History of Oneida County, New York, 1667-1878, Part 151

Author:
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 932

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

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cedar brush. As soon as you penetrate somewhat deeper in the country, its interior parts become more pleasing, the soil more fertile, more valuable the timber ; beech and maplo reappear, intermixed with oak and walnut. Several mill-seats are on these larger ereeks.

" The wind was too vehement on Wednesday to proceed on our journey with such an ignorant aud even cowardly crew; even the daring Price advised us uot to run the risk ; but he could not on any account be persuaded to remain longer with us. IIe grasped his gun, left his great-coat with us, and flew out of sight in the woods. We heard the report of a gun, another, and there was Price returned; ho tbrew a couple of partridges at our feet and departed finally.

" We caught yellow perch which indeed was exquisite; large pick- erel and pike, some two feet long. The lake became more and more tempestuous ; the wind blew a gale, and our Typheus had left us. Now I could not conquer a rising wish to be reunited to a beloved family, dear to my heart by so many tics, and enjoy with them that placid contentment in our peaceful abodo in Ulster ; and when I felt that it was vain it increased for a few moments to a painful anguish. The thought that my presence would be more and more longed for every day ; that it was actually required there; the roughness of our hands, with whose intimacy I became disgusted; the want of a number of comforts and conveniences to which I was accustomed, and seemed now for the first time to become sensible of; all this, with the uncer- tainty when we might leave this spot with safety, subdued for a while my sprightliness, and rendered me morose and sullen; but it was only a morning cloud, which passed by.

" The recollection that Ile who rules and directs all for the best re- stored my wonted equanimity, while De Zeng's insinuating address and entertaining conversation soon again brought my feelings in union with his. The violence of the tempest increased with the falling night, and did not abate till the morning, when we compelled our pilot and crew to enter once more in the bateau.

"When we perceived that Barker brought us nearly in the same situation as before, we listened to prudence' advice, and considered it onr duty to land in the same creek which we had entered on Monday. We took here, after we had rowed up this creek for two miles, a large quantity of trout of various sizes, to regale us at dinner.

"Nothing, my dear sir, resembles nearer the small rivulets and eanals in South Holland than these creeks, as far as these are naviga- ble. You see the same water-plants and flowers,-in some parts the conserva, covering a part of the surface,-the same insects, the same serpentine windings. We took a walk after dinner a few miles in the country, following the course of the creek at some distance, where we found a rich soil, and here and there a mill-seat. A variety of huts scattered along the creek, with a sort of sheds to dry eels, was a full proof that neither here was a want of fish. The small river-lobster was here plentiful. The soil was full of stones near the creek, which diminished in proportion that we receded from it. This fertile soil was covered with some oak, beech, and maple, in some parts mixed with walnut, chestnut, and butternut. We returned about six o'clock to our encampment, but our pilot and one of our hands were unwilling to embark that evening; to-morrow morning-this night they would start-the lake was yet too high; at last, howover, having prevailed on one of our lads, we got them all-willing, unwilling-in the boat. We placed him whose good will I had secured at the helm; the pilot with his mato in mutiny at the oars, and pushed forward deep enough in the lake, while De Zeng and I took a pagay in the hand to prosper our course.

" Here we met with the bateau from which the British had secured a part of the cargo of salt, permitting it to depart after the remainder bad been redeemed. It proceedod to Cadaraghkui. A fresh westerly breeze with the falling evening induced us to look out for a landing- spot, in which we sooner and better succeeded than we could have ex- pected. It was about two miles above Nine-Miles' Point; tho wind suddenly increased again ; wo bauled our bateau on dry land so that we might not lose her during the night.

"It was now about 8 o'clock ; the evening beautifully charming beyond expression ; the bank on which wo had pitched our tent was about four feet abovo tho level of the shore ; before our tent was a large fire in full blaze; tho sky remarkably clear ; a double colonnado of stately, broad-branched becch- and birch-trees surrounding our encampment, plauted, as it seemed by our warming imagination, in a regular symmetry, without intercepting from our eyes the sight of the lake, which was illumed by the moon. The soil appeared tolerably

good, the bank continued to rise above us, but it was too late now for a more accurate examination. I was indeed charmed with this beau- tiful spot ; the supper was welcome; we chatted away a part of the evening before we perceived from the snoring of our crew that it was late, and high time to lie down. My sleep was refreshing. I awoke with a renewed ardor, and roused at breakday every soul in the tent by my uninterrupted halloos.

" At 6 o'clock we rowed already with all our might, and arrived about ten at the fort, to our great satisfaction and joy. As there re- mained nothing in the place to keep our curiosity alive, we had soon our dinner prepared and dispatched; when ready to start Captain Wicham, returning from the woods with half a dozen pigeons in his hand, giveth us a friendly call. We left the fort at 1 o'clock, and made our encampment that night three miles from the falls, after having walked one mile to lessen the freight of the batean ; and now, my dear sir, you will enjoy with us that we accomplish this journey with- out any real misfortune. The remainder must be, of course, riding post over the same ground, become now to us less interesting, and yet I wish to reserve the conclusion for my next.

" Yours."

" KINGSTON, 15 Angust, 1792.

" MY DEAR SIR,-Our breakfast was in readiness at an early hour, neither did we tarry long; all hands to the bateau! speed, boys, speed ! and the command was promptly executed. Our boat seemed to acquire a new vigor, either that he was satisfied fully with the length of this trip, or that he actually longed for his home. We arrived at Three-River Point about seven, discharged Mr. Barker, and pitched our tent in the vicinity of his house, crowded with trav- elers from several bateaux and eanoes, which tarried there since yes- terday. Barker had caught, by throwing a line behind the bateau, four large Oswego bass, the smallest of a foot long, which was the best part of our supper.

"I had now an opportunity of examining and witnessing the truth of what the baron had told me before of the curious manner by which the chubs (triobs) hide their eggs. They deposit these along the rivers of Oswego and Onondago on shallow spots, and cover these afterwards with small pebbles, heaped in a conical form, somewhat below the surface of the water, while others were prominent above it.

"Need I tell you, my dear sir, that Fort Brewerton, which we reached at four in the afternoon, was to us a delightful sight ? Cap- tain Bingham was from home on the salmon fishery, and Captain Simonds, with the women, on a visit to the island. His eldest daugh- ter, nevertheless, a smart young girl, prepared us a good supper,-a bass of two pounds, a dish with stewed cel, with fresh bread and but- ter. Our breakfast was congenial, having secured two capital eels, with a pot of milk and riec. We hurried to the island, and compli- mented Mr. and Madame Des Wattines, on Monday morning between nine and ten. We were again congratulated with a hearty welcome, and a new zest was added to our gratification when Des Wattines proposed to conduct us to the Fish Creek, or Oneida River, as he was compelled to go the Oncidas for Indian corn. His garden was yet moro pleasant ; its value unquestionably had increased. llead- lettuce, parsley [purslane], string-pease, and kidney-beans were in full perfection.

" They would not be refused, and secmed not satisfied before we were provided with some store of their plenty, as they were pleased to call it ; and then yet they, as it were, compelled us by their kind, although nearly importune entreaties, to accept a mess of new potatoes, with a large catfish. Madame walked with us to the shore; there we slept in the batean; one of his dogs had taken early a place in our canoe, the other did swim behind it. Madame Des Wattines, with her Camille to her bosom, her eldest boy between her, and his sister at ber side, motionless, staring at us, with an expressive countenance, with features portraying what her soul so keenly seemed to feel in that distressing moment of separation,-ndien, Des Wl'attinex ! was all which we could distinguish. There stood that lovely, deserted fair one! Not deserted as Ariadne, but nevertheless left alone with three helpless children-alone ! on an island in Oneida Lake. I turned my head from this mournful objeet and conquered, with some reluc- tance, these painful sentiments which tortured my bosom. Ilis dog followed our bateau, swimming, and landed at length at the second island, where he continued a while barking, and then returned, as we supposed, and Des Wattines assured us, to his mistress.

556

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

" We saw before we reached the creek a summer shower, refreshing tbe island, on which no drop of rain had fallen since three weeks. So takes a bountiful Father eare of those of His children who are destitute of every other assistance; so He waters the wilderness, refreshes the herbs in the desert, and fills the bearts of those that are languishing, with food and gladness.

" We took our dinner by Bruce, where our milk and rice, which we purebased at Fort Brewerton, was to all a palatable dish ; then we bid a hearty farewell to our reeluse,-presumptively a farewell forever,-and returned towards evening to the mouth of the Fish Creek or Oneida River, from which we started for our expedition. Des Wattines pre- pared our soupe of eel an l catfish, while we superintended the pitch- ing of our tent and making a good fire. This was a truly social entertainment; our hearts were flushed with success, and the prospeet before ns of meeting ere long with our wives and children, and having passed some of the great waters of the western lakes, it rendered our feelings exquisitely delightful.

" Here we were gratified with a visit,-if it is not presumptuous to make use of such a familiar term when I speak of a casual meeting of such great folks as the first Judge Lansing, and Colonel Lewis, the attorney-general of the State, and Major Farley, who all went to attend tbe circuit ; and yet we considered it a visit, as we, too, had been eon- sidered as great folks by some who wanted our easb, as we were the first occupants of the soil, and this, according with the gift of, I know not of what ancient or modern pontiff, if it was not St. George or St. Franeis, the proprietors of the soil exclusively. We separated after conversation ; they doomed to remain there till it pleased the westerly breeze to abate; Des Wattines parting from us in his bateau to the Oneida Creek, and we proceeding with our canoe to the Fish Creek or Oneida River. Here we met with one of our old acquaintance, Mr. Abraham Lansing, who, with one Mr. Fonda, went to Niagara. We stopped at the mouth of the Wood Creek. I concluded, while De Zeng with one of our lads was preparing our dinner, to take with the other a view of the Fish Creek. Before we started Captain Bingham returned with five barrels salnon, and sold us a fresh one.

"We rowed up the ereek about three miles, and then landed on the side between the Fish and Wood Creeks. Here we met first with a hroad girdle of fertile flat land, nearly east by west; tben a long tract of pine chiefly, then beceh, maple, and oak. The lower parts at this side are often overflown. The land at the west side is much higher than that to the cast. I ordered the hoy to proceed higher up, and took a similar course landward in, and examined the soil from time to time, which I found generally fertile, although of a less favorable aspect towards the lake and richer again in proportion that I took a north- western course. My opinion was as much formed from the variety of timber as from the soil, which through a partial and incorreet exam- ination might have led me astray. I reached my canoe near the mouth of the Wood Creek, entered it, and found, after an absence of three hours, the peas-porridge ready. We remained that evening two miles at this side of the Oak Orchard, where we breakfasted, and met about one mile from it Messrs. Boon and Lineklaen, who, assisted by Mr. Morris, a land surveyor, proceeded on a similar excursion. It was 2 o'clock before we arrived at the Widow Armstrong's cottage. In an instant the kettle was hung on the fire to hoil our fresb salmon. We made ourselves an ample compensation for our frugal repast at breakfast. The salmon was delicious enoug ), although not so fat, which, no doubt, was oeeasioned that it was speared; but certainly this one, though considered large, was much smaller than usually those on the river the Meuse.

" Amos Fuller, who resided now with his family at the widow's till he should be successful, as he said, in purchasing a farm in this neighborhood, informed us that two --- past three Massachusetts men, amongst whom one of his brothers, had taken an accurate view of the traet from this point between the Canada Creek, then westward between the Wood and Fish Creeks, and considered it upon the wbole so valuable that they had offered to purchase a whole township, to pay a £1000 hy the deed of the land, and the residue within a year, obliging themselves further to settle it before April, 1794, with thirty- five families.

"We heard this identical traet deseribed by others,-ardently, per- haps, designing to take it in their grasp,-described as an indifferent tract of land, remarkable chiefly for its hemlock, pine, and swamps, which, perhaps, might fall short in defraying the expenses of its sur- vey. This difference of opinion can only be accounted for in one way, not that judgment was biasel, but that seeret motives induced tbe one

and the other to overrate or underrate lands to facilitate its sale or purchase. Come and see, then, and examine for yourself and your friends. Fuller taeked his old horse to our eanoe, and dragged it to Fort Bull. Here I strode on poor Rosinante, step by step, towards Fort Stanwix, where the baron after a little while arrived, having left our eanoe and baggage one mile from the carrying-place by want of water. The canoe arrived next morning. We dined in part on the new pota- toes of Des Wattines,-the welcome-eup flowed over,-and I sincerely thanked the baron for his hospitable reception, for his manifold ser- vices and entertaining society during a journey which required such a good companion to smooth its roughness. His lady was hy her atten- tion entitled to the same eivilities. We took a cordial farewell; I stept on my horse, which was neat and plump, rode to Whitesborough, visited Mr. Platt (onee to be compared to Noordkerk, of Amsterdam), and then made a eall to the good-hearted Hugh White, asked for their commands, and slept that night at Old Fort Schuyler, hy Mr. Hansje Post. I was again on horseback early in the morning on Friday, and crossed the river. My oiled-silk surtout coat defended me from the rain, which continued without interruption from five to till eight. I had missed the road near the German Flatts, but met good people, who, with kindness, convineed me that I was on a hye-path. They had observed my inattentive mien, and asked me where I went to. I erossed again the Mohawk, took breakfast at Mr. Aldritz's, visited the Rev. Rosekrantz, and arrived at Captain Ballinger's, where I ob- tained for my dinner goou chieken-broth. I stept at four on my horse, and associated to another traveler passed Canajohari, baited our horses by Hudson, crossed the Mohawk for the last time, tarried about an bour at the Widow Schuyler's, and slept that night nine miles farther, at Bankert's Inn, much fatigued and thoroughly wet by a copious perspiration.

" The sight of several fields, from which they were reaping the rye, of others where the sheaves stood in array, made me double my speed. Looking steadily forward, and little caring of what I left helind, I discovered first at Simon Veder's, at Caughnawaga, that I had left my spurs ; it was fortunate that I was not in want of these for my good horse. I breakfasted at Putnam's on Trip's hill, staid over noon at Mahee's, six miles from Schenectadi, without tasting a morsel, pro- viding quietly for my beast, as the landlady declined the trouble to pre- pare a roasted chicken for my dinner. I might have got some pork. I enjoyed the satisfaction to find the Rev. Romeyn with his lady and family in a perfect health. A good dish of tea, with the delightful society of that respectable elergyman, revived my spirits so that I passed two agreeahle hours with them. I rode the same evening yet five miles farther, and was before eight next morning under the bos- pitahle roof of my worthy friend, Dr. Mancius.

" The Rev. De Ronde, a elergyman of fourscore years, who, expatri- ated from one of the Land Provinces and settled in this State many years past, was to officiate in the Dutel church. I was tempted to he one of his hearers. His subject was rieb enough : ' Who shall shew us what is good ? Let the light of your countenance arise upon us, O Lord!' A Bonnet, a Hulshoff, a Chevalier would have delivered a master-piece. The good old father, I believe, did as well as he could. But accustomed as I was to dainties, it was a hard fare to digest a coarser meal. In this respect, my dear sir, the time for our adopted country is yet to come, and I doubt not it will, but thus far we are yet behind. I must acknowledge, however, I did not hear your New York clergy. If I had done so I might have been prompted by jus- tice to a recantation.

"I retreated after dinner in silence from the city, with the fear of the constable, ignorant that I did attend divine worship in the wor- ship continnally before my eyes ; slept at Cosochie,# and rode early on Monday morning through an incessant rain to Mr. Sax, in the Imbogt. Let not your warm imagination make you suppose that your learned Sax, of Utrecht, whose talents I so often admired, and who deserved so well tbe applause whieb he earned by his Oromasticon, had transplanted himself in the neighborhood of the beautiful Hudson ; then you could not have been long in suspense while I made such a speed towards his house. No, sir ! It was the honest and industrious Hans Sax, perhaps de- seending from the same lineage. My breakfast was soon in readiness, and I could not deny him the satisfaction to give him the outlines of my excursion. From here I continued my route to Captain Hendrick Schoonmaker, where I took a dish of tea till a heavy thunder-shower

$ Coxsackie.

557

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

shall have passed. My patience was exhausted at length, as the day was far gone, and submitted to ride nine miles farther, through a violent rain, before I could reach my dwelling. But not one single drop made any impression, except on my hat, face, and hands, thanks to my silk oiled coat.

"Joy was legible in every countenance; my heart was glad and thankful when I did see me so cordially received, when I felt myself embraced with so much tenderness by all who were so dear to me.

" My dear John alone suffered under an intermittent fever, but that unwelcome visitor left us ere long, so that everything is again in its old train ; the children at school, father in the field, mother unwearied, attentive to her many domestic concerns ;" all is bustle; ten loads of hay, eleven of rye, and fourteen of wheat are >ecured; the remainder mowed and reaped in the field, so that I must take hold of a few moments early in the morning and late at evening.

" My companion, more sanguine in his projects and more ardent in their pursuit, had a much higher conception of this tract than your friend; to him it was superior, far exceeding all that he had seen, in situation, in luxuriant fertility, in natural riches. No doubt it was gifted with it; it might, by an active industry, be transformed in an Eden ! It may be so ; it may be that his views are nearer the truth ; he had beon on that spot before me, but it did not appear to me under such high glowing colors. I did see some very indifferent parts; I meant to have discovered several barren spots; but in what tract of land extended to 6 or 100,000 acres shall similar spots not be dis- covered? Perhaps these may even exist to a much larger amount than I do suspect where we did not penetrate. The soil, in my opinion, is even less rich than that in Whitestown and at the Oris- kany Creek, but its cultivation shall be easier; it shall not bake, it shall not be hardened in the same manner in a dry season.

"I visited and examined this tract with the view to fix there my permanent residence, and obtain a valuable possession for my children and your family. My dear friend had always an equal share in these my contemplations and pursuits. I did not shrink at meeting in face some hardships, but visited it, and endeavored to examine it from creek to creek, not only near the water-side, but often several miles in the interior, to obtain a sufficiently correct knowledge of its situa- tion, of its real and relative value; and in this mind I do not hesitate to make you this frank and honest confession, that I have not yet encountered in this State an equal extensive tract of land on which I should profer to end my course, if joined by a few respectable families, in the vicinity of a tolorable settlement, of which, if my wealth was equal to its acquisition, I should, in preference to all which I have yet seen, desire to secure its possession.

" All the informations which I have been able to collect are in unison with my views, so that hereabout shall be the happy limit of our wanderings, under God's blessing. Several families have en- gaged to move thither, if I can procure them lands at a moderate price. Give now once more a proof of that undaunted courage, so often tried and found adequate to the task you manly engaged in. Here the execution is chiefly in our hands ; who could hesitate who erossod the Atlantic, not for the sake of luere, but to secure for himself and his family an asylum against civil anl religious oppression ? You do not yet regret this step, and then I advised you to follow my example, and so you did. Here I may speak with greater confidence. I have been on the spot without interest, unprejudiced, as our actual residence is certainly desirable in several points of view. There all its improvements are of my own erention, not without great expense, not without unrelenting personal exertions; there I am first begin- ning to gather the fruits of my labor, and have the well-grounded prospect of increasing advantages; there I am surrounded by kind neighbors, and at no great distance by respectable families, who treat us rather as near relatives than strangers, whose good-will and kind- ness we have earned, and, as we flatter ourselves, secured. But you, my dear sir, know too well that I have not yet learned to go by halves, that reluctantly I submit to disappointments, and venture rather a fresh struggle, whatever may be tho risk, than to give up a well-digested plan. You know that the yet required expensive in- tended improvements aro made impossible, though not thro' my own fault, negleet, or carelessness, but, happy for me, through them in whom I placed an unbounded confidence. Inform me of your plan and sentiments without disguise. My determination may bo molli- fied ; it cannot be shaken.

" Adio.

Yours sincerely."

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHI, STITTVILLE.

An organization was effected here by this denomination as early as about 1836-40, and a small frame church was built on the hill near the present site of the railway station. About 1860 it was removed to its present location, and some $3000 expended for repairs upon it. The present value is about $4000. The membership is quite large, and the pastor is Rev. Mr. Miller, of Floyd.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHII, HOLLAND PATENT.

" From the first settlement of the town, the families of Judge Van der Kemp and Colonel Mappa were constantly in the habit of meeting together for religious services. After some time a school-house was erected, in which the first settlers used to meet for public worship. The Rev. Mr. Fish, a Presbyterian clergyman and a native of New Jersey, was the first preacher who visited the town. . . . It must have been within three or four years after the set- tlement eommeneed, for he is found named as the first pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Holland Patent, which was formed in 1797. The Presbyterian Church at Trenton village was organized at an early period .* Previous to 1822 the Rev. Dr. Harrower preached alternately at the village and Holland Patent."} The former records of the church at Holland Patent are lost, so that little is known of its early history. "In 1812 a Congregational Church was formed at the Patent by the Rev. Elijah Norton, to which he preached as ' stated supply' a short time, and was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Harrower, who preached for both Presbyterians and Congregationalists, who met to- gether for worship at that place and at Trenton village. On the 2d of January, 1821, near the close of the labors of Dr. Harrower in this place, the two churches united, and assumed the name of ' The Church of Christ in Hol- land Patent.' In 1822 the Rev. William Goodell was regularly installed its pastor."# Revs. Stephen W. Bur- rill and James W. Phillips were successors to Rev. Good- ell. The present pastor is Rev. James MeK. Brayton. The society has a good membership, and supports a flour- ishing Sabbath-school.

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History of Oneida County, New York, 1667-1878, Part 151

Author: Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Fariss Number of Pages: 932

Author:
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 932