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In all there are forty men. They told me they had their right under New Inglan said their land bole good for 50 miles up the river and that they would fight for it to the bitter end. The settlement is prosperous, some have four or five acres of Indian corn, some three,some two, No wheat. They live in good log houses covered with white pine shingles, or noards, There are vast quantities of that kind of timber there and very fine. There is a scarcity of wheat bread They get the earn in cenoes tron Kinisink. None of the settlers were arrested and the matter was dropped. But in 1765 as was seen in this chapter the Indian changed the who Aspect for'a time' 1
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CHAPTER XIII
DELAWARE VALLEY September 13,1927
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It is because we have had men who vere willing to suffer, to die, to .. and to sacrifice that we have a country such as America is today; and bythat spirit. only that America will be held as the countre we love and au It.give # inepriation to think of those men, and women, too, for they had their mission to fulfill in the struggle, hardy and determined to open a wilderness to civilization. It was accomplished by quiet sensible, honest, real men, Where would we today find men to push forward, on and on, as did the pioneers of this now peaceful valley of the Delaware, then full of danger and death? Buch de- pendeble mon aro few indeed.
CAPTAIN BAZALKEL TYLER
Cpatian Bamaleel Tyler, a martyr of the Minisink, was born in Findhan County Conn. February 26,1745. He came with bas parents to the Cushotunk (Cochecton) calley in about 1754, and was the oldest of a family of three sons and three daughters. Having come to a land without schools his educational advantages were few bat possessing fine antrual abilities he added to his knowledge from such books as he was able to procure. He married in early manhood a daughter of Dr.John Calkin, a member of the Delaware Land Co. who had come tothe Cocheet ton Valley when the Tylers did. Young Tyler bought a tract of land on the Penn- sylvania side of the Delaware nearly opposite where Old Cochecton stands and cleared upon it a fine farm which later passed into the possession of the Bushes and which remained in the Bush family for over eighty years. In 1775 associated with Daniel Skinner, Captain Tyler bought a tract of land on Hollis- ter Creek and they built a sawmill. in those primval days the woods and streads teamed with meat and fish but groceries and subh necessities were hard to get. For these they were obliged to go down to Peenpack, now Port Jarvis, and the takk was a tedious one. From the Cochecton Valley Peenpack lay in direct route to the New England settlemente. Captain Tyler was frequently engagede in transporting supplies from Penapack for the settlers bringing then both by land and water. In doing this he became very familiar with the wild territory lying between the two places. This knowledge of the country made his services valuable to Col Hawthorne in the pursuit of Brandt and the Indians from the Peenpack Massacre.
At the beginning of the troubles between Great Britain and her colonies the settlers whocame under the auspices of the Delaware Land Company with Captain Tyler as leader espoused the cause of the colonies and were called Whigs, while the old settlers, or those who claimed titleto yhr lund undet grante for the provinces of New York or New Jersey, desired to remain neutral inthe coming con-' test for fear of exciting the hostilities of the Indians and were called Tories Much ill feeling had existed between these parties following the advent of the Connecticut claimants, After the murder of the Carter family in 1777, by the Indians many of the Whigs removed with their families to Minisink or Goshez for safety.
THE WHIG-TORT AFFAIR
At the exact time Captain Tyler left his home is but conjecture, but he stopped at Peenpack and was at once appointed Captain over a company of scouts organe- zed by the Committed of Safety of Mamakating. The Capt with his company made several trips to Cocheston and Callicoon. to regulate suspicious chatters and make reprisals. The Tories appeopåated the abandoned property of their former Whig neighbors and to counteract the scouts drove away the cattle of the Tories and made prisoners of the most prominent Tories. On one of these expeditions Capt. Tyler and his company met a Tory who vam riding a horse that he had stole: from a Thig at Peenpack. On his attempt to escape capture the Tory was shot and the horse captured. Near Big aland between Cocheston and Callicoon the party stopped at the house 'of a Tory. As sosmed to be usual on these occas- ions the male members of the house wore absent, but the women advised the party to retreat, giving the reason that Brandt and 500 Indians were at the house of Captain Boas at Callicoon, Capt. Tyler did not beed this counsel but crossed the river to the Pennsylvania sido. Capt. Tyler with some of his men reconoiter ed to see if theyhad been Lied to. When theyarrived opposite the house of apt Rous they discovered a large party of Indians. This decided then to turn down the Delaware again, When they reached Big Eddy they must Robert Land and a dan
DELAWARE VALLEY 25 named Davis, coming up the river in a conos. They were arrested and taken to Peenpack where they were lodged in jail. They were later released and Land and his family made their way to Canada as matters wore beconing disagreeable for him along the Delaware. (We will sefer to him in a succeeding article) BRANDT'S ATTACK
On the 19th of July 1779, Brandt with some 300 Mohawk warriors and Tory allies attacked the Poenpack settlement and destroyed a church and prist mill and twer ty or more buildings, killed a number of men, women and children, He then re- . treated up the river driving with him cattle and horses and confiscating a large quantity of moveable goods. The militia of Orange county and ti fugitives of Pennpack, thex devasted village under command of Colonel Tusten and Col. Hawthorne, hastily organized and began a pursuit of the offenders. Capt.Tyler, Bliver Calkin, Moses Thomas wd, refugees from Cochecton, joined the company as volunteers and engaged in the memorable fight of July 22,1779.Calki: escapod but Thouss and Tiler were killed. There certainly must have been more than these three men from Pennsylvania in this battle but history fails to have recorded their names. Forty years after this fight the bones of all these martyrs were gathered together, taken to Goshen and buried with appompiste ceremonies and a suitable monument erected to their memory. It is said that Cai Tyler was shot by a Tory who managed to get near him. History gives praise to Tyler's actions on that memorable battle field. His descendants have furnished names of honorin succeeding wars; the War of 1812 and the Civil War and sealed their devotion to the Union with their blood. SKETCH OF PARKU
We deem this chapter a suitable place to speak of Josiah Parks," the forehand of Admiral Daniel Skinner;s second raft run down the Delaware. Parks was born in New London, Conn, in 1745 and was the first white man to settle atzquisunk At an early age be served on a British man-of-war, where he distinguished himsel for bragery and was ,ade a bontavain. Upon leaving the navy ho settled in UI- ster Co. N.Y., where he remained until the begining of the Revolutionary War. He entered the Continental army as a scout his field of action being the country lying between the Hudson and the Delaware rivers, a region infested by loyalists and their savage allies, the Indians. At one time be went to the Wyoming valley and warned the settlers of the impending massacre, few heeded the warning and these he brought back with hin to the Cochecten Valley. At some time before the Revolutionary War Parks migrated with his family to Equinunk, teaching it by the open gateway to this section, the Delaware river, pushing a cando, with all his earthly possessions and his family, against its strong current. Ho and his family lived for some time in a cave at Equinunk where was born to then soon after 1776 a daughter the first white bhild born in that lo- cality. Because of his occupation as scout he became the especial object of hatred by the Tories, On one occasion they took him prisoner, but while they made preparation to roasthim he escaped. Binally being warned by a friendly Indian of a plot to absolutely destroy him he again put Bis family in a conoo and when the Delaware was in flood and filled with floating ice , pushed down the stream until he reached the protection of the little blockbouse ,or fort #1 Cochecton. Parks returned to Equinuak but was again obliged to leave. Undauntı he again returned to enjoy the peace that had come to the country at the suc- cessful ending of the long siete of war, and no longer a scout be went unmo- lested. He built a house on Equinunk Island which then belonged to Pennsylvania it is reasonable to suppose that the intrepid pathfinder cleared the land and got the peace and quiet of life that h'wo ardently worked to bring about. At one time it is said he owned Stockpott Flats, but sold them for a mero pittance was always poor in purse and died that way. Kra. Prudence hakia vas one of his daughters. Along the Delaware is given precedence for its first clearing by white men; the first Masonic Lodge; the first Delavare River Bridg the first haw and grist mills, the first fort, the first Justice of the Peace, the first town meeting, called by Meses Thomas; the first church, the first frant house erected in 1796 bu John Land, a two story structure that stands in good condition today; the first Indian battle fought; the first store started; the first raft sobstructed. the fisst turnpike muilt across the larges t town- dhip in Wayne County.
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September 20,1927
DELAWARE VALLEY 26
Basaleel Tyler who came to the Cochecton valley, married a sister of Dr. John Calkin, These brothers-in-law came here at the solicitation of Josoph Greswald, who purchased an unusuallylarge tract of land extending eastward from the Delaware, the date of their coming being around 1754, Dr. Calkin and wife had a family of seven chiodre, four sons and three daughters. John the oldest con settled near Earlville; Oliver, the second mon settled on the Cochecton Flats; Moses the third son settled somewhere along the Cheming river and Abner, the fourth son. settled along the Mohawk river.
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Oliver Calkin was mora in 1750, In 1735 he married Hannah Thomas, daughter of Hoses Thouss and she was the eight year old girl who so heroically wielded a maket in the blockhouse in the Cushetunk settlement on that memorable figh with the Indians in 1763. Four years following his marrigge, Oliver took part in the battle of the Minigink. July 22,1779. Oliver escaped injury in the battle. The year following the massacre, Dr.Calkin, his son Oliver and their families returned to their homes in the Cochecton villey whence they had in 1778 fled to Goshen for safety. The Doctor and his wife, upon their return, made their bobe with their son Oliver until after the latter's death. Both vore laid to rest in Sales where they were born. They saw many hardships and privations in frontier life in what is now the peaceful valley of the Dela- rare.
THE HARDENBURGH PATENT
In 1753, four years preceding his death by drowning in the summer of 1787 whi fording the Delawareriver at the head of Pine Flats, near Banking, Oliver Calkin purchased lot # 63 of the Hardenburgh Patentcontaining more than 3000 acres. He should say he contracted for this fend for he did not have the purchase price to put down. The Hardenburgh Patent was granted to Johannes Hardenburgh and eight others in 1708 but was not surveyed ner divided until 1749. At that time nearly all the original patentees were dead. It was sur- voyed into large lots and then these subdivided that the heirs might receive equal shares. This 3000 acre purchase included all the upper end of the Coch- coton Flats taking in where the village of Cochecton now stands and miles of timbered lands back east on the river hills, Just prior to asi denth he had built a large and for those days, imposing dwelling house in what is now Cochecton, which for many years was occupied by thewidow, her son Homes and his son Ezra, the latter raming it in 1875 and replacing it with a more modern structure. So many of these heirs lived in what was thes Cochecton, the settl ment on the first terrace from the river eastward along the turnpike, that the place was called Befrayille but Cochecton was the name used when a post office was established in 1810 with Evenezer Taylor as postmaster. THE CALKIN FAMILY
When Oliver Calkin died he was survived by his wife and six children. The oldest child, a daughter, Eleanor, born in 1776, became the wife of Ebenezer Taylor. One of her daughters married James Curtis; this made her the great- grandmother of the Curtisges and Drakes and other descendants. Sarah, bora in 1778 married Nathan Skinner, a many who had been educated in Conn., was a surveyor. He kept an historical record of the happenings in the Cochectoa Valley in regard to the early settlers. In 1715 be removed his family from Cochecton to Milanville, where he had purchased of his brother-in-law, John Land a tract of 400 acres paying for the same $10,000. Bazaleel Calkin forn in 1780 married Polly Rous! Weighty bora in 1783 became the wife of Charles Irvine,s man of great learning who came from Ireland to Cochecton Valley and established the first school taught there. This was prior to 1800. Moses Çalkin, born in 1785 married Elizabeth Mitchell; Oliver W. born ia 1787 married Maria Theresa Smith of Litchfield, Coan, whose father vas a teacher at that plaos. Nones and Oliver H. bad attended the school, After their marriage they mottled pear Mariville, N.Y. A TOMLAX PIONEER
At the death of our former subject, Oliver Calkin, his wife wound she had a heavy load to bear- an unpaid for estate and sis small children, but she had not lost all the bracery shpunby ber as an eight year old handling a gun when the Indians besieged De fert; s= 1763.To prove this, as soon as she .
DELAWARE VALLEY could become strong enough for a long journey she took her babe, then only three 27
months old, in her arms, and went by horseback to Kingston via Port Jervis, fol- lowing a path through the wilderness. Kingston was at that time the county seat and tjhe trip approached 100 miles. At Kingston she took out letters of admin istration on the estate of her husband, and returned to her home in Cosbecton without mishap.in so long a trip. Her good business ability and sound judgment in the management of the affairs of the estate that she soon had it cleared of all indebtedness.
In about 1790 Job Jonesy a school teacher, camo from Dutchess county N.Y.,
to the Cochecton to engage in his profession. Ne mot the widow Calkin, a brief courtship followed a subsequent marriage. Jones was a Justice of the Peace, a man of strict business integrity and very ably aided his wife. in themanagement of the property. How lang they lived together is not recorded but he left home one day saying he was going oto visit his relatives. Strange to say he never returned nor could any trace of him be found afterward.
Being a woman of good common sense and having seen through much hardship the loss even of a second husband did not discourage her.She possessed strong re- ligious convictions and always befriended preachers who came to preach to the settlers along the Delaware. When a church was organized in 1812 she became a member. In 1809 she divided the estate amongut ber children reserving a living room only in the homestead with provision and clothing for her myse.
This remarkable and good woman entered into eternal rest in the old bome built by her first husband then occupied by her son Moses in May 1832 and was buried beside her husband, Oliver Calkin in the Milanville cemeteryadjoining the farm upon which she was born.all of her children were church members and all but one Presbyterians.
Moses Calkin the fifth child bora to Oliver Calkin and his wife Hannah Thomas, born in 1785, married Elizabeth Mitchell, December 11,1811.To thea eight children were born, vis; James Morris, in 1813, married Fidelia Harris, Abijah Mitchell in 1815, married Augusta Bedden, Ruth M. in 1818 died in 1847. Ellery Timothy, born in 1821, married Hannah Page, Hannah J. born in 1823married John P. Roosa, Je- rusha J. born in 1826 married SchuylerDuryea, Ezra Fiske born in 1829 married Mary A. Roosa in 1857. Samuel Kowell born in 1832 died in 1833.
Bazaleel Calkin,son of Oliver and brother of Moses just mentioned moved from the old homestead in Cochecton to Big Island and later to a section above Callicoon thus forming another branch on the family tree. He was a grandson f thepioneer Dr. John Calkin. Bazaleel married Polly Ross and to then were born several sons of whom were William T. and Alfred. The former fought in the Rebellion. After the war and his marrigge to a Binghamton woman he migrated tp Missouri where be died in 1903. He was born in Cochecton on Dec.8,1822. Alfred was born on Cochecton June 15,1809. In 1830 he married Sarah loss. To them were born six children three of whom died in infancy. Those attaining maturityvere James R., Bazalcel and Maria 8. James never marriedHe died in 1909. Baraleel was born Jan.22,1837, and died in 1914. The latter married Ida King in 1874 and their offapring were Minnie, who married J. A.Biedekapp, of Banden, N. Y., Jennie L, who ! married Harry Randale of Callicoon, and Grover C. of Hempstead, L. I. Oliver R. brother of William T. was born in Coobecton July 1,11815 and died Feb.27,1892. B married Olive Bennett. Five sons and six daughters were born to them. Freonen Calhin Born June 15,1809 was also a native of Cochecton a brother of Alfred and s.of Baraleel.Be married Kathryn Sprague. He died in 1875 and his wife in 1906. Thr children were born tothem, Roscoe D. Rosetta wife ofv. V. Ross, and Maria C. Bana- leelCalkin, a son of Bazaleel was born Dec. 8,1819, He married Amanda Bennet sister of Olive who married his brother Oliver K.Calkin. Both Kr. and Mrs.Calkin died in Michigan. Ellery T. Calkin and brother Bara F. both stayed in Cochec- ton and died there. Both were men of integrity motive in business and progressis community builders , exemplary citizens. The former left ne progeny; the latter left two sons and three daughters, only one of whom is now a resident of Cochec- toniirs, Itta Calkin Barr who resides in the parental home built by her father in 1875 on the same site her grandfather, Noses Calkin build when he contracted for Lot 63.
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DELAWARE VALLET 28
September 27,1937
THE MITCHELL FAMILY
The summer of 1636 Jonathan Mitchell and two brothers left England for A- merica. Jonathan Mitchell und one brother arrived. Jonathan Mitchell was graduated from Harvard in 1647. The Kitobella were not a spineless family ; they fortified themselves with two powerful weapons- the rifle and the Bible the symbol of war and the symbol of peace. They were associated with the king of England, the Mayflower and the Presbyterian church. Sometime during the eighteenth century Nathan Mitchell the second, found his way to Cochecton New York called at that time by the old Indian name of Cushetunk. This was what was known as Old Town and lies a little east of the Erie lines, which caused the starting of New Cochecton.
Records show that Hanban Mitchell had been sent by Minigink to look after the safety of the settlers. Me first built a log cabin then fell to clearing the land surrounding it. These were the days of Whigs and Tories and the relation shep of the two factions was not amiable. In one sense of the worl the latter might be called hypocrites and scouts were sent out to regulate them. Başa- jeel Tyler a cousins of athan Mitchell was captain over a band of scouts. here are some people who from the very nature of things bold the destiny of wventa in the hollow of their band. Such a one was Grandmother Mitchell, "Aunt Kabby"the youngest child of Captain Tyler, born in Poughkeepsie, Oct.1779. She was gifted with ad/remarkable memory and could recite past events so vi- vidly and correctly that she won for herself a placein the history of the Mitchells. Mrs. Mitchell had a premonition that all was not wellat the bone of Bryant Kane and want horseback to the home. She found the entire family murdered and the struggle pfor life so great that one little boy was found some distance from the cabin, dead. This was in April 1777. This followed the Indian raid of 1763. The Indians were determined to wige out the white raco. The Minisink Mangaere soon followed. Capt. Tyler and Homes Thomas, II, wana martyrs of this battle, were second cousins of Amos T.Mitchell, Aunt Nobby Mitchell knew in her early days mich trouble and sorrow. She was left an orphan at the age of five. The funeral of her mother was private and at its conclusion the body of ber dear mother was placed by loving bands in the family skiff and floated down the Delaware to the Milanville cemetery. The little orphan was not permitted togo but she stood upon the bank and watched the skiff drift out of sight. At the age of nineteen she married Joseph Mitchell and to them ten children were born, aino reaching adult age. When the monument to the dead bezpes pf the Minisink was dedicated July 22,18 1862, the most distinguished person present was Aunt Nabby Mitchell. She was called hence en Soppeaber 1867, at the home of her daughter Krs. A.B. Hubbard. Jonathan Mitchell seems to have been of a roving nature. he died in Stanford Conn. 1645, aged 55 years. His con Jonathan, 2nd, was born in England in 1624 a and was eleven years of age when he came to America. He graduated from Marvar in 1647 and was ordained to the ministry in 1650 and took the pastorate of the second Presbyterian Congregational Church in Cambridgelass, Not long afte: ward he married Miss Stephens, daughter of his predeessor He died at the age of 44 lesving no heirs. .
Davis the second mon of Jonathan had four sons, vir, MatthewJohn, Abraham and "athan, They afil settled in Conn. Matthew, the oldest son of Davis is said to have named his son Jonathan Ard. Be bad in turn two sons, Nathanves grandfathe of our subject Anos T.Mitchell. To him is accorded the honor of being the forbear of all the Mitchells in what was called the Cocheston Valley. He was the great-great- grandson of Jonathan Mitchell whe first came to the new world.
XATRAX MITCHELL
Mathan Mitchell And migrated from New Jersey coming about the middle of the - 18th century. 1755,settling upon land about one milenorth of Cochecton Falla now owned by John Bobaltz. The Indian dialect for Cochecton' was Cashingtunk. The teff If Cochecten was formed in 1828, Mathan Mitchell was a This and when the Indian outbreaks began would have gone to a place of safety with the otehr settlers but his wife was a Tary and wished to stay noar her relatives in Cusbetunk. We Meanearly lost his Liffe at the bands of the scouts at ose ! timo.
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DELAWARE VALLEY
time. He had on a cap of a design worn by the Tories for-protection from the Indians. He saw scouts coming and took for the woods closely pursued and just as they were about to shoot he was recognized by them and a tragedy was averted. The family of Nathan Mitchell and his wife, Elizabeth Ross, were Hannah b. Nov. 8,1772; Sarah, Dec. 23,1773; Nathan Feb.14,1775; Joseph, Dec. 7,1777 ; John, Aug.26, 1780; James, Jan. 28, 1783. (He was father of our subject, )mos T. Mitchell). Stephen March 15,1725; Abraham Mitchell Aug.14,1786; Elizabeth May 11,1788; Jane Aug. 1790; Isaac, Feb.29,1892; Jacob, July 15,1795; Lyria, Feb. S, 1797 ; Mary Sept. 13, 1798. Nathan Mitchell, father of these thingsammmh 14 children was born Aug, 9m1739, but no record available states whether he was born in Connecticut Colony or in New Jersey. He died in Sept.1822. Elizabeth Ross, mother of these fourteen children and wife of Nathan Mitchell was born Nov. 8,1754 and died March 11, 1811. Hannah Mitchell married David Bush of Stroudsburg; Sarah married Amos Tyler; Nat] an 3rd married Anna Brown, Joseph married Abigail Tyler; James married Martha Drake; daughter of Jesse Drake, and was called Patty; Stephen married Hannah Raymond; Abraham married Mary Smith. Elizabeth married Bazaleel Tyler; Jane married Adonidah Hunt, Isaac married Urssla Smith; Jacob married Mary Skinner ; Lydia married Alsup Baldwin; Mary married Douglas Davidson, AMOS MITCHELL
Our subject, Amos T. Mitchell Gon of James Mitchell and Martha Drake Mitchell, was born Jan. 23,1783, His father, James died Aug. 26, 1841. Martha Drake Mitchell wife of James and mother of our subject, Amos T, Mitchell, was born in Jan. 1787 and died December 27, 1857. (The Drakes will be more fully mentioned in the Drake genealogy. ) Amost T. Mitchell was norn Feb. 8,1803 and died at his home on Four Story Kill on the old Cochecton and Great Bend turnpike, near Rileyville on May 22,1682. He was a direct descendant of the Cochecton Valley Mitchells was always active physically, progressive and upright. Eis advice was frequently sought by men throughout a wide circle. He owned a large acreage of well tilled land. Since his death this has passed into the possession of Otto S. Rutledge. Mr. Mitchell had a cheerful disposition tht won friends; a liberal hospitality that made his name popular. For many years he was an auctioneer. His good voice, ready wit, pleasant jokes, together with a knowledge of what merchandise was worth gave his service demand. He lived to see his three sons and five daughters all settled comfortably in homes of their own. The sons and daughters of Amos T. and Sally E. Conklin his wife were Marth M. born Oct.22,1832 died Oct. 22,1832; Ben- jamin C. born Nov. 14, 1833, died Nov. 11 .1920. Married Pamelia Brandmore, May wl, 1859, Margaret F. McCrusten Sept.11,1895. Was the father of two sonsand one dau. Apaliva H. born Nov. 7,1835 died Huly 21, 1915; married Virgil Mitchell, June 19, 1 1858; and was the mother of a son and daughter; Eliza T. born Dec. 5,1337, sur- vivors, married; (?)married Joseph L. Brush May 7,1857, is the mother of one son and three daughters Amos J. born March 31, 1840, died Oct. 25, 1921, married Fidelia Dodge, Nov.2,1865, was the father of eight sons and twodaughters, Ransom Y! Born June 11,1842, died in 1926; married Lydia A. Avery May17, 1865 and to them were born three sons and two daughters. The wife survives. Lauretta V. born September 27, 1843, married Theophilus Lukens Jan. 27,1864. Wife survives and is the mother of three sons and one daughter; Nancy U. born Feb. 23,1847, died Oct. 23,1902; married John O. Jackson Nov. 15,1866. To them were born four sons and three dau. Mary Alice born April 20,1854, survives, married Samuel H. Batl Oct.15, 1874, To them were born one son. '
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