USA > New York > Sullivan County > Gazetteer and business directory of Sullivan county, N. Y., for 1872-3 > Part 16
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The soil is mostly sandy loam, and the hillsides and summits are generally capable of a good degree of cultivation. The people are chiefly engaged in lumbering, farming and tanning, though the importance of the latter branch of industry is diminishing with the gradual exhaustion of the supply of hemlock bark in the town. There are about a dozen saw mills and two tanneries in the town. There were, in 1870, 2,:04 inhabitants in the town, about one-half of whom are Germans, who are, many of them, though they have been here twenty years or more, unable to converse intelligibly in the English language.
The town bas an area of 24,017 acres, of which, in 1865, according to the census of that year, 12,223, were improved, and 11,794, unimproved.
During the year ending Sept. 30, 1871, the town contained fourteen school districts and employed sixteen teachers. The number of children of school age was 1,117; the number attending school, 836; the average attendance was 350; and the value of school houses and sites, $5,572.
JEFFERSONVILLE (p. v.) is situated on the East Branch of Callicoon Creek, in the south-east part, on the line of Dela- ware, and is distant eleven miles from the Midland R. R. and from Callicoon Depot, on the N. Y. & Erie R. R., and about eighteen miles from Monticello, by the Jeffersonville and Monticello Turnpike. It contains four churches, (Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian and Reformed,) three hotels, six stores, a printing office, ( The Local Record,) one saw mill, two grist mills, two wagon shops, on brewery; one furniture store, two harness shops, one mineral water manufactory, one school, and has a population of about 500. The surrounding country is good, and is well adapted to grain culture and grazing.
E. A. Clark & Co.'s Tannery is located near this village. It contains 182 square vats; consumes 5,000 cords of bark ; employs thirty-five persons ; and manufactures 50,000 sides of leather.
" It is difficult to estimate the amount of damage done in Callicoon ; it is probably forty to sixty thousand dollars, it may be more, but we think no less."
Says A. Hardegburgh. whose mill and turn works were damaged to the extent of a thousand dollars, "The crop of rye and other grain which stood in the fields, in chocks. was so washed that it was entirely destroyed. "The family of Adam Kilion, living & little above Yonurevitle, frightened from their house by the rising waters, took refuge on s Isro hemlo & stamp watch stood in front of the house, and there passed the night." Another destructive freth thecarted in 1MM, which rendered the roads impassable for nearly two weeks. Again, tu Ffi n freshet in the North Branch destroyed Fix brid ;es and John Ebert's mad dai; and damaged the barns of J. Colemna and Was. Det. Ficheon, and the miff dain of the former, whose house was also undermined and & pot- tion of it carried away. The creek was turned from its natural source and the crops on the adjacent farms sustained much damage from the inundation thos produced. Three acres of good land, with the fruit trees growing thereon, was washed away. . Mr. Die :- richson lost about 15,000 feet of lumber, together with a quantity of cabinet ware.
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Henry Rose has discovered on his place what promises to be a valuable vein of "Iron Brown Stone," from which he is manufacturing mineral paint. The stratum is about nine feet below the surface and yields thirteen per cent. of iron.
YOUNGSVILLE, (p. v.) 'situated on the East Branch of the Callicoon, three and one-half miles from Jeffersonville, con- tains two churches, (Methodist and Presbyterian,) two hotels, one wagon shop, three blacksmith shops, three shoe shops, one cabinet shop, one paint shop, one grist mill, one saw mill, one turning shop, a carpenter shop, three stores and about 250 in- habitants.
James Hardenburgh's Turning Shop converts about 200,000 feet of lumber into turned stuti. The saw mill in connection with it will cut 300,000 feet of lumber annually.
CALLICOON CENTER, or Thurmansville, (Callicoon p. o.) situated on the North Branch of the Callicoon, west of the center of the town, contains two churches, (Methodist and Reformed,) three stores, one hotel, one wagon and two black- sinith shops, a shoe shop, a cabinet shop, a tin shop, a grist mill, two saw mills, the tannery* of the Messrs. Hoyt Bros., (which contains 116 square vats; consumes 3,600 cords of hemlock bark; employs twenty-six persons; and tans 40,000 sides of sole leather,) and about 300 inhabitants.
The Callicoon Lodge of F. & A. M. No. 521, located here, was organized in June, 1861, with twelve members. The present number of members is 92.t
The United Brethren Lodge, No. 231, D. O. H., located here, was organized April 2, 1871, with nine members. The present membership is thirty-two. 1
NORTH BRANCH, (p. v.) located on the North Branch of the Callicoon, near the south-west corner, contains one church, (Methodist,) three stores, one hotel, one cabinet shop, a black- smith shop, a wagon shop, a shoe shop, two saw mills, a grist mill, and a population of about 200. The country surround- ing this place is mountainous, yet the soil is quite productive and well adapted to grazing.
"The tannery whose site this occupied. was built about 1834, by Frazer & Co .. It burned down In 1:02 ; was rebuilt by Backley & Lapham, leather dealers in New York ; and purchased by Hoyt Bros. In 1803.
t The present officers are: Sidney Tuttle, Muster : Jacob Dietz, Senior Warden ; Chas. A. Newman, Junior Werden ; Heury Meinheimer, Treasurer ; James P. Duuni- euh, Secretary.
#The officers at ite organization were: Julius Germann, President ; Lewis Germann, Vice-President ; Philip Gerhart, Secretary ; Martin Weyrauch, Treasurer. The present officere are: George Heller, I'resident ; Peter Wagner, Vice-President ; Henry New- mau, Secretary ; Martin Weyrauch, Treasure".
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The Saw Mill, of which J. O. DeGroff is proprietor, located on the East Branch of the Callicoon, about two miles north of Jeffersonville, is capacitated to saw 600,000 feet of lumber annu- ally. There is connected with it a lath and picket mill.
A. Hardenburgh d: Son's Mills, located on the Middle Branch of the Callicoon, about one mile north of Youngsville, enable them to manufacture about 200,000 feet of turned stuff and saw 300,000 feet of lumber annually. The saw mill is provided with a single upright saw, which is run by a fourteeen feet head of water.
There is a saw mill on the Middle Branch of the Callicoon, about two miles north of Youngsville, which is supplied with a single upright saw, run by an eighteen feet head of water, and which saws about 200,000 feet of lumber annually.
The settlement of the town is comparatively recent, and seems to have remained an uninviting locality to immigrants seeking a home in the west, until the New York and Erie R. R. was projected ; for though permanent settlements were made prior to that time, they were meager until the location of that road through or adjacent to the town was assured. In the fall of 1807 and winter of 180S, John De Witt of New York, who was a large owner of lands covered by the Hardenburgh Patent, con- tracted with Curtis Hard and James S. Jackson to chop and clear one hundred acres on the fiat a little south of Youngs- ville, for which he paid them £163 193 New York currency. It is presumed that Mr. De Witt intended making this his resi- dence, but his death in April, 1808, frustrated this plan. In April, 1813, his son, Andrew De Witt, employed Capt. Abijah Mitchell of Bethel to build'a log house on this tract, and though it was completed with the exception of some part of theroof, it does not appear that De Witt occupied the house himself, or that he had a tenant in it.
The first permanent settlement was made May 19, 1814, by WEm. Wood, a widower, and his three sons, Garrett, Edward W. and David, with their families. Edward and Garrett each had four children, and David one child. The Woods were of Eng- Jish and Scotch descent. They moved from the vicinity of High Falls, Ulster County, and settled on a rise of land near the East Branch of the Callicoon, about one and one-half miles north- east from Jeffersonville. To reach their new home they were obliged to cut their way ten miles through the woods, without a road or a path to guide them ; and while doing so, provided part of the food on which the party subsisted. Game was abundant and it required but little timeand exertion to amply supply all their wants in this respect. While some of them, ax in
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band, cleared away the trees and other obstructions, others catered for the party. In this way they proceeded, camping at night under a temporary shelter, until they reached their desti- nation, where they found the abandoned clearing and delapi- dated cabin of DeWitt. They occupied the cabin until they erected houses of their own, which they at once proceeded to de. Edward was a cooper, the others were farmers; hence it is presumable that their cabins were built in the most primi- tive manner and possessed few of the embellishments which grace the homes of some of the residents of Callicoon. There was neither store, mill, nor school, within ten miles of them. When it was necessary to go to the mill, which, as well as the store, was at Liberty, two of the brothers accompanied each other ; each shouldering a bushel and a half of rye or corn, they trudged off with it through the forest; and when ground, they returned with it in the same way, generally performing the journey both ways in a day .* John Wood, son of Edward Wood, was the first child born in the town; the first death was that of Garrett Wood's wife, a few years after they settled in the town.t For fifteen years the Woods seem to have been the only residents of the town, whose population was only increased by births in this family. They cleared land and tilled it ; plant- ed orchards; manufactured staves ; and one of them, (Edward) worked at his trade, while another cured cancers, and was known as a cancer doctor. .
Peter Wormouth located on the ridge east of the North Branch of the Callicoon, in 1830. He was industrious and economical, but deficient in sociability and geniality. He ac- quired possession of a good farm, and became a lender of money.
*"We are assured," says James A. Quinlan, " that Eve, the wife of Edward Wood, once carried a quentity of flex sad her youngest child to a store on the Neversink, seventeen miles from home, where she eschanged the flax for butter, and returned with It and her infant, performing the thirty-foar miles in a single day ! Our informant esys she was slightly fatigued after ber long journey, we are not disposed to question the accuracy of this part of his statement.'
+Says James E. Quinlan, " The circumstances attending it [the death of Mrs. Wood] remind ns of the severe simplicity ofa primitive age. There was no kind and sympathiz- ing neighbor to assist in performing the lust sad offices for the dead. The trembling hands of her kindred closed her eyes, disposed her hands reverently across her breast, and otherwise prepared her corpse for the grave. One of her sisters-in-law went on foot to Buckley's in Liberty, to procure a shroud and other necessary articles, while Edward and David Wood undertook to biake the coffin. One of the early residents in the Blue Mountain Settlement in Liberty, was compelled to manufacture a coffin from a sleigh box. The Woods were in a worse dilemma. There was not a board, nor a sleigh box, bor a wagon box within their reach, and if there had been time to go to a saw mill ten milles or more distant, and carry back the necessary Inmber on their shoulders, it was not decent to leave togir anbered brother almost along with the body of his dead wife. They sarmounted the dificulty by selecting a straight grained log of sufficient size, Bud from this spht four slabs. Frion the road side of these the bark was removed, and in and out they were made de "mouth and decent as possible. In a box made of these the shrouded corpse was laid, and thus confined was she consigned to the narrow house to which cll must go sooner or later, She was interred on the Logemann farm, and we have no doubt was aa sincerely mourned as if her funeral had been attended with the pomp and vanity of a modern burial."
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In 1831 there were seven families in the town, viz: those of Edward, David and Garrett Wood; Jeremiah Wood, son, and George Brown and Abisha Lewis, sons-in law of Edward; and Wormouth.
George G. DeWitt settled here in 1833, and built a house in the vicinity of the site of the log house built by his grand- father .* He was induced to move to this locality through the hope of thereby obtaining relief from a severe hemorrhage of the lungs, from which he was suffering and by which his life was threatened, being advised by his physicians to seek a remedy in the curative properties of the hemlock woods. With improved health he grew weary of the monotonous life to which his new home subjected him, and sought relaxation by a prolonged visit with his friends, who resided in a less exalted and more cultivated region; but the recurrence of his old malady admonished him to repair again to his retreat in Calli- coon, where, he thought, his life might be prolonged, but to a certain extent wasted. He is still living, and is an honored 'member of the community in which he resides.t
Among the early settlers was Jacob Quick, who located on a small stream which empties into the East . Branch of the Callicoon, near Jeffersonville. He was a native of Pike Co., Pa., and was a nephew of Tom Quick,t with whom he hunted and trapped, in his youth. In his History of Sullivan County, Quinlan says of him :
"As an evidence of Jacob Quick's standing in his native town, we mention the fact that he was a Justice of the Peace for thirty successive
*Extract from J. E. Quinlan's History of Sullivan County, printed in the Local Record, March 11, 1970.
It is probable that the hound bere refered to was a temporary cabin erected by Hurd and Jackson while eupaged lu charing land for John De Witt, as it is believed that the first house erected in the town was the one built by Capt. Abijsh Mitchell, for Andrew De Witt. io 1613.
tThe first town meeting was held at the house of George G. DeWitt, May 3. 1842, at which all the voters in the town. Prty-ix in number, were present. John B. Spencer, John Hankins, Jacob Quick, Roma Stoddard and Geo. G. DeWitt were chosen a3 8 board to preelde at the martin. The following named officers were duly elected : Olney Border, SSyftar; Gra. G. DeWitt, Town Clerk ; Rollin Stoddard, John Hankiss and Jacob Quick. Justice of the Peace ; Rollin Stoddard. Thomas S. Ward and Wra. P. Msin. Aber### ; Frter Wormouth. John B. Spencer and Henry Cannon, Ind Commun er: JustManos. Aurin W. Blackman and Levi Kimball, School Conmictionare ; Rosin stoddart and Gro. G. De Witt, School Inspectors; Jacob Quick and Peter I Bogart, "Mercedes of the For : David Wood, Collector; David Wood, Heary Wood, Win. Match and privaun. Kimball, Constables ; John R. Schermerhorn, Town Soler. At this circtlap it was Resolved :
First-That twice se much money be raised by the town ag is provided by the State for supporting the public schools of the town, and that said money be appropriated for the scotcha of the (ono, 4 . :: 7- That ess hindied Gofare be raised and appropriated for repair of roads Wird - i'm box* sweep and horses be debarred from being common in the town. Fostit -- That division Irocey bu four shd one-half feet high, and made of good material. Firth- That's tusp of the town he procured by Geo. G. DeWitt. The above is certified gud signed by Geo. Q. DeWitt, as Town Clerk.
# For further mention of Tom Quick see pages 78-90.
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years before he came to Callicoon. He was fond of litigation, and entered into legal strife with as much vim as a war horse does into battle. From this or some other cause, he lost a fair estate, and when sixty years of age, found that his liabilities somewhat exceeded his assets. To escape the annoyances which attend such a condition, and hoping to retrieve a decayed fortune, he managed to save a few hundred dollars from the stern grasp of his creditors, with which he bought a lot of heavily-timbered and fertile land in Callicoon, the deed of which was given to his old wife.
"He was at this time & stalwart, rugged man of sixty, whose keen eye and steady hand could give a deadly direction to a bullet, and who boasted that no man was his superior as an angler. With his ash pole and horse-hair line he loved to compete with the dandy trout catchers who sometimes went to the North Branch to indulge in their favorite sport, and great was his mortification and disgust if the basket of the fancy gentleman contained a greater number of speckled beauties than were found on his 'string.' But ample was his revenge when evening approached, and he returned with his guest across the ridge which divides the North from the East Branch. With the grace and agility of an Indian, he stalked in a straight line for home, no more encountering an obstacle than a hawk floating in the air ; while his companion dodged around all kinds of difficulties, and was generally considerably blown when he reached the valley where Quick lived.
"After buying the lot, Quick put up the usual shelter of men who begin life in the woods, and moved into it with his aged wife. It was in a deep valley and so overshadowed by huge trees that the sun could not penetrate to his roof. The contrast between this and their old home was sad and gloomy, and had a very depressing influence upon Mrs. Quick. He at once went to work on the trees which surrounded his house, and when he cut them down, fearing that they would fall upon the building and crush his wife beneath the wreck, he caused her to go to a safe place, where she watched his proceedings and shed such tears as only the for- saken and forlorn can shed.
"Mr. Quick cleared field after field, built the first saw mill of the town, found a ready home market for his grain, hay and lumber, and was once more a prosperous mau, whom his fellow townsmen delighted to honor with office. A village sprung up in his neighborhood ; he was surrounded by neighbors, some of whom were his own children ; he built a comfortable house ; had flocks, orchards and fertile fields ; but the old wife was mouldering among the decaying roots of the forest that had so recently clothed the hills and valleys of Callicoon. She did not long survive their removal to Sullivan.
"Mr. Quick subsequently married again, and bought and cleared another farm. He also built & second mill. His new property was situated on the North Branch. While improving it with his accustomed energy, he was prostrated by paralysis. During the last years of his life he was a helpless invalid, and suffered much mental distress, because he was bedridden."
The first settler in Youngsville was Samuel M. Young, from whom the place derives its name, who came in from Liberty, in 1834, and erected & log house, sixteen by thirty feet, near where the house now occupied by Henry Inderlied stands. He erected a saw mill the following year, the first one at that place, and subsequently built and kept the first store in the
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town at Youngsville. John B. Spencer settled here the same year, and built the first blacksmith shop and auger manufac- tory. When the post office was established in 1851, he was made postmaster. In 1833-4 settlers began to come in from Connecticut and the north ; and in 1840, the Germans settled here in considerable numbers, and added vastly to the material wealth and prosperity of the town. In 1846, A. Hardenburgh and the Gortons built a saw mill on the Middle Branch of the Callicoon, about two miles north of Youngsville, which was destroyed two years after by a freshet. In 1848, Mr. Harden- burgh moved his family into the town and settled at Youngs- ville. After two years had elapsed he built another mill and & turning shop, about a mile further south, on the same stream, where his present mill now stands. This second mill was greatly damaged by the freshet of 1855. Thos. S. Ward loca- ted at Jeffersonville in 1839, when there were but two other families there, those of Jacob D. Schermerhorn and his son John R. Schermerhorn. Mr. Ward erected one of the first frame dwellings. Jacob Schermerhorn moved from Schoharie county and located on the south side of Callicoon Creek in 1838. He built a log house, which was the first one in Jeffer- sonville. Frederick Schiedell, a German, who immigrated to New York three years before, moved to Jeffersonville in 1840, and occupied a log house built by Schermerhorn's son, and which stood on the site of Mr. Schiedell's blacksmith shop. Abraham Schneider, from Germany, came here in 1842, and built the first saw mill at this place. Charles Langhorn built the first hotel and store, and the first frame building in 1846. The hotel was the first building painted in the village .. It was repaired in the fall of 18?], and is now occupied by Egler Bros. as a hotel. This was the first hotel in the town. The first public house at Youngsville, was built by D. D. Quick, about 1851, on the site of the hotel now owned by T. Doucher; and the first grist mill was built by F. Bieling at the same place, and in the same year, until which time the settlers were obliged to carry their grain to Neversink or Liberty. . After four or five years the old mill was abandoned, and a new one built on the site of the present one.
The settlement of Cafficoon Center was commenced about thirty years ago by the Royce Bros. The first store at this place was built by Robert M. Grant, in 1849 ; the first hotel, by A. Thurman. in body: the first grist mill, by A. Sanders, in 1854 ; and the first saw mill, by P. Williams, in 1848.
Stephen Ercker, one of the first settlers on the North Branch, moved from Newburgh in 1842, and settled about a mile below Thurmansville. The same year Nicholas Zieres settled on the
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ridge, about one-half mile from North Branch. He built a log house and kept bachelor's hall for two years. L. Stewart, a Scotchman, moved with his family from Massachusetts, and located on the farm he now occupies, near North Branch, in 1842. Hle built a log house and remained two years, when he returned to Massachusetts, where he worked five years and secured suf- ficient to pay for his farm at North Branch, on which he moved. Henry Becker and John Stieb came here the same year, and located near North Branch. Joseph Smith moved from Lex- ington, (Greene Co.,) and located at North Branch in 1847. At that time this locality was marked by a dense wilderness; pigeons' nests were very numerous in the tops of trees which grew on the site of the village of North Branch; the streams contained a good supply of trout and the forests an abundance of game, making this locality one of unusual attractiveness to the hunter. The first school at North Branch was taught by Mary Hunt, in a house owned by Henry Cannon; and in his barn was held the first church service. A Mr. Merritt of Kingston, (Ulster Co.,) built the first saw mill at North Branch in 1843 ; --- Clemons and - Stewart, the first store ; and Vandervort, the first blacksmith shop. A. B. Baker drove the first two-horse wagon into North Branch, with a load of goods, in 1845. Wm. Inderlied & Co., early settlers, carried on an extensive tanning business here which contributed largely to the growth of the village. Another tannery, located about one mile south of the village, and controlled by Babcock, also exerted a marked influence upon its growth and prosperity. Both these tanneries have discontinued business, owing to the exhaustion of the supply of hemlock bark in their vicinity.
The first road in Callicoon was laid out August 10, 1807, at the expense of Jacob Radcliff, John De Witt, Theron Wood and Wm. Taylor. This was the old road leading from the Wood Settlement, through Youngsville and Robinsonville to Liberty.
Callicoon furnished its full quota of soldiers during the war of the Rebellion, mostly by voluntary enlistments, in various organizations, such as the 28th, 56th and 143d N. Y. Infty., and the 2d N. Y. Heavy Artillery, but principally in the 143d. It furnished two officers, viz : Capt. E. H. Pinney, who was pro- moted to Major; and Lieut. Marcus Frasier, who died of typhoid fever soon after entering the service. Wm. T. Mor- gans, who enlisted under Capt. Pinney, as private, was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. A large number were killed and wounded, and many died in the service from malignant diseases.
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The Presbyterians seem to have taken the initiative in reli- gious matters in the town; though there is a conflict of authority respecting who was the pioneer preacher .*
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