for which purpose it furnishes some rich soil, and
has a large quantity of salt marsh. Ship build-
ing, however, continues to be pursued here, al-
though not to the extent it formerly was. Nou-
suck River passes through the whole length of
the town. Its present name was given to it in
1658, when it submitted to the government of
Massachusetts ; previously the eastern side of
the river and marsh was called Black Point, and
the western Blue Point — names which are still
in familiar use.

This town has the honor of being the birth-
place of the distinguished statesman Rufus King,
and his half brother, William King, the first
governor of Maine. About 8 miles S. from
Portland.

Schaghticoke, N. Y., Rensselaer co. Watered
by the Hoosic River and Tomhanic Creek,
tributaries of the Hudson River, which bounds
it on the W. Surface undulating; soil fertile.
10 miles N. from Troy, and 15 N. from Albany.

Schellsburg, Pa., Bedford co., is a small village
on the main road from Bedford to Pittsburg. 9
miles N. N. W. from the former.

Schenectady County, N. Y., c. h. at Schenectady.
Pormed from Albany co. in 1809. It is bounded
N. by Montgomery and Saratoga, E. by Saratoga
and Albany, S. by Albany, and W. by Schoharie
and Montgomery counties. Watered by the
Mohawk and Schoharie Rivers, and a few small
streams. The surface and soil are various-, the
Mohawk valley containing broad and fertile
alluvial flats. Bog iron ore is the only important
mineral. This county is traversed by the Erie
Canal, and Mohawk and Hudson, the Schenec-
tady and Troy, the Utica and Schenectady, and
the Saratoga and Schenectady Railroads.

Schenectady, N. Y. City and seat of justice of
Schenectady co. On the S. bank of the Mohawk
River. 16 miles N. W. from Albany. The Erie
Canal, and likewise the railroad routes from Al-
bany and Troy to Buffalo, pass through this city.
Here also comes in the railroad from Whitehall,
on Lake Champlain, via Saratoga Springs and
BaHston Spa. This is the point of embarkation
for passengers travelling W. by the canal. The
city is built, with a good degree of regularity, on
about 20 streets, several of which are intersected
diagonally bv the canal. It contains churches of
the Dutch Reformed, Presbyterian, Episcopal,
Baptist, Methodist, Cameronian, Universalist,
and Roman Catholic denominations. This is
the seat of Union College, the buildings of
which arc located on an open and elevated site,
a little E. of the compact portion of the city.
See Colleges.

The settlement of Schenectady dates back to
the earliest period of our colonial history. When
in possession of the aborigines, this was the site
of an Indian village, the name of which, Cou-
nugh-harie-gugh-harie, signified a great multitude
collected together; and it is supposed to have been
the principal seat of the Mohawks, even before
the confederacy of the Eive Nations. The name
Schenectady, from the Indian Schagh-nac-taa-da,
signifying beyond the pine plains, denoted its
local position in relation to Albany and the
North River ; between which and this place such
plains intervene for several miles on the E. of it.
A few Hollanders are said to have settled here
as early as 1620, for the purpose of trading in
furs with the Indians. The first grant of lands,
as appears from the Dutch records, was made
here in 1661, to Areut Van Corlaer and others,
on condition that they purchased the soil from
the Indians. This was effected, and a deed
signed by four Mohawk chiefs, in 1772.

On the 8th of February, 1690, the town, then
consisting of 63 houses and a church, was the
scene of a general conflagration and most bar-
barous massacre, by a party of French and In-
dians from Canada. A “ ballad '' of the times
says, —

“ They marched for two and twenty daies,

All through the deepest snow •,

And on a dismal winter night
They struck the cruel blow.

“ They then were murther'd in their beddea,
Without shame or remorse;

And soon the floors and streets were strew'd
With many a bleeding corse.

“ The village soon began to blaze,

Which showed the horrid sight:

But, O, I scarce can bear to tell
The miseries of that night.

“ They threw the infants in the fire;

The men they did not spare ;

But killed all which they could find,

Though aged, or though fair.''

There is much more of this simple but touch-
ing ballad, of which the author, who had himself
led a party from Albany in pursuit of the enemy,
says, in closing, —

“ I wish that it may stay on earth
Long after I am dead.''

The cruelties which it details are but too faith-
ful a representation of the atrocities committed
by the French upon the English settlements dur-
ing the wars of that period; in which they en-
gaged the savages as their allies, and themselves
resorted not unfrequently to their inhuman modes
of warfare. In the subsequent French war, in
1748, Schenectady was again carried by the ene-
my, and 70 of the citizens slain.

Schenectady was incorporated as a city March
26, 1798. Frevious to the opening of the Erie
Canal, and the Albany and Mohawk Railroad,
this was a great depository of the commerce of
the west on its passage to the Hudson. In con-
sequence of the rapids on the Mohawk, goods
had to be transported in wagons over the turn-
pike to Albany, which had even at that early
date become the greatest thoroughfare for per-
sons and property between the Hudson River
and the western country. To show the immense
value of the internal improvements made by
the state of New York, we may state that the
freight of a barrel of flour by wagons from
Schenectady to Albany was eight or ten times
more than at the present time It was natural
to expect that much trade, which had centred
at Schenectady before the opening of the canal,
would afterwards be transferred to Albany and
Troy. But the decline in the prosperity of the
city, which began to be realized in consequence
of this change, has been in a good measure pre-
vented by the concentration of so many railroads
here, and by its continuing still to be a depot for
the packet boats on the canal, in which the travel,
by emigrants and others, since that time, has been
greatly increased. 16 miles W. from Albany,
and 80 E. from Utica.

Schodack, N. Y., Rensselaer co. Bounded on
the W. by the Hudson River, and watered by a
few small tributaries. Surface hilly and undo*