The present house of worship, being the third erected by this

congregation, was dedicated January 4, 1854. The present chapel was

added in the year 1884. The church was remodeled and memorial windows

added in the year 1898. In the year 1898 the church celebrated the

centennial of its existence with impressive services and the

publication of an interesting history of its century of church life.

The commodious parsonage adjoining the church was erected in 1895 at

a cost of about $8,000.

_Methodist Episcopal Church, Sugar Loaf._--Rev. Isaac Condee was the

first Methodist preacher to visit Sugar Loaf, which he did in the

year 1803 or 1804, and first preached in the home of John D. Conklin.

In the fall of 1804 he organized the first class and appointed John

D. Conklin, leader. It is the mother of all the Methodist churches

within a radius of ten or twelve miles.

The certificate of incorporation was executed on August 6, 1809. The

trustees then chosen were Henry Wisner, Jr., Joseph Beach, Andrew

Cunningham, Benjamin Wells, Richard Wisner, Horace Ketchem, Elijah

Stevens, John D. Conklin and Benjamin Horton.

A subscription was taken and the first church was built in year 1810.

Ten years later, in the year 1820, the Sunday school was established.

The parsonage was erected in the year 1832. The second church, the

present building, was built in 1852, and at three separate times it

has undergone repairs. Rev. J. B. Wakeley, D.D., preached the sermon

at the dedication of the church in the year 1852, and following the

extensive repairs to the church, made in 1872, Bishop Cyrus D. Foss

preached the dedication sermon. The church celebrated the centennial

of its existence in the fall of 1904, at which time many of the

former pastors were present to participate in the services, when

Bishop Foss was again present.

A long list of worthy men have served this church as pastors. Rev.

P. N. Chase, Ph.D., is at present in charge; M. D. Stevens,

superintendent of the Sunday school; Miss Alice Turfler, president of

the Epworth league.

_The Methodist Episcopal Church of Chester_ was organized in the year

1837, and for some time used the academy for worship; afterwards used

the "Ball Room" of Yelverton Inn. In the year 1852 the present

property was purchased and the church, edifice erected in charge of

the following trustees:

C. B. Wood, W. L. Foster, Daniel Conklin, S. R. Banker, John T.

Johnson, William Masterson, G. B. McCabe.

In 1867 the church was enlarged and in 1878 the present parsonage was

purchased. In the year 1879 the sum of $3,000 was expended in

beautifying the church building.

_St. Paul's Episcopal Church._--The organization of St. Paul's

Episcopal Mission was effected on May 25, 1897, at which time Samuel

Wilkins and James A. Parkin were elected trustees. Services were held

in various places until the summer of 1898, when land was purchased

and the present church edifice on Main street was erected. The church

was dedicated by Archdeacon William R. Thomas, D.D., on August 6,

1898. The church was consecrated by Bishop Henry Cadman Potter on

July 25, 1899. Prior to this, the usual organization of the

Episcopal Church was effected. Mr. Samuel Wilkin and R. W.

Chamberlain, wardens, were elected. J. A. Parkin, E. T. Jackson and

W. F. Depew, vestrymen. Articles of incorporation were filed on

February 27, 1899.

The clergyman, Rev. J. Holmes McGuinness, D.D., at this time was

elected.

_St. John's African Union Chapel._--This church was organized on June

22, 1904, under the auspices of the African Union First Colored

Methodist Protestant Church in America and Canada, with five members

and Rev. Edward Nicholas as pastor. The church and Sunday School has

at present a total membership of eighty-eight.

Rev. Mr. Nicholas was assigned to this field of labor by the

ninetieth annual conference of the above named denomination, held at

the mother church in Wilmington, Delaware County, May 18, 1904.

The citizens of the place have done much to encourage this well

begun work.

ORGANIZATIONS.

Chester Lodge No. 363, Knights of Pythias, was organized in the year

1894, and the lodge charter is dated July 25 of that year. The lodge

was started with a membership of twenty-one, which has increased to

forty Knights. The lodge conventions are held every Thursday evening

at Castle Hall, in the Wilkin building. The sums paid to members in

sick benefits since the organization amount to $1,000.

Standard Lodge No. 711, F. & A. M., was instituted July 27, 1871, and

continued to meet in this place, where many of its members resided

until a few years ago, when a majority decided to change its place of

meeting to Monroe.

The Chester National Bank was organized in the year 1845 as a State

bank, and became a national bank on June 6, 1865.

The bank occupies the up-to-date quarters in its new building,

erected in 1896, on Main street. The building is of brick, with

Quincy granite facing, built at a cost of $10,000, its fire and

burglar-proof vault containing 100 safe-deposit boxes, at an added

cost of $8,000.

Chester free library, organized through the effort of Chester Library

and Social Club, was chartered by the University of the State of New

York, December 19, 1901. The original trustees were Hiram Tuthill,

president; Charles W. Kerner, secretary and treasurer; Joseph Board,

Joseph Durland and Roswell W. Chamberlain, trustees. Mrs. Abbie

Masters is librarian. The library owns about 800 volumes, and in 1907

circulated 3,543 books. It is supported by voluntary contributions

and entertainments. The reading room, which is well supplied with

periodicals and the library, are open to the public on Tuesday,

Thursday and Saturday evening's and Saturday afternoons.

[Illustration: Joseph Durland]

The Young Men's Christian Association was organized March 1, 1907,

with 110 members. The members occupy the rooms in the Lawrence

building. The society started in a very flourishing condition.

There have been various organizations from time to time in Chester

to advance its interests. The Board of Trade was organized October 1,

1900, with Frank Durland, president; W. A. Lawrence, vice-president;

Charles W. Kerner, secretary; Hiram Tuthill, treasurer. Directors,

Joseph Board, William Osborne, George Vail, G. M. Roe.

The Board of Trade represents the spirit that has effected

co-operation in many ways for advancing the interests of the town.

Among them are the incorporation of our village and the securing of

the water supply from Walton Lake, and the Telford streets. At

present the officers are looking forward to the development of the

suburban idea on the beautiful site that our village affords, and

will welcome desirable manufacturing interests.

From a small beginning in the year 1874, the manufacture of

Neufchatel and square cream cheese has grown until at the present

time the Lawrence & Son's cheese factory is using over 300 cans or

12,000 quarts of milk daily, employing a daily average of twenty-five

men. This factory, consuming such a large amount of milk, together

with Borden's large receiving station, with a receiving average of

100 cans daily, proves the high productiveness of the land in this

section.

The Sugar Milk factory is located adjoining this cheese plant for the

manufacture of milk sugar.

This sugar is made from the whey, a by-product delivered by the

cheese factory.

MILITARY.

The military record of Chester is a worthy one. Quite a number of

Chester residents made up a company during the Revolutionary War,

under Colonel Allison, and were attached to the Goshen regiment.

In the second war with England there was a representation of hardy

men of this town to endure the hardships of the war. Some of them

survived until the year 1880.

During the general training days that followed the second war with

England, Captain John Yelverton, whose sword is still prized as a

relic of those days of patriotic zeal, led the men of the town to

Durland's Square, where the volunteer militia were inspected.

During the Civil War nearly 200 men represented this town in

defending the Union. Many of them suffered upon the battlefield. A

few citizens from the young men of the town enlisted in the Spanish

American War.

SUGAR LOAF.

Sugar Loaf is one of the oldest communities of Orange County and as

a trading center was established shortly after the settlement of

Goshen.

It is one of the villages of Chester township to which we may look

with interest in these early times. It was named by these pioneer

settlers from the cone-like mountain which towers above the quiet

village to an elevation of 1,226 feet above sea level. The mountain,

which consists mostly of greywacke slate, resembles in appearance, as

viewed from the village, a loaf of sugar, such as was used in the

homes of the early settlers before the day of granulated sugar as an

article of commerce. This sublime eminence, the highest in the

county, affords from its summit one of the most commanding views in

the county. This view is best secured by entering the field near

George H. Mapes's place on the road to Sugar Loaf Valley and walking,

as it were, from the tail to the head of the lion-like mountain, for

this is the shape of the mountain as viewed from Chester depot.

N. P. Willis, the American poet and literary genius, who loved old

Orange County's hills from Butler Hill on the Hudson, which he

renamed Storm King, to Adam and Eve in the drowned lands, speaks of

Sugar Loaf Mountain when viewed from the Chester Hills as being like

a crouching lion ready to spring upon its prey.

The earliest record of inhabitants includes Hugh Dobbin, who lived

near Sugar Loaf Mountain in 1738. Mr. Perry lived near the pond,

which bore his name and later was called Wickham Pond. This was

prior to the middle of the eighteenth century, when Clinton, the

surveyor, marked the Chesekook claim line, which extended from the

base of Goose Pond Mountain to Bellevale and thence to the Jersey

line.

Stephen W. Perry, who lived in the Sugar Loaf Valley a century ago,

was probably related to the Perry with whom the surveyors stopped in

those Colonial days when the Indians still lived in the mountains and

the surveyors were accustomed to use the Indian wigwams for shelter

during their journey, blazing the trees on the Chesekook line

through the trackless forest.

[Illustration: Fred B. Seely]

Nathaniel Knapp lived for a time on the Levi Geer place, and a

headstone with the date 1804, the initials N. K., aged sixty-four

years, marks the place of his burial. For some sentimental reason he

was buried under a great oak on the farm upon which Hugh Dobbin

probably lived in the year 1738. According to tradition the old log

house of this early pioneer was at the curve of the road near the

entrance to the meadow. Among other men that have been prominent

about Sugar Loaf were Henry Wisner, Horace Ketchum, Squire James

Hallock, Jesse H. Knapp, Vincent Wood, who lived on the Asa Dolson

farm, and John Holbert, born 1773, who lived on the farm now

occupied by his grandson, Samuel Holbert.

The Knapp family came from Connecticut, and settled on three

different farms. Some of the family emigrated later through a

trackless forest to the Butternut Creek in Otsego County.

The Nicholas Demerest family, of Chester, descended from James

Demerest's family, who came from Bergen County, New Jersey, and

settled on the ridge near Sugar Loaf, occupying a farm of five

hundred acres. John Bigger is mentioned by John Wood, the assessor,

in 1775, as a taxpayer, together with David Rumsey, Samuel Wickham,

Jacobus Bertholf and Barnabas Horton.

In Sugar Loaf Valley, east of the mountain, John King settled soon

after his marriage in 1784, upon a farm of two hundred acres. Among

his neighbors were Cornelius Board and George Davis. Thomas

Fitzgerald lived near the line of the town of Warwick. More recently

in the community life of Sugar Loaf the following men may be

mentioned: Joseph Cooper, Crinis Laroe, David Dyer, Lewis Rhodes,

Jesse Wood, John D. Conklin, John Bertholf, Silas Rose, David W.

Stevens, Charles Fitzgerald and Elisha Stevens.

Miss Martha Odell, of Chester, now ninety-four years of age,

remembers the visits of "Frank Forrester" and his companion, "Tom

Draw," passing through the village and over the hills to the valley

and beyond for game and fish.

The school of Sugar Loaf village in the past century has educated

many bright boys and girls. The old school-house stood on the road

that leads from the village to the northwest. The house was on the

westerly side of the road. Reeder Feagles and Lieutenant Wood were

among the teachers in the early part of the nineteenth century.

The fact that men with patriotic zeal have been identified with

Sugar Loaf may be summarized by the statement that in the home of

Mrs. H. C. Baker are mementos of her husband's service in the Civil

War, Jesse H. Knapp, who was an officer in the second war with

England, and Caleb Knapp, who served in the American Revolution.

The Committee of Safety during the Revolutionary War included other

patriots like Jacobus and Gillion Bertholf, David Rumsey, father of

Royal Rumsey, and Captain Henry Wisner. Jacob, John and Josiah

Feagles were patriotic citizens of this section during these times.

The interesting story is told of Hugh Dobbin, the pioneer of Sugar

Loaf, that during the Revolution he was exempt from service, but

pointed with pride to the fact that in 1757, in the struggle with

the French and Indians, he assisted the Government by pasturing one

hundred and fifteen horses belonging to Captain John Wisner's

company.

We cannot turn from the story of this section without alluding to

the loss of one of its interesting objects, now only a tradition. Mr.

Thomas Burt, of Warwick, at the age of eighty-seven, remembers the

time when on the side of Sugar Loaf Mountain there was an eminence

upon which was the profile of a man with broad shoulders, narrow neck

and enlarged head with hat on. This was called the "Old Giant," and

near it was a fissure in the rock called the "Giant's Cellar."

Tradition says that Claudius Smith, after his depredations through

the county, hid in this cleft of the rock.

[Illustration: George E. Brink.]

CHAPTER XIII.

TOWN OF CORNWALL.

By E. M. V. McClean.

The first view of Cornwall is not attractive. Two rugged hills rise

before us, their sides not even clothed with virgin soil, for the

loose soil sends down sand and boulders to the street below. They are

separated by a rocky ravine, at the bottom of which runs a brook,

scarcely visible in summer's drought, but fed in the spring by the

melting snow from the hills, becomes a torrent that sweeps away

bridges and roads that form its banks. A narrow highway has been cut

at the base of each hill, but merges into one road just where the

stream is spanned by a pretty stone bridge.

The landing itself is simply a business place without any pretense of

beauty. Nathan Clark's store stands as it did in 1824. Some small

houses shelter a few families, storehouses line the docks. Taft,

Howell & Company's mill has only the attractiveness of utility if we

except the emerald velvet robe of Ampelopsis, which almost covers the

entire front. The West Shore depot is a more modern structure and

past this the black rails sweep north and south.

We will take the right hand road past the post-office, presided over

by Miss Young, and ascend a rather steep hill. After we leave the

little bridge we are shut out from the sight of civilization. At our

right rises an almost perpendicular hill darkly clothed in fir, pine

and hemlock. On the left is a substantial hand rail protecting us

from the rocky gorge below. It is cool and dark here and we will stay

long enough to review a little of Cornwall's early history.

As the _Half Moon_ anchored in the broad bay south of Newburgh, the

swift canoes of the Indians shot out from the shore to investigate

what kind of a bird their white winged visitors might be. They were

of the tribe Warwaronecks, afterwards known as the Murderer's Kill

Indians.

On April 15, 1685, Governor Dongan purchased the tract claimed by

this tribe, extending from Murderer's Creek to Stony Point, the river

forming the eastern boundary. A year previous to this a Scotchman

named McGregorie had brought his own and several families to settle

here. A document is extant in which Margaret McGregorie states:

"They were not only the first Christians that had settled thereon but

also peaceably and quietly and enjoyed their land during the term of

their natural lives."

McGregorie was placed in command of the militia and marched with his

men to fight the Indians. Before he left he was assured by Governor

Dongan the patent for his land should be issued. It never was. He was

killed in 1691 and during the trouble with the Leisler government and

that of Governor Fletcher his property was sold to Captain Evans.

After a great deal of trouble in getting back to his family, who held

it until 1727, it was sold to Thomas Ellison.

There is no record of the names of any of his family after his death

except his and that of his wife's brother Tosusk, the Laird of

Minnevard. The boundaries of this tract were very indefinite until in

1799 when Monroe and Blooming Grove were erected into separate towns.

Buttermilk Falls still formed part of our territory, but the mountain

made business intercourse so very inconvenient that in 1872 a

petition was granted by the Legislature severing this connection,

the new village taking the name of Highland Falls.

FREIGHTING.

There were still many hundred acres and those were divided into large

farms where cattle, horses and small stock were raised in great

quantities. Orange County milk and butter had become famous and

Cornwall contributed her full share. Not only the products of our

own neighborhood but those of the other counties reached New York by

the way of Cornwall landing. A friend recently gone from us, Miss

Maria Conser, who was a child at that time, gives the following

graphic description: "How we children liked to stop on our way to the

old schoolhouse to watch the loaded wagons drawn by three mules

abreast lumbering over the rough roads. We were frightened when we

met the droves of cattle. The tossing of their wild horns sent us

scrambling upon the stone wall until they had passed. Hours would

elapse while tubs of butter, forests of hoop-poles, cows, calves,

sheep and lambs were placed on board of the night boat. The

passengers went to their berths but alas, for their hope of rest; the

lowing of cattle, the bleating of lambs and the noise of the crew

forbade sleep. About midnight a lull would come; the boat gliding

through the softly murmuring water made sleep possible."

[Illustration: Charles Ketcham.]

In 1805 Isaac Tobias constructed a dock at New Windsor where he built

the sloop _Hector_ and sailed it from the landing. A few years later

Captain Nathaniel Ketchum ran the _Revenge_ between here and the

city. In 1828 the _Experiment,_ the first steamboat that sailed from

the landing, was built by Silas Corwin of New Windsor and commanded

by Captain Isaac Vanduzer. She had four smokestacks and was but

little more speedy than the sloops. After a few years she was sold to

Weeks & Griffin who in turn disposed of her to Bertholf & Co. She was

finally converted into a barge. Two others, the _Wave_ and _General

Jackson,_ were put on, and in 1855 Captain Joseph Ketchum and Henry

M. Clark purchased the _Orange County_ and ran her between here and

New York. The building of the Erie Railroad to Piermont sent a large

part of the freight by that route and we have never recovered our

lost prestige. But just about this time a new industry sprang up

which partially made up for the freight that had been carried

elsewhere. The land was found to be especially adapted to the

raising of small fruits--the Hudson River Antwerp raspberries and

strawberries being the most successful, and thousands were shipped

every night during the fruit season. This too fell off when it was

discovered that we had a home market for all we could raise. This

was due to the personality of one man, N. P. Willis.

IDLEWILD.

Those who visit Idlewild today and note the miles of gravel walk

sweeping where the vista that opens is most beautiful: the rare trees

brought from many lands--the acres of lawn, smooth as velvet--the

profusion of flowers that meets one at every turn--the luxurious

mansion crowned to its eaves with blossoms and vines, can hardly

realize the wild grandeur of the scene that appealed to the poet soul

of N. P. Willis, and drew from the owner, Mr. Daniel Ward, the

question, "What do you want with such an idle wild?"

An unbroken woodland lying about the bank of the river, whose

romantic beauty was as yet unappreciated; bisected by a dark ravine

at the bottom of which ran a brook only revealed by the music of its

waters and thrown into spray by huge boulders obstructing its course.

Pines, hemlocks and forest trees centuries old sprang towards the

sunlight but at their base grew impenetrable underbrush.

The name has become a household word not only among our own people,

but in the lands beyond the sea, and thousands of readers followed

with delight every step that was taken to change the scene from

barbarism to civilization. "A letter from Idlewild" was published

every week in the _Home Journal_ of which Willis and George P.

Morris were editors.

While still a boy in college the publication of his Scriptural poems

attracted much attention. These were followed by "Pencilings by the

Way," a brilliant record of a trip through Europe.

In 1851 he was sent to Cornwall by his physician in hopes of

prolonging his life. He was threatened with consumption and had

already been warned by the danger signal of several hemorrhages. The

medicine prescribed was rest, nourishment and every hour possible

spent out of doors. He boarded with a gentle Quaker lady, Mrs.

Southerland, over whose home the dove of Peace was brooding. Slowly

but sometimes almost imperceptibly came returning strength, but to

make it permanent he must remain here and so came the purchase of a

home. The Civil War brought financial reverses, for a majority of his

subscribers were in The South, but he turned again to work in order

to recoup some of his losses, but his health again broke down and he

died on his 60th birthday, 1867, in the home he loved so well.

Mr. Willis was twice married--first to a sweet-faced English girl,

who only lived for a few years. His second wife was Miss Cornelia

Grinnell, daughter of one of our merchant princes. She sold the

estate, which passed into the hands of Judge George, a gentleman of

culture and refined taste, who carried out many of the improvements

planned by his predecessor. He sold it to the late Mr. Courtney, who

was then President of the West Shore Railroad. After Mr. Courtney's

death it passed into the hands of Mr. Charles Curie, the present

owner.

In Mr. Willis's "letters from an invalid," he described the beautiful

walks and drives in the neighborhood where he spent his days and the

description brought summer visitors seeking for board. Every room was

occupied and hundreds went away for lack of accommodation. The next

season saw new houses built and others were enlarged, and there

seemed no limit to our prosperity. A paper published here in 1874

contained the advertisements of twenty-five houses that were public

boarding-houses, besides all that were accommodated in private

families. Many who came as visitors purchased building sites and

erected summer homes. One of these was Mr. Harvey, of Brooklyn, who

built Homeland, adjoining Idlewild. Mr. E. A. Mattheissen secured the

next site where Mattheissen Park is now. Mr. Solomon, of New York,

chose Land's End for his beautiful home. Mr. Bellows's residence was

on Bayview Avenue. Mr. James Stillman and his mother each have a

summer cottage here.

BOARDING-HOUSES.

Among all the houses opened for guests the Mountain House stood

first, from the fact of its position twelve hundred feet above

tide-water in the heart of pine woods, where the visitors found

health as well as recreation. The building itself was also

attractive. In the early sixties Dr. Champlin, who had been traveling

in the East, saw some marvelous cures performed on consumptive

patients by the use of kourmis.

Property on the mountain was at this time nearly all held by two

families--John Losee Wood and Christian Vought; so when the doctor

erected two houses as a sanitarium, no one objected. The architecture

was oriental--windows and doors were surmounted by round arches, and

the second story was built over the broad piazza which surrounded it

on three sides. A number of goats were installed in what is now the

Chalet across the road, and two physicians, Doctors Pellatier and

Boyd, had charge of the houses, but the enterprise was a failure and

it became a boarding-house, numbering among its patrons some of the

most exclusive families of New York and Philadelphia.

Many of the wealthier guests who saw that there was a possibility of

forming a colony similar to that of Tuxedo, joined in a syndicate to

purchase land, to lay out roads and develop its resources. Later it

was found desirable to have a place of meeting for themselves, and

the clubhouse was built. It was incorporated under the title of the

Deer Hill Company in 1890. Besides being able to accommodate many

guests cottages were built in the grounds and the Mountain House

found its days of prosperity gone. Mr. J. W. Meagher surrendered his

lease and fire destroyed two-thirds of the building, when it passed

into the hands of Mr. James Stillman. One of the next houses in

point of numbers was Mr. James G. Roe's. It has sheltered three

hundred guests. The Elmer, had nearly two hundred; the Smith was

almost the length of a city block. The Wiley House had ninety feet of

broad piazzas. Grand View, owned by Mrs. Alott, is the only one at

present that is still in the business. There were many others, and

nearly every private family was willing to accommodate city guests.

Recently the club has surrendered its charter, and it has passed into

private hands.

ROUND TOP.

While we are in the mountain we will stand for a few minutes on

Round Top, the home of the late Miss Hussey. Near us is a small

chalet, consisting of three rooms with a cedar rail portico in front.

Here for sixty years a woman, refined, cultured, and of marked

literary ability, dwelt alone. There came a break in her seclusion,

when in 1861 she entered the army as a nurse, where she remained

until the close of the war. She was a fine raconteur, and many a

story of those days entertained her visitors, and she had many, for

she and her romantic home attracted nearly everyone who came to

Cornwall. She kept a visitors' book, and there were 5,000 names in it

before mine. In 1876 she, with two other ladies, Miss McClean and

Miss Hayes, edited the first newspaper printed in the town, but it

was not a success after the first year, when she abandoned it. She

received a pension from the Government, and died about four years

ago.

E. P. ROE.

As we have been dealing with personal history, a modest residence

with large grounds suggests another name, that of E. P. Roe, the

novelist. His childhood was passed in Moodna and the home and

surrounding scenery in the background of the picture drawn in

"Nature's Serial Story." He studied in Williams College and then

entered a theological seminary, but in 1862 resigned to become

chaplain in the Harris Light Cavalry. He participated in several

engagements, but on being appointed Hospital Chaplain, was granted a

furlough, came home and was married to Miss Sands, who accompanied

him back to the seat of war. He retained his position until the close

of hostilities, when he took charge of the Presbyterian Church at

Highland Falls. He visited Chicago after the fire, and that suggested

the plot of "Barriers Burned Away." The success of this was

phenomenal, several editions following in quick succession. Feeling

he could reach a larger congregation by his pen than by his voice,

he resigned his charge and came to Cornwall. His mornings were spent

in his garden, where his success in fruit raising equaled that in

literary work. The afternoons in his study resulted in volume after

volume being given to the public in quick succession. His books sold

well and his royalties were large, but through the misfortunes of

others he became financially embarrassed and sold the royalties of

his then published novels for $30,000. He still found ready sale for

all he produced, which soon enabled him to liquidate his obligation,

and the "children of his fancy were his own again." But the strain

told on him, and in 1887 he went to Santa Barbara for rest and

recuperation. There he wrote "The Earth Trembled," a story of the

Charleston earthquake. He returned in 1887 and began his last work,

"Miss Lou," which was never finished. In August, 1888, he was

reading aloud in his library, when he was seized with sharp pains in

his heart. Two physicians were summoned, but failed to give relief

and half an hour after his first attack, E. P. Roe was no more. After

his death several gentlemen, among others Mr. Thomas Taft, Mr.

Valentine and the Rev. Lyman Abbott, consulted as to what shape a

permanent memorial to him would take. A Roe Memorial Park was decided

upon, the location being near his home on the side of Round Top,

bounded by the Boulevard. It consists of a little more than two acres

and is heavily wooded. None of the trees have been disturbed, only

the underbrush cleared up and paths made through the grounds. At the

top is a large boulder and on top of this was placed a bronze tablet,

on which was engraved two branches of chestnuts with their foliage

and burrs, some open. Above this is inscribed: "In Memory of Edward

Payson Roe," and under this, "Near to Nature's Heart." The tablet was

unveiled on May 30, 1894, with very impressive ceremonies and was

presented to the village.

COLONEL DUNCAN.

Another name very dear to Cornwall, but one almost forgotten by the

present generation, was that of Colonel James Duncan. He was born at

Cold Springs, but his parents moved here when he was a small boy, and

settled on a farm a little out of the village. He graduated from West

Point in 1835, and was appointed Lieutenant of the Fourth Cavalry. In

1838 he perfected an arm of the service called "The flying

artillery," and this first brought him into notice. During the

Mexican War he rose from the rank of Lieutenant to that of Colonel.

He received the appointment of Inspector General of the United States

Army, and during one of his visitations at Mobile he contracted the

yellow fever and died there in 1849. His body was brought on and

buried near his home, but some years later it was removed to the

cemetery at West Point.

CANTERBURY.

That part of the town known as Canterbury was probably the first

portion settled. Old records give names of path masters who resided

here previous to the Revolutionary War, but seemed to have left no

descendants. As far back as 1820 we have the name of John Chadeayne,

one of whose sons, Mr. Henry F. Chadeayne, was the father of our

present supervisor. The early physicians all located in that end of

the town. Dr. Tobias was the first one of which we have any record.

Dr. Clinton came next, and then Dr. Elisha Hedges, dying a young man

in 1824. The house where he lived was occupied until recently by his

daughter. His successors were Dr. Heaton and his son-in-law, Dr.

Gough, and they cared for all the sick in the radius of many miles.

But as the population increased there was found work for others, and

Dr. Beattie came to us and died among us in his eightieth year. Dr.

Thomas Heaton also lies in one of our cemeteries, one of the most

beloved and trusted of doctors. He was a grandson of the first one

of that name. Dr. Hotchkiss represented homeopathy, and at his death

was succeeded by Dr. Bergen, to be followed by Dr. Chandler of that

cult. Beside the latter we have Drs. Winter and Bowdish, of the

upper village, and Drs. Shirk and Bayard, of the lower one, at

present with us.

CHURCHES.

_Presbyterian._--The earliest record of religious worship came from

Bethlehem, which was at first the name of the church, and then

extended to the neighborhood. It was Presbyterian in form and

ministered to by the Rev. Mr. Challoner, who had charge also in

Cornwall, New Windsor and Blooming Grove. The building was erected in

1730. In point of seniority it was the third oldest congregation west

of the Hudson and north of the Highlands. The second incumbent was

the Rev. Enos Ayres, who was followed by Mr. Close in 1764. He

remained for forty years, and was chaplain during the Revolutionary

War to soldiers stationed in the vicinity. The Rev. Artemus Dean was

installed in 1813 and served for twenty-nine years. During his

pastorate the church that had stood for ninety-six years was torn

down and replaced by the present edifice. In 1872 the Rev. Mr.

Atwater was appointed. In 1827 the Rev. James Thorn, of Canterbury,

gathered some members of other churches together and, obtaining

letters of dismissal from their several organizations, formed them

into a congregation. A small church was erected, and in 1828 he was

installed by the Presbytery of the North River as pastor for New

Windsor and Canterbury. He was succeeded in 1835 by Jonathan

Silliman, who remained pastor for twenty-six years. The Rev. Messrs.

Baker, Eddy and Clarke succeeded each other for short terms, but in

1872 the Rev. Lyman Abbott took charge. He labored faithfully for

many years, and only severed his connection when the call came from

Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. His place was filled by Mr. Egbert, who

proved to be a thoroughly live man, leaving the impress of his

personality not only on his church but the whole neighborhood. A call

to a larger field took him away, and his mantle fell on the Rev. Mr.

Beattie, who had been taught in that Sunday School. He too gave up

and was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Allen.

[Illustration: John Orr.]

_Cornwall-on-Hudson Presbyterian Church._--As early as 1855 some

families residing in what is now known as Cornwall-on-Hudson, felt

the need of a church at this place. They held their first meeting in

the school-room of Alfred C. Roe, in the building now occupied by the

Gold Cure, and "depending on divine aid resolved to erect a house of

Worship," and one year later the present building was dedicated.

There were only seventeen members and eight of them belonged to the

Roe family. Their names were Peter Roe, Mrs. Susan Roe, Alfred C.

Roe, Mrs. Caroline Roe, James G. Roe and wife, Mrs. Roe Caldwell,

Milton Wiley and wife, Mrs. Mary Jackson, Miss Amanda Adams, Mrs.

Mary A. Clark, Mrs. Rachael Bruen, Phebe Greegs, Mary Johnson,

Angeline Clark, and John P. Roe. In 1899 there were four survivors,

but Mrs. Sarah Wiley died that year, Mr. Milton Wiley following three

years later. In 1906 Mrs. Mary Jackson passed away, but was able to

be present part of the time in the church at the celebration of its

fiftieth anniversary. Her sister, Miss Amanda Adams, still survives.

The first elders chosen were Milton Wiley and James G. Roe, James O.

Adams was elected later. The first stated supply was the Rev. Dr.

Deyo, who was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph Robinson, who died in

1858. Dr. Ledoux followed, who resigned when Mr. Teal was appointed.

He was called to a larger field and the Rev. George P. Noble came. In

1891 he dissolved his connection with the church and Mr. Hugh

Frasier, the present incumbent, was installed.

The next church in point of age is the plain Quaker meeting house in

Canterbury. Previous to its erection, service was held in the house

occupied by David Sands, who was a noted Friend preacher, but as the

congregation grew it was found a place of worship was needed. About

1790 the present edifice was built and Catherine Sands, a girl of

twelve years old, carried the nails for the workmen from New Windsor

on horseback.

A division in doctrine caused a separation in the society in 1827.

The part retaining the buildings was called the orthodox and the

seceders Hicksites, from a member called Elias Hicks, who had

promulgated the new belief. These held meetings in private houses for

some months, when a brick building was erected in the rear of what is

now John Chatfield's stable. Both Mr. Beach and Mr. Ruttenber mention

a coincidence in the two buildings. The first marriage in the first

house was Catherine Sands to Squire Ring, and the first one in the

new building was that of her son, Robert Ring, nearly forty years

later.

_Methodist._--The early Methodists held their meetings in a

school-house, which stood for many years at the Corners, but in 1830

erected the present building on a knoll in Canterbury. It has been

almost rebuilt and modernized, and now is a very handsome church. The

first pastor was the Rev. Phineas Rice, who had charge in New

Windsor, and what is now Vails Gate, Salisbury and Mountainville. In

1863 it became self-supporting, and was detached from the other

missions, and the Rev. J. H. Gregory was appointed by the Conference.

It has always since had a resident pastor and the present incumbent,

Rev. Angelo Ostrander is justly popular and has been returned by the

unanimous request of the congregation three successive terms.

_Episcopal._--Previous to 1858 there was no separate organization of

the Episcopal Church in Cornwall. Those who could do so drove to New

Windsor, and those who were unable, joined in the worship with other

religious bodies. Many of the strangers coming here at that time were

of that faith, and in conjunction with some of the residents took the

necessary steps for the incorporation of a parish. On July 17th,

1858, a meeting was held and officers were elected to serve until the

following Easter. Alonzo Alvord and William Bayard were chosen

wardens, and N. P. Willis, Thos. Cummings, Daniel Birdsall, James

Crissey, Nicholas Chatfield, Jr., Francis Barton, Chas. H. Mead and

John Chatfield were elected vestrymen. A lot was purchased and a

contract for the building made with Messrs. Shaw & Sons, of Newburgh,

and on May 10th, 1829, the corner-stone was laid by the Right Rev.

Dr. Potter. By the 20th of November of the same year it was opened

for divine service. Until 1864, the services were conducted by the

resident minister at New Windsor, but in November of that year the

Rev. John Webster was installed, who was succeeded in January, 1866,

by the Rev. W. G. French. In 1869. the tower and spire was completed,

one of our wealthy residents who was a vestryman, Mr. Sherwood,

contributing $2,000. The ladies' auxiliary, an organization that has

shown the greatest success in collecting funds for church purposes,

contributed the clock. Mr. Snowden was the next minister, who died in

office. The Rev, Mr. Huntington succeeded him, and was succeeded by

Mr. Cleveling, who gave place to Dr. Page, who has charge at present.

_The Catholic._--Previous to 1857 the members of the Catholic Church

met for service in the home of Mrs. McQuade, in Canterbury, and at

the corners in what was then known as the Weaver house. Three

gentlemen, John Diffendale, Daniel O. Callahan and John McClean

started a building fund, each contributing one hundred dollars. The

next on the list was a non-Catholic, Mr. Henry F. Chadeayne with

fifty dollars. Mr. Stephen Gillis gave 50,000 bricks from his yard.

But a few weeks elapsed before there was money enough to justify

their purpose of building a church, and a lot was purchased at the

top of River avenue, which commanded a magnificent view of mountains

and river. The building was erected by Messrs. Little Brothers & Co.,

of Newburgh, and would seat about 150. About twenty families

represented the entire congregation. But only a few years elapsed

when it was found wholly inadequate to accommodate the resident

population, and the summer visitors would have filled one three times

as large. It was supplied from St. Patrick's, Newburgh, a priest

driving down on Sunday morning, and returning after service. After

A. E. Mattheissen and the Harvey and Sherwood families settled here,

steps were taken to build a larger edifice. The present lot was

purchased for $1,000 and nearly $2,000 more was in the savings bank,

when an application was made for a resident clergyman, and in 1870

Father Ambrose Keogh was sent by the Archbishop of New York. His

health was very delicate, and at first it seemed a task beyond his

strength to attempt to erect a church, but the present fine building

is a monument of his perseverance and energy. The corner-stone was

laid in 1871 by Bishop McQuade, of Rochester, and the following year

services were held in the basement. A handsome rectory was built and

furnished at the same time. It was connected with a mission at

Washingtonville. After five years' service Father Keogh was

transferred to Tuckahoe, and was succeeded by Father Mackin. There

was a mortgage of $13,000 on the property and Cornwall prosperity had

begun to wane, and the churches were among the first to feel it.

Meeting the annual interest and current expenses were nearly all

that was attempted at that time, with the exception of the purchase

of a cemetery for $2,000. At the end of five years Father Ward

succeeded to the pastorate, and immediately took steps to complete

the upper part. This he did, at a cost of about $8,000, without

increasing the mortgage. He was succeeded by Father Gordon, who paid

$8,000 of the debt during the five years of his incumbency. His

promotion to a large city parish was followed by the Rev. Phillip

Ahearn, who was in turn succeeded by the Rev. James Curry. A heating

plant, electric light and village water were installed at this time

into both church and rectory. Two handsome side altars were built

with three costly statues. In 1901 he was appointed to St. James'

Parish, New York, and was succeeded by the Rev. James S. Fenton.

Under his management the remainder of the mortgage has been paid and

plans drawn for a parochial school to be erected on the grounds in

the rear of the church. A large Sunday school has always been an

important part of the work. In 1907 Father Fenton went abroad for his

health, and the Rev. Father Brosan has charge.

FIRE PROTECTION.

As early as 1830 means were taken for fire protection in Canterbury,

and each man who contributed $2.50 could become a member. The names

of the first trustees were Nathan Westcott, Elias Hand, W. T. Cocks,

Geo. Marriott and John M Gough. Soon others joined it, and it was

created a body corporate under the name of the Canterbury Fire

Company. A hand engine was purchased at an expense of $125. About

1836 a second-hand suction engine was purchased in New York, but as

the population increased they realized how important it would be to

check any serious conflagration, so in October, 1869, a meeting of

property owners was held, which made arrangements for purchasing a

lot and engine house. A committee was appointed who finally bought

the premises where Hunter & McClean had their market for $2,000. A

new engine was bought and called Highland Engine No. 1. During 1905 a

very tasteful brick building costing $5,000 was erected. There were

sixty members in good standing and many applications for membership

when a vacancy occurs. The same year, 1869, that the engine was

purchased in Canterbury, a similar project was started at the

Corners, and a subscription paper was sent out, but failed to get

any definite pledges, each person approached being unwilling to be

the first to sign. A public meeting was called, and thirty-five

young men responded, each promising to give five dollars. In a few

days nearly $700 was secured, and Messrs. Titus, Wiley and John

McClean went to New York to see what could be obtained for their

money. Steamers had been introduced into the New York and Brooklyn

districts, so they found an article that suited them in Engine

Goodwill 4 of Brooklyn and it was bought and shipped on the _Orange

County_ for Cornwall. They had no house, but procured the use of

Carswell's barn. A company had been organized with Wm. J. Quigley,

foreman, John K. Oliver, assistant and John McClean, Jr., secretary.

A charter was procured in 1870, March 30th, in which A. E.

Mattheissen, Stephen Gillis, Hamilton Salmon, David Clark, Jas.

Hitchcock and E. H. Champlin, constituting themselves a body

corporate, under the name of the Storm King Engine No. 2. Another

subscription was solicited, which met with such a generous response

that a lot was purchased and a two-story building erected on Duncan

avenue. The dues of members supplemented by entertainments, furnished

their rooms and met their expenses, but in 1900 they surrendered

their charter to the village corporation and were henceforth a public

charge. A lot was bought on Main street and a handsome building

costing $6,000 was erected. They have a reception room, pool room,

and public meeting room, and a large space down stairs for their

engine house. Their charter allows only sixty members, and there are

always candidates waiting for any vacancy. A company was organized at

the Landing and some hundred feet of hose purchased, but it soon

disbanded. Last year a hose company was formed on the heights for

fire protection.

SCHOOLS.

Public schools were established soon after the Revolutionary War, and

each village had its schoolhouse and teacher, for at least the winter

months, and as the instruction was confined to the three R's several

private schools were started, but were only moderately successful.

The earliest of these was that of Madame Rutkai, the sister of the

famous Hungarian, Louis Kossuth. Mr. Alfred Roe taught one in

Canterbury for a time and in the spring of 1853 purchased the Fowler

Griggs property, where he conducted a boarding and day school for

young men. It was very successful, but in 1863 he gave it up,

entered the ministry and joined the army as the chaplain of the

Eighty-third Volunteers. In 1877 he again came to Cornwall and opened

a school for young ladies, following the Harvard standard, but the

patronage did not warrant its continuance and it was closed in the

third year. Dr. Ledoux succeeded in founding a permanent institution.

While he was pastor of the Presbyterian Church, he was taken very

sick with typhoid fever, and at times was delirious, and then spoke

only French, it being his native language. Mr. McCreery, the New York

merchant, who was boarding in the neighborhood, was looking for a

school for his sons, and after the Doctor's recovery arranged with

him to receive his boys into his family. He soon had as many as he

could teach, resigned his living, purchased a tract of land on the

Heights, and began a most successful career. He sold out to Mr. Cobb,

who after a few years sold in turn to the present proprietor, Rev.

Charles Stone.

Down to 1869 our public school was taught just long enough every year

to obtain the public money, and then some one would continue it as a

private enterprise for three or four months. But in that year, some

of our summer residents, including E. A. Mattheissen, Chas. Bellows,

Mr. Solomon, Stephen C. Gillis, James Dunn, Mr. Hitchcock, James

Couser, John McKibben and Dr. Vail, formed a board of education. A

lot was purchased from Mr. Hitchcock near the Corners, and a

substantial building erected. The school was opened on May 24th,

1869, with Mr. Williamson as principal, Miss McClean and Miss Frances

Marvel as assistants. There were then about 80 pupils. In 1896 it was

found an addition was needed and a large building was erected across

the front at a cost of $8,000. There are fourteen teachers in the

building now, and one in the annex on the Heights, and the census of

this year shows 500 children of school age. The training school under

Mr. Aldrich, turns out wonderful work for boys and girls, and the

sewing class in charge of Miss Murray, which has only been

established a year, shows how little hands can be trained. The

present board of education consists of Mr. Townsend D. Wood,

president; Mr. P. Bevins, J. J. Hall, Louis Velton, Carlos H.

Stone, George Mailler, Jas. H. Ward, John Noe, and Harris Cox.

[Illustration: Thomas Taft.]

VILLAGE OF CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON.

The village of Cornwall-on-Hudson was incorporated in March, 1885,

the first officers being: Thos. Taft, president; trustees: Wm.

Fogarty, Charles W. Clark and Oren Cobb; treasurer, H. N. Clark;

collector, Charles E. Cocks, and clerk, Daniel E. Pope.

In 1891 an excise board was elected, that refused to grant licenses,

and since then the town has remained dry. Two reservoirs were built

on the mountain, and the pure spring water carried through the town.

The outlay was $67,000, but at present the water rents defray all

expenses for interest. In 1906 a proposition was made to unite the

two villages of Canterbury and Cornwall, but was defeated. The

present board of trustees are: John Clarkson, president; Louis

Velton, Charles Smith, Norman Chatfield and Ralph Quackenbush; clerk,

James H. Ward; collector, John Noe.

CANTERBURY SCHOOLS.

A small building on one of the side roads was used for many years,

after it was evident the days of its usefulness as a schoolhouse was

over. In 1905 the people voted to raise $30,000 for a new

schoolhouse. A lot on Willow avenue was purchased, and a building,

complete in all modern appliances has been the result. There are

twelve teachers under a most efficient principal, Mr. Woodworth.

Both this and the one at the Corners, are high schools under the

regents.

VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY.

The Village Improvement Society was organized in 1900, when a public

meeting was called in Mattheissen Hall. Dr. Harrison was chairman,

and introduced the Rev. Lyman Abbott, who explained the object of the

association, which was that each one should pledge themselves to take

care of their premises, and use their influence to abate anything

that would detract from the beauty and order of the village. Nearly

everyone present agreed to become a member. The following day a

meeting was held and officers elected. Mrs. Lyman Abbott was chosen

president; Mrs. Seaman, first vice-president; Mrs. Hunter, second

vice-president; Mrs. Furey, secretary; Miss Laura Currie,

corresponding secretary, and Mrs. Dr. Harrison, treasurer. A handsome

loving cup was purchased to be given to the person who, in the

estimation of the judges, should show the best kept garden for the

year. Anyone who should win it three years in succession would own

it. Mrs. John Noe held it the first year, Mrs. Milton Couser the

second, but the three following seasons it was held by Mrs. John Noe,

who then became its permanent possessor. Almost the first work done

by the society was offering ten cents a hundred for the nests of the

tent worm. Seventy-two thousand were brought in by the school

children, with the result that while the neighboring villages lost

hundreds of trees the place was free from the pests. Trash cans were

placed in different parts of the village, and thirteen hundred

posters were removed from trees, fences and telegraph poles.

Many friends have made generous donations; among others Mr. Weeks

who, during the past four years, has offered $50 each year as

door-yard prizes. A boys' horticultural club has been formed, land

rented and a portion assigned to each boy who owns all he raises.

The two most successful receive prizes. Enough money has been

subscribed to meet the expenses of this work for five years. The

second year of the organization, it lost by death the efficient

treasurer, Mrs. Dr. Harrison, and last summer the loved president,

Mrs. Lyman Abbott, died beyond the ocean and sleeps in a little

German graveyard. The present officers are: Mrs. Ernest Abbott,

president; Miss Cocks, vice-president; Mrs. Seaman, second

vice-president; Mrs. Fleming, secretary; Miss Josephine Youngs,

treasurer, and Miss E. M. V. McClean, corresponding secretary.

PAPERS.

In 1877 Mr. John Lee, author of stories of the Hudson, started the

Cornwall _Mirror,_ but he died within the year. He was succeeded by Mr.

Snelling, who changed the name to the Cornwall _Reflector._ Mr. Pendell

succeeded him as editor, when the title was changed to Cornwall

_Local,_ the name which it retained when it passed into the hands of

the present proprietor, Mr. Goodenough. Three or four efforts have

been made to run a second village paper, but they have all proved a

failure. Mr. Morehouse started the _Courier,_ which passed into the

hands of Creswell McLaughlin but it came to grief. It was

resuscitated in 1905, but only lived a year.

INDUSTRIES.

With the introduction of the mountain water into the village, it was

hoped that with the fine freighting facilities, manufacturers might

be induced to settle here, but such has not been the case. Several

applications have been received from outsiders, but when negotiations

reached a certain point, they have been quietly withdrawn, and it has

been surmised that some of the wealthier neighbors object to the

class such work would bring among them. The stream known as

Murderer's Creek, and later on as the Moodna, at one time had several

factories along its banks. The late John Orr's flour mill is still in

business, and about a mile from Canterbury is a settlement known as

Firthcliff. In 1869 Mr. Broadhead had a large woolen mill there which

after a few years, passed into the hands of an English carpet

company. These brought many of their skilled employees with them, and

they in turn induced friends and neighbors to come out, so that one

corner of the town is an English village. The home works are in

England, but the proprietors frequently cross the Atlantic to visit

their factory here. Still farther down the stream are the mills of

John Orr, at a railroad station that bears his name. A piano factory,

owned by John E. Ryder has disappeared, and as the brook nears the

Hudson, it passes through a valley which was once filled with homes

of the work people employed in the Valley Forge paper mill, owned by

Carson & Ide, and the Leonard linen mill. The latter stopped during

the war, but the former under different owners produced some

material, until a freshet tore away bridge, dam and race and forced

the stream into another channel that left the building practically

without water.

VOLUNTEERS.

Mr. Ruttenber gives a list of 172 volunteers who went from here

during the Civil War, but he has omitted three names, Frederick Lamb,

Wm. Couser and George Chatfield. Emslie Post contains the names of

some of the surviving on its roster, and on Memorial Day they

decorate eighty graves of comrades who have passed over to the great

majority. But there are others who sleep on Southern battlefields,

and still others who passed from the weary anguish of the hospitals

to the "low green tent, whose curtain never outward swings." Captain

Thomas Taft is probably the youngest surviving veteran; and among the

revered names of those "who came not back" stand Captain Silliman,

Major Cromwell and William Emslie, who died in Andersonville. Through

the efforts of Mr. Charles Curie, of Idlewild, a soldiers' monument

has been erected in the village.

NEW YORK MILITARY ACADEMY.

One of the institutions of Cornwall is the New York Military Academy.

In the '70s it was a large boarding house, capable of accommodating

two hundred guests. The grounds cover a large plateau, skirting a

ravine, and was called Glen Ridge. It was owned by Mr. James G. Roe,

brother of the novelist, who when the boarding business failed in

Cornwall, sold to Colonel Wright, who opened a boys' school. He was

succeeded by Mr. Jones, who has enlarged the already capacious

buildings. There are always over 100 young men and boys in the

institution, and a large corps of capable teachers. The discipline

is secured more by rewards than punishments. The pupils, when

visiting the village, are always quiet and gentlemanly. Officers from

West Point train them in military tactics, and it is marvelous what a

proficiency they attain in a few months.

CHAPTER XIV.

TOWN OF CRAWFORD.

By J. Erskine Ward.

This triangular township, some eighteen or twenty miles west of the

Hudson River, is in the northwest corner of Orange County, bordering

upon the counties of Sullivan and Ulster. It carries a point of

Orange County land well up into old Ulster County and contains the

northernmost soil of the county.

It is bounded on the north by Sullivan and Ulster, on the east by

Ulster and the town of Montgomery, south by Montgomery and Wallkill,

and on the west by the town of Wallkill and Sullivan County.

The area of the town, as given in the last report of the Orange

Supervisors, is 24,769 acres. Upon this land the Crawford assessors

for 1906 placed a valuation of $664,531, and returned personal

property of its residents to the value of $15,300. The total tax

raised in the town that year was $8,617.89. This amount was made up

as follows: General fund, $2,668.14; poor fund, $600; town audits,

$2,287.12; roads and bridges, $400; railroad purposes, $2,107.50;

temporary relief, $250; sworn off taxes, $185.45; treasurer's

credits, $115.33.

The name Crawford came from a numerous and respectable family of

Irish descent who were among the first settlers of the locality. The

land was a part of the original John Evans patent referred to in

other parts of this work. When this great tract was set aside the

territory of this section was disposed of in many smaller grants to

Philip Schuyler and others. Among the many other tracts mentioned in

the Crawford titles were the 8,000-acre tract which now includes the

village of Pine Bush, and the 10,000-acre tract next on the south.

The following separate patents were included in the Crawford

township; Thomas Ellison and Lawrence Roome, November 12, 1750;

Frederick Morris and Samuel Heath, January 24, 1736; Jacobus Bruyn

and Henry Wileman, April 25, 1722; Philip Schuyler and others, 8,000

acres, July 7, 1720; part of the patent to Jeremiah Schuyler and

others, January 22, 1719; part of Thomas Noxon's patent February 21,

1737.

NATURAL FEATURES OF THE TOWN.

The general altitude of the town is somewhat higher than that of

Montgomery. The general surface is a hilly upland broken by high

ridges, which extend northeast and southwest. It is in fact separated

from Montgomery by one of these elevated ridges known as the

Collaburgh and Comfort Hills, which at times rise 200 feet above the

valley. While the land is somewhat more difficult to cultivate

because of the stony hills and undulating surface, the soil is very

strong and productive, yielding fine crops of grass, grain and fruits

and responding well to tillage. These slopes and elevations have been

found particularly well adapted to the growth of fruit of a superior

quality. The proximity of the mountain range is said to have a

favorable influence upon the general rainfall of the region. Showers

are frequent in summer and the effects of drought are less severe than

in other sections not so favored.

The Shawangunk Kill or river is the principal stream, and it forms

the western boundary of the town between it and Sullivan County, and

afterward it also separates the town from Ulster County until the

northern limit of the town is reached. This is a rapid flowing stream

and affords much valuable water power at different points, which has

been utilized to some extent in a variety of ways. The early settlers

were quick to see the value and importance of these privileges, and

they began to make use of them in their primitive manner at once.

Among the numerous tributaries to the Shawangunk in the town is the

Paughcaughnaughsinque. The name is of Indian origin. There are in

fact two of these subsidiary streams, the Big and the Little

Paughcaughnaughsinque. They flow northward and afford additional

water power at different points.

In the eastern portion of the town is a more important stream known

now as the Dwaarskill. This, too, has enjoyed a great variety of

orthographic nomenclature, such as "Dwaaskill," "Dwarf'skill," etc.

Of course the original was bestowed by the Indians, and, it is said,

was given in honor of a Chief of a small tribe which dwelt upon its

banks. One of the old settlers in that region is credited with having

seen this Indian Chief, who was called "Dwaase," and who had his

wigwam near the old turnpike gate No. 3. Others claim, however, that

the name is clearly Low or Holland Dutch, and signifies perverse or

contrary because it flows north. The stream begins somewhere near the

center of the town of Wallkill, not far from the Crawford Railway

junction, flows through the valley parallel to that of the

Shawangunk Kill, and finally leaves the town at the northeast corner.

[Illustration: Joel Whitten]

This town also has its share of swamps, of which the historian

Ruttenber says Orange County has over 40,000 acres. One of these

swamps is northwest of the Sinsabaugh neighborhood, and another is

southwest of Searsburgh.

EARLY SETTLEMENT AND SETTLERS.

This being among the newer towns of the county, the specific details

of its settlement are so blended with the early history of the old

Wallkill precinct and that of the town of Montgomery, from which

Crawford was set off, that it is quite impossible to separate them

for this place.

The Weller settlement was partly upon this territory. Johannes

Snyder started a small settlement in the vicinity of Searsville,

where he bought a large tract of land on both sides of the

Dwaarskill. He built a primitive log mill there at once, and this is

down in the records of 1768 as Snyder's Mill. He seems to have been

a man of means and influence, as he also built a log church soon

after settling there, which was known as Snyder's Church. This

Snyder family was Dutch and made the first settlement here in 1740,

if not earlier. All the services in this little church was in the

Dutch language, and it is recorded that the church was worn out or

outgrown even before the Revolution.

Somewhere about the same time Robert Milliken built a saw mill on

the Shawangunk Kill. This is referred to as Milliken's mill in the

records of 1768, and this is the earliest mention of a saw mill on

that stream in the records. Other mills were built there, however,

in later years. First was the old flour mill of Pat. Boice, next

below the Milliken mill was the Sear's grist mill, then Abraham

Bruyn's flour mill, and finally Cornelius Slott's saw and grist mill

combined. The latter was continued by Arthur Slott after the death of

his father, and he soon built a small collection of houses there for

his employees. This Slott ancestry were among the oldest settlers in

the State. The family came from Holland in 1670, as the family

record shows. They located first at Hackensack, N. J., and after a

few years there they removed to Rockland County, and soon after that

they came to Montgomery and settled on the Tinn Brook at a point

afterward known as Slott Tow. Cornelius Slott engaged in farming. In

1777, while serving as an orderly sergeant with his military company,

in the active defense of Fort Montgomery, he was taken prisoner and

confined in the old Sugar House, New York, by the British forces for

ten months. In 1785, on regaining his liberty, he sold his farm and

lived in New York for the next five years. Then he bought the mill

site in Pine Bush and erected his saw mill just below the mouth of

the Paughcaughnaughsinque stream. The next year he also built a

grist mill. There was no public road leading to his mill at the time,

but he soon secured one from Hopewell.

A small early settlement near Graham's Church was made by Abraham

Dickerson, an Irishman, John Robinson and Philip Decker. Philip

Decker's ancestors came from Holland. When sixteen years old he

drove a team from Ward's Bridge to Valley Forge with a load of corn

for Washington's army. Dickerson built a saw mill on a small stream

near there which was operated successfully for a time and then fell

into decay. The portion of the Wallkill valley in this town was the

site of the earliest settlement. These old pioneers consisted of

Germans, Hollanders and Huguenots. Many of them came from the older

settlements in Ulster County, and others were directly from their

native land.

Robert Jordan came here from Ireland in 1771. About 1784 he settled

at Bullville in this town. His brother John seems to have settled

there in 1767, having arrived in this country some years ahead of

Robert. Among his neighbors there about that time or a few years

later, were Joseph Elder, James Barclay, Samuel Barclay, John Martin

and Daniel Bull. Thomas Turner was also a land owner in the Bullville

settlement to the extent of 300 acres.

In the Searsville neighborhood William Snider was among the pioneers.

He purchased a large tract of land there upon which he lived many

years before the Revolution. He seems to have been a man of some

wealth, for at the outbreak of hostilities with Great Britain he

buried a considerable sum of money in a secret place upon his

property, the location of which was known only to a faithful Negro

slave. After the war this Negro was awarded by his master with his

personal freedom because of his loyalty and faithfulness.

An old apple orchard planted before the Revolution near Bullville,

died out long years since. Nathan Johnson was the village shoemaker,

going around from house to house with his kit of tools strapped upon

his back. This occupation was then known as "whipping the cat" for

some reason not very clear at this time. Johnson was an old

shoemaker who had been employed making army shoes during the war. It

was the custom at that period for those cobblers to go about at

stated periods and do the family cobbling and shoe-making for the

year.

William Jordan, son of Robert, became colonel of the Shawangunk

regiment of militia, and he lived under every President of the United

States until his death, having voted the Democratic ticket for 66

years.

Benjamin Sears is mentioned in the records as a remarkable man in

many respects among the settlers in that region. Coupled with rare

native talent he had a most remarkable memory of details. Nothing

ever escaped him when once his mind grasped it. All his accounts were

accurately kept in his mind. But his education is said to have been

very limited. He served as constable in the town of Montgomery during

his early life, where he had five brothers from whom there has been a

long line of descendants. He also served as sheriff of Orange County

for a time. And the small hamlet of Searsburgh, near the center of

the town, on the Dwaarskill stream, was named for him. He established

a flour and saw mill there at an early date.

Joseph Elder was of Irish descent and came into this region some

years before the Revolution. He lived upon a very stony farm, and it

is recorded of him that being a man of giant frame, robust and

vigorous, he would gather up these stones in a leathern apron girded

about his loins and carry them to the place where they were used for

fence walls, instead of carting them in a wagon. Though also scantily

educated, he served some years as magistrate of his town with much

satisfaction, being a man of strong common sense and good judgment.

He seems also to have been a pioneer pedestrian, the original

Weston, apparently; for it is recorded that on a certain occasion,

missing his sloop at Newburgh, which was already out of sight above

the Danskammer Point, running with a fair wind, on the Hudson, on its

way to Albany, young Elder started off at a rattling pace, with his

musket and knapsack, to join his military company at the Capital in

time or be denounced as a traitor. It is said he beat the sloop by

several hours, though the precise time made is not given.

Dr. Joseph Whalen, another well known Irish pioneer, was among the

early physicians practicing his profession in this region. He came at

the close of the war, settled in this town for a few years, and

afterward practiced in Montgomery for over fifty years. It is worthy

of note in this connection that in those days no doctor ever expected

to collect for his services from his patient in person. The doctor's

claim was always presented to the executor or administrator, as the

case might he, after the patient's death. There were obvious reasons

for this custom then, as there often are even in these later times,

but the reader must be left to draw his own conclusions. This noted

doctor had a most extensive practice, and he was also a famous

horseman and equestrian, owning much fine horseflesh. He even rivaled

the celebrated Count Pulaski, the Polish general in the Revolution,

who would throw his hat before him on the road while under full speed

on his horse and so far dismount as to take it up. Dr. Whalen could

take a glass of liquid in his hand, mount his horse, ride away a

quarter of a mile and return without spilling a drop.

Daniel Bull was another prominent settler of this region. He came

some years before the Revolution and settled upon an extensive tract

of newly cleared land which was rough and stony and had been owned by

his father, Thomas Bull, who lived in the old stone house in

Hamptonburgh. This land was then valued at $2.50 per acre. In 1780 he

married Miss Miller at Goshen, where the bride and groom were

snowbound for two weeks of their honeymoon. They had thirteen

children and the family became one of the most prominent and numerous

in the town. Mr. Bull was a most successful farmer, and he reclaimed

a vast acreage of wild land and brought it under good and profitable

tillage. He amassed wealth and became a valued citizen, being long

regarded as a patriarch of the town. In 1821, the record shows, that

fifty-two grandchildren had been born of this parentage, making a

family total of seventy-six. All were then alive except two who died

in infancy, and on a certain day in June of that year seventy-four

members of this noted family were gathered in the family homestead

near Bullville for a grand reunion. The farm is now owned by

Theodore Roberson.

The Crawford family, after which the town was named, were descendants

of John Crawford, who settled in New Windsor in 1737. The names of

John, William, James and Samuel are found upon the old military roll

of 1738 for the Wallkill. Robert I. Crawford was a prominent citizen

here early in the last century, and he lived near the old Hopewell

church.

The Thompson brothers, Alexander, Andrew, and Robert, came from

Ireland about 1770. They bought 500 acres of land on what became

afterward known as Thompson's Ridge, and divided the plot equally

among themselves. One of these farms then included the site of the

Hopewell church, and all this property has been kept in the Thompson

family.

David Rainey was another ante-revolutionary settler in this locality,

and he established what was afterward known as the "brick-house

farm," near Pine Bush. He erected the first brick house between

Newburgh and Ellenville. Although only a boy during the Revolution,

he served for a short time in the Continental Army under Clinton.

The ancestor of Jacob Whitten was also among the pioneers there.

Among the early physicians of the town were Dr. Crosby, who lived

near the Hopewell church and practiced during the early part of the

last century; Dr. Charles Winfield, who lived near Pine Bush; Dr.

Hunter, of Searsville, who later served as school inspector for that

time; Dr. Griffith, also of Pine Bush, who died in 1855, and Dr.

Durkee, who lived a mile south of Pine Bush.

TOWN ORGANIZATION.

The town of Crawford was formed from the town of Montgomery, March 4,

1823. That older town covered such a large extent of territory that

it was found inconvenient and expensive to conduct the public

business to advantage. A convenient and practicable arrangement of

boundary lines for a division of the town was found possible whereby

there might be a central point convenient of access for the citizens

of each town. The name Crawford was given in honor of that pioneer

family, as before stated, many of its descendants having become so

closely identified with the local interests of the region.

The first town meeting was held at the house of Edward Schoonmaker,

April 1, 1823. William W. Crawford was then chosen the first

supervisor; Oliver Mills, town clerk, and a full list of officials

was selected. Every man was authorized to act as his own pound-master,

and every farm was regarded as a pound. A bounty of $25 was voted for

every wolf killed in the town, which shows that these hungry animals

were still roaming through the forests at that time. At a special

meeting held later in the month, $460 was voted to be raised for the

support of the poor for that year. There were then thirty-nine road

districts in that little town, and each district had its accredited

road-master. But the records are not clear as to the character or

extent of the road work done in that early period. Of course every

male citizen was required to appear for service upon the road at such

time or times as the master of his district would designate, and put

in such number of days' work as his property possessions called for

under the prevailing provisions of the State road laws. The

road-master was the boss, and if he said the roadway must be highly

rounded in the center, a plow was run deeply along each side of the

track and the loose mud or dirt was scraped up into the road with

hoes or shovels. Then the wagon wheels would throw out this mud

during the rest of the year when it was not frozen, where the workers

of the succeeding year would find it again, waiting to be scraped

back into the roadway. This was the old process of road repair for

two hundred years, and there seems to have been general satisfaction

with the curious method as far as the records disclose. In fact, the

public highways were not regarded of great importance in those days

in spite of the fact that they were the leading if not the only

arteries of transportation throughout the country before the advent

of railways and cheap water-line shipment. These observations are

made in this connection because of the recent dawn of a new era in

roads and road work, when the great importance of public roads and

their proper repair and maintenance has at last been more nearly

recognized. Very soon these antiquated methods will be among the

curious events in history.

When the Middletown and Crawford Railway was projected through this

town the sum of $80,000 was raised by the town authorities in aid of

its construction. This was in July, 1868. The interest upon this

debt has been paid annually since that time, but in 1880 no part of

this principal sum had yet been paid. This was a severe tax upon the

town which bore rather heavily upon the farmers especially, a class

that rarely escapes the lion's share of these burdens of modern

civilization. But the railway has been of great value to every

resident as a developing factor of that entire region and none now

regrets its cost.

VILLAGES OF THE TOWN.

_Hopewell._--This village is in the western portion of the town, not

far from the Shawangunk River. The name was taken from the old

Hopewell church, which was an offshoot from the Goodwill Presbyterian

congregation at Montgomery, where the Congregational section had been

squeezed out, as it were. They were thus in need of hope at the time,

and thus the name "Hopewell" was suggested by some of the more

thoughtful members, and it was very promptly adopted for the church

name, as it afterward was also for the little village which gathered

about it. It does not appear that any important business or

mercantile trade was ever conducted there, however. It is merely a

fertile farm section where the residents have gathered to make their

homes. The postal facilities for these people are at Thompson's

Ridge, a station on the Crawford branch of the Erie Railway.

_Bullville._--This is in the southwestern portion of the town near

the Wallkill line. It was named in honor of Thomas Bull, who lived

there many years and engaged in various business enterprises, and in

fact founded the place. While the name of the hamlet is not

especially felicitous, nor even euphonious, the location is

attractive and pleasing, it being upon high ground with a fine view

of the surrounding landscape. A fine commodious Methodist church was

built there many years ago and there is a most attractive cluster of

fine dwellings. In 1880 a hotel was conducted by Silas Dickerson and

a general store by Charles Roe. There were also a creamery, two

blacksmith shops, a flour and feed store, a coal yard and even a

distillery. The place is seven miles west of Montgomery village.

_Searsville._--This was formerly known as Searsburgh. It is another

small village, near the center of the town, on the Dwaarskill. It was

named for, and practically founded by, Benjamin Sears, already

mentioned at some length. He built the mills there at an early date,

and his more distant neighbors soon gathered about him and built

their homes there. It was formerly a trading point of some

importance, but the advent of the railway brought other neighboring

hamlets into greater prominence and left this place somewhat

isolated. But in 1880 there were a hotel, two blacksmith and wagon

shops, a grist mill and a saw mill still in operation. There is also

a post-office. The location being central, the town meetings were

usually held there in past years, and the general official business

was transacted there.

_Thompson's Ridge._--A short distance west of Searsville, on the

Crawford Branch Railway, is this hamlet, as before stated. In former

years it was mainly composed of the Thompson family, for which it was

originally named. Daniel Thompson, the railway superintendent, lived

near there. The station is quite an important one both for its

passenger business and the large shipments of milk which are made

from it. A small store, the post-office, and the various railway

structures make up the business part of the hamlet. It is in the

midst of the finest farming section of Orange County, the farms of

the Thompson family and others in that neighborhood being the most

productive in the county.

_Collaburg._--This is in the southern section of the town, and the

name is now printed "Collabar" on the modern map of the county. The

locality is somewhat thickly settled. It was formerly an important

point on the Newburgh and Cochecton turnpike, with a hotel and many

other buildings of a varied character. But the new railway did not

touch the place and travel was soon diverted to other points, which

stopped all further development there.

_Pine Bush._--This is located near the Shawangunk River, in the

northern part of the town, near the Ulster County line, and it is a

thriving business village, the most important in the town. It is the

northern terminus of the Crawford Branch Railway, and its post-office

serves a large section of country on both sides of the river in that

region. The village site is generally level and attractive, upon the

high bank of the stream at that point, and the land environment

comprises a most fertile farming section. The old grist mill there

belongs to the Revolutionary period, and the Shawangunk Mountains

rise in rugged, frowning peaks which overlook the valley and form a

background of rare beauty. The heights of the Hudson River are seen

in the distant horizon toward the east and north, and there is a rare

combination of upland, valley, mountain and stream, forest slopes and

well tilled farms which charms the beholder and forms a most

attractive and beautiful landscape. Summer visitors are attracted

here in large numbers, and they find much to admire and enjoy.

Among the early tradesmen here was James Thompson, who opened a store

in 1824. He was succeeded by Hezekiah Watkins, Tarbosch & Weller,

Louis Wisner, Elijah Smith and George Oakley. Dr. Ewan came in 1830,

and built a hotel and also conducted a drug store. Abraham Mould

began a tannery plant in 1825, but after a few years he was killed by

James Mitchell in a violent personal quarrel, for which Mitchell was

finally acquitted on the ground of self defense.

The old Ellenville and Newburgh plank road--a wicked production of a

benighted period--passed through Pine Bush. This, however, marked the

beginning of the modern growth of the place. There were then only

three or four dwelling houses. In 1880 there were in addition to the

various railway structures, two hotels, several stores, many shops of

various kinds, a restaurant, grist mill and saw mill, meat market,

photograph gallery, livery stable, distillery, marble works, and a

great variety of other business enterprises. The post-office was

originally known as Crawford, and Arthur Slott was probably the

first postmaster. The name of the village was bestowed on account of

the dense growth of pine trees which formerly covered that entire

tract of land. The opening of the railway was of course a great

event for Pine Bush and had much to do with its subsequent

development and progress. Mr. A. R. Taylor, a leading business man,

came from Ulsterville in 1848 and proved a most progressive citizen,

opening many new stores and taking an active part in all village

improvements. He was a civil engineer and was credited with having

driven the first stake in Chicago during an engagement in the west

many years ago, which if true is a well merited distinction.

SCHOOLS OF THE TOWN.

Oliver Mills, Alexander Thompson and Hieromous Weller were the first

school commissioners chosen at the formation of the town. From 1843

to 1856 the public schools were under the control of town

superintendents chosen at each annual election. There were ten school

districts in 1823, and 655 children between the ages of five and

fifteen in the town, small portions of the towns of Wallkill and

Montgomery being then included in this enumeration. The amount of

public money received was $264.44. Among the early school teachers of

this town were John Hardcastle, William Brown, Mr. Reed and Mr.

Crosby. And they are said to have been firm believers in the free

use of the rod in the inculcation of a thorough knowledge of the

three "Rs" and the maintenance of proper discipline.

THE CRAWFORD CHURCHES.

The first effort to build a church in Hopewell was made in 1779 by

the Presbyterian association. But they succeeded only in completing

the exterior of the building and very little was done toward

finishing the inside of the structure. And yet for the next three

years those devoted Christian people were content to worship in this

unfinished building with all its discomforts. They went to church

faithfully and regularly. In 1792 they united in a corporate body and

selected a full board of trustees, as follows: William Cross, Robert

Milliken, Jonathan Crawford, Daniel Bull, Andrew Thompson, Nathan

Crawford, Abraham Caldwell, Robert Thompson and Robert McCreery. Soon

after this they finished their church and called the Rev. Jonathan

Freeman as their pastor, who was installed August 28, 1793. This may

be regarded therefore as the date of the organization of this church,

which began with twenty-one members. Mr. Freeman multiplied this

number by five during the next five years and then resigned for

another field of labor. The next five years this little pulpit

remained vacant. Rev. Isaac Van Doren took up the work there in 1803

and labored most successfully for 21 years, adding some 152 members

to the little flock of worshipers during that period. Then, after

further changes in the pastorate, a new and more commodious church

building was built of stone on another site, which was completed in

1832. Rev. John H. Leggett was then the pastor for the next

twenty-three years, when he went to Middletown. His ministerial work

in this Hopewell church is highly spoken of in the records, he being

a powerful preacher and a man of great activity and influence.

What was known as _Graham's Church,_ associated Reformed, was

established by Robert Graham in 1799. A house of worship was erected

at once and it was opened for use in August of the same year. Mr.

Graham died a few weeks later, but he devised 100 acres of land to

this church organization for its pastor. This church was merely a

branch of the older organization at Neeleytown until 1802, when it

became independent, with Samuel Gillespie and Andrew Thompson as

elders. There were then only 28 regular members, and the Rev. John

McJimsey still served both this and the Neeleytown church. He left in

1809 but returned ten years later and remained until his death in

1854. Robert Graham, the founder of this church, was a staunch

Scotch-Irish Presbyterian, and he left a lasting impress for good

upon this people.

_The Crawford Methodist Church_ is located at Bullville and it was

incorporated April 20, 1859. The trustees named were Jacob M.

Shorter, Robert Hill and Herman S. Shorter. The original church

structure was completed in the summer of 1861 at a cost of $8,000,

which was donated by Mrs. Mary Shorter. Rev. John Wardle was the

first pastor, being assigned there in response to a request of Mrs.

Shorter.

_The Methodist Church of Pine Bush_ was incorporated November 28,

1870. with the following trustees: William B. Barnes, John Walker,

Samuel Armstrong, William H. Cowley and Francis M. Bodine. But there

had been religious services there many years before this, especially

in the school house. The old Reformed Church over the river at

Shawangunk, in Ulster County, had many members in the Pine Bush

village, and there was preaching in the little school house nearly

every Sunday, either by the pastor of that church or by the Methodist

preacher from Bullville. But the Methodist people were not satisfied

with this arrangement and they finally built a church for themselves,

completing it in the spring of 1871 at a total cost of $8,000, of

which only half had been paid. But the balance was pledged at the

dedication ceremonies held on the night of April 24, 1871. This

building was repaired and improved some ten years later.

HISTORIC POINTS OF INTEREST.

Near the site of the old Slott grist mill on the bank of the river is

an old log hut which is said to date back to the ante-Revolutionary

period. During that war this hut was on the Van Amburg property, and

that family was somewhat closely connected with the noted Anneke

Jans, who once owned the ground now covered by the vast estates of

Trinity Church in New York City, in which her myriad heirs, scattered

all over America to-day, still claim an equitable share, and justly

so, perhaps. In this old log structure once lived a stalwart female

member of the Van Amburg family, and the story is that during the

Revolution a big reward was offered by the British officers for her

capture. "Shanks Ben," a noted Ulster County Tory, like Claudius

Smith of Orange County, being attracted by this rich reward, planned

her capture. He concealed himself in one of the farm haystacks where

he knew she would come to feed her cattle at a certain time. But when

he saw the huge old-fashioned hay-fork in her hand, he concluded that

discretion was the better part of valor, and was in fact glad to

escape with his own life, fearing she might chance to puncture his

brave anatomy in reaching for the required hay-fodder. If this

somewhat noted woman was ever captured by the redcoats the records

fail to disclose it.

Aside from the pursuit of farming and lumbering, this town has never

been able to boast of any very important industries. Nearly every

citizen was engaged in the cultivation of the soil during its early

history at least. As already noted, the town was famed for its

production of the choicest grade of Orange County butter. In later

years, under the changed condition of transportation facilities, the

manufactured products of the dairy were almost entirely discontinued

and gave way to the natural product of milk, which was shipped to the

New York markets in large quantities.

The growth of apples, peaches and other fruits, for which the land is

so well adapted, has meanwhile increased in extent and importance,

and many of the Crawford orchards that were properly cultivated and

cared for have become sources of large profit to their owners.

While many of the more ancient grist and saw mills of the town have

now disappeared, some have been greatly improved and modernized and

new ones have been built.

MILITARY HISTORY.

On this topic little can be said with reference to the early history

of this separate section, as the town came into existence some time

after the close of the wars with foreign nations. All such data is

hopelessly buried in the ancient annals of Wallkill and Montgomery

so far as the Crawford chronicler is concerned. There were doubtless

patriots of this section who served in the Continental army of

Washington, and others who went out in the military company during

the second outbreak in 1812. But the records contain no separate

lists of these and this roll of honor cannot therefore be presented

here. Philip Decker, David Rainey and Joseph Elder, the only names

we can positively identify as being residents of what is now the town

of Crawford, who served in the Revolution.

But in the War of the Rebellion the record is more complete. While,

like most other towns in nearly every county in the northern States,

there were misguided men in Crawford, partisans, politicians and

abject followers of that class, servile men with little principle and

less brains, who opposed the war on political principle, or through

ignorance of the situation, without regard to the safety of the

American Union of States, the great majority of the citizens, here as

elsewhere, were loyal Union men. And when the first secession gun

belched forth on Fort Sumter the old spirit of patriotism which had

animated their ancestors was fired anew. The town furnished 188 men

for the Union army and navy under the various calls of President

Lincoln and the draft. Sixty-nine men went forward at once under

Captain Samuel Hunter, who organized a company of volunteers in the

town known as Co. H, which was attached to the 124th Regiment. The

sum of $525 was raised by subscription in 1862 for bounties paid to

21 volunteers who enlisted in the 168th Regiment, and $50 was raised

for a like purpose in connection with the regiment first named. In

1863 $3,000 was raised and $27,610 the following year. Then, under

the last call, $16,500 was added to these cash contributions from

this town, making the total sum $47,685. On the final settlement with

the State after the war, $11,700 of this amount was returned to the

town for excess of years and bounties. A tax of $30,000 was

authorized in January, 1865, but as is seen above only a portion of

this amount was required.

The record contains a detailed list of the men furnished by the town

from which it appears that ten enlisted in the 56th Regiment in 1861,

one in the 18th, five in the 19th, and twelve in other regiments

during the first year. Then in 1862, twenty-one went out in the

124th, and thirty in the 168th. Twenty-nine enlisted in various other

organizations in 1863 and 1864, and twenty-nine others were drafted

into the service, most of whom furnished substitutes.

As showing who were among the leading farmers in this town in the

early part of the 19th century, it will be of interest perhaps to

quote a few items from an old list of agricultural premiums awarded

at the county fairs held in that period. In 1820 Daniel Bull was

awarded $20, for the best farm of 100 acres in the town. He also had

the second best fat oxen. The next year Henry Bull got $10 for the

second best farm, and Daniel Bull $15 for the best working oxen. In

1822 Henry Bull had the best three acres of winter wheat, for which

he was awarded a prize of $10. Moses Crawford then received a like

award for 2,051 pounds of butter from twenty cows. In 1823 Moses

Crawford received a four-dollar prize for the third best piece of

dressed woolen cloth, also various other prizes for white flannel,

linen, etc. William Gillespie then had a fine exhibit of sewing-silk,

for which he received a prize. These items are taken at random from

an old record which, strangely enough, does not contain the first

awards in many cases.

The population of Crawford, according to the national census of 1880,

was 1,951, which was a decrease from that of 1870 of seventy-three.

The Pine Bush Library Association was organized November 10, 1899, at

a meeting held in Wallace Hall for the purpose of considering the

practicability of establishing a public library in the village. H. J.

McKinney, Mrs. Joel Whitten, J. E. Ward, Mrs. J. L. Acheson, D. T.

Bowen, Miss Emma B. Shaper, S. K. Seybolt and Mrs. Nelson Van Keuren

were chosen trustees. H. J. McKinney was elected president, retaining

the office until his death, September 24, 1907. While ably

discharging the duties of the position, he was a liberal contributor

to the support of the library. He supervised the construction of the

building it now occupies.

The library was incorporated December 21, 1899, receiving from the

State University a provisional charter. December 1, 1904, a permanent

charter was granted.

Through the kindness of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of

Pine Bush the library was kept in the rooms of that organization

without cost to the association, until the summer of 1907, when it

was removed to its present home. This was remodeled from a building

presented to the Library Association by H. P. Taylor, a resident of

the village, and is a substantial edifice with an attractive

interior, admirably arranged for library purposes.

The library, which is free, now numbers more than 2,000 well selected

books. The funds for its support are derived from the membership

dues, contributions, lectures or entertainments, and the State

appropriation.

CHAPTER XV

TOWN OF DEER PARK.

LOCATION, AREA AND TITLE.

This town is located in the extreme western angle of Orange County.

In outline the territory forms nearly a perfect triangle. It is one

of the larger towns in the county, having an area of 37,020 acres,

according to the latest tax tables of the Orange supervisors, being

exceeded only in extent by the town of Warwick. It is also next to

the largest in population, having 11,562 inhabitants, according to

the State census of 1905. It is also a most important town in

several other respects, as will be seen from the comprehensive

outline presented in the succeeding pages.

It contains the point of land where three States intersect--New York,

New Jersey and Pennsylvania. This precise point is known as the

"Tri-States Rock." This solid rock is at the extreme point of the

tongue of land lying at the mouth of the Neversink River and between

that stream and the Delaware River. A copper bolt has been sunk in

this rock to mark the spot which has been agreed upon by the

authorities of these States. By standing over this bolt one is

therefore in three different States at the same time.

Whether or not the full legal import of this strategic point of

vantage has been well understood by certain classes, or made use of

in critical emergencies, is not definitely known. It is, however, one

of the show places of Port Jervis, and visitors may easily find it by

a short walk through Laurel Grove Cemetery.

In 1880 the town assessors reported a total value of taxable property

of $2,431,680, upon which a tax of $37,374.27 was levied. These

amounts have been increased to $2,509,003, and $41,378.65

respectively, the valuation of the two banks not included, $379,706,

on which their tax is levied.

With the exception of the small tracts known as the Arent Schuyler

patent, the Tietsort 400 acre patent, and the Cuddeback patent, the

title to all the land of Deer Park comes from the Minisink patent.

This name was originally spelled "Minnisink." The tribal Indian

occupants were first known as the Minquas, and subsequently as the

Minsis, from which the present name seems to have been evolved.

Captain Arent Schuyler visited this region in 1694, during that

turbulent period of war with the savages, in order to determine how

far the influence of the French had effected the aborigines.

The town is bounded on the north by Sullivan County, on the southeast

by Mount Hope and Cornwall, {_sic_} and on the southwest by New

Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the County of Sullivan.

NATURAL FEATURES.

The topographical features of Deer Park are peculiarly marked. There

is the broad valley of the Neversink on the east, reaching from

northeast to southwest. This soil is exceptionally fertile, and here

it was that the early settlers began to build their cabins and blaze

their way into the thick forests.

A short, distance from the Neversink stream the old Delaware & Hudson

Canal was constructed and operated for many years, the line being

nearly parallel to the river. This great coal artery from the mines

to the Hudson was, however, abandoned in 1898 after seventy years of

successful operation, and the new Ellenville & Kingston Railway took

its place.

The Neversink stream has no important tributaries from the east. On

the west the Old Dam Kill comes into the main stream at Huguenot.

This drains a large portion of the central territory and gives some

valuable water power. Basha's Kill is the largest branch entering

from the east near Cuddebackville.

The Delaware River separates the town from Pennsylvania on the

southwest, and the Mongaup branch of the Delaware divides the town

from Sullivan County. Tributaries of this Mongaup stream drain the

higher central portions of the town. Still other tributaries of the

Delaware flow through the Honesdale region.

The general surface of the town is a mountainous upland broken by

many small streams which often flow through rocky ravines. There are

steep declivities along the Delaware, Mount William and Point Peter

being the most attractive features near Port Jervis. Along Basha's

Kill the bottoms are known as the Mamakating valley. Those along the

Neversink constitute the Suckapack valley, until the junction with

Basha's Kill is reached, when it is called the Neversink valley

proper, although also known as the Peenpack. This valley extends to

the mouth of the Neversink at Carpenter's Point. If space permitted

it would be interesting to trace the origin and significance of these

quaint names.

[Illustration: S. H. Gariss]

EARLY SETTLEMENT

In 1689 the old town of Schenectady in New York State was captured by

the Indians after a bloody fight. Among the residents there who fled

from the place was one William Tietsort (now written Titsworth), who

came to the land of Esopus first, but soon afterward went to this

Minisink region and settled in these forests. After a residence there

of some years he sought the right to purchase a tract of land there.

This was in 1698, and he succeeded in obtaining the land. His title

to this tract, though in dispute for a time, was finally confirmed,

and it was excepted from the Minisink patent. This tract was

afterward sold to John Decker, and the location is thought to have

been near Port Jervis. Thus the honor of being the first settler

seems to belong to this William Tietsort.

Other pioneer settlers came into the Peenpack valley and also in

Mamakating Hollow. Most of these old pioneers seem to have taken such

lands as suited their fancy with very little regard to who the owner

might be. Many of these came in from the famous Esopus region, and

these were mostly of that thrifty Dutch stock which made that

ancient region so famous and important in the formative period of the

State and national history. Nearly all settled along the streams

where the advantages of fertile soil and level land seemed most

attractive and important.

In 1697 Arent Schuyler received his patent, which covered a large

tract in the Minisink country called by the natives Sankheheneck,

otherwise Mayhawaem, also another tract called "Warinsayskmeck,

upon the river Mennessincks before an island called Menagnock, which

was near the Maghaghkemek tract and contained 1,000 acres and no

more." About the same time another grant of land containing 1200

acres was given to Jacob Codebeck, Thomas Swartwout, Anthony

Swartwout, Bernardus Swartwout, Jan Tys, Peter Gimar and David

Jamison.

Both these patents were in the Peenpack valley, and they were so

imperfectly described in the titles that it was impossible to fix

their precise location or boundaries. They were therefore regarded as

"floating" patents or tracts, and the grantees were inclined to take

possession of most any unappropriated lands in that valley and settle

where they saw fit. This led to much difficulty in the succeeding

years, and when it became necessary to divide this Minisink patent

the commissioners found no end of trouble.

The patentees Codebeck and Gimar were French and came here after a

brief sojourn in Maryland. They married into the Swartwout family,

which was a sturdy, vigorous stock, well able to cope with the

warlike natives and ferocious wild animals and dense forests as

pioneers.

The seven joint owners of this patent are said to have come into this

region in 1690, although there is no authentic record of any white

people there until 1694. The land covered by this patent laid along

the Neversink River and Basha's Kill. Mamakating Hollow was then the

nearest settlement, some twenty-five or thirty miles north.

In those days the settlement of a new country was indeed a herculean

task with the meager facilities then existing. And this was

preeminently true of this town, which was still slumbering in a

dense primeval forest. Plows and all other implements were of the

crudest description. What little grain was grown by these ancient

farmers had to be cut with a knife or rude sickle, and then the grain

was separated from the straw by the tramp of horses upon the

threshing floor. It was afterward winnowed from the chaff by

hand-fans made of willow rods. This was the universal practice in

this region down to 1760. The first fanning mill was brought in here

just previous to this by Peter Gumaer. The wagons were made almost

entirely of wood and the harness of flax and tow. During the long

winter evenings while the men were making these things the women

were spinning and reeling yarn. Not the yarn of the idle gossiper,

as now, but the fiber and fabric of utility which went into their

clothing.

The old Esopus region was some fifty or sixty miles north and the

roads were left to the vagaries of Dame Nature. But these pioneers

had to cart their corn and other produce there for sale. Wheat was

the staple crop, and Jacob Codebeck of this town was the first to

attempt grinding it in a small mill. One of these millstones, about

two feet in diameter and three inches thick, is still in the Gumaer

cellar near where the old mill stood. This was afterward followed by

two other grist mills on the "Old Dam Brook." Then came the De Witt

mill in 1770, on the Neversink River near Cuddebackville, and others

in later years. These ancient mills had no devices for bolting the

flour as now; thus after the grinding process, the whole had to be

sifted by hand in order to secure the fine flour for bread-making and

other culinary uses.

One of the earliest saw mills was erected in this town soon after

1760.

It should be said in this connection that there is some traditionary

{_sic_}evidence of a still earlier settlement in this Minisink region

which takes the date back even to 1650. Most of these claims, however,

seem based upon certain letters written by Samuel Preston of

Stockport, Penn., in 1828. In these letters he gave the recollections

of John Lukens, Surveyor General of Pennsylvania, as to this very

ancient settlement. His memory extended back to 1730. On this rather

hazy authority it is claimed that the first settlement was prior to

1664, when the region was still in the possession of the Dutch, and

that the settlement was abandoned at the English conquest. But there

are no existing documents to substantiate any such claim, and the

entire weight of evidence seems to clearly disprove it.

The records show that in 1714 the only freeholders in Maghaghkemek

were Thomas Swartwout, Harmon Barentsen, Jacob Cuddeback, Peter

Gumaer and Jacobus Swartwout. To these were added, fourteen years

later, the names of John Van Vliet, Jr., Samuel Swartwout and

Bernardus Swartwout, Jr. This would show a very small increase in 38

years, assuming that the settlement began in 1690.

This town became important also because of the long dispute over the

boundary line between the States of New York and New Jersey. The

variance of this line over which the conflict arose was in this

township. The owners of the Minisink and the 1,200 acre patents were

much disturbed for years by the New Jersey State authorities, who

claimed the line ran considerably farther north of the Delaware River

than the Deer Park people had established it. The New Jersey people

claimed a large portion of this 1,200 acre patent through which they

insisted the line ran, they procured a colony title to this disputed

portion of that patent. The precise location of the line being vague

and uncertain, no action at law could be maintained by either side,

but a bitter struggle ensued and lasted for many years. The trouble

seems to have arisen over the meaning of the phrase "the northernmost

branch of the Delaware River," which was the language used in the

description of title. There was a big triangular gore of land in

dispute. This conflict lasted nearly seventy-five years, and then it

was finally settled by an equitable division of the land in question.

Among the residents on this disputed land was Major Swartwout, and

the Jersey claimants planned to oust him from the property by force.

He was prepared for such an attack, but in spite of all his loaded

guns it seems that about 1730 the Jerseyites routed him from the

house and threw out all his goods. But with the assistance of friends

in Goshen the major was reinstated, and he afterward successfully

repelled another attack made about ten years later. He was, however,

captured and imprisoned, together with Johannes Westbrook, another

resident of the battleground, some time between 1764 and 1767, by a

strong force of Jersey men who surrounded his church on the Sabbath,

and seized the two men at the close of the service, after a fierce

struggle.

Soon after this a new line was agreed upon and the fight ended by the

passage of a royal edict at the Court of St. James in September,

1773. Commissioners of the two States afterward ran the line in

accordance with that agreement.

In 1874, one hundred years later, commissioners representing the two

States made a resurvey with the assistance of the United States

Coast Survey officials, which finally settled the great controversy

for all time.

In 1775, an old assessment roll of district No. 3, which was the

southern portion of Deer Park, comprising the present territory of

Port Jervis and vicinity, contained forty-eight names of property

holders. The largest of these was Johannes Decker, who was assessed

for 17 pounds 8 shillings and 7 pence. Next in order was Anthony

Van Etten, John Wells, Abraham Van Auken and Johannes Decker, Jr.

The De Witt family of this town were descendants of Tjerck Clausson

De Witt, who came from Holland and settled in Wiltwyck, now Kingston,

at a very early date. It was a very prominent family here and many of

its members achieved distinction.

Among other prominent settlers in this region were Peter Gumaer, Jan

Tyse, Bernardus Swartwout, Jacob Cuddeback, Anthony Swartwout, David

Jameson, and Hermanns Van Inwegen.

The very earliest physician in this region was Doctor Chattle, and he

settled near Carpenter's Point and practiced there until his death,

many years later. He came in at the opening of the nineteenth

century.

CIVIL ORGANIZATION.

Just when the civil organization of Deer Park was formed is not

definitely known. The Legislative act of October 18, 1701, provided

that the "people of Maghachemeck, the Great and Little Minisink,

should vote in the County of Ulster." This would imply that they were

outside of that county. This territory covered what is since known as

Cuddebackville and vicinity. Eight years later the boundary between

the counties was more definitely fixed by the Legislature. Soon after

this the territory went under the name of Maghachemeck, remaining

under this jaw-breaking title until 1743, when the precinct of

Mamakating was erected, which was at least a slight improvement upon

the old name.

This continued until 1798 when the town of Deer Park was organized.

The first Mamakating precinct meeting was held at the house of Samuel

Swartwout. This territory then included "all the land to the

southward of the town of Rochester as far as the County of Ulster

extends, and to the westward to the precincts of Wallkill and

Shawangunk."

While the name Minisink was applied to the territory above named, it

has been contended by some writers that there was in addition a

precinct of Minisink, and there are documents which seem, to

establish this fact even as early as 1739. But this precinct seems

to have been erected along the Delaware River below what afterward

became Carpenter's Point.

The territory now in Deer Park south of the old county line

comprising Port Jervis and vicinity was a part of the town of

Minisink from 1789 to 1825.

The first supervisor of the Mamakating precinct elected in April,

1774, was Benjamin Dupuy. The first supervisor of Deer Park elected

in April, 1798, was James Finch, and he remained in that office by

successive elections until 1810, when Peter E. Gumaer succeeded him.

But Mr. Finch was again selected to serve the town in that capacity

on three different occasions.

The earliest assessment roll of the town now preserved in the town

clerk's office, which was the first roll of Deer Park after the

division of the territory, is that of 1825. This shows a total

valuation of $114,820, and there were fifteen persons on the list

for over $2,000, the highest being Peter E. Gumaer at $6,230.

CENTERS.

With the exception of Port Jervis the centers of population in the

town are small and unimportant. Among them may be mentioned

Westbrookville on the line of the old canal, northeast of

Cuddebackville; Port Orange, a short distance south on the canal

line; Cuddebackville, in the northeastern part of the town, named in

honor of the pioneer settler, Jacob Cuddeback; Rose Point, a station

on the Monticello Railway; Port Clinton, still further down the

valley; Gumaers, also on the old canal line, and Huguenot, between

this and Port Jervis. Near this point are valuable mineral springs,

discovered in 1860. In 1880 a pipe line for the transmission of

petroleum oil to tide water was constructed through this section,

with stationary engines and a power plant for forcing this oil to

market.

Carpenter's Point is a very old locality, named for an early settler,

who established a ferry across the Delaware River there at a very

early period. It is near Port Jervis on the south and the famous

"Tri-States rock" is located here at the extreme point. This rock

marks the junction of the States of New York, New Jersey and

Pennsylvania. There are several stores, an old grist mill, and many

dwellings. A bridge here spans the Neversink River which was built in

1868.

Sparrowbush is another hamlet and post-office on the old canal line.

Bushkill is in the western part of the town, and Quarryhill is a

local mining district still farther west. Shin Hollow is a

neighborhood on the slope of the Shawangunk Mountain where the Erie

Railway crosses the town line into Mount Hope. Paradise is a small

hamlet on the Sullivan border northeast of Cuddebackville, and

Honesville and Bolton are other small hamlets born of the canal

enterprise.

CEMETERIES.

The Gumaer graveyard is believed to be the oldest burial place in the

town. Some of the old stones have inscriptions which show that

burials were made there very early in the eighteenth century.

The old Maghachemeck graveyard is in the southern section of the

town at Port Jervis. Previous to 1907 this ground was much neglected,

and its condition was anything but creditable to the citizens of that

growing village. Interments were made there long prior to the

Revolution.

[Illustration: Dr. J. J. Mills.]

The Laurel Grove cemetery is situated in the extreme southeastern

part of Port Jervis. This was established in 1856 by John Conklin,

who owned the site, and it is the modern cemetery now in use. It

contains many fine monuments and the lots and drives are well kept.

The name Laurel Grove was most appropriately bestowed because of the

thick natural growth of the American laurel on the ground. In 1857

the Weeping Willow cemetery was begun in Port Jervis. This is St.

John's burial ground next the Reformed church. Among other cemeteries

are that of the Reformed church, started in 1833, the Catholic

cemetery, also in Port Jervis, and the Rural Valley cemetery in

Cuddebackville, opened in 1867. In the early eighties the Weeping

Willow cemetery was purchased by the village of Port Jervis and

converted into a site for a school building, the bodies being removed

to other cemeteries.

MILITARY HISTORY.

At the beginning of the French war of 1775 there were only about

thirty families within the present limits of Deer Park township. It

was then divided into upper and lower neighborhoods. In the upper or

northern part, near the old county line, three small forts were

built; one on the Neversink, another at the house of Peter Gumaer,

and the third near the home of Peter Swartwout. There were also three

forts in the lower neighborhood on the south.

It is believed, however, that most of the Indian occupants of this

region had left before the opening of this French war. But they

returned in force when the Revolution began and attacked some of the

early settlers in 1777. These attacks soon became more frequent and

alarming, and the Committee of Safety was obliged to resort to very

vigilant methods in repelling the ferocious savages. Three other

forts were built in the Peenpack section, and these were manned by

soldiers known as the nine-months' men. Many of the women and

children were sent out of the town to more safe quarters. About this

time there were some fifty families in the town and they moved into

the forts for protection. But the settlement was attacked by a force

of Indians and Tories about that time and afterward, and many were

killed in the conflicts. Many of the houses and barns were burned and

much of the crops were destroyed during these Indian raids.

Many stirring incidents of those days are recorded, but much of this

record is merely traditional and lacks authentic documentary evidence

in its support.

At the close of the war the people were practically in a destitute

condition, and it took them a long time, with the very meager

facilities at hand, to reinstate themselves. Even the Continental

paper currency had greatly depreciated in value, and it was necessary

to build mills to make material for rebuilding their homes and barns.

At the opening of the Revolution Major John Decker was one of the

most prominent citizens in the Minisink valley, and it is said that

one of the objects of these Indian raids was to secure the scalp of

Major Decker. They succeeded in burning his house to the ground and

destroyed all his property during his absence from home at night,

driving out his family to sleep on the banks of the Neversink River,

but they didn't get the Major's scalp, though he was wounded while

riding his horse homeward, and barely escaped with his life by hiding

in a cave.

The Brandt raid of what was known as the lower neighborhood occurred

in July, 1779. News of the atrocities perpetrated by the Mohawk chief

and his savage followers was conveyed to Goshen, where a pursuing

force of militia was organized by Colonels Tusten and Hathorn. They

overtook Brandt at the ford of the Delaware at Lackawaxen, Pa., and

in the sanguinary struggle which took place on the heights above

Lackawaxen on the New York side of the river, the Indians were

completely victorious. The force under Hathorn and Tusten was almost

annihilated, but few escaping to tell the tale of the disaster. Of

these men were Captain Abraham Cuddeback of Deer Park, and Daniel

Meyers of Minisink, who is said to have killed more Indians than any

other man during the engagement.

The town took its full patriotic share in the struggle to save the

Union of States. Dr. John Conklin presided at the first meeting of

citizens, April 18, 1861, and prompt measures were adopted. Nearly

$1,000 was raised, and there were many donations for the soldiers and

their families. The Ladies' Aid Society was formed with Mrs. H. H.

Farnum as president, in September, 1862, and this association of

patriotic women forwarded supplies to the front amounting to $843.63.

Under the call of President Lincoln for 500,000 men in 1864 a tax of

$48,600 was raised by the town to pay bounties for soldiers of $300

each. An additional tax of $155,300 was afterwards raised for a like

purpose.

The Deer Park roll of honor in that war numbers 428. Of these some

forty-five lost their lives in the service of their country.

In the Spanish-American war of 1898 eighty-two volunteers for

service in Cuba were recruited in Port Jervis by Captain Benham and

others under the auspices of Lafayette Post, G. A. R., of the city of

New York. Of these, forty-four were attached to Company I of the

Second U. S. Infantry; thirty-five to the 42d U. S. Infantry, and the

remainder entered the Artillery and Cavalry arms of the service. The

recruits for this war came mainly from Port Jervis, but a few came

from surrounding districts.

BONDED DEBT.

Under the act of May 4, 1868, the town of Deer Park was bonded for

the sum of $200,000 to aid in the construction of the Monticello and

Port Jervis Railroad. These bonds drew 7% and ran thirty years to

their maturity. In 1898 they were refunded at 4% and provision made

for the gradual payment of the principal. There is now (1908)

outstanding in these bonds $161,000.

THE MONTICELLO R. R.