USA > New York > Orange County > Monroe > Chronicles of Monroe in the olden time : town and village, Orange County, New York > Part 11
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Hunting and Fishing.
What a joy to plunge into the solitude and whip some wild stream, wading, climbing over slippery rocks, and skittering a gaudy fly over riffle or pool! There one gets at the very heart of Nature, and if he have a knowledge of the gentle art and golden patience, he is not likely to come home unrewarded. A fishing fever usually was of days' duration: one the preparation, in which the bait of minnows or crickets were captured, or flies made. We say made, for Mr. Townsend captured a splendid trout with a fly made of a yellow envelope and a bit of red sealing-wax. It was a grotesque sight to see several gentlemen on their knees in some bit of stubble chasing crickets and grasshoppers. The collection of rents, and sowing of tares by the housewives in consequence, was a standing joke. The bait must be preserved alive, and if it were minnows, they were placed in the spring. Then, long before daylight, the jolly party would be off. All day long they would toil, often returning with the spoils of the beautiful lakes which afford young and old so much of in- nocent enjoyment. Sometimes there were amusing experiences. Mr. John Goff slipped in while fishing through the ice. He took out his pocket-knife and cut ridges in the ice to grip with his fingers. But they slipped. He then induced his dog to bring his mittens, which lay on the ice. These he let freeze in the ridges, and thereby he pulled himself out.
Allen Knight hooked a big turtle at Mombasha. He was weak and sickly at that time, and found the huge terrapin too much for him.
As he was about taking a plunge, Mr. H. J. Bertholf caught him by the waist, then Mr. C. B. Knight re- inforced the rescuing party, and all came ashore to- gether, not omitting the rebellious hardshell. Two
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dominies had fished all day and taken nothing. A fisherman called for help; his boat was full of water. He had caught one of these snappish creatures, and was holding him down with his oar. The dominies offered help. "Why don't you tie him ? " asked one. "I never heard of tying a snapping-turtle," he re- sponded. Then the man of the cloth showed him how to put his anchor-rope in his mouth for a bridle, and when his head was drawn in, draw the rope under the shell and tie a flat knot over his tail, and he was secure.
"Well," said the other dominie, " this is a great note, that a dominie should teach an old fisherman how to tie a turtle." "Well," responded the fellow, "what these dominies don't know, there 's no use knowing." Then he filled their empty basket with fish. We can vouch for the truth of this. For the next we rely on tradition : that a drunken fisherman was drowned one Sunday. When he was fished out, and his wife sent for, her lament was in the memorable words : "Poor Joe, he went fishing fifty times on Sunday, and never got drowned before."
The fishing advantages of Monroe, and the many sports of the woods and streams, always make it an attractive spot. How many congenial spirits it brings together for innocent amusement, and what advan- tages it offers for summer visitors and permanent residents ! Cottages and club-houses are springing up at present on crest and lakeside, but there are still some shaded nooks where the lover of nature can fill his fernery or trout-basket unmolested by the world of fashion and folly.
The people of the olden time had other amusements beside fishing and hunting. They had stone-bees and
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raisings. The women had apple-cuttings, quiltings and spinning-frolics. The yarn or flax would be given out, and at an appointed time and place the material would be returned, and there would be a feast, possi- bly a dance of the stately minuet or Virginia reel. Corn-huskings were not uncommon in bringing young and old together in innocent frolic, resulting in many a wedding. Horse-racing was a favorite sport, de- fended on the ground of improving the stock of horses. The lane was the race-course. But it was found that racing-day attracted such a motley crowd, and was attended with so much drunkenness and dis- order, that public opinion at length suppressed it.
Snakes of different species have abounded, as might be expected in such a stony region. Not merely the harmless garter and saucy milk snake that glides in and out of the milk-house, and the insinuating black snake that robs the robin's nest, but the deadly rat- tler and copperhead. These two last, like their moral counterparts, the thief and the murderer, den together, leading some to suppose that they are merely male and female. But the close student of nature puts them in different classes. They both alike are hated, and realize the truth of the divine promise, "I will put enmity betwixt thee and her seed.". One of our ladies climbed to a nook on the East Mountain, where she was accustomed to go to read and sew. Suddenly she found herself in the midst of a circle of rattle- snakes, which had come out of their dens to sun them- selves. Heads were erect, tongues flaming and rattles ringing out alarm and defiance all about her. There was little chance for retreat. Plucky maid! She picked up stones that lay around in abundance, she pelted them right and left, till she made a way by which she
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could make a safe retreat, and lived to recount to her children her adventure and draw the lessons of life it clearly taught. Often these and their congeners, the pilots, would be thrown up with a forkful of hay upon the hay-wagon, when the low meadows were the scene of such labors. It was not an easy question to settle which were the safer post, that of pitcher or loader. A fight with a lively rattler at such a time was excelled only by a scrimmage with a nest of hor- nets or yellow-jackets.
Not many years since a rattlesnake was killed in Mrs. Carpenter's garden in the village. One of our savants begged the carcass to experiment with and test it as an article of food. He had eaten alligator and couter in Florida, and assuming that all things are given for a useful purpose, whether fish, flesh, or fowl for food, he was determined to carry out his theory. After considerable difficulty he persuaded his sister to cook some of the rattler. He tasted it and said, "It has a wild-gamy flavor." He then took some on a little dish to the good lady in whose garden it was killed. When he offered her the present, she said, "B-, set that dish on the end of the piazza. Thee has enough rattlesnake to supply all the village." It is needless to say that this experiment was not a suc- cess in adding this new dish to the cuisine of Monroe.
Rabbit-hunting was more of a pleasure to those who participated in it than to the farmer; for, as the game took refuge not seldom in the stone fences, rods of fence were often torn down, costing $1.50 a rod, to capture a poor little rabbit worth but a shilling.
Bee-hunting and bee-raising were sources of amuse- ment to some. The skilled bee-hunter knew how to follow the honey-makers to their improvised hives in
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Hunting and Fishing.
trees and old buildings, showing skill in follow- ing them, and knew how to capture their stores without the sound of trump or shout of battle like the Japanese warriors. But a common method of bringing an escaping swarm to a halt was to summon the whole household, and, armed with pans and stove- pipe, fill the air with horrible discords, enough to rend the ears of the listener and bring every musical ear to surrender. The watchful apiary seldom had to resort to such methods, because a swarm always alights near by before it starts to its more distant destination. Then there were some, like the late Nathanael Thomp- son, who could handle them with perfect ease, uncar- ing if ever receiving a sting. Others were not so successful in their management. One of the minis- ters loved bee-culture, but had constant difficulty with them. They used to swarm when he was absent, or on Sunday when he was occupied. One evening he sent for a neighbor to help him hive a swarm in an apple tree. The skip was washed with hickory leaves and made ready. Then the swarm was coaxed reluc- tantly into the hive. But a number of stragglers alighted upon the persons of the operators. The neighbor found some inside his trousers, and played some fantastic tricks before the windows of the par- sonage, where ladies were assembling for a prayer- meeting. The dominie carried some bees on his clothes into the meeting, where the sting of one chided his dullness, and the presence of others kept all awake.
Hornets and bumblebees, so called, were a great annoyance in the harvest-field, particularly the low meadows. We have seen a general stampede from these wild marauders. One old mower, however, loved
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to fight them, and would beg that they be left undis- turbed till evening, when he could have the pleasure of burning them out. In resisting one of these fiery little animals, he gave himself such a rap on his knee that he had to leave the field. His employer, the dominie, too, carried to the pulpit a swollen eye as the result of a similar encounter.
CHAPTER XXVI.
MILITIA TRAINING.
TT may not be improper to include militia training among the amusements of the time, although it had a more serious intent. Under the old militia law all able-bodied men over eighteen years of age were required at stated times to assemble for military drill. The militia of the three towns, Monroe, Cornwall and Blooming Grove, formed the ninety-first regiment of the nineteenth brigade, fifth division of the army. In this town there were three ununiformed companies, yclept barefoot companies, and one uniformed com- pany. The latter were dressed in a neat suit of white and gray, with hat adorned with red and whitefeathers. The officers were in gayer uniform and cocked hats. The ununiformed appeared as fancy or necessity dic- tated. They were required to provide their own weapons; and such a variety of dress and weapons, from an old flint-lock musket to a hickory cudgel, has scarce been seen since the days of Sir John Falstaff. There were company drills, officer parades and general training. The last was supposed to embrace all the virtues of the others, while it absorbed the greatest attention. For days there would be a brushing of feathers, burnishing of old muskets, and pipe-claying of belts. On the gala day might be seen the multitude
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wending their way to the campus on the flat. Motley groups of all classes, conditions and color, of men, women and children, in all sorts of vehicles, or on foot, in all their holiday apparel, were seen hastening to the proud spectacle, each afraid it would be over before he should get there. Strategic places are chosen, booths set up for the sale of gingerbread, card cake and beer, the volunteer commissariat of the citizen army. Soon the brave soldiers are seen with homespun suits and motley weapons, and the band at their head, and their gaily caparisoned officers on their proud horses, as fully alive as their riders to the glories of the pageant. The word of command is given, the line is formed, or attempted to be formed; for it is difficult to get some of those barefeet in line, and some of those shillalahs to ground at the proper moment, and keep the eyes right from wandering to the groups of the fair or the tables of the commis- sary. But when arranged to suit a military eye, they go through all the evolutions of the field, with drum, fife, flag and guidon, proud of the service they were rendering their country. Of course, in such volun- teer soldiering, composed of such a motley throng, there would often be scenes of merriment. It was related of one of the officers that he was very impa- tient of any breach of order, and would charge down upon a noisy group and snatch the loudest from the field and drop him in the graveyard near by. Nor were the officers exempt from being the target of wit, for it is still told that one of these forgot the manual and ordered his men to haughey around a mud-pud- dle. The drummer of this regiment was George Mapes, a member of an old family remarkable for musical gifts. George excelled them all, and was the
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Militia Training.
pride of Monroe. He was said to have had a trial match with the drum-major at West Point, and to have compelled the strutting man of the bearskin hat to throw up his baton in despair. Little is said about the fifing. Perhaps it was not so essential as the drum, or possibly it may have been nothing to brag of, as was the case later on, when the fifer said, "If I come to a note I cannot play, I do not play it"; this giving it a Wagnerian effect. Under such inspiring strains the column would march and counter-march, charge and retreat, till the sun would sink in the west, when the order of dismissal would pass along the line, and then would ensue such a stampede and intermingling of the motley throng, soldier and civilian each breaking for home, glad when this mimic war was over. But while it seemed a burlesque, it served to keep the old military spirit alive; and even after the law was repealed which appointed public militia trainings, the martial flame was kept alive which broke forth in sober reality during the Rebellion, and impelled some of Monroe's best and bravest sons to go to the front and jeopardize their lives for Liberty and Union.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE SINGING SCHOOL.
THE country singing school was another source of amusement. Far back in the history of the town, it was the custom to engage a singing-master to drill the young folks in music. That divine art was needed then, as now, to beautify home and social life; and where there was no instrument in the churches, it was essential not only to be able to sing, but to read music. Hence the winter class in music was a desideratum. A Yankee singing-master would come into the county with his violin and establish classes in every neighborhood. Congenial souls and harmonious voices would interchange visits, thus promoting neighborliness and wider musical culture. It is a well-known fact in ethnology that certain tribes and families are musical, while others are inca- pable of distinguishing musical tones. Gottschalk's "Last Hope " to some is little better than a Chinese march in which there are no semitones.
The man who has no music in his soul, if not always "fit for treasons," certainly loses much of the sweetness of life. Monroe had its full share of good voices, or the possibilities of such. For singers are both born and made; that is, voices which in the rough seem very unmusical, can be taken and trained and polished
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The Singing School.
so as to yield satisfactory results. This work of find- ing and training both voice and ear was the task of the singing-master. When the raw material pre- sented itself for the first time, and was put through the elementary principles, it were enough to discour- age and distract the cultured ear; but the same voice by and by will sound the deep diapason, or sigh through the semitones, with marvellous skill. The singing-master needed to have a stock of good-nature and patience. The law of the survival of the fittest prevails here, as elsewhere in nature. The early forms and nomenclature made the task of master and pupil hard then. The former talked of breves and semibreves, crotchets and quavers, semi- and even demisemiquavers. The parts were divided into so many classes that it was difficult for one to tell whether the voice was fitted for air, or second soprano, or counter, alto or tenor, baritone or bass. With all these fine distinctions, there were voices that could not be classified; the only alternative being to be asked to desist. Some wiseacre tried to simplify the art by inventing the buckwheat notes ; thus trying to aid the ear by the eye. But the system yielded no better results, and hence was soon abandoned, like many labor-saving expedients in education. There must be a certain amount of toil to acquire any treasure in the school of life. The prizes in music are at the goal of the stadium. But we fancy the race was needlessly hard in those days. Probably taste and fashion had much to do with it. Glance at the old tunes used in church : Devizes, Russia, Invita- tion, with its fugues, the gloomy minors, China and Windham, associated not merely with the funeral, but also with the communion. The numerous trills
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required great flexibility of voice, and the intricate fugues as great accuracy of time. But the pupils were catechized upon dynamics and rhythm, and exercised in appoggiaturas. Sweeping up and down the gamut, vaulting over bars, and holding breath at rests, they acquired the skill to meet the difficulties of that divine science. One of their favorite exercises was the round, and they swung " Old John Cross," beat- ing in the A B C till they were as dizzy as the school- boy whirling under the rod, and shouted "Scotland's Burning " with cries of "Fire!" sufficient to arouse the whole village. If they shed tears over some piti- ful minor, they were all in good humor again over " Cousin Jedediah." Now they try some old Grego- rian chant, and then are asking, "Don't you hear the
ripe fruit falling ? " They try some sweet strain of Mendelssohn, and even aspire to the intricacy and grandeur of the " Grand Hallelujah." All through the Civil War they sang the "Star Spangled Banner," " Rally Round the Flag," "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground," and other patriotic songs, not merely train- ing their voices, but firing their spirit of patriotism at home, while brothers and fathers were maintain- ing the honor of the old flag in the field.
These singing-school exercises usually culminated in a concert in which the whole musical talent of the place would be laid under contribution, neighboring help called in, and a grand programme would be given with instrument and voice. Although the strains have died away, the memory remains of solos, duets, and choruses, grave and gay, from the "Little farm well tilled" to the oratorio of "Esther," with its intri- cate variety of action and personality. Sometimes the convention would come, and then the whole county would send its best voices to be trained by some spe-
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The Singing School.
cialist like Professor Palmer or Perkins in a whole week of song.
The earliest mentioned teacher of singing in Monroe was Professor Converse. He was the father of Pro- fessor Charles Converse, the composer. The father was very popular in the olden time, and regarded as the model of a singing teacher, painstaking, tactful, and patient. Andrew Van Valer rendered good ser- vice to the cause of music. He and his daughters for a long time took the lead in the music of the church. He built four organs, a piano, with violin and cello. He was a man of remarkable energy, de- cision, versatile talent and robust piety. He died at Watkins, New York, March 14, 1882, aged ninety- four. His was a fruitful old age.
Professor I. B. Swezey was engaged many succes- sive years in teaching music in Monroe. Notwith- standing his peculiar theory and phrases about the shock of the glottis and tacting tones, he gave such attention to voice-culture as to develop some excellent singers.
Professor L. L. Ross also was a favorite. He had a choice collection of humorous songs, several of which were original, and were often encored; such as " The little brown jug, with its glug, glug, glug," "How many might have gone to Washington if it had not been for you," and "The little farm well tilled." " The little wife well willed " was another favorite, and struck a responsive chord in many a heart. Pro- fessor Ross's work culminated in bringing out the oratorio of "Esther " with no little success.
Out of all this devotion to the art grew a choral society which flourished for many years, and gave concerts every winter, which formed a most delight- ful social amusement. The leader in this was Mr.
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Eugene McGarrah, who to his large acquaintance with music, vocal and instrumental, added exquisite taste, and by his sincere love of its highest forms enthused others and so gave the public many a musi- cal treat. Above and beyond his companions, facile princeps, he sought to educate them up to his stan- dard, and we believe not without a degree of success. Several musical compositions have proceeded from his pen-among them an original Te Deum and some church tunes.
Others who were among the sturdy supporters of the singing school were Henry Mapes and wife, the Misses Boyd, the Thompson brothers, and many others whose names we have not space to recall.
The musical entertainments of Monroe were often indebted to performers from other towns, among whom were Professor John Marvin, Jesse Strong and William Howell. We mention with special emphasis the name of Samuel Marvin, brother of John. His bass voice was of wonderful depth and richness. He was often present to inspire with his manly face and genial manner, to help swell the anthem or take his part in duet or solo. He was called, in the freshness of his manhood, to go up higher and take his part in that grand " Hallelujah " whose voices are like those of many waters. He died March 23, 1881, aged forty- two years, six months, eleven days.
Other sweet singers who have made the walls of the old meeting-house ring, and thrilled many a tired toiler in the home, are among the white-robed choris- ters, while some who loved and survived are saying :
"Oh for the touch of a vanish'd hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still !"
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CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE DEBATING SOCIETY.
A NOTHER source of amusement was the Debating Society. There is a period in intellectual de- velopment when it is awaking from sleep and, toss- ing off its environment, wants to try its nascent powers. As soon as a community gets leisure from the toil of settlement, it aspires to grapple with other problems. It has its renaissance, or revival, of reason. Like a child with a new knife, it desires to try its edge on everything alike, even the old heir- looms, family portraits and furniture. With it the results of experience, the institutions of the past and even the deductions of science and philosophy are to be tested, and hence are brought to the crucible and scales. Milton says, "Let all the winds of doctrine loose." Truth has nothing to fear, so it be untram- meled. Even with respect to great established faiths there is always room for discussion, and an inspec- tion of the solid foundations on which they rest tends often to confirm and convert the traditional faith into the faith that is the substance or demon- stration of "things not seen."
Monroe had its waking up in the forties, when en- terprise in the shape of the iron horse came snorting up the Ramapo. New families were coming in, new enterprises starting. They caught a glimpse of the
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Milky Way, and concluded to stir the star-dust with their chariot wheels. The society met in the shop of John Jenkins, where minerals, magnets, books and curios confronted the members. The moving spirits were John Brooks, Dr. Ethan B. Carpenter, Alfred P. Hulse, Brewster Tuthill, David Lynch, Abner Howell, John Jenkins, George Goff, James Cromwell, Jonah Brooks and Ebenezer Earl. Judge White and Matthew Howell, of Blooming Grove, would sometimes come over and take a hand in the contest. The meetings were conducted with parliamentary precision and were largely attended. The questions discussed took a wide range, embracing subjects political, meta- physical, moral and theological. In these tourna- ments many a spear was broken, many a proud knight in the armor of sophistry put hors de combat.
A brave matador would leap into the ring only to find himself on the horns of a dilemma. Some self- confident debater would broach some utopian theory, or tangle himself in some casuistical knot, when a sally of wit would bring him to his senses. One of the exciting questions discussed was "Is married life more conducive to human happiness than single ?" One of the older men argued that it would be more so if there was as much care taken in selecting part- ners as was exercised in the improvement of stock. Just here some wise woman spoke out and said, "Then they would not take you." But all their theories were as thistledown, for each followed the bent of his inclination, looked up his missing rib and took his place in the more serious battle of life.
When the next generation came on the stage, there was a desire to repeat the experiment of a debating society. This met in the basement of the Presby-
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terian church. Some of the old war-horses, such as Alfred Hulse and Dr. E. B. Carpenter, survived to help on the enterprise. To these were added A. B. Hulse, Theo. McGarrah, Job Mapes, Geo. Ezray, Chauncey Newkirk, Roe Pilgrim, Joseph Andrews, Henry Mapes, Samuel Bull, Geo. K. Smith and the author. The interval from 1854 to 1859 was full of exciting political and economic questions, and these were debated with no little zeal and seriousness. There was no time for the hackneyed questions of such societies when the country was seething with the problems of the Missouri Compromise, the Fugi- tive Slave Law, and the extension of slavery into free territory. These and other serious questions were debated with great earnestness, and much in- struction was elicited. But as the issues approached the momentous period when the appeal was taken from the forum to the field, the society closed. The tendency of these discussions some were inclined to regard as evil, because of assaults upon established faiths. But, when buttressed in truth, such assaults are as futile as the waves against a rock of adamant; while the exercise of investigation and discussion, even though it strike a rock, is salutary, helping to mental discipline and character-building. It is our opinion that these contests tended to awaken talent and fit some of its members for the legislature, legal profession and editorial chair.
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