USA > New York > Schoharie County > History of Schoharie County, New York : with illusustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 14
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While the principle upon which the telephone is worked was long known, yet to Edison are we indebted for an apparatus that brings the prin- ciple to practice, and with such simplicity as to abash the inventive genius of the past. Yet we are not unmindful of the claims of Science upon improvement and inust expect that a few years hence greater improvements and inventions, or other principles will become animated and made to out-strip the inventions of our day.
Newspapers .- The first newspaper published in the County was the American Herald, published by Derick VanVeghten. It was a small sheet and appeared in June, 1809, and some time in the year 1812, it was changed to the Schoharie Herald, but upon Van Veghten's enlisting in the volunteer ser- vice, the paper was discontinued. It would hardly be just to pass by without giving the hero notice, as a more patriotic and brave man could not be found. He came to Schoharie after serv- ing an apprenticeship at Schenectady, and met with unexpected success in his enterprise, but when his country called her sons to oppose her enemy's encroachments, he answered by cnroll- ing himself, and raising a company of which he was commissioned captain.
During the winter and early summer of 1813 and '14, he was stationed at Schenectady to guard army stores, and in the fall of the latter year, returned to Schoharie and opencd a re- cruiting station. Having raised another com- pany, he joined General Van Rensselaer's regi- ment as Major, upon the fronticr, and through a rash move, in making a sortie upon the enemy's flank-expecting to receive aid from his ·general-he, with his entire force, werc taken prisoners, as before stated. At the close of the war, he returned to Schoharie, and in 1817 com- menced the publication of the Schoharie Budget, and continued the same until 1819, when
So
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
he changed it to the Schoharie Republican. He soon disposed of his interest in the paper, and followed various branches of business, and in a financial point of view, succeeded in none. He was a tall muscular man, of slim build, active, yet rash in his movements and unconcerned as to results. He died at the house of Colonel Wilkins, at Spraker's Basin, on the 21st of March, 1844, of dropsy, and was buried near. Major Van Veghten was a bold writer, given to paroxysms of cutting sarcasın against those who dared to brave his views. Yet through his literary efforts, a large heart, good intentions, and progressive spirit could be detected, which gained for him the honor due an honest man.
In December, 1809, Thomas M. Tillman commenced the True American, but like Van Veghten, discontinued the sheet in 1813. He also joined the army, but of his subsequent life, we arc not informed.
Returning to the Schoharie Republican, we find a long list of editors, whose terms of service have been successful, and we find the sheet still continued and progressive after braving the changing currents of sixty-two years. Major Van Veghten was successfully succeeded by Peter Keyser, Lemuel Cuthbert, A. A. Keyser, and Wm. H. Underwood, who, each in turn, kept up the dignity and spirit of the sheet, but events were not excitable enough to make the public consider a paper a necessity, neither had the people been educated to that thought, in a literary point of view, and consequently, double duties were imposed upon the struggling pub- lishers, for which their financial gains were dis- couraging.
When Wm. H. Gallup succeeded Mr. Un- derwood, the political firmament began to rumble in earnest. Politics ran to fever heat, and that gentleman standing upon the firm, and growing firmer, Democratic platform, with his publication, success was assured, and when Mr. Gallup retired, the Schoharie Republican was looked upon as the Democratic organ of the County, which character it still assumes. Mr. Gallup was a careful, conscientious writer, modest to assume and direct, but when aroused, bold and forcible.
He was succeeded by P. D. Lawyer, who kept the sheet in the even "tenor of its way"
during the following political campaign. Mr. Lawyer was an independent writer. brief and forcible.
Ex-Judge Nathan T. Rossiter followed, whose smooth pen tended to cool political flames, and court pleasing, literary effusions. However, the political status of the sheet was maintained under the Judge's term of editorship, and its first introduction made into many households as a "family paper."
Next came J. B. Hall, a live, educated "paper man," whose glib and cutting pen shook up the dry bones of contention and made them laugh at themselves. His exclamation points and quotation dots gave evidence of firmness and faithful reading. Not to speak disparagingly of his predecessors' efforts and ability to cnlarge the business of the enterprise, yet Mr. Hall in- creased the circulation of the paper nearly double to what it had been and infused a spirit within it more in accordance with the day and age, than any before him. He was a worker, physically and mentally, and when the concern passed from his hands in 1860, it stood inferior to no country paper in the State. Mr. Hall removed to Catskill and assumed the manage- ment of the Catskill Recorder, where he again labored hard, beyond the strength of his frail constitution, which soon brought him to an early grave.
J. C. Campbell, with declining health, fol- lowed Mr. Hall in the office of the Republican, but ere one year passed, death claimed its vic- tim and he passed away, lamented by a host of friends.
A. B. F. Pond redressed the sheet as he fol- lowed Campbell, and the excitement of a threatened civil war, coupled with the known ability of Mr. Pond as a writer and manager, the paper enjoyed one of the most successful seasons it ever experienced. Mr. Pond was a terse, forcible writer, and dealt all subjects with his pen with a prompt business spirit. He was the son of Benjamin Pond and born in the village of Schoharie, where he received an academic education. He disposed of his in- terest in the paper to Sleight & Hunt, in 1865, and removed to New Jersey where he now resides. The latter firm continued as one until January 1, 1869, when the interest of Sleight
81
NEWSPAPERS.
was purchased by A. A. Hunt, under whose pro- prietorship it still continues. Mr. Hunt is a native of Sag Harbor, L. I., and has been con- nected with the press from a youth. As a writer, he is quick and perceptive, original in thought, with easy and smooth expression, which has won for -him a reputation as a writer that few obtain.
In 1818, a periodical was started at Schoharie C. H., called the Observer, but by whom we can- not learn. In 1820 it passed into the hands of Solomon Baker & Fish, and in 1822 Baker purchased the interest of Fish, but soon dis- continued the sheet. Not being fortunate in obtaining a copy and having no knowledge of proprietors, we cannot speak farther of the en- terprise. Rev. George A. Lintner being one of the foremost workers in the cause of religion, a true, conscientious laborer, united his able efforts with those of Lemuel Cuthbert, and on January,- 1824, issued the first number of the Evangelical Luminary, devoted to the in- terest of churches and religious societies. Of Mr. Lintner, we need not here make mention, as in connection with other causes we give such notice of him as our feebleness admits. Lemuel Cuthbert was a young man of promise, deeply interested in all religious causes and imbued with a true spirit of fidelity to duty. He took a lively interest in politics, but at an early age he passed to the grave, and as Dr. Lintner once wrote, " he sleeps in his silent bed where convulsions and troubles of political life can no more reach him."
The Lutheran Magazine of which Dr. Lint- ner was editor for many years, was commenced by the " Western Conference of Lutheran min- isters in 1827, and printed by Cuthbert.
The Schoharie Free Press, by Duncan Mc- Donald was originally published in Johnstown, Fulton county, as the Montgomery Monitor and removed to Fonda, Montgomery county, in 1828, thence to Canajoharie, and in 1830 to Schoharie. Being of a roving disposition, it was removed to Esperance and published as the Esperance Sen- tinel and Schoharie and Montgomery Recorder. It was discontinued in 1836 after a fierce war against the Albany Regency. It was ably edited. A notice of its connections may be seen in the chapter on Esperance.
The Gem a small sheet written by students of the Academy, appeared in 1837 but it sparkled for a day and lost its luster.
The first number of the Schoharie Patriot was issued February 13, 1838, by Peter Mix, and it became under the control of Mr. Mix and his son S. H. Mix, in after years, a substantial sheet in the interest of the Whig party. Mr. Mix was from Johnstown, Fulton county, and was con- nected with the Montgomery Republican from 1825 to 1834, when the office and type were burned. He revived the paper, but in 1836 he was again burned out, when he removed to Scho- harie. He labored hard for years to turn the political sentiment of the County but what was " born in the bone" proved to be "bred in the flesh " in that respect at least, yet Mr. Mix drew around him a host of friends and proved himself to be a firm unflinching advocate of that, which he considered right. He ably conducted his journal, and handed it over to S. H. Mix with an honorable record. Growing in years, he retired from business, and died at the age of seventy-two. [For notice of S. H. Mix, see Chapter on Schoharie. ]
Upon Mr. S. H. Mix entering the army his interest in the Patriot passed into the hands of Henry E. Abel and changed to the Schoharie Union. Mr. Abel was an energetic worker, and plain, ready writer, with a tendency to sarcasm; yet the spirit and success of his paper kept its status, as a party organ. In 1867 Charles C. Kromer purchased the property and continues to be the proprietor.
Mr. Kromer passed through the civil war in the "3rd Cavalry" as Captain and returned home unharmed, but upon the accidental dis- charge of a pistol his right hand was shattered which compelled an amputation at the wrist. Mr. Kromer merits honor as a self-made man and patriot, and deserves sympathy in his mis- fortune. The Union adheres to the principles of Republicanism in politics, though not radically.
Mr. Kromer is a careful yet bold writer, with original thought and expression that leave a tendency to mirth. His articles are always short and embody much meaning without exaggera- tion.
Two small sheets The Star and The Sun were commenced in 1838, the former by S. H.
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
Mix and the latter by D. L. Underwood, two school boys, and after a years' existence were discontinued. The excitable times of 1840 called out a campaign sheet The Huge Par', by William H. Gallup, that was published from August to November of that year, and in 1841 as the Anti-Rent troubles began to shake the earth, especially that portion of its formation known as the "Helleberg Series," Mr. Gallup again put forth a sheet entitled The Hehlerbergh Ad- vocate, which name seemed to be too local, and in 1843 was changed to The Guardian of the Soil. Assuming too much in those "war-like" clays it ceased its great labors after a years' ex- perience. A semi-monthly enterprise was pub- lished by the students of the academy in 1855 called The Oasis, and was a spicy little sheet, the composition of which was highly commend- able, in thought and expression.
All of the foregoing have been published at Schoharie Court House. In 1847, Mr. J. D. Lawyer commenced a paper at Leesville assum- ing the name of The American Christian, but was soon discontinued. Mr. Lawyer was a min- ister of the gospel, and the sheet was in the in- terest of religious matters.
The Schoharie County Sentinel was com- menced at Cobleskill January 22, 1852, by Hi- ram C. Paige, now of the Brooklyn Era. Mr. Paige was succeeded by Charles Cleveland, and he by Wadhams & Kniskern, who sold the es- tablishment to J. B. Hall, of the Schoharie Re- publican, into which it was merged. It was a wide-awake sheet, full of spirit and commanded the respect and patronage of a large circle of friends.
Furman & Brown, of Charlotteville, com. menced the publication of a small sheet at that village in 1854, called the Charlotteville Journal. In the year following Furman sold his interest to John Brown, who removed the press to Co- bleskill village and changed the name of the paper to The Cobleskill Journal, and published it as such but a short time when it was discon- tinued.
The Cobleskill Jeffersonian was commenced at Cobleskill in 1859, by Matthew Freeman, in the interest of the Republican party, to revolu- tionize the political sentiment of the County. Mr. Freeman was a very plain and forcible
writer and speaker, and exerted his faculties to " make a mark," but became mixed up in sar- castic imbroglios with other periodicals, which proved disastrous, as usual, to his paper's influ- ence, and consequently its existence was short, being stopped some time in 1862. Mr. Free- man's paper was followed at Cobleskill village in the year 1865, by the Cobleskill Index, under the proprietorship of William H. Weeks. Mr. Weeks made it an independent sheet, devoted chiefly to local matters, and it gained a firm footing in the western towns of the County as a family paper. In 1874, Mr. George W. Bel- linger purchased the establishment by whom it is at present managed. During the Centennial year it was made a political organ, in the advo- cacy of Democratic principles, to which it has firmly adhered and become one of the staunch organs of those principles, and is now wielding a flattering influence.
On November 5, 1870, was started at Rich- mondville, the Schoharie County Democrat, by J. J. and J. L. Multer of the Schenerus Monitor. After a flattering patronage the “Multer Brothers " sold the establishment to J. B. Olm- stead, who changed the title to Richmondville Democrat. It is a small sheet but outspoken and substantial, and does credit to its youthful editor.
The Middleburgh Gazette was commenced in October, 1871, at Middleburgh, by O. B. Ireland, and was soon purchased by J. E. Young, the present proprietor and editor. This sheet has been a firm advocate of administrative honesty and bold to expose political scheming and selfish power. Mr. Young has been suc- cessful in making his sheet reliable and attrac- tive as a local paper, and gained many warm friends of the press and in the ancient dorf in which he is located.
The Jeffersonian is published at Jefferson, being started as the Jeffersonian by A. W. Clark as editor and publisher, on March 1, 1872, and December, 1880, was purchased by Jones & Holmes, who changed the name to Jefferson Courier. It is a wide-awake, spicy, independ- ent and reliable sheet, and receives a flattering patronage from the surrounding towns. The first sheet was 18 by 24 and enlarged to 21 by 28.
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NEWSPAPERS-CRIMINAL RECORD).
Charlotte Valley News, of Charlotteville, was started by Morris & Shafer, and enlarged to a double sheet, but after a short term was re- moved to Davenport, Delaware county. After its enlargement it published serial stories, and was, we believe, the first and only one of the kind ever printed in the County. It is now published as above by E. O. Conner.
Sharon Springs Gazette was established by John Sawyer of the Cherry Valley Gazette, in 1874, and was well managedand ably edited by the veteran publisher, but the enterprise proved non-paying and was discontinued in February, 1881, and removed to Cooperstown and pub- lished as the Living Issue, the temperance organ of the State. Mr. Sawyer is an able writer, of clear, honest views, and gained as he justly deserved, a high regard among the County fraternity.
The Charlotteville Phonix was begun in November, 1879, by S. G. Shafer, as an advo- cate of reform and independent in politics. The "hot grape" and "shells" that are found in its columns have been thrown promiscuously to the right and left, but the inevitable results are to be seen. The attacks upon officials and their organs have been bold and exacting, but attempting to create a counter current in swift running streams, requires a triple force, which only disturbs without satisfactory results, The sheet is well arranged and full of local and cur- rent news.
The Cobleskill Herald was commenced in 1877, by Johnson & Roberts, of Oneonta, in the interest of the Republican party. In 1880 Mr. Graham purchased the sheet and still edits the same. It is a firm and honest ex- ponent of Republican principles, and receives a very flattering patronage. Mr. Graham is a careful, earnest worker and forcible writer.
The Gilboa Monitor is a small sheet pub- lished at Gilboa, by Myron Dings. It was commenced in 1878, and holds its own in pat- ronage as well as in the discussions of events of the day. Mr. Dings is an industrious worker and careful, honest writer, and makes his sheet spicy and attractive.
Criminal .- During the County's growth re- gardless of the efforts of the philanthropic to better the morality of the people, crimes have
been committed of various degrees that have startled communities, to which we are loth to refer, as around them there is a halo of ignorance and brutality that is far beneath the intellect of man, and which casts a shadow over the bright picture our County presents. Tradition tells us, through author Simms and tlie Vroman family, of a capital offense being committed in the early days of the settlement of Vroman's land by a negro and white accomplice by the name of Moore, in the murder of one Truax.
Circumstances led to the belief in the guilt of the negro and his wife, who were servants in the family of l'eter Vroman as was also the murdered man.
They were taken to Albany, tried and con- victed, and placed upon a pile of fagots and burned. In after years through the bed con- fession of Moore, the fact was revealed that the negress was innocent of the crime and had no knowledge of it, as she protested during the trial and upon the pile of fagots.
Farther than that awful crime, except minor offences such as incendiaries, theft and trespass- ing nothing occurred that was brought to the public notice until after the war of 1812. Im- mediately after its close a vast quantity of spu rious Spanish coins flooded the country that were manufactured in Canada and brought here to palm off upon the farming community. The coins were principally of the denomination of "two shilling," and led, in a few years to a greater speculation in counterfeiting paper money. The bills were upon various banks, and the men whose reputation for honesty was the best were lured away by the prospect of making riches, and procured dies and manufac- tured large quantities in secret. Stringent laws were passed but few of the guilty suffered. Va- rious were the strategies of the guilty to punish the innocent, since the law demanded subjects to punish. It is a notable fact that the founda- tion of some families' fortunes was laid by being expert in the making and "shoving off" of the spurious.
As the excitement of the spurious money be- gan the people were shocked by the premedi- tated poisoning of a lady by her inhuman hus- band, while stopping at an "inn" in the town of Middleburgh. An act of that kind was un-
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
usual in those days and created a great excite- ment not only in the immediate neighborhood in which the crime was committed, but far and wide.
Abraham Casler, a resident of the Mohawk, married a Miss Spraker with whom he lived upon very unpleasant terms, owing to his immorality and love for another woman. He left home upon the pretext of going West to reside, and after being away some time returned, pretended penitent, and stated he had purchased a place and was desirous of his wife accompanying him to live upon it in peace and harmony. They started in a wagon and traveled through Sharon and Cobleskill and stopped at an inn kept by one Best, on the road leading from Punchkill to Middleburgh.
Mrs. Casler complained of not feeling well, and her husband was very attentive, procuring medicine in which he added opium and arsenic alternately, till death relieved her of her troubled life. The remains were buried without the relatives being made acquainted of her decease, and upon Casler's sudden exit from the locality, suspicion was aroused and the re- mains exhumed.
Upon examination, opium and arsenic were found, Casler arrested and upon the testimony of Mrs. Best was convicted before Judge Yates, and hung in May, 1818, upon the hill east of the court-house. The gallows were left stand- ing as a solemn admonition of the penalty such crimes demand, and before another year rolled round, one, who witnessed the execution of Cas- ler, and who boasted upon leaving the scene, " they will never hang me," stood beneath the beam and forfeited his life in consequence of an ungovernable passion.
John VanAlstine, a farmer living in Sharon, becoming implicated in legal affairs, murdered a deputy sheriff, William Huddleston, while in the performance of his official duties, upon the former's farm on the 19th of October, 1818. Upon the impulse of the moment he struck the officer with a club with such force as to kill him. VanAlstine buried the body of the murdered man in a plowed field near the barn, and in the course of a day or two he mounted the officer's horse and fled to Canada. Upon suspicion of his being guilty of the crime a reward for his
apprehension was declared by the sheriff, and also the Governor of the State. He embarked upon a vessel at Black Rock, for Detroit, but a strong gale arising, the vessel was driven back to its moorings and a fellow passenger having suspicion of his being the advertised murderer, caused his arrest. He was tried before Chief Justice Spenser at a special court of Oyer and Terminer in February, 1819, and found guilty. On the 19th of March he was publicly executed as before stated, beneath the beam under which Casler suffered less than a year before.
The next and last crime of that character that occurred to the knowledge of the public was in the month of March, 1845.
John Burnett murdered George Sornberger in the present town of Broome, by nearly sever- ing the head from the body and stabbing him in the abdomen and chest, on the 24th of March, 1845. They were residents of Broome, and it was supposed Sornberger was the pos- sessor of a considerable sum of money, as a payment was to have been made to him upon that day. It proved otherwise, as the total sum thus fiendishly procured was but three shillings and nine pence. The crime was committed while the Court house lay in ashes, and the prisoner was taken to Schoharie village to be tried and to Schenectady to be hung. The exe- cution took place in that city on the 11th day of July, 1846. The three that have paid the penalty upon the gallows made full confessions of their crimes and the justness of their sen- tences, which relieves us of fears that the inno- cent have suffered in their cases, as many times they do when circumstantial evidence only is taken.
Three cases of manslaughter have been tried in the County for which the criminals were sent to State's prison for a long term of years. We do not wish to give the particulars or the parties committed, but let their names be dropped.
A few cases have been brought to the Coun- ty to be tried from adjoining counties, where juries could not agree, but the criminal record for capital offences of our county closes with the dying agonies of Burnett, and let us willing- ly draw a veil over this part of our County's history, hoping that long, long years may pass
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STATISTICS.
ere, if ever, another occasion requires the death penalty.
Statistics .- By the census of 1810, the total population of the County was 18,945, as fol- lows :-
Cobleskill, 2,494
Carlisle, 1,231
Schoharie, 3,232
Middleburgh, 3,236
Sharon,
3,751
Jefferson,
1,740
Blenheim, 1,319
Broome,
1,942
The following is taken from the Census Re- port of 1880 :---
Blenheim town, including village of Blenheim, 1,191
*Blenheim village, 221
Broome town, including the following villages, 1,636
*Franklinton village, 77
*Livingstonville village, 97
Carlisle town, including the following villages, 1,722
*Carlisle village, 128
Grosvenor's Corners village, 60
Natives, 32,199
66 Foreign, 740
3,37 I
White,
32,458
4 Colored, 481
Indians, 20
Number of houses, 6,686
1,373
66 Frame, 6,488
66 Brick, 57
*Sloansville village, 200
Fulton town,
2,709
66 Log, 125
Milch cows kept, 20,185
2,040
Sheep, 29,293
Horses of two years and over, 8,559
Working oxen and steers, (pairs,) 1,762
Acres plowed in 1875,
72,562
Acres pastured in 1875, 92,800
Acres mowed, in 1875, 97,524
Butter made in families in 1875, lbs. 2,507,970 Number of pounds cheese made by families and factories, in 1875, 177,774 Number of gallons milk sold in market, 43,036 Value of hops raised in 1875, $1,495,329
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