History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 60

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 60

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Mr. Cromwell has been a life-loug member of the Society of Friends at Cornwall. He has led a quiet and retired life, and walked in the bumble paths of existence, performing life's varied duties in a faithful manner, and resting content with the reflection that he was fulfilling all the purposes of Provi- dence in a maoly, Christian spirit. He has not participated ac- tively in public affairs, although he has regularly cast his vote at elections. By a life of integrity and honorablo dealing he has merited the confidence and respect of many friends.

Mr. Cromwell's first wife died in 1861, leaving four children, viz. : Walter, born Nov. 4, 1827, residing in California ; James, born March 24, 1829, liviug at Bedford, Westchester Co .; Oliver, born July 24, 1831, residing in New Windsor; and David, born May 25, 1838, who is the county treasurer of Westchester County, at White Plains. On June 25, 1863, Mr. Cromwell was united to his present wife, Elizabeth, daugh- tor of Charles and Ann (Conklin) Cox, of the town of New- burgh.

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Melissa, daughter of James and Mary (Chandler) Gregg, of Bethlehem, Orange Co., to whom he was united Nov. 22, 1832, and who died, leaving no chil- dren, on March 12, 1833. His widow was Currence B., daughter of Samuel and Bethiah (Reeder) Mof- fatt, of Blooming-Grove, whom he married on Nov. 11, 1835. She was born Oct. 8, 1815. The children

are Sarah Frances; Melissa, wife of Thomas H. Moffatt, of New York City ; Josephine; Stephen M., living in Newburgh ; Isaac J., residing at Washing- tonville; Anna B., wife of Andrew Weyant, of Orange County ; Austin C., farming the homestead property ; and Emma L. Bull. Three daughters and a son reside at home.

NEWBURGH.

I .- GENERAL.

THE territory embraced in the town and city of Newburgh was a part of the lands purchased from the Indians by Governor Dongan in 1684, and subse- quently conveyed by patent to Capt. Jolin Evans in 1694, After the annulment of this patent in 1699, the entire district was conveyed by patent in small tracts, at different periods from 1703 to 1775, of which small tracts ten were included in the precinct of New- burgh as it was constituted in 1772, viz. : No. 1, German Patent, 2190 acres, issued Dec. 18, 1719; No. 2, Alexander Baird and Company, 6000 acres, Feb. 28, 1719; No. 3, Jacobus Kip and Company, 7000 acres, Oct. 17, 1720; No. 4, Richard Bradley and William Jamison, 1800 acres, May 27, 1729; No. 5, James Wal- lace, 2000 acres, Jan. 25, 1732 ; No. 6, Bradley children, 817 acres, March 26, 1739; No. 7, Francis Harrison and Company, 5600 acres, July 10, 1714; No. 8, John Spratt and Com- pany, 1000 acres, April 12, 1728; No. 9, Mel- chior Gulch, 300 acres, Oct. 8, 1719; No. 10, Peter Johnson, 300 aeres, Oct. 8, 1719.

SETTLEMENT OF THE GERMAN PATENT,

The first in order of settlement were the German Patent (No. 1), covering the present city of Newburgh and a portion of the town of Newburgh lying immediately north, in- cluding Balmville, and the patents to Melchior Gulch (No. 9) and Peter Johnson or Jansen (No. 10), near Middlehope. These settlements were composed of immigrants from the Palatinate of the Rhine, whose prior history may be briefly stated :

They were fugitives from the Lower Palatinate of the Rhine who found their way to England in the early part of 1708, and who, immediately after their arrival, petitioned the government to be transported to -ome plantation in America. On the 28th of April following the Board of Trade and Plantations re- ported that the petitioners were forty-one in number, viz. : ten men, ten women, and twenty-one children;

that "they were very necessitous and in the utmost want, not having anything to subsist themselves ;" that they had "been reduced to this miserable condition by the ravages committed by the French in the Lower Palatinate, when they lost all they had;" that they had " produced testimonials from the principal magis- trates in the villages where they dwelt," which testi- inonials had been examined by the board and found that they gave " good character" to the petitioners ;

19:10

DIAGRAM OF PATENTS.

that, in view of the facts stated, " they be sent to set- tle upon Hudson's River in the province of New York, where they" might become useful to the government, " particularly in the production of naval stores and as a frontier against the French and their Indians ;" that they be supplied with tools and agricultural im- plements, and provision made for their support until they could "reap the fruit of their labor," and that, prior to their "departure, they be made denizens of the kingdom, for their greater encouragement in the en- joyment of the privileges accruing by such letters of denization."

On the 10th of August, 1708, Secretary Boyle

NEWBURGHI FROM THE NORTHEAST.

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writes : " The Queen being graciously pleased to send fifty-two* German Protestants to New York, and to settle them there at her own expense, her majesty, as a further act of charity, is willing also to provide for the subsistence of Joshua de Kockerthal, their min- ister, and it is her pleasure that you pass a grant to him of a reasonable portion of land for a glebe, not exceeding five hundred acres, with liberty to sell a suit- able proportion thereof for his better maintenance."

Letters of denization were issued to the immigrants (August 25th ), and under a guaranty of 9d. a day per head for twelve months for their support, and a grant of land on which to settle, they sailed for the New World, enrolled as " The above-mentioned clergyman, Joshua Kockerthal, Sibylle Charlotte his wite, and Christian Joshua, Benigna Sibylle, and Susanna Si- bylle, their children ; also Lourentz Schwisser, hus- bandman, Anna Catharine his wife, and Johannes their son; Heinrich Rennau, stocking-maker and husbandman, Johanna his wife, Lourentz and Hein- rich, their sons, and Susanna and Maria Johanna Liboschain, sisters-in-law ; Andries Volck, husband- man, Anna Catharine his wife, Heironemus, Maria Barbara, and Anna Gertrude, their children ; Michael Weigand, husbandman, Anna Catharine his wife, Tobias, George, and Anna Maria, their children ; Ja- cob Webber, husbandman, Anna Elizabeth his wife, and Eve Maria and Eve Elizabeth, their children, Johannes Jacob Plettel, husbandman, Anna Elizabeth his wife, and Margaret, Anna Sarah, and Catharine, their children ; Johannes Fischer, smith and husband- man, Maria Barbara his wife, and Andries his son ; Melchior Gulch, carpenter and joiner, Anna Catharine his wife, and Heinrich and Margaret, their children ; Isaac Turck, husbandman ; Peter Rose, cloth-weaver, and Johanna his wife, Mary Wiernarm, husband- woman, his mother-in-law, and Catharine her child ; Isaac Feber, husbandman, Catharine his wife, and Abram their son; Daniel Fiere, husbandman, Anna his wife, and Andrew and Johannes, their sons; and Herman Schuneman, clerk."

Reaching New York in the winter, they were trans- ferred from thenee to the district then known as "Qnassaick Creek and Thanskamir."+ Of their pri- vate history we know nothing beyond the fact shown before the Commissioners of Trade, that they were men of good character, and the general fact that they had been stripped of their possessions by religious persecution ; that they were followers of the doctrines of Luther and members of the Lutheran Church, and

were knit together by common memories and a faith that had proved sufficient to sustain them amid the most severe trials and sacrifices. Unlike the pioneers in other localities, they brought nothing with them, and left behind no friends able to assist them. A scanty public stipend, too frequently withheld, was all that sustained the strong arms and willing hearts before which the dense forest yielded its sway, their humble cabins dotted the hillside, and a sanctuary in which to worship God arose.

Through the petitions which they sent in to the Council of New York, and through the records of their church which have been preserved, we are enabled, to some extent, to trace the progress of their settlement. On the 20th of May, 1709, they write that since the death of Lord Lovelace the provision for their support had not been complied with ; that they were in great want of the same, and without it woukl not be able to perfect their settlement on the lands assigned them, and that nineteen of their num- ber had changed their religion and turned Pietists, and withdrawn themselves from the Lutheran com- munion. The Council immediately granted them the supplies asked for ; and at the same time appointed a committee to examine into the difficulties in their church. The latter were satisfactorily arranged ; and at the request of the Council, Col. Thomas Wenham engaged to provide them "a needful and necessary support until the expiration of twelve months."

Soon after this (June 29th) their minister, Joshua Kocherthal, asked to be transported to London, in order to more speedily and satisfactorily arrange what had been done in favor of the company; but his re- : quest does not appear to have been granted. In Oc- tober following, John Conrad Codweis, in behalf of the company, represented in a petition that a large portion of the allowance granted for its support re- mained due, and that unless it should be provided they must perish during the winter. Thereupon the Council (October 10th) ordered the advance of sup- plies, the company giving " their personal security for the repayment thereof in case it be not paid in England in a year." In other words, the colonial au- thorities were not disposed to assume the expenditure, trifling though it was, of "9d. a day per head" in- volved in the agreement which had been made by the home government with the immigrants for their sup- port without definite instructions from the Commis- sioners of Trade and Plantations. The authority required was soon transmitted to the Council, and the payment made, including a special allowance to Joshua Kockerthal of $20 a year. In the spring of 1710 tools and building materials were distributed to them ; also smith tools; iron and steel for horse-shoes, nails, and mending tools ; medicines, books and paper, agri- cultural implements, and horses, cows, and pigs .;

* Original unmber increased ly subsequent arrivals.

+ The precise date of their settlement is not known, but it is shown by a petition of William Chambers, of date May 9, 1709, for lands immedi- ately south of Quassaick Creek, that they were here at that time, the tract which he wished to obtain being described as bounded north " by the widow Plettel and Quassaick Creek." The Widow I'lettel's friends had evidently erected a cabin tor her on lands adjoining the creek on the north. She afterwards married George Lockstead, and the lot on which she had first located was granted to her second linsband, herself, und her children.

*" Joshna Kockerthal-1 barrel of Lime, 3 Gouches, 2 formers, 1 Grind- ingstone, 1 square, 1 rule, 1 compass, and several pieces more. Hermanus

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

The patent which had been promised to the immni- grants for the tract on which they had been located was not immediately granted. On their petition in 1713, Governor Hunter issued to Augustus Graham, surveyor-general of the province, a warrant directing him to "survey and lay out for the Germans at Quas- saick Creek, in the county of Ulster, such quantity of land as is by them petitioned for and approved of in council," and further requiring that he should "sur- vey for each of them his quantity distinctly." A sur- vey was made under this order, on the 13th of April, 1714, but was not satisfactory, the immigrants repre- senting in petition that, the land being "all upland," they were not able to obtain subsistence for them- selves and families "for want of some meadow land for fodder for their cattle in winter." So the matter stood until 1718, when Kockerthal, in behalf of him- self and associates, recited in petition that the survey had been made, the lands being described as "a tract on the west side of Iludson's River, in the county of Ulster, beginning on the north side of Quassaick Creek, and extending northerly up the Hudson River on a straight line 219 chains, and into the woods on that side 100 chains, containing 2190 acres;" which said tract had been " divided into nine lots, the which are numbered from 1 to 9, each lot containing a suit- able quantity for each family to which they are appro- priated, there being allowed for each head 50 acres, and 500 acres for a Glebe." Some changes were asked by the grantees. He desired that the farm assigned to him be added to the north side of the Glebe, and the same quantity given to him on the south side. This was granted; but the application to omit from the patents conveyance to "the wives and children" of the patentees was not conceded.

Before the final allotment came some changes also occurred in the original company. Johannes Jacob Plettel died on his passage to America or soon after his arrival, and his widow had married George Lock- stead; Joshına Kockerthal had also died ; Peter Rose had removed to Pennsylvania and transferred his in-

Schoneman-2 Ilandsaws, 1 great saw, 3 Gouches, 2 Agors, and several pieces more. John Fischer-1 Tenant Saw, 1 Gimlet, 1 Hammer, i small file, 1 hatchet, 1 Joynter, besides several pieces tore. Michael Weigand- 1 great file, 1 smaller ditto, 1 mortising chisel, 1 Joyuter, I Agor, besides several pieces more. Andries Volck-1 Cross Cut Saw, I smoothing plain, 1 wiping saw, another sett of Gouches, besides several pieces more. The widow Plettel-1 wiping saw, I great hammer, 1 gimlet, 1 Tenant saw, besides several pieces more. l'eter Rose-1 Glupott, 4 Whimplingpelts, 1 hatchet, I little hammer, 2 Agors, 1 Joyntor, besides several pieces more. Jacob Weber-1 box with white lead, Knife and Compass, 1 addz, 2 Gouches, I mortising chisel, besides several pieces more. Isaac Turck -1 Glupott, I box with white lead, Knife and Compass, I saw-file, 3 Guuches, 1 fore plain, besides several pieces more. Lorenz Schwisser-] grinding stone, I square, 1 little gimlet, 2 Agors, 1 smoothing plain, be- sides several pieces more. Henry Renoau-1 Cross Cut Saw, 1 Miter- block, I addz, 2 Agors, I Gimlet, besides several pieces more. The Widow Wiernarm-Another sort of Smoothing plain, 1 little file, 1 hatchet, besides several pieces more. Isaac Feber-1 Broad axe, I little batchet, I smoothing file, 1 rule, I former, besidee several pieces more. Daniel Fiere-1 Broad axe, 1 square, 1 Miter block, 1 Tenant saw, I Joyuter, besides several pieces more. Melchior Gulch-Three full setts of Joyner-Tools."

terest to "one Burger Meynders, a blacksmith," for some years previously a resident of Kingston ; Lou- rentz Schwisser, Isaac Turck, Isaac Feber, Heinrich Rennau, and Daniel Fiere had removed elsewhere, and Christian Henrieke and Peter Johnson had been added to the company. These changes were recog- nized by the government, and the patent was issued

GERMAN PATENT.

E, Western Avenue; G, Glebe Land; K, King's Ilighway.

Dec. 18, 1719: " Lot No. 1, to George Lockstead and Anna Elizabeth his wife, Margaret, Anna Sarah, and Catharine, their children, 250 acres; No. 2, to Michael Weigand and Anna Catharine his wife, To- bias, George, and Anna Maria, their children, 250 acres; No. 3, to Herman Schunemann and Elizabeth his wife, 100 acres ; No. 4, to Christian Henricke, 100 acres; No. 5, to Sibylle Charlotte Kockerthal, the widow of Joshua Kockerthal, and to Christian Joshua, Benigna Sibylle, and Susanna Sibylle, their children, 250 acres ; No. 6, to Burger Meynders, 100 acres ; No. 7, to Jacob Webber and Anna Elizabeth his wife, Eve Maria, and Eve Elizabeth, their children, 200 acres; No. 8, to Johannes Fischer and Maria Barbara his wife, 100 acres; No. 9, to Andries Volek and Anna Catharine his wife, George, Hieronemus, Maria Bar- bara, and Anna Gertrude, their children, 300 acres." To Melchior Gulch and Peter Johnson had previously been issued (Oct. 8, 1719) patents for 300 acres each, lying north of the principal tract. Forty acres were reserved for highways,* and 500 acres for a Glebe; and the whole tract was to be known and called " fhe Palatine Parish by Quassaick." The Glebe lot was assigned to Andries Volck and Jacob Webber, and

* The roads included in the forty acres reserved for that purpose are presumed to have been what is now known as Western Avenue and Lib- erty Street. Western Avenue fornied the northern boundary of lot No. 3, and the southern boundary of lot No. 4, and extended two chains in width from the river to the west bounds of the patent. Liberty Street, originally the " King's Highway," was opened prior to the issue of the patent; Western Avenue was not opened until nearly a century later. The settlers made other roads One rau from the river, froor a point in the vicinity of Second Street, up the hill in a sonthwesterly direction, along the bed of what is now part of Colden Street, to the corner of First ; thence to the corner of Grand and Western Avenues, and from thence toward Quassaick Creek, leaving the Cold Spring on the right. It was first called the " Wallkill Road," and subsequently " Wagon Street." It was the principal road to the river. The first dwellings were on the line of Liberty Street.

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their successors, for the use and behoof of the Lutheran minister and his successors forever,* for which pur- pose it was to be leased at a certain quit-rent, in whole or in parcels, for terms not longer than seven years, and was subject to the annual payment to the pro- vincial authorities of "one peppercorn," if the same should be legally demanded.t

From the church books of the Lutheran congrega- tion of New York, it appears that the successor of Joshua Kockerthat was Justus Falconier, who, it is said, was baptized "in the house of one of the trus- tees, the 19th April, 1710," and continued to serve the people at Quassaick "every year (i.e., by an annual visit) without any profit of the Glebe. He is deceased, 1723."

In the year 1733, Michael Christian Knoll was ap- | pointed minister at "Quassaick Creek, Weapon's (Wappinger's) Creek, and Hackensack." He served In the year 1725, William Christoffer Berkenmeyer arrived at New York, and entered upon the duties of pastor of the Lutheran Church there, and also filled the appointment of Falconier at Quassaick. Mean- while the two trustees of the Glebe, Andries Volck and Jacob Webber, had sold out their lands and re- moved to Pennsylvania, and their places had been supplied by Zacharias Hofman and Tobias Weigand, son of Michael Weigand, who, in 1727, entered into a written contract with the Consistory of the Lutheran congregation of New York, by the terms of which the congregation at Quassaick were received into the com- munion of the former body, they consenting " that the Lutheran minister of New York, at his going to and from Albany," should visit Quassaick parish twice in each year, for which service he should receive the yearly rents and profits of the Glebe. The contract in the parish of Qnassaick three times each year, re- ceiving thirty cheeples of wheat each year. It was during his administration that the Palatines erected the building remembered by many of the former gen- eration as the Glebe school-house, which stood in the burying-ground on Liberty Street. This was their church. The precise date of its erection cannot now be ascertained. It was a building of perhaps twenty feet square, with a roof running up from the four sides. In the centre of the roof a little cupola was erected in which hung the bell which had been loaned to the Lutherans of New York, the prior gift of Queen Anne. The building was without floor or chimney, an aperture in the roof, under the cupola, serving the latter purpose. In this building the people worshiped. In their poverty it was their palace, and not less acceptable to the Great Ruler continues as follows : " As we (the trustees named) do | than the costly edifices and gilded spires which men now dedicate to His service.

herewith call, constitute, and appoint Mr. William Christoffer Berkenmeyer, Lutheran minister at New York, for our lawful teacher of the parish of Quassa- ick, to minister to us twice a year, as well in preach- ing the holy scriptures, and the symbolical books of our Lutheran Church, as in administering the holy sacraments of Christ's institution, promising to pay him the income, etc., and acknowledging him as our teacher, as also whenever he lands upon our shore to receive him and bring him back on board the vessel.

Moreover, since hitherto we can make no use of the bell given to our parish, we therefore give the said bell, by oral permission of his excellency Governor Burnet, to the Lutheran Church of New York. How- ever, on this condition, if it should happen that we should be able to build a church of our own at any time thereafter, then the Lutheran Church of New York shall restore to us the same bell, such as it now is, or another of equal weight and value. Signed, sealed, etc., March 30, 1727." Mr. Berken- myer served until 1731, receiving thirty cheeples of wheat.#

While these events were transpiring, a considerable change occurred in the population of the settlement. The Palatines were mainly farmers, and in the places of their nativity had occupied lands of the richest and finest soil, and such they sought to obtain in the New World. The sterile hills of Quassaick offered them no such attraction, while those of their number who had found their way to Pennsylvania had realized their expectations, and pressed their former neigh- bors to remove thither. Under these influences the majority of tbem sold their farms. The first sale was by George Lockstead and Michael Weigand, of the whole of lot No. 1, and half of lot No. 2, to Nathan Smith,¿ from whom the western part of both lots was purchased by William Brown as attorney for Governor

* "To have and to hold the said Glebe of 500 acres of the same tract of land and premises nuto the aforesaid Andries Volck and Jacob Web- ber as first trustees, during their natural lives and their successors for- ever. But to and for the sole and only proper use, benefit, and behoof of a Lutheran minister to serve and bave the care of the inhabitants of the same 2190 acres of land, and their successors forever."

+ All patents were conditioned upon the annual payment of a quit- rent. This payment was sometimes due in money, and often in wheat or other commodity. "Twenty shillings and one fat buck per annum" was the rent of the Evans Patent. The rent of one peppercorn implied a free grant. The rentsof the larger patents produced an annual revenue to the government of considerable amount. After the Revolution the rents becuino due to the State. In 1786 it was provided that lands snb- ject to these rents might be released on the payment of arreurs, and fourteen shillings to every shilling of the annual dnes. Many titles in fee were obtained under this commutation; there were also many for- feitures and sales. The last sale took place in March, 1x2G, and all the old rents finally extinguished. The arrears for quit-rents, then amount- Jug to $53,380, were in 1819 taken from the general fund and given in equal proportions to the literature and school fnuds.

# The agreement quoted appears to have been the result of a misun- derstanding between Mr. Berkenmeyer and the Palatines, in 1726, con- cerning the produce of the Glebe lands, to which he considered himself entitled for his services, and which for some canse was withheld. Berk- enmeyer first laid his complaint before the Governor, expecting him to interfere in his behalf. The Governor, however, declined to act in the matter, and wrote him a letter pointing out his mode of relief, saying that the courts uf law were open to him where such cases were disposed of. The difficulty was settled by this contract.

¿ Nathan Smith was a blacksmith by trade, lle removed from Kings- ton and settled on the patent to William Chambers (New Windsor), from whence he came to the parish of Quassaick.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

William Burnet,* and sold by him to Alexander Col- which may be understood to mean "members of the English and Reformed Dutch Churches." Their ae- den, who subsequently sold to Jonathan Hasbrouck.+ The eastern part of lot No. 2 was sold by Michael Wei- ' quisition was most favorable to the growth of the gand to William Brown, for Governor Burnet, and to Burger Meynders. The former sold the southern ! half of the lot to Alexander Colden, by whom it was conveyed (1753) to Jonathan Hasbrouck. Meyn- ders occupied the northeastern part of the lot until 1753, when he also sold to Hasbrouck, who thus became the owner of the largest portion of lots No. 1 and No. 2. Lot No. 3 was sold by Herman Schuneman to James Alexander,# from whom it was purchased by Alexander Colden and Burger Meynders,¿ except two acres at the northeast corner reserved by Alexander. Meynders subsequently sold to Jonathan Hasbrouck, and Colden cut up a portion of his share into small parcels. Lot No. 4 was sold by Christian Henricke to William Brown, for Governor Burnet, from whom it was purchased by Cadwallader Colden for himself, Jacobus Bruyn, James Alexander, Phineas McIntosh,

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History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 60

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