USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers. > Part 120
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IX .- PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST.
It was the court of common pleas that held its first ses- sion at the house of Samuel Clark, in Malta ; but judicial honors were not confined to that point. For the first three or four years the county-seat was something of a peripatetie affairs-the clerk at one point, one court in one town, and another in another. The circuit court and court of oyer and terminer held their first sessions at Clifton Park village, July 7, 1791. There eame Chief Justice Robert Yates with all the judges of common pleas and two justices of the peace, Adrian Hegeman and Epenetus White. This array constituted the bench of that dignified and really illustrious tribunal. It met in the house of Jedediah Rogers. As to other places of historic events, the old ferries constitute properly what might be named under this title. It is dif- ficult to tell just how old they are. So near to Schenectady, involving often the safety or the danger of that place, they must frequently have been guarded for military purposes and crossed by contending armies. The French and Indian force that destroyed Schenectady, in 1690, no doubt moved over the soil of this town and crossed the rivers within its limits.
An old Indian burying-ground is to be seen in the woods of Jacob Van Vranken, under a chestnut-tree. Several In- dians dying in this vicinity, within the memory of persons yet living, were buried there; those remnants of the dusky tribes desiring to sleep amid the dust of their fathers.
The destruction of a corn-field, in the early French war, is spoken of in some histories as having taken place some- where near the present site of Rexford Flats.
X .- INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS.
There are many valuable farms in this town. The soil is fertile, and under careful cultivation yields abundantly.
All the usual erops of the county are produced. Some years large quantities of potatoes have been shipped from Rexford Flats.
XI .- MILITARY.
The only record of Revolutionary soldiers we have for this town consists of the items appearing in the account of early settlement.
WAR OF 1812.
Lieut .- Col. Shubael Taylor, of Clifton Park village, has kindly furnished the following muster-roll of the veterans
B.R. CALDWELL.
MRS B.R. CALDWELL.
PHOTOS BY C. BURGESS & CO.SCHENECTADY.)
EMMOR J. CALDWELL
MRS.EMMOR J. CALDWELL.
-.
RESIDENCE OF B. R.CALDWELL, CLIFTON PARK, SARATOGA CO,N. Y.
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
of the War of 1812, made by order of John S. Van Rens- selaer, commander-in-chief of said veterans :
Clifton Park .- Henry Palmer, James Groom, Adam R. Van Vranken, Michael Doty, John Millins, Peter Doty, Solomon C. Peck, Everett Hawley, Richard Spire, David Wiltsie, Andrew Evans, Jeremiah Clute, Deacon Palmer, Timothy Doughty.
WAR OF 1861-65.
The following list has been prepared as accurately as seems possible, from various sources. It is unfortunate for the completeness and accuracy of this war-history, that no record was written up in the town clerk's office, as directed by the law of 1865.
Samuel Allen, enl. Aug. 11, 1862, 115th Regt., C'o. II. John Anderson, enl, Ang. 11, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H. Peter Butler, enl. Aug. 13, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. Il. Jeremiah Baldry, ent. Sept. 24, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. F. Joseph P. Bowers, onl. Sept. 22, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. F.
Samuel S. Butler, enl. Jan. 18, 1864, 13th Art , Co. E. Win Butler, enl. Jan. 11, 1864, 13th Art., Co. E.
Anthony S. Badgely, enl. Jan. 11, 1864, 13th Art., Co. E. Martin V. B. Billings, enl. Jan. 18, 1863, 13th Art., Co. F.
David Borst, enl. Sept. 24, 1861, 77th Regt , Co. F.
David Barker, enl. Sept. 24, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F; disch. for disability, July 5. 1863.
John Barker, enl. Sept. 24, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F.
Henry Clark, enl. Aug. 8, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II ; musician.
John Cud .ey, enl. July 26, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. Il. Abram Clark, enl. Sept. 22, 1862, 153d Regt., Co F. Albert Carnall, enl. Sept. 11, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. F. Van Rensselaer ('onklin, enl. Oct. 3, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G. Ransom Conklin, enl. Oct. 2, 1862, 13d Regt., Co. G.
Levi Clapper, enl. Oct. 1, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. B; fifer.
Sidney T. Cornell, enl. Ang. 14, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. C.
George W. Cornell, enl. Sept. 24, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F; sergt .; died May G, 1862, on the passage home,
Jacob II. CIute, Jr., en1. Feb. 13, 1863, 12th N. Y. Cav., Co. B; re-enl. May 18, 1864 ; disch. Ang. 21, 1865.
Charles II. De Graff, ent. July 21, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II. Robert De Graff, enl. Sept. 22, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. F.
George Davis, enl. Aug. 22, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G. Levi De Graff, en1. Jan. 4, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F. Edward 11. Dater, enl. Sept. 24, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F; died May 6, 1861.
David HI. Dater, enl. Sept. 24, 1861, 77th Regt., Co F.
Wm. H. Evarts, enl. Ang. 15, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H. Edward Evans, enl. Sept. 24, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F. William Filkins, enl. Jan. 18, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F. John Fisher, enl. Jan. 5, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F. Peter Friel, enl. Feb. 5, 1864, 13tb Art., Co. F. George Gregory, enl. Jan. 12, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F. Wesley Heyner, enl. Aug. 11, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II ; sergt.
James Haley, enl. Jan. 11, 1864, 13th Art., Co. E. Thomas R. Holland, enl. Jan. 9, 1864, 13th Art., Co. E. Wm. HI. Haylock, Il5th Regt., Co. IT; corporal. James Johnson, enl. Sept. 22, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G. Albert Jones, enl. Sept. 29, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G. John Jones, enl. Oct. 14, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F.
Lyman Jolins, enl. Nov. 23, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F. Christian C. Kellogg, enl. Sept. 28, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G. John Kelley, en1. Jan. 1, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F. John Il. Lapius, enl. Ang 2, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. IT. Michart Lamey, ent. Oct. 16, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F.
Andrew S. McEchron, enl. Jan. 11, 1864, 13th Art., Co. E.
Christopher Mulligan, enl. Jan. 5, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F; he luul been a member of the 77th Regt., Co. F.
Robert McPherson, enl. Sept. 24, 1861. 77th Regt., Co. F.
Matthew Mulligan, enl. Oct. 21, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F. John Mulligan, enl. July 2, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II.
Benjamin Northrup, enl. Aug. 13, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II. Henry C. Peterson, enl. July 26, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II. Wm. D. Peterson, enl. Sept. 24, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F. James Roach, enl. Dec. 29, 1863, 13th Art., Co. F.
Itenben Stokam, enl. Oct. 4, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G.
Lewis Shouts, enl. Dec. 28, 1863, 13th Art., Co. F; had been in 77th Regt. Co. F, from Sept. 29, 1861, to April 21, 1862. Peter B. Simmons, enl. Sept. 24, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F. John Simmons, enl. Sept. 24, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F.
Wm. Van Sansbury, enl. Nov. 1, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F. Orlando Swartwout, enl. Oct. 14, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H. W'm. II. Shouts, en1. Ang. 14, 1562, 115th Regt., Co. Il.
Andrew Stewart, enl. Aug. 11, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H.
Jeremiah Stebbins, enl. Sept. 21, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F; sergt .; trans, to Co. D, Dec. 9, 1863.
William Taylor, enl. July 26, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. HI. W'm. D. Town, enl. Oct. 13, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G; musician. Christian Walker, enl. Jan. 5, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F. Alexander HI. Wicks, enl. Sept. 24, 1864, 77th Regt., Co. F.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
BARNEY R. CALDWELL,
son of Peter Caldwell, was born in Schoharie Co., N. Y., Dec. 2, 1823. llis father was born in Dutchess Co., N. Y., Dec. 26, 1786, and died in Saratoga County, Oct. 9, 1877, aged ninety-one years. His wife, Elizabeth (Snyder) Caldwell, still survives him, and now resides in Saratoga County with her youngest daughter.
B. R. Caldwell was the sixth in the family of ten chil- dren,-six boys and four girls,-of whom nine are still living. His education was limited to the common schools of Rensselaer and Saratoga counties. On Nov. 21, 1846, he married Sarah C. Pink, daughter of Jacob Pink, of Rensselaer county. By this union one son was born to them, namely, Emmor J., born Oct. 12: 1855; married Ettie L. Garnsey, of Saratoga County.
After his marriage Mr. Caldwell commenced life empty- handed, working for his father on the farm. In 1849 he moved to Montgomery county and purchased a farm with his brother Peter. In 1855 he purchased his brother's interest in the farm, and remained there till 1868, when he sold out and removed to Saratoga County and purchased his present farm of one hundred and forty-seven acres, a view of which, together with the portraits of himself and wife and son and wife, may be seen elsewhere in this work.
In politics he was first a Whig, and upon the formation of the Republican party joined its ranks, remaining firm in its principles, receiving various local offices from the suf- frages of his townsmen, such as constable, justice of the peace, supervisor for the years 1873-74, and school trustee for several years.
In religious sentiment he is a Methodist, both he and his wife being members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Fonda, N. Y. Mr. Caldwell is a thorough farmer, a good citizen, and deservedly enjoys the esteem of all who know him.
NICHOLAS J. CLUTE,
the oldest in a family of three children, was born in Sara- toga Co., N. Y., Sept. 12, 1820. Ilis father, Jeremiah Clute, was born in Albany county in 1796, and settled in Saratoga County when a young man and engaged in farm- ing. After about ten years he embarked in the mercantile business, and kept a hotel in connection with it in the vil- lage of Cohoes. Subsequently he became a manufacturer at the same place.
When he was about sixty years of age he retired from business and came back to Saratoga County, where he re- sided till his death in 1877, aged eighty-one years.
Nicholas' education was limited to the common schools
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
of Albany county, supplemented by two years at the academy at Bennington, Vt. After he left school he clerked it for three years in his uncle's store in Saratoga County. He married for his first wife Miss Rachel H. Clute. By this union one child was born to them, who died in infancy.
Mrs. Clute died March 23, 1849, and on July 1, 1851, he was again united in marriage, with Louisa E., daughter of James and Lois Sherman, of Clifton Park. The result of this union was eleven children, six of whom are now living. Helen, the eldest, married Lydell Whitehead, of New Jersey, and now resides in Clifton Park. Anna, the second daughter, married Truman G. Younglove, Jr., son of the Hon. T. G. Younglove, of Crescent, Saratoga Co., and now resides at Crescent. After his marriage he com- meneed life, almost empty-handed, as a merchant and a farmer, and in addition to these, for the past twenty-six years he has been engaged in the building and repairing of boats on the Erie canal. Mr. Chute has been super- visor of Clifton Park for four years, and was chairman of the board for the year 1872.
Politically he was originally a Whig, but a Republican since the formation of that party. Is at present one of the directors of the Manufacturers' Bank at Cohoes.
Mr. Clute, by industry and economy, has accumulated a fine property, and now owns three hundred and fifty-four acres of fine land, mostly in Clifton Park, and is honored and esteemed by all who know him. A view of his resi- dence and store and premises, together with the portraits of himself and wife, may be seen on the pages of this work.
LEWIS R. GARNSEY.
John Garnsey, Sr., came from England at the age of seven years, and lived at Old Milford, Conn. He had five sons and three daughters. He married Ann Peck, moved to Nine Partners, Amenia, Dutchess Co., and died there, the actual date being unknown.
John Garnsey, Jr., one of his sons, had fifteen children, and died at Nine Partners. Peter Garnsey, another son, lived at Nine Partners. Nathan Garnsey, another son, married Nancy Hunter, and near the close of the Revolu- tionary war removed from Nine Partners to Half-Moon, Saratoga Co. Noah Garnsey, another son, had a family. Daniel Garnsey, another son, went to Canada, after which no definite information of his whereabouts or pursuits was received.
The subject of this sketch traces his descent from Na-
than Garnsey. Nathan Garnsey had two sons and three daughters, viz., Nathan, David, Naney, Eunice, and Esther. David married Esther Rogers, in 1806, and had ten chil- dren, of whom Lewis R. Garnsey was the third.
Lewis R. Garnsey was born in 1810. He pursued farm- ing in company with his father until the death of the latter, in 1831, after which he continued the business at the same place. He received a common-school education. In 1859, when forty-nine years of age, he married Augusta S. Groom, by whom he had five children, viz., Esther L., Lewis R., Jr., Nathan D., Wallaee, and Lily.
In political affiliations Mr. Garnsey was formerly an old- line Whig, but since the dissolution of that party he lias acted with the Republican party. He has never been a seeker after place, and has, in consequence, never filled any prominent office.
He is a member of no particular church, although he is quite a regular attendant of the Baptist church, where his wife and two sons hold membership.
Mr. Garnsey's residence, at Clifton Park, which may be seen on another page of this work. is one of the most beau- tiful in the county, and is much . admired by all who have had the good fortune to see it.
PETER ARNOLD.
This gentleman was born in Clifton Park, Saratoga Co., on Sept. 14, 1803, and is a son of Joseph Arnold, for- merly of Rhode Island. His mother's name was Mary Alt- house. He is a grandson of John Arnold, who resided at Half-Moon when that place also included Clifton Park and Waterford. He was a farmer, and his son Joseph worked on his father's farm until he purchased a place for himself, at Clifton Park, and engaged in farming on his own ac- count. Joseph died when about seventy years of age, and Mary Arnold when in her seventy-ninth year. They had seven children, of whom the oldest was Peter.
Peter Arnold is a prosperous farmer at Clifton Park, where he has a farm of two hundred acres. His first wife's name was Permelia Ostrum, a daughter of Paul and Cath- erine Ostrum, of Clifton Park. By her he had six children, -three boys and three girls,-viz., Cyrus, George, Emmett, Mary, Lucinda, and Catherine, all of whom are married.
Mr. Arnold married for his second wife Abigail Wallace, a daughter of Dr. Wallace, of Westchester county, with whom he is living at present, having had no children.
In political sentiment Mr. Arnold is a Republican, but has never filled any prominent office. He is a member of the Baptist church of Clifton Park.
JOSEPH ARNOLD,
MRS.JOSEPH ARNOLD.
PETER ARNOLD.
MRS. PETER ARNOLD.
RESIDENCE OF PETER ARNOLD, CLIFTON PARK, SARATOGA Co,N.Y.
MILTON.
I .- GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.
MILTON is one of the central towns of the county, and is a part of the Kayadrossera patent. It is bounded north by Greenfield, east by Saratoga Springs and Malta, south by Ballston and Charlton, west by Galway. It contains 18,192 aeres of improved land, 2743 acres of unimproved, and of this last amount, 1500 are woodland. The popula- tion in 1875 was 5349.
For convenience of reference we add the legal description of the town and the definition of its boundary lines, from the revised statutes of the State.
" The town of Milton shall contain all that part of said county bounded northerly by Greenfield, easterly by the east line of the fourteenth allotment of the Kayadrossera patent and the same eon- tinued to the north line of the sixteenth allotment, southerly by a lioe beginning in the southeast eurner of the fourteenth allotment of the Kayadrossera patent and running thenee west along the bounds of the said allotment to the middle of the south bounds of lot num- ber nine in the subdivision of the allotment aforesaid, and westerly by a line running from thenee due north to the southwest corner of the town of Greenfield."
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II .- NATURAL FEATURES.
Its surface is moderately hilly in the north and undu- lating in the south, with a slight inclination towards the Kayadrossera creek. This stream flows southeast through the centre of the town. The stream has a rapid fall and furnishes valuable water-power. Glowegee creek, from the west, is the principal tributary. In the north part of the town are limestone ridges, extensively quarried for build- ing-stone and for lime.
The town is favorably located for manufacturing purposes, and the Kayadrossera, with its tributaries, furnishes the requisite power for a large amount of machinery. In this respect the town is one of the most favored in the county, and flourishing villages have grown up along the valley of the Kayadrossera, the largest of which is Ballston Spa, at the great southern angle of the stream. The resort of visitors to its mineral springs tended to develop growth at this place in early years, but in later times manufacturing operations have been the source of prosperity. Besides the springs at Ballston Spa there are also two sulphur springs east of Milton Centre, in the vicinity of Rowland's mills.
III .- EARLY SETTLEMENT.
The time of the first settlement, like that of Ballston, with which it was so closely blended, was just before the Revolution and during its progress. It is usually stated in the gazetteers that the first family which settled within the present limits of Milton was that of David Wood. Probably about the same time that Eliphalet Ball came to
the town which bears his name, this pioneer family pene- trated the wilderness to the north and located at Milton ITill. David Wood had several sons who settled around him,-one ( Benjamin) owning the present farm of David Stever, another one the Rogers farm, and another one the present farm of the county-honse,-in all, a tract of six hundred acres. This carly pioneer family chose one of the finest locations in this section of country,-a place that for a time promised to be a business centre. The Wood family are said to be buried on the gentle northern slope of the " Hill" east of the road,-their graves unmarked by stone or mound,-a smooth field, where the plow and the reaper of modern times find no obstruetions, and pause neither ·for sentiment nor historie recollections.
Justns Jennings was an early settler of Milton. Ile was born in Connecticut in 1755. In 1776 he enlisted in the Connecticut line of Continental troops. He was in the bat- tles of Long Island, Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth, and White Plains. Ilis brother had already come to this county in 1775, and after the war elosed Justus followed him and settled a mile north, in the town of Milton, both being at or near what is known as Hop City Corners. There was a large family of children, even said to number up to eighteen. One son now keeps the Milton House, at Ballston Spa, where Joseph Jennings resides.
Another early settler of Milton was Sanborn Ford. He came from Sand Lake just after the war, and settled at Spear's Corners. He had been in the Revolutionary army seven years; was a musician ; was first refused admission on account of his small size, but was finally allowed to take the place of a siek brother ; served two years in the infantry, and after that in the cavalry. He was at Bunker Hill, and also was at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis under Colonel Sheldon. Ile kept a public-house for many years at the foot of the hill. near Judge Thompson's. The sons were John S., still living at Ballston Spa, Simcon, William, and Amasa. Daughters were Mrs. Shepherd, Mrs. Hall, Mrs. Lewis, and Mrs. McLean. The latter was the mother of John McLean, of the county clerk's office.
Sanborn Ford onee captured a " cow-boy," compelling his enemy to put his finger into the barrel of a loaded pistol and follow him into camp. In after-years he delighted to recall the scenes of the Revolution, and was wont on each returning Fourth of July to gather the old soldiers around him to dinner. In his last years he was an active religious worker. He then called the Bible his side-arms, and car- ried the book in a velvet bag. At his request, there was buried with him the flag, the Bible, and his commission as as officer of the Revolutionary army. His children recol- leet his saying that when he first came through the woods to Ballston Spa, tracing his way by marked trees from
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Spier's Corners, there was near the spring a single unoc- cupied log house. From this it would seem that some one had made a beginning there earlier than Benajal Douglas, in 1792.
John Lee came from Connecticut about 1793, and settled in Milton, near the Grenelle farm, west of Rock City. His children were Joel, Elias, Noah, Abigail, Ruth. The daughters became respectively Mrs. Ressequie and Mrs. Richards ; the sons settled in Milton and vicinity. Joel Lee was appointed postmaster of Ballston Spa by Gideon Granger, postmaster-general, and continued to hold the office nearly fifty years. Two of his sons reside in Ballston Spa,-John J. Lee, for nearly forty years an officer of the Ballston Spa Bank, and Elias W. Lee, merchant. The latter relates the incident that he was in the old cotton- factory, looking at the movement of the grand walking- beam, not more than five minutes before the crash came which destroyed the machinery and the enterprise at the same time.
Abel Whalen came from Sand Lake about the close of the war, and settled at Spier's Corners, a place in very early times known as Whalen's Corners. He had two sous, Abel and Ezekiel. The latter was the well-known mer- chant for many years at Clute's Corners, one division of the present village of West Milton. Among the very early settlers of the town was Joseph Shearer, whose pioneer homestead near West Milton is still in the hands of his descendants. He came from Scotland before the Revolu- tionary war. During that fearful period his wife used to walk to Schenectady and bring corn on her back over the Indian trails, have it ground at the old Gordon mill, and thus supply the household. Into this pioneer home came all the hardships of a new country, with sickness and death. A broad stone in the family burial-place tells its own sad story : " Underneath this tablet lie the remains of four children, one a tender infant, nameless here on earth, the other three Joseph, 1777, aged four, James, 1787, aged four, Genet, 1796, aged four." Two sons grew to man- hood, -- George, who settled on the old place where his son Charles W. now resides, and Joseph, who also settled in Milton.
Joel Mann, from Hebron, Conn., came to Milton in 1793 or '94, and settled on the place which is now the residence of his grandson, Nathaniel Mann. Of his sons, Rodolphus settled in Ballston ; Jeremiah, father of Na- thaniel, on the old homestead ; Joel in Galway ; and Hiram in Lyons. The last named became sheriff of Wayne county, and resided a part of the time in Sodus.
Que daughter, Mrs. Hanchett, settled in Troy. The present genial proprietor of the old homestead, while claiming no large collection of antiquities, yet believes he has the most famous pork-burrel in the county. It was brought from Hebron in 1794, full of pork. It descended to Jeremiah, full of pork. In strict accordance with the laws of inheritance and the fitness of things, it came to Nathaniel, full of pork. He hopes to keep sacred the ancient family custom, and transmit the venerable barrel to the next generation, full of pork.
To this account of Joel Mann we add the early settle- ment of his brother, though perhaps it should be included
in the history of Ballston. James Mann came from Hebron, Conn., to Ballston, in 1790, and bought one hun- dred acres one mile west of the springs. Returning to Hebron, he married Miss Tryphena Tarbox, and the winter following they made their bridal-trip to the pine-forests of Ballston. Miss Electa Mann, a daughter, now living upon the old homestead, writes of them as follows :
" They made their journey in a large sleigh; covered with domestic linen. The conveyance was heavily laden with household furniture, and was drawn by an old-fashioned Yankee team,-a yoke of oxen, with a horse ahead. They were several days on the road, but the trip was not entirely lonely. One evening, meeting with a party of fellow- travelers, their resources were thrown together for enjoy- ment. A union supper and a dance followed,-not keeping as late hours, however, as parties of late times.
"They came over the Middle Line road, leaving it about a mile from their new home. The pine-woods were soon reached, through which the road wound, leading down the hill, over a log causeway, and to a rise of ground where the log house stood. That evening they took supper with the Knapp family,-of whom they purchased the place,-de- licious corn-cake, fried pork, and tea. The snow was two feet on the ground, and the March winds made wild music among the thick branches of the forest."
Miss Mann has a picture of the log buildings of the pioneer home, executed partly from her own memory and from her father's description, to which she has added the following lines :
" Near an hundred years ago, The lofty pines stood thickly round : A settler came, the woodland eleared, And huilt his villa on the ground. Logs within and logs without, Brave hearts would not repine, For moral worth and calm content Brighter than diamonds shine. Oh then it was a happy day, Birds sang a sweeter note, When yea was yea and nay was nay, Nor bribes secured a vote."
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