It was a privilege to participate in the Fort Plain Museum’s American Revolution Conference, which took place at Fulton-Montgomery Community College on the weekend of June 14-16. This annual event, held every June, has seen significant growth over the past decade.
Initially, the conference was a small, one-day event focusing on the war in the Mohawk Valley. However, it has evolved into a grand affair, attracting best-selling authors and renowned historians from across the nation who present their latest research. The conference has gained such prominence that parts of it were filmed by C-SPAN for future broadcast.
This year marked my first active involvement in the conference, despite having attended for several years. I had the opportunity to contribute to all three days of the event: leading a bus tour through Schenectady’s Stockade on Friday, participating in a panel on the Marquis de Lafayette on Saturday, and delivering a lecture on Sunday.
Exploring the Stockade
The conference traditionally begins with a bus tour to a location of historical significance related to the Revolution. This year, I had the pleasure of guiding the Friday bus tour to the Schenectady Stockade.
For many of the hundred attendees, comprised of writers, researchers, and history enthusiasts, this was their first visit to Old Dorp.
The tour centered around the events of 1774. We visited the First Reformed Church to discuss the Raising of the Second Liberty Pole in Schenectady on January 12, 1774, a significant event that marked Schenectady’s initial steps towards the Patriot cause. We also explored the Phyn & Ellice Company site at 205 Union St. This was a challenging year for these fur traders as they lost their patron, Sir William Johnson, who died on July 12, 1774, and as staunch loyalists, they began to clash with the Patriot movement sweeping through the town.
Our next stop was St. George’s Church, where Rev. Thomas Pettigrew kindly opened the doors to the conference participants. Inside, we discussed the trials of Rev. John Doty, who served St. George’s from 1773-1776. He became a target of the Schenectady Committee of Safety, formed in March 1775, as the Anglican liturgy he spoke every Sunday included an affirmation of loyalty to King George III. This was seen as treason in a country on the brink of war against the British Crown. Doty was twice arrested for supporting the King before he left Schenectady for a position with the English military in Canada in 1776.
The tour concluded with a visit to the Schenectady County Historical Society to view museum displays, rare artifacts related to the American Revolution, and a collection of artifacts from the French and Indian War and the Colonial period discovered in the Stockade by the Community Archaeology Program of SUNY Schenectady.
The Significance of Lafayette
As regular readers of this column may know, I am a great admirer of Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette. His name came up frequently during the conference, particularly on Saturday. I was part of a panel discussing his contemporary relevance and how communities like Schenectady are preparing to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his return to the United States in 1824 and 1825. I shared the plans that the Schenectady Lafayette Working Group is making for June 11, 2025, to commemorate his return to Schenectady. This session was one of those recorded for C-SPAN, so you might catch it on air.
Storehouse Schenectady
On Sunday, I had the honor of presenting my talk “Storehouse Schenectady: Depot and Transportation Hub of the Northern War, 1774-1779,” as the James F. Morrison Resident Historian of the Mohawk Valley.
This prestigious position is awarded annually to a local historian who gets to participate alongside the esteemed national participants. It was indeed a great honor.
Storehouse Schenectady focuses on Schenectady’s crucial role as a transportation hub, whether by batteaux built in the Binnekill boatyards and piloted by river folk with generations of experience navigating the shallow Mohawk River, or by wagon, of which Schenectady had a significant brigade in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Many of the critical military campaigns, including the invasion of Canada in 1775, the Battle of Valcour Island in 1776 led by Benedict Arnold, the Battles of Saratoga, and the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign of 1779, were supplied by or started from Schenectady.
Much of the talk focused on Schenectadian Henry Glen, who served as assistant deputy quartermaster general of the Continental Army and later deputy quartermaster general. Glen left behind no journals, and no known image of him exists, but he was a prolific writer of letters. These letters, however, are not available in a single repository. To read and research his correspondence, I visited the Library of the Fenimore Museum in Cooperstown, the New York Public Library, and the Schenectady County Historical Society. I also read selections of his letters online in the collections of Syracuse University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Northern Illinois.
Glen’s letters are a who’s who of essential generals, officers, and leaders of the late-colonial era, including George Washington, Philip Schuyler, Peter Gansevoort, John Adams, Henry Gates, the Marquis de Lafayette, Goose van Schaick, and James Clinton. They reveal a judicious man doing his best to meet the needs of soldiers and batteauxmen and the often-absurd directives from generals. After the war, Glen was elected to the New York State Assembly from 1786 to 1787 and to the United States House of Representatives from 1793 to 1801.
The Fort Plain Museum hosts a second major conference every year in the fall, “Sir William Johnson and the Wars for Empire.” The date of this conference has yet to be scheduled. I hope to present Storehouse Schenectady locally over the next few years as we approach the 250th anniversary of the U.S. on July 4, 2026.
Fourth of July Reading
Speaking of July 4th, the City of Schenectady will inaugurate a new annual tradition on Thursday, July 4, 2024, at 10 a.m. To celebrate the Fourth of July, the Declaration of Independence will be read on the steps of Schenectady City Hall by leading city officials. I was intrigued when City Councilwoman Carmel Patrick approached me a few months ago to help create a reading of the Declaration of Independence in Schenectady. She mentioned the yearly reading of the document in Boston as an inspiration for her idea.
While I enjoy hot dogs and fireworks as much as anyone (perhaps hot dogs even more!), I’ve always felt that the day’s celebrations often overlook the reasons behind the holiday. As a historian and a patriot, I agreed with Patrick and we began meeting in early June to implement a plan.
In early June, Mayor Gary McCarthy and all City Council members received invitations to read. As several council members had standing engagements and could not attend, further invitations were extended to the chiefs of the Schenectady Police and Fire Departments. The following city leaders are scheduled to read on July 4: Mayor Gary McCarthy; council members Doreen Ditoro, Carmel Patrick, and Joseph Mancini; Police Chief Eric Clifford; and Fire Chief Donald Mareno.
I, your humble city historian, will provide an introduction to the importance of the document and its context in today’s world. The event is scheduled for a half-hour and is free and open to the public. We hope that the reading will be well attended and become an annual tradition in Schenectady.
Chris Leonard is the City Historian of Schenectady. To reach him, email Cleonard@schenectadyny.gov.
Great opportunity to learn about local history!
Great opportunity to learn about local history! #agree
Good punctuation and grammar, agree: Sounds like a fascinating event to learn more about the history of Schenectady during the American Revolution.