USA > New York > Greene County > Dear old Greene County; embracing facts and figures. Portraits and sketches of leading men who will live in her history, those at the front to-day and others who made good in the past > Part 7
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DEAR OLD GREENE COUNTY.
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JOHN ADAMS Surrogate .8 0 - 1811
JOHN V.D.S ScorT Final Judge C', of Commons Plage 182
18 ..
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MALSONE WAYSON S ... ofat+ 838- 8-1
LYMAN TREMAIN County Judge and Surrogate 1847-1851
PERKINS KING First Judge Court : "Comme- Peas 830 547
JUDGES OF GREENE COUNTY COURTS FROM 1800 to 1915.
Photographed and Reproduced by Courtesy of Judge Chase.
Of Judge Bronk there is but one other picture in existence.
Some of these pictures are from oil paintings, hence not very distinct.
It was necessary to photograph them through glass, and three attempts were made to get them.
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DEAR OLD GREENE COUNTY.
ALEXANDER H. BAILEY County Judge and Surrogata +2K2:1866
F. JAMES FITCH County Judge and Surrogate
Warm A. Gutswamp .
JOHN OLNEY
1668-10
JOBIAN C. TALLMADGE
JOHN SANDERSON
MANLY B. MATTICE County Judge val Surrogate
A MELVIN ODBC-N
Greene County Judges from 1800 to 1915.
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DEAR OLD GREENE COUNTY.
Notable Women
Greene county has not produced many women who have achieved notoriety in the various fields of activity. The one who stands out pre-eminently however is Maggie Van Cott, who passed away in 1914 at her home in Catskill bordering on 90 years of age. She was the first woman who was ordained to the ministry of the
Mrs. Maggie Van Cott, Evangelist.
Methodist church, and pretty much all of her life was devoted to revival work. She went from one end of the country to the other and her converts are said to have numbered over 100,000. Her commanding appearance, remarkable voice, and personal magnet- ism with an appeal that was irresistible made her a great power for good. So late as 1901 she held a great reviyal at Lebanon Springs and three brass bands turned out to assist in the work. There are few if any places in Greene county where she has not held successful revivals, and some of these places she visited during the last year or so of her life. Around 1900 she had a big tent and for several weeks held meetings on west Main street, Catskill.
Mother Ann Lee, founder of the Shakers, a sect of the Quaker church, a denomination still having adherents in Greene county, was buried at Watervliet where her grave may still be pointed out. She made a great stir in her crusade in which she
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declared that Marriage was the root of human depravity, and forthwith she was sent to prison and then to the mad house. She secured her release however, and in 1776 was arrested on a charge of high treason, by the British and confined at Pokeepsie. Gov. George Clinton pardoned her and she went about establishing churches. Finally in 1784 she died at Watervliet. Churches in many sections included in Albany county, now Greene, were estab- lished by her.
Squaw Owned Old Catskill -Chief of Tribe-From histori- cal matter furnished us by the Hon. Clarence E. Bloodgood, form- er senator from Greene county, we learn that "Director Brandt Van Slechtenhorst, for the Patroon (Van Rensselaer) bought of Pwasck, a squaw, chief of Catskill, and her son, Supahoop, a kil named Katskil, accounted to be 9 miles and that the consideration was seventeen and a half ells of duffels, a coat of beaver and a knife. Aepkje, the interpreter, who brought about the sale got five and a half ells of duffels for his service. This was in 1649, and is a part of the Fort Orange records.
Among the old residents of whom we find mention in other works Dame Van Schaack of the early Dutch of the Coxsackie dis- trict was a strenuous character who lived in the old Van Schaack homestead near the village. During the Revolutionary period this old house was bombarded by the British, and they ransacked it and carried off what they thought was of value. Dame VanSchaack who appeared to have been very brave, and relentless gathered up certain of the belongings that she had an attachment for and an- nounced that she wouldn't give them up, and she did not either for the leader relented and let her keep what she wanted. This old house is still standing and has many pieces of furniture of the colonial period. Wood is still burned in the old fire places.
At the Greene county Alms House for the past few years Mrs. E.C. Judson, wife of Ned Buntline, the great American Scout and Sea Fighter, as well as one of America's greatest writers of fiction, has been making her home. Col. Judson who was in the employ of the government during the latter years of his life, crip-
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pled and scarred from the many battles in which he participated, lived at Stamford, Delaware county, in a mansion that he built, and was supposed to be wealthy. As a writer of Indian and Scout or Sea Faring life he had no equal, and many of his stories were printed in the New York Weekly
Madam Jumel also was one of the wives of Aaron Burr. She died at the age of 98 years, and Mr. Burr was her third hus- band. The madam was the wife of Col. Croix of the British army in an elopement at 17, then she married Stephen Jumel, and spent a great part of his vast fortune. Burr was 78 years of age when she married him. They separated. The Jumel mansion is a historical museum in the city of New York.
Madam Jumel in company with her husband frequently visited this section and was often a guest at the Prevost man- sion at Greenville. She was one of the most talked about women of her period, and many women attempted to follow the styles she set in dress.
Those who have represented the county in charity work are:
Mrs. Emory A. Chase, Mrs. Percival Goldin, Mrs. W. I. Jennings, Mrs. F. S. Decker, Mrs. F. H. Osborn, Mrs. Charles A. Elliott, Mrs. J. Lewis Patrie, Mrs. H. L. Boughton, Mrs. James P. Philip, Mrs. Benjamin Wey, Mrs. Ella M. Grout, Mrs. J. S. Henderson, Catskill; and Mrs. Sherwood H. Holcomb, Palenville.
Mrs. Harriet Penfield, Mrs. George H. Penfield and Mrs. Isaac Pruyn are among the prominent workers deceased.
Mrs. Cornelius Du Bois at Palenville was for many years at the head of the Women's Christian Temperance Union of Greene county, and Mrs. Harvey Brown and Mrs. G.N. Brandow of Cats- kill and Miss Brandow of Coxsackie have been conspicuous in this work.
Mrs. Egbert Beardsley of Catskill has been doing Sunday School work and attained considerable distinction as a lecturer.
Mrs. Benjamin Wey of Catskill has been among the leaders in school, missionary, church and library work in Greene county. A grand woman in every way.
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In the Suffragist work Mrs. Joseph Malcolm, and Miss Gertrude B. Linnell have been very enthusiastic workers, and the movement has shown great progress. For a list of other workers who have been connected with this movement see article on the Suffragist Movement.
Mrs. Joseph Malcolmn, Suffragist Leader.
Among those who have taken the lead in the work of the Old Ladies Home, are Mrs. J. P. Phillip, Mrs. Emory A. Chase, Mrs. H. L. Boughton, Mrs. Jeremiah Day, Mrs. Orrin Day, Mrs. W. I. Jennings, Emily Becker, Margaret Bedell, Georgiana Jack- son and Miss Whitbeck.
Mrs.' Ira T ._ Tolley matron of the county house has also been prominent in charity work.
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Reference will be found elsewhere to the several clubs of the county which have been formed and presided over by women.
Probably the oldest woman of whom we have any record in Greene county was Lavina Allerton, a former resident of Cairo, who was born in a log house near that place in 1809 and who died at Newark, N. Y., in 1914, being 105 years old. She survived her husband by 40 years. Her generations are scattered all over the county and state.
Another old resident who died at Coxsackie last fall was Hannah Mackey, who had passed 90 years of age.
Mrs. Maria Doane of Catskill was another aged resident of the county who lived to the century mark.
Of the Darringer family Mrs. Dorothy Darringer of Catskill passed away at the age of 94 years.
Laura G., wife of the late Judson Wilcox died at her home in Catskill, Jan. 1900, from the effects of her injury two months before, when she fell and fractured her hip. During most of the time she had been a great though patient sufferer. She retained her remarkable mental faculties up to the last, reading from the papers, signing checks, etc., writing her name in regular and plain manner. She was 95 years and 5 months and the physici ans declare that every organ of her body was was in a perfectly healthy condition and had not the accident occurred she might have lived to 100 years. She had been a member of St. Luke's church over 50 years and was always deeply interested in the welfare of that society. Truly she went down to the grave full of years and and good works. Mrs. Wilcox was born at Cortright, Delaware county, July 13th, 1804, and was united in marriage to Judson Wilcox Aug. 18, 1825, by the Rev. Elder Hobbie at Cortright With her husband she came to Catskill in May, 1826, where she had since made her home and for more than 60 years had lived in the house where she died. Mr. Wilcox who was an authority on early history of Catskill was for more than 50 years in the grocery business on the corner opposite Geo. C. Fox's store. He died June 7th, 1879.
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4
The Oldest House on William Street, 1798.
Occupied by the Wilcox family since 1826, and where in 1836, Howard Wilcox was born. Judson Wilcox died in this house, 1879, also his wife, Mrs. Wilcox in 1900 at the age of 95.
Among the inscriptions gathered from the local cemeteries by the writer of this book, which among is a considerable number of others was that of Ruth Croswell relict of Dr. Thomas O'Hara Croswell, one of the publishers of the Catskill Packet, to which we have referred. She died Jan. 7th, 1862, at the age of 96 years and 10 months. She was born in New England, saw George Wash- ington, and her husband honored by him with the appointment of postmaster.
Miss Georgiana Jackson has taken great interest in the Humane Society of which she is a leader.
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DEENAUS
7
ROWENA SCHOOL AT PALENVILLE.
The greatest monument ever erected to the memory of a woman in this state doubtless is the Rowena Memorial School building at Palenville which was dedicated in 1900 and cost over $50,000. The building is of picture or shell granite, from the quarries of George W.Holdridge of Catskill, who erected the build-
DEAR OLD GREENE COUNTY.
ing. It is a beautiful structure and will stand for all time. It was the gift to Palenville of L. W. Lawrence a New York man, who with his wife for many years spent their summers in that section. Mrs. Lawrence was greatly interested in the cause of education and the young, and as a beautiful and lasting tribute to her memory the school building was erected. It was also partially endowed.
(DRIVEN OVT IN . THE STORM.
AWAKENING AFTER 20 YEARS. A.
DRINKING WITH THE GNOMES.
MEETING
THE GNOME
-
F
The Story of Rip Van Winkle-A Heartless Woman. An Imperishable Romance in Fiction.
Washington Irving gave to the Catskill region, a romance that has come down as one of the great pieces of fiction of the age, and has added much to the allurements of the grand old Catskills Rip in his sleep of 20 years, and his pitiful return to the region of Sleepy Hollow, is not more pitiful than Gretchen, who was the personification of the Vixen in womankind.
An artist of 20 years ago has pictured the story so complete that we reproduce it above.
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RIP AND THE CHILDREN
DEAR OLD GREENE COUNTY.
Women And The Franchise
Suffrage work was begun some forty years ago in Catskill, when a club was formed for the purpose of study, rather than of practical work. Speakers were brought to Catskill at that time Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, and Miss Harriet May Mills.
Four or five years ago Mrs. Joseph Malcolm was appointed Leader for Greene County, by the national American Woman Suffrage Association, but no active work was done at that time.
The next Suffrage meeting in Greene county was held, I think, at the home of Miss Margaret Bedell, on William street, in the Spring of 1910 or 1911, at which Mrs. Raymond Brown and another out-of-town Suffragist spoke.
In the Summer of 1911 Mrs. William Spencer Murray of New Haven, formerly Miss Ella Rush of Catskill, arranged and conducted a meeting at which she was the only speaker, at the Y. M. C. A. hall. It was very well attended and the receipts were more than satisfactory.
In September Mrs. Florence Maule Cooley spoke at the home of Mrs. Linnell in Jefferson, to about thirty people. Inspir- ed by Mrs. Cooley's able talk, an informal club was organized, which met once or twice at the Heidleberg Inn as guests of Mrs. Beardsley. In the absence of Mrs. Malcolm Mrs. Linnell presid- ed at these meetings.
In October Mrs. Murray held another small meeting at her former home on William street, when she gave a very interesting account of Suffrage in England, and told some of her own exper- iences in London and elsewhere.
About the third of January "General" Rosalie Jones and her little army of Suffragists marched through Catskill on their way to petition the legislature to pass the bill permitting women to watch at the polls during the election when their enfranchise- ment or non-enfranchisement should be decided. Mrs. Rose Liv- ingston, called the Angel of Chinatown, who is not regularly a
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Suffrage worker, but a rescuer of young girls from the dives of Chinatown, told her own tragic, and unfortunately not singular, story to a crowd in front of the Court House, and awakened many to the necessity of Woman's place in the regulation of these things.
On January 14, 1914, the newly formed club secured Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association as a speaker and arranged a meeting for her at the Y. M. C. A. Hall, which was well attended, and which more than cleared expenses. County Sealer Adin E. Ballou was chairman of this meeting, and the numbers of the Suffragists were greatly argumented afterward.
About the first of March, the National American Woman Suffrage Association sent Mrs. Frances Maule Bjorkman to Catskill to organize a formal club, this consisted primarily of the appoint- ment of a chairman for each of the eleven districts into which, for the purpose of the campaign, New York State was divided. Mrs. Joseph Malcolm was appointed Leader for Greene county, and Mrs. Wardle, Miss S.Joseph, Mrs. E. Lasher, Mrs. John Salisbury, and Mrs. Linnell Captains.
A club, to be called the Equal Franchise League of Catskill was formed, with a constitution drawn up and duly signed at a meeting at which Mrs. Stuart Bentz was elected President, Mrs. Wardle Vice-President, Miss Emily F. Becker Treasurer, and Miss Antoinette Weed Secretary.
At a subsequent meeting Miss Gertrude Linnell was elected President and Miss Ione Schubert Treasurer. Regular monthly meetings have been held at the library on the last Friday of the month since that time, for the discussion of plans, and the ar- rangement cf work.
On May the second, which was kept as Suffrage Day all through New York State, Catskill had an open air celebration at which the Rev. Mr. Hamm presided, and Miss Garrison and Mrs. Bjorkman spoke. A large collection was taken.
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About this time Headquarters were established on Main street, next door to the express office, where a large amount of literature was on sale, and a fine window display of posters and Current Suffrage News was shown.
On June the 5th the Greene county Suffrage Convention was held in the Y. M. C. A. Hall, presided over by Mrs Carrie Chapman Catt, President of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance and Chairman of the Empire State Campaign Committee. At the evening meeting Mr. E. C. Hocmer, County Superintend- ent of Schools was Chairman, and made a warm address, which was followed by a Suffrage song rendered by the Eighth Grade Girls' Chorus. Afterwards Miss Linnell read a description of some Suffrage lantern slides, and Mrs. Catt made the address of the evening. Mrs. Bjorkman followed Mrs. Catt with a short talk
The following day, June the 6th, the Eastern New York State Suffrage Parade was held at Albany, and Catskill sent a dele- gation, headed by Master Nathan Bentz in a yellow and white Colonial costume, carring a banner with the inscription "Taxation Without Representation is Tyranny."
A Suffrage Bridge and Tea Dansant for the benefit of the Equal Suffrage League was held at the Grant House on July 31, at which about twenty dollars were cleared.
A booth was secured at the Cairo Fair which was presided over by Mrs. Bjorkman, assisted by delegations from the Catskill and the Tannersville Suffrage clubs. A great number of people were reached in this way who had no idea of the meaning of the slogan, "Votes for Women!" Mrs. Francis Thurber of New York spoke on the second day.
A reception was held in honor of the Tannersville Equal Suffrage Club, on September 24, 1914, at the Heidelberg Inn, at which a large number of Suffragists turned out to welcome the ladies from Tannersville.
About the first of October Miss Edna Post was appointed Press Chairman for Greene county to succeed Miss Linnell, who had previously resigned from that post.
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Carrie Chapman Catt, Suffragist.
DEAR OLD GREENE COUNTY.
ANOTHER REPORT OF SUFFRAGE.
In addition to the foregoing matter on the Suffragist move- ment we have received from Mrs. Joseph Malcolm a very interest- ing account, which we are giving in full. The Suffragist movement is showing great gains all over the country and it appears to be only a matter of a little time when the franchise will be extended to the women.
The Catskill Recorder of February 29th, 1884, contains the following, under the caption of Mrs. Blake's lecture. The Mrs. Blake to whom the article refers probably was Lillie Devreux Blake and this as far as is known was the first work for Woman Suffrage in Greene county.
"The world really does move and Woman Suffrage, a sub- ject which but a few years ago was mentioned only to be ridiculed, is today exciting the interest and engaging the attention of men and women who can easily remember the time when they would have been ashamed to be detected countenancing the "woman's rights" movement in any manner. Evidence of the change the public mind has undergone and is undergoing is furnished in the manner and the character of the audience that met Mrs. Blake on Monday evening. Instead of the Corporal's Guard that form- erly constituted the listeners when the occasion was the hearing of the story of woman's wrongs and rights, was a houseful, for the most part people of intelligence and refinement, the seats of the court room were all occupied, men and women stood in the aisles during the entire lecture, and many persons were turned away.
For an hour or two Mrs. Blake addressed her audience con- versationally, speaking without notes and with no affectation of the rhetorical art of the stump speakers. She made a number of telling points in the course of her argument and the minds of the many present had presented to them, we trust convincingly, the harsh injustice and the outrageous wrongs which man since the creation has complacently regarded the natural lot and portion of women.
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The women who are engaged in this agitation for the suff- rance do not desire to unsex themselves and their sisters. "We do not wish to be men," said Mrs. Blake, "God forbid !"
The leaders in this movement have been cruelly misrepre- sented and caricatured by would be wits: they are womanly women and thoroughly in earnest but not in the least ambitious to don the bifurcated garments of the sterner sex, or to assume any of the distinctive belonging or to ursurp any of the special rights pertaining to masculinity. They believe that the sphere of woman's usefulness and her opportunities for self support should be enlarged. They believe that this can best be effected through the ballot, arguing that if woman had a vote she would be politic- ally of much more consideration, and there is solid ground under the argument.
Mrs. Blake held the closest attention of her large audience throughout - not a person, not even one of those standing in the aisles, leaving the room till the lecture was over."
About ten years after Mrs Blake's address the New York State Woman Suffrage Association began an active campaign in preparation for the constitutional convention, earnestly working to have the word "male" dropped from the constitution.
In March, 1894, there was held in the old opera house of Catskill, a convention in charge of Harriet May Mills, at which Susan B. Anthony and Dr. Anna Shaw spoke. At that time there was no suffrage organization in the county but Greene county is reported as having sent a petition to the convention of 2,904 names. Of these 2,085 were the names of men and 819 the names of women.
In the spring of 1895, the Political Equality Club of Cats- kill was organized, auxiliary to the State Association and for a period of four years paid dues to it. In the autumn of that year representatives from other towns in the county joined the club, which was then called the Greene County Political Equality Club. Mrs. Benjamin Wey, Mrs. Lizzie Fitch, Miss Fannie Wilcox, Mrs. L. Beach, Mrs. Hazard, Mrs. Root, Miss Hattie Root, Miss E. G.
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Root, Mrs. H. Brown, Mrs. W. B. Phillips, Mrs. F. C. Hall, Miss Georgiana Jackson, Mrs. Anna B. Hill, Mrs. Charles Beard- slev, Mrs. Robert Selden, Mrs. Richard Van Hoesen, Mrs. Joseph Malcolm of Catskill and Mrs. Wakely of Greenville, Mrs. Rufus King of Cairo and Mrs. Mc Ray of Coxsackie formed the active membership.
The semi-monthly meetings were usually held in the par- lors of the women belonging to the club or in the Presbyterian lecture room. Fiske's Civil Government was studied and discuss- ed and lectures by Miss Mills and other workers in the cause were of frequent occurrence. A petition was circulated about town and when a member of the club asked a well known citizen of Catskill to sign it, he exclaimed, "No indeed! I will not sign any such paper and in ten years time you women will be so ashamed of having put your names on it that you will want to hide your heads.''
Twenty years have passed by since then, and all of the members who are living are still keeping up the fight, and one at least of the members often proudly claims the honor of being a pioneer in the cause. After being in existence four years and after the failure of the constitution convention to grant the request of the women of the state, the treasurer's report of the Equality Club pathetically states, "There is no money in the treasury, so the club died December 31st, 1898."
Until the time drew near for another convention to amend the State Constitution, very little interest was shown in Greene Co. An occasional talk by Miss Mills, who has always expressed a most hearty interest in this, one of the first fields of her life work, was the extent of the work for suffrage.
In the summer of 1912 the campaign work was begun by Mrs. Florence M. Cooley who talked to an interested gathering of representative women and a few men in Jefferson. Miss Rosalie Jones and Martha Klatschkeus, with others, on one of their auto- mobile tours through the state, stopped and held a large, out-door mass meeting before the new court house. On the following day
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they appointed a leader for suffrage work in the county and a committee for campaign work in the election districts in the town. The following winter Dr. Anna Shaw gave one of her inimitable lectures in the Y. M. C. A. building and the Brotherhood of the Reformed Church challenged any two suffragists to meet two of the "brothers" in a debate on the subject. Mrs. Charles Wardle and Miss Gertrude Linnell bravely entered the contest. Although public speaking was an entirely new experience for them, the judges, Mrs. Jame: P.Philip, the Rev. Mr. Tetley and Mr. Hocmer -declared the women winners by several points. The success of the debate started a demand for a permanent league, and the Equal Suffrage League of Catskill wasforganized.
The summer of 1914 was indeed a busy time for suffragists all through the state, and Catskill valiantly worked to do her part in spite of discouragements. Much literature was distributed, through the mails, at meetings, left at public places, and handed out to passers-by on the street.
A Sunday in May was named as a Woman's Sunday and every minister of the gospel got a letter requesting him to urge women to work more earnestly for the betterment of women and children and especially wayward girls. In June a Greene County Suffrage Convention and school of methods was conducted by Mrs. Catt, chairman of the Empire State Campaign Committee. A very successful league was formed at Tannersville by Mrs John Jay White, Mrs. Alexander and other cottagers at Onteora Park. They worked all through the mountain towns and had a booth at the Cairo Fair. Delegates from both leagues appeared before the Greene Co. Republican Convention at Tannersville, and Mrs. Raymond Brown, president of the State Woman Suffrage Associ- ation addressed the convention. The Catskill league sent delegates to the State Democratic and Republican Committees at Saratoga Springs. During the boarding season headquarters were opened on Main Street of Catskill and in the afternoon talks would be given and tea would be served. The Catskill Daily Mail, The Examiner, The Recorder and the Enterprise helped in every way.
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