Gazetteer and business directory of Columbia County, N.Y. for 1871-2, Part 12

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- cn
Publication date: 1871
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : Printed at the Journal office
Number of Pages: 683


USA > New York > Columbia County > Gazetteer and business directory of Columbia County, N.Y. for 1871-2 > Part 12


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COLUMBIA COUNTY.'


sumed the formidable type of insurrection, and foreboded re- bellion and civil war, has expended itself in legitimate political action, and will end in a peaceful solution of all its difficulties in the courts of law." .


In Dec. 1844, the Governor ordered out seven companies of militia to assist the Sheriff of this County in the discharge of his duties. Most of the leases which had been issued were for one, two, or three lives ; but the anti-rent difficulties have led to the policy of conveying the title in fee as rapidly as circum- stances will admit. But sixty or seventy lease farms, mostly owned by the daughters of the late Henry W. Livingston, and situated in the towns of Copake and Taghkanick, yet remain to attest the ownership of the once lordly tract embraced in the Livingston Manor. Although certain sections of the County still evidence the effect of the feudal system, the most kindly feeling now prevails between landlord and tenant.


During the Revolutionary war, and for several years after, this section of the country was much infested by robbers, and acts of violence were of frequent occurrence. A party of rangers was organized to suppress them ; and under the act of May 11, 1780, £1,500 was raised to defray the expenses thus in- curred.


This County is rendered conspicuous by the many eminent men to whom it has given birth and residence. It is claimed, and we believe with reason, that the County has furnished more illustrious men than any other of equal size and population in the State, or than any other State in the Union, excepting, perhaps, that of Vir- ginia. Eight times has the Bar of this County been honored by selections from its members for seats upon the bench of the Supreme Court, and those of its number who have sought other fields in which to exercise their talents and learning, have acquired enviable reputations and honor among their fellow men. The modest and unpretending old Court House, so long the seat of the County Courts, but now superseded by a more commodious and pretentious building, has witnessed many an intellectual tourna- ment, such as has seldom, if ever, been surpassed in the history of the country.


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GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.


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GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.


ANCRAM was formed from Livingston, March 19, 1803, as Gallatin. Its name was changed March 25, 1814, and Gal- latin was taken off in 1830. It is the south-east corner town in the County. It was included in the Livingston Manor. The line bordering upon Taghkanick was altered at the time its name was changed. A narrow triangular tract of about 1,000 acres, in the extreme east part of the town, known as " Boston Corner," formerly belonged to the town of Mt. Wash- ington, Berkshire Co., Mass. The Taghkanick Mountains ex- tend along the east border of the tract, and form an almost im- passable barrier between this and the remaining parts of that town. Thus entirely isolated from the seat of civil authority, it became the resort of fugitives from justice, prize fighters, and others of like character, who bade defiance to the laws and practiced their unlawful acts with impunity. In December 1848, the inhabitants petitioned to be annexed to New York, to which Massachusetts consented in May 1853. The cession was accepted by New York, July 21, of the same year, con- firmed by Congress, January 3, 1855, and the Corner annexed to this town, April 13, 1857. This has since been re-annexed to Massachusetts, and a part of the town annexed to Copake by the straightening of the boundary line between the two towns.


The surface of the town is broken and hilly. In the east part the hills range in a north and south direction, but else- where they are irregular. Roeliff Jansens Kill, which takes the name of Ancram Creek in this town, crosses the town in a south-west direction. A narrow intervale, bordered by steep, irregular hills, extends along its course. The soil is a gravelly loam, intermixed with clay. Iron ore has been obtained at various places from the hills upon the east border of the town, and lead is mined at Hot Ground. The iron mines have been worked for many years. An ore bed, owned by a New


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GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.


York firm, located near Ancram Center, is connected with the Harlem Railroad by a track one and one-half miles long. December 1, 1757, James De Lancey forwarded to the Com- missioners of the Board of Trade, by direction of the British Government, the following account of the iron made at An- cram, in the Livingston Manor, where, he said, was the only iron works in the Province, they belonging to Robert Living- ston ; several others having been begun and discontinued, owing to the mismanagement or inability of the undertakers. The total amount of iron made from the year 1750 to 1756, both inclusive, was 3,318 tons, 12 cwt., 3 grs., and 16 lbs. The lead mine was discovered on land leased by the keeper of the Livingston Manor. Robert R. Livingston purchased the lease and sold it to a New York Company, by whom the mine was worked for many years. A shaft was sunk one hundred feet, and galleries opened in different directions.


The population of the town according to the census of 1870, was 1,793, of which number 1,687 were natives, and 106, foreigners; 1,783 white, and 10, colored. The number of school districts in the town for the year ending Sept. 30, 1870, was 13; the number of teachers employed, 10; the number of children of school age, 643; the average attendance, 209.894; and the amount expended for school purposes, 83,417.17.


Ancram, (p. v.) situated on Roeliff Jansens Creek, and the proposed line of the Rhinebeck & Connectiont R. R., in the west part of the town, was formerly celebrated for its iron works. These were erected as early as 1756. The ore was obtained from Salisbury, Conn., and from the mines in the east part of this town, and pig and bar iron of a superior quality was made. It now contains two churches, two stores, two hotels, one paper mill, one saw mill, two blacksmith and car- riage shops, one harness shop, four carpenter shops and one boot and shoe shop.


Hot Ground, (Ancram Lead Mines p. o.) located a little south of the center of the town, contains two hotels, one store, two blacksmith shops and a distillery.


Boston Corner, (p. o.) situated in the east part of the town, is a station on the Harlem R. R., and on the line of the pro- posed Rhinebeck & Connecticut R. R. It contains one hotel, one store, one blacksmith shop and one carpenter shop.


Ancram Center is a hamlet. The post office at this place was discontinued in 1871.


The town was first settled by the Dutch in the vicinity of An- cram village. At an early day the inhabitants suffered from the encroachments of the Massachusetts people, with whom they be-


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came involved in disputes of a serious nature, arising from the indefinite boundary line between the two States. The adherents of the two Governments were alternately dispossessed of lands whose right of possession they claimed by virtue of titles deriv- ed from patents issued by their respective Governments, if the attacking party was accompanied by sufficient force to accom- plish this purpose. The following letter which appears in the 3d vol. Doc. Hist. of N. Y., on page 473, addressed to Robert Livingston Jr., may be read with interest by those who now enjoy peaceable possession of their homesteads; and may afford a pleasing contrast between the turbulence which characterized their possession by their ancestors, and the quiet in which they are held at the present time :


"MANOR LIVINGSTON, May 6, 1755.


" Honle Sr


" On Monday Mr. Connor went to Warn the People to Assist on Thuesday Morning at Taghkanick and as he Arrived to Anchoram about Sun Down he Was Informed that there Was a proclimation from ye Livetenant Gover- nour of Boston Nailed upon Dirck Spoor Door and Mr. Conner being Un- casie to know what Was Meant by the proclimation being put up there he Went to Dirck Spoors and When they seen him Comeing towards the house they took it of and Locked it up in one of their Chest But Mr Con- ner Insisted Upon Secing the paper that was Nailed to the Door and After Some Dispitte Got it out of the Chest Which is Now Inclosed and sent to You for Your Better Information and as Mr Connor was in Comeing Whome he Came by Anchoram Where he Stayed till Ten O'Clock at Night he Likewise ordered the people of Anchoram to keep together in one house and to be Sure to Make Deffence, But in Steed of Deffending Themselves the fled after & Base Mannor and Made No Resistance at all.


" Inclosed you have the Number of Men Which Were taken This Morn- ing out of Anchoram By the New England Company and your Servt Jacob Knight Who Was among them and Call'd out to the New England People to ty the Anchoram and as Mr Connor Informed me that the New England Sheriff Come up to Mr Deeker and Shook hands With him and said he Would not take him and Mr. Deeker never offered to make any Ressistance and all against him and it's said they are to Come and take Mr Conner and the Rest of the Anchoram People and We are Going there Now With a Company of inen to Assist him as far as We Can.


I am hond Sr your most Obedient & faithfull Servt DIRCK SWART."


" THE NUMBER TAKEN FROM ANCHORAM."


" James Elliott, the Clarke ; Niel MacArthur, Founder ; Hugh MacCas, Filler : Jacob Showers Founder, Samuel Herris Do, Charles MacCarthur Morris When Angus MacDudley


the number took there were


" Robert Noble Thomas Whitney Jacob Spoor Cornelius Spoor Andries Reese Jonathen Derby Francis Balviel a Soldr belonging to Albany Gar- rison Ebenezer Pain John Van Gelden an Indian Joseph Van Gelden an Do Jacob Kneght Mr Livingstons Servant 103 ye Whole Number."


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AUSTERLITZ was formed from Canaan, Chatham and Hillsdale, March 28, 1818. It lies on the east border of the County, north of the center. The eastern and central parts of the town are broken by irregular ranges of hills, and the west part is undulating. The principal streams are Green River, which rises in the north, and runs through the eastern part of the town, and Punsit Creek, a tributary to Kinderhook Creek, which runs in a north-westerly direction, through the western part. The soil is a gravelly loam, intermixed in some places with slate and clay. The hills are mostly arable to their sum- mits.


The population in 1870 was 1,442; of which number 1,295 were natives and 147, foreigners ; 1,393, white and 49, colored. The report for the year ending Sept. 30, 1870, shows the num- ber of school districts to have been 14, employing the same number of teachers ; the number of children of school age was 404; the average attendance, 144.618; and the amount expend- ed for school purposes was 82,717.06. -


Spencertown, (p. v.) is situated on Punsit Creck, in the west part of the town. It contains three stores, two hotels, two churches, (M. E. and Presbyterian,) the Spencertown Academy, which was established mainly through the exertions of Rev. Dr. T. Woodbridge, one common school, two grist mills, one cab- inet shop, two blacksmith shops and about 200 inhabitants. It is distant four miles south-east of Chatham Village, and nearly the same distance east from Ghent.


Austerlitz, (p. v.) located in the valley of the Green River, in the eastern part of the town, is about eight miles souffi-east from Chatham Village. It contains one store, one hotel, one church, one school house, one wagon shop and about 150 in- habitants.


Upper Green River, named from the stream of the same name, is a hamlet in the south-east corner of the town.


The first settlements were made abont 1745 to 1750, by squat- ters from Connecticut, among whom were John Dear, John Williams, Seth and Truman Powell, James Sexton, Ephraim Kidder, and families by the name of Osborne, Lawrence, Speri- cer and Whitmore. Uel Lawrence, who was born in this town June 11, 1786, and is consequently 85 years old, and whose mental faculties are still vigorous and clear, informs us that Judahmonis Lawrence, his father, was the first settler in what is now known as Austerlitz ; he having come here from Con- necticut in 1754.


Says Rev. Dr. Elbert S. Porter, in an address delivered at the Centennial Celebration of the Reformed Prot. Dutch Church of


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Claverack, in 1867: "The first grass-mower used here was in- vented by a Mr. Beal, of Spencertown, about thirty years ago. It had a straight scythe, and was at least, a good experiment in the right direction."


CANA AN was formed as "Kings District," March 24, 1772, and its name was changed March 7, 1778. A part of Chatham was taken off in 1795, and New Lebanon and a part of Auster- litz in 1818. It is situated on the east border of the County, in the northern part.


The surface is very irregular. Spurs of the mountains which separate it from Massachusetts make their appearance in nearly all parts of the town. In some instances they approxi- mate the character of mountains, attaining altitudes of from 300 to near 500 feet, presenting, however, continuous rather than lofty detached summits, and are shrouded with a stinted growth of mountain shrubbery. They traverse the town in a north and south direction and their extent and altitude is such as to produce considerable effect upon the climate. The val- leys present a light soil which is warm and productive, and by far the largest proportion is arable land. The hills are prin- cipally shistic, or a mixture of slate with silicious or flinty stones and soils ; and occasional ledges of calcareous stone that yield lime of a good quality, though these are principally confined to the valleys. In these the soil is mostly a light shistic gravel, intermixed with mold, and of considerable depth ; and though too light for wheat after the thin covering of vegetable mold is exhausted, yet, being warm and light, is easily restored by good husbandry and a skillful rotation of crops. Slate, of a good quality, limestone, lead ores, in the form of galena, which as usual contained a small portion of silver, some samples of an inferior quality of iron ore, and a considerable variety of magnesian stones, have been found. A quarry near the center of the town yields slate of a dark blue color, from which may be obtained plates of any required size and thickness. Whitings Pond, a fine sheet of pure water, near five miles in circumference, situated in the east part of the town, discharges a small mill stream that crosses the town centrally, running westward, and has fine and extensive mill sites at the outlet of the Pond. This stream is tributary to Kinderhook Creek. Other small streams water its surface. The soil has been much improved by the use of gypsum, and much of it may be pronounced good for agricultural purposes, especially the various garden products.


The population of the town in 1870 was 1,877; of this number 1,649 were natives and 228, foreigners; 1,840, white


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and 28, colored. During the year ending September 30, 1870, the town contained 10 school districts, in which were employed the same number of teachers. The number of children of school age was 665 ; the average attendance, 187.938; and the amount expended for school purposes, $2,531.44.


Canaan Four Corners, (p. v.) situated in the north part of the town, is a station on the Boston and Albany R. R. It con- tains one hotel, two stores, one church, (Presbyterian) one school house, one carriage shop and about 200 inhabitants.


Flat Brook (p. v.) is situated in the south-east part of the town and is a station on the Boston & Albany R. R. It con- tains one store, one saw mill, one school house and about 70 in- habitants.


Canaan, (p. v.) in the west part of the town, contains one hotel, one church, one store, one school house and about 150 in- habitants.


Canaan Center (p. v.) contains about 50 inhabitants. For- merly, in stage coach times, it was more prosperous than it now is. The railroads have sapped much of its vitality and diverted its business enterprise.


Queechy is situated at the outlet of Whitings Pond, in the north-east part of the town.


Red Rock, (p. v.) so named from a large rock by the road side, painted red, and surmounted by a wooden column about ten feet high, bearing the date "Jan. 1825," is located in the south- west corner of the town, and is distant five and one-half miles east from Chatham Village, whence it receives its mail by special supply. It contains one store, one church, one school house, one saw mill, one grist mill and about 100 inhabitants.


The Shakers, who reside in the north-east corner of this town, are chiefly engaged in agricultural pursuits. They raise garden seeds to a limited extent, and manufacture brooms, mop sticks and other similar articles. A more extended notice of this interesting class of people will be found in the history of New Lebanon, where the majority of this society reside.


The settlement of the town was commenced about 1756. Among the first settlers were families named Douglass, Warner, Whiting, Alesworth, Baldwin and Hawley. The first mill was built by Wm. B. Whiting, about 1;75. The early inhabitants suffered much during the Revolutionary war, by its general bur- dens, and by the alternate persecutions of the Whigs and Tories.


This mill, stored with grain belonging to the Government, was burned by Tories during the war. In the first book of records is a memorandum, without date or signature, stating that "the


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town records were kept on loose paper previous to 1772, but not probably but a few years. The deed from the Indians of 6 miles was executed in 1758. The compensation was £250, that being paid for 6 miles square." The record is continued May 5, 1772. At a meeting of the citizens of " Kings District," June 24, 1776, held for the purpose of choosing delegates to the Provincial Con- gress, it was voted to recommend to that body the passage of a de- claration of Independence. William B. Whiting, Asa Waterman, Philip Frisbie, Martin Beebe, Elisha Pratt, Captain Baldwin, Daniel Buck, Elijah Bostwick, Gideon King, Jarvis Mudge, Sam- uel Johnson, Samuel Gillett, L. A. Herrick, Joseph Wood, John Woodworth and Samuel Baily were appointed a committee to prepare a memorial making such recommendation to Congress.


Samuel A. Curtiss was the first white child born in Canaan, where he spent the whole of his useful life. He was industri- ous, frugal, and possessed a remarkably placid disposition. His public services were always performed with marked ability and fidelity. He was a member of the first church of Canaan, and was, for fifty-six years, au honored and efficient deacon therein. He was married in 1786. His wife, who was a woman of rare judgment and was invariably consulted by her husband with regard to all his secular affairs, was born in Colchester, Conn., and removed to Canaan when she was only three months old, where she continued to reside until her death. They enjoyed sixty-five years of conjugal bliss, which was terminated by the death of a loving and helpful wife, March 14, 1851. He sur- vived her only seven weeks, when he too, at the age of 87, put aside the misty veil to restore the charm which life had lost in her death, and renew the bonds which it had broken. The age of his wife, Patience, at death, was 84.


The Flat Brook Baptist Church was organized in 1773, by Elisha Barnes, with 35 members. Elisha Barnes was the first pastor. The first house of worship was erected in 1776; and the present one, which will seat 150 persons, in 1836, at a cost of $2,000. The present number of members is 70, and the pres- ent pastor is A. W. Ashley.


The First Presbyterian Church of Canaan was organized in 1829, with 70 members, and Hotchkins Taylor as its first pas tor. The first and present house of worship, which will seat 200 persons, was erected in 1829, at a cost of $2,000. Its present estimated value is 84,000. George W. Warner is its present pastor, and it now has a membership of 67.


The Congregational Church, located near Canaan Four Cor- ners, was organized in 1772, as is supposed by Rev. Mr. Farrand, with Rev. John Camp as its first pastor. The estimated value


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of the present house of worship, which was erected in 1829. and will seat 400 persons, is $6,000. Its present pastor is George W. Warner, and membership, 55. The original number of members is not known, but the Church has been larger and more powerful than it now is.


CHATHAM was formed from Canaan and Kinderhook, March 17, 1795, and parts of Austerlitz and Ghent were taken off in 1818. It lies near the center of the north border of the County.


It is a good agricultural district, and presents a great diversi- ty of soil. Ledges of shistic or slaty rocks traverse it north and south and form hills of moderate height, which are mostly arable to their summits, or fit for pasture lands; and between these are broad fertile vales of a warm and productive shistic gravel, intermixed with clay, with many tracts of rich alluvial lands along the creeks, which are pretty numerous. In the east, along the west border of Canaan, is a range of hilly land, of a strony loamy soil and very stony, while the lowlands are almost destitute of stone, except in the ledges. Kinderhook Creek, the principal stream, enters the town near the north- east corner, and running in a south-west direction, leaves it a little south of the center, furnishing in its course numerous valuable mill sites. * Steeny Creek enters the town on the east, a little south of the center, and after taking a western de- tour through the south part, and furnishing power for many mills, including no less than nine paper mills within this town, empties into Kinderhook Creek near Chatham Center. In- dian Brook enters the town in the south-east corner and again in the south-west corner, running along the west line to Kin- derhook Creek, which it enters just within Kinderhook. These and other small streams furnish an abundance of ex- cellent water privileges, a fact of which the enterprising in- habitants of this town have not been ignorant. There are eleven paper mills in the town, nine on Steeny Kill and two on Kinderhook Creek, and others are in course of construc- tion. They manufacture straw and manilla paper, principally straw. Besides these, various other mills and manufacturing establishments are in operation. Ample facilities for transport- ation of farm products or manufactures are afforded by the Boston & Albany, the Hudson & Chatham branch of that road, the Harlem and the Harlem Extension railroads, all of which center at Chatham Village, on the south border of the town.


The population of the town in 1870, exclusive of Chatham Village, was 2, 126 ; of this number 2,045 were natives and 381.


*Meaning Stony.


COLUMBIA COUNTY BUSINESS DIRECTORY. 101


CHATHAM VILLAGE. W.


STAPLE & FANCY DRY GOODS. SPECIALTY IN CARPETS, MATTINGS AND OM OLOTHIS! DOMESTICS


We offer in great variety, and in price as low as can be bought in the State.


Rogers & Bros.' Silver Plated Waro, AT LISTS' PRICES.


3.000 Rolls of Wall Paper, from 8 Cents to $1.50 per Roll, the latter in Gold.


OIL AND PAPER WINDOW SHADES.


John Edwards' Imitation of French China Also a large stock of Stone China, Glass and Stone Ware.


CHOICE GROCERIES.


Remember, no Adulterated Goods Sold at this Store.


Ly by Car load, Che et from the Mis of St. Louis, Mo., and Recover, N. Y.


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PROPRIETORS. 1


102


COLUMBIA COUNTY BUSINESS DIRECTORY.


TRAVER & BELL, DEALERS IN


DRY GOODS, GROCERIES, HATS, OAPS. Paper Hangings, Oil Cloths, Yankee Notions, &c. Main Street, Chatham Village, N. Y.


CHARLES II. BELL. JAMES E. TRAVER.


PETER HOBEL,


CARRIAGE AND


MAKER


Chatham Village, N. Y.


8-


Carriages & Sleighs made to order and on hand for sale. JOBBING PROMPTLY ATTENDED TO.


GEO. W. SHEPARD,


300K BIND38 AND


BLANK BOOK MANUFACTURER


265 River Street, (Up Stairs,) Troy, N. Y.


Is prepared to execute all styles of BOOK BINDING in the best menuer, on short BLANK BOOKS of every description, manufactured for the trade and to order. r-1 MUERE MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS, de, hound to order.


* Undere solicitud and promptness and satisfaction guaranteed.


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GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.


foreigners ; 2,341, white and 85, colored. During the year end- ing Sept. 30, 1870, there were in the town 18 school districts, in which 17 teachers were employed; the number of children of school age was 954; the average attendance, 361.648; and the amount expended for school purposes, $6,411.43.


Chatham Village, (p. v.) better known as Chatham Four Cor- ners, situated on the south line, partly in this town and partly in Ghent, was incorporated March 19, 1869. It is pleasantly located in the valley of the Steeny Kill, on which it stands ; and being the terminus of the Harlem, Harlem Extension and Hudson and Chatham Branch of the Boston & Albany railroads, and an important station on the latter road, it presents a scene of life and business activity which the absence of these thorough- fares would not impart. But the citizens evince an energy and prescience which augur well for the future prosperity of the vil- lage. Its population is about 1,500. It contains a bank, print- ing office ( Chatham Courier, a weekly paper,) four hotels, three churches, (Catholic, M. E. and Reformed,) one school, one ma- chine shop and furnace and one paper mill, with another in pro- cess of erection. The headquarters of the Columbia County Agricultural Society is located here. It is much to be regretted that no such statistics as would enable us to present a concise yet comprehensive exhibit of the agricultural interests of the County, as we hoped to be able to do, have been kept by it.




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