USA > New York > Dutchess County > General history of Duchess County from 1609 to 1876, inclusive > Part 13
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At stated intervals these aged pilgrims meet together for.
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prayer and exhortation. Some have belonged to this society more than half a century. In childhood, and in maturer years they together have listened to the preached Word; and, as they pass down the steep of old age, hand in hand they go. mutually consoling and congratulating one another as they tremble on the brink of eternity.
Another Friends' meeting house was located on Pleasant Ridge, of whose early history we have not any record at hand.
VALLEY VIEW CEMETERY ASSOCIATION.
This association was organized May 27th, 1871, at Dover Plains, by the following persons : John H. Ketcham, George T. Belding, James K. Mabbett, George M. Allerton, Egbert Dutcher, Thomas Hammond, Jr., Joseph Belden, and Horace D. Hufcut. The association purchased sixteen and one-half acres of land of James Ketcham. It consisted of a beautiful, undulating meadow, adjoining the old burying ground, a short distance south of the village. "The ancient hills and moun- tains stand sentinels around it, hence the appropriateness of its name-Valley View." At the northern border a stream of pure water runs gently over a gravelly bed, seeking its burial in the Ten Mile Creek, a short distance away. Its contiguity to the old burying ground-where lie the buried dead of several generations of the Dover Valley-contributed in some degree to the selection of the ground, and in September following the organization of the association, the inhabitants interested in the old ground caused the same to be transferred to the Association for cemetery purposes-the old and new grounds together making one cemetery of twenty acres in extent. The grounds were laid out by Mr. J. I. Wanzer ; and on the 7th day of October, 1871, the cemetery was formally dedicated, Hon. Allard Anthony delivering the address. The old grounds, mentioned above, was a parcel of land, of about five acres in extent, granted May 16, 1818, by John R. Livingston, to the inhabitants of a surrounding tract of about four miles square, for educational and religious purposes. Part of this was
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connected with the parsonage, and was sold some twenty-five years ago.
The mill now known as Preston's Mill was kept in former times by Elihu Russell, and had a wide reputation, being one of the first in this part of the country. The present structure was built nearly a century since,* a former one, on the same site, having been carried away in a freshet some time previous. A fulling mill was early established here. It is related that a man named Wilcox once went with a grist to Russell's Mill, and was told that he must wait till the next day as there were other customers before him. He concluded he would not go home without it at all events. Dinner time came, and he was invited in to dine with the family.
Now Wilcox was a man of large frame, and withal a huge feeder ; and his bashfulness was not so great as to prevent his partaking of the good things with a heartiness that filled the heart of poor Russell with dismay. Slipping out unobserved he hastened to the mill, poured out the contents of Mr. Wilcox's sack into the hopper, and when the latter finally emerged from the dining-room, Russell met him with the information that his grist was ready. Wilcox took his depar- ture, happy in the thought that he had secured his grist so early, and had made a good substantial dinner out of his friend the miller into the bargain ; while the latter was no less rejoiced that he had got rid of a customer that was like to have exhausted his stock of provisions.
John Preston opened a tavern about the year 1810. The house is still standing, as is also the barn opposite, on which are painted figures of cattle. It became a favorite resort particularly for drovers ; and Preston's Tavern and its hospita- ble but somewhat eccentric landlord, were in days gone by well known throughout the State.
Preston once collected the seeds of a noxious weed, put them carefully in little paper packages labeled with a high-sounding
* The building known as " Titus's Store" was put up by him about the same time. Stephen Sweet was the builder of both .- See page 145.
,
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botanical name, and distributed them among his guests, representing the plant as bearing flowers of rare beauty. Those who accepted the seeds, and planted them as directed, had cause to remember the landlord of Preston's Tavern to their dying day.
He was once questioned as to his manner of fattening cattle. " My plan," said he, "is to plow a furrow or two around that grove of trees, and plant gourd seeds ; the vines run up among the branches, and the cows climb the trees and fatten on the gourds."
Jackson Wing opened a tavern at an early date in the large brick house now occupied by his son, Ebenezer Wing. This was at one time a noted resort for drovers passing through this section of country. Here the town meetings were held before the erection of Dover into a separate town.
The "Old Forge," by which name the locality is still known, was located on Ten Mile River, near the State line. Old John Griffin used to work in it. An old resident says the hammer made a great noise, and could be heard a long distance off. At this place an old saw-mill is located, connected with which is a traditional story :
During the Revolution, a man having in his possession a quantity of silver money, buried it at the foot of a tree on " Weaver Mountain," drove a spike into the tree to mark the spot. and ran away to escape conscription. After an absence of several years he returned for his treasure, but the bark had grown over and concealed the spike, and he was unable to find it. Years afterward the timber on the mountain was cut off, and the logs drawn to the mill. One day the saw came in con- tact with an obstruction in a large log, and was shivered to pieces. On examination a spike was found imbedded in the wood. This called to mind the circumstances of the buried money. and efforts were made to find the stump from which the log was cut, but without avail; and the treasure, if tradi- tion speaks truly, is still lying there.
In the western part of the town, in the days gone by, when
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men believed in ghosts, there stood what was known as the " Haunted House." Many were the stories connected with this building which were rehearsed around the Winter fireside ; people were afraid to live in it, and it remained untenanted for a number of years ; and the bravest among them would cast uneasy glances toward it when they were obliged to pass in its vicinity after nightfall. It was said the furniture was offered to any one who would go and remove it, but it was found impos- sible to do so, as unseen hands would snatch away the articles before they could be carried out. Strange noises were fre- quently heard within it, usually on very dark and stormy nights ; and strange, unnatural lights could at times be seen flitting about the different apartments. But ghosts are now out of fashion, and if they ever lived, they have gone to more congen- ial climes ; and though the house yet stands, nothing is now heard about its being haunted.
David Allis was an old resident, and lived in the house yet standing in a dilapidated condition, near the Jewett school- house. He used to preach in the Branch Meeting House. He was the man that bored holes in the south side of his apple-trees, into which he poured molasses, to make, as he said, the apples on that side of the tree sweet.
At the close of the Revolution a "barbecue" was held at Dover Plains. A man named Grant gave the ox, which was spitted and roasted whole. Speeches were delivered, and a great concourse of people came together. Although the cook- ing was none of the best and the flesh was either raw or burned to a crisp, the patriotism of the people led them to pronounce it excellent.
Preston Mountain has long been the dwelling place of her- mits. Robert Brownell long ago lived in the rocks there ; Curtis was another, who kept a cobbler's shop in a cave, to which the inhabitants of the neighborhood repaired when their shoes needed mending ; and it is said that there is still another now living a solitary life on the north part of the mountain.
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There is an old burying ground near the site of Martin Pres- ton's house, where lie the bones of the first inhabitants.
Ebenezer Preston, better known as "Captain" Preston, was a brother of Martin Preston's, and was one of the earliest settlers in the town. He located in the valley of the Ten Mile stream, and put up three grist-mills. Two mills are now standing on the sites of these old ones; a third was located at "The Forge." Thomas Wing was another early emigrant. He came from Rhode Island, and settled near where Thomas Wheeler, Esq .. now lives.
William Chapman kept a hotel on the Old Forge road, about half a mile east of Preston's Mill, before the hotel at the latter place was opened.
Mistake Turnpike lies partly in this town. It leads over the mountain, west of Wing's Station. The name is said to have been given it from this circumstance :- When the road was being built, a large boulder was rolled down the mountain side with the view that it should form a part of the wall of an embankment. Its momentum was so great as to carry it be- yond the place intended. out of reach. where it remains to this day.
Allis Pond and Sharparoon Pond are the principal bodies of water. Some peat beds have been opened near the line of the Harlem Railroad. Both the white and clouded varieties of marble are found ; Preston's and Ketcham's quarries are the principal openings that have been made. Two blast furnaces were built in this town, both of which are in ruins.
FISHKILL.
POPULATION, 15,785 .- SQUARE ACRES, 59.848.
DISHKILL, was formed as a town March 7th, 1788. part of Philipstown was annexed March 14th, 1806. A part of "Freedom" (now Lagrange) was taken off in 1821. November 29th, 1849, East Fishkill was taken from it and erected into a separate township ; and May 20th, 1875, the town of "Wappinger" was constituted from its remaining northern portion. As few or no events of historic interest have transpired since its division into separate town- ships, the facts recorded in this chapter will be considered as relating to the whole territory comprised in the original town of Fishkill. The early inhabitants called it Vis-Kill, that is, Fish-Creek, kill being the name for creek ; hence its present name.
The surface is mountainous in the south, and hilly in the north. The Fishkill Mountains, extending along the southern border, are high, rocky, and precipitous. Old Beacon and Grand Sachem, the highest summits, are respectively 1471 and 1685 feet above tide. These are commemorable from the fact that bale-fires were kindled on their tops in Revolutionary days, to alarm the inhabitants of the surrounding country in case of sudden invasion.
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A break in these mountains is known as the Wiccopee* Pass. This was carefully guarded during the Revolution, to prevent the British from turning the American works at West Point. A considerable American force was stationed at its upper extremity during the campaign of 1777.
The Fishkill skirts the foot of the mountains, separating them from the hilly region in the northwest. Wappingers Creek forms the west boundary. A high rolling ridge lies between these two streams; the highest point is Mt. Hopet 1000 feet above tide. A series of bluffs, 150 to 250 feet high, extends along the river, broken by the valleys of the streams. The soil is a clay and gravelly loam.
Prior to the advent of the English this vicinity was the favorite home of the Red Man. Here the priests performed their incantations, and ministered at their altars. Until recently, there were evidences of their occupation of this territory in the traces of their burial grounds, and in the many apple and pear trees, planted by Indian hands, that were standing. But the memory of the ancient inhabitants is rendered more permanent by the beautiful Indian names yet applied to streams and localities-Matteawan, Wiccopee, Shenandoah, etc. We subjoin a deposition made by David Ninham, a Wappinger Indian, touching the boundaries of tribes etc. :
DAVID NINHAM, aged thirty-six years, being duly sworn, maketh oath that he is a River Indian, of tribe of the Wappin- gers, which tribe were the ancient inhabitants of the east shore of Hudson River, from the city of New York to about the middle of Beekmans Patent; that another of River Indians, called Mohegans, were the remaining inhabitants of the east shore of Hudson River; that these two tribes consti- tuted one nation. That the deponent well understands the language of the Mohegans. It is very little different from the language of the Wappinger tribe. That the Indian word Pattenock signifies, in the language of the Mohegans, a "fall of water," and has no other signification. And this deponent
* So named from the Wiccopees, an Indian clan once living near Shenandoah.
t Mit Hope is about one-half mile south of Myers' Corners. A beautiful and extend- ·A view is obtained from its summit.
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says that he is a Christian, and has resided some years with the Mohegans at Stockbridge.
his
DAVID × NINHAM.
mark
Sworn the second day of August, 1762, before me.
WILLIAM SMITH.
As late as 1700, a powerful tribe, numbering more than a thousand warriors, lived in the vicinity of Fishkill Hook. They erected a palisade on Fort Hill, for retreat when hard pressed by the foe; their village was located in the valley north of this hill. It is but a few years since that this tribe became extinct.
The first land purchased in DUCHESS County was in the town of Fishkill. February 8th, 1682, a license was given by Thomas Dongan, Commander-in-Chief of the Province of New York, to Francis Rombout and Gulian Ver Planck, to purchase a tract of land from the Indians. Under this license they bought on the 8th day of August, 1683, of the Wappinger Indians, all their right to a large tract afterwards known as the Rombout Patent. Gulian Ver Planck died before the English patent was issued by Dongan. Stephanus Van Cortland was then joined in it with Rombout, and Jacobus Kipp substituted as the representative of the children of Gulian Ver Planck. On the 17th day of October, 1685, letters patent were granted by King James the Second. There were 85,000 acres included in the patent. Besides paying the natives, they were to pay the Commander-in-Chief, Thomas Dongan, six bushels of good and merchantable winter wheat every year.
This Indian deed* is couched in the formal language common to all old instruments of that class. The names of the Indian granters are :- Sackoraghkigh, Megriskar, Quegh- sjehapieuw, Niessjawejhos, Queghout, Asotewes, Wappegereck, Nathindaew, Wappape, Ketaghkanns, Mekaghoghkan, Mier- ham, Peapightapaeuw, Queghhitaeuw, Memesawogh, Katariogh, Kightapinkog, Rearawogh, Meggiech, Sejay, Wienangeck,
* Recorded in Alb., Book of Patents, vol. 5, p. 72.
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Maenemaeuw, and Guighstierm. The following is a schedule of articles paid in the purchase of the land:
One hund Royalls, One hund Pound Powder. Two hund fathom of White Wampum, one hund Barrs of Lead, One hundred fathom of black Wampum, thirty tobacco boxes, ten holl adges, thirty Gunns, twenty Blankets, forty fathom of Duffils, twenty fathom of stroudwater Cloth, thirty Kittles, forty Hatchets, forty horns, forty shirts, forty p stockins, twelve coates of R. B. & b. C., ten Drawing Knives, forty earthen Juggs, forty Bottles, forty Knives, fouer ankers rum, ten halfe fatts Beere, two hund tobacco Pipes, &c., Eighty Pound Tobaco.
As already observed, the patentees came in full possession of their purchase in the autumn of 1685. No positive dates of occupancy can be determined from authentic records previous to 1708, when a partition by writ of the Supreme Court was made of all lands between the Fishkill and Wappingers Creek ; the remainder, north and south of these streams remaining in common to the several owners. Settlement was begun on the Verplanck portion of this division subsequent to the Rombout and Van Courtland sections. One-third of the Verplanck allotment was afterward apportioned to Andrew Teller, son and only child of Henrietta Verplanck.
January 10th, 1709, Roger Brett-son-in-law of Francis Rombout, one of the original patentees-and Catherine his wife, gave their joint bond to Capt. Gylob Shelly, of New York, for the sum of £399, 6s. This bond soon falling due, they in June, 1713, gave a mortgage deed to the executors of Gylob Shelly, covering their part of the division between the two streams (their allotment covering mainly the Fishkill settle- ment), "excepting and reserving always out of said premises, one tenement, grist-mill and water course thereunto belonging, together with 300 acres of land adjoining said mill, now in possession of said Roger Brett ; also certain parcels of land now in possession of John Terboss, John Buys, Casper Prime, Peter DeBoys, and Yowreb Springstead ; also 5,000 acres lying and being in any part of the reserved premises."
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Without doubt the persons named in this mortgage were the only persons occupying lands on the patent ; and the borrowed money was probably used by Roger Brett and wife in erecting a house and grist-mill the following year. A grist- mill has now no especial interest ; its charms would be greater were we depending on one single mill for our daily bread. This was the first mill built in DUCHESS County ; and for a long time Orange County paid tribute to Madam Brett's* mill, for by this name it was known far and wide. Roads terminated there .- " From Wiccopee to Madam Brett's Mill ;" " From Hackensack to Madam Brett's Mill." An old gentleman in Orange County stated the following :- His grandfather used to tell him that when he was a boy he was accustomed to go to Madam Brett's Mill, that being the only mill to which they then had access. The neighbors and settlers for miles would come with a bag of grain fastened securely upon the back of a horse. When they had all arrived, the horses were tied to each other's tails, and mounting the foremost one he wended his way to the river. With an Indian canoe he would carry over the grain. returning again in the same manner.
Early in 1742. a company was formed of eighteen persons for the purpose of engaging in the freighting business. This was probably the first organized freighting concern in the county.
The first settlement of the original town of Fishkill dates back as far as the year 1682. Nicholas Emigh was the first settler. He embarked for America with Robert Livingston about 1672. On shipboard he became acquainted with a pretty Dutch girl from Holstein, and they were married before they touched American shores. Unwilling to be a mere retainer of Livingston, he and his young wife went to Fort
* Roger, the husband of Madame Brett, was killed when comparatively young. IIc was coming from New York in 1721, on board of a sloop. When entering the mouth of the Fishkill the boom of the vessel struck him. cansing his death. It is said that his remains were interred in the old burying ground near Byrnesville. Madam Brett survived him more than half a century, but never again married. She died in 1764. After her death there were many lease farms in the castern part of her possessions, in Fishkill Ilook, and extending east towards Shenandoah. The heirs extinguished those leases and divided the property, as directed by her will. and then sold the farms to actual settlers.
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Orange (now Albany), intending to settle upon an island in the Hudson, near that place, within the manor of Van Rensselaer. But the free spirit of Emigh could not succumb to feudal authority, and in 1682 he started for the unbroken wilderness of DUCHESS County. He settled at the mouth of the Fishkill, purchased a tract of land extending from that creek to Pough- keepsie, and eastward to the Connecticut line .* The Rombout Patent, however, granted some three years later, to Francis Rombout and others, by King James the Second, and the Beekman Patent, granted still later to Colonel Henry Beek- man, covered the whole territory purchased by Emigh, who, having only an Indian deed, was dispossessed by the later purchasers holding their authority from the Crown. He after- wards purchased a large tract in the Clove, from the charter proprietors, some of which is in possession of his descendants at the present time.
While at Fishkill a daughter was born to them, the first white child born within the limits of DUCHESS County. About the year 1700, a young man from Holstein, named Peter Lasinck (Lossing), came to DUCHESS County. The little Fishkill maiden had grown up to rosy womanhood, and young Lasinck and Katrina Emigh wedded and settled in the present domain of East Fishkill. They had four sons and four daughters; and it is said that when the oldest of the eight died, the other seven were still living, the youngest being 75 years old. William, the first-born, was the King's collector of taxes in 1726. The historian, Lossing, is a descendant of this family.
Until 1712, the nearest blacksmith to the Fishkill settlers was at Esopus, then called Wiltwyck. One of Peter Lasinck's boys was sent there with a plowshare lashed to the saddle, which he was to have sharpened. Having traveled an Indian trail homeward for a dozen miles, the fastenings gave way, and the plowshare fell to the ground. In the fall the point was broken, and the poor lad was obliged to turn back and have
* Mr. Benson J. Lossing has this Indian deed in his possession.
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his work done the second time. Altogether he traveled a hundred miles to have a plowshare prepared for use.
The next permanent settler was Peche Dewall, who located at Fishkill Landing. He came there in the spring of 1688. His wife assisted him in clearing up his land. The following winter he went to New York with a hand sled ; made some purchases, and drew the articles home, though the road most of the way was but an Indian trail. In the spring he bought a horse for £3, which was considered a fair price for a horse in those days.
Emigh and Dewall were almost the only settlers here for many years. Situated in the midst of a wilderness, remote from any settlement ; surrounded by savage Indians and still more savage beasts ; provisions scarce and hard to be obtained and the long winters cold and severe-their situation was by no means enviable. A sloop would come up the river occasionally, when the captain and some of the crew would come ashore, and then all would be solitary again; and months would transpire before they would again learn what events were taking place in the outside world.
From 1700 to 1715, settlement progressed slowly, the pioneers locating mostly along the river. The Indians were numerous, their village lying near the present site of Fishkill Hook. There they had set out apple orchards ; a few of the apple trees may yet be seen on the farm of William Waldo. They had a little clearing on the farm of Theodore Van Wyck, where they raised their Indian corn.
Theodoris Van Wyck was one of the first settlers at Fish- kill Hook. One of his boys, a lad of twelve summers, used to go to the Indian village occasionally, and the squaws would give him something to eat. Happening there one day when nearly the whole village was absent, he ventured to look into a dinner vessel swung over one of their fires, and there saw a piece of old horse with the hair on it, seasoned with some beans. From that time he declined to eat with the Indians.
" Where Johnsville is located once stood a dense forest.
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The small streams were much obstructed by fallen trees, so that the water collected in stagnant pools, and rendered the locality unhealthy. These pools were the habitations of veno- mous serpents and various animals, such as the beaver, otter and muskrat. The early settlers were careful about venturing out after dark, for fear of the bite of some venomous snake. They were obliged to drive their stock into enclosures every night as a protection against beasts of prey, and often the wolves and panthers would break through and carry away some of the sheep and lambs to their dens in the mountains."
The first settlers of the village of Johnsville, the ancient name of which was Wiccopee, was Johannes Swartwout. He leased a farm of Madam Brett for three fat fowls a year. He made a clearing, erected a log-house near an excellent spring, and in 1750 set out an apple orchard. Many of the trees still stand. One taken down some fourteen years ago was twelve feet around at its base, and fifty feet high. This farm after- ward came in possession of Rombout Brett, a grandson of Madam Brett, who located on it in the year 1770. He sold six acres to a blacksmith named Cushman, the first mechanic in Johnsville. The barracks of the American army near Fish- kill were given to the inhabitants after they were vacated. Cushman, with the help of his neighbors, went to the barracks and hauled up the material for his house and blacksmith shop.
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