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The History of Orange County New York
EDITED BY
RUSSEL HEADLEY
PUBLISHED BY VAN DEUSEN AND ELMS MIDDLETOWN, NEW YORK 190 9
PREFACE
In presenting this new History of Orange County to the public, we do so in the earnest hope that it will prove to be the most complete com- pilation of local chronicles that has up to this time been offered to our citizens. The authenticity of the facts contained in the various articles is as absolute as the utmost care could make it. The data have been procured from the best known authorities, and the sketches, when com- pleted, have been subjected to the most searching examination for veri- fication and correction. That no errors will be discovered in this pro- duction, is too much to hope for ; but we do most certainly trust, that if any such errors there be. neither in number nor by their nature, will they be found to be sufficiently important to detract from that char- acter for reliability, which it has been our constant aim and en leavor to impart to this history.
In this new work the design has been, to make clear the development of ideas and institutions from epoch to epoch: the social and economic conditions of the people have been preserved in the narrative, and much attention has been paid to describing the civil characteristics of the several towns and cities, both in the conduct of their local affairs and also in relation to each other and the county at large.
It is a well-known fact that considerable prejudice exists among a great body of the people toward county histories in general, for the reason that some such compilations in the past, have been composed of fact and fiction so intermingled, as to render it a difficult matter to know what was true and what was false. It has been our object in this work to hew straight to the line, satisfied to simply furnish such information as we were able to gather concerning each important matter or interesting event ; and where the desired materials were lacking, we have not at- tempted to supply that lack, by filling in the vacant niches with products of the imagination. We have not striven for effect, but our object is merely to give an authentic account of facts recent and remote. so dis- posed in a proper and orderly manner, as to enable our readers to clearly understand the history of their county from its origin down to the present day.
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6
PREFACE.
It is the limitation attached to all works devoted to general history, that from their very character only a superficial knowledge of the men and their times can be derived from them, while on the other hand, that which they lack is supplied by local histories of this nature, whose great value in adding to the fund of human knowledge cannot be overestimated; for they are the only mediums through which we can get the whole story of the economy of life, practiced by those men and women in every county in our broad land, which eventually resulted in transforming a wilderness into a garden, and from a weak and needy folk, creating a rich and mighty nation. It has long been recognized by every scholar, that the knowledge of such humble elements is absolutely essential, in order that the mind may intelligently grasp the potent factors which go to make up history. Hence, our correct understanding of the advancement and growth of a people varies in just such proportion as the narrative of their daily lives is full or incomplete.
The history of our own county cannot be studied too often; for it is one of great interest, and the record revealed is a proud one. There is no section of the country possessing more of historic interest, nor does one exist, as closely identified with those crucial events connected with the formative period of the Republic. In this county was held the last cantonment of the Revolutionary army, here Washington passed a large portion of his time, and within our borders he rendered his greatest ser- vice to our country.
At the time the army went into winter quarters at Little Britain in 1782, although peace was not declared until the following year, yet it was well understood that the long war was over and the States were at last independent of Great Britain. The knowledge of this fact naturally inclined the minds of men to a consideration of the form of government to be adopted for the infant commonwealth, and nowhere did the matter receive more attention than in that encampment, and from those soldiers whose deeds in arms had made the happy consummation possible.
The leisure entailed from the long relief from active duty which ensued after going into camp, afforded ample opportunity for both the officers and men of the army to discuss this question in all its bearings. It must be borne in mind that republics were not much in favor at that period, while the incompetent and discreditable manner in which Congress had conducted the national affairs for years, had created profound distrust
PREFACE.
and widespread discontent. Under the circumstances it is not so sur- prising that, believing nothing but chaos and ruin would be the lot of the country should the form of government then in force be continued, the army should have finally declared for a limited monarchy, and desired Washington as king.
The deputation of Colonel Nicola to present the subject to Washington does not require repetition here, nor the details of the manner in which that great man resolutely put aside all feelings of personal ambition, and so sternly repressed the movement for all time, that our present form of free government became an assured fact. These events are merely men- tioned to bring vividly to the mind the recollection of the important connection our county sustained toward that great drama, and also to bring clearly home the fact, that even though the sun of liberty rose first from the green at Lexington or the bridge at Concord, the gestation of the Republic occurred on the banks of the Hudson in the old county of Orange.
Some criticism of this work has been occasioned through the inclusion therein of biographical sketches; but we are certain that upon calm re- flection it will be seen that such objections rest upon no substantial foundation. The narratives of the lives of men and their acts constitute all there is of history. If it be true that all that our county shows in the way of growth and development, is entirely due to the men and women who originally peopled this region, and worthily performed those parts al- lotted to them in the general scheme of life, during their existence here, it is equally true that their successors who still abide with us, took up the burden where it fell from the hands of the fathers, and most signally continued the work, and carried it forward to success. If the works them- selves are deserving of commendation, surely the workers and finishers thereof are entitled to the honor of some mention.
In sending forth this volume, we trust that in addition to its value as a depository of accurate information and useful knowledge, it will also prove an effective instrument in creating a more active public sentiment regarding historical subjects, and especially foster an interest in the an- nals of our own county.
The editor would be wanting in gratitude did he fail to acknowledge his obligations to the well-known writer, the late Mr. Edward M. Rutten- ber. The whole historical field comprising that period prior to the Revo-
S
PREFACE.
lutionary era, has been so carefully gleaned over by that indefatigable and accurate historiographer, that there remains little or nothing that is new, to reward any subsequent investigator into the history of that era, and therefore all who include that cpochi in any sketch, must per- force draw largely from the store of valuable materials gathered by him. The editor also desires to return his sincere thanks to our numerous contributors, for their cheerful assistance, and especially for the pains- taking care exhibited by them in the preparation of those articles which appear herein, and whose excellence constitutes the chief merit of this work.
That the efforts of myself and associates have fallen short of the high standard we had set up for ourselves at the inception of our labors, we are well aware; but we do at least claim, that we have in some material degree, contributed in this volume to the "rescuing from oblivion and preserving the services which others have performed for God and country and fellow men." If the public by its verdict allows this claim to stand, our reward will be ample and we shall rest well content.
Dated, July 14, 1908.
RUSSEL HEADLEY.
CONTENTS
PART CHAPTER IN
The County of Orange ..
CHAPTER AL
The Town of Blooming Grove ...
By Benjamin C. Scars
130
CHAPTER XH.
By Frank Durland.
148
CHAPTER VIIL.
By E. M. V. McClean.
165
The Town of Cornwall.
CHAPTER XIV.
The Town of Crawford.
By J. Erskine Ward
183
... 09
CHAPTER XVI.
By George F. Gregg
2ºC
CHAPTER XVII.
By Charles E. Stickney -..... 239
The fown of Greenville
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Town of Hamptonburgh.
. By Margaret Crawford Jackson.
. . . . 250
CHAPTER XIX.
The Town of Highlands
Bv Captain Theodore Faurot.
. . . . . 261
CHAPTER XX.
By Charles E. Stickney
2-6
The Town of Minisink.
CHAPTER XXI.
The Town of Monroe
By M. N. Kane
CHAPTER XXII.
By David A. Morrison.
.....
.
301
The Town of Montgomery
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Town of Mount Hope
By Wickham T. Shaw
325
CHIAPTER XXIV.
The Town of Newburgh.
P.V
The Town of Chester
CHAPTER XV.
The Town of Deer Park
"The Town of Goshen.
10
CONTENTS.
The City of Newburgh. CHAPTER XXV. PAGE 348
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Town of New Windsor By Dr. C. A. Gorse 381
CHAPTER XXVII.
The Town of Tuxedo.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Town of Wallkill.
By William B. Royce
....
405
CHAPTER XXIX.
The Town of Warwick. By Ferdinand V. Sanford. 427
CHAPTER XXX.
-The Town of Wawayanda
.By Charles E. Stickney
.....
454
CHAPTER XXXI.
The Town of Woodbury
460
CHAPTER XXXII.
The Bench and Bar. By William Vanamee 466
CHAPTER XXXIII.
The Medical Profession.
By John T. Howell, M.D.
560
CHAPTER XXXIV.
The Schools By John M. Dolph. 600
CHAPTER XXXV.
The Churches By Rev. Francis Washburn .... 623
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Agriculture By David A. Morrison 638
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Journalism By W. T. Doty 653
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Freemasonry By Charles H. Halstead. 736
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Horse Breeding By Guy Miller. 751
Dairying
CHAPTER XL.
761
PART II.
Biographical Sketches
. 771
397
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE
CHAPTER I.
COUNTY, PRECINCTS AND TOWNS.
O RANGE was one of the earliest counties of the State, dating back to 1683. when it was organized by a colony law. It was also one of those formed by a general act of organization in 1788, when it included the present county of Rockland, and was described as extend- ing from the limits of East and West Jersey on the west side of the Hud- son River along the river to Murderer's Creek, or the bounds of Ulster County, and westward into the woods as far as Delaware River-that is, all that part of the state south of an easterly and westerly line from the mouth of Murderer's Creek to the Delaware River or northerly line of Pennsylvania. In 1797 Rockland county was set off from it, and five towns from Ulster were added. Its boundaries were definitely fixed by an act of the New York legislature adopted April 3rd. 1801. The previ- ous act of April 5th, 1797, provided that five towns, then a part of the County of Ulster, should be annexed to the county of Orange, and that the courts should hold their sessions alternately at Newburgh and Goshen. Two days afterward another act was passed defining the boundary lines of the towns composing the newly-constructed county, and naming them as follows: Blooming Grove, Chesekook, Deer Park. Goshen, Minisink, Montgomery, New Windsor, Newburgh, Wallkill und Warwick. There were subsequent changes, and the following is a list of the present towns, with the years of their erection, and the territories from which they were taken :
Blooming Grove, 1799, taken from Cornwall; Cornwall. 1788, as New Cornwall, and changed to Cornwall in 1797: Chester, 1845, taken from
18
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
Goshen, Warwick, Monroe and Blooming Grove; Crawford, 1823, taken from Montgomery; Deer Park, 1798, as a part of Ulster County and taken from Mamakating; Goshen, 1788; Hamptonburgh, 1830, taken from Wallkill, Goslien, Montgomery, Blooming Grove and New Windsor ; Monroe, 1799, taken from Cornwall, original name Chesekook, changed to Southfield in 1802, and to Monroe in 1808, and divided in 1890 into Woodbury and Tuxedo; Montgomery, 1788; Mount Hope, 1825, taken from Wallkill, Deer Park and Minisink, original name Calhoun; New- burgh, 1788; New Windsor, 1788; Wallkill, 1788; Minisink, 1788.
There are three cities in Orange County, Newburgh in the town of Newburgh; Middletown, in the town of Wallkill, and Port Jervis, in the town of Deer Park. Newburgh was chartered as a city in 1865, Middle- town in 1888, and Port Jervis in 1907.
The irregular county thus constituted is bounded on the northwest and north by Sullivan and Ulster Counties, on the east and southeast by the Hudson River and Rockland County, on the southwest and west by New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Sullivan County. It has nearly half a million square miles.
The towns along the northwestern and northern border are Deer Park, Mount Hope, Wallkill, Crawford, Montgomery and Newburgh.
Along the Hudson are Newburgh, New Windsor, Cornwall and High- lands.
Next to Rockland County are Highlands, Woodbury and Tuxedo.
On the New Jersey line are the point of Tuxedo, Warwick, Minisink, Greenville, and a section of Deer Park.
The most western town is Deer Park which lies along New Jersey, the Delaware River and Pennsylvania on the southwest and Sullivan County on the north.
In the interior are the towns of Wawayanda, Goshen, Hamptonburgh. Blooming Grove, Chester and Monroe.
The postoffices of the county as distributed in the several towns are named as follows :
Blooming Grove: Salisbury's Mills, Washingtonville, Blooming Grove, Oxford Depot, Craigsville.
Chester : Chester, Greycourt, Sugar Loaf.
Cornwall: Cornwall, Cornwall-on-Hudson, Cornwall Landing. Idle- wild, Mountainville, Orrs Mills, Meadowbrook, Firthcliffe.
COUNTY, PRECINCTS AND TOWNS.
Crawford: Bullville, Pine Bush, Thompson Ridge.
Deer Park: Cuddebackville, Godeffroy, Huguenot, Port Jervis, Rio, Sparrowbush.
Goshen: Goshen.
Greenville: Greenville.
Hamptonburgh : Campbell Hall, Burnside.
Highlands : Highland Falls, Fort Montgomery, West Point.
Middletown: Middletown.
Minisink: Minisink, Johnson, Westtown, Unionville.
Monroe : Monroe, Turner.
Montgomery: Walden, Montgomery, Maybrook.
Mount Hope: Otisville, Guymard.
Newburgh: Newburgh, Middle Hope, Liptondale, Cedarcliff, Cro- nomer Valley, Savilton. Orange Lake, Roseton.
New Windsor : Little Britain, Rocklet, Vail's Gate, Moodna.
Tuxedo: Arden, Southfields, Tuxedo Park.
Wallkill : Middletown, Circleville, Stony Ford, Howells Crystalrun, Fair Oaks.
Warwick: Edenville, Warwick, Florida, Pine Island, New Milford, Wisner Lake, Bellvale, Greenwood Lake, Amity.
Wawayanda : New Hampton, Ridgebury, Slate Hill, South Centreville. Woodbury : Woodbury Falls, Highland Mills, Central Valley.
To go back and particularize more fully: In 1686 the town of Orange was organized, and soon afterward adjoining patents were attached to it for jurisdiction and assessment. In 1719 the northern settlements were separated into the precinct of Orange, with Tappan as its center, and the precinct of Haverstraw, with "the Christian patented lands of Haver- straw" as its center. In 1714 the precinct of Goshen was organized, and included the entire county except the Orangetown and Haverstraw dis- tricts. In 1764 it was divided by a straight line, all the lands west of the line constituting the precinct of Goshen and all the lands east, the pre- cinct of New Cornwall. The four precincts named were the political divisions of the county until after the Revolution. In 1788 the towns of Warwick and Minisink were erected from Goshen, and in 1791 the towns of Clarkstown and Ramapo were erected from Haverstraw. In 1797 the name of the town of New Cornwall was change I to Cornwall.
In the southern towns of the County of Ulster, afterward transferred
20
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
to Orange, changes were made in 1709. The precincts of Highlands and Shawangunk were attached to New Paltz, and the present Orange County towns of Montgomery, Crawford and Wallkill werc then em- braced within its limits. These divisions continued until 1743, when they were changed to three precincts-Wallkill, Shawangunk and Highlands. There was also the precinct of Mainakating west of the precincts of Wallkill and Shawangunk, the northern part of which was made a part of Deer Park in 1798 by the law annexing the Ulster County towns. In 1762 the precinct of Highlands was divided into the precincts of New- burgh and New Windsor, and in 1772 the precinct of Newburgh was divided so as to form another precinct on the north, named New Marl- borough. The same law divided the precinct of Wallkill so that its north- ern section became the precinct of Hanover. In 1782 the name of this precinct was changed to Montgomery by permission of the Provincial Convention of the State. By the general act of 1788 the Ulster County precincts which have been named were erected into the towns of New- burgh, New Windsor, New Marlborough, Shawangunk and Mont- gomery.
In the winter of 1797, after much opposition to plans for changing the boundaries of Orange and Ulster Counties, two bills were agreed upon by a Convention of Delegates from the several towns interested, and these were presented to the Legislature and passed. One of them set off from Orange the present County of Rockland, and the other annexed to Orange County the towns of New Windsor, Newburgh, Wallkill, Montgomery and Deer Park, then the southern section of the county of Ulster.
In 1801 a general law dividing the State into counties fixed the then somewhat undefined boundaries of Orange, and another law adopted the same year fixed the boundaries of its towns as they now are, with the exception of Woodbury and Tuxedo, into which Monroe was sepa- rated in 1890.
The first Board of Supervisors of the present county, which met in Goshen in 1798, was composed as follows: John Vail, Goshen ; Francis Crawford, New Windsor ; Reuben Tooker, Newburgh ; Anselem Helme, Cornwall; Jacob Post, Warwick; Nathan Arnont, Minisink : James Finch, Deer Park; David Gallatin, Montgomery: Andrew McCord, Wallkill.
Since that time the three towns of Greenville, Wawayanda and High- lands have been erected.
Washington's Headquarters, Newburgh.
c/
21
EARLY INDIAN CHARACTER AND CONDUCT
CHAPTER II.
EARLY INDIAN CHARACTER AND CONDUCT.
A MONG the surprises experienced by Columbus and the explorers who sailed up and down the coast of North America soon after his great discovery, were the characteristics of the newly-found race of native Indians. Their tribal differences were comparatively slight, and although uncivilized, many of them exhibited traits which indicated a remote ancestry above savagery, and caused speculation which has not yet ceased.
Hendrick Hudson, from whom the magnificent Hudson River takes its name, has given us in his journal the first information about the tribes at its mouth and along its shores. Sailing from Amsterdam in the ship Half-Moon in 1609, he first landed near Portland,* Me., on July 19th. Thence he sailed south to Chesapeake Bay, thence north to Delaware Bay, and thence to Sandy Hook, anchoring, probably off Coney Island, Sep- tember 3d. Here and on the New Jersey coast Indians came to the ship in canoes, and bartered green corn and dried currants for knives, beads and articles of clothing. He wrote that they behaved well, but when he sent out a boat on the 6th to explore the Narrows, his men were at- tacked by twenty-six natives in two canoes, who killed one of his crew with an arrow and wounded two others. On September IIth he sailed through the Narrows and found a good protected harbor. Here his ship was again visited by many natives, who brought Indian corn, tobacco and oysters for barter, and displayed copper pipes, copper ornaments, and carthen pots for cooking.
Hudson started on his voyage up the river September 12th, and began his return September 22d. His ship stopped near the present city of Hudson, but he proceeded much farther in a small boat-as far. it is supposed, as Albany. About 25 miles below Albany an aged chief enter- tained him hospitably, and the Indians offered in barter tobacco and
. To avoid circumlocution present names will be generally used to indicate localities.
22
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
beaver skins. Here the Indians of the Hudson, and probably of ali North America, first tested the white man's liquor. Hudson gave them some to see how they would act under its influence. Only one drank enough to become intoxicated, and when he fell down in a stupor the others were alarmed, but after he became sober the next day their alarm ceased, and they manifested a friendly spirit. This was on the east side of the river. Below the Highlands on the west side the natives were of a different disposition, and shot arrows at the crew from points of land. For this they were punished by Hudson's men, who returned their fire and killed about a dozen of them. Hudson's journal says that above the Highlands "they found a very loving people and very old men, and were well used." One of his anchoring places had been the bay at Newburgh, and here he wrote prophetically: "This is a very pleasant place to build a town on," and the handsome and prosperous City of Newburgh shows that he judged well. At this point many more Indians boarded the ship, and did a brisk business in exchanging skins for knives and ornamental trifles.
At several anchorages the Indians brought green corn to Hudson's ship, and it was one of the agreeable surprises of the crew at their meals. Corn was generally cultivated by the Hudson River tribes, and grew luxuriantly. Ruttenber says it was long supposed to be native, but investigation shows it was transplanted from a foreign shore. It is cer- tain that the early explorers knew nothing of it until it was brought to them by the Indians, and that it had been cultivated by the latter from immemorial times.
Hudson wrote that some of the Indians whom he met along the river wore mantles of feathers and good furs, and that women came to the ship with hemp, having red copper tobacco pipes and copper neck ornaments. Verrazano, who sailed along the North American coast 33 years after Hudson's expedition, said the Indians were dressed out in feathers of birds of various colors. He mentioned "two kings" who came aboard his ship in Narragansett Bay as "more beautiful in stature than can possi- bly be described," and characterized them as types of their race. One wore a deerskin around his body artificially wrought in damask colors. His hair was tied back in knots, and around his neck was a chain with stones of different colors. The natives who accompanied the chiefs were of middle stature, broad across the breast, strong in the army and well
23
EARLY INDIAN CHARACTER AND CONDUCT
formed. A little later Roger Williams was welcomed as a friend by an old chief, Canonnieus, and his nephew, and he described the Indians who accompanied them as of larger size than the whites, with tawny com- plexions, sharp faces, black hair, and mild, pleasant expressions. The women were graceful and beautiful, with fine countenances, and of modest appearance and manner. They wore no clothing, except orna- mental deer skins, like those of the men, but some had rich lynx skins on their arms, and various ornaments on their heads composed of braids of hair which hung upon their breasts. These Indians were generous in their disposition, "giving away whatever they had."
Later the Indians were classed from language into two general divi- sions-the Algonquins and the Iroquois-terms given them by the Jesuit missionaries. The Iroquois occupied central and western New York, including the Mohawk River. the headwaters of the Delaware, the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. The Algonquins included all the In- dians of Eastern New York, Eastern Canada, New England, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, and Eastern Virginia. Several tribes in the west Hudson River counties constituted the Lenni-Lenape nation, which held its council fires on the site of Philadelphia. Some of their names were Waoranecks, Haverstroos, Minisinks and Waranawonkongs. When Hud- son came the Lenapes were the head of the Algonquin nations, but wars with the Iroquois and the whites so weakened them that they became the subjects of the Iroquois confederacy for eighty years previous to 1755. Then they rebelled, allied themselves with other tribes, became the head of the western nations and successfully contested nearly all the territory west of the Mississippi. During the period of their subserviency they were known as the Delawares. The Mohawks were the most eastern nation of the Iroquois, and were called Maquas by the Dutch, and a branch on the Delaware, Minquas. The Iroquois, first known as the Five Nations, later received the Tuscaroras of North Carolina, who removed to New York, and with the Cherokees and other southern Indians became the sixth nation of that great Indian confederacy, to which they also ,were related by language.
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