History of Columbia County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 93

Author: Everts & Ensign; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Ensign
Number of Pages: 648

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 93

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14 mules, and $2650 worth of poultry, and the value of the eggs sold was $1085. There were 211 head of cattle other than milch-cows, and 541 of the latter. The butter made in families was 26,671 pounds, and the milk sold was 99,675 gallons. There were in the town, June 1, 1875, sheep shorn to the number of 274, the clip weighing 1181 pounds, and there were raised 131 lambs. There were 541 head of swine, and the number slaughtered in the fall of 1874 was 432, weighing 81,085 pounds. There were 1677 acres in pasture and 5099 mowed. The value of the farms was estimated at $1,588,780, and the farm buildings, other than dwellings, at $229,110; live- stock, $100,575; tools and implements, $111,183, and fertilizers purchased to the amount of $3064. The gross sales for 1874 from the farms are stated at $111,183,- showing an income of about five and a half per cent. upon the capital. To which must be added that portion of the family support that comes directly from the farms,-but the expense of hired labor, which is not taken into account, must be deducted.

A portion of the people of Greenport, living adjacent to the corporate limits, are engaged in business within that city.

The other principal business interest of Greenport, other than farming, may be stated as the marble quarry, and yet that has never been developed extensively enough to be- come a leading industry. The following statement of the quarry and its value is added :

THE GREENPORT QUARRIES,

located abont two miles southeast of Hudson, have for many years been worked to a limited extent, and produced an excellent quality of stonc. But owing to the absence of any sufficient means for its transportation to market, having to be hauled over two miles of inferior road, it has been difficult to procure blocks of desirable shape and size for building purposes, and the extent of production has not been at all commensurate with the practically inexhaustible supply contained in Becraft's mountain.

The quarries were leased a few years since by a stock company, under the corporate name of the " New York Shell-Marble Company," with a cash capital of $100,000, and under the management of the following-named officers : Frederick W. Jones, president ; S. E. Whittingham, sec- retary and treasurer ; and Robert Hood, chief engineer. It was the purpose of this company to perfect arrangements for doing an extensive business by the construction of a railroad from the quarries to Hudson, which was designed to form a link in the contemplated Hudson and Kinderhook railroad. The plan also included the erection of mills on the South bay, in Hudson, for sawing marble and dressing building-stone. These plans have not yet been carried out.

The marble obtained here is of that variety known as shell-marble. It is of superior quality, is susceptible of the finest polish, and is unsurpassed for ornamental purposes. It is thus described in Appletons' "New Encyclopedia" : " Lumachella, or fossiliferous marbles, are those which contain petrified shells. These are sometimes so crowded upon one another that they compose the whole mass of stone; sometimes single shells are seen scattered thronghout

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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

the block. A dark marble, from Kilkenny, in common use for mantels and hearths, often presents a section on its polished face, of the nautilus shell. The white spiral lines of the shell on the dark ground have exactly the appear- ance as if a rough-nailed heel had been carelessly spun around upon the surface, and many a nice housewife, un- skilled in paleontology, has tried in vain to rub out the vexatious spots. These marbles are very abundant in Europe, and also throughont New York and the western States. Handsome mantels are made of American vari- eties, which are composed entirely of fossil shells, but they are rather to be regarded as curious than beautiful. They lack the high colors of the brecciated and variegated marble, and though they take a good polish, they are from their plain colors comparatively dull and sombre. Some of the best of this kind are from Beeraft's mountain, back of Hud- son, New York, which is noticed by Prof. Silliman.

" The marble is of a grayish color, with a slight blush of red. Its structure is semi-crystalline, and in some places highly crystalline, especially in and around the organized bodies, which in vast numbers it embraces. The largest slabs present a great diversity of appearance, and can scarcely be distinguished from the similar transition marble of the Peak of Derbyshire, which it quite equals in beauty and fineness. In Hudson it has been used in many of the houses for ornamental work, and it has been introduced into New York."*

MILITARY HISTORY.

No complete list can be easily obtained of those who belonged to the Revolutionary army and resided within the present town of Greenport. The full company muster-rolls, given elsewhere, doubtless include several names from the present territory of this town. In 1840, according to the official pension lists, there were two pensioners at that time living in Greenport,-John Elindorf, aged eighty-eight, and Nicholas Stickles, aged eighty-five.

As to the War of 1812, we have little or no account of those from Greenport who were in the military service.

The War of 1861-65 called out certain official action by the town, as follows: At a special meeting held at the house of Jacob R. Hollenbeck, Sept. 1, 1862, Henry A. Dubois was elected chairman, and James A. Farrill secre- tary. A committee of six on resolutions was appointed, consisting of Frederick D. Gardner, James A. Farrill, Jacob R. Hollenbeck, Samuel T. Dubois, Cornelius Esselstyne, and Philip Van Tassell. Resolutions were reported and passed providing one hundred dollars bounty to each volun- teer. An executive committee of ten was authorized to borrow $4000 to pay the bounty offered, and to petition the Legislature for a law ratifying this action. The com-

mittee were Frederick A. Gardner, Cornelius Esselstyne, Henry A. Dubois, Harmon Hollenbeck, Richard Becker, James T. Dubois, Jonas R. Delamater, James A. Farrill, Philip H. Lambert, Jacob R. Hollenbeck.

At a special town-meeting, held July 30, 1864, Richard A. Becker, chairman, Jacob Hollenbeck, clerk, such bounty was authorized as the committee to be appointed might agree upon. The committee named were Richard Becker, James A. Farrill, Richard P. Groat, Cornelius Esselstyne, and Jonas R. Delamater. The committee thus intrusted with this responsible duty executed the duty assigned faith- fully. They filled the quota, paying whatever was neces- sary, and yet avoided the bounty-brokers and their enor- mous exactions, saved the town from a draft, and satisfied the people. Still further authority was given at subsequent meetings, and an additional committee appointed, consisting of Henry A. Dubois, Wm. J. Miller, Richard Hollenbeck, Aaron Van Vleck, and Matthias Hollenbeck.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

MICHAEL J. HOLLENBECK.

Mr. Hollenbeck was born in Greenport, Columbia Co., N. Y., Oct. 2, 1809. He was a son of James and Catha- rine Hollenbeck, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Francis and Perces (Wright) Salisbury, of Athens, Greene Co., Feb. 22, 1834. She was born Feb. 2, 1810.

Mr. Hollenbeck was brought up on his father's farm, and after arriving at manhood followed boating on the Hudson river for a period of about thirteen years. After his marriage he purchased the present family homestead, near the city of Hudson, in the town of Greenport, where he was an industrious and frugal farmer, and where he and his wife, by hard work and economy, surrounded themselves and children with the comforts of a home, and acquired a moderate competence, Mr. Hollenbeck spending the balance of his life on this farm. He was a man of energy and perseverance.

A Democrat in politics, Mr. Hollenbeck held several minor town offices, and served as justice of the peace sev- eral years. He was a plain, unassuming man, honest and upright in his dealings, and of many noble traits of char- acter.

They have brought up one adopted child, Perees E. Crippen, born in Greene county, Dec. 11, 1836, and mar- ried, Oct. 24, 1860, to Mr. Ezra Hollenbeck, of Greenport.

Since the death of her husband, April 14, 1874, Mrs. Ilollenbeck has exercised the general supervision over the management of her estate, and attended personally to her financial and other business. She is a woman highly es- tecmed for her many excellent qualities.

# American Journal of Science, vol. vi. p. 371.

HILLSDALE.

THIS town, which is the sixth in size and the tenth in population, lies on the eastern border of the county, ad- joining the State of Massachusetts, and is the central town of the east line. Its southern line is also the northern line of the old Livingston manor, as it was finally agreed upon between the patroons, Livingston and Van Rensselaer. Its area is 26,699 acres, of which 21,058 acres are returned as improved. Its population in 1860 was 2552; in 1865, 2142; in 1870, 2083; and in 1875, 1879. Its greatest length is, from east to west, about seven and three-quarters miles, and its width, from north to south, is six and one- third miles. It is centrally distant east from Hudson about twelve and one-half miles.

The surface is generally billy in its character. Along the eastern border of the town lies the Taghkanic range of mountains, its projecting spurs on the east extending to and beyond the Massachusetts line. At the foot of this range, a fertile valley, some two miles in width, runs nearly across the town. The northern part is made up of broken, irregular hills and narrow valleys. In the west a pleasant little valley extends nearly half-way across the town, and along the southern line a vale of varying width runs till it joins the larger valley at Hillsdale village. The hills are generally rounded in form, and arable to their summits, though a few of them are rocky and of a precipitous character. The highest points of these hills afford many fine and some extensive views.

The principal streams of the town are Green river (a small stream that flows across the northeast corner of the town, derives its name from the peculiar transparent green tinge of its waters, and is noted for the number of trout that frequent it); the small brooks that flow across the east part of the town, and unite to form Roeloff Jansen's Kill; the head-waters of Copake creek, flowing south in the western part of the town, and the rills that form the head-waters of Claverack creek that rise in the northwest part of the town. There are no natural lakes or ponds. The reservoir of the Mellenville manufactories, near the line of Claverack, covers several acres of ground, with a depth of some twenty feet of water.

The town was originally a part of the Van Rensselaer patent, except the eastern part, which formed a portion of the lands claimed by both Massachusetts and New York. March 12, 1793, the State surrendered its claim to all lands actually occupied by settlers. This enabled some of the inhabitants to obtain titles to their farms, but others less fortunate were obliged to take leased lands, with all the odious features of ancient feudalism attached.

The soil is composed of a variety of combinations of slate, gravel, clay, limestone, and loam, and is generally quite productive. The prevailing rocks are slate, shale, and

quartz. Iron ore of excellent quality is found in the eastern part of the town, and in some parts the quartz- rock is found to contain gold, silver, and lead. A mineral paint of excellent quality is also found in the vicinity of one of the ore-beds.

This town was settled at a very early day, probably before 1750; the south by immigrants from Massachusetts and Connecticut, and the northern part by Dutch settlers. Among them were families named Showerman, Blackman, Kinyon, Fregers, Everts, and Sharts. Prominent among the early inhabitants we also mention Martin Krum, Elisha Hatch, James Shepard, Jeremiah Shaw, William Orr, Isaac Spalding, Joshua Whitney, Archibald and Robert Lamont, William White, Joseph Morehouse, Jared Wins- low, Isaac Hatch, William Tanner, Nathaniel House, M.D., James Bryan, Gaius Stebbins, Abel Brown, John Pixley, John and David Collin, Parla Foster, Refine Latting, Quincy Johnson, Caleb Benton, M.D., Azariah Judson, John Higgins, William Higgins, Benjamin Birdsall, Am- brose L. Jordan, Abraham Overhiser, Henry Loop, Augustus Tremain, Isaac and Silas Downing, John P. Becker, Christopher W. Miller, Harry Truesdell, Samuel Mallery, Oliver Teall, John Tremaine, Elisha Hatch, John Tyler, Charles MeKinstry, John Wager, and families named Hill and Bartlett.

It is almost if not quite impossible to learn anything definite about these early settlers. Some of the families have become extinct ; some have removed ; some have rep- resentatives still in town; and a few maintain the line of descent unbroken.

Prominent among the early settlers were John and David Collin, brothers, and the children of John Collin, of Mil- ford, Conn. Their grandfather, Paul Collin, married Judith Vallean, and was driven from France by the religious perse- cutions of the early years of the eighteenth century. Their son John (Ist) married Hannah Mervin. He was a sea- captain, and was finally lost at sea in the year 1746. John (2d) settled in the western part of Hillsdale, on what is now known as the Higgins farm, where he lived for a few years, and then removed to the eastern part of the town, on the farm now occupied by his grandson, Hon. John F. Collin. David Collin occupied the place now owned by Rutsen Hunt. John was commissioned as captain by Governor Tryon, and afterwards held a similar commission from Governor George Clinton. He lost one son, Anthony, in the Revolution. He was taken prisoner by Sir Henry Clinton's troops, and died in captivity in December, 1777, aged but seventeen years. David was a lieutenant in the Colonial army during the French war, and participated in an unsuccessful attack upon Fort Ticonderoga. While residing in Amenia, Dutchess county, during the Revolu-

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RESIDENCE OF C.M. BELL , HILLSDALE, COLUMBIA CO ., N. Y.

LITH BY L H EVERTS & CO PHILA,PA

RESIDENCE OF GEO. M. BULLOCK, HILLSDALE, COLUMBIA CO. N. Y.

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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

tion, his house was attacked and plundered by a band of robbers, who treated his family with great rudeness and tortured him nearly to death. Ile died in Hillsdale in 1818, aged eighty-four years. John Collin (2d) was suc- ceeded on the farm by his son John (3d), and he in turn by his son John Francis, who is the present proprietor. He has been a very successful business man, a man promi- nent in public life, and a man of great influence among his fellows. In 1833 he was elected to the State Legis- lature, and in 1844 was elected member of Congress. In both of these positions, as well as in all the many minor offices to which he has been called, he acquitted himself with honor and credit. To his kindness we are indebted for invaluable aid in gathering the materials for this work. His brother, Henry A. Collin, was prominent in town affairs, and was five times elected supervisor of Hillsdale. In 1856 he removed to Mount Vernon, Iowa. Hon. John F. Collin has two sons living: John F. lives on the homestead, and Quiney J. is a Methodist Episcopal minister, now en- gaged in teaching in California, and is also pastor of a Union church there.

Quincy Johnson, a prominent early settler, was a son of William and Jane Johnson, of Bridgewater, Mass., a grand- son of Benjamin and Ruth Johnson, of Hingham, Mass., and a great-grandson of Isaac and Abigail Johnson, of the same place. He was descended from either Isaac or Edward Johnson, both of whom came to Massachusetts with Gov- ernor Winthrop in 1630, and were prominent men in the Massachusetts colony. He came to Hillsdale with his parents about the close of the last century, and became a prominent citizen of the town. He died in Hillsdale in April, 1878, aged nearly eighty-eight years. His eldest son, Wesley Johnson, spent several years in Africa, assist- ing in the work of establishing the Liberia colony. He went out as physician to the governor's family, and was subse- quently called upon by unforeseen circumstances to himself discharge the duties of the gubernatorial office. He was once wounded while assisting in repelling an attack of the natives upon the colony. He devoted his time and money to the work of establishing a college there for the intellectual and moral clevation of the people, and by his strenuous exertions so weakened his system that he fell a victim to the malaria of the climate, and had a severe attack of fever. Recovering partially from it, he returned to his American home, hoping to recuperate and be enabled to complete his work in estab- lishing the college; but he failed to realize the expected benefit and rapidly failed, and died in Hillsdale July 1, 1844, aged thirty-one years. He was universally respected for his talents, scholarly attainments, enterprise, and ami- ability of character. Quincy Johnson still has two sons living in Hillsdale. They are William Leonard and John Quincy Johnson.

Perhaps the most numerous family in the town are the Beckers. The first of the name in Hillsdale was Peter Becker, who married Mary Southard about 1780. Their son, John P. Becker, married Elizabeth Clum, Philip Beeker, who now lives in Hillsdale, was one of the children of that union.

Martin Krum, from Germany, settled in Hillsdale about the year 1745; the place was then called Nobletown. He

bought eight hundred acres of the Rensselaer manor. The old homestead was the place now occupied by Moses Becker. His sons were John, Martin, Jacob, Henry, Peter, Daniel, and David. David died in early life; John settled in Co- lumbia county, but in after-years moved to Schoharie ; Peter went to Ohio. The others remained in Columbia. His daughters were Mrs. Henry Blunt, of Chatham, Mrs. Fite Mesick, of Claveraek, and Mrs. Peter Mull, of Chat- ham. The second husband of the last named was John Mesick.

Judge Krum, of St. Louis, is a grandson of Martin, Sr., and a son of Peter. The old homestead became several different farms. The house, built before the Revolu- tion, remained in the family until 1835, the last owner being Martin H. Krum, a grandson, now of Fairville, Wayne Co. A son of the latter is Dr. Josephus Krum, of Seneca Falls, for a long time pastor of the Presbyterian church of that place.

William Jordan was born in North Castle, Westchester Co., in 1751. He was a soldier in the Revolution and served through the war, participating in the battles of White Plains and Stillwater. He married Ruth Ferris, of Horse Neck (now Greenwich, Conn.), and came to Hills- dale soon after the close of the war, settling in the west part, on the farm now occupied by his grandson, Abram I. Jordan. He died in 1833. He was a farmer, and being something of a military man, was familiarly known as " Major" Jordan.

Of his children, John settled in Claverack, and in his old age removed to Palmyra, Wayne Co., N. Y., where he died. William settled near his father in Hillsdale, and died there. Daniel and Benjamin removed to Palmyra, N. Y., and died there a few years since at an advanced age. Abram was educated as a physician, located in Claverack about 1815, and was a few years later married to Catharine Mesick, of that town. He was a skillful and successful physician, and enjoyed an extensive practice through a professional life of nearly forty years, finally retiring from practice in 1852. He was a man of irreproachable char- acter and greatly beloved by the people, who eagerly sought. his counsel and assistance even in his old age. He died in 1855, having nearly reached the threescorc-and-ten years allotted to man. Of Ambrose L. a full biographical sketch will be found elsewhere. Allen was educated as a lawyer, and entered upon the practice of his profession at Hudson, where he at once took rank among the first and most promising of his colleagues. He was, however, driven by ill health to abandon the practice of the law, and re- moved to Plainfield, Ill., in 1848, where he still resides. Rebecca married Adam Van Dusen, of Clifton Springs, N. Y., and removed to that place. She had a large family, and one of her sons, Hon. Ambrose L. Van Dusen, has represented the first Assembly district of Ontario county in the Legislature. She died in September, 1877, aged ninety-six years. Lucy married James Phillips, of Clav- erack, and died young.

William White, William Schutt, Parla Foster, Eli Rood, James Shepard, John Jones, and Henry Speed were soldiers in the Revolutionary war. All except the first named were living in 1840, and were pensioners of the government.

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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

The earliest ministers were Abel Brown, Parla Foster, and Harry Truesdell.

The first merchants were Gaius Stebbins, at Murray's Corners, where he also kept an inn, and Elisha Hatch, at Green River.

The first inns were kept by Gaius Stebbins, at Murray's Corners, by Parla Foster, at Hillsdale, and by James Bryan, where Dr. H. Cornell now lives.

The first saw-mills and grist-mills were built at a very early date, and their history is lost in oblivion. Among the earliest now known of were a grist-mill where Wheeler's saw-mill now stands; a saw and grist-mill where Philip Becker's saw and planing-mill now stands ; a saw and grist-mill. about one and a half miles above the Becker mill, on the Roeloff Jansen's Kill ; and a mill near Harlem- ville, where the Richmond Mills now stand. "Spafford's Gazetteer," published in 1813, says that there were then in the town (which included part of the present town of Aus- terlitz) " eleven grist-mills, ten saw-mills, four fulling-mills, and four carding-machines."

Among the first fulling-mills were three on the Roeloff Jansen's Kill, in the Collin neighborhood. One of the first carding-machines was near the site of the Bailey mill, and another near the present Wheeler mill.

Refine Latting was the first tanner and currier in town. He lived a little west of the village, and also kept an inn. Jared Winslow, probably the first blacksmith, resided, and had a shop, at Green River.

The first and only furnace in town was built by Philip Becker, about 1835. It is a small one, devoted to the making of plow castings and custom work. It is now owned by a Mr. Vosburgh.

The first lawyer to settle in Hillsdale was Thomas K. Baker, who came about 1820. He remained a few years, and then removed to western New York. Soon after him came Russell G. Dorr, who remained in the town till his death. Martin H. and Harriet Dorr, of this town, are two of his children.

The first post-office was kept by Refine Latting, and was about a half-mile west of Hillsdale village. It was sup- plied with mail by means of the Hudson and Hartford stages.

The earliest physicians were Nathaniel House and Caleb Benton.

Another early and widely-known physician was Dr. Abra- ham Jordan, afterwards of Claverack. He was commis- sioned a surgeon in Ten Broeck's brigade during the war of 1812-15.

Previous to the settlement by the whites this section was much frequented by the Indians. One family lived here for many years after the whites came in. About 1810 the last remnants of the aborigines, in the persons of two of that race who were named Paul and Phoebe, removed to the western part of this State. There was an old trading- post near what is now called Murray's Corners, and an old fort once stood near the old burying-ground near Levi Coon's residence. Three brothers named Overhiser emigrated from Germany to America about 1750. One of them, named Barnett, settled near Stamford, in Dutchess county. His son Abraham married Elizabeth Eighmey, and in 1810

removed with his family to Hillsdale. His children were named Eve, Phranaca, Caspar, George, Conrad, Elizabeth, Abram, Mary, and Barnett. Barnett succeeded his father on the homestead, which is now occupied by his son, Am- brose L. Overhiser. John H. Overhiser, of Hudson, is a son of George Overhiser.

This town was formed as a district March 26, 1782. It had previously been a part of Claverack. It was recog- nized as a town March 7, 1788. In 1818 a part of Aus- terlitz was taken off.

Its name is supposed to have been derived from the pe- culiar conformation of the surface, which is a varied succes- sion of hills and dales. From the orthography given the name in early times, " Hill's Dale," it seems quite possible that it might have been named in honor of some one named Hill, but the other is the generally accepted origin of the title.

From the fact that no records previous to 1847 can be found it is impossible to give any prominence to the early civil history, and the lists of officers are also very imperfect because of it. The following is the most perfect list we have been able to get :

TOWN OFFICERS.

Supervisors.

Town Clerks.

Collectors.

1786-90. James Bryan.

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History of Columbia County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 93

Author: Everts & Ensign; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Ensign Number of Pages: 648

Author: Everts & Ensign; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Ensign
Number of Pages: 648