USA > New York > Dutchess County > General history of Duchess County from 1609 to 1876, inclusive > Part 28
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" Sitting with a file of the Political Barometer before us, bearing date 1809, published in Poughkeepsie every Wednes- day morning, by Joseph Nelson, five doors south of the Court House, we are for the time being carried back to days of 'auld lang syne' in our local history. It is a long look back ; and time has wrought many changes during the period that has elapsed since these sheets were issued fresh from the press. No one can deny that the newspaper reflects the spirit and progress of the age to an extent more marked than any other one thing. An antique and strangely arranged sheet it is ; decidedly out of proportion as to length and breadth, and the old-fashioned " s" (f) playing à prominent part. The reading matter is of the most solid and uninteresting character; while the local news is confined almost exclusively to the advertise-
HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY. 357
ments, and there must we look for items of interest." We give below a few of the more striking :
Cunningham & Smith, two doors west of Post Office, offer bargains in dry goods of all descriptions, also rums, brandies, gins, salt, hardware, crockery, hollow ware, &c.
Benj. Herrick adds to these commodities, log-wood, leather, drugs, wagons, &c.
Samuel Mulford and Nicholas Power, Jun., announce their co-partnership for carrying on the dry-goods business in the yellow store opposite Paul Schenck's, Main Street.
Samuel Slee gives notice that he has purchased the stock in trade of Seelhorst & Co., in the Hardware Ironmonger and bar iron business.
John Ryan carried on a grocery business under the hotel.
Baltus Van Kleeck & Co., offer for sale dyers and fullers articles, drugs, medicines, &c. They, [as all other merchants did at that time,] offer to take country produce in payment.
John L. Holthuysen carried on the lime and lumber business at the Lower Landing.
David Phillips has for sale one lot on the corner of Washington and Mill Street, five lots on Main, and two houses and lots on the corner of Academy and Main.
Cantillons & Collins offer for sale the noted estate called Cantillons Landing, on the east bank of the Hudson, County of Duchess, seven miles north of Poughkeepsie.
Francis L. Berier conducted a French Academy at the house of Ephraim T. Paine, Esq., Main Street. Mrs. Paine had a school in the same building. It would appear that the streets were not numbered at the time, as none are given.
The following, copied from the ancient records in Pough- keepsie, show the form of a legal instrument in olden times :
Dutchess County & ss. Thomas Sanders, Justice of the Peace for said County assigned. [L. S.]
To all Constables and other officers as well within. said county as elsewhere within the Collony of New York, to whom the execution rereof doth or may concern, Greeting.
WHEREAS, I have Received Information and charge
.
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
against one James Jones, lately come from Lebanon, in ye County of Windham, in ye Collony of Connecticut, and Liveing in Dutchess County, at the house of one Ellexander Griggs, Calls himself a Weaver, a Lusty Well Sott Likely man full faced Brown Complexioned and wares a Black Wigg Irishman ; by birth by the brogue on his Speach, who is Charged before me to be a Dangerous person and is suspected to have Stolen a silver spoon or the bigest part of a Silver Spoon ; as by a warrant Produced; and the complaint of William Derddy of Lebanon in county aforesd sometime in the month of this pres- ent November.
Notwithstanding Seavverall Endeavours for apprehensions of him he hath not as yett been apprehended but hath with- drawn himself and fled-Lately from Lebanon in ye County of Windham In ye Colloney of Conecticut, and is Come to our County of Dutchess These are therefore in his majesties name to command you and every of You to make diligent search within your seaverall Precincts and Districts for said James Jones, and to make hue and Cry after him from Town to Town, and from County to County, and that as well by horsemen as by footmen, according to Law, and if you shall find the said James Jones that then you do carry him before some one of his Majesties Justices of the Peace Within the county or place whare he shall be taken to be Dealtt withal ac- cording to Law. Hereof fail not at your perills. Given under my hand In Dutchess County this Seventeenth Day of Novem- ber, In the fourth year of our Reaign, and In the year of our Lord God Everlasting Anº 1730.
The mark of ₭ Thomas Sanders
To Franc Cool High Constapel Justice of the Peace.
In Dutchess County pursue after
the person in this Hue and Cry.
The following is an account of LaFayette's visit :- General the Marquis-de Lafayette, after an absence of thirty-nine years, revisited our country on the invitations of Congress, as the nation's guest, in 1824. He reached New York on the 15th of August, in the packet ship Cadmus, Capt. Allyn, with his son and secretary. The Government had tendered him a United States frigate, but always simple and unostentatious, he preferred to come as an ordinary passenger in a packet ship.
There were no wires fifty years ago over which intelligence conld pass with lightning speed; but the v sit of LaFayette
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
was expected, and the pulses and hearts of the people were quickened and warmed simultaneously, through some mysteri- ous medium, throughout the whole Union. Citizens rushed from neighboring cities and villages to welcome the French nobleman, who, before he was twenty-one years old, had devoted himself and his fortune to the American colonies in their unequal conflict with the mother country for indepen- dence; and who, after fighting gallantly by the side of Wash- ington through the Revolutionary War, returned to France with the only reward he desired or valued-the gratitude of a free people.
General LaFayette was now sixty-seven years of age, with some physical infirmites, but intellectually strong, and in man- ners and feeling cheerful, elastic and accomplished.
The General embarked at I o'clock, a. m. At half past two his approach was announced hv a discharge of cannons
City Ilall.
from the bluff just below the landing at Poughkeepsie. Large piles of seasoned wood, saturated with tar and turpentine, were kindled upon that bluff, fed by hundreds of boys who had been intrusted with that duty, and which were kept blazing high, filling the atmosphere with lurid flame and smoke until daylight. Soon after sunrise, a large concourse of the citizens of Poughkeepsie, with a military escort, arrived at the wharf.
The boat having arrived, Gen. LaFayette, accompanied by Col. Huger of South Carolina, (distinguished for his attempt to
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
rescue the General from the prison of Olmutz) Gens. Van Courtlan 1, Fish an 1 Levis, were conducted to a barouche drawn by four white horses. Gen. Brush, assisted by Col. Cunningham, then formed the procession which moved at the word of command up Main Street into Academy, and down Cannon into Market Street, in front of the Forbus Hotel, where they were formed into a hollow square, and the General was received by the Trustees of the village.
He was next conducted to the upper piazza of the Forbus House, when an address of welcome was tendered by Col. H. A. Livingston, to which LaFayette feelingly replied. He was then shown to the centre hall, where the ladies, eager to offer their tribute of respect, were presented ; after which he returned to the lower piazza, and was introduced to the officers present. He then walked along the line of troops, bowing to them as he passed, and receiving their respects. Among them was an old soldier bearing the marks of poverty and hardship, but whom the General recognized, and cordially shook by the hand.
At the conclusion of these ceremonies the General was escorted to the Poughkeepsie Hotel, where an excellent break- fast was provided. LaFayette sat at the head of the table, and Major Swartwout, a soldier of the Revolution, 95 years of age, was placed at the opposite end, the seats on either side being occupied by the most prominent persons of the village. Over the folding doors were the words " Welcome LaFayette," made up wholly of the pink blossoms of the china-aster.
Breakfast over, the General was escorted to the landing, and amid the firing of cannons, the waving of handkerchiefs, and the cheers from thousands, the steamer proceeded up the river to the then beautiful residence of Governor Morgan Lewis, where the party landed, proceeded to his fine old mansion, and partook of a sumptuous collation. About two o'clock the steamer glided through the placid waters until between four and five o'clock, when she reached Clermont, the manor house of Chancellor Livingston, of revolutionary
SOLDIERS MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN AND GROUNDS.
PIERSON.EN.S.N.M
VIEW IN EASTMAN'S PARK.
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
memory. On landing the General was received by a large body of Free Masons, and was escorted by a military company from Hulson to the beautiful lawn in front of the manor house, where the General was warmly welcomed by the Master of the Lodge in an appropriate speech. The afternoon was uncommonly beautiful. The scene and its associations were exceedingly impressive. Dinner was served in a green-house or orangery, which formed a sort of balcony to the Southern exposure of the manor house. When the cloth was removed and the evening came on, variegated lamps suspended from the orange trees were lighted, producing a beautiful and wonder- fully brilliant effect. Distinguished men from Esopus, Sauger- ties, Upper and Lower Red Hook, Catskill, Hudson, &c., had been invited. Among these were Robert and James Tillotsen, Walter Patterson, Peter R., Edward P. and "Oakhill John" Livingston, Jacob Haight, Thomas B. Cook, James Powers; John Suydam, Judge Willam W. Van Ness, Elisha Williams, Jacob Rutson Van Rensselaer, Ambrose L. Jordan and Justis Mc Kinstry. But the grand event of the occasion was the ball, which was opened by General LaFayette, leading the graceful, blind widow of Gen. Montgomery,-who fell in the assault at Quebec, 1775-amidst the wildest enthusiasm of all' present. While the festivities were progressing within, the assembled tenantry who were to the "manor born," were feasted upon the lawn, where there were music and dancing. The party broke up and returned to the boat about 3 A. M. The steamor hauled out into the river, but did not get under way till sunrise.
On the afternoon of the 12th of August, 1840, a terrific thunder storm arose. During its progress the air was filled with sulphur, and "so incessant was the lightning that Main and Market Streets seemed to be one vivid sheet of fire." Major Hatch then kept the Forbus House. He was sitting with his back agan t the bell-knob, in con pany with Gilbert V. Wilkinson and Charles Potter. The lightning entered a room on the second floor, and followed the bell-wire down to
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
the knob and on the side of the front door, striking the Major in the back, killing him instantly, and rendering his compan- ions insensible. A ball of fire entered a room on the first floor of a house on Cannon Street, where it separated, one portion passing out of the front door, and the other going through the kitchen, striking senseless a girl who was at work there. Several other buildings about the town were damaged ; the bells all rang the fire alarm, and general consternation pre- vailed among the people.
In the Autumn of 1844, the State Fair was held in Pough- keepsie, on the grounds in the eastern part of the then village.
The hill back of the city is crowned with a model of the Temple of Minerva. From this point the city appears like a
Catholic Church. Cannon Sireet.
town in the midst of a forest ; and a view of a fine farming country of a radius of thirty miles, spreads out before the eye of the beholder. The city is profusely shaded with multitudes of maple, elm, and acacia trees. The building here mentioned was formerly the Poughkeepsie Collegiate School. This insti- tution was organized in 1836, under the charge of Charles Bartlett and others. The school has been discontinued, and it is now used as a hotel. The following is copied from Barber's Historical Collections, descriptive of this once flourishing insti- tution of learning :
"Its situation is truly a noble one ; standing on an emi-
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
nence commanding an extensive view of almost every variety of feature necessary to the perfection of a beautiful landscape. From the colonnade, which entirely surrounds it, the eye of the spectator can compass a circuit of nearly sixty miles ; on the south, at a distance of twenty miles, the Highlands terminate the view, within which an apparent plain stretches to their base, covered with highly cultivated farms, neat mansions and thriving villages. Similar scenery meets the eye on the east, but more undulating. On the west and north, the Hudson rolls in its pride and beauty, dotted with the sails of inland commerce and numerous steamboats, all laden with products of industry and busy men. In the dim distance, the azure summits of the Catskills, reared to the clouds, stretch away to the north, a distance of forty miles, where the far-famed ' Mountain House' is distinctly seen, like a pearl in its moun- tain crest, at an elevation of three thousand feet above the river. At our feet, like a beautiful panorama, lies the city of Poughkeepsie, with its churches, its literary institutions, and various improvements in view, indicating the existence of a liberal spirit of well-directed enterprise."
Two miles below Poughkeepsie is Locust Grove. This was the seat of the late Prof. S F. B. Morse, a name known throughout every civilized nation of the globe as the inventor of the magnetic telegraph. Locust Grove was his summer residence, where he enjoyed telegraphic communication with every part of the United States and the British Provinces. This mansion is embosomed among the trees, on an eminence overlooking the river, and is one of the most charming retreats along the Hudson. Nearly opposite, on the west bank, we see Blue Point. It is said that under the shadow of these hills was the favorite anchorage of " The Storm Ship." The legend connected with this is one of the oldest, and therefore the most reliable. The story, which has been rendered immortal by the pen of the gifted Irving, is somewhat as follows : Years ago, when New York was a village-a mere cluster of houses on the point now known as the Battery ; when the Bowery was
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
the farm of Peter Stuyvesant, and the neighborhood of the: old Dutch Church on Nassau Street was considered the- country, say one hundred and fifty years ago-the whole. town was one evening put into great commotion by the fact that a ship was coming up the bay. The arrival of a ship was, in those days, a matter of great importance, and everybody flocked to the landing place. The vessel approached the. Battery within hailing distance, and then sailing both against wind and tide, turned aside and passed up the Hudson. Week after week elapsed, but she never returned; and whenever a storm came down the Tappan Zee, it is said she could be seen careering over the waste; and in the midst of the turmoil you could hear the Captain giving orders in good Low Dutch. But when the weather was pleasant, her favorite anchorage was among the shadows of the picturesque hills a few miles above the Highlands. It was thought by some to be Hendrick Hudson, and his crew of the " Half Moon," who had once run aground in the upper part of the river ; and people living in this vicinity still insist that under the calm harvest moon they can see her under the bluff of Blue Point, all in deep shadow, save her topsails glittering in the moonlight.
The following is from the Political Barometer, 1809 ; "The sloop Edward, John Foster, Jun., sails from the Landing of Geo. B. Everson & Co., for the accommodation of ladies and gentlemen traveling on business or pleasure, leaving Pough- keepsie on Tuesdays at 5 o'clock, p. m., and New York on Fridays. Her berths are furnished with packing bottoms, new beds and beddings. Passengers will be let ashore if requested, at any place between Poughkeepsie and new York."
An aged citizen says: "I well remember the time when; the old steamboats used to ply between New York and Albany and that when they hove in sight of the point coming down, a. boy, with an immense tin horn, would go up in the town and biow on the horn, to give notice that the boat was in sight. Those intending to take passage would come down to the river,. without much necessity of hurrying either, as the old crafts:
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
proceeded very slowly ; and there was plenty of time for the passengers to dress and walk down to the river before the boat reached the dock. In those primitive days the passengers were taken to the steamboat in a yawl, as the former did not make landings at the dock."
Whale dock is located a short distance north of Main Street landing. It is so named because the whale ships, that were sent out from Poughkeepsie many years ago, were moored at this point. This business was conducted largely under the patronage of Nathaniel P. Talmadge. Many a DUCHESS County youth signed the shipping papers, and cured his love for the sea by a long whaling voyage. The first ship sent out came back
Jewish Synagogue.
at the end of three years with a large stock of oil and whale- bone, but the subsequent voyages were failures, and the busi- ness was finally given up.
A fearful accident occurred at the drawbridge spanning the creek at New Hamburgh, on the 6th of February, 1871, occa- sioned by the colliding of a special oil train going south, and the Pacifie express train going north. The axle of one of the oil cars broke just before reaching the drawbridge, which threw the car from the track, and caused it to project sufficiently to be struck by the locomotive of the express train. The latter, locomotive and all, was instantly thrown from the track into the water on the east side of the bridge. Several of the oil
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
cars were crushed, and the wreck of both trains set on fire by the flames communicated to the oil by the furnace of the loco- motive. Three sleeping cars were attached to the express train. In the first of these, the passengers were so injured and stunned by the collision, that they were unable to leave the car before it was enveloped in flames, and all perished. The pas- sengers in the other cars were comparatively uninjured, and escaped before the flames reached them. Almost immediately the bridge was likewise all ablaze, and in a short time it fell with a crash, carrying with it the burning cars, and burying in the ice and water the half consumed bodies of the occupants of the first sleeping car. Between thirty and forty persons were believed to have perished.
The eminences about New Hamburgh are covered with Arbor Vitæ .* Loudon, the English naturalist, says the finest specimens in the world of this species of tree are to be found here. The most beautiful are from six to ten feet in hight. They are of all sizes and forms ;- from the tall tree that shows its first stem several feet from the ground, to the perfect cone that seems to rest on the earth.
Many of the readers of this volume will doubtless remember that old river institution, the "horse ferry boat." The annexed is a representation of one of the last in use on the Hud- son. In 1860 there were only two of the kind-one at Milton Ferry, Horse Ferry Boat. shown in the cut, and the other at
Coxsackie. Steam has superseded the horse as a motive power, and the horse ferry boat exists only in the memories of the past.
To the eastward of the city of Poughkeepsie are the sites of two race courses, now obliterated. One of these tracks was in existence but a few years ago ; the other dates back to earlier times, when running matches were more in vogue than at present. Then the people came from all parts of the
* In New England, it is frequently called Hackmatack. It bears yellow cones about five lines in length ..
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
country, remaining three or four days. It is said it was not unusual for a large amount of money to change hands during the races.
Vassar College, established for the higher education of young women, enjoys the distinguishing feature of being the first of the kind ever founded. Its history is thus briefly given by the historian, Lossing : Its Board of Directors was organ- ized in February, 1861, and it was opened in September, 1865, with 350 students. It possesses an Art-Gallery, Cabinet and Museum, not inferior to those of any college in our country, and has a Library of almost 10,000 volumes. Its founder, Matthew Vassar, lived here from his early boyhood until his death. He began his business life in Poughkeepsie 66 years ago, [1876] as a brewer of ale, a barrel at a time, which he car- ried around the streets with his own hands, and sold to cus- tomers. When by honesty, industry and thrift he had accumu- lated a large fortune in his declining years, he was induced by his niece, Miss Lydia Booth, who was at the head of a semi- nary for young women in Poughkeepsie, to contemplate the founding of an institution for the higher education of women. This germ expanded and yielded noble fruit. He gave a large portion of his fortune (he was a childless man) to the found- ing of this college, and lived to see it start upon a career of great prosperity and usefulness. Matthew Vassar, by an ex- penditure of $800,000, gave to Poughkeepsie the immortal honor of having within its borders, the first college proper ever established for the education of young women.
The same writer says of Eastman's Business College :- The Eastman National Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, is not only the pioneer among these Institutions, in teaching actual business, but is a model. Dr. Eastman first opened a commercial school at Oswego, New York, in 1855. Previous to that time only penmanship, arithmetic and the theory of book-keeping were taught in commercial schools. He introduced with theory, actual business operations, teaching the students practical knowledge in buying and selling accord-
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
ing to the fundamental principles of trade. In the College at Poughkeepsie, which was founded in 1858, the student not only learns the theory of business of every kind, but is actually engaged in the practical operations of a merchant, a banker, a trader, an accountant, and a book-keeper, using real merchan- dise, and specie, bank notes and fractional currency, in as legitimate a way as if he were a member of a mercantile or b isiness house. Each day's business is based upon quotations in the New York market, whether it be stocks, merchandise or produce. Dr. Eastman opened his College in Poughkeepsie, in a small room with only three students. They numbered sixteen the second week, and at the end of three years they had expanded to 500 ; and in 1863, to 1,200. The next year the College register, at one time, showed a regular daily atten- dance of over 1,700 students. The rules and regulations of the Eistminh Business College are calculated to insure order, and a high moral tone. The students are generally earnest young men seeking practical business knowledge. Its gradu- ate;, nov ninbering aboit 23,000, fill miny places of trust in our land, and many others have become leaders in commercial circles.
In August of 1853, the Young Men's Christian Association of the City of Poughkeepsie was founded, at a meeting held in the First Methodist Church. That meeting was addressed by Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby, the pioneer in the organization of similar institutions in this country. The Association was or- ganized by the appointment of John H. Mathews as President, J. I. Platt as Secretary, and W. B. Frissell, as Treasurer. A reading room was furnished, the nucleus of a library was formed ; stated prayer meetings were established, and Committees were appointed to do active christian work. By persevering effort and the generosity of the citizens of Poughkeepsie, and other liberal minded people, the spacious building occupied by the association was purchased, and the usefulness of the institu- tion greatly extended.
Space would fail were we to mention, at length, the " Home
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
for the Friendless," "Old Ladies' Home," "St. Barnabas Hospital," "House of Industry," and other kindred institu- tions, with which are closely associated the prosperity and happiness of the people.
The Poughkeepsie Female Academy was founded in 1836, being incorporated under the Regents of New York. The Principal, Rev. D. G. Wright, A. M., a gentleman of superior talents, and of ripe scholarship, has held his present position during the past seventeen years.
The Duchess County Academy building was erected in 1836, at a cost of $14,000. This institution was first organ- ized in Fishkill, and afterwards removed to Cannon Street, Poughkeepsie. In the year above mentioned it was again removed to its present location, on Hamilton Street, where it is now used as The Old Ladies' Home.
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