rvA^piV-' CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Digitized by Microsoft® Date Due — ■'-;;: — -APf^= Cornell University Library F 127H8 B12 olin 3 1924 028 853 658 Digitized by Microsoft® This book was digitized by Microsoft Corporation in cooperation witli Cornell University Libraries, 2007. You may use and print this copy in limited quantity for your personal purposes, but may not distribute or provide access to it (or modified or partial versions of it) for revenue-generating or other commercial purposes. Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® By E.DGAR MAYHEW BACON Narragansett Bay : Its Historic and iVomantic A.ssociations 8°. Uniform with "The Hudson River." With 70 Illustrations TKe Hudson River from Ocean to Source Historical — Legendary — Picturesque 8°. With over 100 Illustrations. CKronicles of Tarryto-wn and Sleepy Hollow 16°. With 23 full-page Illustrations. G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS Ne-w "VorK London Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® The Hudson River From Ocean to Source Historical — Legendary — Picturesque By Edgar Mayhew Bacon Author of " Chronicles of Tarrytown, ' ' etc. With I oo Illustrations, and with Sectional Map of the Hudson River G. P. Putnam's Sons New York and London Xtbe IkuicherbccKer ipress 1907 lb EM. Digitized by Microsoft® F 111 Copypight/iqo2 G. p. PUTNAM'S SONS Published, November, igoa Reprinted, February, 1903; January, 1907 Vbe Itnfclierbocfeer Drees, 'new Perk Digitized by Microsoft® Preface IN treating of the history and traditions, the men and the manners of the valley of the Hudson River, the author has undertaken to present in one coherent work the gist of many volumes and to add such hitherto unpublished material as he has been able to discover. From the nature of this book it has not been pos- sible to make the historical narrative continuous, but in treating of separate localities the main events con- nected with each have been grouped, the method of arrangement being topical rather than consecutive. A reference to the index may in many cases dispel an impression that some important event or person has been neglected or forgotten because its place in a chronological sequence has of necessity been disre- garded. In commencing the story with the arrival of Henry Hudson, the claims of Verrazani and other early navi- gators have been ignored, not because history disowns them, but for the reason that the record of the river, so far as it is clearly written, commences with the Half Moon and the first Dutch settlers. In collecting and producing illustrations for this work great care has been taken to illustrate the text and not merely to make a picture-book, but the beauty Digitized by Microsoft® iv Preface as well as the fitness of the many engravings with which it has been embellished is a source of satisfac- tion to both the author and the publishers, who pre- sent them without misgiving. It is a pleasure to acknowledge with hearty apprecia- tion the courtesy of many friends who have aided the writer in his search for material. Among others, Mr. M. H. Bright, the Directors of the Lenox Library, and Mr. Joel Benton have the author's sincere acknowledg- ment for memoranda and the use of rare pictures. To Mr. Francis Whiting Halsey, especially, he is indebted for a manuscript journal of a voyage up the Hudson in the year 1769. This, it is believed, has never before been printed. The Hudson River is offered to the public with a con- sciousness of the vastness of the subject and the impos- sibility of treating it exhaustively in a single volimie. The author will ask his arch^ological readers kindly to bear in mind that for no town in the land would the antiquaries be found in accord concerning all points of local history. Whoever writes the history of a single village, whether on the Hudson or elsewhere, must ex- pect the honest criticism of some who do not agree with his conclusions. He can only claim to have made a careful study of the very interesting records of the communities of the Hudson River Valley, and may hope that his narrative and conclusions may be found in substantial accord with the accepted authorities. Digitized by Microsoft® Contents CHAPTER I — Introductory ..... II — Two Cities on One Site . Ill — New Buildings and Old . IV — 'Festivals and Pageants . V — ^Along the Manhattan Shore VI — On the Jersey Shore ... VII — Early Settlers of the Hudson Valley VIII — The Passing of the White Wings . IX — Fulton and the Hudson River Steamboat X — Riverside to Inwood XI — The Island and the River in 1776 XII — Forts Washington and Lee XIII — From Spuyten Duyvil to Yonkers XIV — Spectres of the Tappan Zee . XV — In the Land of Irving XVI — Literary Associations of the Hudson XVII — Around Haverstraw Bay XVIII — The Storming of Stony Point I 19 30 41 54 65 87 100 118 139 160 181 193 211 226 246 289 304 XIX — At the Gate of the Highlands . - 313 Digitized by Microsoft® vi Contents CHAPTER PAGE 26 XX — The Spirit of '76 3^ XXI — A Voyage up the Hudson in 1769 . 344 XXII — Among the Hills 357 XXIII— West Point 37° XXIV— The Fisher's Reach . . . .389 XXV — FisHKiLL to Poughkeepsie . . .416 XXVI — Sports and Industries .... 430 XXVII — Rondout and Kingston .... 443 XXVIII — Saugerties and its Neighbours . .471 XXIX — The Catskill Region . . . 486 XXX — Nantucket Quakers and Dutch Fighters . . . . . -503 XXXI— An Old Dutch Town . . . .516 XXXII — Above Tide-Water , . . .550 Index 573 Digitized by Microsoft® Illustrations Page The "Half Moon" on the Hudson, i6og Frontispiece From the painting by L. W. Seavey. Landing of Hudson ...... j Portrait of Hudson ...... 5 Early View of Weehawken ..... 7 The Mouth of Spuyten Duyvil Creek in Early Days 10 Earliest Map of the City . .... 15 A Bit of Old New York 20 Before the Day of Skyscrapers . . . .21 The House that was Built for Washington . . 2g The Stolen Island Ferry and Barge Office {about 1835) 33 Peaks of the Manhattan Range . ... 36 The City that Hides Manhattan . . . . J7 The Barge Office and the Bay . ... 40 Governor's Island from Battery Park . . . 43 A Tow Going out to Sea . .... 53 Digitized by Microsoft® vni Illustrations The Narrows, New York Bay New York Harbour from one of the Skyscrapers Brick Schooner and Shad Fishers, off Fort Lee A Fleet Thronged the River . From an old print. The Sybil's Cave, Hoboken . The Elysian Fields, Hoboken From an old print. An Early View (about 1840) of Haverstraw From, an old print. The Ubiquitous Tug .... From a drawing by the author. Spreading the White Wings . From a drawing by the author. Palisades from the Yellow Rocks, Tappan Zee From, a drawing by the author. Departure of the " Clermont" on her First Voyage " Car of Neptune,'' 1808 "Paragon,'' 181 1 .... "Richmond," 18 ij .... The " North America" and " Albany," i82y-i82g The Modern Flying Dutchman Riverside Drive, Manhattan The Apthorpe Mansion, Bloomingdale . Grant's Tomb, Riverside Drive The Notable Buildings on Harlem Heights, where the Battle was Fought in ijyO Barnard College, on the Site of the Battlefield of Harlem Heights ...... Page 55 60 66 73 79 83 93 lOI log 113 123 12^ 128 I2g 131 135 141 145 149 153 157 Digitized by Microsoft® Illustrations ix Page Burnham's Mansion House, Bloomingdale Road about i8jj .... Under the Palisades The Old Philipse House and Mill, Tarrytojvn Erected about 1684 The Flying Dutchman . Hook Mountain, from Nyack Tappan Zee and the Tarrytown Light Washington House at Tappan High Taur — Point-no-Point and Haverstraw From a drawing by the author. Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow Lookout at Old Quarry, Tarrytown From u. drawing by the author. Idlewild Glen ...... The River and Catskill Mountains, from the Lawn of the Montgomery House, Barrytown . From a drawing by W. J. Wilson. The Verplanck Mansion at Fishkill Landing Undercliff — The Home of the Poet Morris . From, an old print. The River Road, near Coldenham Where the Brooks Met — Idlewild . View South from Sing Sing, about 1848 Croton and Verplanck' s Point and Anthony's Nose from Hill back of Sing Sing . High Taur and the Short Clove — Haverstraw 161 199 205 213 216 218 220 221 233 239 247 251 263 267 275 283 2gi 297 299 Digitized by Microsoft® X Illustrations Page Stony Point and Haver straw, from Verplanck's Point ■ 307 Bird's- Eye View of the Hudson from a Peak in the Highlands ....... 3^4 Drawn by W. J. Wilson. Where the Jurisdiction of the Goblin Ceases . . 52J Near Fort Montgomery ..... jjj Storm King, from near Storm King Station . , J41 Broken Neck {Breakneck) Hill .... J47 Cro' Nest from Coldspring ..... ^^g On the Face of Bull Hill ..... ;^63 " An Old-Fashioned Loaf of Sugar" . . . j6y From a drawing by the author. West Point. After the Painting by Robert Weir . ^73 Here published by courtesy of the Lenox Library. West Point in lySo ...... j8o From an old print. Looking out of the Highlands, from Coldspring . j8y Polio pel's Island . . . . . . -391 Murderer's (Moodna) Creek — By the Butter Hill . jgp Across the Hudson from Cornwall . . . ^foj From a drawing by W. J. Wilson. Newburgh as Seen from. Fishkill and Coldspring Road ^og The Cantilever Bridge at Poughkeepsie . , • 4ig Tomkins's Cove ....... /127 Ice-boat Fleet near Hyde Park . . . . 435 Digitized by Microsoft® Illustrations XI Page Mending Nets at Garrison ..... 437 Moonlight on the Hudson ..... 445 River Scene, Catskill ...... 455 J. W. Casilear, iS^g. From the Stuart Collection, Lenox Library. {By permission) . River Scene near Kingston ..... 465 From, a drawing by the author. Down the River, from, Lower Red Hook - . . 4'^j The Montgomery House at Annandale . . . 481 Woodland Brook near Catskill .... 48^ From the painting by A. B. Durand, in the Lenox Library. (By permission) . A Glimpse of the Catskills, from Saugerties . . 4gy View of Hudson City and the Catskill Mountains . joj From an old print. Winter Twilight, near Albany .... 517 From a painting by G. A. Boughton in Lenox Library. {By permission.) Van Rensselaer Manor-House, lydj . . . j2j Plan of Albany, i6q§ 552 Schuyler Mansion, iy6o ^40 Seal of Albany ....... 543 Along the River below Troy ..... 550 Looking down River, near Troy .... 552 On the Hudson above Troy ..... 555 From an old print. Congress Spring in 1820 ..... 5S9 The Rapids below Glens Falls .... 5^^ Digitized by Microsoft® xii Illustrations On the River between Glens Falls and Sandy Hill . 368 From a drawing by W. jf. Wilson. The Bridge at Glens Falls ..... S'^P A Log Jam on the Upper Hudson . . . 57^ Sectional Map of the Hudson River In separate pocket Digitized by Microsoft® THE HUDSON RIVER FROM OCEAN TO SOURCE Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® The Hudson River Chapter I Introductory IN a document that for nearly two centtaries and a half has lain safely tucked away among the royal archives of The Hague, there is what the directors of the West India Company called " a brief and clear account of the situation of New Netherland." "This district or country [we read], which is right fruitful and salubrious, was first discovered and found in the year 1609, by the Netherlanders, as its name implies, at their own cost, by means of one Hen- drick Hudson, skipper and merchant, in the ship Halve Maene sailing in the service of the incorporated East India Company; for the natives or Indians, on his first coming there, regarded the ship with mighty won- Digitized by Microsoft® 2 The Hudson River der and looked upon it as a sea monster, declaring that such a ship or people had never before been there." In writing a book upon the Hudson River, it is hardly possible to avoid a repetition of historic statements already more or less familiar to the reader. The voy- age of Henry Hudson, English navigator in the service of the Dutch East India Company, to find a passage through polar seas to the shores of farthest Ind; the happy accident which led him into the mouth of the river that was afterwards to bear his name and to per- petuate his memory; and the wonder of the Indians of Manhattan when the Half Moon anchored at last, are the details of a more than thrice-told tale. There is no doubt that in Hudson's mind the " Groot Riviere ' ' he had found was the long-sought passage to open seas beyond. With Columbus, Verrazani, Cabot, and a host of others who have followed an ignis fatuus through widening zones, the object of their expecta- tions "a furlong still before," the skipper of the Half Moon looked for a speedy realisation of his dreams. It was not until the "green, pleasant shores" of Man- hattan were far astern, and the lessening tides and fresher volume of the river confronted him with un- answerable argument, that his faith began to waver. Yes, even then, we read, his heart was sore at finding the head of navigation in the river, near the present site of Albany. He dispatched his mate with a boat's crew, to make sure of the disappointing fact, and not till this expedition returned, after a journey of eight or Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® PORTRAIT OF HUDSON Introductory 5 nine leagues, did he finally abandon the enterprise in that direction and prepare to descend the river. Hudson ascended the stream in eleven days. He recorded his impressions and adventures, especially with regard to the Indians, in a report which he fortu- nately succeeded in forward- ing to his employers in Holland,' while he himself, after re-crossing the Atlan- tic, was forcibly detained in England. We shall have occasion in the course of this work to refer again to this initial voyage up the river. In the year following Hudson's discovery, the Holland merchants, acting on the principle that one should not refuse a penny because it happens not to be a pound, conceived the idea that while waiting to open a new way to China and Japan it might be profitable to secure an exclusive grant to trade in the country that was thrust upon them. A chronicle of the time relates that in that year, 1610, they sent a ship thither and obtained after- wards, from the High and Mighty Lords States-General, a grant to resort and trade exclusively in these parts, to which end they likewise, in the year 161 5, built on the North River, about the Island Manhattans, a redoubt or little fort, wherein was left a small garrison, some people usually remaining there to carry on trade with the natives or Indians. This was continued and Digitized by Microsoft® 6 The Hudson River maintained until their High Mightinesses did, in the year 1622, include this country of New Netherland in the charter of the West India Company. It was much easier for Henry Hudson to sail past the lower end of Manhattan Island in 1609 than it is now for the historian to follow his example. The as- sociations of ten generations, the hardships and the triumphs of early settlers, the pageants, the frivolities, the disasters, and the achievement of an almost un- paralleled history, cluster here. Yet to write of these things fully would be to compile an encyclopedic his- tory of New York City, which is by no means our present purpose, and if the reader questions the omis- sion of this or that detail from the succeeding pages of this narrative, we can only plead the limitations of time and space. The river at the time of Hudson's voyage must have presented a scene of strange and solemn beauty. The sweeping verdure of a nearly tmbroken forest on the one bank, and precipitous, wild, pine-clad rocks on the other, bordered a land of mysterious possibilities and unguessed extent. Early writers have noticed par- ticularly the prevalent abundance of the wild grapes that in their season filled the air with spicy perfume. Yet the forests were not uninhabited, for from every covert, every little cove or bay along the shores, the canoes of the Indians put out to intercept or at least to approach the "yacht" of the voyager. The names of tribes and sub-tribes have in large part been pre- Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Introductory 9 served in local names, some of which are in familiar use until this day. The Indian name for the Palisades is said to have been Weh-awk-en; awk, the middle syllable, meaning "rocks that resemble trees." If this is the correct etymology and application of the name, we may won- der how it happened to slip its moorings and drop down with the tide to the present Weehawken, where it has remained since the Dutch first gained possession of the banks of the lower Hudson. An etymology, like a horse, may be a vain thing for safety and carries our faith on many a break-neck journey into the land of speculation. There is, however, for those who have sufficient patience and enthusiasm, a delightful study in those old Indian names that cover the Hudson and its tribu- tary waters with polysyllabic strangeness. The Rev. Charles E. Allison says of the Algonquin tongue, in which these names had their birth, that it "was agglutinative. The wild men of the rapid water settle- ment strung words together in an extended compound. " In their language the region now known as West- chester County became Laaphawachking, which meant the place where beads are strung. The Hudson had several names, one of the most familiar being S hatemuc. The junction of the Spuyten Duyvil creek with the Hudson was called Shoraskappock. A brook at Dobbs Ferry was the Wisquaqua, and another the Wecquash- queck. The Nepperhan River sought the Hudson — Digitized by Microsoft® TO The Hudson River and still does 'so— at the place that was once called Nappeckamack, and is now Yonkers. Another Yon- kers stream was Amackassin. The name of the Nep- perhan seems to have been spelled with variations by the none-too-careful Dutch orthographers : its mean- ing was "rapid water." Shorackhappock was the bluff on the north side of Spuyten Duyvil creek, near THE MOUTH OF SPUYTEN DUYVIL CREEK IN EARLY DAYS its mouth, where a Mohegan "castle" is said to have stood, the latter being called Nipnichsen. The Spuyten Duyvil water was named Papuinemen. The Indians, themselves loaded with the unpronounceable name of Meckquaskich, called a river between hills, that ran near Alipconc (shady place), now Tarrytown, Pocan- tico or Pockhantes. Besightsick was Sunnyside brook, Ossin-ing — "stone upon stone," appropriate prophecy of present State buildings — was Sing Sing at a later day, though very recently the inhabitants have again restored the Indian name. Sackhoes was the site of Peekskill and Senasqua of Croton Point meadow. Kitchawan signified a swift Digitized by Microsoft® Introductory 1 1 and strong current and was the name by which the Croton River was known to the red men who hunted game on its banks or drew the fish from its waters. It is to the credit of the Dutch settlers that they obtained their lands from the Indians by purchase. It is a threadbare story that Peter Minuit bought the island of Manhattan for a sum about equivalent to twenty-four dollars; taking into account the relative values of land and money at that time and place, the purchase may be regarded as equitable. The oldest Indian deed to Westchester property that is now preserved is that covering a tract included in the town of Kingsbridge. All of the great manors and patroonships along the river were acquired by pur- chase and afterwards confirmed by grants. The earliest settlements on the Hudson River were, naturally, those surrounding the several forts that afforded protection from the neighbouring savages. Albany claims the first of these, a palisaded enclosure antedating even that upon Manhattan Island. At the extreme ends of the navigable river, nearly a fortnight apart in ordinary weather and absolutely shut off from communication after the winter ice and snow appeared, they became each the centre of dependent communi- ties. The settlements from New Amsterdam, or Man- hattan, extended northward to Kitchawan, and those of Rensselaerwyk (or Albany) included the more southerly posts of Kingston, Esopus, and Rondout. While it is true that other posts sprang up between, Digitized by Microsoft® 12 The Hudson River yet the greater part of the river shore was for many- years practically untouched by the whites. In relation to the purchase of Manhattan there is one old document, written in 1634, that concludes with a burst that has the ring of prophecy: " Further, not only were the above named forts enlarged and re- newed, but the said company ptirchased from the In- dians, who were the indubitable owners thereof, the island of Manhattes, situated at the entrance of said river, and there laid the foundations of a city." Who- ever the forgotten framer of that paragraph, he wrote, as his contemporaries builded, better than he knew. Noting the orthography of the name Manhattes, as given above, it is interesting to find that there are forty-two spellings of the word used in old manuscripts. In that abounding wilderness which bordered what has become the main artery of the Empire State, the forests not only afforded a shelter for a large Indian population, but a hiding-place for numberless wild ani- mals, among which an old document of the year 1645 includes lions, but they are few; bears, of which there are many; elks, a great number of deer, some of which are entirely white and others wholly black, but the latter are very rare. The Indians say that the white deer have a great retinue of other deer by which they are highly esteemed, beloved, and honoured, and that it is quite contrary with those that are black. There are, be- sides, divers other wild animals in the interior, but these are un- known to Christians. Digitized by Microsoft® Introductory 13 After the account here quoted of the black and white deer, we are inclined to wonder whether it was know- ledge or invention that failed. Certainly one may be more indulgent to the flocks of flamingoes with which Campbell brightened his picture of the Wyoming valley. Allusion has been made to the primitive settlements that sprang up in the neighbourhood of the principal forts. Near the bouweries of New Amsterdam and those of Rensselaerwyk, there were others where the fields of rye, wheat, maize, and barley began to grow in the forest clearings, and these in time centred about the orchards and gardens of manor lords whose state and power were baronial. A very early and shockingly mendacious map, a very geographical nightmare, that is preserved in Holland, scatters a number of place names, without a clue to distance, along the Mauritius (now Hudson) River. Albany is discoverable under one of its several aliases, as Nassou. Kinderhook — spelled Kinderhoeck — is about where it should be, and Hinnieboeck suggests Rhine- beck. Esopus has unaccountably slipped down the river, and is surrounded by forests belonging to the Waronawanka Indians. Then we find Blinkersbergh and Vischershoeck (or letters to that effect) in the country of the Pachami. Finally the familiar bend of "Havestro" and "Tappans" is reached, after which another half a dozen miles lands the bewildered voy- ager in the Manhattes. Digitized by Microsoft® 14 The Hudson River It is not important that this erratic stream is in the main as fabulous as that which flowed through the caverns of Xanadu, or that the map-maker has Hmned another, not less marvellous (which may be the Mis- sissippi or the Yukon, for anything that we know to the contrary) , that parallels it a few miles to the west- ward. What is really important is that some one who constructed a map less than a decade after the dis- covery of the river should have known the names of Nassau, Kinderhook, Esopus, and Tappan, and should have placed them in their approximate order on the shores of a river making a line of cleavage through the wilderness. Those little settlements were the nuclei from which cultivation spread into the forest lands. Year after year the corn and the wheat followed the receding pine and chestnut; year after year the "herbes" and the simples attended the broader crops; and flowers that bloomed for the delight of the eye and the comfort of the soul lifted their faces within the walls of the home acre. Industry and thrift were the genii that achieved these things in time, but industry and thrift were not enough to keep the new plantations from being some- times reabsorbed by the surrounding wilderness. There were periods of unrest among the forest dwellers, and the pitiful stories of massacre and ruin were mul- tiplied. One Siebout Claessen, house carpenter, burgher, and Digitized by Microsoft® Introductory 15 inhabitant of New Netherland, in a protest or petition, most respectfully represents that he, having married Susanna Janss, at the time widow of Aert Teunissen, her previous husband, whoNhad entered into a con- tract with Director Kieft to lease a certain bouwerie named Hobo- quin, situate in Pavonia on the west side of the North River, . . . fenced the lands, cleared the fields, and erected a suitable brew house which is yet standing there, and brought thither eight and twenty head of large cattle, etc. . . . together with many of his own fruit trees. And thus considerable value was added to the bouwerie . . . until the year 1643, when the cruel, un- natural, and very destructive war broke out, and (Ei^twenty- eight large cattle and horses were killed . . . dwelling house, barns, and stacks of seed burnt, the brew house alone remaining. Another sufferer points out that the piles of ashes from the burnt houses, barns, barracks, and other build- ings more than sufficiently demon- strated the ordinary care that was bestowed upon the country — God help it! — particularly during the war. "We respectfully request your honours to institute a rigid inquiry into this matter ; how many first-class bouweries and planta- tions were abandoned in the war by our Dutch and English, whose houses were burnt as has been stated." It may well be believed that, except within the stock- ades at Manhattan or under the protection of the fort at Rensselaerwyk, few ornamental gardens were per- EARLIEST MAP OF THE CITY Digitized by Microsoft® 1 6 The Hudson River manently established until after the animosity of the Indians became a thing of the past. In one old paper has been preserved a striking picture of colonial hardships: The season came for driving out the cattle, which obliged many to desire peace. On the other hand, the Indians seeing also that it was time to plant maize, were not less solicitous for a cessation of hostilities; so, after some negotiation, peace was concluded in May, A 1643, rather in consequence of the impor- tunity of some, than of the opinion entertained by others, that it would be durable. The Indians kept still after this peace, associating daily with our people; yea, even the greatest chiefs came to visit the Di- rector. Meanwhile Pacham, a crafty man, ran through all the villages urging the Indians to a general massacre. Thereupon it happened that certain Indians called Wappingers, dwelling six- teen leagues up the river, with whom we never had the least trouble, seized a boat coming from Fort Orange, wherein were only two men, and full four hundred beavers. This great booty stimulated others to follow the example ; so that they seized two boats more, intending to overhaul the fourth also; from which they were driven, with loss of six Indians. Nine Christians, in- cluding two women, were murdered in these two barks; one woman and two children, remaining prisoners. The rest of the Indians, as soon as their maize was ripe, followed this example; and through semblance "of selling beavers, killed an old man and woman, leaving another man with five wounds, who, however, fled to the fort, in a boat, with a little child in his arms, which, in the first outbreak, had lost father and mother, and now grand- father and grandmother; being thus twice rescued, through God's merciful blessing, from the hands of the Indians; first, when two years old. Nothing was now heard but murders; most of which were committed under pretence of coming to put Christians on their guard. Finally, the Indians took the field and attacked the bou- weries at Pavonia. Two ships of war and a privateer were here Digitized by Microsoft® Introductory 17 at the time, and saved considerable cattle and grain. Probably it was not possible to prevent the destruction of four bouweries on Pavonia which were burnt; not by open violence, but by stealthy creeping through the bush with fire in hand, and in this way igniting the roofs which are all either of reed or straw; one covered with plank was preserved at the time. Whoever will wade through the mass of Dutch docu- ments brought to the light of day through the industry of John Romeyn Brodhead may find an old paper called "A Representation of the New Netherlands, etc." It is a report written for their High Mightinesses, the States-General, forty years after the discovery of the Hudson. In it there is a statement that all fruits which will grow in Netherland will also thrive in New Netherland, without requiring as much care as must be given in the former. All garden fruits succeed likewise very well there, but are drier, sweeter, and better flavoured than in Netherland. As a proof of this we may properly instance melons 4and citrons or watermelons, which readily grow, in New Nether- land, in the fields, if the briars and weeds be only kept from them, whereas in Netherland they require particular attention in gardens. The same optimistic writer says in regard to the varieties of grapes to be found in New Netherland: Some are white, some blue, some very fleshy and fit only to make raisins of; some again juicy, some very large, others on the contrary small ; their juice is very pleasant and some of it white like French or Rhenish wines; that of others again very deep red, like Tent; some even paler. The vines run up far into the trees and are shaded by their leaves so that the grapes are slow in ripening and a little sour, but were cultivation and knowledge applied here doubtless as fine wines could be made here as in any other wine-growing countries. Digitized by Microsoft® 1 8 The Hudson River Either this writer, or another of his tribe, was over- joyed to report that " indigo silvestris grows spontane- ously here without any human aid or cultivation." Experiments with this plant were made in the extensive gardens of Rensselaerwyk and promised great things. We find added to that report a statement that madder would " undoubtedly ' ' thrive well ; " even better than in Zealand in regard to the land and other circumstances. " O, those old gardens and plantations, in which were planted wheat and apple trees, madder and indigo and great expectations; that yielded now a crop of fruit and now a harvest of disappointment! Those early comers into the American Wonderland planted more than their gardens by the shores of Hudson's River. The succeeding pages will be in part a record of their struggle and their achievement. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter II Two Cities on One Site THERE are two wonderful cities at the mouth of the Hudson River. One is insistent, almost overwhelming in its presentation of present- day achievement. Its sky-line is a boldly serrated ridge of stupendous masonry, softened here and there by the smoke from a hundred thousand chimneys. Its shore-line is broken into leagues of wharves that harbour an almost unbroken fleet of vessels. From a thousand miles of streets the aura of its multitudinous life seems to rise, and the hum of its traffic and the murmur of its striving never ceases. On the river the scene changes in detail, but not iri' character. The boats cross and recross each other's courses like mammoth shuttles, weaving a pattern of a marvellous tapestry, and the eye is bewildered in trying to follow their intricate paths or wearies with their tmresting procession. Hidden by this metropolis of to-day, of which the eye takes cognisance, there is a quaint little city, vis- ible only to the imagination, contracted, unalterable, and peopled with ghosts. 19 Digitized by Microsoft® 20 The Hudson River It is the city of the Knickerbockers, where the apo- cryphal burghers that Irving created were supposed to have puffed lazily upon their long pipes till the smoke obscured Communipaw, on the opposite shore. It is the city that hid behind palisades for fear of Indian neighbours; that fretted and prospered under Dutch and English governors ; that in place of stock exchanges and produce exchanges raised live stock and farm produce: the little city that entertained the first re- presentative Congress in the Colonies and inaugurated the first President of the new Republic. Fort Amsterdam, at first a very rude affair of logs, but no doubt a sufficient defence against the simple weapons of the savages, was remodelled and rebuilt almost as many times as the little city had new govern- ors. For this reason the earlier descriptions and pict- A BIT OF OLD NEW YORK Digitized by Microsoft® Two Cities on One Site 21 ures of this miniature outpost in the wilderness did not agree. What was at first designated a fort was, in fact, nothing more than a stockade or pahsade, enclos- ing not only the official buildings but private dwellings of the settlers. For many years the church in which the early Dutch domines exhorted their flocks fostered its spiritual courage behind that temporal bulwark, and no doubt the many-breeked worshippers slept more comfortably in the knowledge that the hewn tim- ber of their fence was strong, and the matchlocks of the guard ready for all comers. The names by which the fort was known, judging by the old records, changed almost as frequently as its size or dimensions. From Amsterdam it was altered by the English to James, and then by the Dutch again to William Hendrick, finally returning to James. At BEFORE THE DAY OF SKYSCRAPERS Digitized by Microsoft® 22 The Hudson River the time of the War for American Independence it had become Fort George. A detailed description of the fort was given by Gov- ernor Dongan (English) about 1685. He says: At New York there is a fortification of four Bastions built formerly against the Indians of dry stone & earth with Sods as a Breastwork well and pleasantly situated for the defence of the Harbor on a point made by Hudsons River on the one side and by the sound on the other. It has Thirty nine Guns, two Mortar- pieces, thirty B arils of Powder five hundred Ball some Bomb Shells and Grenados, small arms for three hundred men, one flanker, the face of the North Bastion & three points of Bastions & a Courtin has been done & are rebuilt by mee with Lime and Mortar and all the rest of the Fort Pinnd and Rough Cast with Lime since my coming here. And the most of the Guns I found dismounted and some of them continue to bee soe which I hope to have mounted soe soon as the mills can sawe. I am forced to renew all the batterys with three inch plank & have spoke for new planks for the purpose. The Ground that the fort stands upon & that be- longs to it contains in quantity about two acres or thereabouts, about which I have instead of Palisados put a fence of Pales which is more lasting. To this he adds a word about the human wall, upon which more reliance was to be placed than in rotten planks and dismantled guns. In this country there is a Woman yet alive from whose Loyns there are upward of three hundred and sixty persons now living. The men that are here have generally strong and lusty bodies. In the face of such a statement as the foregoing the historian is dumb, willing in future to look without question at any extravagance in census enumeration. Digitized by Microsoft® Two Cities on One Site 23 Old Captain John Buckhout, of Sleepy Hollow, who with his wife Sarah could count two hundred and forty children and grandchildren, — a statement graven large upon his tombstone, — has long been thought to hold the record as an ancestor, but his claim vanishes, his merits are insignificant, beside the "Woman yet alive" of Governor Dongan's report. The Albany fort was described by Dongan as being made of pine trees fifteen feet high, and fitted with batteries, etc., yet all very rotten, and he strongly recommends the substitution of masonry for timber at this important post. From Dutch to English, then back again from Eng- lish to Dutch, and finally once more into English hands, the embryo metropolis passed : but one looks in vain for records of carnage or of heroism. The transfers were made apparently without undue excitement on either side. A report to the Dutch Lords relates how one of these events came about. High and Mighty Lords. One Andries Michielsen, having been placed by Captain Binckes, the Commander of a squadron of four ships and one sloop-of-war, on board a prize of about fifty tons burthen, taken by the aforesaid Commander near Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean Islands, to bring her here, was forced, by leakage and insecurity of the ship, to run through the'Channel, where he had the mis- fortune to be captured by the English of Bevesier. He pre- sented himself to-day before our Board, and verbally reported that, after the abovenamed Captain Binckes, reinforced by Cap- tain Cornelius Evertsen's squadron had, together, burnt in the River of Virginia five English ships laden with tobacco, and Digitized by Microsoft® 24 The Hudson River captured six others, without having been able to effect anything further there, they had sailed for New Netherland, and became masters of the principal fortress situate on the Island Manhates, on the 9th of August ultimo; that also, before his departure on the nineteenth ditto, when he was dispatched with letters hither, he had heard that they had reduced another fort, situate some thirty leagues inland. The English had, some days before his departure, been removed elsewhere in four ships, viz., three be- longing to this Board and one of Zealand, the remainder staid at anchor before the Island Manates. Only by a resolute exercise of the imagination can we expunge from our vision the artificial cafions and mesas that have arisen at the bidding of the architect, and restore again even the modest town that the his- torian Smith pictured in 1757. What a century and a half have wrought of change and growth may best be appreciated by reading the description he wrote when Domine Ritzemer dispensed unadulterated Calvinism to his flock, when the Dutch farmers " in the small village of Harlem, pleasantly situ- ated" on the north-western part of New York Island, cultivated produce for the city markets, and the oyster beds within view of the Battery afforded one of the principal sources of food for the poorer people. At that date, almost midway in its history (if we reckon history by years), New York is described as a city of about two thousand five hundred buildings. It is a mile in length, and not above half that in breadth. Such is its figure, its centre of business and the situation of the houses, that the mean cartage from one point to another does not exceed above Digitized by Microsoft® Two Cities on One Site 25 one quarter of a mile, than which nothing can be more advantageous to a trading city. It is thought to be as healthy a spot as any in the world. The east and south parts, in general, are low, but the rest is situated on a dry, elevated soil. The streets are irregular, but being paved with round pebbles, are clean and lined with well built brick houses, many of which are covered with tiled roofs. Upon the southwest point stands the fort, which is a square with four bastions. Within the walls is the house in which our governors usually reside ; and opposite to it brick barracks, built, formerly, for the independent companies. The Governor's house is in height three stories and fronts to the west; having from the second story a fine prospect of the bay and the Jersey shore. There was formerly a chapel, but this was burned down in the negro conspiracy of the spring of 1741. According to Governor Burnet's observations this fort stands in the latitude of 40° 43' N. The following description, by a foreign writer of that day, gives a vivid picture of the social life of New York when fashion still lingered around the Bowling Green : The first society of New York associate together in a style of elegance and splendor little inferior to Europeans. Their houses are furnished with everything that is useful, agreeable, or orna- mental; and many of them, are fitted up in the tasteful magni- ficence of modern luxury. Many have elegant equipages. The dress of the gentlemen is plain, elegant, and fashionable, and corresponds in every respect with the English costume. The ladies in general seem more partial to the light, various, and dashing drapery of the Parisian belles, than to the elegant and becoming attire of our London beauties, who improve upon the French fashions. The winter is passed in a round of entertain- ments and amusements. The servants are mostly negroes or mulattoes ; some free and others slaves. Marriages are conducted in the most splendid style, and form a most important part of the winter's entertainments. For three days after the marriage ceremony the newly married couple see company in great state. Digitized by Microsoft® 26 The Hudson River It is a sort of levee. Sometimes the night concludes with a con- cert and ball. Of all the comings and goings, the arrivals and the departures that form the kaleidoscopic stor}?- of old New York, and are associated particularly with the Battery, none has been rnore significant than the evacuation and embarkation of the British forces in 1783. For two years the peace negotiations had been going forward, and since Yorktown nothing decisive had occurred. When at last, in March, the news reached America that Great Britain had acknowledged the absolute independence of the American States, there was a mighty thanksgiving that reached from the general commanding the army to the poorest pri- vate in the ranks, and included all classes of citizens, save those whose hearts were with the cause of royalty. New York, which had been in British hands since 1776, had been the stronghold and base of operations for their cause. During that time it had been almost abandoned and had again filled up; it had suffered hardship and endured privation ; a fire had devastated a large part of its stores and dwellings; the people were heartily tired of war even when gilded by the gaiety of a garrison city. Now at last the negotiations had been brought to a termination satisfactory to the Continental sym- pathisers, and Washington, having disbanded most of his army, waited up the river for the beaten foe to depart. Digitized by Microsoft® Two Cities on One Site 27 Washington met Carleton at the Livingston house in Dobbs Ferry, and received his assurance of a speedy departure, but it seemed as though the garrison was very loath to leave the ground it had occupied so long, and delay after delay occurred. There was a shortage of transports, owing probably to the fact that a great many loyalists wished to leave the city, incited either by fear or disgust. Washington moved first from Newburgh to West Point, then, leisurely, down the river till he reached McGowan's Pass, within the present Central Park, where he waited with the little force retained for the formal occupancy of the city. General Henry Knox, who was with the Commander-in-chief, was there to take a conspicuous part in the ceremonious entrance. When the American troops, having marched through the length of New York, halted in Broadway, near Wall Street, and two companies were sent forward to take formal possession of the fort, with instruction to hoist the American flag and fire a salute of thirteen guns, many of the boats full of retiring British troops were still near the Battery wall. The shores were crowded with citizens, assembled to witness the em- barkation. It has been remarked as a noteworthy fact that there seems to have been no disturbance, no taunts or jeers, such as might naturally have been ex- pected on the part of such a mixed assembly of spec- tators. On the contrary, everything was orderly and. Digitized by Microsoft® 28 The Hudson River to use a phrase unhappily somewhat obsolete, "was conducted with propriety." The British ships hung in the offing and received their barges as they came up; then, without further ceremony, sailed away and took with them the last shadowy vestige of royal claim to the land where they had struggled so long for supremacy. There is one bit of comedy associated with the British evacuation of New York. The retiring garrison, either with the connivance of their officers or as a piece of un- authorised waggery, left their flag flying in front of the fort. When the Americans, in accordance with orders, tried to pull it down to hoist the American colours in its place, they found that it had been securely nailed to the pole, the halliards cut, and the staff well slushed with grease. It was a dilemma awkward on one side as it was amusing on the other. We may imagine the departing soldiers waiting a short distance from the shore to watch the frantic efforts of their successors to exchange the flags. A flag was fastened to a stick by the Americans, and while, this makeshift was flying several guns of the sa- lute were actually flred, but the British ensign was still waving overhead, and the American's pot of oint- ment was polluted by this very obtrusive fly. At the nick of time there came a young soldier, John Van Arsdale by name, late of the Continental army, and it was his good fortune to succeed where others Digitized by Microsoft® Two Cities on One Site 29 had failed. Disdaining to attempt to scale the greased pole unaided, as others had done, he called for a ham- mer and nails. With pieces of board he fixed cross- pieces to the flagpole, making a ladder by which he ascended and finally tore down the obnoxious bunting. THE HOUSE THAT WAS BUILT FOR WASHINGTON Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter III New Buildings and Old AT the end of the eighteenth century there were a large number of historic houses clustering about the old fort. The names of some of the most notable New Yorkers were associated with them, and the reign of social leaders long celebrated for courtly and unstinted hospitality gave distinction to a neighbourhood now occupied by steamship offices and noisy with a jargon of foreign tongues. It was here that was situated the great house built for the first President of the United States and his suc- cessors. It was never occupied by Washington, as before its completion he had removed with the govern- ment to Philadelphia; but it became the residence of Governor George Clinton, and after him of John Jay, whose wife led the beauty and fashion of the little metropolis. Several weddings of note were performed at this old mansion, which in, its day was the most magnificent in the city. Mrs. Lamb says: The newspapers in November, 1796, chronicle a marriage and reception of this character at the governor's mansion as fol- 30 Digitized by Microsoft® New Buildings and Old 31 lows: " Married on the 3d at his Excellency's John Jay, Governor, Government House, John Livingston, of the Manor of Livingston, to Mrs. Catharine Ridley, daughter of the late Governor William Livingston." The bride was Mrs. Jay's accomplished and pi- quant sister, Kitty Livingston, who in 1787 became the wife of Matthew Ridley, of Baltimore, and after brief wedded happiness was left a widow. The fort and battery, that, to the discomfiture of all good Continentals, were held by the British troops, and which, to the immense satisfaction of the elect, they evacuated in 1783, were in large part within the line of the present elevated railway, and never very far be- yond it. The extension of the Battery Park to the south and west of the ancient water-front has finally resulted in a symmetrical wall that coincides with the front of Castle Garden, though the earlier pictures of - that famous landmark represent it as an isolated structure. Even as late as 1852 boats could approach it on three sides. The ground once occupied by the old fort now holds the new Custom House. At the lower end of Broad- way is a group of splendid buildings, among them the Standard Oil, Welles, Bowling Green, Columbia, etc. |vOpposite the Green, at what is now No. i Broadway, was a lot belonging at one time to Arent Schuyler, brother of Peter Schuyler, the first Mayor of Albany. It afterwards came into the possession of Archibald Kennedy, who built a house with a handsome broad front and spacious rooms. Next door to the Ken- nedy house was that of John Watts, whose daughter Digitized by Microsoft® 32 The Hudson River Kennedy married. These two mansions were connected by a bridge and staircase. The grounds ran down to the water's edge, and were laid out after the approved English fashion of the day, with stately terraces and parterres of flowers. Kennedy was the son of the Hon. Archibald Kennedy, Receiver General under British rule, and he afterwards became by inheritance the eleventh Earl of Cassalis. His son, born in the old house at No. i, was afterwards Marquis of Ailsa. The Kennedy house was famous for the magnificenGe of the entertainments given there. A parlor fifty feet long, with a banqueting hall of equal size and grand appointments, made this old mansion one of the notable ones of the Colony. Afterwards the Washington Hotel occupied the place of the Kennedy house, and now the Field Building, erected by Cyrus W. Field, lifts its bulk on that historic site. Before the War for Independence Lieutenant-Gov- ernor James de Lancey owned a large and handsome house on Broadway. This was another of the well- known homes of New York, where the wealth and fashion of the day used to enjoy a hospitality that was princely, and the fame of which was not confined to one side of the Atlantic. It was the favourite meeting- place for British officers during the war, and was the scene of the great ball given on May 7, 1789, in honour of Washington's Inauguration. John Peter de Lancey sold the property to a Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® New Buildings and Old 35 syndicate composed of Philip Livingston, Gulian Ver- planck, Moses Rogers, and others, in trust for sub- scribers to the "Tontine hotel and assembly room." The price paid was six thousand pounds, New York currency. This company pulled down the de Lancey house and built in its stead the City Hotel, that long occupied a large place in New York's local history. It was for years the only large hotel in the city and was the scene of many brilliant social events. In 1849 it made place for a row of stores, which in turn disap- peared when the present Boreel Building took their place. Old Jan Jansen Damen had, in 1646, a farmhouse in the waggon road between Pine and Cedar Streets. It was a little back from Broadway, and is described as an exceedingly comfortable stone house. This was then outside of the city. It was at this house that Governor Kieft spent much of his time, and Stuyvesant became a frequent guest. Now the Equitable Building covers the place where Damen sat on his stoep and enjoyed his garden and listened to the hum of bees in the apple blossoms, — covers house, garden, orchard, and all, to the extent of nearly an acre of ground. The old Middle Dutch Church in time disappeared from Nassau Street, as even churches do in New York, and on the i8th of October, 1882, the Mutual Life In- surance Company purchased the site for six hundred and fifty thousand dollars. There is not one of the great buildings that tower Digitized by Microsoft® 36 The Hudson River even above the ordinary chimneys of the city, and chal- lenge the eye of the traveller upon the river, that has not sunk its foundations deep into the associations of an historic past. Beneath and within the looming walls are traditions and memories; the tragedies, the ro- mances, and the comedies of that older day. Every year, the "tale of bricks is doubled" in Man- hattan, and the huge buildings that stretch from the Battery northward multiply. In all that vast collec- tion of iron and masonry there are a few individual masses that are symmetrical, but these are lost in the great aggregation. Separate structures have been shot into the air as though impelled by some terrific volcanic agency, but there is no hint of any idea of relationship between them; they suggest rather the accidental huddling of more or less unrelated and even incon- PEAKS OF THE MANHATTAN RANGE Digitized by Microsoft® New Buildings and Old 37 gnious elements. The saw-tooth sky-line thus pro- duced does not add an element of beauty to the aspect of the city as seen from the river : on the contrary, the ragged, irregular procession of domes, pyramids, cones, spires, and bricks-on-end give an impression of wealth, power, aggressiveness, — of almost anything under heaven except taste and relationship. In all this mon- ster collection of buildings there is no suggestion of any community of interest. Every sky-scraper proclaims, as far as it can be seen, that it does not recognise any other sky-scraper except as a possible rival to be over- topped by the addition of several more stories or a cupola or two. It will seem to many people like heresy to affirm that New York from any point of view lacks beauty ; but it is sometimes a melancholy duty to cherish a heresy. THE CITY THAT HIDES MANHATTAN Digitized by Microsoft® 38 The Hudson River or even, upon occasion, to proclaim it. As a matter of opinion we hold that there are in the world several cities containing a fraction of the population and enter- prise and wealth of New York that are much more im- pressive in a perspective view. There are cities, and even small towns, that present themselves to the im- agination as units and are in their degree satisfying to that sane something within us that demands balance and proportion in art. They are at once comprehen- sive and comprehensible. But Manhattan is without a plan. Each building is a unit, sufficient unto itself, and the city is chaos. It is aside from the purpose of this book, and more fitting for a philosophical treatise, to suggest that there is something in the life and activity of the metropolis that conforms to its architectural sky-line. But mere size is impressive in its way, after all. The eye sweeps that line of jagged towers and dizzy pinnacles in search of food to satisfy the craving for the marvellous which is perhaps no more a modern than it was an ancient failing. We own to a feeling of exultation when we discover that the Park Row Building (that looks like the London Tower elongated) is three hundred and eighty — or is it ninety? — feet high, and that the Manhattan Life does not touch it by forty feet or more, though this in turn overtops the Cable, St. Paul, American Surety, Tract Society, World, Empire, Gillender, and all other three- hundred-footers, as they do such trumpery affairs as Digitized by Microsoft® New Buildings and Old 39 the Produce Exchange, BowHng Green, Equitable, etc. There is old Trinity spire, that we used to think was in danger of tearing the silver lining from the clouds with its heavenward-pointing tip. How dwarfed and in- significant it seems now among all its tall worldly neighbours! And yet, with the rush of a thousand thronging associations, how the eye seeks and dwells upon it, recognising in it a significance deeper and stronger than is suggested by all the iron mills and stone quarries of the land. However we may take exception to the superficial outline of the lower city, it would hardly be possible for one not born blind to be insensible to the glorious wealth of colour that commonly compensates for all other defects. What hues of cream and rose are there, with strong Venetian tones to balance dark masses of slaty blue; what gleams of yellow, and amber lights, and tints of green! Here a dome of gold and there a cloud of opalescent steam, catch the sunlight; and hundreds of smoke-jets soften and blend the warm, rich shades that meet and melt in purple mystery. But best of all is the marvellous transformation when night comes, and the chimneys are down, and the sky-line fades away. There are no drawbacks or incongruities then ; but the corruscation of uncounted lights — flashing galaxies, not of stars, but of constella- tions and firmaments of stars — render the scene one of indescribable beauty. Below the zone of white bril- liants there is that other, of coloured shore lights, Digitized by Microsoft® 40 The Hudson River fountains of emerald and ruby that overflow and paint the unresting wave-rims with serpentine hieroglyphs. There are few displays of illumination in the world that will compare with that which New York exhibits every night, and whoever has not seen it from the river has missed one of the delights of life. A tour of the west shore of Manhattan Island natu- rally commences at the Barge Office, at the extreme lower end of the city. This was built by the city for the use of the Emigration Commissioners, when Castle Garden, which had been previously leased as a landing station for immigrants, was resigned. The Barge Of- fice was first used for the reception of cabin passengers from ocean vessels, then became our immigrant station, and is now used by the customs inspectors. THE BARGE OFFICE AND THE BAY Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter IV Festivals and Pageants CASTLE GARDEN was formerly called Castle Clinton. The site was granted by the Cor- poration of New York City to the United States Government in May, 1807, and a fortification was built soon afterwards, but owing to bad engineer- ing the foundations of the structure were not strong enough to support the weight even of what at that day was considered as heavy ordnance, and in March, 1822, the fort and ground were reconveyed to the city. For many years the building was used for the recep- tion of distinguished strangers, for fetes and festivals, concerts, operas, and public meetings of various kinds. Here the annual fairs of the American Institute were held until the year 1855, when the Commissioners of Emigration secured the premises by lease as a landing- place for immigrants. Within a few years the long-familiar spectacle of a motley throng of poor foreigners, clad in strange garbs, and speaking more tongues than Babel ever knew, has become a thing of the past. The last change in the varied history of Castle Garden was its conversion into a great free aquarium, where every day thousands of visitors find their recreation. 41 Digitized by Microsoft® 42 The Hudson River Of all the various tides in the affairs of this notable fort (whose aspect and name have been warlike, but whose record has all been suggestive of the piping times of peace), none has led more im.mediately to fortune, as well as fame, than Jenny Lind's first con- cert on September ii, 1850. An account of this event was published.in the New York Herald of the following morning with this commencement: The long-looked-for event has come off. Jenny Lind has sung in Castle Garden to an audience of five thousand persons.' . . Never did a mortal in this city, or perhaps any other, receive such homage as the sovereign of song received from the sovereign people. Among the advertisements of the day preceding the concert the following notice appeared: CASTLE GARDEN.— FIRST APPEARANCE OF MLLE. JENNY LIND, on Wednesday eve- ning, September ii, 1850. PROGRAMME. Overture — "Oberon." C. M. V. Weber. Aria — "Sorgete." (Maometto secondo) Rossini. Sung by Sig. Belletti. Scena and Cavatina — "Casta Diva. " (Norma) Bellini. M'Ue Jenny Lind. Grand Duet for two Piano Fortes. Thalberg. Messrs. Benedict and Hoffman. Duet — "Per Piacer." (II Turco in Italia) Rossini. M'lle Jenny Lind and Sig. Belletti. Overture — "Crusaders." (First time in America) Benedict. Trio Concertante for Voice and two Flutes (Camp of Silesia) . . Meyerbeer. Composed expressly for M'lle Jenny Lind. M'lle Jenny Lind. ' Flutes^-Messrs. Kyle and Siede. Aria Buffa — "Largo al factotum." (Barbiere) Rossini. Sig. Belletti, Swedish Melody — "Herdsman's Song" (known as the Echo Song) Sung by M'lle Jenny Lind. Greeting to America — Prize Com- position, by Bayard Taylor, Esq. Benedict — Composed expressly for this occasion. M'lle Jenny Lind. Conductor — Mr. Benedict. Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Festivals and Pageants 45 Great excitement was caused by the auction sale of a choice of seats, Mr. Genin, the hatter, securing the first place on the opening night for what was then con- sidered thQ:,yery large sum of $225. A contemporary report pictures the scene at the Garden : At four o'clock Jenny Lind arrived at the Garden, in order to pass quietly and unobserved through the crowd. She dressed there instead of at the hotel. At five o'clock the gates were thrown open, and from that time until eight o'clock there was a continuous tide of human beings passing into the capacious building. The numbers from the country were very consider- able. They were from New Haven, Newport, Albany, Newark and various other cities; and when all were seated, it was indeed a splendid sight. The ladies' dresses were very magnificent, and such as the great mass of women in no other country in the world can afford to wear. The fair sex were not as numerous as might be expected, the gentlemen outnumbering them considerably; but those who were present seemed to enjoy the concert in the highest degree. It is very probable that many ladies were kept away for the first night by the fear of being crushed ; but when they find that their apprehensions were groundless, they will doubtless take the Castle by storm to-morrow night. The river, we read, was thronged with boats that stayed throughout the performance, and in many cases were manned and occupied by those to whom the news- papers of the time referred as "the rougher element." Jenny Lind's share of the proceeds from the first concert was in the neighbourhood of ten thousand dollars, an enormous sum for a singer of that day to re- ceive for a single performance. It added greatly to the popular appreciation of the "Casta Diva" that she bestowed this sum upon various charitable and public Digitized by Microsoft® 46 The Hudson River institutions in New York City. In the bestowment of the largest sum, three thousand dollars, upon the (then volunteer) fire department fund, may perhaps be de- tected the fine advertising instinct of her manager, Mr. P. T. Barnum. Many notable pageants and many distinguished names are associated with Castle Garden. Here, more than once, the people of the city have welcomed a cele- brated guest with all the enthusiasm that in later days we have seen evinced for an Am.erican or a German admiral. The accounts given of the landing of Lafayette and his reception at Castle Garden,, in August, 1824, show how far from being a "new thing it is for the average Manhattanite to express his feelings vehemently when a reception is in progress. The 15th was Sunday, and the visitor was escorted from his ship to the Vice- President's house, Staten Island. But on Monday New York went mad. All business was suspended; the people were thronging every point of vantage, even the housetops, and the streets were filled with an expectant multitude. The animated scenes attending his landing at Castle Garden, upon a carpeted stairway, under a magnificent arch, richly decor- ated with flags and wreaths of laurel, while groups of escorting vessels, alive with ladies and gentlemen, and adorned in the most fanciful manner, circled about ; and the prolonged shouts of hosts of people, and the roar of cannon echoed far away over the waters, together with the parade in Broadway, the reception at City Hall, the speeches, the banquet, and the illumination — are Digitized by Microsoft® Festivals and Pageants 47 all more familiar to the public of to-day than many other features of the historic visit. Lafayette spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in shaking hands and sight-seeing in New York, and on Friday, August 20, left for Providence and Boston. New York had occupied itself in the interval between General Lafayette's departure for Boston and his re- turn in preparing for a celebration that should make all previous celebrations pale their ineffectual fires. It was to take place at Castle Garden on the 14th of Sep- tember, and was under the immediate supervision of Generals Mapes, Morton, Fleming, and Benedict, and Colonel W. H. Maxwell, Colonel King, Mr. Colden, and Mr. Lynch. The sedate Evening Post evei^ broke into expressions of rapture at the result. We hazard nothing [it affirmed] in saying that it was the most magnificent fite given under cover in the world. . . It was a festival that realises all that we read of in the Persian tales or Arabian Nights, which dazzled the eye and bewildered the imagination, and which produced so many powerful combina- tions, by magnificent preparations, as to set description almost at defiance. We never saw ladies more brilliantly dressed — • everything that fashion and elegance could devise was used on the occasion. Their head-dresses were principally of flowers, with ornamented combs, and some with plumes of ostrich feathers. White and black lace dresses over satin were mostly worn, with a profusion of steel ornaments and neck chains of gold and silver, suspended to which were beautiful gold and silver badge medals, bearing a likeness of Lafayette, manufactured for the occasion. The gentlemen had suspended from the button- holes of their coats a similar likeness, and, with the ladies, had the same stamped on their gloves. A belt or sash, with a likeness of the general, and entwined with a chaplet of roses, also formed part of the dress of the ladies. Foreigners who were present Digitized by Microsoft® 48 The Hudson River admitted they had never seen anything equal to this fete in the several countries from which they came — the blaze of light and beauty, the decorations of the military officers, the combination of rich colours which met the eye at every glance, the brilliant circle of fashion in the galleries, everything in the range of sight being inexpressibly beautiful, and doing great credit and honour to the managers and all engaged in this novel spectacle. The guests numbered several thousand, but there was abundant room for the dancing, which commenced at an early hour, and was kept up until about three o'clock in the morning. Lafayette proceeded up the Hudson almost imme- diately, making but few stops on his way to Albany. One of these pauses was at Hudson, where a great re- ception was given in his honour. To have met and conversed with the celebrated visitor was an honour which many a budding beauty of that day treasured till threescore and ten; one, indeed, long past four- score, told the present writer of her life-long regret that she had allowed the denial of a new gown to stand in the way of her going, and described the costumes of her friends, which included white gloves with the por- trait of Lafayette painted upon the backs. The year following Lafayette's visit brought another event to be written large in the chronicles of Castle Garden. One of the brightest of the spectacular displays that New York witnessed in the first half of the nineteenth century was that connected with the completion of the Erie Canal, 1825. A fleet as large as had ever as- sembled before the city up to that time thronged the river, and the vessels were decorated with bunting and Digitized by Microsoft® Festivals and Pageants 49 streamers till it seemed as if they could, hold no more. This gorgeous concourse of vessels formed a circle about the canal-boat — ^the first canal-boat — from Lake Erie. In circumference this marine pageant is said to have measured three miles and to have preserved a solemnity of deportment quite in contrast to that noisy hilarity that distinguished the fleet which at a later day sailed down to assist at the unveiling of the statue of Liberty, upon Bedloe's Island. Upon the canal-boat that formed the centre of the circle on the earlier occasion here described was a keg with gilded hoops, filled to the bunghole with water from Lake Erie. With all the dignity which the occa- sion demanded and the manners of the day prescribed, De Witt Clinton, who was present with his wife and retinue, poured the water overboard to mingle with that of the Atlantic Ocean. It was a pretty bit of sym- bolism, possible to people bred to the formalities of a somewhat artificial life, and no doubt carried out with becoming gravity. Medals were then distributed to the honoured guests of the occasion, after which we may surmise that dignity unbent and a somewhat more rampant Americanism reigned. We are told that a lady who was present wrote at a late hour that night; We met all the world and his wife; military heroes, noble statesmen, artificial and natural characters, the audacious, the clownish, the polished and refined; but we were squeezed to death and heartily tired. Fifty-one gold medals were struck in commemora- Digitized by Microsoft® 50 The Hudson River tion of this event, and were sent in red morocco cases to monarchs and celebrated subjects all over the world. Among the latest and in many respects unequalled among the naval parades in the history of the world was that which swept majestically past the Battery and Castle Garden on the fourth day of the Columbian celebration in October, 1892. There were four nations represented in the parade, and they sent each a contingent of warships that when massed together formed a fleet the like of which perhaps has never been seen. One of the best descriptions of this magnificent dis- play was that published in the Magazine of American History for November of that year: The advance guard of the marine procession was a broad line of some twenty-one tugs, stretching half across the mile-wide Hudson with an almost perfect alignment, as if a file of soldiers on parade; they were manned by white-uniformed volunteers. Among the craft that followed the saucy -looking tugs, was con- spicuous the torpedo boat Gushing, on which was Commander Kane, and tiny steam yachts darted back and forth like winged birds, apparently distributing orders for the chief — a singular contrast to the Indian canoes that for centuries monopolized these waters. They bore the aides of the commander, among whom were General S. V. R. Cruger, James W. Beekman, Wood- bury Kane, Archibald Rogers, Irving Grinnell, and many other well-known gentlemen. 'The great steamer Howard Carroll, bearing a host of notables — a burden of eminence not easily de- scribed — seemed to parade all by herself in lordly grandeur. Then came three large steamers sailing abreast, the Sam Sloan, Matteawan, and Mohawk, on which was the Committee of- One Digitized by Microsoft® Festivals and Pageants 51 Hundred and their invited guests. An interval of open water was given for the gigantic war vessels of America, Spain, Italy, and France, a column of stately men-of-war, the chief attraction in the pageant. They moved in three Indian files, the foreigners flanked by the white-hulled vessels of America. On their decks and bridges and in their lookouts were drawn up the various crews, looking like statues at a distance, so impassively did they hold their respective stations. Our flagship Philadelphia, of the White Squadron, was on the right, with her high white hull, and her two yellow smokestacks. The trim despatch vessel Dolphin followed in her wake, and the long, low, dynamite projector Vesuvius, looking like a torpedo boat enlarged, brought up the rear. The place of honor in the centre was given to the French flagship Arethuse, the largest of the foreign contingent, with her triple row of portholes and towering masts, effective for display, and behind her came her mate, the rakish white Huzzard. The Italian flagship, Bausan, is a big, black, stately ship of modern type, which was regarded on all sides with special admiration. The little Spanish cruiser Infanta Isabdl proudly carried the colors of Columbus. On the left was the United States monitor Mian- tonomoh, our coast defender, which looks very much like a floating derrick, and bears promise of deadly work if it should be called into use. She was followed by the graceful Atlanta, one of our earliest group of steel vessels, and the little yacht-like Blake. Behind this majestic craft came the immense flotilla of mer- chant vessels, steamers, yachts, excursion boats, and fire-boats that lent spectacular interest to the scene by spouting great streams of water into the air as they sailed — streams that have force enough to knock down brick walls. From the start to the finish there was no place where the pageant made such an impressive display as between the shores of the incomparable Hudson. It was a picture of the civilization of the nineteenth century, too vast for a painter and inexpressible in words. From the vessels in the procession the spectacle was even more remarkable. No other city in the world has such a stretch of water-front as New York, and the space was all taken. The tops of the tall buildings were crowded with spectators, also the masts of vessels at anchor, the roofs of cars and boats, and Digitized by Microsoft® 52 The Hudson River every foot of shore along the whole route. Staten Island and New Jersey were not beholden to New York for a view, but occu- pied their own roofs and side-hills. Riverside Park, which is three miles long, afforded a continuous bluff that was thoroughly appreciated by thousands and thousands of sight-seers, while the handsome mansions on the park drive were generously thrown open to invited guests. When the war-ships came in front of Grant's tomb they anchored while the great procession of civic .boats passed by, and at every masthead floated the American ensign with all the colors of other nations, denoting that the foreign vessels were taking part in a ceremonial that was Amer- ican and national. The vessel which closed the procession was the Vamoose, restraining her speed like a greyhound in leash. It was altogether a great display, and one of which New York may ever be justly proud. "The queen of the western waves sat by her waters in glory and in light all day, proud of the past and hopeful of the future. " Space fails in which to print even a list of the nota- ble water parades that have passed Manhattan Island. How many were the thousands of people that risked annihilation to catch. even a glimpse of the warships that had made history under the guns of Spanish forts and aided in the destruction of the Spanish navy! Through what heat of sun, or bitterness of wind, or cheerless, driving rain, have not the population of New York stood, hour after hour, to see a fleet of marine monsters, with bunting streaming and yards manned, sweep by in glorious procession! As a race we appreciate spectacles: we love the gleam of metal, the concourse of people, the rolling of drums, and the fanfare of trumpets. We love a parade, and we fall into paroxysms of patriotism when a hero appears. We have only one limit : we do not wish our Digitized by Microsoft® Festivals and Pageants 53 enthusiasms to be remembered against us. When we tell, a hero that he is a demigod and can have the Presidency of the United States for the asking, we resent being taken too seriously. A TOW GOING OUT TO SEA Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter V Along the Manhattan Shore IT may not be a generally appreciated fact that Manhattan Island is the very home of modesty. From the earliest times the habit of New York has been rather to do things than to talk about them after they are done. The shore-line that stretches northward from the Battery has been the scene of exploits enough to inspire a volume of epics or to make the lasting reputation of a dozen ordinary cities. The traditions of the river shore are marked usually by a simple directness that suggests the Chronicles of the Hebrews. They fill here and there a few lines of an old journal, or are parenthetically referred to in some manual of obsolete events. So and so did such and such a deed, and there was an end of it. We have a sample of such tales in the following vera- cious narrative: Previous to 1812, a riverman, or some one connected with one of the markets along- shore, was impressed by the captain of a British vessel. The people of the neighbourhood, roused by this high- handed proceeding, seized a boat belonging to the said captain, broke it up, and burned it. They then com- 54 Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Along the Manhattan Shore 57 pelled the captain to release his prisoner. From that day Shanghai-ing fell into disrepute along the North River. At Cruger's Dock occurred one of the deeds which in any other city under the sun would have been cele- brated in song and woven into story, but which in New York was allowed to go almost unrecorded. Out of some dusty pile of records one draws the scanty ac- count of the arrival of Captain Haviland, on the 13th of January, 1768, with a supply of stamps, and of the gathering at the dock that evening of a company of armed men, who captured the stamps and btirned them. That is all. If it had been Boston, and a cargo of tea, how sonorously the deed would have been ex- ploited! At the foot of West loth Street — or near it — ^was the old State prison, which at least one boarding- house-keeper in the vicinity advertised as an attrac- tion. One of the early morning sights of the city is that of the market at West Street, near Gansevoort and Little West Tenth. This is one of the survivals from the old days of river boats and farm trucking, and is a part of the story of the Hudson. In the years 1780-85, the Vauxhall Gardens, at the North River end of Warren Street, were at the height of their vogue. There were other places of resort that at a later date monopolised the fashionable throng; notably Columbia, not far from the Battery, on Digitized by Microsoft® /- 58 The Hudson River Broadway, and Mt. Vernon, about where Leonard Street is now. The Vatixhall Gardens of that early- day must not be confounded with the theatre of the same name which was the favourite resort of a later generation. Five blocks farther up the shore from Vauxhall, just at the end of a hill that figured in the plans of the fortifications of 1776-77, was a foundry. One of the most prominent buildings from the river a century ago was the hospital that stood near Duane Street and Broadway, upon an eminence that was considerable then, but has since been "graded" till un- discoverable. Between the hospital and the river stood a chapel, and to the south of that, on the double square between Murray and Barclay Streets, the old college buildings. There was nothing then to hide St. Paul's Church from those who went up or down in the sloops and schooners that thronged the river, and above all else in the city old Trinity loomed, a magnificent landmark. Old Paulus Hook Ferry, at the foot of Cortlandt Street, was often spelled Powles Hook on old maps. In 1780 the Hudson froze from shore to shore, and was measured over the ice at this point, proving to be two thousand yards wide. Fifteen years afterwards the records tell us that "Powles Hook Ferry was leased for Two hundred and Fifty Pounds per annum. ' ' Only a few years later all of the public wharves and slips, piers and docks, around the city sold for one year for $42,750. Colonel John Stevens, in 1811, ran his steam ferry-boat from this point. Digitized by Microsoft® Along the Manhattan Shore 59 It would not be possible to write even a meagre account of the Manhattan shore and neglect Anneke Jans Bogardus and her farm. That farm, which ex- tended from where Warren Street is to above Des- brosses Street, was granted as a Bouwerie to Roeloff Jansen, who had been employed by the Patroon Van Rensselaer, up the river. His widow was considered a very desirable match, and no doubt had many suitors, but she conveyed her goodly inheritance, along with her buxom person, to the grave and rever- end Domine Everardus Bogardus, stated minister of the Dutch Church. What a pair they were ! he with his austere bearing, his ministerial garb, and theological bent ; she sprightly and not too unworldly. It must have been an inter- esting sight when Madame Bogardus danced and the Domine paid the piper. He was a loyal gentleman and knew what his position demanded. We read that when some jealous dame declared that Anneke had coquettishly shown more of her clocked stocking than propriety demanded, her reverend husband promptly brought suit for slander, and received damages. It appears, indeed, that Bogardus was something of a fighter, and figured as plaintiff or defendant in several law-suits. But to return to the farm : every one who knows his New York at all knows what years of litigation over the inheritance of part of that property have made it one of the most famous pieces of real estate in the Digitized by Microsoft® 6o The Hudson River world, and its mistress as well known as Queen Anne or Pocahontas. And wherever the name of Anneke Jans is mentioned, and the now fabulously valuable property becomes a subject of conversation, the tail spire of old Trinity begins to rise upon the mental vision like a finger of warning against all profane claimants. NEW YORK HARBOUR FROM ONE OF THE SKY-SCRAPERS Those who knew this part of the shore a generation ago knew Lispenard's swamp, that was in reality a salt meadow until comparatively recent years. It lay on both sides of the present Canal Street, and when New York was young was a favourite resort for all the amateur sportsmen of the neighbourhood. The Ocean Steamship Company's piers now occupy a part of that shore, and bales and boxes and barrels of Savannah freight, cotton, and naval stores are spread in ap- parent confusion where the wild duck used to fly among Digitized by Microsoft® Alono^ the Manhattan Shore 6i "^^ the pools, and the swamp-wren built her nest in the rushes. -- - Along the river shore above Lispenard's swamp, or meadow, and reaching inland nearly to the old Boston and Albany Road (that is, the Bowery) was that de- lightful suburb known as Greenwich Village. Along the shore northward from old Vauxhall and Harrison's Brewery the old maps show the " Road to Greenwich." Its first name was Sapokanican, which the Dutch changed to the Bossen Bouwerie. Where White Star and Cunard steamers now come to their wharves, the pleasant grassy slopes reached down to the water's edge, and nothing more pretentious than one of the " yachts ' ' of some up-river potentate ever sent a ripple to that strand. Through the Bouwerie ran the Manetta brook, that famous water that, in spite of burying and cul verting and filling in, has been the dread of architects and builders down to the present day. Washington Square was within the village boundaries when Wash- ington Square was nothing but a marsh where the crack of a duck-gun might occasionally have been heard. "Admiral" Peter Warren (who was only Captain Warren at that time) built a house somewhere about 1744 in Greenwich. That house afterwards became, and was for many years, the residence of Abraham Van Ness, Esq. Around it clustered other fine houses: there came the Bayards and the de Lanceys and James Digitized by Microsoft® 62 The Hudson River Jauncey, and there the fashionables of their time were accustomed to turn for a drive into the country. Thomas A. Janvier, who made a dehghtful study of old Greenwich Village, says of its inhabitants: Very proper and elegant people were all of these, and — their seats being at a convenient distance from the city — their elegant friends living in New York found pleasure in making Greenwich an objective point when taking the air of fine afternoons. And even when visiting was out of the question, a turn through Greenwich to the Monument was a favorite expedition among the gentle-folk of a century or so ago. Until about the year 1767, access to this region was only by the Greenwich Road, close upon the line of the present Greenwich Street and directly upon the water-side. Greenwich Lane was called also Monument Lane and Obelisk Lane : for the reason that at its northern extremity, a little north of the present Eighth Avenue and Fifteenth Street, was a monu- ment in honor of General Wolfe. After the erection of this me- morial to the hero of Quebec the drive of good society was out the Post Road to the Greenwich turning; thence across to the Obelisk ; thence by the Great Kill Road (the present Gansevoort Street) over to the Hudson ; and so homeward by the river-side while the sun was sinking in golden glory behind the Jersey hills. Or the drive could be extended a little by going out the Post Road as far as Love Lane, and thence south by the Southampton, Warren, or Fitzroy Road to the Great Kill Road, and so by the water-side back to town. Chelsea was a village that lay principally between what is now Seventh Avenue and the river, in the neighbourhood of Twenty-second and Twenty-third Streets. The land had originally been part of a farm or bouwerie belonging to Jacob and Teunis Somerin- dyke, but was purchased in 1750 by an English veteran Digitized by Microsoft® Along the Manhattan Shore 63 named Thomas Clarke. Afterwards his widow built a handsome house, and subsequently Bishop Moore, Presi- dent of Columbia College, purchased and made it his home. This property was given by President Moore to his son, Clement C. Moore, whose name is forever enshrined in the hearts of New Yorkers as the author of The Night before Christmas. But popular appreciation had not yet reached far enough to restrain the predatory bands of boys and men who enjoyed the fruits of nocturnal forays upon the garden and orchards of Chelsea, so in a fit of des- peration the owner sought counsel and concluded to survey his land and lay it out in building lots. There was some question whether merchants doing business in New York could be induced to travel so far night and morning, but the rapid-transit problem was solved by the establishment of the Knickerbocker line of stages, run by Palmer & Peters, whose stables stood where the Grand Opera House does now. The par- tition of the estate into village lots went forward rapidly, and fortunes were made by men who saw a little way into the future and speculated on the rise in realty. After a time Chelsea- had its own stores, schools, and offices, a church, a theological seminary, and a fire company, and the value of the Moore estate is reckoned by millions of dollars. The Glass House farm, extending from Thirty-fifth Street northward, was so named from an unsuccessful attempt to make glass there at an early day. This Digitized by Microsoft® 64 The Hudson River « farm was purchased just after the Revolution by Rem Rapelje, a descendant of the Rapeljes who became locally famous as the parents of the first white child born in Manhattan. Mr. Rapelje was at one time a wine merchant, and the cellars of the house at the farm were well stocked with port and Madeira, and a pipe of good wine was always on tap for visitors. Perhaps, after all, the name of " Glass House" was no misnomer. At that time the farm was three miles and a half from the city: it is now practically downtown. Nothing could more strikingly illustrate the vastness of the change that has taken place on Manhattan Island in a little more than a century. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter VI On the Jersey Shore OPPOSITE the Battery the ancient settlement of Communipaw forms the western gateway of the river. It was the last stronghold of Dutch manners and customs that the descendants of the earliest settlers managed to hold for years against the ever-encroaching spirit of the age ; and it is hinted that even now, however modern their thoughts may be in daytime, the true sons of Communipaw always dream in Dutch. But the rumble and roar of the Philadelphia and Reading cars that find a terminus here interfere sadly with dreaming. Yet what a land of Nod it was when Diedrich Knickerbocker discovered — or did he invent — it? Among favoured places, the renowned village of Communipaw was ever held by the historian of New Amsterdam in especial veneration. Here the intrepid crew of the Goede Vrouw first cast the seeds of empire. Hence proceeded the expedition under Qloffe the Dreamer, to found the city of New Amsterdam, vul- garly called New- York, which, inheriting the genius of its founder, has ever been a city of dreams and speculations. Com- munipaw, therefore, may truly be called the parent of New- York, though, on comparing the lowly village with the great flaunting city which it has engendered, one is forcibly reminded 6. Digitized by Microsoft® 66 The Hudson River of a squat little hen that has unwittingly hatched out a long- legged turkey. It is a mirror also of New Amsterdam, as it was before the conquest. Everything bears the stamp of the days of Olofie the Dreamer, Walter the Doubter, and the other worthies of the golden age; the same gable-fronted houses, surmounted with weathercocks, the same knee-buckles and shoe-buckles, and close quilled caps, and linsey-woolsey petticoats, and multi- farious breeches. In a word, Communipaw is a little Dutch Herculaneum, or Pompeii, where the relics of the classic days of the New Netherlands are preserved in their pristine state, with the exception that they have never been buried. "^ BRICK SCHOONER AND SHAD FISHERS, OFF FORT LEE The secret of all this wonderful conservation is simple. At the time that New Amsterdam was subjugated by the Yankees and their British allies, as Spain was, in ancient days, by the Saracens, a great dispersion took place among the inhabitants. One resolute band determined never to bend their necks to the yoke of the invaders, and, led by Garret Van Home, a gigantic Dutchman, the Pelaye of the New Netherlands, crossed the bay, and buried themselves among the marshes of Communipaw, as Digitized by Microsoft® On the Jersey Shore 67 did the Spaniards of yore among the Asturian mountains. Here they cut off all communication with the captured city, forbade the English language to be spoken in their community, kept themselves free from foreign marriage and intermixture, and have thus remained the pure Dutch seed of the Manhattoes, with which the city may be repeopled, whenever it is effectually delivered from the Yankees. The citadel erected by Garret Van Home exists to this day in possession of his descendants, and is known by the lordly ap- pellation of the House of the Four Chimneys, from having a chimney perched like a turret at every corner. Here are to be seen articles of furniture which came over with the first settlers from Holland; ancient chests of drawers, and massive clothes- presses, quaintly carved, and waxed and polished until they shine like mirrors. Here are old black-letter volumes with brass clasps, printed of yore in Ley den, and handed down from genera- tion to generation, but never read. Also old parchment deeds in Dutch and English, bearing the seals of the early governors of the province. In this house the primitive Dutch holydays of Paas and Pinxter are faithfully kept up, and New Year celebrated with cookies and cherry bounce; nor is the festival of the good St. Nicholas forgotten; when all the children are sure to hang up their stockings, and to have them filled according to their deserts ; though it is said the good Saint is occasionally perplexed, in his nocturnal visits, which chimney to descend. A tradition exists concerning this mansion, which, however dubious it may seem, is treasured up with good faith by the inhabitants. It is said that at the founding of it St. Nicholas took it under his protec- tion, and the Dutch Dominie of the place, who was a kind of soothsayer, predicted that as long as these four chimneys stood Communipaw would flourish. Now it came to pass that some years since, during the great mania for land speculation, a Yankee speculator found his way into Communipaw ; bewildered the old burghers with a project to erect their village into a great sea-port; made a lithographic map, in which their oyster beds were transformed into docks and quays, their cabbage-gardens laid out in town lots and squares, and the House of the Four Digitized by Microsoft® 68 The Hudson River Chimneys metamorphosed into a great bank, with granite pil- lars, which was to enrich the whole neighbourhood with paper money. Fortunately at this juncture there rose a high wind, which shook the venerable pile to its foundation, toppled down one of the chimneys, and blew off a weathercock, the Lord knows whither. The community took the alarm, they drove the land speculator from their shores, and since that day not a Yankee has dared to show his face in Communipaw. Among all the gruesome legends of the west shore of the river none is more famous than that of the "Guests from Gibbet Island." Yan Yost Vanderscamp, the scapegrace nephew of the innkeeper of Communipaw, disappeared with old Pluto, his uncle's negro servant, and reappeared years afterwards — "a rough, burly bully rufifian, with fiery whiskers, a copper nose, a scar across his face, and a great Flaunderish beaver slouched on one side of his head." With him was Pluto, grown grizzled, blind of an eye, and more devilish in appearance than before. According to his own account the prodigal had se- cured the fatted calf in his travels and had brought it home with him. He had bags full of money and ships in every sea. He and a company of roystering com- panions he had brought with him made a pandemonium of the Wild Goose, as the inn was named, and shocked the respectable burghers of Communipaw beyond measure. At intervals the swaggering crew would disappear, to return, more riotous than ever, and set the village once more by the ears: Digitized by Microsoft® On the Jersey Shore 69 The mystery of all these proceedings gradually dawned upon the tardy intellects of Communipaw. These were the times of the notorious Captain Kidd, when the American harbours were the resorts of piratical adventurers of all kinds, who, under pretext of mercantile voyages, scoured the West Indies, made plundering descents upon the Spanish Main, visited even the re- mote Indian Seas, and then came to dispose of their booty, have their revels, and fit out new expeditions, in the English colonies. . . . At length the attention of the British government was called to these piratical enterprises, that were becoming so fre- quent and outrageous. Vigorous measures were taken to check and punish them. Several of the most noted freebooters were caught and executed, and three of Vanderscamp's chosen com- rades, the most riotous swashbucklers of the Wild Goose, were hanged in chains on Gibbet Island, in full sight of their favourite resort. As to Vanderscamp himself, he and his man Pluto again disappeared, and it was hoped by the people of Communipaw that he had fallen in some foreign brawl, or been swung on some foreign gallows. . . . This perfect calm was doomed at length to be ruffled. The fiery persecution of the pirates gradu- ally subsided. Justice was satisfied with the examples that had been made, and there was no more talk of Kidd, and the other heroes of like Kidney. On a calm summer evening, a boat, somewhat heavily laden, was seen pulling into Communipaw. What was the surprise and disquiet of the inhabitants, to see Yan Yost Vanderscamp seated at the helm, and his man Pluto tugging at the oar. Vander- scamp, however, was apparently an altered man. He brought home with him a wife, who seemed to be a shrew, and to have the upper hand of him. He no longer was the swaggering, bully ruffian, but affected the regular merchant, and talked of retiring from business, and settling down quietly, to pass the rest of his days in his native place. The Wild Goose mansion was again opened, but with dim- inished splendour, and no riot. It is true, Vanderscamp had fre- quent nautical visitors, and the sound of revelry was occasionally overheard in his house; but everything seemed to be done under the rose; and old Pluto was the only servant that officiated at Digitized by Microsoft® 70 The Hudson River these orgies. The visitors, indeed, were .by no means of the turbulent stamp of their predecessors; but quiet, mysterious traders, full of nods, and winks, and hieroglyphic signs, with whom, to use their cant phrase, " everything was smug." Their ships came to anchor at night, in the lower bay ; and, on a private signal, Vanderscamp would launch his boat, and, accompanied solely by his man Pluto, would make them mysterious visits. Sometimes boats pulled in at night, in front of the Wild Goose, and various articles of merchandise were landed in the dark, and spirited away, nobody knew whither. One of the more curious of the inhabitants kept watch, and caught a glimpse of the features of some of these night visitors, by the casual glance of a lantern, and declared that he recognized more than one of the freebooting frequenters of the Wild Goose, in former times; from whence he concluded that Vanderscamp was at his old game, and that this mysterious merchandise was nothing more nor less than piratical plunder. The more charitable opinion, however, was, that Vanderscamp and his comrades, having been driven from their old line of business, by the "oppressions of government," had resorted to smuggling to make both ends meet. . . It happened late one night, that Yan Yost Vanderscamp was returning across the broad bay, in his light skiff, rowed by his man Pluto. He had been carousing on board of a vessel, newly arrived, and was somewhat obfuscated in intellect, by the liquid he had imbibed. It was a still, sultry night; a heavy mass of lurid clouds was rising in the west, with the low muttering of distant thunder. Vanderscamp called on Pluto to pull lustily, that they might get home before the gathering storm. The old negro made no reply, but shaped his course so as to skirt the rocky shores of Gibbet Island. A faint creaking overhead caused Vanderscamp to cast up his eyes, when, to his horror, he beheld the bodies of his three pot companions and brothers in iniquity, dangling in the moonlight, their rags fluttering, and their chains creaking, as they were slowly swung backward and forward by the rising breeze. "What do you mean, you blockhead," cried Vanderscamp, "by pulling so close to the island? " Digitized by Microsoft® On the Jersey Shore 71 "I thought you 'd be glad to see your old friends once more, " growled the negro ; ' ' you were never afraid of a living man, what do you fear from the dead? " "Who 's afraid?" hiccupped Vanderscamp, partly heated by liquor, partly nettled by the jeer of the negro; "who 's afraid? Hang me, but I would be glad to see them once more, alive or dead, at the Wild Goose. Come, my lads in the wind," con- tinued he, taking a draught, and flourishing the bottle above his head, " here 's fair weather to you in the other world; and if you should be walking the rounds to-night, odds fish, but I '11 be happy if you will drop in to supper." The storm burst over the voyagers, while they were yet far from shore. The rain fell in torrents, the thunder crashed and pealed, and the lightning kept up an incessant blaze. It was stark midnight before they landed at Communipaw. Dripping and shivering, Vanderscamp crawled homeward. He was completely sobered by the storm; the water soaked from without having diluted and cooled the liquor within. Ar- rived at the Wild Goose, he knocked timidly and dubiously at the door, for he dreaded the reception he was to experience from his wife. He had reason to do so. She met him at the threshold, in a precious ill-humour. "Is this a time," said she, "to keep people out of their beds, and to bring home company, to turn the house upside down? " "Company?" said Vanderscamp meekly, "I have brought no company with me, wife." "No, indeed! they have got here before you, but by your in- vitation; and a blessed looking company they are, truly." Vanderscamp's knees smote together. "For the love of Heaven, where are they, wife? ' ' " Where? — why in the blue room, up stairs, making themselves as much at home as if the house were their own.' ' Vanderscamp made a desperate effort, scrambled up to the room, and threw open the door. Sure enough, there at a table on which burned a light as blue as brimstone, sat the three guests from Gibbet Island, with halters round their necks, and bobbing their cups together, as if they were hobnobbing, and trolling the old Dutch freebooter's glee, since translated into English; Digitized by Microsoft® 72 The Hudson River For three merry lads be we, And three merry lads be we; I on the land, and thou on the sand, And Jack on the gallows tree. Vanderscamp saw and heard no more. Starting back with horror, he missed his footing on the landing-place, and fell from the top of the stairs to the bottom. He was taken up speechless, and either from the fall or the fright, he was buried in the yard of the little Dutch Church at Bergen, on the following Sunday. To an earlier generation Jersey City was known as Paulus, Powles, or Pauws Hook. It was important as the western end of the Paulus Hook Ferry, that was one of the chief means of communication between New Jersey and Manhattan Island. The Cortlandt Street Ferry still crosses the same water, but the multitude that it transports each day would populate a good- sized city; the several railroads making this their ter- minal station forming one of the principal arteries of New York life. In the days of the Revolution Paulus Hook was con- sidered an important strategic point, and was gar- risoned by the British from 1776 till 1779, when Major Henry Lee, who had a share in the famous Cow Chase of Andre's " epic strain," fell upon it with his veterans. There was a sudden night attack, a garrison surprised and defeated, and in the early dawn a number of British dead in the fort and the American flag flying over it. Between Jersey City and Hoboken there used to be a marsh or bay, not now in evidence. Hobock was an Indian village, which appears in at least one Dutch Digitized by Microsoft® On the Jersey Shore 73 record, already cited, as Hoboquin. Almost its first appearance in history is as the scene of murders and massacres, of arson and pillage. But the atrocity was not all upon the side of the Indians. In 1643, after a long feud, marked by excesses on both sides, a body of the Dutch, reinforced by Mohawk Indians, crossed the A FLEET THRONGED THE RIVER {From an old print") river at night and murdered a hundred men, women, and children at the promontory called Castle Point. There is no record that suggests any palliation for this crime, which is probably the blackest one that stains the annals of New Netherland. Hoboken should be celebrated wherever steam navi- gation has helped to solve the problem of travel. Here it was that John Stevens lived ; indeed at one time the Digitized by Microsoft® 74 The Hudson River Stevens family owned nearly all of the land in that neighbourhood, and founded the city of Hoboken in 1804. John Stevens — Colonel Stevens — built the steamship Phoenix, the first vessel depending entirely upon steam propulsion to cross the Atlantic. The first steamer that crossed the ocean was the Savannah, built at Corlear's Hook, New York City; but she relied partly upon sail power. A century ago the woods of Weehawken were the scene of one of the most significant and famous private encounters that have ever been recorded. Not only did the participants hold exalted positions in the poli- tical and social world, but at least one of them had connected his name indissolubly with the history of his country and the record of her progress. At the time of the celebrated Burr-Hamilton duel the former had just been defeated in his candidacy for the governorship of New York. As a consequence of the intense political excitement, both parties indulged more or less in acrimonious speeches. General Alexander Hamilton was the reputed author of statements derogatory to the character of his oppo- nent. The matter was taken up and made much of by some of Hamilton's enemies, and finally led to the writing of a letter by Burr, as follows : New York, June 18, 1804. Sir:— I send for your perusal a letter signed Charles D. Cooper, which, though apparently published some time ago, has but very Digitized by Microsoft® On the Jersey Shore 75 recently come to my knowledge. Mr. Van Ness, who does me the favour to deliver this, will point out to you that clause of the letter to which I particularly request your attention. You must perceive, sir, the necessity of a prompt and un- qualified acknowledgment or denial of the use of any expression which would warrant the assertion of Dr. Cooper. I have the honor to be Your obedient servant, A. Burr. Gen. Hamilton. To this peremptory communication General Hamil- ton replied at some length on June 20th, saying in sub- stance that he considered the charge too vague to ad- mit of either denial or acknowledgment. " I have become convinced," he wrote, " that I could not, without manifest impropriety, make the avowal or disavowal which you seem to think necessary." There follows a somewhat pedantic examination of the grammatical distinction between the terms "despicable" and " more despicable " used in Dr. Cooper's letter, and concludes in the following words : I deem it inadmissible on principle, to consent to be interro- gated as to the justness of the inferences which may be drawn by others from whatever I have said of a political opponent in the course of a fifteen years' competition. I stand ready to avow or disavow promptly and explicitly any precise or definite opinion which I may be charged with having declared of any gentleman. More than this cannot fitly be ex- pected of me. I trust, on more reflection, that you will see the matter in the same light with me. If not I can only regret the circumstance and must abide the consequences. The publication of Dr. Cooper was never seen by me till after the receipt of your letter. Digitized by Microsoft® 76 The Hudson River BuiT found neither " sincerity nor deHcacy " in Ham- ilton's letter. He particularly objected to the charge being treated "as a matter of syntax," and again in- sisted upon a definite avowal or denial of Dr. Cooper's statements. It was not until the receipt of this letter that Hamilton saw his friend, Mr. Pendleton, and placed the correspondence before him. He told Pen- dleton that he considered the letter from Burr rude and offensive, and that he had expressed that opinion to Van Ness. The latter gentleman was a strong partisan, a warm personal friend of Burr's and a bitter political enemy of Hamilton's. His antipathies were pronounced, and his language would be considered in this day of greater restraint as intemperate. There can be no doubt that his inclination, if not his efforts, was adverse to a peaceful solution of the difficulty. The correspondence culminated, as might naturally be expected, in a challenge delivered by Mr. Van Ness in behalf of his principal in the affair. From the Life of Aaron Burr, by Samuel Lorenze Knapp, published in 1835, we may quote a brief ac- count. The particulars of what then took place will appear from the following statement, as agreed upon and corrected by the seconds of the parties: Colonel Burr arrived first on the ground, as had been pre- viously agreed. When General Hamilton arrived, the parties exchanged salutations and the seconds proceeded to make their arrangements. They measured the distance, ten full paces, and Digitized by Microsoft® On the Jersey Shore n cast lots for the choice of positions, as also to determine by whom the word should be given, both of which fell upon the second of General Hamilton (Mr. Pendleton). The gentleman who was to give the word then explained to the parties the rules which were to govern them in firing, which were as follows : The parties being placed at their stations, shall present and fire when they please. If one fire before the other the opposite second shall say, one, two, three, fire or lose his fire. He then asked if they were prepared. Being answered in the afifirmative he gave the word present, as had been agreed on, and both parties presented and fired in succession. The intervening time is not expressed, as the sec- onds do not precisely agree on that point. The fire of Colonel Burr took effect and General Hamilton almost instantly fell. Colonel Burr then advanced towards General Hamilton with a manner and gesture that appeared to General Hamilton's friends expressive of regret, but, without speaking, turned about and withdrew, being urged from the field by his friend, as has been subsequently stated, with a view to prevent his being recognised by the surgeon and bargemen who were then approaching. No further communication took place between the principals and the barge that carried Colonel Burr immediately returned to the City. We conceive it proper to add that the conduct of the parties in this interview was perfectly proper, as suited the occa- sion. After a short time spent at his own house in New York Burr travelled south, and was met by crowds of enthusiastic adherents, who made his journey almost a royal progress. But far different was the feeling in the North, where the friends of Hamilton predominated. In New York Colonel Burr was execrated as a mur- derer, the encounter having resulted fatally for Hamil- ton, and the grand jury indicted the victor. But the case was never brought to trial. At the following ses- sion of Congress, Burr calmly took his place as the Digitized by Microsoft® 78 The Hudson River presiding officer of the Senate, delivering at the con- clusion a speech long remembered for its eloquence. The subsequent trial of Aaron Burr for conspiracy against the Government of the United States, and the intrigue that led up to it, while of extraordinary in- terest to the student of American history, has no place in the present volume. A monument erected to mark the spot of the duel was almost entirely chipped away by relic hunters, and finalty removed to make room for the road that now runs directly over its site. This was near the edge of the river, below the cliffs. There is now upon a more elevated situation a monument surmounted by a bust of Hamilton, and enclosed by a railing to pre- serve it from the destructive attentions of sightseers. ■7^ Weehawken has other and pleasanter associations. Not far to the south was the pleasure ground known as the Elysian Fields, where for a while fashion — not then as fastidious as afterwards — ^found a delightful retreat. There, on a warm summer afternoon [wrote Lossing], or on a moonlit evening, might be seen scores of both sexes strolling upon the soft grass, or sitting upon the green sward, recalling to mem- ory many beautiful sketches of life in the earlier periods of the world, given in the volumes of the old poets. Castle Point, the promontory from which the Dutch drove the Indians mercilessly into the river, was at the southern end of the Elysian Fields, and underneath it there used to be a grotto called the Sibyl's Cave, which Digitized by Microsoft® On the Jersey Shore 79 contained a spring of clear water that was in great re- pute. But there was a mysterious tragedy connected with the Elysian Fields, and the gifted pen of Edgar Allan Poe has given it lasting celebrity. Briefly the story may be epitomised here. Mary Rog- ers was a beautiful girl employed by a well-known tobac- co dealer in New York. Her admir- ers were many, so that the store where she worked became a popular resort for the young men of the town. Suddenly she disappeared, and after a while it began to be whis- pered that she had been foully dealt with. The news- papers took up the matter, and the fate of Mary Rogers became the lead- ing topic of the day. Clue after clue was followed, and all led to the conclusion that a murder had been THE sybil's cave, HOBOKEN Digitized by Microsoft® 8o The Hudson River committed, and that the scene of the atrocity was the Elysian Fields. But there the poHce and the papers alike stopped, baffled. Then Poe, changing the scene from the Hudson to the Seine, and hiding the name of Mary Rogers under a transparent French equivalent, wrote one of his most marvellous tales, the Mystery of Marie Roget. One by one he took up the clues ; with an astuteness that seemed almost inspired he worked out the history of the murder. Every one at that day read the story, and to the popular mind the Mystery of Marie Roget fully elucidated the grewsome fate of Mary Rogers. There was a story current, impossible now to verify, that fifteen or twenty years afterwards, a sailor, dying in a hospital, confessed to the murder, giving details which substantially agreed with Poe's narrative. All the river front has changed, almost beyond recog- nition. A large part of it at Weehawken is taken up with coal and oil depots and the West Shore terminals. A trolley line connects with the Forty-second Street Ferry and carries the passengers to the top of the bluff and beyond. But there are still, between this point and Fort Lee, unoccupied and wooded acres lying back of the shore along the heights that are still among the finest points of view in the neighbourhood of New York. More than half a century ago Fitz-Greene Halleck wrote, in praise of this locality: Weehawken ! In thy mountain scenery yet All we adore of nature in her wild Digitized by Microsoft® On the Jersey Shore 8i And frolic hour of infancy, is met; And never has a summer's morning smiled Upon a lovelier scene, than the full eye Of the enthusiast revels in, when high Amid thy forest solitudes, he climbs O'er crags, that proudly tower above the deep. And knows the sense of danger which sublimes The breathless moment — when his daring step Is on the verge of the cliff, and he can hear The low dash of the wave with startled ear. In such an hour he turns, and on his view. Ocean and earth and heaven burst before him, Clouds slumbering at his feet and the clear blue Of summer's sky in beauty bending o'er him — The city bright below: and far away, Sparkling in golden light, his own romantic bay. Stevens, as elsewhere noted, built and operated the first steam ferryboats that were ever used, and they ran between Manhattan Island and Hoboken. One cannot realise the primitive Hoboken of that day in the place of many wharves, where the ocean liners lie at their piers, or move majestically out into the stream. Among the principal steamers that make a landing at Hoboken are those of the North German Lloyd, Hamburg, and Wilson lines. The river front is uninviting — a region of coal-sheds, of depots, and elaborate complications of rails. Between Hoboken and Fort Lee are the points that Benson J. Lossing described as "the little villages of Pleasant Valley, Bull's Ferry, and Weehawk." Bull's Ferry, now Shadyside, is distant from Fort Lee about Digitized by Microsoft® 82 The Hudson River three miles. It was for many years a favourite resort for working-men from New York, and pictures made along that shore thirty years ago show an inviting pros- pect of green slopes and wooded cliffs. At present the favourite objective point of the crowds that cross the river to escape the rigours of -a " dry Sunday ' ' in the metropolis are the groves and public houses of Fort Lee. But Shadyside may claim a more romantic celebrity. There was in, 1 7 So a blockhouse near the ferry, and for a time it was garrisoned by a British picket, whose duty it was to protect the loyalists of the neighbourhood. A number of cattle and horses belonging to Americans had strayed on to Bergen's Neck, and offered a tempt- ing bait for Tory marauders from Paulus Hook. From his headquarters near the Ramapo Hills, Washington dispatched Wayne — "Mad Anthony," as his contemporaries sometimes called him — to attack the blockhouse and drive away the British garrison, and also to secure the cattle for their owners. Light- Horse Harry Lee was dispatched on the latter mission, while Wayne made the attack upon the blockhouse with three Pennsylvania companies and four light pieces of cannon. But the attack was unavailing, the post prov- ing too strong for the artillery of the besiegers, and the Americans were repulsed with a loss of sixty men. General Wayne succeeded in destroying some boats and capturing a number of cattle, with which •he„j:£- turned to the American lines. Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® On the Jersey Shore 85 This affair might have been forgotten as one of the minor incidents of the war, without any particular significance or relation to other events, had not one of the accomplished young officers in his Majesty's serv- ice conceived the idea of making it the subject of a ballad. The officer was the ill-fated Major Andre, whose name is for ever associated with the attempt of Arnold to betray West Point into the hands of the enemy. In his ballad, which he called the Cow Chase, Andr6 gave free rein to his satirical humour. As the poem contains seventy-one stanzas, the reader will excuse its full insertion in this place. But here is a sample of it: All in a cloud of dust were seen The sheep, the horse, the goat. The gentle heifer, ass obscene. The yearling and the shoate. And packhorses with fowls came by Befeathered on each side, Like Pegasus, the horse that I And other poets ride. Sublime upon his stirrups rose The mighty Lee behind And drove the terror smitten cows Like chaff before the wind. And so on, ad infinitum. It is not always clean nor abounding in good taste, nor even clever, except with a variety of wit that suggests the barrack room and the stables, but it contained one remarkable verse, that had a touch of prophecy in it. The verses were Digitized by Microsoft® 86 The Hudson River published in Rivington's Gazette, the last one being as follows: And now I ve closed my epic strain I tremble as I show it, Lest this same warrior-drover, Wayne, Should ever catch the poet. On the day that that appeared in print Major Andrd was arrested as a spy, and the commander of the guard that accompanied him to the scafifold was General Wayne. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter VII Early Settlers of the Hudson Valley THE original patentees of the lands along the Hudson lived at first in a way that seems to have been a curious compromise between primitive frontier conditions and feudal dignity. Pa- troons and Manor Lords ruled over uncounted acres of wilderness, upon which a sparse and widely scattered tenantry cleared land, raised com and large families, and took daily chances of Indian massacre. To the reply made by Secretary Van Tienhoven to a remonstrance of the colonists, in 1650, we are indebted for light upon the relations between the patentees and their tenants. 'T is moreover, to be borne in mind that the Patroon of the Colonie Rensselaerwyk causes all his tenants to sign, that they will not appeal to the Manhattans, in direct contravention of the exceptions, by which the colonists are bound to render to the director and council at the Manhattans an annual report both of the colony and the administration of Justice. . . 'T would be a very strange thing if the officers of the country could not banish anybody from it, whilst the authorities of the Colonie Rensselaerwyk, who are subordinate to the company, absolutely banish whomsoever they please, for the welfare of the Colonie: 87 Digitized by Microsoft® 88 The Hudson River and they do not allow any person to reside there except at their pleasure and upon certain conditions. The colonists of lower degree held their land only upon a rent lease, beaver pelts being accepted instead of money, which was a very scarce commodity. So little money was there in the country, indeed, that a short time previous to the writing of the report just cited, a law had been passed which legalised the use of the Indian currency — -wampum. The title of Patroon conveys to most modern minds an idea of somewhat exalted rank. We are accustomed to point to those colonial princelings as though they had brought to the New World the inestimable advan- tages of blue blood along with the favour of the sover- eign Lords of Holland. But history shows that land patents were never supposed to imply either birth, breeding, or previous rank of any kind on the part of the recipient. Patroonships, like houses, lands, ships, or peltries, were in the market to be purchased for money. Exactly the requirements insisted upon by the company may be learned from the following ex- cerpt from a bill of "Freedoms and Exemptions," granted by the West India Company in 1 640 : All good inhabitants of the Netherlands and all others in- clined to plant any Colonies in New Netherland shall be at liberty to send three or four persons in the Company's ships going thither, to examine the circumstances there, on condition that they swear to the articles, as well as the officers and seamen, as far as they relate to them, and pay for board and passage out and home, to wit, those who eat in the master's cabin, fifteen stivers Digitized by Microsoft® Early Settlers of the Hudson Valley 89 per day, and those who go and eat in the orlop, shall have their board and passage gratis, and in case of an attack, offensive or defensive, they shall be obliged to lend a hand with the others, on condition of receiving, should any of the enemy's ships be overcome, their share of the booty pro rata, each according to his quality, to wit: the Colonists eating out of the Cabin shall be rated with the seamen, and those eating in the cabin with the Company's servants who board there and have the lowest rate of pay. In the selection of lands, those who shall have first notified and presented themselves to the Company, whether Patroons or private Colonists, shall be preferred to others who may follow. In case any one be deceived in selecting ground, or should the place by him chosen afterwards not please him, he will, upon previous representation to the Governor and Council then be at liberty to select another situation. For Patroons and Feudatories of New Netherland, shall be acknowledged all such as shall ship hence, and plant there a Colonie of fifty souls, above fifteen years of age, within the space of three years after having made a declaration and given notice thereof, to some Chamber of the Company here or to the Gover- nor or Council there; namely, one-third part within the year, and so forth, from year to year, until the number be completed, on pain of losing, through notorious neglect, the cJbtained Free- doms and cattle^ But they shall be warned that the Company reserves the Island Manhattes to itself. All Patroons and Feudatories shall, on requesting it, be granted Venia Testandi, or the power to dispose of, or bequeath, his fief by Will. For Masters or Colonists, shall be acknowledged, those who will remove to New Netherland with five souls above fifteen years; to all such, our Governor there shall grant in property one hundred morgens, Rhineland measure, of land, contiguous one to the other, wherever they please to select. And the Patroons, of themselves or by their agents, at the places where they will plant their Colonies, shall have the privi- lege to extend the latter one mile (consisting of, or estimated at, 1600 Rhineland perches) along the coast, bay or a navigable Digitized by Microsoft® 90 The Hudson River river, and two contiguous miles landward in ; it being well under- stood, that no two Patroonships shall be selected on both sides of a river or bay, right opposite to each other; and that the Com- pany retains to itself the property of the lands lying between the limits of the Colonies, to dispose thereof hereafter according to its pleasure ; and that the Patroons and Colonists shall be obliged to give each other an outlet and issue, (uytteweeghen ende uyttewateren) at the nearest place and at the smallest expense; and in case of disagreement, it shall be settled in the presence and by the decision of the Governor for the time being. The Patroons shall forever possess all the lands situate within their limits, together with the produce, superficies, minerals, rivers and fountains thereof, with high, low and middle jurisdic- tion, hunting, fishing, fowling and milling, the lands remaining allodial, but the jurisdiction as of a perpetual hereditary fief, devolvable by death as well to females as to males, and fealty and homage for which is to be rendered to the Company, on each of such occasions, with a pair of iron gauntlets, redeemable by twenty guilders within a year and six weeks, at the Assembly of the XIX., here, or before the Governor there; with this under- standing, that in case of division of said fief or jurisdiction, be it high, middle or low, the parts shall be and remain of the same nature as was originally conferred on the whole, and fealty and homage must be rendered for each part thereof by a pair of iron gauntlets, redeemable by twenty guilders, as aforesaid. There is in the provisions of this act a survival of customs fostered under a mediaeval feudatory system, — customs that seem strangely out of place in the new land. Another clause provides that: Should any Patroon, in course of time, happen to prosper in his Colonie to such a degree as to be able to found one or more towns, he shall have authority to appoint officers and magis- trates there, and make use of the title of his Colonie, according to the pleasure and the quality of the persons, all saving the Com- pany's regalia. A further explanation of the terms upon which Digitized by Microsoft® Early Settlers of the Hudson Valley 91 Patroons and their colonists lived together is furnished in a report of the Committee of the States-General: Whereas it is found that greater pains have generally been taken to promote the fur trade than the agriculture and popula- tion of the country, the supreme court there, shall, in conse- quence, above all things, provide that cattle be not exported, but be as much as possible retained and reared there : also that a good quantity of grain be kept in store to be furnished and sold at a reasonable price to newly arrived immegrants, who are to be assisted and favoured in every manner, and be located on good lands, suitable for cultivation, taking care therein that they shall dwell as close and as compact together as possible on such lands and places as shall be considered best and most suitable for homestead, bouwerie, plantation and security: the Patroons of Colonies remaining at liberty to improve their own lands as they think proper, they being also obliged to settle the colonists in the form of villages. The lower Philipse patent, in 1779, embraced a large part of Westchester County, though Philipse was not a Patroon. North of his extensive territory, more particularly defined in another chapter, lay the manor of Cortlandt, reaching as far as Anthony's Nose. On the north of Van Cortlandt Philipse again appears ; the Highland Patent, as it was called, taking in nearly all of Putnam County and reaching to Fishkill creek. Rondout came next, including the land between Fish- kill and Wappinger's creek. The Schuylers ruled where Poughkeepsie now is, and Falconer's purchase lay to the north. Above Falconer's was the Henry Beekman tract, that had Esopus as its northern bound- ary, and above that the Schuyler name again appears. Digitized by Microsoft® 92 The Hudson River The manor of Livingston, from Rhinebeck .to Catskill Station, lay next to Rensselaerwyk, that reached as far as Troy. It will be noticed that nearly all of the land chosen by the earliest colonists was upon the east bank of the river, where the alluring valleys and rolling hills afforded a chance for husbandry, while the more for- bidding cliffs and headlands of the western shore re- mained for the most part unsettled, except at a few favourable points. But above the Highlands the physical conditions of the shores commence gradually to change, and the narrowing stream affords a less formidable line of division. The Van Rensselaer pat- ent was the first to cover both sides of the Hudson. The question is often raised whether the men who colonised the Hudson shores were to any extent edu- cated or cultivated persons. Curiosity on such a point is natural, considering how many of the families now socially prominent in New York trace descent from them. Let us in the first place remember that the scholarly men and those whose lives are passed amidst luxurious surroundings seldom make colonists. To strike into the wilderness for anything more than a dash of ad- venture usually indicates that one has more to gain than to lose, and that his habit is active rather than contemplative. If noble families are represented in any colony, it is apt to be through their needy cadets, and they will usually be found in company with those Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Early Settlers of the Hudson Valley 95 who possess the advantage of energy and are un- hampered by the obHgations of pedigree. Oloflfe Stevanson Van Cortlandt was in the miUtary service of Holland, and became afterwards commissary of cargoes for the West India Company. His descent is said to be from a noble Russian family. Subsequently to his employment by the company, which occupied ten years, he amassed a fortune as a brewer. He mar- ried a wealthy wife, and became, by purchase, the proprietor of the Van Cortlandt Manor on the river. Van Cortlandt 's neighbour, Philipse, began life (ac- cording to Chief- Justice John Jay) as a carpenter. The experts in heraldry have also accommodated him with noble ancestors — this time of Bohemian blood. By shrewdness and energy he won a fortune, and be- came not only one of the most influential, but also the wealthiest man in the colony. These able men were sufficiently distinguished by their own remarkable qualities, and it is difficult to comprehend the persistent effort to decorate them with superfluous pedigrees. The Schuylers appear to have been of gentle blood, and Robert Livingston, the father of all the Livingstons, was the son of the Rev. John Livingston, a Scotch dissenting minister, who was banished to Holland for contumacy in 1663. The remainder of the colonists, from Patroons to tenants, seem to have been of that race that has always fur- nished the best colonisers in the world, and they have left a record of pluck and persistence that is part of the Digitized by Microsoft® 96 The Hudson River heritage of the country they settled and of the national character they helped to mould. The first of the Van Rensselaers was a man of prominence and wealth in Holland, but he was not a resident upon his American estate. The later comers, of whom Livingston was a shining example, were three quarters of a century behind the first, and enjoyed their manorial rights under new patents or confirmations of old ones, granted by the English Crown. We find Charles II. in the year 1660 appointing a " Councill of Forraigne Plantacions" with power to investigate all questions of government or trade relating to the colonies, and to recommend measures beneficial to all parties, but particularly to the Crown. Four years afterwards Stuyvesant sur- rendered New Amsterdam to the commander of the British fleet. For the enlightenment of his masters, the States- General, and incidentally for the instruction of pos- terity, the careful Secretary Van Tienhoven in 1650 wrote a report that contained a section relating to the conveyance of farmers and handicraftsmen, the charges and responsibilities for which were assumed by the Patroon or land patentee. A large flyboat of 200 lasts, which would be chartered for the voyage out for fi. 6000. A vessel of 200 lasts would probably carry over 250 persons exclusive of the ships crew : they would require for food, for the voyage at least 30 guilders, A. 7500. Every 250 farmers would require a superintendant. Digitized by Microsoft® Early Settlers of the Hudson Valley 97 A clergyman, or in his place provisionally, a comforter of the sick, who could also act as schoolmaster. A surgeon, provided with medicines. A blacksmith who is conversent with the treatment of horses and cattle. Three or four house carpenters who can lay brick. One cooper. One wheelwright. Other tradesmen such as tailors and shoemakers, follow with time. A necessary supply of the munitions of war, for the de- fence of the Colonists, in case of misunderstanding with the natives. In a colony the necessary stock for beginning was provided to each tenant by the landlord. This stock- ing included one pair of draught cattle, two cows, and one or two sows. " If in the course of time, with God's blessing, the stock multiply, the bouweries can be fully stocked with necessary cattle, and new bouweries set off with the remainder, as is the practice in Rensselaer's Colonic and other places, and so on, de novo, so as to lay out no money for stock. " The houses used at first by those who settled the new lands were rude affairs, often consisting of nothing more than a pit, dug cellar fashion, encased, and floored with timber, and roofed with spars covered with bark and sod. Not only did the poorer settlers use such homes, we are informed, but even the "wealthy and principal men" commenced to live in that fashion, doing so for the twofold reason that they might lose no time from the planting and cultivation of necessary Digitized by Microsoft® 98 The Hudson River crops, and that the poorer colonists might be encouraged by their example. More substantial dwellings followed those first prim- itive makeshifts that at the most could not be expected to last above four or five years. Reference has already been made to the troubles — or, as Van Tienhoven calls them, "misunderstandings" — ^with Indian neighbours. Particular instances of such unfortunate encounters have their place in the narratives of individual settlements, and will be touched upon more fully in other chapters of this book. It is suggestive of recent South African history that the tenant farmers were referred to in some of the old documents as boors or boers. To us of to-day the name is associated with sweltering velts and beleaguered kopps and laagers of waggons bristling with guns. Perhaps the best way for us to comprehend the Boef of the seventeenth century, with his energy, pluck, thrift, and courage, is by studying his kinsman of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, to whose uncon- querable obstinacy the attention of the world has for several years been directed. Instead of a Transvaal farm, substitute a Hudson River bouwerie. Let the colonist trek with family and household goods and gods to the pleasant, well- watered lands of Schuyler or Van Rensselaer. He carries a match-lock gun, heavy as a weaver's beara, easy to handle as a small cannon, and taking probably not more than five minutes to load and fire. His garments are of a quaint cut, and Digitized by Microsoft® Early Settlers of the Hudson Valley 99 he has a cherubic breadth of feature, if we are to trust the painters. He is unlettered, practical, not too nice in manners and far from fanciful regarding either this life or the next. He has accepted Calvinism, but does not allow it to disturb him; wherein he differs essen- tially from his New England neighbour, who wears his creed as an ascetic would wear a hair shirt, to the discomfort of himself and the annoyance of his neigh- bours. The Hudson River Boer worked out his salvation with infinite difficulty and toil, though fear and trerii- bling were foreign to his disposition. He hewed his home out of the wilderness, endured hardship with as little complaint as any colonist in the world has ever made, and he has furnished the backbone and sinew of many a hardy fight. His blood, "transmitted free," has reddened many a battle-field and consecrated many a victory. Is the Boer capable of self-development, of high achievement, of ultimate success? It may be that the answer lies in the history of the men who settled the valley of the Hudson. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter VIII The Passing of the White Wings IF one who knew the Hudson in his youth should return after half a century of absence, possibly the change which would strike him most forcibly would be in the character of the shipping. Turning his eyes away from the tall buildings, he would expect to discover in the river itself some realisa- tion of old memories; but in spite of familiar shore lines and well-known contours, the aspect of the stream would be strange and new. He would perhaps be bewildered, while he could not fail to be impressed, by the spectacular display of steam craft of every description, from the smallest launch that darts shoreward from the side of some trim yacht or imposing war vessel, to the ocean liners that move majestically from their piers and succeed in preserving an imposing dignity of demeanour in spite of the hustling, bustling, rowdy tugs to whose escort they have been committed. The ubiquitous tug is the irreclaimable tough of rivers and harbours: a swaggering, swearing, cock-sure ruffian, who respects neither age nor rank. It will tackle an Olympia with Digitized by Microsoft® THE UBIQUITOUS TUG {From a draiving by the author) Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® The Passing of the White Wings 103 as little ceremony as it would take hold of a Yucatan tramp or a Duluth whaleback, and would swing out an ocean greyhound with a sang froid that smacks of Mse majesU. The tugboat acts upon the assumption that he has an unexpired lease upon all rivers, and to avoid "en- tangling alliances," other boats by common consent give him the widest possible berth. We say "he" ad- visedly. All vessels are feminine except this cockerel of the brackish waters. The ferryboats — floating towns that hurl themselves from side to side of the river, transporting populations — are the wonderful progeny of the little steam ferry- boat that Col. John Stevens set afloat between New York and Hoboken in 181 1. Now the huge arks pass and repass, some to the point most nearly opposite, others crossing their course dia- gonally, bound for a distant slip, and all engaged in what would seem to be a leviathan performance of Sir Roger de Coverley. The freighters find their way among the throng, some light and riding high, with the rusty red of their under hulls dropping sanguinary reflections on the waves; others ploughing deep. They carry a sordid, toil-worn air, as if to impress one with the fact that they have been buffeted by strange seas and moored beside unclean wharves imder the equator. Among them all is a barkentine, working her way through the press. One look is enough to identify her. Digitized by Microsoft® I04 The Hudson River The long wooden stock of the anchor that is catted at her bow proclaims that she is from Nova Scotia or some of its English neighbours. By her course she is- probably bound to Rockland Lake for ice. Beyond an overdecked river side-wheeler that sends a tidal wave to port and starboard as she goes, and sets all the river rocking, there is the trim, black hull of a foreign man-of-war at anchor. She has just arrived, and her spars for the present seem to be converted to laundry uses. A little farther upstream some private yachts glitter with clean paint and resplendent, brass. Everywhere there is life, motion, the expression of strength, — ^but where is the picture that memory re- calls of the old Hudson? Here is power, but at the expense of the romance, the poetry, may we say the beauty and grace of an earlier day. What naval spectacle or pageant can compare with the flight of the white wings that once were spread through all the sunlit reaches of the river, enchanted argosies that bore about them, if not the scent of san- dal wood and musky odour of spice islands, at least an undefined suggestion of remote wharves and unex- plored hamlets ? From Burnet's Key and the old Albany Wharf and the market dock and fifty points and piers along the river shore they put out with whatever wind Provi- dence might send, be it favourable or unfavourable,, for far-off villages along the Tappan Zee and Haver- Digitized by Microsoft® The Passing of the White Wings 105 straw Bay, and even beyond the Highlands as far as the navigable water flowed. The names of the old Hudson River captains of sail- ing craft are not all forgotten. Many an old resident will recall Thomas Brown, Charles and Isaac Depew, the Requas, the Lyons, James B. and John L. Travis, Vermilye, Storm, Conkling, Farrington, and others. Harvey P. Farrington is, at the time of this writing, a hale octogenarian, who graduated from a schooner into the steamboat ranks, from captain became owner, and is now, at a time of life when most men willingly retire from active business, to be found every day during business hours at one of the prominent city banks, of which he is a director. Samuel Requa, — "Captain Sam," — who with his father used to own and run sailing vessels, and who afterwards took to steamboating, is now an honoured and substantial citizen of Tarry town. "Commodore" Vanderbilt once sailed a boat regu- larly between New York and Peekskill. Before the days of the railroad, and even for a num- ber of years after that destroyer of pristine conditions had been established, there was hardly a village on the Hudson that did not own a fleet of from five or six to fifty or sixty sail. Even now nearly half of the old men in many a town along shore answer to the title of captain, the explanation in each case being that " He used to follow the river. " Even the phrase has an old- time sound. Once it was an acknowledged and even Digitized by Microsoft® io6 The Hudson River a proud profession to "follow the river." He who made the best runs and carried the biggest freights without loss of either deckload or time was counted a man among his fellow-men. There are a few of them left, — grizzled, keen-eyed, hard-fisted, broad shouldered, — a race by themselves, unhappily passing away, — the men who followed the river. They were in many cases the sons and grand- sons of sires who had browned in the sun and wind and shed the blood from their cracked fingers on the frozen sails and sheets of their craft long before Fort Wash- ington had a name or Newburgh was anything more than a place that shipped excellent butter. They carried peltries and flour from Rensselaerwyk and Esopus, and ran the dreaded gauntlet of the High- lands, saying their prayers in Dutch when the awful shadow of the phantom ship crossed their bows in the moonlight under Point no Point. From generation to generation they transmitted the legends and the secrets of boatcraf t that no mere landsman can ever know and — never one among them all had the wit or the skill to put pen to paper and set it down for our delectation and his own endtiring fame. In ancient days it became necessary at times to re- strain the adventurous skippers by legislative act, or by an order of the New Amsterdam Court, which amounted to the same thing. In one of the old docu- ments which throw a flood of light upon the early man- ners and customs we read that: Digitized by Microsoft® The Passing of the White Wings 107 Whereas divers Skippers and Sloop captains have requested ^ leave to sail to Esopus and Willemstadt with their vessels, whereby this city would be almost wholly stripped of craft, and the citizens greatly weakened, to prevent which those of the Court of this city are ordered to summon all skippers and sloop captains of this city before them, and to instruct them that no more than two sloops shall go at one time, by lot or rotation, to Willemstadt and Esopus and one sloop to the South river; nor shall they take any passengers with them from here without a pass; for such is found necessary for the better security of this city. Done Fort Willem Hendrick, as above. Fort Willem Hendrick was the name by which the Dutch called their stronghold on Manhattan after its recapture from the English. In a year, as we have seen, the Government was again in English hands, but there seems to have been no lack of honest apprecia- tion of the solid Dutch qualities of thrift and industry on the part of their new rulers. Between the Dutch and English navigators there was almost ceaseless trouble arising from the rival claims to the river and the jealousy of those who figured prospective honours and patroonships as the result of Indian trade. An amusing record of a Dutch attempt to put a stop to English trading is given in the following words : 7 November 1633. Jacob Jacobson Elkins, of Amsterdam merchant, aged about 42 yeares, sworn before William Merricke, doctor of lawes, surrogate to the righte worth Sir Henry Marten, Knight judge of his Majesties highe court off the Admiralltye. To the first interreye, hee sayeth, that within the time in- terrogate William Colbery, David Moregead, and John de la Barr, of London Merchants, att their owne proper costs and Digitized by Microsoft® io8 The Hudson River chardges did freighte, victuall and sett forth the interrogate shippe, the William of London (whereof William Trevorre was master) and did lade diverse goodes abord her, with intent, that she sould goe to Hutsons river in New England, within the dominions of the Kingh of England, to trade and trucke away such goods, as she carryed to the natives of those countries, for beaver skinnes and other skinnes and furrs; the premisses hee knoweth to bee true, for that he was factor for the said mer- chants in that voyage. To the second hee say eth, that the said shippe, the William arrived att the forte, called Manhatton, also Amsterdam, in the said Hutsons river, uppon the twelvth daye of Aprill, last past; and say eth, that the entrance of the said river is in the latitude of fourtie degrees and a halfe or thereaboutes, and in longitude aboud one and fortie degrees and a halfe. And after theire ar- rivall neere that forte, this deponente sente the Chirurgeon of the said shippe on shoare to the said forte, to intreate the Gover- nor to come abord the said shippe the William. Where uppon the said Governor bad the chirurgeon to comannde the master of the said shippe ; and this axiadate beinge the factor to come on shoare to the fort, where the said Governor and others were sittinge in counsell together. And the said Governor demanded his deponente, wherefore hee was come thither, and what his business was. And this deponente reply ed: to trade with the natives there, as hee had formerly done, for beaver and otter skinnes, and other skinnes and furrs. And then the said Gover- nor asked him for his commission, whereunto this deponente answered, that he was not bound to shewe it, for that he was then within the King of Englands dominions, and for that he was a servante to the subjectes of the said kinge; and desired of them to see what Commission they had, to plante there, within the King of Englands dominions. And he tould the said Governor, if he would not give him his good will soe to doe, hee would goe upp the said river without it, although it cost him his life. Whereuppon the Governor commannded all the companye of the said shippe to come on shoare. And in the presence of them all, the said Governor commannded, that the Prince of Orange his flagge should bee putt upp in the forte, and three peeces of Digitized by Microsoft® i6SfiHIPW-l!MW.'x' JWWWi'A'; ' SPREADING THE WHITE WINGS iFro»t a dra'wing by the author) log Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® The Passing of the White Wings 1 1 1 ordnance to bee shott off for the honor of the said Prince. And then this deponente commanded the gunner of the said shippe the William, to goe abord and putt upp the englishe flagge, and to shoote of three peeces of ordnance for the honor of the King of England. And then the said Governor badd this deponente, take heede, that it did not cost him his necke, or his ( : the said Governors). And after the premisses this deponente and the companye of the William wente upp the said river to trade, and comminge neere the forte, called Orange, the Governor of that forte would not suffer theire shallopp to come to the shoare, to trade' there. Whereuppon this deponente wente a mile belowe that forte, and there sett upp a tent, and carried all theire goodes on shoare, and was in trade with the Salvages. And the Dutch sett up a tent by the said englishe tent, to hinder theire trade as much as they could. And then there came souldiers from both the said dutch forts .with musketts, halfe pikes, swords and other weapons, and beat some Indians, which came to trade with this deponente, and commannded this exaidate and companye to departe from thence, sayinge that that land was theirs, they havinge boughte it of the Salvages. And then the Dutch pulled downe the tente of the Englishe, and sente theire goodes abord, some in a shalloppe, belonginge to the William, and some in a boate, belonginge to the Dutch ; and then the Dutch weighed the anchors of the William, and carrying them abord her. And afterwardes the said shippe goinge downe the said river againe when she came to Manhatton forte, this deponente beinge there on shoare. The Governor commannded him to sende all the beaver and other skinnes on shoare to the fort, which this de- ponente and companye had gott in trucke with the salvages; which this deponente refusinge to doe, the Governor then de- manded a particular of all the skinnes that were abord the said shippe. The principal Towns within this Government [wrote Gover- nor Dongan to the home government], are New York and Albany and Kingston at Esopus. All the rest are country villages, the Buildings in New York and Albany are generally of Stone and brick. In the country the houses are mostly new built, having two or three rooms on a floor. The Dutch are Digitized by Microsoft® 112 The Hudson River great improvers of land. New York and Albany live wholly upon trade with the Indians, England and West Indies. The returns for England are generally Beaver Peltry, Oile and Tobacco when we can have it. To the West Indies wee send Flower, Bread, Pease Pork and sometimes Horses: the return from thence for the most part is Rumm, which pays the king a considerable Excise, and some Molasses which serves the people to make drink and pays noe custom. There are about nine or ten three Mast Vessels of about eighty or a Hundred tons burthen, two or three ketches and Barks of about forty Tun ; and about twenty Sloops of about twenty or five and twenty Tun belonging to the Government — All of which Trade for England Holland and the West Indies, except five or six sloops that use the river Trade to Albany and that way. In 1694 there belonged to the city of New Amster- dam sixty ships, twenty-five sloops, and forty boats. But neither then nor at any time in its history did the number of sail owned on the island begin to indicate the extent of its river trade, or the size of the fleet at its wharves. Through two centuries the river traffic under sail in- creased, with few setbacks. Of course the War for Independence interfered for a while with trade and travel, but they were resumed as soon as the country was once more at peace. Almost the last to disappear when steam superseded sail propulsion were the boats that carried the least perishable kinds of farm produce. But now, except for an occasional Haverstraw brick schooner, or a pleasure boat from Nyack or Piermont, there is hardly a sail to be seen on a summer day from Paulus Hook to Croton. Digitized by Microsoft® The Passing of the White Wings 113 Yes, we acknowledge the progress, the utility, the convenience; but the picture of another Hudson, radiant in the noontide, like a plain of burnished silver between its purple hills, is present to the mind's eye. It is sparkling with sails, white and glistening as pearls upon a baldric. A hundred are in sight, and a hundred PALISADES FROM THE YELLOW ROCKS, TAPPAN ZEE {Frofii a drawing by the author) and a hundred more stretch in endless procession to the shallows of the upper river. They feed the imagi- nation and satisfy the sense of beauty as the mechanical inventions of the marine steamfitter can never do. In the name of sentiment we deplore the passing of the white wings. It is said that the old rivermen measured the river Digitized by Microsoft® 114 The Hudson River by "reaches," counting fourteen of these between New York and the head of navigation. The first extended past the long wall of the Palisades, the " Great Chip rock" of the old deeds. The second reach included the Tappan Zee, and took the voyager as far as Haver- straw, which gave name to the third. Beyond the Haverstraw was Seylmaker's Reach, then Hoge's, next Vorsen, which included the hazardous passage of the Highlands. After that was Fisher's Reach, to Esopus, and Claverack next, with Bacerack, Playsier, Vaste, and Hunters succeeding each other as far as Kinder- hook. In an earlier — shall we say simpler? — time, the lines of social demarkation were more closely drawn than even at the present day, and the divinity that hedged the matrons and maidens of the upper class frequently stipulated for private conveyance. In one instance (that came to the writer at first hand, by personal narration) a careful father, living at Hudson, had his vessel repainted and renovated throughout, that his daughter might visit New York in a style befitting her social station. The voyage took nearly a week, and was remembered as one of the experiences of life for threescore years and ten. Among the narratives of river travel a hundred years ago, none has been preserved that gives a more graphic or delightful picture of old scenes and customs than that contained in one of Washington Irving's letters, He is referring to a voyage made in 1800. Digitized by Microsoft® The Passing of the White Wings 115 My first voyage up the Hudson was made in early boyhood, in the good old times before steamboats and railroads had anni- hilated time and space, and driven all poetry and romance out of travel. A voyage to Albany then, was equal to a voyage to Europe at present, and took almost as much time. We enjoyed the beauties of the river in those days; the features of nature were not all jumbled together, nor the towns and villages huddled one into the other by railroad speed as they are now. I was to make the voyage under the protection of a relative of mature age ; one experienced in the river. His first care was to look out for a favorite sloop and captain, in which there was great choice. The constant voyaging in the river craft by the best families of New York and Albany, made the merits of captains and sloops matters of notoriety and discussion in both cities. The captains were mediums of communication between separated friends and families. On the arrival of one of them at either place he had messages to deliver and commissions to execute which took him from house to house. Some of the ladies of the family had, peradventure, made a voyage on board of his sloop, and ex- perienced from him that protecting care which is always remem- bered with gratitude by female passengers. In this way the captains of Albany sloops were personages of more note in the community than captains of European packets or steamships at the present day. A sloop was at length chosen ; but she had yet to complete her freight and secure a sufficient number of passen- gers. Days were consumed in "drumming up" a cargo. This was a tormenting delay to me who was about to make my first voyage, and who, boy-Hke, had packed up my trunk on the first mention of the expedition. How often that trunk had to be un- packed and repacked before we sailed! At length the sloop actually got under way. As she worked slowly out of the dock into the stream, there was a great ex- change of last words between friends on board and friends on shore, and much waving of handkerchiefs when the sloop was out of hearing. Our captain was a worthy man, native of Albany, of one of the old Dutch stocks. His crew was composed of blacks, reared Digitized by Microsoft® ii6 The Hudsop River in the family and belonging to him; for negro slavery still existed in the State. All his communications with them were in Dutch. They were obedient to his orders, though they occa- sionally had much previous discussion of the wisdom of them, and were sometimes positive in maintaining an opposite opinion. This was especially the case with an old grey-headed negro, who had sailed with the captain's father when the captain was a mere boy, and who was very crabbed and conceited on points of sea- manship. I observed that the captain generally let him have his own way. What a time of intense delight was that first sail through the Highlands. I sat on the deck as we slowly tided along at the foot of those stern mountains, and gazed with wonder and ad- miration at cliffs impending far above me, crowned with forests, with eagles sailing and screaming around them; or listened to the unseen stream dashing down precipices ; or beheld rock, and, tree, and cloud, and sky reflected in the glassy stream of the river. And then how solemn and thrilling the scene as we an- chored at night at the foot of these mountains, clothed with overhanging forests; and everything grew dark and mysterious; and I heard the plaintive note of the whip-poor-will from the mountain-side, or was startled now and then by the sudden leap and heavy splash of the sturgeon. In 1840 N. P. Willis wrote: The passage through the Highlands at West Point still bears the old name of Wey Gat or Wind-gate ; and one of the prettiest moving dioramas conceivable, is the working through the gorge of the myriad sailing craft of the river. The sloops which ply the Hudson, by the way, are remarkable for their picturesque beauty, and for the enormous quantity of sail they carry on in all weathers, and nothing is more beautiful than the little fleets of from six to a dozen, all scudding or tacking together, like so many white sea birds on the wing. Up they come, with a dash- ing breeze, under Anthony's Nose, and the sugar loaf, and giving the rocky toe of West Point a wide berth, all down helm and round into the bay: when — just as the peak of Crow Nest slides Digitized by Microsoft® The Passing of the White Wings 117 its shadow over the mainsail — slap comes the wind aback and the whole fleet is in a flutter. The channel is narrow and ser- pentine, the wind baffling, and small room to beat: but the craft are worked merrily and well; and dodging about as if to escape some invisible imp of the air they gain point after point till at last they get the Dunderbarrck behind them and fall once more into the regular current of the wind. There have been not a few of the old river captains whose activity led them into new fields when forced to abandon the occupation of their earlier days. Some of them may be found in directors' chairs in transportation companies and financial institutions. It took a large amount of hard horse sense to run a river schooner successfully in the old days of frequent crises and sharp competition, and the man who could cope with the shippers and the market men, keep the weather gage of rivals and more than hold his own with wind and tide, was very apt to be a valuable man in any active business. In most cases it was the old schooner and sloop skippers that became captains of steam craft, and afterwards were frequently counted among the mag- nates of the river. Many of the older river steamboats bear the names of men who "followed the river, man and boy" for many years, and were better known at most of the landing places than the Governor of the State or the member of Assembly from the district. Digitized by Microsoft® V Chapter IX Fiilton and the Hudson River Steamboat ROBERT FULTON, whose name is indissolubly connected with the history of navigation and no less intimately associated with the story of the Hudson River, was born in America before the War for Independence. According to the most approved precedents, he showed in early boyhood a promise of inventive ability, in combination with a taste for art; the latter culti- vated under the direction of the noted painter, Benja- min West. While in London, engaged in his chosen work, he became interested in canals and wrote a trea- tise on Canal Navigation. This was published, the au- thor at the same time obtaining patents on a double inclined plane designed to take the place of locks in small canals. This work, done by Fulton while sojourning in Eng- land, found its way across the ocean and attracted the attention of Albert Gallatin and others, who were the means of introducing the inventor and his ideas to the notice of Congress, which led to a fuller exposition of his views, prepared at the request of that body. Later ii8 Digitized by Microsoft® Fulton and the Hudson River Steamboat 119 we find him advocating, if he did not suggest, the Erie ' Canal scheme, upon which he reported, as one of the commissioners. Among his various inventions were a mill for sawing marble, a machine for flax-spinning, a dredging machine, several types of canal-boats, a sub- ^ marine torpedo, and a boat designed to act in conjunc- tion with it. The plans for the last invention were carried out in France. Fulton actually submerged his craft at a depth of twenty feet, and stayed under water in her for four hours and a half. He carried a supply of air compressed in a copper globe, and propelled the boat by means of a hand-engine. We have seen that Bushnell, in 1776, invented a torpedo and submarine boat to act in conjunction with it, — contrivances in which Israel Putnam seems to have placed great confidence, — but he never succeeded in making them practicable. Fulton, on the contrary, did blow up a vessel provided for the purpose, and demonstrated the destructive value of his work. Fulton never claimed to be the first to propose steam /^ navigation. Experiments in the same direction seem to have been made in 1690, or even earlier. The names of Blasco de Gary (Spanish), Papin, Jonathan Hulls, William Henry, Count d'Auxiron, M. Perier, Marquis de Jouffroy, James Rumsey, Nathan Read, John Fitch, ^ and several others are in line before we reach that of Robert Fulton. His one peculiar title to pre-eminence was in the fact that he succeeded. ^ Rumsey came very near to success. He not only Digitized by Microsoft® I20 The Hudson River completed a steamboat that was capable of moving through the water at a very moderate rate of speed, but he actually ran his steamer as a public carrier on ^ the Delaware all through the summer of 1790. Fitch sailed a screw steamer on the old collect pond in New York before the Clermont was built ; but Jjoth Rumsey and Fitch died before their tasks were accomplished. Then there were Ormsbee, Morey, and others, busy with experiments. The thing was so evidently in the air that it would have been almost a miracle if a busy brain like Fulton's had not caught the infection. When Fulton took up the problem of steam navi- gation he was fortunate in having as his coadjutor one of the remarkable men of his time. The Honourable ^Robert R. Livingston was one of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence, he was a member of the committee that framed the first con- stitution of New York, was the first Chancellor of the State and forever to be remembered as having ad- ministered the oath of office to. the first President of the United States. Livingston, who had himself experimented with steam navigation, fell in with Fulton when he was in France as American Minister. They became acquainted about 1802, and were soon mutually engrossed in the plans for a steamboat which was made under Fulton's. im- mediate supervision. In the following year the con- trivance was completed. It had been built at their joint expense, but we do not find that then or after- Digitized by Microsoft® Fulton and the Hudson River Steamboat 121 wards Livingston was practically engaged in the ac- tual labour of invention or construction. His connection seems rather to have been that of a business partner or backer. Preparations for a trial of their boat in the Seine were interrupted by the collapse of the contrivance, which broke in two and sunk in the river. Fulton succeeded, however, in raising the wreck, and, having repaired the hull, proceeded to demonstrate his theory. The trial was pronounced a success and the partners agreed to construct a larger boat on the Hudson River. For this enterprise Livingston was to supply the funds. The engine was ordered from Messrs. Boulton and Watt, of Birmingham. It was built from specifications furnished by Fulton, but so greatly was the work de- layed that it arrived in New York subsequently to the inventors' return in 1806. A bill was passed by the Legislature, similar to one previously obtained by Livingston, renewing an ex- clusive privilege granted him before his departure for France. This act gave the associates the sole right to navigate the waters of New York State by steam for twenty years, an allowance of two years being made for the completion of the first steamboat. The actual outlay for the boat exceeded the esti- mated cost, and it was found necessary to raise money by subscription. .d\mong the subscribers was Robert Lenox, who, according to one account, put down a hundred dollars, but would not allow his name to be / Digitized by Microsoft® 122 The Hudson River used because he did not wish to have it connected with such a preposterous scheme. The vessel was built at the shipyard of Charles Brown, on the East River, and not, as some writers have claimed, in the North Bay, near the Livingston manor- house of Clermont, at Tivoli. Nor can we find any warrant for the tradition that the plans for the boat were made at Clermont, though very possibly they may have been altered or perfected there. Fulton's plans were said to have been marvels of careful detail, and we know that the engines for the steamboat were ordered in England before he had returned to America. We must, therefore, suppose that the plans were mainly worked out in France, where most of the preliminary experimenting had been done. The steamer was named the Clermont, in compli- ment to Livingston. It was one hundred and thirty feet long, sixteen feet wide, and four feet deep, of one hundred and sixty tons measurement. The engine had a steam cylinder twenty-four inches in diameter, with a four-foot stroke. The boiler was twenty by seven by eight feet, and the wheels measured fifteen feet in diameter. This singular craft carried a smoke-stack that was very tall in comparison with the size of the boat and her paddle-wheels were uncovered. Alto- gether, she was something of a monstrosity, as com- pared with the river boats of to-day. A contemporaneous account of the trial trip of the Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Fulton and the Hudson River Steamboat 125 Clermont, in the summer of 1807, makes interesting reading. Nothing 90uld exceed the surprise and admiration of all who witnessed th© experiment. The minds of the most incredulous were changed in a few minutes. Before the boat had made the progress of a quarter of a mile, the greatest unbeliever must have been converted. The man who, while he looked on the expensive machine, thanked his stars that he had more wisdom than to waste his money on such idle schemes, changed the expression of his features as the boat moved from the wharf and gained her speed; his complacent smile gradually stiffened into an expression of wonder. The jeers of the ignorant, who had neither sense nor feeling enough to suppress their contemptuous ridicule and rude jokes, were silenced for a moment by a vulgar astonishment, which deprived them of the power of utterance, till the triumph of genius extorted from the incredulous multi- tude which crowded the shores, shouts and acclamations of congratulation and applause. Fulton, in a letter to the American Citizen, in sen- tences that show a stern repression of the pride that must have made his nerves dance, speaks of the achieve- ment of his cherished plans. He states, briefly, that he has returned from Albany, and modestly mentions his hope that "such boats may be rendered of great importance to my country. ' ' He then proceeds to the statement of facts regarding his voyage. I left New York on Monday at one o'clock, and arrived at Clermont, the seat of Chancellor Livingston, at one o'clock on Tuesday — time, twenty-four hours: distance, one hundred and ten miles. On Wednesday, I departed from the Chancellor's at nine in the morning, and arrived at Albany at five in the afternoon — distance, forty miles; time, eight hours. The sum is one hundred and fifty miles in thirty-two hours, equal to near five miles an hour. Digitized by Microsoft® 126 The Hudson River On Thursday, at nine o'clock in the morning, I left Albany, and arrived at the Chancellor's at six in the evening: I started from thence at seven, and arrived at New York at four in the afternoon — time, thirty hours; space run through, one hundred and fifty miles; equal to five miles an hour. Throughout my whole way, both going and returning, the wind was ahead; no advantage could be derived from my sails : the whole has, there- fore, been performed by the power of the steam-engine. I am sir, your obedient servant, Robert Fulton. One frightened spectator of Fulton's experiment described the contrivance as " the Devil in a sawmill ' ' — a not inapt comparison. The invited guests who stood upon the deck of the first of all successful steamboats as it snorted and puffed and clattered on its way up the river, must have been prepared for any emergency. We can imagine the more timorous ardently wishing themselves on shore again, and feeling that they had indeed taken their lives in their hands. The use of fat pine wood for fuel made a particularly impressive spectacle when night overtook the voyagers, for the sparks flew in a ceaseless stream and warranted the statement that " It was a monster, moving on the river, defying wind and tide, and breathing flames and smoke. ' ' ^ Such was the progenitor of all the steam-craft in the world, and this the death-warrant to the fleets of sails that used to gladden the bosom of the Hudson. True, the execution of the warrant was delayed for more than half a century, or rather was accomplished by insensible degrees, so that no definite date, can be assigned to it — but accomplished it finally is. Digitized by Microsoft® Fulton and the Hudson River Steamboat 127 When the saiHng vessels had resigned their passen- ger service, as well as much of the freight traffic, to the new-fangled fire-eaters that infested the river, a class of boats developed that never had their like on earth before and probably never will again. They came by the scores, monopolising the business until the advent of the railway. They were built for speed and were "CAR OF NEPTUNE," 1808 barbaric in their gorgeous display of gingerbread and gold. The taste and temperament — in a word, the personality — of the average American citizen of ante- bellum times was made concrete in the Hudson River steamboat. It somehow suggested the man who might buy an onyx mantel-piece for the satisfaction of putting his feet on it. Those great, resplendent, costly, com- fortless, tasteless vessels, overloaded with ornament and magnificently vulgar, were the pride of the towns from which they hailed, and each boat had its retinue of eager partisans, always ready to engage in a wordy Digitized by Microsoft® 128 The Hudson River warfare concerning the respective merits of their favourite and its rivals. The first seven steamboats built to run upon the Hudson were the Clermont, North River, Car of Nep- tune, Hope, Perseverance, Paragon, and Richmond. Of these, one was completed in 1807, two in 1808 and 1809, respectively, three in 181 1, and one in 1813. At first, "paragon," 181 1 the rates of fare were such as to be prohibitive to any but travellers of means, though the accommodations were hardly such as would be considered "palatial" by the tourist of latter days. The advertisement of distances, time, and charges, was as follows: From New York to Newburg $3. Time 14 hours " " Poughkeepsie 4. " 17 " ' Esopus 5. " 20 " Hudson 5^. " 30 " " " Albany 7. " 36 " Digitized by Microsoft® Fulton and the Hudson River Steamboat 129 In an advertisement, published in 1808, the time- table for the boat is supplemented by the following caution : As the time at which the boat may arrive at the different places above mentioned may vary an hour, more or less, accord- ing to the advantage or disadvantage of wind and tide, those who wish to come on board will see the necessity of being on the spot an hour before the time. Persons wishing to come on fcL v: ■~-~-^: . ■• RICHMOND," 1S13 board from any landing other than these here specified can calculate the time the boat will pass and be ready on her arrival. Innkeepers or boatmen who bring passengers on board or take them ashore from any part of the river will be allowed one shilling for each person. All passengers other than those regularly shipped at the stated landing-places were required to pay at the rate of one dollar for every twenty miles, and half a dollar for each meal taken on board. Baggage was al- lowed free, if below sixty pounds in weight, and freight was carried at the rate of three cents a pound. Some of the old river boats had an interesting his- tory. One, called the New World, that used to run Digitized by Microsoft® 130 The Hudson River between New York and Albany, was cut up and taken to San Francisco, and, having been put together again, ran between that city and Sacraraento as El Capitan. The Swallow made a disastrous ending on the rocks in the forties, another found her final resting-place at Pier- mont, while Kingston was for years a tying-up place for decrepid hulls that once throbbed and trembled under the stress of over-taxed boilers and engines in the frequent mad races for supremacy on the river. When Vanderbilt's steamer, Westchester, was running and trying to monopolise business (in 1832) an associa- tion was formed to build and run a rival boat in the interest of farmers and shippers. Subscribers were found all along the river and the famous Water Witch came into being. Then commenced a rivalry so in- tense that the rate of fare dropped to twelve-and-a- half cents from New York to Peekskill. The war ended by the purchase of a controlling interest in the new boat by the " Commodore" and the restoration of high rates. Thomas Stanton built the Trojan at West Troy, and, afterwards, several other steamboats, the two best known being the Armenia and the Daniel Drew, which was his last. The Drew was chartered to take the Prince of Wales and his suite to Albany, at the time that the Prince (now Edward VII.) made his memor- able visit to America. A well-known river steamboat, the General Jackson, exploded her boilers on the trip from Peekskill to New Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Fulton and the Hudson River Steamboat 133 York. The accident occurred off Grassy Point and resulted in the death of several persons. Jacob Van- derbilt, a brother of the Commodore, was her captain. One of the noted rivalries of the time we are writing of occurred between the steamboats Kosciusco and Tele- graph. It was a never-ending trial of speed between the two boats, and became so exciting that they some- times omitted to stop for passengers. On one occasion fifty people were left behind at Peekskill, cherishing emotions that were probably unfit for publication. The Kosciusco was finally defeated by her rival. We ask about the Reindeer, — that exploded and burned at Maiden in 1852, — the Alexis, the Henry Clay; and the answer is a melancholy reminiscence. The case of the last-named boat was one of the peculiarly dread- ful tragedies that the history of steamboating presents. In 1852, this popular boat, while making her regular run and crowded with passengers, was discovered to be on fire. She was headed for the shore at Riverdale and ran hard aground near the wharf. But while from the bow of the boat it was only a step to the shore, yet the stern floated in deep water, and the majority of the passengers were imprisoned by the flames in that part of the boat. A wild panic ensued. The helpless people, without means of escape and maddened by the intense heat, leaped into the river and literally fought with each other in their eagerness to reach the shore, pulling each other, in many instances, under the waves, so that the strong went down with the weak. The Digitized by Microsoft® 134 The Hudson River victims were ntirabered by scores, and for days the river shore was thronged by the relatives and friends of missing passengers, trying to identify the bodies that the tide washed ashore. This disaster had a sad pre-eminence and plunged the whole State in gloom. A graphic picture of steamboat travel on the Hudson was presented by the lively pen of N. P. Willis, in 1840. With most persons [he wrote], to mention the PaHsades is only to recall the confusion of a steamer's deck, just off from the wharf, with a freight of seven or eight hundred souls hoping to "take tea" in Albany. The scene is one of inextricable con- fusion, and it is not till the twenty miles of the Palisades are well passed that the bewildered passenger knows rightly whether his wife, child, or baggage, whichever may be his tender care, is not being left behind at the rate of fifteen miles in the hour. I have often flung my valise into the corner, and, sure that the whole of my person and personal effects was under way, watched the maniform embarrassments and troubles that beset the uninitiated voyager upon the Hudson. Fifteen minutes before the starting of the boat, there is not a passenger aboard: "time is money," and the American, counting it as part of the expense, determines to pay only "on demand." He arrives on the narrow pier at the same instant with seven hundred men, ladies, and children, besides lapdogs, crammed baskets, uncut novels, and baggage for the whole. No commissioner in the world would guarantee to get all this freight on board in the given time, and yet it is done, to the daily astonishment of news-' paper hawkers, orange women, and penny-a-liners watching for dreadful accidents. The plank is drawn in, the wheels begin to paw like foaming steeds impatient to be off, the bell rings as if it were letting down the steps of the last hackney-coach, and away darts the boat, like half a town suddenly slipping off and taking a walk on the water. The "hands" (who follow their nomenclature literally, and have neither eyes nor bowels) trip up all the little children and astonished maids in coiling up the hawser: the Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Fulton and the Hudson River Steamboat 137 black head- waiter rings a hand-bell as if he were crazy, exhorting "Them passengers as has n't settled to step to the Cap'n's office and settle," and angry people who have lost sight of their port- manteaus and selfish people who will not get up to let the young gentleman see if his penny trumpet is under them, play a real- life farce better than Keeley or Liston. A painted notice and a very fat black woman in the doorway inform the gentleman who has not seen his wife since the boat started, and is not at all sure that she is on board, that "No gentleman is permitted to enter the ladies' cabin," and spite of his dreadful uncertainty, he is obliged to trust to the dark Hebe to find her, among three hundred ladies, by description, and amuses all the listeners with his inventory of her dress features and general appearance. The negress disappears, is called twenty ways in twenty seconds, and an hour afterwards the patient husband sees the faithless messenger pass with a glass of lemonade, having utterly forgotten him and the lady in the black bonnet and gray eyes, who may be, for ought he knows to the contrary, wringing her hands at this moment on the wharf at New York. By this time the young ladies are tired of looking at the Pali- sades, and have taken out their novels, the old gentlemen are poring over their damp newspapers, and the captain has received his fourteen hundred or two thousand dollars, locked up his office, and gone to smoke with the black funnel and the engineer. The broad waters of the Tappan Zee open before the flying cut- water ; those who have never been up the river before think of poor Andr^ as they pass Tappan and Tarry town, and those who love gentle worth and true genius begin to look out for Sleepy Hollow and the house of Washington Irving. It is a quiet little spot, buried in trees and marked with an old Dutch vane. May his latter days, when they shall come, find there the rever- ence and repose which are his due ! Still the old order changes. As the white wings made way before the steamboat of Fulton's time and that in turn retired to give precedence to the swashbuckling river-craft of half a century ago, so these, too, have Digitized by Microsoft® 138 The Hudson River disappeared, and now the traveller finds great floating hotels, run to maintain, in comfort and fidelity to schedule time, a successful rivalry with the modern railroad service. Their appointments are no longer barbaric, their accommodations no longer uncomfort- able, their voyages no longer invitations to disaster and sudden death. By day, they sweep by the base of the echoing hills or into the open river reaches with a dignity of presence and a majesty of motion that fit well with their surroundings; and, by night, the inquisitive eye of the almost omniscient search-light explores the secrets of the sleeping shores. But it dis- covers no one ready to stand amazed at this or any other marvel, as the villagers and boatmen did when Fulton directed the little Clermont up the stream a century ago, and filled the night with coruscations of fat pine sparks, and the quiet sleepy hamlets with the rattle and splash of his primitive engine. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter X Riverside to Inwood RIVERSIDE PARK has been called " the mere aggrandisement of a road." In a sense that is true and yet the aggrandisement of such a road in such a way suggests the embellishment of a book by extra illustration, till the original volume appreciates in value beyond computation. From 7 2d Street to 130th Street, between Eleventh and Twelfth Avenues — the latter near the river level — Riverside Drive winds over hill and dale for three miles. There are few roads in the world that can com- pare with it. Every turn is a revelation of natural beauty and every hillock is crowned with some historic association. This is not a single road, but a "cluster of ample ways" for pleasure riding and driving, with number- less nooks "that a bee might choose to dream in," and sudden revelations of the river at points where natural advantages have been seized with consummate art. Across to Fort Lee, along the sheer wall of the Pali- sades, or down past the busy shipping to where Bar- tholdi's statue lifts her unwearied arm, the outlook 139 Digitized by Microsoft® HO The Hudson River is a panoramic display of exquisite charm. There is nothing that seems trivial in all the prospect: in all that comes within the range of the eye the "large be- nignities" of sky and river conspire to delight it. The changing hues of colour, the evanescent shadows playing across the distant hills, the long lanes of wind- drift vanishing in perspective, present not one picture, but a never-ending succession of them. Near the southern end of Riverside Drive used to be a place of resort known as Elm Park. Mr. Benson J. Lossing describes it as a camp-ground for recruits during the Civil War, " once the seat of the Apthorpe family." The Apthorpe mansion stood at the corner of 9 1 st Street and Columbus Avenue. Wash- ington had his headquarters here for a very brief time. The de Lancey house, the property of General Oliver de Lancey, stood at about 86th Street. In the winter of 1777, while the owner was absent, a party of young men came down from Tarrytown, bent on retaliation for the burning of the Van Tassel house, not far from there. They were led by Martlings and others, and succeeded in passing the British lines and setting fire to the de Lancey mansion. The ladies escaped in their night dresses, as those of the Van Tassel farmhouse had done a short time before. Riverside looks down at one point into the hollow that was known in the old times as Marritje David's Vly, now 127th Street. It keeps its watch above the turmoil of the waters and the travel upon their bosom, Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Riverside to Inwood 143 and wears proudly its own record of Revolutionary- happenings. The trees that crown this ridge and sentinel its slopes give an impression of venerable antiquity, and it is difficult to receive without a grain of allowance the record that tells how, during the severe winter of 1779- 80, when the island was under martial law. General Robertson stripped the land of its trees for fuel. At the north end of Riverside is the restaurant where Jones's Claremont Hotel stood, half a century ago. The older dwelling that it replaced was the residence of Doctor Post, who gave it the name of Claremont. Viscount Courtenay, afterwards Earl of Devon, lived there at one time, previous to the War of 181 2. Joseph Buonaparte, ex-king of Spain, when in exile, also made Claremont his residence for a while, and Francis Jones Jackson, the British minister, lived there during his term of office. The spot has many historic associations to enhance its natural attractiveness, but a far deeper significance was added when, in the immediate neigh- bourhood of Claremont was selected the site for the Grant mausoleum, that, apart from its pretensions to architectural excellence, attracts attention by its magnetic appeal to one of the noblest of human senti- ments. The- tomb of General Grant is on Riverside Drive at 123d Street, and is a conspicuous landmark, as seen from the river. With a superficial area of 8100 square feet and an extreme height of 150 feet, fashioned in Digitized by Microsoft® 144 The Hudson River white granite from Maine, this mausoleum takes rank among the most celebrated commemorative buildings in the world. The circular cupola, surrounded by columns and surmounted by a conical cap or dome, rests upon a massive cube of masonry, relieved by entablature, frieze, and columns of pure Ionic design and entered through a portico of noble proportions. This is not the place to describe the interior of this remarkable tomb, with its impressive chamber and the crypt wherein lies the dust of General Grant in a sar- cophagus of red porphyry. The tomb was built with the contributions of 90,000 subscriptions to a fund that aggregated $600,000, and the comer-stone was laid by President Harrison in April, 1892. The late Chinese statesman, Li Hung Chang, was an early subscriber to the monument fund and presented a gingko tree, which is growing at the north side of the tomb. Upon it a bronze tablet bears this inscription: This tree is planted at the side of the tomb of General U. S. Grant, ex-President of the United States of America, for the purpose of commemorating his greatness, by Li Hung Chang, Guardian of the Prince, Grand Secretary of State, Earl of the First Order Yang Hu, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- potentiary of China, Vice-President of the Board of Censors. Kwang Hsu, 23d year, 4th moon, May, 1897. Some distance to the south of Grant's tomb, at 89th- 90th Streets is the new soldiers' and sailors' monu- ment. Back of Riverside, upon the ridge now known as Cathedral Heights, the magnificent cathedral of St. Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Riverside to Inwood 147 John the Divine is now (1902) being erected, on a site covering three city blocks, from iioth to 113th Streets. The corner-stone was laid in 1892, and possibly most of the present generation of men will have passed away before the entire work is completed. The cost will ap- proximate six millions of dollars. Cathedral Heights is at the southern end of Morn- ingside Heights, a region that has been fitly charac- terised by Mr. Seth Low as " the Acropolis of the New World." Crowning the Heights, among the most con- spicuous landmarks of the Hudson, are the buildings of Columbia University. These, when all completed, will number fifteen, central among which is the unique Low Memorial Library. It is one of the purest ex- amples of classic Greek architecture in America. In form, it describes a Maltese cross, surmounted by a dome of noble proportions, beneath which is the al- ready famous rotunda that constitutes the central feature of the building. A statue of Pallas Athene stands at the doorway, within the ample colonnade, to reach which one must cross the broad, paved espla- nade and mount a wide flight of stairs — for the architects wisely put this building on a grade far enough above that of the street to add to its impres- sive beauty. The other buildings of the University group that are already completed are the Engineering Building, Scher- merhorn, Fayerweather, and Havemeyer Halls, and part of University Hall. Digitized by Microsoft® 148 The Hudson River Coltimbia College was first of all the old King's College, founded by Royal charter in the time of George II. After the independence of the colonies was won, " King's " became " Columbia. " The present site is the latest, and it is hoped the last, of several homes that have been familiar to successive genera- tions of Cohimbia alumni. The buildings of Columbia University are upon the ground made memorable in American history by what has been called the Battle of Harlem Heights, to which particular reference is made in another chapter. On the Broadway side of the Engineering Building there, is a bronze tablet commemorating this action, which took place on the i6th of September, 1776. Near Columbia, only separated by Broadway, is Barnard College, for women, which is a department of the University. This is at 119th Street. At 120th is the Teachers College, founded in 1886 by Miss Grace Dodge. This also is now a part of Columbia. One of the most notable structures along the ridge is that of St. Luke's Hospital, opposite the Cathedral grounds, at 1 1 3th Street. Back from the river and hidden, except at one or two points, where a transverse valley crosses the main ridge of the island at i6ist Street, stands the historic Jumel mansion, as it is usually called. The name is that of the first husband of Madame Aaron Burr, who owned the house at one time. It was built in 1758 by Colonel Roger Morris, once Washington's com- Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Riverside to Inwood 151 panion in arms, when they were both aides to General Braddock. Mary Philipse, for whose hand it is said that Washington was a suitor, married Morris and lived in this old house. In 1776, when the Americans were retreating after the Battle of Long Island, Wash- ington made his headquarters there. Captain Nathan Hale received his instructions at that old house and started from there on his fatal mission. There Wash- ington again came, this time as a guest, with his cabi- net, in 1790. Under its roof, Madame Jumel, having obtained her divorce from Burr, died in poverty. It has a strange, ftiU history, that severe, prim old colonial mansion that one may catch a passing glimpse of from the river. Besides the buildings of a public character that have been enumerated here, and others which are omitted for lack of space, there are numberless private resi- dences, some of them quite palatial in extent, that crown the heights or are scattered along the slopes of the shore. Immediately above Riverside Park is the former village known to its residents as Manhattan ville. A steel viaduct spans the Manhattan Valley and connects Riverside Drive with the Harlem Speedway. At Man- hattanville, on 128th Street, near St. Nicholas Avenue, is the celebrated convent school, under the charge of the sisters of the Sacred Heart. The buildings, of brown stone, large enough for the accommodation of several hundred scholars, are situated in the middle of a wooded Digitized by Microsoft® 152 The Hudson River park. Here the pupils are not limited to those of one creed, though uniformity in dress among the inmates of the school is required. Overlooking Manhattanville is the old Lawrence homestead, built by John B. Lawrence more than a century ago. Lawrence Street, in the vicinity, per- petuates his name. Between the Watkins and Brad- hurst houses, a short distance below 148th Street, Alexander Hamilton built his celebrated country seat, the Grange. This was not erected until after the Revo- lution. Here the statesman and soldier passed the last years of his busy and brilliant career, surrounded by his friends, but not entirely free from the animosities of political life — enmities that finally culminated in the fatal encounter between himself and Aaron Burr. The thirteen elm trees planted by Hamilton near his house, to celebrate the thirteen original states of the Union, were saved from destruction some years ago by Orlando Potter, who paid $140,000 for the ground upon which they stood. Dr. Samuel Bradhurst built a house north of the Grange, not far from the site of the noted Watkins house on St. Nichokis Avenue. These old homes were celebrated for the fine and courtly hospitality which mingled freedom with conventionality and reconciled convivial manners with the strict social requirements of the ancien regime. The three or four dwellings last noticed lay along the line of the Bloomingdale road and covered ground Digitized by Microsoft® H X a D o b m < m m X M c; X Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Riverside to Inwood 155 made memorable as the scene of Revolutionary con- flict. The valley in which Manhattanville lies extends from the Hudson to the East River, and was once known as the Harlem Cove and still earlier as the Hollow Way. Fortifications were erected upon its sides in 181 2. Just above the steamboat landing at 15 2d Street is Trinity Cemetery, traversed by the Boulevard Lafay- ette. North of this is the cluster of residences that occupies Audubon Park, where the famous naturalist once had his home. A little above is the building of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, between the Kingsbridge road and the Hudson and nine miles from the City Hall. Now we approach the section known as Washington Heights, a region of park-like aspect, traversed by delightful avenues, shaded by fine trees, and dotted with residences, with here and there some institution of a public character. Nearly midway along the river front, at 175th Street, is Fort Washington, where once stood the fortress that, with its garrison of 3000 men, was captured by the Brit- ish in November, 1776. A small redoubt, also taken at that time, occupied the point that juts into the river at this place. The sites of both the fort and re- doubt have been set aside as a public park. The point, which is now known as Fort Washington Point, was formerly called Jeffrey's Hook, and has been Digitized by Microsoft® 156 The Hudson River familiar to generations of river men as marking the deepest part of the stream. It has seemed advisable to give a separate chapter to the military associations of Forts Washington and Lee. Among the most recent of notable transfers of Hudson River property was the sale of a tract of one hundred and sixty city blocks at Mount Washing- ton in January, 1902. This was formerly a part of the estate of Lucius B. Chittenden, well known as a Broadway merchant, who died about thirty years ago. The last owner was Mrs. Chittenden, a widow, living in England. This land lies from about 189th to 197th Streets. Among those who have made a home in this part of Manhattan in modern times, few have reached the eminence attained by the celebrated lawyer, Charles O'Conor, of whom Judge Charles P Daly said: "He has filled a place in the jurisprudence of this State greater than that of any lawyer who has ever lived in it.'" We are nearing the end of Manhattan Island. The wooded, inviting knoll of Inwood rises above the haunted waters of Spuyten Duy vil creek, itself the home of many a spirit, if it be true that ghosts walk. The Indians long ago gave it a name of unpronounceable gutturals, and sowed its rocky soil with arrow-heads and tradi- tions. Along the ridges and through the woods where they disputed titles with their neighbours, the bears and the catamounts, generations of white men have Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Riverside to Inwood 159 come with their feuds and friendships, their loves and their hates, and have also passed away. From the great city, less and less distant every year, the rumble and the roar of approaching activity warn the dweller among green lawns and trees that the days of his seclusion are numbered. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XI The Island and the River in 1776 BRITISH plans to gain possession of New York in order to command the entrance of the Hudson, were reported to Congress in Octo- ber, 1775. Inquiries, it was said, had been made by Englishmen high in authority as to the feasibility of erecting forts in the Highlands, thus controlling the navigation of the river. Albany was also included in these designs for keeping open communication be- tween Quebec and the lower provinces. Such reports, whether well or ill founded, had the desirable effect of inciting the Continental leaders to measures for the protection of the river and its shores. The military importance of the Hudson in the impend- ing struggle could not be overestimated, and although the scene of conflict shifted from Canada to the Caro- linas, and the fields of Pennsylvania and New Jersey were devastated, yet from first to last the great river was the key to the continent for which both sides con- tended. On suspicion that New York City was the destina- tion of the fleet preparing to sail under command of 160 Digitized by Microsoft® o a z? o < Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® The Island and the River in 1776 163 Sir Henry Clinton, from Boston, General Lee urged Washington to permit him to recruit for its defence a force of Connecticut troops. The commander ap- proved this plan, but doubted apparently whether his authority was sufficient to warrant such an exercise of power. John Adams, being near at hand at the time, was consulted, and strongly endorsed the pro- posed measure, considering as a sufficient warrant the extraordinary authority with which Washington had recently been invested by Congress. Lee was thereupon commissioned to raise volunteers in Connecticut, secure military aid from New Jersey, disarm the Tories in the neighbourhood of New York, and to put the city and river in a condition for defence against the contemplated attack of the British. After some difficulty he succeeded in accomplishing the greater part of this task, and proceeded to take pos- session of New York. But the first movement in that direction brought a hornet's nest buzzing about his ears. Clearly the citizens dreaded nothing so much as being defended. The merchants and householders saw in the im- petuous and often impolitic Lee and his hastily gath- ered levies of raw troops a menace to their well being much greater than they discovered in the ships of his Majesty that were in the harbour. That staunch patriot, Pierre Van Cortlandt, Chairman of the Com- mittee of Safety, addressed a letter to General Lee, protesting that the city was not capable of acting Digitized by Microsoft® 1 64 The Hudson River hostilely against the British ships, as it lacked both military works and munitions. He urged the ad- visability of doing nothing to provoke attack and more than hinted that his correspondent's room would just then be greatly preferred to his company. We, therefore [continued the letter], ardently wish to remain in peace for a little time, and doubt not we have assigned suffi- cient reasons for avoiding at present, a dilemma, in which the entrance of a large body of troops into the city, will almost certainly involve us. Should you have such an entrance in design, we beg at least the troops may halt on the western confines of Connecticut, till we have been honoured by you with such an explanation on this important subject, as you may conceive your duty may permit you to enter upon with us, the grounds of which, you may easily see, ought to be kept an entire secret. General Lee's reply was intended to be reassuring. He disclaimed any intention of provoking strife or com- mencing hostilities, but he threw in such lurid hints of funeral pyres and the like that New York merchants were panic-stricken. On the 4th of February, 1776, Lee arrived in New York on the same day that the squadron from Bos- ton, with Sir Henry Clinton in command, arrived in the harbour. Such a coincidence threw the already agitated city into a ferment. An exodus of the more timid inhabitants commenced, and even through the succeeding hours of darkness it is said " were there carts going and boats loading, and women and children crying, and distressed voices heard in the roads in the dead of night. ' ' Digitized by Microsoft® The Island and the River in 1776 165 But nothing came of Clinton's visit. He protested that he had simply called to pay his respects in a friendly way to Governor Tryon, a proceeding that Lee reported as "the most whimsical piece of civility I ever heard of." The British fleet sailed south and the inhabitants of New York, relieved from their fears for the time, began to settle down to quiet. An agreement was reached, between the Committee of Safety and Lee, as to the nature and scope of the defence to be attempted. They are best explained in the latter 's own words: The Congress committees, a certain number of the committees of safety, and your humble servant [writes he to Washington], have had two conferences. The result is such as will agreeably surprise you. It is in the first place agreed, and justly, that to fortify the town against shipping is impracticable; but we are to fortify lodgments on some commanding part of the city for two thousand men. We are to erect enclosed batteries on both sides of the water, near Hell Gate, which will answer the double purpose of securing the town against piracies through the Sound, and secure our communication with Long Island, now become a more important point than ever; as it is determined to form a strong fortified camp of three thousand men, on the island, im- mediately opposite to New York. The pass in the Highlands is to be made as respectable as possible, and guarded by a bat- talion. In short, I think the plan judicious and complete. Kingsbridge, at the upper end of the island, con- necting it with the mainland, he considered most im- portant, and intended to make preparations for its defence. But while most of his plans were still in the air Con- gress ordered the energetic officer to another command Digitized by Microsoft® i66 The Hudson River and he bewailed the fact that upon his withdrawal the " provincial Congress and the inhabitants in gen- eral will relapse into their former hysterics." The unfavourable impression left by subsequent acts of this energetic but not too well balanced officer may blind us to the really excellent service he accomplished. His own valuation of that service was not excessive. The threats of Governor Tryon, the carpings of Tory residents, and the pleas of the timid were all disregarded, while with an energy and foresight highly creditable, he placed the city in such a condition of defence as was then possible. The peremptory measures adopted to put an end to supplying the enemy's fleet with provisions were effectual; Sir Henry Clinton, evidently discour- aged by the military demonstration in the city, with- drew without attempting to strike a blow, and time was secured for the Americans to do what the British had planned to do; that is, to fortify the highlands of the river. It is interesting to contemplate what might have been the course of American history if Clinton's fleet, upon its arrival from Boston, had not found General Lee and his volunteer forces in New York. - On the departure of General Lee, Lord Stirling, Brigadier-General, remained in temporary command of New York; but the Commander-in-chief, anticipating an attack in force, dispatched Heath and Sullivan to the city with reinforcements, ordered forward a body of three thousand Connecticut troops, and placed Digitized by Microsoft® The Island and the River in 1776 167 General Israel Putnam in authority. This veteran officer entered the city on April 4, 1776, just three months before the signing of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. Following in their general outline the plans made by his predecessor, Putnam continued the construction of defences on the East River and under- took also to close the Hudson by erecting several bat- teries along shore and placing, obstructions in the channel. Washington arrived on the 14th of the month, his appearance being the signal for rejoicing on the part of the majority of those who remained in the city. At that time the total armed force numbered about 10,000 men, several regiments having been withdrawn by Congress, for Canadian service. In May Colonel Rufus Putnam was dispatched to the Highlands, " to put the defences there in a fit and proper posture." Towards the end of June the long-expected fleet of the British began to make its appearance. Forty vessels from Halifax, bringing the troops that had re- cently occupied Boston, and accompanied by trans- ports with newly arrived Highlanders, led the armada, which was soon augmented by other men-of-war and troop-ships, till the number reached one hundred and thirty. The frigate Greyhound brought the commander, of the British forces. General Howe, somewhat in ad- vance of the rest of the fleet. Colonel James Clinton, who had command of the posts in the Highlands, was immediately notified of Digitized by Microsoft® 1 68 The Hudson River the arrival of this menacing force of the enemy and directed to make all possible preparation for its recep- tion if a passage of the river should be attempted. About this time Clinton was also in receipt of several letters from committees in Cornwall and Newburgh, informing him of the presence of certain active Royalists who were forming a conspiracy to cooperate with the British troops upon their arrival. ^X But not even the presence of a powerful enemy on the one side and dangerous neighbours on the other could dampen the ardour with which the Colonial party in New York greeted the news that the instrument which proclaimed the independence of the American Colonies had been signed at Philadelphia. For several days the patriots celebrated the great event, incident- ally pulling down the leaden statue of George III., which, in a spasm of loyalty, they had erected only a short time before. Putnam was not idle: his defences were rapidly growing. The forts commanding the North River about this time included the Grand Battery, at the southern extremity of the island; Fort George, im- mediately north of it ; White Hall Battery, on the left of the Grand Battery ; Oyster Battery, behind General Washington's headquarters; Grenadier Battery, "Near the Brew House on the North River ' ' ; Jersey Battery, at the left of the one last named ; Bayard Hill Redoubt, on Bayard's Hill, now Grand Street; Spencer's, on a hill where General Spencer's brigade was encamped; Digitized by Microsoft® The Island and the River in 1776 169 and Waterbury's Battery, on a wharf below Spencer's hill, and Bedlam's Redoubt, on a hill near the Jews' bury ing-ground . In addition to these works Putnam was completing his plans for the destruction of the British fleet and the obstruction of the Hudson River. Early in July he wrote to General Gates, commanding the Northern department, as follows : The enemy's fleet now lies in the bay very safe, close under Staten Island. Their troops possess no land here but the Island. Is it not very strange, that those invincible troops, who were to destroy and lay waste all this country with their fleets and army, are so fond of islands and peninsulas, and dare not put their feet on the main? But, I hope, by the blessing of God and good friends we shall pay them a visit on their island. For that end, we are preparing fourteen fire-ships to go into their fleet, some of which are ready charged and fitted to sail^ and I hope soon to have them all fixed. We are preparing che- vaux-de-frise, at which we make great dispatch by the help of ships, which are to be sunk; a scheme of mine which you may be assured is very simple, a plan of which I send you. The two ships' sterns lie towards each other, about seventy feet apart. Three large logs, which reach from ship to ship, are fastened to them. The two ships and logs stop the river two hundred and eighty feet. The, ships are to be sunk, and, when hauled down on one side, the picks will be raised to a proper height, and they must inevitably stop the river if the enemy will let us sink them. These well-laid plans miscarried. The fire-ships did not accomplish what had been anticipated and a sub- marine engine, prepared by "an ingenious Connecticut man" failed to explode at the desired time and place. Its interior clockwork being badly timed, it merely Digitized by Microsoft® I70 The Hudson River "blew up a vast column of water" without doing any damage to the enemy's vessels. It had, however, the effect of astonishing the British and affording General Putnam great amusement. More than that, before the obstructions were in place in the channel two British war-ships left their anchorage and, taking advantage of a brisk breeze, sailed past the forts and ascended the river. They were fired upon by the shore batteries and replied sharply with a broadside, but did not linger or turn back. Where they were bound, whether to land troops at some point on the mainland, to attack the forts in the Highlands, or to harass the inhabitants of the villages along the river, could only be conjectured. Washington sent a message to General Mifflin, at High Bridge, urging him to be alert, and an express also warned the New York convention, sitting at White Plains. George Clinton was at New Windsor above the Highlands, and his brother, James, at Fort Constitu- tion. They were first warned of the British approach by the captains of two river sloops who had seen the exchange of fire between the frigates and the forts and had fled from the scene of danger as fast as possible. The following day Washington's messenger arrived, only to find that his orders had been anticipated and that the most energetic measures for the defence of the river were already under way. The arrival of Lord Howe, Admiral of the British Digitized by Microsoft® The Island and the River in 1776 171 fleet, filled with consternation those whose sympathies were enlisted with the American cause. It. was un- derstood that affairs were approaching a crisis and that the long anticipated attack would no longer be deferred. Lord Howe's proclamation, offering pardon to those who had deviated from their allegiance to the Crown, seemed to indicate a pacific purpose. It was followed almost immediately by an attempt to negotiate with General Washington, with a view to the restoration of peace, but these measures, as the student of history knows, were unsuccessful. Having called attention to the means by which the Americans endeavoured to protect the city and river from the British encroachment during the spring and summer of 1776, we may now proceed to describe briefly the disposition of the opposing forces after the disastrous battle of Long Island, in September of that year, and especially to indicate the ground upon which was fought the important engagement of Harlem Heights. After Washington's remarkable retreat with his beaten army across the East River, the city of New York was in a turmoil. On the part of some of the troops there were threats of reducing it to ashes, while others protested vehemently against such drastic meas- ures. Acting upon the theory that the enemy would follow his recent successes by further aggression, the Commander-in-chief ordered that all of the sick and Digitized by Microsoft® 172 The Hudson River wounded should be removed to Orange, in New Jersey, while surplus stores and baggage were to be trans- ported to Dobbs Ferry. Desertions were the scandal of the day. Two thirds of the Connecticut troops were smitten with an irresistible attack of nostalgia, that nothing but a sight of their own firesides could remedy- Still the indefatigable Putnam continued to construct forts and plan chevaux-de-frise. Fort Constitution, op- posite Fort Washington, was commenced, and a strong detachment of troops stationed there. It was evident to Washington and his officers that the plan of the British was to enclose us on the island of New York, by taking posts in our rear, while the shipping secures the front, and thus, by cutting off our communication with the country, oblige us to fight them on their own terms or surrender at discretion; or by a brilliant stroke endeavour to cut this army to pieces and secure the collection of arms and stores, which, they well know, we shall not soon be able to replace. On the yth of September the question of the abandon- ment of the city was discussed and the council of war finally decided upon a partial withdrawal. Putnam, who had been strongly in favour of evacua- tion, was to be left in the city with five thousand soldiers, while Heath was to keep the upper part of the island with nine thousand, opposing the attempts of the enemy to land. A third division, under command of Generals Greene and Spencer, was stationed near Turtle and Kipp's bays, on the East River. Accord- ing to several authorities Washington had his head- Digitized by Microsoft® The Island and the River in 1776 173 quarters in the old Apthorpe mansion, a short distance out of the city, on the Hudson River side. Congress having left the decision relating to the evacuation of New. York entirely to the Commander- in-chief, and nearly all of his ofhcers determining, upon a second council being held, that retreat was a necessity, preparations were rapidly made to complete the with- drawal of the Continental forces. The attack of the British, concentrated upon the forces under Greene and Spencer, on the 15th, pre- cipitated the movement. The Connecticut levies at Kipp's Bay and Turtle Bay fled, making hardly any resistance. The presence and almost frantic opposi- tion of Washington himself did not serve to check the panic into which they were thrown. An express was immediately dispatched to Putnam, ordering him to retreat. He called in his pickets and guards and abandoned the city, leaving most of his stores and the heavy guns to fall into the hands of the foe. The day was sultry and torrid and the little army encumbered with women and children, besides a hetero- geneous assortment of baggage. The strength of the men was overtaxed and the morale of the command low, but the commanding officer was as full of fire and courage as ever, and pulled his army through by the sheer force of his own personality. Colonel Humphreys, acting at the time as a volun- teer with Putnam, has left the following account of him: Digitized by Microsoft® 174 The Hudson River I had frequent opportunities that day of beholding him, for the purpose of issuing orders and encouraging the troops, flying on his horse covered with foam, wherever his presence was most necessary. Without his -extraordinary exertions, the guards must have been inevitably lost, and it is probable the entire corps would have been cut in pieces. When we were not far from Bloomingdale, an aide-de-camp came to him at full speed, to inform him that a column of British infantry was descending upon our right. Our rear was soon fired upon, and the colonel of our regiment, whose order was just communicated for the front to file off to the left, was killed upon the spot. With no other loss, we joined the army after dark upon the heights of Harlem. From Bayard Hill Fort, which was on what is now Grand Street, the line of retreat was, according to the best evidence, across country to the neighbourhood of Greenwich village, and then by way of the road that was afterwards called the Abingdon-Fitz-Roy road to the neighbourhood of Forty-second or Forty-third Street. From that point the direction was toward Harlem Heights. An incident of the march is thus told by Irving : Tradition gives a circumstance which favoured Putnam's re- treat. The British generals, in passing by Murray Hill, the country residence of a patriot of that name, who was of the Society of Friends, made a halt to seek some refreshment. The proprietor of the house was absent; but his wife set cake and wine before them in abundance. So grateful were these refreshments in the heat of the day, that they lingered over their wine, quaffing and laughing, and bantering their patriotic hostess about the ludicrous panic and discomfiture of her country- men. In the meantime, before they were roused from their regale, Putnam and his forces had nearly passed by, within a mile of them. Digitized by Microsoft® The Island and the River in 1776 175 Washington's retirement from his previous head- quarters to the Jumel mansion in Richmond Hill occurred on the evening of the 14th, before the British had gained possession of the lower end of the island. The enemy's line extended from Horen's Hook on the East River across the island to about 91st Street on the North River. The vanguard was commanded by General Leslie, whose most advanced picket posts did not go above 95th Street. The main body of the Americans was resting upon Harlem Heights, their pickets about 13 2d Street. On the morning of the i6th, before daylight, Colonel Thomas Knowlton, of Bunker Hill fame, was directed by Washington to advance with a reconnoitring party of Rangers, to determine the position and strength of the enemy. It is not known whether he started from the right of our pickets or from a point farther to the east; nor is the question important. Professor Henry P. Johnston, whose study of the action on Harlem Heights has been exhaustive, says in this connection: It is enough to know that when we hear of them [the Rangers] a httle later, they were at the most important point on the enemy's front. We find them stirring up their pickets on the left, that left which rested, as we have seen, somewhere on the Bloomingdale Road, not far above Apthorpe's (91st Street), between which and our pickets at the Hollow Way (Manhat- tanville) intervened the wooded and rolling ground of the two farms on Morningside Heights. That wooded and rolling ground covered the enemy and concealed his possible movements on the western Digitized by Microsoft® 176 The Hudson River or North River side of the island. That was the reason for dispatching Knowlton and his Rangers. At 1 06th Street, west of the Boulevard, upon a knoll, stood the stone farmhouse of Nicholas Jones. The reconnoitring party reached this place about sun- rise and appear to have used it as a cover, advancing cautiously, in the manner that many of the American recruits had learned in Indian warfare. They had barely passed the farmhouse when they were discovered by the British pickets and a sharp skirmish ensued. The Rangers were composed of Con- necticut men, and they still smarted under the taunts of cowardice that must have been their portion after the ]Danic and retreat of the isth. The honour of Con- necticut was smirched and the Rangers, picked men, were eager to remove that stain. But the odds against them were too great, and after holding their ground valiantly for a while, losing about ten men, they fell back, the line of their retreat being along the old Bloomingdale road "As it was subse- quently extended through Manhattan ville to the Kings- bridge road above." Close to where Columbia University and Barnard College now stand the British light troops pushed the Rangers till they reached the site of Grant's tomb, where they halted. Beyond that point the ground was probably more open and the pursuers could get a view of General Greene's force; but they sent after the retreating Connecticut men a message that made their Digitized by Microsoft® The Island and the River in 1776 177 very ears tingle. The bugle ranig out the notes of the fox-chase, a call which to the men of that day needed no interpreter. As the trees and rocks echoed back those derisive notes it seemed as if the cup of humiliation had been drained to its dregs. How many of the King's troops joined in that pur- suit is not definitely known. At the first sound of the firing the Second and Third Battalions of Light In- fantry, with the Forty-second Highlanders, began to move up; and it is probable that Knowlton and his Rangers did not retire till these reinforcements com- menced to appear upon the scene. Washington, on the other hand, put Spencer's and Putnam's men in readiness along the line of 147th Street, where they seem to have been immediately engaged in throwing up earthworks. It is doubtful if General Putnam could have rested for half an hour in any position without leaving something in the nature of a redoubt to mark the spot. Adjutant-General Reed, who joined Knowlton be- fore the retreat, reported the affair to Washington, ask- ing for reinforcements. The Commander-in-chief was then upon the brow overlooking Manhattanville (the " Hollow Way ' ') from the north. He then, we are told, "conceived the project, not of driving the light in- fantry back to their camp, but of entrapping them in the Hollow Way." The plan was to make a feint in front of the enemy and induce him to advance into the valley by the Digitized by Microsoft® 178 The Hudson River prospect perhaps of another "fox-chase," while a flanking movement, led by Knowlton and his Rangers, reinforced by Major Leitch with a detachment of Virginians, was arranged to close upon the British rear. The feigned attack, however, developed into some- thing more than was anticipated and in the skirmish that ensued the position of the light infantry was changed so that when Knowlton and Leitch, ignorant of the new disposition of the troops, closed with their foe, they engaged him upon the flank instead of the rear. The place where this flank attack occurred has been located at 123d Street, east of the Boulevard. The Connecticut men, then and throughout the day, retrieved their honour, fighting like veterans, and for the first time driving the seasoned troops of the King before them. It must have been a novel sensation for both parties. But both the Rangers and the Virginians, their companions and equals in courage that day, lost their commanders early in the action. Colonel Knowlton and Major Leitch were mortally hurt, within ten minutes of each other, the former being shot through the head and surviving only a short time after being carried from the field. The firing brought up Leslie's reserves and Wash- ington again reinforced his soldiers. From a skirmish, a " mere affair of outposts, " the action rapidly assumed the proportion of a battle. By noon Putnam, Knox, and Reed, with other American officers, were very actively engaged and reinforcements of Highlanders Digitized by Microsoft® The Island and the River in 1776 179 and Hessians were being hurried to the rehef of their distressed companions in arms. The Hessians, according to the report of one of their own officers, fought till they had no ammunition left and the Highlanders had fired away their last shot, but still the Americans showed no sign of flinching. General Greene's Connecticut men encountered the foe on the hill where the Lawrence mansion afterwards stood and gave an excellent account of themselves. Other detachments were engaged in various parts of a field that embraced woodland, hill, and valley. The centre of the battle was in a buckwheat field that ap- pears to have been midway between Columbia Univer- sity and Grant's tomb. The main engagement lasted from eleven o'clock till about half -past two, and was participated in by more than four thousand out of the eight thousand men comprising the American army, while a superior body of British opposed them. The American forces were completely victorious, finally chasing the King's troops down a hill and being recalled with difficulty by order of the Commander-in- chief. This necessarily brief account of the famous battle of Harlem Heights has followed what seems to be the most rational exposition of the perplexing and fre- quently contradictory records that have reached us. It is greatly to be regretted that for many years no effort was made to fix beyond question the scene of this important engagement. That it was important Digitized by Microsoft® i8o The Hudson River a glance at the cbrrespondencei of the time will show. The Americans, recently disheg,rtened by defeat, found their confidence restored and the British had received a wholesome check that influenced many a subsequent plan. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XII Forts Washington and Lee FOR a month after the battle of Harlem Heights the Americans held possession of the northern end of the island, with the works they had erected there. There were three main lines in the Heights. The first was at 147th Street, the second, with four redoubts, along issd to issth Street, and the third, incomplete and with no redoubts, was at i6ist Street. Mount Washington, as it was then called, was sub- stantially fortified, the defences there covering several acres between what are now i8ist and i86th Streets. The armament of this citadel consisted of thirty-two pieces of heavy ordnance. Besides these fortifications the neighbouring heights from Manhattanville to Kingsbridge were the sites of several earthworks, the whole constituting a formidable system, to assail which, after the disastrous attempt of September i6th, the British commander naturally hesitated. At the point known as Jeffrey's Hook, that juts into the river at the base of Mount Washington, a redoubt had been built to cover the famous structure of sunken 181 Digitized by Microsoft® 1 82 The Hudson River vessels and floating bombs that General Putnam had bestowed so much labour and ingenuity upon. One needs only to inspect the river, or even a good map of it, to be convinced that if a reasonable hope of con- trolling navigation from any point below the High- lands could be entertained, this was the place. The river between Forts Washington and Lee is narrow and is commanded upon both banks by high hills. But the stream is swift and deep, as well as narrow, and the task of obstructing it was by no means as light a one as at first glance it might appear. Then, too, the necessity of retaining possession of the shores in order to make the blockade effectual would demand the presence of a large force. The whole of Washington's army was not too large for this work, yet it would have been manifestly absurd to contemplate the retention of the army for such a purpose. It has been shown that the policy which led to an effort to hold this natural gateway after the retirement of the Americans from the city was strongly urged by Congress; nor must we forget, in criticising the military judgment of Washington, that an almost irresistible pressure was brought to bear upon him in this matter by the civil authorities as well as by the counsel of his own officers. The security of the Hudson [says Irving], was at this time an object of great solicitude with Congress, and much reliance was placed on Putnam's obstructions at Fort Washington. Four galleys, mounted with heavy guns and swivels, were stationed Digitized by Microsoft® Forts Washington and Lee 183 at the chevaux-de-frise, and two new ships were at hand, which, filled with stones, were to be sunk where they would block up the channel. A sloop was also at anchor, having on board a machine, invented by a Mr. Bushnell, for submarine explosion, with which to blow up the men-of-war; a favourite scheme with General Putnam., The obstructions were so commanded by batteries on each shore that it was thought no hostile ship would be able to pass. On the 9th of October, however, the Roebuck and Phoenix, each of forty-four guns, and the Tartar, of twenty guns, which had been lying for some time oppo- site Bloomingdale, got under way with their three ten- ders, at 8 o'clock in the morning, and came standing up the river with an easy southern breeze. At their approach, the galleys and the two ships intended to be sunk got under way with all haste, as did a schooner laden with rum, sugar, and other supplies for the American army, and the sloop with Bushnell's sub- marine machine. The Roebuck, Phoenix, and Tartar broke through the vaunted barriers as through a cobweb. Seven batteries kept a constant fire upon them, yet a gentleman was observed walking the deck of the second ship as coolly as if nothing were the matter. Washington, indeed, in a letter to Schuyler, says, "They passed without any kind of damage or interruption; but Lord Howe reports to the Admiralty that they suffered much in their masts and rigging and that a lieutenant, two midshipmen, and six men were killed and eighteen wounded." Digitized by Microsoft® 1 84 The Hudson River The attempt to complete the obstructions occupied, it would seem, a considerable portion of Washington's attention in the weeks that intervened between the battle of Harlem Heights and that of White Plains. He ordered that two hulks which lay — as hulks still lie — ^in Spuyten Duyvil creek, be ballasted and sunk, and that others that had grounded near Yonkers be brought down and consigned to a similar use. ^ A council of officers, called by the commander, dis- cussed the question of attempting to retain the posi- tion occupied by the American army upon Manhattan Island, and it was decided — ^with only the voice of General Clinton raised in dissent — to abandon all the works with the exception of Fort Washington. This fort was to be retained as long as possible in com- pliance with the resolution passed by Congress. A garrison that was large if measured by the loss its subtraction occasioned the little army, but absurdly inadequate for the work expected of it, was left under command of Colonel Magaw, to whom Washington gave a solemn injunction to defend it to the last ex- tremity. It was at this time that the name of Fort Constitution was changed to Fort Lee, and the com- mand of that post given to General Greene. / The series of moves by which Washington foiled Howe's attempt to get in his rear and the resulting battle of White Plains are not part of the story of the river and must not be dwelt upon here. At the time when the assault upon Chatterton's hill was about Digitized by Microsoft® Forts Washington and Lee 185 to be made the distant thundering of cannon in the neighbourhood of Manhattan startled the contestants. Two of the enemy's war-ships had anchored at Bur- ^ dett's Ferry, a short distance below the forts, with the evident purpose of cutting communication between the island and the mainland, by stopping the ferry. At the same time British troops appeared on Harlem plains. When the lines in that direction were manned by Americans from the forts, the vessels opened fire, attempting to dislodge them, but an eighteen-pound gun on the Manhattan side and two on the Jersey shore returned their fire and hulled them repeatedly, so that they were glad to drop down the river. On the night of the 4th of November and for three days afterwards the British army was moving from White Plains to Dobbs Ferry, with what ultimate object could only be a matter of anxious conjecture to the American leader. Washington wrote to General William Livingston: They have gone towards the North River and King's Bridge. Some suppose they are going into winter quarters, and will sit down in New York without doing more than investing Fort Washington. I cannot subscribe wholly to this opinion myself. That they will invest Fort Washington, is a matter of which there can be no doubt ; and I think there is a strong probability that General Howe will detach a part of his force to make an incursion into the Jerseys, provided he is going to New York. He must attempt something on account of his reputation, for what has he done as yet, with his great army? While still in doubt as to the meaning of the manoeu- vre, Washington received news of the peril of the Digitized by Microsoft® 1 86 The Hudson River garrison on Manhattan. Threatened by Lord Percy with a large body of troops at the south, and by Knyphausen between the Fort and Kingsbridge, Colonel Magaw and his command were in a serious position. As though to add a feature of discouragement to the situation by proving the futility of attempting to control the river, a frigate and two transports broke through the chevaux-de-jrise with supplies for Howe's army at Dobbs Ferry. Washington wrote to Greene, upon the receipt of these tidings: If we cannot prevent vessels from passing up the river, and the enemy are possessed of all the surrounding country, what val- uable purpose can it answer to hold a post from which the expected benefit cannot be had? I am, therefore, inclined to think, that it will not be prudent to hazard the men and stores at Mount Washington; but, as you are on the spot, I leave it to you to give such orders as to evacuating Mount Washington as you may judge best, and so far revoking the orders given to Colonel Magaw, to defend it to the last. Further instructions were sent to Greene, directing the removal of superfluous stores, etc., anticipating an attack upon Fort Lee upon the Jersey side. But Greene could not admit the wisdom of abandoning Magaw's position. In this connection Irving says: He did not consider the fort in immediate danger. Colonel Magaw thought it would take the enemy until the end of Decem- ber to carry it. In the meantime the garrison could at any time be brought off and even the stores removed, should matters grow desperate. Digitized by Microsoft® Forts Washington and Lee 187 From his camp at Northcastle, to which he had removed after White Plains, Washington made a hurried march to Peekskill, on November loth. After making a mihtary visit to the Highland posts, recon- noitring in company with Generals Heath, Clinton, and others, and directing the disposition of the various bodies of troops, he crossed the Hudson below Stony Point with a force which was to find its way to Hack- ensack by a pass in the Ramapo Mountains. The commander took a more direct route to Fort Lee. Arriving there on the 1 3th, he found that Fort Wash- ington, which was the immediate object of his solici- tude, instead of being evacuated had on the contrary been reinforced by General Greene, who had made the most of the discretionary clause in his chief's letter. Both Greene and Magaw believed that the Fort might be successfully defended. Why Washington, who acknowledged that the use- lessness of this post had been demonstrated and whose judgment required its evacuation, permitted the repre- sentations of his officers to outweigh his own saner conclusions has never been explained. For several days he remained in the neighbourhood, awaiting developments. Upon the 15th, two months to a day after the hurried evacuation of New York by Putnam's hard-pressed columns, Howe sent Magaw a summons to surrender. The latter answered in somewhat stilted but unequivocal English that, "Actuated by the most glorious cause Digitized by Microsoft® 1 88 The Hudson River that mankind ever fought in, I am determined to defend this post to the very last extremity." Greene, across the river, dispatched a rider to Washington with the intelUgence of Magaw's peril; and sent reinforcements to the Colonel, who was now menaced on three sides by the enemy. It was nightfall [says Irving] when Washington arrived at Fort Lee. Greene and Putnam were over at the besieged fort- ress. He threw himself into a boat and had partly crossed the river, when he met those generals returning. They informed him of the garrison's having been reinforced and assured him that it was in high spirits and capable of making a good defence. It was with difficulty, however, that they could prevail on him to return with them to the Jersey shore, for he was excessively excited. Less discreet historians than Irving have not hesi- tated to say that the Father of his Country on that occasion expressed his excitement in language of much greater vigour than is countenanced by polite custom. In other words, this is believed to have been one of the rare occasions upon which Washington swore. And certainly, if there was ever an excuse for profane in- vective, he could plead it at that time. Besides Magaw there were Cadwalader, Rawlings, Baxter, and other officers of merit at the beleaguered fort, together with a force of about two- thousand picked men, the flower of the army ; while opposed to them was an overwhelming force of British regulars and German hirelings, bred to the trade of war. Lossing has given an anecdote that does not seem Digitized by Microsoft® Forts Washington and Lee 189 to have any substantial basis of fact, but is offered here at its worth : The chief criassed the river with Generals Putnam, Greene, and Mercer; and made his way stealthily to the house of Roger Morris, in wljifih he had had his headquarters a few weeks before. From the Morris house, a mile south of Mount Washington, the chief made a hurried survey of the field of operations when a young, small, and very pretty vivandihre, the wife of a Pennsyl- vania soldier, who had followed the chief like a guardian angel, from the river, came up reverently and touched him on the arm and whispered in his ear. Washington immediately ordered his companions into the saddle and they galloped back to their boats. Fifteen minutes later a British regiment which had been creeping stealthily like a serpent up the rocky acclivity, appeared at the mansion. This story has a strongly apocryphal flavour. From Fort Lee the Chief saw the greater part of the attack upon Fort Washington and his spirits were alternately raised and depressed by the varying for- tunes of the fray. The battle commenced about noon, with General Knyphausen's division attacking from the north, General Mathew advancing from the Harlem River and Lord Percy trying to force the lines gallantly held by Colonel Cadwalader, two miles and a half south of the fort. Much of the action was hidden from the watcher across the river by intervening hills and woods, but the gallant defence made by Cadwalader's eight hundred Pennsylvanians against double their number of Enghsh and Hessians was in open view. Eagerly the Chief directed his glass to that quarter. Digitized by Microsoft® igo The Hudson River Nothing [says Irving] encouraged him more than the gallant style in which Cadwalader with an inferior force maintained his position. When he saw him, however, assailed in flank, the hne broken and his troops, overpowered by numbers, retreating to the fort, he gave up the game as lost. The worst sight of all was to behold his men cut down and bayoneted by the Hessians while begging quarter. It is said so completely to have over- come him that he wept "with the tenderness of a child." By the hands of a daring messenger Washington managed to get a note to Magaw, telling him that if he could hold out till night, he would then endeavour to bring ofiE the garrison. The rbessenger was one Captain Gooch, of Boston, whose intrepidity reminds one of some mighty deed from the sagas. General Heath is authority for the following account of his adventure : He ran down to the river, jumped into a small boat, pushed over the river, landed under the bank, ran up to the fort and delivered the message, came out, ran and jumped over the broken ground, dodging the Hessians, some of whom struck at him with their pieces and others attempted to thrust him with their bayonets; escaping through them, he got to his boat and returned to Fort Lee. But Magaw found it impossible to hold out. Already the summons to surrender had been made, and found him surrounded by troops that had been driven in from all sides by the overwhelming force of the enemy. The fortress was so filled with men that movement was difficult and further defence impossible. Fort Wash- ington was therefore surrendered. Thus ended the American occupancy of Manhattan Digitized by Microsoft® Forts Washington and Lee 191 Island. Washington's own reflections upon the closing scene, given in a letter to his brother Augustine, will throw much light upon the difficulties that beset him, and his frame of mind regarding an action against which his better judgment rebelled. This is a most unfortunate affair and has given me great mortification; as we have lost, not only two thousand men, that were there, but a good deal of artillery, and some of the best arms we had. And what adds to my mortification is, that this post, after the last ships went past it, was held contrary to my wishes and opinion, as I conceived it to be a hazardous one: but it having been determined on by a full council of general officers, and a resolution of Congress having been received, strongly expressive of their desire that the channel of the river which we had been labouring to stop for a long time at that place, might be obstructed, if possible; and knowing that this could not be done, unless there were batteries to protect the obstructions, I did not care to give an absolute order for withdrawing the garri- son, till I could get around and see the situation of things; and then it became too late, as the place was invested. Upon the passing of the last ships, I had given it as my opinion to General Greene, under whose care it was, that it would be best to evacu- ate the place; but, as the order was discretionary, and his opinion differed from mine, it was unhappily delayed too long, to my great grief. The abandonment of Fort Lee was of course a fore- gone conclusion as soon as the enemy was in possession of Port Washington. This movement was hastened by the appearance on the west side of the river of six thousand British troops under Lord Cornwallis. These crossed on a rainy night and established themselves under the line of the Palisades, five or six miles north of Fort Lee. Extending thence with the evident Digitized by Microsoft® 192 The Hudson River intention of forming a line which should separate the garrison of Fort Lee from the remainder of the Ameri- can army, their manoeuvre was anticipated, by Wash- ington's rapid retreat to the Hackensack. Artillery, baggage, tents, and camp equipage were abandoned. Even camp kettles, we are told, were on the fires when the British made their uncontested entrance into Port Lee. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XIII From Spuyten Duyvil to Yonkers WHILE we have been deploring the passing of the white wings, Anthony Van Corlaer, — half trumpeter, half myth, — has delayed his drowning in the wild waters of Papuinemen, wait- ing for an audience. He deserves a Wagner, who might do him j ustice . Anthony the Trumpeter was dispatched on a warlike mission to the Patroon Van Rensselaer, when he came to the stream that forms the upper boundary of Manhattan Island. Warned not to cross, he still persisted in advancing, intending to gain the other shore by swimming. "Spuyt den Duyvil! "he shouted, " I will reach Shoraskappock. " But his chal- lenge to the Duyvil was unfortunately his last recorded utterance, as at that moment his Satanic Majesty, in the form of an enormous moss bunker, took him at his word and tried conclusions then and there. That was the end of Anthony the Trumpeter, but the phrase that he is supposed to have originated is repeated about a thousand times a day by trainmen on the railroad, who have no idea of invoking Satanic interference with their duties. 13 193 Digitized by Microsoft® 194 The Hudson River An amusing story is told of a good but somewhat dull woman who asked a neighbour for an explanation of the strange name that she heard shouted into the car where she was seated. The neighbour, who was none other than Mr. Benson J. Lossing, related the substance of the legend given here. As he proceeded his listener became more and more interested. An expression of pity and sympathy overflowed her eyes. " Did the poor man leave a family?" she finally asked. Upon the height behind Spuyten Duyvil there is the place of an old redoubt that occupied about the position of the Indian stronghold of Nipnichsen. A little way v/ up the stream the Manor Lord, Frederick Filipse, purchased a ferry right and afterwards erected a bridge with a toll gate between the island and the main shore. Near the mouth of the creek occurred, in the early fifties, one of the most dreadful of the steamboat dis- asters of which the history of the Hudson presents not V a few: it was the burning of the Henry Clay, which is more fully noticed in another chapter. The earliest historic account that associates the white discoverers with Spuyten Duyvil dates Sep- tember, 1609. Henry Hudson, or his scribe, Master Juet, records a fight which he had at this place with some Indians who came out in their canoes and attacked the Half Moon with arrows. The yacht of the discov- erer was at the time anchored at the mouth of the creek. Here was the gathering place for the Indians who menaced Manhattan in colonial days. Here nearly a Digitized by Microsoft® From Spuyten Duyvil to Yonkers 195 thousand braves came together and threatened to destroy New Amsterdam, during Governor Stuyve- sant's absence in the South. The frightened burghers of the Uttle city took to the forts Hke rabbits to their burrows, for they had tasted the tender mercies of the Mohawks and other redskin neighbours. During the Revolution, Spuyten Duyvil was regarded as an important point and the heights were fortified. The road which ran about the base of the hill was the scene of many a wild foray and the echoing hillsides resounded with the shouts of marauding cattle thieves and the lowing of frightened herds, urged towards the lines by their reckless drivers. Now the mouth of the creek is shut by a drawbridge and the northern shore is a place of division between the passenger and freight trains of the New York Central Railroad, the former swinging inland to take the course by way of Kingsbridge, along the Harlem, and the latter still following the original line of the road, by the river shore. At the distance of two or three miles above Spu)^ten Duyvil appears the extensive front of the Mount St. Vincent Academy. There is a slight incongruity in the view, that at once attracts the attention of a stranger; for the foreground is occupied by a stone "castle" that is so dwarfed by the red brick edifice behind it as to appear almost like a toy house. But the castle has a history of its own and presents the first if not the chief claim to notice. Digitized by Microsoft® 196 The Hudson River Edwin Forrest, for years the foremost figure upon the stage in America, built that castle for his home and brought his bride, who had been the beautiful Miss Sinclair, there in 1838. There he enjoyed six years of something as nearly approaching oalm and happiness as one born under his turbulent star could ever hope to attain. Within those blue granite walls he enter- tained bountifully and indulged his vehement passion for historic study. Then, in 1844, he went abroad, taking his wife with him. Out of the quiet eddy where he had found rest for six years he pushed into the turmoil of life, never to return. Domestic troubles in a short time overwhelmed him and his rancorous quarrel with Macready commenced, that culminated in the famous Astor Place riots in New York. The celebrated Forrest divorce suit followed, ending in the complete separation of the actor from his wife. Not caring to live again at Font Hill, as he called his castle, he sold it to the sisters of the Convent of St. Vincent, who were under the direction of Mother Superior Mary Angela Hughes. The school was opened in 1859, though subsequently much enlarged. Although Font Hill looks diminutive under the im- posing wall of the Mount St. Vincent Academy, yet the tallest tower is said to be seventy feet in height. From the Jersey shore, nearly opposite, the wall of the Palisades rises, one of the strange and imposing features with which nature sometimes surprises the geologist and puzzles the artist. Digitized by Microsoft® From Spuyten Duyvil to Yonkers 197 Fascinating, if not beautiful in general outline, wonderful in detail and often exquisite in colour, the great mass of weather-beaten rock seems to rise out of the very bosom of the river. Deep at its base runs the swift current of the channel and in its crowning belt of trees the clouds drift. Here and there in the wall are deep rifts cut by little torrents that have been industriously mining their way for centuries past. Taking advantage of these ravines, companies of trees swarm up the slopes with flaunting banners of green that in the autumn change to royal hues of Tyrian splendour. ■ The Palisades are seen to best advantage when the sun strikes them in the morning or the long shadows clothe them with tender mysterious tints at nightfall. In one respect our enjoyment of this feature of the river is greater to-day than in former years, because of the abatement, by law, of an abuse. Notice what Professor Archibald Geikie, the celebrated Scotch geologist, wrote thirty years ago : Hardly is the traveller out of New York than he notices that every natural rock, islet, or surface of any kind that will hold paint is disfigured with advertisements in huge letters. The ice-worn bosses of gneiss which, rising out of the Hudson, would in themselves be such attractive objects in the landscape, are rendered hideous by being the groundwork on which some kind of tobacco, or tooth wash, or stove polish, is recommended to the notice of the multitude. In this particular a great change for the better has taken place along the river. The advertising fiend is Digitized by Microsoft® 198 The Hudson River no longer permitted to disfigure natural scenery with his profane brush. But the advertising man was not the only vandal, nor the last. The Palisades range in height from two hundred and fifty or less up to \five hundred feet. The latter elevation is near the northern extremity, opposite Hastings. Taylorsville, just above Fort Lee, is two hundred and sixty feet above the tide. ^■'^CDpposite Spuyten Duyvil is the pleasant residence village of Englewood, across from Riverdale is the pro- jection known as Clinton Point, and opposite Ludlow is Huyler's Landing. The place where Hudson is said to have anchored on the 13th September, 1609, is nearly due west from Dudley's Grove, at the upper end of Yonkers. One of the mutilated landmarks that used to be the' pride of those who lived near the banks of the lower Hudson was the jutting shoulder of rock known as Indian Head, nearly the highest point of the Palisades. It was one of those peculiarly striking features in nature that persistently claim and invariably receive the con- sideration due to eminence. No one seeing the rugged beauty of Indian Head could forget it or refuse to credit any remarkable or romantic legend that chanced to at- tach itself there. It took its place, without question, in every sketch or photograph of that part of the river as naturally as King Edward would assume in England the chief place at any official function at which he chanced to be present. There is a divine right apper- Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® '%. Digitized by Microsoft® From Spuyten Duyvil to Yonkers 201 taining to headlands and other remarkable landscape features, as to kings. But one day a contractor saw something more in Indian Head than any poet or artist had ever seen. He discerned a fortune in it, — a. fortune in gravel. Now to crush a headland — especially a headland with associations and legends belonging to it, — into fine frag- ments, for road-beds, may seem to a certain class of sentimental people to be rather dreadful. It did seem dreadful; but it took the people who really cared so long to wake up to the dreadfulness of what was being done, and so much longer to discover a way to stop it, that before they could do anything Indian Head was gravel. However, the people succeeded, though apparently with some difficulty, in saving the rest of the Palisades. The blasting and crushing processes which were at once an offence to the ear, the eye, and the aesthetic sensibilities of all good people, were finally interfered with effectually and the stone-crushers removed to other fields. Years ago that craggy point was a favourite lookout station for the red men. For how many hundreds of years they had used it, no one can ever know, but if the story related to the author by one who lived in the vicinity and had a curious love for Indian lore can be accepted as true, then the immemorial years must have rounded almost into millenniums between the time of the first outlook on that grey old crag and the last. Digitized by Microsoft® 202 The Hudson River The story is this : \l^at there was a well-defined path worn in the rock and leading to the very highest point, and there, deeply indented, were three hollows, such as would be made by the knees and hand of one who was kneeling and bent a little forward. The narrator claimed that he fell naturally into that attitude in order to get a steady and restful position and that he noticed that his knees and palm fitted into the depress- ions. It is possible that the gentleman may have been in error in his conclusions, but that lonely vidette, waiting through uncounted centuries for the appear- ance of the ship of destiny that must at last arrive with the forerunner of the white conquerors, appeals strongly to the imagination. The old Dutch voya.gers had a name for the Pali- sades: " Verdrietegh Hoeck, " — grievous point, because it took so long to pass, and perhaps for another reason: no riverman likes to be becalmed under the cliffs. He may be lying motionless with no breath of air to stir a sail; when suddenly — slap! comes a " knock-down " over the crest, hitting the sails before it touches the water, and the vessel goes down before she can get headway. Verdrietegh Hoeck is a grievous place to be caught. \^ It was in front of Nappeckamack (that is now Yon- kers), that the HaVf Moon made her second stop after leaving the mouth of the river. It was on the 12 th of September, 1609. The weather, we are told, was ' ' Faire and hot. ' ' Master Juet 's Journal goes on to say : Digitized by Microsoft® From Spuyten Duyvil to Yonkers 203 In the afternoon, at two of the clocke, wee weighed, the winde being variable, between the north and northwest. So we turned into the river two leagues, and anchored. This morning at our first rode in the River, there came eight-and-twentie canoes full of men, women and children to betray vs: but wee saw theire intent and suffered none of them to come abord of us. At twelue of the clocke they departed; they brought with them oysters and beanes, whereof wee bought some. They have great tobacco pipes of yellow copper, and Pots of Earth to dresse their meate in. The early history of Yonkers commences with Adriaen Van der Donk, a lawyer from Holland who came to America in 1641 as sheriff for the Patroon Van Rensselaer, at Albany. Van der Donk was a man of some property (which he increased by mar- riage) and a good deal of ability. His ambition to become himself a Patroon was finally gratified by the grant of the lower Weckquaskeek region, extending from Spuyten Duyvil on the south to a brook nearly three miles above the present railroad station. The Company, or the Company's Director, was under some obligations to Van der Donk, it is said, for advances of money; and land grants have been convenient for discharging obligations of that sort in all ages of the world. The deed named the tract so acquired "Nepper- haem" ; but the names by which it was popularly known to the Dutchmen of that day were " Coin Donk, " or the " Colony of Donk," and " De Jonkheer's," or the "Young Lord's," which has been corrupted into Yon- kers. This grant became a manor in 1652 and Van der Digitized by Microsoft® 204 The Hudson River Donk was its Lord for three years, though perhaps he never Hved there. He became involved in a quarrel with Stuyvesant and went to Holland with a remon- strance, but was beaten by the doughty Governor. He left no impression upon the land over which he was Lord for so short a time. Between 1681 and 1686 Vredryk or Frederick Flypse or Filipse became Lord of a manor that was really lordly, a domain to put to shame many a princeling's patrimony. His various Indian and other purchases, confirmed by grants, finally included all that tract of land lying between the Croton River and Spuyten Duyvil creek, — from Kitchawan to Papuinemen. When his first wife died, in 1690 or '91, he married the daughter of Oloff Van Cortlandt and widow of John "Dervall, who brought him a fortune of considerable extent to add to the eighty thousand guilders which made him already the richest man in the. Colonies. All of his estates were confirmed to him in 1693. He was actually Lord of the Manor, with baronial power. From 1693 till his death in 1702 his country residence was probably at Tarrytown, in the stone house — called "Castle Filipse "-r-that he built there, and that has been going slowly but surely to decay up to this year of grace, 1902, because of a lack of public spirit or sentiment, or whatever the emotion may be that moves men to the preservation of historic land- marks. The Philips manor-house at Yonkers, though not Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® From Spuyten Duyvil to Yonkers 207 so old as the "castle" at Tarrytown, is a much more pretentious dwelling. It became the home of the descendants of the first Sir Frederick. It was there that the wedding of the beautiful Mary Philipse took place. Tradition has coupled Washington's name with hers, as that of a suitor, but there is certainly no evidence that he ever proposed marriage to her. As already stated, she married his former companion in arms, Roger Morris, the builder of the old "Jumel" mansion. The marriage, which took place in January, 1758, was a magnificent affair, long remembered throughout the country-side. Among the traditions that have grown about the event is one to the effect that in the midst of the festivities an Indian sooth- sayer made an oracular statement that filled the bride's heart with apprehension. Standing in the doorway, he delivered himself in this wise: "Your possessions shall pass away when the eagle shall despoil the lion." If the reader wishes to take a grain of salt with that Indian no objection will be made. All of the central portion of the present city of Yonkers was purchased in 181 3 by Lemuel Wells. This estate, having the Nepperhan River running through the middle of it and including, among other buildings, the Philips manor-house, had previously been acquired by Cornelius P. Low, from the Com- missioners of Forfeiture. Mr. Wells bought it at public auction for the sum of $56,000. At that date there were less than a dozen houses, including mills, Digitized by Microsoft® 2o8 The Hudson River on the entire estate of 320 acres. It was not till after the death of Mr. Wells, in 1842, that the site of Yonkers began to be built upon. The operation oi the Hudson River Railroad, commencing in 1849, created a lively demand for property in that convenient locality, and the subsequent growth of the place has been rapid. But it is essentially a new town. Its civic history is nearly all condensed into a little more than half a century. Modern Yonkers, some one has said, is the child of the railroad. As lately as 1841, it was, according to the Rev. Doctor David Cole, an insignificant hamlet. In 1876 it was thus described: A few miles north of Spuyten Duyvil is the large village of Yonkers. Thirty years ago a church, a few indifferent houses, ^^a single sloop at a small wharf, and the gray walls and roof of a venerable structure, which you may see stretching among the trees parallel with the river, comprised the whole borough. That building is the Philipse Manor house, now occupied for municipal purposes by the public authorities of Yonkers. The city of Van der Donk and Philipse is now a thriving one, much given to factories and the enjoy- ment of a busy local life ; but to the outsider its chief attraction centres about the names of a few eminent people who have made it their home. Foremost among these appears the name of one who for years was looked upon as the natural leader of one of the great political parties of the land; a disciple of Martin Van Buren; one who had received the highest Digitized by Microsoft® From Spuyten Duyvil to Yonkers 209 honour in the gift of the people of the State and had been a candidate for the chief magistracy of the nation. Samuel Jones Tilden was an American of the Americans. Bom in an old-fashioned house in Columbia County, N. Y., in which four generations of his family had lived, he passed the declining years of his busy and influential life within the walls of "Graystone," his substantial and costly home at Yonkers. His house is situated to the north of the city on an elevated plateau and is massive and ample rather than ornate. Its granite walls and Mansard roof, rising from the surrounding verdure, do not easily pass un- noticed in the general view. But if we accord to Mr. Tilden the first niche in the local temple of fame, we would not leave him to soli- tude. Somewhere there would be a statue to Frederick Swartwout Cozzens, wine merchant and author, and the friend of most of the "Knickerbocker" authors. His Sparrowgrass Papers, originally published in Put- nam's Magazine, take rank among the classic works of American humour. The author of Nothing to Wear is also claimed proudly by Yonkers, and so are Doctor Wendell Prime, Mr. T. Astley Atkins, Doctor Armitage, and a score of other widely known people.' Along the river shore the towns and villages are devouring the rural scenery and replacing its natural charm with a more lively human interest: but still ' Since the above went to press Mr. William Allen Butler, the author of Nothing to Wear, has passed away. His death occurred at Yonkers on September 9th, 1902. 14 Digitized by Microsoft® 2IO The Hudson River between the little centres of population there are fra- grant miles of tree-shaded banks where the violets and anemones nod in the spring and the scarlet spires of the cardinal flower hide in August by the watercourses. Half a century ago Alfred B. Street wrote a charac- teristic description of the woodland scenery which in his day formed so striking a feature of the Hudson, and which even now in many places challenges the admiration of the observer. . Here the Spruce thrusts in Its bristling plume, tipped with its pale green points The scallop'd beech leaf and the birch's, cut Into fine ragged edges, interlace: While here and there, through clefts, the laurel lifts Its snowy chalices, half brimmed with dew. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XIV Spectres of the Tappan Zee THE little sea that expands between Haverstraw and the Palisades is a rare cruising place for ghosts and goblins. There is not a shadowy hall that rounds Piermont or tacks across from the Slaperig Hafen to the Hoeck but is freighted deep with legends. How briefly told, yet how suggestive, is the melan- choly history of Rambout Van Dam, the unresting oarsman that some witchery compels to never-ending labour upon the tides of the Tappan Zee ! He was one of those uneasy Dutch blades that counted neither dis- tance nor labour as of any moment when a pleasure was in view. There had been some notice or rumour of a frolic at Kakiat, a secluded hamlet hidden away among the hills of Rockland County, and Van Dam on hearing the news rowed from his home at Spuyten Duyvil the whole length of the Tappan Zee and the Palisades to boot in order to be there. Most modern youngsters would be conscious of some slight fatigue after such a pull, but not so dehcate were the Dutchmen of that early day. Rambout Digitized by Microsoft® 212 The Hudson River danced and drank, drank and danced as though he had had no exercise for a week. It was a Saturday- night, and midnight came and passed before he knew it. But when he started for home sohcitous companions warned him against the peril of sabbath-breaking; for upon all matters of religious observance the Nether- landers were exceedingly punctilious. A young man might play what pranks he would with every pretty girl in the county, and make his potations of apple- jack both deep and frequent, but it would outrage the sentiment of the community if he broke the Sabbath. But Rambout was skin-full of recklessness, and dis- regarding every warning, he pulled off, " swearing that he would not land till he had reached Spuyten Duyvil." According to the best authorities he has not landed there yet. Whethei living or dead, none can say, but doomed to a perpetual journey across the river he un- doubtedly is, for many a boat-man on the river has heard the sound of his oars, and more than one damsel, being rowed o' moonlit nights on the river, has clung in terror to her swain, as she fancied she saw in the distance the shadowy form of Rambout Van Dam. There is another haunting shape that occasionally troubles these waters ; it is that of the Storm-ship that makes mysterious journeys, never heeding shoal or head- land, tacking when the wind is fair and running free in the teeth of a gale, with never a concession to any weather that mortals give heed to. Into the moon- light she comes suddenly, from some unknown quarter, Digitized by Microsoft® THE FLYING DUTCHMAN 213 Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® spectres of the Tappan Zee 215 and as suddenly, while the eye is fixed upon her, van- ishes completely as a bubble that floats for a moment where a wave has broken, and then, in a twinkling, is dissipated. There have been people who have really doubted the existence of the phantom ship and class it with fabulous monsters, Brocken spectres, and the like : but these are not people who have navigated the waters of the Tappan Zee at night. Two hundred years ago the Storm-ship was first seen passing New Amsterdam, going up the stream against a strong ebb tide. She was flying Dutch colours and her sails bellied with a wind that certainly was not apparent to those who gazed at her, wide-eyed and whispering, from the fort. In spite of the trade regulations that forbade the passing of any vessel up the river without a permit, regardless of signals or challenge, the stranger sailed on. Then a gun was fired from the battery, but her hull did not stop the ball, nor did the ball check her course. She passed on, weathered the point of Jeffrey's Hook, crossed the long stretch of the Grievous Hook, and sailed out of sight under some of the headlands of the Tappan Zee. From that day to this no one has seen this un- substantial stranger sail down the river, past Manhat- tan, and out to sea. But many a time the rivermen have encountered her and with a muttered invocation to St. Nicholas have shortened sail, knowing that a storm was soon to come. Digitized by Microsoft® 2l6 The Hudson River For some reason the Tappan Zee seems to have been the favourite cruising-grotmd for this barometric craft since her first adoption of the Hudson; and even to- day, when least expected, her strange, tall poop and swelling sides sometimes are seen as she rounds the tedious shoulder of Point-no-Point, or steals along shore under the shadow of Kingsland's Point. Some HOOK MOUNTAIN FROM NYACK believe that she runs for anchorage into the mouth of the Pocantico, and others that she hides near the pine- shaded banks of the Hafenje, but no one has ever seen her at rest. She is always flying swiftly before a wind that mortals cannot feel. There is the memory of another craft, more sub- stantial than the phantom ship, and naore successful in attaining a port than Rambout's boat, that made the passage of the river between Wolfert's Roost and' Digitized by Microsoft® spectres of the Tappan Zee 217 the Rockland shore in 1776. Its occupant was the dashing soldier and arrant lover, Aaron Burr. When the American forces were near White Plains Burr was seized with a desire to spend an evening with the fascinating widow Provost, — Theodosia Provost, — who then lived a dozen miles back towards the Ramapo Hills on the other side of the Hudson. Riding at full speed along Petticoat Lane, which is the old road between White Plains and Tarrytown, attended by several of his devoted troopers, Burr reached the willow-shaded little bay near Sunnyside, while the night was still young. A boat was waiting for him, and, leaving his escort, he embarked, horse and all, and was ferried as rapidly and as silentl}'" as possible to the Rockland shore, where he remounted. A ride of a dozen rough miles, at night, through a country picketed by the enemy, should be enough to try the mettle of an ordinary lover. But Aaron Burr was no ordinary lover, which is perhaps the reason why in his generation his enemies were seldom found among the gentler sex. History discreetly neglects to furnish the details of the courtship that we know ultimately re- sulted in the winning of Theodosia 's hand and heart. By daybreak horse and rider were back within the American lines and no one but the troopers, the ferry- man, and the widow knew of that wild trip. There are two channels in this part of the river, one near the eastern and the other close to the western shore; between are fiats of comparatively shoal water, Digitized by Microsoft® 2i8 The Hudson River where formerly some of the older maps showed a small island, that was probably nothing more than a sand- bar. One of the familiar features of the shoals is that of the numerous shad poles that mark the fishing- grounds. Less important now than formerly are the oyster- beds that were once a feature of this part of the river. In the days when the Indians inhabited the shores of TAPPAN ZEE AND THE TARRYTOWN LIGHT the Hudson these were among their principal sources of subsistence, as evidenced by the extensive shell- heaps that still mark the site of many of their villages or camps. The water of the Tappan Zee is brackish, about half sea water and half fresh. The width from Tarrytown to Nyack is between three and a half and four miles, and communication between the two shores is kept up dur- ing the greater part of the year by ferry. Occasionally Digitized by Microsoft® spectres of the Tappan Zee 219 the whole expanse is a splendid deck of ice, over which skaters and sometimes sleighs cross. There have been some perilous episodes connected with the breaking of the ice and more than one exciting race for life. Years ago a whale, perhaps in search of the North- west passage, blundered into the river, it is said, and there is even a tradition that he grounded on the flats and had to wait for a tide to float him off. . Of course the boatmen were greatly excited and projected expe- ditions to meet and capture the monster, but it is not recorded that any one got near enough to seriously interfere with his departure. Piermont, above the northern extremity of the "ice- worn bosses of gneiss," is a village that was created when the Erie Railway built the mile-long pier that still projects into the river at this point. It is chiefly interesting because of its proximity to the village of Tappan, where Major Andr6 was executed. The house, that was long pointed out as the headquarters at Tap- pan, has been allowed to fall to decay. Quite recently, within a few years, the entire front of this building fell out. Most readers will remember the fate of the stone that Mr. Field erected as a memorial of the his- toric association of Tappan. Some rampant patriot, with more zeal than propriety, applied an explosive and destroyed it. The place where Nyack stands was once a part of the Philipse manor. This town, though of comparatively recent origin, is the principal one in Rockland County, Digitized by Microsoft® 220 The Hudson River and mxmbers among its inhabitants many of the repre- sentatives of old county families. The river front is here more accessible to the people of the town than are the shores of villages and cities on the eastern side to the people there. On the Nyack side there is no railroad running close to the river, forming a barrier that is WASHINGTON HOUSE AT TAPPAN not usually either safe or pleasant to cross. On the east bank the poorer dwellings and the coal and lumber yards are near the river, while on the west the grounds of handsome residences slope to the water's edge. One of the results of the difference just noted is that there is quite a fleet of pleasure boats belonging to Nyack and a flourishing boat club there, while Tarry- town must be content to enjoy its river prospect from Digitized by Microsoft® Spectres of the Tappan Zee 221 a distance, as most of its well-to-do inhabitants dwell upon the hills. The sweep of the Hudson River from Haverstraw Bay to the Tappan Zee is around the curving base of that deceptive headland known as Point-no-Point, or Rockland Point. As its name implies, it is at best the bluntest of points. It juts into the current, a segment HIGH TAUR — POlNT-NO-POlNT AND HAVERSTRAW i^Frotn a draiving by the author) of a huge circle, just above the palisaded front of Hook Mountain, and just below the venerable crest of old Taur. Back of No-Point, over the brow of the hills, in a basin to which they are the titanic rim, lies Rock- land Lake, and day after day the ice-cars pass and re- pass the crest on their way between the ice-houses on the lake side and those on the river shore. A headland that used to be eagerly looked for by the passengers Digitized by Microsoft® 222 The Hudson River on the river boats, and was pointed out by every river- man, who viewed it with the pride of conscious pro- prietorship, No-Point satisfied the cultivated sense of the artist and impressed the untutored wayfarer with its perfection. It is safe to say that not even the Hudson River affords a more perfect combination of form and colour in landscape than this used to present. The traveller from other lands carried away, among his pleasantest impressions, the memory of its beautiful sweep of out- line and the blending of lush summer foliage into the silver grey of weather-beaten rocks, or the rich chrom- atic harmony of its autumn dress. Now there is a dust-cloud hanging over a scene of increasing desola- tion. Acres of broken rock and bare soil scar the cliff and make it an ofEence to the eye. The selfishness of those who are robbing the State of one of its most charming and beautiful possessions should arouse universal antagonism. The explanation of this van- dalism can be given in one word, — gravel. In one scale are beauty, sentiment, the delight of the eye, the restful, health-conserving qualities inherent in a harmonious landscape; in the other — gravel. Gravel is a marketable commodity. Gravel pays. Gravel fills the pockets of the contractor, and must be secured for that purpose without regard to sentiment or local pride. The story of the Palisades over again? Yes, and worse; for while every one concedes the unique character of the great monotonous rock wall — "the Digitized by Microsoft® Spectres of the Tappan Zee 223 ice- worn bosses of gneiss," as Professor Geikie called it — that stretches its long, parallel lines of base and crest above the river, opposite Yonkers, it is a ques- tion if any artist ever greatly admired its parallelism. The rectangular structure was tolerable only because of the robes of colour that clothed it in the ruddy sun- lit morning and the purple-mantled evening. But the people of Yonkers and its vicinity love the Palisades, and were aroused to effective action against the van- dalism that has attempted their demolition. In the case of No- Point the offence is greater, if pos- sible, because the harm done is greater, and the loss more irreparable. Without seeking to condone the wrong done at the Palisades, it may be pointed out that in the course of years the foliage, springing up in the fissures and valleys that have been made, will cover the site of the blasting. But this palliative can never be applied to the conduct of those who are denuding the headland of No-Point. Its curving contours, from any point of view, are so nearly perfect that it is in- conceivable that the work now going on can result in anything but permanent injury. No one can tell how long this outrage is to continue if the people of the State do not take measures to protect themselves ; but as there seems to be no limit to the gravel market, it is reasonable to suppose that a future generation may find a low and barren stone heap on the site of this ancient landmark. The offence to the eye, to the artistic sense, to our innate love for beauty, is not the Digitized by Microsoft® 224 The Hudson River only nor the greatest wrong done by the defacement of Point-no-Point. The offence to the ear, the injury done to the nervous system is a ground on which to base pubhc action. A population of several thousand people in several towns and villages on the east bank of the river is continually disturbed by the heavy blasting, that is like the discharge of great parks of artillery. Curiously, the jarring and the noise are much more severely apparent to the people of Ossin- ing, Croton, Scarborough, and Tarrytown than at Nyack or New City, or Haverstraw. Even as far away as Tarrytown, which is eight or ten miles distant across the river, windows are shaken, and the sick often seri- ously disturbed by the heavy detonations, while at Ossining, more nearly opposite the Point, invalids and the aged are particularly distressed by the rattling and shaking, the shock and the uproar. It is time that there should be a general under- standing of the rights of the public in such matters. Already, in numberless ways, the right of public pro- tection is admitted. In the erection of buildings, the establishment of unsavoury enterprises, the storage of dangerous explosives, or the traffic in infected goods, the right of communal defence against individual ag- gression is enforced. The property-holder is enjoined that he must hold his property subject to the well- being of the community. Why has not the commu- nity a right to the pleasure of the eye and the rest of the ear and the peace of the nerves, as well as to Digitized by Microsoft® Spectres of the Tappan Zee 225 immunity from noxious odours and unwholesome vapours? Do we not admit that diseases of the nerves are among the most prevalent, the most varied, the most stubborn, and the most dangerous of any with which medical science has to cope? There is no reason why the population of the towns upon the Hudson should sit down supinely. If the aesthetic basis is asserted by a community, it will be recognised by the law. Let people understand that a landscape is a public possession, that beauty in nature, the curve of hill and colour of foliage, is educational, and that the loss of these things is a serious one to them and to their children. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XV In the Land of Irving ONE of the first settlers on Philipse's patent was a Swede named Jeremiah Dobbs, who took up land at the place variously spelled, in old records, Wacquesquick, Wisquaqua, and Weeck- quaesguck. Algonquin names, after passing through various phonetic arrangements, have a varied orthog- raphy. The name here quoted is translated to mean the Place of the Bark Kettle. What the tradition may have been that associated such a name with the little brook that enters the river here, and afterwards applied it to quite an extensive territory, no antiquary has discovered. y Dobbs had a shanty on Willow Point and eked out his modest living by ferrying chance passengers over the river in his periauger, or dugout. His name was easier to pronounce than Weeckquaesguck, and being, moreover, associated with a ferry, it was perpetuated as a place name, while that of the bark kettle fell into disuse. But Dobbs is a thorn-in-the-side to the residents near his ferry, who have made several very serious 226 Digitized by Microsoft® In the Land of Irving 227 efforts to have the Legislature authorise the use of a more teuphonious name. Several public meetings have been held at different times to agitate the question and not a few have been the alternatives suggested. Mr. Van Brugh Livingston, who owned much land thereabouts and was a prominent citizen, tried to have his own name applied to the village ; not a few persons were in favour of adopting that of Paulding, one of the captors of Andre, and some one suggested Van Wart. The last proposition was met by a gravely advanced argument in favour of dropping the Van from the last name and simply calling the place " Wart- on-the-Hudson. " For a short time, Greenburgh was accepted as a compromise, and Dobbs Ferry became Greenburgh to the post-office authorities, but as a quiet after-thought the old name was finally restored, y There are at this place numerous shell-heaps, and other indications that at one time the Indian popula- tion was a large one, but there is no record of any par- ticular event connected with its history till the dark days of 1776, when its situation in relation to the Palisades brought it for a time into prominence. From no nearer point above Spuyten Duyvil could a landing- place upon the opposite side of the river be secured, owing to the precipitous cliffs. For this reason we find that the dispatches of both the British and American commanders bear frequent references to Dobbs Ferry. After the battle of White Plains the British force encamped here for eight days. From here, Lord Corn- Digitized by Microsoft® 228 The Hudson River wallis crossed the river into New Jersey. Here are the remains of several redoubts and a fort, though there was no land engagement at Dobbs Ferry. v^ When Arnold arranged his first interview, relative to the betrayal of West Point, with Andre, he was to meet him at Dobbs Ferry, but as the name seems to have applied equally to the eastern and western land- ings, it is uncertain which side of the river was indi- cated. We know that the plan miscarried, and the treacherous American general was so closely pursued by a British gunboat that he narrowly escaped cap- ture. After the condemnation of Andr^, General Greene met Sir Henry Clinton at Dobbs Ferry to dis- cuss the possibility of ameliorating his sentence. Here, in 1777, General Lincoln's division of the Continental army camped for a short time. In front of an interesting old house at Dobbs Ferry, in 1894, a monument was erected by the New York State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. The inscription upon it reads : Washington's Headquarters. (/^ Here, July 6, 1781, the French allies, under Rochambeau, joined the American army. Here, August 14, 1781, Washington planned the Yorktown campaign, which brought to a triumphant end the War for American independence. Here, May 6, 1783, Washington and Sir Guy Carleton ar- ranged for the evacuation of American soil by the British. And opposite this point May 8, 1 783 , a British sloop-of-war fired seventeen guns in honour of the American Commander-in-chief, the first salute by Great Britain to the United States of America. Digitized by Microsoft® In the Land of Irving 229 In 1 86 1, Lossing wrote: The Livingston mansion, owned by Stephen Archer, a Quaker, is preserved in its original form. Under its roof in past times many distinguished men have been sheltered; Washington had his headquarters there toward the close of the Revolution and there in November, 1783, Washington, George Clinton, . . . and Sir Guy Carleton . . . met to confer, etc., etc. Both of the statements quoted above are mislead- ing. The house referred to is not the Livingston family- seat, but was acquired by Mr. Van Brugh Livingston about 1823. If any part of it was standing during the War for Independence, it was the small rear por- tion. One authority states that the interview between Washington and Carleton took place on board of a British vessel in the river, but this seems strikingly improbable. On the water, near Dobbs Ferry, in 1781, there was a^^ sharp engagement between some British and American guard-boats. Almost immediately following this skir- mish two gunboats ascended the river from New York, with the evident intention of cutting out the vessels congregated near the ferry, but they were discovered and driven away by shot from the shore batteries. Dobbs Ferry was in the heart of that debatable region known as the neutral ground, the inhabitants of which were so harried and impoverished that, ac- cording to a record left by a traveller of that time, they seemed almost without hope or ambition; silent, apathetic, regarding every man as a possible foe. Digitized by Microsoft® 230 The Hudson River To-day the place is a collection of attractive cotmtry- seats, and its inhabitants, like those of most of the river towns within thirty-five miles of New York, are largely dependent upon the city for their social enter- tainment and business life. In the neighbourhood of Dobbs Ferry, a little way to the north, is the comparatively new station of Ardsley-on-the-Hudson, where is a fashionable and attractive inn, or club-house, with all the modern allurements of golf course, etc. The establishment takes its name from that of Cyrus W. Field's former estate, upon a portion of which it is built. Mr. Field will be remembered, when his eminence as a factor in the financial world may be forgotten, as the man whose energy and persistence in the face of obstacles succeeded in laying the first Atlantic cable. His home was in what some one has called the great millionaire belt of the east shore of the Hudson. For mile upon mile the prospect along shore is that of magnificent residences and highly developed grounds. Although it is no part of our purpose to fill these pages with a descriptive list of the mansions that mul- tiply till they suggest a celestial comparison, yet we think that no American will quarrel with us for making one exception. There is a white- walled house that overlooks the river between Irvington and Tarrytown. It is a noticeable landmark, in its outlines suggesting the gothic dignity of some ecclesiastical edifice by the Thames, rather than a dwelling on the Hudson. An Digitized by Microsoft® In the Land of Irving 231 older house, incl-uded within its- -^v^lTs, was built in 1840 by General William Paulding, the brother of James K. Paulding. But its chief interest is in the fact that it is the property and residence of Miss Helen Gould. No one has ever numbered the charities that have flowed from Lyndhurst since Miss Gould, of whom we love to think as a typical American woman, became the mistress of its pleasant acres. Her home is palatial, but it was not considered too good to be the resting-place for convalescent soldiers, broken down by a Cuban campaign; her conservatories are remarkable even in this neighbourhood of millionaires, but they are not too fine to be open with a welcome to the poorest child that seeks admission. Lyndhurst means a forest of linden trees, but its park-like lawns are shaded by nearly all of the orna- mental trees that will thrive in our latitude, and it has naturally become one of the show-places of a region of parks. Lyndhurst lies between Irvington, which is, perhaps, the choicest residence section of the river shore, in some respects, and Tarry town. The early history of the latter place has been already touched upon in the reference made to the Manor Lord, Filipse, who built his strong house near the Pocantico in 1683 or 1684, and soon afterwards erected the stone church which became world famous as the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow, now the oldest church building in use in New York State. Digitized by Microsoft® 232 The Hudson River The Revolutionary history of Tarrytown is in the main that of all other hamlets within the neutral ter- ritory. It was overridden and pillaged, property and life were never safe for an hour, and famine, sickness, and terror were the portion of most of the inhabitants. The British threatened to destroy stores near the vil- lage and made one or two attempts to do so, landing in force upon at least one occasion. General Lincoln marched through on his way to Kingsbridge; Colonel Luddington commanded five hundred militia here; " Light-Horse Harry " Lee had a brush with some of Dunop's Yagers, — we might go on indefinitely with such details, none of them particularly irixportant. Here Van Courtlandt's river guard made a rendezvous, and the yeomen of the neighbourhood tried to guard the crossways and peppered the British boats when they ventured near the shore. On one memorable night, fire-ships ascending the river attacked and drove away a number of British vessels that had anchored off the Tarrytown shore, and set fire to one of the tenders, y On Sunday, the isth of July, 1781, two sloops were going down the-Hudson, loaded with powder and arms for the American army, when several British war-ships with their tenders were discovered approaching from an opposite direction. In order to avoid an embar- rassing meeting, the supply vessels put into Tarry- town ; but the enemy, who were looking for just such game, were not to be eluded, and pursued them so Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® ^>&-*■' r"-^ ^^i ■ffij^ ^►"flHl B 4|| .:> -4 Hk / i , ,; ^. 1 4 ! v^4 ^ i 1 Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® The Storming of Stony Point 309 of Meigs and Febiger, and a detachment commanded by Major Hull; Butler's regiment constituted the left column; and Major Murfee was ordered forward in the centre to engage the attention of the British garri- son by a feint. Two bodies of volunteers, led by Lieu- tenant-Colonel Pleury and Major Posey on the right, and Major Stewart on the left, served as pioneers to precede the main body of the assailants; and in the van of each company of pioneers was " a forlorn hope ' ' of twenty men, led by Lieutenants Gibbon and Knox. It was their work to remove the obstructions in the way of the troops. It was nearly midnight when the advance com- menced. Absolute silence was enjoined, and like spectres the two storming parties faded from each other's sight in the gloom. The marshes were over- flowed with two feet of water, and through this the men followed their officers, eager and alert, for the object of the expedition was no longer a secret to any one. Not a musket was loaded, except in Murfee 's com- mand, for the attack was to be made entirely with the bayonet. What greater evidence could be offered of the value of three arduous years in transforming into stern, reliant soldiers the raw material of 1776? The almost perpendicular wall that confronted them after the passage of the morass was to be scaled before the British works, dimly silhouetted against the night sky, could be attacked. Between the summit and the Digitized by Microsoft® 3IO The Hudson River base, several lines of abatis were to be encountered. To right and left the attacking wings ascended, while Murfee and his men kept a straight course for the centre of the works. Suddenly a shot rang out; a sen- tinel had discovered the invaders. With a cheer the Carolinians replied, waking a thousand echoes by their volley, and drawing in return the concentrated fire of the garrison. In a few minutes the roar of cannon joined with the rattle of musketry, and the devoted centre was the object of the British attentions, while the real attacking parties, giving no indication of their approach, were pushing eagerly forward. An officer saw one of his men step aside and com- mence to load his musket. Ordering him to desist, he was met with the surly question, " How am I going to fight if I don't load?" Seeing that the fellow was obstinate and refused to obey, the officer ran him through with his sword. This was done in accord- ance with general orders given before the attack com- menced, and was necessary under the circumstances, as it probably prevented a premature betrayal of the attack. But when at last the discovery was made, the storm- ing parties found themselves the targets for a hail of bullets. The top of the hill was a volcano of " villain- ous saltpetre" and men in the American ranks began to drop. Colonel Hay fell, wounded in the thigh ; Cap- tain Selden received a wound in the side; seventeen out of twenty men in the advance fell, either killed or Digitized by Microsoft® The Storming of Stony Point 311 injured. Wayne received a flesh wound in the head, and called upon two of his officers to carry him into the works, for he thought that he was mortally wounded and wished to die at the head of his troops. Still not a shot came from the grim, eager, unde- viating ranks of the Americans in reply to the rever- berating volleys of the enemy, but they entered the works with the bayonet and they subdued the garrison at close quarters. Then the silence was broken. A cheer rang out, — a cheer that reached the ears of the men on the British war-ships in the river, satisfying those good servants of King George that their own side had succeeded in repulsing their assailants. Not till the guns of the fort were turned upon them by the Americans were they convinced of their error. Verplanck's Point was not taken from the enemy, and Washington soon abandoned Stony Point; but the value of Wayne's brilliant deed was permanent, as it not only inspired the patriots throughout the country with renewed confidence, but won them increased re- spect from their foes. An interesting letter, written just after the battle of Stony Point by one who participated in that mem- orable action, was contributed to The Magazine of American History, several years ago, by the Hon. James W. Gerard. It was addressed to Doctor Daniel Sheldon, and dated July i, 1779. From its graphic pages we may be permitted to quote briefly: Digitized by Microsoft® 312 The Hudson River Perhaps you have heard of the prowess of our troops at Kings- ferry, it may be from vague reports and hearsay. The morning of the 1 6*^ inst, General Wayne with a party of infantry attacked the enemy's works at Stony Point — the garrison consisted of about six hundred men — it being the dead of night they were not discovered until they had got within about sixteen rods of the works, the alarm was instantly given, but such was the dex- terity of our men that they gained some part of the enemy's works before their picket guard. Our men were distinguished by having white paper in their hats and by these words The Fort is our own. The fire for a few minutes was very fierce from them, but our people never fired a gun until they had gained the Fort — most of the enemy were killed with Bayonets after our people were in the works — we had nine men killed, and about thirty or forty wounded. The enemy's loss was sixty killed and forty wounded — 447 rank and file marched out of the fort the next morning with twenty-four commissioned officers. Docf Auchmuty of New York was their surgeon — some few men made their escape in boats to the other side the River, others in attempting to swim were drowned — S. C. M. Johnson commanded the Britons. Gen- eral Wayne's party tis said consisted of about 4200 men. There were five deserters from us in the fort, three of which they hanged with little ceremony — 10 pieces of cannon, a large num- ber of small arms, with military stores of all kinds fell into our hands. Sunday we should have attacked the fort on this side the River, but General Clinton's arrival at Croton Bridge with a large force prevented it. It must otherwise have fallen into our hands soon. Your Friend and Brother Richard Sill. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XIX At the Gate of the Highlands JOHN PEAK, some time before 1685, Hved on a creek, or "kill," that has been ever afterwards called by his name. It was on the land claimed by Chief Sirham, sachem of the Sachus Indians, and became afterwards part of the broad manor of Cortlandt. Three hundred acres were bought in the year above mentioned, for the value of three hundred guilders in sea- want. The grounds of the New York State camp for military instruction occupy part of that purchase. The pleasant village of Peekskill has a memorable history, associated as it was during the War for Inde- pendence with important military movements. From its position, so near the lower gate of the Highlands, it was destined to be ridden over by both of the oppos- ing armies. We have spoken elsewhere of some of the more noteworthy occurrences of Revolutionary days, as they presented themselves in sequence with other events. Fort Independence occupied the point above, the stores and barracks that the British burned were near by, Washington once had his headquarters here 313 Digitized by Microsoft® 314 The Hudson River for a short time, and here old Israel Putnam com- manded in 1777. Paulding, one of the captors of BIRD S-EYE VIEW OF THE HUDSON FROM A PEAK IN THE HIGHLANDS f^Drawn hy IV. G. Wilson) Andre, was born in Peekskill and was buried there in ^1818. Andre himself stopped at the Wayside Inn on the day following his memorable interview with Arnold. Digitized by Microsoft® At the Gate of the Highlands 315 Washington made a flying visit to Peekskill after the battle of White Plains to reconnoitre; Lee came here while tardily and reluctantly obeying Washington's orders to advance into New Jersey. General Heath was then in command of the post and had received positive orders from Washington to retain all the troops then with him. General Lee, as Heath's senior in rank, ordered that two of the latter 's regiments at Continental Village should accompany his own troops across the river. Heath instantly refused to give the necessary directions, exclaiming, " I have received posi- tive written orders to the contrary. ' ' Lee replied that he would then give the orders him- self, to which Heath could not do otherwise than to assent. "That makes all the difference," he said. "You are my senior; but I will not myself break those orders." He then showed Lee General Washing- ton's letter of instructions, upon which his visitor made some-comrQent to the effect that being upon the ground he would feel at liberty to act according to his own judgment in the matter. He attempted then to give the order through Heath's adjutant, but the latter was sternly forbidden by his chief to have any part in the affair. "Sir," said he to Lee, "if you come to this post and mean to issue orders here which will break the positive ones I have received, I pray you to do it yourself and through your own deputy Adjutant-Gen- eral, who is present, and not draw me or any of my family in as partners in the guilt." Digitized by Microsoft® 3i6 The Hudson River To appreciate this scene one must picttxre the con- testants. Heath, bald and very corpulent, but sol- dierly and alert; "a man one could not see without loving," was said of him; Lee, on the other hand, not unpleasing as to feature or figure, but slovenly in his dress and consumed with a sense of his own importance. George Clinton, General and Governor of New York, was present. Heath resolutely demanded and received from Lee a certificate that he had assumed command of the post. Then, when the comedy was all played, and his wayward will satisfied, the usurper of authority changed his mind and recalled the regiments he had ordered out. "The erratic Lee," as some one has called him, crossed the Hudson with his army on the 2nd and 3rd of December, to the great relief of the commander of the post. When the French allies, under Rochambeau, mal"ched north after the winter of 1782, they were received by their American brothers-in-arms at Verplanck's Point and conducted to their encampment south of Peeks- kill. Seeing the steadiness and discipline of the lines extending from the ferry to headquarters, the French commander exclaimed in admiration: "You have formed an alliance with the King of Prussia! These troops are Prussians ! ' ' The house at which Washington stopped at one time during the war, and where not a few of the Digitized by Microsoft® At the Gate of the Highlands 2>'^7 notable figures of Revolutionar}^ story were entertained from time to time, was that built by the Hon. Pierre Van Cortlaildt in 1773. This must not be confounded with the manor-house at Croton, to which reference has already been made. A year after the building of the Peekskill house, Van Cortlandt seems to have been living in the older one at the Point, for it was there that Governor Tryon visited him in 1774, to secure, if possible, his interest for the King's cause in the ap- proaching contest. In 1775, Philip, the son of General Van Cortlandt, accepted a commission in the Continental army, an act which incurred the enmity of the Royalists against the whole family and led to bitter persecutions. The Peekskill house was the one occupied by Mrs. Beekman during the war. On one occasion she faced a party of Tories, led by Colonel Fanning, and sharply rebuked them for calling her father "an old rebel." "I am the daughter of Pierre Van Cortlandt," she exclaimed, " and it becomes not such as you to call m}^ father a rebel. " So she turned them out of the house. The little hamlet of Continental Village, on Canopus creek, just above Peekskill, was the place where the stores for the American army in the Highlands were accumulated. Gallows Hill, the place where Palmer the spy was executed, is a little north of a highwa,y that intersects the Albany Post road, or Broadway, ^ from the east; near the southern side of that hill was the house to which Andre was taken after his capture. Digitized by Microsoft® 3i8 The Hudson River John Paulding, the captor, lived for a number of years after the event which made him famous on a farm on the Crom-pond road, about three miles east of Peekskill. A number of tales concerning him are cur- rent, for one of which we have space. He was atten- tive to a young woman named Teed whose brother was a loyalist. Upon one of his frequent visits to the home of his lady-love, he was set upon by a number of Tories and forced to seek refuge in a barn, from which he fired upon his assailants, wounding some of them. Young Teed was one of the party and con- ducted a parley with the beleaguered lover, who finally agreed to surrender himself. He was handed over to the British officer near by and taken a prisoner to the Sugar House, on Liberty Street, New York. From that dreadful prison he managed to escape, and through the aid of a negress, who disguised him in the green coat of a Hessian soldier, he finally reached the Ameri- can lines. A few days later, while wearing the same conspicuous garment, he assisted in, capturing Major Andre at Tarry town. After the foregoing cursory glance at Peekskill 's his- toric past, which we reluctantly leave, we must make an equally rapid survey of more recent days. Of the many eminent men that the inhabitants of the town have delighted to honour, there are several that we may not be forgiven for omitting. One of these is Henry Ward Beecher, whose summer home was a short distance east of the village. Senator Chauncey Digitized by Microsoft® At the Gate of the Highlands 319 M. Depew was born in this place, and has enHvened a thousand dinner-tables with his more or less apocry- phal recollections of it. Then there is the long roster of those who went out to battle for the Republic on Southern battle-fields in the dark days of the Civil War. To name any, when we have not room for all, would be to make a distinction that their patriotism neither suggests nor warrants. In 1882, the Governor of New York, Alonzo B. Cor- nell, sent a committee of officers of the National Guard to select a site for a military camp of instruction. The choice finally rested upon the plateau to the north of Annsville creek, which comprised ninety-seven acres belonging to the estate of John McCoy. This was purchased, with an additional tract for a rifle-range. Here, at an elevation of a hundred feet above the river, all arrangements were made for the convenience of a permanent camp. A reservoir was formed by damming a brook, and the water distributed in pipes through the grounds, while facilities for cooking on a large scale have also been perfected. Here, summer after summer, the various regiments of the National Guard have succeeded each other in encampments that have come to be a feature of the service. The point known as Roa Hook was the site of Fort Independence. A hotel occupied the spot in the forties and some of the steamboats made it a stopping place ; but the working of valuable gravel pits gradually un- dermined the blufE on which it stood. Digitized by Microsoft® 320 The Hudson River Peekskill looks out upon the Dunderberg and Bear Mountain. Verplanck's Point stretches to the south, and northward is the deep, narrow channel of the Highlands. Irving compared Peekskill Bay with Lake Como; it would be difficult in any part of the world to find a spot the natural features of which conspire to form a scene of more exquisite loveliness. From the lighthouse at Stony Point to that on lona Island the grand sweep of the opposite shore appeals to the imagi- nation, producing a sense of delight. The trains that creep about the base of the Dunderberg are pigmy affairs ; the swift cvtrrent that flows through the Horse Race and into Seylmaker's Reach catches broken reflections of the towering masses above them, and all the contriv- ances of man — his wharves, his boats, and his villages — cannot impair the invincible majesty of nature. Some years ago there was a coffer-dam and pumping station at the foot of the Dunderberg, and the story that is connected with them is one of several of a simi- lar character that the river can boast. Some one of the skippers of the numerous river craft came to an anchor near the foot of the mountain, but found, when he wished to resume his course, that his anchor's flukes were caught in something heavy that could not be detached from the bottom withoiit great effort. However, yielding to the persuasion of the windlass, the obstacle, whatever it was, after a while began to come slowly to the surface, with many an uneasy tug. The skipper's curiosity was great, and richly was it Digitized by Microsoft® At the Gate of the Highlands 321 rewarded, for, with one supreme effort, the crew raised to the surface and into the vessel — a small cannon ! It might have been taken as a natural inference that the rusty weapon belonged to some British vessel of war, or was a trophy of American valour; but not so did the wiseacres decide. It was gravely pro- nounced to be a relic of Captain Kidd! Then a speculator worked up the idea and inter- ested a number of people of the class that the proverb mentions as being soon parted from their money, and a company was formed with $22,000 capital to explore for the wealth that everybody at once knew must be lying there. People talked of the auger that had bored through the deck of the sunken ship and brought up silver with it. To be sure, no one had seen the silver, but the auger was probably not denied to any seeker after conviction. The work went on merrily for some time, but after a while funds ran low and faith began to waver, and the' pumping station no longer pumped. Well, after all, was it any more silly than to be duped into subscribing to a compan37- that engaged to make gold out of sea- water? From the veracious chronicle of the adventures of that delightful son of Manhattan, Dolph Heyliger, as told by Washington Irving, we get an invaluable treasure of goblin lore. The Dunderberg is particu- larly mentioned as being the haunt of unearthly creat- ures whose instinct for mischief was calculated to keep the toiling sons of the river in perpetual disquiet. Digitized by Microsoft® 322 The Hudson River It is certain that strange things have been seen in these high- lands in storms. The captains of the river craft talk of a little bulbous-bottomed Dutch goblin, in trunk-hose and sugar-loafed hat, with a speaking-trumpet in his hand, which they say keeps about the Dunderberg. They declare that they have heard him, in stormy weather, in the midst of the turmoil, giving orders in Low Dutch for the piping up of a fresh gust of wind, or the rattling off of another thunder-clap. That sometimes he has been seen surrounded by a crew of little imps in broad breeches and short doublets; tumbling head-over-heels in the rack and mist, and playing a thousand gambols in the air; or buzzing like a swarm of flies about Antony's Nose; and that, at such times, the hurry scurry of the storm was always greatest. One time a sloop, in passing by the Dunderberg, was over- taken by a thunder gust, that came scouring round the mount- ain, and seemed to burst just over the vessel. Though tight and well ballasted, she laboured dreadfully, and the water came over the gunwale. All the crew were amazed when it was dis- covered that there was a little white sugar-loaf hat on the mast-head, known at once to be the hat of the Heer of the Dunderberg. Nobody, however, dared to climb to the mast- head and get rid of this terrible hat. The sloop continued labour- ing and rocking, as if she, would have rolled her mast overboard, and seemed in continued danger- either of upsetting or of running on shore. In this way she drove quite through the highlands, until she had passed PoUopol's Island, where, it is said, the jurisdiction of the Dunderberg potentate ceases. No sooner had she passed this bourn, than the little hat spun up into the air like a top, whirled up all the clouds into a vortex, and hurried them back to the summit of the Dunderberg; while the sloop righted herself, and sailed on as quifetly as if in a mill-pond. Nothing saved her from utter' wreck but the fortunate circum- stance of -having a horse-shoe nailed against the miast — a wise precaution against evil spirits, s\nce adopted by all the Dutch captains that navigate this haunted river. There is another stoty told of this- foul- weather urchin by Skipper Daniel Ouselsticker of Fishkill, who was never known to tell a lie. He declared that, in a severe squall, he saw him Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® At the Gate of the Highlands 325 seated astride of his bowsprit, riding the sloop ashore, full butt against Antony's Nose, and that he was exorcised by Dominie Van Gieson, of Esopus, who happened to be on board, and who sang the hymn of St. Nicholas; whereupon the goblin threw himself up in the air like a ball and went off in a whirlwind, carrjring away with him the nightcap of the Dominie's wife; which was discovered the next Sunday morning hanging on the weathercock of Esopus church steeple, at least forty miles off! Several events of this kind having taken place, the regular skip- pers of the river, for a long time, did not venture to pass the Dunderberg without lowering their peaks, out of homage to the Heer of the mountain ; and it was observed that all such as paid this tribute of respect were suffered to pass unmolested. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XX The Spirit of '76 THE military and naval operations along the Hudson and its shores during the War for Independence cannot be exhaustively dis- cussed in a work that of necessity covers so wide a field as the present volume. At the most, we may only hope to indicate, by the selection of several in- cidents, the character of the in^^asion and the spirit of those who opposed it. Toryism, it may be said in passing, was not entirely confined to the cities, yet it had its strongholds there, and the general temper of the country people seems to have inclined towards the Continental cause. Before the battle of Long Island, in August, 1776, the New York Convention sent delegates to stir up the yeomanry along the river. As the enemy's ships were at anchor near Tarrytown, powder and ball were sent to that place. Colonel Hammond, of local celebrity, was actively engaged in organising the militia for defence; Colonel Pierre Van Cortlandt, of the Croton manor of that name, was an active and efficient guard- ian of the east shore of the Tappan Zee ; while Colonel 326 Digitized by Microsoft® The Spirit of '76 327 Hay kept guard with his regiment over the western shore, from Nyack to the Highlands, the centre of his operations being at Haverstraw. The yeomen on both sides of the river patrolled the shores even as they guarded the highwa^^s, and tradi- tion asserts that wives and daughters stood beside the men as they shouldered the fiint-lock guns and handled powder-horns and bullet-pouches. Whenever the foe might appear, rustic marksmen were ready to re-enact Lexington and Concord. The British war-ships, shifting ground occasionally with the tide, or to avoid the galling attentions of the sharp-shooters, that annoyed them like so many wasps, were not holding their ground in the Tappan Zee and Haverstraw Bay from any holiday motive. Their boats were out constantly making soundings, locating shoals, determining the course of the channel, and pre- paring charts for the service of the flotilla. The Tories alongshore were suspected of furnishing both provis- ions and information. A tender beat up from Haverstraw Bay nearly to Fort Montgomery in the Highlands, when General Clinton greeted the unwelcome visitor with a ball from a 32-pounder, that had the effect of sending her about in short order. But soundings and observations had been com- pleted, and the chart of the river was sufficiently ac- curate to enable the war-ships to move up without other peril than that encountered from the American Digitized by Microsoft® 28 The Hudson River guns. They therefore advanced to within six miles of Fort Montgomery. George CHnton anticipated an effort to sHp by him at night, and gain the defence- less reaches of the river above the Highlands, where the enemy might not only ravage the country, but destroy the little fleet that was then being built at Poughkeepsie. He therefore placed a guard at a point nearly midway between the vessels and the fort, with material at hand for a mammoth signal fire, and simi- lar piles of combustibles were placed at intervals all through the Highlands, except at the fort. In case of activity on the part of the fleet, its every movement would be illuminated. / As a further safeguard, fire-rafts were brought down from Poughkeepsie and held in readiness, like hounds in leash, ready to be let loose at the favourable moment. " They were to be lashed together," we read, " between old sloops filled with combustibles and sent down with a strong wind and tide, to drive upon the ships." Besides these preparations, an effective barrier was to be made by stretching a huge iron chain across the river in an oblique direction, from Fort Montgomery to Anthony's Nose. Van Cortlandt and others were busy at this time in organising the river guard, a fleet of whale-boats, manned by patriotic rivermen, and stationed in the bays and coves of the Tappan Zee and Haverstraw. This organisation afterwards did yeoman's service, reconnoitring, acting as despatch bearers, cutting off Digitized by Microsoft® The Spirit of '76 329 intelligence and supplies destined for the enemy's ships, and more than once engaging in close conflict with the King's marines. Oar galleys, mounting light guns in their bows, were also put in commission. There are a few brighter lights in the dark picture of that time. The Phoenix and Rose, the British war- vessels that had ascended the river, were attacked at their anchorage in the Tappan Zee by a fleet of six "row galleys," and a spirited flght kept up for two hours. The galleys " hulled the ships repeatedly, but sustained great damage in return." This exploit was soon followed by another that is worthy the tribute of enduring verse. The story has been graphically told by Irving in his hije of Washing- ton: Two of the fire-ships recently constructed went up the Hud- son to attempt the destruction of the ships which had so long been domineering over its waters. One succeeded in grappling the Phcenix, and would soon have set her in flames, but in the darkness got to leeward, and was cast loose without effecting any damage. The other, in making for the Rose, fell foul of one of the tenders, grappled and burnt her. The enterprise was conducted with spirit, and though it failed of its main object, had an important effect. The commanders of the ships deter- mined to abandon those waters, where their boats were fired upon by the very yeomanry whenever they attempted to land; and where their ships were in danger from midnight incendiaries, while riding at anchor. Taking advantage of a brisk wind and favoring tide, they made all sail early on the morning of the 1 8th of August and stood down the river, keeping close under the eastern shore, where they supposed the guns from Mount Washington could not be brought to bear upon them. Not- withstanding this precaution, the Phcenix was thrice hulled by Digitized by Microsoft® 330 The Hudson River shots from the fort, and one of the tenders once. The Rose, also, was hulled once by a shot from Burdett's Ferry. The men on board were kept close, to avoid being picked off by a party of riflemen posted on the river bank. The ships fired grape- shot as they passed, but without effecting any injury. Unfor- tunately, a passage had been left open in the obstructions on which General Putnam had calculated so sanguinely; it was to have been closed in the course of a day or two. Through this they made their way, guided by a deserter; which alone, in Putnam's opinion, saved them from being checked in their career, and utterly destroyed by the batteries. We have noticed these actions particularly, because they were among the very first marine engagements recorded in our national history. Only a few months after the excitement caused by this "eruption of the Phcenix and the Rose into the quiet waters of the Hudson ' ' had begun to subside in a measure, we find the war-ships again brushing past the American defences at Fort Washington. The new vessels designed for obstruction, the sloop with Bush- nell's submarine engine on board, a schooner, and sev- eral scows were driven ashore, captured, or sunk. The galleys made strenuous efforts to escape, some by darting into convenient bays and others by trusting to their speed and ability to sail over shallows where the British must have grounded. But two of them ran ashore, and the crew took to the boat and made for land with all possible speed, their vessels falling into the hands of the British. All was hurry and alarm at Spuyten Duyvil, Yon- kers, and other places along the lower river shores, Digitized by Microsoft® The Spirit of '76 331 and fleet craft carried the news and spread the con- sternation from Manhattan to the Highlands. The thrill of anticipation again disturbed the garrisons of the Highland forts, and swift messengers were sent to Fishkill, where the Provincial Congress was sitting, presided over by Peter R. Livingston. The Commit- tee of Safety, at their wit's end, wrote an appealing letter to Washington, detailing the dangers and pic- turing the inadequacy of the American force in the Highlands, and praying him to send reinforcements thither. Among the budgets of advice and the plans for de- fence that poured in at that time, one letter, written by John Jay, member of the secret committee for the defence of the Hudson, to Gouverneur Morris, chair- man of another committee, is worth quoting. He says : Had I been vested with absolute power in this State, I have often said, and still think, that I would last spring have deso- lated all Long Island, Staten Island, the city and county of New York, and all that part of the county of Westchester which lies below the mountains. I would then have stationed the main body of the army in the mountains on the east, and eight or ten thousand men in the Highlands on the west side of the river. I would have directed the river at Fort Montgomery, which is nearly at the southern extremity of the mountains, to be so shallowed as to afford only depth sufficient for an Albany sloop, and all the southern passes and defiles in the mountains to be strongly fortified. Nor do I think the shallowing of the river a romantic scheme. Rocky mountains rise immediately from the shores. The breadth is not very great, though the depth is. But what cannot eight or ten thousand men, well worked, effect? According to tliis plan of defence, the State would be absolutely Digitized by Microsoft® 332 The Hudson River impregnable against all the world, on the sea side, and would have nothing to fear except from the way of the lake. Should the enemy gain the river, even below the mountains, I think I foresee that a retreat would become necessary, and I can't for- bear wishing that a desire of saving a few acres may not lead us into difficulties. Mr. Jay at the same time applied for leave of ab- sence, stating as a reason his solicitude for the welfare of his aged parents, whom he desired to remove to a place of safety. When, after the winter of 1776-77, the river was again free from ice so as to be navigable, General Howe sent a squadron of war- vessels, with troops, to destroy or capture American stores, one of the princi- pal depots for which was at Peekskill. General Mc- Dougail was, during the absence of General Heath, in command there, and, learning of the approach of the British, he tmdertook to remove most of the supplies to a place of greater security. The enemy landed five hundred men, w;ith four field-pieces, at Lent's Cove, on the southern side of Peekskill Bay. McDou- gall, whose command numbered less than three hun- dred, retreated, haying set fire to his barracks and store-houses. He fell back about two miles on the road to Continental Village, where the stores had been sent, and occupied a strong post that Washington had noted in his reconnoissance after the battle of White Plains in the previous autumn. Colonel Willett hastened to McDougall's relief from Fort Constitution, and after a sharp skirmish the Digitized by Microsoft® NEAR FORT MONTGOMERY 333 Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® The Spirit of 76 335 British decamped, retuining down the river without having accompHshed the object of the expedition. This affair aroused new anxiety for the Highland passes and their defence. General George Clinton, who had command of the Highland forts, ordered out the militia of Westchester, Orange, and Dutchess counties. He also strengthened the chain previously extended across the river from Fort Montgomery. General McDougall, still in command at Peekskill, re- ceived instructions from Washington to co-operate with Clinton in putting the fortifications in as perfect condition as possible for defence. Clinton was di- rected to put as large a force as he could spare on the mountains west of the river. General Greene was ordered to the Highlands to inspect the forts and report upon the possibility of attacks by water or land. He was accompanied by General Knox, and, with McDougall, Clinton, and Wayne, made the reqtxired examination. These five generals recommended that the heavy chain and cables stretched across the river be completed and made effective. Arnold was now offered the general command of the Hudson, but declined. Putnam, who was named in his place, hastened to the Highlands, and entered with alacrity into the completion of Clinton's defences. It was while at Verplanck's Point that Putnam had that famous brief correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton regarding a spy taken within the American Digitized by Microsoft® •m 336 The Hudson River lines. A vessel of war, proceeding with haste from New York, landed a flag of truce at Verplanck's Point with a message from the British general, claiming the spy, Edmund Palmer, as a lieutenant in the King's service. Putnam did not waste words in writing his reply: Headquarters, 7* Aug. 1777. Edmund Palmer, an officer in the enemy's service, was taken as a spy lurking within our lines. He has been tried as a spy, con- demned as a spy and shall be executed as a spy; and the flag is ordered to depart immediately. Israel Putnam. P. S. — He has, accordingly, been executed. That the temper of the country was such as to give great satisfaction to the leaders at this time may be gathered from Clinton's own words: "I never knew the militia to come out with greater alacrity." But he adds, in the same connection, " as a great many of them have harvests in the field, I fear it will be diffi- cult to detain them long, unless the enemy will make some movements that indicate a design of coming this way suddenly, and so obvious as to be believed by the militia." With Burgoyne trying to force his way to Albany from the north, and Clinton planning to co-operate with him by way of the Hudson, the general anxiety regarding the Highlands increased as the season ad- vanced. The forts, by autumn, were feebly garri- soned. On the 29th of September, Putnam, from his Digitized by Microsoft® The Spirit of '76 zil headquarters at Peekskill, wrote to General George Ointon as follows: I have received intelligence on which I can fully depend, that the enemy had received a reinforcement at New York last Thursday, of about three thousand British and foreign troops, that General Clinton has called in guides who belong about Croton River; has ordered hard bread to be baked; that the troops are called from Paulus Hook to Kings Bridge, and that the whole troops are now under marching orders. I think it highly probable the designs of the enemy are against the posts of the Highlands or of some part of the counties of Westchester or Dutchess. . . . The ships are drawn up in the river and I believe nothing prevents them from paying us an immediate visit but a contrary wind. Clinton, absent from his military post while attend- ing to his civil duties as Governor, received this urgent letter at Kingston, and at once hastened to the High- lands, collecting all the militia that he could, more effectually to man the defences. Irving has given the following description of the forts at that time: We have spoken of his (Clinton's) Highland citadel of Fort Montgomery, and of the obstructions of chain, boom, and che- vanx-dc-frise between it and the opposite promontory of An- thony's Nose. Fort Clinton had subsequently been erected within rifle shot of Fort Montgomery, to occupy ground which commanded it. A deep ravine and stream, called Peploep's Kill, intervened between the two forts, across which there was a bridge. The governor had his headquarters in Fort Mont- gomery, which was the northern and largest fort, but its works were unfinished. His brother James had charge of Fort Clinton, which was complete. The whole force to garrison the associate forts did not exceed six hundred men, chiefly militia, but they Digitized by Microsoft® 338 The Hudson River had the veteran Colonel Lamb, of the artillery, with them, who had served in Canada, and a company of his artillerists was dis- tributed in the two forts. Early in October, Sir Henry Clinton sailed up the Hudson with a fleet carrying three or four thousand British troops and Tories. The object of the expedi- tion was to take the forts, Montgomery and Clinton, opposite Anthony's Nose. There were American stores there, that had been collected in the neighbour- hood, and the destruction of these was the ostensible object of the expedition; but it is almost certain that the idea of relieving Burgoyne by a diversion carried greater weight. A body of troops was landed at Tarrytown, marched a short distance into the country, returned, and re- embarked. This ruse had the desired effect of deceiv- ing General Putnam at Peekskill. On the next day, the fifth,Xlinton landed in force at Verplanck's Point, below Peekskill, thus strengthening the impression already created that Fort Independence and the east- em shore of the river were to be the scene of his attack. Almost immediately, however, the greater part of the troops were femed across in barges from Ver- planck's to the opposite shore,, and while a body of Tories on shore and the war-ships in the river kept up the pretence of attacking Fort Independence, Clinton hurried the main body of his command, by a circuitous route, over the hill passes back of the Dunderberg, towards Forts Montgomery and Clinton. General Put- Digitized by Microsoft® The Spirit of '76 339 nam was completely outwitted and even sent to the Governor, General George Clinton, for reinforcements. But that active officer was not deceived. He had despatched scouts to the southern extremity of the Highlands, and they soon returned with the intelli- gence that the enemy were crossing to Stony Point in large nimibers. He therefore made ready with all the haste posvsible to receive the unwelcome visitors, and in his turn sent to Putnam for aid. But, through the treachery of the messenger, his appeal did not reach its destination. Dividing his force, Sir Henry Clinton sent Lieuten- ant-Colonel Campbell, with nine hundred men, to take a circuitous course by the western side of Bear Hill and approach Fort Montgomery from the north or north-west — that is to say, in the rear. Sir Henry pro- ceeded towards the river from the point of division, which was between the Dunderberg and Bear Hill. He then intended to advance along a neck of land lying between the river and Sinipink Pond and fall upon Fort Clinton. A reconnoitring party sent out by the Governor fell in with Sir Henry's advance-guard, and opened the day's fighting, falling back towards the fort after a sharp skirmish. Campbell, advancing along the Bear Hill ravine, was met by a sudden outburst of cannon and musketry, against which for a time his men could make no head- way. Filing off into the woods they attempted to Digitized by Microsoft® 340 The Hudson River surround their assailants, and finally succeeded in driving them into the fort. The resistance at both of the forts was obstinate. The garrisons were insufficient to man the works, but even after the enemy, by sheer force of numbers, had effected an entrance, the defenders refused to surren- der and literally fought their way out, many of them escaping by the woods and down the precipitous rocks. Two hundred and fifty were either slain or captured by the British. Putnam did not suspect the true direction of the British advance till the reverberations of the battle, thundering along the .cliffs of the Highlands, revealed the true state of affairs. The escape of the brothers George and James Clin- ton was almost marvellous. The Governor leaped down the rocks to the riverside, a breakneck proceeding, but accomplished without injury, and crossed the river in a boat, to join Putnam on the other side. His brother, though wounded, " slid down a precipice, one hundred feet high, and escaped to the woods." The American frigates and galleys stationed above, finding it impossible to escape the- advance of the Brit- ish ships or withstand their fire, were consigned to de- struction, and one after another went up in flames. Then the victorious enemy proceeded to destroy the chevaux-de-frise and clear the river. Proceeding through the passage thus made, Sir James Wallace and General Vaughn advanced to Kingston, then the State Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® "t%. Digitized by Microsoft® The Spirit of '76 343 capital; but this is another story, and will find its place in another chapter. The main object of Sir Henry Clinton's attack, which was to create a diversion in favour of General Bur- goyne, was a complete failure, as that officer, in the course of ten days, yielded to the harassing attentions of his foes. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XXI A Voyage up the Hudson in 1769 A HITHERTO unpublished account of a voyage up the Hudson in 1769 is here presented. It is taken from a manuscript journal, written by the proprietor of the great tract of land in the in- terior of New York State, that was known to the old map-makers as the Smith patent: With a View to survey a large Tract of Land then lately pur- chased from the Indians I departed from Burlington for Otego May 3d, 1769, in company with Rich'd Wells, now of Philadel- phia, and the Surveyors Joseph Biddle Junr. & William Ridg- way, as also John Hicks. May 5th. In the Morning we ar-- rived at Paulus Hook Ferry, went over and dined at Burns's Tavern in New York & this we deemed an indifferent House, here we saw the Govr. Sir Henry Moore and other noted men, in the Afternoon we took passage in a sloop, Richd. Scoonhoven, Skipper, for Albany, had fine weather and found it extremely agreeable Sailing with the country Seats of the Citizens on the Right Hand, the high Lands of Bergen on the Left and the Nar- rows abaft. We sailed about 13 or 14 Miles & then came to Anchor for the Night, the great Rains just before we set out had caused the Water of the North River to taste almost fresh at this Place. The Bergen Shore is high and Rocky & the East- ern Side diversified with Hill and Gully. ■^ 6th. These Albany Sloops contain very convenient Cabins. We eat from a regular Table accommodated with Plates, Knives 344 Digitized by Microsoft® A Voyage up the Hudson in 1769 345 & Forks & enjoyed our Tea in the Afternoon, we had laid in some Provision at N. York & the Capt. some more so that we lived very well, our Commander is very jocose & good company. About 7 ocloc we passed Spite the Devil (why so called I know not) or Harlem River which divides the Manhattan Island from the Connecticut, the Entrance here appears to be narrow, bounded on each side with high Land, Kings Bridge said to be about a Mile from this Entrance but not in Sight. The Bergen Coast continues to be lined with lofty Rocks, thinly overspread with Cedars, Spruce & Shrubs. Nearly opposite to Tappan we took a Turn on Shore to a Part of Col. Philips's Manor, from the Hills of which are beautiful Prospects. All the Country on both sides of the River from the City is hilly. The Manor of Philipsburg according to our Information, extends about Miles on the River and about 6 Miles back and is joined above by the Manor of Cortland, this Morng. the Sloop passed by Col. Philips's Mansion House and Gardens situate in a pleasant Val- ley between Highlands, the country hereabout excels ours by far in fine Prospects and the Trees & Vegetables appear to be as forward almost as those at Burlington when we left it, but I conceive that our countrymen excel the People here in cultiva- tion — hardly any Houses appear on the Bergen Side from Paulus Hook to the Line of Orange County. The Tenant for Life here tells me he pays to Col. Philips only £>], per Annum for about 200 acres of Land & thinks it an extravagant Rent because on his demise or Sale his Son or Vendee is obliged to pay to the Landlord one Third of the Value of the Farm for a Renewal of the Lease. The Skipper gave here 5 coppers for a Quart of Milk & Mr. Wells bought Ten small Rock Fish for 12 coppers. The Freight of a Bushel of Wheat from Albany to N.-/^ York according to our Skipper is Four Pence, of a Barrel of Flour one ShilUng and of a Hogshead of Flour 7/6 and he thinks they have the same rates from Kaatskill. In the Night we ran ground among the Highlands about 50 Miles from N. York be- tween Orange and Duchess Counties. The Highlands here are not so lofty as I expected and the River at this place appears to be about Half a Mile wide. 7th Our Company went on Shore up the Rocks to a miserable Digitized by Microsoft® 346 The Hudson River Farm and House in Orange & left with the Farmer a Direction for Otego (the Name of a Creek of the River Susquehannah whereon & in the Vicinity we afterwards formed a Settlement) as he and a few of his Neighbours seemed desirous to seek new Habitations, he pays Seven Pounds a Year Rent for about loo acres including Rocks and Mountains — Hudson's River is strait to the Highlands, but thro them very crooked, many Straw- berries are to be seen about the Banks & stony Fields. Mar- tiler's Rock stands in a part of the River which is exceeding deep with a bold Shore encircled on either Hand by aspiring Mountains & thro them there is a View of a fine Country above, here it is chiefly that the sudden Flaws sometimes take the River Vessels for which Reason they have upright Masts for the more expeditious lowering of the Sails on any sudden Occasion — beyond the above Rock lies PoUaples Island — but a few Wheat and Rye Fields appear along the East Side of the River from N. York hither and a very few Fields are ploughed as if intended for Indian Corn, the Lands seem proper for Sheep or perhaps (if the severity of our Winters will admit) for Vineyards. -On the West Side among the Highlands are only a few Houses seated in. the small Vallies between the Mountains. From the streights between Butter Hill and Broken Neck Hill & below them there is a distant Prospect of the Kaatskill Mounts, to the N. W. Murderers Creek which runs by the Butter Hill divides the Counties of Orange and Ulster, there are a few Houses at the Mouth of the Creek. The soil in these Parts is broken, stony and few places proper for the Plow. What grain we saw growing was but indifferent. About one ocloc we passed by the Town of New Windsor on the Left, seeming at a Distance to consist of about 50 Houses Stores and Out houses placed with- out any regular Order, here end the Highlands. This Town has some Trade and probably hereafter may be a place of Conse- quence as the fine Country of Goshen is said to lie back about 1 2 or more Miles. On the East Side of the River a little above Windsor is the Fish Kill & Landing whence the Sloops carry the Produce of that Side for Market. The North River is here thought to be near Two Miles wide and the General Range of the Highlands by the Compass as taken on the N. Side by our Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® A Voyage up the Hudson in 1769 349 Surveyors is W. S. W. & E. N. E. We took a Turn on Shore at Denton's Mill called 60 Miles from N. York and walked above ^ Two Miles down the River to Newbury a small scattered Village & to Denton's Ferry, we found excellent Cyder at both. The New England men cross here & hereabouts almost daily for Susquehannah, their Rout is from hence to the Minisink's ac- counted only 40 Miles distant, & we are told that 700 of their Men are to be in that Country by the first of June next, A sen- sible Woman informed Us that Two Men of her Neighbourhood have been several Times across to those Parts of Susquehannah which lie in York Government & here the people say our Rout by Albany is above 100 Miles out of the Way, this is since found to be true, yet that Rout is used because it is the only Waggon Road to Lake Otsego. The Lands near Hudsons River now appear less Hilly tho not level, & a few Settlements are visible here and there, the Houses & Improvements not extraordinary. Denton's Mill above mentioned has a remarkable large Fall of Water forming a beautiful Cascade, we saw several other Cas- cades and Rills — divers LimeKills and much Lime Stone on each Shore hereaway & some Appearance of Meadow Land of which we have hitherto seen very little. Lime Stone, it is said, may be found on either Side of the River from the Highlands to Sopus. We have the pleasure of seeing sundry Sloops & Shallops passing • back and forwards with the Produce of the Country and Returns, in the Evening we sailed thro' a remarkable Undulation of the Water for a Mile or Two which tossed the Sloop about much and made several passengers sick, the more observable as the Pas- sage before and and after was quite smooth & little Wind stirring at the Time, We anchored between Two high Shores bespread with Spruce, Chestnut Oaks and other Trees, very like the tower- ing Banks of Bergen. 8th. There is a high Road from New York to Albany on ^ both sides of the River, but that on the East side is most fre- quented ; both Roads have a View now and then of the River. Poughkeepsing the County Town of Duchess stands above the FishKill a little beyond the rough Water already noted. We passed the Town in the Night. Slate Stone Rocks on the West Shore at and below Little Sopus from whence N. York has of Digitized by Microsoft® 350 The Hudson River late been supplied : they reckon Little Sopus Island to be Half- Way between N. York and Albany, the Weather yesterday and to day very warm but the Mornings and Evenings are cool. Our Skipper says there are at Albany 31 Sloops all larger than this, which carry from 400 to 500 Barrels of Flour each, trading constantly from thence to York & that they make Eleven or 12 Trips a year each. The general Course of Hudson's River as taken by compass is N. & by E. and S. and by W. in some Places North North and South. Between the Highlands and Kaats- kill both these Mountains are in view at the same Time. At Two ocloc we arrived off the Walkill, there are 2 or 3 Houses at the Mouth of the Creek & a Trade carried on in Six or Seven sloops. Kingston the County Town of Ulster stands about Two Miles distant but not visible from the Water (this Town has been since burnt by the British Gen. Vaughan) The Kaatskill Mountains to the N. W. appear to be very near tho they are at a considerable Distance. The Country on both Sides continues still hilly and rugged and what Wheat is growing, looks much thrown out and gullied — more Houses & Improvements shew themselves along the Sopus Shore and Opposite being an old settled Country — our Vessel came to Anchor a little above the Walkill about 60 Miles from Albany. We went on shore to Two stone Farm Houses on Beekman Manor in the County of Duch- ess, the Men were absent & the Women and children could speak no other Language than Low Dutch, our Skipper was Interpreter. One of these Tenants for Life or a very Long Term or for Lives (uncertain which) pays 20 Bushels of Wheat in Kind for 97 Acres of cleared Land & Liberty to get Wood for necessary Uses any where in the Manor — 12 Eggs sold here for six pence. Butter i4d per pound and 2 shad cost 6d. One Woman was very neat & the Iron Hoops of her Pails scowered bright, the Houses are mean. We saw one Piece of good Meadow which is scarce here away, the Wheat was very much thrown out, the Aspect of the Farms rough and hilly like all the rest and the Soil a stiff clay. One Woman had Twelve good counte- nanced Boys and Girls all clad in Homespun both Linen and Woolen, here was a Two wheeled Plow drawn by 3 horses abreast, a Scythe with a short, crooked Handle and a Kind of Hook both Digitized by Microsoft® A Voyage up the Hudson in 1769 351 •used to cut down Grain, for the Sickle is not much known in Albany County or in this Part of Duchess. 9th We arose in the Morng. opposite to a large Brick House on the East Side belonging to Mr. Livingston's Father to Robert R. Livingston the Judge, in the Lower Manor of Livingston. Albany County now on either Hand, & sloping Hills here and there covered with Grain like all the rest we we have seen, much thrown out by the Frost of last Winter. Landing on the West Shore we found a Number of People fishing with a Sein, they caught plenty of Shad and Herring and use Canoes altogether having long, neat and strong Ropes made by the People them- selves of Elm Bark. Here we saw the first Indian a Mohicon named Hans clad in no other Garment than a shattered Blanket, he lives near the KaatsKill & had a Scunk Skin for his Tobacco Pouch, the Tavern of this Place is most wretched — Trees are out in Leaf, Cattle and Sheep, nothing different from ours, are now feeding on the Grass which seems to be nearly as forward as with us when we left Burlington, the Trees quite as forward & the White Pine is common. One Shad taken with the rest had a Lamprey Eel about 7 Inches long fastened to his Back, I was informed hereby a person concerned in measuring it that the Distance from KaatsKill Landing to Schoharie is ^2-^ Miles reckoned to Capt. Eckerson's House, a good Waggon Road and Produce brot. down daily from thence to Cherry Valley half a Day's Journey, that People are now laying out a New Road from SopusKill to Schoharie which is supposed to be about 32^ Miles, Sopus Creek is about 1 1 Miles below KatsKill Creek and a Mile below where we now landed, they say that 7 or 8 Sloops belong to Sopus — the Fish are the same in Hudsons River above the salt Water as in the Delaware — the Skipper bought a Parcel of Fish here cheap, these Fishermen draw their Nets oftener than ours not stopping between the Draughts. At 3 ocloc we passed by the German Camp a small Village so called having Two Churches, situated on the East Side of the River, upon a rising Ground which shews the Place to Advantage, some Dis- tance further on the same Side of the River we sailed by the Upper Manor House of Livingston, a Quantity of low cripple Land may be seen on the opposite Side & this reaches 4 miles Digitized by Microsoft® 352 The Hudson River to the KaatsKill called 36 Miles from Albany off the Mouth of this Creek we have a View of the large House built by John / Dyer the Person who made the Road from hence to Schoharie at the Expensce of ;£4oo, if common Report may be credited — Two Sloops belong to KaatsKill, a little beyond the Mouth whereof lies the large Island of Vastic — there is a House on the North Side of the Creek and another with several Saw Mills on the South Side but no Town as we expected. Sloops go no fur- ther than Dyer about Half a Mile up the Creek, the Lands on both Sides of KaatsKill belong to Vanberger, Van Vecthe, Salis- bury, Dubois & a Man in York, their Lands, as our Skipper says, extend up the Creek 12 Miles to Barber the English Gentle- man his Settlement, the Creek runs thro the KaatsKill Mounts, said hereabouts to be at the Distance of 12 or 14 Miles from the North River but there are Falls above which obstruct the Navi- gation (these particular Enquiries were made because this was supposed to be the nearest Port to our newly purchased Terri- tory.) We landed in the Evening on the KaatsKill Shore 4 Miles above the Creek but could gain no satisfactory Intelli- gence only that the Dutchess of Gordon and her Husband Col. Staats Long Morris were just gone from Dyer's House for Cherry Valley & Susquehanna with Two Waggons, they went by the Way of Freehold at the Foot of the Mountains on this Side and so over them to Schoharie guessed to be about 32^ Miles as was said before. loth. We passed by Sunday Islands whereof Scutters Island affords a good low Bottom fit for Meadow and some of it is improved. Bear's Island said to be the Beginning of the Manor of Renslaerwic which extends on both Sides of the River, the Lords of Manors are called by the common People Patroons, Bearen Island or Bears Island just mentioned is reputed to be 12 Miles below Albany — Cojemans Houses with Two Grist Mills & Two Saw Mills stand a little above on the West Side and opposite is an Island of about Two Acres covered with young Button Wood Trees which Island, our Skipper says, has arisen there to his Knowledge within 16 years and since he has navi- gated the River — more low, bottom Land is discovered as we pass up, generally covered with Trees being cleared might be Digitized by Microsoft® A Voyage up the Hudson in 1769 353 made good Meadow by Banking an Improvement to which the Inhabitants are altogether Strangers, the upper End of Scotoc's Island is a fine cleared Bottom not in Grass but partly in Wheat & partly in Tilth, however there was one rich Meadow improved, we saw the the first Batteaux a few Miles below Albany, Canoes ^ being the Common Craft. One Staat's House is prettily fixed on a rising Ground in a low Island, the City of Albany being 3 miles a Head we discovered for the first Time a Spot of Meadow Ground, ploughed and sowed with Peas in the Broad Cast Way, the Uplands are now covered with Pitch Pine & are sandy and barren as the Desarts of N. Jersey, as we approach the Town- the Houses multiply on each shore and we observe a person in the Act of Sowing Peas upon a fruitful Meadow on an Island to the right. The Hudson near Albany seems to be about Half a Mile over. Henry Cuyler's Brick House on the East Side about a mile below the Town looks well & we descry the King's stables a long wooden Building on the left & on the same side Philip Schuyler's Grand House with whom at present resides Col. Bradstreet (since deceased & Schuyler is now a Major Gen. in the Service of the United States) Col. John Van Renslaer has a good House on the East Side. At Half after 10 oCloc we arrived at Albany estimated to be 164 Miles by Water from N. York and by Land 157. In the afternoon we viewed the Town which contains according to several Gentlemen residing here, about 500 Dwelling Houses besides Stores and Out Houses. The Streets are irregular and badly laid out, some paved others not, Two or Three are broad the rest narrow & not straight, most of the Buildings are pyramidically shaped like the old Dutch Houses in N. York, we found Cartwright's a good Tavern tho his charges were exorbitant & it is justly remarked by Kahn the Swedish Traveller in America that the Townsmen of Albany in general sustained the character of being close, mercenary and avaricious — they deem it 60 miles from Albany to Cherry Valley — We did not note any extraordinary Edifices in the Town nor is there a single Building facing Albany on the other Side of the River. The Fort is in a ruinous neglected Condition and no- thing now to be seen of Fort Orange erected by the Dutch but part of the Fosse or Ditch which surrounded it. The Barracks Digitized by Microsoft® 354 The Hudson River are built of Wood and of ordinary Workmanship the same may be said of the King's Store Houses. The Court House is large and the Jail under it, one miserable Woman is now in it for cutting the Throat of her Child about 5 years old. There are 4 Houses of Worship for different Denominations and a public Library which we did not visit, most of the Houses are built of Brick or faced with Brick. The Inhabitants generally speak both Dutch and English & some do not understand the latter. The Shore and the Wharves 3 in Number abounded in Lumber. Stephen VanRenslaer the Patron or Lord of the Manor of Renslaerwick his House stands a little above the Town he is a young man (since deceased) — the Site of the Town is hilly and the Soil clay but round the place it is a mere Sand bearing pine Trees chiefly of the Pitch Pine, some Lime or Linden Trees as well as other Trees are planted before the Doors as at N. York and indeed Albany has in other Respects much the Aspect of that City, the Houses are for the most Part covered with Shingles made of White Pine, some few with red or black Tiles. In one of the Streets there is a Sign of the Jersey Shoe Ware House being supplied in Part with Shoes by Henry Guest of N. Brunswick, there is a Town Cloc which strikes regularly. We saw some Indians here & found the Weather very warm and sultry. nth Having hired an open Waggon the Company quitted Albany early in the Morng. intending for Schenectady by way of Cahoe's Falls, the Fare of the Waggon with Two Horses was 2 op. It is called 7 miles from the City to the Mouth of the Mohawk's River & from thence to the Cahoes 5 Miles, from the Cahoes to Schenectady 16 Miles from Albany to Schenectady in a Direct Line along the usual Road 1 7 Miles (there are now Mile Stones set up) The Patroons House at the North End of Albany is a large handsome Mansion with a good Garden & Wheat Field that reaches down to the North River, the Road leads along the Bank for about 6 or 7 miles from Albany and the rich Bottom on each side of the River is near Half a Mile broad con- sisting of a black Mould very level & low, proper for the best Sort of Meadow, but here sown with Wheat and Peas both which look well, some of the Peas are up and some are now sow- Digitized by Microsoft® A Voyage up the Hudson in 1769 355 ing, very little Indian corn is raised in these Parts & that not planted in Furrows & Rows but at random, one Field excepted, they plant three or 4 Feet apart in the Hills & the same Ground every year, the Land back of this fertile Space is covered with the Pitch and White Pine chiefly and yet not bad Land, and along the Mohawks River also this rich flat Ground extends from a Quarter to Half a Mile wide, but somewhat narrower on the upper parts of that River. This Stream at the Cahoes is reckoned to be about a Quarter of a Mile in Breadth & the Falls extend quite across, the Heighth of the Fall is conjectured by Mr. Wells & the Two Surveyors to be 60 Feet or upwards but I have seen a Copper plate that calls it 75, tho' upon ocular view it appears less, the Fall is almost perpendicular, the whole Body of the River brawling over a Slate Rock, the Banks of the River consist of this Rock intermixed with a crumbling stone and are perhaps 30 feet higher than the Bed of the River, the whole looks as white as cream except in the middle where the black Rock projects a little and the water breaks into many small Rills, We descended down to the Shore by a dangerous passage and ascended by the same after examining every Thing below particularly some heavy Stones and other Indications of a Cop- per Mine being not far off, upon quitting this Spot we directed our Course for Schenectady & passed some excellent Farms and likewise some poor barren Pine Land yet we saw choice Ground bearing the Jersey or Pitch Pine a Thing to me heretofore un- known, the Course from the Cahoes to Schenectady was nearly West, about six Miles below that Town we are told that the rich Bottoms sell at £3$ or ;£4o p Acre while the Upland will only fetch £3 or thereabouts, they hardly ever plow their Up- land the Indian Corn in the Rich Lands is said to produce from 40 to 60 Bushels an Acre altho every Year planted in the same Earth. By the Information reed. Stephen Van Renslaers Manor extends on each Side of the North River 12 Miles below Albany and 12 above by 48 Miles across East & West. Along the Road the Trees are out in full Leaf and the Grass in the Vales several Inches high, Clover and Timothy common to the Country, they use wheeled Plows mostly with 3 Horses abreast & plow and harrow sometimes on a full Trot, a Boy sitting on Digitized by Microsoft® 356 The Hudson River one Horse, the Timber in these Parts besides the Two sorts of Pine consists of Blac & White Oak, White and brown Aspen large and small Bilberry, Maple red Oak Hazel Bushes, Ash and Gum together with Butternut and Shellbark Hiccory in plenty, Elm and others, the Woods abound in Strawberries, and we find the Apple Trees, Bilberries, Cherries and some others in Blossom as are the wild Plums which are very common here. We were informed by Dr. Stringer at Albany that the Owners of Hardenberghs or the great Patent sell their Lands in Fee at 7/6 per Acre. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XXII Among the Hills A POET was abroad when the Highland hills were named. Dunderberg, first, — what a sonorous mouthful it is! — is equal to all the creatures of history and the creations of romance that can ever be added to it. Cro' Nest has a unique suggestion of untamed crags and the sweep of wings through cling- ing masses of cloud. Storm King is not quite so good ; it is artificial, and one needs hardly to be told that Willis invented the name to take the place of Boter- berg, or Butter Hill, so called by the Dutch because it was thought to resemble a huge pat of butter. Then there is Beacon Hill, reminiscent of the fires that blazed to tell the country for miles around that the war was over; and Bull Hill, that has been latinised into Mount Taurus. There used to be a wild bull that terrorised the country back of that hill for many a day, till at last a strong hunting party undertook to hunt him down and slay him. Forced to flee before his pursuers, he made one final, mad rush for the very crest of the hill and plunged out into space, to leave his magnificent body a broken and shapeless mass on 357 Digitized by Microsoft® 358 The Hudson River the rocks below and his name as a legacy to the moun- tain he used to haunt. Sugar-Loaf was so called for the obvious reason that it is, in form, simply an old- fashioned loaf of sugar, of brobdignagian proportions. What Bear Mountain owes its name to we confess that we are unable to say, but it is probable that some early hunter's exploit, or perhaps the prevalence of the tribe of bruin, suggested it. There is one more of the principal elevations of the Highlands to mention. Mr. Charles M. Skinner, in his delightful Myths and Legends, calls it "the aquiline promontory that abuts on the Hudson opposite Dun- derberg." There is at its base an opening that, from a distance, resembles nothing so much as an ant-hill entrance, and from near at hand suggests the den of some fabulotis monster that issues, with basilisk eye, and flame and smoke, from the bowels of the earth. Really it is a fair compromise between these two ex- treme estimates, being nothing more nor less than a railway tunnel. The origin of the name of this hill is not a matter of doubt, since it has been satisfactorily explained by the grand arbiter of Hudson River names and legends. It was not named after the redoubtable saint of the same name, as one might naturally suppose, but was called in honour of that Dutchman of parts, Anthony Van Corlaer, the trumpeter: It must be known then that the nose of Anthony the trumpeter was of a very lusty size, strutting boldly from his Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Among the Hills 361 countenance like a mountain of Golconda, being sumptuously- bedecked with rubies and other precious stones — the true regalia of a king of good fellows, which jolly Bacchus grants to all who bouse it heartily at the flagon. Now thus it happened, that bright and early in the morning, the good Anthony, having washed his burly visage, was leaning over the quarter rail of the galley (of Stuyvesant's yacht, in the Highlands), contem- plating the glassy wave below. Just at this moment the illus- trious sun, breaking in all his splendour from behind a high bluff of the Highlands, did dart one of his most potent beams full upon the refulgent nose of the sounder of brass — the reflec- tion of which shot straightway down hissing hot, into the water, and killed a mighty sturgeon that was sporting beside the vessel. This huge monster being with infinite labour hoisted on board, furnished a luxurious repast to all on board, being accounted of excellent flavor, except about the wound, where it smacked a little of brimstone — and this, on my veracity, was the first time that sturgeon was ever eaten in these parts by Christian people. When this astonishing miracle came to be known to Peter Stuy- vesant, and that he tasted of the unknown fish, he, as raay well be supposed, marvelled exceedingly ; and as a monument thereof, he gave the name of Anthony's Nose to a stout promontory in that neighbourhood, and it has continued to be called Anthony's Nose ever since. As an offset to the foregoing, we may quote from Dolph Heyliger's adventures the unequalled descrip- tion of Highland scenery and a gathering storm : In the second day of the voyage they came to the highlands. It was the latter part of a calm, sultry day, that they floated gently with the tide between these stern mountains. There was that perfect quiet which prevails over nature in the languor of summer heat ; the turning of a plank, or the accidental fall- ing of an oar on deck, was echoed from the mountain-side and reverberated along the shores; and if by chance the captain gave a shout of command, there were airy tongues which mocked it from every cliff. Digitized by Microsoft® 362 The Hudson River Dolph gazed about him in mute delight and wonder at these scenes of nature's magnificence. To the left the Dunderberg reared its woody precipices, height over height, forest over forest, away into the deep summer sky. To the right strutted forth the bold promontory of Antony's Nose, with a solitary eagle wheeling about it, while beyond, mountain succeeded to mountain, until they seemed to lock their arms together, and confine this mighty river in their embraces. There was a feeling of quiet luxury in gazing at the broad, green bosoms here and there scooped out among the precipices ; or at woodlands high in air, nodding over the edge of some beetling bluff, and their foliage all transparent in the yellow sunshine. In the midst of his admiration, Dolph remarked a pile of bright, snowy clouds, peering above the western heights. It was succeeded by another and another, each seemingly pushing onwards its predecessor, and towering, with dazzling brilliancy, in the deep-blue atmosphere; and now muttering peals of thunder were faintly heard. rolling behind the mountains. The river, hitherto still and glassy, reflecting pictures of the sky and land, now showed a dark ripple at a distance, as the breeze came creeping up it. The fish-hawks wheeled and screamed, and sought their nests on the high, dry trees; the crows flew clam- orously to the crevices of the rocks,, and all nature seemed con- scious of the approaching thunder-gust. The clouds now rolled in volumes over the mountain-tops; their summits still bright and snowy, but the lower parts of an inky blackness. The rain began to patter down in broad and scattered drops; the wind freshened and curled up the waves; at length it seemed as if the bellying clouds were torn open by the mountain-tops, and complete torrents of rain came rattling down. The lightning leaped from cloud to cloud, and streamed quivering against the rocks, splitting and rending the stoutest forest trees. The thunder burst in tremendous explosions; the peals were echoed from mountain to mountain; they crashed upon Dunderberg, and rolled up the long defile of the highlands, each headland making a new echo, until old Bull Hill seemed to bellow back the storm. For a time the scudding rack and mist, and the sheeted rain, Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by IVIicnosoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Among the Hills 365 almost hid the landscape from the sight. There was a fearful gloom, illumined still more fearfully by the streams of lightning which glittered among the rain-drops. Never had Dolph beheld such an absolute warring of the elements; it seemed as if the storm was tearing and rending its way through this mountain defile, and had brought all the artillery of heaven into action. The vessel was hurried on by the increasing wind, until she came to where the river makes a sudden bend, the only one in the whole course of its majestic career. Just as they turned the point, a violent flaw of wind came sweeping down a mountain gully, bending the forest before it, and, in a moment, lashing up the river into white froth and foam. The captain saw the danger, and cried out to lower the sail. Before the order could be obeyed, the flaw struck the sloop and threw her on her beam end. This must have been the bend at West Point. Every- thing now was fright and confusion: the flapping of the sails, the whistling and rushing of the wind, the bawling of the cap- tain and crew, the shrieking of the passengers, all mingled with the rolling and bellowing of the thunder. In the midst of the uproar the sloop righted; at the same time the mainsail shifted, the boom came sweeping the quarter-deck, and Dolph, who was gazing unguardedly at the clouds, found himself, in a moment, floundering in the river. In the year 1697 the northern boundary of Van Cortlandt's manor was defined as running unto the north side of a high hill called Anthony's Nose, to a cedar tree which marks the southernmost bound of the land now in the tenure of Mr. Adolphe Philipse; and from the red cedar tree another due easterly line running into the woods twenty English miles. The "land in the tenure of Mr. Adolphe Philipse," was the tract known as the Philipse patent in the High- lands. Its northern boundary was the southern line of the Beekman patent, "beginning at the north side Digitized by Microsoft® 366 The Hudson River of the Highlands." Adolphe PhiHpse was the son of the lord of the lower manor of Philipsburg, who died in 1702. From him the property descended to his nephew Frederick, who, in 1751, died, leaving the Highland patent to his children, Philip, Susannah, Mary, and Margaret. Margaret died, her share going to the survivors. The first thing these heirs did was to take legal steps to bar the entail imposed by their father. Susannah, who married Beverly Robinson, conveyed her share to William Livingston, who recon- veyed it to her husband. It was in his possession up to the time of the Revolution, but was confiscated after the war. The mansion in which Colonel Robin- son and his wife lived was known as the Beverly house. It stood at the foot of the Sugar-Loaf Mountain until 1892, when it was destroyed by fire. In this house Arnold had his headquarters. There, with Hamilton and Lafayette, just arrived to announce to the Com- mander of West Point that Washington was about to visit him, the traitor received the despatch announcing Andre's capture, and it was here that Washington had the affecting interview with the frantic Mrs. Arnold. Mary Philipse, who, if her admirers did not (and her portraits did) belie her, was a singularly beautiful woman, was the youngest of Frederick Philips 's sur- viving heirs. She it was who married Roger Morris, at the old Philipse house at Yonkers, and went to live in the brave new mansion that her husband built for her on Richmond Hill. Time, the juggler, sent Morris Digitized by Microsoft® en »«j fa a o "^ o ^ ►J ■« g I 2 I o z Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Among the Hills 369 a fugitive to the Beverly house in the Highlands, while Washington made his headquarters at the house on Richmond Hill, and finally sent Robinson and Morris, with all who belonged, to them, overseas in exile. The third share of the Patent, which went to Philip Philipse, was left by him to his sons, of whom only one, Frederick, survived. His daughter, Mary, mar- ried Samuel Gouverneur. By them the major part of the estate was sold, only the portion embracing Bull Hill remaining in possession of their heirs. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XXIII West Point THE Military Academy at West Point is so much an object of national pride to-day, that it is a little hard to realise the difficulty that at- tended its establishment, or the discouraging apathy with which those who saw the necessity of such an institution had to contend. Washington, among other paternal responsibilities, must father the Military Academy, for the plan was his, though its accomplish- ment was not immediately realised. Indeed, though Washington, in his annual message in 1793, strongly advised the founding of an academy, the necessity for which had been so forcibly demon- strated during the war, when his trained officers were often chosen from among the ranks of foreign soldiers of fortune, yet the recommendation had little or no effect for several years. Congress displayed its accus- tomed dilatory spirit. It is true that some inadequate provision for the instruction of a corps of cadets was made during the following year, and spasmodic re- vivals of the plan occurred at several subsequent dates during the years 1798, 1800, and 1801. The Academy 370 Digitized by Microsoft® West Point 371 may properly be said to have begun its existence in 1802; yet from that date till 181 1 it lived "at a poor, dying rate," part of the time under the tacit opposi- tion of the Secretary of War, till at the expiration of that period, though the country was then on the eve of a second war with England, there were actually no cadets at West Point. Not till hostilities had commenced did our dilatory legislators wake to the necessity of prompt and de- cisive measures for placing the Military Academy on a broad and strong foundation. The number of cadets was fixed, by an act passed in 181 2, at two hundred and fifty, while the corps of teachers was increased. Candidates were for the first time examined for admis- sion to the Academy. Provision was also made for the maintenance of the establishment and the proper instruction of the cadets in all branches of military science. To Major Thayer, appointed Superintendent in 1 81 7, the Academy owes more than to any one man for the ground plan of its system of work and the first great impulse towards its present efficiency. He was Superintendent for sixteen years, during which time 570 cadets were graduated, — men who were soon to test the. value of their instruction and training under the skies of Mexico, where, in two campaigns, accord- ing to General Scott's tribute, "we conquered a great country and peace without the loss of a single battle or skirmish. ' ' In no war that has occurred within the knowledge Digitized by Microsoft® 372 The Hudson River of man has such a display of mih'tary skill been ex- hibited by the leaders on both sides, through a series of operations of such magnitude and extending over so long a period of time, as made the American Civil War for ever memorable. We cannot forget that the list of those who won distinction in that deplorable but un- avoidable strife, in the Confederate as well as the Fed- eral armies, was mainly from the roster of West Point graduates. McClellan and Jackson, Burnside and Beauregard, Hooker and Pemberton, Sherman and Johnston, Grant and Lee, — the list rolls on. In blue and grey, for conscience sake, they fought a good fight, and fought it better because the old Academy with its training was behind them. The military post at West Point formerly was dis- tinct from the Academy, and, until 1842, was some- times under separate command; but at that time Congress very wisely put an end to contentions arising from a conflict of rank and authority between the Com- mander of the post and the Superintendent of the Academy, by providing that the latter should also command the post. , While the requirements for examination, both for admission and. graduation, have increased, and the training has become more thorough and proportion- ately severe with each decade of the history of "the Point, ' ' the superstructure has been reared, as we have already suggested, on the foundation laid by Major Thayer. From the first, the tendency of the Academy Digitized by Microsoft® 3 5 ■>. t ■«. Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® West Point 375 has been towards a spirit of democracy. Mere birth counts for less here than perhaps in any other -uni- versity in the world, except our Naval Academy. It is an article of faith among army men that West Point graduates gentlemen, and yet it is conceded that not fifty per cent, of the cadets are born of distinguished or wealthy parents. The majority of the fathers of West Pointers are wage-earners; but their sons, almost without exception, go out after five years of training the finest types of physical manhood that the race has produced, with cultivated minds and polished manners, and a splendid sense of honour. Take a man who can ride, dance, fight, speak the truth in his own and sev- eral other languages, and pass a stiff college examina- tion, and you have the kind of man that West Point is turning out by the scores every year. While the standards of physical, mental, and moral excellence have been rigorously upheld at the Acad- emy, and the instruction and drill have advanced with the progress of the world in science, many of the buildings erected at an earlier day, and still in use, have become antiquated and insufficient. There are more than a hundred and sixty buildings of all sorts. Among the older ones are the north wing of the quadrangle, built previous to 1851, and containing most of the cadet quarters; the cadet mess-hall, erected in 1850, of native granite ; and the quaint riding-hall, with its arched roof, that dates from 1855; while the Adminis- tration and Academic buildings are more modern. Digitized by Microsoft® 376 The Hudson River The former is usually known as headquarters, contain- ing the offices of Superintendent, Adjutant, Quarter- master, etc. Opposite is the Academic building, erected in 1891-95. It is, like the other, of granite, and cost in round figures $500,000. It forms the east side of the quadrangle, of which the cadet quar- ters constitute the north and west sides. The Chapel lies to the north of the Administration and to the east of the Academic buildings. It was built in 1 836, and is decorated within with flags, cannon, and other trophies. Tablets honouring the memory of Washington's generals are placed upon the walls, one alone being remarkable from the fact that the name is erased, leaving only the dates of birth and death. It is that formerly inscribed with the name of Benedict Arnold, who tried to betray West Point to the British enemy. Above the altar is a picture representing War and Peace, painted by Professor Weir, who at one time was instructor in drawing at the Academy. The Library, a comparatively new and well-equipped building, is the repository for some forty-five thousand volumes. Of this collection, Mr. H. Irving Hancock, in his recent book on West Point, says: " The average annual appropriation of Congress is $3000 — an amount decidedly inadequate to the maintenance of the library of the foremost military academy in the world." Our space is insufficient for the mention of all the structures devoted to the use of the national school, or even for a description of the notable statues and Digitized by Microsoft® West Point 377 monuments that adorn the grounds. But not to be passed over without notice is the classic structure of purest Greek design, in pink granite, that stands on the edge of the plain overlooking the river. It is the Memorial Hall, provided for in the will of General CuUum, and cost above $25(3,000. It is a museum of war trophies and memorials, besides containing the large and beautiful Assembly Hall and the Thayer Hall, fitted with a stage and all the accessories of a well- appointed theatre. The conditions of good work have grown more ex- acting with every year, till the Academy has been cramped for the lack of modern facilities and equip- ment. The barracks have been overcrowded and in- sufficiently furnished with such conveniences as light, water, and heat. The cavalry and artillery drill-room and grounds have proved inadequate to the needs of the school; the lecture-rooms and laboratories are too small, and are constantly overcrowded, and all of the scientific departments are cramped. To meet the demands that have so obviously grown out of the real needs of the institution. Congress, dur- ing May, 1902, voted in confirmation of a bill calling for the appropriation of five million dollars to be expended principally in new buildings and topograph- ical improvements at West Point. The additions when completed will include an extension of the barracks, a new academic building, a power-house, officers' mess hall, chapel, cavalry and artillery barracks and stables, Digitized by Microsoft® 378 The Hudson River additions to several of the buildings now in use, and an enlargement of the plain for purposes of cavalry and artillery drill. But it has been wisely considered inadvisable to destroy the old buildings now in use or make any radical changes in their structure or arrange- ment. They are the witnesses of a hundred years, connected with the names of the nation's heroes, and rich with the traditions of successive generations of brave men. In spite of the fact, or it may be because of the fact, that we are not a soldier people, the senti- ment of the nation centres at West Point more really than even at the White House or the Capitol. Per- haps no nation on earth has ever seen a case parallel to that of the United States, that has gone through most of its history without a standing army worthy of mention, yet has persistently trained men (as few men have ever been trained elsewhere) in all the sci- ence of war and the practice of manly exercises, to find them in the hour of national stress the nucleus of an army of unexcelled strength. Within the confines of the Military Academy at West Point the United States has concentrated its standing army. Because the knowledge of this fact appeals to our imagination, and also for another reason, that the Academy is the con- crete symbol of that altar of patriotism upon which so great a treasure of blood has been offered, it has be- come to us a place of sacred associations. We have seen how both of the contending parties in the Revolution recognised the military importance of Digitized by Microsoft® West Point 379 the Highlands. The contest for the possession of Forts CUnton and Montgomery was illustrative of the desire of the British to wrest the control of this natural gateway of the river from the Americans, and the resolution of Washington and his generals to main- tain, as long as possible, a supremacy upon which so much depended. It is not too much to say that the loss of the Highlands of the Hudson would probably have meant the downfall of the Continental cause. Never but once during that long struggle for freedom did the patriot army temporarily lose this point of vantage: that was when, after the reduction of the forts by Sir Henry Clinton in October, 1777, the chevaux-de-frise and other obstructions were cleared away, the Americans hastily evacuated Forts Inde- pendence and Constitution, and the British fleet sailed up the river as far as Kingston. It was a destructive progress, but without lasting results, as the surrender of Burgoyne, on the 17th of that month, rendered abortive the plan to co-operate with him from the south. At the time of this reverse to the American arms. Fort Putnam was not yet completed, and West Point, as we know it, cannot be said to have existed. The four defences already mentioned were all that had then been erected. Fort Constitution was on the island opposite West Point, from which place one of Putnam's numerous chains was stretched. Its insu- lar character can hardly be recognised to-day, as the Digitized by Microsoft® 38o The Hudson River marshes between it and the eastern shore of the river have gradually filled up and now appear as meadow- land. The old house, about which the home of the Warner sisters was built in the course of years, was of colonial date and was used at one time as headquarters by the commander of the American forces in the Highlands. WEST POINT IN 1780 (From an old print) When Arnold was in command of West Point, he made his home in the old "Beverly" house, to which we have had occasion to refer. Beverly Robinson was serving in the British army, with the rank of Colonel; and the State of New York had confiscated his prop- erty. The overtures made to Arnold, the negotia- tions that led to the ruin of Major Andr6, the sad story of the downfall of a man who had proved himself a brave soldier and a competent General, are surely the most familiar details of the War for Independence. Yet, Digitized by Microsoft® West Point 381 in spite of repetition, the dramatic incidents of that September morning that saw the confusion of the trait- or's plans pan never stale. What impulse of chance or Providence led Washington, with Knox and Lafayette, to change his plan of breakfasting with Arnold, baffles conjecture. We only know that the General and his aides turned aside to inspect some fortifications and sent a note to apprise Arnold of the fact, and that in that very hour Colonel Jameson's fatuous letter, in- forming him of Andre's capture, was delivered to him as he sat at the breakfast table with his wife. The mine had exploded beneath Arnold's feet; yet in this awful moment he gave an evidence of that quickness of mind which had won laurels for him when in the path of duty. Con- trolling the dismay which must have smitten him to the heart, he beckoned Mrs. Arnold from the breakfast table, signifying a wish to speak with her in private. When alone with her in her room up-stairs, he announced in hurried words that he was a ruined man and must instantly fly for his life! Overcome by the shock, she fell senseless to the floor. Without pausing to aid her, he hurried down-stairs, sent the messenger to her assist- ance, probably to keep him from an interview with the other officers ; returned to the breakfast-room and informed his guests that he must haste to West Point to prepare for the reception of the commander-in-chief; and, mounting the horse of the messenger, which stood saddled at the door, galloped down by what is still called Arnold's Path, to the landing-place, where his six-oared barge was moored. Throwing himself into it, he ordered his men to pull out into the middle of the river, and then made down with all speed. Another hour revealed the treachery, but the traitor was out of reach. Digitized by Microsoft® 382 The Hudson River The landing where Arnold kept his barge in readi- ness for such an emergency as he was finally compelled to face was where a jutting promontory makes out into the river above Anthony's Nose. The Catholic Institute, formerly a hotel, that forms a conspicuous landmark south of the Point, has been the resting-place for many a distinguished visitor in years gone by. About 1850, Willis wrote to his friend and partner, Morris, as follows: Within a stone's throw from the portico of the hotel, upon a knoll half hidden with trees, stands one of the most beautiful structures, of its kind, in this country — a stone church, of Eng- lish rural architecture, built by the painter, Robert Weir. The story of its construction is a touching poem. When Mr. Weir received ten thousand dollars from the government for his pict- ure on the panel of the Capitol, he invested it, untouched, for the benefit of his three children. On the death of these children — all three — soon after, the money reverted to him, but he had a feeling which forbade him to use it. Struck with the favour- ableness of this knoll under the mountains as a site for a place of worship, much needed by the village nearby, he applied for it to Mr. Cozzens, on whose property it stood, and who at once made a free gift of it for the purpose. The painter's taste and heart were set to work, and with the money left him by his child- ren and contributions from General Scott and others, he erected this simple and beautiful structure, as a memorial of hallowed utility. Its bell for evening service sounded a few minutes ago — the tone selected, apparently, with the taste which governed all, and making sweet music among the mountains that look down upon it. Willis is so quotable that another excerpt from an- other letter to his "Dear Morris" may be forgiven. Digitized by Microsoft® West Point 383 This time he is writing of " the grey- tailed bird of war " of his section of the nineteenth century : Speaking of grey coats, I understand, at the Point, that this classic uniform of the military Academy is to be changed to a blue frock. It will be a sensible and embellishing alteration, and the cadets will look more like reasoning adults and less like plover in pantaloons — but what is to become of all the tender memories, "thick as leaves in Vallambrosa," which are con- nected with that uniform only? What belle of other days ever comes back to the Point without looking out upon the Parade from the windows of the hotel and indulging in a dreamy recall of the losing of her heart, pro tern., on her first summer tour, to one of those grey-tailed birds of war? A flirtation with a grey- coat at the Point is in every pretty woman's history, from Maine to Florida. Suppress those tapering swallow-tails! Why, it would be a moulting of the feathers of first loves, which will make a cold shiver throughout the Union. I doubt whether the blue frock, with its similarity to the coats of common mor- tals, will ever acquire the same mystic irresistibleness which has belonged to that uniform of grey. The blue may be ad- mired, but the pepper-and-salt of other days will be perpetuated in poems. Upon the rising ground near Fort CHnton, a memor- able fete, attended by the civil and military officers of high rank in the United States, occurred in 1785. The occasion was the birth of the Dauphin of France, and Washington presided over an assemblage that was bright with the beauty of what Griswold called "the RepubHcan court." With whatever of splendour the resources or the taste of the time could accomplish, the celebration took place, for the gratitude of the lately liberated country towards France was still keen and the desire to do honour to the heir to her throne, Digitized by Microsoft® 384 The Hudson River though somewhat at variance with the sentiment of a democratic declaration, was yet strong and spontan- eous. Who, at that time of rejoicing and .congratula- tions, could anticipate the horror and mystery that would afterwards surround the fate of this royal infant ? History has related the imprisonment of the Dauphin, after the downfall of his ill-fated house, has told of the cruelty of the brutish Simon, and has re- corded the prince's death from a scrofulous affection induced by the filth and malnutrition which made his lot more to be pitied than that of the meanest peasant in the land. History, however, asserts this denoue- ment with less assurance since the publication, half a century ago, of the story of the Rev. Eleazer Williams. In 1850, a strong claim was advanced that Mr. Williams, of Green Bay, Wisconsin, an adopted member of an Indian tribe and afterwards a missionary among that people, was none other than Louis XVII., long thought to be dead. There was a curious succession of evid- ences, sufficient to convince many astute men, in support of this claim, which Mr. Williams himself be- lieved, though he made no attempt to take advantage of his supposed birthright. Our limited space will not permit the discussion of this interesting subject, which the reader will find amply set forth in periodicals of the years 1850-52. Fort Putnam is one of the most celebrated and, in some respects, the most attractive of the military re- mains of the Revolutionary period at the Point. It Digitized by Microsoft® West Point 385 was built upon a spur six hundred feet above the level of the river, and so situated that it commands an extensive view of the water and of the Highlands on both sides. It is somewhat back of the Point, and, though long since disused by troops, its parapets and several of its ancient casemates are still preserved. "The spot where Kosciusko dreamed" is still a place where the young man may see visions not less exalted than those of the liberty-loving Pole. Among the mementos of many battle-fields, the trophies of many victories, and reminders of the fame of captains whose lives were gloriously spent for the salvation of the State, the feet of those who in their turn shall lead now tread the daily round of discipline. Before West Point the river is a lake, across which a miniature ferry-boat plies from Garrison's, upon the eastern shore. From that inconsiderable elevation no inlet or outlet to the placid and beautiful sheet of water is visible. It was here, in a time long past, that Fanny Kemble loved to row her boat, mooring it in some attractive little cove along shore when the heat became burdensome. A brook that flows into the bay north of Garrison's was a favourite haunt of hers, and the cascade that for years had been known as Indian Falls was afterwards rechristened Fanny Kemble 's Bath. Only a short distance from this stream and almost directly east of Constitution Island is the house owned by Clara Louise Kellogg. Beyond Cold- spring, with its smoking foundry and wharf, at the 25 Digitized by Microsoft® 386 The Hudson River very foot of Bull Hill is Morris's Undercliff . Opposite, old Cro'nest lifts its rugged brow fourteen hundred feet in air. Above them still are Storm King, upon the west, and Breakneck on the. east - shore, making the upper gate of the Highlands. In that curious jour- nal of a voyage up the Hudson in 1769 which we have the good fortune to publish in this volume, the reader will notice that the name " Broken Neck Hill ' ' appears, and a glance at the camel-like profile of the mountain in question will go far toward convincing one that the later name, "Breakneck," is a corruption of a title that was really descriptive. The name Breakneck might be applied with equal propriety to any of the steep-sided promontories along the rock-wall of the Highlands. Uninteresting in many respects as Coldspring is to those not imrnediately concerned in foundry work, it has contributed its share to national military strength, having been for years engaged in the production of ordnance for the United States army and navy. Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by IVIicrosoft® Chapter XXIV The Fisher's Reach IT is as difficult now to get beyond the Highlands as it was in 1777. Instead of the chevaux-de-frise, chains, and fortresses with which Sir Henry Clin- ton had to contend, we are stayed by the no less im- perative challenge of natural beauty, at once majestic and unique; while the imagination carries by assault the heights that are buttressed with historic associa- tions and garrisoned with legions of romantic fancies. We hear in the thunder that reverberates from crag to crag the echo of long silent artillery; we see in the mists of morning the smoke of British guns, and under the downright rays of noon seem to distinguish the entrenchments of patriotic levies. But when night falls the mysterious significance of nature asserts a sway that is stronger than embattled arms and older than history. Then the passions and the conquests of man are forgotten and the abiding mystery of imme- morial hills possesses the soul. The pen of Irving has rixed on an inimitable page the subtle charm of a night in the Highlands: 389 Digitized by Microsoft® 390 The Hudson River The moon had just raised her silver horns above the round back of old Bull Hill, and lit up the grey rocks and shagged forests,- and glittered on the waving bosom of the river. The nightrdew was falling, and the late gloomy mountains began to soften and put on a grey, aerial tint in the dewy light. The hunters stirred the fire, and threw on fresh fuel to qualify the damp of the night -air. Thev t1-ien prepared a bed of branches and dry leaves under a ledge of rocks for Dolph ; while Antony Vander Heyden, wrapping himself in a huge coat of skins, stretched himself before the fire. It was some time, however, before Dolph could close his eyes. He lay contemplating the strange scene before him: the wild woods and rocks around; the fire throwing fitful gleams on the faces of the sleeping sav- ages; and the Heer Antony, too, who so singularly, yet vaguely, reminded him of the nightly visitant to the haunted house. Now and then he heard the cry of some animal from the forest ; or the hooting of the owl; orthe notes of the whippoorwill, which seemed to abound among these solitudes ; or the splash of a sturgeon leaping out of the river and falling back full-length on its placid surface. It is said to have been an old custom among the river skippers to christen new hands by sousing them in the current when near PoUopel's Island, and this was done ostensibly because it was supposed to make the victim immune against the goblins that were well known to haunt every available spot on the river shore, but especially the tree-shaded, bush-grown rock that guards the northern Highland gate. It may be imagined that besides affording protection to the apprentice, the ducking also gratified the love for horse- play that has always distinguished sailors of every degree, and for that reason did not fall into disuse till the popular belief in goblins was well-nigh obsolete. Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® The Fisher's Reach 393 PoUopel's has long been considered as a haunted spot, especially infested by the evil spirits that in time of storm fly ;with the storm through the Highlands. In this particular it resembles the Duyvel's Dans Kamer. Cruger's Island, on the contrary, enjoys the distinction of never having been visited by death, even down to the present day. Above the Highlands, on the western shore of the river, the northern slope of Storm King declines into a bluff that is broken by numerous ravines, each at some time the bed of a watercourse. It is here that the village of Cornwall, with its many literary asso- ciations, pursues the quiet and orderly tenor of life. It was a secluded and almost unknown hamlet till it secured for the trumpeter of its delights a poet and a nature lover. At Idlewild, now part of Cornwall, the poet settled down to a life of busy idleness. He had been driven back to Eden, to borrow Mr. Roe's phrase, and he pro- posed to make the most of it. He superintended the laying-out of paths, the building of roads and dams; he cultivated the acquaintance of trees and wild flowers, protected the birds, and evinced a kindly fel- lowship for the frogs. To many of those who have read Willis's work, no part of it seems more satisfac- tory than the chatty, personal chronicle of nature happenings, the unforced record of his surroundings, as they appeared in the old Home Journal. It is difficult to estimate our indebtedness to him for his Digitized by.Microsoft® 394 The Hudson River example of appreciation in a field where most of his countrymen were stolidly unappreciative. Bryant went into the woods with uncovered head and found them cathedrals. His trees were all gothic columns, that ranged themselves in dim, churchly aisles. Autumn was a holy festival, and a pool in the woods was a sort of stoup of holy water. Drake went into the woods to find a background for a fairy tale. But Willis bought a glen with a brook in it, built his dams and bridges, delighted to note that his chestnut fence-posts sprouted, scraped acquaintance with feath- ered or furry neighbours, and loved his hemlock trees as though they had been human friends. To a genera- tion whose eyes had not been educated to see, and who generally understood that the country was designed by Providence as the place in which to raise com and potatoes, his letters were a revelation. They were the better for being reportorial rather than philosophical. If, from some dusty shelf corner, you take down a copy of Out-Doors at Idlewild, blow the dust of years from it, and settle yourself to read, you may presently say, " Burroughs would have done this better, or Brad- ford Torrey that." Very possibly. Please to recol- lect that Willis did it first. To-day every man — ^lawyer, physician, clergyman, hack, storekeeper, or clerk — finds his way at least once a year into- the country, where he follows his patron prophet, who has pointed out what he should enjoy and appreciate. The beauties of nature are now as Digitized by Microsoft® The Fisher's Reach 395 completely labelled as the trees in Central Park, but half a century ago the man who could write those old letters to the Home Journal was a discoverer. Those who attempted at first to follow him went in patent- leather boots; they scrambled in broadcloth over the rocks, and knocked silk hats against the branches ; but it was a beginning. The enchanted glen that has been famous for half a century, under the name of Idlewild, has escaped with marvellous strange fortune the destroying influences that have assailed so many Meccas. The house which the poet owned is to-day unaltered in any essential feature. The present holder of its title-deeds deserves the gratitude of those who have frequent occasion to deplore the demolition of local shrines. He has mine. My cottage at Idlewild [wrote Willis] is a pretty type of the two lives they live who are wise — the life in full view, which the world thinks all, and the life out of sight, of which the world knows nothing. You see its front porch from the thronged thoroughfares of the Hudson, but the grove behind it overhangs a deep down glen, tracked but by my own tangled paths, and the wild torrent which by turns they avoid and follow. That description, which might have been written yes- terday, has been applicable for nearly fifty years. Other hands trim the lawns and repair the drives; other eyes enjoy the beauty of the successive years of growth and developmeiit, but the place is still "Wil- lis's Idlewild," as though its eariier tenant — held in mortmain still his old estate. Digitized by Microsoft® 396 The Hudson River The drives are probably better kept and the lawns better groomed than they were in the early fifties, and the shade trees are taller and more dense ; but one step aside over the edge of the wooded declivity instantly translates the pilgrim into a "land of faery," where the hand of man has not interfered except with the consummate art that conceals art. From the commencement of the descent the sound of the stream far below comes up through the rustling foliage. The tops of the trees that grow along the bottom of the glen are below the level of the eye, and the crowding companies of birch and hemlock, chest- nut and maple, swarm the hillside. The glen of Idlewild [Willis said] is but a morning's ramble in extent — a kind of Trenton Falls for one — but its stream, fall- ing over a hundred feet within one's own gate, and sometimes a cataract that would bring down a lumber sloop or raft; it has varieties of charm that will at least occupy what loving I have time for. Step by step in a zigzag course the visitor gets toward that stream that is "sometimes a cataract," and, with every moment the remoteness from human life increases. If it was ever true that " IdlewHd is getting fast peopled with the viewless crowd that will make haunted ground of it," the gentle ghosts must have departed with him for whom they first appeared. I could imagine Willis there — Willis and the Irishman who wielded axe and spade at his command; but the people he had conjured into the glen are all gone — Digitized by Microsoft® The Fisher's Reach 397 astral bodies and all. However, expectation looked for the obese old toad that used to sit in the middle of the path and moved reluctantly at a stranger's ap- proach, and peered over to see whether the great freshet of 1853 had left any discernible marks on the tree trunks, and hoped with every tread to hear the whirr of frightened quail. No one — not Willis or any other — could do justice to the beauty of the stream that is the chief charm of the glen. To appreciate its hurfyings and baitings, its cascades and pools, its encompassing boulders and bridging tree trunks, one must see and hear it. Far off, in a world that is out of sight, on that level a hun- dred feet or so above the stream, there are people. A hundred miles could not make their remoteness more complete. The trees are full of singing and calling birds, the banks covered with ferns and wild flowers; the solitude is that of a beautiful wilderness. What Idlewild was in its prehistoric days we may conjecture from a letter written by its master in Feb- ruary, 1854: We were fortunate enough to identify yesterday a mysterious inmate of Idlewild, who has been the subject of a great deal of discussion. . . . Summer before last the ox-drag turned up ... a spirited bust, carved in grey rock. The crown of the head was broken off, but the lower part of the face remained, and the neck and shoulders and the fold of drapery across the breast were still complete. The design was that of a head turned aside with a look of aroused attention, and to me it seemed exceedingly expressive and well conceived. Digitized by Microsoft® 398 The Hudson River He goes on to relate how this reHc gradually was de- graded into a mere hat-rack, until our friend Copway, the Ojibbeway Chief . stopped surprised before the nameless bust on the hat-stand. " What! " he said; "you have an Indian god there? " He looked a little closer, as I told him how we had found it. " It is the god of the winds and the birds," he continued — " Mesa- ba-wa-sin." Mesa-ba-wa-sin still presides in spirit and fact over the glen, and his altars are everywhere. The wood- thrush and the vireo sing his praises still, and the wake robins are proxies for his redskin worshippers. There is a pathetic side to the Idlewild days. In many of the cheery, entertaining letters, and increas- ingly toward the last, there is an acknowledgment of illness. The man who wrote them was nearing the end of life, and he knew it. A consumptive, whose work and pleasure alike were frequently interrupted by the setbacks peculiar to that disease; prevented by weakness from participation in many of the activ- ities of life ; feeling the ground slipping from under his feet month by month, Willis uttered no note of de- spondency or alarm. He was like a swimmer striking out for a receding shore and singing till the water over- whelmed him. It is meet that there should be an indissoluble con- nection in the thoughts of readers between his name and that of the little spot of earth that he loved so well and where his last days were spent. Digitized by Microsoft® f "fa* ^ 1 1 fc* 1 O '< a o o mt-''. S Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® The Fisher's Reach 401 The stream into which Idlewild brook flows and which itself meanders between banks that are a per- petual temptation to the artist, finaUy finds its way to the Hudson under the trestles of a railroad bridge. That is Moodna, Moodua, or Murderer's Creek. The last and least attractive name is, of course, the one on which a tradition depends — the story of the compas- sion of a red man, the steadfast loyalty of a woman, and the lust for blood that has seemed at times an uncontrollable instinct with the Indian. A family named Murdoch Hved near the mouth of the stream and frequently welcomed to their cabin an Indian called Naoman, who showed great friendUness towards them. In some way Murdoch had incurred the hatred of the men of Naoman 's tribe, who resolved to kill the whole family. The faithful friend managed to impart this news, at the same time obtaining a promise that his action should never be betrayed. Murdoch and his family stole away at night and took a boat to escape through the Highlands, but when passing PoUopel's Island a canoe put out and gave chase. Murdoch with his rifle succeeded in kill- ing several of the occupants of the canoe, but was fin- ally overcome, and he, with his wife and children, were carried in triumph to the Indian village. The chief demanded of the wife of Murdoch the name of the one who had warned them, threatening her husband and children with instant death if she withheld it; but the heroic woman refused to answer. Then 26 Digitized by Microsoft® 402 The Hudson River Naoman stepped forward and acknowledged that he was the guilty one. He was immediately struck down, and the savages, rendered furious by the sight of blood; rushed upon the captives and slew them every one, casting their bodies into the creek. A small company of German Palatines, by the fav- our of Queen Anne and under the escort of Governor Lovelace, crossed the ocean in 1 709 and settled where is now the city of Newburgh. Directed by their pas- tor, the able and beloved Kocherthall, they formed a colony which struggled for nearly forty years against the hardships incident to frontier life and the en- croachments of incoming neighbours. At last they abandoned the homes they had made, being greatly dissatisfied, and a majority of them migrated to Penn- sylvania. Incidentally it may be observed that, in spite of their many noble and sterling qualities, the Palatines seem to have been uncomfortable neigh- bours, difficult to please and prone to nourish a sense of injury. The attempt to colonise them in the New Forest in England was a failure, the Newburgh ex- periment was a failure, the settlements at East and West Camps, hereafter to be noticed, were scenes of bewailing and protests against the bad faith of those who had taken them, a band of homeless, penniless exiles, and had spent many thousands of pounds for their transportation and maintenance. For that in- vestment they certainly seemed unwilling to make return. Digitized by Microsoft® ^ s 8 S s is o 5? 9 s £ I Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® The Fisher's Reach 405 The few who remained in Newburgh after the ex- odus of their brethren seem to have been immediately involved in a dispute with their new neighbours, the subject being the possession of the church building. This discussion terminated with the death of the Pala- tine leader, who was crushed by a falling door. Among the peculiar features of Newburgh 's history is the fact that the "rude forefathers" of that hamlet were not generally Dutchmen. To the German settle- ment were soon added English, Irish, and Huguenot pioneers. Though not equal in antiquity to the towns near the mouth of the river, or yet higher up, in the neighbour- hood of Albany, Newburgh enjoys the distinction of being the oldest settlement in Orange County. It was shortly followed by the planting of New Windsor, two miles below, that for some time was Newburgh 's rival in size and importance. What the Orange County metropolis lacks in early history is more than made up by the importance of later events. It is to the story of Washington and the Revolution what Camelot was to the Arthurian legends. Here, during the long, gloomy months that preceded the dawn of American independence, the great chief of the Continental army fought and won his greatest battles — fought the growing and just indignation of that army against a dilatory and ungrateful Congress, fought the spectres of want and care, fought the fool- ish, fond enthusiasm of his own generals when they Digitized by Microsoft® 4o6 The Hudson River clamoured to make 'him king. In the whole great round of national history there is no incident so heroic as Washington's refusal of the crown that was offered him in the old Hasbrouck house at Newburgh. From almost the very beginning of the war, both the British and patriot leaders saw the necessity for controlling the river at Newburgh. It was, after the reduction of Fort Washington and the subsequent eruption of British war- vessels into the waters south of the Highlands, the only available ferry for the Amer- ican troops that were hurried now east, now west, to relieve New England and New Jersey or Pennsylvania in turn, and compensate by their rapidity of move- ment for the pitiful inadequacy of every division of Washington's army. With that communication bro- ken, that army must have been almost hopelessly crippled. The American military force in the Revolution consisted of three distinct grades or classes of sol- diers: the regulars, known as continentals; the levies, drafted either from militia regiments or from the people; and the militia. The continentals were long- term men, always under arms, commanded by the chief of the army — in a word, professional soldiers. The levies were drawn for a short term, but cotild be called upon for service outside of their own State as well as in it. They were an inconvenient, not to say exasperating compromise between civilians and sol- diers, at critical times nearly always reaching the limit Digitized by Microsoft® The Fisher's Reach 407 of their enlistment and going calmly away home, leaving their commander impotent for ofEence or de- fence. This seemed to happen whenever a body of levies had been licked into something resembling sol- dierly shape. As for the militia, its members could only be called upon for three months' consecutive serv- ice outside of the State in which they were enlisted. They were called out and disbanded as the exigencies of war demanded, and were nearly as apt to leave a cannon in a ditch as a plough in a furrow. But they were frequently good, serviceable soldiers in spite of the miserable system under which they served, and they sprang, armed, from the soil whenever a pressing occasion presented itself. It was the militia and the levies that enabled the commanding general to throw reinforcements into the scale of battle when his little army of regulars was hard pressed. They were to the British always an unknown quantity, and set calcula- tions at naught. When Gates needed a larger force of men to oppose to Burgoyne, Clinton sent him the farmer-soldiers of Ulster County — men of mingled Dutch and German blood — to complete the auxiliary force. On the sole occasion upon which the war-ships of the British penetrated the Highlands and for a short time controlled the whole of the navigable part of the Hudson in 1777, their commander held in his hands the destiny of America. Had Sir Henry Clinton succeeded in establishing a Digitized by Microsoft® 4o8 The Hudson River conjunction with Burgoyne, or in hemming Gates be- tween the force he had brought to bay at Saratoga and the victorious army from the south, the wisest general- ship and the most hardy valour would hardly have sufficed to save the American cause. Even with the foregone defeat of Burgoyne, Clinton must have retired with deep regret, for he could not have been blind to the supreme importance of retain- ing the mastery that had been won by his expedition against the forts. From a military standpoint, that expedition, though brilliant in execution, was product- ive of no permanent results. Yet it would have been worth almost any effort or sacrifice to have held the river. Granting the numerical superiority of the Americans on shore, it does not seem impossible that a man of greater genius than Sir Henry Clinton might have maintained an effectual blockade with his fleet upon the river. Upon the military road of which the Newburgh ferry was so important a feature, not only troops, but waggon-trains and artillery were continually being moved. Most of the material for carrying on the war came through New England, her ports being the only ones then available and was transported by way of Fishkill and Newburgh, and so back of the Highlands on the west shore, and southward. When, on the 4th of April, 1782, Washington finally established his headquarters in the famous old house that Jonathan Hasbrouck built in 1750, the battle of Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® The Fisher's Reach 411 Yorktown had been fought and the tidings of the sur- render of Cornwalhs had been received by Lord North " as a bullet in his heart." Rochambeau was now left in command in New Jersey, and the chief settled him- self with the army at Newburgh for those last weary months of waiting for the definite establishment of peace. Should the enemy again become actively en- gaged, the importance of retaining control of the Hud- son would not be less than formerly. The Commander was accompanied by his wife and military family, and lived at Newburgh till the latter part of the succeeding year. The old house, which is in an excellent state of preservation and is used as a repository for military relics, is upon a little plateau commanding a comprehensive view of the river, par- ticularly where it flows between the towering hills that form the northern gateway of the Highlands. The cottage has six rooms, besides the hall and kitchen. From the small piazza or " stoop" upon the east, the entrance is into a large room, to which six other doors furnish ingress, while the one small window affords a subdued light. There is, on the south side of this room, a noble fireplace, where an ox might have been roasted whole. The visitor, standing upon the hearth, can see the sky through the chimney-top. The walls of the house are of stone, two feet thick, and the hewn rafters are of savoury cedar. Knox, Greene, Wayne, Hamilton, Steuben, Morris- how the ghosts gather about that old table and train Digitized by Microsoft® 412 The Hudson River their soldier wit to gallantry while the wife of their chief presides over the tea urn, or gravely discuss, after her retirement, the matters that have pre-emi- nency in American history. It was while living at Newburgh that Washington narrowly escaped capture by an envoy of Sir Henry Clinton — at least, so the legend runs. A man named Ettrick lived with his daughter in a secluded valley to the south of head- quarters ; a place known as the Vale of Avoca. It was at the head of a long, narrow bay, but though only a short distance, as the bird flies, from the Hasbrouck cottage, it could only be reached by the road after making a detour of nearly two railes. Here the chief was in the habit of going upon occasion, and Ettrick had planned to seize him with the aid of several con- federates and take him out into the river before the alarm could be given. Fortunately, Ettrick 's daugh- ter betrayed her father's plan and preserved the tenor of history. The condition of the army so soon to be disbanded moved Washington to expressions of emotion that sound strange coming from one whose reserve and self- control were proverbial. His letter to the Secretary of War, wrung from him by his deep sense of the injury sustained by the army through the neglect of Congress, was, from such a pen as his, an epistle of singular intensity. Under present circumstances, when I see a number of men goaded by a thousand stings of reflections on the past and an- Digitized by Microsoft® The Fisher's Reach 413 ticipations of the future about to be turned on the world, forced by penury and by what they call the ingratitude of the public, involved in debt, without one farthing to carry them home, after spending the flower of their days, and many of them their patrimonies, in establishing the freedom of their country, and suffering everything this side death — I repeat it — when I con- sider these irritating circumstances, without one thing to soothe their feelings or dispel their prospects, I can not avoid appre- hending that a train of evils will follow of a very serious and distressing nature. . . . You may rely upon it the patriot- ism and long-suffering of this army is well-nigh exhausted, and there never was so great a spirit of discontent as at present. But however vehement his protest on behalf of his long-suffering soldiers, to them his counsels were tem- perate and charged with lofty dignity. To them he defended the rulers, and pledged his own word that right should be done. When the paper, drawn up and signed by officers who had stood at his side through the darkest of the conflict, informed this man of kingly nature that they would have him king in name and fact, grief and in- dignation contended for mastery in his breast. It is with a mixture of surprise and astonishment [so his answer ran] I have read the sentiments you have submitted for my perusal. Be assured, sir, no occurrences in the course of the war have given me more painful sensations than your informa- tion of there being such ideas existing in the army as you have expressed, and which I must view with abhorrence and reprehend with severity. I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my conduct could have given encouragement to an address which to me seems big with the greatest mis- chief that can befall my country. If I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself, you could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable. Let me conjure Digitized by Microsoft® 414 The Hudson River you, then, as you have regard for your country, for yourself, or posterity, or respect for me, to banish these thoughts from your mind. Having, with infinite pains, kept in check the grow- ing discontent of the soldiers on the one side, and the ill-considered adulation of his officers on the other, Washington at last reached the day when the order disbanding the army must be given. It was issued on the loth of April, 1783, in these terms: The commander-in-chief orders the cessation of hostilities between the United States of America and the King of Great Britain to be publicly read to-morrow at 12 o'clock at the new building, and the proclamation which will be communicated herewith to be read to-morrow evening at the head of every regiment and corps of the army. After which the chaplains with the several brigades will render thanks to Almighty God for all His mercies, particularly for His overruling the wrath of men to His own glory, and causing the rage of war to cease among the nations. After noble admonitions addressed to the reason and consciences of the men who had followed him so long, the General proclaimed a day of jubilee and ordered for every man an extra ration of grog. The last act was an illumination on a gigantic scale, the watch- fires on prominent hills blazing from huge stacks of timber to announce the welcome tidings of peace to a country that had trembled so long at the tramp of armies and the roar of cannon. Newburgh is a State repository for relics pertaining to the Revolution, the war of 18 12, and other national conflicts. The house that was so long used as head^ Digitized by Microsoft® The Fisher's Reach 415 quarters by Washington is the centre of a little park that is open at all times to the public. The old Senate House at Kingston is similarly preserved, and it is becoming yearly more and more a matter of local pride in the various river towns to guard the reminders of an historic past. Not only is the feeling towards the preservation of old buildings increasing, but thoughtful people are alive to the necessity for vigorous action to protect prominent natural landmarks. To stop the destruc- tion being wrought by the dynamite of the contractor and save the Palisades frora ultimate exodus through the jaws of the stone-crusher, the Interstate Park Com- mission was formed. After a great deal of hard work and no little application of faith and patience, an ap- propriation of four hundred thousand dollars was secured from the State of New York and fifty thousand from the State of New Jersey, and the result was the establishment of the Palisades Park, which is in charge of the Commission. Back of the Commission is the American Scenic and Historic Preservation So- ciety, organised first as a local New York association, but now national in its scope. Either directly, or through auxiliary societies, it has become the custodian of public parks founded to preserve historic sites. Thirty-three acres at Stony Point, covering the field of Wayne's gallant exploit, were purchased by New York State and delivered to the guardianship of the Society for improvement and preservation. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XXV Fishkill to Poughkeepsie FROM Brinkerhoff's historical sketch of Fishkill we learn that here was made the first pur- chase of land in Dutchess County. The buyers were Francis Rombout and Gulian VerPlanck, and the date of the transfer of their property from the Wappinger Indians was August, 1683. "Gulian Ver- Planck died before the English patent was granted by Governor Dongan ; Stephanus Van Cortlandt was then joined in it with Rombout, and Jacobus Kipp sub- stituted as the representative of the children of Gulian VerPlanck." The tract contained seventy-six thou- sand acres in Fishkill and nine thousand more within the limits of the present town of Poughkeepsie. The position of Fishkill in relation to Newburgh and the ferry brought it into prominence during the War for Independence. Hither flocked many refugees from New York and Long Island, and the place became naturally a repository for military stores. Here, at the VerPlanck house. Baron Steuben had his head- quarters; the Legislature held its sessions here before going to Kingston. Here Lafayette lay ill of a fever, 416 Digitized by Microsoft® Fishkill to Poughkeepsie 417 here Enoch Crosby was supposed to have been con- fined in the church, here Washington came, making the old BrinkerhofE house his resting-place. Back of Fishkill rises a ridge of lofty hills, still cov- ered with forests in many places, the highest point recently made accessible by the construction of an "incline" railway that is nearly perpendicular. From the summit the view is unsurpassed in extent and variety by any in New York State. From Beacon Hill the huge watch-fires, lighted to give warning of the approach of the enemy or to celebrate the advent of peace, could be seen from the peaks of the Catskills, the rugged tops of the Highlands, the hills of West- chester, or the far-away elevations of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. On a level plateau at the base of the hills the en- campment of the American army was at one time situated; and fortified works, manned by detach- ments from the camp, were placed upon hills that commanded the approach. Here, after the battle of White Plains, were brought the wounded soldiers, many of whom lie in unidentified graves near the spot. According to the writer quoted above, " Upon one of the hills rising out of this mountain passway very distinct lines of earthworks are still apparent." Fishkill Landing, Matteawan (so named from an Indian sub-tribe), and Fishkill village are here grouped, as they are in reality, under one name. Along with Revolutionary story there is a later flavour of the Digitized by Microsoft® 4i8 The Hudson River delightful conservative life of old country families, with traditions of wholesome living and hospitality to bal- ance the inborn thrift of a race whose forebears wrested their acres with pain and sweat of brow from the abounding wilderness. Modern Fishkill. is generally known-as a place where brick-makers nourish a perennial strike and where hat factories abound. . It is stated with authority, however, that the idea of associating bricks with hats did not. originate in Fishkill. Carthage lies about four miles to the north of Fish- kill Landing. It was formerly known as Low Point, to distinguish it from the High- Point — New Hamburg — two miles above. The latter village lies at the mouth of Wappenger's (or Wappingi's) Creek, so named from the Indians who once owned the land on the east shore from this vicinity south to the island of Manhattan. From this point is the best view of that projection upon the western shore that has borne from early colonial times the significant name of den Duyvel's Dans Kamer — the Devil's Dance Chamber. It is a rock, half an acre in extent (an island by courtesy), where formerly the Indians held their pow-wows. Here, with wild, savage ceremonies, the imaginative sons of the forest invoked their evil spirit. Under the lead of their raedicine-men they worked themselves to a frenzy with violent dances and chanted invoca- tions. According to the belief of the Dutch skippers. Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Fishkill to Poughkeepsie 421 the devil appeared here to his votaries and set them on when any particularly atrocious deed was to be accomplished. The crew of Peter Stuyvesant, on pass- ing this place in ascending the river, were " horribly frightened by roystering devils," if we may believe the sober narrative of Knickerbocker. The traditions re- lating to this miniature island commenced when Hen- drlck Hudson made his voyage of discovery, and have reached quite to the present day, for there are many young men — not to mention maidens — ^who would hesitate long before venturing to spend the lonely hours of night in a solitary vigil on the Dans Kamer. For some reason not yet fathomed the spectre of Kidd rises wherever there is a remarkable rock or cove on the river bank. Kidd's Rock appears on " Kings- land's" Point at Tarry town, and again in the High- lands. A futile attempt to discover a portion of his treasure in a sunken wreck off the foot of the Dunder- berg has already been alluded to, and the Dans Kamer has been the scene of one or more similar endeavours to possess the Spanish gold pieces with which he was supposed to have recklessly planted the shores near which he may have sailed. But it is necessary to put away the childish things of superstition and credulity before entering a city long devoted to the work of disseminating knowledge. Men that the nation has delighted to honour passed their schooldays at the old Poughkeepsie Collegiate School, that received its charter in 1836. It afterwards Digitized by Microsoft® 422 The Hudson River became the Riverview Academy, the change of name corresponding with the removal from College Hill, the old site, to Riverview. The Eastman College, devoted to the work of preparing young men for business, has also been long established and is widely known; but to a great many thousands of educated women all over the world Poughkeepsie means " Vassar." When Matthew Vassar conceived the idea of doing something of public value with his wealth, he hit at first upon the plan of erecting a monument. It should be a thing to look and wonder at, something to com- memorate the most important event in the history of the river, namely, its discovery. He would build a rrionument to Henry Hudson. Some one suggested PoUopel's Island as the proper location for such a work, and Mr. Vassar, full of the project, announced it in the local papers. To his disappointment no one so much as spoke of it, and he then resolved to give to the world a greater and worthier monument than he at first imagined. So the first college in the world to be devoted exclusively to the higher education of women was founded. It solved in the only practical way a question that had been fruitlessly discussed for years. Through all the ages there had been exception- ally favoured women who had been specially trained, in the way that men were trained, and had left such records of intellectual achievement that the world gen- erally regarded them as peculiar creatures, excessively endowed. There was always, in the minds of the ma- Digitized by Microsoft® Fishkill to Poughkeepsie 423 jority even of educated men, a doubt whether the whole fabric of social life would not go to pieces if women were granted equal intellectual advantages with men, even supposing their brains could stand the strain. To meet such objections the only effectual reply must come in the way of an object-lesson, and this lesson Vassar College has furnished. It is situated two miles east of the city, on an ele- vation of several hundred feet, though it is not seen TOMPKINS COVE from the river. To offer here a mere catalogue of its extensive buildings, or such a meagre list of its advan- tages as our space permits, would serve no purpose. Its fame has gone out through all the world, and the lessons it has taught have not all been included in its regular curriculum of studies. Matthew Vassar was born in England in 1792 and was brought to America when four years old. He was Digitized by Microsoft® 424 The Hudson River consequently sixty-nine years of age when Vassar Col- lege was incorporated in 1861. At the old Huguenot village of New Paltz, on the opposite side of the river from Poughkeepsie, is situ- ated the State Normal School, and here recently a number of young women from Cuba have been prepar- ing for educational work in their own lately liberated land. Perhaps no writer who has lived on the Hudson has linked so really a generation that has passed with the men of to-day as John Bigelow, — author, editor, man of affairs, representative of his countrymen both at home and abroad. Mr. Bigelow, born in 181 7, had taken an active part in the world's work and had made a reputation in letters before many of the men now before the public had seen the light. He was a partner of William Cullen Bryant in the ownership of the New York Evening Post in 1849, ^^"^ ^^^ i^^ man- aging editor till called by Lincoln in 1861 to represent the United States in France. He was afterwards Sec- retary of State for New York and filled other important offices. A member of the Chamber of Commerce, the biographer of Bryant and of Franklin, trustee under Samuel J. Tilden's will of several million dollars for the proposed New York Public Library, and the editor of Tilden's speeches, Mr. Bigelow's story is one of many and varied activities, and his personality has attracted the friendship of the most distinguished men of his times. He began his life at Maiden, N. Y., and Digitized by Microsoft® Fishkill to Poughkeepsie 425 finally retired to his delightful home near the shore of the Hudson. There is an Indian legend connected with the name of Poughkeepsie, which is said to be derived from the Mohegan word apo-keep-sinck — " a safe and pleas- ant harbour." Between the rocky bluffs called Slange Klippe and Call Rock, the Fall Kill flowed into a bay near which was formed the earliest nucleus of the vil- lage. The Indian legend, giving a plausible genesis to the name apo-keep-sinck, is to the effect that a Pequod warrior, being captured by some Delawares and condemned to torture, was offered his liberty if he would renounce his own tribe and become a mem- ber of theirs. He rejected the proposition and was bound to a tree for sacrifice, when a sliriek from a tliicket startled the executioners. A young girl leaped before them and implored his life. She was a captive Pequod, with the turtle on her bosom, and the young chief was her affianced. The Delawares consulted, when suddenly the war-whoop of some fierce Hurons made them snatch their arms for defence. The maiden severed the thongs that bound her lover, but in the deadly conflict that ensued they were separated, and a Huron chief carried off the captive as a trophy. Her affianced con- ceived a bold design for her rescue, and proceeded immediately to execute it. In the character of a wizard he entered the Huron camp. The maiden was sick, and her captor employed the wizard to prolong her life until he should satisfy his revenge upon Uncas, her uncle, the great chief of the Mohegans. They eluded the vigilance of the Hurons, fled at night, with swift feet, towards the Hudson, and in the darkness shot out upon its bosom, in a light canoe, followed by bloodthirsty pursuers. The strong arm of the young Pequod paddled his beloved one safely to a deep, rocky nook near the mouth of the Winnakee, Digitized by Microsoft® 426 The Hudson River concealed her there, and with a few friendly Dela wares, whom he had secured by a shout, he fought, conquered, and drove off the Huron warriors. The sheltered nook where the maiden lay was a safe harbour for her and the brave Pequod, and his friends joy- fully confirmed its title of Apo-keep-Sinck. Should there be any so skeptical as to question this ingenious tale, he must be allowed to cherish his doubt unchallenged, for, unfortunately, there are no docu- ments by which it may be verified. It was a long time afterwards, quite near the close of the seventeenth century, that the Dutch settled Poughkeepsie. They not only discovered the little safe harbour, but contrived more than twenty ways to spell it, ultimately choosing the most difficult. Near the spot where the Indians were supposed to have landed, Baltus Van Kleeck built a stone house in the year 1705. This house stood till after the Revolution, and was used by the Legislature of New York after the burning of Kingston. About 1835 it was torn down. Poughkeepsie was incorporated as a city in 1854. It early became the centre for the trade of Dutchess County, which, it must be confessed, was at first but meagre; but it was also connected by the Dutchess turnpike with Sharon, Conn., and thence with Litch- field, and over this line the stages and market waggons travelled with profitable frequency. Mr. Joel Benton, long a resident of Poughkeepsie, has written concerning its early history : In colonial days few were the people here; but they were a bright and stirring handful. It seems as if every man counted Digitized by Microsoft® Fishkill to Poughkeepsie 427 as ten. ... I suppose it need not now be counted strange that the strong mixture of Dutch and English settlers, with a few Huguenots, which finally made Dutchess County, were not a little divided between Tory and Whig inclinations. Around Poughkeepsie, and in its aUied towns stretching between the Hudson River and the Connecticut line, there was much strife. Gov. George Clinton in his day ruled in the midst of much tumult and turbulence; but he held the reins with vigour, in spite of kidnappers or critics. When the British burned King- ston he prorogued the Legislature to Poughkeepsie, which still served as a "safe harbour." As the Revolution progressed, the Tory faction was weakened, either by suppression or surrender. It was in the Poughkeepsie Court House that, by one vote, after a Homeric battle, the colony of New York consented to become a part of the American Republic, which consent was practically necessary to its existence. . . . Poughkeepsie honoured, in May, 1824, the arrival of Lafayette. . . . Daniel Webster has spoken in her Court House; and Henry Clay, in 1844, when a presidential candidate, stopped for a reception. And it is said that, by a mere accident, she just missed contributing a name to the list of Presidents of the United States. The omitted candidate was Nathaniel P. Tal- madge. He could have had the Vice-Presidency, so the story goes, in 1840; but would not take it. If he had accepted it he would have gone into history, not merely as United States Sena- tor from New York and afterwards Governor of Wisconsin Terri- tory, but as President in John Tyler's place. In 1844, the New York State fair was held here, somewhere east of what is now Hooker Avenue. It was an occasion thought important enough then to be pictured and reported in the London Illustrated News. Two years after, the telegraph wires were put up in this city, before they had yet reached the city of New York. Considering the fact that Professor S. F. B. Morse, the telegraph inventor, had his residence here, this inci- dent was not wholly inappropriate. Professor Morse's home was called Locust Grove, and lay a couple of miles to the south of the city. It Digitized by Microsoft® 428 The Hudson River should not be forgotten that before he had made his great reputation as an inventor he was widely known as an artist. To him the American Academy of De- sign owed its first impulse. It is said that his summer home at Locust Grove was connected by telegraphic wires with all prominent points upon the American continent. Not far below Locust Grove is the famous ferry where for many years the Milton horse-boat plied to and fro across the river. At the eastern end of the ferry, in the old war times, dwelt the blacksmith and jack-of-all-trades, Theophilus Anthony. There, at his forge, he worked over the mammoth chain that was used to obstruct the river at Fort Montgomery. He gave what assistance he could to the patriot army, and it may well be believed that a strong and willing arm and a good forge found plenty of occupation; but retribution came when Vaughan's ships passed up the river with the torch. The smithy and mill were among the first places to be laid in ashes, and the smith him- self was carried a captive to the most detestable prison- ship that history has made a record of — the filthy and disease-saturated Jersey. Past the middle of the nine- teenth century the horse-boats at Milton and Coxsac- kie ran, the only survivors of an obsolete class. North of Poughkeepsie the river is spanned by the fragile-looking cantilever bridge, that was commenced in 1873, but abandoned and the work not again re- sumed till 1886. Three years later it was completed Digitized by Microsoft® Fishkill to Poughkeepsie 429 by the Union Bridge Company. The bridge is over twelve thousand feet long — about two and a half miles — and at the centre is one hundred and sixty-five feet clear above the river. Its cost was over three million dollars. The purpose for which the Poughkeepsie Bridge was built, it was understood, was to place Penn- sylvania coal in New England by a direct route, and it was owned and controlled by the Philadelphia & Read- ing Railroad. This arrangement, it was thought, would preclude the possibility of dictation of prices by any intermediate company. But the original purpose was defeated, if not lost sight of, when the ownership of the bridge was acquired by another company. For seven years past the river at Poughkeepsie has been the scene of one of the gayest and most popular of all the great annual features of college athletics. There the regatta of the Intercollegiate Rowing Asso- ciation is held every June, and over one of the finest straightaway courses in the world the eager crews from six great universities contend for the champion- ship. The crowds of spectators generally cross the river to Highland Station, where observation trains on the West Shore Road are in waiting to receive them. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XXVI Sports and Industries A BRIEF commentary on riparian pastimes and industries seems to be necessary to complete the story of the river. A reference, at least, to these matters will be permitted, if not demanded, by the reader. One recalls in this connection the fam- ous delivery of a well-known critic concerning a popu- lar book: " If you like this sort of a book, this is the sort of a book you like." If one cares for ice-boating, fishing, and kindred occupations, this is the sort of a subject that he cares for; but, realising that the con- verse is also true, we frankly re-echo the advice given by Mrs. Stowe, in the preface to a chapter on New England theology, " If the reader is not interested in the subject of this chapter, he is invited to skip it." We have already spoken of the intercollegiate races that for nearly a decade have enlivened the waters about Poughkeepsie and have drawn each year a mul- titude of enthusiastic spectators. But it is not only at summer time that the waters offer a field for exciting contests of strength or skill. The upper reaches of the river become in winter the theatre of sports that recall 430 Digitized by Microsoft® Sports and Industries 431 the tales that are told of the vigorous generation in- habiting that region in old colonial days. We have read how, in the time of Volckert Douw — recorder, mayor, vice-president of the first Provincial Congress, judge, Indian commissioner, and what not — ■ the ice on the rr^er in front of his house at Wolven-' hoek was the race- course upon which the speed of rival horses was matched in many an exciting contest. There the great and fashionable world of Albany and Kingston, we may suppose, entered into that exhilarat- ing pastime with a zest that belonged to a simpler phase of life. It is a trite reflection that the fathers enjoyed their pleasures more heartily, having fewer to enjoy. There is a story told of a dinner given by Douw to Red Jacket, the Indian chief, at which were present not only a number of his fellow-redskins, but a few prominent white men, with General Schuyler at their head. There was plenty of good cheer, the peace pipe circulated, and it may be that something more ex- hilarating was not lacking, for after awhile the Gen- eral and his host became engaged in an eager discussion upon the relative merits of two horses, one the mount upon which Schuyler had ridden from Albany and the other a famous ra ;e -horse. Sturgeon, that was the pride of Douw's stable. Of course, the Indian guests pricked up their ears, for an Indian, drunk or sober, loves nothing so well as a horse-race. There seem to have been obstacles enough in the way of a race at that moment. It was night and the sky was overcast, while Digitized by Microsoft® 432 The Hudson River from recent rain the ice was in a sloppy condition. But neither white nor red men were incHned to stand at obstacles. At a hint from one of the disputants, red- skin and negro servants in a crowd made for the river, where in a short time they marked and cleared a course across and down stream, lighting the way with torches and lanterns. Peter Van Loan, the overseer, was master of ceremonies, and King Charles, a famous jockey in his day, rode Sturgeon. The bets were large, Schuyler having backed his own horse heavily, and the excitement was intense as the contestants went flying down the course between the rows of flaring lights and shouting spectators. When old Sturgeon came in first, we may hope that Douw concealed his satisfaction and Schuyler his chagrin, since both were true-blue sportsmen of the old school, who could take good or ill fortune and give no sign. After a century and a half we find that the old spirit has not died out. Still the ice-decked river is the scene of many a winter carnival. Horses of famous pedigrees, sharp-shod and with nerves tingling in an atmosphere like an electric bath, have literally flung distance to the winds over those crystal courses, where, in summer, the boats tack lazily from shore to shore. ^ Even more exciting than the horse-races are the con- tests of ice-boats, for which the upper Hudson, espe- cially in the neighbourhood of Tivoli and Hyde Park, is famous. An ice-boat is to an ordinary boat what the Empire State Express is to a way freight. It does not Digitized by Microsoft® Sports and Industries 433 sail, it flies, reminding one of the Chinaman's famous de- scription of his first toboggan shde, — ' ' Phwt ! ! ! Walkee back two milee." At a speed of something approach- ing a mile a minute, a zero temperature is very much ICE-BOAT FLEET NEAR HYDE PARK like a keen-edged sword; it will certainly suggest "a dividing asunder of the joints and marrow," unless the sailor on that perilous plain has taken the precaution to swathe himself in as many garments as one of Knickerbocker's beswaddled Dutchmen, and is equipped ^with a circulatory system that can bid defiance' to a nipping air. 28 Digitized by Microsoft® 434 The Hudson River Not infrequently wreck and disaster add a spice of uncertainty to the ice-boatman's career. There is a fair percentage of danger to be encountered, sufficient to insure the sportsman against any risk of ennui. Sometimes an air-hole, invisible half a mile away, is an imminent condition in thirty seconds ; sometimes an unmanageable craft crosses a racer's bows, or a sudden squall keels her over. The crew of a boat that is going at a rate of speed that would put the cannon- ball flight of a wild duck to shame may escape with life and limb the shock of arrested motion, but that will be because the ways of Providence are past find- ing out. /^ It is a matter of course (but no less a subject for congratulation) that the passion for skating has not yet died out. The army of those who every year glide and stumble, stagger and pirouette on the frozen face of the waters still must be reckoned by the thousands. Nor can we imagine it otherwise as long as the Hudson valley is largely inhabited by descendants of those who brought to the new countr)'^ the tastes and habits that had been fostered for generations in the sturdy little land of dykes and canals. , Another form of winter sport, that frequently assumes the careful gravity of business, is ice fishing. There are still a number of sportsmen as well as pro- fessional fishermen, though not as many as formerly, who engage in this occupation. The solitary fisherman sets his lines through holes in the ice, fixing to each one Digitized by Microsoft® Sports and Industries 435 a tell-tale, sometimes in the form of a flag, that by a simple mechanical arrangement indicates when a fish has been hooked. With a sled to carry his parapher- nalia and a cube of frozen salt pork for his luncheon, such a fisherman may skate ten or twelve miles to find a favourable ground, and the fewer his companions the more he is to be congratulated. But usually the pro- fessionals are gregarious in their habits, which is neces- sary from the methods they employ. A long fissure, cut at right angles with the current of the river, admits the insertion of a weighted net, the upper edge of which is secured to transverse sticks above the open- ing. Such fishing is serious business and not likely to conduce to levity. The lines of the net freeze rigid as steel rods, the icy water soaks the thickest gloves till they are sodden and cold, the very fish that are drawn out of that dark and mysterious current under the ice are congealed — stiff as stakes — the moment they are exposed to the atmosphere, and to handle them is like handling pieces of ice. In the face of these discom- forts the winter fisherman, slapping his legs to restore lost circulation, moving stiffly because of the rheumat- ism contracted last year, or nursing the cracked and bleeding fingers that were frozen last week, is as cheer- ful a citizen as circumstances will permit; but it is a far cry from the frozen river as he sees it, a field of labour and a scene of drudgery, to the glittering, joy- ous plain that the well clad and nourished ice-boatman beholds. Digitized by Microsoft® 436 The Hudson River ^ As every one knows, the most important fisheries on the Hudson are those where the shad is taken. There has long been a rivalry between Hudson River and Chesapeake shad, New York and Maryland each cla:im- ing precedence, and finally agreeing only upon one point — that beside those two there are no others. From the mouth of the river almost to the head of navigation, as soon as winter closes, the boats of the fishermen put out to set the shad poles and get all in readiness for the approaching season. From the vicin- ity of Fort Lee, Piermont, Croton, Poughkeepsie, and many another favour able, point, they range themselves " in order serviceable ' ' and wait the advent of the van- guard of that unnumbered host that about the ist of April begins to move towards the headwaters of the river. The first "run" sends a quiver of excitement through the communities of fishers, and the news is telegraphed from New York to Albany. The news- papers herald the coming of the shad and the market- men display them with pride and expatiate upon their merits. At that time a multitude of the passengers re- turning from the Jersey shore to Manhattan by way of the upper ferries may be seen carrying mysterious newspaper packages, that emit a fishy odour. These are generally heads of families who have learned the advantage of buying their shad as they come fresh from the nets. The schools of fish ascend the river to spawn and are in prime condition during their upward migration, re- Digitized by Microsoft® Sports and Industries 437 turning in a few weeks so poor and thin that a prover- bial synonym for leanness and poverty is " the last run of shad." The Fish Commissioners have a shad station at Cats- kill where the weight and size of the fish taken, the MENDING NETS AT GARRISON preponderance of the roe over buck shad, and all other data for statistical reports are carefully noted. Mr. A. N. Cheney, State Fish Culturalist, wrote, in 1895, that: It is extremely doubtful, under the present law, and present manner of fishing the river, if the Hudson can be considered a self-sustaining shad river. The demand upon it grows with in- crease of population and improved facilities for shipping shad to a distance. It is not alone among the people living along the river that the shad find a market, but hundreds of miles of rail- ways act as distributing agents and take shad where formerly they were unknown. Since 1882, the United States Fish Com- mission has made large contributions of shad fry and eggs to the Hudson, and these contributions have been important factors in keeping the supply up to the present figures. The "contributions" of shad fry for restocking the Digitized by Microsoft® 438 The Hudson River river, from all sources, have in fifteen years aggregated probably riot less than a hundred million. Years ago the shad used to run up the river to Baker's Falls, nearly fifty miles above Troy, and the farmers came from distant points to camp at the Falls and catch the fish to salt down; But the build- ing of the Troy dam put a stop to that industry. The statistics for a recent year, published by the State Fish Commissioners, show that in three thousand five hundred nets over a million shad were caught. During the two months or less that the shad season lasts the fishing stations are scenes of picturesque ac- tivity, retaining, perhaps, more suggestion of the old distinctive river life than anything else that we can witness to-day. The toiling groups of roughly clad rivermen, handling and shipping the fish, the midget fieets of clustering boats, and the endless labour of spreading, drying, and repairing the nets, are details of a quaint and fascinating picture. The greatest number of nets operated are at Alpine and Fort Lee on the Jersey shore, and at Nyack and Ossining in New York. The striped bass, while caught for market, is more of a fish for sportsmen,, for he takes only live bait and makes a fight that will cause an angler's blood to leap. This fish is to be found as far as the brackish water runs. In the lower part of the river for many years the prac- tice of fishing for bass in the spring fell into disuse. Only when the water began to be cold in the autumn Digitized by Microsoft® Sports and Industries 439 did Piscator, equipped with rod and reel and store of shrimp or "shedder," seek some fortunate spot, by bearings which may have been transmitted from an earUer generation, there to make long casts and in- dulge in large anticipations. But a few years ago some one recollected that in the old days the best time to fish for bass was in the spring. Two or three fish of phenomenal size rewarded the anglers who were hardy enough to brave public opinion, and from that day the striped bass has had a troubled life. Long ago the Indians found the bays and shallows of the river prolific breeding-grounds for oysters, and some of the tribes are said to have used the bivalves as one of their chief means of sustenance. Their frequent shell heaps, some of them not yet obliterated, bear witness to the favour in which this epicurean morsel was held by the aborigines. During the early years of New York's history, the poorer people depended largely upon the plentiful oyster supply as one of the cheapest varieties of food they could obtain, but now the supply is at best meagre and the oyster industry decadent. Within comparatively recent times it was a common sight to see little fleets of boats, their occu- pants wielding the long, ungainly rakes with which their spoil was detached from the river-bed and brought aboard; but that spectacle is growing yearly less familiar. The giant of the upper river for many years was the sturgeon, a monster of uncouth appearance, whose Digitized by Microsoft® 440 The Hudson River coarse flesh, if properly cooked, is not unpalatable. This fish is not extinct, though not nearly as plentiful as formerly, when its consumption at the State capital gave it the popular name of Albany beef. The stur- geon attains a length of five or six and (exceptionally) eight feet, while the weight of a single specimen is said sometimes to exceed four hundred and fifty pounds. When sturgeon were more plentiful than now, they were caught for the oil, that has been esteemed equal to the best sperm. The leap of the sturgeon, immor- talised by Drake in The Culprit Fay, was a frequent sight a generation ago, and it was worth a day's jour- ney to see that quivering bulk pierce the surface, a living projectile, and, describing a parabola of eight or ten feet, fling a rainbow arch of spray into the sunlight. The herring have also frequented the waters of the Hudson at intervals, and perch, white-fish, snappers (young bluefish), and a multitude of the smaller fry, are familiar to every American boy who is in training for the Presidency. Within the past fifteen years the Fish Gorrunissioners have put thousands of salmon and otMr fry in the river, and occasionally fine specimens of varieties thus introduced have been taken, while it is expected that the future will more than justify the outlay, but in general it is acknowledged that this great volume of water flowing seaward with slow gradations from the freshness of a mountain stream to the saltness of the Digitized by Microsoft® Sports and Industries 441 ocean is no longer a fisherman's river. One can hardly believe that the schools of fish have been de- pleted by the industry of the fishermen. By the ordinary process of multiplication, if unchecked by other untoward influences, the supply of fish in such a river must always be in excess of the number caught with hook and line. But there are other pernicious influences, among them the pollution which results from sewage in the vicinity of large towns. There can be little doubt that fish are poisoned by the fouling of the element in which they live. It may be too that the constant accretion of cinders and ashes upon the bed of the channels has prevented the development of those forms of life upon which the fish depend for food. That this view is not entirely fanciful the reader will readily see if he will take paper and pencil, and with such data as he may have at hand calculate the num- ber of steamers that have dumped their ashpans in the river in the past threescore years. A million tons would fall far short of the probable deposit. The restocking of the waters will only be an efficient remedy in places where the fry will not be subject to the disadvantages we have suggested and others of equal importance. It is well known that many, if not all, of the fish that frequent the Hudson, or any large river, run into the smaller streams to spawn. The practical closing of many such streams by means of dams, where no fish-ways are provided, must of neces- sity militate greatly against the natural increase. Digitized by Microsoft® 442 The Hudson River Under favourable conditions this increase would be enormous. A single female tomcod, for instance, will produce fifty thousand eggs or more. Two hundred and eighty-eight thousand such eggs would just fill a quart measure. But in order to secure the develop- ment of even a small percentage of all this embryonic life it is necessary to have undisturbed, fairly pure, and abundant water. At the hatcheries of the State Commission it has been found that the shad fry, if they are to be raised at all, must never be handled even with the nets that may be used in the rearing of young trout or salmon. The ideal pond for hatching purposes is one that has been dry for months, so that all life in it is destroyed, and then filled by seepage, thus excluding enemies that would otherwise destroy the adolescent shadlings. It will be readily seen that the natural conditions of the Hudson and its tributaries at the present day are not conducive to the increase of delicate fish. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XXVII Rondout and Kingston THE name Rondout signifies a fort or earthwork; it was first applied to the Dutch post near Esopus River, and afterwards to the settled land in the neighbourhood. The word Esopus, it is said, was derived from seepus, a river, and was first given to the Indians dwelling upon the banks of the river that afterwards bore that name. The Indians whose settlements extended through Ulster and Greene counties belonged to the Mingua nation, that Leather- stocking was fond of referring to as Mingos. The Minnesinks, one of the largest clans, were originally dwellers on a minnis, or island, in the upper waters of the Delaware. The Mohegan Indians lived upon the upper shore of the Hudson. Northward of Esopus, on the west shore, the land was claimed by the Mohawks, who ruled, the forests as far north as Champlain and through the valley of the Mohawk River. They were to the more peaceable tribes of the south as a hawk is to a heron, being- fierce, revengeful, and cruel almost beyond conception. Their occasional forays into the 443 Digitized by Microsoft® 444 The Hudson River lands of their neighbours were events to be anticipated with dread and remembered with horror. Hidden under a modern post-office designation we freqviently find half a dozen earlier place-names, as the geologist discovers in a river-bed successive deposits. "I am surprised to find," said a gentleman of an en- quiring mind, " that Esopus had at one time a larger trade than Albany; yet I do not find Esopus on my map or on the time-table. Where was it?" Esopus has disappeared from the map, as have Wiltwyck, Atkarkarton, and Rondout, but all these old names, that are folded down and put away, like old garments in camphor and lavender, are covered by the corporate body of Kingston. Two hundred and fifty years of eventful history be- long to this very Dutch borough, where Ten Broeks and Van Gaasbeeks, Schoonmakers and Swartwouts, sat under the spiritual rainistrations of Domine Blom, or joined with that excellent and valiant divine in driving away the Indian invaders that occasionally swooped down on the almost defenceless settlement. But truth compels the admission that the first notable proprietor of land at Kingston (or Atkarkarton) was not a Dutch- man. This is on the authority of the Rev. I. Mega- polensis, the third stated minister of the Collegiate Dutch Church of New York, who, in 1657, wrote: Thomas Chambers and a few others removed to Atkarkarton or Esopus, an exceedingly beautiful land, in 1652, and began the actual settlement of Ulster County; it was also known among the savages as " the pleasant land." Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Rondout and Kingston 447 This Thomas Chambers, for services rendered the country during Indian troubles, was rewarded in the time of Governor Lovelace by having his house (near Kingston) erected into the Manor of Foxhall. This grant was confirmed by Dongan in 1686. The name of Foxhall subsequently disappeared. The Dutch church of Kingston had a settled pastor as early as 1660, in which year Domine Hermanus Blom commenced his labours. His salary was payable in wheat, and his accounts for the same are still pre- served in the county records. The name Wiltwyck signified the Indian (or wild) district, yet even then the little church, worshipping in a rude building of logs, had a membership of sixteen souls. Two other edifices succeeded each other on the ground where the first one stood, and from the tower of the last the Hol- land bell, imported in 1794 from Amsterdam, used formerly to' ring three times a day to notify the good people of their meal hours. In those far-ofE days sober and respectable people did things in an orderly and customary way. It required unheard-of temerity to break away from the honoured traditions of a neighbourhood, and breakfast, dine, or sup at unheard- of hours. The church sanctioned the established order and lent its bell for the promotion of sobriety and regular habits. A writer in 1826 notes a modern in- novation when he says that "at present the town clock regulates the kitchen." A custom observed among the fathers of the church Digitized by Microsoft® 448 The Hudson River deserves to be kept in remembrance, like a quaint Dutch picture. Between the sounding of the first and last bell for church service the grey-haired sexton hobbled from door to door, carrying an iVory-headed cane, with which he rapped loudly three times and cried, "Church time!" For this he was paid by each householder a yearly fee of two shillings. Notices of all kinds, whether of funerals, weddings, or christenings, were given to the sexton, who took them to the clerk ; and the latter, having a bamboo rod with a split end kept for that very purpose, stuck the paper in the slit and passed it up to the domine, who was perched overhead in a half-globe pulpit, canopied by a sounding board. " The minister wore (out of the pulpit) a black silk mantle, cocked hat, and a neck- band with linen cambrick beffy on his breast; for cravats were then uncanomcal." The first psalm, we are informed, " used to be set with moveable figures, suspended on three sides of the pulpit, so that all, as they entered, might prepare for the lofty notes. " At the end of the service the deacons took the contribution bags, which were fixed on the ends of poles, and made their rounds to collect the coppers of the congregation. It is a significant fact that besides the bag there was an alarm bell on the end of each pole, as though to notify the soundest sleepers that the sermon had come to an end. Tokens, stamped by the church and redeemable at stated times, were received instead of money, which was a scarce Digitized by Microsoft® Rondout and Kingston 449 commodity at a time when the government still legal- ised the payment of "seawant" or wampum for debts. At the communion table church members always wore black, and invariably stood to receive the sacrament. The Kingston church is particularly worthy of notice from the fact that it occtipied a unique position, being an independent church as late as 1808. For a century and a half it had rejected the jurisdiction of the Gen- eral Synod of the Dutch Church in America. The ministers had been called from Europe, and an indi- vidual charter was granted in 17 19 by the British Crown. Besides these Dutch and Huguenot settlers, it is said that a few Irish found their way into Kingston at an early day; however that may be, we know that not the least energetic and successful of her citizens to-day may boast of forbears that may have hung their shields in Tara's halls. In Dr. Miller's History of New York, published in London in 1695, there were shown the plans of three places on the Hudson River. New Amsterdam was the first of these in importance ; Albany (Fort Orange), the second; and Kingston, third. This same order is preserved to-day. It is a fact to remember that, in expressing her choice for a site for the national capital, New York voted in favour of Kingston. Ulster County, formed in 1683, lay between Moodna or Murderer's Creek on the south, and Sawyer's, the line dividing from Greene County, on the north. It Digitized by Microsoft® 450 The Hudson River borders the west bank of the river and .embraced at that time all of the important settlements between the Highlands and Saugerties. The trading post of Ron- dout, one of the very earliest to be established, ante- dated the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth by six years. The Indian name, Ponckhockie, is still retained to designate a section of the town. The Rondout and Esopus settlers were driven away by the Indians prior to 1640, about which time a new attempt to colonise was made. In 1655, there Was another exodus of the whites, and then Governor Stuyvesant came in person from New York and staked out ground for a new village, leaving twenty-four sol- diers to protect the place. The land chosen was a free gift from the Indians to the " Grand Sachem . . . to grease his feet, as he had undertaken so long and painful a journey." New Indian troubles arose, owing to a supply of fire-water that some red men received in payment for husking corn for the before-mentioned Thomas Cham- bers in 1659. One of the recipients, during the revel which followed, fired a gun. A party of white men, who were possibly not too sober themselves, construed the discharge of the firearm to mean the commence- ment of an attack, upon which they fired upon a party of the Indians, killing several of them. In retaliation the lately peaceable redskins took thirteen prisoners, and, soon gathering a force of five hundred warriors, surrounded the fort, so that no one durst leave it for Digitized by Microsoft® Rondout and Kingston 451 three weeks. Crops were burned, cattle slaughtered, and houses destroyed. Finally, a number of captives were put to death by torture. This brought the Gov- ernor again to Kingston, but the Indians dispersed before his arrival. A truce was secured, through the intervention of other Indians, and two prisoners were finally restored. Then, possessed by a fatuous confidence that the enemy had experienced a change of heart, the people of Wiltwyck (Kingston) "left the gates of their fort open day and night." In the summer of 1663, they paid dearly for their temerity. In June of that year, having come to the fort in great numbers, under pre- tence of trading, the Indians made a sudden attack while most of the men were outside of the walls. Thomas Chambers, whose foolish bestowal of brandy had brought on the original trouble, aided by the mili- tant valour of the Dutch domine, led his companions in such a desperate fight that they succeeded in driv- ing the invaders from the fort, but not before eighteen of the whites had been killed. Forty-two prisoners were carried away by the savages, and all of the newly established farms and bouweries were destroyed. This foray led to a war which did not end till the Ulster Indians were nearly destroyed. The expedi- tion which concluded the war was led by a man named Krygier, a burgomaster in New Amsterdam. A treaty was made by Stuyvesant with the remnant of the tribe, by the terms of which they abandoned the river Digitized by Microsoft® 452 The Hudson River settlements to the Dutch, retaining permission to trade at Rondout "provided but three canoes came at a time, preceded by a flag of truce." New Paltz was settled by the Huguenots in 1677. Some people of this faith had come to Kingston in 1660 and settled there. Among them was a man named Louis Dubois, whose wife, Catherine, had been one of those captured by the savages. Word came to Dubois by a friendly Indian that the prisoners had been taken to a certain place that he could guide the white men to. He directed them to follow Rondout Creek to the Wallkill and to leave that for a third stream, where the encampment of their enemies would be found. The statement that the Indians intended putting their prisoners to death urged the rescuers to greater haste if possible. Dubois and his companions, guided by the savage, pushed through the wilderness for a distance of twenty-six miles, and though they were burdened with the heavy arms of the period, besides knapsacks and provisions, we do not xead that they paused till they were in the neighbourhood of the encampment. While they were stealing up, niaking a reconnoissance previous to the attack, Dubois suddenly came across an Indian, who was slain by his sword before he could alarm his companions. The attack was delayed until evening, but the dogs, running at large, betrayed them. The Indians recognised them as "white man's dogs," and fled in consternation, having evidently had enough Digitized by Microsoft® Rondout and Kins^ston 453 of Wiltwyck fighting qualities. Dubois saw his wife fleeing along with the savages and lustily shouted her RIVEK. SCEN'E — CATSKILL (y. IV. Casilear^ 1859. From the Stuart CoileciioM, Lenox Library) name, whereupon she and her companions turned back and were welcomed with great joy by their rescuers. The discovery had been made none too soon. Cath- erine Dubois had already been placed on a funeral pyre of wood, preparatory to being burned, and had Digitized by Microsoft® 454 The Hudson River evidenced her Christian fortitude by singing hymns that pleased her captors so that they demanded a repetition of them. It was no new thing for them to hear a warrior sing his death-song in the face of his enemies, but for a woman to show such courage may have excited their admiration, and the strange sweet- ness of the unusual melodies she sang no doubt arrested their attention. It was the knowledge gained upon this expedition, so the story goes, that led the Huguenots to settle upon the banks of the Wallkill, for which they obtained a deed from the Indians in consideration of forty kettles, the same number of adzes and shirts, seven hundred strings of beads, four quarter-casks of wine, and other goods. This tract, twelve miles in extent, reached from the Hudson River back to the Shawangunk Moimtains. There is an interesting tradition to the effect that the hymn sang by Mrs. Dubois on the occasion just mentioned was the 137th in the Dutch collection, which is translated thus : By Babel's stream the captives sate And wept for Zion's hapless fate; Useless their harps on willows hung While foes required a sacred song. The village of New Paltz is a delightful reminiscence, a legacy of old habitations and simple customs, be- queathed by generations of God-fearing folk to our restless time as a salutary reminder of pristine peace Digitized by Microsoft® Rondout and Kingston 455 and contentment. But about the old Huguenot vil- lage, especially since the establishment of the State Normal School, there has grown a modern town, with modern houses and modern ways. We admire the sagacity of the French exiles who discovered and appreciated the rare desirability of the Wallkill valley. It is still a region of dairy farms and vineyards — a land flowing with milk and honey, a land of corn and wine. Old Louis Dubois and his com- patriots were the fathers of a race that still retain many of the distinguishirig characteristics of the exiles who for conscience' sake sought in the wilderness their pro- mised land of liberty. It is said that so fine and free from animosity and greed has been the life of the people of New Paltz that previous to 1873 ^o lawyer ever found a permanent residence there. Johannes Nevius and others, in a report to the States-General in 1663, spoke feelingly of the deplorable massacre and slaughter of the good people of the beautiful and fruitful country of Esopus, recently committed by the barbarians after the premature and, for this state, in this conjuncture of time, wholly unpractical reduction of the mili- tary force of this province, which was notoriously and very ur- gently required to be completed and reinforced. Among the stories of the early settlers of Ulster County are many harrowing ones of captivity, with an occasional thrilling account of escape or rescue, but in general there is a dreadful sameness in the details. Now it is a Dutch family, now a Huguenot one — Digitized by Microsoft® 456 The Hudson River Lefever, Dubois, Schoonmaker, Osterhout, from Wilt- wyck or from Murderer's Creek, or the settlements that lay between. Down to the time of the Revolution the out-settlements of this region were much exposed to Indian attack. According to one of the numerous local legends of Ulster County, two men, Andresen and Osterhout, were taken by the Indians, but when within a single day's march of Niagara Andresen managed at night to work one of his arms free and subsequently removed his bonds. Then, with necessary stealthiness and caution, he succeeded in freeing his companion, and falling upon the sleeping Indians they killed all except two squaws, who escaped. Providing them- selves with the arms and provisions of their late capt- ors, they undertook the return journey of four or five hundred miles through the woods. Their lives were barely saved by the game they managed to shoot on the way, for weakened by hunger as well as by fatigue, at the end of seventeen days they staggered into their homes, weak but rejoicing at their almost miraculous escape. This occurred in 1776. The inauguration of George Clinton, the first Gov- ernor of the .State of New York, was proclaimed at Kingston, then the capital of the State, the election having taken place on the 30th of July, 1777. Only a little more than two months previous to that event, the convention which had drafted the constitution of the new State, adjourned, leaving power in the hands of a Committee of Safety. The Fourth Provincial Con- Digitized by Microsoft® Rondout and Kingston 457 gress, which met at White Plains, Westchester County, on the 9th of July, 1776, then accepting the Declara- tion of Independence, adjourned to Fishkill and sub- sequently to Kingston. The centennial celebration of Clinton's inauguration, held on July 30, 1877, at King- ston, was necessarily a celebration also of the vener- able house in which the deliberations of John Jay and his associates had been held. The previous year, 1876, had been the bi-centennial anniversary of the building of what has been known niodernly as the Old vSenate House. This building, that has so deep an historic interest, is long and low, constructed of stone and sup- plemented at a late period of its history by a "linto," or lean-to. It was erected in 1676 by Wessel Ten Broeck, a Westphalian, who, emigrating to America at an early age, was elected S chop per at Esopus and was a commissioner chosen to stiperintend the settlement of the Nieuw Dorp, including the villages of Hurley and Marbletown. Ten Broeck 's wife was a daughter of the Rev. Laur- entius Van Gaasbeek, by whom he had eight children, who are supposed to be the ancestors of all the Ten Broecks in the country. The well-known Knicker- bocker explanation of the derivation of the name of Ten Broeck was not relished by the descendants of that forceful ancestor. Wessel 's wife's name would make a telling title for a Dutch story or poem. Jacomyntie — how it suggests flax-white hair neatly quoiffed under a muslin cap, a Digitized by Microsoft® 458 The Hudson River well-filled, trim stomacher laced to the top, quilted petticoats with a neat vision of blue or red yarn stock- ings showing between it and the polished shoe-buckles. We seem to know that as Jacomyntie Ten Broeck stood in the doorway of that goodly stone house, there was in her round and pleasant face a consciousness of well- stocked larders and fruitful orchards, of cream in the dairy and butter in the crocks, and oily koeks on the ample shelves of the pantry. At a later day the old house, then one hundred and one years old, sheltered a notable company. There Robert R. Livingston, Pierre Van Cortlandt, Gou- verneur Morris, Colonel De Witt, Gansevoort, Scott, Ten Broeck, and others met to deliberate about the form of government to be adopted by New York State. There John Jay presented the draft of the constitution that was afterwards adopted at the old Bogardus Inn, at the corner of Maiden Lane and Fair Street in New York City. We quote from an article by Miss Margaret Win- slow, published in the New York Observer in 1883: Here, from time to time, have come the great men whom Kingston has either received or sent forth into pubHc life. Here General Armstrong, the boy hero of the Revolution, father-in- law of William B. Astor and ex-Secretary of War, lived in 1804, previous to his departure as Minister to the French Court, leav- ing a small marble fireplace, the first ever seen in Kingston, as a memorial of his residence; and here, last spring. General Arthur, the Republican candidate for Vice-President, bowed his tall head to escape collision with the time-honoured and smoke- begrimed rafters; and here we — the honoured Drs. Van Sant- Digitized by Microsoft® Rondout and Kingston 459 voord and Hoes, with the host and the writer — sat and discussed the history of Kingston; its first and second Indian wars, 1659 and 1661, and the burning of the fort, 1663 ; Stuyvesant's treaty of peace, 1661, at which period the wily savages ceded him the land on which the city now stands, "to grease his feet" in return for the compliment of his visit, on which occasion the renowned warrior changed the Dutch name of Esopus, or Groote Esopus, variously stated to be derived from the Latin fabulist and from a soft place, to Wiltwyck, or Wild man's village. The Dutch regained the town after its capture along with the Swedish possessions east of the Hudson in 1664, holding it, however, only for a very short time, as said one of my informants, adding thereto much of the intermediate history till its consolidation with Rondout and Wilbur into a city in 1872, and the building of the splendid new City Hall and Armory, the latter only just completed. There are many other buildings and several localities of special interest to those who love the mild antiquities of our brand-new country — the Academy, founded in 1774, in which De Witt Clin- ton and Thomas De Witt, Edward Livingston, Stephen Van Rens- selaer, and Abram Van Vechten received their early education; the stone Court House, built in 1818 upon the site of a much older one; and the First Dutch Church, organised August, 1659, by Rev. Harmanus Blom, sent from Holland as a candidate, and ordained by the Classis of Amsterdam, 1660. The fac-similes of signatures of the fifteen successors of Blom, carefully gathered by the venerable Dr. Hoes, and shown me at the close of our pleasant e veiling conversation, are sufficient guarantee that, from the first, Esopus — Wiltwyck — Kingston has been in the care of that blessed people "whose God is the Lord." William Beekman, from whom have sprung all who bear that respected name in the annals of New York, was Sheriff of Kingston up to the departure of Gov- ernor Lovelace from the colony, when he returned to New York. His son Henry Hved in Kingston, where he became Judge of Ulster County and a member of Digitized by Microsoft® 46o The Hudson River the Provincial Legislature. His daughter was the wife of Robert R. Livingston, and the mother of the distin- guished chancellor of that name, as well as of Janet, the wife of General Montgomery. The old Senate House was at one time occupied by Chancellor Living- ston and by General Armstrong, the "boy hero of the Revolution," who was afterwards United States Sena- tor and Secretary of War. Governor Clinton married Cornelia Tappen of King- ston, and their son was educated there. John Jay sat as the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York during the first term of that court at Kingston. Colonel Johannes Hardenbergh, a mem- ber of the Colonial Assembly, was a familiar character in Kingston, and on one occasion entertained Mrs. Washington, with Governor and Mrs. Clinton, at his home in Rosendale. He was a descendant of the pro- prietor of the great Hardenbergh Patent. The list of well-known men who have been associated with the history of this old town is a long and honourable one. Memorable in the annals of the Hudson, the de- struction of Kingston by fire occurred in the eventful year 1777. It was after the reduction of Forts Mont- gomery and Clinton, on the one occasion upon which the British forces penetrated the gateway of the High- lands into the upper river. Th3 chevaux-de-frise and other obstructions had been removed, the American shipping had gone up in a magnificent conflagration, and the way seemed at last open for the ships and sol- Digitized by Microsoft® Rondout and Kingston 461 diers of George III. to take possession of the region above West Point, either to create a diversion in favour of Burgoyne, then face to face with Gates near Sara- toga, or to co-operate with him according to agreement. Sir Henry Chnton did not proceed in person with the expedition up the river, but left the command to Gen- eral Vaughan and Sir James Wallace, who were ac- companied by a considerable number of troops, with a squadron of the lighter vessels of war. Putnam, near Fishkill, whither he had retreated, concerted immediately with Governor Clinton, who had escaped to New Windsor, to move northward with their hastily assembled forces to intercept and check the advance of the enemy. There is an admirable ring of courage in the note written at this time to the Council of Safety by Clinton: " I am persuaded, if the militia will join me, we can save the country from destruction and defeat the enemy's design of assisting the northern army." A new and definite evidence of this design had been strangely received by the Governor about the time of the penning of those words. The arrest of two per- sons coming from the direction of Fort Montgomery led to important developments. One of the twain, seeming to swallow something, was given an emetic, upon which a silver bullet was produced, but, being more nimble than his captors, he succeeded in dispos- ing of the morsel again in the same manner as before. He refused so energetically to be dosed a second time Digitized by Microsoft® 462 The Hudson River that the Governor threatened to have him hanged and his body cut open. He then yielded, and the bullet, again delivered, was found to enclose a paper bearing a note from Sir Henry Clinton to General Burgoyne: "Here we are (Fort Montgomery — Oct. 8th) and no- thing between us and Gates. I sincerely hope this little success of ours will facilitate your operations." The resolute postman did not escape the penalty of his mis- sion ; he was tried as a spy and sentenced to be hanged. The Governor pressed forward with what force he could hastily get together to protect Kingston if pos- sible, as that was then the seat of the State Legislature. He saw here and there at villages and hamlets, and even single residences on the river shore, marauding parties of British at work, their motions b)eing marked by fiaities and depredation, but he could not move rapidly enough to intercept them. When General Vaughan and his force landed from their vessels, a little body of about a hundred and fifty militia opposed them at Kingston, but these valiant defenders were soon overcome and put to flight. The invaders then marched to the village, whence the people and officials had for the most part fled at their ap- proach, and set fire to it at a number of points, having sacked it. A great quantity of stores collected there and nearly all of the principal dwellings and public buildings were consumed. An entertaining story is told by Lossing of the fright of some Dutchmen who were working in the Digitized by Microsoft® Rondout and Kingston 463 flats near Rondout and did not know of the ap- proach of the British till one of Vaughan's two attack- ing columns was actually upon them. They fled for their lives across the shallow water and into the fields on the other side, whence the labourers had very re- cently made their escape, leaving their farming imple- ments on the ground. One of the Dutchmen, in running blindly forward, stepped upon the teeth of a rake, whereupon, according to the time-honoured cus- tom of rakes when their teeth are stepped on, the handle sprang up and rapped him on the head. That was too much for overwrought nerves. Thinking that the enemy had overtaken him, the fugitive fell upon his knees, shouting, " I gifs up — I gifs up! Hurrah for KingShorge!" According to an estimate made by Sharpe, there stood in Kingston, after the conflagration, the stone walls of above forty of the strongly built Dutch houses, though the woodwork was entirely consumed. Among this number was the old Senate House, the roof and interior of which were absolutely destroyed, though the walls were uninjured. In common with several other fire- washed shells of the same class, it was afterwards repaired and occupied. The Hasbrouck mansion was similarly preserved, as were also the old academy building, the Schoonmaker mansion, and the Beekman house. It has been stated that Vaughan with great reluct- ance gave the order to burn the church, deciding to do Digitized by Microsoft® 464 The Hudson River it only as a matter of military duty. Whether this is or is not true, there is no doubt that to most Ameri- cans the burning of Kingston has always seemed a wanton act of barbarity on the part of troops' flushed with recent victory and unrestrained by authority. The smoke and flame spread consternation among the inhabitants of other villages, and fugitives from the destroyed town sought asylum among the hills and in remote places. The spectacle of Kingston burning must have moved with rage and pity the stout hearts of Putnam and Clinton, on opposite sides of the river, witnesses to a calamity they were powerless to avert. Clinton had used the utmost dispatch, but was two hours too late to interpose an effort to save the town. It is recorded that he had the spy, he of the silver bullet, brought forward and hanged to the limb of an apple tree in sight of Kingston, an act which we can hardly conceive to have afforded any satisfaction to one of his disposition and character. At Rhinebeck, Tivoli, and elsewhere the destruction was repeated on a smaller scale. Here a mansion and there a barn or a hay-rick added a flame to the general conflagration. The intention of the enemy was evi- dently to advance to Albany, which seemed doomed to share the fate of Kingston, and there to effect that conjunction with Burgoyne which was the object of the expedition. But Burgoyne was in no condition to co-operate with any army. The diversion had come too late. Almost Digitized by Microsoft® Rondout and Kinofston 465 simultaneously with the movements of Clinton and his subordinates on the Hudson, the forces of Burgoyne and Gates were in mortal conflict, and the decisive victory of the latter put a sudden end to Vaughan's advance. The State Legislature, in session at Kings- RIVER SCENE NEAR KINGSTON {Frotn a drawing- by the author) ton when the British approached, hastily dispersed, to reassemble afterwards at Albany. Kingston, the modern town, was incorporated in the year 1805. Its growth at first was slow. From the third place on the river in point of population, it had been struck down at a blow, its trade ruined, its build- ings destroyed, its prestige gone. To recover from such a crushing injury it was necessary that it should possess or develop some signal superiority in natural 30 Digitized by Microsoft® 466 The Hudson River or artificial facilities for manufacture, agriculture, or trade. There were, unchanged, the same natural ad- vantages of situation that had, in the earlier years of its settlement, made it more desirable than neighbour- ing villages. The deep mouth of the creek, sheltered yet accessible, furnished one of the most convenient harbours for the river boats, and the fertile and pleas- ant lands were inviting to the farmer. But farmers do not make villages, and facilities for the landing of boats do not make trade. The Indian traffic in pelt- ries, which in the first century of its growth had been so important an item of its commercial life, naturally flowed from the interior with the stream. Then, too, in a primitive age, the course of a river is the course of a highway. Men followed the water from point to point rather than traverse unbroken wilderness, so that the first roads were surveyed by the hand that laid the beds of the water-courses. Between New York and Albany there were but two or three tributary streams that were of such size or were the natural outlets of so desirable a country as that which flowed by Wiltwyck. The benefit derived from this position was not abated till Kingston's position was an assured one, when it con- tinued naturally to hold its place as a distributing and shipping centre, even after the Indian trade had died away and other highways had subtracted much from the original importance of the creek. When Kingston tried to rise from her own ashes the conditions were all changed. Thirty-five years after Digitized by Microsoft® Rondout and Kingston 467 its incorporation and sixty-three after the great fire, the total population of Kingston and Rondout to- gether did not much exceed fifty-five hundred souls. In the succeeding thirty years, however, the popula- tion had increased fourfold, while the population of Ulster County in the same period had doubled. This increase was in part due to the development of cer- tain industries, particularly the trade in bluestone and flagging, which amounts to millions of dollars every year. The terminus of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, the city finds itself again possessed of the unique advantages that the creek presented at an earlier and more primitive stage of its history. Coal, lime, ce- ment, stone and gravel, and agricultural products now make the business of its wharves and warehouses, where formerly the skins of bear and beaver and the product of scattered mills formed the staples of trade. The shipments of old may have been calculated by thousands of pounds annually; those of to-day are estimated at millions of tons. The hills that face Ron- dout Creek are honeycombed with galleries from which cement is obtained. The quarries for bluestone and flagging extend for nearly ninety miles through the region of country for which the canal furnishes the outlet. Besides this, several railroads either touch at this place or make it a terminal station, and a fleet of steamboats equal in number to a combination of all others that ply upon the upper river give the front of the city a metropolitan aspect. Of course, on the Digitized by Microsoft® 468 The Hudson River principle that nothing succeeds Hke success, the growth of population and of business due to foundries and machine shops has been considerable. Commercial Kingston has nearly swallowed the quaint, historic town that used to sit comfortably on the site of old Wiltwyck. Gradually it has absorbed its neighbours, Rondout being the last to be digested. There is a ferry from Rhinebeck on the east shore of the river. The city has twenty-four churches, several daily newspapers, four national banks, and excellent schools and seminaries. Altogether, it is phenomen- ally active for a Hudson River town. In going forward from older times to more modern days, we have been obliged to omit mention of many people and events. But one name tempts a return for one brief paragraph. John Vanderlyn, the celebrated painter, was born in Kingston late in the eighteenth century. He was first apprenticed to a waggon-painter, and the genius that was in him developed in spite of this prosaic occupation. For several years he struggled to reconcile his vocation with his avocation, to possess his soul while laying smooth panels of coach varnish and striping wheels. At length one day that meddler with many fortunes. Colonel Aaron Burr, strayed into the Kingston tavern, and while waiting there saw some of Vanderlyn 's work. He called for the artist, and the result of that interview was that the young man ceased to paint waggons and went to Europe to learn to paint pictures. In 1808, at the Louvre, he received a gold Digitized by Microsoft® Rondout and Kingston 469 medal offered by Napoleon for the best composition of the year. His subject was Marius on the Ruins of Carthage. Nearly forty years later he painted the Landing of Columbus, which is in the Capitol at Wash- ington, but even then his power had begun to decline, and the work is considered quite inferior to some of his earlier productions. Eight years later the painter died in poverty in Kingston, and his remains were laid in the old Wilt- wyck cemetery. Allusion has been made to the Huguenots who founded New Paltz. At first their national language and form of worship distinguished them from their Dutch neighbours, but gradually, in the course of sev- eral generations, both of these distinguishing peculiar- ities were forgotten and the descendants of Dubois, Hasbrouck, Lefever, Bevier, Crispell, and their com- panions could not be distinguished except by name from those of Ten Broeck, Van Gaasbeek, or Blom. A descendant of Dubois became one of the prominent ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church, and others of Huguenot lineage have followed his example. In 1883, Mr. Frederick Edward Westbrook, a de- scendant of Wessel Ten Broeck, published a history of the old Senate House, his own residence, and in it is contained the following interesting reference to the Huguenot settlers: The region selected by the Huguenots for their future abode was Hke their own dehghtful France. It wanted the culture and Digitized by Microsoft® 470 The Hudson River improvements of the former, but the picturesque and the sub- lime in nature appeared on every side. Running streams, verd- ant lawns, hills, and woods charmed the eye. Toward the east the charming prospect was bounded by the noble and ever-roll- ing Hudson. The lofty Catskills delighted their vision while at Kingston, where they remained about fifteen years before leav- ing for New Paltz, about 1683, where they remained as their final resting-place. The Shawangunk and the Fishkill range of mountains gave additional beauty to the scene. The Rosendale begins its course far in the interior, and, uniting with the Wall- kill, then rapidly passes on till it unites with the Hudson. So with the Esopus Creek; its source is among the mountains of the Delaware, whence it rushes furiously onward until it reaches Marbletown ; from thence it runs northerly until it mingles with the Hudson at Saugerties, Ulster County. About twenty fami- lies remained at Kingston. The Dutch and French Huguenots followed these noble streams. Their descendants now enjoy the rich and glorious patrimony secured by the industry, frugality, and piety of their ancestors. A copy of their treaty with the Indians exists, and was exe- cuted May 26, 1677. They were three days on their journey from Kingston to New Paltz. Soon, however, they selected a more elevated site upon the banks of the beautiful Wallkill, where the ancient village now stands. Kingston was then their only trading village. The French church, of which Louis DuBois was the first elder, was established in 1683. For fifty years the language they used was French; subsequently for seventy years succeeded by the Low Dutch ; since the beginning of the nineteenth century Eng- lish has been their church vernacular. Rev. Mr. Dallie, from New York, visited New Paltz, January 26, 1683, and occasionally conducted services for them. Their then house of worship was a stone edifice, where they worshipped eighty years, when it was demolished. . . . The Huguenots finally, by intermarriages and intercourse with the Dutch, adopted their language, manners, and customs, and finally gave up their French church and accepted and joined with the Re- formed Dutch denomination, and worshipped with the Dutch in the same church edifice. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XXVIII Saugerties and its Neighbours IN old descriptions of county boundaries the Hmits of Ulster are set at Murderer's Creek on the south, and Sawyer's Creek on the north. The Sawyer's Creek, or Sawkill of local maps, was the scene of an unaccountable activity on the part of a man whose name, antecedents, residence, mode of life, and fate are all unknown, yet from whom a populous town derives its appellation. The "Little Sawyer," who established himself on the bank of a stream some ten miles above Kingston and antedated the earliest set- tlers whose names are recorded, has been referred to in old accounts as de Zaagertje and his mill as Zaar- gertje's, of which Saugerties is a simple corruption. What the object of the sawyer's coming was, for whom his logs were sawn, or where they were shipped, are questions to which no answers have been suggested. The Indians, in a transaction the record of which was ofificially preserved, acknowledged definitely that they had sold and conveyed to this mysterious man a tract of several thousand acres of land on the banks of the 471 Digitized by Microsoft® 472 The Hudson River stream, but he was never known to have had the pur- chase confirmed by royal grant. In course of time this region, well watered, fertile, and abounding in game, attracted settlers. The pleas- ant meadows that bordered the mouth of Esopus Creek drew, first of all, Cornelius Lambertsen Brink, who built a stone house at the junction of the Platte- kill and Esopus Creek, in witness whereof the house stands to this day. There are also descendants of the pioneer Brink, in the seventh and eighth generations, whose filial piety keeps his memory green. Brink had been a prisoner among the Indians after the horrible Esopus massacre in 1663 ; but, with twenty- two fellow- captives, he managed to escape from the hands of the savages. A few other hardy Dutch frontiersmen took up land between the great Hardenbergh patent and the river. A large holding to the north of Saugerties was known as FuUerton's tract, upon which afterwards the West Camp of the Palatines was established. This at that time was included in the county of Albany, of which the southern boundary was then Esopus Creek. North of Saugerties were fruitful plantations of maize, cultivated by the Indians, from which, at a time when the savages had assumed a hostile attitude, some white men took a quantity of corn. But it may be said that the people of Saugerties generally escaped broils with their redskin neighbours. As early as 1618, a treaty was made between one Eelkins, com- mander of the trading-post at Albany, and the repre- Digitized by Microsoft® Saugerties and its Neighbours 473 sentatives of the Five Nations, by which the latter pledged themselves to friendship for the white men, and it is stated that that treaty was never broken. The Indians that harassed Kingston and other set- tlements, tomahawking the men and carrying away women and children, were of the Esopus and Catskill tribes, who finally allied themselves with the Mohegans against their greatly dreaded enemy, the Mohawks. We read of the subjugation of the Mohegans and their allies by the Mohawks and the establishment of their overlordship or suzerainty, and we can understand how the latter compelled the adversaries of the Dutch to surrender prisoners that they had taken. Near the beginning of the eighteenth century, at the same time that a purchase (elsewhere referred to) was made of Judge Livingston for the Palatines, the Fuller- ton tract was also secured on the west shore, and what was known as West Camp was established. It is not possible to overestimate the value of the faithful and conscientious, though often obstinate and discontented, Germans upon the life of the community that was then in its early formative stage. The com- bination of this stock with that of the Dutch and the Huguenot exiles that came to Kingston and afterwards settled the banks of the Wallkill resulted in a "blend" of unusual excellence. The amalgamation seems to have been very complete in course of time, as we note that the Huguenots adopted both the language and form of worship of the Dutch, while one of the most Digitized by Microsoft® 474 The Hudson River successful and widely known ministers of the Dutch Church in that region was of Palatine parentage, and came in time to be known as "the Dutch Domine." Immediately upon settling, the Palatines established schools and churches. The first school was com- menced within three months after the arrival of the emigrants at West Camp. This alone should for ever set at rest the common notion that they were illiterate peasants. Poor they were certainly, the victims of persecution that seemed to follow them even from their own land in the lower Palatinate, on the Rhine, across the seas, at first to England and afterwards to America. The statesmen of Queen Anne's time: an- ticipated that the labour of: the Palatines would at least. repay the outlay necessary for their transport and maintenance. The plan was to employ them in get- ting out timbers for the royal navy, particularly masts and spars; and the production of pitch, turpentine, resin, etc., or what are known as naval stores. The first years of the settlement were years of hard- ship and suffering and great discontent. The people believed that the establishment of the camps upon the Hudson was a breach of faith, they having understood that they were to have lands elsewhere. Forty thou- sand dollars had been expended in the experiment by the British government, and a hundred and thirty thousand more from Governor Hunter's private pocket; but at length the whole scheme of colonisation was acknowledged to be a failure, and the colonists were Digitized by Microsoft® Saugerties and its Neighbours 475 permitted to move where they pleased or to buy the lands upon which they were settled. The settlement was made in 1 7 1 o-i i . In the French and Indian War which soon followed, the English found no more ready volunteers than the Palatines, who had old scores to wipe out. This same warlike spirit was again shown, when in support of the Continental cause, DOWN THE RIVER FROM LOWER RED HOOK this time in opposition to the English, their descend- ants filled not only the ranks of the Ulster regiments, but provided not a few of the military officers. Gen- eral Herkimer was the most distinguished soldier of Palatine descent. Under such leaders as Captain John Conrad Weiser and Captain Hartman Winedecker, the yeomen of Saugerties and vicinity made a good record. One of the early ministers of the German exiles was Josiah Kocherthal, a man of scholarly attainments and a poetic temperament. His epitaph in the cemetery at Digitized by Microsoft® 476 The Hudson River West Camp (Newton) is given in translation by Ben- jamin Myer Brink, in his History of Saugerties, as follows : Know traveller, under this stone rests, beside his Sibylla Charlotte, a real traveller, of the High Dutch in North America their Joshua, and a pure Lutheran preacher of the same on the east and west side of the Hudson River. His first arrival was with Lord Lovelace in 1709, the first of January. His second with Col. Hunter, 17 10, the fourteenth of June. The journey of his soul to Heaven on St. John's day 17 19, interrupted his return to England. Do you wish to know more ? Seek in Melancthon's Fatherland who was Kocherthal, who Harschias, who Winchen- bach? Through Saugerties and along that shore of the river, in the eighteenth century, a tri- weekly mail from New York to Albany was carried by a post-rider on horse- back, and this mail, we may suppose, was never burden- some enough to distress his horse. But now we may turn our attention again for a while to the eastern shore of the stream. We find ourselves in what may be known as the land of the Livingstons. Mr. Ellis H. Roberts points out that in the assembly of 1759, consisting of twenty-seven members, no less than four Livingstons sat: Philip for New York, William for the Manor, and Robert and Henry for Dutchess. By alliance by marriage with the Schuylers and the Jays, and by its wealth, the Livingston family held a pre-eminence rarely equalled in this country. A To write fully the local history of TivoH, Hyde Park, ''^and the neighbouring region would be to undertake the extensive chronicle of that prominent family. The Digitized by Microsoft® Saugerties and its Neighbours 477 name of Livingston is intimately connected with the story of New York State and particularly with its great river. Robert Livingston, the immediate pro- genitor of'tilie American branch of the family, was of Scotch parpptage. He settled first in Albany, where he was employed as secretary by the Commissioners of Indian Affairs, acquiring several lots of land from the Indians. In 1710, he had his various purchases and grants consolidated into an estate of something more than a hundred and fifty thousand acres, which was secured by a patent that was burdened with the stipu- lation that for the enjoyment of this wilderness he should pay an annual rent amounting in value to about three and a half dollars. Nothing now remains of the old manor-house which he erected at the mouth of Roeleff Jansen's Kill, or Ancram Creek. Six thousand acres of Robert Livingston's land was bought the same year that the grant was dated by the government for the use of the unfortunate Palatines. Early in the eighteenth century, the tenants of the Livingston Manor were allowed one representative, elected by the freeholders, in the colonial Legislature, and in 17 16 the lord of the Manor was chosen for that office. When the old proprietor died, he was suc- ceeded by his son, Robert R., in the ownership of the lower part of the Manor. There he built a fine man- sion, which he named Clermont. This was Judge Livingston, the father of that Robert R. who was Chan- cellor of the State of New York. The latter was born Digitized by Microsoft® 478 The Hudson River in old Clermont, but soon after his marriage built for himself a mansion a short distance to the south of his father's house. Both of these dwellings were burned by the British under General Vaughan in 1777. The commodious dwelling that the Chancellor built upon the ruins of his former home is the one upon which has centred all the sacredness of family traditions, as it was here that he closed, his busy career in 1813. We have elsewhere referred to his connection with Robert Fulton in the production of the first successful steamboat. Fulton married a niece of Livingston's, whose own wife was the daughter of that John Stevens who owned most of the site of Hoboken, and sister of the second John Stevens, the builder of the first ocean- going steamer. The atmosphere in which he lived seems to have been surcharged with the spirit of in- vention. The origin of the fallacious tradition that the Clermont steamer was built near Tivoli may be found in a story mentioned by Lossing, to the effect that Nesbit, the Englishman whose experiments were encouraged by Livingston in 1797, did build an un- successful steamboat in De Koven's Bay, just below Upper Red Hook landing. It was at De Koven's Bay that the British landed when they burned old Clermont. They made a demon- stration at the house of John Swift Livingston, another descendant of the original proprietor, but were met with such jovial hospitality that they were pleased to forego the burning. It was a case where the cellar Digitized by Microsoft® Saugerties and its Neighbours 479 saved the house, for, we are told, the master pHed his guests with wine and other refreshment till they de- parted in high good humour. At Annandale, nearly midway between Tivoli and Barrytown, is another notable spot, once the residence of General Richard Montgomery. His birthplace was Dublin, Ireland; and at Dublin College he was edu- cated, afterwards entering the British army. When his regiment, the 17th, was ordered for service in en- forcing the Stamp Act in America, Montgomery, among others, resigned his commission. In 1772, or the early part of 1773, he came to New York, purchas- ing a farm near Kingsbridge, but that same year he married a daughter of Judge Livingston and removed to Rhinebeck. The letters which passed between Montgomery and his prospective father-in-law are in the stilted style of a bygone day. Among other delightful bits of rhetoric the suitor writes : I have ventured at last to request. Sir, that you will consent to a union which to me has the most promising appearance of happiness, from the lady's uncommon merit and amiable worth. Nor will it be an inconsiderable addition to be favoured by such respectable characters with the title of son, should I be so fort- unate as to deserve it. And if to contribute to the happiness of a beloved daughter can claim any share with tender parents, I hope hereafter to have some title to your esteem. The answer was propitio.us and, it may be said, equally elegant in diction, and the marriage between the future General and his beloved Janet took place in July, 1773. In 1775, he was chosen one of the Council Digitized by Microsoft® 480 The Hudson River of Fifty from Dutchess County, and afterwards, upon the appointment of Philip Schuyler as Major-General, he was tendered the rank of Brigadier-General. His young wife was nearly overcome with ertiotion when he brought her the news of this appointment, but, quickly recovering herself, she with her own hands placed a ribbon cockade upon his hat and gave him such encouragement as a brave wife, who loves her husband's honour more than her own happiness, may give. The, parting between these married lovers took place at Saratoga. It was marked by deep feeling and a no less strong self-control. Then the young soldier turned his face towards Canada, and his wife saw him no more. We know how General Schuyler's resignation, on account of ill-health, raised Montgomery to chief com- mand at Isle aux Noix. He had a difficult task in dealing with discontent and even insubordination among, his troops, but his progress through Canada was triumphant, and he went to the attack of Quebec with a feeling that he " had courted fortune and found her kind." With his half-starved and half -naked Kttle army, in the bitter cold of a Canadian winter morning, before the dawn, on the 31st December, 1775, Montgomery arranged his forces for the attack. Through the dark- ness and the falling snow he urged his benumbed sol- diers, till he received the wound that proved mortal. When his body was afterwards identified among a Digitized by Microsoft® 48 1 Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Saugerties and its Neighbours 483 number of others, the British commander had it buried within the walls of the city with military honours. By his will, made at Crown Point during the preceding August, and found a few days after his death by Bene- dict Arnold and Donald Campbell, Montgomery's estate on the Hudson was given to his wife, Janet. After forty-three years the body of General Mont- gomery was delivered, through the courtesy of Sir John Sherbrooke, to Colonel Lewis Livingston, and, escorted by the Adjutant-General, with Colonel Van Rensselaer and a detachment of cavalry, it was brought to Albany and lay in state in the Capitol. The im- pressive ceremonies held there extended over the Fourth of July. Two days later commenced a funeral progress without parallel in the history of New York. Placed in a magnificent coffin and accompanied by a suitable military escort, the remains of the hero of Quebec were taken aboard the steamer Richmond, which had been temporarily converted into a funeral catafalque. The sombre spectacle made a deep im- pression upon the thousands of people who witnessed the departure. The villages along the course of this mournful procession paid every possible mark of re- spect and grief, and at some places the melancholy report of minute guns announced the passing of the steamer. But more impressive than the beat of muffled drums or the salute of the cannon, more significant than the emblems of mourning, more sad than the tears of a Digitized by Microsoft® 484 The Hudson River multitude, was the presence of one woman, past the prime of life, with hair whitened by nearly half a cent- ury of widowhood. At her own request, Mrs. Mont- gomery was left alone upon the piazza of her home, "Montgomery Place." There, unwatched, she could witness the pomp and ceremony of that melancholy progress that, while it could not fail to gratify her pride, yet renewed the anguish of her loss and brought the scalding tears to her aged eyes. The steamboat stopped before her house and the troops stood under arms as the distant strains of the dead-march came up from the river. At last the final honours to Montgomery were paid in New York City, and on the 8th of July, 181 8, his remains were interred under the monument in St. Paul's Churchyard. We have, in a former chapter, made reference to Hyde Park as the scene of James Kirke Paulding's re- tirement, and no account of the river written fifty years ago could have omitted to mention the beauties of his country home, " Placentia," and the fame of the author and public servant who lived there. But who recollects to-day in whose administration Paulding was Secretary of State — or was it war? — and what library in active circulation to-day would be cumbered by keeping his once-popular books on its shelves ? James K. Paulding is to most Americans a scarcely remem- bered name, recalled only because of his association with Washington Irving in some youthful literary Digitized by Microsoft® Saugerties and its Neighbours 485 ventures. His pleasant home at Hyde Park was re- christened by a subsequent owner, as though to em- phasise the vanity of popular reputation. An inquiry about the last scene of his earthly sojourn elicits from one whose leisure, if not elegant, is at least obvious, such a reply : Paulding's house? What Paulding? Th' feller that used to be barkeeper at the hotel? Well, then, I don't know who you mean: I guess he ain't lived round here none fer quite a spell. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XXIX The Catskill Region THE greater portion of that part of Greene County bordering upon the river was, in early times, held by a few proprietors. In accordance with the instructions of the Company, the lands were purchased from the Indian owners, being afterwards in nearly all instances confirmed by royal grants. The same method of procedure was followed along the shores of the lower part of the river. A little to the south of Catskill, a dozen or more yoemen settled with their families — numbering, slaves and all, seventy or more souls — upon land which was then, and has ever since been called the imhogt. This was included in the Loverage patent. Beekman's, al- ready alluded to, was in Kiskatom, adjoining Greene's. The land where the village of Catskill stands was in- cluded in Lindsay's patent. Silvester Salsbury and Martin G. Bergen, in 1677, purchased a large tract of land from the Indians. Sals- bury was a British captain, who had charge of the fort at Albany in the time of Governor NicoU. A patent for this land was not obtained till 1688, when Salsbury 486 Digitized by Microsoft® The Catskill Region 487 was no longer living; but his widow held his portion of the estate, which lay on Catskill Creek. Neither of the original patentees lived upon the land thus ac- WOODLAND BROOK NEAR CATSKILL {From the painting by A. B. Durand^ in the Lenox Library. By permission) quired, but continued residents of Albany; their sons, however, moved into the Catskill wilderness. Francis Salsbury, in 1705, built upon his portion of Digitized by Microsoft® 488 The Hudson River the domain a stone house that was a sufficient protec- tion against the arms or miHtary science of the redskins and also proof against the ravages of two centuries. For many years this dweUing enjoyed the distinction of being the largest house between Newburgh and Al- bany. The Van Bergen mansion, though equally en- during, was somewhat altered architecturally a number of years ago. It was built of brick, being a unique example of the use of this material in old Catskill. Benjamin Dubois had a wooden house, probably a roomy log-cabin, near the mouth of the creek; and others of the prominent men of the settlement were similarly housed. Among the names of the older Catskill families are Van Ordens, Van Vechtens, Over- baghs, Abeels, Oothoudts, Schunemans, Wynkoops, Fieros, Webers, Plancks, Newkirks — a mingling of Dutch and German appellations still to be found in the Catskill directory. There is a tradition that, on Wanton Island, near Catskill, a fierce battle was once fought between the Mohawks and the river Indians. The former claimed the right to name a sachem for their neighbours, or, in other words, they tried to enforce the right of over- lordship, which the others resisted. After a day of hard fighting, according to Indian methods, the Mohe- gans succeeded in driving their enemies from the field. The Mohawks then retreated to another island, where they built fires and pretended to encamp. But, having spread their blankets upon poles near the fire, so that Digitized by Microsoft® The Catskill Region 489 they should resemble men seated there, they retired to the forest and waited in ambush till the Mohegans appeared to complete their victory. The latter, steal- ing up in the dead of night, tomahawk in hand, fell upon the unsuspecting blankets with great fury. While thus exposed in the glare of the firelight, and no doubt thrown into confusion by the ruse that had duped them, they fell a ready prey to the arrows of the crafty Mohawks. In another narrative of this battle (one, it must be confessed, more in keeping with probabilities) , no mention is made of the strategy of the blankets and camp-fire. It is stated that the Mohawks, finding the Mohegans' position on the island impregnable, retired to the mainland, pretending to be beaten, and that the others foolishly followed them, to their own destruc- tion. The result of this battle was a treaty, by the terms of which the Mohawks were to choose a king for the Mohegans, and they were pledged to reverence him and call him by the honourable title of " Uncle." Van Rensselaer's agent coveted andlaid claim to the region about Catskill, but his pretensions were set at naught by Governor Kieft, who granted the land to Cornelius Antonissen Van Slyck of Bruckelin. This was in 1644; but, in 1649, Van Rensselaer, who paid little regard to what was done by the Governor of New Amsterdam, asserted his rights by purchasing of the Indians their property in the disputed territory. In 1650, the Dutch West India Company denied the valid- ity of the purchase made by Van Slechtenhorst, Van Digitized by Microsoft® 490 The Hudson River Rensselaer's agent, and Stuyvesant declared the title void, ordering that the purchase money be restored, yet making a condition that if those holding such lands would, within six weeks, petition the Director and Council, they might have their holdings confirmed. Of course, this was a crafty effort on the Governor's part to make the too independent patroon of Renssel- aerswyck own the authority of the Company's Director at Manhattan. Grants free from dependence upon the Patroon were subsequently given by the powers at Amsterdam. William Leete Stone, editor at one time of the New York Commercial Advertiser, wrote regarding the settle- nient of Catskill, that 'its Dutch founders, with characteristic prudence, placed it en- tirely out, of sight from the river, probably to render themselves secure froiii bombardment by a foreign fleet and from invasion from the armies of the Yankees, which formerly much annoyed our primitive "^settlements. The Indians fi-om whom the lands of the early set- tlers were purchased, disappeared entirely from the scene. Their sachem, Wlahak-Neminaw, seems to have been a poor sort of a chief, drunken and beggarly. He had a share in the earlier transactions for the transfer of his tribe's patrimony, but when the final sale, which left his people without a habitation on earth, was made, he was not present, and his fellow-tribesmen stip^ ulated that when he appeared he was to receive, as his share of the price, two pieces of duffels and six cans of Digitized by Microsoft® The Catskill Region 491 rum. Where these earher inhabitants, whose wigwams occupied the terrace that became the site of old Cats- kiU, betook themselves, is not recorded. The sub- sequent Indian troubles, which this place shared with other river towns, were due to conflict with other tribes. The most tragic stories of Indian atrocities are of Revolutionary date. The fierce Mohawks, acting as alhes with the British, and aided by Tories who were scattered throughout the country, swooped down upon solitary farmhouses and captured the inmates, taking them by arduous forest ways to Canada, where a re- ward was paid for each prisoner. It seems almost in- credible that a party of twenty or more redskins, with possibly several white men, would undertake a toil- some journey of hundreds of miles, on foot, through a wilderness, where hunger often assailed them, for the sake of one or two miserable farmer captives, usually boys or old men. Yet such was the fact. One of the best known of local stories is that of the captivity of the ilbeels — David Abeel and Anthony his son. These people lived in a house about three miles back of Catskill. The father, who was old, had been an Indian trader and understood the Mohawk tongue. When seated at their noonday meal one Sunday, the family was surprised by the sudden entrance of a num- ber of Indians, led by a white man, painted and dis- guised, but recognised by the sharp eyes of the old Indian trader, who thoughtlessly called him by name. Digitized by Microsoft® 492 The Hudson River " Since you know who I am," said this man, who was a Tory neighbour of the Abeels, "you will have to come too." It was not at first the intention of the marauders to take the old man, who was thought too feeble to sustain the fatigue of the long march. In honour of the holy day both David and Anthony had on their best clothes and finery, and it grieved the thrifty soul of a daughter, who was present, that the silver shoe- and knee-buckles that were the pride of the family should fall into the hands of the enemy, so while the palaver was going on she hid under the table, and, detaching these valuable trinkets, sHpped them into her bosom. Torn from his family, David Abeel made heroic efforts to keep up with his captors, knowing that should he fail to do so he would be put out of the way without hesitation. When the savages learned that he could converse with them in their own language, and had been among their people as a trader, they treated him with consideration. The son was compelled to run the gauntlet, that is, to make what speed he could between two armed files of Indians, whose blows he might escape by dodging. His father warned him that the young men would try to get in his way and impede him. Remembering this caution, he struck the first one who interfered so hard a blow that the Indian fell sprawling among his companions and in the confusion Anthony completed his run without -injury. About the same time Captain Jeremiah Snyder and Digitized by Microsoft® The Catskill Region 493 his son EHas, of Saugerties, were taken by Tories and Indians while ploughing in a field. They attempted to escape by running, but were captured, and Captain Snyder wounded by a blow from a tomahawk. These captives were conducted by the same general route as that generally taken by marauding bands from Canada —by way of the Delaware, Susquehanna, and Genesee rivers. They were closely guarded by day, and at night a rope, passed around the arms of each and se- curely tied behind, was stretched to pegs on either side, an Indian sleeping upon each rope. The story of the captivity of these men is a romance, but too long for insertion here. The Snyders and Abeels met in Can- ada, and afterwards succeeded in making their escape together, subsequently returning to their homes. The capture of the boy Schermerhorn, known as the "Low Dutch Prisoner," was attended with the hon-or of murder and arson. The old people with whom he lived, Mr. Strope and his wife, were tomahawked, and the house rifled of all of value that it contained before it was finally fired. Like the Snyders and Abeels, Schennerhorn finally returned to his home, but not till he had endured almost inconceivable hardships as a captive, and had afterwards been forced to fight in the British army. Upon his enlistment a bounty of forty Spanish dollars (the customary sum) was paid to the Indian who had captured him. A bounty was paid by the British for scalps, and women and children as well as men furnished these Digitized by Microsoft® 494 The Hudson River horrible trophies, which were to the savages a source of income. Most of the inhabitants of Catskill were ardent "Whigs," as they were called, and the wrath of their scattered Tory neighbours was roused against them. It is recorded that one sixth of the male population of Catskill was in the patriot army, some serving near home and others offering their lives on distant battle- fields. A man of great influence at that day was Domine Schuneman, whose pastorate of forty years had en- deared him to the people to such an extent that he was their leader in things temporal as well as spiritual. Mr. Schuneman was not of HoUandish descent, but had sprving from the German peasant blood of the Palatin- ate settlement. He, however, was a minister of the Dutch Church, and had been in Holland to complete at Leyden the theological education commenced under Domine Theodoras Prielinghuysen at Albany. His pastorate included Coxsackie as well as Catskill, an arrangement frequently made between neighbouring villages at that day, when congregations were small and ministers few. Schuneman was a strong supporter of the colonial cause, and there is no doubt that to his great influence was due much of the intense patriotism of his neighbours. In common with other great men, the Catskill Domine was the subject of many anecdotes, some of them amusing. There is a story told of an entry Digitized by Microsoft® The Catskill Region 495 made in his minute-book, as follows: "Attended the funeral of ; sold my gray mare; all flesh is grass." When he went abroad to complete his studies he was engaged to the youngest daughter of the wealthy pro- prietor, Martin Van Bergen. On his return he was so pitted with smallpox that she did not know him, but love was strong enough to overlook the disfigurement and the course of their true love ran smooth. After old Martin's death, the Domine became by inheritance a rich man, and built a splendid house, where he passed the remainder of his days. His funeral was in the good old Dutch manner, a medley of grief and junket- ing, of piety and punch. Each comer, man or woman, was met at the outset with a glass of rum, and, after a service in Dutch and a long procession on foot (the coffin upon an open bier leading the way), the assem- bled company returned to the house and, amid clouds of tobacco smoke and deep potations, discussed the merits of the departed pastor and the merits of the last horse sale. One of the traditionary stories of Catskill is told in Barber and Howe's Collections, the author, William Leete Stone, having perhaps added a touch of imag- ination to the original version of the tale. At an old stone house standing at Cairo, about ten miles to the northward of Catskill, there lived in the early part of the eighteenth century a young man of arbitrary, pas- sionate disposition; one whose passions often rose Digitized by Microsoft® 496 The Hudson River beyond control. A young woman, one of the "re- demptioners ' ' or white bond-servants of the time, ran away from the service of this man. He pursued her on horseback, and, finally overtaking her, tied her to the tail of his horse, which became frightened and dashed madly among the rocks and stones till the poor victim was killed and her body terribly mutilated. The man was tried for murder and found guilty, but through the influence of his family he escaped punish- ment, or, rather, the court decreed that he should be hanged when he attained the age of ninety-nine years. In addition to this sentence, he was to present himself annually to the judges when the court was in session, and wear always a cord about his neck as a memorial of his crime. He lived for many years, and continued each year to fulfil .the conditions of his sentence. People talked of the silken cord that he wore, and he was shunned and solitary in his life, while spectres of various sorts gathered around his isolated dwelling. Sometimes a fem^-le figure would appear alone, then a terrific white horse followed by a ghastly thing in tat- tered clothes, and again a wraith in a winding-sheet — altogether the neighbourhood of the house became un- canny. The Revolutionary war came and found the criminal an old man; his ninety-ninth year, that had been selected in what seems like grim pleasantry as the date of his execution, came, and he lived on. When over a hundred years of age he fell quietly asleep, and who shall doubt that the crime of his youth was Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® The Catskill Region 499 expiated by three quarters of a century of punish- ment. The details of this story have no doubt been col- oured, but there is a foundation in fact. The man in question did tie a servant to a rope, to make her return to his home, from which she had escaped; but he tied the other end of the rope to his own body and was him- self dragged to the ground when the horse ran away. He gave himself up to the authorities, who, it is said, acquitted him and let him go free. The history of Catskill has shown an industrial de- cline during some years of the past century. The town had a great deal of trade, particularly with West- em New York and Northern Pennsylvania, but the building of the Erie Canal and the establishment of the railroads upon the opposite sides of the river served successively to rob it of its advantages of posi- tion for trade. Back of Catskill village, a dozen or more miles away, rise the most impressive peaks on the outer wall of the mountain range that gives it its name. Not as lofty as many of the famous chains that are celebrated by travellers, the Catskills have a rare beauty of their own and are fully worthy of the admiration of the artist or the poet. Irving says : Of all the scenery of the Hudson, the Kaatskill Mountains had the most witching effect on my boyish imagination. Never shall I forget the effect upon me of the first view of them pre- dominating over a wide extent of country, part wild, woody, and Digitized by Microsoft® 5op The Hudson River rugged; part softened away into all the graces of cultivation. As we slowly floated along, I lay on the deck and watched them through a long summer's day; undergoing a thousand muta- tions under the magical effects of atmosphere ; sometimes seem- ing to approach, at other times to recede; now almost melting into hazy distance, now burnished by the setting sun, until, in the evening, they printed themselves against the glowing sky in the deep purple of an Italian landscape. As Kingston cherishes in her hall of fame the name of John Vanderlyn, artist, so Catskill points with pride to Thomas Cole, who, though of English birth, yet for many years, and indeed to the close of his life, lived and worked near that place. He is best known by the Voyage of Life, which at the time of its exhibition was considered, perhaps, the most remarkable painting pro- duced in America. Cole had a deeply reverent spirit, evinced no less in the works of his brush than in the poems by which he loved to express his strong appre- ciation of nature. Slowly unfolding to the enraptured gaze Her thousand charms. Here we may go aside for a short excursion into those enchanted hills where dwelt the old squaw who "made the new moons, and cut up the old ones into stars. " Her factory for making clouds is still in opera- tion as she sends them off, "flake after flake, to float in the air and give light summer showers," or "black thunder-storms and drenching rains, to swell the streams and sweep everything away." In the days of William Kieft, Governor of New Digitized by Microsoft® The Catskill Region 501 Amsterdam, he, in company with Adrian Vander Donck and others, met the chiefs of the Mohawks in confer- ence and noticed the metalHc lustre of certain pigments used by the savages in personal adornment. They procured some of this metal and Johannes de la Mon- tague put it in a crucible. When assayed it produced gold, to the great delight of the Governor and his friends, who managed, upon the arrangement of peace, to send an expedition in search of the source of treas- ure. The result of the expedition was a bucketful of ore that yielded pleasing results when put to the cruci- ble's test. The rest of the story may be told in Irving 's words : William Kieft now dispatched a confidential agent, one Arent Corsen, to convey a sackful of the precious ore to Holland. Cor- sen embarked at New Haven in a British vessel bound to Eng- land, whence he was to cross to Rotterdam. The ship set sail about Christmas, but never reached port. All on board perished. In 1647, when the redoubtable Petrus Stuyvesant took com- mand of the New Netherlands, William Kieft embarked on his return to Holland, provided with further specimens of the Cats- kill Mountain ore, from which he doubtless indulged golden an- ticipations. A similar fate attended him with that which had befallen his agent. The ship in which he had embarked was cast away, and he and his treasure were swallowed up in the waves. Here closes the golden legend of the Catskills, but another one of a similar import succeeds. In 1679, about two years after the shipwreck of Wilhelmus Kieft, there was again a rumour of the precious metals in these mountains. Mynheer Brant Arent Van Slechtenhorst, agent of the Patroon of Rensselaerswyck, had pur- chased, in behalf of the Patroon, a tract of the Catskill lands, and leased it out in farms. A Dutch lass, in the household of one of the farmers, found one day a glittering substance, which, Digitized by Microsoft® 502 The Hudson River on being examined, was pronounced silver ore. Brant Van Slechtenhorst forthwith sent his son from Rensselaerswyck to explore the mountains in quest of the supposed mines. The young man put up in the farmer's house, which had recently been erected on the margin of a mountain stream. Scarcely was he housed when a furious storm burst forth on the mountains. The thunders rolled, the lightnings flashed, the rain came down in cataracts; the stream was suddenly swollen to a furious tor- rent thirty feet deep ; the farmhouse and all its contents were swept away, and it was only by dint of excellent swimming that young Slechtenhorst saved his own life and the lives of his horses. Shortly after this a feud broke out between Peter Stuy- vesant and the Patroon of Rensselaerswyck, on account of the right and title to the Catskill Mountains, in the course of which the elder Slechtenhorst was taken captive by the potentate of the New Netherlands, and thrown into prison at New Amsterdam. We have met with no record of any further attempt to get at the treasures of the Catskills. Adventurers may have been dis- couraged by the ill-luck which appeared to attend all who meddled with them, as if they were under the guardian keep of the same spirits or goblins who once haunted the mountains and ruled over the weather. That gold and silver ore was actually procured from these mountains in days of yore we have histori- cal evidence to prove ; and the recorded word of Adrian Van der Donk, a man of weight, who was an eye-witness. If gold and silver were once to be found there, they must be there at present. It remains to be seen, in these gold-hunting days, whether the quest will be renewed ; and some daring adventurer, with a true Californian spirit, will penetrate the mysteries of these mount- ains, and open a golden region on the borders of the Hudson. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XXX Nantucket Quakers and Dutch Fighters TO celebrate the city of Hudson, judicial seat of Columbia County, requires the pen of Knick- erbocker. To the modern mind its reason for being seems as deliciously absurd as anything in the inconsequent adventures of Alice in Wonderland. A little company of sturdy New England men, from Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and Providence, de- cided in 1784 that they would found a city. The humour of the proposition lay in the fact that, being mighty in the handling of the harpoon and seasoned with the salt of many seas, they proposed to establish, one hundred and fifteen miles inland from New York, a city devoted to whaling and kindred industries. There is no suggestion that these grave humourists ever dreamed of finding whales in the Hudson, though there is a tradition that one mighty cetacean went in search of his ancient antagonists, or for some other reason ascended the waters of the river till he stranded on the Hudson Flats, to the great consternation of the regular navigators from Coxsackie to Saugerties. There is one strong argument to advance in favour 503 Digitized by Microsoft® 504 The Hudson River of the sanity of the proprietors of Hudson. Their plan succeeded. From old Claverack Landing, as the place was at first known, whalers were dispatched and re- turned reeking with unsavoury sperm. Other vessels brought their merchandise from the ends of the earth to this harbour, so secure against any wind that ever troubled the ocean. \/ A year after its settlement, Hudson was incorporated as a city. Its growth was phenomenal, only excelled, it is said, by that of Baltimore, and the proprietors waxed wealthy. For the large region of Columbia County it became at once the distributing centre for all manner of merchandise, and after a while manu- factures were established and prospered. The names of the proprietors were all familiar along the southern Massachusetts shore. Their leader was Thomas Jen- kins of Nantucket; while Marshal Jenkins of Martha's Vineyard, with others of the same surname, appear prominently in early records. Biblical names seemed to abound in the family of Thomas. We find Seth, Lemuel, and Benjamin in the second generation; the first named figuring as mayor. Marshal Jenkins was the grandfather of Major-General William Jenkins Worth, whose feats of arms in Mexico made him a popular hero and whose dust reposes under the gran- ite monument erected to him on Fifth Avenue, New York. In speculating upon the motives which induced the "thirty New Englanders, mostly Quakers," to choose Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Nantucket Quakers and Dutch Fighters 507 this site for their city, it is difficult to beheve that mere prudence or a commercial spirit impelled them. It is true that after the troublesome experiences of the war, when their vessels had been captured and destroyed and their liberties menaced by the British enemy, they must have experienced great satisfaction in finding so safe a retreat ; but it is also to be believed that to eyes accustomed to the unmitigated sand and unrelieved levels of Cape Cod, the green and fertile billows of the landscape that lies between the river and the " Katz- bergs" must have been like a vision of Paradise. Hudson has attracted several artists of repute — in- deed, has been the birthplace of more than one of the school that it was the fashion a few years ago to refer to slightingly as "Hudson River." Church and Gif- ford lead the list of those who have been honoured among American painters. The first steamboat owned in Hudson was the Legis-^ lature, built elsewhere, but purchased by a Hudson firm in 1828 for towing purposes. Before that date all of the traffic had depended upon sail propulsion. One can hardly realise to-day how considerable that trade was ; for while Hudson is still a place of many factories and some business activity, it no longer holds the prominent rank it once did among the river towns. Claverack Creek enters the river a short distance north of the old city. Its name is derived from Klauver Rack, which is the Dutch for Clover Reach. Athens, a thriving little town that was first named Lunenberg and Digitized by Microsoft® 5o8 The Hudson River afterwards Esperanza, is opposite Hudson and con- nected by ferry with its more opulent vis-h-vis. The high hill to the south of Hudson is Mount Merino, and nearer at hand, within the city, Prospect Hill affords an outlook that embraces at once the Catskills, the Green Mountains, the Luzerne range, and the Hud- son Highlands. The whole neighbourhood of this maritime city of the inland waters is hilly and excep- tionally beautiful, while the quiet, tree-shaded streets are marked by a sedate New England air. The family names in the directory are mainly those that have been familiar since the founders brought with them the energy, the conscience, and the thrift that built the town. There is to-day a conservatism that distin- guishes the manners and public acts of the inhabitants of this pleasant city; it is, perhaps, a reminiscence of Quaker habits of thought and speech. We may only conjecture how rudely this spirit must at times be shocked by the unguarded humour of aliens. A hundred and fifteen years ago the Gazette of Hudson published, in May, the following news item: "Robert White was married to Betsie Harris on Tuesday, May ist. Who was brought sick on Wednesday, delivered of three children on Thursday, who all died on Friday and were buried on Saturday." And still the local authorities are uncertain whether this astonishing state- raent may be classed as a piece of reprehensible pleas- antry or a dispensation of Providence. It will at least interest the student to learn that at such an early Digitized by Microsoft® Nantucket Quakers and Dutch Fighters 509 period in its civic history, Hudson enjoyed the then rare distinction of pubHshing a Gazette devoted to local affairs. A few miles south of Htidson, at Linlithgo, is the point where Hudson anchored the Half-Moon, and, upon the 17 th of September, sent his boats exploring among the islands and shoals of the upper reaches. In an opposite direction is Kinderhook {Kinder' s Hoeck), where the numerous progeny of the first settler so swarmed about the water's edge when the trading boats went by that the skippers could think of no more appropriate name than this. The present village is not on the river shore, bvtt is reached from Stuyve- sant landing. The Kinderhook Creek, a picturesque little stream, finds its wa}' to the Hudson at Columbia- ville, about midway between Stuyvesant and the county seat. At Kinderhook, in his country seat, Lindenwald, Martin Van Buren kept open house for his political friends. The house was built b}' Judge William P. Van Ness, the intimate associate of Aaron Burr and his second in the duel which resulted in the death of Alexander Hamilton. Washington Irving was a guest at Lindenwald during one period of which we have record, and not improbably at other times. He is said to have made there the acquaintance of the school-teacher, Jesse Merwin, who is credited with be- ing the original of the character of Ichabod Crane in the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Referring to this, Digitized by Microsoft® 5IO The Hudson River Mr. Harrold Van Santvoord, the author of Half Holidays, wrote, in 1898: After the Sketch-Book was published it was feared that the caricature of Ichabod Crane would occasion strained relations between the honest schoolmaster and his friend. It was in a spirit of playful humour, such as that in which Butler burlesqued his host, Sir Samuel Luke, that Irving caricatured Jesse Merwin, and the pedagogue seemed to enjoy the grotesque humour of the portraiture as much as the author himself. In proof of his affection he named one of his sons after his early friend, who is still living, a prosperous farmer in Illinois. The remains of Merwin repose in the village cemetery, not far from the burial plot of Martin Van Buren. A few years ago the plain slab with its simple inscription, at the head of the grave, was replaced by a neat monument, and residents of the village take pride in exhibiting to strangers the grave of Ichabod Crane. Coxsackie station, on the east side of the river, com- municates by ferry with the village of that name upon the opposite bank. The Iroquois Indians called that part of the shore by the descriptive name of Cut Banks (Kuxakee), because along there the current made a marked depression. The older portion of the town lies well back from the water, having been built along the line of the post-road. Schodack means a place of fire, or fire-plain. Before there was any settlement at this point the site was so called because there was the ancient place for the council fires of the Mohegans. Opposite Schodack are the considerable towns of New Baltimore andCoeymans. One of the most attractive of rural towns is Castle- ton, a place of pleasant houses arid shaded streets, of Digitized by Microsoft® Nantucket Quakers and Dutch Fighters 511 thrifty gardens and trim orchards, with its main thor- oughfare running nearly parallel with the river, but a short distance away. Near by are those cliffs where the eternal fires of the redskins biirned, and where ruled chief Aepgin, who sold his land, "from Beerin Island to Smack's Island," to the representative of the Patroon Van Rensselaer. Beerin, Beam, or Bear Island, as it has been vari- ously called, is a little above Castleton and near the west bank of the stream. It is from various causes one of the best known of the many islands that diversify the river from Coxsackie north to the head of nav- igation. It enjoys the distinction of being the birth- place of the first white child born to any of the early settlers upon the Hudson, and was also the fortified place that was so great a bone of contention between the powers of the lower and those of the upper river. Irving, in one of his maddest moods, with a refresh- ing disregard for historical accuracy, told the story of Beam Island, " showing the rise of the great Van Rensselaer dynasty and the first seeds of the Helder- berg war." Regardless of the fact that the first Van Rensselaer is not known to have visited in person his lordly estate in the New World, the author of Knicker- bocker describes his coming and appearance. It was in the time of Walter the Doubter : Now so it happened that one day as that most dubious of governors and his burgermeesters were smoking and pondering over the affairs of .the pr-ovince, they were roused by the report Digitized by Microsoft® 512 The Hudson River of a cannon. Sallying forth, they beheld a strange vessel at anchor in the bay. It was unquestionably of Dutch build, broad-bottomed and high pooped, and bore the flag of their High Mightinesses at the mast-head. After a while a boat put off for land, and a stranger stepped on shore, a lofty, lordly kind of man, tall and dry, with a meagre face, furnished with huge moustaches. He was clad in Flemish doublet and hose, and an insufferably tall hat, with a cocktail feather. Such was the patroon Killian Van Renselaer, who had come out from Holland to found a colony or patroonship on a great tract of wild land, granted to him by their High Mighti- nesses, the Lords States General, in the upper regions of the Hudson. Killian Van Rensselaer was a nine days' wonder in New Am- sterdam; for he carried a high head, looked down upon the portly, short-legged burgomasters, and owned no allegiance to the governor himself; boasting that he held his patroonship directly from the Lords States General. He did not tarry long (in the little city that he actu- ally never visited, and where he would have disdained to beat up recruits for his colony, which the reader knows actually antedated that of New Amsterdam), but pushed on up the river, whence reports of his doings were brought to the ears of the jealous Governor, At length tidings came that the patroon of Rensselaerswyk had extended his usurpations along the river, beyond the limits granted him by their High Mightinesses : that he had even seized upon a rocky island in the Hudson, commonly known. by the name of Beam or Bear's Island, where he was erecting a fortress to be called by the lofty name of Rensselaerstein. Wouter Van Twiller was roused by this intelligence. After consulting with his burgomasters, he dispatched a letter to the patroon of Rensselaerswyk, demanding by what right he had seized upon this island, which lay beyond the bounds of his pa- troonship. The answer of Killian Van Rensselaer was in his own Digitized by Microsoft® Nantucket Quakers and Dutch Fighters 513 lordly style, "By wapen recht ! " that is to say, by the right of arms, or, in common parlance, by club-law. This answer plunged the worthy Wouter into one of the deepest doubts he encountered in the whole course of his administration ; but while he doubted, the lordly Killian went on to complete his sturdy little castellum of Rensselaerstein. This done, he garrisoned it with a number of his tenants from the Helderberg, a mountain region, famous for the hardest heads and hardest fists in the province. Nicholas Koorn, his faithful squire, accustomed to strut at his heels, wear his cast-off clothes, and imitate his lofty bearing, was established in this post as waclit meester. His duty it was to keep an eye on the river, and oblige every vessel that passed, unless on the service of their High Mightinesses, the Lords States General of Holland, to strike its flag, lower its peak, and pay toll to the lord of Rensselaerstein. William Kieft — "William the Testy" — succeeded Walter the Doubter, and still the afifair of Beam Island was unsettled, that is to say, unsettled to any liking but that of the patroon. The irritable soul of the Gov- ernor, we are informed, winced at the very name of Rensselaerstein . Now it came to pass, that on a fine sunny day the Company's yacht, the Half -Moon, having been on one of its stated visits to Fort Aurania, was quietly tiding it down the Hudson; the com- mander, Govert Lockerman, a veteran Dutch skipper of few words but great bottom, was seated on the high poop, quietly smoking his pipe, under the shadow of the proud flag of Orange, when, on arriving abreast of Beam Island, he was saluted by a stentorian voice from the shore, " Lower thy flag, and be d d to thee!" Govert Lockerman, without taking his pipe out of his mouth, turned up his eye from under his broad-brimmed hat to see who hailed him thus discourteously. There, on the ramparts of the fort, stood Nicholas Koorn, armed to the teeth, flourishing a Digitized by Microsoft® SH The Hudson River brass-hilted sword, while a steeple-crowned hat and cock's tail- feather, formerly worn by Killian Van Rensselaer himself, gave an inexpressible loftiness to his demeanour. Go vert Lockerman eyed the warrior from top to toe, but was not to be dismayed. Taking the pipe slowly out of his moutn, "To whom should I lower my flag ?" demanded he. "To the high and mighty Killian Van Rensselaer, the lord of Rensselaerstein ! " was the reply. " I lower it to none but the Prince of Orange, and my masters, the Lords States General." So saying he resumed his pipe, and smoked with an air of dogged determination. Bang! went a gun from the fortress ; the ball cut both sail and rigging. Govert Lockerman said nothing, but smoked the more doggedly. Bang! went another gun, the shot whistling close astern. "Fire and be d d," cried Govert Lockerman, cramming a new charge of tobacco in his pipe and smoking with still increas- ing vehemence. Bang! went a third gun. The shot passed over his head, tearing a hole in the "princely flag of Orange." This was the hardest trial of all for the pride and patience of Govert Locker- man: he maintained a smothered, though swelling silence, but his smothered rage might be perceived by the short, vehement puffs of smoke he emitted from his pipe as he slowly floated out of shot and out of sight of Beam Island. In fact, he never gave vent to his passion until he got fairly among the Highlands of the Hudson; when he let fly a whole volley of Dutch oaths, which are said to linger to this very day among the echoes of the Dunderberg, and to give particular effect to the thunderstorms in that neighbourhood. How William the Testy took the news of this out- rage, how he sent Lockerman back on a mission that failed because the honest envoy could not understand certain cabalistic signs made by the commander of the fort (which consisted of waving all the fingers of the right hand, the while the thumb pointed to the nose), Digitized by Microsoft® Nantucket Quakers and Dutch Fighters 515 and how the whole quarrel finally simmered down and died out, are told in the same racy fashion, and the narrative is altogether more vivid and more easy to remember and believe than many a sober page of history. The sober page of history relates that the Dutch built their first fort on the Hudson in 16 14 upon an island at the mouth of Norman's Kill, and named the island Kasteel, or Castle, from which Castleton derives its name. An actual altercation between the Director at New Amsterdam and the patroon's agent at Rens- selaerswyck furnished the basis for Irving 's lively sketch. The low bar that for many years impeded navigation in the neighbourhood of Castleton, together with num- erous other fiats and obstructions, led to the construc- tion, by the Government, in 1868, of dykes to protect the channel, which has been deepened by dredging as far as the State dam at Troy. Near Castleton flows the delightful stream known as Mourdener's Kill, or Creek. Its legend is a dreadful story of Indian cruelty. A girl, captured by the sav- ages, was tied by them to a horse, that was then lashed into frenzy and dashed away, dragging the victim till life had long been extinct. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XXXI An Old Dutch Town LEAVING out of our reckoning the Frenchmen who are supposed to have built a " castle" on the site about the year 1540, Albany is one of the oldest settlements made by white men in America. Its only rivals in age are Jamestown and one or two of the Spanish towns of the far south. The genesis of its history will be found in the little trading station called Fort Orange, which was established in 16 14. The hardiness of the pioneers who gained this foothold in the remote wilderness may only be estimated when we recall the fact that the nearest neighbours of their own blood were more than three thousand miles dis- tant and that the ocean lay between. The story of the tenure of that outpost may best be told in the words of a petition of the Patroon and Co-directors of the Colonic called Renssel- aers-Wyck, situate along the North river in New Netherland, to the effect that the^ Freedoms which were granted to whomsoever should plant any Colonies in New Netherland being drawn up and made public in print in the year 1630, by the Assembly of the Nineteen of the Incorporated West India Company ; Kiliaen 516 Digitized by Microsoft® 'A Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 519 -van Rensselaer did, in the same year 1630, purchase from the owners and proprietors, and them paid for a certain parcel of land, extending up the river South and North off from Fort Orange unto a little besouth of Moeneminnes Castle; and the land called Semesseeck lying on the East bank opposite Castle Island, up unto the aforesaid fort. Item, from Petanoch the millstream North unto Negagonse, in extent about three leagues, "with all the timber, appendices and dependencies thereof. And, accordingly, being entered into possession of said lands, he had there, at his great cost, established a considerable Colonic and from time to time so improved it that a village or hamlet was founded there, first called de Fuyck, afterwards Beverswyck and now Willemstadt, whereabouts the aforesaid Fort Orange was formerly built. That said Rensselaer and afterwards the Peti- tioners, had also exercised there High, Middle and Low Juris- diction, and accordingly appointed the necessary officers and Magistrates and enjoyed all the Freedoms, Rights and Privileges which were granted by said Company and you. High and Mighty, to him Rensselaer and other Patroons of Colonies; that after- wards, the aforementioned West India Company's Director had indeed disquieted the Petitioners in the possession of the afore- said hamlet or village, leaving in the meanwhile the Petitioners only in the possession of the remainder of their aforesaid Colonic. That in the year 1664, New Netherland and consequently the Colonic aforesaid fell and remained in the hands of his Majesty the King of Great Britain, when the name of Albany was given to the aforesaid Fort Orange which is situate in the Petitioners' aforesaid Colonic Rensselaerswyck, with said Colonic and other lands lying thereabout, until they were again recovered by their High Mightinesses' glorious arms. The first patroon of Rensselaerswyck has been the WiUiam the Conqueror of Dutch New York. All ancient famihes trace their descent from him, and poor indeed is the upstart who cannot claim him for an ancestor. Digitized by Microsoft® 520 The Hudson River In the days when that "great, armed, mercantile monopoly," as Mrs. Lamb called the West India Com- pany, was exploring and exploiting distant countries, was making alliances with something of the assump- tion of independent sovereignty, and commissioning its admirals for foreign conquest, a member of its govern- ing body, one of the all-powerful Nineteen, was Kiliaen Van Rensselaer. He was a pearl merchant, wealthy and well born, who sent over several of his own ships with agents to select territory for him. Three tracts of land were chosen, one in Delaware, one in New Jersey (at Pavonia), and the third in the immediate neighbourhood of Fort Orange. The last-named tract became in time the site of sev- eral thriving cities and villages, among which Albany, Troy, and Lansingburg are the most important. Under the act of 1629, styled a "Charter of Freedoms and exemptions," Van Rensselaer secured his title as pa- troon and proceeded to send colonists to settle his land. Previous to that time the settlers had been traders, but not colonists. The early history of Beverwyck, or A4bany, does riot furnish us with any of the thrilling stories of Indian cruelty and Dutch retaliation that we read in the chronicles of New Amsterdam. While the settlers near the mouth of the river suffered from the arrow and the tomahawk, their brethren a hundred and forty miles to the north were serenely planting, building, and rais- Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 521 ing families. The scriptural injunction to be fruitful and multiply was not neglected, and as every child was expected to set out a sapling to mark its birthday, in course of time the town became a vernal bower. There was something very modern in the way that Van Rensselaer built up his domain. While other colonies were either maintaining an apathetic silence or else complaining bitterly of the hardships of their lot and the difficulty of sustaining life without aid from the company or government that planted them, the long reports of the great advantages and rich fertility of Rensselaerswyck stirred the imagination of many a seventeenth-century Boer. Other ships might bring provisions and encouragement for those already on the ground, but those of our patroon brought colonists, with implements for the farm, the forest, and the mill. The documents that have been preserved would put to shame most modem advertisers. Of course, the growth of the up-river colony could not be effected without rousing the jealous opposition of the Company's director at New Amsterdam. The patroon 's director, Van Slechtenhorst, if he did not exceed the original patent, at least stretched it to its uttermost limit. The fortification of Beam Island, undertaken with a view to controlling the commerce of the river, called forth a most energetic protest from Stuyvesant. With singleness of purpose he gave his undivided attention to reducing this "government within a government," and finally succeeded in tem- Digitized by Microsoft® 522 The Hudson River porarily separating the village of Beverwyck from the manor of Rensselaerswyck. But though the Company had backed the Governor in his action, the States- General, before whom the matter was finally brought, decided that Fort Orange stood within the limits of the patroon's estate, while the corporation did not own a foot of land in that part of the country. The second patroon, also a non-resident, was Johan- nes Van Rensselaer, whose half-brother, Jan Baptist, succeeded Van Slechtenhorst as agent. Johannes vis- ited his possessions on one or two occasions, but re- turned to Holland. It was not till the third proprietor of this princely estate came to his own that the people of Rensselaerswyck enjoyed the novelty of having their landlord make his home among them. There is not space to go into the genealogical records of this great family, or to note the marriages by which it became allied with all of the leading men of the colony. The Van Cortlandts, Schuylers, Livingstons, Nicollses,Wattses, and others were thus connected, and formed an aristocracy about which cluster the tradi- tions of a day that is dead. Writing of the pomp and circumstance attending the movements of the Van Rensselaer chief, Mrs. Lamb, the historian, says: To many of the present generation a simple sketch of the style of life of these old feudal chieftains would read like a veritable romance. Upon the Van Rensselaer manor there were at one period several thousand tenants, and their gatherings were simi- lar to those of the old Scottish clans. When a lord of the manor died, these people swarmed about the manor-house to do honour Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 523 at the funeral. They regarded the head of the family with rev- erence, a feeling shared by the whole country. The manor- house was well peopled with negro slaves. The manor always had its representative in the assembly; and whenever it was announced in New York that the patroon was coming to the city by land, the day he was expected crowds would turn out to see him drive through Broadway with his coach and four as if he were a prince of the blood. An actual glimpse of the Van Rensselaer estate, in its old-time grandeur, would unfold as much to astonish the progressive New Yorkers of to-day as the patroons of colonial memory would be lost in wonder and amazement could they but be with us long enough to cross the Brooklyn Bridge! The great Van Rensselaer manor-house, long con- sidered the most palatial dwelling in the New World, and noted for the princely character of its entertain- ments, was built by Stephen, the fourth patroon. His wife was Catherine, the daughter of Philip Livingston, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Their son, born in New York City, was the fifth and last patroon, known in later life as General Stephen Van Rensselaer. He was not only a lordly gentleman, liv- ing according to all the traditions of his house, but was also a thorough republican, enlisted heart and soul in the cause of American liberty. No man in the country staked more for conscience sake than he, for he willingly relinquished the power and pomp that had been the vital atmosphere of his house for generations, to accept the doctrine of the equality of man. During the War of 181 2 the last patroon received at the hands of Governor Tompkins, his pohtical Digitized by Microsoft® 524 The Hudson River adversary, a commission to command a large body of militia. He stipulated that his assistant in command should be Solomon Van Rensselaer, the son of his uncle Kilian, and at that time Adjutant-General of the State. This Solomon had proved himself upon several occasions to be a brave and dashing soldier ; but the most enter- taining of all the stories told of his adventures is the one that describes his marriage to his cousin, Harriet Van Rensselaer. For some reason, long forgotten, the prospective bridegroom had failed to win the favour of his aunt, the young lady's mother, who emphatically refused her consent to the marriage. She was not one whose will was lightly disregarded in her household. Mis- tress Harriet, we may well believe, was in despair and would, no doubt, have wept her pretty, eyes out if she had not received secret comfort and encouragement from her father, who was proud of his handsome and valiant nephew, and promised to assist the lovers in spite of maternal opposition. Having formed this insurrectionary resolve, but doubting, evidently, his ability to cope openly with a power to which he was no stranger, Van Rensselaer set about accomplishing his purpose without unnecessary publicity. One autumn day, while Madame his wife was enjoying her after-dinner nap in the library, he gathered the young people and their witnesses in an adjoining room and smuggled in the minister to marry them. The deep and regular respirations from the Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 525 library were an immediate assurance of safety, so with- out delay or noise the vows were made and the cus- tomary blessing pronounced. But just as the knot was firmly tied and the arch-conspirator was gleefully shak- ing hands with the domine, while the bride, half fright- ened, was clinging to the bridegroom and receiving the VAN RENSSELAER MANOR-HOUSE, 1 765 congratulations of the witnesses, the sounds from the library suddenly ceased. Madame Van Rensselaer was waking. It is not difficult to be brave before or after a crisis. The thing that is really hard is to display moral heroism at the very moment of surprise or dan- ger. If Van Rensselaer had had time to consider this he would, no doubt, have stayed and faced the situa- tion, but as it was, no one paused to consider. Out of a back window they fled, the bride and the bridegroom, the witnesses and the domine — even Van Rensselaer Digitized by Microsoft® 526 The Hudson River phre himself. In a panic they escaped, Hke boys from an orchard when they hear the gardener coming, and never halted till they were out of sight from that side of the house; then the domine tried to look dignified again, the witnesses smoothed down their ruffled plum- age, the uncle slapped his nephew and new-made son- in-law on the back and swore that never had there been such a wedding in Albany before, while the bride did not know whether to laugh or cry. The generations of the Van Rensselaers have lured us on, to the- neglect of the little city that was incor- porated in 1686, after the claims laid by the patroon had been finally settled by formal sale of his feudal rights to Governor Dongan. Philip Schuyler, the head of another ancient family, was the first mayor of the future capital of New York. Under the Dongan char- ter the limits of the city were included in an area of one mile upon the river and three and a half miles westward. It was not only the centre of social life and the metropolis of trade, but also the home of religious authority. When the Dutch church was organised there in 1640, it w^ the only one on the northern part of the river that had a regular ministry, and until after 1700 there was no settled domine north of Esopus except the pastors at Albany and Schenectady. The early ministers at Albany were Domines Mega- polensis, Schaats, Dellius, Lydius, Van Driessen, Van Schie, Frelinghuysen, Westerloo, and Johnson. Mega- polensis, "the pious and well learned," was the first Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 527 domine located in Albany. He arrived in 1642, and the church that was erected for his use stood back of the fort on what is still called Church Street. The use of this building was discontinued in 1656, when the congregation moved to another edifice, occupying the intersection of State Street and Broadway. This house was occupied till 1806, when it was torn down, its bells, furniture, and some of the materials being used in a new edifice. Early in the eighteenth century the Dutch church owned all of the city west of Broadway and south of Beaver Street. It was then and for long afterwards known as the Pasture; indeed, the name is not un- heard to-day, even as the leather district in Manhattan is still called the Swamp. The streets that intersect the Pasture bear the names of the old Dutch domines, Westerloo, Lydius, etc. When one stands upon some eminence — as the tower of the Capitol — and looks out over the city at its num- erous churches and imposing cathedrals, he wonders whether Domine Megapolensis would be able to dis- cover amid all those labyrinths of brick and stone the place where he expounded in Low Dutch the principles of Calvinism to a congregation of hardy pioneers. The houses of the olden time, a few of which have been spared for the instruction of the present genera- tion, were part dwelling, part store; for the founders of our proudest families were never ashamed of the- means by which they won their wealth, and it was Digitized by Microsoft® 528 The Hudson River customary for a merchant to couple under one roof his residence and place of business. The lofts were then commonly storehouses, and furs formed the largest and most valuable portion of their contents. Let us see who, these men of strong character and abundant common-sense were in the old days, when honest men were not afraid or ashamed to be "in trade." A list of the freeholders of Albany for the year 1701 includes the names of Philip and David Schuyler, Wessel Ten Broeck, Albert Rijckman, Gerrit Teunise, Johannes Glen, Harmensen, Robert Livingston, Henry Van Dyke, Van Ness, Van Sh^k, Van Epps, Van Allen, Van Voorst, Philipse, and about two hundred and fifty others. It should be a matter for congratulation that back of the proudest aristocracy of New York we find "the nobil- ity of labour, the long pedigree of toil." Mrs. Grant, the " American Lady," whose memoirs are classic, says: " The very idea of being ashamed of anything that was neither vicious nor indecent never entered the head of an Albanian." Theirs must have been an almost ideally peaceable life, neither too laborious nor given up to repose, but preserving always the happy medium. They culti- vated their gardens — paas bhomtjes and cabbages, no doubt, cheek by jowl, like the parlour and the counting- house. The wilderness around Pearl and Jonkers and Handlers Streets blossomed with May roses and tulips, and the vernal procession swept up to the gates of win- ter, like an army with banners; though at the very Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 529 doors of the settlers the wolf, actual as well as meta- phorical, was ready to howl when the snow began to fly, and the deer came from the forest to browse impar- tially upon tulips and cabbages, and any intermission in the daily fight against the encroaching wilderness meant a backsliding into original cussedness. One fact should be recorded to the everlasting credit of the Albanians of a century and a half ago. They had a court-house, it is true, — a room upon the second floor of a house within the fort, — but Vander Donck, the first and at that time the only lawyer of the place, was not permitted to practice, as there was no one to oppose him. The Schepen heard and decided, without haste or delay, upon the few cases that were brought before him, ruling by a code as simple and effectual as that of Solomon. From the pages of Dolph Heyliger we may borrow a vivid picture of the Albany of that day: On their arrival at Albany, the sight of Dolph's companion seemed to cause universal satisfaction. Many were the greetings at the river-side, and the salutations in the streets; the dogs bounded before him; the boys whooped as he passed; every- body seemed to know Antony Vander Heyden. Dolph followed on in silence, admiring the neatness of this worthy burgh; for in those days Albany was in all its glory, and inhabited almost ex- clusively by the descendants of the original Dutch settlers, not having as yet been discovered and colonised by the restless people of New England. Everything was quiet and orderly; everything was conducted calmly and leisurely; no hurry, no bustle, no struggling and scrambling for existence. The grass grew about the unpaved streets, and relieved the eye by its refreshing verdure. Tall sycamores or pendent willows shaded Digitized by Microsoft® 530 The Hudson River the houses, with caterpillars swinging, in long silken strings, from their branches; or moths, fluttering about like coxcombs, in joy at their gay transformation. The houses were built in the old Dutch style, with the gable-ends towards the street. The thrifty housewife was seated on a bench before her door, in close-crimped cap, bright-flowered gown, and white apron, busily employed in knitting. The husband smoked his pipe on the opposite bench ; and the little pet negro girl, seated on the step at her mistress's feet, was industriously plying her needle. The swallows sported about the eaves, or skimmed along the streets, and brought back some rich booty for their clamorous young ; and the little house- keeping wren flew in and out of a Liliputian house, or an old hat nailed against the wall. The cows were coming home, low- ing through the streets, to be milked at their owner's door; and if, perchance, there were any loiterers, some negro urchin, with a long goad, was gently urging them homewards. In Gorham A. Worth's Recollections of Albany, pub- hshed first in 1 849, there is a description of an old Albany- house, that of Balthazar Lydius, who died about the beginning of the nineteenth century: This old gentleman, if tradition may be relied upon, was some- thing of a lion in his day. He was unusually tall, raw-boned, and of a most forbidding aspect — singular in his habits and eccentric in his character — but independent, honest, and gruff as a bear. He occupied, at the commencement of the present [nineteenth] century, the old and somewhat mysterious-looking mansion then standing at the southeast corner of North Pearl and State streets, and was, of course, next door neighbour, in an easterly line, to the old elm tree on the corner. Its position admitted two front gables, and two front gables it had ; thus rival- ing, if not excelling, in architectural dignity the celebrated man- sion of the Vander Heyden family. One front rested on Pearl, the other on State. Each had its full complement of outside decorative adjuncts — namely, long spouts for the eaves, little benches at the door, iron figures on the wall, and a rooster on the gable head. Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 531 In a footnote the editor adds this precious bit of information regarding this house : It is said to have been imported from Holland, bricks, wood- work, tiles, and ornamental irons, with which it was profusely adorned, expressly for the use of the Rev. Gideon Schaets, who came over in 1652. It is said that the materials arrived simul- taneously with the pulpit and the old church bell in 1657. It is supposed to have been the oldest brick building in America at the time it was demolished in 1833 to make room for the present Apothecary's Hall. . . . The Pearl Street door is said to have been used only for the egress of the dead. The orgies of a Dutch funeral are fast receding from the memory of the living. Few remain who have witnessed them. The records of the church show the expenses of the funerals of church paupers two hundred years ago in rum, beer, tobacco, pipes, etc. Mr. Worth mentions Lydius Street as having been named for the venerable gentleman he described, but the editor corrects him: The street was named in honour of Rev. John Lydius (ancestor of Balthazar), who preached here from 1700 to 1709. It was the camp ground of the British armies in the French and Indian wars. The ancient church pasture, which came into the posses- sion of the Dutch Church in 1668, was laid out into lots in 1791, and sold at auction. The streets were named after the domines or ministers of that church. Beginning, with Lydius Street on the north, then Westerlo, Bassett, Nucella, and Johnson run- ning parallel with it. Among those running north and south were Dellius (pronounced Dallius and now so written) , from Rev. Godfrey Dell, who came over in 1683; Frehnghuysen and Van Schee. The reference to the " funeral orgies ' ' of the Albanian Dutch is not fanciful. The dood-fest, or dead feast, was an established custom. Every burgher kept in his Digitized by Microsoft® 532 The Hudson River cellar a cask of wine, spiced, for that particular occa- sion when, he having gone the way of all flesh, his friends and neighbours should assemble to sustain their PLAN OF ALBANY, l6g5 grief with feasting and drinking. The table was loaded with such delicacies as oily-koeks, dood-koeks, rolletjes and bolletjes, hoofdkaas and worst, with many another toothsome concoction, while wine and beer flowed plentifully. And the women, who occupied a separate Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 533 chamber from their men folk, sipped their burnt wine and discussed the viands and their neighbours. If any- one went home sober from a dood-fest it was not con- sidered a mark of special virtue. But there were livelier festivals than those incident to the taking-off of honest and considerate burghers. Many an odd custom marked the keeping of such holi- days as Keestijd (Christmas), Nieuwjaarsdag, Paasch- dag (Easter), and Pinxterfeest. Christmas, to be sure, was not held in great esteem, for New Year's day was the occasion upon which St. Nicholas and his vrouw, Molly Grietje, visited the faithful. About the fireplaces of the old Albany houses, on New Year's eve, the children stood a-row and sang the time-honoured verses: Santa Klaus, goedt heilig man! Knopyebest van Amsterdam, Van Amsterdam aan Spailje, Van Spanje aan Orange, En brang deze kindjes eenige graps. The old custom of making New Year's calls has con- tinued down to our own day, dying hard after more than two centuries of use. Pinxter was the negroes' festival, and celebrated by the slaves under the leadership of the " Pinxter King' with wildest mummeries. They paraded in grotesque costumes through the streets, varying their march with uncouth dances and accompanying them with their own songs. The last of these parades took place in 1822. Digitized by Microsoft® 534 The Hudson River It is hard to get away from the thread of homely yet deUghtful Ufe that winds in and out between the landmarks of Albany's history and the biographies of her many eminent men. We listen to the eloquence of Jay or Livingston, but with an ear open to catch the crooning of a cradle-song, somewhere within a gable- ended dwelling, over whose sanded floor some Schuy- ler, or Beekman, or Van Dyke has taken his first tottering steps in infancy. How many a small morsel of Dutch humanity, nest- ling his flaxen poll on his mother's arm, has closed his blue eyes to the music of Trip a trop a troontjes, De varkens in de boontjes, De koetjes in de klaver, De paarden in de haver, De eenjes in de waterplas, De kalf in de lang gras, So groot mijn kleine poppetje was. Varkens are pigs ; boontjes, as every one must know, is the Dutch equivalent for bean vines; and koetjes for cows. Klaver needs translation no more than lang gras, or kalf. Paarden are horses, eenjes, ducks; a haver is an oat-field; and, of course, a waterplas is a pond — and then, " So great my little poppet was," a conclusion illogical but dear. What a lullaby that was commencing : Sleep, baby, sleep, In the fields runs a sheep, A sheep with four white feet. Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 535 Only the baby of Saugerties or Kingston or ^Albany would have ruminated over the broader vowels of Slaap, kindje, slaap, Daar buiten loopt een schaap ; Een schaap met vier witte voetjes. To this day the English-speaking mother talks to her little one about his "footies." Is it possibly an echo of " voetjes"? But listen to the stamp and swag- ger and hustle that is compressed into four lines here : Daar komt hij ! Een snoeshaan geweldig gestampen ! Een beest hij gebrullen ! Een mansheeld gezwollen ; Een openlijk bloodard! Het maakt neen vershil; Het ware Jan van Spanje zonder zijn bril. To the industry of Mr. Benjamin Myer Brink, the historian of Saugerties, is due the collection of about thirty of the ballads and folk-songs of the Dutch fore- fathers of Hudson River folks from which we have borrowed the above verses and would gladly appro- priate more if we had space. There are songs for nearly all the simple occasions of life, — some for the cradle, some for the churn-dasher, others for the social gathering. Catches, riddles, and homilies follow in all their quaint orthography. They should have a sep- arate volume, with music and illuminations. Old Albany was the fountain-head of the Knicker- bocker race, though they who spell it in this corrupt way do but deny the original, which was Knickker- bakker ; that is to say, a bak^r of knickers, or marbles. Some have claimed that knicknacks, such as oily-koeks, Digitized by Microsoft® 536 The Hudson River dood-koeks, and nieuwjaarskoeks, rather than the trifl- ing knicker, stood sponsor to that Dvitchest of titles, and that the first Knickerbocker of eminence was Volckert Jan Pietersen Van Amsterdam, whose name was too long for even the patience of his neighbours, who shortened it to Baas — that is to say, Boss. If this etymology be correct, Boss Knickkerbakker Volckert Jan Pietersen Van Amsterdam seems to be entitled to a monument or other memorial, broad enough to bear the full inscription of his name.. An ancient Albany tradition is that of the witch who visited his shop on New Year's eve and demanded of Baas Jan a dozen New Year's cookies. She threw a piece of wampum or seawant on the counter, and watched the baker sharply as he counted out twelve of the cakes. "Thirteen," she said. "I want thirteen; here are only twelve." " You said a dozen, and twelve are a dozen," shouted Baas. " I tell you, I want one more! " screaTned the hag. Baas pointed to the door. " Go to the Duyvel and get the thirteenth!" he yelled, growing purple in the face with rage. The witch went away, threatening the baker with dire calamity, and her words were not empty ones, as the event proved, for from that time Baas and his poor wife Maritje knew no peace. For a year everything went wrong. The chimney fell in, the neighbours fell Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 537 out, the trade fell off. It was a bad season and the rotund baker and his wife shrank perceptibly. Then New Year's eve came again, and while Baas stood behind his counter and thought gloomily of his changed condition, suddenly the hag stood before him once more. " I want a dozen New Year's cookies," she said. One look Baas gave her, then silently counted out thirteen of the fragrant cakes. " I see that you have learned your lesson," said the witch. "Remember then that henceforth thirteen shall be a baker's dozen, and all will prosper with you. " The idea that this transaction should be considered in any way typical of the union of the thirteen States that was to come is held by many Albanians to be naught but superstitious nonsense. For very many years Albany was altogether a trad- ing city. Its inhabitants took what measures they could to prevent the intrusion of aliens, and, in order to secure the cream of the traffic in peltries, the mer- chants sent runners into the wilderness to intercept Indians who might carry their goods to other markets. They owned a fleet of vessels, upon which all, or nearly all, of the carrying trade of the city was done. They have been charged with unfairness and craft in their dealings with the savages, but this animadversion seems to be abundantly refuted by the fact that the Indians were not only at peace but very friendly with the Albanians through the troubled years when other Digitized by Microsoft® 538 The Hudson River colonists lived in daily terror of the torch and the tomahawk. Money was scarce, and the use of seawant was legal- ised. Six white beads or three black ones were accepted as the equivalent of one penny (stuyver). A beaver- skin had also a recognised standard value in exchange, and beaver-skins were used in payment of debts, rents, etc. Two of the principal streets of modem Albany, State Street and Broadway, were known in the English colonial time as King and Court Streets, and in Dutch days as Jonker (Young Gentleman) and Handelaer Streets. A part of Broadway used to be called North Market, and, still earlier, Brewers Street. At first merchandise used to be conveyed to the ves- sels in skiffs and afterwards wharves were bioilt for the convenience of shippers. At the time of the Revolution three or four Albany men stand out prominently in national annals. Ganse- voort. President of the Convention that adopted the first constitution of the State, lived in the old home- stead of the Gansevoort family that stood upon the ground afterwards occupied by Stanwix Hall. Philip Schuyler, Philip Livingston, and George Clinton were the leaders of the party that secured New York State to the Union. The latter, as we have already noted, was not only the first Governor of the State, but was also an officer of ability and courage, whose service in the Continental army was of untold value. Philip Liv- Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 539 ingston was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. PhiHp Schuyler, the son of an old and honoured race, was a man not only of intense patriot- ism and splendid personal character, but of rare ability. The great influence which General Schuyler pos- sessed with the Indians, though often neutralised by the Johnsons, yet in a great measure pacified and kept in check the Mohawks during the Revolution. To him was given the task of watching Governor Tryon on the south, the British and Indian force under Colonel Guy Johnson at the west, and the enemy that menaced the northern frontier. He led the advance upon Quebec until forced by illness to resign his command to the unfortunate Montgomery. His was the labour of pro- visioning the posts upon Lake Champlain. In fact, there was hardly a man in the American army, with the exception of the Commander-in-chief, upon whom rested so many and varied responsibilities, and who could so combine skill, forethought, and energy with an almost boundless patience. To meet the army of Burgoyne, which, in 1777, ad- vanced from Canada to effect a union with Sir Henry Clinton, Schuyler used not only the means at hand, but pledged his private fortune for the equipment of his forces. He made the preparations that enabled Gates to win a signal victory over Burgoyne at Sara- toga, yet retired without complaint and permitted one who constantly tried to undermine him to enjoy the honours of that victory. Digitized by Microsoft® 540 The Hudson River Schuyler's property had been destroyed and his house at Schuylersville burned by Burgoyne, yet after the latter 's fall, when he had been brought a prisoner to Albany, it was at the Schuyler house that he found entertainment for himself and his family; and it is said that the noble hospitality of his host moved him to SCHUYLER MANSION, lyOO tears. Baroness Reidesel and Lady Harriet Ackland were aimoilg those who accompanied the vanquished British General, and the former has left on record an eulogium upon the character and generosity of her entertainer. There have been three Schuyler houses that have lasted until the present day to puzzle the searcher after landmarks. The home of General Philip Schuyler has Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 541 been thus described by Frederic G. Mather in an article written for the Magazine of American History in 1884: The Albany of the Revolution was still a stockaded city. To the northwar4 were "the flats," to the southward were "the pastures," where the city herdsmen cared for the cattle and drove them home at night. At a distance of half a mile from the stockade, and just beyond the pastures, stood the mansion of General Schuyler. It was of honest brick throughout, and not, like most of the city houses, a wooden structure with a ven- eered front of bricks ' ' brought from Holland. ' ' To-day the walls and the oaken window-sills show no reason why they might not last for centuries to come, unless the on Ward march of business shall demand the destruction of the relic. So long as it lasts, the Schuyler mansion stands as a link between the past and the present. An effort to capture . General Schuyler at his home was made at one time by a band of Tories and Indians, who surrounded the house and forced an entrance be- fore the inmates could effect their escape. When the latter had reached the upper floor, Mrs. Schuyler dis- covered that her infant, Catherine, had been left in a room upon the lower floor and would have returned for it if the General had not forcibly detained her. The savages and their allies were now in the house, pillag- ing the dining-room of the rich plate it contained. Unobserved in the turmoil, Margaret-, one of General Schuyler's daughters, slipped away and rescued the infant, though she narrowly missed death from a toma- hawk thrown by one of the Indians as she was ascend- ing the stairs. A Tory, taking her for one of the servants, called out, " Wench, where is your master? ' ' — Digitized by Microsoft® 542 The Hudson River "Gone to alarm the town," was the ready answer. Schuyler, hearing this, acted upon the hint, and, put- ting his head out of a window, called as though to a large body of men, to surround the house and capture the rascals ; upon which the invaders fled, but, unfor- tunately, took the plate with them. Alexander Hamilton married Elizabeth- Schuyler, and was counted by the General as one of his dearest friends. When Aaron Burr came first to practise in Albany he was befriended by Schuyler, to whom, through Hamilton, he was destined to deal one of the gravest blows he could endure. Among the chief of those interested in the construc- tion of the great waterway which we moderns know as the Erie Canal, but which to the wiseacres and wits of that day was familiar as Clinton's Ditch, Schuyler made, in company with Clinton and one or two others, a long horseback journey over the course now followed by the canal. The names of those that Albany delights to honour are legion. We have mentioned but a few of them, and those with a brevity for which the scope and variety of the subject-matter of this book must be the excuse. After the Revolution, in 1797, Albany was made the permanent State capital of New York, and its import- ance from a political point of view drew to it many men of ability and reputation ; but its growth in popu- lation was not rapid until after the advent of the steam- boat and the completion of the Erie Canal, which has Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 543 SEAL OF ALBANY its terminus at the northern end of the city. During the years 1797 and 1848 two wide-spread fires did a great deal of damage. The city has four or five miles of water-front, and for several hundred feet back from the river the ground is low and nearly level, so that when the water rises by reason of an ice-dam or from some other cause, it frequently overflows the lower streets, and in former years wrought great havoc at times. There are still living those who can recall how, during one spring freshet, a schooner floated in from the river and was found, when the waters had subsided, high and dry on State Street. As a curious anti-climax to the feudal system under which the people of Rensselaerwyk lived prior to the War for Independence, there occurred in the early half of the nineteenth century an agitation known as the anti-rent war, that stirred Albany and the surrounding country for many years. This trouble was the result of a persistent effort on the part of the heirs of the Van Rensselaer estate to collect rents which they claimed as their due upon pro- perty formerly a part of that domain. The tenants as persistently resisted, denying the claim. When the sheriff and his posse attempted to enforce an order in Digitized by Microsoft® 544 The Hudson River favour of the landlords a riot ensued. This experience was several times repeated, and the militia was called into service to quell what bid fair to be an insurrection. In many respects this trouble formed a parallel to those disturbances that have marked the relations of land- lord and tenant in Ireland. In a mock-heroic poem of ninety- three cantos, written after the style of Hudi- bras, and published anonymously in 1855, H. R. School- craft apotheosised the heroes of the anti-rent war, and pictures, among other things, the tarring and feather- ing of the sheriff. The anti-rent trouble was finally settled, in 1852, by the State, which issued titles in fee simple to those in actual possession of the disputed property. Other feuds marked the middle period in Albany's history, the transition stage between a somewhat over- grown village and the city of a hundred thousand in- habitants. For instance, there was the great battle on State Street, in which the principal actors were John Tayler and General Solomon Van Rensselaer, a num- ber of lesser combatants participating. The fray oc- curred in 1807, and was occasioned by some caustic resolutions presented at a Republican meeting and aimed at General Van Rensselaer and his fellow Fed- eralists. Mr. Elisha Jenkins was the secretar}'' of the meeting, and as he walked the next day on State Street the angry General overtook and caned him. Later in the day the Governor and the General met, almost in front of the former's house, and the civil officer took Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 545 the other severely to task for his assault upon Mr. Jenkins. In a moment the two irate partisans had squared off for an encounter in which every one with- in sight or hearing seems to have taken a hand. Dr. Cooper and Mr. Frank Bloodgood, both connections of the Governor, were in the thick of the fracas, the last- named dealing a blow from behind that completely felled Van Rensselaer. Even Tayler's daughter, Mrs. Cooper, was numbered among the combatants. When the opposing forces were at last separated, the parties began to think of legal redress for the hurts they had received, and a number of lawsuits was the outcome of the matter. It is interesting to note how impar- tially the arbitrators in the case — Simeon de Witt, James Kane, and John Van Schaick — distributed the damages for assault: Jenkin? against Van Rensselaer $2500 Van Rensselaer against Tayler 300 Van Rensselaer against Cooper 500 Van Rensselaer against Bloodgood 3700 From which it appears that the General, who com- menced the affray, had his wounds salved to the ex- tent of two thousand dollars, net. A perpetual warfare was waged, something over half a century ago, between the juvenile portion of the community residing on the hill (Arbor Hill being par- ticularly meant) and those who Hved under the hill. They had no dealings with each other except for war- like encounters, and woe to any urchin who was found 35 Digitized by Microsoft® 546 The Hudson River alone by those of the opposing camp. How this deep and long-continued animosity commenced history does not relate, but many an old Albanian will recollect the encounters that took place between the "hillers" and their adversaries, and recall, perhaps, the names of leaders more famous in their generation than any Schuyler or Clinton who ever guided the councils of the State. Mr. Gorham A. Worth, already quoted in this chap- ter, has given a list of the men who seemed to him most prominent in the city at that time. They were George Clinton ; John Tayler, who was Lieutenant-Governor of the State and acting in Governor Tompkins's place after the latter 's election to the Vice- Presidency; Ambrose Spenser, Attorney-General and Judge of the Supreme Court; James Kent; Chancellor Lansing; Abraham Van Vechten; John V. Henry; John Woodworth; Thomas Tillotson, Secretary of State in 1801-07 '< Abra- ham G. Lansing; Elisha Jenkins, a merchant, of the Hudson family of that name ; Edmond Charles Genet ; and Solomon South wick, editor of the Albany Register. This, it will be understood, is only a very partial list of the Albany celebrities of the time, yet it furnishes a clue to the character and standing of the men who constituted the better element of society at the State capital two generations ago. We have spoken of the level strip of low land bor- dering the river for several miles. Back of this rise, almost abruptly, four hills, separated by ravines and Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 547 attaining a height of from two to three hundred feet. Prospect Hill is the highest of these. There are many narrow streets, paved as of old with cobblestones, to remind us of a former day; but there are also some noble thoroughfares, chief among them being State Street, which is accounted one of the broadest streets in the country, and was, until quite recently, only second to Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. The chief object that challenges the attention from State Street, and, indeed, the principal attraction of Albany to strangers, is, of course, the Capitol. Its architectural beauty and commanding position con- spire to render it one of the most imposing buildings in the world. The effect of the steep approach is aug- mented by the pyramidal tiers of steps, up which a regiment might pass with unbroken ranks. The struc- ture is of Maine granite, built in the style of the French renaissance, and is surmounted by a tower and dome, from which the eye may sweep over sixty miles of country to rest upon the blue profiles of the Catskills, or follow the windings of the river, or return to trace the streets that are spread like a map at our feet. There is the City Hall, that was built in 1882, carry- ing in the spirit of its architectural design a suggestion of the HoUandish origin of the city. There are the two cathedrals — one to the north and the other southward — and numerous churches that testify to the religious sentiment still animating the descendants and succes- sors of those who nodded to the preaching of Domine Digitized by Microsoft® 548 The Hudson River Megapolensis. There are the four Hbraries, the num- erous educational institutions, the Dudley Observatory that was opened with such a flourish of trumpets in 1856, the numerous houses of a public character, and the residences of prominent citizens of the past and the present. On the outskirts of the town hangs a cloud of smoke from its blast-furnaces and factories, and at its wharves are the great lumber yards that con- tribute to its industry. The Capitol was commenced in 1871 and completed at a cost to the State of twenty-one million dollars, and is of such noble proportions that its mere bulk alone is impressive. The main structure is three hundred by four hundred feet on the floor plan, with walls that rise one hundred and eight feet from water-table to cornice. It contains chambers ample for all the de- partments and business of the government, besides housing the magniflcent State Library, with its one hundred and fifty thousand volumes and its collection of priceless manuscripts and documents relative to the history of the State. In these few notes upon the history and the legends of a fascinating old city we have hardly opened the subject. The records are so full and rich, the tradi- tions so abundant and so varied, that it is with deep regret and the sense of a pleasant task left uncom- pleted that the chronicler closes this chapter. Albany has, within comparatively a short time, taken a new start, and in public improvements and new Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 549 buildings, as well as in a marked increase in business, gives evidence of having commenced with the new century a new epoch in its life. Among the causes suggested for the rapid increase in population is an improved water supply. New life has been infused into a formerly inactive chamber of commerce, and whereas a few years ago business enterprise was in many quarters somewhat conspicuous by its absence, now there is evidence of more stirring activity. The first change in Albany's life occurred when the New England element came in and began to mingle with the Dutch and " the dogs began to bark in broken Eng- lish." The second period ended with the appearance of the river steamboat: the third seems to have given place to a fourth, the cause or causes yet unknown. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XXXII Above Tide-Water TROY and the Trojans were primarily of New- England origin, and this difference in blood has perhaps been the cause of not a little of the lack of affiliation between the city that rests on Mount Ida and Mount Olympus and its neighbour of Dutch descent, six miles to the south. ALONG THE RIVER BELOW TROY Troy is the capital of Rensselaer County, tne head of tide-water in the Hudson, the site of the State dam and of various manufacturing concerns. It is a busy place and 'owes much of its prosperity to the Erie, Hudson, and Champlain canals. Its shipping is con- siderable, and, with the neighbouring towns of Cohoes, Lansingburg, etc., its population reaches about the figure at which the census fixes that of Albany. Its first proprietor was one Vander Heyden, who re- 550 Digitized by Microsoft® Above Tide-Water 551 ceived it from the Patroon Van Rensselaer in 1720. About 1787 the site of the future city was laid out in town lots. At West Troy — or Watervliet — in 1813, the United States Government purchased ground upon which was estabHshed an arsenal, near the present east bank of the Erie Canal. Several widely known educa- tional estabhshments add interest to a city that is not devoid of beauty, though lacking the charm of many a Hudson River town. For many years the Poestenkill and Wynant's Kill, which enter the river at this place, have furnished a great deal of the water-power for the local mills. The largest of the Hudson's tributaries, the Mohawk, adds its volume to our river a few miles above Troy. The course of the Hudson above tide- water may be briefly outlined here. Its north branch rises in Indian Pass, at the foot of Mount Mclntyre, in the Adiron- dacks; and the east branch has its source in the lake called "Tear of the Clouds," above which rises Mount Tahawas, fifty -four hundred feet in height. The stream takes in, first, the Boreas River and the Schroon, and fifteen miles north of Saratoga receives the water of the Sacandaga. South of that the Batten- kill is added to it, and, between the Battenkill and the Mohawk, the Walloomsac. It will be noticed that these streams, with two exceptions, have Indian names, and this recalls the prophecy of a dying chief, who, while chanting his death-song, surrounded by his enemies, foretold the disappearance of his race, but Digitized by Microsoft® 552 The Hudson River promised that the streams should retain the Indian names, to keep his people in remembrance for ever. In his admirable Reminiscences of Saratoga, Mr. William L. Stone quotes the " Interesting narrative of a visit to the ' High Rock Spring ' in 1 789, a little more than twenty years after Sir William Johnson's visit . . . taken down from the lips of Mrs. D wight, by .taf^- .V LOOKING DOWN RIVER, NEAR TROY her son, the Hon. Theodore Dwight." This account of the condition of Saratoga and the route thither is so graphic that our only apology in making the following excerpts is that we cannot quote it entire: Our party originally consisted of five, three gentlemen and two ladies, who travelled with two gigs (then called chairs) and a saddle-horse. From Hartford, where I resided, our party proceeded west- ward, and some idea of the fashions may be formed from the dress of one of the ladies, who wore a black beaver with a sugar- loaf crown eight or nine inches high, called a steeple-crown, wound round with black and red tassels. Habits having gone out of fashion, the dress was of London smoke broadcloth, but- toned down in front, and at the side with twenty-four gilt but- tons, about the size of a half dollar. Large waists and stays were the fashion and the shoes were extremely sharp-toed and high-heeled, ornamented with large paste buckles jat the instep. Digitized by Microsoft® Above Tide- Water 553 . . We hardly met any one on this part of the way, except an old man with a long, white beard, who looked like a palmer on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and his wife, who was as ugly as one of Shakespeare's old crones. . After three days we reached Hudson, where a gentleman who had come to attend a ball joined our party, sending a message home for clothes; and, although he did not receive them and had only his dancing dress, persisted in proceeding with us. He mounted his horse therefore in a suit of white broadcloth, with powdered hair, small clothes, and white silk stockings. Could anything be more delightful than this instan- taneous photograph of a beau of a hundred and thir- teen years ago, whose abounding spirits and love of adventure were not to be held in check by such trifles as white broadcloth, powdered hair, and silk small- clothes ? But to continue : While at Hudson it was determined to go directly to Saratoga, the efficacy of the water being much celebrated as well as the curious round and hollow rock from which it flowed. Hudson was a flourishing village, although it had been settled but about seven years, by people from Nantucket and Rhode Island. In the afternoon the prospect of a storm made us hasten our gait and we tarried over night at an old Dutch house, which, not- withstanding the uncouth aspect of a fireplace without jambs, was a welcome retreat from the weather. Early in the morning we proceeded and reached Albany at breakfast-time. The old Dutch church, with its pointed roof and great window of painted glass, stood at that time at the foot of State Street. At Troy, where we took tea, there were only a dozen houses, the place having been settled only three years before by people from Killingworth, Say brook, and other towns in Connecticut. Lansingburg was an older and more considerable town, contain- ing more than a hundred houses, and inhabited principally by emigrants from the same State. The tavern was a very good one, but the inhabitants were so hospitable to our party that the Digitized by Microsoft® 554 The Hudson River time was spent almost entirely in private houses. After a delay of two nights and a day we proceeded on our journey. Crossing the Hudson to Waterford by a ferry, we went back as far as the Mohawk to see the Cohoes falls, of which we had a fine view from the northern bank, riding along the brow of the precipice in going and returning. On the road to the Mohawk we met a party of some of the most respectable citizens of Albany — among whom was the pa- troon Van Rensselaer — in a common country waggon without a cover, with straw under their feet and wooden chairs for seats. Two gentlemen on horseback, in their company, finding that we were going to Saratoga, offered to accompany us to the scene of the battle of Behmus Heights, and thither we proceeded after visiting, Cohoes. We dined in the house which was General Burgoyne's head- quarters in 1777 and one . of the females who attended us was there during the battle. Mr. Stone, in a footnote, corrects this statement, averring that General Burgoyne's headquarters were "on high ground, the present [1875] farm of Mr. Wil- bur." But the account of Mrs. Dwight is circumstan- tial. She [the woman referred to] informed us of many particulars, and showed us a spot upon the floor, which was stained with the blood of General Frazer, who, she added, when brought in mor- tally wounded, was laid upon the very table at which we were seated. During the funeral, she also stated, the American troops, who had got into the rear of the British on the opposite side of the river, and had been firing, over the house, on discover- ing the cause of the procession up the steep hill, where Frazer had requested to be interred, not only ceased firing, but played a dead -march in complement to his memory. On leaving the battleground for Saratoga Lake . . . the country we had to pass over, after leaving the Hudson, was very uninviting and almost uninhabited. The road lay through a Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Above Tide- Water 557 forest and was formed of logs [The road cut by General Schuyler in 1783.] We travelled till late in the afternoon before we reached a house, to which we had been directed for our lodging. It stood in a solitary place in an opening of the dark forest, and had so comfortless an appearance that, without approaching to take a nearer view, or alighting, we determined to proceed farther. . . One of the gentlemen rode up to take a nearer view. Standing up in his saddle, he peeped into a square hole which served as a window, but had no glass or shutter, and found the floor the bare earth, with scarcely any furniture to be seen. Nothing remained but to proceed and make our way to the Spring as fast as possible, for we knew of no human habitation nearer. We were for a time extremely dispirited, until the gentleman who had joined us at Hudson came forward (still in his ball dress) and endeavoured to encourage us, saying that if we would but trust to his guidance he doubted not that he should be able to conduct us safely and speedily to a more comfortable habitation. This raised our hopes, and we followed him cheerfully, though the day was now at its close and the forest seemed thicker and darker than before. When the last light had disappeared, and we found ourselves in the deepest gloom, our guide confessed that he had encouraged us to keep us from despair, and as to any knowledge of the road, he had never been there before in his life. One would give much to have seen this cheerful "gentleman from Hudson" at that moment: He . . . dismounted, tied his horse behind our chair, and taking the bridle of our own began to lead him on, groping his way as well as he was able, stepping into one mud hole after another, without regard to his silk stockings, sometimes up to his beauish knee buckles. At length one of the gentlemen de- clared that a sound which we had heard for some time at a dis- tance could not be the howl of a wolf, but must be the barking of a wolf dog, and indicated that the habitation of his master was not very far off, proposing at the same time to go in search of Digitized by Microsoft® 558 The Hudson River it. . . We found our way to a log house, containing but one room and destitute of everything except hospitable inhab- itants . there was no lamp or candles, light being supplied by pine knots stuck in crevices in the walls. The conver- sation of the family proved that wild beasts were very numerous and bold in the surrounding forests and that they sometimes, when hungry, approached the house. . . On reaching the springs at Saratoga we found but three habitations and those but poor log houses, on the high bank of the meadow, where is now the eastern side of the street on the ridge near the Round Rock. This was the only spring then visited. The log cabins were almost full of strangers, among whom were several ladies and gentlemen from Albany, and we found it almost impossible to obtain accommodations even for two nights. . . . The neighbourhood of the Spring, like all the country we had seen for many miles, was a perfect forest. The earliest advertising that Saratoga Springs seems to have received was through those recruits from differ- ent parts of the country who, having been called to- gether to dispute the advance of Burgoyne and his army, became, when again dispersed to their homes, the propagandists of exaggerated tales of the wonder- ful fertility of the region. The Saratoga Springs of modern ken, having de- veloped in three quarters of a century to one of the greatest watering-places on earth, with all the attrac- tions that wealth and fashion can add to great natural advantages, cannot be described in such a work as this. The tale of its splendour is bewildering, the roll of those who have added to its gaiety, overwhelming. A hst of those who have lodged in its great hostelries, or drank of its waters, would, perhaps, include a majority Digitized by Microsoft® Above Tide-Water 559 of the famous people who have Hved during the past half-century. The peculiar virtues of the waters of Saratoga were long known to the Indians, who, in 1767, revealed them as a mark of special friendship to Sir William CONGRESS SPRING IN 182O Johnson. Johnson, wounded at the battle of Lake George, twelve years before, was subject to recurring attacks of illness due to that injury. The Mohawks, who held him in greater esteem probably than any other white man ever won from them, carried him through the forest to the " High Rock," and with sol- emn ceremonies laid him in the healing pool. His letter to his friend, General Philip Schuyler, is interest- ing: My Dear Schuyler [he wrote], I have just returned from a visit to a most amazing Spring, which has almost effected my cure; and I have sent to Doctor Stringer, of New York, to come up and analyse it. Digitized by Microsoft® 56o The Hudson River The fact seems to have been that Sir William, having reached the spring on a Htter, carried on the shoulders of his Mohawk friends, was so far restored that he accom- plished part of his return journey to Schenectady on foot. In 1783, General Schuyler, who had not forgotten the letter of his quondam friend, though the sad events of the war had cut him off from intimacy with the Johnsons, made a road through the woods from his estate at Schuylersville to the spring, and, taking his family there, encamped for several weeks. The same year. General Washington, being distracted by the long idleness of his waiting at Newburgh, under- took a brief tour of the northern and western part of the State, to study particularly the topography of the country and its battle-fields. During that tour he vis- ited the springs in company with Governor Clinton and Alexander Hamilton. An amusing anecdote is pre- served of one Tom Conner, who was standing by his cabin door, axe in hand, when Washington and his party rode by. Reining his horse, the chief court- eously asked to be directed to the High Rock. Having given the required direction, Tom went on with his wood-chopping, and was presently surprised by the return of the party, when Washington asked for fur- ther directions. Tom looked at him but a moment and then burst forth, " I tell you, turn back and take the first right-hand path into the woods and stick to it. Any darned fool would know the way." What the Father of his Country replied has not been recorded. Digitized by Microsoft® Above Tide- Water 561 Repeated reference has been made to the battle of Saratoga, and its great importance in relation to American history can hardly be overestimated. It should not be forgotten that Sir Edward Creasy, the English military writer, has numbered this among the fifteen decisive battles of the world. Burgoyne started from Canada towards Albany with a reasonable expectation of uniting his forces with those of Clinton and keeping open a direct line of communi- cation from New York to the St. Lawrence. But he was harassed by the New Hampshire levies and checked at every step of the way by the obstructions that the forethought and activity of Schuyler had reared. The American amiy, organised by Schtiyler and transferred to Gates for reasons political, had been reinforced by two brigades from the Highlands, besides a force of artillery and Morgan's efficient corps of riflemen, sent by Wash- ington. Gates's army numbered about ten thousand men, many of them militia or levies. It must not be un- derstood, however, that the New York or Connecticut troops of this description were necessarily raw recruits. On the contrary, it was one of the peculiarities of the American army that its numbers alternately swelled and dwindled as occasion demanded. In two years' time both the militia and the levies may have been called out on several occasions under the stress of cir- cumstances, returning to their farms and villages in the intervals between active campaigns. While Gates was being thus reinforced. General 36 Digitized by Microsoft® 562 The Hudson River Schuyler, having retired to Albany, was receiving deputations of Indian chiefs and exerting his great influence to secure their services as scouts, thus materi- ally aiding the forces in the field. One is compelled to admire the greatness of soul of this man, who refused to permit the cavalier treatment accorded him by Gates, or the apparent neglect of higher powers, to interrupt the efficiency of his service or chill the ardour of his patriotism. Burgoyne, having gathered in what forces he could from Skenesborough and other posts, reached the Hud- son and constructed a bridge by which to cross from the east to the west bank of the river. Meanwhile, a lookout upon Willard's Mountain, on the east shore, watched his movements and reported them to the American commander. We have some hints of the gloomy anticipation with which the British com- mander found himself face to face with the American army. He knew that the posts in his rear had been retaken by the Americans. The defeat of St. Leger at Fort Schuyler had been disheartening; now the fre- quent desertions from his army depleted his force of fighting men. On the 13 th and 14th of September he crossed the river on his bridge of boats, landing upon the plain near the mouth of Fishkill Creek, afterwards Schuyler- ville, about five miles north of the American position. The arrangement of the opposing forces on the 19th was similar, each resting — right and left respectively-— Digitized by Microsoft® Above Tide-Water 563 upon the river, whence the Hnes stretched at right angles with the stream and parallel to each other, west- ward, across the hills. Burgoyne's left wing, on the flats near the river, consisted of the artillery. The General-in-chief commanded the centre and right in person. The American right, opposite the British artillery and extending over the low hills and flats near the river, was under the immediate command of General Gates. The left, that included Livingston's, Van Cortlandt's, Hale's, Scannel's, and Cilley's regiments, the Connecticut militia, and Morgan's famous sharp- shooters, was on the heights three quarters of a mile from the river, under command of the impetuous Bene- dict Arnold. Arnold, together with Thaddeus Kosciusco, the Polish engineer, had selected Bemis Heights as the theatre of battle and laid out fortifications there. Having, on the i8th, advanced slowly to within two miles of General Gates's position, Burgoyne rested over night and prepared for an attack upon the morn- ing of the 19th. The plan, in brief, was to make a demonstration with Canadians and Indians threaten- ing the American centre, while the grenadiers and light infantry, under Frazer, on the left of Gates's position, and the British left-wing, under Philips and Reidesel, were to move simultaneously and by a cir- cuitous rotite to gain the American rear. Burgoyne himself was with the British right. Digitized by Microsoft® 564 The Hudson River Gates received advice of the advance of the enemy upon his left, but made no movement in response to repeated appeals, until about noon Arnold succeeded in getting permission to order Morgan and Dearborn out. Arnold in person followed this party with an- other detachment and was soon engaged with General Frazer's superior force. Gates refused the reinforce- ments applied for by Arnold, and the latter, finding Frazer's position too strong for him, by a sudden move- ment attempted to flank his adversary, with the result that he soon found himself in conflict with the main line of the British advance. Unperturbed by the numbers opposed to him, he atfecked with his inferior force, advancing so impetu- ously that he nearly broke the British line and com- pelled Philips and Reidesel to hasten to the support of Burgoyne. Grudgingly reinforcements were then given to Ar- nold, and he continued for four hours a spirited action with the whole of the British right, though his force at no time exceeded three thousand, or, as some have said, twenty-five hundred men. Both Reidesel and Burgoyne afterwards described this battle as having been fought with great obstinacy and valour, the fire having been unusually fierce and well sustained. Burgoyne, though he could claim no decisive advan- tage, having indeed been repulsed and thwarted by the Americans, yet remained in possession of his ground and proceeded to strengthen his position. His situa- Digitized by Microsoft® Above Tide- Water 565 tion was sufficiently grave. From almost every quarter came discouraging news, the one exception being the arrival of a messenger with a dispatch from Sir Henry Clinton, informing him of the projected ex- pedition up the Hudson and proposed co-operation with the northern army. In reply to this communica- tion Burgoyne urged Clinton to hasten, and promised to endeavour to wait for him until the 1 2th of October. But, either made impatient by the desertions that were rapidly reducing his army, or rendered bold by the apparent disinclination of the superior American force to oppose him, or swayed from his purpose by the councils of his officers, he determined, upon the 7th of October, "to make a grand niovement on the left of the American camp, to discover whether he could force a passage, should it be necessary to ad- vance, or dislodge it from its position, should he have to retreat." Hidden by the intervening forest, with fifteen hundred picked troops formed within a mile of the American left, the British commander dispatched a reconnoitring party to gain the rear of Gates's position and feign an attack to cover the actual assault. But through the watchfulness of the Americans this plan resulted in a complete failure. A counter-plan of at- tack was arranged by which Morgan, with his riflemen, was to win the hills on Burgoyne 's right, while the New York and New Hampshire troops, under General Poor, with a part of Learned 's brigade, were to make Digitized by Microsoft® 566 The Hudson River a vigorous attack upon the Hessian artillery and grena- diers on the left. The New Yorkers, with their New Hampshire com- rades, did magnificent work that day. The Hessian gunners, serving their artillery with the precision and THE RAPIDS BELOW GLENS FALLS effectiveness of well-trained veterans, were amazed to see the Americans advance without hesitation in the face of a rain of grape-shot. The grenadiers, unused to meeting opponents who could stand before them, found it impossible to meet this impetuous onslaught. The guns were taken and retaken, both sides fighting stubbornly, till at last the Americans drove their Digitized by Microsoft® Above Tide-Water 567 opponents from the position, turning upon them their own artillery. No doubt a great deal of the valour and determination shown by the attacking party was due to the presence of Arnold, who, though without a command, owing to a recent quarrel with General Gates, ^'■et took the lead to which his position as rank- ing officer in the field entitled him, and displayed such mad courage that one historian at least has gravely charged him with being intoxicated upon that occa- sion. In this connection, Irving very justly remarks that " Arnold needed only his own irritated pride and the smell of gunpowder to rouse him to acts of mad- ness." While this action was in progress, in another part of the field General Frazer was trying to make a stand against Morgan and his sharpshooters, but received at last a mortal wound. His corps fell back in confusion. Overcome at all points, Burgoyne made an effort to save his camp. This and a subsequent effort to cross the river in the face of an American battery on the eastern shore, were equally unsuccessful. He made repeated efforts to withdraw, only to find that the way was completely blocked in every direction, and at length, upon the 17 th of October, articles of capitula- tion were signed and the great battle was finished. It was a strange coincidence that brought to Burgoyne 's camp, between the agreement for capitulation and the signing of the articles, news from Sir Henry Clinton, announcing that he had reduced the forts in the Digitized by Microsoft® 568 The Hudson River Highlands and was advancing to the relief of the van- quished army. The course of the river for a number of miles above Saratoga is a succession of falls and rapids of great natural beauty, though now often concealed or dis- figured by a multitude of mills. It is hard to realise that Fort Edward, for example, has hidden away, be- neath the evidences of modern industry and thrift, an early history that is full of romance and derring-do. '|IL'!^ 523; Institute Fairs, 41; Republic, 427; Scenic and His- toric Preservation Society, 415; seamen, 54; stores, 332, 338; Surety Building, 38; troops, 554, 563.-565; vessels, 340 Americans, 28 Amsterdam, 21, 108, 446 Ancram Creek, 477 Andr6, Major John, 72, 85, 86, 219, 228, 236—237, 244, 296—297, 314, 317-318, 380 Andresen, his captivity, 456 Annandale, 479 Anthony, Theophilus, 426 Anthony's Nose, 91, 116, 322, 325, 328, 337-338, 358, 361-362, 365, 382 Apothecary's Hall, Albany, 53 Apthorpe Mansion, 140, 175 Arbor Hill, Albany, 545 Archer, Stephen, 229 Ardsley-on-the-Hudson, 230 Armenia, steamboat, 130 Armitage, D. D., 209 Armstrong, General, 458, 460 Arnold, General Benedict, 85, 228, 296-298, 314, 335-336,380,463- 464, 483. 567 Arnold, Mrs., 366 Arthiir, General Chester A., 458 Aspinwall, William, 237 Assembly of Nineteen, the, 516, 520 Astor, WilKam B., 458 Astor Place Riots, 196 Athens, 507 Atkarkarton, 444 Atkins, T. Astley, 209 Atlanta, warship, 51 Atlantic cable, 230 Auchmuty, Doctor, 31a Audubon Park, 155 573 Digitized by Microsoft® 574 Index B Baas, Jan, 536-537 Baeerack Reach, 114 Badeau, General Adam, 287 Bailey, Hachaliah, 293 Baker's dozen, its origin, 536 Baker's Falls, 438 Ball, Washington's inauguration, Baltimore, 504 Barber and Howe's Collections, 495 Barclay Street and college build- ings, 58 Barge Office, New York, 40 Barnard College, 148, 176 Bamum, P. T., and Jenny Lind, 46 Barr, Mrs. Amelia E., 285 Barrytown, 479 Bartholdi Statue of Liberty, 139 Bartram, John, 274 Bassett Street, Albany, 531 Battenkill, 551 Battery, the, 24, 26-27, S^^ 3^i S°> 54, 57. 65, 288 Battle of Behmus (Bemis) Heights, SS4, 563 Battle of Harlem Heights, 277 Battle of Lake George, 559 Battle of Long Island, 151, 326 Battle of White Plains, 332 Bausan, Italian warship, 51 Baxter, 188 Bayard family and residence, 61 Bayard Hill, 168; Redoubt, 168, Beacon Hill, 357, 417 Bear Island (Beam), 352, 51 1-5 14, Bear Mountain, 319, 339, 358 Beauregard, 372 Beaver Street, Albany, 527 Bedford Pike, 293 Bedlam's Redoubt, 169 Bedloe's Island, 49 Beecher, Rev. Henry Ward, 282, Beekman, 534 Beekman, Henry, 91, 459 Beekman, James W., 50 Beekman, Mrs., 317 Beekman House, 463 Beekman Manor, 350 Beekman Patent, 365, 486 Beekmantown, 239 Belletti, Signor, 42 Benedict, 42 Benedict, Israel, 47 Benton, Joel, 287, 426 Bergen, 344, 345, 349 Bergen, Martin G., 486 Bergen Dutch Church, 72 Bergen Neck, 82 Besightsick, 10 Bethune, Rev. Geo. W., D.D., 278 Beverly House, 366, 369, 380 Beversier, 23 Beverwyck, 519, 520 Bevier, 469 Biddle, Joseph, Jr., 344 Bigelow, John, 424 Bill of Freedoms, etc., 88 Binckes, Captain, 23 Blake, British warship, 51 Bleecker, Hermanns, 255 Blinkersbergh, 13 Blockhouse at Shadyside, 82 Blom, Domine Hermanus, 444, 447, 459> 469 Bloodgood, Frank, 545 Bloomingdale, 174; road, 152, 175- 176 Boers in America, 98, 99 Bogardus, Anneke Jans, 59; Dom- ine Everardus, 59 Bogardus Inn, 458 Bolton, Rev. Robert, 290 Boreas River, 551 Boreel Building, New York, 35 Bossen Bouwerie, 61 Boston, 167, 290 Boston and Albany Road, 61 Boston Tea Party, 57 Boulevard, the, 176, 178 Boulevard, Lafayette, 155 Boulton and Watt, 121 Bouwerie, Roeloff Jansen's, 59 Bowery, 61 Bowling Green, 25,31 Bowling Green Building, 39 Braddock, General, 151 Bradhurst, Dr. Samuel, 152 Bradstreet, Colonel, 353 Breakneck Hill, 386 Brevoort, Henry, 250 Brewers Street, Albany, 538 Brewhouse on North River, 168 Bright, Marshal H., 286 Brink, Benjamin Meyer, 476, 535 Brink, Cornelius L., 472 BrinkerhofE's History of Fishkill, 416 Brinkerhoff's house, 417 British, army, 531; artillery, 563; cause, 569; ensign, 28; fleet, 169, 329, 379, 406, 407; force. Digitized by Microsoft® Index 575 British army — Continued 539; garrison, 72; Government, 6.9, 474; officers, 32; plans, 160; ships, 28, 54, 64, 170, 228, 232, 235; troops, 31, 168, 176, 185, 18S, 191, 227, 554 Broadway, Albany, 527, 538 Broadway, New York, 27, 35, 46, 58, 317, 523 Brodhead, John Romeyn, 17, 273 Broken Neck Hill, 346, 386 Brooks, James Gordon, 272 Brown, Charles, 122 Brown, Thomas, 105 Bryant, William CuUen, 256, 262, 272. 394, 424 Buckhout, Captain John, 23 Bucktail party, 265 Buildings in New York, 24, 31, 32, 3S. 3S, 39 Bull Hill, 357, 362, 369, 386, 390 Bull's Ferry, 81 Buonaparte, Joseph, 143 Burdett's Ferry, 185, 330 Btirgoyne, 336, 338, 343, 379, 407, 408, 460, 462, 464, 539, 554, 558, 561-565, 567, 569 Burlington, 344 Burnet, Governor, 25 Burnet's Key, 104 Bumside, General, 372 Burr, Aaron, 74-78, 148, 152, 217, 249, 468, 509, 542 Burroughs, John, 286, 289, 394 Bushnell, inventor, 119, 183, 330 Butler, Benjamin F., 277 Butler, Colonel, 309 Butler, Samuel, 510 Butler, William Allen, 271 Butter Hill (Butter Mt.), 346, 357 Cable Building, New York, 38 Cabot, John, 2 Cadwalader, Colonel, 188-igo Cahoes, 355 Cairo, 495 Call Rock, 425 Campbell, 13, 339 Campbell, Donald. 483 Canada, 160, 338, 4S0, 491, 493, 561 Canal Street and Lispenard's swamp, 60 Canals, treatise by Fulton, 118 Canopus Creek, 297, 317 Canty, Master Tim, 242, 243 Cape Cod, 507 Capitol at Washington, 469 Car of Neptune, steamboat, 128 Caribbean Islands, 23 Carleton, Sir Guy, 27, 229, 288 Carl's Mill, 239 Carolina troops, 310 Carolinas, 160 Carthage, 416 Cartwright's tavern, 353 Cassalis, Earl of, 32 Casta Diva, 42, 45 Castle Clinton, 41 Castle Filipse, 206 Castle Garden, 31, 40-42, 45-48, S° Castle Island, 519 Castle Point, 73, 78 Castleton, 510, 515 Catesby, Mark, 274 Cathedral Heights, 144, 147 Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 144, 147 Catskill Creek, 487 Catskill Mountains, 417, 470, 499, 502, 508, 547 Catskill Station, 92 Catskill Village, 437, 473, 486, 48S- 489, 491, 494-495, 499, 500 Cedar Street and Damen's farm, 35 Central Park and McGowan's Pass, 27 Chamber of Commerce, 424 Chambers, Thomas, 444, 447, 450, 451 Champlain Canal, 550 Chancellor of New York, Living- ston, 120 Charles II., 96 Charter of Freedoms, etc., 520 Chatterton's Hill, 184 Chelsea village, 62, 63 Cheney, A. N., 437 Chepontuc, 570 Cherry Valley, 352, 353 Cherrycroft, 285 Chesapeake shad, 436 Chittenden, Lucius B., and widow, 156 Church, Frederick E., 507 Chtircli notices, 448 Church Street, Albany, 527 Church tokens, 44S Cilley's regiment at Saratoga, 563 City Hall, Albany, 547 Cit)'' Hall, site of de Lancey house, 35 Civil War, the, 319 Claessen, Siebout, 14 Digitized by Microsoft® 576 Index Claremont Hotel, 143 Clarke, Lewis Gaylord, 256-257 Clarke, Thomas, 63 Classis of Amsterdam, 459 Claverack, 272, 504 Claverack Creek, 507 Claverack Reach, 114 Clay, Henry, 427 Clayton, John, 274 Clermont, 122, 125, 478 Clermont, steamer, 120, 122, 125, 128, 138 Clinton, Colonel James, 167-168, 170, 337, 340; De Witt, 49, 265, 459; Governor George, 30, 17.0, 184, 187, 312, 316, 327-328, 335- 337. 339. 34o> 407. 427. 456. 460- 461, 464-465, 538, 542, 546, 560; Mrs. George, 460; Sir Henry, 163-166, 228, 304, 335, 338, 339, 343. 379. 389. 407-408, 412, 439, 461, 467-468 Clinton Point, 198 Cockloft Hall, 252, 253 Coeymans, 510 Cohoes, 550, 554 Cojemans House, 352 Colberg, William, 107 Colden, Cadwallader, 47, 274 Coldenham, 274, 277 Coldspring, 266, 385, 386 Cole, Rev. David, D.D., 208, 287 Cole, Thomas, 500 Collect Pond, 120 Collegiate Church, 444 CoUinson, Peter, 274 Coin Donk, 203 Colonial Assembly, 460 Colonial Legislature, 477 Colonial Party, 168 Colonies, 90, 96 Colonists, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 95 Columbia College, 63, 251, 256, 262 Columbia County, 272, 503-504 Columbia Garden, 57 Columbia University, 147, 148, 176, 179 Columbian Celebration, 1892, 50 Columbiaville, 509 Columbus, 2, 5 Commissioners of Emigration, 41 Commissioners of Indian Affairs, ^ 477 . Committee of 100, 50-51 Committee of Safety, 331, 456 Committee of States-General, gi Communipaw, 20, 65-69, 71 Company's rules for patents, 89, 90 Company's ships, 88 Congress, 377, 405, 412; United States Senate and Btirr, 77 Conkling, Captain, 105 Connecticut, 344, 427 Connecticut troops, 166, 172-173 176, 178-179 Connor, Tom, 560 Constitution Island, 306, 3S5 Constitution of New York, 120 Continental army, 228, 405, 538 Continental cause, 379, 475 Continental village, 297, 317, 332 Convent of the Sacred Heart, 151 Cooper, Charles D., 74-76 Cooper, Doctor, 545 Copway, Ojibbeway Chief, 398 Corlear's Hook, 74 Cornell, Alonzo B., 319 Cornwall, 168, 260-261, 393 Cornwallis, General Lord, 190, 227- 228, 411 Corporation of New York City, 41 Corsen, Arent, 501 Cortlandt Manor, 91, 313, 326, 345 Cortlandt Street Ferry, 58, 72 Council of Fifty, 480 Council of Safety, 460 Courtenay, Viscount, 143 Cow Chase, the, 72, 85 Coxsackie, 494, 503, 510, 511 Coxsackie boats, 428 Cozzens, Fredk. Swartwout, 209, 253. 269 Cozzens's hotel at West Point, 382 Crane, Ichabod, 243, 249, 509, 510 Creasey, Sir Edward, 561 Crispell, 469 Crommelin, Daniel, 262 Crom-Pond road, 318 Cro' Nest, 116, 357 Crosby, Enoch, 417 Croton, 112, 224, 436 Croton Aqueduct, 293 Croton Bridge, 312 Croton, Chief, 295-296 Croton Manor-house, 317 Croton Point, 10, 301, 304 Croton River, 11, 206, 293, 294, 337 Crown Point, 483 Cruger, General S. V. R., 50 Cruger's, 304 Cruger's Dock, 57 Cruger's Island, 393 Cullum, General, 377 Cullum Memorial Hall, 377 Culprit Fay, The, 258, 440 Cunard steamers, 61 Digitized by Microsoft® Index 577 Cushing, torpedo-boat, 50 Custom House, 31 Cut Banks, 510 Cuyler, Henry, 353 D Dallie, Rev. Mr., 470 Daly, Judge Chas. P., 156 Damen, Jan Jansen, 35 Danbury, 293 Daniel Drew, steamboat, 130 Dauphin of France, 383-384 D'Auxiron, 119 Deaf and Dumb Asylum, 155 Dearborn, Colonel, 564 Declaration of Independence, 120, 167, 457. 523 De Fuyck, 519 De Gary, Blasco, 119 De JoufEroy, Marquis, 119 De Koven's Bay, 478 De La Barr, 107 De Lancey, Lieutenant-Governor James, 32 De Lancey, John Peter, 32, 35 De Lancey, General Oliver, 140 De Lancey family residence, 61 Delaware and Hudson Canal, 467 Delaware Indians, 425 Delaware River, 351, 443, 470, 493, 520 Delaware, steamer, 120 Dell (Dellius), Rev. Godfrey, 526, 568 Dellius Street, Albany, 531 Denton's Ferry, 349 Denton's Mill, 349 Depew, Charles, 105 Depew, Chauncey M., 318, 319 Depew, Isaac, 105 Dervall, John, 206 Desbrosses Street, 59 De Witt, Simeon, 545 De Witt, Thomas, 458-459 Dobbs, Jeremiah, 226-229, 230, 235 Dobbs Ferry, 9, 27, 172, 1S5, 186 Dodge, Miss Grace, 148 Dolphin, dispatch boat, 5 Domines, Dutch, 21, 474 Dongan, Governor, 22-23, m^ 294, 416, 447, 526 Dood Fest (Deadfeast), 531, 533 Douw, Volkeft, 431, 432 Downing, Andrew J., 277-278 Drake, Joseph Rodman, 253, 257- 259, 394, 440 Duane Street, New York, 58 Dublin, 478; College, 478 Dubois, Benjamin, 498 Dubois, Catherine, 452-454 Dubois, Louis, 352, 452-453, 455- 456, 469, 470 Dudley Observatory, Albany, 548 Dudley's grove, 198 Duel, Burr- Hamilton, 78 Dunderbarrck, 117 Dunderberg, the, 220-222, 325, .338-339. 357-358. 362, 421, 514 Dutch Church, 59, 72; Albany, 526, 553; Kingston, 447, 449, 459. 474 Dutch domines, 21, 474 Dutch East India Company, 2 Dutch improvers of land, iii Dutch Lords, 23 Dutch possessions, 9 Dutch record of Hoboken, 72-73 Dutch settlers, 11 Dutch West India Company, 489 Dutchess County, 337, 345, 349, 350, 416, 426—427, 480 Duyckinck, A. E., 242, 253, 270- 271, 280 Duyvel's Dans Kamer, 393, 418, 421 Dwight, Hon. Theodore, 552 Dwight, Mrs., 554 Dyer, John, 352 Dykman, Judge, 297 E Earl of Devon, 143 East Camp, 402 East India Company, i, 2 Eastman College, 422 East River, 155, 167, 171, 172, 174; (Brown's shipyard), 122 Eckerson, Captain, 35 Eelkins, commander of trading post, 472 Eighth Avenue and Wolfe Monu- ment, 62 El Capitan, steamboat, 130 Elkins, Jacob Jacobsen, 107 Elm Park, 140 Elysian Fields, 78-80 Emigration Commissioners, 40 Empire Building, New York, 38 Empire State, 12 Englewood, 198 Equitable Building, New York, 35, 39 Erie Canal, 48, 119, 499, 542, 551 Erie Lake, 49 Digitized by Microsoft® 578 Index Esopus, II, 13, 14, 91, 106, 107, III, 114, 325, 443, 444, 450, 4SS, 457. 459. 473. 526 Esopus Creek, 470, 472 Esopus Massacre, 472 Esperanza, 508 Ettrick, his attempt to kidnap Washington, 412 Evening Post, New York, and La- fayette fSte, 47 Evertsen, Captain CorneUus, 23 Fair Street, New York, 458 Falconer's purchase, 91 Fall Kill, 425 Fanning, Colonel, 317 Farrington, Harvey P., 105 Febiger, Colonel, 309 Federalists of Albany, 544 Ferris, Oliver, 241 Feudatories, 89 Field Building, New York, 32 Field, Cyrus W., 32, 230 Fiero, 488 Ellipse, Frederick, 194, 206, 231 Fish Commission, 437, 438, 440, 442 Fish hatcheries, 440, 442 Fisher's Reach, 114 Fishkill, 226, 322, 346, 349, 408, 416-418, 457, 470 Fishkill Creek, 91, 562 Fitch, John, iig, 120 Fitzroy Road, 62 Five Nations, the, 473 Fleming, General, and Lafayette, 47 Fleury, Lieutenant-Colonel, 309 Fort, Amsterdam, 20, 21; Clinton, 3,37-339, 383. 460; Constitu- tion, 170, 172, 332, 379; Ed- ward, 568-569; George, 22, .168; Hill, 196; Independence, 313, 319. 338, 379; Lee, '80-82, 139, 156, 182, 184, i86-i8g, 190, 192, ig8, 257,436,438; Lyman, 568; Montgomery, 328, 335, 337-339, 379, 428, 460, 461-462; Nichol- son, 568; Orange, 6, m, 353, 516, 519, 520, 522; Oranier, 513; Putnam, 379, 384; Schuyler, 562 ; Washington, 106, 155-156, 172, 181-182, 184-185, 187, i8g, 190, 330,416; Willem Hendrick, 107 Fortifications and Governor Don- gan, 22 Forty-second Street Ferry, New York, 80 Fourth Provincial Congress, 456, 457 . Franklin, Benjamin, 424 Frazer, General, 554, 563, 564, 567 Freehold, 352 Frelinghuysen, Chancellor, 278 Frelinghuysen, Rev. Theodorus, 494, 526, 531 Fremont, General John C, 238, 241, 285 Fremont, Jessie Benton, 285 French and Indian Wars, 475, 569 French Church at New Paltz, 470 FuUerton's tract, 472, 473 Fulton, Robert, 118-122, 125-126, 478 Fur trade and agriculture, 91 Gallatin, Albert, 118 Gallows Hill, 317 Gansevoort, 458, 538 Gansevoort family, 538 Gansevoort Street, New York, 57, 62 Garrisons, 385 Gates, General Horatio, 169, 407, 408, 460, 465, 539, 561, 562-565, ^ 567, 569 Gazette, of Hudson, 508—509 Geikie, Professor Archibald, 197, 223 General Jackson, the, steamboat, 130 General Synod of Dutch Church, 449 Genesee River, 493 Genet, Edmond Charles, 546 George III., 297, 461 Gerard, Hon. James W., 311 German camp, 351 German exiles, 474 Gibbet Island, 69, 70-71 Gibbon, Lieutenant, 309 Gifiord, S. R., 507 Gillender Building, New York, 38 Glass House farm, 63, 64 Glen, Johannes, 528 Glens Falls, 570-571 Goede Vrouw, the, 65 Gooch, Captain, 190 Gordon, Duchess of, 352 Goshen, 346 Gould, Miss Helen, 231 Gouverneur, Samuel, 369 Digitized by Microsoft® Index 579 Governors, Dutch and English, 369 Grand Battery, the, 168 Grand Opera House, 63 Grange, the, 152 Grant, General U. S., 372 Grant, Mrs., an American lady, 528 Grant's Tomb, 52, 143, 144, 176, 179 Grassy Point, 133 Graystone, 209 Great Britain and American Inde- pendence, 26 Great Chip Rock, 114 Great Kill Road, 62 Green Mountains, 508 Greenburgh, 227 Greene, General Nathanael, 172, 173, 176, 179, 184, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190,228, 335, 411 Greene County, 443, 449, 486 Greene's Patent, 486 Greenwich Road, 61, 62 Greenwich Village, 61, 62, 174 Grenadier Battery, 168 Greyhound, British frigate, 167 Grievous Hook, 215 Grinnell, Irving, 50 Grinnell, Moses H., 262 Griswold, Rufus W., 269, 271, 383 Groot Esopus, 459 Groot Riviere, 2 Guadaloupe, 23 Guest, Henry, 354 Guests from Gibbet Island, 68 H Hackensack, 192 Hafenje, 216, 241 Hague, The, i Hale, Captain Nathan, 151 Hale's regiment at Saratoga, 563 Half Moon, 2, 194, 201, 509, 513 Halifax, 167 Halleck, Fitz-Greene, So, 253, 256, 257, 261, 269, 270 Halve Maenc, 1 Hamburg- American steamships, 81 Hamilton, General Alexander, 74- 77. 152. 249. 366, 411. S°9. 542, 560 Hammond, Colonel James, 326 Hancock, H. Irving, 376 Handlers Street, Albany, 528, 538 Hardenbergh, Colonel Johannes, 460 Hardenbergh's Patent, 356, 360, 372 Harlem, 24; battle of, 148, 171, 174-175. 179. 184; Cove, 155; Heights, 174-175; River, 189, 195. 344; Speedway, 151 Harmensen, 528 Harrison's brewery, 61 Harschias, 476 Hartford, 552 Hasbrouck house, 406, 412, 463 Hastings, 198 Haverstraw (Havestro), 13, 211, 224, 296, 298, 301, 327-328 Haverstraw Bay, 104-105, 114, 221, 327 Haviland, Captain, 57 Hawthorne, Julian, 285 Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 269 Hay, Colonel, 310, 326, 327 Hays's landing, 298 Hayward, Miss, 250 Heath, General, 166, 172, 189, 190, 315-316. 332 Hebrews, 54 Helderberg war, 511 Henry Clay, steamboat, 133, 194 Henry, John V., 546 Henry, William, 119 Herkimer, General, 475 Hessian artillery, 566 Hessians, 179, i8g Heyliger, Dolph, 321, 361-362, 390, 529 Hicks, John, 344 High Bridge, 170 High Rock Spring, 552, S59.. 560 Highland forts, 335 Highland Patent, 91 Highland Station, 429 Highlanders, 167, 177-179 Highlands, 92, 105-106, 114, 116, 160, 170, 256, 266, 286, 301, 313, 317. 327-328, 331, 335, 350, 357- 358, 361, 365-366, 369, 379, 380, 384-386, 389, 390, 393, 401, 406- 408, 411, 417, 449, 460, 508, 514, 561. 568 Hinnieboeck, 13 Hoboken (Hoboquin), 15, 72, 73, 74. 81 Hoes, Rev. Dr., 459 Hoffman, Charles Fenno, 253-257, 269 Hoffman, Josiah Ogden, 248, 250 Hoffman, Matilda, 248-249 Hoffman, vocalist, 42 Hoge's Reach, 114 Holland, 5, 13, 501, 512 Hollow Way, the, 155, 157, 177 Digitized by Microsoft® 58o Index Hook (Hoeck) Mountain, 211, 221 Hooker, General Joseph, 372 Hooker's Avenue, Poughkeepsie, 427 Hope, steamboat, 128 Horse Race, the, 320 Howard Carroll, steamboat, 50 Howe, Admiral Richard, 170, 171, 183 Howe, General William, 167, 184, 185, 187, 332 Hudson Canal, 550-551 Htidson, city of, 48, 503-504, 507- 5°9. 553 Hudson, Henry, i, 2, 5, 6, 194, 198, 294, 421—422, 509 Hudson (Hudson's) River, g, 11, 13, 18, 19, 48, 51, 57-58, 87, 92, 100, 108, 118, 121, 155, 160, 167, 169, 182, 194, 197—198, 210, 217, 221, 232, 240, 246, 249, 250-251, 266, 278, 281, 285, 288, 290, 304, 306, 326, 329, 330-331, 336, 338, 344, 346, 353. 358, 379. 395. 401, 407, 424-425, 427, 432, 436-437, 440-443, 449, 454, 459, 470, 474, 483. 499. 502-503, 509, 511-515, 554. 571 Hudson steamboats, 126 Hughes, Mother Superior Mary Angela, 196 Huguenots, 427, 452, 454, 469, 470, 473 Hulls, Jonathan, 119 Humphreys, Colonel, 173 Hunter, Colonel, 476 Hunter, Governor, 474 Hunters Reach, 114 Hurlburt, Colonel, 235-236 Hurley, 456 Huron Indians, 425 Huyler's Landing, 198 Huzzard, French warship, 5 1 Hyde Park, 253, 432, 476, 484-485 I Idlewild, 260, 285, 393, 395-397, 401 Ind, farthest, 2 Indian Head, 98, 201 Indian lands, 489, 490 Indian Pass, 288, 551 Indian seas and Captain Kidd, 69 Indian troubles, 450, 491 Indian wars, 459 Indians, 2 Indigo silvestris, 18 Infanta Isabel, Spanish warship, 51 Intercollegiate Rowing Association, 429 Interstate Park Commissioners, 415 In wood, 156 lona Island, 320 Iroquois Indians, 510 Irving, Ebenezer, 266 Irving Institute, the, 245 Irving, Peter, 252 Irving, Washington, 20, 114, 137, 188, 237, 239, 240, 243-246, 250- 253, 255, 261, 262, 266, 269, 305, 321, 329. 337. 389. 484. 499, 5°i> 509,511,567 Irvington, 231, 245 J Jackson, Francis Jones, 143 Jackson, "Stonewall," 372 James, Colonel, 290 Jamestown, 516 Jans, Anneke, 60 Jansen, RoelofE, 59 Janss, Susanna (Claessen), 15 Janvier, Thomas A., 62 Japan, 5 Jauncey, James, 61, 62 Jay, John, 30, 31, 95, 331, 332,457- 458. 460, 533 Jay family, 476 Jenkins, Benjamin, 504 Jenkins, Elisha, 544-546 Jenkins, Lemuel, 504 Jenkins, Marshal, 504 Jenkins, Beth, 504 Jenkins, Thomas, 504 Jersey Battery, 168 Jersey City, 72 Jersey, prison-ship, 428 John jay, steamboat, 291 Johnson, Colonel Guy, 539 Johnson, General Joseph, 372 Johnson, Lieutenant-Colonel, 305 Johnson, Rev., 526 Johnson, S. C. M., 312 Johnson, Sir William, 552, 558- ^ 559. 560 Johnson family, 539, 560 Johnston, Professor Henry P., 175 Johnston Street, Albany, 531 Jones, Nicholas, 176 Juet, Master, 194 Jumel, 151 Jumel mansion, 151, 175, 207 Digitized by Microsoft® Index 581 K Kaatskill, 345, 346, 350-351, 507 Kaatskill (Kaatsbergs) Mountains, ^^346, 350. 351-352.499 Kahn, the Swedish traveller, 353 Kakiat, 211 Kane, Commander, U.S.N., 50 Kane, James, 545 Kane, Woodbury, 50 Kasteel, 515 Kellogg, Clara Louise, 385 Kemble, Fanny, 385 Kemble, Gertrude, 252 Kemble, Gouverneur, 250, 252, 262 Kemble, Peter, 250 Kemp, Professor, 251 Kennedy, Archibald, 31, 32 Kennedy house, 32 Kent, Chancellor, 256, 262 Kent, James, 546 Kerse, Major, Quartermaster at Stony Point, 298 Kidd, Captain William, 69, 321, 421 Kidd's Rock, 421 Kieft, William, 15, 35, 489, 500, 501.513 Kinderhook (Kinderhoeck) , 13, 14, 249, 287, 509 Kinderhook Creek, 509 Kinderhook Reach, 114 King Charles, jockey, 432 King, Colonel, 47 King Street, Albany, 528 King's College, 148 Kingsbridge, 11, 165, 181, 185, 186, 195. 232. 337. 345. 479 Kingsbridge Road, 155, 176 Kingsbridge Ferry, 298, 312 Kingsland's Point, 216 Kingston, 11, iii, 130, 337, 340, 350. 379. 416, 426-427, 431, 433- 434, 447. 449. 451-452, 456-460, 462, 464-469, 470, 473, 500, 535 Kingston Church, 449 Kipp, Jacobus, 416 Kipp's Bay, 172, 173 Kiskatom, 486 Kitchawan River, 10, 11, 206, 293, 294. 29s Klauver Rack, 507 Knapp, Samuel Laurens, 76 Knickerbocker, 535-536 Knickerbocker, Diedrich, 65, 253, 265, 266, 270, 421, 433, 502, 511, . 535. 536 Knickerbocker authors, 209 Knickerbocker stage line, 63 Knickerbockers, 20 Knowlton, Colonel Thomas, 175- 178 Knox, General Henry, 27, 17S, 335, 382, 411 Knox, Lieutenant, 309 Knyphausen, General, 186, 189 Kocherthall, Rev. Josiah, 402, 475- 476 Kocherthall, Sibylla Charlotte, 476 Koorn, Nicholas, 513 Kosciusko, Thaddeus, 385 Kosciusco, steamboat, 133 Krygier, Burgomaster, 451 Laaphawachking, 9 Lafayette, Marquis de, 46, 47, 48, 366, 382, 416, 427 Lake Champlain, 539 Lamb, Colonel of Artillery, 338 Lamb, Mrs. Mather J., 30, 520, 522 Land patents, 88 Landor, Walter Savage, 253 Lands, 89 Lansing, Abraham, 546 Lansing, Chancellor, 546 Lansingburg, 520, 550, 553 Lathrop, Amy, 281 Lawrence, John B., 152 Lawrence mansion, 179 Leatherstocking, 443 Lee, General Charles, 163, 164, 165, 315. 316 Lee, Major Henry, 72, 82, 232 Lee, General Robert E., 372 Lefever family, 456, 468 Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The, 243, 509 Legislature of New York, the, 426 Legislature, steamboat, 507 Leitch, Major, 178 Lenox, Robert, 121 Leonard Street, 58 Leslie, General, 175, 178 Leyden, 494 Liberty Statue, 49 Liberty Street, New York, 318 Li Hung Chang, 144 Lincoln, General, 228, 232 Lind, Jenny, 42, 45 Lindsay's patent, 486 Linlithgo, 509 Linnasus, 274 Lispenard Swamp, 60, 61 Litchfield, 426 Digitized by Microsoft® 582 Index Literary World, the, 271 " Little Sawyer," the, 471 Little West Tenth Street, 57 Livingston, Brockholst, 248; Chan- cellor Robert R.. 120-121, 125, 460, 476-478; Colonel Lewis, 483; Edward, 262, 459; family, 279, 476-477, 522; General Wil- liam, 31, 185; Henry, 476; house, 27, 229; Janet, 460; John, 31, 95; John R., 250; John Swift, 478; Judge Robert R., 351, 458, 473,477,479; Kitty, 31; manor, 92, 122, 351, 476-477; Peter R., 331; Philip, 35, 476, 523, 538- 539; Robert, 95-96, 477, 527, 533; Upper Manor house, 351; Van Brugh, 226, 229; William, 366, 476 Livingston's regiment at Saratoga, 563 Lockerman, Govert, 513-514 Locust Grove, 427-428 Logan, John, 274 Long Clove Road, the, 298 Long Island, 331, 416 Long Island, battle of, 171 Lords States-General, 5, 512-514 Lossing, Benson J., 78, 81, 140, 188, 193, 266, 285, 294, 462, 478 Louvre, the, 468 Love Lane, 62 Lovelace, Governor, 402, 447, 459, 476 Leverage Patent, 486 Low, Cornelius P., 207 Low, Seth, 147 Low Memorial Library, 147 Low Point, 418 Luddington, Colonel, 232 Ludlow, 198 Luke, Sir Samuel, 510 Lundenwald, 509 Lunenburg, 507 Luzerne Mountains, 508 Lydius, Balthazar, 530, 531 Lydius, Domine John, 226, 531, 568 Lydius Street, 227, 531 Lynch, Mrs., 47 Lyndhurst, 231 Lyon family, 105 M Mabie, Hamilton W., 285 Mackenzie, Alex. Slidell, 237 Macready, 196 Magaw, Colonel Robert, 184, 186, 187, 188, 190 Magazine of American History, 50 Mahak-Neminaw, 490 Maiden Lane, New York, 458 Maiden, N. Y., 133, 424 Manetta Brook, 61 Manhattan (Manhattans, Manhat- ton, Manhattes, Manhates, etc.), 2, 5. II. 12. 13. 15. 24, 36,38, 40, 52, 72, 87, 89, 108, III, 156, 184,' 185, 193, 194, 215, 331, 345 Manhattan, 418, 436, 490 Manhattan, first white child born, 64 Manhattan Life Insurance Com- pany Building, 38 Manhattan shore, 59 Manhattan the home of modesty, 54, 64, 81 Manhattanville, 151, 152, 155, 175, 176 Manor Lords, 87 Manor of Foxhall, 447 Manorial rights granted, 96 Mapes, General, 47 Marbletown, 457, 470 Marie Roget (Mary Rogers); 80 Market Dock, 104 Marriages in New York, 25 Marritje, Davids Vly, 140 Martha's Vineyard, 503 Martiler's Rock, 346 Martin, Sir Henry, 107 Martlings, Abraham, 140 Maryland, 436 Mather, Frederick G., 541 Mathew, General, 189 Mathias, Parson, 242, 243 Matteawan, 417 Matteawan, steamer, 50 Mauritius, 13 Maxwell, Col. W. H., 47 McCall, Dick, 252 McClellan, General Geo. B., 372 McCoy, John, 319 McCrea, Jennie, 569 McDougall, General, 332, 335 McEvers, Miss, 250 McGowan's Pass, 27 Meckquaskich, 10 Megapolensis, Rev. J., 444, 5267- 527. 548 Meigs, Colonel, 309 Mercer, General, 189 Merrick, William, 107 Merwin, Jesse, 509-510 Digitized by Microsoft® Index 583 Mesabawasin, 398 Mexico, 371 Miantonomoh, monitor, 51 Michielsen, Andries, 23 Middle Dutch Church, 35 MifBin, General Thomas, 170 Military Academy, the, 370-371, 378,383 Militia, the, 335 Milton, horse-boat, the, 428 Minesecongo Creek, 298 Mingua, 443 Minnerly, " Sherd," 286 Minnesinks, 443 Minuit, Peter, 11 Moeneminnes Castle, 519 Mohawk Indians, 73, 443, 473, 488, 491- 501. 539. SS9. 560 Mohawk River, 355, 443, 551, 554 Mohawk, steamer, 50 Mohegan Castle, 10 Mohegan Indians, 425, 443, 473, 488-489, 510 Molly Grietje, 533 Monmouth, 304 Montague, Johannes de la, 501 Montgomery, General Richard, 460, 479, 480, 483, 486, 539; Mrs. Janet, 250, 479, 483, 484; estate, 483; house, 484 Montrose Point, 304 Monument Lane, 62 Moodna (Murderer's) Creek, 346, 401, 449, 456, 471, 515 Moore, Clement C, 63 Moore, Governor Sir Henry, 344 Moore, President of Columbia, 63 Moregead, 107 Morey, inventor, 120 Morgan's Rifles, 561, 563-565, 567 Morningside Heights, 175 Morris, Colonel Roger, 148, 151, 189, 207, 366, 369 Morris, Colonel Staats Long, 352 Morris, General George P., 253, 266, 269 Morris, Gouverneur, 331, 458 Morris, Robert, 411 Morris, William P., 382 Morse, Professor Samuel F. B., 427 Morton, General, 47 Mount Ida, 550 Mount Mclntyre, 551 Mount Olympus, 550 Mount St. Vincent, 165, 196 Mount Tahawas, 551 Mount Taurus, 357 Mount Vernon, 8 Mount Washington, 156, 181, 186, 189, 329 Murdock family, 401 Murfee, Major, 309, 310 Murray Hill, 174 Murray Street, 58 Mutual Life Insurance Building, 35 N Nantucket, 503, 553 Naoman, Indian, 401 Napoleon, 469 Nappeckamack, 10, 202 Nassau, or Nassou, 14 Nassau Street, New York, 35 National Academy, the, 281 National Guard, the, 319 Naval Academy, the, 375 Navigators, Dutch and English, J07 Negogouse, 519 Nepperhan, 9, 10, 207 Nesbitt, inventor, 478 Netherlands, 17, 88 Nevius, Johannes, 455 New Amsterdam, 11, 65, 66, 96, 106, 112, 195, 449, 451, 500-502, 512. 515. 520 New Amsterdam Bouweries, 17 New Baltimore, 510 Newburgh, 27, 106, 168, 272, 274, 349, 402, 405—406, 408, 411— 412, 414, 416, 488, 560 New City, 224 New England, 406, 408, 429 New Forest, 402 New Hamburg, 418 New Hampshire, 565-566 New Haven, 501 New Jersey, 52, 72, 160, 163, 228, 315, 406, 411, 415, 420 Newkirk family, 488 New Netherlands, 1, 6, 15, 17, 24, 66, 73, 88, 89, 502, 516, 519 New Paltz, 452, 454, 469, 470 Newton, 476 New Windsor, 170, 306, 346, 405, 461 New World, steamboat, 129 New Year's customs, 533 New York, City, 22, 26, 27, 28, 37, 38, 40, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 54, 57, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64, 65, 74, 77, 80, 82, 92, 103, 105, III, 112, 114, 125, 126, 160, 171, 172, 173, 185, 239, 273, 290, 291, 293, 331, 336, 337- 349. 35°. 3S3-3S4, 416, 458- Digitized by Microsoft® 584 Index New York, City — Continued 459. 466, 470, 476, 484, 503-504, 523, 561; Historical Society, 265, 271; Public Library, 424; State, 415, 417, 427, 436, 449, 458, 499, 526, 528; State Camp, 313; State Pair, 427; troops, 565, 566 Niagara, 456 Nicholl, Governor, 486 Nichols family, 522 Nieuw Dorp, 457 Nipnichsen, 10, 194 Norman's Kill, 515 North Bay, 122 North Castle, 187 North German Lloyd boats, 81 North, Lord, 411 North Market Street, Albany, 538 North Pearl Street, Albany, 530 North River, the, 5, 15, 57, 168, 174, 176, 185, 346, 352, 516 North River, steamboat, 128 Nucella Street, Albany, 531 Nyack, 112, 218, 219, 220, 224, 327. 438 O to Oath of office administered Washington, 120 Obelisk Lane (Greenwich), 62 Ocean Steamship Company piers, 60 O'Connor, Charles, 156 Ogden, Henry, 252 Old Dutch Church, Sleepy Hollow, 23, 239 Oloffe the Dreamer, 65, 66 Oo,thoudts, 488 Orange County, 345, 346, 405 Orange, N. J., 172 Order disbanding Washington's army, 414 Ormsbee, 120 Ossining, 10, 224, 289, 293, 439 Osterhout family, 456 Otego, 344, 346 Otsego, 349 Ouselsticker, Skipper, 322 Overbaghs, 488 Oyster Battery, 168 Paas and Pinxter, 67 Pacham, Pachami, 13, Palatinate, 474 16 Palatines, 402, 472-475, 477, 494 Palisades, 9, 114, 139, 191, 196, 197, 198, 201, 211, 223,415; Park, 41S Palmer & Peters's stages, 63 Palmer, Lieutenant Edmund, the spy, 317. 336 Papin, inventor, 119 Papuinemen, 10, 193, 194, 206 Paragon, steamboat, 128 Park Row Building, 38 Pasture, the Albany, 527 Patentees, 87 Patroons, 87, 89, 90, 91, 96,352; of Rensselaerswyck, 501 Patroons' ships, 88, 90, 107 Paulding family, the, 239 Paulding, General William, 231 Paulding, James Kirke, 231, 240, 242, 246, 250, 252, 262, 484-485 Paulding, John, 236, 314, 318 Paulus Hook, 82, 112, 337 Paulus Hook Ferry, 58, 72, 344- 34S . Pavonia, 15, 16, 17, 520 Peak, John, 313 Pearl Street, Albany, 528, 531 Peekskill, 10, 105, 187, 282, 304, 313-315. 317-318, 320, 332, 337, 338 Peekskill Bay, 320, 332 Peekskill Creek, 297 Pemberton, General, 372 Pendleton, Hamilton's second, 76, Pennsylvania, 60, 402, 406, 499 Pennsylvania soldiers, 82, i8g Peploep's Kill, 337 Pequod, Indians, 425; lover, 425- 426 Percy, Lord, 186, 189 Perier, inventor, 119 Perry, Commander Matthew Gal- braith, 237 Perseverance, steamboat, 128 Petanoch, 519 Philadelphia, 304 Philadelphia and Reading terminal, 65, 429 Philadelphia, removal of Govern- ment to, 30 Philadelphia, steamship, 51 Philips, 528; Constantia, 243; Fred- erick, 366; General, at Saratoga, 563; manor-house, 206, 2x37, £o8, 219; Margaret, 366; Mary, 151, 207, 366, 369; Philip, 366, 369; Susannah, 366; Digitized by Microsoft® Index 585 Philipse, 95, 208; Adolphus, 365- 366; family, 290; house at Yon- kers, 366; house m Highlands, 25°, 345 ; patent (lower), 91; (upper), 365 Philipsburg, 366 Phcenix, ship of war, 183, 329, 330 Phcenix, steamboat, 79 Pickering, Henry, 272 Piermont, 112, 130, 211, 219, 436 Pine Street and Damen's farm, 35 Placentia, 484 Place of the Bark Kettle, 226 Planck family, 488 Playsier Reach, 114 Pleasant Valley, 81 Plymouth and the Pilgrims, 450 Pocantico, 10, 216, 231, 239, 240 Pockhantes, 10 Poe, Edgar Allen, 79, 80 Poestenkill, 551 Point-no- Point, 106, 216, 221, 229, 301 Polk, James K., 278 Polopel's Island, 322, 346, 390, 393, 401, 422 Ponckhockie, 450 Poor, General, 565 Posey, Major, 309 Post Road, at Greenwich, 62 Potter, Orlando, 152 Poughkeepsie, 91, 278, 285, 328, 416-422, 424-428, 430, 436 Poughkeepsie Academy, 255 Poughkeepsie Bridge, 428-429 Poughkeepsie Collegiate School, 421 Poughkeepsing, 349 Prescott, 269 Prime, Edward D., 282 Prime, Nathaniel Scudder, 282 Prime, Samuel Irenasus, 282 Prime, Rev. Wendell, D.D., 209 Prime, William C, 282 Prince of Orange, 514 Prince of Wales's visit to America, 130 Produce Exchange Building, 39 Prospect Hill, Albany, 547 Prospect Hill, Hudson, 508 Providence, R. I., 503 Provincial Congress, 331,431 Provincial Legislature, 460 Provost, Theodosia, 217 Putnam County, 91 Putnam, Colonel Rufus, 167 Putnam, General Israel, 119, 168, 169, 170, 172, 173, 174, 177, 178, 182, 1S3, 187, 188, 189, 314, 330, 335. 336, 338, 339. 340, 379, 461, 464, 569 Putnam's Monthly, 270 Quebec, 4S0,, 539 Queen Anne, 402, 474 R Ramapo Hills, 82, 217 Rangers, Knowlton's, 175, 176, 177, Rapelje, Rem, 64 Rawlings, 188 Read, Nathan, 119 Red Jacket, 431 Reed, Adjutant-General, 177, 178 Reidesel, Baron de, 563-564 Reindeer, steamboat, 133 Remonstrance of colonists, 87 Rensselaer County, 550 Rensselaerswyck, 11, 13, 15, 18, 106. 352, 354, 490, 502, 516, 519, 543, 521—522 Rensselaerswyck, Patroon of, 87, 92 Rensselaerstein, 512-514 Renwick, James, 250, 251 Requa, Captain Samuel, 105 Revolution, the, 72, 277, 280, 290, 378, 406, 414, 426, 427, 456, 458, 496, 538, 542 Rhinebeck, 13, 92, 278, 464, 467, 479 Rhode Island, 553 Richmond Hill, 174, 366, 369 Richmond Hill, steamboat, 128, 483 Ridgway, William, 344 Ridley, Mrs. Catherine, 31 Ridley, Matthew, 31 Rijckman, Albert, 528 Ritzenier, Domine, 24 River craft and passengers, 115 Riverdale, 133, 198 Riverside Park and Drive, 52, 139, 140, 143, 144, 151 Riverview Academy, the, 422 Rivington's Gazette, 86 Roa Hook, 319 Roberts, EUis H., 476 Robinson, Beverly, 366, 369, 380 Robinson house, the, 297 Rochambeau, 228, 316, 411 Rockefeller, William, 237 Rockland County, N. Y., 219 Digitized by Microsoft® 586 Index Rockland Lake, 104, 221 Rockland Point, 221 Rockwell, Rev. Charles, 288 Roe, Rev. E. P., 393 Roebuck, British warship, 183 Roeleff Jansen's Kill, 477 Rogers, Archibald, 50 Rogers, Mary (Marie Roget), 79, 80 Rogers, Moses, 35 Rombout, Francis, 416 Rondout, II, 91, 443-444, 450, 452-, 459. 463. 467-468 Rondout Creek, 467 Rose, British warship, 329, 330 Rosendale Creek, 470 Rotterdam, 501 Round Rock, 558 Royalists, 168 Rumsey, James, 119, 120 Sacandaga River, 551 Sachus Indians, 313 Sackhoes, 10 Salisbury, 352 Salisbury, Francis, 487 Salisbury, Silvester, 486 Salmagundi Papers, the, 252, 253 Sam Sloan, steamboat, 50 Sandy Beach, 306 Sapokanican, 61 Sarah's Point, 296 Saratoga, 408, 460, 539, 551-554, 558-559. 568, 570 Saratoga Lake, 554 Saugerties, 273, 450, 470-472, 475- 476, 5°3. 535 Savannah, steamer, 74 Sawyer's Creek, 449, 470 Saytngs of Doctor Bushwacker, The, 270 Scannell's regiment at Saratoga, „ 563 Scarborough, 224, 289 Schaets, Rev. Gideon, 526, 531 Schenectady, 3 54-3 55 Schermerhorn, boy prisoner, 493 Schodack, 510 Schoharie, 351-352 Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe, 273, 289, 544 Schoonmaker, 444, 456 Schoonmaker house at Kingston, 463 Schroon, R., 551 Schuneman, 488, 494 Schuyler, $34 Schuyler, Arent, 31 Schuyler, Catherine, 541 Schuyler, David, 528 Schuyler, Elizabeth, 542 Schuyler family, 91, 95, 476, 522 Schuyler, General Philip, 353, 431- 432, 480, 526, 528, 538-539. 540- 541, 547. 559. 560, 562 Schuyler house, 530 Schuyler houses, 530 Schuyler, Margaret, 541 Schuyler, Mrs. Philip, 541 Schuyler, Peter, 31 Schuylersville, 530, 560, 562 Scotoc Island, 353 Scott, 458 Scott, General Winfield, 371, 382 Scutters Island, 352 Seawant (wampum), 449, 538 Seine, river, the, 80, 121 Selden, Captain, 310 Semesseeck, 519 Senasqua, 10, 295 Senate house at Kingston, 415, 457, 460, 463, 469 Senate, United States, presided over by Burr, 78 Seylmaker's Reach, 114, 320 Shad fisheries, 436-438 Shadyside, 81, 82 Shanghai-ing, 57 Sharon, Conn., 426 Shatemuc, g Shawangunk Mountains, 454, 470 Sheldon, Colonel, 235 Sheldon, Doctor Daniel, 311 Sherbrooke, Sir John, 483 Sherman, General Tecumseh, 372 Shoraskappock, 9, 10 Sibyl's Cave, 78 Siede at Jenny Lind concert, 42 Sill, Richard, 312 Sinclair, Miss, 195 Sing Sing, 10, 289, 290, 293, 301 Sirham, Sachem, 313 Skenesborough, 562 Sketch-Book, The, 245 Skinner, Charles M., 358 Slaange Klippe, 425 Slaperig Hafen, 211 Sleepy Hollow, 23, 137, 239, 243, 244, 286 Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, 249, 271 Sloops on the Hudson, 116 Smack's Island, 511 Smith, historian of New York, 24 Smith, Joshua Hett, 297, 298 Smith Patent, the, 344 Digitized by Microsoft® Index 587 Snyder, Elias, 493 Snyder, Captain Jeremiah, 492-493 Somerindyke, Jacob and Tevinis, 62 Soiucrs, brig, 237 Sons of American Revolution, 228 Sopus, 349, 351 Sopus Kill, 351 Southampton Road, 62 South River, 107 Southwick, Solomon, 546 Spanish forts and navy, 51 Spanish Main and Captain Kidd, 69 Sparromgrass Papers, The, 269, 270 Spencer, Ambrose, 546 Spencer, General, 168, 172, 173, 177 Spencer's Hill, 169 Spencer's Redoubt, 168 Springsteel house, 306 Spuyten Duyvil, 9, 10, 156, 184, 194, 195, 198, 206, 208, 211, 212, 227. 33°. 345 Stamp Act, the, 479 Stanton, Thomas, 130 Stanwix Hall, 538 State Capitol, 547, 5 48 State Legislature, 462, 465 State Library, 548 State Normal School, 424, 455 State Prison, 57 State Records, 548 State Street, Albany, 527, 530, 538, 543-544, 547. 553 Staten Island, 46, 52, 169, 331 States-General, the, 17,96, 455,522 Sterling, Lord, Brigadier-General, 166 Steuben, Baron, 304, 411, 416 Stevens, Colonel John, 58, 73, 74, 81, 103, 478 Stevens family, 74 Stewart, Rev. Abel T., 239 Stewart, Major, 309 St. Lawrence River, 561 St. Leger, 562 St. Luke's Hospital, 148 St. Nicholas, 533 Stone, William L., 552, 554 Stone, Colonel WiUiam Leete, 256, 49°. 495 Stony Point, 187, 297,298,304-306, 311, 312, 320, 339, 415 Storm, Captain Jacob, 105 Storm King, 261, 285, 357, 386, 393 Storm-ship, the, 215 Stowe, Mrs. H. B., 43° St. Paul Building, New York, 38 St. Paul's Church, 58, 4S4 Street, Alfred B., 210, 278, 279 Streets of Albany, 527, 538 Stringer, Doctor, 356, 559 Strope family, 493 Stuyvesant, Peter, 35, 96, 195, 206, 361, 421, 450, 451, 459, 490, 502, 521 Stuyvesant Village, 509 Sugar Loaf, 116, 35S, 366 Sugar House Prison, 318 Sullivan, General, 166 Sunday Islands, 352 Sunnyside, 239, 241, 244, 24S, 262 Supreme Court, New York, 466 Susquehannah River, the, 346, 349, 352, 493 Swallow, steamboat, 130 Swartwout family, 444 Talmadge, Nathaniel P., 427 Tappan, 14, 218, 219, 345 Tappan, Cornelia, 460 Tappans, 13 Tappan Zee, 104, 114, 137, 211, 215, 216, 217, 221, 241, 244, 246, 286, 326, 32S, 329 Tarrytown, 10, 105, 137, 140, 206, 207, 217, 218, 220, 224, 231, 232, 236, 237, 239, 244, 245, 271, 285, 286, 289, 318, 326, 338, 421 Tartar, ship of war, 183 Taylor, Bayard, 42 Taylor, John, 544-546 Taylorsville, 19S Teachers College, 14S Tear of the Clouds, 551 Teed, Royalist family, 318 Telegraph, steamboat, 133 Teller, Sarah, 295, 296 Teller's Point, 297 Tenants and patentees, 87 Ten Broeck, Jacomyntie, 457-458 Ten Broeck, Wessel, 457-458, 469, 528 Ten Broeck family, 444 Teunise, Gerrit, 528 Teunissen, Aert, 15 Thackeray, William M., 270 Thayer Hall, 377 Thayer, Major Sylvanus, 371, 372 Thayer, Stephen Henry, 286 Tilden, Samuel J., 209, 424 Tillotson, Thomas, 546 TivoH, 432, 464, 476-479 Tivoli and the Clermont, 122 Digitized by Microsoft® 588 Index Tompkins, Governor Daniel D., 523. 546 Tontine Hotel, 35 Torrey, Bradford, 286, 394 Tory marauders, 82 Tract Society Building, New York, 38 Travis, James B., 105 Travis, John L., 105 Trevorre, William, 108 Tributaries to the Hudson, 551 Trojan, steamboat, 130 Trinity Cemetery, 155 Trinity Church, 39, 58, 60 Troy; 92, 438, 520, 550, SSI, 553 Troy dam, 438 Tryon, Governor William, 165, 166, 317. 539 Tugboats, 100 Turtle Bay, 172, 173 Tyler, John, 427 U Ulster County, 346, 350, 407, 443- 444, 449, 4SS-4S6, 459. 467, 47°. 471 Ulster Indians, 451 Ulster regiments, 475 Uncas, 425 UnderclifE, 386 Underbill, Doctor, 296 Union Bridge Company, 429 United States, S3 United States Government, 41, 78, 551 United States standing army, 378 Upper Red Hook, 478 V Vale of Avoca, 412 Valley Forge, 304 Vamoose, 52 Van Allen, 528 Van Amsterdam, Jan Peter, 536 Van Arsdale, John, 28 Van Bergen house, 488 Van Bergen, Martin, 495 Van Buren, Martin, 208, 249, 277, 5°9. 510 , , Van Corlaer, Anthony, 193, 3S8 Van Cortlandt family, 295, 522 Van Cortlandt house, 294-295 Van Cortlandt, John, 294 Van Cortlandt Manor, 95, 365 Van Cortlandt, Oloff, 9s, 206 Van Cortlandt, Philip, 317 Van Cortlandt, Pierre, 163, 232, 317, 326, 458 Van Cortlandt regiment at Sara- toga, 363 Van Cortlandt, Stephen, 416 Van Dam, Rambout, 21 1-2 12 Vanderbilt, Commodore, los Vanderbilt, Jacob, 133 Vander Donck, Adrian, 203, 206, 208, 501, 502, 529 Vander Heyden, Antony, 390, 529, 55° Vander Heyden family, 530 Vanderlyn, John, 468, 5°° Vanderscamp, Jan Jost, 68-72 Van Driessen, 526 Van Dyke, Henry, 528, 534 Van Epps, 528 Van Gaasbeek family, 444 Van Gaasbeek, Laurentius, 457, 469 Van Gieson, Domine, 325 Van Home, Garret, 66-67 Van Kleeck, Baltus, 426 Van Loan, Peter, 432 Van Ness, Abraham, 61 Van Ness, Judge William P., 75-76, 249, 509, 328 Van Orden, 488 Van Rensselaer, 193, 202; Cath- erine, 523; Colonel John, 353, 483; colony, 97; estate, 523, S43; family, 526; Harriet, 324; Jan Baptist, 522; Johannes, 522; Kilian, 489, 490, 511-514. 519- 521, 524, 550; Madame, 524-525; manor-house ,523; Patent ,92,96; Patroon, 554; Solomon, 524, 544- 545; Stephen, 59, 354, 459, 522, 523 Van Santvoord, Doctor, 458-459 Van Santvoord, Harrold, 287, 510 Van Schaick, John, 545 Van Schie, 526, 531 Van Slechtenhorst, 489, 501—502, 521-522 Van Slyck, Cornelius Antonissen, 489 Van Slyk, 528 Van Tassel farmhouse, 140 Van Tienhoven, Secretary, 87, 96, 98 Van Twiller (Walter the Doubter) , 66, 511-513 Van Vechten, Abraham, 546 Van Vechten (Vecthe), 352, 459, 488 Van Voorst, 528 Van Wart, Isaac, 236, 245 Vassar College, 422-424 Digitized by Microsoft® Index 589 Vassar, Matthew, 422-423 Vaste Reach, 114 Vastic Island, 352 Vaughn, General, 340, 350, 428, 460, 463, 465, 477 Vauxhall Gardens, 57, 58, 61 Verdrietegh Hoeck, 202 Vermilye, Captain, 105 Verplanck, Gulian, 35, 253, 261, 262, 266, 416 Verplanck house, 416 Verplanck's Point, 297, 298, 304, 3°S. 311. 316, 320, 33S, 336, 338 Verrazani, 2 Vesuvius, dynamite boat, 51 Vice-President's house at Staten Island, 46 Virginian troops, 178 Vischershoeck, 13 Vorsen Reach, 114 Voyage up the Hudson, W. Irving, 115 Vulture, the, 296-298 W Walkill, 350, 452, 454-45S, 470, 473 Wall Street on evacuation of New- York, 27 Wallace, Sir James, 340, 461 Walloonsac River, 551 Walter the Doubter (Van Twiller) , 66, 511, 512, 513 Wanton Island, 488 Wappinger Indians, 16, 416 Wappinger's Creek, 91, 418 War for Independence, 22, 32, 112, 229, 313, 326, 380, 543 War with England, 371; ofi8i2, 523 War vessels, 5 1 Ward, Moses, 291 Waronawanka Indians, 13 Warner, Anna B., 280-282 Warner, Henry, 280 Warner, Susan, 280-282 Warner Sisters, 380 Warren, Admiral Peter, 61 Warren Street, New York, and Vauxhall, 57, 59 Warren County, 571 Warren Road, 62 Washington, Augustine, 191 Washington, General George, 26, 27, 32, 82, 120, 163, 167, 170, 171, 177, 178, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, igo, 191, 192, 228, 229, 237, 305. 306, 3". 313. 315. 316, 331. 332. 33S. 366, 369, 37°. 375. 379. 381, 405-406, 408, 412, 414, 417, 560-561 Washington headquarters, 140, 151, 168, 172, 173, 228, 272, 414, 415 Washington Heights, 155 Washington Hotel, 32 Washington, house built for, 30 Washington, Martha, 460 Washington Square, 61 Waterbury Battery, 169 Waterford,' 554 Watervliet, 551 Water Witch, steamboat, 130 Watts family, 522 Watts, John, 31 Wayne, "General Anthony," 82, 86, 304-306, 311, 312, 335, 411, 415 Wayside Inn, 314 Webb, General James Watson, 237, 241, 285 Weber, 488 Webster, Daniel, 427; Lieutenant- Colonel, 305 Wecquashqueck, 9, 202, 226 Weehawken, 9, 74, 78, 80, 81 Weh-awk-en, 9 Weiser, Captain John Conrad, 475 Wells, Lemuel, 207, 208 Wells, Richard, 344 West, Benjamin, 118 Westbrook, F. E., 469 West Camp, 402, 472-474, 476 Westerloo, Domine, 526 Westerloo Street, 527, 531 West India Company, i, 6, 88, 516, S19 West Indies, 112 ; and Captain Kidd, 69 Westchester County, 9, 11, 91, 331, 337. 417. 457 Westchester, steamboat, 130 West Point, 27, 85, 116, 281, 305, 365-366, 371-372, 375. 379. 380- 382, 384-385, 460 West Shore Road, 429; Terminal, 80 West Street Market, 57 West Tenth Street, 57 West Troy, 551 Wetherell, Elizabeth, 280 Weygat, 116 White House, the, 378 White Plains, 170, 187, 217, 315, 417. 457 White Plains battle, 184, 227 White, Robert, 168 Digitized by Microsoft® 590 Index White Star Wharves, 6i Whitehall Battery, 508 Wier, Robert, 376, 382 Wilbur, 459; farm at Saratoga, 554 Wild Goose Inn, 68, 69, 70,71 Willard's Mountain, 562 Willem Hendrick, fort, 21 Willemstadt, 107, 519 Willett, Colonel, 332 WilUam the Testy, 514 Williams, David, 236 Williams, Captain Daniel, 296 Williams, Rev. Eleazer, 384 Willis, Nathaniel P., 116, 134, 253, 259, 266, 269, 357, 382, 393-398 Willow Point, 226 Wilson Steamship Line, 81 Wilson, General James Grant, 260- 262, 270 Wiltwyck, 444, 447, 451, 453, 456, 459, 466, 468 Wiltwyck Cemetery, 469 Winchenback, 476 Winedecker, Captain Hartman, 475 Wing's Falls, 570-571 Winnakee, 425 Win slow, Margaret, 458 Wisquaqua, 9 Wolfert's Roost, 216, 244, 248 Wolvenhoek, 431 Woodworth, John, 546 World Building, New York, 38 Worth, General William Jenkins, S°4 Worth, Gorham A., 530-531, 546 Wynant's Kill, 551 Wynkoop, 488 Wyoming Valley (Campbell's poem) 13 Yonkers, 10, 184, 188, 202, 206, 208, 223, 230 Yonkers Street, Albany, 528, 538 Yorktown, 26, 411 Zaargertje, 471 Zealand, 18, 24 Digitized by Microsoft® Ji Selection from the Catalogue of G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS Complete Catalogues sent on application Digitized by Microsoft® The Ohio River A Course of Empire By Archer Butler Hulbert Associate Professor of American History, Marietta Col- lege. Author of " Historic Highways of America," etc. Ll rge Octavo with loo Full-Page Illustrations and a Map. Net, $3. 50. By express, prepaid, $3.75 AN interesting description from a fresh point of view of the international struggle which ended with the English conquest of the Ohio Basin, and includes many interesting details of the pioneer movement on the Ohio. The most widely read students of the Ohio Valley will find a unique and unexpected interest in Mr. Hulbert's chapters dealing with the Ohio River in the Revolution, the rise of the cities of Pittsburg, Cincin- nati, and Louisville, the fighting Virginians, the old-time methods of navigation, etc. The work presents in a con- secutive narrative the most important historic incidents connected with the river, combined with descriptions of some of its most picturesque scenery and delightful excursions into its legendary lore. Send for Illustrated Desctptive Circular G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS New York London Digitized by Microsoft® The St. Lawrence River Historical Legendary Picturesque By George Waldo Browne Author of " Japan — the Place and the People " " Paradise of the Pacific," etc.