History of Rockland County, New York : with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Part 75

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 75

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After the Revolution arose another range of topics for discussion at the firesides and in the little stores and | and also aid in opening a way for them to join forces.

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HISTORY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY.

The forts were well planned and built for the purpose of defending the river and preventing a passage by water, but were poorly prepared for a defence on the land side, and were manned by less than six hundred men.

On the opposite side of the river, and but a short dis- tance below, was Fort Independence, where were gathered a large quantity of supplies and ammunition. The Ameri- can forces in this region were at that time under command of General Putnam, who had his headquarters at Peekskill. The governor of New York, General George Clinton, was in command of Fort Clinton, and his brother, General James Clinton, was in command of Fort Montgomery.

" Early in May, subsequent to the date of the preced- ing letter, I went down the river in company with several officers to examine the Forts Montgomery and Clinton, Sir Henry Clinton embarked between 3,000 and 4,000 men at New York and, proceeding up the Hudson, dis- embarked October 5th, at Verplancks Point, to draw the enemy's attention from the river. General Putnam be. lieved the intention was to destroy the stores at Fort In- dependence, and disposed his forces for the defence of that post. On the morning of October 6th, under cover of the darkness and a fog which prevailed, the British commander crossed to Stony Point and proceeded by a route which led by the old King's Ferry road across Nap- pie's Kill near Brooks' blacksmith shop. At or near where the school house now stands, above Resolvert Waldron's, a built on a point, six or eight miles below West Point, for the defense of the river. The first object which met our eyes, after we had left onr barge and ascended the bank, was the remains of a fire kindled by the cottagers of this solitude, for the purpose of consuming the bones of some of the Americans who had fallen at this place and had been left unburied. Some of the bones were lying, par- tially consumed, round the spot where the fire had been kindled, and some had evidently been converted into ashes. As we went onward we were distressed by the factor of the decayed human bodies. To me this was a novelty, and more overwhelming and dispiriting than I detachment was left " to occupy the pass and preserve the | am able to describe. As we were attempting to discover communication with the fleet." The army then marched the source from which it proceeded, we found, at a small under frowning cliffs to Doodletown where there was a distance from Fort Montgomery, a pond of moderate division of the forces. The right column of 1,500 men, under Generals Vaughan and Tryon, halted to give the left column, consisting of 1,500 men under Lieutenant General Campbell, time to make the detour to the northwest and encompass Fort Montgomery at the same moment.

So well was the matter planned and so rapid were the depth so small as to leave them distinctly visible. Others movements, that both forts were simultaneously surprised had an arm, a leg, and a part of the body above the sur- face. The clothes which they wore when they were killed were still on them, and proved that they were militia, being the ordinary dress of farmers. Their faces were bloated and monstrous; and their postures were uncouth, distorted, and in the highest degree afflictive. My companions had been accustomed to the horrors of war, and sustained the prospect with some degree of firmness. To me, a novice in scenes of this nature, it was overwhelming. I surveyed it for a moment and lastened away. and carried by assault at between four and five o'clock in the afternoon. A tory named Peter Keesler is said to have been the guide across the Dunderberg, to Sir Henry Clinton, who commanded that division in person, accom- panied by Generals Vaughan and Tryon. Lieutenant Colonel Campbell commanded the second division in its attack on Fort Montgomery and lost his life. Both forts were defended with great courage and resolution and the garrisons were almost massacred. The few who escaped with their lives betook themselves to the mountains or crossed the river under cover of the darkness of night.

The forts were then set on fire and everything destroyed. The bodies of the dead were not buried, but many of them were thrown into a pond, not into the lake.

The American loss was 250, and that of the British over 300. Governor Clinton escaped across the river. His brother, General Clinton, was severely wounded by a bayonet, but succeeded in escaping.

The British vessels had, in the meantinie, come up the „river, and had participated in the contest, throwing shot into Fort Clinton.

When the Americans found that the forts were de- stroyed, they endeavored to remove their vessels, consist- ing of "two frigates, two galleys and an armed sloop," which lay above the boom and chain. The sails were set

and the cables slipped, but the wind was adverse, So it was decided to destroy them by fire. The scene was one of unequalled magnificence and grandeur.

On the following morning the chain was removed and the British fleet moved north to the destruction of the capital of the State.

The following is an extract from the Travels of Timo. thy Dwight, S. T. D., LL. D., President of Yale Col- lege:

size, in which we saw the bodies of several mnen, who had been killed in the assault on the fort. They were thrown into this pond the preceding autumnn by the British, when probably the water was sufficiently deep to cover them. Some of them were covered at this time, but at a

"From this combination of painful objects we proceeded to Fort Clinton, built on a rising ground at a small distance further down the river, The ruins of this fortress were a mere counterpart to those of Fort Montgomery. Every- thing combustible in both had been burned, and what was not was extensively thrown down. Everything which remained was a melancholy picture of destruction.

"From this point we proceeded to find the grave of Count Grabowski, a Polish nobleman, who was killed in the assault, while acting as aid.de-camp to the British commander. The spot was pointed out to us by Lien- tenant-Colonel Livingston, who saw him fall, and informed 18 that he was buried in the place where he was killed Ilere we found a grave, in all probability that in which he was buried, without a stone to tell where he lay, and

327

STONY POINT-FERRIES-THE NEW BRIDGE.

now forgotten and undiscoverable, a humiliating termina- tion of a restless, vain, ambitious life."

FERRIES.

The Kings Ferry is of historic interest. It was estab. lished in or about the year 1775, to facilitate the move- ments of troops. Its eastern terminus was on Verplancks Point, and its western terminus on the sandy beach on the north of Stony Point. At low water, old timbers still

At Grassy Point for many years a ferry has been inain- tained, running to Cruger's, in connection with the Hud- son River Railroad. For over thirty years the United States mails for Haverstraw and Stony Point were taken by this ferry, and tales of winter peril by crossing the wide river in an open boat are found in almost every family. For a part of the time stearn has been used, but ordinarily, human muscle has been relied upon to propel the boat with its precious freight of express packages, mails, and human beings. Through the cautious and skillful labor of those in charge, generally H. L. Kipley and his sons, no serious accident ever occurred, and no human life was ever lost.

At Caldwells a row boat ferry to Peekskill has been maintained for many years. In the year 1834, Samuel Bard undertook to run a ferry regularly from Peekskill to Gibraltar, now Caldwells. It was agreed to run from April to November of each year, and from 5 o'clock A. M. to 9 P.M. Steamboats between Albany and New York landed at Caldwells, and this ferry was intended to connect with thein. It was thus maintained until the opening of the Hudson River Railroad made it un- profitable.

PENNY BRIDGE.

A bridge was built near the site of the present struc- ture many years ago, by driving stakes or piles into the mud. and fastening beams and planks thereto for a road- bed. The first structure of that kind, of which we find certain account, was built by Dr. (Richard ?) Proudfit, in (or about) the year 1833, though a bridge had been erected there even before that. This was but a poor structure, and in 1849, April roth, a company was duly incorporated, under the name of "The North Haverstraw and Grassy Point Bridge Company." Of this corpora- tion, Samuel Knapp was president, and William Govan, secretary. This company built a new bridge of iron.

In the year 1866, the bridge, which had proved unprof. itable as a toll bridge, was turned over to the town, and assumed as one of the public highways.

Large sums of money were continually expended upon this structure, till, in the year 1883, competent engineers

pronounced it unsafe, and advised that it be removed, and a new bridge be erected on entirely new founda- tions. In accordance with these counsels, the town ob- tained permission from the Board of Supervisors to raise the necessary amount of money, and, at an expenditure of over fifteen thousand dollars, has erected a bridge, of which the following description is furnished by G S. Roberts, the engineer in charge:

" The foundation of the center pier is composed of one show where the western terminus reached the shore, and | hundred and fourteen (114) piles solidly driven into a where the wagons must have come to transfer their loads to the boats. From this point an old road may be traced, leading across the property of Captain John Ten Eycke to the old Stony Point road. Along this road are depres- sions and stones, indicating the former presence of a long line of buildings, some of which were standing and | bearing. The piles were all cut off under water at the occupied until a comparatively recent time. firm bottom which is rendered firmer by the driving, as was proved by some of the center piles which were driven after the others had been cut off and the machine could float over thein. It was impossible to drive them as deep as the first, though they took an equally solid same height by machine, stone filled in around them 10 prevent any horizontal movement and then capped by a grillage twenty inches thick made of two courses of tim- ber crossing each other, the lower course eight inches thick and sixteen inches wide laid flush with close joints.

" The upper course is of twelve inch timber securely spiked to the lower one and the whole fastened to the piles by drift bolts.

" The smooth and solid bottoni ensures that each pile has its full effect as a bearer and the width of the tim- ber secures a sufficiently uniform support for each, al- lowing for any irregularity in the position of the piles.

"The pier is built upon this foundation in a most solid manner, of a hard red sandstone from the quarry below Haverstraw.

" The end piers are constructed in the same manner.

" The superstructure is a through bridge one hundred and forty feet six inches long, having an eighteen foot roadway.

" The side trusses have a curved upper chord which gives the bridge a strong and pleasing appearance.

" The strains resulting from the weight of the bridge itself and its loads in various conditions have been cal- culated for each member of the bridge and the sizes pro- portioned so that no part shall be strained more than ten thousand pounds for each square inch of cross section and generally much less than that. As it takes fifty thou- sand pounds, similarly applied, to break the iron and twenty-five thousand to injure it or give it a permanent set, the bridge must be sufficiently strong.

"To test the strength of the iron several specimens were bent cold, and three full sized specimens, the same as were used in the bridge, were tested on the Fairbank's testing machine with very satisfactory results. One of the four by six angle irons of the chords stood a strain of two hundred and seven thousand pounds before break - ing, and one hundred and twenty thousand without in- jury, while twenty-five thousand is the greatest strain it is called upon to bear.

"The turn table merits special attention, being so con- structed as to work both as center bearing and rim bear- ing, it may be said to be double acting.

"Generally the greater part of the weight of the bridge

Daniel Fontaine

328

HISTORY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY.

is carried on the center pier for greater ease in turning, the rollers merely acting to steady the movement; but in this bridge, if necessary, the pin can be removed to be cleaned or repaired, the bridge meanwhile turning on the rollers. Should any of the rollers require to be removed or adjusted, the weight of the bridge may be thrown en- tirely upon the centre pier, leaving them free. Should it be desired to change the wear upon the rollers, it is sim- ply necessary to raise the bridge on the center pier, when the rollers can be turned by hand as desired.

" The bridge is itself double acting, as it can turn either way and end for end.

" The ease with which the bridge is opened tells of its perfect working, one man being able to open it in one minute and a quarter.

"The fender work shows for itself, but attention may be lumbered on the mountain.

called to the fact of its not being rigid, but yielding, so that when struck it wards off the boats with the least possible damage to itself and them. Too great yielding is prevented by the buffer and brace piles placed inside for that purpose.

"The water way is changed from the old bridge, hav- ing been widened and made parallel to the channel, so that boats are not obliged to sheer in passing through as it was carried on under the firm name of F. J. Miles & they used to do.

" The contractors have done the work in the best and most lasting way possible."

KIDD'S DAM.

At the extreme point of the Dunderberg, at Caldwells Landing, is pointed out the remains of a coffer dam, which is called " Kidd's Dam."

Early in the present century, a man came to Caldwells in search of ores, and tested, with a divining rod, points suspected of hiding pre cious treasures. High up on the mountain side he found indications of a specially rich vein which he had followed for a long distance from the east. A shaft was accordingly sunk to a great depth, but without reaching the coveted ore. Some one suggested the wisdom of starting a shaft lower down at the water's edge, which should sooner reach the vein below.

Then came one of those strange hallucinations, which, having their origin in dreams or vain imaginations, have so often grown into self delusion, fraud, and crime.

Doubtless money was wanted, and it may be the as- tute originator was well enough acquainted with human nature, to know that men who would not put their money into a legitimate effort of honest improvement, would willingly part with it in a scheme of transparent folly.

A joint stock company was formed, whose object was to raise the ship of the famous pirate, Captain Kidd, which had been sunk in a storm at that very spot, and was laden with untold treasures. Strange as it may seem, a large amount of stock was sold. Small cannon and bits of ancient coin were brought up from the depths below. A costly coffer dam was built. A steam engine was erected to work great pumps. One of the cannon was set in the curb of the sidewalk at the corner of Wall and Broad streets, New York; another is to-day in the pos-

session of Mr. Blakely, at Verplanck. In the active op- erations of the company, we find the names of Abram V. Thompson and Henry Sheldon, his son-in-law.

Captain Crane was the engineer in charge. The work was continued for about four years, and it was reported that $80,ooo were expended. From ten to forty men were constantly employed. Agents were employed in England to sell the stock. One enthusiastic merchant in New York invested $20,000. But one day, the engine which for inonths had pumped the water from the Hud- son from one side of the coffer dam stopped. No more money, above or below, could be found. The sheriff sold the property to one - Halstead, and he to

-Caldwell, from whom the place has borne the name of Caldwells Landing. Caldwell kept a hotel and

GRASSY POINT.

The principal industry at Grassy Point has been the making of bricks; but the clay and sand are well nigh exhausted. In the year 1845, John Miles, an Englishman, established an iron foundry there, and continued its op- eration till his death, in 1852. From that date till 1855

Co., and, since the latter date, by the present firm, A. M. & W. H Miles.

The works have been largely improved and their op- erations increased, so that they now manufacture all kinds of machinery. Their specialties are brick-making machinery, and machines for flour mills and saw mills. They employ upward of sixty men, and have rarely stopped a day on account of dull times.

The steamboat landing at this place is one of the finest on the river. The depth of water allows the largest ves- sels to approach and make their landings in perfect safety.

IONA ISLAND.

The beautiful island called Iona was first occupied as a residence by Andrew Weygant, Wygans, or Wagens, as the name is variously spelled. It is composed of some 200 acres of marsh which is overflowed by the high tides, 60 acres of rocky woodland, and about 40 acres which has been cleared for tillage. Here E. W. Grant M. D., engaged in the propagation of grape vines for many years. He had at one time a vineyard of twenty acres, several thousand fruit trees, and eleven large houses for propagation. He gave up the business about twenty years ago, since which time the island has passed through several hands, and for two years past has been fitted up and occupied as a picnic and pleasure ground. It is visited annually by many thousand people, from New York and neighboring cities, who desire to visit the his- toric scenes of the Highlands. Here one may sit under the shade of the great trees and watch the ever varying river with its moving panorama of steani and sailing ves- sels, or long tows of canal boats from the great lakes or the Canadas. Up the river frowns upon him the height of Anthony's Nose, and as he watches the long train of cars

Theodor

F. Tomateras

neodtere.

STONY POINT-SINNIPINK-GEOLOGY.

329

rolling through the tunnel at its base, perchance a mighty sturgeon leaps high in the air and falls with a splash which awakens the echoes. Then he recalls how, accord- ing to Drake, a veracious historian, on one bright sum- mer morning, as Anthony the trumpeter sailed that way, the death of a like sturgeon was the cause for giving the promontory the name it bears. The eye follows the cars as they rapidly pass to the south, and the gaze rests on Roay Hook, the ruins of Fort Independence, and Peeks- kill in the distance. On the opposite side of the river and above him he sees Forts Montgomery and Clinton, formerly separated by the Deep Kill, now united by the long bridge of the new West Shore Railroad. In vision he sees the great boom and chain which the Americans have stretched from Anthony's Nose to Fort Montgomery. He hears the clash of arms, the thunder of cannon, as these forts are surprised and their garrisons massacred. He sees the burning vessels, the lurid glare lighting up the mountains around him, and the explosions of their guns, and finally of their magazines, filling the patriots' souls with distress and terror. Or perchance this sum- mer afternoon he beholds the thunder clouds on Bear Hill, or hears the " Bulbous little Dutch goblin " of the Dunderberg piping his forces to a midsummer tempest.

All around him the scenes are alive with historic in- terest, and decorated with the mystic fancy of Drake or the bubbling wit of Irving.

LAKE SINNIPINK.

In the northeast part of the town and on the side of Bear Hill is Lake Sinnipink, a sheet of clear cold water, like a great spring on the mountain side. It is sometimes called Hessian Lake, from the slaughter on its banks of the Hessian troops in the assanlt of Fort Clinton. It is said that the bodies of these men were thrown into the lake. It is well known that the remains of the dead were not buried either at Fort Clinton or at Fort Mont- gomery, and an eye witness, writing six months after the battle, and speaking of the condition of the unburied bodies at that time, says that many of them were cast into a small pond.

The first ice house at this lake was built by William Lyons.

After two years he was succeeded in the business by Messrs. Brown, - & Brown, who conducted the ice business for three years, and disposed of it to the Knick- erbocker Ice Co., who greatly enlarged and rebuilt. This company continued in possession for about twenty- five years, when they disposed of the property to A. C. Cheney, the present proprietor. He has largely increased the buildings, till now their capacity is 40,000 tons. By means of "inclined wooden ways " the ice is sent by the force of gravity to the ice houses where it is stored, and in the summer it is sent still further down the "ways " to the boats at the end of the dock. Great blocks of ice are thus easily moved from point to point.

The lake is stocked with an abundance of perch and bass, and carefully guarded from unlawful fishermen.

For a few years past this lake has been called High- land Lake.

GEOLOGY OF THE TOWN OF STONY POINT .*

The mountains which form the northern part of the town of Stony Point belong to the earliest period of the most ancient age of geological time; viz., the Saurential period of the Archæan age, and stood as islands in the ancient sea which covered the greater part of this region. They were uplifted before animal life or vegetation ex- isted, and therefore contain no fossils. They are, how- ever, rich in minerals and contain valuable ores. Iron ore (magnetite) is found in abundance, graphite is also found, and, it is said, gold and silver. There is no geo- logical reason why the latter ores may not be found, but as yet they certainly have not rewarded the many dili- gent searchers, if found at all.

The mountains are composed of granite, gneiss, and syenite. These rocks would make superior building stone but for the presence of iron, which causes them to discolor when exposed to the weather. Coal has often been sought for but it is useless to look for it in rocks of this age. Coal, being the result of vegetable accumu- lation, cannot precede the era of vegetation.

The shore of the sea, which washed the southern slope of the Highlands in ancient times, extended from near Tomkins Cove in a southwesterly direction, and is inarked by the beginning of the red and gray sandstones which were formed by deposit as a sediment in the bed of this body of water. These sandstones cover nearly all of the town of Stony Point south of the mountains, and belong to the Triassic period of the Mesozoic age. They extend in a constantly narrowing and wedge shaped deposit to the eastern base of the Blue Ridge in North Carolina, being four miles wide at the James River, six at the Potomac, twelve at the Susquehanna, thirty at the Delaware, and extending along the Hudson from New York nearly to Tomkins Cove.

This sandstone is the well known brown stone used extensively in New York as a building stone. The foot prints marked in this stone while it was yet a soft and yielding sediment have given us much knowledge of the remarkable birds that waded in the shallow waters of this great estuary. The largest of the tracks was nearly two feet long, and from its depth and the great length of stride it is evident that the bird was tall and heavy- probably fourteen feet high, larger than the ostrich or the great birds of New Zealand. These foot prints have not, as far as I ain aware, been found in this locality, but elsewhere in rocks of the same kind and belonging to the same period, they are frequently found; perhaps a more careful study will reveal them here.

The shore of the Hudson River in this township bears evidence of the fact that the water at one time was far above its present level, and rushed through the gap in the mountains with great velocity, bringing with it great quantities of mud; sand, and pebbles, which were de- posited in the comparatively still water to the south of the Highland range, forming the beds of clay, sand, and gravel which now terrace the river banks and provide material for the brick maker. These deposits belong to

. By Colonel C. J. Wright.

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HISTORY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY.

the Champlain period of the Quarternary age; this period was undoubtedly the time of the melting of the great glaciers which had covered the larger part of North

miles west of Grassy Point. The most extravagant re- ports were circulated in relation to this quarry soon after its discovery. The rock is composed of serpentine, America, as glaciers now cover Greenland, and which chlorite, diallage, hornblende, limestone, and other sub- transported southward the boulders that are scattered stances, and is such a mixture of materials of different degrees of hardness, that it could never be polished with advantage, even if it could be easily quarried. over the hills and valleys of this township to the height of over one thousand feet above tide water. These boulders are like the pebbles in the sand bank, very dif- ferent from the rocks near which they are found, and can, with a great degree of certainty, be traced to the locality from which ice and water have transported them. We trace them to the Mohawk Valley, the Lake Cham- plain region, the Upper Hudson, etc.

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History of Rockland County, New York : with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Part 75

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