captain in the service, for colonel of the regiment which it was
proposed to raise in Orange, and to have general charge of the
recruiting. The gloomy conditions at the seat of war made enlistments
slow throughout the State. Colonel Ellis, after his selection by the
committee at its first meeting on June 11th, had gone to work
immediately, and opened recruiting offices in every town, yet only
eight men in all were enlisted in the county during the month. Then,
when it was seen that the national capital was again in danger of
capture, public meetings were held, private bounties were offered,
money for the support of the families of volunteers were raised, and
there was a general revival of patriotic enthusiasm. Although up to
August 8th not more than a score of volunteers had reported at
Colonel Ellis's headquarters, fifteen days later the regiment was
fully organized and ready to march to the front.
The regimental officers then were: A. Van Horne Ellis, colonel; F.
M. Cummins, lieutenant colonel; James Cromwell, major; John H.
Thompson, surgeon; T. Scott Bradner, chaplain; Augustus Denniston,
quartermaster; De Peyster Arden, adjutant; Edward Marshall,
assistant surgeon; R. V. K. Montfort, 2nd assistant surgeon.
These field officers had all served honorably in the Union army, and
Lieutenant-Colonel Cummins had been a commissioned officer in the
Mexican War.
The members of the regiment's band were: Drum Major, ____ Hart;
buglers, Wm. B. Wood, Moses P. Ross; fifes, John G. Buckley, Charles
Whitehead, Arthur Haigh, Geo. W. Dimick, Henry C. Payne; drums,
Robert L. Travis, A. J. Millspaugh, Geo. W. Canfield, John N. Cole,
R. D. Stephens, Charles W. Bodle, Henry U. Cannon, Wm. Hamilton,
Henry Hoofman, C. Van Gordon, Jehue Price, J. M. Merritt, W.
Johnston, James McElroy, Samuel W. Weeden.
The captains of the several companies were: A. Charles H. Weygant;
B. Henry S. Murray: C. Wm. Silliman; D. James W. Benedict: E. Wm. A.
McBirney; F. Ira S. Bush; G. Isaac Nicoll; H. David Crist; I. Leander
Clark; K. Wm. A. Jackson.
Delay in obtaining guns postponed the mustering in of the regiment
until September 5th, and the next day it broke camp at Goshen and
started for Washington. Meanwhile it had been presented by Charles H.
Winfield, in behalf of the ladies of Orange, with a stand of colors.
Its fine appearance in New York inspired a paragraph of praise from
the Tribune, which said that the most influential families of Orange
County were represented in its ranks, and that it contained "the very
cream of the regimental district."
Three days afterward they were in Washington, and the first night
there slept on the ground and stone block in front of the Capitol.
The next day they marched to Camp Chase on Arlington Heights, and two
or three days later moved to a spot which they christened Camp Ellis.
Here they were attached to Platt's brigade of Whipple's division of
Heintzleman's corps. The other regiments in the brigade were the
122nd Pa. (a nine months regiment), the 86th N. Y., and the 1st Ohio
battery. The 124th and 86th regiments remained together during the
war. The latter and the Ohio battery were already veterans.
The 124th broke camp again September 25th, went to Miners' Hill, and
here the men became experienced in picket duties. Tents were struck
October 16th, and the next day they started in a drizzling rain with
their division to join the main army on the Maryland side of the
Potomac in the vicinity of Harper's Ferry. A freight train carried
them in great discomfort from Washington to Knoxville, eight miles
from Harper's Ferry, and they became a part of the Army of the
Potomac. October 25th they again received marching orders, and were
in motion from supper time till midnight, when they bivouacked near
Berlin, where a pontoon bridge was being laid. Across this they went
with the entire army of 100,000 men, and were afterward halted in a
muddy cornfield near Lovettsville, where they had to stay all night
in rain, a cold wind and mud, and had their first realization of the
sufferings of army life. The next morning thirty of the men were
unfit for duty. Short marches were continued, with stops of two or
three days, they being in the advance with the rest of Whipple
division a part of the time, and then they looked from a peak of the
Blue Ridge upon some white tents of the enemy. The object of the
movement had been to cut off a force of his infantry, but it was too
late and the division was ordered to retrace its steps.
At Orleans they learned that McClellan had been succeeded by
Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac. November 11th they
marched to Waterloo, and here some of the men of Co. B, commanded by
Lieutenant W. E. Weygant, were part of a detail which had a fight
with the enemy's pickets and captured two prisoners. November 16th
they marched to Warrenton and here became a part of General Hooker's
grand division. There were now daily marches, some of the time
through heavy rains and in deep mud. November 23rd, four miles from
Fredericksburg, they went into camp for the first time since leaving
Miner's Hill. The army waited in that vicinity for the pontoon
trains, which did not arrive until December 10. Then, in pushing a
pontoon bridge across the Rappahannock, many of the builders were
killed by Mississippi sharpshooters. To stop this 120 cannon were
placed on Stafford Heights overlooking Fredericksburg, and began
firing shells into the city and among the sharpshooters. When the
firing ceased two bridges spanned the river, and Union troops hurried
across and soon drove the enemy out of Fredericksburg. But the great
battle was yet to come, when the Confederates forced Burnside's army
to withdraw to Falmouth after losing 13,000 men. Platt's brigade
formed the extreme right of the line, and the 124th was one of the
last regiments to recross the bridges. The next morning about half of
the men answered to the surgeon's call, and nearly a hundred were
placed on the sick list. General Platt resigned about Christmas time,
and there was a period of drilling and picket duty by brigades.
January 5th the corps was reviewed by General Burnside. January 10th
new Enfield rifles came and were substituted for the old Belgians.
Then, after three or four orders to march had been countermanded, a
start was made through pelting rain and sleet and deepening mud. The
rain and sleet froze as it fell, and the men were chilled, and
experienced two nights of great suffering. General Burnside abandoned
the attempt to advance. On January 26th General Hooker superseded
him. The division moved a little way, and cut down trees and
constructed log cabins. During February the weather was severe, but
the log cabins, which had fire places, though smoky at times, made
them tolerably comfortable. February 25th the 124th drove off a body
of Confederate cavalry which made a dash on their picket line. There
was a monotonous interval, enlivened April 7th by a grand review
before President Lincoln and Generals Hooker and Sickles. The
division and brigade were then attached to General Sickles's corps.
Orders to march came April 28th, and the entire army was soon in
motion, and the next day halted in sight of the enemy's pickets
across the Rappahannock. The 124th crossed the river on a pontoon
bridge with an army of 65,000 men, thirteen miles from Fredericksburg.
Then came the disastrous battle of Chancellorsville, during which the
124th got into the thickest of the fight, had a fierce encounter with
Iverson's brigade, and "not a man faltered," although raked by a
deadly fire in which many men and a number of officers fell. Once they
made a charge and retook works from which one of our batteries had
been driven. The battle ended with the day, and Hooker was whipped.
The Third corps lost in killed and wounded 4,000 men. It captured
seven battle flags and over 1,000 prisoners. The losses of the 124th
were fifty-five killed, 150 wounded and six missing. Colonel Ellis, in
his official report said: "Our men fought like tigers, cheering
loudly, but falling fast, the officers without exception standing up
to their duty and encouraging their commands."
After Chancellorsville the 122nd Pa., having completed its nine
months of service, returned home, and the brigade collapsed to
between 500 and 600 men of the 86th and 124th. Colonel Ellis was now
in command of the brigade, and it was selected as one of three
brigades of picked regiments to accompany a large body of cavalry on
a secret expedition. They Started May 6th through a thunderstorm to
Beverly's Ford, where they crossed the Rappahannock. There had been a
clash of cavalry, and Colonel Ellis's regiments were the first in the
field. Batteries on both sides opened fire, and there were charges
and counter charges, in which bullets flew thick. A body of rebels got
in the rear of the 124th, but they were repulsed after a hot contest
in which Co.'s A, F and D lost two killed and twenty wounded. The
troops were ordered to recross the river.
The 124th did such splendid service at Chancellorsville that it was
transferred to the roll of "first class, tried and to be trusted,
veteran battalions," although only six weeks before it had been
classed among the "untried recruits." June 9th it was part of an
expedition of these veteran regiments which recrossed the
Rappahannock, did some more fighting, under General Buford, and
captured some of the enemy's pickets. General Pleasanton accompanied
General Buford and ordered an advance in force, but he found the
enemy reinforced and the troops were withdrawn after a loss of about
800 on each side. The 124th and 86th were commended as "reliable
regiments" in the day's doings.
[Illustration: Soldier's Memorial, Goshen]
About this time the old Whipple division ceased to exist in
consequence of the losses at Chancellorsville and mustering-out of
several regiments. Berdan's sharpshooters and the 124th and 86th
were assigned to General J. H. H. Ward's brigade of General D. B.
Birney's division.
On June 14th they started on one of their longest and severest
marches northward, and on June 25th crossed the Potomac at Edward's
Ferry near Ball's Bluff. Just before it was ordered Milner Brown was
assigned to the command of the regiment. They proceeded through
Fredericksburg to Emmetsburg, and here on June 30th the 124th had
but 264 rifles in line, so great had been the losses in battle and
from disease. They were informed that General Hooker had been
succeeded by General Meade. The Confederates had invaded Pennsylvania
and a great battle was anticipated. A forced march was made to
Gettysburg through such intense heat that many were prostrated, and
when the regiment reached the high ground south of Gettysburg not
more than 100 men and five or six officers appeared in the regimental
line, but the next morning it was 240 strong. It was placed in the
right center of the brigade, and in that decisive battle of the war
distinguished itself by its steadiness and daring. For forty minutes
Ward's and De Trobriand's brigades of about 3,000 men held their
ground against Longstreet's entire corps. By a mere chance the whole
regiment escaped capture. General Ward harangued its men on the
battlefield, and said the heroic resistance they had made "was beyond
anything he had ever dared to hope for." Its active part in the
great three days' battle was finished on the second day, as it was
not called upon to participate in the fighting of the third day,
which brought defeat to Lee's army. The 124th had lost thirty-three
killed, including Colonel Ellis, Major James Cromwell and Captain
Isaac Nicoll, and fifty-nine wounded, including Lieutenant Colonel
Cummins. A number of the severely wounded remained in the hands of
the enemy several days. The regiment was now reduced to 150 men with
muskets and nine commissioned officers. Some had been sent to the
corps hospital. They were now temporarily commanded by Captain
Charles A. Weygant of Co. A.
The pursuit of Lee began, but he was too swift for Meade, and escaped
across the Potomac. After various movements on both sides of the
Potomac, which was crossed July 17th, the 124th bivouacked at
Manassas Gap July 22nd, in sight of the place of its first skirmish.
Then the regiment had 700 rank and file, a full field staff and
twenty-five line officers. Now, although about thirty convalescents
had returned, it had less than 200 men in all. The corps, commanded
by Major General French had been strengthened since Gettysburg by
about 8,000 new troops. General Ward still commanded the division.
There were some undecisive {_sic_} movements and skirmishing in which the
124th participated. Lieutenant Colonel Cummins, having recovered,
returned and took command of the regiment July 28th. It was soon
established in camp near Sulphur Springs and remained there six
weeks. September 10th, in consequence of the backward movement of
Lee's army, General Meade pushed a heavy cavalry force across the
Rapidan, and soon the entire army was transferred to the region
between the Rapidan and Rappahannock. The 124th broke camp September
15th, and next encamped near Culpepper. October 2nd Lieutenant
Colonel Cummins was given a leave of absence for five days, and left
Captain Weygant in command. There were some uncertain movements, one
of which followed a retrograde movement of Lee, October 19th, but he
was found to be out of reach and General Meade gave up the pursuit
until twenty miles of railroad could be re-built. Next came the fight
at Kelly's Ford of November 7th, in which the 124th supported the
10th Massachusetts Battery, and the Confederates were defeated.
Ward's division took possession of the ford and captured over 500
prisoners. The Union loss was only about fifty. Sedgwick's right wing
attacked works on the bank of the Rappahannock, carried them by
a brilliant _coup de main,_ and captured 1,500 prisoners, his loss
being about 300. In the march next day toward Beverly Station, with
Ward's division in front, the 124th was deployed as flankers and was
under fire for some time. There was no more fighting until November
27th, when the fight at Locust Grove took place, followed by that
at Mine Run. The 124th took part in both, and lost one killed, eight
wounded and three captured. December 1st Meade ordered a retrograde
movement, and the regiment settled down to a long stay at Brandy
Station and Culpepper. March 17 General Birney sent an order to
Colonel Cummins stating that to equalize the brigades the 124th would
be transferred to the Third Brigade. This was so displeasing that
fourteen officers of the regiment petitioned General Birney to allow
them to remain under Brigadier General Ward. Major General Birney
replied that "the request of the officers of this gallant regiment
would be fully considered," and he would try to grant it. This was
done, and the 124th remained in Ward's Brigade. Meanwhile it had
received considerable additions in volunteers from Orange County,
although not half as many as had been mustered out and transferred to
the veteran reserve corps in consequence of physical disability.
Early in March U. S. Grant had been made Lieutenant General and
invested by the President with the chief command of all the armies
of the United States. In the latter part of March and the month of
April he caused a radical reorganization of the Army of the Potomac,
and the "Old Third" became a part of the Second Corps.
An advance was ordered May 3d, and that night Birney's division
struck tents and began its march. Two days afterward the memorable
Battle of the Wilderness was begun. Ward's command in this battle
consisted of eight infantry regiments, including the 124th and the
Second U. S. Sharpshooters, constituting one of the largest brigades
in the army. The leading officers of the 124th were now Colonel
Cummins, Lieutenant-Colonel Weygant and Acting Major H. S. Murray.
The brigade and regiment did their allotted share in the two-days'
battle, but the regiment was less exposed than at Chancellorsville
and Gettysburg, and came out with a loss of three killed and
fifty-seven wounded, Colonel Cummins being among the wounded.
The battle of Spottsylvania Court House came a week later. On the 9th
the 124th N. Y. and 20th Ind. Regiments were thrown out as
skirmishers for General Birney's division as it marched forward.
Near Po River a Confederate battery opened on them, but fired too
high, and soon had to flee. In the battle the next day for a while
the 124th supported a battery on the extreme right of Hancock's line,
and then marched with the division towards the left, where it was
soon engaged, and assisted in an unsuccessful charge on the rebel
line. It was in General Hancock's famous charge of May 12th. Birney's
division was in four lines, with Ward's Brigade in front, the 124th
composing the right center of the first line, Lieutenant Colonel
Weygant in command. When the clash came there were hand-to-hand
encounters so fierce and desperate as to defy description. There was
an "unparalleled struggle of eighteen hours' duration." Hancock's men
captured the enemy's works, and he finally abandoned his efforts to
retake them. The 124th had been so actively engaged or under fire so
much that the men writing home as late as May 18th spoke of the
battle as having been raging since May 4th. Its losses were fifteen
killed, fifty-two wounded and two captured. Colonel Weygant was one
of the wounded. After the battle the regiment was so small that it
was found necessary to consolidate it into five and then into three
companies, and the 124th and 86th acted together, first under
Lieutenant Colonel Lansing and then Major Stafford, both of the 86th.
This union lasted until they settled down in front of Petersburg.
On the evening of May 20th the movement of the army from
Spottsylvania Court House began in earnest. The 124th was in various
movements, and on June 1st seven of its men on picket duty were
captured. In the bloody battle of Cold Harbor, June 3d, Birney's
command was in reserve, and the men of the 124th were lookers-on.
Offensive operations were suspended for a time, and General Grant
decided to transfer his army to the James River. On the evening of
June 12th, after a march of fifty-five miles, Hancock's corps reached
Wilcox Landing and was transferred to waiting steamboats. On June
15th the advance of the rest of the army was resumed, Birney's
command leading the column down the Prince George Court House road
towards Petersburg. The brigade encamped in a grove of pines on City
Point. There were only about 100 men left in the 124th. Between May
18th and June 22nd it lost three killed, twenty-four wounded and
eight captured. Every third day from the 4th to the 24th of July the
remnant was on the picket line. There were no engagements, but some
skirmishing.
General Birney had been assigned to the command of the Tenth Corps,
and the veterans of the "Old Third" were consolidated into one
division under General Mott, and General De Trobriand became
commander of the brigade, which included the 124th, now commanded by
Lieutenant Colonel Weygant. When offensive operations were resumed on
the last day of September, the regiment could muster sixteen officers
and 230 fighting men, and two months later had been reinforced so
that it numbered nineteen officers and 362 enlisted men, a few of
whom were raw recruits. It had some active and hazardous work during
the fall, before the army settled down in winter quarters. October
26 Hancock's command moved to the Weldon road, and the next day
De Trobriand's brigade marched with Mott's division to Hatcher's Run,
where General Eagan was having a skirmish, and preparing to force the
passage of the stream. This was done, and presently De Trobriand's
brigade was ordered to the front to relieve the brigade on the left
of Eagan's line. In the afternoon the enemy advanced in force, and
there was some furious fighting, in which the 124th brought to a halt
a flanking force of dismounted cavalry with a battery of rifled guns
and sent them into the edge of a neighboring wood. The battle
continued, and a bullet struck Colonel Weygant in the side, so that
he had to leave the field. Finally the Confederates fled. This was
called the Battle of Boydton road. Three of the 124th were killed,
fourteen wounded and six captured including two of the wounded. The
regiment also took part in the raid of a week, beginning November
6th, to destroy the Weldon railroad, when its loss was only one
killed and one wounded.
[Illustration: Richard Wisner]
During the winter the Union lines tightened around Richmond, but
apart from preparations for the spring campaign not much was done on
either side. In February however, De Trobriand's brigade was in a
short fight at Hatcher's Run, across which the Union line was
permanently extended.
Confederate leaders did not allow Grant to open the spring campaign,
and on March 26th attacked his lines, east of Petersburg, but were
repulsed. The previous day the 124th was in an engagement with 500
Confederates, and in a gallant charge captured six officers and 164
men. Private George W. Tompkins shot the Confederate Commander,
Colonel Troy, and carried off the battle flag of his regiment which
he bore. Not a man of the 124th was injured. Private Tompkins was
given a medal of honor from the Secretary of War, the thanks of
Congress and a brevet commission.
The storming of Petersburg began April 2nd with all the artillery.
That night the 124th and two other regiments were ordered to advance,
and got into a fight in which several men were seriously wounded. The
object of this move was to delay the return of some of Lee's troops,
and was successful. The grand assault on the Confederate lines was
made at the appointed time, and a part of De Trobriand's brigade led
by the 124th moved at double-quick over one of the main roads leading
into Petersburg, the Confederates fleeing before them, but wheeling
and firing as they ran. Lee was quick to see the inevitable result of
the assault, and ordered the evacuation of Richmond. During April 3d
the 124th, which had the advance of the Second Corps, marched twenty
miles, and gathered in 200 dismounted Confederate cavalrymen. On the
6th it came up with Lee's rear guard, and in the fighting of the
march along Sailor's Creek up to this date the regiment lost four
killed, seventeen wounded and one missing. The pursuit was resumed on
the 7th, and on the 9th came the great surrender of Lee to Grant,
when our "men shouted until they could shout no longer."
After the momentous event at Appomattox the 124th encamped at
Burkesville Junction. In the night the men were awakened and
horrified by the news that President Lincoln and Secretary Seward
had been assassinated. On May 1st Meade's army took up its line of
march for Washington, and came in sight of it about the middle of
May. On June 5th, after participating in the grand review of the
whole Union army, the 124th received its last marching orders. It
reached home June 13th, and received a wonderful welcome from
assembled thousands at Newburgh.
The Newburgh Daily Union published the truth when it said the next
day that it "had made as noble a record as any regiment in the
field." It praised Colonels Ellis, Cummins and Weygant, and said of
the regiment: "Slowly they filed past; and now the people's
enthusiasm burst out over all bounds. Our scanty police and watch
force were swallowed up and overwhelmed, and the eager multitudes
seemed as if they would throw themselves upon the soldiers. On they
marched with steady and resistless step, their paces and uniforms
telling of the fearful scenes they had passed through. Their battle
flag, as it was borne aloft, awakened intense emotion; hardly a
strip of its frayed and bullet-torn silk was left; yet it was more
precious to the men and to the people than if it were made of cloth
of gold."
Judge Taylor made the address of welcome, in which he said: "You are
the life-guards of the nation, and we look upon you with something of
the same reverence which we feel toward the fathers of our country.
And we cherish the memory of those who fought, bled and died, and of
those who survived the carnage of Fredericksburg, of Chancellorsville,
of Beverly's Ford, of Gettysburg, of the Wilderness, of Spottsylvania,
of Boydton Road, of Sailor's Creek and the many battlefields around
Richmond."
The following is the official record of the commissioned officers of
the 124th, in which the date of commission is followed by the date of
rank:
_REGIMENTAL AND COMPANY OFFICERS._
Colonels.
A. Van Horn Ellis, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 23, 1862; killed in action
at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863.
Francis M. Cummins, Oct. 10, 1863; July 2, 1863; discharged, Sept.
19, 1864.
Charles H. Weygant, Jan. 11, 1865; Sept. 19, 1864; not mustered.
[Illustration: Yelverton Inn, Chester, Erected 1765]
Lieutenant Colonels.
Francis M. Cummins, Sept. 10, 1863; Aug. 16, 1862; promoted to
Colonel, Oct. 10, 1863.
Charles H. Weygant, Oct. 10, 1863; July 2, 1863; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865 (Brevet Colonel, U. S. V.)
Henry S. Murray, Jan. 11, 1865; Sept. 19, 1864; not mustered.
Majors.
James Cromwell, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; killed in action at
Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863.
Charles H. Weygant, Sept. 14, 1863; July 2, 1863; promoted to
Lieutenant Colonel, Oct. 10, 1863.
Henry S. Murray, Oct. 10, 1863; July 2, 1863; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
James W. Benedict, Jan. 11, 1865: Sept. 19, 1864; not mustered.
Adjutants.
William Silliman, Sept. 10, 1862; July 16, 1862; promoted to
Captain, Oct. 3, 1862.
C. Depeyster Arden, Oct. 3, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; discharged, Jan. 14,
1863.
William Brownson, Feb. 20, 1863; Dec. 31, 1863; resigned, Sept. 17,
1863.
William B. Van Houten, Oct. 10, 1863; Sept. 17, 1863; discharged,
Jan. 23, 1865.
Wines E. Weygant, Jan. 31, 1865; Jan. 31, 1865; not mustered.
Quartermasters.
Augustus Denniston, Sept. 10, 1862; July 15, 1862; resigned, Jan. 14,
1863.
Henry F. Travis, Feb. 27, 1863; Jan. 14, 1863; promoted to Captain,
Aug. 20, 1863.
Ellis Post, Aug. 20, 1863; April 21, 1863; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
Surgeons.
John H. Thompson, Sept. 10, 1862; July 26, 1862; dismissed Nov. 25,
1864; disability removed by order of the President, Jan. 14, 1865.
John H. Thompson, Feb. 15, 1865; Feb. 15, 1865; failed to muster.
Robert V. K. Montfort, March 22, 1865; March 22, 1865; mustered out
with regiment, June 3, 1865.
Assistant Surgeons.
Edward G. Marshall, Sept. 10, 1862; Sept. 5, 1862; dismissed, Aug.
7, 1863.
Robert V. K. Montfort, Sept. 10, 1862; Sept. 10, 1862: promoted to
surgeon, March 22, 1865.
Edward C. Fox, April 6, 1865; April 7, 1865; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
Chaplain.
Thomas Scott Bradner, Oct. 21, 1862; Aug. 23, 1862; mustered out
with regiment, June 3, 1865.
Captains.
Charles H. Weygant, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 12, 1862; promoted to major,
Sept. 14, 1863.
Charles B. Wood, Oct. 10, 1863; July 2, 1863; discharged, Sept. 21,
1864.
Thomas Taft, Nov. 15, 1864; Sept. 21, 1864; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
Henry S. Murray, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 14, 1862; promoted to major,
Oct. 10, 1863.
William E. Mapes, Dec. 17, 1863; July 2, 1863; discharged, Dec. 15,
1864.
Robert J. Malone, Dec. 17, 1864; Sept. is, 1864; mustered out with
regiment, June 3. 1865.
James Cromwell, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 15, 1862; promoted to major,
Sept. 10, 1862.
William Silliman, Oct. 3, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; promoted to colonel,
26th U. S. C. T., Feb. 1, 1864.
James Finnegan, Feb. 9, 1864; Feb. 1, 1864; died of wounds, Oct. 28,
1864.
James A. Grier, Nov. 15, 1864; Oct. 27, 1864; not mustered.
James W. Benedict, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 16, 1862; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
John C. Wood, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
William A. McBurney, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 19, 1862; resigned, March
9, 1863.
Daniel Sayer, Dec. 17, 1863; March 6, 1863; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
Isaac Nicoll Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; killed in action at
Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863.
James O. Denniston, Aug. 20, 1863; July 2, 1862; not mustered.
Henry P. Ramsdell, Dec. 12, 1863; Oct. 7, 1863; not mustered.
Thomas J. Quick, Dec. 17, 1863; Dec. 10, 1863; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
Ira S. Bush, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; resigned, June 21, 1864.
John W. Houston, July 15, 1864; June 21, 1864; not mustered.
Edward J. Cormick, Nov. 15, 1864; Aug. 10, 1864; killed in action
near Petersburg, Va., April 1, 1865.
Lander Clark, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; resigned, May 13, 1863.
Henry F. Travis, Aug. 20, 1863; April 21, 1863; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
William A. Jackson, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 23, 1862; killed in action
near Petersburg, Va., June 18, 1864.
Lewis M. Wisner, July 15, 1864; July 14, 1864; not mustered as
captain.
Thomas Bradley, Nov. 15, 1864; Aug. 2, 1864; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
David Crist, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 23, 1862; killed in action. May
30, 1864.
Theodore M. Roberson, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
First Lieutenants.
Charles B. Wood, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 12, 1862; promoted to captain,
Oct. 10, 1863.
Charles T. Cressy, April 19, 1864; May 1, 1864; not mustered.
Thomas Taft, Aug. 2, 1864; July 20, 1864; promoted to captain, Nov.
15, 1864.
David U. Quick, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
Wines E. Weygant, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 14, 1862; resigned, Feb. 8,
1863.
William E. Mapes, Feb. 27, 1863; Feb. 8, 1863; promoted to captain,
Feb. 27, 1863.
Edward J. Cormick, March 23, 1864; March 17, 1864; promoted to
captain, Nov. 15, 1864.
Abram P. Francisco, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
William Brownson, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 15, 1862; promoted to
adjutant, Feb. 20, 1863.
Henry P. Ramsdell, Feb. 20, 1863; Dec. 31, 1862; discharged, Dec. 13,
1863.
Daniel Sayer, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 16, 1862; promoted to captain,
Dec. 17, 1863.
John W. Houston, Dec. 17, 1862; March 6, 1863; discharged, Dec. 13,
1863.
Ebenezer Holbert, July 15, 1864; June 21, 1864; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
Wm. A. Verplanck, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 10, 1862; discharged, Sept.
23, 1863.
Theodore M. Roberson, Dec. 17, 1863; Sept. 25, 1863; promoted to
captain, Feb. 18, 1865.
Woodward T. Ogden, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; not mustered.
James O. Denniston, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; discharged, Oct.
17, 1863.
William H. Benjamin, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
Thomas J. Quick, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; promoted to captain,
Dec. 17, 1863.
James A. Grier, Dec. 24, 1863; Dec. 10, 1863; not mustered.
John B. Stanbrough, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; resigned, Nov.
12, 1862.
Isaac M. Martin, Dec. 30, 1862; Nov. 12, 1862; dismissed, May 15,
1863.
Wm. B. Van Houten, Aug. 20, 1863; May 15, 1863; promoted to
adjutant, Oct. 10, 1863.
Charles Stuart, Oct. 10, 1863; Sept. 17, 1863; discharged, May 15,
1865.
James H. Roosa, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 23, 1862; resigned, March 7,
1863.
James Finnegan, May 26, 1863; March 7, 1863; promoted to captain,
Feb. 9, 1864.
Lewis M. Wisner, Feb. 23, 1864: Feb. 1, 1864; discharged, Aug. 5,
1864.
John C. Wood, Nov. 15, 1864; Aug. 1, 1864; promoted to captain, Feb.
18, 1865.
Thomas Hart, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; mustered out with regiment,
June 3, 1865.
Henry Gowdy, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 22, 1863; died, May 11, 1864, of
wounds.
John R. Hayes, Dec. 17, 1863; May 10, 1863; not mustered.
Thomas Bradley, Sept. 27, 1864; Aug. 1, 1864; promoted to captain,
Nov. 15, 1864.
John S. King, Dec. 17, 1864; Sept. 15, 1864; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
Second Lieutenants.
Charles T. Cressy, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 12, 1862; promoted to first
lieutenant, April 19, 1864.
Jonathan Birdsall, Aug. 2, 1864; July 20, 1864; killed in action
near Petersburg, Va., Oct. 22, 1864.
Gabriel Tuthill, Feb. 27, 1863; Feb. 8, 1863; discharged, Feb. 23,
1864.
Henry P. Ramsdell, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 15, 1862: promoted to first
lieutenant, Feb. 27, 1863.
James A. Grier, Feb. 20, 1863; Dec. 31, 1862; promoted to first
lieutenant, Dec. 24, 1863.
Thomas Hart, Nov. 15, 1864; July 21, 1864; promoted to first
lieutenant, Feb. 18, 1865.
John W. Houston, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 16, 1862; promoted to first
lieutenant, Dec. 17, 1863.
Ebenezer Holbert, April 2, 1864; July 20, 1864: promoted to first
lieutenant, July 15, 1864.
Thomas G. Mabie, Nov. 15, 1864; July 26, 1864; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
Adolphus Wittenbeecher, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 19, 1862; dismissed,
March 19, 1863.
Theodore M. Roberson, May 26, 1863; March 6, 1863; promoted to first
lieutenant, Dec. 17, 1863.
Woodward T. Ogden, Nov. 15, 1864; July 21, 1864; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
Sylvester Lawson, March 14, 1865; March 3, 1865; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
David Gibbs, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; resigned, Feb. 25, 1863.
Wm. H. Benjamin, May 26, 1863; Feb. 25. 1863; promoted to first
lieutenant, Feb. 18, 1865.
Joshua V. Cole, Feb. 18. 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; not mustered.
Samuel W. Hotchkiss, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; resigned, April
2, 1864.
David U. Quick, Nov. 15, 1864; July 21, 1864; promoted to first
lieutenant, Feb. 18, 1865.
Lewis T. Schultz, Feb. 18, 1865; Jan. 1, 1865; mustered out with
regiment, June 3, 1865.
Isaac M. Martin, Sept. 10. 1862; Aug. 20, 1862; promoted to first
lieutenant, Dec. 20, 1862.
Milnor Brown, Dec. 30, 1862; Dec. 30, 1862; killed in action at
Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863.
Charles Stuart, Aug. 20, 1863; July 2, 1863; promoted to first
lieutenant, Oct. 10, 1863.
William W. Smith, April 19, 1864; Sept. 17, 1863; not mustered.
James Finnegan, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 23, 1862; promoted to first
lieutenant, May 26, 1863.
Jacob Denton, May 26, 1863; March 7, 1863; not mustered; killed in
action, May 3, 1863.
Lewis M. Wisner, Aug. 20, 1863; May 3, 1863; promoted to first
lieutenant, Feb. 23, 1864.
John R. Hayes, Sept. 10, 1862; Aug. 22, 1862; discharged, April 8,
1864.
[Illustration: Henry Wisner]
OTHER MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS.
Company I, 71st Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., was recruited in Newburgh,
mostly from Co. L, 19th Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., between May 20 and
31, 1861, by Captain A. Van Horne Ellis. Governor Morgan refused to
permit the company to leave the State, and thereupon Captain Ellis
took it to New York on his own responsibility. It was furnished with
transportation to Washington, was accepted through the influence of
Secretary Seward, and mustered in for three months. It was stationed
at the Washington Navy Yard, sent to Chapel Point and Point Tobacco,
June 28, returned, and on July 16 was brigaded with Rhode Island and
New Hampshire regiments under Colonel Burnside. It went to the Bull
Run battlefield dragging two twelve-pound boat howitzers on July 4th,
and returned with them. Soon it went back, arriving on the Bull Run
battlefield July 21st, and in the battle fired 232 shots of shrapnel
and canister. It drew out of the conflict by order at 3 P. M. with
the loss of one killed and two wounded, and returned to Washington.
It was soon back in Newburgh, where it was mustered out July 30th.
The officers during this service were:
A. Van Horne Ellis, captain; George W. Hawkins, second lieutenant;
Wm. H. Garrison, second sergeant; John McMeekin, third sergeant;
James D. Hamilton, fourth sergeant; Charles Decker, first corporal;
Marshal M. Van Zile, second corporal; Henry T. Travis, third
sergeant; Thomas Riley, fourth sergeant.
May 28th, 1862, within seven hours, the company was again recruited
for three months, and during that period was on guard duty in and
around Washington. The officers were:
A. Van Horne Ellis, captain; Wm. H. Garrison, first lieutenant; James
C. Taggart, second lieutenant; John W. Forsyth, first sergeant;
Henry F. Travis, second sergeant; John McMeekin, third sergeant;
James B. Montgomery, fourth sergeant; Thomas Riley, fifth sergeant;
Robert Acheson, David M. De Witt, Wm. M. Verplanck and Edward J. Hall,
corporals.
Captain Ellis afterward became colonel of the 124th, and several
other members of the company became captains and lieutenants in the
124th, 56th and other regiments.
In May, 1862, the 19th regiment of militia, commanded by Colonel Wm.
R. Brown, was ordered to Washington, and after recruiting its ranks,
which had been depleted by volunteer enlistments, left Newburgh June
4. Arriving in Baltimore, it was ordered to Stuart Hill, and remained
there until July 2nd, when two of its companies were ordered to Fort
McHenrv and the rest of the regiment to Fort Marshall. On July 14
four companies were ordered to Fort Delaware, and remained there
until August 10th, when they were sent to Havre de Grace to guard the
railroad between there and Baltimore. The whole regiment went back to
Newburgh the last of August, and was mustered out of the U. S.
service September 6.
Officers during this expedition were: William J. Brown, colonel;
James Low, lieutenant colonel; David Jagger, major; George Weller,
quartermaster; William J. Hathaway, adjutant.
In August Colonel Brown twice offered the services of the regiment
for nine months, but the offers were refused by Governor Morgan. He
offered them again September 17, when they were accepted. Recruiting
for it was complicated by the efforts of Colonel Isaac Wood to raise
an authorized regiment of three years' men in the county at the same
time, but he stopped after enlisting 272 men, who were consolidated
with the 176th N. Y. V. and mustered in November 20th.
Colonel Brown continued to enroll volunteers until February 2nd, when
his regiment, known as the 168th, left Newburgh with 750 men, and
New York City eleven days later with 835 men. It went to Yorktown,
and remained there on garrison duty during nearly its whole term of
service. Once a detachment of 140 men under Captain Daniel Torbush
was sent with detachments from other regiments up York and Mattapony
Rivers, and the Torbush detachment was placed to guard the Richmond
road. Here it was attacked by a force of Confederate cavalry, and
repulsed them, killing fourteen, and losing one killed, five wounded
and two captured. September 16th the regiment was sent to Bridgeport,
Ala., and remained there on guard duty until October 14th, when it
went back to Newburgh, and was mustered out October 31st. During its
nine months of service it lost one killed, eighteen died, thirteen
captured and 184 deserters. Its commissioned officers were:
Colonel: William R. Brown.
Lieutenant-Colonels: James Low, James C. Rennison.
Majors: George Waller (dismissed), James C. Rennison, Daniel
Torbush.
Adjutant: Wm. R. Hathway.
Quartermasters: James H. Anderson, George C. Spencer.
Surgeon: Jacob M. Leighton.
Assistant Surgeon: Edward B. Root.
Chaplain: R. Howard Wallace.
Captains: Wm. H. Terwilliger, Daniel Torbush, James H. Anderson,
Isaac Jenkinson, Bennett Gilbert, George McCleary, Samuel Hunter,
John D. Wood, James C. Rennison, Myron A. Tappan, Marshal Van
Zile.
First Lieutenants: Nathan Hubbard, Oliver Taylor, Jacob K. R.
Oakley, Archibald Ferguson, James H. Searles, Lawrence Brennan,
James T. Chase, De Witt C. Wilkin, Wm. D. Dickey, Marshal Van
Tile, George R. Brainsted.
Second Lieutenants: Thomas P. Terwilliger, Isaac N. Morehouse, James
H. Anderson, Geo. C. Marvin, Andrew J. Gilbert, Samuel C. Wilson,
Paul Terwilliger, Geo. W. Hennion, Daniel Low, Jr., Geo. R.
Brainsted, Bartley Brown, Lester Genung.
[Illustration: J. N. Weed]
The 176th regiment, with which Colonel Wood's 272 recruits were
consolidated, was sent to the Department of the Gulf as a part of the
Nineteenth Corps, and was in the Red River campaign in 1864, in
General Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley campaign the same year, and in
Georgia and North Carolina in the early months of 1865. In the Red
River campaign it did some fighting and lost many men in killed,
wounded and prisoners. Of its Orange County officers, T. Henry
Edsall was adjutant, Sprague K. Wood rose from sergeant to captain,
and Joseph Goodsell from second lieutenant to captain.
The company of cavalry recruited in the fall of 1861 by Morris I.
McCormal as a part of Colonel Van Wyck's "Tenth Legion," when it was
detached from this regiment was mustered in as Co. C, First Mounted
Rifles, and had ninety-five men. The company served three years.
Officers were: Morris I. McCormal, captain; Charles F. Allen, first
lieutenant; Arthur Hagen, second lieutenant; Ardice Robbins, orderly
sergeant; C. R. Smith, quartermaster sergeant. Captain McCormal
resigned in 1862, but re-entered the service in the Fifteenth
Cavalry in 1863. Quartermaster Smith and Sergeants James Eaton,
Frank Mills and Fred Penney were promoted to lieutenants.
Orange County was represented in the Seventh, afterward Second,
regiment of Cavalry, its volunteers being mostly in Co. B, under
Captain Charles E. Morton of New Windsor. Alanson Randall, U. S. A.,
a native of Newburgh, was colonel of the regiment from November,
1864, to the muster out, June 5, 1865. The regiment was also known as
the Harris Light Cavalry.
Recruits were obtained in Orange County for the Fifteenth Cavalry in
the winter of 1863-4 by Captain Morris I. McCormal of Middletown, and
Lieutenant Charles H. Lyon of Newburgh.
The Fifteenth Heavy Artillery's Co. M was mostly recruited in Orange
County in the winter of 1863-4. The regiment was mustered in at Fort
Lyon, Va., February 3, 1864, remained there until March 27th, when
it went to Beverly Station and was assigned to duty in the Artillery
Reserve of the Army of the Potomac, and did creditable service in
several bloody battles. When Co. M was organized its officers were:
Wm. D. Dickey of Newburgh, captain; Alfred Newbatt and Julius
Niebergall, first lieutenants; John Ritchie and Robert B. Keeler,
second lieutenants. August 15th Captain Dickey was placed in command
of the Third Battalion and Lieutenant Ritchie took command of the
company, leading it through the engagements in the struggle for the
Weldon railroad, in one of which it lost in killed and wounded a
third of its men. For the regiment's good work here and in a
previous fight at Haines' Tavern it was complimented in the general
orders of Meade. Co. M was mustered out in July, 1865. It lost during
its year of service three officers and ninety-five privates. The
promotions were: Captain Dickey to major, Second Lieutenants Keeler
and Ritchie to first lieutenants, and Sergeants Joseph M. Dickey and
Riemann to second lieutenants.
This Seventeenth Independent Battery was recruited in Orange to be a
part of Colonel Van Wyck's "Tenth Legion" or 56th Regiment. It
arrived in Washington November 11, 1861, and was organized as an
independent battery January 10, 1862. It was first assigned to
Casey's, afterwards Peek's division. It also served in the Seventh
Corps, then in the Second division of the Eighteenth Corps, at
Bermuda Hundred a short time in the Tenth Corps, and when mustered
out formed a part of the artillery brigade of the Twenty-fourth
Corps. It was in the siege of Yorktown, the battles of Williamsburg,
Savage's Station, Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, the siege of Suffolk, and
was in action at Petersburg, Dutch Gap, Fort Harrison, Hatcher's Run
and Port Walthal. It was in the investment of Petersburg and
Richmond. It suffered most severely at Fair Oaks. Its record was good
throughout. Its commissioned officers were:
Captain: Peter C. Regan.
First Lieutenants: Eugene Scheibner, Abram Kniffin, Martin V.
McIntyre, John S. Bennett.
Second Lieutenants: Abram Kniffin, Charles S. Harvell, Abram Smith,
Wm. H. Lee, Edward Kelly, John B. Brosen, Jr.
The First Regiment of Engineers, known as Serrell's, had in its
ranks, it was said, 300 or 400 men from Orange County. Its
detachments were mustered in between September 10, 1861, and February
12, 1862. The regiment retained its organization until June 30, 1865,
when it was mustered out, but there were various changes in its
composition. It was an important regiment in the engineering part of
the service.
Company C of the 98th N. Y. S. V., was mostly recruited in Newburgh
in the winter of 1863-4 by Captain James H. Anderson and Lieutenant
J. K. R. Oakley, who had been in the 168th Regiment. They went to
Riker's Island in February, 1864, and here consolidation requirements
caused Co. C to consist of ninety-five Orange County men under
Captain Anderson and Lieutenants Oakley and Sneed, and twenty-four
were assigned to Co. I under Captain E. M. Allen. The record of the
regiment was one of the best. It fought at Drury's Bluff, Cold Harbor
and Petersburg. At Drury's Bluff it saved General Buller's army from
a flank attack: at Cold Harbor it lost in killed and wounded 100 men;
at Petersburg it charged the outer line of the enemy's works and was
almost constantly under fire. Its colors were the first to be planted
at Fort Harrison on September 29, 1864, and it was the first regiment
to enter Richmond after the evacuation. After the surrender of Lee
it was on post and garrison duty in several places, and was mustered
out at Richmond August 31, 1865. Of the men who went out with Captain
Anderson, thirteen were killed or died of wounds, twenty-three
wounded, and five died of disease.
[Illustration: Jas. D. Benedict]
MONEY RAISED FOR THE WAR.
The following totals were raised by official action from town taxes,
loans, state cash and bonds, for the towns named for war purposes:
Blooming Grove, $60,900; Chester, $54,192.67; Cornwall, $69,200;
Crawford, $84,187.12; Deer Park, $242,981.83; Goshen, $83,233.05;
Greenville, $54,016.45; Hamptonburgh, $21,000; Minisink, $57,271.62;
Monroe, $160,968.65; Montgomery, $57,250; Mount Hope, $62,888.24;
Newburgh, $455,637; New Windsor, $48,715,55; Wallkill, $95,100;
Warwick, $201,070; Wawayanda, $51,750.
By the County: From taxes, 1864, $1,800; 1865, $90,649.50; from
loans, 1864, $421,000; total, $513,449.50.
Towns and County: From taxes, 1862, $31,931; 1863, $2,000; 1864,
$350,434.95; 1865, $257,581.82; from loans, 1862, $31,950; 1863,
$35,318.70; 1864, $1,113,761.82; 1865, $229,278.41.
From State: Cash, $76,000; bonds, $252,000.53; interest on bonds,
$3,473.51; other sources, $105.
Full total: $2,384,801.74.
The donations, cash subscriptions and draft exemption moneys,
amounting to a very large sum, are not included in the foregoing
figures.
CHAPTER XI.
TOWN OF BLOOMING GROVE
By Benjamin C. Sears.
This is one of the older towns of Orange County, lying somewhat
northwest of the geographical center. The towns of Hamptonburgh and
New Windsor are on the north, Cornwall on the east, Monroe and
Woodbury on the south and Goshen and Chester on the west. It covers
an area of 21,759 acres.
The title to all the territory of this town conveyed by the various
original patents, upon which rests the deed of every property-holder
to-day has been carefully preserved. The names and dates of the first
settlers are also pretty fully recorded.
The oldest grant of land seems to be the Mompesson Patent, which is
dated March 4, 1709, and confirmed May 31, 1712. This covered 1,000
acres. The next grant in order of time is that known as the Rip Van
Dam patent, which is dated March 23, 1907 {_sic_} and covered some
3,000 acres. This was granted to Rip Van Dam, Adolph Phillips, David
Provost, Jr., Lancaster Symes and Thomas Jones, each having an equal
share in the tract. This is described as "beginning at a station
bearing west 24 degrees north, and 85 chains from the wigwam of the
Indian Maringamus," which was on the southwest bank of Murderer's
Creek just across the railroad track from the Catholic Church of St.
Mary. The present village of Salisbury Mills is on the east end of
this patent so far as the village lies in the town. In the northeast
corner of the town on the old county line is the 1,000 acre tract of
Roger Van Dam which is dated June 30, 1720, although a portion of
this tract extends over into the present town of New Windsor. The
next patent was granted to Ann Hoagland, May 24, 1723, and it
contained 2,000 acres in the western part of the town. In the
southeastern part of the town, adjoining the Rip Van Dam patent, and
west of the Schunnemunk Mountains was the 2,000 acre grant of Edward
Blagg and Johannes Hey, dated March 28, 1726. This valley has been
known ever since as Blagg's Clove. West of this was the irregular
tract of 2,440 acres granted to Nathaniel Hazzard January 11, 1727.
This was south of Washingtonville. Still further west was the Joseph
Sackett 2,000-acre tract, to which 222 acres were afterward added on
the south. This patent was dated July 7, 1736, and the tract adjoins
the present village of Oxford. Sackett got another grant of 149 acres
September 1, 1737, on the west.
On August 10, 1723 a patent covering 2,600 acres was granted to
Richard Gerard and William Bull.
[Illustration: Benjamin C. Sears.]
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
The surface of this town is varied by the long range of Schunnemunk
Mountains, forming the eastern boundary, with its level ridges
reaching to the height of about 1,600 feet, and the beautiful
foothills of Woodcock, Round Hill, Mosquito, Raynor and Peddler. The
last two have deposits of magnetic iron ore, which mixed with the
ores from other parts of the county was used in making the Parott
guns during the War of the Rebellion. The cultivated land is also
broken and rolling, some upon quite high hills, whose sides were not
cultivated, and are covered with luxuriant blue grass pastures, and
along the streams and the lower lands are beautiful natural meadows,
which bring their annual tribute of hay into the barns, and add very
much to the beauty of the scenery.
The Greycourt or Cromeline Creek runs from Walton Lake by the base of
Goose Pond Mountain, through the Greycourt meadows and the
picturesque falls at Craigville, through Farmingdale and Hulsetown,
and is joined near the Hamptonburgh line by the Otterkill; near
Washingtonville by the Tappan or Schunnemunk Creek, flowing from
Sattterly's Mills; also by the Silver stream draining a portion of
Blagg's Clove, and furnishing at the old Coleman Mills, the excellent
water supply of Washingtonville. The united stream is called
Murdner's or Murderer's Creek, to which N. P. Willis gave the more
poetical name of "Moodna," where it entered the Hudson near Idlewild.
These streams have along their bank beautiful natural meadows dotted
with fine old trees, and the hill-tops are covered in places with
sugar maple and chestnut trees, making in the early spring time a
beautiful picture of varied green, and in the autumn a glorious
variety of colors, which, together with the fine apple orchards
crowning the hillsides, justifies the name of Blooming Grove.
EARLY SETTLERS.
Vincent Mathews seems to have been the first settler according to the
record. He bought the Rip Van Dam Patent, August 22, 1721, and built
a grist mill at the place since known as Salisbury. He named this
estate "Mathewsfield." Thomas Goldsmith came next, about ten years
later, and he took the Mompesson Patent. He built a house on the
north bank of the Otterkill, now known as the "Walnut Grove Farm,"
near the present Washingtonville. Edward Blagg also settled upon
this tract, known as "Blagg's Clove" about this time. Mathews sold
his mill to John J. Carpenter, which was turned into a powder mill
under a State contract in 1776, when under the kindling fires of
patriotism the demand for powder became very active.
In 1753 Jesse Woodhull settled in Blagg's Clove, although he seems to
have purchased the Richard Van Dam Patent upon which the Moffatt
family afterward settled. Mr. Mathews, the original settler, was an
attorney, and took an active part in the early history of the town.
He sold 1,500 of his acres to Louis Du Bois, of New Paltz, who built
a tavern upon it which was kept by Zachariah Du Bois in Revolutionary
times.
Prior to 1764 the territory of this town was a part of the Goshen
precinct. From that time to 1799 it formed a part of the town of
Cornwall. The other prominent settlers of the town are believed to be
included in the following list:
John Brewster, Edward, Francis, Isaac, Jesse and Nathan Brewster,
Daniel Brewster, George Duryea, Richard Goldsmith, Benjamin Gregory,
John Hudson, Henry Hudson, William Hudson, Archibald Little, Timothy,
James and Solomon Little; James Mapes, and his sons Wines, Jesse,
Robert, James, Barney, David, William and Thomas; Elihu Marvin, a
member of the Committee of Safety in 1775, also judge of the county
in 1778; Seth, Nathan, James, Jesse and John Marvin; Samuel Moffatt;
James and Fletcher Mathews, sons of Vincent Mathews, who was a
colonel in the Revolution and a leading citizen; Thomas Moffatt,
member of the Committee of Safety from 1778 to 1794; Josiah, Samuel,
Jacob, Stephen and Peter Reeder; Israel, Thaddeus, John, Jesse,
Josiah and Samuel Seely; Bezaliel Seeley; Selah Strong, the first
supervisor of the town; Major Samuel and Captain Nathan Strong;
Nathaniel Satterly, member of Committee of Safety in 1775, and
proprietor of Satterly's Mills in 1765; John and Selah Satterly;
James, Nathaniel and John Sayer; Nathaniel Strong, member of
Committee of Safety, who was shot at his door by Claudius Smith,
October 6, 1778; Captain Jesse Woodhull, delegate to the first
Provincial Convention, and member of the State Convention that
revised the federal constitution in 1778; Abner Woodhull, George and
Benjamin Whittaker; Silas, Reuben and Birdseye Young; Stephen
Mathews, Gilbert, Zachariah and John Du Bois; Hezekiah, Isaiah,
Stephen, Isaac, Paul, Zepheniah, Charles, Aaron, Silas and Jeremiah
Howell; Benjamin and Thomas Goldsmith; David Coleman, Caleb, Joab,
Asahel, Micah, Silas, Richard and Jeremiah Coleman; Thomas, John,
Francis and Richard Drake; Nathaniel Coleman; Daniel Curtis; John
Chandler; Henry and Oliver Davenport.
Among other family names recorded are those of Carpenter, Moffatt,
Owens, Gregg and Wooley. It is said of the Woodhull family that its
ancestry is distinctly traced to the individual who came to England
from Normandy with William the Conqueror in 1066.
CIVIL ORGANIZATIONS.
The town of Blooming Grove was organized March 23, 1799, the
territory being taken from the more ancient Cornwall township. The
name Blooming Grove had long been in use for this part of Cornwall,
being the name of the old village which was given to distinguish it
from Hunting Grove, a locality then in New Windsor.
The first town meeting was held at the house of John Chandler, the
first Tuesday of April, 1799. Selah Strong was then elected
supervisor and Daniel Brewster town clerk. Two hundred dollars were
raised for the support of the poor that year, and a $10 bounty was
voted for each wolf killed within the town. Mr. Brewster served as
town clerk for thirty-seven years without intermission. There was
little personal politics in those times, and public office was
probably regarded as a public trust.
In April, 1830, a part of the town was taken off in the formation of
Hamptonburgh. In March, 1845, another small portion was set off to
the town of Chester.
Charles W. Hull has been town clerk since 1874, and has just been
reelected, so that his term will be nearly as long as John
Brewster's.
The house of John Brewster, at which the town meetings were held,
1765 to 1799, was kept as a hotel and was said to be the homestead of
the Cooper family, upon which is now situated the Blooming Grove
station and post-office.
When the present town of Blooming Grove was formed, the principal
center was at Blooming Grove, where the old church was erected, 1759.
The first town meeting was held in the spring of 1759, at the house
of John Chandler, who kept a general country store here several years
previous to this, also at Edenville, near Warwick, taking in wheat
and other grain which was carted to New Windsor, ground at the old
mill on Quassaic Creek, and shipped to the West Indies and exchanged
for sugar, molasses and other products of the tropics, which were
brought back to Orange County by the Hudson River to New Windsor,
and exchanged again for grain and other farm products. John Chandler
purchased in 1793 a small farm, upon which his great-grandson, B. C.
Sears, now resides. He was president of the Newburgh and New Windsor
Turnpike Co., and of the Blooming Grove and Greycourt Turnpike Co.,
built by his son-in-law, Hector Craig. He was an elder in the
Blooming Grove Church and a large land owner in this part of the
county.
The village of Blooming Grove then consisted of the old church and
the old Blooming Grove academy, built about 1810, to which many of
the students came from the neighboring towns, boarding with the
neighbors about. A part of it was used as a district school until
1857, when the present building was built upon the old academy site.
A blacksmith-shop, kept later by Pierson Genung, a drug store, a
cooper shop, the old toll-gate, the country store, and the hotel kept
by Benjamin Thompson, where were held the town meetings, general
trainings, etc., and the public were entertained, were on this the
main thoroughfare from Warwick to New Windsor and later Newburgh.
This property was conveyed to Samuel Moffatt, Jr., merchant, by the
executors of Rev. Benoni Bradner, and by him to Seth Marvin in 1810,
who built a store-house on a lot purchased of Charles Howell, 1810.
Blooming Grove now consists only of the old church, the parsonage and
the schoolhouse, and half a mile away the station, store and
post-office, kept by C. C. Gerow, and the creamery owned by the
Sheffield, Slawson, Decker Co.
[Illustration: Charles R. Bull.]
VARIOUS RESIDENTS
In 1810, Samuel Moffatt, Jr., having sold his place in Blooming
Grove, moved to a new settlement at Washingtonville, building the old
corner store, now owned by George A. Owen. Across the highway Moses
Ely, the father of the late Dr. Ely, of Newburgh, had a tannery, and
John Jaques, then a young man, opened here a shoe-shop. The old
corner store, built in the woods almost, there being only two other
dwellings, (a log house owned by James Giles and the private school
of Jane Sweezey), was carried on by Samuel Moffatt and his son David,
either alone or as members of the firm, from 1812 to 1832; then John
S. Bull, 1832-1839; Walter Halsey and Apollis Halsey, 1839-1850; and
the Warners and Williams Howell, 1850 to 1890, and George A. Owen,
1890, to this date. This store has always been, and is still, a
prominent landmark in Washingtonville. In 1813, Jedediah Breed came
to Washingtonville from Dutchess County, and built a harness shop
adjoining the dwelling house now owned by his grandson, George A.
Owen, and which has been occupied as a harness shop for nearly 100
years. Here Henry F. Breed kept the Blooming Grove post-office for
forty years, nearly continuously; after his death the post-office was
removed to the building of Alexander Moore, where, in 1872, the name
was changed from Blooming Grove to Washingtonville.
Alexander Moore and his brother-in-law, Albert G. Owen, the father of
George A. Owen, carried on a furniture and paint business here from
1830 to 1850, Moore being the postmaster and Owen, supervisor and
justice for many years, and a member of the Assembly, 1849-1850. This
village soon grew to be important, and is now one of the finest
villages of its size in Orange County, having a beautiful shaded
avenue of maples and many handsome residences. There are the
Presbyterian and Methodist churches, Catholic Church of St. Mary, and
the beautiful Moffatt Library, given to the village by David H.
Moffatt, of Denver, and erected under the careful supervision of
John Newton Moffatt, having a fine collection of books and a
beautiful hall which is the convenient center for much social
enjoyment; the large feed mill, originally built by David H. Moffatt,
the father of David H., and now carried on by the Thomas Fulton Co.,
together with a large coal and lumber business; a similar
establishment carried on by Hector Moffatt & Son, and the very large
wine vaults of the Brotherhood Wine Co., successors to the James
brothers' vineyard established in 1838. The Bordens also have here a
large creamery, and there is also the Farmers' Creamery, now operated
by the Mutual Milk and Cream Co., making this the most important
station upon the Newburgh Branch of the Erie Railroad. It is
surrounded by beautiful homes and thrifty farms. Within the
corporation line are the home and farm of William H. Hallock, who
owns several of the old ancestral homes throughout the town, which he
has improved, and still runs with great business ability; also the
ancestral homes of the Brooks family, descendants of Fletcher
Mathews, one of the original settlers, and also the old Nicoll
homestead, now occupied by Charles Nicoll.
Northwest of Washingtonville is the old Joseph Moffatt homestead, now
held by his grandsons, C. R. Shons and S. L. Moffatt, who have
beautiful orchards, which, with that of Jesse Hulse, crown the
beautiful hilltop and have made "Blooming Grove apples" famous both
at home and abroad; also the Walnut Grove farm, upon which the first
Goldsmiths settled, and made famous by Alden Goldsmith and his sons,
James and John A., now in the hands of the widow of John A. and her
husband, Mr. O. B. Stillman; also the home of the late Captain Thomas
N. Hulse, so long and so favorably known years ago to all travelers
upon the Hudson River, now the home of his niece, Mrs. James A.
Knapp, daughter of Benjamin Moffatt. Two and a half miles east of the
village of Washingtonville is the village of Salisbury Mills, the
oldest settlement of the town, where, on the falls of Murderer's
Creek, Vincent Mathews built his mill, which later was owned by
Captain Richard Caldwell, by Peter Van Allen, by Isaac Oakly, and is
now the Arlington paper mills, owned and operated on a very large
scale by Henry Ramsdell. Here in 1803 came John Caldwell, and with
him his three sons, John, Andrew J. and Richard. Richard, then a
mere lad, had been at the head of a company in the Emmet Rebellion,
and through the clemency of Lord Cornwallis his sentence of death was
commuted to banishment for himself and his father's family. He came
to Salisbury with his father, and in 1808 married a daughter of John
Chandler. He had the mill and a store at Salisbury. When the war with
England in 1812 became a certainty, Richard Caldwell raised the 25th
Co. Infantry of soldiers, was elected their captain, and led them
toward Canada, crossing Lake Champlain in open boats, in a severe
storm. He divided his extra clothing with his soldiers, and
contracted a severe cold, resulting in pneumonia, and he died
December 11, 1812, and is buried at Champlain, near Plattsburgh. His
name is perpetuated by the beautiful monument erected in Salisbury
Mills by his nephew, Richard Caldwell, to his memory and the memory
of those who perished with him in that ill-advised and ill-equipped
expedition; also to the memory of Captain Isaac Nicoll and those who
died with him, in the War of the Rebellion. Captain Richard Caldwell
left two children, John R. Caldwell, long well known as a prominent
citizen of New Windsor, and Mary, the wife of Marcus Sears, M.D. The
old house erected by John Caldwell in 1803 is still standing, long
known as the home of Andrew J. Caldwell and his son, Richard
Caldwell, both of whom stood firm for righteousness and temperance.
In a part of the same grounds was the home of a sister, Mrs.
Chambers, now occupied by the widow of Richard Caldwell, and from
which still emanates a powerful influence for good to the whole
village. Also the old home of the oldest son, John Caldwell, who was
a merchant in New York, and on retiring came to live with his kindred
in Salisbury, was the first president of the Orange County
Agricultural Society, and was much interested in keeping silk worms
and actually produced silk from the mulberry trees growing on his
grounds in Salisbury.
Near the village stands a part of the old stone house, the home of
Major Du Bois, who was a prominent man in the War of the Revolution,
as major in Colonel Woodhull's regiment, who was a prisoner for ten
months in the hands of the British, and who lost his extensive lands
by the depreciation of the Colonial money and his enforced absence
from home; also the beautiful home of the family of Hon. Robert
Denniston. The ancestor of the Denniston family was Alexander
Denniston, the brother-in-law of Charles Clinton, who with many of
his friends and neighbors, all being Scotch Presbyterians, and tired
of the exactions and demands of the crown, emigrated from the town of
Edgeworth, county of Longford, Ireland, in the early summer of 1729.
After a long, tedious voyage of nearly five months, they landed on
Cape Cod; thence two years later they came to Little Britain. A
family legend is, that these pioneers stood upon a hilltop about two
miles northeast of Washingtonville and called the land in sight to
the north, Little Britain, and there they settled. Alexander had six
sons, James, George, Alexander, William, John, Charles, and four
daughters. They were all stern patriots devoted to their country. The
father was a member of Colonel Ellison's New Windsor regiment in
1738, and on frontier service in 1755. The six sons were all members
of the Third Ulster County regiment, which was called out many times
during the dark days of the Revolution. Two were members of the
Committee of Safety and one served in the line during the whole war.
Of these sons James was the only one that settled in the town of
Blooming Grove, the others settling elsewhere, New Windsor, Cornwall,
etc. He purchased, in 1790, the farm one mile east of Washingtonville,
which still remains in the family. He had three sons, James,
Alexander, Abraham, and two daughters. He died in 1805, leaving the
homestead to his son James. The latter had one son, Robert, and four
daughters. Dying in 1825, the homestead was inherited by his son
Robert. The latter served as an officer of the militia, was justice of
the peace in his native town, judge of the Court of Common Pleas in
Orange County, was elected member of the New York State Assembly in
1835, and again in 1839 and 1840, and was State senator from 1841-1847
and State comptroller in 1860 and 1861. He was very active and
energetic in his endeavors to maintain the Union during the War of the
Rebellion, and was chairman of the military commission in the Orange
and Sullivan Counties district. He had five sons, William Scott, James
Otis, Robert, Henry Martyn, Augustus, and six daughters. These sons,
like their ancestors, were all interested in the war for the
preservation of the Union, and served either in the army or navy.
William Scott was a surgeon in the volunteer army and died of fever,
July, 1862. James Otis was first lieutenant and captain, Company G,
124th N. Y. State Volunteers, July 2, 1862, to September 3, 1863,
when, on account of wounds, he was mustered out. He afterwards studied
theology and retired from active church work in 1905. Augustus was
first lieutenant and quartermaster in the same regiment from July 15,
1862, to February 3, 1863, resigning on account of physical debility.
Henry Martyn entered the pay corps of the U. S. Navy in September,
1861, and after serving over forty years, on reaching the age of
sixty-two years was placed on the retired list with the rank of rear
admiral. Robert served as his assistant from March, 1863, to October,
1863, resigning on account of ill health, and died August, 1864.
Augustus was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1874-1875, and
president of Orange County Agricultural Society, 1879, to date; also
president of Highland National Bank, and resides on the old homestead,
which he owns.
West of Blooming Grove about two miles is located the village of
Craigville, upon the falls of the Greycourt Creek, which formerly
allowed three dams, all now gone, the combined power of which,
together with the fact that the stream may be replenished from Walton
Lake, or Long Pond, will at some future date be of value, as it was
in the past. On the upper fall was located in the early days a forge,
and some of the old slag is still in evidence. In later years a
saw-mill and grist-mill were erected by Hector Craig, used afterward
as the first manufactory of Hornby's Oats--H. O. The machinery has
been removed since to Buffalo. The second fall was utilized by James
Craig and his son, Hector Craig, for a paper mill in 1790.
After the death of Hector Craig, Barrett Ames, a son-in-law of
Hector Craig, who had been a cotton merchant in Mobile, and his
son-in-law, E. Peet, erected here a cotton factory, which was
operated successfully for a number of years, but after the death of
Mr. Ames, the property passed into other hands, and the cotton
factory was burned down. Later the high dam was swept away and
nothing remains but the ruins and the old house, which was once
surrounded by beautiful gardens and was the scene of much social life
when the home of Hector Craig, Barrett Ames and Irving Van Wart, who
was a son-in-law of Mr. Ames. At this home Washington Irving, an
uncle of Irving Van Wart, made one of his last visits, if not his
last visit, far away from Sunnyside. To this old home came James
Craig, in 1790, from Paisley, Scotland, bringing with him his family.
His son, Hector Craig, born in Scotland, 1775, married a daughter of
John Chandler, 1796. He was a member of Congress, 1823-1825 and
1829-1830. He was a strong supporter of Andrew Jackson, is said to
have cast the first vote in Congress for Andrew Jackson for
President, and was by him appointed surveyor of the port in 1830, and
U. S. commissioner of bankruptcy in 1832. Hector Craig carried on the
paper mill during his life, and also for a time the manufacture of
hemp from the Chester meadows, which had been drained by act of
Legislature in 1790. The old storehouse built by him is still carried
on by Edwin Duryea, and the old hotel is still standing, a part of
the Hornby property. The third fall, much lower, turned the mill of
Uncle Silas Seaman and his son, Valentine Seaman, but is now out of
use, and the property of H. S. Ramsdell. Just beyond the terminus of
the Blooming Grove and Greycourt turnpike is the old Greycourt
Cemetery, the burial place of many respected citizens of this and
adjoining towns.
[Illustration: The Abimal Youngs House, Oxford Depot, Built 1733]
Two miles south of Craigville is situated Oxford Depot, on the Erie
Railroad, with a general country store, kept formerly by Peter B.
Taylor, but for many years the store and post-office have been in
charge of S. C. Van Vliet, who has also served the town as
supervisor, justice, etc. Here is also a creamery run by the
Alexander Campbell Co. The old settlement of Satterly's Mills and the
adjacent Campbell Tillotson property are now the beautiful country
residence of William Crawford, a well-known New York merchant, who is
doing much to improve that part of the town. Near Oxford Depot is the
beautiful home of Judge Charles R. Bull, supervisor from 1899 to
1903, and associate judge of County Court, and a lineal descendant of
Sarah Wells. The old-time homes of the Seelys and Marvins and the
Fletcher Woodhull families, for a long time famous for their
well-tilled farms, and in the old times well finished fat cattle,
have passed from their hands, with the single exception of that of
Courtland Marvin, still in the hands of his grand-daughter, Fannie
Marvin, regent of Blooming Grove Chapter, D. A. R., and
granddaughter of Fannie Woodhull Marvin, mentioned by Eager in his
sketch of Claudius Smith as being used by her mother, wife of Captain
Woodhull, in saving the family silver. The stone house built under
the supervision of William S. Woodhull is still the property of the
widow of his son, Jesse Woodhull, who was a daughter of Marcus Sears
and Mary Caldwell. And the Youngs homesteads are still held by their
descendants, Joseph W. Young, Mrs. Durland and the family of William
B. Hunter. The Bulls in the southern part of the town near Monroe,
still dwell upon the old homestead. John Brewster, the town clerk of
Cornwall, 1765-1799, lived near Blooming Grove, and a part of his old
homestead remains in the hands of his descendants, Thomas C. and
Walter H. Brewster, who have both been supervisors of the town, and
whose beautiful homes are beside the Tappan on Satterly's Creek, and
near the ancestral home of Selah E. Strong, supervisor of Blooming
Grove, 1875-1882, and sheriff of Orange County, 1888-1889-1890, and
is now the home of his widow and their son, Sherwood Strong. This
fine, old home was built by his grandfather, Selah Strong, the first
supervisor of the new town of Blooming Grove, having been justice of
the peace for the town of Cornwall for ten years. His father, Major
Nathaniel Strong, came to this farm with the Howells and Woodhulls
from Long Island, and married Hannah, daughter of Major Nathaniel
Woodhull. He was a prominent citizen, a major in the Continental
Army, and was murdered in his home on his farm, by the notorious
Claudius Smith, October 6, 1778. This homestead adjoins that of the
Strong family, now occupied by Charles F. Bull, from which came:
Major Samuel Strong and Captain Nathan Strong, who was at Valley
Forge with the Continental Army. The descendants of Samuel Strong now
live in Blooming Grove on the Benjamin Strong farm, near the
Blooming Grove church, and Charles Strong in Blagg's Clove. This
homestead adjoins that of Colonel Jesse Woodhull, who settled here on
500 acres of land in 1753, aged eighteen years, a part of which still
remains in the family of N. D. Woodhull. The Woodhull family were
descendants from Richard Woodhull, born in North Hampton, England,
1620. Zealous for English liberty during the Protectorate, he sought
freedom here. His grandson, Nathaniel, married into the Smith family,
who were large proprietors of St. George's Manor, L. I. His daughter,
Hannah, married Major Nathaniel Strong. His son, General Nathaniel
Woodhull, remained upon the old homestead at Mastic, Long Island, and
took an active part in opposing British oppression, and was killed by
a British officer, September 2, 1776, tradition says because he would
not say, "God save the King." Jesse settled in Blagg's Clove, and his
son Richard married Hannah, daughter of Judge William Smith, of Long
Island, and was the father of William Smith and Nathaniel Du Bois.
William Smith was the father of William Henry Howell and Jesse
Woodhull, and Nathaniel was the father of Richard and Francis
Mandeville and grandfather of Nathaniel D. Woodhull, well known in
Orange County as a leader of the New York milk business. Adjoining
the Woodhull tract is the old Howell homestead to which Hezekiah
Howell came from Long Island about 1730, and tradition says that as
they came over Schunnemunk Mountain they were obliged to stand by
their horses to prevent the wild turkeys from eating up their oats.
He with Sylvanus White and others took up the patent of 2,000 acres
called Blagg's Clove, and he married a daughter of Job Sayre in 1735.
His son, Hezekiah 2d, was born here, 1741, and married Juliana,
daughter of Nathaniel Woodhull, of Mastic, L. I. His son, Charles
Howell, was born in 1752, married a daughter of Major Nathaniel
Strong, and after her death, Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Board,
and, settled near the Blooming Grove church, upon a farm of 150
acres, which still remains in the hands of the family of his son,
Edmund S. Howell. He served in the Independent Corps under General
George Clinton in building Fort Putnam, and was on guard after the
burning of Kingston. Hezekiah Howell was the first supervisor of the
old town of Cornwall, and was sheriff of Orange County during the
Revolution. His son, Hezekiah 3d, married Frances, daughter of Major
Tuthill, of Orange County. His grandson, Nathaniel W., graduated from
Williams in the year 1853, was supervisor of Blooming Grove, 1871 and
1872, and a member of Assembly, 1863-1864. He has lived upon the old
Howell homestead, and also inherited his father's farm, and has just
conveyed the whole Howell tract of 700 acres to C. T. Purdy, who is
as closely connected with Sheriff Howell as Nathaniel W. Sylvanus
White, Jr., was born on Long Island, Southampton, and was son of
Sylvanus and Phoebe Howell. They came with the Howells and Woodhulls
and Strongs and Moffatts, to Blagg's Clove, and settled upon 300
acres of land. His daughter married Anselm Helme, and the family
still retain the old Helme homestead, near Coleman's Mills. His son,
Nathan H. White, was born in 1770, entered Columbia College at the
age of eighteen, and graduated in 1781 in the same class as John
Randolph of Roanoke. He taught a classical school in Montgomery for
six years, and was principal of the Newburgh Academy two years.
Returning to the old home in 1802, he married Frances, daughter of
Hezekiah and Juliana Woodhull Howell and added 200 acres to the old
homestead. He was elected first judge of Orange County, and was the
friend and associate of Judges Kent, Van Ness, Platt and others; in
1806 was commissioned by Governor Morgan Lewis, captain of an Orange
County Company of Militia. His son, Albert S. White, went to Indiana
about 1825, was a member of Congress from Indiana two terms, and
U. S. Senator contemporary with Clay, Calhoun and Webster. One
daughter married Harvey Denniston, and after his death, John Nicoll,
of Washingtonville, and the old White homestead is still held by her
son, Charles Nicoll; and from this union of the Woodhulls with the
Strongs and the Howells and from the Woodhull family came the
numerous descendants who, together with the Seelys, Tuthills and
Moffatts, Hulses, Hudsons, Duryeas, etc., have combined to make the
old town well known, both at home and in very many distant States,
as one after another has left his ancestral acres to seek a home, if
not a fortune, in other parts of our native land. Those who remained
at home have kept the ancestral acres up to the standard of
productiveness set by their fathers, have been the supporters of the
old church and of the schools, and have erected beautiful homes.
Instead of the droves of fatted cattle which slowly wended their way
through the Ramapo Valley to the Christmas market in the city, and
the county butter, now the Erie Railroad carries its daily freight of
milk, and the accustomed leisure, the good old-fashioned all-day
visits, and early teas, have given way to the daily rush to the
trains, or creameries, and the more elaborate, though no more
enjoyable festal occasions, with formal invitations and great
preparations.
Who shall succeed these old families who have so loyally supported
the Church, the State and the School? Shall their fine residences,
which now crown the hilltops, with their beautiful views, and the
valleys with their peaceful streams, attract the residents of the
nearby cities, as the neighboring town of Monroe is doing? Or will
these homes pass into the hands of those who have to labor for their
daily bread, day by day, and neither the one nor the other caring for
the traditions of the past, caring not for the old churches, the old
burial grounds, nor anything of the past.
This question comes home to many of us, as we see the changes going
on about us, and we cannot answer.
CHURCHES AND PASTORS.
The first house of worship was erected in Blooming Grove, 1759. The
old church stood until 1823, when the present building was erected.
The first pastor was Rev. Enos Ayres, who stood first on the roll of
the first class graduated at Princeton College. He died in 1762 and
was buried in the old burial ground, a part of which, including his
grave and the graves of Rev. Samuel Parkhurst and Rev. Benoni
Bradner, was covered by the new church building. In 1764 he was
succeeded by Rev. Abner Reeve, father of the celebrated Judge Reeve,
who founded the law school at Litchfield, Conn. Rev. Abner Reeve
resigned about 1786. In 1786, Rev. Samuel Parkhurst came as a supply
and soon died here, and his grave is also under the present church.
Then followed, in 1770, Rev. Anasiah Lewis, Rev. Case, Rev. Green
and Rev. Silas Constant, as stated supplies for a time. Rev. Benoni
Bradner filled the pulpit from 1786 until 1892, dying in 1804. He was
buried here, his stone still standing erect under the church. After
his retirement Rev. Joel T. Benedict preached a few months, Rev. Noah
Crane, 1803 to 1811. He was succeeded by Rev. William Rafferty, who
married a daughter of John Chandler and resigned in 1815, to become
president of St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland. Returning on a
visit in 1830, he died here, and is buried in the old Chandler family
burial ground on the old homestead now occupied by B. C. Sears.
August 7, 1816, Rev. Luther Halsey was installed as pastor. The
church was admitted under the care of the Presbytery, with the
reservation of its form of government, and remained in the
Presbytery of Hudson until 1833, but has always been in fact
Congregational. Rev. Luther Halsey served the church with great
acceptance. Great revivals blessed his ministry, at one time nearly
one hundred being added to the church. The present church building
was erected under his ministry, and frequently filled. He resigned
in 1824 to accept a professorship in Nassau Hall; later became
professor of theology in Allegheny, in Auburn, and in Union
Seminaries. He died in Pittsburgh on November 2, 1880, aged
eighty-seven years. He was succeeded at Blooming Grove by James
Arbuckle, then pastor of the Eighth Presbyterian Church of
Philadelphia, who was pastor of the church until his death, July,
1847. In 1847, Rev. Ebenezer Mason, son of the celebrated John M.
Mason, D.D., of New York City, became pastor, who died here the next
year. After his death the pulpit was supplied until April, 1851, when
Rev. Austin Craig was called, and served this church for fourteen
years, when he resigned to accept the presidency of Antioch College,
Ohio, and later was president of the Biblical School at
Stanfordville, Dutchess County, N. Y., where he died, but is still
held in loving remembrance by many of the congregation and in the
town. He was succeeded in April, 1866, by Rev. Warren Hathaway, D.D.,
who still occupies the pulpit. Although he has had frequent calls to
what seems to have been more attractive fields of labor, he still
remains loyal to his old congregation and they to him. Both Eager and
Ruttenber, to whom we are indebted for part of the facts herein
stated, excuse a lengthy report of this old church, because of its
being one of the landmarks of the town, and it still stands for
righteousness, temperance, and charity toward all those laboring for
the good of their fellowmen, but the congregation is greatly changed.
In the place of the Marvins, and Seelys, Moffatts and Roes, who came
in large loads containing the whole families, come very few of those
still left of the Woodhulls and Marvins. Although the Tuthills and
the Shons, who represent the old Moffatt family, the Hulses and
Hudsons, Gerows and Sears, and Howells and Brewsters, still
contribute their quotas toward the congregation, there are many
vacant pews, and very many who trooped up the long aisles, and
listened attentively to the instructive and eloquent sermons, and
visited upon the old door stones, are seen there no more. In place of
the tall form of David H. Moffatt, Jr., who used to lead the choir in
the old gallery, stands the handsome pipe organ erected to his
father's memory by David H. Moffatt, of Denver. And the church has a
fund in memory of David Wright, given by his daughter Susan Wright.
In 1830, an effort was made to start an Episcopal church in
Washingtonville, but met with no success. August 21, 1851, under the
leadership of Rev. Henry Belden, a Congregational church was
organized, and a building erected, which was afterward sold to the
Methodist congregation, incorporated 1855. The First Presbyterian
Church of Washingtonville was organized 1841. Connected with the
Hudson Presbytery under the charge of Rev. Henry Belden the church
grew to a membership of 121, when Rev. Henry Belden was succeeded by
Rev. Phineas Robinson. A church building was erected in 1847, and
Rev. Luther Halsey was called to succeed him and occupied the pulpit
until October, 1856. Rev. Daniel Higbee served the church from
August, 1858, until his death, October, 1867. He was succeeded by
John Griswold, who served until April, 1871, when he was succeeded by
Rev. James B. Beaumont, 1871 to 1881, George W. Morrill from 1882 to
1884, when an effort to unite the congregations of the First and
Second Churches was made, but failed. In 1886, Rev. Joseph Greenleaf
was called, and died in 1888. William M. Yeoman was pastor from 1898
to October, 1902. John A. McCallum, installed 1903, resigned June 20,
1907, leaving the church without a pastor at this date. Their church
property has been increased by a new parsonage, 1872, and a handsome
chapel and Sunday schoolroom, to the memory of Mary Scott Denniston,
the widow of Hon. Robert Denniston, erected by her children.
In 1855, Dr. Luther Halsey, having a matter of difference with the
New School Assembly, did not feel he could any longer remain under
its care, and many of his congregation joining with him, they formed
the Old School Presbyterian Church of Washingtonville. The church was
organized in 1857, a house of worship built in 1858, and a parsonage
added in 1871. Dr. Luther Halsey occupied the pulpit until April,
1862, when Rev. Arthur Harlow was called and ordained and installed,
September, 1863; resigned in October, 1871, and died June 19, 1883.
In 1872, B. G. Benedict became stated supply until 1875, when on
account of ill health he resigned and was succeeded by Rev. N. M.
Sherwood, who served the church ten years, resigning in 1885 in
order that his occupying the pulpit might not embarrass the effort
to unite the two Presbyterian churches. This effort failing, Rev.
Eugene L. Mapes was called, April, 1886; installed 1887, and resigned
a year later, having received a call to the Presbyterian church of
Carlisle, Pa. The church was then supplied for some time, and then
sold its property, and divided the proceeds between the Foreign and
Home Mission Boards of the Presbyterian Church, part of the
congregation giving to the First Presbyterian Church and part to the
old Blooming Grove Church, and part to Bethlehem and Little Britain.
_The Blooming Grove Methodist Episcopal Church_ was incorporated
December 3, 1855. This is now the _Washingtonville Methodist Church._
It was for a long time on the circuit of Monroe, Oxford, Craigville
and Highland Mills, but now is associated with the church at
Salisbury Mills, has a fine church property, kept in very good
repair, and has recently installed electric lights in connection with
other improvements.
_The Catholic Church of St. Mary_ is near Washingtonville on the
State road, the first building erected in 1872, has been of late much
enlarged and beautified under the direction and by the effort of Rev.
Father Tetrau, and now has a fine property consisting of the enlarged
church and rectory.
_The Methodist Church of Salisbury Mills_ was incorporated in 1854,
was connected with the New Windsor circuit until 1898, when it was
connected with Washingtonville. It has a convenient and finely
located building.
In Salisbury, largely through the efforts of Richard Caldwell and his
wife, Sarah Beattie Caldwell, the Hope Chapel, connected with the
_Bethlehem Presbyterian Congregation,_ was built, and has been an
active organization ever since, and its Sunday school, supported by
its founders, is large and active, and Sunday evening and other
services well attended.
_The Satterly Town Methodist Church_ was organized in 1855, a house
built and services held for some time, but its supporters,
withdrawing or moving from the neighborhood, the building was
removed. Also about 1850 a church was erected at Craigville, for the
use of that village and neighborhood, which soon passed into the
hands of the Methodist organization, and was on the circuit with
Washingtonville for many years, but service has for a long time been
discontinued, though the building still stands in fair repair and is
beautifully situated. Still another Methodist church was built about
one mile south of Oxford Depot and used for the purpose of worship,
but now has been turned to secular use; also near this was the
Friends meeting house, now used as a dwelling.
CHAPTER XII.
TOWN OF CHESTER.
By Frank Durland.
Chester is one of the interior towns of Orange County, situated on
the main line Erie Railroad, which together with the Newburgh branch,
Lehigh and Hudson and Orange County Railroads, make up the chief
commercial outlets to the ports on the Hudson and Delaware Rivers.
It consists of over sixteen thousand acres of fine farming land and
is a noted dairy and stock farming section of the Empire State.
Considerable enterprise has been shown in recent years in the
culture of onions, celery and lettuce on the Greycourt meadows, which
are among the most fertile of all the alluvial deposits of the
country.
The title of most of the land of the township is from the famous
Wawayanda patent, which covered the land deeded by the twelve native
Indian proprietors, who signed a deed, March 5, 1703, for all the
land from the high hills of the Hudson to the Shawangunk Mountains
and the Jersey line. The highest points of vantage in Chester
township, from which magnificent views may be obtained of the whole
Wawayanda country, are Sugar Loaf Mountain, 1,220 feet elevation, and
Goose Pond Mountain, 826 feet above the sea level. From these
pinnacles may be seen the Catskills, which are much higher and
further removed than the Shawangunk range of mountains.
The elevation in Chester village at Durland Square is 485 feet, and
on the ridge back of the Presbyterian Church, extending toward
Craigville, may be obtained extended views of a large portion of
Orange County, spread out in every direction.
The H. W. Wood hills at East Chester, the T. S. Durland ridge at
Greycourt, and the Guy Miller gravel hill, each have a magnificent
outlook over a large scope of the country from Schunnemunk to
Shawangunk. In the valleys between these ridges are the old highways
following in some instances, Indian trails. It is but natural that
along these roads the present village should have grown up.
[Illustration: Frank Durland]
The road from Newburgh through Chester to Trenton and Morristown,
N. J., is often spoken of in the Clinton papers and in more recent
years it has been known as the King's Highway. It has been a noted
road since Colonial days, having often been used by General
Washington during the Revolutionary War. It is the natural avenue for
intercourse between Newburgh and New Jersey. Crossing this road at
Durland's Square is the old Albany and New York stage road, which
enters the town of Chester at the Goshen line and to the metropolis
continues its course southward near Greycourt. Leaving this old stage
road at Nanowitt Park, which has been recently donated to the town of
Chester by Rev. E. T. Sanford, pastor of the North Baptist Church of
New York City, is the old Indian trail, which became a popular road
during the Colonial days and leads to Greenwood Lake and to the
ancient Sterling Iron Works. This road was traveled by Peter
Townsend, one of the owners of the Sterling Iron Works, who lived in
Chester during the Revolution, and whose descendants continued to
reside here for many years.
There is also the new State road, No. 600, following quite closely
the old Albany and New York road, excepting the course from Monroe
to Chester is changed from the east to the west side of the Erie
Railroad. The famous Glenmere Lake, formerly known as Thompson's
Pond, is partly in the town of Chester, and is noted for its pickerel
and bass fishing. Its area is about 400 acres.
The streams of the town are known as the Otter Kill, which flows
through West Chester and is joined at Lincolndale by the Cromeline
Creek, which was known in Colonial days as the "River."
The Cromeline has its sources of supply near the northern headwaters
of Greenwood Lake in the watershed known as "Dutch Hollow;" also from
the outlet of Walton Lake, known in Colonial days as the "Little
Long Pond" to distinguish it from Greenwood Lake, which in the early
period of our history was known as Long Pond. Along the Cromeline
Creek are the fertile meadows formerly known as the Great Beaver
meadows.
Since the erection of the Cromeline house in the year 1716, which
stood on the south side of the road opposite the present home of
W. R. Conklin, the meadows have been known as the Greycourt meadows,
from the fact that this Cromeline house was known as the Greycourt
Inn. This name was also given to the cemetery, near this old inn, and when
the Erie Railroad was built in 1841, this name was applied to the
junction of the Erie Railroad with the Newburgh branch and the
Warwick Valley, first called East and West Junction, afterwards
Chesterville, and finally the euphonious name of Greycourt was
decided upon as the name appropriate for the station adjoining these
famous Greycourt meadows.
COLONIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY.
On the 22nd of August, 1775, the Provincial Congress of New York
passed a law under which the militia of the Revolution was organized.
The several companies so formed were directed to be joined into
regiments to consist of not less than five nor more than ten
companies. When the organization was perfected, the companies of
Orange formed the Fourth Brigade under Brigadier General George
Clinton. This brigade was composed of four companies of Ulster and
five of Orange County, commanded respectively by Colonel Allison,
whose regimental district included Goshen, of which Chester was then
a part, and the western part of the county. There were Colonel
Hathorn, whose district embraced Warwick and the settlements; Colonel
Woodhull, the district which is now Monroe and Blooming Grove;
Colonel Hasbrouck's district, embracing Newburgh and vicinity;
Colonel Clinton's of New Windsor, Montgomery and Wallkill.
During the early years of the war our people (located, as they were,
not far removed from the Hudson) were almost constantly under arms
or engaged in the construction of the forts of the Highlands, or
preparing the obstructions to navigation through these Highlands.
The contract for the making of the last chain drawn across the
Hudson at West Point, on April 30, 1778, was awarded at the home of
Mr. Peter Townsend, who resided at this time in the old homestead
opposite the Presbyterian Church, in Chester village, by Secretary
of War, Mr. Pickering. Mr. Townsend, of the firm of Townsend & Noble,
at this time was one of the owners of the Sterling furnace, where the
chain was made.
During the years 1776 to 1779 our troops were very active and were
kept informed by the aid of cannon firing by day and beacon fires by
night. From December, 1776, to April, 1778, our militia was called
out no less than twelve times and spent 292 days in the field.
At a meeting of the County Delegates called to meet at the Yelverton
Inn (still standing in Chester), on September 17, 1774, Henry Wisner
was elected and sent as a delegate to the Continental Congress at
Philadelphia, "to protest against the unjust taxation." On December
9, 1776, General Clinton was ordered to co-operate with Generals
Lee and Gates to harass the enemy, who had then entered northern
New Jersey. The resolution read as follows: "That all the militia of
Orange and Ulster Counties be forthwith ordered to march properly
armed and accoutered with four days' provision to Chester, Orange
County, N. Y."
This fixes the date of the encampment of these troops on the hill
where the present new modern school-house is being erected, as being
about the latter part of December, 1776, or January, 1777. The
encampment probably consisted of part of the four regiments, under
Colonels Allison, Hathorn, Woodhull and Clinton. An order was issued
on January 4, 1777, dismissing part of these troops, leaving about
300 men in the above camp for the winter.
One of the first engagements in which our Chester patriots took part,
occurred at Suffern, October 3, 1777, when Major Thomas Moffatt
ordered Captain Wood and twenty men to cover the pass through the
mountains at this point, where they intercepted a band of Tories,
with the result of one robber killed and three wounded.
Our company was engaged under Colonel Allison later on at Forts
Montgomery and Clinton. While these events were transpiring on the
Hudson, the western frontier was harassed by the incursions of the
Indians and Tories under the leadership of the educated half-breed
Brant, together with Butler the Tory. Our troops becoming alarmed by
the fugitives' accounts of the massacres and burnings taking place on
the frontier, Colonel Hathorn, together with Lieutenant Colonel
Tusten, of Colonel Allison's Goshen Regiment, and with such numbers
of the commands as could be brought together in so brief a time,
proceeded at once to Minisink, on July 22, 1779, to take part in that
bloody battle on this date. Several of our Chester Company were
among the brave troops.
SUBSEQUENT HISTORICAL INCIDENTS.
After the Revolutionary War and until 1845, the village of Chester
was a part of the township of Goshen, and had become quite an
important trading center, being at the junction of the two leading
State roads. Up to the time of the building of the Warwick Valley
road, in 1863, now the Lehigh and Hudson, the pig iron from Wawayanda
Lake forge was carted to Chester for shipment on the Erie, the butter
and other farm produce from the Vernon Valley, extending as far as
Newton, N. J., was also brought to this point for shipment. It was
but natural that the trial to decide the boundaries of the Chesekook
and Wawayanda Indian patents should have been held at this place. In
the year 1785, in the barn connected with the Yelverton Inn, erected
in the year 1765, still standing, in good state of preservation, and
owned by Joseph Durland, some of the older inhabitants and pioneers
of Orange County met with the nation's most famous lawyers,
Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The Wawayanda patentees were
fortunate in securing these men during this trial, and many
historical facts were brought out, through the witnesses sworn at
this trial. In their testimony concerning what they knew about the
early settlement of the country and the relations of the whites to
the native Indians, the evidence was set forth. The burden of the
testimony seemed to prove that Schunnemunk was not considered by the
pioneers as the high hills of the Hudson. On this trial, Judge Elihu
Marvin stated "that he was born in 1719 and moved in what is now
known as the town of Chester in 1742. Whenever he visited Haverstraw
and returned as far as the Ramapo River, it was always called beyond
the High Hills of the Hudson."
Hugh Dobbin, aged seventy-six, stated "that he lived near Sugar Loaf
Mountain since 1738."
Deliverance Conkling, who lived near Wickham's Pond, stated "that he
was 71 years old, and has known personally Lancaster Symes, one of
the Wawayanda patentees, and the pond at Goose Pond Mountain used to
be called Cromeline Pond, and abounded in wild geese."
Samuel Gale was born in 1737, and testified "that the Chesekooks
line had always been disputed."
William Thompson was born in 1723, was chain bearer for Colonel
Clinton and usually stopped, when surveying the Chesekook patent,
at Perry's near Wickham's Pond. He had talked with the Indians and
remained at times in their wigwams.
Ebenezer Holly, born 1698, stated that he knew Captain Symes,
Captain Aske, Christopher Denn and Daniel Cromeline. In dispute with
the Indians, Governor Burnet had decided that the Indians must move
off the land; among the Indians who still claimed land were Rondout,
Hons and Romer. He stated that Cromeline made his first improvement
at Greycourt.
[Illustration: S. Headden]
John Kinner, a Chester resident, held land in this disputed tract
under Mr. Wisner, Dr. Baird and Mr. Scott.
James Board, aged sixty-five, born in England in 1720, came to this
country with his father, Cornelius, and brother, David, in 1730;
sent by Alexander, Lord Sterling, to discover copper mines;
discovered iron ore deposits at Sterling, built there a forge in
1735, and in the year of 1740 removed to Ringwood. The mountains west
toward Warwick were called by that name. The Sugar Loaf Mountain was
called by that name as long as he remembered.
Soon after the forge was going it was sold by Cornelius Board & Sons
to Coldon & Ward.
During this trial Burr and Hamilton were guests at the old Yelverton
Inn. The court adjourned to meet again at Chester, in Yelverton barn,
in October, 1785, at which session it was decided that Chesekook
patent should comprise all the land east of Goose Pond Mountain and
the great Beaver Meadows, to the western line of Evans patent and the
Hudson River.
In the early part of the nineteenth century, living in and about West
Chester, were Joseph Durland, born in 1762, Benjamin Dunning, Daniel
Denton, James Roe and Michael Renton. On the Florida road lived
Thaddeus Seely and Major Holbert. At Chester lived Asa Vail opposite
the second academy, Edmund Seely, Seth Satterly and Dr. Townsend
Seely. Peter Townsend lived opposite the Presbyterian church. Isaac
and William Townsend on the C. B. Wood ridge, Elmer Cooper and Dr.
Dodd, Aaron Cox, the hatter, and Stephen Cooper, born in 1788; David
G. Drake, born in 1760. The old Samuel Satterly house stood on the
brow of the hill, nearly opposite the joining of Old New York road,
near the new State road; from this point at the bridge, which was
called in these early days the "Purgatory Bridge," the most popular
amusement was running races. The course lay from this bridge to the
oak tree, which is still standing near H. W. Wood's residence. On
special days, July 4, and in the autumn, the people from miles around
fairly lined the short course in numbers from three to four hundred
people. In fact, nearly double the number of our whole population at
that period. Purses were usually made up at such times at the course,
and great horses contested. Among them were Webber's "Kentucky Whip,"
a great running sire from Kentucky; Tom Thumb and Saltrum. The
visitation of such noted running stock to Chester was the beginning
of an improvement in the racing stock of this section. This
development found its climax in the birth of Hambletonian, the
progenitor of the American trotter.
When the old "Hero of Chester" died in 1876, he was buried on the
hill on the W. M. Rysdyck place. Since that time a granite shaft
costing $3,000, has been erected, to mark the resting place of this
notable sire.
About 100 years ago Isaac Kinner and Daniel Cooley lived on the
western foothills of the Goose Pond Mountains.
On the Craigville road lived Dr. John Boulton, Birdseye Young,
Albert Seely, Samuel Denton, Hezekiah Moffatt and Jesse Carpenter.
THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.
About 1721, we find John Yelverton, of New Windsor, in this section.
The deed recorded, 1765, by his grandson and executor, Abijah
Yelverton, who kept the Yelverton Inn, in old Chester village,
conveys three parcels of land in 1721 in Goshen to John Yelverton,
in trust "for a parsonage, minister's house and burying place; also
to build a meeting house thereon or a public edifice for the worship
of God in the way and manner of those of the Presbyterian
persuasion," signed by twenty-four land owners in the different parts
of the Wawayanda patent. This has reference to the Goshen
Presbyterian church. During this period Chester, with the rest of this
part of the county, was included in the precinct of Goshen.
Richard Edsall's survey, made in 1741, mentions William Seely and
Rulof Swartwout as living in this neighborhood.
The township of Chester is well arranged for the transaction of
public business, and is the practical outcome of the ambitions of a
progressive century. In 1845 from the towns of Goshen, Warwick,
Blooming Grove and Monroe, the township was organized with James
Gray as its first supervisor, 1845.
[Illustration: C. B. Wood]
The first deed that we find made mention of was John Beers as owning
120 acres of the Cromeline patent; he sold the same June 16, 1751, to
John Ensign, who in turn sold 42-3/4 acres of the tract, on May 19,
1755, to John Yelverton, gentleman, for the sum of 97L. and 4S.
current money. Upon this land the village of Chester is located.
Many familiar names of the families living in our township to-day are
found on the assessment rolls of dist. No. 4, town of Goshen, of
September, 1775, signed by Nathaniel Roe.
This district may be described as running from Greycourt to
Satterlytown, Sugar Loaf to Summerville, to Fort Hill, with no less
than 119 land owners with an assessed valuation of 370L. 8S. 17D.
Abijah Yelverton, in the year of 1783, gave an acre of ground for
church purposes. The year 1797 saw the beginning of the first meeting
house. In 1708 the first minister began his labors in the
Presbyterian church at $75 per annum, "with the privilege of teaching
to piece out his support." This meeting house stood on the high
ground in the rear of the residence of Dr. S. G. Carpenter, in the
old village of Chester. It was commodious for the time, with square
pews, but was used without being heated. The next church was built
in 1829, and was located about the center of the present cemetery at
East Chester.
Our earliest district school-house stood opposite the Dr. Edmonston
home in the old village. It was erected during the latter part of
1700. Another was located on the Goshen road near Dr. A. T. Sanden's
residence. Long before the noise of railroads disturbed the quiet of
our hamlet, the mails were brought by the old stage coach.
Chester was favorably situated for the exchange of mails, the Goshen
stage running through here to meet the Newburgh and New York stage
line at Southfield and the Warwick stage line, using our road to
connect with the same line at Washingtonville.
The first post-office was established in Chester in 1794. Joseph
Wickham being the first postmaster located at West Chester, then and
now a part of Chester village, afterward it was moved to the old
village and in 1842 was removed to the building opposite the present
Erie Railroad tower at Chester Station. The idea of offering fresh
milk from the country to the distant consumer in the city originated
with a road contractor named Selleck who interested some of our
leading farmers in the project and succeeded in getting a supply
sent by the Erie in the spring of 1842. It was shipped in the blue
pyramid churns of that day. The first shipment were about six cans
per day and freight charges were by weight, twenty cents per hundred
pounds. The price paid the producer was two cents per quart, placed
on the cars at Chester. The farmers soon finding that there was more
money to be made from milk at two cents per quart than butter at
fifteen cents per pound, began sending milk to Selleck. Thus the
milk business of the county was born, and in spite of the many
difficulties, this business has alone been the means of building four
railroads in Orange County and returned to it over $100,000,000.
In 1784 mention is made of a saw-mill on the trout brook, on the
Sterling road. These mills are now known as Bull's Mills. A
grist-mill was then operated on the opposite side of the stream. The
old flouring mill at West Chester was established soon after the
settlement was made. As late as the year 1820, an old mill stood upon
the ground just above the present Chester mills. During these times
they used two run of stone and never were compelled to shut down for
lack of water.
Chester's first library was incorporated November 17, 1779, with
seven trustees, and was verified before Judge Wickham and recorded
the same year. Abijah Yelverton was the first librarian.
The war of 1861 occasioned a great demand for onions and our onion
culture on the black meadows began about that time. Our average
yearly production has been about 60,000 bushels. During revolutionary
times a part of these meadows were cultivated for raising hemp;
later on, potatoes and corn.
INCORPORATION.
The movement for both our present water supply and for the
incorporation of the village first took effective shape in the year
1891, when a few public-spirited citizens of the village subscribed
to a fund to be expended in a survey to determine whether the water
of Little Long Pond, now known as "Walton Lake," could be brought to
the village under such pressure as would make it available for fire
protection. The preliminary survey was made under the direction of
Joseph Board and George M. Roe. The facts were convincing that this
was a most favorable project for a water supply. First, the
organization of a private company was proposed, and from this
developed the incorporation of our village, the citizens realizing
that if we were to have a water supply it must be owned by the
village. Accordingly this was done with the happy result that has
made us the envy of our neighboring villages.
[Illustration: Joseph Board]
On October 17, 1892, Mr. Joseph Board was appointed as resident
superintendent in the construction of the water works, and when the
water was turned on, in exactly a year, October 17, 1893, the
inhabitants of our village had the satisfaction of knowing that each
length of pipe so laid had been under the inspection of our
superintendent.
The village of Chester was incorporated June 23, 1892. having a
population of 1,400; 125 voters favored the incorporation and only
the small number of thirteen opposed the proposition. At the first
caucus, held July 12, 1892, were nominated W. A. Lawrence as
president; Joseph Durland, George M. Roe and Thad. S. Durland,
trustees. At the first election, held July 20, 1892, the above
citizens were elected to their respective offices. The village board
was organized on the same date, naming Joseph Board as village clerk.
The board of water commissioners was organized August 15, 1892, with
Messrs. W. A. Lawrence, Joseph Durland, George M. Roe and T. S.
Durland as commissioners, and Joseph Board, clerk. A taxpayers'
meeting was called September 2, 1892, to vote on the question of
assessment for water-works, with the following results: Sixty-eight
in favor, against seven. Contract was executed at a total cost of
$53,000 at their final completion.
This water supply for the village of Chester is one of the best in
the State. The source is Walton Lake, formerly known as Little Long
Pond, a beautiful sheet of spring water, covering an area of 127
acres, with a storage capacity of 3-1/2 feet, each foot of water
giving a supply of over 40,000,000 gallons. This supply is a gravity
system. From this lake, at an elevation of 250 feet above the level
of Main street, at Chester Station, giving a working pressure of 80
to 90 pounds, there was laid for water-mains, 8,197 feet of 12-in.
pipe, 6,978 feet of 19-in. pipe, 14,820 feet of 8-in. pipe, 5,748
feet of 6-in. pipe, 6,312 feet of 4-in. pipe.
Since the introduction of Walton Lake water, both the Walton Hose
Company and Hook and Ladder Company have been organized.
After the incorporation the present municipal brick building was
erected at a cost of $5,000. In this building rooms for village
officers and parlors used by the fire department are located. In
connection with our fire department, there is an annual inspection at
which time the Chester military band of twenty-five members, under
the leadership of George W. Ball, adds greatly to the village life.
In the year 1905, the Orange and Rockland Electric Company was
organized, with R. W. Smith as president, and G. M. Roe as
vice-president; Zael Paddleford, secretary; Frank Durland, treasurer.
This company was organized and stock subscribed for by the citizens
of Chester and Monroe.
The streets of the village, which were formerly lighted by kerosene,
are now illuminated by electric current, generated by this company.
Our Telford streets were laid in the year 1901, at a cost of $17,000.
A distance of two and one-quarter miles were constructed through the
main streets of the village.
CHURCHES.
_The Presbyterian Church of Chester,_ while it had been ministering
to the spiritual needs of the community for more than a quarter of a
century, effected its legal organization December 26, 1826, with
David Roe, Henry Seely, James Holbert, Elnathan Satterly, Joseph
Sherwood and Townsend Seely as trustees.