The Sepoy

The Sepoy 1859 (7 issues: February to May, 1859)

The “Sepoy” was started by Dr. William C. Anderson in February, 1859, at Stapleton to defend the people of Staten Island from attacks as the result of the burning of the Quarantine. George M. Root was the editor. The “Gazette” commenced where the “Sepoy” ceased, and starts with Volume I, No. 19, June 22, 1859, but had previously been sent out with a few numbers of the “Sepoy.”

The following information about the founders is supplied by Staten Island and Its People:

William C. Anderson

The first [hospital] devoted to general use was long known as the S. R. Smith Infirmary which began with the opening in 1861 of a “Dispensary” in the building corner of Bay Street and Union Place, Stapleton, mainly through the efforts of Dr. William C. Anderson and the Medical Society of Richmond County. On April 18, 1861, the name ‘of the institution was chosen in memory of Dr. Samuel Russell Smith. The first home was in one of the old hospital buildings located in the Quarantine grounds, on the east side of Tompkins Avenue (now St. Marks Place). It was opened June 20, 1864, and the first patient was admitted on July 15. On April 26, 1869

George M. Root

George M. Root, an eminent engineer, was born on Staten Island about 1820 and died May 3!, 1906. During his long and useful life he became an authority on water grants and farm lines; his maps of the original land grants on Staten Island are among our most useful possessions. He did also many other things for the community, among which may be recalled the establishment of the “Sepoy” to defend the burning of “Quarantine.” Of his four sons, Talbot Root, who died in Glen Ridge on April 23, 1927, aged seventy-nine, was always interested in the Island. George M. Root’s Map of New Brighton and Edgewater in 1866 has been brought to our attention by Mrs. Irma Horak Erath, librarian at St. George, and is the property of the American Trust Company. In its detailed delineation of the east shore at the time its villageswere incorporated it is of unusual interest.

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All issues are stored as .PDF files and can be keyword searched using Adobe Reader. After opening the file press Ctrl+f to enable keyword searching.

The date of each issue is in the file name: Sepoy 2.12.59p1.pdf = The Sepoy, February 12, 1859, page 1