USA > New York > Dutchess County > General history of Duchess County from 1609 to 1876, inclusive > Part 20
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Nathan Birdsell was probably the first settler, and came into town about the year 1730. He hailed from Danbury, Conn. There being no road, he moved his family on horse- back, following Indian trails and deer paths. One night, dur- ing this journey, while encamped in the woods, one of his horses strayed away, and was never afterwards found. He put up a log-house on lands now owned by A. A. Haines, and settled down in the wilderness, with no white neighbors within many miles.
Benjamin Ferris, the Quaker preacher, was the next settler. who located a short distance northwest of the residence of J. J. Vanderburgh, Esq. A pear tree was standing a few years ago, on this ground, said to have been set out by him. He was a son of Zachariah Ferris,* whose ashes repose in a little rural churchyard near Lanesville, Conn.
It is said that as late as the year 1740, there was no house on the post-road running from Albany to New York, between the present residence of Mrs. Geo. P. Taber, and the Alfred
* Zachariah Ferris came into New Milford about the year 1711.
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Wing place, then known as Harrington's. Soon afterwards however, there was quite an influx of population into the Pawling Valley, coming principally from Rhode Island. They are described as " a strong, vigorous, energetic race of people, possessing all the elements of progress, but were not re- markable for general intelligence." Some of the first settlers of the Valley that have come to our knowledge were Comfort Shaw, Nathan Cary, Henry Cary, William and Daniel Hunt, Jeremiah Sabin, John Salmon, William Halloway, Nathan Pearce, Ephraim Nichols, and Abraham Slocum.
The first regularly ordained salaried minister in Pawling was Rev. Henry Cary. He first settled on the West Moun- tain, on what is now known as the Amos Woodin farm. A recent writer says of him : "His stipulated salary was about fifty dollars per annum, in hard money, which was seldom liquidated in full ; and had marrying then been a cash transac- tion, this would have proven a heavy augmentation to his means. But the groom not unfrequently demanded a little ยท time,' even on so precious a commodity as a wife, which he afterwards forgot to pay for, or refused to do so on the ground that the article was not worth the money."
John Salmon located at the place now owned by Dewitt C. Burr. At this time the country was literally a wilderness, and wild turkeys, bears, and wolves, were more numerous than white settlers. He used to tell of bears climbing the trees on Mount Tom, for the purpose of securing the nuts. Some- times a bear or catamount, or perchance a pack of wolves, would make a raid upon his stock; on which occasions he invariably flew into a towering passion, and pursued the " varmints" with fire and sword.
Jeremiah Sabin came to this town about the year 1740, hailing from Pomfret, in the Colony of Connecticut. He was a man of great physical force, it being asserted, by the mouth of tradition, that he could hold a horse by the head despite its utmost exertions to free itself, and had sufficient strength in his arms to straighten a horse-shoe. He built on lands now
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owned by Mrs. B. H. Vanderburgh, on the east side of the Pawling and Beekman Turnpike, purchasing about two thous- and acres. His tract included most of the land extending west of his residence to Whaley Pond. He died of pleurisy in the year 1790.
William and Daniel Hunt located at the place lately occupied by Samuel H. Adee, now in possession of Hon. J. B. . Dutcher. At the time of the Revolution the " Siocum Place," -now the residence of Wm. H. Chapman, Esq., was in possession of John Kane, an Irishman by birth. Kane was so much of a loyalist that he found it necessary to go over to the British, and his property was confiscated.
The Pearce family trace their origin to one John Pearce, a Welshman, who emigrated to this country about the year 1660. The first one of his descendants of whom we have any definite knowledge was Nathan Pearce, Sen., ancestor of the Pearces of the present day. He came to Pawling about the year 1760, and settled on the place now owned by O. S. Dyke- man, Esq. In 1767 he purchased the farm now owned by Mr. Nathaniel Pearce, where he resided through most of the troublous times of the Revolution. Two of his sons, Nathan and William-the latter known as Col. William Pearce-took an active part in the war of the Colonies with the mother country, along with their father who accepted a captain's commission.
Captain Pearce and his volunteers, who were mostly from the West Mountain, were at the battle of Long Island, and participated in the action at White Plains. He was chairman of the Vigilance Committee of Pawling Precinct. This committee had a sort of discretionary power to arrest suspected Tories ; to administer the oath of allegiance ; they were also empowered to assess a tax on those who refused to sustain the government, called the " Black Rate." The collec- tion of this tax was both difficult and dangerous. Nathan Pearce, Jun., was the collector of this, and also of the military fines in this Precinct. The leaders of the Whig cause were
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radicals of an unmistakable character ; and thus incurring the hatred of the Tories, the feud naturally led to mutual crimina- tion and recrimination.
Capt. Pearce was singled out by a local Tory band as a victim. In his house were stored some fifteen or twenty guns, which the Tories had resolved to obtain. Capt. Pearce then lived in the old house which stood on the side of the road op- posite the present residence of Mr. Dykeman. One dark night, about 11 o'clock, Vaughn and his clan knocked at the door. All had retired except the hired girl; thinking it might be some neighbors, she bade them to come in. The robber clan rushed in, commanded her to raise no alarm under pain of death, and lead them to the Captain's room. At the first inti- mation the latter had of their presence, Vaughn was standing over him with fixed bayonet. During this time the rest were rummaging the house; and having found the guns, the party left without committing further outrage. The next morning, Capt. Pearce collected some neighbors and gave pursuit ; re- captured the guns, and took Vaughn prisoner, but he soon after escaped.
One pleasant Summer's day Captain Pearce went out into the fields to feed his flocks. The scene was calculated to fill the heart of a husbandman with gladness, yet a feeling of vague, undefinable horror came over him, although it was mid- day, and he had his trusty rifle by his side. Within a few feet of him was a thick copse, into which he peered, but saw noth- ing. He afterward confessed he breathed freer when he left that field. Shortly after, he received a letter from one Brown to this effect : "I am now in jail, and my life has become for- feit to the laws of my country. But I once saved your life and it is now in your power to save mine." Brown then related the circumstance of a band of robbers, including him- self, having secreted themselves in Mr. Pearce's field on a specified day, in a clump of bushes ; and that the latter came into the field to feed his flock ; and that Brown finally pre- vailed upon the robbers not to kill him, although they came
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there for that very purpose, alleging that he could not bear to see an old comrade shot down in cold blood. Capt. Pearce was fully satisfied of the truth of his declaration, and secured his release.
Comfort Shaw came to the place now occupied by Nathaniel Pearce, Esq., built a house and barn, and planted an orchard, which, judging from the size and appearance of the trees, must have been one of the first in the valley. Shaw married either the daughter or sister of Nathan Cary, great- grandfather of the Carys that formerly resided here.
James Stark, Sen., was among the early settlers of Pawling. He married the oldest daughter of Rev. Henry Cary, and in company with others, emigrated with his young wife to the Wyoming Valley between the years 1755 and '58, where he died of small-pox in 1777. His son, Capt. James Stark, partici- pated in the battle of Wyoming, and escaped by holding on to the tail of Col. Zebulon Butler's horse, and running to the fort. Two of the Starks-Aaron and Daniel-were killed in the battle, and their names may be seen inscribed on the monument erecte.l upon the spot where the battle was fought. The mother of Capt. James Stark, after the death of her hus- band, started with her little children for Pawling, leading her youngest all the way, arriving after a month's weary travel with her little flock. Their clothing was in tatters, feet lacerated and bleeding, and were looked upon by their friends as though risen from the dead. Among those that came back to this town, after the Wyoming massacre, were John, James, and William Stark, the family of Michael Rood, Solomon Lee, Job Thornton, Timothy Pearce, Crandall and Isaac Wilcox, Ezra Trim, and a host of others. Job Thornton was an ancestor of ex-Minister DeLong, formerly of Beekman.
Near where Mrs. Craft now resides, on Quaker Hill, lived one Peter Fields, a silversmith, doing a small business. The robbers made an entry into his shop one day. A number of men of the neighborhood were in there at the time, but not one of them made an effort at resistance, except Benjamin
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Ferris, Sen., the Quaker preacher Benjamin, though a man of peace, insisted on an attack upon the villains, but was not seconded. He was silenced by having a blunderbuss pointed at his head. The robbers decamped with their booty, and made good their escape to the West Mountain. None of the goods were ever recovered, and the robbery ruined the poor silversmith.
Residing at the place where Seneca Bennett now lives was Timothy Butler. In company with Capt. Pearce and others, he frequently made raids upon the strongholds of the Tories, bringing them out from the caverns and rocks to be dealt with as the law might direct. Butler was a proscribed partriot, and the robber band had sworn his destruction. His wife is said to have been in complicity with a robber chieftain, Nathan Hoag by name. She agreed to signal the robbers when he was at home, by removing a portion of the chinking from between the logs contiguous to the bed where she and her husband slept. This agreement she carried out ; in the mean- time taking good care of her own precious person, while the robbers slaughtered her husband as remorselessly as they would a wild beast.
The house of an old gentleman named Burch, located at the south part of Quaker Hill, was forcibly entered one night by a gang of robbers, who, after taking such articles as their fancy dictated compelled the old gentleman (at the point of the bayo- onet) to pledge the honor of a Quaker not to pursue them until the second day following. This promise, though made under duress, was scrupulously kept. When the time expired he collected ? posse of men and pursued the robbers to the lines : of the army, and there recognized the villains. One of them, a colored man, was then wearing Mr. Burch's shoes. A handkerchief, with Burch's name on it, was also found in his pocket. The proof was so strong that Sambo was strung up as a sort of a scapegoat for the rest of the party.
A young Quaker lady from the Hill, while at a distance from home unattended, was stopped by "some minion of the
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moon," who, after ripping open her portmanteau, and abstract- ing its contents, permitted her to proceed without further molestation.
John Hoag lived in what was known as the Porter House, which stood near the present dwelling of William J. Sterling, Esq., in the village of Pawling. One Herring was sent by Washington to purchase supplies for the army, and who went to the house of Hoag for the purpose. While there Herring was made aware that Hoag had a considerable quantity of silver and clothing, and with others concocted a plan for robbing him, which plan they a few nights afterwards executed. The next day Hoag went to headquarters. and complained of the robbery, and proceeded to search for the stolen goods through the camp. Herring volunteered to go with him and aid in the search. Soon Hoag noticed a towel sticking out of the pocket of Herring, and straightway accused the latter of the theft. Herring at first indignantly denied having anything to do with the robbery, but afterward confessed his guilt. He was tried by court-martial, found guilty, and sentenced to suffer death. The Commander-in-Chief declined to interfere,. and he was accordingly executed.
Just outside the fence near the residence of Wm. H. Chap- man, Esq., stands an old sycamore tree that a hundred years ago was used as a whipping post. One Thomas Taylor, living near Whaley Pond, was charged with stealing a gallon of New England rum. The allegation was proven, and the culprit was sentenced to pay a fine of three dollars, or in default of paying the fine, to receive ten lashes upon the bare back, " well laid on." A crowd collected to see the sentence carried out ; and as Tommy was in no sense a bad man, a sentiment of pity ran among them. A hat was passed around, and twenty- three shillings were collected forthwith, when Tommy was appealed to to make up the remaining shilling. This, strange to say, Tommy refused to do, swearing roundly that he would take the drubbing first.
This turned the current of feeling against Tommy, and he:
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was commanded to receive the sentence of the court. He determined to acquit himself like a martyr, and when the last stroke was given, he jumped about and knocked his heels together, and defied any man to say he was not grit to the back bone !
Zachary Marshall was living about this period on what is known as the Marshall farm, now owned by Mrs. Charlotte Cook. East of his house was a log barn, where he kept his hay and a portion of his stock. One day his horse wandered up the hill-side, and did not return at foddering time. In the night he was attacked by a pack of wolves; he made all possible speed for the barn, but was overtaken before reaching it, and torn in pieces. This is the only instance that has come to our knowledge of mischief perpetrated in this immedi- ate neighborhood by wolves, though we doubt not there were many similar cases throughout the county.
The " hard winter" came on so severe and unexpectedly that it found the people of this and other localities generally unprepared for it. Nearly all the grist-mills were disabled by the frosts ; which added to the roads being blocked up with snow, made it necessary for people in many places to resort to hulled corn in place of bread. It was said there was fully four feet of compact snow on a level ; and the cold was so intense that not a drop of moisture fell from the eaves in forty or fifty days. Cattle and fowls perished from cold and the lack of food; and those who had neglected to supply their winter's wood had to substitute rails, shade or fruit trees, or whatever came to hand. It was not unusual, after the snow had melted, to see stumps eight or ten feet high, although the trees were cut as low as the snow would permit.
Abraham Slocum, living where Mrs. Abbie Dodge now does, was aroused from his slumbers one night by the crowing of the old chanticleer. He awoke his wife that she, too, might listen to this joyful sound which had not been heard for weeks. Slocum predicted a thaw, which eventually came on so gradu- ally, that the whole body of snow went off without creating a
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flood, as was feared, and the following season was said to have been one of uncommon fertility.
When a herald passed through the country announcing the surrender of Burgoyne, the tidings met with a hearty response from every patriot. Bonfires, illuminations, and the thunder of artillery everywhere demonstrated the joy that was felt through- out the land. The people of Pawling Precinct instituted a barbecue in commemoration of the event. A hole was dug in the bank near the site of the residence of Richard Chapman, Esq., a fire was built therein, and a fine full-grown bullock was spitted before it. The cooking was not a pronounced success, but Pawling charged upon it with all her chivalry. Patriotic speeches were made, patriotic songs sung, and patriotic toasts drank in profusion ; and nothing prevented the thundering of cannon, but the want of cannon and powder. The Tories growled with rage, but kept at a respectful distance.
Thus the day wore off. The remnant of the carcass was given to some fellows from the West Mountain, who, by dint of exertion, managed to get it about half a mile; wearied with their efforts, and unctuous with grease and perspiration, they laid it down to discuss the matter. They finally concluded to leave it till the next morning. During the night a pack of hungry dogs undertook the task of demolishing the carcass, and struck a balance before morning.
Near the road, at the foot of the hill north of the residence of the late Dr. Benj. F. Arnold, is a clear bubbling spring. The grounds surrounding it were at that time covered with trees and underbrush. Three British troopers once stopped at this spring to drink ; and, dreaming of no danger, stacked their arms a few yards away. An American soldier, who lay hidden among the bushes, seizing his opportunity, ran out and took possession of the guns, commanding the men, under pain of instant death, to surrender. He then marched them in triumph to the American camp.
One of the most active and odious of the Tories in these
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parts was Wait Vaughn. He hailed from Vaughn's Neck,* near Lanesville, Connecticut. Of his early history but little is known. He is said to have been of idle, dissolute habits when young ; the War of the Revolution served to develop a charac- ter chiefly fitted for a marauder ; and he readily passed from the commission of peccadilloes to robbery, and from robbery to arson and murder. As before stated, he was once taken prisoner by Capt. Pearce, and sent to Poughkeepsie jail ; but he soon found means to escape, having had just enough pun- ishment to harden and prepare him for the commission of still greater atrocities.
One cold winter's morning found him shivering over the fire at the house of his uncle, in the town of Patterson. This relative, a highly respectable and staunch Whig, was almost petrified at beholding the rashness of his nephew, whom of all men he least desired to see. Said he-" Vaughn, what sent you here ? Do you not know it would be my ruin, were it known you were at my house? Go from my presence, and never let me see you again unless you become a better man !"
Among the local adherents of Vaughn was a man by the name of Kiswell, an adroit, sly villain, who heartily affiliated with the robbers and shared in their plunder. He lived in the valley south or southeast of Alfred Hillard's.
Word was sent to Capt. Pearce that the robbers were at Kiswell's, and a company of ten or twelve men were delegated to go and capture them, led by Lieut. Nichols. The latter was young and inexperienced, and probably somewhat imprudent. He wore a white ruffled shirt, which he failed to conceal by buttoning up his coat as he should have done, which little cir- cumstance led to his tragic death. The night was dark, and
* Wait Vanghu was the son of a widow. who, during the war, was living in a honse then standing on the road leading from Sherman to Lanesville. on the summit of a ridge of land called Vaughn's Neck. The locality was pointed out to the writer in the summer of 1876. The house is gone, but a part of the foundation yet remains. Wait had three brothers- Joseph, Benjamin and William. The last named was generally known as Doctor Vaughn. The mother and al her sons were Tories of the rankest type. It is re- lated of the Doctor that he was once arrested, a rope adjusted about his neck, and then made to stand upon a barrel. in order to force him to disclose the rendezvous of his brothers. He was kept in this situation for hours. but utterly refused to divulge the desired informa- tion. He was afterward taken down and released.
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the robbers had somehow been apprised of their coming. As they approached the house, one of the Tories descried Lieut. Nichols' white bosom ; taking deliberate aim he inflicted a fatal wound in young Nichols' breast. The young Lieutenant fell in a field of flax contiguous to the house, where he wallowed in his own gore until his clothing was completely saturated. He was then taken home, a bloody, ghastly corpse, to his parents. His poor mother was nearly distracted with grief. During the excitement consequent upon his death, the robbers made good their escape.
Not long after this, Kiswell was captured, manacled, and placed under the guardianship of Ezra Trim, a tried and true patriot. In crossing a stream, Kiswell managed to trip and plunge Trim headlong, wetting his ammunition and gun ; and before the latter had fairly recovered, was out of his reach. Trim snapped his gun at him several times, but the thing " held fire," and Kiswell fled the country.
Capt. Pearce was informed by his spies that a gang of rob- bers were secreting themselves in the cavern,* about two miles southwest of the present village of Pawling. He immediately collected a company of eight or ten men, and stole a march upon the Tories. He placed a guard at the two entrances of the cavern, and went in a short distance alone. He then gave the signal to his man, when they fell upon the robbers, and captured them all. The Tories were about equal in number to the other party ; each captive was therefore tied around the wrists, and placed under guard of one man. In this manner they set out through the woods adjacent to the cavern. One of the prisoners in charge of Caleb Haines (grandsire of Rich- ard H. Haines, Esq.,) contrived to slip his tether, and escaped, much to the chagrin of his conductor. The balance of the
* This cavern is on the farm of David Baker, Esq., in an open field near the foot of " Rocky Ilill." It is in a retired spot, just the place for the haunt of a robber elan ; espe- cially would this be true when the locality was heavily wooded. as was doubtless the fact at the time of which we write. It is quite a resort, in summer, for strangers visiting in the neighborhood. There is still quite a large underground room, though pieces of detached rock have somewhat blocked up the space within. Near by is the Cold Spring, a fountain of the purest water, of unusual coldness, springing out from beneath a rock. During a freshet, some years since, a pewter basin, of British manufacture, was washed out of this spring, having been lost, doubtless. by the Tory clan while here.
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batch was sent to prison; but through the instrumentality of friends contrived to break jail, and were soon at their old tricks again.
On the top of the hill, near the road leading north of the village of Pawling, and in sight of it, stood a large walnut tree. This " forest monarch " was over a century old when it was cut down, which was done only a year or so ago. Under this tree tradition says a party of Tories once held a consultation. They had formed a plan to rob the dwelling of Caleb Haines, who lived in a stone house then standing opposite the marble works, on lands of Richard Chapman. But they had found an obstacle in the way of carrying out their project. Caleb was at home, together with some of his grown-up sons ; besides there were two or three hired men in the family. These were all armed, as was the custom in those early times, and ready for a fight at any moment. This array of force threw dismay into the Tory camp, and the project was abandoned.
While the army was encamped at Pawling, an Irishman was in the habit of carrying fruit into the camp to sell to the soldiers. One day he had a bag of apples on his back, which he was going to dispose of in this way. One of the soldiers mis- chievously stepped up behind, and by a sudden movement hurled the bag from his shoulder, at the same time scattering the apples upon the ground. Every man scrambled for an ap- ple ; and before the Irishman recovered, his stock-in-trade had well nigh disappeared. He complained to the officers of his treatment, but being unable to point out the culprit who threw the bag from his shoulders, he failed in obtaining redress.
The following extract is appended, copied from a news- paper published at the time :
Forty Dollars Reward will be paid by the subscriber, besides all reasonable expenses, for detecting and bringing to justice, one or more of a gang of villians, eight or ten in number, who, on the night of the 17th of August last, armed with guns, bay- onets, and swords, surrounded the house of Mrs. Phebe Thom- as, on Quaker Hill, in Duchess County, which some of their number forcibly entered, and after many threatening expres-
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