History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 8

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 8

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The Shawangunk range is less broken than the Highlands. It continues, with but slight breaks, from near Carpenter's Point on the Delaware to the Sullivan and Ulster line, and forms the boundary line between Deerpark and the towns of Greenville and Mount Hope, those being the only towns of the county touched by the range. The eastern slope is singularly uniform, and is adapted to cultivation to the summit ; the western is broken and precipitous, presenting peaks fourteen and eighteen hundred feet above tide. Few inland landscapes are more beautiful than the former. Approached from the east, the eye rests upon fields of grain and grass, upturned furrows, the verdure of waving trees, and the homes of thrifty husband- men, spread out from vale to erest, from south to the far north, in unwearying panoramic beauty,-a patch- work of gold and green, of brown and gray, of white and red,-

" As though all tints Of gem, of bird, of flower, of cloud, of sky, Had met and blended in a general glow !"

The name by which the range is known does not strictly belong to it. In the Indian deed to Governor Dongan, and in the subsequent patent to Capt. John Evans, its principal divisions are given respectively the names Pitkiskaker and Aiaskawasting. On Sau- thier's map the same divisions are called Alaskayering and Shawangunk. Many interpretations of the latter have been made. In Mather's "Geology of New York" the signification is given as "the place of the white rocks;" the late distinguished Algonquin linguist, Henry R. Schoolcraft, renders it, "sonth mountain ;" the Rev. Charles Scott, taking Shawangun as the original, "south water;" another from jewan, "swift current, or strong stream ;" another from shong, " mink river ;"* and another, from checgaugong, " the place of leeks." The error in all these cases, probably, is in regarding the term as descriptive of a specific place or physical attribute rather than as a generic phrase. All writers who have examined the subject are aware that Indian geographical terms are of two classes : general or generic, and specific or local, and are so com- pounded as to present in a single expression a complex idea, or several ideas among which there is a natural connection. In specific names the combination may be simple, as Coxsackie,-co, object, and acke, land ; in others intricate, as Maghaghkemek, in which acke, land, is buried in consonants and qualifying terms. The terminal of a word materially aids but does not govern its translation. Uk or unk indicates " place

* " Shongham" is the local Dutch, and is adopted in Silliman's Journal.

HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

of" in a specific sense, as in Mohunk ; ong, " place of" in a more general sense, as in Warranawonkong, the place or territory of the clan of that name ; ik, ick, eck, or uk denotes rocks or stones ; aek or aeke, land ; ing or ink, something in which numbers are presented, as " the place of birds ;" ais, oes, os, aus, denote a single small object or place, as Minnisais, a small island,-a number of islands, Minnising or ink ; ish, eesh, oosh, or sh indicates a bad or faulty quality ; co is object ; at, at or near. In some cases these root terms are thrown into the body of the word, as in Maghagke- mek, Alaskawasting, etc. General terms have no positive reference to the physiology of the districts of country to which they are applied. Wawayanda is of this class," and also the term or phrase we are con- sidering, which is preserved in two forms: the Dutch Shawangunk, and the English Chawangong,-the first in translated records of the Esopus war (1663), and the second in English deeds twenty years later but practically contemporaneous with the first. The latter is known to be correctly written; the former may perhaps correspond with the accepted modern orthog- raphy rather than with the original Dutch. While regarding Chawangong as the most pleasant, and while as a rule the English rendering of all Algonquin terms is the most correct, the only material difference in this case is in the terminal ; the one indicating a specific place, the other, place or territory in a general sense. In the connection in which they are used we may, however, accept them, and also Shawan, Chawan, and Shuwun, as equivalent terms varied by dialect, and so accepting them the interpretation is as plain as that of any word in the English language, viz. : " the place or territory of the white man." This in- terpretation and no other harmonizes with historical facts. In no case does it appear that the term was used or known to the Dutch until after they had con- quered the district, which then became, under Indian law, the place or territory of the conquerors,-liter- ally, "the place of the white man." In the treaty of peace (1663) and in its subsequent renewal (1665), this recognition is distinctly made. In the latter in- strument the boundaries of the conquered territory are defined as a certain "parcel of land, lying and being to the west and southwest of a certain crcek or river called by the name of Kahanksen, and so up to the head thereof where the old fort was, and so with a direct line from thence through the woods and across the meadows to the Great Hill lying and being to the west and southwest thereof, wbich Great Hill is to be the true west or southwest bounds of the said lands, and the said creek called Kahanksen the north or

northwest bounds of the said lands." This was the original Shawangunk of the Dutch,-a district em- bracing many specific Indian localities, the names of none of which were subordinated or disturbed by the phrase under which the conquered admitted that part of their territory had become " the place of the white man."+ That the term has, strictly speaking, been improperly extended to mountain, river, meadow, etc., may be conceded, yet for its history, its poetry, and its orthology, we may well consent to let it for- ever rest upon Pitkiskaker and Aiaskawasting.

The Schunemunk range is appropriately described as " the high hills to the west of the ITighlands." It extends from northeast to southwest, and is divided longitudinally principally by the boundary line of Monroe and Blooming-Grove, with a portion on the northeast in the town of Cornwall. It was the origi- nal dividing line between the Wawayanda and Chese- kook Patents, and also one of the monuments in the line of the Evans Patent. Its name appears in sev- eral forms. In the deed to Governor Dongan (1684), one of the lines of his purchase is described as run- ning " northwest along a hill called Skoonnenoghky ;" in another paper of the same period it is called Skon- ncmoghky; in a deed to Joseph Sackett (1727), the property is described as being on the "south side of a high hill called Skonemugh ;" in a decd to Edward Blagg (1726) it is spoken of as Schunamock Hill. It will be observed that the prevailing orthography down to the Blagg deed contains sko, the Algonquin generic term for fire, and that the terminal indicates a certain place. From this anaylsis, without consider- ing no, na, ne, in the body of the word (signifying excel- lent), we have the literal interpretation, " fire place," the reference being (as in Skootag, now Schodac) to the principal castle or palisaded village of the clan owning the land. This castle stood on the north spur of the range. At the time of the sale it was occupied by Maringoman and his people, and was known and called Maringoman's castle, to distinguish it from the wigwam in which he subsequently lived, which was situated near Washingtonville. The latter is a land- mark in the boundaries of the Mompesson and Rip Van Dam Patents, issued subsequent to the Evans.

· North of Schunemunk is Muchattoes Hill, extend- ing north and south in the towns of New Windsor ; and Newburgh. Its name is Algonquin,-muhk, black ; at, near or by ; oes, small : signifying literally "a small black hill near the river."

* " Wawayanda" is a compound term signifying a district embracing several well-known and occupied lands, or a village and its dependencies. W'a is a reflective plural, and may mean he or they, or, by repetition, we; Aindau-yaun, is " my home;" Aindau-yun, " thy home ;" Aindau-aud, "his or her home;" da, " town or village." From these tering we have Wa- wa-yaun-du,-" onr homes or places of dwelling," or "our village and lands."

+ A general term of this character was applied by the Indians to De- troit after the site of that city passed to the possession of the Freoch. There is one other possible solution of the name, and that is that when the Shawadoes, of Maryland, removed to the territory of the Minsies, ia 1694, they were assigned lands on the Shawaognnk range, and throngh what is now Sullivan County, and that the name comes from their occu- pation, as the country of the Shawanoes. There is still a hill in Sullivan called Shawanoes Ilill. Our conclusion, however, is based on the pre- Snmption that the name is older than Shawanoes occupation, but of this we have no other evidence than that furnished by O'Callagan and Brod- head in their rendering of Holland documents. If they have niade an error in applying a modern term to an uncient dute we cannot corroct it.

GEOGRAPHICAL NOMENCLATURE.

West of Schunemunk is Woodcock Hill now so known, but called Winegtekonk in the patent to Sir John Ashurst (1709), and Wenighkonk in the patent ' to Edward Blagg (1726). The present name requires no explanation, although a reasonable apology for its retention appears to be necessary.

From Woodcock Hill southwest are a series of ele- vations in the following order : Round Hill, in shape like an inverted bowl; Mosquito Hill, a jagged ele- vation ; Rainer's Hill; Peddler's Hill ; Tom Rocks, which are more rocky than mountainous and rise in two separate peaks to an elevation of about two hun- dred feet above the surrounding country ; Lazy Hill, whose gradual slopes, it is presumed, suggested its name ; and Goose-pond Mountain.

At this point rise what are known as the Bellvale Mountains ; connecting peaks continue the line to the Sterling Mountains on the south, the Rough Moun- tains and Southfield Mountains on the east, and the Warwick Mountains on the southwest ; on the north- west are the Taylor Mountains, Round Hill, Rocky Hill, and Pochuck Mountain, filling out the south- east and southwest borders of the county with a bat- tlement of mountainous elevations .* Pochuck Neck and Pochuck Mountain intrude upon the Drowned Lands. Pochuck is of course Algonquin corrupted ; po should be pogh as in the original of Ramapo, Poughkeepsie, etc .; uck, as in Mahicanituk, signify- ing "large areas of land and water,"-a name most certainly misapplied to the mountain. Farther north, in Warwick, are Mount Adam and Mount Eve, con- joined,-the former being much the highest, the lat- ter much the longest,-which spring up from the bot- tom-lands and the rolling glades surrounding them and are picturesque in all their phases. Directly east, in Chester, is Sugar-loaf Mountain, which, when seen from the north, resembles a sugar-loaf; hence its name. Its northern ascent is quite gradual, its south- ern broken and precipitous. With its adjacent hills it is the apex from which the country descends to the north and to the south. It is therefore a very promi- nent object for a great distance on either side. North- west from Sugar-loaf is Mount Lookout, the principal elevation in the town of Goshen, where both hills and stones are the exception.

Scattered through the county are minor elevations : the Comfort Hills, on the line between Montgomery and Crawford; Pea Hill, Pine Hill, and Sloop Hill, in Cornwall; Three-mile Hill and Mount Joy, in Wallkill; Rough Ridge and Forge Hill, in New Windsor; King's Hill, in Newburgh ; Jogee Hill, in Minisink, etc., the latter perpetuating in its name the name and residence of Keghgckapowell alias Joghem,

one of the grantors of the lands included in the Evans Patent. In Deerpark, Mount William and Point Peter form prominent and attractive features of the village of Port Jervis.

The valleys of the county are not less numerous than its mountains and streams. That portion of Deerpark bordering on the Delaware is but a narrow and irregular valley, broken by mountains and tribu- taries of the Delaware. The valley of the Neversink and Basha's Kill comprises the main portion of the valuable and cultivated lands of the town of Deer- park. These together are sometimes called the Hu- guenot Valley, from the early Huguenot settlers who reclaimed it from the Indians; those portions along the Basha and Pinet Kills were long known as the Peenpack Valley,-a name corrupted from Neepe- nack, the original western boundary of the Swart- wout Patent. The Wallkill Valley widens out on either side of the Wallkill. It is of singular beauty and fertility, and is properly classed among the finest bottom-lands of the State. The valley of the Shaw- angunk Kill is narrow and crooked. To the east of the valley of the Wallkill is that of the Otterkill, which for miles runs approximately parallel with the former but suddenly turns to the east, and, through a winding course amid the hills, reaches the Hudson above the Highlands. Throughout this valley, says a recent writer, the hills approach and retire in sin- gular fantasy, affording wide alluvial flats and pent- up gorges, gradual slopes and steep declivities, hither and thither. At Salisbury it narrows to a gorge of rocks, and nearer its mouth it assumes, in picturesque- ness and beauty, the poetic name (by Willis) of Moodna Valley. Cromeline Valley, through which Cromeline Creek passes, has its head in the far east of Warwick, from whence it follows the tortuous course of the stream from which it takes its name until it reaches its junction with the valley of the Otterkill, presenting throughout scenes wild and beautiful, a surface varied from plain to mountain, a soil from rich to poor, smooth to broken and precip- itous. Sugar-loaf Valley runs from the mountain of that name to Wickham's Pond, and from thence a devious course to the village of Warwick, with hills and mountains, vales and headlands intersecting ; from Warwick its course continues south and west until it passes out of the State. Bellvale Valley, or the lower valley of Warwick, extends from the im- mediate vicinity of the village of Warwick southerly to Greenwood Lake and the Sussex, N. J., Clove. It is an especially rich farming section. The valleys of most of the small streams have more or less local ce- lebrity. That of the Arackhook or Tinn Brock has many patches of beauty, while that of the Quassaick, near its confluence with the Hudson, has passed into history under the title of " The Vale."

The principal cloves-so called from the Saxon

* The principal elevations in Warwick are Hogback, Decker, One Pine, and Pine and Hull's Hills on the east, Bill and Coxcomb Hills in the centre, Long, Cedar, Pond, and Bill White's Hills in the southeast, Round, Rocky, and Chuck's Hills in the south, Pochuck Mountain, and Green and Adney's llille in the west, and Mounts Adam and Eve and Round Hill in the northwest.

t An affluent of Basha's Kill in Mamakating, Sullivan Co.

HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

word cleopan, " to split asunder," and meaning " val- ley," literally-are known as Blagg's Clove, in Bloom- ing-Grove, between the Schunemnnk and Woodcock Mountains ; Woodbury Clove, in Cornwall and Mon- roe, between the Schunemunk and the Highlands, now traversed by the Newburgh and New York (Short-cut) Railroad ; and Smith's Clove, extending from Highland Mills to the Ramapo Valley. Smith's Clove has fame in Revolutionary history from its oc- cupancy by portions of the American army, and as the birthplace of Chief Justice William Smith ; of his brother, Joshua Hett Smith,* whose name is as- sociated with that of Arnold in the treason at West Point, and also of the locally notorious Claudius Smith and his equally notorious sons. What relation- ship Claudius sustained to the chief justice and to Joshua it may not be well to inquire ;t it is sufficient to know that in their devotion to the mother-country they richly carned the name of Tory, and that their offenses against their Whig neighbors differed only in degree.

Tortuous cloves from Long and Poplopen's Ponds, converging to the sonth from Black-top Mountain and Cat Hollow, give character to Forest of Dean, far de- pressed beneath Bear Mountain, where, from the south, . Two-pond Valley intersects and thence diverges to the northeast and reaches the Hudson, forming a succession of vales where mountain cliffs and jagged rocks occupy the foreground, and abrupt declivities and broken valleys fill the picture. To the south of Black-rock Hill lies Eagle Valley,-so called from local tradition describing it as the resort of the " king of birds,"-through which, descending as rocks and hills permit, in crooked course to the Hudson, the waters from Bog-meadow Pond chant their music and finally dash over the rocks in foaming spray, forming the " Boter Melck Val" of the early Dutch skippers, -the Buttermilk Falls of our times. Poplopen's Valley-through which pass the waters of Poplopen's Creek, the outlet of Poplopen's and other mountain ponds-is similarly constituted. Its name is appar- ently from that of a Highland chieftain whose rude castle once crowned one of the adjacent hilltops. The valley of the Ramapo, the largest of the moun- tain passes, continues Smith's Clove to the Hudson. The term Ramapo was, it is assumed, originally given to the entire district as one of "many ponds." The original orthography, Ramspook or Ramapogh, how- ever, indicates " a river into which empty a number of ponds," the application being specific to the river.

PONDS, STREAMS, ETC

Few districts of country are so bountifully supplied with ponds and streams as that embraced in the

county of Orange. On hilltops or in valleys, dashing over rocks, winding through cultivated fields, lying in repose, or chained to the service of man in the forge, the factory, or the mill, they are not only a source of wealth but beantify the landscape. The lake system of the county begins in the northern part of the Highlands in Cornwall, continues through the towns of Highlands and Monroe, culminates in Warwick in that beautiful sheet of water known as Greenwood Lake, and from thence west and north appears in inland reservoirs of various sizes. Cornwall has one pond, Sutherland's ; Bog-meadow Pond, Round Pond, No. 1, Long Pond, and Cranberry Pond, No. 1, are in Ilighlands ; Poplopen's Pond, Bull or Agnel's Pond (also called Wood Lake), Summit Lake, Two Ponds or Twin Ponds (npper and lower), Slaughter's Pond, Cranberry Pond, No. 2, Greenwood Pond, Hazzard's Pond, Round Pond, No. 2, Mombasha Pond, Cedar Pond, No. 1, Truedo or Duck-cedar Pond, Round Island Pond, Little Long Pond, No. 1, Little Long Pond, No. 2, Green Pond, Car Pond, Spruce Pond, and Nigger Pond are in Monroe; Wickham's Pond, Stirling Lake, Cedar Pond, No. 2, and Greenwood Lake, are in Warwick; Thomp- son's Pond, on the line between Warwick and Ches- ter ; Binnenwater or Maretange I'ond, in Greenville ; Washington Lake, in New Windsor; Orange Lake, in Newburgh ; Big Pond and Little Pond, in Deer- park ; and Round Pond, No. 3, in Wawayanda.

Sutherland's Pond, in Cornwall, lies under the shadow of Black-rock Hill, southwest from Cro'-nest, and is about half a mile long. Its name-like that of others in the series which will be recognized with- out special notice-is that of an individual owner. Its outlet runs west and south and unites with Mur- derer's Creek, after furnishing the falls that are seen near the Cornwall mineral spring.

Bog-meadow Pond, the first in the town of High- lands, lies southwest from Black-rock Hill. It covers about three hundred acres of land, and has a depth of some twenty-five feet. Its outlet dashes over the rocks at Buttermilk Falls and reaches the Hudson. Round Pond, No. 1, and Long Pond are northwest from Highland Falls. The former is more elevated than the latter, into which its waters flow ; the outlet of the latter unites with Poplopen's Creek. The waters of Round Pond, in making connection with Long Pond, flow under a natural bridge, the breadth of which is fifty feet, and its length, up and down stream, seventy-five or eighty feet. It is used as a bridge, and one may ride over it without being aware of it. There is no daylight under it. The stream on the upper side passes into a cave, and is lost to sight until it emerges from another cave on the other side. Willis describes it as "a massive porch, covering the last stair of a staircase by which a cas- cading stream descends into a mountain lake." It differs in situation only, however, from the subterra- nean passage of the outlet of Washington Lake in

* " A place called Smith's Clove, a valley which took its name from my family, as possessing a greater part of the land it contained, as well as around its vicinity."-J. II. Smith's Narrative.

+ The latter, in his " Narrative," states that a brother of his, whose name he does not give, resided in the Clove "about three miles out of the main road."

GEOGRAPHICAL NOMENCLATURE.

New Windsor. Cranberry Pond, No. 1, is in the south part of the town and southwest from Fort Montgomery.

Poplopen's Pond, in the northeast part of the town, and Bull or Agnel's Pond, its neighbor on the south- west, are the first of the Monroe series, and lie north- west from Forest of Dean. Their waters flow to Pop- lopen's Creek. Summit Lake, Two Ponds, Slaughter's Pond, Cranberry Pond, No. 2, Greenwood or Echo Pond, Round Pond, No. 2, Green Pond, and Car Pond, lie in a chain south-southwest from Poplo- pen's ; Cedar Pond and Little Long Pond, No. I, are east, and Spruce and Truxedo Ponds west of the chain-line; Nigger Pond is in the extreme southern part of the town. The waters of Two Ponds flow to Poplopen's Creek ; those of Summit Lake, Slaughter's, Cranberry, No. 2, Greenwood, and Round, No. 2, are united for the use of Greenwood furnace, and from Thompson's Pond is in the northwest part of War- wick, east of Florida, and extends into Chester. It covers an area of about one hundred acres. Its out- tributary of Quaker Creek. It has recently been re- christened, and is now entered on the map Glenmere Lake, though why "lake" should be added is not clear. " Glen" is a depression between hills ; " mere," a pool or lake. thence flow to the Ramapo; Little Long Pond, No. I, and Cedar Pond, No. I, send their waters into Rock- land County and there nnite with the Ramapo, while : let furnishes power for grist- and saw-mills, and is a those of Green, Car, Spruce, Truxedo, and Nigger Ponds unite with the same stream in Orange. Slaughter's Pond is about one mile and a half long and half a mile wide, and Cedar and Little Long Ponds are of nearly the same size. Truxedo Pond is two miles long, north and south. Greenwood, Green, Binnenwater, in Greenville, covers about fifty aeres, and sends its waters to Rutgers' Creek. It lies about two miles southerly from the village of Mount Hope, about one and one-half miles southeast from Finch- ville, and about one mile south from the boundary line between Mount Hope and Greenville.t At one time it was an important landmark, constituting the south- west corner of the Evans Patent and the southeast line of the Minisink. Half a century or more later a new line was established for the Evans Patent farther east, the Minisink angle formed, and the pond ex- eluded from the boundary. In the deed to Governor Dongan it is deseribed as " a water pond called Mare- tange ;" in the patent to Evans it is called Merchary, on Sauthier's map, Marctang,-from the German " merche," " mericha," an aquatie plant of the genus Hippuris vulgaris, having silieious jointed stems. The present name is German; its correct orthography is Binnenwasser (one word), signifying " inland water." The original title should be restored to the maps of the county for its historie associations, or at least coupled with its more modern nanie. Car, Spruee, and Nigger Ponds are small. Round Pond, No. 2, or Little Round Pond, more nearly re- sembles a vast moat than a pond, as a circular wooded island nearly fills its eireumference. In most cases the names of these ponds require no explanation ; but of Truxedo it may be remarked that it is apparently a corruption of Truxillo, while the surname, " Duck- cedar," is a misnomer. Hazzard's Pond, in the north part of the town and west from Poplopen's, is about half a mile in diameter. Its outlet, Woodbury Creek, furnishes power to the Highlands Mills ; flows thence north through Woodbury Clove and unites with Mur- derer's Creek. Round-island Pond-so named from a round island in it called Chestnut-Jies southwest from Hazzard's and near the line of Blooming-Grove. It is about a quarter of a mile wide and three-quarters of a mile long, and is the head of the Ramapo River. Little Long Pond, No. 2, is nearly south from Round- island and near the Chester line. It is about one mile long and a quarter of a mile wide. Its outlet furnishes part of the head-waters of Cromeline Creek. Mombasha Pond is in the west part of the town, near Round Pond, in Wawayanda, is emphatically round. It lies in the south part of the town, near Gardner- ville, and is about one mile in circumference. It is clear and fresh, very deep, indeed reputedly bot- tomless, and has no visible outlet or inlet. Warwick. It is from one and a half to two miles in diameter, and contains two or three islands. Its out- let flows northeast and thenee south, passing the Southfield works, furnishing power for mills and forges. Its name is presumed to be a corruption of Mombacens, " the place of death,"-the reference ap- parently being to a burial-ground or a battle-field.

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History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 8

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