50 Men and Things in Albany Two Centuries Ago. 



and Farmers' Bank. As is now well known, through the 

 industry of Dr. O'Callaghan, she came to Albany in 1630, 

 with her husband Roeloff Jansen van Maesterlandt — that 

 is, Ralph the son of John from Maesterland — for many of 

 these settlers had no surnames, but were known as being 

 the sons of their fathers, or took the name of the trade they 

 followed, or the place of their nativity in Holland. Roeloff 

 Jansen died in iTew York in 1637, and his widow married 

 Dom. Bogardus. He was lost at sea in 1647, and she re- 

 turned to Albany, where she died in 1663. The isTew 

 Fork bouwery, owned by her first husband, was on the 

 west side of Broadway, extending along the river from 

 Chambers to Canal street, with a strip running up to give 

 an entrance from Broadway. Although this farm was sold 

 to the government by her heirs, and payment made to them 

 therefor, and afterwards formed a portion of what was 

 known as the King's farm, and subsequently donated by 

 the government to Trinity church, a large number of per- 

 sons are still entertaining a hope of deriving an inheritance 

 from a partition of the premises. 



In the last century, w^hen the Indian tribes came to the 

 city to receive presents or pensions from the government, 

 they were gathered in front of the block on the north side 

 of State street, between James and Broadway, and seated 

 along the curbstone, where a division was made among 

 them per capita, men, women and children receiving alike. 



That square was entirely burnt over in 1793 — the largest 

 conflagration known to have occurred down to that time — 

 after which, about 1801, the Tontine, a grand hotel for the 

 time, was built near the centre of the block, fronting on 

 State street, a part of which remains in the stores of the 

 late Abram Koonz and Durkee & Jenkins, topped out 

 with two additional stories. There were no five story houses 

 in the beginning of this century, perhaps none of four 

 stories, unless we count some elevated gables. 



The narrow space known as Middle alley was opened to 



