USA > New York > Columbia County > History of Columbia County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 101
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" to trouble, milk, tatoes, apples, and other necessaryes, $8.00."
At another time a meeting was held to "let out" the paupers to the persons who would either pay the most for their services or take them for the least money. An agree- ment was then entered into between the town authorities and John Is. Decker, by which the latter agreed, for the sum of one hundred dollars, to take charge, for one year, of one Isaac Is. Deeker. In the document appears the following phrase : " Said John is to keep said Isaac in Vic- tuals, elothes, and lodging during said term (and if neces- sary ), pay Medieal and Surgical aid, as far as a puke, purge or bleeding," etc.
Connected with the same subject is the following entry :
"Jao. 18, 1816. Paid to Lawrenee J. C. Deeker, for Isaae I. S. Decker's funeral, in April, 1815 : 5 quarts rum, $1.873 1
Coffin, 1.50 $3.37}."
The latest of these peenliar documents is the product of as reeent a year as 1871, when the records certify that a number of individuals made their "avidavids" regarding their personal estate.
Upon the organization of the town, the poor-debts for the town of Livingston for the preceding year were divided among the three towns of Livingston, Granger, and Gal- latin, as follows: Livingston to pay $108.51; Gallatin, $104.70, and Granger, $93.97.
This town seems to have been the place of abode of several families of slaveholders. The records of births of slave children oeeur frequently on the books, and as late as 1826 a record of manumission was made, reading as fol- lows, viz. :
" I do hereby certify that a black woman, named Sara, has this day bought her freedom of me.
" TAGHKANICK, 4th Feb., 1826. COONRADT SHADIC."
At the time of the organization of the town there were about one hundred and fifteen Senatorial electors, and about three hundred voters qualified to vote for members of As- sembly.
During the late Civil War, this town raised large sums of money, which were paid out to volunteers to fill the quotas under the several calls for troops. At the close of the war a surplus of $4734.82 remained in the hands of the town officers. A special meeting was ealled, Jan. 9, 1866, at which this sum was ordered to be distributed pro rata among the tax-payers.
West Taghkanie is the principal village of the town. It contains two stores, two hotels, a Methodist Episcopal church, a wagon and blacksmith-shop, a shoe-shop, and about a dozen dwellings. The first building ereeted here was the Fite Miller hotel, and the village has been słow of growth. The first blacksmith-shop was kept by Whiting Hinsdale, on the hill just west of the village. It was subsequently moved into the village. The first merchant was Jacob Miller, who kept a store for a few years about the commencement of the present century. For some years after he stopped the business there was no store here. Then Jonathan Lapham opened a store near the same place, probably about 1808. Till within a few years there was a grist-mill at this place. The first name given to the village was " Miller's Corners." It was subsequently known as " Lapham's," and now is " West Taghkanie." Its existence
1863. Samuel Allen. Julius Soyder. .
1846. Wm. H. Ilawver.
1866. Peter P. Simpson.
Erastus Benu. Samuel Allen.
1868. Joho K. Smith.
Isaac Halstead.
1852. Killian I. Smith. Joseph Draper.
1861. Jobo W. Mambert.
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
is owing to its being a point on the Hudson and Salisbury road where five roads centre, making it a convenient gather- ing-place for the people of this part of the town.
Taghkanic is a small hamlet a little east of the centre of the town, containing an Evangelical Lutheran church, a store, a hotel, a blacksmith-shop, a harness-shop, and half a dozen houses. The first hotel kept here was Jonas Miller's house, and previous to the division of the town this was the place where the town business was mostly done.
New Forge, situated at the lower bend of Copake creek, in the south part of the town, about equidistant from Taghkanie and West Taghkanie, was at one time a place of considerable importance in this vicinity. The first build- ings erected here were the forges, residence, and tenant- houses of the Livingstons, which were built prior to the Revolution. The forge stood about on the site of the present mill, and after running a few years was abandoned about 1790. The trip-hammer used there was in existence within the memory of some of the present citizens of the town, who used to test the strength of their youthful muscles by endeavoring to lift it from the ground.
The race which conveyed the water to the forge was a narrow channel cut out of the slate rock, and is still in ex- istence, though somewhat choked up with acenmulations of earth and débris. The Livingston residence, at one time occupied by Robert Swift Livingston, is now in a very di- lapidated state. It stood on a rise of ground west of the old forge, in a grove of forest-trees, and was a commodious house and pleasantly situated.
Subsequent to the abandoning of the forge, several build- ings were erected there. The upper building was a grist- mill, the middle one was a blacksmith-shop, and the lower one was a feed and plaster-mill. These buildings are still standing. At the same time there was a store kept in a building that stood a little west of the mill near the road. About twenty years ago the store, then kept by John Link, was burned down. The grist-mill stopped soon after, and the plaster and feed-mill was stopped some eight or nine years ago. None of the buildings except two dwellings are now in use. The creek at this point runs in a double curve or form of the letter S, and in a distance of less than a quarter of a mile falls a distance of more than a hundred feet. The eastern bank is rocky and precipitous, clothed with a dark growth of pines intermixed with other trees, and presents a very picturesque appearance. The place was ealled New Forge to distinguish it from the " old forge" at Ancram. A small part of the village of Churchtown lies in the extreme northeast corner of the town.
The manufacturing interests of this town are not exten- sive, being limited to two establishments.
MILO DECKER'S PLOW AND WAGON SHOP
is located on the outlet of Chrysler's pond, near the south- east corner of the town. It was first built about 1820, by John C. Wheeler, and has since been owned and operated by Peter C. Wheeler, IIiram Wheeler, John G. Lower, and its present owner, Milo Decker.
The wagon and blacksmith-shop is twenty-four feet by forty feet, and the furnace is of the same size. The power used is furnished by the creek.
The product of the shop is principally plows, of which from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty are made each year. The custom work done in addition amounts to about $2000 per annum, furnishing employment to three persons.
HAM'S MILLS
are located on Copake ereek, in the western part of the town of Taghkanie, on the Hudson and Salisbury turn- pike, and about midway between West Taghkanie and Glenco mills.
About 1825, William Gardner came to this location and built a carding-mill, which was subseqently used as a full- ing-mill and grist-mill, and was known as "Gardner's Mills."
In 1850, Peter P. Ham, a practical mechanic and mill- wright, purchased the premises, and two years later built the present grist and flouring-mill, which is a two-story building, thirty-two by forty-two feet, and has a capacity of twenty-five barrels of flour per day. This mill is now used chiefly for general custom work.
In 1868, Mr. Ham erected a three-story building, thirty- two by thirty-six feet, for a flouring-mill, and used it as such for some time, but in 1872 this building was converted into a hub-factory and general wood-working shop, furnished with a full complement of the most approved and appro- priate machinery. In this mill are made annually from three thousand to four thousand sets of carriage and wagon- hubs, of all styles and sizes. These hubs are made of the best red-elm timber, large quantities of which are purchased yearly from farmers in this vicinity, and the annual product amounts to about $10,000.
In 1877, Mr. Ham erected another building, twenty-two by cighty feet, for a' saw-mill, and immediately put in an improved mill, with a forty-eight-inch circular saw. This mill has a capacity of four thousand feet per day, and does a large amount of sawing of every description.
Mr. Ham also has a cider-mill on the premises, which makes from eight hundred to one thousand barrels of cider per year.
The power to run this extensive machinery is furnished by three irou turbine water-wheels, having an aggregate of eighty-five horse-power.
Mr. Ham is an ingenious mechanic, and an industrious and skillful workman, and richly deserves the extensive patronage with which his business enterprise is favored far and near.
This town was the scene of much violent excitement during the anti-rent troubles of 1844, and although no actual conflict of arms occurred, for a long time the people were so greatly stirred up that such an event seemed immi- nent. In the month of November a meeting was held, at which the " Taghkanic Mutual Association" was formed. John I. Johnson, president ; James M. Strever, George I. Rossman, Peter Poucher, Samuel A. Tanner, and George I. Finkle, vice-presidents ; Philip B. Miller, treasurer ; Anthony Poucher, recording secretary ; Peter Poucher, corresponding secretary ; and John Bain and James M. Strever, executive committee, were the officers of the asso- ciation. The meetings were held principally at the house of James Yager, at Taghkanic, and the members generally
40I
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
appeared in fantastie disguises, made of bright-colored cal- ico, with their faces painted in Indian style or screened by hideous masks.
After the killing of W. H. Rifenburgh, at a meeting at Smoky Hollow, in Claverack, wiser counsel began to pre- vail, and hot blood was cooled by the appreciation of the true tendencies of the movement. The association was abandoned, and the opponents of the rent system adopted other and better means to accomplish their aims.
It was during this time of turmoil that the destruction of buildings by fire and the killing of animals by shot or poison marked the bitter feelings engendered by the mis- chievous harangues to which the anti-renters were treated by their demagogue speakers. The buildings on the Liv- ingston property at New Forge were several times unsuccess- fully fired, and two stacks of hay in near proximity were burned to ashes. A large barn owned by Lapham & Mil- ler, of West Taglikanic, was burned, and an unsuccessful attempt was made on the barn of Mr. Stephen Ham, about a mile cast of West Taghkanic. Two attempts were made to burn the buildings of Robert H. Bush, who had in some manner incurred the bitter hatred of the reckless incen- diaries ; and at one of these times a guard was stationed to watch the house-door while the fire was being started, with instructions to shoot down whoever appeared to put a stop to their nefarious operations. No one appeared, however, and the infernal machine which they depended upon to set the fire going became smothered by its own smoke.
The incendiaries employed to do this work were Alexan- der Decker and Perez Allen. Allen, upon their being arrested, turned State's evidence, and was released. Decker was put upon "jail limits," and suddenly disappeared. It is generally believed that he was spirited away by persons connected with the anti-renters, against whom he was able to give damaging evidence, and that he was foully murdered to insure his silence. The Finkle family were the most conspicuous among the anti-renters of this section. Joseph W. Finkle and his sons were very troublesome, and had numerous conflicts with the officers of the law who were sent to serve legal processes upon them. In these encoun- ters they invariably came off victorious, secured and burned the papers, and in some cases caused the officers to beat a precipitate retreat and pursued them for some miles. At one time the sheriff's posse, composed of a force of New York city roughs, who were employed for the express pur- pose of conquering these hitherto invincible Finkles, came to the house and were admitted to the room where the family was. As soon as the business of the visitors became known a fierce fight began, and in a short space of time the New Yorkers were whipped and put to flight. Three of the young Finkles were afterwards convicted of perjury, and sentenced to Sing Sing prison. During their imprison- ment the father died, and was buried in the Lyall cemetery, in the town of Copake. On the unpretending monument that marks his resting-place is the following inscription :
" In memory of Joseph W. Finkle, died Sept. 7, 1849, aged 76 years, 11 months, & 16 days, whose death was cansed through per- petnal grief by the false imprisonment of three of his sons, Peter Finkle, Calvin Finkle, John I. Finkle, who ware all three falsely condemned & senteneed for a terin of years to Singsing prison, in order to quail thare noble spirits, blight their patriotic zcal, constrain
them to renonnce tharo honest integrity of honesty, & submit to op- pression, frauds, & fudal sistoms."
EBENEZER METIIODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF WEST
TAGHKANIC.
As a result of an irregular series of meetings held by ministers from other places, a Methodist class was formed at West Taghkanie (then called Lapham's) by Rev. Lewis McK. Pcase in the summer of 1842. The class was com- posed of fifteen members : Ira Williams, Clarissa Williams, Henry Sheldon, Catharine E. Sheldon, Robert A. Rora- back, Jane Roraback, Fite Rockefeller, Solomon Avery, Esther Rockefeller, Polly Allen, Leonard Ham, Eleanor Ham, Ileena Sheldon, John K. Smith, and Sylvia Smith.
Ira Williams was the first class-leader, and Henry Shel- don, Robert A. Roraback, and Fite Rockefeller were the first stewards. The society held their meeting for a while in the school-house, and in the spring of 1843 took steps to build a church. Mrs. Julia C. Livingston having donated a pleasant site on the high ground east of the creck, a frame church forty by fifty feet in size was erceted thereon, at a cost of about $1500. The sermon at the dedication of this building was delivered by Rev. John Crawford, of Hudson. This building was used for a period of twenty years, and was then (in 1863) sold to Stephen II. Platner for $150, and he removed it to the village of Blue Store in the town of Livingston. Work on the second and present church was immediately begun, and, under the charge of Robert L. Burdick, of Hillsdale, was pressed rapidly to completion. The building is forty by sixty fect, will seat from four to five hundred people, cost about $6500, and was dedicated by Revs. Fox and J. K. Wardle in the fall of 1863. It is a pleasant little church, and is picturesquely perched upon the side of a hill overlooking the village.
The parsonage was built in 1843, on a portion of the land procured of Mrs. Livingston.
The church property is now valued at about $9000. The present officers of the church are Robert A. Roraback, Solo- mon Avery, Ira Williams, Leonard Ham, Sr., A. Marshall Myers, Norman Niver, Henry E. Best, Cornelius Ham, John Proper, stewards ; Robert A. Roraback, Robert Bush, William Sheldon, Ira Williams, Leonard Ham, A. Marshall Myers, Samuel L. Myers, Solomon Avery, Elias Smith, trustees ; George E. Best, class-leader. The pastors in the order of their service have been as follows, viz. : Revs. Lewis McKendree Pease, John Campbell, Lorin Clark, Jer- emiah Ham, Samuel M. Knapp, Thomas Jerrolds, Aaron Ilunt, Jr., Harrison C. Humphrey, Ira Ferris, Thomas Ellis, Joseph Elliott, Aaron Coons, John J. Graw, Thomas Ellis, Henry H. Birkins, Abram Davis, Aaron Coons, J. Chester Hoyt, Robert Hunt, William Hall, R. H. Travis, and William M. Chipp, the present pastor, who began his term of service here in the spring of 1878. Among the early preachers in this vicinity were Revs. Delos Lull, - Crispell, Van Wagoner, and Holmes.
In 1870, Mr. Isaac Shaurman, one of the members living at Glenco Mills, in Livingston, was impressed with the ne- cessity of providing some means of moral and religious training for the children of his neighborhood, who were in the habit of spending the hours of the Sabbath day in
51
402
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
play. To provide a pleasant place where they could employ their time more profitably, he erected a neat and tasty little chapel at a cost of about $2000. This he named " Gleuco Chapel," and upon its completion donated it to the " Eb- enezer" church. It was dedicated by Rev. L. H. King, of New York. In 1873, Mr. Shaurman placed a trust fund of $4300 in the hands of the society to provide an annuity of $300 or more to pay for the services of a pastor to hold services at the chapel. This was placed in the hands of Ira Williams and Solomon Avery, to be securely invested.
The present membership of the church is about two hun- dred. A Sabbath-school was organized in 1846, and has been pretty steadily maintained until the present. With the exception, however, of the past year, it has been a summer school only. It now numbers about ninety scholars, and has a force of twenty-two officers and teachers. Its library contains over two hundred volumes. The present officers are Henry E. Best, superintendent ; Augustus Ham, sec- retary ; Cornelius Ham, librarian ; Robert A. Roraback, treasurer.
" TAGHKANIC CENTRE CHURCH."
The church known by the above title is that of the de- nomination of Evangelical Lutherans, and is connected with the church of that sect located at Churchtown. It was organized at the house of Jacob Boice, on the 18th day of December, 1855. The persons present at the meeting were George I. Finkle, chairman ; Rensselaer Platner, sec- retary ; Rev. Levi Schell, Dederick Miller, John Bain, Samuel Maxwell, George Finkle, Edwin Scutt, Jonas Bruce, Henry Friss, and Thomas Hlanor. The society was incorporated under the general statute, and trustees were elected and instructed to take the necessary steps to secure the erection of a church edifice. The first trustees were Rensselaer Platner, George Finkle, and George I. Finkle. They circulated a subscription paper, and as soon as sufficient money was subscribed began the erection of a church, which was finished and dedicated in the summer of 1856, at a cost of $2000. It is a pleasant little frame church, capable of seating one hundred and fifty persons, and stands on the north side of the highway running through Taghkanie village.
TAGHKANIC FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY.
In accordance with the provisions of an act of the Legis- lature, passed April 17, 1857, the citizens of this town met on the 5th day of November, 1857, and adopted articles of association and became incorporated. The affairs of the association are conducted by a board of directors, con- sisting of nine members. It was agreed that subscribers should have one vote for every $250 insured; that the amount of risk allowed to be taken on any one member's property should be limited to $2000; that the fee for issu- ing policies should be five shillings each ; that in case of loss by fire the president should receive $4 for his services in notifying and convening directors, and in notifying mem- bers ; that the value of property insured be fixed by three appraisers, to receive $1 each for each day's service, not to exceed, however, $3 in each year; that the expenses of issuing policies and of adjusting losses be paid by the holder of the policy ; that the secretary write out the poli-
cies, receiving twenty-five cents for each one ; fill out un- dertakings for six cents each, make statements of the con- dition of the affairs of the company, whenever necessary, receiving $1 for each statement, and receive and pay out all sums assessed on members to liquidate losses.
The officers elected were John I. Johnson, president ; William H. Hawver, secretary; Jacob Conklin, Samuel L. Myers, Solomon Avery, appraisers ; and these, together with Killian A. Smith, Rensselaer Platner, Abram D. Miller, and Peter C. Wheeler, were the directors.
It began operations with thirty-seven members, holding policies representing buildings and personal property in- sured to the amount of $51,155.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.
SAMUEL L. MYERS
was born in the town of Taghkanic, Columbia Co., Nov. 29, 1820. He was the eldest son and second child of Abraham Myers and Ann C. Decker, who had a family of four children. The elder Myers was a native of Harlem, N. Y., where he was born Feb. 26, 1794; his father was also a native of Harlem, and was a Revolutionary soldier, and served during the war as an aid-de-camp to General Washington. Although a mere boy, he was able to cope with the obstacles that beset him. He met with many perilous adventures, and at the close of the war moved to the town of Livingston. He afterwards removed to the town of Claverack, but ended his days at the residence of his grandson, Samuel L. Myers, in the town of Taghkanie, at the advanced age of ninety-three. Abraham Myers, our subject's father, was the only son, and at the time of his father's emigration to the town of Livingston was a lad of about eighteen summers. He lived in the town of Living- ston until he was about thirty years of age, when he re- moved to the western part of the town of Taghkanie, where he died in March, 1872. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. He was an exemplary Christian man and highly respected by all who knew him. Our subject resided with his father until he was twenty-three years of age, receiving a limited common-school education. In 1841 he was mar- ried to Miss Euryette Miller, of his native town, and in 1843 he moved upon the farm now owned by his son, Law- rence A. Myers. Here he remained twenty-six years, when he removed to his present residence (a view of which, in connection with his portrait, can be seen elsewhere). Mr. Myers has been a successful farmer, and his fine farmi of over two hundred acres evidences his thrift and enterprise. Ile has occupied many positions of trust, and is one of the oldest supervisors in the county, having filled the office for nine terms. In 1870 he was elected county superintendent of the poor for a term of three years. As a public officer Mr. Myers has discharged his duties with marked fidelity and ability, and to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. Nine children have been born to Mr. Myers, eight of whom are living, and all residents of Taghkanie. July 3, 1872, his first wife died, and he was again married, to Miss Nancy Bashford.
AN CRA M.
THIS is the southeast corner town of the county, centrally distant from Hudson about eighteen miles. It is bounded north by Copake and Taghkanic, east by the towns of Mount Washington, Mass., and North East, in Dutchess county, south by North East and Pine Plains, in Dutchess county, and west by Gallatin. It is the fifth town in the county in point of size, and eleventh in population ; its area being twenty-six thousand nine hundred and nineteen acres, nearly four-fifths of which is improved, and a popu- lation of seventeen hundred and fifteen. In 1860 the population was seventeen hundred and twenty, in 1865 it was sixteen hundred and fifty-one, and in 1870 it was seventeen hundred and ninety-three.
The eastern boundary of the town was formerly a line running at a very oblique angle. The northern limb was a line two miles long, running in a direction a little west of south, and was simply an extension of the present boundary line between New York and Massachusetts, north of the angle near the south line of Copake. This angle was then at the end of the dividing line between Copake and An- cram. The southern limb of the angle was the present east boundary between Ancram and North East. This boundary was changed, as will be explained farther on, so that a triangular traet of land, called " Boston Corners," containing about one thousand acres, was set off from Massachusetts and annexed to Ancram; the northern limb of the angle above described becoming one side of the triangle. Sub- sequently, a triangular piece of land containing about one thousand acres was taken from Ancram and annexed to Copake, leaving the northern boundary a straight line as it is at present.
The surface of the town is broken and hilly. The range of the Taghkanie mountains occupies the eastern part of the northeast corner. The highest point is Monument moun- tain. A monument ou its summit marks the boundaries of New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The eastern part of the town adjoining North East is occupied by a high rounded edge of land, which is an extension of "Chestnut Ridge," in Dutchess county. It is called " West Hill," " Card's Hill," " East Hill," and " Chestnut Ridge." The latter is the most correct name. In the southwest a broken range of hills runs in a generally northerly direction, termi- nating in a high hill east of Ancram, called " Mill Hill." The hills in the northwest are high, but rise with a very gradual slope. There is a prominent pointed hill near the centre of the town, which is called " Croven Hill." Along the course of the two principal streams in the north centre of the town the land is flat, low, and swampy, forming a sort of vlaie, occupying several hundred acres.
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