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.

Perhaps the most famous and successful citizen in the history of Ballston Spa passed away 119 years ago this week. Here on this anniversary of the death of George West, we look back at his life and the legacy he left behind.

West was born in the English village of Kentisbeare on March 2, 1822. He was the sixth of nine children born to George Sr. and his wife Jane. As soon as he was old enough, West followed in his father’s footsteps and began working at a local paper mill.

After marrying his life-long partner Louisa and learning much about the paper making trade, West moved his young family to America in 1849 to seek a better life. He spent time in New Jersey and Massachusetts managing several paper mills before moving to the town of Milton in 1861. There he obtained a management position at the Pioneer Paper Mill in West Milton. His employer Coe Buchanan was also a partner in an idle mill in nearby Rock City Falls called the Empire. When Buchanan’s partner Harlow Kilmer was killed in a tragic machinery accident, Buchanan offered West the chance to purchase the mill. After some consideration, West took possession of it the following year.

At the time, cotton shortages stemming from the Civil War made producing paper from cotton rags expensive. Paper mill owners and inventors were scrambling to find alternate methods of manufacturing paper. West’s neighbor Chauncey Kilmer perfected a method which used rye straw that could be used for newsprint paper. However, West decided to use manila hemp imported from the Philippines to produce manila paper.

West also decided that rather than limit his product line to various grades of manila paper, he would use some of it to create paper bags. Grocers’ and millers’ bags were in short supply due to the ongoing cotton shortage. If a paper bag could be produced from his manila paper, West reasoned, he would be able to sell them at a much lower price than any other bag manufacturer in the country.

At first West’s bags were made by hand at the Union Store in Ballston Spa, but demand soon far outpaced his ability to supply them. He therefore erected a bag factory next door to the Empire Mill and in 1866 built a second paper mill next door, which he named the Excelsior.

By 1875 West’s mills were manufacturing five and a half tons of manila paper per day. Half of this output was sent to his bag factory, while the other half was sent in equal parts to Chicago and St. Louis for his business partners to use in manufacturing their own bags. Eight teams of horses were kept busy delivering raw materials to the mills and finished paper from Rock City Falls to the railroad freight station in Ballston Spa five miles away. Total sales approached $65,000 per month, equivalent to $1.2 million today.

For about ten years, Rock City Falls could lay claim to the largest manila paper bag operation in the world. West added to his paper empire by purchasing two mills in Middle Grove, Pioneer Mill in West Milton, and Eagle Mill near Factory Village. In 1875 he completed his largest acquisition: the former Jonas Hovey estate in Ballston Spa, consisting of several mills, a mansion, tenement houses, and a large tract of land.

A year later West refitted one of the former Hovey mills into a modern bag factory and moved all bag-making operations out of Rock City Falls. His Ballston Spa mills, consisting of the Union, Glen, and Island mills, became the center of his operations, although six other paper mills along the Kayaderosseras Creek continued to churn out tons of manila paper as well.

West became ill in 1898, just as paper bag factories around the country were being consolidated into giant corporations. Unable to run his huge operation single-handedly like he did for so many years, he sold his mills to the Union Bag and Paper Company.

In January 1901 his wife of 56 years passed away. Already ill from Bright’s disease, West passed away just months later on September 28, leaving behind a fortune that would be valued at $75 million in today’s dollars.

Today large portions of the Empire Mill still stand in Rock City Falls, along with the stone foundations of the Excelsior Mill and his 23 room mansion that now serves as a bed and breakfast. His Union mill and bag factory building complex on Prospect Street in Ballston Spa survives as mixed-use buildings, with the “Geo. West” name still etched in the stonework for all to see.

Tim is an independent historian working in the nonprofit field. In 1997 he moved to the Town of Milton and from 2003 to 2013 served as the Treasurer of the Saratoga County Historical Society (Brookside) Board of Trustees. In 2014  he moved to Glenville to be closer to work. He has written 18 books, some self-published and others published by Arcadia Press, which include histories of local industries, railroads, and inventions. He has also published a biography of George West with help from one of West’s descendants, Douglass “Tim” Mabee of Saratoga Springs. Tim can be reached at tstarr71@gmail.com

Sponsored by the Saratoga County History Roundtable.

Perhaps the most famous and successful citizen in the history of Ballston Spa passed away 119 years ago this week. Here on this anniversary of the death of George West, we look back at his life and the legacy he left behind.

West was born in the English village of Kentisbeare on March 2, 1822. He was the sixth of nine children born to George Sr. and his wife Jane. As soon as he was old enough, West followed in his father’s footsteps and began working at a local paper mill.

After marrying his life-long partner Louisa and learning much about the paper making trade, West moved his young family to America in 1849 to seek a better life. He spent time in New Jersey and Massachusetts managing several paper mills before moving to the town of Milton in 1861. There he obtained a management position at the Pioneer Paper Mill in West Milton. His employer Coe Buchanan was also a partner in an idle mill in nearby Rock City Falls called the Empire. When Buchanan’s partner Harlow Kilmer was killed in a tragic machinery accident, Buchanan offered West the chance to purchase the mill. After some consideration, West took possession of it the following year.

At the time, cotton shortages stemming from the Civil War made producing paper from cotton rags expensive. Paper mill owners and inventors were scrambling to find alternate methods of manufacturing paper. West’s neighbor Chauncey Kilmer perfected a method which used rye straw that could be used for newsprint paper. However, West decided to use manila hemp imported from the Philippines to produce manila paper.

West also decided that rather than limit his product line to various grades of manila paper, he would use some of it to create paper bags. Grocers’ and millers’ bags were in short supply due to the ongoing cotton shortage. If a paper bag could be produced from his manila paper, West reasoned, he would be able to sell them at a much lower price than any other bag manufacturer in the country.

At first West’s bags were made by hand at the Union Store in Ballston Spa, but demand soon far outpaced his ability to supply them. He therefore erected a bag factory next door to the Empire Mill and in 1866 built a second paper mill next door, which he named the Excelsior.

By 1875 West’s mills were manufacturing five and a half tons of manila paper per day. Half of this output was sent to his bag factory, while the other half was sent in equal parts to Chicago and St. Louis for his business partners to use in manufacturing their own bags. Eight teams of horses were kept busy delivering raw materials to the mills and finished paper from Rock City Falls to the railroad freight station in Ballston Spa five miles away. Total sales approached $65,000 per month, equivalent to $1.2 million today.

For about ten years, Rock City Falls could lay claim to the largest manila paper bag operation in the world. West added to his paper empire by purchasing two mills in Middle Grove, Pioneer Mill in West Milton, and Eagle Mill near Factory Village. In 1875 he completed his largest acquisition: the former Jonas Hovey estate in Ballston Spa, consisting of several mills, a mansion, tenement houses, and a large tract of land.

A year later West refitted one of the former Hovey mills into a modern bag factory and moved all bag-making operations out of Rock City Falls. His Ballston Spa mills, consisting of the Union, Glen, and Island mills, became the center of his operations, although six other paper mills along the Kayaderosseras Creek continued to churn out tons of manila paper as well.

West became ill in 1898, just as paper bag factories around the country were being consolidated into giant corporations. Unable to run his huge operation single-handedly like he did for so many years, he sold his mills to the Union Bag and Paper Company.

In January 1901 his wife of 56 years passed away. Already ill from Bright’s disease, West passed away just months later on September 28, leaving behind a fortune that would be valued at $75 million in today’s dollars.

Today large portions of the Empire Mill still stand in Rock City Falls, along with the stone foundations of the Excelsior Mill and his 23 room mansion that now serves as a bed and breakfast. His Union mill and bag factory building complex on Prospect Street in Ballston Spa survives as mixed-use buildings, with the “Geo. West” name still etched in the stonework for all to see.

Tim is an independent historian working in the nonprofit field. In 1997 he moved to the Town of Milton and from 2003 to 2013 served as the Treasurer of the Saratoga County Historical Society (Brookside) Board of Trustees. In 2014  he moved to Glenville to be closer to work. He has written 18 books, some self-published and others published by Arcadia Press, which include histories of local industries, railroads, and inventions. He has also published a biography of George West with help from one of West’s descendants, Douglass “Tim” Mabee of Saratoga Springs. Tim can be reached at tstarr71@gmail.com

Sponsored by the Saratoga County History Roundtable.