Schenectady Liederkranz

Group photograph of members of Schenectady Liederkranz at clambake, 1922.
Photograph from the Schenectady Liederkranz records.

Schenectady Liederkranz, a German men’s singing group, was founded in 1871 with thirty-six charter members. The organization’s first meeting was held at John Haubner’s tavern at 716 State Street. Its first president was John Bernardi. The group met at various private homes and saloons in the area around State Street and Albany Street in Schenectady during its early years, including George Hennemann’s saloon on State Street near the Arsenal and Peter Marx’s tavern at 769 State Street.  By 1910, the group had established its Liederkranz Hall at 749-757 Albany Street, alongside Nicholas Sartoris’ Liederkranz Café, and had begun a ladies’ auxiliary. In 1924, the Liederkranz moved into their new building at 302 Schenectady Street, remaining there for over fifty years until the group relocated its headquarters to Niskayuna at 850 Middle Street in 1978. The group’s membership declined throughout the 1990s; the Schenectady Liederkranz finally disbanded in 2005.

Collection of individual photographs of

Schenectady Liederkranz members, ca. 1901.

Photograph from the Schenectady Liederkranz

records. The collection also includes the

individual photographs featured here.

The city directories of the late 1800s through the mid-1900s indicate that the group met monthly. A 1937 Schenectady Gazette article states the organization’s membership at that time as 250. In addition to musical activities, the Liederkranz also functioned as a means of social gathering. The Liederkranz held parties, picnics, pool tournaments, skits, and other events for its membership and their families. The organization also held open houses for the public in celebration of German-American history and culture. 

In addition to local events, the Schenectady Liederkranz also participated in regional singing competitions with German singing groups from other areas of the state during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. These events, organized in various area cities by the Central New York Saengerbund, were held over three days.  The Saengerfests generally included a mass chorus, concerts, competitions, parades, and parties or picnics.

Application for membership. Document
from the Schenectady Liederkranz records.

The collection of records of Schenectady Liederkranz (click here for finding aid) is comprised of sheet music, applications for membership, financial records, photographs, audio-visual materials, plaques and awards, and ephemera. The collection includes over 600 applications for membership in Schenectady Liederkranz, dated from 1931 to 1992, arranged alphabetically. Information contained on the membership applications includes date of application, name, age, birthplace, occupation, residence, signature of applicant, name of person who has recommended the applicant, and signatures of those who reviewed the application. Later applications also include whether the applicant is a United States citizen.

Photographs in the collection range in date from ca. 1880s to ca. 1980s, with the bulk of the photographs dated from ca. 1880-1920. The collection includes several group photographs, as well as numerous photographs of individual members of the group taken circa 1880s and 1901. Few of the photographs in the collection are identified. Sheet music in the collection includes a variety of handwritten sheet music, printed sheet music, and bound books of sheet music compiled or used by Schenectady Liederkranz.  Most of the sheet music in the collection is dated between 1889-1918. Audio-visual materials in the collection date primarily from the 1950s and 1960s and include footage of the organization’s events.

William Seward Gridley

Captain William Seward Gridley, ca. 1861.
Photocopy from Gridley family file.

William Seward Gridley (1838-1889) was responsible for organizing the first company in Schenectady, the 18th Infantry Regiment, New York State Volunteers, Company A -- first known as the Seward Volunteer Zouaves -- during the Civil War.

Gridley was born July 13, 1838 in Schenectady to Reuben Gridley and Mary (DeMille) Gridley. Both of his parents and a newborn sibling died on June 23, 1843. After his parents' deaths, Gridley was placed with his twin brother, Henry, with the Shakers at Watervliet, NY. William and Henry both ran away from the Shaker settlement in 1853 and returned to Schenectady. There, William worked for his brother-in-law, Thomas Cleary, at a hotel and began the study of law.

On April 18, 1861, six days after the first shot was fired at Fort Sumter, William Seward Gridley published the following notice in the Schenectady Daily Times:
"Attention Volunteers - All young men who are in favor of forming a light infantry company and offering their services to garrison this state, or to the President of the United States, to aid and assist in defending the Constitution and Union of the United States against foreign or domestic foes, are requested to meet at Cleary's saloon, opposite the railroad depot, on Friday evening at 7:30 o'clock, the 19th inst. This means fight, and all who sign must go."

Forty-seven men who attended the meeting signed an application for a company organization, and asked Governor Morgan to commission Gridley as Captain. Gridley took the application to Albany. He received notice from the Adjutant General for he and his company to report for duty at Albany on April 22, 1861. The company of seventy-four men and three officers -- most of whom were from Schenectady -- was referred to as the "Seward Volunteer Zouaves" until it was assigned as Company A of the Eighteenth Regiment, New York Volunteers on May 14, 1861. A few days later, on May 17, 1861, the company was mustered into service. Soldiers with the 18th Regiment fought in Virginia at Braddock Road, Fairfax Station, Blackburn's Ford, the first battle of Bull Run, Munson's Hill, Union Mills, West Point, Gaines Mill, Garnett's and Golding's Farms, Glendale, Malvern Hill, Burke's Station, Fredericksburg, Franklin's Crossing, and Salem Church, and in Maryland at Crampton's Pass and Antietam. While with Company A, Gridley was promoted to Major on October 14, 1862. He mustered out with the Regiment on May 28, 1863, at Albany. At the close of the war, Gridley received the honorary title of Brevet Colonel, New York Volunteers.

William's brother, Nathaniel, also served in 18th New York Infantry Volunteer Regiment, Company A, as a private. He was killed in 1862 at the battle of Gaines Mill in Virginia. William's twin brother, Henry Seward Gridley, lived in Schenectady during the 1860s through around 1871, working as a saloon-keeper and fruit dealer.

After his war service, William Seward Gridley returned to Schenectady and studied law. He is listed in the 1865 city directory as boarding at the home of his brother-in-law, Thomas Cleary, who operated a hotel and restaurant between State and Liberty Streets. Gridley was admitted to the bar in 1867; by 1868 he was practicing law at 15 Union Street and resided at 62 Barrett Street. On October 1, 1867, William married Caroline Eleanor “Nora” Gridley (1842-1944), of another line of the Gridley Family in Jackson, Michigan and a noted Lincoln scholar. Her father, Judge Grandison Thomson Gridley, presided at their marriage. They had three children, Grandison Thomson (1869-1886), William Mallory (1872-1942) and Queen Vernon (1873-1955). The family lived in Michigan from 1867 to 1885 when William and his wife moved to Chicago. William died on June 17, 1889 from an apoplectic stroke and is buried at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago.

Extended hours

As of Thursday, September 8, the Grems-Doolittle Library will return to extended hours of operation on Thursday evenings from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Dutch-language documents in the Grems-Doolittle Library

Land agreement signed by the Mohawks ceding land
in Schenectady, 1670. A translation of the original
document is printed in Jonathan Pearson's History of
the Schenectady Patent.

Given Schenectady's founding as one of the northernmost parts of the New Netherland colony and the longevity of Dutch-speaking settlements in the area, it should come as no surprise that the Grems-Doolittle Library has in its holdings a significant number of Dutch-language documents. There are 550 Dutch-language documents in our collections, including family correspondence, land records, account books, poetry, and other materials. Our holdings of Dutch-language materials date from 1661 to 1909; the bulk of the documents date from the late seventeenth through the late eighteenth century.

Many of the documents have not been translated, although three new translations have been added this year. As interest in the history of Dutch settlement in the area grows, we hope to be able to generate more interest in these materials and translate them so that a broader range of researchers can access the information that these documents contain. Click here to see a complete list of Dutch-language documents in our collection.

The Schenectady County Almshouse and Almshouse Records in the Library

About the Schenectady County Almshouse

Schenectady County Poor Farm, ca. 1880.  Photograph from
the Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection.

The Schenectady County Almshouse, also called the Poor House or the County Home, was first established in 1826 under the county board of supervisors. In that year, the county took over the operation of a city almshouse and farm that had been established around 1815, on the summit that would later be known as Hamilton Hill. Henry Clute, the first county "poor-house keeper," provided food and clothing for the inmates. In return, Clute was allowed the farm's products, use of the buildings, and use of the labor of able-bodied inmates. Beginning in 1860, a member of the County Board was required to visit the Poor House weekly to examine the management, condition, and usage of the farm and inmates. By 1879, the position of "poor-house keeper" was abolished and the duties of overseeing operations was assumed by a superintendent of the poor, who resided on the grounds.

In 1892, state law authorized the Board of Supervisors to sell the Poor House farm and buildings and to lay out streets in the area for house construction. In 1903, three interconnected brick buildings were built and opened for the Almshouse on the former plot of the farm, in an area bounded by Emmett Street, Brandywine Avenue, Duane Avenue, and Steuben Street. The County Home would operate here until 1936.

Schenectady County Home, ca. 1903. Photograph from the
Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection.

In 1935, the county built a new County Home and farm on Hetcheltown Road in Glenville, which began accepting residents in 1936. The name of the County Home was changed to Glendale Home in 1962. The County Home's former building on Steuben Street was occupied by the Schenectady Museum from 1938 until 1968. Soon after the Schenectady Museum relocated to its current location on Nott Terrace Heights, the building was demolished and construction began on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School on the old almshouse site.

Schenectady Almshouse Records Index, 1875-1920


Sample almshouse record card.

In 1896, the New York State Legislature passed legislation requiring officers of public almshouses and poorhouses to submit an annual census of inmates to the State Board of Charities. At a state conference of Superintendents of the Poor, a committee developed a standard form for reporting information about each inmate. The Historical Society has a microfilm copy of these records for the poorhouse in Schenectady County, New York, as well as a smaller number of almshouse records from Saratoga, Schoharie, and Seneca counties. We have a searchable index of the Grems-Doolittle Library's microfilm holdings of almshouse records on our Collections and Catalog page: Almshouse Records Index. Society staff will make copies of a card if you submit the look-up request (visit our Research Resources page for more information). Although the Library's holdings of almshouse records span the years from 1875 to 1920, there are often gaps of one or more years in the census returns from a particular county. Most records in are in the 1900-1919 time period.

John Papp Photograph Collection



John Papp. Photograph from Larry Hart Collection.

John Papp was, as described by a 1978 GE Works News article, “a photographer by trade but a history buff by desire and avocation.” Papp shot many photographs of the Schenectady area, and was an avid collector of historic photographs.

John Papp was born in Bronx, New York, to John and Anna (Juracka) Papp, and was raised in the New York City area and in Tannersville, New York. He joined the U.S. Army in 1949 and served through 1952. That year he married Eileen Specht; the couple would go on to have three children. Papp was hired by the General Electric Company that year. While at GE, Papp worked as a photographer for GE Works News and as a photographic technician at GE’s Center for Research and Development in Niskayuna. Papp worked for General Electric from 1952 until his retirement in 1988.

In a 1989 Schenectady Magazine interview, Papp shared that he first became interested in history when someone asked him to copy historic photographs while he was working for the Advertising and Sales Promotion photo lab at General Electric. He dedicated time and effort to preserving historic photographs of the area. In one instance, Papp relates a story that a friend, Ed Cooley, found a box of glass-plate negatives at the Scotia town dump. Papp, Cooley, and Lou DeCerbo returned to the dump on their lunch hour to try to retrieve any remaining negatives. Papp also collected historic postcards depicting Schenectady, Saratoga, Albany, New York City, and other parts of New York State.

Parade on State Street, ca. 1900. This is one of the many
historic photographs collected by John Papp.
Photograph from John Papp Photograph Collection.

Papp served as Rotterdam Town Historian beginning in 1972, and served on the board of trustees of the Schenectady County Historical Society. He also served on a number of committees related to historic celebrations in the area, including the Rotterdam bicentennial and sesquicentennial, and Schenectady County bicentennial.

Papp is the author of 27 booklets related to local history, transportation and other topics. Many of his booklets were self-published, and range in length from 16 to 66 pages. Titles include: Old Schenectady (n.d.); Schenectady Then and Now: Photos as Early as the Civil War (1966); Trolleys: The Forgotten Transportation, From Horse-Power to Electric-Power (1968); Schenectady’s Changing Scene: an Illustrated Tour Through the Streets of Schenectady’s Past and Present (1969); Those Golden Years: The Circus (1971); The Old Car Book (1972); Ships of the Seven Seas: The Interoceanic Ship Railway (1973); Erie Canal Days: Albany to Buffalo (1975); My Father Used to Tell Me About ... (1977); The Horseless Carriage: Over 100 Photographs of Classic Automobiles (1979); Smoke n’ Rails (1979); Titanic (1981). Papp also published a number of booklet reprints, including Albany Bi-Centennial 1686-1886 (1970), Fire! Fire! Firemen: A Tribute to the Nation’s Firefighters (1972; originally published in 1939), and Traveller’s Pocket Directory & Stranger’s Guide, Exhibiting Distances on the Erie Canal & Stage Routes in the State of New York, A Facsimile of the 1831 Edition (1978).

In addition to Papp’s work as a photographer and historian, he was also a musician. He played with the 10^th Division Army Band in Manhattan, Kansas, during his Army service. Papp also played as a drummer in his Johnny Papp Quartet, which played weddings and other events in Schenectady, as well as in the Lenny Ricardi Big Band. He was a drummer in the Capital District Marching Band from 1980 to 2004.

In addition to historic photographs, the John Papp Photograph
Collection also includes manyphotographs taken by Papp,
including this photograph of the Cobblestone Church in
 Rotterdam, taken in 1975. 

He was a board member of the Musicians Union, and was a member of the Automobilists of the Upper Hudson Valley, Titanic Historic Preservation Society, Professional Photographers Society, the Rotterdam Elks 2157 Lodge, and was a committee member of the Boy Scouts of America Troop 357.

John Papp died on May 17, 2005, at the age of 72. He is buried at Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery in Niskayuna.

The John Papp Photograph Collection is comprised of photographic prints, negatives, and slides taken and collected by John Papp. The photograph collection documents the city of Schenectady, as well as more general topics about which Papp had a special interest, including the Erie Canal, automobiles, and ships. The bulk of the collection consists of photographic prints, but also includes some slides and a few glass plate negatives. The collection also contains a small amount of research material created and compiled by John Papp pertaining to the Erie Canal and local history. A finding aid for the collection can be found here.

Reminder: Reunion of Civilian Conservation Corps alumni, family and friends

Please join us to hear Civilian Conservation Corps alumni share their stories at our CCC reunion on Monday, August 15.

Hope to see you there!