Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924028834897 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY bought with the income Of the sage endowment FUlStt) e^ivEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Cornell University Library F 127S91 Q7 < unbracing a olln 3 1924 028 834 897 HISTOHY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY: EMBEACINQ AN ACCOUNT OF ITS GEOLOGY, CLIMATE, ABORIGINES, EABLTt SETTLEMENT, ORGANIZATION; THE FORMATION OF ITS TOWNS, WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT RESIDENTS, ETC., ETC. BY JAMES ELDRIDGE QUINLAN. PUBIJ8HED BY G. M. BEEBE AND W. T. MOKGANS. LIBERTY, N. Y.: W. T. MORGANS & CO., PRINTERS & STEREOTYFERS. 1873. Entered according to Act of OongresB, in the year 187S, by JAMES ELDKIDGE QUIKLAN, In the Office of the Lihrarian of Oongreas, at Washington. To Hon, Archibald C, Niven : From 28j8 to 1866, (except during a brief interval,) I was an editor of a newspaper of Sullivan county. Whenever, from illness or absence, I was unable to dis" charge my editorial duties, your able and facile pen was wielded for me gratuitously. Therefore, as a slight token cf m^y gratitude, I respectfully dedicate to you this volume. THE AUTHO(k. PE EF ACE. In 1853, Lotan Smith, president of the Agricultural Society of Sullivan County, under the auspices of the ^tate, wrote what he termed a History of Sullivan County. It was expected that it would be inserted in the Transactions of the State Agricultural Society; but the gentlemen who controlled the publication of that work rejected Mr. Smith's manuscript, and returned it to its author, with a chapter on the Geology and another on the <31imate pi the county, which had been prepared by Professor Antisell. Soon after this occurred, Billings Grant Childs, a young gentleman of fair literary quahfications, announced that he had assumed the task of writing a history of Sullivan. For a time, as he had opportunity, he collected material for the proposed volume; but after writing a chapter on the town of Liberty, which covered ten manuscript pages, became weary of the task. He then made an arrangement with Jay Gould, under which Mr. Gould and Mr. Childs were to be associated as authors and publishers. This, however, led to no result, and the project was abandoned by them. The author then commenced writing this volume, and perse- vered to the end, although a painful physical iniirmity often compelled him to put aside his pen for weeks and months at a time, and he has seldom been able to complete more than three manuscript pages in a day. By purchase and otherwise, the memoranda, etc., of Messrs. Smith and Childs passed into our hands, and to the extent recorded in our foot-notes we have had the advantage of their labors. Much more are we indebted to Professor Antisell, whose valuable papers we have copied and adopted as the first and second chapters of our liistory. [5] 6 FBEFAOB. In addition to this, we have been favored with the oral and written statements of nearly one hundred well-known residents of the county.* These statements we have compared with each other, and with official documents and records, as well as what we have found i« files of old newspapers and gleaned from other sources of information. The resultj gentle reader, is before you. You may detect errors of commission and omission; but we have guarded against both, through long years of patient research ; and we hope that you will decide that our work is not whplly destiti^te of merit. Be jihis as it m^, we presspt it to yoi; as a rough, not a perfect ashlar, knowing that the peculifir circumstances under which it ^as fashioned rendered excellency of e?:BCTjtion impossjilDle. It has lighteped the burthen pi our life. May it enhjince the enjoyi^ent of ypurs ! * A list of those who hare aided ns in this enterprise was deliyeied to our pub- lishero, who /exercised unusual care in gimrdUng against the loss of our M^§. ; bnt despite their vigilance, the oiigiiial Prefiice Uixa Introduction, with the'List' of Coii- tei)>jiton, were stolen from thpir f^fe by apwe f^^Qn who had access to ^. Tbp pre- face and introtfdftWon may be re-Writtkr; but' no accurate copy of the list can be supplied. No one deplores this more than we do ; and no one should be ceu^ured tor it, except the ste;Ei.l.th^ Qffonder, lyho has /stolen that which is entirely useless to iiiin^eff. We a*e g^eajly iiiteBled to G. G. A. OiiflJiiVfoj: piswitaaoe in preparing our JJSSVfor the press. Mr. ,0^det, although of foreign birth, has a better knowledge of the English languftgo than maiiy educated nativcis of bur countiy. " ' " INTEODUCTION. Sullivan county is sitnated bet^ween 41° 25' and 42° north latitude, and 1° 46' and 2° 32' east longitude from the city of Washington. It is bounded north-westerly tby the county of Delaware, north-easterly and sonth-easterly by the county of Ulster, south-easterly, southerly and easterly by the coimty of Orange, and south-westerly by the State of Pennsylvg,nia. According to Burr's Atl^s, its area is 9X9 square jniles; and it contains 687,000 acres of land.* The mean altitude of the couaty above the level of the ocean is about 1,500 feet, apd its snrfac^ is char^,cterized by ranges of hills of moderate height, vith intervening vajl^y^. Det^hed iQOuntainoag elevations are found in towns bounded by Delaware, and Ulster counties, and the Shawangunk mountain is parallel with the pouth-6a,sterly bpwdwy of the town of Mamakatii^. TJie Delaware river forms the dividing Ihie between the county and Pennsylvania, while the Shawangunk river is its 80«th- eastern limit. TJie Neversinji: rises in the county of Ulster,. a;nd after crossing the towns of Neversink, Fallsburgh, Thompson and Forestburgh, epters Orange county. The Eondout passes tl^rough th^ ]jorth-east pomer of Neve^rsink, and the Mongaup or Mingwing hfts its source near the center of the county, and running southerly joins the Delaware. The Wilhwemoc, B^yerkill, CalHcoon, Ten Mile rivw, an^ many smaller streams %re also aflluents of the Delaware. QeologioaUy (with some exc^ptions) the county is of the C^t^kill period, Devonian age and Paleozoic time. These eix^ptipns are noted in the first chapter of this work by Professor A^t^ll, an expert in geology. * Aooording to the asseeBment-rolls of the aeveral towns, the county^contaitig eM,W6 itereg. Some tracts of land whidi we covered by water are not r«tnnied tor taxation. |-_, 8 INTBODUCTION. - The aborigines of the comity were principally Esopus Indians, who -were of the Wolf tribe of the Lenni Lenape or Delaware nation, whose history is given in our third chapter. Except some small tracts on the west bank of the Shawangnnk river, the county is covered by the Minisink and Hardenbergh patents. In 1684, Governor Dongan bought of Manganaett, Tsema and Eeghgekapowell alias Joghem, (who claimed to be the proprietors and principal owners,) with the consent of Pemeranaghin, chief sachem of the Esopus and other Inrlians named, a tract of land extending on the Hudson from the Paltz to lands of the Indians at Murderer's kill, and westward to the foot of the high hills called Pitkiskaha and Aiashawosting. For this territ^y ninety pounds were paid in duffels, wampum, stroud-water, cloth, blankets, cider, strong beer, etc. One year later Dongan bought of Maringoman, the sachem at Murderer's creek, the land from that stream to Stony Point.* On the 12th of September, 1694, under Governor Fletcher, a patent was granted to Captain John Evans, which covered the west bank of the Hudson from the Paltz to Stony Point, {eighteen miles,) and reaching westward thirty miles. A literal construction of the grant would have placed his westward line within the borders of Thompson, and given him land now within the Minisink and Hardenbergh patents. He paid for his patent five hundred pounds. Captain Evans was captain of the Riclimond man-of-war, and was sent to New York with his vessel in 1693, where he was on duty for six years, during which he erected on his estate the lordship and manor of Fletcherdon, and spent 12,000 pounds in improving it, expecting to retire thither " when there should be a happy and lasting peace." He was permitted to sow, but not to reap. Both Fletcher and Evans were ordered from New York, aod the patent was annulled. During Queen Anne's reign, his grant was renewed; but while the honest sailor was fighting for his sovereign on the ocean, the land-pirates of the time induced the Queen to deprive him once more of his manor! Those who wrought his ruin, divided his manor amoiig themselves. * Mr. Butdonber save, " tliose facts are from a well-authonticatod MS. wriiteD m early as 1730,, no\v in o'.irpoeaossion." " INTBODUCnON. 9 He continued to sue for justice until he was an old man, when reluctant and partial justice was awarded him, by giving him another and less valuable tract. On the 12th of March, 1703, the Wawayanda patent was bought by John Bridges and Company of twelve Indians, viz : Rapingonick, Wawastenaw, Moghopuck, Oomelawaw, Nanawitt, Ariwimack, Eumbout, Clauss, Ohouckhass, Chingapaw, Oshas- quemous and Quilapaw. It is believed that in this purchase was included the Minisink patent, which was granted on the 28th of August, 1704, to Matthew Ling, Ebenezer Wilson, Philip French, Dirck Vandenbergh, Stephen Delancy, Philip Rokeby, John Corbet, Daniel Honan, Caleb Cooper, Willam Sharpus, Robert Milward, Thomas "Wenham, Lancaster Symes, John Pierson, Benjamin Ashe, Peter Bayard, John Cholweil, Peter Fauconnier, Henry Swift, Hendrick Ten Eyck, Jarvis Marshal, Ann Bridges, widow of John Bridges, and George Clark, Secre- tary of the Province of New York. Eight of these persons were patentees of the Wawayanda and two of the Hardenbergh patent. The Minisink grant at first contained 250,000 acres; but its owners subsequently grasped and held 50,000 acres east of the true boundaries of their patent. For many years New Jersey claimed and held so much of the Minisink patent as is covered by the Seventh Division, and also so much of the Hardenbergh patent as would be cut off by running the north-east line of that division to Station -Rock, in Cochecton. In 1769, a Commission was appointed to settle the boundary, which decided in favor of New York, and established the present Une between New York and New Jersey, from the Hudson to the Delaware. On the "15-22 day of March, and in the 6th year of Her Majesty's reign, Anno Dom. 1706-7," Major Johannes Harden- bei^h, a merchant of Kingston, bought of Nanisinos, a sachem of the Esopus Indians, and "rightful lord owner and proprietor of several parts of land in the county of Ulster," the immense tract now known as the Hardenbergh patent.* For this he paid * In 1749 when the patent wan partitioned among its owners, the Indians claimed that NaniBinM did not convey that part which is sitaated between the^ast and west b«inohe8 of the Delaware, and reftiseS to permit surveyors to go there. Notwithstand. irig this, a map was made of the disputed territory, on which Iheland m question wM Sfided into eight j>»roelB, and one of these allotted to each party in mterestj J^ th« 3dot June, 17fl, .Cannes Hardenbergh bought the real or assumed right of thcM M) ISTBODUCTIOJifi sixty pounds current money of New ^ovk — less thftn one-tenth of a mill per acrg.^ On the 20th of April, 1708, the Har jlenbergh, or fts it is some- times called, the Major or Great Patent, was granted to Johannes Hardenbergh, Leonard Lewis, Philip Eokeby, Willis^m Notting- ham, Benjamin Faneuil, Peter Fauconnier and Bobert Lurting, in free g,nd common socage, and subject to no rent or ^e?^yice beyond the payment of seven doUaj-s and fifty centi^, annually, on Lady day, to the Collector of the custom-house of New York ! Two of the patentees were mere lay "figures. Fowtem tveelcs be/ore tlie grant was made, I?.obert Lurting ^released one-seven^Ji of the patent to Thomas Wenham, an4 on the same day, Philip Eokeby conveyed his interest to May Bickley. In addition to this, there was a secret imderstandmg that Augustus Graham, tlae surveyor-general of the province, should be entitled to one- eighth* of the grant, and this understanding was acknowledged after his death in 17^9, when the parties in interest declared that his heir (James Graham) was entitled to an equal sjiare witdi the others.'!' Previous to 1749, ^eyepal of tjie proprietors sold their interest, and others died. In that year, Robfi|i Ljyiiigp^qft 0Wi*e4 6™" sixteenths ; Gulian Yerplanck three-^iy^e^ptjia^ ^oliaip;,^^ Hw- denbergh, jr.,t Charles Brodhead »p4 A'^^&bS'Pi JJardeftbejgh two-sixteenths, John Wenham two-sixteent^hs, tl^^e l^eirs i^j^d. assigns of Lewis two-siyt^pnth^i and the lieirs of Paneujl two- Indians for U9I. ajid 198. THe deed is signed by Sappan, John Falling and twenty other members of the BsoDus tribe. M 4)ha't tinfi^, no grfu^ leai Itgal uffi^ the ncUfOfi (Uifi was ^Uinguished beforf the gr(int was rryide, '^Jorittg the I^'ent^ and &dian war, the Dela\«i|>reg clAimed th^t Uiey ^a4 ^^n ^- frauded of nearly the entire Hardenbergh patent. *N»pisinos, in. the dee^ given by him, described the tract as follows : "All that tra«1( of Lini tyijig and being in the edunl^ of iJliter ^.tore^^Jd, runnpt; from certain Hills (ihaj; iye on the south east side of the m9adow pr low lapd that hes oji thefleji Creek Kivei' or Kill to the north west of Marbletewn bounnte. in4 ate the uqtVk ireet pwt flf the hills ^.nd mopntains that range from the blue Jiills north west T6n miles,, and Btroaches north easterly on the brows of sd hiUs as thev range to the bovH^d or ttSo Condty of Albany, w>d south westerly on the brows of «aicl hill? ^p tUey range opppsito the west eorn^)f of JIarbletown bounds, and still further south westerly w»h HfefuH bfeadth from the north west boundaries of Rochester, to where ^he said tea mU<^ end, Bpflpiijg so far as to run with a due south east line to a certain fall in the rondout creek called by the Indians hoonchk, which is the nor^h biannd of the laud called N^nftth, belonging to Jacob Rutzen and Jan Jang Bleecker." -^ \ Vtitiifsv the lawp of that time, the Burvejror-general could not legally be interested itt# Jjiiid grapt. ' 1 Previous to 1749, Major Johannes Hardenbergh, the patentee, gold hU undivM right itt the patent to Brodhead and Johannes HardenWgli, Jr. !j.bra^aiii Harw birgta 'tabseqaently bought a part ot this right. Ho member of tde BSrfl^nb faHfflir bblds Iftttd Whicb has desceaded to turn by inherituioe |iom'tb« p»teiite«. INTRODUCnON. 1% fiitteenths. The patent was then partitioned between the ^ever^l proprietors, when Livingston drew Great Lots 8, 12, 23, 27 anj^ 42; Livingston and Verplanck Lots 4, 6, 7, 10, 13, 14, 15, 21, 23^ 24, 30, 32, 33, 38, 39 and 40; the Hardenberghs and Brodhead Lots 3, 9, 16, 19, 29 and 37; John Wenham Lots 1, 18, 26, 34, and So ; the heirs and assigns of Lewis Lots 2, 17, 20. 28 and 36; and the heirs of Faneuil Lots 5, 11, 25, 81 and 41/ In the same year, Livingston and Verplanck partitioned wh3,jt they owned jointly, vyhen the former became the sole proprietor of Lots 4, 15, 23, 30 and^O, and parts of 7, 14, 21, 33 and 39, and his partner of the balance. ^ Although 8ome_ attempts were made to found tettlements it\ ^uUivan county, it cannot be said that it was occupied by whjt^ residents previous to 1790, except in Mamakating, Lumberlan4i Oochecton and Neversink. An account of these settlements will be found in our history of the several towns. Soon after the latter year the Livingstons and othpr landholders induced men to come into this region, £ind buy or lease unoccupied lands, and from that time dates the birth ancl groiyth of ipany of our settle- ments. A considerable impetiis was given to immigration by thp con- struction of the Newburgh and Cochecton tumpike.* Thig work speedily led to the organization of tlie county, whiph W9S erected by an act of the. Legislature passed March 27, 180^. In selecting a name it was deemed proper tp adopt that ol some eminent Kevolutionary patriot whose deeds were in some way connected with our territory. Of the General^ y^hq had had anything to do on our soil previous to and during the struggle for Independeucei, General James Clinton was the one who should have been complimeiited ; but his name ha^ been already bestowed on another county. So the county was named SuUivan, in honor of General John SuUivan,t a part of whoset ♦ The Newbnrgh and Cochecton Turnpike Company was chartered on the 2pth of March, 1801. Robert Bowne, John De Wint, Williani Seymour, Levi Dodse, Jphaime* Mfll^r, Hugh Walsh, George Clinton, jun., William W. Saokett and George Gardner- were the incorporators. ± John Sullivan was of Irish descent, and was bom in Berwick, MMne, 9^ the 17tb. of February, 17i0. His youth was spent chiefly in farm-labor. At njaturity Be ?tni*^ff law and eaiabliehed himself in its practice in Durham, New Hampshire, wher? he appii rose to considerable distinction as an advocate and politician. He was chosen a del?- aate to the Contiiiental Congress in 1774, and soon alter his return from Philadelphia, ho was engaged, with John Langdon and others, ui seizing Fort William and ME»rj, a^ ror^mouth. When the following year the Continental army was orgaiuiied, ne wag 12 INTEODUCTION. army crossed onr borders when it marched to chastise the hostile Indians of western New York. In 1816, Otto William Van Tuyl, Jabez Wakeman, Daniel Clark, William W. Sackett, Eichard E. Vooris, Jabez Wakeman, jun., Samuel F. Jones, John Knapp, George A. Wakeman, Alexander Ketchum, George Vaughn and others were made a body corporate and politic, under the name of " The Tresident and Directors of the Neversitik Navigation Company," for the purpose of /opening that river for rafting business, from Lock- wood's Mills, in the present town of Fallsburgh, to the Delaware. The tolls authorized were enormous, ranging for boards and plank fsom one to two dollars per thousand feet, and other articles in proportion. If the company had succeeded in making the river navigable, its revenue would have been princely; nevertheless the stock of the company, excepting a few shares, was not taken, and its treasury was empty until 1828, when Van Tuyl, its president and manager,* obtained from the State a loan of ten thousand dollars, giving as security a mortgage on the river! About two thousand of this was expended legiti- mately, and the balance ($8,000) was consumed in paying the president's debts, buying a stock of goods, and in other ways, after which a raft was started from Lockwood's Mills, with Squires M. Hoyt and a man from Eockland, named Brown, on board. It.ran as far as the "Dive Hole," where it was wrecked. Another was started from Mc'Kee's mill, in charge of Ira Mills, a Mr. Springer, and a son of Van Tuyl. This passed th.e " Dive Hole ;" but soon after collided with a rock, and was broken up. appointed one of the eight Brigadiers first commissioned by Congress ; and enrly in 17i6, he was promoted to Major-general. Early in the spring of that year he super- seded Arnold in command of the Continental troops in Canada ; and later in the .season he jomed Washington at New York. General Greene commanded the chief forces at Brooklyn, designed to repel the invaders then on Staten Island ; but was taken sick, .and the leadership of his division was assigned to Sullivan. In the disastrous battle that soon followed, he was made prisoner, but was soon afterwards exchanged, and took command of Lee's division, in New Jersey, after that officer's capture later in the aeasim. In the autumn of 1777, General SuUivau was in the battles of Brandy wine and Qermantown ; and in the succeeding winter he was stationed in Bhode Island, prepar- atory to an attempted expulsion of the British therefrom. He besieged Newport in August 1778, but was unsuccpssful, because the French Admiral d'Estaing would not oo-operate with him, according to promise and agreement. General Sullivan's military career closed atter his memoi-able campaign against the Indians, in western New York, early in the autumn of 1779. He resigned his oommissiim because he felt aggrieved at some action of the Board of War, and was afterwards elected to a seat in Congress. From 1786 to 1789, he was president or governor of New Hampshire, when, under the provision of the new Federal Constitution, ho was appointed District Jndge. That office he held until his death, which oocun-ed on the 23dof Januarv, 1795, when he wag in the fifty-fifth year of hia a,se.—Lossing'a Eminent Americans. * Squires M. Hoyt, who was then Van Tuyl's clerk, was secretary of the company. INTRODUCTION. 13 Mills was drowned. Although the enterprise resulted in poverty and reproach to Van Tuyl, he never lost confidence in it, and continued to make futile attempts to improve the river, until the State foreclosed its mortgage. It cannot be said that Sullivan enjoyed a large measure of prosperity previous to the construction of the Delaware and Hudson canal. Three ypars after the completion of the wort, John Eldridge laid the foundation of a large tannery on the outlet of Lord's pond, and Eufus Palen and his associates that of another at Fallsburgh. Austin Strong followed at Wood- bourne, Bushnell & Van Horn at Tannersdale, and others at various points. These establishments brought* wealth and muscle, and caused large additions to our population. The New York and Erie raUroad was another source of prosperity, especially to the Delaware river towns. A reference to the census of Sullivan should not be omitted by us: Tear. Population. 1790* 1,763 * MamaUating only. 1800 3,222 1810, 6,108 1814 6,233 1820 , 8,900 1825 10,373 1830 12,364 1835 13,755 1840 15.629 1845 18.727 1850 .'...25,088 1855 29,487 I860 32,385 1865... 32,741 1870 34,649 INDEX. IPage. Preface 5 liitroduction 7 Geology ■ ■ 17 Climate 50 Lenni Lenape 60 Bethel 116 Callicoon • 148 Cochecton and Delaware 182 Fallsburgh 224 Forestbnrgli 274 Fremont 291 Highland 302 Liberty 326 Lumberland 367 Mamakating 378 Neversink ■. 456 Eockland ' 490 Thompson 513 Tusten 637 Delaware and Hudson Canal 655 New York and Erie Eailway ■ 663 New York and Oswego Midland Railroad 675 Appendix 691 HI 8 TOE Y OF SULLIYAR COUITY. HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. CHAPTER I. GEOLOGY — BY PROF. AN'nSEIX. I The rocks which form the basis of Sullivan county are what are termed stratified or sedimentary, having been formed under deep water.* These strata form a 'portion of the series known as palozoic rocks, formerly termed lower secondary ;i- and they embrace what is known to British geologists as the Devonian and Upper SUurian System. In the Natural Histoiy of New York, Part IV., by W. W. Mather, these rocks are grouped under the following heads : Catskill Division ; Erie Division ; Helderberg ) Catskill Shaly Limestone, Division ; j AVater Lime Group. I New York System. Ontario Division; I Oneida or Shawangunk Con- ) glomerate. Champlain Division ; Hudson River Group. * No igneous or Plutonic rocks are found in the county. t " Rocks," said Davy, " are generally divided by geologists into two grand divisions, distinguished by the names of primary and secondary. The primary rocks are composed of pure crystalhno matter, and contain no fragments of other rocks. The secondary rocks or strata consist only partly of crystalline matter, contain fragments of other rocks or strata, often abound in the remains of vegetables and marine animals, and sometimes contain the remains of land animals. The number of primary rocks which are commonlv observed in nature are eight : 1. Oran'de, composed of cjuartz, feldspar and mica ; when these are arranged in regular layers in the rocks, it is called giieUts, 2. Micaceous schist^ composed of quartz and mica. 3. Su^iiUe, which consists ot horn- blende and feldspar. 4. Serpentine, composed of feldspar and resplendent hornblende. 6. Porphyry, which consists of feldspar. 6. Granular marble, or pure carbonate of hme. 7. Cfdorite schist, a green or grey substance somewhat analogous to mica and feldspar. 8. Qaartiose rock, composed of quartz. The secondary rooks are moro numerous than the primary ; but twelve varieties include aU that are usually found in these islands : 1. Graywacke, which consists of fragments of quartz or chlorite schist, imbedded in a cement principally composed of feldspar. 2. Silicious sandsiotLe, which is composed of fine quartz, or sand, united by a silicious cement. 3. Limestone, or carbonate of Ume, more compact in its texture than in the granular marble, and often abounding in marine exuvia. 4. Aluminoius schist, or shale, consisting of the decom- posed materials of different rocks, cemented by a small quantity of feiTuginous or sihcious matter, and often containing the impressions of vegetables. 5. Calcareous sandstone, which is calcareous sand cemented by calcareous matter. 6. Ironstone, formed of nearly the same materials as aluminous schist or shale, but containing a much larger quantity of oxide of iron. 7. Basalt or whin-stone, which consists of feld- Bpar and hornblende. 8. Bituminous or common coal. 9. Gypsum or sulphate of Ume, 10. BocksaU. 11. Chalk, wliich usually abounds in the remains of marine animals, and contains horizontal layers of flints. 12. Plum-pudding stone, consisting of pebbles cemented by ferruginous or Bilicious cement." [Klem. Agri. Chem., p. 192. 2 P^t I 18 HISTORY OF SUIXrVAN COUNT?. In other volumes of the State Survey, differesnt names hare l^een assigned to these befls. i i , i ■ By far the larger extent of the county is covereflby the Cats- kill division. The remaining rocks of the New York system are only exposed in the eastern sections of the towns of .Neversink and Forestburgh, Mamakating, and in the southern portion of 'the county. These rocks have, generally speaking, one common dip and strike, from which the deviations throughout the county are but trifling. The angle of elevation of the strata is so small, that there is not presented over the county any mountain mass one thousand feet above the level from which it rises. The uniformity of the strike, and the similarity in form of the hills produced by such shght elevation are at once presented to the eye of thai observer looking from the top of Wamut Mountain, Mutton Hill, or any other elevated position, where the whole county presents the appearance of an ocean, crested with parallel waves of nearly ■equal height, rolling in one direction. The dip of the strata in the county is westerly, and the strike Borth-east, (The particular deviations from this general occur- rence will be noticed hereafter.) In traveling across the county from Ealst to West, the newer strata appear ; and it is by travel- ing in the county in this direction, rather than North and South, that the most correct information of the position and thickness pf the strata can be collected. The courses of the rivers and creeks being generally from North to South, afford in many places good points of observation. The rocks of the Catskill group deserve to be noticed, from their occupying so large a surface in extent. These rocks, com- monly known as the old red sandstone, are the newest formed rocks in this section of the State of New York. They form the basis rock in which the coal fields of Pennsylvania lie, and rising from under these, they constitute the bed of the Delaware river, and spread into SuUivan, Ulster and Greene counties, covering up the lower groups of the New York system, which only emerge irom under their beds in the East and South of the county. Beds of rock of very different color and appearance are classed together in this group ; the predominance of sand, generally fer- ruginous, forming beds of sandstone, shale and conglomerate. The grits are both coarse and fine, and of various shades — ^red, green, brown, grey and mottled. The arrangements of these beds generally is from above downward : 1, (k>nglomerate and coarse grits. 2. Bed shales, slates and grits, 3, Grey and green- ish grits and slates. 4. Chocolate-colored grits, with red shales and slates. The total thickness of these beds of rock, at the point where their greatest development has been measured, is about fou^ OEOLOOT. 19 tlionsantl feet ; but nowhere does it reach this meanurement in Snllivan county ; for the beds are so broken np, and the same series so continually upraised in distances not far apart, that the vhole series is not exposed upon the surface. The mountain elevations are also so slight, that only a few hundred feet of thickness of the strata can be read off the es- carpments. Walnut Mountain has the highest summit in the county, and stands about sii hundred feet above the plane of the base. The strata of which it is composed from above dowu- irard are — 1. Quartz conglomerate; 4. Grey sand-rock; 2. Grey sandstone ; 5. Bed shale ; 3. Red sandstone ; 6. Green grit. A section of a hill on the "Three Thousand AcreiTract," two miles west from the village of Liberty, afforded the following ^succession : 1. Quartz conglomerate; 6. Red sand-rock ; 2. Red and green grit ; 7. Conglomerate ; 3. do do 8. Grey sand-rock; 4. Grey grit; 9. Green sand-rock. 5. Red shale ; These two hills appear to be composed of the same beds. Tlie bed marked 5, being well defined, constitutes a good point of comparison. Mutton Hill lies more to the East, and has less of the Catskill strata forming its structure, as is evident from the section of its East side : 1. Reddish conglomerate; 3. Grit; 2. Quartz conglomerate ; 4. Grey grit. This hill corresponds to beds marked G, 7 and 8 on the "Tliree Thousand Acre Tract." Mutton Hill has not the upper beds capping the other. vThese illustrations will serve to show how the same lines of Tocks are repeated over a few miles. This must arise from fracturing of the strata. Hie evidences of this are well seen on the Mount Hope and Lumberland turnpike road, where the red and grey grits and shales overspread in several places, where the faults and bend- ings of the strata occur, so as to make the beds show themselves lepeatedly! ' ^he fractures and bendings of the strata are more inclined in ihe South of the county than in the West, and more in full on the Shawangunk hills. One of the Ejiost common characteristics of the grits of this ^oup are the irregular lines which mark their surface, and which &Te so frequent as to form a ready means of classifying the rock when observed. These lines of lamination indicate the direction 20! HISTORY OP 8ULUVAN COUNTI. of the current of water which deposited them. These must nojb be confounded with the lines of stratification. Their obhque lamination is more common in the grey grita^ though discernible in many of the strata .of the red grits. The boulders* on the roadside show this lamination often more dis- tinctly than the rock in place. The rocks of this division, howr ever they may be in appearance, belong to but two varieties,; that is conglomerate and sandstone. The sandstones are admit- ted to have been forme4 by what is termed shore action — by tho action of a large body of water on a rocky beach, washing and wearing- it down, and sifting the finer matters from tho coarse, and conveying the latter down under the water level, and spread- ing it along the shore bottom, covering it for several miles. The similarity m appearance of the present sea shores and the red sandstone rocks, warrants the belief. This shore action existed previous to and during the period of the coal deposits in Penn^ sylvania, and was produced b^ the joint action of equatorial and polar currents of w&ter during this period. • A great portion of the present continent was under deep water, and what is -now known as the GuH Stream, and the currents of ifie-cold water from the poles, flowed directly over the continert.^ The directions of the mountain chains in South America — similar chains in the East and West, and the elevated land in the North, altered the direction of the current of warm water flowing from the tropics, and caused it to flow circuitously by the base of the Eocky Mountains, part flowing into the Arctic Sea and Hudson's Bay ; and the remainder in a sonth-earterly course, through the St. Lawrence valley, and along the Blue Bidge around to the Mississippi, where it would mingle with the original stream. The current of polar ice and water flowed down the St; Lawrence and Hudson valleys, and mingling with the other stream, gave it this curved direction, and formed an inland bay or sea of gta.t dimensions, and consequently a large extent of shore. This shore, covered up by future deposits of vegetable remains and earthy matters, constitutes the Catskill gioup, or the old red sandstone. Formed by the disintegration of primary and metamorphio rocks, which were very micaceous, or hornblende, these sand- stones contain a quantity of iron in the state of red or peroxide. To this mineral the tinge is due, which is from the h^ghtest shade of red until the iron oxide accun^ulates in such quantities as to make the stone almost ore of iron. It is a fact generally oocur- * A remarkable boulder may ho seen on tho farm of Joseph H. JtfjLaiiehrv in West fiome are able to setitiu motion with one finger! ""«^'e. Q° OBOLOGT. 21 ting, but not yet accounted for, that hardly any fossils are fonnd imbedded in stratified rocks in which this peroxide of iron ia found ; it usually being in the grey grits that fossil remains exist. The red rocks of this series are not homogeneous in character, some strata being more argillaceous than others. Heilce the terms used in this report of red shale and red sandrock ; the former "weathering" more rapidly, and splitting up more readily ■when struck; the sandrock is closer, harder, more granular, generally of a deeper red, and not decomposing or fracturing so readily. The following analyses of these two rocks serve to illustrate the difference in their chemical composition : Bed saDdstone, Bed shale. Moisture and soluble salts 8 *. . . . 7. , Alumina . , , 3. 6.77 Peroxide of iron 11 3. Magnesia 1.94 1.35 Lime 1.32 1.24 Quartz and red sand insoluble in acid 74 80.31 Loss 74 33 100. 100. The proportions of peroxide of iron and alumina vary more than the other ingredients in different specimens ; but the alu- mina is always in excess in the shale, and the iron in a few specimens rose up to 21 per cent of the whole mass. The chocolate-colored grits differ very little from the above matter, the tints being due to a small portion of vegetable matter mixed with the peroxide of iron. ' In the grey and green grits the iron is mostly in the condition of rust oxide, the quantity of the metallic oxide being small. The conglomerates have been formed by action somewhat different from the dissolving and sitting actions which produced the grits. Conglomerates are gravel bound together by cement — (sometimes a paste of red sand-rock — sometimes of grey grit) — in which the gravel is embedded. These may be formed by the drifting action of currents of water sweeping the pebbles forcibly along, and depositing them in a mud or paste, perhaps of the same origin." The production of beds of conglomerate generaRy impHes shallow bodies of water. These alternations of grey and red grits with conglomerates occupy, the jvhole surface of Eookland, Bethel, Cochecton, Fre- mont, Thompson and Liberty. The quartz portion is the western of Neversink andPaUsburgh. Seams and layers of fine anthracite are found occasionally between the courses of these strata about Cdchecton, at Barry- 22 HISTOBT OP StTLLIVAN COUSTT. ville, and throngh the town of Liberty * These seams are rarely more than half an inch thick, and from their frequent occurrence lead to the impression* that by boring a good seam may be reached; but such impression is erroneous. The coal beds are ab generally. Tartliep Bonih, this argillaceons shale is replacecl by a hard sand-rock, which is derived from the wearing down of mica dates, retaining some of the mica still uudecomposed. This micaceous sandstone underlays the village of Monticello and the high grounds of the surrounding neighborhood. The red rock of Mon'iicello is in many places caj^ed by grey grits and con- glomerates to the thickness of twenty-five feet, which stand out like isolated masses, and not, as they really are, portions of what was a continuous bed. Generally speaking, the grey grits and conglomerates cover up the red rock and shales. The upper- most of the red rocks contain the hardest itnd most micaceoua beds. The lower ones are soft and shaly. The red hard rocks occupy the county in Monticello, and parallel to it, in a line 'drawn northeast and southeast. For two and a half m'Jes sonth-^ erly, the red rocks are those which occupy the grdktest sur&ce, when grey grits emerge from below, becoming the surface rock^ to the vicimty of the Delaware river. North of Monticello, the red rocks dip under and are covered almost completely by grey hard grits and conglomerate, which, generally occupy the county between Monticello and White Lake. In the southern towns, these red sand-rocks and shales do not cover any extensive surface, and the chocolate and grey grits, aS' already stated, generally predominate. Dynamic forces have produced the high land, as well as the fractures and elevations of the strata. There has been another operation at work which has caused the exposure of rock quite as frequently as the upheaving forces. Tliis is the action of de- nudation, or that force exerted by moving water in passing over land, and by its mechanical force and friction, weaiing away deep channels in the rocky strata over which it roUed. This force of moving water has been exerted both by a large body of water which at a former period covered the county, and at a* later period by water courses occupying the position and flowing; in a direction which corresponds to that of the present streams. It depends on the nature of the rock over which the water i-uns^ what the amount of denudation or abrasion shall be. The Catskill mountains are themselves splendid examples of denudation, and the phenomena of abrasion maybe witnessed. in the courses of neawy all the rivers in the county. The Eea- verkill above Big Flats, in Rockland, sliows it remarkably, and the Neversink and the Mongaup exhibit it at several points of their course. A very remarkable instance is at Bridgeville, be- low the bridge, where the banks of the river are eighty feet high. On the west side of the liver the strata dip^ and rise on the east, showing that they were one until by the wearing action of the river stream it obtained its present level. The strata on each side correspond as follows: 24 HISTORY 01* SPtUVAN COUNTY. 1. Greenish sandstone conglomerate with quartz grits; 2. Soft red shale and harder sand-rocks; 3. Hard sand-rock ; 4. Soft red shale ; 5. Grey sand-rock (grit) underlaid by quartz conglomerate ; 6. Green grits and date ; 7. Bed of the river. This affords one out of many illustrations of the power which moving water, acting through an immensely long period, can exert on even the hardest surfaces ; the whole chasm, from the present bed of the stream to the top of a height of eighty feet, having been worn away by the Neversink river. This action has been in operation since the county has been upj*aised from the sea-bottom upon which the sand-rooks were deposited, and belong to what is termed the modeim period. The beds marked 2 and 4 are of Soft shale and slate, and de- compose more readily when exposed to the air than the rocks above and below, which produce the overhanging cliffs and cav- ernous hoUows termed roch-lwuses. Wherever these strata are found upheaved, these rock-houses exist, as on the hill near Fallsburgh ; at Fairchild's Pond near Monticello ;* near Beaver * Alfred B. Street deseribes this locsrlity very a/ccuiately as foUowa : " A rude wUd plate. The long and' narrow ridge Ends in a rugged precipice of rock ; A slope between it and a shallow pond Bristling with withered hemlock and with stomps O'erapotted. A faint narrow road winds by. Here to the Tillage — there, amidst the woocla Bordered by laUrel-thickets, to a glade. A jutting of the rock has formed a nook Along its base. A cedar's giant trunk, Dead, barkless, and stained in spots by fire, , S^om the high bank above has pitched, and lies With base upon the summit of the rock. And fractured head upon the bank beneath, A slanting ladder : and within acleft O'er a huge bulge upon the nigged wall. Are birchen bushes, like green hanging plumes In a gigantic helmet. At one spot Within the nook, the back is hollowed out, Shaping a seat. Naught is there to declare Whether by freak of Nature or by nia,n This shelf was scoop'd. Upon tfie fissured sides, And the smooth slate that, laid in scales, compose This little terrace, names and letters rude Are graven. With the massive roof above Spotted by lichen-scales, and looking out On the quiet pond, with its deep background woodg, Here have I sat in summer afternoons Watching the long slim shadows of the trees Slow creeping towards me, the rich halo'd sun Melting the oiltlines of the forest tops, . Where it impended. In the hours of Spring, When the damp softened atmosphere proclaim'd Tho coming ra>n to beat the frost f^om out The torpid earth, so that its lap might smile Again with flowera, here also have I sat And listened to the voices of the pond, GE6tOGY. ' 25 TBrook, in Lumberland, and in numerous otlier places in the ■eounty. In FallsbuTgh, one of the creeks cuts through the red and grey siaiidstoues, and the valley in which tiie creek lies is a valley of denudation, the strata being exposed on each side, and the dip riot exceeding eight degrees. In the valley of the water channel on each side of the streanij at some distance up, is a well marked layer of stones, showiag the existence of a former water channel of greater dimensions than th^ present. Probably the whole was the bottom of a wide stream, on the sides of which these stream stones were arrested by the slowness of the current. Underneath ' the red grits, shales, and conglomerates, exists a series of beds of rock generally termed greywacke, and classed in the New York Survey as the Erie group or divis^pn. These also are sandstone. They are highly indurated and of a green- ish grey or dark color. Shales and slates of a similar character Accompany the sandstones. The dip of these is W. N. W. These rocks occupy the southern part of the county, and are best seen in Malnakating valley. They run from the Delaware river through Lumberland west of Mongaup into the Mamakating valley, of which they form the northwest side, running parallel to the Delaware and Hudson canal, and towards Kingston, in Ulster county. The upper beds of the Erie division are termed the Chemung group, and occur in distinct courses, with an in- finite variety of structure, and numerous fossil remains. The series, when exposed to the weather, passes into a brownish ohve, ■which forms the external appearance of all these slates, that even then are internally of the deepest green. There is a tendency to cdnglomerate in the upper beds. The lower beds of the Erie division are called the Hamilton group. In Sullivan county, these two subdivisions are not very distinct, and itt.this report hiay be classed together. . They both difcer from the Catskill, or . old red sandstone division, in containing well marked evidences ^6i land plants as fossil remains — obscure species which have not received sufficient attention. The green and ohve shales are loaded with impressions of stropliomena, deWiyris and atrypa. The great indestructibility of this group of rocks gives a peculiar aspect to the surface. A series of terraces upon the hills about Beaver Brook, in Lumberland, and a similar appearance in Mamakating indicate the Erie rocks. A fine section of these may "be obtained along the Erie raih-oad from Narrowsburgh Those sweet prophecies of warmer hours, Ringing like myriad tiny silver bells Cheerfully on the ear." » * » Bie Bock, as this singular precipice is called, was once a favorite resort of the in. iMIritants of MonticoUo. It is now the tei-mmus of the MonticeUo and Port Jervig Bailroad. ' J- ^- Q-- 25 • HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTT. south, and along the Delaware and Hudson canal. In the latter place the strata dip N. W. about 15°. In the green shales par- tial faults may be observed, and in some places the strata are bent, or arched upwards. This arching up of the stratifi is well marked at the 101 mile post on the railioad, and still better on the Pennsylvania bank of the Delaware liver, opposite ih© canal, three^foui'ths of a mile east of Barryville. The cracks^ and faults, and the arching of the rocks are produced by subter- ranean elevating forces, which have been excited vei-y stiougly in the south part of the county, ^Vhere full exposures of this group are made, there is discov- ered a good bed of flag-stones, or thick spHtting slate, averaging twenty-eight inches thick, lying upon a soft crumbling shale, and covered by a slaty grit, having well marked lamina of deposition in them. These flag-stones crop out in several places, and are occasionally used in building. They have been quarried some- what extensively in Mamakating west of Wuitsborough.* These flag-stones are of good quality generally. At Griffin's quarry, seven miles south of "Wurtsborou^, and three miles from the canal, the same stones are raised. They are also exposed in the beds of the Mongaup and the Neversink rivers. On the Sandburgh creek, a httle west of Eed Eidge, the junc- tion of the Erie and CatskiU groups is discoverable; and in the lower bed of the former, or the upper bed of the latter, (for they are not easily distinguished,) are the remains of a shaft where an opening had been made in the expectation of meeting coaL The shaft is now filled up, and the lower stones wliich were raised maybe found on the side of tJie rpad. The rock is a daik shale, full of vegetable matter, and loaded with impressions of fossil plants. No coal seam of sufficient thickness was discov- ered, and the work was abandoned. There are appearances in this locaUty which would encourage expectation ior coal. These beds of rock generally dip to the north and west at a much, greater angle than the Catskill series, and partake of the (lis- • turbance of the southern part of the county, which has upturned all the rocks of the Mamakating valley to a nearly vertical position. Along the Sandburgh creek, west of the county line, the Che- mung gi-oup may be well studied by the geologist. For all practical purposes the Erie division possesses but little interest yielding only the bed of slate alluded to. * The Helderberg division consists of a series of limestones of various chemical composition, with beds of slate and slaty grits. » They are aUo found in FftUsburgh, Foieolburgh, Lumberland, Tugten and Hieh. '"'^ J. K. Q. GEOLOGY. 27 The limestones generally occupy tlie lowest beds. They consti- tute a great natura,l group, and are so well developed in the Helderberg mountains as to receive from thence their name. In Sullivan county they emerge from imder the Chemung.group of the Erie division, and occupy the greater portion in breadth of the valley of Mamakating. They dip at a very high angle. The upper beds are covered by the diift in the valley. Ihe limestones are only slightly elevated above tlio canal, under •which they dip W. N. W., at an angle of 55° and G3°. A short distance east of Wurtsborough, the Hmestone rises out of the canal, and forms the mountain bench. It is here composed of two distinct kinds ; the one a shaly, soft, decomposing rock — • the other a hard, compact stone of a dark bhiish color. At Carpenter's Point, on the Delaware river, the position and char- acter of the entire series may be studied more readily than at any place in the county of SulHvan, where they are almost com- pletely hidden. The portions exposed belong to the water-lime group described by Mr. Mather in the Jfew York Survey, Vol. IV., p. 349. In the valley north of Wurtsborough, they can only be ex- amined, as they sink down and are covered by the deposits of drift. The stone has been quarried and used as buildmg stone and for burning, for which some of the courses only are adapted. The strata are but a few feet thick and, from proximity to the canal, cannot be advanta^eouslj' worked. The chemical composition of the hard blue rock is as follows : Carbonate of Hme 93. Sand and vegetable matter 2. Alumina and peroxide of ii'on 3. Magnesia. 73 Earthy phosphates 13 Soluble saline matters 1.14 100.00', The proportion of alumina in this rock prevents it from form- ing good diy mortar lime ; but by proper treatment in burning and mixing, it would make good hydraulic mortar. The comments made in the Eeport of Seneca county on the Manlius water-hme- stone are applicable here. There are no other beds of lime-rock in this county except those of the Mamakating valley. Boulders of this rock, however, are discovered in nearly every town. Onta?uo Division. — ^This contains two varieties of rock veir ■well defined in SuUivan county. They are immediately beneath the lost described rocks, whence they rise up to a considerable 28 HISTORY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. elevation, forming the base of the north and western dopes of the Shawangunk hills. The varieties are 1. The pyritous stratum ; 2. The Shawangunk grit or conglomerate. 1. The first rock iS a comparatively thin layer of quartz rock, loaded with ciystals of pyrites, (sulphuret ' of iron). It varies very much in its texture, being, east of WurtsborOngh and to- ward the county line, a whitish, compact quartz stone (in the interior of a mass) with pyrites. South of the village, it becomes a red rock, the pyrites having passed into the state of red oxide, and the hard nature of the rock is replaced by a softer shale^ In other cases it is granular, and resembles a red sandstone. Crossing the mountain on the plank road from Wurtsborough to Middletown, this bed is met with at the 11 mile post, and is about twelve feet thick. It is here a hard, compact quartz rock, dipping at an angle of 60° "W. S. W. In the neighborhood of the "Montgomery mine," it is a chocolate-colored, soft, slaty sandstone; and at the "new mine," two miles south of Wurts- borough, it presents the appearance of a greenish grey grit. Exposed to the air, it becomes red, and where it is not a sand- stone, the gradual oxidation of the pyrites rusts the rock to the depth of an infth. 2. The Shawangunk grit or conglomerate is described by Mather as a rock which "varies in texture from a conglomerate to a fine-grained grit, and is almost entirely silicious. It is gen- erally white or light grey in color ; but there is one bed near the upper part of its mass which is red. Most of the layers of the rock are very hard. Some are sandy and others slaty. Its col- ors are white, grey, greyish, reddish-white and brick-red." This covers the whole northern side of the mountain, dipping at variable angles toward the north-west and west. In many places, the dip is 60°; in others^ 50°, and diminishes to 30°. The thickness varies in diiferent parts of the range, being in some places apparently four hundred feet, diminishing down to one hundred and fifty feet. On the Wurtsborough and Blooming- burgh plank road, it approaches three hundred feet in thickness. This rock is not used in this county for any economical pur- pose, although in other counties it is used in building, and for grindstones. While it presents so narrow a breadth, its length i& remarkable. Traces of this conglomerate are discernible in Vermont, east of Whitehall, and in Western Massachusetts, and with the Shawangunk, it passes into New Jersey and Pennsyl- vania. As this constitutes one of the most important beds of the Shawangunk range, though not by any means a large amouut aEOLOOY. of the total hill elevation, it may be desirable here to allnde to the whole chain of hUls as a unity. The Shawangunk hills extend from the New Jersey line to near Wawarsing, in Ulster county, where they sink down, and are lost. In New Jersey, they may be traced into the Blue Mountains, and from that State pass iilto Pennsylvania, Mary- land and Virginia. The rocks are upraised in what is termed an ardidiTud cuds, or in the fojm of an inverted V, (A), the strata,: being broken and bent away, from each other. The range in; Sullivan countjj attains at its highest point 1007 het above the seat i level, which is in the north-east part of Mamakating. The dip i of the strata varies from 30° to 57° to W. N. W., and the direc- ■ tion of the range is generally N. E. and S. W. There is very little disturbance or fracture of the strata in the comty. Far- ther east, in Ulster, the breaks are well marked. The great body or mass of the mountain is Hudson rive» slate, a rock whose color passes from light grey into black, and is sometimes soft and shaly, while in other places it is hard and fit for quarrying as building stone. It is a well marked strati- fied rock, and by the many curves and contortions which it pre- sents, it shows what forces it has been subjected to. It constitutes the basis or lowest rock of the mountain range, and is not visible on the northern side of the hill. On passing over the Wurtsbor- ough and Bloomingburgh plank road, toward the summit of the hill, near the 10 mile post, it comes into view as a bed of shale, very friable, dark colored, fuU of fractures, and about twraity fee^ thick. As the road descends, the shale passes into a harder rock, and the rest of the mountain downward on its east side is made up of alternations of shale and hard rock. i This Hudson ri\^er slate is continued from the base of the hilJ into Orange county, forming the surface rock of that portion of SuUivan south of the hills. In the low land, the elevation of the strata is but sUght, and but little facility exists for the water of the soil above to escape through the strata. Hence in many places the lajid becomes water-logged, and gives rise to the pro- duction of rushy herbage, moss and bog. Some of the courses afford good furnace stones, and some a good building stone. The beds in the county do not afford any roofing slate.* The thickness of the Hudson slate group is about eight him- dred feet. Upon it, on the westeiai side, rests the Shawangunk grit, which lies conformably upon it./ Near the summit of the hills, the grit in some places lies nearly horizontal, and presents, to the south, perpendicular chffs of white rock, * A bed of this slate is found at Pleasant Late, in the town of Thompson.. It is from fifteen to thirly feet tfadok, and is overlaid by red shale and grey sana-rock, It is be- lieved that it will afford good roofing slate. J. K. Q. , 30 mSTOBY OP SDLUTAN COUNTY. from forty to two hundred feet high. This is overlaid by the pyritiferous stratum, which is better developed in the northern part of the valley. The whole range is intersected by metaUiferous veins. The neighborhood is full of traditions of Indians obtaining both lead Bnd silver in abundance, and at so many points of the range, that it is looked upon as a bed of ores of undisputed richness.* It ds with that portion of the range within the limits of the coilnty that it is' the office of this report to treat; and it is very important that clear notions of the quantity and value of ore in the county should be rightly held, seeing that efforts are made by unusual means to create false notions of the mineral condi- tion of the county. The New York Geological Survey describes very accurately the Shawangunk mine, situated in tliis county, on the mountain range. At the time that survey was made (1843), and for a long time after, this was the only opening made into the range in Sullivan county. Very lately, new adits have been attempted both north and south of that point. This mine is now termed the "Montgomery Mine," as belonging to the New York & Montgomery Mining Company. It lies north-east of Wulrts- borough about two miles, and eight hundred feet above the canal level. Dr. Mather's description (Vol. IV., p. 360), is nearly that of its present condition, and is as follows : " The vein, in many places, has the aspect of a bed paraHel to the contiguous strata of the grit rock of the mountain ; but from a careful examination, it is believed to be a true vein which runs between the strata, and then cuts obliquely across them, without altering its dip in any great degree. The stratum of the vein corresponds nearly to that of the grit 'rock, but its aggre- gate dip is greater. The strata were observed to be more or less broken and bent, where the vein, after passing between them, crossed them obliquely. The grit rock on the mountain near the mine is traversed by small veins of quartz, which is more or less porous from the decomposition of its contained minerals. The vein on which_ihe mine is worked, varies from two to five feet in width ; and the larger portion of its mass, as far as has been ^plored, is a silicious rock similar to that forming the roof and * Thore is a tradition that lead ore also exists in the old town of Lumberl^nd. Jacob Quick, a Bontleman of undoubtcdrespectability, (now dead), informed the writer that Tom Qoi^, about the year 1794, told him that, while setting a trap, he found it neoeg- Bary to remove somo earth from a spring, and came upon a fine Tein of ore; and that fae had since obtained the greater part ui hi^lead from.this gonroe. as the dieceverer cotild expect to reap but little more advantage from it, he promised to show our informant the locality, and appointed a day for that purpose; but before the appointed time, the old man wag taken gick, and was never afterwards able to go from tha house in which he lived. The location of this mine oorreipondl almogt exactly with that of the lead mine ginc* tligoorered near ISlleuville. [See Mather's {teport, page 358, GEOtOOY. 31 •floor, except thftt it contains fragments and particles of greenish and blackish slate. The vein stone is more or less loaded with -blende, galena, Copper pyrites, iron pyrites and crystalized quartz. The blende and galena constitute prdbaUy forty-nine- fiftieths of the metalUferous contents of the vein, and these .minerals are in general more or less intimately mixed. " The metalliferous part of the vein is from one to th'/ee feet thick in some parts ; in othei-s, it narrows to a thin, almost lin- ear seam ; in some places, the lead ore, in others, the zirc ore predominates. The ore, as an aggregate, may be 'said to he in bunches, and the productiveness of different points of the vein is very variable. When examining the mine, three masses of '.galena, free from other ores and from gangue, were taken out of the mine, weighing about 800, 1000, and 1400 pounds, " This mine is said to have been originally discof ered by a hunter,* and the first opening was made some forty or fifty feet -from the present shaft of the mine. It was worked from the outcrop of the vein to a depth of about thirty feet, and some tons of lead ore were taken from the mine. This opering was abandoned in consequence of the thinning of the metallilerous part of the vein, and the difficulty of raising the ore through an irregula,/ and sloping shaft. A vertical shaft was in process c^ excavation at the time of my first visit in 1837, and it had reached the vein at that time. Lateral galleries have since been driven on the course of the vein. An adit level was driven 'The pioneers of Mamakating knew that the Indians obtained their lead not lot tinm Wurtgborough. The natives alwavs refused to show where it was to be fonnd, and generally beuame angry whenever the mine wag alluded to. Even the white men who were in part or wholly domesticated with them, could not get I'j) inforUiatdon from them in regard to it. At last, a white hunter namediMiller dogged them, at the tisk of his life, until he ascertained that they got the ore near a certain, clnmp of ibemlock trees, which were the only ones cf the Kind within a considerable distanoea^i Be lieard them at work ; but did not dare to go to the locality until a considerabld^J time afterwards, when ho was sure the savages were not in the vicinity. Millfer intended' to show the mine to a man named Daniel Gonsalus. He told him the lead was on the mountain, near tlie hemlocks, pointed them ont from the valley, and promised to go with hhn to the mine after he had paid a visit to his friends in Orange county. Ua Trent, but died at Montgomerv during big visit there. Gonsalus never attempted to profit by what Miller had told him. In 1813, however, he commnnicated what he knew of the matter to Daniel Niven, who, in 1817, hired a man named Madge tr< assist bira in searching fur the lead, and they succeeded in finding it. Specimens of the ore were gent to Doctor Mitchell, and others, chemiatg. Hr. Niven made a confi- «dant of Mnscs Stanton, a resident of Wnrisborough, who, as well as Mudge, insisted upon sharing the profits which were expected to be made from the discovery, and the -three became partners. Not long after, those who had analyzed the ore endeavored to purchase the mine of Mr. Niven and his associates. But the discoverers ^onnd a dimculty in the way of gelling. The land did not belong to them, and they conld not Ascertain who did own it. They could not buy the mine nor gcll it. 8u the matter regtcd until 1836 — Mr. Niven and his partners mutually agreeing nst to make any 'disclosure concerning the matter, unless- with the congent of all three. Their secret, however, wag revealed after it had been kept for almost twenty years. Stanton had an Awkward habit of dreaming while asleep, and one night, while his eyelids were closed, •poke of the mine and its location so distinctly that his son, who was present, had no xuHicnlty in finding it. Young Stanton was so fortunate as to ascertiKin who gome of the owners wore, and to make five hundred dollars by keeping bis ears open, obile bis 'father was " dreaming aloud 1 " J. E. Q. . 92 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. peipendicvilar to the ^triljte of the yeih through the infervenirig: strata of grit rock, fifty-two feet below the mouth of the shaJt, so as to intersect the vein at the distance of aboiit two httpclred feet from the main shaft. Galleries have been excavated latterly on the course- of 'tlie vein from the extremity of the adit, and the southern one of &6se has been connected with the shaft. This adit and the contiguous galleries serve as a drainage level for the upper portions of the mine. Another adit level has been driven into tiie mountain, so as to intersect the vein at a per- pendicular depMi of seventy-five feet below the other, and the main shaft is continuous from this intersection, sloping up the course of the vein, to where this incKned shaft unites with the vertical one at the upper tier of the galleries. Lateral galleries have been excavated on the course of the vein from the sides of the inclined part of the main shaft, and it was in these that the miners were employed at the time of my visit. " The ore is sUdden down the inclined shaft to the lower adit level, whence it is removed to the ore heaps opposite tliis level. It is there picked and washed, and then sent to the smelting^ house on the bank of the canal, which, by the winding coarse of the road, is about a mile or a mile and a quarter." From a personal inspection in May, 1852, the following were the particulars of this mine. It has an entrance by an adit opened upon the side of the mountain, nearly eight hundred feet above the canal level. To reach the vein of ore, the strata were pierced through sixty yards. The strike of the range is E. N. E. by W. S. W., vrith a dip varying from 35= to 56° to the N, W. The vein runs parallel to the strike, and nearly parallel with the strata. When reached by boring to the above stated depth, it was found to vary in thickness from eighteen inches to four feet. About one hundred feet above the adit level, the ore crops out 6n the surface, a few inches in thickness, mixed with considera- ble gangue. The gangue stone is quartz, which intersects the vein, largely cutting it up and rendering it in some places too' poor to work. The rock through which the adit is bored is the bhawangunk grit. At the inner extremity of the adit, a gallery has been extended at right angles to the adit, or in the fine of the strike, thus (following the course of the ore. It was stated that but Httle ore had been raised for the last six years, and the^ spots where the blastings were made were filled with water. Th6 richest samples of ore taken at that period were -said to be from spots now flooded. At the pit's mouth, there was a heap of sorted ore, and at some distance, a larger heap of finely powdered ore. The whole quantity did not exceed seventy tons. Within the mine, httle was going on, either in draining or blasting. Smelt- ing, fuiijaces were then being erected at a great cost, and the GEOLOGY. 33 extent of these seemed greatly incommensurate vnth the quan- tity of ore on hand, w even in the vein. The ore is zinc blende (sulphuret of zinc) associated with galena and copper pyrites, the gangue stone quartz intersecting it in threads and crystals. The gangue varies from fifteen to fifty per cent, of the sorted ore. The gangue is separable from the ore by crushing and sifting. When separated, tliie pure ore consists of Lead 20.432 Zinc 15.672 Iron 5.600 Copper 300 42.004 in 100 parts. These were associated with sulphur, and may be Isoked on as blende, galena and pyrites associated. The copper is present in so trifling an amount as not to be regarded practically. An examination was made to determine the presence of silver asso- ciated with the Ifiiad ore; but the result, while it showed the presence of that metal; did not warrant the belief that any could be profitably extracted. This vein, then, is one of mixed zinc and lead ores ; for of the other metals, (silver and copper) there is but a trifling amount, and the iron is a positive impediment in the reduction. There is a practical difficulty in separating galena and blende so as to preserve both metals. Either the zinc or the lead is sacrificed m obtaining the other metal. The ordinary ores of zinc are the carbonate, the sulphuret and the oxide. The first yields from 25 to 40 per cent. ; the second 6fi per cent. ; and the last 75 per cent, of pure metal. The first two are the chief European ores; the latter is the one worked at Franklin and Sterling, in New Jersey. The ore of the Montgomery Mine, considered as a zinc ore, is inferior to any of those recounted. It is similarly situated as a lead ore. The chief lead ore of this or any coimtry is galena, (sul- phuret,) which yields when pure. 86 per cent, of metal, or more than four times the quantity which this ore, when free from gangue, could yield ; so that this ore may be looked upon as a {)oor zinc and a still poorer lead ore. It has to be freed from a arge amount of gangue, and to obtain the lead out of it, the zinc will have to be burned off; to obtain the zinc, the lead will have to be sacrificed. Many attempts have been made to adopt processes whereby it might be possible to obtain both metals without loss; but without success on the large scale. The New York and Montgomery Mining Company, in a pam- phlet put forward by them, allude to a process of Mr. Seymour, (the chemist to the works at the mine) whereby this obstacle 3 34 mSTOBT OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. ■was OYercome. It does not appear, however, that it ever was put in practice upon large quantities, and acted economically. The same pamphlet gives an analysis of the ore as containing zinc 30 per cent., lead 20 per cent., copper 5 per cent., and silver one-tenth of one per cent. "In addition to the above, the cobalt produced from the ore, being of the purest kind, will probably equal in value amy of the above namea metals." . This statement led to a renewed analysis of the ore without detecting more than a faint trace of cobalt. in one sample. Some samples of the ore contain more galena arid less blende, and vice versa; but even talking the above as an average sample of ore which is mixed witti from 15 to 50 per cent, of gangue, upon the showing of the Company's pamphlet, it is impossible to ob- tain either zinc or lead, or tM prepa/raiions of these metals, at prices which would remvmerate the outtay. For some time back, the sorted and ground ore has been smelted, and ihe zinc and lead separated, and by the processes of chemical decomposition (in the moist way) oxide of zinc, chloride of zinc and other preparations of that metal, chromate and other salts of lead, and cobalt, are prepared to the extent of a few tons weekly, and sent to the city of New York, where its ar- mval has served to keep up the price of the Company's stock, and facilitate sales ; but if the manufacture of these substances were intended as a remnnera/tive speculation, they would have been abandoned before now. No individual nlanufacturer, seeking profit, would ever adopt the processes carried on in the factory at the mine ; B,nd ia a short time, eyen the present operations must abruptly terminate.* The existence of good lead mines and zinc ores in this country, where these metals may be obtained cheaply, prevents a mixed ore, whose preparatiions require a costly mode of separation, Irom being brought into competition with them ; and when it- is considered that even the New Jersey zinc ore can with difficulty compete with the English and Belman zinc in its own market, it is opianifest that the poor ore of me Shawangunk cannot vent- ure into competition. What has been stated of the !Montg©mery ore and manufact- ure, is true of mining in SuUivan county generally. The vein of ose which extends from Ellenville by Eed Bridge and Wurts- borough, passes along parallel to the strike of the hiUs, and may be traced on the summit of the range to the western border of the county, and owmg to the operations carried on at thfe Mont- gomery mine, various openings have been made- by companies and individuals to leawi the same vein at other places. The * The Bubsequent biBtory of this mine fully verifieB this prediction. J. E. Q. GEOLOGY. 35 "belief that the ■v.eitt would -widen ajt lower levels, (probable,) and :that it woiild be a richer ore farther west, (improbable,-) has led to a false estiigiate of the value of the ore, and of the locality as a pMce for iaisest^ueiit of capital ; and the excitement in the Mamaikatiiig valley has been luiduly kept up by interested parties. There is not a workable miQe in this county ; nor is there any mineral or ore which can be q,bundantly or profitably extracted, ^he mjvjxganese which is scattered over the whole extent, and occurs disseminated through ^yers of the shale and shaly hme- atone, is too earthy and impure to compete with that from other Sitates. The anthracite which exists in the shale at the Sand- burgh, »nd the Jjjialf jnph seam in Liberty, and which farther west is cut through by the Delaware, and washed down to where it accumulates in bed^, at the bending of the river at Oochecton and dsewhere, is just sufficient to delude the unwaty. The oxide of iron which accumulates in the sandstone at some places, as near Parksville, is sufficient to render the stone convertible into a mineral paint ; but does not constitute a workable ore. The building ^d fiag-stones, and tiie extensive deposits of brick clay which occur in every town, are the only mineral wealth of the county. Drift. — In every northern latitude on this continent, as far south as 40°, there axe found spread over the country, beds of clay, sand and gravel, accompanied with large loose stones, generally of rounded form. The beds of clay, sand and gravel, have been cairied and deposited by currents of water running in a direction north and south, generally from the north-west to the sonthreast, and the loose stones or boulders may have been carried by similar means, or stranded and melted from ice. Sullivan county, at some remote period, was the bed of an arm of the sea, T«rhich extended from the Lakes to the Atlantic ocean, by the Delaware .and Chesapeake channels. Of course, in the deepest portions, the current would be strongest, and the most ftaxtiay matters transported and deposited; and. hence it is, that in the valleys we find the drift best marked. The soil of Mam- a,katiQg valley is altogether of drift, and along its whole course, the conditions of the current which deposited the material may be distinctly traced. Sometimes the sand and gravel are in distinct layers ; sometimes mixed, depending upon the amount of silting action of the tidal current. The direction also varies sUghtly. Thus at Eraser's sand hill, in Monticello, the direc- tion is N. N. E. aad S. S. W. The south-west end of the hill is fine sand, while on the north-west it is rounded gravel, showing the direction of tiie current to be from north to south. Bi Lumberland, the sand and gravel hiUs along the Delaware have a parallel direction. 36 HISTOKY OF SUIilVAN COUNTY. Tlie boulders of Bockland and Neversink are chiefly grey sand-rock and conglomerate, the lamina of deposit on the former rendering them easily distinguishable. In Liberty, ^ey grit botilders are extensively distributed about Parksville, with some red sand-rock and a white conglomerate resembling that of Shawangunk. In Eockland and Liberty, the siliciouslimestone containing manganese (referred to under the head of Economi- cal Geology,) is met with very commonly. In Thompson, in the northern part, the quartz conglomerate prevails to south of ThompsonviUe. It covers the surface at Lord's pond, and on the Barrens generally, where grey grits and slate are also inter- spersed. About Bridgeville, they are mixed in with the sand and gravel hills on the baiik of the river. In the Mamakating valley, the farther north and east gener- ally, the drift-sand is fine. At Phillips Port, it passes into fine sand and gravel, which lie along the base of the hills on either side, the direction beiag generafly E. N. E. and W. S. W. The whole west side of the valley is filled up with it. The drift is spread ever the east side of Shawangunk, and is mixed in with the soil derived from the slate. The boulders of the Mamakating valley are composed of the rocks of the mountain in the neighborhood, mingled with the northern drift. In this valley, the bones of the mastodon and fossil elephant were found in digging the Delaware & Hudson canal, in a peat bog, between Bed Bridge and Wurtsborough. The whole valley is interesting as showing the effects of drift ; its mode of deposit ; and the grooving or scratching on the hill- sides, caused by the passage over them of moving ice, containing impacted stones. The facts in this connection, communicated to SiHirnan's Journal, Vol. XXIII., p. 43., by Wiliiam A. Thompson, of ThompsonviUe, are interesting. They are as follows : # * * » * "I have examined this part of the State with considerable care, and have found that in more than fifty differ- ent places where I have seen the sohd strata, the grooves and furrows appear from an inch to one-fourth of an inch deep, and from one-fourth of an inch to three and four inches wide ; and in some cases they run due north, and in eveiy direction from north to twenty-five degrees south of east. I have found them also in the bottoms of cellars, in excavations made in digging wells, and where the earth has been removed by making roads, and in many instances where I have uncovered the solid rock for the purpose of observing the effects of the diluvial action. I have paid some attention to this subject while traveling in the Eastern States, and I could find none of the furrows; but the GEOLOGY. 37 solid stratum appears to be worn very smooth by attrition, by the motion of some bodies smaller and less soM than those which have produced the distinct traces in this part of the State of New York. " It may be proper to remark first, that Sullivan county is boimded south and west by the Delaware tiver ; north by Dela- ware and Ulster counties, and east by Orange ; that the county lies on the easterly part of the Alleghany range of mountains, and that the mean altitude of the country is on a level with the highlands below Newburgh — about one thousand five hundred feet above the tide water ; that this level is continued westerly through Sullivan county and the State of Pennsylvania, from the Shongham mountam to the Susquehannah river; that a space of above fifty miles wide of this level hes, continuously, in the Alleghany range, untU you come to mountains if a great height, on the west side of the Susquehannah ; that the depth of me earth above the solid rock gradually and regularly in- creases from Shongham mountain to the Susquehannah ; that the, average depth of earth in Sullivan county is not more than twenty-five feet, nor more than thirty-five through the State of Pennsylvania ; that the range of the KattskDl mountain bounds the north part of SuUivan ; that south of this space of fifty miles the altitude of the mountains considerably increases ; in this in- termediate space it appears that tops of the ridges had been dilapidated by mighty force, and that the current had pressed easterly, and often times canied large pieces of rock to a con- siderable distance, say fj-om fifty to two hundred rods, and if the fragments are of very considerable size they always rest on the solid strata. In many instances, sections of the strata were broken out and raised by the violence of the current and left on the tops of the highest hills ; I have seen an instance where a rock twenty feet square has been carried half a mile on the level surface of the strata that are covered about three feet with earth, and there left in that position ; the violence of the current having ceased to effect its farther removal from its original position. " The upper strata of the whole section of the country before the deluge, appear to have been composed of a common grey sandstone covering the surface of the rock from twelve to twenty- four inches thick. This seems to have been the last marine formation ; it is full of fissures and cracks, being broken into small angular pieces by the first violent surges of the deluge, and now scattered on the surface of the ground. " The next lower strata are pudding stone, filled with quartz and feldspar and other primitive minerals; its parts are gener- ally water-worn and are from the size of a robin's to that of a hen's egg. The next rock underneath is the old red sandstone, as HISTORY OE StTLLItAN COUNTY. whicli is nmversally found in the bottoms of the tadley^ ; on thfl; tops however of the highest hills the red clay slate ia uniTers- aUy found, and for eighty or ninety miles west, gives a reddish color to all the soils of the country, and passes southerly through New Jersey and Pfennsylvania. " The valleys in this section of country uniformly run from) north to south, are in many instances from ten to twelve hundred feet deep, and are the beds of the large streams. The lesser valleys are covered with pieces of red and grey sandstone of a convenient size for making fences. The most free and fefisibie land is always found on the tops, and on the eastern sides of the hiUs, the westesn sides being uniformly steep and broken. The whole of the earth or soil appears to have been removed from the soil strata at the deluge, and most, if not all the upper strata of sandstone, were then broken up. A small portion of the pudding-stone was also broken up in large square blocks, and occasionally pieces of the old red sandstone were detached from the bottom of the valleys. It is probable that previous to the deluge there was httle or no soil on this section of the coun- try, that the hiUs, valleys and streams were the same previous to the deluge that they are at this time, excepting that the hills were dilapidated and lowered, and the deep valleys were made stiU deeper by the tremendous cataracts and surges, the water being carried violently over the high ledges and hiUs and then, in crossing the ridges from west to east, falling ten to twelve hundred feet into the valleys. While contemplating such a scene,, our imagination must fall infinitely short of the reality* The sin- gle wave that totally destroyed the port town of Lmia, or the surge that overwhelmed the Turkish fleet in Candia, comes nearer to Hie terrific scene than any similar events that are recorded. " That these large masses of rocks should be broken up and thrown upon the tops of h^h hills wiU appear in no way sur- prising when we consider what must be the effect of the precip- itation of the cataracts into deep valleys and of their subsequent, violent reflux over the high hills ; a power more than sufficient to raise the, large masses of rock that were left on the high grounds in the country. " That water has the power to carry rocks and other heavy bodies over the tops of mountains, is evinced by the simple fact,, that the only place where the millstone is found within two hundred miles, is at Kizerackj on the west side of Shongham mountain, fifteen or twenty miles from Esopus or Kingston, up the Eondout Kill. At this place, all the country or Esopus millstones are sold. Now over a great part of the west side of Shongham mountain, which is composed of the miUstone-grit,, this rock has been carried to the height of ten or twelve hundred feet, so as to pass over the top of the mountain, and it hes scat- GE0LOGT. 89 tered through the country for maaiy miles east, between New- burgh ajid Shongham mountain, and as there is no other similar stone.within two hundred miles, this is eomekisive evidence that the violence of the surge carried the rocks over the top of the- mountain and left them in the position in which we, now see them ; some of the stones weigh from three to four tons. "Professor Eaton, in his geological survey of the KattsMIL or Alleghany, says that aU the eastern slope of the Alleghany is capped or protected by the miUstone-gWt, but what he called the nullstone-grit, I call the conglomerate, or pudding-stone; both are formed in part of quartz, but in the true millstone-grit, the fine parts are formed by abrasion of the quartz only, while common sand mixed with globular pieces of quartz, forms what he calls the miUstone-grit of the Alleghany range. "I have never heert able to find any grooves or Arrows, on the west side of the hUls and ridges in the county; nothing appears but the traces and breaches where the rocks have been torn up by some violent agent. It very rarely happens that any . traces can be found on the red argillaceous sandstone ; it is not sufficiently sohd to sustain the force of heavy bodies moving in contact with it, although in some instances the grooves appear for fifteen or twenty feet, and then the. strata are rough or broken, but the traces are mostly on the solid pudding-stone, and the common grey sandstone which remained solid- amd unbroken at the deluge. In those cases where the old red sandstone appears, if the slope or side of the hill faces the north, I have seen three or four instances in which the furrows run in that direction for half a mile, and on meeting a ridge of rOcks in the low grounds, the furrows turned due east, and after passing the obstruction, again turned north-east or east. Not a mile from the same place,, on descending from the same high mround, the furrows run east^ tallying with the face of the liill. On the high lands. west of the Shongham, and where there could be no obstruction for seventy or eighty miles, I examined ten or twelve difi'erent places in which the furrows were deep and distinct, and found them to run from ten or twelve degi'ees north of east, and they contiuued in the same direction for a considerable dis- tance down the mountain ; at no great distance to the south, the furrows tended twenty-five degi'ees south of east, leading to a low opening in the Shongham mountain, through which the currents of water naturally ran. I have rarely examined the strata below tlie decomposing effects of frost, without discovering distinct traces of diluvial action. Near the banks of streams, I hardly ever found any such marks, but the soHd strata appeared broken and very Httle altered by attrition. In one place where the earth was removed and where there was no visible obstacle to alter the current of water, the furrows crossed each other, show- 40 HISTOBY OF SULLIVAN COnNTY. ing that the current took a new direction, after the first furrows were made. About twelve or fourteen miles west oi Newburgh, I found the marks on the soKd graywacke to run nearly north and south. At Coxsakie, in Greene county, in digging a well and coming to the solid strata, the furrows ran northerly and southerly about in the direction of the mountain. I found that in different places, between thirty and forty miles apart, the furrows ran about ten degrees north of east, especially where the current had a free course tor any considerable dis- tance without any obstacle. Where the sohd strata remained, but a part has been removed by some powerful agent. " On examination, I have found, that the comers of rock have been worn off by abrasion from eighteen to twenty-four inches, and that the furrows made on the rocks by the abrasion of hard substances, were very distinct, although the edges of rock were rounded. This fact is of frequent occurrence. On the high land, as well as on the low, the furrows appear near small streams, in every possible situation, showing, without a doubt, that the rivers and hiUs remain now as they were before the flood. Pieces of , the solid strata with the farrows .on them, are often found where part of the strata was broken up after the furrows were made, but more of the argillite than of any other rock appears in fragments. It was supposed that these grooves were made by the Indians, before the settlement of the country by the white people. Large fi'agments of rocks or boulders are found in every part of the country, which fragments, in passing over the surface of the strata, have doubtless made these furrows. Most of them have the corners worn off. There are but few instances in which other stones are found besides the natural strata of the country. In some instances, the stones are composed altogether of sea shells ; in two instances, I have found palm leaves and ferns incorpo- rated in the soft gray slate. The soil is much fuller of the small S articles of quartz and feldspar than in Orange county, or in the [ew England states. The disintegration produces a fine sand, upon which there rises an abundant growth of pine and hemlock. For three hundred mfles to the westward, it is evident that the soil or earth was raised and increased very much by the deluge, and tiie mountains and ri^es were lowered and robbed of their loose stones, by the same cause. The opening of about fifty miles wide through this part of the Alleghany ridge has probably tended in some measure to control and direct the course of the current of the water. The mastodon appears not to have been a native of this section of the country, but was probably an in- habitant of the champaign countries to the west, and the bodies may have been borne, on this mighty current, through falls and cataracts to the low, basin-like counties of Ulster and Orange, where they were finally deposited. Before the deluge, the coun- GEOLOGY. 41 ties of Orange and Ulster were probably formed of low sharp ridges of graywacke and limestone, and narrow short valleys run- ning in different directions, with little or scarcely any soil or earth either in the valleys, or on the low sharp ridges, and of course such countries would not be the natural resi&nce of the unwieldy mastodon. The carcasses of these animals were probably in some cases brought whole, in others they were lacerated and torn asunder, or bruised, and the bones broken, before the flesh had decayed and dropped from them. This appears from the place and the condition m which the bones are found. The first skel- eton found in Orange was taken out of a swamp near Crawford's on the Newburgh turnpike. This carcass was deposited entire and unbroken m a pond or basin of water, and after the flesh was decayed from the bones, they were spread over an area of about thirfejr feet square ; the outlet of this pond is a'firm rock; the pond has been filled up by decayed vegetable substances, and now forms a swamp of about ten acres covered with maple and black ash. In the north part of this swamp, about two years ago, on digging a deep ditch to drain th^ ground, a skeleton of the mammoth was found ; this skeleton I immediately examined very minutely, and found, that the carcass had been deposited whole, but that the jaw-bone, two of the ribs, and a lii^h-bone had been broken by some violent force while the carcass was whole ; on taking up the bones, this was evident, from every circumstance. Two other parts of skeletons were, some years since, disinterred, one near Ward's Bridge, and the other at Masten's meadow, in Shongham ; in both instances, the carcasses had been torn asunder, and the bones had been deposited with the flesh on, and in two or three instances, the bones were fract- ured. That the bones were deposited with the flesh attached to them, appears from the fact that they were found closely at- tached to each other, and evidently belonged only, to one part of the carcass, and on a diligent search, ho part of the othsr bones could be found within a moderate distance of the spot. If the animal had died where the bones were found, the whole skeleton would have been found at or near the place. Great violence would be necessary to break the bones of such large animals ; in the ordinary course of things, no force adequate to that effect, would be exerted ; I think it therefore fair reasoning, to say, that at the deluge, they were brought by the westerly currents to the place where they were found ; that the carcasses were brought in the first violent surges, and bruised, broken and torn asunder by the tremendous cataracts, created when the currents crossed the high mountains and ridges, and fell into the deep valleys between Shongham mountain, and the level countries at the west ; that those carcasses that came whole to the place where theyfinally rested, arrived after the waters had 42^ HISTOEY OF. SUIilVAN COUNTY. attained a greater Heiglit, and were probably less Tiolent, and; of course the bodies were less liable to be beaten and bruised by coming in contact with the rocks. This view of the facts; appears to me fairly to account for the condition in which the bones of the mammoth are found. •■■ "Ihave thus given a desultory sketch of a number of facta relating to the currents of water at the deluge, and their effects on the face of the country ; if they should not appear to be new, they may still be received as evidences of diluvial effect in dif- ferent parts of our country." There are in various parts of the county, in the troughs* formed by the wave-like elevations of ihe strata, drift stones, which lie in the direction of a stream, and which forcibly convey the suggestion that they were dropped by melted glacier ice. ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY. Manganese is an abundant metal in the county. It is formedl in the sandstone strata, through which it is disseminated spar- ingly, and from which it is washed out by water, and by the nat- ural d.ecomposition of the rock. It exists mostly in Fallsburgh and Liberty., In the former place, there is a collection of boulders, which are scattered somewhat plentifully over the northern part of the county, t These stones are abundant on Mr. Benjamin Kyle's farm, in Fallsburgh, where they have tho following composition : Eed sand ' 39.20 Alumina and peroxide of iron 13.00 Lime 17.00 Carbonic acid 19.00 Magnesia 1.80 Oxide of Manganese 10.00 100.00 * The basin or trough-form in which the strata are deposited, renders it not improba- ble that brine might be obtained by deep boring in the valley of the Delaware, betweeni Deposit and Narrowsburgh ; in the valleys of both branches of the Delaware, and the- lower parts of their main tributaries, and possibly in the valley of the Susquehaima about Sidney, in that of the Mongaup, and of the Nevertink above Cuddebackville, [Mather's Eeports, p. 87. The rocks between the Susquehanna and the Catskill mountain dip sUghtly toward the valley of the Delaware, and in Schoharie county, they dip southward, giving « basin-shaped form to the stratification. It is a fact that lias been forced upon my attention 07 -extended observation, that many of our salt-well districts in the United States are in depressions- of the r strata; in other words they are within the undula- tione, as troughs or basins in the strata. [Ibid. t One of the hills on the farm of Doctor Kyle is mainly formed of manganese rock J. E. Q. ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY. 43 The manganese easily separates from the rocks, and collects in low situations as black earthy oxide.- It is too impure to be of much commercial value. It is remarkable that, associated with the manganjese is a trace of cobcdt. This metal exists with the former wherever met in the county, and also in the mixed zinc and lead ore of Shawangunk. Th« cobalt ore is too spar- ingly scattered to be recovered profitably as an article of manufacture. Ibon is found imited with sulphur as pyrites in the grits of Shawangunk, and in western Neversink m the conglomerates. In contact with vegetable matter, it passes into red oxide, and in this condition is found in Lumberland and Forestburgh, where the pyrites have been washed out, and oxidized. « Clays. — Stiff clays are scattered abundantly over the county. Suitable clays for brickmaldjig are found in S^ockland, none of which have been used for twenty years past. In Neversink, along the streams, are beds of heavy plastic clay. On Thomas E: Taylor's land is a very good blue clay. The bed is one foot deep and twenty rods long. A similar clay is met with near Charles 0. Decker's land, which, from its great whiteness^ is used for whitewashing. A large amount of the subsoil of Nev- ersink is a stiff clay. The same kind is found in Liberty in several places. An ordinaacy brick clay is met with in Montioello, and in nearly all the swamps in the vicinity. B. F. Willetts, oil the Thompsonville road, manufactures merchantable brick from the clay ot his farm. ' If the clays of Sullivan county were better treated by screen- ing, washing and sifting, previous to being burnt, they might be applied to other domestic purposes; yet the beds, though numerous, are not sufficiently extensive to justify an outlay upon the spot for these purposes. There is an application of clay, however, which brick manufacturers might with safety adopt ; that is, the manufacture of draining tiles. A large extent of the country requires to be drained, and there is abundance of day suitable for the manufacture of tiles.* * The State Surveyor, Mr. MathOT, noticed considerable deposits of peat in the county, an article which may ultimately become of some value; he says that there are WurtsborougU ! other places in the vicinity of MonticeUo. It probably exists in several other localities in the county. Many of our ponds if drained, would afford an inexhaustible supply of it. Very valuable beds of clay and ochre have been discovered at Oaliland, and on the line of the MonticeUo and Port Jervis B. E. A valuable deposit of clay also exists on the farm of Charles Bamum in Thompson. 52 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. r4 ^ I ID as i1 us 00 o OS OQ g .£1 g ^ a I -a •3 o O 1=1 i a ^ I -S. -a o o PI i a 00 iHiHrH-^eOOSWSODlOQOt-t- « i-tr-l i-l (M (N *-*>OtOt~COCO>OCO(M 05 CO lO kffl iH 0> lO U5b-S0(?I OJCOOJ-^COOdlCrHOdopiH-^ > ■* I I.N CO OS -^,lO lO CO i» us ^ CO (M OS CO o -05 OiHt-t-USeOCOQOUS (M - us CO us CO us t- I-l CD prH p p p p p tH Cq p OJp p CSOSPSOOOSOSOSOSOSOSOOCS Gi (M(Meq«N(M(MH a g o i I QQ ^' o o i CLIMATE. 53 § « C -4^ CI 00 O o Pi o QQ s o IS 09 Q EC •a- o o o a ^ J -a •^. o o a- a 00 ■^ woo T-( J, CO iH «5(N»doiodw9 aq(Mccifi5»r5Wcocotffl-^coco ?0iO-!r(iHt~05O»«i(M<»(M00 CO ■^OiH«0«OeoO(MQOb-Ot~ (NtMi-H r-( CM aq i-H oq 10 oq iH 00 rH : J : : : : : : | : « « fcjH 3es«a us aq eo ^ 05 sq b- 00 «o b- eq ■* «o iH 00 1- eo 0q0aOb-;pOrHrHr-Ji-H05p p 06 00 05 00 05 OS OJ 05 OS 05 00 05 OJ eqffqcqcqcq(M-b-«ioeO(N o i ^ J -a ■i. § o CI i a 00 t- 00 CO lO (M t- -*OCOCO(MeO«l coci5-^-^»nixib-«oco»nco(M 05 ?oo O T-H t- t-»0 CO CO OO lO (N (N iH ■« -8 Oi U5 O5C005(MkO000q0S05O5(M5O iH rH !M rH (M rH i«Ot^TH05 aq U5 CO -5j4 CO 00 00 l>; »0 05 eq -dj CO «dr-5cdo4Qd>fto6!dcocooa3 C<100C0-^ini5OCO!O5O«S-*C0 eo eq «o «o Oi -cH -* i-H -* r-j _ «o coodi»05coo«d(Niffloiodm ui (M CM CO CO Id 50 « w lo -^ CO eo ■* «no-^THt-i3soiflisq«3aqQ0 (N (M (M (N eo iH Oq •8 eo oq ■«ir the gratification of those who could pay well for nqvelties. The arts advanced gradually imtil cities were built but Uttle inferior to the most celebrated in the world. The architecture, sculpture, etc., of these ancient cities still are ranked among the wonderful fruits of th^ skill and ingenuity of man. These ruins and rehcs point to a powerful and wealthy people, with a government and institutions of long standing.! The riches of the aristocracy must have been enormous and almost without a parallel in other communities ; for the expense of ^ectiag and embellishing their palaces, and the formation and completion of the surroundings of such magnificent edifices, taking into consideration the mechanical and otiaer forces known * Xossing's History of the United States. t Brownell's Indian Eaoes of North and South America. 64 HISTORY OF SULMVAN COUNTY. to them, must have been a thousand-fold greater than anyttiing recorded of the white man. These ancient evidences of aboriginal civilization extend from south latitude 33° 16' northerly over a territory three thousand miles in extent. In their character and number they are un- rivaled by the remains of any other people. In their silent, grandeur they attest the power, the luxury, the skill and the civilization of a race which has risen from an abnormal condition-, to an exalted degree of development in much that is magnificent, grotesque and utilitarian^ but who, in purity of taste and in-, morality, remained savages ; for they were cannibals, and sacri- ficed human life upon their :idolatrous altars. As we recede from the territory of the Aztecs northwardly, the evidences of ancient civilization gradually disappear, -the. most remote being earthen mounds and fortifications ia the vicinity of the Great Lakes of North America. Beyond these., are found rude specimens of -pottery and stone implements used in the chase, in war, agiiculture, etc. The red men of the North had no cities, and it can hardly be- said of them that they had a permanent abiding place. At cer- tain seasons of the year, small bands would reside in localities, suitable for raising maize, beans, etc. — generally on the banks of some stream or river, where the soil was rich and mellow, and, for the cultivation of which their rude and simple agricultural implements were sufficient. At other times, their wigwams would- be on the mountains where the elk, deer and beax abounded. And again, they would be found where salmon and other fish, could be taken most readily. v The country they occupied and their wars prevented them< from becoming numerous. Theirs was a constant struggle to obtain a sufficiency of food, and to guard their own lives and destroy those of their enemies. With them, the civilization of the Aztecs and the Incas was not a necessity — was impossible.. An equal number of white men, dispersed over the same terri- tory, divided into small clans, constantly engaged in warfare^ and with the same means of subsistence, would become ignorant- and degraded, and the arts and sciences, literature, etc., would be forgotten by them. The Indians who inhabited Sullivan county, when the whites first visited the country, were Lenni Lenape, who were also known as Wapanacliki, OpentuxM, Opervagi,Ahenaqui8 and Apenakies. At a sub- sequent period, they were called Dela wares by the whites, because they occupied teiTitory from which that river derives its waters. The Lenni Lenape were divided into three tribes — the Unami,. or Turtle ; the Uiudachtgo, or Turkey ; and the Minsi, or Wolf.* ♦ Sometimes called Munocys, MinisinkB, etc. THE LKNNI LENAPE. 65 The Unamis and Urudabhtgos occupied the coast from the Hudson river to the Potomac, while the Mind, or Wolf tribe, extended from Minisink, on the Delaware, where they held their cotmcil seat, to the Hudson on the east, to the Susquehanna on the south-west, to the head-waters of the Delaware and Susque- hanna rivers, and to the CatskiU mountains on the noxth, and on the south to that range of hiUs now known, in New Jersey, by the name of Musconetcong, and by that of Lehigh and Cogh- newago, in Pennsylvania.* They therefore occupied all of Sullivan county. These tribes were subdivided into numerous clans, who re- ceived their names from the streams or lakes which they frequented, or from some circumstance more or less remarkable. The Lenape claimed to be the parent stock, or "original people," or "grandfathers" of at least forty other tribes, who spoke their language or its dialects, among whom may be named the Knisteneaux, who inhabit the region extending from Labra- dor to the Rocky Mountains; the Athapascas, who occupy a belt of country from Churchill's Eiver and Hudson's Bay to within a hundred miles of the Pacific coast ; the Ottawas, Chip- ?ewas, Sacs and Poxes, Menomonees, Miamies, Piankeshaws, 'ottowatomies, Kickapoos, Illinois, Shawnees, Powhatans, Corees, Nanticokes, Mohegans, the New England Indians, the Abenakes, Suequesahannocks, Mannohoaks and the Monocans. Some of these tribes were numerous and powerful, and were subdivided into many clans or cantons.t The Delawares amd kindred tribes are classified as Algomquins. At this late day, it is impossible to name the several clans of the Minsi tribe of the Lenni Lenape nation, or to designate with certainty the precise territory occupied by each. Our ancestors were more apt at discovering desirable tracts of land, eligible trading posts, and other things promotive of temporal welfare, than at recording facts which would interest those who now? feel an interest in what relates to the red man. There is but httle doubt, however, that the Manassings occupied that portion ,of SuUivan county which lies in the vicinity of Peenpack ; that the Esopus Indians (whose native name, it is supposed, was Wamp- ing) owned that part which adjoins Ulster, and that the Cashieg- tonks were located in the remaining territory of the county. The land of the Manassings extended into New Jersey, Penn- sylvania and the adjoirdng towns qf Orange county ; the Wamp- ings lived on the west bank of the Hudson, or Mahicanittuck, from Catskill to Newburgh; while the Gashiegtonks lived oil both banks of the Delaware, or Lenapewihittuck, from the * Oordon'B HiBtoiy of New Jersejr. t LosBing'B HiBtory of the United Sttiei. 5 %o HiSTosnr e^- sueeivan coumty. the tei*ritory of tlte Manas&iMgs to sanate poiiit which we eataiot ^tesignate.* These elans were scxmetiines known by o&er names, and were still farther snbddTided. A few faffiflies whose wigwams aatd cultivated ^oumds were in the ticlinaty of a sfareato or a mamAsm., often bore the name of that stream or mouatfdn. . Aecordiiigly we hear of the Navisings, the WiEiwemoesi the Laekawaek- E^s^, WauwausiHgs, Mamekotings. Papagonks, etc. Tke territory of the Wampiogs or Esapus Imdiaais was called by them Atkarkarton. These tribes and clans find a^ paralied in omr States, ■ctmnties and towns ; but were bound togeihear by iiiaties of goiod will and sympathy only. There was mo laiw ca: usage which rendered it obligatory few on« to assifit the other in any enter- prise. Thus we find that a poi4iofi of the WappingS 6f Dutchess eounty and the Manassiugs paxiicipafted with the ;^6pu« Indians in the massacre of the Dutch at ^Kingston, in 1663 ; but in the irar which foMowed, the Esopus teibe was the one which re- ceived all the blows of the Dutchmen. The others abandoned the field as soon as the first effort was made, and shirked a^U responsibility. A confederation of clans and tribes was a mere rope of sand. While they were inclined to act m concert, they were united for a common purpose ; but the moment a. tribe, or even an individual member of it, was dissatisfied and .wished to &ee itself or hiutseM from any real or IsMieied eiiegajg^ment, full liberty of action was conceded. The Indians, practically, had no government, civil or military. They had a civil ma^trate known to thein as a sachem, it is true; but he had no more authority to enforce a, decree or de- eamon, or to cause it to be enforced, than the most contemptible toember of Ms iribe. He could advise and persuade only. He was a sage — a wise man — ^but had no more power than a " stump orator" of our own times. Occasionally the office of sachem was held by females, who by hereditary means, or by a reputa- tion for superior wisdom, acquired an influence over a tribe. Such instances, however, were rare, as squaws were generally considered inferior to the males. Accorohig to Thompson's History of Long Island, a squaw sachem was styled "stmk squa," which meant, probably ttiat she was a "tip-top" woman. The military leaders or chiefs had no more real authority. If they were braive aajd cuimingj and proved themselves com- jsetent to lead in attacks upon the e»emy, they were obeyed and . — — -^ — _- .*-*^ — _^___ * Thi» wa» ^p«*«'l*^ ^hs CM» wben ttw constra wa» Arak d^covered. In Marohy 170S-7, Naniai)U>!!, an Esopus aachem, sold land wmch -vras bounded on one aide b^ tlie IJelaware river; but there is reason lb Cellisve Hist the DolawitreB who subsequently acknowledged Teedynscung as their king, denied ttie right of Nanisinos to sell this land. They declared that the people of JEsgmis and Minisiak had del^auded them, and that the country almost to tae Hudscm -mi theii^ Tian ixma uffiUHs-i 67 laiiowedi by iSae -warrkars dt fee is^: Thear aiufliority wa% feimidad on publlie onpisxon., a>ad vlieB that was against them^ they were impeient ; Wt wMle it was lai^ty in t&eir favor, ijhedr poweuwas" despotie. TSteinditol© system was democratie, wi&r emi smy o£ &os« elements o£ permanency cravd strength wMcIi mark msai lorm of goivecntnant among more aiivilissed races. 1?hB J had no wid^eiii kmgniaigie^ tmtess vre masf eali their picture miMngs a written lanagiiege. The mmse cmMi?sedi tribes and na- tions had ao^HBd wondezfcdi shUlin veeording iiii«i|»!»tant n^itters in this -wm ; but the zealous OhrisMaoms 'vrho appropriated the ^Iden idols of ihs Aztecs and Incas, de#ro^ea tile symbolic records of lihe templesi, wkieh Aviere ihe depositaries of th« serolls whereon was tra,oed( muc^ of the red miam's history. Among the Indiians of the North, this method q^ preserving historical facts was but little refsoiied to. Traditions, however, vuere carefully related by the oM to the- yotmg, and thus was brought down from genieraftion to genei^on, a dim and some- wrhat uncectain historf of past e^vents. The Lenape of Sullivan, as well as o&er red men, had their stories of olden times, which tiie gray^hawed elders related to ^eir juniors, when the central fiire of the lodge glowed bright and cheerily daring the Icmg evenings. of winter. One of these traditions we will copy &om Gbrdon's History of New Jersey. "The Delawares reme, that many centuries ago, their ances- tors dwelt fax in iihe western wilds; bmt emigratmg eastwardly, they arrived, after many years peregrination, on the Namoesi Sipu (Mississippi,) or river of fish, where they encountered the Mengive (Iroquois,) who had also come from a distant country, aaid had first approached the river, somewhat nearer its source. The spies of the Lenape reported, that, the eotmtey on the east of the river was imhamtea by a powerful nation, dwelling in laarge towns^ erected upon thear prme%)al rivers. " This people were tall and robust; some of them were said to be even of gigantic mould. They bore Sie name of AUiyeici, from which has been derived that of the AUeghany river and mountains. Their towns were defended by regular fortifications, vestiges of TOhich are yet apparent, in greater or less preserva- tion. The Lenape, requesting permission to establish themselves in the vicinity, were refused; but obtained leave to pass this river, in order to seek a habitation farther to the eastward. But, whilst crossing the stream, the AUigewi, alarmed at their number, assailed and destroyed many who had reached the eastern shore, and threatened a like fate to tiie remainder, should they at- tempt the passage. Fired by this treachery, the Lenape eagerly accepted a proposition from the Mengwe, who had hitherto been spectators of their enterprise, to unite with them for the conquest of iJie country. A war of great duration was thus commenced, 68 HISaX)BY OP SUIUVAN COUNTY. which was prosecuted with great loss on both sides, and eventuated in the expulsion of tiie Alligewi, who fled from their ancient seats, by way of the Mississippi river, never to return. The devastated country was apportioned among the conquerors; the Mengwe choosing their residence in the neighborhood of the great hikes, and we Lenape in the lands of the South. "After some years, during which the conquerors Hved together in much harmony, the hunters of the Lenape crossed the Alle- ghany mountains, and discovered the great rivers, Susquehanna^ and Delaware. Exploring the Skeyickby coimtry, (New Jersey,) they reached the Hudson, to wmch they gave the name of Mahicardttvck. Upon their return to their nation, they described the coimtry they had visited, as abounding in game, fruits, fish and fowl, and destitute of inhabitants. Concluding this to be the home destined for them by the Great Spirit, the tribe estab- lished themselves upon the four great rivers, the Hudson, Delaware, Susquehanna and Potomac, making the Delaware, to which they gave the name of Lenapewihittuck, (the river of the Lenape) the centre of their possessions.* " They say, however, that all of their nation who crossed the Mississippi did not reach this country ; and that a part remained west of the Namoesi Sipu. They were finally divided into three great bodies ; the larger, one-half of the whole, settled on the Atlantic; the other half was separated into two parts; the stronger continued beyond the Mississippi, the other remained on its eastern bank. " The Mengwe hovered for some time on the borders of the lakes, with their canoes, in readiness to fly should the AUigewi' return. Having grown bolder, and their numbers increasing, they stretched themselves along the St. Lawrence, and became, on the north, near neighbors to the Lenape tribes. " The Mengwe and the Lenape, in the progress of time, be- came enemies. The latter represent the former as treacherous and cruel, pursuing pertinaciously an insidious and destructive policy toward then: more generous neighbors. Dreading the power of the Lenape, the Mengwe resolved, by involving them in war with distant tribes, to reduce, their strength. They com- mitted murders upon the members of one tribe, and induced the injured party to believe that tiiey were perpetrated by the Del- * Delaware ba^ and riTer were called by the Indians, Mariaqueton, Makeis- kitton, Makeigkkiskon, and Lenapewihittuck ; by the Dutch, Zuydt or South river, Charles river, and Nassau river ; and by the Swedes, New Swedeland stream.^ffordon's Gazetteer. Th^_ English gave it the name of Delaware in honor of Lord De La Warr. W. L. Stone gives another Indian name for the Delaware — Makn-isk-kiskan Fide Bistory of Wyoming. THE LENNI LENAPE. 69 awares. Expeditions against the latter followed as a matter of course, and their hunters were surprised and slaughtered. "Each nation or tribe had a particular mark ilpon its war- clubs, which, placed beside' a murdered person, denoted the aggressor. The Mengwe perpetrated a murder in the Cherokee country, and left with the dead body a war-club bearing the insignia of the Lenape. The Cherokees, ia revenge, fell suddenly upon the latter, and commenced a long and bloody war. The, treachery of the Mengwe was at length discovered^ and the Delawares turned upon them with the determination to extirpate them. They were the more strongly induced to take this reso- lution, as the cannibal propensities of the Mengwe had reduced them, in the estimation of the Delawares, bdow the rank of human beings.* "Hitherto each tribe of the Mengwe had acte^ under the direction of its particular chiefs ; and, although the nation could not control the conduct of its members, it was made responsible for their outrages. Pressed by the Lenape, they resolved to form a confederation which might enable them better to con- centrate their forces in war, and to regulate their affairs in peace. Thannewago, an aged Mohawk, was the projector of this alliance. Under his auspices, five nations, the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onon- dagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, formed a species of republic, governed- by the united councils of their aged and experienced sachems and chiefs. To these, a sixth nation, the Tuscaroras, was added, in 1712. This last originally dwelt in the western part of North Carolina ; but having formed a deep and general conspiracy to exterminate the whites, were driven from their country, and adopted by the Iroquois confederacy.f The bene- ficial effects of this system earfy displayed themselves. The Lenape were checked, and the Mengwe, whose warlike disposi- tion soon familiarized them with fire-arms, procured from the Dutch, were enabled, at the same time, to contend with them, to resist the French, who attempted the settlement of Canada, and to extend their conquests over a large portion of the country between the Atlantic and the Mississippi. But, being pressed hard by their new, they became desirous of reconciliation with with their old enemies ; and for this purpose, if the tradition of the Delawares be credited, they effectedTone of the most extra- ordinary strokes of policy which history has recorded. "The mediators between the Indian nations at war are the wdmen. The men, however weary of the contest, hold it cow- * The Iroquois or Mengire sometimes ate the bodies of their prisoners. IBeckeuielcUir, IJ. N. Y. Mst. OdL, S5. The same charge has been made against the Algonqnins, and that the; drank their enemies' blood.— See History of Fontiac's War. t Smith's New York. 70 HI8T0BS OF -WUmitSi COJETNTY. ardfy aaad iJssgiraleeM toamHta^&Mc&itiiitsm. Tl^f deesa it mco«- sistent ia « ■warcieii, to sfteaJc «if peaee wiHn iblo^j «;eapaBe ki bis Juaiads. Me iSomsk msSwMa. » delkei^lii^d courage, and' a^ear at all timae as detonlin'ed and mlilbi^ tlo fi^^ as at tlie oom- menoenelit lof hostilities. Witii snoh (^^positioas, IndiaB -vnaoK AiKonld be imteiiJiHiHiabte, if tbe-'wo^en did not interfe^re, and per- suade the ksembataiits to hmj the hatebet, and make ej said, 'upon the state o^ the Indian race, and were canTinbed that no means remained to preserve it, unless some magnanimous nation would assume the character of the woiiD&s. It cduid not be ^ven to a weak and contemptible tribe; such would not be hstened to; but the Leliape and their allies, woiiild at once possess influence and command respedt.' " The facts ^ob which these aarguments were founded, were known to the Delawares, and in a moment of bliaid confidence in the sincerity of the Ipoquois, they acceded to the proposition, and assumed the petticosSt. The oeremosay of the metamor- phosis was peiferiM^ed with -gineat rejoicings at Albany, in the presence of the Dutch, whom the Lenape charge \^'itn having conspired wift, the Mei^gwe for their deduction. " Having thws disariaed the Delawares, the Iroquois assumed over them the rights rf protection and commamd. But, stiU dreading their streng^ they arMuliy involved them again in war with the Cherokeesi promised to fight their battles, led them into an amJbuah of their foes, and deserted them. The Delawares, at length, compr^ended the treachery of their arch enemy, and resolved to resume their arms, and being stiU superior in num- bers, to crush theiaa. But it' was too late. The Europeans were now makiiig theia? way into the country in every direction, and gave ample «mpik>ymca#e8 where we know thai atj^isii and impartial justtcgi ip«|j:ked the ioi^rcourfie of the B)irqpea;^8 wiiii ihe sons of the ioia&i^ iSpd lain intelligent view was taJaem d their idiosyncrasies, the whites posfliessfid their unbounded eo»- fidence and fnendship. Thus, ihe Bwedes, wiho ipkmted a colony in the Lenape country, on the Belaware, in ISS^ and wh|) never wronged the natiye^, but treated them with Ghristii^n (^la^ty and love, never had any difficulty with them.* The utmost harmony previailed a^ long as &e enlightened amd just emigrants from ^edcilapd m^u- tained their ground. Gordon isa^«, the Swedes "refrained from every speqies of injuiry to the natives, cuifeLvated their favor W a just and liberal oommeroe, supplyisg tbsem with artieles suitable to their wants, and enxpLpyed ^ friendly means to win thein to the Christian faith, ^^iie iieguitt of these measures was s^h;aiS they should have produced. The savage was disa«Diied by rei^ect and gratitude." It does not appear, however, that these worthy men madp much progress in eonvearting HSke Delawares to Ohristiawty. Gmhame relates, that "the Indians sometimes attended the religious assembhes of the Bwedas ; but with so little edification, that they expressed their amazement that one man ^ould detain his tiibe with such lengthened harai^gues, without offeru^ to entertain them with brandy," Amd Aerelius tells us that " the ire oi iiie Indians on one occasion, was particularly directed again>st the ptastor, who, speaking alone during divine s^ni%3#» was supposed to exhort his audiextee to hostility against them." A OT)eedy explanation quieted their suiapicions.t The Quakers claim that the pacific policy of the goverrua»ent of Pennsylvania for many years met with eqiaal favor froin the simple and savage Lenape. And the settlers of Minisink — a mere handful of men,^ surrounded by the Delawares, and wholiy in their power, gave the Indians no cause for complaint, and enjoyed their mendishi^, vaoM. landshaicks and unprincipled traders stripped the natives of their possessions. Penn's celebrated purdiase of the Lenape, in 1682, however, was no "new thing under the sun." The* people of Jfew York and New Jereey were as careful to extiiigwish the Indian titles to lands as the Proprietors of PennsylTamia, and they exercised * It ii supposed by some, that the Swedes explored the Delaware, as fax asiCochecton, and were the first white men who yisite4 this, county> The ppi'dial tweudamp maio- tfuved t>f th^m, with the Indians renders, the 8\q>pddtion ^ui^.plansihte. t All authors agree, that the Swedes complained mqre 0j( the moBauitoes than tbe savaees, and thft they were driven from oi^b of their forts by tihese bloodthirsty and remorsnMs insects. [See ucndon's Histoxy .of Neir 7«rs9y,.p. 14. THE JjESm LEHAPE. 75 ^is care long before Penn owned an acre of land in America. In Ie^S, laws were in force in both New York and New Jersey, under -v^ich no man could acquire real estate as long as the imtiVe title was not extinguished by purchase or treaty. ' Tis, trae, didionest men evaded the intention of; the laws of tifose cokmiefB ; and so they did under the QuaJser government of P«nn- syivajua. Penn himseH did not p«y the Lenaj)e a tithe of a tilhe of what their lands were aletuaJly wortii. fi has been said by the admirers of th® Quak«rs, that they Kved at peace with the Lenape from 1682 to 175S, in consequence of their superior hooaesty. The Lenape ivere atpeetce tvUh all the tvorld during that time, and when waa- broke out in 1755, their complaints agaiast the Proprietors of Pettusylvania were exceedingfy bitter. The Quakers had a true Puritanical appreciation of their own right- eous dealings with the Indians, and magnified th^ own merits accordingly. Such is history stripped of its ornaments, and in plaisL drab ! ^ From the fiafstj the Dutch supplied the Iroquois confeder- aties with arms, which led to the supremacy of the latter ov^r the Lenape and other tribes. It was a master-stroke of policy, and was adopted to the fullest extent at a later period by the Enghsh. By securing the good-will and rendering the power of ttie Six Nations invincible, the natives of the interior became a bulwark against the French, and a scourge to the Lenape of the frontier. From this cause alone, the Lenape were reduced by the haughty and pampered Iroquois to the condition of squaws, and were compelled to wear the metaphorical petticoat. They could not withstand the muskets of the Mengwe on the on« side, while they were assailed by the whites on the other. They were a brave, proud and haughty race when assailed by foes ; but as affectionate and loving as children in the absence of wrong or the suspicion of itv For ages they had gloried in their exploits while waging war with the Iroquois; consequently when the Dutch at Fort Orange (Albany) furnished the Mo- hawks with fire-arms, and refused to treat the Minsis at Fort Amsterdam (New York) in the same manner, the latter con- sidered it an insult to their nation, and a sufficient cause of war. , Hence, when Thomas Chambers and others removed from Eensselaerswyek to Bsopus in 1652, they were driven off by the Wampings, or, as the Dutcl^ called them, Waranawankongs. These settlers returned, however, in 1667, and at first were unmolested.* Soon, however, under the influence of rum, the natives became quarrelsome, and killed one of ' the settlers, burned the buildings of anotiier, and forced others to plough 1 — '■ * Euttenber's Histoir of Newburgh. In 1656, W6 find oft T»n der DoBk's Map oT New Netberland, th« district lying between Waxderet^ meek and Esopus marked m ^ne territory of the Waranawankongd. 76 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. their (the Indians') cultivated lands. In consequence of these irregularities, Governor Stuyvesant visited Esopus -with a num- ber ol soldiers, and summoned the chiefs before him, A treaty of peace was patched up, and a grant of land acquired by the Dutch from the original ovmers. But the peace was of short duration ; for the Governor's presence was again necessary in the succeeding year, (1658,) when he demanded aJl the Esopus lands which had been explored by the Dutch. These lands were much prized by the natives oi Esopus, as they were well adapted to their mode of cultivation ; hence it is not surprising that the chiefs refused to part with them, and retired from the conference. The sturdy Governor, however, took possession of the lands, and built a fort to hold them. This maddened the red men, and their rage was rendered furious soon after by a wanton and causeltess outrage. A number of Indians had completed a job of husking com for Thomas Chambers, when they asked for and obtained a quantity of brandy. A carouse followed, during which some Dutchmen murdered one of the drunken Indians, and wounded two others. This cowardly act was fol- lowed by the war-whoop, and the investment of the settlement by over four hundred dusky warriors, who destroyed the houses, bams and crops of the whites, and took eight or ten prisoners, who were burned at the stake. The Governor was once more sent for, and came with an armed force. At his approach, the red men fled to the woods, where they were not followed in consequence of heavy rains. However, through Mohegan and Wappiog chiefs, a truce was effected. In the spring of 1660, hostilities were renewed vigorously. An Indian castle at Wiltmeet wasplundered and destroyed, and sev- eral savages made prisoners. The Indians then sued for peace and proposed to exchange prisoners. Biefusing to listen to their overtures, Stuyvesant, to terrify them still more, sent several captive chiefs, who were in his hands, to Curasoa, as slaves^ Hostilitifes continued. The Dutch forces swept the adjacent country, and penetrating the district of the Papagonks, took their castle, and slew Preumanaker, the oldest and best of their chiefs, who was too old to flee with his people. "What do you here, dogs?" he asked defiantly, as he aimed an arrow at the soldiers, with hands trembling from age. He was seized and disarmed, and being too infirm to follow the party on foot, was subsequently killed with his own tomahawk. The clans jiow held a eouncil, and Sewaokenamo, the Esopus chief, asked the wishes of the assemblage. "We will fight no more," replied the warriors. "We vrish to plant in peiace, and live in quiet," said the squaws. "We wiU kill no more hogs and fowls," answered the young men. The wish for peace being general, the Esopus chief visited the Hackinsacks, who were THE LENNI LENAPB. 77 friends of the Dutch, and through them once more, sued for peace. Stuyvesant again met the chiefs at Esopus, again made an extravagant demand for land, and this time his demand was acceded to. During, the negotiations, the Indians asked that their enslaved chiefs should be restored; but, as they had be- come the chattels of Dutchmen in a far-off colony, Stuyvesant replied that they must be considered dead. Although deeply grieved at this answer, the chiefs agi-eed to the treaty, and de- parted.* Three years of peace followed. The Indians carried out the terms of the treaty until the Dutch began to trespass on their lands at Hurley, where they built a village which they called Kiew Dorp or village, on lands outside the grant made in 1660. Threats of vengeance were again muttered, which were quickly followed hj what is known as the second Esopus war, the his- to^ of which we will now give. To be more certain of success, the Esopus clans endeavored to get the Wappings- of Dutchess, and the Manassing clans to join them, and succeeded partially. While plotting to destroy the Dutch of Esopus, they covered their designs with the mask of friendship, and only two days preceding the attack on Wiltwick and the Niew Dorp, lulled the suspicions of the whites with propositions for a new treaty. On the 7th of June, 1663, 9 "Wappings, 30 Manassings and about 160 of the Esopus Indians, entered the two villages, in the forenoon, from different points, bringing with them small quantities of maize and beans, which they carried to eveiy quarter of the villages, under pretense of selling them. In this manner they hoped that they could seize a favorable moment, and exterminate the unsuspecting settlers. After they had been in Kingston about fifteen minutes, some people on horseback rode into the village furiously, exclaiming, " The Indians have destroyed the New v iUage !" (Hurley). Oh hearing this, the savages immediately fired their guns, and then commenced hewing down the villagers with axes and tomahawks. They also continued to fire upon them from various quarters. ^ The village was set on fire on the windward side, and soon a disastrous conflagiation was in prospect, when the wind provi- dentially changed, and the progress of the "flames was arrested. Houses were plundered, and women and children taken prisoners and humed beyond the village gates. There were not at the time seventy-five able-bodied men living in Kingston, and a large portion of them were at work on their farms beyond the hmits of the village. Those who were there, though a majority of them had neither guns nor side-arms, were * We have quoted largely from Biittenbea''B HistOTy of Newborgh. 78 HISTOffiir OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. soon rallied by Captain Thomas Chambers, (who was suffering from a wound,) and the savages, although numbering at least f8iH.r to one, were darivem awaj. In the evening, when aU. had come in from .their farms, and th« refugees from Hurley had arrived, it was found that only aaafey-nine efficient men could be mustered. In this affair the savages killed, in Kingston, 12 men, 4 women, aaid 2 children ; at Hurley, 3 men— total, 21.* At Kingston, they took 5 women and 5 children prisoners ; and at Hurley, 1 man, 8i wo»en and 26 children — total, 45. In Kingston, 8 men were wounded, one of whom died from his wounds, and 12 houses were burnt. The "New Village" was entirely destroyed, except oae uncovered bam. - The blow was a terrible one to the settlers, and was deeply felt, and amply avenged. Well migfit Hermanns Blom, the first Dutch dergyman of Esopus, exclaim: "O! my bowels! my bowels! I "am pained at my heart! for the dead lay as smJeaves behind the mower." On the 16th of the same month, an unimportant skirmish took place on the road fiiom Kingston to Kondout, in which one white man was killed and six wounded. After this, the Indians at no time made a stand; but were hunted like wild beasts by soldiesrs sent from Manhattan (New York). These soldiers were under the command of Captain Martin Kre^r, and were accompanied by some Long Island Indians. (The force employed, including the Esopus Tolm^teers, numbered about 275. Scouting parties were sent out in every direction in which it was supposed hostile Indians could be formd. The savages were kUled, taken captLve, or puTsmed from mountain to mountain. Their crops and food were destroyed, and their wigwams burned. Some of these ex- t^^editions extended into the hmits of Sullivan, as we shall see in a future page. . Among the prisoners captured by the Indians at Hurley, was Catharine Blanehan, the wife of Lewis Du Bois. She and three other females were taken to the wigwams of their captors, on the Shawangunk or Assinink creek, a stream which forms a part of the eastern boundary of the town of Mamakatin.g. From an Indian prisoner, Mr. Du Bois learned that by followuig "ihe first Big Water, to where another Big Water emptied into it; then the second to where a third Big Water was met ; and then the last to a certain landmark, he would find the captives." These Big Waters were the Eondout, the Walldll and the Shawangunk or Assinink. Mr. Du Bois speedily induced several of his friends to join • Dominie Blomlbys 2i were killed. To make this number, he counted two m^hoi-n infants and one man "who died subsequentlv. THE LENNI LlNAftB. 79 him in an attempt to rescue his wife and her companions. They foUowed the direction of the savage, and found that he had giTen a correct description of tlfe route. They pressed onward eagerly and anxiously, Du Bois in advance d flbe others. He very nearly fell a victim to his impetuosity. As they were ■ascendmg the- Shawangnnk, he diseoverea an Indian secreted behmd a tree in the act of iring upon him. Th« arrow, luckily, missed its mark, when Du Bois instasntly sprang upon the savage, and slew him with his sword. Sbon after they came in sight of the objects of their search. The cond'uot of the savages had led the oaptiTes to believe TO-sri; they were to be put to death— baimt at the stake — a fate which venr few, if any women, have met at the hands of the red man. While the Indians were piling ftigots, these truly Ohris- ttan ladies, it is said, in view of the terrible death which they beKeved awaited them, sang the 137th Psahn in the Eeformed I^utch Church Collection,* which we copy here as probably the Ssfsi Ohristian song heard on the banks of the Shawangunk :t ®y Babel's stream ttie captives sate, And wept for Zion's hapless fate : Useless their harps on willows hung, While foes required a sacred song. With taunting voice and scornful eye, "Smg us a song of heaven," they cry : "While fbes deride our God, and King, How can we titne our harps or sing? "If Eion's woes our hearts forget. Or cease to mourn for Israel's fate. Let useful skill our hands forsake ; Our hearts with hopeless sorrow break. " Tliou, ruin'd Salem, to our eyes Each day, in sad remembrance rise ! Should we e'er cease to feel thy wrongs^ Lost be oui' joys, and mute our tongues ! " Eemember, Lord, proud' Edom's sons, Who cried, exnltikg at our groans, While Salem trembled at her base, 'Ease them : her deep foundations rase.' " * Mpfo;^ Exench Paalms. We have substituted a translation of the original. t TStiB fears of these excellent Christian ladies were baseless. The aborigines never Ijuriied female prisoners at the stake, or made them the victims of lust, except under the cover of maniage. * 80 HISTOBY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. Wliile thus they sang, the mourners view'd Their foes by Cyrus' arm subdued, And saw his glory rise, who spread Their streets, and fields, with hosts of dead. Pleas'd, they foresaw the blest decree, That set their tribes from bondage free ; Eenew'd the temple, and restor'd The sacred worship of the Lord. Tradition says the savages were charmed with the music, and delayed Hie execution of the singers while they listened. But- dehverance was at hand. A panic seized the red men. They ' discovered the whites, and fled for the mountains. The captives, at first, not knowing the cause of alarm, ran after them. But soon they heard behind them the shouting of weU-tnown voices, and turning, they flew to the arms of their husbands. After spending the night at the camping-ground of the In- dians, where they rendered themselves comortable by a good fire made with the fagots gathered by the Indians, me party returned to their homes.* During this expedition, Mr. Du Bois discovered the great richness of the vaUey of the Walkill; and three jears afterwards he and eleven others bought of the native proprietors 144 square miles of the fat lands of that region, for which they obtained a patent. On the 26th of July, 162 Dutchmen, 41 Long Island Indians,, and 7 negroes left Kingston to attack the savages at their fort, about 30 miles distant, "mostly" in a south-west direction. They had as guide a woman who had been a prisoner of the Savages, and took with them two pieces of cannon, and two wagons. Each man was provided with two pounds of hard bread and cme-half of a soft loaf, two pounds of pork and one- half of a Dutch cheese. Their progress was slow, as they were obliged to bridge the streams, and haul their cannon and wagons up and down the mountains with ropes. On the second day, they found it necessary to leave the cannon, when within " a short mile" of the fort. They intended to surprise the enemy in the latter ; but found it abandoned, and succeeded in taking; but one red-skin — a squaw. The next forenoon, guided by the squaw, they sent 140 mem to hunt the Indians on the mountains ; but finding it impossible to overtakie or surprise any, they retamed, and for two da,js and a half the whole party employed themselves in destroying the * Aocoaint of the Setaement of New Paltz, gathered from TraditionB and Documents^ by Edmund El tinge. [Ulster Hist. Col., p. 40. THE LEKHI LENAFE. 81 growiiig crops and the old maize, o£ the Indiana. The latter was stored in pits* Over 200 acres of . com, and more than 100 pits of com and beajis were rendered worthless by the invaders. The savagestwitnessed these operations from the neighboring hills and moimtains^ but made no resistance. On the 31st, the fort and all the houses of the Indians were bumed, after which the party returned to Kingston. It is sup- posed that thiafort was on, me head-waters of the Kerhoukson, After this expedition, the savages proceeded to build a new fort, thirty-aix miles so»th>'South-we8t frqm Kingston, and prob- ably on the Shawangunk or wlssinink, in the town of Mama- kating.* To this fort Captain Kregier resolved to foUow them, and on the 3d of Septenober he, marched for it with fiftj-five men and an Indian guide of the Wapping tribe. After marching > two dagrs, he came to their first maize field, where he discovered two oquaws; and. a, Dutchwoman gathering com. He says in his journal: "As the creek 1«^ between us and the cornfield, though we would fain have the woman, it was impossible to ford the stream without being seen and then discovered. We therefore adopted the resolution to avoid the cornfield and the road, and turned into the woods so. as not to be seen. About 2 o'clock in tlie aiternoon we came within sight of their fort, which we discovered on a lofty plain. Divided our forces in two — Lieutenant Cowen- hoven and I led the right win^ and Lieutenant Stilwil and En- sign Nilssen the left wing. Proceeded in this disposition along, the hill so as not to be seen, and in order to come right under the fort ; but as it was somewhat level on the left side of the fort, and ike soldiers were seen by a squaw who was piling wood there, and who sent forth a terrible scream, which was heard by the Indiaaas who were standing and working near the fort,, we instantly fell upon them. The Indians mshed through the fort towards their houses, which stood about a stone's throw from the fort, in order to secure thda- arms, and thus hastily picked up a few guns and bows and arrows ; but we were so hot at their heels that they were forced to leave many of them behind. We kept up a sharp fire on them, and pursued them so closely that they leaped' into the creek which ran in front of the lower part of their maize land. On reaching the opposite side of the kill, iJhey courageously returned our fiFe^ which we sent back, so that we were obliged to send a party across to dislodge them. "In this attack the Indians lost-tiieir chief, named Papequan- aeken, fourteen othw warri©rs, four women and three children, whom we saw lying boith on this and the other side of the creek ; * There are grounds fbr the roppoiitioii that the new fort was in the town of NeTersink. o2 HISTOEY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. but probably many more were wounded when rushing from the fort to the houses, when we did give them a brave charge. On our side, three were killed' and six wounded, and we have recov- ered tweaty-three Christian prisoners out of their hands. We have also taken thirteen of them prisoners, both men and women, besides an old man who accompanied us about half an hour, but would not go farther. We took Mm aside and gave him his last meal. A captive Indian child died on the way, so that eleven of them still remain our prisoners." The enemy being defeated, a council of war was held by the officers, and the question submitted whether they should destroy the maize of the savages. As they had six wounded men and but five horses, it was necessary to carry one of the wounded on a litter with great trouble. More might be injured while cutting and spoiling the com, whose removal would cause much incon- venience, and therefore it was resolved that the maize should not be cut at that time. The houses were found to contain a large quantity of bear, elk and deer iskins, notassin, blankets and other things highly prized by the Indians, iucluding kettles, twenty-five guns, twraity pounds of powder, considerable wampum, etc. "A sloop could have been filled with them ;" but as no such vessel ever had * ascended the Shawangunk, the Dutchmen took with them what tiiey could conveniently carry, and destroyed the remainder. Captain Kregier says, "the fort was a perfect square, with one row of palisades set all rounds being about fifteen feet above, and three feet under ground. They had already completed two angles of stout palisades, all of them almost as thick as a man's body, having two rows of port-holes, one above the other ; and they were busy at the third angle. These angles were con- structed so soHd and strong as not to be excelled by Christians." Until the previous night, the prisoners had been concealed every evening in the woods — each time in a different place — where they were kept until morning. But on the day before the attack, a Mohawk had visited the savages, and advised them to let the captives remain in the fort at night, as the Dutch could not come so far without being discovered. The advice was fol- lowed; but the result proved that it was not good for the Indians. Nothing remarkable occurred during tiie homeward journey, except the murder of the old Indian, and the death of the pa- poose. The body of the latter was thrown into a creek. The route to this fort is described as " somewhat stony and hiUy ; but the road (an Indian one) for the ^eater part good." On the 2d of October, Captain Kregier visited this fort again, with 108 whites and 46 ]!4arseping Indians. He found five large pits near the fort into which the Esopus Indians had east their THE LESIOT LENAPE. 83 dead. The wolves had dug up and devoured some of the car- casses. Near the creek were four other pits full of dead Indians, and further on were the lihburied remains of three men, a squaw and a child, which had been almost entirely devoured by ■crows and wolves. A party of Dutchmen and Indians were immediately sent twelve miles in a south-westerly direction, where it was supposed some Indians wouM be found. This party must have penetrated Mamatating valley, at a point south of Wurtsborough, and very near the territory of the Manassings. Nothing was found there «xcept some wigwams which had been a long time deserted. The fort of the Indians and their com and wigwams were all destroyed. About two days were spent in ttie work of demoli- tion. The party then returned without having seen an enemy.* The Indians who were located here must have beeli numerous. This virtually terminated the war. The savages known as Esopus Indians were completely cowedi Their principal war- riors were slain — iheir wigwams burned — and every ounce of food which the Dutchmen could lay their hands upon, was de- stroyed. Starvation and an inclement winter were before them, and the ruthless and merciless Dutch soldiers everywhere at their heels. A truce followed in December. The savages, destitute of food and shelter, except what was given them by the Manas- sings and other friendly clans, must have suffered much during the ensuing winter. Probably more perished from destitution before peace was secured than by the snaphance carbines of the Dutchmen. ..^n-'MSy' If 64:, they sued for peace, and made a treaty of .friendship.t It was never broken by the Esopus clans, which in time became extinct by vices which- they learned from the whites, and by absorption into other Lenape tribes. On the 3d of the fbUowing September, New Amsterdam passed from its Dutch rulers to the hands of the BngHsh, and became the royal colony of New York, with NicoUs, its conqueror, as Governor. Governor NicoUs, soon after he came into power, made a treaty with the "original people" of Ulster and Sullivan, a copy of which may be found in the Historical Collections of the former county. * Documentar; History of New York. i IJossing's United States. ■ B^ , HIBTOBX, OB, SCIOrtFRiN- OatJHTY. TREATY Between Colonel Bidiard, Mcollsv, Governor of J^Te-v? York, and* the E&ogns B^dians,, 166S. [Erom tlie onginalmthe Ulster County Clerk's Office.] "An Agreement made iekoeen Bichourd NicdHs, Esq., Governor under Ma Boycdl Mgjinesse, the Mukeo/ York&, and the SisiT chems, midPeapls-ogmd the $iopes Indyians. "That no Act of HostUlitj sbaU at any tune bee committed on either pajrt^, or H any damage shall happen to bee done by eitiier paj^,, ta the Come,, Cattle, Horses, Hoggs, Houses, or a>ny other Qoods wJiatsoeyer,,o£1ihe other party, niU satisfactioa shall be given upon demand for the same> " That if any Christian, shall mlfully kill an Indyan, or any Indyan a Christjan, hee shall bee put to death. Aad the said Sachems do promise on their parts,. to bring any such Indyan to ye Officer ux charge at. the Sopus, to r^eive his punishment there. "That a convenient House shall bee built where the said In- dyans may atany tiii^e Lodge without, the Ports of said Towne, in which House ye Indyans are tp leave their Aimes, and may come without molestason, to SeE or Buy what they please from' the Christians. " That in Case any Christian should kiH an Indyan, or any Indyan a Christian, the Pease shall, not bee broaken, or any Be-> venge taken, before Satisfaction is demanded by the one party» and refused by the other, aUowiog, a competent time for the apprehending of the Offenderj in which Case ye Indyans are to gve Hostage, till ye Offender is brought to Punishm't, the said ostage (will, be well Treated, and suffer) no other Punishment,, but Imprisonmenit. " That the said Sachems and their Subjects now present, djQ for and in the names of themselves and their heires forever, g'rve. Grant, Alienate, and confirme all their Right and Interest, laime or demand, to a certaine Parijell of Land, lying and being to the West and South West, of a certaine Creeke or Eiver called by the name of Kahanksen, and so up to the head thereof, where the old Fort was. And so with a direct Line from thence, through the woods, and Crosse the Meadowes", to the Great Hill, lying and being to the West, or South West, which Great Hill is to "bee the true "Weirt, M'SoiMiwefit Bounds bf the Bftid 'Lmi&B, and the said Creeke caHed Kaharikaen, the North, or North East Bounds of the -said Lands herein mentioned to bee given, granted and confirmed, unto the said Eichard Nicolls, Governor Tinder his Eoyall Highnesse the Duke of Y6rkB, or his Assignes, bjy the said Sachems and Iheir ^ubjedis 'forever, to hold and Enjoy the same as his freeliand amd Possession, against any clayme hereafter tb be made by Ishe said Sachems, or thdr Sub- jects, or any their heires and'Suceessors. In token Of the ia;f ore- said Agreem't, the said Sachems do deliver two Small Sticks; and in confirmation thereof, do deliver two more small Sticks, to the said Eichard Nicolls, And in the name of the Indyans 'their Subjects, and of the Subjects do deliver two other round Small Sticks, in token of their assent to the Said Agreement, And the said Eichard Nicolls does deliver (as a present) to their Sachems, three laced Eedd Coates. " The said Saohemg doth Engage to come once every yeare, and bring 'some of their young People, to Acknowledge every part of this Agreement in the Sopes, to the end that it may be kept in perpetual memory. "That all past Injuryes are buryed »nd forgotten on both sides, "That the young Sachem Called Wingeesinoe, hath laberty for three yeares, to Plant upon a Small neck of Land over against a Small Creeke Choughkawokanoe, unless the said young Sachem bee warned off by order to remove, and give place to such Chris- tians, as shall have Order from the said Eichard NicoUs, or his Assignes, to plant there, at which time, the said young Sachem is to receive a blankett, by way of Courtosie, and to remove to the other side of the Creeke without delay, or Clayming any futtire interest thereupon. "In consideration of the |n-i»iSseB, the said Eichard Nicolls doth farther give, and pay to the said Sachems, and their Sub- jects, forty Blanketts, Twenty Pounds of Powder, Twenty Knives, Six Kettles, Twelve Barrs of Lead, which Paym't we acknowledge to have rec'd in fuU satisfaccon few the Premisses, And do binde our selves, our heires and Successors for ever, to pforme every part of this Agreement, without any fraud or reservason of minde. And further, That we will maintaine and Justifie the said Eichard Nicolls, or his Assi^is, in ^e frill 'peaoable Possession of the said Tract of Land, Ee>ftHy6S *ad Privileges for ever, against any nation of Indyans whatsoever, pretending right to the same ; In testimony whereof, wee have sett our markes, to two several 86 HISTOKY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. writings, the one to remaine in the hands of the Sopes Sachems^ the otiier upon Eecord at New Yorke, this 7th day of October, 1665. ElOHAED NiOOLLS. "Witnesses: Sachims: Jeeemias Van Eenslaee, The maxk of Onaokatin N Ppilip Pibtebson Schuyleb, The mark of Waposhequiqua X EoBEBT Nedham, The' mark of Sewakonama i>i 8. Sausbuby, The mark of Shewatin X Edw. Sackvixe. "Indian "Witnesses of the Esopus Young men : f Pepunckhais M EoBm Cinnaman M a Pekoct Sachem, Ebmawawameu M Bywackus M The mark of - " Sep. 25, 1669 There appeared the second and iliird Sachems above names' and owned their marks : Witness : Mechdcoah, his mark M ." For several years, the sachems and young men of the tribe appeared occasionally at Esopus to renew and confirm the treaty. In 1706-7, Nanisinos, the principal sachem of the Esopus In- dians sold the territory covered by the Hardenbergh Patent, as win more fully appear in another chapter. At the breaking out of "the French and Indian war," the Lenni Lenape were a degraded people. Thej had lost the manly and enterprising spirit of the brave and energetic men who had led their ancestors from the far West, through blood and fire. In the figurativfe language of the Indians, their legs were sliortened. They were women. The tomahawk was taken from them. A hoe was placed in their hands. They were pounders of samp, and not warriors. Plumes of the war eagle were not for them. They were slaves. For many years, their conquerors had grown more and more exacting. At first they were permitted by the Mengwe to hold or sell their lands.* But now the Six Nations claimed the ab- solute ownership of aU the territory they occupied, and sold it to the whites at their pleasure. If the Lenape complained of the conduct of the colonists in regard to land affairs, they were rudely ordered by the Mengwe not to meddle in such matters, * All the lands of Orange, Sulliyiui and Ulster coxmtieg were purchased of the Lenape and not of the Iroquois. THE LENNI LENAPE— FEENOH WAB. &7 as they, no longer had a right in the soil. 'Tis true, the whites generally paid them for lands as weU as the dominant Indian race ; but the Mengwe always received the largest price. The latter, too, were generally employed to assist the white man in battle. They were his especial favorites, and their claims to superiority over the Lenape acknowle^ed in council and in war. As early as 1724, a portion of the Lenape, with a few of their 'kindred of the Shawanee tribe, removed from their ancient seats on the Delaware and Susquehamia to Ohio.* There they con- tinued their intercourse with English traders; and there', too, they met the French, and became more intimately associated with certaia Algonquin tribes which had become. proteges and allies of the polished and cunning Gauls. The French, with those seductive appKances for which they are famout, endeavored to win the new-comers to their interests. They welcomed them in the most cordial and kind manner — ^professed an ardent de- sire to promote their welfare and happiness, and proceeded to plant in their minds the seeds of distrust and discontent. The Frenchmen told them that the EngHsh and the Mengwe were the authors of all their misfortunes ; that the one boimd them in chains, while the other robbed them ; that they should be freed from the domination of those who claimed them as slaves, and from the frauds of the British traders ; that they were strong and brave, and worthy to follow the war-path ; and that if they would fight under the French banner, they would regain their ancient renown and freedom. The Lenape could boast of nothing except the exploits of thefr ancestors, in times so remote that tradition pointed to them with a very misty and uncertain finger; but the memory of a glorious past wa;s cherished by them ; and a people with a history of which they are proud, are not hopelessly debased. Their forefathers had conquered and destroyed magnificent cities, and expelled from thefr strongholds a mighty race. ' And why should not the great deeds of the olden time be re-enacted by the descendants of heroes? The simple-hearted Lenape hstened to the words of the de- signing Gauls and repeated what they had heard to the Algon- quins of the Susquehanna and the Delaware, where mey magnified the prowess, kindness and genero^ty of their new frjpends, and thus won some to, and prepossessed others in ifavor of the French. A new era was dawning in the histpry of the Lenape — an era of carnage and blood. Niuety years of peace with the pale faces were to be followed by a ferocious war, which lasted, with here and there a short intermission, for forty years. + Doc. Hist, of New York. ^88 'HifflfdBT -^br stjuwan coxjnty. Soon controVeriSies begaii "in regard to tides to lanSs and frauds in the exchange of olfher property. In these controver- *sies, Teedyuscrang;* the principal sachem of the Lenape, took "part -with a •pertinacity which terminated only with his tragical aeath in 1763. He was a sagacious ruler, and a deroted friend of his people, "whose cause iie advocated tinder 'the most dis- couragmg circumstances. About 1740, the Lenape's complaints xsoncemtng the sales of ■their lands began to attract attention. They asserted that the English did not sometimes pay them all they had agreed to ; that tirey generally took possession of twice as much as they bought ; and that where they compKed with the letter of their agreements, they overreached the natives in a very reprehensible manner. One of their modes of obtaining a larger tract of land than the Lenape intended to convey is noticed in Lossir^'s Field Book of the Eevolution. They conveyed a territort to the "Proprietors of Pennsylvania," the boxmdaries of which ■were to extend a. certain custance on the Delaware or Great FishkUl river, and as far back, in a north-west direction, as a man could travel in a day and a half. The Indians no doubt intended that the depth of the tract should be about fifty miles — ^the distance a man would usually walk in the time specified; but the purchasers employed the best pedestrians in the colonies, who did not stop by the way even to eat while running the hne! The expiration of the "day and a half "found them eighty-six miles in the interior! The Indians were very indignant at the manner in which the "Proprietors" had overreached them, and boldly charged them with deception and dishonesty.f The "Proprietors" claimed that they had become the owners of the lands within the Forks of the Delaware. They alleged that the Lenape bad sold that region soon after the great pur- chase of WiUiam Penn, and that the Indians were folly paid for it. ' To this the latter demirrred, and Teedyuscimg could never be induced to admit that the sale was valid, or that his people had received a stiptdated consideration for the land. In 1742, the "Proprietors" succeeded in havii^ the case laid before the Six Nations, who, after hearing the parties, decided that the dis- puted territory could not be sold by the Lenape, as they were a conquered people, who had lost their right in the soil, which, if it did not belong to the strai^t-ooated Quakers, was the prop- erty of the Mengwe. The Lenape, being women, were severely censured for meddling in land Mtairs, and were ordered to do so no more. They were directed to remove from the Forks of the * Sassoon-vras king of the Lenape tribes in 1718. Ta-de-me (Query: Tammany?) wag tlie immediate predecessor of ileedyusoung, t Tom Quick and the Fioneers. THE liENNI liENAPE— PRENOH WAB, 89 Delaware, and go to 'Wyomiiig and Juniata, amd hunt west of the Blue Hills. "Ihej removed accordingly; but renewed their complaints, and pressed their claims to the lands in question for more than twenty years, as we shall see in subsequent pages. Soon the white settlers began to crowd the Algonquins of the Susquehanna ; and when the former, in 1754, began to survey lands which th«y claimed to own in that valley, some of the Indians removed to Ohio, and joined their brethren who had become attached to the French, while others, imder a chief named Shecaleny, destroyed several houses at Shamokin, and compelled the surveyor to leave. The great purchase made by Pennsylvania of the Onondaga coimcil in 1T55, and the erection of a fort on the Susquehanna, caused stUl more uneasiness among the Lenape. Ef en a portion of the Mengwe were dissatisfied, particularly those who lived in ttie vicinity of the French posts on the Ohio. From constant nursing, the sores of the Lenape became greatly enlarged. They commenced by alleging that they had been twronged in regard to the Forks of the Delaware ; but they finally iCame to the conclusion that th^ continued to be the true owners of the country almost to the Hudson river, in New York and New Jersey, and also of Bethlehem and the lands west of it. They also declared that the whites had spoiled their hiinting- grounds ; that they destroyed the deer with iron traps ; and that Hhe traders of Minisiak always made the Indians drunk when they took their peltries there, and cheated them while they were intoxicated. They even re-opened wounds which had been closed for a quarter of a century. Among other grievances, they cited the death of Weequehelah, a Lenape sachem, who -WAS executed in, 1728, for actual murder, and who had had a legal trial. He was an Indian of great note, and resided on the Delaware river, where he had an extensive farm, with cattle, iorses and negroes, and raised large cSrops of wheat. His house was well provided with English furniture, and his taste was much above that of his race. He frequently dined with governors and other great men, and behaved well ; but getting mto a contro- versy with a white man (Captain John Leonard) about the title to a swamp, he assassinated Leonard, while the latter was walk- ing in his garden.* Although Weequehelah had conformed generally to the customs of civilized life, he was still a savage. Another grievance of which the Lenape complained was, that the colonists never employed them in war. Tbe Mengwe was always found by the side of the pale face in the hour of danger, and shared his perils and his triumphs ; but the Lenape was * Smith's New Jersey. 90 mSTOBY OP SUUJVAN COUNTY. left to pine at home with women and children. The Mengwe's dogs were more honored by the English than the most Draye and noble members of an ancient people — ^the progenitors of many nations. This was most galling to the pride and. self- respect of the Lenape, especially when it was presented to them. in an odious light by deceitful Frenchmen and their agents. It is not surprising, therefore, that some of the eastern Delia- wares and their confederates, the Shawanees, when hostilities commenced between France and England, seemed anxious to- take the field against the French; and that they threatened,, that, if not thus employed, they would unite with the enemy> If their desire to eulist under the English flag had been gratified at this time, a direful calamity would have been aVerted.. But the application of the Lenape and their menaces were alike dis- regarded. 'Tis true, the government and people of Pennsylvania had endeavored to secure the good will of the Delawares by loading two of their chiefs, Shingas and Captain Jacobs, with favors ; but the intrigues of the French — their newly-awakened love of war — their thirst for blood and plxmder, and a long Ust of real or supposed grievances which were unredressed, overruled aU other considerations. Shingas and Jacobs openly espoused the cause of the French, and were among those who carried the tomahawk and fire into the frontier settlements. Their conduct greatly exasperated the Pennsylvanians, who, with the approba- tion of the Governor, offered seven himdxed dollars for their heads. After the defeat of General Braddock, on the banks of the Monongahela, in July, 1755, the Shawanees and the Lenape unburied the bloody hatchet, and hurled it against the frontier settlements of the colonists. That defeat, so discreditable to the military prowess and skill of the soldiers' of Great Britain, entirely destroyed the influence of the English with those tribes. The first blow was felt on the western lines of Virginia and Maryland. The enemies of the Quaker government of Pennsyl- vania alleged that that colony at first would do nothing to pro- tect their neighbors of Virginia and Maryland, and that the disciples of Fox adhered firmly to their principles of peace until their own hearth-stones- were stained with blood, when they caused the war to be prosecuted with energy. However this may be, Pennsylvania soon felt the dire effects of savage feroc- ity. Cumberland county became a prey to the infuriated Lenape and Shawanees ; their barbarities were rapidly extended to the Susquehamaa, and from thence to Bprks and Northampton counties, and across the Delaware into New Jersey. Their scalping parties even visited the settlements east of the Shawan- THE LENNI LENAPE — FBENCH WAK. 91 gmik mountains, and the stations of the peaceful Moravians,, who had always treated them with the greatest kindness, were not spared. The condition of the border was indeed deplorable. A letter from the Union Iron Works, New Jersey, dated December 20, 1755, says; "The barbarous and bloody scene, which is now open in the upper part of Northampton county, is the most lamentable that nas ever appeared. There may be seen horror and desolation ; populous settlements deserted — villages laid in ashes — men, women and children cruelly mangled and massa- cred — some found in the woods, very nauseous, for want of interment — and some hacked, and covered ail over with wounds." In this letter was a hst of seventy-eight persona kilted ; and more than forty settlements burned. A letter from Easton, of the 25th of the same rftonth, states that " the country, all above this town, for fifty miles, is mostly evacuated and ruined. The people have, chiefly, fled iato the Jerseys. Many of them have threshed out their com, and carried it off, with their cattle and best household goods, but a vast deal is left to the enemy. Many offered half their personal effects, to save the rest ; but could not obtain assistance enough in time to remove them. ■. The enemy made but few prisoners j murdering almost all that fell into their hands, of aU ages, and both sexes. All business is at an end ; and the fewremaining, starv- inginhabitants, in this town, are quite dejected and disphited."* The whites by a long period of peace with their savage neigh- bors, had become unfitted for a war with them, and seemed at first stupefied by the horrors which surrounded them, and incapable of defense. Small parties of Indians lurked in the vicinity of undefended homesteads, and poimced from the forest at favorable moments upon their victims, murdering them, and frequently consuming their bodies in their burning houses. After their fearful work was consummated, they would as suddenly disappear in the wilderness, carrying with them their booty and their prisoners, and leaving but few traces by which they could be tracked to their coverts, even when the whites were daring enough to pursue them. At this time there were settlements on the Neversink river for ten miles from its mouth. These, in common with all others equally exposed, had their full share of peril and sorrow. Through wise forethought, the women and children were removed to Bochester, and other places which were deemed more secure &an the region in the vicinity of the Neversink and the Delaware. Several block-houses were built for the protection of those inhab- itants who remained. * Gordon's History of New Jersey. 92 HISTOEY OF SULUTAN COtlSTir. Oil one occasion, three men, -Who were gathering grain, were surprised by the enemy and Ml^d. At another time, the savages attempted to take one of 13ie block-houses, supposing it was occupied by women only ; Ijut several soldiers were unexpectedly in it. A despefrate ifight ensued. A number of the soldiers were killed; the survivors, however, compelled the Indians to retire. A little son of Mr. W«stfall was taken prisoner by the Leu«pe, and remained with his captors unlal after the Eevoiutionaiy war, when, hearing that his fa&er was dead, and that he was heir to part of the estate, he returned — di^osed of his property, and returned to savage life, notiTithstan^toig the efforts of Lis mother and others to induce him to remain with them. The upper block-house on the Neversink was attacked — taken and burnt, with the neighboring buildings, and the occupants — principally soldiers — ^killed, with a single exception.* Among those slain by elaware, was a man named Amos Carter, who, a short time before the war, removed from Cornwall, in Connecticut, and located with his family on a brandh of the Lackawaxen, near the site of the well- known Carter House of the present time. Here he made a log- cabin, and tilled a few acres of land, which he had cleared. Carter's family consisted of himself, his wife and three children, liike a majority oi the people of Connecticut, he was industrious and thrifty. As soon as his land would warrant the purchase of cattle, and he had accumulated enough to pay for them, he lesolved to keep a yoke of oxen and two or three cows, and went to Minisink to buy them. While he was absent from home for this purpose, Mrs. Carter had occasion to go to their garden, where she was suddenly confronted by a number of savages, painted according to their manner when engaged in war. She became pallid as they approached, and did not attempt to escape. She knew that escape was hopeless, and hoped that, if she sub- mitted quietly, they would spare her Mfe. V ain hope ! She was immediately tomahawked, and laid lifeless at iheir feet. Her scalp was torn from her head, and her dead body left on the spot where she was murdered. They then plundered the house, • Eager's Histosy of Orange County. THK, LENNI LENAPE— FKENCH WAB. 93 aad, set fiireto it; after which they left the ne%hborhood,,ta]djttg ■with them the children. When Carter returned, instead of the joy of his fanuly at the acquisition he had made, he witnessed a scene which caused his heart to bleed,, and filled his soul with heroic courage and an unconquerable desire for retribution. His wife, whohad baen an uncomplaining sharer of what he had endured in the wilder- ness, was a mutilated corpse before him ; his home, which had been made pleasant by their joint labors,, was in ashes ; and his children — ^the children of his murdered wife — ^were in the power of her merciless destroyers. As soon as possible,, Carter rallied a few of his nearest neigh- bors, with whom he pursued the Indians. The latter, being, encumbered with booty, traveled dowly ; while the whites, -wdm nothing but their rifles, and a small supply of prdvisiona, fol- lowed with rapidity. After a fatiguing march, during which Carter continually urged forward his friends, the savages were overtaken and attacked. In the fight which ensued, he exhibited, the most obstinate and determiniea bravery. The whites soon found that the enemy was too numerous for them, and were compelled to retreait. Carter, however, uefused to fall back, and when last seen by his friends, he was standing, with his back against a tree,, defending himself against some half a dozen Indians, who seemed determined to take him alive, sflod reserve him for torture,; butit is probable that they killed him there. He was never heard of afterwards. The children were subsequently recovered, and pladed imder the guardianship of their fnends in Cornwall.* Citizens of New Jersey were the first to arouse from the stupefaction of despair. Colonel John Anderson, of Sussex county, at the head of four hundred men, scoured the country,, marched to the defense of Easton, and pursued the enemy, with- out, however, overtaking them. The New Jersey battaUion was recalled from the North by the Governor — ^troops, were raised by hiTn in all parts of the province, and ten thousand pounds were voted him for the public defense. During the ensuing winter, the enemy continued to hang on the frontiers. A chain of forts and block-houses was erected along the base of the Kittanning moxmtains from the east-branch, of the Delaware (the Neversink) to the Maryland line, whichi were garrisoned by fifteen hundred volimteers and drafted miHtia, under Washington. During this period, Doctor Benjamin Franklin made his first and only military campaign. He re- ceived the appointment of Colonel, and, after a short experience, * Tom Quick and the Fioneers. 94 HISTOEY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. became satisfied that he wagj. unfitted for military operations, and retired fro^ the camp for ever.* In the Sjmng of 1756, the Six Nations interposed, at the re- quest of Sir vVUBam Johnson, and for a time promised a cessation of hostilities on the part of those tribes wnich were subject to them. But a treaty of peace, or a promise to refrain from hos- tilities, seems to have been binding only on those Lenape and Shawanees who made it. The great bodies of those tribes re- miained dissatisfied or hostile, and sought every safe opportunity to continue to commit outrages. This interposition of the Mengwe probably led Sir William Johnson to abandon a projedt he had in contemplation of attack- ing the Lenape and their allies at the Great Swamp, forty miles W! S. W. from Cochecton, with an overwhelming force, drawn from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and of building a! fort at Cochecton. Some four or five hundred Indians rendez- voused in this swamp, and it was believed that many scalping parties had proceeded from it. In July, 1756, Sir WiUiam Johnson succeeded in having a conference with the chief of the Shawanees, and^eedyuseung, the king of the Lenape. Deputies from the Mengwe were present, alid also a great number of Hudson Eiver Indians, who were Lenape, and had remained attached to the Colonies during ttie war. The latter, by close association with the whites, had become worthless vagabonds — of no importance, except as nuisances, in peace or war. At this conference the Shawanee chief boldly denied that his tribe, except those living on the Ohio, had engaged in hostilities agaiast the Colonies, and promised that he would use his influ- ence to win the western Shawanees from the French. Teedyuscung acknowledged that some of his people had joined th« French and western Lenape in ther late hostilities ; but that the message sent by Sir William to them by Mengwe messengers, and what had since occurred, had opened their eyes, and caused them to lay down the hatchet. He expressed sorrow for what had passed, and asked pardon with apparent sincerity. He de- clared that he would become an ally of the English ; that he wotdd return aU English prisoners held by his people ; and that his tribe would join the English and Mengwe against the French at any time and anywhere. As an evidence of sincerity, he and the Shawanee chief both accepted the war belt, and danced to the war song with extraordinary fervor. Sir Williaim Johnson concluded the coiiference by taking the petticoat or name of woman from the Lenape, and in the name of the British king and the Colonial authorities, promised to use • * Gordon's History of New Jersey. THE LENNI LENAPE— FEENCH WAR. 95 The and to lis influence with the Mengwe to follow his example, •deputies of the latter pledged themselves to second him, press upon their constituents the necessity of making the Lenape ifreemen; but nothing further was done in the matter.* How much of deception was practiced on either side at this •conference, we wiQ not pretend to say; but this we know: Notwithstanding Teedyuscung's promises and apparent humiUa- iion, the borders were not freed from the assaults of the Indians, •and Teedyuscung's influence with the Lenape and other Algon- quin tribes contiaued to increase until he became the agent and advocate of a great number of them. It is probable that he 'wished to screen the Indians who lived near the white settle- ments from punishment. If this was his object, he succeeded, for a time at least. It was estimated that, by September of this year, dhe thousand men, women and children had been slain by the Indians, or •carried into captivity. Property to an immense amount had been destroyed, and the peaceful pursuits of civilized life were suspended in the frontier towns and settlements. Notwithstanding the treaty with Teedyuscung, a terrible chastisement was in store for the Lenape who lived on the Al- leghany river. On the 8th of the following September, Colonel John Armstrong, of Pennsylvania, with a sufficient force, attacked the. savages in their den, at Kittanning. Their principal chiefs were killed, their families slaughtered, their town reduced to ashes, their crops destroyed, and their spirit humbled. This was a species of warfare to which the Lenape had not been subjected since the attack of the Dutch in 1663. It was nearly as effectual at this time as it was then. Such of them as survived the carnage at Kittanning, and were of that vicinity, fled into the territory occupied by the French, and thus had the French forts and garrisons between them and the English, while others began to see the beauties of peace. But the country was still exposed to the inroads of the French and western Indians, in which it is now known that some of the Lenape of Pennsyl- vania participated. Scalping parties penetrated to within thirty miles of Philadelphia, and continued to spread terror through •the border settlements until the French power in Canada was (destroyed. The pioneers west and east of the Shawangunk were not exempt from these ■visits. Two brothers named Coleman occupied a log-house, a short 'distance south-east of the present village of Burhngham; with their -wives and seven children. On a Sunday afternoon, one of the brothers went into the woods to search for a span of horses which had strayed there. While he was busy looking for the • Documentary History of New York.. HISTOEY OF SUIiUVAN COUNTY. r animals, he was sui^rised by a party of six or eig^t lii- diajiSf who lay in ambush, and who shot and scalped him. They, then prooeeaed to the house, where the other brother was. unwell and in bed. They carefuUy surrounded it, and found that they could shoot the sick masa, through a ore^ce between the logs* The first intimation the family had of the presence of the unseen foe, was the startling report of fire-arms in their midst, and the belching fiame of gunpowder from the walls of their humble dwelling. The sick man was instantly killed, and the next moment the painted demons burst into the house — dragged the quivering corpse from the bed to the door, and tore away the scalp with savage exultation, while the terror-stricken women and children gaaed on the scene, paralyzed with horror,, and expecting instant death. They were spared, however, and. made captives. One of the women had recently been confined, and had a child about two weeks old. Being yet weak and unable to walk, she was placed astride of an old horse, and her feet were tied under his belly with a rope. They then gave her the child,, which she carried in her arms. After setting fire to the buildings, the savages hurried away in a north-westerly direction over the Shawangunk mountain. The babe soon became restless and cried, when the Indians in- formed the poor mother that she must keep it quiet, or they would kill it. Of course, she exerted hersefi to the utmost, to soothe it ; but in the end it would not cease its plaintive wail- ings ; when one of the demons, no doubt fearing that the noise it made might reveal their whereabouts, tore it from the arms of its. mother, seized it by the heels, knocked its brains out against a tree, before her eyes, and threw its body as far from the path aa his strength permitted. How httle do the mothers of Sullivan at the present day know of the perils and suffering of the women who first came to this region with their loved ones ! Who can estimate the grief of this woman, when she saw her little one thus murdered, and its body left to be torn to pieces and devoured by wild beasts? The party reached Mamakating VaUey a little after dusk, where they waited a short time for the moon to appear. They then resumed their journey, and traveled during the remainder of the night, and the gi'eater part of the next day. The journey through the night was gloomy and fearful. The little children, after the brutal murder of the babe, dared make no complaints.. With pallid and ghost-like features, and sore and weary feet, they pursued the uncertain path before them,, sometimes falling over obstructions in the way, when an invol- untary and half-suppressed cry would escape their Ups ; some- times startled almost to frenzy by the howl of a woM or th© THE UENNI LBNAPE — FEEySCH WAB. 97 shriek of a panther; and all the time fearful that their savage captors would fall upon them and kiU them. When morning at last came> they suffered less from terror; but being exhausted and foot-sore from their journey through the night, and being compelled to go forward at an acoelerated pace, their sufferings continued to mcrease through the day. The report that the brothers Coleman had been killed by the savages, and their wives and children carried away, soon spread through the neighboring settlements, and before Monday morning a considerable number of brave and generous-hearted men were assembled at the scene of the tragedy. All were armed with rifles and hunting-knives, and all could use their weapons effect- ually when necessary ; for in those days, a man who was not a sure shot, and who could not engage in a rough-and-tumble %ht with wild beasts, was not considered worthy of very nluch respect. As soon as day-light appeared, they commenced searching for the trail of the marauders, and soon struck it. No time was lost in making preparations for pursuit or in discussing the results which might follow. It was enough for them to know that two of their friends had been murdered by a savage foe, and that several helpless women and children were in the power of the savages. To rescue the captives and punish the Indians was a spontaneous impulse of their hearts, and they at once set off in pursuit. The pursuers had but little difficulty in tracking the retreat- ing foe, the impressions made by the feet of the horse being quite distinct in the pathway. Their horror and indignation may be imagined when they discovered the brutal manner in which the babe had been destroyed ; and they pressed forward with greater speed, and with vengeance written on every brow. It is probable that, if they could then have met the savages, their hearts would have been steeled against mercy. So rapidly did they travel that, towards night, they were close upon the Indians. Through means with which we are not ac- quainted, this fact became known to the latter, while the whites were ignorant of it. They were then probably on the " Barrens" of one of the Delaware river towns. The indians were not in good condition for a fight, and probably knew that the others outnumbered them. Finding that they were in a place \ifhere^ for some distance, the horse's hoofs would make no impression on the soil, they turned suddenly from the path, and secreted themselves in a thicket, with their prisoners. The half-dead captives suspected at once that succor was near. Their suspicions were confirmed when it was made known to them they would suffer instant death, if they made the least noisa Soon they heard the voices of their friends, as the latter hastened onward in the trail over which the captives and their »» HISTORT OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. captors had just passed. Nearer and nearer came the would-be deliverers. The very tones of this or that neighbor could be distinguished. But the poor children and their mothers did not diare look in the direction from which the friendly sounds came. iEvery savage held in his hand a weapon with which to dash out their brains if an alarm was made, and every eye of the red men gieamed with deadly determina/tion. The pursuers were directly opposite the covert in which the prisoners were concealed. Miey passed on — on — on. Oh ! that they would discover that the path had been abandoned by the In&ans ! Eager ears listened for a word that would inmcate that the white men had discovered that those they were seeking had not gone that way. But no. The voices died away — away — ^untQ they were lost to the mhiag ears of the distressed moth- ers and their children. Hope died within them. The whites followed the path until they discovered that the Indians had left it. They then searched for new traces of the ■fugitives ; but finding none, they returned home by another route. After the whites had passed, Mrs. Ooteman, for the first time, •was taken from the horse, on which she had been tied for twen- ty-four hours. The party remained in their place of concealment imtil the next mommg, when they resumed their journey, after placing the bereaved mother once more in her former position. From Sunday afternoon imtil Tuesday forenoon, they were without a morsel of food. The Indialis had brought nothing to eat with them, and were afraid to firie their guns ; fearing that, 'by doing so, they would lead the whites to discover them. But on Tuesday forenoon, they shot a deer, and after that did not suffer from hunger. During theit journey, they came twice to large streams of water, (the Neversink and the Delaware.) In Crossing these, the savages drove the horse, with Mrs. Coleman on his back, ift advance of the others, to measure the depth. They then followed on foot. The fear of being submerged in the watet, by the falling of the horse, or by coming to some Hiiexpected channel. Would have been greater, if the be- reaved mother had not afready wifeiessed so many shocking spectacles, that her senses had become in a measure deadened to what was pasedng. Weak ftom her recent illness, having had "sorrows on sorrows multiplied," and being exhausted by the rbtigh and toilsoide jaittnef, she submitted passively to what- enmr was in store fdr her. After Tuesday motning they^ ti*'a'teled slowly, and continued tb prtjceed leisrirdly towards tneir ytigwaaas vaML Wednesday or Thursday evening, when theij^ jourtiey tertfiinated. The clan to ■*hich thev belottged w«*e located from forty to fifty miles be- jbnd the Delaware liter. Mrs. Coleman was here taken from ^ hoi^ for the laert timd. THE LENNI LENAPE— FRENCH WAS. 99 Their joitmeys over mountains, thorough valleys and across rapid rivers was at an end; but not their sufferings. After the" customary rejoicings at the safe return of the warriors and their success, a large fire was made, and the children were stripped naked, and then compelled to run around the fire, the savages following them with whms, which they appMed to their naked todies without mercy. When the children screamed with pain and affright, their tormentors would exhibit the greatest pleasure, and yell and laugh until the woods rang with hideous mirth. In this cruel amusement, the embryo braves of the clan partici- pated. While this was going on, it seemed as if the sick woman's heart would break. Her cup of sorrow could contain no more. Powerless to do the screammg children any good, and unable longer to witness their sufferings, seeretly she stol§ away into the woods to die. Half frenzied, she fled as fast a» her feeble limbs would carry her, resolved to find some distant and quiet jdace where the cruel Indians would not find her, and where she could breal^e away her lite, and witness no more horrors. As she tottered away through the woods, she discovered a light in the distance, and by an impulse for which she could not account, she resolved to go to it, still not caring whether she liyed or died. Here she found an old Squaw, who occupied a wigwam alone. This squaw had lived amongst white people and could speak the Enghsh language. She was partial civ- ilized, and was known to the Indians as Peter Nell.* To her Mrs. Coleman related her pitiable story. Peter Nell's woman's lieart was touched. She received her white sister kindly, and making a bed of leaves and bear skins, told her to rest in peace, axtd that the Indians should not harm her. While Mrs. Coleman was reposing on this primitive but com- fortable couch, the squaw made her some vemson-soup after the juanner of the white people. This proved to be very refresMng to the sick and exhausted captive. The latter remained with ihe good Indian woman for a considerable time, and until her liealth was completely restored, when the squaw assisted her in returning to her friends in Orange county. What became of the other captives is not known. It was reported many years afterwards that two or three of them escaped ; but of this there is no certaiilty. * The greater part of the foregoing narrative was derived from Mrs. Coleman, who related the particulars to an uncle of our informant.t This uncle was one of the party who went in pur- jstiit of the savages. • PetronBUa;— a name probaMygfreir her in baptism by the Moravians; _t The Tenerable Bev. Samuel Pelton, of Thompflon. His son, Luther Pel ton, oom< mitted the facts to paper at our request. 100 HI8T0BT or SULLIVAH COUSTr. After the aifair at Eittanning, Teedynsoung was present and was the chosen and loved advocate of his own, and many other Algonquin tribes, at several conferences with the whites. The Lenape regarded him as their champion in all cases where sagacity and abihty were necessary. He seems to have been successful with the people of New Jersey. He laid his grievances before commissioners of that colony in 1756. The Assembly of New Jersey, in consequence, passed stringent laws to guard the Indians against abuses, and appropriated sixteen hundred pounds to the purchase of Indian claims; "one-half to be expended for a settlement, for such Indians as resided south of the Earitan, where they might dwell, and the remainder to be applied to the purchase of any latent claims of non-residents." In February, 1758, the Indians exe- cuted a formal release of their claims in New Jersey, except those of the Minisinks and Pomptons, in the northern parts of the province, which included some part of the territory of Sulli- van county covered by the "Jersey claim." During this year some famihes Hving on the Walpack were massacred by the savages. After these inroads, and towards the close of the summer. Governor Bernard, through Teedyuscung, summoned the Minsi and Pompton clans, who had joined the enemy, to meet him at Burlington. The leading men of these tribes attended the council. An Iroquois chief was also present.* This chief as- sumed a very arrogant bearing toward the Lenape. Benjamin, who was the spokesman of the Minsi, held a belt in his hand, but delivered what he had to say whilst sitting, not being per- mitted to stand imtil the Mengwe had been heard. The latter denied that the Lenape had the right to make a treaty, as they were subjects of the Six Nations, and at his request, the confer- ence was adjourned to a geat council of Indian tribes which subsequently took place at Easton.t The Minsi, Wappings, etc., however, held a special conference with Governor Bernard soon after, at which, for one thousand dollars, they sold all their title to lands in New Jersey. After this, New Jersey had no more trouble with these tribes. Teedyuscung's efforts to obtain redress for the alleged wrongs inflicted on his people in regard to the forks of the Delaware, and other lands on both sides of that river, were renewed in 1757. In July of that year, he attended a conference at Easton, where he labored to have all differences referred to the King of Great Britain; with copies of all the deeds and writings by which the whites held those lands. This conference was held • Gordons History of New Jersey, t Smith's Xew Jersey. THE LENNI LENAPE — FRENCH WAB. 101 on the part of the whites, by Mr. George Croghan, who was deputed by Sir William Johnson for that purpose, and by Deputy Governor Denny, of Pennsylvania, and several commissioners appointed by the Assembly of that province. At the opening of the conference, Teedyuscung understood that Mr. Croghan had full power to act, and declared himself well pleased with his appointment, and willing to submit his complaints to the arbitrament of Mr. C. ; but when he requested that the deeds of the Proprietors should be produced, read and examined, that it might be seen what Indians had sold the lands, and the extent of the purchases, he was told ihat Sir William Johnson was the person before whom such matters should be laid. Teedyuscung indignantiy refused to go before Johnson, and a stormy scene ensued. Sir William Johnson resided with the haughty Mengwfe, who had so grievously insulted his people in 1742, and compelled them to abandon a region to which the Lenape were attached by all the ties which can bind the. savage heart. Sir William was the friend and ally of the proud and treacherous confederacy which had done such fatal mjuiy to his people, and he had labored many years to enrich and strengthen the Mengwe. In the eyes of the Lenape king, he would not be an impartial um- pire. At the seat of the baronet, too, Teedyuscung would be surrounded by enemies who would not hesitate to assassinate him, if he succeeded in securing the right of his tribe to the land in dispute. His refusal, under such circumstances, was alike creditable to his sagacity and patriotism. The deeds, however, were produced, when Teedyuscung alleged that, in some cases, they were given by persons who had no right to sell ; in others, that greater quantities of land had been taken possessioir of than were granted ; and in another, that the Pro- prietors had forged a deed, and made an alteration of the courses agreed on. His allegations were of a very grave character, and, if true, the Proprietors were vile criminals. He was sincere in making them, no doubt ; and they were guiltless of any moral offense greater than that of making bargains with the Indians, by which the latter parted with more property than they intended to sell. The white man's parchment covered what the Lenape supposed they had never alienated. Hence the bold and indig- nant charge of the dusky monarch. Notwithstanding Teedyuscung refused to go before Sir Wil- 2iam Johnson, he proposed that copies of the deeds should be send to him for transmission to the Ei^lish monarch ; but caused his own clerk to iEorward copies to the Speaker of the Pennsyl- vania Assembly, with a request to forward them to His Britannic Majesty. Teedyuscung no doubt hoped to checkmate Sir William in this manner, if he proved unfaithful. Johnson 102 BISTOEY or SUIiUVAN 0O0»TI. professed to be indigmuBit at the cosa.dw!t of the red diplomatisi;, and the Quakers who had won his coBfidenee, and thought ii advisable to "pcess his mediation" no further. However, he transmitted copies of the oonferenoe, which the smooth and sleek Quakers neglected to do. After the surrender of Fort Wilham Henay to the French, ia August, 1757, the frontier inhabitants of Orange and Ulster became much alarmed. The ememy had a large armj and a. formidable train of artilleiy. Eucoura^ed bj their recent suc- cess, it was supposed that the French would penetrate farther into the county, and l^us cause the Indians to be more active and bold in their attaoks on the pioneers. These fears were not groimdbss. The savages penetrated these counties, and killed some of the people who hved there. On application from the inhabitants, a like of blook^houses was built along the frontier of Orange and Ulster, and troops were posted there by order of the Earl of Loudon. In October of this year, a few Lenape who lived on the Del- aware river were engaged in an affair in which several whites lost their hves. About thirty hostile Cayugas and Senecas set. out on an expedition against tib.e people of Ulster, and were met. by the Oquaga Indians, who held a council with them on the^ 5th of the month, and persuaded all except nine Cayugas to turn back. These latter proceeded to the Delaware river, where they induced all the braves whom ihey could influence to join them. On the I2th they made their appearance at the house of Peter Jan, who lived in the south-western part of the settled portion of Eochester, a town witudj at that time included con- siderable of the teiritoiy of SuHivan. Two privates of Colonel A. Hasbrouck's regiment, who were posted in the neighborhood as scouts, were kiUed, as well as one of Jan's daugh4ers. Jan and his two sons, who were at work in a field, escaped. Another private soldier was in the house, where there happened to be several loadedguns. With these he dettermined to defend himself to the last, as well as Jan's wife and two remaining daughters. The brave fellow fought so well that ^e savages retired from the immediate vicinity, when he escoi^d the nj/Other and children to the house of Captain Bnodhead^ wjip Uved a mile distant^ The enemy then netuisedt and bumed Jloi'S hoiuse. The next night. Colonel Hashronak'ift forces jnWK^ed in pursuit of the mJEirauaers; bat iaHed io diboo^rer; thepob There is not cm. recoiid an acoeisvt.of a sncceewifQl search for hostile Indians in the wild3 oi Siti^am, eaxe^ whm they desired to befomd. The laJb»yrintbuie obMO^rof onu? rhododendron; thickets was ao very favovablei to co««eelnieB!t.. that the enemy conld not be tracked, and the whitoa could not piarsae them, except when they traveled in well-defineji paths. THE LENM LESNAPE— FEENOH WAS. 103 In the fall of 1758, a conference was held with the Mengwe and Lenape tribes, at which Teedynscung again repeated the wnnplaints of the Algonquin Indians for whom he was the agent, ±Jut little was done, however, except to restore to the Mengwe a large tract of land which they sold to Pennsylvania in 1754, at Albany, and for which they had. been paid. This purchase had caused much discontent among the Six Nations, who were propitiated by the English on all occasions. Equal liberality was never displayed toward the Lenape. In the summer of 1750, the case of the Lenape was laid before the Kmg's Privy Council for Plantation Affairs, when the whole matter was referred back to Sir "William Johnson, who was; directed to summon all the parties, and, after a hearing, to transmit his _proceedings, with his opinion of what should be done, to the Cfommissioners for Trade and Plantatiofts, to be laid before the King. But Teedyuscung could not be induced to go before that gentleman, as he believed that Sir William woidd decide against him. He continued to confide in the Governor and people of Pennsylvania, and they could not or would not affcn-d him relief. We have not noticed all the treaties of peace made between the English and the Lenape and other Indians, during the French war, for obvious reasons. The conquest of Canada by the English, and its cession to the British crown by France, did not give our frontier settle- ments entire immunity from savage owtrage, as will appear from the death of Teedyuscung, and the events which followed oix the Delaware river, and in other localities. In the spring of 1763, Pontiae, an eloquent and sagacioua Ottawa sachem and chief, drew several of the Algonquin tribes and some of the Mengwe, into a conspiracy to turn back the tide of emi^atic«ii. A portioa of the western Lenape became Ms allies ; but it does not appear that Teedyuscung was involved in the outbreak, although it, ib more tiian probable th9>t his sympaiMes were ste<}ngly enlisted oztthe side of Pontiae. His influence, too, and his dissatisfaction in regard to the sale of the lands of his tribe^ made him a dangerous neighbor to the colonists. His death yfrsi^ a desirable event, and it soon took place under very singular circumstances ; but in a manner which shows that it was either q^idental, or that it was procured by the Mengwe, the oM eaeudes and oppressors of hie people. Tradition says that the Mengwe had become jealous of his power and pftpH^fl^y^ 9f^ jctssolv^tp destroy him. In the fall of 1763, a party of warriors of that copi^^etaej came to his 104 HISTORY OP SUIMVAN COUNTY. dwelling on a pretended visit of friendship.* During their yisit his cabin was burned, at night, and his dead body was found in the ashes. The news of the tragedy brought laj^e numbers of his subjects to the scene of disaster, when the Mengwe artfully led them to beUeve that the whites of the vicinity were the au- thors of the disaster. They were in a mood to give credit to the words of their visitors, and at once flew to arms to avenge the death of their beloved sachem. Before another sunset thirty whites were slain by the infuriated Lenape, and about two hun- dred and fifty others were fugitives in the wilderness, most of whom returned to their former homes in Connecticut. During the evening after the massacre, their houses were burned. • Here we should pause to do honor to Teedyuscung, the greatest ruler of the native Indians of SuUivan. Before he was chosen king, he had resided within the territory of the Minsi tribe — was an Indian of the Delaware, and acknowledged as his sachem Ta-de-me, of whom so little is known; but whom the author believes to be identical with Tamanend or Tammany.f Ta-de-me was treacherously murdered by hostile Indians from the North-west. A general council of the Delaware clans was then held, which chose Teedyuscung chief sachem, and he was inducted into ofiice according to the ancient ceremonies of the Lenape.l He was then residing at Gnadenhutten, where the Moravians had estabHshed a settlement of Christian natives; but immediately removed to Wyoming, which had become the principal seat ol his people. He was nominally a Christian ; his squaw was a devout and pious disciple of Zinzendorf. According tb Loskiel, he was baptized in 1750, when he received the name of Gideon. He had previously been known to the English as Honest John. The same writer says his baptism was delayed some time, because of his wavering disposition. But having been once present when the sacrament was administered, he said to one of the brethren: "I am distressed that ,the time is not yet come that I shall be baptized and cleansed in the blood of Christ." Being asked how he felt during the baptism, he answered: "I cannot describe it; but I wept and trembled." • Lossing's Field Book of the Bevolution. , t There is much confasion in the orthograph; of Indisn names of the last centory, Dutch, EngliBh, Swedish and other writers spell Lenape words in so many ways that soraetimes it is almost impossible to decide which is right, and even to rcooghize the same word as given to us by each of them. Tammany ruled between 1720 and 1750, and was a devoted friend of the English colonists. After the election of Teedyuscung, tlie Indians who had been ruled by Tammany loved their white neighbors, and many of them had embraced the Christian religion. ?^ho period in which Ta-de-me and Tammany reigned is the same ; their characters are not dissimilar, so far as we know anything of them, and there is no greater difference between the names Tammany and Ta-de-me than there is between many other Indian names handed down to us by igno- rant clerks and careless authors. We give this note more to incite inquiry than Ibr any other purpose. J Stone's History of Wyoming. THE LENNI I^ENAPE — ^FRENCH WAE. 105 He then spoke to the missionaries in a tbw unreserved manner, saying that he had been a very bad man all his life; that he had :no power to resist evil; and that he had never before been so desirons to be delivered from sin, and to be made a partaker of our Lord's grace, and added: "O that I were baptized, and ■cleansed in his blood!" He evinced this fervor ever afterward; Tjut caused his pious teachers much anxiefy because he never could feel assured that he was an accepted follower of Christ. His lack of hope was always manifest. He had a higher con- ception of Christianity than white rulers. He believed that it was the gospel of simpUoity, mercy, purity and peace. As a statesman he was compelled to resort to craft, barbarity, subtlety and bloodshed. After his career as a diplomatist and warrior, he was heard to say: "As to externals, I possess every thing in plenty; but riches are of no use to me, for I hate a troubled conscience. I still remember weU what it is to feel peace in the heart ; but I have now lost aU." In this despondent state of mind he died. It is said that to his other moral dehnquencies he added an occasional intemperate indulgence in fire-water. He has been described as a "lusty, raw-boned man, haughty, and very desirous of respect and command."* He could be as witty as he was proud. A low fellow named McNabb met him at Stroudsburg, and accosted him with, "WeU, cousin, how .do you do?" "Cousin, cousm!" repeated the haughty chief, "how do you make that out?" "Oh! we are aU cousins from Adam." ^'Ah! then, I am glad it is no nearer!" was the cutting reply.f As an orator, he was bold, strong, wonderfully explicit, and always chaste. He shot directly at his mark, and always hit it. He uttered no nonsense about chains and belts. There was no circumlocution in his utterances ; but there was plenty of Machi- aveUsm when the safety and welfare of his people needed it. He could form treaties of peace, and "dance with extraordinary fervor"! to render them binding, when he found it necessary to save his frontier subjects from chastisement. At the same time he would permit the Delawares of the Ohio to pass through his towns to destroy the pale faces ; but claimed that he and the exposed clans were not responsible for the outrages of the marauders. What we know of him comes principally from his enemies. We must judge him by what he aeconiplished rather than by the representations of those who suffered through his acts, or were jealous of hisj)ower and fame. He found his peqple (M- vided, impotent and enslaved — derided and despised by their * Major Parsons, secretary of the oonferenoe of 1766. t Stone's Wyoming. i Sir WilUam Jolmson. 106 mSTOBT OF SULLIVAN COCNTY. masters, the pai^ered Mengwe, iauid debauched and robbed by the colonists. Irom lack of uniW, they enjoyed no more con- sideration than a thousand little riTulets meandering through as many channels. A deer could drink from one of tliem, and consume it. He made them all run in one channel, and thus gave them force and volume. TSienceforth they were free and fonuidable, and an outrage on one of his people was felt and resented by the entire nation. He infused into them patriotic ; inspired them with a common purpose ; compressed the yielding sand into the adamantine rock. At the time of his death, he wa^ the acknowledged ruler of no less than ten considerable Lenape tribes, and had forced the arrogant Iroquois to acknowledge them through him as their peers.* In tune, had he not been assassinated by his enemies, he would have been acknowledged the greatest aboriginal states- man of the continent. After his death, and the scenes which followed in his own neighborhood, his friends resolved to attack Cochecto^, and without delay proceeded to the Delaware river by the way of the Lackawaxen, hoping, no doubt, to hem in the inhabitants of that settlement. The savages, however, forgot one avenue of escape. Gochecton was then reached by two routes. One of these^ was through the vaUey of the Delaware from Minisink — the other was an Indian path through Neversink, Bockland, etc., to the mouth of the CaUicoon. The latter was not often followed by the whites, who found the way by IjCnisink the most convenient. If the savages had sent a party across the county from the mouth of the Lackawaxen, to intercept those who attempted to escape by the northern route, the settlers of Gochecton would have been exterminated. But they did not. Gochecton at that time contained about thirty log-rhoutses and a block-house. A writer nameid Ghapmau says it aj^o contained a grist-mill and a saw-mill. Several families had settled at ihe mouth of the Ten Mile river. These the Indians surprised and slaughtered. Not a person escaped. The houses, bams, efc., were burned, and everything valuable destroyed, except the bare fields. All the whites who lived between the La^awaxen and Gushetunk or Galkins' creek shared the same fate. Besides women and children, there were but three men in the yicamiiy of the block-house — ^Moaes Thomais 1st, a Mr. Witters * A conncjl WSfi held at Eaaton in 1768, with the Six Nations, Delawares and other Xa^ans, at wfilbir'reedTiigcahg aasumeSa eontpicuoUB potltioD as a conductor of the discusBioni. The Iroquois were disposed i»'» time tp b(3 offe^^ed-^eviving again their old claims of guperiority. Bnt the Delaware chief Was not in a humor to ^eld the distinction he had already acquired, and snitained himself throughout with ekiqence and dSenitx. TW. L. Qtone. THE LENNI LENAPE — ^ERENCH WAS, 107 and a Mr. Willis. The block-housie was on the Pennsylvania snore, on the lands of Thomas, and was well supplied with guns and ammunition. WiUis had a log-house and clearing at Narrowsburgh, and had removed his ifamily to the blook-house for safety. On the mowiiiig of the attack, he sent his two sons to winnow some buckwheat at his clearing. They soon returned, and reported tiiat a large party of IncEans were coming up the river. The boys were not always truthful, and were somewhat lazy. Con- sequently their report was doubted, and the three men started down the river to reconnoiter, the father of the lads first telling them that they would be punished if tiiey had concocted the stoiy to get nd of work. In the meantime, the women and children took refuge in the block-house, or got ready to flee there at a moment's warning. * The three men had proceeded about half a mile, when they discovered the savages in a turnip-field, on a knoU, where they were eating turnips. When the Indians were first seen bv Thomas and his friends, the parties were within gunshot of each other. The Lenape fired instantly. Thomas fell lifeless, and Willis was so badly wounded that he was soon overtaken by the yelling fiends, and slain. Witters escaped, and with the women and children was soon in the block-house. 1 Witters was faithful, brave and versatile. He could have fled to the moimtains and escaped with but little farther risk to himself; but he chose to remain with the widows and children of his murdered neighbors, and defend them, and, if necessary,, die with them. He at once sent a lad to the neighborhood nortlt of him, to advise the inhabitants of approaching danger, and procure assistance. The name of this lad was Moses Thomas 2d^ Subsequently he was kUled by a tory at the battle in High- land. Those to whom he was sent at once fled to the woods,, and proceeded by the northern route to Esopus. Witters also sent two boys — ^Elias Thomas and Jacob Denny — ^to Minisink, for aid. Neither of these lads was 11 years old.. The Indians approached the block-house cautiousiiy. They- evidently feared that it contained a considerable force. Before tiey came near it. Witters had succeeded in inspiring the women' with courage to such a degree, that each one was watching for an opportunity to shoot the savages. No time was lost in use- less lamentation for the dead, who lay mutilated, mangled and bleeding, almost within sight of the wooden fortification. The lives of their helpless litfle ones, imder God, depended upon them, and, women as they were, they were equal to the emergency. As iibe savages approached imder cover of the river hank, Witters, by changing the .sound of bis voice, made them believe 108 HISTOBT OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. there were several officers in the block-house, engaged in ar- ranging the defense, giving orders to their men, etc., and he was such a capital mimic that, with all their acuteness of ear, they did not discover the truth. The Indians were completely deceived by Mm, and remained behind their natural breastwork, the river bank, during the day, where they kept up a war of words with the besieged. As night approached, Witters began to fear that the assailants would set fire to some hay which was stacked beside the block- house, and thus bum his stronghold. His fear was not baseless. The savages were waiting for that purpose, and made the attempt as soon as they supposed it was dark enough. Witters saw the Indian who was detailed for that purpose, as the latter cautiously crawled toward the hay, when the savage was shot and kiUed. This intimidated the others to such a degree, that, as soon as they could recover the dead body, and bury it, they hastily set fire to the undefended buildings of the neighborhood, and then retreated toward the Susquehanna by the way of the Cushetunk. Those whites who fled by the northern route toward Esopus had a "sorry time." They became bewildered in the forest, and wandered they knew not whither. Soon hunger was added to their sufferings. Though well supplied with guns, they did not shoot any animal or bird for food, as the report might lead to their discovery and massacre by the Indians. Silently and stealthily they wandered through the woods, feeding upon their dogs, reptiles, etc., and sleeping upon the cold ground without covering. Finally they found a trail which led to a settlement, where they were kindly received. EUas Thomas and Jacob Denny reached Minisink ia safety, and a sufficient number of men at once went to Cochecton m canoes, where they were joyfully received. The dead bodies of Thomas and WUlis were buried, and preparatiras made to re- move the living to Minisink. Soon all was ready for departure, when an unexpected difficulty arose. It was found that there was room in the canoes for aJl the party except one, and that one must be left behind! Amongst those rescued was an idiot girl and her mother, and it was soon decided that the girl should be abandoned. A heart-rending scene ensued. The poor mother wished to remain with her unfortunate child, but was compelled to get into a canoe by force, where she covered her head with her aproni and moaned bitterly as she was borne away, while her idiot child uttered inarticulate cries on the shore. The girl's bones were subsequently found near the block-house and buried. THE LENNI LENAPE — ^FRENCH WAB. 109 A few years since, her remains, and those of Moses Thomas 1st, were uncovered by the action of the river. They were gathered by Moses Thomas 3d, and once more committed to the earth.* These and other outrages of the Indians were followed by acts of equal, if not greater atrocity on the part of the whites, some of T^hich should damn their perpetrators with everlasting infamy. We will give the particulars of but one of these dis- graceful tragedies. A few quiet, inoflfensive Indians hved at Canestoga, in Penn- sylvania, where they and their ancestors had dwelt for more than a century. Their forefathers were among those who had welcomed William Penn, and they had never made war on the whites. But some white miscreants, who were known as "Pax- ton boys," held them responsible for the bad deeds of other red men, and resolved to destroy them. In the nionth of November following the attack on Cochecton, the white savages of Paxton fell upon the Indians of Canestoga, and murdered fourteen men, women and children. The others (fifteen or twenty in number) fled to Lancaster, where they were locked up, for safety, in the jail. Hither the "boys" pursued them, took possession of the prison, and butchered every soul of themit The following is taken from a letter of a person who visited the jail after the massacre : «* * * J j-a^jj jjj^ tj^Q prison-yard, and there, O what a horrid sight presented itself to my view ! Near the back-door of the prison lay an old Indian and his squaw, particularly well known and esteemed by the people of the town, on account of his placid and friendly conduct. His name was WUl Sock. Across him and his squaw lay two children of about the age of three years, whose heads were spHt with the tomahawk, and their scalps all taken off. Towards the middle of the jail-yard, along the west side of the waU, lay an Indian, whom I particu- larly noticed to have been shot in the breast; his legs were chopped with the tomahawk, his hands cut off, and finally a rifle-ball discharged in his mouth : so that his head was blown to atoms, and the brains were splashed against, and yet hanging to the wall, for three or four feet around. * * * * In this manner lay the whole of them, men, women and children, spread about the prison-yard: shot — scalped — ha>cked — and cut to pieces." We might devote many more paragraphs to the ancient race that once owned our hiUs'and valleys. We could give a detailed acooout of the employment of a Mengwe army, in 1764, by Sir William Johnson, to crush the Lenape and the Shawanees — of » * Tom Qnick and the Fioneen. t BromieU'B Indian Bacea. 110 HISTOBT OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. the efforis of that gentleman to niake peace with them in 1765 — but our chapter on the Indians of SuJlivan akeady exceeds its proper proportions, and we must hasten to a conclusion of the suibject. In 1768, the Mengwe confederacy couTeyed to the whites all of the ancient territory of the Lenape, and some that belonged to themselves, receiving for it ten tnousand four hundred and sixty pounds, seven shillings and three pence, and a "valuable present of the several artides in use among Indians." In 1774, but about 300 fighting men of the Lenape family were in the province of New York below Albany. They were remnants of the Long Island tribes, the Wappings of Dutchess, the Bsopus, Papagonks, etc., of Ulster, and a few others. Most of them professed Christianity, and conformed to the customs of the whites. The great body of the Lenape had removed toward the setting sim.* In this year an old Lenape chief named Bald Eagle was causelessly murdered, scalped and set adrift in his canoe — a fair specimen of deeds which had occurred between the whites and the Delawares from the outbreak in 1755, notwithstandiag a great number of treaties of peace. In October, 1774, the battle at Point Pleasant took place, in which one thousand M- gonquins and western Mengwe, under Logan and Cornstalk, fought with desperate bravery, but were defeated. A peace soon followed, which was regarded as binding by both races for a short time. At the breaking-out of the Eevolutionary war, the Minsi tribe of the Lenape nation, under the celebrated chief. Captain Pipe, enlisted on the side of the British king, while the IJnamis and the Unalaichtgoes, led by Koguethagechton, or Captain White Eyes, were inchned to peace and neutrality. The sympathies of some of the latter were in favor of the Cololues. This led to a division of the Lenape, which, to a certain extent, remains to the present day. Two hundred of the Minsi are now separated from the Delajwares, and are known as Munsees. White Eyes died in the winter of 1779-80, of smaU-pox — an unfortunate event for the revolutionists, as it enabled Captain Pipe to influence a great number of Lenape, who then joined his standard. The hostile Lenape took a prominent part in aU the great battles of the Revolution in which the Algonquin tribes were engaged; and were second to none in those traits which the red men regard as heroic. The Algonquin tribes at this period became more closely aUied, generally, than at any time since the country had been visited by Europeans. They made war— not by sending out • Documentary History of New York. THE IMSSl LENAPB — BEVOLTJTIONAEY WAE. IH more soaljimg p'attifes — ^but by com'biiiing a thbUSand or more ■warriors in a body — and, in this manner performed deeds which showed that they were equal to the Mengwe, and proved that their former weakness was caused by a lacE of unity and concert among their clans, tribes and nations. As the war of the Revolution progreBsed the animosity of the revolted colonists and those tribes which were hostile to the patriots, increased in iatensity. Barbatous crueltv and inhu- manity were not confined to either side. The white historian can relate with thrilling pathos the sufferings of his race at Wyoming ; but what can exceed the horrors of the massacre of the peaceful, God-fearing Moravian Lenape of the Tuscarawas? These poor people, imder the preaching of Post, Heckewelder, Zeisberger and other pious missionaries, had abandoned hea- thenism, and embraced the faith that " the Great Being did not make men to destroy men, but to love and assist each other." They no longer gloried in those violent achievements which had been the highest ambition of their ancestors. As disciples of Jesus, they had become harmless as doves. They advised their red heathen neighbors not to engage in war, and when the white settlements were in danger, gave timely warning. Provoked at their conduct, three hundred hostile savages, under Captain Pipe, and others, compelled them, by menaces and violence^ to remove to the banks of the Sandusky, in the fall of 1781. During the next February, while suffering much from hunger, a portion of them received permission to return to the Tuscarawas, for the purpose of gathering the com left on the stalk the preced- ing fall. Several outrages about this time were perpetrated by hostile In- ^ans. This led one hundred white savages of the Monongahela, Tinder Colonel Williamson, to commit a deed which blackens a page of American history. By tiie vilest deception, they in- duced the pfeacefal Moravian Lenape of Tuscarawas, to the number of ninety, to accept their protection, and proceed with them to Gnadenhutten, where they were treacherously fettered and thrown into prison. Then, by a vote, their captors resolved to put them to death, and they were ordered to prepare to die! And nobly did they meet their fate. They did not chant the savage death-song which their ancestors had used at their last nSoments for a thousand years; tbey did not boast of bloody deeds on the war-path ; but they sang the beautiful hymfls of the Christian, and said the ptayers which had been taught them by devout Christian preachers. Their orisons awoke no aetttiment of mercy in the hearts of their captors. "With gun, end spear, and tomahawk, and soalping-knife, the work of deatti progressed, tiU every man, woman and child was murdered, 112 HISTORY OF SDLUTAII OOXTNTY. except two boys, who escaped, as if by a miracle!"* These poor people— savages and children of blood at their birth, had embraced a religion of love and mercy, and died in accordance with the example and precepts of the Prince of Peace. The pagan Lenape were never known to spare a captive who- had heen concerned in this_ inhuman massacre, or who was known by them as having been associated with Colonel Wil- liamson. About three months after the massacre of the Moravian In- dians, an army under Colonel Wilham Crawford marched against the Lenape and other Indians whose towns were on the San^ d^sky. Crawford was a man of good repute — the companion and friend of Washington, who had often visited him at his dwelling. Under Crawford, in this campaign, Colonel WiUiamson was subordinate. The expedition was a disastrous one. The savages, commanded by Pipe, Wingenung, and the infamous Simon Girty, defeated them with great slaughter. Williamson escaped; but Crawford was taken prisoner, and put to death. All the cruelties wliich savage ingenuity could invent were in- flicted on him. The following account of his death is related by Dr. Knight, a fellojy prisoner who was sentenced to suffer a similar fate, but escaped : " When we went to the fire, the Colonel was stripped naked, ordered to sit down by the fire, and then they beat him with sticks and their fists. Presently after I was treated in the same manner. Then they tied a rope to the foot of a post about fifteen feet high, bound the Colonel's hands behind his back, and fastened the rope to the ligature between his wrists. The rope was long enough for him to sit down, or walk round the post once or twice, and return the same way. The Colonel then called to Girty, and asked if they intended to bum him? Girty answered, yes. The Colonel said he would take it all patiently. Upon this, Captain Pipe made a speech to the Indians, viz: about thirty or forty men, and sixty or seventy squaws and boys. " ^Vhen the speech was finished, they aU yelled a hideous and hearty assent to what had been said. The Indian men then took up their guns and shot powde. into the Colonel's body, from his feet as far up as his neck. I think that not less than thirty loads were discharged upon his naked body. They then crowded about him, and to the best of my observation, cut off his ears. When the throng had dispersed a httle, I saw the blood running from both sides of his head in consequence thereof, " The fire was about six or seven yards from the post to which the Colonel was tied ; it was made of small hickory poles, burnt quite through the middle, each end of the poles remaining, about * Tir. DiidfV-it'rrr., THE LENNI LENAPE — ^BEVOLUTIONABY WAE. 113 six feet long. Three or four Indians by turns would take up, UK^yidually, one of these burning pieces of wood, and apply it to his naked body, already burnt black with the powder. These tormentors presented themselves on every side of him with the burning fagots and poles. Some of the squaws took broad boards, upon which they would carry a quantity of burning coals and hot embers, and throw them on him, so that in a short time he had nothing but coals of fire and hot ashes to walk upon. "In the midst of these extreme tortures he called to Simon Girty, and begged of him to shoot him ; but Girty making no answer, he called to him again. Girty then, by way of derision, told the Colonel he had no gun, at the same time tumiEg about to an Indian who was behind him, laughed heartily, ana by all his gestures seemed delighted at the horrid scene. "Girty then came up to me and bade me prepjire for death. He said, however, I was not to die at that place, but to be burnt at the Shawanee towns. He swore I need not expect to escape death, but should suffer it ia aU its extremities. " Colonel Crawford, at this period of his sufferings, besought the Almighty to have mercy on his soul, spoke very low, and bore his torments with the most manly fortitude. He continued in aU the extremities of pain for an hour and three-quarters or two houi's longer, as near as I can judge, when at last, being almost exhausted, he lay down on his belly ; they then scalped him, and repeatedly threw the scalp in my face, telling me, "that was my great captain." An old squaw (whose appearance every way answered the ideas people entertain of the devil) got a board, took a parcel of coals and ashes, and laid them at his back and head, after he had been scalped ; he then raised him- seK upon his feet and began to walk round the post ; they next put a burning stick to him, as usual, but he seemed more insen- sible of pain than before. " The Indian fellow who had me in charge, now took me away to Captain Pipe's house, about three-quarters of a mile from the place of the Colonel's execution. I was bound aU night, and thus prevented from seeing the last of the horrid spectacle. Next morning the Indian untied me, painted me black, and we set off for the Shawanee town, which he told me was something less than forty miles distant from that place. We soon came to the spot where the Colonel had been burnt, as it was partly in our way. I saw his bones lying among the remains of the fire, almost burnt to ashes. I suppose, after he was dead, they laid his body on the fire. The Indian told me that was my big captain, and gave the scalp-halloo." The close of the Revolutionary war did not bring peace be- tween the citizens of the United States and the Indians who had fought for the British king. The Lenape and the tribes with 8 114 HI8T0BY or SULLIVAN COUNTY. whom they were in alliance continued hostiljties until the temble chastisement inflicted on them by "Mad Anthony Wayne;" when, through the influence of Little Turtle, the celebrated chief of the Miamies, and Buckoagahelas, the great war chief of the Lenape, a treaty of peace was effected, which was observed as binding for several years. The Delawares, or Lenape, l^ave ance borne a conspicuous part in the wars between the whites and the red men. %». they have not had a foothold on the territory of Sullivan since the war of the Revolution, it is not proper to pursue their history further. "Dark a^ the frost-nipped leaves that strew the gi?o\md, The Indian hunter here his shelter found ; Here cut his bow, and shaped his arrows true. Here built his w^wam and his bark canoe, Speared the quick salmon leaping up the fall, And slew the deer without the rifle-ball ; Here his young squaw her cradling tree would choose, Singing her chant to hush her swart pappoose ; Here staiu her quills, and string her trinkets rude, And weave her warrior's wampum in the wood."* But they are no more seen on our hills or in our valleys. They have found a home in the wilds of the far West, and for many years, not one of the "original people" has visited us. The last Lenape who came within our borders was a poor, penniless wanderer, without a hat and in rags. He was last seen at Bridgeville, where he was the sport of idle and mischievous boys. William A. Bice, who was then an invaUd, with symptoms of pulmonary consumption, rescued him %om his tormentors, and gave him money, a hat, etc. The Indian received them thankfully, and, after gazing on his benefactor attentively for some time, left, never more to return. This circumstance was nearly forgotten by Mr. Bice, when, several months afterwards, he received a letter from the Indian, in which he gave a minute description of Mr. Bice's complaint, with directions for its cure. The remedy proved a good one, and, by its use, Mr. Bice's health was restored. The grateful saY£|.^e traveled forty miles from his home in the wilderness, to deposit his letter jn a poat-office. Note. — The author has been rnisled in regard tp the native name of the Esopus clans. They were not Wampiugs. When Hudson discovered the ri¥er which bears his name, they were * Brainard. THE LENNI LENAPE. 115 "known as Sanhikans or Sankhikans. Subsequently they were styled "Wabings, Wappings and Opings. These clans occupied the country from the Hudson to the west-branch of the Delaware. The northern bounds of the Hardenbergh patent continued in a straight line to the Hudson, will give meir ancient bounds in that direction, while the* EaSritan, in New Jersey, was their southern limit. The Catskill Indians and those who occupied the Highlands of the Hudson, were sometimes called Warana- wankongs, and those at Esopus Waoranecks. The Wappings of Dutchess county were a colony of the Esopus Lenape. Wab- ing,Wapping and Oping, are the same word — ^the Lenape name of the opossum. This animal was probably the totem of our Indians. Sanhikan means *' firerwc^er," according to Hecke- ■welder, and probably had its origin in the custom of these savages, when hunting, of circhng their hunting«ground with fire, and thus driving their game into a small compass. Hecke- welder says that Minsi, the name of the WoK tribe of the Delaware Indians, is derived from minissi, "which signifies a peninsula." CHAPTEE IV. THE TOWN OF BETHEL. Tlie town of Bethel was erected from the territory of Lumber- land by an act of the Legislature, passed March 27, 1809. By law the new town was bounded as follows : North by the south line of Liberty ; east by the west line of Thompson ; south by a. line commencing at a place on the Mongaup creek where the west line of Thompson is intersected by the south hne of the Hard'enbergh patent; thence north eighty-one degrees west to the south-west comer of lot number eighteen, in the subdivision of said patent ; thence north, nine degreies east, to the north ILue of lot number seventy-one, in the subdivision of said lot number eighteen; thence westwardly along the north line of said lot number seventy-one to the westwardly bounds of this State, at the Delaware river; thence northwardly by the westwardly bounds of this State to the said town of Liberty. Withia these bounds were the present towns of Bethel, Co- checton and Delaware. The first town-meeting was held at the house of William Brown, in March, 1810, when the following officers were elected : J'ohn Oonklin, Supervisor ; William Brown, Town Clerk ; Charles L-vine, John Lindsley and WiUiam Brown, Assessors; Joseph Mitchell, Russell Hurd and Zalmon Hawley, Commissioners of Highways ; OHver Calkins and John Lindsley, Overseers of the Poor; Norman Judson, Constable; Moses Calkin, Constable and Collector. This town is on the water-shed between the Mongaup and the Delaware. While the Mongaup and one of its branches wash its eastern boundary, no large stream runs through its territory, although there are several creeks which afford sufficient water-power for manufacturing purposes. Of these we may note White Lake brook, the west-branch of the Mongaup,* and Black Lake brook. The l^kes of Bethel are remarkable for beauty and an abun- dance of fish. ^ For many years White Lake has been a fashionable summer resort. Its name was bestowed in consequence of its white, * Jonas Gregory assured ub that one of the aboriginal names of this stream waa. Ilin-gaa-pock-a, and that on an old map in his possession it was so designated. [116] THE TOWN OF BETHEL. 117 sandy shores and bottom, and the brilliancy of its waters. Kau-ne-ong-ga, its supposed Indian appellation, occurs first in the writings of Alfred B. Street, and is said to be descriptive of the shape of the lake, which somewhat resembles the out^ stretched wings of a bird. Black Lake is about two miles south of White Lake. As its name indicates, its water is of a dark hue. Its outlet is of con- siderable magnitude, and unites with the Mongaup. No other sheet of water in Sullivan has been more famous for pike than this. Anglers have been known to take from it half a barrel of these fish in a single day. Lake Superior and Chestnut Eidge pond, like those already noticed, are centrally located. The name of the first originated in local pride, and the appellation of the other explains its origin. "Wells' pond is so called from an early settler, andfndian !B*i6ld, because the aborigines had cultivated land in its vicinity. Both are in the south part of the town. MaUory, in the west, also commemorates a pioneer; while the names of Pleasant pond, Horseshoe pond, and Birch Eidge pond, three small lakes in the northeni section, explain' their own origin. The surface of this town is rolling and uneven ; but there is no elevation in it which may be termed a mountain. Although lumbering and tanning have been important industries, it is em- phatically an agricultural town, as will be more and more clearly manifest as its forests are destroyed. POPULATION — VALUATION — TAXATION. Tear. Popu- lation. Assessed Value. Town Charges. Co. and State. 1810 737 1,096 1,192 1,483 2,087 2,854 2,736 $210,911 237,183 128,347 145,849 193,369 393,255 230,295 $130.15 458.38 797.15 544.41 546.51 501.88 627.99 $288.99 1820 476.53 1830 816.00 1840 510.65 1850 1,203.14 I860 3,147.44 1870 7,382.31 Undoubtedly the first white men who visited Bethel were hunters and trappers. Its numerous lakes and small streams made it a favorite resort of the beaver, the most valuable of fur- bearing animals, and its forests even in recent days have been noted for noble game. Several causes led to the settlement of Bethel. 1. John K. Beekman owned Great Lot 16 of the Hardenbergh patent, and knew that his lands would continue to be nearly worthless unless 118 HISTOBI OF SBitLimN COUNT?, they were iiiiprOTed. 2. The Sackett road was madd across the territory. 3. The Newburgh and Cooheoton turnpike wa» chartered in 1801, and effeJctually opened the region through which it passed. 4. The land was of excellent quality. The first who came for the purpose of locating here were^ Adaifi Pintler and his brother, frdin .Sussex cofunty> New Jersey. Their route was by the w&y of the ShinglekiH to the Moiigaup on the old Miaaisink atad Cu^etunk road. After crossing Wood s bndge, they traveled on the west side of the stream until they reached Black Lake brook ; thence along the latter to the lake ; and from there to the farm now occupied by the Pintlers. They probably- did not remain any longer than was necessary to build a cabin to shelter their families, who remained iu New Jersey. This was about the year 1798. I When they moved to their new home, they traveled by the way of Mamakating Hollow, and then passed over the Sackett road as far as Nathan Kinne's, in &e West Settlement of Thompson. Beyond this thare was no road over which a loaded vehicle could be drawn, although the Sackett road was soon after (1800) cut through to Cochecton ; consequently they were under the neces^ty of carrying their household goods and pro- visions on their backs from Kinne's to their reddence west of White Lake. Back and forth, piece by piece, looking well' to the line of marked trees — ^the job was tedious and hard to ac- complish ; but it was performed at last, and it does not require a vivid imagination to appreciate the Pintlers' satisfaction when the final back-load ^as deposited on 'the puncheons of their bark-covered cabin. Here they were in the pathless woods, some half a dozen mile's from a neighbor, twenty-five nules from a gri^-miU or a doctor, and a stiU greater distance from a store of any kind. Until a grist-mill was built at White Lake, the Pintlers were obliged to carry ftie flour consuined by them from Mamakating Hollow on their shoulders. Sweet must have been the bread made from that flour! And whien they were able to feed' a cow on the grass of their newly cleared fields, and had milk and butter with their bread, how luxurious must have seemed their food ! Especially was it relished (the SWeet, brb'wn. rye-loaf) when it was accompanied with venison and maple- sugar or honey. PreViotts to settling in Bethel, Adam Pintler had maa-ried a young lady whose courage and fortitude rendered her a wife every way -suitable to an existence in the woods. And it is our duty to record the fact that Eve, the wife of the first white man of the town, did not lead her Adam into trouble, and that, if he found Bethel a paradise^ her folly never caused his expidsion from it. The Pintlers occupied their farim until 1804 without knowing THE TOTm cm BETHEL. 119 wIk) possessed the fee simple. They then ascertained that it "Was owned by John K. Beekmau^ from whom they purchased it. George and Peter Pintler^ descendants of the oiigmal settlers^ still occupy the place.* After the Sackett road was opened from Mamakating HoUow to the Delaware, and the .Newbuiiig^ and Oodhecton Turnpike Oraapatiy was organized, several families moved into the town. Thej were principally from Orange county, the States of New Jersey and Connecticut, and from the north of Ireland. They were generally of small pecuniary means ; but intelligent, hardy and industrious. In addition to this, many of them had bad the advamtdge of correct moral example and training in the older communities from which they had emigrated, nx 1807, there were between lliirty and forty families located within the present limits of the town. The following memorandanin regard to them, made by the late Jonas Gregory, show where they settled. They were furnished us in 1870, when Mr. Gregory's mind was still vigorous; nevertheless it is. possible that he has omitted the names of a few early settlers : "I came to Bethel from Blooming Grove, Orange county. New York, June 7, 1807. There were then at White' Lake, William Peckt and family, a grist-mill and saw-mill j Edward Austin, who had a t&,n-yard and shoe-shop ; Obadiah Tibbetts, Michael Dekay and sons, . and Jesse Crocker, aU of whom were from Orange county; two families of Pintlers from New Jersey; one named Potter from the same State ; and one named Thurston, from Salisbury, Connecticut. "At Mongaup Valley were Aaron Heuras, J. Hfeuras,>.E. Blanchard, Adam Barmore, and the noted Colonel Michael Mudge. "In Hurd Settlement were two families named Hurd, viz: Graham and Chauncey Hurd; also David Jackson, Jehiel and Joseph Smith, Gilbert and Abijah Mitchell, and Thody Abbott. "ui the woods between Hurds' and. White Lake were the families of Abner Hollister, Nathan Heacock, Carey and Alexander Brown. " The Hurds, Jacksons, Hollister, Heacock and Carey were from Connecticut. " West of White Lake were John Cross, Alexander Eutledge and WiUiam Brown from Ireland. -- "At Black Lake, Walter Knapp and family, from Cornwall, Orange coimty. Knapp had a Saw-mill, or the;-e was one there. " There were also in the town John Sherwood and Matthias Fuller, from Connecticut. * statement of Jonas Gregory. t WiUiam Peck was Beckman'a miller, and acted as his agent. 120 HISTOBt OP SUU/IVAN COUNTY. "There w&ce also some single men and others who did not become residents, and two or three families in Fulton Settlement. "John K. Beekman was the owner of Great Lot No. 16, in the Southern Eange of the Great Patent, and it was through his efforts that many of the settlers came. He built a grist-mill and saw-mill on the outlet of White Lake — ^the first in the town — ^for the accommodation of the people; and at one time at- tempted to establish a linen thread manufactory in connection with his mills. To do so he purchased very valuable machinery in Europe, which was captured by the British during the wsi,r of 1812, while on its way to New York. It has been said that he intended to send flax from the sea-board to White Lake ; cause it to be made into thread there ; and then cart the thread back to tide-water. This may be so ; but a more reasonable hypoth- esis is, that he intended to encourage the growing of the raw article in Bethel, where it was then raised as cheaply as in any other town of the United States. "A town-meeting at which a vote was taken on the question of separation from Lumberland, was held in March, 1808, at the house of David Canfield, at Kocky pond, about two miles from the mouth of Ten Mile river. The polls were open three days. Not a stone was left unturned. Every one voted who had a legal right to do so, and some who had no right. One man was taken by Peck's team, who had not been from Irelaaid more than seven or eight months, and his vote counted as much as any other man's. " The first Justice's court ever held in the town was at Jesse Crocker's, before Ichabod Carmichael, Esq., of Lumberland. The parties were Adam Barmore and Thomas Smith. The suit was concerning a dog that was shot while in chase of a deer. Barmore and Smith were their own pettifoggers. "When the Hurds* commenced logging, they put stones between the logs to keep them asunder, supposing that ^ey would burn better in that way. "Mudge got his title of Colonel in the following manner: A worthless fellow, whose name was McKelpan, got in jail at Kingston for debt. Mudge had business at Kingston, and while there went to see McKelpan, who was an old acquaintance. As Mudge looked into the prison, 'Hello!' says the other, 'how do you do. Colonel? I am so glad to see you, Colonel ! How's all the folks?' Mudge had a secret love of titles, and to be thus dubbed a Colonel in the presencfe of strangers pleased him, and put him in the best of humors. This the cunning fellow knew, and took advantage of, by imploring the Cdond to be his surety, * Grraham Hurd at first lived iu a care, which is still known as the Book Cabin. Bioharfl D. Childs, of Nevorsink, informs us that, when he was a lad, he visited Hiird Settlemint, and "put up" at this cave. THE TOWN OP BETHEL. 121 liludge could not say, no ! to one who thus tickled his vanity. He gave his bond for $100 — the fellow was permitted to enjoy ■the liberty of the jail, commonly known as ' the hmits,' the bounds of which did not hold him long ; for he ran away, and the Colonel had to pay the amount of the bond, which his friends Sersisted in terming his commission. Although he has been ead many years, he is yet remembered as Colonel Mudge. " The first settlers came to the village of Bethel about the year 1802. They came on the Sackett road, which had been cut through but a short time. " One of the Pintlers carried flour on his back over this road, from Gumaer's grist-mill in Mamakating." In January, 1870, there were, including Jonas Gregory, but six men in the town who were there in 1807. Most of the origi- nal families have disappeared — ^not even their names are now borne by residents of Bethel. Jonas Gregory (1^0) has a copy of Webb's map of 1762, which shows that Tingley & Cox, Catharine Livingston, Philip Livingston, CorneUus Tiebout, John Aspinwall, William Alex- ander, Robert Livingston and Christian HarteU were among the principal owners of lands in Great Lots 1 and 18. From this it seems that John Wenham sold these lots soon after the partition of 1749, by which he became their owner. John Lindsley came to Bethel in 1805, and was the first practicing physician of Bethel. He was a gentleman of irre- proachable character — was elected Member of Assembly in 1823 and 1829, and was the standing Supervisor of his town until he declined the ofi&ce because he cotdd no longer conscientiously act as a member of the Town Board of Excise. He removed to Indiana about the year 1835. While he was a resident of Bethel, he lived at the A. HoUister place. Doctor A. A. Gillespie, one of his pupils, succeeded him, and is stiU practicing his profession. The professional Hfe of the two, in Bethel, extends through a period of more than sixty-five years. A man named Dewitt was one of the early preachers of the town. His meetings were held at the house of John Cross. Messrs. Greer, Fisk, McCauley, Hopkins, and others, also preached here in the primitive days of the settlement. John Cross kept the fijst store, which was where (1870) George O. Prazer resides. In 1807 and 1808 there was a school in Hurd Settlement kept by Joseph Smith, and another in, the rear of P. J. Pinfcler's present residence, of which Thaddeus Judson was the teacher. Doctor Copeland, it is said, kept the first school at Bethel, and G. P. Price at Mongaup Valley. Abraham Piatler was the first white person who died in the tpwn, Nat. Peck the second, and James Potter's wife the third, 122 HISTOBY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. The first tavern was kept by Jesse Crocker.. He was mncb liked, as his conduct was shaped in accordance with the " square" rules of honesty and fair dealing. Mr. Crocker was the first Justice of the town. The pioneers of Bethel were of a more thriving class of p6opte than first comers generally are. As an evidence of this, we mention the fact that in half a dozen years after "White Lake was settled, there were five frame-houses ia the town. These were occupied by Messrs. Peck, Austin, Crocker, Judson and Cross. The north-east section was settled from 1805 to 1808, by the Pultons, Zalmon Hawley, James Luckey, Joseph Pinckney,. William Praser, Stephen Northrup, and others. In 1808, there were nine families in that section. According to the loose statements which usually characterize gazetteers, Catharine Pulton was the first white child born ia the- town. When she first saw the light, there were not less than twenty families in the present limits of Bethel, some of whom had been there from six to nine years. The priority of her birth is true as to Pulton Settlement only.* This section was from the first very attractive. Those whc occupied it were generally men of worth, who were contented with the good things witnia their reach, and with striving for those things which concern the highest interests of the human family. They avoided broiling and contention, and were in- dustrious and frugal. Stephen Northrup was bom in Salisbury, Connecticut, in 1780,. and died in Pulton Settlement in 1872. At the time of his de- cease, he was the last of the pioneers of his locality. He came to Bethel in May, 1807, and after viewing the country, concluded to go back to his birthplace. When he reached the Neversink, he met Zalmon Hawley, one of his old neighbors, who was moving to Bethel with Ms family. Hawley was very glad ta meet him ; but sorry to learn that he was returning. After a conversation concerning their affairs, Northrup was led to alter his purpose once more, and again return to Pulton Settlement, This meeting took place on the east side of the Neversink. The river was very much swollen by the spring rains. There was no bridge, and the ford was impassable : at least Hawley did not dare to put his oxen, cart, wife, and children in peril by attempting to cross in the usual manner. So he took the yoke from the necks of his cattle, and compelled them to swim over a short distance from the ford, where the water was smooth arid deep. Then he unloaded his cart, took off its wheels and box, and conveyed or towed every thing to the opposite shore in or * Adam, a ion of John PintleT, was born Hay 2, 1$06, and Eve Fintler wag bora October 7, 180d. Both of these births preceded that of CMharine Fnlton. THE TOWK OF BETHEL. 123 iJeihmd a log canoe ! The task T\ras difficult and dangerous : but was safely pierformed, taid the adventurers proceeded on their They sptot two days ia teaveling from the Never sink to the west-branch of the Mongaup, When they passed the latter, a. heavy rain set in. Night was approachiog, and they were in an almost trackless forest, far from human habitation. The. dis- comforts of the day were bad enough ; but they were far exceeded by the prospective miseries of the night. The first care of the men was for the voung mother and her two little children. With an axe they made the frame of a diminutive tent^ which they covered with blankets. In this, Mrs. Hawley and the little ones passed the dismal night, while the men fared as well as they could under the dripping trees. On the third day they reached a clearing ibade By one of the Fultons, where they found a deserted cabin. Into this Hawley moved. Having thus piloted his friends to their new home, Northrup returned to Ooimecticut, and three weeks later came back with his family. . After occupying a temporary shelter for a few months, he moved to the place where he spent the re- mainder of his days. Duriug the last fifty-six years of his life, his daily walk and conversation were m accord with the strict rules, of the Presbyterian faith. He never sought to oc- cupy a conspicuous position in this Hfe ; but was content with what was far better: the discharge, honestly and earnestly, of those duties which give life and beauty to Christian society. Joseph K. Northrup, a son of Stephen, was the first male child bom in Fulton Settlement. • We have already alluded to William Brown, one of the pio- neers of Bethel. He was a native of Ireland, and exhibited many of the traits of the "north-country" — traits which, if modified by a certain degree of mental culture, are apt to give a n^an prominence and weight in some commimities,'but which are repulsive to many gentle and refined people, and especially so to those whose gentility borders on the effemiaate. Mr. Brown was a farmer, inn-Keeper, surveyor and office-holder. On the organization of the town he was elected Clerk, and when the county was erected, he was made its Treasurer. He held the lartter office until 1826, and was- succeede#by Jesse Towner, of Thompson. Mr. Brown believed that the opening of a great thoroughfare from Newburgh to Cochecton would soon add much to the population and business of the country through which it passed. He came to BBthel before the road was located in that region, and bought a tract of land through which he was led to believe the turnpike would run. But he was disappointed. The line w&iS made to run north of his purchase, and his aim in coming 124 HISTOEY OP SULLIVAN OOUNTT. to Bethel would be defeated unless he could buy another tract through which the road would be built. While making arrange- ments to do so, Samuel F. Jones of MonticeUo learned Brown's intention, and determined to buy the land himself. The owner lived in Albany, and Jones started for that city by the way of Newburgh. At the latter place he expected to take passage in a sloop to the State capital. After he left home the object of Jones' journey became public, and Brown determined promptly to reach Albany first by the overland route. He mounted his horse and proceeded to Kingston by the most direct roads. Prom Kingston he rode to Albany, at which place he arrived in advance of Jones. With the deed for the land in his pocket, Brown met his wily competitor in the streets of Albany and derided him in true "north-country" style. The affair caused considerable amusement at the time, and it was reported that Brown used his surveyor's compass to enable him to travel in a straight course from Bethel to Albany. Of course, this part of the story was a canard, as no horse could then cross the Catskill mountains, or pass through our tangled woods. The late Matthew Brown was a son of William, and inherited a full measure of the craft and cunning of his father. William Brown was a slave-holder, and owned a black female chattel as late as 1823, when she became free under the laws of the State. There is ground for belief that Rev. Thomas Greer, a Presby- terian clergyman of Minisink,t Orange county, was the first minister of the gospel who visited the town of Bethel, where he preached as early as 1808, in the tavern kept by Jesse Crocker, which was nearly opposite the ground on which now stands the parsonage of the Covenanter or Reformed Presbyterian Church of White Lake. Mr. Greer was a plain, earnest man, and did not highly value an elegant exterior, or seek respect and admiration by those polite artifices which mark the conduct of less worthy men. Hi s deportment was quiet and unobtrusive. While pastor of the Westtown congregation, he loved to seek "jewels for his Master" in the by--vyays of the wilderness country, and while thus engaged, bore the ills and discomforts of a frontier-life without complaint. Cheerfully he forded our rivers, and hopefully he threaded our forest-paths, while seeking some settlement in the wOds ; for in the future he saw that the scene of his toil would be occupied by a numerous population, and that his labors would inure to their benefit, as well as promote the highest interests of those who had "wandered into a far country." Previous to Mr. Greer's first visit to White Lake, some of the settlers had heard of him ; but none of them had ever seen him. THE TOWN OF BETHEL. 125 He sent word to them that on a certain Sabbath he would " preach for them at Crocker's house," and the news was joyfully com- municated from the dwellers in one log-house to those of another, until every one far and near knew that he was coming. They were to have preaching again — a privilege which they had enjoyed in the older settlements, but which they had not antici- pated for many years after their removal to White Lake. Mr. Greer reached Crocker's on Saturday ; and was surprised at finding quite a number of people collected there, who were evidently laboring under excitement, a circumstance which was owing to a trial before a Justice of the Peace, the litigants being a couple of backwoodsmen who had a dispute about some trivial matter. Finding that no one recognized him, he concluded that he would not make himself known, until it was necessary to do so, and that he would quietly study the chA-acter of the people when they were unrestrained by the conciousness that the eyes of a clergyman were upon them. He soon found that the sins which predominate among men removed from the re- straints of older and larger communities, prevailed among the settlers of Bethel. Too many of those present were addicted to rum-drinking, profanity and kindred vices, the trial having broi^ht together all the tiplers and tavern-loungers of that section of countiy. His pious soul was shocked at seeing God's image distorted and marred by inebriation; at hearing rude jests and blasphemous revilings come from mouths which should have uttered words of purity and praise ; at the violent buffetings administered by hands which should have been em- ployed in useful industry, or used in works of mercy and love; and at other conduct which showed that this people needed admonition of "the wrath to come." While he was gazing at the doings of the crowd, he attracted the attention of a man who was just dlTink enough to discover that there was antagonism of some kind between the parson and himseK. This man came up to Mr. G. and proposed to fight him ; but tl. .) latter mildly declined, when the other, somewhat astonished, demanded to know whether he could fight — fighting probably being one of the accomphshments of that day. Mr. Greer replied that he did not know ; that when he .was young he had done something at it ; but that he feared he was then out of practice. The bellicose individual then knocked off Mr. Greer's hat, in order to aggravate him ; but he quietly picked it up and got away, much to the disgust of the other, who con- sidered, as did many others, that he had done all that could be expected to arouse the wrath of the stranger. At night the jdrinking and profanity continued to a late hour. Mr. Greer, fatigued with his journey, and saddened by what he had witnessed, retired early, but not to rest. His bed was di- IM HISTOBI OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. rectiy over the bar-room, and with his whispered evening-prayer were mingled the fumes of whisky and Jamaica rum, and the uproar of the revelers. To sleep was impossible as long as the carousing was kept up ; and the only recourse of the good man was to watch the stars through the roof, and to endeavor to possess his soul in patience. About midnight, a tipsy individual came to the room where Mr. Greer was, ahd after undressing, reprimanded him for occu- pying more than halt the bed. Without a murmur, he moved as far to one side as possible, when his unexpected bed-feUow laid down beside him, remarking that "it was a de^ of a pretty place to put a gentleman (meanii^ himself) where the Lord oould look right down upon him through the roof!" The "gen- tleman," however, did not seem to suffer much by any such intrusion upon his privacy; for he was soon fast asleep, and snoring loudly, much to the annoyance of the poor missionary. The whole night was a very unpleasant one to Mr. Greer. He did not get asleep until near morning, and was soon after aroused by ms fellow-lodger, who complained that he was dry, and invited him to go down and take a drink. Mr. Greer begged to be excused, and said he would try to sleep a little more. The "gentleman" then dressed, and went in pursuit of something to moisten his tongue and throat. Mr. Greer slept again ; but his slumber was brief. Soon after daylight, the landlady began to bustle about the house. She had breakfast to prepare, and her household goods to put in order. It was necessary that every thing should appear decent when the minister came. Finding that Mr. Greer was still in bed, and not inclined to get up, she was considerably vexed, and cried out to him, "Old man, you had better get out of that! We are going to have preaching here to-day by Mr. Greer, and must clean up the house!" Of course, the " old man" abandoned his couch without fui-ther wasning. After washing his face and hands, and combing his ■disordered locks in the open air, he took a short walk, and then had breakfast, when he felt much refreshed. While loitering aroimd the premises, in reply to some inquiry, he said that, "if thdy were to have preaching, he would stay, especially as he did not like to travel on the Sabbath." The necessary preparations were made for the meeting. Benches were extemporized-;— a table for the minister placed in the right position — the table covered with a clean linen cloth, Upon which were laid a Bible and a volume of Hymns and Psalms, and the conduct of all approached nearer and nearer to what was fit and proper for the day and the occasion. By-and-by, the people be^an to assemble by ones, and twos and families. AH inquired if Mr. Greer had come, and were THE TOWN OF BETHEL. 127 somewliat disappointed when they leariled that he had not. Many anxious glances were cast in the direction from which he was expected. The time for the opening exercises was near ; some wno had come for worthy purposes, looked serious and ■downcast, thinking, perhaps, that their time on earth was rapidly slipping away, while they remained among those who were not with Q-od's elect, and seriously asking themselves whether God would ever move them to forsake their slqs, and Uve according io His laws. Others, who were more volatile, amused themselves in various ways. Among other things, it was proposed that one •of the company should personate Mr. Greer, and he was accord- ingly iastalLed as the preacher for the day, and proceeded to read a chapter from the iBible. The " old man," as they called Mr. Greer, durine these per- formances, was a quiet spectator ; but when the appointed time ■came, he arose and said, " K you have no objection, I will be Mr. Greer." As no one objected, he proceeded with the service, took a text, and preached an excellent sermon, in which he told some very pertinent truths and gave them much wholesome advice, which we may believe was suited to the capacity and iabits of those who hstened. His hearers were greatly mortified at having treated "the old man" rudely, and they made many apologies, all which he ac- <5ppted with his usual kindness and good nature. The good people of Bethel never treated him with neglect, afterwards ; but we are sorry to say that he became unpopular at a subsequent period with the rigid professors of Presbyteri- anism. Tti the early settlement of our county, the Presbyterians and Baptists struggled, each for their own communion, to obtain the ■vantage ground. Fierce and unyielding was the controversy concemiag the lawfulness of "sprinkling." In the bar-room and in the pulpit, at the logging-froHc and at the prayer-meeting — anywhere and everywhere, when a few of the profane or the pious came together, the controversy was carried on — sometimes with good nature — sometimes angrily — always earnestly. It was not surprising, therefore, that, while some saw then- way dear so far as the subject in dispute was concerned, others became confused and bewildered. Of the latter class were two * JFprestburgh converts. They were Presbyterians ; but they would not enter the Church as members, except in the manner prescribed by the Baptists. And so Mr. Greer immersed them, Mke a good liberal soul, as he was. Both sprinkling and im- mersion were lawful in his eyes. Many Presbyterians thought he yielded too much to the Baptists, and some imagined, probably, that he would desert 128 HISTOKY OP SUIilTAN COUNTY. the Church of Calvin ; but he remained faithful to the Presby- terians as long as he lived.* People who live in a new and sparsely settled region are often palled upon to make considerable sacrifices in the cause of hu- manity and mercy, and however loose may be the ties which sometimes bind together such communities, but few persons- thus situated refuse to freely give their time and means to re^lieve the distress of a neighbor. If his cabin takes fire from .the burning woods, they turn out and build another for him ; if he is from any cause unable to plant his newly cleared fields, or gather his crops, they lend him a helping hand ; indeed, if any misfortune befaUs an upright and hard-working pioneer who is not himself a thoroughly selfish mam, other honest and laborious pioneers will freely assume each his portion of the calamity. Perhaps nothing will so stir their sympathies as an alarm that a child is missing or lost in the woods. In 1810, nearly the entire population of Bethel consumed eight days in searching; the wilderness for a little boy named John Glass, and did not cease to hunt for him until they rehnquished aU hope that he was living. The parents of this lad lived near White Lake. During the- -summer of the year mentioned, his mother sent him about a mile into the woods to carry dinner to some men who were en- gaged in chopping. He reached them safely, and started for home, after which he wandered from the track which led to his father's house, and became hopelessly bewildered. He was not missed until evening, when the choppers returned home without him, and it was found that he had not reached the house pre- viously. Every parent may imagine the scene which then ensued -—the distress of the mother, and the wild energy and activity of the father. The night was spent in giving utterance to frantic misery by the one ; and in a fruitless search by the other, assisted by all who had heard of the circumstance. In the morning the news was spread far and wide, and all joined in beating the swamps and thickets, and so continued to do from day to day until they lost courage and hope. No trace of the lost child was found, and every one believed that he had perished from terror, hunger and exposure, or had met with a more speedy and less fearful fate by being devoured by wild beasts, which then and there were known to be numerous and ferocious. When young Glass left the path, he traveled almost directly - from home. When night overtook him, he laid down beside a fallen tree, weary, hungry and half crazed, and slept until morning. He then started again at random to find his way out of the woods. He thuS continued to wander for ten days, with * Verba) statement of Simeoq M. Jordan. THB TO'WN OF BETHEL. 12& notbing to eat except a few wild berries, and seeing no Hving thing except an occasional beast or bird of the forest. One night, as he was in a levered sleep, he was awakened by the bleating of a deer, and then heard the angrj snarl and growl of a oatatBount, and knew that the ferocious axumal was ddnking the blood of his hafmless victim. On the eleVeath day of his wandering, he was a pitiable object. His body was emaciated and lacerated, his feet were sore and swollen, his clothing was in tatters, and he was so worn and exhausted that h© could with difficulty stapd up. He would have soon laid down, to die, when he heard a distant cow-bdl. The sound gave him renewed life. He tottered forward in the direction from which it came, and discovered a clearing, in which were several cattle. It was near night. The animals, when they saw him^ started slowly for home. "With the utmost diffi- culty he followed them. FmaUy his strength so fair failed that he was obliged to crawl upon his hands and knees. He con- tinued to do so until he saw &e house of a person named Lair, who lived on the Oallicoon. When Mrs. Lair went out to milk the cows, she discovered the poor lost boy upon the ground near her door, and throwing down her pail, took him in ber arms, and carried him into her dwelling. Notwithstanding she lived on the outskirts of civili- zation, and was unlearned and almost beyond the influence of Christianity, she had a good, motherly heart and a soimd head. She treated' the lost boy as kindly as if he had been her own son, and with as good jtidgment as if she had been one of the regular faculty. She washed hina, dressed his sores, and put him in a wai^i, soft bed, ^d then gave him nourishing food in small quantities. Soon hie was able to tell his name and resi- dence. News of his escape was sent to hiB friends, who for two days had ceased to search for him, believing that he was dead. James Glass lived to be an old man. For many years he had a home with William Stewart. He never fuUy recovered from the effects of his adventur-es in the woods, and always needed the controlling influence of a mind more sound than his own.*" About the year 1811, William Gille^ie removed frtnn the city of New York to Bethel. In oonjunetion with Josiah C. HoOk, Mr. Gillei^e established a store aJb White Lxke — the second in the town. Until his death, Mr. Gillespie was a highly respect- atble resident 6i Bethel. In 18^0, he was elected a Meuaber of Assembly from Uistef and Swllivan countiefs, aad we believe at one time was the candidate of his political party for Bepresent-. aiive in OoBigi'eSfi in Opposiiiosa to CJha^les H. Buggies; but was d«feated. £te Was a Judge of the Court of Common Pieas £or * Hunters ot SttlllVin. 9 130 HISTOBY OF SUIiLITAN COXJNTY. nearly twenty years, '■ and First Judge of the county from 1835 to 18M, when he became ineligible from age. He was also a Commissioner of Loans for several years, as well as a Ruling Elder of the Associate Reformed Church. He was emphatically an honest man, and exhibited every trait of a devout and sincere Christian. His death was very sudden. On Sunday, May 28, 1849, he attended church as usual ; was taken ill on his return home, and died at 4 o'clock on Monday morning. Mr. Hook, who was associated with Mr. Gillespie in business in the early days of the town, was a gentleman of the old school ' — of lofty and pretentious bearing — eeremgnious and hospitable. He was Supervisor of Bethel for several years. His old age was marked by misfortune. His pride was chastened by poverty. On the 20th of February, 1841, Edward, a much-loved son, was lost at sea by the capsiziag of the schooner Three Friends, while passing from St. Joseph's to Mobile, soon after which Mr. Hook removed from the town. Jesse Crocker, the first tavern-keeper of Bethel, was a man who enjoyed the respect and esteem of the public ; but he carried on a busmess which almost always brings sorrow and suffering to the families of those who engage in it as weU as to the families of their customers. If we doubted the doctrine of compensation for sin in this hfe as well as in the life to come, our doubts would be removed by studyi:^ the history of men who have been aptly styled retailers of liquid damnation. If they do not themselves become the victims of their own caUii^, they generally live to see some one as dear as their own souls reduced by it until he sinks below the level of a beast. Nelson Crocker, a descendant of the old tavern-keeper, was equally noted for his love of hunting, his blasted hfe, and, his tragic death. No hunting-party was complete without him. He knew every foot of the woods, and when he accompanied an expedition after game, his companions felt sure of success. Many interesting anecdotes could be told of his adventures ; but the n>Ilowing, which we find in the "Himters of SuUivan," must suffice : "Crocker often hunted north-west of Big pond, in the vicinity of 'Painter Swamp.' During the .days of Joseph Peck, Paul Horton, William Brown and Jared Scott, this ground was as good for deer-hunting as any other, and where these animals were most niimerous, panthers generally abounded. '.'■ Nelson here found more of the last-named than he wished to see. ■While on the outskirts of the ^wamp with his dog, he struck ike trail of no less than seven panthers. The panther is gener- ally found singly, or at moat in pairs. Why so many of them were here together is a matter of conjecture. It was probably the rutting season with them, and that there were six males in THE TOWN OF BETHEL. 131 pursuit of a single female. The fact that Nelson found them Tinusuallv ferocious gives color to this supposition. " Crocker followed their tracks until he was hungry, when he aat down upon a log to eat his luncheon. This he divided into two parcels, one of which he. offered to his dog; but the latter, instead sharing of his master's repast, showed his teeth and seemed to be bristling for a fight with an unseen enemy. Just as the hunter swallowed his last morsel, a large panther sprang by him like a flash, almost brushing his shoulder as it passed. a«thet could eatch bim, and it did not seebi disposed to follow nim to the upltmd. "After waiting several hours, Crocker, armed with nothing but his hatchet and hunting-lmife, started for his gun, and recovered it. After reloading, he endeavored to make his dog fdlow the panther's track; but the cur had had enough m panther-hunting, and refused to stir an inch. They then went a few yards from the swamp, when the dog commenced howling. The panther ajiswered with a loud squall, and repeated th& challenge as it approached for aiiother nght. The dog crouched close to the hunter's feet. Nelson, who had so recently fled ingloriously, because no glory could be won with an empty rifle in a flght with a panther, now coolly awaited the approach of the ferocious monster. Boon &e beast appeared. Nelson covered it with the muzzle ; but reserved his fire until the animal was ^thin one boimd of hiuij when he sent a ball crashing into it& biEain. "Without further adventure, he skinned the game he had shot during the two days, and returned home. There are men yet living who saw the pelts of the panthers he shot kx 'Painter Swamp.' ' As we have already intimated, Nelson Crocker was of respect- able parentage. AJicohoHc liquors were the bane of his hfe. A depraved appetite was rapidly sinking him ia the social scale to the level of the viagrant and pauper. This he kn^w and deplored, as does almost every other poor drunkard who is passing down the inclined plane of decency to destruction. For twenty-five years, he frequently lost all control of himself, and continued in a state of beastly intoxication for days and weeks. Then would follow a sober interval, and expressions of bitter regret for his excesses. Sometimes he declared that death was preferable to a hfe of drunken degradation. In the summer of 1843, when the total abstinence reform was potent, he joined the Temper- ance Society of Bethel, and for nearly three months successfully resisted the enemy of his life. Kind hands were extended to him — cheering smiles brightened the road to honor and useful- ness. But in an evil hour, he joined Jacob Hunger and others of his old associates in a hunting-expedition, who took with them a supply of rum. After searching ihe woods for game, the party gathered at night in a hunter's hut in the woods. Here, as was their custom, they ^peat the evening merrily, and draiyc freely, and here Crocker violated his pledge. A wild debauch of a week's duration followed. Whe& Nelson awoke fooni it, it seemed to him that his last hope of a better life was lost ; th«t death was preferable to a life of shame and self-imposed abase- ment; and so the old hunter, by shootmg hinasell, added the t THE TOVTN OF BETIMiL. 139 isorrible offense of self-murder to the compea-ative venalities of his life. Bears still abound in Bethel, and when wounded or defending iSkenx young, are suftcieatly ferocious to afford the hunter all 13»e excitement he should desiare. Under sueh eiroumstanees, ihey do not hesitate to ai^ack a man. Many have had battles with tiiem ; but notwillh'ataQdttig tlie great strength and weight of bears, and their tenacity of fife, no one in Sullivan has been fatally injured by them. In November, 1865, James P. Calbreath was hunting in a laurel swamp about three miles from "White Lake. He was armed with a rifle and revolver, and had with him two or three gOtjd dogs. The latter found a very large she-bear, and two well-grown cubsi, and a noisy battle immediately ensued between the dam and dogs, while the young animals ran aUray, and were passing Mr. Calbrea4h, when a biJlet from his rifie caused one of them to fall. He immediately reloaded, hoping to get a shot at the one with which his dogs were fighting ; but much to his surprise the one he had shot got upon its feet, and ran toward him in a rage. A second ball caused it to tumble over, squall- ing for help. The mother, hearing the signal of distress, rushed toward the spot, and crashed through the laurels. When she came within sight, Mr. Oalbreath aittempted to shoot her with his revolver. It snapped. He tried again. The caps were worthless. What was to be done? An unloaded rifle, a useless revolver, encompassed on every side by tangled laurels, and an enraged bear af(proaehing and within twenty feet of him, did not afford a flattering prospect of longevity. With a vivid pi-ospeet of being crHshed, torn to pieces, and devoured, he dropped his revolver, clubbed his rifle, and stood ready to de- liver est least one stunning blow upon the head of his rapidly approadhiag enemy, when the dbgs rushed up behind, and fast- ened their teeth info the hams of Mrs. Brum. The effect was magical. She turned about in a fury to avenge the insult, ran after her assailants, and failing to reach them, went away, appar- ently forgetting her human foe altogether. Mr. Calbreath was thus left "master of the situation," amd escaped uninjured. Whether he remained in ttie swamp long enough to skin his game, we cannot say; but of this we are certain, the young bear was taken from the woods by some one. It was very fat and weighed one hundred pounds.* BtjsHViLiiE. — About the yeaa- 1860, Abial P. Bush, General Xiuther Bush, and other members of the same family, built a tannery at tliia place. Kie establidatment brought disaster to t%em, as well as financial raiin im their suceessors and others. * SnlliTan Connt; Bepnblican. 134 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN OOTJNTT. In March, 1852, the Bushville post-office was established, of which Myron Grant was the fiist post-master. MoNGAUP Valley. — Until 1847, this place was known as the Mongaup Mill — a grist-mill having been built by the Livingston family at the point where the Newburgh and Cochecton turnpike crosses the Mongaup. Great Lot 15 was owned by that family,, and finally passed to the children of John C. Tillotson, whose wife was a Livingston. Li 1807, five famihes were hving in the valley or its neighborhood. Forty years later, there were but four dwelling-houses in the place, and about twenty-five in- habitants. ^ A new era then commenced. The magic rod of enterprise touched the valley, and it awoke from the sleep of ages. The days of passive respectabihty were passed, and the wise spirit of progress ruled. The Messrs. Kiersted saw that Mongaup Valley possessed superior advantages for manufacturing leather. In 1847, they purchased a site for a tannery and village. They also bought the hemlock-bark on ten thousand acres of land in Great Lot 15,. and in 1848, with John W. Swann, a practical tanner, put up extensive buildings. The erection of one of the best-ordered, and best-managed tanneries in the country was soon followed by the building of dwellings and places of busiaess, which are second to none in the town. In 1859, a census was taken, when it was found that the place contained 664 inhabitants, of whom 365 were under 20 years of age. Of the residents, 477 were born in the United States, 167 in Ireland, and 20 elsewhere.. 277 were Eoman Cathohcs.* The post-office at Mongaup Valley was estabhshed in 1848, when Wynkoop Kiersted was appointed post-master. The place has had two physicians. The second, Isaac Purdy, M. D., is stiU in practice, and the other, James W. Wells, M. D., died in 1858. Mongaup Valley has had but one lawyer (Robert L. Tillotson), who found so Uttle to do that he joined the federal army during the great rebeUion, and died while serving his country. Eobert L. Tillotson was of a genial and pleasant humor — an aristocrat by birth — a man of the people at heart. Ever bubbling over with wit, he was yet chivalrous and punctilious. Unfortunately he was of convivial inclinations, and had not sufficient -moral stamina to resist his morbid appetite — a fact which he himself deplored. He was a duellist withal. The following anecdote of him is authentic : With a young gentleman named Anthon and other friends, Tillotson visited a fashionable restaurant in the city of New * MSB. of Peter M. Lorgan. THE TOWN OF BETHEL. 135 York. WhUe there, he believed that Anthon wiUiulIy insulted him, and promptly challenged him. Anthon chose Bowde knives as weapons, and both proceeded with their seconds to a cele- brated dueUing-grbund in Virginia. TiUotson had been an adept in manly sports ; but was then paartially disabled by paralysis. He knew that his antagonist could cut him to pieces m less than ten seconds; yet he was determined to fight, and take the con- sequences. On the cither hand, the physical disparity between the two was so great, that Anthon would have committed down- right murder by carrying the affair to extremity. Therefore, when all was ready for a deadly encounter, Anthon threw away his weapon and apologized. The parties then became reconciled.. Black Lake. — This hamlet takes its name from the lake near which it is situated. A sole-leather tannery was established here by Strong & Mitchell. It was subsequently owned by Medad T. Morss, of Woodbourne. Among the former residents of Bethel about whom we intended to make inquiries, are the following: EHas Sanford, Captain Asa Eobinson, Eleazer Evierard, Seth Whitlock, John Ramsey, Archibald Coleman, Henry H. Crist, R6bert McCrabbie, Joku Voorhes, Asahel HoUister, Abner Lyon, Charles Dekay, Lee Mitchell, Thomas Lyon, Captain Eomar, John Coots, John Potts, Hiigh Dunlap, and others. But we have already reached the limits of the space we can devote to personal sketches in this chapter. Bethel has been generally exempt from prevaiMng diseases. This, however, has not prevented its people from indulging in panics on account of apprehended maladies. In July, 1832, when Asiatic cholera first visited the city of New York, they feared that it would sweep over the hills of Sullivan, and deci- mate Bethel. A Board of Health was organized, of which Josiah C. Hook was chairman, Nathan J. Sherwood secretary, Doctor John Lindsley health-officer, and John Maffit, Nathan: J. Sherwood and John Barhyte a committee to care for the sick. Not one of this seK-sacrificing committee ever saw a case of cholera. The people who were so much terrified by cholera, were less apprehensive of the miasmatic disiiaises of the far "West. In 1836, a few families removed from the town to the State of Indiana, and during the first year of their residence there eight individuals died. There were not as majiy deaths in Bethel during the same year.. Scarlet fever and diphtheria are the most fatal diseases which, have visited the town. In the fall of 1861, the latter caused freat mortality among children. In a single family (Philip S.. ulton's) no less than seven children died from it within a few.' 1S8 raSTiCPf 69 SPJuIftftK OWHTT. water. It has been sapposed that the Imdiaias gaT« ii the nape of Kau-ne-oi^^ga. That it 'wag ftam&E^A by BaUre tribes iwi tiie purpose of fishing is b^fop^ doubt, as dartit and other relics have been fotmd on its sho3?es. It is pnoseiye its waters have been stained with ihe Mood of battle. But tiie traij of the red man of the forest has been lost to the inemoiy of liying men, and the natural loveliness of the place whioh mnst Deposit. Several articles appeared in the " Ckr&nide," a Mon- ticeEo newspaper of that day, in which it was urged that the State should aid the construction of the woii. But nothing was accomplished. If the non-residents, who then owned CaUicoon, had run this road through it at their own cost, they would have increased the value of their property more than three-fold, ajid would have found a ready sale for their lands. Their lack of enterprise caused them to retain their unproductive real estate for many more years, to pay considerable amounts for taxes, and in the end they were glad to sell to speculators, who became rich by disposing of small lots to actual settlers. In 1831, Lucas Elmendorf, Nathaniel B. Hill, Peter Leroy and John Starr, junior, applied to the Legislature for an act to- authorize the construction of a " Branch-turnpike feom the First Great South-western Turnpike,* at the east bounds of the towns of Liberty, to the mouth of the Oallakoon stream." Notwith- standing the respectability of these gentlemen, and the great benefits which would have followed the consummation of their project, their application led to nothing but disappointment. Five years later the Great South-western Turnpike Company applied for a law empowering them to extend their road to Broome county. But for certain reasons that company was not in very good odor. Thek apphcation failed, as did the company soon afterwards. For several years previous to 1836, Lucas Elmendorf, John Suydam, Charles H. Rug^esi A. Bruyn Hasbrouck, Joseph S. Smith, Edward O'Neil, John Kiersted, Robert L. Livingston, John C. Tillotson and Freeborn Garretson annually besieged the Legislature of New York for a charter which would enable them to build a railroad from Eingston, in Ulster county, to Chenango Point, or Owego, or some other place — ^no matter where it was, provided it inured to their own benefit, or at least resulted in advantage to such of them as had wild and unoccu- pied lands. In the year last mentioned, they were rewarded for their assiduity. An act was passed authorizmg the construction of the Kingston Branch of the New York and Erie Railway, and the following gentlemen were appointed commissioners to receive subscriptions and distribute stock : John Kiersted, Charles W. . * Ckimmooly known as the Lucas Eilmendozf tumpilte. . THE moms m cm^com. ISl Chipp, Joseph S. SmiiUb, Jmaes Hardenfb&rgib, Jdkaiaals Hoom- beck, Alexander Story, Beiaet ©.vibois, Q. W. LaclJain, Archibald 0. Niven, John H. IlJatzer ead Hobeirt L. Livingston. "We pre- sume the commissioners did not find their labors very arduous, notwithstanding men oi wealth were more inclined to invest in railroad stock at that time, than they have been since it was ascertained that those who build railroads seldom receive back more than worthless certificates of stock. There was a vast amount of respectability invested in this undertaking, and but little money. We do not beheve that even preliminary surveys were made; 'but la/bor under the impression that there was an idea entertained that the proposed road would cross our county, and reach the Erie railway somewhere in the neighborhood of the Callicoon. The project met wdth but httle favor, and the result hardly reached the diginity of an abortion. Yet those who attempted to give it vitality deserve honor, for their motives were praiseworthy. They were some thirty years or so in ad- vance of their time ; for Kingston is now constructing a raUroad through the valley of Shandaken to the country beyond. As nas been shown, all these projects were failures, and as may be perceived either one of them would have been of incal- culable benefit 4;o the region of which we are writing. Substan- tially, Oalhcoon was unoccupied, except by wild beasts, until it was tolerably certain that the New York and Erie railroad would either cross it or be located in its vicinity. Before we speak of . the influx of German immigrants and others, we will endeavor to give a brief account of the few families which occupied tiie town from thirty-five to forty years ago. John DeWitt, a native of Dutchess county, and for many years a merchant of Newburgh, caused the first road to be made to and the first land to be cleaned in the town of Callicoon, and his son Andrew built the first house. The DeWitts were extensive land-holders in the Hardenbergh Patent, Old maps show that, individually and in conjunction with others, they owned thousands of acres in Great Lot No. 2. In 1794, John DeWitt, Jacob Eadcliff and John Thomas, with other real estate in SuUivan county, bought Division Lot No. 13, which is now a part of CaUicoon. Thomas subsequently sold his undivided one-third to Garrett B. Van Ness, after which the lands were partitioned, and DeWitt became the sole owner of Lots 23, 24, 28, 29,, 33 and 40 in Division No. 13. In 1607, Van Ness was dead. On the 1st of June of that year, Thferon Eudd (his executor), John DeWitt, Jacob EadcliflF, Saimuol Sacket and William Taylor^ entered into an agreement to open a road from "the grisat turnpike leading from Newburgh west- ward, at or near the Mongaup creek, and running thence a north- westerly couise in such maimer as the said John DeWitt shall 152 HISTOBT OV SUIdUVAN OOtJNTT. judge advisable, through or by some or all of the lots or divisions 10, 14, 9, 11 and 12 ;* and the division lot 13.t Said road to be made hj Jno. DeWitt." Each party was bound to pay a just proportion of the expenses. irom the papers of Mr. DeWitt we learn that he left his home in Newburgh on this business, on the 10th day of August, 1807, and was absent until the 5th of September. He was assisted in making the road by William W. Sacket, (who acted as surveyor, guide and adviser). Graham Hurd and his son MHo, William, Curtis and Chauncey Hurd, James S. Jackson, and Capt. Abijah Mitchell. It is difficult at this day to deter- mine the point where this road left the Newburgh and Coeheeton turnpike. The fact, however, that those who aided DeWitt were residents of Hurd Settlement, and that to some he was indebted for horse-keeping, board and provisions, as well as labor, furnishes an obscure clue to the locality of the improvement. However this may be, it is quite certain that the road penetrated Callicoon, and ran through the valley in which Youngsville is situated. DeWitt kept an accurate account of the money ex- pended by him, etc., and among the items are the following : "James S. Jackson's bill, 4 days carrying chain, £1 12s. Od. Curtis Hurd, do. 4 days dp. do. 1 12 Jackson and Hurd, do. 16 days do. do. 6 8 1807 — Sepi 5. — ^Returned home, myself and horse being out 25 days." While thus engaged, Mr. DeWitt seems to have received a favorable impression in regard to this wild region, and particu- larly to his land near Toungsville. His descendants believe that he determined to remove from Newburgh and engage in farming on lot No. 23. While opening the road, he contracted with Jackson and Curtis Hurd for chopping or jambing f over one hundred acres of forest, for doing which they rendered the following bill on the 8th day of February, 1808 : "John DeWitt to Curtis Hurd and J. S. Jackson, Db. To jambing or cutting down 83 acres, 2 B. and 26 p. £108 13s. Od. Chopping 1 piece, 19| acres, 56 p., 55 6 A survey and map of the chopping was made, 10 0" This chopping extended from the north line of the farm now * In Liberty. f Near Younggville, t Jambing consiaied in half serering a ntunber of trees, and then cansin? one to fall against another. In this way a great many half-gerered trees were prosfrated at once, and a considerable saving of labor effected. THE TOWN OP CAIJJCOON. 153 owned by George G. DeWitt to the -village of Toimgaville, and is bounded on tbe east by the creek, and on the west by lands, now, (1870) of Eumsey and Eoyce. It covered a large part of lot 23, where Eogler, Hardenburgh, William Benedict and Jacob S. Boyce reside. Some of it was qtiite narrow. The widest was at the south end. Whatever were Mr. De Witt's intentions, they were all frus- trated by his death, which occurred in April, 1808. Tradition says it was caused by a cold or fever contracted while he was acting as an arbitrator in the affairs of the Newburgh and Cochecton turpike company. He was a man of considerable means, and being of mixed French and Dutch blood, had a love of rural pursuits. His enterprise, energy, industry and wealth would have produced important results m the Callicoon country, if he had lived a few years longer. « Andrew DeWitt, a son of John, inherited the lands on which the improvement we have mentioned was commenced. What was done during the next four years is unknown — probably nothing, and the road became choked with fallen trees and other rubbish. The following extract from a letter written by Captain Abijah Mitchell, shows when the first house was built : "Bethel, April 19, 1813. " To Andrew Dewitt, Newbtn^h : — ^It has been impossible to complete your house on account of nails ; for they was not to be had here. Of the shingle naUs there was not enough. It will take about ten lb. more of the same kind. Send by the bearer, or the first opportunity. The house wiU be completed in one week after you send the nails." This house was built of logs and had a stone-chimney and ■fire-place; It stood on the flat land of ihe farm now occupied by the widow Rogler, near the north hne of George G. DeWitt, and near the creek. Its remains were removed by the late Stephen Carrier, and have often been seen by persons now living. On the 19th of May, 1814, the town acquired its original permanent white settlers. They consisted of William Wood, who was a widower, and his sons, Garrett, David and Edward. Each of the sons was married. Edward had four children, Garrett four, and David one child, aU of whom are now (1870) living, with the exception of Maria, daughter of Edward Wood, and wife of the late Abisha N. Lewis. The Woods were of Enghsh and Scotch descent and moved from near High Falls, in Ulster county, and settled on the farms now occupied by Her- man Lagemann, PhiUp Hammer aijd John Eoyce. To reach their new location they were under the necessity of going ten miles into the woods, with scarcely a road or a path to guide IM HISTOBY OV emJUVfAH COUNTY. them. The road ohbppedby John DeWitt in 1807, was literally choked and obliterated. These men hewed their way through the wilderness, and when doing so provided a part of the food consumed by the party. While some of them were, axe in hand, clearing away fallen trees and other obstructions, the others were scouring the thickets in search of game. Deer, turkeys, pheasants, rabbits, etc., were abundant, and it cost but little time and trouble to furnish a larder which would excite the envy of a modern epicure. When night came, they camped like a. band of strolling Indians — cooked and ate their supper — ^pro- vided a temporary shelter in which to rest, and went to sleep listening to the shriU bark of the fox, the howl of the wolf, and the soughing of the winds in the tree-tops. On reachmgthe end of their journey, they found the clearing and cabin of DeWitt. They took possession of the tenement and the cleared land, and occupied them until they built a house of their own, and had made some of their own land arable. Their nearest neighbors were the Hurds, of the town of Bethel j George Keesler and Simeon Tyler, at Beechwoods, and the Buckleys, in Liberty. There was not a store, a miU, a school, or (if we except Edward Wood, who was a cooper) a mechanic within ten miles of them. When they went to mill, two of the brothers generally accompanied each other, and each shouldered a bushel and a half of rye or com, and trudged off with it through the forest. When it was ground, they transported it home again on their backs, generally performing &e journey forth and back in a day. We are assured that Eve, the wife of Edward Wood, once carried a quantity of flax and her youngest child to a store on the Neversiiik, seventeen miles foom home, where she ex- changed the flax for butter, and returned with it and her infant, performing the thirty-four iniles in one day ! Our informaiit says she was sUghMy fatigued after her long journey, and we are not disposed to question the accuracy of tids part of his statement. A few years after they came to this region, Garrett Wood's wife died. Her funeral was the first one in the town. The circumstances attending it remind xtB of the severe simplicity of a primitive age. There was no kind and sympathizing neighbor to assist in performing the last sad o(ffiees for the dead. The tarembUng hands of her kindred closed her eyes, disposed her hands reverently across her breast, and otherwise prepared her corpse for the grave. One of her sisters-in-law went on foot to Buckley's store in Liberty, to procure a shroud and other neces- sary ai Charles F. Langbom buUt the first hotel of the town. Being threatened with pulmonary disease, he was advised to remove to a country abounding in hemlock, and he chosis Jefferson ville as his new place of residence. The future village at that time was nameless, and was little better than a rude clearing in the woods. Nevertheless the idea prevailed that it would speedily become a place of importance ; and to this idea probably Jeffer- sOnviUe owes its existence. Mr. Langhorn's hotel was far in advance of the time and place, and led him into financial em- barrassment and trouble which probably shortened his days. 166 HISTOBY OP SULLXVAS COUNTY. Like a majority of his ooimtryiuen, he was an ardent admirer of the author of the Declaration of Lidependeuce. This caused^ him to name his hotel the Je£ferson House. The name of the village followed as a natural consequence. The hotel founded, by Langhom stiU bears the name bestowed upon it. The early German settlers of CaUicoon were a rehgious people ;; but were not ascetic and puritanic in their n6,bits and disposi- tions. They brought with them the genial and pleasant customs of the Vaterland. They also brought with them a genuine love of the Christiah rehgion as it had been taught them by their parents and spiritual shepherds in Germany. Hence as ea^jly as 1842 they had formed a rehgious organization which hadi forty members, and was known as the "German EvangeUcaL Lutheran Congregation on the Callicoon," of which Aidrew WiUi was president ; Frederick Scheidell, cashier ; Philip Wey- rauch, John Mueller and Melchior Abplanalp, elders ; Christian Barth' deacon ; Heniy Becker, trustee ; and Victor Hofer, sec- retary. In 1845, Rev. Christian Sans was made pastor, and the buUmng of a church-edifice commenced. This Mr. Sans was a fair specimen of the educated German gentleman. He was not only famihar with the soKd branches of learaing, but was versed in those pohte arts which give charm to social iatercourse. Many were surprised that a man of his attainments should bury himself in the woods for the benefit of a few pioneers who could hardly furnish him with the bare necessaries of hfe. Neverthe- less, he labored zealously for their weKare by preaching to them, teaching a school, giving instruction in music, and soliciting donations outside of the town for the construction of their church. It was not long before he was interrupted in his work. A news- paper found its way into the settlement in which he was da- noxmced as an immoral man. The ofBcers of the church then investigated the charges against him, and found that they orig^ inated with a man named Henry Hiestand and his accomphces of New Orleans. After a careful inquiry, the officers dedlared that the reports were sheer fabrications and entirely false ; that they were satanic caltmanies; and that Mr. Sans was a faithful' clergyman, as well as " a talented and capable pedagogue." In addition to this, the congregation evinced their undiminished confidence in him by electing him their pastor for life. He re- mained in CaUicoon but a few months after this. In December, 1845, he went to Honesdale, where he became the pastor of a German Church. His removal was much resetted ; but a wor8e^ , calamity befell these denizens of the woods. Before their church- edifice was completed, it was leveled to the earth, by a heavy wind ! However, intelligent industry in time brought prosperity,, and the chiu:ch was completed. In 1855, the congregation changed its ecclesiastical relations and its name,. when it. was. THE TOWN OF CALLICOON. 167 received as a Presbyterian Church, and became known as the German Presbyterian Church at Jeffersonville. At present its communicants number seventy, and its property is valued at $2,800. That the inhabitants of Callicoon are a religious people is !)roved by the fact that, from the time when the influx of popu- ation commenced in 1840 to the year 1870, a new church-edifice was erected by them every three years. What town can boast of more than one church which was built during the first thirty years of its settlement? There are in the town, one Presbyterian and one Methodist Episcopal church at Youngsville; one German Presbyterian, one Methodist Episcopal, one Roman Catholic, and one German Reformed at Jefiersonville ;* one Methodist and one Reformed at ThumansviUe; one Methodist at North Bjianch, and one Roman Cathoho between the latter place and Jeffersonville. Total number, lO.f We propose to give instances of the experience of but a few German settlers. More than this would render this chapter monotonous. In 1842, Henry Becker settled on the North-branch, near the present line between Callicoon and Fremont. His location was m the woods beyond the bounds of civilization. There was no poad to it, and the onhr roads in the town were but poor apolo- gies for highways. After paying for his land, he had but little, it anything left except his wife and children. He was ignorant of the language and customs of the country, and he had the double duty to perform of clearing his land' and guarding against star- vation. His prospect was a dark one, and it regmied keen eyes to discover consolation and encouragment in it. He labored humbly, patiently and persistently. In time, he cleared a small lot and sowed it with grain. His crop commenced growing finely ; but wild animals were doing it much damage. Hoof- marks in the virgin soil declared what they were. His son was directed to watch the field, and soon saw a fine deer enter it from the woods. With his mouth watering for venison, he shot at it, when it disappeared like the "baseless fabric of a vision." Sad was the laas disappointment, and sadder still wak the family several days afterwards when they, found the carcass of the deer in the woods. Th6 game was too ripe, even for a gour- mand or a starving man. But experience brought better luck, and occasionally Becker's humble table was graced with a haunch of venison fit for a lord or Kaiser WiUielm himself. And, ah ! the reverential, scrutinizing, joyful eyes which then glowed * This church, although in JefferBODTille, is in the to?m of Delaware, t Statement of Artfani F. Childe. 168 HISTORY OF 80LLIVAN COUNTT. around the boatd of this Christian family ! Yet, notwithstanding an occasional feast, famine was an extremity which was some- times visible even alter Becker had gathered his crops. He was obliged to carry his grain on his back to Liberty, a journey which required three days for its performance. There w^as no Toad better than a trail through the woods, which was made visible only by marked trees. There were no bridges. The streams were crossed on fallen trees, and when floods or deep snows kept him from going abroad, and his stock of flour and meal was exhausted, his prospect was very disheartening. Even when everything was favorable, he parted from his family with much solemnity, calling on God for succor and protection during his necessary absence, and praying that their yearnings for re- imion might be satisfied. The questions may be asked, "Why did Becker and others •continue to eHdou-e these hardships? Why did they not leave these lonelv scenes of toil and suffering, and seek a more genial home?" The answer is a simple one. Their means were ex- hausted, and without means they could move but to worse scenes. In 1844, Philip Huff, senior, settled in CalKcoon. We do not know that this mdividual was a descendant of Samson or Her- cules ; but we are certain that he deserved such ancestry. He was a blacksmith, and a man of almost incredible strength. His sons inherited his physical power, and many anecdotes are told of them. One of them (Jacob) was as much noted for good- nature as for vigor of muscle. Ambitious pugiUsts were anxious to get the better of him ; but never succeeded. He did not love to fight ; but if cornered, and compelled to defend himself, he generally buttoned up his coat, and then with a single " wipe" of is flat hand, defeated his would-be assailant. He could carry home a barrel of flour on his shoulder, and it was sport for him to pitch bajTels of pork into a wagon. On one occasion he was incensed at a neighbor whom he charged with purloining tim- ber for building a log-bam, and threatened to demolish the building if certam logs were not paid for. -This threat was de- rided by the accused, when Jacob placed his shoulder under the top-stick of a door, gave a hoist and the next moment the amazed and terrifled offender saw his bam reduced to a heap of rubbish. Jacob thus proved that if Samson could tear away the pillars of a temple, he (Jacob) could at least upset the cattle tenement of a fellow-Dutchman. Our modern Hercules died in ^1861. His decease was caused by irregular though not intem- perate habits. The other children of Huff, the pioneer, are Uving m the vicinity of his location. The most prominent of them is Philip, jr., a lumberman of Fremont. It is said that he has the strength of half-a-dozen ordinary men. THE TOWN OF CAIiLICOON. 161) In 1849, like many others who were seeking an El Dorado, -came Charles Hahn, and settled near the place where Philip Huff's saw-mill was afterwards built. While living here, hia , wife, with some of her female neighbors, went to the vaUey ol \ the Delaware. On their return, they became bewildered in the woods, and wandered about hopelessly for hom-s near their own cabins. A search was instituted for them, when their shrill cries caused their friends to find them. Every new-comer was warmly welcomed, and his anival caused a wave of congratiolation to pass over the community. B\;t settlers came so fast in a few j^ears, and located in so many unexpected places, that it required an active mind to keep pace with the rapidly increasing population. Hahn's family were surprised one clear, bright morning, at heairing the crowing of a cock in an unexpected quarter. They were in advance of others, and did not know that any one lived so near to them. In a flatter of excitement they explored the woods, and found a new settler. The rooster" was a true herald of advancing civilization. In 1860, Charles Hahn was killed while cutting down a tree. His widow then became the head of the family, and by energy and p^severance overcame all obstacles, and is now surrounded Tjy a happy and prosperous family. , The career of Valentine Hessinger shows what an enterprising man may accomplish, if he practices the frugahty of the father- land. Mr. Hessinger had a wife, children, and real estate, as well as goods and chattels, in his native country ; yet for an in- explicable cause he left all behind him in 1849, and came to ihe United States. Hearing favorable accounts of the CaUicoon country, he went to it bare-handed, but not bare-backed, and commenced living a new Ufe in the woods. He first worked eighteen months in Inderlied's tannery for |150. Then he peeled one hundred cords of bark. This he could not sell for money, and finally traded for merchandise. Next he spent a year m drifting around and speculating in a small way. After this, with a fellow-countryman named Leins, he hired a farm. The two kept bachelor's hall, endured many hardships, and found that their venture was unfortunate, fleins got married — ^his wife proved more prolific than the land he had tilled, and brought him good luck and^ prosperity as well as a numerous progeny. Hessinger opened a'little grocery, in which he kept a few.staple- articles. Although he was ridiculed as a vender of pea-nuts by a more pretentious rival, he steadily persevered in the business, and added to it as his means warranted. Economy and enter- prise brought him prosperity and wealth, and now (1872) he has one of the most extensive mercantile estabhshments in that section of country. Ernest Zeidler was one of the settlers on the North-branch. 170 HISTOBY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. He bought a lot north of "Sixteen," a little above what is now the village of Calhcoon. His land covered a bold and precipitous ledge of rocks, in which was one of those cavities known as rock- cabms. This Zeidler fitted up as a temporary residence, and intended to occupy until he had time and means to construct a more desirable habitation. But Zeidler's right of possession was disputed. A bear had hibernated in the cave for several years, and one day discovered that our Dutchman had attempted to "jump" his ^Bruin's) claim. The man's disregard of squatter- law, or somethmg else, excited the natural ferocity of the brute, while the former did not lack animal courage. The two met near the entrance Of the cave, and, instead of going to law like stupid bipeds, settled their dispute in accordance with the maxim, "Might makes' right." After a brief fist-to-paw encounter, the bear ran away and troubled Zeidler no more. In time Zeidler provided himself with better quarters; but his cabin, like the cabins of his neighbors, did not contain many household luxuries. Among other things, it was destitute of a looking-glass ; and as he comd not shave without one, he became almost as hirsute as the original occupant of his cave. Narcissus discovered his own beauty by gazing into a pool of water, and on a Sabbath-day our bush-whacker was found shaving himself over a pig-trough filled with the aqueous fluid ! He had never heard of Narcissus ; but he had found the reflector which made Narcissus immortal. John M. Helek pursued a career similar to that of Mr, Hes- singer. He came to America in 1845, and being without a trade or profession, after landing in an Atlantic city, engaged in such honest work as he could find. He at first carried coal into cel- lars on his back ; afterwards became a clerk in a grocery, and ascended step by step to competence and respectability. In everything he was faithful and true. It was not so much what he earned as what he saved which laid the foundation of his fortune. Superfluities make the poor poorer, and reckless speculations often reduce the rich to want. Hard labor, self- d!enial and legitimate business transactions lead to wealth and true respectability ; while riches acquired by overreaching others should give their possessor no better title to honor than that enjoyed by the successful highwayman. Although men like Mr. Helck may not be perfect in aU things, we love to award them praise, and " whether they be Dutchmen or Yankees, we always doff our cap to them." There were others who were not as successful as Messrs. Hessinger and Helck. Of these was the family of Alois Thuman, who brought with them ten thousand dollars, which was considered a handsome fortune by the first settlers. The Thumans enjoyed high social position ; but, lacldng foresight THE TOWN OF CALLICOON. 171 and discretion, their estate gradually diminishied until they found the level occupied by the majority of their neighbors. The place of their residence received one of its names in this way : At a convivial party, Mrs. Thuman agreed to furnish the wine, if those present would go. upon the highway and shout " Thu- mansville." Since that night there has been " confusion in the eraft" of the locahty, some giving one word as the cognomen of the place, and some another. Another who seemed to have a controversy with fortune was Aaron Frazer, an American. He was part-owner and the man- ager of a large tannery situated on the north branch of the Callicoon. Bark was cheap as well as labor, while leather was dear. Although he could absorb as much fiery fluid in propor- tion to his cubic inches as a sponge, he always appeared to be sharp and shrewd. While he was full of his favorite beverage, efforts were made to get the advantage of him in business trans- actions; yet no resident of the valley ever succeeded. The would-be-biter was always bitten. There was unlimited confi- dence in his financial ability. He should have become one of the magnates of the county, yet he became a bankrupt. When he failed, the shock prostrated, for a time, nearly the entire-, community. The tannery then passed into the hands of Hoyt Brothers, who retained Frazer for a time, and then dismissed him. Like that of unsuccessful men generally, his departure was not mourned by those he left behind. Henry Wenzel was unhke the Thumans and Frazer. Although, one of nature's noblemen, he was of humble lineage. He was bom in Germany, where education is compulsory ; yet he w'as defrauded of secular knowledge by a bigoted teacher, who sup- {)Osed that lucid expositions of the catechism would fit a youth or both mundane and celestial affairs. After becoming a skiUful cabinet-maker and carpenter, he married. Previously he had contributed to the support of his father's family. His father continued to demand of him a considerable portion of his earn- ings, and to escape fi"om these exactions, the son emigrated to America. Nevertheless he was too well drilled in regard to his duty to altogether ignore his duty to his parents, for he continued to contribute toward their suppprt as his own means permitted. Believing that an ignorant man is no more fit to transact business than a fool is to wield a naked sword, he went to an evening-school in New York, where he learned what was necessary to fit him for the ordinary affairs of trade and traffic. Being frugal, prudent and industrious, he was in time able to engage in busmess in New York as a dealer in lumber, and to have in connection with his establishment a steam saw-niiU. BDs trade gave him a thorough knowledge of what was needed by cabinet-makers and carpenters. His profits were considerable. 172 HISTORY Oi" SULLIVAN COtJNTT. He was not long in attaining a competency, and ultimately be- came a wealthy man. His fortune was the result of legitimate business ; for he never speculated in stocks, or engaged in hazard- ous enterorises. When Mr. Wenzel landed in New York with his family, his entire capital consisted of three dollars in cash. This could not last foreter ; consequently he at once looked for honest employ- ment ; and while doing so he attracted the attention of a benev- olent negro, who generously bestowed upon him the sum of six and a quarter cents. He never met his sable benefactor again, and hence had no opportunity to return the ^ft a thousandfold ; but on each amiivers?iry of the event, as long as he lived, he disposed of three dollars in such a way as to add to the sum of human enjoyment. Among others upon whom he called soon after he landed, was a German gentleman named C. D. W. LiUiendahl. Mr. L. at once diviaed his necessities and true character, and unsolicited gave him eighty sUver half-dollars, which he accepted, not knowing what was in store for himself and family in this (to him) strange country. Mr. Wenzel obtained employment, and in two months returned the identical coin which Mr. LiUien- dahl had given him. This led to other business transactions between the two, and an enduring friendship, which bore im- portant fruit. Tears passed. Henry Wenzel became a pros- perous man, whose weekly transactions amounted to many thousands of dollars. While he was negociating for a cargo of mahogany, his old friend LiUiendahl called on him and told him that his sons had engaged in immoderate speculations, through which he had become embarrassed. His wants were great and immediate — ^failure was imminent, and he could look to no one for aid in his extremity. Mr. Wenzel at once declared that he could command his (Wenzel's) last cent ; that he had money with which he expected to buy a ship-load of lumber ; and that he should not use his cash for that purpose. He then ■drew a check for fifteen thousand doUars, which he presented to Ms friend, saying, "If you are able to pay it back, well and good ; if not, say nothing about it, and the world shall be no wiser !" It was paid bacls; in due time, thus proving that gen- erosity and gratitude sometimes soar far above sordid selfish- ness, even in the business affairs of large cities. At another time, one John Schneider of WiUiamsburgh, L. I., waspublished as a bankrupt. Schneider was an intimate friend «of Wenzel, who lent him several thousand dollars without any security except what an honest bankrupt can give — his integrity. This enabled Schneider to retrieve his affairs, and in after-years, while prosperously prosecuting his business, he never forgot that he was saved from financial ruin by his friend, Henry WenZel. THE TOWN OP CALLICOON. 173 Mr. Wenzel's conneotion with the north-branch of the Calli-' coon dates from 1852. One of his daughters was afflicted with a nervous disease, and he was advised by physicians to take her to Callicoon, on account of its sahibrious cumate. This led to his residence in the town. In 1855, a flood occurred which rendered the valley far from inviting. He sympathized with the people, and spent considerable money in a prudent way to reUeve their distress. His kindness was acknowledged and re- ciprocated. In 1857 he was induced to accept a nomination for Justice of the Peace, when he declared that he would not con- tribute one cent to his election, and, if elected, he would not accept a cent for his services. And he was better than his word, for he not only dispensed justice gratuitously, but generally sent away litigants refreshed. Many shared his bounty and munii- icence, and he never withheld from the worthy p*bor when they needed assistance. He hated duplicity, and loved innocent hi- larity. He was a contributor to every good enterorise of » publio character, and, although he was often consulted in regard to complex affairs, his judgment was ever found clear and far- reaching. At one time he paid a larger income-tax than any other man in the coxmty, and, when questioned on the subject, would not admit that his iucome was really the greatest — ^but in his good-humored way claimed that Ms "returns" were strictly correct. On another occasion, he bought a dozen eggs of a neighbor; but on counting them found that there were but eleven. He called the attention of the egg-vender to the fact, and was told that one of them had a double yolk ! On investi- gation, this proved to be true. The seller's shrewdness was so diverting that Wenzel forthwith paid for the dozen, and gave the egg-merehani a liberal hbation besides,! In ms old days, when his flesh would no longer yield to the exactions of his mind, he purchased the poorest and most stony tract of land in his vicinity, declaring that he would have occu- pation as long as he hved. He employed men and superintended the improvement of this land until it suited him, when nature yielded, and his active brain rested from its labors. He died October 21st, 1870. Henry Wenzel denied to none of his children a liberal educa- tion, and trained them in such a way as to make them valuable citizens. His son, Adolphus E. Wenzel, who is prominent in the business affairs of Callicoon, and a rising, politician, after completing his education, conformed to the good German custom of ^earning a trade. While other young men in his station of life were in pursmt of frivolous amusement, he was laboring iu a machine-shop as a helpe^: at a forge, and thus worked his way up until he was a thorou^ mechanic. ^Geol;ge F. B. Baker, the only son of a small but respectable 174 HIS1X)KY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. farmer of Thompson, was the first physician of Callicoon. In his boyhood he attended a district school, or fished, or hunted wild animals, as inclination led him. He was an expert as a woodland sportsman, became a successful teacher, wrote many acceptable articles of prose and rhyme for country and city journals, studied medicine, and as soon as he was extensively employed as a physician and surgeon, abandoned his profession to make pills for the miUion, and to practice dentistrj'. After several years of pinching want, he obtained lucrative employ- ment in a dental establishment in New York ; but was dissatisfied with a subordiaate position— attempted to carry on the business on his own account — failed — separated from his wife — and after unavailing efforts to keep the wolf from his door, died. His last days were spent in a rude shelter in CalUcoon. Doctor Baker was a man of much ingenuity and some genius. While practicing medicine at Woodboume, he was called sud- denly to attend a man who was apparently dying with a disease of the throat. The upper part of his throat was closed by the disease, and he was dying from inability to breathe. Baker whip"ped out his lancet, and opened the man's windpipe below the affected point, inserted a goose-quill, and the patient breathed through the orifice until he was able to inhale air in the natural way. Baker's misfortunes resulted from instability. As soon as he could do anything passably well, he lost his interest in it, and turned his attention to another channel. As a physician he was remarkably successful. If he had made medicme the business of his life, he would have won a competence and a respectable position in society. In. December 1853, Isaac Anderson opened a law-office in Jeffersonville. He was, in the strictest and best sense of the term, a self-made man — the arbiter under God of his own fortunes. He was born near Monticello in 1825. His father, Joseph Anderson, was a poor man, who was sometimes a farmer, some- times a lumberman, and occasionally followed both of these callings at the same time. He seldom lived in one place long ; but moved from one locaHty to another, always hoping to better his condition, and generally meeting disappomtment. In 1843, he removed to Beechwoods, near Jeffersonville. At that time, this region, with its cheap and fertile lands, was a land of promise to the poor and industrious. There Joseph Anderson and his sons cut and hewed the necessary timber for the cabin which Tlhey made their home, and there they cleared fields from which they obtained food for the family. Until he was twenty-one yea^s of age, Isaac labored fot his father at farm-work and lumbering, having, as he was in the habit of saying, "plenty of hard times, bard work and a scarcity THE TOWN OF CALLICOON. 175 of schooling." Wlieu he reached his majority, there was not in the county a more uncouth young man or one less versed in the laws which regulate civilized society. He was humble, diffident and modest, and had a painful sense of his own lack of cultiva- tion. With him the years usually devoted to the acquisition of education had passed away, and he stood on the verge of man- hood where American youth engage in the active duties of life, ignorant of everything except the rudiments taught in our humblest schools, and the fact that a few, a veir few had con- quered the diificulties which stared him in the face, and taken respectable positions in hfe. Could he do so? Could he, a poor, imlearned boy, whom few respectable professional men would have taken as a student, first acquire an education without the assistance of a human being, and then become a learned and influential lawyer? The declaration of suchihopes would have exposed him to the ridicule of every one who knew him. E. H. Pinney, who afterwards became a lawyer, then taught a district school in a rude log-house near the residence of Joseph Anderson. Under him Isaac placed himself for a part of two winters. Commencing with the lads of the neighborhood, among whom he seemed like a giant among pigmies, he made rapid progress. During the first summer, in company with a man named John Brown, he contracted to peel a quantity of bark for O. B. Wheeler, of the Pike Pond tannery. Here he worked industriously from twelve to fourteen hours a day, and from two to four hours at night were devoted to his books. He' hoarded his earnings with miserly care, not because he loved money, but because it brought to him intellectual hfe. After, his second winter's attendance at the school kept by Mr. Pinney, young Anderson found he had mone;f enough to pay his expenses for a few months at a school of a higher grade. On foot, with a trunk containing his effects lashed upon his shoulders, he started for Westtown, Orange county, where a teacher named Abijah Calkins enabled him to lay the foundation of a classical education. After he was elected, Judge of his native county, he gave us a humorous account of his journey, and a minute de- scription of the trunk. It was a small hair-trunk, and its con- tents did not make it hard to carry. He was too manly to be ashamed of his humble condition in early life. " The following winter, he taught school in the Borden district of OaUicoon. Thence he went to a select school established by O. H. Bush, in which Eev. James Petrie, of Liberty, was in- structor in the classics. Afterwards he taught at Divine's Cor- ners, and at FaUsburgh. "During this and other years, many long nights were speiit in debates, tiius training his mind for the activities of the bar. He and his comrades, following paths marked by blazing the trees 176 HISTOBY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. tbrough the wilderness, frequently gathered in seliool-koilses for their debates and speUing-schools. In such exercises he wore off in some measure his great diffidence. "Needing money, and still bent on overcoming every obstacle in the attainment of education, ia the summer of 1840, he and his brother John rented the saw-miU formerly connected with E. A. Clark & Co.'s tannery, in Jeffersonville. " In. the winters of 1849 and 1850, he taught school at Barry- . ville, and, whUe^ teaching others, added to his own burden by becoming a student, having the privilege of using the law-books of John W. Johnston. For two or three years after this, his. law-studies were pursued alone — ^in the saw-mill, 'reading a page while the saw was passing through the log' — digesting and assimilatiag legal pabulum, while his strong arms were earning, food to nourish his body. " In 1853, he spent about one month in the law-office of Albert J. Bush, at ParksviUe. At the term of the Supreme Court, held in December of that year, Amasa J. Parker, Ira Harris and William B. Wright, Justices, he was admitted as an attorney and counselor-at-law. Thereafter his course was onward and upward, untU his name became a tower of strength to his clients, a dread to his opponents, and his rank as a lawyer an exalted one. " In 1859 he was elected District Attorney of the county for three years, and in 1862 County Judge and Surrogate for four years. In 1866, he was a candidate for Congress ; but was de- feated by Charles H. Van Wyck. In 1868, he was made an attorney, proctor, counselor and advocate of the District Court of the United States."* OA the 3d of February, 1871, he died, in the 46th year of his age. ' Isaac Anderson was not in any respect a brilliant man. His arguments were plain, cogent, earnest, logical. Law, justice, truth, equity, were the weapons he used in his forensic en- counters. He lacked fervor, warmth, imagination. Hence he never startled his hearers with bursts of eloquence, or melted their hearts with pathos. He never reached a point with an electric bound ; but plodded his way slowly and surely, concen trating all his powers upon the task of the moment, and com- passing his ends with remarkable certainty. When about twenty-one years of age, he became a member of the Baptist Church, and maintained a nominal connection with it until his death. , He had his foibles. In some things he was frail, weak and erring. Let us hope that the agony of his repentance was not unavailing with Him who pardoned the vUest of sinners, when,. * Zocal Jtecord, February 10, 1871. THE TOWN OF OAIXIOOON. 177 bumble and self-abased, they souglit his merpy; or at least, con- scious of our own transgressions, let us place the shield of charity over a single blot on the otherwise'^ f^iir record ^f his life, and screen his memory from ruthless censure. "Let no man boast." On the first of August, 1855, nearly every bridge and dam of the north and east branch of the Callicoon was destroyed by a flood. Horton & Co., William H. Curtis & Co., Inderlied Broth- ers, and other lumbermen and tanners were losers to large amounts. The damage was estimated at $60,000. A dwelling house, occupied by a man named Eiscard and his wife and infant chUd, was entirely demolished. On the previous evening, the family retired to rejst in apparent security, and at 1 o'clock A. M. were aroused , by the water rushing into their bed. Eiscard hastily jumped through a window and escaped. , In a few mo- ments afterwards, the house and all it contained were borne away by the angry flood. The child was found several hours afterwards among some drift-wood, and was still aUve. The mother was drowned. Other floods occurred in 1857 and in 1869, which destroyed an immense amount of property. The surface of the country win cause the recurrence of similar disasters in this town as well as Fremont. On the 16th of October, 1857, a boy named Henry Staibe, and another named Jacob Neumann, junior, while at the house of Henry Becker, had a trifling dispute, when the former seized a gun and shot his con^panion, who soon after died. Staibe was arrested and held to await the action of the Grand Jury at the next Circuit Coijrt. That body, after hearing all the testimony, refused to find a bill against young Staibe. On the 8th of September, 1868, Mary, a daughter of Alanson Seager, was murdered by her uncle, Noah Bigelow, near her father's residence, in the vicinity of North Branch. Bigelow was bom in Delaware county, in 1832, and had one brother and one sister. While they were yet small, their mother became a religious fanatic, and considered.it her duty to abandon her husband and her helpless offspring, and join the Shakers. Noah's brother died in childhood. His sister married, became a pauper, and died insane. Noah himself was a vicious youth of "weak inteUeot. He frequently assaulted his father, and was turbulent and unmanageable. While yet a boy, be Was struck by lightning, which seemed to daze his infirm mindi His brain was still further enfeebled by bad habits. After he married, he became almost helpless, and at the time of the murder, subsisted on the charity o;^ his neighbors and the aid furnished by the Overseer of the Poor of Callicoon. Mary Seager, his victim, was ten years old, and physically 178 HISTOBY or SUIXIVAN CWTOTY. inferior to girls of her age. On the morning of her death, she started from her father's house to drive some cows to a pasture lot, and was followed by Bigelow (who Uved not far off) until she reached a lonely place, where he overtppk her, and after -attempting to violate her person, beat her head with his cane until she was dead. He then placed a log on her head, and jetumed home. As soon as the child was missed, her friends searched for her, and discovered her dead body where her brutal slayer had left it. Her skull was smashed, and mingled bones, brains and blood were scattered about. On examination, tracks of heelless boots were found near the corpse, and as it was known that Bigelow wore such boots, he was at once suspected, and chained with the crime. Blood was on his clothing. This confirmed the suspicions of those who gathered at the scene of the tragedy, who attempted to extort a confession from him, and even hung him twice until he was nearly dead ; but he stubbornly refused to admit that he was guilty. His cane was then examined. It was a heavy stick, with the knob of A door fastened to one end. He had washed it, and, as he beUeved, removed all evidence of the fold •deed ; but on removing the knob, blood, hair and brains were dis- covered. Finding that further denial was useless, Bigelow then made a full confession, in which he declared that he had previ- ously made an indecent assault on the murdered girl, of which she had complained to her father ; that to save nimself from the resentment of her father for the last attempt, he had killed her ; that he wished to be revenged for the manner in which her friends had used him, etc. Intense excitement prevailed in the neighborhood for a time, and many were determined to execute the wretch as soon as a rope could be procured ; but better counsel prevailed, and he was consigned to jail in Monticello. In due time he was in- •dicted for the crime of murder, and at the next May ter^ of the Oyer and Terminer he was tried, convicted and sentenced to be huQg. The defense was insanity ; but it was not sustained by the evidence. Benjamin Reynolds, who was then District At- torney, and Archibald C. Niven appeared for the people, and WiUiam J. Groo for the prisoner. When Bigelow was sentenced, he was a pitiable object "'.He was so much prostrated by confinement and self-abuse, that he reached by Rev. James Petrie, after which David Wodd, Jeremiah Wood and Eliza Bush were admitted upon examina- tion as members of this church. Geo. G. DeWitt wa? ordaine.d , as Rtiling Elder. "Stephen Carrier was elected Elder of said church June 19th, and ordained June 22d. "June 30th, 1345.-:- A meeting was held to elect Trustees. Geo. G. DeWitt, Jacob Quick and Ross 0. Rumsey were elected Trustees.* Jolm Mole and.Stephen Carrier, priesiding officers." In the fall of 1845, a subscription-paper was , circulated to procure means to build a church-edifice, to which were added the names of seven persons. The first subscribed " one hundred dollars in lumber and labor;" the second,^' oil and paint neces- sary for 2 coats;" the third, "ten dollars worth labor with team ;" the fourth, " ditto ;" the fifth, "twenty dollars ;" the ?ixth, " ten dollars worth labor with team ;" the seventh, " 900 feet pine boards, and 5000 hemlock shingles." Besides the above, the sum of $208 was donated by persons living in the city of New York, and $46 by others living in Scotchtown and Mount Hope. Contracts were subsequenuy made with Archer G. Wood for the necessary timber; Lewis Dickinson and Peter Palmetier for the carpenter work; and for plastering with Heury Gurd. The building was fiinished in tiie fall of 1847, and opened for service. In 1860, it was taken down, removed to Toungsville, and rebuilt where it now stands. In 1844. Rev. James Petrie and Rev. James Reeves preached as missionaries occasionally in the school-house of District No. 1. In 1845 and 1846, Rev. John Mole, of Cochecton, was engaged to preach every two weeks for $50 per year. Some extraordinary facts will be related of him in ouf history of Cochecton. From 1846 to 1859, the Church was supplied with preachers from Hudson Presbytery. In the latter year, Rev. F. A. Crane was engaged as stated supply, and continued to officiate until 1871, except in 1864 and 1865. The Reformed Church of Jeffersonville was formed in 1852, and its pastors have been : W. Wolf, from 1853 to 1854 ; Julius Hones, 1854-8; F. W. Riedel, 1858-61; John Bcehrer, 1862-5. Mr. Riedel embraced Roman Catholicism ; but recanted in 1867. John Boehrer's conduct ultimately caused the faithful and pious • Book of DeedB No. 22, p. 173. THE TOWN OF OAUJCOON. 181 members of hia Church much sorrow. Rev. William Elterich is the present pastor. The church-edifice was completed in 1854. In 1856, a Reformed Church had its birth at Thumansville. John Boehrer became its pastor in 1862, and was succeeded by E. F. F, Schnellendruessler, a graduate of th« Collegiate Gym- nasium at Gumbinnen, East-Prussia, in 1868. " The same gentleman had charge of the Church at Milesville, which dates from 1858. St. Geobge's Chubch, JEPPEBSONViiitE.— Eev. John Ranfeisen labored here for the spiritual welffire of the (^erman Roman Catholics as eairly as 1843. In 1860, the church-edifice was commenced. On the 22d of June, 1865, Archbishop MeCloskey consecrated it, on which occasion he confirmed 105 persons. Rev. Joseph Roesch was the priest in charge for ^veral years. SUPEBVISOES OF THE TOWN OF CAIMCOON. From To 1842 Ohiey Borden 1844 1844. John Hankins. - 1847 1847 George G. DeWitt 1848 1848 Olney Borden 1849 1849 .George G. DeWitt 1851 1851 Samuel W. Jackson 1853 1853 Benjamin W. Baker. 1854 1854 Aaron Fraser 1856 1856 .Isaaa-Anderson. 1857 1857 Egbert A. Clark .1859 1859 Aaron Fraser 1860 1860 George G. DeWitt. 1861 1861 Victor Hofer 1863 1863 Josiah Smith , . .1864 1864 Eleazer Morgans 1865 1865. Josiah Smith '..\ 1866 1866 Egbert A. Clark. 1869 1869 Edward H. Pinney 1871 1871 Alpheus Potts. '. 1872 1872 . Adolphus E. Wenzel 1874 CHAPTEE VL THE TOWNS OF COOHECTON AND DBIAWABB. From 1743 to 1798, these towns were in the precinct and towa of Mamakating; from 1798 to 1809 in Lumberland; and from: 1809 to 1828 in Bethel. By an act of the Legislature, Cochecton was taken from Bethel in 1828.* The surface of Cochecton and Delaware is marked by ridges and narrow valleys. The river bottoms are composed of sandy loam, and are very fertile, while the uplands are well adapted ta pasturage. The mouth of the GaUiooon, it is said, is 777 feet above the ocean level, and the mean elevation of the towns is probably not less than 1300 feet. The leading pursuit of the early white residents was lumbering. After the construction of , the New York and Erie EaUway, the manufacture of sole-leather became an important industry, while the advent of several hun- dred hardy and industrious German farmers ikade agriculture- notable. ' There are four or five small lakes in these towns; but no elevations which can properly be called mountains. The prin- cipal streams are the Callicoon and its branches, and Ten Mile liver. The latter reaches the Delaware, after crossing the town of Tusten. POPCIATION — ^VALUATION — ^TAXATION. Town and Tear. Delaware Popu- Assessed Town lation. Value. Charges. 438 $64,355 $273.89 622 70,812 ^216.15 1,671 99,665 505.14 3,174 317,540 653.51 1,480 104,421 669.50 1,998 125,045 1,866.00 Co. and State. $401.91 247.68 671.36 2,292.68 2,551.16 3,645.29 The population of Cochecton and Delaware in 1870 was 3,478. * The first town-meeting was held at the house of Stephen W. Gedney, in the old village of Cochecton, March 3, 1829, at which James C. Curtis wa» elected Supervisor ; Moaes Calkin, Town Clerk : Nathan Moulthrop, Alfred Nearing and Moses Calkin, As- sessors : John Hill, James Boss and David Youug, Commissioners of Highways ; Squire Karsh, Bezaleel Calkin and Clark Brown, Commissioners of Common Schools ; Charlei - Whipple, John F. Avery and William Brown, liispectors of Common Schools ; Stephen Mitchell and George Hill, Overseers of the Poor ; Stephen W. Geciiey and George Hill . Constables; and Stephen W. Gedney, Collector. [182] ims TOWNS OF OOOHECTON AMD SEIAWARE. 18$ We should not hastily oouclude from what others as well as ourselves have written, that in the year 1700, SuUivan was a terra incognita to all except the red tcian and the Dutch and French who occupied Minisink and the lower Magh-ah-ke-mack (Neversink) valley. As, early as 1687, all this region had been thoroughly explored, and the, points important to military men were well known. On the 22d day of February of that ?ear. Governor Dongan, in his report to the Committee of "rade,* after urging that the hne between the province of New York and "Mr. Penn's possessions" should run from "41° and 40* in the Delaware river" (Oochecton) "to the Falls upon the Susquehanna," said: " To preserve the Beaver-^d Peltry trade for this (New York) and Albany, and to be an encouragement to our Beaver hunters, I de^e I may have orders to erect a Campayne Eort upon Del- aware Eiver in 41° 40' ; another upon Susquehanna where his Mat'y shall think fit Mr. Penn's bounds shall terminate. And another at Oneigra near the great lake in the way where our people goe a Beaver hunting or trading," etc. from tiiis it appears that the white beaver-hunters and traders needed protection during their visits or residence in the north- west part of Sullivan. From another paragraph of the repoi^t, it appears that it was necessary to protect them against appre- hended hostility of the French, andfnot the Indians. Any one who has a map of the country printed in the last century, on which the Indian trails through the wilflemess are laid down, will find, on examination, that Dongan's recommenda- tion was a wise one. The third pemmnent lodgement made within the hmits of Sullivan by white men was at Oochecton, as the valley of the Delaware from Gallicoon or Turkey creek to the mouth of Ten Mile river was designated a century ago. On the banks of the river, near the present village of Oo- checton, was an Indian village of some note, where the savages of the surrounding country met to observe their ancient customs. Here they had their green-corn dances, their dog festivals, their games of ball, etc., and here, according to an ancient tradition,, which has been nearly lost amid the din and whirl of modem days, lived the celebrated Lenape sage and Yankee saint, Tam- manend, Tammaning, or Tammany. WiUiam L. Stone saya that he Uved in the middle of the 17th century; that he was a sagacious and vktuous sachem ; that in his youth he resided in the country which is now Delaware; and that he afterwards settled on the banks of the Ohio. In truth, Httle or nothing reliable is known concerning this heathen saint. The first * Sooomentary Hiatoi? of New York. 184 aisToitT or stjilivan cotjsrr. settlers claimed tliat his lodge was on the Sldimer farm, and the "Admiral" loved to designate his vaUey-land as St. Tammany's Flats. When the people of Coohecton were more familiar with the facts than they are now, h. Masonic organization of the place was known as Tammany lodge, No. — , which name was bestowed to commemorate Tammany as a Iboal celebrity. The claim of Cochecton is really not inconsistent with the assertion that he lived in the State of Delaware. The Indians were a nomadic race. They moved from locality to locality as their whims and necessities impelled them. If Tammany in his youth lived in Delaware, he nndoubtedly was at times in Ciochecton, and rog,med over the neighboring hiUs in search of game, and had a wigwam in the valley, in which was cooked his samp and veni- son, and in which he reposed after his tramps over the neigh- boring hiUs. The early, settlement of Cochecton may be attributed to several causes. While New Jersey claimed the east bank of the Delaware as far as Station Bock, Connecticut claimed the lands west of that river. We propose to give a history of the "Jersey claim" in another place, and therrfbrie will omit it here ; but as the people of -the eastern province planted the first permanent settlement in the valley at Cushetunk, it is proper to show why they did so in this chapter. The charter of Connecticut, which was granted in 1621, con- firmed by the King of Great Britain during the same year, and again confirmed by him in 1662, granted to that colony all the lands west of it, to the extent of its breadth, from sea to sea, except what was "then actually possessed or inhabited by any other Christian prince or State.' * This exception covered no part of the Dutch colony of New Netherlands, which extended to the Delaware river ; but the eiJteirprising Yankees were in- clined to make the exception read, "then actually possessed and inhabited," etc. ; and when they attempted to avail themselves of their alleged right, they were not careful which bank of the river they took possession of, provided it was not inhabited, and the land was desirable. Cushetunk was within the latitude of Connecticut, and the latter claimed the pre-emptive right to territory of the prescribed width, extending from the Delaware to the Pacific ocean. Previous to 1651, several inhabitants of that Province purchased lands situate in the vicinity of the South river, and proposed to occupy a section of the valley, •but Governor Stuyvesant threw obstacles in their wa.y. These the Yankees threatened to remove by fdrce.t The threat, how- ♦ TnimbuU's Hislory of Connecticut. W. h. Stone's History of Wyoming, f Stone's W.vumiug, See also G-ordun. THE TOWNS or OOCHEOTON AKD DELAWAEE, 186 ev6r, was a mere bravado, and the Yankee project of belting tie odntinent slumbered for a century. In the meantime, Willi^-m Penn and the Proprietors of New Jersey obtained charters which covered aU the lands in Penn- sylvania and New Jersey claimed by Connecticut. Tke right of the former to what was granted to them was undisputed until 1753, when the Yankees revived their claim, andlin 1754, the Susquehanna Company, consisting of six himdred adventurers who resided principally in Connecticut, bought of the Six Na- tions, at Albany, a tract of land which was bounded by a line drawn ten miles east of the Susquehanna river, was as broad as Connecticut, and extended one hundred and twenty miles west. The Quakers pronounced this purchase irregular, as it was not made in open council, but of a few Indians privately, while some of the latter were drunk on Kquor furnished by tne Yankees. However this may be, the purchasers paid the natives a fair price, probably quite as much as their assailants would have given. '_ About the same time, another organization of Yankees, known as the Delaware Company, bought the region situate between the Delaware and the eastern bounds of the Susquehanna Coia- pany's territory, and under its auspices, a settlement was commenced at Cushetunk in 1757. We have no authentic account of a settlement here previous to this date, although it is probable that an Englishman named Moses Thomas was located on the Thomas farm as an Indian trader as early as 1750. A tradition of his descendants, who held this farm for more than one hundred years, and were second in respectabihty to no residents of the valley, is the basis of this supposition. We do not propose to give a fuU accoimt of the controversy which ensued between the Yankees and the Penhhaihites. it was more bitter and bloody than the contest in modem times for the control of Kansas. The colony of Wyoming, as the emissaries of the Susquehanna Company were designated, were generally successful; but when they were hard pressed, they sent to their friends and co-operators at Cushetunk for assistance.* in the fall of 1763, the settlers of Wyoming and of Cushetunk were massacred or driven away by the subjects of Teedyuscung, the^ Delaware king. At that time no less than thirty families were living in the last named colony, who had planted them- selves on the river flats from the mouth of Ten Mile river to * In September, 1770, the Yanlseeg of Wyoming, finding themselves besieged in Port Durkee by the Pennhamite? under Captain Ogden, sent an express under cover of the night to their brother-colonists of Cnshetunk for aid. Supposing that Ogden would guard the path to the Delaware, the messenger undertooK to go by another way ; but tell into Ogden's hands. [See Stone's History of Wyoming. 186 HIBTOBr OF SOUJVAN COUSTT. that of the Gallicoon creek. The latter did not remain away- long ; but returned to the valley as soon as they could db sc. safely. At first, the main route to Wyoming was by the way of Cushe- tunk. The red men had made the latter the site of one of their villages — ^probably the most important one located on the river above Carpenter's Point, and to it led the great trails from the villages of other clans and tribes. One of these was to the head- waters of the Lackawaxen via Calkins' creek; thence across the Moosic to the Indian village of Capouse on the Lackawanna ; thence by various routes to Wyomiog, Oquaga, etc. In the winter and spring of 1769, when the Yankees made another attempt to gain a foothold on the Susquehaima, and sent two hundred and forty souls to take possession of the country, their emissaries passed, through Oushetunk, and over this trail. Hol- lister says that they then improved it as they proceeded on their way. Some tim^ after this, a better route was opened to and from Stroudsburgh. ' The claim of each Company had the same basis; but the eastern settlement is less noted in history, because it was less formidable to the Quaker goveriiment of Pennsylvania. The other was more pestiferous than the plagues of Egypt. ' It was irrepressible. Large numbers, attracted by the fat lands of the Susquehanna, left the stony hills of Connecticut, armed to the teeth, and swelled the settlements and the ranks of the territory of Wyoming. The Quakers loved peace ; but they loved their earthly possessions more. They sent troops to drive the in- truders away; but the Yankees, although sometimes beaten, generally maintained their ground. They were the original squatter sovereigns of our country, and sturdily did they defend their assumed immunities. At the Declaration of Independence, they were seemingly securely seated in the country, with all the forms and securities of an estabhshed government. During the war with Great Britain, none deserved more ap- plause than these adventurers ; and, alas ! none suffered more ; for while their able-bodied men were defending less exposed locaK- ties, their wives and children and gray-haired parents were massacred by savages and tories — tortured to death with fiend- ish ferocity, and driven into the wilderness to perish. -After the revolted Colonies had won their freedom, the con- troversy was renewed, and led to considerable disorder. The State in the meantime had dispossessed the heirs of William , Penn of their inheritance in that Commonwealth, and Pennsyl- vania claimed the territory which the Quaker Proprietors had not sold. The question as to the title of Connecticut to these lands was submitted to a national tribunal, and the final decision, vhich was not rendered until 1799, was adverae to the Yankees. THE TOWNS OF COOHECTON AND DEIAWABE. 187 » The settlers of the Delaware Company did not feel the hand of the Quakers as heavily as those of the other association be- cause they did not carry their heads so high. They were weak. They probably hever numbered fifty able-bodied men. Hence, with true TaAee policy, they kept the Quakers quiet, by paying the latter for such land as they wished to improve. Thus Daniel Skinner and Company, of Cushetimk, after acquiring what title was possible tmder Connecticut, fortified themselves with the following document : "Decetnber ye 10 A D 1761 Whareas we Augustus Hunt and Thomas Corbia of New york Government have obtained a warrant of Philadelphia Land office For thirty thousand Acres of Land which is a hundred Rites three himdred acres to a rite ten of which Eits We alow to be Daniel Sldnnersend Company acording to the tarms of the Warrant With us and Company as Witness our hands Augustus Hunt Thomas WAiiUNG Thomas Cobbin." [Endorsed" on the back — " Hunt has paid for 9 of these Eights. DannSkioner."*] In 1770, Daniel Skinner obtained a warrant for 140 acres of land from the Pennsylvania Land Office, and on tlie 3d of May, 1775, received a patent from Thomas and John Penii. He was largely interested in land affairs in both the Delaware and Sus- quehanna purchases, as well as the McDonald patent of Orange county. That the Delaware Company claimed on the east as well as the west side of the Delaware, the following deeds prove : "To all people to whome these presents shall come Greeting Know ye that I Timothy Wents of Canterbury in the county of windham and Colony of Connecticut in New england Practisioner of Physick For and in consideration of the sum of three pounds in Lawfvdl Money paid in hand by Mr. Daniel Skinner of New- town Li Sussex Ooimty New Jersy have Given Granted Bar- gained alowd Conveyd & Confirmed & by these presents sell Convey and Confirm and make over and assign unto him the sd Daniel Skinner and to his heirs and assigns for Ever one half Share or Eight in the Delaware Purchase of Lands on the East and west sids of the Delaware Eiver which sd Wents purched of Henry Walton To have and to hold the same with aU privi- leges and Appurtences Thereof to him sd Daniel Skiimer to his * Copied from the original, and presented to the author by the late Nathan Skinnei of DomMcns, Fa., together with copies of other deeds which ftdlow. m HISTOET OF SUIiUVAN COUNTY. Wrs and assignes for Ever in witness whareof I the sd Timothy Wents have hareunto set my hand and seal this second Day of this Instant Januaiy Anoque Domine 1760. Timothy WE^fT8 Sealed and delivered in the presents of us Nathan Claek Ambeose Blunt." "To all People' to whome these Presents- shall come Greting Know ye that I Alpheus Ghistin of Newtown in the County of Sussex and Collony of New Jersey for and in Consideration of the sum of five Pound Lawful money of New Jersey paid in hand by Dan'l Skinner of the town and County aforsd I have Given Granted Barganed sold Convaed arid Confirmed and do b^ these Presence Sell Convey and Confirm and make over and asign unto him the sd Danl Skinner and his heirs and assims forever one fourth Part of a right of Land in the Delaware J'urches Lyin^ on East and West side of Delawar River one hundred acres thereof being Laid out in the middle town I being a proprietor and had a half Eight in sd Purches as the Indian Deed will make it appear more fiilly to have and to hold the same "With all the Privileges and appurtnance thereof to him the sd Dan'l Skinner to his heirs and assigns forever furthermore I the s'd Alpheus Gustia Do Bind my heirs and assigns Forever to Warrant and Defend sd fourth part of a Eight From all Claims and Challenges that may or shall arise by or under me or Either of iliie Proprietors of s'd Purchas or Either of us or heirs or assigns forever In Witness Whareof I the said Alpheus Gustin have hereunto set my hand and seal this Twentieth day of february in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty AiPHEus Gustin Sined Sealed and Delivered in the presance of Alpheus Gustin her Mary M Buck mark." TVom the following it appears that, notwithstanding the settle- ment of the controversy between New York and New Jersey in July, 1769, .the latter province continued to exercise jurisdiction over the people of Cusheturik : "Easton, 17 Aprill772 "Mr James Welsh Inclosed you will receive a Warrant against Daniel and Hagga Skinner i'or beating and wounding several Indian Cheats of the Oneida Tuskarora and Mohickan Indians THE TOWNS OF OOOHECTON AND DEIAWABE. 189 which in its consequences may involve the provence in a bloody ware with those Indians unless the aforesaid Daniel and Hagga Skinner are brought to condine punishment : according to law : You are therefore commanded to procede to Coshethton taking with you sufficient strength and bring them before me to answer for their miss conduct and irregular procedings And this you are by no means to neglect or Fail ia at your peril Ajid I do Further require that you wiU execute the said Warrant within the space of Fourteen days From the time you receive it and make returns of your doing therein after its execution to me without delay it being by the express orders of the Governor and Coimcil "Your humble Sert Lewis Goedon. "Mr, James Wdsh constable In Upper Smithfidd" « " To all whome it may concern Know ye that Daniel Skinnex whome is complained oi For abusing the Indians did settle with said Indians last winter before tha>t any complaint was made to the Cheafs as can be easily proved by the fiidians themselves and others and the Indians is free and wiling that he should stay and improve his land as he has done before and it is some- thing likely it was out of some ill will that the Complaint was made against the said Daniel Skinner and his brother Hagga as consequently will appear and as for the quarrel that hapened on Christmas day the said Skinners were peaceably together and some other people at Nicholas Conklin's when the Indians them- selves was something in liquor and began with the said Skinner for to give him some Eum and said Skinner would not and the Indian was out of humor and struck the said Skinner and the said Skinner struck the said Indian back again and it came to some head the Indian stabed one man and after the. Indian came to himself he acknowledged he was in the wrong and said he would make satisfaction For the damage he had done and would not have ben any more noise about it if it had not ben for Nathaniel Evons as the Indians say This we can attest to Coshethton May 10th 1772 Nicholas Conkun John Lessley Elizabeth Conklin William Conkmn." "To aU whome it may conceme Whereas we the subsribers are informed That Nathaniel Evons has entred a^ Complaint to Governor Pen against Daniel Skinner For his abusing some [Indians] " This is to certify that we know of no abuse given by said D^uiiel Skinner to the Indians at any time And we further certify that Daniel Skinner as far as we know him to be an 190 rasTOBT or stjijjvak county. honest industrious and peaceable man both to his neighbours and the Indians This we the subscribers do Certify to the Gentlemen it may concern Minesink May 5th 1772 Abbaham Westbeook Lanes Westbeook Abeaham Skinneb Maetines "Westbeook Gaeeet Deckee Antony Daykan Benjamin Depth Tohanas Deokeb. Thos Hoytee Abeaham Vanauken Esq Isaac Vantoyle Neamiah Pateeson johan mldeauoh nicholas conklin Samuel Gunsales Phineous Cleaek Abeaham Vanauken Euben Cooley Lemuel Westbeook Bobeet Land." Nathaniel Evans was a mischief-making fellow, and a nuisance to the residents of the vaUey, as the following and the documents we have already given prove. He undoubtedly made himself so obnoxious that dochecton was not a pleasant locaUty to him, and left. " Sussex ) Eastern County ) Jersey [L. s.] This Deposition of Nathaniel Evens taken' before me Abraham Vanauken one of his Magesties Justices of the peace for the province and County aforesaid This deponent being duly sworn on the holy Evangelest of Almighty God saith that near the last of February J772 one Joseph Boss and Aaron Thomas both of Shochorton* did imploy him to carry a letter to the Tuskarores Cheiff Capt. John m order to rais an insur- rection on some or all of the inhabitants of Shochorton and said Indians : which said letter the said Nathaniel Evens did also at the request of the Indians carry to the Governor of Pennsylvania and did also receive a letter From the Secretary of Pennsylvania directed in answer to the said Indians Which letter the said Evens did direct to Capt. John and further this deponent saith not. Giv6n imder my hand and seal 21st May 1772 Abeaham Vanauken." The family of Skinners came fi^om the town of Preston, New London county, Connecticut. In addition to the parents, there were nine children — Benjamin, Timothy, Abner, Daniel, Haga, Calvin, Joseph, Martha and Huldah. The Six Nations claimed to own the country, and that the Delawares were their subjects. The New York proprietors had bought of the natives of the region while Mr. Skinner and those who held under the Connecticut * Both of these men lived in Cochecton. Shochorton is a name we have mei inth no where else. THE TOWNS OF OOCHECTON AND DELAWAEE. 191 iitle, purchased the Indian interest of the Iroquois. Shortly after he brought his familjf to Cushetunk, he and others of the Yankee company, who claimed that they owned all the valley, went to the Confederated tribes to make some arrangement m regard to their purchase. On his way back, he was killed by some unknown person. As he did not return, his friends con- cluded that he was murdered, and his wife went back to Preston. His body was subsequently found where he had been shot, on the bank of a small stream, A short distance above the late resi- dence of Hon. James C. Curtis. A prayer book, with his name on the fly-leaf, was found in one of nis pockets, and led to the identification of his remains.* Mr. Skinner was probably the first white man who was mur- dered in the county. Why he was kiUed does not appear. Al- though there was an angry controversy about land affairs, and jurisdiction over the valley, between the people of four colonies or commonwealths, we have never heard it intimated that he was slain by one of the disputants; nor have we heard his death chamed against the Delawares, who no doubt felt dissatisfied at the Yankee intruders, who sought to hold their village and the graves of their ancestors without their consent. These first inhabitants of Cocheoton were surrounded by savages. If we except the small communities at Ihitch pond, in Thompson and Fallsbui^h, their nearest white neighbors were in the vdley west of the Shawangunk, thirty-five miles distant, and at the mouth of the Neversink. The latter were the most accessible. Unless the grist-mill spoken of by Chapman, had an existence,t they were obliged to go to the Neversink to get their grain ground, as they were to do their shopping. As flie journey was performed in canoes by the way of the nver, or on foot or horseback over an Indian Irail, it is presumed tlmt the wives and daughters in the upper Delaware settlements had not many opportunities to indulge in the pastime of shopping, or to adorn their persons with the beautiful goods of the milliner, or the elegant costumes which came from the hand of the mantua- maker. Sun-bonnets and hoods were of home-make at that time, arid, no doubt, as much rivalry existed in the manufacture of these primitive article^ of feminine adornment as there is now in imitating the styles of tiie beau monde of Paris. On all sides were the hunting-grounds of the red men. Beaver, as well as other wild animals, were plenty in every direction, and large profits were the residt of trapping fur-beapng animals. "We have been assured that "John Land, the tory," caught enough beaver in a few months even after the Kevolutionary war, to pay for four hundred and thirty-three acres of land. ' * The Pioneers. f U there was such a mill, it was destroyed in 1763. ,192 vHISTOBT Of STTIiLnrAN CI0UNT7. Warriors, huutere, squaws and pappooses were numerous, and daily visitants. The cMcben of the two races were play-fellows, and we have heard several curious anecdotes of their attachment to each other — an attachment which was subsequently smothered by the antipathy of race, and foimd its death amid the blood and carnage of war. The Delaware at that time was KteraUy a river of fish. Among its finny tribes were the salmon, the shad, and the river-trout^ Shad, particularly, werie abundant, and great numbers of them were caught. A common vf&y of catching them was to make a "rack," ■with wings of cobble-stone extending up the stream with an acute angle to each shore. The fish were forced into the rack by drawing an immense "brush-net" or "drag"' a mile or more doWli the stream. This sport required considerable prep- aration, and was attended T^'ith severe labor ; but it was a f avonte one nevertheless. After the shad spawned, they died, and their bodies were thrown upon the shore by the wat^, where they became putrid, and rendered the air foul and unwholesome.. In the fall, many of the young shad were killed by falling into eel-racks, or by getting bruised in passing through them. "WTien they started for the ocean, they were from four to six inches long, and so tender that a shght injury was fatal to them.* In addition to farming, hunting, fishing and trapping, these early residents engaged m lumbering. Daniel Skinner was the first person who descended the Delaware from Cochecton with a raft. His first trip was soon after the French and Indian war. We have seen aM conversed with men who assisted him in running lumber down the river before the close of the last cent- ury. He was honored in a jocose way by the hardy men who ftfUowed his example. By general consent, he was constituted Admiral of aU the waters of the river in which a raft could be taken to market, and no one was fr-ee to engage in the business until he had the Admiral's consent. This was > gained by pre- senting Skiimer with a bottle of Avine, when liberty was granted the applicant to go to Philadelphia as a fore-hand. To gain the privilege of going as a steersman, another bottle was necessary, on the receipt of which the Admiral gave fuU permission to navi- gate aU the channels of the river. Josiah Parks, generally, went with Skinner when the latter ran a raft. Being noisy and ob- streperous, he was dubbed boatswain, and was known as " Old Boson" during the remainder of his life. During the Eevolutionary war, Cochecton was an isolated and exposed neighborhood. It was on the route generally pursued by the hostile savages in their moursions to Shawangunk, Wa- warsink, Eochester, and Mamakating valley. The war-path to * Ton Quick. THE TOWNS OF COOHECTON AND DELAWABE. 193 Minisink led to the Ddaware by the way of the Lackawaxen, aind when this was occupied bslow Barryville by the savages, Cushetunk had no other outlet than by the trgils which led to EllenviUe and Napa.noch — a lone and perilous route, which but few dared to travd, as it was difficult to foUow, and was almost always infested by lurking savages. It is not surprising, there- fore, that the major part of the whigs reaioved to more densely inhabited neighborhoods. They went to Minisink, Shawanguhk, Eochester and other places where their families would be com- paratively safoi A few remained. The latter were generally tories, or those who professed neutrality. Some of the whigs left without harvesting their crops, and after leaving their famihes in places where they would be safe, returned to gather what they had cultivated with anxious fore- bodings. They were driven from the neighborho#d, or found that their property had been appropriated or destroyed by their enemies. Such conduct was not calculated to promote amicable sentiments, or lead to peace and good will. The patriots of Mamakating appointed a Committee of Safety, composed, according to tradition, of Gerardus Van Inwegen, Benjamin Depuy, Thomas Kyte and one of the Swartwouts — all good and true whigs of Peenpack. This committee organized a company of scouts, under the command of Captain Bezaleel Tyler, a refugee from Cochecton, and the scouts occasionally made a visit to this remote neighborhood to "regulate" suspi- cious characters and make reprisals^ The tories appropriated the abandoned property of their former whig neighbors, while the scouts drove away the cattle and, sometimes, took back the bodies of the tories. It is difficult to decide which party had the advantage in this system of exchange ; but it is not difficult to declare that it led to much loss and suffering to both, and that the excesses of each added intensity to the hatred of aU. When the scouts visited CocheCton, they conducted matters in a free and easy manner. They were generally in a hurry to return, and had but little time to hear testimony for or against the suspected; yet we cannot learn that they Ished blood on more than two occasions. On one of their excursions they met a half-witted fellow named Handy near the old Indian burial ground, a short distance above the late residence of Hon. James C. Curtis. Handy had lived in, Cochecton before the war ; he had been disappointed in a love affair, and to prevent a repetition of his sorrows, had emascu- lated himself, and was a poor outcast ; had stolen a horse from a whig of Mamakating, and then joined a baud of Indians under a chief named Minotto. He spent the greater part of his time in riding about on the stolen animal, imagining he was a man of some consequence, when he met the scouts, whom he mistook 13 194 BisTOBir Of strtLiVAN ooinjTT. for Mends. A8 he came tip to theitt, he exclaitned, "Fm Mi-, notto's man!" Some of Captain Tyler's company had reoO^- nized the horse, and as soon as he declared what he was, his- fate was sealed. He was buried on the spot. SeteTal years itgo, his bones were uncovered by the action of the water of the river, and were picked up, and used for scientific purposes. We believe that they are slill in the possession of a physician of the neighborhood. During the same expedition, Nathan Mitchell, a well-known whig of Coohecton, was seen by the scouts with an Indian cap on his head. He had remained in the place because his wite trould not leave unless her father, whose friendship for the re- volted Colonies was suspected, went with them. Mitchell wore the Indian gear to prevent the savages from firing upon him while they were lurking about. When it was seen by the scouts, they at once concluded that its wearer should give an account of himself, and he, fearing that he would be shot before he could make an explanation, ran for the woods. There was an imme- diate pursuit, and as the company were well movmted, they were soon within shooting distance of the runaway, and were about to fire, when he was recognized. Of course, all were glad that they had not killed a friend. The scouts proceeded up the river until they reached the house of David Young, the tory. Young, as men of his poUtical creed generally were when Captain Tyler paid them a visit, was from home. His wife was an intelligent English woman, who made lofty claims of former respectabnity. She told her visitors that Colonel Brant, with five-hundred warriors, was at the mouth of the CaUicoon, and that if they valued their lives, they would at once go back. She was apparently so sincere and earnest that they beheved her, and retreated with admirable speed. In consequenoe of the war. Young lost all his property, and died very poor. Early in the war, a person who said his name was Payne, came up the river to Coehecton, and asked permission of several individuals to remain with them. But he was imknown to every one, and, as he did not tell a satisfactory story, all refused to harbor him. He traveled on and on until he reached a deserted oabin at or near Little Equinunk, which he entered and occupied. Here he seemed to lead a harmless life, far from scrutiny. But he had not gone beyond the reach of harm. The scouts came, and tracked him to his humble retreat, from which they dragged Mm. After a brief consultation, the majority of his captors de- cided that he should die then and there. A few, however, thought it was wrong to kiU him without a formal conviction by a more competent tribunal. The prisoner himself made frantic appeals for his life ; but the majority was inexorable, and he was THE TOWNS OF OOOHIOTON AKD DELAWARE. 195 shot even while he was cfying for mercy. The minority declared openly that the deed seemed to them like murder, and that, if such work was necessary, they w»uld cease to be scouts. They wept like children when the terrible deed was consummated. Our informant, (an old and respectable man who lived at the Jiionth of the Cushetnnk in 1850) could never learn why this man was put to death in this summary manner; but said that he had ascertained that his name was liot iPayne, but Oooley. It is prob- able that he belonged to the numerous family of that name who then lived in Jdamakating and Minisink, and. that he had com- mitted some offense which justified the speedy manner of his execution. Captain Tyler's way of dealing with tones and Indians made him very obnoxious to them. They hated him, and called him Captain Mush — a sobriquet of which "pudding-ftead" is a. *ynonym. The killing of Payne or Cooley cannot be fnUy explained. The slaughter of the family of Bryant Kane, a tory, is wrapped in a mystery still more impenetrable. A short time before the war, Kane made a contract for a farm on the east bank of the river, near the Falls of Cochec- ton — ^the same premises since occupied by Charles Young. Above him was the house of Nicholas Conkhn, and on the opposite shore lived Eobert Land. Kane and Land were tories, and both ran away on learning that they would be arrested by Captain Tyler's scouts, if they remained with their families. Land went to New York, while the other sought safety among the Indians, and participated in their atrocities. It is believed he is the individual mentioned in Stone's life of Brant as Barney Kane. Before leaving, Kane employed a man named Flowers to stay with his family and attend to his business. He hoped no harm would befall his wife and httle children, as the scouts had not been known to injure the helpless and harmless, and it was hardly supposed the savages wotud disturb the famihes of their friends. Yet he never saw their faces again. They were all murdered in April, 1777, by a party of Indians who were be- lieved to be Mohawks, (and may have been Senecas) and who performed their blOody work at n^ht, and disappeared before morning. On the day previous to the tragedy, the wife of Eobert Land and her son John, then a young man of nineteen years, fearing a visit from the scouts, drove their cattle to a place of conceal- ment. They remained away all night, leaving Abel, two other brothers, and two sisters, at home. After the occupants were asleep, one of the daughters was disturbed by feeling a spear- point drawn gently across the sole of one of her feet* A half- 196 HISTOEY OP SXILLIVAII COUNTY, breed Indian named Captain Jolin had often Tisited the family. He had ioherited from his white ancestors a love of fun, and from the savages a tigerEke fondness for blood. He had often "irritated" Miss Land's ears and nose with a straw or feather, and laughed boisterously at her ludicrous vexation, and dTiring his life had been engaged in affairs that displayed his terrible ferocity. "When Miss Land felt the tickling motion of the spear-point, she supposed that Captain John was making her once more the victim of a practical joke, and exclaimed, as she opened her eyes, "Captain John, is that you?" "Do you know Ckptain John?" he inquired with an Lidian accent, and told her to go to the neighbors -and let them know the Indians had come, and then left the house. She did what she was directed to do by the un- known visitor, but it seems did not alarm the other members of the family who were asleep in the house. After hastily dressing herself, she hurried to the river-aide, and getting into a canoe, boldly pushed it across in the darkness. Landing where a path led to Kane's house, she followed up the bank, and was soon at the door. All was silent within. She soon found that a fearfiil scene had been enacted there; and fled to the dwelling of Nich- olas Conklin, the inmates of which were aroused and told what she had seen and heard. No one considered it prudent to vent- ure forth until morning, when Mr. Conklin and some of the others went to Kane's, where they found the ent^e family, including Mr. Flowers, murdered and scalped. Mrs. Kane had evidently been scalped while she was yet aHve ; for she had died while attempting to dress herself, and a portion of her clothes was drawn over her mutilated head. After gazing at the horrid scene, the party accompanied Miss Land home. Her mother and brother John were still absent. Abel was missing, and had been taken off by the Indians. Not long after, Mrs. Land and John made their appearance, and on being informed what had taken place, were much perplexed and distressed. They could not understand why their family was con- verted into a target by both parties. At first John did not even know which way the marauders had gone, and liad no definite idea concerning the rescuing of his unfortunate brother; but on rallying some friends, among whom were a few Indians of the vicinity, he learned from the latter that the assailants had re- turned towards their own tenitory. John and the friends who were wiling to go with him, at once started in pursuit, and after a rapid march overtook the savages, whom they found posted for battle. John was not disposed to fight. He wanted his brother, and called for a "tajk." An explanation took place the result of which was that Abel wasdeuvered to his friends' after he was compelled to run the gauntlet, in doing which his THE TOWNS OP COCHEOTON AND DELAWABE. 197 speed astonished everybody present. He did not receive more than h^ a dozen blows, and none of them were severe. The two parties then separated. In April, 1780, Brant, with a party of Indians and tones, made a descent on Harpersfield, Delaware county, and captured Colonel Alexander Harper, Freegift Patchin, and several other patriots, whom they took to Niagara. Patchia was a respectable man, and in 1804, 1805, 1820, 1821 and 1822 was a Member of Assembly. After the Eevolutionary war, he published a narra- tive of Ms captivity, in which he says that one of his captors was " Barney V&ne," a tory. We believe that, after the lapse of years, he substituted the name of Barney for Bryant^- a very natural mistake under the circumstances. During the journey from Harpersfield to Niagara, this Barney or Bryant Cane boasted that he had killed one Major Hopkins, on Dimon's Island, in Lake George. A party of pleasure, he stated, had gone to this island on a sailing excursion, and having spent more time than they were aware of before they were ready to return, concluded to stay all night. Cane and his party, per- ceiving that they were defenseless, as soon as it was night, proceeded to the island, and fired upon them as they were sleeping around a fire. Several of the Americans were killed, among whom was a woman who had a babe, which was not hurt. "This," said -the inhuman Wretch, "we put to the breast of its dead mother, and so we left it. Major Hopkins was only woimded, his thigh-bone being broken. ' He started up, when I struck him with the butt of my gun on the side of his head. He fell over ; but caught on one hand. I then knocked him the other way, when he ca^ht with the other hand. A third blow, and I laid him dead. These were aU scalped except the infant. In the morning, a party of whigs brought away the dead, to- gether vrith one they found aUve, although he was scalped, and the babe, which was hanging and sobbing at the breast of its lifeless mother." Whether Barney Caile and Bryant Kane are the same or not, the above paragraph proves that war will convert even a civilized man into a demon, and that it is satanio beyond all other influ- ences, and should never be resorted to except in the most extreme cases. It may be that the massacre of Kane's family rendered him a fiend; it is quite as probable that his own crimes led to the slaughter of his wife and children). There is a veil of mystery about these transactions which cannot now be put aside, and therefore we will not attempt to remove it. After the declaration of peace, Bryant Kane wandered from neighborhood to neighborhood in the valley of the Delaware. His property passed into other hands, he became a drunkard, and finally went no one knew whither. 198 HISTOSy OV SUtUVAN GOUNTY. Joim Land endeavored to be {Sudani and wary, 'out became so QbnosJQus to tHe whigs fliat he was arrested, and sent to a New Jersey prison known as the log-jail. From this he escaped ; but was soon retaken, when he was wounded in the head with a sword, and hanged until hfe was nearly gone. He was then told that he would be hanged in eaisiest next time, and, heavily ironed, was once more cast into prison. Subsequently a whig named Joel Harvey became responsible for his good conduct, and he was permitted to enjoy the liberties of the town. He lived ■ydth Harvey until X783, when he returned to Cochecton. In the meantime, his mother had gone ynth. her other children to New York city, where she rejoi^ied her husband. Here they remained untU the city was eyactiated by the British, when,, with other tpjy refugees, tiiey went to Canada, leaving John behind them. J^e became a respectable citizen of the United States, although he was slagmatized untU the day of his death, as "John Land, the tory." * The Canada branch of the family became wealthy apd influential. The mothers of Cochecton had their fuU share of trouble and s^ering. No effort wprfiiy of them has been made to record their pains and perijs, and it is impossible now to tell their story, for the incidents of their lives are forgotten. We can gather but a few disjointed faets» and nvust ask the reader to ml the gaps as his imagination or good sense may dictate. IiV 1774, Wilkam Conklin of Cochecton, a young man of un- blemished character, was married to Elizabeth Brink of Minisink, a beautiful girl but sixteen years of age. The young couple moved into their log-hpuse near Big Island, and contmued to live there, although the lurid clouds of war daily caused their hearts to tremble. They were on Indian ground — the frequent scenes of savage revels and battles. In due time the child-wife became a mother, when the maternal instinct, so lovely in all living things, caused her to fear less for her own safety than the welfare of her babe, and while she pressed it to her breast with her immature but motherly arms, her eyes were searching the surrounding scenery for indications of danger and fear. "While thus engaged, she discovered the dreaded red men crossing the Delaware in the direction of her home, clothed and painted for murder and rapine. With her infant in her arms, she fled to the woods for concealment and security, and did not pause untU she came to a stream of water. Fearing that the savages would discover traces of her flight among the leaves and plants of the * Tom Quick and the Pioneers. The Beyolntipnanr incidents here recorded were communicated to the author, in 18S0, by Hon. Moses Thomas and other aged gentle- men of unquestioned respectability, who had lived in the Cushetunk region from their birth. We give them here precisely as they were detailed to us, with a slight change^ in the diction. THE iQmifi OF COCaBOTOH AMD KELAWAKB. 199 wildermesB, au^ bio^t^aog that th;ey themsel-vres would do so under the same circumstanpes, she plunged into the water, and fol- •lowed the bed of the eeaelE witil she found a secure hiding- place, where she remaijied witil she could return in safety. During the raid which terminated in the battle of Highiamd, she passed through other scenes which were equally adventurousi and exciting. She surviyed tJb«iB ajl, amd became the mother of eleven children, as well as a mother in Israel. She died in 1842, at the house of Jesse Tyler, a son-in-law, and was in- terred in a sequestered spot m sight of her early home. Her descendants at that imie, it was computed, numbered at least one hundl^ed souls.* Another of these heroic women was Mrs. Jesse Drake, the names of whose descendants are equally well known and re- spected \n the valley of the Delaware. The fathex*of her first husband (Moses Thomas 1st) was killed by Indians near the mouth of the Cushetunk in 1763. Her husband ( Moses Thomas 2d) early in the war abandoned the old homestead, took his young wife to Mipisink, as the thickly inhabited section of Mamakating was then known, joined the patriotic army, and was for some time *t West Point and Newburgh. Becoming dissatisfied with his o^eePS, he hired a substitute and returned to Mijusink. When Brant invaded that point, Thomas volun- teered, and was killed at the battle of Highland. After this, she married a man named Nathan- Chapman, and went with him to Wyoming, where he was killed by savages. Subse- quently she bec^!.me the wife of Jesse Drake. After the war she could not see an Indiap vs^thottt fainting, so great was her dread of those who had slain so many of her near and dear friends.t Notwithsta^^d^ t|ie ^ifpeera of i^e Delaware once more engaged in rafting, farnung, &c., alter the Bevolutionary war, they sometimes suffered fuom hiiager. Lumbering was the most promising source of gain, and some neglected their crops to engage in it. It was the most ready way of acquiring money. Sometimes, however, their rafts were wrecked on the way to Philadelphia; or were swept &om the eddies by sudden floods; or there was not a ranting nopd a Witho^ he^tation, they mvided their * S^^WiHin WOfUJum'VtJv*' IS, IMS. t^m Qoicfc. 200 HISTOEY OF SULLIYAN COUNTY. last cfrust with the starving, and trusted in Providence for the next. So great -was the scarcity of food at times, that women and children, after travehng for miles through the forest to pro- cure food, upon receiving a few ears of com, would gnaw the raw kernels from the cobs like famished animals. An old gen- tleman who had been a witness of these scenes, and related them to the author in 1850, wept, while he was doiag so, hke a sorrow-stricken woman. WHle the people of Coohecton were laboring under the disadvantages of a new and secluded locahty, some of them were seized with a mania to push still farther iato the wilder- ness. This was after the war for independence. Strange tales were told of the beauty and fertility of the Great West, where their old neighbors, the Indians, had gone. Great as were the natural advantages of the West, speculators and enthusiasts made the credulous of Cochecton and other regions beHeve that the new El Dorado was a hundredfold better than it really was, and adventurers were soon throning the military roads, Indian paths and nav^able rivers, determined to encounter everything which was a barrier to the progress of the dominion of the white race. Among those who went from Coohecton were a man named Abraham Euss, and his brother-in-law, a Mr. Van Etten, with their families. They settled on the banks of the Ohio, where Mr. Euss and some of the others were murdered by the Indians. Mrs. Euss subsequently returned, and was married to a man named George Hawk, one of whose daughters was the mother of Bishop Bascom of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The name of Hawk is alike famihar and respectable in the Delaware river towns. Before the interior of the county was permanently occupied, Cochecton was one of the routes which led to Western New York, as appears from a manuscript of a gentleman named Skinner, who hved and died at the mouth of CaLdn's creek. Says he, "My father's house at Cushetunk (or rather the place where we stayed — for it consisted of a few logs thrown together and covered with bark) was for several years a principal stop- piag-plaoe. There were but few houses m Cochecton where the traveler could be lodged even on a somewhat primitive floor. Some ^remained with us two or three days, and .others as many weeks. In those days, there was no way to get to Cochecton except by pushing a canoe thirty-five or for^ miles up the river, or by traveling the same distance on an Indian path where a carriage could not be drawn. Tet many found the way to Co- checton by thepower of feet and legs, or the strength of hands and arms. .^ * Confused unnumbered multitudes were found' — some moving farther up the river ; some on the way to Niagara ; some coming to raft, others to speculate, and some to peculate. THE TOWNS OF COCHECTON AND DELAWARE. 201- "Each talked aloud, or in some secret place, And wild, impatient, stared in evfery face! " The greater part had been, or intended to be, concerned in the affairs of the country. Their conversation naturally led to the transactions and troubles on the Delaware during the French and Eevolutionary wars. " There at one passage, oft you might survey A lie and truth contending for the sway ; There various news I heard of love and strife ; Of war and peace, health, sickness, death and Ufe ; Of loss and gain, of famine and of store ; Of rafting down stream — walking up the shore ; Of old possessions occupied anew," etc. * The following interesting particulars in regard to Cochecton were embodied in an address delivered at the Beech Woods Fair,' in 1860 or 1861, by Hon. James C. Curtis. He deserves much credit for gathering and recording local historical factSj and it is to be regretted that others have not had time and in- clination to do as he has done. We give his address without ourtaihnent, although some of it may be a repetition of what we have written : The valley of the Delaware in Cochecton was undoubtedly the first locality in Sullivan which was permanently occupied by white men, except portions of the towns of Mamakating and Neversink. Very httle is known as to who were the first or transient settlers of Coch6cton, or where they came from. They have passed away without leaving, as far as I know, any reeords- by which we can learn the whole or even a part of their history, and their descendants, if any remain among us, know but little of their ancestors. This is not important, because they were hunters and trappers — mere squatters on the lands of the Indians. The history of the permanent settlers is better known. The descendants of the major part of them are numerous in the town ; and from family records and tradition we can learn much of them. The fertile 6ats on the river at Cochecton were early known to the settlers of Minisink. Our beautiful vaUey, from Cochecton Falls to the mouth of the CaUicoon, was then called by the In- dians " Cushetunk, or low lands," * by which name it is desig- * This name is alao spelled on 6ld maps, " Cashlegtunk." Cochecton is but a cor- ruption of the true Indian name. " Low lands" is probably not a translation of the word. The terminal "unk" shows that the name was given by the Lenape to the mountains in the vicinity of the river. The literal meaning of " unk," or its equivalents "ung" and "ong," was "sky top," and it was used to describe anything high or elevated. Q. 202 HI8T0BY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. nated on the first maps of the State. It is a much more mild and soft name than the one which has displaced it, (Cochecton). Indian names were more appropriate than the ones given by the Dutch and EngUsh settlers ; and it is a pity that they were not retained, or cannot be restored. The only reason that I can assign for the change is, that, owing to the wars between the whites and the savages, and the atrocities committed by the latter, that settlers could not tolerate or endure any name or thing that was Indian. The country was fertile, and abounded in fish, furs and game.. It was near the sea-board — but one himdred miles from New York, and had an outlet by the Delaware river to Philadelphia ; but it was not at first rapidly settled, owing among other things, I suppose, to the disputes between New Jersey and New York, as to jurisdiction of territory and ownership of the soil.* In the year 1704, the Miaisink patent was granted. It covers the southern tier of towns in this county, and a portion of Orange county. In 1708, the patent known as the Hardenbergh, or Great Patent, was by Queen Ann granted to Johannis Hardenbergh and his associates. Including Hardenbergh, there were eight of them. No division of it took place xmtil 1749, when nearly, if not all, the original patentees were dead. It was then divided into Great Lots, and by lot partitioned among its owners, the de- scendants or assigns of each patentee receiving their equal and fair number of lots. The heu;s and legal representatives of some of the patentees had become numerous. Hence, to give each one his equal portion of land, the Great Lots were cut up into Divisions, and these Divisions were divided among them soon after the partition of 1749. Some then sold their land ; but not to actual settlers. The Great Lots and Divisions were so large that few could purchase. The wealthy bought these large tracts. They were the old aristocracy, the Patroons, the Lords of Manors, the Enghsh and Dutch nobihty of the day. A few merchants had grown rich by bartering blankets, trink- ets, powder, lead, poor guns, and ruinous fire-water — ^the curse and destroyer of the Indians — ^for the furs and peltries of the beaver, otter, deer, bear, panther, and other animals which aboimded in the primeval forests of the country. About this time these traders began to give themselves airs — became owners of the SOU — ^intermarried with land-holders and aristocrats, and like them were not willing to sell the land to those who could i)ay and become independent freeholders. Their plan was to ease to the poor and landless, and become Patroons and Barons * A full account, of the controversy between New York and New Jersey will be fonnd in a gnbaequeut chapter of this volume. THE TOVTNS OF QOOHBCTON AND DELAWABE. 209 -r-io lord it over a poor tenancy, and number torn as they did their " cattle on a thousand hills." But they did not succeed. Owing to the disputes with New Jersey as to jurisdiction ajid ownership; the controversy with the Indians, who refused to leave until they were paid for the land; the French and Indian war in 1756 and subsequent years ; and lastly, the war of the Eevolution, the lands remained in the hands ot such large pro- prietors as had not beeome bankrupt, without settlers to much extent, and subject to charges from which none escaped. Many of them, and their descendants after them, became poorer and poorer, until they were unable to pay taxes, for which their possessions were sold by the State. To illustrate this state of things, permit me to give the history of two lots in this town — Nos. 59 and 61. About the year 1750, Joseph Griswold, of New Terk city, an Englishman from London, was a wealthy distiller, and among the first of his class. He purchased molasses from the West Indies, and made of it rum — pure, genuine rum. If not more honest, he was perhaps less skilled m the art than those of hia craft of the present day. He did not from molasses make all kinds of liquor, or, like the retailers and publicans of our time,, draw rum, brandy, whisky, cordial, and even sehnaps, or any other kind of Uquor that his customers demanded, from the same cask. At that time (1750) he purchased from John Wen- ham, of the city of London, lot No. 59, on which Beech Woods is located, and lot No. 61, which includes the Falls of the Calli- coon, each containing about 3,300 acres. No part of either was sold untn 1812, when Edward, the son of Joseph Griswold, sold to Boss, Tyler and Mitchell, that portion of lot No. 59 lying on the Delaware river, which had been early improved by their an- cestors. Edward Griswold continued to own nearly aU of the , remainder of the lot until his death, which took place in 1836. Since that time, it has been sold in small parcels to residents, to the manifest benefit of the people and the town. The other lot (No. 61) is yet (1861) mostly unsold, and uncul- tivated. It is in a state of nature, and a clog to the prosperity of the town. It extends from the Delaware to the vicinity of Pike Pond, and is owned by Madame Berthemy, a subject of France, the grand-daughter of Joseph Griswold, the distiller. In a pecuniary point of view, the speculation of the senior Griswold was disastrous to himself, and nearly so to his descend- ants. He paid ia 1750, £500, New York currency, for each lot. The £500 then invested in lot No. 61, would now, counting taxes and interest, amount to $2,500,000 — eight himdred dollars per acre. $2,500,000 is six times as much as the assessed value of all the real and personal property of the town. This is a fair 204 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. specimen of the results of land monopoly. It is disastrous to public welfare, and ruinous to those who engage in it.* Such has been and such is the history of the landlords and great land-holders of the Hardenbergh, the Van Eensselaer, the Livingston and other large patents of the State. The policy of granting large tracts of land to individuals for speculative purposes, and to create powerful families — ^Patroons, Lords of Manors, and domineering aristocrats, with a monbpoly of offices and political power on the one hand, and on the other a commonalty of menials and tenants, paying homage and obe- dience to, and hving. on the lands at the wiU of arrogant and domineering superiors — superiors with the privilege and the inclination to wring from honest toil its just reward, to pamper and support in luxurious idleness themselves and families — ^has signally failed. The descendants of the once proud Livingstons, Van Eensselaers, De Lanceys and others, whose tenants once numbered thousands, are now on a level with their feUow-citizens, and compelled to work for their daily bread or become paupers. The last vestige of feudal tenures was swept away by tiie Con- stitution -adopted by the Empire State in 184:6. This is as it should be, for which we should all rejoice. ) Soon after the partition of the Hardenbergh patent in 1749, and sales to some extent had been made, it became necessary for the old proprietors and new purchasers to secure possession of the lands, by having occupants permanently planted on them. This was expedient on account of the conduct of the New Jersey claimants, and, as Diedrick Knickerbocker styles them in his veritable history of New York, "the universal squatting, bun- dling Yankees." The latter, in their desire of extension and inherent love of gain, about the year 1750, set up an unfounded claim which, for a long series of years, gave trouble to New York and Pennsylvania, and finally to the government of the United States. Under the pretense that Connecticut had organized the Territory of "Wyoming, that Colony attempted to establish a title to, and exercise Jurisdiction over, aU the region west of the Dutch settlements of New York, north of latitude 40°, extending through Peimsylvania to the Pacific ocean. Connecticut colo- Bists came to the disputed region armed to the teeth,t for pro- tection against the savages, as well as the Pennhamites, who * In 1810, George Taylor, who died in Montioello a few years since, owned several hundred acres in Great Lot 17, and was offered $5.60 per acre for it. For more than thirty years he paid taxes on it, hut received no revenue from it, and then sold the land for nearly the sum he was offered for it in 1810.— Vide Waioftman, May 18, 1841. t Chapman, in his history Of Connecticut, says the "colony" of Cushetunk was commenced in 1757, and that, in 1760, the colonists had thirty houses, a saw and grist- mill, and a hlock-hpuse, together with several large log-houses. The number of Uouses is probably too large, and the grist-mill, if there was one, was a small affair is no trace or tradition of it is now kpown there. ' THE TOWNS OF OOCHECTON AND DELAWAEE. 205 claimed the country west of the Delaware under tlie charter of William Penn, the Quaker. Either not knowing or caring where the bounds of that territory were, they attempted to settle and wrest from the real owners the fertile flats and valleys of Cushetunk, on the Delaware. The Skinners, the Calkins and the Tylers came from Connecticut, first stopping on their way to Wj^omiag territory at Deerpark, now Mount Hope, on the east side of Shawangunk mountain, the then only direct route to "Fair Wjroming," since renowned in story and song, for the brutal atrocities committed by the savages, and their worse than savage tory allies. The Ski in Tiers first occupied the place since owned by Daniel Bush and Moses Tyler, to which they gave the name of St. Tam- many Flat. Here, until he died in 1812, lived Daniel Skinner, the "Admiral," who steered the first yaft from Clishetxink to Philadelphia. In his old age, he married a new wife in New- burgh, and brought her to Cushetunk, which event was made memorable by a native poet named Seeley, who honored the "Admiral" and his spouse with a poem, which was long after recited in the neighborhood. But a few lines of it are now re- membered. The following is a specimen of it. As the " Ad- miral" and his wife from the hills east of the Delaware, came in view of his beautiful home, he turned to her and said, in the language of Seeley : "Behold St. Tammany! Behold the foimtains! At the foot of the hill. There is a saw-miU, And plenty of timber on the mountains." Calkins, the pioneer, was a doctor of talent and usefulness. His location was. near Cochecton Falls. He afterwards removed to Wyoming. His son, the grandfather of the present generation of Calkins, after the Eevolution, returned, and purchased and occupied Lot No. 63, containiag about 3,000 acres, including the beautiful flats on which Cochecton depot and village now stand. He was afterwards drowned in crossing the Delaware river at the head of Pine Flat. Tyler, the first settler, it is said, was the father of twenty-two children. In the French and Kisvolutionary wars he was driven off by the Indians. Several of his sons enlisted in the Eevolu- tion, and fought bravely for their country. One of them, Na- ,thaniel, the father of William Tyler, known as "EockweU Bill," was a drummer in the army, and was taken prisoner at the battle of St. Johns. Another, Captain Bezaleel Tyler, of whom hon- orable mention is made in Stone's Life of Brant, and in the History of Orange County, fell mortally wounded while leading 206 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. his men against the Indians at the battle of Minisink, near the Lackawaxen, where were killed the flower of the citizen-soldiers of Orange. A noble monument was erected over their remains, after they had remained on the battle-field forty years. Captain Tyler is the second in the Hst of patriots whose names are graven on that monument. Those of the family who survived the war, returned to Cocheeton, drew pensions from the government, were useful citizens, and the fathers of large families, as the almost universal name of the family in Cocheeton will testify. The Conklins came about the same time, it is said, from Eock- land county. They, too, had to leave in the French war, and again in the Revolution. After fighting for Independence, they came back. EUas and John purchased lot No. 64, including the farm since owned by Nathan Mitchell, where they resided until they sold' out in 1817, and removed to Great Bend, Pennsylvania. John Conklin was a man of note — ^uneducated, but of good mind and religious principles; honest in his dealings; respected in the community ; was Supervisor of his town, (then Lumberland, in the county of Ulster), Judge of the County Court, and three times Member of Assembly.* His name was given to the town of Conklin, in Broome county. He was a pioneer advocate of, and, took an active part in making the Newburgh and Cocheeton turnpike, the bridge across the Delaware, and Cocheeton and Great Bend turnpike. Elias was an Indian doctor of note — cured cancers, the bites of rattlesnakes, etc. His art descended to his son and grandson. John aid Elias both, until they died, drew pensions — the first, eighteen dollars, as a sergeant, and the other eight doUars, as a private, per month. There was another brother (WiUiani), a quiet, industrious, inoffensive, good man, who settled at Big Island, on lands of Joseph Griswold. Al- though twice driven from his home at short notice by the Indians, he cherished a kind regard for them, saying that they were more sinned against than sinning ; that many of them were fine fellows ; and that he had seen sixty Indian men on a New-year's- day, playing ball on Big Island, which was a great resort for them, as it was near their burying-ground, the graves of which on the farm of John C. Drake remain visible to the present day. The Ross family were from Bound Brook, New Jersey. They were induced to come to Cushetunk by Joseph Griswold, the distiller. The eldest of them settled on the farm now owned by Charles Miles, and formerly by George KeUam. He had two sons, John and James. John settled on the south and James on the north side of the mouth of the Callicoon or Turkey creek The latter died about 1812. The Mitchells came from New Jersey, the first of whom settled * From Sullivftn and Ulster in 1810, 1811, and 1817. THE TOWNS OF COGHECTON AND DELAWABE. 207 ■on the land now belonging to Eliliii S. Paig«, under the New Jersey claim. After the war of the Eevolution, he bought lot No. 65 of one of the Hardenbergh proprietors. He lived to a good old age, and left a large fSimily of sons and daughters. The family having intermarried with the Rosses and Tylers, are now very numerous. The Laytons were also natives of New Jersey. They located themselves at the forks of the Callicoon, on lot No. 59, on lands of Colonel Duer, an officer of the Revolution who married the dai^hter of Lord Sterling, distinguished as a Major General in oiar war for Independence, and as the friend of Washington. About the year 1790, Ebenezer Taylor, of Orange county, New York, came up the river from Carpenter's Point in a canoe, and brought with him a stock of goods. He stuck his stake opposite Cochecton village, on lands of Simeon Bush, and tsommenced business as a merchant. Soon afterwards he married Eleanor, a granddaughter of the first Doctor Calkins, and then moved to the place now owned by Jiames C. Curtis, where he continued his store. He was the first merchant of the town ; made im- provements, cleared land, etc. He was not only enterprising as a retailer of goods, but a pubhc-spirited citizen. He was the ■ first major in the battalion of militia organized west of Mama- kating; took an active part in establishing the route of and making the Newburgh and Cochecton turnpike road and the Cochecton and Great Bend turnpike ; was the first treasurer of the latter; and, when the Cochecton post-office and the post- route through the town were established by President Madison, was appointed post-master. He made the first improvement on the farm lately owned by Samuel Sprague, at Beech Woods; gave name to the landing-place for raftsmen which is yet known as Taylor's Eddy; kept the first place of entertainment for them between Skinner's Eddy and Ten Mile river, and the first licensed tavern in the town. His house was the abode of hospitality, where the traveler, preacher, lawyer and statesman found a wel- come, and where the poor never were turned away empty. He died in 1821, leaving three sons and three daughters. The sons soon moved westward, and now of his name none remain among us. Still later (about 1800) Charles Irvine, a native of Ireland, after fleeing from the oppression of the English government under the younger Pitt, landed at Philadelphia, and at the re- *quest of some persons from this place who were there selling lumber, came to this town as a school^master. Gentlemanly in his manners, of fine personal appearflnoe, and of good education, he was a popular teacher. He assisted in organizing the first regular school, and in building by a joint stock company the first irame school-house in the town. Soon after he made Cochecton 208 HISTORY OV SUIXITAN COUNTY. liis residence, lie married Weighty, a OTanddaughter of the elder Doctor Calkins ; settled where his son Jared now resides ; cleared a heavy burden of timber from the hiUs and the flats ; and built a large inn and outbuildings, at that time tiie best between Bloomingburgh and Great Bend. He was a very popular land- lord. In 1812, the recruiting officer had his quarters at Irvine's hotel. It was there young men of the region enlisted to fight for free trade and sailor's rights. It was there the traveler heard of the great victories of Perry and McDonough ; of the battles of Queenston Heights and Lundy's Lane; and of the never-to-be-forgotten battle of the cotton-bags at New Orleans. In 1825, he removed to the west-branch of the Susquehanna, and died there during the same year. From him the respectable family of the Irvines are descended. The Youngs came from Scotland in 1750, and settled on lands of Joseph Griswold, at Big Island. While Sullivan was a part of Ulster, the county business was all done at Kingston, the only practicable route to which for a long series of years was by the way of Carpenter's Point and Peenpack and through the Neversink and Mamakating valleys. The journey to Peenpack was performed on foot, or on horse- back, or in canoes. To the latter place there was nothing but- an Indian trail, and to travel to the county-seat was a formidable undertaking — much more so than a journey to Washington is now. Lumberland was taken from Mamakating in 1798, and covered the present towns of Bethel, Highland, Cochecton, Liberty and Tusten. Bethel was made from the territory of Lumberland in 1809, and Cochecton from Bethel in 1828. The first town-meeting of Cochecton was held in March, 1829, at the house now owned by Willett Embler, in what was then known as the village, and called famiUarly "the tavern." At that house and at Fosterdale the only inns in the town were kept for many years. Colonel Philo Buckley, U. S. Marshal in 1830, reported the number of inhabitants as 438, and voters about 80, of whom only sixty voted at the next election. But from sixty to seventy votes were cast at any time for several years. In 1855, the mhabitants numbered 3,071, of whom 1,794 were natives of the United States, and the balance of foreign birth. Number of electors, 494. The population and improvement of the town were at first of slow growth. In 1832, the charter of the New York and Erie EaOroad was granted. In 1835, the company first broke ground in the town near the CaUicoon depot. With the completion of that work, there was an influx of population. This beautiful and fertile region became known, with its fine land, pure air,, excellent timber, and abtindant water-power, all within ona THB TOiniB OF OOGSEOTOM AND DifXAWABE. 209 himdred miles of the Enapire City of America, and attracted capitalists and settlers. To the foreigner who fled from the despotism of the Old World, Cochecton offered inducements superior to those of the more fertile lands of the far West. To him its advantages then became known. Before this the Mini- sink and Hardenbergh patents had been a reproach and by-word. They had been stigmatized by a distinguished Senator at Albany as so poor that even crows would not fly over them. Our population was also at^mented by the tanners, who mainly came from Greene county. Colonel Edwards, and other great manufacturers of leather, had discovered that it was better to take hides to the localities that produced bark, than to cart the more bulky bark a long distance to the hides. The tanneries of Greene had nearly exhausted the bark in their vicinity, when the tanners came to Sullivan, and added much to it§ population,, and immensely to its resources. For many years, there was more sole-leather made in this counW than in any other terri- tory of equal extent in the world. Before their advent, lands clothed with hemlock were avoided by every, one but the lum- ber-man. Now they are considered the most valuable of our wild lands ; and it not unfrequently happens that the bark on such a lot will pay for clearing and fencing it, and leave a margin large enough for good, comfortable buildings, to say nothing of stock. Names of persons who resided in Cochecton in March, 1814, who had families : ON THE EIVEK BELOW JAKED IEVINE'S. David Young, Joseph Mitchell, James Mitchell, Stephen Mitchell, Old Mr. Mitchell, John ConkUn, Elias Conkhn, Ehas Conklin, jun., Jacob Conkhn, William Conklin, Bezaleel Calkins, Moses Calkins, Ohver H. Calkins, Charles Irvine, Pierre A. Barker. m THE VILLAGE ABOVE THOSE BEFOBE MENTIONED. Benjamin Baymond, David Brown, William Palmer, Nathaniel Tyler, Timothy Tyler, Paul Tyler, Ebenezer Taylor, Bezaleel Tyler. ON THE TtlilNPIKE. Enoch Owen, WiUiam Tyler, Frederick Wallace, James Hill, and a family where William Cochran now lives. AT PIKE POND. A man named Woodruff, who kept a saw-mill. AT CAILICOON FLATS. Silas Tyler, and one other whose name is not now known. AT BEECH WOODS. Ebenezer Taylor's family, George Keesler, Timothy Tyler.. 14 •210 jBJS'W&Y of SULLIVAN tOQra}!ET. iAT*Sa[GtISLAND. 'William Ooilkliii, sen., James -Briak, Jesse Gtyler, ■Squire Marsh, —^ — -Baker. lAT GALLIGOON. John 'Boss, Joseph Boss, Charles Layion. lAT NOBTH BEAJifGH (aBOYE CALLIOOON ). James iEoss, NathaaiielTjler,sen., WilKam Tyler, William Tyler, Benjamin iEyler, William Billings. I WITHOUT FAMILEES : ■Cteoi^e S. Young, John Mitchell, i Charles E. Taylor, George B. Ghiinnip, JEohinson, Amos Tyler, EH Conklin, Paul W.' Conklon, John Boss, Elias Boss, John Layton, Jacob Mitchell, -John Killam, George KiUam, John Brown, Bateman Smith, JohuiHill, Isaac Tyler. Of the sixty-five families and unmarried men who resided in the town, more than one-half bore the name of Mitchell, Conk- hn, Tyler aad Boss ! The number of families in 1814, indicates a population of about 250. In the spring of 1857, John Mcersohieaused toibe held on his premises at tBeeeh Woods, ;a.fairi£iDr the p^ale, exchange and exhibition of horses, homed cattle, sheep, swine, and farm pro- ducts generally. The German people of Oochecton and the ^djoijsungitonms had 'been 1 accustomed to such things in the fatherland, and greeted its introduction in their adopted home with delight. Notwithstanding Mr. Moersch received no bounty from the public treasury, was unaided by money contributions from 'Mends or ifoes, and was stigmatized by the latter as a Tisionaiy speculator, he steadily i pursued the. even tenor of his way. Through his enterprise and liberality, fair succeeded fair semi-annually, as long ,as he remained a resident of the town, and after he removed to New York to engage in mercantile pur- suits, others followed in his footsteps, not only at Beech Woods, hut at JeffersonvDle, Youijgsvitle, and other places. A notable feature of these German fairs is, that, although supported and managed by private individuals, and unaided by the State, in some manner money enough is made by them to pay adver- tisii^' bills, while the County Society was always too poor to do so, .and finally starved to death. Mr. Moersch was not only successful with his fairs ; but he was a model farmer. He commenced hfe at Beech Woods with small means in an insignificant logrhouse. When he left there, he had a noble farm, with a fine house, capacious bams, con- venient out-buildings,- orchards which were annually loaded with choice fruit, and he, could boast of more improvements in a^i- THE TOWNS OF COOHECTON AND DELAWABB. 211 -enltee than many older farmers. He was not only a good *farmer, but a genial, kind-hearted gentleman. On the 13th of November, 1868, Cocheeton was out in two by 'the Supervisors of the county, and the new town of Delaware ■erected. The division^Une is from^the foot of Big or Pine Island ■easterly along the north Hue of lot 62, in Great Lot 18 ; thence Bouth along the west line of Great Lot 17 until it strikes the south-west comer of lot 74; thence east on the Une of lot 74 to the town-Une of Bethel. North of this line is Delaware ; south of it Cocheeton. The first town-meeting in Delaware was held at the house of Charles Fischer, on the first Tuesday of March, 1869, at which Anthony H. Bush, John VaUeau and Jacob Scboonmaker, jr., presided. In the early part of May, 1855, George Ehrioh, of Cocheeton, was killed by his wife Catharine. He was sick, and iA bed, when «he took a heavy Dutch hoe, mounted a chair by his bed-side, and struck him upon' the head, fracturing his skull. The family of Ehrich was present, and his daughter caught hold of her mother as soon as the blow was struck, and prevented its repe- tition. Mrs. Ehrich declared that she had killed him because she had a deadly antipathy against him, and had long wished -to be released from 'her marital obligations. She was indicted at the next session of 'the gratod jury, and tried for murder at ■the September Oyer and Terminer, when her counsel (A. C. Niven,) set up a plea of insanity. The District Attorney, (0. H. Van Wyck,) did not press a conviction, as he was certain the defense was well founded. The jury rendered a verdict of ac- quittal, and she was sent to an asylum for the insane. The most atrocious murder ever perpetrated in Sullivan county, was committed by a German named Francis Gubemater, on the 7th of September, 1861. In the spring of 1856, Gubemater was an inmate of the poor- house, and was discharged from that institution. Entirely destitute and unable to speak the Enghsh language, he appUed for shelter and assistance to "Wolfgang Dressier, a fellow-coun- tryman who Uved at Beech Woods. By industry and self-deHial, Dressier had acquired a small property. He not only took Gubemater into his family, but told him that after the death of himself and wife, he should be his heir, if he conducted himself like a man. For over six years Dressier harbored him, and treated him as kindly as if he had been a son or brother. On the day of the murder, Gubemater had been from home. In the evening he returned partially intoxicated, and while at supper found fault with the food on thie table, abused Mrs. Dressier, and commenced breaking crockery, windows, etc. Dressier was a cripple and ia feeble health, and was on his bed. He remon- strated with the drunken man for his conduct, when the»latter 212 HISTOBY OF SUIUVAN COUNTY. started for the bed, stopped suddenly, went after an axe, re- turned, and literally hewed his benefactor to pieces. MrB. Dressier attempted to defend her husband, when Gubemater turned upon her, and would have murdered her also, if she had not fled from the house. As it was, he wounded her in seTeral places. Bleeding and almost distracted, Mrs. Dressier reached the dweUiag of a neighbor, and made an alarm. As soon as practi- cable, several persons, headed by a constable named Long, proceeded to the scene of the tragedy, where they found the mangled remains of Dressier. The murderer had left the house ; but was soon afterward found concealed under a manger in the bam. He was taken to MonticeUo, and kept in jail until the October Oyer and Terminer of 1862, when he was tried before Judge Theodore Miller. Isaac Anderson, District Attorney, assisted by A. 0. Niven, appeared for the people, and Henry E. Low and WiUiam J. Groo for the prisoner. The jury rendered a verdict of murder in the first degree, and the prisoner was sentenced to be himg on the 12th day of December, 1863 ; and to be confined in the State prison at Chnton until the punishment of death was inflicted. Notwithstanding this sentence, he was not executed. As late as the 4th of January, 1872, he was an inmate of the prison. For several months his health had been gradually failing. He was nearly helpless, quite imbecile, and had been admitted to the prison-hospital, with no prospect of living more than a few months. The first four months of 1857 were remarkable for low temper- atures, deep snows and floods. The weather was unusually severe in January, the 24th day of which was the coldest on record. In several places of Sullivan the mercury of Fahrenheit's ther- mometer descended to 34° below zero.* At Wurtsborough, one of the warmest valleys of the comity, the thermometer marked 30°. This extreme cold was accompanied by a furious snow- storm, which rendered traveling almost impossible, and both previously and subsequently the weather was of unusual severity. It seemed as if, by the ordjer of Providence, the atmosphere of the northern extremity of the world passed over us like a deluge. Our rivers and lakes were frozen as they never were before. Li, the Delaware particularly the ice was of unprecedented- thickness, and strength. This cold wave was followed by one of such warmth that the snow was suddenly melted, and a gi-eat flood occurred. The Delaware overflowed its channel. The ice was broken up by * SepiMitan Watchman, Feb. i, 1857. At Albany, the thermometer ntood at li; ftt QaeJMC 30, at Ogdensburgh 36, and at Watertown 48 degrcee below zero. • THE TOWNS OP OOCHKCTON AND BELAWAKE. 213 the force of the water. In some instances sheets coyering acres of surface moved down stream until they met with obstructions, when they became stationary, and choked the river. The ice moved on the 8th of February, and a jam took place at Handsome Eddy. For a time the water threatened to submerge and destroy a large part of Barryville ; but fortunately the bar- rier was broken, and the danger was at an end. At Cochecton Falls, the ice formed a dam which caused the river to swell forty feet above its ordinary level ! The jam oc- curred at 6 o'clock in the morning, and so sudden was the calamity that the residents of the village of Cochecton had not time to flee from their houses before mey were surrounded by water and huge blocks of floating ice. Several dweUings were covered as far as their second stories, and in the church the water reached the pulpit. Merchants abandoned their goods, and house-keepers their furniture, while those who were on the shore constructed rafts, floats and rough boats with which they conveyed terrified men, women and children from the half-sub- merged houses. So energetically was the work performed that at 10 o'clock all were rescued. No lives were lost; but there was much suffiering, as well as large losses of property. Doctor Williams' house, with its furniture, two bams and sheds of Thomas Eiley, a bam of William McCuUough, and a barn of Mr. Tyler, with his hay and grain, were swept away. The grave- yard was overflowed, and the memorials of the dead broken by the battering ice. But the greatest loss was the destruction of the bridge across the Delaware, which had been recently com- pleted at a cost of ten thousand dollars. It was borne away entire after the flood was several feet above its piers. During the day, the dam at the Falls was broken, when the flats were speedily drained ; but they were nearly covered by huge fragments of ice. For a time it was almost impossible to drive a team through the village. At Callicoon Depot two or three buildings were destroyed, as well as a bridge across the Callicoon. The lumber on the river, almost without an exception, was swept off. The New York and Erie railroad-bridge at Narrowsburgh was destroyed, and after a new one was put in its place, that also was swept off by a flood on the 18th of February ensuing. As late as the 20th of April of this y4ar, snow fell in the northern part of the county to the depth of three feet, and on the 3d and 4th of May there was another flood which caused a considerable loss of property. There was an unusual scarcity of hay, and many homed cattle starved to death. On the Ist of May, cows were bought for ten dollars per head ; but they were too weak to walk, and purchasers were oWiged to take them away on sleighs. 214 HI8T0BY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. As late as the 20th of May, there was a snow-storm in the northern towns, and along the county-line the snow was six inches deep. The bridge at Cochecton was not r6built until the faU of 1858. Capitahsts were not inclined to invest their money in a structure which seemed to be of but temporary continuance, until Sydney Tuttle, of Jeffersonville, took a large portion of the stock. Mr. Oh&fpin, the builder, commenced the new bridge in October, and finished it in January. In improving a new country, fire is an important agent. Ap- plied at a proper time, it reduces to ashes the woodland rubbish which encumbers the soil, and leaves the land in good condition for the raising of crops. " It is a good servant, but a hard master." In May, 1862, a person set fire to some brush-heaps on Brier- Eidge, in Cochecton, when the wind carried the flames from' object to object, and a fiery tornado rushed from the ridge to- the premises of Frederick Long, jr., on the east-branch of the OaUicoon. Fourteen hojises and bams were destroyed, besides sheep, horn-cattle, hogs, furniture, farming utensils, etc. The principal sufferers were Charles Kosewinn, George Bauer, Jacob Bordenstein, Jacob Bosewinn, Frederick Long, sen., John Weaver, George A. Banft, Frederick Knight, J. W. Decker, Henry Fitzgerald, Frederick Long, jr., Hewlet Peters, John Best, and Martin Andrews. It was estimated that during the first week of the month nearly one hundred buildings were destroyed by fire in Cochecton, CaUicoon, Thompson, Bethel, Liberty, Fallsburgh and Neversink. Our history of Cochecton would not be complete without a more particiuar account of a gentleman who, for nearly two generations, has been the most prominent resident of the town,, politically and socially. James C. Curtis, a native of the State of Vermont, came to Cochecton in 1814, and engaged in farming, lumbering and trading. He was also concerned in the affairs of Edward Gris- wold and Madame Berthemy. On the organization of the town, he was elected Supervisor, and held that office seventeen years — sixteen of them consecutively. From 1835 to 1843, he was chairman of the Board. He was also for thirty years a Justice of the Peace. In 1828, he was made a Major of the 185th Biegi- ment of Infantry. In 1831 and 1833, he represented SuUivan in the Assembly of the State, and in 1849 was elected a Senator from Sullivan and Orange. While acting in the latter capacity, he resigned his seat ; but was re-elected by a largely increased majority. In 1844, he was appointed First Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and held tne position until the adoption of the third Constitution of the State; and from 1862 to 1869 was THE TOWNS OF OOOHECTON AND DELAWAEE. 215 United States Assessor for the Eleventh District of New York; Besides theses he has filled several less important positions. In early life, Judge Curtis married Pamelia C, a daughter of Major Ebenezer Taylor, His children ^low living) are WUliam H., James I., Charles T., Caroline M. ana Helen M. Two others (Sarah E. and Edward G-.) are dead. During the political controversies of the last fifty years, in which he took an active part, J^dge Curtis always commanded the respect of his partisan opponents; and his integrity was never questioned. On the 24th of February, 1855, Elizabeth, only daughter of E. L. Burnham, and wife of WUliam H. Curtis, was so badly injured by her clothes taking fire, that she died on the 2l8t of March. WiUiam H. Curtis was Sheriff of the county from 1857 to 1860. • FosTEBDALB. — Jessc M. Foster came into the county in 1817, and for three years kept th© old Irvine inn at Cocheoton. In 1820, he removed to the locality which is now known as Foster- dale. This cognomen was bestowed on a post-office established here in 1831, of which Mr. Foster was the first master. In the same year he. was elected County Clerk, the duties of which were discharged by his son, James H. Foster. For many years Jesse M, Foster was engaged- at Fosterdale as a hotel-keeper, •farmer and lumberman. He died in 1863. His wife (Delia Hurd) survived him several years. Both were much respected. CocHECTON Centee. — ^Ih the faU of 1849, Alfred and Fletcher Stevens purchased of Alfred Nearii^ a tannery site at this place, on whifeh they erected a tannery 350 feet in length, and also fifteen or twenty buildings. The' place was at first called Stevehsburgh ; but was finally known as Cochecton Centre. The tannery is now owned by Horton, Knapp & Co. On Sunday, March 16, 1851, Charles Bogle and John Flanigan, while returning from Cochecton depot with Timothy Giblin, quarreled and proceeded to assault each other. Bogle was stabbed, and died within twelve hours. Flanigan was subse- quently convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to State prison for three yeaa?s. The parties were intoxicated at the time of the affiray. Pike' PoKBl^This^placr received its'name from a pretty nat- ural pond, upon the banksof which it is situated. Pike were found here by the early settlers; having been introduced from the Delaware by-the Indians, or soon alter the region was occupied by the whitea Although the lake is not large, its outlet furnishes a valuable water-power. A man nam^d Woodruff had a saw-mill 216 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. here in 1814. Subsequently a grist-miU, tannery, etc., were erected on the stream. Blake Wales, jr., at first was interested in the tannery, and it was subsequently owned by Gideon Wales, Osmer B. Wheeler and Nathan S. Hammond. The last two parted with their interests, which finally passed into the hands of Gideon Wales. The magnitude of his business may be" esti- mated when we state that in 1866, he, in conjunction with Daniel T. Stevens, purchased a tract of bark-land of Madame Berthemy, for which they paid $24,500, cash. Gideon Wales was a member of the last Constitutional Convention of this State. Among the other residents of Pike Pond we may mention Nathan Moidthrop, Stephen W. Gedney, and W^Uliam Bonesteel. Mr. Moulthrop was in early life a sailor, and rose to the rank of captain. Be- coming weary of a wandering hfe on the ocean, he for a time indulged in the pleasures of domestic life in Dutchess county. In 1828, he removed to the verge of the settled country at Pike Pond, where he continued to reside until his death in September, 1851. He was a gentleman of many virtues, and among them was that of a generous and genial hospitality. The herald of righteousness, as he wended his weary way over the hills and through the valleys of this then wilderness country, always found rest, refreshment and congenial society under the roof of Captain Moulthrop. The post-office at Pike Pond was established in March, 1851, with Gideon Wales as post-master. Pike Pond contains one church (Methodist Episcopal) which was built in 1850. Bev. John Davy labored here at an early day, and organized a "class." Callicoon Depot. — This is a Uvely business-place, situated at the mouth of the Callicoon stream. Its early settlement has been noticed elsewhere. There are here two churches, ten stores and groceries, three hotels, an academy, etc. In 1837 a crime was committed in this vicinity which yet remains shrouded in mystery. On the 18th of June, the body of a man was found in the river partially covered with sand. He had been killed by blows on the head ; but by whom an(Lf or what has never been ascertained. The body had on it a ahvct, shirtee, vest and boots, but no pants. These articles were described in the newspapers of that day; nevertheless no clue to the perpetration of the crime was revealed. The Methodists of the neighborhood were organized as a society in 1850, while Kev. William A. Hughson was on the cir- cuit, during which year a church was built. In 1869, this building was sold to the Eoman Catholics. In 1871, a more expensive edifice was erected, in which the society now worships. The Holy Cross church (E. C.) was bought of the Methodists THE TOWNS or OOCHECl'ON AND DELAWARE. 217 in 1869. The priests of the Port Jervis Mission have had the spiritual charge of this section. Since the purchase of the church, Eev. J. Nilan has officiated at the altar. The post-office at CaUicoon Depot was estabhshed in 1849, with Eeuben Tyler as post-master. The' CaUicoon Depot Academy, J. J. Silk, Principal, has been estabhshed since 1870. It owes its existence to the enterprise of Mr. Silk, and is said to be in a flourishing condition. As early as 1797, Rev. Isaac Sergeant commenced preaching to the sparsely populated neighborhoods of the Delaware TaUey. He was a Congregational minister, and in 1799 organized the Church at Narrows Falls — the first religious society in the county of which we have an account. He labored as far up the river as Oochecton. In 1800, he had gathered a respectaible nucleus for a Church, and administered the Lord's Supper, according to the Congregational order, to the following persons: Nicholas Conklin, EHzabeth Conkhn, Hannah Jones, Elizabeth Brown,* Jane Tyler, Simeon Bush, Hannah Bush, Deacon Simmonds, Charlotte Simmonds, John Conkhn and wife, Hester Tyler, Betty Conklin, and Lizzie Tyler, wife of Ohver Tyler. It is probable that Mr. Sergeant- took steps to form these persons into a legally constituted Church; but if he did, no certain, evidence of the fact can now be found. He continued to visit Cochecton occasionally for a few years; after which those who had been admitted as members were scattered, de- ceased, or became members of the Presbyterian Church. Among the pioneer preachers of Cochecton was Elder Enoch Owen, who lived on the turnpike east of the village of Cochecton. He was of the Free Will Baptist faith, and for many years was the only clergyman who resided in the town. He was a man of but little education; but his mind and body and zeal were robust. It cannot be said that he was mercenary ; for he received Httle or no compensation for his labors in his Master's vineyard. Every Sunday, he preached in a small Baptist meeting-house in Damascus, and at other times in neighborhoods where he could gather a few hearers. He was always ready to visit the sick and afflicted, and to discourse at funerals on mortahty and im- mortahty — ^the ineffable and everlasting bliss of the redeemedj and the fearful fate of the doomed. His unpretending and homely discourses impressed Christian moraUty upon many souls of this neglected region. Elder Owen was a lumberman, farmer and mason. He built the old-fashioned stone chimneys of the vaUey before brick and * The mother of the person from whom this list ttob obtained, by onr informant, Mrs. James C. Curtis. 218 HISTOEY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. lime were seen there. He also made several miles of the New- biurgh* and Cochecton turnpike. While engaged on the latter work, he occupied a log-house on what is yet known as Owen Cabin Hill, and regularly performed I'eligious service at the Baptist church of Damascus. No one questioned his piety; and yfet such runagates as Eoger Wildrake of Squattlesea Mere would have pronounced some of his acts "excentiic." The Puritans of New England, when they gathered for worship, car- ried with them newly loaded and freshly primed muskets to defend themselves against the attacks of heathen sellvag^B. Elder Owen, as he journeyed on Sundays to expound the Word at Damuscus, carried with him his trusty rifle. His path was through the woods, and often a stray panther, or deer, or bear orossed it, when the Elder put an end to its Sabbath-day rambles. His metaphorical bolts did not always reach the heart of lile sinner ; but he never failed to make his leaden bullets hit any animal at which they were projected. If he had a doubt on the subject on Sunday-venery, he continued to give himself the benefit of the doubt until his eyes were opened by the following incident; : One Sunday jpost meridiem, laner holding forth, with consid^ble unction, he started for home, with his rifle as usual on his shoulder. Whether- he employed his mind during his long walk with pious meditations on shreds of Holy Writ; we cannot say ; but we are certain that in the dusk of the evening, as he approached his clearing, he had a vision of horns and hoofs. Believing that he saw a very large buck, he approached cautiously and fired. The shot was fatal. The animal fell. Owen, much elated, hastened to cut its tiiroat ; but foundj when too late, that he had shot and lolled his only horse ! Exclaiming, " So much for carrying a gun on Simday !" he hastened from the scene, and was never again known to take his rifle from home on the day of rest. With DeaoOTi Dunn of Big Eddy, Mr, Owen held religious meetings in the Delaware river towns wherever there was a settle- ment. In his old age he joined the Close Communion Baptists. He was an honest old soul, whose good deeds and good name survived his mortal body, and are yet held in grateM remem- brance. Peesbytebian Chubch op CocHjiiOTON. — The organization of the Presbyterian society of ^ Cochecton was commenced on the 9th of March, 1812, at the school-house in " Cochecton Settle- ment," by the election of- Oliver H. Calkin, Simeon Bush, Moses Calkin, John Conklin;, EliaB GcaoMin and Ebenezer Witter as trustees. Ebenezer Witter and Bezaleel CaUdn presided at the election. 1x1 A'ttgtfSt of the same year, Eev. Charles Cumnuns of Florida, THE TOWNS OP COOHEOTON AND DELAWAEE. 219' N. Y., preached in Oochecton, and admitted the following persons! to membership : Simeon Bush, John Conklin, EUas ConkUn, Ebenezer Witter, Hannah Bush, Molly Skinner, Charlotte Conkhn, Jane Tyler, Hannah Jones, Martha P. Eichards, Eleanor Taylor, Hannah Witter, Huldah OonkUn, Eleanor Bush and Elizabeth Brown; and the organization of the Church was per- fected by the selection of Messrs. Witter, Bush and John Conk- lin as ruling elders, and Witter and Bush as deacons. Previous to this tiriae, the neighborhood must have been visited by Presbyterian missionaries, as a majority of the first members: belonged to families which had resided m the valley for over forty years. The names of these pioneer heralds have not been preserved in the archives of Cochecton ; and but little is remem- bered of othe:^ who preached here occasionally, previous to 1840, beyond the fact that Eev. Dr. Cummins, Eiv. Benjamin Van Keuren and Eev. James Petrie ministered here a ffew times. In 1821, Moses Calkin, Elizabeth Calkin, Weighty Irvine and Prudence Irvine were added to the Kst of members. Their names are stiU mentioned reverently. One of them (Prudence Irvine) adorned the profession for the long period of fifty years. The church-edifice occupied by the congregation was built in 1839 by an organization entitled "The Presbyterian and Meth- odist Episcopal Society of the town of Cochecton." At a meeting over which Moses Calkin and George Bush presided on the 8th of March, 1839, Moses Calkin, Jared Irvine, Alexander A. Irvine, James C. Curtis, Charles Young, Nathan Skinner, Charles Drake, George Bush and Walter S. Vail were appointfed trustees y and a subscription paper was started to raise money to bmld "a- meeting-house — a place of public worship." Within a short time nearly the necessary amount was pledged, and on the 6th of May, Moses CalEin gave a deed of the church-lot for two dollars. Some of those who signed the subscription-paper are desig- nated as Methodists — others as Presbyterians. This was due to a proviso in the deed, according to the Presbyterians the right, after the expiration of ten years, of buying out the rights^ of the MethodistSj by paying to them what they had contributed. In June, 1839, James C. Curtis, Walter S. Vail and Charles Drake, the building committee, contracted with Willis and Ira Sherwood for the building of the house, for $1,500 — the com- mittee agreeing to furnish the stone for the foundation. The edifice was completed on the 28th of January, 1840, when, after some discussion with the building committee, the Messrs. Sher- wood accepted $1,425 — $75 lesa than the. contract-price^ The dedication took place on the 20th of February, 1840. Notwith- stanjding the traveling was bad, a large congregation assembled. 220 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. Eev. David Webster, a Methodist clergyman whose mind was exalted by mucli culture as weU as physical suffering, preached the sermon from the 1st and 2d verses of the 84th Psalm. $280 were subscribed — a sum sufficient to pay a small debt, and to complete the fixtures about the building. • It should be said that, although their names do not appear in the records, the edifice owes its existence to the efforts of a few pious ladies. On the 8th of March, 1840, the trustees met and determined that the Presbyterians and Methodists should occupy the build- ing each alternate week ; that it might be opened to other evan- geuoal denominations when its owners were not using it ; and that it should not be " occupied by any denomination for the purpose of preaching or lecturing on the abolition of negro- slavery, or the formation of any society connected with abolition in its present and popular sense." On the 29th of April, 1855, the Presbyterian portion of the society re-organized as "The First Presbyterian Church and Congregation of Cochecton, in connection with the General As- sembly of the Old School Presbyterian Church of the United States of America." Walter S. Vail, Charles Irvine, Eobert T. Parsons, William McCuUough, EUery T. Calkin and James C. Curtis were chosen trustees. During the ensuing twelve months, the title of the Methodists was extmguished, and the building became the exclusive property of the Presbyterians. Within a few years the church has been furnished with an organ, a bell, etc. Previous to October 15, 1871, 181 persons had been membei's of this church, and it numbered at Miat time sixty souls. In this connection it may not be improper to say, that the Methodists commenced preaching in Cochecton about the year 1831. The growth of this respectable body is one of the marvels of ecclesiastical history. Of the zealous and self-sacrificing men who planted Methodism in Sullivan, we can learn but little. They labored more for the conversion of sinners than for earthly iame, and after preaching in our wildemess country for a year or two, were transferred to other fields. Hence they left but few records behind them except in the hearts of their pious admirers. They are mentioned with affection by a few old brothers and sisters, whose hearts are stiU fervid, but whose memories are dim and uncertain. Eleven persons have served as Elders of the Cochecton Pres- byterian Church, viz : From 1812 — Ebenezer Witter, who died at Gibson, Pa. ; Sim- eon Bush, who died in 1836 ; John ConkHn, who died at Sus- quehanna. From 1822 — James Jackson, who died in Chautauqua oounty ; THE TOWNS OF COCHEOTON AND DELAWABE. 221 Hirain DibblSj who died at Honesdale ; Moses Calkin, who died in Cocheoton, February 12, 1865, aged 80 years. From December 23, 1838 — Eobert T. Parsons, now at Huntley, Illinois ; James McAxthur, now in or near Philadelphia ; Abijah M. Calkin, now a Baptist clerOTman at Waverly, Peimsylvania. From April 26, 1862— Ezra F. Calkin; Silas 0. Beckwith, who died at Port Jervis in 1865. On the 5th of September, 1857, nineteen members were dis- missed to form the First Presbyterian Church of Damascus. Clergymen who have officiated in this church as stated sup- pHes and pastors: George K. McEwen, from 1840 to 1841; William Eiddle, 1842 to 1848 ; John Mole (pastor), 1845 to 1847 ; William Hunting, 1851; G. K. Mariner, 1852 and 1858; Thomas Mack (pastor), 1853 to 1859; Erastus Seymour (paftor), 1860 to 1863; Samuel Murdock, 1863 to 1864; from 1864 to the present time, Theron Brittain.* With one exception, these gentlemen, ia zeal, piety and learn- ing, were not below the average of country clergymen. John Mole, whose conduct finds no parallel in the lives of Christian ministers of SuUivan, became the pastor of the Cochecton Church, on the 1st of January, 1845. He was a man of high intellectual attaiaments, and capable of fillin g an enlarged field of usefulness ; but his efficiency was crippled by a morbid desire for the acqui- sition of the treasures of this world. He labored zealously and with great energy both in and out of his profession. In addition to preaching and performing other ministerial duties, he was mamly instrumental in securmg a church-edifice for the congre- gation at Youngsville, and in forming a hbrary for the young of his charge. He also built a house and a bam for himself, and engaged in clearing and cultivating land. " He hauled timber with oxen, cleared and burnt faUow-ground, dug, masoned, car- pentered and pMnted with his own hands, so as to often look more like a collier than a minister of the gospel." In addition to his charge at Cochecton, he had the oversight of an infant congregation at Youngsville. The Presbyterians of Cochecton and Callicoon were at that time unable to afford their pastor a competent support. Hence there was a promise, expressed or implied, on the part of the Hudson Presbytery, that the members of that body would con- tribute for the maintenance of a minister for these towns one hundred dollars, more or less, per atmum, to vary according to circumstances. This was paid to Mr. Mole during the first and second years of his pastorate ; and he confidently expected to receive it thereafter, as the people were satisfied with his labors, and he had received no intimation from any quarter that he • Historical Sketch of Cochecton Presbyterian Church, by Bev. Theron Brittain. 222 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY., should leave. He continued to manage>his aiffiairs as usual until near the close of the third year, when he received notice that the annual stipend of one hundred dollars would not again be paid. This notice was the root of evil from which sprang a poisonous plant 'that overshadowed his future life. It led to a longand bitter- controversy -with the Presbytery, and to suits in tjie civU courts. The former suspended his ministerial functions ; but 'he appealed to -'the Synod, and was there triumphant. He was also successfdl inithe other cases. But, although victorious, he felt that he was a ruined man. His means were wasted in litigation, and his influence destroyed. He was driven from place to place, with a large and dependent family, and was without employment, and in bad repute. At the end of 1847, he relinquished his charge at Toungsville; ■but remained one year longer in Gochecton. Subsequently, while laboring under a sense of wrong and injustice done him, and fearing that he and his family would become destitute, he stole a horse and wagon of Butler & Co., of Poughkeepsie. He was soon after arrested for the offense, and tried before Judge Egbert Q. Eldridge, of Dutchess county, in the faU of 1853. His counsel entered a plea of insanity, (we behave the plea was founded on truth,) and Mr. Mole himself made an elaborate and affecting appeal to the Court; nevertheless he was found guilty, and sentenced to two years and six months of hard labor in State prison. After his release from prison,^ 1856, he went to the city of New York, where he found employment as a carpenter. He has been dead several years. THE TOWNS OF COCHECTON AND DELAWARE. 223 SUPERVISORS OF THE TOWN OF COCHECTON. Frsm To 1829 JamQs C. Curtis 1845 1845 Edward Bloomfield 1847 1847 Wmiam Bonesteel 1848 1848 John Vallean 1849 1849 James C. Curtis 1850 1850 "WilUam H. Curtis 1853 1853 James Stoutenbergh 1854 1854 Alexander A. Irvme 1856 1856 William McCulough 1857 1857 WiUiam H. Curtis .: 1859 1859 Nathan Moulthrop 1860 1860 WilHam Boper 1861 1861 Alfred Calkins 1862 1862. . . . , John Valleau 1863 1863 Nathan Moulthrop 1864 1864 WiUiam Eoper 1865 1865 Sidney Tuttle 1867 1867 W. B. Buckley 1869 1869 William G. Potts 1871 1871 George E. Knapp. . . . ..... 1874 SOTEBVISORS OF THE TOWN OF DELAWABB. ,1869 Isaac E. Clements 1870 1S70 William H. Curtis 1873 1873 John F. Anderson 1874 CHAPTEE Vn. THE TOWN OF FAIiSBUBQH. The sittfaoe of Fallsburgh does not vary materially from that of Thompson. The town is drained by the Good BeerskiU, the Sandburgh and the Neversink and its branches. French's Gaz- etteer says there are five lakes in Fallsburgh, viz : the Sheldrake, Smith, Hill and Brown ponds in the west, and East or Pleasant pond in the east. One of these, at least, is a mUl-dam. Grain- raising, daiiyuig and lumbering are the principal pursuits of the residents. Until a few years ago, tanning was an important interest. The water-power of Fallsburgh is almost inexhaustible, and with enterprise and capital sufficient to render it available, may yet add immensely to the population and wealth of the town. This town was erected oy an act of the Legislature of New York, on the 9th of March, 1826, and taken from Thompson and Neversiak. Its bounds were prescribed as follows : " Beginning at the N. E. comer of Thompson, on the line of Ulster county, and running thence southwardly, along the W. line of Mamakat- ing, to the southwardly line of Great Lot One; thence west- wardly along the southwardly line of Great Lot One to the middle of the Nevisink river; thence northwardly along the middle of said river to the south line of division No. 19 of Great Lot One ; thence westwardly along said south line of the said division to the S. W. corner thereof; thence northwardly along the W. bounds of divisions Nos. 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 to the S. line of Great Lot No. 2 ; thence westwardly along the aforesaid S. line, to south-westwardly comer of division No. 3, in Great Lot No. 2 ; thjpnce northwardly along the AV. Une of said division No. 3, to the line of Liberty ; thence along the boundary lines of Thompson, Liberty and Nevisink, to the N. "W. comer of division No. 3 in the 3d allotment of Great Lot No. 3 ; thence eastwardly along the N. line of said division No. 3, to the W. bounds of the farm of Thomas Hardenbergh; thence along the northwardly ££nd westwardly bounds of said farm to the N. line of Great Lot No. 3 ; thence eastwardly along said N. line to the boundary line of Ulster; thence southwasoly and eastwardly along said line to the place of beginning." [224] THE TOWN OP FALI;SBURGH. 225 The act declared that the first town-meeting should be held at the school-house near the Nevisink Falls on the first Tuesday of April, 1826. At this meeting the following persons were elected: Herman M. Hardenbergh, Supervisor; Eichard A. Reading, Town Clerk ; John Crawford, James Brown and Cor- nelius D. EUer, Assessors ; Harley K. Ludington, Henry Misner and John EUer, Commissioners of Highways ; Elnathan S. Starr, Thomas Lawrence and John HiU, Commissioners of Common Schools ; Henry Mead and Josiah Depuy, Overseers of the Poor ; Warren Barlow, Collector ; Warren Barlow, Phihp C. Ludington, Daniel Couch and Alexander C. Sloat, Constables ; and Thomas R. Hardenbergh, William Hill and Julius I. Starr, Inspectors of Common Schools. The migratory habit of our people is illustrated iu the fact that more than one-half of the family-names which appear in the above list are no longer borne by residents of the town. POPULATION — VALUATION — TAXATION. Tear. 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 Popu- lation. Assessed Value. 1,173 1,782 2,626 3,333! 3,211 i $89,954 106,055 113,644 349,510 260,425 Town Charges, |520.?5 530.89 530.20 463.01 10,703.55 Co. and State. $572.78 459.19 780.63 2,689,69 7,794.86 The names of the original settlers of Fallsburgh are unknown. It is believed they were Dutch, and that they located near Den- niston's ford, and on -the ridge which divides the Sheldrake stream from the Dutch pond and Pleasant Lake. The last-men- tioned settlement was principally in Thompson, and was alto- gether abandoned duriug the French jand Indian war, while the one at Denniston's ford, though the people composing it were driven away for a time, was never wholly, given up. In 1790, the vaUey at this point had the appearance of a region long occupied by whites, and those who immigrated, to and through it were told that Dutch settlers had hved there many years previously. We shall give in another place what is known of those who hved there subsequent to the war of the Revolution. About 1788, the valley above the Falls of the Neversink be- came known to those who were seeking for, good and cheap lands, and a considerable number of famJies moved there .from the old neighborhoods of Ulster, and other localities, during that and three or four subsequent years. Among them were Peter 15 ■23(5 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN GOUNlTf. Misner from Kyserike, who settled on the farm now owned by his son Henry ; Aaron Van Benschoten, on lands above Wood' bourne, on which is now the parsonage of the Reformed Ohiorch ; Garret Van Bensdboten,* farther up the stream, a part of whose premises is now the property of Simon K. Wood. In addition to these were Peter Freer, Matthew Sheeley,t Jacob Maraquat, Seth Gillett, Cornelius Sarr, James Bush and his three sons, James, Simeon and Henry, John Coney, Eleazer Larrabee, Josiah Depuy, John Tappan, John Gorton, James Hill, Thomas Rawson, Cornelius Turner, the De Witts, Bakers, Bordons, Grants, Klines, Van Leuvens, and several others, some of whose names may be recorded by us hereafter.f The nam« of the pioneer settler does not appear, although it is said that two old men named Abner and Ezra Bush were found living there as hermits. They were from 70 to 80 years of age, and their retreat was on the farm now occupied by Richard Oliver. Two brothers named Baker and a man named Thomas Rawson were among the first. In 1789, Thomas Grant purchased Raw- son's possession's.§ The early residents were robust and hardy. Fever and ague and other diseases incident to a new country were unknown here. The flats were covered with an immense growth of timber, which in the process of clearing was burned on the land, and added tc the virgin soil a large percentage of potash— a percentage which would now make the vaUey remarkable for fertility. Heavy crops of wheat, com and lye rewarded the husbandman, and the Neversink country was famed far and near for its produc- tiveness. Some of the settlers came ia by the way of Napanocb and the Chestnut Woods, as Grahamsville was then called, aind others by the way of Rose's Pass, Phillips Port, the Sandburgh, and Denniston's Ford. From the latter they followed up the road which ran along the river, or passed near it, to the Falls. The route by the way of the Sandburgh was mentioned in 1797 by the Commissioners of Highways of Mamakating as the old road. It was undoubtedly an ancient Indian path, and somewhat im- proved. Uriah, a son of James HiU, well remembered the journey over this road when his father moved to Fallsburgh • June 3, 1832. — Died, in FaHsburgh, Oftrret Van Benschoten, aged 77 years. He was one who took an active ptfrt in aohiering onr independenoe. He joined a volnnteef company when a youth, and continued in I the service dui'ing the war. He was in sev- eral engagements^ and was at the hattle ot Fbrt Montgomerv. He was one of the few who stood by their cannon, and continued to fire on the enemy until they came up to wrest a torch from the hand of Col. Bruyn, whose invincible courage would not permit him to show the enemy his back on such oooasioiis. — Dlater Pl^eian. t Sheeley lived at Hasbrouck,. whelre he kept the first tavern of the town. i A few of these persons settled within the present bounds of Neversink. § Loton Smith's M8S. History. THE liOWN OF FALLSBURGH. 2'27 Ayith his family* Subsequeatly (Sept. 29, 1797) Elijah Eeeve of Ofcisville, and John Knapp of Thompsonville, Commissioners of Mamakating, established a road from the residence of William A. Thompson, over Mount Prospect to the Neversink at the Falls, and from thence to Woodbotirne, which they described as foUowa : "From the Albion MiUsf on the Sheldrake creek, West of the Nevisink river, and said road is to run northerly to the residence of Thadeus Brown In or near the old road as it is now cut out, and from thetice toward the north on the east side of Mr. Bor- done's house, and so on to Mr. Dewitt's, on the east side of his house, and through his improvement on the west side of a place called a BindekiU, and so on to the dwelling house of Isaac Turners, by the brink of the Nevisink river on the west side oi of it."t • The "old road" mentioned in the above extract ran from Denniston's Ford to Woodboume. There was no bridge across the Sheldrake at Thompsonville for several years. To cross that stream travelers passed through William A. Thompson's saw- mill! Notwithstanding a few years of labor brought comparative abundance to the early residents of the town, at first their hard- ships were very great. Here and there throughout the valley was a little isolated clearing, literally choked by huge stumps and stubborn roots, and in the openmg was a low, bark -roofed log^hut, generally destitute of window or chimney. Near it was a log-pen open to the snows and blasts of winter, in which were stored whatever of hay and straw the owner could gather for the subsistence of his shivering and distempered cattle. These sojourners in a wilderness country had no difficulty in procuring meat. Deer and bear abounded on the neighboring hills, and were obtained by the expenditure of a Httle time and ammufli- iaon, and swine were fattened without cost on the nuts found wherever the beech-tree flourished. To obtain bread was the _great difficulty ; for even after grain was raised from the rpot- bound soil, it had to be carried twenty miles, in small quantities, to a mill, before it could be converted into bread.§ Samp and ■coarse meal were made at home in various ways. James Hill had a famous mortar, in which he could pound half a bushel of corji at once, with a wooden pestle fastened to a spring-pole. Boiled cracked maize, sweetened with maple-molasses, was consid'ered as great a delicacy as the choicest viands which now grace the tables of the most wealthy. But few cows were kept, * Lofan Smith's MSS. f 'S!tMm.peonvSie. J Mnroakating EecortUt. § SvJlivan County TTTi!-/, Sept. 23, 1S4-6. 228 HiSToay of suixivan county. and they were generaDy k^pt farrow so that their owners could have milk during the entire year. The majority of those who located in the valley, held their lands under what was known as the Beekman title ; some bought of the Wynkoops, and others of the Schoonmakers of Ulster county. The price paid was from eight to ten shiUings per acre. James Hin bought of the Wynkoops, and gave Comehus Turner twenty-five dollars for his improvements. Turner had occupied the place for one or more years. The Beekman and Schoon- maker titles, as will appear hereafter, were defective, while the other was good. In a few years substantial comforts and conveniences began to multiply. In 1793, Peter Van Leuven built a grist-mill near Woodboume, and during the same year Seth GiUett put up a saw-null on the stream which e'mptieS into the Neversmk near Hasbrouck.* About 1797, William Parks erected a grist and saw-mill in Prince's HoUow. In 1798, Conrad Sheeley estab- lished a grist-mill on the Wynkoop brook, and about the same time Benjamin Gillett built a grist and saw-miU at Hasbrouck where the Denman mill now stands.f A store was opened at an early day in the town of Neversink, which caused a great saving of time in procuring necessaries and luxuries? A fuUing-miU was estabhshed at Hasbrouck in 1820. As early as 1793, John Sammons carried on blacksmithing in the town, on the place since owned by John Hardenbergh. Among the papers of B. G. Childs, deceased, we find the fol- lowing " Notes" from the late Amos Y. Grant. They are inter- esting, and we think rehable : In 1789, three brothers named Baker were Uving on the Thomas Depuy place, and a man named John Rawson on the farm since owned by Elsie Hardenbergh. In the fall of 1789, Thomas Grant, of New London county, 'Ooimecticut, with the Messrs. Mott, Overton and two brothers named Worden, went tp the town of Eockland, where they had made arrangements to obtain a tract of land. They had the property divided into six parcels, and drew lots to determine each man's share. What has since been known as the Doctor Livingston lot fell to Grant. As it was broken and rough, he was dissatisfied, and left. The others remained in Rockland, where inany of their descendants now reside. Thomas Grant returned to the Neversink country,' and purchased the right of possession of John Rawson, for which he gave a horse, saddle and bridle. In the spring of 1790, Joshua Grant, the father of Thomas, moved from Groton, Con- necticut, bringing with him two other sons, Ephraim and Nathan, * B. a. Chads' MSS. + Ibia. THE TOWN OF FALL8BUKGH. 22(i after which the family occwpied the RawBon place. Three years later, William, another son of Joshua, settled in the same neigh- borhood on the place siooe owned- by M. Hardenbergh, for which he paid $170. The Grants brought with them all their house- hold furniture. The journey was 160 miles in length, and occupied eleven days. William Grant was a cripple, and not able, without assistance, to get in or out of the cart in which he rode. Seemingly such a man was unfitted for the rough life of a pioneer ; but as he was a skillful tanner, currier and shoemakei', and withal industrious, frugal and of sound mind, he managed to keep pace with his more fortunate neighbors. His descend- ants are among our most prominent and influential citizens. "Joseph Howard and Eleazer Larrabee were living in 1793 on Mutton Hill. They had married daughters of Joshua Grant, and among their neighbors were John HaU, WiUiam Parks, Silas B. Palmer and others. " The Neversink flats, vfeve soon all taken up, as well as some of the best uplands. As the country fiDed up, some of the early comers moved still farther into the wUdoniess. The pioneers of Liberty were awhile sojourners in the vaUey of the Neversink. "For twenty years, it was necessary to go as far as Kingston to reach a post-office, and often letters did not reach Neversink from Groton, Connecticut, in less than ninety days." In primitive days, a great calamity befell the valley. Such a flood as has not been witnessed since overwhelmed the low lands of the Neversinkj and carried _away crops, buildings and cattle, and the inhabitants were obliged to flee to the mountains for safety. Por several days, many, when they visited their houses, or such of their houses as were not swept away, were obliged to go in canoes. William Palmer, who lived at Denniston's ford, had a valuable team of horses carried off, together with his stable. The animals were drowned, and were found still tied to their manger, on a large rock which formerly was seen near the western abutment of the bridge at Bridgeville. Lotan Smith says this flood was in 1786 or 1787 ; but we have reason to believe that it took place ten years later, as there was very little in the shape of crops above Denniston's ford to be de- stroyed by water or anything else as early as 1787. Ten years after the principal influx of settlers, the surplus produce of the valley was very considerable. Large quantities of grain and pork were carted to New Windsor and Newburgh, And sold. Wheat brought from 18 to 20, and rye and corn 8 shUliags per bushel. Pork was sold there for $25 a barrel. In a single year, James Hill sold twenty-five barrels of pork at ThompsonviUe,* and there were others who were as successful • MSS. of Lotan Smith. 230 HISTORY OF SULLIVAH COUNTY. farmers as Hill. Now the towm does not producfe as much grain and meat as it consumes. The manufacture of butter has be- come the leading industiy, and is more profitable than the old way of farming. Greater trials were in store for a part of these people than any they had yet experienced. Some of those whose farms were on the hills held under the Schoonmakef title. This title was founded on the fact that one of the Schoonmakers who had been a Trustee of the town of Rochester, had not conveyed his trust to his successor in office. On this shm pretense, it was claimed that he had acquired the fee simple of unsold real estate ia the Eochester patent. It was also claimed that his rights, notwith- standing the settlement of 1778, extended to alleged Blue Hills west of the Neversink. The Schoonmaker claim was undoubt- edly fraudulent. The courts so decided, and those who held under it were ejected. Others had the Beekman title. The Beekman tract covered the valley of the Neversink from a point a short distance below Woodboume to what was then known as the Cat's Paw, above the present village of Neversiok. This title originated with Colonel Henry Beekman, who, while representing Ulster in the General Assembly of 1703, obtained a grant of the Rochester patent from Queen Anne.* In what manner he became inter- ested in land affairs on the Neversink does not clearly appear. By some it has been said that he purchased of the Trustees of Rochester; others declare that he bought of the Hardenberghs, who^old the tract to pay the expenses of partitioning their lands. However this may be, it is certain that in 1778, Colonel Johannis Hardenbergh, with other interested parties, distinctly reoognized the vcdiditp of the Beekman title. This recognition appears in the settlement-deed itself, in which the Wynkoop tract is "bounded on the westward on the land of Colonel Henry Beekman, lying, on the Naewersink." The Beekman title was not formally questioned by the Har- denberghs until 1802, at least fourteen years after the valley was settled. This fact affords presumptive evidence that they be- lieved the title was not theirs, or had passed from them. Previous to 1802, the settlers very generally had paid for the farms they OQCupied, and had made improvements which greatly enhanced the value of the property. They had every reason to believe that they had secured comfortable homes, and that a few more years of industry and self-denial would enable them to spend the balance of tneir days in comparative ease and plenty, * Henry Beekmm was a Member of the General AsBembiy as early as 1691 and a Representative of that name generally occupied a seat in that bodv until 1759. In 1802 of Dourae, he had been dead many years. Our informant says that Henry K. Beekman' a descendant of Colonel Beekman, sold the Neversink vaUey to its original settlers. THE TOWN OP PALLSBUliOH. 231 when they were startled by the report that the Beekman title was worthless ; that Beekman had never owned a foot of the ^rritory ; and that the heh-s of Colonel Johannis Hardenbergh intended to dispossess the occupants. This report was followed by the appearance of a man named Gerard Hardenbeiigh, who announced that he was one of the real owners of the valley, as well as the uplands claimed by the Schoonmakers and those who had bought of them.* As this man was assassinated by some' of the people he en- deavored to drive away, and as it is alleged his conduct led to the death of two persons, it is proper to give some account of him, Gerard or "Gross" Hardenbergh was the son of Coloneljo- hannis Hardenbergh and a grajidson of Major Johannis Har- denbergh, one of the patentees of the Major or Great Patent. Gerard, it is beheved, was boi-n in Eosendale, Ulster county, about the year 1733. He was a man of imperious and arbitraiy temper, and of convivial inchnations and nabits. In early life he married a lady named Nancy Kyerson, who is still held in affectionate remembrance by her descendants, as well as by other branches of the Hardenbergh family. By her he had several children. In the war of the Revolution, he espoused the cause of his country, and hke his patriotic father, imperiled his life to secure the independence of the land of his birth. His time and money and influence were freely thrown into the scale. It is said that he organized two companies of infantry, which were employed in defending the fi'ontier against the incursions of the savages. One of these he commanded, and it is not denied that he was a bold and enterprising leader.f During his military hfe he became more and more intemperate, and his existence ultimately no better than a continued and un- varying debauch. His excesses nearly obscured whatever was at first humanitarian in his character, and inflamed all that was morose, impfetuous and tyrannical in his disposition. It is re- lated of him by men now (1871) yet hving, that, when traveling through the country in his old age, he sometimes ordered the innkeeper at whose house he lodged to cover a table with candles and decanters of spirituous hquors, and taking his seat, soUtary and alone, at this somewhat rare festive board, drink until his fiery and surly temper succumbed to insensibihty. T^ consequence of his wild and reckless ways, his high-toned * The Wynkoop title was not disputed. t In August, 1781, when nearly four hundred Indians and tories invaded Wawor- sing, Oaptam Hardenbergh, with a force of only nine men, hastened forward to the relief ot the settlers, and throwing bis men into a small stone-house, checked the ad- vance of the enemy. In their repeated assaults on his little fortress, thirteen of their numter were left dead upon the field. — Bvtt^nber's Indian T>"ibes of Uudsanis Biver, This bold and intrepid act saved Wawarsing from annihilation. 232 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN OOlfNTY. fatter disowned and disinlierited him, and willed whafr would othei-wise have been devised to him to the heirs of Nancy Eyer- son. This act of the elder Hardenbergh added sulphuric acid to the acetic mind of the son. Nancy Eyersfcn's death antedated that of Colonel Harden- bergh, and several of her children died unmarried. Consequently the intention of Gerard's father was defeated. The dissipated son was the heir of his own deceased children, and it is said impiously declared that, while his father had disinherited him, the Almighty had made all right by removing his deceased chil- dren. Thereafter he dominated over those who were in his power, and did not bend to his will, with remorseless rigor. This declaration is based on the statements of those who suffered from his acts, some of whom killed him. Even his own descendants make no pretense of defending his character. Yet he was not altogether vile, as will appear in subsequent para- graphs. Gross Hardenbergh claimed the lands of the valley of the Neversink. The occupants met his claim by exhibiting the deeds they had received from the Beekmans. The right of the latter to sell was denied, and could not be proven. Neither the original nor a properly authenticated copy of the Beekman's deed could be found. It was alleged that this deed had been put into the hands of Doctor Benjamin Hardenbergh, a son of Gross, by one Vemooy, who surveyed the Beekman purchase, and that the Doctor had destroyed it. This allegation, whether true or false, was not sufficient to affect any man's tenure, as several of the settlers soon admitted. Before proceeding to extremities, Hardenbergh made the general proposition that he would give each occupant of a farm m the Beekman tract one hundred acres of wild upland for his ■ improvements. Aaron and Gaixet Van Benschoten wisely ac- cepted this offer, and each located his lot on the hills near the premises now owned by Isaiah Hasbrouck. The lots thus ac- quired by them are now occupied by WiUiam H. Van Benschoten, John Yaple, Mr. Merrett, and dthers. Since the day of Hardenbergh's assassination, his memory has rested under a. cloud so black and dense, that no one has dared to say a word in his defense. His controversy with his father, his wife, his children, and the unfortunate settlers of the valey, aroused a spirit of antagonism which was not rendered Eassive by his murder, and which the softened influence of time as not molhfied. He hated his famUy, and defied the world. Those who survived him, consequently, were blind to what was commendable in his character. Assuming that the Beekman title was fraudulent, Harden- bergh's offer to recompense the settlers for their improvements THE TOWN OF FALI^SBUEOH. 233 shows that at first he was willihg to make an equitable arrange- ment with them. Their title was defective; his was perfect. He could eject them, and reap the fruits of their industry ; but he was willing to do more for their benefit than the laws of his time required of him. But few men of the present day would do what this man proposed to do ; and yet his name is execrated. Perhaps subsequent events justify the maledictions which are heaped upon his memory: nevertheless we cheerfully record what we consider commendable on his part. . \ The occupants of the valley almost universally met his over- tures with defiance. They had bought the fat bottom-lands of the Neversink in good faith, and were unwiUing to exchange them for uncultivated and heavily timbered uplabds. Nearly every-one of them had served creditably in the Revolutionary army, and hated oppression and wrong. They believted that the Hardenbergh claim was fraudulent, and that to establish it a crime had been committed ; and they hoped that the laws of the government they had imperiled their lives to establish would afford a remedy. In addition to this, we may venture to say that they were incited to resistance by dishonest lawyers, because there are always to be found members of that profession who are prone to lead cHents to engage in hopeless controversies, that they themselves may reap a rich harvest, while their de- luded clients descend the inclined plane of destruction. Finding that his offer was rejected, Hardenbergh employed summary means to dispossess the settlers. Among those ejected by him were Peter Freer, Matthew Sh6eley, Jacob Maraquat, Seth Gillett, and several others. Henry Misner, who is stDl (1873) hving at Woodbourne, states that after suits of ejectment had been instituted, but not determined, Hardenbergh, withlittle respect to law, distrained property and forcibly dispossessed the occupants. James Bush, senior, and his sons James, Simeon and Hemry, were particularly the objects of his wrath. In the fall of 1806, Hardenbergh took from them aU their crops, in-- oluding six hundred bushels of grain. The latter was placed in a grist-mill owned by him, and built on the present site- of the saw-mill of H. E. Hardenbergh. Gross also owned a house and barn in the neighborhood, and his son Benjamin had building^ there. Aniong them was a bam, in which were stored two hun- dred bushels of grain. The mill, houses and bams, with their valuable contents, were consumed by fire under such circum- stances as t6 leave no doubt that the residents of the vaUey were determined to wreak a terrible vengeance. The obnoxious fam- ily were then residing in the vaUey; but ,becoming alarmed," with one or two exceptions, removed from the region.* ' * Life, etc., of Cornelius W. Htfrclenbergh. 234 HI8T0BY OF 8DIJJYAN COUNTY. * _ , # . Heiiry Misner asserts that Gross, in 18(36, forcibly set the family of James Busli out of doors, and kicked Mrs. Bush as she went, although but three days previously she had given birth to a child, which she then held in her arms. In the absence of Jacob Maraquat, his family was served in the same way. Mar- aquat's wife also had a young child, and was dragged from her home by the hair of her head. She died a few days afterwards. The Bush family left the country and abandoned their claim ; but Peter Misner, Jeremiah Drake and some others resolved to maintain their ground, and seek redress in legal tribunals. Duriiig the next two years, outrage followed outrage. Har- denbergh became frantic, and the blood of the pioneers was raised to fever-heat. Hardenbergh was looked upon as a public enemy, whose death would be a public blessing. In November, 1808, he came into the neighborhood, and passed through the valley. Notwithstanding he was seventy-five years old, weighed two hundred and fifty pounds, and had led a dis- sipated hfe, he was active and energetic. He afforded the un- usual spectacle of a very fat and irascible old man astride of a spirited and perverse horse, which his family considered was imsafe for him to ride ; but which he governed with skill and boldness. Like too many others, he feared neither man nor beast, and had little respect for God or the devil. Calling at the house of the Grants (who then occupied the Reed place) he declared that " he would raise more hell during the next seven yeai-s than had ever been on earth before." He was very rough in denouncing Drake, and in his declarations of what he would do with him. When passing along the "dug-way" below Hasbrouck, he noticed that the chimney of a house owned by him and occupii d by a man named John Coney was not completed. This dis- pleased him very much, and meeting Coney soon afterwards, he told him that, "unless the chimney was topped out when h« came back, he would thi'ow him out of doors." Coney imme- diately engaged a neighbor (Jacob San-) to assist in fimsMng the chimney the next day. The next night was spent at the house of his son (Herman M. Hardenberg^) who Uved on the farm from which Peter Freer had been ejected, and which is now the property of Thaddeus Budd. Qn the ensuing morning (Nov. 23,) he started soon after sun- ripe to go up the river. When the sim was about an horn- high, he yf&s found in the road, a short distance from the present site of the Reformed church, helpless and speechless, by Ezekiel Gillett, senior. A little farther up the road his horse was caught by Cornelius Sarr. He was taken to the house of Aaron v an Benschoten, which stood at tjbe eouih side of the saud-knoll. THE TOWN OP FAIiSBUKGH. 235 opposite the Eeformed Oiburoh parsonage-building. Here, after lingering until 3 o'clock a. m. of tlie 24th, he died without know- iiig that he had been shot. Before his decease he declared that • his friends had often told him that his horse would throw and probably kill him, "and now," said he, "he has done it." While preparing his body for burial, a ball-hole was found in his clothing, and a wound in his shoulder. Even then his friends were unwmng to beheve that he had been murdered, and in- tended to bury him without an inquest. An old soldier, however, who had seen many wounds received in battle, declared that nothing but lead had made the hole in the dead man's shirt and body. A Coroner (Benjamin Bevier) was then sent for ; and the nearest physicians (one of them his son Benjamin) were requested to be present. A jury was also summoned. The scenes and incidents of the investigation whiA followed have no parallel in the history of Sullivan, and afford us a glimpse of things almost too shocking for credence. A crowd of people surroundedl Van Benschoten's house, where the inquest took place. Some of them came with jugs of rum in their hands, and too many were rendered jubilant hj the death of their enemy and by whisky. One who had been engaged in butchering hogs, on reaching van Benschoten's, exclaimed, " Fine day for kming !" and while looking at the body of the murdered man, said, "tiat is fatter pork than I killed to-day." While the physicians were dissecting to find the ball, one of whom was unfriendly to him, this man remarked, with an oath, "That's more than I expected to see — my two greatest enemies, one cutting the other up." When the body was opened, and the heart exposed, he cried, "My God! that's what I have longed to see for this many a day !" Another composed and sang an obscene song, in which he described the death of Hardenbergh ; the gathering of the birds to feed on his dead body, etc. This afforded much amusement, and was repeated so often that some can yet recite parts of it. A woman whose descendants are among the most respectable citizens of Fallsburgh, declared that " Gross had gone to heU to fee more lawyers;" and one of the witnesses (Abijah WUley) on being asked whether he knew who shot Hardenbergh, declared that he did not ; but expressed regret that he did not himself do tikie deed, as " Doct. Ben. had offered two hundred acres of land to have his father put out of the way." These sayings evoked shouts of merriment from the crowd. In vain the Coroner endeavored JK) preserve order. Decorum 9lld decency were banished, and "horrid mirth ruled the hour." From the evidence elicited at the inquest and the examinations and trials which followed, it appeared that at the time of the murder, the assassins were posted behind a tree which then 236 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. stood about eight rods from the road ; that there were probably three of them, judging from their footprints ; that they had cut •away the laurels and other shrubs which obstructed their view of the road, which was then about its width west of its present bed; that the ball had entered Hardenbergh's shoulder and passed to his backbone, which was broken ; and that the spinal column was injured in such a way that the shock to his nervous system instantly deprived him of sensation. This accounted for the fact that he did not hear the report of the gun, and supposed that he was injured by being thrown from his horse. It appeared that one of the sons of James Bush was in the neighborhood on a visit, and that he was in the woods with his gun.on^the day of the murder; that a man named John G. Van Bensohoten, and one or two others were similarly employed; and certain circumstances were so strongly agaiast one David Canfield that he was held for the crime ; but it was shown that at the time the murder was perpetrated he was not in the valley, and he was discharged. Others were suspected, and several were arrested as principals or accessories ;* but nothing import- ant was elicited. It is probable that there were individuals in the "infected" district who could have furnished evidence which would have led to the detection and punishment of the criminals ; but these persons considered reticence a virtue, and withheld what they knew. We are led to make this declaration because there are persons now hving who relate that when the report of the fatal shot was heard in the vaUey, some suspected what was going on, and one (Jacob Sarr, who was assisting John Coney at the dug-way) slapped his hands, and said, "That's a dead- shot! A d — d fat old buck has got it now!" However this may be, the guilty secret has never been divulged in such a way as to lead to punishment. It has been rumored that a suspected person who had moved westward, on his death- bed confessed that he assisted at the murder ; but that he stub- bornly refused to say who were his accompHces. We have the name of this individual; but must withhold it, because we do not wish to record what may be unfounded. If there was a conspiracy in which several were involved, the secret has been well Kept. Guilty souls have undoubtedly gone to the " Judge of all" burdened and blackened with this terrible crime, and xesolved to defy the justice of Heaven, rather than reveal who were their partners in guilt. After the murder, such of the settlers as had not abandoned the valley, or had not become hopelessl;^ embarrassed by the expenses of litigation, found no difficulty in making satisfactory * One of these was Jacob Maraquat. He was a Boldier of the Eevolution, and died at Obohebton, January 5, 1844, where he was buried with militai7 honors. THE TOWN OF FAIiLSBURQH. 237 arrangements with the heirs of Hardenbergh. Several members of the family became residents, and lived amicably with the people who once were so inimical toward them.* , It is noteworthy that a grandson of Gross Hardenbergh, after being reduced to poverty by the dissipation of his father and grandfather, had a controversy with a wealthy citizen concerning a portion of the property which was involved in the dispute of 1808, and that, after murdering him, he defended his conduct in the same manner as the murderers of his ancestor defended theirs ! Herman M. Hardenbergh, who compromised with the settlers who had bought of the Beekmans, as well as his brother Thomas R., and some other descendants of Gross Hardenbergh, became permanent residents of FaUsburgh. With one or two exceptions, they were among the most respectable and worthjl citizens of Sullivan. Herman M. was much beloved by his neighbors, and even won the confidence and respect of those who were concerned in the murder of his father. In 1829, he was elected Member of Assembly, and received all the votes cast in the county for that office except ninety-eight. The following editorial notice of his death was published in the Albany Daily Advertiser of March 22, 1830: fl "Herman M. Hardenbergh, Member of Assembly from Sulli- van county, was found dead in his bed, yesterday morning, at his lodgings at Gourley's. This sudden and afflicting dispensa- tion of Divine Providence has caused among our citizens and his colleagues in the Legislature, deep reflection on the uncer- tainty of life, and much sympathy for his sorrowing friends. He was, on the previous evening, apparently in good health, and conversed with his friends with his usual cheerfulness. He was a man highly esteemed, and was elected to the Assembly at the last election, almost imanimously." His funeral was attended by the acting Governor of the State, the Senate and Assembly, the Chancellor, Justices of the Su- preme Court and Circuit Judges, the State officers, and a con- course of citizens and strangers. The post-office in the upper neighborhood was named Has- brouck, in honor of Anthony Hasbrouck, a wealthy resident. This gentlieman was murdened in his own house, and in the presence of his family, on the 20th of December, 1840, by Cor- nelius W. Hardenbergh. * We are. greatly indebted to E. B. JelliC attorney and counselor at law of Wood- bounie, for iut'ormation in regard to what old inhabitants term the Hardenbergh war. 238 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. Hasbrouek, for many years, was one of the most prominent citizens of Sullivan. He was a man of wealth, and an active and influential democratic pohtioian. In November, 1833, he was elected Member of Assembly, when he received 292 majority over Hiram Bennett, who was acknowledged to be a popular member of the opposing party. He represented the democracy of Fallsburgh in almost every democratic county convention for several years, and in 1838 was a candidate for Eepresentative in Congress from the District composed of Ulster and Sullivan counties, in opposition to Eufus Palen, whig, when he ran con- siderably ahead of his ticket, althoiigh Palen was a man of great wealth, respectability and popularity. Hasbrouck was salient and angular in habits and appearance. He scorned those who were indolent or ashamed to labor, and, in the rough habiliments of the workman, participated in the physical exertions necessary to the prosecution of his affairs. He had a marked aversion to those who resorted to tricks and stratagem in their dealings, and particxdarly to those who in- dulged in litigation concerning frivolous affairs. When their labor was necessary for the comfort and support of their families. For this class, in his transactions with them, he had no mercy, while to the industrious and well-disposed, he was kind arid >generous. Such a man always has warm admirers and friends, and equally warm opponents and enemies. It is noteworthy, also, that he was connected by birth and mamage with mair^ respectable families of Ulster and Sullivan. Cornelius W. Hardenbergh, the murderer, was the son of Doctor Benjamin Hardenbergh, and grandson of Gross Harden- bergh who was murdered near Woodboume, in 1808. Major Johannis Hardenbergh, an original proprietor of the Great Patent, was one of his ancestors.* His mother was Cornelia WjTicoop, the descendant of a long line of aristocratic Dutch ancestors, the panels of whose carriages bore the picture of a baiTel of wine, and an old man in a quaint HoUand costume, with a glasa of wine in his hand. Both the Hardenberghs and Wyncoops were ia aflSuent cir- cumstances when the Doctor espoused Miss Wyncoop — proud of their riches, descent and social position. While they looked upon the many as their inferiors, they acknowledged no superiors. They were haughty, headstrong and domineering, and sought to impress these characteristics on the minds of their offspring. Improvident and convivial — scattering with a liberal hand, and gathering a« if the acqtiisition of property were beneath their dignity — not regarding education as the mainspring of intel- * Life and Confession o* C. W. Haudenbergh. Johannis Hardenbergh, jr., a son of the " Patentee," was his gsnat-grandfathor. THE TOWN OF FALLSBTJKGH. 239 lectual fbrce — it is not surprising that they lost wealth and social prestige. When Doctor Hardenbergh was twenty-one years of age, he became largely interested m Great Lot No. 3. In 1796, he married. Three years afterwards he moved into the Neversink country, as the region now embracing Fallsburgh, Liberty, Rockland and Neversink was then called. As soon as Cornelius tyaa able to ride ahorse, his father sent him on errands through the woods in all directions. By the time he was seven years old, he had traveled on horseback and alone over all the region within ten miles of home, following cow-paths, ridges, streams, etc., and had even gone on the busmess of his father from Lib- erty to Kingston, and back. When he was eight, he drove a team from Liberty to Kingston, and to various other places in Ulster county. He was a very bright, active boy, btft too wild and heedless to submit to the discipline of school. His father placed him for a time under an excellent teacher of Mar- bletown named Hume, who found it impossible to control the young savage, and afterwards, in his tenth year, he was sent one summer to Kingston Academy, when he spent the greater part of the time among the neglected and vicious children of the streets. Li the language of his "Life and Confession," written a few days before his execution, "He was nursed in the lap of parental indulgence, his grandmother Wyncoop being the only one who gave him any religious instruction, and that was not sufficient to leave a lasting impression ; so that it might be said, he never had any, but was suffered to run at large, and was indulged in every childish wish." And it fui-ther appears, that the most important lesson taught him at home, was that he was better than the sons of the farmers of the surrounding country.* Pride, without intelligence, refinement and virtue, is sure to pro- duce a harvest of disgrace and humiliation. After the murder of his grandfather (Gross Hardenbergh) the family moved to Stone Ridge, where ComeHus became a distiller, teamster, and man of all work for his father ; and where nOthiug was taught him except family pride. Here he learned to swear and drink as recklessly as any of his youthful associates. Here he lived, until he was eighteen years old, when he discovered that his father had become a drunkard, and mismanaged and squandered his property in such a way that, unless a change took place, the family would soon be reduced to poverty. This, instead of having a salutary effect upon himself, led tim to emancipate himself from home-influences, and go back to Lib- erty, where he indulged in the very vices which he had observed * " I wag tangh<> liUle except to spurn with contempt all considered beneath rae in birth and riches. —Life and Confeasioo of C. W. Hardenbergh. 240 HISTORY or SXJUJVAN COUNTY. in his father. He not only fell under the kifluenoes of evil company and gi-atified his appetite for rum; but indulged in Hoentious actions. Through deception and falsehood, he suc- ceeded in his warfare upon female virtue ; and he followed the practice until he was frightened into a better course by his superstitious fears. A poor but virkious girl, whose father was about to remove to a distant part of the country, through the basest treachery and force, became his victim. After her ruin was accompMsh^d, and he imagined he was rid of her, according to his " Confession," she returned to punish him for his wick- edness. He says: " One morning, as I lay in bed, this young woman appeared to me in all the horrqrs the mind can imagine, and more than^ tongue can describe; her hair hanging loose and disorderly around her shoulders ; her countenance pale and wan ; her eyes swollen with shedding tears, and iixed upon me with an intensity^ that struck horror throiigh every vein and paralyzed the brain, while I covdd not move my eyes from the blood that seemed ta gush through her breast from a broken heart ; at the same time extending her day-cold arms with a small infant, aU besmeared with blood, to me, crying, "Here, thou wretch! take the reward of thy iniquity !' This for a short time caused a reformation in me ; but the impression soon wore off. I thought it nothing more than a dream, yet never forgot it. I can unhesitatingly say, it prevented my practicing the same villainy on other un- fortunate young women." In this mstance, it cannot be denied, remorse and the night- mare were overruled for good. Not long after Comehus went to Liberty, he induced his father to follow mm. From a drunkard, the old man soon became a sot, and engaged in every kind of debauchery. This produced do- mestic broils, and rendered his home the abode of discord and misery. The mother reviled at the father for his dram-drinking, and neglect of his business and family, and at Cornelius for associating with young men who were ms social inferiors. She ' was engaged in a dispute with the latter, when he was twenty J ears old, about his companions. The Doctor came into the ouse at the time, and joined with his wife against Cornelius,, when the latter upbraided his father with the company he kept, which so enraged him that he gave the young man a floggings This indignity caused the son to abscond from the parental roof. He started for Lumberland ; but stopped three miles from home at Buckley's tavern. The Doctor followed and begged the truant to return ; but he stubbornly refused to do so. After humbling himself almost to the dust, the old man went home much de- jected, and Cornelius took an extra dram. His mothei' and others of the family also came to see him, offering many induce- THE TOWN OF FAIiSBUKQH. 241 ments for his going back, all to no purpose. Among other things, his mother propose^ to give him two hundred acres of land. After they had done all they qould, he told them if they would rent him the Eeed farm, and let his sister keep house for him, he would go there. To this they joyfully agreed. He lived on the Beed place with his sister as housekeeper until she left him, when he married his cousin, who seems to have been an estimable woman. We do not propose to give the full history of his life — the continued misconduct of his father, which led to bankniptcy, the separation of his father and mother, the connection his father formed with another woman, the removal of Cornelius from place to place, his poverty, his struggles to maintain his family,, etc. It IS sufficient to say, that a few years before the murder of Hasbrouck, he was the occupant of a log-house, in the town of Kockland, with his wife and five children, holding a contract for seventy-five acres of land, for which he had agreed to pay one. hundred and fifty dollars. He was a farmer, htmter and lumberman, and labored at whatever promised ready money. Although from the highest hills of tha,t region, his eyes could not reach the boundaries of the territory of which his great- grandfather was a joint owner, he was too poor to pay for the few barren acres he occupied. Mrs. Depuy, his mother-in-law, was still living, and owned, among other property, a grist-mill, saw-mill and turning-shop, at Hasbrouck. "Vyith severe toil, he raised a few bushels of grain, and a few vegetables on his poor place. To him the grist-mill seemed a source of almost mex- haustible wealth, and he di'eamed of the time when Mrs. Depuy'a estate would be divided among her children, and he would be once more a man of consequence through her death — the only- event which promised to better his condition, a,nd render his family comfortable. The birth of his fifth child caused him to turn his attention to religious matters.* But there was no clergyman near, and his. neighbors were as ignorant a^ hii^is^lf in regard to holy things, and he found it difficult to tread the right path. However, he and some friends got together, read the Bible, talked to each other of what they read m it, and united in praying. Soon a Methodist preacher visited them, whose teachiUjgs were good, but whose conduct was bad. This was a stumbling-block; but it was surmounted, and a soqiety or class was formed, of which * So he. says in bis " Ount'oBsion" ; but at bis trial fur murder', it appeared that a. whirlwind was the moving cause of his piety. The whirlwind was haJf a mile wide, and moving directly toward bis house, prostrating everything in its course in Bom& S laces ; in others, twisting the tree-tops together. It was in a direct course for over iree miles, and when within half a mile of his house, turned aside, and left him and his family unharmed. Soon after tliis terriiic manifestation, he exhibited religious feelings. From tliis time, too, he was a rigid temperance man. 16 ■242 HISTORY OF SDLUVAN COUNTY. Hardetfbergh and his wife were members. Thereafter, to the day of his execution, he was a professor of religion, and practiced its forms, not only publicly, but privately. Even when he was a condemned and shackled criminal in his cell, and he supposed no eye butthat of God was upon him, he would not eat a morsel of food until he had "asked a blessidg." To this the writer can testify from personal knowledge. After. he made a "profession" of religion, he obtained the oversight of some wild lands in his neighborhood, foi- the purpose of keeping others from stealing valuable timber. But he was an unfaithful agent. He kept others from stealing, but did not hesitate to cut the best trees on the tract, and take the logs to a neighboring saw-miU, where they were sawn for his own benefit. He sued some for trespass, who finally caused him to be prose- cuted for his own wrong-doing; but, he got out of the difficulty by a trick. This caused neighborhood-broils, and the loss of time and money ; yet he held fast to his religion, such as it was. He had four years in which to pay for his farm ; he had bor- rowed one hundred doUars from Doctor Jacob Wurtz, of New Paltz, which he had expended in improvements ; he had paid nothing for the seventy-five acres, and his contract was about to run out, when he went to Doctor Wurtz, and induced him to pay for the land, and secure himself by taking a deed for it. In August, 1838, Mrs. Depuy, his mother-in-law, died. Some said her decease afforded him jpleasure. This he indignantly denies in hi^ "Confession," and protests that it was the most giievous event of his life.* There were nine heirs, besides her husband, who, it seems, had nothing more than a life-interest in a portion of the estate, and none in the balance. Besides the mill there was property valued at $3,273.50. The latter consisted principally of wild lands, which were sold to various persons. Hasbrouck bought one lot of ninety-seven acres. From these sales, Hardenbergh •expected to get upwards of |360 in cash, more than enough to pay aU his debts. Probably the height of his ambition at this time was to pay for the land he occupied, and own a yoke of ■oxen, a few other cattle, and a saw-miU. In May, 1839, he ex- pected to get his share of the money, but was chagrined when he found that the great part of the purchasers had given their notes. Biit he assented to the arrangement, in the belief that the notes would be divided among the heirs ; that he would re- ceive one, and sell it, and thus be enabled to pay for a yoke of •oxen he had bought. This was promised him, but the notes were all made payable to C. W. Brodhead, one of the heirs, and left with him for collection. This greatly exasperated Harden-. * Soon after her death, he built a frame-houso and a bam on his farm. THE TOWK OP FALLSBUKGH. 243 ^,eBgh, an^ he threatenod to "put the whole thing in law, at the first Court that set." In vain Brodhead offered to help him borrow money by being his surety. Some of the notes were his, and the other heirs had no right to place them beyond his con- trol. Much running to and fro ensued ; lawyers were consulted, and the ev.ery-day duties of life neglected. One of those in- debted to the estate (Hon. Joseph Grant) paid Hardenbergh fifty dollars ; he borrowed some money of James Gildersleeve, titc. Then some of the heirs met at Hasbrouck's, di^dded the notes by lot, and left Hardenbergh's share with Hasbrouck. "With this, too, he was dissatisfied, although he had previously demanded such a division. Before he called for it, the note which fell to him was paid, and Hasbrouck had all that was <3oming to him- (Hardenbergh) in cash, except his share of the mill property, and of the ninety-seven-acre lot bouglit by Has- brouck. The grist-mill was valued at $5,000. One of the heirs at first offered $4,500 for it; but the others refused to sell it to him. The heirs, after much mismanagement, offered to sell it to Has- brouck; but he at first refused to buy. Afterwards three of them went to him again and offered him their shares, when he told them that if they woidd secure hirti two more shares and put him in possession, he would give them at the rate of $3,500 for it, if they would include ninety<-seven acres of wUd land in the sale. This wild land had previously been bought by him, and he had a deed for it. The other two shares were procured, pjttd Hasbrouck became the owner of five-ninths of the mill property, and took possession of it. Soon after each of the others, except Cornelius, sold out to Hasbrouck. At this stage of affairs, Hardenbergh went to Hasbrouck's to get what was coming to him from the first sales. His reception was very pleasing; he was invited to stay aU night — spent a \evY pleasant evening — and went to bed pleased with his host and the world generally. But about three o'clock the next morning he awoke, and began to be suaxacious that Hasbrouck intended to entrap him, etc. While agitated by these fancies, according to his " Confession," the ghost of his mother-iii-law stood before him. He says : " The first sight gave me a wonderful shock. My blood seemed completely congealed. As soon as I had sufficiently recovered from the alarm, I attempted to rise, and hit my head ai^inst the side of the room, which caused me to put my hand on my head. I fell down on my pillo'»' again, resting my head on my hand, and thinking about it, when she seemed to stand fully before me, and spoke in great earnestness, as slie did twenty years before. She appeared fresli and stern, and said, * Never mind your head — ^you will break down Ids stone wall yet.' 244 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. (The hpuse is a stone one.) She told me never to sign off — that' there was a conspiracy against me — that I must not take any money that mommg — that if I did I wOuld be deceived. She then vanished. I then reflected on my situation and her death. This drew on a bad feeling and a flood of tears ; so much so that I thought they would hear me throughout the house." At this time Hardenbergh did not know that the Barlow note of one hundred doUafs, which was left with Hasbrouck for him, had been paid. Accordii^ to his "Confession," Hasbrouck offered him the money for it minus the interest. This was in- dignantly rejected. Hasbrouck then told him the note was paid, and offered him the money with interest. Kemembering his dream or vision* of' the previous night, he refused to receive it unless Hasbrouck would warrant the money good. This the latter would not do, and Hardenbergh then, assisted by the other, took memoranda of the bills, after which he went away, and found that one of the bills for five dollars was on a broken Bank. He says that on his way home he had three fits. Within a week Hasbrouck followed him to Eockland, paid him all he claimed, except fifty dollars, which he declared was due him for his share of the ninety-seven acres of wild land which had been sold before Hasbrouck got possession of the mill property, and offered to buy his (Hardenbergh's) interest in the mill. But the latter would not sign off until he was fully satisfied in all other respects, and not then with a threat hanging over him. From this time there was nothing but trouble and disturbance.. Hardenbergh ran about the country, consulting his relatives and others, and Hasbrouck bought a note of fifty-six dollars against him, and sued him before Esquire James Divine. This rendered him almost frantic. He refused to sleep in bed at home, not- withstanding his wife used all her infliience to make him demean himself in a more rational way. From Thursday until the Sat- urday previous to the murder he wandered about through Nev- ersink, FaUsburgh and Liberty, trying to make an arrangement to pay the note Hasbrouck held, and detailing his grievances^ He failed to get money, and received no satisfactory advice. Thus far we have given the circumstances as related by him in his " Confession." We will now turn to the evidence given at his trial for more reliable information. That the deed was premeditated appears from the testimony of several witnesses. In October he had said to Henry H. Davis,, one of his neighbors, " D — n it, Hasbrouck oUght to be shot."^ " He deserves to die. He wants to take property which I ought * He frei^neatly spoke of what occurred wliile be was in bed at Hasbrouck'n as a " drdam or vision. It was nothing more than a dream or nightmare ; but it had as much effect on bia snperatitioue mind as if it had been supernatural. THE TOWN OF FALLSBURGH. 246 to enjoy myself." During the same month, he told Judge Grant, that his brothers-in-law were willing to take the bread from his tthildren's mouths, and give it to Hasbrouck ; " but he will not be benefited W it long, and you wiU see it." About the same time, he said to GeneralNiven, tliat he was deteimined to tiy to settle with Hasbrouck, and if he could not, " then he should die." On the Thursday previous to the murder, he declared to Samuel Adams of Neversink, that, rather than starve, he would "kill old Ant. Hasbrouck." According to his own declaration while in prison (but which did not appear in evidence at his trial) on the same Thursday, his wife upbraided him in relation to his troubles, and that he answered her by saying, " Hasbrouck must surrender the propertv or die." She replied that he must not think of such a thing; but from that moment he was determined to kill him, or bring him to terms, and made the jiecessary preparations. On Saturday he went to Liberty, where he purchased a pistol of Ebenezer Bush ; powder of Benjamin P. Buckley, and lead of Doctor John D. Watkins. He was very particular in testing the pistol, which he fired at an inch-board thirty yards distant; The ball passed through the board, and he was satisfied with it. He also inquired at the several stores for a hunting-knife or Bowie-knife. When asked what he intended to do with these things, he generally repUed, "I am going to kill a venomous beast." He also got a man named Lewis Smith to run him some bullets for his pistol. He then went home. The next morning (Sunday) at 8 o'clock, he came to the house where his mother lived, about one-half mile from the M. E, church of Liberty. He told her he had breakfasted at home*— 7 drank a cup of tea with her — spent the time until the hour for morning service in conversing on rehgious subjects — ^went tp church — demeaned himself seriously and devoutly — took dinner with his mother — staid with her an horn* or two, and then left with his brother Jared, taking with him the gun mentioned in * " Whether before or after breakfast I do not remember. I read two chapters in the Bible, the 17th and 18th of Fsalma, and then went to prayer in company with my wife, as was our custom before breakfast. * • * My reading the said chapters was purely accidenttal. My prayer was as usual, praise for the abundant mercies shown me; for the aiBloted. m spirit, mind and body, and in; particular for Hasbrouck — that the liord might change his heart and make him sensible of the affliction he was bring- ing upon the already afflicted, and that it would please God to enable me to overcome him by charitable feelings, and not with any spirit of maUgnity, and that ottr differ- encesiQight be amicably adjusted, in truth and justice, and both made sensible of the errorot our ways, and our natures changed.from this worldly care to that of our eternal galTatipn. As soon as it was sufficiently light, to see to.walk, I started and took my pistol with me, * • » and also my son's gun. » * • When I oamq to the top of the mountain so that I could, see the roads, having the gun in my hands, I thought if I went through the village of Liberty, the people would take notice oi it, and that the cause of God would be injured. 80 I went across-lots all the way to mother's. When I got there, I went to the barn- and .left the gun there for fear the children might get jiud ot it. H^ mother did not see the gun, neither did she know iiiat I had any anng about me." — Lyfe and Ginffeasion of Hardenberffh. 246 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COITSTY. the foot-note. They walked together some distance, when Jarte^ went home and ComeUus proceeded to HasbrOuck's. Just be- fore reaching the residence of the latter, while crossing a bridge, he knelt and prayed " that the cup might pass from him; that he might not be under the necessity of kUhng Hasbrouck ; but thsft the latter might adjust the dispute amicably." He then went to the house, where he found 'Hasbrouck and his wife, a little daughter of O. H. Bush (Hasbrduck's grandchild), and a Mrs. Nancy Depuy,* at supper. He was asked to take a seat ; but declined, saying his boots werp diriy, and went into an aid- joiaing room, where he pulled off his boots. Heaving them there,, he returned, and sat dowUi Hfe had not yet brought the gun into the room with him. Some conversafaon then took place between the two men about their affairs; but with no satisfac- torj result. Hardenbergh asked Hasbrouck, amongother things,, if he was willing that he should hold his wife's share of the miH, pay his part of the expenses, and receive a fair proportion of the profits; Hasbrouck replied that he would not hold property that way with any one. xbey talked also about the suit before Divine. Hardenbergh then went out, after putting on his over- coat and hat; but in a few minutes re-entered, with his gun pointed at Hasbrouck, saying, " You have got to die to-night." Hasbrouck instantly sprang from the chair in which he was sittii^, and seized hold of the gun, which he turned aside, and downward as his assailant discharged it. The charge passed: through the floor at Hasbrouck's side, and about a foot from: him. The two men then caught hold of each other, and a scuffle took place, during which Cornelius struck the doomed man sev- eral times with his fist, and drew his pistol and shot him in the abdomen. They were so close together that Hardenbergh was compelled to turn partly aroimd to fire. While this was occur- ring, the httle girl ran from the house to alarm the neighbors. After the pistol was fired, Hasbrouck exclaimed, "Leave me alone. I am a dead, man." They continued to struggle with each other until Hasbrouck was partly down, when Mrs. Lef ever cried, "Cornelius, what are you about?" He waved his hand, and said, "Aunt, get out of the way!" She then ran out for help. The assailant next drew his knife, and attempted to stab Hasbrouck in the throat. To get at his throat more conveniently, he endeavored to puU back Hasbrouck's head, when Mrs. H. shielded her husband's neck with her hand, screaming, "For God's sake, don't cut his throat! you have kSled him already!" The infuriated demon ordered her away, and cut her severely across the palm of her hand. He then continued to cut and * Hasbrouck vraa related to Hardenbergh by marriage. Mra. Sepuy was a sister of Docto* Ben^aintii Hat:d«nbergh. THE TOWN OP PALLSIiUliGH. 24T Btab his victim until the latter -wrpsted the knife from him, and st?!|.i)bed him in the breast. The murderer then caught up a chair, and struck the prostrate man two blows with it — threw it away, and went out of doors to get a club to finish his bloody work. Mrs. Hasbrouck bolted the door after him. She then assisted her husbapd to walk, out of the room — across the hall, and into a back parlor. She left him there, locking the door after her. She also fastened the front hall-door. While this was going on, she lieard Hardenbergh break through the kitchen- door, and as she. passed to the room in which they had had supper, she saw him come into the ha^, and go to the parlor- door and strike it with the club to break it open. She then went out through the kjtchen-door to the road, to see if help was coming, and met JAmes S. "WeUs, Jacob Brodhead and Mrs. Lefever, a few rods from the house. All hurried to tl^e bloody scene. As they approached, tliey saw Hardenbergh leaving, with the gun in his hands, Brodhead said to him, "Case, is that you? What have you been doing?" Hardenbergh an- swered, "If you advance, you are a dead man!" and went away. They then entered the kitchen, and passed through the sitting- room and hall to the parlor where Mrs. Hasbrouck had left her husband; but at first were greatly surprised at not seeing him there. Brodhead cried, "Where can he be?" They then heard him under a bed, where he had crawled to hide while the mur- derer was kicking and pounding the door. He said, "Dear friends, for God's sake, help me!" and, then extended one of his hands, which they grasped and helped him out. Holding up : the bloody knife in the other, he said, "Thisjs the knife he stabbed ine wjth. I fended off the rifle ; but the pistol I could, not," Brodhead proposed to send for a Doctor ; but Hasbrouck thought it would do no good. "It is no use. I am shot. I am a dying, ma,n." In. about fifteen minutes, he was dead. The body was found to be terribly cut and mangled. Thete were some wounds on the head; the chin was cut; there was a cut from the right angle of the mouth around on the neck, which had severed the external carotid artery and jugjilar vein ; there was a stab on eaeh side, and W each arm; the posterior of the left thigh was out nearly across; the ball had torn open the abdomen near the navel, and lacerated the intestines, which protruded from the wound, and there were other injuries. Sev- eral of these wounds were each sufficient to cause death. An inquest was held by Giles M. Benedict of MonticeUo, who was then a Coroner. Hardenbergh went- from Hasbrouck's house easterly to a hiU. According to his own declaration, his object was to consider which way to go; iiiat at first he intended tq go to Monticello to give himself Tip; but finding that his wound was serious, he 24S HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. concluded to go to the house of his uncle, Thomas E. Harden- bergh, and surrender himself there. He went to the house ; met his cousin, Peter D. Hardenbergh, at the door; said he was "a poor, miserable man, and had murdered Ant. Hasbronck ;" did not enter the house, fearing that he wovld frighten his aunt ; gave up his gun, saying, "That didn't do it;" and the pistol, "This done it;" and asked his uncle to ascertain whether Hasbrouck was dead. They then started in the direction of Hasbrouck's house, and on the road met John A. Van Benschoten, who told them that Hasbrouck was dead. On hearing this, Cornelius said, " Then I shall die contented, and I expect by the laws of my country I shall have to be hung." He hoped his wound was fatal ; prayed earnestly for death, and wished to be taken to the mill, as he had a right there. He was brought to the house occupied by L. Misner, at the mill, where he was kept aU night, and on the next day an examination took place before James Divine, Esq., after which he was taken to jail on a bed by a constable named Edwin Porter. Hundreds flocked to the court-house to see him. They found him pale and weak from loss of blood ; but ready and willing to give the most minute details of the shocking tragedy, and cool knd adroit in advancing arguments, in defense of his own con- duct. His description of the affair was wonderfully lucid and graphic-r-much more so than that of any one who witnessed the murder. In giving the writer a history of it, he said, " I cut him (Hasbrouck) across the thigh because, in reading one of my father's books, I learned that one of the main arteries was there. I knew that if I could cut that, he would bleed to death." This E roves that he used his knife with butcher-like coolness, and that is thrusts and slashes were not only fierce, but made with a premeditated purpose. To those who talked with him about the murder, he spoke as follows : Visitor. — Hardenbergh, I am sorry to see you in this situation. Hardknbergh. — If I had gone to law, the sum in dispute would have been squandered. Hasbrouck was rich, and I poor. In law, a poor man has not as good a chance as a rich one. V. — You don't believe that a wealthy man has all the advan- tage? H. — I reviewed the whole matter, and concluded to take the law into my own hands. V. — What law did you have to take into your own hands? H, — The law of nature. V. — It will not do for us to rely on that law. We have other laws to protect us. H. — When the Canadians came across the line to get our property, we had a right to shoot them. THE TOWN OP FALI.8BUKGH. 249 V. — ^That is a different case. Tliey became public enemies. H. — Hasbrouck was a public robber. And I was an instru- ment in the hands of God to punish him. As long as he lived, his mind on this subject did not undergo a material change. When asked why he spoke of the affair so freely, for several months his usual answer was — " A defense is useless. Too many witnessed the deed." But in time, his de- sire to live revived. Some one gave him Upham's book on " Deranged Mental Faculties," and he found in that work evi- dence which satisfied him that he was not Only insane when he committed the murder ; but that he had been subject to abeiTa- tions of mind from the time he was six years old, when he received a severe blow on the head. His memory then became very defective as to the material facts in regard to the murder. He could remember facts which placed Hasbrouck iii an un- favorable hght, and could distort others so as to blacken his memory; but seemed -to be obhvious as to every preparation he had made to commit the crime of murder, or explamed all his previous words and acts with wonderful ingenuity, and of the murder itself — that murder which he had described scores of times with so much precision — ^he knew, or pretended to know, absolutely nothing ! He continued to adhere to this theory of his case as long as he lived. But a few days before his execu- tion, he thus described his iuterview with his victim on the even- ing of the murder : " I asked him if he would allow me anything for the use of the mill property. He said he would not. Then I said, 'Has- brouck, you ought or should consider that you are taking the bread out of the mouths of my wife and children, by withhold- ing the interest of the mill property from me.' With a stem look of contempt he answered, 'IE you have come here on busi- ness, do it ; for I do not want to hear anything of that kind.' Then I asked him if he was willing to divide the miU property without having recourse to the law. He said, 'No. It must be divided by law.' Then I asked him on what terms we could aettle the suit. He said I might confess a judgment of $56, if I had a mind to. At this I said, 'Hasbrouck, you have destroyed the peace of my mind and the peace of my family. I have left my wife, whom you have defrauded, overwhelmed in grief and trouble.' In a passion he exclaimed, ' I don't care a d — n for you or your family, if I can only get your wife to sign off.' Be- fore Hasbrouck had fairly finished his sentence, my aunt, Nancy Lefever, began saying that I had been riding about all summer, and that I"fiad murdered that poor woman, my wife. Then all feeling left me, and reason forsook her empire. All that I can recollect after this is, I thought I must go away. I knew not what I did until the fatal deed was done, and I had returned as 250 HISTORY OP SULLIVAN CO0NTY, far as the road that leads to the bridge, when I stopped aoct fovind myself bleeding." And yet, while he was stabbing and gashing his victim, he actually remembered the position of a large artery, and with savage precision severed it with his knife ; and for months rfe- lated every cirdumstance with greater accuracy than the two respectable and inteUigent ladies who were present when he slew Hasbrouct! Hardenbergh's trial took place in MonticeUo at the October Circuit of 1841, before Hon. Charles H. Euggles. Seventy-two jurors were called, sixty of whom were set aside or challenged, be- fore a sufficient number were sworn and empaneled. John Gray, jr., William Wells, John Nelson, Benjamin Decker, Augustus Dodge, Asahel Hollister, Samuel West, Abijah W. Lewis, Ben- jamin Millspaugh, Daniel Bowen, jr., Israel P. Tremain and Gideon Hombeck composed the jury. WiUis HaU, Attorney- general, Alpheiis Dimmick, District attorney, and Archibald C. Niven, appeared for the prosecution; Herman M. Eomeyn and John Van Buren, for the prisoner. William B. Wright and Nicholas -Sickles were also engaged for the defense, but were prevented from being present at the trial by sickness. During the progress of the trial, John W. Brown, was added tp the prisoner's counsel. The prosecution proved the killing, and sundry declarations and acts v^hich showed that the crime was premeditated and from malice. The defense attempted to prove that the prisoner was insane, and certainly established the fact that he had been eccentric in many respects. They attempted to introduce traditionary testi- mony to prove that his great-grandfather was insane, but were overruled by the Court. After a fuU and fair trial, which con- tinued five days, the jury retired jEor consultation, and in twenty minutes brought in a verdict of guilty. Sentence was suspended, to give the defense an oppottuidty to procure a decision of the SupreAie Court as to the correctness of introducing traditionary evidehoe in regard to the insanity of remote ancestors. Hardenbergh spoke to oie or two of the jurors, approving of their velcdiet, and was then remanded to prison, where he re- mained until the May term of 1842, \vhen he was brought from his cell for sentence. Wlien asked why sentence slipuH not b& pronounced in his case, he arose and delivered a somewhat in- coherent harangue, in which he attacked some of the witnesses who had testified against him at his trial; contended that he was of unsound mind when he cominitted the deed ;„ said that the murder "was not the act of a poor individual, but the juclg- ment of Almighty God upon a thankless, ungi-ateful, sinful, people, who wish to a^randize themselves at the expense of the poor ;" THE TOWN OF FAIXSBUEGH. 251 and hoped that the Court would give him "time to make a full disclosure of circumstances. He wanted to live only for that piKpose." The Court then sentfenced him to be "huHg by the neck until he was dead" on the 14th day of July, 1842. He was principally occupied during the next six weeks in writing his "Life and Confession," and in attempting to break out of jail. He had procured a small table-knife with which he cut aWay the head of a rivet which attached a chaia to the shackles on nis ankles. This chain fastened him to the floor. He could free himseK from it at any time. He had also hammered his, handcuffs with a stick of wood so that he could slip them from his wrists. With his knife, a short piece of idre, aa^ a small quantity of lead he had made a key which unlocked his door. He had been out in the hall as far as the front door, and in a night or two more would have been at large; but Sheriff KeUey , put a p&dlock' on the cell-door in addition to the other locks and bolts, and occupied a cell close by aS a sleeping-room. His es- cape was thus prevented; and on the morning previous to the execution, being satisfied that he could not get away, he gave the key, knife, etc., to the Sheriff, saying, "Here is the knife with'which I could have killed you." He was executed in accordance with the sentence of the Court, by Sheriff Felix KeUey, assisted by his deputies, Anson Gale and Henry Everard. By his request, Bev. Edward K. Fowler, rector of St. John's Church, Monticello, and Eev. Isaac G. Duryea, pastor of the Dutch Keformed Church a.t Woodboume, attended him to the gaUows. His bearing throughout was firm and unwavering, but without bravado or ostentation. Through- out the day, his conversation bore the semblance of fervid piety. He exhibited his eccentricity to the last ; for he requested tha,t his body should be buried between his mother's house and barn, and that a pair of old slippers, which he had worn in the prison, should be interred with him. After the death of Anthony Hasbrouck, Moses Dean and William M. HaU were prominent as merchants of the upper neighborhood. The former removed to Sycamore, in Illinois, where he became a wealthy banker. While Mr. HaU Hved here, a very unusual accident occurred to one of his sons. While busy with a pair of oxen, a chain attached to the yoke caught his leg, which was instantly severed from his body. Benjamin Grant was a merchant here in 1865. While he was drawing kerosene from a barrel by candle-light, on the 30th of Jxme, the oil caught fire, and his store was destroyed. 252 HISTOKY OF BCLLIVAN (JOUNlTf. One of the early settlers of Woodboume was John Tappen.^ He was a native of Dutchess county, an offshoot of the re- spectable Esopus family of that name, and had served creditably as a lieutenant in the Eevolutionary army. His descendants state that previous to 1800, he bought two hundred acres of land on the east side of the river at Woodboume, on which ia now a part of the village. Besides the flats, his tract included some ridge-land. While he was there, a saw-mill was erected on the small stream which runs between the residences of Austin Strong and Medad T. Morss. The quantity of lumber manu- factured at this miU was never large. Mr. Tappen received a warranty deed, and paid cash for his land; but his right to it was questioned by William A. Thompson of Thompsonville, who claimed to be the real owner, and threatened to eject Mr. T. From whom the latter claimed title, we cannot ascertain; but we believe that he was one of the victims of Henry K. Beekman, and Thompson, who was a shrewd and bold speculator, bought of Gerard or Gross Hardenbergh. Tappen, although a brave soldier, was frightened at the prospect of an endless lawsuit, with its ruinous expenses. Probably knowing that his title was good for nothing, and to avoid hopeless litigation, he com- promised with Thompson, by giving up his fine property, with its improvements, and receiving a deed for eighty acres of wild land north of Pleasant lake, in Thompson — >the premises now owned- by his son, WiUiam Tappen, Thompson also made a demonstration on the farm of James Hill, west of the river, by coming there with a surveyor and his assistants. While the intruders were running a Une through a wheat-field> Hill attacked them with an ax, and threatening to " chop them up," drove them away. The occupant was not again disturbed. Probably Thompson was satisfied that Hill's title was good, and for this reason proceeded no further in the business. Woodboume was not a place of much importance previous to 1830, at about which time Gabriel W. Ludlum became inter- ested in its affairs. He came into the county in 1826, and in December of that year engaged in .business at Hasbrouck. After remaining there four years, he commenced operations at Wood- boume. He was a lawyer by profession — naturally obsequious to his superiors and affable to his equals ; but too often brusque and dommeering to those he esteemed his inferiors. While of * Jacob Conklin, subsequently of Denniston's ford, settled in Woodboume preyi- ous to 1790. He wag a man of education ; had taken the wrong aide in the Bevolntion, and wafi not considered safe in business affairs. — MSS. of B, G. C'hilds. The declaration of B. G. Childs is probably based on common report. We have in our possession evidence that Conkhn commanded a company of Ulster County Militia during the war, and that he was sometimes actively employed against the enemy. THE TOWN OP PALLSBUBGH. 263 this county, and for several years afterwards, he was of "good repute in church and state." He was whimsical, and generally, with a crotchet predominant in his brain, was mounted on a hobby. It was said of him that he was either " all horse, all bull, or all hog." AJEter removing from the upper neighborhood, he overflowed with projects for the advancement of Woodboume, which he beheved would become a place of considerable importance. He bestowed upon it its name. He had read in the newspapers, if not in the works of Shakspeare, of a " bourne from which no traveler returns," and hastily decided that Woodboume* was a very pretty and very appromiate designation for his embryo village. In 1830, -with John Brodhead, jr., Jacob E. Bogardus, Anthony Hasbrouck, Henry Misner, Charles Hartshorn, James N. EockweH, Nathan Hombeck, Henry Southwick, H. M. Ha,i-- denbergh and Benjamin K. Bevier, he projected a turnpike-road from EUenville to Woodboume. The proposed improvement was not at first successful. In 1834, the bold proposition was made to construct a road from the Wallkill bridge, in New Paltz, via the Traps, EUenville, Woodboume and Loch Sheldrake, to the house of Walter Gray, in Liberty. This, meeting with still less favor, was abandoned, in its turn, and efforts made to secure a turnpike from EUenville to .Liberty. It was not until he re- moved from the town that the EUenviUe and Woodboume road was made, when such men as Austin Strong, Anthony Hasbrouck, Charles Hartshorn and Jasper Gilbert consummated the enter- prise. In connection with his road projects was one to construct an arched bridge across the Neversink, and in 1833, proposals were issued for the stone and wood work ; but the enterprise was at that time a failure. Ludlum was also identified, m 1831, and subsequent year«i, with the project of making a railroad from Kingston across Sullivan county to Owego or Chenango Point, and was one of the Commissioners to decide between the anticipated rival claimants for stock. He favored these things with the enthusiasm of a young girl in pursuit of a butterfly, and with an equal measure of success. In other and smaller .affairs he was more fortunate. We believe that he was influential in removing the site of the Dutch Reformed chvttch-edifice from Hasbrouck to Woodboume. In addition to t^is, he built the fine stone mansion now (1871) the residoice of Austin Strong, and the store which was occupied by W. W. Smith in 1869, in which year it was destroyed by fire. *^Bown signifies a, woodland stream or rivnlet, a bonnd, a limit, a point anived at, » goal. Vide Noah Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. 254 HISTORY OF SULLIYAN COUNTY. In 1^31 commenced the era 'of tanning in Sullivan. In the faU^bf that year John Eldridge laid the foundation of a large sfole-leather manufactory in Thompson, and Rufus Palen and Jiis partner Ada,lns that of another at the Falls of the Neversink. 'llifewis Btishnell was in search of a good place for another estab- lishment of the kind, and while thus engaged visited Ludlum. *rhe latter at once decided that a tannery would cause a large viUkge tp spring up at Woodboume, and to him the future was glorious with wealth and aggrandizement. He at once offered to supply BushneU with water-power gratis, and to open streets aad give him alternate village-lots, if he would go on with the taiinery ; but BushneE's experience taught him that village-lots around a tannery were not often a source of wealth. In addition to this, Ludlum s evident lack of discretion ia business affairs led him to avoid being involved in financial matters with him. Bushnell soon after located at Tannersdale, in Thompson. A tannery, however, was almost immediately erected at Wood- boume, in which Austin Strong had a controUing interest. After prosecuting the business successfully for several years, Mr. Strong formed a business connection with Medad T. Morss, who finally purchased Mr. Strong's interest, and was the sole pro- prietor until the estabhshment was destroyed by fire. As the supply of hemlock-bark in the vicinity was limited, the factory was not rebuilt. In 1838, Mr. Ludlum became weary of the life he was leading in Fallsburgh, and removed to Kingston, where he resumed the practice of law, with James C. Forsyth as a partner. He was not subsequently connected with the affairs of Sullivan, and, like Forsyth, was an exile from his family. He died on the coast of the Pacific in 1872. Some of his projects were in the end consummated. A good turnpike, in 1838, was made from Woodbourne to EUenviUe, which was fterwards extended to Liberty, and by the shrewdness of Austin Strong and Eichard Oliver, means were provided for spanning the Neversink with an arched bridge. This bridge was the cause of an animated controversy in 1846. In October, 1843, people who lived in the neighborhood, to build the bridge, raised fl,227.07 by subscription. Of this sum Austin Strong gave $300; Eichard Oliver, $100; Charles W. Brodhead, Thomas Hardenbergh and Medad T. Morss, $60 each, making $550 of the $1,227.07. At the annual meeting of the Supefvisors in November of the same year, Mr. Strong, who was a member of the Board, succeeded in securing an appropri- ation from the county of $600 to aid in the building of the work, and the town raised by tax |200 in addition for the same pur- pose. Thus the aggregate amount secured by subscription and the two appropriations was $2,027.07. This, it was believed, THE TOWN OF FALLSBUUGH. 255 •was suffident to build the bridge, which is about 250 feet in length. On the 20th of May, 1844, Austin Strong, Richard Oliver and •Charles W. Brodhead, the building committee, contracted with Nathaniel F. Kile, of Liberty, to do a portion of the -(Vork, and he promptly commenced it. After about $200 had been ex- pended on the pier in the centre of the stream, the work was so mlich damaged by a freshet, that it was necessaiy to remove what remained of it, and to dig a pit in the bottom of the stream in which to construct a foundation of bmsh and stone. This was expensive, and retarded me work until late in the season, when the weather was so unfavorable as to render the cost greater. When the plank-flooring was laid, the committe^found that ihey had expended aU the available means provided for them, and $889.54 in addition. They then applied to the Legislature of the State for an enactment requiring the Supervisors of Sul- livan to raise $1,000 on the property of the county in two equal annual instalments, and $500 from FaUsburgh, to complete the work. Their petition contained twenty-seven names, while there were remonstrances against the passage of the act signed by 669 Tesidents of the county. Eichard Oliver, one of the building -committee, was then a member of the Assembly, and it was alleged that the parties to be benefited by the act procured, his noinination and secured his election to promote their project. However this may be, he had sufficient address to insijre the passage of the act. At their next meeting, the Supervisors took measures to raise the moiety of the county and town appropriations as the law required, but directed the County Treasurer to retain the money until the entire amount ($1,500) was collected ; they also stigma- tized the bridge as a private enterprise, and forwarded ,a memo- rial asking for a repeal of the I3.W, and that the amount raised should be applied to the payment of the^county indebtedness. A petition of a similar character, signed by 1,434 persons, was also sent to Albany, and a remonstrance against repeal to which but thirty-two names were attached. The county papers de- nounced the act, and arraigned Mr. Oliver and his colleagues at the bar of public opinion, an^ a respectable delegation went to the State capitol to procure an annulment of the act. Notwith- standing all this, and the additional fact that the member from the county (Wilham B. Wright) professed to favor repeal, ajid that he was probably the most talented representative ever sent to the lower House from the county, the act was permitted to remain in full force. The niefiiorial and petition were referre^d to the Committee on Internal Affairs of Towns and Counties, a jnajoiity and minority report were made to the Assembly, and 256 HiffrOBY OF SULLTVAN COUSTY. no further action took place. The next Board of Supervisors raised the balance of the money, as the law directed ; the build- ing committee reimbursed themselves, and paid for covering the bridge ; and thus tejminated an exceedingly bitter contro- tersy. The bridge cost the county, $1,600 ; the town of FaUs- burgh, $700 ; and those more laigely interested, $1,227.07. Total, $3,527.07. At this day, no one will deny that the work is a necessity to a considerable number of the residents of the county; but many will question the propriety of the means employed to secure its completion. Before dismissing, the matter, it may be proper to state that the building committee paid from their own pockets $889.54 in the faU of 1844, and received that amount in return in 1848> without interest. In addition to the Eeformed church, there is at "Woodbume a German Catholic church, of which Rev. P. Droste is the pastor. The latter was buUt in 1860, under the pastorate of Father Eanfeisen, and is known as the church of the Holy Trinity. On the 24th of January, 1837, the remains of David Wheeler and David C. Wheeler (father and son) were found nearly con- sumed by fire. They had taken a job of chopping for Charles W. Brocmead, near Woodboume, and occupied a shanty made of hemlock-slabs, near their work. In the ashes of this shanty their dead bodies were discovered. It was supposed by some that their shelter took fire, near its entrance, while they were asleep, and that egress was thus prevented. Others suspected that they were murdered, and that the shanty was set on fire to conceal aU traces of the crime. Albert W. Wheeler, a son of David, published a card in the Be/yiMican Watchman soon after, in which he denounced this suspicion as painful to the family of the deceased, and injurious to others. Nevertheless many con- tinued to believe that the Wheelers were murdered. No inquest was held. Three brothers named Brown settled near the Falls of the Neversink previous to 1797. One of them (Samuel) occupied the O'Neil place ; another (Thaddeus, who is mentioned in the records of Mamakating) lived where the residence of Nicholas Flagler now stands. The cabin of the third (Obadiah) was .in the neighborhood. They were Dutchmen, and naturally gravi- tated to warm, sheltered and easily tilled river-bottoms. Their descendants are still living in Fallsburgh and other towns of the county. , The river here descends a precipice said to be more than twenty feet in height, and follows a narrow channel through the rocks for several rods. This channel is of considerable depth, and on its sides the water, with the help of pebbles and small stones, has worn numerous basin-Uke holes. These will hold THE TOWN OP FAIiSBUIUlH. 257 from one to many gallons, and are justly regarded as objects of curiosity. The Falls of the Neversink early attracted the attention of spectilators. The ease with which the river could be dammed,, the great water-power which could be wielded for manufact- uring purposes, and the fact that the Neversink could be bridged at this point at less expense than at any other, and that, the amount of travel westward would probably flow over it, led the Powells of Newburgh and others to make mvestmpnts here.. On the 30th of March, 1810, the Newburgh and Sullivan Turnpike Company was incorporated by the Legislature of the- State. Cornelius Bruyn, James Rumsey, Abraham Jansen,, John D. Lawson, John McAuley, Moses Tiosekranse, Nicholas Hardenbergh and Johannis T. Jansen were the corporate mem- bers, and the route was to extend from the northern part of the village of Newburgh to a point at or near the Falls of the Never- sink, by the way of New Hurley, Sam's Point and Wawarsing. The capital stock of the company was $35,000, and Jacob Powell,, John Crowell, James Mitchell, Levi Van Keuren and Simon Bevier were appointed commissioners to receive subscriptions.. The object of the company was "to open the western country," according to the act, and the road was intended to tap the route from Kingston via Liberty, etc., to Chenango Point. During the same session, an act was passed incorporating a company to construct a bridge at the latter place. On the 11th of April, 1808, the Ulster and Orange Branch Turnpike Company was chartered. Walter Burling, Elnathan Sears, Henry Patmore, junior, David MiUiken, Elias Miller, Charles Johnston, John Crosby, Alexander Thompson, junior,, and their associates were authorized to build a turnpike road, from the Newburgh and Cochecton road, in the town of Mont- gomery, to the Neversink turnpike,* in Liberty, by the way of Newkirk's Mills on the Shawangunk river, Roosa's Pass, and the Falls of the Neversink. The capital of the company wa& $30,000. Elnathan Sears, Thomas Powell and John Conger were commissioners to procure stock. In 1808, Herman Euggles and Henry Reed came to the FaUs, built a house, and engaged in business as merchants, etc. Their house stood between the grist-mill and the old river-road. Ruggles was a lawyer, and was admitted to practice in the Courts of the county at the January Common Pleas and General Sessions of 1810. There was but one lawyer in Monticello at that time (Livingston Billings). Ruggles was a brother of Charles H. Ruggles, who afterwards became a distinguished * See chaj>ter on Neversink. •258 HISTOBY OP SULLIVAN COUNTJ. jurist* A saw-mill was built by them in 1808, and the grist- mill in 1809. Thomas S. Loekwood bought out these men, as well as Jacob and Thomas Powell, and accomplished much in developing the natural resources of the Falls. He erected buildings, and in- duced others to settle in the place. Abner Seeley, a mill-wright «mployed in building the grist-mill, became the miller of the j)lace, and was succeeded by his son (Oliver) and his grandson ((Horace). He was a warm admirer of the Methodists, and named one of his sons in honor of Eev. Horace "Weston, and .another after Eev. James Quinlan, two pioneer preachers of the Methodist society. In 1816, the Falls was known as Lockwood's lHills.t Loekwood was very active in promoting the construction of the !branch-turnpike, a work which was not completed until 1818. It •caused much vexation to owners of real estate located within five ■or six miles of it. When all other schemes to construct it proved abortive, their property was taxed to make the road. This tax re- sulted in great advantage to Loekwood, who became the owner of many fine acres of forest-land when they were sold by the 'Comptroller, and the owners failed to redeem them. At the time of his decease, in September, 1837, he possessed about 10,000 acres, nearly all of which were purchased at tax-sales. The Lockwoods were from Newburgh, where they enjoyed 'high social position. This fact will be more apparent if we state ■that when La Fayette visited the United States in 1824, he -opened a ball given in his honor with a daughter of Mr. Lock- Tvood as his partner. Thomas S. Loekwood was very influential in procuring the ^erection of the town. He was opposed by the leading residents at the county-seat, who, to promote their partisan aims, labored to prevent an excision from the area of Thompson. It was proposed to bestow the name of Loekwood on the new town. This met with no favor from him. He thought no resi- dent was entitled to the honor of having his name thus perpetu- ated, and that, as the Falls of the Neversink were the most notable feature of its territory, the name of Fallsburgh was preferable to any other. The river, a short distance below the Falls, was spanned by .-an arched stone bridge in 1819. The abutments stand on the (bed-rock, and the work is one of the most substantial and en- during things of the kind in the State. Unmoved it has stood ■the ebullitions of "the mad river" for more than half a century; although at times it has been in much peril. The great flood of 1869 overwhelmed it. On the east side the parapet and * statement of Eichard D. Childs. t SeBsion Laws of 1816, THE TOWN OP I'AIiLSBURGH. 259 ssuperincumbent stone and earth-work were swept away as far ■down as the foundation. Great trees, stripped of their limbs and roots, were hurled by the foaming flood!, with the force of many battering-rams, agaihst the arch, which raised its head aboTe the subsiding flood, a proud and enduring monument of the fidelity and skul of its builder — a Mr. Kelley, of Newburgh. During Lockwood's days, the business of distilling spirituous liquors was carried on in the old tannery boarding-house, where many casks of undrugged whisky were made. A few years since, the "pump" which supplied the water for the still was standing in one corner of the kitchen. At the head of the rocky channel above alluded to is a sub- :stantial dam, which, previous to the flood of 1869, furnished -water to propel the machinery of two saw-mills, a turning-shop, ^rist-miH and tannery. The flood of that year de^royed the turning-shop and one of the saw-mills, and the business of tan- ning has since been abandoned. Eufus Palen & Co. laid the foundation of the tannery in 1831, •and the establishment commenced manufacturing sole-leather in 1832. The main building was 350 feet in length, and 40 wide, and contained 160 vats, which were capable of holding 25,000 sides of leather. Four thousand cords of hemlock-bark and seven hundred of wood were used each year. From thirty to forty workmen were employed. Cost of raw material in 1845, when the business was in its prime, $45,144 — value of manufact- ured articles, $65,860. Besides the main edifice, there were other structures for the bark-mill, leaches and sweat-pits. This establishment was in operation nearly forty years, and, strange to say, was never burned down. Its preservation from the usual fate of tanneries was due to the admirable rules estab- lished by Bufus Palen, and enforced by his associates and suc- cessors. These rules nearly cost him his liberty and good name, as he was indicted in 1832 for attempting to shoot a fellow who persisted in smoking in the tannery-building. ( Mr. Finch, the builder, had in his employ a number of men who habitually smoked while at work on the premises, notwith" standing Mr. Palen had forbidden the practice. As free and independent citizens they claimed the right to use tobacco at any time and everywhere, and in the manner which best suited them. An infringement of this assumed right they regarded as tyrannical and an outrage. Entering the. tannery on one occa- sion, Palen found a man named Brown, smoking, and after a severe struggle, wrested his pipe from him, and threw him out of the buildmg. For this, one Hubbard excited the workman against Palen, and he was threatened with personal violence. IJnder the circumstances, the latter deemed it expedient to pro- "vide himself with a pistol, which he afterwards attempted to use 260 HISTOBY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY, in self-defense ; but it was wrested fTom him by Hubbard, ott whose complaint he was arrested, and tried on a charge of assault and battery with intent to kiU. Palen was tried before a democratic judge. Political asperities were acrid at that time. The alleged offender was an influential whig. In the democratic party there was a bitter feeling aga,inst him. Nevertheless, after a full and fair investigation, he was honorably acquitted. In 1838, Eufus Palen was elected a representative in Congress from the 7th district. In 1839, Edward and Arthur Palen, and their cousin, Nicholas Flagler, became interested with Eufus and James Palen in the business, which was then extended in vari- ous ways. Eufus died of consumption soon after his term in Congress expired.* Although a very wealthy man, he was sin- gularly plain and unostentatious in his habits. His residence was almost as humble as those of his workmen. His sterling integrity, unusual foresight, and primitive ways, enabled him to pilot his large ventures safely through the financial breakers of his time. His reputation, lie that of his business associates and successors, was without a stain or a blot. The financial skill of the firm was never employed to absorb the earnings of its employees. The members took pleasure in seeing their work- men gradually win a competence, and we record it as a remark- able fact, that they paid compound interest to such of their dependents as saved money, and let it remain in their hands. The dam which suppHed the Pallsburgh tannery with water was the scene of a sad casualty on the 30th of November, 1837. Henry, a son of John Quinlan, while skating, broke through the ice. As young Quinlan was struggling in the water, a lad named Stephen Kidd attempted to rescue him. He, too, was precipi- tated into the water, and both were drowned. Kidd had, on a former occasion, rescued a drowning boy. On the 2d of June, 1841, an old man named Seeley, while cleaning a spring in the neighborhood, feU into it, and was drowned. His face only was in the water. The hills and swamps in the vicinity of the Falls were once noted places for hunting, and trapping bears. The usual manner of catching these animals was to make a pen of logs, with a door at one end. This door was so arranged that it could only be opened and shut from the outside. When " set," it was raised up ; and it fell as soon as bruia meddled with the bait, securing: him effectually. It was nothing more or less than an old-fash- ioned mouse-trap on a large scale, and with a slight variation. J An old settler named Seeley, on visiting a trap he had made,, foimd in it a cub, which he shot. He then laid down his gun, raised the door, fixed it precisely as if he had set it for more * Gilbert W. Palen became a member of the firm in 1848. THE TOWN OF FALL8BUBGH. 261 ^ame, and entered to take out the young bear. While inside, he accidentally touched the leyer or spindle, when down fell the door. Sfeeley was literally caught in his own trap. To get out without help was impossible, and unless some one soon found him, or he could masticate and swallow raw bear meat, he had a somewhat gloomy prospect of starvation. But this was not the worst feature oi his dilemma. He soon had reason to fear that, instead of eating the young animal, he would himself be -devoured by an old one. The cub's dam made her appearance, and seeing her suckling in strange company, flew into a great rage, and rushed at the imprisoned hunter. We believe he was a pious man. If he had prayed to be dehvered from ihe trap, he now had occasion to pray that it would hold him securely. The brute caught hold of the logs with her powerful fore-paws, and tried to pull them from their places, at the same»time biting off large moutlrfuls of wood and bark. Not succeeding in this, she would run her claws through the crevices, and endeavor to grab him, causing him to shrink as far and "as small as possible on the other side. As he changed his position, she changed hers, and he found it prudent to move about in a lively manner, while he shouted with all his might. Providentially, Philander Waring, who was afterwards Clerk of the county, was in the same woods hunting, and heard Seeley's cries for help. Hastening to the spot, he shot the old bear, and released Seeley.' When the latter got out, he said, "Well, Philan, I think I know how a mouse feels in a wire trap, with a cat watching it." Philander thought "very likely he did," as he laughed heartUy at the adventure.* In 1803, John Simpson, after selling his squatter-right to the Hoyt farm in Tannersdale, took possession of the Stafford D. O'Neill place. He probably bought it from Brown, the original settler. Peter Simpson, a brother of John, at the same time, went on the premises now owned by John D. O'Neill. A neat Methodist Episcopal church was erected at the Falls in 1846. M. B. Andrews was its builder. Near the church stands the district school-house, an edifice which is creditable io the people of the place. As we have stated elsewhere, the river flats at Denniston's ford were probably settled previous to the Eevolutionary war. The first authentic statement we can find in regard to that region, is that in 1789, when James Hill came into the town by the Sandburgh route, the flat at the ford had been occupied many years by white people. We have already conjectured the probable time of the settlement. Farther than this we cannot go. * Hunters of SuUiyan. 262 HISTOEY OF SUUiVAN COUNTY;. In 1790, a man named William Palmer was living near ih& former residence of William F. Denmiston. His antecedents- were unknown. Some imagined he was a fugitive from justice. He was undoubtedly a rouj^ character — one of that class who- are ever prone to plunge beyond the limits of civilization, and who find in the denissens of the forest, ten>p«KB a luminous objects disappeared, and all was still. He did not venture to go out until motning, when a panther was found dead directly under the window. The calf also was dead. In 1802, John AtWell and William Bates built the house now- standing on the WiUiam E. Fuller farm, and Lewis Cross the old Courtright house, on the corner south of Daniel Perry's. In 1803, Sylvaniis Conklin erected the building in which Walter S. Denniston lately resided, and occupied it as a tavam. At the same time Silas Eeeve put up the old Bellthouse near Samdburgh. Eeeve manufactured miU-stones, and was generaRy absent from home. While he was away, the fire went out, and his Wife traveled to Wurtsborough, and brought back living coals, in order to cook her meals ! At another time, her cow wandered off in the woods. While looking for the estray and. lost, Col.enSo-hke, she got estray and lost herself. She was three days and nights in the forests without food. One night, while perched on a high rock; she was serenaded until morning by a pack of wolves, which made many unsuccessful attempts to reach her. " Thejr loved darkness rather than light ;" for as day dawn6d they vanished. The people of Wurtsborough aided in searching for her, and when found, she was exhausted and almost speechless, having lain down to die. Francis Andrews, a well-known and much respected citizen,, was here previous to 1806, for in that year, with EHjah Couch and Neheraiah Smith, he was an Assessor of the town of Thomp- son, which then covered the region of Sandburgh and Glen Wild. He settled on the hill east of J. W. Haight's residence. The year 1805 brought the promise of better days. Johannis Miller, of Orange county, an influential man who was re- puted to be wealthy, had located at Glen Wild, and was busy in building, and in locating the streets of a future city, or very large village at least. His avenues surmounted the hiBs of his large tract of land. One of these eminences was to be crowned with a palatial residence, and its neighbors with churches, a court-house, etc. He was outgeneraled by John P. and Samuel F. Jones, when, defeated, disappointed and disgusted, he re- turned to Orange county. A large part of his real estate was- in the present town of Fallsburgh. Elijah Couch emi^ated from Fairfield county, Connecticut, m the year 1805, and moved into the house of WiUiam Bates- and John Atwell. He contracted for five hundred acres of land. 264 HISTOEY OF SXJLLIVAN COUNTY. in the vicinity, and immediately built a house ; but some diffi- culty arising in reference to his purchase, he removed to the Miller tract. In 1806, Mary Couch opened th| first school in MiUer Settlement, as the Grlen Wild region was called. Wild beasts in early times were great enemies of the farmer. Jacob Gonldin, in one night,, had thirty sheep destroyed by wolves, and about a dozen more torn and mangled. One of his neighbors, while searching the woods for his cow, heard the bell ring in an unusual manner, and on coming near, found that a bear had killed and was devouring her. Being unarmed he was compelled to let the bear finish his meal. The wolves, impelled by hunger, were often so bold as to gather around dweUings, and were driven away only by fire- brands, or the discharging of guns. When the grist-mOl at Thompsonville was burned down in 1805, and the settlers were compelled to cross the Barrens to get their grain ground, they sometimes followed a shorter route ihan that afforded by the Sackett road and the turnpike. They took their grain over this short route on their backs, or on the backs of their horses, if they had such animals. A vehicle ■could not be drawn over it, as it was nothing more than a foot- path. Archibald Farr went to the nearest mill by this road. Not getting his grist promptly, on his return darkness overtook him while he was yet in the woods. Unable to keep in the path, he was compelled to unload, tie his horse to a tree, and wait for the return of Hght. The wolves were soon in motion. Howl apswered howl. He prudently climbed a tree, and would have taken his terrified horse with him if such a feat had been pos- sible. The animals in a short time surrounded him. The horse being securely tied, struggled in vain to escape. Its rearing and plunging, and the shouts of Farr, probably kept the snarl- ing beasts back until morning, when they disappeared; but Farr always declared that it was the fire the horse s hoofs struck from a rock on which he stood. When light re-appeared, Fan- and his steed, trembling from the fright they had felt, resumed their journey. Our informant cannot say whether they traveled that road again between dusk and dawn, but we venture Httle in asserting that they did not. These pioneers often used pine-knots in the place of candles. Bandboxes were made of white birch-bark taken off in large strips, and sewed or wired together ; and some were even vdth- out pots, kettles and other iron, brass and tin utensils, which are now considered indispensable in the poorest families. Meat and vegetables were cooked in wooden vessels by plunging into the water, clean, smooth and red-hot stones, after the manner of the Indians. Men and women wore homespun, and the THE TOWN OP FALLSBUBGH. 265 •children were arrayed in the simplest fashion — the girls in sum- mer seldom wearing more than one garment — a tow-frock, while the boys had two — a shirt and pants of the same material. About the year 1815, a man named Archibald Denniston settled at the ford, which from that time was known by his family-name. He was from Cornwall, Ors^nge county, and of the very respectable family of Dennistons of that county. He was born in 1775, and remembered seeing General Washington ■and other distinguished officers at the house of his father. He was 48 years of age when he came to SuUivan, and continued io reside at the ford until his BBth year, when he died much lespected for his honesty and uprightiaess. Itiaerant Methodist preachers at aai early day preached the 'Gospel as they understood it to the inhabitants of this region, •and gathered within their fold the stray sheep of the wilderness •of Glen "Wild, and the adjacent neighborhoods. A ehuroh- ■edifice belonging to the followers of John Wesley crowns a height east of Denniston's ford. This church is more in accord- ance with the rules of architecture than other rural meeting- houses of SuUivan, and is very creditable to those who erected it. It was built in 1866. It is claimed that Methodist preachers visited this loqahty as early as 1807, and that they formed a ■class here in that year. In 1794, Joseph Divine removed from Plattekill, Ulster county, to the locality now known as Divine's Corners, in the western part of. Fallsburgh. He was the first settler in that vicinity. For several years his nearest neighbors Uved four miles distant on the Neversink river. A settlement on the Blue Mountain, 'in the present town of Liberty, was commenced about that time. It was six miles west from Divine's house. South of him was a wilderness, the extent of which was then almost \m- known. He did not long endure the hardships of Hfe in the woods. In 1802 he died, and was buried at Neversink' Flats. One of his sons, Samuel, subsequently removed to the South Settlement of Thompson, and med there a few years since. James, his youngest, continued to occupy the farm settled by his father, until his decease on the 1st of February, 1846. He was a prominent citizen of the town, and was several times elected by his townsmen to places of honor and responsibility: Thp old Divine farm adjoins the present residence of John H. Divine, whose stirring and successful Ufe has made him so well known to the citizens of SulHvan. In 1802, John EUer came from Ulster county, and bought a wild lot adjoining Joseph Divine's land, on which his son Cornelius EUer now resides. Jonathan Jones moved into the neighborhood about the sam^ 266 HISTOBY OF SULLIVAN COUNTy, time, and bouglit the lot next to Eller's, the same which Joseph? D. Jones now owns and occupies. Henry D. Sohoonmaker, another native of Ulster county,, located here as early as 1805. His residence was about a mile from the Sheldrake, on the farm bought by David Duteher about 1820, and now held by Thompson Duteher. In 1805,^ and in almost every succeeding year while he lived near Divine's Comers, Schoonmaker was elected to some town-office. Soon after he came, he bought the property at Loch Sheldrake, and built a saw-mill, grist-mill, and carding-machine. The latter was a great convenience to the people, some of whom traveled thirty miles to reach his establishment ; but the population was. so sparse, and so few sheep were kept in the country, that Schoonmaker did not make his carding-machine a source of profit. He became prominent in the field of enterprise, and during his prosperous days the Sheldrake region was known as- the Schoonmaker Settlement. He was a man of great energy and force of character, and had much business capacity. If his integrity had equaled his shrewdness, his name would prob- ably be still identified with the region in which he then lived.. Tradition yet retains the memory of his smartness, and the unscrupidous character of some of his transactions. It is said that by artifice he succeeded in selling to Mr. Sanford, an early settler of Liberty, a spurious mine in Ulster county, where Sanford dug for gold or some other mineral lintil he became- poor, and discovered that he had been duped and deluded by Schoonmaker. Schoonmaker was so successful in selling his mining property in Ulster, that he determined to make another and ^eater vent- ure. In 1817, a man named J. K Everson, with the help of Sanford, the miner, induced him to exchange his handsome property at Loch Sheldrake and in its vicinity for lands in Western Pennsylvania. He removed to his new estate ; but soon found that his title to it was worthless, and that Everson had defrauded hini of all he possessed. With a large family to support, and a. tarnished reputation, he was reduced to extreme poverty, and found he could not regain a position among reputable business men. He afterwards came oack to Loch Sheldrake, bringing^ with him a team of horses, which he sold to Abram Krum, and then started for the place where he had left his family. He reached Cochecton, whiere he crossed the Delaware river ; but at that point all track and trace of him was lost. Neither his family nor any of his old acquaintances ever heard of him again, and his fate is stiU a mystery. Whether he absconded, became insane and i^andered on in the woods to perish, or was murdered for the few dollars he had with him, will never be known. San- ford viewed his misfortunes with satisfaction, and was afterwards THE TOWN OP EAIMBUBGH. 267 heard to say : " Schoonmafeer foimd a mine for me, and I helped to find Pennsylvania lands for him." Schoonmaker'a fortunes and misfortunes have often afforded a theme for the parents of the Sheldrake region, when they labored to convince their children that "the way of the trans- gressor is hard," and that smart men, above all' others, shoidd be honest. John Low settled near Divine's Comers in 1805 or 1806. He was bom in 1748, and his wife Elizabeth in 1758 ; hence they had passed the meridian of lite when they moved into the woods of Sullivan. He was the descendant of several generations of Johns, and on festive occasions displayed a set of huge silver coat-buttons with the family device engraved upon them, which had come to him from a long line of the same family and chris- tian name, and which he bequeathed to his youn^st son, John A. Low. The children of John and Elizabeth Low were Sarah, bo^in October 12, 1780 ; EUzabeth, February 12, 1782 ; Caty, April 17, 1783; Heman, April 2, 1785; Benjamia, April 2, 1787; Jane, June 2, 1790; Stephen, June 26, 1792; Zachariah, August 28,. 1794; Maiy, Febraary 11, 1796; John A., October 30, 1799. John A. Low is the father of Henry B. and Benjamin Low. The making of the branch-turnpike brought into the town (1818) a young man named Harley E. Ludington, a native of Litchfield county, Connecticut. He settled in the Loch Shel^ drake region, and for forty years engaged successfully in farming and lumbering. He was a man of clear convictions and positive character. When he espoused a cause, he cotdd see no defect in it. To him it was a verity in all its phases and ramifications, and he advocated it with great vigor and earnestness, and with an entire disregard of consequences to himSelf. While he was a resident, he represented his town in the Board of Supervisors, and was for twenty years a Justice of the Peace. Probably more cases were decided by him than by any other officer of the county. Few, if any, of his decisions were reversed by the Su- preme Court. In 1838, he was elected Sergeant-at-arms of the Assembly, and was once a prominent candidate for the same position in the lower House at Washiogton, for which he was recommended by William H. Seward, Luther Bradish, and other men of like stamp. His success in managing law-suits ia the primary courts, and his knowledge of legal matters generally, induced him to apply for admission to the bar.* His apphcation was successful ; but he did not practice his profession. In 1871, he was appointed to a position in the New York custom-house; * Sermon of Bev. Uriah MeBsiter. 268 HISTOKY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. bat soon after died from injuries received by falling tlirougli a hatchway. The New Project Union church, located one mile west of Loch Sheldrake, was erected iti 1860. As its name indicates, it was built by men of conflicting religious creeds, in order that any professing" religious society should have a house in which to worship. Eev. J. Napier Husted, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Liberty, holds service in the building, and about twenty-five of his flock reside in the neighborhood. John H. Divine, a Universalist layman, oeoasionally discourses of rehgion and other matters from its pulpit. HuELEYVlLLE. — An old hunter named William Hurley, settled at this place when the only road from Thompson jjio the Blue Hills of Liberty ran from Thompsonville via Wilham DeWitt Stratton's. William A. Thompson had founded a village, as he supposed ; and John P. and Saanuel F. Jones were di-eaming of the future importance of Montioello. Hurley concluded that his location was the site of a third town of importance, and in a veiT earnest manner set forth its advantages. Li a few years, travel found other and better avenues. Hurleyville, with its soUtary house, became a very secluded locality. Deer and wolves and panthers abounded in its vicinity after they had left ihe surrounding settlements, and the population of Hurleyville consisted principally of muskrats, raccoons and foxes. During all its days of desolation, however, it retained the name be- stowed upon it by the old hunter, and continued to perpetuate his memory. In 1872, the place suddenly became important in the eyes oi shrewd business men. The Midland railroad com- pany estabhshed a station here, to which the inhabitants of rich agricultural neighborhoods must resort. Already Hurleyville is a lively hamlet, and the day is not distant when the (iream of its pioneer-settler will become a pleasant reality.* Eepoemed Chuech of Fallsbuegh. — The early records of this Church are very ineagre. The minutes of its Consistory • In 1861, aiphtheria prevailed in Hurley and Loch Sheldrake, when the family of Doctor Benjamin Kyle was nearly exterminated by it. A row of tomb-Btones in the burying-ground at the Falls oontams the following record of the doings of this Boourge : "Lydia Kyle, bom Deo. 12, 1835, died Dec. 9, 1861." " Solomon Kyle, bom April 15, 1850, died Dec. 2, 1861." { "Sally Ann Kyle, bom May 15, 1845, died Dec. 1, 1861." I 1 "Tabitha E. Kyle, bom Jan. 8. 1856, died Deo. 1, 1861." ) "Mary J. E. Kyle, born Nov. 19, 1812, died Nov 23, 1861." "Hannah Kyle, bora Nov. 13, 1857, died Deo. 8, 1861." "Benjamin Kyle, bora Jan. 19, 1851, died Dec. 6, 1861." " Charles Kyle, bora July 20, 1853, died Dec. 12, 1861." "John Kyle, bom July 27, 1833, died Deo. 15, 1861." From this it seems that one of DoctoK Kyle's children died on the 23d of November, and eight others from the 1st to the 15th of December 1 THE TOWN OF FALL8BUEGH. 269 for the first fifteen years or more of its existence, were in 1834 collected and recorded ujpon five quarto pages. It will be necessary, hence, at the introduction of this sketch, to draw somewhat upon local tradition. From the most authentic information it appears that the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of FaEstmrgh, the title by which it was afterwards incorporated, was organized in the year 1812. Who its earhest members were, where they worshiped, or who their first spiritual teachers were, can only be conject- ured. Doubtless they met in private houses, as did the primi- tive disciples. Perhaps they received the truth from the lips of those devout men "who were accustomed to spend their vacations itinerating among the scattered settleiiients of the backwoods. Certain it is that Bevs. J. B. Ten Eyck and WilHam Timlow of Orange county, together with others of like missionary spirit, very early in the century, visited and preached to little nocks of God's people along the banks of the Neversink. The pious Dutch element which was then beginning to peo- ple those hemlock-clearings, could not long be content to remain without the stated means of g:ace, and hence the pastors whom they had left behind at "the Paltz" and elsewhere, were selected to come over and help them organize a Church, It is conjectured that the troublous times inaugurated by the war of 1812, may have affected this feeble organization disas- trously, and that its members were scattered asm. its minutes lost during the confusion that followed. On the restoration of peace came again the desire for public religious privileges ; yet it was not until thirteen years afterward that this was fully realized. At a meeting held December 9th, 1827, the Church was reorganized by Bev. William B. Bogardus, minister of the united charges of New Paltz and New Hurley. Five persons, only one of whom survives, constituted the entire membership. These were John Tappan," Joseph Seaman, Joachim D. Schoon- maker, Abram Seaman and Bachel (Depuy) Hasbrouck. Of this number, the following persons were elected and ordained to the office of Billing Elder and Deacon respectively, viz: Elders — John Tappan and Joseph Seaman. Deacons — ^Abram Seaman and J. D. Schoonmaker. The first church-edifice was built on the flat east of the resi- dence of the late Anthony Hasbrouck,, during the year 1828. It was a substantial structure of wood, 34 H 50 feet, with a small gallery. The building committee consisted of Messrs. A. Has- brouck, H. M. Hardenbergh and Gabriel W. Ludlum. About this period Bev. Joshua Boyd, a hcentiate of the Pres- bytery of Elizabeth and a domestic missionary in the employ ■ of the Dutch Church, became the instrument in God's hand of greatly furthering the spiritual' interests of this feeble flock. 270 HISTOEY OF SULLIYAS COimTX. How long Mr. Boyd continued his ministrations here is not positively known ; but he is supposed to have left the fidd some time in the fall of 1828. During the years 1829, 1830, 1831 and 18a2, the Church was occasionally supplied by Eev. Messrs. George; Brown, Baldwin and others, who were sent from time to time by the Domestic Missionary Society of the Dutch Church. Under the preaching of these faithful men, the Church had increased in membership to nearly a score. The peeple now felt themselves sufficiently strong to invite a minister to settle over them. Accordingly, in 1833, they .extended a call to E>ev. John Gray, who was duly installed their pastor. Mr. Gray was a Scotchman, and had been previously for seven years a missionary in Russian Tartary, where he had endured many of the privations iaoident to pioneer mission- work. He was a man of independent spirit, yet possessed a genial, affectionate disposition. No man who had previously visited the settlement, had been known to preach with such power and unction. His voice was frequently heard on the camp-ground, where, with his brethren of the Methodist denom- ination, he freely met for religious worship. Mr. Gray was a man of considerable hterary ability, contrib- uting during his life-time to several religious journals, and writing a number of excellent tracts and books. He continued in charge of this Chiu-ch, 'greatly strengthening it by his ministrations, until the spring of 1835, when he removed to Shodack. His successor, Bev. Ambrose Eggleston, received a call ia December following. Scarcely had he commenced the duties of his new position, however, when a severe and trying calamity fell upon pastor and people. On the morning of February 23d, 1836, the house where their fathers worshiped God, was destroyed by fire, and all their pleasant things were laid waste. Undaunted by this calamity, however, they straightway rose up to rebuild; "for the people had a mind to work;" and iq less than a year the present oeautiful structure was completed. The site, to- gether with a suitable burial-ground, and other lands of consid- erable value, were generously granted by Gabriel W. Ludlum, to whose liberality and personal exertions the society is much in- debted for its present prosperity. The corner-stone of this buolding was laid May 4th, 1837, with appropriate religious services ; and at a meeting of classis on the 31st of October following, it was dedicated to Almighty God. Eev. C. 0. Elting, of Port Jervis, preached the sermon from Exodus xx:24. The pastor offered the dedicatory prayer. Eev. Messrs. Eobert P. Lee of Montgomery, J. B. Ten Eyck of Berea, and Hyndshaw of Walpack, likewise took part in the services. THE TOWN O? FALLSBURGH. 271 The following persons were at this time acting members of Otosistory, viz : Joseph Seaman, John Wells and Austin Strong, Elders. Abraham Seaman and Benjamin Turner, Deacons. The above named elders and deacons composed the building ■ committee. Nelson and Albert Tyrrel were the contractors, Bev. Mr. Eggleston was installed pastor of the Church in the school-house near Judge Ludlum's, by a committee of classis, consisting of Eevs. John H. Bevier and Eobert P. Lee, June 14th, 1836, and continued to sustain that relation until April "24th, 1838. In October, 1641, Bev. Isaac G. Duryea, a licentiate of the ! South Association of Litchfield, Conu., commenced preaching to this Church as a stated supply. On the 14th of July, 1842, having previously accepted their call, the candidate was ordained, I and installed pastor of the Church. Eev. J. B. Ayr^s preached the sermon on this occasion, and Rev. P. H. Vanderveer pro- posed the constitutional questions. The happy relation thus •constituted continued until May 13th, 1851, when it was dis- rsolved, to enable Mr. Duryea to accept a call to the Beformed "Church of Glenham, Dutchess county. , Eev. Mr. Duryea was a man of warm heart and great purity of purpose. Although he had much to contend with m early life, in the way of intellectual preparation, his zeal and indomitable perseverance more than made amende for earlier disadvantages, He died in the service of his country in 1865. His arduous labors for the people of his first love were richly blessed. During more than half of the ten years of his ministry here, the Church enjoyed almost an uninterrupted season of revival. 'The whole number received into its membership during what is known as " the great revival in Pallsburgh," was not far from one hundred and seventy persons. So large had the congregation .grown by this time, that in 1848, the church-edifice, which had become too strait, was considerably enlarged. A spire was likewise erected, and a beU suspended. The latter was gener- •ously presented by A. Strong. On the 22d of July, 1851, Eev. C. DuBois Elting, a domestic missionary, was settled over the Church, and remained a little more than one year. He was succeeded by Eev. Jeremiah Searl, in November, 1853. During the pastorate of Mr. Searl, the Church was again graciously revived; There were added to its membership, in the year 1858, nearly seventy souls. Mr. Searl was a man of (Open, unsuspecting geniality of spirit. "Eobust in body and ccheerful in mind, his face wore an habitual smile. The most ladverse denominations respected and loved him. As a preacher, h€ was a man of diligent study, careful preparation, and a (Solemn, earnest delivery." At its meeting in Ppttgllkefepsie, 272 HISTORY OP SULUTAN COUNTY, (1850) Mr. Searl was elected president of General Synod. He; died in the service of this Church, May 28th, 1861, aged 66^ years, universally beloved and lamented. Eev. G. W. Connitt, of Deep Eiver, Connecticut, was installed as. his successor, May 7th, 1862, and was dismissed Oct. 17th, 1865^ In April, 1867, Eev. Walter S. Brown, Pastor of the White Lake Presbyterian Church, was invited to supply the vacant- pulpit. He entered upon his labors here in May following. On. the 17th of May, 1868, having previously accepted their call, he^ was duly installed pastor of the Church.- This sketch cannot close more appropriately, perhaps, thaa in the following reflections suggested by the Memorial Discourse^ of Mr. Duryea, pubhshed in, 1849, by John A. Gray, of New York, the celebrated printer, and son of the first settled pastor of this Church : " We have always been favored with harmony in our council* and in action." "We have been favored, likewise, with a spirit, of liberality both in the Church and out of it." Both these declarations might truthfully be repeated to-day,. The Consistory stiU contiau'es to be united in sentiment and action. The congregation does not cease to devise liberal things for their minister ; while they continue to honor, to a creditabloi extent, the claims of all the various benevolent Boards of the'- Church ; as well as jthose of general benevolence. They have- always possessed a true missionary spirit. While struggling themselves to become self-supporting, this society, by their liberality, Siustained a colporteur of the American Tract Society in tlie far West. This labor of love has been borne since 1848, and others of like character have since been assumed by Austin Strong,* who has been for nearly forty years an active member of the Consistory. The appeals of the American Bible Society have always met. a cordial response from this congregation, particularly from the- individual just referred to, and very many in the community owe their connection with and interest in these two societies, to- bis munificent gifts. In common with many others, this Church has passed through: trials and discouragements ; yet God has blessed it abundantly both in temporal and spiritual things, and the days of darkness; have been few.f The Methodist society at Sandburgh was organized when Eev. Horace Weston was on the circuit in 1817 and 1818, and consisted at first of about five members. In 1850 there were eighty members, when the church-edifice was erected. At preseait the society numbers thirty. * This sketcb iras written a tew months before Hr. Strong's death. It is said that diiring hiS lite he gave $50,000 for benevolent purposes. t Rev. Walter Scott Brown. THE TOWS OF FALLSBUBGH. 273 SUPEKVISOBS OF THE TOWN OF FALLSBUBGH. From To 1826 Herman M. Hardenbergh 1827 1827 Anthony Hasbrouck 1828 1828 Herman M. Hardenbergh 1830 1830 Anthony Hasbrouck 1831 1831 Stephen Smith : 1834 1834 Anthony Hasbrouck 1835 1835 Herman M. Hardenbergh 1836 1836 Thomas E. Hardenbergh 1838 1838 : James Divine 1841 1841 Harley E.Ludington ! 1842 1842 Nicholas Flagler .1843 1843. . ., Austin Strong 1844 1844 Thomas Hardenbergh 1845 1845 Oman Palen 1846 1846 John C. HaU 1848 1848 Edward Palen 1852; 1852 John H. Divine. 185» 1858 Moses Dean 1854 1854 Edward Palen 1855 1855 William M. Hall 1859 1859 GHbert W. Palen 1862 1862 David H. Divine 1863 1863 .Isaac C. Knapp 1864 1864 Gilbert W. Palen 1870 1870 Isaac 0. Knapp 1871 1871 WilHam W. Smith 187a 1878 .Eichard OHver 1874 18 CHAPTEE Vin. THE TOWN OF FOBESTBUEGH. Principally Forestburgh is situated on the high ridges between ihe Neversink and Mongaup, and is drained by the affluents of those rivers. It is estimated that the average elevation of the town is one thousand feet above the level of the Atlantic ocean. There are two small lakes in the town. One of them, is known as Beaver and the other as Panther pond — names which explain their own origin. Lumbering, tanning, dairying, and quarrying flag and curb-stone, are the leading industries of For^stburgh. X/umbering and tanning must necessarily cease when its forests are destroyed ; but its quarries are said to be almost inexhaust- ible and sufficient to furnish employment to its people for generations to come. Forestburgh was erected bj' an act of the Legislature passed May 2, 1837, and was taken from Thompson, except a few hundred acres which were cut from Mamakating. On the 30th ■day of the same month, the voters of the new town held their jfirst meeting at the house of Bobert B,. Palmer, which stood on "the site of Edwin Hartwell's store, and elected the following officers : Supervisor, WiUiam F. Brodhead ; Town Clerk, Robert R. Palmer ; Justices of the Peace, John K. Williams, Marshall Perry, Ira E, Drake and Jonathan B- Ketcham ; Assessors, Archibald Mills, Moses Eead and James E. Drake ; Overseers of the Poor, Zephaniah Drake and Archibald Mills ; •Commissioners of Highways, Edward Carpenter, Nathaniel Oreen and Stephen C. Drake; Commissioners of Common Schools, Archibald Mills, John K. Wilhams and Robert E. Palmer ; Inspectors of Common Schools, William F. Brodhead, Archibald Mills and John K. Williams; Collector, Nathaniel Oreen; Constables, Philo Porter, Joseph Norris and Andrew M. Taggett. POPULATION — VALUATION — TAXATION. Year. 1840 1850 1860 1870 Popu- lation. 433 715 911 916 Assessed Value. $58,367 40,072 116,701 62,243 Tov.Ti. Charges. $247.44 155.62 267.62 669.08 [274] Co. and State. $205.76 270.97 952.49 1,745.90 THE TOWN OF FORESTBUKGH. 275 There were residents in the Oakland neighborhood previous "to the war of the Eevohxtion. John Brooks and his son-in-law, ■Joseph Hubbard, Hved about a mile below the mouth of the BushkiU, on the farm adjoining the premises now owned by William N. Case. During one of Brant's expeditions against the southern settlements of Mamakating, Hubbard and two 'Children belonging to Brooks' family were massacred by the In- dians and tories. Brooks and the balance of his household escaped with their lives. We cannqt learn that they returned during the war, and it is- believed that he is the same John Brooks who settled in Thompson about the year 1789. Captain Abraham Cuddeback, of Kevolutionary fame, built a saw-miU at the mouth of the Bushkill, not far from 1783, in which lumber was sawed to rebuild the houses bujned by the >enemy in the lower valley of the Neversink. Lumber was also cut at this mill, and floated to the Delaware, on which it was rafted to Philadelphia. This establishment brought to Oakland several residents, three of whom bore the names of Campbell, Hogan and Elisha Smith. No" descendants of these persons remain in the county. Hence but little is known of them. The farm of William N. Case was settled during the 18th century, but by whom is not known. Early in this century, a man named Thomas Decker occupied it, and there was an old orchard on the premises. The family of Zebulon Griffin, senior, lived on the plateau east of Oakland. The neighborhood is still known as the Oriffin settlement. Zebulon, one of his sons, died here in 1863, ■on the farm where he was bom. He had served in the war of 1812, and at the time of his decease was an old man. Stephen, ^.nother son, is stiU living at WestbrookviHe, (1872,) and is 80 years of age. The Leasons and Barbers came to the county before Griffin. Joseph Barber settled on the east side of the river in 1783 or 1784. His descendants were living in the town a few years since. One of them (Simeon Barber) by his exploits in the woods, won the soubriquet of Bear ESHer. A statement of his adventures among bears would make an amusing chapter. What he did not know of these animals was not worth learning. He killed an untold number of them. He shot them and he trapped them until he was an old man, when he fell into a trap himself. It was known that Simeon had saved the sum of three hundred dollars. This a faded siren of the Hackledam deter- mined to make her own. She did not dare to steal it until she had first purloined the old man's heart. By an artful display of her sere and flabby charms, she made him forget his gun and his traps After a brief wooing, the honest old hunter coaxed her to go with him in quest of a Justice of the Peace. His 276 HISTOEY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. equipage consisted of a bull broken to harness, and attached to a cart, upon which he had mounted a box fashioned from rough henalock boards. In this the eager groom and coy bride- rode to Monticello. Their mode of traveling caused spectators to think of the progress of gods and goddesses in pre-Homeric days. At the county-seat their mafrimonial intentions were consummated, and they returned to the Hackledam a unit. According to law, he had " endowed her With his goods," and she could appropriate them to her 07fm uses without being- legally guilty of theft. Knowing thisj^she got possession of Barber's money, and absconded. Just as- she had intended to do before she became his wife. After awakening from his dream of domestic contentment, the old man lingered a few months^ and then died, a victim of feminine perfidy. Jacob Barber, a brother of Joseph, located on the river above Oakland. There were- two settlers named Leason. One of them (Israel) occupied the farm now owned by James Ketcham. Dick Leason, the other, hved west of Joseph Barber. They did not make many improvements ; but manufactured an untold number of shingles. Isaac Moore was another pioneer of Oakland. He loved to tell a good story quite as well as he loved to kill panthers. When Joseph Griffin and his wife Patty gathered toll at the Neversink bridge, Moore, while passing that way, saw a strange animal by the roadside. His dog soon treed the beast, and Moore shot it. It was a panther. Two men named Welch were the pioneers at Eden. Elijah Welch was the principal man of the two. John Bivens succeeded them. He was from Geneseo, N. Y. He ran away from his father during the war of 1812, and became a soldier. While serving his country, he was made a prisoner by the enemy, and taken to Halifax, where he was kept until the close of the war, and suffered much. He then returned to his father's house; but soon left a second time. He and the elder Bivens seemed to have been incompatible. The young man strayed to Otisville,, where he married LuoiUa, a sister of Commodore C. Murray,"^ and then built a saw-mill at Eden, where he became a perma- nent resident, and always was considered a worthy and valuable citizen. He was the progenitor of the respectable family of his name now residing in one of the Delaware river-towns. About the year 1800, a saw-mill was built by Eeed and others on the BushHU, at Trotter's. Althot^h there was an abundance of excellent timber, it was not kept running more than a few years ; for in 1819, when Nathaniel Green moved to the place,, the mill had rotted down, and with an abandoned clearing of THE TOWN OP FOEESTBUEGH. 277 about an acre of land, was the only mark to show that white men had lived there. Nathaniel Green was from Middletown, Orange county. In 1818, he built a small log-house as a temporary shelter for his family, and during the next season moved into it. His nearest neighbor was three miles distant, until 1820, when Thomas Alsop, the first merchant of the town, built a large house near Green's, and occupied it with his family. During the same year, the Mount Hope and Lumberland turnpike was completed as far as Trotter's, and Mr. Green built a comfortable residence, in which heflved until his death in March, 1859. In 1820, there was an old clearing about one and a quarter miles south-west of Trotter's, which had been abandoned several years. It was made by a man named David Handk, and was known as Handytown. Here he had lived nobody now knows how long ; here he had reared a family in the woods, and here he died m 1814, when his children went away. Eobert Handy, one of his sons, was living at Oakland six years afterwards, fle was bom on his father's place, and knew quite as much of wild beasts as he did of men. No one could point out better than he the bear-paths and run-ways of the deer in that section of country. Handytown is noted for having a remarkable spring of water. It flows from a steep bank, is bright, sparkling and delicious, and, according to the best estimate that has been made, a current of water sixteen inches deep, and as many in width, is constantly passing from it. The water gushes from the bottom of the spring, and keeps in continual ebulHtion a quantity of white sand. A spring equally large and uncommon is situated on the top of a mil about one and a half miles south of Handytown. With the water rises a considerable quantity of gas. At the junction of the Bushkill and Cherry Meadow brook is another spring as remarkable in some respects as the other two. Handy, the pioneer, was buried on his farm, and at the head and foot of his grave are tomb-stones selected by himself from the flag-stone quarries of the neighborhood. They are exactly as nature formed them ; but their neatness will strike the eye of even a person who is weary of monumental magnificence. After the turnpike was completed as far as Trotter's, Eobert Handy opened a log-tavern near that place, which he kept until the next year, when he left the country.. His inn was a primitive affair. A traveler who stopped at his house certifies that mine host was absent in search of a jug of whisky ; and that there was not a particle of bread, or flour, or meal, or potatoes, or butter, or fish, or fowl, or meat of any kind in the estabhshment ; and yet the hostess provided him with a dehcious meal. Bhe 278 HISTOBX OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. baked him an old-fasHoned pumpkin-loaf in an iron kettle, covered -with cabbage-leaves, on which were pUed hot embers. This loaf and a bowl of milk freshly drawn from the family-cow, were eaten and keenly relished by the weary and hungry guest., Ammi Lewis was the first settler on the Eeed place, where he- built a house, and made a clearing. Edward Griswold owned a considerable tract of land at Hart- wood. Gerardus Clowes married a ward or adopted daughter of Griswold, and was employed by him first to superintend his property in Cochecton, and afterwards in Forestburgh. After Clowes went to Forestburgh, his brothers Edward and William J. came to the town, and the former became largely interested in land affairs, while 'other members of the family were inter- ested to a greater or less extent. At one time the Griswold property was owned by members of this family. The brothers Clowes were not calculated to develop a wilder- ness-country ; and their Forestburgh land was to them ultimately a source of embarrassment. In the end it passed into the hands of men who not only knew its value, but had the skill and the will to reap an adequate revenue from it. Gerardus Clowes was the only one of the name who left Forestburgh with as much as he entered the town. As the ^possessions of the others slipped through their fin- gers, William J. endeavored to better his condition through, certain inventions which he claimed originated with himself. One of these was a material for the construction of houses,, which he declared was cheaper than wood, as durable as granite, and as ornamental as marble. He never revealed the manner- in which this substance was made ; but we believe it was com- posed of clay and a resinous material, and when warm was Elastic, and capable of being moulded into any desired shape. E he had made manifest the value of his alleged discovery by the erection of a dwelling or other building on a larger scale than that of a dog-kennel, instead of making futile attempts to induce others to do so by writing articles for newspapers, the utility of his invention would have been tested in a way to estabhsh its folly or its value. Some one may yet acquire riches and honor in the field which afforded poor Clowes no harvest. While he was advocating the superiority of this new material, the public mind was captivated by the anticipated benefits of plank-roads — ^farmers' railroads, as they were sanguinely termed.. He then turned his attention to the improvement of roads, and saw, or imagined he saw, what was much better than anything then in operatipn or suggested. He pubUshed several elaborate articles in which he tned to show that wooden railways were superior to all roads except those of iron, and so much cheaper than the latter, that every neighborhood could have a railroad. THE TOWN OF FOKESTBUBGH. 21^ of its own. His theory was endorsed by the Scientific American^ which was then and is still considered good authority on suclx subjects; but among his friends and acquaintance he was. pronounced a monomaniac. With them plank-roads were the great desideratum — roads which he declared would be failures^ giving certain reasons for his OT)inion which experience has. established as well-founded. The world said he was de- mented ; but the issue proved that the world itself was crazy about plank-roads, while he was sane. His project remained a project ; probably if it had been carried into effect, it would have been a duplicate of the tram-road introduced in England many years before by Mr. Outram, and which was the precursor of iron railways. While laboring to make converts to his theory concerning roads, he imagined he saw a great improvement on Our present system of education, and this new discovery affected his mind as a cam does machinery. He was considered a harmless vis- ionary—nobody would listen to him, and he and his projects soon disappeared from public view. The Messrs. Gillman now own a considerable part of the real estate which once belonged to the Clowes family. In their tract is the best remaining forest of white pine in the county. George W. Barnum, O. B. Wheeler, and a Mr. Clapham of New York, own the major part of the balance. In 1820, when our informant moved to Forestburgh, an old man named Daniel Cristie was hving there. Cristie was poor,, without relatives in that region, and managed to live by attach- ing himself to various families, for whom he manufactured shin- gles, made gardens, etc. He was a favorite with the young, tO' whom he related many adventures in which he said he had participated. He had been a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and claimed that he was with the first party of white men whoi crossed the Eocky Mountains. Thomas AIsop lived at Hartwood probably about 1820, and French, in his Gazetteer, says he kept the first store of the town- He was connected with the affairs of Josiah Woodward and Alsop VaU, who owned a lumbering-estabUshment at the place. The name of Hartwood was at first applied to Oakland by Wil- liam J. Clowes, in honor of Bev. Mr. Hart, the father of his wife,, and was subsequently applied to the locahty which now bears, the name, in consequence of the removal of the post-office from Oakland to that point. In 1832, Gerardus Clowes owned nearly aU the wild land in the vicinity of Hartwood. In the year named, Joseph Norris, a native of Tompkins county, moved from Orange county, and located on a tract of land adjoining the premises of Nathaniel Green. Norris bought of Clowes, and m,oved his family into a, 280 HISTOBY OF 8ULIJYAN COUtfTY. small unoccupied house in the neighborhood. He then, with the assistance of one of his sons, cleared a lot on which he intended to build. When this was done, he commenced puttinp; Tip a log-house. All his affairs seemed to prosper until the month of August, when a- miU-dam owned by Green was •destroyed by a flood. This dam was of long standing. On its "bottom was an immense quantity of vegetable matter, which, in ihe iutense heat of the season, quickened the seeds of disease and death. Bilious fever and fever and ague prevailed in the valley. The family of Norris did not escape the effects of miasm. One after another was prostrated. His wife by a second marriage bore her burthen hopefuUy and bravely; bilt worn out and exhausted by unremitting care and toil, she succumbed to the disease, and after a brief illness, died. Norris was then left with a young family, among comparative strangers, houseless, in a wilderness-country, and unable to labor from disease. His children, disheartened, homesick, and emaciated by iUness, urged him to abandon this scene of misfortune, and return to their old home in Orange county; but he was deaf to all their entreaties ; he had come here to make a home, and although the prospect was yet dark, he believed a better day would dawn, and that success would reward his efforts. At the end of the first year his two eldest sons left the place, and engaged in more profitable business, and one of his daughters was married to E. A. Green. He then moved into his new house, in which he installed a second daughter, aged fourteen years, as housekeeper, and with his third son, a lad twelve years old, proceeded in the task of improving his wild land. Nothing seemed to discourage or daunt him. He had been accustomed to the pleasant social intercourse of thickly settled localities. Here his evenings were spent in listening to the dismal bowlings of wolves, which seemed to have their nocturnal trysting-place at Panther pond, about a mile from his house, and if they scented food, boldly approached his log-tenement. On one occasion, when he had slaughtered a beef, the entire pack gathered under his very eaves, and his children spent a night of terror, surrounded, as they were, by yelHng and snarling monsters of the woods. Otherwise the monotony of his daily toil was seldom broken, except by the defiant challenge of rattlesnakes, which were very numerous, or the appearance of a stray bear. Bruin was not formidable. While the reptiles were always ready for battle, he shuflled off with his utmost speed. > Hopefully, earnestly and patiently, Mr. Norris continued his labors. Field after field was made arable. Grain and meadow- Ijind cheered his eyes, and the fruits of his industry rewarded him for aU his toil and self-denial. Travel increased. The old THE TOWN OF FOEEOTBURGH. 281 "turnpike was no longer covered with grass. New neighbors came in. The comforts of civilized life were his. He rejoiced in the work of his hands. His courage and ambition were un- abated; but age was sapping his physical powers, aaid the ■changes which occur in all families, had made him like an old tree m a denuded field. About this time, one of his sons (SHas T. L.) returned and ■purchased a part of the homestead, as well as some land con- tiguous to it; and after erecting new buildings, opened the "Jeffersonian House." He also gave the name of "Democratic Bidge" to the locality, dud became somewhat noted as a local politician. Soon after, his tavern was destroyed by fire, together "with the log-house in which Joseph Norris still lived. New and improved buildings were then built, and Democratic Kidge "became a favorite resort to many. The old man still retained his independence as well as his industrious habits. He lived alone in his own habitation, and having nothing to engage his mind and hands, bought six acres •of the worst land he could' find, and by his own labor brought •every foot of it to the highest state of cultivation. Finally the infirmities of age compelled him to board with his son, at whose house he died on the 4th of July, 1862, aged 76 years. Joseph Norris was a true patriot, and a sincere Christian. He served his country faithfully in the war of 1812. His life was sober, iadustrious and quiet. He performed his duty to his country, his neighbor, his family, and his Maker, and his last moments were radiant with the joy and hope of a blessed immortality. Such a life may seem tame and duU to those whose minds have been perverted by the popular literature of the day. We give it because we wish to present glimpses of all phases of existence in our county, and because he was one of the millions of worthy men who have elevated this continent from a state of nature to its present exalted position. That part of Forestburgh known as Draketown, was settled by Zephaniah, Joseph,. Adam, Nathan and Luther Drake, who were from New Jersey. Joseph came in 1793 or 1794, the others within the next three years. Nathan J., a son of Joseph, was the first male child born in that section of the town, and a daughter of Zephaniah who married George Bums was the first girl. The Drakes were hardy, industrious, worthy men, who were respected at home and abroad. Like all dwellers in the ) woods where game is plenty, they were more or less fond of forest-sports. Zephaniah excelled the others in this respect, and so successful was he in shooting wild beasts, that he imagined himself the champion rifleman of his neighborhood. During one of his hunting excursions with Nathan, their dogs 282 HI8T0ET OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. treed a large bear. The hunters found the animal sitting on the limb of a tree, looking down at the dogs. Zephanitah quickly- brought his rifle to bear on the game, when Nathan advisedl him to be careful — to make a sure shot. "Why," replied he, "I can shoot the eye out of his head ! " He then aimed for the- eye, and fired. The ball missed its mark; but hit the upper jaw, which it shattered, so that the bear's nose, with about half of the teeth of the jaw, turned up over thejorehead. The bear fell to the ground, and the dogs fell upon the bear. The latter caught one of his canine enemies between his fore-legs, and attempted to crush it ; when the other dog bit the black brute- so vigorously that he let go the first and caught the other, and so they fought back and forth, and were so mixed up that the brothers did not dare to shoot, knowing that they might kiU. their dogs. Zephaniah at last attacked the bear with his hunt- ing-hatchet, when the animal left the dogs, and sprang at him.. He stepped back — ^his foot caught in a laurel-bush, and downs he fell upon his back. In an instant the bear was upon him, and the dogs on top of all. For a few seconds there was a, lively time in the bushes. From impulse, Zephaniah threw up his hand to keep his assailant as far off as possible; but unfortunately thrust it so far into bruin's mouth, that the beast caught the little finger between the uniajured molars, and crushed it. Finally, by means now forgotten, but probably bj a lucky blow from Nathan, the bear was killed. Until his death in 1849, aged 81 years, Zephaniah, when telling the story of his adventure, exhibited a crooked finger, as an evidence that a bear with a broken jaw can sometimes inflict a severe injury. For many years before his decease, he was a consistent member of. the Baptist Church. His wife Eebecca survived him about one year, when she rejoined the husband with whom she had experienced the toils and trials of forest-Ufe. With the Drakes, patriotism was a vital part of their religion. They had great love for our free form of government, and reverenced all the symbols of freedom. One of the family (Nathan) caught a large bald-headed eagle in his bear-trap. Jt was kept by him a few days ; he admired it greatly; but thinking it wrong to keep the "National bird" in bondage, he let it go free. In the winter of 1819, Ephraim L. Burnham, Elijah C. Horton and John Brown, who were then young men of Forestburgh, engaged in a bear-hunt, the particulars of which are worth re- peating here. Mr. Burnham, while returning from his work in the woods, discovered fresh bear-tracks in the snow, and having mentioned the fact to Horton and Brown, the three determined to go in piirsuit of the animal. Before daylight on the next morning, they were on the trail, armed with a rifle and an axe, THE TOWN OP FOBESTBUKGH. 283 and after followiiig it several hours, came to a flat on the Mon- gaup, near the present site of Gilman's tannery. Here the snow was very much trampled, and it became apparent that the bear's winter-quarters were in the vicinity. Horton and Brown com- menced a search for a hole near the rim of the level ground, while Burnham explored the central part of the flat. He soon discovered a large rock under which there was a hole with tracks leading to and ftom it. Galling to his companions that he had found the den, aU three were soon before the orifice, and peering into it. They discovered nothing by gazing in ; and then cut a pole and thrust it into the hole. The end of the pole came in contact with a soft substance, but on being withdrawn afforded no indication of what it had touched. Mr. Burnham next split the end, and once more inserted it. After a few -rigorous twists, he again pulled it out. There were short black hairs in the split, which proved that the bear was under the rock. This discovery caused one of the young men to declare that they had better go home ; but Mr. Burnham, whose features resembled those of his cousin. General Ephraim Lyon of the Union army, and who exhibited the unyielding tenacity which marked his distinguished relative, utterly refused to leave until he had killed the bear. The animal was within reach of the pole, and he would wake it. up, or run the stick into its body. He then made the end of thes saphng very sharp, and punched the bear with all his might.. Immediately there was an angry growl ; the sharpened end was seized by the brute, and the pole was pushed outwardly, carrying- Mr. Burnham with it. He at once loosened his hold — stepped, back — caught up his rifle, and aimed it just as the bear reached the entrance. As it thrust its head from the hole, Mr. Burnham. fired, and the beast fell back into its retreat. Although they could see it indistinctly in the gloom of the cavern, they could not at first determine whether it was dead. A few more thrusts; of the sharpened sapling settled the question, however ; never- theless, the timid young man was once more seized with a panic,, and wished to leave. As he could get neither of the others tO' go with him, he concluded to stay, and the three went to work to get out their game. They at first tried to drag forth the body with crotched sticks, but were unsuccessful; when Mr. Burnham himself went head first into the den, and taking hold of the shaggy hide, his companions pulled away at his legs, and suc- ceeded in getting him and the bear out. After this was done, they heard a noise under the rock, and soon the head of another bear was thrust forth. This met the fate of its companion, and was brought forth in the same manner The first one killed weighed nearly 400 pounds — the other, a young female, about 100. With great difficulty the young men carried their game to the nearest road, where a passing team relieved them. They 284 HISTORY OP SULLTVAN COUNTY. reached home after dark, very tired and very Inmgry ; but re- fused to eat until a steak cut from the ham of one of the animals, hot and fragrant, was placed- before them. John Brown, one of these young men, subsequently met with an extraordinary accident. By an accidental discharge of his gun, one side of his face was blown away. One-half of his under jaw, a part of his tongue, upper jaw and one cheek-bone, were destroyed. No one supposed he could survive his injuries. He was cured, however, by the appUcation of cold water, before Priessnitz announced his system of hydropathy. While he was waiting as all supposed, for death, a syringe filled with water was left within his reach. He injected some of the water into his horrible wound, and found that to some extent it mitigated his sufferings. Thereafter the syringe was in constant use until Brown, to the surprise of his friends, recovered. He was living, a few years since, near Lake Huntington, in the town of Bethel. Mr. Bumham has been a resident of Monticello during the last thirty years, and yet loves to give the particulars of his bear-hunt in Forestburgh. It may be said of some communities that the history of their Churches is a history of the people. Forestburgh, in its early days, was occupied by lumbermen; consequently saw-miUs enter largely into the account of its settlement. In 1807 or 1808, Abraham Tracy moved into the town and built a saw-mill, in which George Wickham was interested. It was the first mill located on the Mongaup in the town, and brought in several laborers, John Williams among them. In 1805 a null was put up on the Three Brooks by Thomas King and a Mr. Beyea. It has since been known as the Thomas and the Deep HoUow miU. Not far from 1810, Jesse Dickinson built a mill for WiUiam A. Stokes, at Forestburgh Corners. Stokes was from Philadel- phia, became a County-Judge, and was elected a Member of Assembly in 1821. He erected a large house, and was a resi- dent of Forestburgh many years. His wife was a daughter of Dickinson, the miff-wright. It is said that the latter constructed nearly one hundred mills in different sections of the country, the first of which was at the Cook-House, on the Delaware, or, as the Indians called it, Ooocooze. Seth Conant, a pioneer of Thompson, was Stokes' superintendent, and kept the first respectable inn or tavern of the town. fii 1810, a man named Jackson manufactured lumber at what * was once known as the French, but siace as the Euddick mill. He was of a martial disposition, and commanded the first militia company of the town. Paul Pierson, Ehjah C. Horton, George Burns and Archibald Mills were his successors. Mills was from Goshen, Orange county, and came in the, summer of 1819, as THE TOWN OF FOBESTBUEGH. 285 the agent of George D. Wickham, a large landholder. He is still a resident of the town, aged and honored. About 1811, Paul and Jeremiah Pierson moved into the town by the way of Monticello. They were from Orange county. There was no road at that time farther than the Sackett Pond road covers the route they passed over ; and they were obliged to hew their way into the wilderness, until they reached the spot where they had resolved to make a home. They built a mUl at the point where Gad Wales & Oo.'s tannery subsequently stood. It was afterwards occupied by Jonathan BonneU, and was known as the BonneU miU. At nearly the same time, Elijah 0. Horton built a house at the place now occupied by William Ferguson. In 1809 or 1810, a man named Stead made aq improvement at Mongaup Flats. It was occupied in 1817 by Jesse Dickinson while he was building the Lebanon mill, soon after which John James Stewart owned it, and lived there until he moved to Monticello. He spent considerable money ia benefiting the locality, but did not add anything to his own resources. The place was once known as Stewartburgh. Stewart had been a sailor ia his young days, and was known as Uncle Jack ever afterwards. He had some of the faults and some of the virtues of the old-time Jack Tar. He was very kind to the widow and orphan, and as long as he had money of his own, helped them with a liberal hand. When his own resources failed, he begged for them of those who had a surplus of this world's goods; or to use his own language, he made a " Tappaun muster." He had a singular w^.y of jumbling together sacred and profane things— a habit which seemed second nature in him. We are informed by a respectable clergyman, that while living at the Flats, Stewart made a profession of religion, and at a prayer-meeting addressed the brethren. Giving a very chaste and beautiful description of what he had seen while a sailor — the magnificent works of art, &c., of the old world — he wound up with the startling inquiry — "And now, beloved, after seeing so much, who would have thought that I would come to this d — 4 hem- lock-country to get religion?'.' Of course his "probation" terminated with this unusual display of piety. Believing that the narrow paths of the Partialists were not made for him, he subsequently took to the broad and easy ways of Universahsm, and to the \iay of his death expatiated on the unlimited mercy and love of the Creator, emphasizing his declarations in his own peculiar way. Even when dying, he sent word to some friends that "the Devil was under-brushing a path for him straight into Heaven ! " Uncle Jack bestowed nick-names on half of his friends, and these names were so appropriate that the unfortunate objects 286 HISTDKY OF SXfLLIVAN COUNTY. of his wit Bore them duriag the balance of their lives. His wit sometimes displayed itself in repartees as keen as a Damascus blade. A young but somewhat Pharisaic member of an Ortho- dox Church, accused him of reporting that he (the young member) had become a Universaiist. "You a UniversaUst! ' exclaimed the ex-sailor: "No! Impossible! You are not good enough!" And the other departed abashed and crest-fallen, and meditating on the beauty of humUity. Taking into consideration its population, and the vocation of a large majority of its people, Forestburgh has had more than its proportion of men who were remarkable for their social and political standing. In addition to those already mentioned, we record in this class the names of Jubal and Jeremiah TerbeU, Daniel M. and William F. Brodhead, O. B. Wheeler, 0. W. Trotter, and Marshall Perry. The Brodheads were natives of Milford, Pennsylvania, and claimed a distinguished ancestry. Their father was Daniel Brodhead, at one time Surveyor-general of the Keystone State, and their grandfather was General Daniel Brodhead of the Eevolution. In early life Daniel M. removed to Philadel- phia, where he was a lawyer of acknowledged ability; but was obliged to relinquish his profession on account of a defect in his vocal organs. Being ambitious, he turned his attention to politics, and became a leadiag democratic politician. He was advanced from position to position until he was chosen Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Bepresentatives ; but ultimately lost the confidence of his party by favoring one of the financial schemes of Nicholas BidHle. In May, 1842, he removed to Forestburgh, and subsequently to Black Lake, in the towii of Bethel. At both places he engage^ largely in the lumber- business, and for many years was prominent as a local pohtician. He was remarkable for suavity of demeanor. Although he contiaued to be ruled by his favorite maxim, "Molasses wUl catch more flies than vinegar," he failed to attain high political position after leaving his native State. He was a cortect sample of the modern politician. His youngest son, Lieutenant Daniel M. Brodhead, junior, was killed in the battle of the Wilderness in May, 1864. Grief then seriously affected the health of the father, and he continued to decline until the 1st of the succeed- ing October, when he died. Mr. Brodhead was twice married. His first wife was a daughter of Colonel James Benton of Milford. His second was the widow of James Clinton, a brother of Governor Clinton. ■^William F. Brodhead, who came to Forestburgh several years before his brother, was twice a Member of Assembly jfrom Sullivan. Although of respectable attainments, he was not the equal of Daniel M. in ability. Frank, as his friends THE TOWN OF POKESTBUEGH. 287 loved to call him, was of excellent repute, and died with an Tintarnished character. Marshall Perry was a valuable citizen, whose public and private deportment was above reproach. Charles W. Trotter was at one time largely engaged in tan- ning, and was the candidate of his political party for a seat in •Congress. Wales & Gildersleeve were also at one time extensively en- gaged in tanning, and the Messrs. Gillman are still carrying on tiiat business. Events which followed the death of a child in March, 1844, ishow how much circumstantial evidence is to be distrusted, and that if criminal charges are preferred, excited public feeling may lead to injustice. A httle child of a Mr. Erieslebau, whue re- turning from a neighbor's with other children, was left behind by them. It was soon after missed, when its friends went after, but failed to find it. Tlie neighbors were then alarmed; they ■turned out, but searched for it without success. Suspicion then fell upon a quack-doctor named Heisted, who was seen to pass ynth. his wife about the time the child was first missed. Two •days were consumed in unsuccessful endeavors to discover the •child. On the third day, Mr. Frieslebau started in pursuit of Heisted, whom he followed until he reached a place where the doctor had stayed all night. There he learned that Heisted had no child with him. On the fourth day, the almost distracted iather returned home. In the meantime, some children reported that they had seen the httle-one in Heisted's sleigh. This cre- mated a great prejudice against him. A warrant was issued for his arrest ; but its service was delayed until another unsuccessful •search was had. On the seventh day the doctor and his wife were brought by a constable from their residence in Orange ■county. Two days were then spent in investigating the affair before a Justice of the Peace. The evidence was clearly against the prisoners — so much so, that it seemed certain they were guilty. They were held for trial, and gave bail. A few believed they were innocent, and on the tenth day once more there was :a search, and it was a successful one. When a_ majority had become discouraged, and gone home, the others discovered that •the Kttle-one had turned off the road on a path which had not before been observed — become exhausted, and fallen with its face on the snow, where it died. An inquest was held by Cor- oner Greene, and the accused discharged. A very interesting natural feature of this town may be found in the PaUs of the Mongaup, about one and a half miles from the village of Forestburgh. Above the Palls, the water has worn a channel through solid sand-rock. This channel is about sixteen feet wide and twenty deep, and its floor is of hard black 288 HISTORY OF SULLr?AN COXJNTY, grit. The. waters rusli through these narrow hmits, and plunge- about twenty feet, when they meet with a temporary obstruc- tion ; then the seething, whirling, dashing foam bounds with three successive leaps into a deep basin at the bottom of th& chasm. The cataract " Comes from its shadowed and prison-like glen, With a leap and a roar, Uke a lion from den ; First winding, then bounding, once more and once more, TiU each voice is blent in an agony roar," The total fall has been variously estimated at from sixty to> eighty feet. One hundred feet above the surface of the pool below the Falls, is a rock known as "Flat Eock," from which is a view of the scene replete with wild grandeur.- The descending waters have worn many deep circular holes-, in the rocks. A story is told of two hunters who found a deer entangled some way at the top of the Falls. They very kindly Uberated the animal, when, being very much mghtened, it rushed into one of these holes, and was never more seen.. Whether it became food for the Genii of- the chasm or the eels- of the river, is not known. We would have more faith in the story, if hunters were in the habit of liberating entangled deer before they, killed them, or if frightened deer rushed into holes,, like woodehucks and foxes. In 1853, John and Barton Brodhead (sons of Daniel M.,) built a gang-saw-mill a short distance below the Falls. On tha 14th of July, 1855, this mill was burned by an incendiary. Tea days after this evjent, there was a flood in the river, which carried away their dam and 2,000 saw-logs. Finding both fire and water apparently against them, they never rebuilt the mill. Not far from Oakland is a singular " canyon," through whick flows what is known as the GuE-stream, an outlet of a natural pond situate on the mountain at the source of the brook. The; "canyon" is narrow, and its sides are composed of high and. peipendicular walls of rock. For a considerable distance the water disappears below the debris, and at a particular point, far beneath the waU of rock may be heard a subterranean wa- ter-fall. In the cliffs of this gulch, pyrites or "fool's gold" are found in considerable quantities. In February, 1863, James L. Brooks, while engaged near the Gulf-stream, found two wild-cats or catamounts in their den. He boldly entered their lair, and after a somewhat animated contest, killed them. He came out of the woods with the animals slung upop one of his shoulders, and his clothes in rags and tatters. Although his body exhibited more stripes than THE TOWN OF FORESTBUEGH. 289 are on our starry flag, he was not seriously injured. A very- exaggerated account of his adventure was published at th& time. Osmer B. Wheeler bestowed the name of Oakland on tho valley at the mouth of the Bushkill, in which is located a tannery. As a manufacturer he has been remarkably successful, and does not hesitate to devote a portion of his fortune to the development of the natural resources of his neighborhood.. Geologists say that the formation of the crust of the earth at this point indicates the existence of saHne deposits; and chemists of a certain class declare that there is petroleum not. only far down in the interstices of the rocks, but that the clay of the valley is impregnated^with it. A thin seam of anthracite is found in the mountains, and an immense mass of ochre in the valley. Mr. Wheeler has caused deep borings to be mad& for the salt and oil ; but they were not found. He has discov- ered that the coal is the same which underlies the entire county,. and is nowhere of any value; while from the ochre can be made a mineral paint which is not inferior to much that is used in the country. Probably this pigment and the -stone quarries; of the vicinity will make Oakland a busy place . even after its. oak-forests are destroyed. In 1868-9, Mr. Wheeler represented Orange and Sullivan in the Senate of the State. He is yet (1873) a shrewd, energetic and successful man of busiaess. The explorations for petroleum at Oakland were made in 1866. Thomas Martiu, a professional geologist, mineralogist and mining-engineer, examined the Bushkill valley and the region bordering on the Gulf-stream, and reported that he found. a small seam of coal, traces of copper, positive indications of petroleum, and a valuable deposit of clay.. The latter, he declared, was literally saturated with oil. In consequence of these assurances^ the "Oakland Oil Company" was formed, and unsuccessful efforts made to find petroleum. Lewis Cuddeback was the president of the company ; H. H. Hunt, vice-president ; M. Lewis Clark, secretary; Jacob May, treasurer ; and Lewis. Cuddeback, H. H. Hunt, M. Lewis Clark, Jacob May, O. J. Brown, E: A. Bunn, Dr. Lewis Armstrong, O. B. Wheeler and D. C. Dusenberry, trustees. Some of the popular gazetteers of the day assert that Kev. Isaac Thomas, (Methodist) was the first preacher who came to- Forestburgh; but we have reason to believe that Eev. Isaac Sergeant, (Congregationalist,) Eev. Luke Davies, (Baptist,) and Eev. Thomas Greer^ (Presbyterian,) preached in the town many years before Thomas visited it. The Methodists, however, seem to have been more in accord with the spiritual inclinations of the inhabitants ; for they soon obtained the vantage-ground, 19 ^90 HISTOKY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, and now owa the only two cliurch-eclifices of the town. One of these is located at Oakland. It was erected in 1857, and was ■dedicated on the 29th of December of that year. Rev. T. W. Pearson preached the dedicatory sermon. The other church is •at Forestburgh, and was built in 1859. The latter has about fifty members. The Newark conference of New Jersey exercises Jurisdiction ■over this town, as well as over Lumberland and territory above it on the Delaware river ; from which the inference is naturally ■drawn that the arrangement had its birth in the old " Jersey •claim." Nevertheless the dispute concerning the boundary between New York and New Jersey was settled and almost forgotten before the introduction of Methodism in the Delaware towns of Sullivan. New Jersey Methodism obtained ecclesi- astical dominion here because it was more convenient for. preachers to attend conference in New Jersey than New York. Now it is otherwise; nevertheless the old state of affairs con- tinues. SUPEIiVISOES OF THE TOWN OF FOBESTBURGH. From To 1837 William F. Brodhead 1840 1840 Ira E. Drake 1842 1842 Coe Dill 1844 1844 Elisha A. Green. 1846 1846 Daniel M. Brodliead 1850 1850 •. .Silas T. L. Norris , 1852 1852 Isaac Penney 1853 1853 Charles C. Boyd 1854 1854 John Euddick 1855 1855 Osmer B. Wheeler 1858 1858 '. . James H. Taylor 1859 1859 William N. Case.* 1860 1860 Stephen C. Drake 1862 1862 Osmer B. Wheeler 1863 1863 Silas T. L. Norris 1865 1866 Samuel M.Sterrett 1867 1867 John Euddick 1870 1870 ; WaUace W. Wheeler 1871 1871 Edwin Hartwell 1873 1873 ..Benjamin Case 1874 CHAPTER IX. THE TOWN OF FREMONT. The surface of Fremont resembles that of Callicooii. It is marked by deep ravines and abrupt declivities. Some of the latter, it is said, attain a height of about 800 feet above their bases, and from 1,500 to 1,800 feet above the level of the ocean. Though uneven, the soil is well adapted to the production of grass and grain, except on some of the/ hill-sides where the sur- face is too steep for cultivation. Basket and Hankins' creeks are the principal streams of the town. On both of them as well as some of their tribu- taries, are nunierous mills and manufacturing establishments. The town is well supplied with small lakes or natural' ponds. 'The inost notable of these are Long, Round and Basket ponds in the northern, Lox in the eastern, and Trout pond in the ■central section. These sheets of water were the favorite resorts ■of hunters and anglers before this region was settled. The Dodges, Stewarts, Spragues and other early settlers of Rockland, related many thrilling hunting-adventures which occurred in the neighborhood of these lakes. Although this was a good locality for the farmer and lumber- man, and a few families lived in the valley of the Delaware at Xiong Eddy and at Hankins, previous to the conclusion of the war of the Revolution, it inay be said that Fremont was .the last town of Sullivan to which the tide of immigration tended. There was a great store of valuable timber in its forests, as well as many goocl mill-sites on its streams, and yet for more than the third of a century before its resources were made available, the hardy raftmen of the comparatively remote town of Rock-, land ran their rafts along the western border of Fremont, which practically continued in a virgin state, because its owners were strangers who made no effort to quicken its germs of fertility. No avenue of approach was opened to its secret recesses, and it continued ahnost as the Indians had left it until there was a probability that the New York and Erie Railroad would be constructed. [291] 292 HISTOBY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. In 1780, a man named Isaac Simmons lived at Hankins, and soon after sold his right of possession to Joseph Brown. Brown sold to Aaron Pierce, who, in 1792, built a gaw-mill and small frist-miU. The latter was an insignificant affair, and worked adly. It had no bolt, and it was necessary to separate the bran from the flour by hand. About the year 1800, Jonas Lakin came to the place, and subsequently became the owner of a considerable tract of land. In 1821, Lakin sold his tract of land to EHzabeth Pierce, who, with her family, lived on it until about 1833, when she died. In 1834, John Hankins and Luther Appley bought the property, for which they paid $1,451. In 1835, Hankins bought an additional tract of Lucas Elmendorf, and in May, 1839, moved to Fremont with his family. Previous to 1839, Mr. Hankins had resided in the town of Damascus, in the State of Pennsylvania, where he married Susan, a daughter of Moses Thomas, 3d. When he removed to Fremont, h6 passed over the " State-road," on the west side of the river. The New York and Erie Bailroad Company had aecomphshed considerable in grading their road ; but had sus- pended work in 1837. Mr. Hankins attempted to make a^ highway of their track, but after rendering about three miles, passable, gave up the job. For several years ingress and egress were difficult. To attend town-meeting and vote at the fall-elections, he was obliged to foUow a line of marked trees to Liberty, or travel over the State- road to the bridge at Cochecton, and from thence to Liberty by the way of Bethel. Sometimes, however, when the water was low, he followed the beach of the river on horseback as far as Cochecton. As the ford near his residence was occasionally impracticable, he built a scow, and crossed the river in it ; but when there was a flood, it was not safe to cross in any manner,, and he was practically cut off from the outside world. It has been represented that John Hankins was the pioneer settler at Hankins Depot;* yet, when he came, he found on his place an old frame-house, a saw-mill, and land which had been occupied ajid tilled many years. He also found a sycamore tree which was nine feet in diameter. The latter was hollow,, and the cavity was larger than some bed-rooms. It is said that a man could ride into it astride of a horse. Until about 1865,, this tree was used as a substitute for a smoke-house. Mr. Hankins was a man of action. Exclusive of those who lived in Penmsylvania, his only neighbors were at Long Eddy and Long pond ; yet during the first year of his residence, he started a store and built a blacksmith^shop. 'He also built a • See French's Gazetteer. THE TOWN OP EREMONT. 293 'handsome residence for his family, and in 1847, the second saw-mill erected on his land. He also became prominent as a local pohtician, and, notwithstanding his isolated position, was one of the first Justices of the Peace, and the second Supervisor of the town of Calliooon. He was elected to the latter office repeatedly, and at one time, in conjunction with Matthew Brown, controlled the Board of Supervisors. Mr. Hankins did not live until the railroad was completed as far as Hanldns creek. He was a man of forcible and energetic character — a warm friend and an ardent enemy — exalted in prosperity and depressed when his surroundings were unfavor- able. In the summer of 1847, he suffisred from a variety of -small annoyances, and on the 17th of September was found dead on the road to Callicoon, about a quarter of a mile from his house, under circumstances wMch led to the Sehef that his life was cut short by his own hand. On the completion of the railroad, a station was estabKshed at his place, which was called Hankins, at first ; but in May, 1851, the name was changed to Fremont. In September, 1852, when the post-office was created, with Gidney Underhill as post- master, the name of Fremont was given to it, although many were in favor of calling it Hankins.* Both the station and post-office are now known by the latter name. Previous to 1839, Hankins creek was known as Pierce's brook. At that time, it was famous as a trout-stream. Deer were abundant in the neighboring forests, and bears and pan- thers, as well as wolves, were frequently seen and heard. The north-west corner of the town has been known to raftmen as Long Eddy, to the officials of the New York and Erie Eail- way as Basket-Switch, and to others as Douglass village or city. Several gazetteers declare that Joseph "Green" was the original settler of this locality. This declaration is not well founded. Previous to the war of the Revolution, DeHverance Adams and John Dusinbury lived at this place. About the year 1800, Dusinbury sold his possessions to the father of Joseph Geer. The younger Geer hved on the place sixty-five years. He is probably the Joseph Green of the gazetteers. Abner Lane was hving at Long Eddy in 1793. Dusinbury bmlt a saw-miU on Basket creek about 1800. A half-breed Indian named John Johnson, continued here after the tribe to which he belonged had left the country. For many years, Johnson supplied the whites who occupied the valley between Cochecton and Shehocton (now. Hancock) with lead, which, it was believed, he obtained from a mine in the * On the Sl^th of May, 1858, the depot at Hanking, with the woodsheds, tanks, Ike, of the railway company, were destroyed by fire. But fuw men were in the place, and the adjoining buildings were saved by the heroic exertions of the ladies. 294 HISTORY OF SUIiUVAN OOUNTY. ■ncinity of Pise's brook, above Long Eddy. The ore was ciit. • from tne vein with a hatchet, and was nearly pure. He smelted it without difficulty, and there was but a small per cent, of dross. The people did not watch him when he went after it, because he was a turbulent and vindictive man. Many persons have since searched for the mine ; but without success. We da not know that the geological formation at Pise's brook favors the behef that lead may yet be found there; but we are quite certain that a few ignorant savages would not be as apt to discover mines in a wilderness-country, as fifty times their number of comparatively intelligent white men when the same region is cleared. The ore may have been brought from a distant locahty, and deposited by the half-breed in a secret, place, from which he brought it at such times and in such quanti- ties as he and others needed it. There is no doubt that the- Indians accidentally discovered theWurtsborough mine, and that they carried away ore from it. Perhaps the lead of the half- breed came from that quarter. The hunters and trappers of the Delaware often induced Johnson to join them when they engaged in forays against the denizens of the woods. Josiah Parks, the "boson" of the early raftmen, was his friend and companion, until the two quarreled about the division of a bear which they had kUled, when John- son, in a fit of ungovernable rage, struck Parks, and then clutched his neckerchief, and attempted to garrote him. Mrs. Parks was present, and saw that her husband's life depended on her efforts. Catching hola of a hunting-knife, she mingled in the affray; but, instead of thmsting the ugly weapon into the body of the would-be murderer, she severed the neckerchief, and narrowly avoided cutting Park's throat. Parks then pom- meled the savage until the latter was glad to leave without any part of the bear. The white man was very indignant because Johnson struck him while his coat was on his back, the doing of which was quite as disgraceful in a fighting man of the Delaware as gouging and garroting. In the days of the pioneers. Captain Ezra May, who lived above Long Eddy, owned a famous canoe, which was long known as the Old Trout. This canoe was hewn from the body of an immense tree — was forty-five feet in length, and so wide that a barrel of pork could lie m it cross- wise. It was capable of car- rying twenty-five barrels of flour. The settlers between Co- checton and the mouth of the Cadoshe hired the Old Ti-out of Captain May, when they found it necessary to go to mill, or to get a supply of dry-goods and groceries. Except the little mill at Hankms, which was no better than a ^amp-mortar, the nearest grist-mill was at the mouth of Brodhead creek, near the "Water-Gap, one hundred miles from Long Eddy. To this mill. THE TOWN OF FREMONT. 295 the inliabitants went for their flour in May's canoe. Wlien' loaded it required tlie strength of six men to pole and pull it up- stream— ;-four to pole and two to pull. The ropes used were made from the bark of basswood and leather-bark trees, and it. took six days to go from Brodhead's to Long Eddy, _ Twice a year, Captain May took the Old Trout on a raft to tide-water, and sometimes to Philadelphia, for the purpose of freighting merchandise to the upper Delaware. About 1784, and previous to the use of this canoe, a Durham boat made two trips as far up the river as Shehocton ; but it was found that the enterprising navigator was in advance of his times, and he was compelled to relinquish the business of transporting passengers; and freight to and from the frontier settlements. The efforts which have been made to render Long Eddy an important business point, are worthy of those en^rprising indi- viduals who sometimes found cities in the Great West, often on/ paper, and sometimes on more substantial bases. On the completion of the New York and Brie railroad, the company considered a switch sufficient to meet all local require- ments. In 1855, a post-office was made, and named Long Eddy.. In 1856, WiUiam Kelley was authorized by law to establish a. ferry across the Delaware at the switch. One year later, a Mr. Taylor built a depot at his own expense, and to induce the railroad company to stop their trains at the xplace, served twelve months as their agent without a salary. About the year 1866, the Delaware Bridge Company was chartered and organized. Its capital stock was $10,000, and it had authority to increase the same to the amount necessary to complete the work for which the company was formed. The' major part of the stock was taken by residents of Long Eddy and Little Bquinnnk, and the contract for building the bridge was taken by Solon Chapin. After Chapin had expended $11,000, as he claimed, the company became involved in diffi- culty, and work was suspended. At this time, there was no> decent approach on either shore, and the central pier was left in such a condition that there was danger that the entire struct- ure would go down-stream with the first high flood Chapin held possession in defiance of the company, and p^t up tempo- rary approaches; but there was no feasible or legal right of way east or west of the river. A bridge-war was imminent, as well as destruction of the work, when the foresight and enter- prise of a single individual became the salvation of the enterprise. Martin A. Smith, of Fremont Centre, who was a stockholder,. and largely interested in the real estate of that vicinity,, purchased enpugh stock to secure to himself a controUing interest. He' then elected new directors, who immediately dispossessed Chapin, secured the pier in a substantial manner,, 296 HISTORY QF SULHym OOWTT. 'finislved the bridge, andmade a turnpike from tbe west approach to Little Equinunk. The total cost of the improvement amounts to about $17,000. This bridge is of great importance to Long Eddy, as it causes a large amount of business to centre there. The Long Eddy Hydraulic and Manufactiiring Company was formed in 1867. The capital stock of the company, according to its charter, was $25,000. Eleven thousand of this, we are informed, was taken by residents, and two thousand by non- residents, and the village of Douglass issued its bonds for ten thousand doUars to aid the work. The balance of the stock ($2,000) was not taken. The main object of the company was to dam the river at a point near the village, and thus utilize the water for manufacturing purposes. Immense results were antic- ipated by the sangmne, who believed that Douglass would become a iSflurishing manufacturing city — a second Lowell, with its scores of wealthy magnates, and its thousands of industrious operatives. The company, it is said, succeeded in building a saw-miU, some houses and a bulkhead-dam near the mill. The contract for building the main dam was given to a party pos- sessed of no skill and experience in such work. Consequently the structure was not substantial, and while the lumbermen of the upper Delaware were threatening to demolish it as a nuisance and an obstruction to the running of rafts, a flood carried a great part of it away. When this disaster occurred, the com- pany was indebted to Benjamin P. Buckley of Fremont Centre, who obtained a judgment for the amount of his claim. The effects of the company were sold to satisfy Buckley's demand, and he bought them at the sale. During the year 1871, some of the residents of Long Eddy, whose faith and ardor had not been extinguished by the flood, wishiag to make the property available, obtained the consent of Buckley to rebuild the dam. They commenced the work, but so late ia the season that they were unable to complete it before the beginning of the ensuing winter. Hoping that the ice-freshet of the spring of 1872 would be merciful, they suspended operations. The winter, however, was very severe, and the ice was of unusual thickness when' the river broke up. The dam, in its unfinished condition, was not strong -enough to endure the pressure of the flood and the battering of the ice. It was again broken, and now, what remains of it is a standing reminder of the fact, that unscientific and inexperienced men should not be entrusted with a work of so much magnitude and difElculty. It is believed that a third attempt wiU be made to construct a dam at this point ; that the water-power, if properly managed, is really valuable ; and that experience wiU enable the gentlemen who wiU hereafter manage the matter, to guard against a third disaster. The enterprise and energy of the people of Douglass, ' THE TOWN OF FREMONT. 297 ^deserve success, though they may not command it. It is not ■often that a village no larger than this expends forty thousand •dollars in half-a-dojzen years to promote its material interests. As to what they have done to advance their spiritual welfare much cannot be said ; for there is not a church-edifice in the place. The Baptists and Methodists have labored in an humble way, however, in this corner of the moral vineyard. Each has a «mall society in Douglass, which worships in the district school- house. Douglass was incorporated by an act of the Legislature on the 19th of April, 1867. The principal movers to obtain the charter were D. D. McKoon and F. G.. Barnes. The first trustees were €harles G. Armstrong, Dennis D. McKoon, John McDuffee, •Charles D. Brand and Ulysses S. Tyler; Assessors — George ■Gould and Joseph Dudgeon ; Collector— WiUiaift T. KeUam ; Police Justice— Samuel McKoon; Treasurer— Henry H. Mc- Koon; Street Commissioner — J. Wesley Tyler; Police Con- stable — Wallace Young. The corporate limits are a mile square, and on the northerly side are the same as the boundary of the town and county. While the genius of material progress was rampant, a credu- lous printer was induced to start a newspaper in Douglass, who, with commendable local pride, filled nearly an entire column with a business directory, in which dealers in lumber and manufacturers of hemlock-boards were quite prominent. The ■editor enjoyed the fat things of the future, until he found that more substantial food was necessary to prolong his mundane •existence, when he transferred his types and enterprise to other scenes. Besides mills and the shops of mechanics, Douglass contains two hotels, five stores, and seventy dwellings. Its -population has been estimated at 500. It is said that Zachariah Ferdon located at Kound Pond in May, 1824. It does not appear, however, that he owned the land he occupied until 1844, in which year he received a deed for it from Peter Ferdon of Gates, Monroe county, N. Y. He was the first settlei^ in that section of the town. His nearest neighbors were residents of Eockland. Benjamin Misner built a saw-miU on the outlet of Long pond in 1831, and moved his family to the place in 1832. He was of the family of Misners of Fallsburgh, and lived there in 1808, Tvhen Gerard Hardenbergh was murdered. In 1811, Benjamin and Jacobus Misner bought a tract of land in Lot 6, of Herman M. Hardenbergh, a son of Gerard. About 1833, Benjamin took a number of trout from Trout brook, and put them in Long pond, which proved congenial to this royal game-fish. Trout nave since been taken from this pond which weighed five pounds. 298 HISTOBY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. In the spring of 1835, Jeroniimis Secord moved from West- chester county to Long pond. Five or six others of the samei family-name soon after settled in the vicinity of Round pond,, and among them was Thomas Secord,' the pugilist,' whose mill with Yankee Sullivan has been recorded in the sporting annal» of the county. Secord's friends claim that he was the real victor in this encounter, while the prize was awarded to Sullivan by a mob of roughs. However this may be, Secord was so^ severely pommeled by Sullivan that he ultimately died from the injuries he received. The first school of the nei^borhood was taught in 1847, by Sarah, a daughter of Gerard L. M. Hardenbergh, who received two dollars per week, and" boarded herself. In the summer of 1849, Charles W. Miles, Carlos P. Holcomb' and Benjamin C. Miles erected a large tannery on Hankins; creek. At this time. Judge Samuel McKoon had become a resident, as well as Levi Harding,' Boderick LevaUey, Thomas S. Ward, WiUiam C. Wood, Joseph F. Yendes, Burrows Phillips,, G. L. M. Hardenbergh, James Brown, John Beck, Aaron Van Benschoten, a family of Cannons, etc. A considerable number of German immigrants had also settled in the territory, whick was subsequently erected as the town of Fremont. The town-meetings of CaUicoon were atthat period generally held in Jeffersonville, near the line of Cochecton, and the prin- cipal officers of the town resided in that quarter; hence the- settlers of the western section were put to great inconvenience when they found it necessaiy to attend to local affairs. Under such circumstances, they soon discovered that a division of Oallicoon would be an advantage to them. In the FaU of 1851, sundry freeholders of Callicoon gave notice through one of the newspapers of the county, that they would apply at the next annual meeting of the Supervisors for a division of the town. This notice caused a violent effervescence' of Yankee and Teutonic elements. Petitions and remonstrances were rapidly circulated through every nook and comer. At the November election, but one hundred and fifty-seven residents voted ; and yet within a fortnight thereafter two hundred and sixty-two petitioned for a division, and one hundred and ninety- three remonstrated — making a total of 455 who claimed that they were inhabitants !* One of these parties claimed that the proposed, division was desirable, because the people were veiy much scattered, and there was a range of hiUs running through Callicoon, which formed a natural boundary between the several sections ; the other opposed a division because it would increase * At the next annual election the aggregate vote of Callicoon and Fremont wa» 402. In addition to those, many immigrants were not voters. THE TOWN OF FREMONT. 299 i taxation, and leave Calliooon without a depot on the railroad, and a railroad to help pay its taxes. The Supervisors referred the application, etc., to a committee of five, viz: Neal Benson, Thomas Williams, Edward Palen, John C. Holley and Benjamin P. Buckley. After a patient hearing, three of the committee (Messrs. "Benson, Palen and Holley) reported that the prayer of the petitioners should be granted; while the others (Messrs. Williams and, Buckley) declared that it was then impossible to determine wliat were the wishes of a majority of the inhabitants, and intimated that there was evident irregularity inprocuring signatures for and against the proposed division. Hence they recommended that action should be deferred until the Board could obtain reliable information on the subject. The Supervisors, fhowever, by a large majority (nine to one) resolved to erect the new town. The member from CaUicoon (Samuel W. Jackson) was then appointed a committee to draft the necessary bill, and as soon as he reported, it was passed — ayes, 10 ; nays, 0. By this act, the first election in Fremont was held at the house of Ezekiel G. Scott, and David B. Perry, Roderick LevaUey and Gerard L. M. Hardenbergh were made the presiding officers of the first town-meeting. Those who opposed the erection of Fremont resided on the North Branch and on the section east of that stream. If tht» tenitory of Oallicoon had remained intact. North Branch would have been a central point, and a large majority would have been in favor of making it the quasi capital of the town, instead of Jeffersonville. Hence the opposition in that quarter, and hence Mr. Jackson, who was a sagacious business man of Jefferson- ville, was willing that the western inhabitants should "go in peace." If not permitted to do so, he foresaw that they would unite with the people of North Branch against Jeffersonville^ and that the combined opposition would overwhelm the latter. It is a notable fact that Benjamin P. Buckley, who was the Supervisor of Liberty in 1851, and did not readily consent to- the erection of the new town, subsequently removed to Fremont, where, as one of the firm of B. P. Buckley & Son, he became largely interested in the tanning business ; and that four mem- bers of the Buckley family have since been Supervisors of the* town. Fremont received the name it bears, because a majority of its leading men were ardent admirers of John C. Fremont, a full account of whom will be found in almost any history of the United States. \ The first road of the town is what is known as the Cannon road, from the North Branch to Hankins ; the second runs from North Branch to Fremont Centre, and from thence to Hankins : 300 HISTORY OF SUXLIVAN GO0NTY. afterwaa-ds the wad from the Centre to Long Pond and Eound pond, and thence to "Westfield Flats was laid out, as well as the one from Long Eddy up Basket creek to Trout brook. Other highways haye since been made connecting various neMiborhoods of the town. Fremont affords another proof that the axiom, "Murder will out," is based more on superstition than truth. In September, 1854, a human skeleton was found in a swamp about a mile ' north of Hankius, covered with large stones, and near it, concealed under a log, were a pair of boots and some clothes. The condition in which these things were, when discovered, led' to the belief that they had been undisturbed for five or six years, and that the remains were those of a man who had been murdered, and whose body had been concealed in this swamp. Neither the name of the victim, or of the murderer, was ever known or suspected. The unfortunate man may have been employed in laboring for a railroad-contractor, and when on the point of returning with a few hard-earned dollars to his iriends in a distant part of the country, may have been decoyed "to this lone place, and here killed for his money; or he may have been a stranger who came with means to buy land. Such persons were constantly coming and goiag, and their sudden disappearance would have excited no interest in their fate. Two little daughters of John Heldriok, an early settler, wandered from the home of their parents, and became lost in the woods. As soon as the scattered pioneers of the neighbor- hood were notified, they searched for the bewildered children, and after protracted efforts discovered them in a, hollow log. 'Terror, hunger and fatigue were too much for the oldest girl, an impressible, nervous child aged six years. When found she was insane, and although she lived ten years, her mind was never restored to its former condition.* There are but two churches in Fremont. One of them is at Fremont Centre, and belongs to the Methodists. It was built in I860, during the pastorate of Eev. Aaron Coons, and cost upwards of $2i000. ) The other is St. Mary's church, (Eoman Catholic) at Obern- burgh. Eev. John Eanfeisen, its first pastor, was here as early as 1852. He was succeeded by Rev. Joseph Eoesch, a native of Prussia, who has labored here among the German population for many years. The present church-edifice was built in 1861, but was not consecrated until June 28, 1865, when ninety-five persons were confirmed. The members number about 350. * Child's Gazetteer. THE TOWN OP FKEMONT. 301 POPULATION — VALUATION — TAXATION. Year. Popu- lation. Assessed Value. Town Charges. Co. and State. 1860 1,728 2,220 $113,675 108,520 $596.97 2,499.76 $889.58 1870 2,501.22 Note. — For seveifajl items of information in regard to Fremont ■we are indebted to William Hill, a former Clerk of the countj' ; ■who, as an officer, has had no superior. SUPEBVISOKS OF THE TO'WN OF PBEMONT. . Samuel McKoon 1853 .Charles W. Miles 1855 .Joseph F. Yendes 1856 .Aaron Van Benschoten. 1857 .Simeon D. Wood 1858 From ' To 1852 1853 1855 1856 1857 1858 Martin A. Smith 1861 1861 Charles W. MUes 1862 1862 Walter B. Buckley 1864 1864 1. B. Buckley 1865 1865 Benjamin P. Buckley 1867 1867 Isaac Forshay 1869 1869 Frank Buckley 1872 1872 Levi Harding 1873 1873 Abram Wood 1874 CHAPTER X. THE TOWN OP HIGHLAND. This town was taken from the territory of Lumberland, by an act of the Board of Supervisors, on the 17th of December, 1853, and consists of numbers Fourteen to Twenty-five inclusive of the Seventh division ; and Lots Two, Three and Four of the First division of the Minisink Patent. It is situated on the highlands east of the Delaware, and from them derives its name. Some of these ridges have an altitude, it is said, of from 1,000 to 1,200 feet. We cannot learn that they were ever measured by compeijent men, and therefore conclude that their height is estimated. The same causes which retarded the growth a,nd prosperity of Lumberland and Tiisten have had their logical effects here. In early times, the population consisted of lumbermen, who were employed by non-resident owners to strip the town of its valuable timber, and convert it as expeditiously and cheaply as possible into cash. If the profits of the business had been retained in the town, and expended for improvements, the value and importance of Highland would have been enhanced in a degree which we cannot now estimate. Highland contains 33,050 acres, less than two thousand of which are improved, and two years after its erection, had a population of 865. Though its numbers are small, it has always had more than its ratio of sterling men, some of whom will receive honorable mention in this chapter. The principal streams of Highland are Beaver brook and Halfway brook. The first was so named, because, when first visited by the whites, the beaver was very common there ; and the latter, because by an ancient trail across the country, it was struck half-way from the Mongaup to the Delaware. Each stream has several affluents, and its course on maps of the town is dotted with numerous saw-mills. There are several natural ponds or lakes in Highland — Mud and Hagan in the east; 'York in the south; and Montgomery, Little, Big and Blind in the west. [3om THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND. 303 The name of Mud pond is descriptive. It is a small lake •with a very muddy bottom. Hagan pond, it is believed, is so called because a man of that name first settled near it. Montgomery pond received its name from Henry Montgomery, Tvho settled on its east shore. Below it, on the same stream is Little pond. They are round or oval in shape, and have white ;and gray sand-beaches. The land around them is said to be of good quality. , Big pond is so called because it is larger than Little pond. There are other small lakes in Highland, which we will leave where they are likely to remain, in the woods. POPULATION — VALUATION — TAXATION. Year. • Popu- lation. Assessed Value. Town Charges. Co. and State. 1860 993 958 $161,163 115,566 $223.96 2,117.03 $1,111.31 1870 2,789.58 Previous to the war of the Eevolution, this region was a hunting-ground of the Lenape,'and their half-civilized neighbors, the trappers of Minisink and Mamakating. Its numerous streams and lakes, as weU as its game, made it very attractive to both white and red nomades of that period. Tom Quick ■waylaid and killed two Indians near Hagan pond, and often ■came here with the white hunters of Minisink. On one •occasion he was at the pond with a man named Cornelius DeWitt, who was afterwards captured by the Indians and taken to Canada. While preparing to make their evening fire, they ■discovered signs which led them to believe that a savage was in the neighborhood, and Tom proposed to look for the red-skins while DeWitt collected wood. To this the latter was opposed, but nothing that he could say persuaded the other to forego his intention. Tom prepared for an encounter, and then cautiously •crept along the lake-shore untU he came to the outlet. Tliere he-^iad to pass over an open space, in doing which he saw an Indian beyond gun-shot, on the Big marsh, as it was called. 'The latter discovered Tom at the same moment, and fled, going apparently toward the Delaware. As it was near night, Tom returned to his camping-place; but the next morning took the Indian's trail and followed it as far as the Brink pond, in Pennsylvania. He was enabled to do this by observing signs which no civilized man can see. At Brink pond he once more 304 HISTOEY OF SULLIVAN COCNTY. saw the Indian, and the latter finding he was pursued, fled like a frightened stag. Tom then returned, knowing that the chase was useless, and that the red-skin would not soon moderate his. pace. Highland was settled immediately after the Revolutionary war. In 1784, Benjamin Haines was living with his family at Handsome Eddy. Not far from the same time, John Barnesi located at Narrow Falls, where his descendants became so numerous, that of the fourteen persons who, in 1799, organized the Congregational Church of that place, eight bore his name — the venerable Christian patriarch himself heading the hst. Among those to whom he then gave the right hand of fellowship was Ichabod Carmichael and Asa Crane. John Carpenter,. William Seeley, U. Patterson and WiOiam Eandall^ were pio- neers in the Beaver Brook region. In this town, in the E«volutionary war, was fought what is; known to historians as the battle of Minisink. It has received^ this name, although it did not take place in the Minisink country, and the people of that region had very little to do with it. The contest was between the militia of Goshen, assisted by a small party from Warwick, and a few volunteers, on the one side, and the celebrated Mohawk chief, Thayendanegea (better known as Colonel Brant) and his savage and tory-foUowers, on the other. As this contest occurred on elevated ground of this region, we shall speak of it as the battle in Highland. Thayendanegea and his fighting-men were the scourge of south-western Ulster from 1775 to 1783. He was of pure Iroquois blood, and bom on the banks of the Ohio in 1742. Here his father died, when his mother returned with him and his sister to the Mohawk, where the widow married an Indian named Barent, and thereafter the children were known as Joseph and Mary or Molly Brant. Molly became the leman of Sir- William Johnson, who sent her brother to Dr. Wheelock's school at Lebanon, Connecticut, where the lad was educated for the Christian ministry. From some cause he did not enter the ranks of the clergy. In his old age, however, he labored to convert his people to the white man's faith, and while doing so translated a part of the New Testament into the Mohawk language.* When twenty years old, Brant became the secretary and agent of Sir WiUiam, and while they lived, was intimately connected with the Johnsons and Butlers. As the Revolution ary storm was brewing, both whigs and tories made efforts to influ- ence his conduct. The first, through Eev. Samuel Kirkland, a devoted and loved missiomiry among the Six Nations, endeav- * LoBBing's Celebrated American*. THE TOWN OP HIGHLAND 305 ored to induce Brant to contimie neutral ; but tile agents of the British prevailed. In 1775, he left»the Mohawk and went to- Canada. Here, as a colonel of the British army, and a war- chief of the Iroquois, he organized and sent forth those predatory bands of Indians and tories which devastated the frontier from the Water-gap to the Mohawk river. Many of these bands- were commanded by him in person, particularly those which visited Wawarsing and Minisink. In 1780, he boasted that th© Esopus border was his old fighting-ground.. His personal appearance and bearing were well calculated to inspire the respect and obedience of his savage followers. Captain Jeremiah Snyder, who, with his son Elias, was made prisoner near Saugerties, and taken to Niagara, thiBS describes^ this famous chief : " He was good-looking, of fierce aspect, tall and rather spare, well-spoken, and apparently about thirty years of age. He wore moccasins elegantly trimmed with beads, leggings, and a. breech-cloth of superfine blue, a short green coat, with two> silver epaulets, and a small, round, laced hat. By his side wa» aa elegant silver-mounted cutlass ; and his blanket of blue cloth (purposely dropped in the chair on which he sat to display hi» epaulets) was gorgeously adorned with a border of red. His. lai^uage was very insulting." Brant has been denounced as an inhuman wretch. Even an . English author attributes to him the atrocities of "Wyoming. But great injustice has been done him. The charge of cruelty- he always repelled with much "indignation, and a great number of instances can be adduced to show that although in battle he generally gave full scope to the murderous propensities of his. followers, he endeavored to mitigate the horrors of war when- ever he could do so without destroying his influence with his. own race. When he invaded Minisink in 1779, he marked the aprons of Httle girls with his totem, and thus kept them from harm. By stratagem, he saved Col. Harper, an old school- mate, from the gauntlet. Even in battle, he was ruled by th& principles of Masonry. In 1780, he returned from a raid on. Harpersfield by the way of the Delaware, when he rebuked the- Oneidas, who remained friendly to the Americans, for cruelty to non-combatants. He then wrote them the following letter in the Iroquois language : "Ne we se watogcayhse ne wastonronon, ne ne aguegough ghe yenaghne, ne gatho Eatinagere, gen ne youagh yagheya- tengh a we, ne esone sakheyaghe kawe, ne ne yogotrigo hogo- nagh, yaghte atteryo te ye yadondagh Mvan a so yoteghhaet ne ok theya go triyo ogh tayon ta tye von nyon tyOdken Etho negyerha, tsinough gwa wenthogh tyodkon eso sekheyaght ka 20 ■BOG HISTOBY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. ■waghs — ne kadi eso togwana kwa tani ne seugha ok enston sayetshiyero ne, you neyawight Enaghsgwa toghsa kadi non Etho niyawou sawatsi wahiouise. " Ouenoni ejhyagh then sa ka to yen. ne ne segon atho nenya wen on the Delaware April 15tli 1780. "Joseph Bkant."* Previous to August 21st, 1788, Colonel Brant wrote a letter 'from Oquaga to Colonel Jacob Klock, commander of a regiment •of Tryon county militia, from which we make this extract: "I am sorry, notwithstanding all the gentle usage we have from time to time given the prisoners we have taken from you, and even letting many of them go home after we made [them] prisoners, that you who boast of being a civilized people, have treated our people who were so unfortunate as to fall in your hands in a most inhuman manner, beating them after you had bound them ; but if you persist in waging war after that manner, we wiU ere long convince you that our lenity proceeded from humanity, not fear."t Providence made Brant an adroit strategist, and his native talent was strengthened and sharpened by the society and the learning of Europeans. He fell like a thunder-bolt upon his -enemies, and destroyed them. His blows were equally unex- pected and disastrous. We do not propose to give a full account of his acts here. It is sufficient for our purpose to record no more than has a direct ibearing on our own county. In October, 1778, he crossed the wilderness from the Dela- ware to the Neversink, and passing down the latter, on the 13th •of the month, invaded Peenpack. His approach was discovered, and a majority of the inhabitants fled to the block-houses. Many were killed, among whom were an old man named Swartr wout and four of his sons. James, another son, escaped. In the Peenpack block-house were many women and children, and but nine men. Captain Abraham Cuddeback the commander, •caused the women to don men's attire, and parade with his squad of militia in such a way that the enemy were led to ♦ TBAKBLATION OF EEV. ELEAZEB WILLIAMS: Be it known to you BostoniauB, that all the inhabitants here of whom I had taken captives, I carry but few of them with me, and much greater part, who are feeble and incapable for war, I have set them at liberty. It is a great sname to abuse the feeble ones. I have always said so ever since we commenced to kill you. Many prisoners I have released, therefore you have greatly roused my wrath, in that you continue to abuse those who are like prisoners. Let it be no longer. So far you are men as well as we, and if you still persist to do so, I know not what may happen here- after. (Signed) Joseph Bbamt. On the Delaware, April 15th, 1780. t Ulster Historical Society Papers. THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND. 307 believe that the "fort" was strongly garrisoned. Brant, having Jio artillery, did not dare attack the block-house ; but contented himself with cutting off stragglers, securing the horses, cows, oxen, etc., of the farmers, and burniag the buildings. After "doing what injury he could, he left with his plunder and followers, and was not pursued. In consequence of this raid, Count Pulaski was ordered to the Minisink country with a battahon of cavalry, for the protec- tion of that region. He remained there but a few weeks ; for, in February, 1779, he left with his force for South Carolina,* and the valley of the Neversink and the Mamakating was left without protection, except what was afforded by such of the settlers as were not serving their country at other points. Of this fact Brant was not long ignorant. In the summer of 1779, while General John ^Uivan was -gathering an army at Wyoming to chastise the Senecas and other hostile savages of western New York, Brant was engaged in making a second descent on Mamakating. He reached Peenpack on the night succeeding the 19th of July, 1779, and spread terrOr and devastation throughout the vaUey. The attack was commenced before daylight, and so stealthily did the wily Mohawk approach his victims, that several families were cut off before an alarm was made. The first intimation which the people had of the presence of the enemy, was the -discovery that several buildings were in flames. Dismay and <5onfusion ensued. Some fled to the woods with their wives and children, and some to the block-houses. The savages and tories plundered, burned and kiUed as they were disposed. After destroying twenty-one dwellings and barns, together with the old Mamachamack church and a grist-mill, and killing an unknown number of patriots, the enemy disappeared, loaded with spoil. They did not attack any of the block-houses, of which the red men entertained a wholesome fear. Brant marched hastily back to Grassy Swamp brook,t where he had left a portion of his followers. > Some of the fugitives fled from the valley, and carried news of the savage incursion to Goshen. Colonel Tusten of the militia of that town and its vicinity immediately issued orders to the officers of his command, to meet him on the following day (th6 21st) at the store-house of Major Decker, with as many volunteers as they could raise. The order was promptly obeyed, and one hundred and forty-nine men, including some of the -principal gentlemen of the county, were at the place of rendei- Tous at the appointed time. A counsel of war was held to * Historical Collections of New York. tThis brook enters the Mongaup a few miles from where that stream enters the Pelaware. 308 ^ mS'lVBY OF SUUJVAN OOUNXy. consider the ej;pediency of a pursuit. Colonel Tusten wasf opposed to risking an encounter with the subtile Mohawk chief,, with so feeble a command, especially as the enemy was known to be greatly superior to them in numbers. The Americans were not well provided with arms and ammunition, and it was wise to wait for re-inforcements. Others, however, were for immediate pursuit. They held the Indians ia contempt, insisted that they would not fight ; and declared that a recapture of the plimder was an easy achievement. The counsels of reckless bravery, imtempered by reason and intelligence, are not always followed by good results. A majority were evidently in faVor of pursuit, when Major Meeker mounted his horse, flourished his sword, and shouted — " Let the brave men follow me ! The cowards may stay behind ! " This appeal decided^ the question. It silenced the prudent. The excited militia-men took up their line of march, and followed the old Katheghton (Oochecton) trail seventeen miles, when they encamped at Skinner's mill, near Hag- gle's pond,* about three miles from the mouth of Half-way brook.. This day's march must have nearly exhausted the little army. The pursuit was commenced sometime in the night. The papers left by Captain Abraham Cuddeback, and now m the possession of his descendants, show that the party reached the house of James Finch, at what is now Fihchville, on the east side of the Shawangunk, in time for breakfast, and that he supphed them with salted provisions. From here they crossed the mountain,, and reached the house of Major Decker, and then pushed on over an Indian trail seventeen miles farther. How many men of Orange and Sullivan, in these effeminate days, can endure such a tramp, encumbered with guns and knapsacks? On the morning of the 22d, they were joined by a small re-in- foroement under Colonel Hathorn, of the Warwick regiment, who, as the senior of Colonel Tusten, took the command. They advanced to the Half-way brook, where they came upon the Indian encampment of the previous night, and another council was held. Colonels Hathorn and Tusten and others were opposed to advancing farther, as the number of Indian fires and the extent of ground the enemy had occupied, removed all doubt as to the superiority of Brant's force. A scene similar to that which had broken up the previous council was once more witnessed. The voice of prudence had less influence than the voice of bravado.t The Meekers carried the day ; but at the end the Meekers did not have the grace to sanctify tiieir own imprudence by the baptism of fire and blood.:]: * Dawson's Battles of the United States, f Stone's Life of Brant. t There was an officer who made quite a display of bravery on the march, who, ■with his company, was within hearing while the engagement lasted, but could not b» induced to go to the relief of his countrymen. — iSicUement of Joseph Ckxt-penter to Lotai^ Smith, , THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND. 309 It was evident that Brant was not far in advance, and it was important to know whether he intended to cross the Delaware at the usual fording-place, and follow the Lackawaxen trail. Captain Bezaleel Tyler and Captain Abraham Cuddeback, both of whom had some knowledge of the woods, were sent forward to ascertain Brant's movements, and reached the ford without interruption. Apparently Brant had already crossed. What they saw led them to think so, especially as they perceived no Indians behind them, and there were savages and plunder on the opposite shore, and a savage was then passing over, mounted on a horse which had been stolen from Major Decker. The two scouts fired at this fellow, and, it is said, wounded him fatally. But they were immediately shot at by skulking savages in their rear, and Tyler fell dead. It is probable j^hat nearly every shot was directed at him, as he was very obnoxious to the- tones and their allies. Cuddeback was unhurt, and suc- ceeded in reaching the main body of Americans, where he reported what he had seen and heard.* The killing of Captain Tyler caused a profound sensation among his friends; but instead of dampening, it added to their fierce determination. After leaving the mouth of the Half-way brook (now Barry- ville) it is believed that Brant followed the river-bank toward the Lackawaxen ford, to which he had sent his plunder in advance. Hathom resolved to intercept him at the crossing, and to do so attempted to reach the ford first by a rapid march over the high ground east of the river. As they approached the ground on which the battle was fought. Brant was seen deliberately marching toward the ford. Owing to intervening woods and hills, the belligerents soon lost sight of each other, when Brant wheeled to the right and passed up a ravine known as Dry brook, over which Hathorn had or was compelled to pass. By this stratagem, Brant was enabled to throw himself into Hathorn'^ rear ; cut oif a part of the latter's men who had fallen behind the main body, and deliberately select his ground for a battle, and form an ambuscade. The battle-ground is situate on the crest of a hill, in the town of Highland, about one mile northerly from the Delaware river, and half a mile north-westerly from the Dry brook at its nearest point. It is also distant about three miles from Barry- viUe aiid one from Lackawaxen. The hill has an altitude of twenty-five or thirty feet above its base, and of about two hundred above the Delaware, and descends east, west and south, while there is a nearly level plateau extending toward * Papers of Captain Abraham Cuddeback. Cuddeback declared that Tyler and himself went ahead and from the hills saw the Indians crossing the river with their plunder ; they proceeded down to the ford, and discovered a savage gouig over on Major Decker's horse ; they flred at him, when Captain Tylnr was shot. On the opposite shore Indians were moving down stream — JUitan Snath's MSS. 310 HISTORY OP SULLTVAN COUNTY. the nortli. This level ground is rimmed (particularly on the south side) with an irregular and broken ledge of rooks.* On that part of the ground nearest the river the Americans were hemmed in, and caught like rats in a trap. The battle commenced about ten o'clock in the morning- Before a gun was fired, Brant appeared in full view of the Americans, told them that his force was superior to them, and demanded their surrender, promising to protect them. While parleying with them, he was shot at hj one of the mihtia, whose baU passed through Brant's belt, who then retired from view, and joined his warriors.f The man who attempted to aaaas- sinate him imder such circumstances was undoubtedly the greater savage of the two. The beUigerents were soon engaged in deadly conflict, when, above the mn of battle Brant was heard, in a voice which was never forgotten by those who were present, giving orders, for the return of those who were on the opposite side of the river. A part of the Americans kept the savages ill check on the north side of the battle-ground, while others threw up hastily a breastwork of stones about one hundred and fifty feet from the ledge which terminated the southern extremity of the plateau. Here, confined to about an acre of ground, screened by tree's, rocks, flat stones quickly turned on their edges, and whatever the exigency of the moment afforded, about niaety brave men, without water, and surrounded by a host of scream- ing and howling savages, fought from ten o'clock to nearly sundown on a sultry July day. The disposition of the militia, . and the effectual manner iu which every assailable point was defended, show that a master-mind controlled them. By com- mand of Hathom, there was no aimless firing. Ammunition was short, and it was necessary to husband it carefully. A gim discharged in any quarter, revealed the position of its owner, and left him exposed until he could reload. Except what we have indicated, however, every man fought in the Indian mode, each for himseK, firing as a good opportunity was presented, and engaged in individual conflicts according to the barbarian custom. We do not beheve that the annals of modern times contain the record of a more heroic defense. In vain for hours Brant, sought to break through the cordon of patriots. The devoted/ mUitia-men repelled him at every point. What the fifty were doing who were in the morning separated from their companions we ^cannot learn. They may have been driven away by superior numbers, and they may have been blustering cowards, brave in; * MSS. of John W. Johnston. t Dawson's Battles of the United States. The statement is made on the aothorit.y, of Brant himself. THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND. 311 council, but timid in real danger. Their movements are veiled in obUvion, and there we must let them remain. As night approached, Brant became disheartened. He be- lieved that the height could not be carried, and had determined to order his men to retreat,* when the death of an American. fjave the savages an opportunity to rush inside the American ines. This faithful man had been stationed behind a rock on the north-west side, where he had remained all day.f Branfc saw the advantage his death afforded, and with the warriors near him, carried dismay into the heart of the American party. The latter, seeing the savages in their midst, became demoral- ized, broke and fled. While doing so, many of them were killed. Brant kiUed Gabriel Wisner with his own hand. In after- years, while on a visit to New York, he declared tfiat he found Wisner, when the battle was over, so badly Wounded, that he could not hve or be removed ; that if he was left alone on the field, the wild beasts would devour him; that he was in full possession of aU his faculties ; that for a man to be eaten while- alive by ravenous beasts was terrible ; and that to save Wisner- from such a fate, he engaged him in conversation, and when unobserved, struck him dead. Such barbarous mercy may seem strange to us ; but it is not inconsistent with the character of a semi-civUized savage. Captaia Benjamin Vail was wounded in the battle, and after the rout, was found seated upon a rock, and bleeding. He was killed, while in this situation, by a tory.J Doctor Tu^en was behind a cliff of rocks attending to the necessities of the wounded, when the rout commenced. There^ were seventeen disabled men under his care, who appealed for protection and mercy ; but the Indians fell upon them, and all, including the doctor, perished under the tomahawk. Several of the fugitives were shot while attempting to escape by swim- ming the Delaware-! Of those engaged in the battle, thirty escaped and forty-five, it is known, were killed. The balance were taken prisoners, or perished while fugitives in the wilder- ness. Among ^e killed was Moses Thomas, 2d, a son of the^ pioneer of that name, who was shot near the old Cushetunk block-house. The son was slain by a tory named Cornelius Oole.!l Major Wood of the militia, though not a Mason, accidentally five the Masonic sign of distress. This was observed by Brant, aithful to his pledge, the red Master saved Wood's life, and gave him his own blanket to protect him from the night-air * Jay Gould's History of Delaware County, t Dawson's Battles of the United States, i Oration of John C. Dimmick, July 22, 1862; § Stone's Life of Brant. II Tom Quick. 312 HISTOET OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. "while sleeping. He subsequently discovered that Wood was not one of the Motherhood, and denounced him as dishonorable, Ibut spared his life.* The blanket was accidentally damaged while in the prisoner's possession, which made Brant very angry. He then treated Wood with much harshness. One of the militia attempted to escape with others ; but was so exhausted he was obliged to turn aside to rest. In a httle while he saw one Indian after another running in the direction his friends had gone. They continued to pass until a very pow- •erful savage discovered him, when the man fired his last shot and fled. The red man did not foUow. He was probably dis-' abled by the shot, if not kiUed. The name of this militia-man, we beheve, was Cuddeback. Samuel Helm, of the Mamakating family of that name, and a grandson of Manuel Gonsalus,.the first settler of that town, was wounded, but being an expert woodman as weU as Indian-fighter, escaped. He was stationed behind a tree, when he saw an In- dian thrust his head from behind a neighboring trunk, and peer around as if looking for a chance to shoot a patriot. The savage had on his neck what appeared to be a black silk neckerchief. At this Helm fired. Much to his satisfaction, the Indian fell upon the ground apparently dead ; but not much to his satisfac- tion, he himself was immediately shot through one of his thighs hy another of Brant's -men. The wound seemed to take away sensation and strength from the limb, and Helm dropped to the earth, but kept behind his natural breastwork. The Indian did not at once rush ur to scalp Helm, being anxious to ascertain first whether it was safe to do so. This gave the white man a chance to reload his rifle. Aiter dodging around a httle, the other made a dash for Helm's scalp; but instead of getting it, received a bullet which put an end to his hfe. Helm, in relat- ing the adventure to our informant (Lawrence Masten,) said the astonishment of the red-skin, when he was unexpectedly con- fronted with the muzzle of the gun, was truly ridiculous ' * Helm then managed to get to a piece of low land near the battle- f round, and finally to the nver. His trail was made plain by is own blood. He knew he would be followed and killed if he did not baffle his pursuers. He therefore plunged into the river, and managed to pass down some distance with the current. Then he got ashore and hid among the rocks. As he anticipated, the savages tracked hira to the nver-baink, where he saw them hold a brief consultation, -and look up and down the stream. Not seeing him, they turned back, and he saw them no more. Here he managed to stop the flow of blood from his wound, and remained until it was safe to commence his lonely and weary * After his release, Wood assumed the obligations of this ancient and honorable fraternity. THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND. 31S journey back to the valley of the Neversink. He reached it after much suffering. Benjamin Whitaker, who afterwards lived and died at Deposit, was wounded during the day ; but kept on fighting until he be- came sick and faint from the loss of blood. He then retired to a safe place, where he staunched the blood with tow from his cartridge-box, and binding up the wound with a handkerchief, again joined eagerly in the fight. John Whitaker (a brother of Benjamin) was in the hottest of the battle, and, although he received nine bullet-holes through his hat and clothes, escaped uninjured.* Allusion has been made to Sulhvan's expedition against the hostile tribes of the Six-Nations in the summer of 1779. He passed through Wawarsing, Mamakating and Deerpark ; crossed the Delaware; followed it down to Easton; ^en went to Wyoming, where his army numbered three thousand ; from the . latter placehe conveyed his artillery and stores up the Susque- hanna to Tioga Point, where he arrived about fifteen days after the battle near the mouth of the Lackawaxen. Here he waited for the division of his army under General James Clinton. Clinton marched by the way of Canajoharie, Lake Otsego, and the Susquehanna to Tioga Point, which he reached on the 22d ■of August. Brant in returning to Canada, was too shrewd to follow the road blocked by these forces. A few days after the battle on the banks of the Delaware, and while Clinton was •delayed at Lake Otsego, he feU upon a village in the Mohawk valley.t Therefore, he must have avoided the Susquehanna, and continued on up the Delaware, probably following the West or Mohawk branch, and around Clinton's rear. An account of the terrible chastisement administered by Sullivan on the confederated tribes belongs to general rather than local history. He swept over the fertile plain^ of the Iroquois like devastating fire, destroying everything, and leaving hundreds of feeble non-combatants to perish from destitution and exposure. Say what we may, the sum of human woe wrought by him in a few days, more than equals that of Brant's •entire Hfe. Suffering should be judged by its magnitude and intensity, not by the mode of its infliction. After 1779, no formidable attempt was made to invade Mama- kating; but the country was occasionally visited by small predatory bands, which cut off isolated families, and those who incautiously visited exposed points. In April, 1780, Brant started from Niagara for the Schoharie frontier. At Tioga Point, he detailed eleven of his warriors to go to Minisink for prisoners and scalps. With the remainder * Jay Gould's History of Delaware County, t Dawaon's Battles ot the United States. S14 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. of his force, he went as far as Harpersfield, where he took Colonel Harper, Freegift Patohin and several other prisoners- Harper made him believe that the fort at Schoharie was- occupi'ed by several hundred men. This caused Brant to turn back. He followed down the Delaware as far as the Cook House, then crossed the country to Oquaga, and when he reached the Chemung, the whole party was startled by the- death-yell, which rang through the woods hke the scream of a. demon. They paused, waiting for an explanation of this; unexpected signal, when two of the eleven Indians who had been sent to Minisink emerged from the woods, bearing the moccasins of their nine companions. They informed their chief that they had been to Minisink, where they had captured,, one after another, five lusty men, and had brought them as far- as Tioga Point, where they encamped for the night. Here,, while the eleven Indians were asleep, the prisoners had by unknown means got rid of the cords which bound them, when each took a hatchet, and with incredible celerity brained nine of their captors. The other two savages, aroused by the sound of the blows, sprang to their feet and fled; but as they ran one of them received the blade of a hatchet between his shoulders. They saw no more of the white men ; but after a time, returned to their camping-ground, took the moccasins from tiie feet of their slaughtered friends, went a short distance up the Chemung,, built a hut near the trail by which Brant would travel when he returned, and endeavored to cure the wound made by the hatchet. When Brant's men heard this story, they were so enraged that it seemed probable that they would murder their prisoners ; but the only one of the eleven who escaped unhurt, threw him- self in their midst and declared that "these are not the men who kiEed our friends, and to take the life of the innocent, in cold blood, cannot be right." His words had the desired effect, and soothed the storm which a moment before had threatened destruction.* For forty-three years, the bones of those who had been slain on the banks of Delaware were permitted to molder on the battle-ground. But one attempt had been made to gather them, and that was by the widows of the slaughtered men, of whom there were thirty-three in the Presbyterian congregation of Goshen. They set out for the place of battle on horseback;, but finding the journey too hazardous, they hired a man to per- form the pious duty, who proved unfaithful, and never returned. *This is the story as it was told by the Indians in the presence of Mr. Patohin,. ■who repeats it in the narrative of his captivity. William L. Stone, in his History ol Wyoming, says that the celebrated scout and Indlan-iighter, Major Moses Van Campen^ was one of the men who killed the nine savages, and that the prisoners were residents' of Wyoming. Stone received his Information from Van Dampen himself, when the- latter was very old. fHE TOWN OF HIGHLAND. 315 In 1822, tke citizens of Goshen were led ^o perform a long- neglected duty by an address of Doctor D. E. Arnell, at the annual raeetiag of the Orange County Medical Society, in which he gave a, brief biography of Doctor Tusten^ A committee was appointed to collect the remains and ascertain the names of the fallen. The committee proceeded to the battle-ground, a distance of fort^-six miles from Goshen, and viewed some of the frightful elevations and descents over which the militia had passed when pursuing the red marauders. The place where the conflict occurred, and the region for several miles around, were carefully examined, and the relics of the honored dead gathered with pious care. The skeleton of one man was dis- covered where he had crept into a crevice of the rocks, and died. Some feared that a part of the bones* were tho^ of the enemy ; but this fear was dismissed when it was suggested that the Indians consider it a duty to inter the bodies of their friends who are killed in battle. The remains were taken to Goshen, where they were buried in the presence of fifteen thousand persons, including the mil- itary of the county, and a corps of cadets from West Point under the command of Major Worth. The venerable John Hathornf was also present, and laid the corner-stone of the monument erected to the memory of the dead patriots, when he delivered the following address : " At the end of three and forty years, we have assembled to perform the sad rites of sepulture to the bones of our country- men and kindred. But these arp not sufficient; pohcy has united with the gratitude of nations in erecting some memorial of the virtues of those who died in defending their country. Monuments to the brave are mementoes to their descendants ; the honors they record are stars to the patriot in the path of glory. Beneath the mausoleum whose foundation we now lay, repose all that was earthly of patriots and heroes. This honor . has long been their due ; but circumstances, which it is unnec- , essary for me to recount, have prevented an earlier display of the gratitude of their country. Having commanded on that melancholy occasion, which bereft the nation of so many of its brightest ornaments — Shaving been the companion of their suf- ferings in a pathless desert, and the witness of their valor against * Eager says that three hundred bones were found— a rather hmited number for forty-five persons ! Joseph Carpenter was the guide of the committee, and assisted in searching for the bones. Most of them were found near a small marsh or pond a few rods west of the battle-ground. This fact shows that some of the Americans, rendered reckless by thirst, went for water, and were killed. t John Hathorn represented Orange county in the Assembly ttom 1777 to 1785, and was twice Speaker of that body. From 1787 to 1804 he was a Senator from the Middle district. He was also the commander of a brigade of militia, and a Member of Congress in 1788, 1789, 1790 and 1791. 316 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COCNTt. a savage foe of superior numbers, I approacli the duty assigned me with mingled feelings of sadness and pleasure. "May this monument endure with the liberties of our country. When they peiish, this land will be no longer worthy to hold within its bosom the consecrated bones of its heroes." An oration was then delivered by Eev. James R. Wilson, D. D., which we will not quote, because a major part of his state- ments have already been given in this narrative. The names of those who were slain in the battle are inscribed on the monument as follows : Benjamin Tusten, Bezaleel Tyler, Ephraim Hasten, Nathaniel Fitch, John Duncan, Samuel Jones, John Little, Ephraim Middaugh, NOETH SIDE. Col. Gabriel Wisner, Esq. Capt. Stephen Mead, Ens. Benjamin Vail, Capt. Adj. John Wood, Lieut. Capt. Matthias TerwiUiger, Capt. Joshua Lockwood, Capt. Ephraim Forguson. Ens. WEST SIDE. Bobert Townsend, Samuel Knapp, James Knapp, Benjamin Bennett, WiUiam Barker, Jacob Dunning, Jonathan Pierce, James Little, Joseph Norris, Gilbert S. Tail, Joel Decker, Abram Shepherd, Nathan Wade, Simon Wait, Talmage. SOUTH SIDE. John Carpenter, David Bimey, Jonathan Haskell, Abram Williams, James Mosher, Isaac Ward, Baltus Niepos, Gamaliel Bailey, Moses Thomas, Eleazer Owens, Adam Embler, Samuel Little, Benjamin Dunning, Daniel Reed. EAST SIDE. Erected by the inhabitants of Orange county, July 22, 1822. Sacred to the memory of forty-four of their Fellow-citizens, who fell at The Battle of Minisink, July 2=^, 1779. THE TOWN OP HIGHLAND. 317 This moimment gradually fell into decay, and no measures ■were taken to preserve it. In 1860, Merrit H. Cook, M. D., a distinguished citizen of Orange county, bequeathed four thou- sand dollars for the erection of a new one, which was dedicated on the 83d anniversary of the battle, on which occasion John 0. Dimmick, a native of Bloomingburgh, officiated as the orator of the day. Mrs. Abigail Mitchell, a daughter of Captain Bezaleel Tyler, was present, and witnessed the ceremonies. She was five years of age at the time of the battle ; and had lived during the greater portion of her life at Cochecton. The battle-ground is now (1870) owned by Harmon B. Twitchell, who lives in its vicinity. An attempt has been made to open a stone quarry on the Point ; but it proved unsuccessful. On the plateau near the Point, another attemptias been made with better success, by Horace Twitchell and ifobert P. Owen. Bullets, fragments of bones, etc., are yet found where the contest occurred. Breastworks are still quite plain, and stones stand on their edges. Brant's name is carved on a tree near the Point, and on a rock at some distance.* Benjamin Haines, the pioneer at Handsome Eddy, was one of those brutal men who rush beyond the bounds of civihzation, because they can find nothiug congenial in well-organized and well-regulated communities., This allegation is rendered a verity by the following narrative : In 1784, three Indians named Nicholas, Canope and Ben Shanks or Huycon, came to their old campiag-grounds on the Delaware to fish and hunt. But Httle is known of Nicholas. Canope was a native of Cochecton, where he had grown from childhood to manhood, and was much esteemed. When the C.olonies revolted, he went to Canada and took up the hatchet for King George. Ben Shanks was a c»afty, subtile savage. His chnstian-name was Benjamin. Before the war he had worked for the farmers of Shawangunk, and quite often for a man named Schenck. From that circumstance he was known as Schenck's Ben, and ultimately, on account of the great length of his legs, as Ben Shanks.t He was engaged in almost ev^ry expedition from Niagara against the frontiers of Ulster, and was so useful to the British that at one time he was in command of one hundred warriors. It is said that he was the tallest Indian ever seen on the banks of the Delaware, and the natural hid- eousness of his aspect was intensified by an accident. While on the war-path with a large party, a quantity of powder got wet. Shanks attempted to dry it by a fire, when it exploded, and burnt him and several others so badly that they were dis- abled for some time. He was much disfigured in consequence. * Sullivan County Ecpublican, July 7, 1871. t He was also kuQwn as Ben de Wilt, or Wild E«n. 318 HISTORY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. "Wlien Shanks and his companions returned to the Delaware ia 1784, they were first seen at Cochecton, where they stop- ped a day or two to renew the friendly relations which had existed before the war. Among others, they visited Joseph Koss, David Young and Josiah Parks. While they were at the house of Ross, they amused themselves by shooting across the river at a large chestnut tree, which is still standing. They were advised by several persons to go no farther, and told that their lives would be in danger if they went below, as there were some desperate characters there — Tom Quick among the number — who would not hesitate to murder them. Huycon, Canope and Nicholas did not heed this advice. They had passed back and forth through this region in safety during the war, and beheved that it would be cowardly to turn back from fear when peace was established. They went as far as the Shohola, where they commenced trapping for beaver, and where Haiaes, while roving through the woods, discovered them. He professed to be very glad to see them, and accosted them in the most friendly man- ner, calling them brothers, and assuring thejn that he was over- joyed to meet them once more. The Indians having just killed a deer, the whole party partook of a hearty meal of venison. After this, the savages invited Haines to visit them again, and he urged them to come to his cabin at the Eddy. He then went home, and as soon as possible concerted with Tom Quick and a man named Jacobus Chambers to entice the red men to his house, and there murder them in cold blood, and rob them of their furs and other property. Their plan was to induce Shanks and the others to visit the house of Haines, under a promise of protection, and get them to engage in fishing at the Eddy, while Quick and Chambers were in ambush on" the shore, from which they would shoot Haines''guests. Accordingly Haines prevailed on Shanks and Canope to come out, by promising to protect them, and take their furs to Minisink, and exchange them for such articles as they needed. Nicholas, it seems, did not come with the others far some reason not now remembered. Not long after. Quick and Chambers reached the Eddy, and according to agreement concealed themselves in a clump of bushes close by the fishing- rocks, where Haines had promised to entice his proteges. They did not wait long before Canope, Huycon and Haines, and a little son of the latter, came to the rocks and began to fish. Before Tom and his companion fired, it occurred to Haines ' that the boy might be injured in the affray, and he ordered him home. Something in the manner of the white man caused the Indians to suspect his fidehty, but he quickly quieted their suspicions, and the three continued their sport. Canope having broken his hook, and none of the party having one to give him, TBB TOWN Off HIGHLAND. 319 ie laid down on the rocks near Shanks, with his head resting xipon his hand. This was considered a favorable opportunity, and Quick and Chambers fired. One of their balls passed through Canope's hand and the lower part of his head ; but did not kill him. He ran to Haines, and claimed the protection which had been promised ; when the wretch seized a pine-knot, and exclaiming, " Tiak ! tink ! how you ust to kill white folks. 'Pant ! 'pant ! I'll sand yer soul to hall 'n a momant ! " dispatched him by beating out his brains. Even Tom, who for many years had been familiar with scenes ■of blood, was shocked at Haines' perfidy. He came up as the latter was dealing out his blows, and shouted, "D — n a man . who will promise an Indian protection, and then knock him on the head!" » Shanks, who was unharmed, jumped into the river, and pretended to be wounded and drownmg, until the current had cai'ried him to a point where the bank was covered with bushes. Here he scrambled on shore, and ran off, limping, hallooing and groaning, as if in great agony. The ruse did not deceive Quick, however, who, finding that Shanks was traveling pretty fast for a man who pretended to be fatally wounded, started in pursuit, loading his rifle as he ran, and was soon near enough to fire. At the moment he snapped his gun. Shanks glanced back over his shoulder, and fell to the ground. He afterwards said that he dodged at the fiash of the gun. Be this as it may, Tom did not hit him. A baU-hole was afterwards found through his blanket, but when it was made could not be determined. After the last discharge of the gun, Huycon took to his heels in earnest ; and Quick found that his shanks were neither active nor long enough to compete with those of the savage. He returned to the roclis, saying, " If ever legs did sarvice, it was them." Shanks was next seen at Oochecton,. where he stopped to rest and get something to eat. He was very much enraged, . and " damned the Yankees for killing Canope," and swore that they should suffer for what they had done. After his wants were supplied, he proceeded on his journey up the river until he reached the house of Joseph Eoss, who invited him to stay with him ; but he refused to come near Eoss at first, the bad faith of Haines having caused him to distrust every pale-face. He finally consented, however, to remain there a short time, .and was kindly treated by Mr. Eoss and his neighbors. While here, the conduct of Shanks afforded much amusement. Eoss and his workmen were hoeing corn, and every time they went to their work. Shanks accompanied them. As soon as he ■CTitered the field, he proceeded to the highest ground in it, and .after glancing rapidly and suspiciously over the surrounding 320 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. cotmtry, he seated himself a la Turc, among the rustlyig com, ■where he remained out of sight for fifteen or twenty minutes^ He would then jump upon his feet, get upon the tips of hia toes, raise his head as high as possible, look around as ii expecting to see an enemy, and then squat upon his haunches^ again. As long as he remained in the field, he acted in this way. Boss's boys could compare him to nothing but a vigilant- and alarmed turkey-cock. After remaining a few days, he left Boss, still threatening vengeance upon the Yankees who had murdered Canope. He was ferried across the Delaware by Josiah Parks, whose name has been already mentioned. The death of Oanope was regretted by the frontier settlers for many reasons. It was brought about by unmitigated treach-^ ery, and was a wanton and brutal homicide, which might bring upon innocent parties the most deplorable consequences. Chambers was arrested and put in jail. Quick and Haines, skulked about from place to place, and kept themselves beyond the reach of constables and sheriffs. Shanks never returned to the country. Sufficient evidence to convict Chambers could not be found, and he was discharged from custody. In time, the three murderers came out openly and boasted of their foul deed.. They were never disturbed for it, and Haines continued to live on the Delaware many years, while Quick, after a long life replete with murder and outrage upon the red man, died from old age near Port Jervis.* Settlements had not long existed in the town, before provision was made for educating the children of the inhabitants. Before public schools were organized, John Carpenter, who has been mentioned as one of the pioneers in the Beaver Brook region, hired a man named Nathaniel Wheeler to teach a school. G. Ferguson opened the first tavern in 1830, 'and Phinea* Terry the first store in 1828. Terry was a surveyor. He remained a resident pf the town until July 13, 1844, when he left home to gather berries, and was found dead a few hours afterwards. The cause of his death was imknown, although it. was believed that he was killed by hghtning. Barryville owes its existence to the Delaware and Hudson canal, and was named in honor of a former postmaster-general of the United States. It has a population of about 260. The establishment of a depot of the New York and Erie railroad at Shohola, rendered easy access to it from Barryville very desir- able. This led to the building of a suspension-bridge across, the Delaware at this point, by the Barryville and Shohola Bridge Company, which was organized in the fall of 1854. Chauncey Thomas, an enterprising merchant of the vicinity,, * lom Qnick and the Pioneers. THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND. 321 owned about one-half of the stock. The bridge was completed in 1856, and cost about $9,000. On the 2d of July, 1859, it was blown down. A few moments before the catestrophe, a couple of equestrians (Daniel Holbiraok, A. M., of Monticello, and Miss Kate McElroy, of Philadelphia,) galloped across from Shohola, and took refuge in a building on the opposite side of the river.. This building was crushed by one of the cables immediately afterwards, and the occupants buried beneath the ruins. They escaped, however, without serious injury. In a few months the- bridge was reconstructed at a cost of |4,000. About the first of January, 1865, the bridge broke down, while three heavily loaded teams were crossing. There were on it at the time six persons — Henry Lilly, Oliver Dunlap, WilHam Myers, M. W. Quick, William Loftus and Charles Deabron. AH were precip- itated into the river — three mules were drowned — the men escaped. In the September following, the bridge was sold, under an execution by Sheriff Holley, and purchased by Mr. Thomas for $1,979. Mr. Thomas rebuilt it, adding another pier, etc., and by expending an additional $4,000, made the structure permanent. It is believed that a murder was perpetrated in Barryvill& during the month of October, 1861. The body of a man named John Malone was found in a canal-lock, where it had been thrown after the head of the unfortunate man had been crushed,, and a wound inflicted by a sharp instrument over one of his eyes, and another under his chin. An inquest was held, and a. verdict rendered that these injuries were the cause of Malone's death, and that they were inflicted by some person or persons, unknown, ifo clue to the murderer has been discovered. The Congregational Church now having the corporate name of the First Congregational Church of Lumberland, was first constituted " August ^^ 11"*, 1799," then bearing the name of the church at Narrow Falls, a location about a mile above the mouth of the Lackawaxen, on the Delaware river. It was gathered and organized under the labors of the Rev. Isaac Sergeant.* The following persons were the members at the time it was constituted, viz: John Bams, lohabod Carmi- chael, Asa Crane, Thomas Bams, Henry Barns, Jeremiah Barns, Nathan Bams, Elizabeth Bams, Mary Mason, Phebe Carmichael, Abigail Crane, Rebecca Barns, Elizabeth Barns,. Elizabeth Gray. At the time of this organization, all this. tegion was a forest, with saw-mills on various streams; yet few and far between. The population was very sparse, and wholly engaged in lumbering, many not even having a clearing for a potato-patch ; yet a Church was formed of the Congre- * Mr. Sergeant commenced occupying this field in 1797. 21 322 HISTOEY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. Rational order, that beii^, in . the opinion of those constituting the same, the best form of government for them, and that which would best guarantee the Uberties of the brotherhood. However, to hold together as a Church, and to keep up and maintain regular religious services on the Sabbath, was attended wiih great inconvenience and long travel, done at tha,t time mostly on foot, or on horseback, both by male and female ; but if otherwise favoi'ed, it was in the roughest style of buckboard for a carriage. They had no meeting-house, or even convenient edifice of any kind, for their gathering, and therefore met at private log-houses, and changed the places of meeting as best ■suited the convenience of the whole.. They had no settled ■central place for gathering for many years, nor was there any one particular neighborhood, that for number of inhabitants and jgeneral convenience, was more prominent than others. It was what might perhaps be called a squatting community^ occupying such localities as gave the easiest and best facilities for getting 'their lumber to the river, and thence to market. Nor does it ^appear that they had for several years any settled pastor ; Eev. Isaac Sergeant serving them only on special occasions and times of communion, though he labored among them for a time at a later period. Hence, in the intervals between such visits, they tept up their meetings for public worship, and social prayer, and monthly Church-meetings, as best they could — meeting -sometimes at Narrow Falls, sometimes a,t Grassy Swamp, or Beaver Brook, or Halfway Brook, and their appointed Wednes- •day evening prayer-meeting has been kept up from that day to ihis. In 1803, we find in the minutes a proposition from the Church at Narrow Falls, to hold a union-meeting with the Church at Oochecton, the place for gathering to be Grassy Swamp. On this occasion there was present Bev. Isaac Sergeant from Eidgebury: Eev. Mr. Jones from Chester, and Eev. Mr. Crane from Bloominggrove, at which meeting five persons were added ;to the Church. It is said of this gathering that " by far the freatest number of precious souls were convened that ever was nown in those parts upon any occasion whatever — supposed to be at least 400, a great number for these scattered settlements and the roughness of the roads." From wha,t is recorded, they must at this time have gathered from Cochecton, north, to Draketown on the Mongaup, south. From this period through several years they had their trials, being as sheep without a shep|ierd, yet holding together as a 'Church, and meeting for worship as they could. In the month of September, 1814, there is record of their 3iolding a meeting in the barn of Samuel Watkins, on Halfway brook ; and there were occasions in years following, of meetings THE TOWN OP HIGHLAND. 323 being held in saw-mills, and ministers from a distance invited to attend. At some period between this and 1818, but not on record, their more central place for meeting was at a location now called the Denton farm, between BarryyiUe and Beaver brook mUls, then owned and occupied by the family of Hickoks. Here, under the labors of the Ilev. Stephen Sergeant, son of the aforementioned Eev. Isaac Sergeant, they were blessed with a remarkable work of grace. The fniit of this revival was the admission to the Church of the following persons: Eeuben Hickok, Aaron Williams, Samuel Sealy, Henry Montgomery, Justus Hickok, James Van Keuren, Daniel Wells, James Eldred, Joseph Carpenter, Dorcas Carpenter, Mary Wells, Catharine Van Keuren, Elizabeth Carmichael, Debo^-ah Wells, Margaret Montgomery, Tabitha Wright, Polly V. Eldred, :i^tsy Hickok. Some of these brethren becoming active and efficient laborers in the cause, and having their residence at Halfway Brook, led "to the making of this vicinity the more general centre for their gathering for worship; but stiU in private houses, mostly at JTames Eldred's. This addition gave them considerable strength, and under the labors of Eev. Stephen Sergeant, they were blessed with subse- quent additions at different times. And now appears on their minutes their first call to settle a pastor over them, having been •organized and holding an existence as a Church 19 years without any settled pastor; for here we read: "Nov. 13th, 1818, the Church agreed to call and settle the Eev. Stephen Sergeant as their pastor," and he remained as such, till about the year 1826, during which time many made an open profession of Cihrist, and were hopefully brought into the kingdom. At this period, however, Mr. Sergeant relinquished his charge, and for a time they were again without a pastor. And now being destitute they sought another laborer to come among them, and this was the introduction to the present incumbent, (Eev. FeHx Kyte,) who was by letter invited to pay them a visit, which he did in the month of August, 1832. This visit was followed by a unanimous call from the Church to become their pastor, and in October of the same year he arrived with his family, and settled among them, having been pre^dously ordained to that end. ^ At this time religious services on the Sabbath were held in the school-house at Halfway Brook ; this settlement having by this time become a little more prominent than others ; and foi this reason was given to: it the name of The Village, which it has retained ever since. - On first settling, the labors of the present incumbenv were (divided between The Village and Ten Mile Eiver, preaching 324 HI8T0KX OP SULUVAN COUNTY. alternately on the Sabbaihj traveling 20 miles on foot^ and preaching three times. This arraiigement contiaued for one year, after which the iiohabitants insisted that a portion of his^ labors should be at the Eiver, now known as IBartyviUe. Soon, after this a friend took compassion on him as to his pedestrian travels, and provided him with a horse, saying he would take it out in preaching. It was indeed an aged aniibaly but did hiitt good service for a time. Having as yet no edifice for publi» worship, save that of a small school-house, the bam of Deacon Sears K. Gardner (of respectful memory) was temporarily fitted up by a stand for a pulpit, and boards for seats, in which to hold a four-days' meeting, and the Eev. Mr. Howell, of Wantage^ and the worthy pastor of the Minisink Church, "Rev. Cornelius .Elting, were invited^ to attend it, and assist the present incum- bent, which they did, and which resulted in several hopeful ccm versions and additions to the Church. His labors proving acceptable to the people who called him,, measures were taken to ereot a church-edifice at Halfway Brook,, and another at what is now called Barryville. Hence, on November 12, 1835, thirty-six years after its organ- isation, th(B Narrow Falfe' Church, as it had been called, dedicated its first church-edifice, and took the corporate name of the First Congregational Church of Lumberland. And on September 17^ 1835, (this being finished first,) the edifice at Barryville was dedicated, and the Church on its organization took the name of the First Congregational Church at Barryville. From the year 1832, through all the years intervening up to the present time, (1873) the present incumbent has filled the place! of pastor to this people, during which time many have been gathered into the fold ; but owing to the transition-state of this part of the country from lumbering to that of small beginnings m farming, many have removed to follow that business else- where. In the 74 years of its existence, the Church has had but 2' pastors, and in the intervals, but very few supplies. Its first. 19 years without ; then for 8 years it had a shepherd ; then for 6 years without; adding then the present pastorate to the former, it gives for the Church in the 74 years, 25 without and 49 with. ' There have been in this Church brethren whose biography,, if written in full, would no doubt be interesting to Christian minds ; and we mean no disparagement to others when we say that, among others. Deacon James Eldred,* Deacon Alexander Carmichael, Deacon Daniel WeUs, and Deacon Sears R. Gardner, * James Eldred held the office of detwson for thirty-Beven years ; was a iTudge of Common Pleas, for several ; a Member of Assembly in 1836, etc. He settled in the old town of Lumberland in 1802. THE TOWN OP HIGHLAND. 325 (all deceased,) were men who held the cause of God deeply at heart. They entered heart and hand into every measure that gave promise of promoting the blessed cause of Christ.* Eev. Felix Kyte, the pastor of these Churches from 1832 to the present time (1873), was born in the county of Kent, Eng- land, in January, 1800. There he spent his childhood and youthful years, and subsequentiy emigrated to the United ^States. Although the name of Kyte was somewhat prominent in the old town of Mamakating during the war of the Eevolution, he is not connected by consanguinity with any family of his name in this country, unless distant relatives have immigrated within the last fifty years. His life has been marked by patient toil and self-dpnial, and a rigid adherence to what he deemed his duty. A temperate and abstemious life has ensured him a green and vigorous old age. Mr. Kyte raised nine chfldren, one of whom became, Hke his father, a minister. There are two other churches in Highland. One of them is a 3Iethodist Episcopal church located at HaM-way Brook, which was built in 1859, and dedicated on the 3d of July of that year. The other is a Baptist church, located in Barryville. It was built in 1860, and is known as the Barryville and Shohola Baptist church. SUPEBVISOBS OF THE TOWN OE HIGHLAND. From To 1854 John W. Johnston 1856 1856 Isaac Young 1858 1858 Stephen St. John Gardner 1859 1859 John Barnes 1862 1862 Friend W. Johnston 1870 1870 John Banjes 1872 1872 Peter McCallum 1873 1873 .Leon Pevonoge ; 1874 t statement of Eer. Fejix Kyte. CHAPTER XI. THE TOWN OF LIBEKTY. The existence of Liberty dates from Tuesday, the 31st day of March, 1807. The act erecting it as a town , passed the Assembly on the 10th of that month, and the Senate on the 12th, and it was originally bounded thus: All that part of Lumberland situate, etc., beginning at the Mongaup riyer where the north line of Great Lot 1 of the Hardenbergh patent intersects said river ; thence westerly along said Une to the Delaware river ; thence up said river to the line of Delaware ; thence north-easterly along said line to the town of Neversink ; thence south-easterly along said line to the Mongaup ; thence down said river to the place of beginning. The territoiy within these bounds included the present towns of Fremont, Callicoon, and Liberty, except so much thereof as was not originally in the town of Rochester, In 1816, the Hne was made to run along the north bounds of Great Lot 3, and at a subsequent date an addition was made from Thompson, and the territory on which ParksviUe is sit- uated, was transferred from Rockland. The surface of this town is uneven, and generally it abounds with hills. These hills are mostly long, and, when compared with those of other towns, of considerable altitude. The prin- cipal range was originally known as .the Blue mountains, and from them the first settlement of Liberty received its name. They extended from north-east to south-west nearly through the town. Walnut mountain, one of the peaks of this range, has an elevation of 1,984 feet* above the ocean level. Like the majority of our hills and mountains, it is fertile from its base tO' its summit. Its sides and top, where the woods have been subdued, are fruitful in grass and grain. One of its singular features is, that near its highest part is a never-failing spring of pure cold water; and another is, the walnut abounds on it,, while that tree does not thrive on the adjacent lands. The town is said to have an average elevation of about 1,500 feet. Localities thus situated are generally cold, and not well ♦Professor Antisell. Some wnters give its height as 2,130 teet. [326] THE TOWN OP LIBEKTY. 327 adapted to agricultural pursuits. Nevertheless, for productive- ness, wealth and industry, Liberty ranks high in the list ol .towns, and it is generally conceded to be one of the best localities for the grazier and the dairyman in Sullivan county. Much attention has been paid to the raising of horn-cattle, and a large part of the wealth of the town has come from this source. Liberty is intersected by several streams ; but has none that reach the magnitude of a river. The Mongaup is a beautiful stream, and furnishes considerable hydraulic power. It was originally known as the Min-gap-och-ka, Mongawping or Ming- wing. The first and last names, although more euphonic than the other, are no longer used, nor is the last syllable of. Mongaw- ping. AU are Indian words. It. is said the wprd Mongaup, when rendered into English, is " dancing feather "—a very pretty conceit, and very expressive of the character of the stream ► The poetical quaHty of the translation, and the fact that Mongaup is but two-thirds of the original word, prove that the translator has used a poet's license. The Mongaup has three distinct branches. As the word "ing" or "ink" in the Lenape language means stream, the word or phrase "M'ing-w'ing " is the Indian mode of expression for a plurality of streams.* The Little BeaverkiU is another stream of some importance. It is not as large as the Mongaup, but is more rapid. The name of Beaverkill was applied to it by the early settlers, as it was to many other streams in various sections, because it was a haunt of the beaver; and the word "Little" was prefixed tO' distinguish it from the " Great Beaverkill," in Eockland. There are but two ponds worthy of notice in Liberty. These are the Brodhead and the Lily ponds. The former is situated on an elevated plain, about two miles from the' village of Liberty, and is somewhat famous as a resort for anglers of this and neighboring towns. It covers an area of about 300 acres, and is within the "3,000 acre tract," formerly owned by the Brod- head family of Ulster county, from whom it received its name. Its water furnishes some hydraulic power, and it was on its outlet that the first mill of the town was erected. Lily pond has a situation very hke that of Brodhead pond. Its elevation above the ocean is computed at 1,600 feet. It covers about 150 acres of land, and is surrounded by primeval forests. Over its margin, in summer, are spread the green leaves and white, fragrant blpssoms of the lotus (a species of lily made famous by Egyptian mythology,) from which it derives *"0s8'ing-B'-ing" now corrupted iuto Sing. Sing, and " Ass'-ing-n'ing " — (the last the true Indian name of the Shawangunk river,) are examples. Both undoubtedly have the same signification. Mongawping may have Been the name of the stream below the forks ; while Mingwing was the descriptive appellation of the branches. 28 HISTOBY GP BVLUJAS qOtlKTY. it» pretty and significant name. This pond is situated on the highway from ParksviUe to DeBruce, about tvo miles from the former, and is one of the most beautiful and pioturesque sheets of water in the eoimty. It has but a small outlet^ which empties into the Little Beaverkill.* . . Koads intersect this town in alinost every direction. Like the highways of every region which has not been occupied by ■civilized men more than one hundred years, they are nteraUy *'hard to travel." The buildings are principally of wood, and generally are large and commodious, though built with little regard to beauty of architecture. The general aspect of the town shows that the population is noted for industry, sobriety and thrift. The town lies whoUy within the limits of the Great or Hardenbergh patent, and contains 48,951 acres. POPtJLATION — VALUATION — TAXATION. Tear. Popu- lation. Assessed Value. Town Charges. Co. and State. 1810 419 851 1,277 1,569 2,612 3,016 3,392 $313,679 178,184 176,449 216,756 149,489 390,336 282,166 $154.86 527.94 559.22 853.51 706.84 699.68 8,619.79 $291.90 1820 362.08 1830 1,101.89 1840 • 734.70 1850 1.462.66 I860 2,797.74 1870 7,593.21 In 1855, with about 540 married men. Liberty had 472 owners of land — a very creditable fact. This town was principally settled by families from Connecticut and other Eastern States, and a large majority of those who now reside in it are of that descent. Nearly a century had elapsed siace Queen Ann had granted the Hardenbergh patent to "promote the settlement of the country." The immense estate had not been divided between the original proprietors or their heirs and legal representatives, until the company, from its numbers, had become too unwieldy for practical purposes. A partition then took place; and it was subsequently subdivided by heirs and assigns, who were scattered far and li^ide over the earth's surface. Hence the people of small means who would have purchased farm-lots in that part of the patent situated id Sullivan, knew not whom to apply to, except iu a very few instances. One of these excep- tions was a Captain Charles Brodhead, who lived in Ulster *B. a. Childs'MSS. THE TOWN OE LIBEKTY. . 32f) ■^county, on the road which led to the Great Lot in Neyersink and KockUnd inherited by Livingston. He (Brodhead) owned ■the "3,000 acre tract" in Liberty, which had descended to him from the Brodhead who purchased of Hardenber^h, the pat- entee. Charles Brodhead s residence and ownership led to the ■settlement of Liberty. The first step toward opening the Blue mountain country, as it was called, to the pioneer, was the making of a road to it from Neyersink. This was done under the patronage of or by the State, as was frequently the case at that time in regions -similarly situated. Brodhead had the contract for building the road — perhaps for cutting it open, (for little more was accom- plished,) would be better word^ to record what was done; and from the fact that he made it, it was known^, afterwards as the Brodhead-road. Ten to twelve miles travel on it in a day, with a load, required the work of a strong team from morning till night, with the assistjance of a man or two to remove the obstructions, and to help extricate the vehicle from slough-holes. Brodhead hved in Marbletown, where many of the new settlers of Fallsburgh, Liberty and Neversink were obhged to pass a night while coming to the woods of Sullivan. He was exceed- ingly anxious to get settlers on his wild lands, and took great pains to induce immigrants to buy or lease of him. It was at Marbletown, or while opening the road to his 3,000 acre tract, " that he became acquainted with Eleazer Larrabee, from Stoning- tbn, Connecticut, a man of an adventurous, roving disposition, vrho had been a tory in the Ilevolutionary war. It is probable he was obnoxious to his old iieighbors in Connecticut on account of his politics, and that he imagined ttiat he could live more <;omfortaMy in a locality where his antecedents were not well known. He came to Neversink in 1790, among its earhest settlers, and located on Thunder hiU. There is no doubt that, -previous to this, and as early as 1786 or 1788, he came to FallsT burgh, and occupied a lot for two or three years near the present site of Hasbrouck. "While Brodhead was making the road already mentioned in 1794, he offered to give Larrabee a deed for a lot of one hundred acres on the Blue mountain, and a lease of three other lots for twenty years free from rent, on the sole' and only condition that he settled on and improved the land. Larrabee accepted this offer, sold Ids property on Thunder hiU to a mulatto named Phineas Booth, during the year, and removed to the 3,000 acre tract. He thus became the first white inhabitant of the town. His house and land were on the^outh slope of the Blue moun- tain, about a mile west of the village of fjiberty. The inducements which caused Larrabee to become the foun- der of the settlement, were no doubt considered great at the 330 HISTOEY OF SXJLLITAN COUNTY. time. The free use and occupation of three hundred acres foi- twenty years, and the fee simple of an additional hundred, gave him. a tract of four hundred acres, and made him temporarily a„ large landholder. He built a log-house, and with the assistance of a hired man, Ambrose Woodward, commenced clearing his. land. In 1795, he sold one of his lots to a settler named John Vail, for $700. This sale should have made him a "man of means " in those days, when there were so few in Sullivan west of the Shawangunk mountain worth half the money; but he: soon grew .weary of the Blue mountain. He was a sanguine man, as all rovers are, and men of that temperament become- easily disheartened under difficulties. There was at that time no merchant, no grist-mill, no physician, no school, no clergj'- man, and no blacksmith within many miles of him, and to reach them he had to travel on an almost impassable road through a wilderness abounding in panthers, wolves, bears, and other wild animals. Wild beasts at that time were not only troublesome to the pioneer, whose crops were injured and his cattle destroyed by them, but they were considered dangerous to the pioneer himself. Larrabee made war on them, and being a good marks- man, shot many of them. We will not give the number of deer,, bears, wolves and panthers, which we are assured this man; killed, for fear that we wiU be charged with exaggeration. Upon lands adjoining those given him by Brodhead, Larrabee erected, while he resided on the Blue mountain, the first saw- mill and grist-mill in the town. They were built for Brodhead. The saw-mill was on the outlet of the pond which still bears the name of Brodhead. It was made altogether of logs and hewn timber, except the parts necessarily of iron. The race was of troughs manufactured from huge hemlock trees with much labor and ingenuity. After the completion of the saw- mill, lumber was cut by it for the grist-mill. Larrabee also sold another of his leased lots. It was bought by a Quaker named Earl, who moved in the second year of the settlement, and who also paid $700 for the lease, as did Vail. The price paid was enormous, and much more than the fee simple was worth. Some of the best of the same land has been sold within the last twenty years for two dollars per acre. Earl at once commenced improving his lot. The other land, Larrabee continued to own as long as he remained there, and it is known to this day as the Larrabee lot. In four or five years, he sold it to Daniel S. Stewart, and re- moved to Saratoga county, where his stay was hmited. He them went to Borne, and finally to CRautauqua county, where he died.. John Vail, who made the first purchase of Larrabee, was. from Deerpark, Orange county. In 1797, John Goi-ton moved to the Blue mountain settlement. THE TOWN OP LIBEBTY, 33^' and located a short distance west of the present village of Liberty, on land since* owned by his grandson, Elias Champlin. He came from Connecticut in 1793, with his cousins, Thomas and William Grant, and went on what is now known as the Depuy lot, in Pallsburgh. Thomas Grant at that time had three children and Gorton two. They came by the way of Kingston, Eoehester and Wawarsing, in one of the old Yankee butterfly-carts, which was drawn by three yoke of oxen and a horse. The latter animal was ridden by Mrs. Grant, and thus- performed double service. Their turnout astonished the old Dutch farmers of Ulster. They had never seen or dreamed of such a contrivance, and left their antiquated plows and fat, sleek horses, and htirried as fast as was seemly in Dutchmen, to the fences along the bounds of the highway, where t|jey stood with open mouths and eyes, and stared at the Yankee travelers, and their strange machine and motive-power. It is but fair to state here as a counter-episode, that six or seven years after the journey in the butterfly-cart, Joseph and. Amos Y. Grant, who were then boys, and who subsequently be- came prominent and highly respected citizens, went from the backwoods of Sullivan to visit some cousins in Wawarsing. A merchant of that place (Abraham Vernooy) had a painted house, the first house of the kind seen bythe lads, and there was a hogshead in the store, all which surprised them greatly, and the impression the hogshead made on the mind of Joseph was fresh even in his old age, and long after he had been a judge of our County Court. When the Grants and Gorton first came here, the nearest store was in Eoehester, six miles beyond Wawarsing. The journey there and back required several days, and when one of the settlers in a neighborhood undertook it, nearly all sent by him to purchase what they wanted, and their limited means warranted. Isaiah Whipple was added to the settlement in Liberty about this time. The persons mentioned in the preceding paragraphs mostly settled around Brodhead pond. Thomas Grant left the county with Larrabee, who was his cousin. In the Revolutionary war they had taken opposite sides. Grant had served under Wash- ington, and drew a pension until his death. William Grant had also done good service as a minute-man. Nathan Stanton, senior, came to Liberty in March, 1796, from Preston, New London county, Connecticut, and settled on the place since owned by Colonel Edward Young, two miles north- west of the village of Liberty. Thomas Grant had previously made a clearing on the lot ; but for some cause was not satisfied and sold it to Stanton. Tliree families named Russell, Whipple 332 HTBTOKr or SULLIVAN COUNTY, an<1 Pinney, who had come the fall before, lived near him; Nathan Stanton, junior, who was but three years of aige at the time, and who died but recently, remembered many of the inci- dents of. the journey to Liberty, as well as events which occurred soon after. The family came as far as Lackawack in a wagon drawn by oxen. At that place they procured an ox-sled, which, as there was no snow on the ground, was much more comfort- able for the journey, as indeed it would have been at any time, over the roots and stones and the mud-holes of a newly made forest-road. On the way from Lackawack to Liberty there were but few clearings. Although several had settled in the town before him, he was the first one who sowed grain, having moved on a place partially cleared. Others had been engaged in clearing their lands, and had cultivated none of the cereals. Soon after the Stantons came, the first marriage of the town occurred. David Rowland of Neversink was united in wedlock to Aviar, a daughter of Isaiah "Whipple. Rowland had to come a long way through the woods to win a bride, and if he performed the journey to or from her father's residence in the night, as has been the custom before and since, he must have encountered as many perils as ever did belted and plumed knight in quest of similar game. We have no doubt the prize was worth the trouble it cost to win it ; for she was of that class from which have graduated so many excellent wives and mothers. She was a school-mistress, and was not only the first bride, but the first teacher of a school in Liberty, She commenced her school about the year 1797, in a little bark-roofed shanty, near the house since occupied by Amos ShaW. She had not far from ten pupils — the only book used was Webster's spelliagrbook, and she received one dollar per week, and boarded herself — , wages that certainly do not compare favorably with what is paid female teachers at the present day. Arithmetic, writing, etc., were not taught in the schools there for several subsequent years. Judge Joseph Grant married a sister of this Miss Whipple. She was his first wife. After her death he married ihe widow of Jehu Fish, who was a daughter of Eobert Young. Death in a new and sparsely settled region is an event which excites more sympathy than in old communities. And when sickness or accident threatens to snap the frail thread of life in a neighborhood of pioneers who are too poor and too far removed from civilization to summon a physician, the kindly impulses of the heart gush forth fresh and warm, and the hand, unskilled as it may be, readily profi'ers aid to the afflicted friends, ,and ministers to the comfort and necessities of the suffering. Such sympathy and kindness were soon excited in the Blue mountain settlement. In 1797, a child of William Ayers, who had become a resident, was so badly scalded that THE TOWN OF LIBERTY. 333 it soon died a painful death. This was the first death in the neighborhood; and it- became necessary for the community to select a burial-place. A spot was accordingly chosen near Nathan Stanton's, on the Blue mountain, and there in the, virgin soil, among relics of the wilderness, themselves fit emblems of mortality, the body of the dead was laid at rest, while its spirit, undefiled by wilful sin, ascended to the bosom of the Friend and Saviour of little children. Its grave was not long the only one in this "God's acre." Within a few months, and during the same year, an infant — the first one bom in the town — sick- ened and died. Its parents, Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Stanton, were anxious that it should be buried decently; but their dismay may be imaginedj when they were told that there was not a board within reach of which to make a coffin ! Such a thing can hardly be deemed possible in a country^where, in less than half a century, silver-mounted mahogg,ny and rosewood coiS5ns were common. The "shell" used in these days to protect the mahogany and its ornaments for a time from the corroding moisture of the ground, would then have been consid- ered decent, and fit to enclose the " ashes and dust " of mortality. So times change, and so soon will the pomp and vanity of funerals, as well as other things, become the order of the day, as wealth and luxury increase. Mr. Stanton^ finding it impossible, to get anything better, was reduced to the necessity of cutting up his only sleigh-box, and in a coffin made from that, was the infant buried. A man who would voluntarily do so now, would be execrated for meanness and barbarity. Under the circumstances in which Stanton was ' placed, the act was creditable; and the sacrifice he made was quite equal to that of some of the present citizens of the town when they pay an enormous price for a coffin, because American wood is not considered good enough to surround the dead body of an American citizen. A still greater affliction visited the Stanton family in 1799. It was then customary in clearing land to cut down the under- brush and small trees. The large trees were girdled and left standing. The latter, particularly the hemlocks and other evergreens, the foliage of which remained green too long after the girdling, were sometimes ascended and trimmed from the top downward. This method was adopted to save labor in gathering the trunks into heaps for burning — a very laborious and difficult job where the timber is large, and none of it is to be converted into boards and timber at a saw-mill. After the limbs and brushwood had remained on the ground until they were dry, and there had been no rain for several days, fire was applied, and if it resulted in a good black bum, the ground was nearly ready to be planted. Good crops were raised in this 334: HI8T0EY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. way among the standing trees by the early settlers, as they had been by the Indians before them. When the trunks began to decay, fire was again applied in a dry time, and in a few years they were nearly all thus consumed. Sometimes, however, when the first burning was not good, th'e fallow was abandoned, and permitted to become overrun with briers and other rubbish. One of these abandoned fallows was near the log-house of the StantcMis. In the words of our informant, Nathafl Stanton, jr.,* it was on the Blue mountain, a littlfe west of where they lived. This fallow had become a famous place for blackberries, and the children of the family frequently went there to fill their pails and baskets with the fruit. On the 20th of August — a still, pleasant day — three of the boys, (including Nathan, junior,) with their sister, went to pick the berries, and while they were thus engaged several of the girdled trees fell, without an apparent cause, and killed two of the boys, and injured the sister badly. These trees had withstood the severe blasts of the previous winter and spring, and were prostrated on a stiU, calm day in summer. That they do thus faU is a well-attested fact. The writer of this paragraph has seen them do so ; and can vouch for the feeling of awe which the phenomenon pro- duces in the uneducated and uninformed. When the sun shines brightly, and all nature seems to repose in peaceful qyiiet; when there is no zephyr to fan the cheek, no sound to disturb the ear, and no visible motion of anything to attract the eye, lo ! one of the giants of the wood, which has withstood the tempests of a century, suddenly totters, topples over, and with a great crash, is prone upon the ground. It seems as if the direct- agency of God produced the result ; that He yhom no mortal can see, is very near us ; and that His eye is scanning our every movement. A solution of the mystery may be found in the fact that only deciduous trees thus fall. Such trees decay, particularly ia a warm, humid climate, much more rapidly than the resinous evergreens. When girdled, the sap ascends through the inner pores of the wood; but cannot return to the roots between the bark and wood ; and the body soon becomes over-saturated with moisture. Bapid decay in the shape of " sap-rot " follows, and a few weeks sometimes are sufficient to cause the tree to fall. The distress of the family — or rather what remained of it — cannot be described. The children had gone forth happy and , joyous, and before they were expected to return to their humble home in the woods, the parents were informed that two were crushed and dead, and another dangerously, if not fatally •B. G.Chad's M8S. THE TOWN OF LIBERTY. 335 •wounded. The dead bodies were extricated, and taken to the house of mourning, where soon the neighboring families gath- •ered to witness the sad scene of bereavement. In due time, these dead ones were also deposited in the original graveyard •on the Blue mountain. During the first five or six years of the settlement, several ■other deaths occurred. Among them was that of a Mr. Stewart, (father of Sandford Stewart,) who was the first adult male who -died in Liberty. The 'wife of Asa Champlin, and the wife of Jesse Champlin, also died before the year 1800. These were buried in the same place as the children of Stanton. Nathan Stanton, junior, died recently. He remembered dis- tinctly that the elk was found in Liberty and the surrounding country several years after his father went there to live. In 1799, when he was seven years old, his father engpged in hunt- ing these animals on the Blue mountain, with Robert Maffitt and Captain Ichabod Benton, of Benton Hollow. They started their nt. Grant had employed him to assist in conducting a suit before a Justice of the Peace, when Bush exhibited so much adroitness and intel- ligence, that the other advised him to study law. The young man regarded the proposition as absurd, because he had not a dollar in the world, and it " took everything he could earn to hve." Grant, who had a large and generous heart, and was then far from being rich, at once offered to lend him one himdred dollars, if he would follow his advice. Bush shook his liead, and went back to his trowel and hammer. A few daya later, he called on Grant, and told him he had made up his mind to take the hundred dollars on certain, conditions. "I wiU not give you a note or due-bill. No one shall know from THE TOWN OF LIBERTY. 341 you or me that I have received the money. You shall never ask me for it. If I die, or make a d d fool of myseK, you agree to lose it." On these novel terms Grant let him have the money. Not another word was said on the subject for several years, when Bush handed his benefactor the amount of the loan with interest. Bush studied law without a preceptor, and continued to work at his trade. Solitary and alone, and ia the light afforded by a tallow-candle, he traveled through the labyrinths of the law. After a time, when he believed he had mastered the truths and fictions of his chosen profession, he managed to attend a liw-school at Ballston (Fowler's) for a few months, and then went to Albany for admission to the bar, where he was licensed to practice in all the courts of the State. He lacked a library. A penniless lawyer without books has a po#r prospect of success. He wandered into the few-book establishment of W. C. Little & Co., which seemed to him an inexhaustible fountain of legal lore. While he was examining the volumes he needed, and inquiring their price, Mr. Little asked him if he wished to buy them. Bush answered, "No, not now; but ia two or three months I will send for them." Little apparently took an inven- tory of Bush's garments, and then said, "You had better take them now. I wiU trust any man who has a patch on his knee." The volumes were purchased.* Bush also went to C. V. E. Ludington, and applied for a loan to complete his library, Ludington seldom lent money to applicants unless they gave ample security. This Bush knew, and he frankly declared, "If I live, I will pay you; but if I die, you will not receive back anything." Ludington, much to his credit, let him have the money he needed. Bush at once took a good position as a professional man. He opened an office in his native place, and at the next County Court had thirteen cases on the calendar. Success smiled on him, and although he came in contact with the veterans of the bar, he continued to prosper. In 1858, he was the republican candidate for County Judge in opposition to Henry E. Low, American, and James Matthews, democrat; biit was defeated, In 1863, he abandoned the republican party, and three years later was elected County Judge and Surrogate by the democracy, when he removed to Montieello. In 1870, he was re-elected. On the 29th of February, 1872, he died of cerebro spinale menin- ■ gitis, caused, it was supposed, by mental fatigue and excitement incident to his profession. It is not possible that a man with such a history can resemble those fortunate persons who from birth have had unexception- * George H. Carpenter in Liberty Begister. 342 HISTOBY OF SULLIViN COUNTY. able moral and mental training. Physically as well as morally and mentally, he was a rough rather than a perfect ashlar. He was kind to his friends ; brusque and fierce toward his enemies. He contemned conventional ruts. His mind cut the channel through which it flowed. He formed his own theory of a case, adhered to it dogmatically, and by the force of his logic compelled others to adopt his opinions. On no subject was he more idiosyncratic than on that of the Christian reMgion. His creed was not what is esteemed orthodox ; but whatever it was, it was his own ; while he held it firmly, he did not seek to make it the belief of others. , Joseph Grant came to the county with his father when he was less than six years of age. The family settled on Neversink Flats before IJhere were white inhabitants in Liberty. In 1812,, he located in the latter town, where he remained until he died, in May, 1860. He was in every respect a worthy citizen, and enjoyed public" confidence. At one time he was Sheriff of the coimty, and for several years was a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He left a large and respectable fa,mily. At the time of his death, one of his sons, (Robert Young Grant,) was a Senator. The latter, although he had enjoyed no better educational advantages than were afforded by the common schools of Liberty, was a man of acknowledged abiUty. He was prominent in the business affairs of the town, and as a political leader, had a reputation beyond his county and dis- trict. He was a ready and vigorous debater, and by the force of his intellect alone, won a commanding position in the Senate, where he was the acknowledged leader of his party. He died in February, 1862, of typhoid fever, contracted while in attend- ance on his son. Lieutenant Oscar B. Grant of the U. S. Marines. Senator Grant at the time of his decease was in the 44th year of his age. He had not yet reached the meridian of his intellect. It is difficult to designate the honors he would have achieved, if he had not been stricken down when his worth was becoming day by day more apparent. Robert Young came to the town in March, 1806, and was among its best citizens. His children were, 1. Susan, who married John Fish. Fish's death was caused by the fall of a tree, after which his widow married Judge Joseph Grant. 2. Joseph ; 3. Eobert, junior ; 4. Erastus ; 5 John ; 6. Frank ; ,7. Asaph ; 8. William ; 9. Eunice, who married Calvin Bush, junior; 10. Betsey, who died unmarried. As the reader will discover, seven sons of Eobert Young were born successively. • Judson Sherman was a pioneer settler on the William T. Darbee place. Sherman's stomach, like the daughters of the horse-leech, was never satisfied; His voracity produced a famine at every tavern where he eat a meal. THE TO^ OF LIBEIlTy. 343^ In 1805, Nathan Cheesebrpu^h became a lesident, and two years later conjmenoed improvmg the farm now (1872) owned by Bennett Quinlan. Fanton Sherwood, another settler of excellent repute, was in the town previous to 1807. . Thomas Crary, of Stonington, Connecticut, came in 1801, and settled about one mile east of the village of Liberty. He was the first Supervisor of the town, and for many years a Judge of .the Court of Common Pleas. His descendants are noted for business enterprise, intelligence and moral worth. In 1807, two brothers named Elijah and Joseph Hill bought the east half of Divison No. 10. In 1799. Joseph married Miss Sarah Banks, of "Weston, Cpnnecticut, who, on their removal to Liberty, had borne him four children. The next nine years were full of toil and. the discomforts of pioneer life. The clear- ing of a farm, tl^e erection qf buildings, fences, etc., and pro- viding for the necessities of a rapidly mcreasing family, left but few hours for quiet enjoyment. In 1816, Joseph HUl died, leaving his widow with PJne children, the oldest but sixteen, years of age. Her trials and sufferings during the next ten years, no pen can describe, and no one appreciate unless he has passed through similar scenes. But the iUs of this world, like its joys, must end. In 1826, the widow of Joseph Hill became the wife of Bbenezer Carrier, with whom she lived nineteen years, when she became once more a widow. She died September 10, 1868, in the 93d year of her age, "leaning on the arm that is able to save." Joseph HiU left three sons — Sherwood H., Benjamin H., and Joseph. His daughters inter- married with the Youngs, Crarys, Clements, Mortons, etc. In 1807, a settlement was commenced at Liberty Falls by EosweU Russell, who, having sold out in what has since become Liberty village to William Hurd and Luther Buckley, buUt a saw-mill at the Falls, which he continued to run for some time, although Buckley bought it in 1808. William Knight located here in 1808. He is still (1872) living at Youngsville. His age exceeds ninety years. Stephen A. Gregory came in 1809, and settled on the farm now owned by Abel Gregory, senior. Two years later, when he was a lad of eleven years old, Abel walked from the Falls to his native place in Fairfield county, Connecticut, to attend a common, school during the cold months of winter. In the spring he returned to assist his father in clearing land, attending to crops, etc. This he continued to do year after year, until he was capable of teaching himself. Isaac Horton, an early settler, came trom Delaware county. He and others l\pught their land of the DeWitt family of Newburgh, who once owned a large portion of this , section. In 1825, Horton and Luther Buckley, built at this place the fourth grist- 344 HISTOKY OP SULUVAN COUNTY. mill of the town. The place for many years was known as HortonviUe. The grist-mill is now owned by Ovid, a, son of Isaac Horton. The track of the New York and Oswego Midland KaUroad crosses the valley here on a trestle 100 feet highland 1,100 feet in length. John Starr was the jHoneer of Eobertsonville. He located there in 1800. Francis Leroy came soon after, and Bradley and Bronson Robertson in 1809. The place received its name from Bradley. For several years, Eobertsonville was on the outskirts of civilization. It was for a period the residence of an excentric man nacaed Maltby, who, adorned with a patriarchal beard, and clothed in a seamless cOat, went forth when he felt inclined to do so, to preach the gospel as he tinderstood it. He owned a good farm, of which, in his old age, he was despoiled by heartless and unprincipled sharpers, who, to prevent the old man from seeking legal redress, had him consigned to the county jail for a crime he had never committed. A Methodist Episcopal society was organized here, a few years since, by Eev. William A. Hughson. The society owns a' church-edifice — the only one in the place. In 1798 or 1799, Doctor Benjamin Hardenbergh,* a skillful man in his profession, but of intemperate habits, settled in the town, and kept a few groceries for sale. Another physician named Clapp came afterwards. In 1812 or 1813, Doctor James P. Youngs, practiced in Liberty, and taught school one winter. He remained a few months, and then removed to Edenville, in the town of Warwick, Orange county, where he lived and died eminent in his profession. In 1828, Doctor H. H. Hubbard was a physician and merchant in the village of Liberty. On the 7th of May, 1831, his store was entered by burglars and robbed of goods and money to the amount of $500. While he was here. Doctor Blake Wales and Doctor John D. Watkins located in Liberty as physicians, the latter of whom is still in practice. Calvin Bush kept groceries for sale in 1805, and was the first licensed grocer in the town. The first store in which were sold the articles usually kept in country establishments of the kind, was opened by Luther Buckley on the 7th of July, 1807, when Thaddeus Brown led all Buckley's customers by purchasing two quarts of cider-brandy, for which he was charged fifty cents. We have the books of the old merchant before us. A careful * Doctor Hardenbergh died at Fallsburgh Boon after 1840. His intemperance ami hi8 life teiTJiinated simialtanoouslj-. In his old age, his best friend was "Pone," his saddle-horss. -While riding around the country, the Doctor oocaeionally rolled off of "Pone," and laid for hours unconscious on the highway. The faithful animal, whin this occurred, would not leave its master, but remained by his side until he was able to reiiiount, and resume his journey. THE TOWN OF LIBEETY. 345 inspection of them, has convinced us that alcohol in its various disguises was regarded as of prime necessity by the pioneers of Liberty. At least ene-half of Buckley's charges were for rum. In the ,three months succeeding the 7th of July, 1807, his first customer bought fifteen gallons of brandy and spirits, four papers of tobacco, eight ounces of tobacco, one and a quarter pounds of tea, two quarts of vinegar, one pound of shot, six flints, five cups and saucers, and two quarts of molasses! The brandy and spirits cost him $15.00 — all the other articles $2.24 ! Saints as weU as sinners habitually indulged a depraved appetite at that day, and did not dream that they offended unless their lower limbs proved weak and unstable. The weU-seasoned drinker could imbibe a quart per diem without sinning, while the novice could not bestow under his jacket^ a half-pint of brandy with impunity. "We gather from Buckley's books that in 1807, the retail price of brandy was $1.00 per gallon; gin, $1.13; wine, $1.25; mo- lasses, 60 @ 70 cents ; cider, 10 cents per mug ; flannel, 54 cents per yard ; dimity, 50 cents ; humhufn, 28 cents ; book-muslin, 80 cents ; cahco, 38 cents ; calimanco, '373 cents ; wildbore, 44 cents; velvet, $1.13; codfish, 6 cents per pound; broadcloth, $2.00 to $4.00 per yard; salt, $2.25 per bushel; coffee, 36 cents per pound; nails, 16 cents; chocolate, 38 cents; cjgara, per dozen, 6 cents ; and he paid his customers for tumip^'^ cents per bushel ; com, 75 cents ; oats, 37 cents ; wheat, $1.25 ; rye, 75 cents; buckwheat, 50 cents; onions, $1.00; potatoes, 38 to 50 cents; ashes, 12 cents; maple-sugar, 10 cents per pound, paper-rags, 3 cents ; cherry-boards, $1.50 to $2.50 per hundred feet ; butter, 10 to 12 cents per pound ; martin-skins, 75 cents ; mink-skins, 75 cents; day's-work, 62 cents; day's-work with yoke of oxen, $1.00. Buckley's goods for several years were carted from Kingston. He paid ten dollars for taking a load to and another from that place. His customers lived in Eockland, Bethel, Neversink and Thompson, as well as the town in which he traded. He continued to live in Liberty until May 30, 1855, when he died, aged 88 years, honored and revered for his age and Christian virtues. His children were Sally, who married Joseph Young; Philo ; Polly, who married Nathan Stanton, junior ; Abel, who died young ; Caleb ; Betsey, who married Sher-\vood Hill ; Ann, who married WOham Eatcliff; Emeline, who married Grant Gorton ; Lucinda, who after the death of her sister Ann. mar- ried William Eatcliff. Calvin Bush was perhaps the most successful panther-^kUlei in SuUivan. The author of the Hunters "of Sullivan, whose statements are generally authentic, says Bush killed fifteen of 846 -fflSTOBY OP SXILUVAN COUNTY. these ferocious animals In Liberty, alone, and gives the follow- ingas specimens of his adventures : His first encounter with panthers was in 18J4,' A man named Hurley had "squatted" in the woods on what is now known as the Hurley place. Bush, in hunting for deer, discovered the smoke from his cabin, and visited it. He found Hurley a wide- awake hunter, and fond of forest-life. They became boon-com- panions, and Hurley sought Bush's company whenever he wanted a stirring time in the woods. Hurley's hut was near a swamp, which was so full of deer-laurel and other shrubs that it was almost impassable. On the outsku"ts of the swamp was considerable moose-maple, and often were seen there the tracks of the elk that fed on it. One morning he saw not far from his cabin several large tracks, which he knew were made by panthers. In the evening^ he heard the animals in the swamp, and the next day saw their foot-prints within a few feet of his door. He thought that they were a little too familiar; concluded to consult Bush about them, and before night did so. He found Bush ready to attend to them, with a well-trained dog, a capital gun of long range, and a keen-edged hunting-knife and hatchet. Bush himself was a wiry, muscular, clear-headed hunter, and a match for anything of his weight and inches ia a close encoujiter. Hurley had plenty of pluck, and they hurried from Bush's to the cabin, to try their skill in panther-kiUing. When they got there, Bush let his dog loose. It was soon yelping splendidly in the swamp. They listened until its tone changed, and it seemed to remam in one place. By this they knew that the animal had taken to a tree, to which they hurried, and saw a large panther on a ■ Krab, eyeing the dog, and preparing to spring upon it. Bush hastily fired, and the panther, with a scream, fell in the very act of leaping, within a few feet of the dog. Huxley sprang for the dog, to keep it from being ripped to pieces by the powerful claws of the panther, which Bush quickly finished with his hatchet. They then skinned their game, and concluded to hunt no more until next day. During the succeeding forenoon, they treed another in the same swamp. It was high up a tall hemlock. Bush fired. It fell a short distance, and catching a limb with its forepaws, hung there. Bush reloaded his gun, and handed it to Hurley, saying he wanted to have some fun with the beast. Cutting a pole, he ascended a tree close to the one in which the animal vas, and punched it until it fell to the ground. After dispatch- ing it, they continued to hunt, and before night killed three more, making five in all for the two days. They were probably an old she-panther, and her entii'e brood of young ones. Very few dogs would follow panthers, and Bush's dog at once THE TOWN OF LIBEBTY. 347 became a favorite with hunters. Talcott Wakeman, of Thomp- son, heard of the "painter" dog, and wanted to try him. Talcott knew where two panthers Tiept in a large swamp near Monticello. He had tried to trap them ; but, notwithstanding he was one of the best trappers of his day, they were too shrewd for him. He then sent word to Bush to come down with his dog, and help kill the ''painters." As Bush loved such sport even better than deer-hunting, he came, and the two, with Bush's dog, at once proceeded to look for the animals where they had been heard the previous night crying like children. Soon the dog started them, and Bush sent a ball through one of them, and not long after killed the other. They dispatched them so speedily that Wakeman thought there was not half enough excitement about it. During another of Bush's hunting excursions, "he wounded a large paBther, which sprang upon his dog. Wishing to save the life of his faithful caniae friend, he struck a heavy blow -at the head of the panther with his hatchet. The beast dodged, and caught the handle in its teeth, crushiag the wood until its tusks nearly met. Bush said he thought he had a pretty good grip, but that the brute took the hatchet from his hands as if they had been those of an infant. He then reloaded his gun, and shot the panther a second time, killing it. The handle is preserved in the family, with the marks made by the animal's teeth still legible. Bush had a stiff finger before this battle. During the encounter the beast struck it with his claws, and ripped it open from one end to the other. When the wound healed, the finger was cured of its stiffness, and was sound •during the balance of Ms life. The old hunter commanded the respect of all who knew him previous to his death, which took place on the 16th of January, 1844, and his memory will he honored until his name and virtues are forgotten. Rev. James Petrie dehvered an excellent sermon at his funeral from Psalm 90, 10th verse. Bush was in his 80th year when he died. The buUding of the turnpike-road from Newburgh to Cochec- ton, led to other projects, which promised to benefit the interior of SuUivan. One of these was the First Great S. W. Turn- pike running from Kingston to Neversink and the Blue mountain country, and which Lucas Elmendorf labored for more than a quarter of a century to extend to the Delaware, Susquehanna and Chenango rivers ; another was the Branch turnpike, which intersected the Newburgh aiid Cochecton at Montgomery, passed through Eoosa's gap, crossed the Neversink at the Falls, and ran through Liberty. Notwithstanding large sums were expended on these improvements, they were abortions. As soon as the completion of the turnpike to Cochecton was 348 HISTOBY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. , certain, the people of Newburgh were busy with plans to further augment the importance and prosperity of that village. One of these was to make a great highway from the Hudson to Oxford via the Blue mountains, the WiUiwemoc, etc. "The Appian Way" was the name bestowed in advance on this road — an appellation both ambitious and classic. Meetings were held, money raised, committees appointed, and a party sent to explore the country beyond the Blue mountains. This party, after performing its task, made the following report : "June, 1807 — Mem* of the route for the Apian Way, &c. The ground best calculated for a road from Newburgh to Oxford, after passing the Shawangunk mountain, in order to avoid very high ridges of land, must cross the Blue mountain or ridge of land in Great Lot No. 3, in the Hardenbergh Patent, Allotment No. 4, and sub-division No. 4, near the N. W. comer ; thence a north-easterly direction through a valley pass Benton's saw- mill, and on the easterly side of Little Beaver kill and the WUliwemock kiU to Beaver creek ; thence on the easterly side near to Capt. Dodge's house ; on the upper edge of the flats on said kill, which is about one mile from the north line of Great Lot No. 4. We start on the Blue mountain along the line between the towns of Neversink and Lumberland, and cross the line, then near it till we turn off to the big flats, and then leave it about one mile where we cross to Pepacton. Here we have to cross a ridge to go to the east branch of the Delaware at Pepacton, about two miles below Judge Down's, at David Phelps', Esq'r, where there is a good place for a bridge; thence from WiUiam Horton's, directly opposite Phelps' to near the north line of -subdivision lot No. 59, in great lot No. 36 ; thence obliquely cross lots No. 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, to about the centre of lot 65, which is the top of Mount Holley, and within three miles and one quarter of the village of Walton, which is opposite the west end Lot No. 66." "expenses of apian way. "Hugh Walsh, chairman of ) the meeting of the Li- via acc't with- habitants of Newburgh, ) 'JohnDeWitt, Francis Crawford, Samuel Sacket, & Daniel Stringham, "1807 Dr. June 24 — To the am't of our expenses for ourselves and horses, £16.16. 8 To cash paid shoeing Sacket's horse, 0. 7. 6 To cash paid for setting shoes Mr. Craw- ford's horse, 0. 2. THE TOWN OF LIBEETY', 349 To 1 state map, £1. 4 To cash p'd Hiram Weller for the use of his horse per J. D. W. IS^days, 6. 0. To cash p'd Sacket, 5. 9.10 30. 0. "1807 — June 10 — By cash received by Jacob Powell, Cr. $75, .....£30.0.0." During the early years of the present century, a young man named Lewis Hasbrouck, disappeared from Liberty under circumstances which have caused much comment. His mother was a daughter of Gerard Hardenbergh and Nancy Kyerson, to whom her grandfather, Colonel Johannis Hardenbergh, had devised a very considerable estate. She became the wife of Jacob J. Hasbrouck, of Ulster county, and soon after dicid, leav- ing one, child, (Lewis,) who inherited her wild lands in the Great Patent. His father mariied a second time, and had several other children afterwards whose prospects in life were not as brilliant as those of Lewis. Whether this occasioned dissension and jealousy we cannot say ; but certain we are that it led to the banishment of Lewis from the paternal mansion. By the command of his father, he unwilhngly came to Liberty to take charge of his wild lands. Old residents speak of him as an inoffensive a,nd pleasant young man, although somewhat excentric. He wore his hair long, was very fond of hunting, and spent much of his time at the house of his uncle. Doctor Benjamin Hardenbergh. It is said that he did not conceal his dissatisfaction with the life he was compelled to lead. "While hving in this way, he determined to take a journey to a remote neighborhood. With his favorite rifle in his hand, and mounted on his saddle-horse, which was splendidly ca- parisoned, he started from Doctor Hardenbergh's. Cornehus W. Hardenbergh, who was then a lad, and who was afterwards executed for murder, accompanied him a short distance. They parted, and Lewis was never again seen by one of his kindred. His fate is a mystery. Some imagined that he was murdered ; others that he was devoured by wUd beasts ; and others that he went to a distant region, to avoid the authority of his father, and that he died there, without leaving any clue' as to his ante- cedents. When Cornehus W. Hardenbergh murdered Anthony Has- brouck, the story of Lewis Hasbrouck was revived. By some it was siipposed that Hardenbergh had had something to do in causing, the disappearamco of Lewds, or at least, that he was pri-vy to whatever was done. A few moments before he was executed, he was asked if lie could throw any Mght on the fate 850 HISTOBY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. of iiis missing cousin, when he declared in a solemn manner that he could reveal nothiiig on the subject. As no one could prove that young Hasbrouck was dead, his estate could not go to his heirs for many years. About forty years afterwards, it was partitioned among them, when they were so numerous that each one's share was a mere bagatelle. Previous to the organization of the Presbytman church, Ethd before missionaries of that religious organization were sent into the Blue mountain country, a layman named Nichols occasJoaaUy addressed those who were willing to hsten to his dissertations on religion and mOraJity. He lived on the Neversink; but whether his name was Eobert or Jonathan we cannot determine. Tradition says he was an uneducated man, somewhat fluent, quite zealous, of good natural abilities, and undoubted piety. Ne- cessity seems to have been his warrant for the duties he assum^ed. In 1806, the Yankee settlers of Liberty wished to observe thanksgiving-day as they had^ been in the habit of doiog before they came to New York; but there were two difficulties in the way. They had no orthodox' minister to preach the regulation- sermon, and the civil authorities appointed no day for the purpose. According to a trite, saying, "where there is a will there is a way." They found what day was set apart in Connecticut for thanks to the Great Giver, and then sent for Mr. Nichols, who came and delivered an appropriate sermon in the school-house which then stood on the lot where the house of Doctor Blake Wales was afterwards built. Our informant has, during a long and honorable life, enjoyed many good dinners ; but remembers none with so much satisfaction as the one cooked by his mother on that day. He says that he was convinced by the pumpkin-pies, etc., that thanksgiving should take place three hundred and sixty-five times every year ! In 1806, there were but four towns in the county — Mamaka- ting, Lumberland, Neversink and Thompson. Lumberland covered all the Delaware river towns of the present time, as well as Bethel, Callicoon and Liberty. In 1800, there were in the town of Lumberland 733 inhabitants. In 1810 it had been cut up into three towns, which contained the following popula- tion : Lumberland 525 Liberty 419 Be&el.. 737 Total 1,681 Previous to the division, the people of three-fourths of Lumberland found it almost impossible to vote or transact town business. Those who resided on the Blue mountain and in ita THE TOWN OP MBEBTY. 351 Ticinity, needed roads, bridges, etc., and some of them wanted to be supervisors, assessors, collectors or constables ; but with the immMJse territory of the town — the long' and execrable roads tiirough the wood.s ; or, more correctly speaking, with no roads •connecting the different sections of tne town, what chance was there to gratify a laudable ambition, or to secure what was necessary for the welfare of the Blue mountaineers? There was but one remedy for the evil, and that was secession — peace- able, lawful secession. Petitions were prepared afid signed for the erection of a new town. The old name of the settlement was discarded, and the Legislature asked to give that of Liberty to the new organization — a name dear to many of its people, who had fought for freedom and independence so recently. Boswell Eussell was particularly active, and incurred some expense in securing the passage of the law erecting the town. The town was erected by the Legislature of 1807, and Eoswell BusseU presented a bill of items at the first town-meeting, and asked to be re-imbuxsed; but he found that town-officers as well as republics are ungrateful. Although the people voted that the Supervisor should "discharge" Bussell's expenses, Thomas Crary, who fiJled the office, tSlowed him but seven dollars. However, he was given #wo of the best offices from which to make money in tiie gift of the people of Liberty, viz : constable and collector: Below we give extracts from the Town Clerk's Eecord : "First Town Meeting held in Liberty, convened at the house oi Eoswell Eussell, April 7, 1807, according to apt [appoint- ment] of Legislature — at which the following officers were elected : "Eobt. Cochran, Esq., President; Samuel Darbee, Toller of votes ; Darius Martin, (unanimous) Town Clerk ; Thomas Crary, Supervisor ; Ebenezer Carrier, Eoswell Babcock, Levi Kiraball, Assessors ; Samuel Darbee, Daniel S. Stewart, David Brodliead, Commissioners of Highways ; Eobert Cochran, Nathan Stanton, Overseers of Poor. "Voted that the Constable and Collector procure sufficient security on bonds for the same. "Eoswell Eussell, Wm. Cochran, Constables ; Eoswell Eussell, Collector; John Gorton, Jno. Woodward, Fence Viewers; Ste- phen Benton, jr.. Pound Keeper; Cornelius Cochran, Nathan Stanton, Isaac Carrier, Elizur Eussell, Path Masters. "By laws. — Voted that from and after the 15th of May, and until the 8th Nov. no hogs shall be allowed to run at large unless joked -with a two feet yoke & a ring in the nose. Also that ience vfewers shall be paid at the rate of 37^ cents per day. 352 HISTORY OP SUIiLIVAU COUNTY. ' That Roswell Russell's expenses in obtaining a division of the Town be examined by the Supervisor & Town Clerk and discharged by said Supervisor. "(Seven dollars were allowed on the above account — ) "Voted that the next Town Meetmg for 1808, be held at tlie- house of Stephen Benton, Jr." The road leading from the Benton Hollow to Wilham Blood- good's and so on tp the Quaker Spring was laid out in 1807, as well as the road leading from the Neversink hne to Nathan Stanton's. ' Until 1808, there was no road leading from Liberty to Monti- ceUo by the way of the North Settlement of Thompson. A route had been opened from MonticeUo as far as Joshua Foster's and Eleazer Crosby's, and from Liberty to the place owned by Calvin Bush. In the year named, a road was made from the house of Bush to that of Crosby, and it became the usual route traveled to reach the Newburgh and Cocheeton turnpike. Previous to this the Hurley road was used. This passed by the Hurley place, and south of Jacob Conklin's miU, to the farm owned lay William DeWitt Stratton. From that poiat it followed the route now traveled to Thompsonville, and from thence to the turnpike. Li the early days of Liberty and Thompson, a Frenchman named Samuel Mitteer, very narrowly escaped from wolves while passing over the Hurley road. He had been away from home, and was expected to return on a certain day with his little daughter. He started for his house at the appointed time, and while in the woods somewhere between Brown pond and the nearest settlement in Liberty, he was startled by the yelping and howHng of wolves. Soon he found they were on his track and in pursuit of him. Taking his child on his shoulders, he fled at his utmost speed. He was a light, wiry, agile man, and not easily exhausted; but encumbered as he was, he saw that his moments were nearly numbered if his safety depended on his speed alone. At first he could think of but one way to get beyond the ravening-jaws of his pursuers; but that involved a horrible sacrifice which would have forever exposed his heart to the gnawings of remorse. By abandoning his child, he could climb into a tree, and get beyond their reach ; but with her on his shoulders, he could do nothing of the kind. He would die ■with her — ^his little damsel, whose tiny arms were even then clasping his neck. Ah ! her death-shriek, when in the jaws of llie mohsters, would strike him dead. When some men are in extreme peril, their brains are pretematurally active, and they devise expedients with marvel- ous rapidity. After Mitteer ubandoued the idea of climbing a THE TOWN OP UBEBTT. 353 tree, in an instant he canvassed every other plan of escape, and saw that it afforded no hope, until he thought of a log bear-trap in the vicinity, whidi he had seen sometime before. This trap was made in the form of a rectangle, and constructed of logs in such a way that the largest bear could not get out of it, after he had entered and sprung the door. To it the affrighted French- man hurried. Into it he thrust his terrified daughter. The door fell securely to its place. She was safe. He then ascended a tree as nimbly as a squirrel, and perched upon the hmbs.^ Here they remained all night, during which the frightened man watched the dusky forms of the snarling animals as they flitted through the imder-brush, or gathered around the bear-pen in which he had placed his child. Exhausted and faint, and fear- ing he would Ml and be devoured if he went to sleep, he tied himself to the tree with his cravat and pocket-handkerchiefs As may be imagined, that was a long night to Mitteer. You, who upon a bed of anguish, have watched for the coming day,, with but httle hope of seeing its dawn with mortal eyes, can appreciate the eternity of that night to him. Morning came at last. But when it was once more hght, he did not dare to resume his journey. On the previous evening, his family expected him to return, and became more and more anxious for his safety as hour after hour passed, and he came not. Early the next morning, they alarmed the neighborhood, and several persons went in search of him. Following the Hurley road, they found him still in thet tree, and the child in the trap. The wolves had gone ; but left behind them abimdant evidence that, they had been there; Mitteer was living in the vicinity of his ieidventure, in 1870. As long as there was a wolf in our woods, he displayed an almost childish terror of that animal. He was yet an active- man, although over ninety-five years of age, and but a year or two previously assured the writer of this, that he could mow a» well as a boy of sixteen, and his elastic stepconvinced us that he could then outwalk many robust men. He was an unusual man in many respects. Although he crossed the Atlantic when seven years of age, helped John P. and Samuel F. Jones build the first shanty put up in MonticeHo, helped build the bridge- at Bridgeville, and make the Hudson and Delaware canal, he- never saw a steamboat, canal-boat, railroad-car, or an arched bridge. For thirty years, he Uved within half a dozen miles of MonticeHo without going there. At first the people of Liberty were obliged to go to Kingston to reach a post-office. When Luther Buckley opened his store in 1807, letters were carried forth and back by his teamsters. Four or five years later a post-office was established in Monti- cello, to which letters and papers for Liberty were sent, and ia 354 HISTORY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. 1822, the Liberty office was created. Caleb Buckley was its first postmaster. There was not a painted house in the town previous to 1828, in which year William Eatcliff built a dwelling. Having a natural taste for neatness and order, he looked around for a painter ; but could hear of none in the county. Being determined to -gratify his inclinations, he painted his house himself. Mr. Eatcliff came from England, and in 1822 opened a shop in Liberty, and has ever since steadily prosecuted there the business to which he was bred. He is in many respects a pecuhar man. Although his youth was spent in a hotel, he 'early eschewed exhilarants and narcotics, and in his old age ^continues to hold that tobacco and alcohol in any and every •form, are abominations. He has a predilection for the fine ^.rts ; but has never had an opportunity to cultivate his talent in that Tespect ; and has a love for antiquarian research. He has in 'his possession a map of the village of Liberty made by himself, !hj which it appears that in 1822 the number of buildings from •.the Darbee road to the Presbyterian parsonage did not exceed ia baker's dozen. From this map we learn that John Gorton and John Gorton, junior, occupied a house on the Darbee road ; Luther Budtley's hotel was on the corner of this road and the branch-turnpike; east of the hotel was Buckley's carding- ■maehine ; on the west side of the turnpike was Buckley's store, in a part of which lived Thomas Batcliff, with whom William, 'his brother, boarded ; a family named Prindle lived on the prem- ises now occupied by Judge Timothy F. Bush ; Philo Buckley's residence was on the Rufus Garrett lot ; a man named Short, who subsequently hung himself, Uved on the Stephen Stanton Jroperty ; south of the last named was Samuel Kilboume ; ames Garrett occupied the place now of Joseph Grant ; Asa Baker the lot where Henry Mead lives ; Joseph Simpson a house on the Maffitt lot ; James HubbeU's dwelling was near the grist- mili ; and Moses Stoddard lived on the Presbyterian parsonage lot. The place was then known as Buckley's, and deer were so numerous that Stoddard shot one in his garden. Hiram and Philo Sandf ord weffe early residents in the •vicinity of Stevensville, a thriving village on the west branch of the Mongaup. The place owes its existence to the establishment • of a sole-leather tannery here by several brother's named Ste- vens. They were natives of Schoharie county, where they were bred to the business. In November, 1856, their tannerj' was burned, and there were circumstances connected with their raffairs which led Doctor Stevens, one of the brothers, to remove from the county. It was rebuilt, and has since been owned and, the business carried on successfully by Daniel T. Stevens. The Tillage received its name in the following manner : On the 24th THE TOWN OF UBERTY. 355 -of January, 1848, a meeting of tliose living near the tannery- was held, at which Hiram Sandford, the oldest inhabitant, presided, and was requested to propose a name. He suggested StevensrUle, which was unanimously approTed. There is a neat Methodist church heire,. which was dedicated on the 9th of NoTember, 1856. The streams of Liber^ have been subject to destructive floods. On the 24th of July, 1855, three or four showers of rain raised the Mongaiip so that it swept off almost every- thing in its wayi At Parksville, the dam of John Lewis and the saw-mill and turning-shop of Knickerbocker & Misner were destroyed. The tan-yard of Grant & Dean at Liberty, was overflowed, leaches torn away, etc. Meadows and grain- fields in the vicinity were submerged and ruined.. The tamaery of James Gildersleeve & Son was undermined and torn to pieces, and their leather and hides carried down stream. Their loss was $10,000. Farther down the stream, E. L. Bui-nham, J. H. Tillotson, Richard Dekay and others had a large amount of property destroyed. The estimated damage done by this flood was $20,000. In February, 1857, a professional burglar named Levi Rogers Tobbed the store of Clements. & Messiter, of liie village of Liberty, and after removing a considerable quantity of plunder, set fire to the building. The remaining goods and the tenement were destroyed, together with the dwelling of James Hill and the store-house occupied by I. B. Buckley. The latter was owned by George Q. Moon. The entire loss was about $6,000. It was believed that the fire was accidental, until a fruitless search was made in the ashes of one of the buildings for a considerable number of pennies which had been left in it* This led to suspicion which was at once directed to Rogers. He was arrested, and foimd guilty after a trial. After being in State's prison three years, he escaped, and returned to the •county, where he committed several burglaries. He robbed the house of Wynkoop Kiersted, of Mongaup Valley, among others ; ior which he was again sent to State's prison. On the 5th of November, a worthless fellow named William Terpenning was lynched by eleven young men of Bushville. A cow had been ham-strung in that place, and he was charged with the offense ; but there was no certain proof that he was guilty. He was dragged from his bed at midnight, taken about one male to a secluded place, and there whipped until he, fearing that he would be killed, confessed that he lamed the cow. B was believed that he received from three to four hundred lashes. They then brought him to Monticello, believing that they had secured the conviction of a criminal ; but got into trouble them- 356 msTOBY OP sullivau countt. selves; for as soon as the facts became known, they were, arrested, and held for trial; while Terpenning was set free. > _ LiBEETY Normal Institute. — This academic institution owe* its "existence to the liberality of John D. Watkins, M. D., a wealthy resident of the town. The buildings were erected in 1847, and with the library and philosophical apparatus, cost nearly $3,000, every dollar of which was paid by Doctor Watkins. This sum may not seem large when compared with donations for educational purposes in other localities ; neverthe- less it is the greatest gift to promote learning made by a single individual of SuUivan county. After the erection of the build- ings, etc., the property was conveyed to the State, and has since been under the care and supervision of the Regents of the University. It is thus forever dedicated to the uses for which the school was founded. By an act of the Legislature, Doctor Watkins is sole Trustee, as well as perpetual Secretary and Treasurer of "the Board." Hence he is individually responsible- for the character of the institution, which has at no time impaired his reputation for sagacity and shrewd management.. The school was opened on the 1st of November, 1847, with John F. Stoddard as Principal. Mr. S., like his successors, was a graduate of the State Normal School. Besides being a popular teacher, he became the author of several standard mathematical works. Under him, the Institute acquired a reputation which has been of much advantage to those who have since teen its principals, viz : Henir K. Stoddard, Fred- erick L. Hanford, ZT W. Davis, John Felt, Francis G. Snook, Thomas Bobinson and MHo B. HalL Doctor Watkins, the founder of this academy, was bom on the 7th of June, 1806, near Campbell Hall station, on the Montgomery and Erie railroad, in the town of Hamptonburgh, Grange county, and was a few days old when the great eclipse of that year occurred. Whether the ecHpse had an unfavorable effect on the stature or physical development of the doctor, the author is unable to determine ; but of this he is sure, nature made no waste material in his formation ; for a more compact and economical structure of flesh and bone is seldom encoun- tered. His education, beside what he received at the district school of his native town, was received vmder the instruc- tion of the late Joel Turrill,* who taught a select school at * Joel Tnrrill was bom in the State of Vermont, In February, 1794 ; in 1816, ho graduated at Middlebnry College ; and after studying law in Newburgh, was licensed ae an attorney in 1819. During the same year, he opened a law office in Oswego, and for forty years was one of its prominent residents. He held many important offices- was District attorney, First Judge, Member of Congress, Consul at the Sandwich Islands, etc. THE TOWN OF LIBERTY. 357 Newbuiigh. Among the school-fellows of young Watkins was the late James G. Clinton, since a Representative in Congress. At the age of 13 years, the subject of this sketch became the protege of a childless uncle (Hezeldah Watkins) of Gardner, Ulster county, who was of the same family, but not a descend- ant of Rev. Hezekiah Watkins, a Church-of-England clergyman ■who was imprisoned previous to the Revolutionary war, for writing too freely of colonial dignitaries.* After this, one or two years were spent by John D., in teaching. Among his pupils were some lads who ultimately became conspicuous in the affairs of life. Of this number were Israel O. Beattie, a merchant of Middletown and Rev. Robert H. Beattie, D. D., now a settled minister of New Hurley, Ulster county. He then studied medicine at Montgomery, under Doctor George Eager, a brother of the historian of Orange county, ana in 1829, com- pleted his medical education at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Fairfield, Herkimer county, N. Y., which at that time was one of the most prosperous and celebrated in the State, and numbered among its Professors Doctors T. R. Beck, Hadley, Willoughby, De La Mater and McNaughton. A few weeks after he graduated. Doctor Watkins became a partner of Doctor Blake Wales of Neversink, and while on his way to that town nearly lost his life. There was no bridge at Woodbourne, and Watkins, mounted on a very spirited saddle- horse, undertook to ford the river. The water was swift and deep, and when near the middle of the stream, the Doctor, to prevent it from going over the tops of his boots, raised his heels to each flank of his steed. This frightened the animal, and caused it to deposit the Doctor's body and breeches, as well as his saddle-bags, in the watery element, and at the same time kick at him viciously. A variation of an inch in the direction of the horse's heels, would have been attended with a fatal result. As it was, a portion of the Doctor's scalp was torn from his head. Bewildered by the blow and an involuntary bath, the Doctor scrambled back to the shore from which he had entered, while his horse passed to the other side, where it indulged its propensity for rolling in the dirt, and by doing so, ruined a new saddle! After practicing with Doctor Wales from May to October, imagining that Mamakating was a more desirable field of labor than Neversink, Doctor Watkins removed to Bloomingburgh, and became a partner of T. C. Van Wyck. Physically and mentally a more diverse team has not existed since Pegasus was made the yoke-fellow of an ox. The one was young, small in stature, quick, energetic, and dehcate. The other was in the * See Eagei's History of Orange conntf . 358 HISTOKY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. prime of life, of Brobdignaggian proportions, clumsy amS robust. Morally, they were more alike. Both were upright, and honorable in business affairs, and the utmost harmony prevailed during their brief connection, and ever afterwards. Doctor Watkins remained in Bloomingburgh a short time,, and then returned to Neversink, where he practiced about two years, and then, after marriage with a daughter of Joseph Young,, removed to Liberty. Here he entered into mercantile pursuits- with his father-in-law, at the latter's residence on the mountain.. About two years subsequently, he purchased the stock of goods of the late Caleb Buckley, and commenced business in the vil- lage of Liberty on his own account as a merchant. tidividuaUy and as a partner of the late John B. Kilboume and of Alfred Messiter,»he continued in this business for a period of twenty- - two years. His partnership with the latter was but recently dissolved. He also continued to practice his profession. More ■ than usual success rewarded his efforts. He became prominent, . politically, socially and financially. Li 1843, he was appointed County Superintendent of Schools; in 1853, he was elected Supervisor of Liberty, and in 1854, Senator from the Orange and SuUivan district. Doctor Watkins' liberality has not been confined to the Lib- erty Normal Institute. His children have shared largely in his munificence, he beheving it better poHcy to help them when ; they needed assistance than to withhold from them until they could help themselves. His son Hezekiah and son-in-law, Henry B. Low, have thus been greatly benefited by his favors. To the Methodist Episcopal Church of Liberty he has been one of the principal supporters, having donated to it first and last over one thousand dollars. During the recruiting of the 143d Begi- ment N. Y. V. L, he gave five hundred dollars to accelerate the organization of Company A.* He also purchased and presented to the Watkins Fire Engine Company a fine engine at a cost of about $325. The Bev. Uriah Messiter, a popular preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church, wjien a boy, lived with him, and was a clerk in his store for several years. Soon after he entered the ministry, Doctor W. presented him with a hor^e, wagon and harness worth from $300 to $500. Perhaps no resi- dent of Sullivan, except Archibald C. Niven and the late Austin Strong, has made a more liberal use of his fortune than Doctor Watkins. Hence we give him this extended notice. . The Baptists were the first to organize a society in Liberty and Neversink. Their mode of labor was well adapted to poor and sparsely settled regions. Their elders and preachers were * Hezekiah Watkins (a son of Doctor Watkins) commanded this Company, and foi < meritorious services was promoted to the colonelcy of the. regiment. . THE TOWN OP LIBERTY. 359> taken from the gifted brethren, and when it appeared that they possessed spiritual and mental traits which fitted them for the^ sacred office, they were chosen and ordained, without being compelled to undergo a long and expensive training. Accord- ing to their belief, a teacher was called of God to the holy office — the call was made manifest through the walk and conversation of the "gifted," and when this occurred, the Church received him as a teacher. As the privileges of the gospel were esteemed higher than earthly riches, the clergy received little or no wages from the congregation, and a hireling priesthood were esteemed an abomination. People who felt too poor to pay for- the services of a minister, gladly received as spiritual teachers those who claimed no material reward. The creed of the Baptists was intensely Calvinistic, and their Church government as democratic as the institutions of the North Arlbrican Indians. The Church of Neversink was constituted as "The Baptist Church of Christ in Neversink," on the 9th of January, 1811. It was the fruit of a society which had existed for several years,, and which had been known as the "Neversink Branch of Pleas- ant Valley Church." Levi Hall was its elder. It is probable other preachers had preceded him. A society existed in Liberty previous to 1810. It was caJled- "The Neversink Branch of Pleasant Valley Church, that part resident in the Town of Liberty." The earhest written record of this "Branch" is dated August 12th, 1809, on which day a church-meeting was held at the house of Darius Martin. Nathaniel J. Gilbert was chosen moderator, and Mr. Martin, clerk. Ephraiin Gates was elected leader. The Boo^ of Eec- ords shows that at this period Nathaniel J. Gilbert, Darius Martin, Ephraim Gates, Eoswell Babcock, Silas B. Palmer, William Bloodgood, John Smith, William White, Abel Hodge, Submit Hodge, Anna Eussell, Truman Barns, Joab Bowers, lyjrdia Bowers, Isaac Furman, Samuel Gilbert, Levi Gates, John Mali and others were members, and that Levi Hall was the ".beloved elder and watchman." During Mr. Hall's eldership,, a dehghtful spirit of devotion and charity prevailed. The love of the members for each other was only exceeded by their love of God. A motion to form a separate Church was unani- taonsly rejected on the 12th of August, 1809. In 1822, this Church had 42 members > in 1827, 60; in 1828, 65; in 1840, 3,6; in 1841, 30. This "branch of the vine" was regularly watered by Elder Hall, and occasionally by Elders Lathrop, Ball, Wright, Owen, Campbell, Gilbert, GrinneU, Woolsey, Dayies, Hait, Hozier, Hewett, etc. • But little is remembered of these visiting elders S60 HISTORY OP eULUVAN COTTNTY. except this : Some of the ancient sisters yet living, aver that Oampbell vras the homeliest man who ever administered the •ordinance of baptism. For nearly ten years after its formation, amity and peace prevailed, when trifling contentions began to stir the placid waters. A member caused scandal in Zion by absconding. Some of the sisters, forgetting that the tongue is an unruly member, gave free license to their vocal organs, and some of the brothers were guilty of various venal sins. Among them was a John Capron, who, before he joined the Liberty society, had received "a request from the Thompson town Church to improve his gift in the Peenpack branch of said Church." Without any other authority from the Church, he persisted in laboring wherever he pleased, contrary to the known wishes of a majority of the brethren. This caused a sharp controversy, which led to the excommunication of Capron. Abel Hodge was rebuked for using a letter of approbation as he understood it ; but as it was not understood by the society. This led to his severance from the Chiirch. / • From this time forth until it ceased tq exist, contention prevailed in this branch of the Baptist Churc^h. In May, 1821, Elder John Boozer, fronl Morristown, New Jersey, located in Liberty, and for several /years preached and administered the ordinances. Caleb Bush and Abial P. Worden became members by profession during the next three or four, years, and PhiHp C. Broom by letter. All three became elders or preachers. On the 4th of December, 1824, it was resolved to alter the name of the Church, and that it be called " The Baptist Church of Christ in Liberty." At the same meeting fellowship was withdrawn from a member for "giving up the practice of religion," and from another for immoral conduct, and " brother Phiup Broom was licensed to preach the Gospel of Christ." Broom was not ordained until JDecember 14, 1826, when five distinguished elders laid hands on him at the house of Isaac Carrier ; Elder Z. GrinneU preached the ordaining sermon from Eevelations, 4th chapter, 6th, 7th and 8th verses; the conse- crating prayer was made by Elder Daniel T. HiU ; the charge was dehvered by Elder Gilbert Beebe ; and the ^ght hand of fellowship tendered by Elder Alanson Draper. On the 6th of October, 1827, Brothers Obadiah Childs, Thomas B. Clayton and Levi Gates were appointed "trustees" to circiflate subscriptions to build a meeting-house ; but it does , not appear that they met with much success, as no house of worship was built. At the same time Brother Abijah Brundage was selected to serve a^ deacon at the Neversink, and Caleb Bush was licensed to preach. THE TOWN OF LIBERTY. 361 After tHs the record shows that Elder Broom had a contro- versy with Hamilton Gregory and Betsey Welton, and that the "Church sustained the Elder and condemned the others, who , 'Confessed that they were in fault ; but were nevertheless excom- ! municated. ! In the fall of 1829, a controversy began between Elder Broom \ -and Elder Bush, which caused much trouble for two or three years. It grew out of a note to which the name of the latter was attached, and some worthless buckwheat-straw. Bush was put on trial and cut off from the Church. Various proceedings took place. Nearly one-third of the members favored Bush, «nd signed a petition for a council to restore him, etc. ; but they only succeeded in getting themselves into trouble, and ■several of them were dealt with in a summary manner. The trouble was not arranged until the fall of 1832, #hen Bush was restored. In these and other controversies, Elder Broom was always the successful party ; but to the prosperity of the Church they resulted in gangrene and death. In 1834, Elder Worden was ihe pastor. After this Elder Broom officiated occasionally until 1854, when there* were but few members except himself. He was then excommunicated for heresy by those having authority, :and the Church ceased virtually to exist. Its extinction was accelerated hj a revival in the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches of the town in 1844, and the formation of a New School ■Church in ParksviUe. The dissensions of the Old School Baptist Church of Liberty and other causes led to the formation of the present or- ganization known as the Baptist Church of ParksvUle. This Church was constituted of seven members in 1840, viz : Joseph Taylor, David H. Parks, Martha Parks, William Fisk, Henry Barton and Mrs. Wilson. Taylor and Fisk were the first deacons. The church-edifice was erected in 1841, and •cost about $1,500. The list of members now numbers ninety, and there are in the town about one hundred and fifty New School Baptists. The Baptist Church of Liberty is an offshoot of the ParksviUe Church. It was incorporated January 31st, 1859. John Darbee*. John T. Clements and Edwin Porter were the first trustees. A house of worship was built during the next summer. The trustees and Doctor William W. Murphy were the building- committee. The church lot was donated by Mrs. Arietta Leroy., FiEST Peesbyteeian Church of Liberty. — It appears from the records that the first meeting held pursuant to the organiza- tion of a Church was on the 30th day of September, 1809, at which Mr. Asa Baker acted as moderator. The following. 362 HISTORY OF SULUVAN COUNIT.. "call" for this, meeting is recorded in the books of the Church t " The Inhabitants of the Town of Liberty are hereby requested to meet at the school house near Mr. Asa Baker's^on Saturday, the thirtieth day of Sept. Instant, at 1 o'clock B. M., for the pui'pose of holding a society meeting, and any other business proper to be done at S'* meeting." It appears that the object of this meeting was to organize a kind of religious society with- out the sanction, as yet, of any ecclesiastical), court. The "Society" met again on the 21st day of October,, 1809, at the same place, at which, no business (that appears) was done but electing Isaiah Hurd clerk of the meeting. A third meeting was held at the same place on the 18th day of NoYcmber, 1809,. at which the following vote was passed : " ThaA we be called the first Presbyterian Congregation Society in> the Town of Liberty, county of SuUivan & State of N. York, under the Presbytery of Hudson & General Assembly of the United States of America." At this meeting three trustees were elected, viz r Robert Young, Isaac Carrier and Calvin Bush. At another meet- ing, held on the 23d day of November, in the same year, 66' names were subscribed as composing the society. At a subse- quent meeting, the following vote was passed :' " That we send one delegate to the Presbytery that sets at Hopewell the second Thursday of Sept. Inst., & that Deacon David Kilborn be the- delegate." This last ineeting was held on the 1st of September, 1810. In a separate book of records kept by the Session of the Church from its beginning, we learn that the Church was formally and aut]ioritatively organized by the direction of the Presbytery of Hudson, on the 6th day of September, 1810, The Rev. Daniel C. Hopkins, who had been preaching as a missionary under the care of the Presbytery, was sent as a- committee of organization. The exercises of the occasion were opened with prayer by Mr. Hopkins, when the following persons appeared and requested to be constituted a distinct branch of the Church of Christ, to be called the 1st Presbyterian Church of Liberty : Elizabeth Carrier, late of Colebrook, Connecticut ; Eunice Hlurd, late of Woodbury, Connecticut ; Comfort Baker, late of Colchester; Susan Fish; David Kilboume, late of Colchester, Connecticut; Mary Kilboume, late of Colchester, Connecticut; Lucy Hall; "William Hurley, late ©f Bethlehem,. New York; Jonathan Nichols, late of Stratford,. Connecticut; Eber Hall ; Daniel Bush, late of Colebrook, Connecticut. Eber Hall, Lucy Hall, and Susan Fish made a public profession of their faith for the first time on this occasion. David Kilboume and Daniel Bush were elected to the oiiice; of ruling elder.. After reading a summary of the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church, and a form of a covenant by which the new Church was to be governed, Mr. Hopkins, closed the THE TOWN OF UBEKTY. 363 services with a Sermon on Genesis 45:21 — ^^"See that ye fall not out by the way." On Sabbath, 9th of September, 1810, this infant Church celebrated the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper for the first time. The membership of the Church, by additions at almost every communion season, was increased to about 135 in 1840. The present membership in good and regular stand- ing is not quite 100. The Church had no settled pastor till 1840; but was supplied, somewhat irregularly with preaching by minister's sent to it by the Presbytery. These remained, some a longer and some a shorter time. Ii-om 16 to 20 different ministers supplied the Church with preaching from the date of its organization to the year 1840. The following are the names of some of the supplies : Daniel C. Hopkins, Henry Ford, Noah Coe, Thomas Grier, Ezta Fisk, Eeuben Porter, John Boyd, James Hyndstan, Edwin Doran, "VYiUiam MacMasters, A. Dean, Abner Morse, William McJimpsey, Sam'l Pelton, John B. Fish, Charles Cummins, J. W. Babbitt, Michael Carpenter, and Daniel Dougherty. The Rev. James Petrie (now of Montana, New Jersey,) was the first settled pastor of this Church. Bte was ordained and installed by the Presbytery of Hudson on the 30th of September, 1840; but had preached for the people during the previous year. At the installation services, Eev. Mr. Leggett, of Hopewell, preached the sermon; Mr. Blain, of Goodwill, gave the charge to the people, and Mr. Bull, now of West Town, gave the charge to the pastor. The pastoral rela- tion between Mr. Petrie and this Church was dissolved on the 13th of January, 1852, and he was succeeded by the Eev. John N. Boyd, now of Circleville. Mr. B. was installed on the 28th of September, 1852, by a comnaittee of the Presbytery of Hudson consisting of the Eev. W. i>. Suodgrass, D. D., now of Goshen, Orange county,, James Adams^ Thaddeus Wilson, and W. J. Blain. The pastoral relation between Mr. Boyd and the Church was dissolved on the 28th of September, 1858. Mr. Boyd was succeeded in the pastorate by the Eev. T. Mack, now of Spring Valley, N. Y. Mr^ Mack was installed on the 1st of May, 1859. The present pastor, the Eev. J. Napier Husted, succeeded Mr, Mack, and was installed on the 10th of June, 1868, by a committee of Presbytery, consisting of the Eev. Thenon Brittain, now of Cochecton ; Eev. E. Davison, now of Westchester, N. Y., and the Eev. Floyd Crane, now of Goshen. From the date of its organization in 1810, to 1829, the congregation appear to have worshiped in a " School-house near Asa Baker's." It is a fact worthy of notice, that the school- house in which this Church had its first organized existence, and in which it worshiped for so many years, stood near the site of the present church-edifice — ^just in the rear. The first record we have of an intention or effort to erect a 364 HISTOBT OP SULLIVAN COUNTT. house of worship is the following : "Voted that the trustees of the Sooie%- circulate subscriptions here and abroad, for the purpose of raising money to build a Meeting-house." This vote was taken at a meeting held on the 7th day of January, 1811. There is no record that gives any knowledge as to whether the above "vote" was carried into effect, tiU the 19th day of February, 1827, when, (at a meeting held on that day) another " vote " was taken as follows : " Voted that this Society build a tower for the purpose of placing a bell for the use of the Society." The inference is that somewhere between the years 1811 and 1827, a structure had been erected, capable of supporting a tower and a bellC'JAs to when this building was finished, there is no means of telling. Tradition tells us, how- ever, that it was many years in being carried to completion. The 5th day of January, 1829, is the date of the first meeting of the congregation held in the chiirch ; and the 20th of June, 1829, the date of the fi/rst meeting of the Session held in the church. This first church-building stood on an elevation about a quarter of a mile from the village of Liberty, and on the road leading to Woodbourne. Under the ministry of the Kev. James Petrie, this building became too small to accommodate the congregation, and accordingly was enlarged and remodeled in 1849. It was dedicated in February, 1850^the precise day not being given. Dr. Phillips, of New York City, now deceased, preached the dedicatory sermon. This building was set apart for the worship of God free of debt. It stood till late in the summer of 1870, when, being greatly out of repair, it was taken down and re-erected on a new site in the center of the village. The church thus rebuilt the second time and greatly beautified, was re-dedicated to the worship of the Triune God, on the 13th day of July, 1871. The pastor, the Eev. J. Napier Husted, made the dedicatory prayer, and the Bev. Charles Beattie of Middletown, 'New York, preached the sermon. Eev. Luther LitteU, of Mt, Hope, Walter S. Brown, of Woodboume, and James Norris, of Shavertown, alsc^took part in the services.* Besides the churches already noticed, there are in Liberty the following : The Methodist Episcopal Chuech op the Village op Liberty. — A class was organized in the neighborhood in 1814, by Rev. Peter P. Sanford, who was then the preacher in charge of the cifcuit. He was one of the most beloved Methodist preachers who ever visited this region, as the frequent occurrence of the baptismal name of Saniord proves. In 1826, Methodism was •Statement of Bev. J. Napier Hnated. THE TOWN OF UBEBTY. 365 in such a flourisliing condition here, that a church was built. Twenty years afterwards,* this building was found to be outside of the new village which had sprung up; consequently the present church-edifice was , erected. The lot for the new church- edifice was donated by John D. Watkins, M. D., who also contributed largely to the fund for building the church and parsonage. The exodus from Ireland, caused by the great famine, gave to Liberty, as well as other towns of Sullivan, a considerable Eoman Catholic population. Over them Eev. Daniel Mugan of EUenviUe had the charge until his death in 1872, in which year Saint Peter's Church of Liberty was built at an expense of about $5,000. 366 HISTORY OF SULLIYAN COUNTY. SUPEBVISOES OP THE TOWN OF LIBERTY. From To 1807 Thomas Crary 1809 1809 Darius Martin 1815 1815 Joseph HiU. 1816 1816 Darius Martin 1819 1819 Eeuben HaU 1823 1823 Darius Martin 1824 1824 Joseph Young 1828 1828 Joseph Grant 1832 1832 Joseph Young 1833 1833 Nathaniel B. Hill 1834 1834 Joseph Young 1835 1835 Luther Bush 1838 1838 Isaac Horton 1840 1840 Edward Young 1841 1841 Luther Bush 1842 1842 Henry Mead 1843 1843 Joseph Young 1845 1845 James F. Bush 1847 1847 Benjamin P. Buckley 1850 1850 Horace H. Crary .1851 1851 Benjamin P. Buckley 1852 1852 Ares B. Leroy 1853 1853 John D. Watkins 1854 1854 Eobert Y. Grant 1855 1855 Axes B. Leroy 1856 ^856 John E. KUbourne 1859 1859 Eobert Y. Grant '. .1860 1860. . . . ; Edward H. Pinney 1861 1861 Edwin Fobes 1863 1863 .Benjamin W. Baker 1864 1864 BilHugs Grant 1865 1865 Thomas Crary 1868 1868 Oscar B. Grant 1869 1869 John H. Allen 1871 1871 George Young 1872 1872 .Uriah S. Messiter 1874 CHAPTEE XII. THE TOWN OP LUMBEELAND. I This town is situated west of th« Mongaup and nortii of the Delaware river, and in the angle formed by the ^'unction of the two streams. Its surface is rugged and broken, although it has a fair share of land susceptible of cultivation. A large part of it is yet in a wilderness-state, all but about two thousand acres being unimproved. This is owing to causes which wiU be stated hereafter. At the mouth of the Mongaup, the altitude above the ocean level is 550 feet.* Being the extreme southern point of our territory, of moderate elevation, and environed by mountains, its climate is mild and desirable. The streams of Lumberland furnish sufficient water-power for the requirements of its citizens, and it has several of those beautiful lakes which abound in nearly every section of the county. Among them is Lebanon in the northern; Hound, Sand and Haggai's in the western; Long in the central, and Metaque in the eastern part of the town. The last is about two miles from the Mongaup, and three hundred feet above it. On its outlet is a beautiful cascade. After running over a rocky bed, the water leaps down about one hundred feet into the Mongaup. The lake has in it the usual varieties of fish found in such sheets of water, and what is quite remarkable, eels of large dimensions abound in it. Naturalists assert that this mysterious fish will not continue or produce its kind in situations where it cannot visit the ocean .and return.t No fish can ascend a perpendicular fall of one hundred feet. How then do eels find a way from salt-water to Metaque pond? , * French's Gazetteer. tFor hitndi'eda of years, naturalists have failed to discover the reproductive ■organs of the eel, and to distinguish the male from the female. Becently it has been iannouuced that, as certain flowers are staminate and pistillate, so each eel contains within itself the elements of generation. Its ovaries and testils are not developed until it visits the ocean, where it produces Its offspring. The latter ascend fresh ■water channels, and live there nnfll instinct causes them to return to their native element.— 6'ee Haram-s' Magazine for December, 1872. [367] 368 mSTOBY OP SUIiUTAN COUNTY. Long pond is long and narrow, and has bold, rocky-shores,, except at the north end, ^here there is a marsh. Midway from>. each extremity js a beautiful island of about two acres. Haggai's pond^ it is said, received its name from a man called. Haggai, who settled near it previous to the Revolutionary war. It is of unusual shape, and what is quite remarkable, ia one part- of it the water measures but four feet below the surface, while around this shoal, the descent is very abrupt, and the water deep. Sand pond is situated on or near the line between Lumber- land and Highland. There is a large quantity of sand in and aroimd this lake, suitable for the making of glass. Since 1812 it has been used for that purpose by several manufacturers. From that year to 1820, it was carted to Pond Eddy, and from there taken down the river to James W. Kidgeway's factory^ about two miles above Port Jervis. More recently it has been transported to Honesdale. Afs there is an abundapce of wood) in the vicinity, and Sand pond is of easy access from the Erie Railway and the Delaware and Hudson canal, it is singular that no- enterprising capitalist has engaged in making glass at this point. Bound pond is a pretty sheet of water which outlets into. Mud pond brook. Mud pond makes no pretense to beauty, and therefore we have not classed it with those lakes which command admiration. Other ponds bear the same name, but this is the only one which deserves it. It is about one mile long, from twenty to forty rods wide, has bold rocky shores, and is composed of mud of an> unknown depth, with an occasional patch of turbid water. From this remarkable morass runs a large stream of water. Lebanon pond in the north is an attractive sheet of water,, particularly to anglers. POPULATION — ^VALUATION — TAXATION. Tear. 1800 . 1810* 1820 . 1830 . 1840 . 1850 . i860t 1870 . Popu- lation. 733 525 669 953 1,205 2,635 970 1,065 Assessed Value. no record $98,115 123,425 109,114 78,241 220,403 196,005 186,910 Town Charges. no record $128.33 264.21 834.47 728.96 408.82 211.80 2,440.19 Co. and State. no record! $140.02' 266.51 705.24 322.01 1,466.5S 1,398.57 3,925.94 * liberty and Bethel were erected between 1800 and 1810. t Highland and Tusten became towns during the pi-evious decade. STHE TOWN OF LUMBEBLAND. 36& The early history of thi^ town is involved in obscurity. The first settler of whom we have information was a man named John Showers, who lived near the mcpth of the Mongaup. He tept a tavern there previous to 1790, as we learn from the old Kecords of Mam^k^^ting. There is no doubt that he Hved there previous to thp Revolutionary war, and that his house was well j^uown to the red and white trappers and hunters of the Mongaup and Del^w^^re. He was probably one of those un- scrupulous meji who h^^ve been ^ greater bane to the Indians than "war, pestilence and famine, and that he estabHshed himself here to exch|inge fire-\^ter for furs and peltries. Tom Quick, the Indis^n-i^^'y^rj "^^^ often the guest of Showers, and the log-cabin of the l%t^^ 'w^as the scene of one of his exploits. On one occasion, Quick and three or four other white hunters ha^d sought the shelier of Showers' barfe-roof, when a savage entered and asl^ed permission to stay all night. He was told that he could lodge th^re. After spending the evening^ pleasantly, the party wrapped themselves in their blankets, and stretched themselves upon the floor. AU were soon asleep except Quick, who had restplved to murder the red man, and. remained awake, watching for a favorable moment to accom- plish his unjustifiable purpose. When the deep breathing of the others announced that they were unconscious, Tom cau- tiously got his gun. In * few moments the hunters were aroused by an explosion, and foui^d the savage dead in their midst. The assassin, immediately ^.fter firing, left the cabin, and dis- appeared in -ibs woods. As the red men were then almost exclusive occupants of the surrounding country, and would avenge the death of their brother, if informed of it, the murder was concealed for many years.* Showers was living in Lumherland in 1792, as well as a person named Joseph Showers. The latter was probably the son of the former. Both were men of some property, and were then on the tax-roll of Mamakating, which town at that time covered Lumberland. The history of this town will not be. complete without an account of Tom Quick, whose favorite hunting ground was in Lumberland. He was born at Jkliltord, Pennsylvania, where his father settled in 1733, ajid was the descendant of respectable and affluent ancestors, who came from Holland and became residents of Ulster county previous to 1689. At Milford the Quicks prospered, and became the owners of valuable real estate, including mills ; but they were surrounded by savages, to Ybose manners and customs Tom, as he was called, became so much attached that his mode of life resembled that of a * Tom Quick and the Pioneers. 24 370 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COtTNTY. Ijenape hunter. He lived in amity -with the savages ; parUoi- pathig with them in their amusements and pursuits, until the French and Indian war, when they killed his father under very aggravating circumstances. This turned Tom's friendship to inappeasable hostility, and he solemnly swore that he never would be at peace with the red race as long as one of them hunted on the banks of the Delaware ; and there is no doubt that he embraced every safe opportunity to murder the savages while they remained in the country, or visited it from their new homes west of the Alleghanies. The number of Indians slain by him is no doubt very much ■exa^ferated ia popular estimation. Many believe that he killed nearly one hundred ; but there is, no certainty that the actual number exceeds ten or fifteen. Several years since we met with a nephew of Tom Quick,* who was with the Indian-slayer maUy times previous to the death of the latter. To him Tom communicated the following statement, which is no doubt a true one : "After the French and Indian war, an Indian named Musk- wink returned to the lower TaUey of the Neversink. He was a a-vi8 1 2| JJoshua Carpentex ... 2 li . John Dailey 005 Matfliew Quick 1 5| iWifliata Wells. ... 6| Abner Lane 1| JDatid Wells 9| By an act of the Legislature passed March 16, 1798, Never- sink was taken from Hocheste^ and Ltimbeflaq|d from Matna- kating. The act first provides for the etectidn 6f the former, a;nd in a subsequent gection for ihb litter, so that, although Neversink first saw the light, the tWo may be termed twin-sifiters. Lumberland was thus bounded by th6 Legislature which gave it existence : " On the north-east by the Daaware river; on the north-west by the county of Dela^ivaTe; on the south-west by Bochester; and on the east by the Mongatip river." We have copied the d'esoripttoh here given from the original Session Laws of 1798. TiaMiag the letter di the law as a guide, no man could have found the boojdds of the town. A greater piece of legislative bungl&g was never perpetrated. The name of Lumberland tvsts defiVed frOEd -^rhat was then the leading pursuit of its lAhAbitaHtS. Although the town now covers but 32,335 acres, it at first cdmprised an iirea of nearly 300,000, and mcluded ia:i|hla,fr4 ^tfsten, Cochecton, Delaware and Bethel, and so inueh ol Fallsbufgh, Liberty, ObDicbon and Fremont as was not ori^allV id the town of Eochester. In 1800, Lumberland had a population of 733 souls. Except a few families located in Liberty, and ailf one or two other points, the residents of the town livfed iA the Galley of the Delaware or its immediate vicinity, a.nd were engaged in lumbering; The town was an immense Wilderness of valuable timber. The forests consisted principally o]F white and yellow pine, oak, chestnut, and hemlock. The soil of the sottthem portion, except a few small tracts of valley land, ivas considered worthless for agricult- ural purposes. Hence the possession of farm-lots was not considered desirable, and real estate was held in large parcels by non-residents, (prihcipally citizens of Orange couiity,) whose aim was to convert the timber into cash at the least possible expense to themselves. To do this, they built mills, and em- ployed choppers, teamSters and sawyers, who were controlled * Bnpponed residents of Cochecton luid Delaware. f Besidents of Tusten. t Residents of Highland. 374 HISTOEY OF SITLLIVAN COUNTY. by resident agents. Each establishment had its little com- munity of employees^ a majority of whom Hved in make-shift tenements, some of Whom md not even Cultivate a garden, and aU of whom received wages which left no surplus at the end of the year. The region was thtis stripped and plimdered of its natural wealth. .Jt was the fountain-head oi a stream which swept to distant locaUties its auriferous stores, and diminished its own riches in the ratio it added to the consequence of other regionsi IJntil a recent day, it was believed that there would be nothing in Lumberland to stimulate enterprise as soon as the original forests were swept away. Happily this belief was not well founded. That part of the town which borders on the Dela- ware, contains an almost inexhaustible source of wealth. If the name of Lumberland once suggested the principal industry of the town, Stoneland or EocBand would now be a more appropriate appellation. It was found that the superficial stratum of rock was what is known to quarrymen as blue-stone. In 1868, Messrs. Mills & Cash, an Ulster county firm which had successfully prosecuted the business in Ulster, opened extensive Juarries near Pond Eddy. They were followed by Henry "W. )ecker. In 1870, the fimn of Decker, EUgore & Co. formed a joint stock company known as the New York and Pennsylvania Blue Stone Company. This organization has a capital of one million of doUars, and has leased of James D. Decker more than one-third of the town. It is said that its annual transac- tions reach a sum «qual to the nominal capital of the company. Although the new interest may be developed more rapidly by those who now control it, than if diffused among the resi- dents of the town, it is probable that a large share of the profits which will arise from it will enrich non-residents. Among the early settlers since the Revolutionary war, we may mention Joshua Knight and P. VanAuken on the Mongaup; Sears Gardner, Elnatnan Corey and the Middaughs at Pond Eddy, as well as the Deckers, Sears G. Tuthill, John Einck and William Eyerson. The descendants of several of these persons are not among the present inhabitants of the town, Emathan Corey kept the first tavern, and Levi Middaugh and Solon Cooper the first store at Pond Eddy. A. M. Farnham was the pioneer school-teacher. We should add to the above list the names of Adam White and Philip Decker. Pecker came from New Jersey, Abram W. , Decker, a former Member of Assembly, and James D. Decker, who represented Lumberland for many years in the Board of Supervisors, and is now (1873) Sheriff of Sullivan county, are sons of Philip Decker. The firm of Middaugh & Cooper was dissolved in 1830 in con-^ THB TOWN OF LUMBEBLAUD. 376 seo[aence of the mysterious disappearance of Cooper. This Middaugh was respectably connected. CoOper had a wife and children with whom he lived in concord. As a husband and father he was remarkably kind and affectionate, and we believe he was prosperous in his affairs. On the 23d of August, he left home to transact business at Mongaup Valley, where he hoped to collect a sum of money due tiie firm from Jeremiah Gajle ; at Monticello, where he in- tended to leave several deeds at the County Clerk's office ; and at Kingston, where he intended to pay a considerable sum on account of the firm. When he started, he took with him the necessary funds for the latter purpose. On his way he passed through Forestburgh, where he called on Adam White, and then proceeded to the house of Marshall Perry, where he re- mained all night. On the 24:th, he resumed hif journey, and stopped at various houses on his way to make inquiries as to the route to Mongaup VaUey. The last place where he was seen was at DeWitt Decker's, three miles from the valley. Here he made the usual inquiries and left. He never reached Gale's, and no further trace of him could be found. On the 6th of October, Middaugh published an advertisenient in the Republican Watchman, in which he declared that he was ignorant of Cooper's fate ; that the business of the firm had terminated, and cautioned the public not to trust Cooper on its account. From this it appears that Middaugh believed his late partner had absconded. Others, however, came to a different conclusion. They believed that the missing man was murdered, and for a time much excitement prevailed in regard to the matter. On the 24th of September, 1831, the people of Thompson and Bethel, at the request of Mr. Gale, turned out to search for Cooper's remains ; and again on the 29th of October, on the call of Mr. Gale, Hezekiah Howell and Asa Hall ; but on neither occasion was a clue found to his mysterious disappearance. If, in accordance with the general belief, he was murdered, his bones may yet be found in or near West Settlement. On the 17th of December, 1843, one of the small ponds of Lumberland was the scene of a sad tragedy. Cornelius Letts, aged 22 years, while crossing the pond, broke through the ice. As his brother was vainly endeavoring to rescue him, a yoting lady to whom Comehus expected- to be married on the next day, and who lived in the vicinity, attracted by his cries, came to the shore, and, after witnessing his struggles to escape, saw him sink to rise no more. The clergyman who was engaged to Eerform the marriage ceremony came according to agreement ; ut instead of finding Cornelius arrayed in marriage garmejits, he found him enshrouded for the grave. A funeral sermon was delivered over the remains of the unfortunate young man at the 376 HtiS'WjBT Of stJiiiVAit oountt. yerp- hour set for the tt^eddi^. "We have seldom met with an incident which inore forcibly imistlrfttels the uncertainty of human affairs. About the year 1850, the (Juestion of once more dividing liumberland began to be seriotisly discussed. The town coli- taiaed over 90,000 acres of land, atid its river-front extended from the Monganp to the south-Tdrestern comer of Cochecton. Even when the town-business was transacted at a central point, some of the people found it difficult to go to and return from that point in a single day, and the roads were so rough that the journey was irksome and not altogether without peril. The first proposition for a division was made in 1852, and came from Charles S. Woodward, Jonathan Hawks, Sears K Gardner, George Swartz, John S. Hughes, Eichard W. Corwin, C. C. Murray, James B. Hankins, Duncan Boyd and others, who C'itioned for the erection of an additional town from Lumber- d. TbiB, although favored by a large number of leading citizens, was not satisfactory to a majoriiy of the inhabitants, whose discontent with such an arrangenieiit was made manifest by a counter-application from B6n]amih B. Parker, Eobert Atkins, Justus Hickok, Benjamin C. Austin and eighteen others for the making of two new towns. The petition of the latter had the most weight with the Board of Supervisors, who on the 17th of December, 1853, enacted that certain lots should be erected into the town of Tusten, and certain other lots into the town of Highland,* "and that aU the remaining part of Lumberland shaU be and remain a separate town by the name of Limiberlaoid." As the labor of the town has been confined almost exclusively to a single branch of industry, so the consciences of its citizens have been mainly swayed by a solitary religious creed. The manufacture of lumber caused isolated neighborhoods to spring up. The itinerating preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Society found their way to these little communities, and secured the gratitude, love and confidence of the people to such an extent that the only churches of the town belong to the Metho- dists. There are four of these edifices — one of which is at South Lebanon; one at Pond Eddy; and one at Lebanon. There is a church for every 267 inhabitants. Every man, troman and child of the town can simultaneously find refuge in a religious sanctuary — a very remarkable fact. At Pond Eddy there is a suspension bridge, for the construc- •tion of which the town has been bonded for-$19,000. * See cluptera on Tusten rad Highland. THE TOWK OF liUMBERLAND, 377 SUPEEVISOBS OP THE TOWN OP LUMBEELAND. Prow " To 1798 No neootd. 1809 1809 John Conklin 1810 1810 Jonathan Dexter 1811 1811 OUv^r Calkin 1813 1813 Samuel Watkins 1816 18 18 6 OHver Calkin . 1818 8 William Dunn 1819 1819 Oliver Calkin ^ 1820 1820 Sears Gardner 1822 1823 Gardner Fergerson 1825 1825 Searo Gardner 1826 1826. \ Gardner Fergerson 1829 1829 William Dunn 1830 1830 Gardner Fergerson, 1833 1833 Samuel Hankins 1836 1835 John Bishop 1837 1837 Augustus M. Saokett. . . .' 1838 1838 James K. Gardner 1841 1841 Sears G. Tuthill 1842 1842 Charles S. Woodward 1850 1850 Thomas Williams 1852 1852 James K.Gardner 1853 1853 Charles S. Woodward 1854 1854 0. W. Lambert 1856 1856 Peter G. Canfield 1857 1857 Abram T. Drake 1858 1858 Abram W. Decker 1860 1860 James D. Decker 1871 1871 Joseph Steel. 1872 1872 Albert Stage 1874 OHAPTEB XnL THE TOWN OP MAMAKATING. The day and year of the first visit made by white men, to th& territory comprised within the bounds of Sullivan county, can- not now be determined ; and we^cailnot trace the route pursued by them. They may have come from the colony of Swedes, established on the Delaware river in 1638, or they may have traveled the Indian paths which led from Esopus in 1614, when a trading-post was established at that point by the Dutch. It is said of the Swedes, that they lived- in unbroken amity with the Lenape, and that they deserved the love and c'pnfi- dence of the red man. The truth of this assertion is conceded by historians ; hence there is no room to believe that an obstacle was presented by the original inhabitants to such of the Swedes as desired to explore the streams, mountains, valleys and plains of the country. One of the hallucinations of that period was, that the forests of this continent abounded with rich mines of gold, silver and other precious metals, and that the natives were well acquainted with these mines, and could be induced to disclose what they knew. The Swedes, as well as other immigrants, used every artifice to induce the Indians to lead them to these El Dorados. Thus, doubtless, the Dutch discovered the old mine at Minisink, and the lost mine of Mamakating. Generally, however, the ore found was not as valuable as the mixed load, copper and zdnc found in the Shawangunk. Grievous disappointment followed when it was submitted to the crucible. Often were they deceived by those pyrites which have been appropriately termed "fools' gold." The golden histre of the pyrites led to the transportation of manj carcfuDy guarded samples to Europe, which experienced mmeralogiets there at once cast, not into ingots, but among rubbish. • Although the search for mines led to the discovery of much fei*tile land in the wilderness, and its occupation by the whites at an early day, it did not lead to the settlement of the banks of the Delaware by the Swedes, or any other European's, as far up as Minisiiik, until several years had elapsed. [378] THE TOWN OF MAMAKATING. 379 That the Swedes believed that they were the ,disooverers of deposits of the precious metals on the banks of the river of the Len*ipe, may be proved by reference to Master Evelyn's curious description of the country. Lindstrom, the Swedish engineer, who explored Several portions of the country, assures us that silver existed near the Palls of the Delaware,* and that consider- able quantities of gold were found higher up the river.t Says Be, "the shore before the mountain is covered with pyrites. When the soundest are broken, kernels are found as large as small peas, containing virgin silver. I have broken more thmt. a hundred. A savage Unapois, beholding a gold-ring of the wife of Governor Printz, demanded why she carried such a trifle. The Governor replied, "If you will procure me such trifles I will reward you with other things suilable for you.' 'I know,' said the Indian, 'a nvDuntain filled with such metal.' 'Behold,' rejoined the Governor, 'what I will give you for a specimen ; ' presenting to him at the same time, a fathom of red and a fathom of blue frieze, some white lead, looking-glasses, bodkins and needles, declaring that he would cause him to be accompanied by two of his soldiers. But the Indian, refusing this escort, said that he would first go for a specimen, and, it it gave satisfaction, he might be sent back wim the Governor's people. He promised to give a specimen, kept the presents, and went away ; and, after some days, returned with a lump of ore as large as his double fist, of which the Governor made proof, found it of good quality, and extracted from it a consider- able quantity of gold, which he manufactured into rings and bracelets. He promised the Indian further presents, if h& would discover the situation of this mountain. The Indian consented, but demanded a delay of a few days, when he could, spare more time. Content with this, Printz gave him more presents. The savage, having returned to his nation, boasted of his gifts, and declared the reason of their presentation. But he was assassinated by the sachem and his companions, lest he should betray the situation of this gold-mine ; they fearing its ruin if it were discovered by us. It is still imknown." This ore may have been a mixed ore from the Shawangunk mountain, or from the metalliferous region of Sussex county. New Jersey, where an ore is found wmch is easily converted into bra^s. It certainly was not gold. The planting of a trading-post at.Esopus by the Dutch in 1614, and the settlement of that point by the same people, led to a brisk intercourse between the two races. , At Esopus debouched the dusky trappers and hunters, bearing a rich *TbB Falls of the Delaware mentioned l>; Lindstiom were at the head ot sloop and iteamboat naTigation, at Tieaton. t Qordon'i Kew Jeney. 380 mSTOEY OF STJIXITAN GOUNTY. harvest of skins and fats, from a great scop6 of country, includ- ing all of Sullivan county. To the great trail from Minisink through Mamakating, Warwarsing, etc., to Esopus, led all the other principal traife of this region. One great trail of the Lenape was from a point about two miles above SaUgerties, to the upper waters of the Plattekill, and from thence to Paka- tagkan, an Indian village on the Papacton branch of the Delap- ware. The Minisink trail ran from the Hudson, via Marbletowri, Bochester, WaWarSing, Wuttsborough, Port Jervis, and the Delaware, nearly to the Water Gap. Prom Marbletown, a gresst trail fan by the Way of Ohve and Shandaken,* to P^katagk^n ; another from Marbletown to the forks of the RoSendall^ Grahahis- viUe, t)ebruce, etc., to Cochecton, where it croesed the Delaware and led to Skinner's creek ; another was from the Sand-Hills, uto the Sandburgh to Denniston's ford, the Sheldrake, liberty aha the Cochecton trail. Thei'e were also ttaite from Napanocn, and along the Neversink, and to and from various minor points. There were men among the original Dutchmen of Esopus, who, although they had been schooled in civilization, soon affili- ated with the savage Lenape hunters. They hunted with them, trapped with them, and became giiests at their wigwams. "Whether they penetrated the eotthtry as far as the Mamakating, the Navising or the Lenape-wihittuek can never be known.f However plausible may seem our theories in regal-d to the Swedes of the Delaware and the Hollanders of Wiidwijk, we cannot prove that the foot of a European pressed our soil previous to the year 1663, when, during the Esopus war, white prisoners were brought by the Indians to our territory, and white soldiers came here to punish the savages. A full history of the events of that year Tf-ill be found in our chapter on the Lenni Lenape. In that war, the Esopus clans^ were completely subdued and humbled, ahd a way was opened to the heart of the Manassing or Minsi country. Sometime after the treaty of peace which terminated the coiiteSt, the tide of civilization flowed through the valley of the Mamakating to Minisink, ■where the douncU-firps oi the great Lenape confederacy had .glowed far in the dim past. That beautiful tferritory was exchanged for Dtitch guildfers and Dutch trinkets. Entirely ^ilfrbunded by the Miasi or Mahassings, and far beyond the lope of succour, the Dutch and Htigtieliots of Miniteink shrewdly ■enacted the role of good and true men in their transactions ^dth Ihe natives ; otheirtrise they were better Christians than iaahy * The Indian name of tte EsopuB river. •fThe fact that no white hunters were employed by the Dntoh as ?tiide» in 1668 when the^ Invaded the BidSMis of oiir t^rito^, geemg to prove that this region had not then been visited by them. 4 They were outlying dans of the Miniii, THE TQWK OW MAMAEAIINQ. 381 Qlhers who deo^lt with the Indians. A dimple hut a crafty race were these original white settlors of this (at that time) far coimtry, as we shall see hereafter. They were hterally "as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves ; " and they were for many years rewarded with peace and prosperity, as all men wust be who, from purely disinterested or purely selfish motives, ^rupulously do what is right. The early days of Peenpack and Minisink, like the origin of Free and Accepted Masonry, are not matters of record. Ma- Uonry may have existed before the "roTjgh ashlers" were hewn for the tempie; even Ada^ may have been the first W. M. of !Eden Lodge No. 1, and Satan the first cowan who lurked around the outer-door of the chamber adjoining the sanctuary ; but we do not beUeve the Huguenots settled in Minisink before the revocation of the edict of Nantz in 1686, nor thtt the Dutch had a fiourishing colony there before the Esopus clans were so Biynercifully slain and devoted to starvation in 1663. As the settlement of Minisink by whites led to the erection of the first cabin built in Sullivan by a European, we may write of that settlement in extenso. Gordon in his admirable History of New Jersey, say^ : " We may justly suppose, that the road between the colonies on the Hudson and. Delaware, was not wholly uninhabited" in 1658. He takes it for granted that the colony existed in Minisink in that year, and that the Minisink road, which was one hundred miles in length, was the work of the Dutch colonists ! And yet five years after this time there were not seventy-five* able- bodied male residents of Wildwijk! (Kingston.) It is not to he supposed that such a mere handful of men had hewn their •w&j through a hundred miles of forest, infested by savages. iEager, in his History of Orange County, expresses the behef that there were miners from Holland at wprk m the mine-holes of Minisink, and in Mamakating Hollow, previous to 1664, and that the mining-business closed in consequence of the surrender to the English in that year. If so, the country must have been e'cplored by the Dutch, and they would not have been compelled to employ as guides, in 1663, white females who h^,d been prisoners with the Indians, and esciaped; nor would they have' resorted to Indians to pilot them through the woods to the forts and villages of the hostile clanSi which were located "Qiithin forty miles of E^opns.t * From " A Bool of the Names a'nd burnameB of th^m that haue iakin the oath of all^tgiance id ye county of Vlstr, by ordr of his excely : ye Gouemor ; ye ffirst day of Septembr aimo Qe : domini 1689 — " it appears that 189 appeared and took the oath ; 4 " Did RefEeu^s to take it, and 29 " Did uott appeare," Total, 212. A few names which «re familiar is the annals of Minisink appear in the list. — Doc. Hist, of If. Y. In 1703, there w6re in Ulster county 383 males over 16 and under 60 years of age. ^ lN.Y.(MonmMS8.,^ol.tLyill. t Documentary History of New York. 382 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. The error of Gordon and Eager is tmdonbtedly based on the fcJlowing interesting paper, which was communicated by Samuel Preston, in 1828, to Hazard's Register: " In 1787, the writer went on his first surreying tour into Northampton county; he was deputed under John Lukens, Surveyor General, and received from him, by way of instructions, the following narrative respecting the settlement of Minisink, on the Delaware, above the Kittany and Blue mountain : "That the settlement was formed for a long time before.it was known to the Government in Philadelphia. That when the Government was informed of the Settlement, they passed a law in 1729 that any such purchases of the Indians should be void ; and the purchasers indicted for forcible entry and detainer, according to the law of England. That in 1730, they appointed an agent to go and investigate the facts ; that the agent so ap- pointed was the famous Surveyor, Nicholas ScuU ; that he, John Lukens, was N. Scull's apprentice to carry chain and learn surveying. That as they both understood and could talk Indian, they hired Indian guides and had a fatiguing journey, there then being no white inhabitants in the upper part of Bucks or Northampton county. That they had very great difficulty to Jead their horses through the water gap to Minisink flats, which were all settled with Hollanders ; with several they could only be understood in Indian. At the venerable Depuis they found great hospitality and plenty of the necessaries of life. J. Lukens said that the first thing which struck his attention was a grove of apple-trees of size far beyond any near Philadelphia. That as N. ScuU and himself examined the banks, they were fully of opinion that aU those flats had at some former age been a deep lake before the river broke through the mountain, and that the best interpretation they could make of Minisink, was, the water is gone* That 8. Dupuis told them when the rivers were frozen, he had a good road to Esopus, near Kingston, from the Mine- holes, on the Mine road, some hundred miles. That he took his wheat and cider there for salt and necessaries, and did not appear to have any knowledge or idea where the river ran— Philadelphia market — or being in the government of Pennsyl- vania. ) " They were of opinion that the first settlements of Hollan- ders in Minisink were many years older than William Penn's *The theory has been advanced that the Delaware river one© discharged its waters into the Hudson by the way of Mamakating valley, and that by some convul- Bion of nature, or by more gradual agencies, a passage for the river was opened through the famous Water Gap, the precipitous walls of which rise 1,600 feet above the surface of the river. Gordon gays that an obstruction ot 200 feet in height at this point would form a lake fifty miles in length, extending over the Mitiisink country. Before ths bed of the river was broken down, there must have been a cataract here higher than that of Niagara. THE TOWN OF MAMAKATING. ' 383 <5harter, and that S. Depuis had treated them so well they con- ■cluded to make a survey of his claim, in order to befriend him if necessary. When they began to survey, the Indians gathered around ; an old Indian laid his hand on N. Scull's shoulder and said, 'Put up iron string, go home.' They then quit and returned. " I had it in charge from John Lukens to learn more particu- lars respecting the Mine road to Esopus, etc. I found Nicholas Dupuis, Esq., son of Samuel, living in a spacious stone house in great plenty and afHuence. The old Mme holes were a few miles above, on the Jersey side of the river, by the lower point ■of Paaquary Flat ; that the Minisink settlement extended forty miles or more on both sides of the river. That he had well known the Mine road to Esopus, and used, before he opened the boat channel through Foul Eift, to drive on it several times every winter witii loads of wheat and cider, as also did his neighbors, to purchase their salt and necessaries in Esopus, liaving then no other market or knowledge where the river rah to. That after a navigable channel was made through Foul Rift, they generally took to boating, and most of the settlement turned then- trade down stream, the Mine road became less and less travelled. "This interview with the amiable Nicholas Dupuis, Esq., was in June, 1787. He then appeared about sixty years of age. I interrogated as to the .particulars of what he knew, as to when and. by whom the Miae road was made, what was the ore they dug and hauled on it, what was the date, and from wheiice, or how, came the first settlers of Minisink in such great numbers as to take up aU the flats on both sides of the river for forty miles. Be could only give traditionary accounts of what he had heard from older people, without date, in substance as follows : " That in some former age there came a company of Miners irom Holland; supposed, from the great labor expended in making the road, about one hundred miles long, that they were very rich or very great people, in working the two mines, — one on the Delaware where the mountain nearly approaches the lower point of Paaquary Flat, the other at the north foot of the same mountain, near half way from the Delaware and Esopus. He even Understood that abundance of ore had been liauled on that road, but never could learn whether lead or silver. That the first settlers came from Holland to seek a place of quiet, being persecuted for their religion. I beUeve they were Armenians. They followed the Mine road to the large flats on the Delaware. That smooth cleared land suited their views. That they ioiia fide bought the improvements of tlie native Indians, most of whom then moved to the Susque- hanna ; that with such as remained there was peace tiU 1755. 384 HISTOKI OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. " I then went to view the Paaquary Mineholes.* There ap- peared to have been a great abundance of labor done there at some former time, but the mouths of these holes were caved full, and overgrown with bushes. I concluded to myself if there ever had been a ricih mine under that mountain it must be there yet in close confinement. The other old men I conversed with gave their traditions similar to N. Dupuis, and they all appeared to be grandsons of the first settlers, and very ignorant as to the dates and things relating to chronology. In the summer of 1789, 1 began to build on this plape ; then came two venerable gentlemen on a surveying expedition. They were tiie late Gen. James Clinton, the father of PeWitt Clinton, and Christopher Tappan, Esq., Clerk and Eecorder of Ulster county. For many years before they had both been surveyors imder Gen. Clinton's father, when he was surveyor general. In order to learn some history from gentlemen of their generstl knowledge, I accompanied them in the woods. They both well knew the Mineholes, Mine road, &o., and as there were no kind of docu- ments or records thereof, united in the opinion that it was a work transacted while the State of New York belonged to the government of Holland ; that it fell to the English in 1664 ; and that the change in government stopped the mining business, and that the road must have been made many years before such digging coidd have been done. That it undoubtedly must have been the first good road of that extent made in any part of the United States. ' The Paaquary is ipidoubtedly one of the mines mentioned by Lindstrom, the Swedish Engineer, a knowledge of which, it is presumed, was imparted to the inhabitants of Esopus by the Minsi Indians, and led to the Minisink settlements above the Water Gap. These people purchased of the Indians their improved lands — their maize-fields, and orchardst — without knowing or caring whether they were in the colony of New York, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania. Here they worked the mine, as well as the one midway between Minisink and the Hudson, until it was found unprofitable, and they became comparatively pros- perous and rich by cultivating the flat bottom lands of Minisink. Subsequently (in 1729 and 1730) their right to the soil was questioned by the Proprietors of Pennsylv^ia, and they were shrewd enou^ to claim that their ancestors occupied Minisink long before Penn purchased land of the Lenape ; that in a forgotten age they had constructed a road of one hundred miles *3oDie vriter^ have affirmed that the word Minisink comes from the English words mine and »ink (Min-e-sink.) In the same manner Neversink, Mamakating,^ Wawaiaing, etc., may be traced to a like source. t The apple was a favorite of the red man irosn his earliest intercourse with the whites. THE TOWN OF KAUAKATING. 885 ihrougli a 'wilderness couatiy, to their possessions; worked mines, cultivated land, btdlt substantial bouses, and exercised undisputed control; that from generation to generation they had married there — ^reared their offspring there — grown gray there, and peacefully descended to the valley of death, where their flesh and bones had mouldered and returned to dust. To this claim they added the charm of French hospitality and suavity, and the Indians, whether prompted or incited thereto or not, added their hostility.* , The apparent candor and simplicity of the Dupuis (Depuys) , their courtesy and their generous hospitahty, together with the determination evinced by the savages, were followed by results which were natural. Tne emissaries of the Pennsylvania pro- prietors made a report favorable to the quiet continuance of the squatters of Minisink in their happy valley. But when did the first white settlers locate there? The Dupuis, as their name proves, were French Huguenots,^ and the Huguenots did not come to this continent previous to 1686, in which year they fled from France, and were unsettled for several years. The first comers, it is alleged, were miners from Holland, who worked in the Faaquary mountain. Grant this, and still you do not concede that the territory was settled as soon as Gordon and Eager would lead us to believe : for in 1787, " the old men were grandsons of the original settlers." In the order of nature, this would have been the case, if the original white settlers had come as late as 1700. In 125 years the grandsons would have been dead. Fortunately we have documentary evidence which throws some tight on this subject. In Februaryj 1694, Captain Arent Schuyler was ordered by Governor Fletcher to visit the Minisink country, to ascertain whether the savages of that region had been tampered with by the French. He traveled through eastern New Jersey, and reached the Neversink river above Port Jervis, and thence passed to Minisink. He makes no allusion to white inhabitants of that region, although he speaks of traders and trappers who had passed through it. We give his journal as we find it quoted in Stickney's Minisink : " Schuyler's journal. " May it please your Excell : " in persuance to y' ExcU : commands I have been in the Minissinck Country of which I have kept the following jour- nal: viz* " 1694 v« 3^ of Feb : I departed from New Torke for East New 25 386 HISTORY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. Jersey and came that nigbt att Bergeritown where I hired two men and a guide. • " Y« 4"^ Sunday Morning. I went from Bergen & travilled about ten English miles beyond Haghkingsack to an Indian place called Peckwes. "Y« S'l" Monday. From Peckwes North and be West I went about thirty two miles, snowing and rainy weather. "Ye 6 Tuesday I continued my journey to Maggaghkamieck* and from thence to within half a days journey to the Minis- sinck. " Ye 7* Wendesday, About eleaven a clock I arriyed at the Minissinck, and there I met with two of their Sachems and severall other Indians of whome I enquired after some news, if the French or their Indians had sent for them or been in ?'> Menissinck Country. Upon w^*" they answered that noe rench nor any of the French Indians were nor had been in the Menissinck Country nor there abouts and did promise y* if ye French should happen to come or y* they heard of it that they wiU forthwith send a mesinger and give y' Excellency notice thereof. "Inquireing further after news they told me that six days agoe three Christians and two Shauwans [Shawnee] Indians who ■went about fifteen months agoe with Amout Vielle into the Shauwans County were passed by the Menissinck going for Albany to fetch powder for Amout and his company; and further told them that s^ Amout intended to be there w* seaven hundred of ye said Shauwans Indians loaden w*'' beaver and peltries att ye time ye Indian com is about one foot high (which inay be in the month of June.) " The Menissinck Sachems further s^ that one of their Sachems and other of their Indians were gone to fetch bisaver and peltries which they had hunted ; and' having heard no more of them are afraid y' ye Sinnegues [Senecas] have killed them for je lucar of the beaver or because y* Menissinck Indians have not been with ye Sinnegues as usual to pay their Dutty, and therefore desire y* your excellency will be pleased to order y' the Sinnegues may be told, not to molest or hurt ye Menis- sincks they be willing to continue in amity with them. "In the afternoon I departed from ye Menissincks; the 8*, 9"* & 10"> of Feb. I travilled and came att Bergen in y® morning about noone arrived att New Yorke. ;"This is may it please your ExceU. the humble reporte of your Excellency's most humble servt. Abent Schuyleb." * Maghhackamuck. This name was first applied to a tract of land in the lower NeverBink valley. Subseqaently that river was called the Maghhackamack. Ack ox 4uih Was the Leuape word for nu^adow, or land corered with gran. H'ack-h'ach-a-m'ach undoubtedly means a plurality of meadows. •tpTS tOWK OF MAMAKATINO. 387 In 1697, three years after Schuyler's expedition to the Mini- ?ink, a patent for lands in the valley was granted to him ; also another for one thousand acres to the original settlers of Peen- pack. There is no evidence that the Minisink country was settled previous to the year last named. As we have shown elsewhere, the Lenni Lenape name of the region embracing a large portion of our county was Atkarkarton. Ancient inaps are not always accurate as to boundaries. The ■Western limits of Atkarkarton are not given ; but there is little ■doubt that it was the cQuntry inhabited by the river Indians ■who lived west of the Hudson and between the Highlands and the Catsberg. The river-clans were kindred of the Minsi or Manassings, and were subject to their authority, so far as one ■tlan acknowledged another of the same blood »a8 superiors. Esopus was the first name applied by Europeans to Atkar- karton. The name is spelled by early writers in. various ways — Seepu, Sypns, Sopus, etc. According to Euttenber it is derived from the Algonquin word sipu, which is an equivalent of the English word river. The final s was probably at first silent; Thus the Sopus Indians were the river-Indians. They were known as such as long as they remained in the country. Finally some classical Dutchman, who was an admirer of old JEsop, and a reader of his Fables, changed the name to Esopus. In olden times Esopus covered an extensive region. Minor localities were mentioned as Mombackus at. Esopus, Mame-ka- ting at Esopus,* etc. The original white settlers of the old town of Mamakating were Jacob Cuddebeck, Thomas Swartwout, Anthony Swart- Ivout, Bernardus Swartwout, Jan Tys, Peter Germar and David Jamison, who, in 1697, obtained a patent for one thousand two hundred acres in the Peenpack valley, at a place then called Wagaghkemek (Qu: Maghhapkamack?) They were principally French Protestants, who fled from their native country on the revocation of the edict of Nantes. AU these men did not "become permanent residents, as we find that in 1728 the free- holders of Wagaghkemek consisted of Herme Barentse Van Emwegen, Peter Germar, John Van Vliet, junior, Samuel Swartwout, Bernardus Swartwout, junior, and Jacob Cudde- back.t This settlement was not within the present limits of ]V|amakating, and we mention it because it shows that the occupation of the town by the whites, as it was first Organized, was of ancient date. Subsequently, it is believed, a mine was opened and worked at a point north of Peenpack ; but that from some cause it was abandoned. * Hon. A. Bmyn Hasbrouck. tDocnmentary History of New York. 388' HISTORY OF BULUTAN COUNTY. Those who labored at the Shawangunk mine in Mamakating cannot be styled settlers. When they abandolied the mine, they abandoned the country, and left no enduring trace behind them. They departed, and the place that had knowoi them,, "knew them no more forever." After their exodus, several years must have, elapsed before the actual settlement of the valley began — ^long enough to cause the exact locality of the mine to be forgotten by the settlers of Ulster and their kindred of Minisink. Otherwise it could be pointed out at this day. The location of a mine in a continuously occupied region is never lost, so much is its importance magnified in popifdar estimation. When the first actual settler came he built his cabin in the valley of Mamakating, north of Wurtsborough. His name was Manuel Gonsalus. Lotan Smith, in his manusccipt History of SuUivan, says of him : "About the year 1700, Don Manuel Gonsalus, a Spanish Puri- tan, (then a young man,) fled from Spain on account of persecu- tion for his Protestant sentiments, and married into a Dutch family at Rochester, in Ulster county. He moved to Mamaka- ting Hollow, built a log-house, and entertained those who carried wheat to Kingston market. Wheat, rye and corn were raised in abundance in Minisink, and along the Delaware. Gonsalus was a house-carpenter, made shingles and raised some grain. He opened trade with the Indians, as they were friendly at that period." Thus it appears he was a Spanish nobleman, a Spanish Puritan, a tavern-keeper, a farmer, an Indian trader, a carpen- ter, and a shingle- weaver! Smith has undoubtedly recorded all that local tradition says of him. Gonsalus was jiot a Don, or the son of a Don ; he was not a Puritan (although a Protestant) for Spain never produced one ; he may have kept a log-tavern and cultivated land ; he undoubtedly traded with the natives ; was probably a carpenter ; but was not a shingle-weaver ; for a man could make more shingles, at that day, within a half dozen miles of Kingston, (the nearest market,) than he could trans- port from Mamakating with the fattest team of horses ever owned by a Dutchman or Spaniard. There were, among the early residents of the valley of Mama- kating, three or four persons named Manuel Gonsalus — father, son and grandson. The first was a native of Spain ; the others were bom in Kingston and Mamakating. The first of the name came to the province of New York at an earlier day than is generally supposed. He was here previ- ous to the year 1689 ; for on the 11th of September, 1689, he was a member of Captain Gerrit Teunise's military company of Kingston, at which time Robert Livingston, the founder of the •THE TOWN OF MAMAKATING. 389 family of that name, states that he served, "there Maj*« & ys Countrey upon the frontiers of there maj'» county of Albany" and received tiierefor " 12 ^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ County of Ulster extends, and to chuae one to the Westward of the Wallldll Precinct and Constable. Shawangaungh Precinct as far as the said County extends; shall be, and is hereby erected into a Precinct, by the Name of Mame-Kating Precinct ; and that the Freeholders and Inhabitants of Mame-Kating Precinct shall yearly elect one Constable, two Assessors, two Overseers of the Poor and two Surveyors of. the Highways ; which said officers shall have the same Power, and be liable to the same Fines and Forfeitures, as the like Officers of the several Towns, Manors and Precincts in the said County, are impowered with, and liable to ; and that the Freeholders and Inhabitants of Mame-Kating Precinct aforesaid shall annually meet at the now Dwelling House of Samuel Swartwout, on the first Tuesday in April, yearly, for the electing of the Officers aforesaid, until such Time as the Majority of the Freeholders, and Inhabitants at any one such meeting, shall agree upon some other certain Place of Meeting for the following year; which place being so agreed on, shall remain the Place of Meeting yearly, until alter'd as aforesaid ; and that the Freeholders and Inhabitants of Mame-Kating, shall have the Privilege to join with the Freeholders and Inhabitants of Rochester to chuse yearly one Supervisor, and shall be .liable to serve for Supervisor, if elected."* i * For a copy of thig act we are indebted to Horton Tidd. 39* HISTOBY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. In 1757, the valley west of the Shawangunk was piuch, exposed to Indian oula:age. To protect the inhabitants of th& frontier, as well a§ those who found it necessary to travel from iEsopus to Minisink, block-houses were erected at certain points, which were garrisoned by soldiers, whose duty it was to act as scouts. " In GsNSTiAL Assembly, December 7, 1757. "Lieut. Governor Delancy, among other things, communioated to the House as follows : • "The enemy, the Indians, having made incursions into the counties of Ulster and Orange, and murdered, some of tiie inhabitants, I ordered detachments of the militia to be employed on the scout, to protect the settlers, promising to recommend their services to you, at the next meeting, which I now do. I also, on repeated applications from thence, gave ordeiis to have a line of block-houses built, more effectively to secure iiiat part of the country. " And to encourage the inhabitants to stay and not abandon their settlements, the frontier is now and has been for some time guarded by troops posted there by the Earl of Landoune's orders ; but when His Majesty's service next season shall call for those troops^ it will become necessary to place others there under par of the province, lest that part of the country be destroyed by the French and their savages," etc. "A guard of 160 men, exclusive of oflBicers, were ordered for Ulster county to the frontiers, and 40 for Orange county." One of these block-houses was on what is now known as the Devens' place, north of Wurtsborough, and it is probable that some of the soldiers were stationed in the stone-mansion of Derick Van Keuren Westbrook, in Westbrookville. • This line of fortifications was built under the superintendence of James Clinton, who subsequently became a prominent general of the Eevolntionary army. During the French and Indian war, the Gonsalus family suffered severely from the Indians, and one of them (Samuel, the first white man who was born in the county) became famous as an Indian-hunter and scout. In "Notes of the Ancient History" of Ulster county, ptiblishedin the New Paltz Times of March 10, 1865, it is alleged that "Sam's Point," a well- known feature of Shawangunk mountain, was thus named in consequence of the following incident : In September, 1758, a scalping-party of Indians from the Delaware, crossed the mountain to Shawangunk, and killed Daniel Gitz, Grif. Easton and a man named NeaflSe. The country being alarmed, the savages hurried back ; but on the mountain met Samuel Gron- salus, to whom they gave chase in order to capture him. He THE TOWN OF MAMAKATINO. . 395 knew (ill the paths better Jhan his pursuers, and'hastening to the Point, leaped a rocky precipice of some thirty or forty feet, where he believed that he could break his fall amongst a clump of saplings, (probably «edars or hemlocks). He thus made his escape unhurt, and gave his name to the " big nose of Aioska- wastmg."* • Samuel's knowledge of the woods, and of the habits and habitations of the hostile Indians, enabled him to do good service to the country during the war with the French and their native allies. The writer already quoted, however, asserts that in the war of the Eevolution, he declared for the King, and joined the tones and Indians of Butler and Brant. The author of the "Notes" says that Lieutenant ColonelJohannes Jansen of the militia of Southern Ulster, was very active in scouting with his regiment along the frontiers, and being a^an of posi- tion as well as wealth, and so near the mountain, it was sup- posed^ he might easily be captured, and that he would be a valuable prize. The task was undertaken in September, 1780, by Samuel Gonsalus, Ben. DeWilt (commonly called Shank's Ben,t) and three other Indians who were formerly of the neigh- borhood. This Ben was a tail, bony savage, and was well known in Shawangunk. He had served with distinction in the French war; had his wigwam in the vicinity of Jansen's resi- dence, and had often worked for him. They attempted to ambush the Colonel as he was leaving his house in the morning ;, but they were discovered by a boy, who raised an alarm, when Jansen ran into the hOuse, and secured the door just as Shank* slashed it with an axe, and endeavored to force it open. Failiag: in their main design, the assailants proceeded to plunder the kitchen, the only room which they could enter ; and it was here that a female slave discovered who they were. Hearing Mrs. Jansen call out as if the neighbors were coming, they hastily left, and took with them three negroes, and a white girl named Hannah Grunenwalden, who was employed by the Jansens. They soon killed and scalped her, because they feared her screams would guide pursuers. Proceeding thence to Scrub Oak Bidge, over which an old path then and now leads, they overtook a man named John George Mack, Elsie, his daughter, *Accdrding to an old map in our possegRion, there was a tract of land in the vicinity of Sam's Point known as the Gonsalus patent. Query : Did Sam own the Point ? And was it not thus named because it was literally Sam's Point ? tShanks Ben (or Ben Shanks, as he was called on the Delaware) was at this time about forty years of age. In person he was tall, slender and athletic ; his hau- was jet-black, and clubbed behind — his forehead high and wrinkled — ^his eyes of a fiery brown color, and sunk deep in their sockets— his nose pointed and aquiline-i— his front teeth remarkably broad, prominent and white — his cheeks hollow and furrowed. Arrayed for war, he was one of the most frightful specimens of humanity that the eye could rest upon. Like the others of his party, he wore a coarse wagoner's frock of a grayish color, with a red handkerchief bound closely around his head. [Pamphlet of Hon. Charles Q. DeWitt, quoted in Tom Quick. 396 HISTOKT OF smxiTAN couinT. and Jolin Mentz, his son-in-law, Mentz had often seen Ben and knew he was an enemy. Seeing him in time, he escaped, hoping that the old man and Elsie would be spared ; but the savages had recently tasted blood, and they did not wish to be encumbered with prisoners who were not able to travel as fast as they coidd themselves. Hence Mack and his daughter were also slain and scalped. When a handful of militia followed in pursuit of Gonsalus and his party soon after, they discovered the bloody remains of the gray-haired old man and his daughter. With many tears, their bodies, with that of Miss Grunenwalden, were deposited in their last resting place.* There is a tradition in Shawangunk, that John Mentz soon after went off in the woods with his rifle; that for eighteen months he was not heard of by his family or friends ; that he would never speak of his adventures during his absence ; that he would shake his head mysteriously when Sam and Ben were mentioned ; and that there is no subsequent track or ti;ace of Gonsalus or Shanks. This tradition, like many other traditions, has no foundation in truth ; and as much can be said of the alleged connection of Samuel Gonsalus with Shank's Ben. We have seen and conversed with men who saw Shank's Ben (whos^ Indian name was Huycon) on the Delaware river, in 1784, and Samuel Gonsalus died near Obed Van Duzer's place, one mile and a half west of Wurtsborough, on the 20th of November, 1821, aged 88 years. Old age, and not Mentz's rifle, put an end to his hfe. He was born on the Devens farm, in Mamakating, in the year 1733. Before, during and after the Revolutionary war, the records of Mamakating show that he was elected to ofiice in that precinct, which was almost unanimously whig in politics. Until a few months before the attempt was made to capture Colonel Jansen, Samuel Gonsalus was an Overseer of the Poor. At that time, and in that community, no tory wotdd have been permitted to occupy such a position, or reside in the valley of Mamakating. ' Samuel Gonsalus was a man of great physical powers, even in his old age. When he was over sixty years old, it is said that no constable of the county could arrest him and keep hitn in custody. At one time, several of them attempted to do so and failed, when Captain Vaughn of MonticeUo volunteered to take him from his house and deKver him to the jailer of the county. Vaughn was considered one of the strongest men of the time, and was somewhat noted for his recklessness and lack of fear. He found Gonsalus in bed, and when the latter had risen, put his hand on, him, and said, "You are my prisoner." The old man repHed, "I don't know 'bout dat. We will see," * We have omitted quotation-marks because we have not adopted the exact language of the "Notes." THE TOWN OF MAMAKATING. 397 and then caught Vaughn by his waist, and " churned" him til] his teeth chattered. This enraged Vaughn, who had considered himself invincible. He again clutched at Gonsalus, who once more proceeded to "churn" Vaughn, and did not stop until the latter was completely exhausted. Vaughn then expressed him- self somewhat roughly, and departed. With a low chuckle, Gonsalus saw him go away crest^llen and mortified. Domine Frelegh, who was a pioneer clergyman ofjhe Wurts- borough, in catechizing a woman of his flock, put the question, " Who was the strongest man ? " When she replied gravely and sincerely, " Sam Consawley ! " Her neighbors all said so, and she believed them. Daniel, the brother of Samuel Gonsalus, was kUled by the Indians near the site of the old stone building l^own as the Stanton house. He had gone there for some purpose with a stranger, and the two stopped at the spring to drink, where the savages were in ambush. The white men cautiously kept their guns within reach as they stooped down to get the water ; but me precaution was a vain one. Gunshots and war-whoops rang through the woods. The stranger was killed, and Gonsalus was mortally wounded. The latter, however, managed to get behind a tree, and by doing so saved his scalp. The assailants knew that he had a loaded gun in his hands and was a sure marks- man. Hence they did not rush upon him to finish their bloody work. While the parties were thus situated, the Indians were frightened by two dogs, and ran away. These dogs belonged at the old fort, and were trained to hunt deer. They always went to the place where a gun was fired ; they were out in the woods at the time, and hearing the report of the Indians' guns, ran to the spring where Gonsalus was keeping the red men at bay. Their appearance led the savages to beheve that a party of whites were coming from the«fort to attack them. After the assailants left, Gonsalus managed to get to the fort, where he died soon after. He was a married man, and his wife and two children survived him. The children were sons — Benjamin and Manuel, whose names appear in the town records until 1802. They inherited considerable property from their father. On the same day Daniel Gonsalus and his compa]>ion were shot, Michael Helm was killed, in the manner we shaU hereafter relate. These murders were perpetrated after 1757. The Devens fort was not built until that year, Elizabeth, daughter of Manuel Gonsalus 2d, was captured by the Indians when she was but seven years of age. She was carrying a milk-paU from h^r father's home to a field near it, and had to pass through bars. The lower rails were down, an4 as she stooped to pass under the upper one, she was caught by a 398 HIS'POBY OF SUIJJVAN COUNTY. savage, who by threats so terrified her ttiat she did not dare to give an alarm. The red warrior took her to his party who were m the vicinity with other prisoners. All then traveled for days and days in a south-west course over mountains and up and down and across rivers, until they reached the village of the tribe in the interior of Pennsylvania. Here Elizabeth remained a prisoner for twenty years. She had disappeared so suddenly and mysteriously, that her parents and brothers were not posi- tive in regard to her fate. Had she wandered into the woods and perished? Was she devoured by wild beasts? Had she found- death and a grave in some neighboring slough? Had she been murdered by savages? Was she a captive among red barbarians? Or, worse than all, had she been compelled to become the unwilling concubine and the slave of a brutal savage? None of these questions could be answered with certainty. It was believed, however, that she was a prisoner, and in sore anguish her father continued year after year to make inquiries of those who had been in the Indian country, in the hope that he would find a clue which would lead to her discovery. At last he heard of a white woman who was with & clan near Harrisburgh, in Pennsylvania; whose age and some other circumstances led him to believe that she was his lost child. He searched for this clan — discovered them, and found with them the white woman. Twen.ty years, and a life of servi- tude, with brutal treatment, had so changed her appearance that her father could see no resemblance in her to his lost child. He listened to her story — she had forgotten the names of father, mother and brothers — ^but she remembered some of the circum- stances under which she was taken by the savages, and this led her father to claim her and take her back to his home. When they reached the house in which she was bom, she went directly to the bars where she was captul-ed. The shock of twenty years before had fixed the scene indelibly in her memory, and she {)ointed out the place where she was taken. There was no onger a doubt. She was the lost one. No one thonght other- wise, and she was whoUy restored to the home and hearts of her kindred. Her father was also taken prisoner by the Indians. He was a captive for four years, and was exchanged in Canada. Some- time after he removed to the Schuylkill Flats, »ear Philadelphia, where (his wife having died) he married a second time. Here he lived during the remainder of his life. Daniel Gonsalus who died in Mamakating in 1832, was taken by the Indians when he was five or six years old, and kept by them three years. He was carried away by a party which was lurking near Mamakating Farms. He became the adopted son of a warrior and his squaw, and in his old age told our informant THB TOWN OF MAMAKATING. 399 that he reinetabered the route from the Farms to a lake where "they first rested after leaving the valley. Here they remained •several days, and he became acquainted with several Indian children of his own age, and participated in their sports. Among other things, they brought together a number of stones aiid made a mimic wall of them. After this the band wandered about from place to place, and Daniel lost all idea of the direc- tion in which his father and mother lived. At first he was watched closely, but in the end he was regarded as one of themselves and went where he pleased. After three years, the band again ^ncamped by a laKe, when Daniel discovered the TOW of stones he had helped make when first captured. He had never lost his love for his white friends, nor his desire to return to them. He would have run away from* the savages long before ; but he knew not which way to go. Here was a monument which made his road plain. At a favorable moment, lie started for and reached home, to his great delight, and the joy of Samuel Gonsalus, his father. This Daniel Gonsalus was the last one of the family-name who was buried in SuUivan county. He died in the same liouse where his father breathed his last. His wife was Eliza- beth KuykendaU, of Mamakating. Daniel, according to the family account, wsis a true whig in the Eevolutionary war, and was in several battles. He was frequently employed in carry- ing dispatches from one camp to another, and his knowledge of woodcraft was of great service to him in doing so, as it enabled him to avoid traveled routes, and go in a direct line from one point to another, through woods, over mountains, rivers, etc. He was cautious and wary, and seldom failed to accomplish what was required of him. He was in Fort Montgomery when it was captured by the British General Clinton, (October 6, 1777) ; but escaped by jumping over the breast-works while it was dark, and running through thb British lines to the moun- tains. Three others accompanied him, one of whom was shot by the enemy during the next morning. Gonsalus continued to conceal himself until the next evening, when he reached the liouse of a widow Crist, where he was kindly received, and remained all night. On the succeeding day, she loaned him her horse, on which he rode home, accompanied by a slave, who took the animal back to his mistress. On another occasion, while Daniel was home on a furlough, lie went to see about some shingles near the Yaugh House spring. A Moses Newman, with a party of scouts, disguised as Indians, was concealed there on the lookout for tories, savages and deserters. Gonsalus unguardedly marched into the trap, and found himself surrounded by a band of what seemed to him red men. Of course, he told a story which he ■400 HISTORY OF BULUVAN OOUNIX supposed would lead them to let him go ; but it had a contrary- effect; for they arrested him and took him with others to- Kingston, where he was at once set at liberty.* His wife Elizabeth was a woman of great courage, and of ready resource. A female descendant of the old Spaniard furnishes us with the following incident: The Indians and tones were in Mamakating committing those outrages which characterized them. A little boy whom she believed they would carry off ran to her, and she concealed him under her skirts. In a short time the marauding party came to her house, and made a thorough search for the boy, as they supposed, but did not find him. A tory named John Van dampen, suspecting the truth, attempted to tear her clothing from her person, when she- begged him "for God's sake to desist." Her appeal had the desired effect. The party left, and the boy was saved from, captivity. This anecdote is rather a singular one. Why was she herself not taken awa;^ or tomahawked, like the wives of other whigs? At another time, it is said, she was milking, when an Indian took away her pail, and broke it into many pieces. She ran awa^y, while the savage hurled after her nothing worse than hard worcJs. James Gonsalus (probably the brother of Samuel) was arrested by the British as a spy, or for some military offense, and sentenced to be put to death ; but by the intercession of Samuel and one of the AVestbrooks, was pardoned. He, as well as some others of the family, hated kings as it they were panthers. Soon after the block-house at Mamakating Farms was built, an old man named Michel Helm, who hved in Eochester, had been to the Mine-holes on a visit. On his return he was accom- panied by a young lady. Both were mounted on good horses.^ They stopped at the block-house for refreshment, after which, they intended to push on and reach a point nearer home before night. They were urged to stay; but Helm was opposed ta doing so, because he thought the Indians would be more likely to molest them in the- morning ; if they had been seen from the mountain on either side of the valley, and were followed, the ene- my could get ahead of them in the ni^ht, and waylay them, ete. But his objections to delay in their journey were all met and dissipated. Yet they were well founded. They had been dog- ged to the block-house, and while they were ttiere, the Indians passed ahead of them, and in the morning were in ambush about one-fourth of a mile from Mud Hook (Mamakating post- ofBce) on the hill-side near a brook, within gun-shot of the old mine-road. When Helm and the young lady, and a fellow- • One Bight, while Daniel was a prisoner, his guard fell asleep, when he arose took the gone of the party to a corner of the room, then waked the sleepers, and endeav- ored to convince them be was not an enem; because he had spared their iiveg. THE TOWN OF MAMAKAllNG. 401 iafaveler named Depuy reached thispoint, they were firiad upon and Helm was instantly killed. Ijie assailants did not wish to murder the girl. They had s^greed among themselves to capture her, and to enable themselves to do so, shot her horse thrpugh the hips. They failed, however, to injure a muscle or break a bone. The instant she heard the report of the guns, jshe applied her riding-whip vigorously to the sides of the Animal, which bounded away so rapidly that she was soon be- yond the reach of the guns of the assailants, even if they had been loaded. Depuy afeo escaped. They reached the nearest settlement in safety — told what had happened, and a party went to Mud Hook to ascertain the fate of ue old man. His dead body was found where he was shot. He had been scalped, and hia silver shpe-buokles taken away, with whatever jras valuable on his person. Eighty years afterwards, a silver shoe-buckle was found on the old trail in Eockland. May it not have been a rehc of Mkihel Helm? Michel was the son of Symon Helm, one of the early settlers of Ulster county. They were ancestors of the family of that name who now reside at Wurtsborough. The first white settlers of Mamakating Farms buried their dead in an orchard near the Devens' block-house. Tradition says that this ancient graveyard was a place of sepulchre of the aboriginal inhabitants before Europeans came to the country, and that after the Gonsalus family located here, an Indian chief who had been fatally wounded, was placed in a sitting posture against a l^rge pine which grew here, where he died, singing his death-song, and was buried at the foot of the tree. From thi? pine is no more heard a solemn requiem for the departed red man. No vestige of it now remains. Its trunk was long since converted into shingles or boards by a utihtarian Yankee or Dutchman, whose descendants have not the ^ace to erect even a xude fence to protect the bones of the first settler of the county from the desecrating snouts of swine ! At the head of the grave of Manuel €r6nsalus is a blue flag- stone, with Hie following inscription : MANUEL GONSALUS IS GESTOEYEN DE 18 APEIL ANNO 1758. [TBANSIATI0N. — Manned Gonsalus died the 18th of April, in the yeaa- 1758.] 26 402 HISTOBY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. For more than thirty years after the death of Manuel Gon- salus, common field-stones, destitute of inscription, were deemed sufficient to mark the graves of the early settlers. There are many such here. Soon after Captain David Dorrance came to the Hollow, he and others bought a lot and set it apart for a public graveyard. Among the first buried here were members of the Masten family, several of virhom died in December, 1794, as the follow- ing inscriptions indicate ; "December 11, 1794. Mary Masten." "1794. December 24. John Masten. "1794. December 24. Lea Masten." And here are the ashes of Peter Hekn,* whose only monU' ment is a rude stone, on which is cut r. n. gg.. Several members of the Gonsalus family were interred in this burial-place. The records of ancient roads give us so much information in regard to local history, that we transcribe the following from the Clerk's book of Mamakating : "Peenpack, April 10th, 1770. "To the clerk of the peace or his deputy for the County of Ulster, Whereas the free holders and Inhabitants of Mamaka- ting Precink have made Petition To us, the commissioners of the above s'd Precink, to lay out a King's Highway, To begin at the Clihe Jaag Huys, or Little hunting house upon the HiU, at a hickory Tree marked with a cross standing on the North- west side of the road ; and from thence aU a Long the north east of the marked Trees as the road now Leads to a Bridge at the north west side of the House where Jacobus Devans now dwells; in and from thence ateng the south east side of the marked trees to the southeast side of Samuel Gimsallis well, and from thence through the Lane as it now runs, to the Shawenoes' Bergh or Hill, and so Along s'd Hill on the south east side of the marked trees, and from thence along the south- * Peter Helm built a house of Bquared logs on the farm of Colonel Lawrence Masten preflous to 1755. This house stood until about 1817. THE TOWN OF MAMAKATING. 403 east side of marked trees to Maritje's Gat; and from thence Along the southeast side of the hill and on the southeast of the marked trees to the Spaanche Bought, and from thence a Long the southeast side of the marked trees to David Oox Lane, and so through the Lane as it now Rims to the Drage Bergh, and from thence a Long the southeast side of the marked trees to ihe bounds of Rochester, to be four rods wide from the begin- ning to the end. We, the Commissioners of the a Bove said town or Precinct do certify that we hav'e Laid out the above said Eoad for A King's Highway, according to Law, this 10th day of April, 1770, and Desire the Clerk of the peace or his Deputy to record the same. Witness our hands. "Jacob E. Dewitt, "Benjamin Pepuet, June 29, 1797 — A true copy. "Samuel Gunsallus." . Samuel King, Town Clerk. "Peenpack, May 24th, 1766. " To the Clerk of the peace or his Deputy, in the county of Ulster : Sir, — Whereas the freeholders and Inhabitants of Ma- makating precinct have ma'fle petition to us, the commissioners of the above s'd Precinct, to Lay out a King's Highway, to begin by the line between Ulster and Orange County, by a whiteoak tree; from thence to the Oliiie Yough house up da hergli, or Little hunting house on the hiU, and according to their Desire or request we have done which as follows : Beginning on the southeast of a Whiteoak Tree standing on the Line of Ulster and Orange county ; from thence with a straight Line to a stone sot in the Ground a bout thirty feet from the north corner of Jacob Gumaer's House ; from thence all a long the southeast of the marked trees to a stone sot in the ground about thirty feet from the north comer or Daniel Van Vleat's House; thence all along the southeast side of the marked trees, with a crook Down the Valley to Intervail, the breadth of four rods; thence all along the southeast side of the marked trees to the Line of Jacob Eutsen Dewit, and so through the Lane to the Mouchocarauck's Creek, the bredth of twenty feet ; from thence through the creek to a blackoak stump, and so a Long the southeast side of the marked trees to the well of Jacob Stanton ; from thence on a straight line to a taU. Pitch pine tree nlarked on both sides, the breath of twenty feet ; from thence along the southeast side of the marked trees with crooks and tourns as the road now runs to the north corner of Johannaus Turner's house, the breadth of four rod; from thence to a pitch pine tree and so along the southeast side of the marked Trees to the south comer of Tearick Van Kuren Westbrook's Kitchen ; from thence to a butternut stump Jost over bashe's. creek, the 404 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. breadth of four rod wide, from all a Long the south east side^ of the marked trees to the Cline Jough house on the hill to hickory Tree marked with a cross, the breath of four rod. We the commissioners of the above s'd Precinct in the coun^ of Ulster, and Province of New York, Do certify that we have Laid out the above, s'd road for a King's highway, according to Law, this twenty-fourth day of May, 1766, and desire the s'd Clark pf the Peace in s'd county or his Dabety to record the same. Which we do interchamgeably set our hands. ^ "Jacob E. Dewit, "Benjamin Depuey, "Samuel Gunsallcs. Eecorded the 31 Day of May, 1766, at Kingston. June 29, 1797— A true copy Me. Samuel Kino, Town Clerk. boad disteicts op mamakating in 1774. No. 1. From Orange line to Hanse's Vly. 2. " ELanse's Vly to the Laurel Brook the other side of Mamakating. 3. " Laurel Brook to the Bounds of Rochester. 4. " Coddington's Bridge across the mountain to the line of WaUkill precinct. 5. " Orange line under the foot ot the mountain until it reaches No. 4. In 1775, a district was established from the termination of No. 5 to the Plattekill. Thus there was a public road on each side of the mountain, and one running east from the valley connecting the two. The road across the Shawangunk was in the southern section of the precinct. In 1776, the Commissioners of Highways made eight ro«id districts : No. 1. Ran from the line of Orange county to Derrick V. K. Westbrook's. 2. " " Derrick V. K. Westbrook's to Lysburton Fontyne.* 3. " " Lysbtirton Fontyne to the brook south of Manuel Gonsalus'.. 4. " " Manuel Gonsalus' to the bounds of Rochester.. 5. " " Coddington's bridge to Valentine Wheeler's. 6. " " Valentine Wheeler's to WUliam Harlow's. 7. " " William Harlow's to the Plattekill. 8. " " Abner Skinner's to John Wells'. * Bo stands tho name in the town records. The Fontyne is a fountain or spring- •boni midway between Westbrookville and School House brook, or Maritje^s kil^e. •THE TOTVN OF MAMAKATINfl. 405 Mamakating eontifiued to be a precinct until some time between its organization in 1743 aaid 1774, when it was authorized to elect a Supervisor and other officers which characterized towns. Its records show that it had three Com- missioners of Highways in 1766 ; but the first election recorded in the Town Clerk's office was held in 1774. The following are the Clerk's minutes : "Memorandum of the Town Meeting* held the first Tuesday in April, at the House of Jacob Eutzen Dewitt, for the electing of Town Officers by the Majority of Votes, with their Eespective Names, Being the 5th of said Iiistant Anno Domine, 1774. " Clerk — Thomas Kyte ; Constable & Collector — Jacob Stan- ton; Supervisor — Benjamin Depuy; Assessors^-Harmanus Van in Wegon, Abraham Cuddeback, jun. ; Overseers of the Highways — Benj'n Cuddeback, jun., for the 1st Dist. ; Derk V. K. Westbrook for the 2d, Jacobus Devins for the 3d; Eobert Cook for the 4th; Ezekiel Travis for the 5th; Abraham Smedis for the 6th ; Overseers of the Poor — ^Philip Swartwoiid, Eobert Cook; Fence Viewers — ^Benj. Depuy, Jacob Stanton; Stallion Viewers — Vail. Whiseler, Abraham Cuddeback ; Pound Keepers — ^Vall. Wheeler, Benj. Depuy. The Poll to be at Jacob Eutsen Dewitt's House." A majority of these persons resided in that part of Mamaka- ting which is now included in Deerpark, Orange county. The records show that there was a town or precinct-meeting in 1775, when the above named offices, except that of Supervisor, were again filled, and Peter Helm, who lived near the Masten place, was made an Overseer of the Poor ; another in 1776 ; in regard to 1777 nothing appears; in 1778, Benjamin Gonsalus was elected Constable and Collector with the usual precinct officials ; in 1779, Samuel Gonsalus was made an Overseer of the Poor, at the very time when it has been alleged he was with the savages murdermg defenseless women and children on the frontiers ; the annual meeting took place in 1780, but if there was an election in 1781, there is no account of it. During the next two years of the war, the following persons were chosen : 1782 — Clerk — Jacob Eutsen Dewitt ; Constables and Collec- tors — Abraham A. Cuddeback, William Smith; Supervisor — Belij. Depuy; Assessors — ^Eobert Milliken, Samuel Gonsalus, Jacobus Devens, Moses Depuy, Jacobus Swartwoudt ; Commis- sioners of Highways — Benj. Depuyj Jabob E. Dewitt, John *From this it would seem that Mamakating was at this time a town. Until 1788, It is almost uniformly recorded as a precinct, while its officers-are styled town officers. In 1788, there is a formal memorandnm that it was then made.a town by an act of the Leigislature, -^' 406 HISTORY OP SUUJTAN OOUNTI^. Newkirt, Benj. Cuddeback. Jacob E. Eoosa ; Overseers of High- ways — ^1 Dist., Elias Grumaer, 2. Jacobus Devens, 3. Abraham Eoosa, 4. Jonathan Strickland, 5. Eufus Stanton, 6. Capt. Farnam ; Overseers of the Poor — Charles Findley, Jacob Gu- maer ; Fence Viewers — Jacobus Devens, Samuel Depuy, Solo- mon Wheat; Stallion Viewers — Gapt. Abraham Cuddeback, David Smith ; Pounders— -Jacob E. Dewitt, Eobert Milhgan. 1783 — Clerk — Archibald McBride; Constables and Collec- tors — Abraham Cuddeback, WiUiam Smith ; Supervisor — Jacob E. Dewitt ; Assessors — ^Benjamin Cuddeback, Samuel Gonsalus, Archibald McBride ; Commissioners of Highways — Capt. Abra- ham Cuddeback, John English, Charles Finley, together with the usual number of Overseers of Highways, Fence Viewers, Stallion Viewers and Pounders. "Town Meetings to be held ai the House of Archibald McBride until further corrected." Among the early records of Mamakating are frequent memo- randa of ear-marks. Horn-cattle, hogs, etc., were permitted to- run at large — some to feed on the grass of the wild lowlands — some in the woods to fatten on nuts. To prevent controversies in regard to ownership, and to assist in the recovery of estrays, each owner was entitled to an ear-mark, and, after it was recorded by the Clerk of the precinct, no one had the right to infringe on his particular mark. We copy a few of these memoranda to give a better idea of what was a very good regulation : "Fred. Seybolt — Slit in left ear; latch in right ear. "Jacobus Gonsalus — A hole in each ear. "Wm. Jellet — Halfpenny on the under side of the right ear. "Amos Wheat-r-Square cross on the left ear and a hole imder- neath." On the unoccupied lowlands of the precinct were natural meadows which afforded abundance of rich pasture for cattle. The inhabitants of 6ther localities were in the habit of driving their animals to these lands, and leaving them there to thrive and fatten. To this the residents of Mamakating had a decided objection. They became warm advocates of home-interests. There is no notice in the old records of Indian outrages, or the wrongs committed by the British ; but there are frequent allu- sions to the intruders on the commons from other cormties and precincts ! In 1776, when Congress declared the country free and independent, the good people of Mamakating enacted at their annual election, that no one should take the cattle of non- residents to pasture on the commons. This declaration, it seems did not cure the ottI; and at subse- THE TOWN OF MAMAKATING. 407/ quent meetings penalties were provided for tli« offense. After a time no less than four povinds became necessary — one at Peenpack, of which Abraham Cuddeback was keeper ; the second, at " Shongunk,"* Ephraim Thomas, keeper ; the third at "Mamacotting," Benjamin Gonsalus, keeper; the fourth at " Shongunk," Archibald McBride, keeper. Finally every man was authorized to have a pound of his own, and of course every man had or could have an office; for logically, he was the keeper of his own pound, or, in the language of the day, was a pounder. In 1776, Ezekiel Gumaer took up four head of cattle which were trespassers on the commons, and was allowed £% for feeding them from November 26 to May 17, when they were sold for £13, 6s. Another question which agitated the oommunify diuing the war for independence, was the proper dimensions of hog-yokes; Mast in its season was abundant, and was an inducement to keep more hogs than could weU be fed when nuts and acorns were not on the ground; but growing on the trees. Hence, while crops were growing in the summer, hogs were apt to trespass upon enclosures devoted to wheat and maize : espe-. cially as fences were poor, as fences in newly cleared neighbor- hoods usually are. Gentle remedies were tried at first. In 1775, it was enacted that " hogs be permitted to run at large with a yoke judged lawful by the appraisers of damages or three freeholders." This did not have the desired effect, and at almost every annual meeting, for several years, there was an amendment regulating the shape of hog-yokes. Sometimes the party against yokes would prevail, when the height and breadth would be preposterously small ; and when the other party was in the ascendant it was enacted that the yoke should be of huge size — at one time " three feet in the crotch " and a cross-piece in proportion. Finally (1786) the question became a sectional one. The valley was arrayed against the mountain. "Shon- gunk" was for the smallest possible yokes; while their low- land neighbors, who were the great grain-raisers of the precinct, were for large ones. Happily for the quiet of the region, there was a statesman among them (alas ! no monument can be erected to his memory! His name is lost!) who proposed a compro- piise, which was accepted. Thenceforth it was lawful ior the grown hogs of "Shongunk" to run at large at any time with a yoke sixteen inches wide and eighteen high, and other hogs in proportion; while at "Peenpack, Bessie's Land, Mamacjotting,, *The settlement in Mamakating on the east side of the mountain was originally known as bbawangunk. The precinct of the same name was called Old bhawangunk. In tlifa war of tlie Eevolution, when the people of Minisink, Peenpack, etc., fled to« Shawangunk, they simply' erossed'the moautam, where they were comparatively safe.. 408 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN OOUNTV. and all along the road from Peenpaok to Mamacotting," it was decreed that the cross-piece should be eighteen inches, and the crotch two and a half feet long. Happy hogs of the mountain ! Unfortunate swine of the valley! Tius struggle then termi- nated. Thenceforth there was peace. The Dutch settlers made shorter work with rams than they did with the dimensions of hog-yokes. In 1792, they decreed (Substantially) "that any ram found at large between September Ist and the 25th of November shall be a ram no longer," and four shillings were voted to every man for enforcing the penalty, besides one shilling per week for pasture. The decree seems to have given general satisfaction ; for no further allusion is made to it in the records of after years, so far a^ we ascertained. Grave disputes sometimes occurred between Mamakating and her sister precincts. One Of these was settled in a manner which would have afforded deHght to Diedrich Knickerbocker. In 1787, Mamakating claimed that Goshen should support a pauper woman and her illegitimate son. The name of this woman we will not give, because we do not know who her descendants are. Goshen contended that she and her irregular offspring belonged to Mamakating. Instead of carrying the controversy into court, and each party paying enough to lawyers to support the mother and child for years, the Overseers of the Poor met, and, after discussing the matter in an amicable way, agreed that Goshen should provide for the woman, while Mama- kating should take charge of her infant! The baby was thus torn from the maternal breast — an act which would have shocked modem sensibilities — and a precedent estabHshed that it could have a residence different from that of its mother. For several years it was the only pauper of the town, and was sold at each annual meeting to the lowest bidder* — that is, to the person who was willing to support it for the least compensation — ^until it was thirteen years of age, when the town was relieved from further responsibility by Johannes Masten. It was believed at the time that, in the arrangement with Goshen, Mamakating had the best of it ; because the boy would ultimately become self-supporting, while the woman, if she did not reform, would add largely to the burthens of the town ! The expenses of supporting the poor were not very great in early times. We find that in 1785, when the people were im- poverished by the war which had just closed, the poor-tax of Mamakating was £20; in 1788, the tax was £10; 1789, £5 ; and in 1790, £6. As there was but one pauper, whose support cost less than five pounds a year, we cannot imagine what was done * The boy was generally bi4 off at from £3 to iS. THE TOWN OF MAMAICATING. 40& "with the money paid for the poor from other sources. Below is an extract from the town books : "excise money foe suppobt of poor: •"From Henry Sothard £2.00.0 Wm. Harlow 2.00.0 Jacob E. Dewitt 2.00.0 John Seybolt 2.00.0 Eliphalet Scribner 2.00.0 Chris. MUler 1.17.9 Cronamus Felter 1.17.9 John Showers 2.00.0 Wighton & Co. for a permit «• • . ■ 13.4 In 1791, every non-resident who cut timber in the town Tendered himseK liable to a fine of " six pence for every inch across the stump." No exception was made in favor of those who owned real estate in Mamakating, but resided elsewhere. Sometimes, but not often, town-officers resided on the Dela- ware river. In 1789 and 1790, Daniel Skinner (not the Admiral) was an Assessor, and in 1789, Paul Tyler one of the three Collectors. The town elected annually six firemen. They were generally discreet and respectable men. Their duty was to guard against damages from the burning of the woods. John Gray, who is styled a "mediciner," was a physician in Mamakating as early as 1792. We are led to believe that his practice was not lucrative, as he was compelled to mortgage his saddle-horse and other personal property to secure the payment of a small sum of money to a prosperous blacksmith. Gray had been a suirgeon in the Continental army. He died in the town of Liberty, on the 14th of December, 1841, at which time he was supposed to be 101 or 102 years of age. Although Mamakating was much exposed to the ravages of the enemy, and suffered greatly during the war of the Bevolu- tion, a greater number of refugees found shelter there than in any town or precinct of Ulster, except Kingston. 410 HISTORY OF SUIiTi'AN COUNTY. CENSUS OF 1782. ^o on Hurley Mafbletown Rochester Mamacotting New Paltz Shawangunk Montgomery WaUKill New Windsor New Burgh New Marlborough. s 566 83 298 194 95 330 367 561 419 300 429 491 489 296 626 72 111 25 293 40 179 21 6213 295 36 314 36 26224 282137 335 24 526 71 223 178 65 286 284 519 345 276 368 402 667 138 310 202 84 316 342 540 325 280 371 366 o 2,625 428 1,164 774 319 1,263 1,342 2,167 1,400 1,132 1,487 1,618 15,697 Refugees from, their usual pla- ces of abode. ID 110 21 56 ' 57 94 38 22 36 23 56 68 21 IS tD 85 27 53 61 74 50 19 44 18 70 86 16 o 195 48 109 118 168^ 88 41 8a 41 126 154 37- 1,205 Of the male refugees in Mamakating, forty-seven were und^r 16, forty-five over 16 and under 60, and two 60 years of age. Total number of males 16 years old and upwards, 122. The number of men who took the Revolutionary pledge in June, 1775, was 131. Two hundred and forty-four of me four hundred and eighty-seven persons in the precinct in 1782 were children under the age of 16 years. In 1855, the population of the town was 4,084, of whom 1,668 were not 16 years old. There has been a falling off in the productions of the field since the pioneers cultivated their land with their rude implements. An impoverished soil is the cause. Probably luxury, effeminacy and other things have reduced the per centage of children. A large number of the refugees from their homes, were from the isolated neighborhoods of the precinct. Nearly all the families who lived on the banks of the Delaware abpve the mouth of the Mongaup, during the early days of the war, removed to Peenpack, and that part of the town which was. then known as Shawangunk. THE TOWN OF MAMAKATDfG. 411 On the 20th of April, 1775, a Provincial ConTention* assembled in the city of New York. It was composed of delegates from the several counties of New York. , On the 29th of the same month, this Convention adopted the following pledge, and ordered it to be sent for signatures to aU the precincts and counties of the province.t "Persuaded that the salvation of the rights and liberties of America depend, imder God, on the firm union of its inhabitants in a vigorous prosecution of the measures necessary for its safety; and convinced of the necessity of preventing anarchy and confusion, which attend the dissolution of the powers of government, we, the freemen, free-holders and inhabitants of the Precinct of Mamaooting, being greatly alajrmed at the avowed design of the Ministry to raise a revenue in America and shocked by the bloody scene now acting in Massachusetts Bay, do, in the mbst solemn manner, resolve nevee to become SLAVES ; and do associate, under all the ties of religion, honor and love to our country to adopt and endeavor to carry into execution whatever measures may be recommended by the Continental Congress, or resolved upon by our Provincial Con- vention, for the purpose^ of preserving our Constitution, and opposing the execution of flie several arbitrary acts of the British Parliament, until a reconciliation between Great Britain and America on Constitutional principles (which we most ar- dently desire) can be obtained ; and that we will in all things follow the advice of our General Committee respecting the purposes aforesaid, the preservation of peace and good order, and the safety of individuals and property." On the 29th of May, the first Provincial Congress| required the local committees to return the Pledge before the 15th of July, " with the names of the signers and those who refused to sign;" and on the 26th of June, John Young, President of the Committee of Mamakating, reported that the pledge wap "unanimously signed by all the freeholders and inhabitants of the precinct," an assertion which was not well founded. Below is the list : John Young, Benjamin Depue, ' Philip Swartwout," Esq., Capt; John Crage, * Delegates from Ulster count; — Qeorge Clinton, Colonel Charles DeWitt and Levi Pawning. t See American Archives, 4tb series, and Buttenber's Newburgh. f Delegates from Ulster county — Matthew Cantine, George Clinton, General James Clinton, Colonel Charles DeWitt, Colonel Johannes Hardenbergh, Abraham Hasbronck, Jacob Hoornbeck, John Nicholson and Major Christopher Tappen. Although the oonntf had nine Delegates, it was entitled to but two votes. 412 HISTOBT OF SUUUVAIf COUNTY. Wm. Haxton, John McKinstry, Bftnj. Ouddeback, jr., Kobert Cook, Harm. Nan Liwegen, T. K. Westbrook, William Eose, Samuel Depue, William Johnston, James Williams, Ohas. Gilletts, Johan. Stuffiebane, Johan. Stufflebane, jr. James Blizard, Thomas Combs, James McCivers, Joseph Hubbard, John Thompson, Ebenezer Halcomb, G. Van Inwegen, Wm. Cuddebaok, Abr. Cuddebaok, Eliphalet Stevens, Elisha Travis, Aldert Eosa, Adam Rivenburgh, EU Strickland, David GiUaspy, Stephen Lamey, Capt. J. E. Dewitt,' Abm. Cuddebaok, jr., Samuel King, Abna Skinner, Fred Benaer, Valentine Wheeler, Thomas Kytte, Jonathan Brooks, John WaUis, Joseph Drake, Ebenezer Parks, Jacobus Swartwout, Gerardus Swartwout, Phil. Swartwout, jr., Isaac Van Twill, Joseph Westfork, Petrus Giimore, J. Dewitt Gumore, Daniel Van Fleet, J-., Ezekiel Gumore, Jacob Van Inaway, Cornel. Van Inaway, Moses Depue, jr.. Jacobus Cuddeback, Rufus Stanton, Eeuben Babbett, Jonathan Wheeler, Asa Kimball, •Robert Milliken, Thomas Lake, Zek. Halcomb, John Williams, Matthew Neeley, Samuel Dealy, Wm. Smith, John Harding, Nathan Cook, Jep. Fuller, Eph. Thomas, Henry Ellsworth, Joseph Thomas, Abr. McQuin, John Seybolt, Joseph Skinner, Joseph Arthur, David Wheeler, John Travis, John Travis, jr., Daniel Decker, Petrus Cuddeback, Elias Gumore, John Brooks, Elisha Barber, Jonathan Davis, Robert Comfort, David Dayley, Gershom Simpson, Eph. Forgison, Jacob Comfort, Jacob Stanton, Moses Miller, Jonah Parks, John Gillaspy, Jno. Barber, Samuel Patterson, THE TOWN OF MAMAKATING. ■^13 Abraham Smedes, Nathanieil Travis, John Stoy, Ezekiel Tra-vis, Joel Addams, Joseph Travis, Joseph Shaw, Thos. Gillaspy, George Gillaspy, Jeremiah Shaver, James Curren, Joseph Ogden, Abraham Eosa, Daniel Walling, Jacob Eosa, Daniel Walling, jr., Henry Newkirk, Elias MDler, Peter Simpson, Isaac Eosa, Stephen Holcomb, Abr. Smith, Johannes Miller, Georg« G. Denniston, Daniel Woodworth, Matthew TerwUliger, Moses Eoberts, Leonard Hefioessy, Daniel Eoberts^ Jonathan Strickland, John Douglass, Johannes Wash.* Joseph Eandal, This list, as printed in the American Archives, contains several errors. T. K. Westbrook should be Tjeriok Van Keuren Westbrook ; Abna Skinner should be Abner Skinner ; Thomas Kytte should be Thomas Kyte ; Jonah Parks should be Josiak Parks; and probably Johannis Wash should be Johaimis Masten. The reader will not see in this list the Tylers, ConMins, Mitchells and other whigs who lived on the Delaware river ; nor the Helms, Devens, Beviers, and Gonsaluses who were residents and freeholders at Mamakating Farms, previous to and after the war. A few weeks before the pledge was signed, one of ithese men at least (Peter Helm) was elected to fill a town office. Notwithstanding the report of John Young, tliere were tories in the town. David Young and Bryant Kane were determined adherents of the British, and never made a pretense of favoring the colonies. In 1814, the popula^iion of Mamakating was 1,585. On the 24th of June, 1812, as appears from an assessment roll made by Abraham Boosa, EK Roberts and Jacob Gumaer, there were 273 tax-payers in the town. The population shows that there were about 300 families. Consequently there were only twenty- five or thirty heads of families who were without taxable prop- * The early get .'lers of Wurtsborough are not in this list — the GonsaJuB, Devens, fielma, Bevier, And others. 414 HISTORY OP SUIiUVAN COUNUX erty. The following is a list of those who were assessed for one thousand dollars and upwards : WiUiam Anderson $1,220 James E. Miller $1,400 Moses Brown 1,000 David Milliken 3,404 Peter Budd 1,501 John Milliken 2,050 John Bndd 1,017 John Norris 1,489 Thomas BuU, junior. . . 1,162 Daniel Niveu 1,000 James Beyea 1,143 Henry Newkirk 1,000 John Chnch 1,206 Daniel Ogden 1,231 Abraham Canfield 1,200 Henry Patrngre : 1,518 Jacobus Devens 1,500 EliEoberts 1,200 George Duryea 1,120 Elnathan Sears 1,392 J. and O. Dunning 3,044 Wm. and Moses Stanton 1,360 David Dorrance 1,434 Samuel Smith 1,587 Jacob Gumaer 1,565 George Smith, junior. . 1,000 Daniel Godfrey 1,200 Sloan and Hunter 2,000 Moses Hazen 1,188 Lawrence Tears 2,084 Horton and Lockwood 2,134 Ephraim Thomas 1,000 Jacob Masten 1,893 Theodorus 0. Van Wyck 1,000 David Munn 1,592 Daniel Wilson 1,204 Bzekiel Masten 1,335 Abraham T, Westbrook 2,340 There were many worthy residents of Mamakating at this time whose estates amounted to less than one thousand dollars. Several of them have already received honorable mention in this chapter. Oliiers of this class should be written about ; but their descendants have not responded to our calls for informa- tion. Henry Newkirk, whose name appears in the foregoing list, held the office of Town Clerk for forty years. Before his death he dissipated his property, and died poor. Daniel Niven came to Wurtsborough in 1812, and followed the business of farming and inn-keeping. He was born in Ila, on the west coast of Scotland, and immigrated to New York in 1791, when about twenty-four years of age. Before 1812, he engaged in business in New Windsor, in the city of New York, in Newburgh, and a second time in New York. While in the city the last time, he was a merchant, when his goods were con- sumed by fire, without being insured. He lost nearly all he possessed, except his family. With indomitable will and buoy- ant spirit, he commenced anew in Wurtsborough. Here he was often visited by Samuel and Daniel Gonsalus, Colonel. Mudge, and other local celebrities. One of them (Daniel Gonsalus) gave him information which led to the discovery of the Wurts- borough lead-mine. The pioneers of Mamakating knew that the Indians obtained THE TOWN OF MAMAKATINa. 415 lead near Wurtsborough ; but the latter obstinately refused to reveal where it was to be found, and became arfgry whenever the subject was broached. A white hunter named Miller followed them at the risk of his life, until he ascertained that they obtained the ore on the west side of the Shawangunk, near a cluster of hemlocks, which was plainly visible from the valley. He heard them at work, and after they had left, found the mine. "When Miller was old and infirm, he intended to show Daniel Oonsalus where the ore was. He pointed out the hemlocks, and promised that, as soon as he had visited some friends in Orange county, he would go with Gonsalus to the point where the lead was visible. Before Miller returned from his visit, he was taken sick at Montgomery, and died. Gonsalus never attempted to find the ore. In 1813, he told Nijen what he knew, and after thinking of the matter four years, the latter hired Mudge to help him make a search. They were successful. A quantity of the galena was sent to Doctor Mitchell and others, chemists, who declared that it was valuable. Mr. Niven made a confident of Moses Stanton, a neighbor, who, as well as Mudge, insisted on sharing the profits of the discovery, and. the three became partners. Not long after, those who had analyzed the ore were anxious to purchase the mine; but Niven & Co. could not sell it. They were not its owners, and they could not ascer- tain who were. So the matter rested until 1836, each agreeing to make no disclosure witl^ouf the consent of aU three. Their secret, however, was revealed after it had been kept for almost twenty years. Stanton had a habit of talking in his sleep, and while his eyes were closed, spoke of the mine in such a way that his son, who was present, had no difficulty in finding it ! The young man found the owners, and made some five hundred dollars by keeping his ears open while his father "dreamed aloud!"* In 1816, Mr. Niven removed to Monticello, where he kept the hotel now owned by the brothers Morris. A few years there- after, he became an inhabitant of Bloomingburgh. WhUe the Delaware aUd. Hudson Canal Company were making their canal, he was attracted to Wurtsborough once more. In 1837, he retired from business, and for nearly thirty years fihal hands administered to his comfort and pleasure. He died in Monticello, aged one hundred years. Mr. Niven was made a Free and Accepted Mason when he was twenty-one years old, and was ever afterwards warmly attached to that institution. At the time of his death, he was probably the oldest Mason in the United States, and was buried according to the customs of that ancient order. From an early * Tom Quick. This Btatement was j)ubliahed by us upwards of twenty years ago. We have evidence of ita trutlifulness written by Mr. Niven in 1803. 416 HIS'TOBX OP 8DIXIVAN COUNTJf. period of hk Ufe, he was also a member of the Associate Ee- iormed Church of Scotland. He was very liberal in his religious opinions, and in his prime a sturdy defender with voice and pen of what he considered Divine verities. He was a friend and correspondent of Grant Thorburn (Laurie Todd) as long as either comd wield a gray goose-quill — was urbane and com- panionable, and was quick and impulsive, as well as fearless. Henry Patmore, notwithstanding his respectabihty and intel- ligence, and his comfortable circumstances in 1812, as well ah. the fact that he was a soldier of the Revolution, became very poor in his old age, and died a pauper. He received a small pension for his military services; but it was not sufficient to supply his necessities. Although an inmate of our county- asyhim, he continued to command respect from his fellow-men, and when he died (Sept. 26, 1835) the following notice of his decease appeared in the Republican Watchman. It was written by one of the most respectable citizens of Sullivan : " Died, in Thompson, Henry Patmore, Esq., a soldier 6l the Revolution, aged 79 years. He was for many years a resident of Mamakating, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his feUow-townsmen, who conferred on him the office of Justice of the Peace, to which he was elected several times. 'Peace to the ashes of the old soldier.' " Mr. Patmore was long a resident of the town, and was elected to an office there in the year 1799. Elnathan Sears was born at White Plains, Westchester county. New York. Soon after the Declaration of Independepce, he joined the Continental army. At the fall of Fort Montgomery, he fell into the hands of the enemy, and for a long time was kept on board the "Jersey Prison-Ship," where, with other Sktriots, he endured what must forever disgrace British arms, ere he saw American patriots, rendered insane by the tortures of hunger, thirst aaid cold, scrape verdigris from the foul copper- kettles which were used to cook their food, with which they cut short their anguish. His sufferings, however, did not extinguish his ardor for Uberty. No sooner was he liberated, than he hast- eped to peril his life again in battle. He did not lay down his arms until the last foe was driven from our soil. After the war he was united in marriage with Mary Haight, of Crum Pond, and moved to Montgomery, in Orange county. About the year 1790, he became a settler of Mamakating, where he resided until his death in 1840. In 1802, he was elected a Member of As- sembly from Ulster county, and was the first resident within the present territorjr of Sullivan who enjoyed that honor, if we may except Oomelms C, Schoonmaker. He was re-elected in 1803, 1806, 1812 and 1813, and was made Sheriff of Sullivan in. 1819. He also filled other important public stations. By THE TOWN OF MAMAKATING. 417 economy and industry lie accumulated a fortune, from which he dispensed to the poor with a liberal hand ; and not until he was reduced by misfqrtune to actual want, did he deign to apply to the government of his country for the pittance to which he was entitled. For the last two or three years of his life, he endeav- ored to secure a final adjustment of his claims, and it is no less melancholy than true, that the tardiness of' Congress was the indirect cause of his death.* Returning from Washington in January, 1840, the cold and fatigue he endured, as well as the effects of hope deferred, terminated in a fatal disease. His death occun-ed on the 2d of the following February, after he had seen his four-score and third birthday. Doctor Theodore 0. Van Wyck was a gentleman of liberal education. In early life he was attached to the jiavy of the United States. He was descended from an old and respectable Knickerbocker family ; but exhibited none of the real or fancied traits of the Dutch or any other people. He was emphatically an original character. He was upright, courteous, and refined — honorable, chivalrous and dignified, so far as his inclinations ruled him, yet his daily life was an odd exemplification of these excellent traits. He did not burlesque the social code; but he observed its requirements in an indescribably amusing manner. Many anecdotes are related of him, some of which are probably fictions ; but they are so well founded on his peculiar mode of speech and bearing, that it is impossible to detect the spurious. It is said that on one occasion, he had a fine lot of hay in cock, when a idolent wind began to scatter it about. Ordering his hired man to hold on to a heap, he threw his long body upon one of the cocks, and kept his eyes upon the others. The gale increased in violence — cock after cock sailed away on the wings of the storm — ^the Doctor's agitation increased as his fodder diminished, and when all had disappeared except what was under the two men, he sprang upon his feet and shouted, " Let it all go to hell, sir ! aU go to hell, sir ! " *Mr. Sears' memorial contains the following statement : He entered the service. of his country in 1776, under Captain James Milliken, of Colonel Paulding's regiment, and was in the battles of Loner Island, White Plains, and at the taking ol Fort Mont' gomery. In the latter affair, a ball penetrated his right leg, and a bayonet his right side. While his shoes were filled with blood, he was prostrated by a blow from the but of a gun, and trampled under foot. During the next thirteen months, he was a prisoner on board the Jersey prison-ship, and in the sugar-house in Pearl street, except a short time when he was in a hospital. While in prison, he suffered exerything but death from cold and hunger. His feet were so badly.frozen that the ends of his toes dropped off, and he was unable to walk for three months after he was exchanged. - Hi» sufferings, however^ did not extinguish his patriotism. In 1779, he enlisted in Captain Drake's company for the war, and until June, 1783, served on the Northern frontier, where his bravery, fidelity and intelligence^ won him the rank of Lieutenant of his company. He subsequently received a pension ; but because his comniission had been destroyed accidentally, and in consequence of the neglect of his superior officers in discharging him from the army, he failed to receive the pension due to one of his rank.^ It yas while seeking justice in this respect that he contracted the disease of which h« died. 27 418 HISTOBY Oy StrUJVAIl countv. . Beyond using mild expletives of which Hades and perdition are synonyms, he had no vices. He paid much respect to the Eractice of public worship — was a regular attendiint and a beral supporter of the Church of his fathers; but beyond a respectful and dignified, but silent demeanor in church and prayer-meeting, he was not known to go more than once. There was a lively interest in religious affairs in Bloomingburgh. Prayer-meetings were frequent — several made a profession of rehgion — the zeal of the Church increased day by day. The, Doctor attended the meetings, and his devout manner led his pastor and others to hope that he was about to seek the good way; yet meeting after meeting was held, and it could not be said of him, " Behold, he prayeth ! " So devout and exemplary seemed the Doctor, that the reverend gentleman believed that, but a little extra effort was needed to make him openly profess a desire to join the ranks of the elect: so one evening, when all, including the Doctor, were on their knees, the Dominie asked him to lead in prayer. There was a solemn pause — a grave-like silence — the tympanum of every ear was eager to catch the first utterance from the Doctor's lips. But he. was as silent as a graven image. Thinking he had not heard the first request, the good man repeated it ; whereupon the Doctor spoke. " Damn it, sir ! Damn it, sir ! I pay you to pray, sir ! you to pray, sir ! " He was not asked to pray publicly again. The Doctor was an admirer of the ancient Greek poets, and from them learned that the goad was in vogue among classic Jehus. His mare — the animal he used when making profes- sional visits on and at the foot of the Shawangunk mountain — was a staid and undemonstrative beast, whose epidermis was insensible to the lash. He manufactured a goad, and found that its apphcation greatly accelerated her pace. He was delighted, and thereafter, like one of Homer's heroes, when he wished the mare to " devour the road," he thrust half an inch of cold iron into her hams. One pleasant day he determined to treat his son Charles to a ride. The lad's mother arrayed the boy in his most stylish finery — the Doctor ordered a spirited young horse known as " the colt " to be harnessed and attached to his best btiggy, and away the father and son went. Both enjoyed the ride very much until the Doctor fell into what is known as " a brown study," when he gave the colt a vigorous thrust with the goad. Instantly there was a vision of iron-shod feet thrust violently through a dash-board — a man and boy flying through the air — an overturned and wrecked buggy — and a dissolving view of spHntered thills attached to a frantic horse. Charles landed where some vagrant cows had deposited plenty of the material from which modern chemists extract the " balm of a thousand flowers." Into and over this he rolled in such a way THE TOWN OF MAMAKATING. ' 419 ihat he was smeared with it from head to foot. The Doctor, who was uninjured, cast a rueful glance at the fleeing horse, and then turned his attention to the boy. Finding that the little fellow, though frightened and filthy, was free from contusions a,nd broken bones, he took him up on the palms of his hands, and holding him out at arm's length, made long but dignified strides homeward, knowing that Mrs. Van Wyck would be greatly agitated and alarmed as soon as the colt reached its stable. Into her presence he strode, still holding the boy on his extended palms, and with the deferential courtesy of a Chester- field, calmed her fears: "He is not hurt, madam — not hurt; but damnably besmirched, madam — damnably besmirched!" Charles not only survived this, but other perils, and became a Eepresentative in Congress, and a Brigadier-general of the army of the Union. Whether these anecdotes are true or not, with others of a similar character, they have been current many years; and their relation cannot d.etract an iota from the respectful memory of a man whom we esteemed highly through the changes and vicissitudes of a quarter of a century. Wurtsborough is situated on an inclined plane formed of the debris deposited by Saw-mill brook. The valley at this point bears evidence that it was once much deeper than it is at present, when the Neversink and perhaps the Delaware washed the base of the Shawangunk. The streams from the western hills have plowed deep gorges, and brought to the valley suffi- cient material to cover and conceal primeval forests. Thoset who estimate this material properly, will see that it is sufficient to raise the valley to its present altitude above the Delaware and Neversink. Jacob Helm, an early settler of Wurtsborough, in digging a mill-race, found it necessary to remove a large whit© pine stump. Underneath this; about five feet from the surface, he uncovered another stump as large as the other. It has been said that each stratum of rocks is a leaf in the history of the earth. In the mystical time when " darkness was upoii the face of the deep," what is now the summit of the Shawangunk was the bed of a watery abyss which extended from the Barrens eastward. The mountain is capped by Hudson- river slate, which , covers its eastern side, while its western declivity is of a different geological formation. On the western side of the valley, in digging weUs, the Hudson-river slate is found. It dips under the bed-rocks of the Barrens, and ia evidently but a continuation of the upper stratum of the Shaw- angunk. The texture of this slate shows that it was formed Tinder deep and quiet waters, while the rocks which overlap it at Wiirisborough exhibit traces of more energetic pluvial action. 420 HISTORY OP 8ULUVAN OOUNTT. Hence we conclude that, in the pre-Adamite days, the great north or north-western current spoken of by geologists, after passing ovot SuUivan, found rest in a vast reservoir of which the Barrens was the western boundary, and that when the Creator made the rivers to flow oceanward in their appointed channels, and the mountains to rear their majestic forma, those dynamic forces which he emploj'ed to accomplish his purposes rent the rocks asunder, and caused the Shawangunk to rear its head above the turbid waters, and greet his elder brothers of the west. Our conclusions may be fallible ; but of this we are sure : if the book of nature is read aright, it will not differ fi-om the inspired volume. In 1833 or 1834, Washington Irving, in conipany with Vice- President Van Buren, visited Wurtsborough. Soon after he wrote a sketch in which he describes what he saw there in his ever facile manner. After declaring that the descendants of Diedrich Knickerbocker were the first to discover and improve this rich alluvial valley, he says : " The traveler who sets out in the morning from the beautiful village of Bloomingburgh, to pursue his journey westward, soon finds himself, by an easy ascent, on the summit of the Shawan- gunk. Before him will generally be spread an ocean of lnist» enveloping and concealing from his view the deep valley and lovely village which he almost beneath his feet. If he reposes here for a short time, until the vapors are attenuated and broken by the rays of the morning-sun, he is astonished to see the abyss before him deepening and opening on his vision. At length, far down in the newly revealed region, the sharp, white spire of a village-church is seen, piercing the incumbent cloud ; and, as the day advances, a village, with its ranges of bright- colored houses and animated streets, is revealed to the admiring eye. So strange is the process of its development, and so much are the houses diminished by the depth of the ravine, that the traveler can scarcely beUeve he is not beholding the phantoms of fairy-land, or still ranging in those wonderful regions which are unlocked to the mind's eye by the wand of the god of dreams. But as he descends the western declivity of the moun- tain, the din of real Ufe rises to greet his ear, and he soon penetrates into the midst of the ancient settlements, of which we have before spoken." Johannes Hasten came to Wurtsborough sometime during or soon after the French war, and bought one thousand acres oi land of Elias and Moses Miller. His tract was situated princi- pally north of the turnpike, and a considerable part of it was very productive. He was a native of Kingston, of Dutch and THE TOWN OP MAMAKATING. 421 French ancestry, and a man of large means. A person of that name was a freeholder of Kingston m 1728 — probably his father. At the time Hasten came to the valley, ^according to a state- ment of Mrs. Daniel Litts, his daughter), the Hollow was a dense wilderness, except where Jaoobus Devens and Manuel Gonsalus and his sons lived. She makes no mention of Conrad* Bevier, although he must have lived south of Wurtsborough at the time, and says that Peter Helm, a son of Michel Helm, resided near her father's. She says that Devens' "fort" was built around his house, and that soldiers were stationed there during the Eevolution to watch the Indians. Two of these soldiers were her brother John and a man named Jacobus Van Campen, a cousin of Abraham Van Campen, who was with Lieutenant Graham's party when the latter were masacred in the town of Neversink. John and Jacobus were in the woods hunting partridges, one day, when John advised the other to avoid places where there were dense undergrowths. This advice was not followed. They became separated, and soon Litts heard Van Campen scream. He ran towards him, and discovered* that the careless fellow had been taken prisoner by a party of Lidians. He coidd afford him no aid, and returned to the fort. For seven years Van Campen was missing, when he returned to the valley. A gentleman and his wife, who were traveling toward Peen- pack to visit their relatives, were murdered by the savages during the war for independence. Their names are not remem- bered. • Living in the valley was so dangerous, that Johannes Hasten, whose age rendered him exempt from mihtary duty, removed to Shawangunk, where he remained with his wife and such of his children as were not in the army, until the declaration of peace.f He then returned and re-occupied his farm. The Indians at this time were so obnoxious that they did not dare to visit the vaUey openly. Those who had been non-combatants during the war, and had never met the savages in battle, were impla- cable ; while the brave men who had roamed the western hills with them in search of game previous to the war, and threaded the intricate mazes of the Foul woods beyond the Barrens to slay them at a more recent time, now met tnem amicably. Mrs. Litts, about the year 1786, was asked by Samuel Gonsalus whether she had ever seen an Indian. As she was an infant when her father removed to Shawangimk, she had seen none of that race, and told Gonsalus that she had not. He then said to * The early scribes of Mamakating BomeUmes spoiled thia name Coonraught I Bee Town Record. t HiB song Ezekiel, Jacob and John were in the American army. The first two received pensions. Ezekiel removed to Thompson, lost all hia property, and died poor. 422 HISTOBY OP SULUVAN COUSTt. her that if she would go to Peter Hehn's, and look through a "chink" in the wall of his house, she would see one. With other children, she went to Helm's and discovered seven savages eating their supper. This circumstance led her to believe that Gonsalus and Helm were both tones, and she denounced them as such to the day of her death, although official records prove that liiey were whigs. Johannes Hasten paid five dollars per acre for the first land he bought in the vaUey, and afterwards paid as high as ten. It bore heavy burdens of wheat and Indian corn. After his return from Shawangunk, he carted seven hundred bushels of wheat to Esopus in a single year. This he had raised on his homestead,, besides what was consumed by his family, slaves and horsea He probably owned more negroes than any other resident of the county. Notwithstanding his large possessions, he was a veritable Nimrod. We are assured that he ©Hoe killed three deer at one shot. The manner in which this was done is as follows : The animals came to one of his maize-fields at night to feed on the silk, of which they are very fond. He laid in wait for them, armed with a musket which was heavily charged with buckshot. After watching an hour or two he saw a respectable drove of antlered bucks and their demure consorts, and at a favorable moment fired between two rows of the maize. The next morn- ing, he and his negroes found the three deer dead in the field. Jacob Gumaer, a descendant of one of the original proprie- tors of the. Peenpack patent, Wilhelmus Kuykendall, a man named Litts, and other settlers of Dutch and French extraction, were added to the settlement from time to time. Litts removed to Pennsylvania; but his son Daniel returned and married a daughter of Johannes Hasten, and became an early settler of Thompson. Hamakating at this time was emphatically a Dutch neighbor- hood. Dutch, with an admixture of French, was the common language, and Yankees were seldom met with. The dwellings were in the Dutch style, and constructed more for utility and comfort than beauty. Washington Irving, in his Legend of Hamakating Hollow, says they were modeled after a hen-coop. Of course, he slanders these simple and worthy people ; for their houses were as good and better than their neighbors. In 1790, a school was opened near Wurtsborough by John King, who received one dollar per quarter for teaching each pupil, and was boarded by his patrons. He was thus employed for one year, when he was succeeded by John Youngs, of Fish- kiU, who continued the school for thirteen months, when he died. Previous to 1790, it does not appear that the means of education were betteir than what was afforded in the home-circle. Tmu 70WN OS liAHAMATINa 423r That some of the children were taught to read and write m proved by the Town Records ; for the first white child born in the valley discharged official duties for several years which re- quired at least a limited education. The young undoubtedly labored under many disadvantages, particularly if they were anxious to consummate their matri- monial inclinations. When an amorous jeugd wished to con- vert a Jcerel into a tvi^f, he was obliged to travel many miles to find a dominie or a civil officer to forge the marriage-chain. As late as 1796, Daniel Litts had to take his betrothed to Hopewell, where they were married. Manuel Gonsalus 3d, at an early day, built a grist-mill on Gumaer brook. The bolting was done by hand, and the estab- lishment was of no importance beyond being convMiient to the few settlers of the valley. The early Dutch inhabitants of Peenpack, and the occupants of the Mamakating Farms, gave names to all the streams, (kils,) > brooks, (kiltjes,) mountains and hills, (bergs,) in their neighbor- hoods. These old names have generally been forgotten; but there are yet (1873) a few descendants of the pioneers of the valley who are familiar with them. One of these persons (Colonel Masten of Wurtsborough,) an intelligent gentleman of the old Dutch school, has furnished us with most of the follow- ing facts, which were told him by Samuel Gonsalus and others in his youth : 1. Bashaskill north of Wurtsborough, was known as Lysbets? kil, (Elizabeth's creek). There was generally but one daughter in each Gonsalus family, and she was christened Elizabeth. The stream was named after one of these girls. (This cannot be so, because Lysbet, Betje, Basha, Bessie, etc., are equiva- lents, and the name was known in the vaUmr before the Gonsalus family located there. See Minisink and Hardenbergh patents. If Betje or Bashe was a white woman, she hved at Peenpack.) 2. South of Wurtsborough, the stream was called Mamacotton river. Mamacotton, (or correctly, Mamakating,) is an Indian word, the meaning of which is lost. 3. Pinekill. This was the true Bashaskill. On it was the tract of land known as Basha's land. Westbrookville was once BashasviUe. Tradition says that Basha was a squaw who was the Queen of her tribe or elan, and lived on the banks of the ■creek. According to a descendant of Dirck Van Keuren West- brook, the first white settler at Westbrookville, her name was Baha Bashiba, and her bones may be found in an old Indian burial-place in that neighborhood. Notwithstanding all this, we believe the word Basha is the Dutch diminutive for Eliza- beth. Almost every Dutch woman of that name is still desig- nated by the pet sobriquet of Betje or Bashee, and in the 424 iWtOBT OV STJIiUVAlI COTJNTT. old records of the precinct the valley in the vicinity of the creek is styled by an English clerk, Bessie s Land. Nothwithstanding the word Basha is of Dutch ori^n, the name may have belonged to a s'unk squa or squaw-sachem, as the abonmnes sometimes bore the names of white people. That an Indian Queen had her seat of government at Bessie's Land is a favorite tradi- tion, and the antiquarian who proves that it is a baseless fiction will not be honored in the valley of Mamakating. 4. Oak Brook, by the Dutch, was called Aka kutje, from the oak trees which grew by it. Aka is a corruption of the Dutch name for that tree, (eik.) ^, yy ^ -v i zr 5. Manarza Smith Spring. This was the Oroot Tangh Muys Jfwitowe— Great Hunting House Spring. The last word (fon- taine) is French, and is equivalent to the English word fountain. There were numerous yaugh or hunting^houses in old times, along the frontier from the Paaquary mountains to Albany. A yau^ house was as uncertain a monument by which to bound land as a blue mountain. -r^ . , 6. Oraham's Brook was the Olietje hi (Od creek) of the Dutch ^not because petroleum, but the butternut, was found there in abundance. The early settlers extracted oil from this nut. Hence the name of Oil creek. 7. Sandy Brown Brook— Lang Steen kiltje, (Long Stone brook,) from a peculiarity of the stones found there. 8. Pages Brook. On this was bestowed the somewhat pro- fane cognomen of Boumaker's Hd, (Saddler's Hell,*) from the following incident : A saddler traveling through the neighbor- hood on a lean and half-starved horse, had occasion to cross the brook at the usual fording-place. At this point the mud was very deep and very adhesive. These difficulties were easily overcome by the powerful, well-fed animals of the Dutch farm- ers ; but they were too great for the lean beast of the roumaker. When it reached the middle, it was in-etrievably mired — fast in the mud — with its rider on its back ! Li vain the unfortunate saddler thumped with his heels, and applied his whip with all the force of his arms. His horse could not move a step, and he was afraid to alight in the mud. There- was danger that he would sink into it too. He hallooed. No one repUed. He screamed ; he yeUed ; he cursed ; he blasphemed until he was hoarse and exhausted. How he was extricated tradition does not inform us; but we presume he was finally rescued by a traveler ; otherwise his adventure would not have been known, , nor the name of Saddler's Hell given to the brook to commemo- rate his misfortune. 9. Stanton Brook. This vrajn Scufftite ktUje or Breakfast brook. * We aaspect our informiuit is mistalcen. la not a roufmaker, a noiaj, turbulent feUow? THE TOWN OF MAMAKATING. 425 The people of Peenpack, when they started for Esopus, gener- ally managed to get here in time to eat their morning meal. Hence the name. < 10. Saw-Mill Brook was the CUne Yaugh Hwys Jdlfje, or the Little Hunting House brook. It runs near the site of the old Cline Yaugh ifuys up da herg, or the Little Hunting House on the hill, the spring of which is so well known to surveyors. 11. Ahraliam Stanton Brook. On the banks of this brook was a dense growth of rhododendrons and other evergreens, which completely overshadowed it. Hence it was called JDonkera Gat IdUje — Dark Hole brook. It is sometimes styled Laurel brook in the ancient records of the precinct. 12. School House Brook. This brook was the Maritje'a kiltje of early days. It' was so designated becatise Samuel Gonsalus, When a young man, in crossing it with Maritje, the daughter of Michel Helm, applied his whip to his horses, which, being spirited, started suddenly, and she was thrown into the brook. She was on the back seat, and went over the tail-board. "When Gonsalus checked the speed of his horses, and looked for her, he found her comfortably seated in the brook, enjoying what is known in these days as a sitz or hip-bath. The accident was the source of much merriment at the time. The place where it occurred is the Maritje's Gat* of the old records. Maritje's kiltje was subsequently called Witch's brook. 13. Gumaer Brook was Manuel's hUtje, and named after Manuel Gonsalus. 14. Devens' Brook was Devens' hiUJe. 15. Soaring Brook is a translation of the original name — Bousika kiltje. 16. Henry's Brook was Platte kUtje; i. e. Flat brook, which indicates that it has but little, if any, current. 17. SummitviUe Brook was Lang Brug kiltje, or Long Bridge brook. For some distance there was a swamp on each side of it, over which a causeway of logs was built. 18. Sandburgh. The Dutch name was Zontberg, or Sand-hill. It was applied to a hill, and as the appellation of a stream of water is ridiculous. No creek can be a hill of sand. The original name of the creek was ZontkU, and it is so designated in old maps. The Dutch element predominated in Mamakating HoDow tintil the close of the last century. The settlers were generally substantial and prosperous, but lacked the restless energy and untiring activity of the Yankees. It may be said of them that , - I * We wpiyiied to an ancient Dntch matron for a translation of this name, first giving her a brieniistory of this particular gat. Our simplicity or something else, caused her to laugh so immoderately, whenever the gat was alluded to, that she failed to «iiligh^nu8. 426 HISTOBY OP SUUJTAM COUHTY. thej acquired wealth by slow and sure means. Notwithstajidin^ they were plodding and laborious, they were not destitute of enjoyment. In them Dutch stolidity was ameliorated by a slight infusion of French vivacity, so that they jjossessed a quiet capacity for happiness, and were content in their limited sphere. They were satished with their daUy blessings and comforts, and did not long for pleasures wlxich many ever seek, but never enjoy. The influx of Yankees commenced about the year 1790. The first of importance was Captain David Dorrance, a native of Windham csounty, Connecticut, His family took a conspicuous part in the colonization of the territory of Wyoming by. the people of his native colony, and he had served with much credit in the Revolutionary army, which he entered as a sergeant, and was soon after promoted for meritorious conduct. In 1776, while his regiment was engaged at Morrisania, in Westchester county, he was so severely wounded that he was unable to Serform military duty for more than a year. When he recovered, e rejoined his regiment, and was selected by General Wash- ington to serve with other officers and soldiers in a corps under the Marquis de la Fayette. The troops of this corps, as a compliment to their distinguished general, were the finest of the army. Dorrance was soon after made a lieutenant, and then a captain, in which capacity he served until the close of the war. He was in the battle of Monmouth and other important engage- ments, and witnessed the surrender of ComwaUis, After peace was declared, and our country freed from the dominion of Great Britain, he found that the effeeta of his wound and the hard- sliips he had endured, rendered him unable to endure the fatigues of physice^l labor. Under these circumstances he was advised to apply for a pension; but with that greatness of soul which marked hi^ character, he refused to do so, alleging that he would never become an expense fo his country so long as he eould avoid it.* Some time previous to 1790, he visited Southern Ulster for the purpose of buying furs and peltries of the frontier-tra,ppers and hunters. Finding the unoccupied land south of Mamakating Farms, cheap aijd fertile, and covered with a heavy burthen of white pine, hickory, oak, and other valuable timber, he deter- mined to buy a large tract, and settle on it, with such of his old neighbors of Connecticut as he could induce to join him. With this object in view, he bought one thousand acres of Colonel " Ellison', an extensive operator in real estate of that day. This , lot was south pf the turnpike, and embraced the farm now owned by the Morrison family of Wurtsborough: Captain • SulUvMi Whig, July Sd, 1852. THK TOWN OF MAMAKATING. 427 Dorrance paid one dollar per acre for it. He soon afterwards bought 613 acres of Hendriok Smith. The last mentioned tract adjoined the other on the south, and covered the Chichester farm. For three hundred dollars, he sold 150 acres of this land to Ephraim Smith, and for a lite sum the same quantity of land to Cogswell Kinne, a brother of Nathan Kinne, one of the early settlers of Thompson. Samuel Dimmick, the progenitor of the well-known family of that name, was then a young physician in Dorrance's native place, and Charles Baker was a young man of stalwart frame and fine education. Dorrance induced them to remove to Mama- katsng by offering to pay the expenses of their journey, Dim- mick at first found but little employment in this new and sparsely inhabited region. Patients' were few ink number, and the people generally poor. However, he met with so much encouragement that he went back to "Windham county to fulfill a matrimonial contract with Sophia Greenslip', an amiable and excellent lady, who proved a helpmeet indeed to the struggling young doctor, as well as the mother of a very respectable family. There are people yet living who bear testimony in favor of this brave and accomplished woman, who did not con- sider it beneath her station to teach a school, when the money thus earned was necessary to the support of herself and husband. The exertions of the young couple in time were well rewarded,, and they found the wherewithal to secure a comfortable subsist- ence. At an early day he became a resident of Bloomingburghj. where the name of Dimmick has since been synonymous with, social and intellectual excellence. The difficulties in reducing the wild lands of Captain Dor- rance to cultivated farms may be estimated from the annexed facts : On his premises, nearly opposite Doctor Morrison's south barn, was a white pine tree which measured twenty-one feet in circumference. This giant of the woods was prostrated by first applying the axe to its immense bole as long as piracticable, and then finishing the work with a cross-cut saw. About fifteen feet from the ground it had twq branches, each as large as an ordinary tree. It made ten logs, the largest of which was five feet in diameter, and it was necessary to hew away its upper- and lower sides before it could be cut into boards. This tree was sold for ten dollars as it stood — a sum equal to what ten acres of the land had cost Dorrance. Portions of its stump and roots were visible a few years ago. Such a tree would now be worth from one hundred and fifty to two^^ hundred dollars. Captain Dorrance for a considerable time was the only Justice of the Peace in the town. As clergymen were scarce, he was often called upon to mari-y the sons and daughters of th.^ ^9tUey,, 428 HISTOBT OF SULLIVAN CXJDNTt. and the dwellers of the woods west of the Hollow. Doctor Silas Loomis, Eli Eoberts, Charles Harding, Colonel Mudge and other local celebrities were married by him. Wilhelmus Knykendall, Zachariah Durland and David Dor- ranoe, were the original owners of the Stanton graveyard. The latter died June 23, 1822, aged 71 years, and was buried iri this yard. During his residence in Mamakating, he was honored and respected. He contributed much to the growth and pros- perity of the valley. Ann, his widow, survived him fourteen years. Their children were, 1. Elisha H., born September 23, 1787; 2. John, March 23, 1789; 3. Benjamin B., June 2, 1791; 4. Samuel, January 23, 1793; 5. George, March 17, 1797; 6. Nancy, May 26, 1799; 7. Frances, August 30, 1800; 8. Ca- tharine, February 17, 1803 ; 9. David, July 30, 1805 ; 10. Charles, January 30, 1808. Of his ten children, George is the only one who is now a resident of Wurtsboroughl Benjamin B. was a respectable physician, and has been dead many years. John died on the 7th of December, 1854, and was a man highly esteemed and widely known. He was noted for his business-enterprise, as well as for his wit and reminiscences of old times. He well remembered the friendship of Governor Morris for his father — a friendship which led him while passing from Albany to New Tork, in the early days of this century, to turn from his route and travel forty miles to visit Wurtsborough. He came in great state, with a retinue of outriders and other attendants, filling the breasts of all with awe, and particularly the youngsters of the Hollow, who, in their seclusion, had never dreamed of such state and splendor. John and his brother Ehsha retreated, as they supposed, to secure hiding places ; but were found by their father, who dispatched them to the Basha's kill to catch trout for the dinner of the great man and his family. -< When the Newburgh and Cochecton turnpike was surveyed, John carried the cham from Bloomingburgh to Cochecton, and during his life was more or less identified with the improvements which were designed to advance the interests of his neighbors and friends. When the fi^rst attempt was made to drain the Bashas-kiU swamp, he contracted to do the work, and performed the job according to the plan of those who gave it to him. In 1826, he was extensively engaged in mercantile pursuits; but took a mile-section of the canal at Wurtsborough to construct. After this was completed, he contracted to finish another section on the Delaware river at Butler's Falls. Here, by the sliding of earth and rocks from a h^h embankment, one of his legs was broken and crushed, which lamed him for life. He was afterwards associated with George Law in a contract on the Chenango canal, and with Samuel Roberts on the Mauch Chunk THE rOWVl OF MAMAKATING. 429 canal, and engaged in grading a section of the New York and Erie railroad at Deposit, and another on the Newburgh branch. He also made a bid to build the Croton Aqueduct and Dam'; but the contract was awarded to Roberts & Co., who proposed to do the work for a trifle less than his offer. Besides this, he was largely engaged in the lumber-business, and under a lease from Livingston, cut near the Neversink over a million feet of lumber annually for several years. From these ventures he would have secured a fortune, if those with whom he was associated had been as honorable and upright as he was himself. John Dorrance was a prominent and reliable politician. He presided at the first meeting which nominated DeWitt Clinton for Governor. It was held at the house of Peter Miller, in Wurtsborough, and was attended by Doctor Holland of Massa- chusetts, General Henry Montgomery, David Hunter and other prominent men. He was also an expert angler and hunter, and countless were the victims of his rod and rifle.* After the completion of the Delaware and Hudson canal, Ireland added largely to the population of the valley. Among the early immigrants from the Green Isle were Felix and Patrick Kelly, who were for several years merchants of Wurtsborough. Felix became one of the most influential democratic politicians of SuUivan. In 1840, he was elected Sheriff of the county, and subsequently served three years under William Gumaer as Under-sheriff. He was nominally a Roman Catholic. At the time of his election, there was a very stubborn prejudice against men of his religion, and to defeat him, a report was circulated that he had, in burying one of his children, observed some of the customs of the Irish Roman Catholics ! Charles Baker was a native of Windham county, Connecticut, and, as we have already stated, was induced to move to Mama- kating by Captain David Dorrance in 1796 or 1797. Very little is known of his early life. His father, RosweU Baker, was a small farmer — a plain, hard-working man — poor, but of excellent repute among his neighbors. Charles was a bright lad, very fond of reading, and managed in some way to acquire a better education than the generaUty of boys of his station in life. In 1796, he graduated at Dartmouth College soon after Daniel Webster became a student in that institution, and. well remembered the puny lad who subsequently became so famous as an orator and statesman. Baker engaged in teaching school in Mamakating and the surrounding country, and when not thus employed, made shin- gleSi and worked for farmers and lumbermen. It was not 'Jolrn W. Hasbronck. 430 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN OOUNTT. nncominon to see him pass to and from his work with his ax on his shoulder. He was poor, and seemingly without a prospect of rising abore the common level ; but "^resolved to perform his part sturdily and bravely in whatever position circumstance* assigned him. While teaching in Shawangunk, he got acquainted with a Mr. Bruyn, who became his friend and benefactor. Through Bruyn'a influence he entered the law-office of William Ross of Newburgh, as a student. After Baker was licensed as an attorney, he returned to Mamakating and opened an office in Bloomingburgh, then the most flourishing business-place in what is now SuUivan county. He was a man of undoubted talent, of more than average learn- ing as a lawyer, and much addicted to original thought and expression. So unusual and amusing were his sayings, that he was the central figure to which all eyes were directed in what- ever society he appeared. This peculiarity became more and more obvious as he advanced in years, and the habit of intemper- ance, which blasted his Hfe, gained a firmer dominion over him. Whenever intoxicated he laid aside whatever reserve character- ized his sober hours, and gave a free rein to his witty and caustic propensities. He usually indulged his unfortunate habit when attending court, and some of his happiest forensic displays were made when he was under the influence of rum. We have, heard it asserted that the gravity of the bench on such occasions was sometimes preserved by using a cambric handkerchief as a gag, while bar, and jury and spectators were convulsed with &,ughter. Baker detested shams of all kinds. Although of humble origin — a child of the people — ^he was at heart an aristocrat. In politics he was a federahst, and believed that certain classes, and particularly the legal profession, should monopohze posi- tions of horLor and responsibility. This will more fuUy appear from the following relation : 'i During the first quarter of this century, Samuel Freer edited and published at Kingston a newspaper entitled The Ulster Gazette. Freer, like Baker, was of the federal party. In his old age, when he was a pauper, he boasted that Alexander Hamilton was his personal friend. In early times, post-offices were few and far between, and public journals were often delivered to subscribers by carriers. Freer was his own carrier. When each weekfy edition of the Gazette was printed, he filled his saddle-ba^s with the damp sheets, mounted his old mare, and with his pipe in his mouth, started for Peenpack. , After he reached that ancient Dutch settlement, he retraced his steps to Wurtsborough, (then Eome,) and from that point crossed the Barrens to Thompson; from thence he went to FaUsburgh, THE TOWN OF MAMAKATINQ. ■^81 'ITeversink and Wawarsing, and from there home. He was a Mnd-hearted, genial man. By visiting people at their homes, Infinging with him the news and gossip of the day, and not assuming airs of superiority, he became very popular with the masses. In time he aspired to a seat in Congress. The federal lawyers of the district regarded his pretensions with amazement and contempt. Should this upstart printer be preferred to one of their exclusive order? No! Heaven forbid! Away with him! There was one lawyer, however, whom Freer believed was his friend. That lawyer was Charles Baker. Freer relied on him — confided in him — counseled with him. He canvassed the district and believed that he would have a small majority in the nominating convention. Baker was a delegate, and was supposed to be Freer's friend ; but in the convention turned the scale against him. Freer was indignant and reproached Baker with his perfidy, when the latter coolly told him that a man of his calling was unfit for an honorable position. Freer replied bitterly, " Such a sentiment should blister your tongue ! " and was Baker's enemy to the day of his death. Baker himself was several times a candidate for oflSice; but was never elected until he joined the democratic party, when the voters of Mamakating made him an Inspector of Common Schools. He was run for the Assembly in 1809, 1810, 1816, 1817 and 1823 ; and in 1821 for Member of the Constitutional Convention. His successful competitor was generally -a farmer or mechanic. In 1832, he desired the democratic nomination for Representative in Congress; but he was elbowed aside by Charles Bodle, a wagon-maker. So far as concerns him, the doctrine of compensation in this life seems to have been verified. Baker's blows were like those given with a mace rather than; a Damascus blade. His wit was ponderous and coarse ; and on that account suited to the time in which he lived. His weapon was not so keen that his victims were obliged to shake their heads to ascertain whether they were decapitated. He generally reduced the head itself to a jelly with a single effort. Sometime during the war of 1812-15, Baker received a circu- lar from a committee of federalists, the object of which was to induce him and other members of that party to throw obstacles in the way of a successful prosecution of the war. Baker, although a federalist, was a warm friend of his country, and felt no sympathy for its enemies. The circular had an effect unlike that which its authors anticipated so far as he was concerned ; for he forthwith denounced them, and with Jacksonian impetu- ositj' induced part of a militia company of which he was a lieutenant to go with him "to the front." 432 HISTORY OP SUXUVAN COUSTT. This company had been commanded by Captain Thomas Bull of Wurtsborough, who had evaded a requisition of Governor Tompkins, because his wife would not consent to his going inta the army. Lieutenant Baker's company not being fuU, an order was issued to consolidate it with a company under the command of a captain whom Baker did not esteem very highly. Baker was indignant, and in his emphatic manner declared that his mea should not be commanded by any one but himself. They were his neighbors and friends, and had volunteered to serve under him, and it was an insult to them to place over them a stranger. He called on hit. •irigadier-general to remonstrate. A stormy interview took place. Baker was insolent and insubordinate ; and was arrested and tried by a military court for his offense. He was found guilty, and sentenced to be reprimanded, and to make an apology to the insulted officer. On the day designated for carrying the sentence into effect, the regiment was paraded, and the -General, mounted in full uniform, placed himself in front of the line, while his cur-dog stood by the side of his horse,, regarding Baker with apparent displeasure. After a grave and formal reading of the reprimand, Baker, bareheaded and minus his sword, bowed obsequioiisly to his offended superior, and said : " Sir, in obedience to the order of the court-martial, I ask your pardon ; and Sir, (bowing still lower) I ask pardon of your horse; and Sir, (bowing again) I also ask pardon of your doffi" An ample apology is generally satisfactory; but there was too much of this. At least so thought the General' as he retired hastily from the field with his horse and dog, and a very red face, while the troops roared with laughter.* Baker was a duelist. In early life, for some real or fancied insult, he challenged William Koss of Newburgh. Eoss was a man of considerable talent, had been Baker's legal preceptor and was a prominent politician. He was a Member of Assembly for several years, the Speaker of that branch of the Legislature in 1811, and represented the Middle District in the Senate for eight years, commencing with 1815. For some cause not known to us, Ross, though not deficient in courage, refused to fight Baker. When the latter found that Eoss woiild not meet him, his wrath was boundless, and he posted the other on the town- pump as a " poltroon, liar and coward." Two or three years before his death, a stale practical joke was perpetrated at Baker's expense by several graceless wags of Newburgh, where he then practiced law. One of them annoyed the old man until he said something which was con- *A similar anecdote is related ill Euttenbcr's History of Newburgh of Phineag Bowman, a noted legal wag of that town. This of Balier was written Uv us and pub- liiibcdin a Newburgh paper thirteen years before Ruttenber's work was printed THE TOWN OF MAMAKATINQ. 43S strued into an insult. Baker received a challenge, and promptly accepted it. The belligerents met on the ice opposite New- burgh, with seconds, a surgeon, riflies, etc. The rifles wea-e loaded with nothing but powder. The principals were placed opposite each other, and the word given, when Baker, who wa» an old deer-hunter, aimed as deliberately as if about to shoot a buck, and fired. His adversary fell, groaning, and a red fluid gushed from a bladder under his vest, and made a crimson puddle beside his convulsed body. The surgeon hastily exam- ined the apparently dying man, and then approached Baker, and said : " Sir, I regret to inform you that Mr. is mortally wounded. You will do well to avoid the unpleasant conse- quences which mayfollow his death." Baker was standing bolt-^ upright in his "position." "Umph!" said he inireplyto the' surgeon; "D — ^n him, Sir, I knew I'd plump him!" He then walked deliberately to his office, as if nothing unusual had happened. In the days of Alexander Hamilton, Baker was enraged when any one spoke disrespectfully of his party or its mstinotive- policy. Going on horseback from Mamakating HoUow to Bloomingburgh, he encountered Alexander Brown, who was also mounted and travehng in the same direction. Their con- versation was conciliatory and very pleasant until Brown, who was an admirer of Thomas Jefferson, got into a political con- troversy with Baker, and censured the federalists with much asperity. Instead of the small, light whip usually carried by equestrians. Baker had one six or eight feet in length.. With this he told Brown he would flog him if he did not there and then apologize and retract what he had said. Instead of doing: as Baker required. Brown, who was greatly the physical inferior of the two, put spurs to his horse, and thus got beyond the reach of Baker's snapper. Baker at once started in pursuit. He had the best horse, but no spurs, and his whip was so long that he could not lash his animal with it. However, he found "persuaders" to rapid locomotion in his heels and the but of his whip, with which he thumped the beUy and ribs of his steed until he imagined he had gained so much on the democrat that he could reach his shoulders with the lash. He would then . raise in his stirrups, throw his body forward, and strike afc Brown with great fury. The latter, hearing or feeling the whip, would then plunge his spurs desperately once more into his horse, and widen the distance between himself and the burlesque Nemesis raging behind him. Thus the two men tore along, the mountain road, and down the declivity to Bloomingburgh, at the peril of their lives, forgetting that a misstep or a, stumble of either horse would probably launch its rider iato eternity/ Into Bloomingburgh they came like a whirlwind, arousing aU 28 434 HISTOBT OV BULLTVAN COUNT*. the dogs and idlers of the mMn street of that village. The pursuit did not terminate until several citizens threw themselves between Baker arid the object of his wrath. The evening of Baker's life was overshadowed by the mists and clouds which usually obscure the close of an improvident and dissipated career. He was poor and alone. 'Tis true, he was not friendless ; neithe;r was he an object of public charity. Friends managed in some way to give him professional employ- ment in Newburgh, so that he obtained the necessaries of life, and to a certain degree preserved his self-respect. The heart of the proud old man would have broken if he had been a pauper. But he was a sad wreck, and more than anything else resembled a mangy old lion — majesty and degradation were so mixed up in him. While strolling through the streets of New- Ijuigh, in the fall of 1837, we saw him through the open door of a low saloon, surrounded by worthless negroes and more worth- less whites, who were teasing him to elicit those amusing out- bursts of passion which rendered him so unlike other men. He died in Newburgh on the 7th of May, 1839. The valley from Basha's-kill swamp to the Shawnee's-bergh, or Council-hill, was known as Mamakating Farms to the early settlers. When the Yankees obtained a foothold in the Hollow, they counted all the mountain-peaks they could see, and with ambitious views, called the place, Rome, hopiag no doubt that it was the site of a future city which would include in its bound- aries the surrounding hills. It retained the name of the eternal city as late as 1812, in which year its first church (Dutch Reformed) was built. This edifice, after a profane rite then too much in vogue, was named the Church of Rome,* a designation which foreshadowed its ultimate use, for it has been, owned and occupied by the Roman CathoUcs for many years. Some time after the completion of the Newburgh and Cocheo- ton turnpike, and the establishment of a post-office, the official designation of the village was Mamakating, while the popular appellation was "Mammy Cotton Holler.' Mamakating con- sisted of about a score of houses clustered around the corners of the turnpike and the old Minisink road. When the Delaware and Hudson canal was opened, those who controlled that improvement believed that this point would be the most important one on the Une of their work, and they gave it the name of Wurtsborough, as a compliment to the gentleman who had originated the canal, and without whose indefatigable labors it would never have been constructed. It • It wag then a custom, when the frame-work of a chnrch was raised, for one of the workmen to ascend to the highest point, where he swung a jug of rum a certain number of times around his head, throwing it to the ground when the last circle was performed, and shouting the name of the church. THE TOWN OF MAMAKATING. 435 "was pronounced the most important point between the Dela- ware and Hudson. Maurice Wurts himself, in company with a gentleman named Draper, engaged in business here as a mer- chant, and probably would have become a resident, if he had not been compelled to abandon other pursuits, and devote his entire powers to save the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company from financial ruin. If he could have assisted in developing the natural advantages of the place, it requires no effort of imagina- tion to estimate the result. It would now be the most flourish- ing business locaUty of Sullivan. Wurtsborough was originally confined to a small space on the berme side of the canal. It was gradually extended west- ward until the. gap between it and the old village of Mamaka-" ting was fiUed up. In 1830, the name of the poSt-office was changed from Mamakating to Wurtsborough, Lyman OdeU, who was noted as the village-poet, as well as a profuse essayist^ was the first post-master after the alteration of the name. As early as 1774, the eastern side of the Shawangunk was settled from the PlattekiU to the line between the old counties ■of Ulster and Orange. The Eecords of Mamakating show that the territory between the river and the summit of the mountain was known as Shawangunk. In the year named, Benjamin Depuy, Philip Swartwout and Jacob Gumaer put upon record a road survey, in which they described the highway as running from the line of Colonel Thomas Ellis and Mr. Cornelius Bruyn, at the PlattekiU, through the premises of Robert Milligan, Stephen Carney, Solomon TerwiUiger, widow McBride, Jonathan Strickling, Samuel Palsen, Phineas Thompson and John Young, to the precinct-line at Samuel Daley's. This road ran " under the foot of the mountain," * and there were other settlers on it, as is proven by the records of the next two or three years. Robert and Peggy Milligan located on the Stephen Norris ?lace before the savagps abandoned that part of the country, 'heir log-hut was in front of the Norris house. The alluvial banks of the river were dotted with wigwams. There was an orchard in the vicinity, which had been planted by the red man, and which was afterwards known as the Indian orchard. The whites were careful not to ofiend their savage neighbors, and consequently lived on good terms with them imtil the latter were induced to take up arms in behalf of the enemies of the countiy. They then removed beyond the mountain, and never returned except on predatory excursions. An account of one of these will be found in our chapter on the Lenni Lenape. On the Keeler Norris farm was found a vault or cache, which * In 1789, the CommissioncrB of Highways of Mamakating note the fact that the- Legislature of 1788 added to the town bo much of WaliKiU aswas west of Shawangunk river. 436 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. had been used by the Indians for storing maize. Its walls were formed of split logs, and it was four feet wide and six long. Around it were dug-up ston«-pestles and imperfectly shaped ladian arrows. Searsville commemorates the memory of a gentleman named Sears. It is a pleasant village, near the county line, and was at one time known as Burhngham. The latter name was given in honor of Walter Burling, a director of one of the turnpike companies which were chartered in the present century. Alfred B. Street, than whom no man has a more fond eye for beauty, thus describes what is to be seen on ascending the Shawangunk mountain from Bloomingburgh : " We will suppose it to be about sunset. You are climbing the ascent by the steep, crooked, but wide and well-built turn- Eike. Every now and then, if you turn your head, delicious ■aginents of rich scenery, will strike your eye — a roof or two — a spire — a stretch of meadow, with silver curves of running water. Higher you ascend; and turning, broader prospects spread out to your sight, until, arriving at the first and broadest summit, you pause and look back. Upon each side of you are the oaken woods of the mountain, their tops gilded with the mellow sun. Beyond, from the foot of the mountain to the faint blue waving line that proclaims the Hudson: hills is a landscape as glowing and lovely as ever blessed the eye, and gave a shock of pleasure to the heart. There lies the beautiful village of Bloomingburgh, with its roofs, its steeples and its rows of poplars; thence extend league upon league of meadow, and pasture, and grain-field, and flustered woodland, smiling in all the witchery of those long-reaching black shadows — vistas of soft, rosy light — dimpled spaces and flashing gleams, which that splendid painter. Nature, scatters in the sweet hour of sunset so profusely from her palette. Looking more intently, the eye at length reaches out and detects the minute and dehcate touches in the lovely picture. The dotting homesteads, set like birds' nests amid their trees — ^the crouching bams — the scattered hay- stacks — the grouped cattle — the myriad lines of fences crossing each other — the gray roads with black dots of travelers, striping hill and valley — the green lanes — the differing colors of the com and grass, and wheat-fields — the turns and reaches of the flashing brooks — in short, all that make up a landscape of exquisite rural beauty." * Bloomingburgh 8ta,nds on elevated ground midway between Shawangunk moimtain and Assining river, and commands an extended view of the highlands and lowlands in its vioinity,' THX TOTm OF UAMAEATINO. 487 The mountain-range foir twemly miles or more is -within sight, as well ^s a considerable portion of Orange county and southern Ulster. Fertile upland, forest-heights, rocky escarpments, a winding river, and fruitful intervals, please the eye oy giving variety to the scene, wMoh is rendered still more striking by the iron-horse which thunders along the mountain side, and plunges into the bosom of old Shawanguuk. Well did Wash- ington Irving, in one of his celebrated "Sketches,"* pronounce it " the beautiful village of Bloomingburgh." The first house erected within the bounds of the village, was built by Captain John Newkirk, on what has since been known as the "North Eoad." It was there in 1776, when William Ellis settled in the neighborhood, and was in the old precinct of WallkiU until the line between Wallkill and Man^kating was changed from the foot of the mountaim to the Shawangunk or Assining river. Its site is a little back from the road, and, unlike many first buildings in new locahties, it was a frame-house". It was one story high, and in it Captain John Newkirk kept the original tavern of the place. A few years since, the bar was still where the customers of Newkirk took their daily potations, its owner. Doctor Van Wyck, though a strict temperance-man. Laving sufficient respect for antiquity to let the relic of old days remain — a sad monument of many squandered estates and wrecked lives. William Ellis moved from Peekskill, and settled on the farm now (1873) owned by James Hare. At the time he came, there was but one house in Bloomingburgh— the old Newkirk tavern. He was the only support of his aged father and mother, and therefore did not enMst to perform regular service in the Revo- lutionary army ; but turned out with the few scattering militia- men of his vicinity to defend the Mamakating frontier whenever it was attacked by savages or threatened, as well as to chastise tory marauding-parties. They were often called to do duty at Fort Devens, in Mamakating Hollow, Fort Gumaer, at Peen- pack, and the fortified house of Dirok V. K. Westbrook, at Bessie's Land. When the British General Clinton was making hostile demonstrations upon the banks of the Hudson, these militia-men marched for Fort Montgomery; but when they got within three or four miles of it, they leaimed that it was in possession of the enemy, and returned to their homes. If they had reached the fort before it was taken, EUis would have been killed in battle, or perhaps died in some loathsome prison from starvation and exposure. This sturdy patriot lived in Mama- kating sisHiy-eight years, and died there on the 24th of Feb- piarf, 1845, aged 90 years. During a long life, he sustained » "EMaaBwiultz, a iilarrelota IfiJe of Uamakatiiig Hollow." 438 HISTORY OP BULLIYAH COUNTY. the reputation of a truly honest man, and an uncompromising, Tmfiinching advocate of political agid religious liberty. Soon after the Revolutionary war, William Wighton & Co. opened a store about a mile south of the village, William Harlow a tavern two miles north, and " Cronimus " Felter near the Plattekill. In 1784, a school was opened in Bloomingburgh by a Mr. Campbell, and a grist-mill^bujlt on the river by Joshua Cfampbell. These facts indicate eady and rapid advances in that locality. The name of Bloomingbui^h was bestowed on the Fourth of July, about the year 1812, when it was proposed by James Newkirk, and selected from a number of others suggested by residents of that period. Samuel King, of Revolutionary memory, who had repeatedly held the offices of Town Clerk and Supervisor, was the orator of the day, and acted as sponsor. The village was incorporated by an act of the Legislature passed Apni 26th, 1833. At the first election, the following officers were chosen : Alpheus Dimmick, Cornelius Wood and Stephen Belknap, Trustees; Gabriel S. Corwin, Clerk; and Theodore C. Van Wyck, Treasurer. The corporation seal "ia the impression of that side of a United States dime on which is the figure of an eagle." The bounds of the village extend one mile west from the centre of Shawangunk river, and north and south on each side of the Newburgh and Cochecton turn- pike about one-third of a mile. Until the completion of the Hudson and Delaware canal, Bloomingburgh was a place of considerable business. Its merchants dealt largely in lumber from the interior of the county. Those who manufactured and carted it over the moun- tains, generally exchanged it for grain, groceries, etc., and the dealers of the village either sent it to New York by the way of Newburgh, or sold it to local customers. In its best days, the merchants of the village were well known throughout the county, and exercised a controlling influence in the various affairs of local interest. Those who were residents from forty to fifty years ago, wiU readily recognize the names of Sloan & Hunter, Morton & Lockwoods, the Dunning Brothers, Stewart & Gilles- pie, John Boosa, aitd others, although the descendants of but few of these persons now live in either'the town or county. The first printing-office and the first academy of Sullivan were at Bloomingburgh. The academy was situated in the north-east part of the village, near the river, and was erected in 1810 or 1811 ; but by an advertisement inserted in the Watch- man of October 20, 1829, it seems it was incorporated on the 5th of April, 1828. Its first Trustees were Jonathan Mills, David Bumter, Charles Baker, Henry Linderman, Alpheua Dimmick, T. C. Van Wyck, Gabriel H. Horton and Samuel Van THE TOWN OP MAMAKATINO. 43V Vechten. Its first Principal, after ■the act of incorporatioD, wag Samuel Pitts, a graduate of Union College. Previous to this time several gentlemen of fine scholastic attainments had had charge of the school as teachers. The first was Alpheus Dim- mick. John Burnett succeeded him, and taught several years. Then came Samuel Mosely for about six years. He was succeeded by Alexander Tatterson and others. Eev. H. Con- nelly was for a considerable time one of its Principals. The decHne in the business-importance of the village, and the lack of specific accommodations for pupils from other places, oper- ated unfavorably. The institution became of a lower grade than it once occupied; and &ially the common school of the place was kept in the building. At one period, the attendance at the academy was verj large, and it sent forth pT«)ils who won useful and eminent positions.* The building was destroyed by fire several years ago. The academy was probably at first a select school of high grade, and originated in the necessities of Alpheus Dimmiek, a student in the law-office of Charles Baker. While preparing for legal pursuits, he was obUged to "paddle his own canoe," and hence engaged in teaching. He was, as boy and man, remark- able for his integrity. The honest and faithful manner in which he performed his duties as a teacher, gave the school such an excellent reputation, that after he was hcensed to practice as an attorney in 1814, others, who were noted for their erudition, as weU as success in teaching, were induced to continue the school. As a lawyer, Mr. Dimmick was not brilliant. He was unlike a flame which attracts a multitude of silly moths to destruction. He was a calm, steady, safe guide, who never for his own profii involved his clients in inextricable labyrinths. Throughout his life, he maintained the calm serpnity and self-poise which is exhibited only by true excellence. Official position was awarded to him as a tribute to worth. In 1828, he was a Member of Assembly; from 1836 to 1847, District Attorney of the county; and from 1847 to 1851, County Judge and Surrogate. His death occurred in January, 1865. Previous to the erection of the Court-house at MonticeUo, courts were sometimes held at Bloomingburgh, in the tavern of P. & M. Miller — the same subsequently kept by Christian Shons. We are informed that the first Circuit Court of the county was held in this building, and that Joseph C. Yates, a Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court, who had been appointed to discharge judicial duties in the Middle Di8trict,t presided. The * SuUitan County V/hig, September i, 1846. f The State was then divided into four diatricts — the southern, the eastern, the middle and the western. Sullivan was in the middle. Judge Yates, who held this court, was elected Qovernor in 1822, when he received 125,000 majority over Solomon Southwick. 440 HISTOBY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. court was held in the ball-room, in a part of the building which was afterwards detached from the main part of the tavern, and removed to another lot. It was subsequently occupied by the pastor of the Reformed Church. At the time Judge Yates held the Circuit Court in Bloomingburgh, the county-seat was not established. A County Court had previously been held in Monticello, William A. Thompson, First Judge. The early residents were not only noted for their business- enterprise and thrift; but for their good taste. At one time a row of Lombardy poplars — then very high in public estimation, but in the end not as popular as the elm, sugar-maple, locust and black walnut — adorned each side of the principal street for about a mile.* They gave the place a highly romantic appear- ance ; but becoming unfashionable, they were gradually removed until but few of them are left. To a considerable extent, other trees have taken their place, and give a more diversified aspect to the village. No village in the county has had more distinguished residents than Bloomingburgh. Among those who have held high official position, we may mention Cornelius C. Schoonmaker, who was a Member of Assembly from Ulster, from 1777 to 1790, and again in 1795; a Eepresentative in the Congress held in Phila,-. delphia in 1791, 1792 and 1793 ; and a Member of the Conven- tion which met in Poughkeepsie in 1788, to deliberate on the adoption of the Federal Constitution.t He Uved two miles from the village, on the Burlingham road, in the house since owned and occupied by Alfred Norris. The precise year or years when this was his residence we cannot now determine ; it was probably after the close of his official career.^ Tradition says that, through tax-sales at Albany, he acquired a large estate, and that he attempted to establish on his lands the leasehold-system with its feudal abominations. He was a man of weight in his day, as is proven by the offices he held ; but his memory is gradually fading from the public mind. Like all public men of the past, whose rank in society had a mere ma- terial basis, and who used no part of their fortunes to benefit man- kiad, he has left no monument of his wisdom or virtue. How true it is, that material wealth alone is generally a vulgar acquisition, • SuMivan Couniy Whig, September i, 1846. tThe members from Ulater were John Cantine, Ebenezer Clark, Governor Oeorge Clinton, Jamea Clinton, C. C. Schoonmaker and Dirok Wynkoop. Excepting Governor Clinton, who was President of the Convention and did not vote, they opposed the adoption of the Constitution. ■jf C. C. Schoonmaker died abont the commencement of the present century. His son, Zachariah Schoonmaker, sold the farm near Bloomingburgh to John Norris, on the iSth of July, 1806. From the recitals of the deed, it is clear that G. C. Schoon- maker was then deceased, THE TOWN OP MAMAKATINQ. 443 the dffspring of fraud and oppression ; the badge of a mean and sordid soul ; and that its possessor must in the end put aside his pride and pomp, and go to oblivion like the beggar who I sleeps in an unmarked grave ; while virtue and genius, though I they may have been fed at the rich man's table, and been the trecipients of his ostentatious benefactions, will secure to their possessor the admiration and gratitude of endless ages ! Who would not be an Oliver Goldsmith, hungry and in rags, rather than the proud aristocrat, swelling with self-assumed supe- liority, and the lord of the fairest estate of his country? The one has a title to immortality which the wise and good of the •universe wiU forever respect and glorify ; while the other can enjoy for but a brief period the homage of fools like himself. Charles Baker, the eccentric but able lawyer ; Samuel E. Betts, the able jurist; Alphetis Dimmiek, the venerable* and honest attorney, etc. ; Archibald C. Niven, whose laborious and useful life has not yet terminated; George O. Belden* whose early years gave promise of so much distinction in public affairs ; and Charles H. Van Wyck, the successful politician and soldier, have been among the residents of Bloomingburgh. Lemuel Jenkins, who represented SulUvan and Ulster in Gongress from 1823 to 1825, was a lawyer in Bloomingburgh, and was elected by the Bucktail party. He had been a paortner of Samuel E. Betts. The paths of the two doAvn life's descent Were far apart. Betts became one of the distinguished jurists of the nation ; while Jenkins discharged the unimportant duties of a Notary Pubhe in Albany. Charles Bodle, a wagon-maker of Bloomingburgh, was chosen a Representative in Congress from Ulster and Sullivan in 1832. He served during the firSt session ; but was unable to attend the second. While on his way to Washington, he was detained in the city of New York by illness. After remaining there several weeks, he returned to his home to await the issue of his disease, "with the composure and fortitude of a man and a Christian." * He died on the 30th of October, 1835, He was an estimable citizen — honest and upright in all things. So conscientious was he, that it was said of him that he never permitted a piece of poor timber to be used in the"*manufacture of a vehicle in his shop, and that a wagon or sleigh made by him always commanded a better price than if it had been made by another. In his official capacity he was equally Worthy. He was never brilliant — ^never attempted to dazzle the eyes of the multitude — ^never resorted to the artifices of the demagpgue. He was simply an industrious, inteUigent and courteous man, with a true heart and sound brain. A short time before his * S^pubUedn WcUchman, Kirrember 5, 1835. 442 HI8TOBY OF SULLIVAN CODNTY. death, he relinquished his mechanical business in favor of Alan- son Everett and Cyrenus Van Keuren. At a late period Verdine E. Horton became a prominent mart of the place, and it was believed that he would add to the number of Congressmen who had resided in Bloomingburgh at the time of their election ; but his career was cut short, while he was yet a young man, by a cancerous affection. Thornton M. Niven, who was a member of the Legislature in 1845, and was at one time an Inspector of State Prisons, resided for several years at Bloomingburgh, and while he lived there was the candidate of his party for a seat in the national Legis- lature; but owing to a feud in the democratic ranks, was defeated. He was a man of wealth, a vigorous writer, and a fine public speaker. His defeat would not have been a final one, if it had not soured his mind against official position, and led him into an unwise habit of nursing his own sores. This village, though situated on the border of the county, and at present outside the central point of pohtical influence, has furnished more Eepresentatives in Congress than all the other localities of Sullivan combined. Samuel E. Betts, Lemuel Jenkins and Charles Bodle, each served two years ; and Charles H. Van Wyck six years. Total, 12 years. George O. Belden, Archibald C. Niven, and Daniel B. St, John, of MonticeUo; and Eufus Palen, of Fallsburgh, each served one term, making eight years in all. Niven and Belden were law-students in Bloomingburgh, and practiced law there for a short time. MonticeUo, therefore, should divide its honors with its ancient rival. Westbrookville was first known as Basha's Land, Bessie's Land and BashusvQle. It was finally named in honor of Dirck Van Keuren Westbrook, the first white man who lived there. He was the son of Dirck Westbrook of Esopus, who removed to Sussex county. New Jersey, where his son Dirck Van Keuren. was born. The latter bought previous to the Eevolutionary war, sixty acres of land of Thomas and Edward Ferris of West- chester county, and he and his son Abraham T. Westbrook purchased of the same proprietors about three hundred addi- tional acres, and upwards of two hundred more, of a man named Hezekiah Morris. At first their nearest neighbors lived at Cuddebackville, three and a half miles distant. Soon after Westbrook came, a family of Gilletts settled on the Pinekill' where they afterwards built a saw-mill, one of the first in that part of the country. A grist-mill was also erected on that stream at an early day. The Westbrooks were enterprising, industrious and thriving. They built a stone-house on their land, which was used as a THE TOWN OF MAMAKATING. M3 fort during the Bevolutionary war, and is still standing. During that contest, they were obliged to leave their possessions, and ?o over the mountain to Shawangunk, where the son (Abraham '.) met Mary Van Keuren, whom he afterwards married. When they left, the Indians were killing and destroying throughout the valley, and when they returned, they found but little except their land and house. Dirck V. K. Westbrook had other children, who were daugh- ters, named Sarah and Maria. Maria married Daniel Westfall, and removed with her husband to western New York. Sarah became the wife of Ferdinand Van Etten, who settled in the State of Kentucky. As an example of the endurance and courage of the women of that day, we record the fact that Mrs. Van Etten rode on horseback from Kentucky to T^estbrookvUle, taking with her a babe only three weeks old. After the war, strolling Indians passed through the valley occasionally. They were intensely hated, especially by those who had had relatives killed by them. On one occasion, Dirck V. K. Westbrook gave three or four savages permission to sleep on his premises, and his wife during the night proposed to cut "their heads off with an ax, if he would take away their bodies. At another time, an Indian, while passing, threw a dead snake into her lap, when she hurled a large pair of shears at him, a point of which narrowly missed Ids temple. The settlers of Westbrookville at first attended the old Maghackamack Dutch Beformed church, at Carpenter's Point. Afterwards the gospel was expounded in bams at various places in the valley. Mrs. Peter E. Gumaer, who was bom in the Peenpack neighbor- hood near the close of the last century, and resided there more than seventy-five years, relates the following of the Indian woman Basha : Basha, an old squaw, and her husband lived a long time by Basha's kill, after their tribe had gone west. The old chief was a good hunter, and when after game was generally accoinpanied hj Basha, who carried home what he shot During one of his tramps, he killed a large deer, and tying its legs to a stick, she took it on her shoulders, and started homeward, he following slowly along the path. Her way was over the stream, which was crossed by a log reaching from bank to bank. While on this log, she fell, and the stick caught her fast by the neqk., When her husband reached the place, she was dead. And that is the way the stream got its name.* * Stickney'8 History of the Mimsink Region. 444 msTOBY OF suiuvas county. An incident of this character ma^ have occurred; but the Minisink patent proves that the region in the vicinity of the PinekiU was known as Bashais land nearly a hundred years before Mrs. Gumaer was born, and that that stream must have received its name from the territory through which it ran, Phillips Port is about five mUes from Wurtsborough and two from the county-line. The valley here is about one-half mile in width, and is bounded on one side by the Shawangunk moun- tain, and on the other by the Sandbergs. In the vicinity, a handsome stream of water comes foaming down successive falls, which are equally pleasing to the utilitarian and the lover of the picturesque. There is sufficient hydrauhe power here for exten- sive manufacturJBg purposes. Along the steeam winds the road which leads to the old Branch turnpike. The latter crosses PaUsburgh and penetrates Liberty. About half a mile south of the village the summit-level commences, and continues seventeen miles, the longest on the canal. The original prosperity of the place was caused by the Hudson and Delaware canal, and will be greatly increased by the Midland railroad. Boat-building has been carried on here extensively. Phillips Port was named after James PhDlips, who was the principal business man there when the canal was opened.* The canal company at first called it Lockport; but by the general consent of the public, it is known by its present name. Near the commencement of the present centuiy, a family named Budd, settled in this vicinity. The name has become quite common in the north part of the town, and is a synonym of industry and usefulness. The Caldw§lls, Bloomers, Toppings and Tices, who have long been settled here, also deserve a place vn our pages. Homowack, is a hamlet situated on the Delaware and Hudson ■canal, and partly in Ulster and partly in Sullivan county. It •contains several stores, hotels, shops, etc., and is the natural outlet of the valley of the LunankiU as well as that of the SandkiU. The prosperity of the place has been considerably promoted by the opening of the Midland railroad to EUenville. In 1850, William E. Palmer and his brother Timothy, pur- chased a tract of land south of Wurtsborough, adjoining the Stewart Ra£ferty place. Both lived on the premises in houses four or five rods apart, and attempted to manage their affairs as eo-partners ; but they differed as to the proper and best way of doing so, and frequent disputes and quarrels took place between * John W. Hagbrouck. THE TOWN OF JIAMAKATING. 445' them. From being brotherly, they became enemies, bitter and" malignant. Crimination and recriminatioii led to blows, and complaints for assault and battery, perjury, etc. William wished to preserve the timber and bark on the place, while the other' persisted in cutting and peeling. This led William to declare repeatedly that he would shoot Timothy, if he did not stop destroying the timber. In January, 1851, he said in the pres- ence of James Larkin and Albei-t Squires, that "he'd be d d if he would not shoot him." Similar declarations were made to others at later periods. On the 16th of May, 1851, Timothy left his house after eating his dinner, to go to the woods on the mountain for the purpose of peeling bark. The woods were on the lot owned by himself and William. The house owned by William was occupied by his brother Joseph, the wife of the latter, their three children, and the father of William, Joseph ■ and Timothy. Soon after Timothy left to engage at his work, William took his gun and proceeded to the bark-peeling, but by a different route. Between two and three o'clock, the wife of Joseph Palmer heard the report of a gun, and the cry of murder, , in the direction the brothers had gone. A httle dog belonging, to William barked arid came running from the woods. Stewart Bafferty and others of the neighborhood also heard the dog bark and the report of the gun. About 5 o'clock, Joseph Palmer saw William returning to the house, where they eat their supper. Joseph then plowed in a field near the house, and the other assisted him in various ways. At 7 o'clock, the wife of Joseph called for Timothy to come from the woods, as she had been in the habit of doing. Eeceiving no reply, the wife of the missing man became alarmed, and ran to Stewart Eafferty's She asked Mr. Rafferty to go with her to the woods to look for her husband, as she feared he was shot. He made a search for Timothy in company with a son of the latter, and found him dead, with the trunk of a tree across his body. Subsequent investigations proved that he had been shot in the breast, the tree raised with a handspike, the body dragged three or four feet and placed imder the tree, and the trunk lowered upon it in a way which was intended to create the impression that the murdered man had been killed by an accident. The blood on the ground where Timothy fell when he received his death- wound was carefully covered with leaves, and other thiags done to prevent suspicion. Mr. Eafferty, after a hasty survey of the scene, returned to the valley. A messenger was sent for Doctor John A. Taylor, and Eli Bennett, the nearest Coroner, and Mr. Rafferty with Abijah Loder and others of the vicinity, returned to the bark-peeling,- and, after raising the tree from the corpse, removed the latter to the house where William resided; ■ When they reached there, WiUiam had been arrested by Sheriff Wells, and was in custody. 446 HISTOEY OF SUMilVAN COUNTY. The prisoner was taken to the bed on which the dead body was placed, and gazed on it unmoved and with an unchanged coun- tenance. He was searched. Nothing was found on his person to impKcate him ; but a pair of pantaloons which he had worn through the day, and left in an upper chamber, were brought down, and found to be stained with blood. He declared that he did not know how it came there. On the next morning an inquest was held by Mr. Bennett, and an examination of the body made by Doctor Taylor. It was found that a quantity of shot had entered the body — one rib was severed, the left lung lacerated, etc. In the wound was found a piece of paper which had been used as a wad. It also appeared that at the time he was murdered, Timothy hac} in his pocket a double-barreled pistol, which was loaded and capped. The evidence against the prisoner was circumstantial ; bM the circumstances pointed him out as the murderer with a certainty which left no room for doubt. He was committed to jail ; soon after indicted, and at the September Circuit of 1851 — William B. Wright, Judge — ^put upon his trial. Charles H. Van Wyck, the District Attorney, appeared for the people, and George W. Lord for the prisoner. The -following gentlemen composed the jury: Levi E. Louns- bury, Peter Ackley, Thomas Whipple, John D. O'Neill, William Toimg, Levi Barton, David K. Perry, Andrew Hardenbergh, Robert Stewart, John H. Clayton, David Smith and George Adams. After a fair and impartial trial, the prisoner was found guilty of murder, and sentenced to be hung on the 20th of November, 1851. The sentence was enforced on that day by Sherifif Wells. Palmer made no public confession; but while he was hanging by the neck one of the officiating clergymen (Eev. Mr. James) stated that a few hours previous. Palmer had requested him to annoimce that he was guilty, and the sentence just. Religious service according to the forms of the (Dutch) Re- formed Church must have been performed at Mamakating Farms previous to the war of the Revolution. Clergymen of that faith passed through the valley in traveling to and from Minisink, and the first settlers were generally of the Protestant Church of Holland. In 1805, the first regular organization was formed. For this statement, our authority is the Manual of the Reformed Church, a reliable and standard authority. In 1812, the first church was built. Until 1820, there was no settled pastor. Clergymen of other parishes, however, visited the society at stated times, and preached and administered the sacraments. Among them was Rev. Moses Frceligh, of the Church at Montgomery, who was of prepossessing appearance, and of good mind and enunciation ; but whose exuberance of wit THE TOWN OP MAMAKATING. 447 and sarcasm somewhat lessened his usefuhiess. Old age toned down these traits, and made him more reverential and serious.* Although he died in 1817, anecdotes illustrating his character are yet heard in the valley, of which the following is a speci- men : He found that mental darkness in this then s.6cluded neigh- borhood, too often obscured gospel-light, and declared that the ignorance of one old Dutch woman was invincible. He endeav- ored to instruct her in the catechism, but he fonnd her soul so bound up in worldly affairs, that he gave up the job, exclaim- ing, " An, sister, I am afraid you are a weak vessel ! " When she defended herself by saying, "If you hat hat de pack door trot as long as I pe, you't pe weak, den, too ! " Although the records cannot be found, it is beheved that the first deacons were Wilhelmus Kuykendall, Lawrence Tears and Peter Crance. After worshiping in the old edifice for nearly one-third of a ■centnry, the society became indebted to Smith Benedict, who caused the church to be sold to satisfy his claim. In conse- ?uence of this sale it passed into the hands of the Boman latholics. In 1845, a new building was erected. Pastors of the Eeformed Ghurch of Wurtsborough : Geoi^e Dubois from 1820 to 1824; Samuel Van Vechten, 1824^9; Thomas Edwards, 1831-4 ; Francis T. Drake, 1842-4 ; Alexander C. Hilhnan, 1846-9; William Cruikshank, 1849-53; Stephen Searle, 1853-9; John Dubois, 1859-66; J. H. Frazee, 1866-70. Edward G. Ackerman is the present pastor. William Cruikshank was a popular minister of Newburgh, New York, when ill-health induced him to remove to Mamaka- ting. He was of graceful person and manner, devoted to his >ea]]ing, a genial companion, and possessed an extensive store of knowledge. He published several papers on religious, moral and antiquarian subjects ;t and it is said prepared a dissertation on the early settlers of Mamakating Farms. We hope the latter may yet be found and printed ; but we fear that, unless he deposited it in the archives, of the New York Historical Society, it has been destroyed by some person who did not appreciate its value. The Baptists claim priority of all others in organizing a Church in Sullivan. On the 2d of March, 1785, a society was formed at New Vernon, under the watch of Eev. Eleazer West. It may be questioned whether the organization took place within the hmits of Mamakating; but it is quite certain that their church-edifice is in the county. It is located in the ex- treme south-eastern comer of the town. The first house of the * Sprague'9 Annala. t Manual of the Beformed Chvirch in America. '448 HISTOEY OF SULUVAS COUNTY. society was built in 1800 — the last in 1853. Buiina the eighty-' eight years of its existence, this Church has had but three pastors. Elder Benjamin Montanye succeeded Elder West, May 15, 1794 and continued in office until his death on Christmas, 1825. He was followed by Elder Gilbert Beebe, whose pastorate dates from May 1, 1826. He has consequently had the oversight of this flock neiarly forty-seven years. Eldei Montanye deserves honorable mention in the history of our county as well as the history of our country. In 1781, he was a trusted confidential agent of General Washington, and was employed to dehver dispatches to the commanders of iQreeB in different sections of the counjiry. When the commander-in- chief of our armies resolved to capture or destroy the army of General Cornwallis, he deceived the British General Clinton as to his own plans, by writing deceptive letters to General Crreen, and forwa/irding them in such a way that they would be taken by the enemy. These letters were carried by Benjamin Mon- tanye. While traveling on horseback across Bergen county, New Jersey, he was intercepted by a company of Briti^ Bangers under Captain Moody, his horse shot through one of its knees and turned loose, and his dispatches taken from him. He was then hurried to New York, and thrust into the infamous sugar-house prisdn. The British considered the taking of these papers so important that they illuminated their houses, while Washington was making the well-known movement which terminated in the surrender of Cornwallis. Montanye was a prisoner about two months, when he was exchanged. Three common soldiers were considered a fair equivalent for the daring young courier. Several years after his death, his heirs petitioned Congress for a pecuniary reward for his services ; but, we believe, without success. An Associate Eeformed Presbyterian Church was formed at Bloomingburgh early in the present century, and soon after- wards its house of worship was erected. Being the only religious society of the place, for several years it prospered greatly. In 1819, its list of members exceeded that of any Protestant Church of the county, before or since. About that. time a defection occurred, which led to the existence of the Dutch Reformed Church, and which reduced its membership. In 1825, John Kennedy, an eloquent and popular Methodist preacher, labored here, and made many converts. This in the end weakened the old society. In 1834, a new and commodious house of worship was erected. Several of its pastors have been eminent for talent and piety. A few years since, the society changed its ecclesiastical relations, and became attached to the Old School Presbyterian Church. It now has about forty members. THE TOWN OP MAMAKJWTOG. 449 The Eeforraed Church of Bloomingburgh was formed January 30, 1820. Its pastors have been George Dubois, 1820 to 1824 ; Samuel Van Yechten, 1824-41; S. W. Mills, 1843-58 ; Jeremiah Searle, junior, 1858-62; Hasbrouck Du Bois, 1863-66; J. H. Frazee, 1866-70 ; E, H. Beattie, 1870. This Congregation was an outshoot of the Associate Eeformed Church of the place. The names of those who seceded and formed the new organization are as follows: Peter Weller and Lawrence Tears, elders; Solomon Brink and Moses Jordan, deacons; Alcha Brown, Catharine Puff, Barbara Brink, Lorenzo Quackenbush, Nancy Shelp, Nancy Dufyea, Catharine McLochlen, Daniel Brush, Iscorreth Dimmi(?k, Eachel Strickland, Lozie Townley, Leah Brink, Sarah Tidd, Jonathan Mills, Charles Tears, Mary Tears,, Hannah Wilkin, Hannah Gillon. The church-edifice was erected in 1821-2. This Church has one hundred and thirty members. George Dubois was but twenty years of age when he assumed pastoral charge at Bloomingburgh. After leaving Sullivan, ha took charge of the Franklin-street Cliurch of the city of New York, where he labored until 1837, except when disabled by ilf- health. His preaching was marked by rich and holy unction, and he enjoyed the cordial affections of his people. He' died oi bronchial consumption in Tarrytown in 1844.* The Methodist Episcopal Church of Bloomingburgh was organized in 1825, while Eev. John Kennedy was on the circuit. Its church-edifice was built in 1848, during the pastorate of Eev. Mr. Isham, a converted tanner, whose business capacity rendered him very efficient where a new building was desirable. The society now numbers eighty-five members. Eev. Horace Weston and Eev. James Quinlan, itinerants of the Methodist Episcopal Church, traveled through the valley in 1819, and held meetings once in three weeks. Others preceded tibem, who were better preaqhers than either Weston or Quinlan ; yet tradition makes tM latter gentlemen the founders of Meth- odism at Wurtsborough, where they formed a class of twenty converts. In 1831, Eev. Samuel Law and Eev. David Ppor were on the circuit, which then included nearly all SuUivan county. Their labors were greatly blessed, and the cause oi Methodism was much strengthened. They were succeeded by Eev. Nathan Eice and Eev. Mr. McFarland, under whose minis- trations the church-edifice was built. McFarland was a con- verted printer. The Eoman Catholic Church was planted in Sullivan by Irish immigrants. Very few of them came here previous to the * SlaDual of the Refonned Church in America. 29 450 HISTORY OF STJIirvAN COdJTt. construction of the Delaware and Hudson canal. That w-ork caused several to locate in Mamakating valley. The influx of Irishmen increased as tanneries were introduced. They were generally laborers and poor. Although their love for their religious faith was intensified by the sufferings and martyrdom of many generations, and the sacraments of their church were as dear to them as their own souls, they were unable to main- tain a resident priest. To go to mass and confession, and to marry, and have their children baptized, they were obliged to travel from forty to one hundred miles. Many destitute souls left this life unshriven and unaneled. The native popula- tion were unanimously Protestant, and loudly derided ntes and observances which the new comers reverenced as sacred. Very often, Protestants whose houses were filled with Roman Catholic boarders, caused their tables to groan beneath an extra supply of pork and beef, on dayis when the Church commanded her children to fast, and openly sneered when the untimely food was taken away untasted. In time, however, these and other aggravating annoyances terminated: The great potato famine which brought untold woes upon the Celts of Erin, set in motion a current of emigration which will in time bring to our shores , all that survive of the Irish race. Sullivan received its share of these people, and soon the Eoman Catholic element became an important ingredient in our religious affairs. In 1855, the Irish Catholics amounted to ten per cent, of our population. Between 1845 and 1850, Father Brady of Port Jervis, and Father Duffey, a priest stationed at Newburgh, came into the county a few times. Eev. Mr. Anderson also came heue for a time. . By his efforts money was raised to buy the church now known as St. Joseph's of Wurtsborough. In 1853, Eev. Daniel Miigan took charge of the Ellenville Mission, which then in- cluded all of Sullivan county, except the Delaware river-towns. His flock must have numbered from 2,500 to 3,000 souls, scat- tered over 700 or 800 square miles of territory. Before he took charge of this extensive district, he was an assistant priest in one of the large parishes of the city of New York. He was in the prime of his manhood, and capable of greftt physical endurance, when he began to discharge his duties in his ne^ fidd. Nineteen years of incessant labor terminated in his death. As a sermonizer he Was florid, ornate, and fervid. So strictly did he attend to his priestly duties, that he formed but few acquaintances outside of his own communion. Besides the churches already noticed, there are ia this town three others : A Methodist Episcopal church in Burlingham, which was buUt in 1830-31, under the pastorate of Rev. John THE TOWK OF MAMAKATINO. 451 W. Lefevre; another of the sarfte faith near Walker Valley, built under the charge of Eev. Mr. Curtis; and the third at Homowack. The latter was built in 1S43, and is occupied by the Methodists. There are in Mamakating two lakes, or, a:s they are called by old residents, ponds — Yankee pond and Masten pond. The former is the largest, and is said to be two and a half miles in length, and two in width. It received its name from the follow- ilig circumstance : Previous to or about the year 1)300, a man named Ellsworth made a canoe or dug-out, which he put on the _ pond and used it there while hunting. He was a Yankee, and the Dutch hunters consequently called the lake the Yankee's pond. Our informant (an intelligent old gentlemam of Wurts- borough) in his youth saw Ellsworth's dug-out many times. In shape the lake has a. slight resemblance to the partially extended •Wrings of a bird, but one of r llich can be seen from any given point. It is located in a basin formed by several ridges, and covers an area of about 900 acres. There are on it several floating islands formed of tree-trunks, brush, moss, turf, etc. It is fed by one or two small streams from the north and west, and by springs beneath its surface, and is said to be about thirty feet deep. It is situated on the Barrens, a short distance south of the Montieello and Wurtsborough McAdamized road, and is owned by the Hudson and Delaware Canal Company. ThS latter purchased it of the Livingstons, with the adjacent lands (in aU about 1,500 acres,) and converted it into a reservoir for their canal. To render it effectual for this purpose, the com- {)any constructed an embankment across its outlet 130 rods in ength, sixteen feet in width at its base, twelve feet at its top, and twenty feet in height. It is a substantial and expensive •work. 'About thirty men were employed nearly two years ifl,' building it. Yankee pond abounds in pickerel,, and other fish common to the lakes of Sullivan, as well as a fish known as mullet, which is not found in other sheets of water in this region. These fish were unknown in SulliVan previous to 1830, and who or what put them in Yankee pond is a mystery. At certain seasons they may be taken in almost unlimited numbers ; but although naturalists declare that the mullet is aU exeellent fish for the table, it is the least esteemed by our citizens of all the finny natives of our waters. This probably arises from ignor- ance of the proper time and manner of breparing it for food. Ifnlike a majoi: number of our lakes, Yankee pond has no Stttaction for the lo'ver of the beauties of natuire, although there tiiJiy be found hete Some ndtel and iiU'tet^Stilig features. The ■#ofks of the canal company hare caused it to overflow its natural boundaries. Much df ^ is rendered offensive to the eye 452 HI8T0BY OP SUUJVAN COUNTY. by rubbish — the decaying remains of the forest that one© flourished on its shores, but which has been killed by an excess of water. The outlet of the lake is the Basha's or Bessie's kill of a hundred years ago. It is about five miles in length, and except in the boating season, discharges its waters at West- broobville into the stream now known as the Bashaskill. The Pinekill (as the outlet is now called,) is a famous trout stream, and during the proper season is a favorite resoi-t for anglers.* Hasten Pond is another large sheet of water. It is between one and two miles north of the McAdamized road, and is reached by the highway leading from the residence of William Marshall. In early days, the men of the Gonsalus family were so success- ful while hunting deer west of Mamakating Hollow, that the Hastens believed that there was a lake somewhere in that quarter to which the descendants of the old Spanish Lutheran resorted for the purpose of killing that animal. This led them to search for it, and after some time they discovered it. They found deer very plenty there, and visited the lake so often that ; it became known by their family name. Our informant, (a Hasten) says that in the end they ascertained that it was but one of two lakes visited by the Gonsalus hunters. The other was Foul Wood or Lord's pond. Hanuel Gonsalus' and his descendants, by their iatimacy with the Indians, undoubtedly were acquainted with many other lakes west of the Hollow, as well as the streams in that quarter which afforded the finest prizes to the trapper. The waters of Hasten pond are remark- ably transparent and pure, and are stocked with pickerel and black bass of a ven^ superior quality. The latter were intro- duced by George Olcott, of Wurtsborough. The shores and bed of the pond are composed of firm and compact sand and gravel. Like Yankee pond, it has a substantial embankment across its outlet, built by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, and its waters are reserved for the use of the canal when other sources of supply fail, and find their way to the village of Wurtsborough. On this stream, which crosses the road near the Hunn tavern, were at one time two tanneries and a grist-mill. It runs for two or three miles through a deep gulf, and has a fall of several hundred feet, which may yet be economized for extensive manufacturing purposes. Bashaskill. — The magnitude of this stream has diminished considerably since the whites came to the valley. This is caused principally by the works of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, and the mill-dams which have been erected on * Beo SuUixian County Whig, August 6, 1M7. THE TOWN OF MAMAKATINQ. 453 its tributaries. Once it was considered large enough for rafting purposes. In 1825, Adolphus Van Duzer, assisted by John Masten, drew white pine logs from the vicinity of Eush Bottom brook to Brownville, where they were formed into colts, and run to the Neversink, and on that stream to the Delaware. The business was practicable, but not profitable, and was abandoned. Between Wurtsborough and Brownville is located Bashaskill swamp. It embraces many hundred acres, which will be the garden of the valley when it is effectually drained. Several attempts have been made to improve it ; but none of them have resulted in signal success. The difficulty is caused by the debris deposited in tlie Bashaskill by the Pinekill, which fills the channel of the former, and prevents free egress of the water. If the work were thoroughly done, a small annua^ tax on the owners of the swamp, to remove the stones and gravel at the lower end, would ensure them the most productive land in the county. Shawanoesbebg. — ^This is a hiU near the site of the Devens' block-house. It is also known as Council Hill. The Mamaka- ting Indians told Samuel Gonsalus that their tribe had fought a bloody battle on this hiU with the Senecas, and claimed that the natives of the valley were victorious, although they suffered severely. They also said that their friends who were slain in the conflict, were buried near the brow of the hill. The lodge in which the clans held their councils was on its summit. In the old town records it is styled Shawanoesberg, or Shawnee's hill; but why we cannot explain. The name would seem to indicate that the hill was devoted to the Shawnees, who were friends and allies of the native Indians of Sullivan, and spoke the same language ; or a savage of that tribe may have had his lodge there. This, however, is mere conjecture. We can only say with certainty that the origin of the name is lost, as well as the period when the battle was fought there. The latter occurrence was not later than 1650, because in that year the Iroquois or Mengwe conquered the Lenape tribes, and held them ia quiet subjection for one hundred years. After the latter were subdued, they did not raise the tomahawk against their masters as long as they inhabited our hUls and valleys. 454 fflgTOBX py SpLLTV^, COUNTY. POPULATION OF THE TEERFTOBY COMPRISED WITHIN THE OEIGINAI. TOWK OF MAMAKATING FROM 1782 TO 1870: Year. Population. 1782 487* 1790 1,763. 1800 3,319 1810 6,07&- 1820 8,455 1830 '11,652 1840 14,400 1850 24,855 1860 32,73a POPULATION — ^VALUATION — TAXATION. Tear. 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 Popu- Assessed Town Co. an4 lation. Value. Charges. State, 1865 $183,067 $170.10 $241.96 2702 313,094 343.75 , 638.46 3070 300,935 924.75 1,877.25 . 3418 288,697 788.61 1,055.37 4107 319,534 926.13 2,194.76 3828 688,329 792.72 4,984.42 4886 507,045 20,187.98 13,170.34 * Including refugees vho h^4 h^^ their honiie; from lear of the enemy. Hamakating covered a sm^ ps^t of Delaware county. " In 1782, THE TOWN OF KAltAEATma. 45& BUPEEVISOES OF THE TOWN OF MAMAKATING, From To 1743 No record .V 1774 1774 Benjamin Depuy 1775 1775 No record 1776 1776 Pnilip Swartwoud 1777 1777 No record 1778 1778 Benjamin Bepuy 1781 1781 No record 1782 1782 Benjamin Depuy 1783 1788 Jaedb R SeWitt 1784 1784 Benjamin Depuy .1786 17^6 No record 1787 1787 Benjamin Depuy 1788 1788 Peter Cuddeback T 1789 1789 Eobert Millioan. 1797 1797. 1 Aldert Roosa 1800' 1800 Elnathan Sears .v 1803 1803 Samuel King .1804 1804 David Milliken. 1806 1806 Samuel King, junior 1807 1807 David MiUiken ; 1814 1814 .Elnathan Sears. 1815 1815 Eli Eoberts .1818 1818 Peter Miller 1827 1827 Charles Bodle 1833 1833 James Devine 1836 1836 Jonathan O. Dunning 1839 1839 Verdine E. Horton. 1840 1840- Halstead Sweet 1844 1844 William B. Hammond 1845 1845 William Jordan 1848 1848 William &umaer 1849 1849 Nathaniel Beyea 1850 1850 William Gumaer .1851 1851 .Alexander Graham. 1853 1853 Alfred Norris 1855 1855 Lewis Brown 1856 1856 Daniel Smith. 1858 1S58 William Jordan 1863 lJ3e3 Eodolphus S. Smith 1864 B64. Geoige S. Smiley 1865 1865 James Graham 1866 1866 George T. Deitz 1868 1868 Stephen Caldwell, junior 1^71 lg71 Henry M. Edsall. 1873 1873 Lewis Rhodes 1874 CHAPTER XIV. THE TOWK OP NEVEE8INK. The town of Neversink is situated in the north-eastern section of the county, and is bounded northwardh^ and eastwardly by Ulster county, westwardly. by the town of Rockland, and soutli- wardly by. Fallsburgh. Across the north angle of the town flows the WiUiwemoc creek; the Neversink nver, from which the town derives its name,* passes over its northern and south- ern boundary, whUe the Eondout waters a portion of the north- eastern section, and. has several branches of more or less magnitude. There is but one lake — a small sheet of water, located in Lot 247 of Great Lot. No. 5. At least, we find it thus located on a map of the county. The surface of the town is very uneven. Thunder Hill, Mutton Hill, Denman's HiU and other elevations are prominent features. The first has an altitude of 1,550 feet, the second feet, and the third 2,300 feet.f These hills or mountains, as weU as the valleys of Neversink, are equal in fertility to any lands in Sullivan. The agricultural interests of this section do not very materially differ from those of Liberty, and other towns of a similar grade. The incubus of the leasehold-system having * The first settierB pronounced this word Narvasing. In the Session Laws of 1798, it is spelled Nevisinelc ; in the act erecting Fallsburgh, Nevisink ; in the " settle- ment deed, it is given as Naewersink, and in Sauthier's map, as NeverSink. English clerks were about, as. suoccssfnl in; giving the orthography of Indian words as they would have been if they had attempted to write the spngs of birds. Our alphabet is not comprehensive enough for Indian orthography. There is but little analogy between the radical sounds of the.Lenape and European tongues. Wo are familiar with three pretended translations of the word Neversink. 1. It is said to mean mad river. This is expressive of the wild and turbulent character of the stream when it is excited by floods. It is, nevertheless, a modem invention. 2. " A continual running stream, which netier sinks into the ground so as to be dry in places." (See Eager's History of Orange county. ) This rendering has for its base the absurd fact that the name as now spelled is a compound of two Eiiglish words— never and sink. 8. In Webster's American Dictionary, page 1629, the word is said to mean "highland between waters." This translation is evidently suggested by the Highlands of Noveraink on the coast of Now Jersey. Our Neversink is "wat«r between high- lands." t Testimony of John Kiersted, in suit of Hunt and wife agst. Johnson and Teller folio 519. If Kiersted is correct, Denmiim's Hill has a greater altitude^ than Walnut mountain. [456] THS TOWN OP NEVEKSINK. 457 "been removed, the wealth and improvements of the inhabitants are rapidly appreciating and advancing. Neversink was made a town by an act entitled "An act for dividing the towns of Eochester and Mamakating in the county of Ulster," passed March 16, 1798. By this act the new town was thus described : "AU that part of Eochester, in the county of Ulster, beginning at the N. E. bounds of the town of Mama- kating at the distance of 12J miles, on a course of N. 49 deg. and 30 min. W. from the southerly corner of Eochester where it meets with the north-westerly bounds of the town Shawan- gunk at the Shawangunk mountains; thence N. 40 degrees E., to the S. W. bounds of Marbletown; thence along said bounds of Marbletown N. W. to the S. E. bounds of Woodstock ; thence along the said bounds of Woodstock S. 33 deg. W.^ix miles, to the division line of Great Lots 5 and 6, in the Hardenbergh patent; thence along said division line to the division line between Ulster and Delaware ; thence along said line S. 62 deg. W., twelve miles and ten chains ; iand thence 8. 49 deg. 30 min. E. to the place where it began." > From this it would seem that Neversink at one time covered a part of Denning, Fremont, CaUicoon, Liberty, and Fallsburgh and all of Eockland, and that the line between Great Lots 2 and 3 was quite near its southward border. This must also have been an ancient bound of Mamakating, as Neversink was taken from Eochester. ' After the towns of Eockland, Liberty and Thompsdn were made, the convenience of certain neighborhoods required that there should be a change in the original line which separated Eockland and Neversink from the others. Consequently on the 29th of March, 1816, the Legislature enacted that " the south line of Great Lot No. 4, from Delaware county eastward, to the north-east comer of the 4th Allotment of the division of Great Lot No. 3: the east line thereof southward to the bounds of Great Lot No. 2 ; the north line thereof eastward to the town of Wawarsing; and also the east and south hues of lot No. 6, and the west line of lot No. 5, in Great Lot No. 2," be the divisioii line between the towns of Liberty, Eockland, Neversink and Thompson. In 1809, Eockland was taken from Neversink, and in 1826, Fallsburgh was made to cover so much of its remaining territory as was south of Great Lot No. 4. " In 1800, when the first census was taken after Neversink was wrected, its population was 858, while the number of residents in Lumberland was 733, and Mamakating, although settled for more than half a century, and' covering the remainder of our territory, contained but 1631. Probablrat least one-half of the 858 were living in what is now Bockland and Fallsburgh ; there- 458 HISTOKY OF SULLIVAN COUNTTT. fore, in 1800 there must liave been about eighty families within;' the present bounds of the town. POPULATION — VALUATION — ^TAXATION. Year. 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 Popu- lation. Assessed Yalue. Town Charges. 858 no record Co. and State. 953 1,380 1,257 1,681 2,281 2,486 2,439 $144,913 170,219 80,401 69,330 126,351 261,996 195,293 no record $13%76 324.58 713.15 587.0C( 698.36 511.34 1,009.72 no record $195.20 355.29 525.29 244.32 1,041.87 1,&27.48 5,074.60 One of the ancient settlements of SuUivan county was in the present town of Neversink, about two miles below Grahamsville. Here, about the year 1743, Tobias Hornbeck, Jacob Klyne and perhaps a few others, commenced clearing and improving farms. Tliey bought their lands of the Trustees of Rochester, beUeving that this- region was within the limits of the patent granted in 1703 by Queen Anne to Colonel Henry Beekman, Jtoachim Schoonmaker, Moses De Puy and their successors, in t^st for the benefit of the freeholders and inhabitants of Bochester. Not knowing how far the patent extended, or being disposed, in accordance with the spirit of the times, to make its limits as far apart as possible, the people of Bochester claimed the country to the southward boundary of the town, which ran to the Blue Hills of Liberty. Hornbeck and Klyne's land adjoined i^nd probably covered a part or all of the Mary Elmendorf tract on the Eondout. Some time previous to 1776, they sold to her, as well as to a man named Abraham Clearwater, who in that yfear had a farm bounded by the Elmendorf lot. Johannes Osterhout, junior, John Mullen,. Cornelius Chambers, Peter Vernooey, Eliza Hornbeck, and Abra- ham Clearwater were then living in the neighborhood above the settlement Une. Tobias Hornbeck was then dead. These iodi- viduale, as well as others who had bought lands on the Good BeerkiU, in Fallsburgh, purchased of the Trustees of Eochester, and in the final arrangement as to the boundary between th|& two patents, their titles were confirmed, although it was foui^d that they were located in the Qis^s^ Patent ' THE ?WffN OF NETEKSIN^. 459 With tjhese and perhaps a few other trifling exceptions, all the town of Neversmk lying in Great Lots 5 and 6, was owned ifl 1778 by 5,obert E. Livingston and Elias Desbrosses, Des- birosses had acquired his title by purchase of the heirs of Faneuil, the patentee. It has been said that he bought Great Iiot No. 5 of Peter Faneuil, who sold it to procure money to complete Faneuil Hall, the Boston " cradle of liberty." This is fvn error. Peter Faneuil completed the Hall in 1742, and ? resented it to the "town of Boston." Previous to the year 749, when the partition tQok place between the proprietors of the patent, Peter Faneuil died inteistftte, and his interest in the Great Patent (no p?irt of which had been previously sold by him) passed to his brothers and sisters. There was no Great Lot No. 5 during his hfe, and consequentjjjr he did not sell it. At the time of his decease, he had but an undivided interest in the patent. EliaijS Desbrosses died in 1777, when his real estate passed to his nephew, James Desbrosses, by heirship. James died in 1807, leaving two daughters (his only children) one of whom (Elizabeth) married John Hunter, and the other (Madaline) married Henry Overing. Hwter, through his wife, became the owner of Great Lot No. ^. After his death, his son, John Hunter, junior, sold it to Henry B. Low and Leonard P. Miller. Miller subsequently spld his moiety to Low. During the Eevolutioflaj-y war the settlement begun by Klyne and Hornbeck was abandoned, and thereafter Neversmk was virtually unoccupied by white people until 1788, although it was the scene of interesting events during the struggle for independence. Late in the fall of 1778, a party of Indians ,and tories attacked a neighborhood on the frontier of Kochester known as Pine Bush, and succeeded in killing two men named Shurker and Miller, and in burning several buildings. They then precipi- tsitely retired, followed by Captain Benjamin Kortrite, with a party of militia und<^r his command. Kortrite pursued the enemy no farther than the Vernooey creek, when he fell back. His descendants say his provisions were exhausted. If this was the case, the food provided for his party must have been scanty, indeed. At this time there were several hundred troops statijonied at % fort on Honk Hill. Their commander, on learning what had Qccnrred, at once resolved to dispatch a part of his men to intercept the savages at the Chestnut Woods, about thirteen miles from Napanoch. Volunteers were called for, when an officer 460 mSTOBT OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. named Jolin Graham, stepped forward, and offered to go with a sergeant's guard, consistifag of eighteen privates and a sergeant and corporal. He was offered more, but refused to take them. But pne of those whom he proposed to lead on a hazardous expedition, was an expert Indian-fighter. The name of this man was Abraham Van Campen, and he was a near kinsqian of the noted Major Moses Van Campen. The oithei-s were from the old settlements east of the Shawanguhk, and unused to border-warfare. When Graham reached the Chestnut woods, he had seen nothing of the enemy, and probably not knowing whether they were in advance or in his rear, he encamped in a valley where Chestnut brook enters the Papacton creek near the late resi- dence of NeU Benson, deceased. At this place, the hills form a triangle, with a space of nearly level ^ound at the junction of the streams, and narrow gorges leading north, east and west. Here he resolved to wait and surprise the marauders if they passed that way, and while doing so he sent away Van Campen to procure venison.* No rat ever walked more unconsciously into a trap than did the brave but rash Graham. Without knowing it, he and his party were as completely in the power of the enemy as if they had been a covey of partridges under a fowler's net. The Indians and tories occupied the elevations on eveir side, where they were securely posted behind tree-trunks, and. awaited the signal of death from their leader. But they were not content with their advantage in position. One of their number ap- Eroached the whites by the usual path, and drew their fire. As e came in sight, Graham was drinking from the brook. When he arose to his feet, he saw the red man and ordered his men to fire. The Indian fell upon his face, the balls whistled over his head, he jumped upon his feet, and disappeared in the bushes, as a murd;erous volley was poured upon Graham and his friends from every side. But two beside Van Campen escaped, and it is not known that a single one of the assailants received so much as a scratch. History does not record the name of the commander of the Indians ; but his extraordinary skill leaves but little doubt that he was the celebrated Colonel Brant.t It was considered necessary to send a force of three hundred men to bury the dead. Jacobus Davenport| who died in 1856, * Tlie Van Campens wore of an old and aristocratic Dutch family, to whom the Van Camp patent had been granted. They degenerated into hunters and trappers, and were as wild as the Indians themselves. Major Moses Van Carapt-n, the spy and guide of General Sullivan when he destroyed tho villages nf the Senecas, was probably the only white man who ever penetrated the camp of hostile Indians, and after circulik- ting freely among them, got away safely. t Indian Narratives. i Davenport lived to the groat age of 100 years. THE TOWN OF NE\'EK8INB;. 461 near the scene of Grah9,m's disaster, was one of this-party. He . frequently stated during his life-time, according to the testimony of his children who are yet living, that Graham's body was naked, and that she had been scalped ana disemboweled. His men had also been stripped and scalped. The bodies were falling to pieces from putrefaction, and were so offensive that it was necessary to take up the fragments on pieces of bark, and carry them to the graves which had been dug for their recep- tion. Several years since, a party came to the Chestnut woods to ascertain the precise spot where the fepnes of the victims were laid. They did not succeed, although Davenport and others were then living who could have given decisive information. An old man named Anthony Aldrich, it is said, can yet point to the graVe of Graham and his men. All agree that it may be found a short distance back of the old school-house near the {'unction of Chestnut brook and the Papacton. We are assured )y Paul Benson that when a lad, he and Harrison Benson and Josephus Gillett, while making a dam across the brook, dug a hole in the ground, and found some bones, which they took to Neil Benson, who pronounced them human bones, and ordered the lads to take them back. This so terrified them that they ran off, leaving the bones with Mr. Benson.* But little is known of Graham or his antecedents. We do not think that any of the intelligent residents of the thriving village which bears his name can tell where he was bom ; his age and residence at the time of his death ; or the company and regiment to which he was attached. Beyond the fact, that in the warm weather of a certain year, he and his party were slaughtered like bullocks in the shambles, they cannot say much of him with certainty. Who was he, and what was he? He was an officer, and therefore we may infer he was of a rich and influential family ; for even in the struggle for independence and liberty, the sons of rich men were generally preferred for promi- nent positions. There were several families of his name in Ulster and Orange who were and still are noted for respecta- bility and influence. There was a John Graham in Shawangunk and another at Peconisink, in the town of Montgomery. Both were living after the massacre in Neversink. In 1776, there was a John Graham, living in the precinct of Mamakating. He was born at Little Britain in 1736; was a cordwainer by occupation, and belonged to the mihtia dbmpany of Captain John Newkirk. On the 12th of October, 1776, he was mustered into a company of Eangers at Rochester. This company was commanded by Captain Elias Hasbrouck, whose lieutenants * A log cut on the battle-ground, when sawed iuto lumber, waa found to contain eight bidlets. 46^ HISTORY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. •were Peter Eogger and Moses Youmans. "We have found the original muster-roll of the Eangers among the papers of the late Joseph EUis. fhe non-commissioned officers are not designated ; but from the fact that Jno. Graham, heads the list we believe that he was 1st Sergeant. After long and pa-^ tient research, we believe that Lieutenant John Graham, who fell on the banks of the Pepacton, was John Graham,* the patriotic shoemaker of Mamakating. He is described as five feet, seven inches in height, of fair complexion, and as having blue eyes and brown hair. Here is a man whose zeal led him to pursue and destroy the enemies of his country, on horseback or on foot, anywhere and everywhere. During the next two years, Indians and tories sevteral times fell upon the frontiers of Ulster, and after murdering a few inhabitants and burning a few buildings, fled back to Canada with all the speed their muscles and endurance rendered possible. There is no doubt that he had repeatedly chased the skulking savages and dastardly tories through the woods of Neversink, without catch- ing and chastizing them. Was it not natural that he should hold such a foe in contempt, and that he believed a " sergeant's guard" was sufficient to drive them out of the country? The unexpected appearance of a single man, and even a dog, had previously caused them to mn away while they were using the torch and. tomahawk. Why should a large and therefore tardy fend unwieldy party be sent in pursuit of an enemy that so far had not faced armed men? He may have been imprudent and taSh ; nevertheless his conduct was the result of substantial and rational premises. He evidently intended to assail them while they were straggling through the woods; but he had to cope tdth superior numbers under a leader as brave as himself, and who was a superior strategist. Unforturiately, poor Graham Supposed that this leader was like others who had led scalping- parties against Rochester and Mamakating, and his mistake led to his death. And because he was less prudent than those who were too timid to pursue with a lai^e party, the story of his death, which has been handed down to us by them and their descendants, is not flattering to his memory. His bones repose in an immarked and unknown grave. H!e was undoubtedly a brave and patriotic man, whose blood was shed in a good cause ; therefore the record of his' life and death should be character- ized by kindness and gratitude. - imong the papers of Captain Elias Hasbrouck, now in the posBession of his grand- gnu, John \V. Hasbrouck, of Middletown, there is positive evidence that John Graham in 1776, was first sergeant of Hasbronck's company of Bangers. As Graham wat i brave and enterprising dfficer, it is probable that he was promoted previous to hia death. Captain Hasbrouck was always at the post of honor. During the war fa« served in northern New York under Generals Montgomery and Schuyler, on the frontier Of Ulster as a Banger, at Ticonderogft, West Point, Kamapo, MomStown, The Clove, New Windsor, etc. «HK TOWN OP NEVEE8INK.. 463 The fate of Graham seemed to impart a lesson of wisdom to the valiant Captain Kortrite. The enemy were, not able to eiitrap him at the Chestnut woods, when he was in ambush there in May, 1779, with seventy men, to eatch three Indians and twenty-seven tories. On the fourth of that month, a party from Canada numbering thirty, invaded the whigs living on the Fahtinekill,* and after murdering the family of Michael Socks, and the widow Bevier, and comttiitting other outrages, they retreated. Captain Kortrite attempted to intercept them at the scene of Graham's disaster. He reached this point first, and securely posted his seventy men. The tories, however, were too cunning for him. Before he was aware of their proximity, they passed silently around his position, and gave him a harmless salute from an unexpected direction. They then rq|;reated, and he returned home, notwithstanding his force was more than double that of the enemy. In September, 1781, Wawarsing was invaded by four hundred tories and Indians from Niagara. After killing an old man named Kettle, burning about thirty houses and barns, stealing sixty horses and a great number of sheep, hogs and horn-cattle, they retreated by the way of the Chestnut woods, with all the other plunder they could carry with them. Here they encamped and cooked their supper. Among the thitigs they had taken with them was a quantity of lime or plaster. They were nearly famished, having consumed over four weeks in marching from • Canada. Of the plaster they endeavored to make bread. Their disgust at the result may be imagined. On their way to the settlement, they captured two scouts •vfrhose names were Silas Bouck and Philip Hine. These men were scouting on the Neversink about twenty miles south-west of Napanoch, when they discovered the invaders. The leader, Whose name wa's Caldwell, caused Boucfk and Hine to be bound and left in the woods until he returned, when he took them to Canada as prisoners. They subsequently escaped and rejoined their friends. Caldwell's loss in killed, wounded and miiSsiftg was consider- able. Colonel Cantine, with a force of four hundred men, p'lltsued him until he reached a point oil the Delaware river in the town of Highland. Here CantinS was close upon Caldwell's heels. The enemy was completely demoralized land disheart- ened. There were indications that the Indians and tories were ^ose at hand. A halt of the patriots was ordered, and a council occurred. Captain Kortrite and Captain Hardenbei^h were in fevbt fA further pursuit ; but Colonel Cantine remembered the fatd of draiham aud Tusteiti, and advocated caution and prudence. * This name is denvod from. the Fre;>ch word /prUaine and the Dutch word kU. "£aopas Dutch " is a compoiihd of the two languages. iSi HISTOBY OF SULUTAN COUNTX. WLile this was going on, a Doctor Vanderlyn of Kingston was seated on a log near by. Having nothing else to do, and being of a busy, active temperament, he cocked his gun, and in con- sequence of his "fooling" with the hammer, the gun was accidentally discharged. The report caused a panic among Caldwell's savages, who abandoned their plunder and ran away, leaving their commander and the tofies with Bouck and Hiiie. Unfortunately, a majority of the council supported Cantine,, and the Americans marched back to Warwarsing. Captain Hardenbergh was so indignant that he told Cantine to his face, that "he could not die before his time came;" to which the prudent colonel replied, "If the Indians had their tomahawks above my head, my time would be then." Caldwell being forsaken by his Indian guides, induced Bouck to pilot him back to Niagara. The plunder which was left on the banks of the Delaware by the savages was found several months afterwards by a party of American scouts.* As soon as practicable after the Eevolutionary war, the owners of Great Lots 4 and 5, induced tenants to occupy their real estate in Neversiak and Rockland. Each owner cut up his tract into farm-lots of convenient dimensions^ Poor men, desirous of homes, were induced to take leases, without appre- ciating the evils of villein soccage, tithes, rents, quarter-sales^ ■ and the other feudal requirements of the landlords. About twenty thousand acres were held under objectionable tenures in Neversink alone. These leases were popular at first, butijwhen the simple people who took them found thai the resources of the legal profession had been exhausted in devising a system to enrich a few drones and impoverish the gi'eat body of workers^ these tenures ..became exceedingly obnoxious. In truth, they promoted no, interest — not even that of the landlord — while they blighted industry, freedom and morality. 'The first thing necessary to the settlement of a wildemess- coimtry is a road leading from it to estabhshed neighborhoods. Previous to the Revolution, a highway existed from Wawarsing to a point 'in the vicinity of Grrahamsville — probably to the Chestnut woods. After the war this road was extended to the Keversink Flats. The Brodhead road was also made, and for a time these were the only two of the town. The first-named thoroughfare passed over an ancient Indian trail. Previous to 1788, except the few families located in the valley of the Lackawack, it may be said there were no white residents of Neversink, In that year, the owners of Great Lots No. 4 and 5, and those who held large tracts in Great Lot No. 3,. ♦ Narratives of MasBacres, etc., on the frontier in Wawareing. THE TOWN OF NKVEaSINK. 465 induced settlers to locate on tHeir lands. Among these settlers were John Hall, Eobert Aldrioh, Nathaniel and Eleazer Divine, Jonathan Jones, Nowell Furman, Josiah Goldsmith, Peter Donaldson and others of Upper Neversink ; John Hall of Mutton Hill, William Parks, Seth GiUett, Henry Eeynolds, Jeremiah Drake, Silas B. Palmer, the Grants, Eleazer Larrabee, Phineas Booth, William Alley, Stephen Curry, Ebenezer Eeed, Francis Porter, Solomon Hawley, Joseph Pierce, Christopher Darrow, Elmer Gilbert, Samuel Groo, WiUiam Caton, Abel Hodge, Joseph C.arlile, Doctor Blake Wales, Abraham Cargill, William Denman, William A, Moore, Conrad Sheeley, John Honsee, Benoni Benham, Henry CoUins, James Dan, Eliza Kellogg, Eobert Nichols, William Wilson, John Wood, Eobert Quick, Jerry Smith, Van de Mark, Joseph Wright* Selleck Tut- tle, etc. Nearly all these people came into the town previous to the year 1800, although some of them located outside its present limits. We do not propose to give a history of each family for obvi- ous reasons. John Hall came from Marlborough, Ulster county, in 1798, ■when he was but 18 years of age, and settled below Claryville, on lands now owned by his descendants. Great Lot No. 5, was then owned by DesbrosSes, who refused to sell his real estate in Neversink. Eobert Aldrich, Nathaniel and Eleazer Divine, Jonathan Jones, Nowell Furnian, teter Donaldson, and others were then or soon after living in Upper Neversink, as the Clary- ville region was then called. Such of these men as occupied land held leases from Desbrosses. John HaUs's sons were John Hall, junior, Isaiah Hall and Mott Hall, John Hall, junior, was a Member of Assembly in 1825, and for several years a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was also elected to fill many town-offices, and was a Justice of the Peace for fourteen years in succession. Isaiah Hall was the first school-teacher of the neighborhood. How he managed^ in this isolated region, to acquire sufficient educa- tion to teach others, we have not learned. For religious services the people were dependent on a Baptist preacher named Gilbert, and Eev. Mr. White, a local Methodist preacher. More should be known of these self-sacrificing missionaries, who labored in this "far country" without fee or reward for the cure Of sinful souls, and whose dust is now reposing in unknown graves, "awaitirig the resurrection and the life to coine." The pioneers buried their dead Oh the farm now owned by John W. Hasbrouck, where the Divines, Halls, and other settlers deposited the corpses (^ their Mends, in the simple and affect- 30 4l|6 mSTOBT OF SUU^^^N. COIJNTI. ing mode peculiar to a -ppfi^iivei,, peqple, tp, wliqiflL th^ 'fp!^i|is. anq vanities " of modern funerals -wpiU^' h^tve ^e^rap4 a prflfwa? tibn. !For manyyears,,tlie.settlers^w,ere,obliged to go to Vernooej's mill, in "Wawarsing, to get thieir grain ground. John Hall, haviiig a team, took the grists of soiqe of his, neighbors to Vernpoej-'s, and generally charged t\^ 4ays' labpr ^OJ^ carting, three bushejs of rye to and from the, nulli Some perfpemed tlje joumeiy on foot, carrying thesir grain, on their ,paqks. The temptation to, engagp, in forest-spprt^ wa,s,very, great. Deer were more numerous .th^nsjieeparie npw,, and n^oose werei often shot. John Hall wa? ai,mpo§eTh^i^ter, ap^; once savf twenty of these animals tpge^lier.a^ Bound,', P9Jl4! Pet^ C. Hall, who occupied the old,hpm,%|tea4fo%f ,a.hiulfitrppuch n^de^ by John Hall from a skin taken from a moose killed six mile% Apm^ Clarjyille. Wolves were also ,very cqi;nmpp, in, thq , tp^-n. As late as 1841, a man named Kichard C. DeWitt found a den in which wpriB; six wolfrcujis, all of wMcli,l^^,cag.g^^ agdrrefieiye4 therefor a bounty of seventy-five dollars. The number, of trput caught ia,ti^^,Nejffi,rsir^ during the.fijrst years of, thlis, century np^f sfiems, a|m^#jfabulpus. While thejr, mother was getting break^a^j^ the^HJaJJ ppy^^ofteu took sevpr^ pounds, without going, ten rpds .fepmjthe^ father's dpor, ai^d once before the , m,oifnirg-:rneal, Pet^r, C, an^ Isaiah cai^gbtaa many, ai, tney could carry., The li|;t}p 5 fiph yyiih w^h modern , angforg ^epk;tp,line tlieir b£is|cet?, /Bjerp , upt then considered worth .qppki^, an^.when cf,i:^g|it.wer;e .tbrpwn intp the river. Janies V. Curry, a son of Stephen jCuyry, pvi^n^d the land on Tvhich, GlaryvjUe npw,jStan^., Thp8e,w;ho, pijichasejiof hi^ Ijjjilt a tfi&nej-y, ar^jbe^ide^ th^t epjta||)lishment, there are now* in| the,' plaice , a, gidst^mi|l, l^pab,e:^ii^^e^a,l^tin(ieivts, a stpTp, , hiptel,etc. There is, also ii^ttfjpl^^ej^a^IlfWmiedicjaurGh. Clary ville received iisjx^m^ irpin ,0ia:5t^a,J;he wife, of , Jaiii^^, y. Curry, If the' Og4?ftsfe^gl\ rsyljrpaid, becqnfies,, a, reality, Ola^j^!|ewiU be a jilstqe of I considerable Stephen Curry came fepBO,,T,ai:rytpwn: tp, Ne.yersiii^j in 179,^ He Tifas then,tiiV|en^Tsix,yiea^?,of age. Sjx yeara;preVaqu^ly,he hadrpjarried Anna Vail. By^he^hj^li^l^ ten.chilaren., Althongh nine of them, lived, to an 'a4yanqed age; b« snryjved a^Jbut tfi;ree o^ .them., He jJijed on the 9th of f Jan,flaiiJ, 1872, age^iioi y^ara, e'ropnths^ an.4 i^i, days. His,, pei;§ot^]|,.recolleq^on8, e?- teM^d to tl?.e tTywg scenes pi the Bevpjution. He Tiras,.ten^j©»)« , old wten Benedict Arnold' betrayed his co'iintry, and .saw.Maior. T^E TOWN OF ni;yj!bsink. 467 In his infancy was rec^ijtfid inljo tlie Protestant Episcopal Church by baptism ; but after. his removal to Neversink had few or no op{)ortunities of. attending the Church of which his mother was a f)i6us communicant. Like many other residents of that town, his religious belief was uttuph influenced by the Quakers ; but he never became a. member of the society of Friends. Until he had seen his hundredth birthday, his mind and body were in' a sound state, after which ^s strength gradually diminished, until the machinery of hfe was Hterally worn out, and he died from old age. While spiritualism and kindred deluipions are gaining space in the hearts and heads of. the educated of the present day, ancient superstitions still maintain a foothold among the siinple. In 1852, wnile men of .high po;sition professed unluaited faith in the gross errors introduced by the Fox family o/ the city of Ebchester, an humble family of ClaryviUe were rendered insane by a belief in witchcraft, A son of Levi Van Akin of the latter pjace, while on his death-bed, requested his father to bury him in the, graveyard of the Reformed Dutch church. This the senior Van Akin refused to do. Alleging that "the boy had had his own way all his life and now he would do as he pleased." he ca,used the body to be deposited on his farm. Soon after. the old man complained that the spirilj of his refractory son appeared to him, and constantly haunted him. This so demoralized .his nervous system that he became crazy. His family, at this time consisted of his wife, TWO sturdy sons, and an equal number of strapping daughters, all of whom declared that they were bewitched , and possessed of devils. Hearing of a "witch-doctor" in an adjoimng town, they went to Irim, leaving the father at home and bound. The doctor agreed to expel the. evil spirits for fifty cents per spirit, Tb accomplish a cure he put his patients in a room in which he kept burning a mixture of (hair and sulphur. Surely, no devil can endure the stench produced by the burning of such a, villainous compound! Spirit after spiriit leftfor parts unknown, and i half-dollar after half-idoUar found its way to the doctor's pocket, until the money of itKe drupes was exhausted, when they teft for, ho6ie,stilli possessed ;by ajRulikpown number of devils. On their way bacKi they paid la visit to Cornelius Hornbeck, a brother of :Mr8. Van Aknn, with whom , they concluded to stay al.night. Before njoreing,; Mj8.i, V,an, Aij^ got up . and com- menced dancing oiithe trundle-bed in whichiHorabeck's children sl^pt. As she tiainpled on jtheillintbs^nd bodies, they screamed . bom pain'anditertor.. This, awoke iheir. father,. who came. to, their relief.- He no sooner interfered in their behalf, than she d^lfred^ wa& a deyfl^-and thfe ciause df all their trouble, and, Siat ifwas' their ^uly to' fiillfiiida. A^gi^ted byhei; deineixt4 The fact that Rockland was settled before Liberty, Bethel and other less remote towns, may be accounted for by the hypothesis that a considerable part of its territory was owned by members of the Livingston family, who had no other property, and that their necessities led 'them to manage their wild lands in such a way as to receive an income from them at the earliest practicable moment. Jehiel Stewart and others who settled on the Big Flats, which was considered. the choicest section of Bockland, paid but seventy-five cents per acre for the fee-simple of their farms. Until 1800, the people of Eockland had but limited facilities for communicating with the inhabitants of other sections. The old Hunter road was not then made. John Hunter had not at that time an interest in Great Lot No. 5, unless it was a pros- pective one. The route generally traveled was probably the one opened by Jehiel and Luther Stewart in 1789. As it ran several miles thrdugh the woods, over stony ground, and across rapid streams, it must have been literally "a hard road" for even hardy and adventurous frontiersmen to travel. In 1800, the road from Neversink to Westfield by the way of Liberty was laid out and improved, and soon after another, from Nathan Steven's and Brodhead's miUs to Westfield, was made. The latter is now but little used. Abel Sprague, one of the pioneers of the towij, was employed by John Hunter in 1815 or 1816, to cut out and make the Hunter road. This improvement was intended to make the lands in Great Lot No. 5 more accessible. ^eed corn was obtained by the Stewarts, Coobrans and otherg from the Indians on the Susquehanna river. Grain from this seed has been raised in Rockland for eighty years. It is white and although twelve and sixteen-rowed, is as early as the small eight-rowed Canada maize. It has become a distinct variety, * John R. Livingston waB a brother of Bobert K, the chancellor. The latter waa tjio first born of ten children, and on the dekth of his father in 1775 or 1776, when the law of primogeniture was in force, sncceeded to the estate. He afterwards gave each of his brothers 39,000 acres, and each of his sisters 20,000 acres in the Hardeubergh patent. John 14. died at Bed Hook soon after 1850, aged nearlv 100 years. At Eis decease he still held 9,000 acres of jthis tract. He had owned it se'venty-five years. THE TOWN OP KOPKLAJfD. ^39 and lias been considerably songlit for by farmers within a few •years. The lumber trade began in the year 1798. It was unsuc- cessful at first ; but experience and gradually advancing prices have made it profitable. Large quantities are rafted to tliila- delphia, and saw-mills are found on almost every stream. The tanners, however, will soon destroy the forests of the town, and leave it poorer than it was before their advent. Could the veteran lumbermen of the Beaverkill and "Williwe- moc witness the original attempt?? to run rafts (colts?) it would a£Ford them much amusement. Several were started in quick-' succession. Some of them were soon aground, even if they escaped being battered and torn apart. Those which were stopped by an obstruction were pried off, and as each started once more down stream, the bold navigators jumped aboard, and guided it as best they could, until it was again grounded, when they went back and started another. In this way, with much labor, fun and excitement, their lumber was got to the better channels of the Delaware, when it glided to a market with comparative ease.* Like the original settlers of almost every other locality, the pioneers of Koclsland had much diffioiil^y in procuring money to buy groceiies and other articles usually sold in country stores, and it required considerable exertion to reach the store itself. At first, to procure a pound of tea or a yard of calico, they were obhged to go to Wawarsiug, and if they sent a letter by mail, it was necessary to forward it to the nearest post-office at Kingston. In time a store was started at Westfield Flats by J. Loveland. His advent was hailed with delight as an harbinger- of better times. William Sprague, a son of Abel Sprague, an early settler, subsequently became interested in this store. In the fall of 1824, both v?ent to the city of New York to procure their stock of goods for the coming winter: They made their pur- chases, and had their stock carted to the sloop Neptune, which then plied between Newburgh and New York. In due time the sloop sailed, with about fifty passengers, and heavily freighted. When just below Pollepel's island, and within sight of its place ■of destination, and as several of the passengers who were on deck were congratulating themselves that the perils of the voyage would soon be over, the vessel was struck by a sudden flaw of wind, and careened. At the same time, a quantity of gypsum oil board gravitated to the lowest part of the deck, and prevented the sloop from righting. The result was, she instantly filled and sank. Over thirty of the passengers were drowned. * statement of Peter Stewart. 600 HisTORir OF SULLIVAN coxnjTy. Among the unfortunates were Mrs. Conch and two children of Fallsburgh, (?) J. Smiley of Mamatating, and Mr. Loveland. 0f those who escaped were Mrs. John H. Bowers of Glen Wild, William Sprague, and others of Sullivan county. Mr. Sprague was an expert raftman, who had guided many a colt down the BeaverkUl. His thews and sinnews were Herculean, and if he had lived in ancient days, the thunderous tones of Homer'a famous herald would have seemed like the " cooing of a sucking dove " when compared with his. We will not say how far he was heard when he called for boats to rescue the drowning passengers, because none except those who knew him will credit our statement. The loss of so many lives, and particularly the death of his friend and partner, moved him greatly, and, until his excitement subsided, he forgot to limit his voice to its lower tones. We are assured by a gentleman of the highest respecta- bility, that he was in Newburgh at the time Sprague reached there, and that the latter described the disaster to a collection of persons in one of the streets, and was heard distinctly in every other street of the place. Shocking as was the catas- trophe, his grief was so boisterous that to- many it gave a, ludicrous finale to the affair. Mr. Sprague died but a few years ago. He was throughout his hfe a good citizen and a kind-hearted man. The settlers at Westfield were principally from Massachusetts, and had been used from childhood to that food which causes the soul to grow in grace. They missed the ministrations of the gospel to which they had been accustomed, and hungered for spiritual sustenance. Although they were poor, and had Kttlo or no money and no way to procure it, they did not long remain in the wilderness without ministerial guides and expounders of the faith. From French's Gazetteer we leam that a Eev. Mi-. Conkey, a Methodist, preached the first sermon delivered in the town. Others declare that Eev. Mr. Eandall preceded him, and had charge of a small Baptist congregation at Westfield. Again, we are told that the first clergyman who came to the town regularly, was Eev. Alexander Morton, whose son James Morton, was a worthy resident of the town from 1793 to 1863. Eev. James Quinlan, while preparing for the ministry of the Methodist Church, visited this region in 1817, and at his death left the following memoranda in regard to Eockland and his field of labor : "The last year I supplied the preachers' places on Newburgh circuit, a six weeks' circuit, with three preachers — Stephen Jacobs, Heman Bangs and Earl Bancroft. It extended a distance of fifty miles on Hudson river, and took in Sullivan county almost to the Delaware river. I had a part of I5ro. THE TOWK OP EOOKIiAND. 501 Jacobs' appointments in Sullivan for two weeks, whilst he was making arrangements for a camp-meeting. A great deal of rain fell; and the rivers were unbridged. Two incidents occuiTed which I shall never forget. One was swimming my horse ihrough the BeaverkiU during a flood. I was not aware of the depth of the water. When I' attempted to cross, my steed suddenly made a plunge and was afloat. All but his head was under water, and the rapid current bore us down stream. With- out puUing on the reins, I gently got his head around in the direction of the opposite shore, and he swam for it bravely. As we approached it, an apparently insurmountable barrier was in the way. The top of a fallen tree seemed to prevent access to the shore. My noble, high-spirited horse breasted it, and it yielded to his pressure. We ascended the banl% safely. My Doots and portmanteau were full of water, and my animal almost unmanageable. A quarter of a mile from the ford lived a Mr, Purvis, whose daughter was a member of our Church. He himself was a Swedenborgian. ' Why,' said he as I rode up, 'you have been swimming your horse through the Beaverkill. Why did not the people on the other side tell you that it was not fordable?' I replied that I saw no one there; was not aware of its depth ; got into deep water, and concluded to put it through. * He thought it next to a miracle that I was not drowned. " The other incident amused me. One night, after preaching in a school-house, the dear good old sister with whom I put up asked me to sing. I replied I could not. 'O, brother!' she exclaimed, 'how can you think the Lord has called you to preach ! ' _ , " The preachers parted that year— Jacobs in the faU — Ban- croft in the winter. Bro. Bangs got me to take Bancroft's horse, and go on a six weeks' tour. While doing so, I took cold on cold,' which brought on a high fever, and ended in a putrid sore throat. After I got home, 1 was confined to my room for two weeks, and became utterly discouraged as to becoming a travel- ing preacher, not considering my constitution sufficiently strong to endure the labor and hardships of an itinerant life. I had before that purposed to apply to our Quarterly Meeting for a recommendation to the New York Conference; but I did not apply to the Quarterly Meeting, which was some fifty miles from my residence, and concluded to abandon the idea of traveling. Bro. Bangs, however, without my knowledge or consent, brought the matter before the meeting. There was some hesitation on account of my poor health ; but the Presiding Elder, Eev. P. P. Sanford, remarked that he believed traveling would do me good, and consequently they recommended me. Before Conference I received a letter from Bro. Bangs, stating what had been dona S02 HISTOKY OF SUlilVAK COUNTY. in my case, and astiiig an immediate answer. After reffecting that PrOTidence had thrown open the door, I dared not decline, and so informed Bro. Bangs. I was admitted, and appointed to Sharon Circuit, which re4uired a ride of three hundred miles to visit thirty-one stations in Schoharie, Otsego and Delaware counties. "My next appointment (1819) was Sullivan Circuit, with Eev» J. Weston as my colleague. The year before the Sullivan had been set off from the Newburgh Circuit, and Bro. Weston was on it alone. It prospered under his administration, and needed an additional laborer. We had a good revival, and labored in great harmony. His sermons were dry and dull; but in the class and prayer-meetings he was lively and effective. He was extremely grave and sober for a young. man, and decidedly pious and devoted. " This year there was an improvement in money-matters, each of us receiving abotit ninety dollars. On all the large streams there were no bridges, with one exception — the bridge across the Neversink on the Newburgh and Cochecton turnpike. In passing around the Circuit once, we forded the rivers thirty-six times, and in traveling eight miles in Ilockland, we were obliged to wade through or swim across the Big Beaver lull five times. I had the honor of preaching the first sermon in a settle-* ment between Beaverkill and Wawarsing.* The entire com- munity — men, women and children — attended. I preached from Thess., 1 ch., 7 and 8 v. Eight souls were brought under conviction, and sought and found the Lord. I had to travel ieight miles through the woods to reach the place. There was but one house on the way, which was occupied occasionally by hunters only, while the tracks of almost every kind of wild animals were to be seen around it." t The almost boundless forests of Eociland were full of noble game, and were very attractive to the bold and adventurous tnen of the town. The adventured of Peter Stewart, Cyras Dodge, Benjamin Misner, David Overton, William Woodard, Solomon Steel, Sfitmuel Darbee, jun ior,* and others of the ancient * Brown butllemeut ? " •f Kov. James Quinlan studied medicine under his father, Doctor Thomas Quinlan p, native of the city of Waterford, Ireland, who emigrated to the United States soon after the lievolutionary war, and was well known to the scholars and hterati of his day The son abandoned his profession, and endured tho hard labor and received the poor earthly reward of a Methodist preacher for over forty years. When young he exliibited a decided genius tor htorature ; but had no opportunity to indulge his natural inclinations until ho was worn out as a preacher. After he was seventy years old, he wrote a volume of sacred poetry, which he was too modest to print. Consider- ing his ago and the other circumstances under which it was written, this volume is » literary curiosity. _ » Samuel Darbee, senior, came to Bockland in 1796, with Levi Kimball. The two settled on contiguous famis at the junction of the Beaverkill *nd Williwemoc Darbee established a falling and dying-establishinent, whichhe kept in operntion until 1826 He was swm after Killed by the upsetting of a load of hay at the *' dug way " on the WiDiwemoc. THE TOWN OF ROCKLAND. 503 settlers, as well as the Sheeleys, AppleyS, and several other modern residents, would make a volume as attractive to the young as the Life of Robinson Crusoe, and have the additional merit of being true. WHliam Woodard, on one occasion, while roaming through the wilderness alone, discovered the den of a panther. He boldly entered it, and found several kittens, which he thrust inside his tow-shirt, and carried home ! If the old she-panther had detected him in purloining her little ones', she would have torn him to pieces. When Peter Stewart was a young man, he and a friend were hunting deer ; but had no success. Game seemed to be scarce. They examined the mountain-runways and the crossings of the soft, spongy valleys without discovering the print of a hoof. While passing a large ledge of rocks, they saw a number of bones of deer and other animals near a hole, and other evident signs that a panther lived there, and brought to its den food for its young. After carefully examining the priming of their guns, they secreted themselves within gun-shot range of the lair, and awaited coming events. In a short time, to their astonishment, a bear issued from the hole with a young panther in its mouth, and speedily crushed it with its jaws. While this was taking place, Stewart's friend leveled his gun, and was about to fire ; but the other silently prevented him from doing so. The bear then went back and brought out anothet kitten, and dispatched it also. As bruin squeezed out its life, it gave a loud squall, which was heard by its mother. Soon there was heard the rapid bounding of mufl^ed feet. This was quickly followed by the appearance of a large panther, rage blazing from its eye-balls, and bristling in every hair of its body. The bear made an awkward attempt to shamble away; but finding that this would not save it from the claws and teeth of its wrathful pursuer, ran up a tree. The latter, however, afforded no safe refuge; for the panther followed so rapidly that the black-coated beast had barely tim>e to roll itself into the shape of a ball and fall to the ground. It then made a second attempt to shuffle away, when the feline monster sprang upon it — fastening its sharp fore- claws into the body of the doomed animal, and with its hindfeet ripping out its intestines. The hunters then both fired at the victor, and killed it, after which they skinned both animals — ■ huni' their bear-meat beyond the reach of wolves, and went for assistance to take the carcass out of the woods. Cyrus Dodge had a thrilling adventure with panthers at Long pond, a beautiful sheet of water once famous for its large trout-, and for the number of deer found in its neighborhood. On a summer-afternoon he was watching for deer. as they came to water, and stood under ^ome large trees which grew on the ■504 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN OOtJNTY. shore. While thus engaged he heard a stispicious noise over his head, and looking up, saw a panther on a limb above him. The animal was watching him intently. Thinking there was no time to be wasted in observing its movements. Dodge brought the butt of his gun to his shoulder and fired. The report of the shot was followed by a dull thud at his feet, and the convulsive boundings of the dying panther, as well as the leaping of several lithe forms in the overhanging tree-tops. Dodge declared that the woods seemed to be alive with panthers, and he felt that he was in great peril. Knowing the aversion of the cat-tribe to water, he instantly sprang into the pond, and waded out to where it was waist-deep. As h^ loaded his gun, he counted no less than five panthers in the neighboring trees. They were undoubtedly an old she-one and her young. The latter, although weaned and nearly fuU-grown, had not separated from their mother, but continued to follow her until fully able to provide for themselves. Dodge continued to load and fire until three more had bitten the dust. The other two he failed to see a second time. They were probably frightened by the report of the gun, and ran off. He then went on shore, skinned the four panthers, and struck a bee-line for home, very sensibly concluding that deer-hunting in that quarter was too dangerous for enjoyment. On another occasion Dodge narrowly escaped being devoured by a pack of hungry wolves. He was engaged, " solitary and alone, ' in hunting, and made his head-quarters at a cabin near the line between Bockland and Fremont. One evening he went to this cabin, intending to resume his sport in the morning; but suddenly changed his mind, and resolved to go home. The next morning, before dayhght, he started. He had not, gone far when he heard the howl of a wolf, which was answered by. others in such a way that he feared that there was serious work ahead. Soon he saw dusky forms on his track. Hastily examining the priming of his old flint-lock, he fired at the fore- most, and killed it. He then reloaded and soon shot another. Before he could load again, he was obliged to club his musket, and beat off his assailants. If the wolves of America were as numerous and ferocious as those of Eussia and some other countries. Dodge's bones would have been so polished that they would have glistened in the morning-sun. As it was, he made such vigor6u3 use of the but of his gun, that his assailants soon left, and he reached home in safety. A common mode of killing wolves was to catch them in a steel-trap. Peter Stewart and Samuel Darbee had a trap set on Bound Hill, and visited it with nothing but hatchets in their hands. When they reached the point whefe they had left it, the trap was gone. While searching for signs to d.etermine the direction in which it had been dragged away, they discovered a THB TOWN OF BOOKLAIID. 66S large wolf with the missing article fast to one of its legs. When ,it saw the men, it ran off, but the trap soon canght between two saplings, and put a stop to its journey. Stewart then ran to knock the beast on the head. It bristled up and snarled at him, as if ready for a fight; but backed through the saphngs, and ran toward the top of a fallen tree close by, with Stewart after it. Both reached the top at nearly the same instant. As the animal entered the branches, the foot fast in the trap came off. Being freed from its incumbrance, it passed quickly through, and ran off. Stewart was obUged to go around the tree-top, and when he reached the other side, the animal was several rods distant, and using its three remaining feet m the best possible manner. Being unwilling to lose the scalp, Stewart, hatchet in hand, and accompanied \yf a small dog belonging to Darbee, started in pursuit. He was as hthe as an acrobat,, as nervous as a race-horse, and as bold as the bravest. He was determined to run the beast down, and kill it. After following it over half a mile, without gaining much in the race, he was glad to see the cur fasten its teeth into the haunches of the wolf, and the latter turn to defend itself. In a moment more he came up, and regardless of the risk, attacked the snarling beast with the hatchet, and soon saw it dead at his feet. Darbee after a little time reached the spot, and as his friend was somewhat blown after his rapid run, skinned the game and went back and found the trap.* Stewart is a son of one of the original settlers, and was bom at the junction of the BeaverkiU and WilHwemoc, in the year 1795. He is still (1873) sound in mind and body. 'Like many others addicted to forest-sports, he has long been prominent, socially and politically. He has held nearly every office in the gift of his fellow townsmen. These pioneers, who were by turns lumbermen, farmers and hunters, were a robust, jovial race of men. When at their work, they labored with might and main; when indulging in their favorite sports, they were fearless and full of fun ; and appa- rently enjoyed nothing more than forest-life ; but there was one thing they loved more, and that was the home-circle. Samuel Darbee, junior, the friend and companion of Peter Stewart, was very fond of his family, and particularly of his children. With them he was seldom if ever austere or arbitrary. He was their companion, friend and mentor, and it is difficult to decide whether they felt more respect than affaction for him. Late in April, when Darbee's youngest son, William, was teii years old, Eockland was visited by a snow-storm of unusnal magnitude. Down — down came the moist, heavy snow, until it * Htinters of Suffiyan. HisTOBi OP SuluvAst CbtWRr. ■was bfetwefifl three and foti* feet d66p. It was almc^t of the odrisisteilcy of inortar and ne&rly as heavy. There was danger that the vrieigtit would crash the roofs of houses and other buildings. iJarbee became alarmed for the Safety of his family, and started for his ham to gfet a shovel to remove the snow from his roof. As he did so, William expressed a desire to go with him, Mrs. Darbee endeavored to dissuade him ; but the little fellow was anxibus to see his lambs, the father having a score or more which the son called his own, and took great dehght in tending. She finally consented to his going, and the two left the house full of glee, while the eyes of the mother followed them glistening with pleasure. On their way, the father made a playful feint to throw the boy into the deep snow, when the latter Sprang forward, declaring that he would get to the barn first. He thus placed himseU several feet in advance. In reaching the barii, they had to pass a cow-house, and as the boy was doing so, its roof gave way, and William was over- whelmed with an avalanche of snow and broken timbers. The neighbors were alarmed as soon as possible, and with much difficulty reached the scene of the accident. As they approached^ Mr, Darbee, who was chopping the fallen timbers in a frenzied manner, shouted to them to run for life ; but their help could not rescue the brave, handsome boy from death. He was stkeady crushed and dead. It seemed as if everything had centered upon him to make his fate certain. One hour and a half was spent before the bruised and inanimate body was taken out. After gendering whatever assistance was in their power, all hastened to their own homes to guard against like calamities to their own famiHeS. In Deceniber, 1846, Amos Y. Sheeley, who was subsequently a Member of Assembly, discovered the track of a large animal, 'a mile or two south-east of the widow Darbee's house. He followed the trail of the beast until he found that apparently it was met by another of the same kind, and yet at the point where they met, there was nothing to show that either had S;6ne any farther or left the track. This perplexed him ; but on doking a little farther, he found that the animal had taken itS track backward to its den. Mr. Sheeley examined the entrance of the latter, but failed to see the occupant. He then returned home. On the next day, he went back with a neighbor named Asa P, Appley. The passage to the lair was very narrow. They thrust into it a torch made of birch-bark attached to the end of a pole. By the hght it made, they discovered a very large panther ensconced in a spacious cave. A ball from Mr. Appley's rifle soon put the animal to death, and the two hunters returned home with their game. About a quarter of a mile from the den, they discovered part of a noble buck, which had (two organizations under the patronage of Louis Philippe,) and received diploma^ of membership. But two other persons in the United States were then members of these institutions, one of whom was Professor Silliman. These were honors as grati- fying as they were unexpected ; but they were not the only ones of a distinguished character accorded him. The city of New York voted him a silver medal, and enclosed it in a box made of wood from the first boat that passed from Lake Erie to the Atlantic ocean, and to do him stiU farther honor, made him a Sail-bearer at the grand funeral obsequies of General Andrew ackson, in that city. In his diary he says, " It was the grand- est pageant ever witnessed in the United States. The proces- sion extended two miles and a half from the City HaU. "We rode in four barouches beside the cotfin and urn, with a large spread eagle over the urn that stood on the coflBin." THE TOWK OF THOMPSON. 521 Judge Thompaon, like many men of his stamp, had his pecoi- liarities. It has been said of him that if an Assessor of his town placed too low a value on his property, he was very •indignant ; that he did not want worms to devour his body after liis death, etc. To avoid being food for such aisgusting things, he was anxious to have a tomb hewn out of the solid rock, and sealed up after his remains were deposited in it. These eccen- tricities became more and more apparent as the infirmities of «ge weakened his physical and mental faculties. For the last five or six years of his life, he was partially paralyzed^ as were several of his ancestors, and had but little use of his limbs. Under date of April 20, 1845, he says, " I have been unable to ■write for six years until this day. Six years ago, I fell from my horse, and injured my head. It brought on the palsy, which afliected both my hand.s and feet. I have been unable to dress or undress myself, or walk about. I cannot read more than an hour at once. I have traveled every year to New York, New Haven and other places. Traveling is beneficial to my. health, .and amuses my mind. I attended the College Commencement at New Haven last summer ; but I could find none of my Class living." After this he closes with a feeling allusion to his wife -Charity, v/ith whom he had "lived thirty-three years in the ' €njoyment of every blessing. She was a person of uncommon dignity and elegance of inanners, joined with beauty and the charms of an expressive countenance." Her death was caused by getting wet while attending to her flower-garden, which brought on a fever that terminated fatally. On the 9th of December, 1847, Judge Thompson died, peace- fully and without a struggle, at his residence, in Thompsonville. His children were — by his wife Frances Knapp — 1. Charles Knapp, born May 12, 1786; 2. WiUiam Augustus, December 11, 1788" By Amy Knapp — 3. Adeline Augusta, September 28, 1793 ; 4. Julia Margaretta, June 11, 1796; 5. Louisa, January 16, 1798 ; 6. Cornelia, January 4, 1801 ; 7. Caroline, January 28, 1802 ; 8. Harriet, February 11, 1804 ; 9. James Knapp, May 26, 1806. By Charity Guyer — 10. Francis William, December 25, 1809; 11. Helen Maria, July 15, 1811; 12. Louisa Elizabeth, February 23, 1813; 13. Samuel Guyer, September 4, 1814; 14 Maria Antoinette, January 17, 1818; 15. Ann Augusta, March 29, 1821; 16. Catharine EHziibeth, October 28, 1823. In 1806, Judge Thompson was a candidate for Representative in Congress. Although he received every vote of the town in which he resided, he was defeated by his opponent, Barent Gardinier of Kingston. After the completion of Albion Hall, Judge Thompson, proud of his residence, and naturally hospitable and fond of polite society, induced many of his metropolitan friends io spend 322 Hiai'OBr OF SULLIVAK COUNTY. weeks and months -with him, when it was his delight to crown his generous board with haunches of venison, flanked with such trout as we do not often see in modem days, as well as wine of choice brands and ancient vintage. Tradition says that on one occasion he caused a buck to be roasted whole, and that his visitors as well as his rural friends had a ^and feast. Display and profusion characterized the day, and it was long the theme of conversation. These things, of course, excited envy, hatred and malice among some, axid caused ill-natured remarks. Thompsonville was long known as "the city," a so- briquet bestowed, i.. the place because Albion Hall generally had in it visitors -from the city of New York. Judge Thom{)son acted more wisely than many other foundees of settlements. It has been already seen that his first act was to provide** a shelter (necessarily a poor one) for himseK and fanuly ; he next built a saw-mill, without which comfortable and decent dwellings, etc., could not be constructed; and then a grist-mill, which was a great inducement to those who wished to occupy new farms. This grist-mill was, at an early day, destroyed by fire, as we have already stated, and until it- was rebuilt, the pioneers of Thompson were obhged to carry their grain to Wurtsborough. Although it has been thrice buiaied to ashes, it has been rebuilt each time on an enlarged and im- proved plan, and is now (1871) owned by Jolm Billing. The first merchant of the place was David Eeed. He was succeeded by Riclmrd D. Childs, (a son of Timothy Childs, an early settler,) Daniel Hultslander, David Goodrich and Jona- than Stratton, in the order in which they are named. The latter discontinued the business, when, for a time, there was no merchant in the place. There are now (1872) several who appear to be doing a thriving business. A small tannery was established here early in this century by Isaac Warring, who sold the concern to Anthony B. Hawk. Subsequently a new one was built by Elias Morgan. In 1826, the latter, in connection with wealthy leather and hide-dealers of "the swamp," put up what was at that time the largest in the county. The main building was eighty feet in length. This passed into the hands of Loring Andrews, who sold it to Jonathan Stratton- and Bichard and Howard Haight, who 'Carried on the business for several years.* Finally Samuel G. Thompson, first with a man named Wells, and then with a Mr. Bowers, owned the concern. When bark became scarce, the business was abandoned by Thompson & Bowers. ft ' » On the 26th of Augnet, 1836, this tannery was deatroyed by firo. Loss, $3,000. Insurance, $1,800. It was then owned by Stratton & Haight, and was soon after re- bnilt. THE TOWN OF THOMPSON. 623 'Wool-x3ardiiig and clotli-dpessing was comm^Mioed in 1810 by Nathan Couch. The mill was afterwards owned by David Goodrich, a merchant of the place. Goodrich died, when Wilr- liam E. Cady, his executor!, purchased the property, and in time sold it to John ^. Hack, by whom and his family it was owned for many years. Abraham Warring kept a tavern at Thompsonville in 1798, the first in the town. It was on the lots now owned by George D^oot and Stephen Criseey. Stephen Stratton moved on what is known as Thompson's Neversink Flat place about 1810. Afterwards he bought the farm now owned by Harvey Gardner. He was a soldier of the Revolution, and died at Thompsonville on the 26th of Jamxary, 1842, aged 90. From him sprang the respectable Stratton families of Thompson and Fallaburgh. In June, 1828, a post-office was estabhshed in the place, with Jonathan Stratton as postmaster. The Eecords of Mamakating prove that John Brooks oecu- Eied the Demarest farm in 1797. In September of that year, e had a cleared and enclosed field. Brooks was succeeded by Jabez Wakeman, the father of Talcot, Uriah, Damon, Jabez, {'unior, Banks and George Wakeman. Jabez Wakeman also lad three daughters, one of whom married Doctor ApoUos B. Hanford of Monticello. Captain Isaac Bundle lived on the "Mount Prospect fawn** now (1871) owned by Samuel Warring.* It is situated on the most elevated ground in the neighborhood, and commands a beautiful view of more than half of the county. The soil of this high region is very fertile, and it is one of the few places between the Neversink and Delaware where walnut-trees grow spontaneously. The original road from Thompson's Mills to the Falls of the Neversmk ascended this mountain, and ran along its hog-back summit. The route was the worst that could be found. We cannot imagine why it was adopted unless Judge Thompson was the owner of Mount Prospect, and kne\y that he could not sell it, if the road was laid on the low ground or either side of it. The first land cultivated on this farm was managed after th© manner of the Indians. The underbrush was cut down, and then men ascended the trees and trimmed them from the tops downwards. The trunks wer.e left standing. The ground was thus strewn with rubbish, which became very dry in summer, ■ so that when fire was applied, everything except the tree-trunks was consumed. When the first "trimmer" got to the top of a * Miount Fiospect is in the tdwn of Fallsbtirgh. From its piozimity to Thomp- souTiUe, we give us hJHtory here. 524 HISTOBT 01" SULLIVAN COUNTT, tree on "Mount Prospect," he was amazed, and exclaimed, "Gosh! I can see all God's creation!" These white dwellers in the woods were not often sick, yet occasionally they needed some one to set a bone, apply a lotion, or attend to a gaping wound made by an ax-blade. In 1803, Captain Isaac Bundle ofifered Doctor Josiah AVatrous, a nephew of Ananias Warring, six acres of land if he would open an office on Mount Prospect. The doctor was then practicing in Albany county, and was a man with a family. The lot had cost Bundle but thirty-three doUars; yet it was a sufficient inducement to cause Watrous' removal to SuUivan. He had a monopoly of the pill and potion business for years ; but never got rich enough to own and keep a horse. When he was sent for, the sender was obliged to provide a horse for the doctor to ride. Watrous remained with his patients for days and weeks — until they recovered or died — without visiting his family. This pioneer of the medical craft was long since released from his toils. He died on Mount Prospect, and his widow married a man named Asahel Friabee, who kept a cake and beer-shop forty J ears ago, on the lot where stands the handsome residence of ohn C. Field, in Monticello. There was a blacksmith-shop near Thompsonville in 1805, owned by Ebenezer Sweet. Sweet died at an early day, leaving two sons, John and Ebenezer, who became well-known citizens of the town. His wife survived him, and died May 26, 1857, aged 82 years. Although William A. Thompson claimed that he founded the first permanent settlement of this town, there were a few scat- tered pioneers within its present boundaries when he came here in 1795. The cabins of these adventurers were far apart, and intercourse was difficult. Hence Judge Thompson did not believe that there were settlements or communities in the town previous to his advent. ) John Brooks lived at Wakeman's ford as early, probably, as 1787. Our authority is an old lady who knew him well, and often saw him at her father's house, in Mamakating Hollow, when she was about ten years of age. Brooks was a native of the old town of Mamakating, and his name is among those who took the Bevolutionary pledge there in 1775. He must have coMie by the way of Sandburgh to Denniston's ford, and then traveled down the river to the point where he built his house. Although he was then the only white inhabitant of the territory now embraced by our town-boundaries, he had neighbors at no great distance ; for at that time there were families farther up the river. He brought with him a pair of small mUl-stones, which he operated by hand, and thus made his own samp and meal. One of these stones, a few years since, was owned by THE TOWN OF THOMPSON. 525 Samuel G. Thompson, of -Thompsonville, who used it in his grist-mill for some purpose. We regret that it is lost — probably destroyed by the burning of the mill while owned by Thomas Billing. Brooks loved forest-sports, and took great delight in relating his adventures. He used a rifle of long range when hunting, and a bow of marvelous length when describing his own exploits. Some of his stories would have delighted David Crockett As his relations were of the Munchausen order, we will not repeat them. It is enough to say, that he declared thjat, while hunting, he shot a bear through its hind-legs, break- ing both of them ; and that he then seized hold of its stubby tail, and drove it to his home with less difficulty than if the beast had been a steer. On another occasion, a veryf)owerful bear attempted to hug the breath out of his body. He could not get away, and so was compelled to measure his strength with Bruin's. One or the other must die. In this emergency, Brooks gave the beast a tremendous embrace, and squeezed all the entrails from its body. After it was thus turned inside out, the animal considered further effort useless, and abandoned the contest. Soon after 1790, Francis Tarket settled on the east bank of the Neversink river, near Edward's island. In those days, from causes not well understood, when floods occurred, the water rose much more rapidly than at the present time. In its natural state, the surface of the earth is more porous, . and should absorb and retain a greater quantity of water than when cultivated. Hence, as a country is improved, and cultivated fields increase, floods sJiould become more and more disastrous. This, however, is not the case. The true cause may be found in the fact that the average annual rain-fall decreases as the> forests of a country are destroyed ; and the additional fact that when mills are erected on our large streams and their tributa- ries, the dams of these establishments are reservoirs. Until the latter overflow, the courses below them cannot be as full as if there were no obstruction to the natural running of the water. Mrs. Tacket's cow pastured upon the island opposite the clearing made by her husband, and on one occasion while the faithful animal was quietly cropping the grass there, the volume of the river began to increase rapidly. There was danger that the cow would be swept away, and Mrs. Tarket waded across to drive her home. The river was high when she went over, and was still deeper when she was ready to return As she stood irresolute, the flood became more angry and threatening. Higher and higher rose the waters, roaring and foaming, and threatening to destroy any one. who should attempt to pass through them. As the river often swept over the highest point S26 HISTORY OP SULLIVAN COUNTI. of the island, her situation was not enviable* She hallooed; but to no purpose. No one was near to aid her. Aiter reflect- ing a moment, she hit upon a novel expedient by which to escape from her dangerous situation — an expedient which should identify her name with the island forever. Providing herself with a good whip, she seized the cow by her tail, and drove her into the stream. In a moment the mad waters swept over them ; but by dint of swimming the cow reached the main land, towing her mistress, drenched and almost drowned, safely to the shore. Tarket lived here but three or four years, when he sold his claim to Benajah Edwards, and moved northerly about one mile to the farm since owned by Joseph E. Clark. Edwards built a grist-mill opposite the island, on the east bank of the river, which was in operation several years; but finally was abandoned. About 1792, Ananias Sackett cut open the road which bore his name. It extended from Mamakating vaUey to the Kinne brook, in the West Settlement of Thompson, and was after- wards made to Cochecton by Captain David Dorrance. Sackett and Dorrance were both employed by the proprietors of the, land through which the road ran. The former received a tract of seven hundred acres of land for his work, and located it . south-west of the corporation hmits of Monticello. It covered wholly or in part the farms since owned by Eumsey, Hatch, Litts, Varnell, Ahiel Decker, Oran Eoyce, and perhaps others. Johannes Hasten and some of his neighbors of Mamakating valley assisted Sackett. Captain Dorrance was paid twelve dollars and fifty cents per mile. A portion of this road is still used ; but the greater part of it is covered, by the Newburgh and Cochecton turnpike and the Monticello and Wurtsborough McAdamized road. ■ The Sackett road ran very nearly from Wurtsborough to the residence of "William Marshall, the Clements' or Davis place south of Lord's pond, the Haviland farm and Bridgeville, where the river was forded a short distance above the bridge. It then ascended the hiU between the Methodist church and the old Hezekiah Howell building, and passed to the Barnum saw-miU, the farm of Mr. Wright, and then turned south of Monticello through the farm of Cornelius Hatch to the old David and Nathan Kinne farms, and Mongaup valley, where the stream was forded above the Tillotson grist-miU; next to the old Cochecton spring south of White Lake, and to the village of Bethel, the Halsey tavern, etc. The route was much better generally than that subsequently adopted by the Newburgh and Cochecton Turnpike Company, as it avoided many of the hills over which the turnpike was made. THE TOWN OF THOMPSON. 537 About the time the Sackett road was begnn, Reuben AHen moved to lot number 39, in Great Lot 13, where he died on the 6th of December, 1848, after a residence of fifty-si? years. Ho ■was probably the first white man who remained permanently in the town, and left descendants here after him ; for Brooks, who preceded him, ceased to be a resident soon after Judge Thomp- son moved to Thompsoriyille. He was 29 and his wife 25 years old when they commenced a life of privation and hardship which few would dare now to encoujiter. In an- isiibroken forest, almost beyond human aid and sympathy, they made their home, and labored to render it pleasant^ For a time he was unable to raise sufficient food for his family, and when want stared them in the face, he left liis wife and children in the woods, and went beyond the "Shawangunk to earn a few shillings, with which he bought food, and then carried it home on his shoulders. Wages at that time were in summer from four to six shillings per day, and from seven to nine dollars per month. In winter no one wanted laborers at any price. Self- denial, industry and persistence finally conquered all untoward surroundings. The traveler who passed from Monticello to Wurtsborough forty years ago, will remember that Reuben Allen's residence was one of the neatest on the road. The Sackett road caused other families to settle in the town, as the following extract from the Redords of Maimakating prove. On the lOfch of October, 1797, Elijah Reeve, of Mount Hope, and John Knapp, of Thompson^dlle, laid out a public road from Johannes Masten's to Sackettborough, which they described as follows : < "From Johannis Masten's on the Esopus road, two miles below the old Mamakating farms, beginning at the place where Sackets sat out with the road, and run's as he cut the Road until it came unto a small Brook near the high hill now known by the name of Spy Hill, then turns out of the now cut road to the right round the hill ast the ground would best suit until it strikes the now cut road again ; then along said road again as near as the ground will admit until it strikes the Neversink KiU, and across the said Kill and on the road forward a little to the north Of Matthews, and along said road to where Wheeler now lives or occupies a little to the south of his house, and on as the gVound will suit to Annanias Sachet's, and on to the place Called Sacketsborough." Spy HiU is southerly from the middle gate of the Monticello and Wurtsborough Plank Road Company, and was so called because hunters could espy game a long distance from its summit. 528 HISTOBY OF SULLIVAN OOONTX. John Matthews occupied the farm now owned by Charles- Bamiyn, and subsequently moved to North Settlement. In 1797, Amasa Matthews was living on the east bank of the Neversink, above Bridgeville, Wheeler was David Wheeler,* the original occupant of the- farm subsequently owned by Seth Allyn, and now the property of Wiliiam Wright. Ananias Sackett lived south-west of Monticello, and Sackett- borough was west of his location, and on the road made by him. This borough was intended to perpetuate his name and deeds ;. but amounted to nothing more than a frail monument of the vanity and folly of human hope and ambition. No one can now point out the location which once bore the name of Sackett- borough ; and no individual now residing in the county can claim the once respectable patronym of Sackett. Ananias- Sackett settled about the year 1794 or 1795. On the 29th of September, 1797, Reeve and Knapp (estab- lished another public road, and had the following description of it recorded by the Clerk of Mamakating : ■• "Beginning at the foot of the hill near the Neversink river, on Sackett's road, turn out to the north, and runs up said river to an enclosed field occupied by Amasa Matthews, and along the back side of said field on a high piece of ground inside of the fence, and runs out to the bank of the river, up s'd river near John Brooks', and then across the said river, and upon the west side of the river until it gets above Brooks' inclosure, and then left the s'd river to the north east, and runs north west as the road is now cut and travelled unto Thompson's Mills, to be four rods wide." John Simpson lived on the Jonathan Hoyt farm (Lot 25) as early as 1797, and according to a manuscript found among the papers of Billings Grant Childs, William Denn settled at Bridge- ville previous to that year, and kept a tavern there. That Denn was there previous to the year named we doubt. He was there soon after, however, and was undoubtedly the predecessor of John Wetherlow, whom we shall have occasion to mention here- after. Reeve and Knapp do not mention Denn in their road survey of September 29, 1797. If he had lived there then they would have done so. When Johannes Masten assisted Sackett in making the road from Mamakating Hollow to Kinne brook, he discovered some * David Whenler took the Revolutionary pledge in Mamakating in 1775 ; but in 'what part of the town he then lived is a matter of conjecture. THE TOWN OF THOMPSON. 52^ good land on the tract secured by Sacltett, and bought it. This land he gave to his sons-in-law, Daniel Litts and Evert Terwil- liger, the first of whom married Martha, and the other Sarah Maaten. Litts and Terwilliger moved to this land in February, 1797, with their families. Mrs. Terwilliger was then forty-one and her sister twenty-two years of age. They had been accustomed to border-life, and, although their father was a wealthy man, had constitutions made robust by healthful labor. With the steady purpose of men of Holland blood, the brothers- in-law cleared land and made improvements. They were assisted in all suitable ways by their wives and children. With them industry wtus a cardinal virtue, physical labor and the acquisi- tion of wealth the major objects of life. While the muscles of their children were developed by constant use, tj^e brain was not trained to wield its instruments intelligently'. As a logical sequence of their youthful training, the offspring of these two families have lost ground, while those of once less wealthy parents have outstripped them, thus illustrating the truth of the apothegm that "industry without intelligence is like a ship without a helm." The children of Daniel Litts were noted for their great strength. Even his daughters were more powerful than ordi- nary men. It is said that one of his girls has been Imown to lift a barrel of cider by its chimes and drink from its bung. We are assured that she'bnce saw &ee or four able-bodifed men attempt and fail to place a heavy mill-iron upon a wagon, when she threw them right and left with her hands, telling them to get out of her way, and then unassisted and with ease lifted the iron to its place on the vehicle. In his young days, one of her brothers was considered an expert wrestler, and sporting men from a distance came to measure their skill and strength with his. One of these was a famous wrestler of the city of New York. When he called, young Litts was from home. Seeing Miss Litts, he made known his business to her. " What ! " exclaimed she, "wrastle with mine brother?" and she eyed him as if taking his cahbre. "Why, you are foolish. Go back and save your money; for I can throw you mineself." She continued to jeer at and banter him, and finally dared him to the encounter in such a way that he accepted her challenge. He found her strength, skill and petticoats, too much for hia- science. Her feet and ankles were protected by the drapery which surrounded them from the advances of his heels; but they found no obstruction when she attempted to trip him. She sent him to grass twice with such celerity and force that h© retired from her father's door-yard vanquished and crest-fallen. He returned to the metropolis without delay, believing that if 34 530 BISTOBY OP SDLUVAN OOtTNTY. Sullivan county produced such girls, it was folly to contend with the men.* ,,-16 1797, Nathan Kinne settled at the end of the Sadl^ett road -^ns it was then made, and at the same time, or soon after, his brother David joined him. The Kinnes were of the Connecticut race of Yankees. Many of the name were among the adven- turers who formed the Susquehanna Company, and attempted to extend the possessions of Connecticut from the Delaware river to tlio Pacific ocean. Those who have read Stone's History of Wyoming, cannot fail to appreciate properly the respectability and enterprise of the Kinnes of the last century. Nathan Kinne cleared the first farm in the West, or Kinne Settlement, on which he hved thirty-three years. He was much respected in his day, and received many testimonials of the confidence of his fellow-townsmen. In 1802, Uzziel Eoyce started from Mansfield, Connecticut, intending to go to the Susquehanna liver with his family. He had heard much of the fertility of the land of that region, and regarded the Susquehanna valley as the land of promise and prosperity. On his way he stopped at Newburgh, where he was persuaded to change his destination. Work on the New- burgh and Cochecton turnpike had been commenced, and every one who had taken stock in that concern, was enthusiastij^as to the value of the country through which the road would pass. Mr. Koyce was convinced that it was better to locate within fifty miles of the Hudson river, on land which would soon increase in value, and where he would soon have an outlet to a market, than to go one hundi'ed miles farther into the woods. He came to Thompson, and purchased a tract of land in the vicinity of Nathan Kinne, and cleared the farm since owned by John C. Hplley. His removal to the town was important, as it led to the settlement here of 'J'homas, Solomon, lioderick, and Cliolbe Ivoyce, who were his kinsmen, and among the highly esteemed residents of the county. On the 28d of May^ 1833, Uzziel Koyee died on the place where he settled in 1802. One of the local public journals of that time paid a handsome tribute to his memory. In 1804, Solomon Koyce bought a lot in the same neighbor- hood, and commenced clearing it. Other"members of the family settled in tlie town subsequently. Solomon Eoyce was a farmer and land-surveyor. His property was small until he was sixty rears of age, when he commenced speculating in land, and soon accumulated a handsome fortune. Like all the first settlers of his name, he was a man who enjoyed the confidence and respect of his neighbors. •B. O. Cliilas'M&S. THE TOWN OF. THOMPSON. 531 John and Samuel Lord came to Sullivan in May, 1803, from "Weston, Fairfield county, Connecticut, and brought with ihem their families. They crossed the Shawangunk on nearly the route adopted by the Newburgh and Cochecton Turnpike ■Company, and remamed aU night at Johannes Hasten' s. He was then a wealthy Dutch farmer, and owned one thousand acres of fine land, several negroes and a large stock of horses and neat-cattle. His aldermanic body was surmounted by a hat with a monstrous brim, and when he was vexed by a mischievous boy, he had an odd habit of flogging the yonker with his tile ; but was careful not to injure his hat, or hurt the lad. The Lords foUowed the old Sackett road from Maraakating Hollow to the valley of the Neversink. There w«re no families living on the road until they came to the Davis place, where Biichard Page kept a tavern. There was then but little cash in the country, aad white-pine shingles were bartered for drams. Our informant remembers seeing the thirsty wending their way 1;o Page's log tenement, each carrying under one of liis' arms the requisite number of shingles to procure a drink of whisky. A httle beyond Page's, and where the road crossed Grassy or •Clark's brook, was a tavern kept by a woman who was known .as Granny Strong. The next house was on the premises now .(1871) owned by John and Benjamin Lord. It was then occu- })ied by a squatter whose name is forgotten. At Biidgeville ived Jehiel Sherwood and John Wetherlow. During the year, James Miilspaugh moved in and occupied the HaviJand place. Wetherlow lived at the ford, a short distance above the bridge. Oar informant was then a lad less than eight years old, and liad heard much of the bears, wolves and panthers of the Neversink country, and was consequently looking for those animals with fear and trembling. His apprehensions were startlingly confirmed at Wetherlow's. A steer of Mr. "Wether- low had been, a few days previously, killed but not devoured by a panther. The young animal had been missed and its body foiind partially covered with leaves and other rubbish. One of the Wakeman's, who was a noted hunter and trapper, knowing that, as soon as the panther was hungry, it would return to the carcass for a meal, set a loaded gun so that it would lodge sundry buckshot into the first animal that disturbed the remains. In a few days a monstrous panther was found by the side of thd dead steer, a victim of Wakeman's ingenuity. It was skinned, and the skin stuffed and arranged as natural as life, in a tree before Wetherlow's house. When the children of the Lords saw it, with its fearful teeth, they were seized with a panic and ran to their parents for protection. From Wetherlow's the two families traveled up the river to 532 HISTORY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. Denniston's ford, passing Hezekiah and Jabez Wakeman's places at the Wakeman ford. Tliey settled near the present premises of James O'Neill, where Samuel lived many years. His brother John remained there until 1806, when he removed to Lord's pond, on the Newburgh and Cochecton road. H» there put up one of the roughest log-tenements of that day, and opened a tavern and commenced clearing land. In a few years he built a better house, and died there in August, 183Q. His son, Captain Alson Lord, previous to his death in 1872, famished the writer with the following in regard to his father's last illness : In June, 183Q, John Lord visited his brother's family near Denniston's ford, and while on the road got very wet from a sudden shower of rain. He exchanged his wet garments for dry, spent a pleasant evening in company with his friends, went to hm. at the usual time, and on the succeeding morning was apparently in good health; but was somewhat disturbed by a remarkable dream he had had during the nighty in which he imagined that he was sick ; that his legs swelled to a large size, and burst open and mortified; that the flesh dropped from them, and that he died. His dream was a pre- visioQ of what actu:illy took place. Soon after he related it to our informant, and the other members of his household, he was taken sick, and all he had dreamed really occurred. We have no more faith in dreams than we have in witchcraft^ and would not admit the above paragraph, if our informant was not, during all his hfe, of unquestioned intelligence and truth- fulness. The circumstance is remarkable as a strange coinci- dence for which human wisdom can furnish no satisfactory explanation. Alson Lord, when a young man, had an encounter with a bear in the woods near his father's residence. He was felling trees with a companion, when he heard his dog barking in an unusual manner. He proposed to the person who was with him, that they should ascertain what the dog was after, and, said he beheved it was a bear; but the man was a coward, and refused to gp. Lord then went alone. The dog was at the foot of a tree in a dense thicket. Lord did not see the bear until be had neaily reached the foot of the tree, when he discovered it about twelve feet from the ground. He went boldly forward until the animal suddenly curled itself into a ball-like shape, and tumbled down within reach of the ax he carried. Lord instantly dealt it a stimning bldw, which laid it out apparently dead. He was fortunate in doing so, as, if he had waited a second or two, the beast would have been on its haunches, when it would have been impossible to hit it. All old hunters know- that bears are the most expert boxers in the world, and that they will knock an ax or club from the hands of a man so quick THE TOWN OP THOMPSCm. 533 that no one can see bow it is done ; after wliioh, if the beast is exasperated, it will be upon its assailant in an instant. Mr. Lord shouted that hfa had killed the bear, when the timid fellow came to him readily, and the two proceeded to haul it out of the thicket. While they were doing so, the black brute began to exhibit signs of life. A few more blows of the ax, however, made it quite safe to handle it, and the creature was got out of the woods without further trouble, except the labor of carrying it. It was large, and had a very beautiful pelt. Bears were very numerous in this neighborhood. The writer Well remembers that, when he was a school-boy, thev had a run- way across the turnpike, a short distance west of dales, where they were frequently seen with their cubs, passing from one swamp to the other. • William Sears was an early resident near Lord's pond. He was elected as an Assessor before Sullivan was a county, and was active in matters affecting the interests of the town. Seth Sears was living in the neighborhood as early as 1804. They came from Fairfield county, Connecticut. In 1803, Lewis Hoyt occupied a lot west of the Neversink, at Bridgeville. He^ remained in the vicinity but a short time, and was a brother of Jonathan Hoyt, of whom we shall next write. Lot 25, in Great Lot 13, was occupied by squatters previous to 1803. Reuben Allen first made a small improvement, and then left it, probably because he found it difficult or impossible to get a warranty-deed for it.. John Simpson then occupied it, who built a log-house, and cleared some land. In 1803, Jona- than Hoyt bought Simpson's improvements, for $1,050, getting with the 213 acres a potash-kettle. As soon as practicable, Hoyt acquired the fee-simple, which cost him about $1,000 in addition.' Hoyt was then a married man, with two or three children, ■and lived in Norwalk, Connecticut. In April, 1804,. he started with his wife and children for his new home. He brought with him a span of horses, a yoke of oxen, and an immense butterfly- cart. In the flaring box of the cart were bestowed his house- hold goods, and an assortment of other articles which were deemed necessai^, including sundry small canvass-bags which were filled with silver coin, and placed inside the family chest. On the top of all, when on the road, were perched the wife and children, who climbed to their deVated position by a ladder, ■which was an indispensable accompaniment of the vehicle, as, without it, no one could surmount its funnel-shaped sides. The family, with their chattels, proceeded to Old Well, where "they got or were put on board a sloop, and proceeded to New York city and the Hudson river. In due time they reached Hewburgh, where they disembarked, and where the more seri- 534 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTT. ous dangers and sufferings of the Journey commenced. The horses and oxen were attached to the cart, and started west- ward on the Newburgh and Cochecton road. The turnpike, so far as it was completed, had been made but recently — the road- bed was composed of surface-soil — the frost was gone but partially from the track, which was but little better than a mass of mud, and a succession of bottomless slough-holes. Often one wheel of the cart would stand firm on the partially thawed track, while the other would sink nearly to its axle, causing the elevated wings of the vehicle to lurch with the energy of a catapult. So forcible was this sidewise movement that the chest was broken to pieces, and the silver money it contained scattered over the bottom 'of the cart-box. Fortunately the latter had been made of tough material and by a good work- man, so that there were no crevices through which the coin dropped into the mire of the road. The money was all in the bottom of the cart-box when they reached the Neversink. When the wheels sank deep in the slough-holes, the horses and oxen could not proceed, and it was found necessary ta pro- cure extra motive-power, or remove from the cart a part of the load. This consumed so much time that but five miles a day were accomplished. In the afternoon of the sixth day from Newburgh, the party descended the west side of the Shawangunk mountain, and in doing so discovered what appeared to be a broad and turbid river in the valley. Mr. Hoyt did not know what to think of this, as he had not heard of or seen anything more than a medium stream there. They reached the foot of the Shawan- gunk, and there was a wide and muddy river, sure enough. The rain and melting Snow had swelled the mountain streams, so that there was a flood in the Bashas kill. For some distance the turnpike was submerged, the bridge alone appearing above the water. To cross at that time was impossible, and there was no house or even barn on the western side of the mountain. But one thing could be done, and that was to stay until the next day where they were ; so they camped in the mud, and remained there during the long and dismal night, no doubt homesick and heart-sick, and contrasting the wilds of Sullivan with their old and pleasant home in the land of plenty and comfort. At daybreak they found the flood was subsiding. At nine o'clock, the water had fallen two feet, when Mr. Hoyt moiinted one of his horses, and crossed to the opposite shore, and went in search of assistance. He was afraid to ford the stream with his two teams, fearing that the cart would get fast, and that ha would be unable to get it to the other side. During the previous year, the turnpike had been made as for THE TOWN OF THOMPSON. 535 as the west side of the valley, and there an enterprising individual had erected a new house, and opened a taveni. The building was near the site of the old Pine-house, and nothing is remembered of its owner except that he became disgusted with his business or with his life generally, and to i-id himself of his calling and existence, hung himself. Of him Mr. Hoyt obtained an extra team, and returned to his family and cart. With three teams he was able to get all over the falling waters, and as far as the new tavern, where he remained until the next day, when he reached Granny Strong's inn at the Grassy brook.. After another night's rest, they proceeded as far as the east shore of the Neversink, where they learned that the cabin at their new home would afford them no sheltei'. The snow of the previous winter had broken down its bark-roo:^ and it was no better than a ruin. Besides this, it is probable that the river was too much swollen to be forded. Learning that there was a small building on the hill east of the Neversink, in which a school had been kept, and that it was then vacant, he concluded to take possession of it. Here at the close of the ninth day from Newburgh he found a temporary resting-place. He resolved to build a new frame-house on his place without ilelay. There was then a saw-mill on Clark or Grassy brook, at Katrina Falls, owned by a firm entitled Baker, Osborn & Co. How long this mill had been built we cannot say. It may have been erected immediately after the opening of the Sackett road.. If so, it was the picmeer mill of the town; if not, it was the second, William A. Thompson's having been put up in 1795.. This mill was on the table-rock of the Falls. Slabs from it were thrown into the galf below, and we are assured that at one time they formed a " pile" as high as the Falls. Mr. Hoyt at once commenced hauling white-pine lumber from this estabhshment.. Help was scarce, but money was a great inducement. Mr.. Hoyt brought with him a good supply of coin, and men were found who were willing to abandon their own clearings to get it. In two weeks Mr. Hoyt had a new house so far completed, that he could move his family into it. Mr. Hoyt continued to occupy this place until his death, and it is still in the possession of one of his descendants. For several years, wolves annoyed him, and he found it very diiBcult to rear young cattle or keep sheep. On one occasion they killed eighteen of the latter near the entrance of his door-yard, and it was quite common to find the dead carcasses of year- hngs in his fields, and to have cattle come home with fatal wounds inflicted by the blood-loving. and stealthy brutes. Un- like many of the first settlers, he has left numerous descendants in the town. His children were seven in number, viz : Elna- than, Squires M., Jonathan, Sarah, Leander, Sally and Waiter.. S36 HISTORY OF OTLUVAM ooumnt. In 1803, Chancellor Livingston, owned Oreat Lot 12, ia the southern tier or range of the Hardenbergh patent. He was then in France, and no one could purchase or lease his lands ; consequently those wlio lived near the traveled road east of Bridgeville were squatters. Some of these sold to others ; but gave no title. They disposed of their improvements and right ■of possession only. Daniel and Lewis Ketcham moved to Bridgeville in 1805 — Daniel into the Wetherlow house at the ford, and Lewis into ft house which stood on a lot now owned by Walter Hoyt. Daniel Ketcham, senior, their father, came at the same time, and bought Lot 31 of one of the Ludlowa. He reserved one hundred acres for himself, and, according to a previous arrange- ment, conveyed the balance to various persons who had settled on the lot as squatters. Daniel, senior, died at Bridgeville, after which one of the sons removed to Miller Settlement. Branches of the family are now living in Thompson and other towns. Frederick Ketcham, . a descendant of Daniel, senior, invented the first mowing-machine. As an inventor he was ingenious and successfxil ; but failed to reap the pecuniary advan- tages which should have been awarded him. The Ketchams of this county are of the same stock as the noted financier and the able lawyer and politician of that name. The old Barnum place, now occupied by Charles Barnum, ' was originally held by a person who had no title. In 1802 or 1803', Samuel Barnum bought it, and within t\fro or three years erected a saw-mill. This mill is mentioned in the Town Records of 1806, and is the third of the town. A gentleman who was present when the frame was raised, informs us' that a sufficient number of persons could not be got together to put it in its place on the first day ; and that reinforcements had to be sent lor. Several of the hands employed by Mr. Wheat, who was building the Neversink bridge, went up with their tackles, when the task was performed easily, Samuel Barnum was a man much respected in his day, and was often called upon to fill important trusts in the town. He was elected Supervisor in 1807 and 1808, and was preceded in that office by Samuel F., and succeeded by John P. Jones. Johannes Miller of Montgomery, Orange county, commenced operations at Glen Wild before the Newburgh and Cochecton turnpike was completed over the Barrens. He bought a con- siderable tract of land, and built two saw-mills above the Falls. One of these was where Bowers' lumbering-e8tablishmen,t now is, and the other was farther down the stream. He also built a large house on the lot now owned by Benjamin Howes. This house was Miller's residence, as . the Becords of Thompson prove. He sold it to Henry. Snyder. The mill-property THE TOWN or THOMPSON. 537 sasaed into tlie hands of John H. and WiUiam F. Bowers, sons of Zephaniah Bowers, one of the early residents of that section of the town. John H. was a prominent democratic Eolitioian-, and represented SuUivan in the Assembly of 1838. luther, another son of Zephaniah, owned a saw-mill on the outlet of Lord's pond, near Ed^V^rds' Island, in 1S22. Of Jan- nah El., another son, but little is known. Johannes Miller was a man of note. He was one of the prin- cipal promoters of the Newburgh and Cochecton turnpike, and lost his prestige as a man of property through personal sacrifices to secure the success of that enterprise. It is said he was a rough, daring man, who was ready to use his fists when provoked to anger. Tliere was a feud between him and the Jones brothers, whicn grew out of the location or construction o^ the turnpike. Glen Wild was originally known as Miller Settlement. Samuel Adams and Simeon Misner were among its early residents. The fine arched bridge at Bridgeville, from which the valley takes its name, was completed in 1807. At the time it was made it was considered the best structure of the kind in the State. A marble tablet was inserted in the parapet on the eastern abut- ment with the following inscription : "Jacob Powell, Pres't; > George Monell, Treas'r; William H. Weller, Seo'y; i Jonathan Hedges, 5 Charles Clinton, 3 Levi Dodge, »■ Daniel Stringham, g Jonathan Fisk, | Cyprian Webster, ^ Beuben Neely, 5 Daniel C. Verplank, " s Hamilton Morrison, David Crawford, Salmon Wheat, Architect." Nearly sixty-six years have elapsed since the massive white- pine arches were made, and they are still unmarked by decay, and firm upon their foundations. They will undoubtedly last for hundreds of years, if properly protected from fire and water. 1^ is conceded that Eev. Luke Da-wis was the first clergyman of the town. He also prescribed for the physical ailments of the people. When the Newburgh and Cochecton road was run across the Barrens, that improvement caused the Saokett road 538 HI8T0BY OP SUIUVAN COUNTT. to be abandoned as the main route through the county. Con- sequently Eichard Page, who kept a tavern south of Gales, where he exchanged whisky for shingles, found that his vocation, was gone. He then sold whatever right he had to the tavem- and farm, and Luke Davis became th« occupant and owner.. Thereafter from the old Page tavern issued what was considered " the pure milk of the Wora" for the soul, and wholesome, though lirastic and emanant potions for the body. Luke Davis was a Baptist, and made several converts to his faith. Among his flock were the Comstocks, the Warrings, the Reynolds, the Holmes, and other citizens of respectable standing. His own life was a sacrifice in the cause of his Master. For him there was no stately church, with its ornate exterior and luxurious seats and carved pulpit. He held forth in school-houses, barns and private residences, and contributed to his own physical support by the labor of his hands. He lived to a great age. His last residence in the town was at Bridgeville, from which he removed to New York, where he died on the 9th of December, 1852, aged 92 years. We shall notice in another place the So- tjiety he organized. Caleb and Peter Howell, who were brothers, bought a lot on the turnpike west of the bridge, in 1806 or 1807. On this Peter Howell put up the frame of a large hotel-building, which he enclosed and partially completed. He was a bachelor. The property feU into the hands of Hezekiah HoweU, a son of Caleb, and has since been owned by several persons. Hervy W. Howell, the brother of Hezekiah, was elected County Clerk in 1840. The name of Howell is not now borne by a resident of the town. Before his death, Hezekiah became a monomaniac on the subject of internal improvements, and other matters. The old hotel was destroyed by fire in 1871. John S. Jenks, who studied medicine with Doctor Samuel Dimmick of Bloomingburgh, was a practicing physician at Bridgeville for several years, commencing with 1809. He was of irregular habits, and a cessation was put to his labors in this town by death or voluntary removal to some other sphere of action. ^ Otto William Van Tuyl, who became famous as the would-be navigator of the Neversink, and received as his reward disaster and reproach, in 1811 was living in the house built by Peter Howell. He, soon after this year, erected the old Van Tuyl mansion on the east bank of the river. In 1832 or 1833, this became the property of Lewis E. Bushnell, who built a large tannery below the Jonathan Hoyt place. The tannery was ciar- ried on by Bushnell & Van Horn and Tremain & Howard. A store has been kept on the Van Tuyl lot for more than fifty years: First by O. W. Van Tuyl; 2. Lewis JB. Bushnell; THE TOWN OP TH0MP80K. 539 3. Munsoti L. Bushnell; 4. William A. Kice; 5. George Howes; fi. iTeliiel Clark. David Haynes built the old Anaon Galetavem-hoose ; on the turnpike, east of Lord's pond. He was a sguatter, and claimed that the premises he occupied were not m the Minisink or Hardenbergh patent; that there was a gore between the two, and that the land covered by this gore was State land. He was a man of some means ; but spent his entire estate in litigation with the Livingstons, who finally ejected him, and had the benefit of his improvements. Then Anson Gale, who was a native of Columbia county, and lived near the family-seat of the Livingstons, at Clermont, bought the property, and kept a hotel which was of excellent repute for many years. A post- office was established here in May, 1834, whioji received his family-name, and of which he was the postmaster. About 1827, a gentleman named Clarkson, who had married a daughter of Robert L. Livingston, built a fine stone-mansion, on a commanding site, near Lord's pond. Here it was his intention to live like a lord of the manor among the tenants of his father-in-law, who were bound by their leases to deliver annually to the owner or his agents certain substantials and luxuries. But the tenants did not contribute enough for his support, and to escape starvation he left the town, and to this day has been living in elegant idleness at Saugerties. The next occupant was John Eldridge, .w^ho, in 1831 and 183^, built a large tannery on the outlet of the pond, and shortly after failed^ The house is still owned by the Livingston family, but is little better than a ruin. Nehemiah Smith came to Pleasant lake in 1803, and bought a tract of land of a man named Richard Kelley, who had made a small clearing, built a log-house and constructed barracks in which to store hay and grain. The lot then purchased by him has since become a part of the David Gray place, and has been known as the Reed farm. On it was the encampment of the 143d Regiment N. Y. S. V., until the regiment left to join the forces employed to crush the Southern Confederacy. Kelley, the man whom Mr. Sinith succeeded, had a brother-in-law named Amos AVhelpley, who lived on an adjoining lot. These two men were here as early as 1798.* Kelley settled on the Hyde place after selling to Smith. A man named William Baker also lived near the lake, and owned six acres between the Samuel Gray place and the shore. John Matthews, who came from Haverstraw, owned and occupied the farm which subsequently became the homestead of the Smith family, and is now the property of Ambrose D. Smith. West of Matthews' * In 1806, Wbelpley bad on big place au orubard uf bearing apple-trees. [Statement ot Samuel Warring, ®40 ■ mSTOET OP SULLIVAN- COUNTY. Were two "Welsh families, one of wtom was n amefl Robert Eoberts. From tbem the region got the name of Welsh Settlement, by which it was known for many years. Kinne brook, as far as it runs in that locality, was once known as Welsh brook. After sowing some winter-grain, Mr. Smith returned to South East, to which he had previously moved from Middlesex, Fair- field county, Connecticut. He and his wife were natives of the latter place. In February, 1804, he started once more for his new home in the woods. He brought with him his wife, two children, and a nephew named Smith Benedict. The latter, who became a well- known citizen previous to his death, was then a lad ag€d 13 years, and lived with Mr. Smith. Mr. S. was accompanied W Titus LockwoOd, Eliud Lindley,- and Joseph Godfrey, who also brought with them their families. They crossed the Hudson river at Newbui'gh, where they hired horse-teams to take them to the end of tlieir journey. The Newburgh and Cochecton turnpike was then in good order as far as Montgomery. On the Barrens they stayed all night at the house of a man named Seth Sears. The accomniOdations were rather too narrow for so large a party; but good nature and Yankee ingenuity either found a remedy for deficiencies, or ignored their existence. On the next day, they followed the Mamakating road to ThompsonviUe (then known as Thompson's Mills), where they remained all night at Abraham Warring's, who had kept a tavern there five or six years. Thus far they had passed over nothing worse than the semblance of a highway. Although the road had been five years on the Eecords of Mamakating as running from Thompson's Mills north of Pleasant pond to the Mongaup,* but little had been done ott it beyond removing from its track some of the fallen trees, and marking its locality by blazing and scoring the growing timber by its sides. Our informant (a lady then 23 years old) at the age of ninety-one, retained a vivid recollection of the incidents of that day (March 1, 1804). The snow was deep and unbroken ; the route so rough and unim- proved that they could not have taken their household-goods over it except on their shoulders, if it had been bare ; the party were obliged to look sharp for the marked trees to avoid going astray ; and in many places the evergreen foliage was so dense ovprhead that the sky could not be seen. Slowly the jaded torses plodded through the snow— sometimes sinking to their ♦ March 22, 179'J, Duvid Ddrranco and John Knapp, lload OommiBsioners of Mama- kating, laid out a private road " Begiuuiiig at tbo Ebopus road at the Long Bridge [Qn6re : Snmmitviue ?J sotith-west of the lionso of Jolin Allen ; thenco a westerly course neiir as tlie road now runs to Bush Hill ; tlionoo as the road now runs to Arohibajd Jan' [ITarr] acroHS the Neversiuk to Williani ThonipBim's mills, as the road now goes ; thence a northwostLrly course, as the road now goes, north of the Pleasant pond, as the road now goes, to the Mungaup liiver, as the ground will best admit." [Becords of Mamakating. THE TOWN OF THOMPSOM, 5i} bellies, and occasionally plunging over the sides of a cradle-hole^. or the concealed trunk of a tree. When there was diinger of upsetting a sleigh, there was a panic among the women and children; but the courageous voices and strong arms of the stalwart men of the party soon made all right. Although the distance was not great, and none of the families were much overburthened with household-stuff, the teams dragged their loads with great difficulty, and it was found necessary to leave Eliud Lindley's in the woods, where it remained until its owner afterwards returned with some friends, and got it through to his log-house. Lindley, Lockwood and Godfrey located at that time near the Four Corners, north-west of the-Gray place.* When they came, there was no house where Monticello now stands, »and not even a line of marked trees to that point. Samuel F. and John P. Jones, however, moved there during the year (1804). The house into which Smith put his family, like the others of the settlement, was a log-structure, with a bark-roof. As there was no saw-mill nearer than Judge Thompson's, at Thompson- ville, the floor must have been made of puncheons. The fire- place was a commodious affair, without jambs, into which a log six or eight feet long could be rolled, and made to serve as a foundation for the tire. There was no cellar under the floor. Potatoes and other vegetables were stored in holes or dirt-cellars close by the house. A goodly mound of earth was heaped over these depositaries, which seemed to be a favorite resort for wolves. The widow of Nehemiah Smith remembers (1870) seeing them there at night when the moon made them visible. They were a great terror to women and children, particularly when they rendered the dark and otherwise still hours hideous with their bowlings. Sheep were then absolutely necessary, as their wool was the only thing to be rehed upon for winter-clothing ; but it was impossible to keep them unless they were put in a safe enclosure every night. If a wolf got among a flock, it was not content with killing and eating a single sheep. Its instinct led it to rush from one to another,' giving each a snap in the throat, which was always fatal. In a few u!ioments, the ferocious beast would thus secure food enough to supply itself for weeks. Bears never annoyed the Smiths. Tiieir neighbor, James Bailey, was less fortunate. He also came to Pleasant lake in 1804. He was from AVestchester or Putnam county, where many of the name are yet residents. Mr. Bailey settled on the * In 1805, on the road from tho lake to Eoberts' lived John Matthews, Titus Lockwood, Joseph Godfrey, Israel Disbrow, Enoch Comstock and Eliud Liiidluy. At the head of tha lake were Auauias Warriag, James Bailey and Wiliiam Baker. " West of tho lake were Nehemiah Smith, Amos Whelpley and Mr. Kelloy. I [Statemuut of Smith Benedict.. > 643 HI8T0BY OP 8IILUVAN COUNTY. farm wliere liis son, David P. Bailev, now lives. Bmin seemed to have a fancy for this locality, and probably wintered on the lowlands which there border the lake, while he perambulated the high hills of the vicinity in summer, as he was often seen passing up or down through Bailey's premises. The hirsute brute seemed to be partial to swine's flesh, and occasionally visited Bailey's hog-pen to indulge his epicurean propensities. Once, when Mr. Bailey was absent all night, a large bear got among his shoats, which gave shrill warning of what was taking place, when Mrs. Bailey sallied forth to their rescue, armed with blazing brands, and frightened the hungry intruder away. In the vicinity of Pleasant lake deer were very plenty. It was a common thing for Smith Benedict and the sons of Ana- nias Warring* to kill them in the water, to which the animals came in warm weather or were driven by dogs. When one was seen swimming in the lake, it was easy to reach the animal with a canoe, and knock it on the head. Samuel Warring discovered a large deer near the residence of Major Strang. He fired at it, and it fell apparently ,dead. Very thoughtlessly, he ran up to it, and caught it by its hind legs, intending to turn it on its back so as to get at its throat more conveniently, when it sprang up suddenly and attempted to escape. He was a muscular youth, and had suf- ficient strength not only to maintain his hold, but to keep the aaiimal's rear feet in the air, while the deer made frantic elibrts to run with its fore feet. It dragged young Warring after it at a rate which threatened to bring him to the ground; but he managed to keSep upon his feet. Finally the deer jumped across a fallen sapling in such a way that Samuel pressed its legs across the sapling, and by bearing his whole weight upon liis end, kept the other end from getting away. He then hallooed for help. But as no one was near, no help came. The deer, however, bled to death, and its captor had all the glory of the adventure, although he was minus a suit of clothes, which were tohi to shreds by rapid locomotion through the bushes and briers, and the deer's hoofs: Sometimes the deer-hunter met with unexpected game. An- anias Warring, while chopping near Dutch pond, discovered that venison was very plenty in that quarter, and that two run- ways passed within rine-shot of a boulder some six or eight feet high. He made up his mind that that rock afforded a capital standing-place, and that a deer-hunt by moonlight would l?e both novel and interesting. Accordingly, after speaking to hia * Ananias and Jonathan Warring, in 1805, bought 150 acres on the oast side of Pleas- ant lalie of William A. Thompson, and setlled there. The tract then owned by them ooTorfl part of the Trowbridge place. Fijty acres of it is owned by a grandson of An- knias. Jonathan soon remoyei from the town. THE TOWK OP JTHOMPBON. 543 family about the matter, he took his rifle and tvent to the boulder, where he expected to watch all night, and return in the morning in time to have venison-steak for breakfast. There was snow on the ground and a bripjht moon overhead, so that he could see a passing object very distinctly. He watched the two run-ways closely for some time, but saw no game, and heard no sound except the hooting of an owl. His vigil was becoming dull and tedious, when, pat pat, came the sound of rapid steps, and a dark object was passing along one of the paths. With- out pausing to discover what it was, he fired, .when the animal rushed at him furiously, and attempted to jump upon the rock. It would have reached him, and the snarling jaws would have buried their white fangs in his flesh, if he had not made a vig- orous thrust with his rifle, and pushed the brute liack. Again it leaped, and again, with no other result, when it ran one way and Warring another. He reached home at an unexpected hour ; but brought with him no venison. Visiting the boulder next day, with his boys, he -discovered by the tracks and blood around the rock that he had shot at ana wounded a very large wolf. These animals were numerous in that vicinity in early times ; but it was not common for them to be as pugnacious as the one Warring fired at.* Talcot Wakeman in his young days often hunted with the Warrings, and knew just where to go to start a deer, and have it run into Pleasant lake, where it was usually killed with a paddle — a way of securing the animal not now considered sportsmanlike — but was then held to be exciting and full of fun. Ah, how joyously would the young men of that period spring into the old-style dug-out, how vigorously would they apply the paddle ! how keenly would they watch the chances of heading off the antlers, moving silently and steadily for the opposite shore ! how carefully would they " balance " as they gaye the fatal biow, to avoid an upset of the dug-out, and a floundering in the middle of the lake! and how glad was the halloo when the blood of the antlered monarch dyed the crystal waters ! In September, 1816, AVakeman came to Ananias Warring's, and proposed that they should have a hunt on the west side of the lake. Warring was always ready for sport when he had no pressing business, and it was soon arranged that his visitor and Samuel Warring, (who was then a young man,) should go to Dill's hill, with two good dogs, and rouse the game, while Ananias watched the Take and managed the dug-out. Young Waning did not take with him a gun. The drivers found their work rather unpleasant. They were obliged to pass through jungles of rhododendrons, and when * statement of Samuel Warring. 644 HIBTOBY OF SULUVAN CWUNTY. they reached the foot of the hill back of Orran D. Shaver's, they sat down to rest, while one of the dogs scoured the woods. Soon they heard his bark on the summit, when the other dog ran up tiie hill. Wakeman, who understood tlie language of dogs, declared that a bear had been treed, and both men hurried forward. Sure enough, there was one of those animals about forty feet from the ground, in a hemlock, watching the dogs. Wakeman fired, and the game tumbled down, and lav upon its back quivering as if it was dead. Shouting "Keep oif the dogs ! " he ran toward one of them to hold it ; but he was not quick enough: for both animals caught the bear by the neck, when it grasped them Avith its fore legs and held them as in advice. Wakeman, intent on saving the dogs, told Warring to take hold of one of the bear's hind feet, while he took the other, to drag the beast down hill, hoping to make it let go of the dogs. It was like hauling a butchered cow, but answered the intended purpose. The bear released the dogs, and made a vicious pass at the men, who dodged and got beyond bruin's reach veiy quickly. It then ran up a hemlock, and did not pause until it was partially concealed in the thick foliage of the top, where it was difficult to hit it with a rifle. Wakeman fired at it again. There was a trickling of blood down the rough bark of the tree ; but bruin did not fall. He shot into its carcass, one after another, until he had expended seven balls, and had but one imperfect one left. He then retired a short distance, and determined to wait for the bear to fall or to come down. In about half an hour it descended stem foremost, and as it reached the ground, one of the dogs seized hold of it, and was instantly in the powerful arms of the bear, and its bones snapping and cracking. Wakeman, however, lodged his last bullet in the brain of the blaok brute, and killed it. On examination, it was found that seven bullets had entered the shaggy hide back of the fore shoulder,- and that the palm of a hand would cover all the holes at the same time ; but that none of the bullets had penetrated the heart, although all passed close to it. The animal was very poor, but so heavy that the hunters found it very difficult to carry it out of the woods, and get it, to the house of Mr. Comstock, who lived in the neighborhood. The carcass was entirely destitute of fat ; but the skin was very large and fine. It was estimated that, if the animal had been in good condition, it would have weighed at least five hundred pounds.* On more than one occasion, the Smiths found themselves literally without a roof above their heads. Once while Mr. Smith was absent, there was a great storm of wind and rain. * statement of Samuol Warring. THE TOWN OF .THOMPSON. M& The bark-roof of the hut was blown away, and tiie rain speedily saturated everything in the house which would absorb water, which was several inches deep on some parts of the floor. Mrs. Smith placed her little children where tney -were partially shel- tered, and was diligently sweeping out the water, when her neighbor and kinsman, Eliud Lindley, came to her relief, and, with Smith Benedict^* assisted in "putting things right" once more. On another occasion, the family were gathered around their ample fire-plaoe, in which glowed a huge section of a tree which would have put to shame the famous yule-logs of our British ancestors. The labors of the day were over — a day remarkable for a heavy fall of snow — and they were calmly awaiting the hour of retiring to rest. Silently but rapidly *the feather-like flakes descended. The storm without was unheeded because all was comfortable within, when they were startled by suspi- cious sounds above them. Snap t crack ! The roof was giving^ away under the weight of snow which had fallen ! Mr. Smith slowly and cautiously ascended the ladder by which the loft was reached-r-stairs were then unknown at Pleasant lake — when there was a crash. One-half of the roof slid over one side of the enclosure, while the other half, with two feet or more of snow, descended to the puncheons of the upper floca: ! What a catastrophe for a stormy winter-night, when the woodland- roads were impassable to almost every one of the family! All lived through it, however, and in after-days, surrounded by every comfort, related the adventures of that dreary time to their descendants. As a community, the pioneers of North Settlement were remarkable for rigid morality. Sathanus should not have had a lodgement in the neighborhood, and yet he found it as easy to get there as he had to scale the walls of Eden. At Pleasant ike the devil entered, clothed in the petticoats of Mrs. Baker — a stout, adipose matron, destitute of beauty and not even comely. Thereafter her ambition seemed to be to lead captive, the hus- bands of the vicinity. In this category her own was not included. To him she was a trouble and torment. Her first attempt was on James Bailey ; but not meeting with that degree of success to which she aspired, she cast her net for John Matthews. He was caught in her toils, such as they were, and the two disap- peared simultaneously, and it was said went to Canada. t She was the first coquette of the town, and more consistent than modern females of that class. * Smith Benedict was an adventurous and fearless boy. While living irith Nehe- miah Smith, he caught a bear several months old, and brought it home in his arms, not regarding its teeth and claws as inconvenient impediments. t Matthews was spritely, intelligent and handsome, while his guilty companion was gross in mind and bodj.—itS3. of B. 0. ChUds. 35 646 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN OOUSTY. Previous to leaving, Matthews sent his wife, a young and attractive woman, to her friends at Haverstraw, under the pre- t-ense that her aceouchment, which was near, would not be safe at their home in the woods, where no physician could bo had. Apparently this was kind and considerate on his part ; but it was a mBtce trick, to get her out of the way. On the 7th of December, 1805, while she was at Haverstraw, he sold his farm to Smith for about $900. As his wife did not then sign the deed, he left one-third of the purchase monej' in Smith's hajids, direct- ing the latter to pay the amount to her when she relinquished her right in the place. He then left with Mrs. Baker. Smith was afraid he would have trouble with Mrs. Matthews, but the poor woman had no spirit for a legal contest, and on tiie 3d of April, 1806, appeared before Judge Thompson and added her name to the deed of sale. She then returned to her friends with the babe which never saw its father, and one or two of her eldest children, and never visited North Settlement again. Matthews took with him a part of his children, selecting those not old enough to talk. Mr. Smith moved to the Matthews place as soon as he bought it, and continued to reside there until his death, which occurred May 25, 1854, when he was 83 years of age. For many years, he was a deacon of the Presbytesrian Church of Monticello. During a residence of half a c^ury in the town, no member of the agricultural class of Thompson, enjoyed a higher degree of respect. Eliud Lindley lived for five years in a log-house in the orchard of what has since been known as the DeVoe farm, at the cross- roads, in North Settlement. He then moved to a log-house opposite the gate that leads to the Miner Benedict house, now (1870) owned by Samuel Stickney. This log-house was a very primitive affair. There was not a window in it. In summer light was admitted through the door, when the weather was pleasant enough to leave it open ; and in the winter it was not lighted at all, except by the fire necessary to warm it, and by a few stray beams that found their way down the chimney through the smoke. Here Mr. Lindley, managed to Uve comfortably for six years. He then moved to the farm since owned by his son, Eufiis B. Lindley, where he lived during tha remainder of his life. Eliud Lindley was a very industrious and prudent man. ^ Those who did not imitate him in this respect, but sneered at his careful management, generally became better acquainted than he ever was with constables and sheriffs. In his latter days he was singularly afflicted. He became deaf, and bUnd, and bed-ridden. Finally life remained, and that was aU, for his mind was a blank. Fuial hands administered THE T^WN OF THOMPSON. 647 to his necessities ■with patience and kindness tmtil he saw the light of another world, and he awoke from what to him was a night of existence on eartiii to the reaUties of the future. He died February 2, 1859, aged 86 years. His wife Elizabeth, who was two years younger, survived him but six days. For several years after Mr. Lindley settled in the town, there was no road from the North Settlement to MonticeUo. After John P. Jones commenced seUing groceries and a few other articles, there was a hne of marked trees between the two neighborhoods. This was not always a safe guide; for on a cloudy day, Mr. Lindley, with Nehemiah Smith and Titus Lock- wood, went to Jones' place to buy a few necessary articles, and while on their way back, lost the line of trees, and not being able to see the sun, did not know which way tq, travel. After wandering ai'ound until they became tired, they managed to make a fire, with the aid of steel, flint and punk, and prepared to make themselves as comfortable as possible. Loekwood, who was a light-hearted, jovial man, seemed to imagine that it was his duty to keep up the spirits of the party. He made the woods echo with all the comic songs he could remember, and presented their dilemma in the most ludicrous phases he could imagine. His companions laughed heartily at his sallies, and all spent a rather pleasant night — much more so than did their friends at home, who were greatly alarmed, and continued to blow horns imtil a late hour, hoping the lost ones would hear, and be guided out of the woods hj the noise.' The next morn- ing, when the sun rose, Lindley and the others had no difficulty in getting home. , Enoch Comstock, Joshua Foster and Enoch Crosby emigrated from South East soon after Nehemiah Smith and Eliud Lindley, and settled in North Settlement. The new comers were men of excellent repute. Two of them became deacons of the Churches to which they belonged, Und the other, on account of his moral worth, was called a deacon by general consent. The life of each was conspicuous for usefulness and probity, and each lived beyond the average number of years allotted to man. Crosby m many respects was quaint and original. We have heard the following anecdote of him : He bought a mare which the seller warranted to be with, foal. Crosby had reason to anticipate a fine colt ; but great was his surprise at finding by her side, one morning, a young beast the like of which he had never seen. It was a diminutive, misshapen thing, with mon- strous ears, one of which reposed on its neck, while the other pointed straight at Crosby, as if in derision ! He was aston- ished — disgusted, and called loudly for his gun, declaring that such a "Glitter" should not remain on his farml And it did not. 548 HISTORY OF SCIiUVAK COUNTY. Baker, K^ey and Whelpley removed from the town. BobertS, the Welshmaji, went to the city of New York to visit friends who lived there, and when returning on a North river sloop, was drowned.* His widow married an old man named Mat- thews, the father of the John Matthews already mentioned. In time, James Holmes, Nathan Bumham, Aiidrew Comstock, Garret Tymesori, Aaron Benedict, John Gray,. Stephen Trow- bridge, and others, were added to the settlement. Tymeson helped build the Neversink and Delaware bridges. ]ji addition to William A. Thompson, Cornelius Bay was a large landholder in the north part of the town. Bay lived in Hie city of New York. A majority of those who located in the North Settlement, were induced to do so by the first-named gentleman. On the 2d of May, 1811, he sold one hundred acres to Amasa Crane and another hundred to Stephen Hamilton. On the 14th of the same month, Z. Hatch, Joseph Huntington, and Jared Huntington each bought a lot of him, as well as others at an earlier or later day. This land cost Thompson about one dollar per acre, and he received $5.50 for it. He owned a tier of lots running from the Neversink almost to the Mongaup by the way of Thompsonville, Pleasant lake and Dutch pond. Monticello was founded by Samuel Frisbee Jones and his brother John Paul Jones. They were natives of the town of Goshen, Litchfield county, Connecticut, where their father, Samuel Jones, was a farmer. He was a patriot of 1776, and served in the Bevolutionary army as an ensign. While his sons, Samuel F. and John P. were younft he removed to licbanon, Columbia county, where he died in 1836, aged 84 years. Of the early history of Samuel F. we know nothing. iThe other was a merchant's clerk, arid, before coming to Sullivan, engaged in trade. The first was an active, energetic man, of quick, decided utterance, when he did riot stutter. In his early days, his mind was sound and vigorous, and his executive talent of a superior order. His intellect fathomed a project promptly, and he was at once ready to engage or avoid participating in it. John P. was of slow and hesitating speech. As a business man he was tedious and tardy; but sure to reach a safe conclu- Bion so far as his own interests were involved. He was cautioua and sagacious, slow and sure. He never engaged in any matter which he did not understand thoroughly. He saw a cause, and traced it to its logical end with infinite pains and tmerring persistency. • Bobcrts occaeionally went to Orange connty to work for farmers and othen. Once, while returning he encountered a large number of skunks, seven of which b* killed with a sickle. He said, " Dev stink so, I could not scbmell 'em at oil I " [MSS. of B. Q. Childs. THE TOWN OF THOMPSON. 549 The two were as much unlike as a mastiff and a sleuth-hownd. Soon after the Newburgh and Cochecton Turnpike Company was chartered, Samuel F, Jones became interested in its affairs. In 1802, he explored the forests west of Mamakating valley for a feasible route, and came to the conclusion that when that road was completed, a n€w coufnty would be formed from the south- western territory of Ul^er, and that there would be a very considerable influx of settlers to the region thus opened. Believing that the capital of this new county would be on the important thoroughfare from the Hudson to the Delaware, he decided that its present location was a favorable point, and in March, 1803, bought of John Johnston, the executor of Giilian Verplanok, deceased, 1,415| acres in the east halt of Great Lot 14. The Verplanck family had owned this land ior more than half a century. Land in this quarter had been a drug in the market ; but was now considered worth about four dollars per acre, in consequence of the projected turnpike; nevertheless, Johnston, whose sister had an interest in Verplanck's estate, was so eager to dispose of the tract, that he accepted an offer of Jones to give $2,831 for it. The latter explained his object to his brother, John P., and that individual soon after bought of Charles McEvers of New York, an adjoining tract in Great Lot 13, containing 445^ acres for $1,782. He also bought of his brother an undivided half of the 1,415^ acres.* The brothers determined to commence making improvements without delay. As Samuel F. Jones was occupied in making the turnpike road, these improvements devolved on John P. The latter came here in 1803, with eleven men,t (one of whom was a mUl-wright) and a cook. The first thing done was to put up a temporary shelter west of the village. This was made of logs, poles and bark, and in it the party slept and the necessary food was cooked. Work was then commenced on a saw-mill, the site of which was between the foundry of Eli Fairchild and the tannery of E. L. Burnham & Son.| Help to raise the &ame of the mill * When the Jones brothers first came to view the site of their future village, while wandering in the swamps and through the laurel jungles, they lost sight of each othei^ imd did not get together again until night. They were terribly frightened and nearl^ exhausted. One of them had made a fire, by which he expected to remain solitary and alone all night, and the other was about to drop upon the ground, helpless and worn out, when ne discovered his brother's fire, and joined him. t One of these was Samuel Mitteer, who died in the town of Fallsburgh, Novem- ber 17, 1870, aged 91 years. He came to the United States from France (of which he was a native) when seven years old. In his youth he became a carpenter and joiner, and worked for Aaron Burr at the time Burr shot Alexander Hamilton. Before the duel, he saw his employer practice with his pistols until he had filled a post in his back-yftrd with lead. Mitteer helped build the first houses in MonticeUo, and William A. Thompson's mansion in Tompsonville. I The stream on which this mill was situated, was once known as Saw-mill brook. Kow It has no name above the Willett place, where It is called Smith Meadow brook. 550 H18T0KY OF SULLIVAH COUOTT. was obtained with much difficulty, and it was found that so few persons were present that the work could not be done in less than two days. Sawed lumber could not be procured nearer than the Albion mills, at Thompsonville, and the only route to reach the latter place was by the way of Bridgeville and Wake- man's ford. Even there a sufficient quantity for purposes absolutely indispensable could not be bought at any price, and the workmen were obliged to split and hew plank for the mill- flume. John P. Jones has recorded the fact that while erecting this mill, two of his workmen, in attempting to go to it from the log-house, lost the path near where the Methodist church now stanSs, and wandered through swamps and laurel-thickets for eight hours, without knowing where they wese. In such bad condition was the Saeket road at that time, that he was com- pelled to pay ten dollars for the transportation of six hundred pounds of material over it. The miU was so far finished by the 1st of December, that it could be used for sawing lumber^ whrai John P. Jones and his brother returned to New Lebanon, where they spent the winter. Early in April, John P. came back, and after putting the mill in operation, cleared and seeded lands on Lot 77, west of the village. The brothers soon after built a grist-mill a short distance above Burnham & Son's tannery. It was a small affair, and intended for their own use principally. The route of the Turnpike Company through Thompson was not determined until the spring of this year, (1804). Thompsonville (or Albion, as it was then called,) was a flourishing settlement, and its founder, who had recently been appointed a Judge of Ulster county, was a gentlemen of standing and influence, the owner of 20,000 acres of land, and the interests of a large majority of the residents of the town were identified with his. Judge Thompson and his friends and dependants wanted the road to run through their settlement. They did not apprehend formi- dable opposition from the Jones brothers, who were newcomers, and who could command comparatively little local influence. But the residents of Thompsonville were mistaken. They underrated these obscure strangers, who had a few Baonths previously erected an insignificant saw-mill in the woods. Samuel P. Jones' connection with the Turnpike Company, aUd his frequent intercourse with those who controlled its affairs^ gave him a preponderating influence. The road hne was nin and estabUshed precisely where Samuel F. Jones desired to have it. The brothers then located their intended village, and befbre there was even a log-hut in it, surveyed the streets and thd "public equate," the lines of which they marked on the forest- THE TOWN OF THOMPSON. 651 trees! At the same time, they gave the name of Monticello* to tiheir unbuilt village. For beauty Monticello is not surpassed by ;iny village of an equal population. Its main or principal street is one mile in length, eight rods wide, and straight. Its park or green is central, on the side of a gentle elevation, the summit of which is crowned with the Coui-t-house, Clerk's office and Presbyterian church. Its private residences are located back from the street, and generally have pretty yards in firontj adorned with flowers and ornamental trees, and the buildings themselves indicate that their owners are wealthy .and refined people. All these things (except the last,) are the result of a fixed purpose on the part of two apparently utilitarian Yankees, who were not considered remarkable as lovers of the lesthe^c, and this pur- pose was formed when the village^site was literally a cover for wolves and bears! Their rival. Judge Thompson, planned a noble mansion for himself. They founded a beautiful capital for the county — a splendid monument of correct taste and far- reaching enterprise, and stamped upon it indelible character- istics which will proclaim their wisdom and worth to future generations. After surveying the principal streets of the village, the brothers advertised in the newspapers of Dutchess and other counties that they would give meclwnics and others, village-lots of one acre each if they would build and settle on them. John P. Jones then selected a lot for his own residence, and, although not an expert ax-man, on the 4;th of September, 1804, cut down the first tree with his own hands, believing that the time would come when the act would entitle him to as much distinction as if he had laid the corner-stone of a fine edifice. AVith his hired help, he cleared the lot, and built the house, which was ready to be occupied early in December. This building was subse- quently enlarged and improved, and continued to be his residence until the time of his death. Others soon settled in the place, as we shall more particularly set forth as soon as we give a brief statement of the subsequent history of these enterprising brothers. Samuel F. Jones was the first postmaster and one of the first Judges of the County Court of Sullivan. He also was elected Supervisor for several terms. Unfortunately, he was convivial in bis tastes and habits, and in the end gave free indulgence to his appetite for spirituous hquors. His wife followed his ex- ample, and sometimes became so crazed with rum that she appeared publicly in a nude condition. His real estate gradu- * ifonticello is from two Latin words, signifying Heavenly Mountain. It was given to tBe pl'aoe because Samuel F. and John F, Jones were ardent admirers of Tbomae J«£SsF8oa, who invented the name, and gave it to the place of his residence. 552 HISTORY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. ally passed into the hands of his brother. He became poor, and died in the prime of his life. His wife survived him until Jime 21, 1832. They left two children — a son and daughter. The latter was living in Port Jervis several years since. Henry, the son, an amiable and inoffensive man| early became a sot, and died, August 24, 1838, almost friendless and alone, at the age of 33 years, in a small building which stood on the lot now occupied by the dwelling of Thornton A. Niven. John P. Jones was the first Clerk of the County, and held Ihe office for about ten years. He was also a Supervisor of his town; postmaster from 1812 to 1840; a State Senator irom 1835 to 1838 ; and a member of the Electoral College of New York in 1856. Until his death he did not cease to labor for the interests of Monticello, and perhaps no one felt more than he the disappointment and indignation which was mani- fested in the interior of the county, when the New York and Erie Eailroad was located in the valley of the Delaware. Previous to 1804, he married a young lady who was remark- able for her beauty of mind and person; but she soon died childless. Soon after coming to Monticello, he married Phebe Ecker of Newburgh.* By her he had two sons and several daughters. One of the sons (Samuel) died in childhood ; the other (William) married, and was for a time a merchant in Monticello. He died in Newburgh in 1841, leaving one son (John P., jr.,) and two daughters. John P. jr. married Mary, eldest daughter of Col. I. P. Tremain, and died in Novembet, 1866, without male issue. With him died the last descendant in the male line of either of the founders of Monticello. After the death of his wife Phebe, John P. Jones married a^ain ; but, as we have already intimated, had no children by his last consort. Piatt Pelton, a young tanner of South East, Putnam county, N. Y., having heard of the flattering prospects of Monticello, came here in the summer of 1804, to satisfy himself in regard to its advantages. He found a saw-mill and a temporary shanfy; but not another building of any kind — not even a barn. He saw enough, however, to induce him to come to the plaje, with his amiame and beautiful young wife, in 1805, and build the second house erected in Monticello. That house still stands on the corner of Main street and the road leading to Burnham & Son's tannery. He also constructed a tan-yard, and cleared * Mt8. Phebe Jones wag a daughter of Wolfert Ecker, a Lieutenant in the Bevohi- tionary ariny, and chairman of the Committee of Kafety of Newburgh. He remored from Sleepy Hollow to Newburgh in 1772, and died there in 1799. Hybout Ecker, his father, was a son of Wolfert Ecker, the proprietor of "WoUert's Roost," ("Sunny Side,'0 the subject of one of Washington Irving'g Sketches. (See Bolton's History of Westchester Cotinty, and Rnttenber's Newburgh. THE TOWN OP THOMPSON. 553 land south of the village. He was an energetic and useful citizen, and was one of our most respectable residents until his death. He held several oiSces of trust and responsibility, was well-read and intelligent — a Judge of the County — and the father of several sons and daughters whom he trained so as to honor his name. It is not probable, however, that his family will be perpetuated here. In this year (1805) John P. Jones built a Ikrge blacksmith- shop, and cleared and cultivated several acres of land. Miles Curtis put up a house, and made the turnpike-road through the embryo village. Besides this, Curtis JAualey commenced ouild- ing a hotel — the tavern since kept by S. W. B. Chester, Amos Holmes, David Halsey, George Wiggins, Ira Weed, Asa C. Berry and Legrand Morris. The Courts of the county were afterwards held ia this building until the Court-house was com- pleted.* Previous to 1805, there were settlers south-west of Monticello besides Terwilliger and Litts. On the 22d of March, 1805, Samuel Pelton and John Knapp, two of the Eoad Commission- ers of the town,+ met at the house of Abraham Waring, and "resolved that road district No. 16 contain the road from the Sacket road near Hog Back Eidge ; thence past the house of Mr. Letz, Samuel Pelton, Isaac Wells and Jared Jones ; from thence to where it intersects the Sacket road near the Mongap stream." These Commissioners were elected in April, 1804. One of these Commissioners (Samuel Pelton) bought a lot of land near the Sackett pond in 1802, and built on it a rude log- cabin, into which he moved with his young family in April, 1803. He was a native of Montgomery, Orange county, New York, where he was bom on the 25th of March, 1776. His parents were pious people, and were connected with the Presbyterian Church of Goodwill. "In his third years he was brought very low by sickness, and when the disease seemed almost at a fatal crisis, his father, to whom the boy was very dear, retired to his closet to plead for the life of the lad." While thus engaged he felt that he was premonished that his child would recover and become a pious and useful man ; and so clear was his belief that this would be so, that he went to his wife, who was weeping over the cradle in which the infant was apparently "nigh unto death," and comforted her, assuring her that he felt a conviction that their babe would be spared, and become a worthy servant of the Almighty. The child lived; and the communication which he declared he had received as a response to his suppli- cation was indelibly impressed upon his mmd, as well as upon the mind of the mother. It was this, it is believed, that induced * The first Circuit was bold in Bloomingburgh. t Johannes Miller, of Miller Settlement, was the other CiommiBSioner. 554 HISTORY OF aUIililVAN COUNTY. tbem to give Samu«l a classioal education, so that he would be fitted for the ministry of the Church, if God, as they believed he would, should call him to serve as a teacher in his sanctuary. But little more is known of his childhood. It is believed, however, that he was conspicuous for good conduct and intelli- gence ; for when he connected himself, before his majority, with the Goodwill Church, his pastor, E.ev. Andrew King, strongly advised him to commence without delay the study of theology. Mr. King was seconded by Samuel's father, who offered to aid his son with all that was needful. The young man at first hes- itated, and finally expressed his aversion to the scheme of his pastor and father. When he was twenty-one years of age, he jnairried Eleanor Moule, a young lady of pious parents. She was a woman of great moral worth, and lived with him in amity and love for more than sixty years. , During the first four or five years of their married me, they resided with his father, and performed their full share of the labors of the farm. Being as robust in body as he was in mind, he eventually resolved to remove to the wilds of Sullivan, and hew his way to a competence. This project met -mih decided opposition from his parents, and especially from his mother. They regarded it as a " wild under- taking ; and she for the first time told him of his dangerous ill- ness ; of his father's prayers ; of what they regarded as a Divine assurance; of his recovery ; and ofhis solemn dedication to God. Then addressivg him tenderly, she said : "A part of that which was so intimated to your father we have lived to see fulfilled ; but now you are going to bury yourself in the woods, where you will never be "of any use in the world." Her words and tears did not prevail. He went to the wilder- ness, and afterwards declared that, if he had aocomphshed a good work, "the woods" was his starting-point. He did not leave his religion behinS him. " He lifted up axes upon thick trees ;" he leveled the forests, and made arable land of his wild acres ; he took an active iuterest in the civil affairs of his neighborhood ; he also labored to give shape and consist- ency to the moral elements of the community in which his lot was cast. Strong arms and unflagging energy were necessary to reclaim the natural wastes around him ; a soul actuated by the most lofty motives was necessary to plant and cultivate the seeds of virtue in the scattered clearings of a wilderness-coumtry, where moral ties were weak, and evil influences powerful. )Tot long after his settlement in Thompson, he began opera- fions for the improvement of the people by gathering them at suitable places on the Lord's day, by praying with and exhorting them, and by ^ving them religious instruction ; and there being no ordained Presbyterian minister in the town, he was soon THE TOWN OF THOMPSON. 555 oall&d upon to officiate at funerak. His efforts musthaVebeen acceptable and successful; for in 1810, and under his super- vision, a Church was organized at White Lake ; and soon after another at Monticello. Of the last he was one of the Euling Elders wlio were first ordained. jA.bout this time also, he as- sisted the people of Liberty and Cocheoton in securing Church- orgaaiizations. At considerable loss of time and means, he often represented his Church in the Hudson Presbjtery, where ho eloquently described the dearth of grace which prevailed in Sullivan, and the methods adopted to supply the spiritual neces- sities of the people. So earnest and successful was he in his labors, that he may be styled the father of Presbyterianism in Sullivan.* He confcued to labor as a farmer and layi-missionary until 1814 or 1815. At some time previous to 1814, there was a re- markable awakening on the subject of rehgion in this region. The revival was a general one, and was confined to no particular denomination. • The Baptists of the town were then numerous and influential, owing perhaps to the exertions of the Rev. Luke Davies, an early missionary whose life was devoted to farming, and the cure of bodies and souls. Mr. Pelton took an active part in this revival. He was a shrewd observer of character, and seemed to have a prescience of the future standing and in- fluence of the several converts. As he could not hope to catch' all in his net, he endeavored to secure those whom he considered the most important. By conferring with these "in season and out of season," he gathered them into what he considered the true fold, while the Baptists secured the others. The subsequent history of the two societies in this town shows the measure of his foresight, and that the wisdom of the serpent will sometimes be lead to more important results than the harmlessness of the dove ; albeit, the Christian character cannot approach the Divine Exemplar unless it be tempered by both knowledge and inno- cence. When he was nearly forty years of age, some of the leading members of the Hudson Presbytery, among whom was his old pastor, Eev. Andrew King, being well convinced that he would be most useful in holy orders, strongly advised him to pursue a course of study to fit himself for the ministry. He yielded to their advice, and in a few months completed his theological course, and was licensed to preach. He soon after received a call to the Churches of Hempstead and Haverstraw, in Eockland county. This call he accepted. His advent in those places was followed by a revival, which so built up the congregations under his charge that for many yearS they were harmonious and flourishing. * Sketch of the Life and Death of Bev. Samuel Pelton, by Kev. Balph Bull. 66^ HISTOBT OF SULUVAK OOUNTy. About the year 1834, he engaged in a controrersy with » Methodist preacher on the subject of Calvinism and Arminian* ism. The debate lasted several days, and was published by Mr. Pelton in a small volume, which was much admired by his friends. His pastoral relations at Haverstraw and Hempstead were uniformly happy and continued unbroken until the 64th year of his age, when he received a stroke of paralysis, which so impaired his physical and mental faculties, that he resigned his charge, and soon after returned to his old home near Monticello, where he continued to reside from 1840 to July 10, 1864, when he died, aged 88 years.* In his prime, Mr. Pelton's intellect was vigorous and its ema- nations original. He was bold and. honest What he believed he advocated in open day, and regardless of consequences to himself. His course as to the cause of total abstinence from alcoholic beverages is an illustration. He believed that a tem- perate use of them was lawful, and not condemned by the Word of God. As a clergyman he stood alone on this subject ; but this fact did not deter him from avowing his opinions whenever and wherever they met with opposition. We believe he even published a book, in which he condemned the principles and conduct of the temperance societies of the day. Jared Jones was an uncle of Samuel F. and John P. Jones, In 1804, he settled in the woods near Sackett's pond. He was a slave-owner and a man of property; but lacked the energy and enterprise of his nephews. He has left no descendants in the town, and none of his acts have caused him to be remem- bered. He was well known to William Morgan, Piatt Pelton, Daniel Litts and others as an honest, companionable man, who loved to wander in the woods in search of game, accompanied by his favorite negro servant. This slave was a large, stout, bold fellow, who could throw the carcass of a deer or bear across his shoidders, and tramp with it for miles by his master's side. Jones' principal hunting-ground was the big woods between his cabin and Monticello. He killed many deer near the track of the Monticello and Port Jervis railroad. In the spring of 1805, he and his black man were in these woods, and intended to camp out and remain two days; but for some cause the negro returned home before the first night. In the evening, Mr. Jones built a fire, and passed the night very comfortably. The next morning was cloudy, and there was a prospect of a rainy day. Uncle Jared, as he was called by his friends, not liking a deer-hunt in a stormy day, concluded to return to his home, and started as he supposed in the right direction ; but, after travel- • Bev. Balph Bull. THE TOWN OV THOMPSON. 567 ing an hour or two, came to the place where he had spent the night. He started again, hoping to keep in a straight line, but was unsuccessful. As night was near, he reached his old camp- ing-place, and at once realized his situation ; he was lost and bewildered. He rebuilt his fire,, and hungry and weary, laid down by it on his couch of hemlock-boughs, where his sleep was disturbed by the howling of wolves. At day-dawn, fearing that he would never be extricated; that he would die from exhaustion, and his body be devoured by wild beasts, he cut his name on tiie trunk of a tree, and once more commenced his weary travels. In the afternoon he laid down in despair and, as he supposed, to die. But succor was at hand. He was missed. The few men of the region were alarmed, and went in seajoh of him. He was found by Williaoi Morgan, whose widow related these facts more than half a century afterwards to the author of ihe " Hunters of Sullivan." A few years since, John S. Eraser, of Monticello, while hunt- ing for cattle, beoame bewildered near the scene of Uncle Jared's adventure, and was missing about the same length of time. Isaac Wells, who lived between the clearing of Jared Jones and the house of Samuel Pelton, was a respectable resident, and a man of note, as appears from the ancient records of the town. He left no descendants in this section, A small stream in his neighborhood was named "Wells' brook, Nathaniel Goldsmith assisted in opening the Sackett roadj and in 1801, settled on the farm now owned by Aaron Young. In 1805, Daniel Clark bought 287 acres about one mile north of Monticello, on the Liberty road, for which he paid one thousand dollars. He soon became dissatisfied with his loca- tion. He thought it was too far from the turnpike; that it occupied too much time to go to and from the settled parts of the country, etc. The Messrs. Jones, learning his troubles, offered him one hundred acres on the north side of the village for eight dollars per acre. He examined the land, and decided that it was too rough for him, and soon afterwards bought the Webster farm, on the turnpike west of Monticello. He next sold this, and, after living at Bridgeville sometime, finally settled down for life on the east side of the Neversink, near the creek which bears his name, but which wafe previously known as Grassy brook, where he engaged in farming and lumbering, and where he did not enjoy increased facilities of intercourse with the outside world. Mr. Clark was a man of respectable abilities, and was often called to fill important positions. He was several times a Supervisor, and was a Member of Assembly in 1814: and 1819, and a member of the Constitutional Conven- 558 HI8T0BT OF STTLUVAN COUNTX. tion of 1821.* Besides these he held seyeral minor offices. He was a man of grave and severe countenance, and was so reticent that he was never known to utter a foolish remark He was much esteemed by the leading citizens of the town, and certainly deserved their good. opinion. When Daniel Olark moved to the "West Settlement, David Hammond was living in a log-tenement east of his (Clark's), house. Hammond had been unsuccessful in business, and came here to better his condition. He never became wealthy ; but his descendants have been amongst the most prosperous business- men of SuUivan. We have said on the preceding page that Daniel Clark settled in the woods about one mile from Monticello, on the Liberty road, and left there because he was so far from neighbors. One of those who owned the place after Clark's removal was Andrew Oomstock, a dashing, impulsive man, who had at one time many friends as well as sonje enemies. The latter were generally close and careful dealers, a class of men whom Comstock despised and ridiculed. It would have been well for him and his family if he had been more like his enemies, for by too great liberality, he squandered his estate, and became very poor. Oomstock liked fine domestic animals, and generally had horses, etc., of extra quahty. One of his sheep — a wether — was of umisual size, and the pride, of his heart. He was never weary of exhibiting it to visitors, and declared it was as large as a yearling-steer. At night his sheep were yarded behind a barn nearly opposite his house, where it was supposed they were safe from wild animals. . But a bear entered Comstock's fold, and killed and partly devoured his big wether, and then retired to the swamp through which run the upper waters of Kinne brook. Com- stock found the tracks of the offender, and made up his mind that if bruin undertook to wear shoes, nothing short of number twelves would answer. Soon the news spread that the big sheep '^as killed by a monstrous bear, and that Comstock had pro- cured a steel-trap large enough to hold a buffalo, and after baiting it with the remains of the wether, had set it near his barn. In a day or two, tlie trap and the I'og to which it was chained were missing, and the Stoddards, Lindleys, Smiths and others gathered at Comstock's to join in the search for the missing articles, and to help kill the bear. They soon found what they looked for in the swamp near by, when all paused in awe at the sight of the huge animal. Its travels had ceased because the log to which the trap was fastened had met with an * Ch»i-les Baiter, the eccentric Bloomingtnrgh lawyer, was a candidate opposed to Mr. Clark ; but was defeated. THE TOWN OF THOMPSON. 55£ obstBuotion. Finding farther flight impossible, the beast gal- lantly faced its pursuers, and, seated on its haunches, was ready for battle. Comstock was a colonel of militia. Brilliant and gay with , tinsiel and lace and feathers, and mounted on a steed made frantic by his merciless spurs, he hdd a truly martial bearing when at the heasd of his regiment. He was reputed a brave as well as dashing officer, and here was an opportunity to place his reputation, beyond cavil. When his neighbors ypaused, the colonel promptly advanced, with a well-charged " horse-pistol " in either hand — pistols, the handsome buts of which had so often protruded from his holsters as his war-horse pranced, and curveted, and vaulted on the village green before admiring thousands. He knew that the trap held the bea% securely, and hence boldly advaaiced with a military step, until he was within a few feet of the animal, when, with a steady eye and firm hand, he cocdly took aim with both pistols, andt fired. One of the balls struck the bear in the nose, (the nose of a bear is as sensitive as a hog's) and down bruin dropped, apparently dead. The colonel was jubilant and exultant, with a shout, he sprang forward, and jumped astride of what he supposed a breathless carcass. But the bear was not dead. The bullet had for a moment disarranged its nervous system,, after which it uttered a sound compounded of a snort and a grunt, andquickly got upon its legs, with Comstock on its back. Comstock dismounted so hastily that he never knew exactly how he accomplished the feat. He performed a journey of about two rods through the underbrush, in the twinkling 'of an eye, and in doing so went heels over head, "on all fours " and head over heels. When he got upon his feet, his face was ghastly, his clothes soiled and. torn; and his hair in great disorder. After this misadventure, others who were present shot and di&pa,tched the bear, which was very fat, and weighed upwards of four hundred pounds. Sixty years ago, bears were very numerous in, the swamp where this adventure occurred, and on the neighboring hills. As late as the 17th of May, 1850, a very large one was seen there, and was pursued and shot at by several hunters of Monticello; but escaped. Its track measured six by four inches. In January, 1805, William Morgan and fapiily moved into the town. Though he was never reverenced by the worshipers of wealth, he was a good man, whose memory should command respect and excite lively gratitude. Oji one occasion, Electa, his wife/rode a horse from Monticello to Bloomingburgh, follow- ing the old Saekett road, and carrying in her arms a sick child, 560 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN OOUNTT. where she took it for medical advice and treatment.* He lived and died a poor man — his only capital a good name and the ability to labor for his daily bread. He died on the 26th of November, 1838, aged 62 years. His widow survived him twen- ty-two years. His only son (William) committed suicide by drowning in Lord's pond. During the same season, Seth Conant, of Mansfield, Connec- ticut, became a resident of Thompson. From that time until his death in 1840, he lived in the county. He filled a number of officeb, civil and military. In 1806, John P. Jones built an addition to his house, and recommenced business in it as a merchant. His manner of giving credit was characteristic of the man. When one of his customers bought a bill of goods, for which he was not ready to pay, he was required to give a written acknowledgment of in- debtedness in the shape of a note or due-bill. In this way,^ disputations in regard to accounts were avoided, and the seller was entitied to interest from the day of sale. John P. Jones also erected the first part of the house now occupied by A. C. Niven. This was for his brother, who was too much occupied with the turnpike to attend to his own affairs. Major Abraham Brownson, an officer of the Revolutionary army, who had come into possession of a considerable tract of land east of the village, made his residence where Seth B. Allyn now lives (1873). Major Brownson was a native of Vermont^ where he resided in 1776. In May, 1830, he and a Major Joseph Shaw, of Jefferson county, made personal application to Con- gress for relief. A bill was introduced in the Senate granting; each one hundred acres of land, an annual pension of $120, and several hundred dollars of back-pay, and it was taken up out of its order and passed unanimously. It was then introduced in the House of Representatives and placed in its regular order at the bottom of the calendar. This, at the heel of the session,, was tantamount to rejection, unless it could be taken up out of its order. Leave to do so was asked by Hon. Charles G. De Witt, of Kingston ; but his motion was defeated by the dissent- ing voice of a single member. Mr. DeWitt then made a moving: appeal for the aged patriots, and demanded why they should be detained longer? " They are this present moment in the gallery," fiaid he, "listening with extreme anxiety for their doom." Here he pointed to them, and both stood up side by side. All eyes were turned to their venerable forms. The effect was electrical. Cries of "leave! leave!" rang through the hall; the bill was passed nemine contradicente,. and the veterans, bowing respect- fully, withdrew.! In 1835, Major Brownson was prostrated by * Hnoters of SuUivan. f Washington Telegrc^, June 1, 1830. THE TOWN OF THOMPSON. 561 a paififul disease, 'which he bore with great fortitude for nearly two years, when he died, aged 78. In 1806, Ezra Reynolds erected the old James Brush house east of the village, where such men as Livingston Billings boarded, and made their head-quarters. Daniel Clark built a house on the Webster place, and Simeon M. Jordan became a resident of the West Settlement. Mr. Jordan was a man of estimable character ; and was remarkable for his life-long ad- miration of John P. Jones. Livingston Billings was the first lawyer of Monticello, and came here from Poughkeepsie before Sullivan was a county, or Monticello much more than a forest. Tradition says that he came here on horseback, expecting to find a thrivingvillage, and that he rode through Main street and over thei westward hill without suspecting that he had passed the place. He continued his journey until he had nearly reached Uzziel Eoyce's, when he made inquiries in regard to the future capital of a future county, and was informed that he had already passed through it.^ He opened an office in the old James Brush house soon after, and subsequently built and occupied the law-building now owned by Clinton V. B. Ludington. None of its subsequent owners and occupants, (Bandall S. Street, AKred B. Street, William B. Wright and C. V. R. Ludington,) have laid a Vandal hand upon one of its features. It remains now precisely as it was when death closed prematurely the honorable and useful life of Livingston Billings. If he coiild return, he would not recognize the imposing structures which have replaced other modest edifices of 1820; but he would at once know the old law- office. It is not probable that Mr. Ludington will ever modernize this ancient relic. It should be preserved with re- ligious care. Our list of those who have occupied official positions in the county will exhibit the estimation in which Mr. Billings was held by his cotemporaries of Sullivan. i In 1807, a school was opened in a log-house built by. a negro, on lands now owned by Henry R. Low, and west of the residence of Reuben B. Towner. Seth Conant was its teacher. It was afterwards removed to the lot owned by the heirs of James A. Bullard, deceased, where Asa Hall taught for a time. Subsequently it was established on the lot where the district school-house is now located. The old district school?!. house was struck by lightning on the 18th of June, 1832, while the teacher, whose name was Ethan Crandall, and several pupils were in it. The west gable was almost torn to pieces, and the lath and plaster thrown with great velocity across the hall, and a portion through the door into the school-room, and through the windows in the opposite end of the bviilding. Mr. Crandall 36 •6^ HISTOBX » OB^ amj-SPTASl^ COXFSITI. and one pupil were injured" l^ ttiO' flying> rubbish. About tea- years afterwards the house caught fire and was* burned to th© ground. A new one was then built^ which is, still standing. In 1807, Sftmuel F. Jones made a large addition to hisdw^- ing-house, and having nearly finished the turnpike-road; turned' his attention to the erection of a new county; With others^ he made an unsuccessful application to the Liegislature of 1808; At the session of 1809, it was renewed, and although it met with some opposition from the citizens of Ulster, the act erect- ing the county of Sullivan was passed on the 27th of March, 1809. Previous to 1811, many who lived in the interior of Sullivan were obliged to travel or send to Montgomery, Orange county, to mail or receive letters. There was not a mail-route or a post- cJfSce in the county. In 1811, a post-route went into operation from Newburgh to Ithaca^ by way of MonticeUo, Binghamton and Owego, and a post-office' was established at MonticeUo, with Samuel F. Jones as postmasten During the next year he vacated the office, when his brother, John P. JOnes, was ap- pointed to fill his place. The latter retained the position until General Harrison was made President, when he was super- seded. The establishment of a mail-route from Newburgh through this county gave great satisfaction to the people of Sullivan, some of whom remembered the time when there was not a post- office between the Hudson and Delaware rivers, above the Highlands and the Water Gap.* Sbon after the act to orgamze-Sullivon as a county became a law, David Hammond built a part of what is now th& Mansion House. This building has been owned by him, Stephen Hamil- ton, (his son-in-law,) John 0. Holley, William Crandall and Solomon W. Eroyce, and additions were made to it from time to time, until it was the largest hotel-building in Sullivan, Orange, Ulster, and Delaware counties. In early times as well as recent, it was the head-quarters of' the sta^ng-buaness, and was enlivened by the expert Jehuism of John Codington, * In 1792, Comeliua 0. Schoonmakcr representedOrange und Ulster in ConereFH, On the 9th of February of that year bo wrote to his friend, Captain 'William CroBB, of lyfentgomery, that Congi'ess had established a post-route from " Bynbeck to Eingstonk • Wards Bridge, Goshen, Sussex Court House,' etc., and said : "The establishing of this post-road will, I am in hopes, conduce much to the circulating of News Papers ana ottMir, useful information through our State on the west side of the Hudson. The,, inpouTenienoe of which we have Cmg experienced." This act took effect on the Ist day of June, 1792. Previous to that date, Schoonmaker found it necessary, when he wrote to his wife or neighbors, to send his letters to the care of Captain N. Strong of New Yprk city, who forwarded them to Montgomery or Shawangunk whenever he ha4 a^ii opportunity. THBk TOWS OP TH0MP80K. 66?- 'William Morgan, junior, EicHaTd Munson, Joseph F: Goit, and other dashing despots of the whip and reins.* Henry Reed and David Goodrich also put up stores and dwellings; Clinton Barnes a house and shop, and several others- various buildings. Curtis Lindley added to his tavern-house &> dining and sitting-room on the first floor and a court-room above. Iti the latter the County Courts were held, as well as the Circuits' ^hen His Honor the Judge did not compel litigants^ witnesses, jurors and lawyers to go to Bloomingburgh, so as to save him>- self a journey to the central town of the county^ The village increased gradually. In 1813, there were twenty dwellings, besides ' stores, shops, a school-house, the court- house, etc. The act of March 27* 1809, led to a triangular contest between Biberty, Thompsonville and Monticello. Each place was anxious to secure the county-buildings.t The people of Liberty were the' most active and influential in competing with Monticello; but the latter had the advantage of being situated on the great thoroughfare from the Hndsoa to the' Delawarej and, while it was as near the territorial centre as Liberty, it approximated closer to the centre of population. Besides this, it cannot be dtenied that Samuel P. Jones was at that time the most influen- tial man in the county, as well as the most subtle and sagacious. Wlien it was covered by a dense forest, he had determined that Monticello should be the county-seat, and for years he had labored to make it so. Every t*tep he had taken was an approach to a successful consummation of his plans ; and he was deter- mined that no competitor should suddenly spring up and grasp the prize. The site of the court-house and jail, under the law, was to be determined by Commissioners appointed by the Governor of the State. Samuel F. Jones went to Albany to secure the favorable action of Governor Tompkins. The latter was not disposed to be hasty, and probably wished to hear all the claimants. Jones returned home, and, it is said, met on the road a delegation from EiibeEty, whom he advised to go back, as the matter was already determined. This was true, perhaps, in one sense ; but in another ib was not. It may have been a foregone conclusion for years ; * On the 3il of August, IWl, the Mansion House was destroyed bT fire, together with ftU its outbuildings, (including two large barnsj) a store-house belcHiging to the «Btate of Xathan S, Hamilton and occupied by Frederick 8. Mewkirk, the store-house; of William H. Cady, (a very fine structure occupied by Abraham Olmsted,) and the biarn of Mr. Cady. At the time of the disaster, the Mansion House contained several stores and offices. In 1872, it was rebuUt by Solomon W. Itoyce & Hon, and now surpasses in every respect any other structure, public or private, in the county, and is a' splendid monnmeni of the mechanical proficiency' of Alfred W. Sears, its builder. In the same year. A, C. Niven purchased the adjoinmg lot (east^ and erected a beatti. tiful tbree-story brick-edifice, which is-occupied as a store, law-office, etc. t Johannes Miller of Miller Settlement eude ivorad to huve the connty-seat on hit lands, where he had laid out village streets, and selected commanding positions for pubUc buildings. B6i HISTOBY OP 8UIXIVAN COUNTY. ^ but it wag not yet an accompKshed fact. The Liberty gentlemen returned ; and so did Jones — ^to Albany, as soon as ne had at- tended to some private affairs which required his immediate attention. The Governor soon after appointed William Eoss and Joseph Morrell of Orange county, and Abraham H. Schenck of Dutchess, and the Commission decided in favor of MonticeUo. Boss was a well-known lawyer and politician of Newburgh, who was in the Assembly several years, and was the presiding officer of that body in 1811; Morrell was a Member in 1810; and Schenck, who lived at FishkiU, had been in the State Legisla- ture a short time previously, and was afterwards a Representa- tive in Congress. There is no doubt that all three were interested, directly or indirectly, in the NeWburgh and Cochecton turnpike, and warm friends of every measure which would promote that work. They very naturally decided in favor of MonticeUo. The site was secured, but not the court-house. A majority of the Supervisors of the new county were hostile to MonticeUo, and in 1809 and 1810 neglected to raise money to erect the county-buildings. To encounter this obstacle, application waa made to the Legislature for an act to require the Board to raise the money necessary for building the court-house and jail, and to appoint John Lindsley, of Bethel, David Hammond and Malachi Foot, of Thompson, Darius Martin, of Liber-ty, and John Newkirk, of Mamakating, Commissioners to superintend the erection of the buildings. The act passed and became a law on the 22d of March, 1811 ; nevertheless, the work did not progress rapidly ; for, although the building was of wood, and could have been put up in six months, it was not ready for occupation until January, 1814, nearly five years after the erection of the county. On the first day of June, 1809, Governor Tompkins and Council appointed the following officers for the county : WiUiam A. Thompson, First Judge; Samuel F. Jones and Elnathan Sears, Judges; John Conklin, Jabez Wakeman and David Hammond, Assistant Justices ; Uriah Lockwood, Sheriff; John P. Jones, County Clerk. The following persons were appointed Justices of the Peace in their respective towns : Mamakatino — Henry Patmer, Samuel Smith, Henry New- kirk and Robert Crawford. Thompson — Enoch Comstock, Francis Andrews, and Comfort •Castle. LuMBEBLAND — William Brown, Jonathan Dexter, Elisha He- cock and Paul Horton. Neveesine — Daniel Elmore and Jeremiah Gale. LiBEETY — Darius Martin. THE TOWN OP THOMPSON. 665 On the first Tuesday of October following, the first term of the Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions was held at the house of Curtis Lindley, in Monticellp, Present, William A. Thompson and Samuel F. Jones, Judges ; John Conklin and David Hamnlond, Assistant Justices; Uriah Lockwood, Sheriff; John P. Jones, Clerk. Livingston Billings and Charles Baker were admitted to practice as attorneys and counselors of the courts of the county. There being no grand jury and no busi- ness to attend to, tiie Court adjourned to the second Tuesday of January, 1810. On the same day and at the same place occurred the primary meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the county. The members were William Parks, of Neversink ; David Milliken, of Mamakating; John P. Jones, of Thompson; Darius Martija^ of Liberty ; and John Conklin, of Lumberland. David Milliken, was elected Chairman, Livingston Billings, Clerk of the Board, and William Brown, County Treasurer. On the second Tuesday of January, 1810, the Court of Com- mon Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace for the trial of causes was held in Monticello. William Boss, Samuel E. Betts and Herman Buggies were admitted to practice as attorneys and counselors. The Court adopted a seal, consisting of the rising sun and the words "Sullivan Common Pleas." The following persons composed the grand jury: Abraham Brown- son, foreman, Samuel Smith, Daniel Clark, Abijah Norris, Jonathan Dexter, William Brown, Matthew Northrop, John Griffin, Samuel Barnum, Adolph Van Duzer, Enoch Comstock, Garret Tymeson, Nathan Kinne, Solomon Royce, Jesse Crocker, Charles Irvine, Nehemiah Smith, Piatt Pelton, Jonathan Hoyt, Jehiel Sherwood, Robert W. Crawford, Oliver C. Sager, Samuel B. Stickney. Comfort Castle was^ fined ten dollars for default in attendance as a grand juror.* Judiah Hais, of pugnacious memory, had committed an assault and battery upon a citizen of the county, for which he had been bound to await the action of the grand jury. After organizing, the jury indicted him for the offense. The following in regard to his case claimed pre- cedence of all others : "The People of the State of New York I j^^^^^^^t f^^ ^^^^^j^ JudiihHais. f and battery. "Deft being cailled, made default. Ordered that the recognizance be respited until the ,566 BISTOBY OV BULLTfAS COUNTY. next term of this Court, to be holden in this place, on the: first Tuesday of October next." The case of William Van Tujle stands at the head 6i the bail deliveries : "SvUivan Cawnty, ss: October term, 1809 — William Van Tuylo is delivered to bail on the taking of his body to Israel Dunbar, of the town of Lumberland, yeoman, and John Doe of the same place, gentleman, at the suit of Samuel B. Stickney, in a plea, &c., taken and acknowledged before me, this 15th day oi October, 1809. Isbael DvJSiBiS. Sam'l F. Jones." And the following is judgment number one as appears by tba Becord in the . Country Clerk's office : °^V **" I Damages and costs thirty-one dollars and Neil Anderson,) ninety.four cents. July 11, 1811. Chas. Baeeb, Att'y." In 1814, it was believed that there would beia chain of turn- pikes from the North River via Liberty to and beyond the Susquehanna, and that these roads would result in eviV.to MonticeUo. To preserve the interests of MonticeHo, a prQJeet was broached to tap the great south-western route in Laberty, and divert its trade and travel to the capital of the county. With this object in view, a charter was obtained for the Monti- ceUo Turnpike Company, of which Johnston Yer Plank, Samuel F. Jones, Joseph Coit, Livingston Billiogs, Bichard B. Yor^, David Hammond, John P. Jones, Luther Buckley and Josiaih Sandford were made charter«members. The route was desig- nated as from some point between the court-house and the forty-first mile-stone of the Newburgh and Cochecton road, northerly to the Orange and Ulster Branch-road at some, point within one mile of the west line of the town of Thompeon. Capital $15,000. This road was not made, either because the amount of its capital was never subscribed, or the Great South* western route was a failure. Norris, Northrup, Griffin and Sager,asTrell as -several others whose names have already appeared in this chapter, were resi- dents of Thompson in 1810. The Town Becords show that the following persons were then or soon afterwards living in the town : Sillick Adams, Jason Adams, Isaac Alston, Seth Allyn» Jesse Bradley, Major Bailey, Thomas Brille, William Bates, Levi Bamum, Antkew Comstock, Anson Cobk, Joseph Coit, I THE TOWN OF a^OHFSON. 567 Cyras A. Gady, Jolin Crawford, Levi Downs, Joseph Dill, Benajah Edwards, Asaliel Frisbee, Nathaniel Goldsmith, Solo- mon Halt, Elisba Heacock, Peter E, Hunn, John Hatch, Joseph Jemp, Epenetus Lounsbury, Cyrus Lyon, Samuel Loring, Isaao 'Lounsbury, Zaohary Monroe, Asa MoKee, Abial C. McKee, 'Daniel C Norris,'WoosterNeal, Timothy Perry, Lewis Eumsey, ■Benjamin Rumsisy.-Simeon Rice, Thorns Eqyce, JohnE. Eussell, Selah Smith, Isaiah SJnith,' John St. John, Eli Seger, Cephas Stodder, Comfort Starr, Seth Stoddard, -■ Shadrack Schofield, Thomaa Tryon, Jesse -Towner, John M. Towner, John Van ■/inlvan, EioWd E. Voris, Isaac Whelpley, Isaac Warring, Thomas Wheeler, Seth Whitloek and Claudius Webster. There were others whose names should be mentioned, although '"th'efy-do^not appear in the old archives of Thompson. Among these we record Horace Wheeler, William an^ Hugh Atkins, Joseph Connor, Nathan Bullard,* EUas Olmsted, Burr Beers, Alex. Alby;* Samuel Loring,* John Garrett,* James Bull, ■Epbraiin G. Bassett, John James Stewart, John Bedford, John Holley, George Taylor, James Eonald, Ozias Smith,' Inc;reasa Pelton, James G. Terry, John McMillen, John Carman, Jamea Clements, Solomon Dewey, Peter I. Scriver, James Brush, Mat- fthew Hoinbeck;* Amos Wheeler, Ezekiel Hasten,* John Young, iHarvey Hamilton, Eliphalet Stratton,* Jeremiah Gale, Marcus MUlspaugh, Solomon Avery, Elder Henry Halt, Lyman Bates, Isaac Newman, Daniel Mapes, Nathan Burnham, Samuel Crum-< mell, Aaron Lovett, Augustus S. 'Bjeynolds, Seth Stoddard, Anson Mills, William Euddick, and Nirum Coger. To give anything Uke a circumstantial account of all the fam- ilies represented by these names, would swell our chapter on Thompson to the magnitude of a volume. We wiU therefore limit ourself to a brief account of a few of them only, not because the names selected for particular mention are the most deserving ; but because we -have bteen fortunate in getting information m regard to them : Joseph Coit came from Litchfield, Connecticut, about the time the turnpike was completed, and became the owner of a considerable tract of land north of Monticello. It was bought of the Jones family, and ten dollars per acre was paid for it. Mr. Coit was a physician, but his friends considered him too infirm in health to practice his profession, and his object in ■coming here was to better his condition by making an invest- ment m real estate, and engaging in mercantile pursuits. He built the dwellihg-liouse which was subsequently owned by Giles M. Benedict, and burned on the 13th of January, 18^. il& »alsa>erected'a store and dwelling on the lot now occupied fjj * lierulutionar; So]>li«rf. 668 HISTOBY OP SULLIVAN COTOSTT. the National Union Bank ; but never opened the store for trade. He continued to live here, doing little or no btiainess, until about 1835, when, finding himaelf financially lame and impotent, he joined the Kevohltionary army of Texas as a surgeon, and was soon after bitten by a poisonous insect of that country, and died. One month afterwards, and before she had heard of the death of her husband, his wife Mary died at Sing Sing, in this State. Cyrus A. Cady was a practicing physician of the town in 1810. He left two sons, Wilham E. and Henry V. The first was a merchant — a man of rare social proclivities who was much esteemed as a man and citizen. He was elected County Clerk in 1834, and died in March, 1851, aged 49. The other brother (Henry V.) was a printer, and died young. Malachi Foot, M. D., came from Connecticut in 1809 or 1810, and bought a tract of land about one mile west of Bridgeville. Here, on a very picturesque site, he built a large house. . He also cleared a part of his land, and cultivated it, in addtion to his other pursuits. His farm and dwelling were subsequently sold to the county, and "the house on the rocks" became the county poor-house. It was destroyed by fire several years since, when the farm was sold to Thomas Neal. Benajah Edwards built a grist-mill on the Neversink at Ed- wards' Island. He was in that vicinity in 1802, and his mill is mentioned in the Town Records of 1812. Peter F. Hunn opened a law-office in Monticello not long after the organization of the county. He was a resident from 1816 to 1838, and was for a time a Master and an Examiner in Chancery, and the Surrogate of the county. He was also a Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and a Justice of the Peace. When the Sullivan County Herald was established, he furnished its leading editorials until WiUiam B. Wright became a resident of the county. He was an active member of the Masonic fraternity until the formation of the Anti-Masonic party, when he joined the latter ; but after his removal to Newburgii about ten years before his death, he attempted to revive Masonry there.* He died in Newburgh in the summer of 1847, leaving a wife and several children. His wife was the daughter ot Captain John Griffin, an early resident of Monticello. Mr. Hunn was literally "learned in the law," a man of fair scholastic attainments, and of more than average talent. He was grave without being austere; a ready and chaste writer, and much given to French literature, as well as Anglo-Saxon. Although at one time his professional practice was considerable in this county, he was elbowed aside by energetic competitors. This probably led to his removal to Newburgh, where his success as • Buttenber's History of Newburgh. THE TOWN OP THOMPSOII. 569 * lawyer was not equal to his expectations. He was a busy and useful member of the Historiccol Society of Orange county^ and collected considerable material which was incorporated m Eager's History of Otange. ifoseph Jemp was an eccentric man, and the father of several •eccentric sons. He was killed by being thrown from tlie stoop of the Mansion House by Hugh Atkins, in a good-natured scuffle. Thomas Eoyce was for many years a physician of Monticello. His medical preceptor was Doctor Samuel Dimmiqk. of Bloom- ingburgh. He commenced business here in 1810, and continued his labors in Monticello until his last sickness in 1828, in which year he died. He was much esteemed, and was buried with Masonic honors. John E. Hussell was a merchant of Monticello, and was associated in business with WilMam E. Cady. *His death oc- curred on the 14th of September, 1830. He was a gentleman of probity and worth, and left a highly respectable family, none of whom remain in the county. Jesse Towner was for many years Treasurer of the county. He was of proverbial integrity, and was an accurate and careful financial omoer. A deficit in his predecessor's accounts, amount- ing to a large suin, had escaped the vigilance of the Supervisors, whose duty it was to make an annual examination of the Treasurer's books, papers and vouchers. This was detected by Mr. Towner, and led to a fuU investigation of the matter. Bichard E. Voris was the second lawyer who opened an office in Monticello. His name appears in the Town Records of 1813, and it is probable he commenced business here one or two years previously. He was a good lawyer ; but rather intemper- ate until the last years of his hfe. He was the local agent of several large landholders, a man of imposing manners, and, a,ccording to an effete school of politeness, assumed a lofty and pretentious manner. Claudius "Webster was a farmer, and exhibited many of the traits of the old-school native of New England. He was an industrious and thriving man — a rigid Presbyterian — a liberaj supporter of the Church of his choice, of which he was a deacon — and was noted for his quaintness and originaHty. When the temperance-reformation swept over the land, carrying in its bosom nearly every professor of Christianity, the deacon was Bolicited to sign the total-abstinence pledge. He was well stricken in years, and beMeved that a little stimulus was a benefit to him ; yet he wished to lend the weight of his name to the good caiise ; so he made a compromise betwe^i his inclina- tion and his duty. He signed his name to the pledge; but added the saving clause, "so far as is consistent with my age and infirmities ! ' •5W BI8T0BT OF BUIXWAS OOCNTY. Deacon Webstergeiidrally gave of his substance freely lor the support of the gospel; yet sometimes he declined — probably when he had a sum of money to raise for an impecunious bOr^ rower. One day, when he was financially reticent and costive,. he was called upon by Charlotte, the last wife of John P; Jones^ who requested him to contribute to some church purpose. He mildly answered, "No, Miss Jones." Surprised at this, she urged him to do so earnestly. "I won't do it. Miss Jones!" Still more astonished, she vehemently assailed him, and de- manded that he should do his duty ; when, with an air of vena- tion, the deacon pronounced her worse than the devil ! Shocked and astounded by such a declai^atiou from such a sourcie, the good woman cried, "Dea-con AVeb-ster! — Why, Dea-con Web- ster! What — do— you — mean?" With a quiet, twinkle in his eye, the deacon replied, " The good book tells us that if we ite- aist the devil, he will flee from us ; but if we resist Miss Jon^ she will fly right at us !" W^illiam Atkins, Hugh Atkins, Joseph Connor and William Buddick were among the first Irish farmers of the town, and were men of intelligence — probably equal in that respect to th» best of their Yankee neighbors. Their farms were in the Sackett pond region. Hugh Atkins was for many years the only Andrew Jackson man in his school-district, and when it was necessary to appoint delegates to attend a town caucus, he proceeded to the school-house, officiated as chairman, and secretary, offered and seconded resolutions, and elected himself delegate. John James Stewart was an eccentric man of whom we have written in our chapter on Forestburgh. He built the house' owned by John S. Fraser, was familiarly known as Uncle Jack, and was a most decided believer in universal salvation. James Ronald was, with his brother, a leading bookseller 6f New York until he differed with his relatives as to what was proper in social and domestic matters, when they compromised "with him, they agreeing to pay him a stated sum annually as long as he retrained from visiting the city of New York. He "was a man of much intellipfeniee, and most respectably con- nected. His first wife, who survived Am, was a daughter of ■Mr. Lorillard, one of the leading business-men of the metro- ' polls, and he was well known to Irving, Paulding and otii^r tterary men. Ozias Smith was one of tne early pillars of the Methodist iE^nscopal Church of Monticello, and was a good old man, who ^eajoyed the esteem of his fellow Church-members. He wasa ^l)rotner-in4aw of one of the leading newspaper publishelrs of PhilaSelpMa. S(domon Dewey was anatiTe of Bolton, Connecticut, and was THE tomjn OF 'momsQis, iStJl -an officer of the United States in the war of 181?* when he.wia,8 stationed in the fort at New Haven. Soon altei; the deelaratipia of peace, he removed to BricteeviUe, where he had a chair-fac- tory until his death in 1855. 1 or many years before his decease, he was a warden of St. John's Church of Monticelloi and during his residence in Sullivan was noted as an upright man and gooa citizen. John Young was for many years a ruling elder of the Presby- terian Church of Montioello, and came into the town in 1818. He was a native ef Scotchtown, Orange coimty — a man of cheer- ful and guileless life, who made religion attractive by his pleas- ant ways and correct deportment. He died at his homestead on the 14th of December, 1858. Jeremiah Gale was from Columbia county, New York. He was among the early residents of the county, and T^as the trusted agent of the Livingston family for about half a century. Before coming to Thompson, he lived in- Neversink. Elder Henry Hait came from Stamford, Connecticut, in 1825, and located in the North Settlement. He was of the Baptist Church, which had a considerable foothold in the town in his day; but lost its influence from various causes. Lyman Bates was a simple-hearted man, whose principal solace was in his religious eKercises, which were of the robust and de- monstrative kind. He was literally a " shouting Methodist," an,d always ready to endorse whatever he considered God's word with an emphatic amen. With sore misgivings he went, when an old man, to hear a Mormon preacher, and was much surprised when the Latter Day Saint opened with a prayer full of pious ejacula- tions. "Uncle Lyman," as he was termed, got warm and noisy,, and his "amens" became more and more fervent, until the preacher asked the Lord to banish error from the world, when Bates seconded the petition with such emphasis that the Mormon made a sudden pause, and declared that responses were out of order in his meetings ! The p:5ofane asserted that at camp-meet- ings the old man was wont to " Chase the devil round a stump, And kick hyn every second jump." The assertion was a satanic emanation. He was noisy; but not i gymnastic or pugnacious. In 1832 and 1833, a sect known as Protestant Methodists,. es> ,4ablished a " circuit" in Sullivan coimty. One of their preachers was the Bev. Samuel M. Henderson, a man of good talents a^d xespectable character, who soon after became President of- the New York and New Jersey District of his Church. A Kev. -Mr. Timberman was his coadjutor here, and we beheve Eev. Bich^iTd J. Crosby, now, (1870) of Ellenville, one of his successors. Under lumberman's harangues, the denomination was in a 672 HISTORY OP aVUJVXS COUNTY. clironio state of revival in Monticello. Nirum Coger, a one- legged harness-maker, whose " Shop was right o'er Opposite Nate Hammond's store,* was the principal lay-member of the Chur&h, although he had a sharp competitor in a young convert named John C. C. Darling. Notwithstanding their zeal and efforts to add to the membership of the society, the sect in Thompson suffered a sudden and un- expected dissolution. Coger had business in New York, and a neighbor sent a sum of money by him to pay a bill. The money did not reach its destination, and Coger was heard of no more. The principal exhorter wanted to preach, and because he was refused a hcense, became a blasphemer. These and other dis- asters were fatal to the society, and it soon ceased to exist. While it was in existence, it held several camp-meetings near the Crystal brook, on land now owned by James H. Foster and Seneca Dutcher; From 1815 to 1825, there were but few incidents which claim a place in the history of Thompson, although during this decade commenced the careers of two persons who were remarkable as businessTmen, and whose success as merchants has since been paralleled by several others. In 1818, Nathan S. Hammond was elected a Constable and Collector of the town." It was during the days of imprisonment for debt, when merchants and others did not scruple to ruin their customers by precipitate and wholesale prosecutions. Men worth many times the amount of their indebtedness, knew that if one to whom they owed money sued them, all would pounce upon them, and that in the genera! scramble, their assets would be sacrificed, and they be thrown into jail, or upon the limits. Constables and Sheriffs reaped rich harvests. It is said that Mr. Hammond as Constable, made 800 dollars, besides paying expenses, in a single year. With this and a moderate sum furnished by his father, David Hammond, he commenced business as a merchant in 1819 or 1820. In about twenty years he retired with a fortune of nearly one hundred thousand .dollars. He was for many years President of the Union Bank — was a man of unostentatious hahits and manners, and temperate in all things. After he became wealthy, he loved to relate his early experience as a merchant, and had a vivid remembrance of the first thing sold by him over the counter — a codfish to one James Pinckney. The other was Hiram Bennett, who, from limited resources, * Coger was a man of enterprise, and advertisod his business in the village paper. ' Besides tuis he was unconsciouBly a rhymer. He brought a business card to the office ■ of the Waiohman, of which the lines c^uoted are a specimen.- The editor read it, and I then exclaimed, "Wh;^, Nirum, this is poetry I" when that iudividaal replied with ■ nalre simplieity, " So my wife tells me 1 " THE TOWN OP THOMPSON. 673 created a business from which not odIy he acquired a handsome fortune, but Daniel B. St. John and Frederick M. St. John, who successively carried it on. Mr. Bennett several times repre- sented his town as Supervisor, and was twice elected to the Assembly. His successor, Daniel B. St. John, besides being elected to minor positions, was chosen Member of Assembly m 1840 and afterwards a Representative in the 30th Congress. He waa also appointed the first Superintendent of the Banking Depart- ment, and organized the business of that branch of our State government. Besides this he received appointments to one or two important positions under the Federal Government, which he declined, and was a candidate for Secretary of State ; but was defeated. • George Bennett, who also became a wealthy man, received his commercial training from ISiram Bennett. The Bennetts and St. Johns, after acquiring fortunes, removed from Monti- cello. During the decade commencing with 1815, Eli FairchUd and Ephraim Lyon Burnham became residents of the town. They are yet with us, and the history of their labors and successes is familiar to all. Perhaps no other resident of Sullivan ever commenced life with such flattering prospects as George O. Belden. He was of the Connecticut family of that name, who had intermarried with the Ogilvies of New xork — a family of aristocratic pretensions in the Colonial period of our history. He studied law with Charles Baker of Bloomingburgh, and those who were not in-, timately conversant with his habits as a student, predicted that he would occupy an exalted positipn as an advocate. He was of fascinating address, and had a most wonderful command of language — two traits which caused the multitude to regard him with unbounded admiration. In addition to this, he had the faculty of fraternizing with all classes — a most subtle element of popularity. After completing his legal studies, he commenced the practice of his profession, and entered political life. In his 30th year he was elected a Eepresentative in Congress from the Ulster and Sullivan district, and occupied his seat in 1827 and 1828 ' On the 13th of August, 1881, he was chosen General of the 23d Brigade of Infantry of. New York, he receiving eleven votes and all others six. But his sun of prosperity had already passed its meridian. His attention to pohtical and military affairs, as well as his social and convivial habits, had caused him to forget what legal knowledge he had acquired when a student, and he avoided law-books. We have' heard old lawyers say that, when he was entrusted with the interests of a chent, * instead of consulting the standard authorities of his profession^ 6?^^ HI8T0BT OP SUMJVAN OOUHTT. l6ei habitually "pumped" bis competitors of tbe law, byintrb- dhcin^ supposi'tious or moot questionain his daily intercourse with them. In this way for a time he- managed to get along as a< lawyer; but this method of acquiring information could not<: be resorted to permanently. The Monticello counselors soon detected him, and by a general understanding- they would no longer be "pumped," pumped he "never so wisely." He could no more raise an imposing structure of words on a foundation- laid by others. He was poor; his only resource for subsistence' \*=as his professional income, and that in the end failed him. On the 9th of October, 1833, he died, aged 36 years, and leaving a \wfe and several children in destitute circumstances. Mrs. Belden opened a select school in MonticeUo after the- death of her husband. Although she was much esteemed, and (^ered to teach each of her pupils for $1.50' per quarter of thirteen weeks, her school was not' successful. In two or three years she left the county; and was heard of no more by her old friends of Sullivan. One of his sons became a lawyer, and was noted fifteen; or twenty years ago as a political orator in Connecticut. It is said that he inherited his mother's excellent traits, as well as some of the brilliant characteristics of his father. But the story of bis life was cut shoi-t by an early death. The life of Archibald C. Niven affords a strong contrast to' that of George O. Belden. The two were fellow-students'. Belden made a brilliant start, and ascended like a rocket, dazzling the eyes of spectators ; but his for je was soon expended. He was a quarter-horse — good at the start; but deficient in stamina. He died young; nevertheless he outhved his popu- larity and his professional importance, and left an inheritance of poverty to his children. The other has been prominent in political, social, religious and financial affairs. He has not sacrificed the duties of life to its pleasures. It is not the province of the local historian to write freely of the living. Hence we will not dwell longer on his acts and character; but must content ourself with recounting the ofiicial positions he has occupied. In 1828, he was appointed Surrogate and con- tinued to hold the office until 1840. About the same time he was made a Master in Chancery, and held the position until the Court of Chancery was abolished. In 1837, he was elected General of the 10th Brigade of Artillery of New York. Pre- ■vious to this he had been defeated when a candidate by a com- petitor who resorted to disreputable means, and was cashiered. In 1844, he was appointed by Governor Bouck, Adjutant General' of the State Subsequently he was elected a Representative in the 29th Congress, and served in that capacity in 1845, 1846 and 1847, durmg which he was on the Military Committee of iihe.Moase«^an importaintpest, as^ while he>joqei]|nedit^ Hieitesuri wjitii. MesiicO' took place. In. 1847; he was. Qlecte^ Bistiieti .^tt^omejv and'in 1864; a member of i thsr. State. Seiutta.; but, waa displaced by Henry: E. Low« who> contested iJiiei^validitytO&hia election. In 1832, General Nivenraarried Jane, a daugbtertofi Alexander Thompson, of Orange county. His children^ are^Alexander T., Mary C. and Thornton A. General Nivea's oldest son (Alex- ander T.):was lost at sea when the steamer Arctic, foundered on- the 27th of September, 1854. Young Mr. Nivien, was Ijom in. Monticello, on tbe> 31st of December, 1834 A notiee of i his career^ written, as we learn, by an officer o£theLCollega ofc New. Jersey, appeared in a Philadelphia paper at the time of' hisi decease^ &om which we learn that, at the age^of aine.years, he was. placed at boarding-school in Ulster county foi? three years.; then attended an academic school at Newbui^h. fer. one year, from which he entered the sophomore class at college^ In 1852, he graduated. To quote the language of hi?. tutor: "Li. every department of college-study his success, was brilliantt The talents, which he felt were from God, rapidly matured, and commanded universal admiration. He wasa severe^ discriminat- ing and profound student." After graduating, he. enteredi a theological seminary to prepare for the Christian, ministry, the profession of his early choice, and remained two. years; thea went to Europe to complete his theological course ; but con- cluded, after reaching the continent, to spend sometime, in. traveling, and witnessing whatever was worth seeing in the old world. His letters written at the time, and published in the Jitspublican Watchman, were full of interest, as many who. had an, opportunity of reading them will remember. He spent a few months in traveling, but was lost, as before stated, on the return- voyage. The culture and natural volume of his mind excited admiration. His moral graces won love. Though one. of the. most unobtrusive of mankind, he occupied a warm comer in the, heart of every one who knew him and who was capable, of appreciating virtue. When the news of his death reached his native town, almost all. mourned as if they had lost a son or brother, and on the succeeding Sunday, the pastor of every Church in Monticello spontaneously alluded to his death in, a Sointed and affecting manner. A funeral discourse, was also elivered in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian church of Mongaup Valley. No certain account of his last moments was ever received by his friends ; but from the narrative of one who. escaped, they were led to believe that, while clinging to a floating timber, he attempted to relieve a fellow-sufferer, and immediately thereafter died. Truly, if, as we are bound tot -believe, charity is the sum of Christian virtues, this young 576 mSTOBY OS STJIXITAN OOUNXt. man's faith irimnphed over the bitterness of death; ^niery trace of egoism must have been obliterated from his heart, when, in the pangs of dissolation, he forgot his own sufEeiings irhile ministering to the necessity of a stranger. In 1825, Bandall S. Street and his family removed to Monti- oello from Poughkeepsie. Their social position and the literary fame of one of his sons — ^Alfred B. Street — fully warrabt the propriety of the following pages. We are aware that in award- ing unqualified praise to Alfred B. Street, we transgress our nue in regard to commendation of the living ; but in this case we but echo a uniyersal sentiment, and therefore do not fear censure. Alfred B. Street was bom in Poughkeepsie, New York, on the 11th day of December, 1811. He is a descendant of the Rev. Nicholas Street, who was the pastor of a Churph in New Haven, Conn., in 1659, a few years after he reached this country from England, and whose sou, Bev. Samuel Street, filled the same office in Wallingford for forty years. Several of their descendants were also clergymen. , But few of the family removed from Connecticut, in which State the name is a common one among those who follow the various pursuits of life. General Randall S. Street, the father of Alfred B., was a Major in active service during the last war with Great Britain, and was District-attorney of the Third District, under the Constitution which was in force until 1821. He also repre- sented Dutchess county in Oongi-ess. About the year 1825, he removed to Monticello with his family, where he continued to- follow the profession of law until his death. The maternal grandfather of the poet was Major Andrew BiUings of the Revolutionary army, who was present at the battle of Quebec. His maternal grandmother was the daughter of James Livingston. She married first a Mr. Van Kleeck, and at his death became the wife of Major Billings. Alfred B. passed through an academical course of education while residing in his native town. He began to write when he was eleven years of age; but did not publish his youthful rhymes until he was fourteen, when he contributed "March," "A Winter Noon," and other poems to the New York Evening Post, which were much commended. From that time he has been an occasional writer for the leading monthlies of the United States.* Several of his poems were delivered before literary societies — among them the Euglassian Society of Geneva, and the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Union College. In 1841, Unioa College conferred the degree of A. B. on him. — — — — — < • Graham' B Magaiine. THE TOWN OF THOMPSON! 577 In 1845, his poems were published in an octavo volume of more than three huudre^ pages, by Clark & Austin of the city of JSTew York. A complete edition of his metrical compositions would now occupy probably five hundred pages. None of his stanzas written during the last tweinty-five years are superior ta those issued from the press of Clark & Austin. Mr. Street has also written several volumes of prose, in which he has portrayed Ufe in the woods, and a work on law, which has passed through several editions. On the pubHcation of his volume of poetry, the book was reviewed by the eminent critics of England and the United States, who unhesitatingly declared that " as a descriptive poet, he was at the head of his class," and that he should rank with Bryant, Longfellow and Halleck. « The Foreign Qvarterly Review, an eminent British periodicial, after condemning nearly every American poet except Bryant, Longfellow, Halleck and Emerson, says of Mr. Street : " He is a descriptive poet, and at the head of his class. His pictures of American scenery are full of gusix> and freshness j sometimes too wild and diffuse, but alwa^ys true and healthful. * * * His poems are very unequal, and none of them can be cited as being complete in its kind. He runs into a false luxuriance in the ardor of his love of nature, and in the waste- fulness of a lively, but not large imagination ; and hke Browne, the author of the ' Pastorals,' he continually sacrifices general truth to particular details, making unlikeness by the crowding and closeness of his touches. Yet with all his faults, his poems cannot be read without pleasure." The following paragraphs are taken from an article published in the Democratic Revieiu, when the Review was second to no serial pubhshed in the United States. It is said that the article is from the graphic pen of H. T. Tuckerman :* " Dante and Petrarch have done much to render Italy beloved. Beranger has given no inadequate expression to those feelings which bind soldier, artisan and peasant to the soil of France. Here the bard can only draw upon brief chronicles ; but God has arrayed this continent with a sublime and characteristic beauty, that should endear its mountains and streams to the American heart ; and whoever depicts the natural glory of Amer- ica, touches a chord which should yield responses of admiration and loyalty. In this point of view alone, then, we deem th© minstrel who ardently sings of forest and sky, river and highland, • Orafarm's Magazine. 37 578 HISTORY OF SUIJJVAN COUNTY. as eminently worthy of respectful greeting. This merit we con- fidently claim for the author of these poems, [Alfred B. Street]. That he is deficient occasionally in high finish-^tiiat there is xepetition and monotony in his strains — that there are redundant epithets, and a lack of variety in his effusions, we confess, at the outset, is undeniable ; and having granted all this to the critics, we feel at liberty to utter his just praise with equal sincerity. Street kas an eye for nature in all her moods. He has noit roamed the woodlands in vain, nor have the changeful seasons passed him by without leaving vivid and lasting impressions. These his verse records with unusual fidelity and genuine emo- tion. ***** He is a true Flemish painter, seizing upon objects in all their verisimilitude. As we read him, wild flowers peer up from among brown leaves ; the drum of the par- tridge, the ripple of waters, the flickering of autumn-Ught, the sting of sleety snow, the cry of the panther, the roar of the winds, the melody of birds, and the odor of crushed pine-boughs, are present to our senses. In a foreign land, his poems would transport us at once to home. He is no second-hand limner, content to furnish insipid copies, but draws from reality. Hjh pictures have the freshness of originals. They are graphic, detailed, never untrue, and often vigorous ; he is essentially an American poet. His range is limited ; but he has had the good sense not to wander from his sphere, candidly acknowle&ing that the heart of man has not furnished him the food for meditation, which inspires a higher class of poets. He is em- phatically an observer. In England, we notice that these qualities have been recognized ; his -Hunter ' was finely illus- trated in a recent London periodical — ^thus afibr^ng the best evidence of the picturesque fertility of his muse. Many of his pieces, also, glow with patriotism. His ' Gray Forest Eagle' is a noble lyric, full of spirit; his forest-scenes are minutely, and, at the same time, elaborately true; his Indian legends and ■descriptions of the seasons have a native zest which we have rarely encountered. Without the classic elegance of Thomson lie excels him in graphic power. There is nothing metaphysical in his turn of mind, or highly artistic in his style; but there is an honest directness and cordial faithfuliiess about hiin, that strikes us as remarkably appropriate and manly. Delicacy sentiment, ideal enthusiasm are not his by nature ; but clear' bold, genial insight and feeling he possesses to a rare degree ■ and on these grounds we welcome his poems, and earnestly advise our readers to peruse them attentively, for they worthily depict the phases of Nature as she displays herself in this land in all her solemn magnificence and serene beauty." ' George A. Colton, the accomplished editor of the American THE TOWN OF THOMPSON. 579 J^eview, has written an exquisite criticism on Street's poems, irom which we copy the annexed : "In the use of language, more especially in his blank verse, Mr. Street is simple yet rich, and usually very felicitous. This is peculiarly the case in his choice of appellatives, which he selects and applies with an aptness of descriptive beauty not surpassed, if equaled, by any poet among us — certainly by none except Bryant. What is more remartable — quite worthy of note amid the deluge of diluted phraseology bestowed on us by most modern writers — ^is the almost exclusive use, in his poems, of Saxon words. * * * Descriptive poetry, to be of any force or feUcity, must employ them ; and it was this, no doubt, that led Mr. Street — ^unconsciously, it may be — ^to choose them so exclusively. For the same reason, l^yron, who in power of description is hardly equaled by any other , English poet, used ihem to a greater extent, we beheve, than any other moulder of verse since Chaucer, unless we may except Scott in his narrative verse. Wordsworth, on the other hand, whose most descriptive passages have always a philosophical cast, makes constant draft •on Latinized words, losing as much in vigor as he gains in melody and compass. In aU Mr. Street's poems the reader will "be surprised to find scarcely a single page with more than three or four words of other than Saxon derivation. This extraordi- nary keeping to one only of the three sources of our language — for the Norman-French forms a third — ^is owing, in great part, to the fact that his poetry is almost purely descriptive ; yet not whoUy to this, for any page of Thomson's ' Seasons,' or Cow- per's ' Task,' wiU be found to have four times as many. It is certain at least, that the use of such language has added immensely to the simplicity, strength and picturesqe effective- ness of Mr. Street's blank verse ; and as a general consideration of style, we recommend the point to the consideration of aU writers whose diction is yet unformed, though we hold it a jnatter of far less importance in prose than in poetry." The editor of Graham's Magazine, to whom we are indebted for much of the material of this article, thus speaks of Street's residence in SuUivan : "The beautiful village of MonticeUo, to which his parents removed when he was fourteen years of age,. is situated in a picturesque region of wild hills, smiling valleys and lovely streams. Everything around [in 1825] bore the impress of recent cultivation struggling with the rudeness of ■ primitive nature. Forests were interspersed, waving in broad grandeur — ^ the plow was guided between unsightly stumps — in all directions was. the crouching roof of the log-hut — tlie fallow-fires glistened 680 HllSTOBY OF SUlIilVAN COUNTY. in the spring, and the charred treies stood amidst the grain-fields of autumn. Early association with such a life gave the first scope and impulse to our poet's mind. In the midst of these secluded hiUs he beheld the phenomena of the seasons, as they successively unfolded, Tvlth the vivid beauty and extreme alter- nations of our climate. He saw the trophies of the hunter displayed in the streets of the village, and in his vigils he was often serenaded by the distant howl of the wolves. With a mind of quick and true observation, Mr. Street under such circumstances became a devoted student of nature, particularly in her wild and uncultivated aspects, and foimd a dehghtflu recourse in emJjodying his impressions in language." Professional critics never express unqualified admiration. They assume an air of superiority, commend cautiously, and always see, or pretend to see, imperfections in the most beauti- ful and exquisite creations of genius. As a class they are pretenders, and pretenders would feel abased if they expressed a just and loving appreciation of the truly beautiful. They must carp at somethmg or lose prestige. The rainbow to the owl seems brilliant ; but it is nevertheless to him too gaudy ; and the song of the hermit-thrush, beautiful and melodious, but lacking in volume and compass. Thus the English critic placies Street at the head of his class, and then says that he "runs into a false luxuriance," and makes "unlikenesses by the crowding and closeness of his touches." Here is just praise; but it is very absurdly quahfied. It is worthy of its author, who was accustomed to the hedge-rows and park-hke forests of Old England ; but, who had never seen a luxuriant American forest^ so "crowded" with grand and lovely objects as to be almost impassable, except to the wild denizens of the woods. An Arab who had never been beyond his native sand-hills and deserts, would not consider truthful a description of a land abounding in streams, and densely clothed with vegetation. All the world to him would be sand and rocks, with a horizon like the cope of a glowing oven. % Mr. Street removed from Monticello in 1839, and became a resident of the city of Albany. For nearly thirty years he was State Librarian. In 1841 he married Ehzabeth, daughter of Smith Weed, a retired merchant of that city. Except when on brief excursions to the country, his official duties and other circumstances have confined him to Albany since 1839. This is to be lamented. His life should have been passed among the scenes he loved so well, and which he delineated with such remarkable fidelity. His poetry is but a reflex of his daily walk iu SuUivan. He saw what prosaic eyes did not discover until he furnished a medium. He opened the arcana of beauty to THE TOWK OF THOMPSON. 681 their sight, and was to them a revelator. He should have been rewarded in such a way that he could have made the study and portraiture of nature his great aim. The dull routine and stupid details of business are as unfavorable to the poet as the gaiiiter ; and no one will fail to see that there never would have een a great master of the latter art, if those who have excelled in it had been compelled from necessity to devote but one hour in ten to their favorite pursuit. What he saw here he described. For instance, the incidents of the " Walk and Pio-Nic " were of actual occurrence, and he pictures the scenery between Montioello and Pleasant lake precisely as it was thirty years ago. "James," whose thoughts were in the clouds, was Street himself; Cady was the late William E. Cady; Hull, who • * * "took immediate seat. Complaining in bass of the dust and the heat," was William B. Wright ; the " Friend, sleeping now in the valley of shade," was Granger C. Eoyce, deceased; gay Martha, whose "sweet, ringing laugh was heard," was Miss Crissey, afterwards Mrs. William B. Wright (now dead). Kate, Mary, etc.', were then among our village-belles. In "A Visit to Mongaup Falls " may be found the adventures of another merry party. " The Smithy " was Hugh Orr's black- smith shop, on the corner of Main and Liberty streets ; " The Seat in the Rock" is a well-known natural curiosity south of Monticello; "The School-House" "In a green lane that from the viUage-street diverges," was burned down several years since ; and was rebuilt by our citizens. Twenty^five years ago, Street's poems were pictures of all that was worth geeing m and around Monticello, and of almost everything in other locahties of Sullivan which had a local reputation. Since then, the bark-peeler and lumberman have made sad wrecks of our "Forest-Nooks," and "Forest- Walks;" our "Rambles", and woodland "Temples;" our "Camps in the Forest" and "Forsaken Roads." In 1831, and during three or four subsequent years, Monticello and other localities of Sullivan were much erJivened by Francis L. WaddeU, who professed to be a wit and a poet, and was one of the most eccentric of men. He belonged to a respectable 582 HISTOBY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. family of New Tork city, and in features and form was a nobl© model of an ApoUo of Belvidere. It was said that his peculiari- ties were the result of an accident. While yet a youth, and be- fore his education was fully completed, he was walking through Pearl st., when a heavy sign fell, striking him on the head, and prostrating him on the sidewalk, apparently dead. He was re- stored to bodily health ; but to the day of his death was erratic, eccentric, and averse to all regular habits of life. Previously to the falling of the sign, he was remarkable for nothing except his splendid physique ; but was ever afterwards noted for grotesque mirthfukiess, which was so contagious that it was impossible to be within the sound of his voice and not join in his merriment. His irregular ways caused his family to send him to the country,, where his sallies would not annoy them. From some cause,, he came to Sullivan, and lived there, except during short inter- vals, until his marriage in 1834. Here he was in the habit of staying imtil his wardrobe was no longe* fit for a gentleman, and his purse was empty, when he would make a descent on his city friends for a new supply, in which he was always successful. Then back he would come, arrayed in the height of fashion, and in personal appearance "every inch a lord." He had a fund of absurd stories of Tom Quick, etc., which he had in part picked up in the country, and in part invented himself. These he related in his own inimitable way, to the great amnsement of himself and others, wherever he happened to be, and once gave them on the stage on a minor theatre of New York. His mother bribed him not to repeat the theatrical performance, and he was heard to boast repeatedly afterwards, that if he wanted a hun- dred dollars, all he had to do was to tell his mother that he was under the necessity of going upon the stage again. He regarded such questionable conduct as a master-stroke of wit. The " Re- publican Watchman" and the "SvEivan County Herald" published many of his stanzas and puns. We annex specimens : "Some aristocratic An;tie8* were endeavoring to slur our respectable elected Congressman, Mr. Bodle, because he is a wagon-maker. 'It is no matter,' says a Jackson man, *he will make a good spokes-man.' " " On the Maremge of Chables B. Boosa to Amelu E. Fosteb. " May the Ease now Foster the maiden. The maiden Foster the Rose, And their hves with pleasure be laden — Rose-buds to lighten life's close." The town of Thompson. 58$ On the marriage of Eichard Page,* aged 84, to Mary Culver,, agedl8, Oct. g, 1832: " Lord, help the aged and the young Their labors to perform ; May youth support declining age A hundred years to come : Then Eichard Page will be of age. Well clad in guilt and sin ; Pr ep ared like sage to quit the stage. Well stored with rum and gin." From the " Watchman of June 3, 1832. "A horse was lately found tied to a tree, in Ulster county, starved, near the WalUciU. • " A riderless horse and barkless tree, Who shall unravel the inystery? May WaUkiU waters never show A murdered man fi-om rocks below ! " Mysterious sight ! oh who can tell Who tied the steed, or what befell A traveler lone ? Oh, from this corse Were heard the yells of a starving horse ! " The awful neighing reached the ear Of the chopper, startled by thrill of fear ! He dropped his ax by the fatal green, And went an idiot from the scene. " A broken bit and severed rein Were thrown across the horse's mane ; His feet were worn to the very bones. And fetlocks strewed the gory stones. " And not far off a horseman's cloak, A saddle with the girth-string broke ; The murderer left the steed to die In a skeleton damned captivity ! " The noble horse had stamped a tomb. In agony of dubious gloom ; Alternate day and night betrayed Some succor that the echo made. „^ " - ' ' t Page lived in the towii of MainakatinK, and was over 100 years of age at luf death. Hie wife Mary had several children while livmg with him. 694 HISTOKY OF SULLIYAS COUNTY. " Lives there a man with dastard soul, Whose bosom shuniied the high control Of reason, in the hour of strife? Oh, may the wretch so end his life ! " Ye lonely wUds and lonelier shades, Is the murderer hid in your silent glades? Ye balmy winds, the sight unveil, And teU this, sad, mysterious tale." Waddell always read his absurd stanzas to the editor, and accompanied the reading with an equally absurd commentary on his favorite Hues. Thus, when, with his peculiar intonation and emphasis, he repeated such as this — " In a skeleton damned captivity," he exclaimed, "Ha! ha!! ha!!! That's a devilish good idea, DeVoe ! Put an admiration point there ! Ho ! ho ! ! ho ! I ! " "Well, but really, Mr. Waddell, I don't quite understand" — "Not understand — ^ha! ha!! ha!!! Don't stand, sir! Sit down! It's the greatest idea of the piece. Put ^jw admiration points after it ! Ho ! ho ! ! ho ! ! ! " His poems (if we may so pronounce what he wrote) were not always incoherent, fantastical and extravagant. Here is a gem. It is not highly polished, and has one or two slight fractures, as had its author's cranium ; nevertheless, it is worthy our admira- tion. It is taken from Stanzas on Winter : "Nature's glorious garment of the spangled snow and frost. Sits like a maiden's coldness o'er her bosom careless toss'd. When 'neath the icy breast of the bleak world's sparklitig snow, The warmer springs of water like the softer feelings flow, To gladden the sweet spring-time : so love, when passion bom, Gives radiance to womanhood as sun-bursts give to mom." The foUowing, from the Sullivan County Herald of August 20, 1835, shows that he acquired considerable skill in rhythmical composition ; and that, if he had continued to write, and had kept away fi-om the haunts of the dissipated, he would in the end have been ranked as a true poet, and that his shattered brain would have ultimately regained its normal condition : " COCHEOTON. "Have you seen the vale Cochecton, where the hemlock-waters run, THE TOWN OF THOMPSOiS. 685 "When the mist is on the motmtain, at the rising' of the sun? TThere, like smiles of joyous woman, laughs the rippling Dela- ware, As the sunbeams kiss the wavelets, and the mists of upper air. There the light song of the raftsman echoes through the vocal hills, And the music of bright nature answers from the gushing rills. There the stag with scornful bearing, snuffs the perfume of the breeze, And the dew-drops sparkle brightly on the flowers and on the trees. Oh ! if there is peace 'neath Heaven, sure her calm abode is here : May my life flow ever onward, gentle stream, like thy career." He wrote much for one or two public journals of the city of l^ew York until the editors found that his contributions did not add to the reputation of their columns, when they declined his favors. We have heard that he then offered to pay them for printing his articles, and by doing so, sometimes succeeded in getting his squibs, puns and rhymes before the public. His stanzas on Poland he regarded as his master-piece, and after its pubhcation uniformly wrote " A. P." after his signature. When asked what the terminal initials stood for, he always affected the greatest astonishment, and with a joyous but patronizing laugh, exclaimed: "Bless me! Dont you know? Why, Author of Poland, of course!" ^ He was never known to be sad or despondent, and when in an awkward dilemma, always got out of it triumphantly in his own merry way. On one occasion, he went to a ball in Monti- cello during the hot weather of summer. Because of the heat, or from some whim, he did not wear the then conventional dress-coat, with gUt buttons; but put on a complete suit of yellow nankeen. His pants were a close fit, and were strapped down ; his suspenders were not of the elastic kind worn at the present day; and his coat was without skirts or tails, and was what was then styled a "sailor-coat." As he entered the ball- room, he greeted the ladies politely and fervently, and made a profoimd regulation-bow, which was disastrous to his nankeen pants. There was a rupture of the fabric, at the point where the strain came, for at least one-third of their circumference ! This woilld have overwhelmed any other man with confusion and shame ; it gave him an opportunity to perform one of his greatest exploits. The Scene may be thus epitomized : Enter Waddell — " Good evening, ladies I ' — a bow — a tear — ladies' fans converted into screens — gentlemen in dismay— a bow — "Good evening, ladies!" — ^backward movement of the 586 HISIXHIY OF SULLIVAN COUNTX. right foot — another bow — " Good evening, ladies ! " — backward movement of the left foot — and so on, untU he left the presence of the ladies as he would have left the presence of a king. He did not tnm his back to them, or make an unusual manifestation until he passed from their sight, when he sent forth peal after peal of laughter. On the 5th of July, 1834, Waddell was married to Louisa, daughter of Thomas H. Smith, deceased. The father of his wife had been one of the great tea-merchants of New York — had failed, compromised with' his creditors, and saved from the wreck of ids fortunes enough to make his daughters desirable to matrimonial speculators after his death. As long as the property he acquired by marrying lasted, Waddell lived a gay and fast life. He made an annual visit to Saratoga Springs in a coach drawn by four fine horses, and Hved hke a nabob throughout the year. He soon squandered her fortune, and then resorted to his old tactics to "raise the wind," but on a larger scale. When his father-in-law failed, one of his friends became interested in his ajffairs as an assignee, or something of the kind. Waddell believed, or pretended to believe, that this friend was guilty of retaining a large part of the property com- mitted to his care by Mr. Smith, and threatened to commence a suit to recover his wife's share of it. The accused was wealthy and a gentleman of high character in commercial circles. From some cause — probably to prevent scandal — ^ho paid WaddeU considerable sums of money at various times, until his persecutor died, the victim of his own follies. For some time previous to his decease, whenever he was met by oi^e of his Sullivan county friends, he was intoxicated. " The last of earth" to poor Frank was worthy of a Christian and a poet, however his life may have been characterized by frailties and foUies. The scene as described to us by a gentle- man who was his early friend, proves that as the light of this life faded away, his soul was illumined by the rays of truth. As his breath began to faD, he exclaimed, "Oh, the majesty of death!" and then lovingly and solemnly repeated the Lord's prayer. After the final "Amen," he died. The following incidents portray the manners and the temper of the times in 1831 and 1832 : In the fall of 1831 and the succeeding winterrmonths the pulpit of the Presbyterian church of Monticello was temporarily filled by Eev. Stephen Sergeant. By some he was esteemed a saintly man ; by others sour and severe — one of that class who would rebuke the Saviour for speaking kindly and aifectionately to the sinful and erring. He was bitterly opposed to social enjoyment, and regarded the long faces of the dyspeptic and desponding aa THE TOWN 6]? THOMPHON. 587 ■unerring indicia of holiness. He was not in favor of clothing the bodies of Christians in hair-shirts and putting peas in their sandals, as were the ascetics of medieval times; but he was in- clined to lacerate their souls with immaterial tortures, and render them unhappy during their earthly pilgrimage, so that they would be entitled to bliss in the next world. He de- nounced vehemently the frivolities and frailties ol the day, and inveighed against dancing as if the immortal souls of M who indulged in it were lost in its mazes. Great was his indigusiion when he learned that the young gentlemen of the village, regard- less of his admonitions, had issued invitations for a ball at the hotel then kept by Samuel W. B. Chester. In his next sermon he hurled at the offenders iiot only the phials of his displeasure, but an entire demijohn of wrath, and capped the ©Umax of his stormy rhetoric by declaring that, if invited, he would open the dance with prayer! He did not dream that the offenders had sufficient audacity to take him at his word ; but in this he was mistaken. Some of them were present; and although it wag Sunday, the sun was not down before the managers gave Mr. Sergeant a formal invitation to attend the ball. This invitation was dehvered by Edwin Eldridge, then a medical student, and since a successful financier in one of the southern counties- of New York. The reverend parson was caught in a trap. He was pledged' to attend the dancing-party, and there was no avenue of escape. The evening for the ball arrived. The hotel was briUiantly lighted, and the " long room " resounded with the strains of the violin. Fairy forms were flitting here and there clothed in dancing-drapery, which then covered feminine heels but not feminine-shoulders; while the gentlemen were arrayed in "long- tailed" blue coats, with brilliant, brass buttons, and their lower extremities were covered with white pants and stockings and calf-skin pumps. One after another, the invited came, and finally the Eev. Mr. Sergeant himself. He was met at the hall- door by the managers, who ushered him into the parlor on the first floor, where he was treated with dignified courtesy. Here his embarrassment was so great that the young disciples of Mephis- tophelea took pity on him. They informed him that the reli- gious part of the performance would take place, not in the ball- room, but the parlor. Mr. Sergeant then made a short but somewhat incoherient prayer, while his hearers conducted them- selves with apparent gi'avity and reverence. After the service, he was politely attended to the door, when the eccentric lawyer, Charles Baker, who had witnessed the whole affair with tipsy- dignity, made a profound genufiection, and with a wave of his right arjn, exclaimed, "We can dispense -with your company, 588 HISTOBX OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. sir! Go home you fool! Sir! we can dispense with your company !" This broke the camel's back of their sobriety. The clerical victim departed, the laughter caused by Baker and the merry notes of the Tiolin soxmding in his ears. In 1832, the Pourth was celebrated in Montioello. George 0. Belden was Marshal; William A. Thompson, Beader; and Alfred B. Street, Orator. B. S. Street, A. C. Niren and F. A. DeVoe were the committee to prepare toasts for the occasion, which duty they performed. The seventh regular toast adopted by the committee read as follows : , " The American System — ^that system alone deserves the name, which proposes to guard the rights and protect the interests of eaeh and all." ', After the work of the committee was done, General Street, in whose hands the toasts remained, saw that the above con- tained an implied censure of Henry Clay's "American System," which, in the eyes of such men as Niven and DeVoe, proposed to promote the general weKare by guarding and protecting certain class-interests which needed the fosteriag care of the government. He, therefore, in conjunction with his son, William 1. Street, changed the toast so that it read thus : " The American System — A system which proposes to guard the rights and protect the interests of each and all." B. S. Street notified DeVoe that he had changed the phrase- ology of the toast, and asked hinii to call at his office and examine it ; but DeVoe failed to do so, and the altered toast was read at the toast-table. It was a complete endorsement of Clay's "system," as it was then styled, and caused much indignation among the friends of General Jackson. Niven and Pe Voe pubhshed a card denouncing the change, to which Alfred B. Street replied in a handbill. A very angry controversy ensued between DeVoe and the Streets, in which the charge of " ddiberate falsehood," " iciUful and malicious misrepresentation," etc., was made, and the friends of the parties were ioquiring, ^' What next?" when Joseph T. Sweet, a lad employed in the Watchman office, put an end to the quarrel by issuing 'a poetical handbill, of which the annexed is a copy : " I, master Joseph Sweet, Do challenge master Alfred Street, To mortal combat with a pistol. Or with a mullein stalk or thistle. 'Tis true, he hath not me offended; But then his brother has, you know, And as our quarrels are all blended, I'll fight him, or my name's not Joe!" THE TOWN OP THOMPeON. 589 This poetical challenge was written by a young man named Charles A. Comstock. He and- Sweet printed it without the knowledge of any of the parties, and posted it throughout the village at night. It put a very hilarious end to a very angry quarrel, and relieved the disputants from an unpleasant dilemma. "Pistols and coffee for two' had but recently been.fashionable in some parts of the country in settling questions of veracity ; imd canes and horsewhips in such cases were yet common. The whole village greeted Sweet's doggerel with laughter, in which the belligerants joined heartily, and were no doiibt much grati- fied with the ludicrous termination of the trouble. _ A. C. Niven, (then a Colonel of Artillery,) although a party to this controversy, was apparently a passive one. His abso- lute reticence was the result of delicacy. Two or three years previously a son of General Street, who was a midshipman m the United States navy, had made a personal assault on Niven for a fancied insult. Niven, in directing a note to young Street, had omitted the proper title of the latter, and Street considered this an affront for which a horse-whipping alone could atone. He procured a rawhide, which he concealed about his person, and, meeting Niven, informed him that he wished to see him privately. The two then walked toward the school- house from Main street. Amos Holmes was then County Clerk, and his son James had charge of the office, and was sitting in it with the door open. He saw Niven and Street walking together, and knowing something of the dissatisfaction of the latter, watched them. There was then a large boulder in front of the school-house near the middle of the street. As they approached it, Niven told his companion that they had gone far enough; and that whatever he ha.d to say could be said then and there. Street then pulled out his rawhide, and letting the other know his purpose, raised it to strike, when Niven caught it from him, and whipped him with it unmercifully imtil Holmes ran from the Clerk's office to the school-house, and put an end to the flagellation. Street was terribly cut up. As sooti as his wounds were sufficiently healed, he left the village, and did not return to it until he came home a few years afterwards to die of consumption. He was a young man of fine attainments — a poet — linguist, etc., and notwithstanding his misadventure, was highly esteemed.* If the assault had had a different result, who can say what effect it would have had on the life of A. C. Niven? * December 1, 1837— Died, in Montioello, Mr. Sanford A. Street, aged 33 years. His disease was consumption, contracted wliilst attached to the American navy. * * • His mind was vigorous, polished by stndy, and chastened by refined taste. By much ' industry and perseverance, he had acquired a critical knowledge of the English, French, Spanish and Italian languages, and, until prostrated by disease, was eminently fitted for usefulness. He was a, poet, and would have excelled in the realms of imag'inatdon if ambition had impelled him to win the poet's cvovm.— Watchtnan, December 7, 1837. S90 HISTOBY OF SULUVAN COtJNTY. This affair no doubt led the latter to avoid all cause of further controversy with the family of General Street. It is due him to say, that he has never willingly alluded to it since its occur- rence. Dixring a somewhat intimate acquaintance of more than thirty years, we have never been able to induce him to even speak of it. On the 9th of February, 1830, Hiram Bennett, John P. Jones, Levi Barnum, William E. Cady, John E. EusseU; George O. Belden and Amos Holmes gave, notice of an application to the -Legislature for an act incorporating Monticello, with power to procure apparatus for extinguishing fires, and to keep the streets clear from obstructions. ■ On the 20th day of the next April, the act became a law. By it the corporation-limits extended one half mile east, and the same distance west from the centre of Main street opposite the fi-ont door of the court-house ; and its width was made one half mile. It empowered the tax-payers to elect Trustees from among the freeholders, together with three Asses- sors, a Collector, and a Clerk. It also authorized the laying of a tax for the purchase of fire-engines, and made provisions for the enactment, of by-laws, prohibiting horses, cows, oxen, young cattle, hog^, sheep, geese, etc., from running at large, as well as the depositing of rubbish of any kind upon the streets. On the 4th of May, 1830, the first election was held at the court-house, when a full set of village-officials were chosen. A fire-engine was soon after purchased, and a small engine- house built. Laws were also passed to keep the streets free from animals, old wagons, wood-piles, lumber, etc. At that time there were no side-walks in the village. There was a foot-path on each side of Main street, which served a very good purpose in dry weather ; but when moisture prevailed, was no better than a channel filled with mud and water. Domestic quadrupeds occupied the streets at aU times, as well as dooryards and lawns whenever and wherever a gate was left open ; and it was not uncommon for those who were in the streets at night to stumble over a cow, or to disturb the nocturnal repose of a litter of pigs and their dam. The streets themselves were always ren- dered filthy by the excrements of the animals which occupied them, and no grass-plat was safe from the rootiugs of swine. Besides this, sleighs, wagons, wood, lumber, and a hundred other things were deposited upon the streets, where they remained during the pleasure of the owner.* ,.r'^?-?^fy-! ^^^^' *^ °"^y newspaper of the iAan fleelared that the viUage presented a ^lapidated appearance. Many of the houses were unpainted, and a considerable number of them were owned by non-residents, who reemved bnt little income from them, and permitted them to gravitate to ruin. Main street was choked with rubbish There were no sidewalks and but one school, which was &em. A meeting was held on the 12th of March, at which A. C. Mven, Dani^ B.'St. John, E. L. Bumham, EU FaircMld, N. S. Hammond, John P. Jones, ; James E. Quinlan and othj@rs were appointed a committee to ----- I "'• ■ . J. ■ « i UiLni,. r^ — , ^ * Ambrose Bpeii««r and A. C. Niven were the atiomeyB of Quinlan, the propraetor-^ of the WatcHiman ; and WiUiam B. Wright for the Supeivisors. 600 HI8T0BT OP SULUVAN COUNTY. " submit to the public a brief statement of facts relative to the location of the county-buildings." In discharging their duties, they recited the action of the Commissioners who, after a full investigation, made Monticello the capital of the county at an early day ; the destruction of the court-house, etc., by fire ; the action of the Board ; the passage of the act for which the Su- pervisors applied, "with the addition already noted, which the committee argued was immaterial, as the location had long been " at Monticello," etc. In language marked by unusual asperity, they charged that, while measures were maturing for the speedy restoration of the county-buildings, a few individuals at Liberty, with the intention of enhancing the value of their own property, had been constantly engaged in prejudicing, and " arraying the people of other towns against their brethren here, thus inciting them to commit an act which in aU time to come they would deeply deplore." The committee then asserted that Monticello was nearer the geographical center of the county than Liberty, as well as the center of population ; that the facilities for reach- ing Monticello were superior ; that it had a daily mail ; that the proposition of Liberty to erect a court-house was fallacious, as no such arrangement could be enforced legally ; and that if that place could do what was offered, the advantages would be tri- fling when compared with the inconveniences which would fol- low to the inhabitants of Cochecton, Bethel, Lumberland, Forest- burgh, Mamakating and Thompson. They theii made a state- ment showing the amount a tax-payer assessed for $250 would have to pay for the erection of a new court-house, as well as those assessed for larger amounts, and concluded by saying that they desired the whole matter should be laid before the people in candor and truth, without false coloring, and unbacked by fallacious promises. If this was done they were willing to abide by the result. We have given but the substance of what this committee in- corporated ia their address to the people of the county, omitting what would even now give offense to some. If we could pro- cure a copy of the memorial sent to the Legislature by those who favored Liberty, we would, as an impartial historian, insert it here. The committee of the Assembly to whom were referred the Liberty and other petitions for a removal, reported unanimously that "the site for the former buildings was located by a Board of Commissioners duly authorized by law ; that since such location no alteration had taken place in the bounds of the county, and that no unforeseen contingency had rendered a removal necessary or expedient." The report concludes in the following words : \ -THE TOWN OF THOMl'SOX. 601 Vi With these facts before them, the committee are of oipinion that nothing but needless expense and unmitigated evil would result from further agitation of the question. Trusting that, on mat^ire reflection, all parties concerned will see the subject in the Same light, they can but hope that when a transient excite- ment shall have given place to cooler counsels, they will cheer- fully acquiesce in the decision at which the committee have arrive^, to wit : That the prayer of the petitioners ought not to be granted." Immediately after Liberty was thus defeated in the Assembly, one of tijie most prominent and influential citizens of the county, whose ojoinions had decisive weight in Monticello, made the fol- lowing, suegestion in the WaiGhnan: * * *\ * " The people of Liberty are full of enterprise, and if the iiorthern towns increase in the ratio tiey pretend to anticipate, £teid the roads be correspondingly improved, it would be worthy oi consideration whether they should not have that town a half-shire town." * * * * This offer, emanating as it did from the victorious party, was liberal and magnanimous ; but it met with no favor from those to whom it was made. They received it with sullen silence, and prepared themselves for another encounter. Monticello became fully aroused, and through its friends at the State capital, gave its enemies a fatal blow. An amenda- tory act was prepared empowering William Gillespie, of Bethel, Joseph Grant, of Liberty, and Piatt Pelton of Monticello, or any two of them, to rebuild the court-house on the old site, provided the Supervisors did not make a bona fide contract on or before the 20th day of May, 1844. This act became a law on the 22d of April. On the 25th the Board met, and on motion of Mathew Brown, all action in regard to rebuilding was deferred until the next annual meeting. Ayes — Wheeler, Johnson, ^Har- denbergh, Hankins, Brown and Young — 6. Nays — Woodward, Curtis, Hammond, Greene and St. John — 5. In vain were the members informed of the passage of the law appointing com- missioners. They believed, or affected to believe, that the act of the 22d of April was a myth ; and the citizens of Monticello were attempting to perpetrate a ruse to secure the site at that place similar to the one resorted to by Samuel F. Jones during the first controversy concerning the public buildings. They were determined not to be caught napping this time. Nothing less than an official copy of the law would convince them that all hope had perished- Such a copy had not been received, and if the law had been adopted, perhaps Gillespie, Grant and Pelton would not dare to act under it. The Board adjourned, and on the 30th, Messrs. Gillespie and Pelton advertised for sealed proposals for constructing the coiirt-house, agreeably to 602 HISTOBY OF SULUVAK OOUJOT. the plan and specifications of T. M. Mven. They also announced that on the 21st of May, the first day they could lawfully do so, they would enter into a contract for building. Here was an entertainment which Mathew Brown and his coadjutors had not anticipated. The geographical position of Bethel rendered its interests identical with those of Thompson ; but Mr. Brown was bitterly hostile to MonticeUo and all its interests, and with extraordinary ingenuity and persistency labored to vex and humiliate certain of its leading men. Ete was an Indian in his enmities, a Yankee in cunning, a Scotch- man in craftiness, and struck just when and where he could reach a vital point. We have never had in Sullivan a publifr man who could bend the most adverse circumstances to suit his purposes as did Mathew Brown. With an entii-e community arrayed against him, he could so manage his cards as to win almost every game he undertook. Although Bethel was within one hour's ride of MonticeUo, and the means of intercourse between that town and Thompson, were unsurpassed in the county, he so worked upon the passions of his fellow-townsmen, that they were willing to bring upon themselves almost any calamity, if by doing so they could thwart the "dictators" of MonticeUo, and ruin that village. The court-house question was a, potent engine with which he was determined to advance his political interests, and hence it was his policy to keep it unsettled as long as possible. Through it he had an oppor- tunity to control the county-conventions of his party, and to secure such nominations as pleased him and mortified his democratic enemies, and to have it thus put at rest by a bold and unforeseen movement of the MonticeUo clique, as he stigma- tized them, was a personal disaster.* Finding that the court-house would be put under contract, either jfith or without their agency, a special meeting of the Board was called by Billings Grant, their Clerk, at the re^ujest of a majority of the Supervisors. This meeting was held on the 7th of May, and was attended by the representatives of every town. Its first act was to make Mr. Brown permanent chairman. It then resolved to reconsider the vote of the previous meeting deferring action in regard to the court-house until the annual meeting; but from ignorance of parliamentary law, they did not reconsider it ; but leaving it unrepealed, they ap- pointed. Messrs. Brown, Young and Haukins a committee to rebuild, and instructed them " to enter into contract on or before the 20th instant." Every member of this committee was hostile to th« MonticeUo location. It was feared at first that they * Both Btmluns and Johneon were at first bitterly oppogcd to Brown ; but by •killfuUy manipulating their vulnerable itointB, they became entirely subserfieirt toUii purposes. THE TOWN OF THOMPSON. 603 ■woiUd cause to be erected a cheap and useless edifice ; but this contingeucy was guarded against by the law of April 22d. On the. 9th of March, the Board had adopted the plans and specifi- cations of T. M. Niyen. This plan was for a stone-building, each and eveiy part of which was specified or described ; and the law providing for Commissioners to rebuild, authorized them to proceed with the work if the Supervisors did not make a bona fide contract by the Wth of May, "for the buildhig^ of^ said court- home and jail according to the plan and specificdiions already adopted by tlm Board,* etc. After transacting the business for which they had met, the Board adjourned to the 20th of May. On the day of adjournment, a full Board was again present. Messrs. Brown, Young and Hankins reported tiiat they had contracted with Samuel Bull, of Orange county, to build the court-house according to the plan of T. M. Niven, for $6,500. This sum was $1,500 less than the estimated cost. The Treas- urer was authorized to borrow five thousand dollars on the credit of the county as part of the cost of building. Fifty dollars were allowed T. M. I^iven for his plan — ^just one-half the amount originally authorized to be paid for it. Probably resentment more than economy determined the reward he received. Messrs. Brown, Young and "Wheeler were appointfed to superintend the building, with power to appoint an agent residing in MonticoUo, and Messrs. Brown, Young and Hankins were continued a building committee. The Superintendents appointed John P. Jones their agents and made it his duty to require the contractor to construct the building in a workmanlike manner. Mr. BuU commMiced the job without delay. He at once proved that he was a rigid economist. He put up a barrack-like shanty of rough boards on the north line of court-house square, where he fed and lodged his workmen. He imported his own provisions, and brought with him a company of en- ergetic, industrious workmen. A man who was a laggard, or required a moment's rest from early morn to sundown, could not remain in his employment a single day. \ The work was performed in a manner advg.ntageous to himself. Mr. Jones was not satisfied with it, and in his hesitating, stammering way, found much fault. "A— ah — Mr. Bull," he would say, " these— ah — ;Stones wiU not — ah — make a good, wall ; and — ah — this mortar has not — ah — enough lime in it." Mr. Bull would not pause an instant in what he was doing ; but would look at the agent, sttiiling blandly and with a cunning twinkle in his eyes^ *'0, yes, I see, Mr. Jones!" And everything would go on in * This is the precise language of the resolution. 604 HISTORY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY.- precisely tlie old maimer. His workmen annoyed Mr. Jones in every conceivable way, no doubt to the secret satisfaction of their employer, so that the visits of the agent became " few and far between." At the annual meeting of the Board in November, the office of agent or superintendent was discontinued ; and the buUding- committee and committee of superintendence were consolidated. Messrs. Brown, Hankins and St. John were chosen to discharge the duties. From this time, Mr. St. John practically had charge of the buUding. But his appointment was too late. / He was fearless and energetic, as well as a good judge of suijh Vork; as Mr. Bull was engaged in, andjif he had had an oversight of it from the beginning, the irregularities of the contractor would have been regulated, and the necessity for expending many hun- dred dollars subsequently for repairs, would not have existed. In November, 1845, the building was completed ; but the roof leaked so badly that the Board refused to accept it, or pay Mr. BuU the full amount specified in the contract until the defect was remedied. In addition to $6,500, Mr. Bull received $290 for extra work, making altogether $6,790. While the old safety-fund system prevailed, several attempts were made to establish a bank in MonticeUo; but without success. This resulted from several causes. 1. The principal moneyed men of the place were merchants, whose capital was profitably invested in trade, yielding them twenty-five per cent, profit on sales, with seven per cent, on all overdue accounts. 2. There was a lack of unity among those who were able to take stock. 3. There was not a sufficient amount of surplus- funds to start a bank, without the aid of neighboring towns and villages. The principal source from which subscriptions were expected outside of MonticeUo was Bloomingburgh — a place then deemed of much importance financially — and Blooming- burgh desired a bank of her own. 4. Those who had money liad invested it in bonds and mortgages — ^then a favorite method of loaning it. Money loaned on such security generally escaped taxation, and earned seven per cent., and too often commanded more than legal interest. One of these movements to found a moneyed institution at the county-seat was made in 1832. On Christmas of that year, a meeting was held at the Mansion House of Stephen Hamilton^ the object of which was to "petition the Legislature for the incorporation of a Bank" in MonticeUo. John P. Jones was chairman, and Peter F. Hunn, secretary. Apparently the gen- tlemen who attended were unanimously in favor of the project, Hiram Bennett, E. S. Street, A. 0. Niven, George O. Belden and Peter F. Hunn were appointed a committee to procure informs- THE TOWN OK THOMPSON. 605 tion ais to the neoessily for a Bank, which, with the petition, was to be laid before the Legislature. At this time the people of Bloomingburgh were anxiou. to establish a Bank in their vil- lage, and had taken steps with that object in view, for which they were censured by the Monticello Watchman. That journal expressed fears that a Bank at Bloomingburgh would be con- trolled by the capitahsts of other counties, and boldly declared that it might as well be located on the summit of Shawangunk mountain as at its eastern base. Beyond this, it does not ap- pear that much was done at either place, at that time, to create such an institution, and the matter remained in abeyance until January, 1839, when the subject was again agitated, and it was proposed to establish in MonticeUo a Bank with a capital Of $100,000, under the general banking-law. The praposition, how- ever, was fruitless. In January, 1840, Benoni H. HoweU, jr., of Buffalo, an- nounced his intention to establish the ".Liberty Bank of Eock- land, in the village of Eockland," with a capital of $100,000, and the privilege of increasing the same to $5,000,000. The neces- sary papers were filed by him in the County Clerk's office ; but he was deterred from proceeding further in the matter, by an exposure in the newspapers. It was evidently his intention to have his Bank located nominally where bill-holders would not find it easily, while its owner or owners transacted its business in Buffalo. The project was as shallow as the Bank would have been fraudulent. . Our financial mountain had suffered from parturient pains for nearly twenty years ; but owing to congenital perversity, there was no issue of bills, great or small, when a private individual commenced the business of banking in Monticello, without the croaking and cackling which usually precede important events in villages of limited magnitude. The owner of this bank (Frederick M. St. John) was a junior clerk in his brother's store after the first effort was made to start a bank in the village ; had grown to man's estate; engaged in business, and made a comfortable fortune, while the magnates of the county-seat were devising a method to establish such an institution. This fact is not a pleasant one to contemplate; but it may serve as a beacon to guard against the evils which grow out of personal piques and enmities where the interests of all would be pro- moted by harmony and good will. The new institution was known as the Sullivan County Bank. Its capital was $51,159.69. It would have done a very profita- ble business, if it had continued to occupy the ground alone ; but it soon had a rival. We will not stop to inquire whether this rival would have had an existence if St. John had not go^e into the business. It is sufficient to say, that nearly aUr the 806 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. v wealthy men of the place, ■with, some of the neighboring townS, oame promptly forward and subscribed to stock of the Union Bank of Sullivan County, amounting in the aggregate to $115,000.. On tne 11th of December, 1850. a meeting was held, of which A. C. Niven was president and John D. Watkins, secretary. The arficles of association were signed by those present, and tffli per cent, on upwards of $100,000 promptly paid in. The following gentlemen were then electea directors : Nathan S. Hammond, Archibald C. Niven, Gad Wales, Ephraim L. Bum- ham, Giles M. Benedict, James H. Foster, George Bennett, Henry F, Wells, Sheldon Strong, John D. Watkins, Nathaniel Gildersleeve, Charles S. Woodward, Spencer M. Bull, Austin Strong, Stephen Smith and Eichard D. Childs. Nathan S. Hammond was chosen President. On the 27th of January, 1851, the capital stock was all paid in. George Bennett was elected Cashier, and John A. Thompson, Attorney. On the 24th of March, the bank commenced business, and has continued to do so until the present time.* During its existence it has had but two cashiers (George Bennett and Israel P. Tremain.) In 1852, the Sullivan County Bank commenced winding up its aflfairs, and soon ceased to exist. Mr. St. John was its sole manager, and at the same time carried on an extensive mercan- tile business. In 1842, it may be said, commenced an era of improvement. The corporation of the village was revived, its by-laws enforced, and the construction of sidewalks commenced. A course of lectures was also delivered on scientific, speculative and histo- rical subjects by residents of the village. The list of lecturers embraced such men as Eev. James Adams, William B. Wright, Andrew Hamersly, Eev. Edward K. Fowler, and Daniel M. AngeU, as weU as WiUiam J. ClowS, John W. Myers, William C Gbgswell, James E. Quinlan, and others. The lectures were free, and were attended by large audiences. As the attractive- ness of the village increased, non-residents found purchasers for their houses and lots, old edifices were modernized, new ones built, and a steady and healthy, but not rajnd growth has continued until the present time. Perhaps nothing will illustrate niore vividly the spirit which formerly prevailed among the residents of Monticello, than a brief account of the various efforts made by them to construct a plank-road from that place to some point on the line of the New York and Erie Eailroad. - The piank-road project originated in 1849. On the 24th of February of that year, a meeting was held at Wiggins' hotel, at which James E. Quinlan, Munson L. Bushuell and George W. ™ ''-■ ■'■ — ■ ■■■ " - .... * It has been re-organized as a National Bank. , rilE TCiWN OP THOMPSON. 607 Lord ■were appointed a committee to collect and report facts in regard to plank-roads; Nathan S. Hammond, William E. Cady and James H. Foster, to ascertain the amount that could be se- cured to constrnct a road from Monticello to the Iffevr York and Erie railway ; and Stephen Hamilton, Jolm P. Jones and Eli Eairchild to ascertain the mcJst practicable roiite. The several committees were requested to report at an adjourned meeting on the ensuing 9th of March. None of the committee-men per- formed any of the work assigned them except James E. Quin- lan, who gave a history of plank-roads ; the mode and cost of their construction and maintainance ; facts to show their utility; an estimate of their profits to stockholders and the public ; a synopsis of statiitoiy provisions respecting them, etc. His re- port was mainly /based on legislative documentsu We would ^ive it in full, as it had an important bearing on the formation of several plank-road companies ; but these entei-prises were, without exception, unfortunate. In not a single case were the plank relaid, and when the road was not abandoned, it was re- constructed of other material. After the reading of the report, Stephen Hamilton, Eli S. Pel- ton and William R. Stdwart were appointed a corqmittee to ex- plore routes and obtain subscriptions to stock ; George W. Lord, James E. Quinlan and Frederick M. St. John were chosen to collect funds to defraj^ incidental expenses. The meeting then adjourned to the first Monday of April ; but it failed to meet again on that day. Sometime during the month, however, Mon- ticello and its neighborhood were canvassed, and it was ascer- tained that capitalists and others were willing to subscribe an aggregate amount of about $20,000, if the road was made to Otisville, Port Jervir-, or Cuddebackville. On the 8th of June, books were opened for subscriptions. Fourteen thousand dollars of stock were taken, and five, per cent. Slid. The follo-vfing named persons were chosen directors : athan S. Hammond, president ; William E. Cady, treasurer ; Archibald 0. Niven, clerk; Stephen Hamilton, John P. Jones, John W. Swan, Watson W. Gilman, Lewis W. Guddeback and J. Howard Tillotson. . W. B. Vedder, a competent engineer, was soon after employed to survey the route, who reported that the best location was by the way of Gilman's and Cuddebackville to Otisville. . This did jiot materially interfere with the road of the Mount Hope and Lumherland Turnpike Company. Oii the 20th of September, "the directors adopted this route, Messrs. Jones, Niven and Cady dissenting on account of assurances which they had given to the people of Port Jervis. A contract for the purchase of a part of the turnpike was then made with Abraham Caddebaek. In January, 1850, the citizens of Otisville and Guddeback- HI81X)BY OV SOIXIV^ GOaSTI. Tille had sabscribed their reqaired quotas of stock ; but a few^ shares were not yet taken in Thompson. The prospect was sa encouraging, that the directors advertised for 3,000,000 feet of plank and timber. Soon after proposals for construction, we»e jssued. But unexpected difficulties were encountered. Oudde- back repudiated his contract. The directors differed about the location of the road and other matters, and when a responsible contractor offered to make the road for less than the estimate of the engineer, a portion of those who controlled the com- pany's affairs declined to proceed further in the matter. The Monticello directors claimed that the derehct portion of the company resided in CuddebackviUe and OtisviUe, and a meeting was held on the 22d of May, at which the people of Thompson threatened to avoid both places by running the road to a point four miles west of Otisville ; but the threat had no effect an. those at whom it was directed. After this, until the summer of 1852, impotent efforts were made to secure a plank-road to Port Jervis, to Otisville, via Tannersdale and Westbrookville, etc. Meetings were held, and Eronunciamentos issued through the village-press, duly verified y substantial chairmen and expert secretaries ; which were as barren of results as a useless expenditure of blank cartridges. In the meantime, the Port Jervxs and Mongaup Valley Plank Sroad Company was organized, and the construction of its road pushed vigorously, and the scheme openly avowed of extending it to liberty. The Middletown and Bloomingbiirgh road was completed, and an extension under way to Wurtsbqrough, and a further extension advocated to Westfield Flats, via iSandburgh,. Fallsbui^h, Liberty, ParksviEe and Purvis. ThompsonvSle also caught the fever, and in conjunction with citizens of G-len Wild and Wurtsborough, formed a company. Eighteen thou- sand dollars were subscribed, and Monticello was invited to raise enough to make a road to connect at ThompsonviUe ; but Monticello failed to unite with her sister-viUage. The proposed capital of the company was $20,000. Ostensibly, the company failed to undertake the construction of its contemplated improve- ment because $2,000 of its stock were not taken. In the summer of 1851, there was a decided inclination in Monticello to make the road to Wurtsborough. James H. Fos- ter, Stephen Hamilton, John P. Jones and A. C. Niven called a meeting on the 11th of August, when the "books" were re-opened, and a, committee in a single day obtained subscriptions nearly sufficient to complete the work. William W. Reeve was em- ployed to survey the route, and on the 25th of November, John Dougherty, Eli S. Pelton, Simon Knim and Harvey E. Morris were chosen directorK. Having accomplished this much, the chronic disiwuitiou to squabble about the route manifested THE TOWN OF THOMPSON. C,0^ itself afresh. Some were for the Port Jervis, some for the Otis- ■ville, and others for the Wurtsborough terminus. As the dis- putants were generally magnates in village and town-aflfairs, it 18 probable the controversy would have been carried on until the consummation of sublunary affairs, if rival roads had not bifeen projected and in progress of construction in the quarters already noted. On the 5th of May, 1852, another meeting was held in Mon- ticello, and the ever-opening " books " again brought forward. It was announced that this was the " last eifort ; " but these final attempts were like the wares of Peter Piadar, the razor-strop vender — there was always one more left. On the 28th of July, a final meeting was held, at which a plank-road company was organized by the electio* of a board of directors composed of the following named persons : Nathan S. Hammond, president ; Richard Oakley,, treasurer; Spencei* M. Ball, secretary ; Harvey R. Morris, .James Graham, Archi- bald C. Niven, and Edwm K. Gale. The purchase of the turnpike between Monticello and Wurtsborough, including the Neversink bridge, was recommended, and the terms proposed by the turnpike company approved. From this time there was concert of action, and the work was soon after put under contract. In due time it was completed. "When their improvement was finished, it was found that the company was several thousand dollars in debt. The earnings of the road, however, discharged all liabilities. No dividends were paid for several years in consequence of this indebtedness, and the conversion of the road to a stone road. This change was made because it was found that a planked thoroughfai-e, al- though admirable at first, soon became rough and uneven by the unequal wearing of the material of whichit was constructed j that the expense of re-planking was too great for profit; and that a McAdamized road was in every respect preferable. < The affairs of the company have been managed with admira- ble prudence. Its road has been one of the best in the county, and for many years it is believed that its dividends were large. As to this, however, nothing is known with certainty beyond the fact that those who owned stock considered it so desirable that they did not offer it for, sale. ~i The life of William B. Wright does not afford an example of successful industry or briUiant genius. He was a man of talent, but indolent. In him, with a mind broad and deep, there was a natural tendency to stagnation. A breeze disturbed its placidity ; but' it required an earthquake to move its depths. He was of Irish blood, the son of Samuel and Martha Brown Wright, and was bom in Newburgh, New York, on the 16th of Apru, 1806. His father was a mechanic, and a man of small 39 610 mBH&BSi oF< avuMAs oomrn. iheans. 'W^enBon msis eealp sent-to tiie, glebe-schocd of New- .Ijurgh, where i (he oontinued until his twelfth year, when lie attendedpau! academy for. a short time. After this he was employed ria a, book-store. When fifteen years old, he w^ apprenticed. to Ward ;M. Gazely, aprimter and publisher of his ' nativeritown. iHaerehe labored at the case and press for sever&l years, and spent what leisure he had in miscellaneous reading. - J'romfdeing press-work at this period of his life, it is supposed he acquired a slight physical deformity. This he carefully •concealed. , It was known to but few except his tailor, whose . art was«employed to make his customer s shoulders appear symmetrical. After the expiration of his apprenticeship, he commenced the «tudyriof law with Ross & Knevels, who were leading mernbers of fhd bar of Orange county. How he managed to pay his ex- penses while a law-student is unknown to us. As he was a ready and vigorous writer, and an expert compositor, it is not imparobable that the means of his support were drawn from the printing-offices of the place. After- studying the prescribed time, he was licensed as an at- • tomey, and for a short period practiced law in Newburgh. It does net appear that his success was remarkable, for he engaged soon after in editing " The Beacon," an anti-Jackson paper. His airticles were keen and severe, and much applauded by his political friends. In a few months " The Beacon" was discon- tinued. In 1831, he removed to Goshen, and practiced law in the of- fice of Samuel J. Wilkin. He also became the editor of the " Orange County Patriot." As a writer he displayed much ability. He was caustic ^nd forcible, and, like nearly every ed- itor sof that day, resorted to personal vituperation. Few jour- nalists could lash a political opponent more severely than Wil- liam B. Wright. In the heat of controversy, he appHed the scoui^e with a vigor and will which were never lessened by the contortions of the unfortunate victim. It is said that he as- sailed Mr. Chaffee, a rival editor of Goshen, with such severity, that the latter was prostrated by paralysis, from which he never recov^ed. Mr. Wright, perhaps, regretted the necessity of these excesses. They were then an essential ingredient of editorial life. The mass of mankind were so dejjraved that a journalist was con- demned who did not cater to vitiated appetites. His own party despised him if he did not use the weapons of a blackguardf. Even in our own time, too many Christian parents who gu»rd 2 their children against the debasing influences of the rat-pit, the race-course and nude theatrioalsj will place in the hands of th^ir -o^spring joumsds which assail private character and reek ^th ■THE TOWN OF THOMPSON. SXl '^ulga4tyvBnd obscenity. Brutal .sports jare not as dejjasiijg as brutal literature. Ruffians \^ho assail each Other with hands '«.nd feet and teeth, are no rworse, than, the predtjires who, with a .public pressat their, control, and theim hearts ponvulsed by de- moniac passions, seek to blast and blacken each other's reputa- tion. In the commission of such offenses, we have been a sin- ner among sinners ; but it affords us, pleasure to say, that we have seldom met an editorial brother who did not privately de- plore his offenses against good ;taste Bind. .sound morality; and who did not regret that editorial intercourse was not governed by the same nues which control the conduct of the cultivated $460 ; Qyand Jurors' fees, $120 ; Petit Jurors',! $171 ; Sheriff and Constables', $100 ; Crier, $18.75 ; County Clerk,, $38.0(3. Surrogate's fees, i $508.88. Supreme Court Commissioner's, :$10. Fees of Examiners in Chancery, $178.96. Number of judgments docketed in Court of Common Pl^as, 62; damages,. $32,288.29; costs,, $1,350.57. ' In January, 1847,, (there was not a convict from ' ^iiUiv^n county in State Prison. Those were Arcadian days. Tlie people imagined they coiild be improved. They made radical chaiiges in the organic l^wpf the State, and broiiglit upon themselves a host of .official 612 HISTORY OP SULUVAN OOUNTY. locusts, whose greed increases, year after year, in geometrical progression. Mr. Wright was not successful as a lawyer, A dearth of litigation and his love of ease, sufficiently account for his failure. He was unfitted for the every-day business of his profession. He was so slow in his movements that A. C. Niven, his principal competitor, outflanked him and outmanoeuvred him in almost every contest. The last three or four of his professional years were the darkest of his life. To indulgence of habit lie added indulgence of appetite. In 1844, he lost the office of Surrogate, to which he had been appointed in 1840. It had enabled him to "keep the wolf from his door." He was now glad to take the office of Supervisors' Clerk. Its salary, (one hundred dollars,) not the work and honor, was the inducement. He was also Justice of the Peace. His necessities were limited. Throughout his life he had found it necessary to stint himself in money-matters. He was scrupulously honest in business-affairs. Hence he sought these msignificant positions — insignificant, at least, for a man of his ability. He was poor, and his disregard of sanitary laws caused the seeds of disease to germinate in his -system. Poverty and death threatened to terminate his days. Respect- able physicians pronounced his case beyond their skill. Appa- rently his life was a failure — ^his sacrifices and struggles to emerge from poverty and obscurity fruitless. As the regular medical faculty had abandoned him, he abandoned them, arid put his life in the hands of a quack, whose prescriptions were not in vain. There was a gradual improvement in Mr. Wright's bodily condition, although for several years his arms were par- tially paralyzed. While his prospects were worst, two or three things occun-ed which gave an upward tendency to his life : The New York and Erie Kailroad company endeavored to violate their promise ta locate their road through the county, which caused much indig- nation in the interior towns, and Mr. Wright became the cham- pion of the discontented. The anti-rent controversy took place* General Niven became the attorney of the landlords. He had been regarded as the leader of the democracy. The whig lead- ers took advantage of this fact, and it enabled them to control the anti-rent vote, which was uniformly cast for the local candi- dates of the whig party. SuUivan had been a strong democratic county ; but the democracy were rendered impotent by the hos- tility of the anti-rent party, and the foolish jealousies and bick- erings of its prominent members. ■ Under such circumstances, Mr. Wright became the candidate of whigs and others for the Constitutional Convention of 1846. His opponent was Charles S. Woodward. Mr. Wright was elected THE TOWN OP THOMPSON. 613 by a majority of 65. The vote stood for "William B. Wright, 1,304 ; for diaries S. "Woodward, 1,249 ; for Eobert Maffit, jr., 19. As a member of the Convention, he occupied a respectable position, although we believe he did not succeed in engrafting upon the constitution anything which he originated. He made several speeches which compared favorably with those of men who enjoyed a much wider reputation, and which added much to his importance in the eyes of his constituents. At the November election of 1846, he was again a successful candidate for office. He was then run for Member of Assembly by the whigs and anti-renters against Jonathan Stratton, the democratic nominee. "Wright's friends claimed that he was also the anti-railroad company candidate. Their representa- tions had great weight with the friends of the central route. It was notorious that he could make a sound and able»argument, and that in this respect no member of the legislature would «xcel him. The influence of oratory on legislation was then held in undue importance, and the fact was entirely ignored- that there were other and more efficient agencies, (while they were equally honorable,) by which favorable enactments could be secured, and unfavorable ones defeated. "Wright received 1,728 votes ; Stratton, 1,387. The history of the Assembly of which "Wright was a member, proves that he was not as influential in advocating the interests of Sullivan, as Meml)ers who pre- ceded him. They had defeated the eflbrts of the New York and Erie Bailroad Company ; the company procured the legislation they desired during his term of office. He made unanswerable arguments in favor of the interior route; but a paid lobby rendered his speeches of no avail, and afforded another evidence of the fact that a haK dozen whipper-snappers who are acquainted with the ways of legislation, can defeat the efforts of those who possess massive but inert brains. At the Judicial election held on the 7th of June, 1847, "William B. Wright, Ira Harris, Malbone Watson and Amasa J. Parker, were elected Justices of the Supreme Court of the Third District. By allotment Wright's term of office was two years, Harris' four, Watson's six and Parker's eight years. In 1849, Wright was re-elected, and served a full term of eight years. In 1857, he was elected for four years vice Malbone Watson, deceased. In 1861, he was nominated by the republican party for Judge of the Court of Appeals, and was elected. He served in that capa- city until the Janusfry term of 1868, when he died. At the time of his decease, he was the Chief or Presiding Judge of the court.* • "The judge of the Coutt of Appeals elected by the electors of the State, who shall have the shortest time to serve, shall be the chief judge of said court," ( Laua cf 1817, chapter 280, § 6. 614' HisTOBT op'strmviN' oomtt*. In-oonsaqtience of Mr. Wright's death, there was a meetitog,' of distingoished lawyers at the capital. Alex^S. JohnSQn Wd»^ called to th'e chair. Lyman Tremam, John K. Porter, WiUiani' M. Evarts, and others were appointed a committee to report^' appropriate resolutions. Alfred B. Street ddlitered an eulbgJHifl i- on the deceased. The committee, through Mr. Tremain, theit' chairman, reported among other things that "from the positilftii" of a lawyer, attracting but little attention beyond the range of ' a local bar, he (Judge Wright,) suddenly rose into distinction, and for'more than twenty years maintained his eminence, until ' he reached the h^hest position known in our administration of - justice. The qilaSties which evoked these results are worthy of ■ our attention and admiration. "Never brilliant, flashing no corruscations of wit or eloquence upon his auditory, and exciting no wonder by any outbreak from the ordinary l^vel of life, he was yet steadily, unifdrmly and always characterized by unvarying • good sense, sound judgment, instinctive integrity, and an exemption from those personal influences which so often warp the minds of even the greatest men from their true balance. "So thorough was the conviction of all men who knew him of the existence of "those qualities, that unshaken confidence in the uprightness of ' his course attended every man whose interests, whether of life, hberty or property, were submitted to- • his determination; and his, example teaches us that while we may struggle against the power of genius and wit, we yield without reluctance to the charm of good sense and sound integrity." Ward Hunt, who became Chief Judge on the decease of Mr. Wright, announced his death to , the Court of Appeals, and declared that "his endilring monument will be found in the reports of the decisions of this Court. Patient, laborious,' learned, clear-minded and discriminating, he ranks honorably in that long line of distinguished men who have presided on this bench, ^y "The steadiness and evenly balanced character of hiWmind was its prominent feature. He was never deluded by sophis- tries or deceived by subtleties. Unembarrassed by speculative tendencies, his strong native sense at once cut the Gordian knot ' which he could not untie. His instinct condemned the fallacies which he could not readily refute, and time and deliberation enabled him by reason and authority effectually to explode' them. H^ grasped the strong points of his case, clilng to them with tenacity, and vindicated thfem with learning and ability. _ " In personal character and manners Judge Wright waa- singularly unaffected and unostentatious. I know of no man more eminently integer vitce scekrisqve purus. Under a some- TEte T6WN OF THOMPBtair.' 61^ what austere demeanor, he was feind and gentl'6, yiplding much to.othfers, claiming little tdv himself, cormkl iid nis associates, familiar and unreserved in the social circle."* ' Judg6 Wright's funeral was attended by the G^ernor of the State, the Judges of the Court of ' Appeal arid a large con- course of distinguished citizens. In a previous paragraph we have alluded to the fact that Mr. Wright's necessities were limited. This was the natural result of the narrow means at his command in early life. We do not believe that his income ever amounted to a thousand dollars per year until he was made a Justice of the' Supreme Court. Aiter his elevation to the bench, his good fortune did not make him profiise in his expenditures, except for- religious purposes. He lived respectably, but avoided vulgar ostentation. As his means inorease.d, he led a better and purer life; and his contri- butions to the Church of which he was a pious communicant and an honored warden, were latge, and made without reluct- ance. It is said that at his death he left a very comfortable fortune,, which he acquired from his salary as Justice of the Supreme Court and Judge of the Court of Appeals. For several years previous to his decease he was a resident of Kingston, liT. Y. Before his removal' frbm Monticello, ho married Miss Martha Ann Crissey, by whom he had but one child, a daughter, who married Leru, a son of Rev. James , Adams. Judge Wright and young Adams fcbth died but a few days after the marriage. On the 17th of September, 1857, a whirlwind passed from the . farm of Coe Durland, in Kinne Settlement, to Thompson vUle. It destroyed a part of Dnrland's orchard ; unroofed the cow-house of Cholbe F. Eoyce; destroyed a barn of Peter B. Webster, and prostrated his orchard-; wrecked a barn of Stephen Hamilton, moving- it with sixtytons of hay from its foundation; ruined the fences, fruit-trees, house, barn and, sheds of Truman Smith; mowed a swarth one-eighth of a mile wide through the woods of Shelden Strong, M. L. Bushnell, Coe Dill and Philip Shafer; carried a house of Wilham McCul- lough several rods, and dropped it uppn the ground, where it was torn to fragments; greatly damaged the house of James Welsh, a shed of Philip Stafer, and the mill and turning-shop of Robert T. Hall; and left little except the cellar of the dwell- ing of William Kane. Beyond this point, trees were blown down, croi)s destroyed, etc.; but no buildings injured. Of such., tremendous force was the hurricane, , that it thrust pieces, of boards two feet in length at, least twelve inches perpendi'Cu- * Tiffany's New York Beports, volume 87, page 693. €16 HISTOBT OF SULLIVAN COUNTS. larly inlo the ground — ^removed heavy stones from walls, etc. The path of the storm was from a point a few degrees south of west to a corresponding point north of east, while the uprooted trees laid_ almost directfy across the track, showing that the cur- Tent of air was from the south-east, near the earth's surface. At Kane's six persons were eating supper, when there was a sudden shockj and the next moment the building had disap- peared, and its late occupants were scattered over an adjoining field, bruised and bleeding. Although several persons were wounded, no one was fatally injured. John Quinn and John Price, while going to their work in the woods near George W. Barnum's mills, on the 20th of January, 1863, were induced to leave the road they were on by the bark- ing of their dogs, and found that the animals had discovered a large bear. The latter was at the entrance of its lair, where it had four cubs, which it guarded with great ferocity against the approaches of the dogs. Having nothing but axes with them, Price went after a gun, while his companion remained to watch the bear. The dogs in the meantime " skirmished" with bruin. One of them approaching too near, was caught and would have been speedily kiUed by the bear, if the other cur and Quinn had not taken an active part in the fight. Quinn struck the monster with his axe, when it made a rush at him. In attempting to avoid it, he exposed his rear, when the animal, with a sweep of one of its paws, carried away his coat-tail. At this moment, he was in great peril, and would liave lost his life, if one of the dogs had not laid hold of the brute's haunches, causing the bear to turn "right about" and face its four-footpd assailant. Quinn then managed to give it a heavy blow on the head with his axe, which put an end to the fight. His friend soon after re- turned with a gun, when they fired two charges into the body qf the disabled monster. They also secured the cubs. Quinn's weight was but 125 pounds, while the bear's was 300. On the 6th of September, 1865, WiUiam Wigley and Joseph Turner were suffocated in a well This well was on the farm of John WaUer, senior, about four miles south of Monticello. It had been dry some time. On the 1st day of the month, Wigley, in company with Joseph Conklin, descended to its bottom, an&^ after removing some nibbish, drilled a hole, and attempted to explode a blast. Owing to the unsuspected presence of foul air at the bottom, the fuse would not ignite. The well was then covered and remained covered until the 6th, when Wigley again went down to gather the straw, etc., which had been used to fire the^blast. While thus engaged, and after he had been at the bottom about fifteen minutes, he fell upon his face as if he had fainted. Mr. Waller, who was an infirm old man' immediately alarined the neighbors. Mr. Turner was among THE TOWN OF TH0MP80K. 617 the first to reach tlie spot, and immediately went down with, a rope to Wigley's body, and then retraced his steps until he had reached within three feet of the top, when he swooned and fell No one then dared to descelid, and no means were at hand to expel the deadly gas from the well. Every plan which could be thought of, however, was tried to raise the bodies, but with- out success tintil three hours had elapsed. The iinfortunate men continued to breathe for about one-third of this time. They were both young men of exemplary character,. A few weelcs previously Wigley had been mustered out of the army, in which he had served creditably for four years without receiving a scratch. For several years previous to 1866, one of the habitves of Thompson was Joel W. McKee, an insane Methodist preacher. In early life, he was of average ability and standing ; but from inherent causes his mind ultimately became unbalanced, when a conflict arose between him and his ecclesiastical superiors — he believing that he should labor energetically for the conver- sion of sinners, and tJiey knowing that he should rest. Proceed- ings were about to be instituted to silence him, when, with a shrewdness which often characterizes the insane, he denounced his old associates of the Church as " punkin-heads," withdi-ew from the society, and joined the Inaependent Methodists, of Avhich Eev. John Newland Maffit and others were the foimders. After this he had no followers and no rivals in Sullivan. Ho was the only member of his Church in the county, and got inlf> as many dilemmas and scrapes as he pleased, A hundred an- ecdotes could be related of his queer sayings and acts. He was zealous in preaching ; but his hearers generally were limited to a few irreverent young men and mischievous boys. After be- ing incarcerated twice in insane asylums, and wasting a com- fortable sum of money, which he had saved in his better days, he found a home in the poor-house, where he died. Nearly every locality of this town was once known as a set- tlement. These settlements have been severally mentioned in this chapter except Strong Settlement, which received its name from Adina Strong, who, came from Southbury, Connecticut, in the spring of 1809, with his three sons, Nehemiah, Truman and Sheldon. The father died in the winter of 1824U5, The sons continued to reside in the neighborhood for many years. A man named John Bedford was added to the settlement in 1826, and subsequently Whitman Carr and others, -Glen Wild received its name from a remarkable glen or 'can- yon in its neighborhood, through which runs the outfet of Lord's or Foul Woods lake. At the head of the glen is a beautiful waterfall, which adds- much to the impressive wildness of tiie scene. On each side of the stream the ascent is so abrupt that 618 fflSTOBY OF 8ULLn?AU COUSTY. / the locality was avoided by the lumberman and bark-peeler until a few years since, when, at considerable expense, a road was made to penetrate the gulf. Glen WUd is in what was originally called Miller Settlement. Dutch Pond. — ^A company. of Hollanders settled near this sheet of water previous to the Eevolutionary war, aiid were driven away by, the Indians. Hence its name. The first permanent white settler on its bianks was Zephaniah Hatch, a native of Connecticut. Mr. Hatch brought with him but a few hundred dollars, and, although he never followed any business except that of .fanmingj he bought, improved and paid for' three or four large farras.^ In his old age, he retuMied to his native place, where he died. Sackett Pond. — One of the Saeketts, while engaged in surveying land for the Livingston family, discovered this sheet of water, and, by common consent, ifwas named Sackett pond. Pleasant Lake. — This beautiful sheet of water bbre its present name as early as 1799, when the Commissioners of ' Highways of Mamakating put on record the road running from Thompsonville to the Mongaup. The name was probably given it by William A. Thompson, who then owned the greater part of i^he land in that vicinity. It covers an area of three or four hundred acres, and it is said was known to the Indians as Kiamesha — ian alleged word of the Lenape tongije sigmfying^ olearr prater. We suspect that the abbriginal cognomfen is a modem invention. The pike of this lake have been pronoimeed equal to those caught in Germany, and superior to those of England, Black-'bass, mullet, j)erch, suckers, catfish, eels, ot From November, 1831, to October, 1832, the Rev. Stephen Sergeant appears to have had charge of the pulpit. Mr. Sergeant was of the Congregational order both before and after his labors in Monticello. Exactly what relation he bore to the Presbyterian Church of this place we cannot now determine, although we believe he was neither its pastor or a stated supply. ■fe22 HI8T0BY OF STJLLIVAII OOUNTt. He Avas succeeded by Eev. James Adams, under whose adrtn'uis- • tnition the society prospered. This gentleman's useful and blameless life should receive at our hands a suitable memorial. llev. James Adams was born near the village of Bath, Beau- fort county, North Carolina, in the year 1801. While yet a youth, be made a profession of religion, and soon afterwards felt it his duty to devote his earthly life to the service of his Church. In 1 1819, he became a pupH of the Bloomfield (N. J.) Academy, and remained there two years. He next entered Princeton • College, where he graduated in 1825, and then completed his preparatory stuof^e in the Theological Institution at Amherst. After his ordination, he labored three years zealously and use- fully as a missionary ^at Dundaff, Pennsylvania. On the 12th of September, 1833, he was installed pastor of the Presbyterian ■jgociety of Monticello. The congregation had been without^ a settled minister, and had suffered from dissensions. His uniform kindness, gentleness and piety, tempered, as they were, by a rigid sense of duty, endeared mm to the people of his charge. During his pastorate, that "peace which, passe th all understand- ing " prevaUed among them, and the Church steadily increased I in numerical as well as spiritual strength. As a laborer, he was i faithful and untiring. In addition to preaching twice on Sunday, he superintended the Sabbath-school, lectured frequently in some reinote school-house in the evening, and also during tho week. These school-house services, it has been asserted, laid I the foundation of the disease of which he died. The heated land impure air; the exertion necessary to preach under such circumstances, and the sudden transition to the frosty atmosphere '!of winter, in which he was obliged to travel with clothing I dampened by perspiration, were too much for a constitution naturally delicate and feeble. Of these things he never com- . plained, but with that sublime patience which is seldom seen on earth, labored on, willing to "spend and be spent" in the 'Master's service. His salary was never large ; but he accepted it with cheerfulness and thankfulness, remembering that dumb -beasts were more comfortably fed and lodged than the Divine ^Exemplar, who, when on earth, though he had power to sum- frinon legions of angels to minister to His necessities, chose )-for our example, humiUty and poverty. While Mr. Adams .exhibited the harmlessness of the dove, he also manifested tlie wisdom of the serpent. It is related of him that, while he was a resident of Monticello, he inherited several slaves by the decease of a relative in the South. The sale of these slaves -would have placed within his reach many things which he sorely needed: books, which a scholarly gentleman holds so dear; means to educate his children, which a fond parent of a culti- vated intellect wiU strive so.hai-d to win; rest and recuperation, THE TOWN OP THOMPSON. C23 ^0 grateful to an overworked brain ; and a hundred other things to which we might alhide. But id those who knew Mr. Adams it is not necessaty to say, that he did not Sell the bondsmen who thus were thrown upon his hands. Hfe judiciously refrained from making, public the fact that he owned this species of prop- erty, for to some of his people it would have^given offenfee. He caused his negroes to be taught trades, i^i^d as soon as he believed they were fitted to shift for themselves, he endeavored: to manumit them ; but his benevolekt intentions were frustrated by the negroes themselves. They refused ' to ac^pt their freedom, and under the laws of the 'State in which they were', lie could not, without the consent of his slaves, confer the boipn so highly prized by many. He was an involuntary slaveholder until he died, althovigh we have been'^ told he derii|pd no benefit from the earnings of his chattels. They remained under the guardianship of a relative Of Mr. Adams, while the latter was under a contingent liability for their support, t On the 14th of September, 1853,' jn consequence of failing health, Mr. Adams resigned his charge in Monticello, arid within ihe .ensuing twelve months removed from the place. After this he preached occasionally,. but was chiMy employed in teaching until the fall of 1856, when he was obliged to suspend All labor. On the 7th of February,, 1857, he died' at Union Church,' Miss. " He gently closed his own eyes and mouth ; then folded his . bands on his breast, as if to .engage in, some act of devotion, while a celestial smile settled on his countenance, arid ettery f eat- lire expressed the serenity and meekness of' his soul." Thus patiently, hopefully and meekly, he died^iri the 56th year- bf his On the 13th of January, 1844, the bhtirch was de^royed by fire. Within less than one year, it was tfebuilt. The new edi- fice was dedicated on the 2a of January,' 1845. ' While the con- gregation was without a plape of worship |bf their own,-; the rec- tor of Sti John's Church,, with the sanctibn, of 'the; wfl^eus and vestrymen, tendered them the use of theif.buildirig^'dnring the afternoon of each Supd9.y, and for nearly twblve months -Eev. Mr. , Fowler and Eev. Mr." Adams officiated within the sanje church. For this act of Christi£j,n courtesy, the Presbyteriairscteiety pre- sented the Episcopal with a very handsome copy of the-' H6ly Scriptures. ., After Mr. Adams' resignation, the pulpit of the' church was iemp(»^arily, occupied by various persons tfntil Mafy* 11, • 1854, when the' i^ev. Richard C. Shimeall was installed '|rHst6r. Mr. ,S. wijis a gentleman of considerJEible talent, and some idio^ybcra- isies. I His connection with the congregation' terminated' ^bn* the 7th of October, 1857. ' The next pastor was the Bev. John N. Lewis, who continiied 624 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. from September 9l;h, 1858, to April 7, 1861. His wife was a de- scendant of Jonathan Edwards, and possessed some of the pe- culiarities of her celebrated ancestor. On the 17th of September, 1862, the Eev. Samuel B. Dod was ordained and installed. His pastorate continued until October 6th, 1864 From Majr 16, 1865, to April 1869, the Eev. Eobert A Davi- son was the incumbent. The church was then vacant eighteen months. The next pastor, Eev. T. Madison Dawson, was called in August, commenced his labors on the 1st of November, and was installed pastor December 6th, 1870. In the fall of 1872, his pastorate terminated. He was succeeded by the Eev. Henry A. Harlow, the present pastor. Since its organization there have been twenty Euling Elders in the Church. The present session consists of Messrs. Luther Pelton, Joseph Wallace, Ambrose D. Smith, James H. Strong, Daniel H. Webster and Levi C. Lounsbury. The membership- of the Church from the beginning has been 643. The present number of communicants is 166, nineteen of whom were added in April, 1872. Its Sabbath-school numbers about 125. Some time previous to 1832, the Church owned a parsonage on the corner of Liberty and Main streets. This was sold a few years ago. In connection with the great re-union movement in the Presbyterian Church, to raise a Memorial-offering of Five MU- lions of Dollars, in March, 1872, the Church purchased a memo- rial-parsonage at the corners of Main and Pleasant streets, foi which they have raised fiive thousand dollars. Baptist Church op Thompson. — Soon after the Newburgh. and Ooohecton turnpike penetrated Thompson, George, Joseph and Samuel Davies moved to the town from Newburgh. At the latter place, they were members of the Baptist Church. In their new home in the wilderness, they naturally longed for what they believed to be the true privileges and ordmances of the GospeL Here they were visited by their relative, Elder Luke Davies, who was also a member of the Newburgh society, and lie was induced to preach for them and their nephews. He was so well liked that an arrangement was made under which he preached for them once in three weeks dui:ing the years 1809,. 1810 and 1811. In the winter and spring of the latter year, a remarkable revival of religion took place m the town. Almost all the oitiaens seemed to manifest anxiety in regard to tho welfare of their souls. Elder Davies and Samuel Pelton, a Presbyterian, were the main instruments in producing this "religious stir," and the two fell out by the way as soon as an attempt was made to gather the fruits of the revival. A furious controversy ensued. Leading Presbyterians were determined THE TOWN OP THOHPSON. 625 rvr' that Mr. Davies should no longer preach in the town, and put in tsifculiitlOn tepdrts about him whi'cH his fii'ends'dfeijIiarM Were **fals and schirilous." * As he was in 'part supported by the Baptist Board of Missiotfs of New York, and had a consider- able number of adherents in the towii, it was not an easy task to drive him away. He continued to visit Thompson regularly until the summer of 1817, when he "becamQ one of its residents. He also labored at Feeupack, Mamakating Hollow and Forest- burgh. ■ ' ' The first step to form a Baptist Church in Thompson was taken on the 29th' of April, 1811, when a number of Christians convened in the log-house of Enoch Gomstoek, in North Settle- merit. After singing a hymn and prayer, a sermon was deliv- ered by Elder Davies. William Strawbridge, of Marblehead, was made chairman, and Enoch Cqmstock, clerk, when the follow- ing persons expressed a desire to enter into fellowship as a Bap- tist Church, viz : UzzielEoyce, Jonathan Reynolds, Jesse Brad- ley, Abigail Bradley, Enoch Comstock, Ananias Warring, Mary Warring, Shadrach Schofield, Abigail Schofield, George jDayies^ Ann Davies, Mercy Davies, Joseph Davies, Samuel D&,vies, and Betsey Smith. On the 12th of May, eight of these persons were baptized, it is believed, in Pleasant lake, and on the 16th of July, there was a; gathering in Nehemiah Smith's barn to organize the in- fant Church. Elders Davies, Ball and Hall were present, as well as several members of the Newburgh and Liberty Churches. Elder Ball preached in the forenoon, and Elder Hall- in th* afternoon. The articles of faith and Church fellowship were then read, when Elder Hall gave the right hand of fellowship, a,nd the consecrated symbols of His broken body and precious blood were eat and'drarik by those who ranked among true be- lievers. Truly, these simple people had vivid reminders of the birth as well ' as the death of the Saviour of His people ! And in this connection it niaynOt be amiss to say, that, while at the first supper of bur Lord there was one Judas, at this, judging from subsequent events, there were about half a dozen ! TJzziei Royce was excommunfcated because he believed in open com- munion ; Joiiathan Reynolds because he wronged a brother ; Jesse Bradley, for intemperance ; Ananias Warring walked with the brotherhood until he .was an old man, when he came to the qonalusion tliat the Baptists of Thompson were a bad set, and he wias cut off ; Shadrach Schofield, during a controversy as to keeping the first or last* day of the week holy, concluded that all days were equally sacred; and worked on Sunday ; and Ann Davies Believmg that the Church of Thompson dealt harshly and * Church Book of the Baptist Church of ThompBon. '■'"-"- io ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ' 626 HI8T0RY OP SULLIVAN COUNTI. nniustly with her husband, was honest enough to say so, for which she was expelled from the fold. Even the good Elder himself was for a time denounced by this congregation as a child of the devil, and was driven from the sanctuary as if he were a moral leper. On the 24th of August, 1811, the members met at the house of "Brother Shadrach Sohofield," and chose Jonathan Reyn- olds and Enoch Comstock, deacons. Cbmstock was also elected clerk, and held the office until 1828, when he resigned on account of his age. He lived after this act more than forty years. The deacons of this Church have been: Jonathan Reynolds, ex-communicated; Enoch Comstock, removed to Newburgh ; Amos Holmes, removed to Michigan ; Benjamin E., Comfort, expelled for heresy; Sylvester Wheeler, now living; Miner Benedict, now living. Elder Davies was the pastor of the Church until 1823, when his floek turned against him. He excited their ill will, accord- ing to their allegations, by giving up to Mr. Brown, an Episco^ pal priest, his regular appointment, and standing in the pulpit with Brown to worship God ; by receiving a letter from the Board of Missions, which he did not place before the Church ; by telling the brethren that they should employ a Rev. Mr. Smitzer in his place, and then declaring that he only wished to pump -them; by consulting an "irreligious lawyer" in regard to his difficulties ; by charging that the members had met to injure him; that the Baptist Churches of America were too republican, etc. The Church spoke to him about the letter and his courtesy toward Mr, Brown, when he very frankly told the brotherhood that "it was none of their business," and left the meeting "in a great rage."* On the 10th of September, 1823, a council was held in Mon- iioelk}, composed of elders and laymen from seven Churches, to investigate all the matters in dispute between Davies and his accusers. This body declared that Davies had " done violence to duty" in withholding the letter from the Board of Missions, "and that the Church had just cause for grievance." The unfortunate Elder attended the next Church-meeting, at which he claimed that the council had cleared him of all charges except the one in regard to the letter. The Church, however, thought otherwise, and a stormy scene ensued. Everything then proceeded from bad to worse. All the old charges were renewed, and this record (full of the infirmity of human passion) was put upon the Church-book : * The malcontents told Davies that Piatt Pelton and some other villaeers would dotible their sabsoriptions if Smitzer were employed. Mr. Pelton and othera declared to Davies that if he (Davies) left, they would not give a cent. THE TOWN OP THOMPSON. 627 "Mr. Davies has from first to last of our difficulties shown a wicked, malicious disposition toward the Church. The Church by a large majority slgree to withdraw their fellowship from hun." Davies then found that he was outside of the Church anij shorn of his ministerial functions. He could not, unless restored to membership by the Church of Thompson, administer the ordinances or preach, and apparently an untamed wolf had a better prospect of being admitted to the sheep-fold than the expelled elder. In this emergency. Deacon Thomas Stokes came up from New York, and poured oil upon the troubled waters. He induced Davies to make an acknowledgment, which was considered satis- factory. He was taken back, and immediately applied for a letter of dismission, which was reluctantly granted, the members giving him a parting shot by declaring that " God only knew his heart. A short time afterwards his wife was expelled because she had espoused the cause of her husband, and continued to justify her- self in all she had done. She had been very useful as a mid- wife, and for several years had officiated at births in a large cir- cle of country. Often, to visit the sick, she had traveled for miles on horseback, over the obscure roads of the town, when it was so dark that she could not see her horse's ears. Two of her sons were Baptist preachers, one of whom (Bev. Henry Davies,) is now a resident of the town. Elder Luke Davies died in the city of New York, on the 9th of December, 1852, aged 92 years. At that time the Church which he founded contained about the same number of mem- bers as at the date of its organization.* The decisions of this Church were not always infallible. Among its early members were William Williams and his wife, who came from Pouglikeepsie, • where they had been members in good standing. Mr. W. was a consistent and active member of the Thompson Church until 1821, when his wife was expelled for joining the Methodists ; deceiving N. S. Hammond m the * Elder Luke Davies was bom in the city of London, where he studied medicine, and became a druggist. After he emigrated to the city of New York, ho engaged in the drug-business, proscribed for >he sick, aftd was a preacher, connected with the Mi|Jberry-street Baptist Church. He subsequently moved to Newburgh, and then to Thompson, where his income as a physician was small, because some could not com- prehend how a man could be a physician and a preacher at the same time, and others imagined that a minister of the gospel, if a doctor of medicine, ought to prescribe for nothing. When the difficulties of the Baptist Church of Thompson commenced, ha ■was anxious to retvirn to New York, and once moie vend drugs and prescribe potions. Alter his removal from Thompson, he again became a preacher of the Mulberry-strpet Church, and engaged in his old busineBs of selling drugs, etc. As a phvsician, he wag much esteemed by Doctors Mott, Post and others of the same grade. He was a gentleman of enlarged and liberal views, and his ability as a preacher and his practical piety were nndoubted, except by his flock in Thompson, and a few others who ^ers members of rival Churches. 6^ HI8T0BT OF SULLIVAN OOCNTX, Bale of some rags, ^d dejfraiid^ig Mrs. Hammond ont of several ^nsofyarn. ' He teUeve*^ |hat^er expulsion was unjust,* and was Himself expelled^ for ssiying so. Some four" or five years afiierwards, the CHufch acknowledged that the charges against her were unfounded, and restored her, and also her husband; but rec[uired him to make an ample apolpgy ! For three or four ye^rs aftcjr its controversy with Elder Davies, the Church had' no regular administrator. It was visited dccasionally by El4ers Ball, Warren and others; but few were tirought from darkness to li^Ht, and several were cast out. In 1826, an Irishman n^med Ventry Hozier, joined by letter from the Particular Baptist Church in Swift's Alley, Dublin. He was a preachet, and was cordially received ; provision was made to board him, and he at once became very popular. A council was hastily called to ordain him; which decided that the Church had been too precipitate ; that Hozier was right so far as they could see ; but that the ordination should be post- poned until the parties were "more acquainted." This gave offense to the sensitive Irishman, and caused him to demand dismission from the Church. In vain the brethren "reasoned with him." A letter was voted ; but before it could be written, he "got in a violent passion," and behaved in such an unseemly manner that the vot^ was reconsidered, when "he left the meeting in a great rage." In February, 1828, Elder Philip C. Broom, the pastor of the Liberty Church, agreed to preach for the Thompson society every Sabbath after the' regular Church-meeting. ' On the 9fch of February, 1833, Elder Henry Halt became the third and last pastor. Although he was a good man, the society gradually lost ground, and in the end virtually ceased to exist. ■ The records of this Church show that 10 i persons were admitted as members, 23 of whom were expelled, and about an equal number dismissed by letter. The others died, moved out of the country, or are still living in the town. St. John's Church, Monticello. — St. John's parish was organized ofl the 11th dayof*November, 1816, while Eev. James Thompson, a brother of William A. Thompson, was temporarily in the town. The meeting for this purpose was held in the court-house. William A. Thompson and John E. Eussell were elected wardefis, and Levi Barnum, Ira E. Smith, Livingston Billmgs, William Woods Sackett, Charles Thompson, Otto William Van Tuyl, John Lord and Luther Buckley, vestrymen. The certificate of iucorporatioa was signed by James Thompson, THE TOWN OP. THOMPSON. 6^ "William W. Saolcett and Cyrus A. Cadj, and was attested by William A. Thompson, First Judge 6l£ tne'coimty.* , ,,, Previous to this time, tlirough the voluntary labors of Samuel Pulton, a number of Presbyterians had been gathered and organized iii Montipe.Uq as a Church, and he had been ordained a minister, and had taken the spiritual charge of a congregation in Bockland county. The Presbyterians of Thompson were too Spor to maintain a pastor, and hence on the removal of Eev. fr. Peltpn were like sheep in the wilderness. The Episco- palians were also unable to support a presbyter. Under thpse circuriistances, the proposition was made to consolidate the two ChurcliBS, and secure Bev. James Thompson as rector. Mr. Pelton, although he had left Sullivan, and was an active and influential minister of the Presbyterian Church, :^vored this plan, and continued to speak of it for many years in terms like the following : , "I thought it might be for the best." ^ " I saw no prospect of the Presbyterians being able to build a church or support a minister," "I feared some errorist might pome among them, and scatter them, and the Church go down entirely." , " If they were allunitedunder an Episcopal pastor, they would be a greater power for good," efcij.t This project was favored by Iplpiscopalians and some Presby- te4ans ; but was defeated by the Jones fam|ily and others, who refused to sanction prelacy and the Book qf Common Prayer. After reading prayers and preaching a few times, Mr. Thomp- son returned to Greene county, pi wliich he had been a resident miany yi^ars, and where he labored as a clergymen of the Epis- copal Chur^ih until his death. ;. , i . Boon a^er 1816, Bey. Jphn Brown, rector oJE St. Gebrge'| Church, Newburgh, took charge cif the.,infaiit parish, and conj- tinned to perform; divine service in Monticello once in three months for about ten years. ^ , « On the 22d of December, 1836, Bev. Edward Katon Fowl^y took charge of the C^inrch, and contir;iued iu charge, for neiatly forty,-three years. He was bom in East Chester, N- T., about 1799. His parents were of the Dutch Beformed Church ;;but from reading an account of the Nestorians^ he became a cony^i^ to Episcopacy, and was led to enter the ministry of the Pro- tesftJint Episcopal Church. After the necessary preparatory studies, he became a student in the Tbelogical Seminary of l^^w York. While there his health failedi, and by the advice of h^S Bishop, he left the institution, and continued his' studies unte * Dfeed Record No. 2, of SnlliTttD ooainty,' i>(^ 6^i' etc. t Statement of Luther Pelton. ,630 HI8T0BY OF SULUVAN COUNTY. Rev. Seth Hart, and officiated as lay-reader at Huntington, L. I. In 1823, he was ordained deacon, and in 1824 was admitted to the priesthood. He continued at Huntington until his re- moval to Monticello, officiating at Cold Spring Harbor and Oys- ter Bay as well as the first-named place. These localities are now thriving towns, and each has a flourishitig parish with a settled pastor. His health continued to decline, and it was feared that there would soon be an end to his clerical labors as weU as his life, when Bishop Hobart advised him to go to Mon- ticello, where he would have the benefit of mountain-air. Here he at once became a favorite with Episcopalians and the public; but refused to be installed rector of the parish because he wished to be so situated as to leave at once if his health became worse. The atmosphere of Monticello proved beneficial to him ; but he was never made rector in the regiUar way. When he came to Sullivan in 1826, he found but little mate- rial of which to form a congregation.* The people generally were of Puritanic ancestry, with strong prejudices against the Episcopal Church ; nevertheless, by untiring industry and judi- cious effort, added to rare social qualities, and a sound head and good heart, he gradually overcame the prejudices of some and aroused others from apathy and indifference. In the end he surrounded himself and the Church of his affection with many warm friends. His first sermon in Monticello was to have been preached in the old school-house ; but the Baptists got posses- sion and held it. Prior to this the court-house had not been used for rehgious purposes. Mr. Fowler was urged by Messrs. John P. Jones, David Hammond and others to hold service there, and by their advice he and his friends repaired to the court-room, where he read prayers and preached not only then, but on almost every Sunday until 1835, when the present church- edifice was ei'ected. The church-lot cost $250, and was bought of John A. King, who was subsequently Governor of the State. Trinity Church of the city of New York donated $1,500, and $1,500 (besides $217 of the money. paid for the site,) were raised by the personal efforts of Mr. I*owler.t Mr. Fowler, "William E. Cady and Marshall Perry were the building-committee. J On stated days Mr. Fowler preached for many years at Middletown, Liberty, Thompsonville and Bridgeville. Besides this, he officiated at irregular intervals at other points. * Mr. Fowler's Register shows that ia 1827, there were but eleven commnnioants in his parish, viz : Luther Buckley, Robert Youngs, Fanton Sherwood and Jamea Davfdgo, of Liberty ; John Lord, of Lord's Pond ; William Van Tuyl, of BridfevillB • Chanty Thompson of Thompsonville ; Maria Hanford, John E. KusseU and Bally Cady. .of Monticello; and Luoretia Morris, of . + SuSivan County Bepublican, October, 1869. ^ ± Mr. Fowler paid for the beU of the church from his own limited.means ; with hia own hands transplanted the trees which stand on the church-lot : and by actine aa sexton, saved money enough (1260) to pay for the oommoniou-servioe. XHE TOWN OF THOMPSON. 631 His fidelity to St. John's parish has been remarkable. He sacrificed not only his pecuniary interests, but permitted his domestic ties to be severed for the sake of his flock. In his prime, he received nearly a score of invitations to accept other, charges, where the tempting line of better pay was held before his eyes ; but he refused to accept them. At one period his Salary was so insignificant that his vestry came to the sage conclusion that it was wrong, to keep him longer, and a com- inittee was appointed to advise him to seek another parish. With grave and sorrowful faces the committee discharged their trust, when he asked them why they wished him to leave? *' Because we can not pay you as much as you deserve." " Is there any other reason?" "No! There is none else." "Then» gentlemen, attend to your own affairs, and do not meddle with mine." « In 1842, Mr. Fowler was married to a widow Thompson of the city of New York. He had proposed marriage to her several years before ; but she rejected him because, as she said, they were too poor to marry. Subsequent events proved that her re- fusal was but a spur to drive him to a parish where he would receive a larger salary. He, however, failed to do what she evi- dently desired him to do, and did not repeat his offer. A short time before his marriage, she did what ladies are supposed to do in leap-year, viz : she proposed marriage to him, and informed him that her own fortune had increased to an extent which made their union prudent. By a pre-nuptial arrangement, he reUnquished his prospective interest in her estate, and she informally agreed never to ask him to leave Monticello. If he had avoided widows it would have been well for him. His marriage was every way unfortunate. His wife soon required him to seek a more deskable charge, and so belabored him with economical precepts and lectures, that her society was a grievance. In less than a year, she left him and never returned, and it is believed that he never opened the door of reconcilia- tion. With a single exception, the communicants of his Church beheved that he was blameless in everything except in marrying her. This marriage caused him to contract a large debt, which, by several years of severe economy, he paid. Some four or five years previous to the acceptation of hia resignation in the fall of 1869,* he was prostrated by paralysis^ He continued to discharge his clerical duties, however, although his voice was impaired, and he suffered from great physical infirmity and weakness, until he dropped as if dying in the chancel of his church. * Mr. Fowler's resignation is dated July 6, 1668 ; but it was not accepted tmtU ib» faU of 1869. 632 HisTOBi or bullivan oountx. j Acpording to .his Ilegfeterj while the incumb^t pf .St. John*^ Cjhurch, he baptiz^ 54^, persons; .a^mitied, tQ, the eucljaristy 345 ; performed 409 marriages ; and attended 304 funerals. ; In October, November and I)eceiriber, 1869, Eev, Arthur N. "Wrixoii had temporary pharge of the parish, Mr. IjVj,^ was re- markable for his learning ana piety, anij (alt}ioughan,IrishrQan), fqr broad Yankee accentuation, 'the congregation) becaime very;^ rg^uch attached to him, and would ,b,aye retaiiied him as jthe|r rector; but on account of the severity of the climate, he left, and became a Professor in a south->vesterii college. . I^n April and May, 1870, Eev. Mr. Pieidtz, of Hard^ich, Eng- la,nd, being teijiporarily in the diocese, at the request of, its Bishop, officiated in this' parish. On^the 3d of July, 1 1870, Rev. George Dent Silliman, an alum- nus of the General Theological Seminary, who had recently been admitted to deacon's orders, on the unanimous call of the vestry, became the rector of the Chiirch. Mr. Silliman's report for the conventional year ending in 1871, exhibits the following sum- mary : Famihes, 68 ; individuals, 277 ; baptisms, 43 ; marriages, 7; burials, 8; communicants, 140 ; of whom 23 were add.ed^ during the yeg,r; catechumens, Sunday-scholars, etc., 1(30 ; divine; service, 406 times ; contributions, other than for rector's salary, $1,236.45. _ ^ , , ,^, ^ , In the spring of 1873, Eev. Mr. Silliman resigned as rector, and was succeeded by Eev. Charles Fobes Canedy, A. B. On the 23d of July, 1871, the comer-stone of the church of St. Mary, of Thompsonville, was laid by Bishop Potter. This church is within the bounds of St. John's parish. It has since been inclosed, but not completed. Fqr many years, the Methodists were more numerous in Sul- livan than any other class of prdfessed Christians. Their preach- ers penetrated every nook and corner. No neighborhood was exempt from their visitations. They carried the gospel as they understood it to the people, and carried the people with them. Their preachers spoke a language th.at was understood by all. They diji not , expend their powder in firing blank cartridges at an angle_ of forty-five degrees; but sent their redl-hqt missiles, directly int9 the magazines of sin. Their opponents' charged; tl^at they were uneducated and boisterous; but no one can deny t^at their rude eloquence was more effective than the elegant but drowsy platitudes of many of their assailants. We have been unable to find certain information in regard to the early labors of the devoted itinerants who, for less than t\\q earthly compensation of a respectable mechanic of their timesy THE TOWN OF THOMPaON. 633 threaded our woodlaiid-paths aiftd folded, our rivers, aod daily yarned sinners to "flee from the wrath to come." After hold- ing their meetings for many years in private houses, and school- houses in Thompson, and seeming more anxious tp plant their Churph in the hearts of the people than to rear elegant edifices, they, centralized their operations by building houses for worship at points where their members most abouaded. The church ia l^onticello was built in 1843, when Eey. S. M. Knapp and Rev, jjimes Birch were on the circuit. It has since been remodeled and piuch improved, A handsome hall has been put up, prin- cipally at the expense of Mrs, Hannah, widow of Nathan S. Hammond, and the society are now engaged in erecting a bi;ick parsonage at an expense of $4,000 — $3,000 of which have been contributed by Mrs. Hammond. . • The Methodists, Episcopalians and Baptists of Bridgeville, held their religious services in the old school-house at the. junc- tion of the Thompsonville road and the turnpike, A new school-, hpuge was built between Bridgeville and Tannersdale, after which the old one was known as "the chapel," and was used exclusively for the meetings of the neighborhood. , Hamilton Childs says: "The M. E. Church at Bridgeville was organized with fifty-nine members, in 1849, by Eev. Adee Vail, its first pastor." Classes existed here and at Lord's pond before 1825. The church was built in 1869. Rev. Adee Vail was a plain, unpretending man, and a good preacher. Like some men of Ms profession,, he loved and owned a fast horse. The animal was a vicious brute, and was quite unmanageable when first taken from the stable, unless its reverend owner first subdued it by, the vigorous application of a hoop^pole. Before Vail came to Thompson, some sporting-men of Newburgh noticed that his steed " devoured the road " in fine style, and this led them to take the animal from the parsonage-stable, and test its speed on a race-course by moonlight. To their astonishment,, the horse, without any training, trotted a mile in 2:40. A few days aiterwards, Mr. Vail was offered $1,500 for his nag ; but refused to sell, saying that "a Methodist preacher was entitled to a good horse as well as other people ! " It was said that his. true reason for not selling, was, that he feared his favorite roadster would be used for sporting purposes. . . , The Methodist • church at . Mongaup Centre (Strong Settle- ment) was buUt in 1860, when it had sixty members. ' St. Petek's (Roman Catholic) Chubch op Mgnticello was completed in 1867, when it was consecrated by the Archbishop of New Yoik. The clergymen who visited or were pastors of this Church were the same as those of "St. Joseph's of Wurts- borough, imtil the death of Eev. Daniel Mugan in 1872, when 634 HISTOBY OS SUtUVAN COUNTY. it waB placed under Bev. J. Nilan of Port Jervis. When St. Peter's was completed it was in debt, and could not be conse- crated until the debt was paid. Hence two pious laymen mort- gaged their farms to raise the amount. They have not yet been re-imbursed ; though it is understood that Mr. Nilan has devoted certain perquisites which rightrally are his own to the payment of the hens upon the farms of these self-sacrificing Christians. MoNTiOELLO Academy. — This school succeeded the Sullivan County Institute, and it may be said that the latter brought the academy into existence. The Institute was a seminary of re- spectable grade, and was established by Henry B. Low, who kad won a reputable position at Loch Sheldrake as an educa- V)r, as had John F. Stoddard, who was Mr. Low's predecessor a,s teacher of a select school at that place. Mr. Low, Uke man]^ others, regarded teaching as a lower rung in the ladder of pros- perity. He occupied the school-room until he was able to as- cend to what seemed a loftier position, and has since become widely known as a lawyer, financier and politician, as well as one of the originators of the Midland railroad. Under him, as well as under Louis A. Brigham, Benjamin Low and J. Mason Crary, the Institute was highly successful, and gave so much satisfaction to the residents of Monticello, that they determined m 1850 to erect suitable buildings, and make the schoolperma- nent, under as favorable auspices as was possible. For this purpose a joint stock company was formed, and about four thousand dollars subscribed, in sums varying from fifty to two hundred dollars. A building-committee consisting of Westcott Wilkin, Alexander T. Bull, William H. Cady, John A. Thomp- son, Eichard Oakley and Eli W. Fairchild,* was chosen, a site purchased, and the main building, which was designed for a boarding-house and school-purposes, put under contract. The stockholders elected the following persons as trustees : John P. Jones, Alexander T. Bull, Cornelius Hatch, Eichai-d Oakley, A. C. Niven, Stephen Hamilton, Eli W. Fairchild, E. L. Bumhamj Westcott Wilkin, Munson L. Bushnell, James E. Quinlan, John A. Thompson, and William Henry Cady. The academy was opened on the 18th of May, 1852, under^the charge of Henry Crallup, A. M., as Principal. He was a man of fine classical at- tainments, and had studied French in Paris and German in Berlin ; yet with these advantages, tie was not successful as the Principal of Monticello Academy. He speedily made hiniRtlf unpopular with his pupils, who annoyed him in a hundred ingen- ious ways, and with parents and guardians, whom he wearietl ciHised Yace * The proverbial (lisposition of the old men of Monticello to disagreo about triflcn. 9e■;••• >>y; THE TOWN OF TOSTBW. 641 killed erxmfk venison to Iceep their cattle aUve until spring ! Tkal; by putting, salt on the m^at, the homed cattle became fond of itl Whether thi? story is true or not, those who are better versed in natural history than we are must decide. We cannot refrain from saying, nevertheless, that its author evidently belongs to the Munchausen family, and that his fable is intended to illus- trate the abundance of venisoQ rather than the dearth of hay.* Jeremiah Goldsmith was another pioneer of the place. John Van Gelder of Van Gelder's Eddy ; Stephen Emerson of the .Pennsylvania side of the river, and Jeremiah LiUie, senior, who settled at the foot of Mog Island, came to this region previous to 1800. Jonathan Decker and Peter Van Auken settled on the Boss place, on the west side of the river, soon after the Revolutionary war. A man named John Summei'field lived on fthe lame farm. Oliver Calkins was an early settler, and occupied the old block- house on what is known as the upper farm, where he kept a small store and a tavern. The latter was called the Baftsman's Hotel. One of the most inteUigent of the early inhabitants was Jonathan Dexter. He was one of the. Justices of the Peace first appointed after the passage of the act erecting the county; was a member of the first grand jury, and represented Lumber- land in 1810 in the Board of Bupemsors. He was subsequently a Judge of the Cauniy Court. The Wiekham fam^ily of Orange county possessed three- fourths of th« town. llhey owned the Oliver Calkins place, for which they traded lands in Ohio. This they sold to a family of Dunns, consisting of Thomas Dunn, his seven sons, and a nephew. These men were enterprising and industrious, and became large landholders in the town. We have no certain account of the origin of this faraiily ; but think they were fi'ora New England, as the father, Thomas Dunn, senior, settled in Wyoming, under the Connecticut jgrant, previous to the EevoW tionary war. He seemed to have stopped on his waj' to Wyoming at Flat Brook, New Jersey, where he married Susannah Sweezy, the daughter of a native of Holland. He was living on the outskirts of the settlement from Connccticuil;^ and had five children in July, 1778, when the celebrated massacre occurred. One of his grandchildren is stiU living (187*0) near Narrowsbnrgh, who has often heard Susannah Dunn rdate the horrors she witnessed on that occasion. When the savages commenced their bloody work, Thomas Dunn was hoeing com in one of the fields. His wife heard the * It is a, well egtabUghed fact that the inhabitants o{ the hyperborean regions-qf Asia feed fiah to theii horn-cattle and hoiMB, and that these animals thrire on the on- natural food. 41 ^42 HISTOBT OV SULUVAN COUNTY, distant firing of guns, and leaving their children in their cabin (one of them a babe) she went to her husband and told him they must leave the valley at once, or the Indians would be Tipon them. He was very busy with his com, the hoeing of which had been somewhat delayed, and was anxious to go on with it, and believing that she was unnecessarily frightened, he laughed at her alarm, and chided her timidity; but while he was doing so, he too heard the firipg. At once he dropped his hoe, and returned with Mrs. Dunn to the house, where he packed up all the clothing and necessaries he could carry in a bed-tick, and started with his children and wife for the nearest settlement in New Jersey. Mrs. Dunn, in addition to her } youngest child, carried a small iron kettle; but finding the atter burdensome, threw it into a mill-pond. Their route, was tlurough what became known as the "Shades of Death," from the fact that so many perished there from starvation and expo- sure, as well as the tomahawk of the savages. Here they were Joined by some of their neighbors, who were homeless fugitives and wanderers in the wilderness like themselves. On the first night they were in the woods, they could see the camp-fires of the Indians ; but did not dare kindle a fire themselves. While they were resting for a short time in the dark, damp woods, one of the women of the party, from fatigue and fright, was taken sick, and gave premature birth to a child, which never opened its eyes to the misery of the time. The poor mother soon became obUvious to woe and suffering, and died before morning. So great was their danger — so near the foe, that it was not considered safe to remain there long enough to bury the dead, and the husband of the poor woman was obliged to leave the bodies of his wife and child where they would become food for the wild beasts. In due time the party reached Flat Brook, New Jersey, vrithout further loss. Mr. Dunn, after providing for the safety of his family, enlisted in the army under Washington, and served his country faithfully. After the declaration of peace, he and his wife went back to Wyoming ; but not to live ihere. She, like a thrifty housewife, attempted to find her kettle; but the mill had been burned, and the dam broken down, and she failed to recover it. For a few years, the family continued to reside in New Jersey. In 1800, when WilHam, one of the sons, was eighteen years of age, he wandered up the Delaware as far as Big Eddy, where he engaged to work for Benjamin Thomas for six dollars per month. Here he labored one winter. In the spring, Thomas who had not paid for the land he occupied, but had made some improve- ments, asked young Dunn to buy out whatever right he had. Over a year previously Dunn had married Mary Pintler, of Flat Brook. At tlie time of his marriage, he was a mere school-boy; THE TOWN OF TU8TEN. 643 indeed he continued to attend scHool for a year after it took place. He at once made up his mind that the proposition of Thomas was a good one, as there was abundance of choice pine and other timber on the tract, and much of the land was desir- able. In the spring he returned to Flat Brook, and consulted his father and other relatives about accepting the oflfer made by Thomas. The result was that, before another winter, the entire family was located at Big Eddy, as well as one of William's cousins and a young man named Peter Young, who came with them. The following is a list of the family at this time : Thomas Dunn, senior, and his wife Susannah, William, John, James and Thomas, junior, and their wives ; Abel, Asa, Harri- flon and Caleb, who were unmarried^ and one of whom was the •cousin already alluded to. The entire party came on hoMe- back by the way of Carpenter's Point, and followed flie Cocbec- ton road to Mapes' mills ; then an Indian trail to Deep Hollow brook ; then through the Laurel-swamp, and from that to the Delaware at the point where the Narrowsburgh depot stands. One of the boys was known as Doctor Dunn, because he was ithe seventh son ; but it does not appear that he practiced and was a successful physician on account of the order of his birth. They settled first on what is known as the lower place, just be- low the village ; next they bought the middle place, which cot-. €rs the site of Narrowsburgh. W^e are told that they purchased these farms of Mr. Wickham, but will not vouch for the truth- fulness of the information. They soon after got the upper or Oliver Calkins farm from Wickham. Of this there is no doubt. They thus had three large tracts of land. Excluding the villaga propertj^, their farms embraced th« farms now (1870) owned by C. C. Murray, Mr. Senger, Mr. Stanton and Mr. Yerks. When they came, there was but little land cleared. The country was literally wild. They at once commenced making improvements, and there being nine of them, nearly all of whom were rugged men, they niade rajrid progress. There being several families of them, they could not all live in the largest log-houae which •was ever erected; consequently th^y occupied several. The first was on the site of C. C. Murray's residence. It had a cel- lar-kitchen, which is still preserved in the present new and more commodious edifice. Another of their log-tenements was near the house of C. K. Gordon ; the third was where A. S. Heudriz lived before the great oil-accident on the Erie railway, in Au- gust, 1867;* the fourth where E. A. Green resides; and the fifth at the saw-mill. These were all of logs, except the house at the mill. They built the latter, and it was standing until the summer of 1869, when, it having become the property of the Erie * This wu bnilt and originally boonpied hj Ifr. Homang, the first settler. 641 HIBT0KX OV SOIXIYi^ OQUITIT. Railway Company, it ■was iieinolished. They owned a sixQt house on the upper place— the Bafbman's Hotel, where " Uucl» BiHy" olBBciated m the three-fold capacity of. lumberman, farmer and tavernTkeeper. He was very popular with those who fre- quented the river, and many an old man boasts of having rafted and staid all night with " Uncle Billy Dunn." The family also had real estate in Pennsylvania and at Beaver Brook. In 1858, the Baftman's Hotel was torn down by Mr. Hendrix, who owned it at that time. William Dunn, was a slaveholder. In 1807, he bought a col- ored boy of Jacob Chambers, of Cuddebackville, who was prob- ably of the same family as Cobe Chambers, who was implicated wiMi Tom Quick and Ben Haines in the murder of Canope, This boy served him faithfully as his slave until he was freed in. 1827 by the operation of the law of 1817, and continued to work for him afterwards. " Like master, like slave" was a true saying when applied to the releUion which once existed between the whites and blacks. A kind and humane master was pretty sure to have good slaves, if he raised them himself. This negro assumed the fomily-name of lu? last owner, and is known to this day (1873) as James B. Dunn. He lives a short distance below Big Eddy, and is a civil, well-bred old fellow, who always refers to his mas- ter in terms of respeci^il affection, although the latter has been dead about forty years. It is sin^lar that the name of Dunn has nearly disappeared in the neighborhood where the family was once so numerous and had such large possessions, and that' this venerable negro alone keeps the name alive, the descend- ants of Thomas Dunn, at Big Eddy, being females. When he, James B. Dunn, came to Narrowsburgh, the greater part of the land on which the \all{^ is situated was heavily timbered, and covered by a dense undergrowth of laurel. Oliver Calkins was the first Justice of the Peace 'at Big Eddy, William Dunn the second, and Jonathan Dexter the thim! Some of the descendants of Judge Dexter are still livin» on the banks of the Delaware. Moses Dexter who lives on a lot once owned by Wickbam, four miles above Narrowsburgh, is one of them. At an early day, the .jaasleys, Brannings, Drakes and Cases settled in the neighborhood, but on the west side of the river. Of these, John Lassley was drowned in the Delaware at Biff Eddy, in the year 1798. ' ^ David and Joseph Guinnip, natives of New Jersey, settled near the Eddy, but at what time we have not learned. John Bross located on the Deep Hollow brook about the year 1810. Timothy Tyler, who was remarkable for some of his exploits' and lam been immortahzed • by Alfred B. Street under th© THE TOWN OF TVSTm. 6i5 nom of Tim Slowwater, lived at one time m a log-honsd where the Narrowsburgh Hotel now standsf. In the early days of the settlement, the people had to go to Carpenter's Point to get their grain ground. They procured the largest part of their provisions in New Jersey, and haulfed them up on the ice in the winter, when the river was frozen. They bought their dry-goods in Newburgh for a time, and it took a week to go there and return. The day and year when the elder Thomas Dunn, died is unknown. He was buried at Big Eddy, and a common sand- stone placed at the head of his grave, with this inscription and nothing more: " To the memory of Thomas Dunn." After his decease, William bought the right of his brothers in the upper and lower farms, and James became the sole owner of the middle farm. Several of the brothers then moved to Ohio. On the 2d of December, 1830, William Dunn was killed under veiy distressing circumstances. He was felling trees with several hands. As one he was cutting himself began to topple over, he, through a strange fatality, got under it, and was crushed to the earth. James B. Dunn, his faithful colored friend, was present, as well as John Johnston and some others; As soon as practicable, they removed him from beneath the tree-trunk, when he said, " Boys, I want to go to sleep," and died. In the morning, full of manly life, and animated by laudable, enterprise, he went from his home to attend to the business of the day ; at night he lay a mangled corpse, cold and still, surrounded by an inconsolable family and sorrowing neighbors. The Republican Watchman of the succeeding week contains an account of the accident, to which the editor appended the remark: "He was in the prime of life, and was esteemed a good citizen." Old people of that locality still speak of him kindly, and declare that he was a good neighbor, and never turned the poor and afflicted away empty.* He was married twice. By his first wife, Mary Pintler, he had seven childl-en, four of whom died young. One son and two daughters are still living. Their mother died oh the 12th of June, 1813. About seven years afterwards (1820) he married Elizabeth Sweezy, the daughter of O. Sweezy, a Eevolutionary patriot of Sussex county, New Jersey. By her he had two sons and an equal number of daughters. ,; In 1831, Janies Dunn sold the middle farm to Richard W. Corwin (now deceased) and moved with his family to Lyons, Wayne county, N. Y., where he died. His widow and descend- ants live there and at P^nn Yan, and are among the wealthy • Elizabeth Dunn, his widow, afterwards finamed William Decker, of Deckertown, , Hew Jersey. She survived Decker ten years, and died in 1856, aged 73. 646 fflSTORT OF BUMilVAN COUNXy. citizens of those villages. On the 10th of January, 1835, Mr, Corwin's house was destroyed by fire, by which he suffered a loss of $1,500. There were but few houses in the county at that time worth so much money. Susannah Dun-3, the widow of Thomas Dunn, senior, died at Big Eddy, on the 30th of July, 1833. During her life she became entirely blind, without an apparent cause, and continued so for eighteen years, £it the end c^f which her sight was restored, and continued good until her decease. A family named Hawks settled at Little Cedar Bridge at an early day. We have endeavored to gather information iu regard to them ; but without success. The Mount, Hope and Lumberland Turnpike Company was incorporated in 1812. George D. Wickham and John Duer, of Goshen, Benjamin Woodward, Benjamin Dodge and Benjamin B. Newkirk, of Mount Hope ; and William A. Cuddeback and Abraham Cuddeback, of Deerpark, were directors. Work was commenced about the year 1815, and the road was subsequently completed as far as Narrowsburgh. Under an act of the Penn- sylvania Legislature, the work was extended to Honesdale. Two years previously, (April 5, 1810,) a charter was granted to the Narrowsburgh Bridge Company by the Legislature of this State, Jeremiah Lillie, Jonathan Dexter, Chauncey Belknap, Thomas Belknap, Samuesl F. Jones, William A. Thompson^ William W. Sackett, Samuel PrestOn and Francis Crawford were named in the act. They were authorized to build a substantial bridge, twenty-five feet wide, " across the Del- aware river, at the Narrows, in the Big Eddy, in the county of Sullivan," and to collect the following tolls : For a four-horse carriage, $1.09 ; two-horse do., 75 cents ; one-horse do., 37J cents; foot passengers, six cents each, and the same for cattle. Considering the value of money at that day, these rates were certainly high enough to suit the most avaricious stockholders. rFor some cause the bridge was rebuilt in 1832. The new structure was pronounced a fine one. It was destroyed by a flood in 1846, and was replaced by the present structure — a cov- ered suspension-bridge of' 250 feet span, and 22 feet in width. It is elevated 35 feet above the water. These improvements were for the double purpose of provid- ing an outlet for a territory of Sullivan rich in valuable timber, and to bring toward the Hudson the agricultural products of tha country between the Delaware and the Susquehannah, to be ex- changed for merchandise. The territory that this road would have accommodated would have supported the turnpike, had it not been for the construction of the Delaware and Hudson ca- nal. When that was made, the hauling of lumber over the road was nearly all that was done on it, and the work was abandoned,. IBB TOWN OF TD8TBH. 647 except the bridge acrosa the NeTersink at Oakland. By lawv the company were authorized to collect toUa for crossing the river at that point, which lumbermen and others hssve ocmsiaered onerous. Efforts at one time were made to render tha bridge free, bttt without success. In our country, the Methodists generally propel the great breaking-plough which ameliorates the new fields of Ghristian entetprise ; but the Baptists seem to have preceded them in the upper valley of the Delaware. It is generally conceded that that denomination were the first who held religious meetings in Tusten ; but when we inquire the name of the Elder who came in advance of the others, there is "confusion in the craft," Some reply Elder Curtis; others Elder Leach; and a third party declare Elder 'John Miller was the missionary who first unfurled the banner of the Cross in the wilderness of the Delaware. We were at first inclined to accord the honor tq Miller, of whom we find the following account in Hollister's History of the Lackawanna Valley: Elder Miller was born in Windham county, Connecticut, on the 3d of February, 1775. When twenty-nine years of age, he removed to Pennsylvania, where he bought 326 acres of land, for which he gave twenty dollars in cash, ten dollars worth of maple-sugar, and (being a tinker, like Bunyan, and a tin-peddler, hke many Yankees of his time) ten dollars worth of tin-ware!^ In June, 1807, he. began to prea(jh, and from that time until his death in 1857, he married 912 couples, immersed 2,000 persons, and officiated at 1,800 funerals. Truly his labors were manifold, and the fruits he gathered abundant. Some may think that he should have stuck to his trade of tinkering. Others will contend that the number of converts who sought the sanctuary under his adminis- tration attests the validity of his commission as an evangelist. In reply to this it will be said, Mahomet and Joe Smith were a thousandfold more successful as preachers than Elder Miller. They were impostors. St. Patrick, a Bishop of the Primitive Church, converted an entire nation in a single life-time, St. Patrick would have anathematized the Elder as a heretic; while the Elder would have excluded the Saint from'' his com- munion as an unbaptized sinner. St. Patrick would have re- garded the tin-vending Yankee preacher with depressed hp- corners; Miller would have looked upon, the fro^destroying, if not frog-eating French priest, as a servant of Baliel.* Both, were earnest and successful missionaries ; but which was ortho- dox? It seems that Miller did not preach until 1807. He undoubt- * Hiller, like Bnnyan, was a tinker ; Patrick, like the sweet singer of Israel, WM' ODOC a shepherd-boy. y msTOBi OP smiuymi a&mn. edlj viaited the upper valley of the Delarware, and perliapa sold Ms wares to the ancient inhabitants; but in 1807 there wa» a ■well established Baptist Church at Damascus, of which Elder Enoch Owen of Cocoecton, was the pastor. Elder Owen occasionally visited Ten Mile river and Homans' Eddy. The Dunns of the latter place were adlierents or mem- bers of his Ohnrch. William Dunn was one of its deaconsi, and occasionally accompanied the Elder when the latter visited re- mote neighborhoods. Owen sometimes preached in bams — sometimes in the Baftman's Hotel, wibich now, like Deacon William Dunn, its former owner, exists only in the memory of old times. While it was owned by David Guinnip, Mr. Maltby, of Hurd Settlement, with his long beard and seamless coat, preached in the upper barn. Some of the young men of the neighborhood, believing that his apparent sanctity was assumed, tested it in a mischievous way. In the morning, when they got out his horse, they concealed several raccoon-skins under his saddle. As he was about to mount, he discovered the pelts, threw off the saddle, and gravely handed them to his host, re- marking, " Brother Guinnip, these are not minei" He then re- adjasted his saddle, and stai'ted for his next appointment. The boys, after this incident, believed that a man could be eccentric and honest at the same time. Many meetings were held in that old barn, and many who worshiped there have gone where it will be made clear whether the professions there made were genuine. Sometimes when the weather was pleasant, religious meetings were held in the saw-mill which was near the site of the depot. Elder Stolbert, who prea.ched in the place many years, is yet living. • Not far from 1810, Abraham Cuddeback came to Big Eddy, and built the Narrowsburgh hotel. He was mainly instru- mental in bestowing on the plaae its present name (Narrows- burgh). Big Eldy was an appropriate appellation on account of a local peculiarity ; Narrowsburgh is equally so for a similar reason. The river is said to be less in width here than at any point below, as well as above for many miles. In 1843 or 1844, Mr. Gaddeback sold his hotel to Richard W. Corwin. ■ The cpnstraction of the New York and Erie railroad had a very important bearing on the prosperity of Narrowsburgh. Be- fore it was commenced, there were but five houses in the place and two of them were hotels. When it was announced that the road would probably be located in the valley of the Dela- ware, the residents of that th.en secluded region shook their heads, and pointed to the rugi^ed precipices and rapid .rivers in the way ; but the brain of the engineer and the muscle of the laborer surmounted all obstacles, and the work, however it may be derided by its enemies, is a noble mouumeut pf American THE TOWN OF TUST^S. 819 «©ieaee and industry. Al least men have reason to think se, who, forty years ago, ascended the river by poling or paddling a' canoe against the cnrrent, or floundered along the vUe roadis of that period; but who now glide over the route in a smmptu^ ous palace-car almost with the speed of the wind. In the fall of 1848, the road was opened as far as Narrow*- buTgh, and the engine known as the Eleazer Lord was run to the village, where it remained several weeks. Soon after the rails were laid, John 8. Hughes, a merchant of the village, had some goods brought by the canal to the Lackawaxen. As he vfas anxious to get them as soon as possible, he went after them with a horse and fia», and brought them to Narrowsburgh. No other freight had then been carried over the road to the vil- lage. Hughes was assisted by a man named John Bannister. No passenger-train passed through the Delaware and Susque- hanna valleys before the 27th of December, 1848. Two train* were run on that day, much to the amazement of bipeds and *h6 consternation of quadrupeds. Notwithstanding there Was a furious snow all day, the people of the valley generally turned out to witness the novel spaoteole. Of course, their eyeballs projected somewhat, and the shrieking iron-horse made tympa- nitis probable. It was said jocosely at the time, that some of the benighted natives, hearing the screams of the enginej shoul'- d©red their rifles hastUyy and ran to the river, believing that sathanus or a panther was loose.* Horses and horn-cattle we're, unusually excited, and inclined to decamp, while dogs ran off or made a dash at this cars, according to their cbwardice or ptlgnaeity. On the 1st of January, 1849, a time-table was issued, and from that day the trains ran regularlyi Walter S. Gorwin was thfC first station-agent at Narrowsburgh. In June, 1852, the road was opened to Dunkirk, and the event duly celebrated in the presence of Millard Fillmore, Daniel Webster, General Scottj Williatm H. Seward, and other distinguished guests. Narrowsburgh, should have been a place of as much import- ance as Susquehanna or Port Jervis. When the New York and Erie Eailroad was opened, the company proposed to establish here the connecting link between the Eastern and the Susque- hanna Divisions; and probably would have done so if the osrtiers of real estate had not placed too high a value on their property. The adjacent territory was cut up into village lots, for which exorbitant prices were demanded, and a wild spirit of speculation prevailed. If the company had been presented * This atory was invented by a coijceitecl scribbler. The raftsmen of the DelawaM irete more familiar with railroads at that time than any other class of our citizens. 650 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN OOVViT!. with land free of cost snfficiemt for their purposes, dreams of event- ual prosperity and wealth would not have been baseless, and as the area of the village increased in extent, the fancy-prioea of 1848, would in time have become sober realities. As it was, it became an easy matter for Port JerviS to secure the coveted advantages. This at first seemed like a wet blanket upon the prosperity of the place, and threatened to cool its enterprise and defeat its growth; But its natural advantages were g^-eat j and from the three dwelling-houses and two hotels of 1846, it has increased in population until its friends claim that its residents number six hundred souls. Besides its churclies, it has four hotels, five stores, (besides four devoted to the sale of lager) fifteen to twenty mechanics' shops, and fourteen tmdotusf How far the Erie Railway has been instrumental in producing the latter dangferotw element of society we are unable to say; but we presume when the strong-minded of the physicaJlT weaker sex secure to their sisters the right to operate the road, the bereaved ladies will not preponderate over the bereaved lords.* There is a mystery about the original settlement at the mouth of Ten Mile river, which after twenty years of patient inquiry, we are unable to solve. We know that it was made under flat- tering circumstances ; that it was broken up by the Indians in 1763, and that every one of the residents was massacred. Be- yond this we can say nothing of it with certainty. Perhaps some future historian, by examining the musty and moth-e^ten archives of Connecticut and New Jersey, will find a key which will unlock its yet untold story, Temptis omnia revelat; but will it ever bring to light the sad tale of those whose blood was shed on the banks of Ten Mile river in the fall of 1763 ? There is a tradition in the neighborhood that the saw-mill and grist-mill which Chapman says was in the Cushetunk colony previous to 1763 were here. A gentleman of the town claims that half of one of the stones used in the grist-mill forms a part of his fire-place, and that the other half is at the bottom of the river. It IS also said that a Mr. Evans was one of the first set- tlers, and that one John Moore owned the mills and a house, as well as ten thousand acres of land on which they were con- structed. MoorOj it is alleged, exchanged his property for whisky. The allegation may be founded in truth. It must have takea him many years, however, to swallow so fair an estate ; whereas, in the fifth year of the settlement, every resident was killed. All such traditions are very unreliable, especially in a town Uke this, where there were but few permanent inhabitants. Besides this, ^ * We are indebtea to Mr. Jstm&e D. Appley for a considerable portion of what ia written concerning Big Eddy, THE TOWN OP TUSTSN. 651 ■we have positive e^dence that John Moore, was living peace- ably and quietly on the banks of the Delaware as late as 1792. In that year, Peter E. Gumaer, one of the Collectors of Mama- kating, traveled from Peenpack to Ten Mile River to collect of him the sum of three shillings and one^alf of a penny — a tax which seems insignificant in these days ; nevertheless, John Moore's was the largest in the old town of Lumberland, with a single exception. Loton Smith, in his unpublished history, says that Webb, who surveyed the Minisink Patent, in 1762, declares that there was then a saw-mill at the mouth of Ten Mile river. Ac- cording to Smith, it was known as Reeve's mill, and was the property of Elijah Reeve, who died at Otisville, in 1814. This, if true, is important. We believe, however, that the«mill owned by Reeve was not the one mentioned by Webb and Chapman, although it may have occupied the same site. For many years, Ten Mile River was considered the central ?oint of Lumberland. There town-meetings were held, and the usiness of the town transacted. Samuel Hankins was a mer- chant of the place at an early period. Beaver Brook has been noted'for the enterprise of those who have resided there. Among these we may mention Richard W. Corwin, one of the Swartwouts, J^. T. Rodman and H. P. Shultz. The two last named gentlemen were largely engaged as manu- facturers of lumber. Doctor John Conklin, of Port Jervis, owned an extensive tract of land there, and carried on the same business. Charles S. Woodward also Hved there several years,, and was prominent as a business-man and a politician. To his Perseverance and pertinacity is due the honor of compelling the •elaware and Hudson Canal Company to pay taxes in the county, like other property-holders. That incorporation clainjed. immunity from taxation ; and but few men were found with suf- ficient nerve to brave the force of their wealth and influence. Mr. Woodward was one of them, and after a long contest, com- pelled the company to discharge the duty it owes to the towns through which it passes. I A former resident of Tusten says: "Joseph Carpenter was the first resident at the mouth of Beaver brook of whom I have knowledge ; but there were others there before him. WilHam Wells, of Halfway brook memory, lived from about 1812 to 1820 at what we called Beaver Brook Mills. Where Charles 8. Woodward resided was a wilderness in 1825, as well as a large part of the town. Elijah and Elisha Reeve of Mount Hope owned a saw-mill on the outlet of Big pond as long ago as 1810, and there were also at that time one or more mills on the west branch of Beaver brook near where Woodward hved. In 180O, George D. Wickham, as had his father before him, owned three- 652 HISTdBT OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. fourths or more of what is now Tusten. Both fathier and son were extensively engapjed in himbering. John Duer owned a large himbering-establishment on Halfway bi-ook. The lands of this region at that time cost next to nothing, and these men were shrewd enough to reap the benefits. Hardly an owner of lands of any prominence resided in that part of the country. Proprietors seldom even visited their possessions. They gener- ally operated by agents, and were satisfied with the wealth acquired at the expense of the town, the value of which was reduced as itsiorests of choice timber were consumed." In June, 1845, there was a ruinous fire in the woods near Ten Mile river. Large quaatities of valuable timber were consumed, as well as several saw-mills. The principal sufferers were Hankins & Bennett, Charles S. Woodward, Eoberts & Barnes and Dodge & 8t. John. On the 11th of December, 1847, a formidable riot occurred at Harrowsburgh. Contractors on the New York and Erie rail- road had reduced the wages of their laborers, which greatly ex- asperated the latter, not only against their employers, but Against all who considered the reduction just. An inn-keeper named John Verschau rendered himself very obnoxious to the hands, about one hundred of whom, armed with deadly weapons^ assembled and sacked Verschau's house, destroyed his furniture and other loose property, and burned the building. Seventeim of the rioters — all Germans — were arrested andconimitted to jail in Monticello. At the February Sessions of 1848, they were > tried for the offense, and ten of them sentenced to ninety davs imprisonment and to pay a fine of fifty dollars each. ' At times there has been observed a peculiar ebullition of the water at Big Eddy. At some points where the river isnotdoep, the agitation resembled boiling water over a very hot fire. Li the summer of 1854, Bishop Potter of Pennsylvania, and several other learned gentlemen who were temporarily at Nar- rowsbnrgh, had their attention directed to the phenomona of the Eddy, and concluded to investigate them. Tiicy found that the bubbling and boiling was caused by the escape of an inflam- mable gas from the bed of the river. By a sijuple contrivance they collected the gas and burnt it, and found that it afforded n steady and brilliant light. One of their experiments had a lud- icrous termuiation. Thoy procured a hogshead, removed one of its heads, and inserted a lead-pipe lii the othnr. They next put the open end of the hogshead over a place wlioro there was a great uprising of the gas, and got a man to stand on the other end to keep tlie vessel stationary; After waiting a proper time, fire was applied to the farther end of the pipe, wlien there was an unexpected upheaval of the hogshead and the man who THE TOWK OF TUST£N. 66S Btood upon ii The gas had exploded', throwing both Beveral feet into the air. ' , There has been no attempt to explain the mystery, although the gas is probably due to a large quantity of vegetable matter which has been submersed by the drift of the river. These and other indications led to th6 belief that petroleum would be found at this point by deep boring, and in 1865, a company was formed and some capital sunk as a result of this opinion. No oil was found. On the last Sunday of August, 1866, eight cars loaded with oil were standing on the main track of the railroad at Narrows- burgh, when a freight-train, moving on the same rails, collided with the oil-cars, and crushed. them, causing the oil to run over the adjaceni grounds and mill-pond. The oil instantly took fire, and every inflammable thing within its reach was enveloped ill flames, as well as the pond of water, which covered several acres. Several buildings were destroyed. The second story of one of these was occupied by Charles Williams, with his wife and two children. Williams seized the children and rushed through the flames in front of the house. While doiug so, he dropped one of them, and stopped to pick it up. All three were so badly burned that they died. Mrs* Williams escaped by jumping from a second stoiy rear-window, where there was no fire, and within an hour afterwards was delivered of a child. The train of cars was entirely destroyed, as well as a house of Joseph iBivens, another of Andrew Hendricks, the building occupied by Williams, a carpenter's shop, 50,000 feet of lumber, ete. The loss of property was estimated at $80,000. There are in this town a Methodist Episcopal, a Baptist, and an Evangelical Lutheran Church. A class of Methodists was formed in 1839, at Narrowsburgh, under the preaching of Rev. Thomas J. Lyon, who afterwards abandoned the ministry of his church, and became a lawyer and politician. In 1855, the society erected a church-edifice at a cost of $2,000. The Baptist Church of Ten Mile Eiver was organized in 1840 by Eev. Henry Curtis of the Damascus society. Their house of worship was built in 1856. St. Paul's (Lutheran) Church was formed and its' edifice built in 1869. The Eoman Catholics also have a place in which they worship «t Narrowsburgh. 654 HISTOBY OF SUULIVAN COUNTY. Exclusive of the latter, there are one hundred and fonrteea professed Christians in the town. BUPEBVISOBS OP THE TOWN OP TUSTEN. From To 1854 Charles S. Woodward 1855 1855 John S. Hughes 1858 1858 .Albert H. Eussell 1859 1859 Commodore C. Murray. 1864 1864 Elisha A. Greene .1865 1865 William Darling 1866 1866 Commodore C. Murray 1870 1870 Elisha A. Greene 1871 1871 Lewis N. Stanton 1874 CHAPTER XVHL DEIiAWARE AND HUDSON CANAL. Our country owes this great work to the farseeing intelli- gence of William and Maurice Wurts — gentlemenVho were at first deemed fit subjects for an insane asylum, because they labored to convince the public that anthracite coal would become an article of necessity. As early as 1812, William AVurts, who was then a young merchant of Philadelphia, commenced exploring the coal-beds of Luzerne county. With compass and pickax, he attempted to trace the coal up the Lackawanna valley, and from thence to the Delaware river; but as he approached the latter, he encountered the sand-rocks which underlie the coal-measures, rocks in which no valuable seam of coal can be found. He Abandoned his search for this valuable mineral in the immediate vicinity of the Delaware ; but did not resign his project of making that river a highway for transporting coal to the sea- board. He examined the eastern gaps of the Moosic mountains to find a practicable route to the head-waters of the Lacka- waxen, upon which he believed coal could be floated to the Delaware, and in 1814 purchased large tracts of land, one of which covered the present site of Carbondale. In the same year, he transported coal to New York and Philadelphia for exhibition, to which places it was taken by the western route. Eight or ten miles from his coal openings, at the opposite t)ase of the Moosic range is a narrow, > sluggish stream known as Jones' creek, a. tributary of the Wallenpaupack, as the latter is of the Lackawaxen. The summer of 1815 was spent in removing obstructions from the first-named stream, and during the fall two sleigh-loads were hauled over the mountain, and E laced upon a raft. After a heavy rain, when the water was igh, the primitive craft was started for the Delaware. The attempt was a more decided failure than was Van Tuyl's first endeavor to navigate the Neversink. After passing down stream for about a mile the raft came in contact with a rock, and the fihining freight lodged in the bed of Jones' creek. [665] 656 HISTORY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. Mr. Wurts next haiJed coal with oxen to the Wallenpaupack, twenty miles distant. It was then rafted to Wilsonyille Falls, around which it was carried ,on wagons to the Eddy in the Lackawaxen ; then re-loaded in arks, and if the latter survived the perils of the Lackawaxen and Delaware, it was taken to Philadelphia, " where nobody wanted the black stuff as all the blowing and stirring given to it did not make it burn."* The public were not only ignorant of the utility of this kind of fuel, but the expense of getting it to a market was ruinous. Conse- quently but Uttle was taken over this route, and the entei-prise of rafting coal on the Wallenpaupack was regarded as a failure, and Mr. Wurts as a monomaniac. In 1822, Maurice Wurts became interested with his brother William, and the two proceeded to Garbondale, with a number of workmen, where they camped in the woods, and slept on hemlock-boughs, transporting their provisions for miles on horseback. Here, at great expense, they mined about eight hundred tons of coal, which they intended to haul to the Lackawaxen during the ensuing winter. They determined to substitute pine-rafts in the place of the more frail arks, and believed that the sale of the timber and coal together would yield a handsome profit. But the finest schemes of man are often thwarted by unexpected contingencies. The ensuing winter was unusually mild ; there was but little snow ; instead of taking eight hundred tons of coal to the Lackawaxen on sleighs, they were able to haul but one hundred ; coal was worth, nroni ten to twelve dollars per ton in Philadelphia when they com^ menced mining at Garbondale ; but the quantity sent from the more accessible Lehigh region reduced the price so that there was no margin for profit to the Mebsrs, Wurts, at least -while they transported coal over mountains on sleighs, and down wild rivers on rafts. Intellectual dwarfs shrink and wither in peril, while the giant mind acquires magnitude in proportion to the dangers which arise and threaten disaster. Without competition and with fair profits on the fuel and the lumber they sent to market, William and Maurice Wurts probably would have continued the ooai business on a small scale, and. been contented with their primi^ tive mode of transportation, and their limited revenue from the business. At that time, in a siupfle year, six thousand tons of anthracite glutted the markets of all the cities of the Atlantic ooast of the United States. Maurice Wurts, knowing this fact, proposed to send to the city of New York alone one hundred thousand tons annually, and to jirovide a way to do so, broached the project of scaling the Mooaie mountain with a railroad, and * HoUiflter'B Lackawannft Valley. DKLAWABE AND HUDSON CANAI* 657 constructing a long canal through a rugged and almost unex- plored country, from the interior of Wajne county, Pennsylvania, to the Hudson ! It is not surprising that the boldness of the proposition caused many who could see but the necessities of the hour to regard Maurice Wurts as wild and visionary, if not absolutely insane. William Wurts, who readily adopted the views of his brother, undertook to explore a route for the canal, and followed the valley of the Lackawaxen and Delaware until he reached the Shawangunk. Thus far there was no obstacle which was a bar to the project ; but h«re he met a rocky barrier which seemed too formidable for a communication by water to the point which he wished to reach in the vicinity of the Highlands of the Hudson. In this emergency, he was advised bjT Abraham Cuddeback, of Cuddebackville, to explore the valley west of the mountain.* Here he found an abundance of water and every- thing else favorable except public opinion. The entire route was feasible. When this was ascertained, the brothers deter- mined to devote all their energies to the consummation of their enterprise, t Through their efforts, the Legislatures of Pennsyl^ vania and New York enacted necessary laws. Besidents dn ihe route were then asked to contribute toward the preliminary survey, but very generally declined to do so. The Messrs. Wurts then employed jBenjamin Wright, who was con- sidered the best engineer of the country, to locate the canal and road, and make an estimate of the cost of the, work. Mr. Wright made his report in 1824. He pronounced the im- provement practicable, and estimated the expense at $1,300,000, a gum so large that its realization seemed almbs't hopeless, especially as capitalists looked upon the project as a chimera worthy of hobby-riders and hot-brained enthusiasts. After thia report, a greater number of their friends expressed grave doubts as to the sanity of William and Maurice Wurts, and the latter were obliged to decide whether they woiild abandon the enterprise, and be classea among visionary schemers, or vindi- cate the wisdom of its conception by securing its completion £^nd demonstrating its utility. They knew, from the experience of communities older than our own, that a period was approach- ing when our forests could not be relied upon for a supply of fiiel for dense centres of population, and. that even then true economy proved that anthracite should be substituted for wood. * HoUigter'a Lackawanna Valley. t Eager says Jfauriee Wurts traverged Orange county in search of a practicable Tonte for the canal 'to Newburgh ; but he found the Sbawaiigunk an inanrmountable obstacle. Abraham CuddebaoK led him to examine the valley leading to Kingston, where a good route was found. Hollister, who gives a better account or the labors of ihe Messrs. Wurts, declares that William made the exploration. 42 658 HISTOKY OP SULLIVAN COUNTY. Public opinion was against them ; but the minds of the ignorant and prejudiced were enlightened by these energetic and enter- prising brothers, who erected, in New York and Philadelphia, stoves and grates suitable for burning Lackawanna coal, and thus established the fact that it was cheaper, more convenient and every way preferable to wood and charcoal. The press, then influential because not sensational, was enlisted in their favor, and rapidly the mountain of prejudice, more formidable than the Moosic range, was removed. There was a favorable change in pubKc sentiment. The plans of the brothers were matured. They proposed that a company should be formed with a capital of $1,500,000 ; that the company should surmount the Moosic by the way of Eix' Gap (800 feet in height) by means of inclined planes; that their railway should extend to the nearest poiat at which a sufficient supply of water could be commanded for canal navigation ; that they should mine, carry to market and sell their own coal; that they should embark in the business of banking ; and that they should engage in real estate speculations at points on their canal where land was certain to appreciate in value. .A wise economy permeated •every part of their undertaking. Books of subscription were opened in New York, and every share of the capital-stock taken. The brothers were no longer half crazy adventurers — ^the sport of shallow-brained v^its — but ihe acknowledged heads of a powerful organization, with means to test fuUy and fairly the merits of their project. The -canal and railroad were commenced in 1826 and com- pleted in 1828.* On the 3d of December of the latter year, a fleet of six canal boats, laden with one hundred and twenty tons of coal, (the fir-st from the head of the canal,) passed through Mamakating Hollow (now Wurtsborough), on their way to the Hudson. The ancient Dutch residents, and the more recent Yankee importations, turned out with their families to witness the cheering spectacle. The sleep of ages was broken by the Toaring of cannon and the lusty cheers'of the people. The ca- nal was considered a great public blessing — quite equal to any- thing in the history of the country, not excepting even the birth of the nation ; for we find the good people of the vaUey on the ■ensuing Fourth of July engaged in celebrating "American In- •dependence and the canal," on which occasion Colonel Jacob 'Gum aer officiated as Marshal; Eli Bennett, as Beader; John Dorrance, as President, and Lyman Odell as Orator.f Said Mr. OdeU, " The genius of free government is peculiarly * In some places on the summit-level, the bottom ol the canal vas made of coarse gravel, and in a few hours all the water that could be commanded leaked through and disappeared. t Waichman, July, 1826. DELA.WABE AND HUDSON CANAl. 65&' -adapted, no less to public than social improvement. Already have our citizens caught the enrapturing flame, and accom- plished more in the great field of public enterprise, than centuries have been able to produce under the despotism of foreign power. * * * * Suffer me to roll back the tide of time for, a few short years, and contrast the past with the present condition of this county. Then the towering summits- of the Shawangunk mountain, piled up in massive sublimity as if to hold converse with the clouds, stretched an almost impass- able barrier along her borders, and seemed to laugh in suUen silence upon every attempt of her citizens to comniunicate with ■ the rest of the world by toiUng over its rocky surface. Then the wealthy feared and the enterprising shrank back from the privations, and seclusions of this faniiharly denoming|ed wooden country. At length the scene is changed. A faint ray. of light begins to illuminate her dusky horizon ; and the great project is conceived of mingling the waters of the Delaware and Hudson together through the medium of an artificial channel ! Heaven fired the breasts of a few public-spirited individuals with a fortitude which no obstacle, could shake, and having ascertained the feasibility of the project, and made the necessary arrange- ments, the first decisive blow was struck ! But four years have elapsed, and while timidity has faltered at the hazardous under- taking, and incredtdity has pointed the finger of derision at the 'wild and visionary project,' the work has been steadily prose- cuted, with a rapidity which outstrips all former example, to a successful completion ! ! The gloomy silence v/hich heretofore reigned along the base of these mountains is broken by the- busy din of commercial enterprise; and -our daily avocations are cheered with the shrill music of the bugle, announcing the arrival and departure of boats laden with the produce and the wealth of this hitherto wild and neglected region. No longer is Sullivaai shut out from the free and easy communication with her sister counties ; and the ^pell of the Mountain God which has so long locked up her resources is 'shorn of its influence' forever!" At first the canal was intended for boats of thirty tons bur- then ; subsequently its capacity was so enlarged as to admit vessels of fifty tons, and finally improved so as to pass boatp of one hundred and thirty. The first locomotive engine in America was imported from England and used on the road of this company at Honesdale, It was intended to be employed in the place of horse-power on ■the level east of the ]!lIoosic. The hemlock trestling- over the Lackawaxen wa^ considered too frail for the great weight of the engine, and almost every one predicted that the strange ma- chme, with the bridge and the engineer, would be precipitated SISTOBT OF SCUSVAS COUNTT. into the river at the first attempt to cross. Major Horatio Al- len was the only cme who dared to pass over the structure with the-iron steed, and his passage was witnessed by a multitude of spectators, who were happily disappointed ; for he crossed m safety, and triumphantly disappeared in the narrow vista whicfi was then bounded on either side by laurels and hemlocks, "f he road, as cwiginally made, however, was found too weak for this engine, aithoogh suffideni iot horse-cars, and the pioneer loco- motive of the western world was thrown from the track, and for many years was a broken rusty wreck, " unhonored and un- sung."* It is somewhat singular that Bamum did not gather the interesting relics and degrade them by placing them among such curiosities as the Woolly Horse, Joice Heth, and the " Happy Famify" of morphinized birds and beasts. , With the completion oi the canal, the Messrs. Wm-ts hoped that their toils and anxieties would terminate ; but their hopes were baseless. Years of labor — such labor as they alone" could furnish — ^were yet necessary to. place the work beyond the possibiHty of failure. Disaster threatened it, and on its success depended i|iot only their fortunes, but what is dearer to such men, their good name. The embarrassments of the company arose from several oaiTses. 1. Their engineer had greatly under-estimated the cost of the iipprovement. A heavy indebtedness was the result. The Directors had borrowed of the State of New York the large sum of $800,000. 2. There was at first but a limited demand for coal, and much competition on the part of rival organizations. 3. The small quantity of coal taken to New York in 1828 and 1829, was surface-coal which had been exposed to deteriorating agencies for many centuries, and was quite worthless. This fur- nished plausible grounds for the slanders of enemies, who as- serted that the fuel from the Lackawanna valley was valueless, and that if it were otherwise, the canal arid railroad were so illy constructed and perishable in character, that they were incapa- ble of passing a sufficient amount of tonnage to pay interest on their cost. 4, The absurd cry of monopoly was also raised to prejudice the ignorant and superficial against the companv.* 6. No dividends were paid, and stock which had cost the holder $100, was a drug in the iharket at from $60 to $70. 6. Legisla- tive bodies were invoked to crush the company by hostile action. Maurice Wurts, who had resigned the position of Superintend- ent in 1828, resumed that office, and his brother, John Wurts, then a prominent Eepresentative in Congress and a member ol the Phuadelphia bar, assumed the presidency. These gentle- men devoted the remainder of their lives to the company's in- * HoUuter't LaofcawanQa Valler, CELAWARE AND HUB80S CANAL. 66J terests, and the proud position it has attained is principally due to their anxious care, laborious industry and practical good sense. Under their management the debts of the company were honorably paid, its capacity increased fourfold, and its good name placed on an enduring foundation. The stock of the company, once worth but sixty cents per dollar, ran up to one hundred and forty, and instead of carrying one hundred thou- sand tons of coal to market per annum, they lived to announce that the number considerably exceeded one million !* The cap- ital-stock of the corporation is no longer limited to $1,500,000 ; but has been raised to 17,000,000, and even now its affairs are exempt from the spirit of peculation and fraud which, vampire- like, IS draining the life-blood of too many communities and in- corporatioms'. The latter fact is due to, the policy .established bv the Messrs. Wuits, to employ no subordinates except men of well-attested honesty, sobriety and capacity, to pay them lib- erally but not extravagantly, and to employ them duiing good behavior. How ecstatic and extravagant would have been the sentences ad3 were dismissed from the minds of our cifcizaus, and .they clamared for a railroad from Lake Erie to the Hadson through the southern counties. The earliest proposition to build a railroad through Sullivan tvas made in the fall of 1829, when the railroad men of Baltimore invited Members of Congress to ride in cars furnished with masts and sails, and moved by wind. This proposition was in a pamphlet, in which the writer advocated the making of a railway from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. We have no more than a few extracts from this pamphlet, which were copied into a newspaper at that time, and do not know the name of its •writer ; but he who wrote it had a resolute and comprehensive brain, and an eye which saw in the future the results of a wonderful invention, which was then like an infant Hercules in its cradle. He pointed out the route of the proposed railway from the vicinity of New York city, across Sullivan to the Dela- ware river, up the latter> to where, the Erie now crosses to the Susquehanna; theiice to the Tioga, Lake Erie, the State of Ohio, etc. His arguments to show that it was of national im- portance would not be appropriate in a local work like ours; 'but we cannot refrain from copying the following. sentences, because, when they were first given to the public, they seemed like the fumes of a diseased brain; biit less than half a century tas proved them the essence of wisdom : "The Atlantic and Mississippi Railway would, when com- pleted, be far more beneficial in its effects on the intervening country,,and on our national prosperity, than to turn the Missis- sippi itsdf into the same course. Free from the inundations, the currents, the rapds, the ice, and the sand-bars of that mighty stream, the rich products of its wide-spread valley would be driven to the shores of the Atlantic with greater speed than if wafted by the wings of the wind; and the rapid return of com- mercial equivalents would spread life and prosperity over the face of the finest and fairest portion of the habitable world." To accomplish the work he claimed among other things, that it should be undertaken by incorporations, aided by grants of money or lands from the general government, the very plan adopted more than forty years later, to secure the construction of the Pacific road. On the 27th of 'August, 1831, a meettng was held at the house of S. W. B. Chester, in Monticello, to consult in regard to the survey of a railroad from the Hudson river to Ohio. This meet- ing resolved that the survey was worthy of attention, and then adjourned to the 30th of the same month. In the published proceedings the name of no person who attended it appears. 6.66 HISTOEY OF SULLrVAH OOUNTT. At the adjorimed meeting, there was a declaration in favor of a. road as far as Elmira, and John P. Jones, Piatt Pelton, Hiram Bennett, Eandall S. Street and Archibald C. Niven were ap- pointed a cdmmittee to promote the project. On the 20th of December, 1831, a convention of delegajies from all the southern counties except Orange and Eockland, was held at Owego. George Morell, of Otsego, was president. This body took ground in favor of a railroad from Lake Erie to the Hudson, and resolved to apply to the Legislature for a charter. From that time the people of the counties bordering on Penn- sylvania took definite action, in regard to a communication through their territory by railroad. During the Legislative session of 1832, the company was in- corporated. Among the corporators were three citizens of Sul- livan — John P. Jones, Randall S. Street and Alpheus Dimmick. The original intention was to make it a railway suitable for the use of horses, so that the inhabitants who lived on the rout© cOuld employ their own cars and motive power, "Animal power," said the managers, " may be considered the natural power of the country ; and on long routes, where great ine- qualities in the amount of transport and travel will occur j where the commodities to be conveyed, instead of presenting a regular supply, will probably amount to many times as much some months as others, the use of horses may be expected, for a time at least, to be practically cheaper than steam." A road for locomotives, it was agreed, would cost from $12,000 to $14,000 per mile, while one for animals could be made for $5,000 or $6,000, and on the latter the company would be at no expense for engines, carriages, &c. , On the 9th of July, 1833, books were opened for subscription to the capital-stock to the amount of one million of dollars. This amount, it was believed, was enough to complete a single track from the Hudson to the Susquehanna, with a sufficient number of turn-outs to render the desultory movements of the horse-cars of farmers and others practical. The managers anticipated embarrassment from excessive subscriptions, and pubUshed a proviso showing in what manner they woiild reduce the total amount to one million. In the hght of ripe experience, their plans were all puerile and childish. Nevertheless they were approved by Benjamin Wright, whose reputation as a civil engineer was pre-eminent. The amount required was subscribed ; but a large part of the stock taken was by a nominal arrangement with a man named William G. Buckner, who, on the last day and at the last moment, took all that was not secured by others. Another year passed, during which the company did not receive enough from THE NEW YOEK AND EBIE EAILBOAD. 667 its stockhoMers and others; to make necessary surveys. In 1834, the people directly interested again appealed to the Legislature, which granted 115,000 to enable Benjamin Wright and his sulaordinates to examine the route, and report the result. This was done, and his report may be found in the Assembly Documents of 1835. It established the fact that a practicable route existed even through Sullivan, which, until this time had been considered the most unfavorable region. Mr. Wright's labors did not give vitality to the project. The company lacked material resources, and capitalists were un- willing to venture an amount adequate to the magnitude of the undertaking. In 1835, the State was petitioned to become a stockholder; but declined to grant further aid. In 1836, the application was renewed, when an issue of- State-stock to the amount of $600,000 was authorized on the completion of a track of the road, withiii the State, from the Hudson and Delaware canal to Binghamton ; of $700,000 when it reached the Alleghany river; of $300,000 when it extended to Lake Erie ; of $4:00,000 when completed from the Hudson to the Hudson and" Delaware canal ; and of $1,000,000 when a double line was made within the State from one terminus to the other. The act of 1846 did not exert a salutary influence on capital- ists. ,Men of wealth stiU refused to promote the enterprise by liberal subscriptions. It is alleged that their financial costiver ness resulted from a lack of confidence in those who had the affairs of the company in charge. However this may be, in 1848, further legislation was solicited and a more liberal act, passed, by which the State agreed to invest one dollar fox every two expended by the company, the State appropriation not to exceed $8,000,000. It is said that the passage of this act was due to the un- wearied and persistent efforts of Hon. John P. Jones, one of the founders of Monticello, T^ho was then in the Senate, and that his action was enlivened by a pledge of the company that, if he succeeded in securing the passage of the act, they would locate the road on what was then known as the Brownson route. This route was the most favorable to Monticello, to the interests of which he was ardently attached until his death. Some may doubt that he was a man who could influence a legislative body, as he was of slow and hesitating speech, exceedmgly.duU and tiresome, and without a spark of magnetic power to excite fa- vorable action. Yet he was shrewd, and had some qualities ■nearly allied to cunning and craft. In saying this of him, we disclaim any imputation on his character for integrity and honor. We believe he was influenced by justifiable motives, and wished to secure to the county an important and vital interest. StiE there was but little if any progress. The resources of 668 fflSTOBY OP STTLLIVAN COUNTY, the company continued to be limited, and small as they were^ were squandered in paying large salaries, in mating extensive and incomplete surveys, and in partially constructing here and there useless fragments of their road. JSVom ffie Port JervU Union. MONTICELLO AND POST JEKVIS KAILEOAD. Staibwav Bbooe, Jan. 31, 1869. T>. HoLBEOOK, Esq., — Deab Sib : — In your issue of Jan. the 22, you have a long article in relation to the Port Jervis and Mouticello railroad, I would like to mate known some facts to you which ought also to be known and acted upon by aU of the people interested in that road. In the winter of 1835-6 the Erie Eailway company asked from the State of New York a loan of one million and a half of dol- lars. The bill was introduced in the Legislature at Albany, by John P. Jones, of Monticello, at that time member of the Sen- ate, and with indefatigable perseverance and determination on his part, the biU was carried through and became a law. While this bill was pending the managers of the road gave their plighted faith to Jones that they would locate and put under contract that portion of the line between Cuddebackville and the forks of the Mongaup, by way of the Brownson route, passing one and a half miles east of Monticello. And I was ordered to fet the line ready with as little delay as possible, which I did, xing the maximum grade at 68 feet per mile. This steep grade extended for a distance about five or six miles, commencing near Olow's Bridge or what is now called Oakland, and extending in the direction of Monticello. The line was got ready but was nevfcr put under contract in consequence of some wrangling be- tween the people of Monticello and Thompsonville. In conse- quence of which this one million and a half dollars, together with one million and a half more from the Company was squan- dered on other portions of the line between Binghamton and Dunkirk by building it on piles which cost about as much as a graded road, and which in the end proved perfectly useless and was abandoned altogether. So you wiU perceive that the peo- ple of Monticello as well as other portions of the county have been wronged out of what their Senator labored so long and ar- dently for. Now if this road is to be a tributary to the Erie foad it is but just, and they have a right to ask and demand their assistance and aid in the building of the Monticello rail- road. It is but just and the people should loot into it and act accordingly. If the Erie road can lease or buy hundreds of railroads out west, they ought at least do something for this road where their plighted faith has been given, and especially THE NEW YOKE AND ERIE BAILBOAD. 669 ■y^here they have received one and a half millions of dollars, I would add that this one and a half millions was afterwards given to the company, out and in full. My object in writing this is that the people may know thesa facts, and perhaps they may act in such a waj as to get the as- sistance of the Erie railroad in the construction of their own. Yery respectfully yours, &o., 0. L. Seymoub. In 1839, the people of the southern counties feared that the company would never succeed in accomplishing the enterprise, and the company itself seemed inclined to relinquish the under- taking. The State was importuned to assume the work. A bill for that purpose passed the Assembly, but was defeated in the Senate. It was deemed unwise for the State to embark in sucli enterprises. In 1840, the effort to make the road a State-work was renewed unsuccessfully. The State, however, agreed to loan the com- pany $100,000 for every $100,000 previously expended in the construction of the road, and for every $50,000 thereafter paid from the funds of the incorporation, the Comptroller was directed to issue stock to the amount of $100,000. No more than $3,000,000 were to be thus contributed. This law was considered highly favorable, and enabled the directors to commence work with apparent vigor. The people of the southern counties who had importuned the Legislature for benefactions to the company, now hoped to Witness a speedy consummation of the long-sought improvement ; but their hopes were soon dashed to the ground. Everything was mismanaged. The State-stocks were forced upon the market at unfavorable times, and sold for less than their nominal value. The j)ro- oeeds were wasted in speculation, and in testing wild theories. Among the latter was a crotchety idea that railroads could be made to span valleys and other depressions of the earth'^. surface, by upholding the track with posts and spiles. Instead of experimenting on a limited scale and at a small cost, the plan wais tried on a magnificent basis and at enormous expense, and resulted in a corresponding failure. Three millions receive^ from the State, and aU that was paid by stockholders was gone, and but fifty miles of the road in operation, while the company was bankrupt. The State had more than paid for all the work done, and had a prior lien upon it for $3,000,000. The franchise of the company and all that had been accomplished by and through it were not worth that amount, and the difficulty of obtaining further subscriptions, while the road was thus pledged 670 HISTOBY OP SUIilYAH COUNTY. to the state for more than its value, was insurmountable.* The company affected not to perceive this difficulty; but gave another and unfounded reason to account for their troubles. They pretended to discover in 1841 that the public had no confidence in their work on account of the obstacles to be overcome in SulUvan and other counties adjacent to the Dela- ware and Susquehanna ! Previous to this time, there was no pretense that the interior route from the Shawangunk to the Delaware was impracticable, and it could not be said that the hne on the banks of that river was even suggested in such a way as to alarm the people of the county. The company was pledged to run the road by the way of Brownson's, and had made the necessary surveys. In 1840, the President of the road informed the citizens of Monticello that it had been determined to immediately file locations of the interior route. About this time the citizens of ThompsonviUe urged the superiority of the route ia which they were interested, and this .gave the company a very bald excuse for not immediately per- forming their promise to John P. Jones and others of Monti- cello. Probably they had never intended to do so. They had done considerable work above the mouth of the CaUicoon, but little or none in Sullivan below that poiat. This is strong proof to establish their falsehood and treachery. ' Early ia 1841, our citizens were informed that the company had determined to adopt the Delaware river route, a route which, it was alleged, they had not then even surveyed, and the proposition was made to Monticello that the railroad-man- agers would contribute ten thousand dollars toward making a turnpike-road from that place to the nearest point on the Erie road. This proposition was indignantly spurned, and a contest ensued in the Legislature of the State which continued several years. From 1841 to 1845 the pompany annually applied to the Leg- islature for the privilege of constructing a portion of their road on the Pennsylvania side of the river, and made exaggerated statements in regard to the interior route. These statements were warmly combated by the people of SuUivan and other counties. The company also asked to be released from the State-hen. The latter request was finally granted conditionally, * The most Bliamoless fraxids wore oommittecl. The old stookholrlera were called npon to pay no more inBtalments. Each oontraotor was required to take pav in stock to the amount of one-third of his contract, and tne company agreed to pay him nearly one-third more than his work was worth. When he had gone sufficiently far with his contract, certificates of stock were issued to him, and affidavits made that the work had been paid for from monevs collected of stockholders. Armed with these affidavits the managers demanded of the State double the nominal expenditure made. In this way the State paid for nearly all that was done. THE NEW YORK AND ERM EAILBOAD. 671 and in the same year (1845) the application to carry the road into Pennsylvania was defeated, or rather withdrawn when it was found that there was but a minority in its favor, and a section substitated appointing Orville W. Childs, John B. Jervis and Horatio Allen, engineers, to locate the road through the interior -of Sullivan, and if necessary through a portion of Ulster, if ihey found a practicable route, the adoption of which wouM not be greatly prejudicial to public interests ; but in case they did not so locate, the company were authorized to construct a portion of the road on such route as the directors should decide, through said counties of Ulster and Sullivan. The friends of the interior route considered this practically a iTiumph, and congratulated themselves that it had been won without the aid of the Hudson and Delaware Canai Qpmpany, which had co-operated with them until 1845, and then com- promised with the raUroad-company.* The commissioners appointed by the act did not enter upon iheir duties until late in the fall of 1845, and consequently their labors were not concluded when the Legislature of 1846, con- vened. This gave the company an opportunity to apply for a modification of the law of the previous session, and an addi- tional act was passed, by which the Commissioners were to decide whether there was a practical route through Sullivan "on which the company could construct their road without ^eat prejudice to the public interests of this State, and the interests of the citizens of this State, who, in their judgment, would "be affected by the construction and location of the road collectively considered." And in case they should decide other- wise, then the company wei'e authorized to locate in Pennsyl- Tania, subject, however, to the reserved power of the Legislature of 1847, to direct otherwise; The act also added Frederick Whittlesey, Jared Wilson, Job Pierson and William Dewey to the Commission, t 'During the ensuing season the Board caused hurried and in- complete surveys to be made through "Sullivan, and found that ' the ascending and descending grades were better than had been reported by the engineers of the company, and much more fa- vorable' than the grades east and west of the county; that the • •distance was about two and a half miles greater than by the way of the more southern route ; that the curvature was more ■objectionable on the interior line than elsewhere ; and that the latter could be made for $401,480 less than the other. It was claimed by the friends of the central route, that it was susceptible * The railroad company consented to a perpetual injunotion b^ing entered, prohib- iting them from luaking their road on the bank of the river occupied by the canal. t See " Eeport of the Minority of the Committee on Eaili-oada, in relation to the location of the New York and Erie Baikoad." [Assembly Documents, 1847, 672 HIBTOBY OB" SUIUVAN COUNTY. of improvement as to curvature and distance ; but their sug- gestions -were unheeded by the engineers, who naturally were in- clined to favor the side from which they could expect a prepon- derance of employment. On the 5th of August, 1846, the commissioners (except Mr. Kerson) met at the court-house in Monticello, to hear what oould be said for and against the rival routes. Thomas McKis- sock of Newburgh appeared for the company, and "William B. Wright for the people. At this meeting Mr. Wright made a fine exhibition of foren- sic ability. He had been a needy editor and afterwards a more needy attorney and counselor ; had been chiefly remarkable as a caustic writer* and for a love of ease and the pleasures af- forded by gratifying his palate. In conducting trivial law-suits he had been out of his element, and was as ungainly as an ele- phant attempting a jig among a brood of chickens which he was required not to crush. He had great natural ability ; but had had no opportunity, and perhaps had been too inert to exhibit the best phases of his character. His argument before the com- missioners was reported in fuU for the BepvUican Watchman,. and was much admired. From that time his advancement was rapid. He was soon after elected Member of Assembly, then a member of the Constitutional Convention, and at the first elec- tion under the third Constitution of the State, was chosen a Jus- tice of the Supreme Court, and held that position until he was made a Judge of the Court of Appeals. While holding the lat- ter olBce he died. Soon after the Commissioners met in Monticello, four oithem decided in favor of the Pennsylvania route, whUe three (Messrs. Whittlesey, Childs and Pierson) declared themselves for the interior route. This was a sore disappointment to the people of Sullivan, who declared that the decision of the majority had no moral weight, because one of them (Horatio Allen) had ac- cepted an office at the hands of the company, and was in its pay as consulting engineer. A county-meeting was held on the 19th of September, at the Mansion House, kept by Stephen Hamilton, to consider the injustice done the people ' of the county by the majority of the commissioners. John P. Jones was chairman and C. V. R. Ludington, secretary. On motion of A. C. Niven, a committee was appointed to prepare and pub- lish a notice in the State paper and other jovirnals, setting forth the determination of the people to apply to the Legislature for * While Mr. Wright was the editor of a pa^er published at Goshen, he assailed a rival with terrible severity. The person attacked was almost immediately prostratea with paralysis, from wliich he never recovered. Mr. W. believed that the diBeage wag- caused by what he hii.l written. THE. NEW TOBK AND ERIE BAILBOAD. €73 relief. Daniel M. Angell, Piatt Pelton and Edward Palen were named by the mover as such committee. William B. Wright was soon after nominated by the whig and anti-rent parties for the Assembly, and his election was ren- dered more certain by the prominence he had acquired by his argument before the commissioners. His opponent was Jona- than Stratton, a gentleman without a tithe of Wright's talent, but who possessed better qualifications as a successful advocate in a body like the Assembly. Wright could make an admirable speech ; but almost any agent of the company could vanquish him in the lobby. Without waiting for further legislative action, the Directors put the Delaware section of their road under contract, and the work was in progress while the Legislature was in session. They also published a large edition of the Report* of a majority of the Commissioners, to which they added a map of their own, in which the alleged obstacles in Sullivan were greatly exagge- rated, and set forth in such a manner as to be an outrage on truth and decency. This they scattered broadcast before the Legislature and the people. At this stage of the controversy, the citizens of the river- towns,' moved by as good motives, no doubt, as those of the interior, took a lively interest in the affairs of the company. A respectable meeting was held at Narrowsburgh, of 'which James C. Curtis was president; John Hankins and Samuel Hankins, vice-presidents; and John C. Drake and Chauncey Thomas, secretaries. This meeting emphatically approved the report of the Commissioners, and the conduct of the company. The citizens of Bloomingburgh were induced to believe that they would be favored with a branch of the Erie road, and, although warned that they would be disappointed, took an active part against the interior route. When the struggle with the company ceased, their project died from inanition. This Bloomingburgh diversion was engineered by Alpheus Dimmick, T. C. Van Wyck, 0. H. Van Wyck, J. O. Dunning, V, E- Horton, 0. Wood, E. M. Hunter and others. On the other hand, a large and enthusiastic county-meeting was held in Monticello — John P. Jones, president ; Piatt Pelton, Edward Palen, Stephen Hamilton, Z. Hatch, Eli Fairchild and Arthur Palen, vice-presidents; F. M. St. John, C. V. R. Ludington and G. Wales, secretaries. A. G. Niven, chairman of the committee for that purpose, reported a series of resolu- tions which were adopted. Meetings were also held at Gra- hamsvDle, Neversink, White Lake, Liberty, FaUsburgh, Wurts- borough, Thompsonville, Eockland, and Phillips Port, at aU which the proceedings of the company and a majority of the 43 674 HISTOBT OP SUIIOVAN COUNTT. Commissioners were denounced, and justice to the county demanded. But the hopes inspired by what was considered the justice of their cause, and the able advocacy of William B. Wright, were of short duration. The Senate approved the Pennsylvania location by a vote of 17 to 1, while the interior route com- manded but 24 votes in the Assembly. Thus terminated a ■contest of years carried on by the citizens of Sullivan against a powerful and unscrupulous company. Subsequent events bave proved that the allegations of the latter were unfounded, .■and there iS much on which to base the charge that the final location of the road was intended to subserve private specula- iions. CHAPTEE XX. NEW YOEK AND OSWEGO MIDLAND RAILROAD. The magnitude of this enterprise — its connection with the in- terests of Sulhvan, and the fact that some of our prominent cit- izens have been identified with its origin and progress, warrant us in devoting a chapter to its history. In 1853, a party of engineers came into the county, and spent several weeks in making ex])lorations. It was reported that they were searching for a new railroad-route across the county, and that they succeeded in finding one which was considered feasible. But little interest was taken in their work, and soon after they disappeared, the memory of their labors almost faded from the minds of our citizens. These surveys were made under the direction of Colonel Edward W. Serrell, a distin- guished engineer. They led to no substantial result at that time, because the project was based on a flimsy financial basis. Tradition says that the failure of an unimportant moneyed in- stitution made the project an abortion. In the summer and fall of 1865, when the reverberations of our great civil war were yet " booming through the land," a cor- respondence sprang up between leading citizens of Norwich, Delhi and Monticeflo, setting forth the advantages and neces- sity to their secluded inland-counties of better means of inter- communication, and urging early co-operation to attain the de- sired object. This correspondence led to a call for a meeting of persons interested at Delhi, on Wednesday, October 4th, in that year. This was the first concerted gathering in behalf of the proposed enterprise, and the self-appointed delegates from the county of Sullivan were Henry Reynolds Lov.-, Hezekiah "Watkins, Samuel G. .Thompson, William D. Stratton, and William A. Eice. The 3d day of October was duU and uninviting. It ushered in the first snow-storm of the season, and if anything had been needed to bring vividly, to mind the advantages of railway com- munication, it was supplied to these gentlemen on their journey, by the sharp winds, the driving snow-storm, and the Brock mountain highway. [675] I 76 HISTORY OF BUIiLIVAN COUNTY. The assembly came together about noon the next day, in the court-house of Delhi. Charles Hathaway of Delaware county was chosen chairman, and Robert H. Atwater of Ulster, and James Appleton of Onondaga, secretaries. Besides delegations from the counties along the line from Oswego to Middletown, there was an influential representation on behalf of Eondout, and it soon became manifest that the harmony of the meeting would be disturbed by the discordant elements of conflicting and rival routes. On behalf of Rondout or Newburgh it was urged that the pro- posed road should seek the Hudson river at the nearest practi- cable point, and thus secure for its freights easy and cheap water communication to the city of New York ; that a line through Sullivan was not feasible ; that the engineering obstacles in that direction were insurmountable — the grades impossible, and the series of tunnels endless — the population sparse and poor ; and that, while such a route would furnish neither business nor sub- scriptions, Rondout, on the other hand, through Major Cornell, one of its wealthiest citizens, stood ready to pledge itself for $300,000 of the stock of the new company. The friends of Sullivan combated these statements as well as they were able, by declaring that a diversion of the road to the Hudson at any point above the city of New York would prevent its becoming a trunk-line, and cripple its usefulness during the suspension of river-navigation ; that a river-terminus would have to be abandoned as the Erie company had abandoned Piermont; that the county of Sullivan was not a wilderness, but was rich in agriculture, lumber and manufactures ; that its people were not paupers, but would contribute liberally to the new enter- prise ; that a railroad could be built through the county ; that surveys had been made and routes found which were entirely practicable ; that there was no such obstacle from one end of the line to the other as would be met in undertaking to go over or under Pine Hill; and that all they asked was a fair hearing and time for consideration — the appointment of a committee to make surveys and/ procure subscriptions; and they pledged themselves to accept the result of an honest and thorough 'investigation. The discussion waxed warm. The friends of the Pine Hill route had rallied ia large force from the adjoining country, and were somewhat in the majority. Led by their earnest cham- pion— a wealthy butter-dealer of Andes named Dowey they were anxious to press to a decision the determination of a route, and commit the new project to the interests of Rondout Through tlie skillful engmeering, however, of Samuel Gordon—^ from the first a firm advocate for the line through our county a recess for dinner was canied, and the day, as events proved. NEW YORK AND OSWEGO MIDLAND RAILROAD. 677 was thus lost to Pine Hill ; for, upon the re-assembling at four o'clock in the afternoon, it was found that the " Dowey" party- had been largely depleted by loss of many whose farm-duties had called them home, and that it was now in the minority. Great battles are sometimes lost, and the status of an entire people reduced, because a military leader has " dined and wined" too freely. Here, it seems, empty stomachs and a few barnyard- chores led to results which will forever add to the wealth and importance of Sullivan. On motion of Mr. Gordon, the following resolutions were readily adopted by the meeting; " Resolved, That a railway from Oswego, through the counties of Onondaga, Madison, Chenango, Otsego, Delaware, Ulster or Sullivan, and Orange, on or near the surveys made some twelve years ago, to some point on the Hudson river, is a State and* local necessity, for the transportation of merchandise, manu- factures, agricultural and mineral productions — and miM he made. " Resolved, That the said surveys and the topography of the country demonstrate it to be the most direct, cheaply constructed and easily graded road of its length and importance in the State ; while the resources of the country through which it passes, and the great need of more railroad-facilities for transportation from the West to the East, and from the sea-bord to the Lakes, through the State of New York, offer unsurpassed inducements to capitalists and the people along its route for investment in the proposed great internal improvement. " Resolved, That we, in common and in co-operation with the people of the territory between Oswego and the Hudson river at the point of intersection, and all others who may choose to join in the enterprise, will do our utmost to accomplish the great object in vieWj and that we will not cease our efforts until it be done." The resolutions were characterized by the energy and deter- mination of their earnest and eloquent author.^ Long may he live to hear the shrill whistle of the locomotive at his beautiful home among the mountains of Delaware. On motion of Judge Low, the following resolution was also adopted : "Resolved, That a committee of one from each county inter- ested, be appointed by this meeting, to make the necessary examinations, and report to an adjourned meeting, to be held at this place, on the 4th day of January, 1866, a route through the counties of Oswego, Onondaga, Madison, Chenango, Otsego, 678 HISTOBY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, Delaware, Sullivan or Ulster, and Orange, to the city of New Tork, for the proposed railroad, and a plan for the organization of a company to construct the same, for the consideration and approval of said meeting; such road to commence at Oswego, and terminate at some point on the Hudson river ; and also to report the amount of stock which can be subscribed, and the advantages of the several routes. Said Committee is also empowered to caU meetings in the different counties along the route, soHcit subscriptions and make necessary surveys, with full powers to fill vacancies in this Committee, and do such other acts as may be necessary to facilitate the work foi- which they are appointed." The following committee was accordingly appointed by the meeting : For Delaware, Samuel Gordon, of Delhi ; " SuUivan, Henry E. Low, of Monticello ; " Onondaga, J. V. H. Clark, of — ; " Madison, L. B. Kern, of De Euyter ; " Chenango, B. B. Andrews, of Norwich ; " Oswego, D. C. Littlejohn, of Oswego; " The city of New York, Samuel B. Buggies. The meeting then adjourned, to meet again at Delhi, on the 4th of January, 1866. It will be observed that no appointments were made upon this committee for the counties of Ulster and Orange. The- county of Orange was not represented at the meeting, and the Ulster delegation, failing to secure the adoption of the route to Bondout, withdrew and went home, determined to build a railroad for themselves. It is believed that the inception of the Bondout and Oswego Bailroad dates from this convention at Delhi. The delegation from Sullivan returned home high in spirits, firm in faith, and fuU of hope. Had they foreseen, as some of them saw afterwards, how little they had accomplished — how long and toilsome was the way before them to the consumma- tion of their enterprise — how few such eggs as had been just laid are ever hatched — and how few of the hatchhiigs do not sicken and die before their tail-feathers appear, perhaps the firipest and most hopeful among them would have shrunk dis- heartened from the labors and struggles of the future. For- tunately for the Midland project, their confidence was unbounded ; for there was at least one among their number who was destined to be of vital importance to the new- enterprise. Immediately upon their return, and under date of October NEW YOilK And OSWEGO MIDLAND BAILKOAD, 679 5th, 1865, the following notice was published through the county-papers : "Shall we hate a Baileoad? — The undersigned having at- tended the raUroad-meeting at Delhi on the 4th instant, and^ learned somewhat of the arguments used against the line through Sullivan county, as well as those in its favor, and .the objections made against its feasibility, deem it proper, in answer to numerous inquiries, to say to the people of Sullivan coimty, . that it is now in their power to have a railroad through their county, if they will go to work immediately, and display the same industry, perseverance and public spirit that the people of other counties are exliibiting. That a railroad wiU be built is more than probable — nay, almost certain; bilt whether on the route through Ulster county by the way of Pine mountain, or through Sullivan, will depend upon ourselves. "What is now urgently needed is that the routes through Sullivan county be immediately and carefully surveyed; that the necessary funds be raised to accomplish this ; and that the right of way be secured, and such inducements be offered as may be in our power. "Sullivan Hes immediately in the poute of a great central railroad from the Lakes to New York. Parties hostile to us charge that our route is not feasible, nor practicable. This is not so, and we need the surveys at once to demonstrate it. Our route has better grades than any road except the Central, and . is shorter than any other route, and capital can be easily inter- ested at this time in our favor. " To facilitate these objects, a meeting has been called to be held at Monticello, on Tuesday evening, the 17th of October instant, at 7 o'clock p. m., when it is earnestly hoped that all of our citizens interested will be present. It should be remem- bered that with us, it is noiu or never. " If we, by our neglect, lose this opportunity, we shall hardly have another very soon. This fact should be heeded by our business-men, especially as they»are perhajjs most interested, and can soonest combine for action. Samuel G. Thompson, William D. Stkatton, Hezekiah Watkins, Henky E. Low." The situation called for prompt and liber id action. The con- vention at Delhi had adjourned to meet again at that place on the 4th day of January, when the sui-veys through Sullivan and her promised subscriptions were to be submitted. What was to be done needed to be done at once. The fall weather was €80 H3BT0BY OF 8ULMVAN COUNTY. rapidly passing away; scarcely a month suitable for field-opera- tions could be counted on; engineering-parties were to be engaged and organized ; several and remote routes to be sur- veyed and mapped ; and, above all, money must be obtained ; for the new enterprise was destitute of credit. In this emer- gency, one or two of the more sanguine adherents of the cause became personally responsible for the expenses of the survey, and the work went forward. Meanwhile, public meetings were held in various towns of the county — committees appointed- — routes discussed, and personal subscriptions solicited. At this time, the new scheme was regarded with indifference and disfavor by many. Some in our own county even assailed it with derision and ridicule. A few words will show why this was so. Judge Low, its Sulhvan champion, was known mainly as a rising young lawyer and a successful politician. He had repeat- edly been a candidate for office, and had manipulated the cards of partisanship in a way which secured for himself and his friends all the honors and profits at stake. This greatly exasperated his political opponents, who, smarting under defeat, placed a low estimate on his motives in bringing forward this railroad project. It was believed that he was a candidate for re-election to the Senate, and that the proposed road would temporarily add to his popularity. He owned a large tract of wild land in the northern section of the county, which he had bought for speculative purposes, and which he was anxious to sell. The new project would in- crease the value of these lands, as well as the number of buyers. A large majority of the projectors were young men, who had never been identified with railroad-interests. The magnitude of the work, and their apparent ability to command capital suf- ficient to build the road within two or three decades, were ab- surdly disproportionate. Thus far there had been no braying of orators and but few sensational newspaper-paragraphs on the subject. The idea that a gi-eat trunk-line could be built without the preliminary ex- penditure of a vast amount of "fuss and feathers," had never entered the public mind. As was anticipated. Judge Low sought and received the nom- ination for Senator of the pohtical party to which he was at- tached. The election took place about four weeks after the railroad-meeting at Delhi, previous to which the Midland road was a dormant embryo in the womb of time, with which the fructifying element of life had never come in contact. Therefore it was not strange that the friends of the opposing candidate regarded the project as a sort of moon-calf, and that they de- KEW. YORK AND OSWEGO MtBLAND EAILBOAD. 681 tided it as "Low's railroad;" nor that, when the election had taken place, and Low was successful, it was declared that the toad was engineered and operated for the sole purpose of •cWrying him to the Senate-chamber, and that his opponent was the only individual who had been or ever would be killed bj^ the road. We beheve that these and other jibes greatly aniioyed Judge Low at the time ; but it is not probable that they would disturb his equanimity now. In view of the inaccessibility of Delhi during the winter-months, and the advantages of having the new enterprise regularly and legally organized prior to the approaching session of the Legis- lature, it was deemed wise to change the time and place of the -adjourned meeting, which was accordingly called by Mr. Gordon, the chairman of the General Oommittee, to meet at the St. Nicholas Hotel, in the city of New York, on Wednesday, December 13th, at 12 M. Large delegations were present from the localities interested, and the doings and deliberations of the convention occupied, two full days. The importance of the subject justifies us in giving a full report of the proceedings of this meeting : "Impobtant Eailkoad Convention. " Pursuant to the call of the chairman of the General Com- mittee appointed at Delhi, October 4, 1865, a convention of Relegates from the various counties interested in the proposed railroad from New York to Oswego over the midland route, assembled at the St. Nicholas Hotel, in the city of New York, on Wednesday, December 13, 1865, at 12 M. " Samuel B. Buggies, of New York city, was appointed chair- man, and B. Gage Beny, of Chenango county, secretary. The iollowing delegates were admitted: " Ostoego County — DeWitt C. Littlejohn, A. P. Grant, G. Mullison, E. P. Burt, A. P. Wright, E. K. Sanford, W. Johnson, S. Avery, Joseph Gilberts. " Onondaga County — A. C. Powell, G. P. Kenyon, George Burns, D. P. Phelps, E. B. Judson, O. Vandenburgh, D. H. Eaton, Anson Bangs, James Appleton. " Madison County — L. B. Kern, Joseph W. Merchant, A, F. Smith, Erastus Abbott, H. P. Hart, E. C. Litchfield, B. F. Ferris, O. W. Sage, C. L. Chappell, S. W. Ledyard, Charles Crandall, ^Ipheus Morse, G. B. Mo wry, A. N. Wood, A. M. Holmes. " Cortland County — N. Eandall. " Chenango County — B. Gage Berry, George Eider, Wan-en Newton, John Shattuck, John A. Eandall, A. J. Carpenter. 682 HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, "Delaware Comw^— Samuel Gordon; C. S. Johnson, Samuel Gordon, jr. "SuUivan County— Henry B,. Lbw, Edward Palen, W. Kier- sted, Samuel G. Thompson, WiUiam Gillespie, Chester Darbee,. Horace Utter, John H. Divine, David Clements, Nathan S. Hamilton. • "Orange Countp— Homer EamsdeU, R. A. Forsyth, A. M. Sherman, W. L. F. Warren, James Bigler, Enoch Carter, E. P. Gumaer. " Otsisgo County — James H. Gilbert, D. G. Hayes. " Ulster County — Thomas Cornell. " New York City — Samuel B. Euggles. "On invitation of the chairman, Henry E. Low, of Siillivan, addressed the convention at length, giving a history of the origin of the enterprise, and of what had been' thus far accom- plished. He also read a carefully prepared paper, embracing much valuable statistical information, and showing that the proposed railroad was a great necessity to the people of the midland-counties, as well as to the cities of New ¥ork and Oswego, and the State at large. " Colonel Edward W. Serrell exhibited to the convention the maps and profiles of the proposed route as surveyeS' in 1853, with new preliminary surveys recently made by him upon the eastern part of the route. He stated that the grade would not exceed fifty feet to the mile ; that the topography of the country was favorable ; and that along the entire route material for the construction of the road was abundant, except iron. " A. C. Powell, of Syracuse, who surveyed the western portion of the road, made an equally favorable report. -^ "The convention was addressed by Messrs. N.^Pandall, Samuel Gordon, Homer EamsdeU, D. C. Littlejohn, A.T.' Grant, and the chairman, after which Messrs. Littlejohn, Powell, Gordon, N. EandaU, Low, EamsdeU and Euggles were appointed a committee to report articles of association, and^ppinate directors. -^MHb "After a recess, Mr. Littlejohn reported the a^^ls of association orgtoizing the 'New York and Oswego**lEdland Eailroad Company,' with a capital of ten milUons of dollars, which were unanimously adopted. The committee also nomi- nated the following gentlemen as directors : DeWitt C. Little- john, Oswego; John Crouse, Syracuse; EUsha C. Litchfield, Cazenovia ; Joseph W. Merchant, DeEuyter ; Edward L Hayes, Norwich; John A. EandaU, Norwich; A. C. Edgerton, Delhi ; Samuel Gordon, Delhi; Henry E. Low, Monticello; Edward Palen, FaUsburgh; Homer EamsdeU, Newburghji, Nathan Randall, Homer ; G. P. Kenyon, Syracuse. % '• On motion of Mr. Low, the directors and delegates present NEW lOKK AND OSWEGO MIDLAND EAILROAD. 683 were appointed a committee to secure the necessary subscrip- tions and report at a subsequent meeting. " On motion of Mr. Shattuck, a copy of the paper read by Mr. Low was requested for publication, and tlie secretary was directed to have the same, together with the proceedings of the convention, printed in pamphlet form for general circulation, and that an abstract of the same be furnished to the city papers for general circulation. "On motion, Messrs. Kandall, Low and Kenyon were ap- pointed a committee to confer with other railroad companies ia relation to the business of this organization. " On motion of Mr. Randall, the convention requested the Legislature of the State to enact a law enabhng the towns on the route to raise funds upon bonds or otherwise, io aid in the construction of the New York and Oswego Midland Railroad, and that a cqpy of these proceedings be forwarded to the members in either House from the counties interested. "The books were then opened for subscriptions, and several delegates and others who were present subscribed for the stock of the company, after which the convention adjourned."* The location of the route — whether by the way of Pine Hill, or through the county of Sullivan — rwas yetundetermined; and at this convention, Cornell still advocated the claims of Ron- dout, and Messrs. Sherman and Ramsdell those of Newburgh. Some acerbity in discussion was displayed, and Gordon, always the unflinching friend of the line through Delhi and our county, commented sharply on the good faith of the adherents of the river hne. He said: "It was never intended by the Hudson river friends of a road that it should reach Delhi ; they meant to survey and squint around Pine Hill, Palmer Hill, Peach Pond and Andes, and then shoot off to Moorsville — head of the Delaware — and God knows where — and finally land in John Brown's wilderness among the bears! The right men had got hold of it now — men who would not sell out to the Central, or any other road; an air-line can be built without reference to^ intermediate location ; no dodging to hit this or that locality ; and no right angles to strike the Hudson, or please anybody, or aid any interest. What was wanted was an independent, and the straightest line between the two cardinal points named, (Oswego and New York)." The paper read before the convention by Judge Low was printed, extensively circulated, and eagerly read. It not only established beyond cavil the superior advantages of the direct route from Oswego to New York as to grades, distance and * 2\'ew Yvrk World, Dfccembcr i5, l,8(j5. 684 HiaTOKY OP STXLMViN COUNTY. 'I cheapness of constraction, as well as the importance of the local or way -business it would secure ; but that a diversion of the line to Eondout or Newburgh would destroy the distinctive char- acter of the project, and crush in the bud every advantage which was anticipated from the construction of the road. His facts and figures outweighed the golden arguments of such capitahsts as Cornell and Eamsdell, who promised the greatest amount of material aid, but failed to show that their favorite routes were better than the line through Sullivan. Thenceforward the Eon- dout people expended their capital and vexation in pushing forward their "branch" through' the mountains of Shandaken, and in publishing absurd reports in regard to the work in Sullivan. No legal organization of the company had as yet been per- fected. True, the articles of incorporation had been formally drawn up and subscribed ; but they had not been filed with the Secretary of State, and the ten per cent, of the amoiint of sub- scriptions, required by law to be paid in in cash, had not been raised. The convention separated, and the directors returned to their towns to supply this need. On the evening of Tuesday, December 26th, a spirited and enthusiastic meeting assembled at the court-house in Monticello, of which Austin Strong was chairman and Thomas Crary secre- tary. Stirring addresses were made by John H. Divine and others, and a committee appointed to apportion among the sev- eral towns the amounts of stock necessary to be taken to secure and complete the organization of the new company. The ap- portionment was as follows: Thompson, $18,000 ; Fallsburgh, 112,000; Liberty, $12,000; Eockland, $6,000 ; Neversink, $4,000 ; Bethel, $5,000; Forestburgh, $2,000; Mamakating, $2,000; Callicoon, $2,000. Committees were appointed to secure these subscriptions, collect the ten per cent., and pay it to Edward Palen, who was to be ready with our quota at a meeting of the directors in Albany, on the 10th of January, 1866. At this meeting in Albany, the details of organization were carefully carried out, and Dewitt C. Littlejohn was thereupon unanimously chosen president of the company. This selection was auspicious for the new enterprise. Long one of the leading men of the State — ^for successive terms Speaker of the Assembly, and familiar with the detaj.ls of legislation — of polished and winning address — with wonderful readiness and skill in debate — with a capacity for continuous.labor and despatch of business, and a comprehensive business-knowledge and experience, he was able to guide the company through the financial struggles ajid embarrassments which were to surround its future. lAnd now that the Company has been incorporated and has chosen its President, let us look at what its organizers proposed to do, and at their moans in hand. They are to-build four hun- KEW YORK AND OSWEGO MID LAND* -JIAILEOAD. 686 dred miles of railroad across the States of New York and New- Jersey — to cut through hills, cross valleys, bridge rivers, tunnel mountaiuR, and lay down forty thousand tons of iron rails. Surely they have adequate means at their disposal? "Give me where to stand," said Archimedes, "and I will move the world." The gift was not bestowed, and therefore the order of Providence was not disturbed. The president and directors, with apparent Archimedean hopelessness, were seeking "where to stand." Forty millions of dollars were needed to complete their work, and their sum total of money was not as many thousands! It is mild to say, that they were rushing in where archangels of finance would have feared to ti:ead. A standing-place must be found, or tlie work would end in failure, and be remembered as a prematurely exploded bubble. Mr. Littlejohn was then a Member of Assembly and Judge Low a Senator. They were authorized by the board of directors to devise a plan of operations, and procure needed legislation. A bill which was afterwards known as the " town-bonding law," was prepared.by Senator Low, and introduced at an early daj'. It provided for the apportionment, on application of twelve or more freeholders, of, th'ree commissioners for each town to be traversed by the new road, who were authorized, on obtaining the written consent of tax-payers who were assessed for a majority of the taxable property of such town, to issue its bonds to an amount to be specified; and not to exceed thirty per cent, of the assessed value of the property of the town, and to dispose of them at not less than par, and invest the proceeds in the stock of the New York and Oswego Midland Railroad Company — the money, thus reaUzed to the company, to be used in the construction of the 'road, and for no other purpose. The bill also provided for the exemption from taxation for ten years of the property of the company. It is not to be supposed that such important legislation and such privileges were to be granted without opposition. The bill was bitterly contested at every stage of its progress. It was urged that it proposed to confer extraordinary powers and privileges ; that the policy of permitting localities to burden themselves with taxation for such enterprises was novel and dangerous ; and that it was unjust to other companies to ex- empt from taxation the property of this corporation. ' The influence of rich and powerful railroad companies,- so po- tent in our halls of legislation, was arrayed against the proposed measure, and it was only after great strife, untiring persever- ance and energy, ■(vith unceasing vigilance, that the friends of the bill, by a bare majority, secured its passage, and it became a law on the 5th of April, 1866. Its importance to the under- taking cannot be over-estimated. It secured the needed ful- A86 HISTORY OF SULLITAN OOUNTT. cmm, and the'Avorld was now to be moved — literally to he moTC>d — for the new law merely gave tlie towns authority to bond ; the promoters of the project had yet to persuade them to do so. The field of active operations was then transferred from the Xiegislature to the towns to be traversed by the Midland road. The proper information was collected from the various assess- ment-rolls — apportionmetits made of their quota to the respect- ive towns and villages, and measures set on foot for an active canvass of the Midland counties from Oswego to the State line of New Jersey. The amounts for which it was proposed to ask the towns to bond were as follows : City of Oswego, $600,000 ViUage Norwich, 75,000 De Euyter, 20,000 Oneida, 40,000 Town Volney, 300,000 Hastings, 80,000 West Monroe, 40,000 Constantia, 87,500 Scriba, 20,000 Vienna, 68,500 Stockbridge, 143,000 Eaton, 150,000 Lebanon, 125,000 Smyrna, - 120,000 North Norwich, 100,000 | Norwich, 371,600 Oxford, 200,000 Guilford, 180,000 McDonough, 20,000 Pharsalia, 25,000 New Berlin, 150,000 Brewton, 20,000 Cohimbus, 40,000 Edmonton, 40,000 Town Pittsfield, " Sidney, " Walton, " Hamden, " Delhi, " Liberty, " .Eockland, " Mamakating, " Fallsburgh, " Wawarsing, " Wallkill, " Plymouth, " Otsehc, " Lincklaen, " DeKuyter, - " ' Minisink, " Cuyler, " Buxton, " Hancock, " Lansing, " Genoa, " Venice, " Scipio, . I Total, 40,000 50,000 165,000 100,000 250,000 108,500 34,200 175,000 99,500 250,000 300,000 100,000 83,700 20,000 102,300 75,000 64,000 124,000 100,000 100,000 75,000 75,000 100,000 $5,606,800 Public meetings and discussions were held from one end of the line to the other, and railway information was diffused through every school-district from Oswego to Middletown. Th© powerful influence of the local press, almost without an excep- tion, was enlisted in behalf of the project. The benefits to ac- crue from the building of the road were depicted, and arguments of such force brought to bear on the minds of the tax-payers. 'f-y^.. I NEW YOBK AND OSWEGO MIDLAND RAILROAD. 687 that within a few mcjiyiibts from the passage of the law, every town except Colchester deterrained to avail itself of the provisions of the law. Town-bonds amounting to $5,606,800 were thus placed in i%e haijds of the town-commissioners. During the summer of 1866, preliminary surveys were made along the entire line ; but the final location was not definitely determined. To secure the several towns against a diversion of their con- tributions, a provision had been inserted in the bonding-law, that the proceeds fi-ofii no portion of the bonds of a town should be expended outside of the county in which it was situated, until at least ten thousand dollars had been paid for each mile of Toad within such county. The bonds were still in the hands of the towns, and capital- ists and moneyed men were holding large amounts of Govern- ment-securities upon which no income-tax was assessed. It was foreseen that, without the aid of additional legislation, it would be difficult to convert these town-bonds into cash without loss. The company was not yet ready to commence the work of actual construction, and wisely determined to defer the effort to convert its securities until it should be seen whether further advantages could- not be secured through law. A provision to exempt from taxation the town-bonds, to be issued in aid of the road^ had been prepared by Senator Low in his original bill, and reported favorably from the railroad-com- mittee of the Senate ; but such a storm was raised in committee of the whole, that its friends were forced to allow this provis- ion to be thrown overboard, lest the whole bOl should founder. The effort to secure tlis desired exemption was renewed during the session of 1866-7; and on the 15th of May, 1867, a law was passed exempting the bonds from taxation for county, town or municipal purposes, while in the hands of corporations of, or persons resident in any county along the road, and authorizing the banks of the State to invest in them. The town-commis- sioners were also authorized by this act to- exchange their bonds for the stock of the f ompany at par. The power to negotiate the bonds being thus given to the company, they were mostly placed, during the succeeding year, through the agency of its able and experienced treasurer and financial manager, Walter M- Conkey, of Norwich, in the hands of investors of the Midland counties, so as to net the company their par value. It is be- lieved that a negotiation of equal magnitude and success cannot be instanced in tlie history of any other railway-enterprise. In the beginning of 1868, the Midland company, after more than two years of conipr^ensive and persistent labor ; of "har- monious counsel in tljg|.management, and cordial support and assistance from the commissioners and stockholders," stood 688 HISTORT OF SUMJVAN COUSTT. fairly upon its feet. Besides its resources from town-bonds, a considerable amount of personal Subscriptions had been secured ; and with over six tniltions of dollars at command, the directors looked hopefully forward to the day — not far distant — when they might wisely put the road under contract, and enter upon its actual construction. Final surveys having been made^ and the road located on the Northern Division from Oswego to Sidney Plains, the contracts for that work were accordingly awarded on the 2d day of June, 1868. On the 21st day of June, 1868, at Norwich, in Ohenango county, amid public rejoicings, and the firing of cannon, earth was first broken, and from September following the work went vigorously forward. At a meeting of the Board, held at Oswego, in July, 1868, the location of the line was fixed as far north as Oenterville, and in November following to Liberty. Other portions of the line were placed under contract as fol- lows : New Berlin Branch, September 7th, 1868 ; Middletown to CenterviUe, September 28th, 1868 ; EUenville Branch, September 28th, 1868; Shawangunk Tunnel, October 1st, 1868; Delhi Branch, February 3d, 1869 ; CenterviUe to Westfield Flats, February 3d, 1869 ; Norwich to De Euyter (Auburn Branch),. June 4th, 1869; Sidney to Walton, September 10th, 1869 ; De Euyter to Truxton (Auburn Branch), July 21st, 1870 ; and act- ual construction speedily followed. The contract for the making of tke Shawangunk tunnel was awarded to Stephens, Bennet & Co., of Oneid.a., Work upon the approaches was begun in November of 1868. ' The heading of the tunnel proper was not reached on the east side until the 16th of February following; and at the west end, owing to the unfavorable character of the quicksand encountered, it was the middle of the following summer before the same advance had been attained. "Nothing conected with the enterprise," says President Littlejohn in his report of 1871, to the stock- holders of the company, "has been so persistently used by our opponents to discourage subscriptions and throw discredit on the management as this tunnel." ♦There were many people atlVIonticello who naturally desired that the road should pass through that place ; or, if it failed to do so, that it should follow down the Neversink river by way of Bridgeville to Port Jervis. Considerations of cost, grade, di- rection and subscriptions determined the selection of the line by the way of the bandburgh and the Shawangunk tunnel to Middletown. This led to dissatisfaction, defection and hostility on the part of some of the residents of Thompson, Forestburgh and Deerpark. The inhabitants of Monticello believed that the location of the road would result in disaster to their beautiful NEW yoKK J^D OSWEGO UIDU^}ied duTiog seesion of 1830. 694 mSTOBY OF sulmvan countv. MEMBEE3 OF ASSEMBLY— CONTINUED. Prom '^ 9o 1839 William' F. Brodhearl, of Forestburgh .1840 1840 Daniel B. St. John, of Thompson 1841 1841 William F. Brodhead, of Forestburgh 1842 1842 Matthew Brown, of Bethel ^ 1843 18J;-} Jonathan Stratton, of TkOmpson 1844 1844 Amos Y. Grant, of Neversink. 1845 1845 Harvey K Morris, of Mamakating 1846 1846 Eichard OHver, of Fallsburgh '. 1847 1847 Wilham B. Wright, of Thompson* 1847 1848 James F. Bush, of Liberty : 1851 1851 Jonathan Stratton, of Thompson 1852 ■ 1852 Elisha P. Strong, of Fallsburgh 1853- .1853 James K.. Gardner, of Highland 1854 1854 Amos Y. Sheeley, of Eockland 1855 1855 William H. Bnckley, of Liberty 1857 1857 David B. Luckey, of Mamakating 1858 1858 Asa Hodge, of Neversink 1859 1859 Gideon E. Eushnell, of Neversink 1860 tHGO Abram W. Decker, of Lumberland 1861 1861 S. St. J. Gardner, of Highland 1862 1862 Benjamin L. Ludington, of Thompson 1863 1863 William Gillespie,' jr., of Bethel 1864 1864 James Matthews, of Thompson 1866 1866 Alfred J. Baldwiu, of Thompson 1867 1867 David G. Starr.t of Thompson 1869 1869 J. L. Lamoree, of Neversink 1870 1870 Frank Buckley, of Fremont 1872 1872 George M. Beebe, of Thompson 1873 SHERIFFS • OF SULLIVAN COUNTY. Uriah Lockwood Appointed June 1, 1809 John Boosa " Mar. ' 5, 1810 Uriah Lockwood " Feb. 5 1811 John Eoosa " Mar. 19^ 1813 David Hammond " Mar. 6,1815 Elnathan Sears " Mar. 2 1819 Mahar W. Horton , « Eeb. 14* 1821 do do Elected Nov. ' 1822 David Hammond " Nov. 1826 Richard D. Childs " Nov. 1828 Mahar W. Horton " 'Hov. 1831 * Rasignod in Jul^, 1817. t Elected December 18, ISOC, to fill vacancy of Bivklwin, deceased. AM>BNDIX. 695 SHEKIFES OF SULLIVAN COUNTY — CONTINUED. Joseph Grant Elected Nov. 1834^ John G. Childs « Nov. 1837 J?elxx Kelley \[ « Uov. ig4o William Gumaer " Nov. 1843 Neal Benson « Nov. 1846 James S. Wells « Nov. 1849 John C. HoUey ." . « Nov! 1852 Ares B. Leroy " Nov. 1855 William H. Curtis " Nov. 1858 Benjamin W. Winner « Nov. 1861 Clark Eaton " Nov. 1864 Benjamin W. Winner ' " Nov. 1867' James D. Decker « Kov. 1870 Benjamin AV. Winner " Nov. 1873. COUNTY CLEKKS OF SULLIVAN. John P. Jones Appointed June 1, 1809 David Eeed « Mar. 5,1810 John P. Jones « Feb. 5, 1811 David Reed « Mar. 19, 1813 John P. Jones « Feb. 13, 1815 do do Elected . Nov. 1822 James Lockwood " Nov. 1825 Amos Holmes " Nov. 1828 Jesse M. Foster " Nov. 1631 William E. Cady " Nov. 1834 Darius Martin « Nov. 1837 Hervy W. Howell " Nov. 1840 do do " Nov. 1843 Matthe-w Decker " Nov. 1846 Gad Wales! " Nov. 1849 Philander Waring* " Nov. , 1852 William J. Groo Appointed to fill vacancy James L. Stewart Elected Nov. 1854 William Hill " Nov. 1857 John D. O'Neill " Nov. 1860 Henry E. dsborn « Nov. 1863 Qirarles L. Morris " Nov. 1866 fViend W.Johnston " Nov. 1869 do do " Nov. 1872, * Died In office. 696 HIBTOBY OF SULUVAM CODSTir. EEPRESENTATTVES IN CONSSESS. Until 1812, Ulster, Greene and Sullivan composed the 5th Congressional district; from 1812 to 1842 Snllivan and Ulster were the 7th; from 1842 to 1851, Orange and SulUvan were the 9th; from 1851 to 1861, the 10th; and from 1861 the 11th district The following residents of this county have been members of the lower House of Congiess : Prom To Samuel E. Betts, Bloomingburgh •. . 1815 1817 LemuelJenkins, do 1823 .... 1825- George O. Belden, Monticello 1827 .... 1829 Charles Bodle, Bloomingbxii^h. 1833 1835 Kufus Palen, Fallsburgh 1839. . . .1841 Archibald C. Niven, Monticello 1845 .... 1847 Daniel B. St. John, do 1847.... 1849 Charles H. Van Wyck, Bloomingburgh 1859 .... 1863 do do do 1867.... 1871 CHAIRMEN or THE BOABD OF SUPEEYISORS. From To 1809 David Milliken, Mamakating 1810 1810 John Conklia, Bethel 1817 1817 Darius Martin, Liberty 1819 1819 JohnLindslOT, Bethel 1829 1829 Herman M. Hardenbergh, Fallsburgh 1830 1830 Josiah C. Hook, Bethel 1835 1835 James 0. Crjrtis, Cochecton 1843 1843 Joseph Young, Liberty 1844 1844 Matthew Brown, Bethel 1845 1845 Charles S. Woodward, Lumberland 1846 1846 James F. Bush, Liberty 1847 1847 Charles S. Woodward, Lumberland 1850 1850 George G. DeWitt, OaUicoon. 1851 1851-Eeuben Fraser, Bethel 1853 1853 Charles S. Woodward, Lumberland and Tusten 1855 1855 Aaron Fraser, CaUicoon 1856 1856 Osmer B. Wheeler, Forestburgh 1857 1857 John B. Kilbourne, Liberty 1858 1858 Daniel M. Brodhead, Bethel 1859 1859 Eobert Y, Grant, Liberty 1860 18Q0 Nathan C. Clark, Neversink 1861 1861 James D. Decker, Lumberland 1862 1862 John C. Holley, Thompson 1864 1864 Billings Grant, Liberty 1865 CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARD OP SUtERVISORS — CONTINUED Trom rpg^ 1865 James D. Decker, Lumberland 1871 1871 H. M. Edsall, -Mamakating 1872 1872 George E. Knapp, Gooheoton .1873 CLERKS OF THE BOARD OF SOTERVISOES. Frfcatt ipQ 1809 Livin^ton BiUiogs, Thompson 1824 1824 Peter F. Hunn, do 1828 1828 Darius Martin, Liberty 1832 18S2 Peter P. Hunn, Thompson 1835 1835 Seth W. Brownson, Thompson 1837 1837 John F. Avery, Co.ohecton : 1839 1839 Billings Grant, Liberty .1841 1841 Henry Martin, do '.'. 1843 1843 Billings Grant, do 1844 1844 Hh'am Dales, Thompson 1845 1845 William B. Wright, Thompson ; 1846 1846 Jonathan O. Dunning, Mamakating 1847 1847 Eeuben Fraser, Bethel 1848 1848 James T. Martin, Liberty. . ; 1849 1849 James E. Quinlan, Thompson 1852 1852 Heroy W. HoweU, do 1853 1853 Billings Grant, Liberty 1855 1855 A. Grant Childs, Neversink 1856 1856 Melvin S. Wells, Thompson 1857 1857 WilHam M. Eatcliff, Liberty 1858 1858 Benjamin L. Ludington, Thompson 1859 1859 Stephen 0. Agnew, do 1862 1862 David G. Starr, do 1867 1867 William B. Niven, do 1871 1871 J. M. Maybee, do 1872 1872 Charles Ennis, Mamakating ,. . 1873 MISCELLANEOUS. 1820, David Hammond, of MonticeUo, was a Presidential Elector ; 1824, Samuel Smith, of Bloomingburgh, do 182i, John E. Eussell, of Monticello, do, 1856, John P. Jones, do do 1820, Daniel. Clark, of Thompson, was a member of the Oostitu- tional Convention ; 1846, William B. Wright, of Thompson,- do do do 1867 1 ^' ^' ^' Ijii'iington, do do do do ) Gideon Wales, of Coehe'cton, do do do 1844, Archibald C. Niven, of Monticello, Adjutant-general. mSTOBY OF BUIiUVAN OOUHTT. JUSCELIANEOUS — CONTINUED. 1843, Thornton M. Niven, of Bloomingburgh, was State FrisoQ Inspector^ 184S, Alfred B. Street, of Monticello, State Librarian. 1851, Daniel B. St. John, do Superintendent of the Banking Department. 1847, William B. Wright, of Monticello, Justice of the Supreme Court. CouNTy SuPEEESTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS. — John W. Myers, of Monticello ; John D. Watkins, of Liberty ; Chauncey M. Law- rence, of Grahamsville. School Commissioners. — A. Grant Childs, Eichard L, Divine, Hiram B. Eller, Edwin Darbee, Benjamin Eeynolls, Albert Stage, Beuben K. Scudder, Charles Barnum, Isaac Jelli£ TANNEIta AND TjS^TNING. Pounds of sole-leather manufactured the year ending June 30, 1865 ; its United States tax paid on it. Names. Pounds. Wales, Gad, & Co., 225,815 Wheeler, O. B., 121,711 Gilman, W., 246,252 Wales, Gideon, 303,938 Hammond, S., & Son 826,280 Morss, Medad, 324,866 341,239 206,849 Miles & Miles, 88,527 Clark, E. A., nnect -nritlx all l^rains^ Special attention ])aid to Commercial Trarelers. Also, a neat aampto room has been fitted up for Agents. W. T. MORGANS & CO., STEAM PO^^^: BOOK, NEWSPAPER AND 108 PRINTERSp Stereot3rpers &, StationeFS^ UBKEIT7, ST7Z.Z., CQ., 1T.-Sr. Ig published every Friday morning, is an eight-column paper, contains all the home and local items of interest and the gen- eral news of the day up to Thursday afternoon. Is within the reach of every family in the county, the subscription price being only $l.r>0 per year in advance. Although independent and un- biased by any political organization our columns are open to political discussion, pro and con. As a local sheet, we intend to make the Eegister par excellence the paper of the county, and no pains will be sparnd to further this end. In the matter of General JNew^ ,we(inj;end the columns of the paper shaU be fresh and contain a complete compendium up to the latest moment of going to press. In fact in all matters interesting to our patrosB, ihe %TS(imTEa will be the Progressive Paper of the counl^y^ and one m which the welfare of our people will be its first aimi and object. Have been greatly increaged, and without boastiiiK, we may now claim one el ths flneBtandbfest equipped offieeB on theUiieof the Midland. Steam Power, fait and first class Presses, and improved Labor-Saving Machinery of various kinds, enable ns io compete .jwpoessfuUy W(th the best appointed ofBces in the country. Being fully prepareCto dfo Book Work, we make this one of our speoialtieg, and furnish estimatog and do the work at tigures, thajt defy competition. Halving added in connection with onr other improvements^ a Stereotype Foundry, we halve all the advantages on large Jobs and can make pvir, fignjss accordingly, while through om- trade as stationers we secure the very Lowest Prigeg for onr customers on all atppk used, and are at all times prepared to furnish work at the very shortest notice. As heretofbre the interests of onr customers are ^always considered,, and orders, by mail irill receive as strict attenr a^ ami will in ^li cas^slie done in a ftrst-clasij manner, and at as close figures as if ordererl in person.' Testers and Letter-Press Pi-inting of 'fevery description ui GerinSn or English, attended to as usual, and the reputation the office has already attained for good work, guarantees to oui; patrons that, with our increased facilities, we will not be outdone. TharkkM'fcJr past patronage we hope by strict bfisiuegs integrity to- qwrit,»i:on^il^^a;acf of .the con^d^ne? of the public, AVILLIAM T. AXOROAX^ «c CO 'liM Milling u MANITFACtUREN Sasli, iliais, loors aiH IIoiliii|;s. * Having fitted np the shop with the necegsary lathes, planes, and machihery of every description, I am prepared to fill all orders in this branch of the businem. Scroll and Straight Sawing. Turning, &c. DONE AT THE SHORTEST NOTICE. Flooring and ceiling planed and matched at reasonable rates, and material ftimished when desired. I shall as heretofore continue CARPENTERING AND BUILDING, and will give my especial attention to those requiring ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNS, PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS. Contracts taken, and bnil4ing3 finished complete from cellar to garret. In fact, work in I am prepared to execute at the most reasonable rates, and in the very best manner. J. J. CLASIER, Liberty, N. it. C. EMM:ET CRAWFORD, (Successor to HIRAM BRINK,) * " DEALER IN ALL KINdI OF FABZiOB, <& BBDHOOM SETS .OP THE LATEST STYLE. ALL STYLES. BED LOUNGES A SPECIALTY. ^®, All Goods Delivered at the Old Stand of H. Brink, - ,, No. 46 NORTH ST, , Opposite Empire Block. MIDDLETOWN, N. Y» Dealers in Every Description of FOREIGN & DOMESTIC HARDWARE, CUTLERY, BUILDERS' & HUUSEKEEPERS' GOODS, COOS AlTD FAliliOH STOVES U2 ^ ^ Q M O !2| i .0/ the Latest and Most Approved Patterns In the Market always on hand, and at low prices. Call and See us. SIGN "OLD FOUNDRY BUILDING," MIDDLETOWN, ORANGE CO., N. Y. GILDERSLEEVE & BEIDGES, DRY GOODS & GROCERIES, BOOTS & SHOES, HATS & CAPS, CEOOKERT, GLASSWARE, PROVISIONS, to. Wllh "One Price" as onr Motto, and a strict attontlon to bnalness, *re are resolved to meHt the confidence of our patrons. Ai OILPBJtSIiEEyii ) Liberty, N. T. j. BfilDMS. ) PRACTICAL •* Carpenter dfc Builder^ LIBERTY, N. T. Plans and Specifications furnished and Contracts taten for.buildinga of ■every description. All materials fumisjied when desired. J. 0. DE &ROFF; ;- CONTEACTOB . - CARPENTER AID BUILDER, ALSO MANUFACTUKEE AND t)EALER IN HARDWOOD, HEMLOCK, FINE AND BASSWOOD LUMBER •of every description. Carpenter work done in the very best manner, and at reasonable rates. Special attention given to j OOINTTR^CT ^WOTtJ^ of every descriptioa. All Materials furnished and buildings' finished complete when deeiredj LiBEBTY, Sum Co., N. Y. J. 0. DE GEOFF. JOHN CASKBY, 67 Pike Street, Port Jervis, N. Y. AI^O DEALER IN CLOTHS, CASSIMERES AND VE8TINQ8. GENTS' FURNISHINQ GOODS, &c. CUTTING DONE AT SHORT NOTICE. LiBERTY/N. Y., AND tS" ^"rerj description of common and costly fumitare, bed-room and parlor lets, etc., constantly kept in stock or furnished at the shortest notice. aer Special attention given to undertaking. Caskets, cases, and burial robes pro- Tided of every description and in the best taste. An honest and fair compensation ii all that is demanded. Sullivan County Hardware Store. A generd stock of Americui and Imparted Hardware, Xgricultursl Implements, Builders' Hardware, Meetumics' Tools, House Furnishing Ooods, Iron, Stee), Nails, HorBeshoea, Horse Nails, BUCKEYE MOWING MACHINE, Taylor's Steel-tooth Rske, Wheeler's Threshing Machine, Wheeler k Wilson Bewine Uaehins. , A full line of Base Heating and Hot Draft Parlor and Cook Stoves, indnding the MODERN VULCAN, ARCAND BASE BURNER, NOVELTY PARLOR OVEN, kU of whid. ^™ **;« C»Jnfcfrt«" Orate. Thankful for large and icreasing patronage, tb« saderslghed will stiU keep prices ten to twenty per cent, lower ttum any house in the county, AU goods as represented. JOHIV F. XYMKSON. REPUBLIGAI WATCHMAI. ESTABLISHED 1821. The Oldest, largest and most wiciely circulated Journal in Sullivan Cpunty. Published at Monticello, Sullivan County, N.Y. TERMS: $2.00 a Year iu AdTance. ADVERTISING BATES :-One inch space 1 week, tl.OO; 2 weeks, $1.60; 1 month, $2.60 ; 3 months, $1.00 ; 6 mouths, $5.00 ; 1 year, $8.00. Two inches 1 week, $1.60; 2 weeks, $2.25; 1 month, $3.50; 3 months, $5.60; 6 months, $8.00; 1 year, $12.00. Quarter colimin 1 week, $6.00 ; 1 month, $8.00 ; 3 months, $12.00 ; 6 months, $16.00 : 1 ytiar, $25.00. Half column 1 week, $7.00 ; 1 month, $12.00 ; 3 months, $16.00 ; 6 months, $25.00; 1 year, $15.00. One column 1 week, $12.00'; 1 month, $18.00; 8 months, $27.00 ; 6 months, $50.00 ; 1 year, $90.00. Legal notices at the rates estab- lished by law. Pablication Day, Friday of each Week. GEORGE M. BEEBE,' Proprietor. GENERAIi iiFE iNSURANCE S6EIIT. Z.IBSB.T7, Sullivan County, New York. J. D. GZiSMSlTTS, bealer in STOVES, HEATERS, RANGES, ETC. MAirUFAOTUBEE OF Tin, Sheet Iron AND COPPERWARE. mm and mmi Asent for AVERILL'S CHEiUCAlFAIHT. SOLD By the Gallon Only, Special attention paid ->= — T* fel 1 to 45 Gallons. REPAIRING PROMPTLY ATTENDED TO. Liberty Street, LIBERTY, N. Y. UinSLG illll BEiNITl mill, ALEX. WALLING, Proprietor. DEPOSIT. BROOME CO., N. Y. p 9 •9 1 s s Monuments, Headstones, and. Tablets, OF EVEBY YAEIETT OF Foreign and Domestic_Marl)le and Granite. Ometery Fences either in Granite, Mirble or Iron furnislied when deBired. The reput»tlo« thiBUrm Has earned, and the large trade already secured in SuUivan and the adjoining wuntdoa enables them to compete Bucceesfully with all oppoaition, ' W. M. KILBOUENE, G eneral N 'seiiT Does general insuring in all its branches; Good, sound Companies and the lowest possible Rates. I , ■"%....,' 'Special attention given , to. farm property and detached residences. Post-office address, LIBERTY, N. Y. ATTORNEY & COUNSELOR ARTHUR a BUTTS Special County Judge and Surrogate. IT. S. MESSITER, liiberty, SuU., Co." IT. "T. DEALEE IN Qlf eeOiS £IB §16611118, Glass, Putty, Paints, Oils, Varnishes, Dye Stuffs, CROCKERY, BOOTS AND SHOES, HATS AND CAPS, And all other Goods usually kept in a Country Store. Country Produce taken in exchange for Goods. Prices close to the market. We aim to study the Interests of our patrons. J. Im. EVANS, DEALER IN S T O "V' E S, Sullivaxx County, ITer^ 7or]s. >-~J