USA > New York > Orange County > Deerpark > A history of Deerpark in Orange County, N.Y. > Part 9
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Some years after the war ended the inhabitants of this town began to make money, and were enabled to live in a different style from that of their former habits, and articles of fancy were introduced. The acquisi- tion of these progressed slow at first but increased as people advanced in property and became enabled to procure the objects of their desires, and the different luxuries thus introduced among us have continued to become more numerous until the present time.
By contrasting the manner of living of our parents with that of the present time, we behold the vast change made in a term of about half a century. When our manner of living became changed diseases began to afflict us, and these, as well as our habits of life, have continued to increase, which, together with the great addition of our population, now generates diseases
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which give employment to the physicians who reside among us.
SCARCITY OF PHYSICIANS IN FORMER TIMES.
The services of men of their profession rarely reached this valley in former times. At Goshen was one or more regular physicians in the time of the war, and in the State of New Jersey, about 20 miles distant from this neighborhood, was another. The latter sometimes attended Peter Gumaer, my grandfather, who was stricken with palsy near the time the war commenced, and he and Doctor Sweezy, from Goshen, attended to heal the wounds which Cornelius Swartwout received when the Indians invaded this neighborhood.
In the latter part of the war, and for some years after it ended, there lived an old man by the name of Bennet, on the east side of Shawangunk mountain in the present town of Mount Hope, who in his youth had studied medicine, but abandoned it before he became qualified to practice. He, however, was sometimes called on to attend the sick. He was poor and kept no drugs or medicines, but when called on would go and see what the ailment of the sick person was, and then go out and collect such roots and herbs as he judged best to cure the disease, which he used accord- ing to the dictates of his judgment. After people in our neighborhood began to be afflicted with diseases, and when it was considered necessary to have the attendance of a physician, this Doctor Bennet was employed ; and he generally was quite successful in his practice. He several times cured a young man of
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colic, to which he was subject. This he performed by giving him an emetic, and after it had operated he gave him a physic.
It appears that the constitutions of people become adapted to the climate in which they reside, and to such habits of life as they from generation to genera- tion continue to pursue, and a change of these will affect persons more or less. This is evident from what is known in relation to the different races of mankind, some of whom live very different from others, and the exchange of some, whose food differs very widely, would be mortal to many of one or both of those races who should make the exchange.
Eight of us, all descendants of the four families, now all residents of the lower neighborhood, excepting myself, remain yet travelers on the last part of life's journey towards that change which all flesh has to un- dergo to answer the purposes of the Creator.
BIRDS, REPTILES AND ANIMALS.
Among all the changes mentioned, some of us have been spectators of nearly an extinction of birds in our valley and its vicinity, many different kinds of which formerly visited us in the spring of the year and con- tinued with us during the summer and a part of the fall months. Their active flights from place to place and from tree to tree, and their musical voices of dif- ferent sounds enlivened and cheered our lonely valley. These all had to be active to gratify their cravings of what was necessary to sustain life. Some wandered along. streams of water to procure their food ; some
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hovered high in the air of the atmosphere, from which they surveyed the lands and waters below them to dis- cover the objects they craved for food, from which ele- vation the hawk would sometimes dart swiftly down- ward among a flock of birds and catch and make a prey of one of them, as well as of his objects on the ground. The fish-hawk hovered over the waters, the chicken-hawk over the landscapes to entrap their prey. The owl made his excursions in the night to seek his food, and each of the different tribes of birds possessed its own means of obtaining a living. Many of the worms and insects on the ground, and of those small insects which impregnated the air of the atmosphere, became a prey of birds.
Among the different tribes of birds which visited us were the following, to wit : Blackbirds of different kinds, crows, robins, swallows of different kinds, night- ingales, snipe of different kinds, killdeers, cranes of different kinds, hawks of different kinds, owls of dif- ferent kinds, turtle doves, whippoorwills, wrens of dif- ferent kinds, bluebirds, partridges, quails, wood-peck- ers, eagles, snow birds, and a few other kinds.
The pleasing enjoyments of all species of birds are evidences of the goodness of their Creator ; and the adaptation of all kinds of living creatures whatever to their respective modes of life, are evidences of a pre- existing plan for the formation of each, and the man- ner in which each shall be furnished and receive what- ever is necessary for its preservation during life.
Snakes have also become nearly extinguished in this valley within the last half century, previous to which there were yet some rattlesnakes, pilots, blacksnakes, sissing adders, gartersnakes, greensnakes, and milk-
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snakes, and toads and frogs are not as numerous now as in former times.
Now, although some of these reptiles may appear to us as unnecessary nuisances, yet they undoubtedly have answered certain good purposes in their sphere of being. A few persons of this neighborhood have suffered from the bites of poisonous snakes, but reme- dies were here known in former times which saved the lives of those who were bitten. Their number within my knowledge was six.
There was a singular occurrence in Rochester, in Ulster county, in former times, to wit : At an early period of the settlement of that place, a certain man in time of harvest in going with a wagon, with shelv- ings on it, to fetch a load of grain, and, passing near a rattlesnake in the grain field, stopped his team, and, with a fork which had a very long handle, wherewith as he stood in the wagon he reached the snake and
began to tease it and soon saw that it began to swell, and being anxious to see to what size it would expand itself, he continued to tease it until its body became swollen to a very large size, when it made a spring and passed over wagon and shelvings without touching any of it and came down on the ground on the other side of the wagon, and, in passing over it, the man very narrowly escaped being bitten in his face by the snake as he stood in the wagon. Such an occurrence was a good warning against trying such experiments.
Another occurrence of anterior times will show the effect of hunger, in the last stage of life, of a certain hawk.
At a certain time when Gerardus Van Inwegen and Abraham Cuddeback were catching pigeons with a net,
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a hawk came and lit on a fence near them, and contin- ued there watching the pigeons until they had made some hauls ; and all the ado they made to spring the net, run to it, kill and carry the pigeons, &c., did not scare the hawk so as to drive him from his place, but from his action appeared to want a pigeon. This caused Van Inwegen to try the following experiment te catch him. He took a pigeon in his hand and held it at arm's length before him towards the hawk, and walked slowly towards him, and when the pigeon got within his reach he took hold of it to eat. it, when Van Inwegen caught the hawk and found him to be old and starved, and had become unable to procure his food.
Different opinions have existed in relation to the government of the actions of animals, birds and other creatures. In respect to which, it is difficult in many cases to determine whether certain of their actions are governed by the dictates of mind, to answer certain purposes, or by an impression on their natures to cause their actions without design. The cravings of food and other bodily desires emanate from the nature cre- ated in their bodies. The way and manner of each species to procure its food are dictates of the mind, in which some, if not all, display as much tact and cor- rectness to obtain their objects as the mind of man could direct in their respective bodily capacities. The fear of an enemy, or of danger from any cause, is a dictate of the mind and affects the body, and both will unite their efforts to defend or escape the danger the means of which the mind directs, and the body per- forms accordingly thereto.
The fox, the ground-hog and some other creatures dig holes in the ground, sometimes under and between
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rocks, in which to hide and escape from being caught by an enemy, and for a safe place to rest and sleep. The squirrels will seek places in hollow trees for their safety. The bears, which were here in former times, when cold weather commenced in November or De- cember retired from the open woods into those which were thickly timbered with hemlock, and there sought and made places under rocks and roots of trees in which to lay up all winter, and continued in their respective places without eating all winter and re- .mained fat. Hunters from this neighborhood some- times went there in former times, in February or March when warm weather commenced, and found them with their dogs, and killed them in their holes, in which some were confined by the frost of the ground and were fat.
The beaver performs the greatest work of the animal species, which comprehends a more extensive source of enjoyments than what any other creatures have achieved, all of which appears to be a preconcerted plan of their own to obtain the results of their labors, but still may be, as some have thought, an instinct of their natures to do it without design. A company of beavers will unite, select the best place to build a dam across a stream of water where they can overflow the greatest extent of ground by damming the stream, and the company will all engage in the work cutting down brush and saplings with their teeth and bringing the same to the place selected for a dam, and there place them in the stream so as to form a dam, for which they make use of mud, clay and ground, to intermix with the brush, so as to confine in the dam both brush, ground, &c., and also to make it
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tight. After this work is all completed, a male and female will unite and dig a hole in the side of a bank, which the water will not overflow in times of freshets, and commence to dig it under water and raise gradu- ally until they get into dry ground above the surface level of the water in times of freshets, where they make a place in which to lay, repose and sleep in safety, where wolves, dogs and enemies of every kind cannot find them. The pond also becomes a safe place for them, in which they can have their sportive exer- cises and furnish them with food. There was in an- cient times a beaver-dam in this town near the bridge across Basha's kill, on the land of Abraham Cuddeback, Esq., which dammed the water so as to overflow a large tract of bog meadow land above the bridge. There also was a beaver-dam across the Old Dam Brook, on the land of Abraham J. Cuddeback, Esq., which also overflowed a tract of swamp and bog meadow land. There undoubtedly have been others in ancient times in this town. These were the two best places in this part of the town for Beaver dams, and were on streams not subject to freeze much.
It appears evident that the genius and natural ac- tivity of some animals and birds is greater than that of others, and that all possess thought, memory, dis- cernment, and many of the passions and affections like those of human beings ; and have a degree of speech in which, by articulate sounds, they can inform each other of danger from an enemy, of the finding of food, calling each other to come and partake of it, or for- bidding it ; and no doubt a great part of the different species of animals and birds, especially the latter, have more of an extensive language, to communicate to and
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with each of their respective tribes, than what man can discover. When a man happens to come unawares · near to a partridge with young ones, she will give im- mediate warning to her brood to run and hide, and if the man pursues them, or comes near to them, she will approach to him and flutter as though she was unable to get out of his way, to entice the man to follow her, but will keep at such a distance from him that he can- not catch her ; aud in this manner she will lead the man away from her young in pursuit of herself, until he leaves them and her fear ceases, when she will re- turn to the brood, call them to her, and attend to them in her usual way. Other birds also have their ways and means of causing their young ones to run and hide for fear of an enemy, and to entice him away from the place where the young chickens are hid. All ani- mals will save and defend their young offspring to the utmost of their power, in which they generally make use of the best means they possess.
FOURTH GENERATION:
The fourth and a part of the fifth generations, de- scendants from four of the first settlers in the Peen- pack neighborhood, are now on the stage of action, and those who have remained in Deerpark now own nearly all the valuable land for agricultural purposes in it ; and, like their grandfathers, have generally stuck to the soil for their living. Yet a part of these two gen- erations are now in other pursuits of life, embracing a great part of all the occupations which are followed in this part of our country. The former generally became
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transactors of business between the years 1810 and 1830. These, and their cotemporaries in our country, are within reach of nearly all the acquisitions which have been mentioned, and can procure such portions thereof as their means and abilities will admit, and which furnishes them with a vast amount of enjoyment of which their ancestry were destitute, and also are a source of many evils which they escaped by not hav- ing the means of their production. Now, in conse- quence of those changes, it requires more circumspec- tion now than in former times to travel life's journey, from the existence of many by-roads, the worst of which are sometimes most enticing ; and these have obscured our way through life, and created difficulties in selecting the best course for the enjoyment of our additional acquisitions, without burdening ourselves with the evils which emanate from an erroneous choice.
When men become enabled to have a great variety of food and drink it bcomes necessary to know which are of a healthy character and which are pernicious thereto, so as to enable them to make a choice for its preservation in cases where that becomes the object, in preference to risking future evil consequences. So also when men are enabled to have all the desirable enjoyments of ease and comfortable dwellings, it is necessary for them to know how to occupy these with- out injuring their health, and also to have a knowledge of whatever has a tendency to promote or impair it. Much information relative thereto can be acquired from the writings of those who have studied and prac- ticed the art of healing and preserving health.
Doctor Fowler of the city of New York has for some
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years published a monthly water cure journal, in which he has treated extensively of the effects of water in curing diseases and preserving health, by using it in a proper manner to answer its different purposes. He has also treatel on the bad effects of some of the habits of the people of our country and the consequences thereof. He also from time to
time published a variety of articles relative to the causes of diseases and means of avoiding the same, &c. Doctor Nichols and wife, Mary S. Gove Nichols, formerly of the city of New York and after- wards residents of Cincinnatti, also published a similar monthly journal for a few years. From such works much interesting matter for the benefit of mankind can be acquired, and more than people generally are will- ing to practice.
The physicians, by much study and practice, have become very skillful in overcoming and curing dis- ease, and more dependence is now had on their ser- vices for prolonging life than on any other means for that purpose.
Important as the preservation of health is to man- kind, few appear to be willing to use means for pre- serving it, some of which are irksome and others coun- teract the cravings of nature. These latter differ widely in persons, and consequently are easier overcome by some than others. Many men of strong constitutions, in healthy employments, have little need of being strictly temperate, or to use extraordinary means to preserve health.
The three first verses of the XXIII chapter of the Proverbs of Solomon are very applicable in respect to
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making choice of a great variety of food and drink such as Rulers of his time furnished.
Now as man is composed of both body and a com- prehensive and intelligent mind, which latter is subject to pleasure and pain, happiness and misery, it is nec- essary to use our best means for the welfare of both ; and as a large field is opened by the acquisitions mentioned, for the enjoyment of the mind as well as of the body, and also a large field for speculative ob- jects, many of which are of a pernicious character, it becomes necessary to select such as will promote hap- piness and to shun those which are attended with dangerous consequences, both in respect to suffering corporeal punishment and the torments of a guilty con- science.
The most perfect course of life creates the easiest journey, but a perfect guidance in all respects is be- yond the comprehension of man, and would not be fully pursued even if understood. Our country is filled with preachers to expound the laws of God and dic- tate the walks of life, yet men err to such a degree from a perfect life as to make it necessary to have many codes of civil law, and a great number of civil officers versed therein to prevent imposition and sus- tain the rights of man.
A perfect life of the mass of men in all respects would create the greatest happiness. It has been prophesied that a time will arrive when men will be- come blessed with a happy state of existence, when wars will cease and peace prevail. In respect of which, if we take a view of what has transpired in the world, it appears that mankind have made a great advance since the commencement of our historical
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revelations from a rude and barbarous state towards that of civilization, and from the numerous, cruel and terrible warfares of ancient times to a greater preva- lence of peace and much less cruelty in warfare. Yet the world of mankind still remains at a vast distance from such a happy state as might exist if all men were disposed to act for the welfare of all, and had discern- ment to use the best means for obtaining it. But we still remain fallible in both those respects, and if ever we are to have the enjoyment of such a happy state it must be yet far in advance, and it probably is best to progress slowly and become fitted by degrees for such a change.
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
I have understood that there were religious reading meetings in the Peenpack neighborhood before the Rev. Fryenmoet commenced his ministerial services.
When measures were first taken by the inhabitants along the Neversink and Delaware rivers, for a dis- tance of about 45 or 50 miles down the same, to pro- cure a preacher for the people throughout that distance, there was not a man in its vicinity qualified to preach the Gospel, and, in consequence of this district then being sparsely inhabited, the people united and formed four congregations, to procure the services of one preacher, and agreed with John Casparus Fryenmoet, a young man from Switzerland who had previously studied for the ministry, to furnish him with money to go to Amsterdam in Holland, finish his education and become ordained, after which he was to serve them as
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their preacher. The sum they gave him for that pur- pose was £125 12s. 6d., equal to $314.06. He went, obtained his education and became authorized to preach the gospel, returned and commenced to preach for the four congregations in June 1741 ; but no agreement had yet been made in relation to his salary and other matters which were necessary to be agreed on, and before any agreement was made Fryenmoet received a call from Rochester. It appears, however, that he declined that call, and an agreement was en- tered into between him and the church officers of Minisink and Mahackemeck congregations, the 7th of January, 1742, whereby it was stipulated that each of those congregations should pay Fryenmoet £20, equal to $50. A like sum paid by each of the other congre- gations made the amount of his salary $200 ; besides this he was to have 100 skipple of oats for horse feed, of which each congregation was to furnish 25 skipple. In February, 1745, the four congregations agreed to pay each £17 10s. for the purpose of building a house for Fryenmoet.
It appears from the church records that John Cas- parus Fryenmuth, born in Switzerland, with Eleanor Van Etten, born in Nytsfield, were married with a li- cense from Governor Morris, in New Jersey, by Jus- tice Abraham Van Camp, the 23d of July, 1742. The church records contain the rules and regulations of the church made at different times, which, in some re- spects, were different from those of the present time, among which were the two following, to wit : Church Wardens before officiating had to bind themselves in writing to remain subject to the Classis of Amsterdam. Persons intending to be married had to make out a
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certificate of their intended marriage and deliver it to the minister, who for three successive Sundays, at the close of service, read the certificate and at the same time gave notice that if any legal objections to the marriage existed, they should be made in due time and place.
This last continued to be practiced during Van Ben- schoten's services.
These records are in the Holland Dutch tongue. It appears that Fryenmoet's services ended in 1755 when his services became impracticable in conse- quence of the French war, whereby this frontier set- tlement became much exposed to Indian warfare, and he removed to Kinderhook, N. Y., where he preached for 21 years and where he died in 1778. He was re- presented as a man of short stature, handsome and eloquent.
One hundred and ten communicant members were received into the church whilst Fryenmoet officiated, within the congregations of Minisink and Mahacke- meck, about 36 of whom resided in the present town of Deerpark. Of the latter the following from time to time alternately served as members of the Mahacke- meck consistory :
Jacobus Swartwout Anthony Van Etten,
Thomas Decker,
Johannis Westbrook,
Johannis Decker,
Solomon Koykendall,
Gerardus Van Inwegen,
Josias Cole,
Peter Gumaer,
Benjamin Depuy,
William Cole,
Philip Swartwout,
Peter Kuykendall.
In the year 1760 the Rev. Thomas Romeyn com- menced his ministerial services for the congregations
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mentioned, and continued until the year 1772, during which time a general attendance was given to his preaching, and reading meetings were had and at- tended also on those Sundays when there was no preaching in this congregation. This practice contin- ued during the time of the successive ministers, until preaching was had every Sunday in our church. (Mr. Romeyn on leaving here settled in Canghnawaga, Montgomery County, N. Y., where after 21 years of ministerial labor he died in 1794.)
Within the time of Romeyn's services a schism oc- curred in the Dutch church, in consequence of the subordinate state of the church to the Classsis of Am- sterdam, in Holland, in respect to ordaining ministers there, &c., which having become burdensome to many who had to go there to become authorized to preach the gospel, measures were taken to have a Classis es- tablished in this country for that purpose. This cre- ated two parties, one of which, termed Conferentie, was in favor of continuing according to former practice, and the other, termed Coetus, were advocates of a Classis formed in this country to examine and ordain men to preach the gospel. Of the former, Romeyn was a moderate adherent, probably in consequence of his ordination in Holland, yet the people of his congrega- tions generally attended to his preaching and were not as violent partisans as many people were in some other parts of our country ; and it is probable his services would have continued, if a few of the most influential ruling members of his church, who were of the Coetus party, had not projected means to end his services in the year mentioned.
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