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 84
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THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF CANAAN.
The legal organization of this body was effected May 11, 1829, with the following trustees : John Wilcox, Reuben Jenkins, and Warren Ford. A very neat house of wor- ship was erected the following year in the eastern part of the Red Rock settlement. Subsequent improvements have been made on the building, and it is now an attractive and comfortable church. The society numbers eighty-four members, who are under the spiritual care of Rev. C. W. Havens. A Sunday-school, having twenty-five members, is maintained by the church.
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
At Red Rock is a Baptist meeting-house, which was used by a society that disbanded many years ago. Lately the house has not been used for religious purposes.
MILITARY.
It is impossible, in the limited space at our command, to enlarge upon the military history of the town. Besides those already mentioned as having served in the Revolution, the names of others appear in the military lists of the county.
At the first call of the government for aid to suppress the Rebellion the town gave an active response. A special meet- ing was held Ang. 30, 1862, to facilitate enlistments, a bonnty of $150 per volunteer being provided to this end. The supervisor and the assessors were constituted a disburs- ing committee of the several bounty funds provided at this and subsequent special meetings. The soldiers' list gives the names of the volunteers eredited to the town by the State authorities.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
DANIEL S. CURTIS
was born Jan. 4, 1794, in the town of Canaan, Columbia Co., N. Y. He was the eldest son (who lived to manhood) of Samuel A. Curtis, who was the first white child born in Canaan, Oct. 1, 1763, his father being one of the very first settlers of Canaan.
He (Daniel S. Curtis) was edneated in the common schools, except two terms spent at an academy, which he attended before he was fifteen years of age, after which he learned of his father the trade of a tanner, saddler, and harness-maker. He worked chiefly at saddlery and har- ness-making, at which he became an expert, and followed the trade till 1827, when he purchased the farm on which he spent the remainder of his days. He became a thorough- going farmer, taking a lively interest in all topics connected withi agriculture, but made sheep-husbandry his chief pur- suit, and became noted as a breeder of merino sheep, and was an occasional writer on that and other agricultural subjeets. Ile also wrote an " Essay on the Rearing and
Management of Sheep," in 1848, for which he was awarded the first prize of fifty dollars, offered by the State Agricul- tural Society, and the essay was published in the transac- tions for that year.
Mr. Curtis was an active politieian, an acknowledged . leader in his own town, and well known as one of the leaders of the old Whig party, and afterwards of the Re- publiean, throughout the county. Though not an aspirant for political honors, he was twice or three times elected supervisor of his town (the last time in 1858), and onee to the Legislature, in 1859.
He was a man of untiring industry,-a habit formed in early life, and one that never forsook him ; for after he had given up business he still continued from choice to labor in the field and garden, till increasing age led him at last to his old trade of harness-making, which he had not followed for forty years or more; and, to keep his hands busy, lie made several sets of harness, which he gave to his sons and
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
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other members of his family as mementoes of his handi- work and industry. He made his last set of harness after he had passed his eightieth birthday, and it would do credit to a much younger man.
He never had a lawsuit in his life, was a man without enemies, a true friend, generous-hearted and open-handed to the needy, and of sterling integrity and probity of char- acter.
Ile died Dec. 29, 1874, aged nearly eighty-one years.
SAMUEL A. CURTIS,
or Deacon Curtis, as he is popularly called, was born in the town of Canaan, Columbia Co., N. Y., March 22, 1806. Ilis father, whose name was also Samuel A. Curtis, was
SAMUEL A. BARSTOW,
familiarly known as Captain Barstow, was born in Litch- field, Connecticut, Aug. 24, 1799. He was a son of Allen and Olive (Foster) Barstow, the former a native of Martha's Vineyard, Mass., the latter of Connecticut. Sam- uel A. Barstow married Betsey Douglas, daughter of Asa Douglas, of Canaan, N. Y., having removed here with his parents about the year 1808, and settled in the southern part of the town of Canaan. About 1820 he removed to the farm where he spent the rest of his days, departing this life Oct. 11, 1865, being sixty-six years of age. He had a family of nine children, five of whom still survive.
Captain Barstow derived the title of captain from hold- ing that office in the militia. He was a prominent man, and for several years represented his town in the board of supervisors, and was active in public affairs generally. A
SAMUEL A. CURTIS.
the first white child born in Canaan. IIe was born in October, 1763, and died in 1851, his wife also dying during the same year.
Deacon Curtis married, on the 10th of June, 1828, Climena Edwards Woodworth, and has had five children,- three sons and two daughters,-four of whom are living at this writing. He was a popular captain in the old militia organization, has been a most upright and exemplary citi- zen, a member of the Baptist church near his house, of which he has been deacon about thirty years, and has served his town as a member of the board of supervisors. Brought up to the occupation of his father and brother be- fore him, he has been a tanner, currier, and harness-maker, which trade he has followed for a livelihood, and has accu- mulated a competence.
kind and obliging neighbor, a genial companion, a truc friend, and an honest, upright citizen. kind and generous to the poor, and liberal towards all benevolent objects, he was universally esteemed for his excellent traits of char- acter. In politics he was in early life a Whig, and later a Republican.
DANIEL WARNER
was born in Canaan, Conn., March 16, 1762. His father, William Warner, was English or of English descent. He married Rebecca Lupton, of Boston, Mass., and had a family of thirteen children, twelve of whom came with their parents to Canaan, N. Y. Daniel was at that time the youngest, and was two years of age. One son was born after their settlement in this town.
42
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
The old house which William Warner originally occupied was built by him prior to the Revolution. It is still stand- ing, a little west of the Presbyterian church of Canaan Centre. The family of Mr. Warner was the third white family which settled in the town. He died during the first year of the Revolutionary war.
Daniel Warner was brought up on his father's farm. Two other brothers, Jonathan and James, settled in the same neighborhood, and brought up their families here. Daniel Warner married Olive Douglas, Feb. 5, 1792. Her father, Asa Douglas, was born in Stephentown, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., and was a representative in the Legislature. The latter portion of his life was spent in Canaan.
Daniel Warner had nine children, three sons and six daughters ; the only two now living are Sarah Warner and Elida Robins Warner, now Mrs. Henry J. Whiting, of Canaan. The former is unmarried, and resides on the
town, Columbia Co., and reared a family of four children, of whom Lorenzo was the youngest. Asa Gile died in February, 1837, and his wife, Nancy Gile, in 1860, having survived him twenty-three years.
The early life of Lorenzo was spent on a farm in his native town, where he was a student at home, and attended the district school, to which, in early boyhood, he walked five miles, and returned the same distance each day. He was a diligent and thorough student. In 1834 he com- menced the study of medicine with Henry D. Wright, M.D., of New Lebanon, and graduated at the Berkshire Medical College, of Pittsfield, Mass., in December, 1839. He first commenced practice in Wayne Co., N. Y., re- maining part of a year, when he settled as a physician in Canaan, Columbia Co., N. Y., where he continued in suc- cessful practice for over thirty years, and was largely identified with the public interests of the locality. Ile
LORENZO GILE, M.D.
old homestead of her father, at Canaan Centre. She was born where her grandfather originally settled in this town, on the first of September, 1803. In 1814 her father built the present residence and moved his family into it, where Miss Warner has resided ever since.
LORENZO GILE, M.D.,
was born May 20, 1814, in Stephentown, Rensselaer Co., N. Y. He is of Scotch-Irish descent. His father, Asa Gile, was born in Massachusetts, and was a Revolutionary soldier under General Washington. He entered the army at the age of fifteen. His discharge from the service, signed by General Washington at his headquarters, bears date June 9, 1783, for six years' faithful service in the First Massa- chusetts Regiment. Ile married Nancy Monroe, of Spencer-
has been through life a man of strictly temperate habits and of a vigorous constitution. Well read in his profession, and possessing a large fund of general information, he naturally took a leading part in all matters pertaining to the welfare of his town and county, and has been as thoroughly finished for his duties morally as intellectually, being a man of unswerving integrity and fidelity to principles, as well in the smallest details of public and private business as in the greater concerns of life. An anti-slavery man from conviction ; and although for a time politically in the minority, he was often elected to office, because the people knew that he could be trusted. In 1850, 1857, 1872, 1873, and 1874 he was elected a member of the board of supervisors, was chairman of the board in 1873, and a member of the Legislature in 1858. He was a member for many years of the Columbia County Medical Society, and an honorary member of the Berkshire Medical Society.
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK:
On the 4th of July, 1837, he was united in marriage to Miss Eliza A. Dean, of New Lebanon, N. Y., by whom he had one child, William A. Gile, born on the 3d of Oe- tober, 1844, and at present residing in Stephentown, Rensselaer Co., where he is engaged in mercantile pur- suits. She died on the 3d of January, 1851, and on the 8th of September, 1853, he married for his second wife Harriet C. Cornwell, of New Lebanon, by whom he has one daughter, Lizzie A., who is residing at home. , After a life of unusual activity, Dr. Gile was suddenly
stricken with paralysis on the 11th of June, 1874. He had another shock on the 9th of July, 1877, which has hope- lessly incapacitated him for business, and, but for his re- markably strong constitution, would probably have termin- ated his earthly career. He still survives, although his health is quite feeble, and the tone and activity of his mind considerably impaired. He has every domestic and medical attention that can ameliorate his condition, his daughter Lizzie especially being unremitting in her care and devo- tion to him in his critical situation.
GHENT.
GHENT occupies a central position among the towns of the county. It was erected from Kinderhook, Chatham, and Claverack, April 3, 1818, and received its name from Ghent, in Holland. Before this division, the territory com- prised within its bounds was locally known as Squampa- mock* and Kline Kill. The town has an irregular shape, and was reduced to its present area-27,649 aeres-in 1833, when a part of Stockport was taken from its western border.
The surface is somewhat hilly in the cast, but becomes pleasantly undulating towards the west, with long belts of level land intervening. The largest of these are the Squam- pamock flats, along Claverack creek, whose beauty and productive nature are not excelled in the county. It is said that a portion of these lands were cultivated by the natives, and that several Indian orchards were found in this locality by the early settlers. The soil of Ghent is gravelly loam, except in the western part, where it is clayey. Along the water-courses is some alluvial land. The whole is gen- erally productive, and the town holds a prominent position on account of its agricultural resources. The principal stream is the Kline Kill, which enters the town from the east, near the northeast corner, and after flowing southwest several miles turns abruptly towards the northwest, passing out between Kinderhook and Chatham. Claverack creek has a general southerly course, east of the centre of the town; and in the western part is a brook of considerable size, emptying into the Claverack at Stockport. The former has high, rocky banks in the eastern part of the town, affording limited water-power, which is well utilized.
The western part of the town was covered by the Kin- derhook and other patents of that town. East of these extended the lands of the proprietor of Claverack, whose claims were generally respected, the early settlers securing leases at merely nominal prices. One of the largest in- terests was secured by Johannes Hogeboom, some time before 1750. It included nearly all the fertile lands along
the streams in the eastern part of the town. On a portion of this a family named Sharp had settled, near the present village of Ghent, and had made a few improvements. There were four brothers, and it is generally believed that they were among
THE FIRST SETTLERS,
and probably the first in the present town, coming some- where about 1740. Hogeboom purchased their improve- ments and immediately began a home of his own. He erected a stone house on the farm now occupied by his great-grandson, the Hon. J. T. Hogeboom, where he opened an iun, which became one of the best known stopping- places on the road from Boston to Albany.
Hogeboom had first settled in Claverack, where some of his sons continued to reside ; but having purchased this land, most of his sons settled about him, and as they did so he gave them large farms. Lawrence resided in Clav- erack until 1767, in which year he moved to the homestead and resided with his father. In 1775 he lived on the farm Dow in possession of his grandson, Hon. John T. Hoge- boom. His brother, Johannes, Jr., was living on the farm now occupied by Mr. Philip Mesick, then embracing about three hundred acres. Another brother, Bartholomew, lived about a half-mile east, on the stage-road to Boston, on the farm now owned by Mr. Henry Schultz. Another, Corne- lius, father of John C., and grandfather of Judge Henry Hogeboom, on the farm now occupied by Mr. Henry R. Coburn, and still another brother, Abraham, on the site of the present county poor-house.
The Hogebooms became a large and respectable family, and some of them attained distinguished prominence in the State and nation. But one of the branches of the original family now remains in town, a descendant of Lawrence, John Tobias Hogeboom, who is a son of Tobias L., who was born in Ghent in 1816, and is of the fourth generation of Hogebooms that have occupied this land. He has been a member of the Assembly and a judge of Columbia county.
Farther south, Hendrick Groat was one of the first settlers, about 1750. Among his sons were William and Peter. The latter remained on the homestead, where he
# This is an Indian name signifying " the meeting of the waters," so called from the joining of the two small affluents of Claverack creek.
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
reared John, William P., Peter, Jacob, Jeremiah, and Henry. Peter removed to Chatham, at what is now the village. William P. remained on the homestead, which is occupied by one of his sons, Cyrus. Some time after the Revolution, Johannes Moul, with his sons Jacob and John, and a daughter, came from Germantown, and settled in the neighborhood west from Groat. Christopher Moul yet re- sides ou the John Moul homestead. Both the Mouls served in the war for independence. Here also the Harder family settled, from which have sprung many use- ful citizens in this and adjoining towns. The Jacobi family was one of the first in the eastern part, where they intermarried with the Snyders, also pioneers in the town. Aaron Ostrander, with his sons John, Philip, Jacobus, William, Henry, and Aaron; Martin, Vallentine, Jacob, and Peter Stupplebecm, and John Holsapple were also among the first in this section.
About 1785, Jacob and Michael Waltermire came from Dutchess county, and settled on what is known as the Fow- ler place. The former had seven sons, of whom Jacob and Michael I., both old and respected citizens, still live in that locality. Michael erected a tavern on the turnpike at an carly period, which is still standing as a tenement. A few years later came Henry Shufelt, from the same county, and settled in southern Ghent. On the breaking out of the Revolution, when but a youth of sixteen, he was en- ticed on board a British sloop and carried to New York. He managed to escape to Long Island, where he was se- creted five years, then returned to his parents, who had given him up for dead. Of the sons of Henry Shufelt, Cornelius-better known as Captain Shufelt, from his ser- vice io the War of 1812-lives in the northern part of town, one of the best-known citizens. Of this family there were, also, sons named George A. and Henry. Another branch of the Shufelt family was Philip's, who reared sons named John, Philip, Peter, and George, who settled in this and adjoining towns.
About 1800, George T. Snyder settled west of the pres- ent village of Ghent, on the Henry T. Snyder place, where he reared a son,-Tunis G.,-who died in town in March, 1878, at the age of ninety-seven years. He was for a long time one of the leading citizens of Ghent. To this locality came Johannes Fredenburgh, in 1766, and settled on a piece of land which now belongs, in part, to a great-grand- son,-Abram Vosburgh. The Vosburghs first settled in Stuyvesant. Peter I., the grandfather of the above, was a captain in Colonel James Livingston's regiment, and did good service in the patriot cause. General Lafayette rec- ognized these services by presenting him a sword, which is now in the possession of Abram Vosburgh. At the close of the war he joined the " Society of the Cincinnati," his certificate bearing date Dec. 10, 1785, and is signed by G. Washington, president, and J. Knox, secretary, of the society.
Among the first in the western part of the town was the Philip family, composed of four sous,-Peter, John, Jacob, and Wilhelmus. Among the children of the first was a son, also named Peter. One of his sons, Delaway F., is yet living on the homestead. Another son, Peter, became dis- tinguished as an inventor. The Philip family has been
one of the most numerous in town, and its descendants yet live on the lands purchased by their ancestors one hundred and thirty years ago. In this locality a man named Decker settled very early. A daughter married John Kittle, also one of the early settlers. Kittle reared four sons,-Henry, John, Andrew, and Nicholas,-all of whom remained in this section of the county, and reared large families, many of whose descendants yet live in west Ghent.
Other early and prominent settlers in west Ghent were William, Thomas, John, and Laurence Van Alstyne ; Adam Tipple, Willielinus, Philip, Nicholas, and Daniel Link, of one family ; and Henry, John, Wm. H., and Zachariah H., of another family ; and the Leggett, Hardick, Van Slyck, Van Bramer, Van Buren, and Van Valkenburgh families.
Godfrey Garner took up a piece of land in the northern part of the town, now occupied by a grandson, Aaron C., where he reared sons named Godfrey, Martin, and Chris- topher, who became prominent citizens. David Crapser, Philip Diedrich, Lucas and Jacob Shaver, Anthony, John Henry, and Adam Melius, the Millers, and Wm. Holmes were also early and well-known settlers.
In the eastern part of the town, the Wager family and Philip Dunspaugh made early settlements. North were James and Samuel Crandell, and the Coleman family. South of them were other members of the society of Friends, notably the Macy families. Abram Macy settled here in 1782, taking up his abode with his family of ten children in a log house of two rooms. Two years later he erected a house with his own hands, which is yet occupied by George G. Macy, a son of Abram, Jr., who is the only grandson of Abram Macy remaining in Ghent. Another son of Abram, Jr., Aaron C., resides at Hudson, and both are among the most honored citizens of the county. The Powell family, also Friends, came to this section at a later day. Some of this family have become noted for the bold position they have taken in favor of reform and civil rights. The position taken by Aaron M. Powell on the marriage relation is worthy of being here noted :
" Aaron M. Powell, of Ghent, and Judith Anna Rioe, of Worcester, Mass., on the 15th day of April, 1861, at the house of Townsend and Catherine Powell, in the town of Ghent, have assumed the relation of husband and wifo.
" Herewith we record our united protest against the inequality and injustice of tho statutes of the civil code pertaining to marriage, which assigns to the wife a position of legal inferiority. The mar- riage contract is formed in ignorance, inequality, and injustice, in the making of which one of the parties becomes at once civilly dead and legally buried. The individuality of the wife is merged in tho husband. Her personal and property rights are surrendered.
" Against this inequality and injustice, this monstrous saerifioc of the birthright of every human soul heptized by Apostolic hands, as a holy sacrament aud everlasting ordinance of the living God, we do protest.
" AARON M. POWELL.
" J. ANNA RICE POWELL."
Signed and attested by thirty persons, and recorded in the office of the clerk of Columbia county July 25, 1861.
For the names of many other early settlers, the reader is referred to the several church histories of the town.
Ghent settled rapidly, as we learn from the census of 1820 that there were 460 male persons in town upward of twenty-one years of age, who owned 17,342 acres of im-
FARM RESIDENCE O1 C. JACOBIE, GHENT, COLUMBIA COUNTY, N Y
LITH BY L H EVERTS &CO, PHILA PA
RESIDENCE OF DAVID CRAPSER, GHENT. COLUMBIA CO.N Y.
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
proved land. In 1875 the population was 1543 males, 1514 females; and 432 were foreigners.
CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
The town of Ghent was erected in compliance with an act of the Senate and Assembly, passed April 3, 1818, which provided " that from and after the passing of this act, such parts of the towns of Claverack, Kinderhook, and Chatham as are contained in the following bounds-be- ginning at the northwest corner of the town of Hillsdale, and running from thence southerly along the division line between Claverack and Hillsdale to the road opposite the cooper-shop of Solomon Strong; thence westerly, in a straight line, to Claverack creek, at a place 11 chains aud 50 links to the south of the bridge over said creek, near where the house of the late Peter Van Rensselaer stood ; thence down the creek to where the same intersects the Kinderhook creek ; thence up said creek 28 chains, above the great falls, commonly called Major Abram's falls ; thence easterly to the Kline Kill creek, near the house of William Waggoner ; thence along the north end of the house of the said Waggoner, south 75 degrees and 21 minutes east until it intersects a line running from the northwest corner of Hillsdale, north 14} degrees east, to the place of beginning-shall be and remain a separate town by the name of Ghent; and the first town-meeting in said town of Ghent shall be held at the dwelling-house of Seth Mins, at the usual time of holding aunual meet- ings in said county ; and all the remaining parts of the said towns of Chatham, Claverack, and Kinderhook shall be and remain separate towns."
Provision was also made for an equitable division of the poor funds, debts, and road moneys, and the adjustment of the road districts on boundary lines. Officers elected in other towns were to serve until the expiration of the terms for which they were elected in their towns, before the division.
The first election, held April 7, 1818, resulted as fol- lows : Supervisor, Tobias L. Hogeboom; Town Clerk, Henry Van Slyck; Assessors, Peter Ostrander, George Risedorf, Cornelius Van Alstyne, Edward Holmes, George T. Snyder; Collector, David Weager; Coustables, Jacob Hogeboom, Joseph M. Krum, Gilbert L. Vincent; Com- missioners of Highways, Teunis G. Snyder, Nathan Col- lins, Jacob Moul ; Poormasters, Barent Van Buren, Mar- tin H. Hoffman ; Commissioners of Common Schools, John Kittle, Abraham Staats, Samuel Crandell; Inspectors, Martin H. Hoffman, Tobias L. Hogeboom, John Fowler, Jehoiakim Schinkle, Peter P. Philip.
Since that period the principal officers have been the following :
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