It Happened Here--  Steuben:  the Man and the Markers 

                                                                         Part II, the Markers

                                                                                Fuller Rd,. cor. NY 274, Remsen

Many years ago the Association of Public Historians of New York State (APHNYS) published a county list of NewYork historical markers, composed mainly of the Department of Education sponsored markers from the 1930's.  Looking at the Oneida County list, one fact leaps from the page. There are a lot of markers with Steuben as the subject,  that direct the public to the Steuben's tomb and Memorial Park, or that claim their historical significance through their association to Steuben!  Though many of them disappeared over the years,  nearly identical signs, like the one above, directed visitors to the tomb and memorial park from roads all over the county -- 21 miles, 20 miles, 17 miles (2 signs),  4 miles,  2 1/2 miles,   2  miles, 1 1/2 miles, "Next Turn Right".  

                                                                        Starr Hill Rd. Co. Rte 57,Remsen

Rte 53, Fuller Rd., Remsen

                        Fuller Rd.,Remsen

About eighteen  more  NYSHM signs give information about Steuben's life or the creation of the memorial park.  We learn who he was; where he was buried; where he was re-buried; his monument; the "sacred grove";  the church who tended his grave;  the person who tended his grave; who created the park;  who dedicated the park; where his mill was; who settled farms on land bought from him; who was his friend and neighbor; who made barrels for him; the creek named by him and the town named for him. 

Important as Steuben was to  the American Revolution you have to wonder about the amount of attention lavished on this place where Steuben spent his retirement and was buried. Probably no European saint has had so much "official" signage dedicated to him, and the total effect is that you almost get the feeling that you are making some kind of religious pilgrimage.  Even the patriarchs of Mount Vernon, Monticello, Hyde Park, or the Hermitage don't get this sort of treatment around their homes/burial sites.  As usual, a little history gives us some insights

When Steuben died in 1793 he was buried wrapped in his military cloak, in a simple wooden coffin. in an unmarked grave, according to his wishes.  But when a road, being cut through in 1804 disturbed his grave, his former aide, Ben Walker had his body removed to another location on the Steuben Grant.  Twenty years later citizens of Oneida county placed a  marble stone inscribed "Steuben" over it.

Large numbers of Germans have always immigrated to America. From the first census of 1790 we can estimate several of the original states  had German populations of close to 10% and 1 out of three Pennsylvanians were of German origin!  The 1850s and 1880s saw huge influxes of Germans.  German language newspapers flourished and Germans were politically active.  In 1857 German-American societies and German language newspapers began a campaign to raise money for a tomb for the Baron. They pressured the Governor's office. In 1872 with New York State's help it was accomplished.

 World War I brought a storm of anti-German sentiment and propaganda. After the war,.the German-American community rebounded, forming or re-forming social clubs often naming them Steuben Clubs to honor the German general that personified the German immigrant  they believed contributed so much to America's freedom;  a man that personified the notion that a German born American could be an American Hero.  In 1919 the Steuben Society of America was formed to educate Americans on the patriotic contributions of German-Americans  and to encourage German Americans to take an active role in civic affairs.  In Chicago, home to a large German population, successful German-American businessmen in 1929 built the 45 story Steuben Club building as a club house for its 2500 members,  with retail space and office suites on the first 21 stories for rental.  Meeting, banquet,  exercise and recreational  rooms, and a pool were built  for club members on the upper floors.  The early 1930's would see German-American social prestige and political influence at a highpoint before the rise of Nazi-ism in Germany would divide the German-American  community  and once again German-Americans would be disgraced by events in Europe.

The Sesquicentennial of the American Revolution in 1926, like the Bicentennial fifty years after it, brought a flurry of interest in American history, encouraged  by the growth of the  Sons  of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the American Revolution.  The "Daughters" founded in 1919, after women were denied membership in the SAR became especially prominent.  Among other "patriotic" activities was a big effort to find and mark Revolutionary war veterans graves, and memorialize events of the revolution with bronze plaques on buildings and stone monuments.  Across New York State and up and down the east coast and beyond, scores (hundreds?) of places would see the installation  of these plaques with the distaff and spinning wheel logo of the DAR.  Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the governor, herself, was a DAR member. [1]

With German-Americans, the SAR and the DAR and wife, Eleanor behind it, Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt was more than willing to attach his imprimatur to the project by dedicating the park in 1931.       (FDR, the consummate politician, was also eager to demonstrate that while handicapped by polio, he was not dis-abled so he made a conscious effort before and after his election as governor, to get out of Albany  into upstate New York,   to towns like Deposit, Port Jervis,  Hancock, Owego, Batavia, Dunkirk, Boonville, and Herkimer--towns that may had never seen a visit from a governor or governor-candidate.)

Six years after the  1926  sesquicentennial, in 1932 was the 200th birthday of George Washington.  In the middle of these two commemorations  was the bicentennial of Steuben's birth (1930).  As part of the 1926 celebration New York State issued the first NYSHMs.  The program was unexpectedly popular with public submissions for signs resulting in  59 signs erected in 1927, 31 in 1928 and 9 in 1929.   When attention turned to signage for the park a second program was underway.  For the Washington bicentennial a second release of NYSHMs was funded under the auspices of the New York Dept. of Education. In 1932 a whopping 624 markers were issued and groups supporting the park made liberal use of the program. [2]

[1] Eleanor Roosevelt very publicly renounced her membership in 1933 when the DAR invited, then     dis-invited famed Black mezzo-soprano Marion Anderson to sing at an event at their memorial hall when they realized members of the Black community sought to attend the event, of the (then)  all -White organization.

[2] see "A Marker was Erected".  New York State Historical Markers: It Happened Here.  March 21.2015. The numbers are derived from the photographic evidence derived from the sources quoted in my article. They do not include existing markers whose dates have been obliterated  when they were broken/repaired, or , of course, signs missing or destroyed.  The 27 "Steuben" signs of the APHNYS list are probably a more complete list of those created.   

Marker of the Week  Fortnight (!)  -- Hay Presses

                                                                                       Rt. 66, Ghent

The old expression, "to eat like a horse" is based on the truism that horses eat a LOT!  And their main feed is hay, and they require a substantial amount of hay- bedding to keep them clean and healthy.  When most horses lived on farms or in towns a few miles from farms this was not a significant problem that could not be solved with loose hay piled on hay wagons.  But as cities grew and thousands of horses in cites needed fodder and bedding an industrial solution was necessary.  Fortunately, hay is extremely compressible. By the 1850's many companies were  patenting  and selling hay presses. P.K. Dederick's Sons  of Albany was selling one in 1843. Most presses simply dropped a weight on a box of hay to compress it.  Then more hay was hay-forked into the box and compressed; and more added and compressed until a bale was formed.  Multiple strands of bailing twine (cord)  laid across the bottom of the box was brought up to tie  a compact bale of often 300 pounds. A rope, running through a pulley, connected to a windless, turned by a team of horses or oxen raised the weight. Heavy freight wagons could carry several  bales, and many more could be carried by locomotive flat cars.

Some Resources, beyond the usual Google suspects, I found useful in this last pair of posts:

--Burgess, Michael J.  Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in Albany. Charleston, SC. 2023.