USA > New York > Dutchess County > General history of Duchess County from 1609 to 1876, inclusive > Part 24
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" I have been a poor, wild heathen, and for forty years as ignorant as a dog. I was the greatest drunkard, and the most
* Tschoop (pronounced tish-up) became a victim of that terrible scourge of the Indians, small-pox. Ilc died at Bethlehem, whither he had gone to reside with several of his tribe, in 1716.
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willing slave of the Devil; and as I knew nothing of our Savior, I served vain idols, which I now wish to see destroyed with fire. Of this I have repented with many tears. When I heard that Jesus was also the Savior of the heathen, and that I ought to give him my heart, I felt a drawing within me towards him. But my wife and children were my enemies, and my greatest enemy was my wife's mother. She told me I was worse than a dog, if I no more believed in her idol. But my eyes being opened, I understood that what she said was the greatest folly, for I knew she had received her idol from her grandmother. It is made of leather, and decorated with wampum, and she, being the oldest person in the house, made us worship it; which we have done, till our teacher came, and told us of the Lamb of God, who shed his blood, and died for us poor ignorant people. Now I feel and believe that our Savior alone can help me, by the power of His blood, and no other. I believe that he is my God and my Savior, who died on the cross for me a sinner. I wish to be baptized, and long for it most ardently. I am lame, and cannot travel in winter; but in April or May I will come to you. I am your poor wild TSCHOOP."
The wonderful change which had taken place in this wild Indian awakened the attention of the other Indians, who flocked to Shekomeko, from twenty or thirty miles round, to hear the new preacher.
In the summer of 1742, the mission was visited by Count Zinzendorff and his beautiful and interesting daughter Benigna. They crossed the country from Bethlehem, Penn., to Esopus (now Kingston), and arrived at Shekomeko Aug. 27th, “after passing through dreadful wildernesses, woods and swamps, in which he and his companions suffered great hardships." Rauch received them in his hut with great joy, and the day following lodged them in a cottage built of bark. The Count afterward declared this to have been the most agreeable dwelling he had ever inhabited. During this visit six Indians were baptized, and a regular congregation was formed. It consisted of ten
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persons, and was the first congregation formed of believing Indians in North America.
In September the Count and his companions took leave of them. Two Indians, David and Joshua, accompanied them to Bethlehem, who were baptized at that place by Buettnor, the Count assisting in the administration.
In October of that year Gottlob Buettnor and wife rejoined Missionary Rauch at Shekomeko, and devoted themselves to the work of instructing the heathen. In December a burial ground was laid out for the use of the baptized Indians, the same in which Buettnor was afterward buried. At the close of the year the whole number of baptized Indians was thirty-one.
About this time Martin Mack arrived to assist in the mission, but soon afterward took charge of the station at Pachgatgoch, (Schaghticoke,) where the success was even greater than at Shekomeko, and where the missionaries con- tinued to labor more than twenty years. A portion of the tribe still remains ; their history is full of melancholy interest, and worthy of an imperishable record.
March 13th, 1743, holy communion was administered to the firstlings of Shekomeko, preceded by a love-feast, followed by the Pedilavium (washing of one another's feet), both established customs among the Moravians. The Missionary writes : "While I live I shall never lose the 'impression this first communion with the Indians in North America made upon me."
In July, 1743, the new chapel at Shekomeko was finished and consecrated. It was thirty feet by twenty, and was covered with smooth bark. It is represented as an appropri- ate and commodious building, striking in its general appear- ance, and of great convenience to the mission. It was con- stantly kept open on Sundays and on festal occasions. The greatest interest was manifested by the Indians in the services held in their new chapel.
But now troubles begin to thicken in the pathway of the devoted missionaries. The whites were enraged at the
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injury of their business ; caught every false rumor in circula- tion against them, and publicly branded them with epithets of Papists and traitors. The authorities of New York and Con- necticut were called upon to interfere and banish them from the country.
Two of the missionaries were taken up at Pachgatgoch, and after being dragged up and down the country for two days, were honorably acquitted by the Governor of Connecticut. Yet their accusers insisted on their being bound over in a pen- alty of one hundred pounds, to keep the laws of the country. The missionaries then retired to Shekomeko, followed by many Indians whom they had instructed.
No charge could be more false and preposterous. The history of the missionaries consisted of their good works in the effort to save souls, and in the trials and sufferings endured from the persecutions of the Church of Rome. They made it a fixed policy never to interfere in the politics of the country, but simply to labor for the benefit of their fellow men.
Count Zinzendorff sent Brother Shaw as a school-master to the Indian children at Shekomeko. At the close of 1743, the congregation of baptized Indians at Shekomeko numbered sixty-three persons, exclusive of those belonging to Pachgat- goch. About this time occurred the difficulties between the French and English about the boundaries of their respective dominions. The French employed Jesuits to alienate the Indian tribes, and prepare them to take part against the Eng- lish. The fears of the white settlers were greatly alarmed. The Indians were generally regarded as enemies, and any one who befriended them was looked upon as a spy of the French. This state of things afforded an excellent opportunity for the enemies of the missionaries at Shekomeko. They were charged with being Papists and Jesuits in disguise ; preparing the savages for a grand massacre of their white neighbors ; and of having secreted arms for the purpose. These reports terrified the inhabitants ; many forsook their farms and fled ; others placed themselves under arms for defence.
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March Ist, 1744, Mr. Justice Hegeman, of Filkintown (Mabbettsville) visited Shekomeko, and informed the mission- aries that it was his duty to inquire what sort of people the Brethren were, for the most dangerous tenets were ascribed to them. He himself gave no credence to the reports, and was fully convinced that the work at Shekomeko was a work of God.
Buettnor, the principal missionary, was at the time absent in Bethlehem. Immediately on his return, they were sum- moned to Pickipsi (Poughkeepsie) to exercise with the militia ; they refused on the ground that as ministers of the gospel they could not be legally required to bear arms.
In June of that year a Justice of the Peace arrived from Pickipsi to examine into affairs. He admitted the accusations against the priests were entirely groundless, but he required them to take two oaths :
Ist. That King George, being the lawful sovereign of the kingdom, they would not in any way encourage the Pretender.
2d. That they rejected Transubstantiation, the worship of the Virgin Mary, Purgatory, etc.
In every point in these oaths Buettnor assured him they could entirely agree. And though they could not in good con- science take an oath, being restrained by the religious princi- ples, which, as members of the Brethren Church, they had adopted, yet they were willing to be bound by their assevera- tion, yes or no. The Justice expressed his satisfaction for the present, but required them to be bound in a penalty of forty pounds to appear before the court in Pickipsi on the 16th of October following.
The next June they were summoned to Reinbeck, where they were called upon in open court to prove they were pri- vileged teachers. Buettnor produced his written vocation and his certificate of ordination, duly signed by Bishop David Nitschman.
Again on the 14th of July they were required to appear
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before the Justice at Filkintown. Here John Rau appeared in their favor, and gave a decisive and noble testimony, from his own intimate knowledge, in their defence.
In the meantime their adversaries had repeatedly accused them before Hon. George Clinton, then Governor of New York, who sent for them to inquire into the truth of the start- ling reports. Buettnor and Senseman, from Shekomeko, and Shaw from Bethlehem, went to New York, where they found that the whole town was aroused concerning them. Mr. Jus- tice Beekman, however, who had before examined them at Reinbeck, publicly took their part in New York, and affirmed that " the good done by them among the Indians was unde- niable."
Proceedings were commenced before the Governor touch- ing their case in July, 1744, and the matter was left to a council. His Excellency communicated to the board that he had sent letters to Col. H. Beekman, one of His Majesty's Justices for Duchess County, and Colonel of Militia for that county, acquainting him with the reports he had received touching the Moravians, and requiring him to make the neces- sary investigation. He also communicated to the Board a letter from Beekman that there were four Moravian priests and many Indians at Schecomico, and that he had made search for arms and ammunition, but found none, nor could he hear of any. Before the receipt of the Governor's order, the Sheriff, Justice and eight others were at Schecomico ; they found the Indians quietly at work on their plantations, who were thrown into consternation at their approach. The Indians received the Sheriff's party civilly ; but no ammunition was found, and as few arms as could be expected among such a number of men. He denied their being disaffected toward the crown ; that they, too, were afraid of the French and Indians. The only business of the missionaries at Schecomico was to save souls among the heathen. They were asked to take oaths, but refused through a scruple of conscience.
Upon examination of the missionaries before the council,
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these facts were repeated, and they were exonerated from all blame. The prosecution of the missionaries thus far was under the provincial law against Jesuits, passed 1700, which was to the last degree unjust and oppressive. It may be urged in palliation however, and with reason, that the public mind was greatly exercised in regard to the subject ; that the people stood in mortal dread of the tomahawk and scalping knife ; and the possibility and even probability that some of the mas- sacres of the white settlers were instigated by human fiends sent amog the Indians under the guise of priests was sufficient, under such a state of feeling, to prejudice the people against any who professed to be teachers of the red man.
In September, 1744, Buettnor was again summoned to Pickipsi, and again honorably dismissed. In the minds of most of the people, the missionaries were innocent of the charges against them.
Thus far the schemes of the enemies of the devoted mis- sionaries had been foiled ; now they were to prove more suc- cessful. December 15th, 1744, three Justices appeared at Shekomeko, and the missionaries were again commanded to appear at Pickipsi on the 17th. Buettnor was ill and could not attend ; but the other missionaries appeared. The act was read to them by which the ministers of the congregation of the . Brethren, teaching the Indians, were expelled from the country, under the pretense of being in league with the French, and were forbidden under a heavy penalty, ever again appearing among the Indians without first taking the oath of allegiance.
Bishop Spangenberg visited Shekomeko to devise means by which the Moravians might carry on their work, but all in vain. He remained there two weeks, and was obliged to leave the converted Indians exposed to all the evil influences surround- ing them. Finally the white people drove the believing Indi- ans from Shekomeko by main force, on pretense that the ground the town was built upon belonged to others, and they took possession of the land.
Buettnor now ended his weary pilgrimage, dying Feb. 23d,
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1745. aged 29 years. The Indians wept over him; they dressed his corpse in white, and buried him with great solemnity at Shekomeko; they watered his grave with their tears, and for a long time used to visit and weep over it. A stone put up to mark his grave bore this inscription :
" Here lies the body of Gottlob Buettnor, who according to the commandment of his crucified God and Savior, brought the glad tidings to the heathen, that the blood of Jesus had made an atonement for their sins. As many as embraced this atonement in faith were baptized in the death of the Lord. His last prayer was that they might be preserved until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was born Dec. 29th, 1716, and fell asleep in the Lord Feb. 23, 1745."
Only a small portion of this stone, very much mutilated, and scarcely at ail legible, is still preserved. The locality is still shown by the proprietor, Edward Hunting, as also the site of the Missionary building ; some portions of the foundation are still recognized. The orchard planted by the Missionaries has disappeared ;* and the medicinal roots there planted until recently refused to quit their home, and remained a blessing to those living in the neighborhood.
The effect of these misfortunes was disheartening to the the poor Indians. A portion of the tribe removed to Pachgat- goch, where they attempted to make their home. Another part formed a colony at Wechquadnack, on the eastern border of Indian Pond, in the town of Sharon, Conn. A portion of the Indian orchard still remains. At this place was formed a congregation of Indians, under charge of Moravians. David Bruce, a Scotchman, was appointed to this station, where he died, deeply lamented, in 1749, and was buried here.
After the dispersion of the Indians at Wechquadnack, a congregation of white people was established on the west side of Indian Pond, in North East, on lands owned by Hiram Clark. Here a meeting-house was built, which was in later years used as a school-house. Near by, in a burying-ground, is
* One apple tree remained till within three or four years.
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the grave of Rev. Joseph Powell, doubtless the Moravian mis- sionary of that name. Other Shekomeko Indians went to Bethlehem, in Penn., and as it was impossible for the Moravians to continue their labors here, the field was finally abandoned.
After the death of Bruce, the whites at Wechquadnack still desiring that religious services might be held there, a Moravian named Abram Van Reinke was sent out. He had appoint- ments at Salisbury and Sharon, in Connecticut, and also at Oblong, Nine Partners, and Livingston Manor.
Mabbettsville is the " Filkintown" of the historian Loskiel, so-called from the Filkins, who were early settlers in the neigh- borhood. Before the observer is the rugged back of old Stiss- ing, an isolated granite mountain with sides and jagged ridge covered with forests as thick as when the Mohegans, one hun- dred years ago, roamed through the solitude to rouse the bear, or chase the bounding moose. Eastward, along its foot, are spread luxuriant meadows, with scarcely a tree to vary the car- peting of green. Halcyon Lake lies south of the village of Pine Plains, surrounded by pastoral beauties. Here Buettnor and his Indians were wont to shoot the wild duck and spear the pickerel.
The ancient Indian village* of Shekomekot was situated, it is believed by some, in a field that slopes southward from Buettnor's grave to the meadow-less than twenty feet inter-
* The annexed Is copied from a drawing, made in 1745, of the village of Shekomeko. The line on the bottom represents Shekomeko Creek. Near the lett of the picture is a cir- cle, representing an old garden. To the right of this are two large buildings together ; these
Shekomeko in 1745.
are the church and mission house. The two figures circular at the top represent cellars. The figure nearest to the creek is a barrack for hay or grain; and the square one above the row of huts marks the place of the burial ground.
t Signifying in the Indian tongue, " Little Mountain." Aunt Eunice, grand daughter of Gideon Mauwee, the Schaghticoke chiettain, always accented the antepenult in speak- ing the word-She-kom-eko; she said that sounded "more Indian" to her ear.
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vening between the missionary's graves and the Indian huts that were arranged in a crescent around the little bark-covered church. Others locate it about one-fourth of a mile southeast of the grave, not far from a pile of stones said to have been the foundation of the " sweat-house," and a basin in the brook that comes down from the hillside, where the Moravian mis- sionaries used to dip the Indian children ill with the small-pox.
In 1854, Rev. Sheldon Davis interested Mr. Hunting in the search for the grave of Buettnor. One Winans, a descend- ant of the former proprietor, was the only one who could iden- tify the spot. He came, and driving down a stake, said the grave was within a rod of the same; and that the first stone the plow would strike would be a fragment of the old grave- stone. After turning a few furrows, the plow stuck a slab a few inches below the surface that proved to be the object sought after.
It appears that during the proprietorship of Winans, be- tween 1762 and 1797, an attempt was made to remove the stone. It then stood upright, in the middle of a field, and was an obstacle to cultivation. A yoke of oxen and three horses were unable to draw it away, and it was allowed to stand. As late as 1806, the school boys as they passed would gather about · the grave of the unknown man, and gradually demolished the monument. One boy, who strongly protested against the sacrilege, was, in 1860, the sole survivor of the party.
Shortly afterward the grave was searched for treasure, it being said there was an Indian warrior buried there, with a rifle of costly workmanship. Nothing, however, was found, except a skull and a few bones, and fragments of pine boards. The fragments of stone were replaced, but gradually became scattered, and the plow and harrow finished the work of de- struction. When Mr. Hunting came in possession of the farm he found a portion of the slab in a stonewall. It was removed within doors, and became an object of curiosity.
In 1859, the Moravian Historical Society took measures to erect monuments over the grave of Gottlob Buettnor, at She-
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komeko, and near the graves of David Bruce and Joseph Powell, at Wechquadnack. Lossing assisted in the undertak- ing, and to him was entrusted the designing of the monu- ments. *
It was thought that the occasion of the dedication of the monuments, which took place in September, 1869, demanded something of a historic nature. Ministers were appointed to prepare discourses embodying all historical data that could be found bearing upon the subject. Portions of the Moravian ritual that relate to the death and resurrection were selected ; the use of litanies was deemed appropriate, for the missiona- ries were buried without those cherished rites. Easter morning litany, prayed yearly on Moravian burial grounds, and the choral music of trombonists, a characteristic of Moravian obsequies, were added to the programme of religious exercises. It was deemed best to hold introductory services of a more general nature on the evening before the first day of dedication, in order that the committee and friends might witness cere- monies of Moravian worship; and they were accordingly held in the "Bethel," a little Union Church in the valley of Shekom- eko. The memorial services were attended by a concourse of over one thousand people.
The site of Powell's grave, and the Moravian church and cemetery, being on lands of Mr. Clark, it was deemed proper to hold services in this locality, and from thence proceed across the lake in boats, pursuing the same course toward the south- eastern shore as had been followed by the Indians when, over a hundred years ago, they carried the remains of their loved teacher over "Gnaden-See" for interment in their national cemetery.
Near the site of the ancient village of Wechquadnack is a marble shaft erected to the memory of David Bruce and Jo- seph Powell. It is situated at the summit of a little knoll, in a sheltered nook, a few rods from the eastern border of In- dian Pond. Around it are the same grand old mountains,
" Rock-ribbed, and ancient as the sun,"
* The monuments were manufactured in the marble yard at Ponghkeepsie, and luring the first part of September [1859] were visited by great numbers of people daily.
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which echoed back the beautiful hymns sung by the Moravian. missionary and his dusky congregation.
On the north side of this monument is inscribed :- Joseph Powell, a minister of the Gospel in the church of the United Brethren, born 1710, near White Church, Shrop- shire, England. Died September 22, 1771, at Si- chem, in the Oblong, DUCHESS 'ounty, New York. On the south side are the foll wing words :- David Bruce, a minister of the Gosp 1 in the church of the United Brethren, from Edinburgh, Scotland. Monument, Died July 9, 1749, at the Wechquadnack Mission, DUCHESS County, New York. And on the west side :- erected by the Moravian Historical Society, October 6, 1859 ; on the reverse, a selection from Isaiah.
The following are the inscriptions on the monument at Shekomeko :- North side-Shekomeko Mission, commenced April 6, 1740, by Christian Henry Rauch. Erected by the Moravian Historical Society, Oct. 5, 1859. South side-In memory of the Mohican Indians, Lazara, baptized Dec. 1, 1742, died Dec. 5, 1742, and Daniel, baptized Dec. 26, 1742; died March 20, 1744. On the east and Monument. west sides are similar inscriptions, one in English and the other in Dutch, the same that was inscribed on the original monument .*
An old church, built by the Moravians, or, as some believe, by the Dutch Reformed Society, once stood a mile or more east of Pine Plains, near Hammertown, in the vicinity of the old burying ground. The house was quite large, square built, and was never ceiled. Alex. McIntosh brought over the com- munion service and presented it to the church. The grand- father and grandmother of Abraham Bockee were buried here in 1764, about the time the church was built. Much of the
* See page 312.
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material of this ancient edifice is still preserved, having been used in the construction of a barn in the vicinity.
When Livingston's surveyors were running the line be- tween his manor and the Little Nine Partners' tract, they were believed to be locating the line too far south, and were met and fought back by persons in the interest of the land compa- ny. When they came to the west line of the Oblong, then the boundary of Connecticut, the people of that colony offered armed resistance to the surveyors, who were about to run their line through to the Taghkanick Mountains. In the skirmish one of Livingston's surveyors was killed. From this and similar circumstances it would appear that force was a favorite instrument, in those early times, of settling difficulties. Instead of going to law, as a means of deciding a boundary, armed bodies of men were brought on the ground, when the question of ownership of the disputed territory would be decided in favor of the victorious party.
Henry Yonkhonce and a man named Montross were among the early settlers of Pine Plains. The latter located in the northwest part of the town, where he built a mill; the former settled to the east of him, not far from Hammertown. Yonk- honce, so it is said, was slain on his own domain by a war party of fierce Mohawk Indians, who were on their way to attack the Shekomeko settlement. By some means they were deterred from the intended attack, and commenced a retreat ; the Shekomeko tribe sent a party of armed warriors in pursuit, who overtook their foe near the borders of Copake Lake, in Columbia County. Here a sanguinary battle was fought, resulting in the total destruction of the invading party-not one of them being spared to convey the news of their disas- trous defeat to their distant village in the valley of the Mo- hawk. Ebenezer Dibble, C. W. Rauty, James Graham, John Tice, Smith and Snyder were early settlers.
Two log houses are yet standing in the vicinity of the vil- lage of Pine Plains, which were among the first built in the town. Their sides have since been covered with clap-boards,
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