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 91
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About 1801 the first paper-mill in the county was erected at the upper falls, by Pitkin & Edmonds. The grist-mill on the site was transformed for this purpose, and the manufacture of paper was carried on after the crude manner of those times, the mill having but one vat. A year later George Chittenden, afterwards the founder of Chittenden's Falls, a hamlet several miles below, on the same stream, purchased this mill, and operated it until 1806, and successfully demonstrated that paper could be profitably manufactured in the county.
This fall has been further improved by a dam seven feet high, and the power is now exclusively employed to operate Mill No. I of the Stuyvesant Falls Cotton-Mills. It occu- pies a three-story frame building, on the east side of the stream, which was erected in 1827, by A. A. Van Alen & Co. It had five hundred spindles. About the same time Mill No. 2 was erected at the lower falls, on the west side, by James and John Waddell. It is a large stone structure, and was supplied with eight hundred spindles. Mill No. 3 of the series is below, and near the last named. It was erected by A. A. Van Alen & Co., in 1845. The material
is brick, and it had at that period about three thousand five hundred spindles. These mills are now the property of A. A. Van Alen, and are operated supplementary to each other in the manufacture of cotton printing-cloths. They are supplied with sixteen thousand spindles and three hundred and fifty-two looms, capacitating them to produce one hundred thousand yards per week. To produce this thirty bales of cotton are required, or about sixteen thou- sand bales per year. The mills at present give employment to one hundred male and one hundred and twenty-five fe- male operatives, some of whom have served here more than forty years, and share with the proprietor the honor of being connected with one of the best mills in the State.
Mathew Coventry was one of the first to engage in mer- chandising at this place, probably in 1820. He occupied the building in which is now A. W. Van Hoesen's store. A. A. Van Alen was in trade as early as 1837, and many others have been engaged since, remaining but a short time.
Peter Acker is credited with having kept the first tavern, in a house which occupied the site of the present hotel, which was erected about 1871.
The first settled physician was a Dr. Scovel, who did not remain very long. Since 1836, Dr. H. B. Salmon has been the only regular practitioner that remained to become identi- fied with the place. Since 1861 he has also held the posi- tion of postmaster of an office established about 1835. Edwin Coventry is said to have been the first postmaster. Among his successors were Peter Van Alen and W. G. Mandeville. A daily mail is supplied from Hudson and Kinderhook.
COXSACKIE STATION,
on the Hudson River railroad, near the southwestern corner of the town, is a mere hamlet, and is important chiefly on account of being the eastern terminus of a ferry line to Coxsackie, in Greene county, on the opposite side of the river. A post-office was established at the depot in 1872, and has been held since by the several agents of the company. This place was formerly known as Nutten Hook, or Nauten Hook, from a family which settled here two hundred years ago.
The town has taken considerable interest in its
PUBLIC SCHOOLS,
and has, with few exceptions, provided good buildings for their accommodation. The condition of the schools in 1878 is shown by the following table :
District.
Children of School Age. Attendance. Average
Receipts from County.
No. 1
40
13.6
$109.30
2
137
24.5
201.82
"
3
173
54.8
343.18
4
222
82.8
441.68
5
76
18.2
144.68
44
6
54
11.4
114.87
7
10
1.4
10,22
8
62
16.1
130.23
$1496.08
No. 7 is a fractional distriet, but a small portion being in Stuyvesant. Eight teachers are employed, and the amount of money annually appropriated by the distriets is a little more than the receipts from the county fund.
359
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
The religious interests of the town are represented by four denominations and six churches.
THE STUYVESANT REFORMED (DUTCHF) CHURCHI.
This body was organized May 13, 1827, by the Rev. Asa Bennett, with sixty-five members, composed of persons belonging to the Van Alstyne, Van Luvan, Vosburgh, Griffin, Wendover, Hoes, Van Dyck, Vanderpoel, Van Alen, Bayly, Witbeck, Bronk, Sickles, Sharp, Clow, and Whiting families. Most of these had formerly been con- nected with Kinderhook and other neighboring churches. The first consistory comprised : Elders, Isaac Van Luvan and Arent Vosburgh ; and Deacons, Oliver Beaumont and Isaac Sudderly.
In 1831 the church edifice, a frame building, costing $1800, was erected at Stuyvesant Landing, which was much enlarged and greatly improved in 1868. It is at present a very neat and attractive place of worship, with sittings for three hundred people, and is estimated worth $8000. Near the church is a comfortable parsonage, purchased in 1853, and is valued at $2000; also a fine cemetery, containing a few acres, which has been tastefully improved. The prop- erty is controlled by the following consistory : Elders, John T. Ham, Henry A. Best, John Wilcoxson, and William McCullom ; Deacons, Philip Williams, James Wilson, and Walter S. Palmer.
Religious services were first conducted by Revs. J. Gar- retson, Henry Hermance, William Choone, and Frederick F. Cornell, as missionaries under the domestic board.
In 1832 the Rev. Garret I. Garretson was installed the first pastor, and remained with the church two years. A vacancy of a year followed, when, in 1835, the Rev. Andrew H. Kittle entered upon the pastorate, remaining until 1846. Towards the close of that year the present pastor, the Rev. E. Nevins, assumed the care of the ministerial office, and under his administration the church has been uniformly prosperous. It has at present eighty families and one hundred communicants connected with it. A Sabbath-school was organized soon after the church, and is now under the superintendence of the pastor. It has ninety-six members.
THE GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH AT STUYVESANT LANDING
was organized, as the result of missionary work from Hud- son, in 1870. On the 18th of January, 1871, a society was legally formed, having as trustees Charles Berlin, John Dankert, and Henry Doerge. A chapel was erected soon after at a cost of $2200, with sittings for one hundred and fifty persons. The church has fifty members, who are served by the pastor of the Hudson church. A Sunday- school of forty members is maintained.
Prior to 1857 the services of the Lutheran church were held at Stuyvesant Falls, and on the 19th of October, 1857, a society was formally organized under the rules of the New York ministerium, and conformably to the laws of the State, enacted in 1813. John D. Pultz, A. J. Mesick, and William G. Mandeville were chosen trustees of the society.
THIE REFORMED (DUTCHI) CHURCH OF STUYVESANT
FALLS.
The organization of this church absorbed the interests of the Lutheran church to such an extent that it was suf- fered to go down. The Reformed church became a legal body Octuber 9, 1859, with a consistory composed of: Elders, Bartholomew Van Buren, Abram J. Mesick, and William Hoes; Deacons, Alfred Ostrom, Cornelius Plass, and B. L. Van Buren. There were fourteen members from the fam- ilies of the consistorial body. The Lutheran house was occupied as erected until 1872, when it was placed in its present inviting condition. It has sittings for two hundred and fifty persons, and is estimated worth $4000. The church has eighty-two members, and its present consistory is composed of: Elders, A. Ostrom, William Hoes, John Van De Carr, and Stephen Haskins; Deacons, James Kittle, Samuel Cole, John Van Buren, William Plass, and Mathew Van Dyck.
The clergy of the church have been : 1860-61, Rev. Elisha D. Bates ; 1861-63, Rev. Minor Swick ; 1864-67, Rev. Isaac L. Kipp; 1867-68, Rev. William E. Bogardus; 1869-71, Rev. Ransford Wells; and since 1874, Rev. William C. Fowler. A Sabbath-school of fifty members is superintended by the pastor, assisted by A. Ostrom.
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF STUYVESANT
FALLS
became an incorporate body Feb. 22, 1858, with Trustees Jacob R. Dingman, Wm. Hamill, Henry Ostrander, Jere- miah Humphrey, Edwin M. Coventry, Abram W. Van Hoesen, Henry D. Thomas, Charles Sampson, and Hiram Decker. In 1859 its house of worship was erected, at a cost of $4500. It is an attractive frame edifice, with ac- commodations for three hundred and fifty worshipers. The membership of the church is one hundred, and the control- ling trustees are Jacob Dingman, Simeon Allen, Thomas Ingham, John W. Van Hoesen, and Wm. F. Burger.
Methodist preaching was maintained much earlier than the date above given, and since 1853 this has been a reg- ular appointment. The pastors since that period have been Revs. Oren Gregg, Thomas Gregg, A. Griffin, Thomas A. Griffin, G. Ward, Henry Smith, John W. Carhart, E. Morgan, W. F. Hurd, C. C. Bedell, J. L. Cook, S. S. Ford, J. W. Quinlan, Wm. Ryan, Elam Marsh, and J. P. Haller. Until the present year the charge has been connected with Kinderhook and neighboring churches. It is now served by the Rev. W. G. Spaulding as a separate charge. The church maintains a Sabbath-school having seventy-five members, superintended by Wm. Ashworth.
ROMAN CATHOLIC.
The services of the Roman Catholic church are held in St. Mary's chapel, at Stuyvesant Falls, and the Church of the Nativity, at the landing. Both were opened for wor- ship in 1873, and have an aggregate value of $3500. They belong to the parish of Valatie, and are served as missions in that connection. When the churches were es- tablished the priestly office was held by Rev. John J. Bren- nan. The present priest is Rev. Father M. J. Griffith, who holds services in these churches every three weeks.
360
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
LINDENWALD LODGE, F. AND A. M., NO. 509,
was instituted at Stuyvesant Falls about 1860, with John W. Carhart, W. M., and E. M. Coventry, Secretary. It numbers at present eighty-six members, who meet in a well-appointed hall, devoted to the purpose, in Connor's block. William Whitehead is the present W. M., and W. G. Mandeville the Secretary.
GOOD INTENT LODGE OF ODD-FELLOWS
was removed to this place from Columbiaville, but soon went down, leaving no accessible records. There were also lodges of Good Templars, and a division of Sons of Tem- perance, in town, which have also been discontinued.
THE REBELLION RECORD
of Stuyvesant gives the town honorable distinction for the promptness displayed in filling the quotas under the various calls for troops made by the President of the endangered Union. A war committee was early appointed to facilitate
enlistments, and on the 22d of August, 1864, a special meeting was held to devise measures to speedily fill the call for five hundred thousand men. Wm. G. Mandeville, John Wilcoxson, Hugh Van Alstyne, John T. Ham, Henry H. Gibbs, Peter E. Van Alstyne, and Aaron Vosburgh were appointed a disbursing committee, with power to pay such bounty as would be deemed necessary to at once fill the quota. On the 19th of September following they reported the quota filled and bounties paid in cash to the amount of $10,500.
The last call was as speedily filled by P. E. Van Alstyne, Henry A. Best, A. A. Van Alen, Henry H. Gibbs, S. H. Wendover, Hugh Van Alstyne, George B. Shultz, Martin C. Van Alstyne, A. J. Mesick, and Edwin Murrel, Jr., who were appointed a disbursing committee Jan. 4, 1865, with power to expend $20,000 to secure the necessary men.
The list, which will be found on another page, gives the names and date of enlistment of the soldiers credited to Stuyvesant.
GREENPORT.
GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.
THIS town lies upon the Hudson river, nearly central along the western border of the county. It is rather peculiarly situated, as it incloses the city of Hudson upon three sides. Greenport thus has a river front both above and below the city. It is bounded north by Stockport, east by Claverack, south by Livingston, and west by the river and the city of Hudson. It includes nine thousand three hundred and seventy-six aeres of improved land, two thousand and ninety-one of unimproved, and of the latter fifteen hundred and sixty-three aeres are woodland. The total population in 1875 was thirteen hundred and fifty-two. The town is a part of the original Van Hocsen patent, fully described in the general portion of this history.
In the Revised Statutes of the State Greenport is de- seribed, and its boundary lines defined, as follows :
" All that part of the city of Hudson lying within the following limits, to wit :
"Beginning on the bank of the Hudson river, at the southwest corner of the town of Stockport, and running from thence along the line of the said town of Stockport, south sixty-six degrees, east one hundred and twenty chains and sixteen links to the middle of the Claverack creek, at a hickory-tree standing on the cast bank of said creck ; thence up along the middle of said creek, as it winds and turns, to the line of the town of Livingston ; thence north sixty-eight degrecs fifteen minutes west along the north line of the said town of Livingstou to the middle of Hudson river; thence up said river on the boundary line between the counties of Columbia and Greene, at a point bearing north thirty-three degrees and twenty-five minutes west from a busy standing at the southerly point of the flats in said river; said buoy hears south seventy-seven degrees and five minutes
west forty chains and eighty links from the southwesterly corner of Mr. Goodwin's dock, in the city of Hudson; and north twenty-eight degrees and ten minutes west twenty-nine chains from Black Rock, on the most northerly point of Mount Merino ; thence from said buy south thirty-three degrees and twenty-five minutes east fifty-eight chains to a willow-tree standing in the fence; thence south seventy degrees and ten minutes east ninety-six chains to the centre of the old road passing through the farm lately owned by Charles Evarts ; thence along the centre of said old road north sixty-three degrees and twenty minutes east six chains and sixty links; thence north forty- four degrees and twenty minutes east ten chains and forty-five links ; thence north fifty-five degrees and fifty minutes east six chains; thence north thirty-three degrees and fifty minutes east four chains and forty links; thence north twenty-two degrees and thirty-five minutes cast fifteen chains and seventy links to the northerly side of the Union turnpike; thence north eleven degrees and fifty minutes east eighty-six chains to a white-oak tree, standing one chain and fifty- five links from the northeasterly corner of the farm lately owned by Jonas White, and nine links westerly from the fence along the westerly side of the old road leading from Hudson to the print-works; thence from this white-oak tree north seventy-four degrees and twenty-five minutes west to the channel of the river or to the Greene county line ; thence northerly along the middle of the river to the southwest corner of the town of Stockport; and from thence to the bank of the river at the place of beginning, shall constitute a new town by the name of Greenport."
NATURAL FEATURES.
The surface of the town is broken and hilly. Below the city of Hudson on the river is a range of hills, com- mencing with the bold elevation of Mount Merino, two hun- dred and fifty feet above the river, and a little farther south rising to seven hundred feet. This point has been used as a signal-station by the government surveyors. Upon the southern slopes of this range the artist Church
361
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
has his residence and studio. A more beautiful spot, with more enchanting views, can seareely be found in the valley of the Hudson. Farther east, and nearly parallel to the range of the river-hills, is Becraft's mountain. This is pre- cipitous on the west side. Between these ranges is a broad and fertile valley, widening in the lower part nearly.to the entire breadth of the town.
The Claverack creek, forming the eastern boundary line, drains a considerable portion of the town, and its valley is not only productive, yielding abundant returns to the farmer, but is also full of pleasant scenery, having many delightful locations for rural homes.
The small portion of the town north of Hudson has no very striking features. It is narrow, lying between the Hudson river and Claverack creek. The heights separating the valleys are only slight, yet sufficient to render the country pleasantly diversified. Through the broad southern valley flows a small creek, its remote branches rising south of the ranges of hills on the border of Livingston. One of these flows from a spring near the residence of Mr. Church, before alluded to. The main stream is mentioned in the gazetteers as Kahseway creck, and empties into South bay. There is also a small tributary of Claverack creek in the southeastern part of Greenport. An unim- portant rivulet along the northern limits of the city of Hudson, and flowing into North bay, drains a small portion of the surface of Greenport.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
It is not an easy matter to determine now who first set- tled within the present limits of the town of Greenport. The site of the first house erected, and the name of the first family occupying the same, are alike lost in the dark- ness of the remote past. Greenport was a part of ancient Claverack, and the name of the latter goes back two and a quarter centuries. The very early settlers that located farther up the river, in Kinderhook and Stockport, were not much in advance of those who settled Claveraek. The journal of certain travelers who ascended the Hudson about two hundred years ago in a sloop, going as far as Albany, shows something of this very town of Greenport. On the return the sloop stopped at Claverack Landing to take on board grain brought to the river by the farmers of Claverack. These travelers, taking the opportunity of the delay to see something of the country, rode out with the farmers to their homes, about four miles, and the journal speaks of some noble fountains bursting from a hill- side which they passed on the way. These are undoubtedly the " Fountains," so called at the present time, near Hollen- beek's tavern.
In critically examining the different neighborhoods of Greenport for evidence still existing in them relative to pioneer settlement, little appears except four old buildings that are very clearly of considerable antiquity.
1st. There is the Van Hoesen house, built in 1729. Dr. Porter, in his address at the centennial celebration of the Claverack church in 1867, alludes to this as a very old building. It is now owned by Mr. C. J. Ludlow, and stands in the neighborhood of the toll-house on the Colum- bia turnpike,-north from the toll-house aeross the fields
46
and very near the railroad track. The farm has been sometimes known as the Benton place, and has the curious history of having been paid for twice by one of its owners, his first title proving defective. The house is a well-pre- served specimen of the solid masonry of old times. It bears the inscription " K. V. H., 1729," and is therefore nearly one hundred and fifty years old. One of the signers to the original compact for building the Claverack church was Kaspar Van Hoesen. This was in 1726. Among the deacons of that church, 1727, is Casparis Van Hoesen, un- doubtedly the same name. This old stone house was then evidently the homestead of Deacon Kaspar Van Hoesen. The Ludlow brothers now occupying the house are them- selves representatives of old families mentioned in the his- tory of Claverack. They are great-grandsons of Richard Morris, Julia Morris, a granddaughter of Richard, having married Wm. B. Ludlow, of Claverack.
2d. In the same address Dr. Porter says, " The Van Du- sen family is among the oldest, tracing its beginnings back to an ancestor who built the brick house near the creek, on the South Shoulder of Beigkraft's mountain, the present place of Alexander Van Rensselaer." This venerable old building, then, undoubtedly dates back to the middle of the last century, if not earlier, even to the time of the Kaspar Van Hoesen mansion. Indeed, the names of six of this family appear in the same old church compact, --- Isaack Van Duse, Harpert V. Duse, Robbert Van Duse, Is. V. Duse, Matthewis V. Duse, and Tobyas Van Duse. Accepting this authority that the Van Deusens were among the oldest settlers, that their ancestors built the brick house south of Becraft's mountain, we have a second building dating back to the same period,-1725 to 1730. There is another very old house on the Claverack creek, east side of the mountain, called the Van Deusen house, now occupied by Mr. Brownell.
3d. On the road south from Hudson, and beyond South bay a short distance, is another venerable building of the same style of masonry and the same deep oak beams, thickly placed, that distinctly characterize those primitive structures. It is now owned by Henry Wilson. The latter remembers that he has at some time seen an inscrip- tion upon this building, but it was not easy to be read, and is not now readily found. . This is known in the neighbor- hood as the old Bunt place, and the people speak of the date of its erection as entirely unknown. Considerable inquiry has failed either to ascertain the date or to learn much about the pioneer family that ereeted it. But quot- ing again from the records of Claverack church, we find among the signers to the compact Jan Bont and Hendrick Bont, and connecting this with the local tradition that three or four generations of that family name lived in the old stone house, the conclusion seems justified that here is another homestead dating back 1725 to 1730.
4th. Beyond the Bunt house, on the road from Hudson to the neighborhood of the Reformed church, there is the dwelling now occupied by Mrs. Weed. This was the Plass homestead of old times. Jonathan Plass, living in that neighborhood, now seventy-nine years old, says that his father was born in that old stone house ; that his grand- father lived there, and he supposes the latter to have also
ยท
362
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
been born there. In the roll of a military company, or- ganized and under review at Oak Hill in 1715, alluded to in the general history, is the name of John Emenils Ploss, showing the family of that name to have been in this county at that early date. Dr. Porter, in the address al- ready quoted, says of this military company (1715), " All of these persons were residents at that time of the Living- ston manor ; but larger advantages, offered by the proprictor of Claverack, induced many of them, no doubt, to remove at an early day within its boundaries." This statement would account for the Plass family name in Greenport at as early a day as the others mentioned.
If these inferences are correct, we have the Van Hoesen dwelling-house, the Bunt, the Plass, and the Van Deusen, all dating back one hundred and fifty years. The second Van Deusen house, mentioned above, on the present Brown- ell farm, with two or three others, may also be very old ; but the four are evidently the earliest of all.
There were doubtless other families nearly as early as the four mentioned, but it is difficult to secure any account of them, at least in chronological order.
John R. Hollenbeck was a resident more than a hundred years ago at the present place of F. A. Beach. He opened a tavern and established a ferry. He was succeeded by his son, Peter I. Hollenbeck, who died July 29, 1834, only three years later than his father. The tavern was con- tinued by his widow and her family down to about 1855. It then ceased to be a public-house. Matthew and Michael Hollenbeck were also early residents. A son of Peter I. is Charles Hollenbeck of the Mckinstry neighborhood, and a son of Charles is the present town clerk. The dwelling- house of Charles is about one hundred years old.
Jacob R. Hollenbeck, mentioned in the notes upon town officers, is the son of Matthias Hollenbeck, and he was the son of Matthias the elder. The sons of the latter, besides Matthias, Jr., were Jacob, Michael N., Jeremiah, Mrs. Bertrand (who, after the death of her first husband, married James Kelly), and Mrs. Abraham Ten Eyck. The old Hol- lenbeck tavern at the Mckinstry place was kept by the mother of Jacob R. Hollenbeck for many years. She is remembered as an energetic, capable woman, and her house was a favorite resort for parties riding out from IIndson.
Many of the early settlers of Greenport are mentioned in the chapter upon the city of Hudson, of which Greenport was a part down to 1837.
Among the members of the common council of the city from 1785 to 1836 inclusive, who resided beyond the present city limits, may be mentioned the following : Ezra Reed, Dirck Delamater, and John Ten Broeck, in the year 1785. The two last were re-elected several times. In 1786 and 1787, H. I. Van Rensselaer was a member. In 1791 appears the name of Claudius I. Delamater. Samuel I. Ten Broeck lived where Samuel T. B. Heermance does at the present time. Jonathan Becraft, from whom the mountain derives its name, was a member of the common council in 1803 and 1804. Seth G. Macy lived in that part of Hudson set off to Stockport, on the present Lathrop farm. John Hardick, whose name appears many times in the official list, from 1801 to 1816, also lived in what is now Stockport. Thomas Whitlock, 1809, resided on the
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