Poets of the Schuylers' Time: A National Poetry Month Recap

Phillis Wheatley, possibly by Scipio Moorhead;
circa 1773

In April we introduced you to poets from around the world who lived during the 18^th and early 19^th centuries! Here’s a recap, in order of the poets’ births, in case you missed out on a post.

JUPITER HAMMON

Jupiter Hammon was born into slavery in 1711, on Henry Lloyd’s estate on Long Island, New York. Though the details are unknown, he was educated by the Lloyds. As an adult, he worked with Henry on his business, often going to New York City to negotiate trade deals. Hammon may have served in a similar role to Prince, a man enslaved by the Schuylers. Prince also knew how to read and write, a skill he acquired before being enslaved by the Schuylers, and occasionally weighed in on farm management.

Hammon’s first work, “An Evening Thought,” was published in 1760. Like many of his works, it was rooted in religion, which played a vital role in his life. It’s unclear to what degree or how the Lloyds supported him, but the religious nature of his poems may have played a part. In 1778, Hammon wrote a poem to Phillis Wheatley, also known for using religious imagery in her poetry, seemingly to give her encouragement to continue writing:

Jupiter Hammon’s poem to Phillis Wheatley,
courtesy of the Connecticut Historical Society.

Come you, Phillis, now aspire,
And seek the living God,
So step by step thou mayst go higher,
Till perfect in the word

A prominent member of the larger Black community, he gave a speech titled “Address to the
Negroes of the State of New York” to the African Society of New York City in 1787, when he was 76. This and his other works were used throughout the 19^th by anti-slavery activists in support of their cause.

Hammon died in the early 19^th century, sometime before 1806, still enslaved by the Lloyds. He is buried in an unmarked grave on the Lloyd estate. His writing continued to fuel the abolitionist movement throughout the 19^th century. You can learn more about him through the Jupiter Hammon Project: https://preservationlongisland.org/jupiter-hammon-project/

Read more of his poetry here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52546/an-address-to-miss-phillis-wheatly

Yosa Buson by Matsumura Goshun

YOSA BUSON

Yosa Buson was born in the village of Kema (in present day Osaka), Japan, in 1716. He moved to present-day Tokyo to study painting and haiku. He then travelled throughout Japan, keeping records of his travels, before settling in Kyoto in the 1750s.  

Yosa worked as both a painter and poet, and was considered one of the best poets of the Edo Period (1603-1867). He married and had a daughter in Kyoto, but eventually resumed his work and travels. When he returned, he settled down to teach poetry and continue writing.

He died at the age of 68 and was buried at a temple in Kyoto. As his poetry is in Japanese, there are multiple translations into English by different translators. We’ve provided the original Japanese and two translations to show how they vary.

初雪の底を叩ば竹の月

hatsuyuki no soko wo tatakeba take no tsuki

The first light snow
then when the bowl of the sky is empty
the moon hanging in the bamboos

(translated by Merwin and Lento)

The first snow
Emptying itself to its last flake —
The moon above bamboo.

(translated by Takafumi Saito and William R. Nelson)

See more translations and more of his poetry here: https://www.upaya.org/uploads/pdfs/ThirteenHaikubyYosaBuson.pdf

Mrs. James Warren (Mercy Otis) by
John Singleton Copley, circa 1763

MERCY OTIS WARREN

Mercy Otis Warren was born in 1728, in Barnstable, Massachusetts. She had no formal education, but learned by sitting in on her brother’s lessons and using her uncle’s library. When she married James Warren, he encouraged her interest in politics, history, and writing.

When her husband was elected to the Massachusetts Legislature in 1766, they began hosting many politically prominent people, such as the Adams, and Warren began lifelong (at times rocky) friendship with John Adams. When the American Revolution began, she was a staunch rebel. She wrote a history of the American Revolution and became the third women in the United States to publish her poetry. She continuously engaged in politics—expressing her disapproval of the Constitution and desire for women’s education. She died at 86.

You can read one of her poems here and see her ponder keeping within “the narrow bounds, prescrib'd to female life” in response to the man who requested she write a poem on “primitive simplicity” https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/evans/N17785.0001.001/1:15.14?rgn=div2;view=fulltext 

JOHNATHAN ODELL

 An undated portraited miniature of Odell;
artist unknown; courtesy
of New Brunswick Museum

Johnathan Odell was born in 1737 in Newark, New Jersey. He studied medicine at Princeton and graduated in 1754. While still practicing medicine at times, he mainly became an Anglican minister, preaching at parishes in Burlington and Mount Holly in New Jersey.

In 1772, Odell married Anne de Cou and they had three children, one named for Odell’s lifelong friend, William Franklin, Benjamin Franklin’s Loyalist son. The couple tried to appear neutral at the start of the war, but his support of the British soon became known, and in 1776, he was forced by the New Jersey Provincial Congress to sign an oath of loyalty to the rebels. Not long after, they ordered him captured—dead or alive—and he and his family fled to British-held New York City, where he continued supporting the British.

Odell became a spy, satirist, essayist, and poet for the Loyalist cause. His poems were long, and sometimes written with fellow Loyalist, Samuel Seabury. He often named famous rebels in his poems, though Schuyler was seemingly never named in one.

Following the war, the Odells moved to New Brunswick, Canada, where he held multiple government positions. He lived there until his death in 1818. You can read some of his poetry here: https://xtf.lib.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=chadwyck_ap/uvaGenText/tei/chap_AM0706.xml&chunk.id=d3&toc.id=d3&brand=default

(Image: an undated portraited miniature of Odell; artist unknown; courtesy of New Brunswick Museum)

PHILLIS WHEATLEY

Phillis Wheatley's signature.

Phillis Wheatley was born in West Africa—possibly Senegal or Gambia—in 1753. She was
kidnapped in 1761, arriving in Boston on July 11^th, 1761. She was purchased by the Wheatley family when she was seven and enslaved by them until she was about twenty.

While enslaved & working in the Wheatley’s household, the Wheatley’s children tutored her in reading & writing. By twelve, she could read Latin & Greek. At fourteen, she wrote her first known poem. While they supported her education & writing, the Wheatleys still enslaved her.

In 1773, Nathaniel Wheatley took her to England, to get her poetry published in a volume, as it was difficult to find a printer willing to do so in the Colonies. The book was published in the summer of 1773, and Wheatley was freed in 1774. Within a few years, both of the Wheatleys were dead, and Phillis married a man named John Peters. They had three children together, but they all died in infancy. Her husband was soon imprisoned for debt and Phillis fell ill while working as a maid. She died in 1784 at 31.

Wheatley’s poetry was recognized by many famous figures of the 18^th century, including George Washington, who she wrote a poem for. While modern scholars sometimes claim she didn’t write about her enslavement, her use of religious metaphors may have been her way of doing so. She was the first Black woman to have her writing published in the United States. You can read one of her poems, “On Imagination,” here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52632/on-imagination

 

Self portrait circa 1802.

WILLIAM BLAKE

William Blake was born on November 28, 1757 (just a few months after Elizabeth Schuyler), in London. He attended formal school up until the age of 10 and was then educated at home by his mother. He was soon enrolled in drawing school and began to take an interest in poetry.

At 15, he was apprenticed to an engraver and was a professional by the time his indenture was over at the age of 21. Afterward, he studied art at the Royal Academy. He married Catherine Boucher in 1781, and she became a partner in his work. In 1783, he published his first book of poetry.

He ran a printshop with a radical publisher, Joseph Johnson, and met many English dissidents this way. Some of his work shows he believed in women’s rights and equality. He was also we talented artist, especially as an engraver, relief etcher, and illustrator.  

He died on August 12, 1827, after drawing a sketch of his wife & promising he’d remain by her side. While friends published and sold his writing, they also destroyed & edited some of it. It wasn’t until the early 21^st century that his importance as a poet was fully acknowledged. 

In his poem “The Clod and the Pebble,” he gives two different views of love: one based on selflessness, and another based on selfishness. You can read it here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43655/the-clod-and-the-pebble

 WU ZAO

Image of one of Wu Zao's poems and a print.

Wu Zao was born in 1799 in Renhe, now Hangzhou, in the Zhejiang province of China. Her
father was a merchant, and she later married a merchant named Huang. It’s been suggested that neither of them were interested in literature.

At the time she was born, the US was importing tea, porcelain, silk, & other goods from China. Wealthy families like the Schuylers bought these goods to show off their status & taste. While these goods were being imported, Chinese poetry had yet to be shared with the wider world.

Wu was a poet and musician, writing an opera, lyrics, and playing the qin—a stringed instrument. Her poems were commonly sung throughout China and had a casual and personal tone to them. She wrote multiple romantic poems to women throughout her life.

Not much is known about her later life aside from the fact that she converted to Buddhism. Many scholars consider her to be one of the top three women poets in China. Some of her poems have been translated into English. Read “Swallows” in the original Chinese and as translated into English by Irving Y. Lo 译 below.

吴藻·《如梦令·燕子》

燕子未随春去，
飞入绣帘深处。
软语话多时，
莫是要和侬住？
延伫，延伫，
含笑回它：“不许！”

Not all the swallows have left with the spring:
One flies past embroidered curtains into my inner room.
Softly, endlessly, it murmurs;
Could it be saying, “May I stay with you?”
Waiting for an answer,
Waiting for an answer,
With a smile, I reply, “No, you mustn’t.”

You can learn more about her here: https://legacyprojectchicago.org/person/wu-zao

Jane Johnston Schoolcraft;
artist and date unknown.

JANE JOHNSTON SCHOOLCRAFT

Baamewaawaagizhigokwe, or “Woman of the Sound the Stars Make Rushing Through the Sky,” also known as Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, is considered by many historians to be the first known Native American English literary writer.

Jane Johnston Schoolcraft was born in 1800 in Sault Ste. Marie in what is now Michigan. Her mother, who was Ojibwe, was an important political leader and her father, who was Scottish-Irish, was a fur trapper. They were important leaders in the local Ojibwa and Euro-American communities.

Jane learned the Ojibwe language & culture from her mother & had access to her father’s English library, where she learned about written English literature. She wrote her own works in both languages and translated Ojibwa works into English, likely being the first person to do so.

In 1823, she married Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, also a writer, and US Indian Agent in the Michigan Territory for some time. They had four children together. Her writing, which was mostly private, included a homemade literary magazine circulated only between herself & her husband.

Even though she was born much later, her life contained multiple parallels to Schuyler’s with her father working in the fur trade industry as Schuyler once did, and her husband serving as a US Indian Agent, similar to Schuyler’s position of Commissioner for Indian Affairs.

She died in 1842, after experiencing frequent bouts of illness for several years. Today, she is recognized as a poet, translator, and storyteller. Her poems have been published in both Ojibwe and English, with some set to music. You can read her poem, “To the Pine Tree,” translated by Maragret Noodin, here: https://poets.org/poem/pine-tree

Zhingwaak! Zhingwaak! Ingii-ikid, – Pine! Pine! I said,
Weshki waabamag zhingwaak – The one I see, the pine
Dagoshinaan neyab, endanakiiyaan. – I return back, to my homeland.
Zhingwaak, zhingwaak nos sa! – The pine, the pine my father!

Azhigwa gidatisaanan – Already you are colored
Gaagige wezhaawashkozid. – Forever you are green
Mii sa naa azhigwa dagoshinaang – So we already have arrived
Bizindamig ikeyaamban – Listen in that direction

Geget sa, niminwendam – Certainly I am happy
Miinwaa, waabandamaan – And I see
Gii-ayaad awiiya waabandamaan niin – He was there I saw it myself
Zhingwaak, zhingwaak nos sa! – The pine, the pine my father!
Azhigwa gidatisaanan. – Already you are colored.

Gaawiin gego, gaa-waabanda’iyan – Nothing, you did show me
Dibishkoo, ezhi-naagwasiinoon – Like that, the way it looks
Zhingwaak wezhaawashkozid – Pine he is green.
Wiin eta gwanaajiwi wi – He is beautiful
Gaagige wezhaawashkozid. – Forever he is the green one.

The Hamilton Sisters: Women's History Month 2023 in Review

Mary Morris Hamilton,
circa 1870s.

The following blog post is a compilation from our 2023 Women’s History Month social media posts. Enjoy!

When researching women’s history, there can be a lot of missing information. That’s why it was so exciting to receive about 20 letters from 1830-1835 that show in detail the lives of five siblings—four sisters & one brother—great-grandchildren of the Schuylers. Reading the letters is like taking a deep-dive into their world: the trips between their home in Manhattan and their other in Westchester, their brother constantly asking for updates from home, their travels, and their nicknames for each other and their friends. It's a brief but intimate look into their lives.

Meet our main characters: Elizabeth (Eliza) (1811-1863), Frances (Fanny) (1815-1887), Mary (Molly) (1818-1877), Angelica (Gekky/Geek) (1819-1868), and their brother, Alexander Jr. (Alex) (1816-1889), as we delve into their stories!

(Letter depicted in first tweet is from Charlotte "Chatty" Hamilton to Angelica "Geek/Gekky" Hamilton, who were cousins.)

“Cousin Chatty” (Charlotte “Chatty” Hamilton)

Chatty's letter to Angelica ("Geek").

Often referred to as “Cousin Chatty,” Charlotte was the daughter of the Hamilton girls’ uncle, John Hamilton. Born in 1819, she was the same age as Angelica, or “Geek/Gekky,” as Chatty and Angelica’s siblings affectionately called her.

Chatty wrote Angelica a letter December 29th, 1836, while Angelica was in Paris. She wrote Angelica that she was sad she didn’t receive a letter from her, but “the knowledge however that you are neither sick nor frightened has in a measure consoled me.” She told Angelica about the balls, parties, and weddings she attended, writing “I have partaken pretty largely in the gaiety & promise myself the pleasure of doing so for the rest of the season.”

She gave Angelica some of the gossip on their friends, writing “Many are under the influence of the United Charms of E. Balrey [?] & the beautiful Miss Church.” “Miss Church” was likely one of their cousins, descended through their great-aunt, Angelica Schuyler Church. At the end of the letter, Charlotte asked what Angelica and her family had done for Christmas, and told her “We have missed you all very much, there seems such a blank in the family circle.” This shows how close the two girls were.

A year later, Fanny Hamilton wrote to Angelica about Charlotte, telling her “Chatty has not been well. She has been excessively admised [to yield to suffer] this winter, […] everyone agrees in saying that it [her beauty] is painful the great appearance of her want of health.” Fanny told her sister that she didn’t see Chatty much, but when she did, she thought her “far from well” and was often asked if “she is not a great invalid.” But Chatty’s parents “are not at all aware of it, they say she is perfectly well.” A month later, Eliza gave an update on Chatty, writing “Chatty is here [at their home in Westchester, Nevis] & seems stronger—she walks every day with more pleasure & eats more—”

Through these letters, we see three of the four sisters, Eliza, Fanny, and Angelica, all discussed & were concerned about Chatty, however no later letters reveal anything further about Chatty. The only known facts are that she lived in Manhattan, did not marry, and died at 76 in 1896.

 

Fanny in Baltimore

Fanny's letter to Angelica.

In late March of 1837, Fanny was travelling through Philadelphia, Baltimore, D.C., and Norfolk with members of her extended family. Her letter to Gekky covered everything from the weather to the various people she met on her travels. The letter between the sisters also shows how far their social network extended, likely because of their status as an elite, wealthy New York family.

Even hundreds of miles from home, Fanny met at least two women who knew their family and remarked on her resemblance to her father. She told Gekky to “tell Papa I met Mrs. Barren” and then added in a bit of gossip: “she sang for me, her voice so broken and having relinquished her colour is very much altered, altho’ I knew her immediately she says she recognized me from my resemblance to him” Fanny confided in Gekky that she’s “to drink tea this even. with a Mrs. Thompson of [tear in letter] place a friend of Aunt Alexander’s I expect to have a horrid time” Her bluntness seems like a classic quip between siblings—something that transcends centuries!

When they travelled, letters were what kept the sisters together. Reading letters between them feels like listening in on a personal conversation because that’s what they are at their core. At the end of her letter, Fanny was excited about finding what letters possibly awaited her at her next destination.

 

Alexander Jr. to Eliza

Alex Jr.'s letter to Eliza.

In 1832, Alexander Jr., the younger brother of the Hamilton sisters, was a student at West Point. He often wrote them letters, and they wrote him ones in return, but not all of those letters have survived. Through a letter to his older sister Eliza, we can get a glimpse into what her life was like when she was about twenty, though it’s important to remember this is through her brother’s eyes. We can also see the close relationship the two of them shared.

In the opening of a letter from November 1832, Alexander mentions Eliza attended the opera in Manhattan. It’s likely she saw "The Italian Girl in Algiers," as that was presented in Manhattan within that timeframe. In the same letter, Alex implores her to “resume your former plan of sending The Standard as often as possible—I shall thus get more news with less trouble to you,” referencing upcoming elections they were both interested in. Toward the end of the letter, he writes “I have thought of making Chocolate for some time, but don’t know how to set to work. I wish you would tell me how you made it last winter as I recollect it was very good.”

From a single letter, we learned Eliza went to the opera, was interested in the ongoing elections, and could make chocolate. While we couldn’t learn this from her own perspective, sometimes we must look everywhere for women’s history—and we get lucky enough to find it!

Where are the portraits?

Mary "Molly" Hamilton,
portrait miniature by
Richard Morell Staigg; 1860.

As a wealthy, affluent family, it’s likely there were multiple portraits and even photographs of all the Hamilton sisters, but, out of all the sisters, there is only one portrait and one photograph of Mary “Molly” Hamilton Schuyler.

The portrait miniature was painted by Richard Morell Staigg in 1860, when Mary was 42. The sole known photograph of Mary was taken at some point in the 1870s based on her hairstyle and dress. While the portrait miniature was painted before her marriage, the photograph was taken after.

Based on when portraits of her husband and children were painted, Eliza Hamilton likely had a portrait miniature of herself painted in 1840 & possibly again in 1850. As photographs of her daughters exist, it’s likely at least one was taken of her as well before her death in 1863.

A photograph was taken of Angelica’s husband in 1859, a year before their marriage. It’s likely she had a photograph taken upon or after their marriage as well. Portraits from her younger years probably existed too, just like that of her older sister, Mary.

As for Frances, or Fanny, it’s likely she at least had a miniature portrait painted of her before her marriage, and was likely painted or photographed after as well, but as there are none of her husband, it’s harder to guess when they would date to.

While we may not be able to put faces to most of the Hamilton sisters, we hope the bits of the letters by and to them have still brought them to life for you.

Next Generation

Eliza Hamitlon married her cousin, George Schuyler, and together they had three children: Philip, Louisa, and Georgina. Louisa and Georgina went on to become activists, following in the footsteps of their mother and their aunt, Mary Hamilton.

Learn more about Louisa’s activism here, Georgina’s work on historic preservation here, and their joint effort to donate family furniture to Schuyler Mansion upon its opening in 1917 here.

Louisa, Georgina, and Philip Schuyler,
circa 1851; artist unidentified. 

Related

Take a look at this blog post about poems Eliza received when she was a young student and learn more about who she received them from.

Check back in the future for more blog posts about the women of Schuyler Mansion.

Philip Schuyler, the Albany Avenger

It’s that time of year again, when we post our annual April Fools article. In past years, every effort has been made to make these seem strange stories that like they really shouldn’t be true, but where everything seems to line up in a believable enough way. As much fun as that is, it can cause problems from time to time, such as when one reader prepared Philip Schuyler’s “recipe” for bacon-wrapped eels on the grill- a reference that we made up (at least they were tasty!) This year we’ve decided to take a subtly different tack:

The following is not history. At all. Occasionally we may include a historical name or date, but any similarity to any persons living, dead, or undead, is either accidental or used fictitiously to provide a veneer of authenticity so thin it could be marred with a sneeze. So without further delay, allow us to present Philip Schuyler, the Albany Avenger.

The year was 1781. The stakes? Nothing less than the independence of the United States of America. British forces in North America were reeling from a series of key losses, including Cornwallis’s dramatic surrender at Yorktown, and from dwindling support on the home front. Desperate for a stunning victory that would secure their military position in the colonies and inspire political confidence in Britain, top-ranking Crown officers gathered to discuss the seemingly preposterous plan put forward by junior officer and part-time scientist, Lt. Johnathan Hammond of the 42^nd Royal Highland regiment, recently returned to England from duty in the Caribbean. Hammond’s proposal was simple-

Dinosaurs.

A 1780 image of dinosaurs being measured and fitted for armor in London.

Admittedly, this was nothing new at that time. The military application of dinosaurs in Europe began with the French in the early 18th century. Prior to their deployment at the Battle of Parc Jurassique in 1711, dinosaurs were a closely kept secret of the French military, but when a thundering herd of enraged ankylosaurs smashed through the Duke of Marlborough’s lines, Britain had quickly begun development of their own saurian military force. By 1775, Britain had deployed dinosaurs in every one of their European conflicts since 1735, as well as against Jacobite forces and Irish revolutionaries closer to home. The pride of British dinodom was William, a 42-foot, 13.5 metric ton Tyrannosaurus Rex known for his brash confidence and dislike of protocol and authority, but who could be relied on to, “get the job done…”.

That this T-Rex would prove a valuable military asset in North America was beyond doubt, but one fact remained that made Hammond’s proposal seem outlandish: no European power had thus far successfully transported a dinosaur across the Atlantic.  Lt. Hammond was confident that it could be done, however, and offered to rapidly design and construct a ship capable of transporting William the T-Rex from Cornwall to New York, a promise he astonishingly made good on. On April 1^st, 1782,two-hundred and forty one years ago today, Hammond’s vessel, HMS Ingenuity dropped anchor in the harbor of New York City with William safely aboard. The cost of transportation had been staggering. For sustenance William had consumed a total of 112 head of cattle and 45 tunns of rum (11,340 gallons) on the voyage, while four sailors spent the entire crossing earning special duty pay to ensure the removal of his waste in a timely fashion.

Actor Jeff Goldblum (best known for his roles
in movies such as The Fly (1986) and Cats and Dogs (2001))
as Dr. Johnathan Malcom in the 1993 film In-Dino-Pendance Day.
While panned for its inaccurate costuming, the film
offers a gripping retelling of the 1782 Battle of Fishkill.

The cost was worth it, however, when William stomped ashore. One local citizen, Dr. John Malcom,
described the sight of the gigantic creature making its way through the city in a letter to a friend, saying “It was by far the most marvelous and terrifying sight I have ever beheld, a monstrous lizard some forty feet in length. Everyone watched in horrified awe as it passed, anxiously exposing themselves to its gaze, out of trepidation that such a marvel should pass so close to their lives and them not to see it.” The crowds were so dense that Malcom’s wife, Sarah, was unable to see William through the masses. According to Dr. Malcom, “many were too preoccupied with the question of how they might get a closer view that none thought to question whether they ought to. My wife being amongst these, was dissatisfied with her vantage point, and resolved to get closer. The crowd was so numerous that this seemed impossible, but as is ever the case, [my] wife found a way…”

Six days later, Continental forces near Fishkill were awakened at dawn by the thunderous roar of a creature most had never imagined existing, much less anticipated facing in battle. Fitted with armor made up of interlocking plates and chainmail, William tore through their defenses, devouring all in his path. Musket fire was virtually useless against William, and even field artillery was ill equipped to handle the speed with which this King of the Late Cretaceous rampaged across the battlefield. Only cavalry had the mobility necessary to match him. While their weaponry was unable to pose significant threat to William’s armored bulk, a small unit of riders under the command of Captain Enoch Otiss managed to draw the attention of the dinosaur long enough for their comrades to organize a tactical withdrawal. With British troops advancing, things looked grim for the Continental forces.

Enter Philip Schuyler. While he no longer held a commission in the Continental Army, the former Major General was still very much an active participant in the conflict. Schuyler had an expansive roster of contacts and spies throughout New York. In fact, he had been tracking the Ingenuity’s progress from England, and had been made aware of William’s presence in North America several days before the attack at Fishkill! On April 3^rd, 1782, Schuyler received a message from an as-yet unidentified “D. Nedry of Lansingburgh” that read simply:

Hgrubgnisnal ,yrden D

,yllaicnanif sryY.

daer si regneva ynabla eht yarp i. Emoc sah mailliw. Deraef ew sa si ti,

Lareneg raed

Despite being apparent gibberish, the message was actually an encoded warning! According to Schuyler Mansion Historic Site Assistant Ian Mumpton, “Nedry ensured the secrecy of his warning by employing what is known as a non-substitutive, mono-alphabetic reversion cipher, also known as ‘writing it backwards’. This type of encryption, really, if were to ask me, was very bad.”

Through careful examination in a mirror, it was determined that Nedry’s message to Schuyler was as follows:

Dear General,

It is as we feared. William has come. I pray the Albany Avenger is ready.

Yrs. Financially,
D. Nedry, Lansingburgh.

Schuyler had long known that conventional military resources would be ineffective against militarily trained and equipped dinosaurs. While most of the Revolutionary leadership dismissed the possibility that Britain would be able to transport saurian shock troops across the Atlantic, Schuyler’s concerns were shared by Dr. Benjamin Franklin and Tadeusz Kościuszko, a Polish engineer and officer serving in the Continental Army. As early as 1777, the three had begun plans for what Nedry referred to in his letter as “The Albany Avenger”.

A contemporary depiction of the Albany Avenger under construction,
by Albany artist FaeganMorheart.

‘What was the Albany Avenger?’ you might ask (as well you should). Built of woven ash-wood and willow around an articulated iron frame by a team of 200 Albany laborers (under the careful supervision of General Kościuszko), and powered by Franklin’s research on the application of electrical energy, the Albany Avenger stood 40 feet tall, “Like in form to a man, but of much Greater Scale, and its strength proportionate- the very thing to drive the great Lizard of London from our fair and abundant shores!”  According to Schuyler, “It is the protector of the Hudson now, but when it has been the instrument of our National Liberty and salvation, it shall be known as the Colossus of America!” Philip Schuyler’s contribution to the effort, beyond offsetting the monumental financial resources needed, was one which would guarantee his place in the halls of “history” for all time. The former Major General volunteered himself as the pilot of this incredible 18^th century combat exoskeleton.

And so, on morning of April 7^th, 1782, the stage was set for the ultimate showdown between William, the largest Tyrannosaurus Rex in the service of His Majesty, King George III of England, and Philip Schuyler, aka The Albany Avenger. Much has been written about that fateful battle, and it would be repetitive to describe it in detail here. We all know that Schuyler emerged victorious; we have all heard the legends of the bees and the apples, and of the noble sacrifice of Jim Adams (who, if not for his role at Fishkill, would be the least famous of the three Adamses of the Revolution). But the story known to far fewer, is what happened to Lt. Hammond and William after their defeat.

According to recent research made up by Schuyler Mansion staff, when the British government decided, after careful consideration, not to endorse another saurian expedition to North America, Lt. Hammond resigned his commission in frustration and disgrace. Returning to the Caribbean, he joined with other investors investing in amber mines. William, incensed by the treatment of his friend, similarly resigned, devouring two generals in the process. He attempted to make a name for himself in the world of pugilism. Sadly, though he reigned uncontested in rural “all in” matches, his lack of reach hindered his success in formal fights, and William retired to live with his sister Susan in Liverpool in 1789.

An undated depiction of William facing off against British bareknuckle champion Tom Johnson.