J. Thomas Allison

Check out the video of the Watervleit Arsenal "Cannoneers" singing a late 19th century song "On a Boat to Albany"-at the 2014 Watervliet Historical Society's annual meeting.--Watch a discussion of the book with the author by googling "J Thomas Allison on Vimeo"

A mystery has been solved. I included a picture of the steamboat captains Thomas Schuyler (l) and Samuel Schuyler (r). Except for this very poor scan in 1960's of a carte visite I couldn't find a picture of them. A member of the Friends of Schuyler Mansion in Albany contacted me to say he had found a carte visite of Samuel Schuyler and one of his wife on EBAY ....bought them and donated them to the Albany Institute of History and Art several years ago. The picture was right here less than half a mile from where I live.

For 25 years I owned the house built by Captain Samuel Schuyler, one Albany's premier steamboat captains. That started my quest to learn more about this man and the world of Hudson River Steamboats which is lost. He left school at age 12, became a sloop captain, captain of one of the most famous passenger steamboats, the "Rip Van Winkle", and with his brother Thomas started a steam towboat company that by 1881 was the largest of its kind in the United States.Carrie was one of the assisting boats that accompanied the tows on the river.

History is not found in books alone. I learned a great deal about the nineteenth century and this Schuyler family by visits to the family lot in Albany Rural Cemetery. They were a compassionate family including the graves of four long time servants along side their own children. ,

Even youtube has gotten into the act when one of the video submitters gave me permission to include stills from his youtube. "1812 Crofton Steam Engine". People to that site can see in action the mechanical operation of the early steamboats including stoking the boilers, the walking beam, driving deck, and valves as if the boat were going at about ten revolutions per minute or half speed.