It is a characteristic feature of the thought and feeling of this

period that the State should give its aid and authority to private

institutions for secondary instruction long years before it

recognized in any way, its duty to the common school and elementary

instruction.

Soon the private academies became so numerous that the opportunity

for higher education reached to every part of the State. These

schools did a grand work. For three-quarters of a century they opened

up opportunities for the ambitious boys and girls whose parents were

able to pay for their tuition.

Then, a new idea appeared in educational matters--the idea that the

child of the poor man has as much right to the opportunity for

education as the child of the rich, and that it is the duty of the

State to provide this opportunity for rich and poor alike. So the

period of the free schools followed that of the private academies.

THE COLONIAL PERIOD.

The first settlements in what is now Orange County were made not far

from the same time in both the eastern and western extremities. The

county then included what is now Rockland County, and was bounded on

the north by the line separating the counties of Orange and Ulster.

This line ran from the mouth of Murderer's Creek (now Moodna)

"westward into the woods as far as the Delaware River." These

settlements were made previous to 1700, but the time is not

absolutely certain with respect to either of them.

In the western part of the county, in what is now the town of

Deerpark, the first settlers were Dutch and Huguenot families, who

came from Kingston and New Paltz. In the eastern part the settlers

came up the Hudson River and consisted almost entirely of English

speaking people from New York and the Long Island towns. In fact, so

close was the association with New York, that for some years the New

York reports included Orange and our county had no independent county

government.

In 1693, according to the report of Governor Fletcher, made by

Matthew Clarkson, secretary of the province, there were in "Orange

County not above twenty families, for the present under the care of

New York."

In 1698 there were reported to Governor Bellomont about thirty

families and 140 children in Orange.

These children were scattered over a wide district, in pioneer homes,

where luxuries were unknown and where even the necessaries of life

were difficult of attainment. There were no schools for their

instruction at this time, nor for a number of years afterward, but it

is evident that many of them at least did secure the elements of an

education, either from their parents or from some other source, for

we find them later, in the Dutch and Huguenot settlements at any

rate, as the men of affairs, prominent in the church and in the

community, able to read and write and to transact business in a

business-like manner.

By 1723 a second generation had grown up and new settlers had come

into the county. In that year 543 children are reported. By this time

the pioneers had overcome the greater difficulties of the early

settlement. Their farms yielded abundant supplies and there was

opportunity to make provision for the instruction of their children.

That this opportunity was made use of and that some provision was

made, in most parts of the settlements, for the instruction of the

boys and girls, there is little reason to doubt.

The young people of this generation learned "to read and write and

cast accounts," at any rate. There were few, if any, schoolhouses,

and tradition has it that the teachers, like the tailors and the

shoemakers, went about from house to house, giving instruction in the

three R's.

At this time no text-books had been published in America and books of

all kinds were very scarce in the frontier settlements, so that the

few books attainable were quite generally provided by the teacher as

the tools of his profession. The hornbook was used for teaching

beginners. This was a flat piece of wood with a handle. On the flat

part of this there was fastened a piece of horn, scraped thin to make

it transparent. A strip of paper on which the lesson was written or

printed, was placed between the horn and the wood. These lessons,

protected by the horn, would last a long time and could be used by

many different pupils. The hornbook was used for teaching the

letters, some of the combinations of vowels and consonants and either

the Lord's Prayer or some other verses of easy reading. A copy of the

Bible was often the only printed book in the school and was used as a

reading book.

The material for the instruction in arithmetic, in language and the

more difficult words in spelling were contained in the teacher's

note-book, which he had carefully prepared, under the direction of

some other teacher, similarly equipped. These note-books contained

the rules and tables in arithmetic, many problems, lists of words for

spelling and selections for memorizing. In fact, the teacher's

note-book was his tool-chest, and its size and completeness were his

recommendations. The possession of a Bible, a psalm book, a copy of

Dillingham's arithmetic or some other English work, and a few books

of general literature were sufficient to mark the pioneer pedagogue

as a man of great distinction in his profession.

On the hornbook the letters of the alphabet were usually followed by

the character &, to which were added the Latin words _per se_ and the

English word _and,_ making _& per se and._ Many of the teachers knew

no Latin and condensed this into "Ampersand," and this word has come

down to us meaningless, except as we know its origin.

When the pupils had learned to use the quill pen, which the teacher

fashioned for them with his penknife, they were provided with a few

sheets of paper, bound together in strong covers, and they proceeded

to make, more or less carefully, a note-book like the teacher's. Some

of these note-books, still preserved, show the character of the work

done in these early schools. Besides the matters enumerated above

some have riddles and anecdotes, evidently intended as practice in

language. One which I have seen, written by a young lady, has the

following exercise for punctuation:

"There is a lad in this land

Hath twenty nails upon each hand

Five and twenty on hands and feet

And this is true without deceit."

Much attention was paid to penmanship, and the copies prepared by the

teacher were often as perfect as the engraved copies of the modern

copy-book. These copies were kept by the pupil and practiced with

painstaking care. A reproduction of a copy written by Joseph Dolph,

with a quill pen of his own make is given to show the skill in

lettering with which some of these old schoolmasters prepared their

copies.

[Illustration: Copy Book]

It would be of great interest if we could know more of these pioneers

of the teacher's profession and their work. But there are few records

of them left. They were generally men, in the early days always men,

and probably few of them possessed much learning beyond the rudiments

which they taught.

There was no opportunity for higher studies and the few young men who

desired to enter college had to find a tutor, usually a clergyman,

who could give him instruction in the preparatory studies.

When the first schoolhouse in Orange County was built I do not know.

It is possible that there was a building used for this purpose on the

Quassaick, now Newburgh, during the occupancy of the Palatinate

colony, previous to 1730. It is certain that a building for school

purposes was erected there soon after 1752, although it is not

possible to determine when this school was opened. There is reason to

suppose that a teacher was installed soon after the transfer of the

Glebe lands to Alexander Colden and Richard Atherton "as trustees

thereof, for the sole use and behoof of a minister of the Church of

England, as by law established, and a school-master, to have the care

of souls and the instruction of the children of the neighboring

inhabitants." This transfer was made in 1752.

The land known as the Glebe was part of a grant of 2190 acres on the

west side of the Hudson River, "beginning on the north side of

Quassaic Creek and extending up the Hudson 219 chains and into the

woods 100 chains," made for the benefit of a colony of Lutheran,

refugees from the Palatinate of the Rhine. They had crossed over to

England and Queen Anne directed that this grant be made for them.

From this tract 500 acres were set apart, "according to the queen's

pleasure," for the support of their minister and 100 acres for the

schoolmaster's lot. Although the Queens interest had been manifested

in 1708, the patent was not issued until 1719, and then the land soon

passed into other hands.

After the transfer of the Glebe lands in 1752 as mentioned above, a

house was built for the schoolmaster, "with a school-room in the

rear." Little is known of this school. Ruttenber, in his history of

Orange County, gives the names of some of the teachers who were in

charge of it at different times before the Revolution, as follows:

Lewis Donveur, in 1768; Joseph Penney, in 1769; Thomas Gregory, in

1773. In 1774 John Nathan Hutchinson became the teacher and continued

in the school until shortly before his death, which occurred in 1782.

There were other schools in various parts of the county, previous to

the Revolution. One James Carpenter, a teacher at or near Goshen, is

mentioned in certain records in 1762.

In the town of Deerpark, as it is now constituted, there were at

least two school buildings which were erected before the war. One of

these was located about a mile from the boundary of the city of Port

Jervis. on the east side of the Neversink River, and the other where

the village of Cuddebackville now stands. In this latter building

Thomas Kyte taught for some time. In 1775 he married Lea Keator and

removed from the valley to the town of Wantage, Sussex County, New

Jersey, where he became a prosperous farmer and where some of his

descendants still remain. In 1776 Thomas White, an Englishman, was

employed as teacher in the same district. He came, with his wife

Elizabeth, and lived at the home of Ezechiel Gumaer near the

Neversink River. The school was also conducted in one of the rooms of

the Gumaer house. Later, when the house was reconstructed as a fort,

for the better protection of the people of the neighborhood, and

several families had gathered there, the school was continued in the

fort. Mr. White remained throughout the entire period of the war, and

the children who were so fortunate as to be his pupils, enjoyed

advantages which very few could have at that time. He was a man of

some literary attainments, small in stature, but quick and active in

body and mind.

Mr. Peter E. Gumaer (1770 to 1869) who was one of his pupils, says of

him, in his history of Deerpark: "I conclude that Mr. White had been

taught in one of the best of the common schools of England, and in a

very perfect manner so far as he had progressed. He was a very

eloquent reader and could perform the same with an air suitable to

the nature of the subject on which the reading treated. I have always

considered him as the equal of the best readers I have ever heard."

Commenting on the advantages which Mr. White gave his pupils and the

value of his services to the community, Mr. Gumaer says, "This man's

services have been a greater benefit to the third generation of the

descendants of this neighborhood than those of any other individual,

in consequence of which he ought to be held in remembrance by our

descendants and be incorporated in our history, as the first

important originator of education among us."

Mr. White spent his old age on a farm in the town of Wallkill and is

buried in the churchyard of the Presbyterian church at Otisville. In

his will he left a sum of money from the proceeds of which there

should be paid $10 each year, to the minister of each of four

different churches, for preaching a special sermon, to be known as

The White Sermon. The four churches benefited are the Dutch

Reformed church of Port Jervis, the Congregational church of

Middletown, and the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches of Goshen.

The school on the east side of the Neversink River, near Port Jervis,

was in session at the time of Brant's raid on Tuesday, July 20, 1779.

The Indians and Tories under Thayandanega, or, as the whites called

him, Joseph Brant, came down the Delaware valley and separated into

two divisions. One party followed the river and the other crossed the

point of land between the two rivers, keeping near the base of the

mountain and crossed the Neversink near the old Indian burying

ground. The object of the raid, as stated by Brant in his report to

the commanding officer, was to secure booty, especially beef cattle.

But it would appear from the method of attack that there was another

object, that of capturing or killing Major Decker.

The attack was made simultaneously upon the home of Major Decker and

upon the farms four miles down the river across the State line, in

New Jersey. The men of the Major's family were away attending a

funeral and the house, although it was surrounded by a stockade, was

easily taken and burned. It is probable that the most of the men were

attending the funeral when the attack was made. This funeral, or at

least the burial, was held at the meeting house of the Dutch Reformed

church, which stood on East Main street, near the culvert over which

the Erie Railroad crossed that street. This also was burned later in

the same raid. One of these bands came upon the school house with the

school in session. The teacher, Jeremiah Van Auken, grandson of James

Van Auken, who was the first magistrate of the Minisink region, was

killed and scalped and the children scattered. According to the

deposition of Mehary Owen, one of the Tories who accompanied Brant on

this raid, that chieftain had issued strict orders that no women nor

children should be injured. This deposition was taken by Henry

Wisner, Esq., at Goshen, and, while there is little dependence to be

put upon the word of such a renegade, there is no proof that any of

the children were harmed.

The story so often told and sometimes discredited, that Brant himself

came upon the party that had killed Van Auken, and put paint upon the

clothing of the children to protect them, is too well authenticated

to be rejected. It is more than tradition.

There are persons still living who have heard the story told by those

who were there, on that day. Among others, Margaret Decker, daughter

of Major Johannes Decker, horn in 1770, was there at school that day.

She afterward married Benjamin Carpenter and left many descendants.

She told the story many times to children and grandchildren,

substantially as it has been told by the people of the valley since

1779. Several of these grandchildren are still living and agree in

all the main points of the story as she told it to them. This is only

one of many cases where the story is a family tradition.

Peter E. Gumaer was a lad nine years old, at the time this occurred.

He was a neighbor and playfellow of those children in the other

district who were in school that day. He grew up with them and knew

them intimately all their lives, for he outlived them all, dying

beyond the middle of his ninety-ninth year. In his account of Brant's

raid, given with slight alterations in Eager's History of Orange

County, he tells the story substantially as it is told by the

descendants of these children. The addition of a brush and the color

of the paint are touches not found in the original story.

This sketch of the schools in colonial times is fragmentary and

unsatisfactory, but, there is so little that has been preserved

concerning them, that no account can be other than fragmentary.

THE PERIOD OF THE PRIVATE ACADEMIES.

The movement for the establishment of schools of higher grade began

with the people themselves. They knew what they wanted and proceeded

to obtain it in the most direct way. The method was much the same all

over the State. The farmers and other well-to-do people of a

considerable section subscribed the money necessary to put up a

building and to provide the furniture and equipment needed. Then,

when the building was ready for occupancy, it was leased to some

teacher, whose compensation was the fees for tuition, paid by the

students who attended. More than 300 of these institutions were

established in the State.

In this movement for improved schools, the county of Orange was one

of the first in the State to act. There were two other schools of

this type which were incorporated before The Farmers' Hall Academy in

Goshen, but the incorporation was not until several years after these

schools had been in operation. The Clinton Academy at Easthampton and

the Erasmus Hall Academy in Brooklyn, were both chartered by the

Board of Regents in 1787, while the Goshen school was not chartered

until April first, 1790.

The building for the Farmers' Hall was erected in 1773 and the school

was maintained as a school for instruction in academic subjects

during the Revolution, with some interruptions.

To this school, in 1781, there came a man who was to do more for the

cause of education in this county than any who had preceded him. Noah

Webster had graduated from Yale in 1778 and had begun the study of

law at Hartford. The invasion of New York from the north, by

Burgoyne, called for the services of every able bodied man, and young

Webster marched to the valley of the Mohawk, as a private in his

father's company of Connecticut militia. After the campaign was over,

he returned to the study of law and was admitted to the bar in

Hartford in 1781. Instead of waiting at Hartford for a practice, he

decided to enter the profession of teaching and probably came to

Goshen in the fall of the same year.

The following letter of introduction, written by Henry Wisner, Esq.,

a magistrate of Goshen, would seem to indicate that Mr. Webster was

not a new comer in Goshen at that time and he had probably completed

his first year in the school when it was written:

Goshen, N. Y., August 26th, 1782.

Sir:

The bearer, Mr. Noah Webster, has taught a grammar school for some

time past, in this place, much to the satisfaction of his employers.

He is now doing some business in the literary way, which, in the

opinion of good judges, will be of great service to posterity. He,

being a stranger in New Jersey, may stand in need of the assistance

of some gentlemen with whom you are acquainted. He is a young

gentleman whose moral as well as political character is such as will

render him worthy of your notice.

Any favor which you may do him will be serving the public and

accepted as a favor done your friend and very humble servant,

Henry Wisner.

His Excellency, Governor Livingston.

During the preceding year, Prof. Webster had prepared the manuscript

of the first part of his "Grammatical Institute of the English

Language," the first text-book for the use of schools published in

this country. This first part was the Webster Speller, not only the

first school book published in this country, but also the most

popular one.

Mr. Webster's object in leaving Goshen at this time, was to show

these manuscripts to people acquainted with the educational situation

throughout the country and to get their opinions on the probable

demand for the work.

He visited Philadelphia and met a number of the members of Congress,

among whom was James Madison, afterward president of the United

States. Mr. Madison was himself, a thorough linguist and deeply

interested in the subject of schools. He also showed much interest in

Mr. Webster and his proposed work. From Philadelphia, Mr. Webster

went to Princeton and showed his work to the Rev. S. S. Smith, then a

professor and afterward president of Princeton College. Everywhere

the project was enthusiastically received and the young author

returned to Goshen, greatly encouraged to complete his series of

texts and to publish it.

As we have already stated, no text books had been published in

America. Moreover, at this time a widespread awakening to the

importance of education was manifest throughout the country and the

demand for books suitable for the instruction of the children, both

in the elementary schools and in the academies was great.

Accordingly, Prof. Webster returned to Goshen, continued his work

there another year, during which he revised and completed his

manuscripts, and in 1783, returned to Hartford and began their

publication. The Grammatical Institution of the English Language was

published in three volumes. The first was the speller, the second the

grammar, and the third, the reader.

They seem poor and printed with wretched type, when compared with the

workmanship of modern text-books, but these little volumes, produced

by an Orange County teacher, while teaching in its earliest academy,

were most enthusiastically received and the demand for them taxed the

capacity of the publishers to the fullest extent.

The speller, the first part published, was an immediate success. In

fifty years, about twenty-five million copies were sold, and for a

part of this time the sales exceeded a million copies a year. The

royalty on this book was one cent a copy, and, for many years this

royalty yielded the author a very comfortable income. The other parts

of the work never had so large a demand as the speller, but the

reception accorded them and the demand for them which followed,

induced the young author to devote his entire time to authorship, so

that his two years in the Farmers' Hall Academy, at Goshen, comprised

his entire work as a teacher.

What other teachers conducted this school before the date of its

incorporation under the university law, is not definitely known. The

charter was issued April 1st "in the fourteenth year of American

independence," or 1790. The school, however, had been in operation at

least sixteen years, before this date, and ten years before the

university law was passed.

The first principal of the school, after its incorporation was

Benjamin Carpenter, who remained only one year, and then removed to

the Minisink valley where he established a ferry over the Delaware

and gave his name to the village of Carpenter's Point. A Mr. Minor

succeeded him and he in turn, was followed by John K. Joline, who was

said to have been a soldier of fortune, and, as such, had visited the

Spanish Main and several of the Central and South American States. He

was not a young man at the time of assuming the principal-ship and

tradition tells many stories of his eccentricities. He had charge of

the school for several years and when he retired from the

principal-ship, he remained in Goshen, living at one of the hotels

until the time of his death. By a benevolent fiction he was supposed

to deliver a course of lectures each year. The tickets were purchased

by those who had been his pupils and by others who were benevolently

inclined, and the proceeds were generally sufficient to defray his

expenses, but few of the lectures were delivered, and these to very

small audiences. Occasionally he would fill an engagement to teach

for a few weeks, away from his beloved Goshen, but he could not be

persuaded to stay away long. He taught at different times, in the

Minisink valley, in what is now the town of Deerpark, but for short

periods only. He was erratic, leaving without notice, and returning

when he pleased, and always going back to Goshen when he had earned

money enough to relieve his present necessities.

There he would sit in his chair, on the porch of the hotel, always

ready to tell of the many and varied experiences of his life to any

who cared to listen.

One day he did not respond to the call of the gong which announced

that dinner was ready, and they found him, sitting in his chair,

dead. He had died without a struggle and unnoticed, sitting in his

accustomed place.

Some time previous to 1820, the Female Academy was established and

became a part of the institution, controlled by the same board of

trustees as the Farmer's Hall. William Ewen was the first principal

in this department. Among the many teachers who had charge of this

school during the earlier half of the nineteenth century were:

Nathan Stark, Horace Sweezy, Victor M. Watkins, Rev. B. Y. Morse,

David E. Fowler, Stephen D. Bross and Nathaniel Webb.

The last mentioned, Nathaniel Webb, became principal of both

departments about 1833. Mr. Webb's influence, not only in this

school, but also in the educational interests of the entire county,

was such that he is worth of more than a cursory notice in any

account of educational matters in this county.

He was a graduate of Union College and had caught some of the

enthusiasm of Dr. Nott in the cause of education. He had prepared for

the ministry, but, on the completion of his studies at Union, he

found his health so impaired that he had to give up work and spend

some time in the South, recovering his lost vitality. He never

became robust, but enjoyed a fair degree of health and was an

indefatigable worker.

After leaving the principal-ship of Farmers' Hall, Mr. Webb

established a boarding school for young ladies at Goshen, which had,

for many years, a wide reputation and patronage. It was noted for its

thoroughness, its high moral tone, and for the real culture of its

graduates. This school, which was later known as the Goshen Female

Seminary, under the efficient management of Professor Webb, became

one of the best schools of its kind in the State, and sent out many

cultured women into the homes and schools of this section.

In connection with his school work, Mr. Webb was also one of the

proprietors and editorial writers of the _Democrat and Whig,_ a local

paper published in Goshen, and continued his connection with that

paper until the time of his death, which occurred in 1855. As an

editorial writer for a political paper, he was so fair and impartial

that he frequently became the trusted friend and adviser of both

sides of a political controversy and his judgment had great weight

on all political questions. As a teacher, as a man of affairs in both

the social and political world, as a Christian gentleman, interested

in every good work in the community in which he lived and as an

exemplar of true living and Christian manhood, he was a worthy

example of what the teacher should be in any community.

Various other teachers as principals and instructors carried on the

work of this school until well on in the second half of the

nineteenth century, when, like most of the other private academies,

it was replaced by the public school.

Whatever the facts may be concerning the priority of the

establishment of Clinton Academy and the Farmers' Hall, there seems

to be no doubt that the Montgomery Academy, another Orange County

institution, incorporated in 1792, was the fourth of these schools in

the State.

The progressive character of the people of our county is shown by

this fact, that two of the first four academies of the State should

have been founded by them. The subscription list for the Montgomery

Academy is dated in 1787 and was probably circulated and signed at

that time. The village of Montgomery was only a small hamlet in a

farming community. The people were, not wealthy, but they were in

earnest in their determination to secure for their children the

advantages of a good school.

Two hundred and seventy-seven names appear on the list, almost all of

them heads of families, residing within eight or ten miles of the

village. The amounts were small individually, but the sum obtained

was sufficient for the modest beginning which they were to make. The

trustees appointed by the subscribers, to take charge of the

undertaking, were thirteen in number and were generally the most

prominent and intelligent men of the section.

The story of how these farmers helped themselves to what they wanted

in school accommodations is told by both Eager and Ruttenber in

their histories of Orange County. This story illustrates so well the

method of the founding of these schools in rural communities

throughout the State that I quote from Ruttenber the story, entire:

"The trustees purchased a frame, already put up, several miles

distant, as they could get it for some small sum, made a frolic to

which the farmers came with their teams and carted it down to the

village. This was but the work of a day, in these patriotic and

freewill times. So, at very little expense, the building was entirely

put up and finished.

"The teacher they wished to employ (the Rev. Alexander Miller, of New

Jersey), was married, had a family and a horse and could not come

unless the family and the horse could be accommodated. So, the

trustees redoubled their exertions, built a kitchen adjoining the

academy, put up a stable and permitted the Reverend Mr. Miller to

live on the ground floor. They tendered him 80 pounds for the first

year, and, after that, all he could make. This offer was accepted and

the Reverend Mr. Miller became the first principal of the new

institution. The tuition fees paid by the pupils varied from 2 L. to

5 L. a year, according to the subjects studied." The pound in New

York currency was $2.50.

The old building was used about twenty years and was then replaced by

a substantial brick building, in which the old academy maintained its

existence for many years, after most of the private schools had been

absorbed by the public school system. In 1891, after more than a

hundred years of existence as a private school, it became the

academic department of the Montgomery public schools.

The Newburgh Academy was projected by the Reverend Mr. Spierin,

pastor of the Episcopal church. After some delay a building was

erected and a school opened "for the instruction of youth in the

Greek and Latin languages and in other branches of literature." The

peculiar relation of this school to the Church of England and its

control by the trustees of the Glebe, seem to have been a source of

trouble. In 1804, a public meeting of the inhabitants of the

original patent was held and nine trustees were elected "to take

charge of the school in the academy." The new trustees evidently did

take charge, for the school was incorporated under the University of

the State of New York in 1806 as "The Newburgh Academy." This school

had a long and successful career. Many of its teachers were men of

learning and ability and the school enjoyed a reputation second to

none in this section of the State. It is impossible to give its full

history or to name all of its teachers. Mr. Ruttenber mentions Samuel

Nicholson as principal in 1799, James Larrimore in 1802 and a long

line of successors. The academy continued its work as a private

school until the special act establishing the free schools of

Newburgh was passed in 1852, when it became a part of the public

school system of the village.

The Washington Academy, of Florida, had its inception in a meeting of

the inhabitants of that village held on February 14th, 1809. The

meeting was enthusiastic and decided to erect a school building and

establish a school "for the instruction of the young."

A two-story brick building was erected, but it was not conducted as a

private academy long. When, in response to the law of 1812, the towns

were divided into school districts, in 1813, the building became the

school house of District No. 15, of the town of Warwick.

Samuel S. Seward was one of the first movers for the establishment of

this school and was a member of its first board of trustees. His son,

William H. Seward, afterward governor of the State of New York,

United States Senator and Secretary of State under President Lincoln,

was one of its early pupils.

Mr. Seward was never satisfied with the fate of the Washington

Academy and later gave a site and erected a building for a private

school which was known as the S. S. Seward Institute.

He left $20,000 in his will for a permanent endowment of this school.

For nearly half a century it was maintained as a high class boarding

school. The endowment and the active interest of the Seward family

kept it in operation long after most of the schools of its kind had

been closed by the competition of the public school. But in 1891, it

was turned over to the board of education of the village of Florida

and it has, since that time, been the academic department of the

Florida public schools.

The Wallkill Academy, Middletown, like a number of other places along

the line of the Erie Railroad, owes its initial development to that

road. In 1840 it was a small village. The people were alive to the

interests of their children, however, and in 1841, they organized a

company with 115 stockholders, for the purpose of establishing an

academy to provide the children of the village with better

opportunities for education than could be had in the district school.

The result of this movement was the building of a school house and

the establishment of the Wallkill Academy.

The Reverend Phineas Robinson was the first teacher, and the school

took high rank as a classical or grammar school from the first.

He was succeeded by Patrick McGregor, who was principal for five

years. Henry Freeman was in charge for a like period, and the

Reverend P. Teller Babbitt was in charge for a year and half. Then D.

Kerr Bull became principal and continued in charge of the academy

until it became a part of the public school system of the village of

Middletown, at its organization under special act of the legislature

in 1867.

The Chester Academy was chartered by the regents of the university on

February 27th, 1844. The first principal was William Bross, who was

assisted by his brother, Stephen D. Bross, mentioned above as one of

the principals of Farmers' Hall Academy at Goshen.

William Bross prepared for college at Milford, Pa., and graduated

from Williams College in 1838. He taught in several places before

going to Chester, and, in 1848, he went to Chicago and engaged in

newspaper work. For a number of years, he was president of the

Chicago Tribune Company and he was lieutenant-governor of the State

of Illinois from 1865 to 1869.

The Reverend Phineas Robinson, who was the first principal of

Wallkill Academy at Middletown, was in charge of this school for

eight years, and Edward Orton, who was later a professor in the Ohio

State University, was principal for six years. Like the others, the

Chester Academy became, later, a part of the public school system,

and the old academy building was used for public school purposes

until it was burned in 1905. A new building has been erected to take

its place and has been in use since September, 1907.

The Warwick Institute was organized in 1852. The building was erected

in the spring of 1853 and the school opened the same year. D. F.

Drew was engaged as principal but left during the first year, and was

succeeded by William A. Carter. The institute and its property were

turned over to the board of education in 1868, that board agreeing to

forever maintain a school for instruction in the higher studies.

The West Point Military Academy--This school, while in the county,

is not of it. It is the United States government school for training

officers for the command of its armies.

The Military Academy is located on a government reservation at West

Point, one of the most picturesque and beautiful spots on the Hudson.

The establishment of such a school was recommended by Washington in

his last message to Congress and it is known that even from the time

of the Revolution, West Point had been looked upon by him as a most

suitable place for its location.

The recommendation of Washington was acted upon and some provision

made for the instruction of cadets, but it was not until after the

war of 1812 had shown the necessity for such training, that the

military academy was fully established.

From that time to the present it has grown in importance and

efficiency. Many millions of dollars have been spent in utilizing the

natural advantages of the reservation and in providing the equipment

needed. The reservation contains nearly two hundred buildings of

various kinds, and its attractiveness on account of its natural

scenery, its buildings and its well-kept lawns, make it a popular

place for tourists.

The academies which I have mentioned, with the exception of the

military academy, which is brought in here simply because of its

location, were of a semi-public character. While not maintained by

taxation, they were organized by popular movements and existed only

for the benefit of the people.

There have been many other schools in the county, which were entirely

private in character. Many of these have been important factors in

the progress of education in our county, and have done much to uphold

a high standard of school work, but we shall be able to mention only

those which now exist and which hold charter relations with the

educational system of the State.

THE PERIOD OF THE FREE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

There had been elementary schools in most of the scattered

communities of the county before the Revolution, as we have seen, and

they continued after that war, increasing in numbers and in

efficiency. The academies provided better teachers for those schools,

and they also stimulated the children in them to prepare themselves

for the higher studies of the academies. They were public schools

also, but they were entirely dependent upon local initiative and

supported entirely by the people of the neighborhoods in which they

were maintained. The State had shown its interest in secondary

education by the establishment of the university, in 1784, by

chartering the academies and by grants of money in aid of these

schools, but it was not until 1795 that it showed any interest in the

common schools.

In that year, acting on the recommendation of Governor Clinton, the

legislature appropriated the sum of 20,000 L. ($50,000) a year, for

the succeeding five years, "for the encouragement of the common

schools."

The act provided, also, for the election of two commissioners of

schools, in each town, of the counties of the State, to supervise the

schools of the town and to make arrangements for the proper

distribution of this grant. The chaotic condition of the schools,

with no system of records and accounts, and, in some instances, the

local pride and resentment, occasioned by this State interference in

what was considered an entirely local institution, rendered the just

apportionment of this fund difficult, and, after three years it was

abandoned.

In 1805 the State began the accumulation of a fund, the interest of

which should be used to aid the public schools. This fund, to which

additions are made from year to year, now amounts to considerably

over $4,000,000, and the United States deposit fund, an overflow of

the treasury of the United States, distributed to the States in

1836-7, which has been reserved for school purposes, amounts to a

like sum. By the laws of 1812, the State definitely assumed control

of the public schools. During the succeeding year, 1813, under the

provisions of this act, the townships, in all the counties of the

State, were divided into school districts and public schools were

established, supported partly by State aid and the balance made up by

a rate bill, an amount assessed upon the parents of the children

attending, proportioned upon the number of days they were in

attendance.

The districts, as formed in Orange County, in 1813, have not greatly

changed since that date. The rate bill was continued as the method of

school support until the passage of the Free School Act, in 1853,

and, in many places it was continued until 1867 when it was finally

abolished and the schools, supported entirely by public funds, became

free to the children of rich and poor alike.

The supervision of the public schools by township commissioners,

under the law of 1795, and abandoned in most of the towns in 1798,

was restored by the law of 1812, and thereafter, until 1844, what

supervision of the schools there was, in the various towns, was

vested in three commissioners and three inspectors. In 1844, the

supervision of the schools was vested in a town superintendent of

schools and so continued until the office of school commissioner in

the assembly districts, was created in 1856. Since that time, the

work of inspection and supervision has been performed by these

officers.

The commissioners of the two assembly districts of Orange County,

since 1856, have been in the first assembly district, George K.

Smith, David A. Morrison, Charles N. Gedney, Jonathan Silliman,

James M. Monell, Charles Rivenburg and George W. Flood. In the second

assembly district, George N. Green, Harvey H. Clark, John J. Barr,

Benjamin F. Hill, John W. Slauson, Asa Morehouse, Oliver N.

Goldsmith, William H. Shaw, Ira L. Case, Willard M. Clark, William P.

Kaufmann.

Since the operation of the free school act began, the educational

progress of the county has been continuous. The enrollment has

increased with the population. The average daily attendance has

increased more rapidly than the enrollment, and the efficiency of the

schools, as indicated by the number of the institutions which are

doing academic or high school work together with the number of pupils

of high school grade, shows the most marked advancement. The number

of such schools in our county has increased from half a dozen to

twenty-two and the percentage of high school pupils to the enrollment

has increased from less than one per cent, to about eight per cent.

To demonstrate more clearly this progress of the schools. I have

prepared a table showing the population, enrollment, average

attendance and high school pupils for each decade of the free

schools.

Table Showing Progress of the Schools by Decades.

1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1906

Population 63,812 80,002 88,220 97,859 103,859 108,267

Enrollment 12,750 18,210 19,615 17,955 18,302 18,193

Average attendance No data 8,300 10,262 10,963 12,868 13,617

In high schools No data 129 298 320 843 1,369

The schools doing high school work in 1906 were the following:

Principal. No. of H. S.

Pupils.

Newburgh High School William H. Doty 412

Middletown High School James F. Tuthill 179

Port Jervis High School Charles A. Benedict 235

Walden High School A. H. Courtenay 61

Highland Falls High School S. H. McIlroy 60

Warwick Institute High School Frank M. Edson 56

Chester High School Frank J. Squires 52

Cornwall-on-the-Hudson High School E. Everitt Cortright 45

Goshen High School Montgomery C. Smith 44

S. S. Seward Institute, Florida Levi R. Tubbs 40

Cornwall High School Herman C. Woodworth 30

Montgomery High School F. W. Whitney 25

Monroe Union School Orville Eichenberg 24

Central Valley Union School T. L. McKnight 7

And the following private schools:

Principal. No. of H. S.

Pupils.

N. Y. Military Academy, Sebastian C. Jones 67

Cornwall-on-the-Hudson

Garr Institute, Goshen Rose Sanders 27

Ursuline Academic School, Middletown Mother M. Lucy 17

St. Mary's Academy, Newburgh 11

The three cities, Newburgh, Middletown and Port Jervis, with 40 per

cent. of the population of the county, furnished 52 per cent, of the

average attendance and nearly 65 per cent, of the high school pupils.

The school systems of these cities are well organized and the schools

are thoroughly graded, and rank high among the schools of the State.

The Newburgh Schools--The school system of the city of Newburgh was

established in 1852 by special act of the legislature, before the

general free school law was passed. At that time, sixteen teachers

were employed and about 500 pupils were enrolled. By 1865, when

Newburgh became a city, and had a population of 13,905, the average

attendance had increased to nearly 1,200, and thirty-one teachers

were employed. Since that time, the growth in population has been

gradual and the schools have more than kept pace with that growth.

New buildings have been erected from time to time to provide room for

the constantly increasing enrollment, until there are now seven

buildings with sittings for more than 4,000 pupils. These buildings

are all fully equipped with the modern improvements and all the

appliances needed for the most efficient school work.

There are 109 teachers employed and the enrollment for 1906 was

4,230.

The city is doing more in the line of manual training than is done in

any other part of the county. A five years' course is given the boys

who reach the higher grammar grades and the girls, from the third to

the sixth year, are taught to sew.

The following superintendents have had charge of the schools of the

city since 1852:

Nathaniel Jones 1852-57

Hugh Banks 1857-59

Dr. R. V. K. Montfort 1859-63

E. M. Ruttenber 1863-64

Hiram A. Jones 1864-72

Dr. R. V. K. Montfort 1872-83

John Miller 1883-87

Dr. R. V. K. Montfort 1887-1900

James M. Crane 1900

The Middletown Schools--The school system of the city of Middletown

was organized under a special act of the legislature passed in 1867.

At that time, about 500 pupils were enrolled in all the schools. The

schools have grown with the growth of the city, making necessary the

erection of new buildings at frequent intervals.

There are now eight school buildings, all built of brick, well

distributed for the convenience of the pupils attending and

excellently adapted to the needs of the city. The new high school

building is the finest and most costly school building in the county.

Sixty-two teachers were employed in 1906, and the number of pupils

enrolled was 2,557.

The following named gentlemen have been the superintendents of the

schools since their organization:

A. V. N. Powelson 1867-69

A. H. Farnham 1869-70

Hiram Warren 1870-74

Henry R. Sanford 1874-85

George T. Church 1885-86

A. B. Wilbur 1886-91

James F. Tuthill 1891

The Middletown schools have a reputation for excellent work and the

school rooms, especially those in the new high school, are models of

convenience and furnishing.

The Port Jervis Schools--The village of Port Jervis came into being

soon after the completion of the Delaware and Hudson Canal and took

its name from that of the engineer in charge of that work.

It was only a small hamlet, however, until the building of the Erie

Railroad, near the middle of the last century. In 1850, there were

only 270 children of school age in the district. The coming of the

railroad caused a rapid increase in population and by 1853, the date

of the free school act, the number had increased to 562. It was not

until 1862 that the district was organized under the general law as

Union Free School District Number One of the town of Deerpark. By

1866, the number of children of school age had increased to 1,816.

The high school was organized in 1863, with David Beatty as teacher.

This school was admitted under the Regents in 1867. There are

forty-nine teachers employed and an enrollment of over 2,000 pupils.

There are six buildings used for school purposes, three of them

substantial brick buildings, constructed within the past few years.

A very noticeable feature of the schools in Port Jervis is the large

enrollment in proportion to the population. More than 20 per cent, of

the entire population was registered in the public schools, and more

than one-ninth of this registration was in the high school in 1906.

The superintendents of the schools, in Port Jervis. since their

organization in 1862, have been:

K. W. Manning 1862-63

David Beatty 1863-65

Isaac M. Wellington 1865-69

Edward A. Kingsley 1869-70

A. B. Wilbur 1870-83

F. W. Best 1883-84

J. M. Dolph 1884

By the courtesy of School Commissioners George W. Flood, of the First

Assembly District and William P. Kaufmann of the Second, and of the

Superintendents of schools in Newburgh and Middletown, I am permitted

to present the principal facts of the school reports for the year

1907.

Abstract of School Reports for 1907.

School Number Children of Entire Average Expendi-

Buildings of School Age Enroll- Attend- tures

Teach- in Dis- ment ance for All

ers trict School

Purposes

Newburgh City 7 110 5,773 4,257 3,291 $101,577.97

Middletown City 8 64 2,648 2,440 1,962 65,457.29

Blooming Grove Town 10 16 463 503 299 8,188.70

Cornwall 7 26 1,014 971 704 23,541.76

Crawford 11 13 276 305 230 4,983.17

Hamptonburgh 6 7 249 230 145 3,368.36

Highland 3 19 843 730 593 17,666.24

Monroe 5 14 491 515 360 10,653.14

Montgomery 13 34 1,337 1,394 852 24,593.10

Newburgh 13 19 753 724 447 12,228.41

New Windsor 8 11 421 352 189 4,911.79

Chester 5 14 461 461 365 19,549.67

Deerpark 14 60 2,358 2,369 1,754 45,553.98

Goshen 11 20 701 691 463 14,847.64

Greenville 7 7 148 173 79 2,717.39

Minisink 8 10 262 335 185 5,181.39

Mount Hope 5 6 250 250 120 2,952.37

Tuxedo 6 16 618 615 416 17,140.34

Wallkill 18 18 498 511 300 7,175.70

Wawayanda 10 10 276 299 171 4,204.28

Norwich 18 36 1,336 1,374 950 28,387.84

Woodbury 5 9 314 300 221 6,618.42

____ ____ ______ ______ ______ __________

198 530 21,490 19,707 14,086 $431,499.39

[Illustration: Rev. Francis Washburn.]

CHAPTER XXXV

THE CHURCHES OF ORANGE COUNTY.

By Rev. Francis Washburn.

The prevailing religion of Orange County is still nominally

Christian, differentiated in forms of worship and principles of

faith. As yet few representatives of other religions have formed any

settlement within its boundaries.

The organized religious bodies are numerous and strong, exercising

still against many adverse agencies a controlling influence over the

lives of the people. Those first established in the county in the

Colonial epoch still maintain the predominance they then secured.

Although the confessions of faith of some of them have been modified

somewhat, yet they all with a few minor exceptions hold to the creeds

Apostolic and Nicene. With more general diffusion of education

amongst the people has come to prevail a more genial and less

dogmatic form of enunciating the great truths of the Gospel of

Christ. The churches or associations of religious people are becoming

more conservative of all that is good and wholesome for human beings

both here and hereafter.

Faith in the parental love of God the Father, and brotherly love of

Christ are being taught by the Church of Christ as the mother of the

world's children and the bride of Christ, whose spirit is more and

more the atmosphere of a heavenly home for us all. The ministry of

the church is coming to be a ministry over us everywhere in all

places and at all times. She is extending her work of sponsorship

into every sphere of human activity. And the time seems to be

rapidly approaching when she will guard us all from the cradle to the

grave from every agency of ill that would deprive us of the love and

approbation of God.

The different religious bodies bearing the name of Christian are all

seeking the good of humankind, animated by the same spirit which

actuated the Christ when He went to Golgotha and when He ascended at

Olivet. They are agreed in their aim and are united in their

sympathy. They work in agreement and will not contend with each

other. Christian charity to-day is prevailing to the elimination of

denominational pride.

The Christians of Orange County are becoming assimilated to the

spirit of those on whom the Holy Ghost fell in the day of Pentecost.

For years since the earliest settlement of this country they have

been known as Presbyterians, Lutherans, Reformed Dutch,

Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Quakers, etc.,

and are still connected with organizations bearing these names, but

they are coming to bear in their membership the same characteristic

devotion to humanity and God.

We cannot be to-day what our ancestors were who came from Europe.

They were unaware of a vast deal we know. Their knowledge of the

world and its peoples was infinitely little, ours is infinitely

large. They came and settled here amid dense forests and interpreted

God's word by and through their limited experience, but God's word to

them was a sealed book; they could not interpret it at all. They came

from different countries of Western Europe, and brought with them

their theories religious and secular. The Dutch came to the mouth of

a great stream that ran north, and settled on an island, and called

their settlement New Amsterdam. Some of them sailed up this great

river, now known as the Hudson, and established homes in the

neighborhood of the present city of Kingston, at the confluence of

two streams, known to us as the Wallkill and Rondout. Their

expression of the Christian religion exists in their descendants

to-day as the Reformed, known to me in my boyhood as the Dutch

Reformed. The churches of this denomination in Orange County owe

their origin to the missionary zeal of Rev. Petrus Vas and the Rev.

George W. Marcius, pastors of the church at Kingston. The _Montgomery

Reformed Church_ was first organized as the _German Reformed Church

of the Wallkill_ in 1782. The _Warwick Church_ was organized October

24, 1694, at Orangetown. In 1764 its congregation united with the

Presbyterians, and remained thus united until 1803, when the

congregation determined that as the deed of the property was to the

Presbyterians it should continue to be held by them as trustees,

while the Reformed Dutch Consistory should control the spiritual

interests. At the present time there are ten churches of this type in

the county, as follows:

Location. Pastor. Membership.

Newburgh A. T. Brook 308

Walden W. W. Schomp 420

Montgomery Peter Crispell 312

Port Jervis, 1st Willard Conger 418

Port Jervis, 2nd J. B. Appel 99

Minisink Vacant 60

Warwick Faber Knox 347

Pine Bush H. K. Post 169

Cuddebackville W. W. Whitney 70

Unionville Vacant 20

______

Total 2,223

There are hundreds if not thousands of people living in this county

to-day, who do not understand why there are so many Christian

societies bearing different names and worshiping apart. There are

almost as many, in all probability who are ignorant of the doctrines

wherein they differ from other Christian bodies.

The last generation arriving at adult age has heard so infrequently

doctrinal and controversial preaching as to know not why they are of

one denomination rather than another. On this line the men who

established Presbyterian bodies in this county, away back in the

seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, were well informed.

The differences between the Presbyterians of the various schools are

equally beyond the knowledge of the great majority. I am not going to

attempt to enlighten myself or my readers by any research of old

pamphlets, etc., of the Presbyterian denomination. Life is too short

and the matter too immaterial to the issue in which we are

interested.

In 1752, says Ruttenber, the Associate Presbytery of Scotland sent

the Rev. John Culbertson to America, who organized in the Wallkill

valley a praying society in 1753, which eventually became the

_Reformed Presbyterian Church_ at Coldenham.

In 1816 or 1817 a praying society established in Newburgh became the

first _Presbyterian Church_ there.

In 1765 the _Associated Reformed Church_ of Little Britain and

Neelytown began their corporate existence.

In 1831 the _Graham Church_ of Crawford, organized in 1800, united

with the church at Hamptonburgh.

The first _Associate Reformed Church_ of Newburgh was organized in

1797, and the _Union Associate Reformed_ in 1837.

The _Presbyterian Church_ at Goshen was the first of this

denomination established in Orange County. Its first edifice stood at

the site now occupied by the Court House.

The second _Presbyterian Church_ was that at Goodwill. It was

originally established for the use of immigrants principally from

County Londonderry, Ireland. Its first pastor was Rev. John Houston.

Out of this organization rose not less than five others, namely:

Neelytown, Hamptonburgh, Hopewell, Graham, Berea and Montgomery. Its

first house of worship is said to have been erected in 1735.

The third _Presbyterian Church of Cornwall_ at Bethlehem, was

organized in 1730. From it sprang into existence the first

_Presbyterian Church_ of Newburgh, and the first of New Windsor (now

defunct).

The following statement was prepared by the Rev. Charles O. Hammer:

Churches. Pastors. Membership Money

1902 1906 Raised

Amity R. H. Craig, LL.D. 92 102 $1,086.80

Denton J. L. Harrington 45 33 725.60

Chester R. H. McCready, Ph.D. 284 278 3,378.56

Goshen F. S. Haines 630 393 7,792.92

Montgomery T. D. Elder 186 205 4,416.72

Port Jervis Vacant 410 335 3,635.86

Scotchtown " 126 119 1,156.70

Goodwill J. H. Thompson 143 152 1,811.48

Ramapo R. B. Marble 320 304 5,674.00

Hopewell J. S. E. Erskine 142 128 1,136.32

Westtown F. H. Bisbee 160 169 1,638.72

Middletown, 1st W. R. Ferris 465 465 7,328.00

Monroe Vacant 111 114 1,870.00

Suffern Pastor Elect ___ 166 2,225.40

Hamptonburgh W. B. Johnson 127 162 2,085.32

Ridgebury F. A. Gates 82 86 1,381.24

Washingtonville J. A. McCallum 126 146 2,102.44

Florida Vacant 155 170 2,699.90

Centerville " 43 40 412.00

Circleville " 105 118 1,137.44

Middletown, 2nd Pastor Elect 400 486 6,408.72

Mt. Hope Vacant 29 26 290.24

Otisville " 114 109 1,010.24

Slate Hill " ___ 44 786.96

Calvary, N. B. City J. Searles 282 284 10,840.50

First, " " " Vacant 506 490 9,700.59

Union, " " " S. K. Piercy 400 400 7,044.03

Grand St.," " " R. H. Barr ___ ___ ________

Bethlehem S'l'y Mills I. Maxwell 174 196 2,274.25

Cornwall H. R. Fraser 185 201 2,035.58

Little Britain J. S. King 129 130 1,817.25

Highland Falls A. R. Barron 113 135 1,880.25

Canterbury Supplied 41 73 1,022.88

_____ _____ __________

6,134 6,259 $99,715.52

Churches 33

Vacant 8

Membership increase, 1902-1906 125

_Reformed Presbyterian._ The Reformed Presbyterians are the

ecclesiastical descendants of the Covenanters of Scotland. In the

latter half of the eighteenth century some of them who had come to

Orange County, organized as a church society in Coldenham, and called

as pastor, Rev. Dr. Alexander McLeod, who afterward became famous as

a preacher in New York City. For five years, from 1812, Rev. James

Mulligan was pastor, and he was followed by the eloquent J. R.

Williams, who delivered the famous address at Goshen when the bones

of the patriots who fell in the battle of Minisink were buried. The

present pastor is Rev. Thomas Patton.

A society of Reformed Presbyterians was formed in Newburgh in 1802,

and services were held for a time at the residence of James Clarke.

This was a part of the Coldenham congregation until 1824, when it was

organized as a separate society and called for its first pastor Rev.

J. R. Johnston, who afterward joined the _Presbyterian Church._ The

present pastor, Rev. J. W. V. Carlisle, is the successor of his

father, who died in 1887.

December 12, 1854, a second Reformed Presbyterian society was

organized in Newburgh, which is known as the _Westminster Church._ It

has had but one pastor, Rev. J. R. Thompson, whose ministrations in

December, 1907, had extended through the long period of fifty-two

years. He has said of his church: "The motto of Harvard College is

'Pro Christo et Ecclesia'; but that of Reformed Presbyterians is,

'Pro Christo et Ecclesia et Patria.' Their aim is to Christianize the

National government as well as the church."

_The Protestant Episcopal Church._ This branch of the Church

Catholic now represented in Orange County is shown by the following

statistical report. A brief general history of the Protestant

Episcopal Church may be appreciated. Prior and up to the war of

Independence, there were several places in the county where worship

was maintained by the Church of England Society, for the propagation

of the gospel in foreign parts, namely, at Newburgh on the Glebe,

granted to them by King George; at St. David's in the vicinity of the

present village of Washingtonville, and at St. Andrews west of

Newburgh some twelve miles.

The success of the colonists in the above war took these and other

churches from the jurisdiction of the Church of England. To meet the

new situation measures were immediately taken by the ordained clergy

of the colonies, who had accepted the results of the Revolutionary

War for the restoration of the government and worship of that church.

The church in the United States was without a head, that is to say

without a Bishop. Those who constituted it could not continue without

such. All English Bishops were so sworn to the Crown of England that

they were unable to act in an independent state such as this. No

priest could be elevated to the office of Bishop in England without

subscribing to the following article, _i. e._ That the King's Majesty

under God is the only Supreme Governor of this realm and of all other

of His Highness's dominions and countries as well as in all

spiritual or ecclesiastical things or causes as temporal. In the

American church no ordination or confirmations could take place. In

1780 a conference of the clergy and laity assembled at the call of

the Rev. Dr. William Smith, president of Washington College. The

purpose was to unite the separated parts into a body corporate. A

second conference was called in 1783. There were present at this

eighteen clergymen.

When the Revolutionary War closed there were in Connecticut forty

Episcopal congregations, fourteen clergymen and forty thousand

members, ten of the fourteen met at Woodbury in Litchfield County,

and chose two men either of whom they thought would be suitable for

the office of Bishop, namely, the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Leaming, and

Samuel Seabury. Dr. Seabury accepted, went to England and laid before

the Bishop his credentials submitting to him the fact which in the

judgment of the Connecticut people made the appointment of an

American Bishop an immediate necessity. In case of failure in England

he was to go to Scotland and endeavor to secure consecration of the

non-juring Bishops. To these Bishops Seabury was finally compelled to

resort for consecration. In a private chapel of a modest house in

Aberdine he was consecrated by Robert Kilgour, Arthur Petrie and John

Skinner. He came home to America the first Bishop of the church here.

In May, 1784, at a meeting held in New Brunswick, N. Y., by the

managers of the society for the relief of the widows and orphans of

clergymen the general condition of the church came up for discussion,

the result of which was a call for a conference of churchmen from all

the States to be held in October. It met. There were present

delegates from Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware,

Maryland, Virginia and Connecticut. A call was issued summoning the

churches in the several States to send delegates to a constitutional

convention. This was held in Philadelphia on St. Michael's Day in

1785, with the following result: A constitution for the church.

Having made it they proceeded to consider the Episcopate; they drew

up an address to the Archbishop and Bishops of England. Upon the

receipt of the answer they met in October, 1786, for its

consideration. In reply they informed the English Bishops that the

Nicene and Apostles' Creeds were retained and that in fact the

English prayer book was kept intact. They then called the roll of

States present to ascertain if any had chosen men for Bishops. New

York delegates presented the name of Dr. Provoost. Pennsylvania

presented the name of White. Maryland had already chosen Dr. Smith.

White and Provoost went to England and were consecrated in Lambeth

Chapel, February 4, 1786. On their return to this country they were

met by the Bishop of Connecticut and with him consulted on terms of

union. The result of their deliberation was the adoption of

resolutions which it was thought would harmonize both sides. In these

resolutions they recognized the validity of Seabury's consecration

and that together with Provoost and White they had all the power

which belongs to the Episcopal office limited only by such canons or

laws as the entire church of the United States might fix. They then

adjourned to meet again in Connecticut in convention of the whole

church. When the constitution was altered, the Bishops became a

separate house, the other house was to be composed of representatives,

lay and clerical (not Bishops). They also revised the English prayer

book to make it harmonize with the government of these States. These

things being satisfactorily adjusted the organization of the

Protestant Episcopal church of the United States of North America

became an established fact.

The Protestant Episcopal churches of this section, with those of

other sections of New York State, first came under the superintendence

of Bishop Samuel Provoost, Rector of _Trinity Parish_ in the city of

New York; at which time, _St. Andrews Parish,_ Walden, then in Ulster

County and _St. George's,_ Newburgh, were the only ones surviving the

ravages of the Revolutionary period. These churches with _St. David's_

had been organized under an act of incorporation granted by King

George the Third, dated July 23, 1770, at which time the Rev. John

Sayre was in charge of missionary work at Newburgh and parts adjacent.

There do not appear to have been any Episcopal duties performed in

either Ulster or Orange Counties until 1700, from the time of the

superintendency of Bishop Provoost when Rev. George H. Spierin

became the minister and schoolmaster of St. George's Glebe School and

Church in Newburgh and the rector of _St. Andrews,_ Walden. There is

no record of any visitations of the parishes by Provoost.

In 1804 when Rev. Frederick Van Horn was rector of _St. Andrew's,_ it

and _St. George's_ were members of the Diocesan convention. Bishop

Moore was then in charge of the diocese. During his Episcopate _St.

James' Church,_ Goshen, was received into union with the convention,

1808, and _Christ's Church,_ Warwick, 1804. Although there are no

records of any Episcopal visitations in this section of the State

there probably were such. February, 1816, Bishop Moore died, and was

succeeded by Bishop John Henry Hobart, who became the third Bishop of

New York. _Trinity Church,_ from which the bishops were selected down

to the time of Bishop Horatio Potter, furnished not only the Bishops

but the financial means for the maintenance of church work throughout

the whole country. The Episcopal Church in the United States, when

Dr. Hobart assumed Episcopal jurisdiction, was apparently dying. He

revived hope in the hearts of its adherents. With him the church

began to live and grow. He established a Churchman's magazine in New

York, provided for a learned clergy by establishing a college at

Geneva, did much for the endowment of the college in New York and was

also the real founder of the Theological Seminary there. It was while

he was bishop that the Rev. John Brown became rector of _St. George's

Parish,_ Newburgh (1816) and _St. Thomas',_ New Windsor, 1818.

The original diocese of New York is now divided into five. The names

of successful Bishops of New York from Hobart's time to this are

Right Rev. Treadwell Onderdonk, who was consecrated in 1830; Bishop

Wainwright, Bishop Horatio Potter, Bishop Henry C. Potter and Bishop

Greer. In 1838 the diocese of western New York was created. _Grace

Church,_ Middletown, was organized under Onderdonk's Episcopate.

During which also the Rev. Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright was consecrated

to perform the Episcopal duties in the diocese provisionally. Bishop

Wainwright died on the feast of St. Matthew, Thursday, September

21st, 1854, in the sixty-third year of his age. Dr. Horatio Potter

became Bishop, November 22, 1854, and served provisionally until the

death of Bishop Onderdonk in 1861, and wholly from that time until

the twelfth day of September, 1883, when he withdrew, having

faithfully served the church as Bishop of New York for twenty-nine

years. His Episcopate was the most successful and satisfactory from

the beginning; Hobart's was brilliant, but his was masterful and

complete. He was a great man, master of himself and others. He ruled

with ease and equity the variant elements that composed the ministry

and membership of the church. With clear perception of character he

indulged idiosyncrasies in men whom he saw were sincere and earnest.

A perfect gentleman, a true Christian, a sound churchman, unobtrusive

and inoffensive. He handed the administration of the church to his

successor affluent and strong, socially, spiritually, intellectually

and financially. He was succeeded by his nephew, the Right Rev. Henry

C. Potter. When he resigned his diocese there were in Orange County

the following flourishing parishes: _St. George's,_ Newburgh; _St.

Pauls,_ Newburgh; _St. John's,_ Canterbury; _St. James',_ Goshen;

_Grace Church,_ Middletown; _St. Andrew's_ Walden; _St. John's,_

Arden; _St. George's Mission,_ Newburgh; _Grace Church,_ Monroe.

Under the present administration of his successor the growth of the

church in this county has been continuous since 1904, being greatly

aided by the Right Rev. David Hummel Greer, D.D., L.L.D., Bishop

coadjutor. Orange County is united for missionary work with Sullivan

County and Ulster County under the Rev. W. R. Thomas, D.D., Rector of

Highland Falls, Arch-Deacon.

THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCHES.

_Grace Church,_ Monroe. Minister in charge, J. H. McGinnis, D.D.

Number of communicants in 1905, fifty-six. Income, 1905, between

five and six hundred dollars.

_St. Paul's Church,_ Chester. Rector, J. H. McGinnis, D.D. Income,

1905, $901.39. Number of communicants in 1899, thirty-three.

_St. Daniel's Church,_ pre-Revolutionary, near Washingtonville,

(extinct).

_Christ's Church,_ Warwick. Rev. W. M. Pickslay, Rector. This parish

was admitted into union with convention, in 1866. Number of

communicants in 1905, 130. Income, 1905, $4,305.47.

_St. Mary's Church,_ Tuxedo. Rev. Wm. FitzSimons, Rector. Number of

communicants in 1905, 242. Income, 1905, $18,654.20.

_St. John's Church,_ Arden, N. Y. Rev. J. H. McGinnis, Minister.

Received into union with convention, in 1868. In the year of 1885

communicants, fifty-seven, in 1905, forty. Income, 1905, $1,167.25.

_St. Johns Church,_ Canterbury. Rev. W. W. Page, D.D., Rector.

Organized, 1858, church edifices erected and opened for divine

service, advent, 1859. A rectory was given to the parish by Miss

E. C. Purdy in 1876. Number of communicants in 1858, three, in 1863,

thirty-three, in 1879, fifty-nine, in 1885, 104, in 1905, 200.

Income, 1905, $1,559.

_Holy Innocents,_ Highland Falls, Rev. W. R. Thomas, D.D.

Receipts for 1905, $2,387. Communicants, 112.

_St. Thomas' Church,_ New Windsor. Rev. Creighton Spensor.

Organized, April 8, 1818. Church built in 1848. Number of

communicants in 1905, thirty-three. Receipts, $1,441.71.

_St. Andrew's Church,_ Walden. Rev. Thomas G. Losee, Rector. Present

number of communicants over 142. Incorporated in 1770, escaped

dissolution during the Revolution.

_Good Shepherd,_ Greenwood Lake. Rev. W. R. Thomas, D.D. In 1905

number of communicants, forty. Receipts, 1905, $1,902.80.

_Good Shepherd Church,_ Newburgh. Rector, Rev. J. M. Chew. Organized

in 1872. Number of communicants, 1905, 813. Rev. Francis Washburn.

Receipts, 1905, about $4,000.

_St. Paul's Church,_ Newburgh. Organized 1860. Rev. James Calhoun

Elliott, Rector. Number of communicants, 1905, 193. Receipts, 1905,

$6,671.76.

_St. George's Church,_ Newburgh. Rev. John Huske, Rector.

Incorporated by Royal charter, July 30, 1770. Present church built

1819. Number of communicants, 1905, 558. Receipts between seven and

eight thousand dollars.

_St. Agnes' Chapel,_ Balmville. Rev. Frederick Everet Whitney,

minister in charge. Built by Mr. and Mrs. Whitney, and maintained by

gifts from the communicants and members of the congregation. Number

of communicants, 1905, fifty-eight.

_St. Andrew's Chapel,_ Montgomery. T. G. Losee, Rector. Number of

communicants, 1905, twenty-nine.

_St. James' Church,_ Goshen. Parish organized June 25, 1803. Church

built about 1804, and rebuilt, 1852. Rector. Rev. George William

Dumbell, D.D. In 1812, there were six communicants, and in 1905, 222.

Income about $4,000. It appears from the records that there was an

Episcopal Church before the Revolution, at Decker's Corners. In 1843,

the Rev. W. W. Page, of Goshen, preached occasionally at Middletown.

_Grace Church,_ Middletown. Rector, Rev. F, J. Simthers, Jr. Parish

organized, February 8, 1845. Church built, 1847. Number of

communicants in 1885, 272, in 1905, 350. Income between seven and

eight thousand dollars.

_Grace Church,_ Port Jervis. Rector, Rev. Uriah Symonds. Income in

1905, between eight and nine hundred dollars. Parish organized in

1854. First church built in 1856, and the present edifice in 1870.

Number of communicants in 1871, twenty-seven, in 1905, 117.

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHES.

The Rev. George W. Grinton, secretary of the New York Conference,

reports that there are at present thirty-six churches of this

denomination in Orange County, with a total membership of 5,900.

Detailed reference to each appears in the various town histories of

this publication.

Methodism began its existence on this continent and in this county,

contemporaneously with the Republic of the United States, John

Wesley, the founder of it, began his zealous propaganda in England,

among the un-churched masses, in the year 1739, the year that

Whitefield began his second tour of America. Independent of any

effort of his, the first society of Methodists was formed in the city

of New York by some of the German Palatines from Ireland. At the

conference held by Wesley, at London, in 1770, two letters were

received from New York reporting a society there of about one hundred

members and a chapel.

In 1784 Wesley appointed Cooke superintendent of the Methodist

societies in the United States, giving the following reasons for

doing so--"that as the Revolution had separated the United States

from the mother country and the Episcopal establishment was utterly

abolished in the States it became his duty as providently at the head

of the Methodist societies to obey their demand and furnish them the

means of Grace. Recognized as their founder by the American

Methodists; required by them to provide for their new necessities,

and unable to induce the English prelates to do so, he ordained Cooke

that he might go to America and ordain preachers." Cooke arrived in

America and "ordained" Francis Ashbury first, as a presbyter and

finally as a superintendent. Says Stevens, the Methodist historian:

"The Colonial English Church being dissolved by the Revolution, its

fragments were yet floating as had been the Methodist societies amid

the stirring tide of events. When Ashbury began his superintendency

there was small membership and but a few itinerant preachers. When he

died there were seven hundred itinerants, 2,000 local preachers and

240,000 lay members."

The first services held in this country by a Methodist itinerant,

Mr. Cooper, was held in the house of Colonel Daniel McCauley at

Warwick in 1706. The second at that of Mrs. A. Smith, a sister of the

colonel, situated at Middlehope. Mr. Cooper also visited John Woolsey

near Milton. Six weeks later, accompanied by a Mr. John McCloskey,

John Cooper passed through the same section, going as far north as

New Paltz, holding services at the homes of Hendrick Deyo and

Andries Du Bois.

In 1787 Ezekiel Cooper visited the town of Newburgh and held

religious services at Samuel Fowler's in Middlehope, where he

established a preaching station which remained such until 1813.

In 1788 the Methodist Conference established the Flanders circuit,

which embraced a portion of this county, and put James O. Cooper in

charge, with Jesse Lee, Orin Hutchins and John Lee as assistants.

In 1789 the circuit of Newburgh was created, with James D. Cromwell

as presiding elder, and Nathaniel B. Mills and Andrew Humphrey as

preachers. The following classes composed the circuit:

Samuel Fowler, Middlehope; Munson Wards, Fostertown; Jacob Daytons,

Lattingtown; Mr. Schultz, Dolsentown; Mr. Warwick, Warwick; Luff

Smith, Marlborough; Daniel Stephens, in the Clove; Richard Garrison,

in the Clove; Elnathan Foster, Newburgh; Daniel Holmes, Middlehope;

Samuel Wyatts, Keytown; Winslow Allison, Pochunk; John Ellisons, New

Windsor; Daniel Ostrander, Plattekill; Samuel Ketcham, Sugar Loaf.

The first class to be organized (1807) as a church was the one at

Vail's Gate under the name of the _Union M. E. Church of New

Windsor._ In 1819 the Newburgh circuit was divided and another

circuit created, including the societies at Bethel, Bloomingburgh,

Middletown, Montgomery, Walden, Burlingham, Sam's Point and Walker

Valley.

In 1837 Sugar Loaf circuit came into existence. This embraced Sugar

Loaf, Florida, Ellenville, Bellevale, Chester. Monroe, Oxford,

Satterlytown, Washingtonville, Blagg's Corner, Highland Mills, Little

Long Pond and Greenwood Lake.

THE BAPTIST CHURCHES.

The Baptist denomination, we are informed by Dr. A. R Fuller of the

_First Baptist Church,_ Newburgh, N. Y., has at the present time,

March, 1907, eleven churches. One in Cornwall, Unionville, Port

Jervis, Warwick, Walden, Maybrook, two in Middletown and three in

Newburgh. It has church property valued at $162,500.

The first minister of this persuasion to preach its tenets in the

county was Mr. Halstead, pastor of a society at Fishkill, Dutchess

County. April 24, 1790, a society was organized in Newburgh. In 1806

another society erected a place of worship at Luptondale, and

established a burying ground.

The Baptist congregation at Warwick originated with the settlers from

Connecticut. These organized what has since been known as the Old

School Baptist Body. The first place of worship was erected on what

is now the junction of the road leading from the village of Warwick,

and the road leading from the Welling schoolhouse to Bellevale. In

1809 and 1810 the society bought land in Warwick, and erected the

building which it now occupies.

THE LUTHERAN CHURCHES.

The Lutheran churches are _St. Peters,_ Port Jervis, and _St.

Paul's,_ Newburgh. This society was founded by the immigrants from

the Palatine, who were sent here in the reign of Queen Anne.

THE UNITARIAN CHURCH.

A Unitarian church, named the _Church of Our Father,_ was organized

at Fishkill-on-the-Hudson in 1847, at a private residence. The first

meetings were held at the De Witt homestead, and afterward in the

public hall of the village. The congregation included men and women

of culture, public spirit and unquestioned high character. It was

ministered to by such men of repute for ability and piety as Revs.

William H. Channing, Edward Turner, F. A. Farley and H. W. Bellows

among others. Occasional services were held at Low Point,

Channingville and other points in the neighborhood of Fishkill for

eight years. About 1855, in consequence of the increasing attendance

from Newburgh, the church was reorganized in that city, where

services were held in the court house and the Universalist church,

and there was preaching by some of the ablest ministers of the

denomination. There were so many accessions to the church that in

1869 a committee was chosen to consider the subject of building a

house of worship. This consisted of William W. Carson, John Heron,

George Lamey, Benjamin Dumville, George H. Southard, J. N. Dichey,

George W. Peters and William Stocker. Warren Delano was afterwards

added, and made chairman. The deliberations and resulting efforts

brought about the erection of the present building at a cost of

$16,000, and it was consecrated in 1870. The first pastor was Rev.

F. W. Holland, and the present pastor is Rev. Alson H. Robinson.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ORANGE.

The first Catholic missions in Orange County seem to have been

established in 1817 and 1818. The Rev. Dr. French came in 1817, and

the Rev. Father Langdill arrived about a year later.

The first Catholic church, _St. Patrick's,_ was organized at Newburgh

in 1826, and the parochial school in connection with that church was

started soon afterward.

The introduction of Roman Catholicism in this State during the

colonial period is fraught with much interest. The history of these

initial efforts covers the incidents of the French and Indian wars,

beginning in 1687 and terminating in the French domination of Canada.

Even as far back as 1608, the work was begun among some of the

northern Indian tribes. But the conversion of the Six Nations met

with little success until after the accession of James II to the

English throne. He instructed the province governors to aid the

French missionaries and grant them every facility in the prosecution

of their work.

But these privileges were also used to advance their national cause

among the Iroquois, and the King was compelled to modify his zeal for

the propagation of the Catholic faith, which he professed.

This policy of the English government was entirely changed, however,

on the accession of William and Mary. Trade with the Indians had been

seriously affected by the influence of these French priests, and the

alliance between the English and the Iroquois was greatly weakened in

consequence. Even the toleration of Catholicism was now forbidden;

not from any hostility to the faith in itself, but for political

reasons which affected the nation and its interests. Severe measures

of repression were adopted. Catholic priests who came into the

provinces voluntarily were subject to the death penalty.

This practically was the state of affairs until after the breaking

out of the Revolutionary War. Then, by the terms of the first State

constitution, freedom of opinion was permitted to all who subscribed

to the oath of allegiance. When Ireland was appealed to for aid in

the war, and the subsequent assistance of Catholic France was asked,

the prejudices of the people were materially affected. This made it

possible to engraft upon the federal constitution of 1787 the full

and complete equality of all religious faiths. This of course opened

the door to Catholicism, and yet the church authorities seem to have

made little effort to extend their faith until after the Irish

rebellion of 1798. Then the Catholic immigrants began to arrive in

America.

The first priest stationed in New York City was the Rev. Charles

Whalen, an Irish Franciscan, who had been a chaplain in the French

fleet. He settled here after the war, and his brother, Dr. Joseph

Whalen, purchased a plot of land from the Schuyler patent in

Montgomery in April, 1788. The Rev. Luke Concanen was the first

Bishop of New York, but he died before entering upon his duties. The

Rev. John Conelly, his successor, was consecrated in 1814. And the

first thing he did was to establish missions in the Hudson River

valley. He is said to have sought "to prevent the children of

Catholics conforming to the persuasions of their neighbors."

CHAPTER XXXVI.

ORANGE COUNTY AGRICULTURE.

By David A. Morrison.

The success and well-being of the American farmer is always a matter

of vital concern to the entire country. The agricultural interest of

any country, any State, or any county, being the fundamental

condition upon which all other branches of human effort are based and

must depend, is therefore of paramount concern to all classes.

In the county of Orange in 1899 the figures of the national census

show there were 13,584 acres devoted to corn, which yielded 589,730

bushels of this cereal that year. Two thousand eight hundred and

forty-four acres were sown to wheat and 42,430 bushels were gathered.

The acreage of rye was 4,453, and the total yield was 79,980 bushels.

Oats were grown upon 5,156 acres and the product was 126,540 bushels.

One thousand three hundred and eighty-three acres were in buckwheat,

and the pancake crop that year was 23,640 bushels.

The decrease in the rural population of Orange County homes is

smaller than most other counties of the State, and the depreciation

of farm lands is not so apparent. In fact the general property

valuation of the county seems to be increasing something like two and

one-half million dollars per year, being rated at $43,804,861.40 for

1907.

The population of the county, according to the State enumeration of

1905, was 107,267. This was an increase over the report of the

national census for 1900 of 3,408. Of this number, 41,014 lived in

the cities of Newburgh and Middletown. In 1880 the county ranked

eleventh in the State for population, ninth in the value of its

farms, and third in the value of its farm buildings. It was second in

the yield of hay, second also in corn, and third in wheat and

potatoes. In the dairy department it stood right at the head, being

first in cows and also in the average yield per cow. Even in its

production of wool the county had fourth place.

Samuel W. Eager, the early and conscientious historian of Orange

County, speaking of the agricultural aspect of the county in 1847,

says:

"The soil is above medium character for all agricultural purposes,

and while the agriculture of the county is above mediocrity, the soil

may be considered worn out and exhausted, as respects growing large

or profitable crops of wheat, without manuring too expensively. That

article must be purchased of the western farmer, who yet drives his

ploughshare through a strong and virgin soil. That this crop must be

abandoned for the present, and the land employed to raise grass, or

other grains, is a dictate of common sense, and we trust our farmers

are wise enough to see it, and not struggle in an unequal contest

against the easy culture and large crops of the West."

While this advice was doubtless justified, statistics show it was not

followed. The wheat crop of 1874 was greater than that of 1840, and

the yield per acre was better under the improved culture. No attempt

is made to compete with the vast wheat fields of the far West in the

production of this great staple grain, which in fact is only grown to

a very limited extent in this county to-day.

Small fruits, peaches, apples and other orchard fruits are

extensively grown in some parts of the county, especially in the

upper river section, about Newburgh and Cornwall. The peach industry

began in the Newburgh district about 1880, and in the Pine Island

section about 1895, and for a time some fine crops were gathered when

the winters were not too severe. But of late the orchards are less

promising because of the devastations of the San Jose scale, which,

together with the severe winters, make peach growing a precarious

business in this section. The leaf curl and peach yellows are other

discouraging features, and it takes an intelligent and industrious

grower to succeed in the business. He must spray and spray, and also

dig the borers from the base of the tree trunks diligently.

Among the largest peach growers in the Warwick, New Milford and Pine

Island districts are E. G. Stiebeling, 6,000 trees; J. B. Rhodes,

4,000; J. R. Feagles, 4,000; Harvey Vail, 6,000; E. D. Waterbury,

3,000; J. C. Drew, 2,000; G. W. Hyatt, 6,000; W. S. Layton, 4,000;

Henry Demorest, 4,000; Barry Walch, 3,000; Henry Patton, 2,000;

Thomas Willing, 2,000; H. F. Wheeler, 2,000; Knapp & Husted, 1,500;

George Benedict, 1,000; J. E. Sanford, 2,000. Florida District: J. O.

Gable, 3,000; H. D. Jessup, 3,000; Charles Jessup, 3,000; John

Houston, 2,000; E. Lovett, 2,000. Chester District: E. N. Demorest,

2,000. The largest fruit growers in the Middlehope section are E. D.

Barns, Nathaniel Barns, Nat. C. Barns, John W. Bingham, W. J. Fowler,

V. J. Kohl and many others. Barnyard manure, muriate of potash and

ground bone are the fertilizers used. It is found by these growers

that the peach can only be grown upon high, dry land with profit.

The flavor of the fruit produced here is like that of the lower

Ulster and northern Orange section, of high quality, and it brings

the best price.

Red raspberries and strawberries were very successfully grown in

different parts of the county some years ago, especially about

Cornwall and Newburgh, and the northern river section. And both these

popular fruits are still produced to a large extent. Among these

small fruit enthusiasts there were the late Rev. E. P. Roe and N. P.

Willis, of Cornwall. North of Newburgh was the home of Andrew J.

Downing and Charles Downing, his brother, whose standard work on

"The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America" has been the recognized

authority upon nomenclature and description of fruits in America,

ever since it was written.

THE ORANGE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

This society is one of the oldest and best known organizations in the

county. It had its beginning at a meeting of citizens called pursuant

to law by Lebbeus L. Vail, county clerk, to organize a county

agricultural society, and held in the Old Stone Court House at

Goshen, September 11, 1841. Of the persons who attended that meeting

the names of the following have been rescued from oblivion: John

Caldwell, Jesse Bull, Nicholas Dederer, Blooming Grove; William

Sayer, Cornwall; Alexander Thompson, Crawford; Aaron Van Duzer,

Charles Monell, John Wilson, Hezekiah H. Strong, Phineas Rumsey,

James W. Carpenter, Goshen; Hamilton Morrison, Samuel Wait, Jr.,

John Wait, Gideon Pelton, John A. Smith, Montgomery; Frederic J.

Betts, Charles Downing, Henry Robinson, Newburgh; Leonard Lee, John

R. Caldwell, New Windsor; William Hurtin, Israel H. Wickham,

Wallkill; Jeffrey Wisner, Warwick.

At that meeting a constitution and by-laws were adopted, and at the

adjourned meeting, held at the same place, October 13, 1841, the

organization of the society was completed by the election of the

following officers: President, John Caldwell, Blooming Grove;

Vice-presidents, Captain Henry Robinson, Newburgh; John R. Caldwell,

New Windsor; William Sayer, Cornwall; Jeffrey Wisner, Warwick;

Lewis H. Roe, Monroe; Hulet Clark, Minisink; James D. Bull,

Hamptonburgh; Richard Sears, Goshen; Gideon Pelton, Montgomery; David

C. Bull, Crawford; William Hurtin, Wallkill; William S. Little,

Mount Hope; Thomas Van Etten, Deer Park. Recording secretary, John

Wilson, Goshen. Corresponding secretary, Joseph W. Gott, Goshen.

Treasurer, Charles Monell, Goshen. Executive committee, Frederic J.

Retts, Samuel Wait, Jr., Leonard Lee, Phineas Rumsey, Alexander

Thompson, Charles Dill, Thomas W. Bradner.

Of the officers then elected not one survives. So long has been the

time that has passed, and so many and so great the changes that have

taken place since its organization, that the management of the

society is now in the hands of men, few of whom knew any of its

founders. Although they were prominent men, well-known in their day

and generation, even their names are not familiar to a majority of

its members to-day.

The first fair was held at Goshen, November 17, 1841; and although it

was very late in the season, and there had been but little time for

preparation, it gave such general satisfaction that the success of

the society was assured. The cattle, sheep and swine were shown on

the grounds adjacent to the Presbyterian church; the horses were

exhibited on Main street, and the other exhibits in the Old court

house. Ninety-seven premiums were awarded amounting to $210, besides

twenty-one agricultural periodicals.

The second fair was held at Goshen, October 12, 1842. The premiums

offered amounted to $333, exclusive of thirty-five agricultural books

and papers, distributed as follows: Farms, $45; cattle, $113; horses,

$38; sheep, $31; swine, $8; butter, $44; agricultural products, $54.

The county newspapers of that time said "The exhibition was in the

highest degree creditable to the agricultural interests of the

county. The people assembled in thousands to witness the exhibition,

and thronged the streets in numbers equaled on but few occasions

before. The exhibition of domestic manufactures graced the interior

of the new court house."

The third fair was held October 4, 1843. Five thousand persons were

estimated to have been in attendance. One hundred and thirteen

premiums were awarded amounting to $325, besides twenty-eight

publications. The following extract from the annual report of the

president, Hon. Frederic J. Retts, is a reminder of changed

conditions: "About thirty samples of butter were exhibited, and the

committee of judges announced that twenty-six of the specimens they

believed could not be beat in the world. In superlatives there is no

comparative degree, and it is difficult to say, therefore, who stands

first in such a category. Our wives and our daughters are our

dairy-women, and while they so ably sustain the agricultural

reputation of the county, Old Orange need have no fears for her rank

as a farming county."

In 1846 the society for the first time held its fair on two days. In

that year the first plowing match took place and was an interesting

feature of the exhibition. Each competitor was required to plow

one-fourth of an acre in seventy-five minutes, including two rests of

five minutes each.

At the annual meeting in 1847, mainly through the efforts of the

Newburgh members, the constitution of the society was so amended that

the annual fair was thereafter to be held at Goshen every alternate

year and the rest of the time at other places.

In 1848 it was held at Newburgh. The mechanical display was made on

the porch of the court house, the grain and vegetables in the main

hall, the fruit and domestic manufactures in the court room and

within the railing, the horses were shown on Liberty street, and the

cattle on a lot west of it. The plowing match took place on the farm

of Captain Robinson. County Judge A. M. Sherman was one of the

competitors--he held his own plow, performed his work in the shortest

time, and received one of the premiums.

In 1850 the fair was held at Montgomery. The articles were exhibited

under a tent, the cattle were loose in an adjoining field, the horses

were shown on Union street; $95 were awarded in premiums on cattle,

$57 on horses, $60 on sheep and swine, $14 on butter and $27 on

plowing.

At Middletown in 1852, the fair grounds were located in the eastern

part of the village and were known as the Ogden Track. At the

suggestion of Colonel Israel H. Wickham (then president), the society

had purchased a large tent, in which all articles were exhibited.

Nearly all the cattle were tied to posts, and the horses for the

first time were exhibited on a track.

The fourteenth fair was held at Chester.

The second fair held at Newburgh, October 8 and 9, 1856, was a great

success. The society's tent was erected on grounds attached to

Washington's Headquarters, north of which were posts with ties for

cattle and pens for other animals, the adjacent lot on the south was

used for loose cattle. Arrangements were made with the trustees of

the village, and with the owners of property on South William,

Liberty and other streets, for the exclusive use of portions of these

streets for the exhibition of horses. The plowing match and a trial

of plows took place a short distance south of Headquarters. Special

attractions were for the first time provided--there was a parade of

the entire fire department of the village and a boat race under the

auspices of the Newburgh Regatta Association.

In 1858 the second fair at Montgomery was said to have been one of

the best then held in the county. One hundred and ninety-seven

premiums were awarded.

In 1860 the fair was again held at Middletown. The published accounts

represent it to have been still more successful than it had been

eight years before.

During these first twenty years of the society's existence it was

customary for the executive committee to meet at an early day, fix a

date for the fair, prepare a premium list, select judges, and have

all published gratuitously in the newspapers of the county. These

early fairs were generally satisfactory. The grounds not being

enclosed, no admission fee was charged. Articles were exhibited in

public halls until 1850, and after that in a tent. The expenses were

light, the premiums few and payment was obtained from membership fees

and the State appropriation, supplemented by private contributions

procured by personal importunity.

At the annual meeting in 1861 the executive committee was empowered

to raise by stock subscription a sum of money sufficient to purchase

or lease suitable grounds, and to erect buildings and fences

thereon--the grounds to be in the vicinity of Goshen. The committee

leased the grounds known as the Goshen Driving Park and issued

certificates of stock, in shares of $25 each, bearing interest at the

rate of ten per cent, per annum. The number of shares was fixed at

100, and no person was permitted to subscribe for more than one

share. All the stock was promptly taken, and the building

(Agricultural Hall) occupied by the society from 1862 to 1874. During

this period the interests of the turf were predominant and not

entirely regarded as creditable exhibitions of the products of the

farm, the workshop, or the home.

In 1866 the society was reorganized and incorporated. Having failed

to secure a renewal of the lease for the grounds, it was determined

that the fair building should be sold at auction, and on the 20th of

December it was sold for $300. The proceeds of the sale were in part

applied to the payment of debts, the balance was divided pro rata

among the stockholders, who, as an element of the society, then

ceased to exist.

In 1874 the society was therefore composed only of members. It was

without grounds. It was out of funds and out of debt--having neither

assets nor liabilities. Its exhibitions held many years at Goshen,

the residents of that village had tired of them, and the people in

other sections of the county took but little interest in them.

Several of its leading managers were so absorbed in horse trotting

that other departments had been neglected. The number of entries had

been reduced to less than 400. The attendance of visitors was

comparatively small, and the membership had dwindled to about

seventy.

Under these discouraging circumstances, such of the officers as

continued to take an interest in the society accepted the invitation

of citizens of Montgomery to hold the thirty-fourth fair in that

village. The result fully vindicated the wisdom of their action. More

than 1,000 entries were made. Many new members were enrolled,

prominent among whom was the Rev. L. L. Comfort, whose influence and

example did much to elevate it from the condition into which it had

fallen. The fairs continued to be held at Montgomery for four years,

during which time the treasury was replenished and a surplus fund

formed which in 1887 amounted to about $8,000.

The memorable fair in 1878, held at Washingtonville, was the

beginning of a new era. For the first time in twenty years no

trotting or racing was seen on the grounds. It was in all respects a

legitimate and successful exhibition, and was only excelled by that

of the following year, held at the same place, when nearly 2,600

entries were made, and 800 premiums, amounting to more than $1,500,

awarded. During these two years the Orange County fair was raised to

the high plane that it has since occupied.

At Warwick in 1880 and 1881 the excellence of its exhibitions were

fully maintained. The additions then made to the society's membership

rolls, and to its council board, were of great value, and were

largely instrumental in securing the successes of subsequent years.

In 1882 the fair was located at Middletown, where it remained three

years, exceeding in magnitude of display all former ones. The record

of over 1,100 membership fees received, and of 379 entries of horses

the third year, have not since been broken.

The status of the society not being in harmony with the articles of

association, at the annual meeting in 1884, new articles of

association were adopted and signed, and a new certificate of

incorporation and reorganization filed with the secretary of state

and with the county clerk.

The next three fairs held at Newburgh witnessed such exhibitions of

the results of industry and skill as had never before been seen in

this county. The visit of Governor Hill in 1887, was the first time

the society bad been honored with the presence of the chief

executive of the State on its fair grounds.

In 1888 and 1889 the fairs were held at Goshen. The number of entries

was fully up to the average of recent fairs, while the quality of the

exhibits in several departments had never been better. At the first

of these fairs the society was honored with an address by the Hon.

Norman J. Coleman, United States Commissioner of Agriculture.

The semi-centennial fair at Port Jervis in 1890, and that of 1891,

were in all respects, very successful. In the latter year the whole

number of entries was 5,120, nearly 700 more than at any former fair.

In the domestic department nearly 1,200 entries were made, evincing

in many ways woman's inventive genius and patient industry. The

exhibition of articles of historic interest has never been equaled in

this county.

The society's second visit to Warwick was in 1892 and 1893. The

presence of Governor Flower, with the 5th and 10th Separate Companies

of Newburgh as his military escort, was a noteworthy event.

The fairs of 1894, 1895 and 1896, held at Newburgh, are said to have

been the greatest the Society has ever held. The number of entries in

certain classes will give some idea of its magnitude. Cattle, 272

entries; horses, 116; poultry, 1,502; bench shows, 208; mechanical,

238; grain and vegetables, 849; fruit, 1,144; flowers, 204; culinary,

310; domestic 990; miscellaneous, 223. Total in all classes, 6,084.

The exhibition of school work not entered for competition was a

revelation to thousands of visitors of the work now being done by the

pupils of public, private and parochial schools.

After the fair of 1896, the managers of the society being unable to

obtain a satisfactory lease of the grounds for a term of years,

purchased the Campbell Track Grounds at Middletown, April 16, 1897.

These grounds are well adapted to fair purposes, and when

contemplated improvements are made they will compare favorably, in

convenience and beauty, with any fair grounds in the State.

The last eleven fairs have been held on these grounds. They are

events of such recent occurrence that historic interest does not yet

attach to them. It may, however, be well to say that these eleven

exhibitions have been in magnitude and excellence highly creditable

to the society.

The society occupies a prominent place in the front rank of the

agricultural societies of the State. Organized to promote

agriculture, horticulture, the mechanic and household arts, it has

not lost sight of these objects. During the sixty-eight years of its

existence, in times of prosperity and seasons of adversity, in peace

and in war, it has never failed to hold its annual fair. It is a

society whose reputation is unblemished, whose honor is bright, whose

record is clean; a society that has not sacrificed right for

expediency nor won temporary success at the expense of principle; a

society that has never repudiated its debts but has honorably

discharged all its obligations; a society that has always paid its

premiums in full and never paid them pro rata; a society whose fair

grounds have not been noisy with the voices of fakirs, defiled with

the devices of gamblers nor desecrated by immoral shows, but have

been consecrated to legitimate exhibitions; a society whose

management during the years that are gone has been such that no rival

society (town or district) has ever been organized within the limits

of the county, to sap the sources of its prosperity, limit the sphere

of its operations, or lessen the extent of its influence--a fact

without a parallel in the State.

Presidents, Secretaries and Treasurers of The Orange County

Agricultural Society from 1841 to 1908.

_Presidents._

John Caldwell, Blooming Grove 1841

Frederic J. Betts, Newburgh 1842-1846

William Murray, Jr., Goshen 1847

Henry Robinson, Newburgh 1848

Robert Denniston, Blooming Grove 1849

Allen M. Sherman, Newburgh 1850

Edward. L. Welling, Warwick 1851

Israel H. Wickham, Wallkill 1852

John J. Heard, Goshen 1853

Seely C. Roe, Chester 1854

John H. Morris, Goshen 1855

Henry Robinson, Newburgh 1856

Seely C. Roe, Chester 1857

Hamilton Morrison, Montgomery 1858

Alden Goldsmith, Blooming Grove 1859

William H. Houston, Warwick 1860

James S. Hopkins, Hamptonburgh 1861

Alfred B. Post, Goshen 1862

Thomas Edsall, Goshen 1863

Alanson Gillespie, Goshen 1864

Charles M. Shons, Blooming Grove 1865

_Vice-Presidents._

One from each town 1841-1861

Hamilton Morrison, Montgomery 1862-1865

_Corresponding Secretaries._

Samuel Wait, Jr., Montgomery 1841

Joseph W. Gott, Goshen 1841-1847

Daniel D. Boice, Newburgh 1848

Benjamin F. Dunning, Goshen 1849

William F. Sharpe, Goshen 1850

Hamilton Morrison, Montgomery 1851-1857

David A. Morrison, Montgomery 1858-1865

_Treasurers._

Charles Monell, Goshen 1841

Charles Downing, Newburgh 1842-1846

John J. Heard, Goshen 1847

Charles Downing, Newburgh 1848

Benjamin F. Duryea, Goshen 1849

Charles Downing, Newburgh 1850

David F. Gedney, Goshen 1851

William M. Graham, Goshen 1852

William M. Beakes, Goshen 1853

George W. Roe, Chester 1854

William M. Sayer, Goshen 1855-1859

Archibald L. Beyea, Goshen 1860

William M. Sayer, Goshen 1861-1865

Reorganization--1866.

_Presidents._

Ellis A. Post, Goshen 1866-1872

Alden Goldsmith, Blooming Grove 1873

Hamilton Morrison, Montgomery 1874

Alden Goldsmith, Blooming Grove 1875-1877

Rev. L. L. Comfort, Montgomery 1878

Hon. A. Dennison, Blooming Grove 1879-1908

_Vice-Presidents._

Hamilton Morrison, Montgomery 1866-1873

Alfred B. Post, Goshen 1870-1874

Hamilton Morrison, Montgomery 1875-1881

Virgil Thompson, Wallkill 1875-1881

Aug. Denniston, Blooming Grove 1877-1878

Henry C. Weir, Chester 1879-1884

W. Egbert Arnout, Wawayanda 1880

Grinnell Burt, Warwick 1880-1882

Henry E. Alvord, Cornwall 1884

Moses D. Stivers, Wallkill 1881-1888

Lawson Valentine, Cornwall 1887-1888

Benjamin C. Sears, Blooming Grove 1889-1901

William D. Barns, Newburgh 1889-1898

Edward A. Brown, Middletown 1899-1908

_Secretaries._

David A. Morrison, Montgomery 1866

Roswell C. Goleman, Goshen 1867

George W. Millspaugh, Goshen 1868

David A. Morrison, Montgomery 1869-1908

_Treasurers._

George W. Greene, Goshen 1866-1867

Jason W. Corwin, Goshen 1868-1876

Benjamin B. Johnston, Montgomery 1877-1880

Samuel S. Van Saun, Warwick 1881-1882

William B. Royce, Wallkill 1882-1892

Samuel S. Van Saun, Warwick 1893-1894

Harry M. Waring, Newburgh 1895-1897

Henry M. Howell, Middletown 1898-1908

_Directors._