Three Rivers
Hudson~Mohawk~Schoharie
History From America's Most Famous Valleys

The Campaign of Lieut. Gen. John Burgoyne
and The Expedition of Lieut. Col. Barry St. Leger.
by William L. Stone.
Albany, NY, Joel Munsell. 1877.

No. XVIII.
The Saratoga Monument Association.

The Saratoga Monument Association was incorporated by act of the legislature of the state of New York, passed April 19th, 1859, Chap. 498, Laws of 1859. The first section of this act reads as follows:

" Sec. I. George Strover, William Wilcox and their associates, shall be a body corporate and politic, by the name and style of the Saratoga Monument Association, for the purpose of taking and holding sufficient real and personal property to erect on such spot in town of Saratoga, and as near the place where Burgoyne surrendered the British army, as a majority of the trustees hereinafter named shall deem practicable, a monument commemorative of the battle which ended in Burgoyne's surrender, on the seventeenth of October, seventeen hundred and seventy-seven."

Section four of the act named the first Board of Trustees, but it was amended April 30th, 1873, as follows:

" Sec. IV. The First Board of Trustees shall consist of Hamilton Fish and William L. Stone of the city of New York, Horatio Seymour of Utica , Benson J. Lossing of Poughkeepsie, Asa C. Tefft of Fort Edward, John A. Corey of Saratoga Springs, and Charles H. Payne of Saratoga."

Since the passage of this act, Corey has died, and Mr. Fish has resigned, and John V. L. Pruyn of Albany, Daniel A. Bullard of Schuylerville, and E. W. B. Caning of New York city have been elected trustees. The appropriation toward the erection of the Saratoga monument by the N. Y. legislature of 1874 (Laws of 1874, Chap. 323, page 387) was made in the following form:

" Whenever it shall be made satisfactorily to appear to the comptroller of the state that the Saratoga Monument Association has fixed and determined upon a plan for a monument, to be erected at Schuylerville, Saratoga Co., in commemoration of the battle of Saratoga, and that it will not cost to exceed five hundred thousand, nor less than two hundred thousand dollars, to erect and complete such monument upon such plan, and that the association has received and paid over to the treasurer from private subscriptions and donations, made by the United States or state governments of states, at least a sufficient sum with the amount hereby specified to complete said monument upon such plans, then the state of New York will pay and contribute" by appropriation of the public; moneys, the sum of $50,000 to aid in the construction of such monument, and the faith of the state is hereby pledged to such purpose upon such conditions. The plans and estimates of the cost of said monument aforesaid, shall be submitted to and approved by the governor and the comptroller of this state, and the comptroller of this state is hereby made the treasurer of said Monument Association. The plans so fixed and adopted as afore-said, shall not thereafter be changed without the consent of the governor and comptroller, nor so as to increase the cost of said monument.

Officers of the Saratoga Monument Association.
President, HORATIO SEYMOUR, Utica, N. Y.
Vice-Pres, J. V. L. PRUYN, Albany, N. Y.
Vice-Pres., JAMES M. MARVIN, Sar. Springs, N. Y.
Secretary, WM. L. STONE, New York City.
Cor. Sec'y, EDW. B. CANNING, Stockbridge, Mass.
Treasurer, DANIEL A. BULLARD, Schuylerville, N. Y.

STANDING COMMITTEES.

Committee on Design.
WILLIAM L. STONE, CHARLES H. PAYN, E. W. B. CANNING, JAMES M. MARVIN, LEROY MOWRY.

Committee on Location.
ASA C. TEFFT, CHARLES H. PAYN, E. F. BULLARD.

Building Committee.
CHARLES H. PAYN, LEROY MOWRY, ASA C. TEFFT, WILLIAM L. STONE.

Executive Committee.
LEROY MOWRY, CHARLES H. PAYN, JAMES M. MARVIN, DANIEL A. BULLARD.

Advisory Committee.
EDWARD F. BULLARD, Saratoga Springs, P. C. FORD, Schuylerville, N. Y. B. W. THROCKMORTON, New York City, OSCAR FRISBIE, New York City.

The following affidavits were made by two of the oldest inhabitants of Schuylerville for the use of the Senate Committee having the Saratoga monument under consideration, as they throw light on the surrender ground they are here given: 1

1 In speaking of these two persons, Mrs. Walworth, in her entertaining and valuable Guide Book to the battle ground, says:

" I have had the pleasure of conversing with these old men, and can bear witness to the clearness and readiness of their memory.

" Mr. Clements is exceedingly interesting, and a man of some attainments. He has been a civil engineer, and told me that he had surveyed the first lots that were laid out in Schuylerville, Philip Schuyler, grandson of the general, and Mr. Beadle, who afterwards laid out the village of West Troy carrying the chain. Mr. Clements also said he had made the survey that Settled the disputed line between the towns of Northumberland and Saratoga, and a curious incident enabled him to verify his work. He found the old survey mark in a log of yellow pine (known to be very durable) under ground, and corresponding with his own lines.

"Mr. McCreedy is one of four generations who have fought in the various wars of the country. His father and grandfather were in the battles of Saratoga; he fought in the battle of Plattsburgh in the war of 1812, and his son took an active part in the late war. His wife, who is near his own age, and has lived with him sixty years, is a very bright old lady. She gives a vivid account of a fourth of July celebration that took place at Schuylerville fifty-five years ago, when the veterans of the Revolution had a banquet spread for them on the plain before Fort Hardy, where the British stacked their arms. She says the old men were very spry on that day, and that there was then assembled the largest crowd of people ever gathered at Schuylerville."

STATE OF NEW YORK, County of Saratoga, ss.

Albert Clements, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside in the town of Saratoga, in said county, in the vicinity of the village of Schuylerville, and have resided there since the year 1789-am now ninety-five years of age. I came to this town from Dutchess county. Abraham Marshall was residing here then on the farm now occupied by his grandson, William Marshall. I heard him (Abraham) say that he witnessed the surrender of Burgoyne's army ; that the British army marched down below the gravel hill located on the west side of the river road, south of Fish creek, and Burgoyne there surrendered his sword. I have frequently heard soldiers who were in Gates's army tell the following incident: After the retreat of the British army from Stillwater towards Schuylerville, the American army pursued them as far as a hill on the south bank of Fish creek, nearly opposite the village of Victory, and there erected a battery, and fired their guns towards the point on the north side of the creek, where Burgoyne happened to be at the table eating, and a ball came on the table and knocked off a leg of mutton.

I remember, when I was a boy, of seeing breastworks extending as much as a quarter of a mile in length along the hill where Prospect Hill cemetery now is located, in the direction of the road just west of the cemetery. I assisted in tearing them down. They were made of pine logs and earth. I ploughed up a cartridge box containing about sixty musket balls.

I remember the old Dutch Church, which stood on the south side of the road now running from the river road to Victory ; I frequently attended meeting there. It was a wooden structure, heavy timbers and clap-boarded. There were no other buildings on the south side of the creek except General Schuyler's mansion, and only two on the north side at that time.

I visited General Schuyler's mansion when he was there; I saw him signing deeds or leases.
ALBERT CLEMENTS.
Sworn to before me April 13th, 1877.
S. WELLS, Notary Public.
STATE OF NEW YORK, Saratoga County. ss

William H. McCreedy, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I am eighty-six years of age ; now reside in the village of Schuylerville, in said county, and have there resided for over sixty years past. I remember of hearing my father and grandfather, who were both in Gates's army, say: that they witnessed Burgoyne's surrender , that the terms of the surrender were signed under the Elm tree now standing on the east side of Broad street, in Schuylerville, between the feed store of Simon Sheldon and the blacksmith's shop adjoining on the south , and that the British army marched down the river road just below Gravel hill, south of Fish creek, and surrendered.

I remember seeing breastworks, extending north and south, on the river flats between the village and the river. I dug up five cannon balls there some fifty years ago. I visited old General Schuyler at his mansion several times. I dined there on one occasion; and after finishing my meal, the old general asked me if I had eaten enough. I answered that I had eaten all that I wanted, and he replied : " If you have, knock out your teeth."

My grandfather, Charles McCreedy, and father, James McCreedy, were both in the engagements fought at Bemis's heights, September 19th, and October 7th, 1777. They told me that General Gates's headquarters were south of the old Dutch Church, and were present at the surrender, and that the old turnpike road was about where the canal now is.
WILLIAM H. MCCREEDY.
Sworn before me, April 13th, 1877.
S. WELLS, Notary Public. Copyright © 1998, -- 2003. Berry Enterprises. All rights reserved. All items on the site are copyrighted. While we welcome you to use the information provided on this web site by copying it, or downloading it; this information is copyrighted and not to be reproduced for distribution, sale, or profit.