In 1775, rumors of a catalyzing crisis had reached Schenectady, NY. By this point, there had long been disputes between Britain and the American Colonies.
In January of the previous year, many people in Schenectady had taken to the streets to raise a Liberty Flag, a statement of vague but spirited resistance to the distant dictates of Parliament.
In the city of New York, popular resistance to British policy had manifested in riotous, violent confrontations between citizens and redcoats (British soldiers).
Tensions had finally come to a head on April 19th, as the first shots of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts.
Shortly thereafter, local townspeople formed the Schenectady Committee of Correspondence to chart Schenectady’s course through the coming conflict.
On May 6th, 1775, this “Committee of Correspondence, safety and protection,” was formed by ten men “unanimously Chosen” at a meeting of the “freeholders and Inhabitants” of Schenectady.
Among this select group were many familiar Schenectady patricians such as Henry Glen, John Sanders, and Christopher Yates.
The Committee was not some new or unique innovation. Indeed, similar bodies had sprung up across the American colonies in most settlements of significant size.
Albany had created its own Committee of Correspondence in January of 1775, and after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, urged Schenectady to do the same.
And so, the Schenectady Committee did not act alone but more as a deputy body to the Albany Committee, coordinating local action and taking guidance from the larger settlement to the east.
Perhaps the most important function of the Committee of Correspondence was, unsurprisingly, correspondence. While today we take for granted the instant transmission of information across the globe, even the most urgent news traveled at a slow pace in the late 1700s.
Indeed, a message could only travel as fast as it could be physically carried, with ample opportunity to be lost along the way.
In the 1770s it might take three or four days for a ship to travel between the city of New York and Albany, and another day at full gallop to travel the 20 miles overland to Schenectady. And so, the Schenectady Committee spent much of its time simply reading and responding to letters and missives from friendly contacts throughout the colony.
While this makes for monotonous reading in the 21st century, it was a vital task for its time. In the process, the Committee would do its best to separate fact from fiction.
Throughout 1775, anxious Schenectadians heard rumors of loyalist actions that might endanger the increasingly revolutionary town. Of chief concern were loyalist groups aligned with the Johnson family of Tryon County. While the famous Sir William had recently passed away, his son John and son-in-law Guy still owed their power and prestige to the King of England and were known loyalists.
The Johnsons maintained significant influence amongst the Mohawk people as well as the rest of the Haudenosaunee. On the 20th of May, the Committee began to investigate rumors that Guy Johnson might push down the Mohawk River with a band of loyalist and native warriors. While these rumors were premature, the Johnsons did famously take up arms against the American Revolution in later years.
Another function of the Committee was adjudicating who was, and who was not, sufficiently loyal to the cause of the American colonies.
At its inception, the Committee could hardly be described as “revolutionary,” as the Declaration of Independence had not yet been drafted. But in Schenectady, as well as Albany, there was ample popular discontent with the “Ministerial plan” of parliament.
However, the minutes of the Committee make clear that there were many people in Schenectady who were staunchly loyal to the king and Parliament, or at the very least, hostile to this new body that had assumed power in Schenectady.
One of the Committee’s first priorities was to solicit all freeholding men within the town to take an Oath of General Association, in support of the “Cause of American Liberty.” Anyone failing to do so could find their movements curtailed or their own private mail intercepted and searched for incriminating information.
For instance, in April of 1776, the Committee refused to allow James Ellice permission to travel, and even drafted a letter to Philip Schuyler to warn him of their suspicions.
People deemed to be “enemies of the country” could find themselves arrested, questioned or even jailed by the Committee of Correspondence. In certain instances, the inquiries of the Committee could delve to the petty depths of drunken tavern insults.
For instance, in January of 1776, the Committee interrogated one George Ramsay for calling William Murray a “tratore and a rebel.” Ramsay admits to having done so, but only to aggravate Murray. Ramsay was apparently not punished for this, but others who openly expressed support for Parliament faced more severe consequences.
In February of 1776, the Committee found Joseph Kingsley guilty of such “Unwarrantable Expressions” and sentenced him to be imprisoned in Albany. A few days later, George Ramsey was also found to be a “high offender” against the American cause and sent to an Albany jail.
Both men were also fined to cover the financial cost of their internment. Through such methods, the Committee ensured that whatever loyalist minority remained in Schenectady would be a silent one.
Finally, the Committee was responsible for organizing militia companies militia for local defense. The initial muster took place on May 26th, 1775, with the goal of raising 180 men divided amongst three companies.
Again, as this was still early in the course of hostilities, the initial forces raised served more as a local police force than a well-drilled fighting force. The men who served in these early units might still have obligations at home that would distract from their martial duties.
At first, the Committee struggled to arm and supply them with shot and powder. Lacking proper uniforms, their rank was signified merely by a colored ribbon pinned to their chest. As the Revolution gained momentum, Schenectady’s militia would learn the hard lessons of experience.
When the Committee of Correspondence first met in Robert Clench’s tavern on May 6th of 1775, we might wonder if they could foresee the ultimate significance of their actions. We might further wonder at the exact means by which Schenectady’s election happened and we might be somewhat skeptical if the men chosen truly reflected a “unanimous” will of the people.
But this election, whatever its virtues or shortcomings, represents the first such exercise in the history of this city. As the Committee assumed for itself the powers of a de facto government, Schenectady began to break with the institutions and mentality of its colonial past.
They took the first tentative steps down the unending road to a more representative, more fair form of government. It’s a journey that we as Americans still walk today.
This essay by Michael Diana first appeared in the Schenectady County Historical Society Newsletter, Volume 69, No. 2. Become a member of the Society online at schenectadyhistorical.org.
Read more about Schenectady.
Illustrations, from above: a detail from “The Manner in which the American Colonies Declared Themselves Independent of the King of England, throughout the Different Provinces, on July 4, 1776,” by Noble (engraver), after Hamilton (painter), for Edward Barnard’s The New, Comprehensive, Impartial and Complete History of England… (London, 1783); Portrait of Schenectady patriot Christopher Yates, attributed to Maunsbach (SCHS collection); A plan of Schenectady about 1750; Continental Soldiers raid a Loyalist home during the American Revolution; Aged American Revolutionary War veteran Nicholas Veeder of Glenville poses with the Schenectady Liberty flag (Grems-Doolittle Library).
