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🏘️ Croton Local History
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determine how this error crept into the historical record. The contemporary newspaper accounts of the event exhaustively list every participating fire department, trade organization, temperance society, and civic official but say nothing of the
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President of the United States, two former Presidents and the Governor of New York. It seems unlikely—though not impossible—that newspapers published within days of the celebration would have missed these historic figures. A year later Charles King
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even published the letters of regret from all four men in his book, A memoir of the construction, cost, and capacity of the Croton Aqueduct . . . together with an account of the civic celebration of the fourteenth October, 1842 . . . 3 The President
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of the United States sends his regrets. King has a long section of replies to invitations to the Croton Water Celebration. One of the most interesting appears long after the letters from officials like the Lieutenant Governor, Comptroller and
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Attorney General of the State of New York; after letters from diplomats like the Counsels of Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Greece—even after the letters from the mayors of cities like Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Troy.
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Writing from Peekskill on October 8, 1842, Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr. replied, ”I have this day received your polite invitation from the Common Council of the city of New York, to join with them on the 14th instant, to celebrate the introduction of
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the Croton water into the City of New York. With pleasure I accept your invitation, and will be in New York at the time appointed.” 4 If anyone at that time had a plausible claim to the water from the Croton River it was Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr.
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Indeed, the Van Cortlandt family had engaged in extended litigation against the Croton Water Commissioners over the diversion of water. 5 Even if he had come to accept New York City’s diversion there was the matter of the Great Freshet of 1841, when
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part of the Croton Dam gave way. The torrent of water and debris destroyed bridges and businesses, silted out the mouth of the Croton River and is said to have come within 8 feet of destroying Van Cortlandt Manor. 6 The Old Croton Dam after
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reconstruction. Did Van Cortlandt actually attend? What did he really think of the great event? Unfortunately his published correspondence contains just three letters from 1842 and none of them mention the Croton Water Celebration. Memoirs of John
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Quincy Adams, Comprising Portions of His Diary from 1795 to 1848 , compiled by Charles Francis Adams. Philadelphia: J. P. Lippincott & Co., 1876. Volume 11. ↩ The current Wikipedia article for the Croton Aqueduct states “Among those present were
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then-President of the United States John Tyler, former presidents John Quincy Adams and Martin van Buren, and Governor of New York William H. Seward.” See here . ↩ A memoir of the construction, cost, and capacity of the Croton Aqueduct . . . together
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with an account of the civic celebration of the fourteenth October, 1842, on occasion of the completion of the great work . . . by Charles King. New York, Printed by C. King, 1843. ↩ Ibid. ↩ See Correspondence of the Van Cortlandt Family of Cortlandt
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Manor, 1815-1848, compiled and edited by Jacob Judd. Volume IV, pages 291-292. ↩ For more on the Great Freshet of 1841 see here . ↩ Share this: Print (Opens in new window) Print Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook
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Water Celebration Great Freshet of 1841 John Quincy Adams Pierre Van Cortlandt Jr. Published October 14, 2014 October 14, 2014
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A first-person account of the Croton Water Celebration from the diary of Julia Lawrence Hasbrouck. “It was a happy day for New.York, as now she stands a “queen city” with her beautifull Fountains, and pure transparent water, her delighted sons and
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daughters have reason to be proud of her now.” Friday 14. tenth. October. 1842. A beautifull day for the celebration of the Croton water Works. Every one was in commotion to.day, the whole city were on the move; and thousands of country people came
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flocking to see the procession. The stores were closed, bells ringing, soldiers marching, societys forming, and every one putting on their best faces to witness the novel scene. At eleven Garret, the children, Bridget and myself went up to Mrs
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Anelli’s. They received us very politely, giveing us their small bed-room to ourselves. We had a fine view of the parade and were not exposed to the air. The procession, equalled my expectations, and was a handsome affair; every thing was so bright
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and neat, the very houses shone like silver. The fire companies were very conspicuous for taste in their decorations. It was supposed the number of persons in procession, were about 20.000. The streets… View original post 227 more words Share this:
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new window) Tumblr Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Published October 14, 2014 November 26, 2017
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The Twentieth Century Limited engine at the Harmon yards. Photograph by Robert Yarnall Richie. Here’s a wonderful photograph of the famous Twentieth Century Limited engine at the Harmon yards on May 12, 1938. The image is part of a group of
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photographs of the engine taken by Robert Yarnall Richie, who worked as a free-lance commercial and industrial photographer for many large corporations. Richie’s work is significant for its artistic qualities as well as documentary information. See
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more of the photos in the Robert Yarnall Richie Photograph Collection, part of the digital archives of Southern Methodist Unversity . Share this: Print (Opens in new window) Print Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook
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Transportation Published December 28, 2014 December 28, 2014
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Croton Water Celebration medal by Robert Lovett, Sr. Courtesy of John Kraljevich Americana. Here’s a fine example of the medal produced for the Croton Water Celebration, when what we now call the Old Croton Aqueduct opened to public use on October
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14, 1842. This is currently being offered by John Kraljevich , a leading expert in American historical medals, coins, paper money and related Americana, who has graciously allowed us to share his images. The Croton Water Celebration medal was