Christopher Brellochs

Dr. Christopher Brellochs served as Consulting Historian & Researcher for Historic Cherry Hill’s multi-site exhibit The World of James Knapp. This entailed identifying elements of W. James Knapp’s experience related to parlor performances, 19th-century musical traditions, and James’s identity as a musician and as a Black musician. Dr. Brellochs engaged with Knapp music-related collections to identify and follow research leads, shared his findings with the project staff, reviewed exhibit content, and provided a summary of his research findings and interpretation.

William James Knapp was the great-grandchild of Dinah Jackson, the last person enslaved at Historic Cherry Hill in Albany, NY. After his mother died in 1854, James became a ward in Richard van Rensselaer’s household, eventually on State Street (not Cherry Hill) and worked as a butler for the family. Throughout his life, James also worked as a musician, a sales clerk at Hidley’s Music Store, a hospital porter, and a nurse. James lived at Cherry Hill for about sixteen months between 1880 and 1884. He played the violin, piano, flute, and other instruments, and his sheet music collection included popular, classical, and parlor music from the Gilded Age.

Penmanship and many hand-me-down books indicate that James was educated-- his writing is quite good. His job as a butler allowed him ample room to move about Albany, as his letters from friends show he had an active social life.

Records indicate that he frequented the Cherry HIll household (mostly delivering letters in his younger years), visiting his sister Minnie, and playing music and games with the family, mostly on Sundays

Upon the death of his employer and guardian, Richard Van Rensselaer, James inherited money and in the summer of 1880, traveled for at least a month to visit his brother Richard in Philadelphia and his sister Jane in Elmira.

Historic Cherry Hill’s collection contains hundreds of items– including letters, books, musical instruments, and other objects and ephemera. These items offer a rare glimpse into the life of an African American man in Albany during the mid-19th century.