Looking Back in Philipstown

250 Years Ago (April 1776)
On April 2, George Washington wrote from his headquarters near Boston to Brig. Benedict Arnold: "The chief part of the troops are marched from hence towards New York. I will set off tomorrow." The general was concerned that the British, who had evacuated Boston, were headed to New York City.
On April 13, after traveling nine days by horseback, Washington and three aides arrived in New York. He made his headquarters at Richmond Hill, a 26-acre estate located in what is now Greenwich Village.

It was during his stay that the New York governor and the New York City mayor, both loyalists, plotted to capture and/or kill Washington with assistance from his bodyguards. The plotters had loose lips, however, and the alleged ringleader, Thomas Hickey, was hanged. "The discovery of this plot, and the effort to investigate it, led colonial authorities to devise new systems" that today would be called counterintelligence, wrote Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch in The First Conspiracy.
On April 19, Washington wrote to Congress reporting that four regiments ordered to march from Boston to defend New York had not left because their colonels had not arranged for them to be paid. He lamented the lack of trained officers.
On April 22, Washington left for Philadelphia to consult with Congress about the defense of New York.
On April 29, the Iroquois complained that there were not enough traders to meet their needs for blankets, clothing and ammunition and called for a meeting with the Americans at Albany. Most sachems remained neutral about the war, but this lack of trade goods would push some to side with the British.
150 Years Ago (April 1876)
William Jaycox reported that, after a 9-inch snowfall on April 5, sleighing was good on the old post road. In the village, the snow melted by evening.
Stephen Davenport, "among the few of our old men who retained a good memory of the past half century," according to The Cold Spring Recorder, died at age 76 after complaining of a headache at breakfast.
After a hoghead of molasses being unloaded at J.Y. Dykeman's store in Nelsonville broke open, "most of the sweet stuff was wasted on the ungrateful soil," according to The Recorder.
A prisoner escaped from the county jail in Carmel by taking the place of the boy who usually delivered the coal to heat the jail overnight. The jailer discovered the escape when he woke up in the cold.
John Brady broke his leg when he was thrown from his wagon near Garden Street. His horse was spooked by a boy rolling a barrel.
The Recorder noted that "a fine goat which has grown fat and kept itself in fine condition by stealing all about the village was shot, somewhere downtown, on Tuesday afternoon. … We could not avoid sorrow at the creature's dying moans, but could not say that its death was unjust."
A one-armed traveling cornet player performed on Main Street for tips.
After a Saturday night stop at Fishkill Landing, the Van Amburgh & Co. circus paraded into Cold Spring with an elephant, camel and a lion in a cage on Monday morning for a performance later in the day.

Standing a few rods from the West Point Foundry, a group of 12 men, including Robert Parrott, Capt. Ottinger and Colin Tolmie Jr., a clerk, observed test firings of projectiles designed for the Coast Life Saving service. After a successful first shot, Tolmie was instructed to add 4 more ounces of gunpowder. During its flight, the second projectile exploded, sending a 60-pound fragment into the men, who were standing 40 feet away. Tolmie, 46, was struck in the head and killed instantly. Tolmie had worked at the foundry for nearly 30 years; he came to Cold Spring at age 9 when his father was hired to supervise the forging department, and he was apprenticed at age 17.
Peter Louis, a Frenchman who lived on Bank Street and had fought as a sharpshooter in the Civil War, worked at the foundry pattern shop until a leg disease forced him to become a peddler. He and Charles Hines were returning ...