USA > New York > Columbia County > Gazetteer and business directory of Columbia County, N.Y. for 1871-2 > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
GERMANTOWN, named in some early records " East Camp" and "German Camp," was formed as a district, April 1, 19:5, and recognized as a town March 7, 1788. A part of Clermont, which was almost isolated from the rest of that town, and lay north of this, was annexed March 2, 1858. It lies upon the Hudson, in the south part of the County. The surface is gently undulating. Rocliff Jansens Creek forms the north boundary. Its tracts of clay. sand and loam are highly fertile, and the town is noted for the excellence and abundance f its fruit. It is poorly watered, but remarkably woll timbered. The population in Isto was 1,393; 1,319 of whom were natives, and 74, foreigners; 1,374, white, and 19, colored. During the year ending Sept. 30, 1870. there were six school
122
GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.
districts in the town, and six teachers employed. The number of children' of school age was 457; the average attendance, 154.720; and the amount expended for school purposes, $2,502.77.
Germantown, (p. v.) distant about one mile from the station by the same name on the Hudson R. R. R., contains two hotels. two stores, one church, (Dutch Reformed) one chapel, one school, one wagon shop, two blacksmith shops, two harnes; shops, one tin shop, and about 30 families. Isaac N. Mackey is quite extensively engaged in the manufacture of carriages and sleighs.
East Camp, in the south-west corner, on the Hudson River R. R., about one mile south from Germantown depot, is the landing for the market barge Harvest Home, and contains one hotel, one store, one school and 18 houses.
Germantown New Dock, about one and one-half miles north: from Germantown depot, is a steamboat landing, the dock for which was built in 1867.
The 6,000 acres of land, of which this town was originally constituted, was deeded by Robert Livingston and Alida, his wife, to Queen Anne, through Gov. Robert Hunter, Sept 20, 1710, for the purpose of settling the German Palatinates who had served in her army, and by whom they were hired of the Elector of the Palatinate; the consideration therefor being " ffour hundred Pounds of money now Current in the Colony of New York," which was equivalent to £266 Sterling. The first settlement was made by these Palatinates, seventy familice of whom arrived in New York in June of 1710, the most of whom soon removed to these lands. This little colony received many marks of the kind care and beneficence of Queen Anne. under whose special patronage it was planted. The same year Robert Livingston received the contract for victualing the Palatinates, a copy of which we give. It reads as follows :
" This Indenture made this thirteenth day of Novembr in the ninth year of the Reigne of our Soveraigne Lady Anne by the Grace of God Queen of Great Brittain ffrance & Ireland Defender of the ffaith etc. Between his Excelly Robt Hunter Esqr Capt Genll & Govr in Cheiff of the Provinci of N: York New Jerseys & dependences thereunto belonging & Vice Ad- mirall of the same etc of the one part & Robt Livingston of N: York Gent of the other part WITNESSETH That his sd Excell. Robt Hunter & Robt Liv- ingston aforesd have come to mutuall Agreemt about the supplying of the Palatines settled in three severall Townships upon that land purchasd for the use of the Queen her successore and assigns for ever in the Manor . ? Livingston on the East side of Hudsons River & two other Towns on the west side of sd River on the Quecas land opposite thereunto with Bread and Beer for and during the Term of six months next ensuing in maper & form & upon the Terms and condicons hereafter menconed and express
-
-
123
GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.
Thuit is to say The sd Robt Livingston for himself he Execrs & admrs & every of them doth Covenant grant and agree to & with his sd Excell. 1 .: Execrs & adinrs that he the sd Robt Livingston his Execrs & Admrs for & in Consideracon of the Covenants clauses, articles & paymts here- afer menconed & Exprest on the part & behalf of his sd Excell. his Eveers & Admrs to be paid performed fulfilled & kept will well and faith- 1 :lly furnish & supply or cause & procure to be well & faithfully fur- fished & supplyd at the Manor house of the sd Manor such numbers of Palatines as he shall have in Charge to supply the Quantity of Bread & Brer following (that is to say) for each Person of them each day the Quan- City of Bread Equall to one third of a Loaf of bread of such sort & assize which is comonly at the prise of four pence half penny in the Citty of New York in weight and fineness according to the assize of Bread in sd Vity for the time being & one Quart of Beer such as is usually called -hips Beer of the Prise of three Pounds for each Tun All which is to be delivered to the Comissary or Comissarys of the sd Palatines for the time twing at the sd Manor house, he or they the sd Comissary or Comis- sarys Granting Certificates unto the sd Robt Livingston his Execrs or Admrs of such Delivery In Writing under their hands for the Rule & measure of his paymts In Consideracon whereof his sd Excellcy for himself his Execrs & admrs doth Covenant Grant & agree to pay & satisfie or cause to be paid & satisfied unto the sd Robt Livingston his Execrs & admrs for the same Bread & Beer so supplyd furnished & delivered as aforesd after the rate aforesd during the same Terme in the manner following that is to Kay, The sd Robt Livingston his Execrs & Admrs shall at or before the Expiracon & end of every two months during the sd Terme be fully paid contented & satisfyd by his sd Excell : his Execrs & Admrs one Moiety or half part in Current Silver mony of the Province of N: York & one other Moiety or half part in such merchantible Goods Wares & Merchan- dizes as the sd Robt Livingston bis Execrs or Admis shall nominate & re- quite five sixth thereof to be of the Growth & Produce of Europe & one sixth of the Growth of the West Indies at the Curant mercat prise in N. York for the time being & not otherwise, And in regard the Season of the year is so farr spent his sd Excell: doth further Covenant Grant & agree to ad- Vance unto the sd Robt Livingston his Exers & Admrs flower for the use of the sd Palatines for the space & Terme of Three Months at the cur- rent mercat prise at the time of having thereof which will amount to in all about the quantity of twenty five Tunns to be delivered unto him or them at the sd Manor house & the sum of four hundred Pounds in Silver Mony for which the sd Robt Livingston is to be accountable to his sd Excell: And the sd Robt Livingston for himself his Execrs & Admrs doth Covenant, Grant & Agree at his & their proper Charge to furnish & supply to the sd Palatines three hundred new Beer Barrells for the hold- ing of their Allowance in Beer & no more; And his sd Excell : for himself bis Execrs Admrs doth Covenant grant and agree That the sd Palatines Lall receive their allowance in Beer at the sd Brewhouse by the sd Manor house & when the Cask supplyd by Robt Livingston his Excers & Admrs are emptyed to cleanse & Return their cask to the sd Rob: Livingston bis Execrs or Admrs at the sd Brewhouse of the sd Robt Livingston his Expers & Admrs shall be paid for what shall be stav'd or Lost after the *Pelfthree shill: p Barrele Ant that the sd three hundred cask shall be At Dghit & in repaire by the Palatines at their own Charge
IN WITNESS whereof the parties above menconed have interchange- ably sett their hands & seals the day & year first above menconed.
Ro: HUNTER. (Seal)"
124
GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.
" A Memorandum is added to the above agreement providing for the alteration of the assize of bread incident to any change in N : York."
It was designed to employ these people in raising hemp and making tar, pitch and resin for the Royal navy, and they were furnished with provisions and tools. The management of their affairs was entrusted to a board of commissioners, con- sisting of Robert Livingston, Richard Sacket, John Cast, God- frey Walsen, Andrew Bagger and Henry Schureman. The country was then wholly wild, and the first encampments were distinguished by local names ; hence the little lodges in this town acquired the general name of East Camp, while a similar settlement on the opposite side of the river, in Ulster County, was known as West Camp. The settlements first com- menced by small lodges of temporary huts, each of which was placed under the superintendence of some principal man, from whom they took their local names with the addition of dorf, a German word for village. The names by which they were officially known however, were Annsberg, after Queen Anne ; Haysbury, after Lady Hay, wife of Gov. Hunter ; Hunterstown, after Gov. Hunter ; and Queensbury, after the Queen. Hart- man Windecker was appointed " master" in Annsberg, John Christoper Tucks in Havsbury, John Peter Kneskern in Hunterstown, and John Conrad Weiser in Queensbury. By the returns made May 1, 1711. the number of persons in the respective villages was, in Annsberg 252, in Haysbury 258, in Hunterstown 334, and in Queensbury 350, making a total of 1,194. This enterprise proved unsuccessful and many of the settlers removed to the Mohawk and Schoharie valleys. July 16, 1711, a company of 25 Palatines from Hunterstown volun- teered in the expedition against Canada. On the 13th of June. 1724, Jacob S. Sharp and Christophel Hagadon, in behalf of the 63 families who were willing to remain on the 6,000 acre grant from Queen Anne, (for some were restrained there against their wishes,) petitioned Gov. Wm. Burnet for grants securing to individuals and their heirs the tracts upon which they had settled and made improvements, and expressed a willingness to pay the usual quit rent for same. This petition was referred to the Council, which, on the 27th of August, 1724, submitted the following report:
"We the Committee to which was referred the petition of Jacob Sharp Christophel Hagatorn & Jacob Schumacker in behalf of themselves & others palatines inhabitants of that part of the mannor of Livingston fra merly granted by Robert Livingstou to Brigadeer Hunter to the use of her Late Majesty her heirs & successors and to which was also referred the report of the Surveyor General pursuant to a Reference to him from the Councill Have Considered of the Same and are of opinion that your Excel lency may Grant to Jacob Sharpe Johannes Heiner Johannes Kolman &
125
GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.
Christophel Hagendorn their heirs & assigns six thousand acres butted t bounded as in the petition fourty acres of land for & Glebe for the use of a palatine minister for the time being who is likewise to teach school which is by the trustees aforesaid to be Laid out of the unimproved Lands snd the remainder in trust for themselves & the other palatine heads of family's inhabiting the said Six thousand acres To hold to Each of the said Inhabitants his & her heirs & assigns so much of the Said Land as is improved & in Every of their actuall possessions And to hold all the Lands unimproved within the bounds aforesaid in Common to them yr Leirs & assigns to be divided amongst Every of the said inhabitants share & Share alike and that with the usual Quitrents Clauses conditions and reservations which is nevertheless humbly Submitted."
"'The grant" says Spafford, " seems to have been well devised" and "was faithfully performed by the Trustees."
A school was established in 1711, and we find in the Doc. Hist. of the State of N. Y., from which he have been quoting, the following curious record in regard thereto, bearing date of Jan. 18, 1711 :
" I acknowledge to hav. Received of Robert Livingston 40 Boards for ye School house in ye palatyeyn town called Queensberry & desire sd Liv- ingston to send for ye sd use 30 Boards now to Compleat ye School house. JOU. FR. HLAYER, MIN."
In 1728 a Reformed Prot. Dutch Church was organized by Johannes Van Driessen, who was its first pastor, and who at the same time ministered to the Churches of Claverack and Kinderhook. It was for many years independent of ecclesiasti- cal connection. In 1837, under the pastorate of Jacob W. Hangen, it was received under the care of the Classis of Pough- keepsie. It was subsequently transferred to the Classis of Ind- son, with which it is now connected. The site of the first house of worship was one-fourth of a mile from the river, on the farm now owned by J. R. Gale. The present building, which will comfortably seat 400 persons, and whose present estimated value is about $4,000, was erected in 1812, and is located half a mile east of the village of Germantown. The present membership is 151, and the pastor, Rev. G. D. W. Bo- dine. It is now known as the Reformed Church.
The Evangelical Lutheran St. Matthew's Church was organized in the early part of the 18th Century, by the Palatines. The first church edifice of which there is any record, was built a little north of Germantown depot in 1746, at which time the Church consisted of 124 members. The congregation removed to the site of the present edifice, which will comfortably seat 375 persons, and which was built in 1867, at a cost of 811,000, in 1812. The present number of members is 150. The congrega- tion has a comfortable parsonage and about 30 acres of ground located near the church, but in the town of Clermont, valued
126
GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.
at $3,000 ; also a good cemetery. Rev. Christopher Hartwick, D. D., founder of the Seminary bearing his name and located on the Susquehanna River, near Cooperstown, served the congre- gation from 1746, for several years. Rev. Dr. Quitman was its pastor from 1812 to 1816, when he was succeeded by Rev. Au- gustus Wackerhagen, D. D., who continued as such 36 years. The Rev. Wm. B. Askin succeeded him for seven years, until '59, since which time Rev. W. W. Gulick has officiated. The pres- ent pastor relates the following remarkable anecdote of the prescience of Rev. Christopher Hartwick : " He seems," he says, " to have been a very eccentric man, an old bachelor. At the age of 40 he had & presentiment that he would live just 40 years longer ; and the day before his eightieth birth-day he came to Mrs. Livingston's in Clermont, where he was accustomed to stop, and told them he had come to die at her house. He appeared in every way in his right mind and in good health, and talked freely on different subjects. The next day, a little before noon, he went to his room to lie down, and shortly after the family went to look after him and found him dead."
GHENT, named from Ghent, in Holland, was formed from Chatham, Claverack and Kinderhook, April 3, 1818. A part of Stockport was taken off in 1833. It is an interior town, north and west of the center of the County. In the east the surface is hilly, in the west undulating. The town is watered by sev- eral small streams, tributary to Claverack and Kinderhook Creeks. It contains some excellent land, the soil being mostly a gravelly loam, but in some parts it is clayey. It is well sup- plied with mill sites and mills.
The population of the town in 1870 was 2,886; of which number 2,460 were natives, and 416, foreigners; 2,731, white, and 155, colored. During the year ending Sept. 30, 1870, the town was divided into 11 school districts, in which 12 teachers were employed. The number of children of school age was 1,068 ; the average attendance 201.068 ; and the amount paid for school purposes, $5,314.62.
Ghent, (p. v.) situated at the junction of the Hudson & Chatham Branch of the Boston & Albany R. R., and the Har- lem R. R., contains about forty houses, four stores, one hotel. one church, (Reformed,) two wagon shops and two blacksmith shops. This is the central point from which a large freight business for the surrounding country is conducted; and since the railroads were introduced it has drawn most of the business from what was formerly the principal village of the town, situ- ated about one mile south-west from the station, and which con-
.
-
GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.
127
tains one hotel and one church. The Indian name of this locality was " Scom-pa-muck." It is three miles south of Chatham Village.
West Ghent, (p. v.) from the creek, near which it stands, to a mile north of it, contains two grist mills, one saw mill, one church, (Reformed,) two schools, a blacksmith shop and about twenty houses.
Pulvers Station, in the south part of the town, is on the Hud- son & Chatham Branch of the Boston and Albany R. R.
About one and one-half miles south of Chatham Village, in this town, there is a grist mill, saw mill, blacksmith shop, one paper mill, and another in process of construction, and a school. The County Poor House, for description of which see history of the County, is located about one-half mile north-east of Ghent Station. The Ghent Mutual Fire Insurance Co. was organized about 1859.
The Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Ghent was originally organized in 1775, and re-organized May 14, 1819, by the Classis of Rensselaer. The number of members at its organization was 125 ; at present there are 79. A house of worship was erected in 1816; and the present one, which will seat 350 persons, in 1870, at a cost of $12,000. The first pastor was Rev. Peter S. Wynkoop; the present one is Rev. John B. Drury. The or- ganization of 1775 was in connection with the Reformed Church of Claverack, and a house of worship was erected about 1780. The Second Reformed Church of Ghent, the Reformed Church of Mellenville and Reformed Church of Chatham Village were organized wholly or in part from members of this Church.
Second Reformed Church of Ghent was organized in 1843, with 90 members, by Rev. Dr. Gosman, and with Rev. Theodore F. Wyckoff as its first pastor. The first and present house of wor- ship, which will seat 300 persons, and whose present estimated value is $7,000, was erected the same year. Rev. Elbert N. Se- bring is the present pastor, and the present membership is 125.
GREENPORT was formed from Hudson City, May 13, 1831. It lies upon the Hudson, near the center of the County, and incloses the city of Hudson on the land side. Its surface is broken and hilly. Beacrofts Mt., in the east part, is nearly precipitous upon its west side. Mt. Merino, or Merino Point, formerly called "Rorabuck," and changed to its present name from the fact that a large sheep farm was established here many years ago, near the Hudson River, and south line of Hudson City, has an elevation of 250 feet above the river. Claverack Creek forms the east boundary of the town, and
-
128
GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.
separates it from Claverack; and a small tributary of this stream and Kahseway Creek are the principal water-courses. The intervale of the latter is broad and fertile. The soil is clayey along the river and a sandy and gravelly loam in the in- terior.
The Greenport Quarries, located about two miles south-east of Hudson, have for many years been worked to a limited extent, and produced an excellent quality of stone. But owing to the absence of any sufficient means for its transportation to market, having to be hauled over two miles of inferior road, it has been difficult to procure blocks of desirable shape and size for build- ing purposes, and the extent of production has not been at all comparable with the practically inexhaustible supply contained in Beacrofts Mt. The quarries have recently been leased by & stock company under the corporate name of The New York Shell Marble Company, with a cash capital of $100,000, and under the management of the following named officers: Fred- erick W. Jones, Prest. ; S. E. Whittingham, Sec'y and Treas. ; and Robert Hood, Chief Engineer. It is the purpose of this Company to perfect, at once, arrangements for doing an exten- sive business, by the construction of a railroad from the quar- ries to Hudson, which is designed to form a link in the con- templated Hudson & Kinderhook R. R., and the erection of mills on the South Bay, in Hudson, for sawing marble and dressing building stone. The marble, such as is obtained here, is called shell-marble ; it is of a superior quality, is susceptible of the finest polish and is unsurpassed for ornamental purposes. It is thus described in Appleton's New American Cyclopedia :
"Lumachella or fossiliferous marbles are those which contain petrified shells. These are sometimes so crowded upon one another, that they compose the whole mass of stone; sometimes single shells are seen scat- tered throughout the block. A dark marble from Kilkenny, in common use for mantles and hearths, often presents a section on its polished face of the nautilus shell. The white spiral lines of the shell on the dark ground have exactly the appearance as if a rough-nuiled heel had been carelessly spun around upon the surface ; and many a nice housewife, but unskilled in paleontology, has tried in vain to rub out the vexations spots. These marbles are very abundant in Europe, and also throughout New York and the Western States. Handsome mantles are made of American varieties which are composed entirely of fossil shells, but they are rather to be regarded as curious than beautiful. They lack the high colors of the brecciated and variegated marbles, and though they take a good polish, they are from their plain colors comparatively dull and sombre. Some of the best of the kind is from Beeratt's Mountain, back of Hudson, N. Y., which is noticed by Prof. Silliman, ("American Journal of Science," vol. vi, p. 371) : ' The marble is of a grayish color with a slight blush of red; its structure is semi-crystalline, and in some places highly crystalline, especially in and around the organized bodies which in vast numbers it embraces. The large slabs present a great diversity of appearance, and
----
129
GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.
can scarcely be distinguished from the similar transition marble of the Peak of Derbyshire, which it quite equals in beauty and fineness.' In Hudson it has been used in many of the houses for ornamental work, and it has been introduced into New York."
Catskill Station, (p. o.) also known as " Oak Hill," is situated in the south-west corner of the town, on the Hudson River R. R., and is distant four and one-fourth miles south from Hudson.
The population of the town in 1870 was 1,325; 1,141 of whom were natives, and 184, foreigners ; 1,267, white, and 58, colored. The number of school districts in the town during the year ending Sept. 30, 1870, was four, and the same number of teachers were employed. The number of children of school age was 347; the average attendance, 77.437; and the amount expended for school purposes, $1,555.83.
Settlement commenced in this town about the middle of the last century. Jacob Johannes Van Hoesen and Erneric Plaice settled here as early as 1763.
The Reformed Church of Greenport was organized in 1836 by the Classis of Poughkeepsie, with 27 members, and John H. Van Wagener as its first pastor. The first church edifice was erected in 1828. The present one, which will seat 400 persons, and whose estimated value is $14,000, was built in 1869. It has 175 members, and Rev. John S. Himrod is its pastor. The Church is out of debt and in a flourishing condition. This Church originally held connection with that of Linlithgo. In 1814 the building was removed from that village to Johnstown, where it now is, thus, owing to the distance, rendering a gene- ral attendance of a portion of the congregation impossible. Yet no change in the connection occurred until 1828. In the church erected in this year the pastor of the Church of Lin- lithgo held an afternoon service for eight years. Its original name was " Mount Pleasant," and was changed in 1840, when it was first incorporated.
HILLSDALE was formed from Claverack, as a district, March 26, 1782, recognized as a town, March 7, 1788, and a part of Austerlitz was taken off in 1818. The surface is broken by ranges of hills which extend in a north and south direction, and are separated by narrow valleys. Its waters are small, but they afford a good supply of mill seats; they consist of Green River, which crosses the north-east corner, and several small streams which form the head-waters of Roeliff Jansens and Claverack Creeks. The soil consists of a gravelly loam and clay.
.
--
130
GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.
The population of the town in 1870 was 2,083. Of this number 1,949 were natives, and 134, foreigners; 2,077, white. and 6, colored. During the year ending Sept. 30, 1870, the town contained 18 school dristricts, and employed 18 teachers. The number of children of school age was 811; the average attendance, 259.691 ; and the amount expended for school pur- poses, $4,187.89.
Hillsdale, (p. v.) on the south line, near the east corner, is a station on the Harlem R. R. It is a smart little village of about 500 inhabitants, and contains two hotels, two churches, (M. E. and Presbyterian) about a half-dozen stores of varions kinds, several wagon shops and blacksmith shops, a grist mill, saw mill, tin shop, harness shop and the foundry of Messrs Williams & Loomis, manufacturers of the Hillsdale Iron-beam Plow, and all kinds of plow castings and cultivators. This
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.