State Regains Houdon Bust of Washington.

You may want to start reading at the bottom of this blog, with a New York Times article published four days before the Binghamton Press announced the "recovery" of a missing bronze bust of George Washington, stolen during the 1911 arson attack which destroyed the historical and legislative records housed in the State Capitol at Albany. In the Times' article, $10,000,000 PLAN STATE OFFICES, newly-elected Governor Franklin Roosevelt announces a $100 million bond initiative to build a campus of state office buildings in downtown Albany. A sweetening tactic appears to be the inclusion of a $3,500,000 public art museum as part of the multi-block redevelopment. Then Roosevelt accepts a recovered artwork from a reporter from a third newspaper, who acts as an intermediary in order to keep the identity of the thief secret. This reporter, Irwin Thomas, worked in the Capitol at the time of the fire, 18 years earlier, when Roosevelt also was present as a very young State Senator. The Binghamton Press quotes Roosevelt as saying, "I shall place [the bust] in my office at the capitol until we get a state museum, where it will have a proper place. I was here during the capital fire and remember the loss of the bust. The state appreciates its return." The total enmeshment of the news media with the political establishment in a vast arson conspiracy that defrauded the taxpayers of millions of dollars in addition to their authentic reality is readily apparent when the Times writes that "general opinion leaned to the more charitable view that the valuable bust had been melted to a lump by the heat." But the bust had been featured prominently in a news photograph sitting front and center as firefighters man a hose inside the library, and its representation seemed to serve as some coded talismanic signal. 




The Times reported the next day on the return of the bust, and they didn't fail to mention that the Governor would be keeping the prize in his Executive Chamber until a State Museum was erected. None of them could be participating here in the role of a useful idiot given the coordination at an agenda. And with this exposure we've identified one of the biggest names in our national history as being a prime player in a crooked game which led us directly and inextricably to the arson attacks of September 11th, 2001. What comes next, pray tell? More Jewish lightning?

February 4, 1929, Binghamton Press, State Regains Houdon Bust of Washington.
Famed Sculpture, Stolen at Capital Fire, Found Near Binghamton.
HIDDEN ON A FARM
Irwin Thomas of Evening World Restores Rare Work to Gov. Roosevelt.

After being buried in a farmyard near Binghamton for a decade and a half, a valuable Houdon bust of George Washington, stolen during the state capitol fire, March 29, 1911, was brought to Govenor Roosevelt today by Irwin Thomas, Legislative correspondant of the New York Evening World.

Mr. Thomas learned three years ago that the bust, said to be worth more than $10,000 had not been destroyed as supposed but had been carried out of the blazing building during the excitement.

He questioned relatives of the supposed "collector" and learned the bronze had been given into the custody of a farmer about 18 miles from Binghamton. He went there and persuaded the custodian he should return the "white elephant" into the keeping of the state.

The name of the man who held the bust during all those years is kept secret by Mr. Thomas, who said to the Governor when he turned the art treasure over at the mansion today:
"If I am charged with receiving stolen property, I shall expect executive clemency."

The bust was identified today by Dwight Gooway, Legislative Librarian, [the Legislative reference section was headed by William E. Hannan during this period.] as the one which stood in the old library prior to the fire. He was greatly interested in this find, as was Governor Roosevelt.

"I am mighty happy to get this back," said the later, "I shall place it in my office at the capitol until we get we get a state museum, where it will have a proper place. I was here during the capital fire and remember the loss of the bust. The state appreciates its return."

A bust of Lafayette by Houdon was sold in New York City last week for more than $9,000. It is believed the Washington bust is worth more than $10,000 and that its desirability has been enhanced by its queer recent history.

Jean Antoine Houdon came to the United States with Benjamin Franklin in 1775, especially to make the Wahington bust. The one returned by Mr. Thomas is amde from life and is one of a handful extant. t was made at Mount Vernon.

The man who took the bust from the capitol, it is understood, tried unsuccessfully to dispose of it with New York City art collectors, but they refused to take the stolen piece.

Finally, Mercer and Weiss have been of some use to the truth. This development could easily have slipped down the memory hole, coming as it did in a coda eighteen years after the Fire That Dared Not Speak Its Name. Nobody could confuse such abject thievery with souvenir, or relic hunting. That such a prominent and symbolic object went quietly missing is evidence that the state capitol was open to be stripped of anything of value in the aftermath of the high-level arson and its agenda as to who benefited. None of the trespassing little people had to take a fall for this systematic looting of the treasures therein, but someone did have to give back a little something after nearly two decades.

These images are from 'Sparks! From the New York State Capital Fire,' a two-bit pack of misspelled "Sovenir Views" which came out shortly after the fire, and which, say Mercer and Weiss, with their high-level academic positions and utter lack of irony, "remains one of the chief sources for research on the fire." Really? I might have preferred the official findings stemming from a full-scale investigation---but there wasn't any!



The image with the Washington bust in profile and the firemen with their backs turned to the camera has all the staged artifice of a coded 9/11 shot. So far, I have only limited access to the contemporaneous newspaper coverage, but I know the image was carried in some daily papers on the 29th or 30th. But what's up with that rifled and pilfered bookcase and all those unburned books? Wasn't the State Library overcrowded, and bursting at the seams? Even the iron beam above their heads has been eaten away by the fierce flame, which left the lightweight Thonet bentwood side-chairs unscathed.



The absurdity of these scenarios is so complete that it simply stuns skepticism into silence. We just don't want to go where we don't want to go.



These wooden display cases which held the treasure of the Iroquois nations have clearly been looted by the hands of men, and not wreaked by fire.



"Fourth floor, corridor on Southwestern Staircase; the cases contained valuable Indian Curios. The intense heat caused the stones to fall from the sides and ceiling; the electric-light bulbs in the chandeliers were not not broken."

February 5, 1929, New York Times, ROOSEVELT ACCEPTS WASHINGTON BUST,
He Thanks Newspaper Man for Recovering Houdon Life Cast Stolen in 1911 Fire.
IT WAS IN STATE LIBRARY.
Statue, Traced to Binghampton Barn, Will Be Kept in Executive Chamber of the Capitol.
RECEIVES LONG-LOST BUST.

ALBANY, Feb. 4.--Missing for eighteen years and long ago given up as destroyed in the Capitol fire of 1911, the famous life cast Houdon bust of George Washington was returned to the possession of the State today.

It was put into the hands of Governor Roosevelt at the Executive Mansion by Irwin Thomas, legislative correspondent for The New York Evening World at the time of the fire. He traced its possessor and compelled its return.

The bust formerly stood on a pedestal in the State Library, which was located on the third floor of the Capitol. One night in the Winter of 1911 fire broke out inthe library and many articles of value disappeared in the resulting confusion. Governor Roosevelt was a State Senator at that time.

General opinion leaned to the more charitable view that the valuable bust had been melted to a lump by the heat. Even those associated with activities at the Capitol had long since forgotten the incident, however, when Mr. Thomas three years ago was informed that a man had carried away the bust in his arms.

On one vacation the newspaper man retraced the thief's course. He learned that after the unlawful possessor had unsuccessfully sought to sell the bust, he had become afraid and had caused it to be hidden in a barn near Binghamton, N. Y.

Mr. Thomas forced the surrender of the bust to him in Albany last week. When he brought it to the Executive Mansion today and related the story of its recovery, the Governor expressed his thanks and said he would have it placed in the Executive Chamber in the Capitol until a State Museum should be erected.

The Washington bust is stamped with the words, "Houdon life cast." It is supposed to be an exact resemblance of the first President and noticeably differs from the more idealized portraits of him which are commonly seen.

The sculptor, Jean Antoine Houdon, came to the United States from France in 1788 and was the President's guest at Mount Vernon. A marble statue of Washington, which he also fashioned, is in the Virginia State Capitol at Richmond.

January 31, 1925, New York Times, $10,000,000 PLAN STATE OFFICES- Commission Recommends to Governor Group of Buildings Crowning Capitol Hill. INCLUDE NEW MUSEUM. Five-Story Structure. Cost $6,500,000 Would Be Principal Unit. $100,000,000 IS INVOLVED. Program Calls for $10,000,000 Bond Issue Every Year for Ten Years If Voters Approve.

ALBANY, Jan. 30.—The expenditure by the State of $10,000,000 for a group of buildings on, which with the Capitol as their center, would dominate the city and crown Capitol Hill with a display worthy of the Empire State, in addition to furnishing needed office facilities for expanding activities and checking the encroachments of business, is recommended to Governor Smith in a report, made public today, by a special commission which has been considering such a project for a year.

A five-story office building of classical design to match the Educational Building and to cost, with land, $6,500,000, and a structure to house the State Museum, now located in the State Library section of the Department of Education Building, are included in the project which would involve the purchase by the State of an entire residential block to the south of the Capitol building and the better part of two blocks to the north and west. The proposed museum would cost, with the site included, $3,500,000, according to an estimate furnished by the commission.
$100,000,000 Bond Issue Involved.

Ability of the State to carry out this proposal without delay is contingent on the willingness of the present Republican Legislature to lend its approval to the $100,000,000 bond issue for permanent improvements which had been urgently recommended by Governor Smith. The Republican Assembly of last year fell in with the Governor.

Capitol Fire Restarts.

April 3, 1911, New York Times, CAPITOL FIRE RESTARTS.; Takes an Hour to Extinguish Flames from Debris.

ALBANY, April 2. -- Fire started afresh this afternoon among some debris in the State Capitol, but was extinguished in about an hour.

With 500,000 books and half as many manuscripts, representing the accumulations of ninety-three years of purchases; gifts, and State documents in the State Library damaged or destroyed, it is estimated that it will require from ten to fifteen years and from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 to reproduce a working library of the magnitude of the burned one. James I. Wyer, director of the State Library, said to-day:

"I believe the State of New York will want to perpetuate the State Library as one of the greatest libraries of the world. It was third in size and importance in the United States. To do that a large appropriation must be forthcoming at the outset to put this library on a working basis when it goes into the new State Education Building. If the staff of the library is to be kept intact, and the State Library School eventually retained in Albany, this appropriation must come speedily and the work of the rebuilding of the collection must be pushed with all dispatch."

Rushing Work On the Capitol.

April 4, 1911, New York Times, RUSHING WORK ON CAPITOL. Assembly Chamber to be Ready by April 17 -- Guard Against Thieves.

ALBANY, April 3. -- With nearly a dozen of the administrative departments of the State Government conducting their work under strange roofs, efforts will soon be on foot to restore the burned part of the State Capitol to a condition where it will again be fit to be occupied.

For the next week or ten days the contractors will concentrate their efforts on the Assembly chamber and the adjoining section of the third floor, which is occupied by various Assembly committees and officials. The Assembly chamber itself is more or less of a wreck.

The Senate chamber itself escaped damage from the fire, but the flames ravaged the Senate Finance Committee room and did considerable damage in the office of the President por tem. of the Senate. Repair gangs were at work to-day in this section of the Capitol as well.

State Architect Ware said this afternoon that while some of the State departments might be compelled to remain in their temporary headquarters for some weeks, he fully expected to have the legislative precincts of the Capitol ready for the lawmakers to resume their labors on April 17, the date to which the legislative adjournment was taken.

State Archivist A.J.F. Van Lear issued a statement to-night in which he declared that State Historian Victor Hugo Paltsits was without knowledge of what was actually being done when he charged the State Education Department with carelessness in not saving historical papers from the debris thrown from the windows of the burned portion of the State Capital.

State Historian Paltsits to-day recovered the appeal written by Gov. Thomas Pownall of Massachusetts to New York's Governor, asking for a contribution for the relief of the sufferers of the Boston fire of 1760. The message is partly burned, but portions of many pages are legible.

The sentries on duty at the State Capitol to-day redoubled their vigilance to prevent the theft of old coins which are scattered among the debris in the burned State Library. Some of the desk in the Senate clerks' room were broken open yesterday and rifled of their contents.

George Washington's famous sword, said to have been given to him by Frederick the Great, has been recovered. It was found undamaged under a heap of charred books.

Since the burning of the State Library, Secretary of State Lazansky has received a number of letters from persons in various sections of the country offering books for sale. A Michigan attorney says he has the "documentary history of New York" dating from 1600.

Albany Fire Victim Found.

April 1, 1911, The Oelwein [Iowa] Daily Register, Page 1, ALBANY FIRE VICTIM FOUND, Salvage Corps Is Searching Debris at Capitol for Valuable Manuscripts.

Albany, N.Y., April 1.—The body of Samuel J. Abbott, night watchman and the one victim of the state capitol fire was found on the fourth floor in the southwest corner of the building, where the flames raged most fiercely. The body was charred beyond recognition, but identified by means of a watch.

A volunteer salvage corps, including officers of the state library, and headed by Library Inspector James R. Wyer, Jr., and N. H. Stokes-Phelps of New York, continued to search the debris for valuable manuscripts.

Mr. Phelps, a man of wealth and leisure, who has specialized in the salvage of manuscripts, reclaimed many old manuscripts from the wreak of the burned Turin library in Italy.

I. N. Phelps Stokes Tells Thrilling Story of Rescue of Albany Archives.

April 30, 1911, New York Times, Magazine Section, Part Five, Page 2,

I.N. PHELPS STOKES TELLS THRILLING STORY OF RESCUE OF ALBANY ARCHIVES;

For the First Time Authentic Account Is Given of How Valuable Historical Documents and Relics Were Saved.

IN the rush of news after the fire in the Capitol at Albany, the destroyed archives naturally played a prominent part. First, they were all burned, according to report, and then many of them were said to be saved, but the exact story of the way in which they were saved has not yet been fully told. It makes a pretty thrilling adventure.

A New York man, I.N. Phelps Stokes, shared in the drama. He and State Archivist A. J. F. Van Laer personally carried on the work of rescue with the cooperation of J. L. Wyer, Jr., the Director of the Library; of Gov. Dix, and the Adjutant General.

Mr. Stokes, after some persuasion, told the tale of the rescue in his own way, which means that he eliminated a good deal of what he himself did. He is a very tall, thin person with a black beard and a look in his eye that suggests quickness of decision and a determination to carry out that decision. In short, a good man to have around in a crisis.

"When the fire broke out," said Mr Stokes, "the trustees of the New York Public Library called a hasty meeting and decided that some one should go up to Albany to carry the sympathy of the institution to the authorities of the burned library and express their desire to cooperate in any possible way. They asked me to go, so the morning after the day on which the fire broke out I arrived in Albany. I presented the sympathy of the New York trustees and then went out to see what had happened.

"I was told by those who had watched the fire that flames from the room of the archives window had burst out and spread half across the street. So it was generally believed that there was no chance of finding intact any of the priceless, unduplicated records the room had contained. Mr van Laer, the archivist, however, cherished hopes, and I thought, too, there might be a way of saving something.

"Torrents of water had been poured on the building, and we figured out that the soaked manuscripts might not have burned, that at least those on the lower shelves might have been protected by the fallen rubbish from above. However, there was no means of gaining access to the room. The stairway was gone, and that part of the building had been declared unsafe.

"Being an architect, I came to the conclusion that there was not sufficient weight on the floors above to make it unsafe to enter that part of the building if an entrance could be effected. We decided to ask the fire department to give us ladders so as to make an entrance into the third story, but while arrangements were being made for this scheme, we studied the plans of the building and found that it would be possible to get to the floor the archives were on through the burned floor of the room above the apartment of the clerk of the Senate.

"We promptly did this, and by breaking through the panel of the door, were able to climb into the room where the early records of New York's colonial history had been kept.

"The sight did not encourage us in the hope that anything could be saved. Everything had been burned, the shelves and desks, and there was four feet of smoldering debris on the floor. From the ceiling streams of water leaked through. Here and there little fires were starting. It seemed a hopeless proposition.

"Still, knowing the power of resistance to fire that compressed paper possesses, we made the attempt. Mr van Laer, through many years of familiarity with the archives, knew exactly where to look.

"'Here,' he said, 'were some early Dutch records of the State.'

"When we got down through the debris, we caught a glimpse of paper which, while charred and water soaked, was still decipherable. Here were some remaining Dutch records. Evidently, our idea that some things might be saved was not altogether a vain one.

"As quickly as possible we climbed out again and sought the Governor. We laid before him our plan for salvage, and he readily saw that there was not a moment to be lost. He promised his prompt cooperation, and we got back to the scene of action without loss of time. Adjutant General Verbeck sent soldiers, who helped us dig in the rubbish and formed a chain to pass the baskets full of saved stuff to safety.

"The water came down, not in streamlets, but in a steady downpour, filled with soot. It was indescribably dirty and hopeless looking; but, fortunately, we had to waste no time in looking for the most valuable records, since van Laer could point out where they should be and recognized them the moment they were brought to light.

"The room where the archives were contained was a continuation of the corridor. It was about forty feet long and fifteen feet wide, and had a window at the farther end. When the flames broke through the panels of the door, spreading through the corridor, the length of the room and the window at the other side made a kind of flue for the flames to sweep through, and this, of course, had made the spectacular blaze that was seen during the fire. The manuscripts around the upper shelves had been promptly burned to bits, and, just as we had hoped, their fall and the streams of water poured in by the fire engine had saved some of the things at the bottom.

"Many of the volumes were burned when we got to them and were so hot they could not be held in the hands. We had a hose with us and were constantly obliged to turn on more water to put out the little fires that would break out every once in a while. There was much smoke and discomfort. Although I had assured the men that the building was safe, whenever there was a noise as of something falling they would be startled and anxious to quit work, for which nobody could blame them.

"We tried to sort things roughly and to indicate even as we worked in the midst of the debris of the room which were the most important papers. There was a constant line of baskets passing from soldier to soldier. In this way we were able to get out what Mr van Laer considered the most valuable documents during the first day.

"At seven o'clock the next morning we were back at work. Fire had broken out during the night, and more water had been turned on, so that our task was harder than the day before. Then, you will remember that immediately after the fire a cold spell set in with a high wind. Much of the debris at the bottom was frozen stiff, and could not be taken from the floor, and once in a while a loose paper would be caught up and whirled away.

"There was some criticism of this flying paper afterward, but I do not see how working under such conditions we could have prevented a few leaves from escaping, and the only wonder is that the wind, rushing through the gutted building, did not whirl away more of them.

"We worked hard all through the second day, and at the end were able to feel that about everything had been got out that could possibly be saved. Of course, much that we rescued was in an indecipherable condition, and most of it is in a dreadful muddle, so that it will take a year or more for the archivist and his assistant, who alone know the manuscripts thoroughly, to get them into order and make them available for use.

"The useless debris was thrown out of the window as we dug, Mr van Laer himself standing by to examine every shovelful and make sure that no fragment that could be of value was thrown out.

"It will be remembered that the loss of General Washington's sword and the General Worth sword was reported at the time of the fire. The Washington sword was recovered rather curiously. As we worked the first day I saw a workman pick up a twisted bit of metal and show it to another. The other shook his head, thinking the thing useless, and the finder threw it away.

"Mechanically I noticed the incident and saw where it fell. I thought the bit of iron was one of the supporters of the shelves. The whole room was filled with bits of twisted metal.

"The next day I heard of the loss of the Washington sword and recalled the piece of twisted iron I had seen the men handle. It occurred to me that that bit might have been the sword, and as I remembered where it had fallen I got the men to dig there, and it turned out just as we hoped. It was the sword, very much out of shape, but it can easily be straightened and made the same as ever.

"Bishop Doane kindly gave us the use of the house at 162 State street for our manuscripts. They were all taken there as they were rescued. The reference librarian fitted up shelves of laths, where the soaked material was put to dry.

"A corps was organized from the women employees of the Library, and they set to work to tear off the covers of many of the books. The water collected in the covers and kept the inside damp, so it was better to separate the two and let them dry apart. We telephoned to Herbert Putnam, the librarian of Congress, and asked him to send Mr Berwick, who has charge of the repairing of the national archives, to offer suggestions. Mr Berwick promptly responded.

"The Catholic Society came to the rescue later, when the house at 162 State street was filled to overflowing, and gave their large gymnasium as a temporary drying place for the books and manuscripts. This gives room to work in, and all the saved records are there still, so far as I know."

[This ends the portion of Stokes’ quoted report as reprinted in the New York State Library's 94th Annual Report---the sole document which constitutes the single official "findings" of all aspects of the Capitol fire. However, the Times article continues with an additional six paragraphs of Mr. Stokes’ first-person reminisces:]

"Mr. Van Laer calculates that 20 or 25 per cent. of the value of the archives rooms, that is about 20 per cent. of the importance of the library, has been saved. That does not mean that 20 per cent. of the important books have been saved; it means that the library's value for historical research is now about one-fifth of what it was before the fire.

"Happily, among the saved volumes were the two first books of the Dutch land patents, a series of early records from 1630 to 1664. A good half of the early records are completely destroyed. There is a remaining proportion which is in such fragments and so charred that it is practically valueless. About 20 per cent. of them are saved and decipherable.

"I should say by far the greatest part of the Sir William Johnson manuscript, most valuable for the student of early history, is gone. Perhaps two volumes of the twenty remain.

"Some of the George Clinton papers were saved and some of the Andre papers, with perhaps one-half of the volumes of the Thompkins manuscripts, which bear on the war of 1812. Fortunately the manuscript records of that war were saved intact.

"Of the English Council Minutes after 1664 Mr. Van Laer wrote me a few weeks ago that six volumes, or possibly eight or ten, would be saved. I think perhaps 20 per cent. of the Colonial records are still of use. Some of them, of course, are available in printed form, but some are not.

"The saddest feature of the destruction is that of the Van Rensselaer surveys, extremely valuable documents. Only thirty or forty bundles of leases, not of the earliest period, were saved. The Van Rensselaer family gave them to the State's care only a year ago, so their loss is peculiarly tragic."

Mr. Stokes told his tale with what his listener knew to be glaring omissions, for State Archivist Van Laer has paid a glowing tribute to his courage and skill. However, you cannot expect a man, at least the kind of man Mr. Stokes is, to sound his own trumpet. In between the lines the reader will have to supply the idea of the smoke that made work at times almost impossible and the danger which must have been there, though Mr. Stokes makes light of it, from the falling stuff of the floors above.





Stokes' report places the manuscript archive room at the southerly end of the long corridor running north to south past the Great Western Staircase, with the single window he describes being marked on the plan as Room 328. The third story, being the home of the Senate and Assembly chambers, was of enormous height, perhaps the tallest story of any of the five in the structure, and many reports describe the various substandard mezzanines constructed on this floor over the three decades it was continually being reworked.

Stokes says, somewhat ambiguously, that "we studied the plans of the building and found that it would be possible to get to the floor the archives were on through the burned floor of the room above the apartment of the clerk of the Senate." He must be describing a similar mezzanine level above either Room 325 or Room 327, which abut the location of the archive room.

Understanding that the actual floors between the different stories would have been originally built in solid concrete, or of other fire-proof masonry construction, leaves Stokes' description of access through the "burned floor of the room above the apartment of the clerk of the Senate," as questionable, since this was done "by breaking through the panel of the door," where they "were able to climb into the room where the early records of New York's colonial history had been kept."

Since Stokes describes a holocaust in the manuscript room, where it was visible to those outside when "flames from the room of the archives window had burst out and spread half across the street," he seems to be describing the door between that room and the adjoining room on the mezzanine as functioning successfully as an unbreeched fire-stop.

We must leave aside for the moment the implications behind there being a secondary entrance into what constituted the most precious treasure room in the State Capitol, since even the plan of the third floor proper fails to indicate a clear demarcation between the space occupied by the State Library and that in control of the Senate.

Burned Building Twice as Costly as National Capitol at Washington,

March 29, 1911, The Evening World, Night Edition, Page 2, Column 4, Burned Building Twice as Costly as National Capitol at Washington,

Perched upon the highest of the seven hills upon which the city of Albany is built, the Capitol, a gigantic structure of white granite, with red-capped towers, stands. It is 300 feet north and south, by 400 feet east and west, and covers three acres. The first stone in the foundation was laid July 7, 1871, the corner stone was laid with great ceremony by the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. The Capitol was first occupied by the Legislature on Jan. 7, 1879, the formal occupation taking place on the twelfth of the following month.

Some writers upon architecture say that the white granite Capitol, with its towers, reminds them of the famous Tag Mahal, in India. Others think it a superb reflection of French architecture.

Has National Reputation.

The Capitol at Albany has had n national reputation as being one the most costly public buildings in the United States. Up to the beginning of the present fiscal year $24,265,082 had been expended on it, and estimates placed the cost of it at several millions more. Only one other public building in the country has cost more and that is the Philadelphia City Hall, on which more than $30,000,000 has been expended to date.

A comparison with the cost of some other notable public buildings will give an idea of the great burden the cost of its construction has been to the State. The National Capitol at Washington, which covers two and a half acres more, cost $11,723,400. The Pennsylvania State Capitol at Harrisburg cost $13,000,000. The Parliament Buildings at Ottawa, Canada, cost $5,000,000.

An Imposing Structure.

The Capitol was the most imposing building in Albany not only because of its great size, but also because of its commanding position on the highest of the hills which rise above the waters of the Hudson River. It's white granite walls and red-capped towers were visible from almost every section of the city and from all of the railroads entering the capital.

The Capitol has been under construction forty-four years. The act authorizing the erection of a building to cost not more than four million. The original architect was Thomas Fuller.

Fuller was superceded as architect in 1875 by an advisory panel consisting of Frederick Law Olmstead, Leopold Edlitz and Henry H. Richardson. The original Italian Renaissance plan was modified to the Romanesque, but the legislature demanded a return to the original plan, and its orders were obeyed.

Formally Occupied in 1879.

The formal occupation of the capital occurred on Feb. 12, 1879. At that time the Assembly chamber was already occupied. The Senate chamber was not occupied until March 10, 1881, Other parts of the building were later occupied as they were completed.

The ground floor contained a number of long corridors from which opened offices occupied by the State Treasurer, the Superintendent of Public Works, Superintendent of Public Instruction and other important State officials. Magnificent stone stairways, the beauty of which have been widely celebrated by architects, ran from the main corridor to the Senate and Assembly wings.

On the second floor were the offices of the Governor, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General and a number of other officials. The exquisite marble wainscoting on the corridors of this floor was particularly noteworthy, though the rooms occupied by the Governor and some of the members of his official family, were remarkable for their elegance.

Floor for Legislature.

On the third floor were the Senate and Assembly Chambers, the show rooms of the building. The Senate chamber was designed by H.H. Richardson of Boston, the leading architect of his time. The walls of this chamber were of Mexican onyx and tinted Sienna marble, and the effect produced by this arrangement was one of singular richness and beauty.

The Assembly chamber was designed by Leopold Eidlitz and when finished according to his plans, was a magnificent room and resembled the interior of a church. The ceiling was of sandstone supported by four splendid columns of Tennessee marble. The stone ceiling proved unstable, and it was decided to substitute quartered oak, in connection with this occurred the celebrated "ceiling scandal."

The contract for the new ceiling was awarded to John Snaith of Albany. The special commission that awarded it thought that it had provided for a quartered oak ceiling, but when the job was finished in 1889, a newspaper expose showed that it was made of papier mache. The cost had been $238,000.

Supt. Andrews Accused.

It was charged that Superintendent Andrews, who had charge of the work, had substituted the words "or of papier mache" in that clause of the specifications which had called for quartered oak. A special committee recommended the indictment of Snaith, Andrews and T. J. Sullivan, who was associated in the work, but no indictments were found.

On the third floor of the Capitol were also located the rooms occupied by the Court of Appeals and the State Library. The collection of books and historical documents in the library was extremely valuable. Estimates of its value run all the way from $1,500,000 to $3,000,000.

New York State Library 82nd Annual Report,

New York State Library 82nd Annual Report, 1899, (1901) page 62:

Fireproof safe.

The capitol walls are so massive that we have no fear of fire except as it might burn out individual rooms finished in wood. Hundreds of thousands of feet of oak have been used in shelving and interior finish, and in spite of careful installation of electric wires, we can not avoid the fear that some day this woodwork in some room will be accidentally set on fire and priceless material destroyed. The scientific explanation of how the fire occurred may be perfect, but the fact that rats or mice gnawed off insulation or that workmen accidentally broke it with their saws (as has happened a score of times in the past dozen years) might tell how it happened, but would not replace our lost treasures. Till we have a fireproof building, free from this danger, we must take the chances with ordinary books; but we have various treasures so costly that their destruction would cause serious criticism of the regents as trustees for not insisting on better protection than is now available, e. g. an autograph collector recently declared that our autographs of the signers of the declaration of independence were worth $20,000, In our manuscript room are collections which have cost the state vast sums and which money could not replace, yet there is no place to keep them except a room honeycombed with oak and interlaced with electric wires.

There are two solutions for adequate protection till the new building is ready : we may buy a large iron safe for the smallest and most costly collections; or better, take some small room, possibly in the basement if dampness can be thoroughly protected against (as it could be by making double walls with ventilation) and make a room strictly fireproof, without electric wires and large enough to hold all the rarities. A basement room would practically shut them off from public inspection, though they could be reached for occasional use. In the northwest pavilion it would be possible to make at comparatively small cost a fireproof room with ample daylight, open to visitors and yet safe from fire. From year to year other pressing needs have led us to defer this request, but we ought not to go longer without a large fireproof safe or fire-proof room. For lack of it we are liable to lose valuable gifts that would be put in our custody except for fear of fire.

Care of rooms.

During Gov. Flower's administration attention was called to the frequent losses in the state library and the subject was carefully considered by the superintendent of public buildings, representatives of the regents and the governor. It was found that the peculiar character of a great library was recognized the world over in unusual safeguards. In colleges and universities, where many janitors and cleaners have access to all ordinary rooms, it is customary to set apart the library as distinct, with locks to which there are few keys and none in the hands of the ordinary janitorial force. In other words, the library in its nature is a great safe for storing many things of large pecuniary value, which could be easily removed if the rooms were treated like other parts of the buildings. The superintendent declared it impossible for him or any one in his position with a great force constantly changing, many of the men coming from a distance and little known, to afford proper protection to the great collections of the library. Examination of cost by both systems made it clear that it would be economy to separate the library from the rest of the building and put its janitors under direct charge of the regents, who were responsible, as trustees, for safety of its property. As the rooms were so connected that it was impracticable to lock off the regents office, and as the regents examinations themselves required extreme vigilance, these were included with those transferred from the superintendent.

Experience has confirmed the wisdom of the action. At less cost we have secured better results and there has been marked improvement since access to the library has been so closely limited. The old locks were removed and at present there are only four keys, one for the head janitor, one for the night watchman, one carefully locked in the building for emergencies and one held by the director. Not even the senior librarians have a key to the rooms as either the janitor, night watchman or one of the staff is on duty and responsible for every person who passes the doors at any hour. Without this absolute control of the rooms, it would be simply impossible to afford proper protection to the many costly books in our great collection. Under the old system, losses were not due to lack of interest on the part of persons who had keys but to lack of appreciation of the dangers. Some visitor to gratify a laudable curiosity would ask to have the doors unlocked and to be admitted for a few minutes to see the library. Both visitor and janitor were perfectly trustworthy, but through the door thus opened sneak thieves, who have caused so much trouble in this building, would slip in and secreting themselves in alcoves or small rooms would have opportunity for petty thefts. Fortunately we had no very large losses, but the new system relieves most of this difficulty.

As we review the year we find that we are sharing the experience of all active great libraries. Each year we feel the pressure both for more room, a larger staff to meet the reasonable demands made on us, and for more books, because more books are printed than ever before and people insist as never before on having what they wish and need and will not be put off with some substitute printed perhaps years before the book they really want to see. Experience has proved that it pays to assist readers in a way not thought of a generation ago and the patrons of the state library naturally demand such assistance. All this adds to necessary expenses ; but, on the other hand, the extent and spirit of the service given calls out warm public appreciation of the large practical returns from taxpayers' money wisely and economically expended on what is becoming more truly each year the real people's university.

Respectfully submitted
Melvil Dewey
Director

82nd Annual Report, 1899. page 60:

Pursuant to the direction embodied in -the resolution adopted by your honorable body [Assembly] on the 6th day of February, 1899, viz :

Resolved, That the superintendent of public buildings be and he is hereby directed to ascertain and report to this house, with all convenient speed, as to the adequacy of that portion of the state capitol assigned to the use and occupancy of the state library, for its present needs and its probably future requirements.

I have ascertained and hereby respectfully report the following facts.

That the portion of the state capital used and occupied by the state library comprises 64,553 square feet of floor surface, in addition to considerable space in the capital corridors adjacent to said library used and occupied for the exhibition of Indian relics, hydraulic and electrical machinery, photographs of school buildings, etc.

From the fact that of the abovementioned 64,553 square feet of floor surface, 4,000° square feet is devoted to the storage of books, in cases, it is self-evident that there is not sufficient shelf room for said books,* [*This refers to the books boxed up in cases in the basement and it fails to mention those stored over the assembly chamber and in other parts of the attic story. Altogether there are now more than 150,000 volumes nailed up and inaccessible for lack of shelf room,] and as I am informed and believe that these books are accumulating rapidly, it is fair to assume that some arrangements for their accommodation will have to be made in the very near future.

It should be borne in mind that if the location of the state library is changed from its present quarters, all the metal shelving, book cases, elaborate carving, and special appliances, extending, as they do, through two or more stories, with numerous galleries, must be removed and the regular floor levels of the building carried through the space they now occupy, to adapt those quarters to other purposes; and that but an inconsiderable proportion of such fixtures and appurtenances could be utilized elsewhere.
Respectfully submitted

H. H. Bender
Supt. Public Buildings

Start to Remodel Damaged Capital.

April 2, 1911, New York Times, page 10, START TO REMODEL DAMAGED CAPITOL;

Contractors Tearing Down the Most Dangerous Parts of the Fire-Wrecked Walls.

ALBANY, April 1. -- A contracting firm under the direction of Franklin B. Ware, State Architect, began work to-day on the burned part of the Capitol. Some of the walls are being shored so that the more dangerous parts on the western side of the Capitol may be taken down. The most dangerous spot is in the wall which supports the dormer windows on the roof of the northwestern pavilion. The opposite pavilion must also be removed.

The work of salvage in the State Library is bringing about better results than was hoped for and Education Commissioner Draper said to-day that about 50,000 books, mostly from the reference section, would be recovered. These are being taken to religious and other buildings, where they can be spread out to dry. The greatest care has to be taken to prevent thievery by relic hunters. It is asserted that there are paid agents of various interests here who are resorting to all manner of means to gain possession of valuable books, manuscripts, and relics. Because of this all passes have been revoked and new ones are issued only to persons having business in the Capital.

Dr. Draper says that the most serious question in the rehabilitating of the State Library will be the necessary funds. He has called a special meeting of the Regents of the university in this city on Wednesday evening to initiate measures for the rebuilding of the State Library.

The Commissioner also issued an appeal to the school children of Albany to help the State in recovering Indian relics, coins, or other relics scattered by the fire, by bringing them, or reporting any knowledge concerning them, to the teachers of the schools or to the temporary quarters of the State Library in State Street.

Twisted sword blades recovered from the ruins were delivered to Commissioner Draper to-day. They are all that remain of the weapons presented by the Governor of New York to to Gen. Worth at the close of the Mexican war. The sword presented by Frederick the Great to Gen. George Washington is missing.

Arnold J.T. Von Laer, State Archivist, who is being assisted by H.F. Phelps Stokes as the representative of the Trustees of the New York public Library, watched every shovelful of stuff taken out of the library to-day. Mr. Von Laer said that the contents of the archive room, if figured merely in the commercial worth of the autographs on the documents, was easily $1,000,000, and that out of this approximately $10,000 has been saved.

Many records have been needlessly lost through the haste of workmen, according to State Historian Victor H. Paltsits. He says that he picked up yesterday about 500 feet from where the papers were being thrown out a conveyance of land in the Town of Groton bearing the date 1723.

Gov. Dix and many other State officials and employes to-day attended the funeral services of Samuel Abbott of Syracuse, the watchman who was burned to death in the State Library. The body of Mr. Abbott, with that of his wife, who died in this city in January, were taken to Syracuse to-night for burial.

The police to-day received a letter from the parents of David Mintz of Newark, N.J., who fear their son may have perished in the Capital fire. Mintz came to Albany on Monday with R.E. Sherman of Hartford, Conn. On Tuesday Mintz told Sherman he intended to sleep in the Assembly Chamber that night and would meet him the next morning. He failed to keep his appointment, and has not been seen since.

Costliest of Capitals.

Even in an ostensibly critical article, the New York Times can just lie like a rug, as she misrepresents the most publicized scandal from twenty years earlier---the infamous "papier mache ceiling" in the Assembly Chamber.

March 30, 1911, New York Times,

NEWTON, Mass. March 29.—George W. Abbott of West Newton, son of Samuel J. Abbott, the night watchman at the New York State Library in the Capital Building, is on his way to Albany to investigate the report that his father lost his life in the fire. Mrs. L. M. Newton, a daughter, also lives in Newton. Her father, she said, was seventy-seven years old.

Costliest of Capitals.

$23,000,000 Spent on Albany Structure---Trail of Graft Charges.

The Capitol in Albany, construction of which started in 1867, but which was still undergoing fundamental architectural changes as late as 1905, is a massive stone building, 400 feet by 300 feet, with walls 100 feet high. It was originally planned to cost $4,000,000, but the total ran above $25,000,000, thus exceeding the cost of the next most expensive State Capital, at Harrisburg, Penn., by $12,000,000.

Since the submittal of the first plans for the new building by Thomas Fuller, architect, and J. McAlpine, Consulting Engineer, the history of the construction process has been recorded in terms of accusations of graft, official investigation, and new levies for the completion and alteration of the original and amended plans.

The first intimation that the construction work did not meet the requirements came when it was announced that the heavy stone towers for which the plans called could not be built because the foundation would not bear the strain. The most massive part of the building, it was said, was built on a clay bank overlying quicksand. The first charge of misapplication of funds came in 1879, when only $9,500,000 had been spent. The investigation which followed, as well as all other future investigations, ended without any direct charges of wrongdoing.

In 1887 one wing of the building began to settle, due, it was thought, to the clay bank underneath. To lessen the weight on the foundation all the stone ceilings were then replaced by papier mache ceilings adorned with oak panels. Dissatisfaction with this reconstruction work resulted in the appointment of a committee of experts, of which the late Stanford White was a member. The findings showed that only three of the twenty-seven drawings had been prepared before the contract had been let, and that these were neither singed or dated.

A doubt was expressed as to the bona fide character of the bids received. Material changes in building materials had been freely made in violation of the law, and the new ceiling was found to contain less than half of the required number of oaken frames called for in the contract. The cost exceeded the amount of the bid by over $23,000. In short, the investigation showed that the contract had been violated in almost every specification and requirement.

Then followed a series of destructive cracks in walls, in the great stone arches, and in the famous Assembly staircase. Added to that came complaints that the building was poorly ventilated, that the acoustics were bad, and that all the window frames were made of iron, the expansion in Summer making it impossible to open the windows, whereas the contraction allowed the cold to come in in Winter. In 1905, during Governor Cleveland’s administration, there was an honest attempt made to correct as many of the deficiencies as a levy of $1,000,000 would allow.

Among the rooms of the Capital suffering particularly from a free change of specifications was the Executive Chamber. The contract called for long mahogany panels extending from floor to ceiling. Instead, “bay mahogany” or “baywood” was used. One genuine mahogany panel was used, however, and its darker finish and finer grain stood in marked contrast with the remainder of the walls. Again, in the Court of Appeals, there was a huge stone fireplace which, though many years old, had never been used. When the court was in session on one occasion a fire was started with the result that the Judges were smoked out of the chamber. The chimney flue was found to be only six inches wide.

Writers upon architecture say that the Capital reminds them of the famous Taj Mehal in India. There is nothing equivalent to the style in this country. Originally it was intended to copy the Italian Renaissance; this was partially forsaken for the Romanesque, however, and now the style has been commonly called "free Renaissance."

The Assembly Chamber had to be substantially rebuilt when structural deficiencies caused its solid stone ceiling to begin to collapse less than ten years after it was completed.

1888 Stone vaulted ceiling of Assembly Chamber replaced after it failed structurally.

From: http://www.albany.edu/museum/wwwmuseum/statestreet/thecapitol.html

Haunting Land Grants

The following article published a fortnight or so after the spectacular blaze at the State Capitol in Albany destroyed New York's authentic political, cultural and financial history, neatly reveals several of the many unscrupulous motivations behind an organized elite's act of incendiarism in service to their pathological agenda.

April 14, 1911, The Albany Evening Journal, page 2, TROOPS PAID FOR DUTY IN CAPITOL

Protecting of State Property After the Fire Last Month Cost About $8,500
SOLDIERS PAID AT THE ARMORY LAST NIGHT

It is Believed $1,000,000 Will Be Available for the Purchase of New Library In Next Two Years—Talk of New Buildings.

It cost the state about $8,500 to maintain a military guard at the capitol in the days immediately following the fire last month. Several companies were ordered out for service to protect the state's property and to keep the public away from dangerous portions of the building. This service continued from eight to 11 days.

The soldiers received in pay $5,432.92, and $1,416.76 was paid out for subsistence. The amount expended for transportation and supplies is estimated at from $330 to $400.

"While on duty the state pays its officers at the following rate, the difference in each rank depending on the length of service: Majors, $8.33 to $11.11 a day; captains, $7.67 to $9.33; first lieutenants, $5.56 to $7.67; second lieutenants, $4.72 to $5.61. The enlisted men are paid as follows while on duty: Staff sergeants, $2 a day; sergeants, $1.50; corporals, $1.40; privates, $1.25. To the daily pay of those who have served more than five years 15 cents is added.

Pay Night at the Armory.

Last night was a lively one at the armory, the men of the four companies being paid for the tour of duty performed at the capitol. The checks were turned over to the four company commanders yesterday by the adjutant general's office, and as soon as it became known that they were ready all hands arranged to be on deck last night.

Through the courtesy of the Albany Trust company, the members of Company C were paid in cash. Treasurer Alonzo P. Adams, jr., and William P. Davis were on hand in the company rooms, and as each man received his check they cashed it for him. The men from the other companies received their checks and were not long in exchanging them into cash in the various stores on the hill.

Church Library Not For Sale.

Dr. A. S. Draper. state commissioner of education, announced to-day that the valuable Church library which was recently sold is not in the market and no effort is being made to secure any portion of it for the state. Only a part of the collection of rare books would be available for the new state library and this part cannot be purchased.

Liberal Appropriation Urged.

Dr. Draper received to-day from Edward Hagaman Hall, secretary of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation society, a communication stating that at a meeting of the trustees of the society Monday it was voted as the sense of the trustees that the State should make liberal appropriations not only for rehabilitating the library and museum, but also for making facsimiles of rare unpublished documents translating such as are in foreign languages and printing them, so that such manuscript treasures of the state as have escaped destruction in the capital fire, may be at least protected from utter annihilation of their contents by being printed, and their contents themselves being made public and available for the use of historians and scientists.

It is believed that about $1,000,000 will be available for the purchase of books and records during the next two years.

Talk of New Buildings.

There has been talk of a bill being introduced in the Assembly on Monday night providing for a fund of $1,000,000 for necessary repairs to the capital and the creation of buildings for the accommodation of departmental offices, thus practically giving over the capital to the use of the Legislature, the governor and such departments as are in close touch with the Legislature. This is State Architect Ware's plan, but Majority Leader Smith of the Assembly says that just now nothing definite is decided upon excepting the raising of less than a million for the restoration of the capitol. He believes that the entire third floor should be entirely devoted to the uses of the Legislature, and agreed with Architect Ware that most of the departments should be in separate buildings within easy distance of the capitol. In fact, the plan talked of is to acquire all the property on the Streets abutting on the capitol and Capitol park, and form a horseshoe of department buildings about them.

Assembly Chamber's Occupancy.

It will not be definitely settled until the Legislature reconvenes next week whether the assemblymen will decide that it should be necessary to go on with daily business in the Assembly chamber. The Axminister carpet and the padding underneath it are dry, but the ... Ohio sandstone are still damaged. Some of the assemblymen who have been about their chamber fell that business can be resumed with safety; others that it would be detrimental to health to sit in there for a week or two to come.

Some of the rooms of the attorney general in the southwestern corner, on the second floor, have been dried out and fitted up in shape for reoccupancy, and Attorney General Carmody and his official family will move back from their temporary quarters in the city hall next week. Mr. Carmody will also occcupy the rooms formerly used by Adjutant General Verbeck and his office forces, which adjoin the attorney general's suite on the east. The adjutant general will take up quarters at 174 State street.

Secretary Grace Says Facts Distorted.

Charles Grace, secretary of Plumbers union No. 7, states that some of the article published about the retirement of John H. Moran and the men he employed from the capital work are misleading. He says that there is only one plumbers' union in the United States and Canada, and that the members do nothing but plumbing work. The sub-contract which Mr. Moran was performing at the capital, Mr. Grace said, was purely plumbing, and that no steamfitting whatever was required. Mr. Grace said further that some of the master plumbers would like to have it appear that it was one union bucking another. Such is not the case, he says, for the plumbers have no fight with Local No. 45. The men whom Plumbers' union No. 7 objected to, he says, are not members of No. 45, but nonunion plumbers brought here from New York city when the strike was inaugurated last August.

First off, let's address State Architect Franklin B. Ware's plan, "to acquire all the property on the Streets abutting on the capitol and Capitol park, and form a horseshoe of department buildings about them," a plan which was coming little more than two weeks after an unforeseen and unforeseeable disaster had temporarily incommoded state office workers. A new $4,000,000 New York State Department of Education Building across the street from the capital was less than a year away from completion. As per plan, the education department, including the state Regents, library and museum were soon to vacate their sizable offices in the old capital. So why a sudden impulse for such visionary growth?

Thanks to the recent commemorative 128-page volume (that is, if you count the front cover as being page one. Everything Arcadia Publishing puts out is in the same standardized format,) The New York State Capitol and the Great Fire of 1911, by Paul Mercer and Vicki Weiss, on page 18, we can find Ware's unrealized schemata.

CAPTION: This proposed plan for the development of Capital Hill, drawn up by Franklin B. Ware, shows the State Education Building, the capitol, city hall, and All Saints Cathedral. The Court of Appeals building was not built on the plot between Capitol Place and Swan Street, and the five smaller buildings to its left never were built. Ware was New York State architect from October 15, 1907, through May 1912.

On page 62 of the 1910 The NEW YORK RED BOOK, is found Mr. Ware's then-current professional CV

STATE ARCHITECT. FRANKLIN B. WARE.

Franklin B. Ware, the State Architect, was appointed to his present position on October 15, 1907, by Governor Hughes, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. George L. Heins.
Mr. Ware was born in New York city in 1873 and was graduated from the Architectural Department, School of Mines, Columbia University, in 1894. He then entered the office of his father, becoming a member of the firm of James E. Ware & Sons in 1896. Mr. Ware is a member of the New York Chapter of the American I Institute of Architects. He has been concerned with the construction or many important buildings, among them the Twelfth Regiment Armory, New York city, the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, Model Tenements for the City and Suburban Homes Company, and several libraries and public school buildings.
He was elected to the Board of Aldermen in New York city in 1901, and served two terms. While a member of the Board he was especially interested in the work of the Committee on Buildings, of which he was chairman during one term.
He is a member of the Republican Club of New York city, Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, Horseshoe Harbor Yacht Club, Columbia University Club, and the Fort Orange Club of Albany.

While an October 16, 1907, New York Times article, NEW STATE ARCHITECT, Franklin B, Ware of This City is Appointed by Gov. Hughes, delves further into the young man's multiple careers:

ALBANY, Oct. 15,--Gov. Hughes this afternoon appointed Franklin B. Ware of New York City to be State Architect, in place of George L. Heins, recently deceased.
The salary is $7,500 and the State Architect holds office at the pleasure of the Governor.
Mr. Ware is a graduate of Columbia University, a member of the firm of James E. Ware & Son, architects, and the director of a realty company. He was a member of the Board of Alderman for four years prior to 1905 and is a corporal of the Seventy-first New York Regiment and a member of the Republican Club. He is 34 years old.

His Wikipedia entry has him beginning his internship in his daddy's office in 1900, while simultaneously serving as a (boodle?) alderman, real estate speculator, and reserve military, so it isn't hard to picture on which side his career toast was buttered.

Which leads us to Secretary Charles Grace of the Plumbers union---although for a perfect match a Masonic stone cutter would have better served, given that granite literally melted in the extreme high heat of the capital fire. The co-opting of labor by capital was already an old story in post-muckraking 1911. Having fed at the construction trough for 30 years in building the state capital, politicians were ready for a rebuilding.

Likewise, it isn't hard to figure out Edward Hagaman Hall's entreaty for "liberal appropriations" to rebuild both library and museum, especially when calling for "making facsimiles of rare unpublished documents." In just such a way could an inconvenient history be sanitized to one's liking, with troublesome originals likely secreted away rather than actually being burned.

Which brings us to "Pay Night at the Armory." As soon as I read that it reminded me of notations found in the General Index of the Documents and Laws of the State of New-York, Prepared and Published Under a Joint Resolution of the Senate and Assembly of the 26th March, 1841, such as:

1840 Sheriff of: Report relative to paying the militia called out to assist, Doc. S. Vol. 2 No. 83
Manor Of Rensselaerwyck:
1835 Report on a resolution to inquire whether ground rents, quarter sales, &c. are subject to taxation Doc. S Vol. 2 No. 83
1840 Report of Comptroller relative to paying the militia called out to assist sheriff, Doc. S Vol. 3 No. 67
1840 *Governor's message relative to the difficulties in the, Doc. S Vol. 3 No. 70
1840 *Report on bill for the payment of the militia, Doc. A Vol. 5 No.175
1840 Report in relation to the difficulties in the Doc. A Vol. 6 No. 271
1841 Report of the commissioners appointed to effect a settlement of the disputes between the landlord and tenants of the.. Doc. A Vol. 7 No. 261

That is why we find comfort information instead, like found in Chris Carola's Associated Press article, NY marks 100th anniversary of 1911 Capitol fire:

Another item saved from the blaze is a page, circa 1675, from a wealthy Dutch woman's account with an Albany baker. The entry shows a purchase of "Sinterklaas" goodies. Mercer and Weiss believe it could be the earliest record of the celebration of the feast of Saint Nicholas - aka Santa Claus - in the New World.

This, rather than an account of a Patroon who, well into the 19^th century, could administer capital punishment to his tenant, with no recourse to an appeal for the tenant. Interestingly, the Rensselaerwyck papers were only placed in the state library a few months before the fire which destroyed the majority of them. And we're left with the ersatz reality of Santa Claus cookies, and a dead man supposedly haunting the dry and serviceable Axminister carpets in the Assembly chamber on Halloween night.

An Illustrated Legislative Manual: The NEW YORK RED BOOK, ALBANY NY: J. B. LYON COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, 1910.

April 20, 1911,Page 1, New York Times, DIX TO ASK PUBLIC TO REBUILD CAPITOL, About $1 a Head All Round, He Figures, Would Help Out This Empire State.

The first quarter century of the New York state library school, 1887-1912. New York State Library School, State of New York Education Department, 1912, page 61

Spring had just begun to take the chill out of the air, when we awakened one morning to find the New York State Library in ashes. As we stood on the street corner watching the smoldering flames, which now and again burst forth with renewed energy and played with awful beauty within the narrow confines of the tower, we wondered how this great library could ever be restored. But we did not doubt that the work would go on, for we knew our director and his staff. It was not long before we were all assembled in the audtorium of the State Normal College, and Mr Wyer standing before us held up one poor charred volume saying, "My friends, this is the New York State Library." Upon so small a foundation were plans quickly laid for the future; comfortable quarters were provided at the State Normal College, lectures delivered, books purchased, and with only a day's interruption our work proceeded with its former interest and efficiency.

As we looked upon the blackened walls of the Capitol we realized how great a calamity had fallen on the State but we were also filled with admiration for the courage and energy of our faculty. There was no faltering, no hesitation but a marvelous spirit of determination to save what was possible from the ruins and to rebuild upon the same broad lines.

To the class of 1912 there was one gleam of light in the darkness. The fire had been terrible but if it had to be, we were glad it had come at this time. Our recent examination in shelf and accession work had caused us many pangs of anxiety but out of the blackness peeped a silver-lining. Everything had been destroyed so our examination papers were no more. But our joy was short lived for everything was lost except one small iron box and this contained the examination papers, only blackened a little along the edges.

Then came the library trip, when we traveled from place to place, invested with somewhat the same feeling of importance that took possession of David Copperfield when he donned his first suit of mourning. In the eyes of the library world we were refugees from a great fire and
received with unusual interest. We told and retold the story of the conflagration and dwelt with pardonable pride on all that had been accomplished in the succeeding weeks.

On our return we found our room at the Normal College provided with unhoped-for conveniences and equipped with an excellent working library. So the year ended with a little fun intermingled with the long hours of cataloging and the bond between faculty and students was drawn more closely because of the great crisis through which they had passed together.

The next fall we assembled, our own class somewhat diminished in numbers, but not in enthusiasm. The gloomy loft of the guild house of the Cathedral of All Saints had been transformed into a pleasant study room and the walls lined with a splendid collection of books. In spite of the fire there seemed to be no lack of material for our work and we delighted in the soft strains of music which came to us from the choir boys in the cathedral.

Soon the strange faces of the juniors became familiar to us. We entertained them; they invited us to a dance; the months slipped by and we separated to do practice and research work in various parts of the country. All too quickly June arrived and our two years at Albany became but a memory.

Our course had been varied and broken, but was there one who was not glad and proud to belong to the " fire class? " We had lost much in the form of lecture notes and books, but we had gained far more in seeing the courage with which men and women could face a great disaster and the ability and perseverance which made it possible to build a new library on the ashes of the old.

Study Room, New York State Library School, 1897-1900
Room 51, southwest tower of Capital, fifth floor.





Lecture Room, New York State Library School, 1897-1900
Room 51A, State Capital. Afterward used as Director's office.



Lecture Room, New York State Library School, 1900-
Room 71, State Capital, southeast tower, seventh floor. [?]





Study Room, New York State Library School, 1893-1897.
Room 31, State Capital. Used also for several years for the summer school.

Giving Back.

From the [Albany] Times-Union: 1911 Capitol fire

Burnt artifacts salvaged from the State Capitol fire of March 29, 1911 in Albany. (Courtesy NYS Library)

Dan Odell with three Audubon bird prints at his Delmar home Wednesday June 8, 2011. Damaged in the 1911 Capitol fire and discarded by the state,the prints were salvaged by Odell's grandfather, state zoologist Sherman C. Bishop. They were in Bishop's summer cottage and Odell is now giving them back to the state on the Capitol fire's centennial. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

An Audubon print of a Rice Bird, one of three bird prints salvaged by Sherman C. Bishop, NYS zoologist from 1916-1928. Bishop's grandson Dan Odell is now giving them back to the state on the Capitol fire's centennial. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

An Audubon print of a Yellow Throated Warbler, one of three bird prints salvaged by Sherman C. Bishop, NYS zoologist from 1916-1928. Bishop's grandson Dan Odell is now giving them back to the state on the Capitol fire's centennial. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

An Audubon print of a Blue Yellow-backed Warbler, one of three bird prints salvaged by Sherman C. Bishop, NYS zoologist from 1916-1928. Bishop's grandson Dan Odell is now giving them back to the state on the Capitol fire's centennial. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Discarded Audubon prints returning to state - State Museum will get lithographs damaged in 1911 fire at Capitol. by Paul Grondahl, Staff writer
Published 12:01 a.m., Sunday, June 19, 2011

ALBANY -- The stunning avian colors in John James Audubon's life-size color lithographs have been clouded by smoke from the 1911 Capitol fire and a century of benign neglect, but the valuable bird prints once assumed to be destroyed have risen, phoenix-like.

Now, the grandson of the state zoologist who salvaged them from a large discard pile of fire-damaged materials long ago is planning to return them to the State Museum collection.

"I thought it was the right thing to do," said Dan Odell, 59, a retired state Office of Mental Health administrator.

Odell's grandfather, Sherman C. Bishop, rescued three of the marginally salvageable Audubon engravings from a sodden, charred pile of 90 plates that were destroyed in the March 29, 1911, fire and were about to be thrown out. They were among more than 10,000 State Museum items lost in the catastrophic fire that left a night watchman dead and consumed nearly the entire collection of the State Library, including 500,000 books and 300,000 manuscripts.

Bishop began work as state zoologist in 1916 and five years later offered the three prints he rescued to his friend Langdon Gibson, an explorer and naturalist who lived in Schenectady. Gibson had the smoke- and water-damaged edges trimmed off, framed them and gave them back to Bishop as a gift. The three Audubon images are the yellow-throated warbler, blue yellow-backed warbler and rice bird. They were engraved, printed and hand-colored by R. Havell in the 1820s and 1830s and were contained in what is known as a Havell edition. It was the only Audubon volume in the State Museum collection.

Bishop hung the three bird prints in his summer cottage in the Finger Lakes. That's where they remained for the next six decades, until Odell's mother gave him the prints in the 1980s.

"They'd been sitting in my closet ever since and I wasn't doing anything with them, so I decided to give them back," Odell said.

He was spurred to action after reading a Times Union story last month about descendants of A.J.F. van Laer, the State Library's archivist who rushed into the burning Capitol in 1911 to save Colonial Dutch records he was translating. His descendants donated books and items to the State Library from van Laer's estate.

"It's nice to have a representation of Audubon's work back in our collection," said Patricia Kernan, a biological illustrator with the State Museum. "It's a very important piece of history for us."

She said the prints will require conservation work and they will be stored properly for the first time -- with archival paper and temperature and humidity controls.

Because the prints have been trimmed down and they are damaged, their value is limited, perhaps worth about $2,000 apiece. An online dealer of Havell edition Audubon plates in good condition is offering them for sale from $5,000 apiece to more than $100,000 based on the type and size of the bird.

Union College has an extra-large and rare set of Audubon prints, known as a "double elephant folio" edition. Those 435 bound and hand-colored etchings are valued in excess of $1 million. They were restored and returned to the Schaffer Library in 2006. One hundred of the Audubons were recovered after being stolen from the college in 1971.

Bishop left his job as state zoologist in 1928 and took a faculty position in the zoology department at the University of Rochester. He continued to work there until his death in 1951. His research specialty was spiders and salamanders and his "Handbook of American Salamanders" remains a standard college text.

Odell rediscovered the Audubon prints when he and his wife, a certified public accountant, began downsizing and packing. They have sold their large Colonial home in Delmar home and are moving this summer into a loft apartment in Cohoes.

In his retirement, Odell has become a licensed outdoor guide and has led parties on fishing and hiking trips into the Adirondack back country. He has traversed some of the locales where his grandfather conducted field work and collected specimens. In his backpack, Odell carries his grandfather's L.L. Bean hunting knife and enamel camping plates.

"I feel a connection to the past," said Odell, whose great-uncle was the former New York Gov. Benjamin B. Odell, who held the office from 1901-1905.

"I'm glad I could return some of the State Museum's history to its collection," he said.

Reach Grondahl at 454-5623 or pgrondahl@timesunion.com.

From: New York State Library 94th Annual Report 1911, Transmitted to the Legislature March 27, 1912.

Following page 34:


The folio edition of Audobon's Birds of America as saved from the ruins.
Also found at:Annual report, Issue 94, 1912, (Google eBook)

The Burning of the New York State Library - March 29, 1911.

March 30, 1911, New York Times, Page 10, Column 4,

The Capital Fire.

To the Editor of The New York Times

Let us give thanks to St. Abraham again. The Republican Party is saved again. It has burned the documents. ------------ N.

PALTSITS ASSAILS DRAPER.

June 24, 1910, New York Times, PALTSITS ASSAILS DRAPER.

State Historian Accuses Commissioner of Education of Lobbying.

ALBANY, June 23. -- Charges of "misrepresentation, pernicious lobbying, and coercion," are made against State Commissioner of Education Andrew S. Draper by State Historian Victor Hugo Paltsits, in a circular letter which he has sent to Presidents of historical societies, educators, and other persons interested in historical study and research. The accusations grow out of the efforts of the Commissioner to defeat legislation proposed by Mr. Paltsits at the last two sessions to have the historian's department made a bureau in the Department of Education.

The bill gave the State Historian access to all county records for the purpose of examining them and ascertaining whether they contained anything of historical value. It also gave him the right to copy and photograph such originals and prohibited their destruction by county officials or custodians of records without first consulting and receiving his permission.

The legislation which Mr. Paltsits was endeavoring to have passed had the indorsement of historical societies throughout the State, and of nearly every every prominent educator, as well as many writers on historical subjects. These men, as is clear from letters on file in the office of the State Historian, are also opposed, almost without exception, to subordinating the department to that of the Commissioner of Education.

Mr. Paltsits declined to-day to give out his letter for publication on the ground that it was personal correspondence, and he even refused to confirm the accuracy of a copy which reached THE TIMES correspondent through other channels.

Dr. Draper is out of town. Dr. Thomas E. Finegan, Third Assistant Commissioner of Education, said to-day:

"Mr. Paltsits is laboring under some very strange delusions with reference to the entire matter. There was no pernicious lobbying, nor any effort except what was made in the open on behalf of this department to defeat that bill. We believed---and I think with some justification---that the powers the bill would have given the State Historian over public records were too sweeping, especially as they would have covered certain manuscripts of tremendous value in the State Library, which under the existing law is in the custody of the Regents and this department.

"We did not feel that we could afford to divide the responsibility with the State Historian. As a way out it was suggested to Mr. Paltsits that he become an official in this department and have the benefits of everything in the State Library. He declined to do so."

Less than a year after this contretemps, on March 29, 1911, the New York State House in Albany, built of massive stone construction and widely considered fireproof, inexplicably caught fire late at night, in a blaze so quick spreading and intensely hot it has to be judged by modern sensibilities to be the result of incendiarism---although no direct mention of this possibility was ever made in the public newspapers of the time. In addition to "about 600,000 volumes it contained 400,000 pamphlets, and 300,000 historical manuscripts," many of which were of an "irreplaceable nature," and the entire undivided collection was nearly totally destroyed. Also lost were the library of the Assembly, comprising much of the essential record of State legislation, as well as the entire case record of the Claims Court, the forum for civil litigants seeking damages against the State of New York. Other losses, including "10,000 of the State Museum's most prized archaeological and ethnographic objects stored in tall glass cases, including its world-famous Iroquois collection were consumed in a flaming corsage," as the Albany Times-Union wrote this year in coverage of the 100-year anniversary of the event.



Although, in at least one image, apparently released through the Associated Press for the first time in 2011, the wooden cases appear to have survived the fire relatively unscathed.

In the major piece of reporting published in The New York Times the day following the fire, can be found a quote from Paltsits that literally jumps out:

"Victor Hugo Paltsits, State Historian, said to-night that he had long feared the loss of the priceless historical records in the State Library, which he has repeatedly tried to have transferred to his own department.

"'They were stored,' he said, 'in an improvised room, the shelving and furniture of which were all of wood. The whole thing was tinder and could not have withstood fire from within or without. The disaster had been expected by those of us who were familiar with the ground.'"

Such expressed public opinion would indicate to me Paltsits was either a plot co-conspirator who was tasked with planting seeds of legitimacy---if not actual justification---in the press coverage of a what would seem otherwise to be an incredible event; or else he was providing a serious indictment of the public officials whose stewardship of the collection held them ultimately responsible for any lack of fire safety, prevention, or effective response. This loss occurred of the State Library occurred just in advance of its planned move into new quarters in a nearly completed building just across the street from the Capital in Albany, where for the first time much of the collection stood the chance of being accessible for historical review. Given this, and much else, I'd say Paltsits represents a true whistle blower, although in the hallmark of insiders to a powerful conspiracy, there were no repercussions for men like Dr. Finegan and Dr. Draper afterward.

April 20, 1911,Page 1, New York Times, DIX TO ASK PUBLIC TO REBUILD CAPITOL, About $1 a Head All Round, He Figures, Would Help Out This Empire State.

"Party lines are removed in the great problems of citizenship,. and now, when the State has suffered such a heavy and unexpected loss through the recent fire in its Capital, it is proper that an appeal should be made to all its citizens. In that fire many of the State's most valuable documents were destroyed. It was only through the foresight of Dr. Draper that two of the most valued documents---Washington's Farewell Address and Lincoln's Proclamation---were not lost in the fire. Two years ago Dr. Draper expressed his fear that the documents might be lost through just such a conflagration, and he put them away in a safe in his office. It was thought for a time that the sword given by Frederick the Great has also been saved, but unfortunately it was in the fire. It was found in the burnt building three days later damaged, but not so badly but that it can be, and I hope will soon be, repaired.

"As a result of the fire, the State now finds itself obliged to rebuild the State Library, which was worth over $2,000,000, and repairs to the Capital will also cost about $2,000,000. There is, besides, the necessity of erecting a State educational building. All these are important improvements to the State's property for the use of future generations. They will require money---about $1 from each citizen of the State. "The need of providing a building where the important papers and documents shall hereafter be kept safe from fire and water must be self-evident to all citizens, and an appeal will be made to all its loyal citizens to respond to the need. I know that they and you will rise to the occasion and that with your help our great problem can be solved."

The Governor's aid, Lieut. Commander de Kay, was asked afterward for more details as to the nature of the proposed collection, but he said that as far as he knew the matter had not yet taken very definite shape. He thought it had been suggested because the loss due to the fire, being altogether unforeseen or unforeseeable, had fallen so much more heavily now when an earnest effort is being made to curtail expenditures, He could add nothing to what the Governor had said.

Lieut. de Kay's characterization of the fire as "being altogether unforeseen or unforeseeable," directly contradicts what Governor Dix had said previously that evening, in praising Dr. Draper's "foresight" for preserving two of the most precious documents under his care. It also sounds awfully similar to "nobody in this administration, and I don't think in the previous administration, could have imagined them flying airplanes into buildings."


There are a great many eerie parallels between the fire at the State Capital in Albany on March 29, 1911 and the fire 289 days later at the Equitable Life Assurance Building in lower Manhattan. Both were spectacular events in the media, if not equally so on the ground. Both buildings were of the same massive, mid-19th-century, masonry and iron construction, and were standards of that era's indestructibility by fire, yet both experienced quick, raging fires leading to partial building collapses.



Neither structure was insured against damage by fire, nor were the valuable contents in each insured against loss.



The burning up of libraries was a central event in both fires, although the loss of Equitable's touted law library was insignificant in comparison. But a primary motive for both arsons was the destruction, or at least the claim of destruction, for many important legal and business documents. The survival of bronze statues figured in media coverage of both---one of Henry Hyde, the founder of the Equitable Society, the other George Washington, the founder of the United States of America.



"Sparks" from the New York state capitol fire, Albany, N.Y., March 29, 1911. Over 50 souvenir views

Minutes of The Commissioners For Detecting Conspiracies In The State of New York: Albany County Sessions 1778-1781, Volume III. Analytical Index. 1909-1910, Edited by Victor Hugo Paltsits,

An Illustrated Legislative Manual: The NEW YORK RED BOOK, page 62

March 30, 1911, New York Times,"$5,000,000 Loss in Capitol Fire",

March 29, 1911 (Extra Edition) New York Times, "State Capital Afire After Caucus Quits,"

March 28, 2011, Associated Press, NY marks 100th anniversary of 1911 Capitol fire

March 28, 2011, Albany Times-Union,1911 Capitol fire remains seared into city's history,

Minutes of The Commissioners For Detecting Conspiracies In The State of New York:

Minutes of The Commissioners For Detecting Conspiracies In The State of New York: Albany County Sessions 1778-1781, Volume II. Analytical Index. 1909-1910,
Edited by Victor Hugo Paltsits, State Historian,

The Commissioners for detecting and defeating Conspiracies, was officially created on February 5, 1778 in response to the invasion of New York by the British army, and the fear of domestic foes, such as the Tories. The nine Commisioners, aided by armed forces, traveled throughout New York, where they sought out and arrested "enemies of the State." This 3-volume work analyzes the laws passed for the repression of disaffection and disloyalty in the state of New York.

Volume I: 1778-1779 covers inquisitorial bodies of New York during the American Revolution and the origin of the Commissioners, operations of the Commissioners as revealed by Albany County Board proceeding, and minutes of Commissioners for Conspiracy meetings.

Volume II: 1780-1781 continues with the minutes of the Commissioners for Conspiracies meetings, followed by Appendix I: Laws, Appendix II: Financial Accounts, and Appendix III: Miscellanea.

Volume III: Analytical Index is "closely analytical, by persons, places and subjects. The vagaries that occur in personal and place nomenclature, so common to the period, have been preserved in parentheses after the standard entry or are pointed out by cross-references, which have been used freely for this purpose, as well as for calling attention to correlated or synonymous topics." This volume is a "magnet with which to extract the ore from a rich mine of operations of commisioners for conspiracies during the American Revolution."