It always surprises this historian when youngsters come to the Guilderland  Town Hall, usually with a parent, and they have no idea what goes on there, what its purpose is, or how it affects their own family.

This brought to mind the actual history of the town hall and how those purposes changed through the years.

The first town meeting was held at the private home of Henry Appel in Guilderland Center on the fifth day of April in the year of 1803.  The town of Guilderland had just been separated from the town of Watervliet and incorporated.

Guilderland Center has always been considered the center of  town.  In 1803, officials were elected and laws were written to be observed in Guilderland.

Nicholas Mynderse was elected as supervisor of the town and Peter A. Veeder was named town clerk.  Assessors were Issac Van Aernum, Abraham Veeder, and Peter Relyea.  Commissioners of highways were David Ogsbury, Frederic Crounse, and Charles Saver. Jacob Van Arnum and Simeon Relyea were overseers of the poor.

After meetings were held at the Appel Inn for years, other officials offered their homes for that purpose. Then, in 1850, a new structure was built in Guilderland Center on the road now named  Route 146.

There is no record of who built the hall. Records do state that the building and land were deeded to the town of Guilderland on Oct. 1, 1915 by Philip and Helen Petinger.

The large room upstairs was used for public meetings and political caucuses and for school events. A fire truck was housed downstairs.  The main floor was also used to stable horses for the guests who came to stay at the Fowler Hotel across the road.

The Guilderland Center Fire Department used the lower floor from 1918 when John H. York was named the first fire chief.  In 1952, it was determined that the old town hall  was no longer suitable, and a new fire station was erected on School Road.

The town used the Guilderland Center building to store equipment until the structure was condemned.

As the eastern end of the town grew, several individual buildings were used for the town's different departments.  The assessor's office was noted to have been in a small building on Route 20 near Foundry Road. That building has been demolished.

In 1957, the District Schoolhouse 4 on Willow Street became the town hall. The Guilderland School District had abandoned the two-room school house in 1953 when it consolidated and erected new school buildings.  The old schoolhouse is now a barracks for the New York State Troopers.

In 1971, a new town hall was built on the Western Turnpike west of Carman Road.  An addition was added in 1989.

By the book

At the town's first meeting in the Appel Inn, it was made law that "it shall not be lawful for hogs to run at large beyond the enclosure of the owner."  Another law declared that "stallions at the age of two years and upward be not suffered to go at large beyond the enclosure of the owner>” 

It was also made law that any resident killing a wolf on the turnpike would collect $5.  

Historic documents and chits show that the overseers of the poor paid for shoes for the children of a widow and paid for a "cloak" in which to bury a poor resident of the town.

This historian does remember in the early 1950s, two local residents had to chase a large brown stallion, freed of his reins, down Western Turnpike from Willow Street to Fuller Road before he was captured.

Residents of that era may remember Judge George Bigsbee holding court in his Hamilton Street home, wearing his notable red suspenders that held up his blue work denims, while his large pet parrot sat on his desk, watching the proceedings.

There was no police force in Guilderland then.  Law and order was kept in Guilderland by the New York State Police stationed in a Westmere barracks at 1968 Western Ave. They were assisted by the Albany County Sheriff's Department through the 1960s.

Then, on Oct. 29, 1971, in the new town hall on the western boundaries of Guilderland, a six-man police force was organized.  Led by Chief Robert R. Byers and wearing crisp, new green uniforms, these men were commissioned to keep order in the town.  The police station was housed in the town hall.

The duties of those who keep our peace now are far different than those from the days of keeping horses and pigs within their owners’ confines.  

Local newspaper accounts and a "Blotters and Dockets" column in The Altamont Enterprise advise residents of the more serious issues that the police must deal with, and they have done so extremely well.

The town hall on the Great Western Turnpike is one of which all residents can be proud.   Children and students should be taught about  the importance of its purpose.

This historian has filled columns with information on the Schoolcraft House and the congressman that built it, John L. Schoolcraft. Now let’s take a closer look at the woman who stole his heart and married him.

Congressman Schoolcraft was a close friend of Senator William H. Seward who became President Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of state after Lincoln defeated him for the office of president in 1860.

When Schoolcraft became a representative in 1848, he went to Washington, D.C., to temporarily live with the Seward family to get himself engrossed in the “big” politics of those times. While living with the Seward family, he became acquainted with Caroline Canfield, Seward’s young niece. She was the daughter of Seward’s sister, Louisa Seward Canfield, who had just died.

Caroline had been a student at the Emma Willard School in Troy when the family lived in New York State. Her mother was also a graduate of Emma Willard. Caroline wrote many letters to her Uncle.

“Oct 18, 1850. My Dear Uncle, I received your letter and its contents a few days since. I thank you very kindly for your attention to my wants. I received papers concerning my school bill.... Please tell Aunty that I am obliged to go out to Washington and attend to having my dresses made...”

“Oct. 24, 1851...I did as you requested me to do in your last letter, and I answered the Estate letter of acceptance.”

Caroline had been left an inheritance from her Grandfather Seward’s death of $5,000, a tidy sum at that time.

It was for 1851 through 1852 that Schoolcraft decided not to run for congress again. He decided to return to his banking career as president of the Albany Savings Bank, and he had plans to marry his best friend’s niece, Caroline Canfield.  He was 47, she was 19. The wedding took place on Aug. 6, 1853, in the First Presbyterian Church on State Street in Albany.

Caroline and John Schoolcraft had three children — Oliver, John L., and Marie Seward — in their short seven years of married life.

Schoolcraft died on his trip to the Republican national convention in 1860 where he expected his friend, William Seward, to be nominated as the Whig candidate for the presidency. That did not happen, as a young candidate from Illinois named Abraham Lincoln won that honor. Schoolcraft died on the trip home while visiting relatives in Canada.  John and Caroline Schoolcraft’s third child, Marie Seward Schoolcraft, was born on June 29, 1860, three weeks after her father died.

On May 23, 1862, Caroline, as a widow and guardian of the children, sold her landholdings in Guilderland to Sarah Ann and John P. Veeder.  Part of that piece of land became Prospect Hill Cemetery.  After living for a year in their home on Lodge Street in Albany, Caroline moved with her children across the Hudson River to a house in the Cantonment in East Greenbush.

The federal government had purchased a tract of land, 400 acres, in the hills of East Greenbush. It established a large military camp called “Cantonment Greenbush.” It was the headquarters of the Northern Division of the U.S. Army of 1812. It contained accommodations for 4,000 troops and a small hospital. Several buildings contained barracks.  Officers’ residences were also there.

It is believed that Caroline moved into one of the officer housing units. In addition to her three children, according to 1863 census papers, she also brought six servants, a nurse, a cook, a chambermaid, a waitress, a gardener, and a groom.  All were from Ireland, except the gardener, who was from Germany. No information was found as to what accommodations were made for these servants.

In May of 1862, Caroline Schoolcraft wrote to her Uncle Seward that she expected to sail for Europe soon.

“I intended starting yesterday to go to Washington to see you all before leaving but the confusion the great numbers of troops going on will prevent me from visiting as I could not under these circumstances undertake the journey alone. I am going with friends. I have not been in good health since I had scarlet fever. I hope to regain my health by the sea voyage. I desire much love to Aunt Fanny [Seward’s wife], Fred and Anna. Your affectionate niece, Caroline.” This was, of course, during the beginning of the Civil War.

In 1865, Marie Seward Schoolcraft died, she was the five-year-old daughter of  John and Caroline. 

It was also the time when Caroline Schoolcraft met Dr. Harry Beattie, a doctor from Scotland who had set up a practice in Albany.  In 1866, Caroline married Dr. Beattie and they moved to Richmond, Virginia with her two sons and had six more children.

Schoolcraft’s eldest son, Oliver J. Schoolcraft, married Mattie Ould of Richmond. She died giving birth to their first child. He spent some time serving in the U.S. Navy then moved to England.

Cambridge University Records reveal that he became a clergyman in the Church of England in 1891. This historian has a copy of a handwritten letter dated March 2, l903 written by Oliver Schoolcraft from Kent, in England, to a General at Virginia Military Academy requesting to be a Chaplain there. He died in Richmond on Dec. 8, 1911.

John L. Schoolcraft Jr. became the owner of The Richmond Inquirer in January of 1877. He later became president of the R.S. Railway Company and later secretary, treasurer of the stock exchange.

Caroline Schoolcraft Beattie died at the age of 87 in El Paso, Texas on Feb. 22, 1922.  Her burial was in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia where Dr. Beattie and several of her children are buried.

This historian has had several letters from the great-great-great-granddaughters of John and Caroline Schoolcraft.  They discussed an interest in seeing the Schoolcraft House of their grandparents that is being restored in Guilderland.

Thoughts of the changing times, changing landscapes, changing ways of life coincide in several articles uncovered by this historian.

Joseph Roth wrote in The Radetzky March in 1932: “In those days before the Great War, when it had not yet become a matter of indifference whether a man lived or died. When one of the living had been extinguished another did not at once take his place in order to obliterate him:  there was a gap where he had been, and both close and distant witnesses of his demise fell silent whenever they became aware of this gap.

“Where fire had eaten away a house from others on the street, the burnt out space remained long empty.  Close neighbors and casual passersby alike, when they saw the empty space, remembered the aspect and the walls of the empty space.

“That’s how things were then.  Everything that grew took its time in growing, and everything that was destroyed took a long time to be forgotten.  And everything that had once existed left its trace so that people lived on in memories, just as now they live by the capacity to forget quickly and completely.”

One of the Chesebro brother’s letters that was not published in this historian’s book, From the Historian’s Desk, was written by Allen E. Chesebro.  He wrote of his grandfather’s farm by the Normanskill Creek and was later published by historian Author Gregg in The Altamont Enterprise in the early 1970s.

The sturdy old farmhouse and barns pictured years ago now lies beneath a manmade lake, the Watervliet Reservoir.

Chesebro writes “I can scarcely more than allude to the immense barns and sheds, in which we children used to swing and hunt for eggs, or to the orchards, the vegetables and flower gardens, the fruitful nut and sugar trees, and the large fields of broom corn grown each year by my uncles, to be made each year into brooms during the winter months.

“Besides gathering nuts, apples and eggs, we children sometimes coveted the privilege of helping to sort the broom corn brush in the preparation of the shelling and drying processes.  Though quite young, (I was then about 7 years of age) my impressions are that we worked as well and accomplished as much as the women and girls that worked for pay.

“But ‘every rose has its thorn.’ The peculiar broom corn dust that filled the air caused an itching that was not enjoyed by our tender skins!

“The recollections I have of this old place are many and very pleasant. There were numerous ‘Uncles and Cousins and Aunts’; the genial help both in and out of doors; the individual animals, several of which I recall as if they had been personal friends.

“Among these were Prince and Hunter, a smart team of bay horses that once upon a time ran away and made 7 or 8 miles before giving up the fun. Prince was a greedy one.

“While once upon a visit, the horses were fed oats from the same box.  Prince gorged his gullet with the dry oats which swelled and caused his death, the wise ones averring that he died of bots.

“Then there was ‘old Tom.’   I used to lead him up into the tread power where hour after hour he patiently plodded on, getting nowhere, though doing his part to shell out the broom corn seed.  He was more than 30 years old — and a year or two later, concluding he could render humanity no further service — he quietly gave up the ghost.

“About the place were some fine hills for coasting, and a creek several rods in width ran near the house.  It was fine to feed minnows with our hands; the boat was tied to the roots of a large tree.

“In winter, especially at Christmastime, there were rare sports up on the ice.  The family cutter, well loaded with women and children, would be pushed swiftly along by my fleet-footed uncles and sometimes spent spinning around in a circle that  to me seemed wonderful.

“Grandma Chesebro,  as we called her, was at the time I knew her, practically blind, yet she was always cheerful and most agreeable to those around her. She liked to hear the letters written by members of the family as well as those from outside.

“She was a great lover of flowers, though then unable to see them, and she cultivated many kinds, among them the glorious hollyhocks. I have never ceased to wonder that people do not cultivate more hollyhocks.

“But I must not linger to tell of the greening apples, the turtles and fishes, and a multitude of other objects and incidents that flock to my memory.”

Historian Arthur Gregg’s 1978 column in The Altamont Enterprise tells that the sturdy old farmhouse and barns lay beneath the Watervliet Reservoir since about 1920 on  the Great Western Turnpike.

The Albany County Book of Deeds: Volume 21, page 312  shows that, in 1765,  Stephen VanRensselar, the boy patron, and his guardian uncle, Abraham Ten Broeck, sold the farm containing 267 acres to Abraham Wemple for 500 pounds.  By his will, his wife, Antje, and son, John A Wemple, received the property.

They, in turn, conveyed half of said tract on June 10, 1801 to Adam A. Vrooman for $2,500.  Eventually, the property came into the possession of Elijah Chesebro, postmaster of Guilderland Center.

The house and barns were located on the Normanskill near Fullers. Through a dense wood, their road connected with the Cherry Valley Turnpike, while another paralleled the creek to French’s Hollow.

How special it is that we, as residents of the town of Guilderland, can be aware of and know the history of this important piece of land, an integral part of  today’s living.

Historian’s note: A young Guilderland girl, Susan Carhart Tallman, was the daughter of Edward Chesebro and granddaughter of Elijah Chesebro of this same  farmhouse on the Great Western Turnpike.  Susan wrote of the love and happiness she had when she and her family came back to visit her “Grandma.” Her story was also retold by Historian Arthur Gregg in a 1948 issue of The Altamont Enterprise.

Continuing with Marvin “Shorty” Vrooman’s newspaper clippings from the Knowersville Enterprise “From Our Files” column dated July 4th, 1885:

Local: Our druggist’s, Messrs. Davenport and Frederick have placed a soda fountain in their store and the boys are now saving their nickels wherewith to provide his delicious drinks for their lady friends.

The show of the season — the first big show will appear in Knowersville on Monday, July 20, and give two exhibitions.  It is a Frank A. Robbins’ circus and menagerie.  They have been highly complimented by the press throughout the country where they have performed and from what we can learn have deserved all the praise that has been bestowed upon them.

Saturday, July 11, 1885 

Guilderland: As usual, the 4th passed off very quietly here.  The small boys delighted in powder crackers and torpedoes throughout the day and about 4:30 pm we had a slight shower which cleared away.

In the evening there was a final display of fireworks in front of Sloan’s Hotel.  Two balloons ascended and it was a very enjoyable evening.

Saturday, July 18, 1885

Local: The residents of the village are much concerned over several burglaries during the past week.  On Friday night, burglars entered the houses of Messrs. Crary, Hart, and Ostrander, and relieved Mr, Crary of upwards of $30 and Mr. Ostrander of about $2.  They secured nothing of Mr. Hart as they awakened the household before they accomplished their purpose.  On Sunday night, an attempt was made at the residence of Mr. Philey, but as people were on the alert nothing came of it.                   

Saturday, July 25, 1885

Local: Thursday evening, August 3rd, the Knowersville Orchestra will give an instrumental  and vocal concert in the Lutheran Church. The admission is placed at 25 cents and everyone purchasing a ticket will be entitled to a dish of ice cream, which will be served immediately after the concert.  As everyone who has heard our orchestra knows that it will be a rare treat.

Monday, July 20th, was a red-letter day in our town, the occasion being the Frank A. Robbins circus and menagerie.  People gathered from near and far and by the time of the parade, the streets were filled with strangers.

The work on the new houses and the improvements on those already built is progressing favorably. Messrs. Tice, Staley and Wilber will be able to occupy theirs soon.  Mr. Osbornlighter is ready for mason work and carpenters are still at work on the homes of Van Auken and Crounse.

Guilderland Station: The summer boarders still continue to arrive en route for the Helderbergs. It is reported that the various boarding houses are being filled rapidly.

West Township: Two gentlemen have been through this place engaging hop pickers.

Saturday, August 1, 1885

Local: Tuesday, August 18, Triumph Lodge will go on an excursion to New Baltimore.  They go by train to Albany, leaving Knowersville at 9:35 a.m., stopping at Guilderland Station and Voorheesville, thence by boat to New Batimore, arriving there at 12:15pm.  A fine grove has been secured and in the afternoon baseball and other games will be the order of the day.  They leave New Baltimore on the return trip at 7:20 thus giving everyone a chance of a moonlight ride on the Hudson and arriving at Knowersville at 10:00 pm.

The fare for the round trip has been placed at 75 cents.  Ice cream and refreshments will be served on the boat, and everything done to make the trip enjoyable for all.

Saturday, August 8, 1885

Local: Nearly all the flagstone for the walk on the east side of Church Street (now Maple) have been delayed.

Sand’s Mill will resume business Aug. 10th having added a new power and remodeled their mill in general, they will be able to turn out work in the best manner.  Feed grinding on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Saturday, August 15, 1885

Thompson’s Lake: Seventy-seven registered ay the Lake View House

Sunday.

Guilderland Center: A.V. Mynderse is building an addition to his vinegar house. Phillip Ogsbury is doing the carpentry work.

Local: We are pleased to note that improvements are taking place in  Prospect Street and Helderberg Avenue. The first mentioned street has a stone walk its entire length.  We hope that Church Street will wake up and do likewise.

Why can’t some arrangement be made with the railroad company so we can have a nice park in our village? A neat fence, shade trees, walks, flowers, etc. would transform an unsightly common into a beautiful park.

Guilderland Center: The game of baseball between the “Get There Elies” of Guilderland and the “Brown Leghorns” of this place was won by the latter, 42 to 8.

Local:  At the annual school meeting on Tuesday, the following were elected for the ensuing year:  Jacob Van Benscoten, trustee; N. Sturges, collector;  F. Keenholts, librarian;  George Lainhart, clerk.   The sum of $710 was voted to be raised to defray expenses for the current year.

Historian's note: If readers would like to read more of "Shorty” Vrooman's columns, "From Our Files," published in The Altamont Enterprise from July 28, 1978 to Dec. 13, 1984, they can be accessed through the Guilderland Public Library website along with the original McKownville Enterprise editions from which they were taken.

Continuing with Marvin “Shorty” Vrooman’s newspaper clippings from the Knowersville Enterprise “From Our Files” column dated July 4th, 1885:

Local: Our druggist’s, Messrs. Davenport and Frederick have placed a soda fountain in their store and the boys are now saving their nickels wherewith to provide his delicious drinks for their lady friends.

The show of the season — the first big show will appear in Knowersville on Monday, July 20, and give two exhibitions.  It is a Frank A. Robbins’ circus and menagerie.  They have been highly complimented by the press throughout the country where they have performed and from what we can learn have deserved all the praise that has been bestowed upon them.

Saturday, July 11, 1885 

Guilderland: As usual, the 4th passed off very quietly here.  The small boys delighted in powder crackers and torpedoes throughout the day and about 4:30 pm we had a slight shower which cleared away.

In the evening there was a final display of fireworks in front of Sloan’s Hotel.  Two balloons ascended and it was a very enjoyable evening.

Saturday, July 18, 1885

Local: The residents of the village are much concerned over several burglaries during the past week.  On Friday night, burglars entered the houses of Messrs. Crary, Hart, and Ostrander, and relieved Mr, Crary of upwards of $30 and Mr. Ostrander of about $2.  They secured nothing of Mr. Hart as they awakened the household before they accomplished their purpose.  On Sunday night, an attempt was made at the residence of Mr. Philey, but as people were on the alert nothing came of it.                   

Saturday, July 25, 1885

Local: Thursday evening, August 3rd, the Knowersville Orchestra will give an instrumental  and vocal concert in the Lutheran Church. The admission is placed at 25 cents and everyone purchasing a ticket will be entitled to a dish of ice cream, which will be served immediately after the concert.  As everyone who has heard our orchestra knows that it will be a rare treat.

Monday, July 20th, was a red-letter day in our town, the occasion being the Frank A. Robbins circus and menagerie.  People gathered from near and far and by the time of the parade, the streets were filled with strangers.

The work on the new houses and the improvements on those already built is progressing favorably. Messrs. Tice, Staley and Wilber will be able to occupy theirs soon.  Mr. Osbornlighter is ready for mason work and carpenters are still at work on the homes of Van Auken and Crounse.

Guilderland Station: The summer boarders still continue to arrive en route for the Helderbergs. It is reported that the various boarding houses are being filled rapidly.

West Township: Two gentlemen have been through this place engaging hop pickers.

Saturday, August 1, 1885

Local: Tuesday, August 18, Triumph Lodge will go on an excursion to New Baltimore.  They go by train to Albany, leaving Knowersville at 9:35 a.m., stopping at Guilderland Station and Voorheesville, thence by boat to New Batimore, arriving there at 12:15pm.  A fine grove has been secured and in the afternoon baseball and other games will be the order of the day.  They leave New Baltimore on the return trip at 7:20 thus giving everyone a chance of a moonlight ride on the Hudson and arriving at Knowersville at 10:00 pm.

The fare for the round trip has been placed at 75 cents.  Ice cream and refreshments will be served on the boat, and everything done to make the trip enjoyable for all.

Saturday, August 8, 1885

Local: Nearly all the flagstone for the walk on the east side of Church Street (now Maple) have been delayed.

Sand’s Mill will resume business Aug. 10th having added a new power and remodeled their mill in general, they will be able to turn out work in the best manner.  Feed grinding on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Saturday, August 15, 1885

Thompson’s Lake: Seventy-seven registered ay the Lake View House

Sunday.

Guilderland Center: A.V. Mynderse is building an addition to his vinegar house. Phillip Ogsbury is doing the carpentry work.

Local: We are pleased to note that improvements are taking place in  Prospect Street and Helderberg Avenue. The first mentioned street has a stone walk its entire length.  We hope that Church Street will wake up and do likewise.

Why can’t some arrangement be made with the railroad company so we can have a nice park in our village? A neat fence, shade trees, walks, flowers, etc. would transform an unsightly common into a beautiful park.

Guilderland Center: The game of baseball between the “Get There Elies” of Guilderland and the “Brown Leghorns” of this place was won by the latter, 42 to 8.

Local:  At the annual school meeting on Tuesday, the following were elected for the ensuing year:  Jacob Van Benscoten, trustee; N. Sturges, collector;  F. Keenholts, librarian;  George Lainhart, clerk.   The sum of $710 was voted to be raised to defray expenses for the current year.

Historian's note: If readers would like to read more of "Shorty” Vrooman's columns, "From Our Files," published in The Altamont Enterprise from July 28, 1978 to Dec. 13, 1984, they can be accessed through the Guilderland Public Library website along with the original McKownville Enterprise editions from which they were taken.