History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 172

Author: Ruttenber, Edward Manning, 1825-1907, comp; Clark, L. H. (Lewis H.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1336

USA > New York > Orange County > History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 172

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* It is difficult to see any basis for this New York claim in the words of the grant. The New Jersey claim line had the certain merit of ruu- ning to the mouth of some branch, if not to the true one, but the New York claim line does not seem to have been run to the month of any branch of the Delaware at all.

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DEERPARK.

the road and formed themselves in line for battle. The Jerseymen unexpectedly finding these men col- lected and armed for mortal combat, became suddenly daunted in their military courage and hastily retreated to the nearest woods. This occurred when Gerardus Swartwout was a young man, and about 1740.

The last struggle between the parties was to cap- ture and imprison the major and Johannes West- brook, both of whom lived on the battle-ground. Any open effort to capture the major was known to be environed with great difficulty, and the Jerseymen undertook to effect it on the Sabbath, at the door of the church. This was between the years 1764-67, and when the Rev. Thomas Romeyn was pastor, he being settled at Flatbush, L. I., till 1764. To accom- plish it they collected a strong party, who came armed with clubs on the day appointed, and when the minister preached in the church of Maghaghkemek surrounded it. After the services were ended, and the major and Capt. Westbrook had gone out, they were made prisoners after a harsh struggle. The major was taken and confined in the Jersey colony prison, from which he was soon released. Not long after this, by the establishment of a new line between the colonies, as previously remarked, all the border disputes and personal frays ended .*

A careful statement of this whole controversy is given in the annual report of the State geologist of New Jersey for the year 1874. The narrative has

* The following affidavit (for which and for several other papers of interest the publishers are indebted to Wm. II. Nearpass, editor of the Port Jervis Gazette), though made after the disputed boundary question had been settled, would seem to favor the claims of New Jersey that the intersection of the State line with the Delaware was at Shoacan (Had- cock) :

"ORANGE COUNTY, 38 :

"Johannis Decker being Duly sworn, deposeth and Saith That he was born at Rochester, is now Seventy-one or Seventy-two years of age Lived since he was a Sucking Child at Mohaghcamake,-he was well acquainted with the Indiana and their Language from a Child,-That he was well acquainted with the fishkill so called by the Dutch people, and by the English people Delaware, by the Indians Lamasepose That is fishkill, That he has always understood from the Indians, young and Old that the left hand or West Branch at Shohacan carried up the name of the Lam- asepose to the head of it, and the Reason why they gave the Deponent was because there was great numbers of Maskunamack (that ia Bass) and Guwam (that ia shad) went up that Branch, & but few or non went up the East Branch. That he has also heard from Daniel Cole that he had been up tha fishkill so far that he could jump over with a walking stick and that he the Deponent had understood that this waa the West Branch. That this Transaction was befor the former Tryal at New York, and that Daniel Cole is now dead. That this Deponent was well acquainted with the Indians, Ambehoes, Mastewap, Yamatabenties, Echkamare and a number of others that lived at Coshecton, Shohacan & Cookhouse, But not much acquainted with the papekunk Indiana because they were Esopus Indians,-that the Mongap comes into the fishkill about Eight miles above Neversink and further saith not.

His " JOHANNIS ; DECKER. mark.

already been brought down to 1762.+ It required, however, several years longer to complete the adjust- ment. Commissioners were appointed by each State, but no satisfactory agreement was reached until a royal act was obtained, passed "at the court of St. James the 1st day of September, 1773." This act determined the points for running the line substan- tially as it now exists. It remained for commissioners appointed by the States of New York and New Jersey to actually run the line. The New Jersey commis- sioners-John Stevens and Walter Rutherford-made their report April 15, 1775, and it was approved by the Legislature of New Jersey. The New York Com- missioners were William Wickham and Samuel Gale. The joint report had been previously made, Nov. 30, 1774, and that was based upon the certificate of the actual surveyors, -- James Clinton, of Ulster Co., N. Y., and Anthony Dennis, of Monmouth Co., N. J., dated . Nov. 26, 1774. These papers closed a controversy which had existed for more than sixty years.

One hundred years later (1874) a survey of this line was made by commissioners appointed by the respective State Legislatures. A careful verification of the initial points was made by the aid of the officers of the United States Coast Survey, and a rec- tification of the intermediate points. Those desiring a detailed account of this resurvey, and a full state- ment respecting all the intermediate milestones, will find it in the report quoted above.#

AN EARLY TRIP TO THE MINISINK REGION.

The name Minisink, in nearly its present form, has evidently been in nse two hundred years or more. Its correct original orthography is Minnisink. The earliest maps of the New Netherlands sent to Europe described this section of country as occupied by a tribe of Indians known as the Minquas. In docu- ments drawn up during the early years of the subse- quent English rule they were called the Minsies. It is something of an abrupt and perhaps tame con- clusion to which previous historians have arrived, that the word Minsies, or Minquas, became, by a pro- cess of growth or corruption, Minisinks .?

Whether this is the correct origin or not, the latter name appears in 1694 in the journal of Capt. Arent Schuyler, who visited this region for the purpose of ascertaining whether the influence of the French had penetrated to the Indians living here. The slaughter at Schenectady and the destruction of that town had occurred only a few years before, and a state of almost

"Sworn this 234 day of Decr 1785 before me Soloman Coykendal, J. P.

" A True Copy from the Original - Cockburn.'

+ A map drawn in 1765 shows the present line, and was probably the first map upon which it appeared.

We refer also to a recent valuable pamphlet with the following title : " Notes and Memoranda relating to the West New Jersey Society of West New Jersey. By John Clement, of Haddonfield. S. Chew, Printer, Cam- den, N. J." It ja there shown that the controversy was largely one in- volving title to the soil, and not entirely a question of State jurisdiction. It ia also stated that the society still maintains an organization in Lon- don, has an annual meeting, appoints its ancient committeea, and disposea of a solid English dinner, all in due form.

2 See General History.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

perpetual war existed. Capt. Schuyler's visit is sup- posed to have been the first entry of a white man into this immediate section, and his report has therefore special interest. We give it below :*

" MAY IT PLEASE Youa EXCELLENCY

" In pursuance to yr Excell : commands I have been in the Minissink Country, of which I have kept the following journal : viz

"1694 ye 3d of Feb .- I departed from New Yorke for East New Jersey and came that night att Bergentown where I hired two men and a guide.

" Ye 4th Sunday morning .- I went from Bergen and travilled about ten English miles beyond Hlagbkengsack to an Indian place called Peckwes.

" Ye 5th Monday .- From Peckwes North and be West I went about thirty two miles snowing and rainy weather.

" Ye 6th Tuesday .- I continued my journey to Magaghkamieck [the Indian name of the Neversink] and from thence to within half a days journey to the Menissinck.

" Ye 7th Wednesday .- About eleven oclock I arrived att the Minissinck and there 1 met with two of their sachems and severall other Indians of whome I enquired after some news, if the French or their Indians had sent for them or been in ye Menissinck Country.

" Upon weh they answered that noe French nor any of the French In- . dians were nor had been in the Menissinck Country nor there abouts and did promise yt if yr French should happen to come or yt they heard of it that they will forthwith send a mesenger and give yr Excellency notice thereof.

"Inquireing further after news they told me that six days a goe three Christians and two Shanwans Indians who went about fifteen months a goe with Arnout Vielle into the Shanwans Country were passed by the Menissinck going for Albany to fetch powder for Arnout and his com- pany : and further told them that sd Arnout intended to be there wth seaveu lindred of ye said Shanwans Indians loaden wth beavor and pel- tries att ye time ye Indian corn is about one foot high (which may be in the month of June).

"The Menissinck Sachems further sd that one of their Sacheme and other of their Indians were gone to fetch beavor and peltries which they had hunted ; and having no news of them are afraid yt ye Sinneques have killed them for ye lucar of the beavor or because ye Minissinck Indians bave not been with ye Sinneques as usual to pay their Dutty, and there- fore desier yt your excellency will be pleased to order yt the Siuneques may be told not to molest or hurt ye Minissinck they be willing to con- tinne 10 amity with them.

" In the afternoon I departed from ye Menissincks; the 8th, 9th and 10th of Feb I travilled and came att Bergen in ye morning and about noone arrived att New Yorke.

" This may it please your Excell : the humble reporte of your Excel- lency's most humble servt, ARENT SCHUYLEN."

II .- NATURAL FEATURES.

The topography of this town is marked and pecu- liar. In the eastern portion is the broad valley of the Neversink, extending almost in a straight course from northeast to southwest. Along this valley the early settlers, attracted by the fertility of the soil, made their first openings in the forest. Not far from the Nev- ersink River, and nearly parallel to it, the hand of art has supplemented nature by that great enterprise, the Delaware and Hudson Canal.

The only tributaries of the Neversink from the east, with one exception, are unimportant rivulets flowing down from the slopes of the Shawangunk Mountains.

Several similar rivulets also unite at various points from the west. One of greater importance, the Old Dam Kill, flows into the Neversink at Huguenot. This is formed of two branches, which drain a large portion

of the centre of this town and afford valuable water- power. Basha's Kill, the largest tributary from the east, skirts the base of a high range of hills in the northeast part of the town, and unites with the Nev- ersink east of Cuddebackville.

On the southwest the Delaware River divides the town from the State of Pennsylvania, and on the west the Mongaup, a branch of the Delaware, forms the boundary line between Deerpark and Sullivan County. One tributary of the Mongaup drains the Quarry Hill district; upon this are the Bushkill Falls. A branch of the Delaware, uniting at Bolton Basin, drains a large portion of the higher central part of the town. Through the Honesville district there is another small tributary of the Delaware which rises in the Highlands near Huguenot. Big Pond is abont one mile long and half a mile wide. Its outlet is known as Shingle Kill. Little Pond is about one- fourth of a mile in diameter. Its outlet is Old Dam Brook, so called from an ancient dam. The Grassy Swamp is an extensive tract in the western angle of the town, lying between Sullivan County and the Mongaup River. It is low and wet, overgrown with long, coarse grass. The stream passing through it is known as Grassy Swamp Brook.

The surface of the town may be described in general terms as a mountainous upland, broken by the nu- merous streams, many of which flow through deep, rocky ravines. The higher lands of the central and west portions end with steep declivities along the Delaware River. Near Port Jervis, Mount William and Point Peter form attractive features of the land- scape.

The name Basha's Kill is said to be derived from an Indian squaw-sachem (a specimen of woman's rights) who lived on the banks of the stream near Westbrookville. Her name is reported in tradition as Basha Bashiba, and she is said to have been very friendly to the whites, all of which may be accepted as a safe explanation until a better one appears.t The valleys are distinguished as follows : the Mamakating Valley lies along Basha's Kill; the Neversink flows through the Suckapack Valley to its junction with Basha's Kill; below the junction is the Neversink Valley proper, generally called Peenpack in the early annals, and extends from the junction to the mouth of the Neversink at Carpenter's Point.

III .- EARLY SETTLEMENT.

It has already been shown in the General History that Wm. Tietsort (said to be the same name as the one now written Titsworth ) fled from Schenectady at the capture of that town in 1689 by the Indians; that he barely escaped with his life and came to Esopus; that very soon he went to the Minisink country, where, after residing several years upon a tract of land, he ob- tained in 1698 the right to purchase; that he did so

* It is not certain that he was in the Neversink Valley above Carpen- ter's Point. His route "Northwest" makes it, however, probable that he went through the pass at Otisville or further south, near Carpenter's Point.

+ Ante, p. 40.

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purchase ; that his title, afterwards disputed, was con- firmed, and was one of the exceptions to the Minisink Patent. He afterwards sold to John Decker, and it is believed that further investigation will show that his location was the present Benjamin Van Vleet place, near Port Jervis.

Early settlements within the present limits of this town were also made at Peenpack, and on the south- erly portion of that long and narrow valley of par- tially alluvial land known as Mamakating Hollow.

Some of the original settlers came from the settle- ments of the Dutch on the Hudson, at Kingston and its vicinity. Following the flat lands on the banks of the streams to the southward, they wandered along the valley just mentioned to the Delaware River. These tenants of the valley took possession, and occu- pied such portions of the country as suited their tastes, regardless of the real ownership.

In the year 1697 a patent was granted to Arent Schuyler for "A certain tract of land in the Minisink country, in the province of New York, called by the native Indians Sankhekeneck, otherwise Mayhawaem ; also another tract, called Warinsayskmeck, situated upon a river called Mennessincks, before a certain island called Menagnock, which tract is adjacent or near to a tract of land called Maghaghkemek, con- taining the quantity of one thousand acres and no more."

In the same year another patent was granted to Jacob Codebec, Thomas Swartwout, Anthony Swart- wout, Bernardus Swartwout, Jan Tys, Peter Gimar, and David Jamison, and included " a certain quantity of land at a place called Maghaghkemek, being the quantity of one thousand two hundred acres; begin- ning at the western bounds of the lands called Nepe- neck, to a small run of water called by the Indian name Assawaghkemeck, and so along said run of water and the lands of Mansjoor the Indian."

The lands included in the two patents are situated in the valley of the Peenpack. It will be perceived that they are described in such a loose and imperfect manner as to make it impossible to fix any particular location for either of them, and the patentees seem to have considered them as "floating" patents, under which they were authorized to take possession of any nnappropriated lands in any part of the valley. In- deed, in after-years, when it was necessary to make a partition of the Minisink Patent,-within the general bounds of which these two patents were included, but in which they were expressly excepted, -- the commis- sioners appointed to make the partition found great difficulty in making a location of them. With respect to the patent to Codebec and others, they remark that "it contains no particular boundaries, but ap- pears rather to be a description of a certain tract of country in which the 1200 acres were to be taken up at the election of the parties, which clection having been made many years ago, and being evidenced by the actual possession of the parties, consists of five

distinct small tracts." These five tracts lie along the Neversink River and the Basha's Kill, from near the Delaware River to within the bounds of the county of Sullivan, about the distance of eleven miles.

Of the seven patentees above named, Codebec and Gimar were Frenchmen, and according to a certifi- cate then in the' possession of Gimar, in the French language, they were in that country in the year 1685, in April, being abont twenty years old. On leaving France they proceeded to England or Holland, where they remained a short time, and were to be supplied with funds within a certain period by their friends at home, and in the receipt of which they were disap- pointed. They then embarked for America, and landed somewhere in the State of Maryland. By this time their money was spent, and they were compelled to support themselves by manual labor,-a condition of things to which they had not been accustomed ; yet with that sprightliness of character and spirit of accommoda- tion which cheerfully hends to every condition of things, these individuals yielded with their usual grace to the necessity of the case. Their stay in Maryland was short, and they then emigrated to the State of New York, and either in the city, or in one of the counties on the east side of the Hudson, both connected themselves in marriage with the Swartwout family. These marriages doubtless led to the after- intimacy and association of these persons, and was the reason of their co-settlement in the county.

The Swartwouts were large men, of great bodily strength and courage, and well calculated to be pio- neers in the settlement of a new country densely covered with woods and infested by the natives and ferocious wild animals.

These seven men are said to have come to this town in 1690,* but did not procure the patent of 1200 acres previously mentioned till the 14th of October, 1697. Tys and Jamison must have died soon after the loca- tion of the patent or emigrated elsewhere, for in the future history of this settlement we neither find them mentioned, nor any others of that name till long after the period we are speaking. of. Within a few years after the settlement the patent fell into the hands of Peter Gumaer, Jacob Cuddeback, one of the Swart- wouts, and Hermanus Van Inwegen, as the names are now written and as they will hereafter be given in the history of the town.

The land covered by the patent laid along the Neversink River and Basha's Kill, at and below their junction, and was very fertile. The grass which grew upon these river flats was coarse, and from four to six feet high, and called in Dutch reet grass. The flats are now much altered from what they were, being cut up by channels by the action of the river, and grown over with woods.

At this time the nearest settlement was in Mama- kating Hollow, some twenty-five or thirty miles north,

* On the authority of the Gumaer manuscript; but Arent Schuyler makes no mention of white people in 1694.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

and about half-way to Esopus. Soon after these in- , the first half-century the coarse grains were not cash dividuals settled on the patent others came in and , articles, being used principally to feed cattle and located in the town, among whom were Peter Cuyken- dall, John Decker, William Cole, Solomon Davis, and a few others. In the nature of things, it is a laborious business to settle a new country, and this county was eminently so because it was wholly covered with large timber. The difficulties encountered by our Western immigrants at this day, owing to the nature of soil and timber, are not to be compared with those encountered in the settlement of this State. Here everything had to be done,-there was nothing ready or partially fitted to the hands of the settlers. Unless they brought implements with then from Europe they had to manufacture them, for they could not be purchased everywhere as now.

The plows of that day and those used at this locality were complicated in structure; they were nearly out of use in 1775, and may be thus described: the forward end of the beam rested on an axle-tree between a large and small wheel .* The large wheel ran in the furrow, and the small one on the unbroken sod, which made the axle horizontal.

Wheat and rye were cut by means of a knife or of the last generation saw their remains, except the cutter about two feet long, fastened to a wooden ground and stones which composed a part of the dam of one of theni. One of them was at the northwest side of the road, three-fourths of a mile northeast of Port Jervis; the other lower down on the brook. Jacob R. DeWitt built a mill about the year 1770 on the Neversink River, near Cuddebackville, which continued to grind till sold to the Canal Company. handle, and similar to a hemp-hook, and then gath- cred up into sheaves with a small hook fastened also to a wood handle. With these two instruments, one man at the same time cut down and gathered it up. This was the universal practice at this settlement, and it continued till about 1760, when scythes and cradles began to be used. Cattle were housed as well as There was also an old mill erected by Solomon Davis,-the site in later years was occupied by one owned by Mr. Thomas Van Etten,-and another by Simon Westfall, the site of which was subsequently occupied by Mr. Bennet's mill. There was still an- horses, and all fed on grain and straw, during the winter. Though threshing was done with the flail, much of it was trampled out by horses. The grain was cleaned by a large hand-fan made of willow rods. The first fanning-mill was brought into this part of | other old mill near Butler's Falls. the country by Peter Gumaer about 1750 or 1760.

The first wagons used here were made principally of wood. The wheels were not hooped with iron ; the felloes were thick, and drove full of wood pins to make them durable. Sleds were shod with wood. The harness was manufactured of flax and tow, the collars and neck-straps wove of rope yarn, doubled and twisted, which the men of the family manufac- tured during the long winter evenings. The women were pleasantly employed around the large family hearth in spinning and reeling yarn.

The first settlers carried their wheat to Esopus to sell-a distance of fifty or sixty miles-over a road a great part of which must have been in very bad order, only about twenty miles of which were worked by the inhabitants of this settlement.+ Such was one of the disadvantages under which these early settlers labored ; but by industriously working their produc- tive lands they surmounted them all, lived as well and grew as wealthy as the farmers of this day. For

fatten the hogs. Corn, prepared in various ways, was used with milk for the morning and evening meal before tea and coffee came into general use, which was little before 1800 in that locality. Tea was first intro- duced here about 1760 or 1770, probably soon after the French war, for when the Revolution cut off the supply the inhabitants thought it very hard to be de- prived of its use. Wheat was the great crop, and the first attempt to grind it was made by Jacob Codebeck with a very small mill. One of the stones with which the experiment was made-about two feet in diameter and three inches thick-is still to be seen in the cellar of Peter E. Gumaer, of this town, near where the ancient mill stood. It was erected on a spring brook near his house, but how it answered the purpose is not now known. Though uninformed of the date of this crection, it must have been the first of the kind in this county. There were two other grist-mills erected in this vicinity, on what was called " Old Dam Brook," one at and the other below the outlet of a swamp and bog meadow,-so long since that no one

Judging from the sawed materials in old buildings, saw-mills must have been in very early use in this neighborhood. One is known to have been erected about 1760 or 1770.

The first grist-mills performed the operation of grinding only. The bolting was performed by hand- sifting, before the flour was converted into bread. This process took out the coarse bran, and every family kept a sieve for the purpose. This flour made the real healthy Graham brown bread.

It is proper to mention at this point that there are traditions of still earlier settlement which deserve notice, and which seem to rest mostly upon letters written by Samuel Preston, of Stockport, Pa., in 1828. Mr. Preston had been employed in his youth as a sur- veyor, and soon after the close of the Revolution ex- ecuted an engagement in Northampton Co., Pa. In his account of the work and the region of country, he states that he received from John Lukens, sur- veyor-general of Pennsylvania, an account of the early settlement. The recollections of Lukens ex- tended back to 1730, when, as an apprentice, he had

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History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 172

Author: Ruttenber, Edward Manning, 1825-1907, comp; Clark, L. H. (Lewis H.) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1336

Author: Ruttenber, Edward Manning, 1825-1907, comp; Clark, L. H. (Lewis H.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1336