Excerpt from Biographical Sketch of Joel Munsell Albany at that time was in a transition state, when the customs of the old Dutch inhabitants were yielding to New England in dueness, and New England incomers were gaining a foothold in business and in political and social distinction. Ofew emigrants from the Emerald Isle could have been here at that time, since it was a common occurrence for the boys on the 17th of March to drag an effigy of St. Patrick through the muddy streets. The negroes at this period were in the habit of celebrating the anniversary of their freedom on the 5th of July. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.