USA > New York > Orange County > Monroe > Chronicles of Monroe in the olden time : town and village, Orange County, New York > Part 13
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where his brother Howard resided, and there pur- chased the "Port Byron Gazette," which he edited with success till he felt it was his duty to enter the service of the country whose cause he pleaded so earnestly. In ten days he recruited a full company, and was chosen its captain. This was Company F of the 111th New York. His regiment was ordered to Harper's Ferry, where, after a short engagement, the whole command was surrendered by Gen. Miles, pending which, the general was shot. Captain Thomp- son was sent with these troops to Chicago, to be held until exchanged. When this exchange was effected they were armed anew and shipped to Annapolis, where his command was joined to the Army of the Potomac. When General Lee invaded Pennsylvania, June, 1863, Captain Thompson made that memorable forced march to Gettysburg, during which so many brave boys succumbed to fatigue. Such a march puts every military virtue to the test. Captain Thompson fell out, after a day's march of thirty-three miles ; but on the eve of the 1st of July he reported for duty, and took his position at the head of his company, now drawn up at the foot of Seminary Hill, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Here they re- ceived the fire of the rebels under General Lee, and Captain Thompson described it as a keen blade of flame sweeping the entire crest of the hill above them. A shell exploded against the very rock behind which his men were lying down, wounding him se- verely. Yet he fought through the entire battle from exposed positions, and with no other rations than such as could be obtained from the haversacks of . dead rebels.
On the morning of the 5th he could muster but ten
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able-bodied men, and his own feet were so swollen that he had to go into hospital for treatment. As soon as recovered, he reported again for duty. He was now promoted to the rank of major. At his own request, he was appointed to the command of the 32d United States colored troops. His regiment was or- dered to Charleston, where it was located at Hilton Head. Here he met the lady, Miss Adeltha Twitchell, who was engaged in teaching, whom he afterward married.
Major Thompson was soon promoted to the post and rank of provost-marshal at Hilton Head, and thereafter provost-marshal-general of the Depart- ment of the South, by General Gillmore. He was made also flag-of-truce officer, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. This important position brought under his control many Confederate officers and civil officials of high rank, governors, and even Jefferson Davis himself. Prisoners, rebel and Union, were at his disposal. He organized the expedition sent to meet the prisoners liberated from Andersonville, who were marching, or, rather, dragging themselves, to- ward Jacksonville. He sent out a train-load of sup- plies to meet them, and when met, according to his description, they were the most forlorn crowd that civilized warfare ever witnessed: haggard, starved, diseased, covered with vermin, gaunt, with staring eyes as of famished beasts rather than men. Many died before the train met them, and others before they could be conveyed to a place of comfort. We need not say with what assiduous attention, sympathy, and care Colonel Thompson ministered to them. He was tempted to try a little of military irony upon Jefferson Davis and other rebel leaders by putting them for a
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while on hardtack, that they might taste some of the rigor to which many a brave Union soldier was sub- jected.
In the summer of 1865 his regiment was mustered out of service, when he retired to private life. He removed to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and there married Miss Twitchell, whom he had met while in command at Charleston. He had charge of Dodge's Mills for a time, then became cashier of the bank- ing-house of Taylor, Weed and Co. He was also secretary of the Fire Insurance Company. He was appointed Indian agent by the United States Gov- ernment, during which he endeavored to correct some of those abuses which General Grant so strongly condemned. But when a Democratic administration came in, he was superseded by a political appointee. He has since been engaged in commercial business in Minneapolis, and in an enterprise having as its object the redemption of a large tract of land in one of the Northwestern States, by turning the stream of a river over the barren tract.
Alfred Preston Hulse was the son of Jesse Hulse, of Blooming Grove, where he was born February 4, 1805. He was sent to the country district-school, which in those days was very primitive. Its text- books were Daboll's " Arithmetic," Murray's " Gram- mar," and the "English Reader." Yet these, well instilled, have laid the foundation of many a scholar and noble character. Daniel Webster had little be- yond these and "Poor Richard's Almanack " with which to start upon his intellectual life. But a few simple tools such as a jackknife do wonders in the hand of a boy of brains, and that was what young Hulse must have been. He certainly knew how to
TRAL RESERVE
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make good use of the few educational tools placed in his hands, often sometimes better than a fortune. He soon graduated from the oaken bench and carved desk to the plow and team. This continued his edu- cation along practical lines, and fortified him with good health. He early married Harriet Tuthill of the same town, a lineal descendant of the old Puritan elder Brewster. When they united their fortunes to fight the battle of life, his father insisted they should settle on the ancestral farm. But the ambitious young man disdained to depend upon other human arm than his own. Looking beyond his own beauti- ful valley, he saw there was good land in the Clove, and at once resolved to go thither. His father, in- dignant, said: "Well, go there, then, and eat rye bread the rest of your days." They went, and, pur- chasing the farm between Monroe and Turners, known as the Archer farm, there they hung the crane, and reared their family of two boys and four girls. Mr. Hulse was endowed with a mind of remarkable power, quick in penetration, inclined to rapid gen- eralization and deduction of principles and axioms, which he enunciated with Emersonian terseness. He was an inexhaustible reader, purchasing new books on his favorite topics regardless of cost; and during his noon spells would lie on the floor, drinking from such artesian wells as Comte's "Positive Philoso- phy " or Carlyle's "Hero Worship." He was impa- tient of authority and established faiths; he sought to investigate for himself and formulate his own faith and philosophy. This naturally threw him into an- tagonism with conservative minds ; but he was a gen- erous debater, a good neighbor, a patriotic citizen, loyal to his country in its struggles, faithful, accounting
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for his personal property when the government had need of funds. He was one of Monroe's representa- tive men. His home, plain in its furnishings, was one of unusual attraction for the brightness of its conversation, its overflowing good humor, and un- bounded hospitality. Mrs. Hulse was always ready with her kindly offices where there was sickness or want; and was that good housekeeper whose bread had the reputation of being always light, to whom a neighbor said : "With what do you mix your bread?" She replied : "I always mix it with judgment." Mr. Hulse died February 26, 1887, and Mrs. Hulse, De- cember 27, 1884.
John H. Knight was born on the old homestead November 23, 1827. He was the son of Daniel C. Knight and Catherine Brooks. From his earliest boyhood he was remarkable for a thirst for know- ledge, and stands as an example of that sort of genius which consists in application. He did not enjoy the advantages of what is termed a liberal education, but was sent to the common school of the district in which he always lived. In the words of a friend : "Long before he arrived at manhood he had read every book of travels, biography, natural history, fiction, and science that was in the old district-school library, and many others of like character, which he obtained from other sources." He considered his own native town a field worthy of his study, spending many leisure hours in investigating its fauna and flora till he became an authority on such subjects. He was an original investigator, disdaining authorities, preferring to gather the data himself, and draw his own conclusions on every subject to which he turned his attention. But while clear and decided in his own
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convictions, he was modest in their annunciation, always manifesting a spirit of charity and liberality toward those of others. He was an ideal agriculturist, enthusiastic in his vocation, practical, bringing all his energies to bear to make it honorable and get from it the best results. After bringing the home farm to a high degree of productiveness, he took up other pieces of land in the vicinage, and made gardens of them. This gave employment to large numbers of field- hands, whom he paid liberally, and from whom he exacted no more than was just. Their tears to-day bespeak the esteem in which he was held. His sin- gular success along these lines led to his selection to take charge of the model farm of the State of New Jersey, under the care of Rutgers College, situated near New Brunswick, from 1865 to 1868. Here, with Professor Cook listening to his suggestions, he was able to make experiments with manures, soils, seeds, and implements on a liberal scale, and furnish data of scientific value, not merely for himself, but for every farmer throughout the country. This appointment did not unfit him for the quiet or the thrift of the home agriculture upon his return to Monroe, for he devoted himself to the development of the ideal milch cow, which he believed he found in his beauti- ful Netherland, or belted, stock. Throughout his life he was always studious of what would promote the best interests of his fellow-men, unselfish to a fault. He was genial and bright, a good conversationalist, a man of sound judgment, of strict integrity, tem- perate, and always on the side of good morals. He was married February 13, 1861, to Millicent, daughter of Weeks Seely, of Oxford, New York. He was brother of Chauncey B. Knight and of Mrs. J. Henry
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Bertholf. He died March 3, 1883, lamented by all who knew him, an irreparable loss to the whole com- munity in which he lived, as well as to the farming interest he so well represented.
From local causes, such as bold mountain scenery, with noble landscapes, wide fields for enterprise and skill, and, still further, with such a grand history of men and events forming the background, it does not surprise us that Monroe should have been the home of no little varied talent. It has had farmers and gardeners and dairymen, who were on the alert for every improvement in their vocation. Were there better seed, feed, or appliances, tools or machinery, there were those always ready to adopt them. John K. Roe and Alfred P. Hulse were the first to intro- duce the mowing-machine. Monroe was early in the field to adopt the plan of soiling and of storing ensilage. The Paterson brothers were the leaders in the last improvement. Horse-forks and elevators to unload hay had early advocates, while model barns and stables have been the outgrowth of no little dis- cussion and experiment. Monroe has had its inven- tors and original investigators. J. Milton Bull was the first to suggest the milk business. Benjamin Bull invented the platform scale and cutting-box. David Mapes invented, as he thought, a perpetual motion which was ingenious, but lacked continuance. John Jenkins found a new mineral among our hills, and named it Monroeite. He also discovered the use of calc-spar for lamp-stands and other ornaments. Bailey Cooley was sanguine over the supposed discov- ery of coal. A trace was found, but not enough to claim the State premium. Carving a ham suggested to John Boyce the imitation of the femoral socket in
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the construction of a shaft-clip. John Miller in- vented the automatic coupler, and constructed a hub- borer and a hand sawmill. Charles Clinton invented a movable cork for horseshoes, and a cannon com- posed of hoops and staves, also a shell and steam-en- gine; A. B. Hulse, a safety railway frog for switches ; John Bouton, a self-locking window-fastener. But even where there was no original inventive genius, Monroe has been rich in sound practical talent among her mechanics, merchants, and artisans.
Professional artists she does not boast, but some choice amateurs have graced her annals. Poetry is one of the arts that flourish on such a rocky soil. Painting and sculpture wait for a more advanced civilization. Poetry is indigenous to virgin soils and mountainous regions. David drew additional inspira- tion from the hills of Bethlehem and the mountains round about Jerusalem. Homer was the blind poet of Scio's rocky isle. Burns and Scott were under the spell of snow-clad Ben Nevis and the crags of lofty Ben Lomond. Joseph Rodman Drake composed his " Culprit Fay" hastily one summer day, amid the Highlands of the Hudson. We are not surprised that Monroe, therefore, should have those who, having tasted of Clove water and bathed in old Mombasha, should plume their wings and try the flights of poetry. Ebenezer Earl sometimes wrote verses. We recol- lect one political satire.
Mr. William Van Duzer, the son of Samuel and Ursula Van Duzer, was born in Monroe, and spent his early years here; but most of his life was spent in New York City, or at the Capitol, where he was engaged in one of the departments of the Federal government. He found leisure to write at least one poem, which is
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full of pathos and sentiment. It seems to have been written at different periods of his life, which it di- vides up into twelfths: twice six, three times six, till twelve times six is reached, which probably closed his life and song. He was characterized by urbanity and a fund of humor. His memory was well stored with reminiscences of the olden times in Monroe.
Miss Kate Arnell was much beloved as a writer of occasional verses, which were held in high esteem, as she also was, among the generation gone by.
John Lamont, father of Charles Lamont, Esq., and grandfather of Fred. Lamont, supervisor of Monroe for many years, had a portfolio full of verses which had the ring of the heather and braes of the home of Burns and Scott. One of his, entitled " All Things are Falling," was full of deep philosophy and solemn truth.
Among the most prominent of the older literati of Monroe was Mr. John Brooks. His father emigrated from Blagg's Clove and settled in the village of Mon- roe, where he made weavers' shuttles of apple-tree wood.
John was born in 1784. He went to school at the log school-house kept by McManus near the old Presbyterian church at Seamanville. Afterwards he taught in the stone school-house above the village. He was appointed one of the justices of the peace by Governor De Witt Clinton in 1819, and the name of S. S. Seward is attached to his commission. He was storekeeper for the Stirling Iron Company in 1832. He was sent to represent Orange County in the sixty- eighth session of the New York Assembly at Albany, which commenced January 7, 1845.
He belonged to the liberal wing of the Democratic
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party, and claimed that he had his political creed straight from Thomas Jefferson. He took an active part in the debates of that legislative body. An im- portant measure was the amendment of the State constitution, toward the adoption of which he con- tributed an influential part. After his return he built the Granite House, where he spent the remainder of his life in farming, surveying and reading until his death. He was a man of varied gifts, thrifty, honest, industrious and hard-working. He was well read in books, but was well acquainted with nature and men. He was a good debater and an interesting conversa- tionalist, his utterances being the fruit of long years of observation and experience in different walks of life. He was an ardent patriot and lover of liberty, giving two of his sons to the cause of his country. On his death-bed he expressed his desire to live only that he might see constitutional government estab- lished throughout the world.
The loss of his younger son in battle at the siege of Richmond much impaired his vigor of body and mind. He died November 17, 1871, in the eighty- seventh year of his age.
We have already quoted one or two of his poems. We will now add another, more modern than they, but no less crisp and epigrammatic. It was written at Escanaba, while on a visit to his son Benton, who was employed as overseer at the iron-works at that place.
" We have plenty of books on all art and science, From pigmies and punsters quite up to giants Who think they have found all nature's reasons, Uncaring how guilty they might be of treasons, Or change in indestructible forces,
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Tracing her out through all her dim courses ; Which forces, like matter with which they unite, May change ad infinitum, themselves infinite ; That all the imponderables of earth, air and ocean Are found out at last to be nothing but motion ; That they are covenanted one to another, And may be transmuted each into other.
They chop metaphysics in so learned a way, You cannot understand one half that they say- 'Tis doubtful, I think, if even do they."
- ESCANABA.
The rest of the poem is of political cast, referring to the exciting questions of the day, and would not interest.
Mrs. Sarah Brooks, his wife, was no less remark- able as a woman and mother. While busy with her housekeeping she took charge of the education of her children, having them read and study beside her, while her deft hands were busy with needle and bread-tray. She was a careful reader, alive to all the questions of the day, and knew how to impart what she read to her children. She was a consistent mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, industrious, energetic, patriotic. When she had lost a son in the service of his country, she wished she had more sons to give to the cause of freedom.
Monroe had other prominent men in the past whose names are worthy of mention, such as Robert Fowler, Esq., a man of refinement and culture and fine presence, a justice of the peace and member of the Assembly.
Miles Hughes, Esq., brother of Col. Samuel Hughes, was a prominent public man who occupied positions of trust. He was much respected.
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Hudson McFarland was a citizen of Southfield, where for many years he was a political leader. He is remembered as a man of large brain and sagacity, who filled a number of official positions.
Peter Townsend, son of Peter and grandson of Solomon Townsend, was, like his ancestors, one of the iron kings who developed the mineral and busi- ness wealth of the old town. He was a man of large capacity and application to the industry to which he was devoted, generous to his employees, and with a fund of good humor; while his hospitality, adminis- tered by his charming wife, Mrs. Caroline Parrish Townsend, was boundless. It was a sad day when their rugged workmen carried them out and laid them to rest on the cliff on the old homestead at Southfield.
Peter P. Parrott was another of the iron kings. He was brother of Robert Parrott, of Cold Spring, N. Y., who was associated with him in the iron busi- ness. Under the supervision of the former, the iron was taken from Monroe mines, smelted at the furnace at Greenwood and shipped to the works at Cold Spring, and during the Civil War was manufactured into the celebrated Parrott guns, the method of mak- ing and reinforcing which was their own invention. They introduced also the manufacture of mineral cotton, used for fireproof packing and filling. The slag, while incandescent, was made to flow in the cur- rent of air from the blowers, and was scattered like snow-flakes to lodge and cool in a large chamber. He said at that time there were only two others like it in the world.
Mr. Peter P. Parrott was a man of remarkable cheerfulness, geniality and energy. He had been a whaling captain in early life, and long retained his
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fondness for the freedom and adventure of that kind of life. His conversation was bright, his manner most cordial toward neighbor and employee. His home was situated above a lovely glen, looking down upon lake, forest and garden, teams passing and furnace engines throbbing and sending out their pillars of fire and smoke; and here, with a bright family circle about him, he seemed the very favorite of fortune. But the fall in the price of iron and the cost of trans- porting fuel rendered it necessary to close the works; and now the whole place, from Wilkes' almost to Southfield, has been converted into a park, under the name of Arden, the family name of Mrs. Peter Par- rott. A beautiful Episcopal church and rectory re- main as mementos of the taste and character of the former owners and controlling spirits of the place.
Morgan Shuitt, Esq., was for many years one of the most prominent citizens of Central Valley, where he exerted a controlling influence in its politics and public affairs. It is enough to state concerning him that he was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1849, and was reelected to that post each year there- after until 1881, having served thirty-three consecu- tive years, the longest term of service of any elec- tive officer in the State.
Mr. Shuitt was a born leader of men. He had the rare honor of having accorded to him both ability and honesty by his political opponents. He is another of the shining marks that have been a target for the King of Terrors.
Peter Turner was a leading citizen of Turners. He and his wife came from Buttermilk Falls, and founded the hamlet bearing their name very early in the cen- tury. He started a sawmill and then a grist-mill.
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He said the people then were so disorderly that he had to mark out a line about the premises beyond which he forbade them to intrude. He soon built the hotel at the foot of the hill. When the Erie Company was organized he saw what a favorable location he possessed for an eating-station on the railroad. He then built the restaurant, and after- wards had an interest in the Orange Hotel. He was a successful manager, and gave his house the reputa- tion of setting a good table. His son James suc- ceeded him, and was regarded as the prince of providers.
Elmore Earl was highly esteemed in the same ham- let, and for many years exercised the office of justice of the peace. He was honest and capable, leaving behind him a good record for fidelity.
The roll of worthy sons would be incomplete with- out the name of Chauncey B. Knight. He was the eldest son of the late Daniel and Catherine Knight, both prominent in the memory of the present genera- tion. His parents belonged to a long-lived family, but he was called away in the very midst of his days of usefulness. He was born on the homestead in the village, and received his education at the district- school. He was lame in early life, using a crutch, yet was able to hold his own in the sports of his com- panions. He turned his attention to mercantile pur- suits, and entered into partnership with Gates W. McGarrah in 1845, at the corner of Church and Main streets, for the sale of general merchandise. In 1846 the latter built a store near the depot, and dissolved the partnership with Mr. Knight. The latter then continued the business on his own account, with Matthew B. Swezey as clerk. In 1849 he built the
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brick store opposite the railroad station, and removed his business thither. In 1851 he was appointed sta- tion agent by the Erie Company, when, in connec- tion with it, he turned his attention to the lumber and coal trade, together with that of flour and feed. He renovated the old mill, putting in a new overshot wheel, with other improvements. When the wheel was found inadequate, he built the steam-mill and the present office. In 1861 he was appointed postmaster, retaining the office till the day of his death. In 1864 he was elected supervisor of the town, retaining the office till the town was consolidated. He formed a partnership with George R. Conklin for the sale of flour, feed, coal and lumber in 1863, which continued harmonious till it was dissolved by death. He was a trustee of the Presbyterian church for upwards of thirty years; also its treasurer, taking great interest in the management of its temporalities.
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