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 59
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The Rough Notes, a lively weekly journal, is published at Kinderhook, by C. W. Davis. A full account of this paper and village journalism is found in the chapter on the press of the county.
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226
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
· MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.
The village was vested with municipal privileges April 18, 1838. The charter provides for the election of a pres- ident, six trustees, a clerk, a treasurer, and a collector, who, and their successors in office, were to represent the " Cor- poration of the Village of Kinderhook." A common seal was provided, having the foregoing words, a plow, rake, and scythe engraved thereon.
The first principal officers were: President, John P. Beekman ; Trustees, Mordecai Myers, Teunis Harder, William B. Shaw, Willard Bradley, John V. Salmon, Peter Van Schaack ; Clerk, David Van Schaack.
The latter was also appointed the attorney of the corpo- ration, and drew up the first village ordinances. Two fire- wardens were appointed, and provision made for protection against fire by purchasing an engine and organizing a com- pany in the fall of 1838.
" On the 4th of September, 1838, the president reported that he had received five dollars for a license for the ex- hibition of the giraffe and other wild animals, and the sum of five dollars for the exhibition of a man without arms." This money was received by the board, which immediately voted " that no license shall be granted to any circus ex- hibitions."
The subsequent acts of the board have conduced to the present handsome and well-kept appearance of the village, whose streets and walks compare very favorably with those of larger places.
The corporation was empowered by the Legislature, Feb. 18, 1874, to borrow eight thousand dollars, to be paid in yearly instalments of one thousand dollars, for the pur- pose of erecting a public hall, engine-rooms, etc. The building occupies a central location, north of and near the park. It is a substantial and attractive brick structure two stories high, and is surmounted by a ceotre tower which contains a bell. The corporation also owns an excellent clock in the tower of the Reformed church, and a very attractive grove adjoining the cemetery.
The first fire company was recognized by the trustecs, Aug. 13, 1838. Lucas Iloes was appointed engineer of the department, and Homer Blanchard of the company, which had twenty members. This company went down, and its place was taken, Jan. 14, 1856, by Engine Co. No. 2, whose organization is yet preserved. Of this com- pany, C. M. Van Valkenburgh was the foreman and George W. Hloxsie the secretary. It had thirty-five members. A new Button & Co. engine was purchased and other apparatus provided the same year, 1856, to equip a first- rate company. The department was further strengthened, Ang. 13, 1864, by the organization of Hook-and-Ladder Co. No. 1, having William H. Rainey as foreman and Calvin Ackley as secretary. The company had fourteen members.
Both of these bodies have a good membership, and form a department of creditable importance. They occupy rooms in the public hall.
The presidents of the village from its incorporation to the present time have been : in 1838, John P. Beekman ; 1839, Mordecai Myers ; 1840, Lucas Hoes; 1841, Julius Wilcoxson ; 1842-43, Laurence Van Buren; 1844-46,
William H. Tobey; 1850-51, G. Van Santvoord; 1852, Thomas Beekman ; 1853-54, David Van Schaack ; 1855-58, Thomas M. Bort ; 1859, Chester Jarvis ; 1860, John Fris- bie; 1861, William H. Tobey; 1862-78, William R. Mesick.
The clerks for the same period have been : 1838-46, David Van Schaack ; 1847-48, G. Van Santvoord ; 1849, J. C. Sweet ; 1850-51, A. V. S. Witbeck ; 1852-53, George W. Hoxsie ; 1854-61, Peter Van Schaack ; 1862-72, John A. Van Bramer ; 1873-78, William S. Hallenbeck.
VALATIE
is a Dutch term signifying " the little falls," and was ap- plied to the rapids at this point, to distinguish them from the "great falls" in Stuyvesant. Valatie Kill here unites with the Kinderhook, and as both streams afford good water-power, the natural conditions for a manufacturing village have been very favorable, and the judicious im- provement of these privileges has promoted the rapid growth of the place. It now ranks as one of the most important villages in the county, having a population of more than two thousand inhabitants.
Besides the manufacturing interests of the village, it enjoys an active business, having a large number of stores, shops, several hotels; and contains, also, four churches, a fine school building, and several very handsome residences, surrounded by spacious and tasty grounds.
The location of the village is pleasant, and its appearance has been much improved since it has a
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.
Valatie was incorporated March 25, 1856. The appli- cation for corporate privileges was made to the court of general sessions in 1853, and set forth that the place con- tained fifteen hundred and fifty-seven inhabitants, on the six hundred and forty-eight acres which were to be com- prised within its limits. For various reasons the incorpora- tion was not effected until three years later, when, at an election ordered to test the minds of the people upon this matter, one hundred and thirty-five citizens voted for incor- poration, and seventy-eight against.
On the 23d of April, 1856, the first election for village officers was held with the following result :
Trustees, Wm. P. Rathbone, Sylvester Becker, John HI. Corning, G. W. Bulkley, John Rogers ; Assessors, John M. Mesick, Henry L. Miller, Barent Mesick ; Treasurer, Benajah Conant ; Clerk, James Miller ; Collector, James Mesick ; Pound-master, Abram Brewer.
The trustees selected Wm. P. Rathbone as president of the board, and at once enacted such ordinances as were thought conducive to the public good. In November, 1856, the board secured the transfer of an independent fire com- pany, which had been formed in the place several years previous, and a month later gave it proper recognition as " Valatie Fire Company, No. 1." The company had thirty- four members, and Wm. P. Rathbone was appointed chief engineer of the department. An engine-house was erected in a central locality, which has afforded quarters for appa- ratus provided by the board. In 1878 the Legislature empowered the village to expend two thousand dollars in
REAR VIEW OF THE RESIDENCE OF C. H. HOUSMAN, VALATIE, COLUMBIA COUNTY, N. Y.
LITH BY L. N. EVERTS & CO. PHILA, PA.
LITH. BY L H EVERTS & CO. PHILA. PA
RESIDENCE OF C. H. HOUSMAN, VALATIE, COLUMBIA COUNTY, N.Y.
227
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
the purchase of the old Presbyterian church for a public hall. This building will afford ample and suitable rooms for the uses of the corporation, and will be a much-desired convenience.
The following have held the principal village offices since its incorporation.
l'residents.
Clerks.
1856.
. Wm. P. Rathbone. =
James Miller. D. E. Merwin. W. I. Merwin.
1858
S. G. Tallmadge.
1859.
. Wm. P. Rathbone.
1860.
Sylvester Becker.
George Ransford.
1861
:
1862
Allen Miller.
16
1863
S. G. Tallmadge.
66
1864.
.. Sylvester Becker.
1865.
Justus W. Bebee.
W. I. Merwin.
1866 Charles W. Trimper.
"
W. 11. Pulver.
1868
1869.
66
1870.
1871
.€
Charles E. Reynolds. W. II. Pulver.
1873.
Charles W. Trimper.
1874
Win. II. Silvernail.
1875.
.J. W. Merwin.
1876
1877
1878.
M. W. Lant.
Before 1700 there were saw-mills at this point; and sixty-three years later there were saw and grist-mills on the Kinderhook, owned by Hans and Derick Hoes; and still later, there were four grist-mills in this locality, owned by Mallory and others. These gradually gave place to other interests, principally cotton manufactories.
The "Kinderhook Manufacturing Company" was the pioneer in this industry. Some time about 1820, it put up a frame building, on the site of Davis' paper-mill, in which it manufactured warps and other cotton goods, increasing its business until it was an important interest, and created a little hamlet in this locality, from which has sprung the present village.
Adjoining the old mill, Wm. P. Rathbone & Co. erected a brick mill, in which were placed two thousand two hun- dred spindles and fifty-seven looms, and which were success- fully operated many years. This became, in time, the property of A. Abbott, and was destroyed by fire, while belonging to him, a few years ago.
A portion of the old frame mill was transformed into a paper-mill by Abbott, and the manufacture of that article is now carried ou at this point by C. F. Davis. The mill is supplied with two forty-eight-inch machines, and has two engines. It is capacitated to produce nine hundred reams of light wrapping-paper per day, and employs fourteen men.
On the next rapids below John Van Alen had a small frame cotton-mill. Some years after the Kinderhook com- pany established its mill, which was also destroyed by fire. A brick building was erected in its stead by Van Alen & Co., which was long known as the " Beaver Cotton-Fac- tory." In 1851 Jeremiah Carpenter became the proprietor of this property, and by him the mill was enlarged to its present large dimensions in 1858. It is two hundred and ninety feet long, forty-four feet wide, and four stories high. The motive-power is furnished by a dam, yielding twenty- three fect fall, and a steam-engine of one hundred and fifty horse-power. The establishment has been known of late years as the " Canoe Mill," and is pplied with six thou-
sand mule and three thousand five hundred Danforth's spindles, and two hundred and twenty-four looms. These are run on the celebrated Canoe shirtings, and are capacitated to produce ten thousand yards per day. About one hundred and sixty operatives are employed, under the superintend- ence of Jeremiah Carpenter. E. J. Wendover is the present proprietor.
Opposite this mill, ou the south side of the stream, are the Baldwin, or Hanna mills, now idle, but which were last operated by A. Abbott & Son, in the manufacture of satinet warps. The building is a substantial brick, and is supplied with motive-power from a twenty-foot dam and a sixty horse-power engine. Formerly sheetings were here also manufactured, the product being ten thousand yards per week, in addition to the large weekly product of satinet warps.
Adjoining this property were extensive machine-shops, which have also been abandoned ; and south is the " Crys- tal Spring Knitting-Mill," occupying a large four-story brick building, which was enlarged to its present size in 1872. The motive-power was a twenty-five horse-power engine, and the machinery was capacitated to produce forty dozen of underwear per day. Henderson & Hoffman were the proprietors. The mill suspended work in 1875.
Near the month of Valatie Kill, Rensselaer Reynolds operated a factory for the manufacture of weaving ma- chinery, before his removal to Stockport in 1852; and on the hill, west of the old Wild mill, William P. Rathbone established a wadding-factory, in 1866, in a large stone building, the capacity having been three thousand pounds per week. This has been idle the past few years, and the former has been removed.
Ou Valatie Kill, and employing all the power of that stream afforded by two dams, fifteen and twenty feet in height, are Charles Wild's cotton-mills. They embrace two large and well-arranged brick buildings. The upper mill was erected in 1828 by Nathan Wild, a pioneer cotton- manufacturer, and is forty by sixty feet. In 1846 he erected the lower mill, which is fifty-four by one hundred and forty-four feet, and has a wing twenty-four by fifty feet. In addition to the power from the lower dam, this mill has a one hundred and fifty horse-power engine. They are now operated supplementary to each other, in the manufacture of cotton printing cloths,-seventy-five thou- sand yards per week. The mills are supplied with twelve thousand eight hundred and eighty spindles and two hun- dred and fifty looms, giving employment to one hundred and seventy-five operatives. Nathan Wild continued the sole proprietor until 1850, when he associated his son with him until his death, in 1858. Then the firm became Nathan Wild's Sons, and continued as such until 1871, since which the mills have been the sole property of Charles Wild.
The village also contains a large number of mechanic shops, some of which are conducted on a large scale.
Among the first to engage actively in merchandising were Baldwin & Wild, in the house now occupied as a residence by C. F. Davis, having the store in connection with the cottoo-factory. Orin Carpenter was afterwards a merchant in the same building. Others prominent in trade have
1867.
Allen Miller.
1872
John Busby. W. 11. Pulver.
1857.
228
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
been Richard Kirk, A. H. Van Slyck, Samuel Ilanna, Conant & Penoyer, E. O. Carpenter, Solomon Strauss, Lewis and Martin Gerst, George W. Cornwell, J. B. Rich- mond, Isaac Van Alen, D. Palmer, James Miller, T. Shaughness, John H. Corning, and Martin Lederer.
Jonathan N. White was an early innkeeper in a small building on the site of the present United States Hotel. Another tavern was soon after opened by Oliver Squiers, on the site of the " Valatie House." Among the keepers here were William Bradley, Henry Iler, and E. H. Plass.
The post-office at Valatie was established in May, 1832, with Dr. John Vanderpoel as postmaster. Others who have held the office have been I. Van Alen, John H. Cor- ning, Charles B. Osborne, Elizabeth Osborne, S. G. Tall- madge, and E. H. Tallmadge. It is a British International office, and became a postal money-order office in August, 1866. It receives and sends four mails daily.
The learned professions in Valatie have been represented in medicine by the able and respected Dr. John Vander- poel, who died in 1851, after having been in practice thirty years; and by Drs. S. G. Tallmadge, Geo. Beman, Geo. E. Benson, E. B. Boice, A. P. Cook, C. H. Masten, A. Abbott, P. B. Collier, J. H. Lent, and T. Roberts, the last three named being still in practice.
As attorneys there have been Geo. W. Bulkley, W. C. Benton, Geo. K. Daley, Edward R. Peck, Gershom Bulkley, A. B. Gardinier, A. H. Farrar, Geo. D. Earle, and W. H. Silvernail. The last six are yet in successful practice in the village.
NIVERVILLE
is a village of several hundred inhabitants, on the outlet of Kinderhook lake, in the northeastern part of the town. It is a station on the Boston and Albany railroad and the shipping-point for Valatie and the surrounding villages. Its name is derived from the Niver family, who have been early and prominent citizens of the locality. There are several good manufacturing establishments, a neat Meth- odist chapel, and several stores. The first improvements were made along the Valatie creek, near the lake, the upper part of the village having been built since the con- struction of the railroad. A saw-mill was ereeted at this point about 1710, and the water-power has been employed ever since to furnish the motor for mills and factories. One of the best known and at present the only grist-mill in town is on the site of the old Niver mill, erected in 1810. The buildings have been enlarged to embrace a eotton-factory, formerly operated by Coop, Brown & Co., and at present contains five run of stones and a plaster- mill. For many years these mills were known as Raeder's, but are now the property of Charles Wild. Employment is given to nine men.
Below these mills, and supplied with power from the same dam, was formerly a brewery, by the Kingmans. A wadding-mill, by Benajah Conant, afterwards took its place. Upon its destruction by fire, James Benson and Robert Trimper erected a new and more extensive mill, which, in an enlarged condition, is now known as the Niverville wadding-mill, C. W. Trimper proprietor. It is a very extensive establishment, and is capacitated to manufacture
two thousand pounds of plain and colored wadding per day. The buildings are brick, the main part of the mill being one hundred and ninety-three feet long. There are, also, carding and lapper-rooms and a spacious store-house. In addition to the water-power the mill has a fifteen horse- power engine.
The Victor mower-works were established at Niverville in 1875. They occupy a factory, east of the depot, built of brick, thirty by eighty feet, three stories high, with a large wing containing a thirty-five horse-power engine, which supplies the motor of the establishment. The Vic- tor machine is the invention of E. M. Krum, who carried on their manufacture, in a small way, at Nassau twenty years ago, and subsequently at Chatham. Continued im- provements, and notably the invention of a friction ratchet, gave this machine many points of superiority, which led to the formation of a stock company, in order to secure better manufacturing facilities, and the establishment of the new works at Niverville. Wmn. H. Smith is at present the managing officer of the company, but the mowers are con- structed under the personal supervision of the inventor. Three hundred machines are produced annually, some of which are shipped to Europe. The mower has been brought into competition with many rival machines, and has always succeeded in establishing its claims for good work, lightness of draft, and ease of management, the new frietion-ratchet starting the knife the moment power is ap- plied, making it impossible to clog.
At Niverville stores have been kept by Jacob Smith, Peter Springstein, A. D. Simpson, and others. In the store of the latter R. Trimper has the post-office, which was established here since the railroad.
A little northwest from this place are the peat beds of the Columbia Peat Company. They comprise about eighteen acres, containing peut of excellent quality, whose purity has been graded at sixty per cent. In 1867 the company took out several hundred tons of peat, which found a ready market in New England and other points. The deeline in the price of coal has caused the temporary suspension of work, which will probably soon be resumed. Peter Spring- stein was the superintendent of the company.
LINDENWALD,
the widely-known homestead of President Van Buren, is on the " post-road," two miles south from the village of Kinderhook. It was formerly the abode of the Van Ness family, whose members attained distinguished prominence, and made this place the resort, already in early times, of the great men of our country. On Mr. Van Buren's retire- ment from public life he purchased this farm, containing several hundred aeres of rich and finely-located land, border- ing on Kinderhook creek, and made such changes in the buildings as would adapt them to a private home of one who had ocenpied his high position in life. The place was well adapted for one seeking seclusion. In front of the house, which stands on a slight eminence about twenty rods from the road, is a grove of stately native trees, chiefly pines and lindens, which hide the unassuming mansion from the gaze of those passing on the highway, and give this spot a quiet dignity. Although there are but few lindens
RESIDENCE OF CHARLES WILD, VALATIE, COLUMBIA CO . N. Y.
LITH. BY L. H EVERTS &CO PHILADELPHIA
、
229
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
in this wald (grove) they are prominent objects, and as that tree is not generally found in the woods of this locality the name was not inappropriately applied. Its use in this con- nection has made it an endeared term among the admirers of Mr. Van Buren.
The mansion is not specially attractive, but has a solid and comfortable appearance. It is approached by winding drives from the street, where were lodges for men employed on the farm. In the rear was the farm-house and buildings connected therewith, and rare gardens and fishing-ponds, in which many varieties of the finny tribe disported them- selves. On the south side of the mansion is a tall tower, from which the winding course of the Hudson, five miles distant, can be descried, and a good view of the Catskill is afforded. Interiorly there was a sense of comfort and plenty, without extravagant ornamentation. It was a home where a refined American gentleman might entertain the cultured and the great of all lands without removing himself from the presence of his peers,-the common citizen ; and although the ex-President daily received homage from those in elevated places, he yet remained on terms of equality with his old neighbors and was uniformly kind and courte- ous to all. He was very fond of outdoor exercise, and daily took horseback rides along the lonely country roads, often extending them many miles.
Mr. Van Buren died at Lindenwald, July 21, 1862, passing away tranquilly, with no disturbing thought but the welfare of the endangered Union, which he had served in so many capacities. His remains were deposited in the Kinderhook cemetery, where the place of their interment is marked by a plain granite shaft about fifteen feet high. For some time Lindenwald remained the property of the President's family, but it was finally sold, and is now used, in a much neglected condition, as ordinary farm property. The only remaining members of President Van Buren's family in Kinderhook are two nieces, daughters of Laurence Van Buren.
KINDERHOOK SECRET ORDERS.
Valatie Lodge, No. 115, I. O. O. F., was instituted in 1847, with twenty charter members. It now has eighty members, officered by Wm. P. Washburn, N. G .; Wm. II. Spencer, V. G .; and Wilson Miller, Sec. The meet- ings are held in a comfortable lodge-room in Valatie.
Hope Encampment, No. 66, of the same order, was in- stituted March 7, 1872, with seven members. Thomas Cooke was elected the first C. P. ; Frank Westfall, H. P .; H. W. Pulver, S. W .; and L. Harrison, Scribe. There are at present fifteen members, whose meetings are held at Valatie.
Valatie Lodge, No. 362, F. and A. M., received its char- ter June 22, 1855, and elected for its first officers Jesse O. Vanderpoel, W. M .; Jacob M. Witbeck, S. W .; Jacob P. Miller, J. W. The lodge at present numbers sixty-five members, sixty-three of whom are Master Masons; and its officers are A. B. Gardinier, W. M .; A. W. Wynkoop, S. W .; A. H. Bullis, J. W. ; D. Palmer, Sec.
Kinderhook Chapter, R. A. M., No. 262, was instituted under a dispensation in 1872, and was chartered February, 1873, with eleven members. W. S. Hallenbeck was elected
the first II. P. ; James Green, K. ; and John A. Van Bra- mer, Sec. The membership at present numbers fifty-four, with Augustus W. Wynkoop, H. P .; Calvin Ackly, K .; and Jacob Cook, Sec. The meetings of the chapter are held at Kinderhook village.
Friendship Lodge, K. of P., No. 95, was instituted March 27, 1873, with eighteen members. At present there are twenty-seven. The first officers were Sylvester Becker, C. C .; C. W. Davis, K. R. S .; and W. H. Pul- ver, M. of F. The meetings are held at Valatie.
Kinderhook Division, No. 164, Sons of Temperance, was instituted July 4, 1846. For a number of years it was very flourishing, but it was discontinued ten years ago.
EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS.
Hendrick Abelsen was the first schoolmaster in Kinder- hook of whom any account has reached us. Ile combined with his duties the office of church precentor. The time of his service was before 1700. Paulus Van Vleck was his successor, but how long he remained, or who followed him, we have no means of determining. Most likely the pastors of the Dutch church also instructed the youth of the members of that body ; and the early schools of the town were undoubtedly controlled by the church officials.
In 1778, Andrew Mayfield Carshore opened an English school at Kinderhook, which he conducted successfully ten or twelve years. David B. Warden followed, although perhaps not immediately after Mr. Carshore's leaving, as the principal of what was then known as the Kinderhook Academy. He was at the head of the school in 1799. A few years after, Elijah Garfield, an excellent scholar and linguist, became the principal, but was succeeded, in 1813, by Joseph Montague.
We have learned nothing that assures us that the Kin- derhook Academy, so called, was more than a well-con- ducted select school, which gave place, in 1823, to the present academy.
The loss of the town records prevents an account of the early public schools. There are at present ten districts, maintaining excellent schools. In Valatie and Kinderhook villages these take unusually high rank, and are taught in buildings whose appearance and convenience of arrangement are not excelled in the county. It is said that Washington Irving taught the school in district No. 6, while a youth, and that his acquaintance with the early settlers and their tradi- tions, there acquired, enabled him to write his " Knicker- bocker's History of New York" with such fidelity to the Dutch character.
THE KINDERHOOK ACADEMY .*
The preliminary meeting which led to the formation of this school was held March 13, 1823, and was composed of the leading citizens of the place. The measures which they adopted secured the use of the second story of the public school-house, which was in the immediate neighbor- hood of the Reformed church. A guarantee fund of one thousand and fifty dollars, to secure the salary of a principal, was subscribed, and the academy regularly organized by
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