On this day in 1749, Pehr Kalm, Swedish-Finnish explorer, botanist, and naturalist travelled northward along the Hudson describing “after the recent war… virtually all of the houses were burnt and destroyed and many of the returning inhabitants “were forced to ly under a few boards which were huddled together” and he described the typical farmstead as lying close to the river on small hills, or on the high ground, and surrounded by large fields of maize; in addition, each house had a “kitchen garden” and orchards… near Saratoga, Kalm encountered a couple of Natives traveling by canoe and found that while once the landscape surrounding Saratoga were characterized by maize fields and pastures, nearly all were fallow due to French raiding parties;” in 1776, Baron Riedesel wrote to the Duke of Brunswick, “the rebels must be a miserable lot of soldiers, since so few men, in such a condition, are able to oppose …” the British/Canadians and in Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson shows his first draft of “a declaration of independence” to John Adams and other members of Congress; in 1777, British General Burgoyne held a conference with his Native allies which he issued a Manifesto that started “John Burgoyne, ESQ, Lieutenant General of his Majesty’s Armies in America, Colonel of the Queen’s Regiment of Light Dragoons, Governor of Fort William in North Britain, one of the Representatives of the Commons of Great Britain in Parliament, and commanding an Army & Fleet employ’d on an expedition from Canada, &c. &c. &c….” and Angelica Schuyler, the eldest daughter of Continental Army General Philip Schuyler, married English opportunist John Barker Church through an elopement; in 1779. Spain declares war against Great Britain; in 1901, three graduate from Schuylerville High School, in 1930, the USS Saratoga returned to San Pedro; In 1931, Methodist Episcopal Church’s pastor Rev. R. B. Cook announced the 10:30 a.m. message to children is “When a Man Needs a Friend”, and a sermon “Great Souls and Buffeting Circumstances and at 7:45 pm there was a baccalaureate address at the high school by Dr. Harry Carman, professor of history of Columbia University; in 1933, the members of Schuyler House company members left at 1:30 PM from the engine house to attend the convention taking part in the parade of fireman on Thursday and returning to the village on Friday morning; in 1945, the Japanese troops were defeated on the Pacific island of Okinawa after one of the longest and bloodiest battles of World War II; in 1972, the USS Saratoga had two of her F-4 Phantoms from VF-31 attacked three MiG 21s over North Vietnam, the Saratoga’s planes dodging four surface to air missiles, one of the F-4s, piloted by Cmdr. Samuel C. Flynn Jr., with radar intercept officer Lt. William H. John, shot down one of the MiG aircraft and it is this plane that is part of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum; in 1980, the USS Saratoga’s Capt. James H. Flatley III, made naval aviation history when he completed his 1,500th carrier arrested landing; in 2001 a joint meeting is conducted between the Villages of Schuylerville and Victory to hear proposals on the new water filtration plant and Veronica Wood was selected as the new President of the Village of Schuylerville Library Board; and in 2015, a first-ever local walkathon challenged veteran supporters to walk a mile in the shoes of those who served and fought for American freedom was held at Hudson Crossing Park, the walk was held to help raise awareness and support for the Veteran’s Miracle Center in Albany. On this day is a chronological timetable of events that occurred on this day in history around the Town of Saratoga. Discover what happened today in local history by subscribing to our blog at https://ift.tt/A7Jb0Sj (Thank you to Deputy Historian Patricia Peck and Town Supervisor Thomas Wood for compiling information for this timetable.) June 21
Historian at Saratoga - Town of Saratoga 