^'K F 129 .L4 G2 Copy 1 IB /- Glass. Book F,^ I Lll^ ■■*■-*■ -W ^ V^W W ^'^r^A^-^^i *■»'»«'■»*'*' VTF VWWWVW, SKETCH OF cliauon ^jjriug« -*o>»;c Its Attractions as a Summer Resort— A Visit to the Shakers— History of the Town — Columbia Hall — Railroad Guide, Etc., Etc. L ■'-4' V"K- ^BANON SPR,;Vgs o N.Y. y BEG to announce that the Columbia Hall property will be put in complete order in all its appointments, many of the rooms refurnished, and the house furnished with all the requisites to make it a FIRST-OLASS HOTEL in every respect. The grounds, Avhich now compose about THIRTY-EIGHT ACRES, with the proverbially healthy locality, natural ad- vantages and improvements, make Lebanon Springs one of the Host Popular Watering Places in the Country. THIS HOTEL HAS AMPLE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR THREE HUNDRED GUESTS. OPEN FROM JUNE lOth TO OCTOBER 1st. COLUMBIA HALL. AMUSEMENTS. Drives, walks, bowling, hunting, fishing, croquet, billiards, etc. LIVERY. , In connection with the Hotel is a good livery, where horses and carriages can be found ; also ample accommodations for jorivate carriages and horses. The roads and drives are unsurpassed. MUSIC will be in attendance throughout the season. TELEGRAPH. The Western Union Telegraph Company have an office in the building. READING. A stand is kept in the Hotel, where books, periodi- cals and daily 23apers may be found. Lebanon Springs, Columbia County, N. Y. Qi|f^OLUMBIA HALL is a large Hotel, situated ^^)) on the slope of the hill, about three hundred f^M feet above the valley, and one thousand feet Wim above tide-water. Larsre plav-2rrounds for 4> children are near the Hotel, fronting east, south and west, surrounded with beautiful shade- trees ; three stores, Baptist, Episcoj^al, Catholic and Presbyterian Churches, are but a short distance from the Springs. The Scenery, which characterizes this spot, is of almost indescribable beauty, being so diversified by Mountain and Valley Landscape, as to elicit the most unbounded admiration of the beholder. The general remark of travelers has been, that no prospect they had ever seen could bear a comparison with it. Its healthfulness, also, is proverbial, conducive of which is the pure Mountain air, the Mineral Spring, beautiful drives. Hunting and Fishing, and the usual variety of local amusements. Before the Revolution, the efficacy of the water began to excite great interest, and many families from COLUMBIA HALL. different cities have become so much attached to the place that they have made it their summer home for more thau twenty consecutive years. The hill-slopes which guard the valley present eligible sites for cot- tages. Not more than six hours at the most, and the New York passenger will find himself at the depot, a short distance from the " Hall." The completion of the Harlem Extension Railroad renders it easy of access. Standing on the piazza, we look over the Lebanon Valley, bounded on the east by the Berk- shire Hills, on the south and west by the West Range. To the north-west the valley reaches away in fertile beauty to the pleasant village of Nassau, on the road to Albany. Maple Hill, to the south-east, rises with an easy slope from the clustering hamlet at our feet, and a mile distant lies the village of New Lebanon. The Wyomanock Creek (its naaie of Indian origin) flows through the valley, blending its waters with the Kinderhook on its Avay to the Hudson. It seems to be "shut in by hills from the rude world" — and a poetic quiet rests over this picture in repose like that which (in our imagination) rested upon the halls of Merrie England. It seems to carry one back to the days of Spenser, when nature found true worshipers in verse ; or still further back to the Augustan age, when the Campagna was a garden instead of a desert, and pastoral poetry was quoted in the palaces of the Caesars. From the days of " Queechy " to the visit COLUMBIA HALL. of Sir Henry Vincent, a little more than a year ago, every writer has been enthusiastic in speaking of this lovely section. Vincent, in his letter, says : " Hills, mountains, valleys, trees, gardens, farm-houses and farms spread around and above you in ever-varying beauty, reminding one of the hills and valleys of Langollen in Wales." And you remember in Miss Warner's " Queechy " a fine description of the view from one of the neighboring hills : " They (Fleda and Carleton) had reached a height of the mountain that cleared them a view, and over the tops of the trees they looked abroad to a very wide extent of country undulating with hill and vale— hill and valley alike far below at their feet. Fair and rich the gently-swelling hills, one beyond another in the patchwork dress of their many-colored fields — the gay hues of the woodland, softened and melted into a rich autumn glow — and far away beyond even where this glow was softened and lost in the distance, the faint blue line of the Catskills. faint, but clear and distinct through the transparent air. And such a sky ! Of such etherealized purity as if made for spirits to travel in, and tempting them to rise and free themselves from the soil ; and stillness — like nature's hand laid upon the soul, biddiug it think." Little Fleda at Montepoole takes one far back into the history of Lebanon when the old sycamore cast a smaller shadow ; when stages and coaches connected with tide-water at Albany ; when Irving was the wander- 1* COLUMBIA HALL. ing Knickerbocker of the Hudson, writing at old Kin- derhook, at the house of his old friend, Mr. Van Ness, the history of New York. It hardly seems possible that in the year 1770 a town pauper declared that he would not put a brush fence about the valley to have been its owner. The whole valley was an immense pine forest, some of the trees being two hundred feet in height. It is said that a man by the name of Hitchcock, from New Haven, stuck a riding-stick into the spring. It has now grown into one of the finest sycamores in the world. Montepoole, or " Columbia Hall," has progressed with a steady growth, and now it has almost a half mile of verandas. The Mountain Bower, on Prospect Hill, is completed. It is located to the west of the Hall, and oue hundred feet above it. * It is about half way to the Pinnacle, which, at the height of three hundred feet,- overlooks the valley. If the beauty of the landscape, which from every point meets and focalizes itself in the soul as we stand at this eminence, could be written in words or impressed on electrotype plates, it might be worth w^hile, but not understanding the art of spiritual photography, we can only say, in the words of Goldsmith, " Every breath breathes health, and every sound is but the echo of tran- quility ;" or, in older English, we would lead you " To painted flowers, to trees upshooting hye, To dales for shade, to hills for breathing space, To trembling groves, and chrystall runniiig by." COLUMBIA HALL. Special arrangements can be made for permanent board for the season, or by the week, from $10.00 a week upwards. The Hotel is supplied with fresh vegetables daily from the garden connected with it, and also with an abundance of fresh butter, eggs, berries, milk, poultry and mountain lamb, from the surrounding country, while from the Shakers we get elegant fruit and cottage cheese. S^" Persons desiring to apply for rooms by letter or telegraph, will please address the Proprietor, Jjfbanon Springs, Colmnhia Co., N, Y.; or DANIEL GALE, Hotel Jjafayette^ Jt^hiladelpliia, I*a.; ' or GEO. H. GALE, JVo. 6 Warren Street, N. T. ^n>^HE Thermal, or Warm Medicinal Spring, ^1^ is inclosed iu the court-yard of the Hotel. It l|^f discharges constantly nearly five hundred gal- I Ions of water per minute, of the temperature of 73° F., and supplies a bathing-house within the inclosure. These baths are a luxury to all who par- take of them, and are especially recommended by physicians as a specific in many diseases, and have been found as efficacious as the warm Medicinal Springs of Germany and Virginia, for the complaints for which they are visited. Analysis of Lebanon Springs Water, by Prof, H. Dussauce. FOUND IN ONE GALLON OF WATER. GASES. Oxygen 2.00 cubic inches. Carbonic Acid. ..0.50 cubic inches. Nitrogen 3.50 " Sulphuric Acid..traces. FIXED MATTERS. Sulphuret of Sodium 0.02 grains— 1.298 per ct. Carbonate of Soda 2.41 " 15.649 " Sulphate of Potash 1.04 " C.753 " Chloride of Sodium 0.96 " 6.233 " Carbonate of Lime 4,05 " 26.292 " Sulphate of Magnesia 1.06 " 6.883 " Alumina 0.45 " 2.629 " Oxide of Iron 0.94 " 6.103 " Silicia Acid 3.25 " 21.100 " Ore- CoTn i Glarine 0.75 " 4.870 urg.com. ^Baregine, 9.47 " 2.190 ' 15.40 100.000 COLUMBIA HALL. Many eminent physicians, acquainted with its prop- erties, have recommended its use for the following, viz. : Eczema, Flesh Poisoning, Impetigo, many va- rieties of Erysipelas, Scald Head, Cutaneous Diseases generally, Arthritis, Morbid Conditions of the Liver, Constipation, Dyspepsia, Chronic and Inflammatory Rheumatism, Bronchia and ISTervous Diseases gener- ally. A resident Physician of high standing in the pro- fession will render his services when desired. BATH HOUSE TJnT'HE Bath House is a new brick building, ^^ located in the court-yard of the Hotel, eighty- ^"f seven feet long by thirty-two feet wide, with French roof. The ladies' part of the house con- tains a reception-room, nine apartments with both hot and natural spring-water baths, swimming bath, and swimming bath for children. The gen- tlemen's building contains ten apartments, with both hot and natural spring-water baths, and a swimming bath thirty feet long. All the inside arrangements are modern and of the most improved kind. With the well-known invigorating qualities of the Avater for bathing, toojether with having so great a luxury con- venient to the Hotel, and the benefit visitors receive by bathing in the water, it will amply repay them for taking a trip to Lebanon Springs. COLUMBIA HALL. H -n -n "Ti T\ :o 133 :c :p w w 5 •JO JJ -U ^ L_| L-J -^ o . o . . o . o . S^ ^ ^ . . Q 2. H ^I^BlKc^p^ 1^ gg ^ 1j ^ § ^<^^ ^ — M t3 O ^ • td p p ^^ o n ?d Q p h-3 I § 1 1 ? ^ w i ^ I ^ ^ C £^^Wi> °g-H- 5 Sty p pr^g^o- ^p5 t^ te=H P « Po ®0^ C ^ O ^^^S^ P pCF5 O^" ^P P g-^ ^ s ^ s :. ^^ w o I i^ gj P g P fD <^ &P P DRIVEsTfer^ iy^ ^ni^HE Drives in the neighborhood of the Springs ^j^ are unsurpassed by any watering-place in the ^'f country, whether it be along the beautiful val- m) ley roads leading to Nassau, to Queechy Lake, and to WilliamstowD, Mass., or surmounting the hills and mountains which encompass the place in almost every direction, where new beauties open to the view with every mile. The ride from Lebanon to Pittsfield, over the Taghkanick Mountain, is unsur- passed for beauty and magnificence, whether by the old post-road from Boston to Albany, or by way of the Lebanon and Hancock Shaker villages. At every turn in the ascent new beauties burst upon the enrap- tured traveler's view ; and on the summit the country, sixty miles in extent, presents itself like a map at the feet of the beholder. Here, in a clear day, the distant Catskills may be seen from the Hildeberghs west of Albany, to the Sugar Loaf far below Catskill village. From many points the Catskill Mountain House can be plainly seen by the naked eye, and stretches of the Hudson River traced, with steamers and sail-vessels passing upon its waters. From a point a little distance from the highway, a good view of the upper part of COLUMBIA HALL. 13 the City of Albany can be seen, and with a good glass the buildings can be easily recognized. Perry's Peak, a station of the U. S. Coast. Survey, lies within two hours' drive from the Hotel, and is frequently visited in the summer. Here an uninterrupted view can be made across the State of Connecticut to Long Island Sound. Douglass and Churchill knobs are also lofty elevations, sometimes visited, yet not so easily sur- mounted, but a view from their summits ampl}^ pays for the labor of their ascent. But the splendid drives in every direction, over good roads with more gentle grades, will satisfy most of those who love diversified and beautiful scenery, and Avho have sufficient poetic ardor to climb the rugged mountain in order to see more. DISTANCES. Queechv Lake 6 mi Pittsfield 7 Lenox 12 Stockbridge 12 Canaan 7 New Lebanon 2 Hancock 5 es. Shaker Village 2 miles. B. Y. Shakers 2 " Summit Berkshire Moun- tains 3 " Williamstown 20 " Mt. Washington 18 " Gt. Barrington 21 " rcl •HE largest Society in America of that religious I^JLl^ sect known as the Shakers, is located within two miles of the Springs. They are visited annu- ally by thousands of strangers, who take great interest in their peculiar manner of living and worship. Visitors are received into their various workshops and gardens, throughout the week, and are admitted to their church-meetings on the Sabbath. This Society is the largest in the United States. They number some six hundred persons, and have possessions of some six thousand acres of land, devoted to farming purposes, gardens for seeds and fruits, etc., which are everywhere famed for their quality. A visit to this Society alone to attend their worship on the Sabbath, and to possess articles of their work- manship, which are unique and useful, amply repays the visitor. Sir Henry Vincent, the English Orator, writes : " Let me urge upon divines and scholars, in their rambles through America, to visit the Shaker Com- munity at Mount Lebanon, and if they are disposed to inquire, ' How can these things be?' my answer is, ' Come and see.' " COLUMBIA HALL. 15 Prof. SiLLiMAN says : " The utmost neatness is conspicuous in their fields, gardens, court-yards, out- houses, and in the very road ; not a weed, not a spot of filth, or any nuisance, is suffered to exist. Their wood is cut and piled in the most exact order ; their fences are perfect ; even their stone walls are con- structed with great regularity, and of materials so very massive, and so well arranged, that unless over- thrown by force, they may stand for centuries. In- stead of wooden posts for their gates, they have pil- lars of stone of one solid piece, and everything bears the impress of labor, vigilance and skill, with such a share of taste as is consistent with the austerities of their sect. Their orchards are beautiful, and probably no part of our country presents finer examples of agricultural excellence. Such neatness and order is not seen anywhere on so large a scale, except in Holland, where the very necessities of existence im- pose order and neatness upon the whole population ; but here it is voluntary. " Besides agriculture, it is well known that the Shakers occupy themselves much with mechanical employments. The productions of their industry and skill — sieves, brushes, boxes, pails and other domestic utensils — are everywhere exposed for sale, and are distinguished by excellence of Avorkmanship. Their garden seeds are celebrated for goodness, and find a ready market. They have many gardens, but there 16 COLUMBIA HALL. is a principal one of several acres, which exhibits superior cultivation. " Their females are employed in domestic manufac- tures and housework, and the community is fed and clothed by its own productions. The property is all in common. The avails of the general industry are poured into the treasury of the whole: individual wants are supplied from a common magazine or store- house, which is kept for each family, and ultimately, the elders invest the gains in lands and buildings, or sometimes in money, or other personal property, which is held for the good of the Society. It seems some- what paradoxical to speak of a family, Avhere the relation upon which it is founded is unknown. But still, the Shakers are assembled in what they call families, which consist of little collections (more or less numerous according to the size of the house) of males and females, who occupy separate apartments, under the same roof, eat at separate tables, but mix occasionally for society, labor or worship. There is a male and a female head to the family, who superin- tend all their concerns — give out their provisions — allot their employments, and enforce industry and fidelity. They profess, it is said, to believe that Christ has already appeared the second time on the earth, in the person of their great leader, Mother Ann Lee, and that the saints are now judging the world. " This singular people took their rise in England nearly a century ago, and the settlement at New COLUMBIA HALL. 17 Lebanon is of more than sixty years' standing. They first emigrated to America in the year 1774, under their spiritual mother, Ann Lee, a niece of the cele- brated Gen. Charles Lee, who made a distinguished figure during the American Revolutionary War. The order, neatness, comfort and thrift, Avhich are conspic- uous among them, are readily accounted for by their industry, economy, self-denial and devotion to their leaders, and to the common interest, all of which are religious duties among them, and, the very fact that they are, for the most part, not burdened with the care of children, leaves them greatly at liberty to fol- low their occupations without interruption. They walk to the meeting-house, in order, two in two, and leave it in the same order. Men enter the left-hand door of the meeting-house, and women the right-hand. In each dwelling-house is a room called the meeting- room, in which they assemble for worship every even- ing. The young believers assemble morning and evening, atid in the afternoon of the Sabbath they all assemble in one of these rooms, in their dwelling- house, to which meeting, spectators, or those wdio do not belong to the Society, are not admitted, except friendly visitors. Their houses are well calculated and convenient. In the great house at Lebanon there are over a hundred ; the men live in their sev- eral apartments on the right, and the women on the left, commonly four in a room. They kneel in the morning by the side of the bed as soon as they arise, 2* 18 COLUMBIA HALL. and the same before they lie down ; also before and after every meal. The brethren and sisters generally eat at the same time at two long tables placed in the kitchen, men at one and women at the other ; during which time they sit on benches and all are silent. They go to their meals walking in order, one directly after the other ; the head of the family, or elder, takes the lead of the men, and one called elder sister takes the lead of the women. Several women are employed in cooking and waiting on the table ; they are commonly relieved weekly by others. " It is according to the gift or order for all to en- deavor to keep all things in order ; indolence and carlessness, they say, is directly opposite to the Gos- pel and order of God ; cleanliness in every respect is strongly enforced — it is contrary to order even to spit on the floor. A dirty, careless, slovenly or indolent person, they say, cannot travel in the way of God, or be religious. It is contrary to order to talk loud, to shut doors hard, to rap at a door for admittance, or to make a noise in any respect ; even when walking the floor, they must be careful not to make a noise with their feet. They go to bed at nine or ten o'clock and rise at four or five ; all that are in health go to work about sun-rise ; in-door mechanics, in winter, work by candle-light ; each one follows such an employment as the deacon appoints for him. Every man and woman must be employed and work steadily and moderately. When any are sick they have the utmost care and COLUMBIA HALL. 19 attention paid to them. When a man is sick, if there is a Avoman among the sisters who was his wife before he believed, she, if in health, nurses and waits upon him. If any of them transgress the rules and orders of the Church, they are not held in union un- til they confess their transgression, and that often on their knees before the brethren and sisters. " Each Church in the different settlements has a house called the office, where all business is transacted either among themselves or with other people. Each family deposits in the office all that is to be sjoared for charitable purposes, which is distributed by the dea- con to those whom he judges to be proper objects of charity. He never sends the poor and needy empty away." ^'cr- ^mS LEBINOM A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH. fS there anything in a name ? New Lebanon can boast of having an ancient Hebrew name, which fhas been always celebrated in the annals of sacred * history. Among the States having townships called Lebanon, are Alabama, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, New Hampshire and Virginia ; while New York has two such townships. Of the names of early settlers of the Lebanon to which this notice refers, are those of Abbot, Adgate, Bailey, Bradley, Cole, Corn- well, Dean, Doubleday, Everest, Gay, Gilbert, Gillet, Grant, Hatch, Hitchcock, Horton, Jones, King, Hurdock, Owen, Patterson — the not unromantic Peter Plum — Spencer, Tilden, Van Deusen, Wadhams, Warner and Younglove. To this alphabetical list may be added — though out of its place — that of Douglass, borne here by a family of Scotch descent, and boasting a long line of noble ancestors. The name of Warner will always be honorably associated with the fame of the accomj^lished author of " Queechy." With the name of Gillet is happily associated one who, at " Wyomanock" and "Sunny- side," is known by a pet household name, which he has nobly gained by being the "good friend" to all COLUMBIA HALL. 21 with whom he has there met, and by kindly assisting those little favored by fortune, to gain a knowledge of books which otherwise they Avould have been unable to procure. Abner Doubleday was the grandfather of Gen. Abner Doubleday, of Fort Sumter fame. He and Jonathan Murdock were of those who constituted the "forlorn hope" at the storming of Stony Point. Moses Younglove was a member of the convention to form a constitution of the State of New York. Many of the descendants of the afore-named persons still live among us as respected citizens. The first white man permanently settled in the old town of Canaan, was doubtless named Warner. He came from New England through the gap in the moun- tains at West Stockbridge. Probably the first white man who ever visited Ne^v Lebanon, was Capt. Hitch- cock of the British army, which was stationed at Hartford, Conn., about the time of the close of the French war. Capt. H. being afflicted with some severe and dangerous malady, was recommended to visit the valley and use the waters of the thermal spring in this town. He came with one servant and a company of Indian guides, and was carried from Stockbridge to the springs en a litter by an Indian trail, there being no roads in the locality at that time. He found a large basin filled with water, and from appearances around it judged it to be a place of resort for the Indians for bathing purposes. This was, perhaps, the first watering-place in the 22 COLUMBIA HALL. United States visited by the "pale faces" over a hundred years ago. It is often called " Monte Poole." The mercury in the thermometer always standing at 72°, a temperature suitable for bathing at all times. It is said that one of the early settlers once riding by a spring stopped to water his horse, and sticking his rude whip into the soft earth, rode off forgetting it, from which impromptu planting, sprang the gigantic button-wood tree Avhich stands near the spring. Cap- tain Hitchcock camped several days at the spring, and received great relief from the use of its waters. A few years after, he sold his commission and returned as a resident to New^ Lebanon, where he died, leaving a daughter from whom descended one of our old and highly esteemed citizens, Nathaniel Nichols. Among later settlers was a Rev. Mr. Kendall, who first came here from Canada on the trail of the Indians, to whom he had gone as missionary. He afterwards dwelt in the valley, where his descendants still abide, and carry on extensive business in the manufiicture of barometers and thermometers. In this beautiful valley is the great medicine manu- factory of Messrs. Tilden, unsurpassed by any in the country. Further information may be obtained by visiting the establishment, where the kindest attention is bestowed upon the visitor. About 1760 a house was erected near the Springs, and was doubtless the first one built in what is now called New Lebanon. This part of the town up to COLUMBIA HALL. 23 1780 was considered a part of Massachusetts. Much difficulty existed at an early day between New York and the New England States in regard to their com- mon boundary line. New York, indeed, originally claimed the Connecticut Kiver as its eastern boundary. The General. Court of Massachusetts made grants of land after the settlement of Pittsfield, exttnding nearly to the road which passes the dwelling of Dr. Bates ; and still farther northw^ard, an old road formerly existed and can still be traced through an orchard now owned by the heirs of Naomi Clark, which was once considered to be on the line between the two States. The line was established in 1786, though not without a great deal of trouble and a disagreeable law suit. An anecdote was current in early times that a man named Wadbams (one of the early settlers), after the Commissioners had fixed the State line, found his dwelling to be about four rods within the State of Massachusetts. Accordingly a day or two after, he called his neighbors together with their teams and hitching the latter to the building, he moved it over the line into the State of New York. This building stood on the ground now occupied by the house of Elijah Bagg. The first frame house in the town of Canaan (of which Lebanon was formerly a part, and was then called King's district,) was erected by William Gay on the hill near the Shaker grist mill. The second was built by Selah Abbot, near the Presbyterian Church. 24 COLUMBIA HALL. The first church in the town of New Lebanon was erected nearly opposite Mott Cemetery, on land now owned by the Gillets. It was constructed of logs, and its worshipers were of the Presbyterian order. New Lebanon claims the honor of having been first in instructing its Delegates in Congress to adopt a Declaration of Independence. Mechlenburg, N. C, had previously declared itself absolved from its allegiance to Great Britain. A company was raised in the town of Canaan which was in service duriug the Revolutionary war. The descendants of some who served still reside among us as our best citizens. Chancellor R. Livingston was appointed delegate from this section to the Provin- cial Cougress, and he was one of the committee ap- pointed to prepare the Declaration of Independence. It was he who supplied Robert Fulton with means for developing the steamboat. At the time of the battle of Bennington, Vt., April 10, 1776, two brothers (ancestors of Hon. R. F. Gillett), who hap- pened, at the time, to be working near the top of the " west hill," distinctly heard the booming of the can- non, although they were a hundred miles distant from the scene of action. The valley of New Lebanon is surrounded on all sides by mountains, which seem to shut out all the world beyond. From some of the summits may be obtained enchanting views of the valley and of the re- gion beyond it. From " west hill " Mount Lebanon CX)LUMBIA HALL. 25 is distinctly visible. Its pleasant village, clustered among the hills, forms a sort of city by itself Here are the head-quarters of Shakerism in the United States. " Gilbert Hill " is most frequently visited, where the finest views of the surrounding country are sought. From its summit the whole village is dis- tinctly seen, and seems so diminutive that it has been compared to " fairy-land teeming with life." From one of its southern points, in clear weather, boats have been seen on the Hudson River, and still beyond, the Catskill mountains, lifting their blue crests against the sky, which any but a close observer would mis- take, perhaps, for clouds hovering about the horizon. Of such a scene the beautiful words of William Mor- ris may be quoted as fitly descriptive : "As doAvn into the vale he gazed, And held his breath as if amazed By all its loveliness ; For as the sun its depths did bless, It lighted up from side to side. A close shut valley, nothing wide But ever full of all things fair." The historian Bancroft once said, with more force than elegance, perhaps: " New Lebanon is the most beau- tiful valley on the top of the earth." The state of the country one hundred and fifty years ago was strikingly different from its present aspect. Then it was a vast swamp completely covered with large pine trees, rendering it well nigh impassa- ble. The Indians traveled across the mountain-tops, but seldom venturing far into the wilderness of pines. 26 CXDLUMBIA HALL. The population fifty years ago was estimated to ex- ceed greatly the present number of inhabitants. At that time the people had begun to remove some of the pine trees from the edge of the forests, and to build nearer the foot of the mountains. After a time they left the heights altogether and settled in the valley " Wyomanock Seminary," the individual enterprise of Miss E. C. Hatch, was established about 1858, and incorporated in 1885 by the legislature of New York. The first small building was greatly enlarged in 1867, and the whole destroyed by fire January 6, 1869, since which time the school has found pleasant quar- rers in the new Tilden Academy, near the church. The beneficial eflTect of this Institution is seen far and near upon those preparing for, or entering upon, the busy scenes of life. The influence of Miss Hatch has ex- tended over the whole country, and she is highly es- teemed for the increasing eflTorts which she has put forth to promote the well-being of those placed under her care. Through her kindness and that of our good " Saint Wyomanock," many acknowledge with grate- ful hearts, advantages received from those whose motto is : " Do unto others as you would that others should do unto you." Many also remember the care with which they have been watched over by Miss Hatch when compelled, by sickness, to relinquish school duties for a time. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 109 339 3 t ' *^ --%.]. r^ K LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 109 339 3 ^"^1 ■.^.^i. '^f '■ 'tf ■ i. >. .-^-...^ E; .'^ / ^^ /! 'm ^M. ^■■*%