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Show OCObSl HOOSt 8 ft $ si tif ''fl2 fr?5 C?15 I W .: j::&$; - :,.'..... . . . ' . , . .-...A'.-.'.::v-Wo;i.- ' ' ;-:::::;:v:;.:::.;::.-Vy. -.' " -'; ,-':' '.p::0y The Van Rensselaer House. Many times when the Indians he came particularly hostile the pooplt fled to this fort for safety. Two port holes are still in the front walls of this building. There were nine of those port holes. In the cellar is an under ground passage leading to the well. It, was made so that when the house was surrounded by the enemy, the im mates could still have a water supply. The well is about 12 feet from the real of the house, and is nearly filled will, water, but is covered wilh hoards. It was said to be 175 feet deep, and was famous for the pur'ly of its water. Until Un-til recently there were bones in the cellar, cel-lar, said to have been the bones of Indians. In-dians. Perhaps they were put there through the trap door still seen in the floor. Kilinen Van Rensselaer died at Amsterdam Am-sterdam in 1047, never having visited America. After a time his descendants descend-ants came from Holland, and occupied this building as a dwelling. As the country became more settled, they rented farms to the colonists, and were to receive annually, as rent, six bushels of oats, two pairs of chickens and s cord of wood, or their equivalent in cash. Many who paid this rent through two or three generations, for the farms which they had occupied, refused to pay it longer. This was the commencement commence-ment of the "antirent war," which was long and bitter. Sen! Their "Wash" to Holland. The Van Itensselaers sent annually their soiled linen to Holland to be washed, although the , Hudson r'ver was in front of their home. Two old chests in which they sent their soiled linen, were in the attic of this old house until recently. An addition was built on this old mi' nor house in 1740, and in the early part of 1800, Italian marble mantels took the place of the old wooden ones. They were the first in this country. Later they were replaced by the wooden wood-en ones now in the building. Doctor Jeremiah Van Rensiielaer lived here in lS.r2. nnd was the last member of the family to occupy this house. After his death it was owned by different individuals. The last gentleman who resided here endeavored to have a bill passed hy the legislature legisla-ture at Albany for its purchaselsy the state. The bill was not passeO, and, soon after, he vacated the hm.se, it being "covered with mortgage." Anyone seeing this old manor house a few months after this would not have had the least doubt of its being the oldest building in the United States. Children played in it by day, and it was a rendezvous for tramps at night. The only reason there as a whole pane of glass left was because !t was beyond the reach of a stone thrown by the average small boy. Later it was sold at auction, and pure'iased' by a company of ice dealers. Thel e are but a few feet left on either si le of this old mansion, as the lawn at the north was sold last year, and, ujrjn it, a modern dwelling was erected. A similar fate was awaiting the old house when it was purchased by Mrs. Susan De Lnncy Van Rensf rlaer Strong of New Yory city. Mrs. Strong is n descendant of Kilinen Kil-inen Van Rensselaer, and Is very enthusiastic en-thusiastic in regard to the restoration of this home of her forefathers. The front hall and two large rooms on either side are now being repaired by the order of three patriotic societies. They hope a sufficient number of societies so-cieties will become interested in the building until it is entirely restored. It will soon be opened to the public, and "kept as a depository of articles of colonial or revolutionary interest." If there is the least doubt about its being the olde;-'l building in the I'nii'ed States, it is certainly very old, and of suflieient historical renown to be worthy of preservation. RENSSELAER is a small city op the east bank of the Hudsou river, opposite Albany, N. Y. Although it can boast of few attractions, it has the honor of possessing pos-sessing within its city limits the oldest building in the United States. There has been much talk of uniting these two cities and at some future day this old building may be found in Greater Albany. As we stood in front of this old house (facing the river) one beautiful October afternoon we thought a more desirable location for a dwelling could not have been selected, writes Mrs. Halsey Hayford, in the Utica Globe. At our left we have a view for miles down the Hudson. Over at our right is the city of Albany, the upper portion of its !f27,000,000-dollar pile. of marble (the capitol) being plainly visible. This old mansion faces the southern south-ern part of Albany and what we see are old broken-down buildings along the docks, old black foundries, old ice houses, etc. It has been said that everything earthly has something to mar its perfection and we thought this view is not an exception. We turned toward the house. It towers above the good-sized dwellings on either side and looks very much like a fort. Between the two front windows of our left is a bronzed tablet tab-let upon which is the following inscription in-scription : X)CXXX!OCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 8 SUPPOSED to be the . 0 I OLDEST BUILDING in the g UNITED STATES. 0 AND to have been erected in q 1642 AS a manor house and O place of defense Q KNOWN as FORT CRAILO. Q GEN'L ABERCROMBIE'S head- X quarters Q while marching to attack FORT p TICONDEROGA in 1758 where g it is said, Q That at the cantonment east of Q Q the house Q Q Near the old well the army sur- P Q geon p g R. SCHUCKBURG composed the g 8 popular Q 0 song of YANKEE DOODLE. g OCOOOCKXOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOOO We entered the small front hall in the middle of the house. Two doors opposite each other admit us into the two main rooms. At the back of the hall, at our left, is an unattractive staircase. The nain rooms hilve rdd-fashioned rdd-fashioned fireplaces ' with wooden mantles ornamented with wreaths and garlands. Under each window is a seat. Back of the room at the left is a larger hall extending across the house, with a door at either end. The north door Is made in two halves, upper up-per and lower. Back of this hall is another good-sized room. All the rooms in this building are of good size and the ceilings are about nine feet high. When we had ascended the front stairs we took about three steps to our right and at the top of a short flight of stairs at our left is a small room with low ceilings. This was called the "dead room." Any member mem-ber of the family dying was laid in this room. It was never used for any other purpose. Going down from this room nnd ascending a short flight of stairs in front of us we reached the upper hall. The arrangement of the three floors of this house is the same. One rooip at the right, three at the left. How the House was built. On July . 27, 1G30, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, a gentleman who resided in Holland, purchased of the Indians (through his agent) a tract of land. -IS miles one way rnd 24 the other, containing more than 700.000 acres. It was divided in two parts by the Hudson river. The western half comprised com-prised the whole county of Albany, while the eastern half was more than two-thirds of Rensselaer county. Later additional purchases were made. It was found necessary to have a manor house and place of protection against the hostile Mohicans and the Lord Patroon, or the Tatroon, as he was called, ordered his agent to build a fort. This he did in 1G41. the date which is cut on a stone in the cellar wall, inside of this old building. The brick, shingles nnd nails used in its construction were sent from Holland. The fort was nr.med Crailo after the I'atroon's estate near Iluizen. |