The Liberty Flag
I recently read about the Schenectady Liberty Flag and excited to have the opportunity to see it in person at Schenectady County Historical Society, where it’s on display until November 14, 2027.
Here are a few other things I saw or learned during my visit.
1
The Liberty Flag
Possibly the only surviving Liberty Flag? Very cool.
2
The typography 😍
3
The banjo clock
According to the accompanying explanation, “banjo clocks are an American innovation.”
I know!
My ancestor innovated them! Simon Willard — but I don’t think the clock below was made by him. In any case, this little nugget reinforces that I need to look into my Willard side more.
Banjo clock and proof that I’m related to Simon Willard because my sketchbook says so. Also I’m pretty sure I’m related to Johns Adams (which is a thing I very recently discovered by accident) and farther down the line that side of the family married a Willard and that’s bonkers, right? I have a doodle from yeeeaaars ago about Simon Willard, John Adams, and John Quincy Adams, boasting I’m related to one of them when really maybe I’m related to all three…?
4
Potty cookie mold
Worth the price of admission right here.
The exhibit also included a Harper’s Ferry military rifle, circa 1817 (the one on the bottom). This is the same kind Lewis and Clark carried… which made me giggle about potty cookies. Dr. Benjamin Rush prescribed Lewis and Clark “thunderclap pills” during their journey — “laxatives of awe-inspiring power” that they were to take if anything was wrong. Fever. Boils. Snake bites. Gunshot wounds. All the things. These little mercury poison balls helped future archeologists track their campsites (they left behind poison poops!). If someone had to give them a little potty cookie every time they went, I imagine that baker would be quite busy… ‘cause of the “laxative of awe-inspiring power.”
5
Eliphalet Nott
There’s a gorgeous and funny map of Schenectady from the 1930s on display and it shows Dr. Eliphalet Nott. Dr. Nott was president of Union College for 62 years, the longest serving college president ever. He was president when Chester Arthur was a student there!
His grandson Charles Nott popped in when I was reading about the messy politics of 1920… and just happened to be doodled near a Liberty Sandwich (hamburger) and Liberty Cabbage (sauerkraut), which I thought was kinda interesting given this whole post was kicked off by a Liberty Flag. These particular liberty items are very loaded. But I still tip my hat to the weird juxtaposition.
Doodles inspired by The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur, by Scott S. Greenberger and 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents, by David Pietrusza
6
Knocking down trees to mess up General Burgoyne’s plans
I just learned about that in The American Revolution (Ken Burns’ documentary). And this guy — Colonel Christopher Yates, surveyor, patriot, and the chair of the first Schenectady Committee of Safety — helped fell the trees!
BTW: after General Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga, Philip Schuyler had his wife and daughters entertain the general and his aides at their home in Albany. Why not at their home in Saratoga? Oh, because Burgoyne burned it down. I just learned that in Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation, by Cokie Roberts. Find more doodles here.
7
The penalty for illegal fur trading was … fur?
Fur trade was illegal in Schenectady. The penalty was 50 beavers for the first offense. 100 for the second. And aaaaaaallll of your Schenectady property for the third.
🦫 As a point of comparison: it was said that William Henry Harrison had a bounty of 2,000 beavers on his head. That’s so many beavers! He was not a great guy.
8
Awkward line breaks
I am the queen of running out of room, so I appreciate a good terrible line break. Can’t fit the e at the end of “the”? Drop it to the next line.
I was going to dig through my sketchbooks to find one of my many, many examples of awkward line breaks due to poor planning. Wouldn’t you know it — this morning I completely misjudged how much space I’d need to spell out “investigation”. 🙄You may also notice I had to squeeze in the last letter of “against” because I forgot about it.
President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier, by CW Goodyear
9
The star stabilizer thing! I learned about these in The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design by Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt and delight whenever I notice them out in the wild. But I’ve never seen one not on a building and, oh yeah, this makes much more sense now.
(and 8 other cool things)