History of Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents, Part 42

Author: Beers, F.W., & co., New York, pub
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: New York : F.W. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 664

USA > New York > Fulton County > History of Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents > Part 42
USA > New York > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents > Part 42

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The curiosity of the farm is an American butfalo of ponderous propor- tions, while we must not fail to mention Oxford roth, the model bull of the county.

The camera obscura, which crowns a slight eminence a short distance from the mansion, is one of the most attractive features of the place. affording, as it does, a most delightful manner of viewing the country for miles in every direction The view of the valley below, with trains and canal-boats moving to and fro, is a picture worthy of a more extended no- tice than can be given it here.

Mr. Starin employs a large number of men upon his place in different capacities, thus keeping his money in circulation in his own town, and directly benefiting his own townspeople.

Stock Farm of JOHN. H. STARIN , Located 2 Miles from Prospect Hill Town of Glen Montgomery Co. N .Y.

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FISH PONDS AND VINEYARD

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125

COMMODORE STARIN'S FLEET-HIS HOME AT FULTONVILLE.

business in his hands. His facilities for loading and unloading their trains were such that the work was done at a reduction on previous cost, and hence the experiment proved mutually satisfactory. Economy, security and dispatch were insured on the one hand, while on the other an extraor- dinary power of calculation, and corresponding executive skill, rendered even such low rates profitable. The example of the New Jersey Central was followed by other leading roads, until the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, and the Central-Hudson, sought each a similar arrangement, und as a result the heaviest part of the freight of New York is now moved by the operations of one controlling intellect.

The latter was at the same time turned to harbor navigation, and this let to the purchase of the steamer Blackbird. Thus was begun a marine interest which has gradually become the most extensive in the waters of the metropolis. Such a distinction soon found its proper expression in that title by which the public now recognize the owner, "Commodore starin." A grand deet plies in the harbor and Sound, each of which bears hi- special signal, and the latter has become the best known of all such marine insignia. This fleet comprises fifteen steam tugs employed in tow- ing other vessels ; also two immense propellers, which are adapted to the freight business on the Sound. To these are to be added several powerful side-wheel steamers, including the Castleton, the Pomona, the Thomas Hunt, the Ontario, the H. M. Wells, and the D. R. Martin, and also those elegant steamboats, the Blackbird, the Collyer, and the John H. Starin. The propellers, lighters, barges, and canal boats included in this property reach the number of one hundred and seventy-six, and the force of hands on the pay-roll often numbers fifteen hundred men. The amount of . freight moved by this force is one hundred and fifty thousand tons per day -all of which is done with a degree of safety and despatch never before attained. A ship-yard has been established for construction and repair, and here all the operatives and implements of each detail may be found in active service.

Two lines of Staten Island ferry, and a steamboat line to New Haven, are among the most recent additions to the list of Commodore Starin's enterprise». His general office is 123 and 125 Broad street, and these have telegraphic connections with the branch offices, four in number, each lo- «ated at an important wharf. All these operations are conducted by means of that system which has gradually reached a degree of perfection such as has never previously been known in the history of navigation.

Commodore Starin has been often brought before the public as a leading agriculturist, and hence it may be said that his home estate at Fultonville embraces six hundred acres of excellent land, all under improvement. 1ts natural beauty adds much to its general attraction, and this has been ad- mirably assisted by art. The specialty of rare and valuable horses and cattle holds prominence. Among the former are some of the finest Ham- bletonian breed, while the enormous Norman stallion, Baron Hausman, represents what America so long has needed-the heaviest and strongest draught horse. Among the cattle herds one may behold choice specimens of the Alderney, Durham, Devon, Ayrshire, Kerry, and other valuable breeds. In addition to these, a park, containing buffalo, elk, and other rare and in- teresting animals, may be mentioned as a curious feature. The trout ponds

are also places of much interest, while the various breeds of fowls, and eve the swine, have their admirers. The floral department includes a spacious conservatory, under care of an expert florist, and abounding in exotic as well as native varieties.

The Commodore has added, as a suitable finish to this establishment, a stately mansion, which enjoys a varied and delightful view of the Mohawk Valley. All the improvements of the age have been introduced, including hydraulic and also gas works, and the latter are arranged so as to illuminate the entire adjacent grounds. Near the palatial structure is an artesian well, in addition to which there is a reservoir which supplies Fultonville with water, the pipes having been laid down at the Commodore's expense. L'pon the whole this establishment, when considered in all its details, has no equal in the Union.

A powerful motive in so vast an outlay is that pleasure which a patron of the working class finds in giving employment to deserving men, to whom this is often the best form of charity ; in addition to this is the gratifica- tion of that varied taste which delights in the development of the beautiful as well as the useful. Commodore Starin was elected to Congress by the Twentieth district in the canvass of 1876, and is known at Washington, J. elsewhere, as a man of deeds rather than of words.

Turning to domestic life, it may be said, without invading the privacy due to family affairs, that the Commodore married Miss Laura Poole, of Fultonville, sister of Maj. DeWitt Poole of the regular army, and of distin- guished service in the late rebellion. It need hardly be added that he found in this companion one who could rise with him to eminence of wealth without losing that simplicity and sincerity of character which marks true womanhood. Two sons are now engaged in business with their father ; and of two daughters, it may be said that one has become Mrs. James D. Spraker of New York , while the other, Miss Carrie Starin. still adorns the home circle.

The most striking illustration of a grand hospitality which ever took place on the American continent was found in the Centennial cruise, in which Commodore Starin entertained a large circle of his friends. Thi- nccurred in September, 1876, being the first use to which the steamer John H. Starin was devoted. The latter, when elegantly fitted for public service, was ordered to Albany, where a large portion of the guests came aboard : thence she sailed for New York, where other guests were re- ceived, making a complement of a hundred and twenty-five, besides officers and crew. The excursion included a visit to Newport, Providence, Rocky Point, New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and thence a voyage to Philadel- phia, where two days were devoted to the Centennial. The vessel then was headed for New York, whence a trip was made to Hell Gate cavern, and also to Coney Island. After this came the return voyage up the Hudson, stopping at West Point, and then making for Albany. The cruise was remarkably successful in the condition of the weather, the complete- ness of its appointments, the enjoyment of its guests, and the utter absence of anything which could mar its general delight. Commodore Starin's entire family was aboard, and the reunion thus afforded with old friends gave the excursion its highest tone of happiness.

126

THE HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

THE TOWN OF MINDEN.

This town was organized from the westerly part of Canajoharie, March 2, 1798. Tradition says it was named Minden at the suggestion of some early settlers, who came from a place of the same name in Germany. The township, which is one of remarkable fertility, is about nine miles in length on the Mohawk, with an average breadth of eight miles southerly. The early permanent settler, were Germans, the first of whom came from Scho- harie. They settled mainly in that part of the town called, from their na- tivity, Dutchtown, and across the river in Palatine : the former cominunity gradually extending, by accessions from Germany between the years 1723 and 1760, along the river the whole length of what in 1772 became known as the Canajoharie district, and which in 1788 became a township, bordering upon the river some twenty miles, its western border embracing the former home of Gen. Herkimer. Evidences of Indian occupancy are literally found all over this town, in the rude stone implements lost in war and the chase, but the sites of their wigwams can never be known except as the plow reveals the evidence of their existence.

THE FRENCH WAR PERIOD.

In this town since its settlement first begun, have been enacted interest- ing and tragic scenes sufficient, if chronicled, to fill a volume. Here, among others, transpired in what was called the old French war-which resulted in establishing English supremacy in the Canadas-the following cruel in- cident : Near the commencement of this war, which begun in 1755, John Markell, who had married Anna Timmerman, daughter of a pioneer settler of St. Johnsville, took up his residence in the westerly part of the town. Predatory incursions were often made during the war by small parties of Canadian Indians, and especially was this the case in 1757, in which year it is believed the tragedy occurred. Markell and his wife left home one ; day, she with an infant child in her arms They had not proceeded far when suddenly they saw a hostile party of about a dozen warriors ap- proaching in their path, and only a few rods distant. Markell at once divined that they were Canadian foes, knew their own escape was impossi- ble, and said excitedly to his wife, who was walking directly behind hun- "Anna, unser crit ist aus!" Anna our time is up ! These, his last words, were truly prophetir, for in the next instant one of the party leveled his gun, a bullet from which passed through Markell's body into that of his wife. They both fell to the ground, and she, the child falling from her arins, lay upon her face and feigned death. Markell was at once toma- hawked and scalped, and as an Indian was about to secure his wife's scalp. she heard one of his comrades say what she construed to be -- " Better knock her on the head !" "No," was the reply. "squaw's dead now !" Ile drew the knife around the crown, placed his knees against her shout-

ders, seized the walp with his teeth, and quick as thought it was torn from her head. One of the party snatched up the trying infant, then only a few months old, and dashed out its brains against a tree. The enemy did not linger long nor strip the dead, and it was well they did not ; as it is probable Mrs. Markell could not much longer have successfully enacted the role of death. It is hardly possible to imagine the agony of this brave woman, who was entirely conscious the whole time her foes were present. and allowed her walp to be torn off without the apparent movement of a muscle. Is there a woman in Minden who could do it to-fax? Mrs Mar- kell found friends, was cared for and recovered. Int carried the bullet in her body to the grave. Not very long after her misfortunes, probably in the next season, she married Christian Getmmn, of Ephratah, where she lived the remainder of a long and very useful life, and where she died in

April, 1821, at the age, as believed, of 85 years ; which would place her birth about the year 1736, and her terrible misfortunes when she was it the age of twenty-one years. She is now 1877 remembered by four or five of her aged descendants and relatives, from whom these facts were learned, as a remarkably industrious, interesting and exemplary old lady The loss of her scalp was partially concealed by the manner in which she combed her hair. She had six children by her second marriage, viz : Peter, Christian, Jacob, Adam, Catharine and Anna. Peter Getman, her oldest son, was a pensioner after the war for services rendered his country in the Revolution.

Although here and there a block house was erected on our frontiers in the last French war, it is believed there was none in this town; but it is not unlikely that several private dwellings were strengthened and made ready for defence. There was a chain of defences, however, at greater or less distances apart, from Schenectady to Fort Stanwix, now Rome: and prominent among them were Fort Johnson, the residence of Sir William Johnson, near Amsterdam: Fort Hunter, at the Lower Mohawk Castle; Fort Canajoharie, at the Upper Castle; Fort Kouari, in the German Flats settlement; and Fort Schuyler, on the present site of Utica, then above the white settlements of the valley.

EARLY MILLS AND MILLING.

Tradition does not tell us when the first mill was erected in Minden, but it is believed one was built on the Otsynago as early as 1740 of 1750 We may suppose that for a time after the pioneer whites settled in this town, they adopted the Indian mode of pounding their grain for use; until Fox erected his mill on the Garoga, in the western part of Palatine, to which, crossing the river in boats, they took their small grists for a time. Fox, who came from Schoharie, also built one of the first saw mills in the county, which for a period supplied lumber for some distance from it. Isaac Paris is said to have built a grist mill in 1770, and to have sold it ten years later to D Driesbach, a bugler in Burgoyne's army, who was taken prisoner and remained in this country, and who was the father ut the renowned lion tamer, Herr Drie-bach. The latter, born at Fort l'lain, died December 5, 1877, aged 70, on a farm owned by him in thhin.

MINDEN'S CHURCH HISTORY.

The first Reformed Dutch Church of Canajoharie now in the town ol Minden was erected in 1750, on what has long been known as Sand Hill. a little distance above the Abed place on the Dutchtown road. If this church, Rev. A. Rosecrantz was the pastor for the first eight years. The edifice, a wooden structure, stood in a sightly place on the westerly site ul the road, and was burnt by the enemy at their invasion under Brant. In 1780. The preaching in this church was in the German language the time of its destruction Domine Giros was it's pastor, and from that time to the close of the war he preached in a barn that stood on the William I ipe farm, in the ravine through which the road ran from the river to the military post known as Fort Plain. This old barn was torn down and . new one'erected on its site about the year 1859 An old dwelling stand ing a few rods below it, which was erected more than a hundred years ago. gave plaire in the summer of 1875 to a substantial bruk edifice. Thus, one after another, are the old land-marks removed. These buildings, with several others, were so near the fort, that the enemy never ventured to

RES. OF J.I. ZOLLER MINDEN, MONTGOMERY CO. N.Y.

RES. OF WILLIAM ZIMMERMAN. TOWN OF MINDEN, MONTGOMERY CO. N. Y.

RES. OF JOHN E. LIPE. TOWN OF MINDEN, MONTGOMERY CO. N. Y.

RES. OF JEDIDIAH ROBERTS, MAYFIELD, FULTON CO, N.Y.

RES. OF H. D. F. VEEDER, MOHAWK, MONTGOMERY CO., N. Y.

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RES. OF SOLOMON ZOLLER, TOWN OF

MINDEN, MONTGOMERY CO., N. Y.

RES. OF NICHOLAS YOUNG, TOWN OF MINDEN, MONTGOMERY CO., N. Y.

127

THE CHURCH HISTORY OF MINDEN.

modest or destroy them. One of the latter was an old house which gave place to the beautiful mansion of Mrs. Harvey E. Williams, about a dozen years ago.

A new church edifice, erected on the site of the old one at the close of the war, was also constructed of wood, and was a large and well propor- tioned building, with a small half-round pulpit, having a short uncushioned bench for its seat, that would accommodate only one sitter; while over the minister's head was a dangerous looking sounding-board. The church had a gallery upon three sides, and was graced with a steeple without a bell. It was built by contract by Peter March for one thousand pounds- $2,500. A lightning-rod on the building having become broken, the light- ning struck it and went through, doing considerable damage. Gen. Wash- ington died December 14, 1799, and his death, a marked event, was solemnly observed at this church, as at many others throughout the land. We then bad no telegraph to herald such tidings, and days were required to spread them abroad. Funeral ceremonies took place here in the latter part of December, and although the weather was cold, there was little snow on the ground, and the gathering of the people was immense. The church was beautifully festooned with evergreens and crape, and was literally packed with an interested audience, as was learned twenty years ago from John Arndt, who was present as a boy at the time. Rev. Isaac Labaugh is said to have officiated on the occasion, and his discourse was afterwards published. Led in a procession was a caparisoned horse, with holsters upon the saddle, to which was also attached a pair of boots, indicating the loss of a soldier. Where the procession formed is unknown, probably at the public house of Nicholas Dygert, then situated just beyond the Christian Bellinger place, westward of the church. This was, perhaps, the most important and imposing observance of Washington's death witnessed in the Mohawk valley, and not a few were there assembled who saw that dis- tingaished hero in his visit to this locality in the summer of 1782, seven- teen years before, when his excursion extended to Cherry Valley and the foot of Otsego Lake, the site of Cooperstown.

In the thirty-eight years succeeding Mr. Rosecrantz's ministry, the preachers included Rev. Ludwig Luppe, Rev. Mr. Kennipe and Rev. J. 1 .. Broeffle 'or Preffle . Of Mr. Kennipe it is written that " he once re- ceived a merciless flagellation from a hard man, by the name of Diel, as they rode together on horseback on the river's bank. The minister would not prosecute, but appealed to God; and, strange to say, both men died on the same night." From 1788 to 1796, Rev. A. Christian Diedrich Peck was the pastor. He is described as "a portly man, an amateur equestrian, who has left behind him the reputation of an unsurpassed orator. Great congregations thronged to hear him." He was succeeded, in 1796, by Dr. John Daniel Gros, "a man of considerable learning," who had been pro- fessor of moral philosophy in Columbia College. From 1800 to 1803, Rev. Isaac Labaugh supplied the churches of Canajoharie, Stone Arabia and Sharon. His successor was Rev. J. I. Wack, who continued pastor till 1816, and was "probably the last minister of the old Sand Hill church." He was an army chaplain in the war of 1812, and " a man of commanding personal appearance."

John Christopher Wieting, a native of Brandenburg, Germany, while a student in a university at the age of 18, was in 1777 pressed into the Brit- ish service. He was made a prisoner at Saratoga, resolved to become an American citizen, and settled at Greenbush ; from whence he came into the town of Minden, and established one of its earliest schools. He began to preach as a disciple of Martin Luther, about the year 1795. His labors in a few years resulted in establishing two churches, one at the " Squake "- a contraction of t)tsquago-a settlement near the source of the creek of that name, and the other at Geissenberg, in that neighborhood. These churches were seven or eight miles apart, and the last mentioned was a brick edifice of fair dimensions, having a comely steeple, but no bell in it. This church had a small, high, octagonal pulpit, made to seat one person, with a sounding-board overheard, and had a gallery upon three sides. Instead of a shed. a pine-grove near by sheltered the horses from the summer's sun and the winter's storm. The Otsquago church was a wood- en structure of respectable size, but without a steeple. The Geissenberg church was dedicated about the year 1806 ; Rev. Philip Krutz preached the sermon on the occasion. After services began in this church, people from many miles around came here to worship ; and one from the viemity of the upper Lutheran church, now in Stark, i, remembered as being very constant in his attendance, making the journey on foot-an example for the modern Christian, who cannot rise early enough un Sunday morning to

get ready to attend church service ten rods from his own dwelling. Rev. Mr. Wieting was a very energetic and popular preacher, and continued to officiate at these churches up to the time of his death, which occurred Feb. 17. 1817, when he was about 58 years of age. These churches seemed to prosper for a time after his decease, but finally fell into disuse, and both have long since been destroyed.

It should be stated, in connection with the Geissenberg church, that its "fore singer," as the chorister was called in those days, was a clever Ger- man named Gotlieb Krake, who also came into this country as a Hessian soldier under Gen. Burgoyne. He would read two lines of a hymn, and then sing them-in German, of course-and those who remember his sing- ing say that he dwelt long upon his notes, trilling them as though in an ague fit. His was a very important part of the worship, for it always re- quired considerable time.

The present hamlet of Fordsbush, in the southwest corner of the town, has two churches, lutheran and Universalist. The latter was organized in 1838. The church was rebuilt and enlarged in 1874, and re-dedicated in December of that year, when the membership was sixty-four. The pastors have included J. D. Hicks, D. C. Tomlinson, T. L. Harris, Adolphus Skin- ner, J. H. Harter, A. B. Grosh, O. K. Crosby, G. W. Skinner, T. L. Hath- away, Daniel Ballou, C. C. Richardson, H. H. Baker, W. G. Anderson, A. C. Barry, Q. L. Shinn, O. Cone, R. L. Lansing, E. E. Peck, J. W. I.d- moine and James H. Ballou. Mr. Lamoine's pastorate of only three months was terminated by his death. The Fordsbush cemetery, " Mount Hope," in which he was buried, is managed by an association organized in May, 1862. It contains about four acres of land, and numerous fine monuments, one of which cost $1,5co.

Freysbush also has two churches, Lutheran and Methodist. The I.u- theran church was organized by nine members, at the house of John Dunckel, June 28, 1834, taking the name of "The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Freyshush." Daniel Ottman, Andrew Roof and W'm. Reagles were the first elders. In 1835 the church became connected with the Hartwick Synod. There were then fifty-five members, of whom only two are now living in the neighborhood. In 1837 the Franckean Synod was formed, and this church connected with it. In 1841 a house of worship was erected, 30 feet by 42, at a cost of about $1,000. It was subsequently remodeled and enlarged, at an expense of $1, 100. A shed for teams, 145 feet long, was built in 1845 ; and a parsonage and barn, costing $2,500, in 1868. In 1872 the church property, including an acre and a half of land, was valued by the Synod at $6,580. The membership of the church is one hundred and seventeen. The Sabbath-school was organized in 1841 W. Reagles was superintendent for the first twenty years. The school has sixty scholars.

Methodist services have been held at Freysbush since 1812, but the place has only been an independent pastoral charge since 1847. Up to that time it was at different periods part of the Otsego, Litchfield, Sharon and Canajoharie circuits, large regions generally in charge of two of the "cir- cuit-rider " preachers jointly. Among those who thus ministered at this post, both as preacher and presiding elder, was Rev. George Gary, who is spoken of in terms of the highest praise by those who remember him. The Freysbush station belonged to the Genesee Conference until 1829 ; to the Oneida for the next forty years ; to the Central New York from 1869 to 1873, and to the Northern New York from that date to the present year. It now belongs to the Troy Conference. It has been successively in the Oneida (1812-28, Chenango 1829-35, Oneida 1836-45', Otsego 1846-68, Herkimer 1869-76 , and Alhany presiding elder's districts. The church building of the society is the second occupied by them, its prede- cessor having been the first Methodist church built in the town. Rev. 1 .. E. Marvin is the present pastor.

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History of Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents, Part 42

Author: Beers, F.W., & co., New York, pub Publication date: 1878 Publisher: New York : F.W. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 664

Author: Beers, F.W., & co., New York, pub
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: New York : F.W. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 664