USA > New York > A geographical history of the state of New York: embracing its history, government, physical features, climate, geology, mineralogy, botany, zoology, education, internal improvements, &c., with a separate map of each county > Part 21
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41
Commerce. The Delaware and Hudson canal brings to tide water immense quantities of coal and lumber, most of which is shipped for New York, and other ports. This business gives employment to about 600 canal boats, and eighty sloops and schooners. Several steamboats are also owned in the county, and ply between the ports on the Hudson and New York city.
Mines. The quarries of marble and limestone furnish em- ployment to considerable numbers.
STAPLE PRODUCTIONS. Butter, corn, oats, buckwheat, wool, and lumber.
SCHOOLS. There were in the county, in 1846, 181 district schoolhouses, in which schools were taught an average period of nine months each. 11,547 children received instruction at a cost for tuition of about $20,000. The district libraries contain- ed 26,780 volumes.
There were in the county, the same year, forty private schools, with 811 pupils ; two academies and two female seminaries with 135 pupils.
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Dutch Reformed, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Friends, Episcopalians, and Roman Catholics. There are seventy churches, and sixty-one clergy- men, of all denominations.
HISTORY. A trading house, or fort, was probably erected in this county as early as 1615 or 16, in the neighborhood of Kings- ton. At how carly a period settlements were made in other sections of the county is uncertain. The frequent references to the settlements at Esopus, as the vicinity of the fort was called in the Dutch records, show that it had early become a location of some importance.
Situated about midway between the city of New Amsterdam and the colony of Rensselaerwyck, whose inhabitants did not always maintain the most friendly relations with each other, and with the Indians, it was more exposed to Indian hostilities than most of the other settlements.
In 1657, Van der Donk, the ex-attorney general, who resided at Esopus, slew a squaw for stealing peaches from his garden, and her tribe revenged the murder by killing several of the
184
STATE OF NEW YORK.
white settlers. From this and other causes much ill feeling arose between the natives and the settlers, and in June, 1663, the Indians made a descent upon the settlement, and killed and carried captive sixty-five persons.
Circumstances rendered it probable that a conspiracy had been formed by the Indians to extirpate the Dutch colonists. Governor Stuyvesant summoned the magistrates of the differ- ent towns, to consult with him relative to measures of defence. Their views not coinciding with his own, he repaired to Esopus, and took the field in person against the savages, who, on the approach of Martin Creigier, one of his captains, had fled to the mountains.
Sending out parties of wary and experienced soldiers, Gov. Stuyvesant not only kept them in check, but destroyed most of their mountain fastnesses, and so far subdued them that they asked for a truce, and, on the 15th of May following, a treaty of peace was concluded with them.
Wawarsing and some of the adjacent towns were settled by the Huguenots, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, or the beginning of the eighteenth.
The convention, which formed the first constitution of the state, met at Kingston, in a chamber of the house of Mr. James W. Baldwin.
In October, 1777, during Sir Henry Clinton's expedition up the Hudson, for the relief of General Burgoyne, he despatched General Vaughan to Kingston. He landed and burned the village, at that time the third in the state for wealth, popula- tion, and elegance. Only one house escaped the flames. Sev- eral tories were executed at Kingston during the Revolution.
In 1778, two men, Anderson and Osterhout, were taken cap- tives by the Indians, and carried toward Binghamton. On their way they succeeded in killing their .captors, and, after almost incredible hardships, returned to their houses in the town of Wawarsing.
In May, 1779, a party of Indians descended upon a small set- tlement of the Huguenots, on the Fantine kill in Wawarsing, and killed eleven of the inhabitants and burned several dwell- ings. They were pursued by Colonel Cortlandt with his regi- ment, but without effect. Soon after, another family were killed in the same vicinity.
In August, 1781, a large force of Indians and tories, some 400 or 500 in number, made an attack upon the village of Wawar- sing, and burned and plundered it. The inhabitants had had timely warning and were in the fort. The Indians in this expe- dition took but one scalp, while several of their own number were killed, and but for the tardiness of Colonel Cantine; they
185
ULSTER COUNTY.
might have been signally routed. Other similar occurrences took place in some of the other towns of the county.
VILLAGES. KINGSTON, the county seat, is pleasantly situated on a plain, three miles west of the landing on the Hudson. The Esopus creek flows through the village. It was anciently called Esopus, and, as has been already noticed, was early settled by the Dutch.
It was burnt by the British in 1777, but soon re-built. It has considerable trade with New York, and some manufactures. Its business is not concentrated upon one street, but scattered over the whole village plat. It has a flourishing academy, and a female seminary. Population 2500.
Rondout, also in the township of Kingston, is situated on the Rondout creek. It is the place of deposit and shipment of the coal and lumber, brought to the Hudson, by the Delaware and Hudson canal. Nearly 200,000 tons of coal, and several mil- lions of feet of lumber, as well as large quantities of hydraulic cement, and quick lime, are annually exported from this port. A steam ferryboat plies between this place and Rhinebeck, in Dutchess county, and also one to Eddyville, in this county. The United States Government have erected a light house here. Population about 1800.
Eddyville, in the same town, is a small but thriving manu- facturing village.
Ulsterville, in the town of Saugerties, is a village of recent growth, being founded in 1826, and incorporated in 1831. Its immense water power, derived from the falls on Esopus creek, has rendered it one of the most flourishing manufacturing vil- lages in the state.
There is an extensive rolling and slitting mill here, employ- ing 250 workmen. Axes, paper, white lead, starch, and bricks are also manufactured in large quantities. A beautiful bridge, with one arch of 260 feet span, crosses the Esopus creek in this village. A steamboat, and several sloops, ply between the village and New York. Population, 2500.
New Paltz, is a small but thriving agricultural hamlet. It has a flourishing academy. New Paltz landing, now included in the town of Lloyd, is a pleasant, village, nine miles from the village of New Paltz.
Wawarsing and Naponoch, in the town of Wawarsing, are places of some historic interest.
IX. DUTCHESS COUNTY.
Square miles, 765. Organized, 1683.
Population, 55,124. Valuation, 1845, $19,784,944.
12
13
ģ
17
8
U
5
10
1
3
®.
14
b
16
C
I
18
U
15
1
T
2
FF
4
6
e
f
187
DUTCHESS COUNTY.
TOWNS.
1. Amenia, 1788.
10. Stanford, 17SS.
2. Beekman, 178S.
3. Clinton, 17SS.
12 Redhook, 1812.
13. Milan, ISIS.
5. Northeast, 178S.
14. Hyde Park, 1821.
6. Pawling, 17SS.
15. La Grange, 1821.
7. Poughkeepsie, 1773.
16. Pleasant Valley, 1821.
S. Rhinebeck, 17SS.
17. Pine Plains, 1823.
1S. Unionvale, 1827.
Mountains. F. F. Highlands. T. Matteawan, or Fishkill Moun- tains. U. Taghkanic range. e. Old Beacon. f. New Beacon, or Grand Sachem.
Rivers, Creeks, &c. C. Hudson river. a. Ten Mile creek. b. Fishkill. c. Wappinger's.
Lakes, &c. g. Stissing's Pond. h. Whaley's.
Villages. POUGHKEEPSIE, Fishkill, Matteawan, Fishkill Landing, Ple. sant Valley, Hyde Park, Rhinebeck.
BOUNDARIES. North by Columbia county ; East by the state of Connecticut; South by Putnam county ; and west by Hudson river.
SURFACE. The surface is diversified, but generally mnoun- tainous, or hilly. Two great valleys intersect the county ; the eastern bounded by the Taghkanic and the Matteawan, or Fish- kill mountains ; the western, lying between the latter and the high banks of the Hudson river. Beside these, there are nu- merous rolling ridges of less elevation, running through the valleys parallel ( the mountain range :.
The mountains rise in some places to the height of about 1700 feet. The river range presents some of the highest peaks of the Highlands. The Old Beacon, near the Fishkill landing, is 1471 feet, and the New Beacon,* or Grand Sachem, half a mile farther south, 1685 feet, above tide water. The prospect from the top of the latter is very extensive and beautiful.
RIVERS, &c. The principal streams are, Ten Mile, Fishkill, Wappinger's, and Crom Elbow creeks, with their tributaries ; several of the smaller streams also possess valuable mill sites. The Fishkill is about twenty miles in length. Wappinger's creek is about thirty-five miles long.
CLIMATE. The climate is agreeable and healthful, though, from the elevations of some portions of the county, it is colder than some of the adjacent counties.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. The eastern part of the county is primitive. Granite and gneiss are the prevailing constituents.
* These mountains received their names from the signal fires lit upon their tops during the Revolution.
11. Dover, 1807.
4. Fishkill, 17SS.
9. Washington, 17SS.
188
STATE OF NEW YORK.
West of these, the country belongs to the Taconic system ; slate and limestone being the principal underlying rocks, and frequently cropping out upon the surface.
The county abounds in minerals. Iron ore, of rare purity and in extraordi- nary abundance, exists on the western slopes of the mountains; both the hema- titic and magnetic ores occur in the county. Lead and zinc are also found in considerable quantities. Graphite, or black lead, is obtained in great abundance from a mine in Fishkill. Marble, peat, and marl, are found in almost every part of the county. Garnet, green actinolite, talc, anthophyllite, granular epidote, and Gibbsite are the other principal minerals.
In Dover is a cavern which, from its almost perfect Gothic arch, has received the name of "the Stone Church."
SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The soil in general, is very fertile, though portions of the mountainous districts are somewhat sterile.
Gypsum is too much relied upon as a fertilizing agent, while the equally valu- able lime and marl upon, and beneath the soil are neglected; a beneficial change is however taking place in this respect. The timber is principally oak and chest- nut with some hickory. The county is well adapted to the rearing of cattle and sheep, and the culture of grain.
PURSUITS. Agriculture is the pursuit of a majority of the in- habitants of this county. In the production of corn and oats, it stands first in the state, and maintains a respectable rank in the production of other grains. In the growth of wool and the pro- duction of butter, it occupies a high rank; in the number of its swine too it exceeds any other county in the state. Flax and · potatoes are also raised in great abundance.
Manufactures. Dutchess county is extensively engaged in manufactures. The most important articles are cotton and woollen goods, including prints, iron ware, flour, malt liquors, cordage, leather, oil, paper, &c. The entire value of manufac- tured products in 1845, exceeded two and half millions of dol- lars.
Commerce. The whale fishery is prosecuted from Pough- keepsie, and employs several large ships. Some eight or ten steamboats, and a considerable number of sloops, schooners and barges, are employed in the coasting trade.
Mines, &c. In Beekman, Dover, Fishkill, and Pawling, are extensive iron mines ; in Fishkill a large mine of Plumbago; in Dover extensive quarries of white and black marble; and in Poughkeepsie numerous and extensive lime-kilns.
STAPLES. Corn, oats, butter, wool, beef, and pork.
SCHOOLS. In the county are 210 district school-houses, in which, in 1846, schools were maintained an average period of nine months. 12,854 children received instruction at an ex- pense for tuition of about $27,962. The district libraries con- tained about 28,000 volumes.
There were also in the county, eighty-three private schools, with 1155 scholars ; four academies, and two feinale seminaries, with 298 pupils, and one collegiate school, with about 120 pupils.
189
DUTCHESS COUNTY.
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Methodists, Friends, Baptists, Presbyterians, Dutch Reformed, Episcopalians, Congregation- alists, Roman Catholics, Universalists, and Unitarians. There are 103 churches, and ninety-four clergymen of all denominations in the county.
HISTORY. The precise period when Dutchess county was first settled, does not seem to be satisfactorily ascertained. The first settlement was made at Fishkill, by the Dutch. In 1683, the number of its inhabitants was sufficient to authorize its or- ganization, as a separate county. It was however very small, and, for nearly 20 years, was considered in the light of a depen- dency upon Ulster county.
In 1689, its inhabitants, like those of Ulster, took part against Leisler, but afterward submitted to his administration.
A large tract, extending from the Hudson to "the Oblong," and some eight or ten miles in width, comprising part of the towns of Hyde Park, Pleasant Valley, Washington, and Ame- nia, was granted to nine proprietors at a very early date, prob- ably about the commencement of the eighteenth century. It was called the " Great Nine Partners."
In 1711, one Richard Sackett lived on this tract, and with his family remained the only settlers upon it till 1724, when some German families, from the East Camp, on Livingston's Manor, in Columbia county, removed here.
In 1702, the first house was built in Poughkeepsie by Myndert Van Kleek, a Dutchman, and one of the early emigrants to the county.
In 1731, the boundary difficulties which had long existed be .. tween New York and Connecticut, were terminated by a com- promise ; Connecticut relinquishing to New York a tract called " the Oblong," lying mostly in this county, and containing about 60,000 acres, in consideration for which, she received a tract on the southwestern corner of her territory, extending into West- chester county.
Two patents were issued for "the Oblong," one in London the day after the settlement, to Sir Joseph Eyles and others, the other in New York, some few months later, to Hawley & Co. These two patents were the subject of much litigation, and the source of no small amount of party animosity.
In 1741, several families from Connecticut emigrated to the northern part of the county. About the same time a considera- ble number of Friends from Long Island settled in the eastern section.
In the troublous times which preceded the Revolution, Dutch- ess county took the side of liberty, and furnished from among her citizens, some of the most brilliant and useful actors in that
9*
190
STATE OF NEW YORK.
fearful conflict. Such were Montgomery, the hero of Quebec, the Schencks, and others of imperishable renown.
During the revolutionary war, a part of the American army were stationed for a considerable time at Fishkill, under the command of General Putnam, and afterwards of General Par- sons. Their barracks were about half a mile south of the village .*
VILLAGES. POUGHKEEPSIE, the county seat, in the town of the same name, is finely situated on the elevated bank of the Hudson, about equally distant from New York and Albany. During the Revolution, and after its close, the legislature of the state frequently held its sessions here. The convention of the state, which adopted the Federal Constitution, also met here in 1788. The building occupied by that body has since been used as a brewery.
Poughkeepsie is regularly laid out, and has many elegant pub- lic and private buildings. It has considerable commerce with New York and other home ports.
It is also largely engaged in manufactures. Of these, ma- chinery, malt liquors, flour, carpets, cutlery, fire arms, silk, pins, iron and brass ware, sash and blinds, and bricks in large quantities and of superior quality, and the principal.
The Poughkeepsie collegiate school is a fine institution, un- surpassed in the beauty of its situation, and the elegance of its edifice. This building is 77 by 137 feet, modeled after the Par- thenon at Athens, and surrounded by a massive colonnade. Its cost, exclusive of the extensive and beautiful grounds, was $40,000. The Dutchess county academy, also located in the village, is an excellent chartered institution. Beside these there are four female seminaries. Population about 9000.
Fishkill Landing, in the town of Fishkill, is situated on the Hudson, directly opposite Newburgh. It has much delightful scenery, and is a place of considerable trade. Population about 1000.
Fishkill Village, in the same town, is a picturesque and beau- tiful hamlet. The Fishkill academy, located here, is a flourish- ing chartered institution. Population 800.
Matteawan, in the same township, is an important manufactur- ing village. Large quantities of moleskins, beaverteens, and fus- tians are produced here. It has also an extensive iron and brass foundry, several machine shops, flouring mills, and other manufactories. The Highland Gymnasium, a celebrated board- ing school for boys, is located here. Population about 2000.
* In the old stone church in the town of Fishkill, Enoch Crosby the pedlar spy, [the "Harvey Birch" of Cooper's novel, "The Spy,"] was confined, and from thence he made his escape in an extraordinary and mysterious manner.
ORANGE COUNTY.
191
Glenham and Franklindale, in the same town, are flourish- ing manufacturing villages.
Pleasant Valley, on Wappinger's creek, in the town of the same name, is a manufacturing village of some importance. It is principally engaged in the manufacture of cotton goods. Population 700.
Hyde Park is a beautiful village, situated on the Hudson, and has some commerce and manufactures. Population 700.
Rhinebeck, in the town of the same name, is a large and thri- ving village, with several manufactories. The Rhinebeck acad- emy is a highly flourishing institution. Population 1300.
X. ORANGE COUNTY.
Square Miles, 760.
Organized, 1683.
Population, 52,227. Valuation, 1845, $11,319,430.
12
4
7
H
R
14
3
2
15
10
h
8
TOWNS.
1. Cornwall, 17SS.
2. Goshen, 1788.
3. Minisink, 17SS.
4. Montgomery, 1758.
5. Newburgh, 178S.
6. New Windsor, 17SS.
7. Wallkill, 17SS.
S. Warwick, 17SS.
5
13/P
6
C
192
STATE OF NEW YORK.
9. Deer Park, 1798. 13. Mount Hope, 1825.
10. Blooming Grove, 1799.
14. Hamptonburgh, 1830.
11. Monroe, 1799:
12. Crawford, 1523.
15. Chester, 1845.
Mountains, &c. T. Matteawan. P. Shawangunk. d. Bare. e. Crow's Nest. f. Butter Hill.
Rivers, &c. C. Hudson. EJ. Delaware. R. Nevisink. V. Shaw-
angunk. g. Wallkill. a. Murderer's Creek.
Lakes, &c. i. Long Pond. h. Drowned Lands.
Forts. West Point. Clinton. Montgomery.
Battle Fields. Minisink. Montgomery and Clinton,
Colleges. West Point Military Academy.
Villages. NEWBURGH. GOSHEN. West Point. Montgomery.
BOUNDARIES. North by Sullivan and Ulster counties; East by Hudson river and Rockland county ; South by Rockland county and the state of New Jersey ; and west by Sullivan county and the Delaware river.
SURFACE. Mountains, hills and plains diversify the surface of this county. The Matteawan mountains, or Highlands, cross its southeastern border diagonally; the Shawangunk range stretches along its western boundary; and, parallel to them, run a chain of low hills called Comfort hills. Between these and the Highlands extends a level valley, with occasional marshes.
Upon the banks of the Hudson, in this county, are some of - the highest points of the Highlands. Bare mountain is 1350 feet, the Crow's Nest 1418 feet, and Butter Hill 1529 feet above tide water. The eastern face of the latter is an almost perpen- dicular precipice.
RIVERS. Beside the Hudson, which forms a portion of its eastern boundary, the principal streams are the Wallkill (or Waalkill), the Shawangunk and Nevisink rivers, and Murder- er's creek. The Wallkill, for about twenty miles of its course, flows through a marsh, known as the "Drowned lands." The Delaware river just touches a portion of the western boundary.
PONDS. In the south part of the county are several ponds of considerable size. Long pond, on the New Jersey line, is the largest, and is some nine miles in length.
RAILROADS AND CANALS. The New York and Erie railroad passes through the county, affording a daily communication with New York city, while the Delaware and Hudson canal crosses its western border.
CLIMATE. The climate of the county is mild and agreeable. In the vicinity of the Drowned lands, fevers prevail in autumn ;
193
ORANGE COUNTY.
but the county generally is remarkably healthy. The spring opens about two weeks earlier than in the counties west of it.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. The southeastern portion of the county, including the Highlands, is of primitive formation, and contains granite, sienite, hornblende, and primitive limestone. The remainder belongs to the transition system, being chiefly composed of slate, limestone and graywacke, of which the first and last are mostly found on the hills, and the second underlying the valleys. The Shawangunk mountains are composed mostly of graywacke, in which the millstone grit prevails.
It abounds in minerals of rarity and value. In the towns of Monroc and Canterbury, are vast beds of magnetic iron ore. Hematitic iron ore is also abundant and of excellent quality.
Among the minerals of interest may be enumerated spinel (a species of ruby) of extraordinary beauty ; fine Labradorite, a new mineral ; Ilmenite, a rare and interesting mineral, found more abundantly here than in any other known local- ity ; zircon, apatite, fibrous epidote, tourmaline, serpentine, Clintonite, Boltonite, scapolite, idiocrase, Bucholzite, white iron pyrites, sphene, pyroxene, hair brown hornblende, and many others of less importance. Their principal localities are in the towns of Monroe, Cornwall, Warwick and Deer Park. Excellent peat is found in the Drowned Lands and other low lands.
Bones of the Mastodon have been discovered in several places in this county. An entire skeleton of this gigantic animal, by far the most perfect hitherto dis- covered, was disinterred in Coldenham, in 1845. The locality had evidently once been a marsh, and the animal, in attempting to cross it, had sunk in the inud, and was unable to extricate himself. His length is stated at thirty-three feet ; length of tusks ten feet ; length of skull three feet ten inches ; weight of head and tusks 692 pounds ; weight of all the bones 2002. The contents of the stomach were found within the skeleton, consisting of crushed twigs, &c.
This skeleton is now in the museum of the Harvard University. The skeleton of the Mastodon, in Peale's museum, Philadelphia, was taken from the town of Montgomery, in this county, and bones of others have been discovered in Chester and other towns.
SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The soil is chiefly clay and gravelly loam, and is for the most part fertile, but better adapted to grazing than to the culture of grain, except the allu- vial lands in the southern part. The vast marsh of the Drowned lands, when drained, furnishes a soil of great depth and fertility, and is annually covered with the most luxuriant vegetation.
The timber of the county is principally oak, chestnut, hickory, maple, black- walnut, elm, &c. The county produces apples and other fruit in perfection, and a great variety of the natural grasses. Owing to the rapid and precipitous course of the Wallkill, before entering the Drowned Lands, and its sluggish pro- gress through them, many plants, belonging to a more southern climate, are found here .*
PURSUITS. Agriculture mainly engages the attention of the inhabitants. Orange county stands in the first rank among the dairy counties of the state. More than 4,100,000 pounds of but-
* The first treatise on the Botany of New York, and we believe the first botanical work by an American author, was the Plantæ Coldenhamiæ, by Governor Col- den, of Coldenham, near Newburgh. It was published at Upsal, in Sweden, in 1741.
194
STATE OF NEW YORK.
ter were made in 1845, and about seven and a half millions of quarts of milk sent to New York city, the same year. Large quantities of wool and pork are produced. Considerable atten- tion is also paid to the raising of corn, oats, rye and buckwheat.
Horticulture, and especially market gardening, is receiving increased attention.
Manufactures also furnish employment to a considerable num- ber of the citizens of the county. The principal articles are cot- ton and woollen goods, flour, distilled and malt liquors, leather, iron, oil cloth and paper. In 1845, these amounted to nearly $2,000,000 in value.
Newburgh has considerable commerce with New York. Much of the produce of the county is also transported to that city by means of the Delaware and Hudson canal and the Erie railroad.
Mines. The iron mines in the towns of Monroe and Corn- wall, are scarcely surpassed in value by any others in the state. Iron mines were worked in the county as early as 1751.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.