History of Rockland County, New York : with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Part 22

Author: Cole, David, 1822-1903, ed. cn; Beers, J. B., & co., New York, pub
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : J. B. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 993

USA > New York > Rockland County > History of Rockland County, New York : with biographical sketches of its prominent men > Part 22

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The first court house after the erection of the county was built in 1798-99. It was located at New City, and was used for county purposes during about 30 years. August 27th 1802, it was struck by lightning and consid- erably damaged.

In 1827-28 the present Court House was built. It is situated on an elevated plot of about one acre of ground overlooking the village of New City, and facing its main street. The prominent structure is of brick, two stories in height, and is surmounted by a wooden cupola. Pre- vious to the erection of the jail it was used for the con- finement of prisoners. The clerk's office was a fire proof brick building adjacent to the Court House. Various al- terations have at different times been made in the interior construction of the Court House. The first floor is used as the jailer's residence, and on the upper floor is the court room.

July 7th 1856, the board of supervisors met and passed & resolution to build a new jail. Plans were prepared and proposals were invited and offered. August 21st, the same year, the proposals were opened and unani-

inously rejected. A resolution was passed that the jail be built by day's work, under the superintendence of the supervisors. Richard Vervalen, of Haverstraw, was ap- pointed to superintend the construction of the building, at a compensation of $3.00 per day and his expenses. The name of the builder was J. March. The cost of construction was between seven and eight thousand dol- lars. The jail building is of brick, two stories in height, and stands north of, and adjacent to, the Court House.

In 1873 a large addition to the Court House was built adjoining the main building on the south. This is a fire proof brick structure, two stories high. It was built by Keesler & Conklin, of Haverstraw, under the superin- tendence of Isaac Van Nostrand. Its cost was $23,000. On the lower floor are the Clerks' offices and Surrogate's court room. On the upper floor are the Supervisor's room, the Sheriff's office, and Judges', juries', and wit- nesses' rooms. It connects on the north, by two iron doors, with the court room on the second floor of the main building.

The county poor house is at Mechanicsville, seven miles west of New City. A new brick building for the accommodation of male inmates has been recently com- pleted to take the place of the old wooden structure. It is 40 by 60 feet, three stories high, and cost about $10,000. A fine farm of 42 acres is connected with the house, and is the source of considerable revenue. The average number of inmates for the year ending Decem- ber Ist 1883 was 54. In addition to this number, 26 children were provided for in different parts of the coun- ty. The number of inmates December Ist 1883 was 61. The cost of boarding inmates in 1883 was one dollar per week for each person. The house is well kept, and is under the charge of Samson Marks, keeper.

CHAPTER XXIII.

AGRICULTURE IN ROCKLAND COUNTY.

BY HON. JOHN W. FERDON.

TN MOST INSTANCES when men emigrate to new countries with their families, their first employment is the cultivation of the soil, as this beneficent mother yields that most needed to supply the wants of man, food and clothing. In 1650, Secretary Van Tienhoven sent to the States General minute instructions how to form colonies and bouweries in New Netherland. First, how and where to locate the lands that were especially adapted to agriculture-second, how the first houses were to be built. He said that those who had no ineans to build farm houses at first, according to their wishes, should dig a square pit in the ground, cellar fashion, six or seven feet deep, as long and as broad as they thought proper, case the earth inside all round the wall with timber, which they should line with the bark of trees or some- thing else, to prevent the caving in of the earth, floor this cellar with plank, and wainscot it, raise a roof of spars,

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HISTORY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY.

clean up and cover the spars with bark or green sods, so that they could live dry and warm in these houses with their entire families for two, three, and four years. After the houses were built, gardens should be made and planted in season with all sorts of pot herbs, principally parsnips, carrots, and cabbage, which bring great plenty into the husbandman's dwelling. The maize would serve as bread for men, and food for cattle. The hogs, after having picked up their food for some months in the woods, were to be crammed with corn in the fall. When fat, they were to be killed and they would furnish a very hard and clean pork, a good article for the husbandman, who, in time, would begin to purchase horses and cows with the produce of his farm and the increase of his hogs, and in place of his cellar would build a good house and barn. Then cattle would be needed, also good mares and sound stallions. Yoke oxen would be better for the plough, inasmuch as in new lands, full of roots, oxen go firm and steady with the plough, and horses stand still, or with a start break the harness in pieces. Milch cows of kindly disposition, and good bulls, sheep, &c., would come next. Fowls were well adapted to bouweries.

Next would come the price of cattle The valuation in 1650 was in florins, which here, for convenience, are turned into dollars. A young mare with her second or third foal would cost $roo, and a four or five year old stallion, $90; a milch cow with her second or third calf, $65; a year old sow, $15; and a sheep, being a ewe, the same.

Next would come the necessary supplies for a farmer. If no wheat or rye could be had for bread, maize could always be had in season, from the Indians, at a reason- able price. Beef, pork, butter (or oil instead), vinegar, peas, and beans. All this being arranged it would be necessary to note what description of people were best adapted for farming in New Netherland, and able to per- form the most service and return the most profit in the beginning, viz., industrious country people, conversant with the working and cultivation of land, and possessing a knowledge of cattle. It was thought not unprofitable to add to these, some Highland boors from the Veluwe and the sons and daughters living gorgeously in a French and berg. Northerners were a people adapted to cut- ting down trees and clearing land, inasmuch as they were very laborious and accustomed to work in the woods, some could build much. Others could build a little, and any of them could construct the small craft called yawls. Carpenters would be required, and men who could lay brick, also smiths, conversant with heavy work, and with the diseases of cattle and the remedies for them. One or more surgeons, according to the num- ber of the people, would also be needed, with chests well supplied with all sorts of drugs; one or more coopers; a agricultural products: the area of improved land in the clergyman, comforter of the sick, or precentor, who could also act as schoolmaster, and a wheelwright. All other tradesmen would follow in time.

This advice especially applied to the first Dutch set- tlers of Rockland county, who, together with their de. scendants, for the first 150 years devoted themselves almost exclusively to the pursuit of agriculture. Their

wants, outside of that which their own labor and that of their slaves produced, were few. They gathered from the virgin soil their own food. They raised their own cattle, sheep, horses, and hogs, and manufactured cloth out of which their clothing was made. In time their or- chards became rich in fruit, so that it was not an unu- sual thing to see the floor of the farmer's ample Dutch barn, in the autumn, covered with from 500 to 1,000 bar- rels of apples, which represented just so many dollars.

In the year 1813, Joseph Dederer, the father of Isaac M. Dederer of this county, purchased the farm at Rock- land Lake, since known as the Leonard farm, and began the business of raising fine wooled Merino sheep. The flock increased rapidly, soon numbered 200, and re- mained at this figure for several years. Judge Cornelius I. Blauvelt, of Orangetown, Judge Peter De Wint Smith, of Clarkstown, and Judge Edward Suffern, of Ramapo, soon followed Mr. Dederer's example, and had flocks numbering from 100 and 200 each. These flocks were at first very profitable, as the wool cominanded a high price. The first shearing of fine wools, tied up in a sheet, com- prising about 100 pounds, was sold for $200. The price, however, in time became reduced, as the number of sheep increased, to 60 cents a pound.

Wealth brought with it grand and comfortable homes. Money begat money. " Money saved is money made " was the Dutchman's motto. It was not an unusual thing for a farmer, a generation ago, to be worth from $50,000 even up to $100,000 in cash, beside a fine farm to leave to his posterity. With the extension of railroads to the west and intermediate points, the farmers of Rockland county found that they were obliged to compete with those whose lands were nearer and cheaper, and which yielded more abundantly. The means of communication becoming more rapid and frequent with the great city. the sons and daughters became restless and dissatisfied with their quiet mode of life, and sought vocations and homes that were more exciting, so that we find now in most cases the fine old homes occupied by emigrants from Germany or Ireland, working the farms on shares, or Irish flat in some neighboring city. In order to stem this tide of drifting from the old homes, agricultural so- cieties were organized, and for a few years there was a contest among the farmers as to who could raise the best cattle, horses, grains, fruits, and vegetables, make the best butter, the best bread, and do the most elaborate fancy work. At last the race track and the horse race took the place of these, and the work of ruin was com- plete.

The last State census showed the following results in county was 43,000 acres; wood land, 24,000 acres; other land, 36,000 acres; $10,000,000 invested in farms; farm buildings other than dwellings, $1,000,000; in stock, $90,000; amount of gross sales for farms, $300,000; area of land ploughed, 9,000 acres; in pasture, 14.500 acres; area mowed, 15.500 acres; hay produced, 17,000 tons; buck- wheat produced, 12,000 bushels; Indian corn, 74,000

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GENERAL HISTORY

bushels; oats, 38,500 bushels; rye, 28,000 bushels; wheat, 2,700 bushels; potatoes, 88,000 bushels; number of trees in apple orchards, 137,000; apples, 229,000 bushels; cider made, 6,300 barrels; grapes, 39,000 pounds; wine made, 460 gallons; honey collected, 3,750 pounds; horses on farms, 2,800; poultry owned, value $22,000; value of poultry sold, $12,000; value of eggs sold, $20,000; neat cattle on farms, heifers and calves, 1,000 ;. working oxen, 250; milch cows kept, 3, 100; butter made in families, 244,000 pounds; cheese made, 1,500 pounds; milk sent to market, 222,000 gallons; swine on farms, 2,700; swine slaughtered, 1,800; pork made, 366,000 pounds.

During the past few years strawberries and other small fruits have added something to the farmer's waning for- tunes. But the high price of farm labor, and the com- petition of the South, with its cheap labor and lands, and cheap ocean freights, have done much to discourage the farmers in Rockland county, even in this direction. On account of its nearness to New York city, with its four must be fancy farming, that is, the lands will naturally fall into the hands of those who have the means and love the pursuits of farming, not so much for the return in money, as the return in health and pleasure. In this way, with high cultivation, it will not be without its gains, even in money.

ROCKLAND COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

On the 29th of June 1844, a meeting assembled at the Court House in New City, in response to a call issued by Nicholas C. Blauvelt, at the request of B. P. Johnson, then Secretary of the State Agricultural Society. At this meeting, which was largely attended by farmers and peo- ple representing other business interests in the county, the Rockland County Agricultural Society was organized, with Abraham Stephens, of Ramapo, President, and Nich- olas C. Blauvelt, of Spring Valley, Secretary. The first fair of the Society was held in the year of its organiza- tion, and fairs have been held annually, without in- terruption, since.

The society has never owned a fair ground, but for a number of years the fairs were held on the green in front of the Court House. When trials of speed of horses came to be a prominent feature in the annual exhibitions, an association of those interested in horse trotting was formed, and this association, which was quite separate from the agricultural society, leased from Jabez Wood, Esq., a plot of ground near the Court House, fenced it in, and laid out and graded a half mile track for speeding horses. The association gave to the Agricultural Society permission to hold its annual fairs on this ground, and the fairs were held there for several years, except in one year, when Nyack was the place selected, because the American Institute had its plowing match there:

In 1875, Mr. J. A. Van Riper, of Spring Valley, laid out, graded, and fenced in, a half mile track on his land at that place. Prior to this time the Society had two tents only in which to hold exhibitions, and these were nearly worn out. The grounds of Mr. Van Riper were

selected as the place for holding fairs, and the society erected thereon suitable buildings for the purpose. Since 1875, the annual fairs have been held at that place. The location was not satisfactory to a portion of the peo- ple in other parts of the county, but a majority of the members of the Society were residents of Ramapo, and were able to choose officers who favored Spring Valley as the place for holding the fairs. By reason of the dis- satisfaction with the location of the exhibitions at a place not central, a new organization was formed, and its fairs are held at New City.

Forty annual fairs have been held by the Agricultural Society, and many of these have been highly successful. At times, however, because of inefficient management, un- favorable weather, or business depression, success has not been as great.

The society erected its buildings at a cost of about $1,000, and it has no debt. The present officers are James A. Green, President, J. F. Eckerson, Vice-pres- or five railroads, the final result of farming in this county | ident, N. C. Blauvelt, Secretary, and C. Irving Hopper, Treasurer.

CHAPTER XXIV.

MISCELLANEOUS ORGANIZATIONS.

ROCKLAND COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY.

T HE ONLY written record of the doings of this So- ciety during the first twelve years of its existence is its old constitution. From this it appears that it was formed and approved at a meeting of the inhabitants of the county of Rockland, held at the Court House in Clarkstown, June 4th 1816. This constitution consisted of nine articles, and contained the usual fundamental rules of such associations. In May 1817, it was amended so that its design extended not only to the distribution of the Bible among the destitute, but to some extent to the education of the children of indigent parents in the county. At that time no system of free schools was in existence in the State, whereby the children of the poor could, as now, receive the same educational advantages as those of their more fortunate neighbors, and this ac- tion of the Society was for the purpose of supplying this want as far as possible. Another unimportant amend- ment was made a year later, at the annual meeting in New City. Beyond this constitution and these amend- ments there is no written record till 1828.

It is learned from tradition that the first President of the Society was Joseph Dederer, who came to this coun- ty from New York in 1812, and who was one of the founders of the Presbyterian Church at Blauveltville. He continued a contributing member of the Society till 1831. The first Secretary was Cornelius C. Blauvelt. who was for many years an agent of the Dutch Factory in Rockland county. The first Treasurer was John Cole, who resided near New City. He was an Assemblyman

*Mainly condensed from a Historical Address delivered by Hon. John W. Ferdon in 1866.

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HISTORY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY.

from this county in [804 and 1805, and was at one time County Treasurer. For a few years the presidency of urer by Abraham Hogencamp.

the Society was held by clergymen in the county. Dom- inie Lansing, who was settled at Tappan during fifty years, was one of these. Rev. Samnel Pelton, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Hempstead, was another. He was an efficient member of the Society till 1840, when he removed from the county. Rev. Andrew Thompson, the first pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Blauvelt- ville, then Greenbush, was another. He continued a member till 1832, when he left the county. Another was Rev. Jefferson Wynkoop, pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church of Hempstead, then known as the Brick Church. His efficient membership continued till 1836, when he removed to another pastorate. The last of the list was Rev. Joseph Griffiths, a native of Wales, a pure man, and the father of the Baptist Church in this county. His active membership continued till 1836.

David Pye, Clerk of the county for a quarter of a cen- tury, was one of the earliest Secretaries of the Society, and served in that capacity for several years. He was thirty-five years an active member.

Judge Cornelius I. Blauvelt was one of the first Treas- urers, and he also served during several years. He was, till the end of his long life, an active, energetic worker, both in civil and religious matters.

Among the earliest directors, in addition to the officers already named, were William Sickles, Cornelius Joseph Blauvelt of Hempstead, Johannes Van Houten, Colonel Joseph Blauvelt, Robert Hart, Esq., and others.

The existing record of the Society was begun in 1828. The officers chosen for that year were Rev. Samuel Pel- ton, President; Rev. Jefferson Wynkoop, Cornelius A. Blauvelt, Adrian Onderdonk, and Joseph Dederer, Vice- Presidents; Rev. Andrew Thompson, Corresponding Sec- retary; Cornelius I. Blauvelt, Treasurer, and David Pye, Secretary. At this time a strenuous effort was made to raise two hundred dollars annually for two successive years, and if the full amount was not obtained an approx- imation to it was reached.

The Presidents of the Society who succeeded Rev. Mr. Pelton were Rev. Mr. Wynkoop, Rev. Mr. Griffiths, Rev. Christopher Hunt, Rev. Alexander Warner, Rev Jared Dewing, and Rev. Isaac D. Cole. Judge Cor- nelius I. Blauvelt continued to be Treasurer; Isaac J. Cole was, after Mr. Pye, Secretary for the year. He was succeeded by Cornelius Sickles, who was elected in 1830, and served during nine consecutive years.

In 1838 the Society was reorganized as the Young Men's Bible Society of Rockland County. Rev. Peter Quick was chosen President, Rev. Peter Allen, Rev. Jared Dewing, Isaac M. Dederer, and Rev. Isaac D. Cole, Vice-Presidents, Cornelius Sickles, Secretary, and Dr. John Polhemus, Treasurer.

The presiding officers succeeding Mr. Quick were Revs. Allen, Dewing, Brett, Cole, Boyd, and Crispell.

Blauvelt. In 1842 Dr. Polhemus was succeeded as treas.

In November, 1847, the Society was again reorganized, this time as the Rockland County Bible Society, with Hon. Hugh Maxwell, President; Judge William Frazer, Judge Edward Suffern, and Mr. Garner, Vice-Presidents; Rev. A. M. Kettle, Secretary, and David D. Smith, treas- urer.

Among the presiding officers since 1847 are found the names of Judge George S. Allison, Eleazar Lord. LL. D., Hon. A. B. Conger, Colonel Cornelius Sickles, Chris- topher Rutherford, A.M., Horatio G. Prall, Esq., John W. Towt, Hon. John W. Ferdon, Rev. C. W. Stitt, and Seth B. Cole, the present incumbent of the position.

ROCKLAND COUNTY SABBATH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION.

In response to a call issued on the 15th of February 1867, a convention was held on the following 12th of March, in the Reformed (Dutch) church of Nyack, for the purpose of organizing a County Sunday School As- sociation. An organization was effected by the adoption of a constitution, the first two articles of which reads as follows:

" Article I. This Association shall be called the Sab- bath School Association of Rockland County, New York, auxiliary to the Sabbath School Teachers' Association of the State of New York.

" Article II. The objects of this association shall be the improvement of the Sabbath school system; and for this purpose, to obtain statistical information of the Sab- bath schools of the county, hold conventions for the com- parison of views on various Sabbath school topics, take measures to gather into the Sabbath school all the chil- dren and youth of our country, and thus promote the spirit of Christian union among the disciples of Christ."

The usual officers of such associations were prescribed in the constitution, and annual meetings were appointed.

The first officers of the association were: David D. Smith, President; Christopher Rutherford, G. O. House, J. Remsen, Dr. George Wright, and J. O. Blauvelt, Vice- Presidents; Rev. George J. Van Neste, Secretary and Treasurer; and Dr. J. C. Haring of Clarkstown, W. A. Sherwood of Haverstraw, William S. Gilman, Jr., of Orangetown, Warren M. White of Ramapo, and G. S. Wood of Stony Point, Town Secretaries.

The first regular convention of the Association was held in the Reformed Dutch Church at Spring Valley, and at this meeting there were reported 49 schools, a to- tal of 4, 108, and an average attendance of 2,8011/2 scholars.

Annual and semi-annual meetings have been held at different places in the county each year since the organi- zation of the Association. According to the statistical re- port in 1879 (the last that appears on the minutes) there were 45 schools, a total of 5,023, and an average attend- ance of 3, 152 scholars.

D. D. Smith of Nyack served as President of the As- Point followed for one year, and H. B. Mckenzie of

Mr. Sickles was succeeded as Secretary, in 1839, by sociation during ten years, George S. Wood of Stony John A. Blauvelt, and he, in 1844, by his son, Thompson

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GENERAL HISTORY.

Haverstraw has been President since 1877. The present Secretary and Treasurer is Isaac De Baun.

Within a few years town organizations, auxiliary to this Association, have been formed, each having a President and Secretary. These officers were, in 1883: Merritt E. Sawyer, Charles Theis, Orangetown; David E. Felter, Wesley Weyant, Clarkstown; Brewster J. Allison, Robert R. Felter, Stony Point; Alonzo Wheeler, William Purdy, Haverstraw.

ROCKLAND COUNTY TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION.

In the autumn of 1859, Simon D. Demarest, who was at that time School Commissioner, having consulted with teachers in different parts of the county, called a mneet- ing to take into consideration the propriety of forming a Teachers' Association. About fifteen teachers of both sexes were present. An address was delivered by Mr. Demarest, setting forth the character and condition of the thirty-nine public schools in the county, and a com- mittee, consisting of Messrs. Eben. Lane of Nyack, L. Wilson of Haverstraw, and T. H. Gimmel of Piermont, was appointed to prepare a draft of a constitution. At a second meeting, held October 29th of that year, the so- ciety was organized under the name of the Rockland County Educational Association, with S. D. Demarest, President; Ebenezer Lane, Vice-President; L. Wilson, Secretary; T. H. Gimmel and H. D. Gesner, Executive Committee. Meetings were arranged to be held quar- terly.

At a meeting in Haverstraw in May 1860, it was pro- posed to form a joint association of the teachers in Rock- land and Westchester counties. Such an association was afterward formed, under the name of the Hudson River Educational Association. This united association was short lived, however, and the teachers in Rockland county resumed their meetings as a separate associa- tion.

It is now known as the Teachers' Association of the County of Rockland, and the following were the officers in 1884: A. S. Bush, President; Miss Laura G. Hill, Vice-President; H. P. Fay, Secretary; Miss Estella Dem- arest, Treasurer; George Askew, T. W. Suffern, and H. H. Plow, Executive Committee.

HISTORICAL AND FORESTRY SOCIETY OF ROCKLAND . COUNTY.

This Society was established by a few gentlemen of Rockland county, among whom Henry Whittemore of Nyack was prominently active. The first meeting was held on the anniversary of the birth of Washington, February 22d 1878, at the Rockland Institute in Nyack. On the 30th of the same month, at a meeting held in the same place, the organization was completed by the adop- tion of a constitution and by-laws, together with Articles of Incorporation, in accordance with "an Act for the In- corporation of Societies or Clubs for certain lawful pur. poses." The corporators were Hon. John W. Ferdon, Charles W. Miller, Piermont; C. R. Agnew, M. D., Pali- sades and New York City; W. S. Gilman (of W. S. Gil- man & Sons, Bankers, New York), Rockland; John L. |Nyack.

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History of Rockland County, New York : with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Part 22

Author: Cole, David, 1822-1903, ed. cn; Beers, J. B., & co., New York, pub Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York : J. B. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 993

Author: Cole, David, 1822-1903, ed. cn; Beers, J. B., & co., New York, pub
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : J. B. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 993