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 27
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"100 ft. square the stockads. P [pine] or OK [oak] 15 ft. long 3 of wch at least to be sunk in the ground well pounded and rammed & ye 2 touching sides square so as to lay close. Loop holes to be made 4 ft. dise 2 Bl. Hses 20 ft. sq. below & above to project 1} foot over ye Beams well roofed & shingled & a good Sentry Box
on the top of each, a good Gate of 3 Inc oak Pl. & Iron hinges & a small Gate of Oak Plank of same thicks.
"Endorsed, Fort Johnson, May 28th, 1756."
Judge Brown in his "Brief sketch, &c., of Schoharie," of this Fort and Indians says :-
"Here they (the Indians) all settled together the whole Karigh Ondonte tribe. Their chiefs that remained in my time (1757 he came to Schoharie) were Seth Hauzerry, Joseph Hanelir and Aggy Aweer, together with their squaws of the direct line of Karigh Ondonte, namely -- Lisquet, Wawly and Caroline, who always pre- tended to have exclusive title to the soil and King George, I suppose, caused a Piquet Fort and some Barracks to be built thereon, which was done by one young Johannes Becker for the sum of eight pound. Here they gave names to three particular hills-namely Onisto Graw, Conegena and Mohegan, by which they continue to be named this day."
From this fort, Captain Peter B. Vroman pro- ceeded with a body of militia to Oswego in 1759, and was employed in building a road to the Three Rivers. Vromansland being the birthplace of Colonel Vroman and that historic ground lying within this town, perhaps it would be well to here give a few of the many prominent points of his life, beginning with the conimence- ment of the Revolution.
We find he represented the Schoharie district at the "Provincial Convention," to elect dele- gates to the Continental Congress in April, 1775, although the "New York Civil list" does not make mention of the fact. He was sent as a delegate to the Council of Safety many times, and was Member of Assembly during the four sessions of 1777 and 1779, also in 1786 and 1787. His prompt action under the most adverse circum- stances during the war as an officer, and the courage displayed upon the 17th of October, 1780, at the middle fort were characteristic of the man, and were worthy marks of a true pa- triot and unflinching soldier. The Colonel had but one heir, Angelica, who married a Peter Vroman, that held a commission as Major in the beginning of the century. He removed from Vromansland in the year 1777 to the middle
* Doc. Hist. Vol. 2, of 4 Vols. page 422.
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fort, and after the invasion of 1780 he pur- chased the Eckerson mill near the lower fort and lived at that place until his death, which occurred on the 29th of December, 1793, at the early age of fifty-seven.
The Swart family were descendants of a prom- inent family in Holland in an official and mon- etary point of view. The first that came to this country were two brothers, Frederick Cornelius, and Teunis Cornelius, some time prior to the year 1660. They were business men and held public positions in Albany and Schenectady for many years. The Judge was the most promi- nent member of the family in this County, and in order to give a correct idea of his public life we will copy from a manuscript left by him, now in the possession of our friend Rev. R. Randall Hoes :-
" I was enrolled in the militia at sixteen years of age, (this was the lawful age for enrolling at that period) served as a private six months ; then I was appointed a corporal, served in that capacity about one year, then I was appointed sergeant in Capt Hager's company ; 1778 I was appointed Ensign in said company, in the room of John I. Lawyer ; 1786 I was promoted to first Major of the regiment, in 1798 I was pro- moted to Lieut .- Colonel Com't. In 1784 I was appointed Justice of the Peace, without my knowledge. In 1796 I was appointed one of the Judges of the county, which office I have resigned in 1818 : In 1798 I was elected mem- ber of Assembly, the next election I was solic- ited to stand again as a candidate which I utterly refused ; 1806 I was elected a member of Congress.
" I was afterwards again requested to stand as a candidate for Congress, which I refused, when John Gebhard, Judge Shepherd and Boyd (Thomas) were candidates. Gebhard and Shep- herd met with their friends at the court house for one of them to give way; no arrangement could be made : They both signed a written declaration to give way in case I would accept a nomination, which I also refused. 1816 I was elected a Senator. At the expiration of my time I was again requested to stand a can- didate for the Senate, which I also refused. I never craved or requested an office.
" I was one of the first that signed the com- pact and association. 1776 I turned out to Stone Arabia to check the progress of the en- emy and Tories. In the fall of the same year I turned out to Albany, from thence to Fort Edward, from thence to Johnstown, to check the enemy. 1777, in the spring, I turned out to Harpersfield, from thence to the Delaware, to take up disaffected, from there home. Three days home, I went down the Helleburgh to take Tories. After we had together about twenty-five of them, went to Albany and de- livered them in jail. A few days after, went to Harpersfield, from thence to Charlotte river to take McDonald, and send him to jail. In Au- gust, 1777, was one of the thirty-two that made a stand to oppose McDonald and his party. I was one of the two that risked our lives to crowd through the Tories' guns to go to Al- bany for assistance ; was taken prisoner by the Indians and Tories, and the same evening made my escape. I was one of the six councillors that went from the stone house across Scho- harie Creek into the wood in a cave, to consult what measures to adopt-secrecy at that time was the best policy. Did not McDonald and his party come down as far as my house, and there encamp till next day, and destroy every- thing ? I had left home. The same day Mc- Donald and his party were defeated and fled into the woods, and went off to Canada, and about twenty-six from Breakabeen went with him. What would have been the result if our small party had made no resistance, and had tamely submitted ? McDonald would have marched through Schoharie, and in all proba- bility reached Albany. What was the conse- quence as far as he came down? Was not the farm of Adam Crysler confiscated ? Also the farm of Adam Bouck and brothers? Also the farm of Frederick Bouck ? Of Bastian Becker, John Brown, Hendrick Mattice, Nicholas Mat- tice and a number of others that were indicted? And a number more that had joined McDon- ald and fired upon our men."
Judge Swart was born January 13, 1752. He married Cornelia Becker (Low Dutch), by whom he had several sons and daughters, as follows :- Jacob, John, Peter, Martin, Maria, Mrs. Peter I. Hoes, Ann, Mrs. Jacob H. Hager,
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afterwards Mrs. Nicholas Russell, of Cobleskill, and Nancy, -Mrs. David Swart, of Orleans county, N. Y. He passed his last days upon the " Beller farm," near Schoharie village, and there died on the 3d of November, 1829.
At some period before 1750, the Crysler family settled upon the farm now owned by Mrs. John S. Lawyer. The name has been differently spelled, as Kriesler, Krisler, Chryslir and Crysler. We will adopt the modern or lat- ter method. We are of the opinion that the head of the family was Geronimus, and at the beginning of the Revolution, he was dead and left four sons and at least one daughter, Mrs. John Bouck, of Schoharie village, also Adam Baltus, Philip, John, and William. Adam re- tained the old homestead and was the owner of a gristmill built several years before the Revo- lution. Geronimus became interested in a por- tion of the " Dorlach" grant and removed with Philip, John and William upon it, and the three latter were residents of it in 1777.
The family at one time owned a large tract of land in this town, of which the Boucks became the owners. As the law passed by the Conti- nental Congress, was to the effect that those who remained loyal to the Crown, and left the property during hostilities to give aid to the colonists' enemies, should forfeit their lands, this property was seized and passed into other hands upon the close of the war. While Adam and brothers were demons in human form, through that struggle, yet the former was not a down- right Tory more than any other British officer, who had sworn allegiance to the government and enrolled himself in the army as a soldier, before the war commenced. Having thus done, his government was the crown, while a civilian must consider himself to be of that government that has absolute power over the State or prov- ince of which he is a member, and in opposing by force or giving aid to the enemy, gains the title or epitliet of " Tory."
It was otherwise with Crysler. He was a British officer, having received a cominission in 1768. We have already in Chapter III, given the movements of Captain Crysler and his brothers during the war, and it is therefore needless to repeat them here, as they are a stain
upon our history that will overbalance anything that has been brought forward against other white savages of that memorable epoch. While they were participants and instigators of atrocious acts, the sister, Mrs. John Bouck, was one of those women whose Christian graces adorn society and win the love and admiration of their fellows. She lived to a good old age, and died about the year 1810, leaving a large circle of friends, whose children still refer to her Christian life.
Beside the families already mentioned as being the first settlers of the town were the Feeks, Baxster, Youngs, Mattice, Larroways, Keysers, Beckers, Browns, Hagadorns, Vanloan, Henry Hager, and Boucks, although the latter at a much later date than the former. At the time the invasion was made by McDonald and Crys- ler, Henry Hager, then an aged man, was the only patriot left in the upper part of the settle- ment to communicate the fact of their presence to the people below.
In starting out near sundown, to carry the news he walked within the enemy's lines, and upon finding out his situation, pretended to the sentinel to be in quest of the blacksmith. After giving an order for some piece of mechan- ism he was again allowed to pass the pickets on his pretended return home, but in reaching a bend in the road that hid him from the belliger- ents, he made a circuitous route and reached the house of John Becker, where were assembled his son and Captain Jacob Hager with a small company of militia. The Captain had marched to the relief of Schuyler, and had been ordered back for supplies, which seemed Providential at that time as the valley was defenseless, with none but the aged and women, of the patriots' side, to resist a foe. The two messengers first sent for assistance, were of this town, Peter Swart and Ephraim Vroman, who, ere the war closed, keenly felt the vengeance of the foe. Hager, with the very few patriots surrounding him, urged the citizens to turn out for defense but they showed their true colors, and refused to heed his orders, and finding it was useless to coax and still less to compel, other messengers were sent to the committee at Albany, until their call was answered as before stated. After the skirmish in Crysler's neighborhood with such fa- vorable success, the ire of Captain Hager was
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TOWN OF FULTON.
aroused, and the weak-kneed were forced to a rcalizing sense of what they had to do, and were kept under strict surveillance as long as the war lasted.
Many followed Crysler to Canada, outside of his force in action that day, while others re- turned after a few days march, pretended peni- tence, but were, as others, forced to do much against their wishes. Captain Hager was early in the field upon duty and remained in active service until the closc of the war.
Upon the retreat of McDonald, Capt. Hager returned to Saratoga with his force and was at the battle of Bemis Heights, and from thence, marched with a detachment of militia to the Delaware and Charlotte to arrest the disaffect- ed, that had been more bold upon the prospect of the success of British force, than before. At no time during the struggle were there as many arrested and confined or forced to give bail for their " good behavior towards the patriots," as immediately after the surrender of Burgoyne and retreat of St. Leger. The militia drove matters to a crisis with the timid, as well as the evil disposed, and during the Captain's whole military career we fail to find an instance where his passions gained control of his judgment, and led him to commit rash deeds, that were to his discredit as a soldier and a Christian gentle- man. His bravery and military skill were con- ceded by Johnson, Brant, McDonald and Crysler to be undaunting, as upon several occasions a conflict was evaded when it became known that the Captain was in cominand. The second com- pany which he commanded was the most active of any, and consisted of fifty-five all told, with Martinus VanSlyck as First Lieutenant, Johannes W. Bouck, Second Lieutenant and Pe- ter Swart. Ensign, and during the war, arrested, tradition says, two hundred and fifty Tories, and delivered them to the Colonial authorities.
Upper Fort .- As hostilities had actually com- menced in the valley and invasions were daily expected, the upper fort was built in the fall of 1777, as were the middle and lower, by the labors of citizens and soldiers. The summer of 1778 found them finished, and this one the most impregnable of the three, stood near the village of Fultonham, upon the present farm of
Mrs. Lawyer Bouck, then owned by John Feek. Of its construction, Simms says : "One side of the inclosure was picketed in,. while on its other sides a breast-work was thrown up of timbers and earth, some eight or ten feet high, and suf- ficiently thick to admit of drawing a wagon upon its top, with short pickets set in the out- side timbers of the breast-work. A ditch sur- rounded the parts thus constructed. Military barracks and small log huts were erected in the inclosure to accommodate the soldiers and citi- zens. Block-houses and sentry boxes were built in the northwest and southeast corners, each containing a small cannon to guard its sides. From its construction, this fortress probably better merited the name of fort than either of the others, although some have stated that a moat partially surrounded the middle fort." The same author says, " In June of 1777 Congress resolved to establish a corps of invalids, consisting of eight companies, each to have one captain, two lieutenants, two ensigns, five sergeants, two drummers, two fifers and one hundred men, to be employed in garrison duty." A company of this kind was formed in Scho- harie in the fall of 1777, or early in 1778, of which Teunis Vroman, who had served in the French war, was Captain, Peter Snyder and Martinus Vroman, Lieutenants, and John L. Lawyer its Ensign. This company, which was mostly in the vicinity of the upper fort was called Associate Exempts. The most direful invasion of the whole of the Schoharie settlements up to the year 1780, was made in Vromans- land on the 9th of August of that year, by a party of Indians, supposed to be seventy-three and six Tories, led by the infamous Crysler, as will be seen by consulting his official report found in Chapter III. Of that affair Simms says, that Captain Hager sent a scout consist- ing of Coonradt Winne, Leek and Hoever to reconnoiter in the western part of this town with instructions not to fire upon the enemy if seen, but return immediately to the Fort. But when in the vicinity of "Sap bush," a white man, painted as a savage, was seen and being a tempting mark for Leek, he leveled his rifle and shot him, which brought the whole force in view and caused a precipitate flight of the scouts. They became divided, and only Leek reached the
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fort, the others being chased to the south. Not arriving in time to give the alarm to the citi- zens, the savages pounced upon the Vroman settlement about ten o'clock in the morning, in three divisions. Captain Hager had gone to his farm (which lay in the present town of Blenheim as has been seen) to draw in some hay, leaving Captain Teunis Vroman of the 'Exempts' in command. The latter unfor- tunately also had returned to his house to draw in wheat accompanied by his family to do their housework.
The command then devolved upon Lieuten- ant Ephraim Vroman who also, with his wife, four children and two slaves, went to his farm and left the garrison under Lieutenant William Harper, with less than a dozen men.
All of these Vromans lived in the one neigh- borhood and were without doubt the most in- dependent of any in the whole valley. It was when all were busily engaged in their excellent harvest or general house-work that the demons, like vultures, pounced upon them. Captain Vro- man was unloading wheat at the time they made their appearance, and immediately descended from the load and was met by an Indian who cleft his skull with a tomahawk and “stood upon his shoulders while tearing off his scalp." Mrs. Vroman was washing in a narrow passage between the house. and workhouse when she was surprised and stricken down, after two blows had been inflicted. Her scalp was rudely torn off and the torch applied to the house, barns, barracks and everything that fire could con- sume. The Captain and wife both had pre- sentiments that morning, that something dread- ful was about to occur, and ere noon-day they lay mutilated victims of a civilized governnient's hired emissaries.
The author was informed by Andrew Loucks, then in the fort, that Mrs. Vroman remarked when leaving the fort in the morning, "This is the last time I intend to go to my house to work." Peter, one of the sons, fled upon the first alarm and hid in the bushes, but one of the blacks betrayed him and he was taken prisoner. He was taken a short distance, and while crying to return, the notorious Beacraft caught him "and placing his legs between his own, bent him back
and cut his throat, after which he scalped and hung him across the fence." This affair, the reader will remember, Captain Patchin refers to in his narrative, of which the Tory boasted. The division that entered the settlement at Colonel Vroman's residence was led by Brant himself, "who hoped to surprise the rebel Colo- nel." That officer had reinoved to the middle fort in the early part of July together with his family and, there being no one upon the prem- ises, the invaders applied the torch and passed on to Lieutenant Vroman's. His family (says the author) "consisted of himself and wife, his sons Bartholomew, Josias E., and daughters Janet -- four years old, an infant -- Christina, two Ger- mans, Cresihiboom and Hoffman, and several slaves. The latter, however, were at work near the river and escaped." Lieutenant Vroman ran to the house, caught up the infant and ran to the cornfield at the foot of the Ouistagrawa, followed by his wife leading the daughter. " He seated himself against a tree and his wife con- cealed herself a few rods from him in the thrifty corn." "His family would, without doubt, have remained undiscovered, had Mrs. Vroman con- tinued silent ; but not knowing where her hus- band was and becoming alarmed, she rose up and called to him in Low Dutch, 'Ephraim, Ephraim, where are you, have you got the child?' True to the love of a mother, her own safety was not thought of, but the deep, yearning solicitude for the child's safety triumphed, and gave the direction to the unerring "bullet from Seths Henry's rifle to pierce her body." "He then tomahawked and scalped her while the Tory, Beacraft, crushed the skull of the four year-old daughter with a stone and drew off her scalp." The historian says that as Seths Henry approached Mrs. Vroman to take her scalp, he said, "Now say-what these Indian's dogs do here ?" repeating her own words, spoken after her marriage nuptials were performed, as Henry and other In- dians crowded into the kitchen and at which the wily warrior took offence. "While Mrs. Vro- man was being scalped, another Indian ap- proached the Lieutenant and thrust a spear at his body, which he parried, and the infant in his arms smiled, another thrust was made and par- ried which again caused the child to smile. At
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the third blow, which was also warded off, the little innocent, then only five months old, laughed aloud at the supposed sport, which awakened the sympathy of the savage, and he made Vroman a prisoner."
The sons and German laborers were also captured and taken to Canada. John Vroman was also captured with his wife and children. The house was set on fire, but extinguished. Adam A. Vroman fled to the upper fort, three- fourths of a mile distant, after being twice fired upon by the enemy. He had a pistol, and when the Indians gained upon him, he pre- sented it, and they fell back, but renewed the chase when he set forward. He was pur- sued until protected by the fort. On his ar- rival he was asked how he had escaped. His answer was, " I pulled foot." From that day to his death, he was called " Pull Foot " Vroman. His wife was made a prisoner.
Simon Vroman who resided above, was taken prisoner, as were his wife and son Jacob, a boy three years old. John Daly, aged over sixty, Thomas Mereness and James Turner, (young men), Albey Eliza Stowits, a girl of seventeen, the wife of Philip Hoever, the widow of Cor- nelius Vroman, and several slaves not mentioned, were also captured in Vromansland, making the number of prisoners in all, about thirty. The five persons mentioned were all that were killed at the time. Abraham Vroman, who happened to be in Vromansland with his wagon, on which was a hay-rack, when the alarm was given, drove through the valley and picked up several of the citizens. On arriving at the residence of the Swarts, who lived in the lower end of the valley, he reined up and called to Mrs. Swart, who was standing at an oven a little distance from the house : "Cornelia, jump into my wagon, the Indians are upon us !" She ran into the house, snatched up her infant child (now Mrs. David Swart,) from the cradle, returned, and with her husband bounded into the wagon which started just before the enemy, tomahawk in hand, reached their dwelling. Vroman had a powerful team, and did not stop to open the gates that then obstructed the highway at each line fence but drove against them and forced them open. He drove to the middle fort which also was fully garrisoned.
" The destructives burnt at this place nine dwellings and the furniture they contained, with the barns and barracks, which were mostly filled with an abundant harvest. Ninety good horses were also driven with their owners into captiv- ity. Large slices of meat were cut from the carcasses of the cattle and hogs and strewn along the valley, or hung across the backs of some of the horses, to serve as provisions for the party on their way to Canada."
Before Seths Henry left the settlement, he placed his war club, which he believed was known to some of the citizens, in a conspicuous place, and purposely left it. Notched upon it were evidences, as traced by the Indians on similar weapons, of thirty-five scalps and forty prisoners. We have thus been particular to copy author Simm's narrative of the massacre, as tradition has taken from the events of the day much of deepest interest, and intimated that many of the sufferers of that day were tinctured with Toryism. The author's authority was the best, it being from many of the captives at the time, and those whose patriotism could not be doubted, such as Teunis, son of Captain Teunis Vroman, Josias E. and Bartholomew E. Vroman, sons of Ephraim Vroman; Maria, daughter of John Vroman, and afterwards wife of Frederick Mattice; Henry Hager, Mrs. Susannah VanSlyck, daughter of Samuel Vro- man ; Lawrence Bouck, Lawrence Mattice and Angelica, daughter of Colonel Peter Vroman, the wife of Major Peter Vroman.
We will continue the author's account of the day's events : -
" On the arrival of Leek at the upper fort, after being so hotly pursued, John Hager, (son of Henry and brother of Capt. H-,) then at work on his father's place, hearing the alarm gun of the fort, mounted a horse and up and informed Captain Hager that the buildings were on fire in the valley below. The hay on his wagon, which was unloading in the barn, was quickly thrown off, and a few of the inhabitants of that vicinity that were taken into it were driven into the woods and concealed near Keyser's Kill.
"The enemy on leaving Vromansland, pro- ceeded with their booty and prisoners directly up the river. A grist-mill, owned by Adam
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
Crysler, and standing on the Lower Breakabeen creek, as called in old conveyances, which runs into the Schoharie, was sacked of the little flour it chanced to contain, and then set on fire, the Tories, with the enemy, declaring that the Whigs of Vromansland should not be longer benefited by said mill. The Indians on their arrival in that part of Breakabeen burned every- thing in their path within the present limits of the town.
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