USA > New York > Delaware County > Delaware County, New York, history of the century, 1797-1897, centennial celebration, June 9 and 10, 1897 > Part 10
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James, the second son, died of small pox, March 22, 1760.
John Harper, Jr., the founder of Harpersfield, was distinguished for his bravery and sagacity during the war of the Revolution, when he held a commission as Colonel. He was married to Mirriam Thompson, by whom he had four children-Archibald, Margaret, John and Ruth. John, born July 10, 1774, was the first white male child born in Delaware county.
During his youth Colonel Harper attended a school at Lebanon, Connecticut, and while there became intimate with a young Indian who afterward became the celebrated chief and warrior, Joseph Brant: and who, although his name has always been held up as the synonym of savage cruelty and outrage, there is much reason to believe has been greatly misrepresented by writers whose partisan spirit was too much excited to do him justice, and who were disposed to hold him responsible for the cruelties committed by Indians under his command. Were this true, it seems certain that so strong a partisan as Colonel Harper would not have con- tinued friendly with him during the war, and for many years afterwards. It is nearly certain that on the occasion of the destruction of Harpersfiekl by the Indians and Tories in 1777, Colonel Harper and his family were saved by a secret warning from Brant, the particulars of which will be hereafter related.
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Joseph Harper, the fourth son, does not seem to have been so prominent in the events of the time as either of his brothers, but he fought bravely in the frontier warfare, and was a member of the Committee of Safety of Harpersfield. After the war he married Catharine, daughter of Joseph Douglass of Harpersfield.
Alexander Harper was nearly as prominent as his more cele- brated brother, and held a commission as Captain. After the war he settled in Harpersfield, and is believed to have kept the first tavern in town; as for several years all town meetings were held at his house. He also for several years held the only commission as Justice of the Peace within the present bounds of the town. He married Elizabeth Bartholomew, daughter of an early settler on the Charlotte, near what is now South Worcester.
At the breaking out of the Revolution, men were compelled to side with the King or the Colonies, and in Harpersfield nearly all sided with the Colonies. They formed a Committee of Safety as follows: Isaac Patchin, chairman; John, Joseph and Alexander Harper, John Harper Jr., Freegift Patchin, Andries Rebar, William MeFarland, St. Leger Cowley, Isaac Sawyer, John Moore, and James Stevens.
The first capture of Indians, as related by "Sims," was made by Colonel Harper in June or July, 1777. The Colonel had started on horseback for Cherry Valley, about thirty miles distant. As he ueared the Schenevus creek, in the present town of Decatur, he saw a party of ten Indians approaching, and as he could not well avoid it he confidently met them. He at once recognized the leader as Peter, an Oquago chief. He met them in a friendly man- ner, calling them brothers, and they supposing him to be a King's man were thrown off their guard, and informed him that they were on their way to destroy the Sidney settlement of Rev. William Johnston and others, and that their resting place for the night was to be a mile or two above the mouth of the Schenevus, Shaking hands with the party he bade them good-bye.
As soon as he had passed out of their sight, he hastily returned
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and secured three Bartholomew brothers on the Charlotte, and at Harpersfield his brothers Joseph and Alexander, and other settlers until his party numbered eighteen. Well armed and with ropes they set forward and reached the Indian camp just before daylight ; found them all asleep, secured their arms, and then with eight of their number ready with guns to enforce obedience a man with a rope approached each of the sleepers; the Colonel taking his stand beside the leader shouted in his ear: "Peter! it is time for business men to be up."
The party all started to their feet, but finding their own arms secured and so many guns ready to shoot any who attempted to escape, they submitted to be bound and were soon on their way as prisoners, to Albany. Soon after daylight Peter recognized his captor and exclaimed: " Ah, Colonel Harper, why me not know you yesterday ?" "There's policy in war, Peter." "O yes, me find 'em so now."
Soon after the above capture, the enemy under MeDonald (according to Sims, but Rev. H. Boies says Brant and Butler) on its way to Schoharie, visited Harpersfield intending to capture or destroy Colonel Harper and his Whig neighbors. On account of a heavy rain storm the enemy halted a few miles away and a friendly Indian stole from the camp, made his way to Colonel Harper's house and informed him of the intended attack.
The Colonel hastily concealed what household stuff he could not carry, placed his wife and younger children on a horse, or horses; with the rest of the settlers hurried off in the rain and darkness over the Jefferson hills, to find safety in Middleburgh.
Harpersfield the next day was sacked and destroyed. Colonel Harper's mill built two or three years before was burned. Sinns says the house was fired at two opposite corners, but the posts being cherry did not burn.
During this raid, or not long after, a family named McKee is said to have been murdered below Odell's lake in the south part of Harpersfield. The father was absent, but the mother and children
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State Armory at Wult n.
View Showing Location of the Arn ury,
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were butchered and thrown into the flames of the burning house; except one daughter, Anne, who threw herself at the feet of a savage who had his axe raised to strike her. He admired her bold- ness and spared her life. She was taken to Niagara, where she was compelled by the squaws to run the gauntlet, and was nearly killed during the terrible ordeal. She however recovered, and after a long captivity was allowed to return to her home.
When McDonald and his party appeared near Schoharie, the garrison feeling unable to contend with him successfully, Colonel Harper volunteered to go alone to Albany for assistance. Stopping at a tavern for the night, the Tories attempted his capture, but he drove them from the door with his pistols. The next day finding he was followed by two Indians who intended to waylay him, he stopped in a hollow out of their sight. stuck his sword in a stump, placed his back against his horse, waited till they approached, then with a pistol in each hand, he exclaimed: " Stop, you villains ; face about and be off, or these bullets shall whistle through your hearts." The Indians finding him thus armed and ready, faced about as directed. Colonel Harper then proceeded safely to Albany and obtained a troop of twenty-eight horses. One of the party had a trumpet, from which an occasional blast -says Simms- produced an effect equal to that of an army with banners. This troop, with the party at Schoharie, met and defeated McDonald, and Colonel Harper wrote the Provincial Council of Safety at Kingston:
" SCHOHARIE, August 28, 1777.
"GENTLEMEN: Since we put Captain MeDonald and his army to flight, I proceeded with some volunteers to Harpersfield, where we met many that had been forced by MeDonald, and some of them much abused. Many others were in the woods, who were volun- teers; and as we could not get hands on those that were active in the matter, I gave orders to all to make their appearance at Schoharie in order to give satisfaction to the authority for what they have done; and if they do not, that they are to be proclaimed traitors to the United States of America; which they readily agreed
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to, and further declare that they will use their best endeavors to bring in those who have been the cause of the present disturbance.
"I would therefore beg the Honorable Council of Safety, that they would appoint proper persons to try these people, as there will be many that can witness to the proceedings of our enemy, and are not in ability to go abroad.
"From your most obedient humble servant,
"JOHN HARPER, Colonel."
JUDGE EBENEZER FOOTE .*
Judge Foote was born April 12, 1756, in Colchester, Connecti- ent. He was the son of Daniel Foote and the brother of Eli Foote whose daughter Roxana married Rev. Lyman Beecher and was the mother of Henry Ward Beecher, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, and others of that talented family. Some of the Foote family espoused the loyalist cause in the Revolutionary war; but Ebenezer was an ardent patriot, and when the first guns were fired he, with several other young men, fled from home without his father's permission and joined the patriotic troops near Boston. He was present at the battle of Bunker Hill and served continuously until the close of the war. For his bravery and efficiency he was promoted from the ranks in which he enlisted to the position of Major. He attracted the attention of Washington and was by him assigned to staff duty.
He had the misfortune to be taken captive during the war, and was confined with many others in the Bridewell prison in New York city. Along with a number of others he formed a plan to escape. They managed to elude their guards and found themselves in the
* We are indebted for the facts embodied in this sketch to a memorial volume concerning Samuel E. Foote in which there is an appendix giving the principal events in the life of Ebenezer Foote; also to an obituary notice by General Henry Leavenworth printed in the Delaware Gazette December 28, 1829, and to memoranda furnished by Miss Foote of Delhi, the great-great- grandaughter of Judge Foote.
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country near where Chambers street now is. They made their way to the Hudson river with the intention of crossing it to New Jersey. They found an old leaky boat, but they were unable to make it sufficiently safe. All the other fugitives then took to the land and tried to make their way through the hostile sentinels to the country north of them. But Foote found a plank and with it undertook to swim the Hudson. It was in the month of December and the water was piteously cold. Ho succeeded, however, in escaping the patrolling vessels, and in making his way to the other side. He landed at Hoboken where he found shelter and dry clothes. He escaped, but he never recovered wholly from the effects of this terrible exposure.
Major Foote from his rank in the Revolutionary army became a member of the Order of Cincinnati, and up to the time of his death took great pleasure in joining his comrades on the fourth of July to celebrate the achievement of American independence.
At the close of the war he only possessed the back pay which was due to him for his services. Part of this was paid to him in money; and a part was liquidated by a grant of unsettled land ou the West branch of the Delaware river. He entrusted the certifi- cate of his army pay to an agent for collection and this precious raseal defrauded him out of the whole. He had married in 1779 Jerusha Purdy, a member of the Westchester family of that name. Her property also had been mostly destroyed by the British troops in their incursions into the regions north of New York.
Major Foote had, therefore, to commence life anew. He started in a mercantile career at Newburgh which was then in Ulster county. In this he must have been more or less successful; for we find that several times he was chosen to represent the county in the State Legislature. He is recorded as having been in the Assembly in 1792, 1794, 1796 and 1797. It was during this latter year that the bill for the creation of Delaware county was under discussion, and Major Foote took an active part in perfecting and securing the passage of the measure. He served as Senator from the Middle
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District during the years 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801 and 1802. In 1799 he was chosen to serve as a member of the Council of Appointment under Governor John Jay.
On the establishment of the new county he was appointed by the Governor the county clerk, and immediately removed thither to assume his duties. At this time it must be remembered that there was no village of Delhi. There were two sites which were looked upon as likely to become the location of the proposed county build- ings. One of these was at the mouth of Elk Creek on the grounds of Gideon Frisbee. Here already the first meeting of the board of supervisors had been held and the county court had held its first session. The other was the extensive flat at the mouth of the Little Delaware. There is a tradition that some of the early county meet- ings and courts were held in the latter locality at the house of Mr. Leal. It was near this beautiful intervale that the land lay which had been granted to Major Foote for his military services; and it was near this on the south that he selected a site and built a residence for himself. The building is still standing but has passed out of the possession of his descendants.
Mr. Foote served as county clerk until 1801 when he was sue- ceeded by Philip Gebhard. He was not only the clerk of the board of supervisors, but also the clerk of the courts held in the county and the custodian of their records.
In 1810 he was appointed by Governor Daniel D. Tompkins as county judge for a term of six years. Subsequently in 1828 he was again appointed to the same office which he held until his death in 1829 at the age of seventy-four.
No citizen of Delaware has ever enjoyed a more distinguished circle of acquaintance. He knew and corresponded with the most active political managers of the day, and many of them were his guests at Arbor Hill. We may mention a few from whom letters are still preserved by his descendants: The Patroon Stephen Van Rensselaer, Hon. Elisha Williams, Governor Morgan Lewis, General Schuyler, the Livingstons, Cadwalader Colden, Josiah Ogden
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Hoffman, Philip Van Courtlandt, Martin Van Buren, John Jay, De Witt Clinton, Aaron Burr, etc. Catherine Livingston writes to him regretting not having seen him, and would like to sell him a young slave girl, as she has more than she can afford to keep.
We have already stated that he married in 1779 Jerusha Purdy. He had four children, viz: Frederick Parsons, Charles Augustus, Harriet, and Margaret. Frederick served as general in the war of 1812 and died in Leghorn, Italy, in 1827. His second son Charles Augustus, was a lawyer and filled many local offices. He was a member of congress in 1824, but died soon after, aged forty. His «Idest son was a graduate of West Point, served with distinction in the Seminole War and finally was killed in the battle at Gaines' Mills in 1862. The second son of Charles Augustus Foote was Charles A. Foote of Delhi, who died in 1896, and who will be remembered by many friends still living. He was born in 1818 and being left an orphan he was obliged to care for himself. When twenty-one years of age he commenced business and continued in it till his death. During these many years he maintained a character of spotless integrity. He held many positions of public trust. He was treasurer of Delaware county for nine years-from 1861 to 1870. He served as treasurer of the village of Delhi; he was town clerk; he was a trustee of the Delaware Academy, and a director of the National Bank. In all these positions he discharged his trusts with unswerving fidelity.
GENERAL ERASTUS ROOT.
A full account of General Root would include a great part of the history of the county in which so much of his life was spent. We give below the principal incidents in his varied and eventful career.
1. He was born in Hebron, Connectient, March 16, 1773.
2. He was graduated from Dartmouth College, 1793.
3. He removed to Franklin, then in Otsego county, and when
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Delaware county was organized in 1797 he transferred his resi- dence to Delhi where he continued to dwell until the time of his death.
4. He was married in 1806 to Miss Eliza Stockton of Walton. He had five children: 1. Julianne born 1807, married Hon. S. E. Hobbie, died 1898 in Washington, D. C .; 2. Charles born May 6, 1809, died December 8, 1828; 3. Elizabeth born 1812, died 1865; 4. William born 1813, died 1874; 5. Augusta born 1816, died 1838.
5. He was a member of the Assembly from Delaware county in 1799, 1801, 1802, 1818, 1819, 1820, 1821, 1826, 1827, 1828, 1830.
6. He was Speaker of the Assembly, 1827, 1828, 1830.
7. He was a State Serator, 1812 16, and 1840-44; at this last election in 1840 he was chosen by two majority.
8. He was Lieutenant Governor 1823-4. In 1824 he was again a candidate for the same office, but was defeated by James Tall- mage.
9. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1821.
10. In 1824 the Legislature appointed James Kent, Benjamin F. Butler and Erastus Root, as a commission to revise the State laws.
11. He was a member of Congress 1803-5, 1809-11, 1815 17, 1831-33.
12. When the village of Delhi was incorporated in 1821 he was a member of the Assembly, and it was by his activity that the act was passed.
13. In 1831 he was appointed by President Jackson along with James McCall of New York and John T. Mason of Michigan as a commission to lay out the Green Bay Indian Reservation.
14. At the Democratic Convention in 1830 he was a candidate for the nomination for Governor, but he was defeated by Enos Throop.
15. He was the postmaster at the village of Delhi during twenty years.
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16. In 1833 he abandoned the Democratic party and became a Whig.
17. In his youth he published an arithmetic, and in 1821 he published a volume of Addresses to the People. He had the honor of being immortalized in Fitz Greene Hallock's Croakers, in the poem addressed to Mr. Potter the ventriloquist.
18. He died in New York ou his way to Washington to spend the winter with his daughter Mrs. Selah R. Hobbie .*
A collection of papers relating to General Root was on exhi- bition during the celebration of the centennial anniversary. Since that time these papers have been presented to the New York State Library at Albany by Mrs. Selah R. Hobbie, then the only surviv- ing child of General Root, who has since died, and by Rev. Reeves Hobbie of Newark, her son. They are as follows:
1. Diploma from Dartmouth College, 1793.
2. Recommendations of Erastus Root for admission to the bar of Tolland county, Conneetient, February 16, 1796.
3. Certificate of admission to the bar of Tolland county, Con- nectient, February 25, 1796.
4. License to practise as counsellor in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, January 4, 1799.
5. Appointment of Erastus Root as Master in Chancery, by Gov- ernor George Clinton, January 23, 1802.
6. Appointment of Erastus Root as Brigade Inspector of the Militia of Delaware county, New York, with the rank of Major, by Governor George Clinton, March 29, 1802.
7. Appointment of Erastus Root as Lieutenant Colonel, Com- mandant of the Regiment of Militia in Delaware county, by Gover- nor George Clinton, March 24, 1803.
8. License of Erastus Root to practise as attorney-at-law in the
* General Root's wit was irrepressible and found vent on all occasions. When Hamilton Fish was nominated for Governor he is said to have expressed himself thus : " No doubt Hamilton Fish is a good man, but he can't swim in the waters of the Delaware."
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Supreme Court of the State of New York, by James Kent, Chief Jus- tice, August 18, 1806.
9. Appointment of Erastus Root as Brigadier General of Bri- gade of Militia in Delaware and other counties, by Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, February 17, 1808.
10. Certificate of the election of Erastus Root as member of Congress, June 3, 1808.
11. Discharge of Erastus Root from the office of Master of Chancery, by Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, March 30, 1810.
12. Certificate of the election of Erastus Root as a Senator of the State of New York, May 31, 1811.
13. Appointment of Erastus Root as a Master of Chancery, by Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, February 12, 1811.
14. Appointment of Erastus Root as Brigadier General of the Brigade of Militia in Delaware county, by Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, April 10, 1811.
15. Appointment of Erastus Root as Commissioner for Insolvent Debtors, etc., by Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, June 7, 1811.
16. Order of Brigadier General P. Farrington to Lieutenant Colonel Erastus Root, September 4, 1814.
17. Certificate of the admission of Erastus Root as Solicitor and Counsellor in the Court of Chancery, by James Kent, Chancellor, August 23, 1816.
18. Appointment of Erastus Root as Major General of the 8th Division of Infantry, by Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, March 22, 1816.
19. Certificate of the election of Erastus Root as Lieutenant Governor, December 4, 1822.
20. Discharge of Erastus Root as Major General with the thanks of the Commander-in-chief, November 17, 1824.
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HON. SAMUEL SHERWOOD .*
Samnel Sherwood was born in Charlotte county (now Washing- ton county) in this State, April 24, 1779. His father had come from Connecticut to settle in that thinly populated region near Lake George, and on the breaking out of the Revolution became an officer of the volunteer troops. In 1780 occurred the invasion of that region by the British and Indiaus under Colonel Carleton, who ravaged the whole district and burned many of the houses of the Whigs. Mr. Sherwood's father's house was burned at that time: the mother taking her two children, his brother and himself ou horseback barely escaped the Indians. A few years after the war his father moved to Cayuga county; there Mr. Sherwood received a good education at the local schools and was without doubt a pre- socious scholar, for at the age of sixteen he began the study of the law in the office of Judge Walter Wood of Aurora. Before he was twenty he had accumulated some landed property in Cayuga county. He entered the law office of Conrad E. Ehnendorf of Kingston, where he remained until November. 1799, when he went to Delaware county. Before he was eighteen he had tried suits before justices, and before he was twenty had tried causes against many of the eminent lawyers in Ulster and Delaware, such as Smith Thompson and Garret Van Ness.
When Mr. Sherwood went to Delaware county he had formed a partnership with Mr. Elmendorf and did business in the latter's name until his admission in Delaware Common Pleas, February Court, 1800.
He was married in 1800 to Miss Deborah Hawkins and com- meneed housekeeping at Delhi next winter. There were several children of this marriage, the late Mrs. Herman D. Gould being the eldest.
In 1804 he established his house and law office at Sherwood's
* This sketch is prepared by Samuel Sherwood of New York City.
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bridge (then called Leal's bridge) about a mile south of Delhi,. where he had acquired considerable land. This house together with the adjacent farm and wooded hill were retained by him during his life and bequeathed to his grandson and namesake, in whose possession they now are. Woodland House, so called by its builder, is one of the oldest houses in the township. It is situated on somewhat rising ground overlooking the Delaware river. The architecture is Ionic in style, the woodwork of the porch being somewhat elaborate considering the period of its construction. Mr. Sherwood in selecting a building site had been somewhat of the opinion that a village or settlement was likely to spring up in the neighborhood on account of the junction of the Little Delaware with the larger stream, and in the early part of the century this seemed likely; for just above the bridge were established a tan- nery, a grist mill and other industries. Mr. Sherwood was interested in many of these business enterprises.
In polities he was originally a Federalist. On going to Dela- ware county he was appointed paymaster in Colonel Butler's regiment of local militia and later was appointed to take the census in Delaware county in 1800.
In a memorandum made in 1850 he says:
" My determination to make Delaware county my residence had its origin in the local politics of the day. The Federalists of Dela- ware and Ulster counties were anxious to persuade me to break a lance with Erastus Root, some six or seven years my senior and then established as the leader of the Democraey of the county. We entered the lists in opposition to each other and rose and fell with the ebb tide of our respective parties. With the accession of George Clinton to the gubernatorial chair of state in 1801 the Federalists lost power in the state, and it was only during the war of 1812 that they again obtained a temporary ascendancy after the dissolution of the party, 1819 to 1822. The portion of the party uniting with DeWitt Clinton came into power with him in 1825 and held this power till his death in 1828. Delaware county, 1798, was.
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