JANUARY 1. Air, h. 23, l. 6.........The post office letter carriers made their appearance to-day in a new uniform, consisting of blue gray coats and pants trimmed with black, and a zouave cap......... A heavy and tedious snow storm prevailed all day, with the thermometer at a low figure...... Mary Hart died, aged 24. Rev. Francis T. Hanna died, aged 32. 2. Air, h. 23, 1.6......... Eleanor M. Skinner, wife of Winslow S. Keith, died, aged 30. Mary Lynch died, aged 42. 3. Air, h. 26, 1. 21......... Mrs. Ariettah Jadwin died, aged 83. Sarah, widow of John Weaver, died, aged 77. Ann, wife of David Davenport, died, aged 66. 4. A January thaw set in.........Margaret V. Kiely died, aged 25. 7. Jane Mynders, wife of George M. Frame, died, aged 57. 8. Ann E. Lavender, wife of Thomas F. Hallett, died, aged 29. 9. Nancy Green, died, aged 58. Catharine Dowdel died, aged 85. 10. Samuel Solomons, formerly of Albany, died in New York, aged 61. He was a son of Levi Solomons, a leading tobacconist in Albany in the first quarter of the present century, formerly of the firm of Caldwell & Solomous. 11. Air, h. 37, 1. 22.........The ice which gave way in the upper Hudson and Mohawk on the day previous, broke up above the city about 11 o'clock this day, and damming up at the Hudson river bridge, threw a vast volume of water through the upper cut into the canal basin, doing immense damage to the grain warehouses on the pier. A row of brick stores of five and six stories in height was damaged to the amount of half a million of dollars. There was also great destruction of boats moored in the basin........ Bernard Hagan died, aged 62. Mrs. Alida Pangburn died, aged 81. 12. Air, h. 30, 1. 25.........The Susquehanna rail road was opened, throughout its entire length to Binghamton. The project of a rail road connecting Albany and Binghamton had been discussed for many years; but it was not until April 19th, 1851, that an organization was effected, with Edward C. Delavan as its first president; and during that year individual subscriptions to the stock of the company amounted to one million of dollars. In 1852 an act was passed by the legislature authorizing the city of Albany to loan the road its credit to the amount of one million of dollars, and in April of that year its citizens voted to make the loan. In the fall of 1853 the entire work was let to Morris, Miller, Baker & Co., to be completed at a cost of seven millions of dollars, they agreeing to take the individual subscriptions, the city loan and the balance of their pay in the bonds of the company. These contractors worked upon various portions of the route until they had expended about fifty thousand dollars, when, in the spring of 1854, they were forced, by the Schuyler frauds on the New York and New Haven rail road, and the consequent loss of public confidence in all rail roads, to suspend operations. In 1855, the subject of bonding the towns along the route was discussed, and a bill authorizing the issue of such bonds was passed by the assembly that year, but defeated by the senate. In 1857 the bill passed the legislature and became a law, and town subscriptions to the amount of nine hundred thousand dollars were obtained by this means. This amount having been exhausted, it was resolved to apply for aid from the state. Arguments were used to the effect that the portion of country through which the road was to pass had, for many years, paid its proportion of taxes for the canals, without deriving a corresponding benefit therefrom; and that the resultant benefit to the state, in the increased valuation of taxable property and increased productions, justified the measure upon grounds of public policy. In 1859, a bill appropriating $250,000, in aid of that portion of the road lying between Albany and Schoharie, passed the legislature, and was vetoed by Gov. Morgan. In 1860, a bill appropriating $1,000,000 for the whole line of the road, in installments of $250,000 each as the road progressed, the last installment to be paid upon its completion, passed the legislature and was vetoed by Gov. Morgan. In 1861 a bill, leaving out the appropriation for the western half of the road, and appropriating $500,000 for the completion of that portion lying between Albany and Oneonta, passed the legislature, and was vetoed by Gov. Morgan. In 1862, this bill again passed the legislature, and was again vetoed by Gov. Morgan. In 1863, the same bill passed the legislature, was signed by Gov. Seymour, and became a law. This bill provided for an appropriation of $250,000 when completed to Cobleskill, and the same amount when completed to Oneonta. With the aid thus furnished it was opened for transportation to the following points, at the dates named below: to Schoharie, 35 miles, September 16, 1863; to Cobleskill, 45 miles, January 2, 1865; to Richmondville, 50 miles, June 1, 1865; to Worcester, 62 miles, July 17, 1865; to Schenevus, 67 miles, August 7, 1865; to Oneonta, 82 miles, August 28, 1865. In 1866, a bill was passed giving the road an additional half million of dollars, payable in two equal installments, upon reaching Harpersville and Binghamton respectively, and was vetoed by Gov. Fenton. In 1867, a bill was passed and became a law, appropriating $250,000 for that portion of the road from Oneonta to Harpersville. With this aid, the building of the road was continued as follows: Otego, Otsego county, 90 miles from Albany, Jan. 23, 1866; Unadilla, Otsego county, 99 miles from Albany, March 21, 1866; Sidney, Delaware county, 103 miles from Albany, Oct 22, 1866; Bainbridge, Chenango county, 108 miles from Albany, July 10, 1867; Afton, Chenango county, 114 miles from Albany, Nov. 11, 1867; Harpersville, Broome county, 120 miles from Albany, Dec. 25, 1867. In 1868 a bill was passed giving the additional $250,000 to complete the road from Harpersville to Binghamton, and was vetoed by Gov. Fenton. A temporary loan of $550,000 was then effected on the second mortgage bonds of the company, which loan matures during the present year. With this aid the road was opened to Binghamton, the last rail having been laid in December last. The road is now open for business, but it can hardly be called completed. Although it is safe in all its parts for present use, much expensive work remains to be done. The temporary tressle work at the western end is to be replaced by permanent embankments, and a large amount will be required to complete the arching of the extensive tunnel in Colesville. The road is 140 miles in length, and its total cost up to Sept. 30, 1868, was $6,387,455.94. At that date the total amount of funded and floating debt was $3,362,000, and its total earnings and exfor five years were as follows: penses Now that the road has formed a through connection with the west by means of the New York and Erie rail road, and is about to tap the coal regions of Pennsylvania, it may confidently be predicted that its earnings will henceforth steadily and rapidly increase, and prove a permanent source of revenue, as will the road itself a permanent blessing to the locality through which it passes, and to the whole state.-Argus...... Bridget McConnell died, aged 34. 13. Air, h. 29, 1. 19.........Henry McCotter died, aged 27. 14. Air, h. 27, 1. 22. 15. Air, h. 30, 1. 26.........Mrs. Harriet Moore Allen, wife of Dr. C. Devol, died. Wm. Burns died, aged 30. Mrs. Cynthia (Pemberton) Rote, died at Lawrence, Kansas, aged 28. 16. Air, h. 34, 1. 22.........Theodore S. Lord died, aged 54. Mary O'Brian died, aged 50. 17. Air, h. 26, 1. 18.........Wm. Ryan died, aged 73. Jane Raem, wife of Wm. Hess, died, aged 22. Ann Quinn died, aged 76. Patrick Lynch died, aged 63. John J. Kenny died, aged 18. Elizabeth Graham, wife of Peter Spawn, died, aged 47. 18. Air, h. 26, 1. 15.........Bernard Mahar died, aged 82. Thomas Mooney died at Bennington, aged 22. Michael Conlon died, aged 50. 19. Air, h. 18, 1. 16.........Terrence Brady diéd, aged 29. Margaret Cameron died, aged 20. 20. Air, h. 25, 1. 21......... Elizabeth Maguire died, aged 46. 21. Air, h. 32, 1. 16......... Hattie R., wife of Allen Whitbeck, died, aged 28. Dennis Beck died, aged 26. 22. Air, h. 66, 1. 7......... Gertrude Tebbits, wife of Erastus Corning, Jr., died. Mrs. Corning was highly esteemed for her many virtues and rare qualifications, and her death was deeply felt by our community. With the poor, to whom she was always a generous and a reliable source of comfort, her death fell with crushing weight. Andrew Dunphy died, aged 57. John M'Cambly died, aged 45. Mrs. Conlan, whose husband was killed by the train a few days before, died of grief. Mary Agan died, aged 63. 23. Air, h. 9, 1. 0.........Rosanna Gunn died, aged 81. 24. Air, h. 25, 1. 16.........Ella M. Hand, wife of Thomas C. Jeffers, died. John Kenny died, aged 65. Owen Curran died, aged 44. 25. Air, h. 34, 1. 17. ........Mary Hickey died, aged 44. 26. Air, h. 20, 1. 9.........Mrs. Mary Coleman died, aged 68. Anna Ross, wife of Moses Fisher, died, aged 30. 27. Air, h. 20, 1. 19. 28. Air, h. 24, 1. 20. 29. Air, h. 35, 1. 25.........James H. Chipman died in Brooklyn. Rebecca Bunting died, aged 75. Thomas Fox died, aged 33. John Gano died, aged 89. 30. Air, h. 36, 1. 32.........Mary M. Allen died, aged 21. 31. Air, h. 43, 1. 29........The Sprague Chapel, corner of State and Snipe Streets, was dedicated. This edifice was erected at the expense of the Second Presbyterian church, being the fifth edifice that had been erected by the society and its offshoots.......... Lawrence W. Landers died, aged 64. ........ FEBRUARY 1. Air, h. 30, l. 16...........James McManus died, aged 47. 2. Air, h. 22, 1. 7 Board of trade election for officers: Henry Lansing, president; James Hendrick, A. K. Shepard, vice presidents; Wm. Lacy, secretary; H. B. Loucks, treasurer........ Rev. William C. Doane, D.D., was consecrated first bishop of the new diocese of Albany, with great ceremony, at St. Peter's church.........Ellen Reehill died, aged 77. 3. Air, h. 31, l. 14.........It Snowed all day; at half past nine there was a storm of vivid lightning and thunder that would have done great honor to the month of July, which continued till half past eleven. Snow continued to fall till nearly noon of the next day. 4. Air, h. 29, 1. 20.......................Hannah Hallenbeck, widow of John M. Van Antwerp, died, aged 77. Thomas C. Pearl, died. Esther Owens died, aged 76. Sarah Ann Fuller, wife of George W. Wilson, died, aged 64. 5. Air, h. 27, 1. 15.........Emily M., wife of C. Van Galli, died, aged 29. James F. McCollom, died at Burlington, Vt., aged 28. 6. Air, h. 17, 1. 15.. ......It was announced that the Unitarian church had been sold to the Jews, Messrs. Openheim & Son, who would convert it into a lager bier saloon and dance house. This church was originally built by the Methodists. At a later day it was announced that it would be appropriated to a school for velocipedestrians. It finally became a theatre. Candice Denison, wife of Isaac C. Seabury, died, aged 31. 7. Air, h. 29, 1. 17. 8. Air, h. 25, 1. zero.........The thermometer at the Patroon's indicated 8° below zero; at the corner of Broadway and Maiden lane 6° below. This was the coldest morning of the season.......A meeting of citizens was held at the City Hall to remonstrate against the passage of the bill before the legislature for carrying out the plan of a public park. Thomas W. Olcott, Esq., was chairman, and Wm. G. Weed, secretary. A committee was appointed to oppose the passage of the law........A society for prevention of cruelty to animals was organized by the active exertions of Messrs. Angelo Ames and John M. Crapo. President-Robert Lenox Banks. Vice Presidents-John M. Crapo, John F. Rathbone, Eugene Van Rensselaer, Angelo Ames, B. P. Staats, S. O. Vanderpoel, John Bridgford. Executive Committee-Jas. H. Armsby, John Meredith Read, Jr., Rufus W. Peckham, Jr., R. L. Johnson, James H. Humphrey, Archibald McClure, Jr. S. H. H. Parsons, W. H. H. Bailey, J. V. Lansing, H. M. Paine, Campbell Allen, J. Wesley Smith, Charles E. Smith. Secretary Samuel R. Earls. Treasurer- Wm. M. Van Antwerp.........J. Bailey Reed, an old and well known citizen of Pittstown, died at his residence in Reed's Hollow, quite suddenly. Mr. Reed was aged sixty-nine years, and was formerly a member of the firm of L. V. & J. B. Reed, proprietors of the old Troy and Burlington line of stage coaches, and of lines leading out from Albany. The firm had a reputation in their line of business second only to that of Thorp & Sprague. In its palmy days, the stage coach business was regarded as among the greatest enterprises of capital, and the proprietors of a route were looked up to as men of much consequence as now are the directors of a rail road company. The deceased was very highly respected for his genial nature and generous heart, and leaves behind him a memory that will be cherished by a large circle of acquaintances.........Thomas Atkinson died, aged 53. 9. Air, h. 35, 1. 21. 10. Air, h. 38, 1. 27.........Albert Goodwin died, aged 65. Wm. McCloy died, aged 76. Mrs. Jane Beaumont, widow of John Griffith of New Baltimore, died, aged 97. Maria, widow of Roderick McDonough, died, aged 67. 11. Air, h. 38, 1. 33. .......The thaw which began on the previous day, continued throughout this, rendering the streets almost impassable by pedestrians......... Mrs. Catharine Seate died, aged 60. Patrick Murphy died, aged 48. 12. Air, h. 40, 1. 32..........Elizabeth, widow of James Robinson, died. 13. Air, h. 45, 1. 32........Peter J. Gaffney died, aged 21. Paulina Morgan died, aged 18. James Riley died, aged 31. Thomas Kelly died, aged 57. 14. Air, h. 45, 1. 28......... Michael Tracy died, aged 35. 15. Air, h. 35, 1. 22.........Sylvester Moore died, aged 35. Pamelia R. Ring, wife of William C. Bennett, died, aged 49. James Lansing died at Corning. 16. Air, h. 35, 1. 29. 17. Air, h. 36, 1. 27.........Bridget, wife of Christopher Shaw, died, aged 75. 18. Air, h. 34, 1. 26.........The Capitol and State Library were opened to a promenade concert and supper, provided by subscription of the citizens of Albany, in compliment to the legislature and the Social Science convention holding its first session at this time.........Peter V. Clark died, aged 45. 19. Air, h. 36, 1. 20.........Rachel L. Staats died. Morris Germond died, aged 41. 20. Air, h. 30, 1. 17. 21. Air, h. 36, 1. 19......... Daniel O'Neil died, aged 75. David Mink died, aged 84. Capt. John M. Donnelly died, aged 25. Bridget Shields, wife of John A. Schmertzer, died. 22. Air, h. 36, 1. 29.........The day was celebrated by the military companies, the Burgesses appearing in a new uniform. The Twenty-fifth Regiment, and the Jackson Guards were out. The Burgesses had a supper at the American Hotel.........James E. Pomfret, M. D. died, aged 43. He was formerly pastor of the Universalist church in Green street; afterwards adopted the practice of medicine, and in 1862, entered the service as surgeon of the 113th Regiment and served in that capacity, and subsequently as brigade and division surgeon until the close of the war. On his return, he was appointed surgeon general on Governor Fenton's staff, and organized the Soldier's Home, as a state institution. He discharged every public and private duty, scrupulously and conscientiously. In his professional character, Dr. Pomfret stood very high in this community; and his death lamented by none more dearly, outside of his family circle, than by the numerous families to whom he was endeared professionally and personally.... ....Sally Ann Iggett, widow of John McClaskey, died. 23. Air, h. 32, 1. 24......... Hugh Small died, aged 50, and Henry Small died, aged 43. They were brothers, both sick of the same disease, died, |