History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 66

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 66

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* In the Autobiography of Rev. Dr. Johnston, a paper under the title of The Temple of Reason is mentioned (p. 94). The paper referred to was probably The Rights of Man, which was the only infidel paper published at that time.

t The Rev. Elihu Palmer was born at Norwich, Conn., about the year 1763, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1787. He was early settled as a minister of the gospel; but ho subsequently changed his faith to Universalism, and from that passed over to infidelity. In 1793 he was attacked by yellow fever, which left him entirely blind. Ile died at Philadelphia in 1805.

# Autobiography of Rev. John Johnston, D.D., p. 92, etc.

¿ The place referred to is said to have been a spring on the premises lately owned by Edward R. Johns, Esq., south of the iron-worke. It was destroyed by excavations.

|| "Fate of Infidelity," by Abner Cunningham, in which the author professes to reveal the fate of several of the leading Newburgh infidels The files of the village papers show that the statements which he makes are incorrect in many instances. " D. D.," says Cunningham, referring to David Denniston, " a printer, three days after, fell in a fit, and died immediately." This is not true, for Denniston edited The Rights of Man

270

HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK. ·

to the deaths of several of the participants in the scenes described. Mr. Donnelly stated that the Druids "first organized as a debating society, and were com- posed of the best men in the place. Many of the members became infidels after they had joined the society, and then changed the association into an in- fidel club," when a good many withdrew, including himself. He regarded it as "a great mistake to assert that all the members were bad men and came to vio- lent deaths." Mr. Schultz stated that Dr. Phineas Hedges, whose sudden death Dr. Johnston refers to, " it was always understood, died in a fit brought on by nervous excitement. The circumstances were these : I printed an article in my Gazette in which Dr. Hedges and the infidels were handled severely. The doctor was very much excited over it, and came down to New Windsor to ask the privilege of a reply. I told him that I must see his reply before I would agree to print it; but that if it was couched in proper terms, he might expect its publication. The next I heard was that the doctor had died in a fit. Some of the ardent anti-infidels said it was a visitation of God ; but this was not generally believed .* The discussions of that period will always be remembered by me ; and after a lapse of sixty years I have come to regard the acts of my contemporaries in a softer light than that in which I then looked upon them."

While these corrections are due to the memory of the dead, the files of The Rights of Man and of The Recorder of the Times-the first the advocate, and . burgh and Cocheeton Turnpike Road," with a capital the latter the opponent, of the doctrines taught in Paine's "Age of Reason"-give ample evidence of the violence of the discussion, and of the efforts made to overthrow all religious worship. According to a statement in The Recorder of the Times, these efforts gradually subsided after the close of the century.

III .- VILLAGE OF NEWBURGH.

At the opening of the present century the inhab- itants of the German Patent threw off the township titles into which it was principally divided, and, for the purpose of securing better municipal government, united in an application to the Legislature for an act to incorporate the village of Newburgh, a title which had been adopted in the aet of 1797, organizing the fire department. In response to the application, the Legislature passed, on the 25th of March, 1800, an act of incorporation, defining the bounds of the vil- lage and authorizing the election of trustees and other officers. The act further provided that the trustees should have power to make, ordain, and publish such by-laws, rules, and regulations as should be deemed

meet and proper, particularly in reference to public markets, streets, alleys, and highways; to abate slaughter-houses and nuisances generally ; to deter- mine the number of inns or taverns, and grant li- censes to the same; to restrain the running at large of geese, cattle, hogs, and other animals; to erect and regulate hay-seales; and to have general powers "relative to anything whatsoever" that should con- cern the "public and good government" of the vil- lage thereby created.t

The act took immediate effect, and on the first Tuesday in May after its passage seven trustees, three assessors, three fire-wardens, a collector, and a treas- urer were elected; and the board of trustees organ- ized under the presidency of John Anderson .; The immediate duties devolving upon them were compara- tively light, and beyond the erection of a public mar- ket and the leasing of the stalls, the partial grading of Water Street, and the adoption of a few general regulations, very little was done.

Immediately after the incorporation of the village, an act was passed (March 20, 1801) constituting and appointing Robert Browne, John DeWitt, William Seymour, Levi Dodge, Johannes Miller, Hugh Walsh, George Clinton, Jr., Jacob Powell, John McAuley, Charles Clinton, William W. Sackett, George Gard- ner, and all such others as should associate for that purpose, a body corporate and politic by the name of " The President, Directors, and Company of the New- of $126,000, for the construction of a road from New- burgh to the Delaware River .? The stock was soon taken and the road constructed. In its effect upon the prosperity of the village it was of far greater im- portance than that of municipal organization, opening as it did an avenue of trade extending for many miles into the interior, and connecting the southern tier of counties with the city of New York, ria Newburgh.|

Meanwhile the affairs of the Glebe demanded at- tention. The trustees under the charter were acting, in a measure, in defiance of its provisions by denying to the church any participation in the revenues, and by appropriating the whole income to the support of schools. To remove the legal disabilities under which the trustees labored, the Legislature passed, in 1803,

after this, and was subsequently connected with the American Citizen and Watch-Tower, a paper printed in New York. He died Dec. 13, 1803, of a malignant fever. Ile was a man of considerable ability.

* The Mirror of July 9th thus speaks of Dr. lledges: "In justice to his memory, it ought to be observed that he was a man possessed of a strong mind, and this mind highly improved and cultivated by the principles uf general science and the knowledge of the philosophy of nature."

Newburgh was the second incorporated village in the State. The village of Lansingburgh was the first.

# The records of the board from 1800 to 1804 have not been preserved ; but from published reports it appears that John Anderson was president from May, 1800, to 1802; Levi Dodge from May, 1802, to 1803; Jacob Powell from May, 1803, to 1804, when George Monell was elected.

¿ The arched bridge at Bridgeville, Sullivan Co., which was completed in 1807, bears the only monument to the directors of this road now re- maining on its line. In the parapet on the eastern abutment of this bridge a marble slab was inserted with the inscription: " Jacob Powell, President ; George Monell, Treasurer; William II. Weller, Secretary; Jonathan Hedges, Charles Clinton, Levi Dodge, Daniel Stringhanı, Jonathan Fisk, Cyprian Webster, Reuben Neely, Daniel C. Verplanck, lIamilton Morrison, David Crawford-Directors, 1807."-Quinlan's " Sulli- van County," 537.

[! This subject will be found more fully related in the general history of the county. See " Trade and Commerce."

271

NEWBURGHI.

" an act to alter and amend the charter of the Glebe lands in the German Patent, in the village of New- burgh," by the terms of which the inhabitants on the patent were empowered to elect, on the second Tues- day in May, annually, three persons to "officiate as trustees of the aforesaid Glebe." The act also or- dered that the moneys arising from the annual income should forever thereafter be appropriated solely to the support of schools; that $200 should be paid annu- ally to the trustees of the academy, and that the re- mainder of the income should be paid to other schools which were then, or should be thereafter, established on said Glebe: " Provided," that if at any time there- after " a minister of the Episcopal Church should be inducted on said patent," then the trustees should have power to " pay annually for the support of said minister" snch proportions of the moneys as should be "reasonable, according to the true intent and meaning of the charter." Under this act an election was held at the house of Edward Howell (May 10, 1803), when Daniel Smith, William H. Smith, and John Harris were chosen trustees.

Thus the matter remained until 1805, when the members of the Episcopal Church determined, if possible, to regain possession of the income of the Glebe, and to re-establish the provisions of the old charter. With a view to accomplish this the bishop appointed the Rev. Cave Jones agent for the church, and Messrs. Jonathan Fisk and Walter Case were employed as counsel. To allay public excitement a card was issued by the agent and the counsel for the church, in which they pledged themselves that in case the church should succeed in establishing her claim to the Glebe, the income therefrom should be appropriated, according to the true intent and mean- ing of the charter, for the support of a free school for the children of the poor residing on the patent; and that in renewing leases all things should be made "commodious and agreeable to the parties con- cerned."

To this card was appended a call for a meeting of the male inhabitants of the patent who were mem- bers of the Episcopal Church and entitled to vote at other elections, to be held at the old Episcopal Church building, on Monday, Nov. 4th, for the pur- pose of choosing " two Trustees of the Parish of New- burgh, according to the true intent and meaning of the charter granting the Glebe on the said Patent."

The meeting was held ; the votes offered by those who were not members of the Episcopal Church were rejected ; eleven votes only were received, and Jona- than Fisk and Joseph Hoffman were chosen trustees. They then proceeded to reorganize the church, by the election of wardens and vestrymen, so that it might be in a proper position to maintain its authority by an appeal to the courts.

For the purpose of determining the legality of the law of 1803, an action of ejectment was immediately brought by the church against Michael Nestle, who | legal proceedings were taken.

held a portion of the Glebe by virtue of a lease from the trustees elected pursuant to that act. The cause was tried Nov. 26, 1806, at the Orange Circuit Court, before Mr. Justice Tompkins, and the church was nonsuited. At the succeeding term, a motion was made to set aside the nonsuit, and argument was made before Justices Van Ness and Spencer. Mr. Fisk, on the part of the church, held that the orig- inal intention in granting the patent evidently was that members of the Episcopal Church alone should be permitted to vote at elections for trustees, and that to deny this position would be to defeat the intention of the charter. The act of 1803, he held, was void, as the Legislature had no power to divest the church of any rights vested by the charter in the original grantees of the Glebe. J. Radcliffe and T. A. Em- met, on the part of the trustees under the act of 1803, held that the original charter was to "German Luth- erans. On their removal from the tract, the remain- ing inhabitants, being of the Church of England or Episcopalians, met together, elected trustees, sur- rendered the original patent, and obtained a new charter to them and their successors. If none but persons of the same religious denomination with those named in the original grant had a right to vote, then the Episcopalians, in 1750, had no right to elect trustees ;" that there was as "much ground to object to the charter of 1752, under which the plain- tiff' claims, as to the act of 1803, under which the defendant holds; and that the Episcopalians, in 1750, acted in the same manner towards the Luther- ans as the Presbyterians, in 1803, acted towards the Episcopalians."

But while in the argument of counsel the case was made to depend entirely upon the question of the right of the inhabitants of the patent, irrespective of church membership, to vote at elections for trustees, the point raised was not decided by the court. In his opinion, Mr. Justice Van Ness avoided the issue presented, for the avowed purpose of leaving the matter open to a compromise ; but held that the trustees elected under the act of 1803 were the trustees de facto, and were hence clothed with competent authority to grant the lease to Nestle, and that a new trial ought to be de- nied.

Mr. Justice Spencer, however, met the question presented, and held that "right of election" was "ex- pressly given, by the charter, to all male inhabitants of the German Patent who were above the age of twenty-one years," and that, "the plaintiff having failed to show any title," the defendant could not be disturbed in his possession. Although not regarded as a decision on the merits of the case, these opinions destroyed all hope of re-establishing the jurisdiction of the church over the Glebe, and further proceed- ings were stayed .*

* The case may be found at length in 3 John. Rep., 115, No further

272

HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

The records of the trustees of the village contain many proofs that they were not neglectful of the du- ties devolved upon them by the charter. In 1804, a public meeting was called by them for the purpose of adopting a plan for supplying the village with water ; and during the same year a night-watch was organ- ized. In 1806, public hay-scales were erected, and several improvements made in the streets. Private enterprise, too, began to yield its fruits. Turnpikes were opened in different directions,* thus increasing the commercial facilities of the town; and the Bank of Newburgh was established in 1811. The results of these and kindred enterprises are forcibly illus- trated in the fact that, from the overwhelming in- debtedness, which rested like an incubus on the town at the close of the war of independence, in thirty years it had attained such a position of wealth that it paid one-fourth of the tax of the entire county.

But while the citizens of Newburgh were thus en- gaged in these various enterprises the cloud of war again darkened the national horizon-the

SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND

-so disastrous to trade in all its branches. Notwith- standing its embarrassments, however, they never wa- vered in their devotion to their country. From first to last, by resolutions passed in conventions, by the expression of their sentiments through the ballot-box, by the prompt offer of volunteers, and by the contri- bution of men to actual service, they evinced their un- flinching purpose to resist the "attacks of domestic enemies, and the insolent aggressions of foreign powers." Soon after the declaration of war the local military companies were ordered on duty and sta- tioned at Staten Island ;t and, at a later period, New- burgh was temporarily made the rendezvous of the companies of grenadiers, light infantry, aud riflemen of the Thirty-fourth Brigade.#

Among the many facts which showed the temper of the people of Newburgh during the war may be no- ticed the contribution of clothing, by the ladies of the village, to the volunteers in service on the northeru frontiers ;¿ the detestation expressed, on all public

* The Newburgh and Cochecton turnpike was organized in 1801. In 1808, the Newburgh and New Windsor turnpike was chartered, con- necting at New Windsor with turnpikes to Cornwall and Monroe. In 1810, the Newburgh and Sullivan turnpike penetrated the heart of the present county of Sullivan ; and in 1812, the Newburgh and Plattekill turnpike opened to the Newburgh market a rich agricultural eection of sonthern Ulster. (See " Trade and Commerce.")

t The company of artillery under the command of Capt. Henry But- terworth, and the uniform companies of light infantry under the com- mand of Capts, Alexander Denniston and Charles Birdsall, of this town, have been ordered by Ilis Excellency the Governor, to be in readiness to march to New York on the 15th inst."-Index, Ang. 11, 1812.

# "GENERAL ORDERS-Albauy, Sept. 1, 1813 .- The companies of Grena- diers, Light Infantry, and Riflemen of the 34th Brigade will rendezvous for service at Newburgh, on the 8th September inst., at ten o'clock in the foreoooo. . . . "

2 " NEWBURGH, Dec. 5, 1812 .- SIR : Accompanying this your Excel- Iency will find a package of two hundred and eighty woolen stockings and eighty mittene. They are forwarded to you by the ladies of this village, with the request that you will send to those of the volunteer

occasions, of those who sympathized with the common enemy, or who esteemed the blessings of peace para- mount to national honor ; | and the very spirited cele- bration of Perry's victory on Lake Erie. On the latter occasion the trustees of the village united with a committee of citizens, viz. : Solomon Sleight, Wil- liam Ross, Isaac Belknap, Jr., John S. Hunn, John Anderson, John Mandevill, Seth Belknap, John W. Morrell, Joseph Reeve, and Hezekiah Belknap. The national flag was displayed in all public places in the village and from the masts of the vessels lying in the harbor ; there was a public collation aud sundry pa- triotic toasts at the Newburgh Coffee-House, and a procession and a very general illumination in the evening. These arrangements were entered into heartily by all classes of citizens, and the exercises on the occasion were long held in remembrance."

But sadness as well as joy entered into the history of the town during the war. The embargo act de- tained in foreign ports many American vessels

corps now on duty on our northern frontiers whom your Excellency may suppose to be most in waot of them. The unremitting attention which has marked your Excellency's conduct since the declaration of war, towards the protection of our northern frontier and maritime coast, and your constant endeavor to alleviate the situation of our fellow-citizens who are in the military service, will; I hope, sufficiently apologize for troubling yon with the disposition of this small tribute of respect to those brave and patriotic defenders of their country's rights. With considera- tions of much respect and esteem,

"I am yours, sincerely, W. ROSS.

"Ilis Excellency, Gov. TOMPKINS."

[ One of the resolutions adopted in 1813 ie as follows: " Resolved, That we consider the Tories of the present war as having a much better title to the halter than the Tories of the Revolution, having had a longer time to get weaned from their unnatural mother."

" The Political Index of Sept. 30, 1813, contaius a lengthy account of this celebration. " Never," says that paper, "did such universal joy pervade the breasts of American citizens as has been manifested oo a recent occasion ; and bever has that joy been more distinctly, unequivo- cally, and universally expressed by the citizens of Newburgh and its vi- cinity than has been done on receiving the official letters announcing the late affair on Lake Erie. . . . On the arrival of the news, a Federal salute was fired from the U. S. corvette 'John Adams,' moored opposite the village, which vessel was decorated with the flags of different na- tions during the progress of the celebration. . . . At I o'clock p.M. the trustees, with upwards of one hundred citizens, partook of a collation et the Newburgh Coffee-House, after which, Joseph Morrell being chosen president and Solomon Sleight vice-president, toasts were drank, and & song written for the occasion by the editor of the Index was sung by Joseph Reeve. . . . At 7 o'clock P.M., at the signal of a caunon, all the windowe in the village were brilliantly illuminated : some were orna- mented with transparent paintings designative of the occasion, others inscribed with the names of our naval heroes, whose deeds are destined to illume the historic page : all of which had a handsome effect, and, connected with the occasion, fired the soul with a proud satisfaction of being an American, and made the conscious heart to swell with fore- bodings of the rising glory of America. A numerDue procession of citi- zens, headed by the band of music, uow marched tbrongh the principal streets of the village. At niue o'clock the lights were extinguished and the village enrobed in darkness."

A tradition connected with this celebration relates that the official news of Perry's victory was brought to Newburgh by the corvette " Jolin Adams," referred to by the Index, and that the vessel arrived in the bay on Sunday morning, and immediately fired a salute. The people, mauy of whom were in attendance upon divine service, were in great conster- mation and rusbed into the streets, fearful that an enemy's vessel had passed the Ilighlands and had commenced a bombardment of the village. Presently the " Adams" rad up the " Stars and Stripes," and sent a boat on shore with the newe, which was received with cheer after cheer. In the general joy the Sabbath was forgotten.

273

NEWBURGH.

manned more or less by Newburgh men, whose un- certain fate caused solicitude in no small circle of friends ; on the ocean American merchantmen were captured, and among their crews who languished in Dartmoor prison Newburgh also had its representa- tives ; mourning for his untimely fate and plaudits for his heroic example followed the announcement of the death of Lient. Ludlow, who, standing beside the gallant Lawrence on the deck of the " Chesapeake," fought the English ship "Shannon" (June, 1813), and who, twice wounded and a prisoner, followed the body of his commander to its grave in Halifax, and on his return fell from his chair a lifeless corpse.

GENERAL INCIDENTS.

The history of the village and of the town was marked by many incidents of more or less moment in a local and temporary point of view during the early part of the century; those which may be regarded as of historical significance, however, were few. Among the more important were the introduction of the Bap- tist and the Methodist Churches, the reorganization of the Episcopal Church, the establishment of the theological seminary, and the visit to the village by Lafayette. The latter event was the occasion of pub- lic exercises in which the people of a large district of country participated. A meeting was held at the Orange Hotel on Aug. 17, 1824, and a committee of ar- rangements appointed, composed of the "members of the corporation of the village of Newburgh, together with William Ross, Selah Reeve, John D. Lawson, Ward M. Gazłay, John S. Hunn, Francis Crawford, David Ruggles, Samuel Williams, John W. Brown, Abraham M. Smith, Isaac N. Seymour, Walter Case, Samuel R. Betts, Leonard Smith, Daniel Smith, Levi Dodge, John Mandevill, Luther Halsey, Edmund Griswold, Thurston Wood, Joseph Morrell, William Belknap, Jolın Belknap, Eleazer Gidney, John P. Dodge, and Jonathan Noyes." From this committee a delegation was sent to New York to consult the general, and, in pursuance of arrangements for that purpose, beacon-fires* on the mountains, on the even- ing of Sept. 13th, announced that the visit would be made the next day. The streets were decorated with arches and evergreens and strewn with flowers; in- scriptions suspended, and the village crowded to its utmost capacity with people ; four companies of cav- alry and five companies of infantry (under command of Col. John W. Brown) performed escort duty. The general arrived about six o'clock in the evening on the 14th, and was escorted to the Orange Ilotel, where the addresses of welcome were delivered. At about 9 p.M. he attended a banquet by his Masonic breth- ren of Hiram Lodge, where he was received with Masonic honors and was addressed by the Rev. John Brown. Supper was served at 12 M., and 2 A.M. the

* The pyres of which these fires were made were thirty feet high, and their appearance is described as Vesuvian-" reflected from shore to shore in the still waters of the Hudson in two long trembling columns."

general took his departure for Poughkeepsie.} The lateness of the hour of his arrival and the shortness of the time of his remaining prevented the more ex- tended demonstrations which had been designed.

Perhaps no local event, however, aroused so much local attention as the organization of the Highland Bank. At that time (1832-34) banks were chartered by the Legislature, and were regarded as part of the legitimate spoils of political parties,-charters being given to members of the party in power, who in turn apportioned the stock among their associates. The charter of the Highland Bank was measurably with- in the limits of this rule, although the petitions for it were based on an apparent local necessity for addi- tional banking capital. The Bank of Newburgh, established twenty years before, and, with the excep- tion of the Bank of Orange County. at Goshen, the only bank in the district, enjoyed a monopoly of the banking business of a large section of country. Its stockholders were naturally opposed to an encroach- ment on the privileges which had been granted to them, and did not hesitate to remonstrate,-assuming that it was amply able to supply all the legitimate commercial discounts that were required, that no further banking capital was necessary, and that the "sole object of many of the petitioners was to obtain directorships."# But the petitioners were active, and sent from Newburgh, Glenham, Matteawan, Walden, Cornwall, and Monroe a formidable list of advocates. The bill was vigorously fought in the Legislature,- passed the Assembly and was defeated in the Senate (April, 1833). At the succeeding session the appli- cation was renewed by the petition of two thousand persons. In the mean time the granting of the char- ter was made a question in the choice of members of the Assembly. The Democratic and the " National Republicans"? were then the parties of the day ; but the introduction of the question of rechartering the Bank of the United States changed the political associations of many, among others that of Isaac R. Van Duzer, a rising and somewhat distinguished politician of the county. After having been twice returned to the Assembly, he was dropped by the Democrats and immediately taken up by the opposi- tion.| A close canvass succeeded. The town of Minisink, which had given Jackson 417 majority, followed Van Duzer's lead and gave him 426. New- burgh, on the other hand, which had only given Jack- son a small majority, cast 686 votes for Gilbert O. Fowler and the Democratic ticket, and only 260 for Van Duzer,-a result which was due almost entirely to the Highland Bank question, and which secured the return to the Legislature of Gen. Fowler, its prin- cipal advocate. With a shrewdness quite common in

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History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 66

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