History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 108

Author: Smith, James H. (James Hadden); Cale, Hume H; Roscoe, William E
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 868

USA > New York > Dutchess County > History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 108

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

At the age of about twenty-six he married Jane Langdon, a young Quakeress, and two years later, their eldest son, John, being then an infant, they collected a few articles of the plainest furniture and some rude implements of agriculture, bade adieu to Long Island, and started in the direction of Quaker Hill. After a tedious journey of some days they arrived in the vicinity of Danbury, Conn., and found that they could proceed no further with a wagon, there being no road but a bridle path. Here, at night, one of their horses made its escape, and was not found until the next spring. Procuring another, and transferring a portion of their luggage to the backs of the horses, they pursued their lonely way, and after a tedious journey arrived safely on the scene of their future labors. Mr. Birdsall purchased his land of the Nine Partners Company, on which, previous to the removal of his family, he had erected a log house and barn, on land since owned by Albro Haines. Mr. Birdsall died at the advanced age of nearly ninety. His wife survived him some years, and died at the same place and at about the same age. Their remains rest in the old burial ground near Haviland Hol- low. His four sons were John, James, Nathan and Benjamin. James married a daughter of Da- vid Akin, the grandfather and great-grandfather of the Akins now living here. He died about the year 1815, at an advanced age. Nathan, probably the first white child born on Quaker Hill, was a farmer and lived for many years on the place since owned by Abram Hoag, in Dover. Benjamin, or Colonel Ben., as he was called, though an orthodox Quaker, abandoned his creed to join the army, received a Colonel's commission and served accept- ably during the war. He died in Chenango county in 1828, aged eighty-five. John died at Unadilla, in the year 1815, aged eighty-eight. Some of his descendants are yet living here .* The Birdsall name is extinct in Pawling.

The next settler on Quaker Hill was Benjamin Ferris, for many years a preacher in the denomi- nation of Friends.

Between the years 1730 and 1740, there was a considerable tide of emigration to Quaker Hill. Among those who came at that period were John

* Beekman's Precinct was formed Dec. 16, 1737, and embraced the towns of Beekman, Pawling, Dover-except the Oblong -- Union Vale and a portion of LaGrange.

* Nathaniel Pearce is a grandson of John Birdsall.

551

TOWN OF PAWLING.

Hoag, Jedediah Wing, David Akin, Moses Bowdy, Jesse Irish and Nehemiah Merritt. They were mostly Quakers.

Among the Friends of this period was Paul Os- born, Sr., who was born, if report is correct, in Essex county, Mass., -in what year is unknown- and who located on the farm since owned by Will- iam Osborn. He is mentioned as being a contempo- rary of David and Benjamin Ferris, with whom he occasionally traveled on their missionary tours. He accumulated here a considerable property, the bulk of which he, being childless, left to his nephew, Isaac Osborn,* with the proviso that he should al- ways keep a house of entertainment for the benefit of the traveling ministry, and whenever he failed to do so the estate was to revert to the Friends' Society, of Philadelphia. He died about the year 1780, and it is said of his descendants that they have scrupulously obeyed the letter and the spirit of his will, both to the Society of Friends and to others.

David Akin, who came to Quaker Hill with the influx of settlers between 1730 and '40, and settled south of the Birdsall place, was a descendant of John Akin, who emigrated from Scotland to Rhode Island in 1680. At about the same time Elisha Akin and his wife Elizabeth whose first son was born in 1739, emigrated to Quaker Hill. Whether he was brother to David Akin or not is not known, but it is assumed that from these two originated the different families of that name in the town.

Another of the early pioneers, and a man of con- siderable prominence in his time, was· Benjamin Sherman, who was born in New Bedford, Mass., somewhere about the year 1735. He received the limited education which the schools of those days afforded, and at an early age followed the nautical instincts of the New Bedford youth and went to sea, where, on a whaling voyage, he with a boat's crew, lost the ship and for five days suffered all the hardships of the cast-away. On the fifth day he and one or two of his comrades were picked up by a ship-the only survivors of a crew of eight or ten. This closed his nautical career, and in the spring of 1764 he found his way to Quaker Hill, where he began his landsman's life as a journeyman carpenter. In that year was built the present church edifice of the Quakers, on which he worked during the season, and was soon pro- moted to the position of "boss" carpenter, the former overseer having given dissatisfaction to the

Friends. In the fall of that year he returned to his wife in New Bedford, with whiom in the spring of 1765 he came back and purchased a farm at the foot of Quaker Hill, since owned by John Kirby, and now in the possession of Archibald Dodge. Here were born most of his children, nine sons and two daughters. Their names were Jethro, Darius, Benjamin, Abiel, Ezra, William, Shadrach, Michael, Uriel, Sylvia and Deborah. Mr. Sherman estab- lished himself in the business of wagon making as well as in farming, to which occupation his sons were early introduced, and for many years the "Sherman wagon" enjoyed an enviable popularity throughout this section of the State.

Settlements were undoubtedly made on Quaker Hill and on the West Mountain, and the land there was probably in quite an advanced state of culti- vation, prior to the settlement of the valley through which runs the Harlem Railroad. It is said that about 1740 there was no house on the post-road, running from Albany to New York, between Mrs. George P. Tabor's and the Alfred Wing place, then known as the Harrington place. In about that year there was a considerable emigration into the valley of Pawling from the east, mainly from Rhode Island.

Among the settlers who came into the Pawling Valley at about the period mentioned were William and Daniel Hunt, Comfort Shaw, Nathan and Henry Cary, Jeremiah Sabin, Ephraim Nichols, Abraham Slocum, John Salmon, William Hallaway and Nathan Pearce.

William and Daniel Hunt were brothers, and lo- cated on the place since owned by Samuel H. Adee. That family long since removed from this section and the name has become extinct.

Comfort Shaw was a native of the Eastern States, and possessed the enterprising spirit characteristic of the New Englander, but with a love for roving not so frequently found in the denizen of the East. The first that is definitely known of him was when he owned the place now in the possession of Na- thaniel Pearce, where he built a house and barn and set out an orchard, which from its extent and appearance, must have been one of the first in the valley. He married either the daughter or sister of Nathan Cary, the great-grandsire of the Carys who formerly resided here.

Henry Cary came here about the year 1730, probably from Great Barrington, Mass. He was a graduate of some New England college, and was the first regularly ordained and salaried minister in this town. He located on the West Mountain

* Isaac Osborn died June 10, 1839, aged ninety-five years six months. He was the father of Paul Osborn, Jr., who died July 27, 1867, aged eighty-four.

552

HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.

on the place since known as the Amos Wooden farm. He was a Puritan of the most uncompro- mising pattern, and was "after the straitest sect of his religion," a Calvinist. Mr. Cary began his ministerial labors in his own house, where for several years he continued them every Sabbath day, but without witnessing many very promising signs of success. As his membership and congre- gation increased he began to hold services in the houses of his parishioners, who, it would appear, never became prosperous enough to build a house for public worship. In this way his services were continued for many years.

Jeremiah Sabin was born in Pomfret, Conn., about the year 1720, and came to this town with the influx of settlers from the East, probably about 1740. He was a blacksmith by trade, and a man of great physical strength and excellency of char- acter. He built a house on the east side of the turnpike on the land since owned by B. H. Van- derburgh, and afterwards bought of Henry Beek- man, the patentee of the Precinct, a tract of some two thousand acres.

Ephraim Nichols came from Stratford, Connect- icut, and had at one time been High Sheriff of that, then, Colony. He came here some years prior to the outbreak of the Revolution, and bought the place since owned by the heirs of D. P. Wooden. He was for a number of years an inn- keeper. He had four sons, John, Joseph, Elijah and Ephraim.

Another settler, who located on the West Mount- ain, was James Stark, Sr. He married the eldest daughter of Rev. Henry Cary between 1755 and 1758, and with her emigrated to the Wyoming Valley.

In the war of the Revolution the cause of the Colonies found ardent supporters in what is now the town of Pawling. 'Among those who rendered efficient aid in that struggle for National independ- ence, none are more worthy of honorable mention than the family of Nathan Pearce. This family trace their origin to John Pearce, a Welchman, who, with his three sons, emigrated to this country about the year 1660. The first one of this name of whom anything definite is known, was Nathan Pearce, Sr., a grandson of the John above men- tioned, from whom was descended the family of that name in this town. He was born in Provi- dence, in the Colony of Rhode Island, in the year 1706. He first settled in North Kingston, Wash- ington county, Rhode Island, where four of his children were born. From there he went to Pru-

dence Island where he lived some years, as three of his children were born there. He then removed to Providence where his two youngest children were born. About the year 1760 he came to Pawling, his youngest son, Colonel William Pearce, being then fifteen years old .* He first located on the place since owned by O. S. Dykeman, and in the year 1767 he purchased the place now owned by Nathaniel Pearce, where he lived through all the turbulous period of the Revolution.

In 1778, when Pawling was formed as a town, Nathan Pearce, Sr., was elected the first Supervisor, which office he filled with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his townsmen. He died in 1790, at the age of eighty-four.

Captain William Pearce, towards the close of the war, received a Colonel's commission. After the war he held the office of Supervisor, and was a Justice of the Peace from 1785 to 1801. About that time he was elected to the Legislature, where he served two terms. He died in January, 1813.

The descendants of this family are quite numer- ous in the town, and still rank among its ablest citizens. To Nathaniel Pearce, a grandson of Col. William, we are indebted for much valuable assist- ance in this history of Pawling. A man of letters by nature, he has taken more than an ordinary in- terest in local and general historical events, and the results of his labors, both published and un- published, were kindly placed at our disposal. Mr. Pearce was born in Pawling in 1809, on the farm on which he lives, and which has been in the pos- session of his family since 1767.

General Washington had for a time his head- quarters in Pawling. In this town was also held the trial by courtmartial of General Schuyler on an accusation of cowardice and treason at the loss of Ticonderoga, in the summer of 1777.1 The trial was held on the Ist of October, 1778, in the house in which Washington at one time had his headquarters,-the "Kirby House," at the foot of Quaker Hill, then owned by Reed Ferris.į

Schuyler was accused not only of cowardice and treachery, but of using the public money for his private benefit. These charges came at a time when he had placed the invading army of Burgoyne in the most extreme peril, and was prepared to strike those invaders a crushing blow.

General Gates, who was Schuyler's enemy, and whose previous plottings had been disastrous to

* His other sons were Benoni, Ephraim and Nathan.

t From a sketch by Benson J Lossing.

# This house was built by Reed Ferris, in 1771.

DUTCHER HOUSE

NEW YORK AND HARLEM R. R.

MOSS ENG LO.NET

THE DUTCHER HOUSE, PAWLING, DUTCHES

S& CO., N. Y. (ERECTED BY HON. JOHN B. DUTCHER IN 1881.)

553

TOWN OF PAWLING.

him, was appointed by Congress to the Command of the Northern Department, succeeding Schuyler in August, 1777. Schuyler demanded a conrt- martial, to which demand Congress for some time paid no attention, and for a year justice was denied him. At length, after frequent appeals to Con- gress to bring him to trial, a courtmartial was convened to try him in the house above named.

This house is now destroyed. It stood on the site of the present residence of Archibald Dodge, on the more southerly road leading from Pawling Station to Quaker Hill, and about half way be- tween the two points. It had been occupied by Washington when a portion of the Continental army lay in that vicinity, and at the time of the trial it was the headquarters of General Lincoln, who acted as the President of the Court.

The records of the town were destroyed by fire on the night of May 4, 1859. By that disaster was lost much valuable matter relating to the carly days of the town and precinct. The books now in the clerk's office contain no record of yearly elections previous to 1854. From that date to 1881 the succession of Supervisors and Clerks has been as follows :-

Supervisors.

Clerks.

1854.

Sherman Howard, George T. Noble.

1855. James Craft, Joseph P. Hazelton.

1856. Sherman Howard, Edward Merritt.

1857. William H. Taber, Joseph P. Hazelton.

1858. Theron M. Green, Albert Woodin.

1859. James Craft, Henry C. Swords.

1860. Asa B. Corbin, Darius Chasc.

1861-'62. Samuel A. Barnum, John Ferris.

1863. David R. Gould, Darius Chase.

1864-'65. do A. T. Merritt.

1866. J. Wesley Stark, do do

1867. John J. Vanderburgh, do do

1868. do do

Theron W. Stark. Miah Peck.

1869-'70. J. Wesley Stark,

Philip H. Smith.

1871-'72. John B. Dutcher, 1873. William B. Ross,

John J. Ferris.

1874. do clo Fernando Olmstead.

1875-'76. Jedediah J. Wanzer, James S. Pearce. 1877. William J. Merwin, do

1878. do do Sewell White.

1879-'81. Albert W. Corbin, James S. Pearce.

PAWLING.

The village of Pawling or Pawling Station, as it is more familiarly known, on the line of the Harlem Railroad, is the only important settlement in the town. It contains according to the last census, a population of 580," and is a shipping point of con- siderable importance.

There are three churches, Baptist, Methodist and Catholic, two hotels, a National Bank and Savings Bank and several stores.

The age of Pawling village proper does not extend beyond the date of the construction of the Harlem Railroad. Clustered around the site of the present Baptist church, at, and previous to that time, was a small hamlet of some half dozen houses, known as Gorsetown. On the site of the Baptist church stood a public house which was kept for many years by Thomas Howard, and was widely known more than half a century ago as " 'Tom Howard's Hotel."* It is said that one Bradley Barlow kept a store at this place, but it never amounted to much as a business center. Some eighty rods south from Gorsetown was a store in operation from about the close of the Revolution. When the Harlem Railroad was completed the locality around the station began to develop and has since attained considerable im- portance.

The hotels here now are the Lec House and the Dutcher House. The former, the oldest house, was built in its original form by Le Grande Hall about 1860. The original building was about six- teen by twenty-two feet, and was built for office use. The first to occupy it were Dr. Pearce and Hiram S. Haviland, a lawyer. It was afterwards for a time used for various purposes, mechanical and otherwise. Additions were then made to it, and it was first kept as a hotel by Noah G. Clark and James Crane in 1866. The latter succeeded Clark and conducted it alone until 1869, when he was succeeded by Peter D. Doughty, who kept it till his death in 1872. The property then passed through several hands, and was sold by George Norton in 1880 to the present proprietor, George F. Lec.

The hotel which occupied the site of the Dutch- er House was built in 1850, and was kept as a public house until it was purchased by John B. Dutcher, who removed the original portion of the structure and converted it into a dwelling house. In 188) Mr. Dutcher began the construction of the large hotel known as the Dutcher House, one of the finest structures in the County. The build- ing has a north frontage of 172 feet, and an cast- ern frontage of 16 feet. On the first, or ground floor, are two large stores, and two rooms, one fit- ted up as a Library and Public Reading Room, for the benefit of the citizens of the village, and the other devoted to town uses as a Town Hall.

* The population of the town is 2,2%. 1870-1,7%. 1875-1,4%; 213 foreign, 9 colored.

" This building was torn down in 1997%.

554

HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.

Over these is a large room to be devoted to the uses of a Public Hall or Lecture Room. The hotel contains fifty-six rooms for boarders, besides parlors, dining, and reception rooms. The build- ing is heated by steam and lighted with gas; and is supplied with pure water, which is brought one mile, from the mountains east of the hotel.

John B. Dutcher, to whose public spirit Pawling owes these and other substantial improvements, was born in Dover, Duchess County, in 1830. His father was David Dutcher, who died in 1852. He was educated in the common schools of his native town, with the exception of one term at a select school in Litchfield county, Conn. In 1860 he was married to Christina, daughter of Daniel Dodge, of Pawling, by whom he has one child, John G. Dutcher.

In the fall of 1860, he was elected to the Assem- bly by the Republicans of his district, was re- elected in 1861, and in 1863 was elected to the State Senate. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions held in Baltimore in 1864, and in Chicago in 1880. After serving his term as Senator he withdrew from politics, and engaged in business in New York. He is a Director of the Harlern Railroad Company, and for several years has had charge of the live stock traffic of the N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R., and the management of its stock yards in Buffalo and Albany. He is Presi- dent of the Union Stock Yard and Market Com- pany in New York ; Vice-President of the National Stock Yard Company of East St. Louis, Ill. ; and Vice-President of the St. Louis Beef Canning Company. He is also the Vice-President of the National Bank of Pawling, and President of the Mizzen-Top Hotel Company of this town.

Mr. Dutcher takes much interest in all matters pertaining to the improvement of Pawling, where he retains his residence. He has here a farm of nearly six hundred acres, which embraces the Dodge homestead, where his wife was born, and he also owns the Dutcher homestead, in Dover. where he was born, which contains about the same number of acres. Although owning a city residence in New York, where with his family lie remains during the winter, Mr. Dutcher's interest seems centered in his country home and its surround- ings, where he has made extensive improvements.

The Bank of Pawling was organized in 1849, under the old State laws. The officers were Albert J. Akin, President ; J. W. Bowdish, Cashier. The bank was changed to the National Bank of Paw- ling, in June, 1865. The officers then remained

the same. The present Cashier is George W. Chase, J. W. Bowdish having retired.

The Pawling Savings Bank was chartered and incorporated in 1870, and was opened for deposits in 1871. The first President was David R. Gould, who figured prominently in its organization, and who died in February, 1873. William J. Merwin was the first Treasurer, and the first Secretary was Jedediah Wanzer. The deposits of this bank in July, 1880, amounted to $82,000. It has now, in 1881, a surplus of $5,000. The present officers are : John J. Vanderburgh, President ; W. H. Ta- ber, Vice-President ; Jedediah I. Wanzer, Secre- tary ; William J. Merwin, Treasurer ; Horace D. Hufcut, Attorney.

Pawling has one newspaper, the Pawling Pioneer, published weekly by Philip H. Smith, who estab- lished it here in 1870. Mr. Smith was born in Kent, Putnam county, N. Y., in June, 1842. His parents were Horace Smith and Ruth Nichols. The earlier years of his life were passed upon the farm of his father, and during that period he received an education in the common schools in which he became a teacher. He early evinced a desire to learn the art of printing, and as soon as an opportunity offered he entered that business in Carmel, Putnam county. In 1870, he began the publication of the Pioneer, in which enterprise he has been measurably successful. About 1875 he conceived the idea of writing a history of Duchess County, and immediately began to collect material for that work. This was a task of no little magni- tude, involving as it did a considerable expenditure of time, labor and money. To this task he devoted the labor of two years, and the history was presented to the public in 1877. The work was largely illustrated by himself, and may justly be considered a valuable contribution to the histor- ical data of the State. Mr. Smith was married December 4, 1867, to Amarillas Babcock, by whom he has had three children now living-Nellie M., Josephine, and Carrie Belle.

One of the early merchants here was Archibald Campbell, who conducted business for a num- ber of years, and was succeeded by Gideon Slocum & Sons, who continued until about 1848. When the railroad was completed the business was taken up by William T. Hurd, and subsequently by J. W. Stark, under the firm name of J. W. Stark & Co. Mr. Stark died May 22, 1880. His partners were William J. Merwin and Henry A. Holmes, who at his death succeeded to the business. In this store is kept the postoffice, W. J. Merwin,

RESIDENCE OF HON. J. B. DUTC:

R, PAWLING, DUCHESS CO., N. Y.

555

TOWN OF PAWLING.

postmaster, appointed in June, 1880. Mr. Mer- win was born in New Milford, Conn., in 1832. Mr. Holmes is a native of Putnam county, born in Patterson in 1836. The other merchants now engaged in business here are :-

Hiram W. Chapman, general merchant, in busi- ness five years ; G. W. & S. R. Gibney, stoves and house furnishing hardware, in business three years.

Fernando Olmstead, dealer in boots and shoes, in business here twenty years. He was born in South East, Putnam county, N. Y., in 1838, and became a resident of Pawling in 1858.

Elmore Ferris, flour, feed, coal and lumber dealer, in business here thirteen years. A native of Otsego county, born in Westford, in October, 1837, and came to Pawling in November, 1855.

Edward Peabody, dealer in watches and jewelry, in business since July 10, 1879.

Frederick S. Merwin, stoves and general hard- ware, in business here some fifteen years.

Andrew J. Wheeler, harness and horse furnish- ing goods, in business here three years.

John McGlasson, dealer in and manufacturer of monuments, etc., in business here eleven years.

George W. Turner, also a dealer in and manu- facturer of monuments, began the business here ten years ago.

Henry Pearce & Co., (James S. Pearce) drug- gists, in business here four years.

Doctor Henry Pearce, was born in Pawling in 1833. He graduated from the University of Michi- gan in 1857, and began the practice of medicine in 1860. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he entered the United States service as surgeon in the 150th Regiment.

The only other resident physician is Dr. William B. Linsly, a native of New York city, born in 1840, and came to Pawling in March, 1880. Dur- ing the Rebellion, for one year, he was a medical Cadet in the Sanitary Commission, and for eighteen months thereafter was acting Assistant Surgeon of the U. S. A.

The lawyers now in practice here are Esquires Tice, Lee and Haviland. William G. Tice was born in New York City in 1857. He studied law with Hackett & Williams, Poughkeepsie, was ad- mitted to the bar in September, 1879, and came to Pawling in 1880.

Williarn R. Lee, a native of Beckman, N. Y., was born in 1847. He received his legal educa- tion in the office of William I. Thorn, Poughkeep- sie, and was admitted to practice in 1867. He be- came a resident of Pawling in 1871.

Hiram S. Haviland is a native of lawling, born October 28, 1830. He studied law with Homer A. Nelson, and was admitted to the bar May, 17, 1 860.

The Methodist Society was organized here a few years after the beginning of the present century. Meetings were held once in four weeks at the house of Col. Pearce. The first Quarterly Meeting was held in Col. Pearce's orchard, the preacher's stand being under an apple tree. Among the carly min- isters were Revs. William Thatcher, Nathan Streathen, Nathan, or John Emory, an Frishman by the name of Moriarity, Billy Hibbard, Elijah Woolsey, and Beardsley Northrop. The first at- tempt to build a house of worship was made in the year 1812. Col. Pearce headed a subscription list for that purpose, and a church edifice was soon after erected about a quarter of a mile north of the present Pawling depot. Col. Pearce dying carly in the year 1813, the building was not fin- ished ; but it served as a house of worship until the completion of the Harlem Railroad, when, at about that time, a small building was erected near the Pawling depot. This soon being considered too small to accommodate the congregation, was sold to the Catholics, and a subscription was started to build a larger one. Daniel Dodge, father-in-law to John B. Dutcher, superintended the building of both churches, and not only subscribed liberally towards both, but laid the foundations of the last. church with his own hands. This, the present building, was raised about the first of September, 1864. The membership is now quite large, and is ministered to by the Rev. Mr. Hunt.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 108

Author: Smith, James H. (James Hadden); Cale, Hume H; Roscoe, William E Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 868

Author: Smith, James H. (James Hadden); Cale, Hume H; Roscoe, William E
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 868