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" Benton's " History of Herkimer County."
Nathaniel
Spontan.
25
DESCRIPTIVE OF THE COUNTY.
erty, but without success. Some part of the Herkimer property came into the hands of Alexander Ellice, soon after the Revolution. The precise time has not been ascer- tained by the writer, nor has he been able to lay his hand upon any papers showing the title to have come from the State. This, however, must be so, for Mr. Ellice, be- ing a British subject, would not have been allowed to hold forfeited lands except by a grant from the State.'
In respect to that part of the Royal Grant, devised by Sir William to his Indian children, the sale by the commissioners could not be sustained, and consequently was abandoned in regard to some of them, who had not committed any overt act of treason or offense against the statute. One of these children, however, did bear arms against the colonies, and may have been proceeded against under the Attainder Act, by indict- ment. The present titles of a portion of the grant are therefore derived from Sir William's will, through his Indian children, but all the remainder, which passed to Sir John John- son, as heirs at law, is held under the State by virtue of his attainder.
Natural Characteristics .- The surface of Herkimer county may be called a hilly upland, with a series of ridges extending in a generally north and south direction. The beautiful Mohawk River flows easterly across the southerly part of the county, through a valley that is broad from its westerly end to near Little Falls at the easterly side of the county, where the stream breaks through a mountainous ridge, the naked rocks rising on either side from 500 to 600 feet. From this point to the eastern boundary of the county the river flows through a valley bordered by high and precipitous hills. The East Canada Creek rises in Hamilton county, flows southward and empties into the Mohawk; it forms the eastern boundary of the county from the Mohawk to the northeast cor- ner of the Royal Grant. The West Canada Creek rises in the northern part of the county and in Hamilton county, flows southwesterly and discharges into the Mohawk near the village of Herkimer ; part of it forms the boundary between Herkimer and Oneida counties. The Moose, Black and Beaver Rivers, which flow northward to Lake Onta- rio, have their sources in the northerly part of the county, where numer- ous lakes and ponds of pure water are found, many of them still in the forest fastnesses of a large region that has been left almost wholly in its native state, the surlace and soil rendering it of little value for culti- vation.
The geological features of the county are of considerable interest. The portion of the territory lying north of a line extending west from
1 For further reference to tities and leases from Ellice. see subsequent history and maps ot Little Falls.
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26
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
Brockett's Bridge (now Dolgeville) is covered with primary rocks- granite, gneiss, feldspar, and hornblende. The same formation out- crops also at Little Falls. Rising successively above the primary are the Trenton limestone, appearing in Norway and Russia, the Utica slate, appearing upon the summit of all the hills immediately north of the Mohawk; the Frankfort slate appearing immediately south of the river ; the Oneida conglomerate and Clinton group, extending in a belt through near the center of the south half of the county ; the Onondaga salt group, waterlime, Onondaga and corniferous limestones, appearing in thin layers next south ; and the Marcellus shales and limestones of the Helderberg range, covering the summits of the southern hills. These rocks yield an abundance of lime, waterlime, and building material, and are extensively quarried. Useful minerals are few in number, among them being beautiful crystals of quartz. The soil of the county is diversified, comprising sandy and argillaceous loams, based on limestone, sandstone and primitive granite gneiss; calcareous loam, sandy and clay loam. Rich alluvial flats are found in the Mohawk valley, that are as productive, perhaps, as any lands in the State. The soil north of the Royal Grant is light and sandy, better adapted to grazing than to tillage.
In the early history of the county the lands were tilled and the pro- ductions comprised wheat, corn, rye, barley, peas, beans, oats, hay and potatoes. Wheat and barley constituted the chief articles of export to the Albany market. With the opening of the Erie canal in 1825, the heavy grain producing section in the western part of the State became a rival against which the Mohawk valley could not successfully contend. Between 1820 and 1830 the prospects of the Herkimer county agricul- turist were not encouraging. Insects destroyed the wheat year after year, and it has been stated that in 1820, " if all the personal or mova- ble property in the county had been sold at a fair appraisal, it would not have produced sufficient means to pay the domestic debt of the county, and probably not more than half of it. After the opening of the canal, the attention of the community was gradually turned toward grazing and the dairy, and for many years past the latter interest has given the county a national reputation. The dairy products of the county will be further alluded to in subsequent town histories.
The lumber interest of the county was extensive in former years, and is still carried on with success in its northern parts.
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EARLY SETTLEMENT.
CHAPTER II.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
O NE hundred and seventy years ago, when the sturdy German emi- grants, fleeing from their native country on the Rhine to escape a cruel vassalage, planted themselves in the wilderness within and around the territory of which this volume treats, they found it occupied by one of the Six Nations of Iroquois Indians-the Mohawks. These nations (exclusive of the Tuscaroras, who were practically amalgamated with the Oneidas) were established across the territory of the State of New York, beginning with the Mohawks on the east, with the Oneidas, On- ondagas, Cayugas and Senecas next in the order named. Their central council fire was with the Onondagas. But limited as was this country wherein these nations had their permanent abiding place, their unexam- pled and reckless bravery in war; their statesmanship as demonstrated in the system of government devised by them ; their indomitable per- severance and unyielding persistence in extending their power, gave them practical domination over the greater part of the continent and earned for them from one of their admirers the title of " The Romans of the New World." The records of the deeds of the Iroquois Indians are found upon thousands of pages in words from gifted pens, while their personal characteristics and civil and domestic history have no less faithful chroniclers. This fact renders it wholly unnecessary to attempt in these pages more than a simple statement of their occupancy of the soil, to be followed with the history of their relations with the white settlers of the county.
Through the settlement of the French in what is now Canada early in the sixteenth century ; the nearly simultaneous establishment of the Dutch in the vicinity of the Hudson river, and the subsequent domina- tion of the English, a long series of bloody wars was inaugurated, which did not cease until the final extinction of French power in 1763. There was strife from the beginning to gain the fealty of the Indians. They
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY
wenn 58 only smell nefut fighter in the service with power but then fromlati we Equally desirable for purposes of trade Of Ton del swindled by either party towind which they A fithe Mohawks were concerned they were always on + numanuty with the English The influence of Si Willen John- Sim vy the " boundless, and at his de th the twoof rer thei Fortunate hi family feel which was the causea ort ( viop to Malin vers King Hendrick ch . tal Mplo Aring who was al toc height of his power when the A mosoly va bene for settlement He was fistimit Genital Sfr Valham Johnsen Monter and were the Fry chetum malin er talt red o his adegunce to the nation He res dec onele at Inal the abbey Mah, og rest in what is now that if ol Duc be Hemo eileo 0 Lake George, September 8, 1755
To the alley 1-sep- those of Fotop early in theseyphthth color me be directly attributed the migration from Germany wir sen tel fall the fre permanen sett emen of the apre Mr- cold well, by what people German was battlefield o veligin Sector book . hundred years The bescentry generally emby red twin M the R form tion in which they received the sympathy Protestain Englishmen The finity visting between the sovereign Who les of the former Palatime to the application by the ring Coming to Queen Anne, in 17OS to send the Palatines to by the holyje Na Verk To escape from what they would not
J
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EARLY SETTLEMENT.
endure in their own country, they fled to another where their religious faith might be cultivated and enjoyed free from persecution.
On the 10th of May, 1708, Joshua Kockerthal, a minister, with forty others from the Lower Palatinate in Germany, reached England. They were in a condition of destitution. The English Lords of Trade vouched for their good character and "humbly proposed " that they " be sent to settle upon Hudson's River, in the province of New York, where they may be useful to this kingdom, particularly in the produc- tion of naval stores, and as a frontier against the French and their In- dians." On the 10th of August following the provincial governor was directed to provide subsistence for Joshua Kockerthal and forty-two German Protestants, and " to grant him 500 acres of land for a glebe with liberty to sell a suitable portion thereof for his better maintenance till he shall be able to live by the produce of the remainder."
These Palatines probably arrived in New York about the close of the year 1708, and an order was made in the Provincial Council at New York May 26, 1709, to continue the relief promised by the queen until the expiration of twelve months from the date of their arrival; this re- lief included clothing, mechanical tools and materials to work with. It is known that this company, or the greater part of it, settled permanent- ly in what is now Ulster county ; and, as has often happened in similar cases, the emigrants met with much difficulty in securing the promised aid from England. The tools were, however, supplied them, as agreed. I
The second immigration of Palatines, and by far the larger in num- bers, arrived at New York shortly before June 14, 1710. In the Coun- cil, the president (Mr. Beekman) "informed the Board that the ship Lyon is arrived in this port, having brought a considerable number of Palatines for whom her Majesty has commanded him to Provide Lodg- ing and Provisions and desired the Gentlemen of the Councill to give their opinions what measures are proper to be taken with them." More than 3,000 emigrants came over at this time, and there being con -
I The following lists of tools and names of their recipients are interesting : Joshua Kockerthal- I Barrel of Lime, 3 Gouches, 2 formers, I Grindingstone, I square, I Rule, I Compass, and several pieces more. Hermanus Schuneman 2 Handsaws, 1 Great Saw, 3 Gouches, 2 Agors, besides several pieces more. Michael Wiegand -- 1,great file, I smaller dito, I mortising chisel, 1 Joynter, I Agor, besides several pieces more. Andreas Volk-I Cross Cut Saw, I Smooding plain, I wiping saw, an- other set of gouches, besides severall pieces more. Peter Rose-1 Glupott. I Whimplingpitts, I hatchet, 1 little hamer, 2 Agors, I Joynter, besides severall pieces more. These lists are continued in Doc. Hist. New York, vol. 111, pp. 550-51.
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
tagious disease among them, they were quarantined at Nutten Island (now Governor's) where they were maintained in huts at public ex- pense.1 Many died on the passage over.
This body of Palatines came over under the special charge of Governor Hunter, who had particular directions where to settle them, with the view of their aiding in protection against the French and Indians. For this purpose the commissioners designated " a tract of land lying on the Mohaques river, containing about fifty miles in length, and four miles in breadth, and a tract of land lying upon a creek [evidently the Scho- harie] which runs into said river, containing between twenty-four and thirty miles in length. This last mentioned land is claimed by the Mo- haques, but that claim may be satisfied on easy terms." 2 Reference is made by the commissioners to the obstruction in the river at Cohoes, but they thought that should be but little hindrance. In the spring of 1710 Hunter ordered the survey of lands on the "Mohaks " river, and particularly in the "Skohare to which the Indians had no pretence." But owing to the remoteness of the Schoharie lands, and their supposed unfitness for agriculture, with the scarcity of pine timber, Hunter finally purchased " a tract of land on Hudson's river from Mr. [Robert] Liv- ingston, consisting of 6,000 acres, for $400 of this country money, for planting of the greatest division of the Palatines." He also informed the Board of Trade that he had found an ungranted tract near by on the west side of the river where he had planted the remainder of the Pala- tines, or intended to do so soon. On the 16th of June, 1710, in prob- able anticipation of what would naturally occur, the Board expressed the opinion " that a Proclamation doe Issue to prevent Exactions and Extortions in the price of Bread & other Provisions whereby the Pala- tines may be the better and easier Provided therewith." The sequel justified this measure, for the contractor who supplied flour, etc., cheated the poor immigrants in weight; and they complained bitterly to the home government that the conditions under which they came to New York were not fulfilled. The number of Palatines on Livingston's man-
1 " It is the opinion of th's Board thereupon that Nutten Island is the properest place to put the Palat nes on and that Huts should be made for them." The huts were built by two of the Palatine carpenters, Johannes Hebon and Peter Wi liamse.
2 The board also designated lands on the " Hudson's river, where are great numbers of Pines, fit for Production of Turpentine and Tarr, out of which Rozin and Pitch are made."
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EARLY SETTLEMENT.
or and on the opposite side of the Hudson river in 1711 numbered about 1,800.
Many Palatine children, some of whom were orphans, were taken un - der direction of the governor and bound out as apprentices to the inhab- itants of the colony.I Some of these afterwards became conspicuous in the history of the State. About eighty children were thus apprenticed.
Among the volunteers who accompanied Colonel Nicholson on his expedition to Canada in 1711, are found the names of several that afterwards became familiar in the Mohawk valley, as follows :
Hen. Hoffman, Warner Dirchest, Fred. Bellinger, Ben. Wederwachs, Frantz Finck, Martin Dillenback, Jacob Webber, William Nellis, George Dachstader, Christian Bauch, Mich. Ittick, Melch. Folts, Niclaus Loux, Hartman Windecker, Hans Hen. Zeller, Jno. Wm. Finck, Jno. Hen. Arendorff, Johan Schneider, Henry Feling, Joh. Jost Petry and Lud. W. Schmit.
Steps were taken at an early day for the inauguration of simple gov- ernment among the Palatines, as indicated from the following :
In Council, 17th June 1710. Mr. Cheife Justice Reported to his Excellency that himselfe Mr. Barberie and Mr. Bickley have met on the Reference made to them yesterday to consider of a Scheme for the good Governing the Palatines, and haveing Considered the same, Proposed that Commissions of the peace and other Commissions be Granted to some persons among them for that End and that an Ordinace Issue Im- powering to heare and determine Small Causes, all of which his Excellency Referred to JIr. Chefe Justice and Mr. Bickley to prepare such Commissions and Ordinaces.
Dissatisfaction and discontent arose among the Palatines on the Hud- son River. It is more than probable that much of this feeling was chargeable to Robert Livingston, who had a contract for providing them with flour, etc., and was also intimately associated with them in other directions, in all of which he made the most of his situation for his personal gain. In a letter written in March, 1711, by a member of the British government to one of his colleagues, the writer says :
I think it unhappy that Colo. Hunter at his first arrival in his government fell into ill hands, for this Livingston has been known many years in that province for a very ill
1 In Council, June 20, 1710 : There haveing beene severall Proposalls made for the takeing many of the Palatine Children for a terme of Yeares and there being many Orphans who are unable to take care of themselves to work, and many who by sickness are rendered incapable of doeing any service for some time and in that condition would be a great expence and there being noe Prospect of Settleing them this sumer by reason its soe much advanced His Excellency does appoint Doctor Staats and Mr. Van Dam or either of them to take such Proposalls for Placeing out the Orphans and other Children whose Parents have a numerous ffamily Entring into an Instrument in Write- ing to Cloath Victuall and use them well and to deliver them to the government when called for .- Doc. Hist. New York, vol. III, p. 553.
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
man, he formerly victualled the forces at Albany, in which he was guilty of most noto- rious frauds by which he greatly improved his estate; he has a mill and a brew-house upon his land, and if he can get the victualling of those Palatines who are conveniently posted for his purpose, he will make a very good addition to his estate, and I am per- suaded the hopes he had of such a subsistance to be allowed, were the chief, if not the only inducements that prevailed with him to propose to Colo. Hunter to settle them upon his land.
The charitable view of Hunter's conduct is that he was a dupe of Livingston.
On the 30th of May, 1711, the colonial secretary informed the Board of Trade that the Palatines would not work at tar and turpentine- making on the Hudson River lands where they had been seated, but were deter- mined to remove to the Schoharie lands where the queen had ordered them. We may be sure that there was very good reason for this action on their part. They were not people who would have become discon- tented if they had been honorably treated. That they were poorly fed, clothed and housed, cheated in trade, and forced into kinds of work which were distasteful to them, is well known. In reply to a question as to the behavior of his people, Mr. Kockerthal said: "They are all at work and busy, but manifestly with repugnance and merely tempo- rarily ; that the tract intended for them [the Schoharie and Mohawk lands] is in their minds a land of Canaan. * * They will not listen to tar-making."
In the autumn of 1711 Governor Hunter warned the Palatines to "take measures to subsist themselves" during the following winter. Thereupon immediate action was begun for removal to the Schoharie lands. Their own account says : " All hands fell to work and in 2 weeks time clear'd a way thro' the woods of 15 miles long with the utmost toyle and labour, tho' almost starved and without bread." Fifty families reached the Schoharie district, only to learn that the lands had been granted to people in Albany, and to be warned not to settle thereon by the governor. The governor, however, " prevailed with the proprietors of these lands to make an offer of the lands free from all rent or acknowl- edgment for ten years, and ever after at a very moderate quit rent."
Governor Burnet succeeded Governor Hunter in 1720. Among his instructions from the home government were express directions to re- move such of the Palatines as might desire, from their first settlements
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EARLY SETTLEMENT.
to lands more suitable for them. This action was doubtless precipitated by a strong memorial from the commissioners of the Palatines at Scho- harie, which was taken to England in 1718, and the instructions above noted were issued within the next sixteen days.
In October, 1722, a third company of Palatines arrived in New York from Holland, having touched at England on the passage. In the fol- lowing year a large exodus of the Schoharie Palatines took place to Penn- sylvania and other localities, in consequence of the Albany ownership of Schoharie lands, above alluded to. The arrival of the third company from Holland in 1722, and this exodus in 1723, will enable us, as nearly as may be, to fix the date of the first settlement of the Palatines at Ger- man Flats. On this important point we shall quote from the late Judge Benton's work, wherein he shows the result of careful and exhaustive research :
On the 21st of November, 1722, Governor Burnet informed the Board of Trade, etc., that he had expected when he was at Albany, to have fixed the Palatines in their new settlement which he had obtained of the Indians for them at a very easy purchase, but in consequence of the divisions among them, and their complaints about the quality of the lands in the new purchase, he concluded not to show any earnestness in pressing them to go on to the lands. But he says there were about sixty families who desired to have a distinct tract by themselves, and being those who had all along been most hearty for the government, he bad given them leave to purchase lands from the Indians between the English settlements near Fort Hunter and part of Canada, on a creek called Canada Creek, where they will be more immediately a barrier against the sudden incursions of the French, who made this their road when they last attacked and burned the frontier town called " Schonectady." The Indian deed for the lands at and west of Little Falls, covered in part by the so called Burnetsfield patent, is dated July 9, 1722, anterior to the arrival of the third company of Palatine immigrants, and this fact forces the conclusion that the grantees of the patent were composed chiefly, if not entirely of those Palatines who arrived in 1710, and were first seated on the Hudson River; and this view seems to be strengthened by Governor Burnet's remarks to the Board of Trade. It is quite certain that but few, if any, of the Schoharie people were among the first settlers of the German Flats, unless they straggled from below. But there is no such name as Erghemar, Herkemer or Herkimer in the lists of those who came over in the two first companies of immigrants, nor apparently any name from which Herki- mer could be derived or coined without violating all known rules of etymology. The Erghemar family were not among the Palatines on Hudson River in 1711, nor of those who remained in New York. They probably arrived with the third company of im- migrants in 1722, from Holland, where they had sojourned many years.
At what time these people actually settled upon the lands patented to them by the crown, in the spring of 1725, is perhaps problematical, and rests in tradition. They
5
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
were very urgent to remove to a part of the country where they could pursue their vocations and indulge in their own peculiar customs, unmolested by strangers and un- controlled by colonial task masters ; where the lands they tilled were secured to them by all the sanctions of a public grant emanating from the king. They had long felt and known that " patience and hope make fools of those who fill their hands with them." They and their ancestors for three-quarters of a century nearly, had been afflicted with all the worldly evils and miseries that an intolerant and tyrannical hierarchy, supported by absolute despotie governments, could bring upon them ; and they had looked to the future with patient and hopeful emotions for a day of deliverance. After twelve years of trial and pr'ration incident to a new climate and a wilderness country, during which time they saw that strangers, and not their families after them, were to be benefited by their labors (no lands had yet been set out to them, by grant from the crown), well might they exclaim that those who endure patiently present wrongs and take no means of relief only to hope for it, were unwise and improvident.
The Dutch recaptured New York in 1673, but it was restored to the English by treaty n 1674. At this time and to the close of the seventeenth century, a very great ma- pority of the people of the province were Low Dutch or Hollanders, and the French of Canada exerted much interest with all the Iroquois Indians, through the agency of the Jesuits and the control of the fur trade, except the Magnaes, Mohoeks or Mohawks. The whole country from Albany north to Lake Champlain, and from Schenectady west to Lakes Ontario and Erie was an unbroken wilderness, and it was therefore important that England should strengthen her colony of New York in both directions by planting settlements as barriers against hostile approaches, but she had no people to spare; the continental wars in which she had been long engaged and was then involved, more than decimated her population, and she eagerly embraced the opportunity of sending over the Palatines at the public expense. Governor Burnet, whose talents, learning and kindness commended him to the well disposed colonists, seconded this policy of his government with zeal and success. Little did the governor or the home government then believe they were planting a barrier of stout hearts and sinewy arms on this frontier, which was soon to aid in obstrueting the designs of the mother country in one of her most deliberate and best planned campaigns of the Revolution. Nor eould these then homeless exiles put aside the curtain of futurity and behold the terrific and tragic scenes winch were so effectively and relentlessly enacted upon the soil they had chosen for their homes, and by the power through whose agency they had obtained their promised land.
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