Marriage of Miss Schuyler—Description of the Flats.
Miss Schuyler had the happiness to captivate her cousin Philip, eldest son of her uncle, who was ten years older than herself, and was in all respects to be accounted a suitable, and in the worldly sense, an advantageous match for her. His father was highly satisfied to have the two objects on whom he had bestowed so much care and culture united, but did not live to see this happy connexion take place. They were married in the year 1719,[2] when she was in the eighteenth year of her age. When the old colonel died, he left considerable possessions to be divided among his children, and from the quantity of plate, paintings, &c. which they shared, there is reason to believe he must have brought some of his wealth from Holland, as in those days, people had little means of enriching themselves in new settlements. He had also considerable possessions in a place near the town, now called Fishkill, about twenty miles below Albany. His family residence, however, was at the Flats, a fertile and beautiful plain on the banks of the river. He possessed about two miles on a stretch of that rich and level campaign. This possession was bounded on the east by the river Hudson, whose high banks overhung the stream and its pebbly strand, and were both adorned and defended by elms, (larger than I have seen in any other place,) decked with natural festoons of wild grapes, which abound along the banks of this noble stream. These lofty elms were left when the country was cleared, to fortify the banks against the masses of thick ice, which make war upon them in spring, when the melting snows burst this glassy pavement, and raise the waters many feet above their usual level. This precaution not only answers that purpose, but gratifies the mind, by presenting to the eye a remnant of the wild magnificence of nature, amidst the smiling scenes produced by varied and successful cultivation. As you came along by the north end of the town, where the Patroon had his seat, you afterwards past by the enclosures of the citizens, where, as formerly described, they planted their corn, and arrived at the Flats, Colonel Schuyler’s possession. On the right you saw the river in all its beauty, there above a mile broad: on the opposite side, the view was bounded by steep hills, covered with lofty pines, from which a water-fall descended, which not only gave animation to the sylvan scene, but was the best barometer imaginable—foretelling by its varied and intelligible sounds, every approaching change, not only of the weather, but of the wind. Opposite to the grounds lay an island, above a mile in length, and about a quarter in breadth, which also belonged to the Colonel: exquisitely beautiful it was, and though the haunt I most delighted in, it is not in my power to describe it. Imagine a little Egypt, yearly overflowed, and of the most redundant fertility. This charming spot was at first covered with wood, like the rest of the country, except a long field in the middle, where the Indians had probably cultivated maize: round this was a broad, shelving border, where the grey and the weeping willows, the bending osier, and numberless aquatic plants, not known in this country, were allowed to flourish in the utmost luxuriance, while within, some tall sycamores and wild fruit-trees, towered above the rest. Thus was formed a broad belt, which, in winter, proved an impenetrable barrier against the broken ice, and in summer, was the haunt of numberless birds and small animals, who dwelt in perfect safety, it being impossible to penetrate it. Numberless were the productions of this luxuriant spot: never was a richer field for a botanist; for though the ice was kept off, the turbid waters of the spring flood overflowed it annually, and not only deposited a rich sediment, but left the seeds of various plants swept from the shores it had passed by. The centre of the island, which was much higher than the sides, produced with a slight degree of culture, the most abundant crops of wheat, hay, and flax. At the end of this island, which was exactly opposite to the family mansion, a long sand-bank extended; on this was a very valuable fishing place, of which a considerable profit might be made. In summer, when the water was low, this narrow stripe, (for such it was,) came in sight, and furnished an amusing spectacle; for there the bald or white-headed eagle, (a large picturesque bird, very frequent in this country,) the osprey, the heron, and the curlew, used to stand in great numbers, in a long row, like a military arrangement, for a whole summer day, fishing for perch and a kind of fresh-water herring, which abounded there. At the same season, a variety of wild ducks, who bred on the shores of the island, (among which was a small, white diver, of an elegant form,) led forth their young to try their first excursion. What a scene have I beheld on a calm, summer evening! There, indeed, were “fringed banks” richly fringed, and wonderfully variegated; where every imaginable shade of colour mingled, and where life teemed prolific on every side. The river, a perfect mirror, reflecting the pine-covered hills opposite—and the pliant shades that bend without a wind, round this enchanting island, while hundreds of the white divers, saw-bill ducks, with scarlet heads, teal, and other aquatic birds, sported at once on the calm waters. At the discharge of a gun from the shore, these feathered beauties all disappeared at once, as if by magic, and in an instant rose to view in different places.
How much they seemed to enjoy that life which was so new to them! for they were the young broods first led forth to sport upon the waters. While the fixed attitude and lofty port of the large birds of prey, who were ranged upon the sandy shelf, formed an inverted picture in the same clear mirror, and were a pleasing contrast to the playful multitude around. These they never attempted to disturb, well aware of the facility of escape which their old retreats afforded them. Such of my readers as have had patience to follow me to this favourite isle, will be, ere now, as much bewildered, as I have often been myself on its luxuriant shores. To return to the southward, on the confines of what might then be called an interminable wild, rose two gently sloping eminences, about half a mile from the shore; from each of these a large brook descended, bending through the plain, and having their course marked by the shades of primeval trees and shrubs, left there to shelter the cattle when the ground was cleared. On these eminences, in the near neighbourhood, and in full view of the mansion at the Flats, were two large and well-built dwellings, inhabited by Colonel Schuyler’s two younger sons, Peter and Jeremiah. To the eldest was allotted the place inhabited by his father, which, from its lower situation and level surface, was called the Flats. There was a custom prevalent among the new settlers, something like that of gavelkind; they made a pretty equal division of lands among their younger sons; the eldest, by pre-eminence of birth, had a larger share, and generally succeeded to the domain inhabited by his father, with the slaves, cattle, and effects upon it.
This, in the present instance, was the lot of the eldest son of that family whose possessions I have been describing. His portion of land on the shore of the river, was scarcely equal in value to those of his brothers, to whose possessions, the brooks I have mentioned, formed a natural boundary, dividing them from each other, and from his. To him was allotted the costly furniture of the family, of which paintings, plate, and china constituted the valuable part, every thing else being merely plain and useful. They had also a large house in Albany, which they occupied occasionally.
I have neglected to describe, in its right place, the termination or back ground of the landscape I have such delight in recollecting. There the solemn and interminable forest was varied here and there by rising grounds, near streams where birch and hickory, maple and poplar, cheered the eye with a lighter green, through the prevailing shade of dusky pines. On the border of the wood, where the trees had been thinned for firing, was a broad shrubbery all along, which marked the edges of the wood, above the possessions of the brothers, as far as it extended.
This was formed of sumac, a shrub with leaves, continually changing colour through all the varieties, from blending green and yellow to orange tawney, and adorned with large lilac-shaped clusters of bright scarlet grains, covered with pungent dust of a sharp flavour, at once saline and acid. This the Indians use as salt to their food, and for the dyeing of different colours. The red glow, which was the general result of this natural border, had a fine effect, thrown out from the dusky shades which towered behind.
To the northward, a sandy tract, covered with low pines, formed a boundary betwixt the Flats and Stonehook, which lay further up the river.
