USA > New York > Delaware County > Delaware County, New York, history of the century, 1797-1897, centennial celebration, June 9 and 10, 1897 > Part 1
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ப்பந்தி
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மற்றும் சிறியழி மீறிற்று வதும்
1800
Glass
Book
COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT
General Erastus Root,
Delaware County
New York
History of the Century 1797-1397
Centennial Celebration
Jane 9 and 10, 1397
Edited by DAVID MURRAY, LL.D.
WILLIAM CLARK, PUBLISHER. DELHI, N. Y. 1×98.
F127 D3M 9 Copy 2
COPYRIGHT BY
WILLIAM CLARK.
1898. TWO COPIES RECEIVED.
RY OF CONGRESS OFFICE OF
DEC 1 9 1808 Remind
of Copyrights.
6
C
=
dudge Ebenezer Foote.
PART I.
Preface.
. . .
TN issuing this centennial volume to the public the object has been to commemorate in some permanent and suitable way the events of the century which has passed. For this purpose the public celebration of the centennial anniversary was held, and the records of this memorial volume have been collected and printed. To those who have contributed to these pages we desire to ex- press our most cordial thanks, and to hope that thereby a work has been produced which may be found in some degree worthy of the occasion. We trust that the impulse which has been given by this celebration to the spirit of historical inquiry among our people may be augmented by the effort which has been made in this book to gather together what is still remembered of our history.
It is impossible to name the almost numberless sources of help which have contributed to these pages. Without the en- couragement and aid which have been so liberally afforded, it would have been impracticable to bring this enterprise to a sue- cessful issue. It is proper here to make grateful acknowledge- ment to the newspaper press of the county for the uniform kindness and enthusiasm with which the centennial celebration was commended and this forthcoming volume has been heralded.
It may not be amiss to apologize here for the delay which has occurred in the issue of this centennial volume. It has been found impossible to present a book worthy of the occasion at an earlier day. As it is, we fear our friends have often become im- patient over the persisteney with which we have urged the com- pletion of the parts undertaken by them. We confidently commend the completed work to all those who are proud of their county,
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
and who are anxious that her career during the first century of her existence may be worthily recorded.
It has been the publisher's aim to make this volume not only valuable with historie facts but with illustrations to present an accurate and quite comprehensive view of the county as it appears at the beginning of its second century. This feature will doubt- less be highly appreciated, and the durable and attractive binding gives added value to an important work.
Grateful mention should also be made of the interest and eu- couragement manifested by the good people of the county, and the hope is indulged that expectations will in a measure he realized.
Public Square and County Buildings at Delhi.
-
-
.
-
Contents.
.
PART 1.
INTRODUCTORY. PAGE.
Object of the Centennial Volume 19
Sources of Information 19
Authors of Town Histories 19
Mr. J. A. Parshall and Mr. S. B. Champion. 19
Illustrations 19
Portraits and Views
19
Maps and Books relating to Delaware County
20
Buri's Map of Delaware County 20 20
Gould's Map of Delaware County
Gould's History of Delaware County 20
French's Gazetteer and Hough's Gazetteer
20
Brors's Atlas.
21
Munsell's History of Delaware County
21
Boston Biographical Co's biographies. 21
Other historical material. 21
SECTION I .- INDIAN OCCUPANTS; WILD ANIMALS.
New York at the time Hendrick Hudson's first voyage 25
American Indians 25
The Confederacy of Five Nations, afterward Six Nations. 25
The Mohicans 26
The peaceful policy of the Dutch. 26
Sir William Johnson and the English policy. 27
Treaty with the Indians as to the line of property 28
Traditions concerning Teunis. 28
Wild animals in Delaware county.
The black bear .
The wolf, the fox and the panther
The deer 31
The woodchuck, squirrels, ett 32
29 29 30
Passenger pigeons. 32
5
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
PAGE.
larmless and marauding birds 35
Brook trout, and black bass Runs of shad in the Delaware 35
SECTION II .- PHYSICAL FEATURES.
General features of the county. 37
The Susquehanna and the Delaware valleys
Geological formations 37
Bowlders 38
Flagging stones 3×
Highest peak in the county 39
Crops and products 39
SECTION III .- EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
Duteli settlement in Middletown 40
The Johnston settlement in Sidney 41
Indian raid into the Johnston settlement 42
Founders of Harpersfield 42
Early trials in Harpersfield
1.
Revolutionary experiences
45
Active period of immigration ..
46
Colonial patents in Delaware county ( note ) 47
Character of the early settlers
48
Settlers from New England.
48
The Roxbury contingent. 49
Scotch immigration 50
SECTION IV .- PIONEER EXPERIENCES.
Trials of the first settlers 52
Example of a Scotch family 52
The American axe and its use
55
The logging-bee
56
The first crop.
57
Tools and implements 57
The chimney and wood fire 58
Tallow candles 58
Friction matches ( note) 58
SECTION V .- REVOLUTIONARY TROUBLES.
Tories in all the settlements 60
AA quarrel at Middletown 60
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
The settlement saved by Tounis.
60 Vigilance committee at Harpersfield 61 Colonel John Harper. 61
Josoph Brant the Indian chief
622
General Herkimer's conference with Brant
Harpersfield settlers escape
65
The settlement at Sidney visited by Braut
65
The Indians and British join in frontier raids
66
The Wyoming massacres 66
The expedition under Generals Sullivan and Clinton
The battle at Newtown ..
Indian country devastated.
The Genessee valley invaded
Indian retaliations.
Indians appear at Harpersfiehl
Reminiscences of the war
SECTION VI .- ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.
New county proposed
69
Boundaries of the county 69
70
New towns
70
First meeting of the supervisors.
Court of Common Pleas organized
First court house.
71 72
Second court house
72
Exciting experiences
75 76
Population of the county by towns
Taxable inhabitants in 1×20
County Judges
77 77 77
District Attorneys
County Clerks
Sheriffs.
79
County Treasurers.
79
Members of Congress
State Senators
Charter enacted by the Legislature
Original towns
Present court house
Surrogates
8
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
PAGE.
Members of Assembly 79
Supreme Court Justices
Constitutional Delegates
State Officers. >5.
SECTION VIL. - MILITARY CONCERNS.
The Revolutionary movements Mi
War of 1812, and the renewal of the military spirit
Organization of the State militia
General training 87
A general training broken np
SECTION VIII. - ANTI-RENT TROUBLES.
Land and land patents 89.
Leased lands 89.
Form of lease in use 00
Movements in Albany, Rensselaer and Columbia counties 91
Disguised Indians 01
Law against disguises 92
Shooting of Steele 92
Contests in the courts and the legislature 95
Settlement of anti-ront issues 95.
SECTION IX. - THE CIVIL WAR.
Contribution of troops by Delaware county 97
Company I of the 71st regiment 97
Troops raised in Colchester 98
Cavalry company 98
The Ellsworth regiment
99
The Eighth independent battery
99
The Shepard rifles 100
Company I of the 80th infantry
100
Contribution to the 101st regiment 100
144th regiment 101
General conclusions 105
SECTION X .- EARLY INDUSTRIES.
Gradual advancement of the county 106
Introduction of grist mills 106
Saw mills and lumbering 106, 107
Tanneries 107
CONTENTS.
Wood ashes
107
Maple sugar 108
Butfor making
108
Early breeds of cows .. 109
Packing and marketing butter
110
SECTION XL. - ROADS AND RAILROADS.
Delaware an inland county 111
Development of roads 111
Care of the roads 111
Turnpike companies 112
The Erie Canal
112
Alleged grievance to remote counties
112
New York and Eric railroad 115
Mistake of a broad gauge 115
116.
Albany and Susquenanna railroad
116
New York and Oswego Midland railroad
117
Route and engineering questions
117
Bonding the towns for its construction.
117
Uster and Delaware railroad.
11×
Aided by bonding the towns.
119
Advantages -rented 119
SECTION XII. EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS.
The pioneer settlers enger for education .. 120
Movements of New York for common schools 120
The log school house 1:1
121
Teachers' wages (note).
122
Regretful remembrance
125
Studies in a country school 125
125
Going up and standing head
125
Reading books.
126
Writing. copies and pens.
120
Ink and ink powder.
126
Arithmetic
Advertisement of book and stationery
127
Thunder storm
12:
The Delaware Academy
Furniture and equipments
Benefit of the Erie railroad to Delaware county
10
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
PAGE.
The Delaware Literary Institute 129
The Fergusonville Academy 130
Academy at Deposit 131
The Andes Academy 131
The Stamford Seminary
131
Walton Academy and Union School 132
SECTION XIII. -- CHURCHES AND CHURCH MOVEMENTS.
Religious convictions of pioneers 133
Congregational churches 134
Scotch Presbyterian churches 134
Baptist churchos. 135
Methodist churches
135
Protestant Episcopal churches.
137
Friends
137
Roman Catholic churches
137
Separate bodies of Scotch churches ..
138
Scotch church in Bovina 139
Services, music, Sunday school, cie 139
Celebration of the Lord's Supper. 113
SECTION XIV .- EARLY PHYSICIANS.
Want of physicians among the early settlers, 115
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes' view of medicines 1.15
The mothers were the physicians. 146 Self-made doctors. 110
Physicians followed the colonists
147
The clergy were often skilled in medicine 117
State medieal society
County medical societies 148
Dr. J. H. Brott.
148
Dr. Plait Townsend
148
Other physicians
148
Walter Scott the country doctor.
119
Life of George Washington ( noto )
150
Dr. Scott's successor.
151
Equipment of a doctor's office
151
Surgical operations. 152
Turn-Key 152
Bleeding 152
11
CONTENTS.
Experiments with chloroform
153
A surgical experience. 153
Saddle-bags and traveling 151
A fatal accident 151
SECTION AV. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Colonel John Harper, by Allen S. Gibles
155
Fudge Ebenezer Footo. 162
General Erastus Root. 163
Hon. Samuel Sherwood, by Samuel Sherwood of New York 160
General Henry Leavenworth
171
William B. Ogden
179
Rev. Daniel Shepard.
182
Judge Amasa J. Parker 185
Jay Gould. 157
Anthony M. Paine
191
Hon. Samuel 1. Law
191
Colonel Amasa Parker
191
Mon. Charles Hathaway 191
192
Dr. O. M. Allaben
152
Hon. Norwood Bowno 193
Judge William Gleason 193
Indge William Murray 193
General Ferris Jacobs, jr. 191
1911
PART 11. THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
Address of Welcome by Hon. Abram C. Crosby 203
Letter from Rov. John L. Scott, D. D. 208
Letter from Rev. A. S. Kodzie. 2210
212
Remarks of Mayor JJ. 11. Mitchell
215
Letter from David Murray, L.L. D.
217
Remarks of J. 1. Goodrich Esq. 219
Remarks of Thomas G. Smith 14. 220
Remarks of Hon. T. E. Hancock 221
Extract - from a letter
Hon. Samuel Gordon
Judge Isaac H. Maynard
Remarks of General Amasa J. Parker.
12
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
PAGE.
Poem "1997" by Arthur More.
227
Address by Hon. Chas. E. Lincoln 233
List of Relies exhibited 238
Centennial dimmer 239
Grand procession 210
Words of Welcome by Col. R. P. Cormack 240
Anti-Rent Episode by David Murray, LL. D. 243
The Anti-Rent "Andes Tragedy" by the late llon. Richard Morse 264
Memorial against the Erection of the County 267
PART 11.
TOWN HISTORIES.
Andes, by Oscar S. Nichols. 274
Bovina, by Hon. D. L. Thompson
291
Colchester, By Edward E. Conlon. 310
Davenport, by Walter Scott 320
Delhi, by John A. Parshall.
339
Deposit and Tompkins, by Col. G. D. Wheeler
355
Franklin, by William B. Hanford
373
Hamden, by Henry W. Holmes,
383
Hancock, by Hon Wesley Gould
-101
Harpersfield, by Allen S. Gibbs.
115
Kortright, by William B. Peters
159
Masonville, by A. F. Getter
481
Meredith, by Josiah D. Smith
193
Middletown, by Hon. John Grant, and Mrs. J. K. l. Jackson
503
Roxbury, by Dr. J. N. Wright
518
Sidney, by Edwin R. Wattles
528
Stamford
547
Walton, by Hon. Timothy Sanderson
567
APPENDIX.
Record of First meeting of Board of Supervisors 597
Record of first election canvass. 600
Newspapers of Delaware County 601
Organization of towns
Corrections and Additions 604
list of Hastrations.
PAGE.
Portrait of General Erastus Root Facing title page.
Portrait of Judge Ebenezer Foote 15
A Pioneer Home 23
Portrait of Hon. Samuel Sherwood 33
Delaware county waterfalls.
13
Log house and an old church. 53
Portrait of Hon. William B. Ogden
63
A raft, river fording, sugar making
73
Portrait of Hon. Amasa J. Parker
Delaware county lakes
93
The Sherwood residence 103
Delaware county scenery
113
General Leavenworth's monument and stone quarry
123 141
Early physicians' outfit and reminders of early days
State Armory at Walton
Portrait of Jay Gould
Group of portraits
Centennial decorations
Centennial badges
Anti-Renters' Indian disguises
Centennial decorations
263 273
Village of Andes
Villages of Union Grove and Shavertown
Village of Bovina Centre
279 2×9 209
Village of Downsville.
311
Village of Arena and Shavertown view
319
Village of Davenport 327
Villages of Davenport Centre and West Davenport.
331
Village of Delhi. 337
313
County farm and bridge, in Delhi ..
Village of Deposit 353
Village of Cannonsville 359
13
159 177 195 213 231 2.19
Lake Delaware, Bovina
14
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
PAGE.
Villages of Rock Rift and Trout Creek
365
Village of Franklin 371
Village of Treadwell.
377
Village of Hamden
3-1
Village of DeLancey and Hamden street
389
Village of Hancock
399
Villages of East Branch and Fish Eddy
405
Villages of Harpersfield and North Harpersfield
413
Colonel Harper's monument and views
421
Villages of Haleottville and Kellys Corners
431
Villages of Arkville and New Kingston
441
Village of Bloomville.
459
Village of Almeda and Bloomville street
469
Village of Masonville
479
Villages of East Meredith and Meredith
489
Village of Meridale
495
Village of Margaretville.
501 511
Village of Roxbury
519
Village of Grand Gorge
523
Village of Sidney
529
Village of Sidney Centre
535
Village of Stamford
545
Village of Hobart
555
Village of Walton.
565
Village of Walton.
575
Stratton's Falls and view
585
Jersey cow and butter firkin
593
Village of Griffin Corners
Introductory,.
D ELAWARE county has played an important part in the past history of the commonwealth of New York. It is fitting, therefore, at the end of the first century of her organized life, to commemorate the circumstances of her establishment, and to gather up the facts of her experience which may serve as lessons for the future. The committee having charge of the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the county has deemed it suitable to prepare a volume, which besides containing the proceedings of the days devoted to the public exercises at Delhi, should also include historical notices of the towns and the county, aud bio- graphical sketches of some of her most eminent citizens.
It is impossible to enumerate all the sources from which in- formation has been derived for the compilation of this story of a century. To the authors of the town histories whose names are given in the contents, the committee desires to express its special thanks for their valuable contributions. Acknowledgements are particularly due to Mr. John A. Parshall. the veteran antiquarian of Delhi, for his constant and willing assistance at all times: and to Mr. S. B. Champion of Stamford who for forty-seven years has edited and published a continuous newspaper and whose recoller- tions cover more than half of the county's history.
For the illustrations which add so much to the interest and value of the volume we desire to express our obligations to those who have aided us in securing them to Miss Foote who has per- mitted the photographing of a miniature bust of her ancestor. Judge Foote; to Mr. E. B. Sheldon for permission to copy the portrait of General Root in his possession: to Mr. Samuel Sherwood of New York for a portrait of his grandfather and a
19
20
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
view of the venerable house which he occupied when he was a resident of Delhi; to Mrs. John V. L. Pruyn for a portrait of her father, Judge Amasa J. Parker; and to Miss Helen Miller Gould for that of her father, Jay Gould. Besides these notable illustra- tions, it is most fitting to make mention of the picturesque views- of places and things gathered by Mr. Chas. T. Telford, the photo- grapher, who has traveled over the county in search of what would add interest to the past life of the century.
It will be of interest here to enumerate the maps and books which have heretofore been published in reference to Delaware county. In this statement we do not include the most important publications of all, viz: the newspaper press of which an account is given in the appendix. Mr. S. B. Champion has kindly furnished a detailed statement of these publications from which this is chiefly derived.
1. In 1829 David H. Burr, a land surveyor, published a map of Delaware county. It was mainly designed for the benefit of the owners of land patents and their agents, and for lawyers con- ducting litigations concerning land. The boundaries of land patents and the location of the lots are there given.
2. In 1856 Jay Gould, then in his 20th year, published a map founded on surveys made by himself. It is a wall map containing plaus of all the villages in the county. Mr. Champion admiring his pluck and self-reliance, furnished a small amount of financial backing, with which he accomplished the job.
3. While Mr. Gould was making surveys for his map he also collected material for a history of the county. The manuscript having been destroyed by fire had to be re-written. It was pub- lished finally in 1856.
4. In 1860 a Gazetter of the State of New York, giving a brief history of every county in the State, was compiled by J. H. French and published by R. P. Smith of Syracuse. The sketch of Dela- ware county was mainly composed of facts taken from Simms' history of Schoharie county, Campbell's history of Tryon county,
21
INTRODUCTORY.
and Gould's history of Delaware county. In 1873 a new edition of this gazetter was published under the supervision of Dr. Frank- lin B. Hough who had been engaged in the preparation of the original work.
5. In 1869 an atlas of Delaware county was prepared under the direction of F. W. Beers and published by Beers, Ellis and Soule of New York. It resembled Goul's map in style and ar- rangement, and claims to have been made from actual surveys. But this is uncertain. It contains forty-one pages, a colored map of each town on a page and outlines of the larger villages on others.
6. In 1880 a quarto volume of the history of Delaware county was published by W. W. Munsell & Co. of New York. It contained 362 pages, and was illustrated with county buildings, farms and houses, and with portraits of resident citizens.
7. In 1895 the Boston Biographical Review Publishing Com- pany issued a volume of 716 pages, containing biographical sketches of 591 persons then resident in the county, accompanied with portraits of a portion of them.
8. In 1872 the citizens of Sidney celebrated the centennial anniversary of the first white settlement. The proceedings of this celebration were published in the newspapers of the day but no centennial volume was issued. In 1897 a historical souvenir of Delhi and vicinity, of 62 pages, was published containing historical matter and illustrated with views and portraits.
9. Besides these publications, which refer exclusively to Delt- ware county, mention may here be made of the following works which deal more or less with the early settlements of the county, viz: Simons' History of Schoharie County, Campbell's History of Trvon County, and Stone's Life of Brant.
A Pioneer II me. 17 17
Delaware County.
?.
I.
Indian Occupants;
Wild Animals.
F we could take a birds-eye view of the State of New York at the time Hendrick Hudson in 1609 sailed up the river which now bears his name, we would behold a territory almost completely covered with forest. Here and there shining lakes would be seen where the blue water is striving bravely to keep at bay the eneroaching forces of the land. Numberless streams trickle, and glide, and flow along wooded banks out to the measureless sea. The Hudson river and its tributaries draining the region of the Adirondacks and the beautiful valleys to the south of them,-the Delaware and Susquehanna reaching their thin tendrils up into the mountains of central New York, -the branches of the Ohio laving their gentle banks in western New York, and the mighty St. Lawrence and the streams which feed and drain the lakes,-what a fascinating picture they present and what a story they have to tell to him who can read the future or the past.
The only inhabitants of this vast wilderness at the time of Hendrick Hudson's invasion of its solitude were the American Indians. Although positive and fixed homes cannot be assigned to these red men in the same sense as to the white men who followed them; yet in a general way it may be stated that the centre of the State was occupied by the powerful confederacy of the Five Nations of Indians. These were the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas,
2
26
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
the Cayngas, and the Senecas. Subsequently in 1717 the Tuscaro- ras, a cognate tribe who dwelt in the Carolinas, removed to New York and were admitted into the Indian League, which now be- came the confederacy of the Six Nations. These tribes occupied the middle and western parts of the State.
The Mohicans, sometimes called the Delaware Indians, occupied the regions along the Hudson river and as far east as the Con- nectieut, and westward to the head-waters of the Susquehanna. This tribe was less warlike and more disposed to be friendly towards the white settlers than their enemies the Six Nations. The novelist Cooper in his "Last of the Mohicans"* has drawn a fascinating picture of the fragments of this tribe at the time of the French war in the region of Otsego lake. They had been conquered and reduced to a pitiable condition of dependence by their fierce neighbors; and at the time of the revolutionary war when the Mohawks, under the lead of Brant and at the instigation of the British, raided the loyal settlements, the Delawares were able to make no headway against them.
No part of the present county was over the permanent home of the Indians. They visited various parts of it on hunting excur- sions, and established camps which remained fixed for months; but they always withdrew before the rigors of winter began. The present site of Sidney village was thus an Indian hunting camp; and several places on the East Branch of the Delaware, and at the head of the West Branch where the valleys slope off in several directions, were visited by Indians in their annual hunting excur- sions. This right to rove the forests in the opinion of these savages gave them an ownership in territory, which the early settlers were considerate enough to respect. It was the policy of the Dutch, who came first into the territory of the New Nether- lands, to treat the Indians as the real land-owners. They bought the island of Manhattan, although the price which they paid-
* We have followed the novelist's example in using the word Mohican as the name of this tribe.
27
INDIAN OCCUPANTS: WILD ANIMALS.
twenty-four dollars-seems now so ridiculously inadequate. The Van Rensselaer colonists who settled the territory about Albany bought the lands of the Indians, of which they afterward received a grant from the Dutch West India Company. So too, after the Dutch possessions in America had been transferred to the English in 1664, the new owners maintained the same peaceable relations with the aborigines. And when the great Hardenbergh patent was given by Queen Anne in 1708 to Johannes Hardenbergh and his associates, it was required of them that they must extinguish the Indian titles before the grant would be complete. In doing this there arose a controversy between the patentees and the Indians as to whether the great tract lying between the East and West branches of the Delaware river was included in the sale made by the Indians. In order to settle this dispute the patentees agreed to purchase from the claimants the disputed territory, for which they paid the sum of one hundred and forty-nine pounds. nineteen shillings.
In order to maintain amicable relations with the Six Nations the English Colonial Government appointed in 1746 William Johnson (afterward Sir William) as Commissary of Indian Affairs. He had been trained by the Schuylers of Albany who had maintained the traditional Dutch policy of peace and fairness. He established his office at Johnstown in Fulton county, so called after himself. By his great influence he kept the Six Nations on the side of the British during the French war; and when the hostilities of the revolutionary war were about to break out, his ascendeney was shown by the New York Tudians almost unanimously taking the side of the tories. He died in 1771 just before active hostilities began: but his policy was continued by the members of his family who were maintained by the government in the same responsible position.
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