Martin Van Buren and The Erie Canal

This happened Saturday, September, 28.

First off, I don’t think President Van Buren had anything to do with the Erie Canal, but both are in the Albany area, thence the title.

There is a wedding party staying in this hotel. The ceremony and the reception will occur across the street, but preparations have been going on here all day and many many of the guests are here. I talk about this because when I took the elevator downstairs for breakfast this morning, the elevator opened and three young ladies exploded into the elevator, almost knocking me down! Granted, it’s not a bad way to die, but I swear there’s 20 bridesmaids getting their hair done!

After breakfast, I drove to Kinderhook, a short distance from Troy to the post-presidency home of Martin Van Buren. The only two things I knew about Van Buren prior to the tour was that English was his second language (Dutch was his first), and he was known derisively in Washington and politics as The Little Magician. He was from Kinderhook, but did not move into that particular house until after his presidency.     Very nice tour. Van Buren was one of Jackson’s vice presidents; his wife had died long before he became president and his 20 year year-old daughter-in-law took on the duties of the first lady. Far away the youngest first lady.  Van Buren had slaves (I should say enslaved people) until New York State ruled this out and so his house was served by about a half dozen Irish teenage girls. The guide got a kick out of showing us the bell system that I have seen in a few other houses. There was a lever in each room that the family could pull, and a bell rang down in the servants quarters in the basement. Much of the house is reproduction or from the same time-period. The wallpaper in the main room of the house is original and is worth the visit. It took 55 pieces of wallpaper and the French company that manufactured it is still in business . 

Van Buren supported President Jackson’s Indian removal policies and in fact carried out many more of them himself. The Trail of Tears, I believe, actually happened on Van Buren‘s watch.  Van Buren only had an eighth grade education, but was apprenticed to a lawyer and became a very successful lawyer himself.

It was warm today, so I went back to the hotel and got out of my blue jeans and went for something much cooler for the rest of the day. I have always been curious about the Erie Canal, whose eastern end is by Albany.   My tiny map on this iPhone was no help so I pretty much just started crisscrossing the area looking for the part of the canal that I wanted to see. Soon enough I come upon the Mohawk river and a 35 foot sailboat, cruising towards the eastern end of the canal. I set off to find it entering Canal Lock Six. As I watched it slowly dropping elevation in the lock I struck up a conversation with Leroy, the guy working the lock, and soon enough, it was time to open the other lock gate.    He motioned to me to come over to the control house and he pointed to the button and I, Dan Nagel, with great fanfare and bluster, opened a lock gate on the Erie canal! I followed the sailboat to the next lock and learned that there is still some commercial traffic on the canal in the form of barges.

For dinner I had a flight of four little craft beers and a Ruben made from grilled haddock! Very tasty and satisfying.

Tomorrow, I am going to try to go to Cooperstown on pilgrimage to the baseball Hall of Fame.