Albany

By: E.T.Piper (August 1965)

Every time we read in a game journal or hear someone arguing about how a famous strain was bred, it used to make us smile. Now, after a lot of developing into the history of present day families of fowl, it makes us laugh right out loud. If any man ever hit the nail on the head, it was Henry Ford when he said, much to the disgust of our scholarly element, “History is the bunk!” Much of the history taught in our schools is just that, or at its best inaccurate reporting of past events, and all game fowl history is absolutely bunk. Ninety-five percent of us gamefowl breeders don’t know how our own fowl are bred further than two or three generations back. A whole hell of a lot of us are not positive how last season’s chicks were bred, and them right on our own yard at that. Sounds silly, but it’s true.

Let’s take the Allen Roundheads as a well-known example. We know they were good. I can show you a man who claims to have letters from Allen in which he claims his strain was kept good by careful inbreeding. I can show you another who says he has letters to prove the best cocks Allen ever showed were crosses of Green’s Japs; and still another who contends the best Allen ever fought, and this over a period of years, were not bred by Allen at all, but sent him each year by a New England saloon keeper. And, all three of these men claim to have positive proof of their contentions. What’s the difference how they are or aren’t bred, or who bred them? If they are good today, that’s what you want and need. If they aren’t good, a silly pedigree of long, pure breeding isn’t going to improve them a particle. Recently, we talked to a well-known cocker and a competent man. We asked him about some fowl he had tried out for three years. He said, “I had to get rid of every drop of the blood. All the damned things would do is stand there like fence posts and take whatever the other cock handed them.” Now, we happen to know a considerable amount of those fowl and their owner. He can write out the pedigree of any chicken on his yard and trace it right back to 1865 or ’70; not another drop of outside blood in all those years. They are famous today among paper fighters. Yet, compared with today’s best cocks, they are positively jokes. Keeping pedigrees of animals and birds was begun simply because it furnished (for future reference) a record in writing of how outstanding individuals were bred, who their fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, and the proper place for their pedigrees is in the trash can.

In two different issues of the Warrior some time last summer, we gave you the history of the Albany fowl; one of today’s winning strains of fowl. We had been much interested in these fowl for the past 9 or 10 years, or longer, ever since we saw some of them back in 1930 or ’31. Since then, at every opportunity, we have tried to get a line on how they were originated and bred, up to today. Finally, we thought we had it right and gave in to you. On a recent trip to Troy, we found out it was only approximately correct, so, here it is again. If you are tired of reading our stuff on these fowl, we don’t’ blame you a bit, and promise this is our last word on the Albanys. Back years ago or more, Mr. hatch of Long Island, N.Y., fought a main in Eastern New York. When we arrived home, he found someone had stolen three cocks from his shipping coops, the ones he had taken along for the main. Two of them were yellow legged and one a green leg.

While the men who have us our information said they would take their oaths they didn’t know who stole these cocks, they did know who eventually got them. The two yellow legs were bred and produced nothing worthwhile. “Army” Fox of Utica, N.Y. got the green leg. He was a large, straight comb, broad backed, dark red, with green legs. Army later talked with Mr. Hatch about having the cock, and he told him what he was, that all of that family were straight combs, etc. Army said he would send and get him. His friend told him the cock had died, and that he wasn’t his type of chicken anyway. However, he had raised two or three stags form him , and a hen that was in breeding, Pogmore Whitehackle and Henny, and offered to send Army one of the stags. When he arrived, he was a beautiful, long feathered, large stag, black and red in color. He was bred to the Slade Roundhead hens and a dozen or so stags were produced. About half of them looked like Hennies, and while game, better than the Hennies, and that’s about all that could be said of them.

About this time and for some years previous, Tom Foley of Troy, N.Y., had a strain of extras good ginger colored fowl, and Army Fox sent to him and asked for a good cock to breed. Just about this time, and Albany crowd one of his Gingers, a spangle (and the only one out of 50 or so to come that color), to fight in the main. He was a big cock and didn’t fall in (but in a hack after the main won a very classy battle), and was sent on to Army Fox for a brood cock. Army bred him to the pullets, or perhaps hens by then, that were sisters to the Henny stags that were out of the Hatch Pogmore Henny cock and Slade hens. This mating, for some unknown reason, produced all very small fowl, 4.0, 4.04, 4.06, etc., too small for practical purposes although they were exceptional fighters and very game. Practically all of them were given away. Shortly after this, Army met a friend of his in Albany, whom we must refer to as Mr. X. He had always had gamefowl, but a few years before had gotten into politics. At that time, he gave up the fowl. Army suggested he get back in the game again, that new blood was needed among the big shots, and especially new blood with a bankroll. He laughed and said perhaps he would, but where would he get good fowl? To make a long story short, he took the pullets or hens Army had that were bred from the Foley Ginger cock and hens that were ½ Slade Roundhead, ½ hatch-Pogmore Henny. He got, form the Hardy Bros. Of Niagara Falls, one of their Mahogany cocks known as “The Sneak” (due to a habit he had of ducking under his opponent) and bred them together. This mating produced what were known as the strait Albanys; very uniform, awfully game cocks, but not good enough to compete with the topnotchers. From here on, our previous writings on these fowl are correct. A Pine Spangle was bred tot he Albany hens and produced cocks that were invincible for five or six years.

When he died, a Claret cock bred to the same hens and other Clarets down to Mr. X’s “Caseys” of today were what he had. Offshoots of the family have proven awfully good. The Bradford fowl, Laws Clippers, Hard, Cox fowl, Keefer, and many more all contain the blood. In spite of the numerous and varied crosses that have been made, these fowl today are surprisingly uniform in looks and in action and winning qualities. We know of nothing better, not few as good.

ED PINE, FRANK STRYKER AND THE ALBANY COMBINE

By: E.T. Piper

Ed Pine was born and lived all his life at south Cairo, New York in the foothills of the catskill mountains. It was also home of Frank Stryker, another cocker, don’t get Frank Stryker and Jack Stryker mixed up. Jack lived in New Jersey and had fowl of various kinds, including greys. they were not related and it `s doubtful if they were acquainted with one another. Frank Stryker eventually became a member of what some refereed to as the “Albany combine” that is Billy Lawman, John Hoy and others who controlled the Lawman white hackles and muffs : considered by men living today, who saw them in their prime, as the greasiest fowl ever to land on these shores. they came to Billy lawman at Schenectady, new York from his father in the north of England near the Scottish border, hence the name “north brittions” which, I believe, was first applied to them in this country, in the early 1900 `s, frank Stryker was fighting a family of Charley Brown Shawlnecks that were very good fowl.

This was in what cockers have always referred to as “eastern ‘New York State and the vicinity, which included south Cairo. Stryker was very successful with his Shawlnecks and was considered quite a cocker. along about this time, john hoy moved to Albany, N.Y. from Brooklyn/NJ, in short order, he became associated with Billy lawman with his muffs and white hackles. hoy was an outstanding cocker and feeder, and he and lawman soon began going to town with their fowl, one of their early victims was frank Stryker and his shawls. friend `s of frank tried to console him by saying he got some tough breaks, but he was too smart a cocker to swallow that. he said the cocks that beat him were the best he ever saw, that he would not only never try to beat them again, he was going to try to and get in with hoy and lawman and get some. that is exactly what he did, he crossed them over his charley brown shawls and began going to town with the cross. they where outstanding fowl in every way Lawman and Hoy fought some of them and did equally well with them. they { the cross} became known as Stryker whitehackles.

Shawlnecks and white hackles have always been almost identical in appearance and the cross made a family outstanding, typical whitehackles. in referring to these fowl , i say the cross made the stryker whitehackes,but i may be and probaly am, in error there for this reason,after stryker got in with Hoy and Lawman, he could get anything from them he wanted.exactly how he bred from then on no one would know for sure.all that is known for certain is that the stryker white hackle were a combination of blood of Lawman whitehackle and Charley Brown shawl. probaly, if the lawman blood was as outstanding as it was claimed, he leaned in that direction with his breeding and put in more lawman blood,cutting down on the shawl. the combine went to town to beating everyone as Billy lawman said, from new York City to buffalo, NY it has been said they beat Kearney and Duryea five times out of six and Dennis mahoney and many others old-timers. mahoney died in 1907, so many of these mains must have been between 1902 and 1907 when mahoney died. i believe John Hoy fed most of their mains. there were no tournaments or derbies in those days.

somewhere between 1902 and 1915 which is closer to the time Stryker died, Ed Pine, was a tall,gamgly young fellow and helped Stryker work his cocks and also walked them, Stryker had been a butcher and it was said his wife was an Indian, or part Indian, who knew nothing about and cared less about her husband `s chickens. so when Stryker died suddenly, Ed Pine fell heir to all of the Stryker fowl. from then on, they were known as Ed Pine `s strykers.lawman dided somewhere between 1911 and 1920, and Hoy went along with his lawman fowl and pine with his Stryker fowl. both did exceptionally well. hoy died in 1929 but had been inactive several years previous due to old age. Pine, between 1915 and 1935 when for practical purposes quit the game. probably fought more mains and won a larger majority than any cocker who ever lived in this county.