Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the Hudson River Maritime Museum's 2018 issue of the Pilot Log.

A remarkable family of African American river men participated in the transition from working sail to steam during America’s Industrial Revolution. Sometimes referred to as the Black Schuylers, the family began with one or more sloops early in the nineteenth century and seized the opportunity to acquire steamboats early in the 1840s. The Schuyler Steam Tow Boat Line figured prominently in the operation of steam tows on the Hudson River and by 1888 reportedly employed eighteen boats in Albany in the towing of canal boats on the river. The family acquired real estate in Albany’s south end between Pearl Street and the river, traded grain and coal, issued stock, and invested in railroading. Their wealth placed them in Albany’s elite business and charitable circles and their esteemed status led to their burial in Albany’s prestigious Albany Rural Cemetery alongside Albany’s other business and political leaders. That so little is known of this family and its accomplishments may be more a reflection of their race than of their accomplishments. The family’s identity as Black, while not a barrier to their early success in business, may have played a discriminatory role in their lack of prominence in the historical record. Ironically, the lighter skin of later generations may also have played a role in their lack of visibility in more recent Black History scholarship. While incomplete, it is hoped that this account may spur further research into the life and contributions of this Hudson River family.  
 
​Until the second half of the nineteenth century, Albany’s commerce and financial opportunities were almost entirely dependent upon the city’s position at the head of ship navigation on the Hudson River. The river served as New York’s “Main Street” well into the nineteenth century and Albany was strategically situated near the confluence of the upper Hudson River and the Mohawk River. Although Albany received larger ships, much of the freight and passengers coming in or out of Albany before the 1807 advent of steamboats was carried by single and double-masted sloops and schooners of 100 tons capacity or less. These sailing vessels continued to carry freight into the fourth quarter of the nineteenth century, even as steamboats soon attracted much of the passenger business. Captain Samuel Schuyler, the progenitor of the Black Schuylers, began and sustained his career with these boats and raised his sons Thomas and Samuel on them.
 
Albany grew rapidly in the 1820s and 1830s as a direct result of the surge in freight handling brought about by the much heralded completion of the Champlain and Erie canals in 1823 and 1825 respectively. Both canals terminated in Albany. Freight moving east and south from Canada, Vermont, the Great Lakes region and the interior of New York was shipped on narrow, animal-towed canalboats with limited capacity. 15,000 such boats were unloaded at Albany in 1831. These cargoes needed to be stockpiled and transferred to larger sloops and schooners for trip to New York City and other Hudson River towns. Over time, steamboats became more efficient and reliable, especially after Livingston-Fulton monopoly on steamboats in New York was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1824. 

One innovation with implications for canal freight was steam towing which presented an economical alternative to “breaking-bulk,” the laborious process of unloading and transferring cargoes at canal terminals. Steam-powered sidewheel towboats appear to have been introduced on the Hudson River in the 1840s and could tow long strings of loaded canalboats directly to their destinations without unloading. Captain Schuyler’s sons capitalized on this concept and transitioned from carrying freight on sloops to towing rafts of canalboats and other craft behind powerful steamboats. They were at the right place at the right time and had the experience and extensive business connections to make the most of this innovation. 

Captain Samuel Schuyler (1781-1841 or 1842) was one of Albany’s first African American businessmen.  His origins in Albany are obscure but his surname suggests that he was enslaved by the Dutch-American Schuylers who were among Albany’s wealthiest and politically most prominent families. Philip Schuyler (1733-1804), known for his role in the American Revolution and early advocacy for canals, held slaves in Albany and at his other properties. Slavery was practiced extensively in Albany County until gradually abandoned in the early nineteenth century.

Albany County manumission records report that a slave named Sam purchased his freedom in 1804 for $200 from Derek Schuyler. It is possible, but by no means certain, that Sam is the same man later referred to as Captain Samuel Schuyler.  The fact that Samuel married in 1805 so soon after this date lends further credence to this possibility.  
          
Samuel Schuyler is described as a “Blackman” in the Albany tax roll of 1809 and a “skipper” and free person of color in the Albany directory of 1813. He was involved in the Hudson River sloop trade and owned property in the area of the waterfront which appears to have included docks and warehouses at the river and a home on South Pearl Street. He married “a mulatto woman” named Mary Martin or Morton (1780-1847 or 1848) and had eight or more children with her including Richard (1806-1835), Thomas (1811-1866) and Samuel (1813-1894). Richard was baptized in Albany’s Dutch church on North Pearl Street. Captain Schuyler came to own a flour and feed store as well as a coal yard at or near the waterfront. His sons joined the business which was known as Samuel Schuyler & Company in the 1830s.
 
The elder Captain Schuyler died in 1841 or 1842. After his burial, or perhaps after their mother’s burial in 1848, the younger Schuylers erected an imposing monument in the new Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, established in 1844. The monument is a tapered, four-sided column resting on a plinth. It is significant that the column is engraved with a realistic bas relief anchor commemorating his sailing career and the three chain links denoting the fraternal organization Odd Fellows to which he apparently belonged. An inscription notes that the monument is dedicated to “OUR PARENTS.” That Schuyler and his family were accepted in a prominent location in the cemetery in spite of their African-American heritage is noteworthy because at the time the Albany Rural Cemetery had a separate section designated for African-American burials. ​

The younger Samuel Schuyler (1813-1894) and his brother Thomas (1811-1866) both began their careers in the sloop trade. Thomas began his career as a cabin boy in his father’s sloop and progressed in skill and responsibility. Samuel attended the old Beverwyck School in Albany and began his apprenticeship aboard the sloop Sarah Jane at age 12. He became the master of the sloop Favorite and later the Rip Van Winkle. He then purchased the Rip Van Winkle and together with his brother Thomas bought the sloops Anna Marie and Favorite. Samuel Schuyler married Margaret M. Bradford (1816-1881) and Thomas Schuyler married Ellen Bradford (1820-1900). The brothers appear to have bought their first steamboats, including the Belle, in 1845. The towboat enterprise was operating in the 1840s as the Schuyler Towboat Line and may have been incorporated in 1852. In that year the Schuylers financed and built the America, the powerful and iconic flagship of their fleet. Samuel became the company’s president and Thomas became the firm’s treasurer. Both men were active in Albany business and charitable circles serving as officers of bank, stock and insurance companies, trade organizations and charitable endeavors. Their business interests extended beyond towing as evidenced by a $10,000 investment in the West Shore Railroad built along the Hudson’s west shore through Newburgh, Kingston, Catskill and Albany. ​

​Schuyler’s towboat business clearly prospered. In 1848, Samuel bought a relatively new but modest brick house at the corner of Trinity Place and Ashgrove Place in Albany’s South End and greatly enlarged it. Among other changes, he added an imposing round and bracketed cupola at the roof, making the house one of the largest and most stylish in the neighborhood. The house still stands. Thomas appears to have been a driving force in financing and building a new Methodist-Episcopal church nearby at Trinity Place and Westerlo St. in 1863. The Albany Hospital and the Groesbeckville Mission also benefitted from his philanthropy. Thomas died in 1866 and was buried alongside his father beneath a Gothic-style tombstone. His brother Samuel published a tribute to his brother which memorialized his many contributions to the Albany community.

​Sources:
- Stefan Bielinski, The Colonial Albany Social History Project; The People of Colonial Albany, website hosted by the New York State Museum, exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov
- Howell & Tenney, History of the County of Albany, W.W. Munsell & Co., New York 1886.
- Abbott, Reverend W. Penn, Life and Character of Capt. Thomas Schuyler, Charles Van Benthuysen & Sons, Albany, 1867.
- Albany County Hall of Records, Manumission Register.

Scow Sloop LITTLE MARTHA
 
African Americans played a vital role both before and after slavery as skilled captains and boatmen on the Hudson River. Built circa 1870 to carry lumber, Little Martha was captained by African American Clint Williams and his two brothers. They were described by sloop historians Collyer and Verplank as “capital boatmen.”  The sloop was owned by William Bull Millard of the Millard Lumber Co. and operated principally between Chelsea, Dutchess Junction, Marlboro, Milton, Barnegat and Poughkeepsie. She was named for the builder’s daughter, Martha Hyer Millard.
 
Scow sloops and schooners were more easily and inexpensively built than their fully-molded counterparts. The shallow draft boats were surprisingly good sailers and appeared on the Hudson River, Lake Champlain, the Great Lakes and San Francisco Bay where they remained in use well into the 20th century.

​            p. 50                                                                 July 7, 1801
Very suddenly conceived the design of voyaging up the Hudson river, as far as Albany.  Had heard much of the grandeur of its shores, but never had gone above ten miles from New York.  My friend C. having some leisure was willing to adventure for ten days or a fortnight, and I having still more, and being greatly in want of air and exercise, agreed to accompany him.  We found a most spacious and well furnished vessel, captain R.----- in which we embarked at sunset this day.  The wind propitious and the air wonderfully bland. 
p. 51     We bade adieu to our friends B.----- J.----- and D.----.  I took my post at the stern, and found much employment for my feelings, in marking through the dusk, the receding city and the glimmering lights; first of quays and avenues, and afterwards of farms and village.  It is just three years since my visit to New York in 1798.  an interval replete with events, various and momentous.  Some of them humiliating and disastrous, but, on the whole leading me to my present situation in which I have reason for congratulation. 
                                                                    
July 8, 1801
I write this seated in the cabin, from the windows of which, we have a view of wooded slopes, rocky promontories and waving summits.  Our attention has been, for some time, fixed upon Stony Point, a memorable post in the late war, a spot familiar to my ears since my infancy, but which I have now seen for the first time.  It is a rocky and rugged mass advancing into the river, the sides of which are covered with dwarf cedars, and the summit conspicuous still with some remains of fortification, a general solitude and vacancy around it, and a white cow grazing within the ruinous walls, produce a pleasing effect on my imagination.  A craggy eminence, crowned with the ruins of a fortress, is an interesting spectacle every where, but a very rare one in America.  I much wished to go ashore and ascend this hill, but it was not convenient.
           
What are called the highlands of the North river, are a mountainous district, through which the river flows for some miles.  I had heard much of the stupendous and alpine magnificence of the scenery.  We entered it this morning, with a mild breeze and serene sky, and the prospect hitherto has been soft and beautiful.  Nothing abrupt, rugged or gigantic.  Farms and cultivated fields seldom appear.  Six or eight vessels like our own, have been constantly in sight, and greatly enliven the scene.
           
We are now at anchor, have just dined.  My companions have gone to sleep.  The utmost stillness prevails.  Nothing to be heard but the buzzing of flies near at hand, and the (p. 52) cawing of distant crows.  We lay surrounded on all hands by loftier ridges, than I ever before saw bordered by water.
           
We have formed various conjectures as to the heights of these summits.  The captain's statements of five and six hundred feet are extravagant.  Three hundred would be nearer the truth.  Few or none of them are absolute precipices, but most of them are steep, and not to be scaled without difficulty.
           
​I have gazed at the passing scene from Stony Point to West Point, with great eagerness, and till my eye was weary and pained.  how shall I describe them.  I cannot particularize the substance of the rock, or the kind of tree, save oaks and cedars.  I am as little versed in the picturesque.  I can only describe their influence on me.

​My friend is a very diligent observer, and frequently betakes himself to the pen.  Heavy brows and languid blood has made me indolent, and I have done nothing but look about me, or muse for the last two days. 
           
On Thursday afternoon with a brisk southward gale and a serene sky, we left the highlands.  At the spot where the mountains recede from the river, the river expands into a kind of lake, about two miles wide and ten miles long.  The entrance is formed by cliffs, lofty, steep and gloomy with woods, which the borders of the lake itself are easy slopes, checkered with cultivated fields, farms and villages.
           
The highlands from the heights and boldness of the promontories and ruggedness of the rocks, and the fantastic shape the assume, fully answer the expectations which my friends had excited.  But the voyage over the lake, exceeded whatever my fancy had pictured of delightful.  Three populous villages, Peekskill, New Windsor and Newburg, and innumerable farms decorate its borders.
           
Yesterday we moved but slowly, the wind becoming adverse.  At noon we drew into a wharf at Red-hook, and remained there till evening.  My friend and I seized the opportunity of wandering.  The river bank is lofty, and wooded as usual, but no wise remarkable.

p. 53     Some hours before, a waving and bluish line in the horizon reminded us of the Kaats-kill mountains.  These are seen very advantageously from Red-hook, distant about twenty miles, and appear of stupendous height.  Their elevation has been ascertained, but I do not recollect what it is.
           
We roamed along the shore and among the bushes, highly pleased with the exercise, and concluded our rambles with a bathing in the river.  In leaving the sloop, I left most of my sluggish feelings behind me, and walked enough to make the night's repose acceptable and sound.
           
With the tide to favour us we left Red-hook at eight o'clock, but were obliged to anchor again before morning.  At six o'clock my friend and I accompanied the captain ashore, in search of milk and blackberries.  I have since seated myself on deck, watching the shore, as the breeze carried us along.  My friend is busy with his spy glass, reconnoitering the rocks and ay stacks, and surveying the wharves and store houses of Lunenburg and Hudson, villages we have just passed.  I have observed but little besides a steep bank, roughened by rocks and bushes, occasionally yielding to slopes of a parched and yellowish soil, with poor cottages sparingly scattered, and now and then a small garden or field of corn.  A fellow passenger left us at Hudson.  One only remaining, a Mr. H.---- of Albany, a well behaved man, whose attention is swallowed up by Mrs. Bennet's "Beggar Girl." [Editor's Note: A 7 volume work by Anna Maria Bennett in 1797 "The Beggar Girl and Her Benefactors"]
           
The sloop's crew consists of captain, mate, a man and a boy as cook; all orderly, peaceful obliging persons. The cabin being perfectly clean and comfortable, and provisions plentiful and good, we have no reason to regret the delays occasioned by adverse winds, and by calms.  I have some vacant moments when a book might amuse. The captain's whole stock consists of a book on navigation, Dillworth's Arithmetic, and Goldsmith's Citizen of the World.  I have looked into the last, but it does not please me.  The fiction is ill supported, the style smooth and elegant, but the sentiments and observations far from judicious or profound.
           
The mate has been telling me his adventures.  A very crude and brief tale it was, but acceptable and pleasing to me.  (p. 54)  A voyage round the globe is a very trivial adventure, now-a-days.  This man has been twice to Nootka, thence to Canton, and thence to Europe and home.  He performed one whaling voyage to Greenland, and was fifteen months a seaman in a British seventy-four.  His South Sea voyage occupied eighteen months, during which there was neither sickness nor death among the crew.

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New York, Saturday, June 21st, 1800
            5½ p. m. Embarked on board the Sloop Sally, Captain Peter Donnelly, seventy tons, four hands, viz. the Captain, his brother Andrew, John, who was on board Admiral De Winter's Ship on the memorable 11th October, 1797, and Nicholas, a free black acting as steward, cook, cabin-boy, &c. had purchased his own freedom and that of his wife, hoping soon to effect that of his children; performs well on the violin, and is very smart.  Twenty-four passengers, not births for more than half.  Passage two dollars each.  Board and liquors, as may happen.  Principal passengers, General Alleser, of New York, violent democrat; Caul, of (p. 4) Seratoga [sic], ditto; Mr. Mousley, warm aristocrat and federalist; Mr. Putnam, Mr. Williams, Lieutenant Kipp, all three federalists; the youth Octavius, son of Timothy Pickering, Esq. late Secretary of State, under the care of Messrs. Williams and Putnam, both relations of Mr. Pickering; Jonas, of Montreal, Grocer; ------ of Michillinnackinac; a drunken, Scotch Presbyterian Minister; Mr. Sanger, &c. &c.; four rafts-men, and a man and his wife from Staten Island.
            7 p. m.  Unmoored; fine S. E. breeze; ten knots.
            8 p. m.  Breeze slackened.
            Midnight; cast anchor twenty-five miles from New York, entrance of Tappan Bay, not wind to stem the ebb.  In the night, severe storm of thunder, lightning and rain.  Not finding a birth unoccupied, or scarcely one that did not contain two persons, the Captain gave me his own state room.
(p. 5)  Sunday, June 22d.
            5 a. m.  Turned out, got under weigh:  Tappan Bay, or Sea, five miles wide and ten long; extremities marked by two remarkable high bluffs; scarcely a breath of air; fog on the high banks of the bay; heavy rain; fell calm when opposite to Tarry-Town.
            (p. 6)  10 a. m.  Sun broke out and light airs from the north; beat slowly through the Tappan to Haverstraw-Bay, six miles side, ten long.  Stakes in the river for the convenience of taking Shad.  Sturgeons constantly leaping out of the water.  Shewn the field from whence the three youths first descried Major André: and the large white-wood tree under which he was examined.
            2 p. m.  Cast anchor; took boat and landed at the ferry-house opposite to Mount Pleasant, thirty-six miles from New York; river here four miles wide.  Climbed the mountains to visit a lake on the opposite side; large, considerably above the level of the Hudson; pike, yellow bass, and sun-fish.  Strawberries on its banks.  Much chat with Betsy, who, born and the foot of the mountain and apparently secluded from the world, said she had been a great traveller, "once to the meeting and twice to the mill."
            7 p. m,  Got under weigh; light airs from the north; progress trifling.  Came to an anchor in (p. 7) the Horse-race, foot of St. Anthony's Nose; river half a mile wide, channel from forty to fifty fathoms wide three miles above Peekskill, and forty-eight from New York; turned in at 11 p. m
Monday, June 23d.
            Turned out at 4 a. m.  Sketched a view of Fort Clinton, Fort Montgomery, St. Anthony's Nose, the Bear Mountain and surrounding scenery; highly romantic and beautiful, being the entrance of the Highlands; to the south very extensive and pleasing prospect down the through Haverstraw to Tappan Bay; dense fog on the lower part of Fort Clinton, Fort Montgomery and St. Anthony's; the site of Fort Clinton is now occupied by the handsome dwelling-house of Mr. Ducet, a french gentleman; dreary situation and without society.
            (p. 8)  5 a. m.  Took boat and landed on a small Island; filled a cask with excellent water, picked up some drift wood, and got a pitcher of milk for breakfast.
            8 a. m.  Returned and explored the Island; strange serpentine form; rocks and marsh; much scrub wood; four kinds of huckleberries, the swamp huckleberry, a tall shrub like the alder, an excellent fruit just beginning to ripen; the other still green; could only gather a few strawberries, the season being past.  Laurel and Prickly Pear in blossom; the flower of the first, white with red spots, shaped like the convolvulus; that of the Prickly Pear, yellow and in appearance like the bloom of the melon and cucumber.  Gathered the root of Sarsaparilla and a branch of Spice wood, this latter is a great sweetener of the blood and a pleasant flavor; flushed a pair of partridges or pheasants; though these birds more resemble Grouse than Partridge of Pheasant, I may here observe that the animals of America differ materially from those of the Old Continent, yet for want of more (p. 9) appropriate designations, they frequently receive the names of such European animals as they most resemble; but these names are by no means settled; for instance, what are known as Partridges in one part of the Country are called Quails in another, and these birds will alight in Trees, or on Paling.  The Hares have white flesh.  I have been informed that some Sporting Gentlemen have imported the English Red Fox as affording better diversion that the native Grey; and that although the Red Fox is the smaller animal it is the more ferocious, and is eating-out the Grey one. . . .  ***
            9 a. m.  Got under weigh; head wind.
            1 p. m.  L------ Mills, are superior to most in construction and situation, and very profitable; four pair of stones; fifty-five miles from New York; the Miller takes down a cargo of flour and returns with wheat.
            3 p. m.  Landed at West-Point, the Gibraltar of America; centre of the Highlands; fifty-eight miles from New York.  ***
            (p. 13)  9 p. m.  Got under weigh; having no wind, drifted with the tide, boat a-head towing.
            10½  p. m.  Light southerly breeze; turned the Scotch Presbyterian Minister out of the cabin and put him into the hold.  This man had given himself up to dram-drinking, which kept him in a continual state of intoxication, so that he never left his birth but for a few moments; his legs had running sores, which, being neglected, were offensive to such a degree, that the passengers had determined to pass the night on deck, unless he were put below.
            11 p. m.  Passed Butter-Hill, and the Face Mountain, the last of the Highlands.
            11½  p. m.  Turned in; the cabin being by this time tolerably ventiated.
Tuesday, June 24th.
            4 a. m.  Turned out opposite Barnegat (p. 14) and its lime-kilns, twenty miles from West Point, and seventy-eight from New York; Light southerly breeze, two knots.
            6 a. m.  Fell calm; went on shore and got a supply of milk and eggs; could not procure bread.
            7 a. m.  Light southerly air; got under weigh; hot sun.
            8 a. m.  Fine favorable breeze.
            8½  a. m.  Pough-keepsie seventy-nine miles, high wooded banks each side of the river; came up with and passed four sloops.  Esopus Island ninety-five miles from New York.  Esopus Flats one hundred miles; these flats, or shoals, throw the channell of the river on the opposite shore, where it forms a large bay; fine view here of the Katskill Mountains.  ***
            2 p. m.  Redhook one hundred miles from New York, beautiful situation; opposite to the Katskill Mountains; two Islands decorate the (p. 15) river.  We were now carried along at the rate of ten miles and hour, having scarcely time to examine the beauty of the country, through which we were so rapidly passing.
            3 p. m.   The city of Hudson,* one hundred and thirty miles; opposite to Hudson is Lunenberg, or Algiers; this latter name was given to it in consequence of the piratical practices of its inhabitants.  Above Hudson is a wind-mill; I do not know that there are four in the United States.  There are two near Newport.
            4½ p. m.  Kinderhook one hundred and forty
              *   Hudson City.  In the Autumn of 1783, Messrs. S. & T. Jenkins, from Providence, Rhode Island, fixed on the unsettled spot, where this City stands, for a town, to which the River is navigable for vessels of any size.  In the Spring of 1786, one hundred and fifty Dwelling-Houses, besides Shops, Barns, Four Warehouses, several Wharfs, Spermaceti Works, a covered Rope-Walk, and one of the best Distilleries in America, were erected; its inhabitants are at this time 1,500.  Its increase since has been very rapid.  Supplied by pipes with water from a spring two miles from the City.  In February, 1786, upwards of 1,200 Sleighs entered the City daily, for several days together.
(p. 16) miles; twenty houses; Mr. M'c Machin's is the principal one; fine view; Islands numerous in this part of the river.  Heavy thundering; took in sail: cast anchor.
            5½ p. m.  Got under weigh, in doing which, fished up an excellent and large anchor, a valuable prize for the Captain.  The gust, as expected, killed the wind; in summer I never knew an instance to the contrary.  Had the gust kept off, we should have been in Albany by seven o'clock.
            9 p. m.  The wind having entirely failed us, took the Sloop in tow, and at 7 p. m had her moored alongside a Wharf in Baltimore, one hundred and forty-five miles.  Went on shore; took with us Nicholas and his violin, the fiddle soon got the girls together; we kicked up a dance and kept it up till midnight.  Treated with spruce-beer and gingerbread.  Baltimore is a shabby place, every other house a tavern; in number about a dozen.
Wednesday, June 25th.
            3 a. m.  Not a breath of air; took Sloop in tow; not possible to see from stem to stern, yet passed a dangerous and difficult passage and a bar, which require, it is said, your having all your eyes about you.
            (p. 17)  6 a. m.  Made land; the fog beginning to disperse; put the Presbyterian Minister on shore; he is engaged by a Mr. Nichols as a tutor to his children!  Boat returned with milk for breakfast.
            7½ a. m.  Dropped anchor; took Boat and landed on High-hill Island, four miles in length; two farms; got a few sour cherries; one hundred and fifty-four miles from New York.  Crossed to the opposite or west shore, and landed at a farm house called Bethlehem, six miles from Albany;* numerous and handsome family.
            9 a. m.  Having hired a waggon, seven of our
             * Albany: settled in 1760 [?]; forty-five Sloops (Vessels) in Albany and forty-five in New York, &c., -- total ninety in the Albany trade, a bout seventy tons each -- ten voyages (twenty trips) per annum on an average; navigated by a Captain at twenty dollars per month; a Pilot at fifteen dollars; a Seaman and a Cook at nine dollars -- total four hands.  Freight twelve cents and a half per cwt., gain one hundred dollars per voyage or one thousand dollars per annum.  Passage, one dollar and twenty-five cents, average eight passengers, ten dollars a trip or two hundred dollars per annum.
            Sloop Building at Albany twenty-seven dollars and fifty cents per ton, if green wood last only ten years, seasoned wood would last thirty.  Four thousand White Inhabitants, and two thousand Black Slaves.  Revenue, 35,000.  Corporation [the City of Albany] sell the Quays (Wharf) at two dollars and fifty cents per foot of Frontage and an annual rent of eight dollars and twelve and a half cents.  Lands near the Town from sixty-three to seventy-five dollars per acres.  Labour, fifty-six and a half cents per day; in harvest, eight-seven and a half cents.  Butcher's Meat ten to twelve and a half cents per lb.  Le Duc de Liancourt in 1795.
(p. 18)  passengers took their departure.  The day being remarkably sultry, I determined to stay by the Sloop.  Returned on board with potatoes and sallad.
            Noon.  Got under weigh; light south air.
            2 pm .  Passed safely the Overslough.
            2 pm.  Albany*, one hundred and sixty miles
          *Albany. . . .  Contained, in 1797, one thousand two hundred and sixty-three buildings, of which, eight hundred and sixty-three were dwelling-houses; and six thousand and twenty-one inhabitants.  ***  The improvements in this City, within five or six years, have been very great in almost all respects.  Wharves built, Streets paves, Bank instituted.  . . . now excellent water, (an article in which this City has hitherto been extremely deficient, having been obliged to use the dirty water of the river, is about to be conducted into the various parts of the City, from a fine spring five miles from the west of the City.  Albany is unrivalled for situation, being nearly at the head of Sloop Navigation, on one of the noblest Rivers in the World.  It enjoys a salubrious air, and is the natural emporium of the increasing trade of a large extent of Country, West and North.  A Country of excellent soil, abounding in every article for the West India Market. . . .   ***  Morse.
(p. 19)  from New York.  Took up my quarters at Lewis's Tavern. . . .  Paid the Captain two dollars for passage money, and four dollars and fifty cents, for board and liquors; the same sum of six dollars and fifty cents was charged for my servant, though neither his bed or board were so good as mine.  Our passage of four days may be considered a long one, at this season of the year, yet it was a pleasant one and no way tedious.  The Hudson is one of the finest Rivers in America, and superior to them all in romantic and sublime scenery, more especially in its progress through the Highlands, a distance of sixteen miles.  What further added to the pleasantness of this trip, were our frequent expeditions on shore.  We landed seven times, and each time employed two or three hours in exploring the country.  We saw, too, the whole of the River; as we progressed but very few miles during the time we occupied our births.  We usually retired at eleven, and rose at four or five o'clock.  The shortest passage ever made on this River was by this same Sloop and Captain; he made it in sixteen hours and six minutes, from which should be deducted one hour for time occupied in landing passengers by the way.  The passage often takes a fortnight to (p. 20) perform it, and sometimes twenty-five or thirty days.  The passage is always shortest, the winds being equally favorable, up the river, as you carry the flood with you; in the other case you out-run the ebb.  Captain Donnelly has taken 1,675 Dollars passage money in one year.  ***
 
Thursday, June 20th
***
Evening.  Visit Snuff Manufactory, Stadt-house and a fine spring of water about a quarter of a mile out of town.*
***
 *  One mile North of this City, near the Manor-House of Lieutenant Governor Van Rensselaer, are very ingeniously constructed extensive and useful Works for the manufacture of Scotch and Rappee Snuffs, Roll and Cut Tobacco of different Kinds, Chocolate, Mustard, Starch, Hair-Powder, Split Peas and Hulled Barley.  ***  The whole of the Machinery is worked by water.  For the invention of this Machinery, the proprietor has obtained a patent.   Morse.
            John Maude. Visit to the Falls of Niagara in 1800. London, 1826. 

The Galway Hooker boats or the "Workhorses of Galway Bay” were used for fishing and carrying peat turf fuel, seaweed for fertilizer, general shop cargo supplies- grain, flour, tea, sugar, livestock, newspapers, people, and more over Galway Bay, to and from Kinvara, Burren, Aran Islands, and in and out of Connemara piers, harbours, and importantly from Connemara into Galway City. On the return journeys they often brought larger building materials home such as timber: One such boat was An Maighdean Mara brought building materials to help in the construction of the Carraroe Church, the local school and the priest’s house in Carraroe Connemara from Galway City in 1894. Another example was limestone from New Quay to Aran Islands, to neutralise the acidic soils of Connemara. Animal livestock such as cattle, sheep, pigs or horses to fairs and markets were brought to Fairhill in Claddagh. For many communities these boats were their primary lifeline.

Galway Hookers are not large, the largest class (the "bád mór," or "big boat") ranging from 35-44 feet, carried 12-15 tons of cargo at a time, and had a shallow draft to allow access to many small landings and ports. The Leathbhád (half-boat) was about 28-32 feet, while the Gleoiteog ranges in length from 7 to 9 metres (20 to 28 feet). They were used for fishing and carrying smaller cargo.

​They were all gaff rigged sloops with two headsails in front of the mast, and one mainsail aft. Most can be handled with a crew of two, but can fit more people if needed.  These boats helped keep the small communities and shops of Connemara supplied and connected to Galway City or to the mainland. Many families and communities depended solely on these boats, and If it hadn't been for the Galway Hookers, smaller communities, particularly Ceantar na nOileán (small island communities West of County Galway) and Carna wouldn't have thrived. They were commonly referred to as "báid móna" or turf boats and recognised as such for their main cargo. Each cargo of turf was loaded and offloaded by hand – the Bádóirí's money was well earned! ​​

​All the spars (mast, boom, bowsprit and gaff) were made using a laminating process. Lengths of identical size, shape and length of timber pieces were glued together. These glued lengths turned into one piece, a block of solid wood. Each two or three lengths were clamped together and left to dry at each stage. The block of solid wood was rounded into shape using an adze tool, as seen in the first half of the video above. The later stage was sanding using a length of stretched sandpaper connected and kept together with two handles. Each spar was fitted with its own metal bands. The mast was fitted with its own spider band and the boom was fitted with a gooseneck to fit into the mast’s collar. Sails were traditionally measured and cut by our resident master boat builder Cóilín Hernon, cut in the traditional space: The local Dominican Church.

Editor's Note: In 1759, riverfront and wharf access was a selling point.

​September 24, 1759 -- New-York Gazette
To Be Sold, Four hundred and fifty acres of land, whereon is a good house, a barn of 50 feet square, two good bearing orchards, and about 150 acres of clear land. The whole farm is well water’d and timber’d. And there can be made on the same one hundred acres of good meadow, clear of stone. It lies about one mile and a half from the church, saw and grist mills, and three miles from the North River Landing. The said land lies in New York Government, in Orange County, 8 miles from the court house in Orange Town. The title is indisputable. Any person inclining to purchase the same, or part, may apply to Robert and Cornelius Campbell, living at Tappan.
To be Sold also, A convenient place for a Merchant, Packer, or Bolter, at Tapan Landing, whereon is a good dwelling house, a barn, and a good store house, garden and orchard. The Landing is so convenient, that a boat can lay along side the store house, and take in her loading. There is likewise a good grist mill close by the said store house.

 October 15, 1759 - New York Gazette (Weyman's) 
                             To be Let for a Term, and enter'd upon immediately.
THE Lower Mills on the Manor of Philipsburg, commonly called the Yonkers Mills, 16 Miles from New-York by Water; containing two Double geared Breast Mills, a large Mill House three Storie high, and a stone Dam; they are constantly supplied with a fine Stream that the Mills can grind in the greatest Drought in the Summer; together with a good Dwelling House, and 20 acres of Land adjoining, and a Sufficiency of Timber for Flour Casks.  The above Place is situated in a Wheat Country, and would be very suitable for a Bolter and Store Keeper, there being no Store within Ten Miles of the same.  Likewise a Mill Boat that carries 900 Bushels of Wheat.  For further Particulars enquire of F. Philipse.

Editor's Note: These articles are from 1801 and 1824. 

 November 16, 1801 -  Daily Advertiser (New York, New York),
 On Saturday night last, about 11 o'clock, Mr. Robert Richardson, a gentleman we understand from New Ark [sic], was leaning over the railing of the Battery, and fell into the North River.  About two hours after, he was taken up off the White-hall dock by the people on board the sloop Mink from Albany -- who accidentally heard his cries, and who preserved him, when exhausted and powerless, he was beginning to sink amidst the pitiless waves.

 June 4, 1824 -  Spectator (New York, New York)
                                             WONDERFUL PRESERVATION.
On Friday last, a lad, son of Mr. Frederick Hazen, of West Springfield, Mass. while on a passage from New-York to Albany, was accidentally knocked overboard by the jib while beating.  The wind blowing heavy and the waves running high, it was thought by all on board that all attempts to save him would be fruitless, as well as extremely hazardous.  The small boat being at the time hoisted under the stern of the sloop, a young man by the name of Richard Schuyler, son of Capt. Samuel Schuyler, of the sloop, sprang into the boat at the risk of his life, was lowered down, and alone and single handed, gallantly dashed through the waves, and to the astonishment of the amazed spectators rescued the lad from a watery tomb, just as he was about sinking to rise no more.  Such an act as this reflects the highest honor on the noble minded young man who periled his own life to save that of a fellow being, and a stranger.