USA > New York > Rockland County > History of Rockland County, New York : with biographical sketches of its prominent men > Part 27
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A Sabbath school in the northern part of the town was founded in 1828, by James Stevens. It assembled on the old homestead of Garret Van Houten, .situated near the mountain, and owned by Samuel Coe. The first Sabbath there were twenty-five scholars, which number was in that summer increased to one hundred, and the next season to two hundred. It continued from that time until a short time since a live and successful school.
TRUE REFORMED CHURCH.
In July 1824, about twenty-eight male and thirty fe- male members renounced their connection with the Re- formed Church at Clarksville, of which Rev. Nicholas Lansing was then pastor, and organized themselves into a separate body by the name of the True Reformed Church at Nanuet, New York.
The first Sabbath, it is said, they held services in a barn on the place now owned by Walter Van Weelden; and from that time until 1826, the year in which their church was built, they occupied an old stone house which stood near the well in the vacant lot between Charles Kreu- der's and S. M. Dow's, then owned by James De Clark. A portion of the upper floor of the building was cut away so as to form a kind of gallery opposite the preacher, and make it accommodate quite a company of people.
At a meeting held July 13th 1824, elders Abram C. De Baun and Jacob P. Demarest were appointed a com- mittee to present a petition to the Classis of Hackensack, of the True Reformed Church of U. S. A., for union with it, which petition was granted the 17th of the fol- lowing month. .
At a meeting held August 25th 1825, a certificate of incorporation was read, adopted, and executed. This certificate was signed by John Hutton, Jacob Talman, Abram De Baun, and Jacob P. Demarest, elders, and . Nicholas Blauvelt, James De Clark, Andrew MacCaudles, and Tunis Blauvelt, deacons.
The first communion service was held February 25th 1826, at which thirty male and thirty-five female mem- bers were present. In July of that year Rev. V. S. Lan- sing was engaged for one year to preach alternate Sab- baths, and was followed by: Rev. James D. Brinkerhoff, 1830-1840; Rev. James D. Demarest, 1843-1852; Rev. Abram Van Houten, 1852-1861; and Rev. John R. Cooper has been its pastor since November, 1865.
There is no Sabbath school connected with the church, but the children are regularly and systematically in- structed in the catechism.
NANUET PUBLIC SCHOOL.
This school can without difficulty be traced back to the year 1812. At that time, Abram C. Blauvelt, the
father of Cornelius A. Blauvelt, was teacher, and was ex- empted from military duty on that account. The school house was an old red building, 1472 by 1372 feet, on the outside, and it stood south of the Yeury barn, about where the road crosses the swamp westward. This build- ing is still standing on Henry E. Insley's place, and bids fair to do good service for many years to come.
The earliest record of a school meeting in this district is that of the one held October 28th 1819. At this, Daniel Joseph Blauvelt, John Hogencamp, and Peter P. Demarest jr. were chosen trustees, and Abram C. Blau- velt, clerk.
In October 1823, Tunis C. Blauvelt was chosen col- lector of the district, and John Hogencamp, treasurer.
In the minutes of an annual ineeting, held July 27th 1839, is found the first mention of a public library. The next year $12.84 was used for the purchase of new libra- ry books. As regards the number of readable books and their condition, this library is now second to no school library in the town.
In 1844, the part now occupied by the primary depart- ment was erected on the same lot where it now stands, but nearer the road and a little farther south, as can be seen by the marks of the old wall. A part of Orange- town was joined to the original school district during this year. The present site was also leased of D. P. Demarest, for thirty years, at $3 per annum, with the privilege of ten additional years; but, in 1869, when the part now occupied by the graminar department was erected, it was purchased for $600.
Samuel Blauvelt, William Hutton jr., and Jacob C. Turfler, are trustees for this year, and H. P. Fay and Miss Laura G. Hill are the teachers.
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
The Nanuet Fire Engine Company was organized in 1860, and consisted of the following members: J. W. Demarest, C. E. Smith, J. W. Hutton, Samuel Blauvelt, Frank Brower, C. L. Ackerson, Henry O. Hutton, Wil- liam H. Snyder, and D. P. Demarest. William H. Sny- der was the first foreman, assisted by J. W. Demarest; John W. Hutton was secretary, C. E. Smith treasurer, and Frank Brower and C. L. Ackerson auditors.
April 5th 1862, it received a charter from the State. At that time it had in addition to the members already mentioned, John Cooper, Joseph G. Demarest, John Wood, Henry Ferdon, Nicholas Lansing Blauvelt, George Hutton, Jacob Gross, George Gross, Abraham D. Clark, Lucius D. Isham, and Jacob C. Haring.
C. D. Ackerson acted as foreman from its organization till 1864, after which he was followed by the parties hereafter named in order and year given: Samuel Blau- velt, 1864; C. E. Smith, 1865; Henry O. Hutton, 1866; James Serven, 1869; Edward Hutton, 1870; Joseph G. Demarest, 1871; William Hutton, 1872; Samuel Blauvelt, 1877; John H. Blauvelt, 1878; William Hutton, 1880.
The present officers are: William Hutton, foreman; Samuel Blauvelt, assistant foreman; John H. Blauvelt, secretary; Joseph G. Demarest, treasurer; and John S.
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CLARKSTOWN-VILLAGES.
Flenders and Edward Hutton, auditors. It has about eighteen members.
The engine house was erected in 1868, and the com- pany held its first regular meeting in it, August 6th of that year. Before it was built the meetings were held in " Mechanics Hall," the name given to the room in the upper part of the wheelwright shop. It was formerly in one room, capable of holding about five hundred persons, and was frequently used as a place of meeting by the Republicans during Lincoln's presidential campaign.
SOCIETIES.
About 1845, several gentlemen in the vicinity of Nanuet, desirous to improve their own intellectual powers, and to benefit the community in which they lived, formed an association known as the Nanuet Debating Society. They purchased the old red school house, and in that they met regularly and discussed the important questions of the day. These meetings and discussions were con- tinued for several years, and without doubt were pro- ductive of much good.
Prominent among the members of this society were C. A. Blauvelt, C. A. De Baun, Andrew Hopper, Abram J. Demarest, David Bogart, and Nicholas C. Blauvelt.
The old school house was destined to be again used for literary and philanthropic purposes, for soon after its abandonment by this society, it was occupied at regu- lar intervals by the Nanuet Temperance Society, in which C. A. Blauvelt, Abram De Baun, and J. I. Foote were leading members.
The date of the opening of the post-office in this vil- lage, as in the case of others in the town, is a matter of previous arrangement.
of doubt. It is certain that it was originally kept in the brick store which David De Clark erected about the time the "Northern Railroad " was built. It then went to the store of D. P. Demarest, thence to its first place, and from there to where it is now located. Edward Hutton, the present postmaster, has held that position since its last removal.
The first telegraph wire through Nanuet was put up in 1852.
The dwelling house south of Samuel Blauvelt's wheel- . wright shop, with the buildings in the rear, were at one time used as a foundry by a man named Brower, but it proved an unsuccessful investment and was soon aban- doned.
The Nanuet Mills stand on the Naurashank Creek, a short distance southwest of the village. The property was purchased of Cornelius Blauvelt by Abram C. Blau- velt, about 1810. At that time it was an old fashioned saw-mill, with machinery. It has since been owned by Aurt Van der Wall, Isaac Pye, David Benson, and the present owner, Gustav Boliz. Mr. Boliz does an active business in ship timber and fire wood. He has also a turning lathe. He is the only party in this vicinity who cuts and stores ice in any considerable quantity. His ice house has a capacity of about 600 tons.
road passing Rev. John R. Cooper's. It then ran far enough south to pass in front of the old red house be- longing to Mrs. D. P. Demarest, just below the school house; then east over the hill by the Reformed Church, past James D. Blauvelt's, and then to Piermont, which was then known as the Tappan Slote.
The old red house just mentioned was probably the first hotel or tavern established in this locality. It was kept by Peter P. Demarest jr., and afterward, for a long time, by his son, D. P. Demarest.
MOUNT MOOR.
This village is situated about two and a half miles east of Nanuet, on the turnpike, about midway between the last named village and Nyack. Although an old village it has no remarkable features or special industries. It has, however, one thing of which it may justly be proud, and that is the handsomest, costliest, and most prosper- ous church in town.
When the post-office was established here is uncertain; but it is believed that this and the office at New City are the oldest ones in Clarkstown. In early times the mail, in the summer season, came from New York to Tappan by boat, thence to this place overland, then to New City and Haverstraw, and back by the way of Rockland Lake. In the winter, when the river was covered with ice, it came all the way from the city overland, and of course was not always "on time." Afterward, arrangements were made to have it come by way of Nyack. At the present time it is carried by the West Shore Railroad, and this undoubtedly gives better satisfaction than any
The office was for many years known as Clarksville; but when the turnpike was cut through the village it was changed to Nyack Turnpike, and so remained until a few years ago, when it assumed its present title. In con- sequence of these several changes in the name of the post office, the village is known by any of the three names mentioned above, and sometimes is spoken of as Clarkstown. The railroad station, a short distance east of Mount Moor, still retains the name of Nyack Turn- pike.
Three hotels, two stores, two wheelwright shops, two blacksmith shops, a butcher shop, a harness shop, and two coal yards, besides what has already been mentioned, make up the business part of the village.
Of the hotels, Knapp's, built thirty-five years since, by Thomas Warner, is the oldest. To this additions have recently been made, and it is now kept by Abram Knapp. The Mount Moor Hotel was built about ten years ago; David Storms is the present proprietor. The West Shore House was built about six months ago, and it is owned by Charles B. Bensen.
THE PROTESTANT REFORMED CHURCH.
As has been said, this should be considered the pride of the village. It was organized in 1749, and it appears to have been the only church in the town until 1824, or
Before the Nyack Turnpike was built, much of the travel through the southern part of the town was by the during a period of seventy-five years. It was, from its
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HISTORY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY.
organization until 1830, under the same ministerial care as the church at Tappan, of which it was a branch.
The first preacher was Dominie Muzelius, who, on ac- count of the infirmities of age, was soon obliged to give up his labors with them. He was followed, in succes- sion, by Revs. Samuel Ver Bryck, Nicholas Lansing, Christopher Hunt, Alexander Warner, Peter J. Quick, Benjamin C. Lippincott, Ferdinand Schenck, and Sam- uel Storms. At present they have no settled pastor, but the pulpit is regularly supplied by Rev. Charles Haga- man, D. D.
The present consistory is composed of Dr. Isaac C. Haring, Sylvester Gesner, Jacob C. Haring, and James D. Blauvelt, elders; and Charles B. Cornelison, Harvey E. Polhamus, Abram Wood, and Aaron Van Zandt, dea- cons.
The Sabbath school connected with this church was organized about forty years ago, with J. J. Demarest as superintendent. It is now in charge of Edward Blau- velt, and averages about fifty scholars. It has about 250 volumes.
The church edifice was erected in 1871, and it cost, with the property connected therewith, $22,000. It is pleasantly situated on the eastern slope of a hill, about a quarter of a mile north of the village.
PUBLIC SCHOOL.
North of the church, a short distance, on the road leading to New City, stands the school house of this dis- trict, which is not in a condition to fill the hearts of the inhabitants with boastful pride, or those of the children with deep respect and reverence for the house of learn- ing.
The building originally cost $1,000. The same site has been used for school purposes for about one hun- | locality long before the Revolutionary war, although fifty dred years.
The first teacher within the recollection of Isaac Pye was a Mr. Barley, F. B. Comesky being the present in- structor. The school officers are Charles E. Blauvelt, William P. Seaman, John M. Benson, trustees, and Isaac Pye, district clerk.
ROCKLAND BREWERY.
About two miles from Mount Moor, on the same road, is the old Rockland Brewery, but it is a brewery no longer, except in name, for it is now mostly used as a hotel and place for evening entertainments. It was built by a New York merchant, named Huber, who, with his associate, Aschenheimer, a prominent physician, worked it by hand and horse power. Aschenheimer and Huber kept the property only two years, and then sold to Kiser and Maas. To the latter it proved an unprofitable in- vestment, and after another two years it went into the hands of their creditors, William Hahn & Co., bankers in New York city. The last of August, 1865, J. G. C. Schmersahl purchased it, remodeled the buildings, built a pond, erected ice houses, put in water works, and sub- stituted steam power for the weaker power then in use,
and so arranged things as to be able to do a large business in a convenient and economical manner. This required an additional expenditure of $65,000. Mr. Schmersahl was an able business man, and with a steady hand and a determined spirit he pushed forward to success. A few years since it again changed hands, but it still remains in the same family. The present proprietors, Schmersahl & Cross, are son and son-in-law of J. G. C. Schmersahl. Considerable attention is given by the present owners to the farm of 53 acres, which is in a good state of cultiva- tion.
Isaac Pye, who owns a fine residence on the west side of the road between the church and school house, is a representative of an old and respected family. His grand-father, David Pye, had eight children, and his father, David Pye jr., also had eight, named David, David D., Catharine, John D., Isaac, Matthew, Sarah, and Edward. Isaac has had three children, David, Edward, and Laura.
ROCKLAND LAKE.
This village is pleasantly situated on the western slope of the mountains which border the Hudson, and com- mands a grand view of the picturesque mountain and lake scenery with which this section abounds. The vil- lage of course takes its name from the beautiful sheet of water, which was known by the Indians as Quashpeake Pond. This name it retained until the industry, which is father to the village, had made a sure foothold here. Gradually the lake assumed the name very appropriately given to the county, and its former name as gradually became unknown, so that but few of the present genera- tion, even in its immediate vicinity, are aware that it was ever anything but Rockland Lake. A few settled in this
years ago there were not half a dozen houses where the village now is.
The old house on the property adjoining John A. Hazard's is a relic of old times, and was often made a target by the British fleet, and from its walls have been taken several of the common six pound shot with which the English used to throw at objects on the land along the river.
The landing until quite recent years was called Slaugh- ter's Landing, which name it received from the fact that during the war the British foraging parties would land here, scour the country around for cattle, collect them on the beach, where they were slaughtered, and after- wards taken on board the vessels.
Within the recollection of some of the older inhabi- tants of the village, the pleasant and well kept street lead- ing to the river was so narrow and in such a poor condi- tion that it was with difficulty two teams could pass each other, and the road, or cart path, as it might better be called, was completely overgrown with grass. But as the hole in the ground gave place to immense ice houses, so the cart path soon became a broad, well-worn, modern street.
CLARKSTOWN-ROCKLAND LAKE.
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KNICKERBOCKER ICE COMPANY .*
Rockland Lake, situated in the town of Clarkstown, Rockland county, 28 miles north of the city of New York, has brought to maturity the present immense ice industry whose infant life had its first development there in the year 1831. The first ice was then taken from the lake to that city. The idea was conceived by three men, residents at Rockland Lake, to supply the metropolis with pure ice, the supply theretofore having been lim- ited to a very small quantity taken from ponds in that city, and used in soda water fountains and pork packers' vaults, being too impure to mix with water for drinking purposes. These pioneers in the ice business were Na- thaniel Barmore, father of the late Alfred Barmore, Presi- dent of the Knickerbocker Ice Company, John J. Felter, and Peter P. Gasque. They dug a hole in the ground about 20 feet square and 15 feet deep, it being thought by them that the ice could not be kept above ground. In this place could be stored about 125 tons, and this was for the next summer's supply. The ice was taken from this place in cars or trucks, the wheels of which were made by sawing pieces about eight inches thick off a round log, with holes in the center to receive the axles. Upon this primitive and ingenious apparatus was placed a square box that held about a ton. This was then put on board a steamboat that made the round trip from Haverstraw in two days, down one day and up the next. The ice was next put in a common horse-cart, and de- livered to the customers about the city, who at that time were but a few of the large hotels.
Two years later these three men associated themselves with seventeen others, mostly neighbors, putting in $100 each, making a capital of $2,000, and took the name of Barmore, Felter & Co. With this cash capital and some credit, they purchased the Slaughter Landing dock prop- erty (as it was then called) and upon it built an ice-house which held about 1,500 tons. The trucks were now laid aside and a small sailing craft, carrying about 30 tons, took their place. A small house was built in New York city to receive the cargoes, whence the ice was delivered to customers at the rate of about 1,000 tons a year. This gave employment in the winter, in the business of saw- ing, cutting, and storing ice, to only about fifteen to twenty men, and but two carts were used in the city to deliver the ice in summer.
About this time dissensions and jealousies-as is usual in most large enterprises-arose, and Mr. Barmore bought out most of his associates and joined with him his brother-in-law, under the name of Barmore, Leonard & Co. Business now began for the first time to assume shape, and other ice houses were erected and barges built for carrying the ice to market. The house in New York was abandoned and wagons in place of carts were put on the streets and loaded direct from the barges. The firm of J. D. Ascough & Co. started in the business in opposition, when a bitter war began, such as is seldom seen even between rival companies. During this contest
the Ulster County Ice Company started, building an ice house on Rondout Creek. Some good, however, resulted from this competition, namely, the more general intro- duction of ice into private families, restaurants, etc.
In 1841, Cheeseman & Andrews built a large house at Rockland Lake. Then C. R. Wortendyke and John Wright built a small house at Rockland Lake and anoth- er in Catskill Creek. In 1844 or 1845 the house of Cheeseman & Andrews was destroyed by lightning. It, however, was then the property of J. D. Ascough & Co., Cheeseman having built a house at Flatbush, the first one on the Hudson River. In 1853 the elder Mr. Barmore (Nathaniel), withdrew from the business, disposing of his interest to Mr. E. E. Conklin. Business was continued under the name of A. Barmore & Co.
Up to 1855 all the business was done by the three firms, J. D. Ascough & Company, A. Barmore & Com- pany, and Ulster County Ice Company-all the others having sold out or failed. In that year these three com. panies consolidated their business and incorporated under the name of the Knickerbocker Ice Company, with a capital of $900,000, all paid up and clear of debt. The increase of trade stimulated other parties to go into busi- ness, until finding the competition unhealthful they either retired or sold out to the Knickerbocker Ice Company. From that time to the present, during all the vicissitudes of business, and an active, at times even violent, compe- tition for trade, the Knickerbocker Ice Company con- tinued to add to the plant at Rockland Lake, erecting large ice houses, and an inclined plane railway connect- ing the store houses with their wharves on the Hudson River, where a fleet of sixty ice barges, and other coast- ing and off-shore vessels find good berths for loading. Their capital has increased to $2,000,000, and they have recently connected their store houses at Rockland Lake and adjacent waters, by a branch railway to the New York, Ontario and Western Railway tracks, thus giving them an outlet for the shipment of ice over the railway system of the entire country. The amount of their cap- ital invested in Rockland Lake and surroundings is a material item of assessed valuation, lessening the burdens of other tax payers considerably; and the amount annu- ally paid to laborers in the county is a material aid to the laboring classes and the farming community. The labor of gathering ice is done in the winter season, when other fields of labor are scarce. The number of men then employed ranges from 2,500 to 3,000 men, at this place alone.
It will well repay a visit here to inspect the monster houses and various ice-handling appliances which the Company have here in Rockland Lake, and it must be borne in mind that this is only one of many places at which the Knickerbocker Ice Company store and ship this important article.
The store-houses, of course, first attract the attention of the visitor. Two of these are 364 by 157 feet, with 40-foot posts, and above the plates the roof rises thirteen feet higher. These are each divided into seven rooms, of equal size, by means of double partitions extending
*Furnished by L. O. REEVE, Secretary.
1
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HISTORY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY.
through them. These partitions, as well as the outside in the yard. Belonging to the establishnient is a large walls, are double, and the intervening spaces of eighteen barn, 120 by 60 feet, where sixty horses car be comfort- ably quartered.
Mr. John A. Hazard, the resident superintendent, has gle engine located in a detached engine-house about mid. been connected with the ice business from boyhood, and
inches are filled to the top with sawdust. Each room has an elevator, and all the elevators are driven by a sin- way of the building. The belt passing from this engine to the main shaft over which the elevators revolve is of gigantic proportion, and cost about $600. The cost of each of these mammoth houses is equal to that of a pa- latial residence in the city-$50,000. Their combined capacity is a hundred and one thousand tons. Theother houses are smaller, one being 240 by 220 feet, with 31- foot posts; the other 250 by 95 feet, with 25-foot posts. Their capacities are forty thousand and fourteen thou- sand tons, respectively. In all, there are nineteen ele- vators, which carry the ice to the houses, and in the cut- ting season six hundred to seven hundred men are em- ployed to keep everything in constant motion; and the daily expenses, at this time, amount to $1,200 or $1,300. When the season is favorable, about three weeks are re- quired to gather the yearly harvest. Much is shipped as soon as it is taken from the water. In the winter of 1883-4 sixty thousand tons were thus disposed of. A passage was kept open through the ice in the Hudson to enable boats to pass back and forth, and there was a large quantity sent by the West Shore Railroad, from which a track runs directly to one of the houses.
The company owns twelve or thirteen steamboats and seventy or eighty barges. The latter vary in capacity from three hundred to fifteen hundred tons. After the cutting is done, no more is shipped from this point until about the middle of May, when the weather begins to be warm, and it cannot be obtained from more distant places in sufficient quantities to supply the demand.
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