Henry Crandall — Meeting up with Seneca Ray Stoddard

Glens Falls photographer Seneca Ray Stoddard and Glens Falls philanthropist Henry Crandall had a chance encounter in the forest.

“S.R. Stoddard came home on Saturday with a complexion highly suggestive of vigor and good health. He had been on a tour through the Adirondacks recently collecting material for his guidebook,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported on Sept. 10, 1894. “Mr. Stoddard met C.F. West and Herbert Knight, who were making a tour on their bicycles. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Crandall, who were at Long Lake on Saturday, were driving leisurely from point to point in the woods. Mr. Crandall is much interested in that section because it was the scene of his early activities in the lumber business. He is thoroughly familiar with the southern Adirondacks, and notes the changes that have been made in recent years with a lively interest.”

In other Henry Crandall news collected from historic newspapers of the region:

• Virtually every day in the summer and fall of 1893, The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported about someone going to or coming from the Chicago World’s Fair, formally known as The World’s Columbian Exposition.

The Grand Old Man of Glens Falls, as Crandall was known, was no exception.

“Mr. and Mrs. Henry Crandall, Glen Street, leave this morning for Chicago, to be absent for the rest of the month at the World’s Fair,” The Morning Star reported on Sept. 4, 1893.

The couple returned to Glens Falls on Sept. 26.

Glens Falls School Superintendent Sherman Williams visited the fair in October, and wrote about it in a letter to Crandall, which was published in The Morning Star on Oct. 27.

On Oct. 23, Williams was at the fair from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

“It seems as though during these fourteen hours I saw more of what goes to make up our world and its life than in all my previous experience. I am dazed and need something to pull myself together,” Williams wrote.

• On Dec. 16, 1890, The Morning Star reported that Betsy Crandall was on the committee that was planning a free Christmas dinner for underprivileged children in Glens Falls.
• Sim’s Orchestra performed for “a delightful reception” that Betsy Crandall hosted at the Crandall home on Jan. 24, The Morning Star reported on Jan. 26, 1894.

Lucas of Troy assisted Mrs. Conway with catering.

“Mrs. John B. Brown assisted in receiving. Misses Edith Fowler, Gertrude Sheldon and Louise Leavens had charge of the dining room.”

• Henry and Betsy Crandall were visiting Mr. and Mrs. C.H. Faxon of Chestertown, The Morning Star reported on Sept. 8, 1894.

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