USA > New York > Ulster County > Kingston > History and legend, fact, fancy and romance of the Old Mine Road, Kingston, N.Y., to the mine holes of Pahaquarry > Part 12
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Imprimis it is my will and I do order that all my Just debts and funeral Charges shall be paid within a convenient time after my Decease by my Executors hereafter named, Item I give and devise unto my son John Vandusen my House I now live in with the Lott of land it Stands on also the barn and all other buildings thereon with the Orchard adjoining the same and also my meadow which lays below the hill near Jacobus Hardenberghs, known by the name of the fley, with all the Appurtenances thereunto belonging with all my black Smith tools and also my case of draws which I bought of my brother in law Cornelius Winkoop, to have and to hold unto him, my said son his heirs and assigns for Ever, Item I give and devise unto my two Daughters Catharine and Mary my lott of land laying on the north side of the Esopus kill or Creek also my lott of
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THE OLD MINE ROAD.
land laying on the south side of said kill or Creek known by the name of the Sheep pasture and also my large Cub- bert which I got with their mother my late deceased wife to be by them Equally Divided, and to be held by them their heirs and assigns for Ever, Item I give to my said two Daughters my two Largest Looking glasses, Catharine to have the Largest and Mary to have the smallest, Item it is my will and order that my son John pay to each of my said two daughters, the Sum of Twenty five Pounds, Current Money of the State of New York, and that within two years after my decease, Item I give to my beloved wife Rachel the Southeast Room of my dwelling House with the Seller which is Under the same, to be by her Occupied, and not otherwise so that she shall not have the Renting of the same, or allow any other person or persons to live in said Room (unless part of her family) which is only given and to be occupied as aforesaid, during her Widdowhood or natural lifetime which Ever may happen first; Also I give to my Said wife one fourth of the apples which shall grow in the orchard given to my Son John during said time and also one fourth of my garden for the time aforesaid, Item I give to my said wife the bed we lodge in with the bedstead Hangings Covering and everything thereunto belonging, one small Cubbert two sheep one Cow one Square Table two pales two milk kulers one pot one Trammel atongs and Shovel, and a pair of Andirons, Item I give to my said wife the Sum of twenty pounds Current Money of the State of New York to be paid within one year after my Decease by my Executor herein to be named and all the rest and resi- due of my Goods Chattels and personal Estate whatever I give to my said son John and my two daughters Catharine and Mary to be by them equally divided, Item I will and declare what I have herein before given to my said wife shall be and I do hereby declare the same to be in full barr and satisfaction of her dower and claim of thirds in or to my said Estate or any part thereof and I do make and ordain my said son John sole Executor to perform the true
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APPENDIX.
intent and meaning in this my will mentioned. In witness whereof I the said Jan Vandusen have to this my last Will and Testament Set my hand and Seal the day and year above written. [Signed] JAN VANDUESEN.
[L. S.]
Signed sealed and Delivered by the said Jan Vandusen as and for his last will and Testament in the presence of us who were present at the Signing and Sealing thereof.
Lucos Elmendorf, Corni Dubois, Huybert Ostrander.
Deed of the Senate House, Hurley, which furnishes the earliest known date showing age of building; date of erection is not known :-
THIS INDENTURE made the sixteenth Day of Feb- ruary in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hun- dred and fifteen Between Henry DeWitt of the Town of Hurley in the County of Ulster and State of New York Party of the first part And John G. Krom of the Town of Esopus in the County of Ulster aforesaid party of the second part WITNESSETH that the party of the first for and in consideration of the sum of Fifteen Hundred Dol- lars current money of the State of New York to him in hand paid by the said party of the second part, at and be- fore the ensealing and delivery of these presents the Re- ceipt whereof the said party of the first part doth hereby Acknowledge and therewith is fully satisfied contented and paid hath granted, bargained, sold, aliened, remised, re- leased, conveyed, assured, enfeoffed, and confirmed, fully, freely, and absolutely, by these presents, unto the said party of the second part his heirs and assigns forever. All that certain lot of ground with all the buildings thereon erected situate on the northeasterly side of the Street in the town of Hurley aforesaid nearly opposite to the meeting house or church, which was on the first day of February in
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THE OLD MINE ROAD.
the year 1743-4 Conveyed by John Van Deusen unto his son John Van Deusen Junior, as the same is therein butted and bounded and described as follows, viz. Between the house lot of Derick Roosa and the ground of Huybert Suy- landt, being in length from the street Northeast two De- grees Easterly Four chains fifty eight links, Then in breadth in the rear East southeast six Degrees thirty min- utes southerly Four chains seventy nine links. Then to the lot of Huybert Suylandt Southwest Four Degrees thirty minutes Westerly Two chains Eighty one links, then by the rear of Huybert Suylandts lot, Northwest One Degree northerly Two chains twenty one links, then in length by said Huybert Suylandts lot to the street west two degrees westerly Four chains, then in breadth by the street Two chains twenty three links. Containing Three acres and thirty roods TOGETHER with all and singular the appur- tenances, privileges and advantages whatsoever, unto the above mentioned and described premises, in any wise ap- pertaining or belonging; and the Reversion and Rever- sions remainder and remainders, rents issues and profits thereof; And also all the Estate, right, title, interest, prop- erty, claim And demand whatsoever, as well in Law as in equity of the said party of the first, of in and to the same, or any & every parcel thereof with the appurtenances TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the above granted, bargained and described premises with the Appurtenances unto the said party of the second part his heirs and assigns for their own proper use, benefit and behoof forever; And the said party of the first part for his heirs executors and adminis- trators, covenant, promise, grant and agree to and with the said party of the second part his heirs and assigns, that the said party of the first, at the time of ensealing and de- livery of these presents is lawfully seized in his own right of in and to the aforesaid described premises, hereby granted and conveyed with the appurtenances as a good free, per- fect, absolute and indefeasable estate of inheritance in Law, in fee simple and that he has not done committed, executed,
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APPENDIX.
or suffered any act or acts, thing or things whatsoever whereby the said lot of land, tenements and premises above mentioned or any part thereof, now are or hereafter may be impeached or incumbered, in title, charge, estate or otherwise, so as in any manner of condition to alter, change determine or defeat the same; And has in himself good right full power, and lawful authority, to grant bargain sell, convey and Release the above described land and premises with the appurtenances unto the said party of the second part his heirs and assigns in manner aforesaid. And also that the said party of the second part his heirs and assigns shall and may from time to time and at all times and for- ever hereafter peaceably and quietly have, hold Occupy possess and enjoy the said hereby granted and bargained premises with the appurtenances And the said party of the first part his heirs all and singular the above mentioned premises and every of their appurtenances unto him the said party of the second part his heirs and assigns against him the said party of the first part his heirs And against all and every other person and persons whatsoever, shall and will warrant and forever defend by these presents IN WIT- NESS whereof the parties to these presents have hereunto interchangeably set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.
SEALED AND DELIVERED IN THE PRESENCE OF
Peter P. Roosa
Jno. A. DeWitt
Henry DeWitt
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THE OLD MINE ROAD.
A brief history of the canal and its inception, taken princi- pally from chapter XX. of the "History of New York Canals", Vol. I., 1905, by Noble E. Whitford, who confines himself strictly to the engineering and financial problems encountered; its ultimate success and a few brief statistical notes.
My library friends say there is no other work on the canal -- not even so much as a magazine article can be found. Mr. Whitford does not touch on the cement industry which was developed by the canal, nor on any other phase of local devel- opment due to the opening of this water-way, and we must be content with what he gives us.
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THE DELAWARE AND HUDSON CANAL.
THE DELAWARE AND HUDSON CANAL.
With the exception of the comparatively unimportant Junction Canal, the Delaware and Hudson is the only enter- prise of its kind in the state that remained in the hands of its original projectors through all the difficulties and doubts of its babyhood.
The enterprise was conceived by Maurice Wurts of Phila- delphia, whose brother William was fond of taking long tramps (even as you and I) through northeastern Pennsylvania. About 1812, while in one of these periods of wanderlust, he was attracted by the black stones which he noticed cropping out of the ground here and there. With specimens carried to Philadelphia he and his brothers, Charles and Maurice, be- came convinced of its value as a fuel. On rafts William floated a few tons to their home city, but the public received it coldly and it was not until 1820, when 365 tons were shipped, that the industry of coal mining began, though it was five years more before the business assumed any proportions whatever. In the meantime, however, the Wurts brothers had made ex- tensive purchases of the waste land in this inaccessible wilder- ness which proved of immense value as the industry grew.
To supply Philadelphia and the South was comparatively easy, it was down stream; but New York and the East was another proposition, and this Maurice Wurts set about solv- ing by securing first, from the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1822- 3 an act "To Improve the Navigation of the Lackawaxen River"; second, through the incorporation by the New York Legislature, April 23, 1823, of "The President, Managers and Company of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company", which was authorized to construct a canal from a point on the
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THE OLD MINE ROAD.
Delaware River, through Orange, Sullivan and Ulster Counties to a point on the Hudson River. G. B. Vroom, Philip Hone, Lynde Catlin, Jonathan Thompson, Garret B. Abeel, George Janeway and Elisha Tibbits of New York; George D. Wick- ham and Hector Craig of Orange County; Abraham Has- brouck and John C. Brodhead of Ulster County, were author- ized as commissioners to receive subscriptions to the capital stock.
In the Spring of 1823 Maurice and William Wurts secured the services of Judge Benjamin Wright, chief engineer of the Erie Canal, and instructed him "to have a proper survey or running level carried over the country from tidewater of the Hudson River, at the mouth of the Walkill, up the valley of the Rondout, and thence over to the Delaware River, and thence up the same to the confluence of the Lackawaxen, and thence up the Lackawaxen to a point as near to the coal mines as possible". Judge Wright being unable to undertake the work in person, engaged Mr. John B. Mills, a young engineer of promise, to make the reconnaissance, and Mr. Mills com- pleted his work in September, 1823.
Next Col. John L. Sullivan, a man of practical knowledge, was engaged to go over the ground, and his report is dated January 7, 1824, his estimate of the cost being $1,208,632.95, the canal to be 117 miles in length and its primary object the introduction of coal into the State of New York.
On April 7, 1824, New York amended the act of incorpora- tion, increasing the capital stock from $500,000 to $1,500,000 and the powers of the company, which originally covered only the stretch between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers, were extended along the latter river from Carpenter's Point to the mouth of the Lackawaxen, and on November 16, 1824, the charter was further amended, allowing the company to use $500,000 of paid-in capital in the business of banking in the city of New York and to issue notes to the amount of $1,500,- ooo on condition that the canal should be commenced within six months after electing a board of managers, and that they
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THE DELAWARE AND HUDSON CANAL.
should expend at least $150,000 a year on construction and should complete the canal within seven years; the banking privilege to continue for twenty years only.
The first board of managers was organized on March 8, 1825; Philip Hone was selected President and John Bolton Treasurer. The managers were John Bolton, Philip Hone, Garret B. Abeel, Samuel Whittemore, Hezekiah B. Pierpont, Rufus L. Lord, Wm. H. Ireland, Benjamin W. Rogers, John Hunter, Thomas Tileston, Wm. W. Russell, Wm. Calder and Henry Thomas.
April 1, 1825, an act was secured from the State of Penn- sylvania permitting the company, with the consent of Maurice Wurts, to improve the Lackawaxen and to operate the canal thereon and charge tolls.
The services of Judge Benjamin Wright as engineer, and John B. Jervis, as his assistant, were engaged, and these sur- veyed the proposed route and recommended the construction of an independent canal throughout, instead of using slack- water navigation in the Rondout, Delaware and Lackawaxen rivers, as had at first been proposed. Also that locks be con- structed of stone instead of wood, as originally intended, as water limestone had been discovered in abundance, and they estimated the cost at about $1,600,000. These recommenda- tions were adopted. The company then concluded a bargain with the members of the Lackawaxen Company, as we are told, for the purchase of their coal mines and their rights and privileges in Pennsylvania for $40,000 in cash, and deferred stock to the amount of $200,000, which was to bear dividends only after two semi-annual dividends of 3 per cent each upon the original stock should have been declared and a clear sur- plus of $12,000 should remain.
On July 13, 1825, the ceremony of breaking ground on the summit level, forty miles from the Hudson, was performed and on December 6th the last contract was signed for the construc- tion of the canal between Eddy's Factory on the Hudson and Montgaup on the Delaware, a distance of sixty-five miles, this
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THE OLD MINE ROAD.
portion of the work passing through a valley by which at some remote period the Delaware is believed to have added its waters to those of the Hudson. From the termination of the line under contract to the mouth of the Lackawaxen was fifteen miles.
The managers determined to abandon the plan of a slack- water navigation in the Delaware in favor of an independent canal on the New York shore, but made no contracts for this portion that that already under contract might not be delayed, it being their desire to connect the two rivers within the year 1826.
On October 26, 1826, under instructions from Judge Wright, Engineer Mills began a survey for an extension of the canal westward from the mouth of the Lackawaxen as far as De- posit, sixty-eight miles. The estimates for this were $870,- 236.95.
By this time the available funds were exhausted and a me- morial was addressed to the Legislature of New York asking the State to aid in completing the canal, and on March IO, 1827, special certificates of stock to the amount of $500,000 were authorized, to be redeemable at the pleasure of the State after twenty years, the company being required to give a first mortgage on all its lands and privileges.
Work on the Delaware River section was delayed by ex- cessive wet weather and unforeseen delays occurred in the construction of the Delaware-Hudson section, but water was finally admitted late in the season of 1827 and some boats passed from river to river, but it was not until October, 1829, that the canal was actually open for business.
The financial resources of the company were again at a low ebb and the Legislature was asked to come to its assist- ance, which it did on May 2, 1829, by authorizing the issue of additional certificates of stock to the extent of $300,000. In a glowing tribute paid by the Legislative Committee to the en- terprise of the company, it is incidentally mentioned that it had imported the first and only locomotive engines as yet in-
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THE DELAWARE AND HUDSON CANAL.
troduced into this country. All were "agreed in their (steam railroads) great superiority over turnpike roads, and in their near approach to canals in respect to cheapness and facility of transportation".
By this time Judge Wright had resigned and Mr. Jervis was in charge as chief engineer. In 1829 7,000 tons of hard coal were carried to tidewater by way of the canal, the length of which is given as 59 miles from Kingston to Port Jervis, 22 miles on the Delaware River and 25 miles on the Lackawaxen to Honesdale, the system ending with 16 miles of railway to the mines. The total elevation overcome by locks, of which there were 110 in all, was 1,073 feet. The coal brought to market in 1829 was surface coal of inferior quality and its use led to considerable public prejudice.
In 1831 the canal tolls for the year were $19,394.05, the railway tolls $1,160.59, the total sales of coal were over 70,000 tons, a clear profit of $34,000 being shown; 11,872 tons of mer- chandise were transported.
In 1833, 111,177 tons of coal were brought down, but this resulted in an enormous overstock owing to a general business depression, and in 1834 only 43,700 tons were transported. Dividends of 8 per cent were paid in 1839, the first paid with the exception of 1832, and with the exception of 1842, when 10 per cent was divided, 8 per cent dividends were maintained for many years.
In 1840, 148,480 tons were brought down. In 1844 the banking charter expired and was not renewed. In 1848 the construction of the Erie Railway and its rock blasting opera- tions along the Delaware caused trouble. The canal started with a depth of 4 feet, by 1850 6 feet was to be the minimum. The State loans due in 1848 and 1850 were promptly paid and the company was freed from outside indebtedness.
Maurice Wurts, conceded to be the originator of the com- pany and the one whose name had been associated with its in- terests since its earliest inception, died in 1854.
The company's profits were now ranging from 10 to 24 per
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THE OLD MINE ROAD.
cent per annum. In 1864 the capital stock appears to have been raised to $10,000,000 and on this amount the next year's statement showed 31 per cent net earnings.
From now on the company became a great transportation machine, owning railroads and telegraph lines, and the canal gradually became a less and less important factor. In 1899 its corporate name was shortened to "The Delaware & Hud- son Company" by a Legislative enactment which allowed the company to abandon its waterway whenever it should see fit, and shortly after the bed of the canal was sold to private parties and most of it abandoned.
4
THE INDIANS:
OR
NARRATIVES
OF
MASSACRES AND DEPREDATIONS
ON THE FRONTIER,
IN WAWASINK AND ITS VICINITY, DURING
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
INTERSPERSED WITH REFLECTIONS ON THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.
WITH AN APPENDIX,
CONTAINING BRIEF NOTICES OF NATURAL CURIOSITIES AND OBJECTS OF INTEREST IN WAWASINK.
BY A DESCENDANT OF THE HUGUENOTS.
DESIGNED TO COMMEMORATE THE NOBLE DEEDS OF OUR ANCESTORS, AND INCULCATE PRINCIPLES OF PATRIOTISM AND PIETY.
"Closely allied to love of country ie gratitude to its benefactors."
RONDOUT, N. Y. : FOR SALE AT THE PRINTING OFFICE OF BRADBURY & WELLS; AND AT THE OFFICE OF THE CHRISTIAN INTELLIGENCER, No. 103 Fulton street, New York. 1846.
Entered according to Act of Congress, the 7th of July, in the year 1846. BY JOHN A. GRAY,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New-York.
JOHN A. GRAY, PRINTER, 111 Nassau street, N. Y.
PREFACE.
It ia a common remark, that whatever relatea to the early history of our country possesses a peculiar interest. The writer of the following narratives, having often llatened with intense interest to the thrilling eventa which occurred on the frontiers of Wawasink, in times "which tried men'e souls,"-and, as Paulding adde in his Life of Washington, "their bodies too,"-and to the atrikiog interpositione of Divine Providence, haa thought that their publication would be interesting to the pohlic-and especially to that portion who are descended from, or are connected with, the early settlers of Wawaeink. But as the occurrences here were linka in the great chain of events by which our national independence waa achieved, we truat its perusal will be interesting to all.
It is hoped that the contemplation of those acenes through which our patriotic ancestors were called, in the providence of God, to pass, in order to secure the enjoy- ment of those precious righte and privileges which they esteemed of more value than life itself, will rekindle afreah the patriotic flame in the bosom of their sons, and nerve them to resist, with an onflinching arm, any attempt to prostrata or undermine oor giorioua national fabric, or any of our civil or religione rights and privileges, which coat them so much blood and treasure, and which it is our solemn duty to transmit Dnimpaired to posterity.
It is an interesting thought, and one intimately associated with the early settle- ment and defence of our country, that the great and paramount aim of the great maee
iv
PREFACE.
of its early settlers waa, to secure for themselves and their descendants the inestimable privilege of worshipping God according to the dictate of consciences enlightened by bla word. This was especially the case with the French Huguenots and the Dissenters, or Puritans, of England. It was this great object which nerved them to endore all the bardahipa and privations incident to a settiement in an vobroken wilderness, and arising from savage barbarity and treachery. It is to oor plous and intelligent ancestors that we are Indebted, under Heaven, for the establishment of those unparalleled civil and religious institutions which we enjoy, aud which distinguish us above every other nation onder heaven.
Some of the Huguenots who fled from France, before the revocation of the Edtet of Nantz, (1685,) tarried some time to Holland, where they enjoyed that precious boon of liberty which they desired. Bot "the place was too straight for them" to think of making it their permanent abode. They obtained lettera of introduction and recommenda- tion from the Dutch in Hollnod, to their Dutch brethren who had already immigrated to Kingston, Ulster county, with whom they became amalgamated; nod by them the valleys of the Rondout, Walkiil, and Plattekill, have been chiafly settled.
The writer of the following narratives, being fully convinced of the trath of the maxim laid down by the great father of hts country, in his Inaugural Address of 1789, "That there is an indissoluble union in the economy and course of nature between virtue and happiness, between doty and advantage," has made it a point to notice the pioua sentiments and practices of our devoted ancestors, and also the signal interposition of Divine Providence, as brought to view in these narratives. Many striking events hava occorred, in the history of our country, which teach us that important truth, that "God is in history," and which we think are sufficient to convince even the atheist, that there is a sovereign Disposer of events, who presides over the destinies of men and untions. Witness, for example, the case of the immortal Washington, when exposed to seventeen fair shots of an Indian, whose rifle was not wont to mias its mark, and our bero escaped unhurt." What can be more clear. to an unprejudiced mind, than that Washington was raised up, and protected by Omnipotence, for the expresa purpose of
* Paulding informs ua, to his Life of Washington, "that his clothes were completely perforated with bullet-holes, and that he preserved that suit as a memorial of his miracu- lous preservation."
PREFACE.
delivering our country from the galling yoke of a foreign despot, end establishing a government that should be a model for all the world ?
We might also allode to the wonderful escape of Colonel Morgan, in two tostances, by means of the sudden rising of a river, which averted his capture by General Corn- wallis, while marching with five hundred prisoners from South Carollas to Virginia. This event had an important bearing upon the operations of the armies in the South, which aooo resulted ta the surrender of Cornwallis, and the close of the war.
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