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 63
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Mrs. Belinda Davis, wife of the first rector, was the daughter of the late James Emott, of Poughkeepsie. With her husband, she was greatly beloved by the people among whom they lived nearly forty years.
One of the founders of this church was Daniel K. Smith. Ile was a frugal farmer, a wise counselor, a faithful friend, and an earnest Christian. Ile was born, lived, and died in the parental and centennial homestead. His father, Jesse Smith, associated with a brother, Thomas Smith, took up a large tract of land before the days of the Revolution, living then in a log cabin. During the war they left their home and fought for their country's freedom. On their return, after peace was declared, finding their cabin burned, the main part of the present house was erected of hewn green timber, making the building nearly one hundred years old.
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF EAST LINE.
This society was established about 1858 or '59. They erected a meeting-house about that time at an expense of $1000, and services were maintained quite regularly for ten or fifteen years, but more rarely since, and at the present time are discontinued. John Brownell, Rensselaer HIall, William Emigh, and Elisha Scidmore principally man- aged and sustained the enterprise.
The dedication sermon was by Rev. J. G. Holland, now of Scribner's Monthly.
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF EAST LINE.
The pastor of the Ballston Spa church, Rev. Mr. Dela- field, commenced services at this place in the fall of 1876, the congregation meeting in the house of worship belonging to the Christian church.
In the spring of 1877, through the energy of the pas- tor, assisted by a few active workers, a lot was purchased and a chapel erected. It was an unusual case of rapid church work. The corner-stone was laid and the finished building consecrated within a month. Indeed, the principal work is said to have been actually done in eleven days. The expense was about $1200, and it is a very fine addition to the little village of East Line.
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF BURNT HILLS.
This organization was established about thirty years since, and services have been maintained most of the time. From this church the society at East Line originated.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF BURNT IHILLS.
This society was formed at a very early day. The fol- lowing members, originally connected with the old first church of Stillwater, were set off about 1791 or '92, and were the founders of the present Baptist church of Burnt Hills.
Lazarus Hollister, Clement Young, Smith Hollister, Wmn. Bettys, Nehemiah Seeley, Daniel Thomas, Thomas Proctor, John Cloidenwiser, Benjamin Ide, John Luther, Gideon Luther.
For this list of members we are indebted to the courtesy of Charles Hunt, clerk of the first church of Stillwater, who has contributed many other valuable records bearing on the history of Baptist churches in this county.
Early ministers of this church, as shown by the records of the Shaftsbury Association, were Bradbury Clay, Nathan N. Whiting, John Harris, E. Tucker, William McCarty, J. S. McCollum, J. W. Green, John Goodby, William C. Phillips, and Alfred Harvey. This first church seems to have become extinct and a new one formed, about 1820, from the Clifton Park church. No statistics have been received from the officers of the church.
VIII .- BURIAL-PLACES.
The earlier burial-places in town were numerous, and some of them have been long since obliterated.
The first settlers, the McDonald family, are buried upon the farm where they made their pioneer home in 1763. On the Cain place, southwest of the house a few rods, was a public burial-place, long since given up and plowed over.
On the Middle Line road, just beyond Delevan and Finney's place, there were burials near a large elm-tree, not far from a barn now standing there.
Opposite the Presbyterian parsonage at Ballston Centre were early burials. The bodies were removed. The ceme- tery at Burnt Hills is old, having one stone bearing the date 1795, marking the grave of Samuel Hollister.
The Scotch Bush burying-ground is very okl, and takes its name from the nationality of the settlers near. Still another burial-place is near the Hiller farm, in the southwest part of the town. Another one at Ilop City, but little used for burials at the present time. The Briggs yard, between Ballston Centre and Court-House Hill, is very large ; many of the pioneers are buried there.
Near Ballston Spa is the large main cemetery, with its extensive additions of late years. Here may be read the
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
brief story of the life and death of many early settlers carved upon the enduring marble, reminding the casual visitor how quickly passes the longest life, and how speedily senatorial honors, military glory, and the most distinguished civic service reach their last repose beside the sweet child cut off in its beauty and its innocence.
IX .- HISTORIC NOTES.
The Northern Invasion of 1780, in which the British forces, under Major Carleton, invaded the settlements in Ballston, has been described somewhat at length in the general history of the county. In addition to what is there set forth, the following historical notes, furnished by Judge Scott, are given here as possessing much local in - terest. And in this connection it is desired to acknowledge the personal assistance rendered by Judge Scott in the prep- aration of this work. His printed addresses, manuscripts, books, and maps have generously been offered for consulta- tion, and his personal reminiscences have furnished valu- able material that could not easily have been obtained from other sources.
The following account of an alarm in Ballston, earlier than the raids of the Tories, is taken from Judge Scott's address, delivered July 4, 1876 :
" Colonel Robert Van Rensselaer, in a letter to the Provincial Congress, dated April 18, 1777, writes that he has received a letter, requesting the assistance of the militia to quell an insurrection of the Tories in Ballsten.
" Ilezekiab Middlebrook, chairman of the Ballston committee of safety, writes a letter to the committee of Saratoga, dated May 2, 1777, stating, in detail, the suspicions movements of a party of men who had encamped between Charles Merrick's and Ebenezer Sprague's (now on the road between Factory Village and Jatues Thompson's), and adds that the morning previous thirty or forty men were discovered marching up the Kayadrossera, and returned the same way in the evening, and further adds, . There is reason to think there is a large hody of them, more than we are able to cope with ; and a good many from this settlement have absconded, and it is thought have joined them. We look upon ourselves at their merey, if they choose to attack us, which we hope will incite you to be as expeditious as you can to assist us.'
" The explanation of this alarm would seem to be this : Several of the Teries in this vicinity, having received the offer of bounty lands in Canada, marched off in an armed body at about the date of Mid- dlebrook's letter to join the British forces at Crown Point. They struck the well-known Indian trail leading over the Kayadrossera mountain, across the Sacandaga river near Daly's creek, and west of Lake George to Crown Point, which I shall hereafter refer to. They encamped the first night on the bank of a lake en the summit of the mountain, to which (either from its surroundings or their own situation, or perhaps both) they gave the name of ' Lake Desola- tion,' which it still retains. Colonel James Gordon, with a detach- ment of militia (among whom were Edmund Jennings and David llow), followed in pursuit, and ou the 6th of May overtook them, thirty-Que in number, in the present town of Luzerne, and brought them back. They were tried by a court-martial and fined fifteen dollars each.
"On the approach of Burgoyne's army several of the Connecticut families returned to that State, and did not come back until the close of the war."
We add the following from unpublished memoranda of Judge Scott :
Very early in the decade from 1770 to 1780, Gen. Gor- don purchased and received a deed from Direk Lefferts, Cornelius Clapper, Isaac Low, and Benjamin Kissam of a tract in Ballston, containing four hundred acres. The tract
was covered with a magnificent white-pine forest. I re- member a few of the original gigantic pines which were in Mr. Mann's woods some fifty years ago (1825). The tract was subdivided into eight fifty-acre lots. The whole was bounded, west, by the middle line ; north, by the town line ; east, by Ballston street, passing the cemetery ; and south, by the Garrett road and the north line of the Garrett farm; and this was the south line of Jones' fifty acres. George Scott moved on to his fifty acres, and erected a frame house on the hill northwest of the present dwelling, in 1774. Mr. Carley settled upon the fifty acres next south of George Scott ; John McIlmoire upon the fifty-acre lot afterwards James Mann's; John Carey upon the fifty acres mostly now in the village limits ; also James Gordon, upon Amos Hewitt's fifty acres.
As early as 1774 or 1775, Gen. Gordon erected a saw- mill for working up the pine timber upon the creek,-east side of it, nearly opposite the late residence of Capt. Daniel Stone, on the Middle Line road. The dam was between the two high banks, where they approach nearest to each other. Some of the foundation timbers of the dam yet remain in the bed of the brook. This brook was known as Gordon's creek, and it is one of the branches of the stream flowing through Ballston Spa, and still bears the old name derived from the general, who erected the first mill upon its banks. The stream has shrunk, certainly, to one-third of its former volume. The Middle Line road did not cross the creek twice, as it does at present, but fol- lowed the east bank along by the saw-mill, and thence southerly to Givins' and Cleary's corners. Monro, on his raid in 1780, passed that way. John Carey and Mel !- moire in the Revolution adhered to Great Britain, and so did Francis Hunter, on the Lanchart farm. Mr. Ebenezer Jones, in 1875, while plowing in his field, and upon the site of the old road, turned up an Indian tomahawk in a good state of preservation. My father informed me that his father's brother, John, older than himself, and the only brother, was, in his youth, a midshipman under the com- mand of Capt. Grass, afterwards Rear-Admiral Grass. When George Scott came to America, in 1773, his brother gave him the sea-chest which he had used in the service, and it was brought to Ballston.
Before Munro's raid, this chest, containing the most valuable effects of the family, was buried on the east side of a knoll, towards the east part of the farm, and remained hidden for several weeks. Unfortunately, deeming the greatest danger over, it was dug up and brought to the house just before the raid, and just in time to be rifled of its contents. The chest, however, remained, and is in possession of Judge Scott.
COPY OF A PETITION TO THE COMMITTEE OF SAFETY.
" January 5, 1776.
"TO THE COMMITTEE IN BALLSTON :
" GENTLEMEN,-We, the subscribers, having heard it hinted in sev- cral parts of the towu, and in divers ways, that a certain number of disorderly persons is expected here under pretense of subduing the Tories in this place, we therefore desire that you, the said committee, will, with the utmost of your power, repel any such motion if it shall eome to your knowledge, as we, the subscribers, think it would be injurious te this infant settlement. Furthermore, we, the suh- seribers, desire the above said committee to warn a meeting, that the
----
MRS. TRIPHENA MANN.
James Mann
THE OLD HOME, BUILT BY JAMES MANN, 1805, BALLSTON, N.Y.
257
HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
town may have the opportunity to change two members of said com- mittee, in the room of Mr. - aud Mr. - , as they have behaved themselves of late in a very indolent and unbecoming manner. Wo have reason to believe, from their own conduct, that they are unfit persons to have this trust reposed in them, and in so doing yon will oblige your friends and bumble servants,
" ELISHA MILLER, ZACCHEUS SCRIBNER,
ELIPNALET KELLOGG, DANIEL SCRIBNER,
JOHN CLINTON, SAMUEL FITCH,
JOHN CLINTON, JR.,
JOHN GRANT.
DAVID CLARK, THOMAS ARMSTRONG."
X .- INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS.
Farming is the principal occupation of the people of Ballston. The soil in large portions of the town is fertile, and under careful tillage yields abundant crops. On the whole, the town may be said to possess some of the finest and best-cultivated farms in the county west of the fertile slopes of the Hudson valley.
XI .- MILITARY.
Incidents in the War of the Revolution and names con- nected therewith are given at length in the papers of Judge Scott, and in the notes upon early settlement, but no full list of those who served as soldiers seems to be obtainable.
With reference to the Wl'ar of 1812, Lieut .- Col. Taylor, of Clifton Park, furnishes from his papers the names of the following soldiers from the town of Ballston : Capt. Isaac Curtis, Silas Smith, Lewis Miller, S. Curtis, Wm. Evans, and Chester Clapp.
We add the following list for the War of 1861-65, ob- tained from the best sources possible, and advertised for several weeks for correction by the veterans themselves.
WAR OF 1SG1-65.
Edward S. Armstrong, enl. Oct. 1, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. B, corp .; pro. sergt .; Ist lieut. Co. G; disch. Jan. 14, 1863.
Thomas Andrews, enl. Nov. 22, 1861, 4th Art., Co. D.
Frazer Atkins, enl. March 3, 1862, 77th Regt., Co. E.
Wm. Ahbs.
Andrew J. Armstrong, in Mexican war, and also War of 1861-65.
Wm. G. Bradshaw, enl. Sept. 27, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. E; disch. for disability, Jan. 7, 1862.
Alexander J. Beach, enl. Jan. 22, 1864, 13th Art., Co. E; died Ang. 10, 1864, at Chesapeake hospital.
Jay Burnhamı, enl. Dec. 31, 1863, 13th Art., Co. F.
Henry W. Burnham, enl. Dec. 31, 1863, 13th Art., Co. F.
George II. Briggs, enl. Dec. 31, 1863, 13th Att., Co. F.
Abram G. Bradt, enl. Nov. 24, 1861, 4th Art., Co. D; Ist sergt; pro, 2d lient .; Ist lieut .; mustered out Dec. 13, 1864.
William Bradt, enl. Nov. 24, 1861, 4th Art., Co. D; 5th sergt.
George II. Bradt, enl. Nov. 24, 1861, 4th Art., Co. D. John Barnhart.
George W. Bigelow. Wm. G. Ball, enl. 13th Art.
Marcus S. Barrows, enl. Nov. 1861, 4th Art., Co. D.
Frank Clark, enl. Oct. 15, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. C.
William Davis, enl. Sept. 6, 1862, 1534 Regt., Co. G.
Thomas H. Dorsey, enl. Jan. 2, 1864, 13th Art., Co. E.
Andrew J. Dubois.
Josiah Pean.
James Dunk, enl. 115th Regt., Co. C.
Christopher Emperor, enl. Ang. 1, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. C.
Warren Earis, enl. Oct. 17, 18h1, 77th Regt., Co. E.
Jobn Emperor, 18th Regt .; served his time; re-enl. in 43d Regt. ; served through the war.
John S. Fuller, enl. Jan. 4, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F.
David Frisbie, en1. 22d Regt.
James Grooms, enl. Oct. 14, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. C; disch. for disability, Jan. 23, 1862.
Patrick Goonan, enl. Jan. 11, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F.
Stephen S. Horton, enl. Sept. 13, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. B; 2d lient; pro. capt., July 25, 1862; disch. May 31, 1863.
George Ilughs, enl. Oct. 6, 1862, 15'31 Regt., Co. G.
Philip M. Hill, en1. Sept. 18, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G.
33
Joshua Ileritage, enl. Sept. 6, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G.
Frank Harris, enl. Sept. 30, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. G; disch, May 24, 1862.
George Hoyt, rnl. April 17, 1861, 18th Regt., Co. I; re-enl. 46th Regt., Co. K, Sept. 7, 1861; disch.
Elwin C. Hoyt, H. Art , 13th Regt., Co. F.
Thomas Harris, 77th liegt.
Joseph F. Jones, enl. Sept. 14, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. B; died Dec. 5, 1862, at Ballston.
D. K. Smith Jones, enl. Jan, 9, 1862, 4th HI. Art., Co. D; 2d lieut. ; pro. Ist lient., Oct. 30, 1862; capt., May 27, 1863; killed in action, June 17, 1864.
Ransom Knight, eul. Aug. 13, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. D.
Michael Kildea, enl. Sept. 20, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G.
Otis King, enl. Sept 5, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G.
John Kildea, enl. Jan. 11, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F.
Julin Kearnes, enl. Sept. 28, 18G1, 77th Regt., Co. B.
Alfred II. Kingsley.
Hugh Kelley, Battery B, 7th N. Y. Art.
Truman M. Loveland, enl. Aug. 12, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. I.
Julin Lanehart, enl. Oct. 4, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G.
Jacob Lansing, enl. Nov. 21, 1861, 4th Art., Co. D.
Moses Lewis, 1th Art.
Richard Millard, enl. Sept. 28, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. B; disch. Nov. 17, 1862.
Frederick Martin, enl. Aug. 9, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. I.
Wm. II. McIntosh, enl. Sept. 2, 1862, 15311 Regt., Co. G.
Richard L. MeIntosh, enl. Sept. 6, 1862, 1530 Regt., Co. G.
Edward Middleton, enl. Jan. 7, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F.
Patrick MeGarr.
. John Morris, enl. 30th Regt.
Charles Massey, 4th Art.
John Morris, 30th Regt.
Samuel II. Nelson, eul. Oct. 4, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. B; disch. Nov. 18, 1862.
Samuel Nelson, enl. Sept. 24, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. C; died at Portsmouth Grove hospital.
Beekman Near, en1. Aug. 21, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. 1.
Adam Niles, enl. Sept. 6, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G.
Wm. Il. Quivey, enl. Oct. 15, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. C; dis. Feb. 6, 1863.
Aaron B. Quivey, enl. Oct. 8 1861, 77th Regt., Co. C; trans. to non-com. staff, May, 1862.
Patrick Reidy, enl. Sept. 23, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. B; died Oct. 30, 1861, at Sara- toga Springs.
Horace L. Stiles, enl. Sept. 24, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. B; trans. to 3d Battery.
George E. Springer, enl. Sept. 21, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. C; disch. Dec. 13, 1864.
Hiram R. Sweet, enl. Sept. 2, 1862, 153d Regt , Co. G.
Wm. Schism, enl. Sept. 12, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G.
John Spicer, enl. July 8, 1863, 2d Vet. C'av., Co. F.
John H. Shivis, enl. Aug. 23, 1862, 77th Regt., Co. B; trans. to Vet. Battalion 77. Benjamin J. Severance.
James D. Thompson, 115th Regt.
Alonzo Vandenberg, enl. Oct. 16, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. II.
James HI. Vanderwerken.
W. W. Worden, enl. Sept. 24, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. B; sergt .; trans. to Co. K. William Wa.t, enl. Aug. 1, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. I.
John J. Wood, enl. Sept. 20, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G. Gilbert Warren, enl. Sept. 5, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G.
Jacob Wager, enl. Sept. 3, 1862, 153d Regt., Co. G.
Norman F. Weeks, enl. Jan. 2, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
JAMES MANN .*
Onee it was a happy day- From tree and wood sweet voices sound-
When yea was yea and nay was nay. A holy influence lingered 'round.
My beloved father, James Mann, was born in Hebron, county of Tolland, Conn., Feb. 24, 1768. His father's name was Joseph, who was the son of Nathaniel Mann, sou of the Rev. Samuel Mann, of the Congregational church, Massachusetts. In December, 1790, he was mar- ried to Miss Tryphena Tarbox, of Hebron. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Dr. Bronson in the Episcopal church of that place. The wedding-ring differed essentially from those of the present day. It was a plain hoop of pure
# Contributed by Miss Electa Mann, Ballston, 1878, aged seveuty- seven years.
258
HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
gold, having engraved upon the inner surface the motto, " Love and Virtue," suggestive of the unobtrusive gifts and graces of mind and heart. The same winter they eame to Ballston and settled on their farm. They made their journey in a large sleigh, covered with domestic linen, drawn by a yoke of oxen and a horse. The sleigh was heavily laden with household furniture and other necessary articles. They were several days on the road. One evening they met at the inn some fellow-travelers, who made themselves quite at home, brought in their meat and meal, prepared and ate their supper, after which they had a dance. Then they brought in their straw beds for their night's repose.
My parents arrived the 4th of March, 1791. They had followed the Middle Line road till within less than a mile of the place destined to be their life-long home. They soon reached the woods on their own premises. The road then passed down a side-hill, lined on each side with towering pine- and hemlock-trees, while the March wind among their branches played a welcome greeting, which was strange music to one unaccustomed to a forest home. Then going over the causeway of logs, they soon eame to a rise of ground where their house stood. By the politeness of Mr. Knapp my mother had preceded my father by an easier conveyance from the hill, afterwards the Court-House hill. That even- ing they gratefully accepted his hospitality and took tea with the family,-a sumptuous repast of delicious corn-cake, fried pork, and a cup of warm tea. The log house contained two rooms on the floor, an attic, with a ladder instead of stairs for aseent.
Logs within and logs without ; Brave hearts would not repine, Since moral worth and calm content Brighter than gold or diamonds shinc.
There were two other buildings of the same material on the premises,-a milk-room attached to a shop and a barn. There was an out-door cellar, and a stone-oven covered with slabs. The snow was then two feet deep. Winter soon yielded to the mild infinenee of spring, the snow melted away, and early in April young lettuce, self-sown, graced their table. The garden was in front of the house, and contained some useful plants. The asparagus was trans- ferred to the new garden, where it still remains. There were three apple-trees a few rods northeast from the house that are still living.
My father brought apple-seed from his eastern home and planted a nursery, raised young trees sufficient for two or- chards on his own farm, leaving a balance for his neighbors. He also planted peach trees, which bore fruit a number of years. Not long after he started some pear-trees from seious brought from his native place, one of which is still living and bears better pears than it did many years ago.
Until a well was dug the house was supplied with water from a cavity below the garden ; when that failed it was brought from over the causeway, where was a little pool of water at the corner of a beautiful grove of young pines, which, with the green grass beneath, was a delightful spot.
'Twas there our dear mother, in the warm summer day, Would sit, while we children were close by her side; Look on us, and smile at our innocent play,
Whilst nimbly for us the bright needle she plied.
James Mann, Sr., died March 21, 1856, aged eighty-eight years. Tryphena Mann was born Dec. 27, 1765, and died Nov. 1, 1850, aged eighty-four years. They had seven children : Hervey, who was born and died Sept. 26, 1791 ; James, born Aug. 10, 1792, and died Sept. 24, 1873; Pa- tienee, born Sept. 22, 1795, died April 12, 1816 ; Solomon, born Oct. 22, 1797, died Sept. 5, 1807 ; Fanny, born Oct. 20, 1797, died April 29, 1816; Eleeta, born Oct. 16, 1801 ; Joseph, born March 21, 1804.
The tender bud is withered, The blooming flower does fall, The golden sheaf is garnered, And silence reigns o'er all.
GEORGE G. OSTRANDER
was born in Ulster Co., N. Y., Jan. 6, 1830. He went with his father to Virginia in 1844, where his father pur- chased a farm. George continued to work with his father until 1848, when he went to learn the trade of carpenter
Photo, by T. J. Arnold, Ballston Spa.
G. G. Ostrander
and joiner. In 1850 he was married, at Washington, D. C., to Carolina A. Pink, of Rensselaer Co., N. Y. They then located, at Sand Lake, and he engaged largely in building, employing several men in ereeting buildings in that county until 1863, when, at the solicitation of Hon. E. C. Dela- van (they were personal friends as long as Mr. Delavan lived), he came to Ballston, and located at Burnt Ilills, to work at his trade. Soon after he purchased a farm near that place, where he resided until 1876, when he moved to South Ballston, leaving his only son, Philip, on the farm.
Mr. Ostrander has built and owns several buildings at South Ballston, carries on a lumber and coal business there, and is foremost in any enterprise that tends to advance the interest of the village.
n
RES. OF HENRY 1. CURTISS, BALLSTON, N . Y.
RESIDENCE OF JACOB OSBORNE, SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y.
SARATOGA.
I .- GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.
THE town of Saratoga is nearly central upon the eastern border of the county. It is bounded north by Wilton and Northumberland, cast by the county line, south by Still- water, and west by Saratoga Springs. It includes 10,341 acres of improved land, 4058 of unimproved, and of this last amount 2338 is woodland. The population in 1875 was 4509.
In the revised statutes of the State, this town is described and its boundary lines defined as follows :
" The town of Saratoga shall contain all that part of said county bounded northerly by Northumberland and Wilton, casterly by the east bounds of the county, southerly by Stillwater, and westerly by Saratoga Springs aud Malta."
The territory of this town is a part of the ancient Sara- toga patent. It is a curious fact that a copy of the original contract of division, with a map attached, executed June 1, 1752, was found, a few years since, in a bale of foreign rags opened at the Fort Miller paper-mill. The map is now in the possession of Henry Wagman, of Saratoga, in an ex- cellent state of preservation. To this document belongs not only its historical interest, but the singular story of wan- dering as refuse paper back to the very territory of which it is an accurate map,-there rescued from oblivion and duly preserved. The survey was executed by John R. Bleecker, in September and October, 1751. The contract attached was witnessed by Pieter Winne and Jacob Ten Eyck. It was recorded July 23, 1762, by Mr. Gansevoort, clerk. The contracting parties were John Glen, on behalf of the heirs of Jan Janse Bleecker, deceased ; Killian De Ridder, for the representatives of Cornelius Van Dyck ; Gerardus Groesbeck, for the representatives of Dirck Wessel Ten Broeck ; John Van Rensselaer, for the representatives of Peter Schuyler. They met at the house of Edward William Ventune, in the city of Albany, and signed this paper ou the Ist of June, 1752. The Indian title to this territory was granted to Peter Schuyler and others, as carly as 1684. It was confirmed by the colonial government in 1708, and the names of the patentees are then given as Peter Schuy- Jer, Robert Livingston, Dirck Wessels, John Johnson Bleecker, Johannes Schuyler, and Cornelius Van Dyck. By comparing these names with those on the contract of division before given, it will be seen that prior to 1752 the original six proprietors had been reduced by the sale or inheritance of the property to four.
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