"Fadeaways? Curves? Speed? We Had 'em All": The Illustrious Career of Pitcher Frank Mountain

Special thanks to Julie Mountain for sending us articles and information on Frank Mountain and to library volunteer Diane Leone for compiling this information.

Between the ages 10 and 14, my friends and I would gather for weekly games of Wiffle Ball in the court next to my house. We formed our own league, had our own constantly changing rules, decided what counted as a home run (over the power lines, over my neighbors fence, or if we managed to hit the street light), made some drastic modifications to the bats we used, decided whether a player running the bases would be considered out if he was hit with a thrown ball, and tried a few different types of ball (later experiments with a tennis ball led to unhappy neighbors and bruised hands). Like the residents of Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 1791 who banned bat and ball games within 80 yards of the newly built meeting house, I’m sure our neighbors often wished to ban us from playing ball in the court. Similar to our ever changing rules, rule changes in professional baseball during the late-1800s happened quite frequently and Schenectady’s Frank “Curley” Mountain was one of the preeminent players during this evolving period of baseball.

Frank Mountain was born in Fort Edward, NY on May 17, 1860 to David and Elizabeth Mountain. The family moved to Schenectady in 1865. Frank would play sandlot ball while going to class at the Union Classical Institute, and would often head straight for Union College’s field. As a student in high school, he wasn’t technically allowed to play with the college students on campus, but his skill on the field made him a welcome addition. Mountain pitched one game for Union College in 1879 and at least 10 in 1880 before officially enrolling in Union in 1881. As a freshman, Mountain debated with Union Professor Cady Staley about the physical and mathematical possibility of throwing a curveball. It was widely believed that the curveball was an optical illusion and Mountain was set on proving that the ball actually curved. According to Reverend W.N.P Dailey in the St. Johnsville Enterprise, the debate was ended when Mountain “placed his teacher so that unless he moved suddenly in the straight pitch the curved ball at the plate would have hit him.” Staley was amazed by the pitch and would go on to have Frank demonstrate his curve for physics classes. Mountain and fellow student Daniel McElwain would lead Union to win the 1881 championship of the New York State Intercollegiate Baseball Association.

Frank Mountain shown in the front row, second from the right, and the Union Class of 1884. Courtesy of Julie Mountain.

He made his professional debut in 1880 for the Troy Trojans back when Troy had a professional baseball team. It wasn’t until 1883, when he was playing for the Columbus Buckeyes, that he really showed his skill as a pitcher. Pitchers during this era would often play full games, and Frank Mountain was no exception. During the 1883 season, he pitched 59 games for a whopping total of 503 innings pitched. He was also known to pitch double headers, 4 games in a row, and would often play the field when not pitching on his “day off” due to his skill as a hitter and fielder. His best season was in 1884 where he won 24 games, lost 17, and had a 2.45 earned run average which was the fifth best in the American Association. He also pitched a no-hitter against both the Washington Nationals and the Cincinnati Red Stockings during that season. Unfortunately, this brutal pace took a toll on Mountain’s arm and by 1885, he became a coach and trainer (one of the first to coach from the bench) while occasionally playing first base or in the outfield. His last Major League appearance was on August 17, 1886 while playing for the Pittsburgh Alleghenys.

The 1884 Columbus Buckeyes. Pitchers Frank Mountain and Ed Morris are shown in the front row. Mountain and Morris pitched a total of 94 games in the 1884 season. Courtesy of the issue #37 of Old Cardboard (http://www.oldcardboard.com/enews/2007/enews37/enews37.htm).

Mountain moved back to Schenectady, started a family, and worked at General Electric as the Assistant Fire Chief for about 40 years. An unidentified 1921 article titled “Frank Mountain Craves Chance to Pitch Them Over to Babe Ruth” profiled Mountain. In the article, he states that he would like to be back in the game “with his old-time pitcher’s cunning” to face off against Babe Ruth. The article also focuses on some of the changes that have occurred in baseball since his heyday. According to Mountain, the pitcher would never think of taking instructions from the catcher, as he would be able to decide which pitch he threw by sizing up each batter. It is also reported that he discovered the spitball and frequently used a “moist delivery to secure a fairly slow ball that broke with a drop as it crossed the plate.” He also played during a time when baseball gloves were optional. Even if players chose to wear a glove, they were more like a leather work glove and lacked padding or webbing. One of the first instances of adding padding to a glove was in 1885 when Providence Grays shortstop Arthur Irwin attempted to protect two broken fingers by padding his glove.

An example of the type of glove players "subject to sore hands" would wear in the early 1880s. From the 1880 issue of the Spalding Base Ball Guide courtesy of The Smithsonian Library on Archive.org (https://archive.org/details/spaldingsbasebal1880chic).

In 1938, Frank Mountain was given a silver pass which gave him lifetime admission to any Major League Baseball game. The pass came as a complete surprise to Mountain who said that receiving the pass was one of the happiest moments of his life. He passed away on November 30^th, 1939 and was buried in the Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery. His legacy lives on through great granddaughter  Julie Mountain, who also graduated from Union 103 years after Frank. She feels that his efforts to leverage Union and engineering professors to demonstrate that the curve was real and not an optical illusion is important to show his commitment to learning and education. Julie very kindly sent us her research on Frank Mountain for this post and is working to nominate Frank for the Buck O'Neil award for his early contributions to the game. If anyone has any additional information about him please contact her at Mountain_299@hotmail.com.




Frank Mountain kept his signature handlebar mustache (a bit difficult to see in this photo) throughout his life. Courtesy of the Grems-Doolittle Library.

Vintage baseball leagues have been making a comeback in recent years. The Atlantic Base Ball Club based out of Brooklyn plays home games on the grounds of the Smithtown Historical Society in Long Island, but have been playing at the Annual Ommegang Brewery Festival in Cooperstown, NY. Follow this link to watch a clip of the Atlantics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I98ACObgnw.

The Grems-Doolittle Library has been digitizing some of our photos on sports and recreation in Schenectady through the New York Heritage website. This collection features photos of the Schenectady Blue Jays, the J.C. Baseball Club, and the Schenectady Whirlwinds, with more being added periodically. Check it out at http://nyheritage.nnyln.net/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16694coll45.  

                                                                                                                                         -Mike Maloney

Civil Defense and Civil Disobedience: Operation Alert in Schenectady in 1960

Protesters assembled in Veterans Park (then Crescent Park) at 1:45 p.m. on May 3, 1960, and remained holdings signs through the take-cover drill, which was in effect all over Schenectady from 2:15-2:30 p.m. The protesters carried leaflets criticizing civil defense efforts and urged efforts toward peace and an end to the nuclear arms race. Image from Larry Hart Collection.

At 2:15 p.m. on May 3, 1960, in response to an alarm that rang all over the city, Schenectadians rushed to cover to protect themselves from a nuclear attack. In downtown Schenectady, cars vacated the streets and pedestrians moved indoors. In minutes, Schenectady's downtown transformed from bustling to ghostly still. Although the response was rapid, the threat was not real. This was a drill as part of the city's efforts for Operation Alert, a nationwide civil defense exercise.

Operation Alert originated in 1954, under the auspices of the United States Federal Civil Defense Agency. Operation Alert took place in over 100 cities across America. Citizens in the "target" areas were required to take cover for 15 minutes. The drills also provided an opportunity for civil defense officials, hospitals, schools, and police departments to test their response times, communication systems, and overall readiness to respond to an attack. The day following a drill, newspapers in "target" areas would often publish articles reporting on the fictitious attacks, including the numbers of bombs dropped, cities and towns hit, and casualties.

Congested traffic and scores of pedestrians throng State Street on the afternoon of May 3, 1960, moments before a take-cover drill was held. Image from Larry Hart Collection.

Schenectady Police Department patrolman Harold McConvery stands at the nearly deserted intersection of State Street and Lafayette Street on May 3, 1960, overseeing the take-cover drill as part of Operation Alert. Image from Larry Hart Collection.

Schenectady participated in several Operation Alerts, from the first exercise in 1954 until the last in 1961. However, the Operation Alert held in 1960 was significant in that appears to be the only year that a public demonstration was staged in the city to protest the civil defense exercise. Civil defense efforts in New York State were taken very seriously. Beginning in 1955, failure to take cover during an Operation Alert drill was punishable with a fine of up to $500 and a year in jail under New York State law.

The public was informed of the timing of the take cover drill -- the only portion of Operation Alert activity that demanded the cooperation of the entire public -- in the days before the exercises began. A notice in the Schenectady Gazette read, "public participation is mandatory, under federal orders." The take-cover signal, described as "giving a fluctuating or warbling tone," was to commence at 2:15 p.m. At that time, all vehicular traffic would be stopped and pedestrians were to take cover in the doorways of stores, offices, and public buildings. 150 street intersections were manned by police to enforce the take-cover drill. William Dunn, Schenectady postmaster and the county's acting civil defense director, coordinated the exercises.

Protesters are ordered to disperse and take cover by an unidentified Schenectady police officer. The demonstrators could have been fined and/or jailed for failure to take cover during a civil defense drill under New York State law. Local police chose not to arrest the protesters. Image from Larry Hart Collection. 

During the take-cover drill, approximately 25 people, 20 of whom were Union College students, stood in Veterans Park at the intersection of State Street and Lafayette Street. Some carried signs that read "Civil Defense is Futile" and "Remember There Will Be No Survivors." They protesters carried leaflets that criticized the futility of civil defense measures, citing the ability of one medium-sized hydrogen bomb blast in the area to decimate the entire Capital Region. "The air raid drill creates a psychological expectation for atomic war, " the leaflet read, "and by preparing for war it destroys the movement for peace."

Front cover of a Schenectady County civil defense brochure. The brochure focused on evacuation in case of a nuclear attack. Image from the Grems-Doolittle Library Documents Collection.

In an article written after 1960's Operation Alert was over, drill coordinator William Dunn was quoted as saying "I recognize and sympathize with the right of any United States citizen to hold an opinion and express that opinion. I was encouraged, however, to note the size of the demonstration." "We tolerated the demonstration," Police Captain Frank Barrett was quoted as saying in the Schenectady Gazette. Barrett explained that the decision was made not to arrest the protesters as doing so would "build up the protest and make 'martyrs' of the demonstrators."

On May 6, an editorial appeared in the Schenectady Gazette criticizing the Union College students who had participated in the protest. "We wonder if [the students] would be happy to see everyone else use the same tactic to register disagreement with other things the government is doing or not doing," the editorial read. "Isn't it obvious that the result would be chaos and anarchy?" The writer closed the editorial by saying, "numerous Americans are dissatisfied or in doubt about the wisdom of the government's nuclear or civil defense policies, but most of them refrain from taking the unnecessary path of defiance to express themselves."

The intersection of Erie Boulevard and State Street, usually busy in the afternoon, is nearly empty after the take-cover alarm was sounded at 2:15 p.m. Note the pedestrians taking cover in the doorways of local businesses, as if shielding themselves from a brief rain shower. Image from Larry Hart Collection.

A letter to the editor was soon published in response. The writer, identified only as F.G.L. of Scotia, responded to the editorial's argument that a handful of local college students were the only local people opposed to Operation Alert. "Several mothers of children in grade school were concerned about their children being frightened by being herded into hallways and told to cover their eyes," F.G.L. wrote. "I think it is unscrupulous and immoral to involve little children in power politics. I would expect this to happen in Russia or China, but it doesn't have to happen here. How can we act morally superior unless we are?"

Local high school students also had the opportunity to weigh in on Operation Alert in 1960. A guest article in the Schenectady Gazette by Niskayuna High School student Vickie Mindel asked if the protesters were representative of the majority of young people in the area. Taking on a survey of local high school students, Mindel noted that "the majority of young people questioned felt that in case of attack everyone in this area would be killed. They expressed the futility of standing before lockers or sitting at desks." A junior at Linton High School said of Operation Alert, "It's a bunch of nonsense, because we would die anyway. Sitting at desks won't help."

The same day as the small protest in Schenectady, a number of other protests were held in cities and on college campuses around the country. In New York City, a protest in City Hall Park drew hundreds of people, including celebrities such as Norman Mailer. The following year, as Operation Alert was held again in the spring of 1961, protests proliferated in cities, towns, and college campuses nationwide (seemingly not in Schenectady, however, where newspapers did not report protest of any kind). The New York City protest grew to over 2,000 people. 1961 turned out to be the last year for Operation Alert. In 1962, it was permanently canceled.

The Life of Union College President Eliphalet Nott

Image of Eliphalet Nott in his later life. From Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection. 

This blog entry is written by Library Volunteer Victoria Bohm. 

Eliphalet Nott was born 241 years ago today, on June 25, 1773. He died on the 29th of January, 1866. Between those dates, he was a teacher, a preacher, an inventor, a businessman, and the president of Union College for sixty-two years.

Eliphalet Nott was one of nine children. His family, by the time of his birth, was poor. Much younger than the other son, Samuel, Eliphalet during his earliest years was home-schooled by his mother while living on the family farm in Ashford, Connecticut. Both Samuel and Eliphalet, coming from a clerical family brought down by difficult circumstances -- including a devastating home fire and a robbery of most of the family’s money -- did well for themselves. They both worked hard to get an education, took teaching positions, and eventually became preachers.

Nott earned his M.A. degree in 1794 from Rhode Island College (now known as Brown University), and served as the principal instructor of Plainfield Academy in Plainfield, Connecticut. Under his brother Samuel’s coaching and the guidance of the Reverend Joel Benedict, a pastor in Plainfield, Eliphalet earned his license to preach in the Congregational Church of Connecticut on June 26, 1796. The friendship with Reverend Benedict brought another bonus; on July 4, 1796, Eliphalet Nott married Benedict’s daughter Sarah.

Shortly after his marriage, Nott left New England for central New York, becoming pastor of the Presbyterian church at Cherry Valley and serving as principal of Cherry Valley Academy. His new wife joined him, and it was there that the first of the couple’s four children was born. It was also during this part of his life that Nott met John Blair Smith, then President of Union College. Smith recommended Nott to the elders of the First Presbyterian Church of Albany. The Notts moved to Albany in 1799, and Nott was formally ordained into the Presbyterian Ministry. By1800, he had become a Trustee at Union College, and by 1801 he was named co-chaplain to the State Legislature.

1804 would be a watershed year for Eliphalet Nott, though not a completely happy one. His wife Sarah died less than a year after the birth of their fourth child, shortly before Nott was elected President of Union College. He decided to accept the Trustees’ invitation to become Union College’s fourth President and was officially elected on August 24, 1804.  Also that year, Nott made himself nationally known by delivering a fiery sermon on the subject of the death of Alexander Hamilton in a duel with Aaron Burr. Not only did Nott accuse Burr of being a murderer, he branded Hamilton as equally guilty, along with any others who allowed the barbarous and bloody custom of dueling to exist.

One of the first things President Nott did for Union College was to relieve its grave financial situation by convincing the State Legislature to allow four lotteries for up to $80,000, starting in 1805. Also, during the first years of his presidency, Nott was able to institute a policy dear to his heart since his teaching career began: the abolition of the customary tradition of harsh corporal punishment and intimidation. Nott’s “moral motives” policy stressed targeted discipline, directed and administered for the most part by him, dealing directly with the “culprit,” done quickly and quietly. Not without a fair amount of opposition, Nott also allowed students who had been expelled from other school to enroll in Union College.

Image of Joseph Ramée's 1813 plans for the Union College Campus. Image from Union College website: http://www.union.edu/ramee-anniversary/campus-history/. 

Eliphalet Nott soon married a second time, in 1807. His second wife was Gertrude Peebles, with whom he had a son, Howard Nott. Nott followed through with another of his college-related projects. He purchased 250 acres of land on the edge of Schenectady for Union College and hired French architect Joseph Ramée to design a new campus. As with most construction projects, costs rose well above estimations, so a lottery was held. Unfortunately, the War of 1812 ruined the lottery and Nott ended up borrowing from financier William James. He would borrow again in 1826.

Nott’s third wife, married soon after Gertrude’s death around 1840, was Urania Sheldon (1806-1886), a Troy native and graduate of the Emma Willard School. She was a well-educated woman well able to fill the role of the Union College President’s wife. Urania Nott became in all but officially-granted title Nott’s secretary and public relations agent.

Urania Sheldon Nott. Image from Nott family surname file. 

If Nott might be described as “creative” in his financial dealings, all of the dealings, disagreements, investigations, suits, and various uproars in the ranks of the Trustees never toppled his presidency. Still, in January of 1854, Nott and his third wife Urania were compelled by stern legal advice to set up the Nott Trust Fund giving over half a million dollars directly and unequivocally to Union College. This action estranged two of his sons, who were angry that their father’s fiscal behavior deprived them of an inheritance.

Image of the Nott Stove. This drawing appeared in the Century Illustrated magazine in 1871. Image obtained via Wikimedia Commons. 

Being president of Union College, surviving all manner of financial controversies, publishing scholastic and moral texts, and teaching various classes in the curricula he was attempting to restructure with plans to make Union College into Union University with a graduate program, did not prevent Eliplalet Nott from being an inventor as well. Nott’s efforts to invent a safer coal/wood burning stove earned him about thirty patents. “Nott Stoves” were famous enough to be mentioned by name in books by such authors as James Fenimore Cooper. In 1827, using sons Benjamin and Howard as managers, Nott set up H. Nott and Company in Albany, often referred to as “the Union Furnace.” By 1831, the company had moved to New York City, though the family lost control in the financial panic of 1836. Undaunted, Nott licensed out his patents to other companies and by the mid 1840’s did business with nationally and abroad, thus continuing to earn money from his patents.

Students pose in front of the structure now known as the Nott Memorial building, around 1880. Construction of the 16-sided building began in 1858; it was completed in 1879. The building was officially named for Eliphalet Nott in 1904. Image from Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection. 

In 1859, Nott had the first in a series of strokes, rendering him medically incompetent to be Union College President. However, because the Board was so divided over the issue of having Vice President L.P. Hickok succeed him, he remained in office for another six years until his death at the age of 92. The Nott Memorial on the Union College Campus, the unique campus building most immediately identified with the college, was named in his honor. The names of Nott Street and Nott Terrace close to the campus also serve as a testament to a man who touched the community in Schenectady for over 60 years.

Local Abolitionist Isaac Groot Duryee

Isaac Groot Duryee in 1860. Image from Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection. 

Isaac Groot Duryee (sometimes spelled Duryea) was born in Glenville in 1810 to William Duryee and Sarah Groot. As a young man, he first worked as a grocery clerk in Schenectady, then established his own grocery business. Duryee was attracted to religion during a revival held in the city in 1832. Following the revival, he became a member of the First Reformed Church.

As a young man, Duryee's devotion to the abolitionist cause became apparent. By the mid-1830s, he was contributing to the American Anti-Slavery Society. During his time as a student at Union College, from which he graduated in 1838, Duryee co-founded an Anti-Slavery Society at the college in 1836, and co-founded the Anti-Slavery Society of the City of Schenectady  in 1838. He also helped to found the first African-American church in Schenectady, known as the African Church (now the Duryee Memorial AME Zion Church), in 1837. As President of the Union College Anti-Slavery Society, Duryee wrote that the group would "cease not in every proper way to vindicate [slaves'] cause until their wrongs shall have been redressed and the last vestige of slavery be wiped from our beloved republic." In addition to his public agitation for the freedom of slaves and the rights of African-Americans, his granddaughter, Ruth M. Duryee, wrote in 1937 for a Union College alumni record that Duryee was active with the Underground Railroad, helping “many an escaping negro from Schenectady to the next stop, with the negro lying flat under hay in the back of the wagon.”

Present location of the Duryee Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church at 307 Hulett Street in Schenectady. The church is named on honor of Isaac Groot Duryee, who helped to establish the church's first building on Jay Street. August 2011 image obtained via Google Maps. 

In 1837, Duryee wrote to the Schenectady Cabinet about Schenectady's African-American community. He decried the racism that members of the community faced, writing that African-American Schenectadians were "represented as a mass of ignorant, slothful, miserable paupers - unable and unwilling to provide for themselves, and almost wholly incapable of moral and intellectual improvement." In contrast, Duryee wrote of the contributions that African-Americans made locally -- financially through their taxes to the public coffers, as well as in the works of African-American temperance and mutual relief societies, and in organizing ably to create a school and church. Duryee also noted that 13 of the 39 former slaves in the community had had to purchase their freedom. In comparison to these efforts, Duryee wrote, "we may safely challenge the [white] community to produce a like example of industry, perseverance, and generosity."

On the subject of education, Duryee remarked that "the cause of education among the people of colour has never received the least support from the school fund. They have paid their full proportion of taxes . .. but [those funds] have all been appropriated for the education of other children. Perhaps it will be said, that coloured children stand as good a chance as white children. It is not so. The doors of our public school are closed against the former, while they are open to the latter -- thereby excluding colored children even from the opportunity of receiving any advantage of the public fund." Duryee insisted that, barring integration of Schenectady's schools, African-Americans at the very least had a right to money from the public funds -- which they had contributed to -- to support a school their children could attend. "A greater outrage was never committed upon the rights of the poor," Duryee wrote in the conclusion of his letter.

Duryee left Schenectady for a period of fourteen years after graduating from Union College in 1838. He graduated from Andover Theological Seminary in 1841 and married Lydia Auger Budington in 1842, shortly before he became ordained as a minister. He served Reformed Church congregations in Fallsburg and Glenham before returning to Schenectady to serve as the first pastor of the Second Reformed Church, from 1852 to 1858. During his years in Schenectady, he continued to support rights and dignity for African-Americans in Schenectady. In 1854, he was selected as one of eight commissioners to serve of Schenectady's first Board of Education.

The Second Reformed Church was, during Duryee's tenure as pastor there, in this church building at the corner of Jay and Liberty Streets. Image from Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection. 

Duryee also spoke up among his fellows in the Reformed Church to denounce the institution of slavery. In a meeting of the Reformed Church General Synod in 1855, ministers met to discuss whether to form an ecclesiastical relationship with a North Carolina Classis of the German Reformed Church. During discussion of the resolution, Isaac Duryee objected to receiving the North Carolina Classis because, in his view, owning slaves was a sin. "The question of slavery is the great question of this nation," Duryee said in remarks printed in the New York Daily Tribune, "and when the line is to be drawn I shall not be slow to show which side I am on. Sir, I am on the side of Liberty - Freedom . . . I can say that my inmost soul shrinks from extending the fellowship of our church to slaveholding churches as I shrink from the touch of the torpedo." The Tribune praised Duryee's courage in standing firmly against slavery, given, as they put it, that "the predominant feeling in the Church has been adverse to talking any stand with reference to the great reforms of the day."

In 1859, Duryee again left Schenectady to serve a congregation in Montgomery County. From 1862 to 1865, he served as a chaplain to the 81st New York State Volunteers during the Civil War. Duryee served with that regiment through the war, but became sick during the war and never fully recovered after his return to Schenectady. He died on February 8, 1866, at age 55, leaving his wife and eight children. He is buried in Vale Cemetery. An obituary published in the Schenectady Republican praised his "large experience," his "warm heart," and his "unselfish and elevated purposes." Duryee "was a great friend of the colored race," wrote Edward Corwin in A Manual of the Reformed Church in America in 1902. "He was an Abolitionist and not afraid to speak when it was yet unpopular to advocate the rights of a common humanity for all."

"A Mutual Flame:" The Love Letter of John Van Rensselaer

First page of Gen L 2, a love letter which is fully transcribed below. From the collections of the Grems-Doolittle Library. 

In celebration of Valentine's Day, we'd like to feature one of the love letters in our collections. Although we cannot be certain, we believe the letter may have been written by John S. Van Rensselaer, a 1810 graduate of Union College. John S. Van Rensselaer went on to become a lawyer in Albany and married Ann Dunkin of Philadelphia, not the "Miss Getty B." addressed in the letter below. The letter was written when Van Rensselaer was a teenager, likely around the age of 16, and it expresses the sentiments expected in a letter of courtship -- longing for his beloved, cherishing her lock of hair, and vowing to hold her intimate thoughts and tender feelings close to his chest. The original letter is fully transcribed below, with the line breaks, punctuation and underlining of the original maintained.



Miss Getty B............

A Love Letter


Union College Dec 27, 1807

My amiable friend,

At length my doubts have ended,
at length my charmer has condescended to con-
fess to her Van Ransalaer a mutual flame.
Imagination alone can paint to your mind
my sensations at present. With unfeigned
delight I am anticipating the pleasure of
again beholding you, of again pressing you
to my bosom which sighs for you alone.
How shall I express my gratitude for the lovely
lock of hair you sent me. The form of it was
so congenial to pleasure I felt on reading your
letter, that I unintentionally imagined that
our harts were united in one. Forgive me my
lovely friend, if in the warmth of my expres-
sions I have intimated any thing repugnant
to that delicacy to which I would rather sacrifice
my own happiness, than offend. You desired
me in your last letter to send you a lock of
my hair as I valued your affection, "need I again
mention how much I value it." still circum-
stances oblige me to confess that the unrelenting
Barber has unfortunately sheered it so close,
that it is altogether impossible to say properly
that my head is in possesssion of a single lock
of hair intire. You have requested me so often
not to shew your letters to any one, that if it
is possible I am almost offended with you.
Can my dear girl suppose that I can be
so mean and ungenerous as to betray an af-
fection which she has deigned to bestow on me.
Banish such ideas, and know my charming
angel I am selfish enough to imagine that if
another was to participate with me in reading
your letters. I would not be sensible of that
pleasure which I now derive in perusing
them. Present my sincere respects to my
dear Peggy G... and tell her I shall wear her
chain to my watch as a sacred momento of
her friendship. My respects to all enquiring
friends. I subscribe myself with pleasure
Your devoted
JS Van Rensala

P.S. Inclosed I send you
a list of the students
of Union College

"This Map is Made With 'Artistic License,' Pop!"

Pictorial Map of Schenectady, N.Y. and Union College, 1931.

We see a lot of interesting documents in the library's collections, and some of them are just plain fun! The library recently received a map entitled Pictorial Map of Schenectady, N.Y. and Union College, copyrighted 1931 by J.D. Barstow. The map, in five colors, depicts Schenectady with warmth and detail. Prominent businesses, public buildings, and other features are highlighted, and humorous cartoon images are peppered throughout.

This detail shows the Stockade neighborhood, part of downtown, and the Mohawk River.



This depiction of an exchange on Watt Street
captures the playful nature of the cartoons
included on the map.

A bit of research provided some more information about the map and its creator. An article in the July 15, 1931 Schenectady Gazette announces that the map was on view in one of the display windows at the Barney Company department store on State Street. Copies of the map were for sale and were promoted as guides to the city.

The map was drawn by James D. Barstow, a commercial artist and cartoonist for the General Electric Company. Born in Peekskill, Barstow attended the Pratt Institute. After serving in World War I, he worked as a surveyor for New York State and as an artist for a catalog company. He came to Schenectady in 1923 to work for General Electric. He wrote and drew the "Hopeless Hector" industrial safety comic strip that appeared in the GE Works News, as well a comic strip titled "G.E. Josie" syndicated to GE office employees.

Union College is depicted in this detail. Notice the puzzled cows encountering a student in the pasture.

 

Fun and games in Central Park.



Along the bank of the Mohawk River: "This map is made with 'artistic license,' pop!" -- "You say you forgot your fishing license, son?"

Fairgrounds in the upper Union Street area.

In addition to his work for General Electric, Barstow was known as a cartoonist and watercolor painter in the area. His work was exhibited at the Schenectady Museum and at the Schenectady Civic Playhouse. He also drew caricatures at local schools, fairs, and hobby shows, and gave talks on cartooning at the Schenectady Museum, schools, fraternal organizations, veterans' organizations, church groups. He also offered art lessons for children at local day camps, through the local Boys Club, and from his home.
Barstow was the first industrial cartoonist to gain membership in the National Cartoonist Society of America. He was cited for his work in creating cartoons promoting the sale of war and savings bonds and three times received awards from the Freedom Foundation for his work. Barstow died in February 1960.




The General Electric Company, featuring a gigantic monitor-top refrigerator, radio announcers, and tennis players.

Early Days of Union College

West College at corner of Union Street and College Street, looking north down College Street.
Photograph from the Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection.

This blog entry was written by Frank Taormina, one of the Society's trustees and a frequent researcher here in the library.

We learned recently that Liberty Street was named after a Liberty Pole which had been erected in 1771 at the point where it was destined to make its eastward trek in 1802. Union Street, parallel to Liberty, got its name 4 years earlier in 1798 when it was changed from the Road to Niskayuna to Union by Schenectady’s first mayor, Joseph C. Yates. Yates was among the several citizens of Schenectady at this time who played a role in obtaining a charter from the New York State Regents for what was to be the second college in New York State, following Kings College, which came into existence in 1754 (Kings College was renamed Columbia University after the American Revolution). The process of obtaining a charter from the New York State Regents to permit the erection of a college in Schenectady took from 1779 to 1795.

Union College seal, which
features an image of Minerva.  

In 1795, Union became the first college founded in the United States that did not have a link to a specific religious sect.  Its name signifies that it was the “union” of several different religious sects then in existence in Schenectady that shared an interest in the creation of an institution of higher learning. Its symbol, a depiction of the Roman Goddess Minerva (who is usually also designated as the Greek Goddess Athena) and its motto, in French, “Under the Laws of Minerva, we all become brothers” was not associated with any religious sect.

Union’s first domicile was at the northwest corner of Union Street and Ferry Street, in a building erected in 1785, which had served as the “Schenectady Academy” until until Union occupied thie building in 1795.
Nine years later, Union moved to a location one block west, at the corner of Union Street and what became College Street, into a structure built especially for it which was called “West College.” That site today is the parking lot for the Van Dyck Restaurant.

From 1804 to 1814, this site, before the Erie Canal was dug along its eastern edge, was the location of Union College. In 1814, the college moved again, eastward, following the street which bore its name, Union, to the top of a hill generally called “Prospect Heights.” There, after erecting the stone wall we have since called “the Terrace”, were erected the two buildings, still very much like they were in 1814, and still called “South College” and North College.” 

Postcard depicting North College on Union College campus. From Grems-Doolittle Library Postcard Collection.

These buildings formed the beginning of the first planned college campus in America, still bearing witness, after nearly two hundred years, to the imagination and architectural skill of Jacques Ramee, and to the wisdom of Eliphalet Nott, the President of Union from 1804 to 1866, in hiring Ramee to plan the campus. 

The purpose of this blog is to introduce you to your surroundings on Union Street and to provide a brief account of Union’s existence in this neighborhood. There is so much more history of Union College – and much of it, for any one interested, on the net, accessible through a Google search.  In the meantime, as we walk down Union Street, let us listen - can we can hear the voices of all those associated with Union College as they strolled up and down the street named after their college between Ferry Street and Nott Terrace during the last two hundred years and seventeen years?

Charles Steinmetz Collection

Charles P. Steinmetz

Volume: 8 cubic feet

Charles Steinmetz (1865-1923) 
Biographical Note:

Summary of Life:

Charles Steinmetz (1865-1923) was one of the foremost inventors, scientists, engineers, researchers, and mathematicians of the late 19^th and early 20^th Centuries.  His most important work was performed at General Electric (GE) from 1892-1923.  Steinmetz was born Carl August Rudolph Steinmetz in Breslau, Germany on April 9, 1865.

Professional Life:

Steinmetz enrolled in the University of Breslau in 1883 where he studied advanced mathematics, physics, and astronomy.  Involvement in socialist activities and impending legal action forced him to flee to Zurich, Switzerland in 1888. Steinmetz came to the United States in 1889 by the invitation of his roommate Oscar Asmussen, and began working for Rudolph Eickemeyer as an assistant draftsman. 

General Electric purchased Eickemeyer’s company in 1892 and Steinmetz joined GE’s Calculating Department in Lynn, Massachusetts.   Steinmetz was transferred to Schenectady with the Calculating Department in December 1893 and was placed in charge of the department in early 1894.  As head of the Calculating Department, Steinmetz unofficially became chief engineer of the company, and as the Calculating Department grew, he became responsible for much of the design work in the company.

Civic Involvement:

From 1902 to 1914 he chaired the newly created Union College Department of Engineering.  In 1911, Steinmetz was appointed to the board of education, and in 1912 was elected its president.  In 1913, Mayor George Lunn created the board of parks and city planning for which Steinmetz was elected chariman.  Mayor Lunn was reelected in 1915 with Steinmetz as president of the common council.

Description of the Collection:
The materials in the collection focus on Steinmetz’s early life in Germany, his technical work at General Electric, and his personal photography. It includes correspondence, research notes, drawings, blueprints, and graphs from Charles Steinmetz’s research at Eickemeyer’s and General Electric; Typed manuscripts of Steinmetz’s books and articles; Steinmetz’s research notebooks; Photograph albums with photographs taken by Steinmetz and a small number of Steinmetz glass plate negatives and early family photographs from Germany; Large amounts of materials from his family and early life in Germany written in German, including family legal documents, student notebooks, and various certificates relating Charles Steinmetz and his half-sister Clara; A small box of tools used by Steinmetz. The bulk of the material relates to his research. Personal correspondence and information on his civic duties are less represented in this collection.

1.  Photographs 
Photography was Steinmetz’s favorite hobby. The photographs capture nature and family life around the Schenectady area.

2. Germany
Legal documents from his family and student notebooks from the University of Breslau.

3. Articles, Books, and Lectures
A variety of topics from Steinmetz’s varied interests, including science, mathematics, engineering, corporate welfare, education, socialism, government, and World War I.

4. Research Notebooks and Notes
Topics include motor development, alternating-current theory, hysterisis, transient phenomena, and arc lamp research are all represented here, along with the notebook from Steinmetz'’ poker game, the “Society for the Adjustment of Differences in Salaries.”

5. Letterbooks
The letterbooks are bound and contain both personal and business correspondence.

6. Certificates, Awards, and Patents
Steinmetz received over 200 patents during his lifetime. He received honors from several colleges, including Harvard, Union College,and the University of Pennsylvania, and awards from a variety of organizations. Also included are memberships to professional organizations and his citizenship certificate issued in 1896 in Schenectady County Court.

7. Clippings
Newspaper clippings related to Steinmetz’s work, appearances, and civic activities.

8. Blueprints and Sketches
Steinmetz’s work at Eickemeyer from 1891-1892, focusing on an alternating-current railway motor. The series also contains sketches Steinemtz made in 1895 of a canoe motor.

9. Family and Pamphlet Files:
Folders of items collected at the Historical Society by and about Steinmetz. Includes reminiscences of contemporaries, the restoration of his electric car by Union College, some group photographs, clippings relating to Camp Mohawk and his home in the GE Realty Plot, which was torn down in 1946 after a failed attempt to convert it into a historic site. The family folder contains correspondence between Steinmetz and his family, originally in German, and with partial English translations and family photographs.

Larry Hart Collection

Dates: 1792- 2004

Volume: approx. 51.87 cf

Creator: Larry Hart

Larry Hart (1920-2004)
Biographical Note:
Larry Hart was born Clarence William Hart in Schenectady, NY on March 17th, 1920. Hart attended Schenectady public schools and started Union College in 1940, leaving in that year to join the armed services. Larry Hart served with the 357th Squadron, Eighth Air Force in Europe during World War II. In 1943, he worked as an aerial photographer and photo reconnaissance technician.

Hart became a full time photographer and reporter for the Union-Star in Schenectady, NY in 1945. In 1960, he became a reporter for the Schenectady Daily Gazette where he remained a columnist until his official retirement in 1980, although he continued to write freelance. His farewell note was published on March 20, 2000. A political reporter, Hart is probably best known for his historical column, “Tales of Old Dorp” which first appeared in the local section of the Daily Gazette on May 14, 1974, and ran through the 1990s.

Larry Hart served as President (1965-1968 and 1979-1981) and trustee (1962-1983) of the Schenectady County Historical Society. Hart was both Schenectady County Historian and Schenectady City Historian. Larry Hart died on February 10th, 2004, in Schenectady at the age of 83.

Description of the Collection:
The Larry Hart Collection is more than 52 boxes of research files, photographs, documents and records about Schenectady covering the whole of the 20th century as well as earlier eras. As the city and county historian, Hart was able to collect a great variety of materials relating to the local area.

The collection is arranged by format and then topically or by date. This collection is a great tool for the researcher interested in local research topics, local oral history, genealogy, and pictorial views of Schenectady and the surrounding area. Subjects covered include American presidents, the American Civil War, ALCO, G.E Company, Charles Steinmetz, oral history, urban renewal and historic preservation.

1. Audio/Visual Materials: (3.63 cf)
A collection of 93 cassettes, 44 reel to reel, 9 film and 10 VHS tapes, mostly dated between the 1960s-1990s. Most of the cassettes seem to have been recorded by Larry Hart himself. This collection primarily focuses on interviews and oral histories of the Schenectady area. Topics include several presidential speeches (not recorded locally); WGY radio; Mayor George Lunn; and GE scientist Charles Steinmetz.

2. Books: (10.8 cf)
A collection of 110 titles. Topics include local history; Schenectady and the greater Mohawk valley; and the American Civil War.

3. Correspondence: (0.38 cf)
A collection of letters received by and sent by Larry Hart. These letters are divided into two major categories: local and genealogical questions ranging from 1966-2000 and Schenectady City/County Historian- Monthly and Annual Reports ranging from 1970-1985.

4. Documents (.57 cf)
This collection covers a wide variety of local topics, which includes 58 documents from Richmond, New Hampshire in Cheshire County, dating 1792-1826 and relating to Benjamin and David Perry. Items of interest include: A press-pass for the Ringling Bros. Circus, 1954; an Erie Canal Sesquicentennial envelope; a dance card from the eighth annual ball of Ira Van Buren Lodge, 1904; 3 war ration books owned by Hart and his family.

5. Magazines: (1.19 cf)
This collection includes several editions of various magazines of national and local interest. Included are issues of Life Magazine and several local periodicals, the Periscope from the first issue in 1915 through February of 1926, Schenectady Works News, Mohawk Valley USA. Topics of interest include: The American Civil war in New York; Eisenhower’s death; Kennedy’s death; Landing on the moon; The 355th fighter group assn. Mustang.

6. Maps: (1.98 cf)
A collection of copies and original maps of Schenectady County and the surrounding area, Erie Canal and the Adirondacks.

7. Newspapers: (1.33 cf)
A collection of originals and copies of newspapers, all locally issued except a copy of the New York Tribune about the sinking of the Titanic. Topics include: Original 1803 Western Spectator; copies of the first issue of the Gazette in 1894; Union Star 1945 about the war in Japan.

8. Oversized Materials: (0.89 cf)
A collection of documents relating to local history and Larry Hart’s personal achievements, several certificates which were presented to Hart for his work, and a scrapbook of his WWII experiences. Also reflects his wider interests in history with Civil war material. Topics include: WWII scrapbook pages from Hart’s time in the Air force; Jack Dempsey fight poster; wooden cigar box lid sketched on by Steinmetz; layout pages for book covers.

9. Pamphlets (1.36 cf)
A collection of pamphlets, covering a variety of topics ranging local, Schenectady city, county and New York State, and national history.

10. Photographs: (7.60 cf)
The Larry Hart Photograph collection contains mostly black and white pictures dating from the late 1800’s to the 1990’s with a primary concentration between the 1940’s and the 1990’s. It is arranged according to topics, which seem to correlate with the themes of his “Old Dorp” newspaper articles. The collection also contains photographs, letters, and documents contributed from other sources. Oversized photographs are also included, many of which have been enlarged from smaller prints and several of which are framed. A large collection of Carman School class photographs are among the oversized pictures.

11. Postcards: (.39 cf)
This collection includes color and black and white postcards as well as some photo postcards. A number of postcards have handwritten messages, are stamped by the Post Office, and include the name of the addressee. The dates on the postcards range from the early 20th century up to the 1980s. Topics include: Holidays: Thanksgiving, St. Patrick’s day, Valentine’s day, Christmas and New Years; various Schenectady city sites including General Electric, American Locomotive Co., parks, the circus fire of 1910 and Union college ; Schenectady County sites including Albany, Rotterdam and Amsterdam; out of area sites including Washington D.C. and New York City and views of the Hudson River.

12. Research Files: (11.77 cf)
A collection of documents, newspaper articles and notes, sorted by topic. These files contain topics of local, state and national importance. Many of the topics were most likely compiled for Larry Hart’s “Old Dorp” articles. Topics of possible research interest include: ALCO; Susan B. Anthony; Barbers; Baseball; Brooklyn; Carnegie Hall; churches; Civil War; Dutch; Gazette; Halloween; Indians; Lynching ; George Lunn; Markers; Eliphalet Nott; Presidents; Red Cross; Rexford; Stamps; Vale Cemetery; Wall Street; World War II; Joseph Yates.

13. Scrapbooks: (2.4 cf)
This is a collection containing 20 scrapbooks and photo albums. The albums are a variety of sizes and in varying conditions. Most of these albums were compiled by Larry Hart, but seven scrapbooks were compiled by others. Two of the albums were compiled by Clarence Hart, Larry Hart’s birth name. Sometime after World War II, he legally changed his name to Larry Hart.

14. Slides: (.11 cf)
This collection includes color and black and white photos. The collection also includes several illustrations and maps, in both color and black and white. Dates of these slides seem to be the 1950-1980s with subjects ranging from approximately the late 19th to 20th century.

15. Negatives: (.96 cf)
A collection of negatives, presumably taken by Larry Hart throughout his lifetime. The collection is a compilation of both black and white and color negatives in a variety of sizes including 4 x 5 inches, 1 ¾ x 2 inches and 1 ½ x 1 inches. Topics include: Transportation; fires; car accidents; deaths; Rotary club event; several Schenectady buildings and streets.