USA > New York > Forts and firesides of the Mohawk country, New York : the stories and pictures of landmarks of the pre-Revolutionary War period throughout the Mohawk valley and the surrounding country side, including some historic and genealogical mention during the post-war period > Part 13
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In 1790, Isaac Paris Jr. died, at the age of 29 years. Following Isaac's death, the next occupant of the house was Henry N. Bleeker, from Albany, who married Betsy, the daughter of Colonel Frey, but they did not remain long.
In 1792, a new town was formed south of Utica by the settlers Isaac Paris Jr. had befriended and they named it "Paris" for him. In 1880 with fitting ceremonies his remains were disinterred from the old burial ground in Fort Plain and carried to Paris where they now lie, surrounded by his old friends, the pioneer settlers, and their descendants.
The Revolution took its toll of the Paris family for two of them went to Oriskany and neither returned. The census of 1790 mentions two "heads of families" of this name, one being Catherine of Canajoharie whose family consisted of three males, one female and one slave. The other is Anthony of Caughnawaga in whose household were two males and three females. Both of these families were doubtless descendants of Isaac of Stone Arabia and from them the name must have spread. Their descendants may well recount with pride and satisfaction the records of their forbears.
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John J. Vrooman-1930
Fort Wagner Nelliston
Page 145
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FORT WAGNER
Fort Wagner
HIS old Colonial farm house and fort built in 1750 stands on the upper side of the highway a little less than 2 miles west of Nelliston. An historic marker points the way up a lane lined with stately old elms directly to the house.
The old and the new are easily identified in this instance as the original building is of stone and forms the western part of the present building, the addition of wood being an elongation of the original structure.
The pioneer settler was Johan Peter Wagner, who with his wife, Margaretha Laucs (Loucks), both Palatines, came to settle in West Camp, a Palatine settlement . on the west bank of the Hudson River, just north of where Saugerties is now situated. From there they soon moved to the Schoharie Valley; here they remained some ten years and in 1722 moved to the Mohawk Valley along with some three hundred others, to land given them by Governor Hunter. These Palatines had experienced difficulty in securing land titles in the Schoharie Valley, their attempted settlement being on land already patented to others.
Johan Peter and his wife lived until about 1750 and are buried in the Wagner plot southeast of the house, on the near side of a hill called the "Steilerberg" or "Steep Hill."
There were some five or six children but apparently only one son, a second Johan Peter, born about the time or just prior to the move to the Mohawk Valley, on January 8th, 1722. Johan Peter 2nd. was a Lieutenant Colonel and fought at the Battle of Oriskany with three of his sons, Lieutenant Peter, George, and John. His wife was "Barbara Waggener," according to the records of the Stone Arabia Church. There were, in all, twelve children to this marriage, five sons and seven daughters.
Barbara, the wife, outlived Colonel Peter -- both of them passing on after a long and useful life, victims of nothing more than old age. But even so, Colonel Peter was on his death bed but nine days. Funeral services were held in the Palatine Church and his burial was in the Fort Plain Cemetery.
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FORTS AND FIRESIDES OF THE MOHAWK COUNTRY
Colonel Peter's will, signed in 1806 and probated in 1813, leaves the farm to his son, Peter, and in providing for his wife Barbara he does :-
"bequeath during her natural lifetime a competent and decent maintenance from my estate and in my house and all the household furniture; also for her own use and disposal a negro woman slave named Rebecca and a negro boy slave named George."
Also directing that his son-
"Peter shall keep two good milk cows and two sheep for the sole use of his mother, provide her yearly with a sufficiency of good wheat flour, fatten for her yearly, two hogs and provide her yearly with five gallons of good rum or spirits."
The following story is told by a Frederick Manheim, a Palatine settler who located near the Wagners. It is repeated here to illustrate the danger to which these early settlers were constantly exposed. The occurrence took place on October 19th, 1777 when a raiding band consisting of some 50 Indians captured twenty three of the inhabitants of the neighborhood, among them being Manheim and his 16 year old twin daughters, Maria and Christina. Manheim was captured in a field where he was working. Following the raid the Indians made a speedy retreat which lasted four days, allowing scarce time for rest and during this entire time no fire was kindled for fear of capture. A camp was finally made in a "thick pine swamp which rendered the darkness of an uncommon gloomy night still more dreadful.
"The Indians ate by themselves. After supper the appalled captives observed their enemies, instead of retiring to rest, busied themselves in operations which boded no good. Two saplings were pruned clear of branches, up to the very top and all the brush cleared away for several rods around them. While this was doing, others were splitting pitch pine billets into small splinters about five inches in length and as small as one's little finger, sharpening one end and dipping the other in melted turpentine.
"At length with countenances distracted by internal fury and hideous yells the two savages who had captured the hapless maidens, Maria and Christina, leaped into the midst of the circle of prisoners and dragged those ill-fated maidens, shrieking, from the embraces of their companions. These warriors had disagreed
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FORT WAGNER
about whose property the girls should be, as they had jointly seized them and to determine the dispute agreeable to the abominable custom of the savages, it was determined by the Chiefs of the party that the prisoners who had given rise to the contention should be destroyed, and that their captors should be the principal agents in the execrable business.
"These furies, assisted by their comrades, stripped the forlorn girls, convulsed with apprehensions and tied each to a sapling with their hands extended as high above their heads as possible, and then 'pitched' them from their knees to their shoulder, with upwards of 600 of the sharpened splinters above described which at every puncture, were attended with screams of distress that echoed through the wilderness. And then to complete the infernal tragedy, the splinters, all standing erect, on the bleeding victims were put on fire and exhibited a scene of extreme misery, beyond the power of speech to describe, or even the imagination to conceive. It was not until nearly three hours had elapsed from the commencement of their torments and that they had lost almost every resemblance of the human form, that these helpless virgins sunk down in the arms of their deliverer - death."
"The Store
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John J. Vrooman-1938
Reformed Dutch Church Stone Arabia
Page 149
THE STONE ARABIA REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH
The Stone Arabia Reformed Dutch Church
HOUGH the settlement at Stone Arabia had its beginning about 1712, it was not until 1723 that a Patent was issued. . It is interesting to note the names which appear on this document, many of them still frequently encountered in the Valley, while others, due to removal of the original settler, perhaps to Pennsylvania, where large numbers of Palatines were settling, have disappeared locally. The names of the grantees as given are: - Casselman, Coppernoll, Dillenbeck, Dygert (Diegart), Emiger, Fox (Vocks), Fink (Feink), Erhart (Erchart), England (Ingold), Garlock (Garlack), Lawyer, Nellis (Nelse), Piper (Pieper), Seeber (Siebert), Shawl (Scheel), Shaeffer.
This patent, known as the Stone Arabia Patent, and the one at German Flats, known as the Burnetsfield Patent, were of great importance in that they were the first issued which make a direct distribution of land to individual settlers, in such amount as represented a reasonable and immediately usable acreage in contrast with the enormous acreage contained in some of the patents given to Court favorites and politicians. The entire extent of the Stone Arabia Patent as issued to this group of twenty seven settlers was but 12,700 acres, whereas the estate of Sir William Johnson at his death consisted of some 700,000 acres!
This settlement was made in the virgin forest and the first and enormous task of the settlers was to clear enough land to put in subsistence crops. Yet busy as they were raising enough to live on, they found time, in 1729, to build a log church. This was on the site of the present frame building which is the Lutheran Church, and was part of the land of William Coppernoll of Schenectady, the only Hollander among this group of Palatines. The contract for the land was dated June 2nd, 1729, and conveyed 50 acres.
In 1733 a new frame structure was begun but a controversy arose as to the name to be given it. This proved an insurmountable stumbling block, for the Lutherans withdrew and continued in the log edifice while the Reformed group went on with the new building. This would seem to indicate that William Coppernoll who would have been of the Reformed group must have been joined
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by other Hollanders in the ten years following the settlement. The tract of 50 acres originally conveyed for the church was equally divided between the two groups.
The Reformed Church is the result of a European revival known as the "Reformation" and as the name implies affected the churches of Holland. The term "Reformed" indicates a belief in the symbolic presence of the Christ in the Communion in distinction to the belief of a physical presence as held by Luther and his followers. The term "Protestant," so long used, indicated a protest against the assumed authority of the Church of Rome and its interpretation of the Scriptures. The title "Reformed (Dutch) Church" was adopted in 1867. The
seal of the Church is based on the seal of Prince William of Orange. In 1826 the pillars were added to the seal with superimposed stars to suggest an ecclesiastical and heavenly life. The motto above is in Latin, which translated means, "Without
the Lord all is vain." The motto below, in Dutch means, "Union makes strength."
The oldest record book of the Lutheran Church at Stone Arabia states the fact that the original Church here was organized by Domine Ehle in 1711, which of course is in error as the Domine did not come to America until 1722. But it is an error of a few years only, for it is known he did found the Church soon after his coming into the Valley, probably about the year 1725.
At the time the settlement was made at Stone Arabia, the road along the north shore of the River was opened only as far as Fonda, and it was not until 1726 that a move was made to extend it westward to the present Utica. A reali- zation of this fact helps one to grasp the picture and to realize the difficulties encountered in making the settlement. The River was still the chief artery of commerce.
The Reverend Johannes Schuyler is named as the minister in the earliest records of the Dutch Church, which are dated October 24th, 1743. The Reverend Schuyler is buried beneath the pulpit in the "Old Stone Fort" at Schoharie, which then was the Dutch Church. He was its pastor at the time of his death in 1779. His wife was Annatje Veeder of Schenectady, whom he married in 1743. Their sixth child, Philip, was the builder of the present stone building at Stone Arabia which he finished in 1788. He is said to have been five years in completing the work at a cost of $3,378, and at that time it was perhaps the finest church edifice west of Schenectady, the only possible exception being the Fort Herkimer Church. It was the Reverend Schuyler's sister, Elizabeth, who married Gosen Van Alstyne of Canajoharie, whose house is still standing and has been previously described.
Prior to the building of the stone edifice, both the Lutherans and Reformed groups had frame buildings at Stone Arabia and the "Battle of Stone Arabia" was
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THE STONE ARABIA REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH
an effort on the part of the Settlers to protect their homes and these churches from destruction in a Tory raid of 1780. The local "post" was known as Fort Paris (after Isaac Paris, one of the early settlers) and was in charge of Colonel Brown of the militia. Word had been sent by General Van Rensselaer of the Colonial Army in pursuit of-the raiders who were under Sir John Johnson, that Colonel Brown should attack the enemy as soon as they appeared and that he (General Van Rensselaer) would attack from the rear. This was a logical and well laid plan as Sir John lay encamped the night before the battle between the two Colonial forces.
Colonel Brown, faithful to his orders, left his Fort and was only about a mile from it toward the enemy's location when he engaged them. General Van Rensselaer failed to follow the enemy and attack from the rear as agreed, with the result that Colonel Brown's force, much smaller than that of Sir John, was cut to pieces and the Colonel killed. The Indians who were a part of the raiding force, scalped and stripped their victims and all retreated up the Valley en route toward Canada, after burning most of the houses and both churches. They were engaged the next afternoon by General Van Rensselaer at the "Battle of Klock's Field."
The bodies of the slain at Stone Arabia were buried in a trench close by Fort Paris. The battlefield is identified by a large inscribed boulder. The body of Colonel Brown was removed later and placed in the Churchyard of the present Dutch Church, and a fitting monument erected. In the church cemetery are the graves of many Revolutionary soldiers. The location of Fort Paris was a half mile southeast of the Church, near the crossroads. Nothing remains of it today.
There is a striking similarity between the Churches of this period, such as the one at Palatine, the Fort Herkimer Church, and the "Old Stone Fort" at Schoharie. These three buildings are outstanding, historically and architecturally among the very few of this age remaining within the entire United States. Their appealing simplicity, the enduring strength of their massive stone walls and the quiet charm of their steeples, is indicative of the life and character of their congregations for "By their works ye shall know them."
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John J. Vrooman -- 19 18
General Cochran House St. Johnsville
Page 153
GENERAL COCHRAN HOUSE
General Cochran House
TRICTLY speaking, this is not a pre-Revolutionary building, but it is included here because it was erected in 1790, a few years after the War, and because of the prominence of the family connected with it. Major James C. Cochran built it for his father, Dr. John. Had it been built earlier, the chances are a thousand to one it would not have survived the torch of Sir John's incendiaries. Standing out prominently against the sky line at the summit of the eastern ridge a mile or so east of St. Johnsville, it would have been an invitation for a bonfire, too alluring to resist as it is a large, two story frame building of simple but dignified Colonial type. Then, too, its owner was a prominent Colonial Army officer.
This man was Dr. John C. Cochran, born in Pennsylvania in 1730. He served as a surgeon in the French army and subsequently came to Albany, where he married Gertrude, the only sister of Major General Philip Schuyler. He was a close friend of His Excellency, General Washington. At the opening of the Revolution he was appointed Surgeon General of the Middle Division of the Army.
In 1781, he was advanced to the position of Director General of the hospitals of the United States and served with the rank of General until 1783. Later, he was appointed by Washington as Commissioner of Loans and again resided at Albany. He continued with the duties of this office until he was disabled by a paralytic stroke at which time he removed to this house at St. Johnsville. He died there in April, 1803, but is buried in Utica.
Two sons, James and Walter, survived him. Both were Army officers, James with the rank of Major, and Walter as a Captain. James married his cousin, Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler, in Utica in 1822. She was the daughter of General Philip Schuyler and was the godchild of General Washington and his wife. In 1827, they moved to Oswego. She died there in August 1857, her husband, Major James, having preceded her in death.
Walter, the second son, seems to have remained longer than his brother at the old home, but by 1817 he had moved to Utica. He was the last of the Cochrans to occupy the homestead. He married and like his brother, moved to Oswego and strangely enough died in 1856, the same year in which occurred the
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FORTS AND FIRESIDES OF THE MOHAWK COUNTRY
death of his sister-in-law, Catherine Schuyler Cochran. But in this case he was the survivor of his marriage for his wife had preceded him.
An interesting story is told of General Scott who stopped at the house as a guest on his way west during the War of 1812. His importance was not to be denied, but the hosts were confronted with an empty larder. It is truthfully said that a farm always affords a living, but in this case it was neither livestock, nor poultry, but the ornate peacock which was the pièce de résistance.
Another famous visitor was Joseph Brant who stopped here after the war, en route to a conference in Philadelphia. His presence was noised about and so great was the hatred of the Valley folks toward him, that an angry crowd soon gathered about the house making it necessary to spirit him away before the threatened violence broke out.
Considerable of the furniture of this house was the gift of General Washington to General Cochran, some of it coming from his Headquarters at Newburgh. Naturally this was all left with the Cochrans, who sold the old home and the large acreage contiguous, which had been given to the General as a partial recompense for his services as an officer of the Revolutionary Army.
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John J. Vrooman-1939
Palatine Church St. Johnsville
Page 155
THE PALATINE CHURCH
The Palatine Church
RENDT VAN CURLER, after seeing the Mohawk Valley, in 1642, wrote to Kiliaen Van Rensselaer in Holland that ---
"a half day's journey from the Colonie, on the Mohawk River, there lies the most beautiful land that the eye of man ever beheld."
Some one has said that "landscape without tradition is beauty unadorned." Tradition is a child of time and romance grows with it. But the time must be measured not in months or even years but rather in centuries, so slowly docs tradition mature. Three hundred years have passed since Van Curler wrote his letter and so it is that tradition and romance have entwined themselves about the sturdy old houses, the venerable churches and the ruined forts scattered up and down the length of the Valley. Many of these spots, rich in natural beauty as well, have been made the scene of some of America's most popular historical novels.
The old Palatine Church is in the very heart of the Valley. Here stood the little settlement known as Fox's Mills on the banks of Caroga Creek. The inhabitants were Palatine Germans who had come thousands of miles to find a quiet place where they might live in peace. This was during the period from 1720 - 1725, when Heinrich Frey and Harmanus Van Slyke, the Indian traders, a few miles to the eastward, were their closest neighbors. There was another small settlement made also by Palatines on the hills of the northern Valley slope at Stone Arabia some ten miles farther east.
Fortunate indeed was the period of peace which followed the early years of this settlement, for it allowed time for a more permanent establishment of farms and homes and of buildings that were more primitive log huts and "dug out" dwellings. The need for a church was answered by the good Domine Ehle, under whose leadership a simple log structure was built in 1729.
The French and Indian raids, which had been so horribly cruel and devastating to the Valley just above them, did not extend below the outpost stronghold known as Fort Herkimer. But this does not mean that the inhabitants of Fox's Mills did not suffer. They enlisted in the militia which defended that
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section of the Valley. This caused injury and loss of life, loss of crops through loss of manpower to plant and tend them, and the consequent shortage of food supplies.
But when the War was over there came another period of peace and with it a greater growth and development that carried the settlement of Fox's Mills to its peak of prominence exceeding that of Amsterdam, Fonda, St. Johnsville, Fultonville, Canajoharie, and Fort Plain, all thriving settlements at that time. During this prosperous interval, the present Palatine Evangelical Lutheran Church which, as the tablet reads, was "Erbaut in Yarhe Christi 1770," largely through the generous donations of a few parishioners, at a cost of $3500. The principal donors were the Wagner, Nellis, Reber and Hess families. The Church is one of the most famous landmarks along the entire Mohawk Valley Turnpike. There was no bell in the steeple. The worshipers were called to church when the appointed person struck a huge steel triangle two inches square and three feet on each side. The noise and peculiar resonance of its tone carried for miles up and down the Valley.
Then came the Revolution and any horrors and sufferings the settlement at Fox's Mills were spared during the previous war was balanced by the almost total destruction of the place. Those familiar with the novel, "Drums Along the Mohawk," may recall this quotation: --
"Both Lana's parents had been killed in the wiping out of Fox's Mills. Only her married sister was left alive of her whole family."
This is the church in which Lana is supposed to have been married. Only the Church, and the little tavern beside it, were spared and this through the fulfillment of a promise made in friendship. When the war broke out a son of Hendrick W. Nellis, the man who had generously given the plot of ground on which the church was built, joined the British Army along with another grandson of old Nellis, and together they went to Canada. Some years later when the raiders were about to burn the church by shooting a flaming arrow into the steeple, one of the British officers remonstrated, saying he had pledged his word to his friend, Nellis, in Canada that the Church should be saved. £ It seems Nellis contemplated returning to his farm adjacent to the Church after the war was over. And so the Church was saved and with it the little tavern still standing alongside. But unfortunately for Nellis the outcome of the war was not as he had anticipated. His lands were confiscated and sold by the Colonial Government. He never returned to reap the benefits of his kindly act.
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delandmi n'
THE PALATINE CHURCH
Page 157-158
The building remains much as it was built, as viewed from the exterior. The entrance was changed from the side now facing the road, to the eastern end, and the steeple has been rebuilt. £ The outline of the old entrance is plainly visible in the stone work. But the interior has unfortunately been "modernized" by removing the old elevated pulpit with its pendant sounding board and the original surrounding galleries.
On the grounds of the Church, the Army of General Van Rensselaer encamped on the night of October 19th, 1780 when in pursuit of Sir John Johnson and his army. A little further up the valley and to the northward of the Church is the site of one of the early Indian fortified "Castles," and still further on is the old Fort Klock farmhouse near which the Battle of Klock's Field took place.
The old weathercock atop the church steeple has witnessed a panorama of destructive events beyond the, wildest dreams of those who put him there nearly two centuries ago. Yet true to his legendary powers of protection, the building has endured through nearly two hundred years under the care of his roving, watchful eye.
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John J. Vrooman-1938
Fort Klock St. Johnsville
Page 159
FORT KLOCK
Fort Klock
HIS unique house, less than a mile east of St. Johnsville, was erected by Johannes Klock in 1750, replacing his earlier abode on the same site. It is very strongly built with massive stone walls resting on a foundation of solid rock. Perhaps this exact location was selected with an eye to defense for within the walls a living spring of water trickles forth from the rock fissures. To further insure the safety of the inmates and their neighbors who flocked to this stronghold when attack threatened, the place was surrounded by a stockade during the Revolution. Just below, at the foot of the hill, passed the King's Highway, now the New York Central Railroad right of-way. The house is easily visible from the car windows, standing as it does, well up the slope, overlooking the Valley. Its roof is also seen from the State highway, alongside of which is an historical marker commemorating the house and the events which took place about it.
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