USA > New York > Ulster County > Gazetteer and business directory of Ulster County, N.Y. for 1871-2 > Part 17
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There are ten school districts, employing the same number of teachers. The number of children of school age is 933; number attending school, 687; average attendance, 298; value of school houses and sites, 85,365.
WAWARSING was formed from Rochester, March 14, 1806. A part was reannexed to Rochester in 1823. It lies in the south-west corner of the County. The surface is a mountainous upland, broken by several deep valleys. The Shawangunk Mountains extend along the east border, and spurs of the Catskill occupy the center and west parts. The highest points are from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above tide. The mountain- ous portions in the east and in the north-west corner are rocky and precipitous, and too rough for cultivation. The south- west portion is a hilly upland. Rondout Creek flows in a deep valley from the west border south-east near the center, thence north-east to the east border of the town. The Sandburgh and Beer Creeks are the other principal streams. The Delaware & Hudson Canal extends along the valleys of Rondont and Sand- burgh Creeks, at the base of the Shawangunk Mountains. The soil in the valleys is chiefly a sandy loam. Lumber, leather, glass, iron and edge tools are extensively manufactured in dif- ferent parts of the town. Huckleberries form an important item of export.
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Ellenville, (p. v.) on the Sandburgh Creek and Delaware & Hudson Canal, at the mouth of Beerkill, was incorporated in 1858 and contains six churches, viz., Reformed, Methodist. Episcopal, Lutheran, and two Roman Catholic; two good hotels, two newspaper offices, a female seminary, three banks, a glass factory, several tanneries and manufactories of various kinds, and about 3,000 inhabitants. A branch of the Midland Railroad has its present terminus at this place. The village is neatly laid out ; the streets are finely shaded and the sidewalks elegantly flagged. We venture to say that there is not another village of the size in the State, with as many miles of beautiful flagstone walks. Most of this has been laid within the last two years, at an expense of about $40,000. The village is supplied with water from a clear mountain creek. A dam has been constructed across the ravine, forming a reservoir from which water is distributed to different parts of the village in iron pipes. The expense of the works is about $30,000.
Union Free School District No. 29 embraces the village, and the schools are under the control of a board of six trustees. The report for the year ending Sept. 30, 1870, shows that the number of teachers employed was eleven; number of persons between 5 and 21 years, 1,036; number attending school, 845 ; average attendance, 519. The amount expended for teachers' wages was 84,459.88 ; the total expenditures, $5,656.88.
The First National Bank was organized in June 1863 with a capital of $123,000, which has since been increased to $250,000. It is located in a fine building, 53 by 45 feet, and two stories high.
Ellenville Savings Bank was organized in 1869. The number of depositors up to July 1, 1871, was 1,084. The amount on deposit at this date was $154,322.20.
The Ellenville Glass Works cover about twelve acres of ground, including slips, docks, saw mill and shop, give em- ployment to about 250 hands and manufacture about $250,000 worth annually. They manufacture black, green and amber glassware. They have a store whose trade amounts to about 875,000. Their principal warehouse is at No. 69 Murray Street, New York. This company is the successor of the Ellenville Glass Co., which commenced operations in 1836.
The manufacture of leather is carried on to a considerable extent. The following tanneries are owned by Mr. J. A. Turell, of Ellenville :
Wawarsing Tannery manufactures upper leather, employs 45 hands, consumes 1,500 cords of bark, and turns out 75,000 sides annually.
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Honk Hill Tannery employs 14 men, consumes 1,800 cords of bark, and turns out 90,000 sides of upper leather annually.
Ellenville Tannery employs 25 hands, consumes about 1,000 cords of bark, and turns out about 50,000 sides or 70,000 calf skins annually.
The Ellenville Co-Operative Cutlery Company has been or- ganized for the purpose of manufacturing cutlery at Ellen- ville, and buildings are being fitted up for the purpose.
Wawarsing, (p. v.) about four miles north of Ellenville, con- tains two hotels, three stores, two tanneries, a lumber yard, a grist mill, a saw mill, a blacksmith shop, a school house, a harness shop, a shoe shop, and about 350 inhabitants.
Port Benjamin, on the Delaware and Hudson Canal, contains a hotel, two stores, a blacksmith shop, a wagon shop, a dry dock, a school house, 35 dwellings and about 200 inhabitants.
Greenfield, (p. v.) located about five miles south-west of Ellen- ville, on the Beerkill, contains two churches, a Good Templar's lodge, a hotel, a store, a grist mill, three saw mills, a wagon shop, two blacksmith shops and about thirty dwellings. There is a valuable flagstone quarry at this place. The creek affords a fine water power.
Evensville is a post office in the south-east part.
Lackawack (p. o.) is a hamlet in the north-west part.
Homowack.(p. o.) is a hamlet in the south-east part, on the Delaware and Hudson Canal.
Napanoch, (p. v.) on Rondout Creek, about two miles north of Ellenville, is a pleasant village, containing two churches, two hotels, six stores, a paper mill, a rolling mill, a foundry and machine shop, two ax factories, a planing mill, two flour- ing mills, a saw mill, a rake and handle factory, two wagon shops, several other mechanic shops of various kinds, and about 800 inhabitants. There is a blast furnace here not now in operation.
Sam's Point, on the east border of the town, and on the sum- mit of the Shawangunk Mountain, is about seven miles from Ellenville. It has become quite a place of resort for summer tourists, and gives one a view of the surrounding country un- surpassed by any point on this noted range. Near by itisa lake and an ice cave, where ice can be procured during the whole summer, packed in Nature's ice house without the aid of human
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hands. Mr. Thomas Botsford has erected a large hotel, novel in situation and unique in structure, where he ministers to the wants of parties visiting the place. The house is ninety-two feet in length, with an average width of twenty-five feet, varying with the formation of the rock which forms the rear wall. By a flight of stone steps, partly natural and partly arti- ficial, the visitor is led from the house to the summit of the overhanging rock, where spread out before him is a scene of beauty never to be forgotten. The hill and dale, woodland and cultivated field, dotted over with villages and farm houses, and interspersed with rivulets and meandering streams, giving verdure and beauty to every part, present a scene amply repay- ing the toil of the journey to this place.
The first settlements were made about the commencement of the last century, principally by the Dutch. Abram and John Bevier, from New Paltz, settled near Napanoch in 1708. They were French Huguenots and had resided for a short time at New Paltz. Egbert De Witt, William Nottingham and Andries De Witt came in about the same time. An Indian village was situated in the town at that time. For a time they lived peace- ably and bartered with the whites, but during the Revolution they were hostile, the white inhabitants being frequently at- tacked, killed or captured, and carried away by Tories and Indians. On the 12th of August, 1781, a large party of Tories and Indians under one Caldwell, appeared in the town. They had formed the design of falling upon Napanoch, but learning that it was defended by a cannon, they came to Wawar- sing before the inhabitants were up in the morning. There was a stone fort at this place. Two men and a young woman dicovered the enemy before they reached the fort, and the young woman succeeded in closing the door just in time to prevent its being burst open by the savages. Failing of success here, they dispersed, plundering the out settlements and burning about half a dozen dwellings, as many barns and a grist mill. Several lives were lost on both sides, and the next day the enemy withdrew, laden with their spoils.
The first building erected on the present site of Ellenville was a little log shanty on the site of the " Old Corner Store," by Johannes De Witt, who owned all the land within the present limits of the village. This was in 1805. De Witt soon after sold a large part of his land to Abel Fairchild, who dur- ing the next three or four years built three more houses, one where J. H. Tuthill's house now stands, one on the site of Mrs. R. H. Brodhead's residence, and a third where Losee & Bow- en's carriage and paint shop stands. In 1816 " Uncle Nathan
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Hoornbeek " purchased the property now owned by Mr. Tut- hill and opened an inn. The next spring, he and Jacob E. Bogardus purchased of Fairchild upwards of three hundred acres, extending from the Five Points to Buttermilk Falls, and from Good Beerkill to Mr. Burhan's property. Bogardus was a bachelor, lived with Mr. Hoornbeek, and the farm was tilled in common for two years, when Bogardus married and occupied the house where Mrs. Brodhead lives. They divided the farm about the same time, Uncle Nathan taking that part lying west of Terwilliger's Hotel and the Kingston road, and Mr. Bogar- dus taking the remainder, except about 20 acres lying about Buttermilk Falls. At this time the original forest was stand- ing from Center Street to Mr. Tuthill's farm; an orchard was growing where the Webb House stands, and cows were pas- tured where the Glass Works now stand. The nearest church was the Old Stone Church of Wawarsing, standing at the fork of the roads beyond the brow of the hill at Wawarsing Cor- ners. The nearest mill was at Wawarsing, near where Castle's mill stands. When Mr. Charles Hartshorn came here in 1823, there were but the four houses already mentioned, one of which became transformed into " the store," which the new comer stocked with various necessaries and luxuries demanded by the primitive citizens of the place. Three families constituted the entire population, those of Hoornbeek, Bogardus and one other.
"The place was still without post office facilities and had no name. The enterprising denizens of the 'City ' and its suburbs, feeling that such a state of things was no longer tolerable, as- sembled by appointment at the store one evening to deliberate and devise measures for relief. The question of a name for the burgh came up, and, as frequently happens in such cases, there were various opinions about the matter, and the assembled worthies found themselves unable to agree. In this dilemma they had recourse to the ladies of Mr. Hoornbeek's household, Charles Hartshorn being deputed to lay the subject before them, with the understanding that from their decision there was to be no appeal. Among the ladies whose assistance had been invoked was Miss Ellen Snyder, a sister-in-law of Hoorn- beek. Miss Snyder determined at once to confer a pretty name upon the infant city, and at the same time immortalize her own. She proposed to call it ELLEN-VILLE. The proposition was duly reported to the council at the store, where it was unanimously adopted." A post office was soon after established, and Charles Hartshorn was appointed postmaster. The busi- ness for the first quarter amounted to 0. The postman made his weekly round on horseback and gave warning of his ap- proach by a ringing blast from a tin horn. The first item of
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mail matter was a newspaper, and the business increased to such an extent that it amounted to thirteen shillings during the second quarter. Among the early settlers in the vicinity of Ellenville were Jacob Devens, Levi Kemble, Henry Bur- hans, Stephen De Witt, Thomas Crossman, Samuel Rockwell. Simeon E. Freer, Jacob A. Law, Major Eli De Witt and Squire Sheldon.
In 1754 a grist mill was erected at Napanoch ; it is still standing and forms part of the flouring and plaster mill owned by James B. Sahler. The timbers are mostly sound, and the works in running order. The new portion of this mill was erected in 1830; it grinds about 20,000 bushels of grain an- nually. In 1829 the manufacture of axes was commenced by A. R. & G. Southwick. The business has been greatly in- creased and continued to the present time.
In the Ulster County Gazette of Jan. 4, 1800, the following advertisement of Luther Andres & Co., of Warsink, appeared:
" He has received near every kind That you in any store can find, And as I purchase by the bale I am determined to retail
For ready pay, a little lower Than ever I have done before. I wish my brother man to live But as for credit shall not give. I would not live to rouse your passion
For credit here is out of fashion. My friends and buyers one and all It will pay you well to give a call
. You always may find me by my sign. A few rods from the house divine. Cash will not be refused.
Warsink, Dec. 24, 1799."
The first town meeting held in Wawarsing was on Tuesday, April 1, 1806, when the following officers were chosen : Johan- nis Hoornbeek, Jr., Supervisor ; John S. De Witt, Clerk; Jacob Hermance, John Brodhead, Jr., Andries I. LeFevre, Assessors ; Henry T. Osterhout, Abram I. Bevier, Stephen DeWitt Jr., Commissioners of Highways ; John De Witt, Richard Brod- head, Overseers of the Poor; Henry T. Osterhout, David Be- vier Jr., John B. DePuy, Constables ; Egbert De Witt, Matthew Cantine, Fence Viewers; David Bevier, Jr., Collector; Simon Bevier, Pound Master. In 1810 it was voted that " Hogs shall be free commoners, provided they shall be well yoked and good rings in their noses; and that fence viewers shall determine the sufficiency of the said yokes and rings if any dispute should arise concerning the same." In 1813, the Town Clerk, in re-
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cording the result of the town meeting, says : "Hoggs no com- moners; Schole Commissioners no pay." In 1818 the Poor Master was voted a fee of five dollars, and two years later it was increased to ten. In 1828 Justices of the Peace were first chosen by the people. In 1839, Charles Hartshorn was chosen for four years, and reelected and continued in office for twenty rears. In 1831, Silent Wilds was first elected Constable and Collector, and held the office most of the time until 1856.
The first church organization in the town was the
Reformed Church of Napanoch, in 1745. Rev. J. Freyenmoet was the first pastor. The present house of worship was erected in 1836 at an expense of 87,000, and will seat 600. The pres- ent membership is 184, and the present pastor, Rev. J. R. Tal- mage.
The Reformed Church of Ellenville, an offshoot of the first one in the town, was organized August 18, 1840, with 24 mem- bers. The first pastor was Rev. S. B. Ayres, who was in- stalled Nov. 16, 1841, and continued until April 18, 1854. The first church edifice occupied by the society was erected in 1826 at an expense of about $1,000. The present edifice was erected in 1851, at an expense of about $6,000; it will seat 600. It has been repaired at various times, and the present value of the church property is about $12,000. Rev. E. W. Bentley, the present pastor, was installed Oct. 4, 1854.
St. Paul's Church, (Epis.) Ellenville, was organized by Rev. Mr. Kenney, the first pastor. Their house of worship was erected in 1866; it will seat 200 and cost about $6,000. The present membership is about 75; the present pastor is Rev. C. C. Edmonds, B. D.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church, Ellenville, was organized in 1862 with 68 members. Their house of worship was erected in 1862 at a cost of $1,400 ; it will seat 220. The present value of church property is $3,000 ; the present membership is 54; the present pastor, Rev. Jacob Goetz.
St. Mary's German Catholic Church of Ellenville, was organ- ized in 1850 by V. R. Raffeiner. The first pastor was Rev. John Raufeisen. Their house of worship was erected in 1849; it will seat about 200 and cost 81,200. The present membership includes about 50 families. The present value of church pro- perty is about 85,000. Rev. C. Von Droste is the present pas- tor.
St. Mary's (R. C.) was organized in 1851 by Rev. Edward S. Briardy, the first pastor. Their house of worship was erected
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in 1831 ; it will seat 600 and cost about $3,000. The present membership is 700; the present pastor, Rev. Daniel Mugan.
The Friends Church, of Greenfield, was organized in 1808 by Zadock Southen, the Belliew families, Washburns and Holmes, with a membership of 25. The first "approved minister" was Caty Bellew. Their house of worship was erected in 1SOS at a cost of 8400. The present house of worship was erected in 1818 ; it will seat 150 and is valued at $1,000. The present membership is 14. There is no pastor.
The Baptist Church of Lackawack was organized in 1843, by Rev. Nathan D. Benedict, the first pastor, with 70 members. Their house of worship was erected in 1844; it will seat 350 and cost about $1,500. The present membership is 40. The present pastor is Rev. C. Shook. .
St. Michael's (Ger. Cath.) Church, Drowned Lands, was organ- ized in 1860 by Rev. G. Vaight, with 60 members. A house of worship, seating 400, was erected the same year at a cost of 81,000. Rev. C. Von Droste is pastor.
The Methodist Church, Greenfield, was organized in 1820 by Horace Watson, the first pastor, with 14 members. A house of worship was erected in 1843 at a cost of $700. It will seat 300 and is valued at $1,000. The present membership is 180. The present pastor is Rev. J. Whitaker.
The Methodist Church of Florence was organized in 1863 by N. Weaver, John Edsall- and John Forster with 20 members. The first pastor was Rev. Henry Ackerley. The first house of worship was erected in 1863; it will seat 400 and cost $3,000. The present membership is 35. The present pastor is Rev. James Fuller. The present value of church property is $3,150.
The Union Church of Homowack was organized in 1847, by Ira Ferris, the first pastor, with 25 members. Their house of worship was erected in 1843 ; it will seat about 200. The pres- ent membership is 32; the present pastor, Rev. Millard Couch- man. The present value of church property is $1,200.
The population of the town in 1870 was 8,151, and its ares, 72,559 acres, with an assessed value of 8643,904.
There are 29 school districts, employing 42 teachers. The number of children of school age is 3,569 ; the number attend- ing school, 2,615; the average attendance, 1,321, and the value of school houses and sites, $23,770.
Company E, of the 20th Regiment, N. Y. S. M., was prin- cipally enlisted in this town. The officers were Capt. Peletiah Ward, 1st Lieut. A. S. Pease, 2d Lieut. E. T. Dudley.
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Among the first to respond to our country's call in the spring of 1861, was Hiram H. Terwilliger, of Ellenville. He enlisted in the Twentieth Regiment, N. Y. S. M., served three months, then re-enlisted for the war. As First Sergeant of Co. E, he participated in all its marches and conflicts until the Second Battle of Bull Run, August 30, 1862. In the early part of this battle he received a wound in the calf of the leg by a minnie ball. Though the wound bled freely and was painful, he kept his place about half an hour, when he was struck by a bullet in the left side, between the 8th and 9th ribs, the ball passing through the chest, grazing the lungs and liver, and making its exit between the 7th and 8th ribs, on the right side. It then lodged in the right elbow, severing or wounding the spiral nerve, fracturing the lower extremity of the humerus and dislocating the joint. He then left the field, dragging himself along as best he could until he fell exhausted. Reviving in a short time, he was taken to an ambulance, and about 4 o'clock P. M., Sept. 1, was deposited at the Fairfax Street Hospital, Alexandria, Va. He had been unconscious most of the time, and on his arrival was to all appearance dead, and was laid aside to make way for the more pressing wants of the living. Subsequent examination showed signs of life, and with the return of consciousness came a determination to live. For several weeks his case was regarded hopeless; but at length his wounds healed and he was pronounced conva- lescent. He was discharged from the Hospital January 14, 1863, and arrived at home the 17th. Soon after his arrival he was taken with a cough and a severe pain in his left side, his breathing became laborious, his feet and limbs swelled, and his expectoration was profuse. His physicians looked upon his case as nearly hopeless. From the large amount of matter ex- pectorated, it was suspected that a deposition might be in the cavity of the chest, and the Dr. proposed an operation which was at length performed. " A Trocar was plunged into the cavity of the chest just below the left shoulder blade, and an India Rubber tube inserted in the opening, the ends of which were left hanging down about four inches, one within and the other on the outside of the chest." *
" Through the syphon formed by the tube there were dis- charged during the ensuing ten days, about seven quarts of matter. At the end of this time the tube was removed and the opening immediately closed. The heart, which had been pushed around to the right side, resumed its natural position, his lungs resumed their proper function, his cough ceased, the swelling disappeared from his limbs and his health gradually improved till about the 1st of September, when he removed to
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Alexandria and went into business. His right arm was still paralyzed and nearly useless." The above is the statement of J. J. Ward, M. D., as published in a paper read before the Hi -. torical Society by Rev. E. W. Bentley. Mr. Terwilliger is still in the enjoyment of tolerable health, and doing business in Ellenville.
WOODSTOCK was formed April 11, 1787, from the settlement of Great and Little Shandaken, which had been at- tached to Hurley. A part of Middletown (Delaware Co.) was taken off in 1789; Windham, (Greene Co.) in 1798, and Shan- daken in 1804. A part of Olive was taken off, and parts of Hurley and Olive were annexed, Nov. 25, 1853. It lies upon the north border of the County, east of the center. Its sur- face is mostly a mountainous upland, too rough for profitable cultivation. Several fine valleys extend through the town, separating the upland into several distinct ridges and peaks. Overlook Mountain, in the north-east corner, is 3,500 feet above tide. Near its summit is Shues Lake, a beautiful sheet of clear water. The Overlook Mountain Honse, built by & stock company of Kingston, is a first-class hotel, standing in a conspicuous place upon this peak. The view from the sum- mit is not surpassed in grandeur, beauty and extent of scenery, by any other point in the State. A writer who " has visited the tops of Mount Washington and Mansfield, during sunshine and storm," says, " while impressed with the vastness and ex- tent of the mountain tops of the former, and the beauty of the cultivated scenery of the latter, yet nothing seems to sur- pass the varied and indescribable beauties of mountain and cultivated scenery as seen from the Overlook." Sawkill and Beaverkill are the principal streams. The soil is a clay and slaty loam upon the uplands, and a gravelly loam in the valleys. Cooper's Lake is a beautiful sheet of water, near the center of the town. There are several hotels upon the mountains, to which stages from West Hurley and Woodstock run daily. They are largely patronized by summer visitors.
Woodstock, (p. v.) in the south-east part of the town, twelve miles from Kingston, contains three churches, viz., Methodist, Reformed and Lutheran ; two hotels, a store, a school house, a tannery, a saw mill, a grist mill, three wagon shops, a harness shop and about 50 dwellings. The tannery has a capacity for turning out about 16,000 sides of leather annually, using 1.800 cords of bark, and employing twenty men. The annual sales are about $9,000.
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Bearsville (p. o.) contains a store, a school house and half & dozen houses.
Bristol contains a Methodist church, a school house, a grist mill, two saw mills, a turning shop, a store and about fifteen dwellings.
Lake Hill, (p. o.) containing a Baptist church, is a hamlet.
Mink Hollow is a narrow valley extending about three miles into the mountains. A creek of the same name flows through it. There is a steam saw mill, a school house and a number of farm residences in this valley.
The first settlements were made just previous to the com- mencement of the Revolution.
Philip Bonesteel settled in 1770 and kept the first inn. Ed- ward Short settled in 1776, Peter Short in 1784, Jacobus Du- Bois, Ephraim Van Keuren, Philip Shultis and Henry Shultis, Sen., in 1788; John Hutchens in 1790; Wm. Elling in 1786, Matthew Keip in 1787. Other early settlers were Peter Van De Bogart, Johannes Kipp, Peter Van Benschoten, Peter Harder, Jeremiah Reynolds, Jacob Montrose, and two brothers named Ferguson. Peter Short and his son-in-law, Peter Miller,of Wood stock, were taken prisoners by the Indians, about 1781, and car- ried to Canada, where, after enduring their captivity for some time, they were set free through the influence of an Indian, named Joe De Witt, to whom they had previously shown some kindness. Indian relics are frequently found. Mr. Brinker- hoff recently found a stone arrow near his house, not more than five feet below the surface. Robert Livingston built the first saw mill, and J. Montrose the first grist mill. The first church organized was
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