MAY 1979 Published by The Stockade Association

So You Want to Start a Vegetable Garden By Sylvester Calarco

You want to start a Vegetable Garden and don't know where or how to begin?

I suggest that you visit the Public Library and read one or more of the many excellent books they have on the subject of gardening, or tune in Jim Crockett on (WMHT) Channel 17, or seek the advice of a knowledgeable neighbor or the many successful gardeners and friendly greenhouse proprietors we have in our area.

I have done all of the aforementioned and have concluded that the basic ingredients needed for starting a vegetable garden are ...

1. A plot of land (any size will do)

2. Sunshine (all you can get)

3. Water (an adequate supply)

Voila! Instant vegetables ... well, almost.

The size of the garden is not important. It will merely govern the amount and variety of vegetables you may wish to grow. What is important is that the site you have chosen has

_ suitable draina~ will r~ceive a maximWILOf sunlight. Without suitable drainage, stagnant and an overabundance of water can spell disaster to your plants.

Sunshine is man's and a vegetable garden's best friend, and it is free.

Try to plant as far away as possible from trees and bushes, for not only will they detract from the sun's rays but they will also steal much needed moisture and nutrients from the smaller plants.

Once you have selected your site, it would be advisable if not a must to have your soil tested. This can be done by using a soil test kit which can be easily purchased through the mail or at most, area nurseries and greenhouses. Or, you can send a small soil sample to the New York State Dept. of Agriculture.

We started with four tomato plants and gradually increased the size of our garden until we now, no longer have use for a lawn mower.

Start small and learn as you grow. Read the books at the Library, tune in Jim Crockett and seek advice.

HAPPY GARDENING!

(Sylvester Ca/area's garden is the showplace of College Street. Other notable Stockade Gardens belong to the Kambours of Front Street, homesteaded by Frank Smith, and to Dawson Van Epps also of Front Street and Susan Bokan of College Street who are competing this year to grow the Stockade's largest parsnip!)

Discovery Day By Marjorie Smith

Two Dutch masterpieces, valued at $30,000 to $40,000, and a pair of Steuben perfume bottles, purchased in the Boardwalk in Atlantic City in the 1920's and valued now at $1,000 each, were among the treasurers revealed at the Stockade's first Heirloom Discovery Day in April.

- -~ For a fee of $5,a-tea-m of expert from the internationally acclaimed auction house Sothe­by Parke Bernet of New York appraised heir­looms and acquisitions ranging from grand­father's clo-:;ks to a set of plastic glasses from the Nixon-Agnew Inaugural.

Co-sponsored by the Schenectady Museum, the Saturday event attracted nearly one thou­sand people. While net proceeds were less than expected, the benefits in terms of fun and visibility for the Stockade Association were invaluable. Net profit, which amounted to several hundred dollars will be divided between the museum and the Stockade's Heritage Fund, which will be used to purchase and restore endangered buildings for re-sale.

Friday night's Benefit Cocktail Party, al­though sparsely attended, was elegantly catered by the Silent Butler, operated by Anthony Strianese and Prescott Brown of the Schenec­tady County Community College's Hotel Tech­nology Department.

Many enthusiastic and appreciated volunteers turned out to help on Saturday, including representatives from the Friends of The Stock­ade and the G.E. Realty Plot Association.

Members of the Discovery Day Committee who deserve special thanks are Hank and Pat Binzer, Greg and Barbara Sauer, Virginia Kambour, John Elsbr.ee and Bob George.

For service to the cause of historic preserva­tion above and beyond the call of duty, the Stockade Association wishes to sincerely thank Mrs. Lavinia Shanklin, who integrated several mailing lists and copied hundreds of names and addresses on index cards; Mrs. Anne Binzer, who spend an entire day stuffing envelopes at the museum; and Assistant Counsel to the Governor John Kelliher and his associate from the Historic Albany Foundation and Suzie Smith of College Street, who exhibited real expertise sealing thousands of invitations with little blue dots!

Vol. XIX, Number 6

ANNUAL STOCKADE MEMORIAL DAY PICNIC

Saturday, May 26th at Riverside Park (Rain Date 5/27)

Annual Meeting and election of officers of The Stockade Association, Monday, May 21st at 8 P.M. at the Historical Society on Washington Avenue.

- Historic Preservation Week, sponsored by The National Trust for Historic Preserva­tion, May 6-12.

Festival of Nations at the Schenectady Museum, Saturday, May 19th (Rain Date 5 I 20).

U.S. Army Band marches into Proctor's, May 13th.

Summer quarter at the Schenectady County Community College beings June 1.

THE STOCKADE SPY Editor . . . . . . . . . . Marjorie Smith

Business ....... Martin Weinstein

Circulation Editor . . Sean Lane

SponlOl'I - Stockade AIIOCl■tlon President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T. Gregory Sauer Vice President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marjorie Smith Recording Secretary ... : . . . . . . . . . Henry Binzer Corres. Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard Brown Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert George

The President's Column By T. Gregory Sauer

Two major accomplishments have occurred in the last month which typify the more active role which the Association has been attempting to adopt. The first of these was the successful Heirloom Discovery Day sponsored by the Association in conjunction with the museum. While this event did not raise as much money for the Heritage Fund as had been initially hoped, it proved the Association with the opportunity to gain experience in running a major fund raising event other than the Walkabout, and it increased public awareness of the Stockade and of the Heritage Fund. The event also drew many people to the museum who had never been there before. The only disappointment associated with the event was the poor support by Stockaders of the benefit Cocktail party which preceded Heirloom Discovery Day itself. I would like to thank all the people who worked to make the event possible. I would particularly like to thank Marjorie Smith, who chaired the event and who did so much to make Heritage Day an un­qualified success. Without her many hours of work the many people who had true "heirlooms" discovered would never have had the joy of knowing what they possessed.

The second accomplishment was the success­ful mediation of a confrontation between the Historic District Commission and St. George's Church ovor the renovations to the old Parish House which had been fire damaged. As a consequence of both poor communication and a misunderstanding of the zoning law require­ments, the Commission and the Church reached an apparent impasse and the Church decided to request the Board of Zoning Appeal to over-rule the Commission. At this point the Association attempted to mediate the difficulty. As a result of this effort the concerns of the Commission were clarified to the Church and the Church re­sponded positively by withdrawing its request for appeal. St. George's, by withdrawing its appeal and agreeing to work with the Commis­sion, demonstrated its willingness to work for the good of the neighborhood and is to be congratulated. Jim Sherwood acted on the behalf of the Association during this mediation effort and the successful outcome is testimony to the skill and dedication which he exhibited.

My term as President of the Association is up on May 21. The last two years have been active and I hope successful years for the Association and the neighborhood. All of the Association's successes of the last two years have been made possible by the efforts, perseverance and, at times, courage of the Board. It was an honor to have served with them.

AS IT WAS Arendt Van Curler I: The Making of the Man (A.O. 1620-1643)

By Dr. Susan Jane Staffa

No historical investigation is satisfying unless one can go back to the beginning and Schenectady had its beginning in the mind's eye of Arendt Van Curler. We have often heard how, in 1642, he first saw "the most beautiful land" on the shore of the Mohawk and how, in 1661, he purchased it from the Indians, but what of Van Curler the man? What were the circumstances of his actions, and the personal as well as public motives of his achievement? In this and two articles to follow, we will attempt to elucidate the career of Schenectady's founder.

Arendt Van Curler came originally from Nijkerk in the Dutch province of Gelderland. He was baptized there on February 6, 1620, the son of Hendrick Van Curler and Nellie Gerrits Van Curler. Although the Van Curlers were a prominent family in Gelderland and had played important roles in local government and the establishment of the Dutch Reformation, a tie on the maternal side turned out to be more important for Arendt's career. Nellie Gerrits was the daughter of a sister of Kiliaan Van Rensselaer and the boy was therefore a great-nephew of the founder and patroon of Rensselaerwyck. Dutch records indicate that young Arendt received an excellent classical education at the school of Hard'ewyck and that he was expert in modern and ancient languages including Hebrew.

Why did Arendt Van Curler come to America? He was only seventeen years of age when, in 1637, he suddenly terminated his studies and sailed for America on the Key of Kalmar with a friend of his great-uncle, Peter Minuit,· the famed director-general of New Netherland. It is probable that the principal attraction was financial. The Van Curlers' owned an extensive estate south of Nijkerk but several siblings were to share this land and there was a want of ready money. Life amidst rough pioneers and dangerous Indians would be hazardous, but perhaps no more hazardous than Dutch military service or the danger of plague which, but a few years before, had depleted the population ofNijkerk by a third. When the old patroon Van Rensselaer indicated that his commissary needed an assistant, the Van Curlers probably perceived the opportunity as golden. The bright and promising youth, having heard so many interesting conversations and intriguing rumors concerning the New World, undoubtedly·looked forward to the experience with considerable anticipation and excitement.

To understand and appreciate the career of Arendt Van Curler we must visualize· the New Netherlands in which he found himself upon his arrival in 1638. There were fewer than fifteen hundred Europeans in the whole of the province, and in the settlement of Fort Orange (Albany) and the surrounding 700,000 acre colony of Rensselaerwyck (the complete area of the present counties of Albany, Rensselaer, and Saratoga) there were fewer than two hundred settlers. And rude indeed it was. At about this time Father Isaac J ogues, the French Jesuit missionary who was martyred at Auriesville in 1646, described Fort Orange as "a miserable little fort ... built of logs" and Rensselaerwyck as a "colony composed of about a hundred persons who reside in twenty-five or thirty houses built along the river." All around were the wilden, the native Iroquois, usually friendly and eager to trade, but always potentially dangerous.

The colony was run like a feudal estate. The patroon (patron-proprietor) supplied preliminary expenses for livestock and equipment and was entitled to half the increase from the stock and one-tenth of the produce from each farm. No one could hunt or fish without a license from him and most important, only the patroon and persons he licensed could import European merchandise or trade with the Indians. The majority of settlers obtained the required permits but were always accountable to turn in the required proportion of profits. Thus, when Arendt Van Curler was made assistant to Jacob Planck, his cousin, who was commissary and schout (sheriff), he put in a very demanding position for one so young, a position which called for considerable tact and diplomacy. It is testimony to his ability that he advanced from assistant to secretary in 1639, and then to provisional commissary in 1640, and to commissary in 1642.

Our knowledge of events in Rensselaerwyck in this period is illuminated by the documents which survive, especially letters sent and received by the patroon. Kiliaan Van Rensselaer gave his great­nephew meticulous instructions as to who and where to plant grapes, how to present gifts to the Indians, and how to make barrel staves. He seems to have been a fanatic on efficiency for he even complained that Van Curler wasted his time by dating his letters both at the beginning and at the end!

About three years after Arendt's arrival the patroon sent another young man to the colony to act as schout or legal administrator. This was the learned and ambitious Adriaen Van der Donck who later was to write a famous Description of New Netherlands. The next year, 1642, he sent the first minister to the colony, the dominie Megapolensis, charging him to keep a watchful eye on both young men and complaining that "they do not think at all of my interests ... each one thinks of his own advancement ... You must hold the helm of the vessel till it has started on a good course." Thus, the crafty old patroou sought to control both Van Curler and Van der Donck and keep either of them from gaining too much power. Small wonder that there seems to have been friction between them from the first.

Despite his promotions, Arendt had apparently been giving his fussy old great-uncle cause for concern. He seems still to have been experiencing growing pains and not paying full attention -to business. In one letter in 1642 Van Rensselaer wrote to the dominie:

"As to the evil rumors that Corlaer visits a certain woman in Fort Orange, this gives me much ground for serious reflection. If it is true, you can as pastor admonish him to keep away from her in order to avoid all scandal, and, if you think it necessary, also prohibit it in my name ... "

And about the same time he carped at Arendt:

"I am in receipt of your letters ... to which I cannot properly reply on account of my annoyance that last year you did not send me my accounts or books .. You make me suspicious. You will learn of my disatisfaction through Megapolensis ... For five years which may mean life or death to a man of advanced years, I do not know what has happened in my name on my behalf in such a far-off country and my patience begins to change to impatience. You have now had charge of about 36,000 guilders worth of goods ... of which I have not received a single account ... If your charge is too heavy for you you should have asked for help."

Continued Page 3

ARTHUR'S MARKET

AT THE INOIAN FREE DELIVERY

372-4141

SCHENECTADY'S FIRST BANK

Serving the Stockade Area

Since 1807

SHOES STATE ST. "DOWNTOWN" SCHENECTADY

Open Tues. & Thurs. evening til 9 P. M.

(518) 346-1090

enq~~(s I Ut\bbcxfy crarges ~-

511 UNION STREET Free delivery 372-4788 your Stockade liquor store

Six Belts of Wampum A guide to the Schenectady Stockade. Now

in its 3rd printing. Available thru T. Gregory Sauer for $2.00 each.

Summer Jobs Once again this year The Spy will publish in its

next and last issue of the season the names and skills of Stockaders' interested in summer employment. If you would like to be listed,

please send your name, telephone number and brief description of the kind of work for which you are looking to Marjorie Smith, 11 College Street by June 15th.

Summer Vegetable Casserole (After Your Garden Grows)

1 Green pepper, cored and sliced 2 Tablespoons melted butter ½ Teaspoon basil 2 Cloves garlic, minced 3 Tomatoes, sliced

(Salt and freshly ground Pepper to taste)

3 Onions, sliced 2 Tablespoons oil 2 Potatoes, sliced 2 Zucchini, sliced 1 Eggplant, sliced

In a heavy casserole, saute' two of the onions in the oil until tender. Add the potatoes and cook until lightly browned. Add the Zucchini and Eggplant in two layers and season with salt and pepper. Make a layer of remaining onion slices and the green pepper and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the butter over all and sprinkle with the basil and garlic. Top with the tomatoes and season again. Cover, bring to a boil and simmer gently about twenty-five minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Serve hot or cold, spooning down to the bottom to catch all layers.

Continued from ['age_!

In a lengthy reply dated 16 June, 1643, Arendt Van Curler gave an account of his activities to the "most honorable, wise, powerful, and right discreet Lord Patroon." He admitted being remiss in the matter of the accounts but stated that he was not wholly to blame:

"There are boors (settlers) from whom I can get no returns and Van der Donck has not once spoken to them thereof, according to his instructions ... I have had ... returns from some boors. Neither head nor tail could be made out of them. For they state everything expended, but nothing of what they received; and enter in the account, to this one, so much - to that one, so much, without once specifying for what that same was given."

Van der Donck indeed was a thorn in his side. When Arendt was promoted to commissary he had complained to Van Rensselaer that the preferment had more basis in kinship than performance, a charge which the patroon vehemently denied. When inflation seriously cut into the company profits and Van der Donck was charged with putting an end to illegal trade, he was unwilling to enforce regulations which would make him unpopular. Arendt says in his letter that he sent for Van der Donck and told him to search several houses for contraband but that the schout cooperated only half-heartedly and in at least one case warned the owner to put the goods in the cellar which would not be searched when he returned the next day. And that was not even the worst. Van der Donck went around encouraging people to rebel saying that Van Curler "sought to steal the bread out of their mouths" by forbidding them to trade. As Arendt wrote:

" ... Some, with others, forthwith conspired together to protest against me, and to draw a circle under the protest, within which to place their names, so that it should not be known who had first signed it. This protest having been drawn up, some were for driving me out of the colonie as a rogue; others wished to take my life."

Fortunately nothing resulted from these threats. On the basis of Van Curler's recommendations the patroon issued several reforms to remedy the abuses and the next year Van der Donck resigned his post.

But the most interesting part of the letter to Schenectadians is the last part in which Van Curler describes a trip he made to the Mohawk country with two other men to rescue some French prisoners of the Indians, one of whom was the above-mentioned Father J ogues. On his return from the Mohawk castle at Caughnawaga (Auriesville) he had his first view of the great flat:

"Within half a day's journey from the colonie, lies the most beautiful land on the Mohawk River that eye ever say; full a days journey long, and mostly contiguous the one to the other. But it is impossible to reach there in a boat, on account of the strength of the stream which runs there, and on the other hand, of the shallowness of the water; but I think it could be reached by wagons."

Records indicate that Arendt continued to be faithful in the service of the patroon and his heirs, yet in view of the complexities and frustrations he experienced as the young manager of Rensselaerwyck, it must have been from that time he dreamed of establishing an independent settlement in the new and beautiful land to the west.

FRIENDS OF THE STOCKADE

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Special Rates for Students

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SOME DAY By Lisa Zegger

Some day in May, I think someone will say, it ought to be said -all children must make their bed! But I disagree, as all people can see, So I run away on a boat with a sail. But they found me and put me in jail.

The economics of preservation

Of particular interest throughout Capital­land-with seven older cities, each with down­town areas and some residential sections currently being upgraded-is a report last week from Orin Lehman, commissioner of the state Department of Parks and Recreation, that more than a half billion dollars a year is currently being spent in this state to rehabilitate older buildings.

Commissioner Lehman, the state historic preservation officer, issued the report in con­junction with the observance beginning today of National Historic Preservation Week.

It should be noted that in Albany, Schenec­tady, Troy, Saratoga Springs, Rensselaer, Cohoes and Watervliet efforts are being made to revitalize various sections of the cities. And in most cases, an integral part of the effort, because of local, state and federal redevelopment programs and funding plus private initiative, the rehabilitation of existing buildings is playing an important part in the rebuilding efforts.

The 1976 Tax Reform Act, and direct federal historic preservation grants to owners of properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, were cited by Commissioner Lehman as "programs of major impact on the state's economy."

The investment generated by them, he said, "has served to revitalize whole neighborhoods, has improved the tax base of struggling cities and has provided more jobs for the unemployed than could be expected from totally new construction."

A recent Times- Union editorial noted the effort being made in Albany, on Clinton A venue, to stabilize groups of housing structures in that area for eventual reconstruction and restoration to the tax rolls by private owners. It is typical of what is going on, aesthetically and economically rewarding, eventually, to the localities involved. •

(Re-printed from Times-Union)

TIDINGS Ms. Liese Kambour of Front Street has been

named one of 120 Presidential Scholars by President Carter and will attend a ceremony at the White House in June. In addition, she has been accepted for admission to Harvard in the fall and is the recipient of a National Merit Scholarship.

Ray Zegger of Governor's Lane will attend Trinity College in the fall.

Stockade Association President Greg Sauer discussed the Stockade at the April meeting of the Burnt Hills Rotary.

The Lanes of Front Street spent the Easter vacation in Florida.

Bobbie Bowden of Cucumber Alley is work­ing part-time at the Boys' Club on Union Street and urges other Stockaders to take advantage of the Club's Job Junction, which is a referral service for more than 350 young people between the ages of 14 and 21 who are eager to work. For further information, call 374-8822 and for more on summer jobs, see the announcement in this issue of The Spy.

A joint meeting of the Boards of the Stockade Association and the GE Realty Plot Association was held in May.

In Saratoga, funds have been set aside to restore the Victorian facades of seven buildings on Broadway and the city is seeking bids for their design.

St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City celebrated its 100th birthday in May. Legend says that the most famous church in the country was built with the pennies of Irish servant girls, but actually it was begun by contributions from wealthy New Yorkers.

Hancock Shaker Village, five miles west of Pittsfield, Mass., will reopen to the public again on June I after being closed for the winter. First settled by the Shakers in 1780, the site has operated as a museum since 1960.

Beginning in May, a series of public auctions will be held by the Albany Urban Renewal Agency to dispose of properties in the historic Ten Broeck neighborhood. The agency will provide grants, loans, architectural drawings and technical help to rehabilitate the buildings to successful bidders. For further information call 472-4484.

To celebrate the 100th birthday of Thomas Edison, the McGraw-Edison Company is making a pair of four-color posters .available to schools and libraries throughout the nation. One of the posters, which may be obtained by contacting the company's Corporate Communi­cations Department at 333 West River Road, Elgin, Illinois 60120, reads: "The man who doesn't make up his mind to cultivate the habit of thinking misses the greatest of thinking misses the greatest pleasure in life. He not only misses the greatest pleasure, he cannot make the most of himself. All progress, all success springs from thinking."