USA > New York > Columbia County > Hillsdale > A history of Hillsdale, Columbia County, New York : a memorabilia of persons and things of interest, passed and passing > Part 3
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HILLSDALE HISTORY.
His family was among the most interesting in the town. His children were among the most interesting of forty- odd students of the writer some sixty years ago, who had then just emerged from boyhood, and now stands on the verge of a second childhood, which has doubtless in- creased the interest of a letter just received from one of those who was then in childhood his student.
CHAPTER X.
DIVISIONS OF THE TOWN-STATE REPRESENTATIVES-A GREAT LAWYER-THE FEDERALISTS.
The Town Divided into Six Localities : Hillsdale Village, East Hillsdale, Hillsdale Centre, West Hillsdale, Green River, Harlemville - The Birdsalls - John Higgins - Benjamin Birdsall - George Birdsall - Hagemans-Pixleys -Amighs-Jordans -- William Jordan, Jr. - Ambrose L. Jordan - Joseph Morehouse - Clintonian Republicans - Quincy Johnson-Samuel Judson -- Col. Anson Dakin -Christopher W. Miller Josiah Knapp-Andrew Higgins -- Elisha W. Bushnell -- John Collin -- Henry P. Mesick-Gen. Provost's Army -Ebenezer Youngs.
When Spencertown had been separated from Hillsdale in 1818, the hills or other circumstances had left the town divided into six distinct localities, in each of which have been inhabitants who have made interesting histories. Those localities are designated as Hillsdale Village, East Hillsdale, Hillsdale Centre, West Hillsdale, Green River and Harlemville. I will first call attention to the inhab- itants who have resided or originated in the West Hills- dale locality. The Birdsalls were among the earliest of these families, and they resided on the farm where John Higgins lived and died. Benjamin Birdsall was four times a representative in the State Legislature, and John Birdsall was a representative in the State Senate. George Birdsall was a distinguished physician and re- sided for a time in what is now the town of Copake. One of the kindred was a military officer and was assas- sinated at Greenbush. The daughters of Benjamin Bird-
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HILLSDALE HISTORY.
sall married into some of the most respectable families in Hillsdale, among whom were the Hagemans, the Pixleys and the Amighs. Near the Birdsalls was the residence of the Jordans. William Jordan, Jr., twice represented the town in the Board of Supervisors, and was the col- onel in the town militia, and his brother Abraham repre- sented the town of Claverack in the Board of Supervisors. Ambrose L. Jordan was a representative in the State Leg- islature, and for four years a representative in the State Senate. He was a Surrogate and District Attorney in Otsego county and for several years Recorder in the city of Hudson. He was a member of the State Constitu- tional Convention in 1846, and was the first Attorney- General of the State under the new constitution. It is history that he was second to none among the legal gen- tlemen of that day, who for talents have not been ex- ceeded since. Near the Birdsall residence was that of Joseph Morehouse, who for ten years represented the town in the Board of Supervisors. At his last election an incident occurred that is eminently worthy a place in history. For giving aid and comfort to the enemy in the war of 1812, the Federal party had become disgraced and had abandoned its name and had adopted that of Clin- tonian Republicans, or American System Men. That sys- tem consisted of the river and harbor policy, to create debts and expenditures as an excuse for levying high duties upon imports-the very policy that has since del- nged our country in blood and tears. Of course, that party was opposed to Joseph Morehouse, and they nom- inated a ticket in opposition, putting the name of Quincy Johnson at its head. On the morning of the election Quincy Johnson made publicly the declaration that he had been nominated without his knowledge, consent or approbation, and that he did not approve of the ante- cedents and policy of the party who had nominated him, and that if elected by that party he would not qualify and
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HILLSDALE HISTORY.
serve. This announcement left Joseph Morehouse to walk over the course without opposition. At the next election Quincy Johnson occupied a position upon the ticket of his choice, and was opposed with the bitterest malignity, but was elected by a most triumphant ma- jority.
Near the Birdsall residence was that of Samuel Jud- son, and he for two years was a member of the Board of Supervisors, and for many years after a most respectable magistrate in the town. With him resided his cousin, Colonel Anson Dakin, who commanded the town militia, who were ever ready to march for the defense of their country, as they did to Long Island and Plattsburgh in the war of 1812, and they would ever have blushed at the idea of having the county expend its thousands of dollars for a place to stack their arms in, or to expend six hun- dred dollars a year to provide them with a dancing saloon. In the same section resided Christopher W. Miller, who was an officer in the uniform company that marched for the relief of Plattsburgh in the war of 1812. In the same neighborhood resided Josiah Knapp, who was a Judge of the County Court and for many years a respectable mag- istrate. Also, in the same neighborhood, resided Andrew Higgins, who was a colonel in the militia and for many years a much respected magistrate. In the same section resided Elisha W. Bushnell, who was once a representa- tive in the State Legislature and a President of the County Agricultural Society. For a time John Collin re- sided on the Birdsall farm. Before the Revolution he was a captain appointed by the Royal Governor, and dur- ing the Revolution he was a captain appointed by the Governor of the State of New York. He subsequently settled the controversy between the tenants under Massa- chusetts grants and the owner of the manor title in the town of Hillsdale, and he was among the actors in all the great public enterprises of the day. Nearly all the resi-
ยท
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HILLSDALE HISTORY.
due of the inhabitants in that part of the town had cred- itably held different officered positions. In 1814 Henry P. Mesick lived on Pumpkin Hill, on the farm now occu- pied by John McAlpine-it was on the line between Hills- dale Centre and West Hillsdale. General Provost's army was then invading the State of New York by way of Plattsburgh, and a uniform company in Hillsdale was called to aid in repelling that invasion. Ebenezer Youngs was the captain of that company; he resided in what is now the old house east of the present resi- dence of Levi Coon ; he was a zealous Federalist, a party characterized for giving aid and comfort to the enemy. He threw up his commission, and Henry P. Mesick took the command and marched with all possible speed upon the expedition. The enemy, after sustaining great loss, was compelled to retreat. In 1839 the county, by law, was charged with the expenses of the police constables of the city of Hudson, and those constables were in the habit of almost daily delivering persons at the jail who, at the volition of the jailor, were supplied with boots, hats, coats, shirts and pantaloons, at the expense of the county. A committee of the Board of Supervisors re- fused to allow the account unless ordered by the County Superintendent of the Poor. Henry P. Mesick, who for ten years was such Superintendent, refused to order its payment, and was sustained by the Board. And thus was an annual expense of hundreds of dollars saved to the county, to the great grief of tramps from the city of New York to that of Albany.
The foregoing is a truthful representation of the ehar- acteristics of the people in Western Hillsdale for all past time.
CHAPTER XI.
HILLSDALE RURAL CEMETERY-RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS AND THEIR FOUNDERS-PEOPLE OF ENTERPRISE.
Robert Noble-Bogardus-Caleb Benton-Squire Sherwood -- Mrs. Sher- wood; her Daughters-Mr. Dnmond-Mr. Shorts-David Wheeler- Sornborger-Osborn -Brainard-Levi Coon-Walter B. Ten Broeck -- Hillsdale Rural Cemetery; its Boundaries -Cemetery on Leonard John- son's Premises- Mounment to Jeremiah Potter-Parla Foster-Asher Adams-John Pixley-Mrs. Joseph P. Dorr- Ephraim Pixley-Refine Latting-Rev. Stephen Gano-Stephen Bristol - Amos K. Knapp- Captain Turner - Dr. Henry Cornell-George M. Bullock -Rutsen Hunt-John Q. Johnson -The Village.
The first settlement of Hillsdale was in what is now the village department. A brief history of Robert Noble, its first settler, has been given. He was succeeded by a Mr. Bogardus, of whom we have only a traditional his- tory. By that we learn that he was a man of wealth and talents, and in religion an Episcopalian, to whose usages he adhered with great tenacity. He was succeeded by Caleb Benton, who not only possessed wealth and talents, but was a distinguished physician. He was succeeded by Squire Sherwood, whose wife possessed all those pru- dent and industrious qualities that have characterized her Merwin and Collin kindred in all their generations. Her daughters, in addition to the characteristics of their mother, were specially distinguished for vivacity and beauty. Esther married Moses Foster, Lucy married Isaac Foster, Susan married Artemus Johnson, Sally married Spencer Esmond, and another married a Mr. Lord, of Brattleborongh, in Vermont. Mr. Sherwood was succeeded upon the same premises by a Mr. Du-
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HILLSDALE HISTORY.
mond, one of whose sons marched to the front when his country called him in the war of 1812. Mr. Dumond was succeeded for a time by a Mr. Sharts, a wealthy and gen- erous gentleman from Chatham, and he was succeeded by David Wheeler, who subsequently, at his own expense, built a pleasant church at Sonth Egremont. He was suc- ceeded by a Mr. Sornborger, who was a prominent mem- ber of the Methodist Church of which his father was a patriarch, and his son was one of the efficient authors of the Hillsdale Rural Cemetery. Mr. Sornborger was suc- ceeded by a Mr. Osborn, who, being an industrious, per- severing man, with a most amiable wife and beautiful daughters, all fell victims to pulmonary consumption. Mr. Osborn was succeeded by Mr. Brainard, whose in- genuity and mechanical genius conceived and constructed the plan and surroundings of the Hillsdale Rural Ceme- tery, of which association for years he was the President. The premises are now occupie l by Mr. Levi Coon, who, with Walter B. TenBroeck, are the present .prominent officers in the Presbyterian Church, which has done much to promote the moral and religious character of the peo- ple of Hillsdale; and Mr. TenBroeck has for all time been the efficient Secretary of the Hillsdale Rural Ceme- tery Association, and is now one of the magistrates in the town .* The said premises are bounded on the north and south by the lands of John Quincy and William Leonard Johnson, who are the descendants of that Isaac Johnson whose history has been already given. They are bound- ed on the east by the lands of Dr. Henry Cornell, orig- inally occupied by James Bryant, whose history has been briefly given, and which for a time was occupied by Dr. Benjamin House, who was the President of that noble temperance society founded upon principles of moral suasion, which, judging by its antecedents, if it had not
* Mr. Ten Broeck though choseu by the people to fill the office de- clined to accept its responsibilities and refused to qualify. - Edl.
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HILLSDALE HISTORY.
been destroyed by a side issue, political temperance or- ganizations would have made the people of our country a worthy model of temperance for all other people.
The cemetery on the Johnson premises was founded by the first settlers of the town. The monument erected in it to the memory of Jeremiah Potter was the fruit of filial affection. It may be said of him in the language of the poet :
That knowledge to his eyes her ample page, Rich with the spoils of time did ne'er enroll, Chill penury represented his noble rage And froze the genial current of the soul.
A worthy aged son and daughter yet survive him, the one living in Alford, Mass., and the other in Monmouth county, New Jersey. His grand-children are making noble histories, one filling a high judicial position in a Western State. Parla Foster was one of the early set- tlers of the town, and resided on the premises now occu- pied by Asher Adams. He was a patriarch and liberal patron of the Methodist Church, which has also done much to promote the moral and religious character of the people of Hillsdale. John Pixley resided on the prem- ises now occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Joseph P. Dorr. He was a man of talents, princely appearance, and was long a merchant in the town and was once the High Sheriff of the county. His father, Ephraim Pixley, suf- fered a loss of property in the early feuds about the Manor title, and the pardon of the authors of that loss gave rise to the name of Barn Burners at the election of 1824, while on the other hand the aid given the enemy in the war of 1812 gave rise to the name of Hunker at that election. Refine Latting 'resided on the premises now occupied by his grandson, Mr. Lawrence. He and Parla Foster were at one time the owners of what is now the village of Hillsdale, and his father was one of the earliest settlers of the town. His mother, by her second mar- 5
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HILLSDALE HISTORY.
riage, was the wife of the Rev. Stephen Gano, who was the founder of the two Baptist Churches in the town, which have done their share in promoting the moral and religious character of the people of the town. Stephen Bristol was an early settler of the town, and resided ou the premises now occupied by his daughter, who by her liberality has done much to promote the interest of the churches and to relieve the sufferings of the poor, and to aid in all the village improvements. Amos M. Knapp was an early settler of the town, and was long a merchant in the village of Hillsdale and once represented the town in the Board of Supervisors. He married Miss Nancy, the accomplished daughter of Captain Turner, who occu- pied what is now the Hillsdale tavern house.
Dr. Henry Cornell, George M. Bullock, Rutsen Hunt and John Q. Johnson, residents of the Hillsdale village section of the town, have each represented the town in the Board of Supervisors. Each have made laudible ef- forts to protect the town from the burdens so long un- justly imposed upon it. They had the address to pre- vent the Board from stultifying itself upon the subject of the Copake line. And George M. Bullock introduced into the Board a very sensible set of resolutions upon the sub- ject of the publication of the Acts of the Legislature. If the publication of local acts was confined to the localities interested, and the publication of general acts was con- fined to such as specially interested the public, it would make such publication very useful and save a very great expense to the State. Favored by the depot on the Har- lem Railroad, the people in Hillsdale village are begin- ning to exhibit a very enterprising spirit in the way of village improvements. It will be well, therefore, to de- lay the history that they are thus making, to a future edition, when the people may become so interested upon the subject as to give the facilities for a more minute history.
CHAPTER XII.
EAST HILLSDALE-ITS EARLY SETTLERS-SOME OF THEIR DE- SCENDANTS -LOCALITY OF THEIR RESIDENCES.
Gaius Stebbins-Dakin-Elijah Burton-Lucy Collin -Edward Bagley- Oliver Bagley-James Bryan 2d-George Amigh-Captain John Collin -Sarah Arnold-Deidoma Morse-John Collin and Ruth Holman- Their Children-Rodney Hill- Rev. Hiram H. White-Lewis Wright -Quincy Johnson -John Hunt-James Taylor -- Walter McAlpine -Adanyah Bidwell-Mr. June-Levi Williams.
Gaius Stebbins was one of the earliest settlers of East Hillsdale. He was a man of intelligence, integrity and princely appearance, and was long a merchant, his store being where is now the grocery of Walter Shafer, and his residence where is now that of Geo. T. Burton. In 1807 and in 1809 he was a representative in the State Legisla- ture. A family of Dakins owned the premises now be- longing to George Sornborger, and they kept a noted tavern there. They were relatives of Colonel Anson Dakin, a distinguished resident of Western Hillsdale. Elijah Burton lived on an adjoining farm, now owned by his son, George T. Burton. His wife was Lncy Collin, the niece of Captain John Collin. On the farm adjoining resided Edward Bagley, a deacon in the Baptist Church, and in 1817 was a member of the Board of Supervisors. His son Oliver was long a merchant on his premises. In the same neighborhood resided James Bryan second, who for many years was a respectable magistrate, and whose wife was Nellie Pixley, the sister of John and Joseph Pixley. In the same neighborhood resided
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HILLSDALE HISTORY.
George Amigh, distinguished for amiable disposition and gigantic size and strength, and whose wife was also a daughter of Benjamin Birdsall. Adjoining the Amigh premises on the north for near twenty years was the residence of Captain John Collin, and has continued to be that of some of his descendents to the present time. He held a military commission under the Crown, and afterwards under the States. He was a pacificator among the people, and did much to settle the contro- versy between the occupants of lands in Hillsdale under Massachusetts titles and the Manor claims. He was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, and in his social relations was on terms of intimacy with the Van Rensselaers, the Livingstons, the Van Nesses and Alex- ander Hamilton. Elisha Williams spent some weeks in his family. In his childhood he was baptized in the Con- gregational Church, and the Rev. David Tullar, for forty years a clergyman in Melford, Conn., was in the habit of visiting him during his life. He believed the attribute of the Almighty to be that of infinite love, which would not admit of one particle of those worst attributes of the Devil which many zealously professing Christians are pleased to impute to him. His first wife was Sarah Ar- nold, a Quakeress. The maiden name of his second wife was Deidoma Morse, a near relative of Professor Morse, the distinguished inventor of the magnetic telegraph, and she was the widow of Oliver Davidson, of Canterbury, Conn., and was the grandmother of Miss Lucretia Maria Davidson, whose poetic writings attracted the favorable attention of Professor Morse, Washington Irving and Catharine Sedgwick, who procured their publication in a volume. Captain John Collin's oldest son died while a solder in the American army in the war of the revolution. His remaining son, John Collin, married Ruth Holman Johnson, a descendant of that Isaac Johnson who was instrumental in the first settlement of Boston, and whose
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HILLSDALE HISTORY.
history I have already briefly given. Their oldest son was a member of a firm of iron manufacturers in Lenox, Mass., who also established the first plate glass manufac- tory in this country. Two of their sons were at different times for many years members of the Board of Supervis- ors. One once represented the county in the State Leg- islature, and was once a representative in Congress, and was the chairman upon the Committee of Naval Expendi- tures during the two years, and took a most active part in the conception of and advocacy of the tariff of 1846. Like his grandfather, he was prominent as a pacificator, and was the principal actor in the settlement of a bloody controversy between certain tenants and their landlords in Columbia county. The other son of John and Ruth Holman Collin for several years represented the town of Hillsdale in the Board of Supervisors, and has since been a magistrate in Mount Vernon, Linn county, Iowa, and holds an official position in the college there, of which his son has long been a professor. The oldest daughter of John and Ruth Holman Collin married Rodney Hill, for a time a magistrate and merchant in Great Barring- ton, Mass. Another daughter married the Rev. Hiram H. White, long a member of the New England Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Another daughter married Lewis Wright, a merchant in Xenia, Ohio. Quincy Johnson, the father of John Quincy and William Leonard Johnson, and long the owner and occupant of the farm now occupied by his son William Leonard, was the son of William and Jane Robinson Johnson, and the lineal descendent of Isaac Johnson, of Boston fame. After refusing to be a candidate for Supervisor by a party whose principles and antecedents he did not approbate, he was for some years a Town Clerk or Supervisor elect- ed by the party of his choice, and was for many years a magistrate in the town, and during much of his life was employed as a pacificator among men and as an executor 5
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HILLSDALE HISTORY.
in the settlement of important estates. His maternal an- cestors had been important actors in much of their coun- try's history. Two of his maternal uncles were the im- porters of the arms and military stores, to obtain which, by the British, brought on the first battle of the Revolu- tion at Lexington. Those uncles were subsequently in the battle of Bunker Hill, and died in the army near the close of the war. A third unele fell in the battle with the army of General Burgoyne. Quincy Johnson was the brother of Ruth Holman Johnson, the wife of John Col- lin, and also of Sophia Johnson, the wife of Elias Ford, of Hawley, Mass., and Clynthia Johnson, the wife of the Rev. Harry Truesdell, and Melinda Johnson, the wife of Bishop Leonidas L. Hamline.
John Hunt was one of the earliest settlers in the town of Hillsdale, and lived to be near a century old, and re- sided on the farm adjoining that of Captain John Collin. His oldest son married Sallie Bagley, the daughter of Edward Bagley, and their oldest son, Edward, married Eliza Esmond, the grand-daughter of Squire and Hannah Collin Sherwood. James Taylor was one of the original settlers of Hillsdale and he lived on the farm adjoining that of John Hunt. He lived to a very great age, and his mother lived to be some years over a hundred. One of his sons was a soldier in the war of 1812. Walter Mc- Alpine lived to great age on a farm adjoining that of James Taylor and was among the first settlers of the town. His daughter Nancy married Harry Collin, the son of David and Lucy Bingham Collin. Their son, Henry Clark, married Maria Louisa Park, of Burlington, Otsego county, N. Y., and is now a wealthy farmer in Benton, Yates county, N. Y. Harriet Ann Collin. the daughter of Harry and Nancy MeAlpine Collin, married Alfred G. Bidwell, and now resides in Bergen Hill, N. J. Emeline Collin, the daughter of Harry and Nancy Mc- Alpine Collin, married Dr. William Wickham Welch, of
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HILLSDALE HISTORY.
Norfolk, Conn. Adanyah Bidwell, father of Alfred G. Bidwell, lived on the farm now owned by Jacob Reed, near the premises of Walter B. Ten Broeck. He was a very useful and influential member of the Methodist Church. One of his daughters married a Mr. Noxon, of Hillsdale. and one married Dr. Millen Sabin, of Lenox, Mass. Daniel Winchel was one of the early settlers of Hillsdale and was the owner of a large tract of land, upon which is situated what is now called the Summit of Echoes. He subsequently became the owner of what is now called Prospect Lake and the mills at its outlet in Egremont. His sons were James, Milo, Calvin, Harry and Ezra. One of his daughters married a Mr. Tickner, of Alford, Mass., and another married Seymour Phelps, of Sheffield, Mass. One of the daughters of Seymour Phelps married Martin Haywood, a resident of East Hillsdale.
The premises lately occupied by Levi Williams, and now by Mr. Mitchell, and adjoining the lands of George Sornborger, was originally owned by a Mr. June, who kept a tavern there in the early settlement of the town. Levi Williams married a Miss Hannah Smith, of Tagh- kanic. They had two sons and one daughter. Adam, one of the sons, lives in New Jersey, and Levi, the other son, owns the premises adjoining those formerly occupied by his father. The daughter, Gertrude, married John Mitchel, and after his death she married Ezra D. Loomis, and now resides a mile north of Hillsdale village.
A fuller and more complete history of the residents in East Hillsdale will be given in another edition, if the in- habitants will supply the records.
CHAPTER XIII.
GREEN RIVER - HARLEMVILLE - HUDSON ORPHAN ASYLUM - COUNTY POOR HOUSE.
William Tanner --- Jared Winslow-Jonathan Hill-Sarah Amanda Collin --- Albert Winslow Garfield-James Collin-Chastine E. Wilcox-Sam- uel B. and Charles A. Sumner - Lewis B. Adsit -Henry J. Rowe-Hiram Winslow-Isaac Hatch-Albert Shepard - Joel Curtis-Gaul Mckown -- Frederick Pultz-John H. Overhiser -Willis Disbrow-W. H. Gard- ner-Andrew H. Spickerman-Ralph Judson-Charles H. Downing -Alfred Curtis --- Joel G. Curtis.
The district of Green River contains less than one- tenth of the population of Hillsdale, and yet its people have made very respectable histories. William Tanner was one of the earlier settlers of the town, and kept a tavern at the tavern-house now owned by Mr. Van Hosen. He was a major in the town militia and twice repre- sented the town in the Board of Supervisors. His son Ralph was a lieutenant in the company that marched to the defense of Plattsburgh in the war of 1812. Jared Winslow was an early settler of the town, and was long a very respectable magistrate in the town, and once rep- resented the county in the State Legislature. His grand- son was for some years a respectable county school commissioner. Jonathan Hill was an early resident of the town and once represented the county in the State Legislature. His oldest son married Sarah Amanda, the oldest daughter of John and Ruth Holman Collin, who for some years was a magistrate and merchant in Great Barrington, Mass. One of his daughters married
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