USA > New York > Delaware County > Delaware County, New York, history of the century, 1797-1897, centennial celebration, June 9 and 10, 1897 > Part 4
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The Middletown settlers were very sharply divided. Even the boys at school became bitter partisans. It is handed down by tradition that a quarrel occurred between two of the school-boys, one Isaac Dumond a son of Peter, and the other a boy by the name of Markle. The latter called Dumond a rebel; and in return Dumond struck him. An encounter ensued; and probably other boys took sides. The matter ended in the breaking up of the school. In the spring of 1778. soon after the burning of Kingston by the British troops, the Indians advanced up the East branch for the purpose of making depredations upon the patriotic settlements. Their designs against Middletown were revealed by the friendly Indian Tennis* as has been mentioned above. He notified Mr. Yaple his friend, and by him the alarm was spread among his patriot neighbors. They drove off their cattle and concealed such of their goods as they could. The Indians burnt their buildings and pursued the fugitives through the hills towards Kingston as far as Shandaken. It is said that Yaple afterwards returned to secure some of his goods, and was taken prisoner by the tories and carried off to Pepacton. He was however soon after released.
* See p. 28.
6]
REVOLUTIONARY TROUBLES.
A company of patriot militia was sent from Schoharie to protect the settlers. A sad event occurred in connection with the visit of these troops. In AAlegrust 1778 they took prisoner Messrs. Dumond and Barrow, supposing them to have been tories, who had returned to the settlement to seeure a piece of grain which was ripe. They were mounted, both on a single horse, and at what they thought a favorable moment tried to make their escape. They were detected in their effort and Dumond was shot, but Barrow eluded pursuit and escaped. In the autumn of the same year Poter Brugher and his young son had returned to the Middletown settlement to harvest some of their crops. The Indians had been provoked by his piloting the Schoharie militia against them, and they took this orrasion to kill him. The boy they took prisoner and carried him with others to Niagara .*
The most trying scenes, however, of the Revolution which or- eurred in Delaware county, were those in Harperstield. Here the settlers were mostly patriots, and early-August 1775-in the struggle they formed a committee of vigilance. The chief of this committee was John Harper, who received the commission of Col- onel. Others of the active settlers were enrolled and took a solemn oath of fidelity to the patriot canse. They had not then given up the hope that at least a part of the Indians might join the American side in this controversy. As there was a gathering of the Indians at Oynago on the Susquehanna river, it was deemed best to des- patch Colonel Harper to hold a conference with them. This he un- dertook in the winter of 1776, and carried with him a letter from the Provincial Congress. He was received by them with kindness. and as he spoke their language thuently, he was given an opportunity to read the letter and state the wishes of the Congress. They treated him with the most august ceremony and gave him the as- surance of their wish to remain neutral in the controversy then pending.
But the hopes raised by this conference of Colonel Harper with * See figuld's History of Delaware County, p. 39.
62
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
the Indians were of short duration. Joseph Brant,* a Mohawk In- dian, and whose sister was the In lian wife of Sir William Johnson, had become the war chief of the Six Nations. As a youth, by the influence of Johnson, he had been sent to the Moor Charity School at Lebanon, Connecticut. Here he acquired a fairly good educa- tion, and made the acquaintance of many boys who afterward became prominent. One of these was Captain Alexander Harper, a brother of Colonel John Harper. By the aid of Sir William, and through his own active and ambitious genius, he had been ad- vanced to the leadership of the powerful league of Indians. He does not seem to have been present at the conference between Colonel Harper and the Indians at Oquago. And when he after- ward joined the Indians he had little difficulty in reversing all the good impressions which had been made, and in persuading his fierce and lawless warriors to enter upon the bloody succession of raids which followed.
The result of a second effort to dissuade the Indians from making common cause with the British was no more favorable than that just referred to. This effort was made by General Herkimer in June, 1777. He had known Brant as an old neighbor in the Mohawk country, and hoped to exert some wholesome influence upon him. Herkimer asked Brant to meet him at Unadilla on the Susquehanna, and this he did. Each of the leaders had come to the place of meeting with a considerable force. A conference was held, but without any good result. Indeed an angry alterca- tion occurred between Brant and a Colonel Cox who was one of General Herkimer's attendant officers. And although no open breach of the peare occurred, both parties retired from the meeting more bitterly hostile towards each other than before.
Under pressure of such dangers the people of the Harpersfield settlement concluded that it was safest to escape to some more populous place. A few of the hardy men remained to care for the property and crops as far as possible; but the women and children * We follow Stone's Life of Brunt in these particulars.
Hon. William B. Ogden.
65
REVOLUTIONARY TROUBLES.
and most of the men July 1777 took quick and quiet departure for Cherry Valley. The sturdy old Scotchman John More who lived remote from the Harpersfield settlement had not heard of their departure and was quietly remaining in his home. A friendly Indian who belonged to one of the threatening bands, escaped from his companions by night and came to John More's house to warn him to follow his friends and make his escape. He was wise enough to follow the advice and with his family and possessions joined in the procession to Cherry Valley.
The Johnston settlement on the Susquehanna at Sidney Plains had a visit from Brant and his Indians in June 1777. They stole some cattle from the settlers in order to feed, as Brant said, his hungry warriors. Mr. Johnston held a conference with them, at which Brant gave his ultimatum in the following speech: "Iam a man of war. I have taken an oath with the king, and I will not make a treaty with you. I will give these families forty-eight hours* to get away. So long they shall be safe. If any among you wish to join us, I will protect them and they shall not be hurt." The Johnston and Sliter families who were patriots took advantage of the short respite and made their escape to Cherry Valley. Three families espoused the tory cause and remained under Brant's promise of protection. At Cherry Valley these families were pres- ent at the siege and burning of the place by the Indians and British; but after the war was over they returned to their old homes, and resumed their pioneer life.
The Indians of the Six Nations were mainly allies of the British in the Revolutionary war. Part of the Oneida tribe and part of the Tuscaroras were either friendly to the Colonists or neutral in the war. But the Mohawks, the Cayugas and the Senceas, were hostile; and under the active leadership of Brant gave the frontier settle- ments in Tryon county an infinite amount of trouble. They had held early in the war a council with British commissioners, who urgently pressed them to combine against the patriots. They * Another authority gives the time as eight days. 1
66
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
thereupon made a treaty under which each chief of the savage allies was to receive a suit of clothes, a brass kettle, a gun and am- munition, a tomahawk, a scalping knife, a piece of gold, and a promise of a specified bounty for every prisoner or scalp delivered at head-quarters.
Under these incentives many savage cruelties were enacted, sometimes by the Indians alone and sometimes by British troops accompanied by Indians. The little village of Springfield at the head of Otsego Lake was destroyed in the spring of 1778, by Brant and his warriors. In July, 1778, the terrible massacres at Wyoming* on the Susquehanna were perpetrated. The whole country was aronsed, and the result was the sending of the Sullivan expedition, in order to exact due vengeance for the numberless barbarities which had been committed on the frontier's.
This expedition was planned by General Washington who in- sisted on the adequate punishment of the hostile Indians, who for so many years had acted as the willing agents of the British in harrying and raiding the New York settlements. The forces of the expedition were to consist of two parts :- one under the command of General Sullivan, which was to ascend the Susquehanna; the other under the command of General James Clinton (the father of De Witt Clinton) which was to be gathered in the Mohawk valley, to ascend the river in boats to Canajoharie, drag the 210 boats across the portage of twenty miles to the head of Otsego Lake, launch them there and traverse the lake to the outlet of the Susquehanna, thence to descend the river and join the first division at the junction of the Chemung and Susquehanna. The task of this second division was most difficult, but was performed with prompt- ness and entire success.
One difficulty General Clinton surmounted in a most original and effective manner. It was in August, 1779, that he and his
* Thomas Campbell's famous poem of Gertrude of Wyoming made a great impression. He calls Brant the " monster Brant." Brant's son, however, visi- ted London in order to vindicate his father's memory. It is said that he con- vinced the poet that Brant was not present on this occasion.
67
REVOLUTIONARY TROUBLES.
expedition arrived at the outlet of the lake. The drought had so lessened the flow into the river that it was too low to float the boats which had been brought thither with such labor. Clinton had a dam erected across the outlet by which the flow was interrupted. In a few days the water of the lake was raised to the necessary height. The boats had been in the mean time moored in the stream below the lake. Then when everything was ready the dam was removed, and the boats were carried down on the crest of the swollen stream, until they arrived August 22 at the designated place of rendezvous.
The westward campaign at once began, under the command of General Sullivan. A considerable battle was fought at Newtown the site of the present city of Elmira. It is called the battle of the Chening. A combined force of Indians under Brant and of British troops under Colonel John Butler, opposed Sullivan's army. But the British and Indians were swept away and the march westward continued. The Indian towns which were found were everywhere deserted, and as a revenge for the long series of depredations upon white settlements, these towns and the crops about them were destroyed. The beautiful country* of the Cayugas and Senecas was the blossom of the highest Indian civilization. The Indians every- where lled as Sullivan's expedition advanced. A slight and ineffe(- tive stand was made before Sullivan entered the beautiful valley of the Genesee. Everything was devastated and destroyed. The ripening crops on which the Indians depended for their winter's supply were burnt. "The town of Genesee contained one hundred and twenty-eight houses, mostly large and very elegant. It was beautifully situated, almost encircled with a clear Hat extending a number of miles; over which extensive fields of corn were waving, together with every kind of vegetable that could be conceived."t
* Stone in his life of Brant says: " They had several towns and many large villages, laid out with a considerable degree of regularity. They had framed houses, some of them well finished, having chimneys and painted. They had broad and productive fields; and in addition to an abundance of apples, were in the enjoyment of the pear and the still more delicious peach. Life of dlo- soph Brant. Vol. II. p. 25.
+ Sullivan's report as cited by Stone. Vol. 11, p. 33.
68
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
This town with all its accumulated supplies was utterly destroyed, besides forty other Indian towns and villages. One hundred and sixty thousand bushels of corn were burned or cast into the river. Fruit trees were cut down and fields of growing vegetables were utterly devastated.
On the 16th of September Sullivan re-crossed the Genesee river and commenced his return. It had been intended that he should advance on Fort Niagara and reduce this principal strongholdl. But perhaps fearing that his force had been too much reduced to undertake such a task, he did not venture upon the advance. He had accomplished the immediate object of his campaign. He had administered a stern and unsparing punishment upon the Indians for their barbarities committed upon the white settlements. Per- haps such cruelties are justifiable under such circumstances; but modern rules of warfare would not justify the destruction of peace- ful towns and villages, without absolute evidence that they belonged to the guilty authors of the depredations.
The Indians were roused by this expedition of vengeance to make retaliations. During the winter of 1779-80 Brant led a band of Indians against the Oneidas who had befriended the Americans in their struggle with the British. He completely destroyed their dwellings and broke up their settlement. In the spring of 1780 he appeared again at Harpersfield. By a timely warning the inhabi- tants had made their escape and had taken refuge in Schoharie. A few of the men, among whom was Captain Alexander Harper, had returned to secure the maple sugar erop. They were surprised and taken prisoners. Part of them were marched off to Niagara, and part sent to Canada; where both parties remained till the end of the war, when they were set at liberty and returned to their desolated homes.
The only reminiscences of the scenes of the war were the bitternesses left by the disloyalty of tory neighbors. Some of these tories ventured after the war to return and re-establish them- selves among their old neighbors. But they found their neighbor- hoods too hot for them, and were compelled to make hasty exits.
VI. Organization of the County,.
.
D OWN to 1797 the territory now forming Delaware county was included in the counties of Ulster and Otsego. The former reached to the West branch of the Delaware river which formed its north-west boundary; the latter reached the same stream which formed its south-east boundary. The inhabitants south of the river were compelled to go to Kingston for their necessary law business, while those on the north side went the long journey to Coopers- town. In 1794 a plan was mooted to carve from the two counties another, to be called Delaware county from the name of the Dela- ware river which took its rise within the proposed boundaries. There was a strong opposition of course, as there always is, to the formation of the new county, and a petition numerously signed was sent to the Legislature protesting against the proposed action.
For several years therefore the measure was held back, and it was not till 1797 that the bill was finally passed. During this session of the Legislature, Dr. J. H. Brett, a physician of Harpers- field, was a member of the Assembly from Otsego county, John Burr of Middletown a member for Ulster county, and Ebenezer Foote a member from Newburgh in Orange county. These three active and efficient members espoused the cause of the new county, and mainly by their agency the bill was carried through the Legis- lature and became a law March 10, 1797.
Some slight changes have been made in the boundaries of the county since the original act of incorporation was passed. In 1817 a section north of the Charlotte river was detached from Otsego county and added to Delaware county. And in 1822 a strip of Delaware county lying on the south side of the Susquehanna river,
70
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
but separated from the body of the county by almost inaccessible mountains, was detached from Delaware county and made a part of Otsego. With these exceptions the boundaries of the county have remained as described in the original act.
When the county was chartered there were only seven town- ships already established. They are given below:
1. Harpersfield, organized 1788, in Otsego county.
2. Middletown, organized 1789, in Ulster county.
3. Colchester, organized 1792, in Ulster county.
4. Franklin, organized 1792, in Otsego county.
5. Stamford, organized 1792, in Ulster county; in 1834 a part was detached from Harpersfield and Kortright and at- tached to Stamford.
6. Kortright, organized 1793, in Otsego county.
7. Walton, organized 1797 (just before the organization of the county), in Otsego county.
The other twelve towns of the county have been formed from time to time by slicing away parts of the older towns, in the following order:
I. Delhi 1797, taken from Walton and Kortright.
2. Roxbury 1799, taken from Stamford.
3. Meredith 1800, taken from Franklin and Kortright.
4. Sidney 1801, taken from Franklin.
5. Hancock 1806, taken from Colchester.
6. Tompkins 1806, taken from Walton (for two years called Pinefield ).
7. Masonville 1811, taken from Sidney.
8. Davenport 1817, taken from Harpersfield.
9. Andes 1819, taken from Middletown.
10. Bovina 1820, taken from Delhi, Middletown and Stamford.
11. Hamden 1825, taken from Delhi and Walton.
12. Deposit 1880, taken from Tompkins.
71
ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.
In furtherance of the organization of the new county the super- visors held their first meeting May 31, 1797. They met in the new town of Delhi. The place of meeting was at the house of Gideon Frisbee, which stood at the junction of Elk creek with the West branch of the Delaware river and which for many years served as a tavern. The supervisors were as follows:
I. William Horton, Colchester.
2. Enos Parker, Franklin.
3. Roswell Hotchkiss, Harpersfield.
4. Benajah Beardsley, Kortright.
5. Benjamin Milk, Middletown.
6. John Lamb, Stamford.
7. Robert North. Walton.
The records of this first meeting have been preserved and are of great interest. In the appendix will be found some facts concerning these early records. The court of common pleas held its first session at Mr. Frisbee's house on October 3, 1797. The first jury impaneled in the county was in attendance, and it is the tradition that its sessions were held under a large butternut tree which was standing until a few years ago. The judges of this court were: Patrick Lamb, William Horton, and Gabriel North; assisted by Isaac Hardenbergh. and Alexander Leal. The following attorneys were admitted to practice at this court: Conrad E. Elmendorf, Philip Gebhard, Anthony Marvine, David Phelps, Erastus Root and Cornelius E. Yates. Until a court-house was built, in which the county business could be conducted, the courts continued to be held at Mr. Frisbee's tavern.
The first Court House was begun in 1798. The board of super- visors voted the sum of $1,200 for its erection and appointed a commission of substantial citizens to direct the building. An addi- tional sum of $500 was afterward voted: and the whole expenditure was audited and paid at $2,051.42. This building stood on the
72
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
ground which now composes the Court-House square near the main street and which was donated for the purpose by George Fisher and Levi Baxter. A part of the building was used as a jail; and the office of the County Clerk was also situated in it.
In 1820 this Court House was destroyed by fire; and a young man from Andes named Abram Coon who had been committed for a short confinement in the jail for petit larceny, perished in the flames. The citizens of Delhi took immediate measures to rebuild the Court House. Colonel Amasa Parker was sent to Albany, where the Legislature was in session, and where General Erastus Root was present as a member. Together they drew an act authorizing the State to loan to the county the sum of $8,000, with which to rebuild the Court House; the sum to be repaid with six per cent interest in four years. By General Root's activity and energy this act was immediately passed, and the rebuilding was begun. It was provided that until the new jail was ready for use, prisoners, for whom no bail could be taken, might be confined in the jail of Greene county.
The building then erected continued to be used till 1871. But in 1868 the board of supervisors took measures to replace it by a building more adequate and suitable. At this time an offer was received from the town of Walton to supply the county with all necessary buildings on condition that the county-seat should be removed to that place. This offer however was not accepted. It was felt by the eastern towns of the county that it would be a great inconvenience to have the county-seat so far removed from the centre of the territory. The people of Delhi were thoroughly roused by the danger of losing the county buildings and offices, and by a vote of the town authorized the payment of $10,000 towards the erection of the new Court House. The supervisors voted to expend the sum of $30,000 for a building of brick trimmed with stone. The design for it was drawn by Mr. I. E. Perry the supervising architect of the State Capitol, and Mr. Robert Murray was the superintendent of the construction.
4
Raft on the Delaware.
Sugar Making Scene,
Fording the Delay are River
75
ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.
The old building was sold to the village of Delhi for a town-hall and removed to a site in the rear. The cost of the new buildling was found to be greater than the architect's estimate, and the supervisors voted an additional sum. The building was completed and opened January 30, 1871.
The most exciting experiences in the court at Delhi were three below mentioned:
1. The trial of John Graham, an Irishman, in 181t, for the murder of Hugh Cameron and Alexander MeGilfrey. A quarrel had taken place between the parties at a logging bee; and on their way home through a piece of wood. Graham struck them with a bandspike. He was tried for the crime and convicted. He was bung July 29, 1814.
2. The second exciting trial was that of Nathan Foster for poisoning his wife in 1819. He had been a tory during the Revo- lution and was believed to have inhumanly murdered Colonel Aldeu at Cherry Valley in 1777. He was found guilty of the murder of his wife and duly hung. Martin Van Buren the Attorney General was present and assisted the District Attorney. Erastus Root and Samuel Sherwood were the counsel for the prisoner.
3. The third period of intense excitement was when the anti- rent trials* were held for the killing of Under-Sheriff Steele. These trials were held in the autumn of 1846, Justice Amasa J. Parker presiding. The Attorney-General John VanBuren assisted the District Attorney and Samuel Sherwood was special counsel. The counsel for the prisoners under trial were Amasa Parker the uncle of the presiding justice, Samuel Gordon, and Mitchell San- ford of Greene County.
* See the paper on the Anti-Rent Episode.
76
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
From the successive United States censuses we have compiled the facts given below concerning the several towns in the county of DELAWARE.
1800
1810
1820
1430
1.840
1850
1870
1880
Andes
1,378
1.860
2,176
2,672
2,987
2,810
2,639
2,264
Bovina
1,267
1,348
1,403
1,316
1,242
1,022
1,022
1,007
Colchester
1,207
885
1,061
1,424
1,567
2,184
2,171
2,652 2,941
2,973
Davenport
1,384
1,778
2,052
2,305
2,360 2,187 1,939 1,789
Delhi
820
2,396
2,285
2,114 2,554 2,909
2,839 2,920 2,941
2,908
Deposit
1,714
1,664
Franklin
1,390
1,708
2,481
2,786
3,025
3.087
3.307
1,836
1,762
1,496 1,507
Hancock
578
525
766
1,026
1,798
2,862 3,069 3,238 1,485 1,420
1,386
Kortright .
1,513
2,993
2,548
2,870
2.441
2,181
2,022
1,812 1,730
1,58X
Masonville
719
1,145
1,420
1,550
1,683
1,738
1,673 1,397
Meredith
213
726
1,375
1,666
1,640
1,634
1,626
1,462 1,563
1,555
Middletown . 1,064
2,318
1,949
2,383
2,608
3,005
3,200
3,035 2,977
3,313
Roxbury
936
1.892
2,488
1,107
1,410
1,732
1,807
1,914 2,597
2,461 3,122
Stamford
924 1,658
1,495
1,597
1,681
1,708
1,658
1.658
1,638
1,940
Tompkins
869
1,206
1,774
2,035 3,022
3,564
4.046
2,534
2,626
Walton
1,154 1,211
1,432
1,663 1,846
2,271
2.698
3.216 3,544
1,543
Delaware Co. 10,228 20,303 25,587 33,024 35,396 39,834 42,465 12,972 42,721 15,496
In 1820 the following was the unmber of the taxable inhabitants in each of the towns:
Colchester
177
Meredith. . 36
Delhi .
124
Roxbury
169
Franklin
205
Stamford
195
Harpersfield
165
Walton
183
Kortright
260
Middletown
167
Total
1,681
We give in closing this chapter concerning the organization of Delaware county a list * of the several officers from the formation of
* For this enumeration we are indebted to the New York Cirit List, sup- plemented by Mr. J. A. Parshall.
1,745
Harpersfield, 1,007
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