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.
Footnote 2:
Miss Schuyler was born in the year 1701.
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.
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