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Schuylerville, New York is best
known as the scene of the Battle of Saratoga where British
troops under the command of General John Burgoyne surrendered to
General Gates on October 17, 1777. An impressive monument
measuring 140 feet high with a base of 40 square feet
commemorates the event which was described in The Story of Old
Saratoga & History of Schuylerville (1901) by John Henry
Brandon, as “the grand finale of one of the fifteen decisive
battles of the world.”
At the beginning of the 19th
century, Schuylerville did not exist. Broadway Street was then
an open country road. South of the creek stood the old Dutch
Reformed church, with the sexton’s house, the Schuyler mansion
and several mills, with perhaps a tenement house or two. On the
north side of the creek there was a distillery, a fulling mill,
a grist mill, and a blacksmith shop, which in 1812 was ran by
Mr. Daggett.
The growth of Schuylerville was
very slow until after the opening of the Champlain canal in
1822. Through the influence of Philip Schuyler, 2nd,
with State authorities, and as partial payment for the right of
way through his extensive estates, a commodious basin with ample
dockage was built at this point. A basin in a canal is
equivalent to a bay along the sea-coast; a boat can turn around,
as well as load and unload at its docks. Schuylerville was
immediately raised from obscurity of a wayside hamlet to the
dignity of an open port and an important shipping point.
The Saratoga Victory
Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1846 and a three-story
cotton cloth manufacturing plant costing $425,000 was built. The
company flourished and the number of employees living near the
mill increased. Many Irish Catholic immigrants escaping from the
Great Famine found work at the mills and as early as 1847, there
were already a significant number of Irish families settled
there. Early settlers included Wm. Carroll among others. Many
of the early settlers were natives of Cashel and Shrule Parishes
in County Longford.
The first record of William
Carle/Carroll, is in the Story of Old Saratoga & History
of Schuylerville (1901) by John Henry Brandon.
Schuylerville’s earliest fire department is described on page
327 of Brandon’s book. The fire department was then known as
the “Bucket Brigade” because each resident owning a house worth
$500 or more was required to own two buckets bearing his
initials kept in a convenient place in the house. When an alarm
was given the resident was required to appear on the scene of
the fire with his buckets filled with water. The village
purchased a fire engine in 1836. William Carroll along with some
thirty others is listed as a member of the Schuylerville Fire
Department. Captain of the fire department was Mayo Pond.
William next appears as William
Carle, age 46, on page 263 of the 1850 US Census for the Town of
Saratoga, Saratoga County, New York. His occupation is listed as
a watchman. William was born in Ireland as was his wife Bridget,
age 48. Also in the household were Bridget Eustice, age 22, and
John Eustice, age 17, plus ten others including Elizabeth Carle
(16), Catherine Carle (14) and Mary Carle (4). Mary
Carle/Carroll was a daughter of William and Bridget. The exact
relationship of Elizabeth and Catherine to William and Bridget
is unclear.
Based on several pieces of
evidence we know that Bridget (Mrs. William Carroll) was a
Eustace. She was referred to in John Eustice’s 1916 obituary in
the Janesville (Minnesota) Argus, as the un-named aunt with whom
he lived with upon his arrival in the United States. In a 1903
letter to his cousin Thomas Eustis of Schuylerville, New York,
the same John Eustis asks how are Aunt Bridget and Uncle John?
Bridget was a sister to Patrick Eustace who lived in Townland
Collum, Cashel Parish, James who lived near Ballymahon, Shrule
Parish and John who is identified on census and custodianship
records in Saratoga County between 1855 and 1875. The parents of
Bridget, Patrick, James and John have not been identified.
Patrick Eustace is the ancestor of the Eustis family in
Schuylerville/Victory Mills, New York and James is the ancestor
through his son John of the Eustice family of Waseca County,
Minnesota.
The first Catholic Masses at
Victory Mills were held at the houses of different members,
conducted at irregular intervals by visiting priests. Sunday
school was generally held at the house of William Carroll. May
we assume that Bridget Eustace Carroll taught the religion
classes?
Bridget Eustace Carroll
apparently passed away between 1853 and 1854. No death or burial
records have been found. On the 1855 New York state
census William Carroll is listed as a grocer man. He appears to
have gotten younger and gave his age as 40. At the time of the
census, he has been married about one year to a second Bridget
who was 25 years old and had lived in the U.S. six years. I have
determined that the second Bridget Carroll was Bridget
Eustace/Eustis, who was listed on the 1850 census living with
William and Bridget Carle. Bridget was the niece of William’s
first wife Bridget Eustace. Life during this period was hard and
unpredictable. A father suddenly left with small children often
married quickly and the fact that the second wife was half his
age did not matter. After all, marriages often occurred for
economic security rather than for love. William Carroll has the
unique distinction of marrying not just one, but two women named
Bridget Eustace.
Also living in the Carroll home
at the time of the 1855 census were Catherine Carroll, age 6
months and John Ustest (Eustice), boarder, age 45 who was
a naturalized citizen and had lived in the U.S. 13 years.
William Carroll died in late
1855; his estate was transferred to his widow Bridget Carroll in
Saratoga County records on January 7, 1856.
The Guardianship paper for Mary
Carroll and Catherine Carroll processed in 1858 provides
evidence of the family relationships.
Guardianship Record of Bridget
Gannon, mother of Catherine Carroll and the mother-in-law of
Mary Carroll (Saratoga County, New York-1858).
The record is as follows:
Mary is to best information
present recollected is 13 years and about 6 months of age that
said
Catherine was 3 years on the
fifteenth of December; the only relatives of said minors
residing in the county are your petitioner (Bridget Gannon) and
John Uestis (Eustace) who is the maternal uncle to said
Mary—that Thomas Uestis (Eustace) and Mary Uestis
(Eustace) are Maternal Uncle and Aunt to said Catherine. (Note:
Instead of mother-in-law, let’s try step mother or legal
guardian; making William Carroll’s first wife a
Eustice/Eustace/Uestis. This provides evidence that the first
Mrs. Carroll is Bridget Eustace, the aunt of John and Bridget
Eustice, mentioned in the 1850 federal census and that Bridget
Gannon is a daughter of Mary Carroll’s mother’s brother.)
Probate
records for the estate of William Carroll provide an interesting
glimpse of the items necessary to operate of a grocery store
during the 1850s. Some of the items listed in the William and
Bridget Carroll store inventory included;
6 pounds of
starch @6 cents/pound = 36 cents; 10 sets of socks@12.5 cents
each $ 1.61
5.3 pounds
of candles@13 cents/pound=$7.95; 89 pounds of soap @ 5 ½
cents/pound=$11.89 $12.84
10 ¾ pounds
of coffee @1 cent/pound=$1.34; 3 ¼ pounds of
potatoes=$2.62 $3.96
½ barrel
(Bbl.) of salt@1 cent/pound=62 cents; 11
twine@1/6=$2.06
$2.68
½ Ream
Writing Paper@30 cents; 15 bushel turnips (RB) @15
cents=$2.25 $2.55
1
pail 1/@13 cents; 1 jar snuff@37 cents
$0.50
Store
table@$1.00; 6 barrels (Bbl.)@75
cents
$1.75
Stovepipe
with stove@$2.30; undescipherable@$1.00
$3.30
1600 sigars@$16.00;
8 bottles of lemon syrup@10
cents=$1.00
$17.00
1 spool
linen thread@$1.00; ½ dozen blackening@19
cents
$1.19
½ dozen
bottles of pepper sauce/6 cents each@37 cents; 2 pairs wolen
mitts@2/30 $0.87
13 boxes of
mustard@6 cents each=78 cents; 10 gross
jars@1/6=$1.88
$2.66
2
lbs. soda@5 cents ea. =10 cents; 8 phosphorus?@3 cents=24
cents; 1 box peppermint=19 cents $0.53
Undecipherable
works@15 cents; hair pins@6 cents; 2 dozen fish lines@3/75
cents $0.96
2 ¾ gross
buttons=34; 14 spools thread @1 cents+14
cents
$0.48
2 dozen wood
combs @6=12 cents; 7/12 dozen undecipherable combs@6 cents
each=44 cents $0.56
7/12 dozen
pocket combs 8=88 cents;7/12 ditto @1 cent=7
cents
$0.95
1 ½ dozen
pen holders@8 cents each=13 cents; 25 slate pencils=6
cents
$0.19
1 snuff
box@6 cents; 30 gallons of whiskey@33
cents/gallon=$9.90
$9.96
2 juggs@30
cents=60 cents; tumblers and musums? 6 cents each=75
cents $1.25
5 juggs@4
cents each=$2.50; 12 barrels (Bbl.) Flour@8 cents=96
cents $3.46
11 Bbl.???
@$4.13; Stone for door
Step@$10.00
$14.13
25 bushels
potatoes=$9.38; 1
horse@$10.00
$19.38
1
wagon@$5.00; 1 set
Harness@$1.00
$6.00
1 Door and
frame@$1.00; 1 yock@25
cents
$1.25
1 Gallon of
Irish Whiskey@$1.00; 1 Gross matches 2@ 20
cents
$1.20
Lead
pencils@23 cents; 1 Bottle syrup@25
cents
$0.50
1 Dozen
Bottles Castor Oil@75 cents; 100 Fish Hooks@19
cents
$0.94
Fireworks@9
cents; Torpedoes@9
cents
$0.18
11/12 Dozen
Pepper Sauce@ 6 cents; 4 pairs side combs@2 cents each=8
cents $0.52
Pins &
needles@6 cents; 2 pounds Ground Cinnamon@75
cents
$0.81
Allspice &
Cloves 2@25 cents; 1/3 Box Herring@25
cents
$0.50
1 stone
Jar@12 cents; 1 Wagon wrench?@13
cents
$0.25
½
dozen Tumbles@38 cents; 9/12 Dozen Suspenders@72
cents
$1.10
1 Gross
Pipes@31 cents ;21 of
Ginger@$1.26
$1.57
16 pounds plug tobac@18 cents=$2.88;44 pounds Solerotus ??@
6 cents=$2.64
$5.52
92 pounds
coffee@$11.50; 42 pounds YH Tea,
31@$15.75
$27.25
31 pounds
Black Tea@35 cents@$10.85; 39 pounds H Skin@35
cents/pound=$13.65 $24.50
3 ½ Reams
Writing Paper@12 cents=42 cents ;
Desk@$1.00
$1.42
2 Lamps
Tunnstom in ?? 2 each @50 cents ; 37 ½ Bags
Pepper@4.69
$5.19
18 Gallons Molasses@36 cents/gallon=$6.48 ; 18 Barrels
Cider@$2.00
$8.48
1
Pair counter scales=$2.00 ; 4 Gallons Whiskey@33
cents=$1.32
$3.32
1
Keg@50 cents ; 40 Gallons Whiskey@33
cents=$13.20
$13.70
2
Gallons Gin@$1.25; 2 Gallons
Brandy@$1.25
$2.50
5
Gallons Wine
$3.12
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