MADE AVAILABLE BY THE GREENE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY

A PUBLICATION OF THE GREENE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.

90 County Route 42 Volume 36 Numbers 1+2 Coxsackie, N. Y. 12051 ISBN 0894-8135 Spring & Summer 2012

UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT: AND THE SARATOGA & RAILROAD BY DANIEL W. BIGLER

Daniel Drew, shown here in an engraving from the Library of Congress, represented the American romantic ideal of the self-made man, rising from humble beginnings to a position of great wealth and power. He worked in a number of fields over the years, ranging from cattle-driving to the stock market to steamboats and railroads. Over the years Drew frequently found himself involved with , and in 1864 a joint railroad venture between them would bring Drew to the town of Athens in Greene County. This venture, officially known as the Saratoga & Hudson River Railroad, would become known colloquially as the "White Elephant Railroad." Drew was a prime example of the larger-than-life Romantic hero (or anti-hero), who would do whatever was necessary to get ahead, while the "White Elephant" represented the grand dreams of one particular community. Its dramatic end served as a fitting symbol of the end of its era.

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DOUBLE EDITION: SPRING & SUMMER 2012 TOGETHER!

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UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... from page 01 FROM BOY TO MAN the Sixty-First New York State Militia Daniel Drew was born on a farm in Carmel, Regiment. Although he never saw New York, in what became Putnam County on action in battle, his short military career July 29th, 1797, the first child of his sixty-five­ brought him to for the year-old father's second marriage. 1 His father first time. When his three-month term died in 1812 at the age of eighty, leaving in the militia came to an end, Drew was fourteen-year-old Drew and his brother Thomas honorably discharged and returned eighty dollars each; his estate was to be kept and home to Putnam County with his improved to provide for the education of Daniel military career earnings of $9.33. 4 and Thomas until the age of twenty-one.2 This He would not stay long, however: apparently proved insufficient, however, as the soon after, he would return to New brothers had both left school soon afterward, to York City with the money he earned as work full time on the farm. 3 a militia substitute. His intention was to In 1814 Drew and his brother hired enter the cattle business, selling cattle themselves out as militia substitutes for the he brought from upstate to slaughter­ ongoing War of 1812. Drew became a private in houses in Manhattan. 5 Drew's business as a cattle drover got off to a slow start, but soon he was enjoying a degree of success. Entering business with Henry Astor, butcher and older brother of fur magnate John Jacob Astor, Drew supposedly swindled Astor by "watering the stock." According to Drew's "memoir," The reene County Historical Society, Inc. Book of Daniel Drew by , Robert A. D'Agostino, Journal editor Drew gorged his cows on large Members of the Publications Committee: Robert D'Agostino, chairman quantities of salt before selling them to Jennifer Barnhart Astor. This caused them to drink Harvey Durham excessively. And that in tum led the Robert Hallock animals to gains of large amounts of Thomas Satterlee water weight - perhaps fifty pounds per Subscription to The Greene County Historical Journal is animal - before sale. The temporarily- only one of the member benefits of the Greene County Historical Society. The Society is headquartered at the continued on page 03 Bronck Museum Complex, Route 9W, Coxsackie, New 01. Clifford Browder, The York 12051. Memberships are available as follows: student membership $15 per year; library membership Money Game in Old New York., $25 per year; individual membership $20 to $29 per Daniel Drew and His Times year; dual/family membership $30 to $59 per year; (Lexington, Kentucky: supporting membership $60 to $109 per year; patron University Press of Kentucky, $110 to $249 per year; benefactor $250 to $499 per 1986): p 05. year; silver benefactor $500 to $999 per year; gold benefactor $1,000 and up per year; business basic 02. Ibid, p 09. membership $25 per year; business friend $50 per year; 03. Ibid. business supporter $100 per year. Membership 04. Ibid, pp 09-12. inquiries and change of address should be directed to 05. Ibid, pp 13-17; Edwin G. Thomas Satterlee, Financial Secretary of the Greene County Historical Society, at 164 High Hill Road, Burrows & Mike Wallace, Catskill, New York 12414. Gotham: A History ofNew York Copyright © 20I2 to 1898 (Oxford: Oxford Greene County Historical Society, Inc. University Press, 1999): p 659. -oz- VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY 90 COUNTY ROUTE 42, COXSACKIE, NY 12051 MADE AVAILABLE BY THE GREENE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY

UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... from page 02 increased weight of the animals translated he became a private banker, cashing notes to increased value at market. and extending credit for butchers and As the story goes, Drew was able to drovers who made up the Bull Head's elude the angry Astor after his ruse was patronage - and charging an interest of discovered; yet, despite this, Astor later 1%. 9 He also served as a banker, taking referred him to a competitor. Working the deposits from patrons and storing them in a same scheme on him, Drew continued vault in the tavern's taproom. 10 repeating the process as he was passed As Clifford Browder writes, "Money along from butcher to butcher! 6 management came natural to Drew, [sic] (It should be noted here that White's who became the banker of more than half Book of Daniel Drew is a complete the drovers in the city, one of several fabrication and - like most of its contents - circumstances that led directly to his Wall the well-known story of Drew's swindling Street career." 11 Drew would leave the 7 of Astor likely has little basis in fact. ) Bull's Head in 1839, following the death of Clifford Browder spends a number of his son-in-law Roswell Willcox pages debunking White's book in his own Chamberlain. At that point he and his work on Drew, pointing out that, in the case family took up residence on Bleecker Street of the Astor story, Drew would certainly and he had an office on Wall Street. 12 have been too shrewd a businessman to But how did this banker become jeopardize his reputation amongst the New involved with the financing of railroads? York butchers with such a scheme. The answer is steamboats. In fact, his reputation indeed had to be ENTER THE COMMODORE, excellent. The proof is that within a few CORNELIUS VANDERBILT years he had been made the proprietor of In 1832, while still at the Bull's Head, the Bull's Head Tavern on the Bowery, Drew invested a thousand dollars into a owned by an association of butchers. 8 steamboat called the Water Witch, which Though apocryphal, this Astor chestnut ran between New York and Peekskill. This is worth mentioning both as led to the first contact between Drew and foreshadowing Drew's later dealings that Cornelius Vanderbilt. 13 brought him his greatest fortune, and to Vanderbilt, originally of Staten Island show how his later reputation led to his and, like Drew, the son of a farmer, had first casting as a classic Romantic-era risen to prominence as captain of a ferry. "confidence man" even in his early years: if During the War of 1812 Vanderbilt had he sold watered paper stock on Wall Street garnered considerable profits delivering in his later career, White's book suggests, supplies to the blockaded Manhattan and to surely he must have done the same with the forts of New York Harbor. 14 cattle stock in his early days on the Bowery. After the war Vanderbilt got into the As previously noted, Drew's next steamboat business, and by the 1830s had venture was as the manager of the Bull's already amassed a fortune of half a million Head Tavern, a post he took in 1830. Here continued on page 04 06. Bouck White, The Book 09. Burrows & Wallace, p 658. ofDaniel Drew (New York: 10. Browder, p 26. George H. Doran Company, 11. Ibid. 1910): pp 53-60. 12. Ibid, p 31. 07. Browder, pp 279-286. 13. Ibid, pp 34-35. 08 Ibid, p 21. 14. Burrows & Wallace, p 432.

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UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... from page 03 dollars, becoming one of New York's fleeced the public but also fleeced each wealthiest citizens - and earning him the other," writes Browder. nickname Commodore. 15 When Drew This was a game Drew could play invested in the Water Witch, he found well. 20 He soon became interested in "fancy himself in direct competition with stocks." These were volatile stocks that Vanderbilt's enterprise: Drew's boat left promised great risk but potentially great New York for Peekskill and returned to profit - and in particular, his interest was New York daily, following the same route piqued by "fancy" stocks in mismanaged as Vanderbilt's boat, the Flushing (later railroads:21 "We fellows in Wall Street had replaced by the smaller Cinderella). the fortunes of war to speculate about and In fact, Drew had scheduled the Water that always makes great doings on a stock Witch for the same departure times as exchange... It's good fishing in troubled Vanderbilt's boat, leading to a rate war in waters," Drew stated.22 which Drew continually dropped ticket It is worth noting at this point that prices on his boat, forcing Vanderbilt to do Drew, despite already showing the stock the same to match him. Additionally, market ruthlessness for which he ultimately Drew's advertising depicted Vanderbilt as a became famous, was a religious man monopolist, and touted the Water Witch's throughout most of his life. As a boy he accommodations over those available on had witnessed a Methodist revival, which Vanderbilt's smaller vessel. 16 had made a huge impression on him. By the end of the season, Drew's vessel Browder writes, "Placed between Satan and had enjoyed higher patronage, but the low the fiery pit on one side and the merciful fares Drew had been charging ran the boat Savior on the other, young Daniel knew ten thousand dollars into debt. At that point, which way to jump.... It marked him for most of the boat's other investors sold out. .. life."23 to Vanderbilt, who thereby gained a Drew moved away from religion during controlling interest in the Water Witch. 17 his days as a drover and tavern keeper, So Drew's first challenge to Vanderbilt saying that "the cares of this world had ended in Drew's defeat. Despite this, the choked the Word [in him]," but with those two would remain rivals - and, oddly, days behind him he was leading a more occasionally friends and allies - for nearly settled existence and drifted back to the next half-century. 18 A few years later, in Methodism. 24 He attended another revival 1835, Drew established his People's Line of in 1841 and returned to the fold. The steamboats, which would become one of his Methodist church he entered was one which most lasting successes. 19 forbade profanity, drinking, breaking of the In 1839 Drew, along with Nelson Sabbath, the wearing of riches and the Robinson, established Drew, Robinson & laying up of treasure on earth: "[It was] Company, banking house and stock traders. still a serious commitment."25 "Using false tips, planted rumors, and It is certainly interesting to attempt to fictitious wash sales to inflate or depress a reconcile Drew the churchgoer with Drew stock as desired, insiders not only routinely continued on page 05 20. Ibid, p 61. 21. Ibid, pp 60-62. 15. Ibid, p 433. 22. Quoted in Burrows & 16. Browder, pp 35-37. Wallace, p 900. 17. Ibid, pp 37-39. 23. Ibid, p 8. 18. Ibid, p 35. 24. Ibid, p 63. 19.Ibid, p43. 25. Browder, p 64. •04• VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY 90 COUNTY ROUTE 42, COXSACKIE, NY 12051 MADE AVAILABLE BY THE GREENE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY

UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... from page 04 the robber baron. "Back in his Wall Street PLANNING office on a weekday morning, Drew made THE SARATOGA & HUDSON RIVER no pretense of being sweet and Christlike, RAILROAD or humble or remorseful either; he was In 1864 Drew began planning a new rail . ,,26 confid 1 ent, astut e, energe t1c. line between the city of Schenectady on the Despite the contradiction, Daniel Drew north end and the Greene County town of was serious about his religion. One of his Athens at the south end. The line would most lasting acts of philanthropy was the establish a terminus for Drew's People's founding of Drew Theological Seminary in Line of steamboats that was further south New Jersey, which eventually evolved into than the city of Albany itself. Thus it would the present-day Drew University. be free of ice longer in the winter, and Drew became more directly involved in would also avoid the shoals, dangerous at railroads in 1846, when he teamed up with low tide, that sat in the river near Albany. 28 none other than his former rival, Drew would also be able to run the Commodore Vanderbilt, to buy a controlling tracks all the way to the water's edge at interest in the Stonington Railroad to Athens for unloading freight, thus avoiding Boston. The Stonington had been denied a delays. 29 Using Albany these delays were connection to the Boston & Providence inevitable, as he had not been allowed to Railroad due to the city of Providence's build tracks from the city's Quay Street to refusal to allow the Stonington to take Steamboat Landing. The new rail line business away from it. between Athens and Schenectady would After Drew and Vanderbilt took over, allow him to bypass Albany entirely. 30 the port at Providence was receiving a Vanderbilt was having troubles of his steady stream of passengers from Drew's own at this time. While his ultimate goal steamboat Oregon and Vanderbilt's C. was to control all rail travel between New Vanderbilt. This maneuver was designed to York and Chicago, to that point he had been pressure Providence, into allowing the unable to gain a controlling share in the Stonington a direct link to the Boston & New York Central line, which would have Providence Railroad, which would allow made that possible. 31 Perhaps he realized - passengers to ride uninterrupted from correctly - that when the Athens railroad Stonington to Boston. was completed, the New York Central When Vanderbilt and Drew withdrew would be interested in picking up the line. from the Stonington railroad in 1850, the The route of the Saratoga & Hudson line was thriving. 27 River began a mile north of the town of The Stonington railroad escapade Athens, just north of the mouth of showed that Drew and Vanderbilt, working Murderer's Creek. From Athens the railroad together, could have a great deal of success continued on page 06 in the railroad field. A decade and a half 28. Ibid, p 137. later, they would have another opportunity 29. Ibid, pp 137-138. to work together in the rail business. It is at 30. Raymond Beecher, "A that point, that the story of Saratoga & Right-of-Way and Two Streaks Hudson River Railroad, aka the "White of Rust," Greene County Elephant," begins. Historical Journal (Greene County Historical Society, Inc., Volume 13 #2, Summer 1989): 26. Ibid, p 65. pp 11-12. 27. Ibid, p 67. 31. Ibid, p 12.

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UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... from page 05 traveled north to a station in West Athens, just awakening to the spmt of Coxsackie, then to stations m New speculation, and feeling the impetus which , Coeymans, Jayne's Comers, has been given to it by the completion of a Feurabush, New Scotland, Guilderland, and road to Schenectady, which is to attrnct finally Schenectady. The total length of the thither much of the freight which now line as actually built? About 38½ miles. 32 finds its way to New York via Albany. Athens, the southern terminus of the There is a little friction as regards the new line, was described in the Catskill passenger trains. Albanians are slow to Examiner as follows: "Across the river lies give up their long extortions from Western travelers, detained in that city by overslaughed boats and laggard trains. The new road must, however, in time come to be the great route of travel. It cuts off several miles of road, and is accessible by the largest ships at all stages of the tide. Here ought to have been the outlet of the canal, at the head of ship navigation.* But Albany interests prevailed over those of the State and of commerce. This new link of road to the Hudson is a break in upon their monopoly which may be followed by others still more important. "33 That the Examiner mentions the possibility of the passenger trains having difficulty as Albany residents were reluctant to change their customary modes of travel certainly foreshadowed events to come, when one certain powerful person would use this very point to gain support in Albany for the closure of the line. Drew, as president of the Saratoga and Hudson River line, took 3,700 shares in continued on page 07 32. Catskill Examiner April 7, 1866: p 03. 33. Catskill Examiner August 11, 1866: p 03. *Editor's Note: The story of the nearly 50- Above: From the 1867 Beers Atlas of Greene year effort to make New Baltimore the County, this is the northeast corner of the southern terminus of a canal that would run Township of Athens. Here, north of the Hudson­ north to Albany, thereby avoiding the Athens ferryslip, the Athens shipyard, and two treacherous shoals that lurked in the Hudson major icehouses, sits the southern terminus of north of New Baltimore, is recounted in the Saratoga & Hudson River Railroad, "The Canal to New Baltimore" by Dr. hugging close to the western shore of the Clesson Bush, which appeared in the Greene Hudson, as it begins to wend its way north. County Historical Journal, Volume 29 #2, Collections of the Vedder Research Library. Summer 2005.

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UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... from page 06 the Saratoga and Athens railroad, while point near the Town of Athens, County of Vanderbilt took 3,200.34 The legal papers Greene, to some point in Saratoga Springs, th and maps were filed on April 13 , 1864. continued on page 08 The Articles of Association stated: "A group 34. Arthur C. Mack, "Ghosts of of thirteen investors do associate themselves the White Elephant," 1955. to build and operate a railroad from some Reprinted in Athens: Its People and Industry, 1776-1976 (Athens, NY: Athens Bicentennial Committee, 1976): pp 188-190.

Above: From the same Atlas, this is the eastern side of the Coxsackie Township. This map picks up from the northern edge of the Athens map segment shown on page 06, and Above: Again from the same Atlas, this is the we can see the line of the Saratoga & Hudson eastern side of New Baltimore Township, River Railroad on its way . Problem is, if you picking up from the northern edge of the look closely, that here the line is identified as Coxsackie segment at left. Again we can easily the "Athens and Schenecta" [sic] Railroad spot the Railroad, here as it heads north out of Wrong name - though it is understandable Greene County. And while the line is again that locals would call it that - but they didn't mis-identified, at least here they got even spell "Schenectady" correctly! "Schenectady" right. Collections of the Collections of the Vedder Research Library. Vedder Research Library. • 07 • VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY 90 COUNTY ROUTE 42, COXSACKIE, NY 12051 MADE AVAILABLE BY THE GREENE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY

UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... from page 07 County of Saratoga, length of road to be domain, but this still required landowners approximately 60 miles, capital stock, to be justly compensated. fifteen hundred thousand dollars in 15,000 In May of 1864 a notice of a "large shares of $100 each."35 purchase" appeared in the Catskill In April 1866 a lengthy article appeared Examiner: "It is reported that Daniel Drew in the Catskill Examiner which spelled out has purchased five hundred acres of land in the aim of constructing the road: the northern part of the village of Athens. "In the matter of freight the principal The purchase includes 'the Titus farm,' at a business of the road will consist in the cost of $45,000, although it was offered for transportation of pressed hay, apples, and $20,000 a few months since. There has produce generally, from the surrounding been an advance of full 100 per cent for country, and in the carrying of New York vacant building lots in Athens, since the freight to the merchants of the West, and railroad project from Schenectady to that western freight to the merchants of the East. place was first agitated."39 The passenger traffic on the road will The cost of actual construction, which undoubtedly be large in the summer season, was undertaken by Irish laborers using especially if the company succeed in their picks and shovels, was estimated at $100 negotiations for the purchase of the per mile; to raise funds, 15,000 shares of Schenectady and Saratoga Railroad. stock were sold at $100 each, as stated in "In fact that result will not make much the Articles of Association. 40 difference after all as we are informed that From the beginning there were high if the latter named do not feel disposed to hopes for this new railroad. When ground th sell, the Saratoga & Hudson River was broken on May 24 , 1864, John Company will build a railroad of their own Sanderson, Esq.* gave an eloquent speech from Schenectady to Saratoga, the track which was printed in the Catskill running parallel with the one already Examiner. His speech shows exactly how constructed. It is highly probable, however, the railroad fit within the Romantic era: that the road mentioned will be "The undertaking and building of a Rail purchased. "36 Road in any part of this country is a matter As noted, the route would connect with of public interest everywhere. We know the Saratoga & Schenectady Railroad, from the history of the immediate past, that which had been running since the mid- continued on page 09 1830s,37 though in fact Drew's company never sought to buy out the Saratoga and 39. Catskill Examiner May 21, 1864: p 03. Schenectady road. 38 40. Beecher, pp 12-13. BUILDING THE RAILROAD Construction of the line proved quite *Editor's Note: Born in Athens, John costly. Drew had already purchased acres of Sanderson studied law in Hudson and brickyards north of Athens for constructing Albany. Practicing law first elsewhere, he the terminal. Land for the railroad's right-of returned to Athens in 1863, a year before his speech at the groundbreaking ceremony. -way was acquired by right of eminent In the early 1880s he took Greene County 35. Quoted in Mack, p 188. to court over inaccurate election results. 36. Catskill Examiner April 7, That case is recounted in "At the Bench: 1866: p 03. Greene County on Trial," Part Two, which 37. Mack, p 188. appeared in the Greene County Historical 38. Beecher, p 12. Journal, Volume 18 #4, Winter 1994.

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UNCLI: DANll:L'S WHIT!; l;Ll;PHANT... from page 08 no cause has contributed in a greater degree a gigantic civil war is also worthy of our to develop the resources of this nation, to notice," he stated. "Capital, ever timid of increase its population, and to build up loss or depreciation, would not now seek to civilization and empire in this Western invest itself in this permanent form, did it World, than the system of Rail Roads which not feel assured of the safety of our net and span the country from the East to Government and then indivisibility of this the West. Rail Roads mean commerce, Republic. This Rail Road is therefore like enterprise, wealth, national power and the rainbow of promise, which speaks to us prosperity with the civilization and of a brighter future as well as of the refinement that flow from long continued permanence of those Democratic intercourse, and the exchange of products institutions, which we hold so dear; it is and ideas with distant parts of the land. another link in the chain which binds every "New channels for thought and industry part of this Union, each to the other."42 So are open before us; and what before seemed Sanderson saw the railroad serving as a distant and inaccessible, becomes part and symbol of the nation's preservation. parcel of a common neighborhood. The At another point, the papers even panorama which we continually witness, of theorized that the project in Athens was splendid steamers and argosies that bear the only the beginning of something much products of the Western States to their bigger. "Judging from the character of the distant havens, have long familiarized men engaged in the enterprise, and their sentiments and ideas of this kind, to those promptness in taking the initiatory of us who dwell upon the banks of this measures, it seems highly probable that the beautiful river."41 north section of a on In the era of the Hudson River School's the Hudson is being commenced. For who celebration of an idealized nature, can doubt that in years to come, it will be Sanderson's remarks show how railroads extended to Catskill, Saugerties, Kingston, were seen not only as practical Newburgh, and thence to Jersey City, conveniences, but as a method of improving through the thriving villages under the civilization itself. Though they lived in a shadow of the Catskills. "43 place of great beauty, the "noble savages" Work on the line continued through of upstate could still be seen as benefiting 1865. In January of 1866 an engine with a from the "civilizing effects" that increased single car was run over the entire length of communication would bring to them. the road, and "direct communication from Sanderson's speech, presenting the idea of Athens to Saratoga Springs may now be the sublime wilderness being tamed by the considered complete."44 The February 20, advance of civilization, ties very nicely into 1866 edition of the Catskill Examiner the romanticism of the time. remarked that the railroad itself as well as Of course, ground was broken for the the depot buildings, docks, etc. were Athens road in the midst of the Civil War, complete and "erected on a scale to itself a symbol of the end of the continued on page 10 romanticism of the earlier nineteenth 42. Ibid. century. This fact did not go unnoticed by 43. Catskill Examiner July 9, Sanderson: "The fact that the building of 1864: p 02. this Rail Road is commenced in the midst of 44. Catskill Examiner January 13, 1866: p 03. 41. Catskill Examiner June 4, 45. Catskill Examiner 1864: p 02. February 24, 1866: p 03. • 09• VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY 90 COUNTY ROUTE 42, COXSACKIE, NY 12051 MADE AVAILABLE BY THE GREENE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY

UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... from page 09 accommodate a large business. " 45 sum of $120,000 a year. 46 This placed Drew and the Saratoga & Hudson River Railroad, THE LINE IN OPERATION by way of the New York Central, directly Oddly, the steamboats did not stop in into competition with Vanderbilt's own rail Athens during 1866, the Saratoga & Hudson River Railroad's first season of operation. lines - much to the latter's chagrin, as he had in part financed Drew's line himself. 47 · No official explanation was ever given, but speculation was, that it was Vanderbilt who Freight soon began running on the Athens line. As the Catskill Examiner was ultimately behind the delay. By June of 1866 it was announced that continued on page 11 arrangements had been completed for the 46. Catskill Examiner June 2, Saratoga & Hudson River Railroad to be 1866: p 03. leased by the New York Central, for the 47. Browder, p 139.

' ·,. '·, . ·, ..... ·......

Above: This final map segment from the Atlas shows the Saratoga & Hudson River Railroad property in detail. Referring to the wider view of the area on page 06, we can see where the railyard fits in. Despite the fact that Drew purchased brickyard properties for the railroad, Athens still sported operating brickyards, shown here south of the Murderer's Creek inlet. Note the tremendous size of the freight depot versus the passenger depot (though the passenger "shed" area is large). Note also the identifications west of the railyard: not only the repair shop, but also the "tenant houses. " Collections of the Vedder Research Library.

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UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT... from page 10 reported in November 1866: "During the past Albany and Troy, who were fearful of two weeks the receipt of freight at the new losing business to Athens. 49 depot, in Athens, has averaged from ninety With the Commodore now standing on to one hundred car loads a day, consisting the other side of the tracks, so to speak, the mainly of flour direct from Buffalo. By the future of the Saratoga and Hudson River aid of some five barges and two propellers, line was anything but certain. this vast quantity has been promptly And so it began: "Conflicting rumors are forwarded to its destination {sic] in New again rife as to the Athens and Schenectady York and Boston. "48 {sic] Railroad - one report predicting a Though the line seemed to be doing well, great freight and passenger traffic over it Vanderbilt had already begun working continued on page 12 against it behind the scenes. He claimed that 48. Catskill Examiner the line was impractical and would never November 17, 1866: p 03. open, enlisting the support of the citizens of 49. Browder, p 140.

Above: We see the Athens terminal of the Saratoga & Hudson River Railroad, as it looked in 1870. The view looks to the southeast: the Hudson lies beyond the other side of the complex. At the left of the image, behind the passenger cars, we can catch a glimpse of the Passenger Shed. This sat at the north end. The two-story section sporting the four chimneys (and jutting out behind the cars), is the formal Passenger Depot. The remaining structure, stretching [south] almost to the right-hand edge of the image, was the massive Freight Depot. The Freight Depot segment, on its own, sat 600 feet long and 100 feet wide - a massive structure indeed! Collections of the Vedder Research Library (photograph donated by John Ham).

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UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... from page 11 the coming season, and another declaring By the time Hancox appeared on the that it will be 'closed up.' Com. Vanderbilt scene, it was clear to Drew that he would is reported to have said before the railroad not able to operate his steamboat at such a investigating committee, at Albany, that the low rate direct to Albany while also building of the Athens road was the greatest providing service to the Athens railway. mistake of his life," reported the Catskill One had to go. And by September 25 th of Examiner. 50 A variation of the "greatest 1867 Drew's People's Line had resumed mistake" quote appears in Clifford service exclusively to Albany. 54 Browder's book on Drew: "[The railroad] That decision, in the end, turned out to was one of the foolish acts of my life, but I be the wiser choice. don't cry about it."51 HEADING FOR THE END OF THE LINE Vanderbilt was supremely confident: no On June 27th, 1867, the board of the matter how much trouble the Saratoga and New York Central voted to exchange Hudson River line might cause him in the Central stock for that of the heretofore short run, he felt that in the end it would leased Saratoga & Hudson River Railroad. prove only a minor annoyance. Why? He The exchange would give Drew and believed that sooner or later the railroad Vanderbilt each about half a million would fall under his control. dollars' profit, but would leave the White Drew and the White Elephant faced Elephant with a less-than-certain future. another problem in the form of Captain Remember that Vanderbilt had been Joseph W. Hancox, who had started a continuing to acquire stock in the New steamboat line from New York to Albany York Central. As a result of the infusion of and Troy. The Hancox venture operated at a New York Central stock in the stock swap, rate of one dollar, and it may or may not finally, in August of 1867, he had procured have been financed by Vanderbilt. 52 enough to gain a controlling interest. To compete, the steamboat Daniel Drew That same month, in a rather florid of the People's Line - which Drew had article, the Catskill Examiner reported the already switched back to service direct to monetary details: "The Railroad king, Albany rather than stopping in Athens to Commodore Vanderbilt, who has allow boarding of the trains - also had to controlled the Hudson River and Harlem drop its rate to a dollar. railroads for some time, has at last got that So at that point Drew already seemed for which he has been a long time striving, unsure of the practicality of operating two namely sufficient stock in the New York separate steamboat services: as mentioned Central to give him a controlling interest in above, just as the White Elephant's first this powerful corporation. season was starting in May of 1866, he had "He has been defeated in various already pulled two of his People's Line attempts to be elected president or to get ships, the Dean Richmond and the St. John, the upper-hand in some way of this road. It from the Athens stop and continued running 53 appears that Vanderbilt and Drew were the them direct to Albany. owners of the Athens and Schenectady road, and when they sold it to the Central 50. Catskill Examiner February 9, for $2,000,000 they took Central stock in 1867: p 03. 51. Quoted in Browder, p 140. payment, which, with the stock that 52. Browder, p 141. Vanderbilt already possessed, gave him a 53. Catskill Examiner March 17, continued on page 13 1866:p03. 54 Browder, p 141. • IZ• VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY 90 COUNTY ROUTE 42, COXSACKIE, NY 12051 MADE AVAILABLE BY THE GREENE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY

UNCLf DANlfL'S WHITf fLfPHANT ... from page 12 if it did not, the line would be considered controlling authority, which he immediately abandoned. And if that were the case, then used by compelling the president to resign the land taken for the right of way could be so as to have one of his own selected. So taken back over by its original landowners this powerful railroad king has the Hudson to use for their own purposes. River, Harlem, N.Y. Central, and several Singling out Vanderbilt as the culprit, 55 Western roads under his thumb." the Examiner gave readers little hope for After the end of the 1867 season, there the line to ever legitimately be reopened: was no effort to begin running trains on the "So long as Vanderbilt has a controlling Saratoga & Hudson River rail line, and it interest in the [New York] Central Railroad, seemed that Vanderbilt had perhaps and also in the Hudson River and Harlem succeeded in his goal of shutting the White Roads, there is no probability that the Elephant down. Then, in the spring of 1868, continued on page 14 citizens of Coxsackie circulated a petition calling for the restoration of freight and passenger service on the Athens to Schenectady line. 56 In October 1868, the Coxsackie News reported, "The Schenectady papers are rejoicing at the fact that the Athens and Schenectady road is being put in order with the intention of running passenger and freight trains hereafter - whether this is for local travel and traffic, or to connect with boats at Athens is not known. 1157 A few weeks later, the Catskill Examiner reported that "trains commenced running on the Athens and Schenectady road on Monday. Only one train a day will run for the present leaving Schenectady at 2:30 and arriving at Athens at 5:30 p.m. and leaving Athens at 5:45 [a.m.] and arriving in Schenectady at 8:30 a.m." According to the article, however, this one train was no cause for celebration: "... The running of the train has been of little practical account, and the movement was not inaugurated for the convenience of the public, but for the interests of the road," the paper reported,58 explaining that the New York Central was running the train because Above, from the era: This political 55. Catskill Examiner August 10, cartoon on the subject points to the 1867: p 03. problem: as long as Vanderbilt was in 56. Beecher, p 14. control the New York Central, the 57. Quoted in Beecher, p 14. Saratoga & Hudson River Railroad was 58. Catskill Examiner December truly a White Elephant. (Note that the 12, 1868: p 03. elephant's trunk is hugging the engine.) • I3 • VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY 90 COUNTY ROUTE 42, COXSACKIE, NY 12051 MADE AVAILABLE BY THE GREENE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY

UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... from page 13 'Athens Branch' will amount to much. He for business in September 1874, the line does not favor any transportation by water, saw booming business for the rest of the so long as he has two railroads at Albany to season. Starin barges docked at Athens transport freight to New York."59 unloaded ninety-six freight cars' worth of Even during the time when he was still merchandise, including containers of steel involved in the railroad as an investor, rails, which were destined for the Lake Vanderbilt had seen the Saratoga & Hudson Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad. For River Railroad as a mistake. When Drew the trip back down to New York City, the sold it to the New York Central, it became barges were loaded with over two hundred competition. Now that Vanderbilt was in cars' worth of goods, including oil and control of the New York Central, this processed flour. 61 The railroad closed for "White Elephant" was simply superfluous. the season in December 1874, and was reportedly just as busy in 1875. 62 REPRIEVE! By 1869 a glimmer of hope for the At this point it had been a full decade White Elephant appeared. The New York since Drew had enlisted the help of Central had decided to divert all heavy Vanderbilt and had the Saratoga & Hudson freight that had been transported on the east River road built, but now the White Elephant was finally starting to thrive! side of the river over to the Saratoga & Hudson River line in Athens. New York Railroad historian Arthur C. Mack Central contracted the Starin barge line to questioned how much profit was actually ship freight from the Athens depot down to being made, however: while a large amount New York City. The editor of an of freight was definitely passing through unidentified newspaper quipped, "This will Athens at this point, price slashings make Athens a little more lively and put intended to keep the line competitive against other railroads "brought [the into use the vast amount of capital invested 63 in the depot and buildings of this Road, freight] through at absurdly low rates." which has laid idle for a long time. " 60 Whatever success the Saratoga & What could have caused this sudden Hudson River Railroad might have been change of heart? Not so much a change of having at this point, however, it was not to heart, it turned out, as the need for a change last. While the White Elephant had survived both Vanderbilt's attempts to shut in tactics. The West Shore Railroad was at it down and a lengthy period of inactivity, that point creating competition for through freight service; this may be why the New what Vanderbilt had not been able to accomplish, natural forces would complete York Central pressed the White Elephant in a spectacular manner. back into service. By early spring 1870 all through freight except livestock on the New DISASTER th York Central, was being handled at Athens. Just before midnight on June 17 , 1876, The line was closed in the winter months a fire broke out in the engine room of the due to severe weather, but otherwise was steamboat John Taylor, which was docked doing well in the early 1870s. at the Athens terminal. The Saratoga & Hudson River line was The Taylor and two other boats, the shut down for repairs in the summer of barge Hercules and the canal boat Stephen 1874. When the White Elephant reopened continued on page 15 61. Beecher, p 14. 59. Ibid. 62.lbid, p 15. 60. Quoted in Beecher, p 14. 63. Mack, p 189.

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UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... from page 14 Warren, both loaded with freight, were all grand riverside terminal in Athens, with burned to the water line. throngs of people gathered around 66 Then the fire spread to the Athens depot surveying the destruction. itself. The Examiner described the scene in The entire loss was estimated at about detail: "From the propeller the fire one million dollars. William H. Vanderbilt, communicated directly to the immense the Commodore's son - and now the vice­ depot, sixteen hundred feet in length, and president of the New York Central - made before an adequate assistance could be a conciliatory statement assuring people rendered the whole elegant structure was in that "the fire w:] not interfere with the ruins ... From the Depot the flames swept to business of the road and freight will be the long lines of loaded cars standing on the received and forwarded as heretofore. " 67 track, and speedily consumed about four The younger Vanderbilt's promise hundred, according to first reports, with proved empty, however, for by that point in their valuable contents. These cars, it is time there were many other Hudson Valley said, belonged to the N.Y. Central and rail lines available. The New York, West Hudson River Railroad. "64 Shore & Buffalo Railway was soon According to an unidentified news available as an alternate through route. clipping of the time, "The fire illuminated The White Elephant, the erstwhile the entire county hereabouts, the light Saratoga & Hudson River Railroad, never

extending as far east as Chatham [north of continued on page 16 Hudson, across the river], where it was so light you could see a pin on the sidewalk. " 65 64. Catskill Examiner June 24, A dramatic engraving entitled "Burning 1876: p 03. of the White Elephant" appeared in the New 65. Quoted in Mack, p 188. 66. Image from the New York York Daily Graphic a few days later. It Daily Graphic, June 23, 1876. depicts the smoldering ruin of the once- 67. Quoted in Beecher, p 15.

928 THE D.-\II.Y GIL\l'IIIC: );E\\" YOl:K. FRIDA\". .JU,E 23. 187!;. ------··------··------,,-...----~~ ------r--· . :-. ½:,. ---- p-~= - '-'I>{-c:-.:. ··-_£ !

GENERAL VIEW OF THE RUINS OF THE GAEA, FIRE AT ATHENS. N. Y. U.ST SUNDAY NIGHT.

tno• a ISfle• a, oua •r•t:I .U. aalla.T. j

Above: This is the dramatic engraving from the New York Daily Graphic described in the text. This depiction shows a wider angle, but the same general view, as the image of the terminal complex shown on page 11. The long Passenger Shed on the north end is totally destroyed, and only the gutted ruin of the two-story Passenger Depot is still stands - note that only the two eastern-end chimneys remain - and smoke shrouds much of what remains of the Freight Depot section. Collections of the Vedder Research Library; from the estate of Kate Loomis . • ~s- VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY 90 COUNTY ROUTE 42, COXSACKIE, NY 12051 MADE AVAILABLE BY THE GREENE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY

UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... from page 15 ran again. In November 1881 the West To make matters worse for Drew, his Shore leased the line from the New York erstwhile "partner" eventually Central for $400,000, but no trains ever ran. betrayed him, and "fleeced [himJ so In 1888 the rails and ties were taken up and thoroughly that he was forever washed up the right-of-way rented to the adjacent as a major Wall Street figure." 72 property owners. Later the roadbed was Drew lost most of what fortune he had sold off at one dollar per foot. 68 left, through the Panic of 1873 and several The White Elephant was dead. One lawsuits he faced at the same time. "All I might argue that the hopes of Athens for know about it is that it's a very bad affair becoming one of the major Hudson River for the country, and one it won't recover communities went along with it. from soon," Drew said of what would become a six-year depression. 73 THE DOWNFALL OF DANIEL DREW While the Saratoga & Hudson River Drew had vowed to his son Bill that he would never declare himself bankrupt. 74 Railroad burned out - literally as well as However Drew, already in debt, was held figuratively - its creator Daniel Drew liable for $295,000 due to creditors of his merely faded away. In 1867 his old sometimes-friend, often-rival Commodore trading firm Kenyon, Cox and Company. Vanderbilt was attempting to take control of On top of that, the president of Drew yet another railroad, the Erie. Drew was one Theological Seminary at that point produced a promissory note from Drew for of the Erie's board members, along with Jim Fisk and Jay Gould, and sought to prevent $250,000 - to be payable on demand. At that point, Daniel Drew owed a total this from happening. The proceedings of $1,093,534.82. 75 became known as the "." "Blow fell upon blow. His fortune was When Vanderbilt began buying up stock gone, his wife had died, and now men on in the Erie, Drew, Fisk and Gould secretly 69 whom he had showered beneficence were threw millions at the Erie on the market. threatening to join the litigants already at Stock certificates in the Erie were being his heels," Clifford Browder wrote. "His printed as fast as Vanderbilt could purchase life had become a vicious round of lawsuits them! Fisk quipped, "If this printing-press and mortgages, summonses and show­ don't break down, I'll be damned if I don't clause orders, fresh due bills and decade give the old hog all he wants of Erie."70 old complaints. By late February his will Vanderbilt, despite discovering the ploy caved in: he would declare bankruptcy."76 of Drew and company, did not relent: he 1 Daniel Drew died on September 18 \ continued buying the stock, thus driving up 1879, aged eighty-two years. His estate was the prices! Finally Drew met with worth a total of $148.22 at the time of his Vanderbilt, crafting a deal in which death. 77 Rival Cornelius Vanderbilt had Vanderbilt would drop lawsuits he had filed died two years prior, also aged eighty-two. against Drew, Gould and Fisk in return for The Commodore's estate was worth about the Erie buying back most of the stock one hundred million dollars, and he is still Vanderbilt had purchased, despite it leaving the company virtually bankrupt. 71 continued on page 17 72. Ibid. 68. Mack, p 190. 73. Quoted in Browder, p 236. 69. Burrows & Wallace, p 912. 74. Browder, p 251. 70. Quoted in Burrows & Wallace, 75. Ibid, p 255. pp 912-913. 76. Ibid. 71. Burrows & Wallace, p 913. 77. Ibid, p 274. • 16• VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY 90 COUNTY ROUTE 42, COXSACKIE, NY 12051 MADE AVAILABLE BY THE GREENE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY

UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... from page 16

1bova.' ..4 photo of Dani{!/ Dr{!W. late in Little has been written about him, and the life. Compared to the man in the image most commonly-cited among the few books on the front page, the man here shows that have been written about him has been none of the earlier strength or "vision" - revealed as a complete fraud. 79 rather, he looks unhappy, tired and worn. Chief among his lasting legacy is Drew It's also worth noting that pictures of University in Madison, New Jersey, which Daniel Drew aren't easy to find, whereas he had founded as Drew Theological pictures of the Commodore are much Seminary in 1867. easier to come across. The term "" is popularly credited to him ( adopting a term from his drover days for application on the stock market), although little outside of Bouck White's fictional memoir of Drew seems to exist to confirm this. Daniel Drew was a self-made man in the classic American tradition of Benjamin Franklin, having risen from a modest background and poor education to become, in his time, a "mover and shaker" as well as one of the wealthiest men in the country. And Drew was, as is everyone, a product of his time. He was a larger-than-life figure. It could be said that he was a hypocritical man, a religious man who on the one hand sought repentance and even founded a seminary. But he was also a man who also duped others on the of making money by any means necessary. Put most simply, Drew was a man of contradictions that are hard to reconcile. As his legitimate biographer Clifford Browder concludes, "He was not necessarily better than his severest critics have depicted him, but far subtler and more complex."80 Drew's business dealings, with his "anything-goes" approach to making money, paint him as a classic confidence considered to have been one of the man: although he probably never sold 78 wealthiest Americans in history. "watered stock" of the cattle variety to AFTERMATH Henry Astor ( as Bouck White would have Compared to his great rival Vanderbilt, us believe), he and his partners Jim Fisk Daniel Drew seems largely forgotten today. and Jay Gould certainly sold worthless "watered stock" of the Wall Street variety 78. T. J. Stiles, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius continued on page 18 Vanderbilt (New York: Alfred A. 79. Browder, pp 279-286. Knopf, 2009): p 594. . .. ,. 80. Browder, p 276 . VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY 90 COUNTY ROUTE 42, COXSACKIE, NY 12051 MADE AVAILABLE BY THE GREENE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY

UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... from page 17 to Drew's "frenemy" Commodore "White Elephant" came to a complete end Vanderbilt during the War. when Vanderbilt took full control of the One could also say that Drew sometimes New York Central. became the victim of the confidence game. POSTSCRIPT He certainly lost out in the Erie War when, Today there is little visible evidence after conceding to Vanderbilt and having that Drew's "White Elephant," the Saratoga the Erie buy back most of the watered stock & Hudson River Railroad, ever existed. Drew and company had sold him, his own Nor the dreams of Daniel Drew for its partner Jay Gould's dealings to try to financial success. Nor the dreams of the continue milking money from the Erie led residents of Athens a century and a half to the start of Drew's financial downfall. ago, for the growth and prosperity the line The White Elephant adventure, as well, could have brought to the town. Athens marks Drew coming out on the losing end today is still the sleepy river town often of things. Vanderbilt had joined him in described in newspaper articles during the financing the venture in order to either months leading up to the railroad's compete with or leverage against the New construction. . York Central, after the Commodore had The depot and the rail yards are long been unable to take full control of the latter. gone, destroyed in the spectacular fire of But once Vanderbilt did gain control of the 1876. The tracks and ties were ripped out New York Central, he turned against the in 1888, and the right of way mostly long venture and worked to shut it down. since redeveloped. Yet some physical It would take a decade after the Saratoga evidence does still exist. & Hudson River Railroad was first Driving northbound through Athens on constructed, for the latter to be put to any Route 385, just past the village itself you practical use. Drew's involvement with the continued on p 19

Below and far right: This is the land on which that railyard complex and three-~art depot sat. This image looks northeast: at approximate right would ~ave loomed the n~rthern pzece, the Passenger Shed, underfoot the numerous tracks feeding into the lzne north, the Repair Shop off beyondfar left.

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UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... from page 18 r

i

Above: These houses on Brick Row today, is the only remaining physical evidence of the Saratoga & Hudson River Railroad. They are the Tenant Houses R. R. Co. shown on the page IO map.

will find a road on the right marked with a Brick Row is one of the few remaining street sign for "Brick Row." Following that artifacts of the White Elephant. The row of road, on the left you will soon come to the brick houses was originally built as housing Brick Row itself. Brick Row is exactly what for the families of railroad workers, it sounds like: a street-long set of row situated near the site of the old depot. The houses, still in use as a residential area. construction of Brick Row was recorded in article concludes on page 20

Below: Shot from the same vantage point but with a pivot to now face the southeast, this image looks to the approximate location where the Passenger Depot once stood, with the Freight Depot leading off the right side of the image and continuing much further down.

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UNCLE DANIEL'S WHITE ELEPHANT ... BIBLIOGRAPHY from page 19 Beecher, Raymond. "A Right-of-Way and Two Streaks of Rust." the Catskill Examiner in 1866: Greene County Historical Journal, Volume 13 #2, Summer 1989. "Thirty brick houses have been Browder, Clifford. The Money Game in Old New York., Daniel erected near by, only a small Drew and His Times. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of portion of which, however, are Kentucky, 1986. 81 yet occupied." Burrows, Edwin G. & Mike Wallace. Gotham: A History ofNew The houses were saved York to 1898. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. from the 1876 fire by Athens Catskill Examiner, weekly newspaper. Issues 1864-1876. volunteer firemen and their Galusha, Diane. "Brick Row." In Athens: Its People and Industry, hand pump, using the river as 1776-1976. Athens, NY: Athens Bicentennial Conunittee, 1976. an unlimited water source. 82 If Mack, Arthur C. "Ghosts of the White Elephant." 1955. Reprinted not for their efforts, the houses in Athens: Its People and Industry, 1776-1976. Athens, NY: "would otherwise surely have Athens Bicentennial Committee, 1976. been sucked into the insatiable Stiles, T. J. The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius maw of the fire fiend," as one Vanderbilt. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. unidentified newspaper White, Bouck. The Book ofDaniel Drew. New York: George H. clipping dramatically put it. 83 Doran Company, 1910. In the early twentieth Access to the Catskill Examiner on microfilm and to several century the Brick Row became clippings of unidentified period newspapers provided by the an Italian section of Athens, Vedder Research Library of the Greene County Historical Society, Coxsackie, New York. home to Italian immigrants who worked in the brickyards and ice houses. 84 Today Brick Row exists as a general NON-PROFIT residential area, though few ORGANIZATION modem residents seem to know U.S.POSTAGE that thir homes represent the PAID last remnant of the railroad that PERMIT No. 1491 once held so much promise for NEWBURGH, NY their town. And just a bit further down GREENE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC. the road, a riverside restaurant 1 64 HIGH HILL ROAD stands more or less where the CATSKILL, NEW YORK 1 241 4 great Athens depot once stood. "RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED" The ghost of Daniel Drew's White Elephant still stands silently over Athens.

81. Catskill Examiner November 17, 1966: p 03. 82. Beecher, p 15. 83. Unidentified Greene County newspaper clipping, 1876. 84. Diane Galusha, "Brick Row," in Athens: Its People and Industry,-•-•- 1776-1976: p 98. -zo- VEDDER RESEARCH LIBRARY 90 COUNTY ROUTE 42, COXSACKIE, NY 12051