing through the Town of Stillwater. The work attracted rough, mostly Irish and Catholic immigrants, to an area that had known few immigrants before the canal project. Nettleton preached there on February 27, 1820 and reported that “one hundred and three publicly presented themselves a living sacrifice to the Lord; and about one hundred more rejoicing in hope, and expect soon to follow their example.” 

The revival was so significant that the Albany Presbytery appointed a special committee to investigate the matter.  It stated in part: “From the very commencement of his (Rev. Nettleton) labors, the work of the Lord’s spirit became more powerful and rapidly progressive. It was but a little while until weeping and anxious distress were found in almost every house; the inhabitants of sin; the families of discord; the haunts of intemperance; the strongholds of error; the retreat of pharisaic pride; the entrenchments of self-righteousness, were all equally penetrated by the power of the Holy Ghost.  It commenced there in Malta, and with such display of the power of God’s spirit in crushing the opposition of the natural heart to everything holy, as are very seldom seen. The Deist, and Universalist, the drunkard, the Gambler and the Swearer, were alike made the subjects of this heartbreaking work. Four months ago, Christ had no church there. It was a place of great spiritual dearth—and like the top of Gilboa had never been wet by rain or dew. But the Lord has now converted that wilderness into a fruitful field.”

Paul Perreault has been the Malta Town Historian since 2009. He served as principal in the Ballston Spa School District from 1978-1998 and as a history teacher at Shenendehowa High School from 1967-1975. 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.

A man with the ominous-sounding name of Isaiah Blood, born on February 13, 1810, once operated one of the largest tool factories of its kind in the state along the Kayaderosseras Creek 150 years ago. 

The Ballston Scythe, Axe and Tool Works shipped hundreds of thousands of quality hard-edge tools around the world for decades on end.

Isaiah’s grandfather died at a relatively early age, so when John Blood moved to the town of Ballston in 1792, he brought along his nephew Sylvester. John was one of the signers of the deed of incorporation for the Ballston Baptist Church. However, by 1810 he had left Ballston and moved to New Lisbon, NY. 

Sylvester remained behind and purchased his uncle’s land on the Mourning Kill. He built a house on the corner of present-day Brookline Road and Route 67, which, although rebuilt over the years, still stands today. John had trained him well as a blacksmith, so he was able to make a good living by manufacturing scythes for local farmers. 

Isaiah apprenticed in his father’s scythe shop. Sylvester decided to expand his operations to use the more robust waterpower of the Kayaderosseras Creek just north of Ballston Spa. Upon Isaiah’s marriage in 1831, Sylvester gave him the choice of taking over the new scythe shop or a retail store that he owned. His son chose the scythe shop and almost immediately began a steady expansion of factory buildings and tool lines. At the peak of operations in 1870, Isaiah’s factories employed 300 men and produced over 800,000 scythes, axes, and other tools annually. 

In addition to his legacy as a businessman, Isaiah was elected to several political offices, including supervisor of the town of Milton and as an Assemblyman and Senator in the State Legislature, a post he held at the time of his death.

His passing came in a most unexpected manner. In the summer of 1870 he was suddenly struck with typhoid fever, an illness brought on by ingesting contaminated food or water. As was the case with Blood, the illness typically is accompanied by high fever, headaches, coughing, abdominal pain, and delirium. In modern times it is almost always successfully treated with antibiotics, but in the 1800s there was no cure.

The affliction advanced and retreated, giving some hope, but by mid-November it was clear that he would not recover. When he finally realized that the end was near, he requested that all of his employees be allowed to visit his bedside. According to the Ballston Journal, “Each and all silently approached the couch of the dying man, who had been to them not only an employer, but a true friend and counselor, and pressed his hand as it lay upon the covering of the bed—the Senator being too weak and feeble to extend it to those who approached. The scene was most impressive and many a stout heart was moved to tears at this silent but touching evidence of the warm affection that existed between the stricken employer and his bereaved workmen.” He quietly passed away in his home on November 29.

It can be said that Isaiah Blood is the “forgotten” entrepreneur of Ballston Spa, despite the fact that the hamlet of Bloodville is named after him. His scythe and axe works were famous throughout the country, but few documents survive to this day that describe his personal accomplishments and motivations.

One reason Blood’s legacy faded so quickly was the destruction of both of his main factories and the extinction of his direct family line. Although his son-in-law continued to operate the business for 20 years after Blood died, both the scythe and axe factories were completely destroyed by fire in 1900 and never rebuilt. This sudden and complete loss was devastating to the hundreds of skilled workers employed there, most of whom were forced to move away. Blood’s own son died at a young age, as did his daughter’s children, so that by the 1920s there were no direct descendants left to carry on the family name.

Timothy Starr has lived in the Capital Region since the age of 6 and published 18 local history books. He wrote a biography of Isaiah Blood and a short history of the Blood family in 2010. He can be reached at tstarr71@gmail.com.

On March 25, 1887, the New York Times published an article that was compiled from a Troy, NY, paper about the long-distance courtship of Kittie Heaton of Ballston and George Hulbert of Danbury, CT.  It seemed that they had “flirted” by letter and pictures for some time before he came to Ballston, married her sight-unseen up until that time and then, four months later Mrs. Hulbert wanted a divorce.

This historian, cognizant of much of the Town of Ballston’s history, had never heard this one before and wanted more detail. 

The New York Times article by-line indicated that the story had come from “Troy, March 24.”  Of course, Troy, like many large cities of the time, had many newspapers so it would not be an easy task to track down the original story. 

However, research at the Troy Public Library uncovered the March 24, 1887 story in the Troy Daily Times and also the “prequel,” a November story that gave the details of the courtship as well.

It seems that Mr. Hulbert had placed an ad in a paper called Cupid’s Dart (did anyone know that such media existed more than 100 years ago?) in order to “open correspondence with some damsel with a view to matrimony.”  Some time after, based only on letters and photographs, the two were engaged.  Basically unknown to each other, the prospective bride went to the local train station carrying a large white box with a red ribbon around it and he, carrying an umbrella with a blue ribbon on its handle, came by train from Connecticut to meet his bride-to-be.  It was the red and blue ribbons that were the “signals” so that they would recognize each other. Miss Heaton’s friends were with her at this first meeting as well.

The wedding happened that evening and a wedding supper was provided afterwards. Sometime afterwards, Mrs. Hulbert had a child, Inez. Four months after the wedding, the now Mrs. Hulbert asked for a divorce — as her husband’s actions were not deemed to be “proper.”

The location of the child’s birth is as of yet unknown. It seems that she could have been a product of the Heaton-Hulbert marriage but the dates do not work out.  Inez was born (we think!) July 14, 1888.  That is over a year beyond the onset of the divorce proceedings date in the paper. But we don’t have a birth record to confirm the date of birth nor do we yet have a court record of their divorce.  But we have been unable to find either one so far.

While this historian was poring over Troy papers and uncovering all of these details, a Ballston Spa Librarian, Caitlin Johnson, was trying to trace the lineage of Miss Heaton and also find some more information about the unusual courtship, marriage and divorce of the woman.  She searched through the Ballston Journals, one of the oldest continuously-running newspapers in the area, of that time period.

She found some more details, including those of the initial meeting at which the new couple “locked arms and went to the Presbyterian parsonage where they were married.”

And all this was published in the newspapers of the day, just waiting for someone many years later to pore over microfilm and old newspapers to uncover the sordid details.

In a later article about the proposed divorce, The Ballston Journal summed it up well: “Matrimonial advertisements and weddings at ten minutes sight may savor of silly romance, but sober experiences are not slow in coming.”

Doesn’t it just seem like online dating 1800’s style?  But with a not-so-fortunate ending.

Rick Reynolds has been the Ballston Town Historian since 2004. He is a retired social studies teacher at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Middle School and is the author of the book “From Wilderness to Community: The Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central School District.” Rick can be reached at rreynolds@townofballstonny.org

Living at the Homestead was never easy, especially in winter. In December of 1914 the first patients were admitted to the newly built Saratoga County Tuberculosis Sanatorium in the Town of Providence. Located on a piece of land donated by Horace Carpentier years before, the site was in an extremely rural part of the county with no public transportation available to reach the area. The access road was impassable during certain times of the year, especially in the winter. 

There were several reasons the Homestead was built there. Probably most importantly, the county was given the land for free with the stipulation that it be used as some sort of a health facility. Also, the belief that the fresh air and quiet nature of the place would help improve patients’ conditions, and the fact that several other proposed sites had been rejected due to the “not in my backyard” mentality of local residents afraid of contracting the highly contagious disease, contributed to the final decision.

In the first several years of admission records for The Homestead, a single word shows up over and over again in the column marked “Reason for Leaving”: Lonesome. TB patients were often confined to their beds for most of the day and night due to the belief that physical activity could aggravate their condition and that rest and recuperation were essential to their recovery. Add to this the fact that family and friends of the patients found it very difficult to visit due to the distance from the population centers of the county and the lack of a railroad or trolley line leading to the facility.

 On top of this, even if the family did own a car, the condition of the rudimentary roads used to reach the hospital often made the trip very long and arduous for a relatively short visit. The severity of the situation is summed up nicely by Dr. G. Scott Towne, President of the Board of Managers of the Homestead in his 1924 note to the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors,

“The managers of the Homestead wish to express their thanks to your Board for the purchase of the automobile which was so much needed for the use of the Superintendent. The roads have been especially bad for the past two years and have literally torn the other machine to pieces.”

While the transportation issue would require a significant amount of time and funding before improvements were made, the staff at the Homestead started taking the burden of entertaining the patients into their own hands in order to boost morale. This also benefited the staff themselves, as the majority of them lived onsite as well.

In the early 1920s, an Occupational Therapy Department was added to The Homestead where patients were taught skills such as basketry, painting and knitting. This helped not only to pass the time in winter, but also brought in a profit to the patients. Products such as baskets, knitted sweaters, coasters and painted candlesticks made by the patients adorned store front windows such as those of the Mac Finn Drug Co., on Broadway in Saratoga Springs, who donated space for displaying these items. Dr. Dimock, Superintendent of the facility noted the advantages of this program in his Annual Report of 1924,

“… it employs the patient’s mind along channels apart from his bodily ills, it gives him a chance to learn under a competent instructor the various forms of basketry, rug weaving, decorative art, etc. and to earn a substantial competence from this work while still a patient in the hospital and replacing also that feeling of helplessness which so many of them have, to one of being of some use in the world’s work.”

A Moving Picture Fund created by the patients themselves allowed for the purchase of a projector on which movies were shown weekly, often donated by local businesses such as the Capitol Theater in Ballston Spa. For those patients who were well enough for some physical activity, winter sports such as snowshoeing, skiing and tobogganing all provided entertainment and exercise in the winter wonderland of upstate New York. 

For those who could not go outside, a constant stream of magazines, books and puzzles came in as donations from civic groups such as Girl Scouts and Elks Clubs, as well as generous individuals. A local orchestra gave concerts at the facility on occasion and a radio was installed along with amplifiers and headsets throughout the rooms so that even the non-ambulatory patients could listen in.

Eventually, the improvement of roads – especially the construction of Route 29- and the explosion of automobile purchases did allow for more frequent visitation and a stronger feeling of connection to the outside world, which was severely lacking in the early years. In the meantime, the care and creativity of the staff, the generosity of local groups and individuals and the determination of the patients themselves braided together solutions for the loneliness and isolation of being confined in The Homestead.

In our current situation in the winter of 2021, pressed upon us uninvited by the CoVid-19 pandemic, we may have more sympathy for the Homestead patients than we might normally have had. After all, one hundred years later, the need for recreation, entertainment and human interaction hasn’t changed that much, has it?

Lauren Roberts is the Saratoga County Historian. She is co-host of the WAMC podcast A New York Minute in History, along with NYS Historian Devin Lander. Roberts co-produced the recently released documentary Harnessing Nature: Building the Great Sacandaga, which chronicles the creation of the Sacandaga Reservoir. She is also the APHNYS Regional-Coordinator for municipal historians in the Capital Region. You can reach Lauren at lroberts@saratogacountyny.gov.