At first merchandise used to be conveyed to the vessels in skiffs and afterwards wharves were built for the convenience of shippers. At the time of the Revolution three or four Albany men stand out prominently in national annals. Gansevoort. President of the Convention that adopted the first constitution of the State, lived in the old homestead of the Gansevoort family that stood upon the ground afterwards occupied by Stanwix Hall. Philip Schuyler, Philip Livingston, and George Clinton were the leaders of the party that secured New York State to the Union. The latter, as we have already noted, was not only the first Governor of the State, but was also an officer of ability and courage, whose service in the Continental army was of untold value. Philip Liv-

An Old Dutch Town 539

ingston was one o( the signers of the Declaration of Inde]:)endence. Phili]) vSchu>-ler, the son of an old and honoured race, was a man not only of intense ])atriotism and splendid personal character, but of rare al:)iht>\ The great influence which General vSchuyler ])ossessed with the Indians, though often neutralised l)y the Johnsons, yet in a great measure pacified and kept in check the Mohawks during the Revolution. To him was given the task of watching Governor Tr_\'on on the south, the British and Indian force under Colonel Guy Johnson at the west, and the enemy that menaced the northern frontier. He led the advance upon Quebec until forced by illness to resign his command to the unfortunate Montgomery. His was the la])our of ])rovisioning the posts upon Lake Champlain. In fact, there was hardly a man in the American arm}% with the exception of the Commander-in-chief, upon whom rested so many and varied responsibilities, and who could so combine skill, forethought, and energy with an almost boundless patience.