History of Otsego County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 30

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) cn
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 988

USA > New York > Otsego County > History of Otsego County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 30

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In 1829 he was married to Miss Catherine Dorr, a daughter of Dr. Russel Dorr, of Chatham, in the county of Columbia. That circumstance eaused him to turn his attention to that town as a place of residence. und, on recovery of his health, he removed there in 1839. He was nt once received in Columbia with marked favor. For four years he was one of the judges of the old court of common pleas, and in May. 1-46. he was elceted delegato from Colmubia county to the constitutional con- vention of that year, called to frame a new constitution for the State of New York. His grandfather had been a member of the first assembly of New York. His unele, the late Colonel Joseph Clyde, had been a mem- ber of the constitutional convention of 1821, and the judge felt a laudable pride in his return, in tho third generation. to the convention of Isio. At the organization of that convention he received a handsome compli- mentary vote for the office of president, and in its proceedings he was an active and useful member. He spent twelve years in Columbia county. But he had a strong attachment for the beautiful valley where he w.a. born, and in 1852. then fifty years of age, he returned to the home of his birth and youth, there, in his own expressive language, " to spend bis days, and findlig to sleep with his fathers."

Judge Clyde was a genial friend, a patriotic citizen, an excellent lawyer. an able enisebor, a wise judge, and an honest man.

He died Dee. 21, ISGS, leaving a wife and son who still reside in Cherry Valley.

" The toast of haraldry, the jump of power, And all thet beanty, all ibat wealth e'er garr. Await, alike, the inevnable hour: The paths of glory lead bm to the grave."

121

HISTORY OF OTSEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

County," who now resides in this village. Jane Cannon, wife of Colonel Samuel Campbell, died in 1836, aged ninety- two years.

Colonel Campbell was an active, patriotie Whig of the Revolution. He was in the ill-fated expedition against Crown Point, during the old French war, where Aber- crombie was repulsed and defeated, and Lord Howe killed.

At the Oriskany battle, in 1777, he was in the thickest of the fight, and after General Herkimer was wounded and Colonel Cott killed, Colonel Campbell succeeded to the command, and after maintaining the contest with obstinate bravery, brought off that portion of the survivors who had stood their ground manfully, instead of running away as some did on being surprised. He had several bullet-holes through his clothes, one ball cutting the string by which his powder-horn was suspended.

In 1778, when Cherry Valley was surprised, and the settlement broken up by Tories and Indians, his buildings were burned, his wife with two or three children made captives, and carried off to Niagara, thence to Canada, and down to Montreal, where, after an absence of two years, they were exchanged for the family of Colonel John But- ler. Colonel Campbell, who was on his farm some distance from the house, escaped. When he learned that the sav- ages had made their onset, his first impulse was to reach his house and defend it and his family to the last extrem- ity, but upon coming in sight he saw it on fire and, sur- rounded by Indians. He could not save his family, though by flying to the woods he was able to eseape himself.

Colonel Campbell was an old-fashioned Republican of the Jeffersonian school, and always a decided friend and ad- mirer of Governor George Clinton, as he was afterwards of Governor De Witt Clinton, his nephew. Colonel Camp- bell represented the county of Otsego as one of its mem- bers of assembly not far from the commencement of the present century. During the War of 1812 he was decided in his approval of its declaration, and was for sustaining vigorous measures for its prosecution.

His eldest son, Dr. William Campbell, is buried near his father. He was an excellent man ; represented the county in the assembly several sessions, and in 1835 was made surveyor-general, the duties of which offiec lie discharged with fidelity and skill. He died in 1844, his wife having died in 1830.

Eleanor, wife of Samuel Dickson, and daughter of Col- onel Campbell, died in 1844, aged seventy-four years.

Samuel Dickson, her husband, died in 1822, aged fifty- seven years, who, previous to his death, creeted a stone at Che grave of his mother, with this inseription: " In memory of Elizabeth Dickson, wife of William Dickson, who was barbarously murdered by the savages, 11th November, 1778, aged forty-eight years."

Matthew Campbell, another son of Colonel Campbell, aged about seventy years, and his wife. about the same age, are both buried in the old cemetery.

Colonel Alden, who was in command when Cherry Valley was destroyed, and was killed outside of the fort, has a plain slab to mark his grave, bearing the following inscription : " In memory of the brave Colonel Ichabod Alden, a native of Danbury, Massachusetts, who was murdered by the sav-

ages in this place, on the memorable 11th day of November, 1778, in the thirty-second year of his age." His remains are by the side of Colonel and Mrs. Clyde. Mr. Beardsley says, " When her grave was dug in 1825, being crowded upon that of Colonel Alden, his remains became visible. I saw and examined his skull, which was sound as when first buried. The tomahawk with which he was struck. after being shot, had not cut through the skull to the brain, but seemed to have glanced off, chipping away a portion of the skull. The cavity was discolored with blood, and several lines or marks where the tomahawk had entered were red and bright. Alvan Stewart took oue of the loosened teeth."

Colonel Samuel Clyde, mentioned above, was born in Windhanu, Rockingham county, New Hampshire, April 11, 1732, and died in Cherry Valley, Nov. 30, 1790. He was an ardent, devoted Whig during the Revolutionary strug- gle, and all agree that he was a man of indomitable will and true courage. During the French war he held a cow- mission as captain, and was in the expedition against Ti- conderoga during that war, and was engaged in that san- guinary struggle. He was also at the taking of Frontenac, under Colonel Bradstreet.

On the breaking out of the Revolution he took an active part against the mother country. He was a member of assembly in the first legislature under the State constitu- tion of 1778, having been elected from what was then Tryon, and subsequently Montgomery county, of which latter county he was the first sheriff. He came to Cherry Valley about eighteen years before the Revolution.

He was engaged in the Oriskany battle in 1777, where he was knocked down by a blow from a British musket, but was rescued by a man named John Flock, who shot the man who had given the blow. The following year he was appointed colonel of the Canajoharie regiment, which he commanded till the war closed.

With this regiment, or a portion of it, he was engaged in the Palatine battle, when his men took a field-piece from Sir Jolin Johusou, and Colonel Clyde captured a musket.

Colonel Clyde was also present with General Herkimer when the conference was held with Brant. He was held in high esteem by the goverment, and a fort which was erected in Canajoharie soon after the destruction was named in his honor " Fort Clyde."

There was in the British service an active, bold, and desperate partisan officer, who was a Tory, named Joseph Bettis. He was hung at Albany as a spy before the war closed.

This Bettis had offered a reward of $100 to any one who would deliver Colonel Clyde into his hands. The colonel, of course, was on his guard, and was always armed when he weut from home. Bettis told Archibald MeKellip that on a certain occasion he was in the woods, when he saw Colonel Clyde, who was armed with a gun, within cisliter ten rods of him. Colonel Clyde was not aware that he w ... in the presence of his dangerous enemy, and Bettis dr. w up his gun by the side of a tree to shot him. He will Mekellip that on taking aim at him he felt an impression that he was about to shoot a brave man, who, if not killed,

122

HISTORY OF OTSEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

would be very likely to fight desperately and to kill him before the contest was over, and on reflecting on it he dare not shoot, and thus assassinate even an adversary. Colonel Clyde was the first justice of the peace in Cherry Valley after the Revolution. During the war, and even after its close, he was very much devoted to the public service, to the neglect of his own affairs; for, in 1784, he went to New York, and on State security raised money to pay arrearages due to the officers and soldiers of his regiment.

His wife, Mrs. Catharine Wasson Clyde, was born in Worcester, Mass., April 5, 1737, and at an early age came with her husband to the present town of Amsterdam, near the residence of Sir William Johnson.

She was intimately acquainted with the celebrated Indian chief Brant, who, when a boy, frequently came to her father's house to play with her brothers.

Up to the time of her death, which was in 1825, at the age of eighty-seven, she always expressed a confident belief that if she could have seen Brant before the massaere at Cherry Valley she could have prevailed on him to have saved the inhabitants. She was a niece of Matthew Thorn- ton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, a courageous woman, well informed, recollected all the events of the Revolution, particularly all the ineidents re- lating to the destruction of Cherry Valley. On that dis- astrous occasion, when she found the settlement attacked, she left her house, and finding all communication with the fort cut off, she, with part of her family, concealed them- selves in a thieket, where they remained through the night of Nov. 11, 1778. It was cold and stormy, and consider- able snow fell.

The darkness was enlivened with the light of burning buildings in every part of the settlement, and in the comse of that long and dreary night she heard Indians pass and repass several times but a short distance from where she was concealed. She kept her children still, but she had with her a small dog who gave her intense solicitude, lest by his barking he should attract the attention of the savages; but the dog seemed to understand the importance of a " silent tongue," and remained quiet.

On the morning of the 12th a scout of twelve men was sent from the fort, and then she emerged from her conceal- ment, all wet and chilly from the snow that had fallen, and went with the party to the fort. Here she was presented by the officer with one of his shirts to take the place of her wet undergarment. She retired to put it on ; but one of her daughters was missing, who separated from her when they flul from the house, and who the mother with painful apprehensions supposed had very likely been captured or murdered by the enemy. Soon after Mrs. Clyde had ad- justed her dress she was delighted to see her daughter ap- proaching the fort. When the family left the house they hurried to a thicket to conceal themselves, and in the con- fusion of the moment became separated. The young woman remained concealed through the night, and next morning crept stealthily from her concealment, intending to make a desperate effort to reach the fort.

Her father had a mare on which the girls were aecus- tomed to ride, and so gentle that the young women did not hesitate to monut her without saddle or bridle. Quid-

ing her with a stick, she made directly for the fort by a foot-path across the flats, and came galloping up to the gateway, her dishevelled hair streaming in the wind, and thus was she united with the rest of the family.

It has often been remarked that the influence of Mrs. Clyde was as great in keeping Revolutionary ardor as was any of the settlers on that frontier, whether male or female.

Among others buried in the old cemetery was General Elijah Holt, then of Buffalo ; died in 1826, aged sixty-four years. His brother, Major Lester Holt. was also buried there. So was Ephraim Hudson, who died in 1801, aged eighty-eight ; Ephraim, his son, in 1805, aged forty-eight ; Jesse Johnson, aged eighty-seven ; Isaac Seeley, Esq., aged fifty-four. William Cook died in 1829 at the age of eighty- one years, and his wife, Candiee, in 1835, aged sixty-nine.

This William Cook was an Englishman by birth, an old seaman, and was the " Ben Pump" of Cooper's " Pio- neers."

Patriek Davison, one of the early settlers, died in 1813, aged seventy-nine years. His wife, Mary, died in 1830, aged ninety-four.

Archibald McKellip was a Whig in the Revolution, served seven years in the army, and was at the storming of Quebec when Montgomery fell, and was an honest, worthy, and industrious man, and good citizen.

James Thompson, also a Revolutionary soldier, died in 1821, aged sixty years. James Cannon, another Revolu- tionary Whig, brother to Mrs. Campbell, the wife of Colonel Campbell, died in 1829, aged seventy-eight years. Ilis wife, of nearly the same age, rests near him.

Colonel Libbens Loomis, an early settler, is also buried in the old cemetery. He was an officer in the Revolution, and a member of the Cincinnati society. He died in 1836, aged seventy-nine.

A prominent pioneer, and one whose memory is still cherished by the inhabitants, was Dr. Joseph White. IIe died in 1836, aged forty-six. Dr. David Little was also a prominent man. He died in 1832, aged sixty-five, and his wife in 1846, aged seventy-seven.

Major John Walton died in 1812, aged forty-nine; Wil- liam Pecso, a Revolutionary soldier, in 1831, aged seventy- three ; his wife, Lydia, died in 1846, aged eighty-two.

Elizabeth, wife of the late Rev. Aaron Putnaui, of Pam- fret, Conn., died in 1835, aged ninety.

Mr. Beardsley says, " Hugh Mitchell, an old man and respectable, whom I used to know, lies in the old cemetery without a stone to mark his resting-place. He was very near one hundred years old when he died, and was buried near the south side of the yard by the remains of his first wife and six children, who were butchered by the savages in 1778. Ile barely escaped by fleeing to the adjacent woods, where he concealed himself till the enemy was gone, when he returned. placed his murdered family on an ox-sled, and drove them to the fort, where they were buried. and the old man, by request, was placed beside them when he died."

Another very old man lies there, who died in 1814, at an exceedingly advanced age. He was known as " Old Jackey Foster ;" was at Cherry Valley long before the Revolution ; came there from Scotland or the north of Ire-

123

HISTORY OF OTSEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

land, and was, as he said, in the battle of Culloden, in 1746, and used to sing anti-Jacobite songs.

Que of his couplets was something like the following :

" And buttocks bare were turned up there, Of many a brawny Highland mon."

Foster was a man of low, coarse wit, and used to crack his jokes and play off his tricks with an almost unlimited license. At the carly organization of the county there was considerable strife between Cherry Valley and Cooperstown in relation to public buildings.

The former was settled fifty years before the latter, and had been destroyed during the Revolutionary struggle, and hence felt entitled to publie favor.

It is said that Judge Cooper on one occasion playfully remarked that the court-house should be placed in Coopers- town, the jail in New-Town-Martin (Middlefield), and the gallows in Cherry Valley. Foster, who was always poor and inelined to his drink, had not muuch credit with his neighbors. He frequently wanted to borrow small sums of money, and would go to Judge Cooper, always taking care to conciliate his feelings, as Foster supposed, by soundly abusing Messrs. White and Rich, and other men of influence at home. Judge Cooper, who understood the object, would listen to Foster's various devices to obtain money, and sometimes obliged him by small loans, though none the more for the abuse of his neighbors. On one occasion he had been sworn as a witness, when, on coming out of court, the judge asked him whether he had swore to the truth ? Foster laid his hand on his breast, and raising his eyes, said, with much apparent solemnity,-

" I have, Judge, as I am a Christian mon."

" But did you tell the whole truth ?" says the judge.

" Yes, yer Honor," he replied, with a significant wink of his eye, " and a d-d sight more."

The following incident is also related in connection with " Old Jaekey Foster :"

The summer previous to the destruction of Cherry Val- ley, William McKnown, then a lad, was raking hay on the McConnell farm, when, late in the afternoon, he heard foot- steps, and on turning around saw a tuan stealthily approach- ing him who was so near that escape seemed impossible.

The stranger was Brant, who was armed, and came out of the adjacent woods. MeKnown was alarmed and his first thought was to make his escape, but Brandt told him not to be alarmed, as he would not hurt him.

Ile then inquired where one of the settlers might be found who was suspected of being a Tory in his prejudices, If not openly so, and on being directed to his residence, peaceably departed. The settler referred to was " Old Jaekey Foster."

There is no doubt Brant came there privately to ascer- tain the strength of the fort, and the condition and location of the inhabitants, preparatory to the contemplated attack.

Cherry Valley is celebrated as having been the place of residence of many remarkable men in the fields of letters, law, and medicine ; among whom may be mentioned the names of John Wells, Esq., the distinguished lawyer of New York ; Rev. Eliphalet Nott; Jabez D. Hammond, author of " Political History of New York ;" IIon. Levi

Beardsley, author of "Reminiscences, Incidents," etc .; Judge Seeley, Alvan Stewart, James O. Moore, Dr. Joseph White and sons, Delos and Menzo, and Hon. W. W. Camp- bell. Judge Campbell has occupied a high position at the bar and on the bench, and has also added many valuable works to the literature of the country, the most celebrated of which is the " Annals of Tryon County," an invaluable and standard work.

The year 1812, the date of incorporation, ushered in an important era in the history of the village. It rapidly in- creased in importance, and at the opening of the Erie canal was ranked among the highly prosperous villages in the State. The opening of that thoroughfare and the building of the New York Central railroad, and later, the Albany and Susquehanna, seemed to paralyze in a certain degree the business interests of the town. This state of affairs has in a large degree been changed by the building of the Cherry Valley railroad, which connects the village with the Albany and Susquehanna road at Cobleskill. It is now in a pros- perous condition, and is represented by the following busi- ness interests, viz., attorneys, William Burch, J. W. Bar- numu, D. W. Bates, James Young; physicians, George Merritt, George L. Merritt, Joseph M. White, James D. Clyde; dry goods, Walter Furmin, H. H. Fuller; dry goods and groceries, R. G. Walrad; groceries, Eph. Wal- raith, Alex. Oliver, Clark & Sherman ; hardware, E. Buin, C. D. Walrad; drugs and medicines, Clyde & Browne ; jeweler, L. W. Thompson ; clothiers, Jacob Sharp, David Nash ; boots and shoes, J. J. Fonda, Albert Winne. N. W. Waterhouse, P. R. Wales; millinery, etc., Mrs. M. Beaumont, E. Walrath, Addie Waldron ; organ manufac- turers, Alex. Fea & Son ; sewing machines, J. Hickey (Singer), L. W. Thompson ( Remington), Calvin Hillman (Davis) ; Cherry Valley Gazette, J. L. Sawyer, editor and proprietor ; Central National Bank, H. J. Olcott, presi- dent; G. W. B. Dakin, assistant president; William II. Baldwin, cashier.

THE FIRST TOWN-MEETING

of which any record exists, was held on the 6th day of April, 1791, at the house of Benjamin Griffin. The fol- lowing is a list of supervisors and town clerks from this date to 1878:

Town Clerks.

1791

Supervisors. Joseph White. Eli Parsons.

John Ball.

1792

1793

1794

1795

1796

Elijah Holt.

1797

1798

William Campbell.

1799

Ephraim Hudson.

1800

1802

1803 ....

Lester Holt.

John Diell.

Isaac Scelye.

John Walton.

William Campbell. ..

John Diell.

1810

1×12

1813

Robert Dunlap. 16

1-15 ..

181G

1804 1805. Matthew Clyde.

1-06

Horace Ripley.

1×09

Horace Lathrop. ..

124

HISTORY OF OTSEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Supervisors.

1817

Horace Lathrop.

1818

1819

1820

1821.

1822

William Campbell.

Levi Beardsley.

1823

1824.

Adolphus W. Flint.

1825

1826

Horace Ripley.

1827.

Abram Stewart.

1828

Horace Lathrop.

1829

Levi Beardsley.

1830

Horace Lathrop. ..

William McLean.

1832

Levi Beardsley. Seth C. Burch.

1834

1800 1550 : 1845. 41 25

1811

2775 1850 .41×6

1814. 3053

1855 2340

1860 2532

1825

3874

1865 2341

1830

4098

1870

1835

3876

.3923

CHAPTER XXXV.

TOWN OF CHERRY VALLEY-Continued.

Ecclesiastical History-Bank-Freemasonry in Cherry Valley- I. O. O. F .- Fire Department.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

IN placing before the reader a history of this church, it is deemed proper to give it in extenso, as its organization was coincident with the settlement of the place in 1740, and the annals of the church from that time to the present form, in a large degree, a history of the village. The Rev. II. U. Swinnerton, A.M., the preseut talented and efficient pastor, added a valuable contribution to the historie litera- ture of this locality, by the compilation of a work. entitled " An Historieal Account of the Presbyterian Church at Cherry Valley, N. Y.," from which the following sketch is compiled :

This church was organized immediately upon the settle- ment of the locality, by Rev. Samuel Dunlop, a graduate of Trinity college, Dublin. Tradition informs us that on the northern slope of the hill where was located the house of Mr. Lindesay, uow the residence of Mr. Phelon, was erected in the first days of the embryo village, a log church and school-house.

Mr. Dunlop was not only a minister, but a scholar. and an earnest friend of that thorough education which has been so inseparable a part in the history of Presbyterians in Scotland, as well as all over the world. He became the first apostle of liberal learning beyond the towns on the eoast and the Hudson. He at once began the teaching of the classics to the boys of the settlement, and to others who came from the scattering villages of the Germans on the Mohawk; and it is related of him that as he guiled the ox-team at the plow, the lads followed in the fresh earth of the furrow, scanning the daily " stent" of Homer or of Virgil. He was the educator of a number of men who became eminent and useful in the great struggle which. some years later, evoked the energies of the youthful nation.

Mr. Dunlop was an energetic man, and the statement has come down that, in his desire to meet his brethren in

1850

Charles McLean.

1851

Win. Marks.

1852

Charles Mclean.

William Duffin. John K. Diell.

Albert C. Stevens.

1856 Joseph Phelon.

B. Steens.

A. A. Saunders.

Charles McLean.

1859 "

Jesse Bronson.

1860 James Young.

1861

1862

S. G. Wilkin.

1863

1864 Charles McLean.

Stephen Waldron. :

1866

Daniel W. Bates.

1867 George Merritt.

A. S. Botsford. Stephen Waldron.

1869

1870. Amos L. Swan.

1871 D. W. Bates.

John K. Diell.

1872 James Young.

1873

1875 George Merritt.

1876 4 "6

The officers for 1877 are as follows :

Supervisor .- George Merritt.

Town Clerk .- John K. Diell.

Justice of the Peace .- Edward Allen.

Collector .- Amos L. Swan.

Commissioner of Highways .- C. H. Platner.

Assessor .- Geo. H. Sherman.

Overseers of the Poor .- Samuel Ludlam and John H. Prime.

Inspectors of Election .- G. V. Spraker, L. W. Thomp- son, C. M. Bates.

Constables .- W. McFarren. E. Frantzman, M. F. Dutcher, A. Whitbeck, Geo. Van Alstyne.

Town Auditors .- HI. Salisbury and H. Banker. Railroad Commissioners .- Theodore Lewis, Wm. Allen. Ercise Commissioner .- Thos. Lynk.

Justices of the Peace .- Chas. McLean, L. W. Thompson, Henry W. Best, and Edward Allen.

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS, 1875.

Aeres plowed, 5249; in pasture, 5876; acres mown, GAISS; tons of hay produced, 7532; bushels barley pro-

dueed, 3097 ; buckwheat, 662; corn, 5117; oats, 59,990; rye, 470 ; spring wheat, 1601 ; winter wheat, 2516 ; beans. 84 ; peas, 284; pounds of hops, 199,794; bushels of potatoes, 25,112; barrels cider, 571; maple sugar, 470 pounds ; value of poultry sold, $686 ; eggs, 2366; pounds of butter made, 103.806; cheese, 15,210; pork made on farmy, 107,114 pounds.

Area .- Cherry Valley has an area of 24,058 aeres, the assessed valuation of which is $443,850, and the equalized valuation $489,580.

POPULATION.

1837

1838

Mason Fitch.

1839

1840

James Hetherington. .4 1841

1842 Joseph Phelon.

1843.

1844

Hiram Flint.

1845 Joseph Phelon.

1846 Benjamin Davis. ..

1847 1848

Henry Roseboom.

William Hall.

1849

James Marks.

1853 Jonas Platner, Jr.

1854 John W. Sterriker.

1855 W'm. Burch.

1857 A. If. Watkins. 1858 ¥

A. L. Swan.

1865

1868. Charles Me Lean. ..

.€

Oliver Judd. Robert Dunlap.

1831

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History of Otsego County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 30

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) cn Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss Number of Pages: 988

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) cn
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 988