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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01177 8005
REMINISCENCES OF CATSKILL.
LOCAL SKETCHES,
BY THE LATE
JAMES D. PINCKNEY,
TOGETHER WITH INTERESTING
ARTICLES BY THURLOW WEED, EDWIN CROSWELL, S. SHERWOOD DAY AND JOSEPH HALLOCK, ESQRS.
CATSKILL: J. B. HALL, PUBLISHER, "RECORDER AND DEMOCRAT" OFFICE.
1868.
PUBLISHER'S PREFACE.
1136749
We deem it pertinent to this undertaking to say, that in republishing these Letters, we have been governed by a desire to perpetuate them-not only for their intrinsic excellence, in their way, as evincing the fine descriptive power and versatile talent of the writer, his genial humor, his analysis of character, bringing out its salient points with so much grace as not to offend the most fastidious,-but also for the entertaining local matter, and gossip, of time, place, and person, which, in his day, and before it, floated currently upon the stream, and which he has carefully gathered up, piece by piece, and woven, with a little embraving, perhaps, into these sketchy papers.
Every generation has its characteristic men, and women, too-persons of mark-at least fair subjects for common talk-peculiar for their idiosyncracies upon some subjects -who figure as "characters"-always stirring up the stagnancy of domestic and social life by their strange concep- tions of it. His impressions of these, formed by looking at them from the stand-point of Youth, when the mental lense pictures in exaggeration, doubtless led him to believe that the men of his day were really more strongly marked in character, more resolute, magnanimous and adventurous, more noble and kind in their natures, more shrewd and practical, or more mean and contemptible, than those who were coming up with him to form the next generation.
This latter class, having regard to the proprieties of life, he has left to rest quietly in their unhonored graves. The others, however, he has delineated to the life; and if we fail to see them as they were, it may be because we never knew them. There were many others whom he might have justly added to his list of "honorables," as well as of the eccentric class, some of whom no doubt slipped unconsciously through the meshes of his memory ; while others, of whom he purposed special mention, were unnoticed in consequence of the interruption of the series by his sudden death, But these, equally with those of whom he did speak, were subjects well worthy of his praise. They were the good old fathers and mothers who once walked these streets, built these habitations that now shelter us, and these churches, and roads, and docks, and laid out the future for their children, and died, and sleep now in that same Cemetery about which, in his more medl- tative mood, he so eloquently wrote. The writer held a facile pen, and blended life as it was made up, in an amusing commentary-arranged in boquet order, odd, but attractive.
His theme was CATSKILL-his Catskill. He loved it, its people, its customs, its traditions, and his memories of it, though some were sad indeed. Yet they onee belonged to the living .- With these he associated his own early life, as he wandered by the streams with which Catskill so abounds, and through its woods, and under the shadows of its mountains. But we will not pursue the subject further, and will leave it to allude to others, which was the main purpose of this writing.
We will merely add that we might furnish a brief chapter of cotemporary incidents, related by others, some of a grave character, others whimsical and ludicrous, with now and then some smack- ing of the mischievous-but we have not the time. The latter class, especially, we would not mention, for fear of the "rising generation." The "wild oat" crop, from some experience, we pronounce a failure, and we prefer not to stimulate its production by anything we might say. These Pompeiian explorations, we admit, sometimes pay well for the cost of making them-in opening up fine vistas by which to measure the progress of the ages-while others, again, have no compensating gains. And, as respects this latter, we would say, let the old cinders lie, undisturbed, over youthful peccadillos, just where they fell and burnt themselves out.
When this volume was commenced, it was intended to include in it only the letters of Mr. PINCKNEY, originally contributed to the Recorder and Democrat as occasional sketches, which the author never contemplated would be preserved in book form. But as the work progressed, and popular interest began to manifest itself, we considered it our duty to avail ourselves of the proffere 1 assistance of other able contributors, whose articles, in addition to those of Mr. PINCKNEY, would furnish a more complete local history. This change of plan, although it has involved addition d expense, labor and delay, will be justified by the increased value of the volume.
We acknowledge our obligations to those gentlemen who have aided in giving our book a ult 0 full and complete table of contents. With these few explanatory words, we commend our little book to the citizens of Catskill-and to those "native and to the manor born" who have wandere 1 into other places, but whose hearts ever turn fondly towards home-and trust that, as a tribute to the history and attractions of the "old town," it will meet with a cordial reception.
5
HARMONY LODGE.
LOCAL SKETCHES.
Harmony Lodge Dapers.
NO. I.
JULY 31, 1862.
A glance, necessarily hasty, over the papers handed me at Catskill, reveals little of interest, beyond the associations which may be con- nected with the names of the members of the Lodge. Those who have anticipated anything like the revelations of JACQUIN and BOAZ, or MORGAN of Batavia, will probably be disap- pointed when I assure them that the docu- ments contain nothing which any member could have desired to keep secret, unless, per- haps, it might have been a few bills for re- freshments, the items of which ran, rather uniformly, as follows :
HARMONY LODGE, Dr. TO STEPHEN DAY & SONS,
To 2 gallons Sherry Wine .£1 8 0
" 4 doz. biscuit. 0 2 0
or,
HARMONY LODGE, Dr. To JOSEPH GRAHAM,
To Wine, brandy & 2 Jugs.
£1
7
6
" Cash paid for bisket and cheese .... 0 6 0
' 2 Gals. Sherry Wine,. .14s .. 1 8 0
in which the temperance folks of the present day will, perhaps, discover a little too close resemblance to FALSTAFF's running account with Dame QUICKLEY-in the awful dispro- portion of bread to sack. Beyond these, and letters from AMBROSE SPENCER, (after- wards Chief Justice) PHILIP L. HOFFMAN, and others, (which I propose, hereafter, to trans- cribe as specimens of the epistolary style of the last century) I repeat, there is nothing in these documents of interest. I shall, there- fore, make use of them only as the signs- manual of the "brothers of the mystic tie," subscribed by hands long since mouldered into dust, to bring to mind such incidents as early recollections or tradition have connected with their names.
First on the list, in a bold, round hand, is the signature of SAMUEL HAIGHT, the elder brother of the late JACOB HAIGHT, who recently died, at an advanced age, in this Village .- Samuel Haight was a merchant of Catskill; his place of business was located on the North- erly bank of the Hans-Vassen-Kill, at its con- fluence with the Catskill, where stood a store- house and a wharf, at which, it is said, vessels of considerable burthen were laden and dis- charged ; though, at this day, the Creek is so filled with rocks that nothing drawing more water than a skiff or a sturgeon ever finds its way above Brosnaham's Reef. Of course, as
a business site, this spot has long since been abandoned, the old store-house has been long demolished, the ancient dock has rotted, log by log, and floated down the stream, and, at my last visit to the locality, I could discover no signs of busy life, not a sound breaking the stillness, save the wheezing of the old horse, as he trod his daily lazy round in the bark-mill of my Democratic friend, ISAAO ROUSE.
In the days of Samuel Haight, and for many years afterwards, there resided near his store an aged mau named Koos, who officiated as sexton of the parish of St. Luke's Church. I well remember his good wife, who sold cake and beer-and, even now, I can see, "in my mind's eye," the old sign painted in two colors, the black representing a junk bottle, and the yellow a square of gingerbread. A little farther up the road, near what is now the junction of "the snake road" with the Susque- hanna turnpike, stood a small red house, which, as long ago as I can remember, was reputed to be haunted. Often, at night, have a party of lads, including myself, sought to exorcise the spirits which were supposed to occupy the stigmatised old tenement, by pelt- ing it with stones, though truth compels me to admit these bombardments always took place on moonlight nights, and from a respect- able distance. What occurrence gave this building the name of "the Spook House," I do not clearly remember. I believe there was a story of a pediar having stopped there over night, who was missing in the morning-ma- terial enough to found a tale of terror upon, although it is probable the fellow absconded carly to avoid payment for his supper und lodging.
Opposite the store-house of Samuel Haight, stood his dwelling, a low house, with dormer or roof windows, which, I believe, still re- mains in its pleasant situation. Subsequent to his removal, this house had numerous ten- ants, the last one of whom I recollect was JOSEPH ALLEN, a warm-hearted, retired sea- captain, who had "laid up in ordinary" at Catskill, to enjoy the fruits of his honest toil. I remember an occurrence in the life of this good old man which it may not be out of place here, briefly, to relate: He had sold his homestead in Jefferson to one WILLIAM PULLAN, a haughty, overbearing Englishman,
2
6
LOCAL SKETCHES.
HARMONY LODGE.
who, afterwards, sought in every way to annoy the Captain. One day, at a vexatious law suit instituted by Pullan against Allen, the former, in reply to an assertion of Allen's, called him "a - old liar." The Captain was a small man, and then verging upon eighty years, but he seized the tall Englishman and hurled him to the earth. I was in the office when Pullan applied to my father for a warrant for the old "sea-dog." It was most reluctantly granted, and given to EGBERT BOGARDUS, who as reluctantly proceeded to serve it. He met the Captain, on his way to the office to answer for his offence, and his plea was in about these words : "The scoun- drel called me 'a d-d old liar,' and I tossed him off the stoop. I not only punished him, but I revenged myself for many insults re- ceived at the hands of his haughty countrymen. Often, when beating up the British Channel, I have been obliged, however inconvenient, to 'douse my peak' to every English vessel in |
the Channel ; to-day, I have doused an Englishman, peak, hull and all."
It is needless to say that the complaint was dismissed, with a lecture from the magistrate to the plaintiff, conveyed in not very compli- mentary language.
*
*
But I have strayed far off from my subject; and, perhaps, it is as well, for my recollections of Samuel Haight are not very vivid. I know that he was a Brigadier General, for I remem- ber to have seen him in regimentals and pow- dered hair, at a General Review, and I know that, after securing a competency, he removed to Athens, where he built a palatial residence, and where "he lived respected, and died la- mented," and that is about all I do know of him.
In my next, I will endeavor to stick a little closer to the text, which I shall select from "The Harmony Lodge Papers."
HARMONY LODGE PAPERS .- No. II.
AUGUST 7, 1862.
In noticing these papers, some weeks since, * you took occasion to question, upon the au- thority of an "old residenter," the identity of WETMORE with WHITEMORE of mop-pole no- toriety. I am disposed to believe that your informant was in error, as I find two docu- ments which sustain my view of the matter. The first is a bill reading :
Harmony Lodge, To Bro: W. W. Wetmore, Dr. To 4 rods for Stewarts and Deacons .. £0 12 0 Decr. 25, '95.
which fixes the fact that he was a worker in wood; and the second goes far to establish his reputation for meanness. I transcribe it, in its pristine orthography and punctuation- or rather in its lack of both :
Cattskill, June the 27 1795 Masons bill Dr To braking down a close elossett and fixing the same for them. £0 80
To biskets brandy and candels 0 10 0
To firewood, . .
2 00
for the use of the room I will leave It To 2 18 0 your generousity but If you are all so Mean In Opinion as Mr. Wetmore I suppose you . will allow Me nothing but I have A better opinion of some of you gentlemen than that comes to from yours David Van Bargan
Now, I respectfully claim that these docu- ments either prove that Wetmore and White- more (so called) were identical, or that the one was small enough to crawl through the gimlet-hole which the other "charged sixpence to bore. " * *
The second and third names on the list of members of Harmony Lodge, are those of STEPHEN and IRA DAY, (father and son. ) For a brief sketch of their lives and characters, I refer your readers to one of a series of articles, entitled "The Grave-yard at C-," furnished by me to the Recorder some six years ago. t It is sufficient here to say of them that, in all the public and private relations of life, they lived unblameable ; and, dying, left a record to which a numerous posterity can point with pride.
Next, comes the name of THOMAS THOMSON. (By the way, the old Thomson mansion was a stone building, standing almost directly in the rear of the present site of your office-now "Center Brick Block"-and was, long since, demolished.) Ill health, or the spirit of adven- ture, induced Thomas to visit the West India Islands, soon after the establishment of Har- mony Lodge, and I am not sure but his prin- cipal reason for joining the fraternity, was to become acquainted with those mysteries which are supposed to be ready passports to the hearts and hands of the brotherhood through- out the world. He went, accompanied by two faithful servants, JOSEPHUS and CÆSAR, (then slaves,) and, for long years, he remained abroad-occasional, and generally preposter- ous, rumors reaching Catskill of his having amassed unbounded wealth, either by legiti- mate business, creole marriage, illicit trade, or by a hundred other means which gossip suggested. At last he came home, and I
LOCAL SKETCHES.
HARMONY LODGE.
remember him as one with whom, for all his | mony Lodge series, appeared in the Recorder and reputed wealth, I would not have exchanged Democrat, July 17th, 1862 : places for a day. Broken in constitution, and ANTIQUARIAN .- We have been permitted to look over some of the business papers of Harmony Lodge, the first Masonic association ever formed in this town. These papers are principally inter- esting as recalling to mind the early days of the settlement, and reviving the memories of the men who have occupied the places which three suc- ceeding generations have been called to fill. afflicted with a disease, said to be leprosy, it seemed to me, as he took his accustomed ride every morning, muffled to the eyes to conceal the marks of his malady, that he had paid too dearly for the riches which it was denied him to enjoy. He built the fine residence known as the Thomson Place, and then he erected, in sight of the dwelling, the vault or tomb in which, soon after, his body was deposited.
His West Indian life had been a mystery which the curious hoped his death would solve, but they were disappointed, and then they built fresh hopes upon his faithful body ser- vants who had accompanied him through all his wanderings, and were supposed to have possessed his fullest confidence. Not much was expected from Cæsar-he was a dandy negro, and if he knew anything worth telling, he scarcely knew how to tell it. But Josephus was a reserved, taciturn darkey, with whom a secret, involving even life itself, might be safely confided. He survived his master many years, and at last died suddenly, cheating the quid nunes out of the awful disclosures, of which they had so long lived in marvellous anticipation.
The mansion built by Thomas Thomson, passed to his brother ALEXANDER, since de- ceased, and is now, I believe, the residence of Mrs. COLE, a relative of the family, and the widow of America's most gifted and deeply lamented artist - the poet-painter, THOMAS COLE; the mausoleum which he erected has recently been taken down, and his remains, and those of the kindred who followed hin, now rest in our beautiful Cemetery, awaiting, with the multitudinous dead surrounding them, the breaking of that "Great Day of Revela- tion" when all mysteries shall be made clear in the light of the countenance of Him "from Whom no secrets are hid."
-* The following article, alluded to in the open- ing paragraphs of the second paper of the Har-
Among those who instituted Harmony Lodge, in 1794, we find the names of STEPHEN DAY, SASI- UEL HAIGHIT, THOMAS THOMSON, JACOB BOGAR- DUS, HEZEKIAH VAN ORDEN, GEO. TAYLOR, RUFUS STANLEY, W. W. WETMORE, and many others, men of note in their day and generation.
We have placed these interesting papers in the hands of a friend-one familiar with the local his- tory of this place-who will, as early as leisure will permit, gather such recollections and inci- dents as are connected with these departed wor- thies, for the edification and instruction of our readers and their descendants. It is true that hu- man nature has ever been the same, and the acts and sayings of our grandfathers did not material- ly differ from those which oceur in our day, yet we love to dwell upon their memories, as we hope to live in the memories of those who come after us, when "the places which now know us shall know us no more forever."
P. S .- Glancing back over this brief article, our eye is canght by the name of WETMORE. As there is no old family of that name extant in this town, we would thank some person, who eau, to inform us of his history. Inquiry of his namesake, our medical friend over the way, elicited the fact that he was at one time a prominent merchant ot the place ; and an old inhabitant, with confused recol- lection, thought him identical with one WHITE- MORE, a worker in wood, who formerly resided in Catskill, and of whom the following story is told : A poor woman, industrious and neat, as all wom- en were in those days, had bought a mop, and to keep it where she could readily lay her hand on it, she sent it to WHITTEMORE, to have a hole bored in the handle to admit a string to hang it up by. He performed the job, and charged the poor woman sixpence for it ! That sixpence pur- chased his immortality, for some poet, (there were sneh in those days, albeit BYRON was a chicken.) made him famous in the following graceful and mellifinous effusion :
"Mister Whittemore Axed sixpence to bore A small gimlet-hole Thro' a mop-pole !"
+Published in succeeding pages.
HARMONY LODGE PAPERS .- No. III.
AUGUST 14, 1862.
Among the signers of the by-laws of this Lodge, I notice the name of MACKEY CROS- WELL. His death occurred so recently that there are, probably, few in Catskill who do not remember him well. He was the father of EDWIN CROSWELL, now of Hastings, and, for many years, the editor and proprietor of
the Albany Argus, and a prominent leader of the Democratic Party in its palmy days.
Mackey Croswell was one of the earliest settlers of Catskill, and was accompanied, in his emigration from Connecticut, or soon fol- lowed, by his brothers, THOMAS O'HARA, ARCHIBALD, CALEB and HARRY. Archie re- moved to Schoharie County, and was, for a
8
LOCAL SKETCHES.
HARMONY LODGE.
number of years, engaged in the tanning busi- ness at Gilboa. Caleb was a painter, and died long ago. Harry was a printer, and will be remembered as the editor of the Balance over fifty years ago. He was a high-toned Federalist, and a vigorous writer ; and had his party held the ascendancy which it had temporarily attained, he would, doubtless, have ranked among the most distinguished statesmen of that period. The election of JEFFERSON crushed the hopes of Federalism, and Croswell, deserted by his associates in the midst of pecuniary as well as political embar- rassments, abandoned the editorial for the ecclesiastical profession. For many years, he was the beloved rector of an Episcopal Church in New Haven, in which city he died a few years since. 1Ie was the father of SHERMAN CROSWELL, who was, for some time, connected with Edwin, as associate editor and proprietor of the Argus. He also died at New Haven, surviving his father but a few years.
Thomas O'H. was a physician, and there never has been, nor will there probably ever be, one of the profession who did, or will, secure the confidence, esteem and love in which the good old "Unele Doctor" was held by all ages, sexes, classes and conditions .- Perhaps as great a share of love, esteem and confidence as could be transferred from this excellent old man to any other, is now pos- sessed by Doctor ABEL BRACE,* who was his protege, student and partner, and who suc- ceeded him, not only in his business, but in the affections of the people.
Thomas O'H. and Mackey Croswell were the founders, and for many years, the propri- etors of the Catskill Recorder. I remember to have seen one of the first numbers of the first paper established in Catskill, and, I think it ante-dated 1780. It was not originally called the Recorder, but I believe its title was the Catskill Packet and Western Mail. It was printed on a sheet of coarse, blue paper, about 10 by 12 inches in size, and contained the latest intelligence brought by the fast sail- ing packet sloops, which, in those days, made the passage from New York to Catskill, (wind and weather permitting) in something less than six days. This sheet also contained a goodly array of advertisements, and was in- terspersed with numerous wood-cuts, which were said to be the handiwork of the Doctor.
I remember one especially, intended to represent a very black negro boy in the act of running away, with a bundle attached to a stick swung over his shoulder, and Mackey once told me that "Tom had sat up, shiver- ing, through four - cold nights to cut that little nigger." This was always considered by the Doctor as his chef d'ouvre.
Besides the printing office, there was a book store, and, probably, a bindery, as I find among the papers before me a bill for blank books purchased of M. Croswell & Co., in 1795. (For further information in relation to the history of the Recorder, I refer you to your aged townsman, Captain JACOB DUN- HIAM, who is still living,* and who was, I believe, an apprentice to the Croswells.)
After the Doctor found it necessary to de- vote his whole time to his profession, and the duties of Postmaster, (an office to which he was appointed by GEORGE WASHIINGTON, and which he held through the whole of a long life,) Mackey assumed the sole proprietorship of the Recorder, until his son Edwin, becom- ing of suitable age, was associated with him. When Edwin, nearly forty years ago, suc- ceeded MOSES Y. CANTINE, (also of Catskill,) as State Printer, the paper passed into the hands of RICHARD FIELD, then to CHARLES FAXON, and afterwards through the owner- ship of NATHAN G. ELLIOTT, CALEB CROSWELL, JOHN R. SYLVESTER, and his successor, down to one J. B. HALL, under whose care it now flourishes bravely, without any signs of that decay which is supposed to be the inevitable concomitant of antiquity.
When Mackey Croswell retired from the Recorder office, he opened a publie house, called the "Village Tavern," on the site of the hotel now occupied by Sheriff FRANCE. His good nature, story-telling faculty and boon companionship drew around him hosts of friends, and the excellence of the cuisine, with the general good management of the house, soon obtained for him a reputation only equalled by that of LEVERETT CRUTTEN- DEN, of Albany.
But the good old days of the "Village Tavern" are past. The social groups who circled its bar-room fire are broken-its fourth of July dinners are but luscious memories, and the warm-hearted host, who "was wont to set the table in a roar" has passed on to that great caravansera where all earthly trav- elers shall rest when the journey of life shall be accomplished.
Among many friends, there are few from whom I have received more kindnesses than from him, and of the many who have passed away, there are few whose death I more deeply mourned than that of Mackey Cros- well.
*Since deceased.
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HARMONY LODGE.
LOCAL SKETCHES.
HARMONY LODGE PAPERS .- No. IV.
DECEMBER 10, 1862.
When my last was written, a bright Sum- mer's sun shone, and the grass and flowers grew upon the graves of these "Brothers of the Mystic Tie;" to-day the wind sweeps over, and the snows of Winter apparel, in pale robes, their resting places. Since my last, too, more than one has gone to lie down at their sides, to be remembered sorrowfully for a season, and then to be forgotten, on earth, forever. One of the latest (if not the last) interment in your burial ground, suggests to my memory the name of another member of Harmony Lodge.
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