362
HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
the knob and on the side of the front door, striking the Major in the back, killing him instantly, and rendering his companions insensible. A ball of fire entered a room on the first floor of a house on Cannon Street, where it separated, one portion passing out of the front door, and the other going through the kitchen, striking senseless a girl who was at work there. Several other buildings about the town were damaged; the bells all rang the fire alarm, and general consternation prevailed among the people. In the Autumn of 1844, the State Fair was held in Poughkeepsie, on the grounds in the eastern part of the then village. The hill back of the city is crowned with a model of the Temple of Minerva. From this point the city appears like a
Catholic Church. Cannon Saeet.
town in the midst of a forest; and a view of a fine farming country of a radius of thirty miles, spreads out before the eye of the beholder. The city is profusely shaded with multitudes of maple, elm, and acacia trees. The building here mentioned was formerly the Poughkeepsie Collegiate School. This institution was organized in 1836, under the charge of Charles Bartlett and others. The school has been discontinued, and it is now used as a hotel. The following is copied from Barber's Historical Collections, descriptive of this once flourishing institution of learning "Its situation is truly a noble one ; standing on an emi-
Dutchess County Historical Society
