The Monticello and Port Jervis Railroad Company was incorporated

Sept. 3, 1868. It ran between Port Jervis and Monticello and opened

for traffic January 3, 1871. It was sold in foreclosure July 8, 1875,

and subsequently reorganized as the Port Jervis and Monticello

Railroad Co. Its history has been a checkered one. It is now operated

by the Ontario & Western Railroad as a part of its system.

THE CITY OF PORT JERVIS.

Port Jervis had its beginning in 1826 when the building of the

D. & H. Canal became a certainty. It was named in honor of John B.

Jervis, of Rome, N. Y.. a distinguished civil engineer, who

superintended the construction of the canal. As late as 1846 a

writer thus describes Port Jervis:

"It is a small village on the canal where it first approaches the

Delaware. It is just above Carpenter's Point (Tri-States) and the

junction of the Neversink and Delaware Rivers. It owes its population

and its importance to its position about midway between Honesdale,

Pa., and Kingston, N. Y., the two terminals of the D. & H. Canal.

There are five stores in the village; three taverns in spacious

buildings; one three-story grist mill, built by Dr. Ball, of

Brooklyn, N. Y., being a stone building with five run of stone in it;

three churches, a Dutch Reformed, Baptist, and Methodist, and one

large school house. Coal and lumber are sold in considerable

quantities. A mail route from Kingston, N. Y., to Milford, Pa., and

thence to Philadelphia, passes through the village."

At this time the population of the village was small, and Port Jervis

was equaled if not exceeded in importance by the neighboring hamlet

of Carpenter's Point, where the post-office was located and courts

were held.

The completion of the Erie Railroad to Port Jervis, January 1, 1848,

gave a wonderful impetus to its growth. The directors of the company

celebrated the event by an official trip over the road from Piermont

on the Hudson River, its eastern terminus, to Port Jervis, where the

entire population of the surrounding country were gathered to

celebrate their arrival. Cannon boomed and flags and bunting floated

from every house top. A banquet was served at the hotel of Samuel

Truex on the southwestern corner of Pike and Main streets, during

which the president of the road, Benjamin Loder, made an address

congratulating all concerned in the successful completion of the

great enterprise as far as Port Jervis. The subsequent growth of the

place was rapid. Its position as the headquarters of the Delaware

division of the road and the terminus of its eastern division and the

location here of extensive machine and car shops gave it a large

railroad population, which has been and still is the principal

contributing element to its prosperity.

In 1853 the village was incorporated and the first charter election

was held in August following. The total village expenses for the

first year was $1,350. Samuel Fowler was the first president.

Port Jervis became a city by an act of the Legislature of the date of

June 26, 1907, and at the first election under the city charter, held

in the ensuing November, the following city officials were elected:

Mayor, Dr. H. B. Swartwout; aldermen, Joseph Johnson (at large),

F. N. Mason, Andrew Hensel, A. F. Brown. P. C. Rutan, C. F. Van

Inwegen, Thomas Mulhearn, James Howell and James I. Delaney. The

first five named are republicans, the others democrats. The following

appointments were made by the Common Council: City clerk, A. P.

Altemeier; city engineer, Irving Righter; commissioner of charters,

John M. Snook; superintendent of streets and sewers, Theodore

Ludlum; chief of police, William Wilkin. Supervisors from the four

wards were elected as follows: First Ward, S. S. Garriss, dem.;

Second Ward, Henry Farnum, rep.; Third Ward, J. J. Toth, rep.;

Fourth Ward, J. P. Gillen, dem.

The population of Port Jervis in 1907, according to the census of the

State excise department, taken in that year for the purpose of

furnishing a basis upon which to adjust license rates, was 10,035.

But as the census was not intended to be exhaustive and practically

stopped when the 10,000 limit was reached, leaving certain sections

uncounted, it is fair to presume that the actual population was

considerably in excess of the figure named.

The assessed valuation of the city of Port Jervis for the year 1907

was $2,000,000; for the town of Deer Park about $500,000.

The city has eighty-two industrial establishments including the car

and machine shops of the Erie Railroad, employing over 1,000

operatives. The principal manufactured commodities are saws,

glassware, silk, gloves and mittens, shirt and ladies' collars. These

industries give employment to many skilled operatives who receive

good wages. The city has three hardware stores and two iron

foundries.

Among the important industries of Port Jervis is the Deer Park

Brewery Co., located on Reservoir avenue. The company was organized

in 1902 with George F. Ott, of Philadelphia, as president. The plant

of the insolvent Deer Park Brewery Co. was purchased and greatly

improved and enlarged.

STREET RAILROAD.

The Port Jervis Electric Street Railway Company was organized in

1895 with Hon. W. C. Richardson, of Goshen, as the first president.

The work of construction began November 15, 1897, and the road went

into operation January 15, 1898. The road is now known as the Port

Jervis Electric Railroad Co. It has about 4 1/3 miles of track and

runs three cars.

BANKS.

The oldest of the two banking establishments of this place, the

National Bank of Port Jervis, was organized under the State law as

the Bank of Port Jervis, in March, 1853. Business was opened in the

Delaware House. The original capital was $120,000, afterwards

increased to $130,000. Its first president was Thomas King, who

served until his death in 1857, when he was succeeded by H. H.

Farnum, who served until his death in 1879. The late Charles St.

John succeeded him and the late Francis Marvin became president in

1892 on the death of Mr. St. John. The present incumbent of the

office is W. L. Cuddeback.

The heavy defalcation of the assistant cashier led to a

reorganization of the institution in 1899 with Dr. W. L. Cuddeback

as president. The last annual report, December 5, 1907, showed

deposits amounting to $550,738.04. The present dividend rate is 7-1/2

per cent, per annum.

The First National Bank was organized in 1870 with a capital of

$100,000. Jacob Hornbeck was the first president. The late Martin

C. Everett succeeded him. The present head of this prosperous

institution is Chas. F. Van Inwegen. Its last report, on December 3,

1907, showed total deposits of $1,001,621.46. The stock pays 16 per

cent. dividends to stockholders.

The Port Jervis Savings Bank, organized under the State law, began

business in March, 1870, with Eli Van Inwegen as president. It

discontinued business in the later seventies.

THE POST-OFFICE.

The post-office was removed from Carpenter's Point to Port Jervis in

1829, and John Slauson was the postmaster. He was succeeded by Dr.

John Conklin in 1833, followed by Dr. Charles Hardenburgh in 1845,

who was soon displaced by Thomas J. Lyon. Then came Dr. Conklin again

in 1849, Francis Marvin in 1851, Thomas J. Lyon again in 1853, James

Van Fleet in 1855, George Brodhead in 1857, Augustus E. Goodale in

1861, Charles St. John, Jr., in 1879, Benjamin Ryall in 1885,

Stephen St. John in 1889; George A. Elston in 1893; S. D. Boyce in

1897. Mr. Boyce still (in 1908) continues in office.

THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.

The Port Jervis fire department was long regarded among the best in

the State outside the large cities, and few destructive fires were

ever allowed to gain much headway. The introduction of the

water-works system gave ample hydrant pressure to cope with any

conflagration, and the old hand engines were long since abandoned.

There are seven different fire companies with a force of considerably

over 200 effective fire fighters. The equipment included a steamer

and hook and ladder apparatus. P. C. Rutan is chief engineer of the

department.

PORT JERVIS FREE LIBRARY.

In 1892 was organized the Port Jervis Free Library, with W. L.

Cuddeback, W. H. Nearpass, Maria B. Van Etten, Minnie C. Brox

and E. H. Gordon, trustees. This board has continued in charge of the

library until the present time except that, in 1896, Mrs. Brox

resigned and was succeeded by Mrs. M. I. Coonrod. In 1901 a gift of

$20,000 was received from Mr. Carnegie for the construction of a

library building, which was subsequently increased to $30,000, and

with this fund a large, handsome, commodious building was constructed

on Pike street hill on a site given by Peter E. Farnum. The building

is constructed of light colored pressed brick with native blue stone

trimmings. It will house 40,000 volumes. The number at present on

the shelves is 15,000; added during the year 1907 by purchase, 1,062;

the number lent for home use during the current year, 33,706. It is

rich in encyclopedias and valuable works of reference, including the

Congressional Record and Globe, and reports of the departments of the

Federal and State governments. The valuable collection of books and

documents of the Minisink Valley Historical Society is also housed in

this building, a separate room on the second floor having been set

apart for the accommodation thereof. This building contains two

spacious, well equipped reading rooms, in which may be found all the

leading reviews, magazines, and weekly periodicals, with complete

files of many of them handsomely bound and ranged about the walls for

convenient reference.

The present librarian is Miss Elizabeth G. Thorne; assistants, Miss

Charlotte Nearpass and Miss Anna G. Wells.

SEWERS.

Port Jervis has an excellent system of public sewers, established in

1891 at a cost of about $85,000, for which the bonds of the village

were issued. The original sewer commissioners were Francis Marvin,

L. E. Carr, George Schoonover, W. A. Drake, M. D. Graham, with Ed.

Whitner, clerk. Its establishment has resulted in a lowering of the

death rate and a notable diminution in zymotic diseases within the

city limits.

CHURCHES.

Port Jervis has eight churches, which in the order of their

establishment are as follows: _The Reformed Church of Deer Park,_

founded August 23, 1737, under the name of the _Reformed Dutch

Church_ of Mahackemech; _Drew Methodist Episcopal Church_ and the

_Baptist Church,_ both founded in 1838; _First Presbyterian,_

incorporated July 15, 1851; _Grace Episcopal Church,_ incorporated

September 3, 1853; the _Church of the Immaculate Conception,_

incorporated January 10, 1860; _German Lutheran Protestant,_ Port

Jervis, incorporated January 1, 1861; the _Second Reformed Church,_

whose house of worship on West Main street (in Germantown), was

dedicated November 29, 1896, with Rev. David T. Harris as pastor;

the _Church of Sacred Heart_ (in Germantown), whose handsome church

edifice of brick was dedicated in November, 1899, with Rev. B. J.

Duffy, ordained in Rome, as first pastor.

The colored people also have a church organization known as the

_Wickham A. U. M. P. Church,_ in honor of the late Dr. D. T. Wickham,

the principal contributor to their church building.

ST. MARY'S HOME.

A religious, educational and charitable institution of great merit

and usefulness is St. Mary's Home, founded in 1871 by the late Rev.

Father Nelan, its object being to provide a home for orphan children

and to train and instruct them for a useful place in society. For

over twenty years this institution has been in charge of Sister

Theophelia, a woman whose motherly instincts and marked

administrative abilities peculiarly fit her for this highly

important work.

MINISINK VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

An event of great importance to the residents of this town was the

organization of the Minisink Valley Historical Society in 1888. Among

the active promoters of this undertaking were Rev. Dr. S. W.

Mills, Francis Marvin, Dr. John Conkling, O. P. Howell, Dr. Sol Van

Etten, C. E. and W. L. Cuddeback, W. H. Nearpass and C. F. Van

Inwegen. Its collection of relics and manuscripts is large and of

great value to the genealogist and historian. Its library numbers

more than 1,500 volumes of books and pamphlets. Its manuscripts

exceed 1,000 in number. With the facilities offered by its new home

in the Carnegie Library building and protection and safety provided

by its fireproof vaults, it will in time become the repository of

all valuable documents and manuscripts in this vicinity.

OLD BURYING GROUND RESTORED.

During the summer of 1907 a notable work was accomplished by the

Machackemech Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, of

which Mrs. Charles F. Van Inwegen is the president, in clearing and

beautifying the grounds of the old historic Machackcmech cemetery on

East Main street next to the Catholic cemetery. Through long neglect

the cemetery had fallen into a condition of utter decay and ruin. The

ground was covered with a dense growth of weeds, briars and

underbrush, and the memorial stones, some of them dating back to a

period anterior to the Revolution, were for the most part so weather

beaten and moss-grown that their inscription was difficult to

decipher, in some cases were totally illegible. All this has been

changed, and now this hallowed ground "Where the rude forefathers of

the hamlet sleep" has been restored to order and beauty and no longer

offends by its wild and neglected appearance.

SOLDIERS MONUMENT.

A conspicuous ornament to the public square of the city (Orange

Square) is the soldiers' monument, erected in 1886 through the

liberality and public spirit of Diana Farnum, widow of H. H. Farnum,

whose gift of $10,000 defrayed the cost thereof. It commemorates the

valor and patriotism of the soldiers from Deer Park who took part in

the great struggle for the preservation of the Union in 1861-5. It

was unveiled to the public on July 4, 1886, in the presence of a

vast multitude of spectators. L. F. Carr, Esq., of Port Jervis, and

General Stewart L. Woodford, of Brooklyn, N. Y. were the orators of

the occasion. The ceremonies were in charge of Carroll Post,

G. A. R., of Port Jervis.

FLOODS IN PORT JERVIS.

The situation of Port Jervis near the confluence of the Delaware and

Neversink Rivers exposes its low-lying parts to occasional overflows

of these streams in times of heavy rainfall and more especially

during the break-up of ice at the end of the winter season.

The channel of the Delaware at this place is shallow and obstructed

by rapids and islands against which descending masses of ice become

lodged, damming back the water and producing what is known as an

ice-gorge. Such an event occurred in the latter part of February,

1875, when the channel of the river for several miles in extent was

filled with a gigantic accumulation of broken ice. For several weeks

the village was threatened with inundation and various unsuccessful

expedients were resorted to to start the ice moving. The excitement

culminated on March 17, when the "gorge" gave way, carrying with it

the iron railroad bridge across the Delaware above Sparrowbush, which

in descending the stream on top of the moving ice, struck and swept

away the Barrett suspension bridge at Port Jervis. For a short time

just before the break-up of the "gorge" the lower part of the village

as far as the Erie tracks was flooded with water.

On October 10, 1903, a ten-inch rainfall in forty hours caused both

rivers to overflow their banks, submerging the low-lying parts of the

town. Barrett bridge across the Delaware was again carried away, and

five persons who were on it at the time lost their lives.

On March 8, 1904, a flood caused by an ice gorge destroyed the iron

railroad bridge across the Delaware at this place and the suspension

bridge across the Neversink. The lower section, of the village was

submerged to a depth of three feet and the portion across the Erie

tracks to a depth of from seven to ten feet.

This succession of disasters emphasized the necessity for protective

measures of some kind, and the matter was taken in hand by the

village Board of Trade, as a result of whose deliberations a bill

was presented and passed at the ensuing session of the Legislature,

appropriating the sum of $35,000 for diking the Delaware at Port

Jervis. This money was used to excellent purpose and a substantial

dike was built under the direction of the State engineer, extending

from the upper part of Germantown to Barrett bridge. To afford the

needed protection, however, this work should be extended down the

river bank to Laurel Grove cemetery. Bills for the necessary

appropriation have been introduced at the successive sessions of the

Legislature, but for various reasons have failed to pass. A more

fortunate issue is expected from the one introduced by Senator

Taylor at the present session. Another State appropriation of

$10,000 was spent in strengthening and clearing the channel of the

Clove Brook at Tri-States and a pumping station has been established

at the foot of Wagner Place, by means of which accumulated surface

water is drained off in times of flood. An effort is also being made

through Representative Thos. W. Bradley to secure the aid of the

Federal government in clearing and deepening the channel of the

Delaware and removing obstructions from Storm Island, about a mile

below the city.

CANAL ABANDONED.

The canal of the Delaware & Hudson Company was abandoned in 1878.

Samuel D. Coykendall, of Kingston, purchased the right of way, and

sold it to the Pennsylvania Coal Company, by whom a coal carrying

road from the anthracite field to tide water along the old canal

route was projected. The enterprise was defeated by the purchase by

the Erie Railroad Company of the stock of the Pennsylvania Coal

Company, which carried with it ownership and control of the old

right of way and blocked threatened competition in the carriage of

coal to tide water.

ERIE CHANGES.

In the spring of 1890 the Erie removed its passenger station from

the foot of Pike street to the Brown building in Jersey avenue,

near its junction with Fowler street. This building was remodeled and

enlarged and made over into one of the finest depots along the line

of the Erie road. It was destroyed by fire on Christmas night of the

same year and the present handsome structure erected on its site.

On Easter Sunday, 1905, the company transferred the headquarters of

the principal Delaware division official from Port Jervis to

Susquehanna. This involved the removal of thirty officials and

assistants, including the superintendent, train master, division

engineer, division plumber, and division carpenter.

GOOD ROADS.

This section will benefit by the good roads movement lately adopted

by the State, and Port Jervis may naturally expect considerable

increase of trade and perhaps of population from the three State

roads now in process of construction which converge in this city. One

of these begins in Middletown, passes through Wawayanda and

Greenville and comes out upon the road leading from Tappentown to

Tri-States. Another starts from Middletown and passes through

Otisville and Cuddebackville, taking at the last named place the old

road pronounced by the State inspector to be one of the finest in the

State. A third leads from the Sullivan County line at Rio on the west

to Port Jervis.

CITY IMPROVEMENTS.

The year just passed has witnessed the organization of a City

Improvement Association composed of ladies, the object of which is

sufficiently indicated by its name. It has an active corps of

officers and members animated by a praiseworthy spirit of civic

pride. Mrs. Maria B. Van Etten is the president.

PLACES OF SPECIAL NOTE.

Tri-States Rock, situated at the confluence of the Delaware and

Neversink Rivers, at which the boundary lines of three States--New

York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey--intersect, is one of the show

places of the town. The rock is at the extreme point of the narrow

tongue of land lying between the two rivers and at the mouth of the

Neversink. The geological formation is rocky and will stand the wear

of the floods for centuries to come as it has for centuries past. A

small monument now marks the spot.

The site of the old Dutch church on the Van Inwegen land directly

opposite the old Machackemech cemetery on Main street is suggestive

of historic memories. Here assembled for worship in the old log

"meeting house" of 1743 the pioneer families of this section. The

house was burned by Brandt and his savages in the historic raid of

July, 1779.

The Van Etten schoolhouse, from which the teacher, Jeremiah Van

Auken, was taken out and cruelly murdered in the same raid, was

located on the old Levi Van Etten farm, afterwards owned by Mark

Van Etten, on the east side of the Neversink River about one-fourth

of a mile north of Black Rock cut on the Erie.

The forts mentioned in the early annals gather about themselves most

of the traditions of Indian attack. In the upper neighborhood there

was one at the house of Jacob Rutsen De Witt. This was near

Cuddebackville, on the west side of the Neversink. Another fort was

at the Gumaer place, now the Godeffroy estate. The old stone

building is still standing and in excellent preservation.

In the accounts of incidents occurring during the old French War, it

is stated that on one occasion the Indians lay in ambush "to take the

lower fort at Mr. Westfall's." This was probably the old stone house

at Germantown. A local writer says: "The present structure, rebuilt

in 1793, occupied the site of a fort or blockhouse built anterior to

the Revolution and occupied as a dwelling and trading post by a

family of the name of Haynes, who carried on a thriving trade with

the Indians for many years." Captain Westfall, who married one of Mr.

Haynes's daughters, lived in the house during the Brandt invasion of

1779. He was away on a scouting expedition at the time, and a trusty

Negro buried the valuables and assisted the escape of the captain's

wife to the high hills of the Jersey shore near Carpenter's point.

It is said that Brandt's expedition first attacked "the fort at

Major Decker's." This was on the old George Cuddeback place on the

east side of the Neversink River, about three miles from Port Jervis.

Another fort was near the residence of the late James D. Swartwout.

Still another is mentioned by Peter E. Gumaer "at the house of Peter

Coykendall, in the present village of Port Jervis."

CHAPTER XVI.

TOWN OF GOSHEN.

By George F. Gregg.

Northwest, sixty miles by rail from New York City, sixteen miles in

an air line west from the Hudson River, lies Goshen, the county seat

of Orange County, located in the geographical center of that civic

sub-division. The town derives its name from the Goshen of Biblical

memory. Almost two centuries ago the first of the settlers came. The

native beauty of the place appealed to the calm and dauntless spirits

of these men, who had plunged boldly into a benighted and unknown

country. They stood upon the wooded hills and looked with glad eyes

upon the fertile, fruitful valley. All around about them lay the land

of their desire, and they called it Goshen, the "promised land" of

the Scriptures.

The town, which was first known by this name in 1714, was originally

much larger than at present. Its boundaries were defined by law in

1788. A part of Hamptonburgh was taken from it in 1830, and a part of

Chester in 1845. Other changes of boundaries were made at different

times, as recited elsewhere in this article. It has a population

to-day in town and village slightly in excess of 5,000.

The section is known for the great fertility of its soil. It is in

the heart of a noted dairying country, and as long ago as

Revolutionary days Goshen butter was widely famed. Butter making has

practically ceased now, but the milk production is large. The town

is also noted for the onions and celery raised on its black dirt

meadows, as well as for the grass crops grown on its fertile farms.

The village is located on the main line of the Erie Railroad, and has

direct connection with New England cities by way of the N. Y.,

N. H. & H. R. R. It is also the terminus of the Montgomery & Erie,

the Goshen & Deckertown, and the Lehigh & New England Railroads.

It is handsomely laid out with broad, well-kept and well-shaded

streets of smooth macadam. It has three public school buildings, and

Garr Institute, a parochial school, conducted under the direction of

St. John's Church. It has six churches: The First Presbyterian,

organized in 1720; St. James' Episcopal, dating back to 1796;

St. John the Evangelist, Roman Catholic, founded in 1820; the

Methodist Episcopal, organized in 1847; the A. U. M. P. Church, and

Olivet Chapel, a Presbyterian colored mission. It has two national

banks and a savings bank, two newspapers, gas and electric lighting

companies, a waterworks system, and first-class hotels and clubs. Its

fire department is made up of three volunteer companies, Cataract

Engine and Hose, organized in 1843; Dikeman Hose, organized in 1872,

and Minisink Hook and Ladder, organized in 1906, upon the disbanding

of Elliott H. and L., which was organized in 1871. Leading to the

village from almost every direction are improved roads, maintained

under State supervision.

[Illustration: George F. Gregg.]

No mention of the town, past or present, would be complete, without

reference to the trotting-horse industry. It began in 1803, when

Imp. Messenger, acknowledged head of the trotting family, stood at

Goshen Down through all the years trotting horses were bred and

raised there, and even in this day and generation the horse

interests are chief among the interests of the town. In the center of

the village is located the finest half-mile track in the country and

many famous horses are trained there.

Every foot of its ground is historic. In the far-gone years red men

roamed its landscape and predatory beasts lurked in the shadows of

its primeval timber lands. It was one of the early settlements made

on that vast tract to which Governor Nicolls referred when he wrote

in 1664: "The lands which I intend shall be first planted are those

upon the west bank of Hudson's River." Shortly after the first

settlement a bounty was placed on wolves and the Governor recommended

its payment to the House of Lords. Chapter 302 of the laws of 1715,

was an act for the destroying of wolves in this section. This act

expired July 21, 1717, and on October 29, 1742, the General Assembly

found it necessary to pass a law placing a bounty of a shilling and

sixpence on "wolves, whelps and panthers."

Noah Webster, of dictionary renown, taught the first academy in

Goshen. Dewitt Clinton attended school there, and William H. Seward

studied law in the office of Judge Duer. The first newspaper of the

county, _The Goshen Repository,_ was published at Goshen in 1788, by

David Mandeville.

In the article which follows, the writer has endeavored to furnish a

concise history in limited space. As nearly as possible, events are

set down in chronological order. Much of interest concerning the town

that is based only upon tradition is left out and the space devoted

to historical facts that can be authenticated and verified by

records, maps, parchments and the writings of earlier and wiser men.

The County of Orange dates its existence by legal enactment from

October 1, 1691, in the third year of the reign of King William and

Queen Mary, and in the administration of Henry Sloughter, Esq.,

Governor. The First Assembly convened the 9th of April that year. On

October 1 it passed an act, Chapter 17, entitled "An Act to divide

the province and dependencies into shires and counties." Section VII

of this act provided: "The County of Orange to begin from the limits

or bounds of East and West Jersey, on the west side of Hudson's

River, along the said river to the Murderer's Creek, or bounds of the

County of Ulster; and westward into the woods as far as the Delaware

River."

Chapter 94, which became a law October 18, 1701, added to the lands

embraced in the county those of "Magachemeck and Great and Little

Minisinck."

On November 12, 1709, during the administration of Richard

Ingoldsby, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor, the Eighth Assembly passed an

act, Chapter, 202, "to determine, settle and ascertain the bounds and

limits of the County of Orange." This act repealed the clause added

by Chapter 94, and fixed the bounds as follows: "That the County of

Orange shall extend from the limits and confines of the Province of

New Jersey on the west side of Hudson's River, along the said river

to the line of the County of Ulster, and westward so far as the

Delaware River."

The county derives its name from the Prince of Orange, who married

Mary, and came to the throne in 1689, under the name of King William.

Goshen is a part of the tract known as the Wawayanda Patent, acquired

of the red men by John Bridges & Company, on March 5, 1703, and

confirmed by royal decree of Queen Anne. Twelve Indian sachems

conveyed the land. They were Rapingonick, Wawastawa, Moghopuck,

Comelawaw, Nanawitt, Arawinack, Rombout, Claus, Chouckhass,

Chingapaw, Oshasquememus and Quilapaw. The patent was granted April

29. There were twelve patentees, namely, John Bridges, LL.D.,

Hendrick Tenyck, Derrick Vanderburgh, John Chotwell, Christopher

Denn, Lancaster Syms, Daniel Herran, Philip Rockeby, John Meredith,

Benjamin Aske, Peter Matthews, and Christian Christianse. The grant

was supposed to contain 60,000 acres, but surveys later showed that

it contained nearly 160,000. These twelve patentees held the land in

common until 1706, when it was divided into twelve parts. Only eight

of the original shareholders retained their interests at that time,

Bridges having died in 1704, and others having transferred their

holdings.

The tract was unoccupied until 1712, when Christopher Denn made

settlement upon it, to be followed shortly by Benjamin Aske; Daniel

Cromline, who became a shareholder in 1704; Christian Snedeker, of

Long Island; Samuel Staats, who came into record as a thirteenth

shareholder in 1713; and John Everett and Samuel Clowes, who in 1714,

acquired a tract equal to four of the thirteen shares. The township

of Goshen came that year, and the precinct of Goshen, comprising the

outlying settlements came later, and remained until 1788 when the

township was expanded to take its place.

In 1712, Christopher Denn, a carpenter by trade and resident of New

York City, paid a visit to the patent and determined to make a

settlement upon it. He and his wife, Elizabeth, were childless, but

had adopted an orphan girl, Sarah Wells.

Denn selected a spot along the Otterkill, as it is now known, about

two miles or more from the present village. He returned to New York,

equipped an expedition, which he sent up the Hudson River in charge

of his adopted daughter, accompanied by two white men and some

Indians whom he had taken to New York when returning from his first

visit. A raft was used for the voyage and a landing safely made near

Cornwall. The journey to the spot selected by Denn was through a

trackless forest, but was made without mishap and a rough cabin was

built. After the starting of the expedition Denn was remorseful

because he sent the girl into unknown dangers, and within a short

time he started for the new settlement, with his wife. The journey

was made on horseback. They arrived safely and took up permanent

residence there.

It appears from an old map that Denn's share of the patent was a

triangular tract, containing about 2,000 acres. The presence of this

family soon brought other settlers and the woodman's axe resounded

far and near. The merciless push of immigration began and the native

red men were driven further into the wilderness. In the course of a

few years Sarah Wells became the wife of William Bull, of

Wolverhampton, England, who came to this country and was employed by

Daniel Cromline in 1716 to build the masonry of a dwelling, later

known to fame for nearly a century as the Greycourt House. History

records this as the first marriage within the limits of the town of

Goshen.

The lands in the vicinity of the present village were settled to

some extent soon after Denn's arrival. There were on record deeds

showing the conveyance of lots in the village in 1714. On July 10,

1721, a deed in trust was made to John Yelverton by John Everett,

John Carpenter, John Gale, William Ludlum, Nathaniel Higby, John

Carpenter, Jr., G. McNish, James Sandys, Thomas Watson, Hope Rodes,

John Holly, James Jackson, Isaac Finch, Solomon Carpenter, John

Beers, Michael Dunning, Samuel Seely, John Nichols, William Jackson,

Alexander Moore, John Knapp, Samuel Webb, John Alsop and Richard

Halsted, setting forth that a conveyance had been "lately" made to

John Everett and Samuel Clowes, giving them one-sixth part of all the

lands for the purpose of laying out a township, establishing a church

and settling a minister.

The Goshen Presbyterian Church was organized in 1720, and Rev. John

Bradner, to whom more extended reference is made later in this

article, became its pastor in 1721. Two hundred acres of land were

deeded to him on April 17, 1722, and recorded at the request of his

widow on April 8, 1742. In 1724 the erection of a house of worship

was begun on the spot where now stands the court house. The first

court was convened in Goshen in 1727, and on December 16, of that

year an act was passed providing for the building of a court house

and jail, which were erected and completed in 1740, on the site of

the present Orange Hotel. On October 24, 1754, the General Assembly

appropriated 100 pounds for an addition to it, and in 1775 it was

demolished and a new one built at a point where now stands the

county clerk's office. The arms of King George III were placed upon

its front, but were torn down by indignant citizens.

A schoolhouse was built in 1801 on the church plot, the same spot

where the public school building on Greenwich street now stands. Here

Noah Webster taught for a time before he published his first

dictionary in 1806.

[Illustration: Jno. Pleovert]

Goshen, after its original settlement, soon became the most important

and populous district of the county, and a census taken in 1738

showed a total of 319 males above the age of ten. These were

stirring times for the people and most of the affairs were of a

warlike nature. There was frequent trouble with the Indians. The

frontier was only four miles away. Block houses were built at

Dolsontown and Scotchtown, and tradition has it that a block house

once stood back of the present race course on the property known

to-day as the Parkway Farm. In those days the settlers west of the

Wallkill made Goshen their rendezvous when Indian raids were feared.

In the reign of George II, when Hon. George Clinton was Governor, the

General Assembly passed an act to enable the inhabitants of Goshen in

the County of Orange to elect two additional constables. This act

explained that the inhabitants of the Precinct of Goshen had liberty

to elect only one constable and as the precinct had considerably

increased in numbers of inhabitants and settlements, it was

necessary that an increased number be elected. The act was passed

December 17, 1743, and provided that one of the constables "be

elected and chosen from and out of such of the inhabitants as have

habitations in the south part of Goshen, commonly called Wawayanda,

and the other from and out of such of the inhabitants as have

habitations northward near the meeting house, commonly called the

Water-Side Meeting House."

On September 21, 1744, the General Assembly passed an act to

authorize justices of the peace in the counties of Dutchess and

Orange to "direct so many constables and overseers of the highways to

be chosen, in the several precincts as to them shall seem meet." On

the same day an act was passed for the relief of the poor in the

counties of Orange and Suffolk.

Covenant Chain Treaty.

During these years the settlers had as allies two tribes of Indians,

sometimes known as the Cashigton Indians, whose principal lodges were

located near where now stands the village of Cochecton in Sullivan

County, They formed a part of the Lenni Lenape, or Delaware

Confederacy, once powerful, but at that time reduced in numbers. From

time immemorial Western Orange had been their hunting ground, but

late in the year 1744 they showed signs of distrust and retired to

their lodges on the upper Delaware. The colonists were loath to lose

these faithful allies, for their withdrawal left the outlying

settlements on the frontiers exposed to attack of hostile savages,

incited to rapine and murder by the French.

The attention of the Colonial Government was called to this matter

and Colonel DeKay was ordered to take a party and visit the Indians

in the hope that friendly relations might be restored and the red men

induced to return to their old hunting grounds. As a result of this

visit the Indian Treaty of Orange County was enacted and the ceremony

of the Covenant Chain performed at Goshen. Colonel Thomas De Kay took

with him, upon this expedition, Major Swartwout, Ensign Coleman, Adam

Weisner, who acted as interpreter, Benjamin Thompson, and two

Minisink Indians as guides. The pilgrimage was made in the depth of

winter. The Indians were found and agreed to come back, claiming that

they left because they were afraid of the people of Orange County,

who were always under arms. When it was explained that this was by

order of the Governor and for protection against the French and their

allies, the Indians rejoiced. They explained that they were of two

tribes, using for totems the signs of Minsi, or Wolf, and Uralachtgo,

or Turkey, and that their sachem had recently died. They were about

to choose a new sachem to govern all, and they promised that when he

had been chosen they would send representatives to make a treaty.

New Year's Day was fixed upon as the date.

On January 3, 1745, two days late, the Wolves and Turkeys, a dozen of

the head men in all, led by the new sachem, came into the village of

Goshen and marched in savage bravery up its main street. Just where

the ceremony took place is unknown, but the old manuscript record

says that the weather was severe, and it is probable that the meeting

was held in the rude court house. The Indians by their spokesman

explained that they had brought a Belt of Wampum that friendship and

brotherhood might be restored. They asked that some one be appointed

to enact with them the ceremony of the Covenant Chain.

Colonel De Kay informed them that the Governor alone had power to make

such an appointment and that as there was not time to communicate

with him, it would be best for the Indians to select a man. They

chose the colonel and he was then chained to them for an hour or more

as a token of their being united again in the bonds of friendship.

Speeches were made by the Indians and they solemnly pledged

themselves to be true "as long as the sun and moon endured," and

promised to send in runners at once if they learned of any plots

against the English. They also agreed to join in fighting the enemy

and asked that aid be given them in case of attack by the French.

This was freely promised and while the Colonel was still chained to

the Indians they gave him the Belt of Wampum to be sent to the

Governor. The Indians, according to the record, "again rejoiced with

three huzzahs and departed very much pleased." The Belt of Wampum, so

states the books of the Lords of Trade and Plantations in London, was

taken to the Colonial Council in New York by Colonel DeKay a

fortnight later and delivered to the Council, which in turn sent it

to the Governor, who recommended that one be given in return to the

Indians. This was the only occasion on record when the ceremony of

the Covenant Chain was enacted in Orange County.

[Illustration: James Edward Wells.]

On April 18, 1748, an act was passed by the General Assembly

providing that "for the time to come, all elections of representatives

of the County of Orange to serve in the present or any future General

Assembly shall begin and be first opened at the court house in Orange

Town, or at the court house or some other convenient place in the town

of Goshen."

About this time settlers who had dealings with the sheriff began to

find considerable fault with the manner in which mileage charges

were computed. On April 8, 1748, an act was passed providing that for

all writs and process papers served on inhabitants on the north side

of the mountain range called the Highlands, mileage should be

computed by the sheriff from the court house in Goshen, and for all

papers served on the south side from the court house in Orange Town.

The preamble to this act fully explained the situation. It stated:

"Whereas the County of Orange is very extensive in length, and by

reason of a ridge of mountains across the same, and for the better

accommodation of inhabitants, it was found necessary to have two

court houses, the one at Goshen on the north, and the other at

Orange Town on the south thereof; yet by the sheriff having his

residence sometimes at the one and sometimes at the other extreme of

the said county, the computation of his fees for mileage in the

service of writs hath hitherto been made from the place of the

sheriff's abode, which has been found to be very inconvenient and

burdensome to the parties concerned."

Military Matters.

When the French and Indian War began in 1756 the men of Goshen were

continually under arms. The old Journal of the Assembly relates the

services of Captain George De Kay as express between Goshen and

Minisink. It mentions as his guards Peter Carter, David Benjamin,

Philip Reid and Francis Armstrong. It tells also of the payment of

nearly 100 pounds to Colonel Vincent Mathews for furnishing guides to

regulars posted at Goshen from October, 1757, to February, 1758, and

refers to the work of Colonels Clinton and De Kay in laying out block

houses for the settlers' defense. Mention is also made of the payment

of 56 pounds to Samuel Gale for provisions furnished troops on the

frontiers near Goshen; and of reimbursing Colonel Benj. Tusten,

Captain Daniel Case and Captain J. Bull for money advanced in

building block houses Nos. 1 and 2 on the western frontier in

January, 1757.

In 1763, Lieutenant-Governor Cadwallader Colden appealed to the

General Assembly for troops to relieve the militia on the borders of

Orange and Ulster which were infested by the enemy. At this time the

town of Goshen extended from the Hudson to New Jersey. In 1764 a bill

was passed dividing the precinct of Goshen into two precincts, to be

called Goshen and Cornwall. After this division Cornwall embraced the

present towns of Cornwall, Monroe and Blooming Grove, while Goshen

included the present town of Warwick.

During the years prior to the Revolution when the colonists were

growing desperate under the exactions of King George, patriotism and

valor were manifested to a marked degree in Goshen. On June 8, 1775,

over 360 men signed the Revolutionary pledge at Goshen and the name

of Henry Wisner headed the list. The Reverend Nathan Ker, an ardent

patriot, and the fourth pastor of the Goshen Presbyterian Church, who

came to Goshen in the fall of 1766, and remained until his death,

December 14, 1804, on one occasion is said to have dismissed his

congregation in the midst of a Sunday service to prepare food for a

troop of horse that had halted on the way to Philadelphia. Once

General George Washington, riding eastward on the Florida road

towards his headquarters at Newburgh, stopped with his staff to chat

awhile with the children at the old school house near the stone

quarry.

NOTABLE EARLY RESIDENTS.

Many of the old families of Goshen to-day are descendants of the

patriots who fought in the colonial service and whose names appear on

the roster of the Goshen regiment at the battles of Long Island and

White Plains, at the struggle in the Highlands, and the capture of

Fort Montgomery, as well as in the memorable slaughter of Minisink.

[Illustration: Frederick W. Duvard]

The highway between Goshen and Florida, over which Washington rode,

is a historic thoroughfare and in Revolutionary days was lined with

the homes of famous men. Goshen was then the stronghold of the Whigs.

In a stone house nearly opposite the present Sayer homestead, lived

Moses Hatfield, a captain, afterwards a major, in the Goshen

regiment, who was taken prisoner at a night assault on what is now

Randall's Island, on September 23, 1776, and was kept a captive until

1778.

A little further along the way lived Henry Wisner, the elder. He and

his son of the same name were makers of powder for the Continental

Army at Phillipsburg, between the highway as it now stands and the

grist mill near by. Traces of the old raceway and mill can still be

seen. Another on the opposite side of the stream, and one at

Craigville, operated in conjunction with John Carpenter, were also

erected by Henry Wisner. The Sons of the Revolution arranged some

years ago to mark the site of the Phillipsburg powder mill by an

historical tablet.

Henry Wisner stood foremost among those who advocated the

independence of the colonies. He represented Orange County in the

Continental Congress which declared that "these States are, and of

right ought to be, free." His son Gabriel, hardly past his majority,

was slain in the slaughter of Minisink. On the 16th of August, 1774,

Henry Wisner was chosen as one of the delegates to represent Orange

County in the Continental Congress held in Philadelphia in September

of that year. The election was by the committee of the county held at

the house of Stephen Slot and the purpose was for the delegate to

attend at Philadelphia "to consult on proper measures to be taken for

procuring the redress of our grievances."

A question was raised as to the regularity of this election and a

meeting of the inhabitants of the precincts of Goshen and Cornwall

was held at Chester on September 3, 1774, at which Henry Wisner was

chosen to go to Philadelphia "in order to meet the rest of the

delegates and consult on proper measures to be taken with respect to

the claims made by the British Parliament of taxing America in all

cases whatsoever."

William Wickham was a prominent citizen of Goshen, and his attitude

was one of extreme loyalty to the crown. With other adherents of the

king he attempted to set aside the election of Wisner. The

correspondence, which still exists, shows that political feeling was

very bitter. The scheme came to naught and Wisner took his seat. In

April, 1776, he was elected by a convention held at New York City, as

a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in which he took part,

leaving it for the purpose of manufacturing powder for Washington's

tattered army.

Mr. Wisner's signature may still be found in the list at Carpenter's

Hall in Philadelphia. He continued in Congress until the memorable

2nd of July, 1776, when the "Resolution of Independency" {_sic_} was

passed. He was heartily in favor of the measure and remained for the

purpose of casting his vote for its final passage, had the Provincial

Congress of New York given such instructions to its delegates.

Tradition affirms that he actually did vote for the "independency"

that day. He was not present to sign the Declaration. He had proposed

in Congress "a method for the manufacture of saltpeter and gunpowder"

which had been approved, and in agreement with which he was requested

or appointed to build works and prepare powder for the "Army of the

North." To do this he left Philadelphia on the third of July and

applied himself to the making of powder. For three years, and until

his mill was burned and his fortune exhausted, he continued to supply

powder to the American forts and thus beyond any man in the

Continental Congress of 1776 contributed to his country's triumph.

On the square at St. James' Place in the village of Goshen stands a

monument of native Pochuck granite erected to the memory of Henry

Wisner by his great granddaughter, Mrs. Frances Wisner Murray, widow

of Ambrose Spencer Murray, of Goshen. The monument was dedicated on

July 22, 1897, by Dr. John H. Thompson, who presided and Harrison W.

Nenny, Esq., who made the dedicatory address.

Adjoining the residence of Henry Wisner, and separated from it by

what is now known as Steward's lane, was the home of John Steward,

an ardent patriot. He was one of two brothers, John and Walter

Stewart, or Steward, the name having been spelled both ways, who came

from Ireland to New England about 1740. Walter settled in Rhode

Island, where he started a snuff-mill and became the father of

Gilbert Stuart, the noted portrait painter, whose unfinished picture

of Washington is the likeness that the world knows best to-day.

Gilbert after reaching manhood, wrote his name Stuart, because by

reason of the fact that his ancestry was by tradition connected with

the Jacobite cause, he had a great admiration for "Bonny Prince

Charlie."

[Illustration: E. R. Varcoe, D.D.S.]

The tradition was that, at the time of one of the early Jacobite

risings, a nurse in charge of two young children appeared in Belfast,

Ireland. They came from Scotland and the woman immediately on

arriving fell ill of small-pox and died refusing to tell anything

about the children except that their names were John and Walter

Stewart, and that they were the sons of a man of rank who would soon

come for them. She had with her no money but some fine jewels, no one

ever came to claim the children, but as it is recorded in history

that some Jacobite families are known to have been exterminated in

their bloody and unfortunate battles, this may have been the fate of

the relatives of these boys, too young to tell anything about

themselves. They were brought up by a man, appointed their guardian.

He treated them harshly and as soon as grown they left him and came

to try their fortune in a new land. John first acquired some property

in Boston, which he left in his will to his son Nathan, but soon came

to Goshen and settled there, buying in 1744 eighty acres of land,

"and the houses thereon" from William Jayne. From this it appears

that the Steward house may have been erected previous to 1744, but

"houses thereon" may have been a mere legal term, and the house was

probably built by John Steward. It is certain, however, that it has

been standing since 1744. He bought more land, about 120 acres in

all, at a later date. To farming John Steward joined the occupation

of blacksmith, erecting a little to the left of his house a forge,

which was in operation as early as 1758, the family having still in

their possession, a deed of sale bearing that date of a slave named

Tite, warranted to be a good blacksmith. Later at this forge, John

Steward II, during the Revolutionary war made sabers and bayonets for

the Continental Army.

John Steward I, married Elizabeth Bradner, the daughter of Rev. John

Bradner, first settled clergyman in Goshen. As John Bradner was the

father of nine children, viz., Calvin, John, Benoni, Gilbert,

Susanna, Mary, Sarah, Christian and Elizabeth, and to him many

families in Orange County trace their descent, the following may be

thought worthy of record. When a young divinity student in Edinburgh,

Scotland, John Bradner was employed by a gentleman called Colvill, a

Huguenot refugee, as a tutor to his sons. His daughter Christiana

shared her brothers' studies and she and the tutor fell in love with

each other, but Colvill thought the tutor no match for his daughter,

and told her if she married him he would never speak to her again.

She put love before duty and having married John Bradner they sailed

for America. The voyage occupied six months. Violent storms in which

the ship nearly foundered were encountered. These Mrs. Bradner

thought were sent by Heaven to punish her for her disregard of her

father's wishes. Rev. John Bradner received the degree M.A. from

the University of Edinburgh, February 23rd, 1712, was licensed to

preach March, 1714, ordained May 6, 1715, pastor of Cold Spring

Presbyterian Church, Cape May, N. J., before being called to the

church in Goshen, 1721. He died 1732. His widow died 1759. She was

well educated in the classics and assisted in preparing her son, Rev.

Benoni, for Princeton College. He graduated 1755, was settled in

Jamaica, L. I., 1760, and two years after was called to Church Nine

Partners, Dutchess County. There is now in the possession of Mrs.

M. H. C. Gardner, of Middletown, a piece of a quilt brought from

Scotland by Mrs. John Bradner. The colors of the design, birds,

fruit and flowers, are as bright as though it was new. John

Steward I had eight children and their mother used to relate with

pride that never once during their infancy or childhood was she

obliged by reason of the illness of one of them to strike a light

during the night. John Steward I died in 1770, of a fever then

epidemic. In his will he left to his widow, as long as she remained

his widow, the use of the best room and the "salon" room. The small

adjoining room, now a store closet, was her prayer closet, where she

used to retire to pray, as was the good custom of those times.

Her eldest son, John Steward II, although holding no commission in

the Continental Army was an ardent patriot, mention being made in

_Rivington's New York Gazette,_ the Tory organ, that "rebellion in

Orange County was continually fomented by those two firebrands,

Squire Steward and Old Wisner," the latter being Henry Wisner, member

of the Continental Congress and John Steward's friend and neighbor.

John Steward II, who was thirty years younger than Henry Wisner, was

a justice of the peace, and a number of Hessian prisoners passing

southward through Goshen, probably after the battle of Saratoga,

were quartered over night at his house. The common soldiers slept in

the barn, but the officers, of whom there were several, were

accommodated in the house and on leaving the next morning told Mrs.

Steward that the coffee made by her black cook was the best they had

tasted since leaving Germany.

[Illustration: General Alfred Neafie.]

In a house that stood about 100 feet east of the present residence of

Campbell Steward, Esq., lived General Reuben Hopkins, whose son,

Hanibal, married Elizabeth Steward, daughter of John Steward II.

General Hopkins's portrait and his appointment as attorney-at-law

dated 1771 and signed by Lord Dunmore, now hang on the walls of the

Steward house, which contains other objects of interest, among which

may be mentioned an original broadside of the Declaration of

Independence addressed to John Steward, Esq., his commission as

Major No. 1 of the regiment of militia in the County of Orange,

signed by Geo. Clinton in 1798, and a bag of old counterfeit silver

Spanish dollars. A band of counterfeiters was arrested in Orange

County about the time of the Revolution and they were tried at

Goshen, their judges, among whom was Judge Steward, keeping some of

the coins as curiosities. In the house can also be seen a small stone

hammer presented to the wife of John Steward I, as a token of

friendship by a member of a band of Indians who, at the time Steward

settled in Goshen, and for some years after, lived in a hickory grove

at the rear of his house. His family always made a point of

maintaining friendly relations with their savage neighbors, and were

never troubled by them, although once during the French and Indian

War on an alarm being given that Indians on the war path were

approaching Goshen, the family fled to the cedar swamp. It is said

that on leaving they looked back for what they feared might be a

last look at their house, but the alarm proved a false one. Goshen

was spared an Indian massacre and they returned to find their house

still standing. The main body of the house, with some minor

alterations, is the same to-day as it was in those old Indian days,

its cedar shingles, oak beams and large stone chimneys seeming still

sound and strong. The house being too small for modern requirements,

two wings have been added at different times and the chimney tops

rebuilt, but care has been taken to preserve as far as possible every

antique feature of the house in its original condition.

During Revolutionary days the inhabitants of Orange County were

terrorized by the depredations of Claudius Smith, a notorious outlaw,

and his gang of ruffians, who were known as cowboys. Smith was

indicted on three charges, one of which was the murder of Major

Strong. Rewards were offered by Governor Clinton, and Smith was taken

captive at Smithtown, L. I., by Major Brush. He was given into the

custody of Colonel Isaac Nichol, sheriff of Orange County, and on

January 22, 1779, was publicly executed at the west corner of church

park in Goshen, with two other criminals, De La Alar, a burglar, and

Gordon, a horse thief. On the gallows near the same spot forty years

later two others were publicly put to death for murder.

BATTLE OF MINISINK.

On July 22, 1779, occurred the battle of Minisink, in which the

Goshen regiment, under Colonel Tusten, met almost complete

annihilation at the hands of nearly 500 Indians and Tories under

Joseph Brant, the half-breed chieftain, who was known as

Thayendanegea, the Scourge, and held a colonel's commission from

George III. The Goshen regiment marched against Brant's forces to

avenge a raid made by Brant upon the settlers near Minisink on the

20th of the month. They were joined by a small reinforcement, under

Colonel Hathorn, of the Warwick regiment, and the latter assumed

command. While marching along the west bank of the Delaware at nine

o'clock on the morning of July 22, the Indians were discovered about

three-quarters of a mile away and Colonel Hathorn hastened his

command in pursuit. Brant, taking advantage of intervening woods and

hills made a detour which enabled him to gain the rear of the

attacking party, and in the battle which followed the savages

completely routed the small force that opposed them. The colonists

had little ammunition and this was soon exhausted. A part of them

fled, and more were killed in flight than in battle. Colonel Tusten,

who was a skillful surgeon, dressed the wounds of his men, and refused

to abandon them, staying on the field until he fell. Of the eighty

men in the engagement, 44 were killed outright and others died later

of their wounds.

Colonel Benjamin Tusten, who was a physician and surgeon by

profession, came originally from Southold, L. I., in 1746, at the age

of three years. His parents located on the banks of the Otterkill on

the patent granted to Elizabeth Denn. His father, Benjamin Tusten,

was appointed one of the judges of the courts of the county and also

a colonel in the Orange County regiment of militia. The son,

Benjamin, was sent to an academy at Jamaica, L. I., and at the age of

nineteen returned to Goshen and studied medicine with Doctor Thomas

Wiskham. He afterwards studied in Newark, N. J., and New York City,

returning in 1769 to practice medicine in Goshen, where two other

physicians, Doctor John Gale and Doctor Pierson, had already located.

He was very successful and was widely known as a surgeon. He married

Miss Brown, by whom he had two sons and three daughters. In 1777 he

was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Goshen regiment of militia

under General Allison, and in 1778 was appointed surrogate of Orange

County, which office he held when he lost his life at Minisink.

[Illustration: Alexander C. Sutherland]

Captain John Wood, of Colonel Tusten's regiment, was captured in the

battle of Minisink, his life being spared by Brant, who in the thick

of the battle, thought he saw Wood give a masonic sign. Wood was

taken captive and transported to Canada. He left a journal of events

following the battle which throws considerable light on the life and

character of Brant.

On July 22, 1822, by the influence of Dr. David R. Arnell of Goshen,

a monument was erected in the village to the memory of the men who

fell at Minisink. It was set up over the bones of the patriots which

had been gathered from the battlefield forty-three years after the

massacre. On July 22, 1862. a more pretentious monument was dedicated

and unveiled, provision for the cost of the same having been made in

the will of Dr. Merritt H. Cash, of Minisink.

Goshen village was originally laid out in four lots of eighty acres

each. Its original boundaries are not definitely known, as a

disastrous fire in 1843 destroyed the town clerk's office, burning up

the map of the town and village lots, together with deeds dating from

1714. After these records had been destroyed a new charter was

granted on April 18, 1843, fixing the boundaries of the village,

which remained under this charter until 1878, when it was abandoned

and the village reorganized under the general act. Goshen was

incorporated a town on March 28, 1809.

At one time Orange County embraced nearly all the southern part of

New York, bordering on the Hudson River. Courts were then held at

Orange Town, now in Rockland County. In 1827 they were removed to

Goshen. In 1839 the board of supervisors made application to the

Legislature to erect a new court house at Goshen. There was

considerable opposition from the southern end of the county, which

was anxious to secure increased judicial conveniences. As a result,

the Legislature effected a compromise, making Goshen and Newburgh

joint capitals, and in April, 1841, passed an act authorizing the

building of a court house and jail at Goshen and a court house and

cells at Newburgh.

IN THE CIVIL WAR.

On July 1, 1862, President Lincoln issued a call for 300,000

volunteers, and Governor Morgan appointed a military committee for

Orange County. Hon. Ambrose S. Murray was the Goshen member. As a

result of this call the 124th Regiment, afterwards famed as the

"Orange Blossoms" was organized. During the period of organization it

was encamped at Goshen, where Murray avenue is now located.

Enlistments came rapidly and by August 23 it was ready for the field.

The military committee recommended A. Van Home Ellis, of New Windsor,

for colonel of the regiment and he accepted the commission. Henry S.

Murray was made captain of Co. B, which was composed of Goshen men.

On August 26, 1862, the regiment was presented with a stand of

colors by the women of Orange County. Hon. Charles H. Winfield made

the presentation speech. Afterwards, on behalf of the women of

Wawayanda, Miss Charlotte E. Coulter presented the regiment with a

pair of embroidered silk guidons.

On-Friday, September 5, the regiment was mustered in and on the

following day departed for the front. It fought in many engagements

from Manassas Gap to Lee's surrender at Appomattox, and was disbanded

at Washington's headquarters in Newburgh, June 16, 1865, leaving a

record of 208 service dead and 609 casualties in action.

When the Civil War was at its height and drafts were necessary to

supply the depleted ranks of the Union Army, one interesting

incident took place at Goshen. The provost marshal general had

ordered a draft for the Eleventh District, comprising the counties of

Orange and Sullivan, calling for 1,932 men, with 50% added, making a

total of 2,898. This draft was to begin at Goshen on Wednesday

morning, October 7, 1863. Trouble was feared by certain of the

leading citizens, and they asked that troops be sent to the village

to prevent rioting. Accordingly on Tuesday evening, October 6, the

Fifth Wisconsin Volunteers, under Colonel Allen, arrived in town. The

regiment, which originally numbered 1,300, had been reduced by hard

service to 450 men. They made their camp on the elevation which is

now Prospect avenue, and during the night, trained their cannon to

cover the points where crowds would gather in case of rioting. The

drawing began on Wednesday and lasted until Saturday and there was no

serious disorder. The names were drawn from the wheel by Gabriel

Coleman, an aged blind man of the village. Orange County's quota was

2,131, and Sullivan's 767. Goshen furnished 62, of whom three were

colored men.

[Illustration: D. Jackson Steward]

A table of military statistics compiled just before the close of the

war showed that Goshen had furnished men as follows at the

Government's call: 30 men in 1861; 113 men in 1862; 104 men in 1863;

51 men in 1864.

On Thursday, September 5, 1907, there was dedicated at Goshen a

monument to the service dead of the 124th Regiment. The monument,

which weighs nineteen tons, is a bronze figure, "The Standard

Bearer," designed by Theo. Alice Ruggles Kitson, a noted sculptress.

The figure, eighteen feet in height, stands upon a pedestal of Stony

Creek granite, fourteen feet high. The monument was presented to the

people of Orange County by Hon. Thomas W. Bradley, of Walden, N. Y.,

Member of Congress from the Twentieth New York District, in memory of

his comrades who died in the service of their country. Mr. Bradley

enlisted as a private in the "Orange Blossoms," was promoted to

captain, and brevetted major for meritorious service, and was awarded

the Congressional Medal of Honor for gallantry at Chancellorsville,

May 3, 1863, when he volunteered in response to a call, and alone,

in the face of a heavy fire of musketry and canister, went across the

field of battle and procured ammunition for his comrades.

The presentation was made by Colonel Charles H. Weygant, who

commanded the regiment after the commander, Colonel F. M. Cummins,

fell wounded. It was accepted for the people by Mr. John J. E.

Harrison, chairman of the board of supervisors, a veteran of Co. B,

56th Regiment, U. S. V., who was wounded at Devon's Neck, S. C.,

December 7, 1864, and who rendered before and after that time valiant

service in the Union's cause. It was accepted also by Captain Robert

B. Hock, who was the village president, and was then serving his

eighteenth consecutive term in that office. He also had been a

soldier with a long and honorable record. He enlisted in the regular

army as a bugler, some years before the war, and was assigned to the

Tenth U. S. Infantry, and sent to Fort Snelling, Minn. He took part

in many expeditions against the Mormons, under General Albert Sidney

Johnson, afterwards the confederate general killed at Shiloh. Mr.

Hock was later sent to the scene of the Mount Meadow massacre and

fought in the battle of Ash Hollow under General Hardy. In 1860 he

was a pony express rider when Denver was only a tented village. After

Fort Sumter was fired on, his old commander General Tracy, asked him

to drill recruits at Staten Island. He did this and later performed

the same service at Washington. In 1861 he was commissioned

lieutenant of Co. E, 12th New York Cavalry, and in 1863 was made

captain of Co. F. He was on the Burnside expedition, at Ball's Bluff

and in the second battle of Bull Run. On April 17, 1864, he was taken

prisoner at Plymouth, N. C., and confined for three weeks in

Andersonville, four months at Macon, one month at Savannah, and one

month at Charleston. With six brother officers he escaped from prison

at Columbia, S. C, and was tracked by bloodhounds. All the others

were recaptured, but he, after suffering terribly by privation and

exposure, reached the Union lines and was cared for by the Third

Tennessee, until able to report to General Dix in New York. In 1865

in a skirmish with General Bragg's troops his horse was shot from

under him, and he was caught by Bragg's men and sent to Danville, Va.

He made a break for liberty and escaped to the brush, rejoining the

Union forces just before Lee's surrender. At Bentonville, in a

cavalry charge, his horse was killed and he was thrown among the

rebel infantry and captured. The same night he escaped, covering

himself with dead leaves, and reporting at his company headquarters

in the morning. His comrade in rebel prisons, Lieutenant A. Cooper,

dedicated a book of his experiences to Captain Hock.

[Illustration: Charles E. Stickney.]

CHAPTER XVII.

TOWN OF GREENVILLE.

By Charles E. Stickney.

The number of acres of land in the town assessed in 1865, was 18,287,

at a valuation of $385,600. Personal property $49,850. The number of

acres assessed in 1907 is 17,829 at a valuation of $269,485. Personal

property, $19,850. A loss in 42 years of 458 acres of land, $116,115

in assessed valuation of real estate, and of $30,000 assessed

personal property. The town expenses (town audits) were $619.37,

besides $807 for roads and bridges.

In 1855 the town had a population of 1,218. Ten years later it had a

population of 1,147; while in 1905 it had only 672 inhabitants,

a loss of nearly half compared with its first-named census.

The name was undoubtedly suggested by the beautiful green summer

verdure the eastern part of the town exhibits, lying to the sun on

the eastern declivity of Shawangunk mountain.

Its boundaries are: Beginning at the corner of the town of Wawayanda

line with that of Mount Hope, thence almost due west along the Mount

Hope line to that of the town of Deer Park; thence along the Deer

Park town line southwest to the New Jersey State line; thence

easterly along the said State line to the corner of the Minisink

town line; thence northeasterly along the Minisink town line to a

point on Castle High Hill near South Centerville; thence

northwesterly along the town of Wawayanda town line to a corner;

thence northeasterly by north along the said line to the place of

beginning.

The first town meeting was held at the house of Jonathan Wood, in

Bushville, March 28th, 1854. Bushville then was a village of some

importance, but since the near advent of railroads its trade has gone

to other places.

PHYSICAL FEATURES.

The oldest village in the town is no doubt the settlement at Smith's

Corners. It was situated on the road which leads along the eastern

slope of the Shawangunk mountain from Coleville, N. J., to Otisville,

and in early times was a place of some business. Elijah Smith was

its founder about the close of the Revolution. Joseph Smith, justice

of the peace (see Minisink civil list), in 1813 was a noted man in

his day. After the Goshen and Minisink turnpike road was built, and

later when (about 1820) a mail route was established through there,

the post-office was located at a store which stood where the village

of Greenville now is. The post-office was named Minisink, because

there was somewhere in the State a post-office already known as

Greenville, and this was the nearest post-office to the real

Minisink west of the mountain. Two churches, a store and a hotel are

located there. The village of Smith's Corner has this year of 1907

been made convenient to travel on account of the new macadam road

just built throughout it from Slate Hill to Carpenter's Point.

Lake Maretange, upon which one of the great land patents (Evans)

cornered in Colonial days, is now known as Binnewater Pond. It covers

about twenty acres of land, and is now so filled with aquatic

growths and mud that it has less than half of its original extent. It

was once reported to be of great depth. It in early times was famous

for its excellent fishing. Its original name was undoubtedly an

Indian one. The name Binnewater is a corruption of the German

Beninwasser (Inland water). Boudinot creek is its outlet.

The great swamps which once stretched north and east of Smith's

Corners were known to early records as "Pakadasink Swamp." They have

been largely cleared, drained, and are coming rapidly under

cultivation. The Shawangunk Kill whose Indian name was the same as

that of the swamp, "Pakadasink" or "Peakadasink," originates from

springs in the swamps, and flows northward along the base of the

Shawangunk mountain toward Ulster County.

Rutger's creek originates in the watershed south of Greenville

village.

EARLY SETTLERS.

Jonathan Wood, justice of the peace as early as 1796, and Timothy

Wood (see civil list) resided in Bushville in this town.

John W. Eaton (see civil list) is a descendant of Robert, who came to

the town, shortly after the Revolution. Robert had sons, John,

William, Robert, and Samuel. There was also an Alexander in the town

of about the same generation as Robert's sons, who had a son Thomas.

John, the eldest son of Robert, had two sons, Gabriel and Daniel H.

The latter during the later years of his life, owned the former David

Moore farm now owned by William Creeden, in Wawayanda, where he died.

Gabriel, during the later years of his life retired from active life

to Unionville, where he owned property and where he died. There seems

to have been a James Eaton in the town contemporary with Robert.

Their farms constituted what was called Eatontown.

Charles Durland of Long Island settled near Bushville in this town

prior to 1800, and it is probable that Moses came into the town soon

after he did. Moses lived and died in the town, but Charles bought

land, about a mile and a half south of Ridgeberry, where he made a

permanent settlement and died there. Thomas T., Steward T., Daniel

and Addison were sons of Charles. Steward T. and Daniel became

residents of Greenville (see civil list). Garret, John and George A.

Durland, descendants of Moses, also resided in Greenville. George A.

and Steward T. were justices of the peace for many terms in the town

(see civil list). Addison settled near Westtown where he died.

Thomas T. Durland succeeded to the old homestead near Ridgeberry, and

later in life bought the former Phineas Howell farm near Slate Hill,

where he died. His widow (whose father, George Jackson, in his

lifetime owned the farms now owned by William Ralston, of the lower

road) and son George, and daughters Alice L. and Etta H., now reside

on the Slate Hill homestead; while a son, Charles, resides in

Middletown and a daughter, Elizabeth Van Orden, lives in Pompton

Lakes.

John, Joseph and Hiram Manning were early settlers in the town.

Joseph's children were Joseph, Jr., John, Isaac, Richard, Walter,

Benjamin, Mrs. Isaac Finch, Mrs. E. Hurlbut, Mrs. John Ferguson.

Hiram Manning at one time owned the grist, saw and cider mills at

Millsburg. His son, John R. Manning, resides in Gardnersville in

Wawayanda, and the latter's son, Hiram, Jr., is in business in

Johnsons.

Abraham Elston was a very early settler in the town and many of his

descendants are still in it.

Harvey H., Alfred, W. L. and W. W. Clark (see civil list) were

descendants of the David Clark mentioned in a sketch of the family in

the town of Minisink.

Under an old school law teachers were formerly licensed by town

superintendents which prevailed up to 1856. Geo. A. Durland held the

office of superintendent for some time. Samuel S. Graham was elected

to the position in 1856, but the law was repealed that year and he

was never sworn into office.

CHURCHES.

_The Baptist Church of Greenville_ was incorporated January 27th,

1816, and was supplied by the pastors of Brookfield church until July

31st, 1822, when the church was dedicated as a separate one. It was

constituted by thirty-one members. Elder Zelotes Grenell preached the

sermon, August 3d. That year twenty-three more members were set off

from the Brookfield church to it. Elder Henry Ball was pastor for

eleven years. Elder D. Bennet supplied it from Unionville for four

years. W. H. Jurton, D. Benett, C. Brinkerhoff and Joseph Haughwout

supplied it to 1848. Rev. Stephen Case became pastor of it in May,

1848, and continued there to his death in 1895. It was said of him

that he married and buried probably more Orange and Sussex County

people than any other minister has. He was a son of John and Mary

(Mead) Case. The father is alleged to have come from New England,

while his mother was a daughter of Ebenezer Mead of near Waterloo

Mills in Minisink. John and Mary (Mead) Case had four sons, Joseph

M., E. Inman, John B. and Stephen.

Joseph M. was justice of the peace from 1850 to 1874 in Minisink and

held other offices (see civil list). The Case homestead was on the

ridge west of Westtown where John died in 1844 and Rev. Ralph Bull

preached the funeral sermon. His wife died in 1847. Joseph M. was

unmarried. E. Inman died in 1888. He had five sons and one daughter,

John, Jr., Joseph, Ira L., Jefferson, Anson and Amelia. Ira L.,

became a resident of Middletown and was elected school commissioner

of the second district of Orange County for a term. John B. studied

for the ministry and became a clergyman of much influence. He died in

1886. He had seven children: John B., Jr., Stephen J., Joseph M.,

Tisdale, Joshua I., Sarah and Flora.

Stephen, son of John, after his primary studies were over, attended

and graduated at Madison University in 1840. He began preaching the

next year, and supplied the pulpit of the Orange Baptist Church six

months. Then he preached for three years in what was called the

Broadway Baptist Church, which we incline to think was located near

Wykertown in Wantage township, N. J., probably the one built by Job

Cosad. In May, 1848, he became pastor of the Mount Salem and

Greenville churches. He was then about thirty years old, and he

labored there for over sixty years until his death. He was survived

by three sons: John E., Joshua, Jr. and Joseph M. Joshua, Jr., is a

famous auctioneer residing in Unionville.

_The Methodist Church of Greenville_ was incorporated December 23rd,

1850. There had been preaching for about twenty years before that by

ministers of the M. E. denomination. The church edifice was built

before the church was incorporated. Rev. Henry Litts, who died a few

years ago in Deckertown, was pastor there for some time, succeeding

Revs. Andrews, Grace and Rusling.

Besides the cemeteries connected with the churches, there are a

number of family burial places in the town; notably those of the

Manning, Seybolt, Seeley, Courtright, Vanbuskirk, Mulock, Remey and

Jenks families.

MISCELLANEOUS.

During the Civil War the town issued in August, 1864, bonds for

$25,159; they were all paid by February 11th, 1871.

Its officials have from the formation of the town proved worthy men.

It has been universally Democratic by a small majority.

Nathaniel Reeves Quick, justice of the peace from 1868 to 1873, was

a tall pleasant man, a descendant of the Quick family of

Pennsylvania. He was well posted on the history of the famous Tom

Quick, who was a member of the same family. The traditions which Mr.

Quick, of Greenville, had instilled into his mind from accounts

handed down to him by his grandfather, no doubt truthful, were not

altogether complimentary to the old Indian hunter. His grandfather

said (told by Nathaniel R. himself), that Tom, when hard pressed for

something to eat, would come to his house and stay till the good

housewife would absolutely refuse to cook for him any longer, and his

grandfather would inform Tom that he must either go to work or leave.

That, he said, always started him, for if there was anything in this

world that Tom hated it was to work. Then he would shoulder his gun

and tramp off in the forest for two or three months before he

ventured to show himself again at the house. In truth, his

grandfather did not put much dependence on the stories told by Tom

of his adventures, because he thought Tom was merely whiling the time

away with something to wheedle him with, in fact, a sort of "stand

off" for lodging.

The old Goshen and Minisink turnpike road of the last century,

crossing Shawangunk Mountain just west of Greenville village, was

changed by the State to a macadam road constructed or, nearly so, in

1907. It takes a new route across the mountain and has greatly

reduced the grade. The Goshen end of the road to Dolsentown was

completed a few years ago, and the one from Dolsentown through

Wawayanda and Minisink to the State line about two years ago. The new

road through Greenville connects with the Wawayanda line at Slate

Hill.

Of the Tory element in the town during the Revolution, it is

traditionally remembered that Brant is said to have, after his first

raid in 1778, contemplated a more extensive one. For that purpose he

came to Greenville secretly to get information of the surroundings.

He hid himself in the Pakadasink swamp below Smith's Corners, and

explored the vicinity by night. Certain Tories of the neighborhood

were suspected at the time of furnishing food to some tramp in the

swamp, and one of them was caught returning from the swamp where he

had been to take a portion of a sheep which he had killed, as it was

later found out. Excitement ran high at once and a party visited his

premises and found that he had slaughtered a sheep and had taken a

part of it to the swamp to feed a hidden Tory as was supposed. A

committee improvised a fife and drum corps, wrapped the bloody

sheepskin about him, and marched him at the point of a bayonet on

foot to Goshen followed by the music of the fife and drum.

This was on a broiling hot day in summer, and, as may well be

supposed, that march of sixteen miles, bothered as he was by the

flies and the jokes of the people they met, made the victim very

uncomfortable. Later when Brant swooped down on Minisink in 1779, he

did not cross the mountain into the Greenville neighborhood as the

settlers then thought he intended to do at first. Then they

ascertained the kind of a tramp that the Tory had been furnishing

with mutton in Pakadasink swamp, and rejoiced to think that their

prompt action in treating their Tory neighbor to that arrest probably

saved their homes from the invasion planned.

Before the days of railroads the people who lived in these

neighborhoods generally went to Newburgh, and if they desired to go

to New York took from thence passage on a sailing vessel for that

place. Sometimes the passage occupied three or four days between

those two cities, dependent on the weather. In windy weather the

sloops often had to anchor under some protecting high shore, and in

dark nights they generally anchored until daylight. A disaster which

made a great sensation throughout the county and elsewhere, happened

November 24th, 1824, to a sloop of this kind, near Pollopel's Island,

in lower Newburgh bay. The sloop _Neptune_ was on its way up the

river under command of its first deck hand, John Decker, the captain

(Halstead) having been left in New York sick. About twenty tons of

plaster were in its hold and about twenty more tons piled on deck,

together with eight or ten tons of other goods. There was a strong

wind prevailing and the boat was coming up near the island with a

double reef in the mainsail and all precautions taken for safety,

when there came a sudden blast of wind which caused the sloop to dip

and the plaster on deck to shift its weight. This shifting of the

deck plaster caused the sloop to dip so violently that the water came

pouring into the scuttle of the forecastle, and into the cabin where

some ten or twelve women and a number of children were gathered.

Besides the crew about twenty-six male passengers were on the deck.

Instead of righting, the boat went right down without further

warning. All in the cabin were drowned. It was about noon, and

several boats that saw the sloop go down hurried to the scene, and

were so successful as to rescue seventeen of the passengers.

Joshua Mulock, of Minisink (now Greenville) was one of the men on

deck, and he said that when he first heard the women and children

scream in the cabin, he tried to break a grating in the deck to let

them out and the boat went down so quick that it carried a part of

his vest with it which caught fast. That held him and he went down

under the boat. Luckily his vest tore loose, and he floated out from

under the boat and came to the surface, where he was rescued. Jesse

Green from present Greenville, and a man named Carey from present

Wawayanda neighborhood, were also saved. Among those drowned were

John Greenleaf, George Evertson, Matilda Helms and William Kelly and

child from Minisink. The next year the bodies of Matilda Helms and

Mr. Greenleaf were found among others at Cold Spring some distance

down the river. They were buried by the coroner of Putnam County. The

sloop was afterwards raised by its owners.

Next to the battle of Minisink this disaster furnished the greatest

sensation of those early times. Mr. Mulock was a great humorist. On

one occasion, a Mr. and Mrs. Lee, of Greenville, made Mr. and Mrs.

Mulock an evening visit. When the visitors were seated in their wagon

ready to start for home, one of them said to their host and hostess,

"Now you must come and see us as soon as you can." "We'll promise to

do so, sure!" said Mr. Mulock.

When Mr. and Mrs. Lee had arrived home, and she was in the house with

a lighted candle looking at the clock and wondering how they came to

stay until after midnight, and he was returning from the stables

where he had placed the horse, they were surprised to hear a wagon

driving up to the door. How much greater was their surprise when they

both went to the gate to see who it was, and saw there Mr. and Mrs.

Mulock. "You told us," said the former, "that we must come and see

you as soon as we could, and here we are." Then after a laugh at Mr.

and Mrs. Lee's apparent discomfiture, they went home, and told the

joke round about to their friends. We give it to illustrate the

jollity of those times.

From the years 1836 to 1854 the post office regulations for the

three towns, under the name of Minisink, were a mail delivery

Tuesdays and Fridays of each week. The mail was carried by a

contractor, who left Goshen on those days in the morning in a one

horse sulky or gig which easily carried the driver and mail bags. He

came across the Wallkill at Pellet's Island to Ridgeberry; thence to

Westtown, Unionville, Minisink (Greenville) and back through

Bushville, South Centerville, Brookfield, Slate Hill, Denton and to

Goshen. The trip was made in one day. Sometimes the carrier would

have a young woman on the seat with him which invariably made him

late and caused lots of grumbling among the people waiting for the

mail. Few letters were received, and the only newspapers taken

generally were the Goshen Democrat and Independent Republican, of

Goshen. Not a daily paper then found its way in this region except

at intervals. The rates of postage were, up to 1845, for a letter of

a single sheet, not exceeding thirty miles, six cents; over thirty

and not exceeding eighty miles, ten cents; over eighty and not over

150, twelve and one-half cents; over 150 and not over 400 miles,

eighteen and three-quarter cents; over 400 miles, twenty-five cents.

If the letter had two sheets of paper it was charged double, and if

three sheets, triple rates; for each newspaper carried not over 100

miles, one cent; to any office in the State where printed, one cent;

otherwise over 100 miles, one and a half cents. Pamphlets 100 miles,

one and a half cents a sheet; over 100 miles, two and a half cents a

sheet; if not published periodically, four and six cents a sheet, as

to distance. Everything else was paid at letter postage at a quarter

ounce rate. The letters then were sent without envelopes, folded so

as to conceal the writing, and sealed with wax usually. The postage

was collected on delivery. In 1854 the rates were reduced

considerably, but all other features retained. In 1855, the writer,

then a boy, was left temporarily in charge of the post-office at

Slate Hill, which then paid the postmaster, a storekeeper, about $10

a year percentage. He then kept a store and the keeper of the office

was considered a help to the store trade. A woman came in and asked

if there was a letter for her. There was. She asked how much postage

was due on it. There was eighteen cents. Then she asked to look at

it. The verdant young man handed it to her. She opened it, glanced

over the contents, then handed it back, saying, "I won't take it.

There's nothing in it worth the money." The postmaster when informed

of the incident later, said, "Boy, next time don't you hand out the

letter till they hand over the money."

In 1852 the postage was reduced and a little later envelopes came in

fashion. The Middletown, Unionville and Watergap Railroad was

completed from Middletown to Unionville, June 2nd, 1868. That changed

mail arrangements throughout the three towns. Slate Hill, Johnsons,

Westtown and Unionville got a daily mail. Waterloo Mills, Denton and

Bushville were abandoned, and Ridgeberry and South Centerville were

supplied from Slate Hill. The railroad is now known as the New York,

Susquehanna & Western, under control of the Erie. The increase in

the amount of mail matter handled has been wonderful, and the offices

which once had their mail matter carried on a two-wheel sulky twice a

week easily, would now require a team of horses and a big wagon to

move it every day.

The 4th and 5th days of January, 1835, were remarkably cold days and

that winter was a terribly severe one. We have no thermometer records

for our three towns of those days, but in New York City it was 5

degrees, in Newark 13 and Elizabethtown 18 degrees below zero for

both days. In 1857 the 23rd of January was a remarkably cold day, the

thermometer standing at 23 below in the early morning, 17 at noon,

and 12 at night, when it began to snow and a deep snow came.

Orange County gave 3,541 votes for Van Buren and 2,242 for Harrison

for President in 1836.

The local option law in our three towns has resulted in a continual

no-license majority for about twenty-five years in Wawayanda;

occasional no-license in Greenville and Minisink. The result of the

election in 1907 gave no-license a majority in Minisink.

In ancient times elections were held in the spring for local

officers, and in the fall for county, State and national officers.

All the officers in the State are now elected in November on one day.

In 1837, the States held election: Maine, 2nd Monday of September;

Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, 1st

Monday in August; Delaware, 1st Tuesday of October; Louisiana, 1st

Monday of July; Tennessee and North Carolina, 1st Thursday in August;

Vermont, 1st Tuesday in September; Georgia and Maryland, 1st Monday

in October; New York, 1st Monday in November; Massachusetts, 2nd

Monday in November; New Hampshire, 2nd Tuesday in March; Virginia and

Connecticut in April; Rhode Island in August; South Carolina, 2nd

Monday in October.

During the first early years of our history, where farmers kept large

dairies, they made butter, which was the mainstay of their farming.

They used a tread-wheel about twelve feet in diameter set at a steep

incline, on one side of which a horse or bull climbed to furnish the

power for churning. Similar dairies used sheep or calves. About 1834

to 1840 (tradition) George F. Reeve, of near Middletown, invented an

endless chain-power on which a good-sized dog would furnish as much

power as an animal twice as large.

Lights for many years were furnished of dip tallow candles. These

were made by melting a wash boiler full of tallow, into which six

candle-wicks hung on a stick were dipped and hung on a rack to cool.

Enough sticks were used so that by the time the last one was dipped

the first one was cool enough to dip again, and so the process was

continued until the candles had accumulated enough tallow to be of

the right size. Whenever the tallow in the boiler began to get low

hot water was added to make the tallow float to the top of the

boiler. When beeves were killed in the fall the good housewives were

careful to dip candles for a whole year's supply. About 1852

camphene began to be used for lights, and in some instances alcohol

and some other dangerous compounds. About 1860 the use of kerosene

came into family and public lighting, and is still the great

illuminant.

In 1777 a real estate ownership of one hundred pounds value was a

necessary qualification for a voter who desired to vote for a

Governor, Senator and Assemblyman, while only twenty pounds worth of

real estate was requisite in order to qualify a person to vote for a

representative in Congress. For town officials and resolutions all

male citizens were allowed to vote, and this was generally done at

town meetings viva voce, or by division to the right and left. A

Governor then held office three years and had to be a real estate

owner. Senators held office four years and had to be owners of one

hundred pounds worth of real estate. Judges were appointed by the

Governor and council and held office during good behavior, but were

disqualified when sixty years old. They could be removed by the

Governor when requested by a two-thirds vote of the legislature.

Clergymen were then excluded from holding office, and from the

legislature. In 1821 a new State constitution was framed and the

property qualifications removed. Ballots were then introduced

generally in town elections.

CHAPTER XVIII.

TOWN OF HAMPTONBURGH.

By Margaret Crawford Jackson.

On March 5, 1703, in the reign of Queen Anne, the Wawayanda patent

was signed. The grantors were twelve Indians named Rapingonick,

Wawastawa, Moghopuck, Comelawaw, Manawitt, Ariwimack, Rumbout,

Clauss, Chonckhass, Chingapaw, Oshaquemonus and Quiliapaw, and among

the twelve patentees was Christofer Denn. He was a Frenchman and a

carpenter, then living on the eastern shore of Staten Island with his

wife, Elizabeth, and a young girl sixteen years of age, Sarah Wells,

who had been taken by them as an infant and brought up as their own,

although she did not receive their name, nor at their deaths did they

mention her in their wills, probably because she had received one

hundred acres after her marriage.

Christofer Denn, as his name is spelled by Mr. Eager in his history,

or "Denne," as spelled by Mr. Ruttenber, the latter says, was a

resident of New York in 1701, and one of the signers of the

"Protestant Petition" to William III, in that year. In 1702 his name

appears appended to the congratulatory address to Lord Cornbury as

one "of the chiefest inhabitants of the City and County on New York."

And in 1705 he was one of the signers of a petition by the merchants

of that city. He was still a resident of New York in 1722-1723, and

it was in that city his wife Elizabeth died. It should be noticed

that it is said Denn was a resident of the county of New York, even

when not living in the city.

SARAH WELLS.

Around Sarah Wells much of the history of Hamptonburgh is woven. She

was born in New Jersey, opposite Staten Island, April 6, 1694, and

died April 21, 1796, aged 102 years, leaving 355 living descendants.

Her husband was William Bull, an Englishman from Wolverhampton. The

family left there for Dublin in February, 1689. At Wolverhampton the

church register shows the records of the family back to 900 A. D. The

late claim is that William Bull, son of John Bull, and grandson of

Josias Bull, of Kingshurst Hall, who emigrated in 1715, settling at

Hamptonburgh, Orange County, New York, is identical with the husband

of Sarah Wells. But whether Kingshurst Hall is in Wolverhampton we

cannot say at this moment. However, the coat-of-arms belonging to the

Bulls of Kingshurst Hall has been engraved and virtually accepted by

Mr. Ebenezer Bull, of Hamptonburgh, as that of his ancestors.

Christofer Denn's share of 2,000 acres in the Wawayanda patent having

been set apart, he visited the location and made friends with the

Indians living there. The claim was surveyed by Peter Berian and lay

touching the northeasterly bounds of the town lots of the village of

Goshen. Its bounds run thus: "Beginning at a stake and stones about

east of and ten chains from the dwelling-house of General Abraham

Vail in East Division; thence northwesterly along the northeasterly

bounds of the Goshen town lots, and until it meets with a line

supposed to divide the old counties of Ulster and Orange; thence east

along the same to a stake and stones known to be standing near the

top of the highland, or mountain above Charles Heard's in

Hamptonburgh; thence on a course about thirty-six degrees west to the

place of beginning."

Some difficulty arose later in running the survey of other lines

which interfered with Denn's claim.

To settle it a grant was made after his death in the name of his

wife, Elizabeth "Denne," of 1,140 acres, December 12, 1734. Although

the patent had been signed there was a condition that unless a

settlement was made on the Wawayanda patent by the end of May, 1712,

the title was to lapse. Add to this that six hundred acres were to be

given to the first settler and we may find a sufficient motive for

Christofer Denn to become the needed pioneer.

His affairs were embarrassed at the time, and this change from the

city to the wilderness probably offered a much needed retreat for a

time at least. He took with him on his return to the city after his

inspection of the land, three young Indians, sons of those whom he

had visited and of the tribe which had parted with their land to the

patentees. They had befriended the surveyors while running out the

patent and had kindly volunteered their services to help him remove

from the city to the patent. All accounts say that three young

Indians went with him to the city and helped to direct the party.

It was Sarah Wells, this slender, dark-eyed little girl of sixteen,

whom Denn chose to go forth alone with the men to conquer the

wilderness. When he told her, she was sick with terror at the

thought that in the latter part of her journey her only companions

would be the carpenters and half-naked savages, who might attack her

at any moment.

The carpenters sent to build the log house, of whom there were two,

knew nothing of the country, and had treachery been intended the

whites must have been defenseless.

Denn, being in straitened circumstances at the time, the other

patentees came to his assistance and supplied the sloop and crew and

cows and horses to assist in the settlement which, according to

Eager, was to hold the Wawayanda Patent.

The present family believe him to have been correct in regard to

their history, for he was a descendant on his mother's side. He gives

a full and romantic account of this journey, from which we can only

give extracts.

He says: "As this portion of our narrative was derived from Sarah in

after life, we purpose to place an inventory of the various articles

of outfit before the reader, that he may judge of its nature, extent

and value, which are as follows: Two pack horses with bells on, two

milk cows with bells, two dogs, two Irish Brahmas, one spade, two

pails, two beds and bedding, one small and one large kettle, wood

trenchers and bowls, candlesticks and candles, a pair of trammels, a

frying pan, small tin plates for saucers, coffee pot with coffee,

teapot, chocolate, tin canister with tea, silver teaspoons and sugar

tongs, small china teacups and saucers, bundle of cloths, saddlebags,

pillow saddles, knives and forks, some potatoes, wallets, medical

cordials in vials, refined sugar in small pieces, brown sugar in

rolls, flour, biscuit, ham in small sacks, some trinkets, ribbons and

small knives for the Indians."

There may have been other articles not enumerated. As Denn bade Sarah

good-bye in a subdued voice and tones of affectionate regard, he

said: "Sarah, you have been kind and dutiful to us thus far, and your

present conduct confirms us in your kindness. The duty you have to

perform is new and may be fatiguing, but must if possible be

accomplished now or the season may be lost. The workmen will take

care of you while on the boat and afterwards, while the Indians, of

whose friendship I have no doubt, will guide you through the woods

to the place selected for our dwelling. This work is very important

and what you do for Madam Denn and me is also done for the benefit of

the company." He ended thus: "God save and bless you, Sarah."

[Illustration: William Bull.]

The Indians faithfully performed their part and the one who was given

especial charge over Sarah's horse (after the party landed on the

banks of the Hudson near Cornwall), although half-naked, as were the

other two, watched carefully her comfort. Their eyes were piercing,

their voices harsh and grating, yet Sarah's attendant showed a

deference; and gentle anxiety to please that many white men of to-day

might envy.

Sarah mounted on the second horse, sat upon beds and bedding with

many small articles around her and managed her horse with great

difficulty. The Indian marched close by her side, helped her on and

off her horse, and pointed out many things in the woods calculated

to interest her attention and draw her out in conversation. Not

infrequently he plucked an early flower as it sprang up by the

wayside, and calling her attention to it, tasted its leaves and then

presented it for acceptance.

They arrived on the bank of the stream, now the Otterkill, opposite

the spot which Christofer Denn had selected as the place of his

residence. Thus the journey in full twenty miles of pathless forest,

with occasional thick underwood, was performed in a single day.

They built a fire beneath a tree whose branches guarded them from

dampness. They put boughs of trees upon forked sticks driven into the

ground and laid the beds there to escape the snakes, and the

carpenters lay down and slept well till morning, but Sarah dreamed

and slept fitfully, while the Indians threw themselves on the ground

with their feet to the fire and slept all night. Whenever Sarah

roused herself to look about, "her Indian" made signs to her that all

was well and he was guarding her. The next day the carpenters built a

wigwam of split logs resting on end against a frame of poles 16 by 18

feet with a ditch about it to carry off rain. It had a slanting roof

with a hole three feet square in the peak for the escape of smoke,

the fireplace being below it.

The goods were first unpacked and plates set on the table for supper

the second evening of their arrival, when one of the Indians saw two

people at a distance, and going to reconnoiter, found Madam Denn and

her husband. They had been so overcome by the parting from Sarah and

the enormity of their conduct in sending her on such a perilous

adventure, that they had followed her on horseback up through New

Jersey as fast as they could, and arrived in time for the first meal

in the new wigwam. On seeing them at the door she fainted at their

feet.

It is only just to say that the friendship thus begun between Sarah

and the Indians continued to the end.

When the Indians were most hostile to others in the neighborhood the

family could always give a safe refuge to the many who sought a

shelter under their roof when night came.

WILLIAM BULL.

In 1716 William Bull entered on the scene. Born in Wolverhampton,

England, February, 1689, his youth was, however, passed in Dublin,

where his father moved when he was small.

He was apprenticed to learn the trade of a mason and stone cutter.

When his apprenticeship ended he and a young friend took the

contract to build a large arch for a bridge being constructed near

Dublin. Tradition says: One Saturday night the work was nearly done

and the arch finished but for the keystone. He begged the men to

remain and put it in place, so completing the work, but they refused.

On going down to see it on the next morning he found it fallen and

his fortunes with it. It had carried with it his all and

imprisonment for debt--as far as he knew it might be for life--stared

him in the face.

There was a ship lying at the dock which he knew was sailing that day

for New York. He searched his pockets and discovered five guineas

with which and a few books he boarded the vessel. The captain on

being asked if that much money would take him to America, answered it

would. On reaching New York the captain told him the money had

brought him, but had not paid his full passage and he must be sold

for the balance. Bull was highly indignant and refused to leave the

ship. He replied that he would return to Ireland and face his debts.

Daniel Cromline, who also had a share in the Wawayanda patent, heard

that an Irish ship was in dock, and hoping to procure some workmen

had it proclaimed on board the ship. Bull felt that Providence and

strangers would help him, and on telling his story to Mr. Cromline

the money was advanced and they traveled together as far as

Greycourt. Here he did the mason work on the old stone Greycourt

house in 1716.

This was long a public inn on the way from the Hudson to New Jersey,

and was a famous resort for the people around.

William Bull lived in the Cromline family, whose patent was not far

from that part of the Wawayanda patent on which Mr. Denn had settled.

They were in fact neighboring families, and so William Bull met

Sarah Wells. They loved each other and were married in 1718.

The ceremony took place in the new double log house of Christofer

Denn, and as Bull was an Episcopalian and desired to be married by

the rites of his church they did not know how to proceed. There was

no church nor a clergyman who could proclaim the banns three weeks,

but courts of justice had been established and a magistrate was in

the neighborhood.

They decided that circumstances alter cases and summoned their

guests. All being assembled the magistrate carrying the prayer book

proceeded first to the front door and proclaimed the banns to the

trees of the forest, then through the hall to the back door where he

proclaimed it to the cattle and the outbuildings. He made

proclamation then once more from the front door to the wilderness at

large and then performed the marriage ceremony. The wedding dress was

of homespun linen delicately embroidered by the bride, and is now in

the possession of one of her descendants, who has exhibited it at the

family picnic held each year on the last Wednesday in August in the

grove at Campbell Hall.

Later Sarah Wells Bull asked for and received the promised reward of

100 acres from Christofer Denn for having gone alone at his bidding

to settle his claim and save his title.

William Bull and Richard Gerard received a grant joining Denn's of

2,600 acres, August 10, 1723.

On the 100 acres given to Sarah, Bull built a barn of hand-sawed

planks. These were of ash, rived, and the shingles of split pine and

put on each with two pegs. This barn is still in use and never has

been painted. Afterwards he built the stone house in 1727 on his own

land near by, and it is still occupied by the family and probably

will stand for generations to come. It is built on a rock, with a

spring in the cellar, and before the house was quite finished in

September, 1727, an earthquake which was felt for 1,500 miles,

cracked the east side of the house and the crack can still be seen.

The lightning struck it in 1767-8, but only slight damage was done to

its thick stone walls. The house has two stories of eleven feet each,

with basement and a good-sized garret. It is a truly fine house for

those times. Mr. Bull called his place Hamptonburgh, from

Wolverhampton where he was born. There were eight children born to

him.

FEATURES AND SETTLERS.

Stephen Jayne.

Daniel Jayne.

Joseph Hildreth.

Adam Miller.

Isaac Tobias.

David Bloomfield.

Gilbert Roberts.

Lawrence Ferguson.

Daniel Harrison.

Daniel Miller.

Joseph Gold.

Henry Davenport.

Israel Osmun.

Ezekiel Osmun.

Henry Hall.

William Cooper.

Samuel Lows.

Jacob Lows.

Hamptonburgh township as it now stands was set apart in 1830 from the

towns bounding it. It is in the form of an irregular hexagon, its

northern extremity a point and Montgomery bounding it on the

northeast and northwest, with the Wallkill river running between

Wallkill township on the west and Montgomery on the northwest, while

Goshen is on the southwest, Blooming Grove the southeast and New

Windsor on the east.

The Otterkill circles through the town adding picturesqueness to the

fields it waters, while high ridges and fertile valleys vary the

scene. The Goshen and Montgomery State road runs northeast through

the western part of the town and the Little Britain State road joins

it at Clark's Crossing. Mr. Clark's farm, once the Denniston Bull

farm, is now in the hands of the New York and New Jersey Railroad,

and the road is being constructed. It is claimed that this will put

Campbell Hall within one hour of New York City, instead of the three

days' journey by sloop and horseback which Sarah Wells had to

undergo.

At Campbell Hall Junction four railroads center, the Ontario and

Western, the Central New England, the Wallkill Valley Division of the

N. Y. C. & H. R. and the Erie, while the Lehigh and New England runs

through the eastern part of the town from north to south, with

stations at Hamptonburgh, Girard and Burnside, thus making this

small town of more than proportionate interest in the county.

There are six rural schools and one church now in the town. This is

the Presbyterian church at Campbell Hall, where also are the stores

of Alexander Brothers and C. B. Howell, a meat market, a creamery and

a blacksmith's shop, and the surrounding houses with neat lawns make

an attractive hamlet.

The two-room schoolhouse stands in a grove of oaks on a hill

overlooking the Otterkill where the old church stood before it was

moved to Hamptonburgh proper. Now that building stands empty and only

the graveyard tells the old story. The name Campbell Hall came from a

Colonel Campbell who lived there. His house was back of what is now

the Bertholf house. "Col. Campbell was a Scotchman, the father of

Mrs. Margaret Eustace, who was the mother of Gen. Eustace of the

Revolutionary army of France, both of whom, we believe, died in the

vicinity of Newburgh thirty or thirty-five years since." (Eager in

1846-7.) In speaking of Mrs. Eustace he notes her dignity of manner

when she resided at Campbell Hall; also of her husband, Doctor

Eustace, who was from the South, he says there was a secret not fully

understood which embittered the last years of her life and her

father's.

[Illustration: The Bull House, Hamptonburgh, Erected 1722.]

Campbell Hall owes much to Mrs. Matilda Booth Gouge. Her husband,

Mr. George Gouge, conducted a large creamery business there for

years, and on his death he left his widow more than comfortably

provided for. There were no children and Mrs. Gouge did many kind

things for her neighbors before her death. She gave the ground on

which the church was built and a large house for a parsonage close to

the church. She also educated a colored man for the ministry. On her

death she willed her large residence with its furniture for a more

comfortable home for the pastor and her farm of 100 acres to the

church with $5,000 in bonds. Most of the buildings in the village are

built on land purchased from her. Her birthplace was near and is now

owned by Mr. C. B. Howell.

Burnside has a sawmill, a store and a Borden's creamery. Post offices

are in each place and the R. F. D. comes out from Montgomery. This

closes the helpful public activities of the town, but fine hotels,

with bars, make an addition not to be omitted. It is impossible to

follow closely all the different family fortunes of those who make

the records of to-day; our allotted space is too small.

There are two of the original grants on which the descendants of the

patentees are still living. These are the Richard Gerard and William

Bull grants.

The one of 2,600 acres was dated August 10, 1723, on which, by a

mistake of calculation, the carpenters erected the first wigwam in

1712, followed by the William Bull stone house.

The second grant lay partly in Wallkill, partly in Hamptonburgh,

divided unevenly by the Wallkill River, William Bull, Esq., the

great-great-grandson of the first one of the name here, lives upon

the western portion, and the stone house known as Hill-Hold on the

eastern part, belongs to the descendants of the third son of William

Bull--Thomas Bull, Robert McLeod Jackson and Margaret Eleanor Jackson

and their mother, Margaret Crawford Jackson, wife of Robert McDowell

Jackson, son of William Wickham Jackson.

The stones in the house were cut in the fields by the builder, Thomas

Bull, as he had time for the work between planting and reaping. It

was years before he was ready to build. Paneling was brought from

England for the east and west sides of the two large first-floor

rooms. Also solid mahogany balls for the newels and mahogany

balusters. The walls are two feet thick, with open fireplaces

throughout the house and massive chimney stacks on the east and west.

This house also stands on a rock, is in good repair and has a

beautiful situation on a hill.

Thirty years ago Mr. Charles Backman bought the road house by Stony

Ford bridge, known as the Sutton House, with race track, and began to

improve Orange County's fine trotting stock. Little by little he

bought the adjoining farm land until he owned 640 acres and remade

the mile of road from Stony Ford to La Grange into as fine a highway

as are the best State roads to-day.

His house was visited by many noted people, among them General Grant

when President, and General Benjamin F. Tracy, now ex-Secretary of

the Navy. Mr. J. Howard Force now owns the place. General Tracy owned

for a few years a farm in Goosetown or LaGrange, which he named

Marshland and greatly improved. This also was a stock farm for fine

horses; it is now in other hands. Mr. Backman bought part of the

Valentine Hill farm originally belonging to Andrew Wilson, who was a

private in Colonel James McClaughrey's regiment of Little Britain. In

October, 1777, he was one of the hundred men sent out from Fort

Montgomery to intercept the British, who were 5,000 strong and

commanded by Sir Henry Clinton in person.

Here is a dispatch from Governor Clinton, dated October 7, 1777, the

day after the fort was taken: "We received intelligence that the

enemy were advancing on the west side of the mountain with design to

attack us in the rear. Upon this ordered out Colonels Bruyer and

McClaughrey with upwards of 100 men towards Doodletown with a brass

field piece, with a detachment of sixty men on every advantageous

post on the road to the furnace. They were not long out before they

were attacked by the enemy with their whole force; our people behaved

with spirit and must have made great slaughter of the enemy."

[Illustration: George W. Carpenter.]

Andrew Wilson was here taken prisoner and when an English soldier

ordered him to take off his silver shoe buckles he refused and was

knocked down by the butt of a musket and his buckles taken. He lay

on the sugar hulk for two years and believed he was treated with

greater indignity than others because of his refusal.

After his release he lived on the farm mentioned on the east bank of

the Wallkill. His son James died first, he himself in 1804. He left

two sons and a daughter. John lived and died in Goshen. His son,

Andrew, raised two companies in 1812, the first he turned over to his

intimate friend, Burnett of Little Britain, that they might not be

separated; the second gave him a commission as lieutenant in the

regular army. Afterwards he became captain and was in charge at

Governor's Island. He married a daughter of William Bull, of

Wallkill, Milinda Ann, and made a home in Goshen. He was sent to the

Legislature from there in 1819. He was prominent in the temperance

movement, also the Bible society and the church life of Hamptonburgh.

The first pastor settled at Hamptonburgh was the Rev. James R.

Johnson, formerly of Goshen. The tide of prosperity in the town was

expected to set to the east, about the new church, but the hopes were

not fulfilled, and little by little Campbell Hall became the

established center. The Rev. Slater C. Hepburn was called after Mr.

Johnson and was installed July 2, 1850, and died in Campbell Hall

after serving his people forty-five years.

Able B. Watkins was an early settler near the Denns and had a family

of ten children.

In 1749 Silas Pierson came from Long Island and took possession of

what long was known as the old shingle house on the Pierson farm,

a mile northeast of Hamptonburgh church. This house was burned this

spring of 1907, April 13th. The eastern half was built of squared

logs up to the eaves.

On the 8th day of July, 1760, James De Laney, Esq., his Majesty's

lieutenant-governor and commander-in-chief in and over the province

of New York and the territories depending thereon, signed a

commission appointing Silas Pierson to be captain of the company of

militia foot lately commanded by John Bull, Esq. This was near the

close of the French and Indian War, when England had determined to

destroy the power of France in America. The militia was liable to be

called out at any time to defend the settlements against the attacks

of the Indians and to avenge their wrongs.

In 1775 Silas Pierson was captain in Jesse Woodhull's regiment; later

he was captain of a light horse company in the Revolution. Silas

Pierson and Silas Pierson, Jr., were among the many signers of the

pledge in the Cornwall precincts, in which they declared that they

would never become slaves and would aid the Continental Congress in

opposing the arbitrary acts of the British Parliament. Joshua

Pierson, grandfather of George Pierson, Sr., was a private in Col.

Jesse Woodhull's regiment in 1777 at the age of sixteen, and went

with the regiment under the command of Major Zachariah Du Bois to

assist in the defense of Fort Montgomery.

The family of Mr. William Henry Pierson still resides on the old

farm. His wife was Miss Elizabeth Bull of the "stone house." His

daughter Lucile married Harry Bull, of Wallkill, who, like his

father, is justice of the peace. It thus appears that in a large

degree the history of Hamptonburgh township is the history of the

Bulls, for marriage has linked the family with so many other

well-known names.