Mayor Sheehan of Albany last week announced that the City will remove a statue of General Philip Schuyler that has stood in front of City Hall since 1925.  Schuyler, the father-in-law to Alexander Hamilton, was a hero of the Battle of Saratoga - the tipping point of the American Revolution. Schuyler was also a slaveholder.

America's history is complicated when it comes to matters of race. And every community should decide what is right for them. Not by a mob and not by executive fiat but after a considered expression of the community.

But if Albany doesn't want Philip Schuyler - Schuylerville does.

Schuylerville was the country home of General Philip Schuyler both before and after the Battles of Saratoga.  Philip Schuyler’s house is a tangible reminder of the village of Saratoga’s founding family having been renamed for the Schuyler family in 1831.

Slavery was indeed the tragedy that marred the American Founding. Schuyler like many of our founding fathers including; Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin and others were all slaveholders. History shows that they themselves were aware of the duplicity of their behavior.

We honor them not because they failed to rise above their time and place, but for their achievement in founding our nation. America despite our imperfections is the greatest nation the world has ever known and remains a beacon of hope for the oppressed.

General Schuyler, is a hero of the American Revolution, who helped to launch our grand experiment and we the undersigned encourage the City of Albany to return him to his country home.