USA > New York > Dutchess County > General history of Duchess County from 1609 to 1876, inclusive > Part 10
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On the small stream passing through the mountains west of Leedsville, some time previous to the Revolution, Capt. Samuel Dunham had a forge, using the ore from the Amenia
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
bed. It is also evident there was a forge at the Steel Works as early as 1770, the ore being taken from the same place. It was not until 1825 that the important works of N. Gridley & Son were commenced at Wassaic.
The cast-iron plow was introduced in the early part of this century, and the first manufacture of them in this town was by Mr. Calvin Chamberlain, at the City.
Near the beginning of the Revolution, Capt. James Reed and a Mr. Ellis entered upon the manufacture of steel at what has since been known as the Steel Works. They obtained the iron for their purpose in pigs from Livingston's Furnace at Ancram, the first blast furnace in this part of the country.
About the year 1812 a company was organized in this town for the manufacture of woolen goods, styled the "Amenia Manufacturing Company." The factory was located on the banks of the Weebutook, at Leedsville. Its ruinous walls still stand where they were first built, after all those who instigated the project have passed away. The principal owners were the Barkers, Bentons, Ingrahams, Parks and Canfields.
Shortly after the war, the company issued fractional currency, of which the following is a specimen :
AMENIA MANUFACTURING CO.
25 CENTS.
The Corporation of the Amenia Manufactur- ing Company prom ise to pay the bearer on demand TWENTY-
25
FIVE CENTS, in current bank
25 CENTS.
notes, at their store in Amenia. Geo. Ingraham, Jr., Agent.
June, 14, 1815
The bill was 43 by 2 inches, and printed only on one side.
The failure of the company occurred shortly after, caused partly by too much rag money, and partly by the diminished profits of woolen manufacturing, brought about by the con-
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
clusion of peace with Great Britain. The bell of the factory was rung long and loud when the news of peace arrived, but it was the death knell of its prosperity. The property was purchased by Selah North, who established the business of cloth dressing. About the year 1818 the "store" mentioned in the scrip was sold to Joseph Hunt and Abraham Miller, who
The Old Hoag House.
did business under the firm of Hunt and Miller. The store was a large building for those times. After the dissolution of the firm. Mr. Hunt carried on the mercantile business under the sign "Hunt's Old Stand." This was the emporium of business for miles around. The post-office was located there, and a four-horse stage was a morning and evening arrival. The building was finally moved across the river, and converted into a gigantic barn, where it was afterwards burned.
AMENIA SEMINARY.
The Seminary building is located in lot No. 32. of the Nine Partners'* tract, and was set to James Emmott, one of the Nine Partners. James Emmott was attorney to the King's bench, and a member of the Church of England. He was the ancestor in the fourth remove of Hon. Judge Emmott, of Poughkeepsie. We next find the title of this site in a family named Lord, who built a mansion where the seminary now stands, about the year 1740. A son named Ephraim inherited the estate as early as 1760; when the tocsin of war was sounded, this noble patriot took his musket, joined the Conti- nental army, served all through the war, drew his pay as a
*The Nine Partners was a land company composed of Caleb Heathcote, James Emmott, Henry Filkins, Hendrick Tenyck, Augustus Graham, William Creed, John kartson, Davit Marshall, and David Jameson, nine men of wealth and high social standing.
1
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
soldier and sent the money home to his wife, who, with an eye to business, laid it out in land. Ephraim Lord thus became a large land holder in the then Amenia Precinct .* He had one daughter, who married Simeon Cook. and at the death of her parents came in possession of the entire estate. She had a number of children, the youngest of whom distinguished him- self in the war of 1812, and was advanced to the rank of Colonel, and who finally became owner of the homestead. at that time known as Cook Hill.
In 1832 this community resolved to have a seminary. and the three prominent places named were Amenia Village, Leeds- ville, and Amenia Union. Two full years was spent in fruit- less efforts to locate the ground. In May, 1834, a committee was appointed to determine the matter. On Monday, June 2d. they rendered a sealed verdict, which was not to be opened until twenty-four hours after the committee left town. The next morning the seal was broken. when it was found that "Cook Hill" was the favored spot. The first Seminary building was erected in the summer of 1835. and the school opened in the fall of that year, with C. K. True for Principal. For a por- tion of the time since its establishment it has been under the management of the M. E. denomination.
"In 1826 there was a great celebration of Independence in Amenia. That was fifty years after the declaration. and it is now fifty years since that. A procession was formed in Amenia Union, and marched under the inspiring strains of martial music, down to the old meeting house. a mile and a half. The house, which stood in the highway, was packed as full of people as the old square pews and broad galleries could hold. The officials of the day and invited guests entered the front door, in stately order, under the sounds of Hail Columbia. by the band. The rest of the congregation crowded in at the two end doors.
" The Chief Marshal of the day was George M. Perry, who
* Amenia Precinct was formed from Crom Elbow Precinct, March 20, 1762. and included a part of Amenia. Northeast, and the whole of Washington, Pleasant Valley Stantord. and Hyde Park.
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
had, in his younger days, a military bearing. The presiding officer was Thomas Barlow, Esq. ; the chaplains were Rev. Abner Morse and Rev. Fitch Reed ; the orator of the day was Robert Wilkinson, Esq., who then resided in Dover. His oration was worthy of his reputation as a public speaker .- The chairman of the committee of arrangements, and one of the principal movers in the celebration, was Uriah Gregory, who resided then at Amenia Union. The singers filled the front gallery. led by the significant gestures of the old chorister. Thomas Barlow, Esq., and Lewis Warner played on the bass viol. They sung Hail Columbia with a patriotism that was alive.
" After the services in the church, the procession returned in military order, to Amenia Union, where a great feast was prepared by Isaac Crane and his family. The tables were spread outdoors, under a bower put up for the purpose. Mrs. Wilkinson and a large number of other ladies were present at the feast. The toasts were fired out of a cannon, as usual. The President of the United States was toasted ; the surviving heroes of The Revolution were toasted, and the memory of the departed heroes, with a plaintive air by the band. Little did the company think when they reverently called the names of two surviving ex-Presidents of'the United States, who had been the authors of the declaration, that on that very day they died. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died that day, just fifty years from the day when they put their hands to the great declaration."
Old House near Amenia.
BEEKMAN.
POPULATION. 1.500 .-- SQUARE ACRES, 17,230.
KEKMAN was formed as a town by act of March 7, 1788, and embraced land granted to Col. Henry Beek- man. The Precinct of that name was formed Decem- ber 16, 1737, and Pawling Precinct was set off in 1768. A part of " Freedom" (now Lagrange) was taken off in 1821. and the greater portion of Union Vale in 1827. It derives its name from the Beekman family. * At the death of Col. Henry Beekman, the tract was divided into lots one mile wide. running from the Rombout Patent to the Oblong, and the lots divided among his heirs.
Beekman contains some of the finest farming land in the county. Its surface is a broken and hilly upland. Limestone and slate crop out at the summits and declivities of the hills. The streams are small creeks and brooks, tributaries of the Fishkill, and are bordered by wide, fertile intervales. The soil
* The derivation of this name is thus given by a noted writer :- " This great digni- tary was called Mynher Beekman, who derived his surname, as did Ovidins Naso of yore. from the lordly dimensions of his nose, which projected from the centre of his countenance like the beak of a parrot. He was the great progenitor of the tribe of the Beekmans. one of the most ancient and honorable families of the province, the members of which do gratefully commemorate the origin of their dignity, not as your noble families in England would do. by having a glowing proboscis emblazoned on their esenteheon. but by one and all wearing a right goedly nese stuck in the very middle of their faces."-[Irving's Knick- erbocker Hist. N. Y.
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
is a productive, gravelly loam. Sylvan Lake is a fine body of water near the west line. The Indian name for this lake is A-po-qua-que, signifying round lake. from which " Poughquag" is derived.
The first settlements are supposed to have been made about the year 1710: but the early records are lost. A. Delong located in 1716, and kept an inn at an early day. Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter. Bishop of Penn .. and his brother. Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter. Bishop of the Diocese of New York, were born in this town. Lossing, the historian, and ex-Minister DeLong, were also born here.
The Uhls came from Germany. and settled in the north part of the town. The Haxtuns and Sweets from Long Island, and the Gardners and Reisoners from Nantucket. settled in Gardner Hollow. A family named Hogeboom came to Gardner Hollow, but after remaining a year removed to Hudson. The Bakers settled on Pleasant Ridge. The Corn- wells came from Long Island, and the Noxons from Rhode Island.
John Brill came from Germany, soon after marriage, and purchased a large tract of fertile land south and west of Poughquag. It is worthy of note that much of the land is still in possession of his ancestors, the farms of the Brill family lying contiguous to each other from Poughquag to Green Haven, a distance of two miles. The Barnards moved in at an early date.
The old part of the upper store building at Poughquag has a history worthy of record. It stood, at the time of the Revolution, above the present residence of F. L. Williams, and was occupied as a Continental Store. Harness, powder, cutlasses, guns. cartridge boxes, and other military stores were kept there. It was guarded ly soldiers stationed there for the purpose. A man named Champlain had charge of it. Among the other old buildings may be mentioned the M. E. parsonage barn at Poughquag, which was in former times occupied as a distillery. Henry 1. Brill had a fulling
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
mill, on the site of the saw mill now belonging to Daniel Thomas.
There was a grist mill at Green Haven in the Revolution, kept by one Vincent. The Bogarts from Holland settled here. Richmore Bogart was elected Justice of the Peace, of whom some amusing anecdotes are told. Men differed in opinion then, as well as now, and had recourse to law to settle their difficulties. Squire Bogart was soon required to sit in judg- ment upon several cases, and uniformly gave his decisions in favor of the plaintiff. When asked the reason for so doing he replied, "Do you believe any man would be foolish enough to bring suit against another, if he did not suppose he had good ground for complaint ?" However wise Squire Bogart's decisions may have been in the eye of the law. the result was to put an effectual stop to all litigation in the neighborhood.
The Squire fattened considerable pork each year. He was at one time advised to feed his hogs on what is commonly known as the "Jamestown Weed," being assured that this would not only impart an agreeable flavor to the pork. but would cause them to fatten much sooner. Accordingly he set about raising a quantity of the weed, and when the time came threw it in to the hogs. The result was that every one of them died.
Many stories are told of the Robber Hoag, a noted Tory who infested this vicinity during the Revolution. He carried on quite an extensive business of horse-stealing, in connec- tion with his other maraudings. He and his gang were accustomed to enter dwellings, and if the people refused to give up their valuables, or to tell where they were secreted, he would tie them fast in a chair and build a fire under them, and keep them there until his demands were complied with. Many were so injured by this treatment that they did not recover in years. At one time Benj. Noxon was going out in the field. and on passing near a clump of bushes, heard the click of a gunlock. A glance revealed the Robber Hoag, lurking in the bushes. He pretended not to notice the robber, and gradually
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
drew off, and when at a safe distance ran for home with all his might. Hoag was brought up in the neighborhood which was afterwards the scene of his robberies, and he subsequently told the man with whom he had lived, that he had often covered him with his rifle as he was hiding about in the woods, and bushes, but could never summon quite enough courage to shoot. After the war, Hoag fled to Canada. A number of years after he came back to Beekman, supposing that his deeds had been forgotten, to visit the family of a relative. But he was not forgotten ; for a number of persons who had suffered from him formed a plan to kill him, and he was forced to fly to save his life.
In what is known as the Noxon Meadow, tradition locates a small Indian village, probably some of the Schaghticoke tribe. Arrow heads are picked up in that locality ; and a few years since the mounds of the graves were distinctly visible.
Green Haven, Poughquag, Beekmanville and Sylvan Lake are small post villages. Freemanville. or Guinea, is a settlement of colored people in the mountains south of Pough- quag. Charles Freeman, a mulatto, was a large land holder, and important personage among them, and is still held in remembrance by the oldest citizens.
Freemanville Palace.
There are three churches in town, viz: Baptist, Methodist, and Roman Catholic. An Episcopal Church was built in 1852 on the rising ground east of Poughquag, was taken down in 1772. and the material conveyed to Sing Sing camp ground, and there converted into cottages.
The constituent members of the Baptist Church at Beek- man .* previous to its organization, held their membership with the First Baptist Church of Fishkill, from which they were regularly dismissed. Their house of worship was completed late in the autumn of 1829, at a cost of $3,000, all
* There was, at one time. a Baptist organization in the Clove, a few miles from Beekmanville It was gathered under the labors of Mr. Palmer, and has since become extinct.
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
paid, and dedicated in December following. Dedicatory sermon by D. T. Hill,-text Rev. xxii ; 9; " Worship God." In February ten persons were recognized by a council called for the purpose, Rev. Rufus Babcock, D. D., preaching the sermon. Elder D. T. Hill became their pastor, continuing with them until 1843. The Duchess Baptist Association has four times held its anniversaries with this church.
The Centennary M. E. Church edifice at Poughquag was built in 1839. Previous to this there was a small society of two or three members. The corner stone was laid July 24. 1839 ; sermon by Rev. Mr. Cochran. The house was raised August 10. 1839 ; and the record states no alcohol was used on that occasion. At the raising, one hundred and fifty people dined. the ladies furnishing the provisions. Henry Wright was the builder ; Oliver Smith. mason. The 000 house was formally dedi- cated January 15, 1840 : six hundred people Episcopal Church. present.
The Roman Catholic Church, built about the year 1860. is situated in the west part of the town, near the south borders of Sylvan Lake.
A Quaker Church was early constituted in this town and was known as the Apoquaque Preparative Church. Their second house of worship was recently sold to a Missionary Society, and is still used for religious purposes. The first church edifice stood about two miles east of the second one. in the burying ground at Gardner Hollow. Morgan Lewis leased the land for the first house to the society, at a rent of " one pepper-corn a year, if demanded." One of the oldest grave-stones in the burial ground, that is distinctly legible, is that of Dr. Ebenezer Cary, who died in 1815, at the age of 70
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
years. The stone was removed into this ground from the old grave-yard south of the road.
The following are from the old records in the Town Clerk's office :
At a Town Meeting held. April 7, 1772, for Beekmans Precinct, chosen for officers as follows, viz :- Maurice Pleas. Town Clerk ; Joshua Carman, Supervisor ; Samuel Dorland. James Vanderburgh, Assessors ; Simeon Noxon, Constable and Collector ; Thomas Clements, Maurice Pleas, Inspectors of Intestate Estates.
Memorandum at this Meeting-The parties living on the ('love Road agreed to work it as follows, viz :- that half of the inhabitants that live below to work to Andres Buck's Lane. and the other half to work from thence to Lieut John Uhls.
At a meeting held April 2nd. 1776. James Vanderburgh. Esq., Samuel Dorland, John Hall, Ebenezer Cary, and Eliab Youmans were chosen a Committee to retire and draw up some Prudential Laws relative to height and sufficiency of fences within this Precinct, upon which they drew up the following and read them publickly to the meeting for their approbation, to which the said meeting unanimously agreed. and ordered that the same be recorded. [Then follows the laws. ]
April 3. 1787-Voted the sum of seventy pounds to be raised for the use of the poor of this Precinct.
April 1, 1788. It is hereby enacted that the majority of the Justices and a majority of the Overseers of the Poor for the time being, shall be and are hereby impowered to bind out the children of all such poor persons [as are not able to get a livelihood] as apprentices ; and they are also impowered to bind out the parents for such time and times as they may think fit and convenient. Passed in open Town Meeting,
J. OAKLEY, Clerk.
April 7, 1789 .- Voted that the next Annual Meeting shall be held at the Dwelling House of Henry Smith.
The whole amount of money received by us or our
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
predecessors in office for the use of the common schools during the year ending on the date of this report, and since the date of the last report for our town is $311.20 of which sum the part received from county treasurer is $155.60, the part from the collector $155.60 ; that the said sum of money has been expended in paying the instructors of the schools of said town. The school books most used in the common schools in our town are as follows, viz: The Juvenile Spelling Book. American Preceptor, English Reader, Walker's Dictionary, Daboll's Arithmetic, Murray's English Grammar, Morse's Geography, and Historical Dictionary by Ezra Thompson. June 1, 1835.
ALLEN BUTLER, ? Commissioners of LEWIS F. BAKER, ยง Common Schools.
We the Overseers of the Poor of the Town of Pawling, do hereby certify, own and acknowledge that Isaiah Burch, labourer, his wife and children, is inhabitants legally settled in our said town of Pawling .- In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals this ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand, eight-hundred and fifteen.
Signed in presence of Jacob Parks, Silas Dutcher.
ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL Overseers of the
& Poor of the
SAMUEL STEBBINS, Town of Pawling. April 13, 1816, special town meeting was held at the house of Adam Crouse.
This day received the name of Peter, a black child, son of Sude, a slave of Alida Bogert, who was born the 18th day of February, 1817.
May 1, 1817.
GILBERT B. NOXON, Clerk.
I, George Cornwell, of the Town of Beekman, in the County of Duchess, and State of New York do manumit and set free, and by these presents have manumitted and forever discharged from my service a certain colored man by the name of Harry, who has heretofore been my slave.
Sept. 11, 1823. GEORGE CORNWELL.
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
Whereas application has been made to us, Nathan Miller and Reed Crandall, Overseers of the Poor of said Town of Beekman, by George Cornwell, who by the above instrument of writing has this day manumitted and set free a certain colored man named Harry, who has heretofore been a slave to said George Cornwell, and therefore we, the said Nathan Miller and Reed Crandall, Overseers as aforesaid, do certify that we are personally acquainted with the said Harry, a colored man. and that we know him to be under the age of forty-five years and that he is of sufficient ability to provide for himself. We do therefore record the manumission of the above named Harry.
Sept. 1I, 1823. NATHAN MILLER ) Overseers of REED CRANDALL S the Poor.
We the Overseers of Rombouts Precinct do give Margeret Deen a permit to go and work where she may best get a living and if she should like to be a Precinct charge we the said Overseers of Rombouts Precinct are willing to take her and provide for her.
Aug. 5. 1772.
DERICK BRINKERHOFF.
ISAAC ADRIANCE, PETRES BOGARDES.
Aug. 10, 1800, was born Dinah, a black girl, daughter of Susan now in possession of . ZACHARIAH FLAGLER.
I, John Brill, of the Town of Beekman. do by these presents manumit and set free my black man named Harry, of the age of twenty-nine years. hereby acquitting and exonerat- ing him of and from all further demands for service to me for or on account of his having been born a slave to me, on condition of him, the said Harry, becoming legally manumitted.
Mar. 28, 1817.
JOHN BRILL.
It was the custom in early times. in New England and New York, for the inns to be kept by the citizens who were the most wealthy and respectable of the people, very often by men who had large farms and possessed the means of providing ample accommodations. The public houses were then not always located at the intersection of highways, and there was
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
seldom any village to give local attraction to a tavern. AD old resident pointed out the location of an ancient tavern, some yards southwest of the residence of Daniel Thomas, Esq .. now near the centre of a meadow. He recollected the sign which hung on an apple tree, near to the inn. The road at that time ran close to the house. but has since been changed.
Sixty or seventy years ago, the Doughty Tavern, located between Po'quag and Beekman. was a noted inn. That and the mill opposite was once owned and managed by a Widow Dennis, who afterward married N. Doughty, ancestor of the present families of that name. Doughty's Tavern was celebrated for its good board. excellent beds, and ample accommodations : its fame was in the mouth of every traveler journeying that way. At that time emigration from the Eastern States was quite extensive. People travelled in wagons, usually in trains. As many as twenty or thirty wagons were frequently in one train. The custom these emigrants brought to the taverns along their route proved no small source of their income.
The Vanderburgh mansion, a subjoined cut of which is given, from a pencil sketch in possession of the family, built some time previous to the Revolution. and razed in 1860, stood about one- fourth of a mile The C 1. Vanderbargh House. northeast ofthe village of Poughquag. It was one of the first substantial dwellings erected within the limits of the town, and was a fine specimen of the better class of dwellings of those early times .. It was constructed partly of stone and partly of wood, with a broad covered piazza extending the whole length in front, and a roomy, well-lighted basement, which wasset apart for the use of the slaves. In this mansion Col. Jas. Vanderburgh had eighteen:
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
children born to him, all of whom reached the age of maturi- ty, and whose descendants are now reckoned among the most esteemed and influential in the county. and elsewhere.
Col. Vanderburgh was an officer of note in the War of the Revolution. At one time, having returned home sick, the Tories of the neighborhood deemed it a favorable opportunity to attack him. Knowing the location of the bed he occupied, they approached during the night and discharged a volley at the house, hoping that some of the balls might penetrate the siding and hit his person ; but his wife. having had an inkling of the matter, had secured his safety by placing a bulwark of pillows about him. It is stated that General Washington was once the guest of Col. Vanderburgh at this house, having occasion to stop there when passing between Fishkill and some eastern point.
On one occasion, his children in company with some of their youthful neighbors were playing with the young slaves in the basement. Among their p'aythings was an old musket, with which they amused themselves by pointing at each other
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