USA > New York > Orange County > Monroe > Chronicles of Monroe in the olden time : town and village, Orange County, New York > Part 1
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
m 3 1833 01177 8526 E
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
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CHRONICLES
OF
MONROE 9
IN THE OLDEN TIME
TOWN AND VILLAGE ORANGE COUNTY. NEW YORK
BY REV. DANIEL NILES FREELAND
NEW YORK THE DE VINNE PRESS 1898
York Public
CENTRAL RESERVE
TRANS. TO CENTRAL RESERVE
Copyright, 1898, by DANIEL NILES FREELAND.
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Mp former belobed parishioners of Monroe, Rein york, and many other kind friends of the toton and billage of that name, both fibing and bead, is this modest bolume Dedicated.
It is a token of grateful appreciation of many kindnesses received by both me and mine, and intended to preserve, for the entertainment and instruction of their children, the memory of the history, incidents and sayings of by- gone age and generation. When I came to Monroe fifty · years since, I found then living many venerable people, remarkable for intelligence and clearness of memory, their range of vision extending almost to the War of the Revo- lution. Finding also I was standing on historic ground, the thought entered my mind to gather up some of the conversations and experiences of these aged ones before they should be called to the land "from whose bourn no traveller returns." From their lips much of the mate- rial was gathered. It was first a lecture, the very ink of which had almost faded out. But an urgent request
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V
PAGE.
CHAPTER.
XXII. LAWYERS AND LITIGATION 132
XXIII. CHURCHES AND CLERGY 137
XXIV. THE CAUSE OF TEMPERANCE 156
XXV. HUNTING AND FISHING . . 160
XXVI. MILITIA TRAINING . . 169
XXVII. THE SINGING SCHOOL 172
XXVIII. THE DEBATING SOCIETY 177
XXIX. LOVE OF LIBERTY AND PATRIOTISM . 180
XXX. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, MILITARY AND CIVIC . 184
XXXI. EARLY ROADS . 215
XXXII. ERIE RAILWAY . 219
XXXIII. APPEARANCE OF THE OLD VILLAGE 229
XXXIV. LANDMARKS OF MONROE . 237
XXXV. RECENT OCCURRENCES 243
viii
.
INTRODUCTION.
H AVING noticed that other parts of the county of Orange have received marked attention, and had their historians and investigators, while the town and village of Monroe seem to have been passed by, we have thought it would be of interest and some- what of the nature of a return for hospitalities re- ceived in said town, to investigate its early records and traditions and throw them into the form of a historic monograph for future preservation and study. The importance of this is evident from the fact that the old people are rapidly passing away, and unless some one should volunteer to gather up what they remember, they soon will have been gathered to the grave, "where there is no device nor knowledge." After a few years the opportunity will have gone irrecoverably. He, therefore, who has been cotem- porary with some of these aged ones is conferring a favor on the future in obtaining their reminiscences and giving them permanent form. The fact that so much must be derived from tradition, and that the historical documents and data are so meager and scat-
ix
tered, makes the task no easy one. When others have preceded us, they have chosen to dwell upon the mis- deeds of its famous marauder, rather than upon the achievements of its better citizens; and the rudeness of its early population; and its rocks rather than its progress in wealth, culture and all the elements of modern life. So they have conveyed a false impres- sion of its character and resources, until, indeed, some of its own people have been inclined, in view of our contemplated task, to say, "Can any good thing come out of Monroe ?" Our answer is of old, " Come and see." We purpose now to take compass, chain and knapsack, and endeavor to find some of the ancient landmarks, run some of the old courses and gather up such information concerning Monroe as will tend to reproduce, for the instruction of the present genera- tion, its topography, its ancient manners and such historical incidents as will exhibit its progress to the present day.
When the first survey was made, Charles Clinton noted in his Field Book that the needle pointed to the wealth of minerals which its very rocks contained. So its wealth, historical, archaeological, social, ethical and religious, attracts the needle of our affection, ex- citing our interest and study after years of absence. And now we propose as a labor of love to take com- pass and chain, and revisit the Highlands and Valleys, or Cloves as they were called, reviving personal remi- niscences, verifying historical incidents and bringing to record the results of some original investigations.
CHRONICLES OF MONROE IN THE OLDEN TIME.
CHAPTER I.
THE CHEESECOCK PATENT.
W HEN King John demanded of certain nobles of England by what authority they held their lands, they laid their hands on the hilts of their swords. But when any old settler of the town of Monroe was asked a similar question, he answered as promptly, and with as much of right, "By the grant of Queen Anne, in the document called the Cheesecock Patent." But if questioned further as to the reason for the name, and who procured the Patent, and when and how the lands were surveyed and dis- tributed, he could give little information. When we asked the question fifty years ago, Why is so singular a name given to that instrument ? we were told a cer- tain English Lord Cheesecock was active in its pro- curement. But in looking over books of heraldry and English history, we could find no such name, either among the nobility or the common people. We then tried to solve the mystery by connecting it with some dairy product or cheese cook or expert, but it failed to furnish a solution. Then we fancied that
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Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time.
the lay of the land might afford a clue, in the frequent occurrence of rounded knolls like Woodcock, Pedla and numerous similar formations in this region, which might be likened to haycocks or even rolls of cheese But that required too much imagination for the mat ter-of-fact people who were trying to find a home il the wilderness where they could have liberty to wor ship God and found a new commonwealth. We ther turned to the document itself, and found that it grant a certain tract of upland and meadow. Now in the Algonquin tongue the name for upland was Chis, up- kauk, land, and there it is the Highland Patent. The term " patent" or "letters patent " was applied to a document issued by an authorized party, granting an exclusive right to a tract of land or other property for a term of years. The sovereigns of England were accustomed to issue such letters patent to favorites and friends, parceling out and conferring the lands the government had acquired on this continent, as if feudal lords of the soil. As these lands were imper- fectly surveyed and were acquired some from the In- dians and some from the Dutch government, it is not strange that there should be confusion in the boun- daries and conflict in the grants. This very patent to which we refer was the occasion of no small liti- gation, while the grant on the northeast of it, the Cap- tain Evans patent, had to be recalled.
During the governorship of the colony of New York by Edward Hyde, under the title of Lord Corn- bury, his rapacity and prodigality led him to give out the public domain with a lavish hand. It was through him, and probably at his instance, that the Cheesecock Patent was granted by Queen Anne. A copy of it is in the office of the Secretary of the Province of New
3
The Cheesecock Patent.
York, in the Book of Patents begun A. D. 1695, folio 353-355, recorded at the request of William Smith and Co., the 2d day of June, A. D. 1736.
The following is the text of that remarkable docu- ment - a facsimile of its abbreviations, capitals and other peculiarities :
Anne by the Grace of England, Scotland, ffrance and Ireland Queen Defendr. of the faith &c. To all to whom these Presents nay in any wise Concerne Sendeth Greeting, Whereas our Loving Subjects Anne Bridges, Hendrick Ten Eyck, Dirick Vandenburg, fohn Cholwell, Christopher Denne, Lancaster Symes and John Merritt, by their humble petition Prsented to our Right, trusty und well beloved Cousin Edward Viscount Cornbury, Captain General and Governour in Cheif in and over our Province of New Yorke and Territories Depending thereon in America and Vice Admiral of the same &c. in Council Have Pray'd our Grant and Confirmation of a Certain Tract of upLand and Meadow Scituate Lying and being in the County of Orange Called Cheesecocks be Bounded to the Northward by the Patented Lands of Captain John Evans and the Patent of Doctor Bridges and Company to the Westward : by the said Bridges &cª and the West side of the high hills, called the high Lands to the Southward by the Patented lands of Mr. Daniell Honan and Michaell Howden and to the East- ward by the Christian Patented Lands of Haverstraw and Hud- son's River the which Petition wee being minded to Grant KNOW YEE that of our Especiall Grace Certain Knowledge and meer mo- tion wee have Given Granted Ratified and Confirmed and in and by these P'sents for ourselves our Heires and Successors Doe Give Grant Ratify and Confirm unto the sd Anne Bridges, Hendrick Tenicke, Dirick Vandenburg, John Cholwell, Christopher Denne, Lancaster Symes and John Merritt all and Singular the Tract of Upland and Meadow above mentioned and all and Singular the Hereditaments and Appurtenances thereunto belonging within the Bounds and Limitts above in these presents mentioned and Expressed together with all woods and under woods Trees Timber feedings Pastures Meadows Marshes Swamps Ponds Pooles Waters Watercourses Rivers Rivoletts Runs and Streams of Water ffishing fouling hunting hawking Mines and Mineralls Standing growing lyeing and being or to be used had and enjoyed within the Bounds
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Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time.
and Limmitts aforesd. and all other Profitts benefitts Privledg Libertys Advantages Hereditaments & Appurtenances whatsoey unto sd. Land and Premises or any Part or Parcell thereof belor ing or in any wise appertaining in Seven Equal Parts to be Divid (Except allways and Reserved out of this our Present Grant : Gold and Silver mines.)
To Have and to hold One seventh part of the Tract of Land al premises aforesaid with the Appurtenances hereby Granted meant mentioned or intended to be hereby Granted as aforesa unto the sd. Anne Bridges her Heires and Assigns forever to tl Rec only proper use and behoof of the sd. Anne Bridges her Heir and Assigns forever one other Seaventh part thereof to the s Hendrick Tenicke his Heires and Assigns forever to the on on proper use and behoof of the sd. Hendrick Tenicke his Heires ar in assigns forever one other Seaventh Part thereof unto the sd Diric [F Y Van den burgh his Heires and assigns for Ever to the only Prop use and behoof of the said Dirick Vandenburgh his Heires an assigns forever one other Seaventh Part thereof unto the sd Joh Cholwell his Heires and assigns forever to the only proper use an 0 behoof of the sd John Cholwell his Heires and assigns forever on other Seaventh Part thereof unto the sd Christopher Denne hi Heires and assigns forever to the only Proper use and behoof c the sd Christopher Denne his Heires and assigns for Ever on ti other Seaventh Part thereof unto the sd Lancaster Symes hil Heires and assigns for ever to the only proper use and behoof o the sd Lancaster Symes his Heires and assigns forever and on F other Seaventh part thereof unto the sd John Merritt his Heire and Assigns forever to the only proper use and behoof of the se John Merritt his Heires and Assigns forever (Except as is herein before Excepted) TO BE HOLDEN of us our Heires and Suc cessors in free and comon Soccage as of our Mannor of east Green wich in the County of Kent within our Kingdome of England Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and every year frome hence forth unto us our Heires and Successors at our Custome house at New Yorke to our Collector upon the feast day of the Annuncia- tion of the blessed Virgin Mary (Commonly Called Lady Day) the Rent or Sume of twenty Shillings Currant Money of our Provincee of New York Provided always and these p'sents are upon this Condition that if no Improvement be already had or made upon the sd Land and p'misses hereby Granted nor any Part or Parcell thereof that then and in such case they the sd Anne
Sp her La
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Bri Chr
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The Cheesecock Patent.
Bridges Hendrick Tenicke Dirick Vandenburgh John Cholw" Christopher Denne Lancaster Symes and John Merritt theire Heires and Assigns some or one of them shall within the time and Space of three Years now next following from and after the Date hereof Settle Clear & make Improvement of and upon the sd Lands and Premisses hereby Granted or of and upon some part or parcel thereof in Testimony whereof we have Caused these our Letters to be made Patents and the seale of our Province of New York to our sd Letters Patents to be Affixed and the same to be Recorded in our Secretarys Office of our sd Province Wittnesse our Right Trusty and welbeloved Cousin Edward Viscount Corn- bury our Captain Generall and Governour in Cheif in and over our sd Province of New Yorke and Territorryes Depending thereon in America and Vice Admirall of the same &c in Council at our Fort in New Yorke the twenty-fifth Day of March in the Sixt Yeare of our Reigns Annoq Dm 1707
GEO CLARKE.
I do hereby Certify the foregoing to be a true Copy of the Original Record Compared there with By me
LEWIS A SCOTT Secretary.
The only terms in the document that need explana- tion are "free and common socage." Socage, we learn, was a legal term derived from the feudal system. It was the fee or consideration upon the rendering of which rights and privileges in land were granted. There were two kinds of socage-free, or common, and villein. The former was a certain fee in money or honorable service; the latter a certain service that might be base or menial. The socage of the Cheese- cock letters patent was twenty shillings current money, to be paid yearly as prescribed. A manorial grant like that at Pelham Manor to Lord Pell was without socage, making him lord of the manor with absolute control. The heirs of the old Cheesecock patent, if not originally, yet soon afterward, became lords of the soil by the right not merely of pick and shovel, but of their good rifles and swords.
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Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time.
The original of this patent cannot at present be traced. It is in possession either of some of the heirs, or may be among the records of the Court of Chancery, where so many of its disputed points had to be settled. It must have contained the signatures of the Indians from whom the land at first had to be purchased. The late Peter Townsend stated that he saw the original, and that the Indian signatures were attached to it, with their totems. They were these :
MERINGOMACK, his 5 mark. SQAWGUS UGH QIAD, her 2 mark.
TEPHANICK, his 1] mark.
ONICKOTOP, his > > mark.
AJOAQUEAE, his / ~/ mark.
These appear on a copy in possession of G. R. Conklin, who has it in deeds of lots 2 and 5 of the Cheesecock Patent.
Now there was also a seal attached to the patent. The old seal of William and Mary, according to cus- tom, had been defaced and a new seal brought out to the Governor of the Province of New York by Colonel Nott of Virginia, in 1705. This seal is that of Queen Anne. A copy of it has been furnished us, by the courtesy of William Cowie, counselor in things ar- tistic, and a drawing* executed by the American Bank Note Company is given in this volume.
* See title-page.
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The Cheesecock Patent.
The reverse is inscribed: Anna Dei. Gra. Mag. Brit. Fran. et Hib. Regina, Fid. Defen. Nov. Eb. Sig. (Anna, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith. Seal of the province of New York.) On the obverse are the arms of the Stuarts- namely, the usual insignia of Great Britain, with a Greek cross and the legend Semper eadem (" Always the same") below.
The first step toward the securing of this patent was taken in December 13, 1702, when a convention was made with certain Indian proprietors to secure possession of the land. Their names were Maringo- mack, Skawgus Ughquad, Topainick, Onickotapp, and Aighquahaeroe. They were Indians of the Minsies subtribe, whose totem was the wolf. They were a branch of the Lenni-Lenape and part of the Algon- quin nation. They had their villages and tribe or- ganizations and territorial possessions. The several subtribes were known by their totems, such as Wolf, Turkey, Turtle, painted on their wigwams and blan- kets. The chiefs of one of these subtribes agreed in the presence of William Merritt, Esq., one of her Majesty's justices of the peace for Orange County. The document is addressed to all Christian people. " Know ye that we-then are mentioned their names -native Indians, proprietors of a certain tract of land and meadow, situate, being and lying in the county of Orange, called Cheesecocks, bounded to the North by the Patent lately granted unto Captain John Evans; to the West by the high hills of the High- lands ; to the South by Honan's Patent; to the East by the lands of Haverstraw and Hudson's River, for a certain sum of money and goods to us in hand paid at and before the ensealing and delivery of those
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Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time.
presents, by Doctor John Bridges, Hendrick Ten Eyck, Dirick Vandenburg, John Cholwell, Christo- pher Denne, Lancaster Symes and John Merritt. The receipt whereof we do hereby acknowledge our- selves therewith fully contented and paid. We have given, granted, bargained, sold and confirmed, and do by these presents give, grant, bargain, sell and con- firm, for us and our Heirs forever unto the above named Doctor John Bridges, Hendrick Ten Eyck, Dirick Vandenburg, John Cholwell, Christopher Denne, Lancaster Symes and John Merritt, all that certain parcel of land, etc., bounded as above men- tioned. To have and to hold the said, before recited Tract, of upland and meadow unto the said Doctor John Bridges, etc., their heirs and assigns, to the sole and only proper use and benefit and behoof of the same."
This document differs in its terms from the former only in specifying what is included in these general gifts, namely : "Together with all woods, underwoods, trees, timbers, floodings, pastures, meadows, marshes, swamps, pools, ponds, waters, water courses, rivers, rivulets, runs and streams of water," etc. This docu- ment was signed and sealed at Haverstraw, on the twelfth day of June, 1704. In addition to the signa- tures of the first-named Indians is appended that of Toparonick (his mark). It was also sealed and de livered in the presence of Andrew Myer, Ida Myer, and Nonowitt (his mark).
"Then appeared before me, William Merritt, Esq., one of her Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the said County, the within named Andrew Myer, and Ida Myer, two of the witnesses to the within Deed, and declared upon the Holy Evangelist, that they saw the
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The Cheesecock Patent.
within Indians seal and deliver the within instru- ment as their voluntary act and deed."
.
Again it will be noticed that it was "a certain tract of upland and meadow," not mountain alone, as some rival claimants would contend. The boundaries ap- pear quite indefinite. It is bounded on all sides by other patented lands, the only natural boundary designated being the west side of the Highlands. What is meant by these was for a time a subject of dispute. Some of the neighboring patentees would insist that these Highlands were the East Mountains stretching from the Clove to Haverstraw, and that the patent ceased where the western slope of these mountains merged into said Clove. But when the viewers looked down on the rich valleys stretching north and south, and saw mountain ranges bound- ing them on the west, they put a larger construction on the language of the patent, and made it include these Highlands as well. They had this in their favor, that it was a tract of "upland and meadow," and this embraced both. How far west they would have pushed their claim we know not ; but no doubt they would have claimed the western slope of Sugar- loaf and Bellvale Mountains, if it had not been that they met with a point of resistance in a certain Dr. Bridges and the Wawayanda patentees. They were just as ambitious of pushing their claim eastward as the proprietors of the Cheesecock were of extending their claim westward. In after years, when settlers flowed in, disputes ran high with regard to the titles to the lands. A tribunal then had to be appointed, which sat at Greycourt or Greycoat Inn (so called be- cause of its sign of a colonial soldier in coat of gray). This tribunal conceded to the proprietors of this
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Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time.
patent their right to the tract from Goosepond Moun- tain and the Great Beaver Meadow, which was Grey- court Meadow, to the Highlands, inclusive, as far as the Haverstraw boundary and the Jersey line.
The patent required this land to be occupied within the space of three years. We know nothing of its history until the year 1735.
CHAPTER II.
THE FIELD BOOK AND SURVEY.
A SURVEYOR named Charles Clinton was em- ployed to survey the lands under the patent. This gentleman had emigrated with his family, a short time previously, to the vicinity of New Windsor. He was afterward known as Lieutenant-Colonel Clinton. His sons were George and James Clinton. His grandson was De Witt Clinton, an eminent statesman and governor of the State of New York.
When Charles Clinton commenced his survey on the river, Haverstraw village seems to have been al- ready begun. For when he started out he warned its inhabitants to show him their boundary, for the eastern boundary he was to find was that of the Chris- tian patented lands of Haverstraw. These people seemed to have rather confused ideas of their own limits, and, like others, were inclined to push their claims as far as possible. But he terminated the dis- pute by making Monetcong Creek his base, and com- menced running his courses toward the northwest.
He divided the mountain into great lots running parallel with the northwest line, and numbered them from one to seven. These contained five or six thou- sand acres apiece. The mountains south he divided into lots running at right angles with the former, and
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Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time.
running to the Jersey line. The smooth land in the valley was subdivided into smaller lots containing 150 acres apiece. He carefully recorded his surveys in a field book, and kept a sort of journal of each day's labors and incidents, sometimes mentioning the state of the weather- a storm, for instance ; his stopping to repair a wigwam ; his having to dispense with horse and carry his provisions on his back. Most of the time he had an assistant or two; but at one time was without a chain-bearer, when he paced the ground with his watch in his hand, reckoning a minute equal to two chains. He was very exact and careful in his surveys, considering the nature of the ground he had to traverse. He proves his work from time to time, correcting errors. At one place he al- lows a link in each chain on account of the uneven- ness of the ground, calculating it will measure that much less when the land is cleared.
In surveying large lot No. 3, he says : "I selected an object in a very thick beaver dam, took a tree a considerable distance forward, and in my way went to a tree that I observed to be in the line. I set the compass again, being in some doubt about the tree I had taken, and when the needle settled I could not take my former tree. I then took a back sight to the station I had left, and my compass would not agree to it. Then returned to the said first station and set there again. Found the same tree I had formerly taken to be in the line according to the position of the needle, by which (I inferred) there was something at or near that station that attracted the needle. Here set the compass a piece forward and took a back sight and found a variation of 10°. Went again back to said first station and set the compass a few yards for-
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The Field Book and Survey.
ward in the line, and found I had there but 6º varia- tion; and a piece further I found I had but 2º. I could not find either iron ore or lodestone near this place, nor many rocks. It appeared a plain ridge. This is the first place I observed that minerals or ore in the earth will attract the needle. Dr. Colden hav- ing sent his son with me to make remarks on this curiosity (accounts of which I have given you), there- fore will take no further notice of it here."
This same fact he records in connection with other parts of the survey, in one instance mentioning that he ran the line by guess rather than by the needle. He speaks of iron discovered by the Indians near where the O'Neill and Mount Basha mines are at present. Lot No. 18, where the Greenwood Iron Works are, he designates as suitable for iron works. At Tucseto he calls attention to the fall of the watercourses and their suitableness for manufacturing purposes, but cautions in one place against raising the water too high, for fear of spoiling a fine swamp suitable for meadow. When such lowlands were the only re- source for forage, they were considered of a value far beyond what they are estimated at present unless carefully drained and cultivated.
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