ALBANY. 



11 



of Trinity Church property, N. Y."; "The 

 Schuyler mansion, erected by Gen. Bradstreet 

 in 1762. Washington, Franklin, Gates, Ro- 

 chambeau, Lafayette, and most of the great 



OLD DUTCH CHURCH. 



men of that time were entertained here Gens. 

 Burgoyne and Reidesel as guests, though pris- 

 oners of war, 1777. Alexander Hamilton and 

 Elizabeth Schuyler married here in 1780 " ; 

 "The oldest building in Albany, built 1667, 

 birthplace of Gen. Philip Schuyler," etc. Other 

 tablets mark the old forts and the gates in the 

 stockades, and still others (there being about 

 forty in all) locate the first churches and 

 school -houses, and show the changes in the 

 names of the streets. 



Tuesday was devoted to a parade of all na- 

 tions, trial-heats of the annual regatta of the 

 National Association of Amateur Oarsmen, 

 Scottish games, musical and literary exercises 

 by colored citizens, and an illuminated parade 

 of Odd-Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and other 

 fraternal organizations. On Wednesday morn- 

 ing the civic parade filled tbe streets. The 

 final races of the oarsmen were completed in 

 the afternoon. The evening witnessed a grand 

 historical pageant that had been prepared with 

 much care, after the manner of Mardi-Gras 

 festivities. There were sixteen "floats," or 

 emblems, each being drawn in procession 

 through the streets, and lighted by colored 

 fires. The subjects were these: The armorial 

 bearings of the city; the Spirit of Discovery; 

 the Northmen; the landing of Columbus; 

 Fort Orange in 1624 ; Rensselaerwyck in 1630 ; 

 a legend of the Catskills; Charter of the Duke 

 of York, 1664; Dongan Charter, 1686; Sum- 

 mer Evening in Old Albany ; the Schenectady 

 Massacre ; Surrender of Burgoyne ; a Revolu- 

 tionary heroine; the Last of the Patroons; the 



Erie Canal ; Prosperity and Progress. Thurs- 

 day was known as the bi-centennial day, on 

 which the military and Grand Army parade 

 occurred, and the historical exercises took 

 place. Gov. Hill delivered the oration, 

 and William H. McElroy the poem. 

 The ex-members of the Legislature had 

 a reunion in the afternoon. In the 

 evening the public festivities* closed with 

 a municipal reception at the Capitol to 

 President Cleveland, Gov. Hill, and 

 many other distinguished visitors, in- 

 cluding representatives from the cities 

 of Holland, whence the first settlers in 

 Albany came. This was followed by a 

 more private reception at the Fort 

 Orange Club-house. 



A very interesting feature of the 

 celebration was the bi-centennial flag, 

 which grouped, as nearly as possible, 

 the nine flags that have floated over 

 Albany from its earliest settlement to 

 the present time. It consists of six 

 parts. Beginning at the left, the first 

 of the three large divisions is subdi- 

 vided by a vertical line. A middle, 

 broad stripe of white and a lower stripe 

 of blue extend through both subdivis- 

 ions. The upper left-hand corner is 

 orange, while the rest of the stripe is 

 red, thus reproducing the yellow, white, 

 and blue of the Dutch India Company and of 

 the Dutch Government. These flags floated 

 over Forts Nassau and Orange until the English 

 occupation in 1664. The red, white, and blue 

 bands represent the present colors of the 

 Dutch Kingdom, which floated over the fort 



BI-CENTENNIAL FLAG. 



during the few months of Dutch restoration 

 in 1773-'74. The upper of the two central 

 squares shows the coat of arms of the city in 

 black, against a white ground. The lower 

 central square is an English colonial flag, with 

 a red cross upon a white ground, and a black 

 globe in the upper left-hand quarter. The up- 

 per right-hand corner is the Union Jack, and 

 the lower right-hand corner is the Jack of 

 the Stars and Stripes. 



