31en and Things in Albany Two Centuries Ago. 53 



pied the site of the Perry block, had a weird fame, and 

 its fantastic iron finicals were so attractive to Washington 

 Irving that he procured them when it was demolished to 

 decorate Sunny-side. 



Passing to the elm tree corner, we have the site of the 

 residence in the middle of the last century of Philip Living- 

 ston, one of the signers (with whom the elm tree is sup- 

 posed to be coeval) ; afterwards of the famous publishing 

 house of Websters & Skinners, and now of Tweddle Hall. 

 Adjoining it on the west is the mansion still standing 

 erected by the younger brother of the Patroon, Philip S. 

 Van Eensselaer, seventeen years mayor of the city — now 

 occupied by Erastus Corning. On 

 the opposite side of State street, 

 adjoining the property of the late 

 Erastus Corning on the west, was the 

 residence of Robert Yates, one of the 

 first justices of the Supreme Court of 

 the state, and in 1790 chief justice. 

 He was one of the members of the 

 convention that framed the constitu- Yates House, 



tion of the state, and also of the United States, and is 

 cliaracterized as a man of great intellectual powers. The 

 site of this house is now occupied by the residence of 

 PlnHp Wendell. 



This serves very nearly to complete the circuit of the 

 city, as far as we have time to observe and comment upon 

 it, seldom containing within its wooden walls 3,000 in- 

 habitants, nearly a third of whom were soldiers and blacks. 

 It is found that the population in 1689 was 2,016. In 

 1697 the census ordered by Gov. Fletcher enumerated but 

 1449, showing a diminution of 567, of which 16 had been 

 taken prisoners, 84 killed by the enemy, 39 deceased, and 

 419 had removed to places of greater safety. On the con- 

 clusion of the war between England and France the popu- 

 lation rapidly increased for nearly half a century. 



