prominent business houses, those of Marcus K. Hill, Ebenezer Knapp,
and Joseph Millspaugh. It seemed to him then that about nine-tenths
of the inhabitants there were named either Millspaugh or Kidd.
Augustus F. Scofield was then the leading citizen of wealth and
influence, having a large shawl factory. The hotels were the Eagle
and the St. Nicholas, as they are at present. Scofield Hall was used
for public assemblies and such eminent lecturers as John G. Saxe,
Rev. Edward K. Beecher, Park Benjamin and Fanny Fern appeared there.
The much loved village parson was old "Dominie" Schoonmaker, who
labored there faithfully for many years. The industries of Walden
were then confined to the shawl factory, the satinette factory of
Giles Andrews, and the knife factory. James Todd was widely known as
"the model farmer of Orange County." George Weller was a prominent
resident greatly devoted to all the village interests, and his home
was regarded as a scene of unbounded hospitality and good cheer.
The first introduction of gas in Walden many years ago was not a
financial success, and the company abandoned the project. A public
water system was introduced in 1892. Previous to that time water for
fires had to be taken through long hose from the Wallkill and Tinn
Brook streams. The electric fire alarm system was installed about
fifteen years ago. The newspaper known as the _Walden Herald_ was
established about 1869, and the _Walden Citizen_ is in its twentieth
year.
Near the line of Newburgh, in the northeastern part of the town, is
the old hamlet of St. Andrews, which was left behind in the later
development of Walden with its great water-power facilities. It was
named for the ancient Episcopal church there, which is now located at
Walden.
Maybrook is an important railway junction, in the extreme southeast
corner of the town. The population, which numbers about four hundred,
is composed principally of railroad employees.
Coldenham is near the New Windsor boundary, but in the southeastern
part of the town. The title came from the Colden family and the
hamlet was the home of the Lieutenant Governor and acting Chief
Magistrate of the New York Colony.
Allard's Corners on the northwest border, and Scott's Corners, east
of Montgomery village, are other small hamlets of minor importance.
BANKS.
Le Fevre and De Garmo were the first bankers, beginning business in
Walden in 1870. They continued but a short time, and in 1873 the
Exchange Bank was organized with George W. Stoddard in active charge.
This was merged into the Walden National Bank in 1877 and was
succeeded in 1897 by the National Bank of Walden, the name of the
present institution. The Walden Savings Bank, the oldest and largest
financial institution in the town, began business June 1, 1872, with
the following officers: Seth M. Capron, president; Thomas W. Bradley,
vice-president; and Peter LeFevre, secretary and treasurer.
The Montgomery National Bank began business November 1, 1905, with
the following officers: William H. Senior, president; John A.
Crabtree, vice-president; E. I. Emerson, cashier. Directors: William
Eager, John J. Vanderoef, John A. Crabtree, Clunks D. Wait, J.
Harvey Harris, Dr. E. Ross Elliott, William F. Lodge, Harvey Tuttle,
William H. Senior, Walter R. Comfort, Fred W. Tower.
INDUSTRIES.
Nearly all the soil of this town is well adapted to successful
agriculture in its varied forms. While much of the land has been
devoted to meadows and grass, fine crops of grain were grown, wheat
especially, in the earlier years of the settlement. Fruit is also
grown to a considerable extent in some localities with profit.
Orchards were planted in the town nearly a hundred years ago by
Robert Griffith, John Miller, Andrew Graham, Hamilton Morrison and
others.
The bonding of the town in aid of the Wallkill Valley and other
railway construction had a depressing effect upon the people and
their property for a time, and there was much opposition to the
scheme, among the farmers especially. But the advantages of the
railways became apparent in a few years, and probably no one would
now care to abolish the present traffic facilities afforded or longer
regrets the cost.
The opening of the Wallkill Valley Railway to Montgomery, in 1866 was
a most important event for the town and county.
The Walden Woolen Factory was established in 1823 by Jesse Scofield
and Dr. Coburn. It was at first known as the "Franklin Company."
There were frequent changes in the firm and management in the
succeeding years. But for over fifty years this old plant was the
most important business feature of Walden, and it had much to do with
its early growth and development. The buildings were of stone and of
the most durable character, and the water-power ample.
The New York Knife Company has long been regarded among the largest
cutlery plants in the United States. It was organized in 1852 and
operated at Matteawan, Dutchess County, until 1856, when it was moved
to Walden to the building formerly used as a cotton factory. Table
and pocket cutlery of every kind and quality are made in this
establishment, which has achieved world-wide fame in the hardware
trade, domestic and foreign. Thomas W. Bradley was long the leading
spirit of the concern, being the active superintendent as well as the
president of the company. He served with valor and distinction in the
Civil War, and became prominent in the military affairs of the State
afterwards. He also served in the State Assembly in 1875-76, and at
present represents this district in Congress.
The Walden Condensed Milk Company was organized in 1864 with a
proposed capital of $50,000. But it was reorganized three years later
under the name of the Highland Condensed Milk Company. The
enterprise was finally abandoned soon afterward and the buildings
were used by the Walden Soap Works. The Walden Brickyard began
operations in 1868 with James Gowdy at its head. The Walden Knife
Company was established in 1870 with W. E. Gowdy as president. It is
entirely devoted to pocket cutlery. In 1891 Mr. Edward Whitehead
became its president, since which time the industry has forged
rapidly ahead, with the annual payroll exceeding a quarter of a
million dollars. The Schrade Cutlery Company was organized in 1904.
It is under the direct management of George Schrade and his brother,
J. Louis Schrade. The Rider-Ericsson Engine Company, manufacturers of
hot air pumping engines, is also a very important industry, giving
employment to 125 men. The Wooster Manufacturing Company, makers of
pants and overalls, conducts an extensive and increasing business.
The firm of William Crabtree & Sons, manufacturers of worsted yarns
with plants in Montgomery village and Newburgh, conducts an
important industry. This was established in 1880 by William Crabtree
and Arthur Patchett, both now deceased. Two hundred persons are given
employment by this progressive firm.
The New York Condensed Milk Company established a very extensive
branch of its business just north of Walden in 1880, at an initial
cost of $200,000, and the buildings and entire plant have been
greatly enlarged and improved since that time. It was intended to
receive the milk from 5,000 cows at the outset. John G. Borden, who
became one of the most prominent and progressive men in that region
in after years, was the first president of this important plant.
Since his death the great enterprise, with its model farms, has been
carried on most successfully by his daughters, and it is still one of
the great show places of this region of the State. The farms, though
mainly in Ulster County, are highly cultivated and operated under the
most modern methods.
HISTORIC HOMES.
The Colden house, on the Montgomery and Newburgh State road, at
Coldenham, was built in 1765 by Cadwallader Colden, Jr. His father,
Dr. Cadwallader Colden settled in Coldenham in 1728 on his patent of
3,000 acres of land--he was the surveyor general of the province for
eleven years, lieutenant governor for thirteen years and acting
governor in 1761, 1763, 1769 and 1774. He gave to Cadwallader, Jr.,
on his marriage, five hundred acres of land, including the site on
which this house stands. The land was all in woods, and Cadwallader,
Jr., began at once to clear part of it for farming purposes; with his
own hands he felled the first tree, and up-rooted the first stub.
After a few years the first dwelling he erected gave place to this
permanent stone structure, then, one of the finest dwellings of the
period. In it he lived a useful life, esteemed by all who knew him,
and in it he died mourned as a public benefactor. Some years ago an
addition to the house was built in the rear, and more recently a
mansard roof and other improvements were added. The date of the
erection of the building, and the names of its builders, are cut on a
stone in the upper front center. Its historical associations, past
and present, cover a period of one hundred and seventy-five years.
The Thomas Colden mansion was built by Cadwallader Colden, Jr., for
one of his sons. It is situated about a mile north of Coldenham, at
Colden Hill, near what was the Newburgh and Ellenville plank road.
It is a frame building with hipped-roof and is kept in excellent
condition. After the death of Thomas Colden it was occupied by
Cadwallader C. Colden, and more recently by Messrs. John and Joseph
Kelly.
The Haines house is situated about a mile east of the Goodwill
Church, and a short distance south of the highway known as the
Hadden road. It was built by Benjamin Haines who came into the
precinct in 1739. The year in which the house was erected is not
known, but it is probably the oldest house in the town. During recent
years it has been occupied only for short intervals, and the walls
are crumbling. This house is known as the Old Hadden house, having
been in the possession of successive generations of that family for
more than one hundred years.
The Hill Brick house situated about three miles east of Montgomery on
the State road was built by Nathaniel Hill in 1774 and occupied by
his son, Peter, who was a soldier in the War of the Revolution. At
his death the ownership and occupancy of the homestead passed to his
son, Nathaniel P. Hill, who was a prominent man--was sheriff, member
of congress, and filled other important positions. One of his sons,
Nathaniel P., had also attained prominence as U. S. senator from
Colorado.
The Van Keuren Stone house, now generally known as the Downs House,
about a mile west of Goodwill church, on the road to Montgomery, was
built in part by Hendricus Van Keuren in 1768, and in part by a
previous owner probably John McNeal. The house is in excellent
condition and is, perhaps, the oldest unchanged occupied house in the
town.
The Beemer house, situated on the old Stage road from Goshen to
Albany, nearly three miles north of Montgomery and about two miles
west of Walden, was built by Adam Beemer in 1770. It is a framed
building and has been recovered and repaired, but otherwise not
materially changed. It is now in fair condition.
The Hans Youngblood house is situated on the road leading from the
Searsville road north to the former site of Graham's church on the
Pine Bush road. Tradition says it was built before the French and
Indian War. It was used for a German school in 1761, and is not
occupied at present.
The Kidd house in the extreme southeasterly part of Walden was
probably built in part by Alexander Kidd, who settled there in 1736.
The year it was built is not known. Alexander Kidd was among the
first elders of Goodwill Church. His descendants are numerous.
SCHOOLS.
One of the ancient landmarks is the Montgomery High School, formerly
known as the Montgomery Academy. This noted school is as old as our
National Government. It had its inception in 1787, the year that the
National Constitution was framed. It was the fourth oldest academy in
the State, having been incorporated in 1791. Before 1787 the
inhabitants of the village and surrounding country felt the need of a
school of a high grade, and during that year erected a school
building on lots reserved in part for school purposes, when the
village was first surveyed and laid out. In the autumn of 1787
teachers were employed and the school opened for pupils. During 1790
steps were taken to incorporate the institution and place it under
the care of the regents of the State University, as appears from the
following application and petition:
"To the Regents of the University of the State of New York: Be it
known that a certain tract of land pleasantly situated in the town of
Montgomery, in the county of Ulster, in the center of a populous,
fertile and wealthy country, hath lately been purchased, and a large
and convenient building of two stories high erected and completed
thereon, for the use of a public academy for the instruction of youth
in the learned languages and other branches of useful knowledge,
that the expense of the undertaking hath been defrayed by the free
and liberal benefactions of individuals, of whom the subscribers
constitute more than one-half with respect to the contributions
raised and collected to found said academy, and that a gentleman of
liberal education, of very competent abilities and irreproachable
moral character has been procured, with a tutor, to teach in said
academy.
"The subscribers, pursuant to an act of the Legislature of the State
of New York entitled an act to institute a university within this
State, and for other purposes, passed April 13, 1787, respectfully
make the application to the regents of said University requiring
that the said academy may be incorporated agreeably to the said law,
and be subject to the visitation of the said regents, and they do
hereby nominate Arthur Parks, Matthew Hunter, Benjamin Sears, Henry
Van Keuren, Solomon Slight, Joseph Barber, James Clinton, Moses
Freleigh, Daniel Bull, James Hunter, Peter Hill, David Galatian,
Johannes Miller, Severyn T. Brown, Henry Smith, Ebenezer Clark and
William Cross to be the first trustees of the said academy, declaring
it to be their desire that the said trustees be called and
distinguished by the name of the trustees of the Montgomery Academy
in the County of Ulster.
"Andrew King. John McKinstry.
Nathan W. Howell. James Moore.
L. Sleght. William Jackson.
Matthew Hunter. Matthew Gillespie.
Stephen Goldsmith. David Jagger.
John Nicholson. Hugh Milliken.
Benjamin Sears. Andrew Graham.
James Clinton. Thomas Greggs.
Hamilton Morrison. Jacob Meltzberg.
Gideon Pelton. Alexander Leeds.
Patrick Barber. Robert Kidd.
Jacob Newkirk. James Mackay.
David Galatian. Thomas Barkley.
William Cross. Stephen Ross.
Severyn T. Bruyn. Stephen Crist.
Johannes Mould. John Wilkin.
Christian Rockefeller. A. M. McCord.
Jacob Linderman. William Wilkin.
Jacob Bookstaver. Robert Sewall.
William Booth. David Miller.
Alexander P. Anderson. B. Hopkins.
John Clark. Samuel Boyd.
James W. Wilkin. Adam J. Doll.
Johannes Miller. Martimus Crist.
William Weller. William Johnston.
Jacob F. Bookstaver. Daniel Cahill.
Henry J. Smith. John Millspaugh.
Neal Diggie. Solomon Sleght.
Henry Sinsabaugh. John Robinson.
Henry Van Keuren. John C. Millyberg.
Peter Crans. Henry Nealy.
Henry Smith. Benjamin Cradit.
James Jackson, Jr. Frederick Bookstaver.
Philip Millspaugh. Moses Latta.
John Linderman. Jacob Smedes.
William Cross. John A. Newkirk.
David Smith. James Hunter.
James Hunter. William Crist.
Jacob Pitts. Johannes Yerkes.
Henry German. Christopher Moule.
John Barber. George Monnell.
Daniel Bull. Joseph Burrows.
James M. Claghen. William Hill.
John Puff. Thomas McKissock.
John Pool. Alexander Dorcus.
John Sears. Charles Young.
John Barclay. Andrew Hart.
John Scott. James Kidd.
Jeremiah Smith. William Erwin.
Jane Crage. John Hunter.
James T. Graham. John P. Haines.
John Haines. Peter Hill.
Thomas Beallie. Robert Hunter.
Tunis Van Arsdale. David Crist.
John Dunlap. James Fitzgerald.
Caleb Dill. Samuel P. Gale.
Andrew Embler. William Faulkner, Jr.
Jason Wilkin. James Sutton.
William Faulkner. John Barber.
D. G. Rogers. Jonathan Miller.
James Preston. David Comfort.
Cornelius Schoonmaker. Matthew M. Rowe.
William Miller."
The petition was dated January 3, 1791, and the act of incorporation
was passed the 23rd of April following. The school prospered and
greater accommodations became necessary. In 1823 the main part of the
present brick building was erected at a cost of about $5,400. Nearly
two-thirds of the cost was paid by State moneys; the remaining third
was raised by subscription through the activity and persistence of
Johannes Miller.
The academy continued to prosper until the free school system was
adopted, when it began to decline. In 1881 it was transferred by the
trustees to the Board of Education of the Montgomery Union Free
School, of which it is now (1908) the academical department. The
following is a list of principals of the academy since it was
incorporated: Rev. Alexander Miller, Nathaniel Howell, Nathan H.
White, Reuben Neely, James King, Prof. Stansbury, William H. Weller,
Rev. John McJimsay, Prof. Wilson, Jacob C. Tooker, twenty years,
Silas S. Harmon, seven years, Rev Samuel B. Bell, D. D., Joseph M.
Wilkins, three years, Robert Simpson, Daniel K. Bull, Prof. Lasher,
Prof. Graham, Prof. Gunnison, Theron Little, Prof. Stevens, Prof.
Beardsley, Prof. Cone, Benjamin C. Nevins, Prof. Demarest, Prof.
Rouse. This famous academy reached the zenith of its prosperity
under Professors Tooker and Harmon.
The town is divided into thirteen school districts and parts of
districts; of these, twelve have school-houses in the town. These
district schools will compare favorably with those of any other town.
It appears from trustees' reports for 1907 that the whole number of
children of school age (between five and eighteen), residing in the
town that year was 1,337; of these 1,299 attended school. The average
daily attendance of these children was 850. The number of teachers
employed at the same time was thirty-four. The total cost of
sustaining these schools was $25,330; of this sum $17,892 was raised
by district tax. The value of school-houses and sites was $42,450.
Two of the districts (Montgomery and Walden), are union free school
districts. The former was established in 1881 and now (1908), employs
six teachers. The first principal was Reuben Fraser. The present
board of education is: Dr. E. Ross Elliott, William Eager, William H.
Senior, John A. Crabtree and William S. Hanlon. The latter was
organized in 1859 and now employs eighteen teachers. The Board of
Education in 1908 is: Sanford Abrams, Henry E. Williams. Frank
Benedict, Benjamin S. French, Harry Hollingsworth, Dewitt C.
Dominick. There is one parochial school in the town.
CHURCHES.
There are many ancient churches in this town. It was a sturdy
Christian people that first settled in this region. After building
their grist mills and providing themselves and families with
log-cabins, or other rude shelter from the storm and cold of the
severe winters which then prevailed, their next thought was for the
church, where they might enjoy religious worship, hear the Scripture
expounded and meet together in praise and song.
The oldest and best known of these churches in those early days was
the _Good Will Presbyterian Church._ This was established by the
Scotch-Irish settlers who came into the region in 1724. The earliest
records of this old church seem to have been lost. But the
organization was represented in the Synod of Philadelphia in 1729 by
John McNeal as commissioner. This date has, therefore, been taken for
the establishment of the church, although it was doubtless in
existence there some years earlier. The settlers of the region being
long known as "the people of Wallkill," this church went under the
name of the Wallkill Church, though incorporated under the name first
mentioned. The first church structure is believed to have been
erected in 1735, although there was some rude building set apart for
religious worship some years before this. The building was improved
and enlarged from time to time, some $8,000 having been expended upon
it in this way in 1871. During the one hundred and seventy-nine years
of its existence it has had but nine pastors: Rev. Joseph Houston,
John Moffatt, Andrew King, Robert W. Condit, William Blain, David M.
Maclise, D.D., James M. Dixon, D.D., David F. Bonner, D.D., and the
present pastor, Rev. John H. Thompson, who has served the church for
seventeen years.
_The Reformed Church of Montgomery_ was founded mainly by the German
element in 1732. As the population increased divisions arose in this
church and several other churches were formed from it. The first
house of worship was a log structure built in 1732. And it is said
that the entrance of this old church was by means of a ladder placed
on the outside. All these early records were kept in the Dutch
language, and the services were also conducted in Dutch for the first
fifty years. Then for a time each alternate Sunday the English
language was used. Rev. John Michael Kern seems to have been the
first settled pastor. He came in 1772 and resigned in 1776. Rev.
G. W. Mancius, of the old parent _Kingston Dutch Church,_ had been
acting as a supply previous to that date, until his death in 1762.
Three different church buildings have occupied the site since the old
block house was taken down in 1760. The first was a frame structure
erected immediately thereafter. The church contained sixty-eight
pews, forty-six of which were occupied at a rental of 96L 8S. Pews
for the elders and deacons were on the right and left of the
old-fashioned pulpit. Among the names of the pew-holders are found
those of Rockefeller, Youngblood, Mould, Decker, Weller, Robinson,
etc., ancestors of many well-known families. The modern name of the
church for years has been "the Brick Church of Montgomery." The
present pastor is Peter Crispell.
[Illustration: Diagram of Pews of the Old Dutch Church at Montgomery,
erected in 1760.]
_The St. Andrew's Church_ at Walden, before alluded to, is another
ancient religious society. This people passed through a troublous
{_sic_} existence during the Revolution, and the parish was left
vacant for some years until 1790. Finally, after emerging from a
heavy debt, a new church was erected in the village of Walden in 1827.
Then after many changes in rectors, another new church was decided
upon in 1870. This with the parsonage cost $18,000, and in 1880 the
church was finally consecrated free from debt.
_The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Coldenham_ was organized in
1795, and a house of worship built four years later. This was
replaced by a new structure in 1838. Dr. Alexander McLeod was the
pastor from 1800 to 1812. The present pastor, Rev. Thomas Patton,
was installed in 1893.
_The Reformed Dutch Church of Berea,_ which came as a secession from
the _Goodwill Church,_ got its first pastor in 1823, Rev. James Ten
Eyck, the congregation having been incorporated two years before.
When the first little church was built it was surrounded by a forest,
the timber for the building being cut from the site itself.
_The First Reformed Church of Walden_ was incorporated in 1870,
although the society was formed forty years before, and the church
building was completed in 1838 at a cost of $12,000. Some $5,000 more
was afterward spent upon the parsonage. Rev. M. V. Schoonmaker was
the minister from 1849 to 1888. The present minister, Rev. W. W.
Schomp, was installed in 1897.
_The First Presbyterian Church of Montgomery_ was incorporated in
1832 and Rev. James O. Stokes was the first pastor. There were many
changes in this pastorate in the succeeding years, and the debt piled
up gradually until it reached $2,300 in 1848, a parsonage having been
built meanwhile. This debt was, however, fully met that year under
the pastorate of Rev. E. R. Fairchild, whose health soon failed,
however. Rev. J. C. Forsyth was installed in 1875 and he continued in
that field for many years.
_The Methodist Church of Montgomery,_ was organized in 1829 with Rev.
B. Howe and J. W. Lefever as priests. The "table expenses" of Mr.
Howe were $100 and those of Lefever $50, which was in addition to the
disciplinary allowance. A small church was built that year and a
parsonage four years later.
In 1906 an Episcopal mission was established in Montgomery.
_The Walden Methodist Church_ was incorporated in 1850. Previous to
that the "classes" there were under the pastoral care of the
Montgomery preachers. In fact, it was not until 1866 that the Walden
Church became an independent charge. Then a parsonage was built and
the church building was enlarged and improved in 1870 at a cost of
$6,000. In 1893 it was removed to the east side of the church lot and
remodeled.
_The Church of the Holy Name_ in the village of Montgomery was
incorporated in 1870. Rev. Hugh S. O'Hare was the pastor.
The inception of the _Church of the Most Precious Blood_ in Walden
was in 1887. Services were held in Lustig's and later in Condon's
hall. The church was dedicated by Bishop Farley July 5, 1896. The
officiating priests have been Rev. C. A. Meredith, Rev. P. Morris and
Rev. F. C. Lenes.
Among the recent church organizations of the town is the _People's
Baptist Church_ at Maybrook, erected in 1906. No settled pastor.
Several of the old cities of the dead date back to 1725. The Wallkill
Valley Cemetery Association was organized in 1865 and the first
burial made May 1, 1867. This cemetery commands general admiration in
the beauty and grandeur of its location. It comprises forty-one acres
and the interments exceed 2,000. In 1905 Colonel Thomas Bradley
erected here a bronze statue, "The Volunteer," memorial to Company H,
124th Regiment. Other burial places are Goodwill, St. Mary's,
Riverside, Berea, Brick Church and Coldenham.
[Illustration: Wickham T. Shaw.]
CHAPTER XXIII.
TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE.
By Wickham T. Shaw.
LOCATION, AREA, ETC.
This is one of the smaller towns of Orange County and it is located
in the acute angle of the western boundary line of the county formed
by the indentation of Sullivan County. The territory of the town is
diamond-shaped. The Shawangunk stream, which flows through the town
lengthwise toward the northeast, leaves it in the apex of the angle
and then forms the boundary line separating Orange from Sullivan, as
well as the northwestern bounds of the towns of Wallkill and
Crawford.
It is bounded on the north by Sullivan County and a very small part
of the town of Wallkill, east by that town, south by the towns of
Wawayanda and Greenville, and west by the town of Deer Park.
The area of the town is now placed at 16,104 acres. The assessed
valuation of all the real and personal property, as reported by the
assessors in 1906, was $632,075, upon which the tax levy for that
year was $3,903.36. In 1880 this land was valued at $673,470, and the
annual tax was $5,157.79. But it would be manifestly unfair to assume
that the land is less valuable now than it was twenty-five years ago.
The average town assessor in the State of New York, under the
prevailing political conditions and customs, is largely a creature of
circumstance, with strange vagaries in judgment, if indeed he is
called upon to exercise any judgment at all under the official
limitations of his position. Then, too, standards of value have
greatly changed during that time.
This Mount Hope territory lies wholly north of the old county line
which originally divided Orange from Ulster County.
NATURAL FEATURES.
The Shawangunk mountain range in the western border of the town is
the most important topographical feature. This northern spur of the
Alleghenies is known as the Blue Mountains in New Jersey and the
Kittatiny Mountains in the State of Pennsylvania. Beginning in the
central part of Ulster County the general trend of the range is
toward the southwest for some 250 miles. There are few isolated
peaks, and the greatest altitude reached is about 1,800 feet above
tide. The more notable elevations of this range are Sam's Point, near
Ellenville, Sky Top and Eagle's Cliff at Lake Mohonk, all of which
are in Ulster County. The Indian word Shawangunk, which has been used
to designate this range since the settlement of the region,
signifies "great wall" in the aboriginal vernacular, which in fact
seems especially appropriate as a descriptive title.
The eastern slopes of these mountains are uniform and well adapted to
cultivation, even to their summits, in most instances. But on the
western side they are broken and precipitous. The approach from the
east has been fitly described by an old writer in the following
language: "The eye rests upon fields of grain and grass, upturned
furrows, the verdure of waving trees and the homes of thrifty
hospitality, spread out from valley to crest, over the south and the
far north, in unwearying {_sic_} panoramic beauty--a patchwork of
gold and green, of brown and gray, of white and red."
The Shawangunk River is another dominating feature in this Mount Hope
township. Rising in the adjoining town of Greenville on the south,
this stream enters the Mount Hope territory near the middle of the
southern boundary line and flows northeasterly through the central
portion of the town, leaving the north boundary line at the apex of
Sullivan County, as before stated.
The Little Shawangunk rises at Shawangunk Lake, on the eastern border
of the town, flows northward along the line some four or five miles,
then crosses over into the town of Wallkill, anon reentering Mount
Hope in the northeast corner, and finally unites with the parent
stream in the western bounds of Wallkill. There are several small
tributaries which enter the Shawangunk from the west and drain the
mountain slopes effectually.
This territory also presents many geological features of interest
which have attracted considerable attention in past years. Here, as
elsewhere in this mountain range, rich mineral deposits have been
found. Lead, copper and zinc ores were discovered many years ago, and
numerous mining companies have been formed in the town.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
This being one of the newer towns of the County, having been taken
from the towns of Wallkill and Deer Park in 1825, the details
pertaining to its early settlement are of course embodied in the
history of those towns and cannot well be treated separately in this
place at much length.
Among the early pioneers in this section was John Finch, who settled
in what was afterward known as Finchville. The records show he was
there in 1733 at least. He came from Horseneck, Conn., settling first
at Goshen, where it was said in after years he was the first adult
person to receive burial in the Goshen churchyard.
Jasper Writer came from Germany, and after spending a few years in
Philadelphia he removed to this section and settled on what was
afterward known as the Writer farm. This was probably before 1763, as
he was over a hundred years old when he died in 1842.
Ashbel Cadwell was another early settler here, and his grandson,
Harvey R. Cadwell, in later years became a prominent citizen of
Otisville.
The Green family was also among the early settlers here. Israel
Green, the pioneer, started at Middletown, and he had many children,
some of whom lived in the Otisville section. Daniel Green, his
brother, settled near Finchville. William Shaw must also be numbered
with the well known Mount Hope pioneers, and he settled near Howells
some years before the Revolution and left many worthy descendants in
that region.
Stephen St. John was another enterprising and public spirited citizen
of that little village. James Finch served in the militia during the
Revolution for more than three months, and also in the French and
Indian war in 1755 and 1756. In his youthful days he served as valet
to General Abercrombie at Fort Stanwix.
Benjamin Woodward, already mentioned, came into the section in 1773
from Stonington, Conn. He served several sessions in the Legislature,
was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1821, and was state
senator from 1827 to 1830. His son Charles also represented his town
in the Legislature in 1863 and 1864.
Joshua Corwin was another Mount Hope pioneer who came there sometime
before the Revolution, coming from Southold, L. I. He had eight
children, who settled on an extensive tract of land in that region.
Jacob Wiggins came very soon after the Revolution and settled two
miles south of Otisville.
ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWN.
The act of incorporation of Mount Hope was passed in 1825, as before
stated. But the new town was then named "Calhoun" in honor of the
distinguished South Carolina Senator, John C. Calhoun, whose
patriotic course as secretary of war during the contest with Great
Britain in 1812 won him great favor with the people of this entire
region. But they soon regretted this action and the honor conferred
because of Calhoun's course and policy during the nullification
discussions of 1831 and 1832. There was a violent revulsion of public
opinion and everybody wanted to drop this now unpopular name of the
town without ceremony, thus showing their open disapproval of the new
policy of the Southern statesman. A public meeting was held, the old
name was dropped with a heavy thud and the present title of "Mount
Hope" was unanimously adopted with much enthusiasm. In response to a
popular petition sent to the Legislature in 1833 a law was passed
March 14 of that year discarding the old name and ratifying the new
one. The plan of thus honoring a political favorite of the hour,
however distinguished and popular he might be, had proved a dangerous
experiment even in those eight short years, and the people were now
resolved to adopt some title for their town which could not be
affected by the sands of time or the progress of human events.
While all the earlier records of this town were destroyed by fire in
1848, the account of the first town meeting, which was held at the
house of Joseph Conklin, April 5, 1825, is happily preserved in the
books of Deer Park. Joseph Chattle and Richard Penny were the
presiding justices of the peace. One hundred and fifty dollars were
raised for the support of the poor for the ensuing year and $35 for
the maintenance of bridges. Joseph Chattle was chosen the first
supervisor and Joseph Conklin town clerk. While many of the principal
officers were chosen by ballot, all the minor town officials were
selected by the primitive method of raising of hands. Four constables
were chosen, six fire masters, four fence viewers and forty-one
highway masters. Just what the duties of the latter were can only be
conjectured, as very little attention was paid to the public roads of
that period or their repair, and fortunately so, perhaps, because of
the primitive and defective methods in vogue. The official list of
the town included also three assessors, two overseers of the poor,
three commissioners of highways, three school commissioners and three
school inspectors.
The first town meeting after the fire was in 1849. At that time the
rather extravagant civil list of the town had been somewhat reduced
in number. One hundred dollars were then raised for repairs to roads
and bridges.
It is interesting to note in passing that in 1906 the sum raised for
the maintenance of public roads alone in the town under the money
system of road work was $2,743.33. Of this amount $933.12 was
received from the State and $260 from the poll tax.
LITTLE SHAWANGUNK KILL.
Heretofore it has been said that the little Shawangunk Kill, in this
town, was of such little importance that historians declined to
mention it, yet this stream, lying practically all in the town, was
at one time the scene of five thriving saw-mills in operation, but
which have since disappeared. Yet the city of Middletown in 1890 saw
a basis of great water works in this stream, and just from the line
at the headwaters of this kill in the town of Wallkill, erected a
reservoir which was known as Highland Lake, containing about
500,000,000 gallons of water. On April 22, 1901, just below Highland
Lake and in the town of Mount Hope, the city of Middletown decided to
erect another lake, and the contract was let to Charles Sundstrom of
the city of Middletown, who, by the erection of what was known as
Shawangunk, Greenleaf and Steward dams, impounded a large quantity of
water, which was to form a part of the Middletown system.
This work was at the cost of something like $57,000, and was
connected with Monhagen Lake by a twenty-inch conduit, and also a
twenty-four-inch conduit was extended in a westerly direction to a
point in the Shawangunk Kill, above Mount Hope, from which it was
intended to take water at high times, and conduct it to what was
called Shawangunk reservoir.
This reservoir when full contains over 434,000,000 gallons of water,
and has an acreage of about 102 acres, on what was formerly known as
the Greenleaf farm. It will be observed that Highland Lake had been
erected some fourteen years, but since Shawangunk Lake was erected,
litigation sprang up from the mill owners on the big Shawangunk Kill,
as far north as Pine Bush, and all the farmers on the line of the
little Shawangunk Kill were brought into proceedings for
condemnation, and the payment of damages for the taking of this
water, and this litigation, which continued some two or three years,
was finally settled in the year 1907, when all water rights to both
kills were finally determined, but the city of Middletown had paid in
expenses and damages something like $25,000.
VILLAGES.
The village of Mount Hope is in the southwestern part of the town.
This name was bestowed long before the formation of the town itself,
which was evidently named after the old village. The site of the
hamlet is a commanding elevation, and there is a charming view of the
surrounding landscape on all sides far and near.
Benjamin Woodward and Dr. Benjamin Newkirk are credited with the
establishment of the place in May, 1807. On the eighth day of that
month, after the "raising bee" was over, James Finch, the old
settler, called the assembly to order and made a very enthusiastic
speech, during which he christened the place "Mount Hope" with proper
ceremony.
Otisville was settled in 1816 by Isaac Otis, a merchant from New
York, and named for him. There were but three houses on the upper
street, and probably but little more than a dozen buildings comprised
the entire village when the Erie Railroad was opened on November 3,
1846.
The officials of the road who arrived on the first train dined at the
hotel of Ambrose W. Green, who for many years was one of the leading
citizens of Otisville. At this time, 1846, Dr. Avery Cook lived and
had his office near where the depot stands. Galen Otis owned the only
store which stood where he later built a large square house. Ezra
Coleman lived and had his wagon-making shop where Dr. Writer now
lives. Samuel K. Wheat was the harness-maker, and lived where later
Judson Van Duzer lived. Stanford Harding was the blacksmith, and
Squire Baker had a cooper shop. Harvey R. Cadwell, a member of
Assembly in 1862, owned the farm on the north, and Smith Loomis,
father of Supervisor Charles Loomis, owned the farm on the western
boundary of the village.
[Illustration: Garrett H. Tymeson.]
The schoolhouse in 1840 was nearly a mile south of the village on the
plains, the present site of the cemetery. A church was also there.
This same year Algernon Sidney Dodge, son of Benjamin Dodge, of Mount
Hope, came to Otisville and leased the store of Galen Otis. Alsop
Woodward Dodge, son of Algernon Sidney Dodge, now resides in
Middletown, and from him we learned some of the facts contained here.
Ambrose Woodward Green, mentioned above, was born in the town of
Greenville in 1813. His father was Charles S. Green, and his
grandfather was Daniel Green, a soldier of the Revolution from Orange
County.
Ambrose W. Green settled in Otisville in 1835, and for a time carried
on the tailoring business, which he discontinued, and built the
Washington Hotel, now the Greenleaf Hotel, conducting it for some
time in connection with other business.
Before the Erie came to Otisville, Mr. Green owned a market wagon
route to Newburgh, going twice a week by way of Bloomingburg. While
Otisville remained the western terminal of the Erie, Mr. Green also
owned a stage line to Forestburgh, Sullivan County, connecting with
lines into Pennsylvania for Honesdale and other western points. He
was interested in building the Otisville and Wurtsboro turnpike. Mr.
Green sold the Washington Hotel and about 1850 built the hotel near
the railroad track. While conducting this hotel, he was engaged in
the lumber and coal business. From 1863 to 1870 he was extensively
interested in the lead mining operations on Shawangunk Mountain. The
decline in the value of lead after our Civil War caused the mines to
be discontinued, and Mr. Green later sold his hotel and removed to a
farm a couple of miles north of Otisville, where he died in July,
1888.
The coming of the Erie boomed Otisville for the next few years. A
Methodist and a Presbyterian church were built and a little later a
Catholic church. Several stores and many dwellings were erected.
Market wagons came here twice a week with farmers' produce for
shipment to New York. Previous to the building of the Midland
Railroad hundreds of teams throughout the winter, while the Delaware
and Hudson Canal was closed, came to Otisville from Sullivan and
western Ulster Counties, with leather from the tanneries, and
returned with the green hides for tanning. For many years, until the
introduction of refrigerator cars, Otisville was the western terminal
of the milk train.
George Strickland and Joel D. Northrup, residents of Otisville, were
the conductors--the latter for many years. The Orange County Express
for several years went no further west than Otisville. The gravel and
construction train for this section, with nearly a hundred employees,
had its headquarters at Otisville. Until coal was used as the fuel
for the engines of the Erie, Otisville for many years was the
principal point where the thousands of cords of wood were received
which the Erie consumed yearly. This wood was all sawed by hand, and
many men were employed. Many citizens of Otisville found various
kinds of employment with the Erie during these years, and much of the
prosperity of the village came from the dollars left here by the
monthly pay-car of the Erie.
TUBERCULOSIS SANATORIUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
To the historian of the future the name Otisville will be associated
with one of the great sanitary advances made in this country, namely,
the establishment, by a municipality, of a tuberculosis sanatorium
outside the political limits of that municipality.
The establishment of such a sanatorium was first suggested in 1889.
At that time, however, not even a medical sentiment was ripe for
such a movement. In the succeeding fifteen years, little progress was
made toward a realization of these plans, and it was not until Dr.
Thomas Darlington became commissioner of health that any tangible
results were achieved. He proved an aggressive and resourceful
champion. With political, corporate, and private interests leagued
together to prevent the city from acquiring a site, it was largely
owing to the indefatigable labors of Dr. Darlington that the most
determined opposition to the plan was overcome.
After carefully examining many sites, it was finally determined to
establish the sanatorium at Otisville, a little village lying in the
Shawangunk Mountains, and about seventy-five miles from New York
City. As a southern exposure was desired, the grounds, covering an
area of over 1,400 acres, were selected on the southeastern slope of
one of the most picturesque and most favorably situated mountains of
the entire range. The grounds have an altitude varying from about
800 feet to 1,500 feet above sea level. The sanatorium property
consists of what were formerly thirteen separate farms, which were
purchased at different times during the years 1905 and 1906, the
health department first taking possession for the city of New York on
December 1, 1905.
To avoid delay in establishing the institution on a working basis, it
was deemed best to renovate and remodel the buildings on the
property, and use them until such time as the needs of the sanatorium
would require the erection of new ones. By July, 1906, the
institution was ready to receive its first patients, and a year after
that date had accommodations for about 100.
Since the sanatorium is designed for the treatment of those ill with
tuberculosis in the early stages of the disease, there is only a
small building for hospital accommodations. The rest of the
buildings, in which the patients practically live outdoors, are
portable houses and shacks. All the frills and ruffles so universally
connected with the construction of public buildings have been
omitted; everything has been subordinated to that which is best for
the patients.
There are six portable houses, which are set on posts and can be
taken apart and transferred to any location desired. The houses all
measure ten by sixty feet, and are divided into five rooms. The
center room, heated on cold days, is used as a bathing and dressing
room, as well as a sitting room in inclement weather. Those on
either side are used as bed rooms. Each room has four windows, two of
which are always open and so arranged as to avoid all draughts. Each
room contains one bed. The two rooms on either end are entirely open
on the three sides, a fine screen only enclosing to keep out insects,
etc. Heavy canvas curtains are folded in a roll outside, and can be
dropped in stormy weather. These end rooms each accommodates two
patients, thus making a capacity of six to each house.
In the latter part of 1906 a one-story and a two-story shack were
erected for the additional accommodation of patients; and during 1907
two single-story shacks and one small house were built.
The shacks are built in the form of the letter T. The stem of the T
consists of a room containing the washstands, lockers for each
patient, and toilets and baths. In front of this is a sitting room,
and opening from either side of this are the sleeping rooms. The
latter are practically only verandas, being open in front and on the
side, while for protection against storms and severe winds there is a
similar provision to that used on the portable houses; that is, the
curtains ordinarily rolled up are lowered, shutting off the verandas
from the outside. A single-story shack accommodates twelve patients,
six on each veranda. The two-story shack accommodates just double
that number, being exactly alike in its two stories.
A feature of considerable importance in an institution of this kind
is the manner in which the different patients are segregated. As
nearly as possible patients in the same physical condition as well as
those who are apt to be congenial are assigned to the same quarters.
Every patient is closely observed for about ten days after admission.
The amount and frequency of rest, exercise and work is determined at
all times by the condition of the patients. They are assigned to work
according to their strength and capabilities. All dining-room duties,
such as waiting on the table, washing dishes, and preparing
vegetables, are performed by selected patients who show but slight
lesions, negative sputum, and have no cough. Many of the patients are
able to do farm work, and this keeps them out in the air and relieves
their ennui.
In a large institution of this kind the problem of sewage disposal is
not an easy matter. But by the aid of expert sanitary engineers this
has been satisfactorily overcome. Thousands of feet of pipe have been
laid, and an up-to-date disposal plant has been erected. The effluent
from this plant will have been so purified as to be practically
indistinguishable from pure water.
An abundance of pure water has also been provided, and is supplied at
a high pressure to all the buildings. Fire plugs are scattered about
the sanatorium grounds, and a fire-fighting system has been
organized.
The sanatorium has its own dairy, for the patients are encouraged to
drink considerable milk. The cow barn and the milk handling rooms in
connection with this, are immaculately clean, and this condition is
reflected by the milk, which is of the highest possible purity.
The one fact which stands out prominently at the sanatorium is the
broad foundation on which the whole work has been planned. The work
is being directed with admirable foresight, and will yield immense
returns in the fight against tuberculosis in New York City. The
sanatorium was established in order to provide a place for treating
these consumptives of New York who are unable to pay, the large army
who until now have had merely the clinics and dispensaries, but for
whom country treatment is most desirable. The city maintains the
patients absolutely free, the only condition being that the disease
is not too far advanced.
The present capacity of the institution, about 150, is only a small
fraction of what it will be five or ten years hence. Yet even these
small numbers are an immense potential for good when they return to
the city cured or improved, for they carry with them habits of
cleanliness and personal hygiene and a knowledge of the value of
fresh air, which are of incalculable value not only to them, but to
all with whom they come in contact.
The present officers of the institution are: Dr. Thomas Darlington,
commissioner of health; Dr. Hermann M. Biggs, general medical
officer; Dr. Irving D. Williams, superintendent; Dr. Edward J.
McSweenv, resident physician, and Dr. Frank P. Hauser, assistant
resident physician.
RAILROADS, HAMLETS, MINES.
_Erie & Jersey Railroad._--In the year 1904 a corporation was
organized, known as the Erie and Jersey Railroad Company, which
ostensibly was an independent line, to be built from a point on the
Erie railroad west of Guymard, on a circuitous route, to the north of
the present Erie railroad, to Turner. It was well understood that
this road was a part of the Erie system, and was to be a double-track
road, the projectors of which alleged that it would be used for
freight, but as it shortened the route of the road and was a much
easier grade, when completed, undoubtedly would be used by many fast
express trains.
The condemnation laws of this State were not elastic enough to permit
of taking property along the line of this route through the courts,
and the greater part of the right of way had to be bought by the
company, and fabulous prices were paid for its right of way, which
was 130 feet wide. About eleven miles of this road is in the town of
Mount Hope.
_The Erie & Jersey Railroad Tunnel._--On August 10, 1905, Bennett &
Talbott, contractors, of Greensburg, Pa., contracted with the Erie &
Jersey Railroad Company to build twelve miles of railroad, eleven
miles of grading, which would require about 1,500,000 cubic yards of
excavation, and about 15,000 yards of concrete masonry, and one mile,
three hundred and three feet of tunnel through the Shawangunk
Mountains, between Guymard and Howells, N. Y. The road was to be
completed within a period of two years. Work was commenced on
September 4, 1905, by sinking a shaft at the center of the tunnel to
a depth of 117 feet. Owing to a delay in getting the right of way,
however, they were compelled to sink another shaft at the east
portal of the tunnel to expedite the work, beginning on or about
October 1, 1905. The west portal of the tunnel was begun on or about
November 15 of the same year. The completion of the work was delayed
somewhat on account of the suspension of work April, 1907. The
excavation of the tunnel will now be completed on or about the first
of March, 1908, while the arching will be finished some time in July,
1908. The excavation of solid rock required for this work was 180,000
cubic yards. The timber required to support the roof was 1,700,000
feet, while the amount of concrete sidewall was 8,000 cubic yards.
The number of brick required was 8,000,000. The machinery used in the
construction of this tunnel was two improved Style A Marion
steam-shovels, known as the "45-ton." Alpha Portland cement was used
for the masonry. Francis Lee Stuart was chief engineer of this work.
_Finchville._--This hamlet is in the southwestern part of the town at
the eastern base of the Shawangunk Mountains. It was founded by
James Finch, the old settler, in whose honor the name was bestowed.
But the precise date of this settlement is not accurately disclosed
by the records. It was to this place that many terror-stricken women
and children fled for refuge from the Mamakating Valley during the
Indian troubles there.
_New Vernon._--This is a small hamlet in the northern border of the
town. In fact, part of it is in Sullivan County. It was named thus to
distinguish it from Vernon in New Jersey. It had one church and some
twenty dwellings in 1860, and has shown no very material increase in
recent years.
_Guymard,_ in the western part of the town of Mount Hope, was the
culmination of the plan of the Gumaer brothers to have a railroad
station nearer Gumaer's, which was on the Delaware & Hudson Canal.
After the strenuous times of 1857, labor could be obtained at
sixty-five cents per day, and the Gumaer brothers decided to build a
road from the canal to the Erie railroad, and then the station was
named Guymard.
About 1862 they concluded to extend the new road to the old turnpike
on top of the mountain. While constructing that part of the road,
lead was discovered. As a result of this discovery, many mines were
prospected on the Shawangunk Mountain and were operated more or less
from 1863 to 1870. Among these was the mine of the Guymard Lead &
Zinc Co., from which several carloads of lead were shipped weekly.
After the close of the Civil War the price of lead declined, and
considering the crude mining methods and the cost involved,
eventually the mines were abandoned.
Of the Gumaer brothers, Peter and Jackson are now living at Guymard.
Chauncey Gumaer, son of Peter, having had nearly twenty-five years'
mining experience in Colorado and the West, has returned and is now
working the old mine at Guymard. With the improved methods of mining,
he believes his new venture will prove successful.
An incident of considerable local historical interest occurred here
in the spring of 1863. The mine at Guymard was being worked by its
owners, when one day one George H. Servoss, an Englishman, arrived
and claimed that he owned the mine and all the mineral rights in this
section through a grant by Queen Anne of England. He erected a small
building on the grounds and his miners began operations. The rightful
owners were wild with excitement and the news was soon communicated
to others interested in mining in this section at that time. A day
was appointed, when between 100 and 200 men assembled and tumbled
Servoss's building over into the gully below the railroad track and
drove him and his miners from the mine. This was probably the last
attempt of a subject of Great Britain to claim territory or granted
rights in the United States which had been so definitely decided
nearly a hundred years before by the ancestors of some who took part
in driving this Englishman from his false claim.
A singular incident in connection was this: Ambrose W. Green, who
kept a hotel at Otisville, and was much interested in mining, was one
of the men who assembled and helped to drive Servoss from his claim
at Guymard. Servoss came to Otisville that night and with some of his
miners stopped at Mr. Green's hotel. Being convinced that Yankee
blood still predominated in this section, Servoss gave up his claim.
While stopping with Mr. Green he began prospecting and on June 13,
1863, leased the mineral right of Thomas Hawk of his farm situated
less than a mile above Otisville. Ambrose W. Green witnessed the
document and Servoss formed what was known as the Otisville Copper
Mining Company, which he worked for some time. Servoss died in New
York City on December 10, 1907.
The Farmers' Library was incorporated in October, 1807, just a
century ago. Its first meeting was held at the home of Benjamin
Woodward. The original trustees were Benjamin B. Newkirk, Benjamin
Woodward, William Mulock, James Finch, Jr., Peter E. Gumaer, Daniel
Green, William Shaw, Jr., Stephen Farnum and Peleg Pelton. The
library was established at once and it is said to have contained a
valuable collection of historical works which were doubtless the only
available books for such use at that early period of library
literature. This old library was maintained there some thirty years,
which certainly speaks well for the people of that region at that
time. The educational influences of this old library upon the young
people of that section during that period are said to have been most
wholesome and of incalculable value.
POINTS OF HISTORIC INTEREST.
Of course the Shawangunk Mountain range is always interesting to the
geologist and historian. The pass through these mountains at
Otisville is well worth visiting. It was the only break the Erie
engineers could find when they laid out the railway, and they went
over ten miles north of Port Jervis to utilize it.
The old Finch homestead at Finchville has long been an object of
interest, although the old house itself was burned many years ago. It
was here that the militia halted on their way to the fatal Minisink
battlefield and took a hurried meal. Resuming their march over the
mountains, it is said very few of the soldiers survived the terrible
encounter and lived to recross those hills and again enjoy Mr.
Finch's hospitality.
The huge bones of a noted mastodon, which awakened much popular
interest at the time, were found deeply embedded in the soil on the
old Allison farm, a short distance from Otisville, nearly fifty years
ago. This remarkable find took the imagination back to the primitive
era when these mammoth creatures roamed at will over this western
continent.
INDUSTRIES.
Of course the primary and paramount interest of the people in this
town from its early settlement even to the present day, has been
agriculture. The cultivation of the land attracted the settlers
thither and the raising of crops, together with lumbering, were the
leading pursuits in which the residents engaged for over a hundred
years. The sunny mountain slopes and the alluvial bottoms along the
rivers were well adapted to plant growth, and the farmer obtained
good results from his labor. Nearly all the ordinary crops to which
the latitude and climate were suited could be grown with profit. The
town had its full share in the production of the famous "Orange
County butter," which was made in large quantities for a time. But
for many years past, with the ample railway facilities afforded for
prompt shipment, nearly all the milk produced has been shipped to
New York direct and the butter-making branch of the dairy interest
has been almost entirely discontinued. In fact, many of the farmers
have been buying butter elsewhere for their own use, finding it more
profitable to sell their milk, which of course has been produced to
a far larger extent than ever before.
MILITARY HISTORY.
This town east of the mountain range was long regarded as a place of
refuge for those fleeing from the frequent Indian attacks in the
Mamakating Valley. Historic records contain many thrilling and
pathetic incidents of this nature, and they are presented in much
graphic detail, although doubtless based largely upon traditionary
authority.
As to the history of Mount Hope during the Revolution, there is none,
apart from the annals embraced in the records of the parent towns of
Deer Park and Wallkill, from which Mount Hope was taken forty-five
years after the settlement of that little dispute with a tyrannical
nation over certain questions regarding human rights and personal
liberty. Concerning the roll of honor, belonging to this territory in
that war for independence the reader is referred to the records of
Deer Park and Wallkill, found on other pages of this work.
In the War of 1812 the Wallkill Regiment was ordered out in full
force, while the 128th Regiment of Sullivan was drafted into the
service. This organization then included many men from this Mount
Hope section. Those who served in that secondary struggle from here,
mentioned in the records, are Joseph Stanton, Amzi Mapes, John
Mulock, Zebulon Giffen, Frederick A. Seybolt, Richard Penny and
Captain William Mulock.
During the war of the rebellion the town was of course an integral
factor of the county, and it bore an honored share in that memorable
struggle. The population being small the number who enlisted in the
service of the government was not very large. Under the various
calls of President Lincoln in 1862-1863-1864 some 330 men went forth
from this town to serve their country. In addition to this,
fifty-eight were drafted into the service.
At a special town meeting held August 9, 1864, and ratified on the
twentieth of the same month, a tax of $37,000 was ordered for the
payment of bounties at the rate of $800 per man. In February, 1865,
another tax of $10,000 was authorized for a similar purpose. The
town was afterward reimbursed by the Government for bounties paid to
the amount of $11,400. In addition to this, voluntary subscriptions
and contributions amounting to $913 were sent forward at different
times. Of the Mount Hope soldiers four were reported killed in
action. The record also contains the names of forty-one other men who
enlisted during 1863 and 1864.
CHAPTER XXIV.
TOWN OF NEWBURGH.
EARLY PATENTS.
While Newburgh is the most important and impressive place in Orange
County, Newburgh Town, outside of the city, has its facts and points
of interest.
After the annulment, in 1669, of the patent purchased of the Indians
by Governor Dongan, and conveyed by him to Captain John Evans in 1684
in which patent was included the territory of the Newburgh precinct,
the entire district was conveyed, between 1703 and 1705, in small
patents, ten of which were in the Newburgh precinct, and a list of
which is given in the chapter on Newburgh city.
All patents were conditioned upon a payment of quit-rent, sometimes
in money, sometimes in wheat or other commodity.
The Palatine settlement, including a portion of the present city of
Newburgh and a portion of the town, is elsewhere considered. So are
the changes and troubles that followed the coming of the new Dutch
and English settlers, resulting in a decision of the council which
practically terminated "The Palatine Parish by Quassaick." Ruttenber
says that when this decision was rendered the original members of the
parish had long previously removed from it or been laid away in the
quiet church-yard, and adds: "As a people they were earnest, good men
and women. Wherever their neighbors of subsequent migrations are met,
their record compares favorably with that of immigrants from any
other country. No citizens of more substantial worth are found under
the flag of this, their native land, than their descendants; no
braver men were in the armies of the Revolution than Herkimer and
Muhlenberg. Had they done nothing in the parish but made clearings in
its forests and planted fields they would be entitled to grateful
remembrance. They did more; they gave to it its first church and its
first government; and in all subsequent history their descendants
have had a part."
As to the other patents: The Baird patent included the settlement of
Belknap's Ridge, later classed at Coldenham. It was issued to
Alexander Baird, Abraham Van Vleque and Hermans Johnson, and was sold
to Governor William Burnet. The Kipp patent included the district
east, north and west of Orange Lake, and adjoined the Baird patent on
the south. It was issued to Jacobus Kipp, John Conger, Philip
Cortlandt, David Prevost, Oliver Schuyler and John Schuyler. It was
divided into six parts, and these were subdivided into farms. About
1791 a company of Friends from Westchester County settled on the
patent. They were Daniel, Zephaniah and Bazak Birdsall, John Sutton
and John Thorne. The first purchasers on the Bradley patent are
supposed to have been Johannes Snyder and John Crowell. The Wallace
patent, issued to James Wallace alone, was afterwards purchased by
John Penny, who sold 200 acres of it to Robert Ross, and settled,
with his seven sons, upon the remainder. The Bradley patent was to
Sarah, Catherine, George, Elizabeth and Mary Bradley, and was taken
in their name by their father, Richard Bradley, who thus secured six
tracts, of which that in Newburgh was one. The Harrison patent was to
Francis Harrison, Mary Fatham, Thomas Brazier, James Graham and John
Haskell. It included the present district of Middlehope, and its
settlers were influential in the control of the town during its early
history. The Spratt patent was in two parcels, 1,000 acres in
Newburgh and 2,000 acres in Ulster. It was issued to Andrew Marschalk
and John Spratt, the latter taking the Newburgh tract. This was
purchased in 1760 by Joseph Gidney, and took the name of Gidneytown.
The Gulch patent was to Melichor Gulch and his wife and children of
the original company of Palatines. The Johnson or Jansen patent
adjoined the Gulch patent, and was the first occupied land in the
northwestern part of the town.
The settlement of these patents resulted in dividing the old precinct
of the Highlands in 1762 into the precincts of Newburgh and New
Windsor, the former embracing the towns of Marlborough and Plattekill
in Ulster County with the present town and city of Newburgh, and the
latter covering substantially the same territory as now.
GOVERNMENT BEGINNINGS.
The next April, 1763, Newburgh's first town meeting was held at the
house of Jonathan Hasbrouck, now known as Washington's Headquarters,
and these officers were chosen: Jonathan Hasbrouck, supervisor;
Samuel Sands, clerk; Richard Harper, John Winfield and Samuel Wyatt,
assessors; Daniel Gedney and Benjamin Woolsey, poor masters; Jonathan
McCrary, John Wandel, Burras Holmes, Isaac Fowler, Muphrey Merritt
and Thomas Woolsey, path masters; Nathan Purdy and Isaac Fowler,
fence viewers and appraisers.
[Illustration: N. Barns]
Ten years later Marlborough and Plattekill settlements were set off
as New Marlborough, and left Newburgh with almost the same territory
as that of the present town and city. The first supervisor of this
reduced town was John Flewwelling and the first clerk was Samuel
Sands.
The territory of the present town embraces 26,882 acres in the
extreme northeast portion of the county. The soil along the river
front for a distance of five miles is warm, productive and well
cultivated. The rock formations are largely slate and lime. In 1875
its population was 3,538, and the census of 1905 places it at 4,885
persons.
Subsequent to the incorporation of the city of Newburgh, April 25,
1865, the town of Newburgh was invested with the government of its
own officers. The following supervisors have been elected:
Nathaniel Barns, 1866; C. Gilbert Fowler, 1867; Nathaniel Barns,
1868 to 1870; W. A. Pressler, 1871; John W. Bushfield, 1872 to 1877;
Henry P. Clauson, 1878 to 1880; W. A. Pressler, 1881 to 1885; Oliver
Lozier, 1886; John W. Bushfield, 1887; Oliver Lozier, 1888 to 1801;
William H. Post, 1892 to 1899; Henry P. Clauson, 1900 to 1906; Fred
S. McDowell, 1907 and 1908.
EARLY PATRIOTISM.
But little need be added to what has elsewhere been sketched
regarding Newburgh's part in the war for independence. Its people
were prompt in patriotic response to the non-importation resolutions
of the Continental Congress. It was one of the five precincts to
publicly burn the pamphlet assailing those resolutions, entitled,
"Free Thoughts on the Resolves of Congress," and on June 27, 1775,
at a public meeting, appointed a Committee of Safety: Wolvert Acker,
Jonathan Hasbrouck, Thomas Palmer, John Belknap, Joseph Coleman,
Moses Higby, Samuel Sands, Stephen Case, Isaac Belknap, Benjamin
Birdsall, John Robinson and others. When the pledge to support the
acts of the Continental and Provincial Congress was ready 174 names
were voluntarily signed to it and twenty-one of the fifty-four men
who refused to sign afterward made affidavit that they also would
abide by the measures of Congress and pay their quota of all
expenses. Some of the thirty-three Tories who stood out were
imprisoned and some were executed. The Newburgh patriots as promptly
reorganized the militia of the precinct. They furnished two companies
for a new regiment in September, and in December helped to
constitute a regiment of minute men, and provided its colonel in the
person of Thomas Palmer. They also, in 1776, organized as rangers or
scouts to prevent attacks from hostile Indians. Throughout the war
the citizens of Newburgh were conspicuous as volunteers in the
regular army and as local militiamen in the cause of the Revolution,
and were subjected to much inconvenience and many privations in
consequence of the presence of other troops, as elsewhere stated.
Many of them were killed and many more taken prisoners in the defense
of the Highland forts, after which the poor taxes were increased from
50L to 800L and special donations were collected for those who had
been deprived of their husbands or parents.
The history of Washington's doings and sayings in and near Newburgh
is so familiar that they need not be repeated here.
EARLY ORGANIZATIONS.
The Benevolent Society of the County of Orange was formed in January,
1805, with the following officers: Hugh Walsh, president; Gen. John
Skey Eustace, vice-president; John McAuley, treasurer; William
Gardner, Secretary.
In the sketch of Newburgh village and city mention has been made of
the charter provision for a Glebe fair. This fair is believed to have
been held occasionally as late as 1805, as there has been found in an
old newspaper notice of one to be held in October of that year, with
an offer of $125 as a premium to the jockey riding the best horse on
the course of Benjamin Case, $50 to another jockey riding the best
horse on the following day, and $25 to the jockey riding the best
filly on the third day.
The Newburgh Bible Society was organized September 9, 1818, at a
meeting held in the Presbyterian Church of Newburgh village, after a
discourse by Rev. James R. Wilson. The first article of the
constitution declared that its "sole object shall be to encourage a
wider circulation of the Scriptures, without note or comment." The
following officers were elected: Jonas Story, president; Isaac
Belknap and Joseph Clark, vice-presidents; Rev. John Johnston,
corresponding secretary; Charles Miller, recording secretary;
Benjamin J. Lewis, treasurer.
In 1823 the Newburgh Society for Aiding Missions was formed. The
report said: "Its design is to be auxiliary to the cause of missions
in general; its funds, at the disposal of a board of managers, are to
be appropriated from time to time to such societies or other
missionary objects as may seem to have the most pressing claim to
assistance."
The Newburgh Sabbath School Society was organized in 1816, and the
following officers are found recorded, as chosen in 1823, sixteen
years afterward: Superintendents, Mrs. Agnes Van Vleeck, Mrs. Mary
G. Belknap, Mrs. Harriet M. Bate, Miss Joanna Schultz; secretary,
Miss Louisa Lewis; treasurer, Miss Jane Carpenter. The secretary, in
her report, stated that the school then consisted of more than 300
scholars, the average attendance being 200, and that there were
thirty-two classes instructed by forty-six teachers and assistants.
She stated that the number of verses committed to memory during the
year was 21,440 and of divine songs 8,684.
Eager reports a meeting of the Orange County Medical Society in
Newburgh in October, 1823, which invited the members of the Newburgh
Lyceum to attend. Medical and scientific essays were read by Drs.
John M. Gough, Francis L. Beattie and Arnell, other essays by George
W. Benedict and Rev. James R. Wilson, and "the merits of each
underwent an able discussion."
LOCALITIES.
Just outside the legal boundary line north of the city of Newburgh is
the fashionable suburb of Balmville, named after a large Balm of
Gilead tree, which is estimated to be one hundred and fifty or more
years old, and nearly twenty-five feet in circumference. The
population is large and wealthy, inhabiting charming country seats.
Continuing northward about two miles is the village of Middlehope,
formerly known as Middletown. It is the center of a prosperous fruit
section where many varieties of fruit originated with men foremost in
pomology. North of this settlement is Cedar Hill Cemetery. The
grounds are from the design of August Hepp, and are under the control
of the Cedar Hill Cemetery Association, which was organized in 1870,
mainly through efforts of Enoch Carter. Roseton, four miles north of
Newburgh, on the banks of the Hudson, was named after John C. Rose,
who established extensive brick yards here in 1883. Brick yards have
multiplied in this section, and destroyed the natural attractions of
a once pretty cove. The Dans Kammer, a promontory just beyond, marks
the northern extremity of Newburgh Bay. Hampton, now known as Cedar
Cliff Post-office, is a landing on the Hudson, adjoining the Ulster
County boundary line. Savilton, formerly Rossville, is a small
district eight miles northwest of Newburgh city, named from
Alexander Ross. Gardnertown is a small settlement four miles
northwest of the city, and was named from the old and numerous family
of Gardners who settled there.
Orange Lake, now a noted summer resort, was called by the early
settlers Dutch Bennin Water, and later Machen's Pond, from Captain
Machen, an engineer employed by Congress in 1777 in erecting
fortifications in the Highlands and stretching the huge obstructing
chain across the Hudson. It was also called Big Pond as distinct from
Little Pond in New Windsor. The lake covers about four hundred acres
and is kept well fed by creeks and large springs. Numerous cottages
dot its shores, and an amusement park is conducted under the
management of the Orange County Traction Company. Extensive
improvements were made in 1907, including the erection of a large
theatre and other buildings.
Quassaick Creek is a fine stream entering the Hudson between Newburgh
city and New Windsor, and is formed by the united waters of Orange
Lake outlet and Fostertown and Gidney's Creeks. It has supplied many
mills and factories with power.
King's Hill is a high boundary elevation in the northwest part of the
town affording an extensive view in all directions. Bacon Hill is
another, north from King's Hill, at the edge of the town. Limestone
Hill is a ridge running north and south two miles northwest of the
city.
Fostertown Creek, one of the tributaries of Quassaick Creek, is a
small stream which rises in Ulster County and drains a narrow valley
several miles in extent. Bushfield Creek also rises in Ulster and is
one of the streams which feed Orange Lake.
EARLY INCIDENTS.
Among the "remarkable incidents" of early times mentioned by Eager,
are the following: In 1803 the formation of a Druid society,
composed, it was said, wholly of deists, whose proceedings were
secret. In January, 1805, a son of Warren Scott, 14 years old, was
torn in pieces by wolves in the west part of the town while feeding
his father's sheep. The wolves at this time also came down and killed
sheep near the village of Newburgh. In 1816 the owners of the
Newburgh ferry first used a horse boat, and on August 13th of that
year the boat _Jason Rogers_ crossed the river with two horses
attached to a coach and a wagon, seventeen chaises and horses,
another horse and fifty passengers. In 1817 government officers
inspected ninety tons of cannon made by Mr. Townsend on Chamber's
Creek, and all proved good. They were the first manufactured in the
State, and were of sterling ore from the town of Monroe. November 24,
1824, the schooner _Neptune,_ on the way from New York to Newburgh,
was upset and sunk, and the most of her fifty or more passengers were
drowned. She had forty or fifty tons of plaster on board, and the
heavy wind shifted it, which caused the accident.
[Illustration: Aymar Van Buren.]
CHAPTER XXV.
CITY OF NEWBURGH.
Newburgh, the chief city of Orange County, with a population of
nearly 27,000, is also the largest commercial city on the Hudson
between New York and Albany. It is located on the side hill of a bay,
57 miles from the river's mouth, has a deep and spacious harbor, with
good docks, and its scenic views and contiguous territory are
peculiarly attractive. The inviting bay and river are in front, and
the mountains southward and westward have been characterized as
"Nature's arm thrown lovingly about us." In the landward distance
mountains are visible in several directions from the upper town, and
adjacent are fruit and dairy farms on undulating fields, with a
ten-mile plain known as "Highland Terrace." A recent local pamphlet
says of the City of Newburgh: "As a home-city there is little to be
desired. It is metropolitan and suburban. It has broad thoroughfares,
good streets, and provision is now perfected for having $100,000
expended annually in new pavements. There are numerous breathing
spots. One of the most magnificent views obtainable anywhere in the
Hudson Valley is from Downing Park, where from the observatory the
city appears to be almost beneath your feet. The Hudson River
presents an unobstructed view for miles, and a half dozen ranges of
mountains appear to view. The Catskills at the north, Fishkill and
the Beacons on the east, Storm King and Crow Nest on the south,
Schunnemunk at the southwest, and the Shawangunk range far to the
west. At the north end of the city is LeRoy Place, one of the
coziest and most inviting of the city's little parks. It is
especially referred to as a resting place for those who find it
convenient to take a walk to the famed 'Balm of Gilead' tree, one of
the oldest monarchs of its class to be found for many miles around."
The near suburban villages tributary to the city have a population of
nearly 50,000, as follows: Fishkill and Matteawan, 1 mile, 13,016;
Cornwall, 1 mile, 4,258; Marlborough, 6 miles 3,478; Milton 10 miles,
1,500; Walden, 10 miles, 5,939; Highland Falls, 10 miles, 4,519;
Cold Spring, 8 miles, 2,067; New Hamburgh, 10 miles, 500;
Washingtonville, 10 miles, 1,118; New Windsor, 3 miles, 2,392;
Newburgh Town, 3 miles, 4,246. The little hamlets in the vicinity
probably have a population of 3,000 more.
THE EARLIEST DAYS.
The territory embraced in the town and city was a part of the lands
purchased from the Indians by Governor Dongan in 1864, [_sic_] and
conveyed by him to Captain John Evans in 1694. The conveying patent
was annulled in 1699, and the district was afterward conveyed in
small tracts at different periods, of which ten were included in the
precinct of Newburgh as it was constituted in 1762. These were: No.
1, German patent, 2,190 acres, issued December 18, 1719; No. 2,
Alexander Baird & Co., 6,000 acres, February 28, 1719; No. 3,
Jacobus Kip & Co., 7000 acres, October 17, 1720; No. 4, Ricard
Bradley and William Jamison, 1,800 acres, May 17, 1729; No. 5,
James Wallace, 2,000 acres, January 25, 1732; No. 6, Bradley
children, 817 acres, March 26, 1739; No. 7, Francis Harrison & Co.,
5,600 acres, July 10, 1714; No. 8, John Spratt & Co., 1,000 acres,
April 12, 1728; No. 9, Melchior Gulch 300 acres, October 8, 1719; No.
10, Peter Johnson, 300 acres, October 8, 1719.
The original settlement was in 1709 by a party of Germans from the
Palatinate--a strip of German territory along the middle Rhine. In
1708 Louis XIV gave warning to the people of the Palatinate that it
was to be devastated in order to cripple the enemies of France, and
this caused a company of twelve families and two bachelors--fifty-three
persons in all--to flee to London. Here Queen Anne interested herself
in their welfare, and sent them to New York, with a guaranty of 9 pence
each for twelve months, and of a grant of land on which to settle.
From New York they were moved in the spring to "Quassaick Creek and
Thau-hammer." Of the heads of families there were seven husbandmen, a
minister, a stocking maker, a smith, a carpenter and a cloth weaver.
One of the bachelors was a clerk and the other a husbandman. They were
Protestants and of "good character." as certified by officials in the
villages where they had lived. Their promised land patent was not
issued until 1719, when it granted to each of the different families
from 100 to 300 acres, with 500 acres set apart for the support of the
minister. The settlement was generally called "The German Patent," but
its official title was "The Glebe." The lands for each family extended
from the Hudson River west one mile. No. 1 was bounded on the south by
Quassaick Creek, and covered the present site of Newburgh.
The immigrants erected a church, cultivated portions of their lands
and maintained their settlement several years. Then sales were made
to newcomers, and there were changes in ownership and population.
After twenty or thirty years the later Dutch and English comers were
largely in the majority, and in 1747 elected trustees of the Glebe,
closed the church to the Lutheran minister, and in 1752 obtained from
the governor and council a new charter whereby the revenues might be
applied to the support of a minister of the Church of England, with
the title of "Palatine Parish of Quassaick" changed to "The Parish of
Newburgh." At this time there were forty-three real estate lease
holders in the settlement. Ruttenber characterizes as prominent among
them the following: Alexander Colden, son of Lieutenant-Governor
Colden; Duncan Alexander, brother of William Alexander, the Lord
Sterling of the Revolution; James Denton, son of Daniel Denton, the
first historian of New York; Jonathan Hasbrouck, from the Huguenot
settlement of New Paltz. Colden, Denton and Hasbrouck erected grist
mills, and in 1743 Colden obtained a charter for the Newburgh ferry.
"The names of Hasbrouck and Colden have never been absent from the
list of inhabitants since 1750," says Ruttenber.
The trustees elected in 1747 were Alexander Colden and Richard
Albertson. When the first service was held after the Church of
England was substituted, the Lutheran minister and his flock made
public protest at the door, and afterward went away and had service
in a private house. Tradition says that the Lutherans attempted a
forcible entry, and there was a fight in which the church door was
torn from its hinges and one Lutheran was killed. This was after the
election of trustees in 1847, and previous to the receipt of the new
charter.
The new trustees, Colden and Albertson, established a public landing,
started agricultural fairs, took temporal charge of the church,
erected a parsonage, a residence and school-house combined for the
schoolmaster, and did much other work which contributed to the growth
of the settlement.
In 1762 Newburgh was set off from the precinct of the Highlands and
made a precinct by itself. In 1767 a petition was granted for
licenses for more taverns, as being necessary "to accommodate the
country people, travelers and passengers." In 1769 a petition asking
for a charter of lands for the Newburgh mission, signed by
missionary, vestrymen and wardens, was granted. In 1770 another
petition to the governor for "a royal charter of incorporation of
St. George's Church" was granted.
[Illustration: John Schoonmaker]
The old patent of the Highlands, after serving its purpose 50 years,
had given way in 1762 to the precincts of Newburgh and New Windsor,
the latter being constituted nearly as now, and the former embracing
the towns of Marlborough and Plattekill in Ulster County as well as
the present town and city of Newburgh.
In 1776 the Glebe hamlet comprised about a score of houses, and three
boats owned in town made trips between it and New York.
TROUBLE AND REVOLUTION.
Passing to the events just preceding the War of the Revolution, when
the bold and significant non-importation agreement was adopted by the
Continental Congress, and a pledge of association in its support was
opened in every town and precinct, supervised by committees, Wolvert
Acker was chairman of the committee for the precinct of Newburgh.
When the signing was finished he made return of 195 signatures and
names of thirty-nine who had refused to sign. The names of the
signers follow:
_Non-Importation Pledge Signers of 1776._
Richard Albertson Caleb Chase
Stephen Albertson Daniel Denton
William Albertson Daniel Denton, Jr.
Joseph Albertson Nehemiah Denton
Daniel Aldridge Samuel Denton
Isaac Brown, M.D. Nathaniel Denton
Isaac Brown, Jr. Peter Donelly
Joseph Brown Benj. Darby
Abel Belknap John Donaghey
Isaac Belknap Isaac Demott
Isaac Belknap, Jr. Hugh Ferguson
Wm. Bowdish Wm. Ferguson
John Becket Elnathan Foster
Solomon Buckingham Morris Flewwelling
Richard Buckingham James Flewwelling
Benjamin Birdsall Jonathan Hasbrouck
Daniel Birdsall Cornelius Hasbrouck
James Burns Moses Higby, M.D.
Benj. Coffin James Harris
Caleb Coffin John Nathan Hutchins
Wm. Collard George Harding
Nathaniel Coleman Thomas Ireland
Henry Cropsey George Jackson
Wm. Carskadden Wm. Lawrence
Benjamin Lawrence Thomas Smith
Aaron Linn Thaddeus Smith
Solomon Lane Samuel Sands
George Leonard Hugh Stevenson
Silas Leonard Stephen Stephenson
Robert Morrison, M.D. William Thurston
John Morrel Burger Weigand
Thomas Palmer Martin Weigand
Thomas Patterson Monson Ward
Harmanus Rikeman Richard Ward
Thomas Rhodes William Ward
Albertson Smith Timothy Wood
Benjamin Smith Jeremiah Wool
Henry Smith Charles Willett
Leonard Smith John Wandel
Leonard Smith, Jr.
The lists of those who signed and those refusing to sign embraced all
males over 16 years old.
The "old town" was at this time a forlorn looking place, and the side
hill was mostly covered by orchards. A tavern built in this year of
1776 by Adolph De Grove, on the southwest corner of Water and Third
streets became Lafayette's headquarters.
When the war became a certainty the control of Hudson River
navigation became important, and to this end Forts Montgomery,
Clinton and Constitution were built. Two out of every five of the
male population became militiamen, were almost constantly in service,
and levies _en masse_ were frequent. In 1779 Washington established
his headquarters at New Windsor in the William Ellison house, and
here they remained until the movement which resulted in the siege of
Yorktown in 1781. After its surrender his army returned to the
Highlands, and Washington then made the Hasbrouck house in Newburgh
his headquarters, retaining them as such until August, 1783.
Before the beginning of hostilities in the Revolution two companies
were organized in Newburgh for a regiment formed in the southern
district of Ulster County, of which Jonathan Hasbrouck, of Newburgh,
was colonel, and Arthur Smith and Samuel Clark captains of the
companies. In the next December a regiment of minute men was
organized, of which Thomas Palmer, of Newburgh, was the colonel. In
the summer of 1776 a convention directed the general committee to
organize three companies (201 men) of rangers to guard against and
fight Indians. Of one of these Isaac Belknap, of Newburgh, was
captain. At this time the aged and those who ordinarily would be
regarded as exempts were pressed into the service. In 1778 the people
were asked to form companies to repel invasions and suppress
insurrections, and a company of this kind was formed, with Samuel
Edmonds as captain. Figures show that the militia of Newburgh was not
sleeping during the Revolution, for in 1776 they were called out on
alarms twenty-seven days, and between that time and April, 1788,
305 days. Newburgh was made a general rendezvous for troops, and
frequently the soldiers were billeted on the inhabitants. Although
the precinct escaped direct devastation, many of the men were killed
or taken prisoners in defense of the Highland forts.
When the British sailed up the river in 1777, and burnt Kingston,
after capturing the Highland forts, the Newburgh women hid their
valuables in the woods, nearly all the men having gone to the defense
of the forts.
While Washington's headquarters were at New Windsor his main army was
in and near the Hudson River forts, and in 1782, after the surrender
of Yorktown, was again encamped along the Hudson, numbering about
8,000 men. Washington at Newburgh, meanwhile, during the progress of
peace negotiations, kept careful watch of Sir Henry Clinton's
movements. Many interesting stories have been told about Washington
during his long stay at New Windsor and Newburgh. At Newburgh he
battled with discontent, and even mutiny, in the army, and here he
proclaimed the cessation of hostilities. This was on April 19, 1783,
eight years after the beginning of the war, when general rejoicing
followed. The first battalion marched southward June 5th, and the
last June 23d. On July 12th Washington went up the Hudson to Albany,
where he was joined by Governor Clinton and a small party. On August
17th he issued the last general orders from army headquarters,
announcing his intention to depart and meet Congress at Princeton,
and left West Point the next day. July 4, 1850, the ancient house
that had been his headquarters in Newburgh was dedicated as a
monument of the events of the war. General Winfield Scott was present
to raise the flag, and Judge Monell made an address. The building is
owned by the State and controlled by trustees appointed by the
Governor.
For some time after the war the Newburgh people were almost
poverty-stricken. Their Continental money was almost worthless; they
lacked means for the cultivation of their lands, and business was at
a standstill. In 1785 they petitioned the Legislature for relief,
giving as reasons the supplies they had provided for the war, their
many losses caused by the war, their large personal service, and the
depreciation of the paper currency, all of which rendered it
impossible for them to cultivate their farms or pay their just debts,
while many families were reduced to want for the necessities of life.
Soon, however, the vigorous population recuperated, was increased by
newcomers, and the period of prolonged prosperity began in earnest.
From the position of the lowest in 1780 the precinct passed to the
fourth in 1790, with a population of 2,365, and in a quarter of a
century to the first rank in population.
LATER EARLY DAYS.
The charter of 1752 of the Glebe was complied with down to 1793. From
1793 to 1815 there was only a temporary church organization, and no
regular minister. Then a legislative enactment was obtained dividing
the income from the Glebe between the Newburgh Academy and such other
schools as existed or might exist in the territory. It is remarkable
that the early academy instituted by the Glebe served the community
educationally for nearly a century.
The "old town," situated on a plot opened by Cadwallader Colden
before 1730, was located between present Front street and Broadway,
and named Newburgh. This was extended by Benjamin Smith in 1782, who
laid out streets and lots from a part of his farm lying east of
Montgomery street and between First and South streets. After the
disbandment of the army in 1783 Newburgh's population increased
somewhat rapidly by the settlement there of some of the soldiers of
the dissolved army and of families who had fled from New York City
when it was captured by the British. But up to 1790 it was a
disjointed settlement, the three township plots of which it was
composed having no connection except through Liberty street and a few
cross-lot roads. None of the lateral streets intersected each other,
and in 1790 other highway commissioners formally connected them. The
general legislative act of 1788 changed the name "precinct" to
"town."
Newburgh quickly became the first shipping point of importance on the
west bank of the Hudson north of New York, because of its fine
harbor, and of being the natural outlet for the trade of a vast
section of country previous to the advent of the canals and
railroads. South of the Highlands the Palisades and other mountain
ranges were a barrier to easy access to the river. Therefore in the
early days transportation became the most important business of
Newburgh. The lumber business was especially heavy, and large
quantities of ship timber, planks and staves were forwarded to New
York. Shipbuilding was also carried on, and Newburgh ships entered
into the Liverpool and West Indies trade. Ruttenber mentions many
mills that were erected in Newburgh and vicinity after the war, and
says: "Besides mills and hamlets there were many well-cultivated
farms, and substantial dwellings which had supplanted rude log
cabins."
[Illustration: Samuel Grimes]
The early millers and boatmen of Newburgh kept goods of various kinds
to sell to the farmers. The first regular store was opened by
Benjamin and David Birdsall, and the second, immediately after the
Revolution, by John McAuley. Hugh Walsh opened a store about the
same time. The other principal merchants up to 1801 were Wm. Seymour,
Leonard Carpenter, John Anderson, Cooper & Son, George Gardner, James
Hamilton, James Burns, Robert Gourley, Robert Gardiner, George
Monell, Robert W. Jones, Denniston & Abercrombie, Wm. W. Sackett,
Alexander Falls, John Shaw and John Brown. A considerable number of
these were connected with the forwarding business, among them John
Anderson, John Anderson, Jr., Hugh Walsh, Benjamin Case, Jr., Jacob
and Thomas Powell, Jacob and Leonard Carpenter and George Gardner.
Trade on the river was conducted by sloops until 1830, when the first
steamer, the _Baltimore,_ was purchased and started on regular trips
by Christopher Reeve.
Before the war Great Britain would not allow the colonists to engage
in much manufacturing, requiring them to import or supply themselves
by domestic substitutes. Therefore, there was much spinning and
weaving by wives and daughters, and making soap from refuse fats, and
dipping for candles, while the farmer made his own sleds and carts
and generally constructed his own dwelling and outhouses. These
practices were continued to some extent long after the war for
economical reasons.
Some of the first men to start things in Newburgh are here named:
John Haines, hat manufacturer, 1795; Richard and Joseph Albertson,
shoe making, before the Revolution; Cooper, tailor, at the close of
the war; Joseph Reeves, watchmaker, 1798, took up whip-making in
1804, and was followed in watch-making by George Gorden and Ebenezer
Ayres; Hugh Spier, cabinet-maker and undertaker, 1798; Selah Reeve,
earthenware manufacturer, 1799; James Patterson, tin plate worker and
coppersmith, 1797; Mrs. DeGrove, baking, 1791, and succeeded by John
and Joseph Hoffman; Peter Bannen, soap and candle making, 1804,
preceded by Abel Belknap; Matthew DuBois, tobacconist, 1799; James
Renwick distiller, 1790; John Cooper, father of the famous Peter
Cooper, ale brewer, 1794; Benjamin Roe, saddle and harness maker,
before 1800; Phineas Howell, tanner, before 1800; Sylvester Roe,
painting and glazing, 1804; Henry B. Carpenter, iron and brass
foundry, 1821; Richard B. Phillips, brush manufacturer, 1831,
preceded by Daniel Berrian; Henry B. Ames, fancy and family soaps,
1852; stock company, with Hiram Bennett, president, cotton goods
manufactory, 1844; George Gardner, Jason Rogers, William Seymour,
Richard Hill, earliest ship builders, and Walter Burling, Daniel
Bailey, Wm. Holmes, Samuel Wright, earliest ship carpenters; Drs.
Isaac Brown and Robert Morrison, regular physicians in 1776; Phineas
Bowman, first lawyer, settled in Newburgh at close of Revolution, and
his contemporary lawyers were Thomas Cooper, Solomon Slight and
Jonathan Fisk; Lucius Carey; first newspaper, Newburgh _Packet,_
1775, bought by David Denniston, and name changed to _Mirror;_ E. W.
Gray, first daily, _News,_ 1856; Hezekiah Watkins, schoolmaster,
1752; John Nathan, teacher during Revolution and founder of
"Hutchin's Family Almanac"; Rev. Jonathan Freeman and Sylvanus
Haight, private school, 1801.
When the second war with England came, Newburgh was paying nearly
one-fourth of the taxes of the county. Again she was prominent in
zeal for the national cause. A convention was held in which it was
resolved to resist "the attacks of domestic enemies and the insolent
aggressions of foreign powers." Local military companies were ordered
on duty at Staten Island, and later Newburgh was made temporarily the
rendezvous for grenadiers, light infantry and riflemen of the 34th
Brigade. Its citizens celebrated Perry's victory on Lake Erie with
enthusiasm. The embargo act detained Newburgh vessels, among others,
in foreign ports, and Newburgh merchantmen were captured and confined
in Dartmour prison.
Colden's first dock was built in 1730. Isaac Belknap sailed a sloop
from Newburgh before the Revolution which made trips to the West
Indies. William Harding, Richard Buckingham and Lewis Clark also
sailed sloops before the war, and later conveyed troops on them for
the Revolutionists. As early as 1798 there were four lines of sloops
from Newburgh.
[Illustration: Arthur Young.]
In the thirties Newburgh's river and land trade was very large. The
streets were frequently blocked for hours with farmers' loaded
wagons. The completion of the Erie canal diverted the most of this
trade, and later the Delaware and Hudson canal cut off another source
of wealth. Then the construction of the Erie Railroad from Goshen to
Piermont, and its subsequent extension in other directions, finished
the old transportation business of Newburgh, and it has taken many
years to bring about the present prosperity, with railroads extending
from many directions, large and varied manufactures, superior public
institutions and other conditions to correspond.
AFTER INCORPORATION.
The village of Newburgh was incorporated March 25, 1800, by an Act of
the Legislature, and in May seven trustees, three assessors, three
fire wardens, a collector and a treasurer, were elected. John
Anderson was chosen president of the board of trustees. In 1801, the
Newburgh and Colchester turnpike was incorporated, with a capital of
$125,000. "Both measures," says Ruttenber, "were largely instrumental
in influencing the prosperity of the village." The latter, by
opening a new route of travel westward, brought a trade which in the
main had previously reached the Hudson by way of New Windsor, as up
to that time nearly all the wagon roads led to this place. The
turnpike so reversed conditions, by giving to the western part of
Orange County and Sullivan County a better and shorter route of
travel, that Newburgh came up and New Windsor went down, and the
merchants of the latter place moved their stocks of goods to
Newburgh. Other turnpikes followed, and the village grew rapidly.
From the close of the Revolutionary War to 1825 its population
increased 1,100 in each decade, and its commerce was proportionately
extended. Connecting turnpikes stretched to Canandaigua Lake, and
were traversed by lines of stages, and a steamer on Cayuga Lake
facilitated travel. Subsequently connections with Buffalo permitted
a trip of sixty-five hours between that place and New York, and this
was advertised as "the shortest and most expeditious route from the
Hudson River to the western country."
INTERESTING PUBLIC EVENTS.
The city of Newburgh was incorporated in 1865. Of its patriotic
celebrations two were of surpassing enthusiasm and interest. These
were the Centennial celebration of 1876 and the Centennial
celebrating the close of the Revolutionary War, of October 18, 1883.
In the former there was a great nocturnal parade, and the noise and
commotion were unprecedented in Newburgh from cannon firing, engine
whistling, fireworks, band playing, songs and shouts. At Washington's
headquarters the procession paused awhile and sang, "My Country 'tis
of Thee."
The celebration of 1883 was less noisy, but more imposing. The
memorial monument or "Tower of Victory," at Washington's
headquarters, had been completed at a cost of $67,000, and the event
was of national and State as well as local significance. Congress had
appropriated $25,000, the State Legislature $15,000, the Common
Council of Newburgh $7,500, and the citizens of Newburgh had
subscribed $5,000. Many thousands of people came from far and near on
railroads, steamboats and wagons. The river front was lined with
steamers. The procession of the military, firemen, and societies was
three miles long, and included quite forty brass bands and a score of
drum corps. It was headed by a company of New York City police, and
within it rode Peter Ward, mayor of Newburgh; Joel T. Headley,
president of the Washington Headquarters Commission; Thomas Bayard,
president of the day; William M. Evarts, orator, and William Bruce,
poet. The inscription on the monument gives the sufficient reason for
the parade and accompanying ceremonies:
"This monument was erected under the authority of the Congress of the
United States and the State of New York, in commemoration of the
disbandment under proclamation of the Continental Congress of October
18, 1783, of the armies by whose patriotic and military virtue our
national independence and sovereignty were established."
Another noteworthy celebration was the unveiling of the statute of
General George Clinton, October 6, 1896. The exercises consisted of a
military and civic parade. The presentation address was delivered by
Rev. William K. Hall, D.D. and Mayor Odell, in behalf of the city,
made the address of acceptance. The statue stands in Clinton Gore, at
the junction of Water and Colden Streets. It shows General Clinton
resting on his sword, which he holds in his right hand. It was
modeled by the late eminent sculptor, Henry K. Brown, and his nephew,
Mr. Bush-Brown, had the statue cast and the pedestal carved. The cost
to the people of Newburgh was only $3,000, raised by subscriptions
undertaken by the local Historical Society, and finished by Mayor
Odell. Upon the granite pedestal is this inscription:
GEORGE CLINTON
_Member of Continental Congress, 1775-1777. Brigadier-General
Continental Army, 1777. Governor of the State of New York,
1777-1795, 1801-1804. Vice-President of the United States,
1804-1812. Cara Patria Carioe Libertas._
[Illustration: George T. Barnes.]
The Newburgh Municipal Centennial was fittingly observed May, 1900.
The parade, in which about twenty-eight hundred persons took part,
marched through the city's principal thoroughfares, after which the
people assembled at Washington's Headquarters, and Mayor Wilson
called the gathering to order. The Rev. W. K. Hall, D.D., eloquently
reviewed the events of a century in this village and city.
Benediction was pronounced by Rev. Father Salley.
Another event of unusual interest was the visit of Lafayette, in
1824, to Newburgh, the place of his headquarters in the Revolution.
He was given a great reception, Francis Crawford, President of the
village, presented him to the corporation in a brief address, and he
was afterwards received with Masonic honors by Hiram Lodge,
F. & A. M., where he replied eloquently to an address by Rev. Dr.
John Brown. He was banqueted at the Crawford Hotel, with about 100
citizens at the table.
Newburgh's growth has been steady and healthy in recent years, in
consequence of civic enterprise and better knowledge of the
advantages and attractions of her location. Her compact buildings,
mostly of brick, her charming suburbs, with fine country seats, the
good and delightful roads extending into the country for carriage
drives and automobiles, her excellent harbor and easy access to the
Metropolis by rail and steamer, her good schools and churches and her
busy manufactories, are enticements which are drawing many new
residents. Apart from its population it is the center of trade for
many thousands of people.
MANUFACTURES.
The following is a partial list of leading industries:
Newburgh Bleachery, bleachers and finishers of fine cotton fabrics;
Sweet, Orr & Co., overalls and working-men's garments; Coldwell Lawn
Mower Co.; Coldwell-Wilcox Co., iron founders and machinists; T. S.
Marvel & Co., iron shipbuilding and engineering works; Newburgh Steam
Boiler Works; Fabrikoid Company, imitation leathers; Newburgh Ice
Machine and Engine Co.; Newburgh Lumber Co.; Newburgh Planing Mill
Co.; Belknap & McCann, soap; Lackey Manufacturing Co., lace curtains;
Harrison & Gore Silk Co.; Hudson River Woolen Mills; Staples &
Hanford, wire goods; Newburgh Reed Co., reed chairs; Stroock Plush
Co.; Stroock Felt Co.; Little Falls Paper Co.; Granite City Soap Co.;
Newburgh Steam Mills, cotton goods; John Turl's Sons, iron works;
Cleveland & Whitehill, overalls; Ferry, Weber & Co., hats; Abendroth
& Root, spiral pipe, etc., automobiles; Muchattoes Lake Ice Co.;
Higginson Manufacturing Co., cement; Newburgh Light, Heat & Power
Co.; Pennsylvania Coal Co.
Of the industries which have been listed, some should be more fully
noticed. The Newburgh Ice Machine and Engine Company was known at the
time of its establishment, in 1824, as the Newburgh Steam Engine
Works. The present company was organized in 1890 with a capital of
$500,000 to manufacture Whitehill-Corliss engines and ice-making and
refrigerating machines. Extensive shops were completed that year, to
which additions have recently been made. Mr. Edgar Penney is
vice-president and general manager.
The Muchattoes Lake Ice Company's business was started in the winter
of 1859-1860 by James R. Dickson, and was bought in 1863 by Benjamin
B. Odell, when he organized the company named. The officers are:
B. B. Odell, president; B. B. Odell, Jr., secretary and treasurer;
H. B. Odell, superintendent.
Sweet, Orr & Co. are the pioneers and most extensive manufacturers
in the country of overalls and other working-men's garments. In 1876
their weekly product was about a thousand dozen pairs at their
Wappinger's Falls factory, where they kept 250 employees busy.
Seeking increased quarters they started another factory in Newburgh
in 1880. The factory has a frontage of 150 feet on Broadway and 275
feet on Concord street. In 1882 they opened a factory in Chicago, and
in 1900 another at Joliet, Ill. Sixty traveling salesmen cover the
entire United States with their product. Mr. Clayton E. Sweet, head
of this concern, resides in Newburgh.
[Illustration: Wesley Wait]
To Captain Thomas S. Marvel is due the success of the immense
shipyard of the T. S. Marvel Shipbuilding Company. Soon after the
failure of Ward, Stanton & Co., Captain Marvel, who had been their
superintendent, began business on his own account. The shipyard has
been enlarged from time to time, and building after building erected
for their business. Over 200 men are employed in the building and
repairing of iron and wooden steamboats and other water craft. Among
their notable products are the steamers _Homer Ramsdell,_ _Hendrick
Hudson,_ numerous ferryboats, and fire-boats for the New York Fire
Department.
The Higginson Manufacturing Company have a very extensive plant for
the production of plaster, gypsum, etc., with steamers and barges to
transport it to New York and other points. The business was begun by
William R. Brown in 1868. Mr. Henry C. Higginson has been proprietor
of the plant for many years.
The Newburgh Bleachery is owned and managed by Joseph Chadwick &
Sons. It is one of the largest and best equipped manufactories of its
kind. The Chadwicks in 1871 purchased the present site, and combined
with it a factory which they owned in Rutherford, N. J.,
concentrating their whole business in the Newburgh establishment.
They employ about 300 hands in bleaching and finishing various kinds
of cotton goods.
The Fabrikoid Company's industry was moved to Newburgh in 1902. The
plant covers about fifteen acres, and consists of twenty-eight
buildings. The product is chiefly an imitation leather and the
manufactory has a capacity of over 6,000 yards a day. Mr. John
Aspinwall is president, and Mr. George H. May, secretary and
treasurer.
Coldwell Lawn Mower Company, manufacturers of hand, horse and motor
lawn mowers, is the largest concern in the world devoted exclusively
to the production of these machines. The firm is composed of William
H. Coldwell, president and general manager; E. C. Ross, treasurer;
H. T. Coldwell, assistant treasurer, and A. W. Mapes, secretary. Mr.
Thomas Coldwell, the parent of this industry, organized the company
in 1891, and the plant was built on the most modern principles.
Their annual output, shipped to all parts of the globe, exceeds one
hundred thousand mowers, which is over one-fifth of the entire
production in the country.
H. Powell Ramsdell, of Newburgh, is the proprietor of the Arlington
Paper Mill at Salisbury's Mills, eight miles southwest of the city on
Murderer's Creek and the Newburgh branch of the Erie. The mill is the
principal industrial element of the hamlet. It is picturesquely
situated on the edge of a rocky gorge. The oldest part of the mill
was built about 1840, by Isaac K. Oakley. It forms but a small part
of the present plant, the main building of which is 480 feet long and
from one to three stories high, with capacity for the employment of
150 hands, and the production of over 24,000 pounds of paper daily.
It is a progressive institution and up to date in its machinery and
other equipment. There are several detached buildings in addition to
a connected series of brick and stone buildings, and twenty or more
cottages for the families of the employees. The Arlington Mill
manufactures the best grades of book paper and French folios, white
and colored. These go to the great publishing houses of New York and
other American cities, and some of them to England and even to
Australia.
EXTENSIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS.
Washington Heights, formerly the homestead of Captain Henry
Robinson--a tract of nearly 100 acres in the southern part of the
city--was made a valuable addition to the resident portion of the
city by its purchase from the heirs, division into streets and lots
and their improvements started twenty years ago. The part of the
plateau east of Lander street, about forty acres, was purchased by
Henry T. McConn, and he arranged with Colonel Charles H. Weygant for
its development. The macadam streets are broad and straight, the
houses must set twelve feet back from the sidewalk, which is lined
with shade trees. A little later, in October, 1887, William D. and
Joseph M. Dickey purchased the part of the Robinson farm west of
Lander street, forty-two acres, and there inaugurated similar
improvements. Many lots have been sold and houses erected on both
plots.
The Newburgh Street Railway Company obtained a franchise early in
1886 to build a surface road from a point near the western end of the
city to the Union depot, and then another to extend the line from the
corner of Water and Third streets along Water street to near the
northerly line of the city. On December 23d, of the same year, the
road was formally opened between West Newburgh and the Union depot.
Later the road was extended to Orange Lake, and the name was changed
to the Orange County Traction Company. In 1906 it was purchased by
Ex-Governor Odell, and desirable improvements in equipment were made.
[Illustration: E. C. Barnes]
On recommendation of Mayor Odell, in his annual message of 1887, the
people voted $30,000 for the purchase of additional lands to the
former Smith estate, owned by the city, to be improved and laid out
into the beautiful and sightly Downing Park, in honor of Andrew J.
Downing.
Of buildings for public use the Newburgh Academy of Music is
conspicuous. It was projected in 1886 by J. P. Andrews and E. S.
Turner, and the construction was commenced in the spring of 1887.
It has a frontage on Broadway of 85 feet and a depth of 140 feet. The
auditorium is 80 feet long by 45 feet deep, 40 feet high, and will
seat 1,300 people. The stage is 80 by 35 feet, and there are 12
dressing rooms, 2 balconies and 4 boxes. In all its appointments it
is thoroughly modern.
Of school buildings two deserve particular notice. The Free Academy
was erected in 1885-1886, and cost $67,000. The material is brick
with stone trimmings. It is 112 by 68 feet, and three stories high,
with basement. It has an assembly room 88 by 64 feet, which will seat
700 persons, and 12 class rooms each 31 by 23 feet. There are 21
rooms in all. Without and within it is a good specimen of school
architecture. Another is the Grammar School building, erected in 1891
at a cost of $30,000. This is 74 by 76 feet, with eight class rooms
28 by 23 feet each, and each containing desks for 40 pupils. The
assembly room is in the third story.
Another noteworthy building is that of the Y. M. C. A., constructed
in 1882-1883, and costing $24,000. It is 31 by 77 feet, three stories
high, and has a seating capacity in its assembly room for 300
persons.
In 1896-1897 a handsome Government building was erected. Congress
having appropriated $100,000 for this purpose, and this has since
been the home of the post-office, the business of which has already
almost outgrown it.
The water with which Newburgh is supplied is drawn from Washington
Lake, three and a third miles from the Hudson and 276 feet above it.
The lake is fed by internal springs and an artificial channel with
Silver stream. Chemical analysis has shown that this water is so pure
that it needs no filtering, and it is agreeably palatable, without
any mineral flavors. It has been healthy Newburgh's drinking water
for more than fifty years. The lake's area is about 140 acres, and it
has a storage capacity of 300,000,000 gallons. Newburgh is now so
thoroughly piped that the water is universally accessible to its
citizens, and is an invaluable protection against fire as well as
promoter of cleanliness, health and happiness.
PROTECTION AND EDUCATION.