ON Wednesday, the ceremony took place of opening the Hudson River Railroad, in its entire length from New York to Albany. Hitherto the portion of the road between Poughkeepsie and Tivoli (twenty-six miles ) was not in operation, and the passengers were conveyed in a steamboat between those two points. Last week the road was completed, and the cars ran over it privately. Last week it was publicly opened, by running two excursion trains each way and returning. The first train from New York started from Chambers street at six o'clock, being drawn by horses to Thirty-first street, whence it proceeded at half-past 6 o'clock, and, stopping at Manhattan, 152nd street, Yonkers, Hastings, Dobbs' Ferry, Tarry-town, Sing Sing, Peekskill, Cold Spring, Fishkill, New Hamburg, Poughkeepsie, Hyde Park, Rhinebeck, Oakhill, Hudson, Stuyvant, Castleton, ought to have arrived at East Albany at 11.15 A.M., but did not arrive till 11.35., A. M. This was the way train. The through train started at 7 o'clock A.M., from Chambers-street, leaving Thirty-first street at half-past 7 A.M., and stopping at Peekskill at 8h. 30m.; Poughkeepsie 9h. 30m.; Rhinebeck, 9h. 55m.; Hudson, 10h. 40m., arriving at East Albany at twenty-five minutes past 11 o'clock, being four hours and twenty-five minutes from Chambers-street, or five minutes less than four hours from Thirty-first street. Two similar trains started from the Albany terminus at the same hours, making the same stoppages and making nearly equal time. When the new portion of the road -- especially as much of it as runs over the river on piles and embankments -- settles down and becomes firm, the distance will be accomplished in still less time than it was on Wednesday last. The oscillation of the cars was considerable over the new portions of the road; but this was to be expected. On all other parts of the road, riding is as smooth as upon any railroad in the United States. One portion of the line extends for four miles over water, in a single stretch.
           
The entire length of the road, from Chambers-street to Albany, is 143 miles. As a general feature, it may be observed that the work is constructed along the eastern bank of the river, five feet above high tides. The grades are excellent, there being, of the entire distance, 114 miles upon a dead level; five miles, from one to five feet per mile; thirteen miles, of ten feet per mile, and five miles, of thirteen feet per mile inclination, which is the worst grade upon the road. The total rise and fall is 213 feet only. The whole number of curves is 279, there being 56 miles of curved line. The shortest curve is at Peekskill, which is of 1000 feet radius, while more than half the whole number are from 4000 to 10,000 feet radius. The rock excavation is immense, a very large proportion of the road being hewn out of the solid rock, along the water's edge, besides the following eight tunnels: --
Oscawana or Peg's Island.                    225 feet
Abbott's Point (bridge tunnel)   100"
Flat Rock                                                70"
Anthony's Nose                                     400"
Garrison's at Phillips' Hill                     900"
Breakneck Hill                                     400"
New Hamburg                                    1400"
Milton Ferry                                        100"
Total length                                         3595"
           
The total amount of rock-cutting is nearly two millions of cubic feet. On the Highland division, above Fishkill to Peekskill, a distance of sixteen miles, over 425,000 cubic yards of rock were excavated. The whole cost of this railroad will be about nine millions of dollars. The original stock subscribed amounted to 3,016,600 dollars, in 30,165 shares. The road was opened on the 29th September, 1849, between New York and Peekskill, a distance of forty miles; on the 6th December to Hamburg, and on the 31st to Poughkeepsie. On Wednesday the whole line was not only opened to Albany, but a feat of speed was accomplished that our ancestors would have laughed at as the wildest absurdity, and Fulton himself among the number. Nay, ten years ago a railroad to Albany was considered one of the most impracticable of ideas, and the wise men of Wall-street scouted it as perfectly visionary. But the progress of science is not to be calculated by the men of dollars and cents. Some fifty years ago it took two or three days, and sometimes four days, to accomplish the distance. Now it can be done in as many hours. It is mentioned in the papers of 1797, as an instance of remarkable despatch, that Colonel William Colbreath, Sheriff of Herkimer, left Albany on Sunday morning, May 7, on board a vessel for New York, and returned on Thursday afternoon, 11th, having in a little more than four days, including a day and a half he was in New York, performed a journey of 330 miles. The mail stages in winter, till steamboats were established, took from thirty-six to forty-eight hours in winter, and the fare was 10 dollars. Fulton ran his boat, which the whole world ridiculed, on the 1st of October, 1807, just forty-four years ago, when he accomplished the distance in thirty-three hours, or as some say in twenty-eight hours. This was considered a wonderful feat at that time. But the "Isaac Newton" and the "Reindeer" have long since eclipsed it, and the performance of the iron horse on Wednesday, three hours and forty minutes from Albany, has distanced them still further. What next?
           
A more delightful season, or a more beautiful day, could not have been selected for this celebration. It was one of those days peculiar to Indian summer -- calm, soft, and genial, and the air like balm. The glorious Hudson was like a mirror -- not a breath of wind rippled its burnished surface, in which was reflected the trees of many hues that clothe its picturesque banks, and the numerous craft, with their snow-white sails spread in vain to catch the unwilling breeze, and all seeming as motionless as "painted ships upon a painted ocean."  Perhaps there is not at this season of the year any scenery in the world to compare with that of the Hudson, from New York to Albany. In summer it has its charms, but what are these compared with the gorgeous glories of the autumnal tints that now burst upon the delighted vision on either hand?  Wednesday, the trees of the Hudson presented the appearance of a gigantic flower garden, extending nearly 150 miles, and exhibiting in all their rich variety and mellowness, those hues which the brightest parterre cannot equal, and which cast completely into the shade the boasted scenery of the Rhine, and all the forest scenery of the old world put together. Such is its grandeur and beauty, that Europeans have no conception of it, even from what they read, and they are lost in mute astonishment and wonder when they beheld for the first time, those matchless pictures, painted by nature's pencil. The most glowing description is cold and feeble when compared with the reality of the autumnal scenery on the banks of the Hudson, which is now in all its glory. Nor ought the magnificent Palisades, or the smiling beautiful villages, basking in an unclouded sun be omitted from a description of the landscapes of that noble river which derives its name from Hendrick Hudson, who discovered it nearly two centuries and a half ago.
           
At all the stopping places along the line there were crowds of people assembled, who loudly cheered, and discharged fire-arms, great and small. The demonstrations at Peekskill, Poughkeepsie, and Hudson, were greater than at the other villages. At Hudson, the orphans turned out in procession, and sung a ditty in honour of the occasion. They bore a flag, with the following inscription: "Boorman the friend of the orphan."  The number of well dressed ladies here was very large. The second train overtook the first at Hudson, and went out before it.
           
Near New Hamburg as the trains passed, the "Isaac Newton" and the "Oregon" were observed to be aground, and the directors of the railroad hailed the incident as showing the superiority of steam on terra firma above steam on water.
           
All the officers of the company were on the train, including W C. Young, Esq , who was this week elected president, E. Jones, Esq., Vice President, J. M. Hopkins, Esq., Treasurer, C. H. Lee, Esq., Secretary and Acting Superintendent. Of the Directors, we noticed E. D. Morgan, Esq., and H. M'Cullagh. There were several officers and directors of other railroad companies.
           
On the arrival of the train at Greenbush, there was an immense concourse of persons there from Albany and other parts of the State. There was a band in attendance, which welcomed the excursionists with its merry music and volley after volley of artillery boomed across the river. The engine house was set apart as the place of entertainment for the guests, and was tastefully decorated with flags and evergreens. It was filled with tables, which were elegantly laid out, the head table being on the turn table of the building, which is of a circular form. Seats and plates were laid for 1002 persons, and a number were still standing, who could not be accommodated. A magnificent dinner was served, and champagne flowed in abundance, while a band discoursed excellent music. The entertainment was given by the directors and officers of the Board of the Common Council and heads of departments of the City of New York, the authorities of Albany and Troy, the shareholders of the road, and a large number of other invited guests.

May 16, 1797 Diary and Mercantile Advertiser.
We mention as an instance of remarkable dispatch -- that Col. William Colbreath, the Sheriff of Herkimer, left this city on Sunday morning last, on board a vessel for New York; and that yesterday afternoon he returned to this city -- Having in little more than 4 days, including a day and a half he was in New York, performed a journey of 330 miles.

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HENDRICK HUDSON TO MAKE INAUGURAL TRIP MONDAY. FLOATING PALACE WITH ROOM FOR 5,000 PERSONS. SHE IS THE FINEST RIVER BOAT IN THE WORLD.
On August 20 the new steamer Hendrick Hudson will make her inaugural run up the Hudson river to Albany.
           
It was on August 17, 1807, that Robert Fulton began the memorable trip to Albany in his little steamboat Clermont, and now, ninety nine years later, almost to a day. the most wondrous of river steamers built since that time will begin trips over the same route. The Clermont went up the river on the l7th and returned on the 21st of August.  The Hendrick Hudson will not make her maiden run to Albany until August 20, but she will return on the ninety-ninth anniversary of the completion of the Clermont's voyage.
           
The Hendrick Hudson is the property of the Hudson River Day Line, and has been built to ply on the route between New York and Albany.  The designer of the new boat was Frank E. Kirby, the most celebrated naval architect in America to-day, assisted by J. W. Millard, designer of the new Staten Island ferryboats and other successful modern craft.  The interior plans such as grand stairways, decorations of the various rooms, etc. , are the work of Louis O. Kiel of Detroit.  The general contractors for the building of the vessel were the W. & A. Fletcher company, Hoboken. N. J., and the builders of the machinery stand at the head of their profession in America, having been identified with all the more important passenger steamers built in this port during the past half century.  This firm entrusted the construction of the hull to the T. S. Marvel Ship Building company of Newburgh. N. Y., and the boilers were built by the New York Ship Building company of Camden, N. J., warship builders, etc.  The joinery and fine cabinet work was done by John Englis & Son, Greenpoint; the carpets throughout the vessel especially made by John Wanamaker, and the electric light fixtures, entirely original, as well as the great stained glass dome on the hurricane deck, executed by the Tiffany studios, New York city.  In round numbers, the Hendrick Hudson represents an outlay of nearly $1,000,000.
            
There is ample room aboard this modern pleasure craft for 5.000 persons, and all may be sheltered from sun or rain without crowding or discomfort.
           
The Hendrick Hudson is 400 feet long, 82 feet broad over the widest part, and 14 feet 4 inches depth of hold.  The draft of water is 7 minutes 6 second feet. [sic]  There are no less than six decks, beginning at the lower deck, and every part is stiffened and held together by a rigid framework of steel, making her the staunchest craft of her character ever built With a wonderful system of hydrants and fire hose, she comes as near being fireproof as a vessel well could be.
           
The main deck, usually given ever to freight on other passenger steamers, is white and smooth like that of a yacht, with runners of the softest carpets laid in all directions, and the walls from end to end of beautifully polished hardwoods.  The ponderous machinery — its like never before seen on a Hudson river steamboat — is open to view, a row of plate glass windows giving the spectator a clear and comprehensive idea of its working.
           
The hold of the Hendrick Hudson is lighted throughout by many large port holes, an original feature being the placing of port holes of extra width — of a size which will enable a person to climb through in case of an emergency — at frequent intervals from bow to stem. One of the unique apartments of the vessel is the lunch room, located in the hold forward, reached by wide stairs from the main deck, the stairs being placed directly under the band stand. This room, which extends the width of the ship, is thoroughly modern in style and finish.
           
The barber shop is located on the lower deck, and attached to it is a public bath, a new feature for steamboats operating on day routes.
           
A photographer's dark room is a novel idea to be found only on this boat.
           
The emergency hospital, with doctor in attendance, is located on the main deck.
           
Aft, across the bulkhead that faces the entrance to the main dining room, is a beautiful mural painting, showing the great capitol building at Albany.  The paddlewheel shafts are placed below the deck, so there is no occasion to stoop when passing this particular point, a disagreeable feature of most paddle steamers. The wheels arc of the feathering type, and send the mammoth craft along at the highest rate of speed with the minimum amount of vibration.
           
The dining room is one of the pleasantest and most inviting apartments on the boat, as it well should be.  The deck is nine feet high, and the room is surrounded almost entirely by plate glass, the narrow pilasters between each window, merely as a dividing line, making the room appear like a glass enclosed veranda.
           
​The great kitchen is a unique establishment and would be the wonder and admiration of a New England house wife.  The steel ranges extend from one side of the craft to the other.  Two enormous refrigerators hold the perishable stuff, such as meats, dairy products, fruit, etc., and a special box is provided for fish and one for lobsters. ​

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.

 ANCIENT MILTON FERRY.
(By C. Meech Woolsey.)
Scraps of History and Tradition About an Early Enterprise.
           
The early history of this ferry is all tradition.  About 1740, there was a ferry established across the Hudson river from a point on the west side a half mile south of what is the present steamboat landing at Milton, to some point at, or near, what is now the Gill place, or at what was Barnegat.
           
What kind of vessel was then used can not now be determined, but was supposed to have been a row or sail boat of some kind.  It was adequate to carry wagons, teams, cattle, etc.
           
The country that now comprises the towns of Marlborough and Plattekill and some lands on the south, was early settled by English people who had previously settled in what is now Westchester county and Long Island, and children of such settlers.
           
After 1720 and up to revolutionary times, large numbers of settlers poured into this part of the country.  They brought their families, teams, cattle, and all their worldly goods with them.  They crossed from the east side to the west side of the river by means of this ferry. They also kept up intercourse for many years with those they had left behind.  This, I think, is the reason the ferry was established so early.  A means of crossing was needed, so they provided some rude vessel that would answer the purpose.
           
After this early means of crossing was in operation, people naturally came here to use the ferry for miles up and down the river on either side.  My great, great grandfather, Richard Woolsey, was among these early settlers.  He was born at Bedford, Westchester county in 1697, came here when a young man and purchased an original patent of land, granted by Queen Anne, of several hundred acres lying adjoining this ferry on the south, parts of which lands are now owned by me.  He and his descendants left numerous traditions about this boat.  It was in use and used by Richard Woolsey up to the time of his death in 1777, and at that time was burned at Barnegat and brought over by this ferry.  
           
Nicholas Hallock, the oldest man in the town, says he well remembers when a child, hearing his great uncle Edward Hallock, and his grandfather, Hull tell about using this ferry and how it was built, the way it was entered, etc.
           
I cannot find any charter for it, or who was the first owner.  In our ancient town records of road districts for the year 1779, I find as follows: "Nathanial Marker's District, No.1.  Beginning at Major DuBois's north line, runs to Zadock Lewis's house at the crossroad leading to the ferry." and also, "William Woolsey's District. No. 5.  Beginning at Lattemores ferry at the river, running south of Jeremiah Beagles in Latting Town."  Benoni Lattemore owned the ferry at this time and had been the owner for some years previously.  Afterward and some time prior to 1789 Elijah Lewis owned it.  He had a dock and also carried on business there. It was claimed at one time that T---lis Anthony [paper damaged] owned it, and before him by one Van Keuren.  These last two owners resided on the east side of the river.  It is referred to in a map of the post road south of Poughkeepsie made in 1798 as Lewis's ferry.
           
On an ancient map dated 1797, made from the surveys and field book of Dr. Benjamin Eley, by Henry Livingstone, of Poughkeepsie, for Stephen Nottingham, supervisor of the town of Marlborough, it is set down as Powell's dock and ferry.
           
Jacob and Thomas Powell, who had a store and tavern, ran this ferry and also a line of sloops to New York city that carried the wood, produce, etc., for the farmers for a wide extent of country, and brought back their supplies.  The Powells were here several years.  Thomas Powell afterwards and about 1800 moved to Newburgh, became very successful and acquired a large fortune.  The steamers, Thomas Powell and Mary Powell were named after him and his wife.  It has been claimed that his first money was made here by the ferry and his other enterprises.
           
At a later date Benjamin Townsend ran this ferry and carried on business.  I can find no mention of it after about 1810, and presume it was then discontinued, as none of the oldest inhabitants of this neighborhood can remember this ferry, though they have heard about it from their parents and grandparents.  
           
A ferry had been established at Poughkeepsie about 1798, as appears by an advertisement of a ferry (1798) in the Poughkeepsie Journal.
           
"N. B. The Ferryes is now established upon a regular plan, and travelers to the westward will find it much to their convenience to cross, the river at the above place as it shortens their journey, and they may be sure they will meet with no detention."
           
By 1810 the Barnegat lime business had commenced to decline and emigration from Westchester county and Long Island has ceased, so a great part of the usefulness of the ferry had gone by 1810.
           
People journeyed by means of this ferry from Massachusetts and Connecticut to New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the west.  During the revolution, continental soldiers crossed here to and from the eastern states; specie, currency and provisions for the army were also carried.  Washington with his body guard or attendants is supposed to have crossed on this ferry on one occasion.
           
All the description of the boat or vessel used as the ferry, that we have, is that it was a rude scow or barge of some kind with sails and oars which ran most of the time on signals.  It could carry teams, cattle and passengers; and it was said that at times horses were tied behind and swam over.  It was said to have been the same kind of a boat as the boat then running at Troy.  It must have been a strong boat, for it made trips in stormy weather, but not during the season when ice was on the river.  The sides would be let down, and it was entered in this way.  There is no tradition that there ever was an accident or loss of life by means of the ferry.
           
To be sure there must have been different boats at different times as the old ones wore out, but the description of all was about the same.  Very little, if any, shelter was provided and it was only temporary when it was.  In heavy storms the vessel lay at its dock.  The landing on the east side of the river must have been in the vicinity of Barnegat or at least it landed there a part of the time, for the ferry carried quantities of lime and lime rock to this side.  This was one of the supports of the ferry.  The lime business at Barnegat was commenced soon after the close of the revolution, and it is claimed lime was burned there during the war or even before as people used lime from somewhere before that time all about here and the surrounding country.  
           
At least soon after the war we had lime kilns on the west side and they must have been started soon after those at Barnegat, as there has never been lime rocks about here, and the rock was brought over and burned here.  
           
I find in our ancient records in the laying out of a road. "A return of an open public road as follows:  We, the commissioners for the town of Marlborough, in the year 1790, in the month of June.  By a petition from the freeholders and inhabitants of said town for a public road or highway from Latting Town to Hudson river, have laid it out as follows:  ***  [sic]  Said road is to extend four rods down the hill from the upper side of the road as it now runs down to Lewis lime kiln: the said road to go either side of said Elijah Lewis's dwelling house wherever it shall be thought most convenient for the good of the publick, down to low water mark to extend four rods up and four rods down the river from the lime kiln. ***"  [sic]     
The Powells also had lime kilns.  Quimby, Anning Smith and others.  The stones for these kilns came from Barnegat.  By the map of Dr. Benjamin Eley and Henry Livingston, above referred to, there are designated on the map 20 limekilns at Barnegat.  I cannot find that a company owned them.
           
Barnegat had a store, a schoolhouse and a Church or else preaching was held in the schoolhouse.  A Methodist exhorter from here held services there.
           
ln an ancient Gazetteer of the state, I find as follows: "Marlborough, a small township in southeast corner of Ulster county. on the west shore of the Hudson, opposite Barnegat."
           
There was maintained at one time an efficient company of militia.  It was said that during navigation there was hardly a time that one or more sloops were not there loading lime: and at one time a line of sloops carried the lime rock from there to New Brunswick, New Jersey, to burn there.  Tom Gill and his father burned lime there.  One kiln was near their house.
           
There is a tradition here about the Gills.  It is that when Vaughn went up the river, a corporal and two of the men were sent ashore in a rowboat to burn the mill on the site of the present mill.  The then owner begged them to spare the mill, and said to the corporal whose name turned out to be Gill, that if he would not burn the mill, he could come back and marry his daughter after the war, at the same time pointing out an attractive young girl.              
It appears that the corporal, to deceive the soldiers on the vessel, burned some old buildings about there, and many years afterward the old mill was torn down, and the present mill erected.
           
The old mill, in the account given by General Clinton, is called Buren's mills.  But this is wrong as I cannot find that Van Buren ever owned it, but it was owned by one Van Keueren.
           
The old mill was spared, and the corporal afterward returned, married the girl and became the owner of the property.  It is claimed to this day that he was the father of Tom Gill who died fifty or sixty years ago.
           
There were two roads leading to Barnegat, one from a southerly direction and one from an easterly or northeasterly direction which were used as such years before any roads about there were regularly laid out.  When a child I had heard old men about here telling of having worked at these kilns and crossing with the ferry when they were young.  They received $1 a day which at that time was considered princely pay, and such work was then sought for; farm laborers then receiving 50 cents or less a day.
           
Lime carried by this ferry was drawn and used not only in the towns of Marlborough and Plattekill. but in the towns of Paltz, Shawangunk and what is now Gardiner.  Numerous houses all over these towns are still standing that were built with Barnegat lime.  The tradition is that the lime was considered a very superior quality, but the rock was either worked out or a better article found elsewhere, as for many years no lime has been produced there.
           
The roads on both sides of the river were used as highways at least fifty years before they were laid out and recorded by the highway commissioners.  There is a tradition about another ferry which I can not reconcile.  It is that in 1777 when Gen. Vaughn's expedition went up the river, Samuel Hallock, the old Quaker minister went out in a row boat to meet the fleet, and when taken on the flagship said to Vaughn that he was a non-combatant, a Quaker, and was opposed to the war, and at the same time pointed out to the General his ferry boat along the shore.  Vaughn gave orders not to disturb the Quaker or his boat, and the vessel was saved.  But Hallock may have had this ferry as this was in 1777, and we have seen that Lattimer had the ferry in 1779.  It is possible that it may have been a boat used for some other purpose, but was always spoken of as a ferry boat in the traditions.  Hallock at this time owned Brushes Landing, afterwards Sands Dock, and he most likely carried on business from there.
           
At the dock from which the ferry ran there was an ancient stone house, almost a fort, as the walls were so thick and strong.  It was made for a store, tavern, freight house, etc.  It was torn down when the West Shore railroad took the land.  There was quite a history and many traditions about this old house.  There had previously been a house on the same site and other buildings about there,
           
In March 1849, the Milton ferry was established by Captain Sears.  It ran from just  at the
dock at Milton to the Gill dock.  Sears ran the ferry for three years and then sold to Jacob Handley who conducted it until about 1862.  The boat used had for its motive power four mules, who turned a tread wheel for the power.  It run regularly and was a great convenience to the entire neighborhood, and for miles back in the country on this side.  It was the regular route to Poughkeepsie, and to the Milton ferry, the station on the Hudson river road.  It also carried the mails.  At one time the Gills through whose lands the road leading from the ferry and the railroad station to the post road led, attempted to close it claiming it was a private road, but it was afterward arranged by them or the town authorities so that it was continued as a public road.

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As a boy I grew up in Port Ewen, a village south of Kingston. I remember the "Skillypot" as an almost square, rectangular-shaped, steam-driven chain ferry that ran on the Rondout Creek between Rondout (part of Kingston) and the hamlet of Sleightsburg. The ferry pulled herself back and forth across the creek on a chain which rolled up on a drum in her hold.

Her formal name was "Riverside" but no one ever called her that. She was universally called the "Skillypot" (a Dutch derivative meaning "turtle") and a lot of other names as well, the kindest of which was "Otherside" by those who had just missed connections.

The Skillypot was a relic of the foot passenger and horse and wagon era. She was placed in service in 1870 and ran without interruption, except for periodic maintenance and repairs, until 1922 when the present suspension bridge carrying Route 9-W over the Rondout Creek was opened to traffic.

From the time automobiles came into general use until the Skillypot stopped running in Oct., 1922, she was a source of anger and frustration to those vacationing motorists who travelled northward on Route 9-W on holiday weekends and came to a halt somewhere south of the Rondout Creek in a growing line of autos waiting to cross on the ferry. Because the Skillypot could only carry about four cars, the backup was usually considerable and meant a long wait for most of those in line.

There was a small iron bridge across the Rondout, upstream from Kingston, at a place called Eddyville. But few, if any, of the waiting drivers knew of this crossing. The situation was made to order for any enterprising boys of the area who worked the waiting line of autos offering to show their drivers a detour across the creek for a fee, usually a quarter or half-dollar.

The procedure, when hired, was to ride the running board of the car and direct the drive "around the mountain" to Eddyville, over the bridge and back to the ferry slip in Rondout. The trip back to the ferry took the unsuspecting motorist a bit out of the way but it got the boy guide back to the ferry – which he then boarded, crossed to Sleightsburg for the two-cent passenger fare and started the procedure all over again.
​
The Skillypot was unique and served a real purpose for a long time. But she didn't fit into the 20th century and when she finally stopped running I doubt if there were any who mourned her passing.

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Editor’s Note: The following text is a verbatim transcription of an article featuring stories by Captain William O. Benson (1911-1986). Beginning in 1971, Benson, a retired tugboat captain, reminisced about his 40 years on the Hudson River in a regular column for the Kingston (NY) Freeman’s Sunday Tempo magazine. Captain Benson's articles were compiled and transcribed by HRMM Contributing Scholar Carl Mayer. This article was originally published July 17, 1977.

​In the long ago days of Hudson River steamboating, almost every city and larger village along the river had its own steamboat line to New York. Each line would have at least two boats to maintain daily service —each boat going down one day and back the next.
 
The steamers of the lines north of Newburgh were known as night boats, since they usually departed in the late afternoon or early evening and arrived at their destination in the early morning. All would carry freight on their main decks, and on the deck above were staterooms which offered sleeping accommodations for passengers.
 
Generally, travelling on the night boats was an extremely pleasant way to make a journey to or from New York. The river was always attractive in the evening and almost always one could count on a good night's sleep. The exceptions were when the steamer ran into fog and the pilot had to blow the boat's whistle, or if one had a stateroom right next to the paddle wheels.
 
Saugerties was one of those towns that had its own steamboat service. The company's name was the Saugerties and New York Steamboat Company and it was operated by mostly hometown men. During its last 20 years or so of service it was promoted (and known) to the travelling public as the Saugerties Evening Line.
 
Shortly after World War I, the outfit had two small, smart sidewheelers named Ulster and Ida. On one particular trip the Ulster left Pier 43, North river, in New York at her regular time. She had freight for all her landings, which in those days were at Hyde Park, Rhinecliff, Barrytown, Ulster Landing and Tivoli. She ended her journey at Saugerties. Most of her staterooms were also occupied.
 
She made very good time until she reached Crum Elbow, just south of Hyde Park, when it started to get foggy. At the time, she was overtaking the Catskill Line freighter Storm King. Of course, the fog signals had to be sounded on both steamers. A Cornell tow was  also on its way down the river, blowing the one-long-and-two-short whistle signal indicating they had a tow underway. The helper tug back on the tow, as a matter of courtesy, was also blowing its whistle, since it was back a good 500 feet from the towing tug.
 
What a racket of steam whistles that must have been in those early morning hours off Hyde Park! I suppose Franklin D. Roosevelt, if he was at home, the Vanderbilts and the great naturalist John Burroughs were awakened by all those steamboat whistles. Then, on top of all that, the big night boats out of Albany and Troy came along, sounding their whistles in the fog.
 
The passengers on the Ulster sure had a tough time trying to sleep. Some were up complaining about all the whistling. Others just stayed in their staterooms and put up with it. Then, a short while later after things got reasonably quiet again, came the landing at Rhinecliff with the organized confusion of unloading freight. There would be the sound of the hand freight trucks going on and off the gangplank, and the mate sounding off to the freight handlers to get the freight off so they could get out on time.
 
After leaving Rhinecliff, all was serene for a few moments except for the periodic blowing of the fog signal. However, off Astor's tunnel they met a canal tow which was crossways in the channel and this caused more whistle blowing. After the tow was cleared came the landing at Barrytown with the noise of the freight trucks and an argument between two freight handlers, which was brought to a stop by the authoritarian voice of the mate.
 
The Ulster then headed across the river to Ulster Landing. As was the custom on the night boats, a hallman would knock on the door of the stateroom of a passenger getting off at a particular landing about 10 minutes before docking, and announce the landing. Sometimes, a passenger would have to listen pretty closely, for some of the hallmen were like some of the conductors on the old West Shore Railroad — they had an odd way of pronouncing the names of the stations or landings.
 
In any event, the hallman knocked on the door of the stateroom of an Ulster Landing passenger and called out, "Ulster Landing, Ulster Landing." A lady passenger bound for Saugerties, in a stateroom or two away, also heard the knocking and the announcement "Ulster Landing." After all the whistle blowing since Hyde Park and the noise at Rhinecliff and Barrytown, she in all probability had been sleeping fitfully and in her half-awake state thought the knock was at her door.
 
When the lady heard the announcement "Ulster Landing," she may have reasoned that she was on the Ulster, and if the steamer was landing it was time to get off. In any event, she got up, got dressed and when the steamer ghosted through the fog. into the dock at Ulster Landing, she was at the gangway. As soon as the gangplank was put out, she walked ashore.
 
There was very little freight for Ulster Landing, so the gangplank was taken in and the Ulster was on her way for Tivoli in but a few moments. As the steamer disappeared into the fog, it must have come as a rude shock to the lady to find herself virtually alone on a river dock before dawn. It sure wasn't Saugerties!
 
After the Ulster left the dock, there was only one kerosene lantern for light and everything was so dark and still. The only other person around was the dockmaster who was an elderly man and very hard of hearing. He got all shook up with this well dressed lady alone in the freight shed. Finally, she got him to understand the mistake she had made. The dockmaster then got a chair for her to sit in until daylight, when he got a friend of his with a horse and wagon to take her on to Saugerties.
 
I often wondered if she ever made the trip to Saugerties again by steamboat.

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