Previous to the invasion of this neighborhood by the Indians, three
forts had been built in it in 1777 or '78; one at the house of Major
Decker, where George Cuddeback now lives, [FN-1] one at the house of
Daniel Van Auken, near the present brick house of James D. Swartwout,
Esq., [FN-2] and the other at the house of Peter Decker, in the
present village of Port Jervis. The fort at Major Decker's was
convenient for the families of Esq. Anthony Van Etten, Sylvester
Cortright, Capt. Westbrook, Moses Cortright, Abraham Van Auken, and
Schoonover; and the fort at Van Auken's was convenient for the
families of James Van Fliet, Solomon Kuykendall, Esq., Simon
Westfall, John Decker, and one or two other families; and the fort at
Decker's [FN-3] was convenient for the families of Wilhelmus Cole,
Martinus (Martin) Decker, Samuel Caskey, James Davis and Utley
Westbrook.
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[FN-1] Now (1889) occupied by Henry G. Cuddeback.
[FN-2] Now (1889) owned by Ludwig Laux.
[FN-3] Located upon the present site of the old stone house in
Germantown, formerly occupied by Stephen St. John, deceased, and his
family.
On the 20th of July, 1779, Brant, with a corps of Indians and Tories,
invaded this neighborhood. The occurrences of which and of the battle
of Minisink, one or two days afterwards, are contained in Eager's
History of Orange County, page 388, &c., relative to the invasion and
in relation to the battle see page 490, &c. There were about 18
families in this neighborhood who suffered in a greater or less
degree the effects of the war, and a great proportion of them lost
much property by the plunder and destruction which the enemy made by
taking some of the best horses, plundering houses of goods and
wearing apparel, burning of houses, barns and other buildings. In
addition to which a few prisoners were taken, two of whom were slaves
and two or more were killed. This invasion caused many of the best
citizens of Goshen and vicinity to volunteer and pursue the enemy.
The result of this was a more grievous calamity than the former, the
results of which can be obtained as mentioned.
The number of children and domestics of each family in the lower
neighborhood I cannot correctly determine, but contemplate the number
of children to have been nearly as follows, to wit:
Anthony Van Etten 15
Daniel Van Auken 15
Major John Decker 6
Moses Cortright about 7
Jacob Schoonover about 3
Abraham Van Auken " 4
Capt. John Westbrook " 7
John Decker, Sr. " 6
Sylvester Cortright " 4
____ Decker " 4
James Van Fliet " 8
Solomon Kuykendall None.
Simon Westfall " 6
Wilhelmus Cole " 4
Peter Kuykendall " 5
Samuel Caskey " 6
Martinus (Martin) Decker 3
Utley Westbrook 2
____
Whole number 105
The number of children of those 18 families, according to my
recollections, cannot have been less than 100, and may have been as
many as 110. How many of them grew up to years of maturity, or how
many died previous thereto I do not know. Major Decker had two or
three children by his first wife, who died young; and John Decker,
Sr., had one or more by his first wife, who also died young before
the war commenced, but all of them after the decease of their
respective mothers. The loss of a mother will affect the feelings of
some children much, and no doubt many a child dies in consequence of
the melancholy state of mind produced by such a bereavement. There
were two or more premature deaths of boys or young men, and there may
have been a few natural deaths in this neighborhood of which I have
no recollection.
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