History of Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents, Part 45

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 45
USA > New York > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents > Part 45

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).

The ecclesiastical relations of this church are with the Classis of Mont- gomery, and through it with the General Synod of the Reformed Church In America The society has now one hundred and sixty-seven members, and the Sunday-school over two hundred.

LUTHERAN.

The first meetings of this body were held in 1842, in private houses, by a visiting clergy man, Rev. G. Saul. The first church building was erected .n 1853. The Rev. Mr. Roll was pastor. He has had up to the present twelve successors. The membership of the church is seventy, and of the sunday-school fifty. The latter opened in 1871, with forty scholars. The Present commodious brick church was built in 1874.

V. M. C. A

March 21, 1871, Hugh M. Boice. Mfred D. Cary, B Frank Dievendorff, Charles C. Edwards, Adam Hiv, W. P. Webster and A HI Williams met at the rooms of the first named, at the Fort Plain depot, and organized as a young men's prayer association ; but by the advice of Rev. A. B. Riggs,

they assumed in the following week the name Young Men's Christian Association. They were visited afterward, but not previously, by repre- sentatives of the general organization of that name. At the close of the first year the membership numbered seventeen. There are now forty-two " active " and a number of " associate " members. H. M. Boice and D. Cary have each been president of the association one year, and W P. Webster five years, Mr. Boice the first year, and Mr. Cary the fourth After meeting for two months at Mr. Boice's room, the association secured rooms in the block next north of the bank, which it held nearly five years, removing May 10, 1876, to the present more commodious quarters, in the Dunn Block. The work of the association has been almost entirely relig- ious. In six years two hundred and sixty-four Monday evening prayer meetings were held, beside praise and " promise " meetings, song services, Sabbath-school sessions, Bible classes, "cottage " meetings, etc., during part of the time, generally on the Sabbath.

THE PRESS OF FORT PLAIN.

The first newspaper in Montgomery county was started at Fort Plain in 1827, by S. N. S. Grant, under the title of the Fort Plain Watch Tower. In 1829 Grant was succeeded by John Calhoun, who made way for a journalist named Platt, in 1830. Platt named the paper The Fort Plain Sentinel, and this title it bore during the short remainder of its existence.

The Fort Plain Gasette was published from 1834 to 1836, by Henry 1 .. Gross. The Fort Plain Journal was started in 1836, by E. W. Gill, who con- tinued its publication until he was succeeded in 1838 by Wm. 1 .. Fish, who managed the concern until the close of the Presidential campaign of 1840. During Mr. Gill's management the paper was edited firs by Henry Link, Esq., and afterward by Henry Roseboom. While printed by Mr. Fish, the Journal was edited by P. G. Webster, who nn May 1, 1839, caused the name of Winfield Scott to be placed at the head of the editorial column as a candidate for the P'residency. This is said to have been the first nomi- nation of that distinguished officer for the chief magistracy. In February, 1841, the Journal passed into the hands of Levi S. Backus, a deal mute, who changed the name of the paper to The Montgomery Phoenix. D. F. Young was the editor. Mr. Backus continued the publication until 1854. when he sold out to Wendell and Stansel, who changed the name of the paper to The Mohawk Faller Register. In 1855 Stansel sold out to D. S. Kellogg, and he in June 1856, to C. W. Webster, the firm becoming Web- ster & Wendell. May 12, 1859, Mr. Wendell sold his interest to 1 .. Crounse. who in three weeks parted with it to Chas. Bradbury. In less than a year Mr. Bradbury sold to Angell Matthewson, and the Register was published by Webster & Matthewson until July, 1865, when Mr. Webster retired, the circulation of the paper having increased during his connection with it from 600 to 1000. Mr. Matthewson remained in sole proprietor hip until 1868, and during his administration provided the office with power- presses and a new stock of type ; enlarged the paper and ran its cire ului- tion up to 1,500. He sold out to Elliott & Bowen, the former of whom in 1872 sold his interest to Charles Bowen, and in March, 1876, the concern was purchased by Horace 1 .. Greene, who has since managed it.

The Tocsin was published a short time by H. Link

The Lutheran Herald was published semi-monthly in 1839, by W 1 .. Fish, and edited by Rev. J. D. Lawyer.

THE SEMINARY.

The Fort Plain Seminary and Collegiate Institute was erected in 185 ;. by a stock company, with a capital of $32,000, and chartered by the Regent. of the University, Oct. 20, of that year. Hon. Peter J. Wagner was prest- dent of the first board of trustees. Rev. Alonzo Flack was the lessee, Kes. Joseph F. King the first principal, with Miss Angelina Ensign as preceptre ... and thirteen other teachers. The first scholastic year of the institute began Nov. 7, 1853, with 513 students. At its close the first graduating honors of the school were conferred upon Miss Hannah Waddell, ot Schenectady. To the regret of all concerned, Prof. King resigned the principalship, to accept a similar position at Fort Edward, N Y.

Rev James E Latimer was unanimously elected to fill the vacancy, Nos 9. 1854. During his four years' successful management of the school, the position of preceptr,'s was held by Mrs. Latimer, Miss Jennie Latuner and Miss Hannah Waddell successively. Prof. Latimer tesigned in the

134

THE HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

summer of 1858, to take a professorship in Elmira Female College. The school then came under the control of Prof. W. H. Bannister, who, in his second year, associated with him Rev. Charles W. Bennett, now a Doctor of Divinity, and the excellent and popular Professor of History in Syracuse University. Prof. Bannister, with Miss Louisa Bannister as preceptress, continued in charge until 1861, when he was succeeded by Rev. Benjamin 1. Diefendorf. The next two principals were Messrs. Henry A. Merrill and Frank H. Graham.

The period of the civil war was a time of frequent change of administra- tion. In 1873 the present principal, Rev. Abraham Mattice, A.M., with Miss Kate M. Thomas as preceptress, took charge of the school, and it is now in successful operation. It has always been unsectarian, welcoming to its halls students from all denominations throughout the land. Among its scores of graduates are many occupying enviable professional po- sitions.

The location of the Institute is all that can be desired. It is easy of access, on an elevation that admits of perfect drainage and free circulation of air, and that affords a fine view of the surrounding country. It is also blessed with an abundance of excellent water. The Seminary, as may be seen from the engraving, is large and commodious, and well calculated to furnish a pleasant home to pupils of both sexes. Under the inspiration of the motto, "ACCURACY, EARNESTNESS, ENTHUSIASM, VICTORY, " much has been attempted and accomplished by this institution towards realizing the highest ideal of a true education, viz., the systematic development of the whole being, physical, mental, moral and spiritual.

Its officers and teachers at present are as follows : Trustees : Hon. Wil- liam Clark, president ; Reuben Elwood, vice president ; Morgan Snyder, M. D., Joshua Vedder, Worthington S. Farley, Simon Klock, Josiah Roof, Peter G. Webster, Esq., William Davy, Edwin W. Wood, Simeon Tingue, William Griffith, Robert H. Shearer, David T. Timmerman, Daniel S. De- voe. Alfred Cary, secretary and treasurer.

Teachers : Abraham Matrice, principal, Ancient Languages : James Ed- monson, Mathematics and Sciences ; Otto F. Ebert, French and German ; Kate M. Thomas, preceptress, Geography, Rhetoric, and Elocution ; Mrs. Harriet C. Smeallie, principal of primary department, Grammar, Drawing and Oil Painting ; Frane Knowlton, Common English ; Fannie A. Conk- ling, Piano, Organ, and Vocalization.

PROMINENT BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS.

The first banking house in the village was the Fort Plain Bank, organized Dec. 25, 1838, with $100,000 capital. The first directors were J. Wehster, J. Reid, Robert Hall, Nicholas Mover, 1'. J. Wagner, Wm. \. Haslett, John I. Dievendorff, Daniel Moyer, J. I. Zoller, Jacob Abeel, J. H. Moyer, Adam A. Nestell, H. Adams, J. Cady and Jacob Sanders. In February, 1839. Joshua Webster was elected president, and Peter F. Bellinger cashier. Mr. Bellinger resigned in a few weeks, and was followed by J. C. Dann, who held the place for five years, when he gave way to I. C. Babcock. Mr. Webster resigned the presidency, Ang. 12, 1848, when J. H. Moyer was chosen president, and Livingston Spraker vice president. In January. 1854, the capital of the bank was increased to $150,000. Wm. A. Haslett succeeded Mr. Moyer as president, in January, 1859, and J. I. Dievendorff became vice president. Three years later J. S. Shearer was elected cashier, and these were the first officers of the National Fort Plain Bank, when it was formed by a reorganization of the Fort Plain Bank, in May, 1864, and began business in September of that year. Mr. Hlaslett died in October, 1874, and was succeeded in the presidency by E. W. Wood.

The Fort Plain Spring and Axle Works were established about nine years

ago, and most of the time, until 1876, the business was managed by Clark, Smith & Co. The firm is now Wood, Smith & Co. The factory premises comprise about three acres of land, a short distance from the railroad. bounded in the rear by the canal. The main building is 380 by 50 feet, and a central section of it, 75 feet long, is two stories in height. Two wings in the rear of the main building are each 50 by 75 feet. The best machinery is used, operated by more than one hundred workmen. One thousand tons of bar iron, five hundred tons of steel and one hundred tons of pig iron are annually worked up. From $1,000 to $1,200 is paid out weekly to the workmen. For protection against fire there is a powerful steam pump connecting with the canal, capable of throwing five inch-and- a-half streams, for which three hundred and fifty feet of hose are always ready. The boilers can furnish steam for an eighty horse-power engine. The forging and blacksmithing department is equipped with six fires, one vertical and three horizontal trip-hammers, and heavy shears, which easily cut three-inch iron. The hest Swedish and English steel is used.

Andrew Dunn was born August 9th, 1831, in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland, and emigrated to this country, with his parents, in 1841. He lived a short time in Fulton, Columbia and Herkimer counties, working at various occupations. In 1847 he went to Amsterdam, Montgomery county, where he learned the watch and jewelry trade. In 1851 he settled in Fort Plain, where he now resides, and where, before attaining his majority, he commenced the watch and jewelry business, which occupation he still con- tinues. In 1855 he united in marriage with Louisa, youngest daughter of the late Nicholas Gross, of Palatine. He has a family of three children, named respectively, Nellie L., David E. and Andrew G. Through honesty. industry and promptness he has been very successful in trade, and is at present connected with some of the leading business interests of Fort Plain.

There are in the village two newspaper offices, two grist-mills, four dry goods, two hardware, one crockery, three drug, about a dozen grocery and provision, half as many boot and shoe, one paper hangings and-two clothing stores ; two news rooms, two steam saw-mills, four lumber-yards, a furnace for plow and other castings, several carriage and harness shops, six black- smith shops, several coal-yards and livery stables, and four hotels.

The population of the village is over two thousand.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The association managing the beautiful cemetery of Fort Plain was or- ganized March 4, 1864, with the following trustees : Alfred Cary, William Crouse, James H. Congdon, Peter Dievendorff, Theodore B. Farley, Morgan Snyder, James W Cronkhite, John B Haslet and Alexander H. Ayres. An executive committee of three has the supervision of the grounds, under a set of by-laws adopted by the association.

Fort Plain Lodge No. 433 F. and A. M. was organized Aug. 20, 1857. and chartered June 17, 1858. The first officers were : Peter Snyder, Mas- ter ; George Yost, S. W. ; David Hackney, J. W. ; F. Dievendorff, Secre- tary ; A. Dievendorif, Treasurer ; C. L. Sims, Deacon ; L. Hester, Junior Deacon; J. Smith, Tiler. There are one hundred and fifty-seven members

Battery K of the First Regiment of Artillery was organized at Fort l'lain in September, 1861, and known as Fort Plain Battery. It was mus- tered in at Elmira, Oct. 4, 1861, with Lorenzo Crounse, Captain ; Solon W. Stocking, First Lieutenant ; and Angell Matthewson, Second Lieutenant. This battery participated in the battles of Harper's Ferry, Cedar Mountain, Beverly Ford, Rappahannock Station, Chantilly, Fredericksburg (first), Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Mine Kun, and was in the defences of Washington from April 1, 1864. until mustered out of service.

RESIDENCE. OF ANDREW DUNN, ESQ .. FORT PLAIN, MONTGOMERY CO., N .Y ..

RESIDENCE OF JUDGE GEOLYOST, FORT PLAIN, MONTGOMERY CO. N Y.

RES Of BENJAMIN GETMAN, TOWN OF EPHRATAH, SETTLED BY FREDRICK GETMAN ABOUT 1740 OCCUPIED BY O. GETMAN

RESIDENCE & GROUNDS OF MR. JACOB WILES MINDEN, MONTGOMERY CO. N. Y.

ZOLLER

HOUSE

PP. WAGNER

P.P. WAGNER

#MERENESS & GORDON

ZOILEP HOUSE FORT PLAIN MONTGOMERY CON I N.

MOHAWK AND THE MOHAWKS.

135

THE TOWN OF MOHAWK.

The small town of Mohawk has perhaps been the scene of more events worthy of historic record than any other in the county. Armies have re- peatedly marched over its territory, marking their course with blood and confiagration. This neighborhood was early settled, and all over the pres- ent town live the descendants of the pioneers, among whom are represented probably a greater number of families prominent in the Revolution than in any other town of the county. Such events in the history of Mohawk as were connected with general movements through the county have already been narrated, leaving to be given herein the minor occurrences and strik- ing individual experiences with which the annals of the town abound.

Mohawk was formed from the southern part of Johnstown, April 4, 1837. The reader hardly need be cautioned against confounding it with the orig- inal town of Mohawk, which was on the south side of the river, and was abolished in 1793. From that time there was no territory called by this name, until it was applied to the present town. Mohawk has an area of 20,222 acres, sloping rapidly and irregularly from the Johnstown line, which is some four hundred feet above the valley, to the river flats. The Mayfield mountain sweeps down through the western border, and forms at the river one of the bold declivities called the Noses. The land is highly productive and well cultivated. Several picturesque streams flow into the Mohawk, or into Cayadutta creek, which is the principal watercourse in the town. The next in size is Danoscara creek, or Dadanaskarie, as it is given in the well spelled and well written parchment title to Hansen's pat- ent ; 2,000 acres , executed by Gov. Robert Hunter in 1713. The whole of this patent was included in the present town; almost all of the Caughna- waga (Collins) patent, 2,000 acres, granted Nov. 14, 1714, adjoining it on the west; and of the Alexander patent, lying next west, and consisting of 8,000 acres, granted May 6, 1725. Part of the Stone Arabia patent formed the north-west corner of the town, and portions of Butler's, the Sacondaga and the Chatsandackte Wilson and Abeel, patents completed its outlines on the north and east.

INDIAN OCCUPANCY

The earliest dwellers, of whom there is any record, on the soil of this town were the clan of Mohawk Indians inhabiting a village called by them C'ahaniaga, or Gandaougue ; by, their successors, the Dutch, Kaghnewage, and later Caughnawaga. It stood on the fair-ground of the Montgomery County Agricultural Society, on the eastern edge of the village of Fonda. The Indian name is interpreted "Stone-in-the-water."

It was here that the Jesuit Jogues was held captive and suffered such tortures in 1642, and here that he met martyrdom in 1646. "On a hill apart," wrote Bancroft. "he carved a long cross on a tree, and there, in the solitude, he meditated on the imitation of Christ. Roanung through the stately shades of the Mohawk valley, he wrote the name of Jesus on the bark of the trees, engraved the cross, and entered into possession of those countries in the name of God, often lifting up his voice in solitary chant." " This living martyr," says Parkman, " half clad in shaggy furs, kneeling on the snow among the icicled rocks, and beneath the gloomy pines, bowing in adoration before the emblem of the faith in which was his only conso- lation and his only hope, is alike a theme for the pen and a subject for the pencil." Umterrified by the fate of Jogues, three other Jesuit missionaries, one of whom was Father Fremin, came to Caughnawaga in 1667, and the noted De Lamberville in 1675. The last named remained three years. Tehgabkwita, the daughter of a chief, was converted through his ministra- tions, and baptized by the name of Catherine. Being subjected to persecu-

tion among her people, she fled to Canada, where she died in 1080, aged twenty-four. A little before this time the labors of the priests had resulted in the conversion of numbers of the Caughnawagas, who were enticed by them from their homes and kindred to settle on the St. Lawrence. They afterward rendered valuable service to the French as allies and guides in expeditions against the Iroquois. Brodhead gives the following account of their conversion and exodus :

"Bruyas, at Tionnontoguen, or St. Mary's, and Boniface, at Caughn.i- waga, or St. Peter's, labored among the Mohawks. Although the smallest of the Iroquois villages, Caughnawaga was esteemed by the Jesuits, like ancient Judah by the Israelites, as the greatest of all their stations. Prayer was offered there as constantly ' as in the best regulated families of France." Yet, while zealous Mohawk converts paraded their chaplets in the Dutch church at Albany, the Jesuit missionaries mistrusted their frequent visits to the ' heretics,' and lamented their 'wretched peace' with the Mohicans, which, by making the paths safe, enabled the Iroquois to get brandy to their hearts' content. The most interesting incident was the departure vi a number of Mohawks to the mission at the Prairie de la Madeleine, near Montreal. This settlement had received its first Iroquois accessions from Oneida, whose chief, Garonhiague, or 'La cendre chaude,' became a cate. chist. While on a visit there, Kryn, or 'the great Mohawk,' had become converted by Fremin, and, on his return to Caghnawaga, so moved the village that forty Mohawks, with their squaws and children, went b.we k with him to the Prairie. Their brethren at Tionnontoguen, 'who were not yet disposed to embrace the faith,' complained to Bruyas of the 'black robes, who seemed to wish to make their country a desert, and ruin their villages.' The health of Boniface, however, soon failed, and he returned to Quebec to die, conducting 'a great party' of converts, and leaving Bruyas alone, in charge of both the Mohawk stations. The intervals of missionary labor were employed by the Iroquois superior in preparing hi> immortal dictionary of the Indian tongue."

The allusion to the converts' "visits to the 'heretics' " is explained in the following passage from another page of Mr. Brodhead's work ;

"Many converts were made, and even the worship of Aireskone, their great demon, was renounced when Pierron threatened to leave them, after witnessing one of their solemn 'feasts of the dead' at Caghnawaga. So zealous were some of the proselytes that they took pride in displaying their crucifixes at Albany, and in arguing with the 'heretics.' A converted squaw went into the church while Domine Schaats was preaching, and re- cited her chaplet during the whole of divine service."

At Caughnawaga was held in 1659 the first formal council with the Mo- hawks on their own ground. On the 18th of August, 1669, the village was attacked by the Mahicans, who were repulsed and pursued, It consisted when visited by Wentworth Greenhalgh in 1677 of twenty-four houses. It was destroyed by the forces of Count Frontenac, governor of Canada, in 1693.

No history of this section would be complete without mention of the fa mous Hendrick or Soi-en-ga-rab-ta, who for many years stood at the head of the Mohawk canton. As he lived some time on the north bank of the river a little below the Nose though generally at the upper castle he may ap. propriately be referred to here. His father was a Mahican chief, who mar ried a Mohawk princess and united with her people. Hendrick was born about 1680, and was one of the Iroquois chiefs who accompanied Col. Schuyler to England in 17to. He was a man of remarkable energy, sagatt ty and bravery, representing his people in council with eloquence, and m battle with undaunted courage. His best known speech was made at a

136

THE HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

council with the Six Nations held at Albany in 1754. Holding up the chain belt that typified the alliance of the English and the Iroquois, he be- gan by saying : " Brethren, we return you all our grateful acknowledgment- for renewing and brightening the covenant chain. This chain belt is of very great importance to our united nations and all our allies ; we will there- fore take it to Onondaga, where our council fire always burns, and keep it so securely that neither thunder nor lightning shall break it." In regard to the defenceless condition of the frontier to meet French invasion, he spoke sharply and reproachfully, telling the English that it was their own fault that they were not strengthened by conquest, and that the Indians would have taken Crown Point had not their white brethren prevented it. "You burnt your own fort at Saratoga," said the sachem, "and ran away from it, which was a shame and a scandal to you. Look about your coun- ty and see : you have no fortifications about you, no, not even to this city. "Tis but one step from Canada hither, and the French may easily come and turn you out of your doors." Hendrick was always the trusty lieutenant of Sir William Johnson, and fought under him at the battle of Lake George in 1755. On learning of the approach of the French, it was proposed to send out a small party to meet them. Hendrick's opinion being asked, he replied, "If they are to fight, they are too few ; if they are to be killed. they are too many." The detachment was ordered forward, however, with the white-haired chief and his warriors at the head. At the opening of the action Hendrick was killed. He had been held in the utmost veneration by his tribe, and his fate was correspondingly lamented.

THE MOHAWK PIONEERS.

In July, 1713, a patent was granted to two men named Hansen for two thousand acres of land on the north bank of the Mohawk above Tribes Hill. They soon after settled on the tract, and there is no record of any earlier settlers in the town of Mohawk. A patent for the same amount just west was granted in the next year to John, Edward and Margaret Collins, but they sold to Myndert Wemple, Douw Fonda, and Hendrick A. Vrooman, without, so far as is known, making any settlements. The purchasers, however, settled, and founded some of the famous old families still represented in the town.

Captain Henry Hansen, a son of one of the patentees, was killed and scalped at the time of Johnson's raid in 1780, by an Indian whom he had befriended, and who had expressed great gratitude; his house was burned and the women of the household left homeless. Several of Hansen's neighbors were murdered at the same time. Two others named Bowen are said to have guided the invaders in their attack on the Tribes Hill set- tlement, being tories who had gone to Canada with the Johnsons. Their father had settled in the neighborhood shortly after the original Hansen>

One of the early settlers in the town, and in this part of it, was Harmen Visscher, the founder of the Visscher family whose eventful history is elsewhere given. On the Hansen patent, the same tract with the Visschers, and adjoining that place on the north, William H. Brower bought one hundred and fifty acres for Si per acre from his father, who was one of the earliest settlers in the town of Palatine. The purchaser did not occupy this place until after the Revolutionary war, through which he served. One of the actions in which he participated was Montgomery's ill-starred attack on Quebec. On the retreat of the Americans from Canada, Brower had charge of one of the cannon as far as Springfield, Mass., where he was taken with the small-pox. At the close of the war he settled on the land he had bought, and built a log house. He was much troubled by wolves. which killed his sheep and even a colt. In course of time he built another house, which is still standing, being used as a tenement, and is represented on another pige in a view of the home of his grandson, H. T. E. Brower. The latter has in his possession a Spanish dollar of the date of 1772, which was the first money his grandfather made on the new place He got it by burning a tree, and taking the ashes to the potash factory which had been established at Johnstown by Sir William Johnson.

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 Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents, Part 45

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