Excerpt from Collections on the History of Albany, From Its Discovery to the Present Time, Vol. 2: With Notices of Its Public Institutions, and Biographical Sketches of Citizens Deceased

This second volume of the Historical Collections, the pub lisher trusts, will be found to be a successful continuation of the new series, and of its predecessor, the Annals of Albany. Although the present and the past have been intermingled, as in the previous volumes, with little regard to time or subject, yet by the aid of the index, which embraces every name and topic mentioned in the work, it may be readily consulted for any thing it contains. The City Records are brought down to the close of the year 1788, and show, among other matters of interest, the first efforts of the city govern ment for the promotion of public education. The Notes from the Newspapers embrace the annals of four years, from 1861 to 1864. In these the records of the victims of the late war have been more brief than could be wished, as they were taken from the reports of the press, which being hastily forwarded by telegraph, were often vague and unau thenticated, and the dates so indefinitely expressed, that frequently the time of death could not with certainty be ascertained, much less other desirable facts. But the monu ment which the Rev. Dr. Clark has contributed to their memory in his Heroes of Albany, fortunately answers more fully the desired end than could possibly have been attained in this work under any circumstances. The descendants of Anneke Janse, it will be seen, are not wholly overlooked, a genealogical list of a portion of them having been kindly contributed by Prof. Pearson, of Union College. A list ofthe baptisms in the Dutch church in Albany, from 1683 to 1800, with the names of the parents and sponsors, which was also prepared for this volume by Prof. Pearson, has been deferred to the next, for the purpose of giving it a more careful revision, and of adding important notes and explanations, which will render it of great service to their posterity, as well as to the genealogist, particularly in nume rous instances where family names have undergone radical changes. It would be very satisfactory to the publisher if he could present accounts of a greater number of the exist ing and active institutions of the city. He respectfully sug gests to the curators and managers of such institutions, that they avail themselves of future volumes to place the history of their organizations, whether religious, charitable, literary, sci entific, or commercial, upon record. If, also, the friends of deceased citizens would furnish sketches of their personal his tory, it would be a public benefit, as well as an act of piety to the memory of their kinsmen. The sketches contained in these volumes have been gathered from the newspapers, and though the best that could be had, may perhaps, in some instances, be regarded by their friends as meagre and unsatis factory; yet they serve the purpose of an index to those events, pointing to further research. With these brief remarks, the volume is respectfully submitted for the public approbation, with the hope that the countenance it shall receive will afford sufficient encouragement to publish additional historical materials as they accumulate, and thus preserve them from the chances of destruction.

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